Justin Germino Ramblings

So a family was giving Donut who is a seven year old Boston Terrier female up and we decided to open our home and foster her before we determine if we want to keep her with our family. She gets along very well with the kids and is already housebroken and has a great and loving personality. Porky who is our two year old male Boston Terrier wasn’t aggressive but did start getting a little rough with her as they started checking each other out and determining the pecking order.

Donut now makes our household a two Boston Terrier household for the first time since Gouda our first Boston Terrier had to be put to sleep in November 2009 for having violent seizures.

Here are some pictures of Donut joining the family (I think she will work out fine):

She has some funny behaviors like trying to nurse on your arm when you sit on the couch with her, she nuzzles her mouth in the inside of your elbow and you do have to keep reminding her not to do it. I haven’t seen a dog with this behavior before but have seen nursing instincts with cats. She also sits on command and is able to open doors with latches by herself by jumping up on the handle and pulling at the same time. I wound up sleeping downstairs on the couch last night while my wife and Porky slept in the bedroom upstairs while we got her acclimated to her new environment.

-Justin Germino

I enjoy two types of PC games mostly and those are Real Time Strategy (RTS) Games and Role Playing Games (RPG) games. I have not purchased a PC game in about two years for my computer (not since Guild Wars and the expansion packs). I did purchase Starcraft Gold Box for my son and play with him over the LAN, but I don’t consider that purchase for myself (I did purchase and play Starcraft I and Brood Wars back in the late 90’s, ironic that I had to buy the same game again 14 years later).

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty will likely be the next PC Game I purchase when it releases on July 27th 2010. I am such a fan of Blizzard and the teaser trailers have been so amazing that I am looking forward to delving into the Real Time Strategy game series that set the bar so high over a decade ago. I have heard some negative things about the Battle.NET 2 and how it works, I also don’t even know if it will support playing my son over our local LAN without Battle.NET like the original did. But I don’t really care very much either way, unlike most people who play RTS games I play them for the Single Player Story mode. I don’t really have the time to do constant WAN battles with other live players. I enjoy games where I can join, play for thirty minutes then save it and continue where I left off at a later date.

So I will likely play Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty just for its single player mode and storyline, but unlike with StarCraft 1 where I took an entire week vacation to play the game. I will likely only be able to play StarCraft II on nights and weekends (I am just too busy at work to take vacation just to play a game during the day). Though I miss the days when I could take time off to do just such trivial things.

Who else is looking forward to StarCraft II and do you think the hype and the legendary Blizzard Entertainment will have another winner?

-Justin Germino

Finally we took our new Tracker V14 Guide boat to Woods Canyon Lake in Northern Arizona yesterday to do a little fishing for trout. We love to fish in the Rim country and the weather in Northern Arizona is about 25 degrees cooler than it is down in the Southern part of the state. The smell of fresh pine trees and the lake is always a pleasant experience. My kids were outfitted with brand new life jackets and we even brought my dog Porky on the boat with us.

We arrived at Woods Canyon Lake after about a three and a half hour drive from Casa Grande and had a little trouble backing the boat trailer into the water, funny thing trying to reverse a boat trailer from a Truck and it is pretty tricky as the trailer bends and turns in ways you don’t want it to. After about five minutes however we were able to get the boat into the water and released from the trailer. We were all loaded and in taking off with our battery powered motor.


Unfortunately, you see those darkening clouds behind me?

We were on the water not more than two hours when a massive thunderstorm started rolling in on top of us, I managed to snap these photos of the incoming storm before I had to put my camera away before it would get wet and be ruined.

The storm came down fast and furious, at first we just docked the boat at the shore and tied it to a tree hoping the storm would abate. After an hour the storm only intensified and the lightning and thunder was booming so loud that my dog was whimpering when the rain drops fell on him. We had to hitch the boat up in the pouring rain and I had to jump into the lake up to my waist getting my sneakers, socks, pants and shirt completely soaked.

