Latest Beijing 2008 Olympics Medal Tally

With still so many days to go until the Beijing 2008 Olympics wraps up, I am already tired from keeping track of the latest Olympics medal tally. Which country is leading in the Gold medals? I tell you, it’s like I am the athlete myself, sprinting from one website to another website, sourcing for the latest and most up-to-date Olympics medal tally!

What about my country? How are the contestants faring in the carious Olympic sports that they are competing in, like diving, badminton, shooting, etc? That’s why I decided to place this medal update on my blog to save me all the trouble. LOL

Diving Pig in Beijing 2008

Google amuses me [even if they have spanked my blogs and has yet to lift my penalty].

If you use their Search daily during this Beijing 2008 Olympics, you can see that there is a different Google logo art every day to celebrate the Olympics.

What amuses me is that they are using the twelve animal signs of the Chinese horoscope to as participants in the Olympic Games, instead of the five Fuwa mascots, Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini, which they should rightly do.

I mean, what has the Chinese horoscope anything to do with the Olympics? Sure it’s originated from China and the Olympics 2008 is held in China but the link ends there. I would like to see, with a total of seventeen days the Olympics is held and only twelve animals to play with, including the Fuwa mascots on opening day, what animal will Google use for the other four days?

I feel that using the Fuwa Beijing Olympic mascots in Google logo art during the duration of the Olympics would be more appropriate, but still, it makes me laugh and look forward to the twelve different animals playing Olympic sports.

Click HERE to view the entire list of Google Logos For Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Oregon Beach Vacation Rentals Expands To South Oregon Coast

Many of my friends who are planning their summer holidays tell me that they are planning vacation rentals instead of accommodation in a hotel. Yes, vacation rentals are so popular lately and I believe it is because of the privacy it offers. Moreover, vacation rentals would work out to be a cheaper alternative for corporate, group or family holidays.

This morning, when I was helping my sister plan her vacation, I remembered about Oregon Beach Vacation Rentals that I chanced upon a few months ago. What I like about the website is its ease of searching for the perfect vacation rental that would suit our budget. With high quality vacation rentals to select from, I believe there will be something to suit everyone.

As an avid traveler, I find that the less time required planning a holiday, the more I will enjoy it. With Oregon Beach Vacations, planning a holiday to Oregon’s most popular holiday destinations is totally stress-free and a relaxed experience.

It comes as no surprise that Oregon Beach Vacation Rentals has expanded so swiftly to meet the demands of holiday makers who prefer vacation rentals. This latest expansion to the South Coast of Oregon marks another successful development of this second largest travel agency specializing in corporate travel needs of companies in and around Oregon.

If you are planning a vacation to Oregon, you may want to check out Oregon Beach Vacation Rentals.

For Immediate Release
August 8, 2008
For More Information:
David McElveen, President
River City Travel & Oregon Beach Vacations
503-528-7491
David@travelpdx.com

Oregon Beach Vacations Expands Offerings To Include South Oregon Coast The Oregon Coasts Leading Vacation Rental Company Opens Office In Florence With Addition of North Bay Condominiums

Portland, OR – August 2008 / Oregon Beach Vacations / Press Release – Oregon Beach Vacations, the leader in vacation rentals along Oregon’s magnificent coastline, has announced that it will begin offering vacation rentals in Florence, Oregon’s North Bay Condominium Complex beginning August 8th. This expansion into the South Oregon Coast will be enhanced by the opening of their new Florence, Oregon office later in August 2008. The office will not only serve the North Bay Condominium Complex but will service the region encompassing Florence to Bandon, Oregon.

Oregon Beach Vacations is a Portland, Oregon based company and is owned by River City Travel which is Oregon’s second largest travel agency handling the corporate travel needs of Oregon companies. Both River City Travel and Oregon Beach Vacations are owned by David McElveen and Joe Murray. Oregon Beach Vacations currently offers more than 200 professionally managed vacation rental homes and condominiums and is poised to expand to offer more properties in the near future.

“Our goal is to have vacation rental properties located along the entire coastline of Oregon. Since the founding of Oregon Beach Vacations in 2004, we have been approached by many homeowners along the Southern Oregon Coast to manage their properties. With the opening of our new Florence office this August, we will be able to give property owners and those interested in vacationing from Florence to Bandon and all areas in-between, the service they deserve and expect from our organization” stated David McElveen of Oregon Beach Vacations.

David continued, “We have kept a list of homeowners that have expressed interest in joining our rental program and we are just getting to the point where we can reconnect with these homeowners and offer our services to them. Within twelve months, we are looking to have upwards of 40 properties on the South Oregon Coast from organic growth and we will be looking into acquisitions in this area.”

The office located in Florence will be Oregon Beach Vacations fourth office and will be completely networked with offices in Portland (Corporate), Cannon Beach and Lincoln City. All offices can be reached via telephone at 800-723-2383 or 503-528-7480.

