Although the minimum wage was created to ensure a better life for Americans, it’s not always the exemplary choice in some people’s views. A great deal of Americans struggle to make minimum wage and barely make ends meet.

As a college student I understand how difficult it is to work a minimum wage job, go to school, buy food, buy necessities, do homework, pay rent, buy books, and pay car payments.

Over the past couple years, college students have discovered that the adult industry has been a relief to their money issues. Students have found various ways in the adult industry to pay back loans for school or pay for any other basic need of a college student.  The “Sugar Daddy Solution,” is becoming a fad for college students across America.

It seems as though students looking to find a job in the adult industry most commonly end up escorting or seeking sugar daddy’s. Finding a job in the adult industry is not always on purpose. Chloe, a “pro girlfriend,” states that she found her arranged relationship on “accident.”

Chloe had been working at Buffalo Wild Wings in Las Vegas, when her car broke down and “needed a new alternator and starter which was going to cost about $1500.”

Chloe had found herself on craigslist looking for a more beneficial job. Unfortunately it’s hard to find a job that pays more without a degree. Chloe was embarrassed to say that she wandered off into the adult section of craigslist. She viewed ads for hookers, strippers, and porn stars. She realized she did not want to do any of those jobs.

Although she wasn’t interested in becoming Vegas’s next big strip show, she continued to view the adult section. Soon an ad for a “pro girlfriend,” appeared. Chloe wasn’t completely sure about what a “pro girlfriend,” was exactly, but was open to finding out about how it worked.

Chloe met up with the man who posted the ad on craigslist. While Chloe was 18 and still adapting to life on her own, he was 50. The first day Chloe and him met he immediately fixed her car, after a nice lunch of course.

According to Chloe there are many benefits to her arrangement. Not only is money a benefit, but Chloe has benefited in various ways. Chloe went from being as desperate as looking in the adult section on Craigslist, to earning a 3.8 GPA at the University of Las Vegas and establishing a stable life for herself.

Although her arranged boyfriend does receive sex, it is not the only way he benefits from the relationship. Chloe says she has helped him become a healthier person, supports his ideas, and his over all well-being.

Some might say that having an arranged relationship may be the same thing as becoming a prostitute. Prostitution is pretty straight forward; you have sex for money. Chloe does not consider herself only having sex for money. Chloe and her arranged boyfriend have established an actual relationship, and support each other’s wants and dreams, something most people in a relationship don’t even accomplish.

What’s not to love? Love and Money are things people search for the most and now it’s just a click away on craigslist. It seems simple, become a “pro girlfriend,” make good money, pay your bills, go to college, receive stability. It seems like the perfect fantasy. But is it all it’s cracked up to be?

According to Chloe she’s making over $100 grand a year just by being a “pro girlfriend.”Chloe receives “$1,000 in cash a week, rent for her townhouse, about $1,500 a month, about a thousand a month for a clothing expense, payment of her BMW and her insurance.”

Chloe has created a good savings account for herself,  established rental properties, has no student debt, and is financially stable.

I always hear people talking about how prostitutes make a lot of money. It seems as though it depends on the type of business you are in, within the adult industry. In my opinion being a prostitute or stripper is not the dream job I fantasize about. although Chloe’s relationship with her arranged boyfriend makes me reconsider the aspects of having an arranged relationship.

When I look at all the aspects of the adult industry, I see drugs, violence, and unstable people. When I look at escorts and arranged relationships compared to prostitution, stripping, webcam models, and porn stars, it’s easy to differentiate.

The stability and safety of having a “sugar daddy,” or “arranged relationship,” is far from the position a prostitute working in the middle of the night on dangerous streets would have.

Although I don’t personally agree with the Adult industry overall, Arranged relationships seem like the most logical way to have a job in the adult industry. People in arranged relationships are not prostitutes, strippers, or porn stars. “Pro girlfriends,” hardly consider themselves part of the adult industry. They are people striving to have a better life and perhaps create a lifelong relationship and promote stability within each other.

