Update.....AirRite Restoration

Today we had our firebox rebuilt by AirRite Restoration. The mason was very professional, friendly and appeared to do good work. I would recommend their services.Click HERE for original post.

Google Desktop Search Update

Well so far I have been quite impressed with the GOOGLE search engine for the desktop. I only have one concern, and that is of security. While I do most of my financial business online, "snapshots" are taken and stored in you cache and if you do a search, these "snapshots" are displayed without passwords being required. This will allow anone one you computer to see sensitiveaccount numbers, etc. I would say that if you use google as a desktop engine, you may want to password protect your system as do I.(Click Here to view original post)

The best a man can get.....or is it?

I watch these new razor commercials and wonder how a person got a close shave at all ten or more years ago. How can you get a close shave without 3,4,10 blades on the disposable razor. I know they want to get more of our money, but it is starting to get ridiculous. I was once on the MACH III bandwagon. Then I got tired of paying the extra money so I went with the Gilette "good news" disposable razors. I was impressed. It has two blades, and a neat little lotionstrip. These razors don't quite last as long as the 3 or 4 blade models, but the price is drastically less. I say down with expensive disposable razors!!!!!

Fine Print

I tell you what really chaps me off.....You hear an ad on the radio for a certain product, then at the end they read their legal disclaimers or "fine print". They give their speel so fast, you cannot normally understand it and if it isn't too fast, they speak very soft. The same goes for TV ads. The fine print they stick on the very bottom of the screen, you almost need HDTV and a wide screen tv to read the print! I am sure they are just following the minimum standards according to the law. Maybe this law should be updated? I really like te weight loss supplemant commercials or exercise machine ads, the fine print read "results not typical". I thought to myself, "if people read this why would they buy this product?". If anyone knows where I can find documentation on this law, please let me know.

AirRite Restoration

I thought I would plug a local company that does a lot of fireplace and chimney repair. I have dealt with them on several occasions, including some masonry work on my chimney and I had a chimney sweep done last spring. I plan to have them rebuild the back wall of my firebox next month. The people are friendly, do good work and are relatively inexpensive. They also do free quotes which I had trouble finding with other companies. They often run ads in the super shopper magazine. Their phone number is (513)242-1112.

Walk A Thon

I just wanted everyone to know that Samantha (My lovely wife) and I have volunteered to do a cancer walk-a-thon and it will be in the June timeframe. We take pledges and it’s that sort of thing. If you would like to pledge, either a flat rate or a per-mile type plan, you can either Email me, or you can go to the website and pledge online! No pressure, but thanks to anyone who participates!

Froogle

I know I am starting to sound like a Google spokesman but I wanted to put my comments in about Frogle. For those who do not know, Froogle is one of the latest by Google and may be usefull if you do a lot of shopping online. You can also generate a shopping list. This will make it very easy if you are shopping for someone out of town and want an item shipped directly to them. Check it out here

Ohio Residents-Register to vote

Don't wait until the last minute to register to vote. It's as easy as 1-2-3. There will probably be several tax issues on the next ballot. If you are an Ohio resident, and need to register either initially or change address CLICK HERE.

Google Desktop Search Engine

Click here to gt it!

Also from Google, I recently downloaded the new Google desktop search engine. I was surpised at how much I appreciated it. At first, I must say I was hesitant to even try it, because why do I need a new search feature? But after I tried it, I doubt I will ever use the old windows search again. Once you download the program and install it, it indexes everything so when you search, there are no long waits! I recommend it, plus it's free.

Google Accounts

Get Free Google Email Account

Now you can get free email from Google(GMail). I have been using it for a little more than a month, they give you a huge amount of disk space and they have come up with some interesting email search features. I highly recommend it.

Bankruptcy - Preying on the Weak

How about you fill out this credit card application, we will give you a fantastic interest rate of 22%? Sounds like an easy way to get a free baseball cap at the b all game. This as the scene at a Cincinnati Reds game I once went to. To my amazement, the little kiosk enrolling new cronies was packed. This ignorance is the reason so many people are in debt up to their eyeballs. I have heard a lot of criticism about recent bankruptcy legislation “What about the little guys?”. Well, what about them? Is it right that because they don’t employ a bit of self control and financial common sense that their debts should be forgiven at the expense of my tax dollars? Another argument that I heard was about divorcees being left with a lot of unpaid debt. While I am in favor of having a bankruptcy system of some sort, I believe a lot of these issues can be handled in divorce court. Just because one had help getting into debt (spouse) I don’t believe that is an excuse for bankruptcy. I am referring to a vast majority of cases, but not all. I am aware that their will always be certain circumstances that may warrant other avenues. I guess what I’m getting at is life is hard, and sometimes we need to face that fact.
On another note, the corporate bankruptcy laws are extremely laughable. To this I am referring to these large corporations making the case and filing for bankruptcy in order to shed legacy costs. Many times, all the argument needs to be is that they are not competitive with other companies that have already eliminated the burdon of retiree benefits through bankruptcy. What makes matters worse is that you see high level executives walking away with multi million dollar bonuses. This ticks me off every time I get going on it. Sadly, the politicians are in no hurry to correct this problem, probably because of all the money involved. I urge everyone to contact their congressman and urge them that something must be done without further delay. This is the least we can do for the countless thousands of retirees that are getting the short end of the corporate greed stick.

