Chuck's Daily

Chuck's Daily - Common Sense

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What's up at Chuck's office and other entrepreneurial ''stuff", and of course, just plain bullshit!

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Tuesday, February 28, 2006

It snowed here at the Blue Bird Cottage in Central Pennsylvania last night and today it's supposed to be mostly sunny with temps shooting all the way up to the high 30s... Doesn't sound too bad and looks like it should be a nice day around here.
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Actually I should have known that it was going to snow a week ago when I ordered a load of coal and they said they would deliver it here this morning at 9:30. Usually when I get coal it snows or pours rain or something.. I guess snow is better than rain though as when the coal is super wet it takes about 3 or 4 days before it's done draining in the coal bin and for 3 or 4 days I'm sweeping water out of the garage... sooooo... I guess I should consider myself pretty lucky this time...
Lucky, that is except for the cost of the darn stuff... It went up $100 from 8 months ago when we received the last load... That's for a lousy 3½ tons of the stuff! According to the coal man the cost has not stabilized as of yet and it's likely to go higher by the next time we get it, which for us, should be toward the end of this year... Geez.... I guess there's nothing we can do but pay the toll.... It's either that or freeze to death...
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I heard on a TV newscast yesterday that although over the last few weeks the cost of gasoline has come down a few cents that it's still 34¢ more per gallon than it was last year at this time... I guess it's still high because of the hurricanes last Summer for as far as I know, the big oil companies hasn't come up with any more excuses... I guess they figure we're just all used to getting screwed so why ruin a good thing, (for them), by bringing the price of gasoline down to where it should be...
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That's all I'm going to say about that as I know you are probably sick of hearing me bitch about it... Apparently things will not change and I'll be surprised if it drops below 2 bucks a gallon but I guess we can still hope...
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In Sunday's newspaper in the Parade section on the very last page Dell had a full page ad for computers... at some pretty decent prices.. Down at Betty and my favorite Chinese Restaurant, the The Grand Buffet one of the young fellows who buses tables had mentioned the other day that his computer was really getting out dated and he hopes that soon he could afford to buy another... so we took the ad special down for him to look at it.
Well, he wasn't interested in the ad but the owner and his wife began looking at it and the Ken, the owner said I'll think I'll get one of the laptops for me.. I don't know anything about a computer but between you, Chuck, and my kids, maybe I'll learn...
So the next thing I know, I was on the phone, with Ken's credit card ordering him a laptop computer from the ad... He wanted the $50 upgrade with it and with that added on the bill, it came to $549 then they added PA state tax.. which brought the bill to $581.94... That's the price the lady said on the phone... I said, "Does that include shipping?"
She came back on the phone in about a minute and said the shipping would be $49.00... Okay I said, then the total charged to the card would be $630.94? Wait, she said... In about another minute she came back on and said that they were going to throw in the shipping for FREE... Boy was I really surprised.... Especially now days when fuel is so high it seems that shipping continually goes up and up and here they were tossing it in for FREE... Not a bad deal at all...
The sale ends today so if you still have your Sunday Parade section and are looking for a desk top or a lap top.... take a look at it, you may be interested in it.. Neither model is "top of the line" but you sure can't beat the price for a brand new computer. Oh, they do offer financing as well... I think it's about $15 bucks a month for the desktop and $20 bucks a month for the laptop! Not bad at all although I'm not sure what kind of interest they charge so if you're interested in that, make sure you get the details before committing yourself!
This is the 3rd computer that Betty and I have sold for DELL in the last 6 months.. I should have asked the lady who took the order when we could start expecting commission checks! (Ha!)
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Oh! before I sign off... Those of you who are in my Elements business or interested in finding out more information about it, don't forget the company conference call is tonight at 10 PM eastern and 9 PM Central time... The number is: 212-461-5860 access code 2636#
When you call in at the beginning, and the owner Jeff asked if you want to ID yourself... just say something like "Hey Chuck I'm here!" I always look forward to hearing from all my associates and maybe future associates.....
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Well, the coal man is due here soon and I have to rid out some "stuff" in the garage so he can get in to dump the coal... so I'd better get out there and get ready for him... so for me I'm going to have to sign off here for today and YOU, YOU have a GREAT Tuesday!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
Grand Duke Alexander, third son of the Russian Czar, went to Nebraska in 1872 to hunt buffalo... He brought along railroad cars, including two sleepers, a diner, and a refrigerator car stocked with grouse, quail, and caviar. His guide was U.S. Civil War General Phillip Sheridan, and the rest of the staff included General George Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody, and 1,000 Sioux!
(....and they say money doesn't buy everything... Well, maybe not... but just about.... Chuck)

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Check out today’s “Joke Page”. (CAUTION! Some Jokes are “R” rated! Use your good judgment!!!)
Posted by Chuck Rollason at, Tuesday February 28, 2006

Monday, February 27, 2006

It's sunny here again this morning in Central Pennsylvania but a cold one that's for sure.. We're back to Winter time temperatures here again... The high is only supposed to reach about 38 degrees today and snow flurries.
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Betty and I stayed home most of the weekend and yesterday I did get a good bit done here in the office... Things are really picking up now... After Christmas they picked up some but not what they should have been.... but the "wonderful world of mail order" is back and doing quite well now... Even though I spent up until 10 PM last night working I still didn't get everything done that came in Saturday's mail.. No, I'm not complaining just mentioning it that's all.
Lot's of folks are joining my favorite programs and need more information, applications, and what have you... That kind of keeps me pretty busy right there... Let alone the various orders that come in constantly for Reports, print and mail services and books, advertising and what have you... It is VERY busy here at the moment but by "dog gone" it IS fun... To me most of it isn't work at all... If you like to do something, it can't be considered work any more... That's what my mentor, Dutch Manohan, used to tell me back in the sixties...
"Chuck" he'd say, "How would you like to stop working for the rest of your life and just enjoy things?" Wow, that would be GREAT I'd say.... "Well, just find something you can make a living at, that you really like to do, and you'll NEVER work another day!" he'd say...
He was "right on the money"..... I know a lot of folks who don't work any more for a living.... They enjoy what they do so much that it sure isn't work for them, it's just plain fun....
You'll find out that people who like what they do for a living will do a much better job than someone doing the same thing that doesn't like it...
I know when my heart doctor gives me a "heart cath" to check my heart for clogs... That's when they go up from a large artery near the groin area clear up into the heart with a tube and shoot dye up there and take pictures etc... and literally check the heart from the inside out... Well, the whole time this doctor is doing this operation he's singing and cracking jokes with his fellow workers and just plain enjoying himself... I said to him once, "You really enjoy what your doing don't you?" He said, "No I don't enjoy it, I LOVE it....
Well, I figure if I must get the operation done, this is the guy I want doing it... I don't want to get someone who is just worried about getting it over with so he can head for the Golf course!
I know there was one time about 8 years ago that he wanted me to get a cath and his nurses told me that he wasn't available that day to do it but his associate would do it and he was just fine... I insisted that I'd wait 'til my "regular" heart guy was available.... I was actually "afraid" to get someone else to do it....
It usually goes okay but it is STILL dangerous as the whole time they are doing the procedure they must have a team of heart surgeons standing by, an be available just in case something goes wrong..... Yep, if it's that dangerous, I want someone doing it that enjoys doing it! That's for sure!
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It sure would be great if everything we had to do was enjoyable... Of course now that I'm getting older, some of the chores that I used to do that I didn't like that much are now getting to be enjoyable to me... Like mowing the yard.... That used to seem like such a waste of time going around and around the yard with the mower until all was cut...
But now, it seems that I enjoy doing it... I think a lot of it is that just because I can STILL do it, pleases me more than the actual job itself... I know when I'm done with it it REALLY gives me a feeling of satisfaction....
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This is the beginning of the week and I've got a zillion things that need to get done before my daily trip to the post office... so I must cut this post a bit short today and get my butt back to work, and YOU, YOU have a GREAT Monday!!!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
Astronomers at first tried to compensate for poor lenses by making very long telescopes and sometimes by using lenses suspended in air without a tube. In 1722, James Bradley used a telescope 212 feet long. In the preceding century, the French astronomer Adrien Auzout had considered building one 1,000 feet long. He thought it might enable him to magnify things so greatly he would see animals on the moon!
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Posted by Chuck Rollason at, Monday February 27, 2006

