Procession route for fallen trooper on March 1


We wanted to give you a heads up about a large procession Thursday morning to honor fallen Washington State Patrol Trooper Tony Radulescu. The first procession of Trooper Radulescu’s colleagues will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Kitsap Mall in Silverdale. Two other processions will join them and law enforcement officials estimate there could be up to 2,000 vehicles. They’re scheduled to begin arriving at the ShoWare Center in Kent beginning at 11:15.

The following is an excerpt from a press release provided by the Washington State Patrol and can also be viewed on their website

The procession will be led by Trooper Radulescu’s colleagues from the local State Patrol district office, followed by other law enforcement and emergency services personnel from Kitsap and neighboring counties.

The route will move onto SR 3 and then travel through the city of Port Orchard where Tony worked and lived.

The initial route is expected to be:
  • Exit Kitsap Mall to SR 3;
  • Southbound SR 3 to Gorst/SR 16 Interchange;
  • Exit to Bay Street (SR 166) just south of Gorst;
  • Travel through the City of Port Orchard along Bay Street;
  • Turn left on  Port Orchard Boulevard;
  • Right onto Tremont Street West and back onto SR 16. 
The procession will continue on SR 16 eastbound to I-5 and south to SR 512. They will meet up with additional law enforcement personnel staged just off 112th St. on Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) property.

The route for the family procession will leave Mountain View Funeral Home on Steilacoom Blvd, Lakewood at approximately 10:30 a.m. They will rendezvous with those staged at JBLM on SR 512 and proceed to the ShoWare Center in Kent and arrive at approximately 11:15 a.m.

The final leg of the procession route;
  • Leave Mountain View Funeral Home onto Steilacoom Boulevard.
  • Right on South Tacoma Way
  • Left on SR 512 East 
  • To SR 167 North
  • Exit  onto SR 516  to West Willis Street
  • Left onto 4th Ave. south
  • Left onto West James Street
  • Arrive at front of ShoWare Center on West James Street.
There will be no procession following the service.

For the public’s safety, please do not to stop on I-5, SR 512 or SR 167 during the procession.  
 



    All on- and off-ramps to and from State Route 512 in Pierce County will be closed during the procession.

    Problems I Encountered With My Blog


    ProblemsIEncounteredWithMyBlog

    Blogging is indeed exciting especially when you have so many interesting ideas to share to your readers. It is easy to set up your own blog for free. However, don't get too excited especially if you plan to increase traffic and market your blog. Aside from posting quality contents, one has to know about SEO (search engine optimization) in order to gain more readers for your blog and maximize your blog's potential. I do not have much idea regarding SEO. I am just lucky that there are fellow bloggers who are willing to share their ideas about SEO stuffs. I still have so many things to learn. Right now, I can say that my blogging experience is great. I learn several things from expert bloggers and get to connect with them as well. 

    Anyway, this blog of mine is almost three months old and still I experience several blogging problems, both technical and SEO problems. So, I decided to write those problems I encountered while blogging. This would serve as my guide when I set up another blog. Here is the list of my blogging problems and some solutions I made. Still, I have so many things to resolve. Hopefully, I could address these soon.


    1. Feedburner Stealing My Backlinks - this one had already been resolved and I made a separate article for this and how I corrected the problem with the help of a fellow blogger.


    2. Making Post Title Appears Before Blog Title - The same fellow blogger who helped me with the problem about feedburner also informed me regarding this problem. I am so glad that he is very helpful. I will make a separate review on this soon. I already corrected this problem. It would take some time though before I can see better results once Google and other search engines would reindex those previous articles I made on this blog.


    3. Alt Tags on Images Posted on My Blog - I am still trying to figure out this problem. I found out about this when I checked the status of my blog site. It says there that alt tags on images posted on any blog is relevant to tell search engines about what my page is all about. I got only 19 images which have alt tags and around 70 images got no alt tags in them.


    4. Internal Pages Have No Page Descriptions - I do not have any idea about this, still trying to figure out how to resolve this problem...or is this really a big deal for SEO? Anyone???


    5. Social Subscriptions - I know social networking sites are helpful to increase audience in any blog. I would work out on this soon.


    6. Archive Page - I already had an archive section for my older posts. However, this problem came up when a particular paid to blog site that I applied for required their applicants to have an Archive Page on their blogs. I read blogs regarding putting up Archive Page, still I have trouble setting it right.


