Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Novice Blogging - Note #31 (Facebook on Skype)

P.S. I am deviating slightly off-topic as this post has nothing to do with blogging but more to do with trying to be tech-savvy and make sense of all these social media mumbo-jumbo. I am finding it hard to keep up with my bi-weekly instalment of Novice Blogging so I think I'll put it on the shelf like I've done with Weighing In and VTT. Basically, write a post when I do have one :-)

I am really wary of anything that wants to link with any of your other accounts. I don't know why. It just makes me feel like I'm in some sort of conspiracy somewhere. So when the little Facebook bar came up on my Skype screen, I was a little apprehensive but then I was also a wee bit curious.

I clicked on the Facebook bar and it starts opening the Skype website for me. I am asked to login to Facebook with my login details and voila! My Skype Home page is instantly transformed into my Facebook wall, complete with all the postings and status updates. The only thing I can't seem to find on the page is the notifications bar. And of course, it does get a bit tiring, pressing the Refresh button all the time, everytime there is something new being posted by one of your Facebook friends. Knowing Facebook well, there is almost one new post on my wall every mega-minute, LOL.

And of course, very important for paranoid people like me. The ESCAPE - how do I log out if I don't want Facebook on Skype anymore. I simply press this gear widget at the top of the Skype Home page and it drops with an option to Disconnect From Facebook. And it's done.

Pretty cool if you ask me.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

TCP: The Disaster Was Unstoppable


I have to bite my tongue as I check this week's topic for Tuesday Couch Potatoes. It is all about disaster movies...and my first choice would have been Titanic but then everybody would say, "But of course!"

So I shall think up some other disaster...how about a train disaster?

I have recently had the chance to watch the film, Unstoppable, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. It tells the story of a runaway freight train and the two men who attempt to stop it.
NOT MY PHOTO
Denzel Washington plays veteran railroad engineer Frank Barnes, who has to show the ropes to a young train conductor, Will Colson (Chris Pine) on Colson's first day at work. It looked like any normal day as they picked up their cargo and travel their way to the drop off. During their train ride, they learn that an unmanned freight train carrying toxic chemicals has run loose on the tracks. Frank convinces Will to join him and together they race against time to try and stop the runaway freight train.

I actually like watching films like this as it is one of those, what I like to call, 24-hour film. Meaning that the film takes place in a day. Makes me feel like I'm watching a whole season of 24 but on a 90-minute version. Of course there are bad 24-hour films out there as well, but Unstoppable is definitely not one of them.

I recommend this if you feel for an action-packed thriller.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Weighing In: A Visit To The Dietitian

Besides a callback from the Idols audition, I would reckon that a visit to a dietitian is right up in that list as something that would never happen in my lifetime.

After borrowing a friend's diet and succeeding in shedding a few kilos slowly, I finally relented that it was time I go get my own set of diet. And since my friend's diet was do-able, I made an appointment to see the same dietitian.

I sorta guessed already that I was eating the wrong quantities as my friend is built slightly different from me. I am a little happy to say that even though I followed the "wrong" diet, I managed to shed 2.5 kilos in 24 days.

My visit to the dietitian was enlightening to say the least. I did not neglect to mention that I only ate a selected few in the greens department. But the dietitian worked around them, and urged me to take a few more greens like lettuce and cabbages. I said I'll try.

My results were appalling. I appeared normal on my BMI calculations, but when she measured my neck and hips, she announced what I'd been dreading: I am obese although I don't look like it! I have to shape up or I will not know what hit me when I get to 40. Our goal is for me to lose a further 3 kilos to get to my comfortable weight. After reaching that, I am to lose another 4 kilos to get to my ideal weight (according to my height and age).

I got my own list of "diet" food a few hours after my visit. Boy, if I thought I was eating like a bird before, I'm eating much less now. So I am back to my first 8 days again with a new set of diet. I am happy to report that so far in 5 days, I have already lost another kilo.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Girls Talk - A Chuque In My Books

Misspelling? Where?

Gosh, I haven't had one of those in ages. Not that I have not been meaning to, it's just that spell check always stops me dead in my track. Before I can even blink, it highlights the misspelled word and I have to grudgingly correct it. Frankly, I am more worried about AutoComplete than misspellings but that will be for another post. Hehehe.....

Anyway, there was a time though when spell checks were not yet that popular and were not always turned on. I remember when I first started working 15 years ago (was it that long already? I think I'm near retirement age now), there was an incident with a misspelled word.

