Are you a do-it-yourself kind of person when it comes to home repairs? If you're not, then you're just like me. It's not that I don't have the skills to do projects around the house, it's that I don't have the knowledge or experience on how to complete them without making the problem worse.

So, what do you do when an everyday household appliance is on the fritz? Call a local repairman to make a service call at an exorbitant hourly rate? Pick-up a 6-pack and wait for a relative, a neighbor or a friend to come over and help? Nah, you go to RepairClinic.com.

What Is RepairClinic.com?

Repairclinic.com is an online source for free repair help. According to their web site, they provide a complete solution for your appliance needs including helpful hints, maintenance tips, troubleshooting and a simple, yet effective Parts Detective.

Make no mistake, RepairClinic.com is an e-commerce web site first and foremost. (You didn't think they did this for free, did you?) Their goal is to sell you the parts you need to make the repairs to your broken appliances. Unlike most other comparable e-commerce web sites, RepairClinic.com has a vast repository of information for fixing many appliances including air conditioners, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, dryers, freezers, garbage disposals, hot water dispensers, humidifiers, ice makers, microwaves, ranges/stoves/ovens, refrigerators, trash compactors, washing machines, water filters and vent hoods.

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If you're like me, you can be frustrated by the fact that so many dot com domain names seem to be already taken. When I go to register a domain name for a forum, blog, e-commerce or informational web site, I find that my first choice is almost always taken. I've come up with a few tricks to not only get your very own dot com domain name, but to get one that is easy to remember.

Use A Spelling Variation
A lot a domain names can be created by a simple spelling variation. For example, say your business is in crafts and you are in the market for a new web site. You go and try to register simplecrafts.com. The registrar comes back and says the domain is not available. Hmmm... what can you do? Why not try simplekrafts.com? (Notice the 'k'.) A simple spelling change can often lead to the domain name that works for you. And despite what you may think, a domain name doesn't have to be a combination of actual words. Other examples might be the use of 'tru' instead of 'true', 'blu' instead of 'blue' or 'craftz' instead of 'crafts'. I could go on and on... you get the idea.

Use Alliteration
Ahhh, alliteration. I knew my 10th grade high school English class would come in handy. Alliteration is a stylistic device, or literary technique, in which successive words begin with the same consonant sound or letter. Maybe its just me, but a domain name that uses alliteration is always easier to remember. It's catchy and often used by many marketing firms in their ad campaigns. TastyTacos.com will always be easier to remember than DeliciousTacos.com. Some classic examples include Coca-Cola.com and SesameStreet.com.

Use Rhyming
Rhyming is another technique that is used to make a more memorable domain name. When I was creating my list of possible domain names for this blog, I knew I wanted the domain name to include the word 'type'. I tried as many combinations of words that began with a "t" to go along with 'type' (alliteration, see above), but most of those domain names where already registered. I then decided to check out this site. RhymeZone.com is a very helpful web site that allows you to enter your 'keyword' and it returns, you guessed it, all of the words that rhyme. To RhymeZone's credit, you can also look up synonyms, antonyms, homophones etc.

Use Adjectives & Adverbs
Nothing describes your domain name better than the clever use of adjectives & adverbs. Say you are in the scrap metal business. You might want to ask yourself... what is your biggest seller? Say it is iron. Well, what do people think of when they think of iron? Perhaps rust? Perhaps strength? Or maybe i-beams? Using various adjectives & adverbs might lead you to try: rustyjunk.com, thejunkheap.com, mightymetals.com, etc. In each case, an adjective is used to describe something (a noun). FTR, it might be a bit harder to incorporate adverbs, but I'm sure it does happen.

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Love music? Yep, me to. Always looking for new music? Yep, me to. Ever have a hard time finding all of the "singles" that were released from a favorite band for your iPod or PC? You guessed it, me to.

Enter Wikipedia. Love it or hate it, Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia) is a useful resource. Go to the site. Type in a band's name. Scroll through the results.

In many cases, there will be a discography that includes all of the band's releases to AOR and other media outlets. Often, the single, the album where it came from, the release date and several charting positions are included. Using Wikipedia is a great way to find songs you may like without having to listen to a whole album.

Does it always work? Not really. There is definitely a dearth of information from some of the more obscure bands and albums that are less contemporary. But Wikipedia is a good start...