    This would be all for now. I know there would be more things to learn and explore in blogging. Gradually, I would be able to resolve these problems in due time.
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    Online Driver Education Programs?


    Driver Education is a key part of the development of young drivers, so it’s important that the advantages and disadvantages of online programs are made available to help parents choose an appropriate course for their teen.

    We recently completed a report based on a study of Online Driver Education programs that was conducted for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  While traditional classroom drivers ed courses remain the norm, the use of online courses has been growing across the country.

    The study identified 15 states that had either approved or accepted one or more online courses inlieu of traditional, inclassroom instruction. While much of the curriculum was similar across programs, great variation was found in the manner in which course content was presented. While evaluating the overall safety impact of online driver education was beyond the scope of this study, the report did analyze strong and weak program characteristics in light of existing research and established standards for online learning in general.

    The strongest online courses contained:
    · interactive exercises
    · personal feedback from instructors
    · timers to prevent skipping over lessons
    · integrated behind-the-wheel components
    · parental involvement

    The weaker programs were said to be very text heavy, and offered little feedback, allowed quick completion, and didn’t involve parents at all.

    There was also considerable variation in the degree to which states exercised oversight of online driver education, with some only approving one centralized, government-affiliated program and others allowing online courses to proliferate virtually unregulated.

    In addition to the full report, the Foundation also developed a fact sheet to help educate parents on this issue and highlight the program attributes to keep in mind when considering an online driver education course.

    My Experience With ClixSense

    ClixSense is just one of those several pay per click sites on the internet. I have been a member of ClixSense for a year now. I am not really an active member on this site. I never made any effort to advertise my affiliate link. I just log into the site during my free time from work. All those clicks I made were converted into small amount of cash. Just last week, I requested to cash out my first earnings from ClixSense. Here is a proof:


    How do you earn money on ClixSense?
    Each click that you made on ClixSense advertisement has corresponding amount which ranges from $0.001 to $ 0.02. These are actually  very small amounts. However, there are other ways to maximize your income through their affiliate program. You refer people to join Clixsense and you earn extra amount every time they earn from ClixSense. In addition, you can earn from ClixGrid. It is another portion on ClixSense platform in which you click small boxes from the picture. You can win extra cash prize if you hit the right box with a corresponding amount of cash.


    How payments are sent?
    Payments are sent through AlertPay, PayPal and Liberty Reserves. You can request for a cashout once you reached the minimum limit which is $8 for standard members and $6 for premium members. You have to cash out before Monday since payments are made during this day. 



    My verdict:
    You really have to work hard in promoting your affiliate link in order for you to earn bigger income from ClixSense. There are some members from the site who are successful earners. All in all, ClixSense is not something that you can rely on to sustain your daily needs. Nonetheless, it is a legitimate site that really pays its members. If you are interested, you may just click the image below: 

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    MinuteWorkers.com Review

    MinuteWorkers.com Review

    Minute Workers is another website which I signed up last year. I was not able to attend tasks on this site since I got busy with other online job sites and with my full-time job as well. I revisited the site just a few days ago. There are still several tasks available such as answering surveys, signing up on sites, downloading files, pay per clicks and several others. Anyway, here is an additional information about Minute Workers:


    What is Minute Workers?
    Just like Microworkers and CentWorkers, there are available "micro" jobs that members may work on. You are get paid every time you submit complete and accurate task. There are several members on the site which have posted their earnings in the forums. You might as well check it out if you wanted to know whether it is a scam or not. You can judge it for yourself.


    How does Minute Workers work?
    You can grab those small tasks which you think you can completely finish. Those small tasks available on the site have corresponding amount which would usually range from $0.10 and more. It would only take a few minutes to finish a particular task. Just take note that some tasks have specific location requirements for members.


    How do I get paid?
    Payment is through AlertPay and PayPal account though there might have been some troubles about withdrawing funds through AlertPay. There is a special notice on the platform that goes like this, " NOTICE: If you have recently deposited money with AlertPay your account balance may not of been updated, the problem was not fixed due to the admin being away. To claim the money via refund or balance update please click here".


    What  is the minimum amount to withdraw funds?
    You can choose an early payment method. You can withdraw funds once you reached $2.00 but a 10% fee will be deducted from your earnings. You can also choose for a normal payment method which is $10. This time, there will be no deductions on your earnings and you can withdraw the money in full amount. 