Friday, February 24, 2006

It's another beautiful day in Central Pennsylvania as it always is and always will be! As far as the weather goes, it's supposed to be windy all day and only hit a high of 38 degrees but that's STILL a beautiful day as far as I'm concerned.....
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Our local radio talk show last evening had a discussion about bullies in school and how they will soon try to pass a law that says the schools must give anonymity to anyone who reports a bully including the person that is picked on by one...
Well, I sure have no problem with that, but I do have a problem with all this worry that everyone seems to think we must give and have for our children to PROTECT them...
Don't you think now days that a lot of people go overboard with it?
I personally don't see how any of the toy companies get anything approved by the CPSC, (Consumer Product Safety Commission.) The whole situation gets ridiculous after awhile. Watch buying this or that for little Johnny as a piece of it could come off and become lodged in his throat.... Watch out as he could cut himself if he disassembles the bottom portion of the toy and happens to grind the piece of metal into some kind of knife... I know that's a bit ridiculous but believe me, if you read ALL the warnings on products and toys that's just about what it is, ridiculous!
I think that sometimes we're raising a generation of pusses.. Instead of teaching them to stand up for themselves we try to build little invisible "forts" around them so nothing can touch them physically or verbally to hurt them.
If I went home and told my dad that someone beat me up, he'd say don't let them do that without hurting them back some and believe me that they'll NEVER mess with you again... Dad was right... One time I stood up to a guy that was in the 12th grade on the school bus and I was in the 6th grade... He smacked me in the mouth and told me to sit back in my seat and not talk the rest of the way home.. He was sitting in the seat in front of me.. After he sat down I grabbed all of my books, back then we didn't have book bags or backpacks, which was about 4 good sized ones, and stood up and brought them down on his head with all of my might.... That stunned him for about 5 seconds... Then he stood up and smacked me around a good bit... (Beat the heck out of me.) But, after that, he NEVER touched me again.... after all why fuss with someone who would hurt him back when he had so many others to pick on that wouldn't do anything but do as he told them...
(At the time, I thought apparently that their dads didn't tell them what to do in a situation like that, and that's why they didn't stick up for themselves.)
But after I grew up, I realized that life itself was a bit like that.... If you didn't take care of yourself and stick up for yourself you'd never get anywhere in life... You'd always be listening to a bully in your life like your wife, boss, or whatever.... There would always be someone who would be "telling" you what YOU should do...
I really think that's what are children even now need a bit more of..... mom and dad telling and teaching them how to "stick up for themselves" and a little less of trying to protect them from any situation that comes down the road..
You can make all the laws you want, but it's not going to help them a bit at that particular time when "Joe Bully" swings that fist of his and hits them in the mouth... Best to teach your kid how to put a stop to it right away... Sure he'll hurt for awhile... but better to hurt for a short time than the rest of his life.......
Of course I think all of our kids need a bit more of mom and dad helping them with life in general... If things continue the way they are and it seems to me that's the trend, we're going to have mom and dad, that was protected all through their childhood trying to raise children of their own with not a bit of knowledge how to do it other than protect them....
Of course they'll be looking for "Big Brother" to pass whatever laws it takes to protect their little ones.....
It's no wonder that a lot of foreign countries citizens think that most Americans are spoiled, rich, worthless, pusses!
No wonder practically all of our kids are overweight.... When we were kids we were encouraged to go outdoors and play...
We had a lot of trees in our yard and my brother, who was 3 years older than I, were always in the trees playing... We built our own tree house, we had ropes up in them that we played Tarzan on.... A couple of times one of us would fall and I remember one time I got a heck of a rope burn, but "nurse" mom would patch us up... ask us if we had learned a lesson, and ship us back out side... She didn't ever say, "Don't climb the trees again as you may get hurt again." She wanted us to have fun and enjoy ourselves and LEARN.
Now she wasn't horrible and she was a good mom.... she would have put her foot down had we started to play on the street or something like that... She was wise beyond her years as in her own way she was preparing us for life....
I think at the time... I was about 5 years old through about 10.... After that my parents bought a Dairy Farm and that's when my brother and I learned what REAL work was!
I've seen a lot of kids now that are afraid of everything... I think that's why a lot of them commit suicide.... They are just not strong enough to face the rigors of life even at an age where they have little responsibilities...
Makes you wonder what they'll do when they grow up and the responsibilities start to stack up... God forbid that mom and pop may not be around to keep that invisible "fort" shored up for them.............
Let's all start using some common sense and start teaching our children more about life and living it and spend a bit less of our time trying to protect them from every little thing!
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Betty and I finished the bulk mail yesterday and got it to the post office so if you have and ad in it, you should receive your checking copy over the next week or so....
It always gives me a good feeling when we drop the full mailing trays off at the post office.
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I also picked up a new member yesterday for the brand new promotion of my best MLM program, Elements, you can try it out for 3 months for only $5 bucks! Yep for only $5 bucks you'll be placed in the best spot in my downline that I can find for you, you'll receive a nice Welcome Package, and you'll even get your own FREE website where you'll have a "back office" that you'll be able to check on the growth of your downline over the next 3 months... Then if you like what you see, with the program, and have your downline built up some, you can upgrade to "paid status" or if you don't, just drop out... No sweat! The company will place more people into your downline for FREE and I'll of course be placing folks in your downline as well! Come on, what can you get now days for $5 bucks? Not a heck of a lot... but you'll get plenty with this $5 deal!!! Maybe this time next year, you'll be making a nice monthly commission check like me! You'll love it, I know I do..... Click here for the application so you can print it out to join... You can fax it to me or mail it to me... It's entirely up to you... What have you got to lose, $5 bucks.... but you could earn thousands! Click here: Elements $5 Application
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I guess that's enough "shameless promotion for today and for this week..... My weekend will start in a few hours and I have a lot of "stuff" to get done before then so for me, it's back to work, and YOU, YOU have a GREAT weekend!!!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
Joe Hill (1879-1915), Swedish-American union organizer, radical, folksong writer, and now legendary hero, was executed by firing squad after being tried and found guilty (some say framed) of murdering a Salt Lake City, Utah, man. Thirty thousand people attended his funeral in Chicago. On the following May Day, his ashes were scattered in every state (except Utah) and many countries!
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Check out today’s “Joke Page”. (CAUTION! Some Jokes are “R” rated! Use your good judgment!!!)
Posted by Chuck Rollason at, Friday February 24, 2006

