Adam Jewell - Search & Affiliate Marketing

The other day I was looking at BankRate.com. They have some handy tools to help with finances, moving and estimating the cost ofliving in one city vs. another city. When I looked at the list of things they show a cost comparison for I noticed Lipitor medication - the stuff that is supposed to reduce your cholesterol. A screen shot of the calculator results is below:

At first it just seemed strange but on second thought it is genius. As you may know, pharma advertising is fairly heavily regulated and when ads appear online, they are usually supposed to marked as such. I guess this Lipitor placement is maybe just that a product placement. Maybe it came as part of another ad deal and can be considered editorial so that something as irrelevant as the cholesterol drug Lipitor can be included in something as unrelated to pharmaceuticals as a moving calculator. This appears to be a great way to not have to label it as an ad and not worry about any fair balance or other regulatory statements. What it is likely to do is get a fair number of people to notice it, wonder what does this Lipitor thing in the cost of living calculator have to do with anything and then go search online to find out what it is.

For more independent information on Lipitor go to WorstPills.org & to read up on what the manufacturer has to say, visit Lipitor.com

It looks like there are other sponsorships in the list of things to consider when moving. Cascade appeared in the list which seems little more harmless than Lipitor. The stuff they do included in the cost of living calculator is useful so if you are going to move and want to see how the cost of living compares, go use the BankRate.com Cost of Living Calculator.

Last year, I decided to go experience something I’d always wanted to do, the 2008 PSIA National Academy. As is often the case, it was held in SnowBird Utah where they have the best snow on Earth, though not always in April. After the amazing experience this past April, I’ll definitely be going again. PSIA has the dates for the 2009 PSIA National Academy posted on the PSIA website. If you are interested in going, be sure to keep an eye on that page and signup fast cause spots go quickly. I got lucky last year and made it through the waitlist after signing up late.

…Let’s say I don’t have enough money to buy something, should I buy it anyway? Have you ever noticed that here in the US that we never do anything about a known issue until it becomes a crisis in govt, the corporate world and even many individuals? IOUSA is coming to a theater near you.

It’s a shame you have to go to a movie about how the US financial system is falling apart to see something halfway decent in a theater. I can’t remember the last time there was anything worth going to see but IOUSA looks like an excellent film to go see. You’ve probably noticed the chaos on Wall Street, the awful performance of the stock market over the last year or two, the popping of the mortgage bubble. IOUSA presents the financial state of the union - in debt to the tune of 50+ TRILLION dollars in current liabilities and future promises for social security and Medicare. That comes out to around $175,000 per person in the US.

According to David Walker, the former comptroller of the US, this country suffers from a “fiscal cancer”. If I understand correctly, his position of comptroller of the USA was not a particularly political position so he could shoot straight, speak his mind and present the stat of the US financial system as it really is. On March 12, 2008 he resigned and join the Peter G. Peterson Foundation where he thought he could do more good and have a better chance at raising awareness of the issues and bringing about change. I don’t know much about Mr. Peterson but it is nice to see someone with some cash to spend working to bring about positive change and fiscal responsibility in the US.

While I havent’ actually seen IOUSA yet, I do plan to see it and will post a review after going to see it.

The latest adventure trip offered by Terramar Adventures in Philadelphia was a whitewater rafting trip to the Poconos. At about 12 noon we all met up at Pocono Whitewater rafting. The run rafting trips through the Lehigh River Gorge which has class I II and II rapids. The trip was about 5 hours of time on the river, a little overview of safety and what to expect, about a 20 minute school bus ride to the trail to walk down to the river and about a half mile to a mile hike down to the river. After about an hour of setup, intro and travel time we hopped in a raft and shoved of down the gorge.

It has been 20+ years since I went white water rafting and was excited to be going again with a great group of people. There were seven people in the raft, a bail bucket, a lunch bucket (minus the lunch) and of course we all had paddles and life jackets. This particular weekend was a dam release weekend which means they let a ton of water out of some dam upstream somewhere and there is enough water in the gorge to create some rapids and go rafting.

