I had a co-worker send me an email the other day that was about purchasing American made products.   It was actually one of those emails that made me go… hmmmm….

When purchasing Made in the USA I am one of those that has this preconceived notion that whatever the item is will be more expensive.  After all, our labor force here is expensive, insurance, etc… but you know what?  American made products are NOT always the most expensive. (Can’t help but wonder what the manufacturers are doing with the money they are reportedly saving by manufacturing out of the country?)

Anyway I thought I would share the email with you all.   Read through it, let me know your thoughts and maybe some of your experiences while reading the labels… (I don’t think I will be giving up my Hershey bars.)

Good idea. One light bulb at a time .

Check this out. I can verify this because I was in Lowe’s the other day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments. They were all made in  China . The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in USA. Start looking .

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else – even their job. So, after reading this email, I think this lady is on the right track . Let’s get behind her!

My grandson likes Hershey’s candy . I noticed, though, that it is marked made in  Mexico now. I do not buy it any more . My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico now.  I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything .

This past weekend I was at Kroger . I needed 60W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets . I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled, Everyday Value. I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats , they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in Mexico and the Everyday Value brand was made in get ready for this – the USA in a company in Cleveland,  Ohio.

So throw out the myth that you can not find products you use every day that are made right here .

So on to another aisle,  Bounce Dryer Sheets . yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada . The Everyday Value brand was less money and made in the USA. I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price.

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA – the job you save may be your own or your neighbors.

I received the video at the bottom of this article from a co-worker and I just couldn’t help but laugh.  As a frequent business traveler, the holidays are probably one of my least favorite time to travel due to the large number of people that are traveling, but even more important than that, the number of people that are infrequent travelers that seem to make the experience even worse.

Don’t get me wrong… I have nothing against the infrequent traveler!  I just wish there was some way that they could be better prepared for the journey on which they are about to embark.   Things that would make the journey more pleasant for them as well as me.

Be prepared for Check-In. 

• If you are checking baggage know the piece count and weight limits for your airline.  Each airline has their own policies so check! 
• Have all of your bags tagged with identification tags before showing up at the airport.  Its also a good idea to put some ID inside the bag.
• Know what fees are being charged for baggage and don’t argue about paying them.
• Proper ID is required – no a credit card is not good enough and your your gym membership doesn’t count either.
• Don’t use the airport as a place to weight balance your bags so that you don’t have to pay extra fees.   Do your weight balancing at home!  Surely you have a bathroom scale that you can use to approximate baggage weight.
• Make sure liquids and gels over 3 ounces are IN your checked baggage.  This will include the jams and jellies, and the bottle of Scotch you got from your family for Christmas.

Be prepared for TSA Security Check.

• You will have to take your shoes off!!!
• They aren’t joking about the quart size bag with items of 3 ounces or less.  Don’t make them find the items you’ve tried to hide in your carry-on bag.  It doesn’t matter that you just paid $80.00 for that moisturizer if it is over the wight allowed you can plan on leaving it behind.   Make sure you have it OUT of your carry on and in a scan “bin”.
• Computers and large electronic equipment like video recorders and DVD players should be taken out of the bag they are in a placed in a separate “container” to go through the X-Ray machine.
• Hold on to your boarding pass… don’t send it through the X-Ray.  They are going to check it when you pass through the metal detector.
• Coats, hats, scarfs and sweatshirts have to go through the X-Ray machine.  Don’t make them ask you to take them off.
• Take off your jewelry, belts with metal buckles, cell phones, coins, etc… These are going to set off the metal detector.  Unless you are an authorized tester for the government you can be assured that these machines work and you don’t need to help with the testing process.
• Gather your things from the X-Ray belt quickly.  There are usually places past the belt to put your shoes, jewelry, coats, etc… back on.  The X-Ray scanner will hold up the line while you get dressed and there are other people waiting.

Be prepared for Aircraft Boarding.