I was doing bank reconciliations on Lotus 1-2-3 (harhar, MS Excel wasn't quite there yet). I was so eager to impress that I tried to do the work as fast as I can. I printed bank reconciliations one after the other, month after month, client after client. All these in one afternoon.

Showed them to my boss when I was done and she was quite impressed. Although she did point out that I might be referring to outstanding cheques and not outstanding chuques (she pronounced them "chuks", like the Nintendo nunchuk). I was a little embarrassed but I thought, hey, that's the price of speed of light. At least it did not go out to be seen by the clients. 

This is my share for Girls Talk this week.

First Class Train In A Third World Country

One of the few things that I really loved when I visited Europe last December was the transport system. And although the London Underground suffered some delays because of the snow while I was there, I was still in awe that it functioned seamlessly since 1863 (That old eh?). The German and French Metros were also quite good. And the Amsterdam tram and the Roman buses were not all that bad as well.

So living in South Africa, I've always had this view that the public transport system here was most definitely limited and relatively fickle. We've had our taxis, which are also known as death traps (can't blame me if I agree to this term, I was almost killed by one a few years ago) and our buses and our trains. But for most South Africans on the road, getting anywhere and everywhere required your own mode of transportation, if you can afford it.

Then comes the Gautrain - a world class transportation system that offers services between some cities in Gauteng and to the airport.

My first time experience with the Gautrain finally happened last week when I went and visited my dietitian who was situated in Pretoria, 80km from where I stayed. I quickly researched the website to check if the Gautrain station was near enough where my dietitian's offices were and realised that they were actually offering bus services to the place so I decided to brave it.

Hubby and I arrived at the Marlboro Station in Linbro Park 90 minutes prior to my doctor's appointment. The staff at the station were quite friendly and accommodating when it comes to first-time commuters. They were knowledgeable and helpful. We were directed on how to obtain our Gold Cards. The Gold Cards were quite important as they held our cash for payment of the train and bus fares, as well as payment for parking. No cash changes hands at any of the trains or buses. You can only load at the station counter. Hmmm, I thought, much like the London Oyster Card.

Moving on....we were then showed to the platform we required to get to our destination, Hatfield (the last stop). It was platform A. The platform was heavily guarded.

A lot of people change trains at Marlboro Station because it was one of the stations that catered for people going to the airport.

Our train to Hatfield arrived at exactly 10:50am as recorded on the Gautrain timetable. Right on time. And according to the timetable, we would be in Hatfield in 30 minutes time.

The Gautrain ride was enjoyable. There was an occasional shake and grinding sound (not sure if things were starting to rust or what) but for the most part, it was awesome. The train itself was guarded as well, clean, and I believe they also had wi-fi connections onboard although I, myself did not try this. I was too excited with the scenery.

30 minutes later we arrived at the Hatfield Station. Got out and asked for directions on where to get a Gautrain bus to take us to my doctor's offices. Just outside there were buses lined up. They were numbered and each bus serviced a different route. First, you'll need to figure out which bus will take you where you need to go.

My doctor's offices were not too far, about 3km away from the Station. We asked some drivers on which bus to take. Funnily, they could not give us a definite answer. The first bus that we wanted to take would have taken us to the street that we needed to go to, but it was after making 12 other stops beforehand. I thought it would have made me very late for my appointment then.

We took a second bus instead. However, we miscalculated the Stop and when we got off, we realised that the street we wanted to enter was actually closed off from that side and so we had to walk all the way around, which made me late for my appointment anyway.

Further, the buses had a set time of departure but of course, these times were not published on the website. We got to Hatfield on time at 11:20am but the buses were only departing (oddly at the same time) at 11:48am.

The bus ride back to the station was faultless. The Gautrain bus stops were clearly marked on the street. We got to the Hatfield Station at about 2pm and waited for a further 20 minutes for the next train to take us back to Marlboro Station. I slept on the train ride back.

For more information, visit The Gautrain website.

A highly recommended mode of transportation. Now to suggest they take it all the way to the South of Johannesburg right outside my house. That would be great, thank you.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

TCP: Josie And The Pussycats

"Life's a comic!" is the topic for Tuesday Couch Potatoes this week. Our movie choices would be films that are based on comic book characters.

And since I professed my teenage love for my all-time favourite Archie Comics, my choice for this week will be some other characters from the same comic strips I used to read.