    Are there other ways to earn money from the site?
    Yes, one can earn through their referral system. When someone sign up from your referral link, automatically, you will earn $0.05. When that particular member get paid for a task, you also earn an extra amount which is $0.10. Another way to earn extra income is by forum posting. The site has available forum for members. You are paid $0.01 per post. 


    My verdict:
    I already did 3 tasks on this site. I have not yet reached the minimum requirement for withdrawing funds. I can say that the site is decent enough. There is an available forum in which members can freely discuss stuffs. In addition, there are proof of payments from members which may attest that the site is legitimate. Another thing, I like the fact that the site updates their members' payout through tweets. 


    The site offers low payout. Do not expect that you can get rich through working on this site. However, once those earnings piled up, you can get some decent amount of cash. It is another simple way to augment your online income. You can always work on the site during your free time. If you are interested, just check it out: Minute Workers.
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    Reasons Why I Stopped Reading Your Blog

    Reasons Why I Stopped Reading Your Blog

    I enjoy reading different blogs everyday. I read almost everything from blogging ideas, fashion blogs, historical, musical and even showbiz blogs. The internet is just so vast that one can learn all sort of things in just a matter of short time. Anyway, there are several blog sites that I have bookmarked for years now. I still have some of those interesting blogs while I deleted those blogs that I lost interest reading. I posted here my personal reasons why I stopped reading those blogs.

    1. Your blog takes several minutes to load up.
    Readers do not like to keep waiting on a blog site that would load up too long. You may have uploaded several widgets and other stuffs that may not be important in your blog. When things like this happen, I readily cancel loading up the blog site.

    2. Your blog is unreadable.
    Sometimes, you think adding several colors would entice your readers to follow your blog. In fact, this is the exact opposite. I do not want to strain my eyes reading on something that is too splashy nor too dark. It is also difficult to read blogs with small fonts and those with overwhelmingly huge font size. I would prefer to read simple text font and decent color blogs that are not eye straining. After all, simplicity is beauty.

    3. Your blog is simply a total mess.
    I cannot locate where your latest article is. There are just too many ads and other stuffs on your blog that it distracts me from reading your latest article.

    4. Your blog has so many pop-ups.
    It is quite frustrating that instead of reading your article, all I can see are those annoying pop-ups. There are some blogs with simple pop-ups on the side. However, there are blogs that have several pop-ups that would occupy the entire blog platform. It leaves the readers getting annoyed and would never return to your blog site.

    5. Your blog is not updated.
    The latest article on your blog is dated two or three months ago. Either you are too busy with your life or with other jobs or you simply drifted away. I love to follow your blog when you keep fresh contents every week. It is something that readers are looking forward to.

    6. You simply do not reply to comments.
    I love leaving comments to interesting articles on your blog. However, you are not quite interactive or you simply do not care. Isn't it exciting and wonderful knowing that someone took the time reading your blog? I guess out of appreciation or letting the reader know that you are indeed alive and kicking, why not reply back to those comments? Not only will your reader appreciate your effort but you gain avid readers, too.

    7. Your blog does not have a particular subject.
    One second you talk about blogging ideas, then the next, you give your thoughtless bickering about the world and the people around you. I would definitely get lost on that one. In the first place, I visited your blogs because I want to learn interesting ideas from you, not about your personal problems. I guess there is a specific place on that one.

    8. Your blog is a product of plagiarism.
    This is very disheartening. There are several bloggers out there who make extra effort and time to research on certain topic that they want to post on their blogs. Now, here comes a lazy blogger who simply wants to copy other's content. I read two or three blogs in the past that literally copied one's blog word for word. I never visited those blog sites again. 



    I am not an expert on these stuffs. I also had my shortcomings regarding my blog. However, I try to reinvent so I can gain more readership. After all, I put up this blog not just for my personal use but to share to everyone. Anyway, feel free to share your reasons why you stopped reading other blog sites.

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    Air search and rescue

    by guest blogger Alice Fiman

    Over the weekend, a plane went down near Mount Baker – near the 7,800 foot level. Our Aviation Search and Rescue Division got the call and headed up to Bellingham to coordinate the search. What – you may ask – does the state highway department have to do with search and rescue?

