I bought a new MacBook Pro a few weeks ago, and I set it up this week. For the first time, I opted to purchase a computer monitor so I can sit at a desk in lieu of hanging out on the couch with my laptop.

I did a bit of research, and I opted to purchase a 23″ LG monitor. The best price I could find was on NewEgg.com, by quite a margin. I ordered the monitor late on a Monday night, and I had it by Wednesday. Unfortunately, it looked a bit grainy and had what looked like a shadow when I used Excel, so I went shopping for another monitor today at Best Buy.

After taking home a Samsung monitor and seeing that it was much more clear than the LG monitor, I went through the return process with NewEgg. Truthfully, I was expecting the worst and figured it would be a pain to do. Luckily, I was wrong – it couldn’t have been easier. Not only did the UPS return label get emailed to within moments, they didn’t even charge me a re-stocking fee.

Although I didn’t keep my purchase from NewEgg, I had a great experience with the company. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them in the future, and if you have computer needs, you should keep them on your list.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that my blog was coming close to receiving its 25,000th comment and I wanted to do something fun when that happened. I didn’t want to broadcast this because it would likely encourage superfluous comments, and I didn’t want that to happen.

I had a “secret contest” on my blog that only I knew about. I decided that the person who made the 25,000th comment would receive something that I use every day and couldn’t be a domain investor without. The winner will receive a one year paid membership to DomainTools (Standard), courtesy of me (disclosure: I am paying for this and not getting a discount).

This membership includes the following tools:

The winner is a person who has commented regularly on my blog who uses the nickname “Poor Uncle.” I’ve sent him an email and will coordinate with DomainTools to set him up with the account. It might take a few days to get going because I am on vacation, but I will connect with Susan and Monica at DomainTools to make it happen ASAP.

I really want to thank you all for visiting my blog and contributing with your comments. I believe a blog is only as good as its readers’ contributions, and I really appreciate your making my blog a much more interesting place to read and learn.

As you know by now, I have a soft spot for organizations that help children with cancer. I am a supporter of the Ronald McDonald House, and with your help earlier this year, my wife and I raised just shy of $8,000 – $3,000 more than our goal.

I just learned that Craig Rowe of WhyPark is raising money for Make A Wish of Greater Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. On August 7th, 2011, Craig will be participating in the Cleveland Triathlon, where he will swim half a mile, bike 16 miles, and run 3.1 miles. I only wish I was closer so I could watch this actually happen.

Craig is looking to raise $6,000 for Make A Wish, which is the average cost of making one child’s wish come true. If it’s been a good year for you so far, I hope you will consider making a donation to this worthy cause. Craig’s a good dude and the organization he’s raising funds for does great things.

I’ll even personally match up to $500 in donations that you make to him today. Just drop a note and let me know you donated. Like when I was raising funds for Ronald McDonald House, every single donation counts and helps.

I am sorry for those of you who have been spending your money like there’s no tomorrow, thinking that today would be judgment day and the rapture would be coming. Thankfully, that didn’t seem to happen… at least I don’t think it happened.

Unfortunately for the people who have been preaching that judgment day would be today (May 21, 2011), it appears that the organization’s website is down for the count. According to the DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com website, it appears that FamilyRadio.com is down.

I don’t know if it’s down because its servers were hit with too much traffic, or perhaps it really was judgment day for the website. Whatever the case may be, the site doesn’t seem to be loading right now.

I guess the nice thing about having a blog, is that I can share some personal news.  Yesterday afternoon, my wife completed her five year graduate school program and was awarded her doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.). She will now be known as Dr. Silver, so we are a Mr. and Dr. family – or is that Dr. and Mr.?

Once Karen finishes her year-long post-doctoral fellowship beginning in August, she will likely begin her own practice. I know a lot of people in this business can surely some psychological help, so just drop me a note if I should pencil you in for an appointment.

Karen will certainly make good use of KarenSilver.com, which was given to her as a wedding present from Rick Latona and his team after acquiring it from a company of the same name.

Congrats to Karen for her hard work!