Network Solutions - Not a registrar, *the* registrar
Way back in the day, in about 1997 I think it was, a young lad from Australia registered a vanity domain, fwaggle.net. Back then, the company you registered domains through was Network Solutions, a company born of the 70s and a pioneer in internet technology ever since.
Like I said, for a time, they were the registrar for US-based top level domains. I think they operated at least one DNS root server for a while, so their company is pretty important as far as the history of the internet goes. It's not surprising given their history that they're pretty clued in when it comes to helping you grow a small business online.
They've just released a brand new site to help convey who they are and what they do, and in my opinion it's basically everything a good website should be. It's not overly busy, it has a good text size and good contrast, it conveys what they do and it works well in my browser (I use a couple of different plugins to squash annoying and potentially hazardous content, and you'd be surprised how many sites it breaks).
Add in the fact that they've received a slew of awards for various things, including being reckognized by J.D. Power and associates for the last three consecutive years for outstanding customer service experience, and I don't really see how you could go wrong by checking out their new site.
So THATS why the #8 plug wouldn't come out!
I've been trying to make an active effort to take better care of my truck. It's old (1985), it's heavy on gas (454ci motor, 8~10mpg at the best of times) but it's reliable and it can carry our entire clan wherever we need to go.
But since we moved out here, I've gone from fastidious to completely careless when it comes to maintenance. It was either "too hot" or "too cold" to do the care and feeding, and as such his performance has suffered.
So I started out by checking all the plugs, of which I replaced all but one only days before leaving Sacramento. I couldn't get the #8 plug out, and we were so wrapped up in moving that I never got around to it. So after checking the other 7 plugs, I bought another, and tried to source why I couldn't get the old sparkplug out. After unsuccessfully trying to get the plug wrench over the plug, I stuck my camera down there and took a photo which helped me determine the source of the problem.
Somehow the heat shield, which protects the end of the plug lead from excessive heat from the exhaust manifold, had become bent, and wasn't allowing the wrench to slip over the plug. I carefully pressed (by hand, no hammer) a 1/2" cold chisel into the opening, which pushed the shroud back out of the way and allowed me to extract the thoroughly burnt-out plug. Replacing it helped smoothen the engine's running out considerably, given that the plug didn't appear to be firing much at all.
Update: I started a blog just about the Suburban, and this entry is mirrored there.
Personal Loans on the road to Good Credit
One of the things my wife and I are working on is repairing her credit, which at the present isn't in the greatest of shape. Our plan is to first try and pay off her past-due debts, then to get a secured credit card to start building credit history. Once that goes well, it's time to move on to a real credit card, and then perhaps to small loans.
There's sites on the internet where you can get Personal Loans, applying directly online, even with bad credit. The site I've linked to even has a credit history estimator, so that you can make a quick judgment of how your credit history looks to a creditor, without having access to your credit report.
Building credit is a long climb, and it's easy to misjudge your step and slip backwards - as we've done before. But the right creditor can help, as can taking baby steps and not biting off more than you can chew.