Thursday, February 23, 2006

It's cloudy here this morning in Central Pennsylvania but it's supposed to clear up and go up near 50 degrees this afternoon.. Yep, looks like it's going to be a beautiful day!
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I was reading a piece about Britney Spears yesterday "foolishly" putting her baby boy's life in harm's way when she raced down a busy highway with the baby on her lap.... But that wasn't the first time as just days before the world saw the shocking February 6 photo of Britney bouncing four-month-old Sean Preston on her lap as she roared along Pacific Coast Highway in California, the singer pulled a similarly irresponsible stunt!
Geez..... give her a break... I don't believe she should be holding a baby while she drives but holding a baby while the car is in motion I have no problem with...
When my children were young they sat in the car like any other person.. I didn't allow them to move around while the car was in motion and I think that's just common sense and doesn't even have to be mentioned... But I don't believe that they have to be strapped into some kind of seat that may or may not be safe for them to be in to start with!
As far as I'm concerned most of that garbage is put out by the government to let us all know that they are there to "protect us." Well, I don't know about you but I'm sick of the government telling me what I must do here or there to protect myself... To me, as long as I'm not hurting someone else, I can't see where it's their business.... Like our state has a law that says everyone must wear a seat belt...
I've been in a wreak that if I had a seat belt on, I sure as heck wouldn't be here typing this post right now... and I'm not the only one that I know of....
I also know a mechanic that works at the Jeep Dealership where we bought our Jeep that as soon as he buys a new car he disables the air bags and refuses to wear seat belts.... I don't wear seat belts either... The only time you'll see me buckle up is if I see a police "check point" along the road... Then I only do it as I'm not stupid, and I can't afford to toss money down the drain on an unjustified fine.
Seat belts are like any other "safety" device and sometimes helps and sometimes hinders your chances of surviving a wreak.
If you take notice, on TV when the media is reporting about an accident and someone dies and was NOT wearing a seat belt they will ALWAYS make sure that they say, "So and so died in the wreak and he or she wasn't wearing a seat belt.." But wait a minute... when someone in the accident dies and WAS wearing a seat belt they NEVER say, "and sadly, so and so died in the accident and WAS wearing a seat belt."
It's hype just like everything else.. I remember when the seat belts just started to come into the newer vehicles... They, at the time, were all "lap" seat belts and NOT shoulder jobbies..... I, at the time, had a tow truck business in conjunction with my auto repair shop... I have went to a lot of wreaks with the wreaker to "pry" apart automobiles and turn them back over etc. where folks were wearing those old lap belts because the government kept telling everyone how safe they were.... Well, they weren't at all safe and the government knew it as they had all of the facts about the belts.
How many lives did they save.... Darn few, if any, but I've seen a lot of people who were "maimed" for life and a lot more who were nearly "cut in half" by those belts. But, to this day, I've NEVER seen an article reporting to anyone in a newspaper about how all these people were getting hurt by them... No, that must have been a "no-no."
There were so many little kids killed and injured by the passenger side air bags and that story DID get out... They couldn't cover it up because there were so many....
Did they change anything... yeah their big suggestion is to place the children in the back seat... Of course that "cure" still doesn't help the shorter people who ride on the passenger side in the front seat, does it? Now cars are installing "side" air bags.... I wonder how many small children will have to die before the truth comes out about them????
I raised 4 kids and none of them ever got hurt by riding in any of our cars without seat belts to "strap 'em fast."
Our stupid state has passed laws that we have no right to disable the air bags in our vehicles and must wear a seat belt or get fined if you're stopped without the darned thing on. Yep, the state of Pennsylvania is protecting us...
They are only protecting us because the Feds told them if they didn't make a seat belt law they would lose thousands of dollars worth of federal funds for roads if they didn't... and believe me, that's the only reason....
A year or so ago the State finally dropped the motorcycle helmet law that all bike riders had to wear one.. Do you know why the state dropped that particular law? Why it's because there were no federal funds involved at all... Believe me if there were, they would have never repealed the law!
Now back to the "safety" kids seats.......................
As a matter of fact we used to think the safest place for one of our babies to be was on Mom's lap where she could protect them... That's where all of our babies rode in our car, station wagon, truck or whatever we had at the time...
If you get nothing else out of this post..... and I'm sure someone out there probably thinks I'm nuts, just remember that just because the government tells you something is safe..... that it's not always the truth....
Remember that all the people we continually vote into public office must make us think that we just couldn't do without them...
That's why they continue to pass laws.... You would think that after several hundred years they would have passed a law for just about everything... But as long as they can continue to make us think that they are doing all this to PROTECT US then we will have a reason to vote them in again and again... It's like the "Patriot Act" after 911. They're stripping us of most of our rights as American citizens, but they're only doing it to protect us.... Yep, the heck with the constitution.... our law makers think that they are ABOVE the Constitution and can get away with anything, as long as they can convince us that they are PROTECTING us.......
Well I say, use your OWN mind and a little common sense and talk to people who should know if something is safe and don't have a vested interest in it.... Talk to your mechanic.... and what does your doctor think? Talk to someone who drives a wreaker and goes to a lot of accidents.... ask them how many people they seen drowned in a creek or whatever because they couldn't get their seat belts off before they passed out from lack of air. We'll I'm not sure if it's a good thing to ask the doctor as they want all the business they can get as well.... come to think about it.....
At any rate... a little common sense goes a long way...
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Wow, I didn't know I was going to spend all that time on that subject but it is an important one... Lots to get done today... I finished all the printing for the bulk mailing yesterday and Betty got it all folded... Now all that has to be done yet is to assemble it, the paper work, and the trip to the post office...
Right now it's time for me to get back to work, and YOU, YOU have a GREAT day!!!!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
When Alexander Graham Bell was working on the telephone in 1876, he spilled battery acid on his pants and called out to his assistant, "Watson, please come here, I want you." Watson, who was on another floor, heard the call through the instrument he was hooking up, and ran to Bell's room. Bell's were the first words anyone spoke on the telephone. In 1915, when the first transcontinental telephone line was opened, the first person who spoke into it was Bell on the East Coast. His words were, "Watson, please come here. I want you." This time Watson couldn't come. He heard the plea, but he was in California, 3,000 miles away!
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Click here to comment on today's post. E-mail Chuck
Check out today’s “Joke Page”. (CAUTION! Some Jokes are “R” rated! Use your good judgment!!!)
Posted by Chuck Rollason at, Thursday February 23, 2006

