A Class On Insurance
A friend of mine told me about a class she had taken last semester that had just opened up about insurance. I needed one more business class and I decided that this one sounded pretty interesting (and she said they were all projects and no tests, which I was much better at), so I signed up for it.
The first day of class our teacher told us that we would be breaking up the material and spending each section (3 week blocks) on a type of insurance: life insurance, car insurance, home insurance and so on) and then at the end of the semester we would have to pick one type of insurance policy and do a project on it in any way that we wanted to that would make a class understand what it was all about.
Over the semester I realized that there were so many different things that I didn't know and being a senior in college and graduating pretty soon, am so glad that I took it and that I am able to have it under my belt for when the time comes that I will have to look into all of this. I had no clue how expensive insurance is and of the different kinds you need because thankfully right now my dad pays for everything.
One thing that really stood out to me was the price of car insurance. I will be the first to admit that I am not a good driver and have gotten into my fair share (and probably a few other people's ha) of accidents. Since I am covered under my dad though (he is the primary policy holder) it is less expensive for me for insurance. But for my project at the end of the year I shopped around to see how much it would be for me to have car insurance on my own with my driving record and it was unbelievably expensive. I am definitely not looking forward to being on my own now (and I am motivated to be a good driver).
But shock aside, I am so glad that I took this class because it was a little bit of a reality check and I think it showed me and a lot of my classmates that we need to be saving our money and spending wisely. Maybe some of us will think twice about that next pitcher of beer this weekend ha.
THE BEST BATTERY TESTERS
For years it seems I have been looking for a battery tester that would help me test my batteries right at home. With the winter coming, you are always hearing about how you need to make sure that your car battery is in good condition and if it isn't you should replace it before the winter months. I have hated in the past having to take my battery to a local place just so that they can hook it up to their battery load tester and find out if it needs to be replaced. It has always seemed to me that this expense is not worthwhile and that it would honestly be in my best interest to just replace the battery. Now online I have found a company that sells battery testers, and I just had to get one. Their customer service department was excellent and I got my battery tester within just a few short days.
There are so many great things about this battery tester. First, it is so simple to use. It gives you quick and accurate results right away. And this battery tester is one that some of the biggest companies have and it is so fast that it can offer you the battery's true state of charge within about a minute. No more waiting on results, it is just that quick and easy. And it tests all kinds of batteries, like 6 volt, 12 volt, GEL, AGM, SLA and VRLA batteries.
I have been so happy with the purchase of this battery tester I have decided to offer a battery testing service to others in my community, but I have told them I will only charge a very minimal price to test their batteries for them. After all, I just want to put a few dollars back in my pocket, I am not looking to make a killing on my newest little gadget. It is amazing that now anyone can own a professional machine like this and test their own batteries and those of their friends and families.
RETURN ADDRESS LABELS - ORDER EARLY FOR CHRISTMAS
The holidays are rapidly approaching and with them comes the time of year where you will be sending out lots of cards and goodies to family and friends. A wonderful giving time of year, you can actually get writers cramp if you aren't careful. I like to get a head start on everything and that is why I have just finished placing my order for my holiday Christmas address labels and rubber stamps. I have always done this and have found that getting a jump start on the holidays makes the season that much nicer. Sure at first the hustle and bustle of the holidays is fun, but by the end I find myself running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to get everything done.
I love to mail out Christmas cards to family and friends and usually like to enclose a letter about the happenings in our family during the year. I don't like preprinted Christmas cards, because I find them rater impersonal, so I prefer to take the time and hand write out my cards. There is no need for me to hand write my return address over and over again though, so I instead order lots of address labels which affords me more time around the holidays to do the other things that are important to me, like making gifts and baking holiday cookies and candies which is one of my favorite holiday activities.
Some people think that this is a waste of money, but honestly I have found many really good deals on labels and rubber stamps that are perfect for using on all my holiday mailings and making them look festive and fun. People are always amazed at how cute my holiday packages look when they arrive because I take the extra time to make the boxes look special.
The holidays are all about time and presentation. So be sure to use quick and easy peel and stick return address labels on all your mailings. You will find that doing this saves you a lot of extra time to use rubber stamps and stickers to make your packages look fantastic.
What Makes Michael Pillsbury Who He is
Michael Pillsbury is someone that I knew little about but have been learning more and more the past few days. I have found that he was an extremely influential player following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. At that time he was an official at the Pentagon and he helped to implement the Reagan Doctrine (which also included the decision about the Stinger missile). This was a key part in ending their role in Afghanistan. Here is what one author has to say about his role (and our role in general): According to Steve Coll, in 1985-1986 Osama Bin Laden also wanted US weapons including the Stinger missiles. Coll wrote, "Michael Pillsbury flies to the Afghan frontier to review training facilities used by two Afghan warlords, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf… Bin Laden family head Salem bin Laden asks the Pentagon to supply anti-aircraft missiles to Arab volunteers fighting in the Soviet-Afghan War. The request is made on behalf of Salem's brother Osama [Bin Laden], who is establishing a semi-autonomous group of Arab volunteers outside the direct control of local Afghan commanders and will set up a camp just for Arabs later this year… Later research will indicate that there is no formal decision by the Reagan administration not to supply the missiles or other equipment to the Arab volunteers. Pentagon official Michael Pillsbury will later say he was not aware of any such decision, but if such a decision had been taken, he would have been aware of it."
