themikedarling.com

Here is my feeble attempt at producing a header graphic after an hour’s worth of work:

Exhibit A: Really bad header made by me

And then I broke down and decided to hire someone from fiverr.com to do a header for me.  For $5.  I sent them to my website, told them what I was looking for – fuzzy warm dog and a satellite.  They said they could do it no problem.  I sent them $5 via PayPal,  wrote more articles for the website, then went to bed.  I woke up and it was done.  And here it is!

Exhibit B: Great looking header! This is why to outsource

It isn’t perfect.  I think I would rather have the text to the left.

But good enough is good enough.  Exhibit B is miles and miles better than Exhibit A.

And I spent my time doing something more important.

Writing content.

No longer do I have to do everything.  For $5, I can have someone else who is a LOT better than me do something faster and better.

I like this outsourcing thing.

My family and I are on a two week vacation in the Southeast.  We flew into Orlando Airport (MCO) and picked up a Dodge Caravan from Dollar Rent a Car.  The vans were parked in the lower level of a parking garage, so it was rather dark, and I really didn’t have a chance to view the condition of the vehicle.

We drove the vehicle that evening until 8:30 pm.  Then stayed in a hotel in Altamont Springs.  Got up the next morning and drove 10+ hours to Boone, North Carolina.  It was here in Boone, that I really got a chance to look at the vehicle.

The tires are worn badly.  Especially on the driver’s side.  Here are pictures of the tires:

The contract states that the vehicle is is “good condition” .  But I don’t think that the tires are in “good condition”.

So here is an opportunity for customer service.  Let’s see how Dollar Rent a Car is doing so far.

Yesterday and today, I contacted customer service, explained the situation, and asked what could be done.  I emphasized the fact that we like the car, and I made a point to say that supplying a vehicle with badly worn tires must have been an oversight on their part.  I explained that we were in Boone, North Carolina, and headed to South Carolina in a couple of days.

Dollar Rent a Car’s response has been to tell me to take the car to a Dollar Rent a Car facility, and exchange the car there.

The problem is that there is no facility here in Boone.  The nearest is in Greensboro Airport, North Carolina, which is about two hours away.  And there are no Dollar Rent a Car facilities in South Carolina.  And we can exchange the car in Florida, but we won’t be there until a week in our trip.

So we are inconvienced by the fact that we are renting a vehicle NOT in “good condition” with tires that are in my opinion unsafe to drive on.  And the best that Dollar can do is to have me take time out of my vacation and drive out of my way to exchange the vehicle. They will probably just turn the vehicle around and rent it to another unluckly soul…

Because I wanted to document this (especially if anything, God forbid, should happen on wet roads) I went to their website, and found a Contact Us page, with a form to fill out.  I filled it out and submitted it.  After submitting I am told that it will take 3 to 7 days for them to respond.

Shame on Dollar Rent a Car!  This is the 21st Century!  Is that the best you can do?

All I want is to go to a local, nearby tire repair facility authorized by Dollar Rent a Car, and have tires in “good condition” installed on the car.

We’ll see what their response is to resolve this.  But based on the real lack of understanding the issue (safety of their customers) I don’t doubt that the response will be canned and in the interest of the company and not the customer.

Customer Service and Dollar Rent a Car?  Not that I have seen yet.

Getting ready to head to the airport, and a short flight to Las Vegas where I will attend the Earn1KaDay Seminar.

Looking forward to learning a lot, meeting on-line forum friends in person, and building JV partnerships.  Won’t have much time to lounge around – each day is full from 8 am to 5 pm.

To learn more check out the website:

Earn1KaDay Seminar

Tonight I was fortunate to be able to interview the other half of www.ceosystems.net – Kathryn Gaines.  Kathryn is also a business efficiency expert.  Her area of expertise is public speaking, seminars, and file organization.

File organization?

Kathryn Gaines

Yes, helping business owners and busy executives manage their paperwork.

In this short interview (less than 20 minutes) Kathryn tells us why it is so important to have a clean desk top at the end of the day, and the two biggest secrets for organizing your papers once and for all.

Enjoy.

MP3 Kathryn Gaines Interview May 11, 2010

I have almost figured out how to make videos using CamStudio and Powerpoint.

After much frustration and digital pulling of hair, I have figured out the following steps.

HP Pavilion Laptop and Samsung Monitor

I have a HP Pavilion dv7-1285dx laptop running Vista 64-bit with a Centrio 2 Duo Core P8600 with 6 GB of RAM.  I use two monitors – the laptop is open on a notebook stand, and I have a Samsung SyncMaster 2333 hooked up as a second monitor.  I have the monitors configured separately, so the desktop is spread across both monitors.  I can just drag windows or programs from one monitor to another.

