Train Horn

Have you ever been in a situation where you honked your car or truck and nobody seemed to have heard you? Do I need a train horn or what before someone gets out of my way!?

How about when you are out in a boat on the river in summer and it is filled with all kinds of water crafts, like it is here in Sacramento, and what you have on your boat is not loud enough to warn anyone to stay out of your way. Do you sometimes feel that you need at least a 155 DB sound coming out of your horn before you can warn anyone of the danger that they are in?

If those thoughts ever crossed your mind, then I can tell you where to get that horn that is loud enough!

At Trainhorn.org you have a choice of a Dual Pump Train Horn Kit or an Single Pump Adjustable Pressure Train Horn Kit.

With the Dual Pump Train Horn Kit, which is made of high quality horns and can sound up to 175 DB, nobody can say that they can't hear you coming! The kit is easy to install and it comes with an easy to follow color instructions.

The Single Pump Adjustable Pressure Train Horn Kit which produces a 155 DB sound is also made out of the highest quality components and they have been tested and proven to last. It also comes with an easy to follow color instructions, so easy that anyone can install it.

Check out Trainhorns.org if you are thinking about installing a train horn for your boat, truck, train or car.

*This is a paid post.*

Nose Bleed

Its summer and in California the air can get quite dry. One of the effects of this dry air, for me at least, is a nose bleed. My nose started bleeding in the summer two years ago. Last year it occured at least once a day during the summer. Being the hypochondriac that I am, I imagined I was suffering from more than the garden variety nose bleed! It is a fact that a nose bleed could be a symptom for something serious like nasal tumors or leukemia

Anyway, last year I got myself a nice humidifier that I turned on in my bedroom at night. This has helped somewhat, and this summer I've only had a nose bleed three times. This morning was the most recent episode. I have the humidifier going next to me even as I write this post.

What causes the nose to bleed? The information below is from familydoctor.org

The most common causes are dryness (often caused by indoor heat in the winter) and nose picking. These two things work together--nose picking occurs more often when mucus in the nose is dry and crusty.

Other, less common, causes include injuries, colds, allergies or cocaine use. Children may stick small objects up the nose. Older people may have atherosclerosis ("hardening of the arteries"), infections, high blood pressure and blood clotting disorders, or they may be taking drugs like aspirin that interfere with blood clotting. The cause of nosebleeds often can't be determined.

What to do when there is a nose bleed

If you get a nosebleed, sit down and lean slightly forward. Keeping your head above your heart will make your nose bleed less. Lean forward so the blood will drain out of your nose instead of down the back of your throat. If you lean back, you may swallow the blood. This can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Use your thumb and index finger to squeeze together the soft portion of your nose. This area is located between the end of your nose and the hard, bony ridge that forms the bridge of your nose. Keep holding your nose until the bleeding stops. Don't let go for at least 5 minutes. If it's still bleeding, hold it again for 10 minutes straight.

You can also place a cold compress or an ice pack across the bridge of your nose.

Once the bleeding stops, don't do anything that may make it start again, such as bending over or blowing your nose.

How to stop a nosebleed. Pinch soft part of your nose, right beneath the bony ridge

Pinch your nose to stop a nosebleed

Bedroom Furniture

The right kind of bedroom furniture makes all the difference between a cosy and comfortable bedroom, and a merely functional one.

I am in the market for a new bed because my waveless waterbed developed a leak and despite a patch job done to the leak the bed is never going to be the same again. I am thinking that when I get my new mattress I want it on a real bed frame instead of what we have right now which is just a metal frame with a separate head set.

I see a many beautiful beds at Gallery Furniture which has the finest master bedroom selection of Houston's furniture. My favorite is the solid mahogany low profile queen bed in the neo-classical style. I find the clean style and the dark, rich, merlot finish very attractive. I like to put a quilt cover over my bed and this style is just perfect for it. There are no posts that could get in the way of the bed cover. Besides that, the price of $899.99 is within the budget we have set for the purchase of a new bed.

One other thing, since we are thinking of replacing our salt and pepper colored carpet with hardwood flooring, that dark, merlot color will contrast rather nicely with a dark blond hardwood flooring.

Now that I have a bed in mind, the choice of a mattress is much easier. I'd like to get a Tempur-pedic mattress and I don't have to go very far to look for it. Gallery Furniture carries Tempur-pedic mattresses and pillows in their mattress store.