The water seemed to be lower than the last dam release trip becuase they didn’t release as much water from the dam. Despite this, there were still some great rapids but also a number of shallow spots where it was a little rough going. While going thorugh one set of rapids and getting a litle stuck, I fell out of the raft and held onto the raft as my butt and feet bounced off the rocks while we went down the river. The other people in the boat did a great job of helping me get back in the raft as I also tried to save a bunch of our paddles from floating away down the river. There was a bet going with Sarah who had been on the previous trip. If either of us fell out of the boat, it would cost the victim dinner so she got a free dinner at the BJ’s place a few miles down the road. It was a long day & I was exhausted. After watching a little Warren Miller, back at her place I went home and hit the sack. The next day was outdoor laser tag at a state park not to far away. It had been ages since I played laser tag and it was quite a struggle to get up and get to the park the next day.

A while ago I posted about Meetup.com, an awesome social networking type site where there is actually some social networking and plenty of opportunites to get involved with people who share similar interests. One of the more popular groups on there is run by Terramar Adventures of Philadelphia. They do TONS of stuff from kayaking to laser tag camping, surfing, sky diving and more.

The first event I went on with TerraMar Adventures was a zip line canopy tour at Spring Mountain Ski Resort near Landsdale, PA.

It started out with about 40 people who split off into two groups of 20 people to make it more manageable to get through the course. We were the second group to go and spent about an hour or so on the rock climbing walls before heading off to the zip line tour. It was the first time I had ever done any rock climbing of any sort and it turned out to be a bit challenging and harder than it looks. I got about half way up one wall and then the fingers and wrists just gave out. Maybe next time it’ll be possible to get a little further up the wall. After about an hour of that, it was time to hike up to the start of the zip line tour.

To get started on the zip line you can take the chairlift up or just hike. The rock climbing wall was part way up the hill so we just hiked to the top. The beginning of the tour involves climbing up a rope net/ladder type thing up to the first platform. Throughout the entire canopy tour you are in some way attached to various cables that prevent you from falling off the aparatus so the whole thing is really safe.

Once you get up on top of the first platform, you walk across a little bridge with nothing to hold onto except the tether above you that will catch you if you fall off of it. Once on the second platform you get a little instruction on how to “zip” and what to expect. The whole time you are clipped to a cable to keep you from falling do your demise. When your turn comes, you first test out the cable to make sure it is all set to hold you and you are safely secured to it. Then you hop off the platform and “zip” down through the woods to the next platform. You can turn upside down in your harness, get a little crazy (watch out for the trees), an potentially get up to 30-40mph.

When you get to the next platform you get clipped to another cable to kep from falling off the platform, work your way around to the next “zip” line and repeat this several times. There are several different rope bridges along the way; all relatively easy to get across.

The final zip line is around 300 feet. When you get to the end of it, you end up at the top of the rock climbing tower and then scale down that for one ast little thrill.

Overall it is a fun event. It’s not the adrenaline rush of fling in a glider or tearing down a doubel diamond bump run in Utah but it is fun.

Following that adventure, there is a Tiki Bar where you can grab a drink and get some raw food to cook on the grill. It ranges from alligator to wild boar, tuna steaks and various other things. I got the alligator and it tasted like chicken only leaner. I also got the raw tuna steak which was called sushi quality. The tuna was around 20 bucks and they said it was sushi quality but it sure didn’t taste like sushi quality. It is an interesting concept for a bar but it is over priced. Still the exotic foods are worth a try and it is nice to sit outside and enjoy a drink and some exotic food after a day of zipping and rock climbing.

If you are looking for something different to do, head on over to Spring Mountain Ski resort to give the zip line a try. If you’re looking for other outdoor adventures in the Philadelphia area, check out Terramar adventures for anything from skydiving to white water rafting, flight lessons, camping trips and more!