One of my favorite movies growing up, the Gremlins! We even named our dog after one of the characters, the sweet little pre-gremlin, Gizmo! He was such a cute puppy, one of those popped eyed little pups. Do you remember the part in the movie when the elderly lady rides up the stairs in the chairlift, I was so amazed as a child! I secretly wanted one in our house, what fun to have your own lift! (if only we had a two-story house) haha.

Do stair chairlifts really exist? You bet! there is a company called Value Stairlifts stair lift that sells these amazing devices. I know in the movie as a child it was more of a wonderment, but now as an adult I could see where one might really be useful, more than useful a necessity if you have a home that you love and wish to remain in. It would allow someone who is disabled in one way or another to still live in their multi-level home and enjoy every part of it. DId you know you can even buy a stairlift for an outdoor stairs, or curved stairs, and they even sell reconditioned stairs that might help with a fixed budget.

Our pets are like parts of the family. When we lose one, it’s like someone has robbed a family member from us. I know everybody has their favorite type of pet that they like the best. Some people choose birds, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, or maybe just get an aquarium and throw some fish in it. A pet is a good way to give a child responsibility by feeding them, cleaning up after them, and making sure they have a good supply of water. This is especially true with the fish, don’t let them run out of water!

Since we love our pets so much, we should award them with the best things possible. If you own a cat, then you want your cat to have a broad range of toys and a nice liter box if you are keeping it indoors. You can give the dog Premium dog food so you can be sure they stay healthy and have a nice shinny coat by getting pet food supplies at a discount online. Maybe with the rabbits you can treat them to nice head of lettuce every once in awhile. I have found that rabbits really like the lettuce; I think it’s like the steak in a rabbit’s vegetarian diet. Just make sure if you own a pet that you do everything possible to insure it has a long and healthy life. Kids naturally like pets, show them some simple routines to help keep the pets happy and clean!

My online experience started with selling odds and ends on eBay. It seemed like a good way to make some extra money, and so many people were doing it. After a while I started to look at what my actual costs were including time to package, mail, and list items. Was it worth the cost? So I decided there had to be a better way, and I came across a friend who asked if I had tried using a Drop shipper. ( For those unfamiliar with this, it is where a company houses and then ships the goods to your customers. Your customer makes a purchase through you. You then turnaround and place the order with the Drop shipper, and they ship out on your behalf)WOW! To have no inventory cost, someone else to package the clothing and send the goods with your name on it, what could be better?

Owning your own business can be a the most rewarding experience and also the most difficult time you will have. You can search and find the right franchise opportunity that could help you skip many of the trial and error steps that I had to go through.Many businesses today thrive on the franchise model where a successful business replicates itself for others. This helps to eliminate a lot of the start up headaches and the business plan is already set for you. Franchise businesses will help in training, marketing, and hiring. This is great for the first time business owner to get into an industry without all the required background. It will still take a  lot of hard work and hours to be successful business.

I took a trip to New Orleans to attend the Mardi Gras festivities and because of a group of friends had been talking about making the trip , and I was ready to party. I left Seattle, WA. at 10:00 PM and I was in New Orleans the next morning at 9.30 AM. One of my buddies who books travel online all the time was even able to find some Expedia Promo codes that allowed him to book the hotel and flight and save additional dollars above their already low fares. I found where my Hotel was located and I was ready to see the Big Speak Easy, Nawleans as the locals call it. I wound up on the wrong side of town and I prayed that I would get out of there alive. Some of the people gave the appearance that they did not care if you were dead or alive. If I had taken a tour of the city I would never have been subjected to that kind of Fear.

If you take a tour of a city you can find out a lot of the history of the town and a lot of important people that were responsible for shaping the town into what it is today. I know New Orleans has a lot of repair to do at this time because of hurricane Katrina, but I think the great city will be back stronger than ever before. It’s French Creole culture are made up of some of the finest eating in the world.

I good story that at least lets us now how credit cards work and market themselves has to be American Express. Here is a card that spent years branding themselves as THE card for executives, the well to do and really a status symbol. Major executives were targeted as a major influence in bringing the elite status to AMEX. Presidents of large American companies like Samuel Foti, Alan Mulally, Donald Morel are the types of individuals that AMEX would love to have touting their corporate card in order to show that every type of business can benefit from the flexibility and wide acceptance AMEX has. When you presented this card you were something different. Then came the greed. All of sudden, Am Ex began to send out mass market mailers like all the other junk cards to get those whose credit was not so great, did not pay off the entire balance and really just played the game. What a branding marketing fiasco. Now we find this company giving away 300 gift cards to certain markets, to pay off their bill and go away….please.

How ironic, we know your ilk do not pay off their balance, so let us lend you money and when times get tough, well just pay you to pay off the balance. Are you kidding me? Now I will look at Am Ex a little different, having to second guess their motives. Now I hear small businesses are reeling as that market Am Ex got into is getting hammered and so now their credit has fallen. Talk about losing love from future clients. I do appreciate any company getting back into their core business, but this one is a little bitter to taste.

