Sourcing Parts for my cars!

Since moving to US about 18 months ago I have been learning a lot of new stuff. I have learned that one has to do his own job here because labor is very expensive. Another important part of shopping for anything in the us is to look for the same product in multiple locations, to make sure you are not being ripped off.

One area where I was not doing this much is when buying auto parts. I would let the repair guys take care of it. But recently I got top-dollar repair estimate. I decided that I need to check out if the parts they are quoting for really cost so much. I just got online and searched.

I found a website known as GreatAutoParts.com where one could buy almost every part of the car and being an online entity the prices are great too. The exhaustive parts catalog is easy to use and it takes only a few minutes to find what you are looking for. Curiosity helped me find a wonderful new resource and saved me lots of $$$s. Unfortunately I didn't do this earlier, I wish I had. It would have saved me much more.

So if you are in the market for auto parts, don't let the dealer decide. Take matters in your own hand and visit Great Auto Parts website. You may be surprised by what you find.

Poolside Barbeque Party

What do Texans do on weekends? Poolside Barbecue in summer and Estate sales and shopping in winter. That pretty much sums up the activities possible here. Dallas is a pretty boring place, flat as a chapathi and boring as a solid state physics class. People here have invented pastimes such as eating out (Dallas has the largest number of restaurants per capita in the world), shopping, estate sales and the most favorite Texas Barbeque.

Being vegetarians we don't fit into a Barbeque party where meat of every possible animal is smoked over coals and consumed. But our host invited us to have fun by the pool and have salad. Well we agreed and proceeded to Ben's home for an afternoon of fun by the pool. Ever played pool volleyball? Well it is lot of fun, string a net in the center of the pool and start hitting the ball across and that is it.

During a break from the game our host asked: "Are you vegetarian for religious reasons?". "Well!" I replied, "I am an animal lover, so I don't like them being killed to end up on my plate,". Ben laughed out loud and said: "I love animals too. Whenever I see a cow, I think of what a tasty steak she will make.". Very funny and totally different perspectives I thought.

Anyway after few more games and a dinner of salad and veggies we returned home tired and sleepy.

New Attractions at Sea World Orlando

Traveling is my most favorite hobby. I particularly love visiting places associated with water. Oceans, riversides, water parks, aquariums and sea world are among my most visited destinations. Quite naturally when I heard about SeaWorld Orlando's new attractions I am feeling thrilled. This month the newest attraction here, the
Manta, is opening. I wish I could go there now and be one of the first people to enjoy the experience. I will definitely visit it later the SeaWorld later this summer.

In commemoration of the arrival of these new attractions, SeaWorld is offering complimentary "Front-of-the-line passes". Isn't that great, you just register and win the simple contests on the website and you will be eligible to win these passes to Manta at SeaWorld Orlando. There are six different activities in which you could participate to win these "Front-of-the-line" passes. There is one hint though, all the contests are centered around one theme: The Manta. The answers are all hidden in various pages of the website. Easier still to get your answers is to follow @RealShamu on Twitter and you will get closer to win these cool Manta prizes.

One of the things I found on this website is this wonderful video which gives you a first hand experience of Manta.



Now that you have seen the video I am sure you are all the more thrilled about SeaWorld's newest attractions. The best way to get there and get "Front-of-the-line" pass to Manta at SeaWorld Orlando is by participating in the contest. There are six steps to the contest and participate in all of them, there are no restrictions to the number of entries in each section. If you want to win the passes you need to participate in all the six steps.