If you are also thinking of replacing your old furniture set, be it dining room, living room, entertainment or bedroom, why not check out Gallery Furniture? They have the finest selection of furniture in Houston and there is bound to be something that will meet your needs.

Weird News of the Day

This morning on Paul Harvey's News and Commentary, Paul Harvey related this funny story. Maybe funny is not the correct word.

FREDERICK, Colo.—A Catholic priest faces an indecent exposure charge after police said he went jogging in the nude about an hour before sunrise.

The Rev. Robert Whipkey told officers he had been running naked at a high school track and didn't think anyone would be around at that time of day, a police report said.

He told officers he sweats profusely if he wears clothing while jogging. "I know what I did was wrong," he said in the report.

Whipkey did not return phone messages. His attorney, Doug Tisdale, told the Longmont Times-Call that Whipkey had no comment.

Whipkey, 53, was arrested June 22 in this small town about 20 miles north of Denver. An officer said he saw a naked man walking down the street at 4:35 a.m. The U.S. Naval Observatory Web site said sunrise that day in Frederick was 5:31 a.m.

The officer said when he shined his flashlight at the man, he covered himself with a piece of clothing he was carrying.

The Archdiocese of Denver said it takes the incident seriously but is awaiting the outcome of the case. Whipkey, who also officiates at parishes in the nearby towns of Mead and Erie, remains an active priest.

If convicted of indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, he would have to register as a sex offender, prosecutors said.

What do you think? Is the priest a pervert? He WAS running in the dark and it WAS before sunrise. Do you think that was indecent exposure? With the scandals facing Catholic priests, I don't think jogging in the nude is a good idea, even if he meant no harm.

Rejection and Approval

I started writing sponsored posts for PayPerPost on July 30. Last night I received my first notification of a rejection to one of my posts. :-( Arrrggghhhh! And it was worth $18! The reason? I did not meet the minimum requirement of a 100 words! What?! How difficult is it to write a 100 words? That taught me a lesson. What happened was I was too eager to click on the Take Opportunity button that I didn't pay attention to the minimum number of words requirement. I could easily have rectified that situation because there was nothing to stop me from editing that post once it was submitted so that it fulfilled the minimum number of words.

Anyway, first thing this morning when I checked my email, I had received another notification email from PayPerPost about the approval of another post. This was my first approval and it sort of mended the disappointment over the rejected post. Why "sort of"? This post that was approved was worth only $5. That's not to say that it is bad news. The good news is that it is not that difficult to write sponsored posts and earn some extra cash!

Yesterday and in the wee hours of the morning (I was on my computer really late!) I wrote a total of 4 sponsored posts and together they are worth $40. This time I made sure that I met the minimum word requirement for each post!

I'm dreaming of the day when I am eligible for the higher paid posts. For now my google ranking for this blog is a meagre 3, and forget about Alexa! This blog is ranked 5662346 with Alexa. Boo hoo.

But the other good news is that there are opportunities that do not require any ranking and that means people like me can still make some money writing sponsored posts! It is not that difficult!

Latina Dating

There are many reasons why people use online dating sites to meet other singles. One of the reasons is that it is easier to learn about someone by browsing his or her profile at a dating site than to try and strike up a conversation with a stranger, say, at a bar. It is also easier to get to know someone through a dating site because you will have avoided that first three minutes of face to face meeting where first impressions are critical.

This is where a dating site like Latina Dating comes in. Latina Dating is a dating site where you can meet latin singles in your area. Just because the name is Latina Dating, that doesn't mean non-latina or latino can't join in!

At Latina Dating you can join for free. All you need to do is fill in the information that is required like your email address, your date of birth, and you are also required to write a description of yourself, and make a headline which is a statement that will draw attention to the kind of person you are.

Once you have registered, you can log in and browse through photos and profiles of thousands of other members at the site. You can even send messages to the other members you might be interested in. If you don't feel like sending any message you can send a "flirt". That way you can indicate your interest in someone and that person might respond by checking out your profile. There is also the Search feature, where you can try to look other members up by filling in their nicknames in the Search box.

Give Latina Dating site a try. You might find that special someone you have been waiting for to share the rest of your life with!

Senior Citizens and Their Sports Cars

Have you noticed lately that there are more and more older people, I mean senior citizens, who are driving low slung sports cars?

