Monday, October 31, 2016

Email Scams to Win The Lottery – Who is falling for these things?

Everyone is familiar with junk mail and spam by now yet scammers continue to send out advertisements trying to get people to fall for their ridiculous schemes. I get these kinds of posts in the comments here on the blog every once in a while. Of course they are blocked so they do not show up here, but I thought I would share one here to show just how silly they are.


It starts off saying her name is SOPHIA DISC, in all caps. I don't know about you but I have never heard of anyone with the last name “Disc”. Not to mention the name did not match up with the profile they were posting from.

Next it says they are from “USA Florida spring Hill”. Haha, yes this is how we announce where we live right? It goes on in poor English to describe how they were trying to win the lottery and contacted some random “doctor” who “cast a spell” to help them win 5 million dollars. Haha.

It makes me wonder, are there people out there who would actually fall for this? I almost want to reply back with a junk email just to see what they would say. Actually I may just try it and report back with the results if they write back.

Update: 11-1-16
So I wrote back requesting the winning lottery numbers. I didn't expect a reply but within 24 hours, they actually wrote back. They requested more personal information such as name, location, phone, number, age, and photo. What I found even more odd is they request this information from "you and your lover". Haha.  Of course I am not going to send this information. I could send fake information but I think I will leave it be. Anyone else followed up on these things further?

Saturday, October 15, 2016

What to do if you are bored?

Every once in a while you may find you have nothing to do or just do not feel very motivated to do anything. In case you find yourself in this situation, here are some ideas of things to do that are productive and beneficial:

Clean
This may not seem very fun but if you are bored and have nothing else to do, there is really no excuse not to do it. Cleaning your room, your house, or your environment is a productive activity and you will feel good once you have accomplished this task. Many people do not want to clean because they feel like they have better things to do, so when you are bored, it is the perfect time!

Even if you feel like your house is already clean, there is always more to do. For example cleaning or dusting areas that are hard to get to such as under a refrigerator or on top of base boards. Maybe cleaning out a closet or going through some old papers you probably do not need anymore. There is always work to be done if you think about it and look for it.

Exercise
Another thing you can do if you are bored is exercise. This is another productive activity that will make you feel good after you have completed it. Working out is another thing that is easy to put off due to lack of time or effort, but if you are bored, it is a great time to do it. It doesn't have to be anything big like going to a gym. It can be simple exercises around the house such as push ups, squats, sit ups etc.

Back Up Your Computer
This is something important that people either never do, or do not do enough until it is too late. One of my sayings is "No one thinks their computer is going to crash today, but someone's is."  Make sure to back up your important files from your computer either on an external hard drive, or a cloud service so you will always have it in case anything happens.

Update Your Contacts List
Another thing to do when you are bored is review and update your contacts list on your phone. If you have not done this for a while, you will be surprised at how many outdated and irrelevant contacts are still in your phone. Go through them and delete the ones you no longer need to freshen up your contacts list. 

Create
When you have a lot of extra time on your hands, it is a great time to create! There are tons of possibilities for you to use your creativity to make something or contribute in some way. You could write an article about something you are passionate about. You could take some interesting pictures or maybe make a video. You could do some drawing or painting or maybe work on learning a musical instrument.

Next time you are bored or feel like there is nothing to do, keep these activities in mind for something productive that can be done any time!

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Earth. Fire. Wind. Water. Heart. Go Planet!

Recently I recalled a cartoon I used to watch as a kid called Captain Planet. It was a cartoon that helped promote eco friendliness and saving the environment. In each episode there would be a villain who was polluting or causing harm to the earth and the 5 main characters with the help of a superhero named Captain Planet would have to stop them and save the earth from destruction.

As a kid, I thought the show was ok but I can remember being very aware that is was really trying to push a message on us. As an adult I actually like that it was trying to teach kids to be good to the environment, but as a kid, I was more interested in cartoons for entertainment, not for a message. I think the environment is an issue that kids of a young age don't have much interest in.

For example, when I was a kid, we used to play outside each day and I don't ever recall there being litter around the neighborhood. Just recently I went back to my old neighborhood and noticed there was in fact a considerable amount of litter around. Now it could be that the times have changed, but it is likely that I am just a lot more aware of the issue as an adult.

These days I am definitely more interested in helping keep the environment clean. Although I was not really interested in the message back then, who knows, maybe some of those lessons got through and made a difference!

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Bug Spray Review

I like to go on walks and recently I started getting mosquito bites when I would get into the more wooded areas so I decided to look into getting a bug spray. After doing some research, I decided to try Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent. It is a 4 oz pump spray bottle and uses oil of lemon eucalyptus as the active ingredient.

Upon trying it out for the first time, I found it easy to apply with a few pumps of the spray bottle. It does have a very strong lemon scent which is not bad at all. I sprayed some on the back of my hands and then used it to apply to exposed skin such as around the neck. It says it is ok to apply to clothes as well so it should not damage the material.

It claims to protect against mosquitoes for up to 6 hours. I have tried it out several times on my walks and so far it seems to be working very well. I have yet to get any mosquito bites after having applied the Repel Lemon Eucalyptus so I would have to say I am happy with the results so far.

If you are looking for an insect repellent that is a pump spray and has a nice scent, I recommend trying out Repel Lemon Eucalyptus bug spray.