COME ON AMERICA SHOW YOUR STUFF NOW

Call the American Red Cross NOW!

AS DUMB AS THEY COME

Today I watched This Week on ABC. They were talking about the events of last week and some of the reaction to those events.

There was same back and forth but then George Will popped up with this little gem (listen to the audio, it's short). I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Did he really say gas has dropped by 32 cents a gallon since October 2nd?

I don't do much driving but I still track my gas purchases and this is what I've paid for each of the last four fill up I've made since June.

6 - $2.079, 8 - $2.339, 9 - $2.599, 10 - $2.669

Do you notice the trend. . .IT'S UP by 59 cents over the last five month NOT DOWN. So where is this 32 cent drop since the first of October.

Sometimes I think these guys just make stuff up because they know that no one else on the panel will challenge them.

Click to listen. <----( listen to the audio here )

SOMETIIMES BEING SECOND AIN'T BAD

HOW TO PREPARE FOR ONE REALLY QUICK GETAWAY - PART 3

I went to Costco yesterday and checked out the SanDisks that they care. The 1 gigabyte model they care costs $89.99. That's about what I paid for my first 128 mb model that I bought a few years ago. Doesn't pay to be the first kid on the block when it comes to hi-tech.

I'd suggest that you think about buying two of these guys. One that you keep and the second one (an exact copy of the first) you put in a safety deposit box or give it to one of your kids. The idea is to store it off site just like businesses do. It'll provide you that much more protection.

SHOOT: Some personal finance advisers suggest that you make a spreadsheet listing everything you own and enter the date and price paid and then file all the receipts and ... yeah, yeah. You will never do it. But creating a detailed inventory of everything you own need not be a major chore when technology comes to the rescue. Many households now have a camcorder or digital camera. Walk around each room and take a picture of each item. Then, either store all the photos on a memory card (unless you live in the Biltmore mansion, you can load all the photos on a 256- or 512-megabyte card). Or you can transfer them to the same U.S.B. drive with your other documents.

Describe each object on the camcorder soundtrack or in the file name of the digital photo. Make an extra copy on another card or drive. "If you give one to your insurance adjuster, you go to the front of the line," Mr. Neiser said.

For additional protection, you could upload the photos - as well as all your beloved family photos - to one of the free online photo services like Flickr.com, Picasa.com, Snapfish.com, or Kodakgallery.com. Anybody you choose can then have access to them from any computer anywhere. (Make sure to set the privacy options, though.)

BONUS: You are going to discover a lot of stuff you no longer want or need. Sell it or donate it and take a tax deduction. Intuit, maker of Quicken and TurboTax, sells a $20 program called ItsDeductible that estimates the value of donated items, but Bankrate.com and Salvationarmyusa.org have free valuation guides.

SECURE: Now it is time for your medical records. You can place your health history as well as digitized copies of X-rays, scans and electrocardiograms on the same encrypted flash drive.

Part 4 tomorrow.

TALK ABOUT SPOOKY

Click to watch. <----( watch the video here )

PRETTY GOOD JOKE

An Old Farmer's Advice:

* "A nickel isn't worth a dime today." . . . Yogi Berra