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

It's a cloudy morning here in Central Pennsylvania this morning and the prediction is for some snow before the day is over.... Although with temps supposed to go up into the mid 40s again, I just don't believe it!
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It's the middle of the week already and a lot has happened around "my world" so far.. My friend Ralph Fulton is going "crazed" signing up folks for our new Phase XI for the Tape Of The Month Program, ID number 14338.. Ralph has placed 24 entries in our Phase XI downline building program in just the last 2 days! Congratulations Ralph, your are a leader!
Get started now in building your own downline and monthly check for the Tape Of The Month program and click here, Phase XI, print out the entry form, fill it out, put 3 bucks with it and forward it to me.. As soon as I get it, I'll make your custom promotional kit and get it in the mail right back to you.... Then you're on your way to build your own monthly commission check.. Believe me, with these gasoline prices going outrageously high, that commission check sure does come in handy to pay those extra bills at the pumps!
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I lucked out at the doctors yesterday and after my visit with him I just got blood drawn for tests... I didn't get scheduled for the hospital like I thought I would.. I do have another appointment in 6 weeks and I'm going to have to mention it to the doctor then as Betty and I both think that he just forgot the hospital appointment.. Well, at least I received a 6 week reprieve... Better than nothing I guess.
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Well, we just paid the house taxes.... the car insurance, and now the coal is ordered for next Tuesday and the cost of that is getting so high that we almost need a loan to pay for that at $640.00 for only 3 and a half tons! Woops, that's right, good old income taxes are due again and that will have to go out next month.... Gee... if it wouldn't be for taxes and the rising cost of everything wouldn't life be dull???
Oh, I don't know as I think they used to call those kind of situations, peaceful and enjoyable... No wonder the world's moving at a "break-neck" speed... People have to keep hustling just to keep up with every day living... Let alone trying to save for anything like a down payment on a home or something big... Heck now days just about everything you want to buy is big!
I remember when I bought a brand new pick-up truck back in 1968. Actually it was at the end of '68 and considered a left over as the '69s were out...
I paid $2.000.00 dollars for it.... Brand new! It didn't have a bunch of extras on it as it was just a two wheel drive one half ton Chevy truck with a AM radio, heater, and standard transmission in it.. As a matter of fact I didn't even get a rear bumper with it, as at that time it was optional and cost an extra 50 bucks... I did get one before too long though as every time I stopped at a red light or stop sign I kept watching in my rear view mirror afraid that someone would run into the back of the truck... Finally I just couldn't stand it any longer and ordered a bumper for it...
Now days even for a cheap new pick up truck it will cost a good 15 grand, at least...
Yep, everything is a big buy now....
If you try to wait until you save for something big before you buy it, you'll pay double for it of what it costs now as that's how fast the prices on things are rising... soooooo... you may as well go ahead and buy it on credit... Until you get the money saved the darn thing that you bought on credit will probably be worn out!
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No doctor's appointments today.... No shopping that must be done.... Soooooo.... today we're staying home and I'll be able to get a lot done... I have a lot of printing to finish and the bulk mail is spread out on the dining room table awaiting for just a few more circulars to be added and that will be ready to be assembled... Now,with all of that in mind.... It's back to work with me, and YOU, YOU have a GREAT day!!!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
When oil was discovered in the United States, in 1859, gasoline was a useless by-product. It remained so until the development of automobiles. In the early days, far more attention was paid to such by byproducts as cylinder oil and engine oil (both lubricants), kerosene, naphtha for cleaning, petroleum jelly for ointments, and paraffin. The first commercial product made from petroleum was rock oil, sold at $1 a bottle as a cure for cholera, corns, toothache, and neuralgia. In 1870, one-company turned 70,000 pounds of paraffin into chewing gum!
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Posted by Chuck Rollason at, Wednesday February 22, 2006

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

It's nice and sunny this morning here at the Blue Bird Cottage in Central Pennsylvania and it's supposed to go up into the mid 40s... Sounds good to me as it's been colder than heck around here the last few days..
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It's been so cold the coal stoker is "chewing" up what coal is left from the last fill up of our coal bin...
It's getting so low that yesterday I figured that I'd better give the coal company a call and order some.... The last fill up of the bin we got was at the end of last August... about 5 and a half months ago... Then I ordered 3 and a half tons and it filled the bin plus a little pile up in the middle... I figured that the coal man can't get here 'til next Tuesday so by then the coal should just about all be gone so I ordered another 3 and a half tons...
Once the lady at the coal company got it "ironed" out just when they could deliver it I was saying good bye when Betty yelled.... "Find out how much it is!" I thought well okay but as it went up sky high the last time we ordered it, it should be near what it was then...
Back on the 31st day of August when we got the last load we paid $538.00 for 3½ tons of the stuff and that included the light coating of oil they spray on it and the delivery charge.... The whole bill was up quite a bit from the last time we had ordered it....
Boy! It's good I did ask the lady how much it was going to be as she said right back to me $640.00! It went up $102.00 in just a little over 5 months!!!!
Why, I asked her had it gone up so much? Well, because everything else is going up, she said.... I said, "Oh the coal industry is 'riding the oil industry's price raises'".... "Yes, I guess," she said.....
I suppose we should all expect that now days... One industry screws us so everyone else jumps on the "band wagon!"... I'm half sorry that we bought the new coal furnace now... Oh well, I guess the folks using oil are still paying more for heating than those with coal....
The bad thing is, and I really mean the bad thing.... I can still remember when coal was 16 bucks a ton! No, that's not a mis-print.... 16 bucks!!!
Of course I can still remember when fuel oil was 15¢ a gallon as well!
The prices of fuel is just unbelievable! Ridiculous!
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I took notice one of the headlines today in the news was from President Bush. They read: BUSH PUSHES ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROPOSALS!
Bush says the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans... as he outlined his energy proposals to help wean the country off foreign oil..... Yeah right.....
Now this is his direct quote: "It creates a national security issue and we're held hostage for energy by foreign nations that may not like us!"
Yes, I guess that's true but lets face facts.... All you have to do is look at the 10.7 Billion, (that's Billion... each billion is 1,000 million!), dollars profit for just the last 3 months of last year that the Exxon Oil Corporation reported and it doesn't take a "rocket scientist" to see that our own oil companies are holding us hostage and their supposed to "like" us!
He also talks about clean electric power sources and to speed up the development of biofuels such as "cellulosic" ethanol made from wood chips or sawgrass.
All of that is "fine and dandy" but wouldn't we get relief much faster if we just "throttle" the giant oil companies into making a "fair" profit instead of trying to break each and every American that uses gasoline or heats with fuel oil? That would be a heck of a lot faster and it could be put into effect almost immediately...
If our oil companies began to reduce the cost of their oil to the American people how long do you think it would be before the foreign oil producing companies would bring their oil down in price to compete? Darn fast, I can tell you that! It's called competition!!! That's what normally sets prices instead of outright thievery like the oil companies are using now to set their prices....
Is the president blind that he can't see that or does he have other interests that he is catering to?
If someone of my level of education can see something that simple you would think that the president of the United States that's been elected to run the entire "she-bang" would be able to see it as well.... wouldn't you????
Yeah, that's what I figure too....
If you'd like to read the entire article about Bush's speech just click here.. Bush Article
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Betty and I also went to the garage yesterday to get an Inspection Sticker for our Jeep... We were there on Friday and everything on the Jeep passed for state inspection including the emission system except for a broken exhaust clamp...
They didn't have one in stock... Yeah, I couldn't believe it either... so after we left there on Friday I stopped at the auto parts store and bought one for $1.69.. I called the garage on Saturday and he said to come back Monday... We went there early yesterday afternoon and they pulled the Jeep in and put it up on one of their lifts... It took them an hour and 5 minutes to put that clamp on and to write a sticker for it... Wow, I'd hate to be in a hurry..... At any rate with the emission check and the inspection the cost was about 75 bucks... Yeah, that's another thing that's really climbed over the years... but there again, what the heck hasn't?
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Early this morning I have an appointment with one of my doctors.... It's for a check up but this guy always schedules me for a hospital visit so I figure the first part of March it's a trip to the hospital... I'll know for sure tomorrow.... but that's been his M/O, (method of operation), for about 2 years now, so I doubt that it will change anytime soon...
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With that in mind it's almost time to get going now, so I'd better knock off here, upload this post, and get my butt on the way to my appointment, and YOU, YOU have a GREAT day!!!!! I know I will as soon as I get this doctor thing out of the way!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
Frank James, after a career of robbery and murder in the company of his brother Jesse, settled down to a peaceful life of thirty-two years. He sold souvenirs at the James farm, worked as the doorman of a theater, and fired the starter's gun at Missouri race tracks, where he always was cheered buy the crowd!
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Posted by Chuck Rollason at, Tuesday February 21, 2006

