Reach out to a friend or family member.

My Uncle Thomas is 74 years old, very well respected and loved by friends, family and co-workers. We go over to his home in West Bloomfield, Michigan every Christmas Eve as my Uncle Thomas and his wife throw a huge party and everyone has a great time. He is always passing on a great piece of wisdom, cracking a joke or just making one of us smile with a warm glance.

Uncle Thomas passed away this past week. Leaving a wife, four daughters and numerous grand children as well as tons of friends and co-workers that he has touched over the years.

The purpose of this blog was not to tell you of the death of a family member, it was to touch you enough to reach out to a friend or family member. It could be a person that you have daily contact with our someone that you rarely see. Just make some time to knock on there door, make a call, send a hand written letter, or if you have to send an e-mail. Life is funny, we just don't know when our time is going to be up and we also don't know when our friends and family are going to go as well. Of course it is extremely difficult to keep in touch with everyone, so maybe use a certain time of the year to take the time to make contact. Like I stated above, it could be as simple as a phone call or maybe an out door lunchin. The main idea is just do it! Make contact before it is to late and you say, I wish I would of ...

The holiday's are very huge in my family, its not about the gifts anymore its about the socialization and togetherness. When it comes to my friends, going out for a drink and watching a game is a great way to keep in touch. Also, the new social media wave is also a great way to keep in contact, you know the facebooks of the world.

Now go and knock on someone's door!

Government and The Big Three

Are you amazed that our government is focusing so much time on, The Big Three. Why aren't they looking at fixing the larger issues, like credit with banks and or foreclosures with the housing market. Or even the unemployment that has hit historic highs.

Yes the auto industry has its issues just like everyone else, they have to get smaller and leaner. They need to bring more green products to market, so that consumers have a broader product offering. Does the government realize that, The Big Three and the UAW have been right sizing the ship for a couple of years now. It amazes me that the government steps into a situation they really have know clue about. I will state on this blog today, our government will do more damage than good for our industry and they will take down one of the automakers as well as some of its suppliers. This will result in the loses of jobs, plant closings and several other unrelated auto industry loses. Our government will bring Michigan even further into the economic toilet.

What should be done, well our government should turn the focus to the banks and the credit situation. With all the billions they have received they should be in a position to started extending credit to the consumer and the other industries, like the auto industry. The banks also need to be right sized and have CEO's take an exit. If our government can honor warranty coverage to the tax pay public for there vehicles, they can close down AIG and honor all there polices. Also, instead of giving the banks anymore money try putting that money on people that have kept there mortgage current. Pay off current mortgages and that would put money into our economy now! Let the banks deal with all the bad mortgages that they put out there. Once you have people spending money and feeling good about there own house they will boost the economy enough to get the manufacturing base going and that means jobs.

Do the right thing government and keep your hands in the right place. This is not a difficult situation to fix, and you didn't have to spend all the money that you have. That is another blog! Well only time will tell on the economy, I hope it gets better but I see more job loses for Michigan and our industry. I hope I am wrong, but I don't think so!

Striking out on your own

As you all know, we are in historic economic times. We hit a new jobless rate of over 600,000 this past month. Our government officials said, the slide is not going to stop until sometime in 2010. This morning I was watching CNN and they had a new report on a job fair. Their had to be thousands wrapped around a building waiting for the chance to impress a recruiter. People this is going on all over our country, and its just not getting any better anywhere. So what do we do?

I am striking out on my own, and have opened an Estate Sale Company in Southeast Michigan. Every time I turn on a news cast, it just cements my decision of venturing out on my own. I see long and endless lines at recruiting fairs, and the unemployment figures are rising daily. This is definitely news you already know about, but have you made a plan to navigate your way out of this mess we call a recession.

My business is only a couple months old and I have made great strides. I'm not here to tell you if you open a business you will be a millionaire. We are here to let you know, that it is a road to find personal freedom and a great way to gain control over your future. I took the largest leap of my life by opening this business and I can tell you honestly that I am glad I took this path. Am I scared, you bet but I think being a little scared keeps you on your toes and always thinking about your next move to improve yourself and your business. So are you ready to make the leap, I hope so because it will be the best move of your life.

The first question you need to ask yourself is, where do I start? Well you need to sit down and right down all the skills you have gained over the years. You might of come out of an accounting back ground, so the natural move you might make is opening up an accounting shop. That would be perfectly fine, but don't for get that you can open a tax office. What if you are coming out of a blue collar automotive position, you might want to consider opening a turf and snow removal service. That is work is all about production, the more people you serve them more income you will make. The list goes on, you just need to investigate and find your strengths and passion. Try to find what the work that will get you up everyday. Remember if love what you are doing, it isn't considered work.

Go to http://www.ashlandcorner.com/ to see some of the advertisers on my site. Check each of there sites out, you might gain some ideas on what direction you can take your future business. Sign up for future blogs and I will give you more incite on how to successfully open and run a small business.

Safety Tips for Travel

As I take my first business trip of the new year, I remind myself of some safety tips that might help you out in your future travels. These tips might seem very simplistic, but yet they are very important to over all safety. My company http://www.ashlandcorner.com/ will make several trips a year and we like to review these travel safety tips with our employees in our company newsletter. So we thought that we would state them in our blog, so that they are in the back of your mind.

Hotel Safety Tips

• Keep your room key with you at all times, and if you do loose it remember to let the front dest know. Most hotels have electronic cards and can easily change the code.


• When you are in your room, close the door securely and make use of all locking devices.


• Check doorwall doors and conecting room doors and make sure they are secure, most people don't bother to check these doors.


• While traveling you don't want to draw attention to yourself , so keep large amounts of cash out of site and keep jewelery to a limited.


• Place any valuables you have in the hotel safe.


• Take a few minutes to look for all emergency exits, this is vital information you need to know.


• When returning to your hotel room, be very ware of your soroundings as you just don't know what is around any corner.


• If you see suspicous activity, notify the front dest or a staff member.


• Don't answer your hotel room door until you verify who it is, if it is a hotel staff member verify by calling the front desk.

I hope these tips will make you think twice the next time you go on a trip. If you like these tips please pass this blog along, and be sure to visit http://www.ashlandcorner.com/ . Have a great next trip!

What to ask a prospective estate sale company

First about Ashland Corner LLC. We are a nationaly recognized estate sale company located in Armada, Michigan USA. Ashland Corner has the ability to put estate sale products on multiple media markets so that our clients recieve the highest return from there estate sale. Our web site http://www.AshlandCorner.com is also a great tool for us that gives our clients both past, present and future so much needed knowledge about the industry. The website will give very important information on what to look for in an estate sale company.

What to ask a prospective estate sale company

• Are you insured and bonded, this is protection you are looking for just incase their is an accident or theft on the estate property.
• Do you have referals, you want to know if they have had past experience and what the past client thought of the company you are interviewing.
• How do you plan on advertising my estate sale, you want to know what types of avenues they are going to use to advertise your estate sale
• Are there any up front fee's, Any credible estate sale company will never charge any up front fee's
• Will I recieve a report at the end of the sale, this is benificial to your estate as you can use it when preparing taxes for the estate.
• How and when will I recieve my money at the end of the estate sale, reputable companies will issue a cashiers check along with a detailed report no latter than seven business days after the sale.
• Can I throw anything away before the consultation, Never throw anything away their might be a valuable item that you might not be aware of.

These are just a few things to look for when you are interviewing for you estate sale company. Remember to go to http://www.AshlandCorner.com to gain more information on estate sales.

Look for future blogs on estate sale here.