We all rode back in the truck to Phoenix stopping for some hot coffee at Jack in the Box in Payson (which unfortunately had no fresh coffee left and some older cold coffee they just heated in a microwave). As we were driving to Payson though the storm grew so severe that hail the size of moth balls were slamming into the truck and the boat for about ten minutes. I swear the temperature was in the high fifties and with me being completely soaked I was so cold I had to have the heat turned up in the car with the dog laying on my lap so I could absorb some of his body heat.

All in all it was an adventure that was spend with 6 hours of driving and only two hours on the water. The kids had a good time even though we caught no fish and most of the time was spent weathering a savage thunderstorm. This was one heck of a first time to bring the new boat up to Woods Canyon Lake.

-Justin Germino

Blogging and Social Media Safety is a topic that I have seen come up on Twitter several times before and I always find it a little scary when people will broadcast something that may compromise the safety of themselves or their family. One rule of thumb is that when running a blog or social media account that is tied in any way to your real identity you do not want to broadcast that your entire family will be going out of town for a week ahead of time.

It is all too easy for someone to lookup where you live and especially for people who may follow you in the same city and state by looking up your location on Twitter, Foursquare or any other social media service where you may attach your location to. By broadcasting your absence you can potentially open your home up to invasion as people take advantage of those “vacations” to know you won’t be home.

This is a little less risky if you are leaving somebody to tend to your home when traveling and if you do broadcast your trip on your blog you should always mention that someone will be watching or staying at your place while you are gone.

For some cases it is part of your job to broadcast where you are going, such as for a business trip or to an industry trade show…etc. These are more reasons why I think people who have public personalities should consider having alarm systems and security measures in their home. As criminals get more wise to Social Media (besides the affiliate selling spammers) you may find poachers just looking to find out who is away from their house on FourSquare and take advantage of poaching their home while they are away.

Realistic or is this just paranoia, what are your thoughts?

-Justin Germino

I have been far busier these past few weeks at work than I was previously. As I have taken on a new role my challenges lie in making the transition to learn my new position while delegating and letting go of some of the work I did in my former position.

Life is a constant transition and I believe if your are not challenging yourself to learn, achieve and develop new goals on a regular basis you risk becoming complacent and stagnating in skills and life experiences. Remember that whenever you are confronted with something new to do and no matter how daunting the task at hand may seem the experience of what you are doing will be worth it.

Life is a series of challenges, you can’t hide from trying new things.

-Justin Germino

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Swiss Army Knives . All opinions are 100% mine.

I go fishing often enough that I see the value in owning a Swiss Army Knife tool, I am always needing a blade to cut fishing lines, can opener to open canned corn for bait or a phillips head screwdriver for a variety of purposes. I don’t currently own the Dual Pro X but after reading about its features and that it has a very reasonable price it is something that I will likely be putting on my next Father’s day list.

The Dual Pro X come with the following tools, and was modeled after the Victorinox Soldier Knife

• One-Hand Locking Blade
• One-Hand Serrated Locking Seat Belt Cutter
• Phillips Screwdriver
• Can Opener with
• Small Screwdriver
• Bottle Opener
• Large Locking Screwdriver
• Wire Stripper
• Reamer
• Key Ring

This is one pocket sized tool that you can put on your keychain and handle just about any basic need you could run across. Just the other day I was trying to open a box of paper with those heavy plastic straps tied tight and I had no box cutter, knife or anything. I had to serrate my way through the plastic strap with a key which took five minutes before I could get through it. If I had the Dual Pro X I would have had that thing cut in seconds.

Victorinox Swiss Army is also hosting a Share The Adventure contest on their Facebook fan page where you could enter to win a $25,000 ultimate adventure.

They offer creative and fun ways to enter the contest on a regular basis, offering new “Adventures” which get you entries every two weeks.

So if you are looking for a multipurpose tool to have around for when you go camping, fishing, hiking or any other outdoor adventure, you can’t go wrong with a Dual Pro X from Victorinox Swiss Army. Just remember not to have this thing on your keychain or in your pocket when going to an airport!