I am helping out a good friend in building a renewable energy business that is quickly moving forward. We have done a good job tracking the the tax credits for our customers along with putting together a solid renewable energy program for their homes. However, we have already ran into issues though in our computer network system, cost and not having an IT department. One very clever idea out there is renting software and using software as a service or SaaS. There is also a core foundation of being able to do an employee survey to help gain ideas around synergies within the company and what new ideas can we look for when taking this product to market.

I found that they have a great service with their visual studio team foundation server at fraction of the cost where project control programming for your project can be exposed on the web. With all the software that I can rent, I can get set up in minutes and get my money back if I think it has not worked out in 30 days.  What we need is the project server hosting software which will help us track our timekeeping, Gannt charts etc which will give us better control over our projects and their costs. We have huge commercial projects where we will need to keep tract of financial’s and keep everyone on the team on track. You can watch a great clip on how all this software helps you and your business. Another hot item  is a team foundation server workgroup, where again I can rent for a fraction of the price with no need to hire an IT employee nor worry about depreciation costs. We are just the right fit for this type of company and you may to.

Applause to the Ford Motor Company for continuing to research alternative fuels for our automobiles. They are exploring new technology where one would plug in their car into a normal 110 volt outlet and within 5 hours have their car charged up and ready to go. Its pleasant to know that even in these tough times, a company as large as Ford with so much to lose is moving forward with what we really need. Find the FordStory and you will see what I am talking about. They are taking the energy from the brakes, it kinetic energy and using that to charge the battery. How exciting! Of course the challenge it as we all know is the cost of the batteries and their lifespan. They were getting over 70 miles to the gallon. Its just unheard of. This is the kind of forward progress we need. We should rally everyone to be the first to put such a product on the market to the let the world know that the USA is still on the map. Just think of the friends we could earn with Green power and for others, let them eat crow when they see we are more than a defensive superpower. Instead, we are an educational superpower who knows how to put green technology in the hands of everyone!

Why is it that some of the very best films can not get into more theaters and reach a broad audience across the States. Here we rented Sweet Land with Elizabeth Reaser from Greys Anatomy etc and loved it. Finally, a movie that without all the puff about real love and dedication. Sure its about a mail order bride in the 20′s, but she had time to back out. In fact, the whole movie is the struggle of the bride obtaining her citizenship and hence be married to the hard working Norweigen. The movie touches on our biases of people from other lands to yet another banker foreclosing on yet another farm not making enough to pay the mortgage. Wow has Ned Beatty grown old yet still very effective. The budget was only a million and had they only found a distributor that had the muscle to put it in more theaters.

As the economy has gotten worse vendors are looking at new ways to get consumers exited about their HD TV and through the advancement in 3D technology they are hoping to drive sales. While the LCD market is only expected to grow 17% this year which is down from 28% in 2008. The new advancements and the move to all digital broadcasts that started in June will likely get some customers looking at upgrading their current set. The newest T’s that were unveiled at the trade show are now starting to come to market just in time for football season and the Christmas and holiday shopping blitz.

All in all the CES show showcased a lot of new technology that has been in development and finally ready for the market. The work and logistical coordination that goes on at these shows is a technical feat on its own. From providing promotional calendars to consumers that participated in the trade show there are countless technicians in the background maintain the networks . As we enter into a new year and the economy looks to get back on track so that people will feel comfortable spending on these cool new gadgets let’s hope that we all have a great year and by this summer we will be watching the 3D premier of the latest Hollywood release.

I realize that endorse the WSJ all the time, but who else in major media are endorsing renewable energy as they do or even at the extent they do. How about taking the majority of the back section of the paper? In today’s Journal Record, Alex Frangos reports how architects would create a green home with sustainable energy efficiency. Some are starting to use led tube light in new and remodels in order to gain better energy use.You absolutely must look at the Energy section to see the fantastic ideas that were created. Of course I am biased, but all three plans published in the paper make use of both wind and solar power. The argument that underlies their creativity is a challenge to all of us because we must redefine just what home is, what it looks like, how we live etc. We built major sub divided neighborhoods in the hey day for simple bedroom communities with little to no upkeep so we could focus on what is important; our careers. We drank from the trough of careerism and materialism, commuted back home slept and did some more. In fact, the suburb was just a bigger condo or apartment. Well, now that we realize that material growth cannot sustain itself and we still have those bills and mortgages its time to step up and create a house that makes sense for these times.

William McDonough created a home like a tree. What he has created is a new way of using solar. Instead of the panels, the PV would be woven into the fabric of the exterior. The article goes in more depth, but suffice it to say, Mr McDonough is meeting the challenge of the aesthetically poor solar power panels. They are ugly but they do not have to be. He goes on to show how better roof lines are in order, creating a habitat and garden plus using car batteries to capture solar energy which could also put power to the homes grid.

I thank the WSJ for again bringing to the forefront of what must be accepted; we are in new times and we must rethink the way we live and build a home!