Category: Business

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Waterproof Binoculars

With my Dad’s birthday coming up next month I am already starting to stress about what I can buy for him for his birthday present. Buying gifts for either of my parents is a tough assignment, as they are well off and have just about anything they need or want as well as it being right after Christmas. So finding a present they will like and appreciate becomes a bigger challenge on every gift giving occasion.

My Dad is healthy and active, and loves to be out on the water, so I think that getting something nautical would be nice. He keeps a small skiff at a marina near his condo in Cape Coral, Florida, and also has the sailboat up on the Chesapeake. I went back to some old bookmarks and ended up on the www.opticsplanet.net web site. That’s where I got the great idea to get my Dad some Bushnell binoculars for his birthday. The web site has a huge selection of binoculars, so you can find the right pair to meet your needs. After all, you don’t want the same pair of binoculars on a hunting trip that you want to take to a Titans game or out on your boat. Everything that goes on a boat has to be waterproof and corrosion resistant.

Bushnell has several models of waterproof binoculars, with varying zooms and other features that span several different price points. Reading the reviews and buying guides on the www.opticsplanet.net will help me make the right decision and get my Dad the perfect birthday present.

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Elton John in Vegas

My folks are leaving next Wednesday for Las Vegas to attend the big annual convention for my dad’s company. They always have the convention in Las Vegas and wives are encouraged to go, as they host events that couples can attend and they also leave large blocks of time for networking or spending time on the Strip. Dad wants to surprise my mom with tickets to a show that she thinks he does not want to see. He told me that the truth is he would like to see the Elton John show, but he wants her to think otherwise so he can surprise her. They are going to be in Vegas for the convention until Sunday, but my dad decided to stay an extra night and have some fun. So they have several nights there to fill with entertainment.

Since they go to this convention every year, they have already seen a lot of the big shows. The Elton John show is new and only there for a short time, so he wasn’t sure he could even get tickets. I told him about the web site that I used last time I was in Vegas, www.BestofVegas.com and that if he wants tickets, this is the best site for buying them. All the top shows in Vegas are listed on the site and you can read show reviews, see clips of the different performances, and buy your tickets online. Elton John is one of the biggest Las Vegas Shows booked this year, and my folks are lucky that the convention coincides with Elton John’s appearances. My mom has been a huge fan of Elton John since she was a kid. Her favorite song is “Candle in the Wind.” When she hears that on the radio it makes her think of Princess Diana’s accidental death and it makes her cry. I think any song that can make you cry is a great testament to the strength of the song.

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Fundraising Is A Fact Of Life

Gone are the days in most cities and towns across America when kids were sent knocking on people’s doors trying to sell folks items for a fundraiser.  Let’s face it, schools, churches, sports and all the other non-profit groups, they all desperately need money and fundraising can be a lucrative way to get it.

Unfortunately in today’s world it isn’t necessarily safe for our children to go around the neighborhoods anymore.  Most fundraisers specifically request that the kids do not go door to door anymore, they tell you to have family, co-workers and close family friends help in supporting the organization.

With having two kids I have done my fair share of fundraising and I certainly will still participate when I can.  It was a lot easier when members of my immediate family were all living pretty close to each other, now a days everyone is spread out all over the darn country so that puts a damper on using them as a resource, for the most part.

I ran across a really cool fundraising program on the Web called Schoolpop.com and I am going to contact our elementary school and see if they would be interested in participating in this non-traditional school fundraiser opportunity.

By using Schoolpop, you can pay down your tuition and any extracurricular activity costs, it can assist in paying back student loans for college and help your school earn monies, all year round by shopping at the several hundred listed of name -brand merchants and service providers whether it be online, in stores, catalogs purchases, even with gift cards or with the Schoolpop Visa credit card.

You can apply for the Schoolpop Visa credit card right on line!  Every purchase that you make for your groceries, gas, clothing, movies, restaurants  – it contributes 1% to the student’s school.

It sounds like Schoolpop may be a way to raise money that would/should be embraced by our school and the families, we shall see when I call them this week.  I’ll also call my sister who has a son in a very nice private school and see if she would be interested in learning a cool and easy way to raise money for private schools along with us in the public school system.

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Garage Repairs

When our neighbors tree fell in our yard last month it took out a chunk of our garage, too. It fell on a corner of the garage and tore the siding off the top parts of two of the garage walls. The insurance company adjuster said he would give us enough money in the claim check to fix all four sides, if we were smart about negotiating with the home improvement contractor.

The garage was here when we bought the house, so we didn’t have any say in how it was first built, but now that it has to be repaired, we are looking into the different types of vinyl and siding. I was reading about the benefits of vinyl siding over plasterboard and wood, which is more technical than I ever knew. To sum it up, vinyl is best because it lasts a long time and needs almost no maintenance. It doesn’t need to be scraped and painted or stained, like wood. And vinyl doesn’t split, peel or rot. So vinyl is the way to go.

I want to use a company like American Home Craft Inc to do the repair work. This company is fully licensed, bonded and insured, which is important if anything was to go wrong during the job. But American Home Craft Inc has an excellent reputation and uses only only highly trained and certified workers, so we can rest easy that the job will be done by professional who will take the greatest care with our property. I also like the fact that they use only the best materials, and every product has a lifetime manufacturer’s warranty. They care about the environment like I do, and use materials that are environmentally friendly and the most energy efficient products available.

I’m looking forward to having my garage fixed so we can start using it once again.