I present to you (drumrolls please!) - Josie and the Pussycats!!!

Okay, okay. You're probably thinking what the? it's a wishy-washy choice of a film!

But well, I really loved Josie and the Pussycats when they were still in the comic books. And so when the movie came out, I did not expect anything spectacular. After all, they were comic book characters, the plot would need to be simple enough. And it was. Just like in the comics.

The film stars Rachael Leigh Cook as Josie, Rosario Dawson as Valerie and Tara Reid as Melody.

The movie begins when The Pussycats - Josie, Valerie and Melody - were discovered by a record executive who wanted to make them into popstars. It starts out like a dream come true but unbeknownst to The Pussycats the big record executive is actually using their music to send subliminal advertising messages to the public, including one where the public is persuaded to like The Pussycats' music.

The Pussycats find out in the end and they set out to destroy the "subliminal messaging" machine. They go out to perform at their first concert and let the public judge for themselves.

Like I said, it was a simple story. But it appealed to the teenage in me, the one who loved comic books :-)

For other noteworthy comic-book-come-to-life movies, join us at Tuesday Couch Potatoes.



Monday, August 22, 2011

So You Think You Can Dance - Wii Style

Without further ado, I opened the package sent for me.

A week ago, I decided to add 2 more Wii games to our collection. We do not use our Wii often enough (because of lack of game choices according to my children) so I chose some games that we used to love to play on our old Playstation.

Dance Dance Revolution! DDR!

Well, okay. It's not really THE Dance Dance Revolution. The games were actually Dance Party Club Hits and Just Dance 2. My kids tried it out the first night and were very impressed with the games, not to mention the song choices to dance to. By the third night, they were expert dancers, doing moves like Beyonce's booty shake and Egyptian poses.

Wonder how long till they can go onto "So You Think You Can Dance?"

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Girls Talk - Gobbledygook And The Rest Of The Gang

F1 Help
Egregious - Exceptional, most usually in a negative manner
Cunctation - Delay
Brouhaha - Uproar
Hullabaloo - Fuss
Gadzooks - An expression of surprise or shock
Diddly-squat - Nothing, nothing whatsoever
Eupeptic - Cheerful
Hwyl - mood
Willy-nilly - Haphazard, seemingly at random
Extemporaneous - Random, offhand
Discombobulate - To confuse
Kerfuffle - Commotion, disturbance, disorderly outburst
Selcouth - Strange, unusual, rare
Gobbledygook - Something written in an incomprehensible manner
Malarkey - Rubbish, nonsense
Flibbertigibbet - A flighty person
Floccinaucinihilipilificate - To regard or describe something as unimportant
Lickety-split - As fast as possible
Wabbit - Tired, exhausted
Lippitude - Soreness of the eyes

Before you go on reading this post, I hope you familiarise yourself with the list of words above. The egregious manner in which this post is written will surely cause a slight cunctation in your reading.

I am making a brouhaha and hullabaloo about this week's Girls Talk. We are to talk about funny or weird words but gadzooks! Even being the funniest person I know, I have come up with diddly-squat.

However, I remained in a eupeptic hwyl. In a willy-nilly moment, I used all the extemporaneous, weird and funny words I've gathered on the internet to formulate this one post.

Oh dear. I did not mean to discombobulate you. Nor did I mean to put you in a state of kerfuffle. What a selcouth sight this must be on my blog! I've written gobbledygook! It was such a good idea to start with, now all it looks like is just a bunch of malarkey. Now it makes me sound like a real flibbertigibbet.

Anyway, I do not mean to floccinaucinihilipilificate this exercise but I have nothing much to add. I will wrap this up lickety-split. I am starting to feel wabbit and am getting a bit of lippitude.

Nosebleed on these weird and funny words!

Novice Blogging - Note #30 (Google Plus One)

I'm gonna jump in every blogger's bandwagon at the moment although I might be a little late for the party already. You see, I only recently discovered the Google Plus One.


Google Plus One is very similar to the Facebook "Like" and the Twitter buttons.

I've decided to research and hit other websites to see how to add this little widget onto my posts.

And that's it! Or anyways, as far as I went with my Google Plus One widget. Hope you enjoy putting one up on your blog.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

TCP: Star Trek (2009)

The theme for this week's Tuesday Couch Potatoes is Spaced Out.

I'm gonna deviate a little from the plot and not talk about astronauts. Well, they could be classified as astronauts but more like adventurers of a different kind.