Last week I was at a gas station, with my husband, waiting for our turn at the pump when I noticed this red convertible with the top up at the opposite pump. The door of the red convertible opened, out came a pair of pale, flabby and varicose-veined legs, followed by a body that matched the legs. I mean this little old lady was practically struggling to get out of the car!

We drove up to the next available pump and no sooner had my husband put in the nozzle in the tank, a black Corvette drove by. Guess who was behind the wheel? An old man!

My neighbour, who was divorced last year, started driving a black convertible. No, he is not a young man, and I have never seen him driving his car with the top up. I guess for him the sports car was a chick magnet because not long after that he acquired a girl-friend!

The father-in-law of one of my good friends also drives a Corvette, white with red leather seats. He is middle-aged, not a small guy, and I don’t think it is easy for him to get in and out of that sports car.

I think what is happening here is that the baby boomers are only now able to afford some luxuries because their kids have all left school or college. Moreover, I think some of them are trying to relive their youth.

I heard on the radio recently about the statistics for road fatalities especially motorcycle fatalies. According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Motorcyclists age 40 and over riding larger motorcycle engine sizes account for the fastest growing group of motorcyclist fatalities”. Yes, those baby boomers fall into that age group!

Traveling any time soon?

Are you thinking about traveling for business or pleasure this summer? Or maybe later in the year? Need one convenient location where you can get a wide selection of airline ticket prices, accommodations and rental cars at the very best rates available out there?

If so, Hotel Reservations is the place for you! At Hotel Reservations you can choose and compare air ticket prices, hotel rates, and car rental rates, and even cruises. For better deals go for the vacation packages like flight+hotel+car combo, or the flight+car combo, or the hotel+car, or the flight+car combo. You will be amazed at how much you can save when you choose from one of these combos!

Not only does Hotel Reservations have all inclusive resorts and vacation rentals to choose from at their site, they also have a wide selection of motels, and bed and breakfast accommodations suitable for the budget conscious, or the family oriented. There is bound to be something that meets your criteria because they offer over 70,000 properties worldwide for you to choose from!

Group travelers will not be able to resist the special internet rates they can get from group bookings! To secure these special rates, which is backed by their lowest internet price guarantee, and enjoy huge savings, you are required to pay up front by credit card. At Hotel Reservations all credit card transactions are safe and secure, and moreover major credit cards, like MasterCard, Visa, and American Express are accepted.

If your are ready for a hassle free planning for your next travel or vacation, why not check out Hotel Reservations and utilize their easy booking tools for that perfect accommodation? Their certified hotel experts available 24/7 are there to help you too if you have any questions!

Best of all by planning your trip at Hotel Reservations, you get their Hotel Reservations Price Guarantee. There is nothing like a Price Guarantee to assure you that you are definitely getting the best prices available on the internet!

If you make your reservations by August 31 for travel through October 31, and fulfill certain conditions, you are eligible for up to $100 gas rebates! Don't wait, plan and book your next perfect trip at Hotel Reservations. I am going to!

*This is a paid post.*

A Little Accident

Just before I unlocked the door to the house, with the kids right behind me, I put my finger into the soil of the potted plant by the door. Hmm, still damp, and then I swipe my fingers across the leaves to remove the spider web covering them. A brown praying mantis fell onto the floor. That got Duncan all excited. I picked up the praying mantis and placed it gently back on the plant.

Denice and I went on ahead into the house while Duncan stayed outside by the door still looking at the praying mantis.

Some minutes later, Duncan surreptitiously entered the house and headed straight towards the bathroom. I quickly asked him to show me his hands. He showed me his hands, nothing there. I thought maybe he had brought the praying mantis into the house.

I decided to check on him in his room. He had removed his shorts and was only wearing his briefs. He was trying to cover his briefs by pulling his t-shirt over his briefs. I suspected something and touched his briefs. It was wet.

Duncan got a good scolding from me. For trying to hide the accident from me, and for being close enough to the bathroom and yet not using it. He had been too engrossed with the praying mantis that he did not make it to the bathroom in time. I held up the wet shorts and showed it to him. You should have heard him cry. It was more like a scream. A high pitched cry that showed how embarrassed he was at wetting his shorts. “I’m sorry Mommy” was all he could say after the cry. I reminded him again that he should not wait till the last minute to go to the bathroom. It was also my fault because the last two days I made him go to the bathroom as soon as we got home. But today the praying mantis distracted us all.

