Itty Bitty Hooves

Fun and Effective Promotion

We’ve always used promotional products like pens, calendars, and even some more heavy duty things like mugs to promote our businesses and they really work. We also have had jackets with our farm name, hats, shirts, and other things that basically turn us into walking billboards BUT it works. Those items work especially well when surrounded by people who obviously would be interested in our product, such as at livestock shows and events, but you’d be surprised how often it helps to strike up a conversation at every day places like super markets or on the street. Every new customer that stuff like that starts a conversation with, or helps them remember us like pens, calendars and mugs pays for those products a million times over. Plus they’re fun to design and create.

Frozen MidWest

I’ve been worried about my house. In Illinois the weather is freezing and according to the Eastern Illini website over 4000 of their customers are without electricity mostly in Ford, Iroquois, and Livingston Counties. My house is in Iroquois and I know my power is out because when I call the number the answering machine doesn’t pick up (electric). According to the website they have been without power for four days now and in fact it started with their whole coverage being out (probably about 20k homes). They’re saying that it will be several days still before electricity is restored and that some of the homes that had been restored had lost power again because of high winds and cold. I am picturing frozen and burst pipes. I have to go check on it but I’m kind of afraid of what I’ll find.

Making Money Appear with Jared Metz

Having several businesses the idea of getting business loans, or ways of financing projects is always at the top of my mind. It is a more difficult thing in today’s economy than it was in the past but it is still not impossible. Men like Jared Metz are still active in the business funding atmosphere. While many aspects of business financing are less traditional now, knowing how to work in the system is important and finding people who live and breathe that world makes it possible to get things done in spite of banking shortages and interest rates plummeting.

Jared Metz has worked in many fields sharpening his skills in funding but probably none honed his ability to work financial magic than working in the film industry. He chose to go into his own business helping companies secure the funding they need in order to expand or begin.

Whatever your business dreams are find a company run with someone with vision like Jared Metz to help you shape your dreams into a reality. He can help you find money even when it seems like it is nowhere to be found.

Amos Tamam makes Travel Safe, and Transportation Easy

When moving around the country it is important to have an easy way to pay for things. This includes transportation. Paying for things like cabs used to be a pain in the neck and you always had to have cash on hand. In some cases that can be really dangerous. Amos Tamam is one of those people who has made this a much safer endeavor. In my husband’s line of work we move a lot. He is nearly always traveling and much of the time I go with him.

Just last week we flew between California, Colorado, New York, and Florida in the space of three days. Trips like those are annoying to me, but necessary to him. Thanks to the efforts of Amos Tamam whose company Verifone makes it easy for people like me and my husband to pay for everything from meals to taxi rides traveling is much safer and more fun. It never used to be possible to pay for a cab ride with a credit card. Verifone machines are everywhere now though, even in taxis.

It’s not everywhere in taxis just yet. They are using Las Vegas and Chicago (two of our most common stops) to test the way it works. I think Amos Tamam has a great idea with this and it will catch on like wildfire. Whether people are traveling on business or pleasure, or living in a hustle and bustle city like Chicago, Las Vegas, or New York, they want to be able to use public transportation, and they want to be able to use it safely.

Backup

I don’t know what sucks worse satellite or wireless Internet. I do know that I think any company like that should offer their clients free dial up backup. They don’t have to worry about people ‘abusing’ a dial up, I mean who in their right mind would CHOOSE to use dial up if the actual Internet is up and running? I know the wireless company I have in Illinois DID offer dial-up as a back up for a long time and that made their temporary (or not so temporary sometimes) outages more manageable. Satellite companies apparently don’t do that and that really sucks because the signal can be just as unstable. It should be a law that they have to give it to their customers for emergencies.

On Cloud Nine

I have four cabinets full of videos. Some of my all time favorites are Christian videos. I especially love the series based on the ‘Left Behind’ novels. They were produced by Cloud Nine productions and were well on their way to the full series when the authors of the books decided they wanted the movie rights back. Not fair if you ask me, but Cloud Nine decided to go the high road and allow them to take them back. I guess the authors thought they could get big money studios involved in a telling of their series, but so far there hasn’t seemed to be any action. On a positive note Cloud Nine did make the stipulation with the authors that if they did not receive the funding they would get the right to make the rest of the series back so they could continue their great representations. Unfortunately though, by the time that happens the actors they had who were so good in their parts will probably not be avialable any more to do it, or will have changed so much in age appearance that it couldn’t possibly still be them as the series is a continous time span, not broken up by enough time for aging.

Ouch

He bit me! Not a first, and as any parrot owner knows, it is part of the territory. If you own a bird you are going to get bit at some point. Usually it is best avoided if you know the signals leading up to a bite, and avoid those times when they are being displayed. Sometimes, however, they are sneaky about it. Amazons are usually VERY telling in their display of displeasure and you can stay well away from them at those times. They also are very obvious in who they pick and do not pick to be a member of their ‘inner circle’. Goober has chosen my hubby and my son to be his people and would just as well prefer I never touch him. He is talkative with me, but doesn’t want me to handle him. He will usually take food from me too. Anyone who knows Amazons knows this is no real trick, or accomplishment–they love food. Today however, as he was sitting oh hubby’s shoulder I reached out to give him a piece of my salad and he LOOKED like he was leaning out to grab it - NOT. He politely grabbed my finger instead and gave it a good old bite. Not a skin breaker, but it was a heck of a pinch. Oh well, too bad for him, he didn’t get any of my salad after that.

Life’s Triggers

Whew back on track on my diet. I am using a diet pill in the mornings but even that wasn’t working before and now it’s working fine. I have managed to find that way of thinking again that lets me feel good about the way I’m eating. It gets hard when you are overweight it is usually because you use food for emotional reasons. That is where the real trick lies. Knowing that you have to find out what that trigger is and overcome it and sometimes even when you know what it is it’s impossible to deal with it. If it is something you can’t get rid of in your life for whatever reason you have to learn how to deal with the pressures or emotional aspects of it without using food. The worst part is that even if you can do it for awhile it always has a way of coming back. I think that’s why so often people who have lost a great deal of weight find themselves a year or so later having it all back again and then some. Learning how to eat and live right is only half the battle. The other half is dealing with those triggers. They are always going to be the trigger that can make you go off. Just dealing with it temporarily isn’t enough because sooner or later they’ll be back to test you again.

Goober Taking a Cat Nap

Got a new picture of Goober taking a nap. He’s such a comical dude even when he sleeps.

Have you ever seen a bird ‘cat’ nap?

Black Friday

Black Friday is one of the most popular shopping days in America and yet sometimes I have to wonder why they call it ‘Black’ Friday. I actually used to think it was called White Friday because I always associated it with linens and other things like that being on sale. I think in my youth that is really how it all started but now EVERYTHING is on sale on Black Friday for the adventurous shopper who wants to get a great deal on items for Christmas. I usually have all my shopping done well before Black Friday and prefer to avoid the squash of shoppers anyway so I buy online. I love buy.com as a place to shop online because they have everything you can think of at really great prices. Better yet THEIR Black Friday sales last a lot longer than one day and even if you don’t get those deals you get great prices all year round.