I have the theme tune from Bad Boys stuck in my head thanks to the ringtone on my boss’ phone. No matter what I do, it keeps popping on back in there.

For the life of me I couldn’t remember who sang it and when I was searching for it (yeah, couldn’t remember what it was called either. I’m having one of those days) I came across the LA Police Gear website, where you can buy all sorts of Police gear.

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I know that a lot of bloggers who use PayPerPost get slated. I’ve seen it referred to as ‘just like adverts on TV that I flick past’. The person was explaining why they do not read blogs which have sponsored posts; which is fair enough - each to their own. I for one actually quite enjoy reading sponsored posts as they show how great (usually) the blog writer’s imagination is. It’s a skill being able to write a review of a product / service and incorporate it into your blog, personal experience, writing style and making it keyword heavy all at the one time. It’s a challenge sometimes, but that’s why you’re getting paid for it!

As avid readers of my blog (go on, you know you all love me) you’ll probably have worked out that I use PayPerPost from time to time. I made a pact with myself when I signed up for the site way back in July 2007 that I would only take opportunities that were actually relevant to me personally or my blog. I have no interest in garage storage
cupboards or homeowner insurance, so why on earth would I want to blog about them and bore you all senseless with my opinion on something I’ve never used or had an experience with? Unfortunately not all Posties¹ do this, and all you get is page after page of sponsored posts about online gambling, poker websites and weight loss miracles². To date I’ve been paid for just 12 posts, and made a grand total of 80GBP. Nothing life changing but that money has been put towards paying my credit card debt which is getting smaller and smaller by the month. Thus helping reinstating my credit rating, making me a happy girl again. Today I’m amused to see myself on the day’s top earner list. 3rd as well. And only from posting one post, sweet.

Anyway, I digress. And I’m starting to think that this post sounds like a sponsored post. I can assure you that it isn’t, I’m not getting a single penny for biggin’ up PPP, as I’ve already done that and been paid for it.

What I am worried about is that these random, not-so-frequent paid posts are discouraging readership. Don’t get me wrong, my life doesn’t revolve around how many comments I receive or my Alexa rating but I don’t like the thought of pouring so much time and effort into my site, as I have done since 1998, only to be shooting myself in the foot and loosing out on readers (and more to the point, new friends and blogs to read etc) just because I make a few bucks writing about things that people don’t want to read about.

So my question is to you, dear reader, is this. What do you honestly think of PayPerPost blogs. Not just mine, although do feel free to make your feelings known, but any blog that sides on the money making side. Do you have a tolerance level? Do you just skip the posts you don’t want to read or do you delete the blog from your RSS reader the moment a “This posts was sponsored by…” tagline pops up? Or do you not really care and read every post anyway?

I’m actually really interested in knowing what you think, good or bad. Everybody has their opinions so please share yours.

EDIT:This post has had over 200 views and only one comment, so I’ve added a poll for quick opinion posting. I like opinions, please pick one!

[poll=3]

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¹ Posties are the affectionate name for bloggers who use PayPerPost.
²Weight loss miracles do not exist. All you need is portion control and some exercise and commitment!

I’ve always been lured towards playing in online casinos, probably because I don’t fancy getting all dressed up to win some money. As I’ve mentioned before, I like gambling on horses from time-to-time and I’m a mean poker player, so I guess that online casinos were the obvious next step.

There’s always one problem however - what online casino website to pick from? There are literally thousands online - there are over 66 million results when you search Google! So how on earth are you supposed to know which ones are good, who takes what as payment and which ones are out to scam you? The answer is the Online Casino Bluebook which reviews online casino’s for you to help you choose the right one to sign up with.

The site is really simple and easy to use, showing results ranked by bonus size, payout percentage, customer service, game features, # of games, software graphics, and ease of use. If you’re just starting out with playing online I highly recommend checking out this site first to help clear the fog a little when deciding. It’s makes one decision a little less of a gamble!

So it turns out that this year the boyfriend & I aren’t going to Blackpool. We aren’t going to Benidorm, we’re going to Los Cristianos in Tenerife sometime in October. The only downside to this is that he’s also invited our friends. *shrug* I suppose it would be fun with them but obviously I want to go away together alone. We’ve only done it the once and that was to Dublin about 3 or 4 years ago.