Your bath tub spout may need to be replaced if you pull up the lever and your shower doesn’t fully engage and water partially still leaks from your tub spout. This is mostly caused by mineral build up in the chrome or metal spout that will block the diverter from fully being able to close the tub spout. In most bathrooms replacing the tub spout is very simple and takes only about ten to fifteen minutes requiring nothing more than a flat screwdriver and in some cases a Phillips screw driver and channel locks. For inquiries, visit plumbergordon.com.au.

Most bath tub spouts are screwed into a metal pipe (copper) that juts out from the wall about 6″ or so. You can find a Universal Tub spout at any one of your home supply stores and they typically will cost you between $15 and $25 dollars depending on the type of metal, appearance and such. Make sure you get a universal one if you don’t know for certain the size of your pipe, if you know you have 1/2″ pipe or 3/4″ pipe then you can purchase the size that is specific to your pipe.

Once you have your tub spout purchased you will need to make sure you have the following tools handy:

• Flat or Phillips Screwdriver about 6″ long
• Channel Locks (only needed if tub spout is so tightly screwed on you can’t remove by hand)
• Waterproof/Tub Caulk (to seal the new spout to your tub)

Step 1 – Remove your old bath tub spout

Most faucet spouts screw onto the pipe jutting out from the wall and can be a bit too tight to just unscrew by hand.  You will want to leverage either a drew driver or a wooden handle (like hammer) and wedge it into the faucet mouth and use your hand to unscrew the faucet from the wall (counter clock wise).  Note:  If you jut something metal into the faucet spout mouth you will scratch/damage the chrome faucet, if you want to keep your faucet intact then wrap it in several layers of saran wrap or put a cloth between the screwdriver and the faucet to prevent the metal from scratching.

Step 2 – Examine the type of thread and pipe on your faucet

You want to look at your old faucet and see how it connected to your pipe, find out if you are using a 3/4″ or 1/2″ connection and determine which configuration to use for your new Universal Faucet. You can also triage your faucet to find out why it wasn’t working properly, in the case of this faucet you can see tons of mineral deposits were blocking the diverter from opening properly and flowing water to the shower.

Step 3 – Attach New Faucet

Attach your new faucet by screwing it onto the pipe thread that is sticking out of the wall. If you have plumbers tape then coil a little around the pipe thread to help ensure a tight fit. You will want to make sure the faucet screws tight all the way up against the wall and the mouth is facing down into the tub. (Obvious right?). You will also note that the faucet may be very hard to screw by hand toward the end so here is where you may want to leverage a hammer handle (rubber or wood) to help you turn the faucet. Remember to put some padding between the handle and the faucet mouth or you will bend/damage your brand new faucet.

After attaching your new faucet, turn the water on and test the faucet and the diverter (if you have one) to make sure water runs through the faucet and alternatively to the shower head.

Step 4 – Caulk Faucet to Wall

The final part is to caulk a medium line surrounding the faucet where it meets the bath tub wall, this will ensure no water flows inside the wall between the faucet and the wall. Make sure you use a waterproof silicone based caulk.

In Review

In summary you can save yourself at least $50 by replacing your tub faucet yourself instead of hiring a plumber, the faucet prices are about $15 – $25 dollars and you save the labor costs of hiring a plumber. Replacing a faucet may need to be done more often if you live in places with very hard water which can increase the likely hood of mineral deposits damaging your faucet. In some cases you can just use CLR or other mineral remover products to destroy the buildup and reuse the same faucet, but in other cases you may just want to replace your bath tub faucet entirely.

-Justin Germino

This was one of the few weeks where I found myself ahead of my blogging schedule instead of struggling to keep up. I had the extra four day weekend and used some of it to queue about 11 posts ahead of time on my three blogs which left me wanting to write and publish more but unsure whether I wanted to schedule a post 9 days out since what I wanted to write about was more about what happened this week and not as interesting if I wrote about it too late.

