All About Technology

I am now an absolute online clothes shopper.  My son needed a white oxford shirt for his graduation.  My wasted an entire day going from store to store looking for a kids oxford shirt and returned empty handed.  That is when we decided to go online and look for what we needed.  In no time at all, we were able to find exactly what we were looking for and ordered it online and more importantly received it in time for the graduation ceremony.  This was but one example of how convenient it is to shop online.

Ever since that day about a month ago, we find ourselves spending less time at the stores and malls and more time in front of our computer shopping.  The best part of this is that we hardly ever come accross items that are not in stock.  Think about it.  If you go to a store and they dont have your size, what do they offer?  They tell you to make the purchase and they will “ship” you the merchandise.  Well, shopping on line is simply cutting out the middle man and that becomes evident in the price as well.

What used to take a couple of hours in going to the store, trying on clothes, finding your size, etc… now takes mere minutes.  No more fighting for parking spaces, rude customers, lines or general store headaches.  We simply log on from the comfort of our home and shop for anything we want.

Wow…I was just reminiscing about my high school years and remembered how much we used to tease the all the kids (mainly the girls) with  Acne problems.  The kids that carried around their Acne Treatment medication were the easy targets because they were the ones that stood out like sore thumbs .

I remember when I was in high school, all the Acne Solution we had was something that merely covered up the acne and didn’t really treat it.  So we all went to school, with what looked like make up, on our faces.  There were so many social events that the girls in our class did not attend just because they got an acne breakout and were embarrased to show their face in public.  Now that I think back on it, we didnt make it easier on them either.  We teased them about it and I guess it really effected them.  We used to call them by the names of the popular Acne Product of the time and really tease them relentlessly to the point where some of them would even start to cry. I guess that is what kids did, and probably still do. It’s like a rite of passage.

After everything that has happened with the economy, I still believe that investment property purchases are still the way to go. For long term investments, you just can not go wrong with real property.  Property is the one thing that comes back no matter how bad the economy gets.  All of the stories of mega millionaires has something to do with real estate and how they purchased a piece of property and held on to it.  The key is hanging on the the real property for 10 to 15 years.  No matter what, you will not loose.

Ask any property investment consultant and they will tell you the same thing. Real estate is the best thing to invest in.  Often times, people do not hold on to these types of investments for a long time, and in turn get burnt.  For short term investments, real estate is just as risky as the stock market because there are so many variables to consider and often times the appreciation of the property value has not really taken effect for it to be turned around in a quick period (unless the purchase price of it was so low that you are investing with the golden principle of buying low and selling high).

Why do insurance companies charge different rates for the same coverages?  I needed to renew my car insurance last month and started to do some research before I went ahead and renewed the policy I had.  I had a feeling I was paying too much for my car insurance, but was so busy with everything else I just didn’t follow up on it until time came for renewal.

This time, I went on line and requested car insurance quotes from about 5 different carriers just so I could do my homework in the hopes of saving a significant amount of money on my yearly policy.  I was looking for cheap car insurance but was also very watchful of the policy coverage and limits.  Once you have the quotes from the different carriers, and you spend the time really understanding what the language is on the insurance policy, you can really make a side by side comparison and actually choose the policy that is cheapest without comprimising the coverage you want or need.

I did this and I am now paying around $500 less every year for a policy that has the exact same coverage as the on that just lapsed.  I don’t know about you, but I would much rather have an extra $500 in my pocket every year than in the bank account of an insurance company.

I just thought of a great business idea, Legal Video Services.   You know when you are summoned to court you must appear and give a deposition?  well how about having your deposition video taped by a Legal Video Services companies and have it be your legal testimony in court.  A service like this will be absolutely welcomed by everyone involved.  As the person giving the deposition, you will not need to travel and waste an entire day in court.  You can simply tape the deposition at your convenience and have it sent to court in your stead.

