Stuff You Oughta Know - Version 2.0

I would like to think that the reason I haven't posted too often is because I have spent hours tweaking the layout and design of this site. The truth is that I probably wouldn't have spent that time posting anyway. Still, within the last couple of weeks, mostly due to Blogger's recent upgrade, I was able to do a drastic layout change with relative ease. Understand...I know very little about HTML, CSS, or any of the other helpful acronyms that would make maintaining this online life a little easier.

The most useful information that I found came from Hackosphere. This guy knows a whole big lot about making Blogger templates a lot more usable. He writes in a way that even a relative moron like myself can follow. From Hackosphere, I learned to turn Blogger's two-column format into a stylish three-column page; to reintroduce collapsable posts; and to make the label tabs underneath the header, making it easy to find the most popular categories. I suppose the bigger thanks goes to the folks at Blogger for adding labels/categories to the newest version of Blogger.

Hopefully, some snazzy new colors, shiny new functions, and a renewed commitment will help push me to post more often.

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Site Layout Update

Due to the number of restaurant links, the "Stuff You Oughta Know About Where to Eat" section has been resorted alphabetically. You can now easily find any restaurant review sorted by State first, then City, then restaurant name. I am up to 29, and I would be doing a lot better if I could just remember to bring my camera with me when I leave the house once in awhile!

There is a new section in the sidebar called "Stuff Lots of Other People Think You Oughta Know (discussion boards)." These are links to discussion fora that I frequent, at least as a reader, sometimes as a poster. There is a wealth of information contained therein, and the best way to approach as a new user is to search first, ask second! Each of those boards has a wealth of archived knowledged and many frequent posters who generally help out newbies.

My "Upcoming Travel" section has been updated to reflect my next travel down to south Florida for a week at the end of August. I haven't posted the cities to which I will be traveling for work in the fall, because a lot of that travel is up in the air.

Lastly, the newest link in the "Stuff Other People Think You Oughta Know" section is for my pal Dave's site. He describes as "The Official Site of All Things Dave." It is new, so check it out, if you like.

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Site Layout Update Redux

Since the last time I posted about this, I changed a few things around on the layout. All of these changes are to the right hand sidebar. Start at the top, and follow along...

• I added a section for upcoming travel (which, of course, is not up-to-date). If you have suggestions on where to eat or wacky things or places to see, please drop me a note.
• I created links to all of the active restaurant posts. Currently, it is arranged chronologically. Is it easy to follow? Would alphabetically be better? Some other categorization?
• I added a section for complete travel logs. The only one posted currently is actually an INcomplete travel log, but will be done soon. Hopefully, I will add some other posts that all have a common thread in the future.
• I added a Google search bar. You can easily search things on this site or on the whole Internet from right here.
• I added a "Get Firefox" button. I believe in Firefox, and use it myself. It is light years ahead of IE and Netscape, and less susceptible to virus and malicious code than the other browsers.
• I added a few more site feeds. Scroll down (assuming your on the top of the page right now) and you will find some standard readers which you can add easily. Let me know if there are others you would like me to add, and I will see what I can do.

And, yes, I added a few new ads. Any money generated from this site (which I assure you is, as of this very moment, zero!) will be used to pay down my outstanding student loan debt. If companies will pay a little to have an ad here, well, so long as it doesn't become cumbersome, I am OK with it. As for Amazon.com, I am also a user. I will not take any advertisements for anything that I would feel uncomfortable sending anyone to use.

Lastly, if anyone would like to exchange web links, please drop me a line. You should have a history of regular posts (at least as regular as my feeble attempt), your content should be somewhat complimentary to mine (and there are enough topics that I cover to make that happen), and you should add my link. Nothing too complicated, but I do reserve the right to tell you to go fly a kite! :-)

Regularly scheduled programming will continue next...

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Site Layout Update

I have added the ability to keep up with updates automatically. On the right sidebar, you will find links to add this blog to your "My Yahoo" page, which is something that I use daily, as well as a few others. I have subscribed to feedburner, so there are likely a few more feeds that I can add if demand warrants. Really, though, the whole reason to do this is to have my own feed show up on "My Yahoo," which will hopefully guilt me into posting more frequently. When there are no new posts for three days, there is a "no new posts" message that comes up under the site. I don't want to see that, so I will try to post more frequently.

