BrainBloggin.com Knowledge, Information and Ideas http://www.brainbloggin.com/ BrainBloggin.com Knowledge, Information, Forums, Automotive, Household, Electronic and Cooking Tips en-us 2011-12-24T00:00:00+01:00 Government cuts stops our economic turn around! http://www.brainbloggin.com/content.asp?ContentId=962 Government cuts stops our economic turn around

Banks, Insurance and Auto maker bail outs add up into the trillions of dollars to stimulate our economy. Now we find out that The Federal Reserve Board, despite being ordered to disclose to whom it awarded roughly $2 trillion in discount "stimulus" loans is fighting to keep the information under wraps. Read  http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108262
 
  How can our public officials freeze Social Security raises for the next 2 to 4 years? Just how dose that stimulate our country's needs? I believe that applied the brakes. After all its like pushing on the gas of your can to get going and at the same time applying the park brake! With cost of living going up every year how is anyone living on Social Security going to get by? Maybe like they did in the 70's by eating cat food and sit waiting die because the Dr's wont see you because their is no money for copays? It looks to me like our goverment want to punish people that have paid in to our National Retirement and medical plan dubbed "Social Security"
 
This is one why to help. The 2009,  Social Security Wage Cap is set at $106,800 So any money earned past that amount nothing is owed. Lets face it friends if your making that kind of money you do Not NEED A BRAKE! Folks this is a national health care plan so how can this be!
  This is just my thought but we need to remove that cap After all it is a National Retirement Plan we named Social Security.

 My next question is will a National Health Care plan be ran and abused as out Social Security plan has?
]]> Money saving 2009-08-31T20:52:57+01:00 Customer service Part 3 http://www.brainbloggin.com/content.asp?ContentId=995 Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation. It's importance dose not vary by product, industry and customer.

The Customer needs the option of Customer service these service needs should be be provided by a person and by automated means of self service through Internet sites called self-service. The experience a customer has of a product is a direct affect the total service experience. Customer service is a integral part of a company. They will remember you! Whether you remember them or not they do not forget.

Once customer trust is destroyed by a service problem your company rating will fall. This is your last line of defense to protect your company's name and product. From the point of view of an overall effort, customer service plays an important role in an organization's ability to generate income and revenue. met the customer expectation met the customer expectation met the customer expectation

Customer service should be included as part of overall approach to Customer satisfaction.

Some have argued that the quality and level of customer service has decreased in recent years, and that this can be attributed to a lack of support or understanding at the executive and middle management levels of a corporation. Recently,

Many company's have implemented feedback that allow them to capture feedback to gain knowledge and experience thus allowing them to improve their customer service before the customers form a negative opinion and doing a adverse effect on sales and profits. Making it far more likely that the customer will return for future business.

The challenge in working with your Customer Service is to ensure that you have focused your attention on the right key areas.

The focus on Customer service must deliver most value to the overall objective goal of inproving service, product and Company reputation.

In training your employees It must done in such a way that staff sincerely believe that they can make a difference with the effort.

Devise a guide line for your reps to follow and if they exhaust the guide line then ask the customer to hold while they talk with a supervisor. Train the supervisor as to what guide lines they need to follow. And here is a shocking surprise for you. Ask the customer if they are satisfied and if so please take a survey. If they are not satisfied ask the if they would like to talk with their supervisor. DO NOT WAIT FOR THEM TO DEMAND A SUPERVISOR. do not pass go and do not collect 200.00 dollars for passing go do not go any further until ask.

A valuable add on is to add the option of a survey. People who respond (respondents) are asked to complete the survey. Marketers use the information so obtained to understand the needs of individuals in the marketplace for product improvement and to create strategies and marketing plans. Then your support team needs to Write report. The Report usually has headings such as: 1. executive summary; 2. objectives; 3. methodology; 4. main findings 5 Actions taken.

Customer service must be reliable for that brings reliability! Thus SALES!