A Legal Video Services company can also make Construction Site Video Surveys, Accident Scene Videos, Settlement and Documentary Videos, Video Inspections or even Wills and Pre-Nuptial Videos.  I really think this kind of a business will be the wave of the future.  Its convenience factor will be something people would be willing to pay for and its whole business idea will take off.  This kind of a business would be easy to set up as all you would really need is investment in a decent camera and a good PC to process the videos and burn them to a DVD.  If you think about it, its really a simple idea that addresses a need.

This past weekend my family and I visited a friends property in the mountains and spent the day just hanging out and having fun on 30 acres of mountain land.  After our activities were done and we were winding down, my friend, the owner of the property, pulled out the house plans for the construction that was about to begin on his property.  What a house he will be building!!!

The part that got me thinking was what he said about how fast his plans were approved and how soon he will be able to start construction.  He showed me the two other blueprints he was considering and what the differences were between the country house plans and the ranch house plan that he finally settled on.  The plans were so precise and perfect that I actually was able to visualize what the property will look like when all construction is completed.

We can not wait to get back there and enjoy the property once everything is completed.

I have been looking to get new auto insurance for me, my wife, my son and my parents and want to go to one place to get it all.  And if possible only fill out ONE form.  After a lot of searching I think I have found the place for this.

For my son, I was able to get a great quote for a student car insurance, which was very reasonable and contained a lot of good coverage.  I am happy with the price and terms of this insurance policy.

My father has an old car that is completely paid off, so for him, I only needed to get liability insurance, and again, I was able to find a really good deal which, to me, translates to a low premium.  Even a savings of $30 month on each policy really adds up.  With 4 policies at a savings fo $30 a month translates to $120 per month for all policies and almost $1,500 a year.  Now think about it, that is $1,500 a year more in my pocket.  I can sertainly use that extra $1,500 for a lot of better things than auto insurance premium.

A police officer friend of mine was telling me the other day about all of the programs that are available for anyone who is willing and ready to get rid of their drug addictions.  He told me about a Residential drug rehab center where very high success rates have been reported in the last few years.  It seems that in big metropolitan cities Drug rehabilitation and Drug Treatment centers are becoming extremely prevalent and a lot of them really are not very good.  That is why it is important to do research on any Drug Treatment Center prior to attending it.

The reason this whole conversation happened, was because, firstly he is a cop, and secondly he wanted to get the word out that anyone who is willing to quit and is looking to find help that there are programs designed specifically to get them off the drug habit once and for all.

If you have been reading my blog regularly,  you should know that when it comes to shopping for anything, my preference is always doing it online.  This holds true to anything….like last week.  On of our friends had a baby in June and we wanted to get them a gift.  My wife was adamant we send them designer baby clothes as a gift.  So we did.  During the process of selecting what to get, we went thru a slue of of choices but narrowed it down to the following:  appaman, barefoot dreams and jellycat items.

That was just about as much as I could take.  So I left the final decision making to her.  I don’t know what she ultimately decided on getting them, but I do know that the items we were looking at were all really nice and of high quality.  I can’t believe how huge the designer baby industry has gotten.  But then again, I remember when we had our first child.  As a new parent, you want to always get the best for your children and we often associate designer name brands as the “best”. Right or wrong is irrelevant.  All we care about is the feeling we have that makes us comfortable in knowing we are trying to do the best for our children.

I love summer time, and am excited its here!!!!  The kids are out of school, the weather is getting hot and the days are nice and long.  Just perfect, except for one thing.  Sleeping at night.  I don’t like running the AC at night but when I don’t I get crazy night sweats.  I wake up sweaty, irritated and very uncomfortable. The only part i hate about summer is sweating at night.  But I think I have found a something that will help.

I just ordered a product called BEDFAN.  What a genius concept that has become a reality. Simply put, this is a directional fan that is placed at the foot of your bed and when turned on, will circulate and push fresh cool air onto your blanket while you sleep.  The fan is virtually silent, so there is no noise and all you feel is a cool stream of air on your blanket while you sleep.  No more sleeping hot and waking up sweaty!  Now I will be able to go to sleep and wake up completely refreshed and ready to take on anything the summer day has in store for me.  One of the best features of this fan, is that it is small enough for me to take it with me when I go on my summer vacations too.