I placed the oddest order at work the other day. I am used to ordering paper and cleaners and that type of thing, but this was an absolute new experience for me. My boss came to me and asked me if I could get some price quotes and then place an order for rubber tracks for mini excavators.

I was a little bit dumbfounded at first, as to where to start, but then I thought I could do it and told him so. I decided to start by doing an online search to find out where I could order them from. I found a few companies that sold rubber tracks for track loaders and decided to contact all of them with the serial numbers and ask for price quotes.

I found some to be a lot cheaper than others for the exact same part. I placed an order and it was there the next day. My boss was so happy with me and I have to admit that I was quite pleased with myself as well. I feel like I could do anything that is asked of me now and I love my job.

It is tradition for my husband and his siblings to all weigh themselves on their mom’s bathroom scale when they get together at holidays and celebrations. During the last one, we were surprised to learn that my husband’s brother had gained more than forty pounds in less than five months. This was some cause for alarm, as he had always been reasonably healthy.

We started questioning him as to how he felt, and he admitted that he was easily winded and had trouble climbing stairs and that sort of thing. We knew that this could not be good news for someone as young as he is. He is only twenty-seven and should still be in his athletic prime.

We suggested that he go and see his family doctor, who could suggest a healthy diet that would help him to gain back control of his weight. He felt like we were attacking him, but we explained that we jut cared about him and that the kids needed their uncle around for many years. He made an appointment and we will have to wait and see what happens.

I am in a group of Hampshire accountants that gets together every year to hash out new tax laws and that sort of thing. There are actually a few of us that get along so well that we get together once a month on social outings. On those particular outings, we refuse to talk work at all and make it just a fun night.

One of the things that we are discussing at this year’s meeting is the changes that have been made to tax planning over this past year. I know there have been some major changes and I try to keep up on them myself, but it is really great to have a group to get together and discuss what they have learned. It really helps us to not overlook anything.

I will be glad when all of my clients have completed their tax returns this year. It seems that this year has been a little bit crazier than past years and I must say that I am more than ready for a little bit of a break. It is not just me, either. My friends have been saying the same thing. Maybe we can all take ourselves off to Hawaii for our next get together. Sounds like a good plan to me.

You may have heard time and time again that when you drive a new vehicle off the lot, its’ value drops by half.  Now, depending on the vehicle, this can certainly be true, but I would beg to differ.  Sure the value would drop, but you can do things to help keep your vehicle value high for when you decide to sell it.

Some of the easiest ways to keep the value of your vehicle up is to protect it from wear and tear.  Some examples of this can be using seat covers and wash your vehicle regularly.  Keeping it clean inside and out not only makes a good impression, but it shows pride of ownership to a prospective buyer - if the buyer knows you baby your vehicle, they will be more likely to pay more for it.

Also, if you have a hitch on your vehicle, be sure to use something like Attitude hitch covers to protect your hitch from corrosion - and give your vehicle that added touch.  Even something as simple as a rusty hitch on your car or truck says that you don’t take care of your vehicle.

Finally, I would suggest doing something different than everyone else.  Make your vehicle stand out from the rest of the vehicles your buyer will be looking at.  Something as simple as taking off the Budge truck cover off your truck before you let them take a look will make a real impression.  Try it out and see - you will get more money for the sale of your vehicle.

In some respects I am happy I don’t have a lot to do today.  It is nice to have a relaxing day of sorts – as compared to our ever busy society.  But with the good, comes the bad:  I am doing something I don’t really like today.

Now, you will probably think that it isn’t bad at all, but it is more that I don’t like it: calling to reserve a car rental in both Orlando and Miami.  Call me a baby if you will, but I like to use the phone to call friends, but when I call a business I just get nervous.  I have been like that for as long as I can remember – and even with practice, it is still a problem for me.

Before I will be making calls, I am just going to look online for companies that rent cars in those areas.  That way I can make a list of numbers, and hopefully get through my task as quick as I can.  I learned quickly that depending how you ask a search engine a question, your results will vary.  For example, “car rental Miami” didn’t quite give me what I was looking for, but “car rentals Miami” was right on the button.  Learning from this experience, I found some good prospects searching for “car rentals Orlando”.

