It is a sad day where we just think of ourselves and not our literal neighbor. Your lack of planning is not my crisis should come right back at you if we want to live in a self served world. It never works that way. Then again, we went up this bubble together hence we will all fall the bubble has burst!

With the new economy, I have found that this is a great opportunity to begin my new business. My partner and I still see a need for electricians in our area. We need a logo and custom embroidery to brand ourselves and set ourselves apart. That is when we went to threadsmith.com. They have the most useful site I have seen in along time. You choose the product, upload a design of your own or choose one of their own and then choose the coloring and size. I chose a light denim shirt, with a cool handyman logo and changed the colors around to suit my business which is home electricians. You then choose sizes and quantity and check out. Its that easy! When you start a business like me and need uniforms, go to threadsmith.com for quality, great customer service and a handy web site

While Mr Grant continues to court young bank loan officers to push more insensitivie paper upon the poor, he has failed to realize that less people know the Grants well enough to even think of buying their new dream home. In fact his own home does not have enough machines to put more paper into the system. Few trust the family anymore. Even now, Grant has taken yet another hit today as those with little access to the family wither on the vine waiting for even little Washington’s to rain upon them. Tight the vest and tight in the wallet the regular Joe’s that I have grown with cannot get even the remotest job. I heard the Washington’s were still available for help but since they are so common and have nothing of value or to really put my family ahead, we seem to all choose not to purse that courtship. To our demise, we took for granted the Washington family and their sustainability. They were always around and always consistent. They were easy to get along with but like a friend who stays for three days like fish, they begin to stink. The Washington’s were too easy and nothing to be proud of.

One dream I have always had is starting my very own wine bar/ Mediterranean restaurant. I realize that most of these ideas fail, but with the demand for wine still high and a new demand for very good food it could be a great time to start. I like to dream of what the inside would look like and which style of restaurant table I should buy. At fashionseating.com they have a great site to fulfill this dream. I love the way they use their images to show me just what the tabletop and legs will look like. For myself I would choose the 273-B Bar stool which looks good and stable. I would then choose a designer wood table top on a cast iron metal table base because I want to brand myself as elegant and quaint. Any entrepreneur like myself could spend hours at this site picking out the hundreds of combinations you need to get your restaurant started. Perhaps you need the granite top table or aluminum top. They have these in several designs. I also found their website well made and easy to use along with great customer support. Their FAQ section was very informative plus I appreciate their secure online methods of payment. If you have a dream to start a restaurant, tryout fashoinseating.com

I guess its Auto day for me today. I just learned that Auto Zone’s profit increased in the second quarter by 8.6%. I have to guess that we have not only decided not to buy brand new cars as I wrote about below but have also decided to keep driving our current car and on top of it all, fix it ourselves. Could this be a little metaphor from the early days of Home Depot, where we all became Handymen and women, updating our current home rather than buying a new one? That could be a stretch but the point is that we can take on a few jobs ourselves. Walmart wants 30 bucks to change your oil. I can do it myself for 12.50 from Auto zone and take the oil back to them to recycle. I think its a great idea. Why not show your kids some home mechanical work too at the same time. Of course, things like timing belts and transmission work should go the pros, you will be amazed how you can top off all your fluids by yourself. Very few cars have to be lubed anymore. Remember those huge lube guns you would snap on at the hubs to lube…those are gone and are impacted at the factory. So now its just oil and the filter which is just a snap. Good luck auto parts stores as we all become more self sufficient.

My family seems to keep running our of computer storage space due to the large number of photographs we take of the family. Plus, we have multiple small business files that we need to keep safe. On great resource to keep this data secure and backed up is through the use of online backup from idrive.com. They offer 2GB of free back up right now to get you started. But if you are like me, that is not nearly enough. For a small fee of $4.95 a month, you can get 150GB on online storage. What a great deal. There service is compatible with both the PC and the MAC, and they have received multiple awards from PC World and PC pro among others. What really makes idrive.com so nice is their time machine like storage system update where they restore as a point of time. Plus they have now an update for the iPhone. I really like the spread on the website itself, making it easy to navigate and shop for just the service you need in backing up your system. Plus, they have a very nice customer service hot line to call. As you know, one of my favorite pages anyone can do is that one reserved for testimonials. I appreciate how these guys publish good objective feedback we can use in making our decision to buy from them and get you learn how this service has helped so many. When looking into online backup, look into idrive.com

