Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Washington Plaza Hotel -- A Good Inexpensive Hotel



If you are in Washington DC any time soon, check out the Washington Plaza Hotel; it provides great value for the money

Monday, November 14, 2011

Travel Accessories Can Make or Break Your Trip

Traveling nowadays is about knowing what to bring with you on a trip and what to leave behind. To that end there are a few things that the well prepared traveler should have with them during their journey.

Carry-on Bag

The most important thing about your carry-on bag is the size. It should be able to fit the overhead bins or underneath the seat in front of you when the bag is full. The total size of your carry-on must not exceed 45 inches. To measure whether your bag is within the allotted 45 inches, you would measure length plus width plus height. The ideal dimensions are 22x14x9 inches. Furthermore, your carry-on bag cannot weigh more than 40 pounds. The rest of it is an expression of your personality.

Travel Wallet

A travel wallet is one of the most overlooked travel accessories. Stow away your boarding passes, claim checks for your luggage, hotel information, travel itinerary, and if needed, your passport. These days the whole airline industry is cutting back and the nice agent will most likely not provide you with a sleeve for your boarding pass. Having all your travel paperwork in one place means you don't have to waste precious time looking for it. Also, the travel wallet is a great way to hold all your receipts in one place. You want to consider travel wallets that are slim but can still hold all your papers for travel, waterproof in case you spill coffee on it, and have an eyecatching color so you can spot it quickly.

Pad and Pen Set

Although everything is now digital, there will still come a need for pen and paper. There have been enough times when I was caught without it and really wished I had it, that investing in a notepad and pen set was a smart and inexpensive idea.

Aspirin and Antacid Tablets

A two-pack of aspirin or antacid tablets will set you back $3 at some stores in the airport. Do yourself a favor and bring a couple of your own. You'll inevitably need aspirin in case of delays, missed connections, or something else going wrong and you have one big headache that develops. Or since airports are not known for having healthy, well prepared food, you can easily get an upset stomach and you'll want a couple of antacids to help you through. For convenience, these individually wrapped pills won't take up too much space in your bag.

Pocket Tissues and Sanitary Hand Wipes

For sanitary reasons, because traveling means you will be in contact with many surfaces that other people have touched, it's very handy to have these with you to keep yourself healthy and prevent you from catching germs. I prefer the sanitary hand wipes over the gel because it's one less liquid to worry about.

A Bag of Nuts

You never know when you'll be able to catch a meal in between catching a cab, a flight, or a connection. Having your own snack means that you won't go hungry and nuts will sate your hunger for a while until you can get a meal. If you area allergic to nuts, then a bag of granola or other nut-less trail mix should satisfy your hunger.

An Extra Bag

You never know when you'll need an extra bag bag when you travel. A cloth bag such as those recyclable ones that you can get from the supermarket for a buck is perfect. Fold and then roll them up into a small size with a rubber band, you are ready in case of an emergency.

Put all these small items in a zippered case or even a one gallon ziploc bag, but not with your toiletries bag. Put the case in your handbag or briefcase or your carry-on and you are all set.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Save Money By Staying At Airport Hotels Without Sacrificing Comfort

Most people want to stay in a downtown hotel when they visit a big city because everyone wants the convenience of being able to walk to their destinations, whether that's the shopping district, the theater district, the museums,the clubs and so forth. But you have to pay a lot of money for that convenience. It's even worse if you decide to rent a car to get around and bring it with you downtown, then you have to consider the hotel's parking fees and in a big city it can be as high as $40 a day. One way of cutting the cost of your hotel is to stay at a hotel near the airport.

But it's so far away, yes I hear that complaint often. But if you strategically plan your vacation and prepare, you can cut your hotel bill by as much as half if you stay at an airport hotel and often you can park you car for free or for 70% less than if you parked it downtown.

Choose an airport hotel that has a complimentary shuttle so that you can be dropped off at the airport. From there you can take public transportation downtown and go to any city attraction and come back. Your commuting expenses are minimized and you're still able to get to where you want to go. When it comes to shopping, then that part takes planning because you'll want to drop off bags in between shops and combine it with a night out on the town. Drop off your car at a centrally located garage early so that you can take advantage of their all day parking deal. Then you can leave your shopping bags during the day at the trunk of your car knowing that they should be okay and then go to see theater, go clubbing, or dine at a nice restaurant. And at night you can take your fully loaded car back to the airport hotel.

Another way to cut your parking expense is to check and see if any of the museums are centrally located and offer all day parking at a low rate and leave your car there. Of course you are combining a museum visit with your shopping.

