I would be a complete fool if I did not send a huge thank you to Chad of Chad’s Complete Auto Repair for the exceptional customer service I received this past week. My trusty Nissan Pathfinder needed some work done, we were worried it was a head gasket, but after Chad pulled the engine it turned out to be a tube that needed repairing which ended up saving me a TON on money. After picking up my truck, the check engine light came on. I called Chad, he asked if he could stop by my house that evening with his computer to check it out. I said fine. Then a downpour happened. No matter, Chad showed up right on time and asked for my keys. I asked if he really wanted to take a look in this rain (also it was around 8pm and was very dark too). Chad shrugged it off and got to work. Nothing was found and he reset the light for me. If the light came back on tomorrow, he wanted me to call him. Well, I knew that tomorrow was his grandmother’s funeral and I absolutely wasn’t going to bother him that day. The day after the funeral, I did give him a ring with the news that the light returned and he showed up the next morning with the keys to his car in his hand and he drove my car into his shop and quickly found the problem in a non-downpour, pitch black work environment. My truck is running like a champ now. Chad is the man!

In other good small business news. I gave the owner of John’s Barber Shop (who was originally in opposition to the Medford Lakes Farmers Market returning) a call after she had sent an email wanting to set me straight on a post and email I had send to the Medford Lakes Council members and I really couldn’t be happier. The owner explained to me their reasoning and I really admire her for reaching out to me and correcting me in a few areas, but more so, the fact that she and all of the Trading Post Way shop owners have all rallied behind what is becoming a great attraction for our little town. Last night, the council member voted unanimously to continue the Medford Lakes Farmers Market! Big thanks to Gary Miller (our mayor), Brian Samelson (who organized the community on Facebook to drum up support to bring back MLFM) and especially to the shop owners like Bree and the Farmers Market team for working out some obstacles to benefit EVERYONE. Great job everybody!

And now a special message from Abbe Zabby…

Dear everyone,

This was sent to me by a little girl who I babysat years ago.  She is now Miss Mercer County and is competing for the title of Miss New Jersey.  If anyone is interested in buying an ad for the pageant’s program book, please let her know.

> Hi, everyone,

>

> I am encouraged to sell ads for the Miss New Jersey program book.

> There are a variety of prices…The most expensive option is $275 and

> the least expensive is a $10 one-liner in the program book. I’d

> appreciate your support because the money goes to the Miss New Jersey

> Education Foundation for scholarships. If I am able to solicit some ad

> sponsors, it also shows I am serious about the job of Miss New Jersey.

>

> If you are willing to put an ad in, or if you know someone who is,

> please take a look at this form and forward along if applicable. I

> suspect you are likely broke like me, so thanks for reading.

>

>

> love

> cj (Carmen J. Bloom)

>

> –

And here is a link to the form if you or someone you know may happen to be interested. If you have any questions, feel free to email them my way and I’ll send them to Abbe or Carmen.

Small Business/Tech Links…

• SEO 3.0 – The New Rules
• Effective Internet Video Marketing for Small Business
• Everything You Need To Know About Google’s +1
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• Top 7 Worst Website Names
• If I’m Doing this at this guy’s age, I win.
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I am very proud of my son, he was named student of the week for his class. On top of that, he also aced his quiz yesterday. My boy was all smiles when he came home.

Viv and Abbe had some fun last night. They worked on making new decorations for our front door and front windows (they like to do a few crafts for the next upcoming season/holiday). The new display will be Spring. So they made bees, ladybugs, butterflies, flowers, and suns. I could definitely use some more cheer around here…

I forgot to mention a very thoughtful gift Abbe received from my very good family fiends, Gil and Faith. Faith packed up a ton of sewing projects and patterns for Abbe…

I am doing my best to temper my mounting complacency and worry. Life has a tendency to deal you a wicked lesson in perspective when you start thinking you deserve better. Embracing the big wide open is scary, scary shit for a guy in my position – but I have to. So come here big wide open, come get your big bear hug from me. I give great hugs.

Movie Review…

The Informant! – on paper this sounds interesting – mentally ill executive caught up in a scandal involving corporate greed with a great cast, but in the end this film never assembles itself much like the misfired neurons of the main character. I don’t really know enough about film making to tell you I’m right, but the coordination of this film is what fails, not the idea or the acting. There just is no guts to this flick.