A huge variety of dating websites for wealthy men and women are sprouting across the internet, and creating a higher demand for wealthy people in the dating life.

Dating is now considered a sub category for the adult industry all thanks to the idea of pro girlfriends/boyfriends, arranged relationships, and escorts. Seekingarrangements.com and sugardaddyforme.com are only a few out of the many growing sugar daddy websites.

To be quite honest, it’s difficult for me to distinguish the difference between having a sugar daddy and an arranged relationship. I would much rather be honest as to why I’m with someone and have them support my decisions, then fake love with someone for their money.

It would be nice to extinguish both options and the sex industry overall, but unfortunately desperate times call for desperate measures, and someone has to keep the porn business going for all those demanding late night viewers.

Perhaps there were other routes a person in an arranged relationship could have taken, but if working in the adult industry is someone’s “only option,” becoming a pro girlfriend seems like the best choice.

The tub will come in a variety of shapes including your standard rectangle, oval, square and corner tub. All of the tubs in the series will be fitted with customizable LED lights that will set the mood and give you the feeling of being at a world class spa. The company that designed the Ergo tub created it so that it can hold a maximum of four tub spots.

The standard Ergo bathtub will come with eight Venturi jets but any of the models can be customized by the customer to include up to 26 air-inject jets. The bathtub will offer maximum relaxation with warm, whirly water and would mimic the feeling of a massage. The tub comes in a variety of different depths from 470 mm to 500 mm.

The LED lightstrip that goes around the tub sits in the overflow groove. The lightstrip is customizable and the user can select from seven different colors. Hoesch gave the tub an ergonimical design to maximize comfort while sitting in the bathtub while still giving the tub a contemporary look.

The case is priced at $795 which is a tad steap for an iPad case but it is quite an attractive case. It is made with luxury materials and looks like a little pocketbook.

Jimmy Choo joins a large number of luxury designers who have released iPad cases. A Chanel case will set you back more than $1,500. A Burberry is slightly more affordable at $395 and if you are into Louis Vuitton you can own one of those sleeves printed with the famous LV logo for $409. For a cheaper designer case check out the black leather sleeve from Gucci for $295. Of course, if you really desire a designer iPad case but cannot afford it you can buy a knockoff for about 1/20 the price.

I would rock this Jimmy Choo case if I had the money but it seems like this case might be more geared towards one of those rich women (real housewives of wherever) who buy an iPad, use it the first time and then completely forget they even have it. Ah, the pleasures of being rich.

All of the wallets are very slim. One is a very simple credit card and cash holder, the second, an iPhone holder and the third is a passport wallet. All of the wallets are made out of Kenton Sorenson signature vegetable tanned leather.

The first wallet is super slim and has just enough room for a credit card or two, an ID and some cash. The card sleeves are located on the front and back of the wallet with room for cash in the middle. Each wallet is handmade and hand stitched right here in the USA. The Kenton Sorenson Modern Man front pocket wallet is priced at $90.

The second is an iPhone wallet. It is not quite an iPhone case but more simply a place to store yourp hone. Your iPhone cubby is on the left hand side with a credit card sleeve and place for cash on the right hand side. The Kenton Sorenson Modern Man iPhone wallet is priced at $140.

The last wallet is a passport wallet that functions quite the same to the iPhone wallet but with bigger dimensions. Your passport sleeve is on the left with credit cards and cash on the right. The Kenton Sorenson Modern Man passport wallet is priced at $140.

All of the wallets are available online to purchase from Kenton Sorenson.

The Clark County Commissioners unanimously voted for the new 26-acre waterpark that will be built in the Summerlin Area near Fort Apache and Warm Springs. They say they are only a few months away from groundbreaking and are trying to keep the name of the new Las Vegas water park a secret. The county expects about 400 new jobs from the project: 200 to build the park and 200 to operate it.