• The Lincoln City office employs twenty full-time team members, a number which expands greatly during the height of the vacation rental season. That office has homes for coastal vacationers in Pacific City, Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Newport, Waldport and Yachats.
• The Cannon Beach office offers vacation homes from Manzanita to Astoria – including Gearhart, Seaside, Cannon Beach and Rockaway Beach. Oregon Beach Vacation Rentals is actively pursuing more vacation rentals along the North Oregon Coast – interested homeowners should view or download the Oregon Beach Vacations Homeowner Brochure.
• The Florence office currently manages thirty condominiums in the North Bay Condominium Complex and will be the focal point of the South Oregon Coast Expansion.
More information about the vacation rental offerings of Oregon Beach Vacations and their rental management program can be found on their website: www.OregonBeachVacations.com which includes real-time online booking; Lincoln City webcam; their innovative GuestAdVantageâ„¢ Program; pictures and descriptions of their rental properties; (luxury properties, featured properties, large group properties, pet friendly properties and condos) ; specials; area information and much more.

About Oregon Beach Vacations
Oregon Beach Vacations was founded in 2004. The owners, David McElveen and Joe Murray, envisioned building a premier vacation rental company on the Oregon coast. Today, Oregon Beach Vacations operates four offices and manages over 200 vacation rental properties. The company is owned and operated by River City Travel, Oregon’s second largest travel agency which includes a staff of over 85 team members in Oregon and Washington State whose combined sales is over 40 million dollars per year. Benefits for homeowners include an aggressive marketing campaign that reaches over two million potential guests weekly; marketing agreements with over 4,000 travel agents worldwide and 24/7 availability. For more information, please visit www.OregonBeachVacations.com or call 800-723-2383.

Watch Olympics Online For Free

Microsoft has allowed web surfers to watch the Beijing 2008 Olympics online for free but to do so, web surfers are required to download the new Microsoft flash player called Silverlight. While I have yet to read complaints from web users regarding this requirement, I guess mainly because we all want to watch the Olympics online for free no matter what, and what is yet another software on our computer, right?

People in the industry, though, have been saying that this is an anti-trust move, an aim at stifling their competitors, especially Adobe whose flash player is on the computers of most internet connected computers.

We have seen how the growth of Netscape Communications became stunted with Microsoft’s move of bundling Internet Explorer with Windows OS but as a web user, I know that if an application is good, I would continue to have it on my computer, even if I may be required to download Silverlight just to watch the Olympics live on the web for free.

What are your thoughts?

Retribution by Richard A. Yacenda

Reading has always been my one great passion, so much so that I even dreamed of being an author. However, I soon became obsessed with blogging and not only do I not have the time to read, I can forget about being a great author.


Retribution book cover

This morning, I was introduced to a new suspense novel titled “Retribution, by Richard A. Yacenda. I understand that this is his first novel and I am impressed that he has chosen to tackle a suspense novel.


Author Richard A. Yacenda

Retribution is set in New York, where Richard himself is a native of, so he is really familiar with the place, though he now lives in Boca Raton, Florida with his wife. Reading through a couple of chapters, I would say that this novel is very engaging and keeps one on the edge of the seat. You know that sometimes we come across books that make us want to finish the whole book in one sitting? Retribution is one such rare book. At least that is what it does to me.

Be warned that this is a suspense novel that is about the gruesome killing of eight men. It’s brutal, vicious and graphic so it is not for the faint hearted. However, if this is the kind of plot you enjoy, I say, go for it!

Google Commemorates the Olympics

If you are a regular user of Google Search, you will know that they sometimes change their “Google” logo to commemorate an event. Today, Google celebrates the Olympics in Beijing on 8th August, 2008 (08.08.08) with the following logo art.

Isn’t it cute that HuanHuan, representing the Olympic flame, is holding the Olympic torch and leading Beibei, Jingjing, Yingying and Nini carrying the Olympic flag?

I think that it would be awesome if for the duration of the Olympics, Google Search presents us a different logo art every day. It would be like a “set” of Google Olympic logo art. And if that happens, I would take a screenshot of it daily. 😀

I heart BeiBei, JingJing, HuanHuan, YingYing and NiNi!

Click HERE to view the entire list of Google Logos For Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Going To Beauty School

A friend of my sister asked if we know of any beauty schools. She is moving to Missouri soon but then none of us has been there before so we were not able to provide her with the required information. However, I always have faith on the internet and I know that it would not be difficult to look for beauty schools in missouri. This lady is not that web savvy but we managed to find her the information that she requires.

There is actually a reputable professional beauty institute in Missouri where she could go to. I think she is lucky. I am sure that once she has received training and certificate for her course, she would be ion demand! Yes, you would be surprised that beauty jobs are also very competitive so being certified is really a huge advantage!

Random Thoughts Off My Mind