In the kitchen again!

Don't be disgusted just yet! This is a simple and quick dish that I made using an avocado, two eggs, some feta cheese, and some spices. It was really simple, too. I just scooped out some of the inside, cracked the egg into the avocado, and then put on the cheese and spices. I set my over to 350 and let it back for about 25 minutes. The closer to the heat, the better. This was my first time cooking this item, but it wasn't terrible. It's true there is a handful of things I would rather eat, but I think if I find the right combo of spices and salts and such, this could be a nice and healthy snack to have time to time.

How I plan to have income during College

I head off to college in less then a month and I have been pondering ways to make passive/easy income since I don't plan on working during school. I've been doing some major searching over the past few weeks and I think I have come up with a good combination of sites and services that will help me make profit during my time in school.

First off, and most evident in this blog would be Google AdSense. By using their ad service I am able to make profit (however little it may be) off this blog. As of writing this post I have made $50 from Google AdSense and I will be able to get my first check once I hit the $100 minimum.

Secondly, I have been using the Android app called Locket. With this app, you are paid $.03 every hour for unlocking your Android device. They pay directly to a PayPal account once you have earned $10. This may seem like it will take a while to acquire, but once you hit the $10 minimum, you can think of it as free money, because that it what it is.



The next two ways I plan to make money are a bit more sketchy and may steer people away, but I find them to be well designed, well reviewed, and fun/engaging! These sites are sister sites and run very similarly.

The first one I found was called PaidViewPoint. It is basically, a survey site. That being said, it runs very smoothly and shows users how much progress they have made and offers a lot of other features. Not only does it show the cash you have earned, but it has a feature called a "TraitScore" which rates how consistently you answer survey questions the same way. Meaning, if you answer with your honest opinion every time, the site will know and reward you with more cash for completing a survey. Sometimes you will be asked to complete a survey just to improve your TraitScore and even these surveys will pay you. All earnings will go to a PayPal account and you are able to cash out once you have reached a $25 minimum.

The second of these two sites is called InstantCashSweepstakes. This site has the same feel as PaidViewPoint but is much less about surveys. Once you sign up and create your profile, you are able to start taking short surveys that take less then 30 seconds to complete. Each survey can you earn you a small cash reward, tickets, or coins. These tickets and coins can be used to earn more cash. The tickets are used in a daily $50 cash drawing. Once the timer resets, so does your ticket amount, so the more tickets you earn in the 24 hour period, the more likely you will win the $50. Coins are used much in the same way, but instead of a $50 drawing every 24 hours, they are used in a simple $2 drawing every 4 hours. It is a bit harder to earn cash on this site, but I find it more fun because the simple little surveys are interesting and sometimes they are funny. The minimum amount of cash you need to send funds to a PayPal account is $2.00 which is much lower than the other sites I mentioned. Cash is pretty slow to earn here and that is why the minimum payout is so low, but it's probably the easiest and most fun way to earn money.

Pictures from around the house

I really am enjoying taking pictures of the things I find outside. I like seeing how well each individual leaf or branch turns out. Nothing is coming out with a bad quality and some of the shots are making me very happy. I almost don't want to start adding filters because I feel like it will start to ruin the appreciation for the raw image.

I think I'll stick to snapping landscape pictures for right now. I don't think people or my friends would really appreciate if I took pictures with them in it. . .

Testing my skills with Picasa and my new camera

I got off work around 7pm this evening and I decided that I still had time to go for a walk. The sun was starting to set and I though it would be a great chance for me to try and use my camera to get some good shots of the landscape. I usually walk at Boyscout lake so it wasn't too hard to find some beautiful trees to get some snaps in. I know Picasa has some editing tools that I can use in the future but for right now I want to just display some raw images that I took. 

None of the images are that bad of quality if you ask me. But then again, everyone probably says that about their own photography. At least everything came out clear, that sounds a bit better. Hopefully I'll get better as time goes on. 

Tinkering with a camera I found

I found a 14.2 MP camera in a drawer at my house today. I decided to plug it in, learn how to operate the thing, and learn how to transfer the files off it. I have no clue how old the camera is and what the exact model is. (though I'm sure it's easy enough to figure out) I'm not really sure if I see any real difference in the pictures I took off my 5 MP phone camera and this 14.2 MP digital camera.

Maybe if I play around a bit more and take some more shots I'll be able to get a better feeling and understanding of how to use use actual cameras as opposed to my phones' camera. 

If you have an Android phone, you'll want to see this!

So I recently discovered an app for Android called Locket that pays you $0.03 an hour to just to have installed on your phone. It's an awesome concept. The app has companies pay to use them to advertise. The app is a lock screen for your phone and all you have to do is swipe for money. You can either swipe left to see the ad, or you can swipe right to unlock your phone. Either way, you earn money.

It's not just bloaty and tacking looking ads though, they're really nice looking and some of them are actually pretty interesting to check out! If you're into making money, you enjoy having a nice looking lock screen, or you want to see some new types of ads on your phone, the Locket App is worth a try!

Just click this link to get started making money!

I got a letter from Google in the mail today!