My plan is to add the restaurant reviews in a separate archive on the sidebar, as well. I am not sure if I will organize chronologically, geographically, or categorically. I may try a few different views until I come up with something that I like. If you have any ideas, please post a comment.

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Stuff You Oughta Know...About Stuff That Fascinates Me

Inspired by a post by Madame X, I have always been curious how some people found their way here. There are a handful of people who know me in real life who know that I write here. That number will likely grow soon. There are people who follow links that I post on some "foodie" web sites. But, the real curiosities are the people who find me through a search engine.

So, what things to those in cyberspace want to know that I know? The following is a list, chronologically, of the last people to arrive via a search engine:

free pass to universal studios (these exact words were used twice)
how to get RJ Gators VIG card
understanding fafsa efc computed
hertz five star status
what i wish i knew in high school
fafsa strategy parents
round rock donut calories
how many calories in krispy kremes blueberry cake donut
monument cafe chocolate cake
round rock donuts ingredients
free meal on birthday miami fl restaurants
travel whore
universal studios, "free pass" mail
jewish ramiken
continental elite seating
"Continental Confirmation Number
olin mit admit
living wage uva
travel with kids
Ed Glaze “Gary Larson”
round rock donuts nutritional info
early withdrawl retirement penalty ca pers
doughnut cake tower

The only one that I can't quite figure out on my own in "jewish ramiken", but google clearly knows more than I do.

A few things are plainly evident -- other people are just as baffled as I was when they received a free admission ticket to Universal Studios; people are always on the lookout for a free meal; and I am, in fact, a "travel whore" (easily my favorite of all the search terms that brought folks to my blog).

I wonder about the people searching for the nutritional value of donuts. Donuts have no nutritional value -- THEY'RE DONUTS. For that matter, if you are concerned about the nutritional aspects of donuts, the simplest answer is to not eat them. I don't think we need a Surgeon General's warning here to know that donuts are not health food. How many calories are there in a donut? A LOT! That said, Round Rock donuts are some tasty little morsels, and I don't care about their lack of nutritional value.

I am also more than just a little curious about the those folks who are searching for FAFSA information and filing strategies at this time of year. Please let all of these people be parents of high school juniors. I guess that is way too much to ask. If you are the parent of a senior, FAFSA filing strategies are not likely to help you now -- unless you are being a little proactive and starting on next year. It blows my mind how little information is passed along from most high school guidance offices to parents. I realize that due to my job, I should know more than the average person about this, but it is staggering to think of how much misinformation is out there.

I hope that the folks who searched found what they were looking for....well, except for the guy who was looking for a travel whore.

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Introduction

This is a site dedicated to all the folks who have asked me, over time, how I have been able to accomplish things. For instance, others have asked how I got the nice rental car, while they drive the ol' 2-door "Speck?" I will tell you. Others want to know how I got the nicer hotel room, first-class flight upgrade, or found the ideal restaurant. I will share.

I will try to stick to discussing topics that I know -- or would like to know about. This may include travel, food, personal finance, my work, pop culture, current events, television, sports, etc. I will leave out the stuff that I know nothing about -- you know, like my personal feelings. You won't have to wade through pages and pages about my personal angst to get to some, hopefully, useful information. On the other hand, if I recently returned from a business trip, I may want to share some information about the great burgers I found in Fort Worth.

The topics about which I post most frequently are listed above, as tabs. The rest of the labels can be found on the right hand sidebar. Poke around. I may have already said something interesting, and you just didn't know it yet. I will try to inject humor (or what passes with me for humor) into what I do here. You may not have the same sense of humor as me, and if that is the case, and you don't like my style, just click somewhere else. The views that I will express are 100% my own and not those of my employer(s) or anyone else. Posts that are someone else's opinion will be clearly stated and properly referenced.

More to come....so, you might want to stick around. You never know when I am going to say something worthwhile. Heck, I don't ever know when I am going to say something worthwhile.

If you are a fellow blogger and would like to exchange links, please drop me an email and we will work something out.

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