I’ve had a look on various websites for pictures and reviews of Los Cristianos, and my gosh it’s a beautiful place! There’s a water park and places to go out on boats to see dolphins and whales nearby and I think it sounds wonderful, even if I’m afraid of boats!

Hopefully, we’ll be staying in self-catering apartments rather than a hotel. They’re a lot more fun I think, and at least you know what you’re eating - the last time I was in Spain I thought I was eating onion rings when in fact it was squid rings. Yuech! The apartments I fancy are something like the Reveron Apartments, it’s £238.00 for both the boy & I for a week in a studio apartment which is not bad, really!

If anyone has been to Los Cristianos, or Tenerife in general, recently…what did you think? I’ve not been since I was about 4 and he’s not been for at least 5 years! But Tenerife means something to him, so that’s where we’re going!

In other stuff that I’ve been up to..wow what a busy weekend I’ve had! On Friday night the boy & I went to our friends to play poker. I ended up making dinner, a gorgeous chicken and vegetable stirfry with lots of soy sauce and peppers. It was amazing! And I didn’t poison anyone. I think I might post the recipe for it, because it really was out of this world nice. I can’t believe I actually cooked something without killing anyone. After dinner the boys got drunk and we played Xbox and had a sort of mini-pub quiz. It was great fun, but as it turns out my night was about to get so, so much better! The boy & I left the guys to play poker and went into one of the spare bedrooms for a little fun ourselves…won’t go into too many details but it was a great night. We also talked and talked and talked like we haven’t done in ages and decided (half-heartidly on his part I guess since he had been drinking) to start saving money for holidays, a car..whatever.

2 hours later we actually went and played poker. I was the dealer and my god those guys totally loose the knowledge of how to play poker when they’re drunk! Heaven help us if we ever go to a real casino, they’ll be thrown out for acting the idiot!

On Saturday we went shopping and played some pool, which I actually won a game of, very impressed with myself on that one. I was getting fed up of the boy constantly winning so I started playing properly (like putting some power into hitting the cue) and won! I wish we’d put money on the game now. The rest of the night was spent watching nearly all the episodes of Still Game that have been put out on DVD and eating kids sweets that we picked up in PoundLand - you know, strawberry laces and dolly beads and sherbet. Teeth-rotting stuff.

For some reason I’m sitting on my brother’s computer playing poker instead of sleeping. I went to my bed at around 4am this morning, got up at 6am for work and have just got in the door about a half hour ago at midnight. That means I was out the house for 18 hours, worked for 14 and waited 4 hours for my mum to finish work in the take-away for a lift home. It’d have taken me about 2 hours to get home so I was aswell waiting and saving £2.00 in bus fare. I actually had quite a good time waiting with her in work, trying to come up with new ideas of the take-away’s menu. So far I’m convinced the owner to add Pizza Crunch suppers and Steak Pie suppers to the menu. Pizza Crunch suppers are such a Scottish thing, one soft-based pizza with cheese and sliced tomato, deep fat fried in sausage batter and coated in salt & vinegar, in between a buttered Morton’s roll. Best, thing, ever. I don’t even want to think about the calories that thing has but mmmm it’s good!

After spending over £100 on a ticket for T In The Park I didn’t think that I’d spend most of the weekend inside the fun casino that was there instead of watching bands that I love. I started off with £20 and quickly racked it up to over £750 playing poker, roulette and blackjack. I’d gotten the bug, man! Such a shame that the money wasn’t real.

As soon as I came home I decided that I was going to play for some real money but since I don’t fancy trekking into town every time I fancy a quick game I scoured the internet for a good, British online casino. Finally, after some searching, I came across Bet365 which combines all the games that I love playing.

The offer lots of different types of betting opportunities, on sports such as baseball, boxing, tennis, rugby - even lotto draws. But the best of the site is the casino area. The offer up to £100 free chips when you first sign up (which, by the way, takes mere minutes) which was incentive enough for me. I chose to download the software, but you can play from your browser if you prefer.

My favourite part of the site is the live dealer games - instead of playing with a computerized dealer there’s an actual person dealing the cards. For me, it makes me feel like I’m really in a casino without having to shell out membership fees.