Jesse
]]> Money saving 2009-11-13T20:12:49+01:00 I am so proud of my bank, they make me feel welcome. http://www.brainbloggin.com/content.asp?ContentId=978 I have been banking with Bank Midwest for almost 3 years and I must say you won't find a better bank. They offer no fee checking, fair money markets, comparable CD's friendly service, Free online banking and online bill payment service. Plus they are a growing bank pushing in to several Wal-mart locations. I don't know about the ATM's at all their locations but the one in the Wal-mart at Raymore Missouri offers 5 dollar increments. :) that is so cool and handy. So if you need lets say 25.00 you can get it.

I was over drawn one time for a over site of mine and they never charged me a fee or even said anything to me. They could have charged me but didn't because I just don't over draw. At the time I was really sick and had not balanced my check book in about 2 weeks so rightfully they could have charged me. I would highly recommend them to anyone needing or looking for a fair and friendly bank.

]]> Money saving 2009-10-16T22:16:51+01:00 A Grab for money is all anyone wants today! http://www.brainbloggin.com/content.asp?ContentId=898 Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich, was impeached on Friday morning, January 9th, 2009. The House voted 114 to 1 to impeach Mr. Blagojevich, who faces federal charges. The jury to convict him will consist of the each of the state's 59 senators. a total of 40 votes needed for the conviction. The one democrat who did not vote against impeaching Blagojevich was Milton Patterson who felt there was not enough evidence.

But I ask you, was he not just going for a money grab? And if so is the EPA with their tax on farm animals just a money grab? greenhouse gas emissions from farms, the EPA angling to tax livestock is just a money grab. How will this help control methane gas? People are going to eat and if their going to tax farm If Farm animals produce gas that produce global warming as Al Gore has said. Will you support the EPA's proposal to tax farm animals per head as a way to fight Global warming. Cows $175 ea. pigs $20 ea. produce gas that produce global warming. This is just a hidden tax to pass on to the American public! What is next? Dogs, cats, people, hamsters, chickens, turkeys! Come on people are we going to allow this!

I for one am going to take a stand against this type of action! They think we will eat more fruits and veggies. Well high fiber will make people fart more so lets forget the tax on farm animals and just pass a fatr tax on the people of America because this is all they are doing is making a grab for money just as the Governor, Rod Blagojevich has tried to do!

]]> Money saving 2009-01-10T10:25:43+01:00 How we save some money at Christmas Time http://www.brainbloggin.com/content.asp?ContentId=848 We have always emphasized to our kids that Christmas is about giving and not receiving. For us…..gifts are not the most important thing…..spending time together as a family is. And celebrating the birth of Jesus. We make a cake, write Happy Birthday Jesus on it, put a candle on it and even sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

We have also taught them that it does not matter how much something costs as long as it comes from the heart. So with that being said, we really try to watch things. A lot of times we give homemade items to our friends and neighbors such as cookies, candies, etc. My kids have given people “coupons” good for things from mowing the yard, to free babysitting, etc and have also done that for us…breakfast in bed, back rub, or whatever. In turn we have also done the same with them. I have written them poems, or given them coupons, and sometimes, just a big hug and an I love you. I love doing the holiday candy, I will make a ton of candy to give as gifts to family, friends and the kids teachers. It makes the gifts fun and they enjoy eating the candy as much as I enjoyed making it. I just finished making a purse for a gift exchange at my wife work place, and the lady loved it so much she has been showing it to people and I have had 2 lady's call wanting me to make them one. Their is a little more income for Christmas giving.

I also love taking pictures. Some of my friends and family have their favorite. photos that I have taken. I will take that favorite. photo and copied it and then I will take and old picture frame from the thrift store and scrap-booking stuff like old Christmas cards, wrapping paper and such items and make it into a special handmade item that they can hang up and look at everyday. Most of them that I have done this for bring me pictures that they want me to do throughout the year (which brings in a little extra cash for the holidays also) It kind of nice how God looks after us.

There have been times we have found things at thrift stores (a lot of times clothes with the tags still on them). We also try to set up a budget and not go over.

