I made a smart move about 10 months ago that finally paid off today. I saved $20 and I pat myself on the back for it. Here is what happened:
I have a pair of black rubber boots. I use them for when it gets really muddy outside. About 10 months ago the pair I had got a leak on the top side of one boot. I looked at other women's rain boots, but none of them were heavy duty enough for my needs, so I bought another pair that was just like the ones with the leak. I don't know what possessed me to keep the old pair with the one leaky boot, but I did.
Then yesterday my newer pair developed a leak on the top of the boot. It was tonight that I needed to wear the boots outside to do some after work chores and I happen to see the old pair of boots in the mud room. To my surprise the old pair had the leak in the opposite boot that my new pair did. That meant that I could switch my new leaky boot out with the good boot from my older pair. I now had a pair of rubber boots that had no leaks and a pair of boots that both boots have leaks. Now I am wondering if I should fix the rubber boots with the leaks. Since both leaks are on the top of the foot area, it should be easy.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Avoiding foreclosure scams
This post brought to you by Fannie Mae. All opinions are 100% mine.
I don't think that anyone does not know someone who has lost their home to foreclosure or has come close to it. If you have been watching the TV news at all you would be aware of the many ways that people have fallen for scams that claim to stop their foreclosure or help with refinancing their homes. Yes the scam artists are out in force.
Most of the people I know have already paid off their homes but one family member does have a house that they owe much more than it is currently worth. Just a few years ago their home was valued at almost $450k and they had a $290K mortgage on it. Now it is worth about $190K so they owe about $100K more than the house is worth. He has decided to stay and keep the home, as he put it, "the value will go back up...........eventually."
Other people are not as fortunate as he is (he still has a good paying job), so what are they doing? They are finding out their option at KnowYourOptions.com
Know Your Options by Fannie Mae is a website that aims to help those people that have gone into panic mode with their mortgage. They have a section that even includes the option of walking away from your home and what happens if you do.
Do yourself a favor and find out more about the options of foreclosure before you fall for a scam or walk away from your home.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Does your blog have enough comments?
One of the ways that makes your blog more appealing to advertisers and paid blog companies is the number of comments that your blog receives. To them it is one way to measure the popularity of your blog. I know of several bloggers that have very popular blogs and yet use that "delete" button relentlessly when they get comments that don't agree with their blog post. While I am fully aware that everyone who runs a blog is entitled to what comments they allow to appear on their blog they tend to shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to making money from their blog.
As most of you know, I am a very vocal blogger. I voice my opinion openly and I do so not only here on my blog but also on message boards, comments on other blogs and even the occasional online newspaper article. I don't go overboard on commenting but if I read something that sparks my interest or stirs up my emotions I will leave a comment. I have left comments about poorly made products, overpriced software (a pet peeve of mine) and bigger issues like the environment.That brings me to comments left on my blogs.
Yes I do allow almost all comments to be published on my blogs. The only exception is when the comment has several links in it and the comment is merely seeking link juice. I do allow comments with links if that link is adding to the conversation. For example, if the blog post was a product review on zamberlan boots and the comment left was a link and a suggestion to a sale on those boots then I would publish it because it would be helpful to my readers. On the other hand if the comment contained an affiliate to a store selling those boots I probably would not publish it as the person was now using the post to line their own pockets with cash from my product review.
Commenting is also a hot button item on several community websites. I have left what I thought was an innocent comment on an article about global warming and the author of the article came unglued on me. She sent me several "rip me to shreds" emails about how dare I leave a comment on her work that disagreed with her. She didn't approve the comment anyway so I didn't see why she had to read me the riot act. I thought that was the end of it until yesterday when she sent me another email about the same thing only the wording was different. This has been going on for a month now and I wish she would let it go. By the way her article was about global warming and Al Gore's version of it, while I pointed out in my comment that global warming is a natural occurrence and that we (the Earth) is still coming out of an Ice Age. I pointed out those facts per Geology 101 from a recent college course I just had.
Leaving comments can be a risky business as you can see, but having them appear on your blog is a valuable step in the right direction to making money with your blog.
As most of you know, I am a very vocal blogger. I voice my opinion openly and I do so not only here on my blog but also on message boards, comments on other blogs and even the occasional online newspaper article. I don't go overboard on commenting but if I read something that sparks my interest or stirs up my emotions I will leave a comment. I have left comments about poorly made products, overpriced software (a pet peeve of mine) and bigger issues like the environment.That brings me to comments left on my blogs.
Yes I do allow almost all comments to be published on my blogs. The only exception is when the comment has several links in it and the comment is merely seeking link juice. I do allow comments with links if that link is adding to the conversation. For example, if the blog post was a product review on zamberlan boots and the comment left was a link and a suggestion to a sale on those boots then I would publish it because it would be helpful to my readers. On the other hand if the comment contained an affiliate to a store selling those boots I probably would not publish it as the person was now using the post to line their own pockets with cash from my product review.
Commenting is also a hot button item on several community websites. I have left what I thought was an innocent comment on an article about global warming and the author of the article came unglued on me. She sent me several "rip me to shreds" emails about how dare I leave a comment on her work that disagreed with her. She didn't approve the comment anyway so I didn't see why she had to read me the riot act. I thought that was the end of it until yesterday when she sent me another email about the same thing only the wording was different. This has been going on for a month now and I wish she would let it go. By the way her article was about global warming and Al Gore's version of it, while I pointed out in my comment that global warming is a natural occurrence and that we (the Earth) is still coming out of an Ice Age. I pointed out those facts per Geology 101 from a recent college course I just had.