I am hoping this park is on the same level as Wet n’ Wild with plenty of slides. There is supposed to be 30,000 square feet of water slides at the new waterpark and aquatic center in Las Vegas. There will also be jogging paths and a park in the front of the center. The project is supported by The Howard Hughes Company that has several other parks in Texas.

I for one am super excited about this project. I have missed Wet n’ Wild so much and I am very sad they closed down. It was the perfect place to go for a fun day during the Summer. It was a shame to see it close but hopefully this new Las Vegas waterpark will quench my thirst for a Summer swim.

I love my zombies from The Walking Dead to Zombie Crawl. I am a huge fan of the brain-eaters. I have even shown you my zombie apocalypse stock pile. I especially love Halloween time when lots of real life zombie haunts open up. Imagine running around a warehouse with paintball guns while being chased by the walking dead. Sounds like my kind of Halloween party. But the newest trend is a 5k obstacle course full of zombie action.

The 5K will take place in Baltimore in October with (hopefully) more locations in 2012. Each contestant will be given a flag belt that represents your health. Lose all your flags and you are dead. Zombie actors will take your flags but fear not, there are health bonuses hidden throughout the trail that could save your life. Throughout the obstacle course are 12 natural obstacles to complete. You can choose not to complete an obstacle but you will not be eligible for any end-game prizes if you skip any. Medals will be awarded to the top three competitors in each age division.

This sounds like my kind of 5K. Get in shape, dodge brain eaters and stay alive. Oh yea, I am there. The lovely people over at Run For Your Lives even put together a pretty scary video. Enjoy.

To be honest, I never appreciated the iPod Touch.  It’s basically an iPhone without the phone.  If someone wants an iPhone, why not just get one?  I had a good talk with several people while at the last SXSW who had iPod Touch’s and they all had a good excuse.  They are required by work to have a Blackberry, but they love the App Store.  I have also talked to some younger people, with less accommodating parents than I, who would love an iPhone, but their parents won’t pay for it.  Damn near child abuse if you ask me.  But it looks like this is bound to be the case for a while, until IT people start loving Apple the way they should, and child protection laws finally protect a teen’s right to an iPhone.

But I have been watching a trend that has me thinking that it may be time for me to look into purchasing an iPod Touch.  The latest reason comes from Chelsea’s earlier post about the VooMote One, which turns the iPhone as a universal remote.  The VoomMote is just the latest in a line of devices that let you use your iPhone or iPod Touch as a remote.  These devices run about $100, which when combined with the iPod Touch as $230, gives you a $330 remote.  Sounds a bit steep until you really look the price of other remotes.  A decent Logitech Harmony remote is going to run you about $200 – $250.

But then there is the other things you can do with an iPod Touch.  First off, you can obviously check your email, which is pretty cool when you think about doing that from a remote.  Want to update your Facebook status, or maybe check-in to a show with GetGlue?  You can’t do that with most remote controls.  Twitter is another obvious feature.  This isn’t counting the tens of thousands of other apps, including games, sharing photos and videos, video chat, web browsing, etc… that you can now do on your remote control.

Let’s also add the ability to control even more devices.  For example, you can use Airplay right from your iPod to send music from Pandora or Spotify to your stereo, so you now have unlimited music.  I have a Sonos system, which has it’s own iPhone/iPod app to control all the music in every room in my home.

And let’s not forget about old school X-10 devices.  X-10 has been around for decades, and with the proliferation of iPhone and other devices, it’s become a popular choice for people in home automation.  With the X-10 iPhone app, you can control the lighting and heating/air in every room, and even set timers for true automation.  There is even an alarm system module so you can activate security protocols from your iPod.

The more options like these, the more the iPod Touch becomes an excellent choice as a complete remote control for your home.  And with AirPlay mirroring  coming out in iOS 5, the benefits will only increase.