    Great question. Our responsibility, as directed by the Legislature, is to manage all Air Search and Rescue operations within the state as well as coordinating the use of aviation assets for disaster relief efforts. So that means when the emergency beacon went off Saturday night, we got the call.

    Satellites monitor for emergency beacons – through a system called SARSAT. The SARSAT office then notifies the state Emergency Operations Center (Washington Emergency Operations Center is located at Camp Murray). The EOC Duty Officer got the call, which then came to us.

    Once we had the location, and contact information for the beacon’s owner (good thing he registered – hint, hint), we called the family to confirm. Yes, the Bellingham man had taken the plane out over Mount Baker to take photos, and yes, he hadn’t returned as scheduled.

    Our Aviation Search and Rescue team (led by Tom Peterson), then started up to Bellingham. We have a trailer that serves as a mission control center. He also called the U.S. Navy and it was fortunate a team from Naval Air Station Whidbey was available to start searching. Weather was cooperating also so the team could fly during the night.

    The pilot’s wife then called the local sheriff’s office – apparently she received a short phone call and he was okay. Cellular reception is spotty in that rural area, so she didn’t have much more info.
    With that confirmation the plane was actually out there, a team from the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office took snowmobiles out, starting from what is known as Shrieber’s Meadow. They found the plane - damaged and upside down on the edge of the Deming Glacier at the 7,800-foot level of Mount Baker. (A bit of trivia – those beacons actually work – the plane was less than 150 feet from where it was supposed to be.)

    No pilot or passenger inside. As luck would have it, a group of snowmobilers were also out, and they got stuck and were able to radio some friends. On the way out, their friends found the pilot and his passenger, so they brought them back.

    The pilot called from his home, reporting he was okay.

    Our role was to find the plane, coordinating all available resources. We also do this during natural disasters – coordinate all aviation resources to help rescue those stuck during floods, etc. This time, it was fortunate the U.S. Navy and local sheriff’s office were there to help. That isn’t always the case.
    Once we found the plane, we turn the rescue operation over to the local law enforcement and the FAA and NTSB come in to investigate the crash. Mission complete.

    Feedburner Stealing My Backlinks

    Feedburner Stealing My Backlinks
     

    FEEDBURNER STEALING BACKLINKS??? I really do not have any idea regarding this stuff until a fellow blogger emailed me about this problem. I have been leaving some comments on his interesting and informative blog  for a few days now. Then, I was surprised when he informed me that my CommentLuv link on his blog is giving a link back to FeedProxy.google.com instead of a backlink to my site. I really do not have any idea what he was talking about at that time. Fortunately, he was kind enough to send me a great article that would explain thoroughly on how to rectify my problem on feedburner settings. The site link is  http://www.synactable.com/blog/charleston-sc/feedburner-commentluv-backlinks/. Once you read the article, you will understand how much you have lost by not paying attention to your feedburner settings just like what I did. You will lost  valuable backlinks on your site. I really would like to thank  Peter for this valuable information. 


    Image representing FeedBurner as depicted in C...Image via CrunchBase


    Due to this incident, I learned how important backlinks are. Those established webmasters and bloggers may give credit to any blogger who would frequently visit or comment on their blogs. This thing is a great advantage especially to newbie bloggers like me. This would mean that those search engines would give a higher status from the quality backlinks one would get from those webmasters. I also learned that a blog site may gain higher status if you get quality backlinks from blogs with the same niche. So, in my case, I was lucky enough to get quality backlinks from some established websites which has the same niche as mine.  When you get more backlinks, your blog site will also improve its rank. Remember, these backlinks are freely given by the site administrators especially when they appreciate your efforts on taking the time to read and browse over their sites and leave interesting comments. 


    How about you? Have you ever encountered such problem with Feedburner?
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    CentWorkers.com Review

    CentWorkers.com Review

    I revisited some of the sites that I signed up before. One of these is CentWorkers.com. I have been a member of this site for almost 6 months now. Unfortunately, up until now, I have not received any payment yet from the site. Anyway, here are some interesting information about CentWorkers:


    What is CentWorkers?
    CentWorkers, a website which caters both employers and employees. Employees begin some job campaigns and look for workers to do some micro jobs which  include writing articles, uploading videos, joining a Facebook group, voting, following on twitter and several other tasks. CentWorkers is almost the same as Microworkers. I did a separate review on Microworkers. You might want to read it as well.