As a blogger you have to set a consistent post frequency as to give your loyal readers a set date/time they know they can come and get new content to read from your site, however sometimes you just have more that you want to say in one day or a few days than one post per day. Here are some suggestions on how to deal with “extra content” which if you have is a blessing and you should start using your extra content wisely.

Tips on ways to use extra blog content:

• Re-arrange your scheduled posts to make room for new content

Using this tip you would move around your scheduled posts and put the ones that aren’t time sensitive to dates further out in the future so as to make room for your time sensitive posts. This helps you stay ahead of your blogs and you won’t always feel pressured to write every day.

• Submit some of your extra content as guest posts on other blogs

This is highly advantageous and provided it isn’t a personal post (about you) then you can not only gain the potential for a backlink, but also increases exposure to another bloggers readership which could translate to more visitors for your own blog. Just remember if you guest post to visit regularly and respond to comments on your guest post promptly.

• Submit your articles to an online directory or magazine

AssociatedContent, Helium, or any other online content site may be a way to submit an extra article. You should have profiles on as many networks and sites as possible and having a few articles only increases your exposure to potential readers.

• Sell your content

There are many forums where you can list and sell articles that are not published on any other site, and you can get anywhere from $3 to $5 for an article depending on the quality and length of the article. Though I must admit forums like DigitalPoint you see typically people try to sell article packs (not individual articles) you might be able to sell one on oDesk or another service as well.

In Summary:

There are several things you can do if you wrote extra content and are tempted to post too many articles the same day on your own blog, in my opinion it is better to use that content wisely as ways to expand your reach and audience by following some of the above tips. Remember if you sell your article you lose all ownership of it and it won’t benefit you other than the little amount of money you may receive, but people who can generate lots of content could make a good $50 per week or more just writing and selling content to other bloggers who purchase articles to augment their websites.

-Justin Germino

I got way to excited the other day about selling my very first product as an Amazon affiliate, somebody purchased the Sherlock Holmes DVD from one of my affiliate links and I earned a whopping .48 cents commission on the $12 DVD. This speaks volumes because out of my 3500+ blog posts, I maybe have an Amazon affiliate badge posted in 20 posts, the funny thing is I don’t remember ever having a link to affiliate sell Sherlock Holmes DVD (I didn’t even see the movie yet).

I see that this particular affiliate has 45 clicks with a 2.22% CTR rate according to Amazon Affiliate. What I can’t find is which post the affiliate link or image is hosted on so that I can find out where its coming from and on which of my three blogs. I should have been smart enough to use a separate Amazon affiliate channel for each of my blogs, but forget to switch channels and have my same channel with a few ads on all three of my blogs.

Does any of my readers know how to find out what was the originating source of clicks for Amazon Affiliate sale? Amazon has some analytics, but I just can’t figure out the source and a Google query left me empty.

Meanwhile, I am thinking about trying to use Amazon Affiliate sales more cleverly in some of my more popular posts that show up on Google Searches to test and see if any CTR ratio pans out.

-Justin Germino

My sons brand new Dell Laptop came preinstalled with a trial version of McAfee Antivirus and I proceeded to uninstall it and setup Avira instead which I use because it is free, but I noticed that even after uninstalling McCafee from the Windows 7 Uninstall programs menu, it kept showing up after a reboot as a process and kept popping up a reminder that the trial license was about to expire. It was just coincidence that I found an article on Craving Tech that had a full list of all antivirus software removal tools. It was such a comprehensive list and had direct downloads for you to remove:
Alwil Avast, AVG, Kaspersky, Avira, BitDefender, F Security, Norton/Symantec, McAfee, TrendMicro (PCCillin), Windows Live OneCare, Zone Alarm, ESET (NOD32)

I didn’t want to post the links directly because I want you to visit the original source and download the software removal tools directly from Craving Tech, so if you are looking to remove avast antivirus or any other antivirus software, I encourage you to visit the above article and and download the antivirus software removal tool for your specific product.

-Justin Germino