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Safe and Secure Mailboxes For Everyone

The apartment complex that is located behind our street is such a mess. The landlord is what we call a typical “slum lord” and doesn’t give a hoot about his tenants, their safety or the neighborhood in general. I feel sorry for the majority of low income people that have to live there. The place is littered with trash, old cars, drug dealers and loud music played all hours of the day and night time. Their Mailboxes are in such sad shape and most of the stair banisters and light bulbs are missing. Such a waste of valuable space.

A good quality source of Commercial Mailboxes is needed for that place. As you walk by you can see all the junk mail, newspapers and the such strewn about the stairs and entrance ways. I’m sure that identity theft must be an issue with a lot of those folks who’s mail boxes are not functioning and locking properly. I hate to see people taken advantage like that, there isn’t any excuse for conditions to be this bad for so many people.  My mailbox needs to be safe and secure. I’ve got one of the nicer of the Residential Mailboxes that I’ve seen in the neighborhood. It has my street numbers on it, but not my last name, which I was told was a smart move. It should last in the outside elements for years to come.

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I.D. & Credit Theft Is a Reality

Watching the news now a days, there is a huge amount of focus on credit and identity theft which is really becoming a major issue.  Identity theft is indeed very scary and I hope it is something that I don’t ever have to experience.

Mail offerings of things like “no annual fee credit cards” are received almost daily, it’s now a fact of life in this day and there are good and bad companies out there, you really need  educate yourself on the subject or you could get burnt.  “Read the fine print”

I’m glad that there are companies out there that can help when you find things starting to  get out of your control.  And I have found and book marked a web site for our use, in the near future, when our teenager will be entering the adult world of credit.  The site that I’ve found is CreditNet.com it features reviews popular credit cards, credit card offers, bad credit repair services, credit alerts, company reviews and that is just the beginning of all of their services.

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Language Issues

I was looking at a web site about a company called Executive Language Training that sounds like it would be a useful tool to many companies out there that are struggling with communication issues.  They have Swedish, Hindu, Dutch, Arabic, along with Cantonese language training classes and many more to choose from also, to help people learn all kinds of languages.  The list was amazingly long.

It sounds pretty cool that they customize their courses to fit your goals, your style, your time line, and your budget. Not only do they teach the languages, but they provide translation services also, like the company that I applied for here in the good old Shenandoah Valley.

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One day I’ll be a Grandma

I’m in no hurry, but it would be nice to be able to spend time with a newborn again.  Once in a while, like at the mall, I’ll see a really cute baby and I get that feeling of wanting to have another baby, I’ll see the little tiny shoes or a delightfully cute stuffed animal and the motherly instinct comes pouring out.  But the feeling usually doesn’t last long and I get over it, hearing the kids screaming in the stores makes me snap out of it real quick.

I must say that every year the products that flood the newborn baby/toddler market are getting really cool, most of which I would have loved to been able to use during those precious years.  We had the standards of course like the basic baby swing, walker, bassinet, back then was when the computerized toys were just starting come out.

I’ve been invited to a baby shower next week and I have ordered a nice baby sling from Slinglings.com they have a great variety of colors and fabrics to select from with their different styles of their baby sling.  You can use them up until the baby is 35 lbs and it really helps reduce the need of a big bulky stroller.  No ties, no buckles, or Velcro,  just slip it on and place your baby in it and you are ready to roll…Wish I had a baby sling back in the day!

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Used To Like To Clean and Cook

Boy those days are gone.  I even used to clean a few houses to earn some extra money back in the 90’s, it was hard work, but for the most part I basically enjoyed it.  But then again I used to enjoy so many things that I no longer like to do such as, cooking, laundry, working outside of the house.  Guess we all get burned out but I am seriously bummed out about it all.

Hubby insists that when we are better situated in our finances that he will sign us up for a monthly cleaning service that will help make our house more manageable.  There are a few companies out there that you see the little cars in traffic with their mops and buckets all hanging out of the windows, but I never really took the time to check into their services so I set out to do some research on the Internet.

Come to find out – the company that I liked the best, that I could find, doesn’t have an office anywhere close to us, bummer, their site was pretty impressive.  Hubby was watching over my shoulder when I was checking maidpro.com out and he saw where it advertises that they offer franchise opportunities and he jokingly stated that we should check it out since there wasn’t one near us.  So just for grins and giggles I played along.

This Cleaning Service web site answers a lot of questions that can help them assist you in having your residence cleaned by trained professionals and/or to give you information on their franchise opportunities .  They already have well over 100 independently owned locations. You can even get an on-line free estimate, which requires them to call you the next day to verify the information and to give you the quote.

I don’t think I’m ready to open any franchise right now, but if I did I would enjoy researching this opportunity some more.

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One day I’ll have a shop of my own

I believe that most people dream of running their own business and not having to work for someone else who is profiting from your own hard labors. Hubby and I have been tossing around the idea for years, but there sure seems to be a lot involved that we would need to learn.

If we were to establish our own business it would be in retail, it would be unique of course, because our interests are pretty unique.  He is interested in antiques & collectibles while I am into vintage clothing and accessories, the two are different but would could go hand in hand if done correctly.

Of course getting the funds to open and operate the business would be one major challenge.  We have been through the process of securing a loan for the purchase of our home so we do have some idea of the procedures, although I’m sure a business loan is a bit more elaborate.

We both have immediate family members that have run businesses, some still do, I’m sure we could gain valuable insight from them that would benefit us in our endeavor.