    Who can apply on CentWorkers?
    Anyone can apply as long as you can do those micro jobs efficiently. You are only entitled to use one user account within your household so you will not be banned from the site. 


    How and when do you get paid? 
    There are several tasks that a worker can choose from the platform. You click any of the available tasks, follow the instructions carefully and submit your task. A worker should  get a "satisfied" rate from the employer before earning is approved. If you get a "not satisfied" remark, you will not get paid for your task. According to the site, workers can withdraw money through PayPal account. However, just like Microworkers, I do not understand why they still ask for a PIN number. On the site, you can read words like these:  

    PIN will be sent to your mailing address after placing first withdrawal request.
    Once you submit correct PIN we will start sending payments to you.

    I tried requesting for a PIN on my Microworkers account but it never went through my mailing address.I noticed that both sites, Microworkers and CentWorkers, have almost identical rules and style.

    My verdict:
    I cannot attest whether this site is a scam or not. I stopped working on CentWorks since I also got busy from my full-time job. I revisited the site a week ago. It is still working and there are still available tasks. I just hope that the PIN number can be sent through email. There is a big chance that the post mail will not reach its mailing address just like what happened when I requested for a PIN from Microworkers. This is my main concern from the site. What about you? Got some interesting ideas to share about CentWorkers?

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    New flyover ramps taking shape in Federal Way

    Looking at two of the bridge columns that
     will support the steel tub girders over I-5.
    By guest blogger Mike Murphy

    It's not often that we build a new bridge over the freeway, but this weekend we're doing just that.

    Crews are starting the final major milestone of a two-year project that aims to improve traffic and safety at the busy I-5/SR 18/SR 161 interchange in Federal Way. When all is said and done later this summer, drivers won't have to contend with the notorious weave as they jockey for position on the I-5/SR 18 ramps.

    But it's no small task. For the next three weekends -- Friday and Saturday nights -- two huge cranes will lift the “steel tub girders” up and over I-5 and place them onto bridge columns that have been sprouting up alongside I-5. (They're called steel tub girders for obvious reasons; they resemble giant steel bathtubs.)

    We'll need to completely close one direction of I-5 while the work is being done. Southbound I-5 will be closed near SR 18 the nights of  Feb. 10, 11 and 24. We'll close northbound I-5 the nights of Feb. 17, 18 and 25.

    During the southbound I-5 closures traffic will be detoured onto Highway 99 and rejoin I-5 at 54th Avenue East in Fife. It's about a five-mile detour.

    The northbound I-5 detour will send traffic onto eastbound SR 18 to Weyerhaeuser Way and back to I-5. You'll want to allow extra time for your late night trips during the closures. Roughly 7,000 vehicles use this stretch of I-5 on a typical weekend night. (Check the project website for detour maps.)

    The girders will support the roadway for the two new flyover ramps -- one between eastbound SR 18 and northbound I-5, and the other from westbound SR 18 and to southbound I-5. Once they're in place we can begin to pour the pavement for the new ramps.

    So what’s the benefit of a flyover ramp?

    Anyone who travels between I-5 and SR 18 is probably familiar with the white-knuckle weave as they merge from one freeway to the other. It’s due to the cloverleaf interchange that was built in the 1960s. It was considered state-of-the art at the time but as the population grew, it quickly became obvious that it couldn’t handle the increasing traffic volumes.

    The flyover ramps will completely eliminate the weave, and let drivers "fly" up and over I-5.

    Funding for the $112 million project came from a combination of state gas taxes and federal grants.

    When the 'Other Guy' is You...


    Ask someone if they’ve ever experienced ‘road rage’ and most will have a story to share involving an aggressive driver, but too many people think 'the other guy' is the problem and don’t see how their own driving behaviors could be seen as aggressive to others. As February is Aggressive Driving Awareness Month, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on your habits behind the wheel, as well as provide some suggestions on what to do when faced with an aggressive driver.

    When drivers are asked what angers them most, the results are remarkably consistent- being cut off, driving slowly in the left lane, tailgating and making obscene gestures always top the list.  If you find yourself doing any of these on a regular basis, this quiz can help you determine if you might be an aggressive driver.  

    It’s also important to know how to react when faced with a driver who is acting aggressively. The safest thing to do is to give the driver lots of room and not to engage- one angry driver can’t start a fight unless another driver is willing to join in. Steer clear of the driver, avoid eye contact, and if the behavior continues, drive to a populated area and call the police.