Well, with everyone beginning to lose their jobs and thousands of men and women at home doing research, why not spend some time to see if you can make money on the Internet. There are all kinds of ideas you can explore that yet to be tapped into or not running very well. I recently found that I could learn to make money online from pclink.co.uk. This is a great site to look into a home business over the Internet. One simple yet in high demand idea is that of printer cartridge Ink jet Business. They walk you through how you can put together business where you simply pick the product, pick the price and start selling. You can use your own website, eBay, amazon etc. PC Link has a warehouse of thousands of products in their virtual warehouse. You do not have to keep an inventory, PC Link will deliver to your customer. You get to focus on keeping your amazing website running well and promoting it to drive customers to your site. PC Link steps in from there. It is a great idea, easy and profitable. Look into pclink.co.uk to find the best home based business over the Internet.

I went out looking for more information on web hosting and found a site that has compiled the Top Ten hosting sites for review. When making a web hosting choice I suggest you try out webhostingchoice.com when choosing the right host for your business or personal site. You will find info on fat cow, host monster and others. You can sign up for their newsletter to get updates on web hosting which is a great resource. Plus, I really liked their page on web hosting scams that are out there. You can learn more from the FAQ’s, info on domains and cheap hosting. Finally, reviewing their web host directly will help you more fine tune your search, for example, if you wanted a good choice on Linux web hosting, they would recommend you use Just Host. This is a very nice website with great recommendations for all of us.

With spring around the corner, it is already time to think about early pest control. Green is the rage and it should be. We have destroyed so much of our environment by neglecting good R&D into better performing products with safer ingredients. I have done some shopping for organic gardening products and found that Safebrands.com is your first place to shop. They sell OMRI listed products to replace the not so safe products I have been using that could have been putting my family at risk. For pest control I found their Safer Brand Bug patrol 32oz concentrate to be a great organic buy! It kills 40 insects invade my yard and I have to admit, I used some pretty harsh stuff in the past to kill these guys. Shame on me for not doing better shopping. Buy hey, it is never too late to make a change! My area is very popular for fruit and vegetable gardens and Saferbrands has a great page for people like me. Here I found a tomato and vegetable kit with good insect control and safe at the same time. Plus they sell Insect killing soap, caterpillar killer and Concern fast acting weed killer. We also loved the fact you kind find this brand at the Designing Spaces TV where Saferbrands are showcased and you their hosts Jodi Dombrowski and Woodstream Corp’s Karolyn Warfel have a great 5 min You Tube segment to learn more about going green. Friends, this is the future! Check out saferbrand for a better Green Environment!

Well the Dow has managed to tumble below 7000 today and our retirees get to watch their years of saving tumble as well. The money they counted on by good conservative investing has been slashed in half. Just when folks were turning the corner from the 9/11 stock shock yet another loss has emerged, just when they needed it the most. They did not want the government to be the one to count on. Social Security was just a little help out, along with Medicare. The Retirees took the time to make good 401k contributions to that they depended upon themselves and not Uncle Sam. How ironic, that now the government could possibly be on the board of directors at banks like Citi and now the US will tell you how you will retire. Just what they did not want. Others have years to recoup, but not the greatest generation.
Over the weekend I met with a 75 year old man who lives the above situation. He said what is really ironic or perhaps Deja Vu, is that they can still remember the stories of their families during the Great Depression. They heard, and some saw if they were old enough, the joblessness, the hoplessness and the fact that no one had really anything. Then the War the came and saved everyone yet killed everyone. We have no War to get us out of this one. It will depend on ourselves he said.