Of course there is one thing the iPhone can do which the iPod cannot, take calls.  But this is not completely true.  Just install Skype on your iPod Touch and your off and calling.  And if you use Google Voice, like I do, you can set it so that it rings your Skype phone as well as your mobile number.

There is one more note I want to add to this idea.  As more and more people are dumping land lines in favor of a mobile phone only house, there is a problem.  Sometimes you don’t have your iPhone in earshot in your home.  It’s not like you will always walk around with it.  For that the iPod Touch/Skype idea is great, but there is another option that will allow you to return to the old days of actual phones in your home.  Check out the Panasonic KX-TG7645M DECT 6.0 Link-to-Cell via Bluetooth Cordless Phone.  This excellent phone system allows you to connect your iPhone via Bluetooth, which then allows you to pick up the cordless phone and make call, using your iPhone in place of a landline.  And since the phone system comes with 5 handsets, you can have these all around your house, and never miss a call again.

So finally you can keep your iPhone plugged into the charger while at home, leaving home duties to the iPod Touch.  If I wasn’t convinced before, I just talked myself into this idea.  Let me know if you try this and what experiences you have.

Leica is a luxury brand camera maker. Their D-Lux 5 is a 10 MP digital camera with a fast Leica Summicron zoom lens ranging in focal lengths from 24mm to 90mm. The camera retails for around $800 and takes stunning photographs with very crisp, clear colors even when using the zoom.

In addition to the amazing photos that come from the D-Lux 5 the camera itselfis quite gorgeous. It reminds me slightly of an old time Kodak without the LCD screen.

The cases, designed by Paul Smith, are leather and made specifically for the D-Lux 5. There were only 300 made, 150 in each design. The first design is a smooth chocolate brown leather with signature Paul Smith vintage multi-stripe on each side. The second case is light grey crocodile skin pattern. The inside of both cases have purple lining.

The cases were hand-made in England and each one is embossed with Paul Smith for Leica on the back side. Each case also comes with a shoulder strap.

The cases will be released and sold in stores during October. They can be found at Leica’s London store as well as various Paul Smith stores located throughout the U.K. The retail price of the case is around $285. But if you want one of these beauties better be quick, with only 300 made I am sure they will sell out fast.

Louis Vuitton has designed a one-of-a-kind luxury watch that will be auctioned at this years Only Watch. This unique Tambour Diver chronograph is sporty and classy. It was designed in collaboration with a young boy afflicted with Duchenne muscular dystrophy named Paul Pettavino. The watch has a black gold case and orange face with bezel detail set against a thick orange strap. The timepiece is PVD coated and is 100 m waterproof. It is engraved with the logo for Only Watch 2011 on the backside.

The coolest part of this watch is the back. It is transparent so that anyone wearing it can see the LJP 8181 movement with column wheel. The timepiece was also personalized by Paul Pettavino. He included a personal message and a nautical sound recording. He has contributed watches to Only Watch in 2007 and 2009.

James H. Johnson built this house in 1971 and p0atterned it after the umbels of Queen’s Anne’s Lace. It is located in Perinton, a suburb of Rochester, New York. It became a town landmark in 1989. The house features ample living space at 4,000 square feet and has been featured on various television and media outlets.

It sits on 1.2 acres of land and looks like something out of The Smurfs. There are five interconnected mushroom tops or pods. The house itself is located on a hill at the tree line. The column holding up each pod is made of reinforced concrete; they range from 14 to 20 feet in height. Each pod is completely windowed and one “half pod” has an open deck.

The interior of the house has five rooms, a master bedroom suite, family room furnished with a fountain, guest suite, patio and an underground three-car garage. Each mushroom is 30-feet in width and weighs 80 tons.

Of course the house comes with all the usual amenities; laundry, air conditioning, dishwasher, refrigerator, fire place, etc. But what makes this house truly unique is its design. It is one of a kind; a work of art.