• Everyone has a seat assignment (unless you are on Southwest)  Milling around the gate just slows up the boarding process as people try to get through the herd of people
• Frequent fliers get to board first.  It’s a perk for dealing with this hassle trip after trip after trip.  (If nothing else it assures us that our carry-on bags are going to have a place in the plane.)
• Most roller bags fit into the overheads lengthwise.  Depending on the plane it will be wheels out or wheels in.  The overhead doors are designed to allow for those wheels in most cases… Please try to fit your bags in this way first.
• Under the seat in front of you space should be used!!!  If you brought a computer bag and a roller bag one of them belongs under the seat in front of you.
• Wait to put your coats up into the overhead until everyone in the rows around you have had an opportunity to put their large items overhead. 
• Fragile items overhead?  I don’t think so just ship them!  You have a better chance at getting them there.  I was just on a flight where someone had a “very valuable” rolled up “poster” in the overhead.  When the passenger in the row across from them started to use the overhead space for a bag we were close to a fist fight because they might “crease” the poster.   The flight attendant made them “hold” it at their seat the entire flight and of course the customer complained the entire way – all 4 hours.  If I had to hear about this valuable poster one more time I think I might have had to “snap”.

Remember folks that those of us that do this week after week get into a routine and know the ins and outs of the process.  We get just as frustrated as you do but for different reasons.   The real trick is keeping your cool through the process.  Be pleasant, be tolerant, be understanding.

Now without further adieu the video:
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http://www.projectspossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/carryonluggage.mpg

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Each month we cringe when we see our electric bill.  You can do a few simple things that could save you big money each month.  Another benefit to lowering energy usage is it helps promote the planet by not wasting resources.  Here is a list of ten things you can do every day to bring down that bill.

1.      Turn off lights that you are not using.

It only takes about two minutes to walk through your house and turn off lights that no one is using.  The average bulb uses an estimated 20 watts.  When your old bulbs burn out, try replacing them with the new energy efficient bulbs.  They last much longer, from 3-5 years with average use, and the savings really add up.

2.      Run your automatic dishwasher when it is completely full.

Make sure your dishwasher is completely full.  Running a half full dishwasher is wasting energy and water.  Don’t use the automatic dryer, let your dishes air dry.  This saves a lot of money in the long run.

3.      If the temperature is nice outside, open your windows

Give you’re A/C or heater a break!  Open those windows and let the fresh air inside!  If you do this as much as possible, you are sure to see a difference in your electric bill.

4.      Change you’re A/C filter once a month.

If the filter is clogged with dust, it makes the A/C work harder, costing you more money!  An average filter costs just a few bucks to replace; doing so can save you some bucks as well.

5.      If you live in a mobile home, put skirting around the bottom.

This will help keep your home warm in the winter, using less heat, and cooler in the summer.

6.      Keep curtains/blinds closed during the day.

On those hot summer days when it’s a bit too warm outside to open the windows, keep the hot sun out by closing the blinds.  It will take less energy to cool your home.  Also try using ceiling fans.  They use little energy and can help cool rooms down.  Most have reversible motors, so during winter you push warm air back down.

7.  Replace weather stripping on windows and doors.

This keeps that hot or cold air from blasting through, keeping your home at a comfortable temperature.

7.      Keep your thermostat set at a higher/lower setting when you are not home.

When you are away for the day, keep your thermostat set at about 80 for warm climates, and about 65 for cooler climates.  Your home stays at a comfortable temperature without costing an arm and a leg!

8.      Turn off your computer monitor when not in use.

If you’re not surfing, no need to leave that monitor on.  If you have more than one computer, turn off the one you use the least.

9.      Turn off your television when not in use.

Just like the computer monitor, if you’re not watching T.V. it’s just wasting electricity!

10.     Try washing clothes in cold water instead of hot water.

You’re saving energy by using cold water and your clothes still get nice and clean!  Also try drying them on a cooler setting.  If you can, hang your clothes outside.  Not only are you saving energy, you also have the sweet smell of line dried clothes! With just a few simple changes, anyone can cut their energy bill.  Not only are you saving money, you are helping the environment.

