I had no idea we had debt collectors operating out of our sleepy little agricultural town, but apparently they are.  Who knew?  So now I can actually walk down to their office and complain and/or negotiate with them.  Pretty cool, though unnerving at the same time.  But what we really need here in Gilroy is a locally owned Debt Counseling company. After all, my best guess would be that we have a larger than average percentage of people with serious credit and debt problems.

Until then, I highly recommend checking out TheCreditExchange.com.  They are (apparently) the only a debt consolidation referral service in existence today.  Essentially, theyreview all of the various debt counseling, debt consolidation and equity repositioning companies out there and then do their best to match you up with the service that fits you best.  Makes a lot more sense than picking one at random based on a banner ad, Google search or flipping through the phone book, doesn’t it?

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Part of the Thursday Themesday: WordPress Theme Reviews Series - Previous in series         

Welcome to the third edition of Thursday Themesday here at Gilroy Review!

As is evident from even a cursory examination of my blogs I’m a big fan of three column WordPress themes.  I appreciate the fact that one can share so much more data in so much less space than a two column theme.  So imagine my excitement when I discovered Quadruple Blue by WPDesigner- a four column WordPress theme!

Now, the biggest drawback with three column themes is that they frequently appear overcrowded - there are simply too many different gadgets and widgets competing for your attention.  One would imagine this problem would be even worse with a four column theme. But, somehow, Quadruple Blue avoids this problem as the screenshot to the right (from Mostly Harmless by Brian Curd) shows.  Of course, no theme is bulletproof once the actual blogger gets hold of it.  Check the other two screenshots below for examples of more crowded uses of Quadruple Blue on iPentimento|Genealogy and More and HaloClix respectively.

The only real flaw I found with this theme was that the primary text container was too narrow to fit a banner ad in.  Not only would this be useful for monetizing the blog, but also simply for using larger images in your post as well.  Fortunately, as the HaloClix blog shows this can easily be changed just by modifying the CSS and it still remains a remarkably clean theme.

What you can’t see in these screenshots (since they focus on the top part of the blog) is that the two right sidebars actually “end”, leaving a “double-wide” white column below them which could effectively be used as a fifth (non-widgeted) column.  Oh, did I fail to mention that all three sidebars are fully widget enabled?  I’m telling you this is an absolutely brilliant theme.

Personally, I also think it’s a little too blue, but that is, of course, easily changeable in the CSS since it doesn’t actually use any internal images.  All you’d need to do is change the HTML color codes and voila - you’ve got a red, green, purple or whatever theme instead.  If you’re a fan of widgets, you seriously need to check out Quadruple Blue!

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But even more importantly is what they’ve done to their website lately.  If you haven’t checked it out you should.  Now whenever my football maniac (buit computer illiterate) roommate asks me about the latest happenings within the NFL, I can just swing by Comcast’s site and get everything I need.  Whether I’m looking for scores, the schedule for upcoming games, video highlights or even the latest dirt on which coach or player is going where (and why), Comcast’s got everything I need on one clean and straightforward page.  So even for the football illiterate such as myself I can not only pull the data he wants in seconds, but also maintain meaningful conversations with him on his addiction… er… hobby of choice.

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Ante Bilic ended the controversy before it could really begin this morning by withdrawing his application to turn a Mexican restaurant into a strip club, according to the city’s planning department.Planning Division Manager Bill Faus received a phone call from the applicant this morning and said he awaited a formal written statement from Bilic to make the withdrawal official.

It seemed like a no-brainer for Bilic after lawyers for Home Depot - which leases the strip mall at 8800 San Ysidro Ave. north of the Gilroy Premium Outlets - sent city planners copies of a 1999 declaration that bars “adult entertainment facilities” on the premises. Credit Suisse filed the so-called declaration of conditions, covenants and restriction before it developed the property.

When I first read the headline I was all geared up to write another rant about how the government needs to get out of the morality business, but then I read deeper into the article.  Unfortunately, my moral code insists that I support Home Depot and Credit Suisse in this case.  It is exactly these sorts of “declaration of conditions” or “covenants” that I’d like to see used more often, though in lieu of zoning regulations rather than in addition to them.

I completely agree that a property owner has the right to determine what types of activities are undertaken on thier property and in this case they set about doing just that.  The only “guilty” party in this case seems to be the owner of the Los Amigos restaurant who agreed to the covenant when purchasing the property but didn’t disclose it to Ante Bilic.

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I know, I know, it’s too late to get the write off on the taxes you’ll be paying in April, but it’s never to early start for next year. Especially once you take into account that you won’t know the exact value of your donation until after the car is sold. That’s because the federal government prohibits non profit organizations from assigning values to material donations. However, your donation is valued at the full retail value of the car. So this is how it works…

1. Check out the site linked above for details
2. Call your local Goodwill to find out the procedure in your area
3. Turn over the car and wait for it to be sold
4. Once your vehicle is sold, you will be notified of the sale price and all the documentation that you will need to claim the deduction on your tax return will be sent to you, including a donation receipt and the IRS Form 8283.

That’s all ther eis to it! So it’s not difficult, but it can take some time. You’re thinking about taxes now anyway, right, so why not keep that forward momentum by donating to your favorite charity as well?

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Part of the Thursday Themesday: WordPress Theme Reviews Series - Previous in series         Next in series

Welcome to the second edition of Thursday Themesday here at Gilroy Review!