Monday, February 20, 2006

It's a bit cloudy this morning here in Central Pennsylvania and Winter time weather is back with a vengeance! Last night it went down into the teens.... very cold.... brrrrrrr..... It is supposed to go up above freezing though today... way up into the mid 30s... Wow!
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Today's is President's Day and I hope you have the day off... I know all of our State workers, postal employees and most banks are closed and their employees have the day off.. I've got too much to get done today and many businesses feel the same way to take the whole day off... Far as I know the schools are closed as well... so really I guess a lot of people will be home today. I hope out of all those folks some take a few moments to remember Washington and Lincoln and all of our other presidents who served as well...
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Believe it or not the picture on the left is of a house on the main street in Duncannon, Pennsylvania... It's a small town about 8 miles north of where we live here in Dauphin. We passed this on the way to the Birthday party that I talk about below.. I wish I could have gotten a better picture but I took this picture about 11 PM at night with no light around, not even a street light. As you can see, they really went a bit "over-board" with decorations for Valentine's Day... Every window and door in the house had a lighted heart on it and the porch poles were rapped with red lights as well... It was a beautiful site... At least you can get an idea by this picture.
That's the magician on the left... If you look close you can see that he has a large needle stuck right through the balloon, and believe it or not when he pulled it out the balloon did NOT deflate!
Also, he rolled up his sleeves to show that he had nothing up them... which was a bunch of baloney as he did have something up his sleeves.... His arms!
Yep, he was pretty cool and the show was very interesting and entertaining... We both really enjoyed it..
Betty and I had a pretty good weekend and Saturday evening we even attended a 50th birthday party for Betty's daughter-in-law at the American Legion in Duncannon Pennsylvania.
It was quite an evening with a "disc-jockey" and even the Magic Act above... That was pretty good as well....
I know the Birthday girl had a good time and I'll have to spend a few hours making picture disks as I took over 100 pictures... I have at least 30 of them with "red-eye" that I must correct as well... Yep, it will take awhile before I finish it and make a few to give away...
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I also got a good bit of WEB work done yesterday on Sunday as it was just too darn cold to get anything done outdoors.. I'm still not done, but progress is progress....
When you maintain a pretty big web site and also a few smaller ones for other folks, it seems that you just never get done maintaining them and working on them.. No matter how much time you spend with them, you still need more time..
I also had to design and print some signs for my Chinese friends at the Grand Buffet Chinese restaurant. Over the last few weeks I've taken pictures of their food dishes and then when they picked out the 8 or 9 that they liked, I took them to "Kinko's" and had them print them on "back light" film material... Now we have the food picture signs to slide into the back lit sign, we must make new "description" signs for each picture... I finished them yesterday and must just trim them to fit and they're ready to take along to the restaurant.. I'm glad that job's done.. Not that it was that hard, but it took quite awhile as originally I took about 50 pictures which is tough... As they "refill" the buffet items throughout the day It's tough grabbing a picture or two of them before a customer "digs in."
So the entire process was so drawn out that's what was "tiring".... Then I had to get quotes on the printing... I'm sure I could have bought the "film" material that was needed and print to it, however, the size was 11" X 14" and my printer will not print that big so it was and "outside" contract job.....
Oh well, it all looks good and I'm sure once I drop off the names signs, that will be that..... They should last a long, long time...
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Well, the new week is moving along pretty fast already so I guess with all that must be done..... "but no trip to the post office today".... I'd better get back to work... and YOU, YOU have a GREAT day no matter where you are, working or at home!!!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
Five years after being involved in the condemning to death of nineteen persons in witchcraft cases in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, one of the judges, Samuel Sewall, said that the convictions were a mistake. He accepted the "blame and shame" for them, and until his death in 1730 the English-born jurist annually spent a day of repentance in fasting and prayer!
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Posted by Chuck Rollason at, Monday February 20, 2006