So, now that I have my list of numbers, all I have to do is call… maybe I can do that later (procrastinating never hurt anyone, right?).

Car rentals and minimizing travel expenses don’t seem to fit in the same sentence, right?  Well, I would have to argue that they do.  You see, you could just go to any car rental place, take what they give you , and just go with it, but in reality you would be paying too much.

I learned my lesson when I was traveling over in Europe.  While looking through the phone book for a car rental company, I accidentally turned the page to the "cheap car hire Spain" page.  Cheap car hire?  I never really thought of a cheaper option - so I had to check it out.

It turns out that a cheap car is just as good as a regular priced car rental - and surprisingly just as reliable.  I thought that they might cut corners, but from my experience, everything worked out okay.  I was sure to lookup "cheap car hire France" when I was in France, and that worked out remarkably well too.

So, if you are traveling anywhere in the world, and need to rent a car, see if there is a cheap option.  You would be amazed at the amount of money you will save.

The local craft store in our town recently had a design your own t shirt contest. My daughter worked on her drawings for a month before the contest, perfecting every little detail. She was sure that she would win and I knew if the contest was judged by determination, the prize would be hers.

We went down to the store the day of the contest and bought a make your own t shirt kit. She sat down and promptly got to work. She took her time and, four hours later had a beautiful T shirt. Even I was amazed at her end result. She did end up winning and I was so proud of her creativity.

She won a gift certificate to the store and one to a local restaurant. She used her certificate to buy a few more kits for building custom t shirts. She can now be seen, most likely any day of the week, wearing one of her very own designs. And they are all very nice.

I am sure that most of you out there have a cell phone.  The one thing that I have noticed about mine is that whenever anyone’s phone rings, I check my own.  The reason for that is that my cell phone ringtones that came with the phone are the same as everyone else.  Unless I have the vibrate function, I am forced to check my phone each time any mobile phone in my vicinity rings.  Not only is this frustrating, but it is a complete waste of time.

So, I went to my cell phone provider and asked a sales clerk what I could do to solve my problem.  He was nice enough to direct me to a site that had Sprint ringtones that I could download and change the sound of my ringer.

I tried it out and it worked great - at least most of the time.  You see, there were still times when another person’s phone would ring and I would look at my phone: they must be Sprint customers too.

I looked online and found a couple of sites that would allow me to download MP3 ringtones right to my phone.  In fact, they had a huge selection and I was able to find my favorite song, Eye of the Tiger - and chances are that no one will have it.  Sure I will have to wait and see, but so far, when my phone rings, I know it is mine.

Our home is older, but I love it.  It seems like it has been a very long time since we moved in and I am feeling like it is time for a change.  Instead of ripping up the whole house, I have decided that we should do a room at a time.

Perhaps the biggest eyesore in our home is the bathroom.  It looks like it came out from the fifties and needs a big facelift.  So today, I think I will go look at some bathroom suites and see what ideas I can come up with.

I do have some ideas of what I want to get in mind from the number of home improvement shows and magazines that I have seen.  My only concern is making the choice between whirlpool baths or shower baths.  I do very much love a quick shower, but a soak in a whirlpool… that would be something else.

Lets not get too hasty though.  I am going to see what is out there in the store and make my decision from there.  Irrespective of which way I choose, it will just be so nice to have a new bathroom.

I couldn’t help but realize something today in the middle of the night: rental applications are like applying for a job.  Now, this may come across as a little strange, but bear with me for a minute - and see it from my perspective.

First off, if you are interested in renting an apartment, condo, house, or other type of rental property, you respond to the want ad in the paper.  Usually this is done by phone and you schedule and appointment for you to view the suite.  This meeting has two purposes - both for you to see the suite and for the landlord to meet you and form a preliminary opinion of you (like having a job interview before you hand in your resume).

After the look at the suite, you usually fill out an application for rent.  You would also fill out your references and your rental history (makes me think of a resume).  They take the information on your application and then they perform landlord tenant referencing after you are gone to see what your references say about you.

Quite often they will check tenant credit too to make sure that you will be able to pay your rent and not a problem tenant.  After jumping all these hoops they will make a decision whether or not to rent to you, much like the decision to hire a job applicant.  Though the process seems backwards, it is very much like applying for a job