AA Blog

One of the most overlooked things in moving is selecting the right movers.  When my family and I had to move back to Los Angeles from New Jersey, we paid attention to every little detail except for selecting the right movers.  All we did for that part, was look up California Moving Companies and picked one at random.

We got lucky.  Our belongings showed up on time and in perfect condition.  However, we were lucky.  Whenever I tell this story to people and say that we simply picked California Movers at random, they are astonished and amazed that we had no problems.  So, when a friend of mine was making the same move, we gave him a lot more advice than he asked for and specifically told him to search for California International Movers to get a broader listing of movers. After all, we like to think that we were the ones who started the Moving To California trend.

Our experience and the knowledge gained from this whole experience made us the “experts” in our circle of friends and our advice has been taken seriously and put to good use.  In short, our trials with this whole move was a learning experience that we have passed on and put to good use.

This guest post from my friend Lexi Ramey

Last year I got married. When I married my husband I moved to his hometown. I really love living with my husband, but I really miss my mom. Now I live three hours from my mom. So far we have kept in touch mainly through email on my hughes satellite in Wyomingconnection. I also use my hughes net to talk to my mom on Skype. We really like doing this, because it saves us money on our phone bills.

Last night my mom and I spent over an hour talking to each other on the Internet. My husband couldn’t believe that I was still talking to my mom when he got home from work. My husband doesn’t mind, because he knows how much I miss my mom. He says as long as I’m talking to my mom on the Internet instead of running up the phone bill, he doesn’t care how much I talk to her.

When I was talking to my mom last night she said that my brother had just got his Internet connection back up and running. I told my mom that was great, because that way my brother and I could email each other.

Remember a while back when the government changed the laws about television broadcasts, my parents received a converter box that allowed them to get on the new national digital network.  They have been patient enough with that and it is now time for them to get DIRECTV by DirectSatTV.  They tried to stay with the free service that replaced the air waves, but it has just been too painful.

This switch was a long time coming and both my parents and I did our homework and looked at a lot of direct satellite tv offers before giving our final decision.  My parents are both retired and used to the old time tv shows, which we all now refer to as the “classics” .  The networks do not really air those shows anymore so having them available will be a great big plus.  Additionally, my parents often babysit for us and our kids will now have more viewing choices.  The third and final factor is sports.  My parents are avid basketball fans and they will now be able to watch pretty much any basketball game.

All in all, the dtv transition was something that took some getting used to. but has actually worked out for the better.  My parents are happy with the choice of programs they can now chose from and the quality of the programs are now obviously much better.

In these bad economic times, I have been thinking about pension finds and other investment vehicles that can be utilized in order to achieve better performance and get higher returns on one’s investment.  Pension funds are something we invest in throughout our entire working days, and in hard economic times we should be able to tap into them easily and without penalties.  I would love to be able to unlock my pension during the time I really need to as opposed to when it matures.

We work hard for over 30 years and things do not always go as planned.  So during harsh economical times I think it would make sense to use any and all of the money we have saved up or is owed to us so that we can avoid bankruptcy and be able to survive through the bad economical times.  Being able to access one’s pension is something that should be readily available and easily accessible.  The alternative is usually very dramatic and if you have a family to take care of it becomes essential to maintain as much normalcy during bad times.

Investments are made to help us when we are no longer working  They are made as a vehicle to replace our income.  Based on this, we should be able to use them and their benefits whenever we need to replace or income regardless of the time or our age.

Guest post written by Horace Merlotte

Last weekend was our family’s annual whitewater rafting trip to the mountains.

That may make it sound like we really rough it, but we actually only spend about four or five hours rafting and the rest of the time laying in hammocks by the river or hanging out in our rental cabin. We also fit in some outlet shopping while we’re in the area, as well.

Each year I have even more fun, but this time around I was having a lot of trouble hearing what everyone else in our raft was shouting. Whitewater rafting isn’t a quiet sport but the helmets they require we wear don’t block out so much noise that you have trouble hearing what people are saying.