To tell a little story… a couple of years ago, my daughter gave me the best gift I could ever have gotten. I had a gift in my stocking, a small square box. I unwrapped it and when I opened the box, there appeared to be nothing in there. I looked at the bottom of the box and it read this box holds all my love, hugs, and kisses for you Dad. The top of the box read Merry Christmas to the Best Dad ever. I have kept that box and to this day…..I don't think she could ever top that gift.

Christmas has become too commercial over the years, but we have tried to keep the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts. This is how we plan to not exceed out budget. Its the giving of ones self and the the receiving of material items that make the holidays special for us.

Step two: sacrifice. Find fat to trim in your life, and re-examine your purchases as the holidays approach. Proper spending before and during the holidays can ease the financial crunch and make decision-making easier. It also helps to combine things like a free turkey from work with ongoing sales, and stock up ahead of time. Canned goods can be purchased months ahead, and free up money for items that cant be found on sale or discounted. An artificial tree and last years lights will save a bundle, which can be channeled into the gift budget. A little cheaper wrapping paper saves a bit more, and clearance goods-ribbons, wrapping paper- saved through the year will be ready for the tree.

Play Secret Santa or decide on launching a gift exchange program. How about playing Secret Santa or White Elephant instead of gifting everyone you know (but make sure you play with desirable gifts)? We have a huge extended family and do this every year since this was the only way we could keep our holiday gift budget down.

So to sum it all up just keep in mind for the most part Kids and Teens love boughten gifts and grown ups adults love something made from the heart with lots of love, pride and thought involved.

Finally, have an open mind. Imagination and joy are the best parts of the holidays, and both the finest and humblest gifts are made better by the presence of joy. Handling finances properly during these times allows peace and happiness to truly thrive, and families to make more memories and less debt.

Drop by our website for more tips. WWW. BrainBloggin.com ]]> Money saving 2008-12-19T19:02:15+01:00 Energy saving tip! http://www.brainbloggin.com/content.asp?ContentId=820 Money saving 2008-12-07T01:18:47+01:00 coupon http://www.brainbloggin.com/content.asp?ContentId=747 Who's eligible? Only, registered onlineauction users who receive the coupon by email from us or see the coupon on the chat fourm or blog are eligible.

Here's how to redeem your coupon: 1. Start shopping on onlineauction user jcoberley. 2. Pay for your item with moneyexchange before the expiration date (November 30, 2008). * If you don't have a moneyexchange account click on the banner at www.brainbloggin.com to get your free account and an additional $5.00 for using the banner from my Website. Or click the banner at the bottom of this page.

Terms and Conditions: The offer will expire at 11:59:59 PM PT on November 30, 2008. Receive 10% off (maximum discount of $50) the purchase price (excluding shipping, handling, and taxes) of a single item from the jcoberley category on OnlineAuction.com.

The coupon is non-transferable, void where prohibited, not redeemable for cash, for one-time use only, and has no face value. The coupon is subject to U.S. laws and cannot be combined with any other coupon. Jcoberley reserves the right to cancel, amend, or revoke the coupon at any time.

Use of automated devices or programs to redeem the coupon is prohibited.

Purchases made through any customized checkout systems are excluded. When you purchase an item email to jcoberley@gmail.com with your item number you won and the code HOLIDAYSFORYOU and we will correct your invoice so you can make your payment.

Click the banner to sign up for your free buyer or seller account and receive $5.00 for signing up courtesy of BrainBloggin.com once confirmation is received from MoneyExchange I will issue you $5.00 through MoneyExchange.

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Refer A Friend using Revolution Money Exchange ]]> Money saving 2008-11-13T21:24:10+01:00 Tip about your laundry dryer. http://www.brainbloggin.com/content.asp?ContentId=745 Tip about your laundry dryer.


