jEff'S ToP tEN WEB SITES

Although some are unique, I have used many similar sites to the ones included in the compilation below and have found these to be my favorites because they are easy to use, well-maintained, interesting, informative, complete and most of all... huge!

#1 My- Cast - Sometimes I keep my computer running for this site to be available to me at a moments notice.  This site can give detailed hourly to long range forecasts and radar of multiple locations.  For instance, in addition to our "Home" forecast,  I have Indian Lake in Cuba, MO (my in-laws') as one of my locations.  The forecasts and radar are updated every 3 hours in 4 mile sections in metro areas and 11 mile sections in rural areas.  My info comes from St. Charles Smartt airfield which is 2 miles from my home.   This site has a glossary to help you understand what each part of the forecast means.  Believe it or not, I have used the site to check the dew-point before doing some exterior painting.  There is also an activity section which will tell you on a day by day basis if it will be a poor, fair, good or excellent day for your particular activities.

#2 Missouri Department of Conservation - This is the best conservation/natural resources site of any state in the union... check it out!  You can buy trees and shrubs from the state nursery (in the winter through spring), check hunting & fishing seasons and limits, find a conservation area to visit or read articles on current issues like the otter and feral hog disasters.

#3 ebay - No need for garage sales... sell it on ebay and get top dollar.  You can sell anything you want.  Remember, one man's trash is another man's treasure.  I like to recycle my hobby items by selling the old, having buyers pay me through Paypal, then finding a dealer who sells my current hobby related items and takes Paypal.   Also, if you can find an product in town that you can buy consistently at a discounted price (at least 50%)...  you could become a part time 6 figure ebay seller.

#4 MSN TerraServer - Awesome site!  USGS digital orthophoto quadrangle images (ariel photos).  The page you will be sent to is an ariel photo showing our house, outbuildings and the field behind.  I use this site to find secluded public hunting spots off the river.  Try finding your house by zooming out from Orchard Farm and scrolling with the arrows in the direction of your home or enter your zip code in the specified field.

#5 Southwest Airlines - Always great prices! Simply go to reservations, fill out an itinerary and get a great price.  If no "Promotional Fares" or "Discount Fares" are available, keep changing the departure and return dates (or maybe the airport if there is another nearby) until you get a cheap fare.  Most of the time to get the "Promotional Fares" or "Discount Fares" you have to make your reservations at least 10 days in advance unless nobody is booking the flight you want.  I have been to L.A., Harlingen (South Padre), Houston and Tuscon and each of the round-trip fares to were around $200 + taxes from St. Louis.  And don't forget to book a rental car while you're on the site (I like Alamo's prices... and the locations, in relation to the terminals, are good).  Only use priceline.com if you can't get under $250 round trip.

#6 Paypal - www.x.com - Mainly for ebay users... this allows you to take credit cards without having a credit card machine or credit card software lease.  It's free to send money and there is a 2% fee to receive money. You can also send and receive direct deposits from bank accounts or sweep your Paypal account into your bank account at no charge.  This site has made vast improvements in the last few years.

#7 gunfinder.net - Should be called "gunbroker.net".  Buy guns at 10% over dealer cost... for real!  This site is an online catalog with the inventory being built from hundreds of other dealers and manufacturers.  When you buy, they just ship your gun to an FLL dealer near your home. Also, these people are very helpful if you call them on the phone; a rarity in ecommerce.  

#8 zdnet.com - The largest library of shareware, software demo downloads and links to other download sites on the web.

#9 driverguide.com - Largest library of hardware and software drivers on the net.  Large link library of download sites.  If you buy used computer equipment (or have a tendency to lose the floppy disk drivers that came with your hardware), this is the site you've always wanted.  Great search engine.  Users leave info on everything from where they found a driver download to installation instructions.

#10 golfclubexchange.com - Buy and sell golf clubs, search or enter a club you need with "Clubfinder" and the server will email you if someone lists your missing club.