Thinking

By: L Jones

WTF AIG?

The country’s financial foundation is crumbling. US citizens are losing jobs, money, homes and patience.  Who’s to blame? So many things are the blame, but AIG has the misfortune of being one of the faces associated with the country’s current financial woes. AIG’s alleged mismanagement and poor financial decisions has placed the company in the center of country’s resentment bull’s eye.

Fast forward to now; after the billions of tax-payer’s dollars to “bail-out” one of the country’s leading insurance companies; in a sense insuring the company’s future. MILLION DOLLAR plus bonuses. Ok, I understand that companies give their employees bonuses when the company turns a profit. Why the hell are employees of a failing company getting million dollar plus bonuses?

Edward M. Liddy, Chairman and CEO of AIG, wrote a letter offering the reason for the decisions and plans for the future. Click here if you’d like to read the letter. It’s a good read. He pretty much says that the decision to pay the bonuses was approved sometime last year, when he was not in power.  All I’m saying is, you are in power now. Those bonuses should have been revoked. All the higher ups need to be replaced and AIG needs to start earning their keep or be dismantled. That’s just what I think.

What do you think?

By: L Jones

In an uncertain economy, every dollar counts. If you are like me, having the latest clothing fashion is not my motivation, but looking good at an affordable price is. If this sounds anything like you, then listen up. Now is the time to shop.

Stores have clearance sales at least three times a year; midway through winter, midway through summer and after Christmas. Why is this important? It’s important, because this is the best opportunity to spruce up your wardrobe and not pay a fortune doing so.

My example: I wanted to buy an argyle sweater vest, but every place I looked, they cost more than I was willing to spend. The cheapest at that time was $22 at BJ’s and I really didn’t like the design of the vest. Fast forward to mid-winter; I decide to go and see what Kohls has on sale. My eyes lit up when I saw the clearance signs displayed throughout the store; it was that time of the year. I looked through racks on racks of heavily reduced clothing articles. I was not looking for the argyle sweater vest, but guess what, there it was hanging on the rack winking at me. So, I reached down and grabbed the price tag, you know, the one with the different color stickers on it. I could have slapped the lady in the aisle next to me shopping, I guess for her husband. The price was marked down from $65 to… drum roll please… $3.80. I bought a few different varieties of those, some underwear, ties that were $2.80, a suede jacket for $14.99 and so on.

The point is, these sales are for keeps. These are the sales that you can take chances with your wardrobe, because guess what, it only cost $3.80. If you don’t like it, take it to the Salvation Army and use it as a tax write-off.

In tomorrow’s post, I will give you 5 ways to spruce up your wardrobe for a fraction of the cost.

 by: L Jones

Hello all. It’s here. My Magic Jack arrived in the mail just three days after I ordered it. It came in a small rectangular package with cushioned foam to protect the little gadget. I waited a little while before I actually tried to install it, because after reading the reviews, some of the reviewers mentioned needing computer skills and things like that to get the thing to work. I ate my dinner first, because I wanted to feed my brain.

So I ripped open the package and headed to the computer. The instructions say to plug the Magic Jack directly into the computer and not in a hub. I had one open slot; lucky for me. If you saw my computer, you would see why. I have a hub on the front and back of it.

Anyway, I plugged it into the available slot and “voila”, the Magic Jack did the rest. Once the software was loaded I was prompted for 911 information and desired phone number location. I submitted everything and was told it could take up to 2 hours to receive my phone number. About 10 seconds later, my phone number showed up on the screen.

First thing I did was called my mother to test the clarity. As close to perfect without being perfect as it could be. I am totally satisfied (1 day in). If I run into any problems, I will definitely post it.  Right now I will enjoy my current and future savings.

ISSUES:

(1) They offer a 5 year $59.95 offer which is phenomenal, I just don’t know if the company will be around then.

(2) They mention in the Agreement that the Magic Jack is yours, but the software is not. What happens after the first year and you opt out of the service? Silly question, but what if?

(3) I was a bit angry, because I thought you could only get these on television or the Internet. I ordered online and yesterday while I was at Best Buy, sure enough I saw them there. This knowledge, if nothing else, could have saved me the shipping and handling cost.

OVERALL:

I am looking forward to reducing my yearly telephone bill from $456.00 to $19.95 without sacrificing sound quality or dependability.