Jay Gaulard Blog

Fife’n Drum and Bull’s Bridge, Kent, CT

Monday, March 24th, 2008

I know that I have told you in the past how much Laura and I like to eat lunch at the Fife’n Drum restaurant in Kent, CT every Easter. We have been doing it now for about four years. It usually is a very good time. Well, unfortunately, yesterday was our last visit to this restaurant.

I am going to try to keep this short and sweet and not too much like a restaurant critic. Let’s just say that it seems like there is some new management and a new chef at this place.

The wait was very long during each portion of our two course Easter lunch and the food was amateur at best. It seemed like the dish washing dude was back there cooking too. I swear it seemed like there were parts of my dishes that were from a can. To me, “warm potatoes” does not mean potato salad that tasted like it was straight from Costco. A vegetarian dish does not mean boiled vegetables. Oh well, there’s $80 down the drain. We didn’t even stay for dessert…my favorite part. We just left the money on the table and left. During the last 20 minute wait to have our plates cleared from the table, three different waiters walked by and looked at us at least seven times. We kept wondering if our waiter had gone home. Well, as it turns out, as we were leaving, Laura caught sight of this guy eating at the bar. What the hell? If you can’t tell, I am a little annoyed. To think, I still left a tip…A TIP. I didn’t have the patience to wait for any change. I swear, if we had stayed any longer, they would’ve started vacuuming the floor while people were still eating. Yes, we will have to find a new place to eat on Easter.

To simmer down, we went on our traditional hike at Bull’s Bridge. I have a few posts about our previous hikes. It’s a really neat place.

Since we have been down the same trail so many times, I thought it would be a good idea to check out the top part of the trails. Laura might have been a little disappointed because she wanted to go on a real hike. I will have to make it up to her. We took lots of pictures and video. I will upload the video today and post it here.

This is a photo of the front of the Fife’n Drum restaurant in Kent, CT. I don’t even know why I am showing this. Perhaps someone from the restaurant will read this post and mail me a refund check.

This is the monument in Kent, CT.

These are two shots of Bull’s Bridge itself. We got lucky with very good weather.

These are all shots of the river. The water was rushing very fast, due to all the rain we have been getting. We didn’t see any kayakers like we have in previous years. Maybe the water was going too fast. I sure wouldn’t get in there.

Buying and Selling Domain Names

Friday, March 21st, 2008

The more I look around, the more I learn that the domain name business is big business.

As I told you yesterday, I am trying to scoop up a bunch of different extensions for the domains I already have. It’s working out pretty well, but I have hit a little bump. I already bought up most of the available ones and now I have to enter the market of second (or third) hand domains. That is when it gets expensive.

Let me give you a little example…a guy called me a few years ago to offer a .com domain that he was selling. This was a hot name and he was looking for $50,000 for it. I almost started laughing when he told me that. I think I offered him $300 and went off and did something else. As it turns out, I am kicking myself. I have a feeling I am going to be seeing this domain in action soon because someone out in Las Vegas just purchased it at auction for $135,000. Why was, or is, it worth so much? Well, it was first registered in 1996, so it has some age. Also, it rolls off the tongue extremely easily and is two very powerful keywords. It’s also quite descriptive. Those things alone give it a lot of value. I talked to the seller last night and he mentioned that he does have another .com for sale that I would be interested in. He wants $50,000 for it. This one is definitely not worth what the other one was, but it does give me pause. Honestly, if you can get a well known .com that was born back in 1996, $50,000 is not too much. You do need to do a little research first.

Yesterday, I put a bunch of bids in for multiple .com and .net addresses. I did receive an email back telling me I could buy a .net for $2,688. I am going to have the name appraised today to see if it has been blacklisted or anything like that. I believe it was first registered back in 2002, which isn’t bad.

What’s the benefit of purchasing a used domain name? The answer is Google. Google likes “aged” domains. You can set up a site and not have to wait for Google’s aging filter to do its thing. Also, there may be links to the domain already. So basically, if you get a used domain, you could set up a site and have it indexed very quickly to start making money fast.

I am going to buy a few more today and then call it quits for a while. The guy I spoke to last night is also looking for $50,000 for a little known extension that will become very popular. This is for the same domain as I was talking about above.