Magnesium is involved in more than 280 bodily functions that affect such vital organs as your heart, lung, central nervous system and even your skin. It can be obtained through such foods as oatmel,spinach, and mixed nuts but researchers are finding that there is a lack of magnesium in our diets and it is estimated that over 60% of Americans may be getting inadequate doses.Magnesium can be helpful in those that suffer from:

• restless legs
• fatigue
• headaches
• Fibromyalgia
• Eczema
• And other skin conditions just to name a few

The number one recommended Magnesium oil in the world comes from a company called Ancient Minerals. They extract their components from the Ancient Zechstein Seabed which is nearly 2 miles beneath the earths crust. This particular form of Genuine Zechstein™ magnesium has become the most purest source of natural magnesium salts. Their formulation and delivery via topical oils and bath flakes are used to help achieve better absorption via the skin which is a more suitable application. There are many applications and uses for magnesium oils that are listed at their site to help you fully understand when and how this product should be used.

When I was growing up family meant being there for one another even when times were tough. We always had dinner together in the evening and you were expected to be on time and ready to share about your day. It was the one time throughout the day where we all gathered and shared what was going on in our lives. Today most families are running in 20 different directions and dinner is just an event that take place somewhere along the way. Either in front of the TV, in the car, or at a practice field. Families have gotten smaller due to the dual income families and both parents heading off to work making it more difficult to raise a larger family.
With the success of the Jon and Kate plus 8 and a few other reality type shows the focus on family has come to center stage. You will notice that values are placed on everyone helping out and the collaboration amongst the family members is quite remarkable. You watch some families with one or two children and they are utter chaos. I am not advocating larger families but the point is that there are still thousands of couples who may not be able to have their own children and wish to share their love with a child then there are options available. Some of them have come under fire due to a recent headline story which we will not mention but there are ethical Egg Donor Agencies that work with couples and individuals to help them in their goal to have a family. This is a process that is not taken lightly and can provide hope to thousands of willing and loving couples or individuals who may be looking to have children of their own.

Our greatest asset these days is our home. No matter the market, the economy or any current event our home is our castle. Within our castle is all our favorite things, pictures, children’s toys photographs etc. Obviously many of us need to have insurance on our home for the mortgage but also so we can rebuild. Now, that being said we need to shop for this insurance. I have only shopped one time and included the premium in the monthly mortgage payment and have forgotten all about it. Would it not be prudent to shop from time to time to find out if we are getting the best rate.
We should be shopping about every six months for homeowner insurance rates. Variables change such as the cost to rebuild, your inventory the investment you have into the home. So where do you go? To find specific information like for Michigan Home Insurance you can surf on over to rateelert.com that provides a resource for consumers to receive up to 7 free quotes from companies in your area at no cost. So just one form and you will receive multiple quotes that will help you easily compare rates and companies to find the best deal.

I had never considered a vacation to Central America before, until a friend of mine went there to take part in a family wedding. He said it was a blast and that I need to look into Costa Rica resorts to have a great time, with a professional staff and great amenities. That is when I found florblanca.com and its very well made web site. They have ideas already to go for Sports, Mind and Body, Romance and Earth and Sea. Basically, they know our needs and tailor programs for us. If you go to their Special Events page, you will see how they can put together a wedding or any other special engagement for you. Just look at the happy couples they already took care of. When you are ready to go to Costa Rica, check out florblanca.com first. Your luxury vacation waits!

Great job WSJ! Guess what, as retailers are losing money some are trying new ideas or strategies to drive sales. Is that not what a Free Market Economy does. We the buyer really make the rules with our shopping habits, needs and wants. Well now stores like Target are going to make changes to improve or really just change their business plan to meet the current needs. Today’s article said that Target will increase food and health care products. Wow, those are two items that we never do without. Further, companies are moving to a more Localization model because not all markets are alike across the country. Go figure. I applaud Home Depot, Lowes, Macys and target for not giving up and listening to the customer. That builds the brand, customer loyalty and a loyalty to the free market economy. You don’t see these guys complaining. Instead, you see action! Macy was able to outperform Nordstrom! This is what business is all about. One day Nordstrom may fight back and always it is the customer who not only drives the change but is also the one who receives the rewards. These companies have invested heavily into their nationwide businesses, they are just not going to rollover during the correction, instead they see opportunity.