I remember a time as a teenager we go through the neighbors trash just to see what we could find. This was at the local dump outside a small town, in northern California. People saw us and thought we were looking for old aluminium and copper to sell at our version of the recycling center, in 1968. In addition to the  aluminium and copper we found old love letters, adult magazines, and credit card numbers. Of course we only used what we found for our amusement.

Today, there are unethical people going though other people’s trash, before the garbage man comes to get information for identity theft. This could be a credit card offer, or a bill from a life insurance company, or even an electric bill. You see adding up these bits and pieces of information, along with the internet can yield enough information for identity theft.

Last week when I walked into the place where I get my haircut, I was greeted by the owner. In her hand was a plastic shopping bag that containing a DVD player. As she raised the bag to my chest level she said, “It doesn’t work, I need you to fix it.”

I took the DVD player and started to look at it. After about five minutes, I realized it was time to replace. the drive motor for spinning the DVD’s was burned out. What caused the DVD motor to burn out was the thin medal case pressed down on the drive assembly not letting it to spin.

The microwave ovens has been around for only a very short time. At first they were big heavy and expensive. At one time if you had a microwave oven, you were living on the cutting edge of technology. Today, you are behind the times if you do not have a one.

Most people I talk to or observe have only three basic requirements when it comes to a microwave oven. One, that it fits in certain place in the kitchen. Two, there cooking dish fits inside. Three, that it works.

It has been quite a few years since I had to buy a lawn mower. After reading an article in Consumers Digest, I started thinking about my old Briggs and Straton 1.5 hp mower.

I can not remember when I had purchased it. It has been through 2 19″ blades and 3 spark plugs. I even replaced the gas tank, when it developed a leak. It has been faithful old machine. So it is time to start thinking about replacing it.

What I got from the Consumers Digest article was that the price of lawn mowers are going to be going up in the next couple years. The laws around increase emission standards for any gas powered engine will be getting tougher. This is mostly because of going away from the old carburetor to a fuel injection system. There is even talk of propane power lawn mowers.  

The leading reason for people spending more money than they should on food is lack of energy. The family cook comes home in a tired from a long day at work. It is easier to make a quick run to Burger King or KFC, just because no one wants to cook dinner.

There are a few ways to save money and still get a quick and easy meal. The first is using what has come to be know as the cock pot aka the slow cooker. Yes it does take a little fore thought, but you can definitely save $2 to $5 or maybe even more person, as opposed to having Chinese food delivered.

The available recipes a limitless. About.com has a list of Southern Cockpot recipes that will get the family excited about dinner. Then there is Family Crock Pot Recipes and Crock Pot.com for hundreds of other quick and easy idea.

The other day, I was talking to a lady from the state of Georgia. She was telling me that she could not afford to buy a computer. She thought is was a luxury besides being a waste of time and money.

A couple of years ago, I doing cold sales calls on businesses in a rather large strip mall. I walked into this shoe store, and asked to speak with the manager or owner. A very well mannered elderly lady came out from the back room and introduced herself as the owner.

I asked what kind of software she was using to manage her inventory. At that point she harshly stated that they did not use any computer software for inventory management.  The only computer they had was the card reader for processing credit cards.

For centuries families have always gathered together at the end of the day to catch up on the day’s activities, current events along with some form of entertainment. The evening gathering place has evolved from a evening fire, to the dinner table. In the early 1900′s, the radio was a gather point for the family. Today, it is the television.

The past year was marked by the television reception going all digital. This improved the clarity of the picture and the number of channels we could watch. Going all digital now gives many households a very good reason for getting a new television for Christmas.

The Autumn leaves are turning their golds and reds. There is a biting chill in the morning air. The furnace kicks in for the first time in since late spring. The house is filled with that smell of burnt dust from the furnace heat.

The weather is getting cold. The air conditioning pump will not come on again until mid or late spring. For many, this year, the ole furnace has already turned its self on a couple of times or more.

No matter what type of fuel you use for heating this is a good time to do some preventive maintenance on the heating system. For the mechanically inclined, like myself, I can do much of it. All I have to do is follow a simple check list that I put together from over the years.

It is Fall. Days are getting shorter. That means I will be riding my bike more at night. In the interest of safety encouraged me to get a head and tail light for my bike.  I found a good deal on a head and tail light for under $15.

Like most things they did not with batteries. Naturally, I thought that I had some AA batteries at home, from the last time I bought a pack of AA batteries. This was not the case when I got home.

I needed 2 AAA batteries for the tail light and 4 AA batteries for the head light. All I had in the battery storage bin was 3 AA batteries. Just 1 battery short for the headlight and no batteries for the taillight.