Once you use two monitors, you can’t go back to a single monitor.

Here is the software I am using:

1. I am using CamStudio 2.5, not Camstudio 2.0.  This records the video and audio, and creates an avi file.
2. To convert avi to flv (flash) or mpg4 (Quicktime) files, I am using ImToo FLV Converter 6 software.  I did a search on Google, it looked legit.  Downloaded the trial program, which worked well, then paid $29 USD to register the software.  After I bought it, I found that it supports converting mp3 audio files into flash files… sweet!
3. To play the flash files, I am using the JW Flash Player pluggin for WordPress.  The documentation is not real clear.  After installing the plugin, you have to go to the website and download a zip file containing  the player and two other important files.  Then you have to upload those three files to a folder on your WordPress blog website.  Not real clear.  Maybe I’ll do a short video showing how.

And that is it!

Convert an article to a text file without periods.  Import into PowerPoint.  Create slide show and cleanup slides.  Narrate slide show and record using CamStudio 2.5.  Convert the .avi file to a .flv file.  Log into your WordPress blog.  Upload video into post or page.  Done!

Here are examples of the same CamStudio and Powerpoint video presentation.  The first is a flash using the JW Player.  The second is a mpeg-4 file.

And here is the same video, in a larger resolution and in MPEG-4 file format:

Click Here to view MPEG-4 file at resolution of 640×480

I have found that the best recording resolution is 640×480.  I have also found that it helps to reduce the resolution on my monitor before trying the screen capture.

CamStudio and PowerPoint – they were made for each other!

Getting excited about my up coming trip to Las Vegas.  I am going to attend the Earn1KaDay “Underground Marketers” seminar the weekend of May 21-23, 2010.  I am looking forward to meeting people I’ve known on-line for a while, breaking bread together, and building JV partnerships.

Probably very few of the speakers are the typical “guru” status like at most seminars, except maybe Jason Fladlien, James J. Jones, and The Rhodes Brothers.  And Dennis Becker, the organizer, has a strict no product pushing from the stage policy.  The goal is to learn from each other.

One of the members of the forum lives in Las Vegas, and teaches a beer making class.  A couple of months ago he said that he was going to have his class brew a porter similar to our Deschutes Black Butte Porter.  Looking forward to sampling the home brew porter!

CamStudio - Free Video Recording Software

I have been trying to use CamStudio to record a PowerPoint video.

Camtasia has a built in plugin for PowerPoint that makes recording PowerPoint presentations dead drop simple.  But still, I would like to see if I can get CamStudio to work.

The price is right (free!) but there aren’t a whole lot of bells and whistles. And I am spending way too much time on this.  Time is precious, and I want to get things done more quickly.

As soon as I get it working, I will post the results on my blog.

CamStudio and Powerpoint – great combination… if I can just make it happen!

I don’t know about you, but I have drawer full of business cards that I have picked up from business networking events.  I have the best of intentions on following through and calling back, but there they sit, in my desk drawer.

Denise Beins

Denise Beines with CEO Systems, LLC, is a business efficiency expert.  What does that mean?  It means she teaches businesses and business owners to use their time well.  For example, you can go to business networking events and collect business cards, but if you are like me, you have really wasted your precious time, because the cards remain in a box or in a drawer.

Denise has some great tips on using business cards to begin building a relationship, from which business relationships will build.

I was fortunate to interview her, and here is a mp3 recording of that call.

Click to play, or right click to download to your computer.

Enjoy.

TeleConference-Mike-Denise-05-06-2010

Well, so much for global warming.  Oregon spring has been delayed again.  Plus we live at an elevation of 3,500 feet, so frost comes early in the year, and lingers in the spring.

The thermometer this morning reads 21 degrees F.  Clear and cold.  A major storm moved through the Pacific Northwest this week, dumping snow on the mountains.

Spring will get here sooner or later…..

I had tried planting tomatoes about a month ago, and several days later was covering the plats with plastic.  As it snowed.

Later that week I dug up the tomato plants and replanted them in pots.  So now we move the tomato plants in and out of the house.  During the night, they stay in the garage.  And we move them out to the sun during the day.

I think that I need to build a hoop passive solar greenhouse made out of PVC pipe.  I think that I can gain 2 months on the front end of the season and a month a the other end by growing plants in a solar green house.  My friends say just go to the store and buy tomatoes and vegetables.

I say, this is man versus nature!  It is a battle and I will win!

No, we don’t want to calculate the cost per pound of tomato.. we don’t even want to go there.  The objective is fresh home grown tomatoes.  It will be fun to get there!

Meeting with Denise Beins of CEO Systems … looking at starting membership sites… #im