About the Author

Jill works with inside real estate. They have sites focusing on El Paso Real Estate and Dallas real estate.

As you all know I use ClearContext’s Outlook Addon to help me manage my email… and below you will find a snippet of an article and a link to help with the management of vacation email.  If you don’t use ClearContext I would encourage you to take a look while you are there… they have a free version that you can download to give it a try.  Once you’ve gone ClearContext you won’t go back… at least I never did!

“Here are some tips to help you cope with an avalanche of email after a vacation:

Use ClearContext’s AutoAssign rules to quickly categorize and file messages. We all receive informational messages from the usual suspects; email that we like to review such as newsletters and company updates, but is not time sensitive. Upon your return, create some rules to quickly file newsletters, bulk mail, non-critical corporate updates, etc.. Put them out of the way and review at your leisure after you’ve had the chance to catch up on your important email.

Delete or file unimportant messages. After you’ve cleared out the informational emails, use ClearContext’s Prioritized view to see your email listed in priority order. Utilizing CC’s default scoring parameters, the gray messages at the bottom of your Inbox can almost certainly be deleted with little or no review – all of these emails are from unknown senders, are not addressed directly to you, and are likely spam. If you’re worried about bulk deleting, move them to a review file for consumption after you’ve had the chance to…”

ClearContext Corporate Blog: Vacation Email Triage.

1. Shut off auto check
2. Pick off easy ones
3. Write less
4. Cheat
5. Be honest

When you are there you might also check out the little Related area just to the right of the article.  You will find a couple of other great nuggets of email productivity information there as well. 

Remember that email should be a tool that enables communication.  What I am finding in this day and age is that while people certainly communicate it is becoming ever more difficult to get things done as you read through the avalanche of email with useless, unnecessary communication. We’ve reached communication overload because it is so easy now.   Stay productive by incorporating a few of these useful tips.

Now when I need to start a new period of time or a new project I simply Add the worksheet(s) to my Excel workbook, go to the template worksheet, copy the entire thing and then paste the copy into the worksheet that I just added…. Very simple process. 

If you do this periodically and just with one worksheet it isn’t too bad to do it manually but if you find yourself needing to copy more than one and you are doing it regularly here is the snippet of a script that might give you some ideas of how you may automate this process.   This script is attached to a button called “Add Project” in my workbook and what it does is:

1. Prompts me for the next Sheet number to assign
2. Does a little bit of error checking
3. Copies my “Sheet Template” to a new worksheet and places it BEFORE Sheet99 in my Workbook
4. Changes the name of the worksheet to “Sheet##” using the number I entered above for ##
5. Places the number I entered in step 1 into the C6 cell
6. And then it protects the worksheet.
7. It then repeats the process using my “Info Template.

Sub NewWorksheets()
  Dim ans As String
  ans = InputBox(“What is the next sheet #?”, “New Sheet Number”, “”)

If ans = “” Then Exit Sub
  On Error Resume Next
  If Worksheets(“Sheet” & ans) Is Nothing Then
  ActiveSheet.Name = “Selector”
  ActiveSheet.Range(“D36″).Value = ans
  Sheets(“Sheet Template”).Copy Before:=Sheets(“Sheet99″)
  ActiveSheet.Name = “Sheet” & ans
  ActiveSheet.Range(“C6″).Value = ans
  ActiveSheet.Protect
  Sheets(“Info Template”).Copy Before:=Sheets(“Sheet99″)
  ActiveSheet.Name = “Info” & ans
  ActiveSheet.Range(“I3″).Value = ans
  ActiveSheet.Protect
 Else
  MsgBox “A sheet with that name already exists. Sheet not added.”
  Exit Sub
 End If
  On Error GoTo 0
End Sub

A very quick and painless process and I know that it is correct every time and that I have the values placed into the fields that I need them in.  Since I use this to keep track of individual project information I could be adding projects at any time and this script really streamlined the process for me.  You can also learn how to use HYPERLINKING to navigate through a workbook like this on my other post located HERE.