After starting out my blog dedicated to reviewing every work by (or related to) my favorite author, F. Paul Wilson, I knew I needed to find just the right theme to showcase those posts.  Unfortunately, I spent so much time trying to find the theme, that the blog has been very slow to get off the ground.  However, I knew my quest was over when I found Scruffy by South African web designer Cobus Bester.

Scruffy WordPress Theme-

Cobus describes Scruffy simply as “A WordPress theme with a unique “grunge” design“, but it is oh, so much more than that!

Here are some of the features that come with this gorgeous theme-

• Grid based design and layout, built on the popular 960.gs css framework
• Extensive stylesheet with declarations for all areas of the theme
• Easy to customise/expand
  • Original Photoshop files (PSDs) available for download!
• Widgetized sidebar with styling for all default WordPress widgets
• Custom paragraph styles-
  • download
  • info
  • update
  • warning
• Pull quotes
• Table styling
• Page templates included
• Fully supports WordPress’s gallery feature
• 100% Valid XHTML and CSS

So, if th elook of the theme wasn’t enough to sell you, all of those features certainly should!  There’s not really that much more to say about Scruffy.  I did a fair amount of customization for my site, but because the theme is built well and the PSDs are available for download it was relaly easy to do.

My favorite part of this WordPress theme is the way the widget boxes are stylized so it’s not just a series of lists and/or ads hanging out in the sidebar, but appears as what it is: actual content.  I also really love the scrawled “notes” on the theme like the “latest post” and “comments” with the arrow pointing to the relevant part of the theme.

Scruffy is as close to perfect as a theme can be and Cobus is to be praised for all of the hard work he’s done on it.  He has a several other WordPress Themes available as well at his website, so even if you don’t like the look of Scruffy, check out his other themes.

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Although the Gilroy Dispatch poll is currently running 2-to-1 against allowing the club to open, the comments show the exact opposite sentiment with only a few dissenters taking the time to voice their objections. Most of the objections seem to be unfounded since the club’s proposed site is in an area of town that is already zoned for “Adult Businesses” (ie. not located near schools, parks, religious institutions, etc.). They simply seem to be concerned about the possible increase in crime and/or traffic in the area.

None of the objections seem to be over the increased number of women getting boob jobs in order to better profit at the club. Personally, I think this is a wonderful sign of growth amongst my small town neighbors. Perhaps it’s a result of such classy and professional businesses as Mya Cosmetic Surgery. Maybe it’s the common acceptance of plastic surgery by celebrities - Nikki Grahame had Mya Cosmetic perform her mother’s face lift, then they shared the details with Now Magazine for the whole world to read. Or maybe it’s the fact that many, many more women are having breast augmentation themselves these days. Regardless, it’s nice to see that objection essentially cleared from the debate.

Now if we could just do something about the moralists, the NIMBYs, and those who simply don’t understand how real world economics function to see the light we might actually be on our way towrds freedom and the prosperity it always brings.

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Well, budget cuts have finally made Gilroy safe for graffiti after all.  According to this week’s Gilroy Dispatch-

Just when the Gilroy Police Department was making significant inroads toward controlling Gilroy’s growing graffiti problem, the heart and soul of the anti-graffiti program has been scheduled to be laid off in a recent round of budget cuts.

Community Service Officer Angela Locke-Paddon and Nicole Nielsen, office assistant for the Neighborhood Resource Unit, along with a group of graffiti “Wipe-Out” volunteers were Gilroy’s front against the unsightly scrawls. But after this month, the two women’s part-time duties will be handed off to one of the department’s community service officers.

Take particular notice of the part of the first sentence I emphasized above.  According to the police and the newspaper, Gilroy has more graffiti, not less, despite almost doubling the number of arrests.  In other words, the current abatement system isn’t working!  How about we try something other than more arrests and trials?

As I wrote i nmy previous post, I’m not a fan of tagging (the mostly illegible scrawls that appear all over the place), though I am a fan of spray paint art in public spaces.  But my excitement over these lay offs actually has very little to do with graffiti.  Rather I’m pleased by the overall savings these layoffs represent.  It’s not just the two part time salaries, but also all of the resources that are wasted with every arrest: booking, jailing, court costs, etc.

Should someone be caught vandalizing private property the victim has recourse in civil court.  No police resources required.  As for public property, aren’t taggers and graffiti artists part of the public?  If they want graffiti up they should be free to put it up.  If you don’t want it there, you should be free to cover it or remove it.  No police resources required.

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Okay, that’s not a t-shirt over there on the left, it’s a onesie, but isn’t it just brilliant?  Onesies are for babies … babies are “new here” … get it?  Well, I think it’s hilarious and so did my (new parent) friends.  So there!  But back to the topic…

You may not have heard of Local Celebrity, but I can all but guarantee you’ve seen their green t-shirts. You know, the ones that say “Respect your Mother”? All the ‘Hollywood’ celebrities have been photographed in them and they even made an appearance (or two) on American Idol. These shirts are everywhere (and, yes, they have them for little kids too for those who are extra punny).

Come on, you know you’ve always wanted to be a Local Celebrity, so swing by their site today.  If my word’s not good enough for ya, then how about the fact that when you make the A-list (which is so easy all you’ve got to do is sign up) you’ll instantly save 20% on every purchase of their cool t shirts! That’s on top of getting the red carpet treatment with Express Checkout and their exclusive A-list promotional offers.

So what are you waiting for? Become a local celebrity today!

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