Friday, February 17, 2006

T.G.I.F.
The sun is shinning here this morning in Central Pennsylvania. But it's windy as the dickens here today and is supposed to rain off and on, however, the temps are still going up into the upper 40s..... I'm afraid this is the last day for our warm spell though. At least according to our weather people... Oh well, bliss can't last forever.... hmmmmm.. or can it?
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I stayed home and in my home office all day yesterday except when I went for one of my heart walks and then to the post office.. I did get a lot done but still have a lot to do.. I'm happy though as if I'm that busy, business must be good, right?
No matter how good business is though we can always use more cash flow...
Looks like today is going to be a good day to get things done.. I have this morning to work and then hopefully by early afternoon Betty and I will be down in the Harrisburg area getting our Jeep state inspected.. Remember yesterday when I gave a full account of just what I think of the state inspection program now... You know it's funny though as I was a state inspector for years and as a matter of fact I still have my license to inspect cars and trucks.
Back when I closed my garage my inspection charge was $6.00 --- pass or reject and if it passed I tossed in the charge for the windshield sticker... Most if not all garages now charge extra for that... Oh well enough of that for now...
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I hope to get some time to stop at our library in the Harrisburg area, actually very near where I'll be with the Jeep. They have received quite a few new DVD movies for January and now some for February. We haven't been there for about 3 weeks so I'd like to see what they have available and maybe this weekend Betty and I will get some time to watch a couple or three new movies. At $2 bucks each for an entire week, you sure can't beat the cost.
I had thought of joining that movie place on the Internet called, NetFlix, where you can rent as many in a month as you want for $9.95 a month. You also get FREE shipping both ways and that even makes it sound better... There are few catches with their program however, and the main one is that you can only get one at a time. So you have a lot of wasted time mailing them back and forth.. The other main setback in my opinion is that you don't always get the exact movie that you want. You must give them a "list of movies" that you want to rent.. Each time you order a movie they will send you "what is available" from your list at that particular time.
Of course the thing is, if you get one of their films in the mail, you'll want to watch it ASAP so you can get it going back to them to get another one.. That does put some pressure on you. The more I thought about it, the more it just seemed like a big hassle... They do have a more expensive program that you can get 2 DVDs at a time for $14.95 a month or 3 DVDs at a time for $17.99 a month! Now it's starting to sound quite a bit more expensive right? That's 18 bucks all but a penny... That's pretty rich... Heck I can rent 9 movies at the Library and keep each one of 'em for a week for that kind of money... and I don't have to worry about packaging them and mailing them back and forth.. I can rent one and or five or whatever and as long as I watch them within a week and get them back in that time, I'm in good shape..
I think the Library is cheaper than pay cable as well.. Back when we had HBO, Cinemax, and a few more, it seems that they would only show one or two new movies for the month and sometimes the pay channels even duplicated one another with the same movie... We finally decided that it really wasn't worth it..
Once in awhile we get over across the Susquehanna River to the "west shore" library and over there you can "borrow" movies for FREE! No cost at all... I just wish it was a bit nearer to us because now days, when you count the cost of gasoline... it gets expensive just traveling over there.
If you're like me and like your movies... check YOUR local library and see what kind of DVD and video tape deal they have... Heck some libraries even have FREE "wireless" cable connections to the WEB for it's customers... You can take your laptop there and get on the WEB for FREE. You sure can't beat that price!
We support our library all we can... You can't beat the services that everyone gets from them.. I know ours in Harrisburg always has most of its "online" computers being used by young people.... and a few "oldsters" too.. But they are always busy...
A library card is FREE and if you don't have one it only takes a few minutes to get one at YOUR local library... bet smart and check it out...
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Before I wrap up this Friday post I want to mention just how a couple of my home business money making programs are doing. The new promotion for my best MLM program, Elements, is really taking off and many folks are "buying in" for a "test drive" of the program for 3 months for only $5 bucks! Yep for only $5 bucks you'll be placed in the best spot in my downline that I can find for you, you'll receive a nice Welcome Package, and you'll even get your own FREE website where you'll have a "back office" that you'll be able to check on the growth of your downline over the next 3 months... Then if you like what you see, with the program, and have your downline built up some, you can upgrade to "paid status" or if you don't, just drop out... No sweat! The company will place more people into your downline for FREE and I'll of course be placing folks in your downline as well! Come on, what can you get now days for $5 bucks? Not a heck of a lot... but you'll get plenty with this $5 deal!!! Maybe this time next year, you'll be making a nice monthly commission check like me! You'll love it, I know I do..... Click here for the application so you can print it out to join... You can fax it to me or mail it to me... It's entirely up to you... What have you got to lose, $5 bucks.... but you could earn thousands! Click here: Elements $5 Application
Click on the Application, fill it out and FAX or send it to me and let me help you build your business too!
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The FREE to join brand new business program, Dac-Leads, that I just joined last month is doing fantastic and growing by leaps and bounds! I just started my snail mail campaign last week and have just started getting joiners from that. I sent out a bulk mailing at the beginning of last week that is just starting to reach the people that I mailed it to and I expect some great "action" on that mailing. Betty and I, at this moment, are preparing another bulk mailing that will contain circulars for the Dac-Leads program again. Just click here for all the information and to join for FREE Dac-Leads. Don't procrastinate, do it NOW while you're thinking about it! Next month at this time you'll sure be happy you did!
If you want to get some overspill into your downline from my mailing campaign, now's a GREAT time to join. You can get them even with your FREE position. Because you have a computer and are reading this "Daily Post" of mine you can get the "jump" on all the folks I'm mailing to by signing up right NOW! Dac-Leads. Do that now, and the sign-ups coming in from my mailings will be in YOUR downline! Get in with me... I already have a $120 "fast start" bonus check coming and enough people in my downline to cover my monthly cost with a nice profit. All this in less than a month in the program!!!
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If you have some more time, check out just one more business program that I personally started a long time ago. To be exact May 1st 1991... Bach then it was a $15 a month program and pays out $10 of that for a commission and it's STILL $15 a month and pays out a $10 commission!!! You get a ton of stuff each month including FREE advertising, newsletter, monthly Member Benefit Directory, Quarterly Dealer Directory, monthly statement and commission check and much, much more not to mention the chance to earn terrific commissions! It's NOT an MLM program as you get paid the entire $10 each month on the $15 dues for members that you sign up! You sign up 10 and you'll earn $100 a month.... sign up 50 and earn $500 each and every month and so on....
This program has well stood the test of time in the last 15 years... To check it out, get all the information of just what it's about, how it works and even join if you like, just click here: The Once A Month Association!
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The weekend is almost here and I have a bunch to get done this morning before heading for the garage to get the Jeep done, so for me it's back to work, and YOU, YOU have a GREAT weekend and a GREAT holiday on Monday! I hope you get off work, but if you don't, you won't be alone as I'll be working here in my home office as well! If you get a chance, drop me an Email and say howdy!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
Two identical computers, programmed in the same manner, were on board the Viking lander, the vehicle that descended from the Viking spaceship, landed on Mars and processed soil samples there. Before the miniaturized automated laboratory touched down on Mars, however, complications arose because the two computers were giving different signals. Another computer back on Earth administered an intelligence test to the pair and turned off the "dumber" one!
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Posted by Chuck Rollason at, Friday February 17, 2006

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Yep, it's another repeat of yesterday with a beautiful sunny morning here in Central Pennsylvania and with temps to go up again into the upper 40s it's going to be another great day here at the Blue Bird Cottage.
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State Inspection is due again on our Jeep Cherokee. This operation is beginning to be a rip off like just about everything else that is involved with our state government. Just 2 or 3 years ago you could get your vehicle checked out for state inspection for about 8 to 12 bucks and that included the windshield inspection sticker if your vehicle passed.
Now it's more like $60 to $80 if your vehicle passes inspection! That does NOT include any work at all, just to check it over for safety purposes.
What changed? Well our state decided that we must have our vehicles checked for emission control. That meant that all of the inspection stations across the state had to buy the proper equipment to check the various vehicles for the emission control.
Now that all seems reasonable... yeah right.... First of all no one has set a fair price on the emission check. All the inspection station owners are worried about is getting back their several thousand dollar investment for the device that is required and must be state approved. I can't blame them in a way, but geez, I just don't want them trying to get their investment back in one year! Heck the entire check of the emission systems takes all of about 10 minutes... for that 10 minutes most of the station owners are getting 30 to 50 dollars for it! When you query why it's so darn expensive you get a dissertation of how much the equipment costs and how it only does one job... Yes, yes, I realize that as I've owned my own auto repair shop in the past. Back then I invested in tune up machines, automatic transmission repair, specialized equipment etc., and I sure as heck didn't expect a few customer's to make my return on my investment! When I bought a piece of equipment I usually figured on about 8 to10 years to recover my investment and a few more to make a decent profit on it...
I think it must be a "sign of the times" that it's okay to "rip off" your neighbor and customer as long as it's legal and you can get away with it and still stay in business. There is the secret... There is not much competition with the emission check as all of the stations stick together and they are all overcharging for the service. Oh, there's one or two who advertise a couple of bucks cheaper than the next guy but you can bet they're going to get their money one way or another...
One tried to sell me a pair of front shock absorbers that I REALLY didn't need. At first I had complete trust in him and said well, go ahead and replace them... But then, I thought, heck I didn't have any indication when I drive the vehicle that it needed shocks, so I asked him why he thought the Jeep needed them? Well, he said, my mechanic said that one is leaking and you know, Chuck, that it's best to replace them in pairs... Yes, I do know that but I asked him if I could look at them.. So he took me out to the shop and the mechanic wasn't there... I think he went to the "John".... So I grabbed a "trouble light" and the owner and I started to inspect the shocks... First we checked the left front shock... hmmmmm no leak on that one.... Then we checked the one on the right.... we'll I'll be darned that one isn't leaking either.... I even asked the owner, "Do you see any leaks".... "Well" he said, "One must be leaking as the mechanic said there was one leaking." But do YOU see any leakage I insisted.... "Oh there's the mechanic he said..... Which one of these shocks are leaking he asked the mechanic... Now right there tells me that he saw no leak either or he would KNOW which shock was leaking... Well the mechanic said as he grabbed the trouble light, look at this right one here, there at the top of it, do you see the damp spot? No, I said. I turned to the owner, do you see a damp spot? Well, he offered, yeah I guess it is a little damp... (It must have been pretty invisible as I saw NO damp spot.)
Come on, I said are you going to tell me that this Jeep needs front shocks with that to base your decision on?" Well, he said, I can't inspect it if it has leaky shocks! Well, I know that, I said but it doesn't have leaky shocks! Well, I can't pass it if you don't let us put shocks on it.... Bring it down off the lift I said, make me up a bill and I'm "out of here."
There went almost 30 years of friendship right down the drain.. That's how long I knew and had done business with this guy.... I bought many, many tires off this man years ago when I had my own garage and auto parts store across the street from that.. Just about every week day he would bring up a truck load of tires and deliver them to me.... for several years... I used to sell a lot of tires....
I just couldn't believe my old friend would "rip me off".... but I guess anything is possible these days... I think that he just thought, as I always did, as I had trust in him, to just go ahead and replace the shocks... When I asked to see them, the "farce" was up.
It just seems like there is no real relationship between shop owners, mechanics and salesmen with their customers. It doesn't matter if they are regular customers or just once in awhile customers... Nobody seems to give a hoot any more....
There are so many customers out there to compete for, I guess the "bottom line" is REALLY all they worry about... There are many, many more vehicles on the highways today there were 30 years ago...
Back then we used to try to please our customers as they were number ONE and we were smart enough to realize that without them, we were "out of business!"
To bring you up-to-date on the Jeep's shocks story, here it is almost 3 years later and I still haven't replaced the shocks and the Jeep has been inspected 2 times since then.. This will be the third time or 3 years.... and they haven't been replaced as it STILL doesn't need them!!! If they would have been actually leaking back then, within a few months they would not be able to to their job of stabilizing the vehicle.... They are, to this day, still doing the job that they were designed to do....
Also, each year I get our Jeep inspected somewhere different as I STILL have not found a good shop or mechanic that I can develop trust in... and so goes the saga......
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You would think that good ole' common sense of treating a customer right and fair would assure that your business would prosper and stay in business, but not these days... I'm starting to think that the business with the largest advertising budget is the one that thrives.... In advertising you can "tell 'em" anything and if you say it often enough you'll get a large enough majority to believe you.... At least for me, that's the way it seems..........
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This day is already galloping by as this month seems to be... Heck it's half over already.... (both the month and the day.) Lot's to get done here today and as nice as it is, I want to get one of my "heart walks" in before the day is over, so for me, it's back to work, and YOU, YOU have a GREAT Thursday!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
When the steamship Great Eastern was launched on the Thames in London, in 1858, she was five times the size of the biggest vessel afloat---693 feet long, with 22, 500 tons displacement. The ship was built to carry 4,000 passengers, almost twice as many as the Queen Mary, launched seventy-seven years later. The Great Eastern could carry 15,000 tons of coal, which would allow her to steam around the globe without refueling!
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Posted by Chuck Rollason at, Thursday February 16, 2006