Has your dryer lost its speed, is it slower do you have to restart it 2 or 3 times to dry the same size load that is used to dry the first cycle? If so your wasting a huge amount of money in energy costs. I have found that most homeowners never clean their dryer vent and piping. You need to check your vent screen on the outside vent to see if it is stopped up with lint. If so remove it and clean it or replace it. Next remove the dryer vent outlet hose and look inside it. Most home owners have the old type that looks like aluminum foil flex tube, is it bent, is it stopped up with lint? Maybe its 1/2 stopped up. I have also found that if it has a low place the lint will settle there slow down or even stop the vent flow. As this happens the dryer over temperature switches start activating and shuts down the heat. Also the vent restriction  will restricts air flow so you get very little if any air flow through your clothing. I have found that cleaning the dryer once a year helps the dryer run smoothly, clothing drys faster and saves money by not have the dryer setting there tumbling through 2 or 3 cycles. A lot of older dryers will work nicely if a little care is taken with the operation of it. A laundry Dryer is like vacuum cleaner you have to empty the dirt, lint and such from time to time.Why would your dryer be any different? Plus you just might end up with a house fire if you don't take care of it. So please save some money and make your live a little better by doing this once a year cleaning tip!
]]> Money saving 2008-11-12T00:55:00+01:00 Here is a BIG money saving easy to do plus a true pleasures http://www.brainbloggin.com/content.asp?ContentId=743


I went out shopping the goodwill shops and found 3 bread machine's

The first I purchased Admiral brand for $7.50 no box looked as if it was never used
The second I purchased Magic Chief brand for $5.00
The third purchased Welbilt Convection Brand for $10.00 was new still in the box with instructions and warranty card looked as if it was never used.
It even came with a sealed box of Sour Dough bread mix!
My total investment $22.50 plus taxes.


  My next step was to buy some bread mixes. Well after shopping Wal-mart, Price Chopper, Hyvee, and Redx I found they were to expensive and they did not have the types I really wanted. So my next chore was to role up my sleeves and come up with a few recipes for them. Mind you I have been baking my whole life however as a working Dad I needed it to be easy to make. So I set in with trial and error and a few OH NO's I came up with some cheap great tasting recipes that anyone can do with a bread machine. I am going to post them below and I hope you will play around with them and post yours to my site. So enjoy fresh smell taste and money saving home made bread that is way cheaper then the grocery stores with a true fresh baked flavor!

Sandwich Bread

This a sweet and simple white bread recipe that's great for slicing to make great tasting sandwiches.

INGREDIENTS
18 tablespoons warm water
1/4 cup canola oil
2 3/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
 

DIRECTIONS
Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order I listed them. Select White Bread cycle; press Start.
When the dough has raised once and second cycle of kneading begins, turn machine off. Reset by pressing Start once again. This gives the dough two full raising cycles before the final raising cycle prior to baking.

Banana Nut Bread
WOW this is so easy and just in time for the holidays! And the kids love it.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup margarine, softened
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup mashed bananas
1/2 cup chopped walnuts


DIRECTIONS
Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order I listed them. Select the Quick Bread/Cake cycle. Press Start. Check after 1 minute to see if mixture is well blended. When Bread Machine has stop. Remove pan, and cool completely before removing bread from pan.


A Basic Rye Bread
A basic rye bread made in my bread machine that was my Grandmother's recipe.
I tried it just as she wrote it and to my susprise it worked great the first time! Thanks Gramaw!


INGREDIENTS
1 1/8 cups warm water
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups rye flour
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon caraway seed
2 3/4  teaspoons yeast

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order I listed them
Use the whole wheat and light crust settings and enjoy when it's finished cooking


Basic Sourdough Bread
Ok if you have been reading my Sourdough Starter Recipe then you will love this!
First make up your starter. Want to know how? Read my recipes and you will know.
Its a lot easer than you think.

Tip: Allow starter to come to room temperature. DO NOT WARM in the Microwave or on the Stove burner!

