It gets more expensive to fly every day. No more $79 round-trip flights to Vegas! I understand that overhead costs are tremendous, but I suspect there’s some gouging going on, particularly from Ryanair, who’s CEO suggested charging customers to use the toilet in-flight.

Charge me for my heavy luggage because I’m an inefficient packer. Charge me for a paper ticket because I’m not savvy enough to use the internet, but do not charge me to take a whiz after I’ve bought a $5.50 Bloody Mary that I had to mix myself from the flight attendant.

Is there no such thing as customer service any more?

I have four small cousins, with a fifth on the way, who are always clammering to use the internet when they visit. It probably started when I used to open a Word document and let them type gibberish when they were tiny, but now they are at the age when they see me on online all the time and think that it must be cool so they need to get their hands on the mouse, too.

Unfortunately, they can’t visit the same sites I do. Not that they are nasty, I just don’t want to be the one responsible when their pure little eyes spot something questionable. That’s why the next time they are over, we’re going to play with MagNext, online and off.

MagNext are magnetic building blocks that can be assembled into just about anything, and there is a great kid-friendly website through MEGA Brands with games based on the toy. It’s a virtual world with challenges, messaging, and shopping to outfit your magnetic icon.

I bounced from room to room playing different games, and admit to completely stinking at the challenges, but it was a lot of fun, and I’m sure my cousins can teach me a thing or two.

It’s definitely a fun site where you don’t have to worry and can let your kids enjoy some online time of their own.

Somtimes, I love how the internet works…

Back in Jaunary 2008, I posted about Amy Freeze and my post got picked up as a reference on her Wikipedia page. Last night, Amy Freeze was mentioned during the Bears vs. Packers game, and the news reported this morning that she was one of the most searched Google terms last night.

Since Google pulls up her Wikipedia page, and her Wikipedia page links to me, I got 1,700 hits in the 8 o’clock hour last night.

Thanks for having a cool meteorologist name, Amy Freeze!

We didn’t get the snow that the northern suburbs did, but we sure got the ice! (Mike put my windshield wipers up so they wouldn’t get iced to the window, but I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere today for that to matter.)

I was smart and brought my laptop and project folders home with me last night, so I’ll be working from home today as long as the internet and power hold on. They’ve been flickering all morning.

It’s been switching between freezing rain, sleet, and hail since I got up at 5:30 am, with the temperature right at 32 degrees. We’re supposed to dip down to 22 degrees tonight, so the roads and ice are just going to get worse, with the storm watch in effect until midnight.

Did the rest of you make it through the night? How did you weather the storm?

I’ve been a blogger for four years, and the more people that find out I’m a blogger (especially friends and family) the more questions I get. They want to know if what I write is true (of course it is!), when I find time to blog (you can always find time to blog, but not to exercise), and most frequently, how do I run my own website.

I learned a lot by trail and error, other generous bloggers offering up their knowledge, and web hosting tutorials. It took the entire four years to get to where I am now (don’t be impressed, there is a lot I don’t know), and I wish I would have dipped a toe in before I jumped in head first. One thing I didn’t realize is that finding a reliable host (a company to store your site data and make it live on the internet) is one of the biggest decisions a blogger makes, and unless due diligence has been completed, a new blogger could easily be stuck with a bad host.

My suggestion to new bloggers that want to own their own domain is to read all the web hosting, web development, and web site management articles to test the waters before they sink time and money into their site. Blogging is a lot less frustrating when you have an idea of how things work and don’t go in blind like I did.