By and large, it has been a successful few days at staying dry. I am proud of him.

10.545% CTR on Sponsored Posts!

When you come across a sponsored post done by a blogger, do you wonder about it's effectiveness? If you are skeptical about the effectiveness of this form of advertising then I have news for you.

According to an extensive study done by PayPerPost, the average ctr for such form of advertising is 10.545%. That is simply an incredible rate and great news for advertisers. Advertisers should feel confident that their advertising dollars is reaping them a good return.

My husband and I do a lot of shopping online, and most of the time when we are looking for something in particular we do so by using search words. We are also not adverse to clicking on the Adwords that show up with the results of our searches. But ever since I started doing sponsored posts through PayPerPost, both of us have found ourselves clicking on the advertisers' links. That means for the advertisers, the bloggers themselves are potential customers!

A most recent example for me is the sponsored post I did for Coupon Chief. We were very delighted to have found discount coupons for computers. We followed a link to one of the computer vendors and found a whole range of computers that were within our budget. We are narrowing down our choices before we make our purchase. And not only that, there are coupons there at Coupon Chief that I can use to buy gifts at Linen and Things for a friend who is getting married later this month. Imagine the savings!

Sponsored posts do pay for the advertisers, at a 10.545% click through rate to be exact!

Market Day

This morning as I was getting the kids ready for pre-school, I was surprised to receive a call from Jessica's mom. It seemed that she was already at the Galt Flea Market and wanted to know if I was going to it too!

I told her to go back to the school and I would meet her there. When I arrived at the school, she was already at the school. After dropping off the kids, Jessica's mom and I drove to the market in my car.

We had a good time. We started off by sharing a bowl of Vietnamese noodles. We walked down most of the aisles at the market. Jessica's mom bought two pairs of shoes for herself, and I also bought a pair of light green sandals. Very cute! I also bought socks for Duncan, a bunch of lucky bamboo plants for my hand painted vase, a pair of underwear, and vegetables.

One of the things I know I will be getting the next time I go to the market is a hair piece! I tried one on and it was interesting how it really added volume to my tied up hair. The lady who was selling the hair pieces had all kinds, all colors and all lengths.

After the shopping, I invited Jessica's mom over to my home and this time she did not turn down my invitation. She stayed for only a few minutes but that was a good start. I told her to bring Jessica next time she comes.

Halloween

Are you ready for Halloween the movie? If you are a fan of the Halloween series as I am, I bet you can't wait for August 31 when it opens in theaters!

I love to be scared out of my wits, and I consider A Nightmare on Elm Street to be right there at the top with Halloween. Freddy Krueger in his hat and his ugly face give me the creeps! In Halloween, that mask that Michael Myers wears, now that gives me the creeps as well.

If you are a fan of the original Halloween and wonders if this 2007 version is going to be any good compared to the original, give Rob Zombie, who wrote and directed the movie, a chance and see if he has done justice to the original classic. If Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects" are anything to go by, then we should all get ready to be scared out of our wits! After watching the trailer, I know I will not be disappointed.

Rob Zombie's remake, or "re-imagine" as he likes to put it, of the original classic will not be "cheesy" as one reviewer puts it. I like the idea of Zombie expanding the character of Michael Myers. In the original classic, Michael Myers kills his sister, and all that is said about his motivation is that he is " ... simply evil". We are left wondering as to the motivation of a six year old, who when he escapes Grove-Warren County Sanitarium at age 21, continues to kill more people.

Rob Zombie in talking about the difference of his version to the 1978 version said "The biggest difference is I wanna make Michael Myers two things. I wanna make him a lead character who you sort of know about, 'cause I think that's what it'll take to make that character then again truly terrifying. So in order, in my mind, to pump the life back into him, to make that figure terrifying when he appears on screen, is you need to know what is happening in his brain."

Now doesn't that quote by Zombie as told to Launch earlier this year make you curious and make you want to watch Halloween and see if you will be as scared as you were of Michael Myers as when you watched the original? I most definitely am!

I am wondering if the final scenes where Michael Myers was shot six times, and whether that scene of him falling from the second-story balcony will be reproduced, in this new version. Will the closing scene be as suspenseful and leave you asking, "Where is his body?" I can't wait to find out!

