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I used to be the girl who had a perfume to match every outfit and every mood. I had a collection that would rival the perfume counter at one of your finer department stores. I kid you not. Then I discovered Champagne by Yves Saint Laurent. We had a short and torrid affair until all of the sudden, YSL stopped making Champagne. Turns out they got sued by the Champagne region of France for using the same. So, YSL put out a perfume that was supposedly the same formula, called Yvresse. I tested both Champagne and Yvresse on my arms at the same time and I am here to tell you they are not identical.

So, I buy Champagne (the perfume, not the alcohol) on auction sites now, but it is usually very expensive. Plus, the auctions are fewer and further between as the years pass. Tonight I used AuctionSHARK to do a search for people listing Champagne perfume across all auction sites, instead of checking each one separately. What a breeze. I put in the term “Champagne perfume” and some actual alcoholic Champagne showered up in my search results, so I just clicked on the link for Perfumes and Colognes within my search results. Viola! My search was narrowed down quite a bit and I was able to find auctions and stores carrying Champagne for prices anywhere from $2.99 (a mostly used bottle) to right about $75 (what I expected to find).

I hadn’t actually thought of using one central search to look for auctions on several systems before. I’m pretty psyched about my find.

I was just going to go take a shower when I looked down at my shampoo and actually took the time to read what is printed on the front to the bottle. I had never done that before. It’s Amazing Grace by Philosophy and blurb is so beautiful that I just had to post it:

life is a classroom. we are both student and teacher. each day is a test. and each day we receive a passing or failing grade in one particular subject: grace. grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners, reverence, and the list goes on. it’s something money can’t buy and credentials rarely produce. being the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, the richest, or even the poorest, can’t help. being a humble person can and being a helpful person can guide you through your days with grace and gratitude.

I’ve been asked to give a fair and impartial review of a service called Home Camera. I will say up front that I find the product exciting and from here on out, I will simply just fill you in on the concept and the features. I’m interested in making this as informative as possible.

Home Camera is a free Internet home surveillance camera system. Using Home Camera is as simple as download the free software, entering your home camera user ID and connecting. Then, no matter where you are in the world, you can logon to the internet (using a PC, a PDA, or a mobile phone) and take a look at what your webcam is seeing in your home. Home Camera event supports motion detection and time-lapse recording. You just use the webcam you already own. There is no need to purchase new equipment. In fact, you can connect up to four webcams to the system.

The service is 100% while Home Camera is in beta. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. We get free use of a cool system. They get lots of new users to give the system a whirl and report any bugs that might pop up in the software.

I like the idea of having an easy to use system that will also me to use equipment I already own to monitor my home. It’s perfect to use as a “nanny cam” or even just to aim at your front door while you are gone to make sure nobody is trying to get in. Maybe you have problems with your neighbors letting their dog use your yard to do its business. Just aim you r cam out the window and into the yard.

You can even go about your day and let Home Camera send you alerts when the motion detection system is triggered. Set your account to record videos or snapshots using your webcam and you can store all of the information on Home Camera’s servers for up to one month.

You have nothing to lose in testing out the Home Camera service, especially while it is in Beta and costs you nothing. In fact, people who sigh up early in the Beta will receive special pricing once the fee structure does go into place.

….so you’ve got to please yourself.

Someone asked me what I would do if I got my hands on a few million dollars. Of course, the first thing I was wanted to know was where was this hypothetical multi-million dollar windfall coming from? I guess I was having a hard time using my imagination that day.

Anyway, we decided the lottery would be the source of said income. Good enough for me.

1. Pay off the houses my dad and sister have. Also, buy my mom a newer, bigger home. Her’s is nice, but the neighbors are not ideal.
2. Buy myself a house! Something tidy and new, just big enough for me and my daughter.
3. Invest in some real estate outside of Florida. I’d fin a market that is still doing nicely, like Las Vegas luxury homes, and get a little investment thing happening.
4. Charity, baby! I’d give to others, but maybe not through recognized networks. I would rather give wealth to someone out and out than have it filter though overhead costs and such.
5. Throw some money at Pfunk so we could have one of our ideas made into a film. OK, so that is a tad self-serving, but you have to play with some of the money.

I could think of more, but I’ll stop at that.

Earlier I chronicled my woes with my other two blogs. Oh, indeed the drama ensues. It’s almost fantastical in nature.

Someone helped me out by digging up a cached copy of the offending post on my Plus1. I posted it to public forums just so people can see I was on the up and up about what had actually been said. In response to an accusation that I had sent nasty e-mails to the gal who was hosting the blogs, I also posted the entire contents of both messages I sent her. I’ve still to receive a reply fro this person.

In the meantime, I am out hundreds of dollars in income. Karma is a real thing. It always pay to be nice to people and give others as much of the benefit of the doubt as humanly possible. Snap judgments usually tend to come back and kick you in the end.

So, my message to you is twofold:

1. If you blog or have a website, have your Own hosting
2. Think before you act and always give people the benefit of the doubt.