Social Security

President Bush is going to have to do a better job explaining his new Social Security plan if he thinks it's going to happen. Don't get me wrong, I am 100% behind the idea of setting up personal accounts and letting me decide what happen to the money. The problem that I see is: How will this save the program? All I have heard is how much this program will cost. On another note, you might ask why so many democratic politicians are against it. To me it is simple. If the money has my name on it, then they can't spend it.

Honda and Enterprise...Well Done.

I just wanted to give a well deserves plug to the people at the Honda Collision center. They got our repairs done quickly, and they did very good work. They handled all insurance issues without hassle. Everyone I dealt with was friendly and professional. I would also like to drop a plug for enterprise rental cars, they delivered a vehicle to me at the collision center, and dropped me back off there when I was through. We had a problem with the windshield, it came with a small chip in it. This morning, with the defroster on, the small chip turned into a large crack that extended across the entire windshield. I did not get any hassle about it, they just said "no problem"!

Bling Bling

It is not my intent to offend the bling blingers of the world by posting this article…
Have you ever seen these jokers driving down the street in their late 80’s model vehicle, stereo turned up so loud that the street vibrates? I'm sure you have. They might have some ghetto fabulous rims on their ride also. I like the kind that keep spinning after the car stops. I'm told these fancy wheels run about 4 grand. Or how about the Mr. T starter kits? Or even better yet the "Advanced T" ensemble, featuring the half pound imitation sterling silver herringbone necklace, complimented by the 10 carat imitation diamond earring. My question is, who are these people trying to fool? Am I really supposed to think that because they have all this bling, they are wealthy and should be granted a certain degree of respect? Not from me, because I know that these people normally live with their parents and sometimes show up at their part time Burger King jobs. To each his own I guess, but I don't get it.
 

Tax Time

Well we are deep in the heart of tax season once again, and it seems as if the IRS is trying to keep up with the world by become more electronic. You can visit the IRS web site, and find many helpful resources available. One of the more helpful things available now, is free tax preparation. There are several different companies that offer free tax preparation, each with their individual requirements for such. Most of them require that you have an adjusted gross income of less than $30,000 per year*. Once you file, you can check the status of your return and find out when you should expect to receive your refund (They direct deposit on Fridays). If you find yourself over or under paying your taxes, you can utilize the online withholdings calculator. Finally, if you do need to pay the tax man, you can also do that with credit card.

* refer to site for details

UTMA

You may not know what it is, but you might pretty soon if you have children. After my third son was born, my wife and I went to our local bank to open a custodial account for young Zachary. As we were getting our details together, the kind lady asked us which one of us was going to be the custodian. I told her we would like to both be custodians, like the other two kids accounts, because we both handle their money matters. She told us that that is a new state law that prohibits both parents from being custodians because there are many parents that use their kid’s accounts as tax shelters for their own money. I was quite offended that one of us could not have access to our son’s money. So, we decided that my wife will be the custodian, and in the event she dies, THEN I can withdrawal from the account. After I got back home, I called the main branch, and the woman I spoke with told me pretty much the same thing. I then called the office of my State Rep, Shawn Webster. The assistant I spoke with was very helpful. She spoke with the chairman of the finance committee, as well as others and found no state law as such. I finally spoke with a Vice President at the bank, and she explained that it was not a state law, but a federal program that is not mandatory but serves as a guideline for banks to go by. I told her that we use the money for school clothes, etc and she agreed that this is not a very good deal for us. This program is called UTMA and puts the parents in the back seat to the children. In a nutshell, to withdrawal money from the account, it must be specifically intended for the child(education, etc). Here’s the kicker- Say you withdrawal money from the account when the child is a minor for whatever reason, once you beloved child turns 18, he/she can sue you for the money back. I will be opening a traditional custodial account at another establishment because I feel this is way out there.

Blockbuster

Blockbuster Video has made a lot of noise lately, as you may have heard. You can subscribe to a premium movie pass, where you pay a monthly fee and rent a whole bunch of videos. The problem with that is, a lot of people subscribe to this and whenever you want to rent a new video, it is already gone. Then there is the mail order deal where you can order your movies online, get them in the mail a few days later and return them in the postage paid mailer and there you go! The problem with this is? This is costing Blockbuster a fortune. While it is making these moves to compete with rival online movie rental Netflix, it is also watching internet giant Amazon.com in it’s rear view mirror, getting ready to tap into the online movie ordering business in American markets. This would be a very profitable venture if they would put a limit on the number of movies per month one can get per month. Another way they can move ahead of the competition is to add video games to the ordering options.