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

It looks like a repeat of yesterday with a great sunny morning here in Central Pennsylvania with the temps supposed to go up around 50 degrees, even warmer than yesterday! Yep, we're in for a wonderful day.....
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I sure hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day yesterday as Betty and I did here. Even though we did stop for a nice lunch on Monday, yesterday I took her to a new restaurant across the river on the Carlisle Pike called Fire Mountain... They have a great buffet there and we both like it as they serve a lot of chicken dishes and we practically live on chicken... If you leave there hungry it sure isn't the restaurant's fault. (If you live in this area, the new restaurant is in the old Golden Corral Restaurant building. Near Wal-mart)
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All in all between getting done plenty of work, we also got away for a couple of hours... That's all it really took, we didn't stop anywhere else so the afternoon was not completely lost. I guess the candy companies and the floral companies really made out yesterday as I hear that more red roses are sold on Valentine's Day than any other of the year... and of course, not to mention, our girls and ladies love that day!
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What ever happened to that great idea about a paperless office that used to "float" around the the circle of computer savvy people? As I look around my office and the two desks here that are back to back on my right, paper is EVERYWHERE, and I mean EVERYWHERE...
A couple or three years ago I started to scan it and load it into files and thought I could then toss the originals. A couple of things cropped up that I hadn't thought of. The first one being is that I found I was actually I half afraid to toss the hard copies... What if the IRS came looking for them. Would they accept the pictures of them that I had scanned or would I have to print them all back out and if I did of course they wouldn't be on the original paper and would they accept them on different paper?
Whew! The other thing that bothered me was the humongous amount of room these scanned documents took up on my hard drives. This was before just about all the computers had CD burners and huge hard drives... This was back when a 200 megabyte hard drive was a large one. Well, we thought it was large, but it sure didn't cut it when I started to save the scanned copies of my documents onto it. Then, all I had to back them to was either floppies or a Zip Drive that I'd bought that would take 100 megabyte disks that cost over $10 bucks each!
It ended up that it was just not possible... So I ended up using the scanner once in a while but not enough for it to pay for itself and it soon became obsolete like everything else electronic we buy.
Oh, I did forget to mention that there was one more reason that it wasn't worth the trouble to try and turn my office into a paperless one... and that's the one that I REALLY didn't count on ----- the time involved in the scanning operation and filing of all the scanned pictures... It would have taken me a half of a year to scan all the stuff I had and that didn't count all of the stuff coming in while I was doing it.. Yep, what's that old cliché? "The plans of mice and men..... something or other."
Now with the humongous drives that we have now that would be no problem about the space... but that still lets all the time involved with the operation... I sure wouldn't mind getting some of these piles organized but you know if it's lying around here, every once in awhile I see it and reminds me that this or that must be done... If I had it neatly "packed" away on a hard drive I'd probably forget a lot of things that needed to be done!
Another one of those deals where your "dammed if you do, and dammed if you don't!"
Anyway I'm still contemplating it... Maybe if I get started now, I'll be able to get it done before I die of old age..... and then again, maybe not!
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Well, I've used up my time and space for this post again... as I must get a lot of "stuff" done over the next few hours.... It's going to be a GREAT day around here.... I'm feelin' pretty good and it looks like Betty is starting to "shake" her cold so around here at the Blue Bird Cottage, things are lookin' up!
For me now, it's time to get back to work, and YOU, YOU have a GREAT day!!!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
Castration does not affect human intelligence. Because a eunuch does not have wives and children to distract him as they might a normal man, he is free to concentrate his intelligence on service to the state. So heavily did Byzantine emperors favor the employment of eunuchs as court officials that men of good family sometimes deliberately had one or more of their sons castrated in order to assure them some good governmental position in the future. The procedure was practiced in Constantinople from the sixth to the eleventh centuries!
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Posted by Chuck Rollason at, Wednesday February 15, 2006

