I spent many years living in apartments, so I know what it’s like not to have a garage. My cars were subjected to the harsh elements of Chicago weather all year round and they ended up looking pretty bad. I learned from my past mistakes that I should at least cover my vehicles when they’re not in use to protect against rain, snow, sleet, and the sun, as well as against accidental dings and scratches.

Even though I have a garage now, I still end up parking in the driveway quite a bit. I can’t afford to go out and get a new car every time mine starts to show the effects of being left outside, so I’m probably going to purchase a cover one of these days. I checked out a site called empirecovers.com and was impressed by their vast array of affordable car and truck covers. It took just a few seconds to use select my car using their drop-down boxes, and from there I got a full list of products that would fit my car.

This isn’t the first time I’ve thought about purchasing a car cover; I just haven’t gotten around to doing it yet. I should go ahead and get it over with before it’s too late to save my vehicle!

Ordinarily, I like Quentin Tarentino films, but I think I’m going to skip his latest effort. Grindhouse is actually a double-feature (a nice touch) and consists of two “segments”. The first is called Planet Terror and the second is Death Proof. Both segments look bloody, gory, and, ultimately, ridiculous — definitely not my taste in movies at all.

I don’t doubt that Grindhouse will be a box office success, but I won’t be contributing any money to Tarantino’s coffers for this one.

I was browsing around on the Internet tonight and came across a very interesting article about the many uses of synthetic DNA. First of all, I had no idea that synthetic DNA even existed! Second, I didn’t know that there are companies out there that actually manufacture this stuff for use in biomedical research and other molecular biology related applications. Things have certainly come a long way since Watson and Crick’s 1953 paper!

I know next to nothing about interior design or how to make a room look great, and unfortunately, this is painfully evident as soon as you step into my home. For example, I actually have a plastic coffee table, a bureau with plastic drawers (in the master bedroom, mind you), and a couch patched up with duct tape. Then there’s my dining room set, which consists of a folding table and mismatched chairs. I guess you could say that my husband and I aren’t big on the home furnishings.

Actually, that might change soon. I have been clamoring for new dining room furniture for a while now, and I think my husband is finally going to give in. We want to start entertaining more, and although our friends don’t mind our lack of interior design sense, it’s beginning to bother us. Time to overhaul our home!

Like most football fans, I’ve been playing the Madden series for a long time now. I’m not very good at it, but that doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of the game. I’ve found that this is one of the few game franchises that gets progressively better each year while rarely making a misstep. EA Sports definitely struck gold with this one!

One of the trademarks of the game was the fact that none of the players had ever achieved a perfect 100 ranking in any of the skill categories. Not Peyton Manning, not Tom Brady, not LaDainian Tomlinson, not Shaun Alexander, etc. In fact, that elusive 100 ranking has become something of a Holy Grail to NFL players.

Well, the ‘08 version of Madden is set to make history by finally handing out a 100 ranking. The honor goes to none other than Chicago’s own Devin Hester, who has reportedly been assigned a 100 in the Speed category. I read an article on ESPN that said Hester actually lobbied for the ranking (as many players have done).

Anyway, I think it’s kind of funny (in a good way) that NFL players take their Madden rankings so seriously. It’s easy to sit back as an average person and say you wouldn’t care about such things, but I’m sure most of us would if our names were up there.

Looking forward to the ‘08 release!

If your company isn’t closing sales or meeting quotas, then you’ll be interested in the services provided by The Lead Dogs. They’re a marketing firm that specializes in business-to-business lead generation and lead nurturing that will dramatically improve your organization’s sales figures while simultaneously reducing cost per qualified lead. The Lead Dogs accomplish this by aggressively finding and pursuing business leads for you, and then filling your pipeline with qualified leads identified by their experts.

The Lead Dogs is a company that’s been around since 1994 and in that time they’ve developed a reputation for delivering outstanding results for their clients. For more information, I encourage you to download and read the case studies available on their website or to get in touch with a Lead Dogs rep today.