I'm talking about the people of the Federation from the movie STAR TREK. Yes, there have been many remakes and versions and one has only to google Star Trek and all these little mushrooms of star trekkies pop up.

My choice would be the latest version of this film, which was done in 2009, starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, in the lead. I was really quite impressed as to how they've made the film fresh and relevant to the current generation. The film follows the story of Captain James T Kirk (Pine) and his path to greatness aboard the starship Enterprise. Here he meets the alien Spock (Quinto) and their friendship, or rather mutual respect for each other, began.

It was the highest grossing film in the Star Trek series. It was also credited as a reboot of the series. (All this according to Wikipedia).

Can't wait for the next instalment which is rumoured to be due out in 2012.

Monday, August 15, 2011

What I Know For Sure....About My Family

I am pretty sure my husband and my kids will forgive me this time if I don't talk about them when I broach the subject of family. I think they'll be equally glad that now when I talk about family, I actually have more members to talk about then just the 3 of them.

Blood is thicker than water. Or so the saying goes. Somehow I never quite truly believed that.

When I was younger, I used to have this "me against the whole world" sentiment. I came from a broken family and my parents, who both became overseas workers, left me in the care of relatives during my teen years. These were rebellious years although I did not really feel much of a rebel that time. In fact, like I said, it was "me against the whole world". Suffice it to say that my stay and relationship with my relatives were not much to write home about. Be it the younger or the older generation of my relatives, my relationship with them was all the same.

I got my chance when I came to South Africa in 1992. Once I left the Philippines, I did not have any kind of relationship with my relatives. At all. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Totally non-existent.

When I first went back in 1996 and again in 1997, the relationship (if any) looked a little repaired and amicable but still had a few scars left, remnants of the old days when I felt that they were all against me. And so I was cautious and guarded. I still felt the funny feeling and so I think there was always this stigma of going back to the Philippines and seeing them. I stayed away for a very long time.

I finally went back to the Philippines 4 weeks ago, after 14 long years. I had a shortlived visit of about 6 days to attend and sort out some personal issues. I was a little tense and pensive before I arrived.

But somehow, this time was different. I have never felt more a part and accepted by my relatives than I did in the 6 days I had with them. Maybe it was the distance, the perceptions, the ideas, the age or maybe it was just time that healed all things past. I actually enjoyed seeing my uncles and aunts and my cousins again. I spent time with them and it was simple and uncomplicated.

And so, with this experience, it has taught me:

1. Blood is thicker than water (I say it with more conviction now)
2. Family is family no matter really what you think of them
3. The past is never always a true reflection of what happened (especially in my mind)
4. Time heals all wounds
5. And age probably has something to do with it as acceptance with everything settles in

This is what I know for sure about my family. And I am glad I know this now.

Friday, August 12, 2011

An Award To Brrr About


It is confirmed. My eldest is a seasoned hockey player. And she's got an award certificate and a (tiny) trophy to show for it!

We were recently invited to a school awards night to honour all school athletes and their achievements. My eldest was getting an award that night - as the best hockey player for the under-15 team.

I actually admire my child for her athletic triumphs as I've never been much of a mover when I was in school. I was just a nerd. She, on the other hand, is a nerd and an athlete....er, I mean, beauty and brains and strength put together - beat that!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Girls Talk - A Bit About Tatts

The newest English words I have learnt recently.....

I was listening to the radio one morning while I was driving to work, while the DJs at a local station were talking about tattoos and their effects on people's images. The words TRAMP STAMP came up and I wondered what it was. For a moment there, I was lost. I knew what a TRAMP was and what a STAMP was, but what was TRAMP STAMP?

According to Wikipedia, TRAMP STAMP is slang for lower back tattoo. A tattoo in the lower back apparently denotes naughtiness and promiscuity, that's why it was commonly referred to as TRAMP STAMP. Fancy that.
 
Not my photo...It's Barbie's x-rated back side

Even Barbie had a TRAMP STAMP in 2009. See hers above :-) Kids, please do not try this at home.

Me, I would have just referred to it as the "Tattoo By The Butt".

My share for Girls Talk.

Weighing In: New Feasible Diet

It has been a while since my last "weigh in".

I am hungry, er happy to announce that I am currently in the midst of a new diet. I do not know what this new diet is called. I don't even think it is valid as a diet because everything is on the menu; it is more like a plate, er play, on foods.

