I Love My Earth

It is nice to know that schools are teaching our kids how to care for the environment. This is something that my son made when he was in grade 1

MyLot is Discontinuing Its Earnings Program

I have been a member of myLot for more than 5 years. It has always paid me whenever I made it above the minimum $10 quota. I have been busy the past few years that has limited my time on the site. I was puzzled  when I logged on this week to find out that the site has been revamped and there is no longer any type of earning program. I guess it is too good to last. I wonder what reasons they have for doing this. Did they make a mistake in introducing the earnings by using the site search feature? Was there a significant decrease in member participation? No advertisers perhaps. I hope that the loyal members could find a site where they could generate the same income that myLot provided.

Combining Shoppers Optimum Coupon and In-store Bonus Points

I have been saving a coupon for 8,000 bonus points if I spend at least $75 at shoppers. One day I read in the newspaper that it is 20x the points that day if you spend $50 or more. I figured, if I can claim both the coupon and the in-store bonus points, I could reach 95,000 points easily. I headed to a store near our place after I got off form work. I made sure I had $75 worth of eligible items before taxes. I asked the cashier if after qualifying for the in-store bonus points I can still use the coupon. The cashier said if the register accepts it, then it should be good. So the cashier tried and sait the coupon was accepted but I had to wait for a week before the points will be credited. So I went home feeling happy because of the transaction. A week has passed and I did not see the bonus point added to my rewards points total. So I called customer service to find out what happend. The customer service agent told me that both coupons can't be used at the same time and if I do, I will only get the in-store bonus points. Too bad!

Is it Spring Already???

Five days after the start of spring and the weather is still very cold. We are still getting temparatures below 0. And that is without the wind chill factor. I am praying that we soon get warm weather so we can get out and ride our bikes. Maybe play basketball or tennis. My 2 older kids had tennis lessons during March break and I think they should play from time to time so they wont forget what they have learned. Another reason why I would like the warm weather to begin is because our heater's pilot light always go out. I always have to light it up once a day. I have researched and it looks light the heater is about to break because of its old age. I hope it does not and last for 2 or more years.

Shoppers Optimum Rewards Points

I seemed to be addicted to amassing Shoppers Optimum Rewards points. After I was able to redeem 95,000 points which is worth $170 of stuff last year, I always watch out for their weekly promotions. Whenever Shoppers have the "20x the points", almost all of the time, I would march to a store near us and spend $50-$75 dollars just to be able to get the most points I can. By my estimate, if I make my purchases during these events, I probably need to spend only a minimum of $500 to reach that 95,000 point goal and then I will have $170 to use. I believe it is the best reward system by far.

Upgraded To Nikon D7000

I have posted a couple of months ago that I was planning to upgrade to FX format camera. With the release of the Nikon D600, I thought it was within reach. The D600 body was not very expensive, however, I do have to change all the lenses that I have as well. I happen to find a Nikon D7000 that is being sold at Kijiji for $900. I offered $700 and the seller accepted. It had around 10,000 shutter actuations. That is probably why the seller agreed to what I have offered. I am not worried though because the camera is rated to do 150,000 actuations. I have a Nikon D5000 camera that I have for more than 3 years and I have not even reached 5,000 actuations. I believe I made the right choice. One thing that I like about the D7000 is that it has high-image-quality full HD movie recording of 1,920 x 1,080/24p. It is fast and quiet. The battery consumption is great. I charge its battery half the time I used to with the D5000. It also is compatible with a almost all Nikon lenses available in the market. I am very happy with the purchase.

Nikon D600 DSLR

I had the impression that Nikon's line of DLSRs are like the peoples camera. Main reason would be it's price compared to other brands such as Canon. Having said that, it does not mean that anyone can realy afford a DSLR. I happen to own a low-end which is a D5000. I wanted to switch to a full frame but am not financially able to get one. Basic needs for the family if first and foremost when budget is being discussed.

Nikon has announced the D600, a full-frame DSLR camera that is more affordable. At a little over CAD 2,000 (Body only), it may seem like its still expensive, however, it is still cheap compared to other brands. I need to save all my pennies and maybe get one Christmas time. That is still a big question mark. That probably is my goal for this year.

Below are some of the features of the Nikon  D600

24.30 megapixels

3.2" 640-by-480 LCD

ISO rating (50-25600)

Moisture-sealed magnesium-reinforced body