Mike Pillsbury has pretty much always played a large role and taken initiative. He started out being born and raised in California and attended Stanford University where he focused on history with an emphasis in the area of social thought. He later went on to Columbia where he got his PH.D. He worked under four of the United States presidents and played a key role for each of them. He also has several books written about him including Clinton's Deputy Attorney General's book in 2008 "Living the Policy Process" and James Mann's About Face. He has also written a few books about China and their military ties and a whole slew of articles and journals on the topic as well. To learn more about Michael Pillsbury you can check out his Wikipedia page or another website about him: www.michaelpillsbury.net. Both are interesting to read.
AN INCREDIBLE ONLINE PROJECTOR LAMP RETAILER
Projector lamps can be very difficult to come by as there are not very many projector lamp retailer locations in most areas. One of the best things that you can do if you are in need of a projector lamp or a projector bulb is to contact a website that is fully knowledgeable about this type of product. Many people claim to have knowledge of their product, but you need to find a reputable and knowledgeable retailer when you are shopping for an item like this, especially if you are unfamiliar with the installation of such an item.
When I needed to replace my projector lamp, I found a company online that was able to help me not only find the perfect lamp for my projector, but they also sent me step by step instructions about how to install my new projector lamp. They even had extensive information about this right on their website. They also offered a money back guarantee.
When you are shopping around online make sure that you follow some basic business rules, such as investigating the business and making sure that they are approved by the Better Business Bureau. This lets you know that the company is reputable and if you find a projector lamp company that is as wonderful as the one I found, I am sure that you will have an excellent experience. My lamp came quickly and with the instructions they sent installation was a breeze. I received my lamp within just a few days, and I was very impressed with their prices as my lamp was less than $300 including shipping.
Now my projector is working well and with very little effort I am getting to view my movies again with the incredible picture and sound that I have grown to love and know. Projectors are so advanced these days, it is nice to know that when something goes wrong with them there are helpful companies out there to take you through the purchasing and installation processes with ease. Very few companies actually offer customer service like this anymore, it is a rare and wonderful quality to find in an internet company these days.
Phone Psychic Readings in South Beach!
Spring break was fantastic this year. We spent most of it in South Beach, Miami partying and people watching. I've never seen so many crazy people all together in one place! It was like that bar in Star Wars--weirdos from every planet! Anyway, the streets had tons of music and so many fun clubs with that Latin vibe. There were 16 of us so sometimes we split up and went to separate places because there wasn't enough time to do them all. Then whoever found the most fun, wild place, that's where we'd all be the next day (and sometimes well into the night!). I can see why so many people move down there--there's so much to do.
You don't have enough time to get to everything you hear about, especially places to hang out. Food is not cheap around there but most of the places we ate were right on the street and the food's a lot cheaper there on student budgets like ours. The beach is awesome, hot, white sand, blue water, and hot guys! Some of us took a boat tour around the Keys while the rest of our group lounged at the pool to try to get rid of last night's hang over. Party all night and sleep away until early afternoon then get up and do it all over again. One hang over to the next and off we'd go again! There are clothes shops that stay open all night and psychics on every corner. A couple of my friends decided to get some psychic readings - what a strange experience that was! The psychic was dressed up in a headband and had third-world clothing on and spoke with an accent we'd never really heard before. Seems incredible that these psychics can just give a reading to perfect strangers and be fairly accurate with all of us. So, back at the hotel we decided to search around on the internet and came across what seemed to be a legitimate online psychic readings site, so we spent the rest of the night calling psychics who did phone psychic readings until we'd spent almost our partying money! One of them picked up that we were near a large body of water where it was hot and crowded. What we really wanted to know was would we meet any new guys while we were there and they assured us we would. Then, the last couple of nights we did meet some guys to hang out with that were awesome. We probably didn't need to spend that much on phone psychics, but it really added to the fun we had and the psychics were actually pretty fun to talk to! Oh yeah...some people we knew down there took a psychic reading cruise from Miami! Weird. As far as South Beach, it's definitely worth going to and we're already planning on going back next year!
HOME BASED BUSINESS LEADS HELP ME TO FIND MY NICHE
My home computer has really been a blessing to me. After my accident I was stuck at home with very little contact with the outside world. At first I was going a little stir crazy but I started talking to my friends online and next thing you know they got me hooked on this online mafia game. It was a blast and I found myself playing a lot, at least for the first few weeks. Then, I really started getting all bored again.
I spoke with my mother on the phone and she asked me if I had ever considered running a business from home, because I really knew how to use the computer and she said that since I was home all the time, this might be the perfect opportunity for me to begin making some money and doing something productive. At first I too offense to what she was saying, but the more that I thought about it, the more I realized that she was probably right, and it would be a great opportunity for me to find my niche.
