Projects PossibleA » pp

What is the #1 Cause of Death World Over?

Bill — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:43:16 +0000

If you guessed Heart Attack then you were correct. That muscle in our chest that does its job day after day, year after year, decade after decade is an absolutely amazing organ. But we so often forget that it too is a muscle that needs to be cared for. Conditions exist that cause the arteries in the heart to “clog up”, and once clogged the muscle can die. Think of those arteries as highways that go through your community. If you didn’t have the highway to bring goods and services the community would not prosper… eventually everyone would leave and you’d have a ghost town. If we carry the analogy further and a our highway has a major bridge that collapses no longer allowing people access… what do we do? We rebuild the bridge or we figure out a new way around. This is the same process they use on the arteries with a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) or more affectionately “Cabbage”. When an artery no longer functions they rebuild it… assuring the muscle has the “goods and services” it needs.

Be kind to your heart. Additional heart related information can be found at: The Heart Library (www.heartlibrary.com) become educated and help protect this vital organ!

Spring Cleaning – Wasted Life!!!

Bill — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:25:40 +0000

Spring is arriving and with spring comes that annual ritual of spring cleaning. You know what I’m talking about…dusting, vacuuming, washing and polishing like you do no other time of the year. Some refer to it as a “deep cleaning”. I like to refer to it as a waste of my time at that time of year when I really want to be outside enjoying the new life that spring brings.

So what is a person like me to do? I’d like to hire a maid service to handle my “deep” spring cleaning. The problem is I have one company to choose from and a lot of individuals from the classifieds that I could interview. Am I missing a business opportunity here… for me probably not. I can’t stand house cleaning, I’m not good and it and I really don’t care. But for the right person a maid service franchise might be a perfect opportunity. As a consumer I know that I would probably hire a company before I would ever hire an individual. I like the stable image that a company portrays and with all of the ready made (pun intended) tools the owner can’t help but be successful.

I won’t be wasting my life on cleaning the house. But for the right company at the right price I might give you the opportunity to waste your life.

How Low Will the FED Go?

Bill — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:14:10 +0000

When I consider House Refinancing I can’t help but ask myself if this is the right time to be doing this or if I should continue to wait in anticipation that the rates will continue to drop. With the “R” word (recession) on everyone’s mind I look at where my mortgage and my second mortgage are interest rate wise and it would seem to make sense for me to bite the bullet and go through the process. (And a process it is…or at least can be. How many documents could any 1 mortgage really need to be signed?)

I am fortunate in that I live in an area where housing prices have stabilized and also that I was not sucked into any sub-prime lending environment with required balloon payments and the like. I think one of the keys to success in this environment is to know what you are getting yourself into. Read the documents they make you sign… know what an APR is, know the terms of your loan, look at the bottom line. Go into any long term commitment eyes wide open. The Internet is filled with resources to help you learn. Take a look at the Learn More section on the main page of the Countrywide site as an example.

Spring is Here… Time for Hiking Boots!

Bill — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:47:26 +0000

With the latest break in our weather – We’re actually seeing 50+ degrees which is quite nice since we’ve had like the 10th or 11th worst winter on record. – I’ve been looking for a new pair of hiking boots. Now I must say that clothing and shoes are not something that I purchase much via the Internet but I did come across the Cavender’s website where you can not only purchase all types of western wear, but for me the draw was in their boot and shoe selection. I’ve always liked Justin and Ariat boots and they’ve got a perfect pair of hiking boots on their site. To really set the hook they also offer FREE shipping on orders over $50.00 AND on their footwear FREE return shipping if I need it. I’m ready for a nice mountain hike…and I may be purchasing my first pair of boots from the Internet!

A Story to Tell

Bill — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:21:32 +0000

Do you have a story to tell? Do you want to get it published? Maybe Self Publishing is the answer!

Many years ago my mother wrote a children’s book. I just loved this book. It was a take on “Row Row Row Your Boat” and was a journey that the child was taking down the stream and all of the things that he might see. We submitted the book to multiple publishing companies for consideration and they all came back with rejection letters. At that point I just kind of let it die.

As I think about that little book, I now can’t help but wonder if perhaps self-publishing might be an option. If you look at an Internet site like Author House it just seems so easy. I do my little bits of writing here on this blog and I would probably never publish a book… but I think I might like to revive my mother’s children’s book ambitions.