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

It's a beautiful, sunny day here at the Blue Bird Cottage in Central Pennsylvania and with the temps predicted to go way up to around 40 degrees it should be a lot warmer one. Maybe it will melt some of this snow that we accumulated over the weekend. That's fine with me as I'm ready for the spring flowers... I've had enough of this winter. Even though we had a fairly mild one so far it's still been around long enough for me.
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Today is Valentine's Day! If you have that special person in your life, don't forget to acknowledge him/her. This is NOT the day to forget them. That's why I've placed this reminder near the beginning of today's post.... Remember, DON'T FORGET!!!!!
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I stopped yesterday afternoon at Costco, actually originally for some cold pills for Betty and I remember that my toner cartridge in my HP Laser printer ran out yesterday when I was running statements for the Phase X downline builder that came to a close on January 31, 2006. I picked up a brand new one there at Costco's for $48.90! Not bad considering that Office Max carries the same original equipment cartridge for $68.89 $20.00 more. Now that's what I call a savings.. I do think that between Costco's and Sam's Club I save much more than what the memberships cost me on just what I buy at both for my business and I'm not counting gasoline which I can usually buy cheaper at either place than at a regular gas station.
I still know some diehards that claim they will NEVER pay money to belong to anything just so they are allowed to spend their money. Well, I can see their point, (other than the one on top of their head), but you can't go against the bottom line and that is that they DO save you money and the more that you spend with them, the more you can save..
Want to buy a new book that just came out? Just compare the price of the same book at Sam's Club to say the cost at Borders and you'll see a huge savings just for that one item...
I've taken notice that they don't have a huge selection of tools, like tools for working on cars and around the house, but the tools that they do carry are really priced way below the going price. Their tires are a toss up... Sometimes I feel that I can save just as much with a regular tire dealer and sometimes if you hit it just right you can save money at Costco's or Sam's.... Same goes with their clothing.. I've seen leather coats and jackets at Sam's that you couldn't buy anywhere at such low prices but then I've also seen some underwear that in my opinion was way "overpriced"..... So, I guess you just have to watch what you're buying and still do some comparative shopping. Just because Sam's or Costco carries it, doesn't mean that it's cheaper than any where else... Like with any kind of shopping you'll just have to use some good, common sense.
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Talk about saving money... Nothing, in my opinion, beats shopping on the Internet even if you still want to buy the item locally at a regular "brick n' mortar" store, you can still use the Internet to see what that particular item is bringing.
The search engines are so modernized now that all you really have to do is type in the name of whatever you want to shop for, and it will automatically look the item up for you at several different locations. In plain words it's so easy that if the product you're pricing has even a modest cost it's well worth the short time you'll spend comparing prices.
Of course there are several search engines that specialize in comparison shopping. First there's shopzilla. This one even has product reviews that you can read and compare... It's a GREAT, refined site... Just click on the name above to visit it.
Another good place to try your shopping at is Froogle's. You can do a precise search or click in a list of general categories.
One last place that I really like and can recommend is the c/net Shopper. This is a terrific place to check out especially if you are searching for anything electronic.
Actually I do a lot of shopping right from my Google Desk Bar. That's just about the easiest as it's always right there at the bottom of my monitor.
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I have a lot of WEB work to get done that, I don't know why, but I've been putting off. Actually I've been busy but did you ever have a nagging at the back of your mind that you MUST get this or that done but just never seem to get around to it.. You'll do something like maybe play a game or watch a movie and then think to yourself, craps, I could have used that time to get "such and such" done or at least started or worked on it?
Yeah, that's kind of what I'm talking about... I guess in a way, that's putting something off, right? Yeah, that's what I thought too.
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At any rate, talk about putting things off.... I've got a bunch to get done here in the office today and it's not going to get done if I don't at least start on it, so for me, it's back to work, and YOU, YOU have a GREAT Tuesday!!!!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
Thomas Alva Edison suffered early from deafness and taught his wife-to-be Morse code while he was courting her. When she was able both to send and receive messages, Edison proposed to her by tapping out the message in her hand. She answered in the same way. After they were married, they often "spoke" to each other in Morse code. When they attended a play, Mrs. Edison kept her hand on her husband's knee and telegraphed the actor's words to him so he could appreciate it!
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Posted by Chuck Rollason at, Tuesday February 14, 2006

Monday, February 13, 2006

It's sunny this morning here in Central Pennsylvania and with the temps supposed to shoot up into the very low 30s it seems like it's going to be a very pleasant day.
At least it will be better than it was on Sunday, yesterday, when I woke up.. As we did have a small snow storm... Well not much of a storm but we did get between 5 and 6 inches of the stuff.
As you can see by the picture on the left we received a pretty good coating. However it looks like our neighbor Randy, has plowed for us.... and everyone else who lives along our lane. Thanks Randy! That's the old Erie canal on the left of the lane. It's frozen over at the moment because of the cold weather we've been having lately. It usually dries up about mid-summer but in the old days, when it was in use, they used to keep it full of water by tapping the mighty Susquehanna River that to the right of this picture, only about 200 feet away. Pretty cool, huh? Yep there used to be a lot of river boats go through here at the turn of the last century and long before that. An artificial waterway extending about 579 km (360 mi) across central New York from Albany to Buffalo, including the stretch through PA. The Erie canal was constructed from 1817 to 1825 and enlarged numerous times after 1835, it is now part of the New York State Barge Canal.
A lot of history passed by within 50 feet of our cottage long before the cottage even existed. Wow, I'd like to be back there for a day or so and watch the boats go by pulled mostly by teams of mules. This piece of the canal connected to some main locks down in the town of Dauphin where we live near right below us... That was one of the spots where they kept the proper amount of water in the canal and then continued on down toward Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Now that sounds to me like it would be a pretty neat job to Captain one of the barges that ran the canal. At least you'd get around a bit and it sure sounds better than living and working on a farm which most everyone did about that time in Dauphin's history. There also used to be a huge trading post near where we live and it wouldn't surprise me that the barges kept it supplied with at least some of it's stock. We know a man who is the great, great grand nephew of the man who owned and ran the store back then.
Yep, history is all around us and all we have to do is look and take notice...
If you want to do a little interesting reading about the canal just click here: http://www.epodunk.com/routes/erie-canal/
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I spent all of Saturday and yesterday in the office working.. I did get all of the statements, letters, and applications done for the Phase X downline builder that came to a close on January 31, 2006. All will go in the mail today. That was a job and a half. Lots of printing, folding and printing statements. I ran the toner empty on my laser printer yesterday and must go get another one, maybe this afternoon. I thought I had a spare but no.... I'm kind of "dead in the water" without my laser printer. Even though I have a very good HP ink jet printer, I do all the stuff that needs done fast and all of the camera/ready stuff on the laser. Hopefully I'll have that back in business by this afternoon.
Right now I'll have to supplement with the ink jet.
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As I didn't go anywhere I still have the Jeep to clean off this morning. I really didn't feel like it yesterday and Betty already has a cold and I feel like I just may be getting hers so I thought I'd stay indoors as long as I could. That shouldn't take too long as we only got about 6 inches of the white stuff... and I'm not doing any shoveling at all... Too hard on my bad heart and that's one of the reasons why I bought a 4 wheel drive... Let it "crawl" out on it's own! Wow! Apparently we were pretty lucky as New York City received 27 inches, some kind of record for them, from the same storm that nailed us!
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This is the first day of the week and I've got plenty to get done before I head for the post office and other chores so for me I'd better get my butt back to work and YOU, YOU have a GREAT day!!!!
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Here's The Cool, Unusual Fact For Today..
A plague of drunkenness settled over Europe to match the plague of Black Death in the mid-1300s, and remained after the disease was gone. The theory at the time was that strong drink acted as a preventive against contagion. It didn't, but it made the drinker less concerned, which was something!
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Chuck's Daily - Common Sense Check out the new Elements Site! One of my best programs!

Chuck's Daily - Common Sense

Check out the new Elements Site! One of my best programs!