In smaller cities where there is less traffic congestion, then it is a better deal because you can take your car and not worry so much about where to park the car and have a more spontaneous day and then return to the airport hotel.

If you've never stayed at an airport hotel you will be pleasantly surprised. Especially if you favor the major hotel chains. It's not only for people who want to stay near the airport to catch the early morning flight or for late arriving passengers on the red-eye anymore. The amenities that you will find at their downtown establishment can be had at their airport counterpart, again for a lower price.  You might also like the fact that the halls are less congested and their pool and fitness rooms are not so crowded. So think outside of the box when it comes to accommodations and you will find your pocketbook might not be so empty when you get home.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Tomahawk Cruise Missile


This is what the Tomahawk cruise missile would look like if you are on the ground and it flies past you.  It's beautiful and lethal.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Moon stone!


It may not look like much but this is an actual cut of a stone brought back from the moon by Apollo 11.  And of course you can see this at the Museum of Air and Space.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Amazing Aircraft


The Spirit of St. Louis, a reduced scale model of Spaceship One (the first private aircraft to reach space) and the Bell X-1 at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.  To read more about these great aircraft, read my hub!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project


Here's an up close look of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project that's on display at the National Air and Space Museum.  It's an awesome place and one that I like to visit every time I'm in Washington DC

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Writing a lot of articles

I've been writing a lot since the beginning of the year, so instead of parsing them out once a day or so, I'm just going to list them all and give a blurb on each one.

"Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Planners for the New Year" is of course about calendars that you might need for your business or personal needs.  It's a new year, and I always like having a calendar because they're great for looking back at what happened in the past year.

"Valentine Gifts for your Favorite Guy" are some great gift suggestions for the man/men in your life.  I find it so hard to shop for a guy on an occasion like Valentine's Day but I came up with what I thought were some original ideas.

"Get your Party Ready for the Super Bowl" is an article about some great football themed platters, chip and dip sets, bowls, and other items you'll find handy when you throw your Super Bowl party.  Impress your guests with the festive atmosphere and the football theme will get everyone in the mood for a fun time watching America's premier sporting event.

"Handy Football Snack Helmets of your Favorite Team on Sale" is a cool way to watch football and have your snacks conveniently nearby.   This snack server is the size of a regular football helmet.  At the top is a deep bowl that can hold potato chip or pretzels, or cheez doodles or any type of snack.  It's also a deep enought bowl that can hold a couple of brewskis packed in ice.  Neat huh?  Then, a snack tray is placed at the mouthpiece.  The tray is shallow and has a divider so you can put dip on one part of the tray and the other part can hold another snack like nuts or a different type of dip.  It's a cool idea for the football fan and I know guys love fun stuff like this.

Since Martin Luther King Jr. Day is this coming Monday, I'm going to skip ahead to feature my article on Mr. King, "Martin Luther King Jr. and his Life and Work".  He is one of the few modern leaders that has such a mythical stature in 20th century life and a resonance in modern American life and society.  Okay, I've got a lot more and I will list them in the next few days.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

I'm following up with another funny write-up

This article in HubPages is called "How to Stay Warm and Look Hideous".  I just happened to be looking through the fashion magazine, Harper's Bazaar, and I could't believe how awful the clothes were that the designers and the Hollywood stars were touting for winter wear.  It's just disappointing when you have these famous people who love to get photo ops wear something that is so wrong for them, that you wonder how they were allowed to leave the house in that outfit.

Things are slowing down

Even though this month started off strongly I have learned that it doesn't necessarily gain momentum.  I've also seen the situation where there can be a lot of views on a hub but that doesn't necessarily convert to clicks on ads.  This happened with my Nancy Pelosi hub.  Time will tell whether this month will help me get my third payoff, I'm crossing my fingers.

In the meantime I've been very busy.  My hub on "How to Repel Men" is meant to be funny and fun write-up with some ideas to take seriously.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The New Year started off with an adsense bang!

I'm not really sure what happened but over New Year's day I had crazy amounts of traffic going into my hub, "The Best and Worst North American Airlines of 2010", approximately 200 views per day for two days.  It was so weird.  Naturally because of all that traffic I got more clicks on my adsense that I normally would.  To date, I have already made $13 on adsense and it's been only five days into January.  If this keeps up, I'll easily make payout this month.  In December I earned approximately $51.  My Amazon sales in December were a blessing.  I made $89, that's more than I've ever made in a month and I sold my first television after Christmas Day.  That was so exciting, it was the most expensive sale I've ever made to date.  My holidays have really been profitable online.

Oh, I almost forgot, my latest hub is about fabulous older women who have stopped dying their hair and have let it go gray and the great hairstyles that they have.  Check it out.