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups sourdough starter
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons bread machine yeast


Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order I listed them.
Select Basic or White Bread cycle, and Medium crust setting. Press Start ENJOY when finished
I will post more later!
]]> Money saving 2008-11-07T01:21:21+01:00 Ask your neighbor first http://www.brainbloggin.com/content.asp?ContentId=735 The 50 cent wire that cost a neighbor 400 dollars

It was around five o'clock in the afternoon on a sunny summer day I was just finishing cutting the lawn when Joe wandered over to the driveway. "Howdy, neighbor." Joe looked a tad tense and the words sounded like he had to struggle to get them out. "I hate to bother you (how many times have I heard that in my lifetime?) but I'm at my wits end." He looked a bit embarrassed as he told me of his tale of woe with his car. Seems that he had been going to a local repair shop for the past two weeks with dead battery problems. Now Joe and I were really good friends and both quite neighborly so it stood to reason that Joe had been a bit reluctant to "bother" me with his car problems. After all, I had a lot of rolling stock to take care of myself and didn't need a neighbor's problems to worry about. But he was just about at the last straw - he had just laid out 95 dollars for a new battery bringing the grand total to nearly 400 dollars and the battery was dead once again.

"Could you take just one look at it for me? I don't want to take any more of your time, but I just don't know what to do!!"

"OK, I'll be over in a few minutes - let me wash up and grab a voltmeter."

I walked back into my yard whistling a tune as I scratched my head. I grabbed a simple little Radio Shack voltmeter and strolled back through the now wet grass as the dew began to settle.

"Pop the hood and let's have a look. What have they done so far?"

An embarrassed Joe began to tell his saga of having the local garage tow him to the shop about a week ago from the Wal-mart parking lot. Battery was dead. Couldn't jump start it, or so they said. First try was to charge the battery. Oh, and while they were at it they put on a new alternator - just in case, they said. 145 dollars plus towing.

The next day it was dead again - this time in the library parking lot. Another tow - another charge. And of course another 70 bucks. They told Joe that his voltage regulator was bad so they replaced it - another 85 bucks.

You guessed it - three days later another dead battery. This time they sold him new battery cables and a fan belt. Another 65 bucks. Charged the battery for him too!

Three days more and another dead battery later they finally told him that he needed a new battery. Well, that oughta fix it, right?? Wrong! The new battery did last a little longer - four days. But darn it all, it was dead in the morning. And Bob was out another 95 bucks.

Well Joe just couldn't face the mechanic one more time. After all what was there left to replace?? That's when Joe decided to ask me for help.

I whipped out my trusty voltmeter - about the size of a cigarette pack.. Now Joe had watched me use lots more expensive tools in the shop, so what could I do with this little gadget? But he knew better then to ask.

After starting the engine I put the voltmeter across the battery terminals and saw a good solid 12 volts. Too low a voltage. He increased the idle speed and watched the voltage move up ever so slightly to 12.8 volts. Still too low. Even at a high RPM the voltage never got over 13 volts. At first glance one might think that the voltage regulator or alternator was bad. But I knew to check back along the circuit to see where the voltage drop was occurring. A probe of the "bat" terminal on the alternator was probed - bingo! 14.6 volts, just about right.

So the alternator was OK. I followed the heavy red wire from the alternator and discovered that it went into a connector on the firewall.

"Does this thing have an ammeter, or just idiot lights?" I asked. "It has an ammeter."

I glanced at the dash and saw the ammeter and followed the wire from it to a large connector on the inside of the firewall! Hmmmmm. Backprobing the connector showed that there was a huge voltage drop across the connector.  We pulled it apart and watched small black burned connector parts fall from the firewall. The main wire from the alternator went directly through the firewall connector and to the ammeter, and since an ammeter has to be in series in a circuit, all the current necessary to charge the battery goes through that wire. I cut both ends of the wire and inserted a 10 inch piece of 10 gauge copper wire in place of the burned connector. That was it! 50 cents worth of wire and a half hour of "tinkering" or what the industry calls "diagnostics". If Joe had done any diagnostics at all he would have found the problem as I did, and Joe would be several hundred dollars richer.

I chewed out my grateful neighbor for not asking me to check it out first. Joe agreed that he would not hesitate to ask in the future - Jill, his wife baked me an pecan pie and we were all happy.

]]> Money saving 2008-10-31T00:27:25+01:00