A day of triumph

Today has been a day of triumph of sorts for Duncan. He went, for the first time, to school without wearing his training pants.

Yesterday was the test day for him. He refused to wear his training pants and insisted on wearing his briefs. Ok, I said, just remember to go the bathroom whenever you feel you have to. I had to help him along by reminding him and taking him to the bathroom every few hours. He did great!

This morning as I dressed him for school, he himself told me that he was going to wear his briefs, not his training pants. When we got to school, I told his teacher that he was wearing his briefs and wanted her to remind him to go to the bathroom.

When I picked him up at the end of the day, I noticed that he was still wearing the pair of shorts he had at the beginning of the day. Woohoo, he managed to stay dry all day! I guess my baby has reached an important milestone in his life. I took him to the bathroom as soon as we reached home, just to make sure that after the success of the day, he did not regress to his wetting the training pants days!

Quality Taps for Less

I have been looking at the taps in our bathrooms and kitchen, and without a doubt it is time to replace them!

First of all the tap in the kitchen is all dirty looking because of scratches, and stains from the minerals in the water. Moreover the pull out rinser in the sink does not work anymore. As for the taps in the bathrooms, they have lost their shine because of over-cleaning with a corrosive cleaning agent.

If you need taps you can find a wide selection of bathroom and kitchen taps at Taps4less. They carry modern kitchen taps, designer kitchen taps, high rise kitchen taps and even the traditional kitchen taps. For those with a white kitchen sink, there are white kitchen taps to choose from. The designer kitchen taps are made of top quality brassware, coupled with innovative designs with great functionality. You will be spoiled for choice! And best of all the prices are unbeatable.

Taps are not the only items that are available at Taps4less. You can get top of the line showers like those from Mira, Hudson Reed and Home of Amber. How about an electric shower? You can find that too at Tapsforless.

How about adding that heated towel rail to your bathroom? Won't it be nice to get out of the shower, and get hold of a towel that is already warmed? That would be bliss on a cold winter's day!

Check out Tap4less.com for unbeatable prices and selection for your kitchen fittings, and bathroom fittings needs.

Ashop Commerce Shopping Cart Software

When starting at an online store, the ease of the shopping experience can make a customer come back for more shopping. That is why having the best shopping cart software installed in your online store can make all the difference to the success of your online business.

Ashop Commerce's award winning Shopping Cart Software is the choice of thousands of both novice and professional users. Its easy to use web based administrations allows the merchant to build an online store capable of competing with the webs most powerful sites for a simple, low monthly fee.

Among its world class easy set up features are:

- No plug-ins or programming required
- Complete operational storefront
- Web based store administration
- Free tech support (phone, email, online chat)
- No graphic design skills required

And some of the attractive inventory control features that come with this sofware are:

- Featured products
- Multilevel product variants & optional surcharges
- Multi level text variant option
- Related products
- Rich text editor (WYSIWYG editor)
- Product reports
- Category reports
- Auto image resizing

Ashop Commerce shopping carts are also integrated with all major banks, gateways and third party processors including PayPal (full functionality integration). Credit cards are now a widely accepted form of payment in online stores and Ashop Commerce's built in SSL protection (checkout security) means your customers pay with confidence. Ashop Commerce also offers advice on obtaining credit card processing facilities.

Give Ashop Commerce's Shopping Cart Software a good look if you are looking for such a software. It's affordable, easy, and comes with technical support and customer service.

Spaghetti anyone?

I have never been particularly fond of Italian cooking. In fact I can count with one hand the number of times I have eaten at an Italian restaurant this past year, and I still have fingers to spare! All that cheese and tomatoes! I am lactose intolerant, and that is one reason why I avoid food with cheeses, also I have and acid stomach. Imagine what eating food with lots of cheese and tomotoes will do to my stomach!

But still I have to add variety to my home cooking. To be honest, I am bored with the dishes that I have cooked up in recent months. I wished I was rich enough to hire a private chef to prepare my meals, or better yet been married to a husband who knows some gourmet cooking! :-)

Anyway, last Wednesday, I cooked spaghetti for dinner. It has been a long while since I last cooked spaghetti. This time I tried Ragu pasta sauce with lots of chunky mushrooms in it. I also bought some grated parmesan cheese and some 4% fat ground beef. I was surprised how good everything tasted! That is why I made spaghetti again for dinner last Sunday. Doug had no complains because he loved spaghetti and brought some left-overs to work this morning. Best of all, my stomach was only slightly bothered by the meal!

