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Over the years, I’ve been a member of several sites that give rewards, points, cash, etc. for Internet activity of some sort or another. One of the better ones that I have been part of is TopCashBack. Some information from their site:
TopCashback has partnered with a wide range of stores to offer discounts on your online shopping. When you shop via our partner stores, they will pay a commission for your purchases. Your TopCashback account will be credited and so long as you don’t return the goods we will be able to pass this commission onto you as ‘cashback’, Easy!
- Free to join.
- Get a payout bonus when you get your cashback as a Visa Prepaid card, Amazon.com Gift Card or American Express® Rewards Card.
- Free payouts through ACH and PayPal.
- Be paid whenever you choose.
- No minimum payout amount.
- Stack the savings with cashback + coupons.
- Over 4,400 Online Stores.
- Fair Play policy.
- Invite your friends and earn $10 for each.
- We will never sell your email address.
I can honestly say it has been great! I’ve received quite a bit back with only going through links. There are some times that it doesn’t credit but so far it has always been from having gone through other links or using invalid coupons. If you haven’t already joined, go ahead and use my link. It’s worth your effort! Click here to join TopCashBack.
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So, there’s those moments in life when you are trying to come up with something to eat and you just can’t figure it out. You’ve got food that you can eat but nothing is really sounding good and then it hits you… SPINACH DIP! You begin rummaging around to see what is available to make this….Spinach √ Cream Cheese √ Alfredo Sauce √ Mozzarella… NOPE! So do you give up? Of course not, you improvise and make due with what you have… Shuffling through the refrigerator, I found a wedge of Asiago, some garlic, sour cream and a bit of parmesan… enough to give it a shot. Who wouldn’t love hot gooey cheese?
Ingredients
- 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach (thawed)
- 10 ounces prepared alfredo sauce
- 1 cup shredded asiago cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 pkg softened cream cheese
- 6 ounces sour cream
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- Parmesan cheese to sprinkle over the top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients with a spoon until smooth.
- Place in a glass dish.
- Sprinkle parmesan on the top of the mixture.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, or until browned on top slightly.
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It’s amazing! As a polar vortex takes over 75% of the United States, we have been preparing for extreme cold temperatures, down below zero degree when taking into account the windchill. Schools everywhere have been closing for sickness the previous week and are now closing for extreme cold.
How bad is it? Colleges across the country, including the ones I work for, are closing to ensure students remain safe during these tumultuous times.Of course, not everyone believes we should be closed. In fact, the Governor of Kentucky, Matt Bevins believes that we are going “soft” in these school closures. Not everyone agrees with the governor, in fact, many do not. Al Roker was one of these people and he went as far as to call Gov. Bevins a “nitwit”. I’m not one for calling names and in some isntances understand both sides. Growing up, we didn’t cancel school often and temperatures and snow was often worse than now. I walked to school, stood at bus stops, etc. and have lived to tell the tale. Was it right or wrong all of those years ago? I don’t know. The old saying, “I don’t have a dog in that fight” suits me well right now. I don’t have kids, wouldn’t have been at school anyway because of sickness, nor really care one way or the other… However, name calling is a bit childish either way.
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Whenever you are in the education field the question continually comes up as to whether or not you are going to finish your doctorate. It’s a valid question, it really is. I mean, in any field you should want to get to the top of you field and in education, that’s a doctorate. It’s just not as easy as it may seem though. First, finding a program that is in your field. Second, finding that program geographically close is generally a good thing. Lastly, trying to find any
program that is affordable at the same time with enough rigar to ensure the degree is worth obtaining can be almost impossible. Now take all of those issues and combine them and you’ll know what I’ve went through.I originally started a program at a popular state college that was not really what I wanted but it was A. geographically close and B. economical (free for me). What I found out was that even though A + B was there, it wasn’t the program I wanted and thus it became more tedious than it was really worth for me. In years past, doctorates in IT of any kind were few and far between. Now they are becoming a lot more common, but at the same time they are not necessarily affordable even if they are online with some rigor and in my program.
In other words, for me, my doctorate represents a three-headed monster that seems impossible to find. At some point, it won’t be feasible as I won’t have the willpower to complete it.
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As part of my regular duties, I have various students that come in to the college with previous military experience and/or industry certifications that want to convert these experiences as college credit. Most of the time, we have a set guide for what counts as what, but some of the time it must be evaluated and recommendations given. I’ve been that person in my department that does the initial evaluation and then pass it along to my department chair who agrees most of the time with me. We then forward it to the registrar who will either sign off on and post the credit or seek more information. In a lot of these situations, the American Council on Education (ACE) has already given their guidance on military transcripts, certifications, etc. which just needs verified.
It was through these transcripts that I was interested in how these credits were originally given recommendations by ACE. The more I looked at it, the more I liked what I saw. A general overview of how it works is as follows: An organization will contact ACE seeking a review of curriculum for credit. Depending on the situation, ACE will either fly a team to review or conduct a virtual review. A review team will spend three days looking at materials with first and second reviewers determining the what, how much and what type of credit is to be given, if any. The findings are then given back to the organization which can then decide what changes to implement if necessary and what to do with their recommendations.
