Share this video - Clean the Gulf Oil Spill up!

MY mother made me clean up any mess I made when I was growing up. What's wrong with you BP people? YOU should be ashamed or yourselves. CLEAN UP THAT MESS!


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Why doesn't anyone...

1. make a toaster with a snap-on or snap-off cover?? I'm looking at my toaster a few minutes ago and couldn't eat til I stopped to clean it. I'd love a toaster with a snapon cover that I could remove to put it in the sink and wash it REALLY clean. (spray cleaners don't satisfy my old-fashioned soul... I want it in HOT water and bleach and you know the routine...CLEAN)

2. Same thing for coffee makers.. I can put the basket and the pot in the dishwasher... why not a snap off cover so I can wash that properly too???

Just saying...

Coal-Mining Then...

There's been a lot of press again this year because of the mining disaster in Virginia and the more recent gas line explosion in Penna. Mining, no matter what substance the company was after, has always been a rough, hard job. I'm currently reading Company Doctor which is basically a muck-raking, scathing indictment of the anthracite mining industry in Penna. Published in 1895.  Doesn't seem like much has changed.

Now what I did find interesting is this little book - Jeffrey Coal Mining handbook.  Seems like they know what they're doing but then why does the mining industry have so many disasterous cave-ins?   And just to note. my great grandfather was a miner in Scranton Pa in the 1890's and probably was one of the people the Company Doctor author was talking about.

And if this has sparked an interest, there's a whole bunch of coal mining equipment on eBay - here's the search link  Coal Mining- both vintage and slightly
used but modern.

See you soon (I know I keep promising that but I really will ...I'm doing that #blog30 challenge  

Who reconciles Amazon's merchant account statements

Alright I'm sitting here trying to reconcile an account and it's SUCH a pain in the neck to do it isn't even funny. Years ago, I used to reconcile credit card statements for a large company. It wasn't quite the worst job I ever had but I sure hated doing it.

So in the middle of doing this, I went to amazon to buy somethind and thought " I wonder how do they reconcile their accounts?" I'm sure there's not really a person going line by line but I'm also sure it has to be checked by someone somehow. Who do you do it Jeff Bezos?

Or any big company? I don't have a lot of charges thru my "merchant account" to reconcile but hopefully I will a couple of years down the road. How do the big vendors/venues do it? (If you know, whisper it right here, I wont' share it with anyone but my 6 closest friends... LOL)

#blog30

Define "IMMEDIATE SHIPPING"

There's been a lot of dialogue the last several days about "immediate" shipping. PLEASE define for me what YOU mean by immediate shipping by posting in the comments section of my blog at http://bethssoapbox.blogspot.com/

Posts/comments on Facebook will not be included (the point of a blog is to build a blog following not to enrich facebook any more than they are already rich..ya know?)And then watch this blog later for a follow-up post on the so-called "Industry Standards"

Here's the question again - DeFINE Immediate shipping.

What does that mean to you (and please include info on whether you are a buyer only or a buyer/seller or a seller only)

Use quantifiable terms: is immediate within 4 hrs, 12 hrs, 2 days, 2 weeks or 3 mos?
If you buy today (SUNDAY) do you realize I can't ship most stuff today? So what do you expect in that situation?

If you buy at the start of last weekend's 3 day weekend, how does that change your perception of "immediate" shipping or does it.

During the run-up to a holiday like Christmas, Valentine's Day or Mother's Day are you willing to pay extra for expedited shipping to get the item faster?

Besides higher shipping are you willing to pay for Premium Processing time (mean I really will drop what I'm doing, wrap/pack the item and take it straight to the Post Office)

This is NOT a debate over whether we should be doing immediate shipping. It's a discussion of the definition of immediate shipping. All other remarks will be deleted so please don't do that.

WHAT are YOUR credientials to be a GURU?

Did you ever wonder who credentials the so-called "teachers"? These internet personalities who set themselves up as experts? I vote "NO ONE"!

People run off at the mouth all the time (I'm doing it here for heaven's sake!) about things that annoy them, fascinate them or confound them. In today's internet world, with blogs, and video sites like YouTube and Flickr, it's real easy (come on! I figured it out, can't be too hard, right?)

Then someone decides that "that person" has good info, good ideas or good points. And follows them. Someone else piles on and so on ...next thing you know, you have a "guru".

PULEASSSSSSSSSSSSE~! Stop! Hit the brakes!

Go to the User's Manual and engage "CRITICAL THINKING" mode. (look for it in the area of THE BRAIN!)

Ok, now, consider this...

WHO IS THAT PERSON? WHAT ARE THEIR QUALIFICATIONS?? WHY are you even listening to them?

Think on that..............

Most of the people we follow (we, the ROYAL we meaning you, me and everybody else) get their "critical mass" from friends following them and recommending them and then other friends of the friends recommending them..... see? NO QUALIFICATIONS.

I'm going to give you an example:

I'm an eBay seller (or was) since it's inception.
So I could call myself "Powerselling Suburban Diva" and write a blog telling you how to do it and charge you for those lessons. Does that mean I know what I'm talking about? I could tell you that you don't need a website or you don't need a Facebook Fanpage or you do need a white pickup truck. WHAT are my credentials?

There are numerous "personalities" on the web and I'm just one of them. WHAT are my credenitals?

Am I interesting? (sure, I'm fascinating, take my word for it.) Am I qualified? I think so. I'm sure at least one of my friends would "fan" me. But am I? IT DEPENDS.

Try to be choosier in who we follow and fan and friend.

I got on this rant because I listened to a webinar yesterday, was deeply interested in the subject but frankly, went to sleep during it because the people running it were BORING. I never bothered to research their credentials because I don't want to find out that I'm really wanting to follow their advice or listen to more of it. SO?? Who told them they could "teach"? I suspect they are life-long teachers because I have a bunch of those in my immediate family and I recgonise the speech patterns, the cadences of the sentences and the MONOTONe and the dumbing down of material for the least experienced portion of the group.

So the moral of the blog today is that just like you'd "qualify" a client for a mortgage or a franchise or to take care of your most precious child, "qualify" the people you follow. JUST because corporate management somewhere gave them a job as a marketer, does not make them a GOOD marketer. Just because they got a degree in "Education" does not make them a good educator/teacher/trainer. Don't even get me started on that one, I don't need to alienate all the family teachers yet again.

If they are teaching "eBay", do they sell on eBay? NO? WHY NOT? Cavemen do it.... so?

If they are teaching marketing, WHO do they market?? How's that working out for the clients? Who's fired them lately? Why do you want marketing info from someone who obviously doesn't do it well enough to keep a job?

If they are teaching blogging? Read their blog? All of them. (no not the archives to perpetuity - all their various blogs. Blogs are like good potato chips, you can't have just one), WHAT? You say they have only one blog? and they don't post regularly?? Don't FOLLOW them to learn how to blog.

Are they teaching sewing, or woodworking? WHAT have they made lately? would you give it to your mom for Mother's Day or could you sell it in an art gallery? If not, don't follow them.

And don't follow anyone who only wants you to send them money. If they don't want to engage in conversation with you either via their blog or via Facebook/Twitter/Myspace or email, then they are using you. Leave. Simple really. It involves valuing ourselves and what we know and involves respecting yourself enough to "hire' the best teachers, the best employees, the best professional services.

Oh and if you decide to ignore my advice, follow these people and waste time, ?? don't whine about the time suck

If you are one of those people trying to be a "techer" or a "guru" and wanting to build your following? For Heaven's use some inflection in your voice, that or wake me up when you're done.