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Facebook for Business: A Spam-Free Way to Get People on Facebook to Visit Your Site
• Top Ten Tips On How To Use Payroll Software
• How Businesses Can Survive a Product Recall Using Social Media
• HOW TO: Add Facebook Questions To Your Brand Page

Funny/Interesting Links…

• text-align: centaur; – thanks Justin
• Jeff Koons Must Die!!! – brilliant
• Time’s 140 Best Twitter Friends – no @CobraCommander or @BronxZoosCobra?
• We Can Crop That Out
• Star Wars Growth Chart – Chewy could have been included too, but this is boss
• Insulted By Authors

Well, the Fearsome Monday Of Financial Misery (FMOFM) was as expected – miserable. It’s not a good sign when your accountant tells you as you exit his office, “you know, maybe going back to full-time work isn’t a bad option.”

I am getting so fed up with small business owners not supporting each other. And do not misread that statement, that has absolutely nothing to do with any of my customers. Nothing. Right now there is a movement in my town to do away with a farmer’s market that brings tons of foot traffic to our little commercial section. And who wants to do away with the market? A handful of those business owners that own shops on that small street (or trail as we call them in Medford Lakes). They claim that the street being closed means no parking for their customers (there is a MASSIVE parking lot next door at the PJ Whelihan’s that does not open until the market is closed for the day. If you live in the area, please join the Facebook group and get involved.

My Friends Are So Freakin’ Cool…

I just spotted this in my Flickr feed – yes, my friend Sarah has had her kickstarter campaign funded! Way to go Sarah!

Small Business/Tech Links…

• CSS Typography: Examples and Tools
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Funny/Interesting Links…

• One Man Disney Movie
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I have a pretty busy day today. One of those meetings is with my accountant and another involves me plunking down $400 for the kids’ summer camp. Since winning those countertops in 2010, that will probably mean I’ll be owing something this year. On top of that, my TV suddenly had something go really funky with it’s picture. It kinda looks like it’s in 3D. Except it’s not a 3D TV. It’s an older rear projection TV and based on what I’ve been reading, the convergence is out of whack. If that is in fact the problem, the IC convergence chip(s) will run about $425 to repair. Also, I think I’ll be getting a call from my buddy Chad who is currently working on my Pathfinder’s head gasket to let me know when my truck will be ready.

So a day full of finding out how much I will owe can tend to put me in a foul mood. I need to do my best to remember all those folks gathering Saturday night in my honor to keep my chin up.

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Embracing and Using CSS3 Pragmatically

Funny/Interesting Links…

• 2009 Called
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A couple days ago, our very good friend Liz sent Abbe and I an email thanking us for inspiring her to train for the Disney Marathon after having her third child. Liz is pushing through some of those growing pains of being a born again runner and also fighting pain from arthritis. And Liz’s email could not have come at a better time for me. I’m having a tough time financially (well, I’ve been having a tough time more accurately) and it is easy to push exercise to the back burner when you are worried about money.

See, when you run and get to some sort of goal you have set for yourself, it makes others want to try for something too. And so begins the vicious cycle of inspiration that I’ve discovered while running. Your friends might see posts on Facebook detailing your training and they think, “hey I should really do something”. Every runner goes through downtimes – an injury, a horrible life happening, just getting depressed about your progress… and that is when your fellow runners help. That runner you inspired to start training, they are going to post something on Facebook and you’re going to think to yourself, “I need to get out there again.”

So although Liz was thanking Abbe and I, for maybe giving her a nudge to run herself, Abbe and I gleam a lot of get-up-and-go from our friend Liz. We love you much lady. And all of you folks reading this, go over to her blog and tell her hello, maybe send her some good thoughts.

Signs of Goodness…

Yesterday, while driving Abbe to work at the Carriage Trade Cheese Shoppe, I got a call from my bank, The Bank. “Oh crap” is generally the first thought that comes when that number shows up on the caller id. But it was a manager letting me know that I wrote a check from my personal account that was about to bounce. Without me even telling her what had happened (I had meant to write the check from my LLC’s account), she asked if she could transfer funds from my LLC account to cover the check and I would avoid a penalty. I want everyone to read that again. The bank called me. To help me avoid an overdraft fee.

That made me feel really great about choosing a local bank for my business accounts. Thank you!

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Why Everyone Is Talking About Node
• CSS Typography: Techniques and Best Practices
• Plugin Prevents Your Passive Aggressive E-mails From Going Out
• New Website from Zero to Hero in 6 Months for Generic Keywords (Google Top Ten) – 6 of 7

Funny/Interesting Links…

• 5 Ways To Integrate Technology Into Your Child’s Education
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• Celery – NSFW
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