LCD Digital Photo Frames

I love taking photographs and with the advent of digital cameras with its high capacity memory cards, I can take countless pictures without worrying about buying film for the camera. But the thing with possessing hundreds if not thousands of pictures, is that I am not likely to print all of them. And neither am I going to have the time to put them away in scrapbooks or photo albums!

This is where a digital photo frame comes in. It is unobtrusive and each picture from your memory card will be displayed on the frame like a slide show. Each digital photo frame has the standard, Five-in-one Card Reader which supports CF/XD/MS/SD/MMC cards. In addition, there is also a USB 2.0 connection for maximum compatibility.

And the beauty of these frames is that all the frames are compatible with JPEG, MP4, DivX, AVI, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, MP3, WMA, WAV formats. That means besides your pictures, you can also view movie clips that have been taken with your camera, even play music in the background because each frame comes with a built-in stereo speakers.

You no longer have to put away all your favorite holiday pictures and wait till Thanksgiving or Christmas to share them with friends and family members. You can display them on your LCD digital photo frames and display them on your coffee table or side tables around the house.

I just love it! I will most definitely get one from Digital Framez which is an online store which sells frames ranging from 7" - 10" wide.

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods?

This summer has got to be one of the coolest summers I have experienced since moving to this part of California.

On Saturday we had the mecury hit 103 F. The air-conditioning in the house had a good work out that day. But by 8.00 p.m. the delta breeze had kicked in and what a difference that made! It was as if there was no triple digit weather that day.

On Sunday, the delta breeze was in full swing. There were leaves and buck every where on my front patio. I hate those eucalyptus trees! They are so ugly and the leaves they leave all over the ground! If not for the shade they provide, I would have chopped them down a long time ago!

The temperature on Sunday was only 76 F. That was a new record low for August 5. In fact, with the wind, it felt chilly at times! Imagine feeling chilly on a summer's day! My son, Duncan, who was recovering from a cold, was told to wear a jacket as he hung around his Dad who was working in the backyard.

Last night was the first time this summer that I felt like putting on socks in bed. I did not have my fan on in the bedroom while I slept last night.

This morning, as we walked out the door, Duncan, said "Look, Mommy, going to rain!" There is no rain in the forecast but the sky looked overcast and it looked like a cold day in fall.

Living in the Sacramento valley, a day like yesterday and today, is not something we want to complain about! We wished it was like this all summer's long!

Blog For Money

Do you love to blog? If you do, do you sometimes wonder if you are wasting too much time blogging? It doesn't have to come to that!

You can get paid to blog. Smorty is a service connecting advertisers with bloggers. With Smorty, advertisers pay bloggers to write opinion pieces on their blogs with links back to the advertisers' site. Advertisers are always looking for ways to bring potential customers to their site and what better way to get exposure from advertising on blogs? I think advertisers have finally found a cheap way to spread the word around about their site and products.

Now, with Smorty you can get paid while you blog. Why wait any longer? Sign up with Smorty and get paid to blog. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The possibility of being paid more by advertisers is there especially if you own a blog that has many visitors. Sign up with Smorty today, and get paid for blogging.

Beef Stew for Dinner

At weekends, I hate to cook lunch. Usually Doug and I will eat whatever leftovers we have in the fridge. We need to eat the leftovers because they can really pile up!

This morning I cooked rice porridge for breakfast and since I had breakfast really late, I skipped lunch and started preparing dinner at 3.30 pm. Since I had planned on cooking beef stew, I thought 3.30 p.m. was a good time to start cooking. The beef pieces were quite chunky and even though I still have all my teeth, err, almost all, I hate to eat food where I have to chew and chew and chew. My jaws get tired really easily. No kidding!

Cold beef stew after dinner

My previous beef stew did not taste quite the way I remembered beef stew is supposed to taste. This time I bought the McCormick beef stew seasoning. I think I bought other brands previously. I read the instructions on the little packet carefully, and made sure the beef chunks were properly coated with flour and properly browned on all sides before I poured in the water and the seasoning. I let the whole thing simmer for an hour before I added the vegetables, as per the instructions on the packet!

I guessed that did the trick because the beef stew was quite tasty. Thick and flavorful, and far better than my previous attempts!