Be warned though that this is not (not yet anyway) my actual menu. I borrowed it from a friend, for whom this menu actually worked. She gave me the workings and I followed it for 8 days. And I must say, that the menu is eat-able. I have now made the decision to see the same dietitian (my friend's dietitian) to get my own proper menu.

The diet was that everything can be eaten but they all had to be measured and weighed before going into your mouth. My first 3 days were not too bad although I realised on the first day, when I weighed the chicken I was supposed to eat at lunch, that a 1/4 chicken is way, way too big a portion. I simply could not believe this at first.

So all throughout my 8 days, I went through the emotions of surprise, denial, desperation and acceptance. My 5th and 6th day were especially hard as my mind kept telling me I was starving. But the order of the day was just to sleep it off. And so I did and went to bed early.

I don't know if I'll be successful as it's too early to tell. But I can definitely see some promise in this diet if I keep going. In those 8 days alone, I have lost just over 1kg. And there are many more to lose. So wish me luck on this. That I finally stick with it.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

TCP: Serendipity In New York


This week at Tuesday Couch Potatoes, we feature films that were set in New York City.

My choice for this theme is (one of my fave) the 2001 romantic comedy, Serendipity, starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. It's a very simple love story that has a lot to do with chance and opportunity.

Two strangers, Jonathan (Cusack) and Sara (Beckinsale) meet on Christmas Eve as they both try to buy the same pair of gloves at Bloomingdale's in New York City. Despite each being involved in other relationships, an instant attraction between them could not be denied. Jonathan and Sara then spent the whole afternoon together, eating ice cream, walking and talking through the streets of Manhattan and finally, ice-skating...cleverly avoiding to mention each other's names. When the day drew to a close, Jonathan asked Sara for her contact details. Sara asked Jonathan to write his name and phone number on a $5 bill, while she writes her name and number on the cover of a used copy of "Love In The Time Of Cholera". Sara believes that they should let fate decide their future and tries to convince Jonathan that if they are really meant for each other, she will find the $5 bill, with his name on it, again and he, in turn, will find the book, with her details on it.

Flash forward to seven years later and both Jonathan and Sara are engaged to be married to other people. But as the wedding days approach, both find that they are getting cold feet, thinking about each other and wondering about the what-if?

Both return to New York and go to great lengths to find each other again. However, they always just seem to miss each other. On the eve of his wedding, his fiance hands Jonathan a copy of the book "Love In The Time Of Cholera" as a groom's gift. To his surprise, the book is the one with Sara's details on. He sets off to find her.

On the other hand, Sara realises that she did not love her fiance and decides to break off the wedding. Unknown to her, while shopping in New York, she had actually already picked up Jonathan's $5 bill. As she was paying for something, she notices the bill and sees Jonathan's contact. She hunts him down only to find out that he was getting married that day. She arrives at the reception, thinking that the wedding had already ended, just to be told that the wedding had been cancelled. She was so happy and went off to search for Jonathan again.

Jonathan and Sara finally meet up at the ice skating rink where they went on that first night that they met. And both knew right there and then, that it was serendipity.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Nestea Iced Tea

As I was packing my last bits of baggage in my week-long stay in the Philippines a month ago, my aunt urged me to pack a litre jug and a few packets of Litro Pack Nestea Iced Tea Lemon Flavor. I tried to refuse the "gifts" thinking that why would I want to take these if we had Nestea in South Africa?

Thank God, my aunt gave me these. I can't get enough of them. I had forgotten why I loved them so much. The ones here in South Africa are never quite the same as they have already been pre-mixed and bought via 500ml bottles. That's probably why I never buy them here. I can't remember when I last had Nestea.

The joy of mixing the concentrated powder with water and getting something real good....Ah, that's the simple life and happiness.

Friday, August 5, 2011

My Child, The Mouse Poet

A few months ago, my child was given a piece of paper with a poem that she had to memorise. It took her several days but she did the memorising with much enthusiasm. Her poem was entitled "No Hickory, No Dickory, No Dock". The poem talks about a mouse being blamed for running up a clock which it did not do. It confesses to eating the house owner's cheese and running under the bed but it simply denied ever running up the clock.

(I think this is where Missy smelled a rat. Anyways.....)

There was promise in her performance and so her Grade 1 teacher chose her to enter the Eisteddfod, which is an annual showcase of school talents all over Gauteng. Daughter and I were thrilled. This was gonna be her first Eisteddfod (hopefully the start of many more). We earnestly practiced the poem each night, each line, each emotion.