If you don't think getting a letter from Google is legit, then I don't know what you want from me! That's the best I can do... Unless, you know, I get a check from Google. Which might be coming in the near future! ;] 

The many ties of an Arbys Manager

I'd like to take a moment and just create a post highlighting all my favorite ties that I wear to work. Only a select few ties actually work with my beige colored shirt. And only a select few ties work with the knots that I want to tie. So here is a collection of some of the fantastic knots that I have been tying ever day before I go to work.

(How to tie the Eldredge Knot and how to tie a Bow Tie. )

(Props to +Graham Reese for helping me learn how to tie a bow tie!)

Better luck next time, Lid Presser

I was at Arbys today and I opened a new package of medium lids for our drink cups. I got about half-way through the pack when I found these two lids stuck to each other. I thought they were kinda unique because the first lid looks EXACTLY like a Civil War era hat. The second lid was shaped completely normal but the little 'x' that is cut into every lid is completely off center. 

I dunno, I guess it's strange little things like this that get me through the work day. 

A night with my favorite ladies

After having drove for 5 hours today and failing a test that I was in no way ready for, I was able to come back to a warm welcome by two of my favorite girls and some pie. Katie is either trying to fatten me up, or get me to wife her up! (And with assorted pies, both of those plans are working! )

I'll never learn my lesson.

You would think that after jogging in the 90 degree weather the other day that I would learn not to do it anymore. But alas, I seem to never learn my lesson. I'm a glutton for punishment. (well, just a glutton in general, really.) But how else will I be prepared for my triathlon in August? Gotta start going crazy now. 

PPotD! (7-15-13)

I'm sorry but this picture was too adorable NOT to post. She was so relaxed she even let me take 3 pictures of her because I couldn't get my flash to work just right. I think I was about to capture the maximum amount of cute in this one photo, though. So enjoy! 

Who says I'm not good with arts and crafts?

So I was feeling productive on my day off. Even if I did wake up at 1pm. (Hey, I got to bed at 5am, so don't judge me.) I was invited to go to Wal*mart with Katie so I decided to pick up a few things for myself.

Recently at Arbys, the managers have been taking some serious strides to improve the quality of our store. Not that it's in bad quality now, but there is always room for improvement! One of my managers suggested that her and I create a task board when we both have a day off together. It's very rare for us to get a day off together so I figured I would step up my game and do it solo. Less stress for her, I'd say.

Going back to my elementary school days, I just had to re-find my inner child and create a poster board that covered everything we needed. It has every day of the week, a spot to list the task for that day, and a spot to put a check mark when the task is complete. I don't think I could have made it anymore simple and to the point.

Hopefully this will get used and I'll see some improvements around the store! 

Had a pretty FUN. night.

(I'm sure there is a diarrhea joke or a gay joke to be made here...)

(Hard to see, but this was Tegan and Sara opening for FUN.)

(FUN. letting off some confetti half-way through the show.)

It has been over a year since I went to a concert. My first one was the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This time I got my hands on some tickets to see Tegan and Sara along with +Fun. It was a pretty good concert, but it was an open venue so we had to stand the whole time. The only miserable part was actually waiting in line to get to the venue. The line literally wrapped back out toward the highway and went under an overpass. The weather didn't get either. It was 90 degrees and there were not clouds. I think people were passing out from  heat exhaustion because ambulances kept going by and going toward the end of the line. 

Apart from the horrible heat and having to stand, it was still a pretty FUN. experience.

[ +Graham Reese +Chase Ruhlen ]

PPotD! (7-14-13)

Yeah, not really. This is actually a picture my mom just sent while she was out antique-ing. I really wish I knew what kind of animal this was at one time. Some sort of fox-thing? I'm not too sure. Maybe it was cute at one time? All I know is that some poor taxidermy job ruined him for good.

It was 90 degrees with no cloud coverage. What's your excuse?

I decided to jog today because I wasn't doing anything too important and it looked nice out. I didn't check the weather or temperature and just put my exercise clothes on and went outside. About 2 minutes into my jog I realized this was a HORRIBLE idea. It was almost 90 degrees outside and there were no clouds out to cover me from the beating sun. Half-way through my face began to get tingly and I started to get a tingly feeling on my tongue. However, being the stubborn overweight kid that I am, I decided to keep jogging and finish what I started. 30 minutes after I got home and showered, I am still sweating.

Would I do it all again? Probably.

I don't have a problem, I swear.

As a graduation gift, Katie bought me a book cover case for my tablet and I really liked how it worked and made my tablet feel. In fact, I liked it so much that I bought a matching one for my phone as well. I was always told to match my accessories! Perhaps I'll even get different colors of each...

I'm not addicted to +Samsung USA stuff, I swear.

No going back now.

Although it may say it's thanking me for signing up for the Triathlon, it's actually an invitation to my own funeral. I'm not likely to make it out of this endevour a live...

The Steam Summer Sale is here...

All PC gamers need to hide their wallets ASAP. Seriously, this can't end well for my Wallet. 11 days is not enough time to buy all the games that I need to...

Get rich, or die trying!

If you can't easily read this image, this is basically my earning report from Google AdSense. This means that I have earned my first $10 thanks to everyone who has been viewing my blog and taking interest in the ads. Now I have $10 earned, I have entered my payment information and once I earn $100 I will be well on my way to getting a big check from Google!