I began researching home based business leads and found many MLM leads, but I wasn't really sure where to begin. I decided to contact a few different companies to try and determine what they were offering so that I could find something that really suited me. I had tried selling on Ebay and stuff like that before, and I really didn't enjoy it, so I wanted to finally land on something that suited me.
I went through all the potential companies and then I sat down with my parents to discuss it with them. I knew they would help me figure it all out. After all, my father really knows how to cut information down and make things make sense. We landed on a company that was one that I was strongly considering also, and it has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I just love working for myself. I am not a mega-millionaire yet, but hopefully if I keep working this business I will get to not only do something I love, but something that I can do right from my home, and that is truly a blessing.
FINDING OUT "WHAT IS DIABETES?"
Of late my mother has not honestly been feeling so well. She is feeling light headed and tired a lot and when she decided that she wanted to go in for a physical, I knew that she really must not be feeling well, because she hates to go to the doctor. Well, they did some tests, and then we had to go back within a few days for the results, which I can't really stand, because they really don't think about how much the waiting can kill a person, so anyway, when I went back with her, I was concerned that perhaps she had cancer or something, but it turns out that instead she has Diabetes. Now I honestly heard a little of what the doctor was telling us, but I was very grateful that he had also given us a few informational brochures about what is Diabetes. On the way home I decided to read the what is diabetes brochure to my mother as she drove, and we both agreed that there were worse problems to have and that we are grateful that they caught it before any type of neuopathy was present, because in case you didn't know one of the biggest problems with Diabetes is the associated peripheral neuropathy. Lucky for us, it hadn't gone that far.
Over dinner that evening we discussed everything with my father, who went online to research information about Diabetes. He came back telling my mother about diets that have been shown to help diabetes significantly and told her not to worry about the shots of insulin, that she would get used to them, and if she had any trouble, we both agreed that we would help her inject it. Which quite honestly is a bit intimidating for me, but honestly I will do anything that I can to help my mother, and make this a little bit simpler on her. I know that it will only take her a little while to get used to the insulin injections, and she will want to them herself, because she can't stand being the patient and being made a fuss over. It is just not in her nature.
Computer Class
I work at the computer labs at school and it is seriously the job to have. You make your own schedule and can work when you want for the most part and while you are working you can do your homework and study or go online and surf the web. Everyone wants this job and I only got it because a lot of my older friends have had it for years and recommended me (I think about 100 people applied and only about 4 or 5 ended up getting jobs because so many people from last year stayed on).
We really never do anything besides stock paper or point people in the right direction if they are lost in the building. People rarely need help from us but just in case we took a course about computers and how to help people in case they needed it on a project or sometimes teachers need help with the newer computers or programs.
So the first day of the three day workshop (we got paid a lot to do it ha) we talked about desktop sharing and power point sharing. And then the second day we basically spent the whole time talking about Microsoft office and glitches or common problems that people have with the programs. I actually felt like I learned a lot just for myself as a student because I use word a lot and also PowerPoint for several of my presentations and even just for notes when I am studying for a test. Then the third day we talked about internet and printers and just basic courtesy and how to approach people that look confused or who have a problem and also how to act when we are being approached.
But overall, even though at times it was boring, I feel like I learned enough to hold my own in case I was asked a question. Another thing that we talked about was web conferencing because the TCOMM people need to know how to for their airings. And actually we have had a lot of questions about that specifically. But now I know how to do all of these things for myself too when I have a project due so I won't need to ask someone who is working when I am off duty. It feels good for me (someone with like no computer knowledge) to learn a lot and be able to hold my own.
ONLINE TRAINING GREAT FOR SUMMER TIME LULL
Summer time is a great opportunity to take some online training. Last summer, while on break, I realized that after having such a packed school schedule, and struggling just to keep up with everything, that too much down time was about to drive me insane. That is when I realized that it was time to find some way to fill some of my down time with productive things that I could do between hanging with my friends and working to make some extra cash. This is when I got turned on to e-learning and discovered that there are many online opportunities to take classes year round. Some of the classes can count as credit for the college or university that you are attending, and some are just extra things that you can learn about to start your own business, manage it, or even learn more about computers and computer technology. It is important to realize that no matter what you do, it can be very helpful to your future.
This summer I have decided to take a windows server 2008 training course that will allow me to expand my computer knowledge with some of the latest and most advanced things that are happening now. In the area of computers and the internet, I would think that it is safe to say that you can never have too much knowledge because this field is just constantly changing and growing and that makes it necessary to keep up with continuing education especially in this field.
These days, I really doesn't matter what field you will be going into, chances are really good that no matter what business you are in you will need to design a website, communicate online, and even use online advertising to help you further your business. The more you know the less money that you will have to spend on having someone else do this work for you, which over time can really start adding up.
Summertime is a great time to catch up with what's new and pick up a little bit of new knowledge. After all, you can only sleep, eat and hang out so much before it becomes tedious.