    More information about Road Rage and Aggressive Driving can be found here.

    StartUpLift.com Review

    StartUpLift.com Review


    Have you ever tried getting paid to provide feedback on websites? Well, I stumbled upon StartUpLift just days ago. This is another interesting site that you can earn some extra income. I have been browsing the site for days now before I signed up. I read some feedback and most of them were positive. Some members showed proofs of payment from the site. Anyway, here is what I found out about StartUpLift. 


    What is StartUpLift?
    StartUpLift is actually a good chance for both startup website owners and workers to work together. Those business owners who are planning to launch their sites and other web-based projects can ask some insightful feedback from members through StartUpLift platform. For the workers, there are questions given and you answer them based on your opinion of the site or project. Give your honest opinion as this will help business owners improve their projects.


    How much will you earn from the site?
    Payments are around 5$ and more. It all depends on the client's offer. You need to browse the site thoroughly and write your honest opinion in a detailed manner. Anyway, the awards given from most clients are very limited like around 5 awards only.


    How are reviewers paid?
    Although I have not started any project on the site yet, it mentions that payment is through PayPal account and they pay every Monday. You have to take note that you are not allowed to review more than five sites in a day. This is to ensure quality reviews for the clients.


    Who can apply at StartUpLift?
    It is not specifically mentioned as who can apply on the site. I know they ask for Paypal account as a mode of payment. So, I think it is safe to say that anybody can apply as long as you have your PayPal account and of course can write proper English.


    My verdict:
    So far, I have not written any reviews yet though I tried writing a review yesterday. Unfortunately, that particular project was closed during the time I started writing my review. The client already awarded the reviewers. You really have to accept projects as fast as you can since a time duration is posted on each project.

    Anyway, all members are welcome to review and only the required number of good reviews are approved and paid. So, there is no guarantee whether you will get paid for your reviews or not. You have to make sure to submit excellent quality reviews to increase your chance of earning. In addition, bear in mind that not all projects posted on the site give an award to reviewers. I encountered some of those while browsing their platform.

    StartUpLift is still a new site and was just created around 2010. There are not too many clients yet but I can see there are several reviewers available. I read some of the reviews from members and they were quite detailed, informative and useful. So, the best tips that I can give for anyone who aspires to work on the site is try to be as detailed as you can be. Be very honest with your opinion, give some constructive criticisms, offer some suggestions and of course you also give praises on some positive features of a particular project. After all, StartUpLift was created in order to give clients the best ways they can do to improve their products, sites and businesses based on the opinion of the people. If you are interested, you can always check it out, StartUpLift.com.


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    What is a Blog Directory?

    blog+directory

    As a newbie in the blogging world, I always wonder what are those small buttons above. I usually see those buttons from almost all of the blogs that I browse every day. I really got curious and so I did a few investigations. The collective name of those small buttons is a blog directory button. I researched further and I found out that there are hundreds of blog directories out there. Here are some interesting facts I learned about blog directory. 


    What is a blog directory? 
    A blog directory categorizes and compiles all those millions of blogs on the internet. It is helpful in sorting out a certain blog site into its appropriate category. It would be easy now for blog visitors to browse over the different categories of blogs that would interest them. There are even great blog directories which allow small descriptions and reviews for blogs so it would be easy to identify them from the rest of the blogs.


    What is its importance in blogging? 
    All bloggers wanted to be visible on the internet. You want someone would read your blogs and so you build audience. Promoting your blogs play an important role in blogging. Aside from social networking sites, one way to gain audience is through blog directories. The importance of blog directory is that it may improve a blog's position in search engines. There are several blog directories that have high ranking because of the high amount of inbound links to them. Those top blog directories got relevant contents and are strictly structured. An inbound link from these top blog directories can improve a blog's position in the search engines. Google crawls blog directories oftentimes. So, all the sites listed in a particular top blog directory will also be crawled by Google. It helps in promoting your blogs and increase back links. In addition, you can be a part of a growing community of bloggers in which you can learn additional tips from them and exchange some links.