Leaving comments can be a risky business as you can see, but having them appear on your blog is a valuable step in the right direction to making money with your blog.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Apple imitators
Imitation is said to be the most sincerest form of flattery so Apple must be the most flattered high tech company in the industry. Almost everyone has come out with their own version of the iPhone and now here comes the iPad knock-offs. Then someone got the bright idea to cross the two and now we have the blackberry playbook. It has a small 7" screen and claims to give you full computing power but only has 1GB of memory. Heck even my iPod Touch has 8GB of memory and it is the old version.
So I ask the same old technology question - what's the point? If I want computing power that is small then I have a laptop or a notebook. If I want a quick, small, on the go connection to the internet, that is free I might add, then I have my iPod with WiFi. For a cell phone I have a pay-as-you phone. Now I wonder should all of those items be in one gadget? I will ask that with one question, would you use a combination microwave oven, dishwasher and freezer?
So I ask the same old technology question - what's the point? If I want computing power that is small then I have a laptop or a notebook. If I want a quick, small, on the go connection to the internet, that is free I might add, then I have my iPod with WiFi. For a cell phone I have a pay-as-you phone. Now I wonder should all of those items be in one gadget? I will ask that with one question, would you use a combination microwave oven, dishwasher and freezer?
January sales are not working out
Walmart seems to be leading the pack with what to push on the next sales. Valentines Day is not top on the priority list....no, the sales racks are filled up with cheap workout gadgets. I saw the Chinese knock off of the "total gym" along with other items like the colorful yoga mats.
So is any of this stuff selling? Not at my Walmart. In fact the shelves were stocked up with this stuff just a few days ago and none of it has moved. Of course if the local Walmart had done any research on the type of customers that frequent the store they would find that the average customer is over 50, retired and more than likely a small business owner that has country property. Yes the Super Walmart is located in a small rural town of 13,000 people who are mostly retired. They are the type of people that are more likely to find out which diet pills are the best and take a pill, rather than run around the block.
This brings up a very important fact:
Does Walmart find out the type of customer it has in its stores or do they just sell what ever the main office tells them? If they run their stores that way then no wonder that Walmart has the reputation it has. Not only is it noted for being the import giant of the USA but also pushing products that people are not really interested in. I have never seen a survey done by Walmart that asks their customers what they would like to see sold in their stores. The only surveys that Walmart does is to find out if the customer is happy with the checkout clerk or how much time they stood in line.
Come on Walmart, wake up and smell the roses. Sell more American made items and find out what your customers really want and sell it.
So is any of this stuff selling? Not at my Walmart. In fact the shelves were stocked up with this stuff just a few days ago and none of it has moved. Of course if the local Walmart had done any research on the type of customers that frequent the store they would find that the average customer is over 50, retired and more than likely a small business owner that has country property. Yes the Super Walmart is located in a small rural town of 13,000 people who are mostly retired. They are the type of people that are more likely to find out which diet pills are the best and take a pill, rather than run around the block.
This brings up a very important fact:
Does Walmart find out the type of customer it has in its stores or do they just sell what ever the main office tells them? If they run their stores that way then no wonder that Walmart has the reputation it has. Not only is it noted for being the import giant of the USA but also pushing products that people are not really interested in. I have never seen a survey done by Walmart that asks their customers what they would like to see sold in their stores. The only surveys that Walmart does is to find out if the customer is happy with the checkout clerk or how much time they stood in line.
Come on Walmart, wake up and smell the roses. Sell more American made items and find out what your customers really want and sell it.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Crazy drivers
I just finished watching a program on TV, on the History Channel about the most dangerous roads in the world. One of them I use to travel on at least once a week and that was HWY 99 in California. It was on the show because all of the massive car pile ups in the dense fog.
I was fascinated at the intersections in Delhi, India and how pedestrians, bikes and cars manage to navigate them. The government of India is currently redesigning their traffic system to make it more like the USA and add safety signs, pedestrian crosswalks and barriers to separate bikes from the cars. Both India and China apparently have very high traffic death rates. China, for example, has 2.5 times the traffic death rate of the USA but only has 1/3 the number of cars. Most of the accidents were attributed to the fact that the drivers in those countries were often the first in their family to drive and that driving is fairly new to their culture.
Driving here in the USA was something I had always taken for granted but if I look back in time, my grandparents did not drive. They took the bus or walked. They also lived in town so driving was not an issue with them. In their day, cars were very much a luxury so they just did without.
I was fascinated at the intersections in Delhi, India and how pedestrians, bikes and cars manage to navigate them. The government of India is currently redesigning their traffic system to make it more like the USA and add safety signs, pedestrian crosswalks and barriers to separate bikes from the cars. Both India and China apparently have very high traffic death rates. China, for example, has 2.5 times the traffic death rate of the USA but only has 1/3 the number of cars. Most of the accidents were attributed to the fact that the drivers in those countries were often the first in their family to drive and that driving is fairly new to their culture.
Driving here in the USA was something I had always taken for granted but if I look back in time, my grandparents did not drive. They took the bus or walked. They also lived in town so driving was not an issue with them. In their day, cars were very much a luxury so they just did without.
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