Have you ever self-published? I would love to hear of your experiences…

Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Bill — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:14:57 +0000

As I get older, items related to individual health are always of interest to me. Sudden Cardiac Arrest and Irregular Heartbeat are among those things. Did you know the average survival rate for Sudden Cardiac Arrest is only 6-7% and that 2/3 of Unexpected Cardiac Arrests occur without prior indication of any heart disease. In the US alone, 900 people per day will experience Sudden Cardiac Arrest and if they do not get treatment within 4 to 6 minutes the results can be fatal. To find out more about SCA I encourage you to visit the InsideCardiacArrest website. Here you will find videos and information about matters of heart health…

Interest Rates and Your Equity

Bill — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:28:00 +0000

With the recent reductions in the prime interest rates NOW may be the time for you to consider refinancing you home to get out of a variable interest rate loan or a loan with a large balloon. Perhaps you’d like to do some debt consolidation, or a remodel…you could get a Home Equity Loan or a Home Equity line of credit for this purpose.

We currently have 2 pieces of property that we are going to refinance. One of these was a construction loan rollover that has a variable interest rate that I would like to get fixed. The other is a fixed rate loan but is an older loan than has a higher rate than I believe we can get today. When I started looking for loan options to replace these loans I did my usual web searches and of course you get a ton of mortgage brokers as well as large national companies like Countrywide. I also called my local banks. The key thing here is to do your research! Find out all you can about loan programs that you qualify for, and when you find the one that is right for you then and only then take the opportunity.

Make sure you understand things like prepayment penalties, the interest rate and its structure – is it variable or fixed, is there a balloon, when is it due, is the loan assumable, when are your first payments due, are taxes and insurance included in your payment, etc.

Don’t wait around… the programs abound and you could definitely get yourself into a more secure financial position.

Send Your Children Out Begging for Funds…

Bill — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:11:35 +0000

I never could quite grasp the concept of sending our children out to pawn candy bars, wrapping paper, tea, etc… just so they could earn money for the latest and greatest “program” at school. I must say I am a sucker and I will usually pry out of my wallet the $3 dollars they are asking for $.50 cents worth of chocolate. But there just has to be a better way.

Schoolpop is a company that has come up with a solution. As America’s #1 tuition crediting and school fundraising program, Schoolpop has built a program designed around what you already do…shop! If you happen to shop at any of their merchants those merchants will give a percentage or a dollar amount back to the school of your choosing. In just a few minutes of looking through their merchant list I found 3 merchants that I had purchased from just this week. Merchants that would have sent almost $18.00 back to our local school.

To contribute to school fundraising programs all you need to do is go to the website, join, and shop. You can certainly optimize your shopping by registering your debit cards and shopping at participating local merchants and they do have a Schoolpop Visa card that offers an additional 1% of purchases, but none of these things are required.If your kids are getting ready to head out on a begging mission for a school project or activity, I would suggest that you give Schoolpop a look. It may not stop the begging mission from happening but is will certainly make it so they don’t have to beg quite as hard?

Valentine’s Day Flowers and More!

Bill — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:54:46 +0000

Another post in my continuing series on Valentine gift shopping…

If valentine’s day flowers are on your gift list you should check out the great selection at 1800flowers website. Not only can you get the standard “cut” flowers like roses, daisies and tulips but on their one stop website they also have a great selection of gift items for Him and Her. Do you have a special someone that just loves chocolate? Or maybe a plush teddy bear or puppy? Perhaps you could go for the full SPA treatment and give them a nice collection of soaps… The possibilities are endless!

When you visit their site I recommend that you take a look in the Valentine Day Link on the menu and then select Love Bundles. These gift bundles include everything from the simple bouquet to the elaborate… from about $20.00 to a $1000.00 you’ve got choices that will fit into every budget. If you haven’t thought of Valentine’s day yet… it’s not too late.

Blog Marketing Ideas

Bill — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 06:24:39 +0000

Do you remember the baseball movie with Kevin Kostner called “Field of Dreams”? The phrase – “If you build it they will come” – may work for baseball fields in the middle of nowhere but it does NOT work for a blog. You have to do some level of marketing.

Buzzfuse offers a unique marketing opportunity for blog owners as well as those that would like to share pictures, audio and video, or flash content. The process is relatively simple and involves signing up for an account (which requires email validation), placing some code into the content that you would like to share, and then activating that code by clicking on it. It is at this point that Buzzfuse becomes a bit unique in that it would then like to send your content to a group of individuals that you designate as your reviewers. It gives them an opportunity to create a “buzz” about your new content and to share it with others that they indicate as well.

As a nice added bonus there is a bit of a revenue stream for the top “buzzing” items for the month. I’ve added a buzz to my Geek Speak post… check it out and click on it… letting me know what you think… share it with your friends.