What I do know is this…if I buy a bunch of these names now and sit on them for a few years and let them age, I can send them to auction and sell them for some $$$. From what I have been learning, I do have quite an investment already. Just remember…if you are going to get into this, you need to buy domains that people will actually want in a few years. I am not sure how many people would be interested in jaygaulard.com. There are also huge price variations with what the name consists of, like one word, two words, hyphens, etc…

What Do These Top Level Domains Mean? List of TLDs

Thursday, March 20th, 2008

I have been purchasing quite a few domain names lately. At last glance, I own 78 of them. Over time, I am taking any confusion out of who owns the real domain by scooping up as many different extensions as I can. I have noticed a disturbing trend of domains being bought and sat on…or cyber squatted. Well, this has been going on forever, but now they are buying even the not-so-popular ones. Little by little, I keep on buying them, until I have them all. Sure, it may take years (it already has), but I will get there. I check what’s available every so often.

I do limit myself to the more popular ones though. I go after .com, .net, .org, .us, .info and .biz. I also grab often mistaken spellings of the same extensions. Some may think this is a bit extreme, but I have stopped listening to people. My extremeness has gotten me this far.

Anyway, today I bought eleven new domains. They were .info and .biz. As I shop for these things, I often wonder what they mean. Are they for specific purposes, like they used to be? I will admit, the requirements to purchase a particular domain extension are becoming quite relaxed. I learned a bunch by looking through the list of internet top level domains.

If you take a look at this list, you will notice that extensions that used to be for a particular purpose is now open to everyone. The .govs are still for the government though. I think that anyone can buy a certain domain extension, but if challenged in court, you need to provide proof that you are what the domain is meant for.

Books, Yahoo!, Solar and Web Design

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Service allows you to offset environmental impact of books

If you collect books, you’ve probably noticed that they’re made of paper, and that paper comes from trees. Raz Godelnik noticed — he thinks green (not Irish, eco-ish) — and he wanted to balance his books with new trees. So he started the website Eco-Libris; there, anyone can donate money to plant trees to offset book purchases.

Yahoo sees rosy outlook for 2009, 2010

Yahoo Inc. has released a rosy outlook for the next two years, hoping to give investors a better understanding why the slumping Internet pioneer isn’t willing to sell to Microsoft Corp. for less than $45 billion.

Solar trumps shade in California prosecution of tree owners

The Santa Clara County district attorney pressed criminal charges against Richard Treanor for the shade his redwoods cast on the solar panels that Mark Vargas uses for 100 percent of his home’s power.

24 Great Niche Web Design Galleries

CSS galleries can be a great source of inspiration, but if you’re looking for something in particular they can be a bit of a nightmare. Since niche galleries have a tighter focus it allows them to be more detailed. Below you’ll find a list of niche galleries, that focus on things from color schemes, to layout, and specific content types.

Bellavista Rainforest Treehouse Community Is Endor on Earth

Finca Bellavista is an Endor-like treehouse village in the making, with paths and platforms perched on 150-foot trees. Located six miles from Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica, this sustainable rainforest community doesn’t have stupid Ewoks or shield generators, but cute monkeys, site-wide Wi-Fi with internet sat link and biodigestors running on solar power.

We Signed the Real Estate Contract

Monday, March 17th, 2008

Well, we visited the house again this afternoon with the realtor. We liked what we saw and headed back to the office to sign all the paperwork and give a deposit. Before we did, both Laura and I took lots of pictures and even a video of the road the house is on.

Just a few minutes ago, as I was resizing the pictures, I thought to myself, “How would I like it if someone posted pictures of the inside of my house on the internet?” I mean, I know the realtor posted them in the online ad, but still, we took pictures of all the bedrooms and stuff. I don’t think it would be too cool if I posted them. After thinking about it, I decided that I will just post the outside shots and then the video of the road. That way, no one will get mad at me if they ever come across them. Hey, you never know.

So, without any more fluff, here you go.

This is obviously the front of the house. The master bedroom is over the garage and is pretty big. It also has that nice dormer to let in the sun.

This is the back of the house, looking up from the woods.

This is looking into the woods from the back porch. There are 4.25 acres of land.

This is looking into the woods from the backyard.