The Eisteddfod was held last Friday and I am very proud to report that she got a gold certificate for her efforts.

Well done, my child!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Girls Talk - Favourite Word


I will totally concur with our Girls Talk host, Kaye, on this topic. It is simply too difficult to choose just one word. For Girls Talk this month, we will be celebrating our love of words (as bloggers) and for this week, we showcase our most favourite word.

I will choose something simple and say that my favourite word is "Yeah". What a word, hey? Trust me and my love of music to take a word that is way over-used in the music business.

A little story behind this word for me:
I remember when I first started working professionally that I used this word a lot when asked if I'd already done a certain job or have I followed up something. Just goes to show that in my line of work, I have to answer too many yes and no questions, haha.

One day, a colleague commented that he just loved the way I answered because I said "yeah" with such an American accent. Of course, in South Africa, most of them have British accents and so my "yeah" really stood out.

After many, many years in my adopted African country, I have yet to lose my accent. And I still love answering most things "yeah"!

So, yeah....that's my word!

P.S. Hubby disagrees with this post as he says my favourite word is "Dy", which is the last syllable of his name. He tells me that I can't resist using this word because I can't stop looking for him when he is out of my sight or that I like to find things for him to do (when I am in slave-driver wife mode).

Novice Blogging - Note #29 (Paid-For Contents)

So if you do get the offer and you have to do it, what do you write about when it is a paid-for content?

Most of the product reviews I've done in the past were not really paid-for contents. They were really just my own personal opinion. But I think if I do get an assignment to review a product, I would not have much choice but to write my own thing about it.

On my very first paid-for content recently, I was just asked to mention the products presented on a post, which I did, and add the website links, which I did. It was as easy as that.

Of course, I can see that writing about products and items not relevant to your blog might just become a bit of a problem. However, Blogsvertise is there to eliminate most of these kinds of issue. They will only link advertisers with bloggers of a specific interest. Meaning assignments for baby products will mostly be sent out to mommybloggers, and so on and so it goes.

If you are wanting to try your hand with a bit of advertising on your side, this is something that can easily be set up and attempted. Nothing too fancy and nothing too complicated.

Try it and see.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Tuesday Couch Potatoes: Famous!


Can't believe that I am part of such a momentous occasion! Tuesday Couch Potatoes, hosted by kikamz, is celebrating its 100th edition this week! Yehey!

And for this week's topic of movies based on the lives of famous people, I have chosen The Social Network, a film about the rise of the famous - or infamous - Facebook and its recognised founder, Mark Zuckerberg.

I thought it apt to talk about this particular social network as who hasn't heard of Facebook these days? Even people in China, who are blocked from using Facebook, knows about Facebook because they are blocked from using it :-)

Anyway, the movie chronicles the university days of Mark Zuckerberg when he was still developing the social networking site and its break on the web scene years later. It brings to the fore Zuckerberg's relationship with his friends (who started the project with him) and its deterioration.

It highlights the irony that although Facebook is a social tool, it has "destroyed" Zuckerberg's social credibility when it comes to true friendships and relationships. It has been said though that the film is only loosely based on the true story of Facebook and some of the scenes have been dramatised to create more entertainment in the film.

This would be a good movie for people who like to know the history of certain things, especially something as big as Facebook.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Wicounts And Groupons And Everything Nice

It's official. I am on the bandwagon, just like everyone else. Everyone who knows about Wicounts and Groupons, that is.

Wicounts and Groupons are both websites offering online daily specials/deals at discounted rate on just about anything. The mechanics of the websites are that they must get enough customers to "buy" the discounted deal. Once the target number of customers is reached, the customers who have "bought" the deal will benefit by getting vouchers. The vouchers are redeemed with the supplier of the deal. Of course, once the deal goes through, the payment is collectable, either via electronic funds transfer (EFT) or credit card.

I must admit, I was a bit skeptical at first. So, for my very first "bought" deal, I decided to test it out with something that did not cost me anything. The deal was for a meal worth R70 (around $11) for FREE. I got my voucher and redeemed it at the supplier a week later. The whole thing went off without a hitch. And from then on, I've been scouting for specials!

So far, I have had discounts on a family visit to the Lion Park, mother-daughter facials, haircut, family lunch....I am just waiting for the big one on accommodations. Haven't really quite settled on a holiday location yet.

But definitely, I am hooked!