    Now, there are different blog directories that you can choose from. There are those that function automatically. A blogger may submit his/her blog so it can be automatically included.It is quite easy to join in any blog directory of your choice. You only have to submit your blog, fill out a form, copy and paste the html code of a certain blog directory on your blog, then wait for approval. Any blogger can submit their blogs as long as it does not violate the terms and condition of any specific blog directory. Furthermore, there are other blog directories in which employees or volunteers will check blogs that are submitted before they are approved. Blog directories may or may not require bloggers to have a small blog button on their blogs. There are several blog directories that you might want to submit your blogs. Most of the blog directories on this list have high page rank:

    1. Technorati - One of the most established blog directories with more than 30 categories to date. It can increase visibility of your blog sites with thousands of bloggers on the site.

    2. Blog Catalog - A premier blog directory that aids you to promote your blogs, connects with other bloggers and find relevant blogs that would suit your interest.

    3. Blogged -  An interesting blog directory that allows you to write reviews on some blogs. You can also gain information about news events around the world.

    4. Globe of Blogs - There are several categories on this blog directory but you can narrow down your search according to topic, location, title, author and even by birthday.

    5. Bloggeries - The platform is quite clean and easy to maneuver. Check it out and submit your blogs.

    6. Blogarama -  Blogs are reviewed by editors before they are approved. This is one decent blog directory in driving traffic to your blog.

    7. Blogflux -  A great resource to get your blog site up and running. This blog directory features a great number of community bloggers who are ready to help you about blogging.

    8. FuelMyBlog - Blogs are reviewed manually before adding on the site.It offers several services to bloggers. Check it out.

    9. Topbloglists - This blog directory has more than three dozens of categories. Ranking of blogs is present on this site.

    10. Bloghints - Gain visibility of your blogs by submitting it on this blog directory for free.

    More top blog directories that you might interested to check out:

    Finally, gaining exposure for your blogs is very crucial in building organic traffics and a good revenue. There are many ways in building links but blog directory submission is quite easy and cost effective.

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    The new State Route 7 Elbe Safety Rest Area

    We've received a few inquiries about the SR 7 Safety Rest Area Project and wanted to provide you with more information about why the project cost what it did.

    The $3.2 million project cost (not $4.2 million as reported incorrectly by some media) was higher than we would have liked. However, this project highlights the challenges of meeting an important safety and service need for hundreds of thousands of tourists who travel through Elbe, a community of 29 (according to the 2010 Census).

    In a rural location, finding a location that met certain factors was not easy. Crews had to work to find a potential location and land that:

    • Met engineering and environmental standards
    • Satisfied grant conditions 
    • Included line of sight when entering/exiting SR 7
    • Required that visitors not have to cross rail lines 
    • Was available for sale
    Beginning with initial site selection in 1998, we identified and evaluated several sites, both private and public lands. Each evaluation had costs, including site analysis and tests, preliminary engineering and so on. We continued to discover reasons that the sites, for one reason or another, would not work – and all of this added to the cost.

    After 14 years of development and working through these challenges – we agree it’s been long and difficult – we are pleased we now have a facility open and operating and ready to service thousands of travelers who pass through Elbe each year on their way to Mount Rainier National Park.

    Below, you can find a breakdown of the costs to adapt a two-story, 3,000-square-foot former Civilian Conservation Corps bunkhouse and garage that date to the 1930s. The structure fits within the rural landscape but is maintained to modern standards. While not what you may find along I-5, it’s far from what some have called an “outhouse.”

    This project was funded with $1.913 million in federal funds, $748,000 in state funds, and $543,000 in Federal Scenic Byway Grant Funds for a total project cost of approximately $3.2 million. Our construction project budget was $1.44 million.

    Here is our  project description and a breakdown of the costs:
    • Total award to contractor Pease and Sons: $1,101,689. The contractor’s cost breakout includes:
      • Rehabilitation of historic building with two urinals and five vault toilets: $749,085
      • Site lighting, pavement, grading, storm-water drain system, striping, walkways, and gates: $255,390
      • Landscaping: $17,500
      • Subtotal: $1,021,975
      • Tax (7.8%): $79,714
    • Our construction budget includes approximately $338,370 for construction engineering/inspections, risk contingencies, and project administration (for a total project construction cost of $1.44 million).
    • The right-of-way and acquisition was $271,000. This location was not a state property. 
    • The cost for this site selection and preliminary engineering was $1.493 million. This process, which began in 1998, included identifying and evaluating multiple sites, both private and public lands. In a remote location, finding that location was not an easy task.
    So in the end, it was a 14 year process that brings much relief to travelers headed to Mount Rainier.