This is me asking, “Where’s my room?”

What’s My Home Worth?

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

I found a cool little tool to help you get a rough picture of what your home is worth. It’s an internet tool, so you have to take it with a grain of salt.

My neighbor is in the home appraisal business and she says that people get really excited when they see their house value online. It’s usually pretty high. What you have to remember is that the website I am talking about doesn’t know the condition of your home. You also have to take into account what time of year it is and what people are willing to pay at that moment. Remember, your home is only worth what you can get for it on the market.

So, if your home is in decent shape, take a look at its estimated value. You can also see what your neighbor’s houses are worth and what they last sold for. That’s the really interesting part. They paid WHAT???

House Offer Was Accepted

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

I thought I would give you a little update on the house. The homeowners accepted our offer. The real estate agent is drawing up the contract and we are going to visit it once more on Monday. We are going to walk up and down the road for a second once-over. I guess it would be called a twice-over. If everything is cool, we are going to head to the real estate office and sign the contract. I will be sure to take photos of the neighborhood and post them.

I already called the mortgage company and gave them the revised numbers and I have an appointment on Tuesday morning to get everything done. He says that we could have the closing before the end of the month. I would say that’s pretty fast. He told me that he had a closing in four days, a few weeks back. That is just nuts.

Needless to say, I am a little nervous. We are going to be swimming in the house, but at least Laura will get her own office and so will I. There will also be another bedroom with a bathroom, so if we ever have guests, they will be hooked up. We can then have another whole family living in the finished basement. Also, the two car garage is something I have always wanted. No more scraping ice off the windshields. Ye haw.

Work, Work and More Work

Friday, March 14th, 2008

As you may have noticed, I have been out of the loop a bit lately. I have been up to some stuff. I will let you all in on it a bit later.

One thing I can tell you about is how hard I have been working lately. I think a good word for it is mind numbing. Yeah…mind numbing. One of the things I have been doing is website marketing, times 35. One website wouldn’t be too bad, but 35 gets a little hairy.

I thought I would share a little resource I found today on website marketing. About the other stuff, I will share later on. That should be worth about ten blog posts.

Hubble, Going Green, Web Hosting and Recycling or Hell

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

Top 10 Hubble Images of All Time

As the title says, this article lists the top ten Hubble space satellite images ever taken. Hubble has been in operation since 1990, and now after serving almost for 20 years it is time to list the very best images taken by Hubble.

3 Extreme Ways To Go Green

Recycle, schmecycle. These days, saving the Earth requires a lot more than just collecting cans.

Warning: The Web Hosting Business is Not For Kids

I admire teenagers (including many of you) who do take the step into the on-line world, but Web Hosting is a business which you should attempt only if you are serious and only if you are not after a quick buck. Why? Because you will fail and drag your customers with you when this happens.

Recycle or go to Hell, warns Vatican

Failing to recycle plastic bags could find you spending eternity in Hell, the Vatican said after drawing up a list of seven deadly sins for our times. The seven, which include polluting the environment, were announced by Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, a close ally of the Pope and the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary…

5 Tips to Improve Search Rank

Optimizing your website for search engines can be a time consuming and costly process if you don’t know what you are doing. Utilize these five search engine optimization tips provided by a professional SEO firm to improve your organic search engine rank.

The Good News and Bad News About My Coopers Stout

Sunday, March 9th, 2008

Well, the good news is that my bottle capper works great. I couldn’t resist and cracked a bottle open today. I heard the little, “sssst” that tells me the bottle was sealed. That’s good.

The bad news is that when I poured the bottle of beer into my glass, it had a “scent” to it. It kind of smelled like sulphur. Not much, but enough to make me give it a taste. The beer wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t like it was supposed to be. After I poured it, there was a head to it, but definitely not like the Lager from the previous batch. I poured the bottle down the drain. Now, mind you, I have only had this batch bottled for a week and a half.

UPDATE - I was just looking for someone else who experienced the sulphur smell in home brew so I could link to it and came across this forum. Apparently, they are saying, “It’s just the yeast…let it age out.” To think, I was going to come home today and dump 63 bottles of beer down the drain.

I’ll let the beer age out for a few more weeks and see what happens. I will be sure to update you.