September 10, 2008 AsktheBuilder News
What's in This Issue
OFFICIAL NEW HAMPSHIRE RESIDENT
NO BARS IN MORE PLACES
GUTTER GUARD WINNER!
FATHER OF DIY
LOW-PRICE IN AD LANGUAGE
TWITTER
LATEST COLUMN AND VIDEO
OFFICIAL NEW HAMPSHIRE RESIDENT
The day after the last newsletter, I made my big move to New Hampshire. I arrived at the lake house at 11:20 p.m. on Monday August 25th. It was a punishing 15-hour drive. A month prior to that, I was in New Hampshire to close on the house and move my furniture, as well as Meghan, my oldest daughter, in. Four days later, I flew back to Cincinnati to take care of all sorts of things.
The move up East was pretty traumatic for Kathy because not only was I going to be gone, but my son Tristan was also leaving home for his first year of college. He and I jumped in the V-70 XC wagon two and one-half weeks ago and took off. He is attending Champlain College in Burlington, VT.
Kathy and my youngest daughter, Kelly, are staying back in Cincinnati so Kelly can finish high school at the same place where Kathy and Meghan graduated. Suffice it to say that the next two years are going to be tough with me commuting back to Cincinnati to visit and help out. What a major change in the Carter family!
Last week, I filled out the form to register in my town as an official resident. Since this has been a 34-year dream come true, I plan to frame the letter they gave me confirming my residency. Live free or die and Go Sox! are my new mottoes.
NO BARS IN MORE PLACES
Do you work for AT&T Mobile or the Apple iPhone division? Boy am I unhappy. Two months ago, I got the new iPhone and absolutely love the device. But the cell-phone service with AT&T is horrible.
As I was driving to New Hampshire, I passed countless billboards that were advertising AT&T Mobile in New England. Each billboard said, "More Bars in More Places in New England." That billboard sell line needs to be changed to No Bars in More Places, or they need to place an asterisk next to the existing words and then list ALL of the zip codes in New England where the service is deplorable.
I can stand in my kitchen at my house and have three bars and seconds later get the dreaded "No Service" message in the upper left corner on the screen. GRRRRRRRRR.
I believe the issue is a combination of software in the phone and dismal AT& T cell-phone coverage in New Hampshire. If you are an employee of either of the two companies and have any good news for all of us iPhoners in New Hampshire, please speak up and tell us salvation is around the corner. If you want to know the zip code I am in, it is 03253.
Oh, and I am typing this at 33,000 feet flying back from Chicago. I was in the core of downtown for a conference at Google's offices and the same thing happened on Monday and Tuesday to me. I had dismal one-bar signal strength at the corner of N. State Street and W. Kinzie Ave. That is one block west of N. Michigan Avenue, and simply unacceptable. One bar strength at ground zero in downtown Chicago? Give me a break.
GUTTER GUARD WINNER!
The latest gutter-guard video is complete and ready for you to watch. If you didn't see the first one, well I have both on a new page at the website. You absolutely must watch them. My personal wait for a fantastic gutter guard is over. Never again will I get up on my roof to clean out a gutter. Why? Because three weeks ago, I had the gutter guard that performed the best on my garage roof installed on all of my gutters.
My testing of these products has spanned nearly ten years. The tests were the subject of numerous columns over the years. Then about 21 months ago I saw a product that had promise. I then discovered that there were several gutter guards that had similar technology. The bottom line is that I believe I have discovered the Holy Grail of gutter guards. Watch the videos!
 |
Hi, it's me Tim Carter. Do you want a bid on the same gutter guards I used on my home? Click Here If you do fill out the form at the MasterShield page, they pay me a very small commission. |
FATHER OF DIY
About ten years ago, I met the most interesting man. His name is Larry Eisinger. Larry was an older gentleman that was attending a Sears Editors Conference that I had been invited to. I was new to the media industry, and had no idea who he was nor his importance.
The other attendees at the conference lavished Larry with tons of respect, and I was introduced to him at the opening reception. Larry was very kind to me, and was fascinated in my column and website. Little did I know that I was talking to one of the most important figures in the DIY movement.
Larry served as a pilot in WW II, and came back home with the hundreds of thousands of other heroes who had lots of energy and determination. These young men and women, along with all of those who helped with the war effort stateside, were the seeds of the DIY movement. Larry got into the publishing business in New York City, and became one of the most successful writers and editors of DIY books and magazines. He also had a syndicated newspaper column that ran in newspapers for decades.
Over the years, Larry has become a father figure to me because I had to send my Dad back to Heaven 32 years ago. My Dad also served in WW II and was a POW in Germany for 13 months. Larry was kind enough to take me under his wing and tell me how the newspaper syndication business really worked as well as the traditional book publishing business.
You can read tons of Larry's past columns at his website. It is still a work in progress, and I am helping him with ideas all of the time. Many of the illustrations you will see there were drawn by him. Larry is so talented, you simply can't believe it.
Here is a link to his About Me page that will give you a glimpse of the enormous amount of content he created and edited. If you are familiar with Larry's work because it appeared in your newspaper for years and you want to send him any kind words, contact me and I will put the two of you together. We need more Larry's in this world.
LOW-PRICE IN AD LANGUAGE
Last week, I received in the mail a postcard from one of the giant home center retailers. One of the things that jumped out at me was this amazing Low Price Guarantee - one that said you would get an additional 10 percent off an item if you brought in written proof of the lower price at a different vendor.
Well, I feel you need to be very careful here. It is my feeling this retailer is making this pledge to try to convince you that they have low prices on all of their items. That simply is not true, as I have verified this.
The twist in this game is that many of these retailers make special deals with the manufacturers on many of the products in the store. The retailers either get exclusivity on a specific line of products, and/or the product is made under a different brand or model number thus making it impossible for you to find the exact item at another store.
The bottom line is be careful. Don't ever think that one place is always going to have the lowest price on all things. The Internet has really opened up competition, and that is a great thing for all of us consumers.
Do you use Twitter? Tell me what you think about it. I am on Twitter and you can follow me if you like. Go search for AsktheBuilder on Twitter.
Twitter is simply microblogging. Using 140 characters or less, you can tell those who follow you what is going on. It seems to be the rage in the tech community right now, so I was curious if you use it and if you think it is a fad or an up-and-coming powerful application many will adopt.
LATEST COLUMN AND VIDEO
Do you want to install tile or slate on a fireplace hearth?
Want to discover the secrets of working with sticky silicone caulk?
What Gutter Guard did I just install on my entire house?
Index of past newsletters.