I immediately saw that this was something I would enjoy doing and when I saw how to become part of these teams, applied and was accepted as a subject matter expert in several areas of Information Technology. I’ve had the opportunity to participate in a couple of these reviews so far and can say I am impressed with the process we go through to complete the job.
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Plumbing still sucks. I don’t care who you are but if you like plumbing, you must be making money off other people’s woes. I mean, sure, I love indoor plumbing and all of that, but when something goes wrong, good luck. Thankfully, we have friends and family that do care about us and try to help. Father-n-law plumbing came and tried to do what he could. While he was here, we found a Dairy Queen cup left in the wall by that company that promises, “to make it like it never happened.” I was livid but, that’s another story. They also had left about three feet of copper which caused the issue to begin with. Complete laziness on their part, replace all of the copper, no issue.
Unfortunately, what Joe was trying to do wasn’t going to hold the leak. So, instead I sent a text to Dave. He said he’d be right over and indeed he was… on a Saturday no less. A couple of fittings, some PEX pipe, and all was well. Crisis averted. Next up in the remodel will be removing the paneling, drywalling and changing out Jac’s bathroom. One more step to finishing this remodel.
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Since purchasing our house almost eight years ago, we have been in the “process” of remodeling. For anyone that has done this before, you already understand what we have been through… if you haven’t and plan on it, may God protect your soul! We have had plumbing, electrical, and flooring issues. We’ve added walls, removed walls, split rooms and combined rooms. We have added a large deck, enclosed a garage, added walkouts, poured concrete driveways and sidewalks. We have added a roof, added siding, adding stone, and even redone landscaping lights. We have added dirt, moved dirt and landscaped. In other words, we have done it all. Do you know what I hate more than anything? Plumbing.
If anyone tells you that plumbing is easy, do not believe them. They are lying to you in order to make you part of their club.
The old adage that copper is best and will last forever, is false. What you see here is a tiny, tiny pinhole leak that only leaks when the water is pushing through. It happens to be on a toilet so every time it flushes it has a little bit of what come out. Over time, it has made little mess that needs fixed, but all in all this gets to be replaced. Want to guess what is to the let of this? PEX. We had an agency come and “Make it like it never happened” and this is where they stopped. They left three foot of copper. Needless to say, if you want it done right, do it yourself. This part is soon to be replaced with PEX, leaving us with maybe ten percent new copper in the entire house.If you have ever doubted whether or not to use PEX, heed my advice, use it. Copper leaks. Perhaps it didn’t before the chemicals began to be added to our water supply, but it definitely does now.
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Have I mentioned I hate being sick? I don’t like anything about it and generally just want left alone.
When I am coughing and have a sore throat, one thing I have come to love since being married to my wife Jacque is her granny’s famous tea — Granny Bailey Tea. It’s not hard to make:- Steep several bags of Lipton’s Tea
- Add a lot of sugar
- Pour in a cup
- Add milk to turn the color
As you drink the tea, it coats your throat soothing the rawness from coughing. I’m thankful for Granny Bailey Tea today and am looking forward to no more coughing.
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Let me start off by saying that I hate being sick… I truly do. I don’t like coughing, sneezing, snotting, runny nose, sore throat, fevers, bathroom issues, or anything else that might come along with any kind of sickness. More than anything though, I hate to throw up. There are people out there that are always claiming they are sick. I think some even might enjoy it. I don’t understand those people at all. I hate being sick. I don’t want the attention it brings. I don’t want to stay at home in bed. I have things I need to do. I hate being sick.
Right now, I am sick, probably a sinus infection, but the fear of what if it’s the flu always tries to sneak in. Earlier today, the local school system closed for two days (Thursday and Friday) so that it could be sanitized due to record low attendance across several schools in the system due to Flu. I hate that thought. I feel lucky so far that I don’t have to worry about throwing up. Instead, I’ll continue to cough and hack, blow my nose and just be a bit miserable.
I am still thankful tho. I’m thankful it’s only an infection. I’m thankful I was able to get the doctor to call in antibiotics. I’m even thankful that I work for a place that I can stay home. I’ll still have to grade papers, respond to emails, etc. but I won’t have to drive the three and a half-hours to sit at a desk and be miserable. Did I mention I hate being sick? I really do. I am also thankful that I know that this sickness will run its course and leave me sooner than later. It will only be a memory, albeit a bad one, but one that will go away.
Did I mention I hate being sick?
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If you live in the state of Kentucky, you have no other choice than to bleed blue… there’s just something about the water that we drink as we are growing up, the grass we walk upon, or the blue sky overhead as we play outside. Kentucky runs through my veins and most of the rest of the state! It’s why we are called Big Blue Nation! BBN!
We love our Cats, regardless of the sport, but we are primarily a basketball school with media coverage far and wide. Latey, our football team has been competitive in the battlegrounds of what is the SEC. Could we be more competitive in another league in football? Probably, but now that we have put in a competitive team, there are hopes that it continues for more years to come.
Our cheerleaders have won yet again this year, another National Championship, their 24th. What other program does this? What other college can put together championships after championships? It’s a simple answer…. no other. It’s why we are… UK!