I complained about this a bit so when we got home my wife told me that I should think about hearing aids. So I looked up miracle ear hearing aids prices and miracle ear locations online and found some information. I scheduled an appointment to get fitted for some and am looking forward to next year’s trip when I can hear my grandkids screams over all the rapids.

This guest post from Doris Dillon

Every year the MTV VMA’s get better and better. It’s been such an exciting show for me ever since I was a teen-ager. My parents never had cable or directv when I was younger and I was always disappointed that my frinds could watch the show and I always had to hear about it at school.

That’s why I made it a point when I grew up that I would never miss it again. Thanks to my satellite TV I never have to. Every year I turn on my Satellite TV and get ready for the most exciting night of my life. I love everything about the show, the performances, the clothes and the unpredictibility of it all.

With new artists coming out every year and new music, you never know what to expect from the show. All you know is that it’s sure to be a night full o ffun and surprises. There is usually one part of the awards show that stands out and you hear about for years to come. At least now that I’m older, I don’t have to miss out on the fun anymore. Now I can watch the show every year and not have to feel the way I did when I was a teen. I don’t have to feel like I’m missing out on something really great.

Walking in Manhattan the other day, I realized, for the first time, how many people have window flower boxes and window plant boxes that they actually use.  When you think about it, it makes sense. Living in high rise buildings in the concrete jungle makes it very difficult for people to enjoy the sights and smells of flowers and plants.  So, window boxes are the perfect solutions.

On some level, I think that having garden window boxes also provides some sort of rest and relaxation much in the same way as having a full traditional garden does.  The same planting and caring methods are used and the results are the same.  I also feel strongly that having window boxes planters on city apartment and condo buildings makes these buildings look much better.

A window box is aesthetic and can be used in any environment and/or setting.  I think they need to be incorporated more in every home regardless of weather or nor the home is in the city or the suburbs.  Adding window boxes is a quick project that would take one weekend to install and in turn would yeild year round planting fun.  More so in the city because you essentially create your own private garden.

We went to Texas last week for a wedding and notices that there were a lot of dallas homes for sale.  Out of curiosity, we went to look at a few of these homes and were certainly pleasantly surprised.  For the most parts, dallas homes seemed to be built well and very roomy.  Have nice landscaping in the front and usually a very large sized back yard that is also nicely decorated and maintained.

This got me thinking.  The prices fo the dallas homes for sale we saw were not that high, and we can certainly afford it.  So, if we purchase one of these homes with a big enough down payment, the monthly rental income we can get for a single family home would be more than enough to cover the mortgage and utilities.  In short, the rental income would cover the monthly expenses of the property.  It would be like having money in the bank and the property’s appreciation would be the equivalent of the interest payment that a bank deposit would be receiving.  Additionally, the expenses incurred from this property can also be recognized as income tax deductions thereby providing more benefits.

All I need to do now is the math.  I need to figure out what the minimum down payment amount needs to be so that the rental income from the property would produce a positive cash flow.  Once this is done, I will contact a Realtor in Dallas and get this rolling.

I was recently thinking about all the personal problems of celebrities we hear about in the news on a daily basis and realized that a lot of them would absolutely be lost if not for drug rehab centers.  The lives of celebrities are very public and everything they do seems to make the news.  I can see how, over a period of years and constant barrage of reporters digging for stories would lead them to drugs and/or alcohol abuse which ultimately paves the road for them to seek  alcohol rehab centers and drug rehabilitation programs.

The public’s fascination with celebrities is what makes a celebrity who they are.  But, it is a two edged sword.  That same fascination is what eats away at their personal life bit by bit, day by day until which time, reality and fantasy get so intertwined that  drugs and alcohol become the norm and abusing them becomes second nature.  There have been numerous studies done on this subject and the information and statistics are all the same.

I guess all this goes with the fame and riches celebrities get, but it is still difficult for me to understand why they all keep falling in the same pitfalls.  They should be learning from the stories of others and should have a support system set up so that others like them can avoid these types of situations.