After you have narrowed down your choices of Houston movers, call them and due an impromptu interview to get a feel of how they will handle your family move. How they handle potential clients during a phone conversation can go a long way in telling what type of business they run. Be sure and inquire about packing cost, and if they charge by the room or by per box. Also, ask if they have a temporary storage facility for your house wares and furniture, if a problem arises during the move and you cannot get access to your new home immediately.

Asking for referrals is a common practice and should be given by the movers without hesitation. Make sure the company is insured and bonded to protect your belongings in case of an accident, or other untimely emergencies. You never know when something will happen, and if they do not provide adequate protection, then you will be responsible for replacing everything that is lost or damaged.

If you are moving to Houston from out of state, ask your prospective mover if they have a new residents information package. This will help you will all the phone numbers you will need to register your children in school, and have utilities like gas, water, and electricity turned on. This will also give you an idea of how far the mover will go to help you and obtain your business.

Due to the high number of moving companies in the area, you should receive highly competitive quotes when shopping and researching your move. If the bid seems to low, then there may be hidden charges after the fact. Make sure everything is lined out in the quote that you receive before accepting the contract. Read the fine print as well; to make sure that frivolous charges will not be added after the move is completed.

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The Woodlands is one of the largest planned communities in Texas. It’s population of nearly 85,000 knows all to well of the devastation that alcohol addiction can cause in the area. The Woodlands alcohol rehab treatment centers can lift these people up out of their addictive lifestyle and help them to regain sobriety.

Forms Of The Woodlands Alcohol Treatment

Inpatient - When their addiction has gone beyond the bounds of stopping on their own, they will need  assistance in the detox process. Experienced substance abuse recovery staff, can help by having a secure place where drugs and alcohol will not be within reach to the patient so they can become clean long enough for their sobriety to start.

Outpatient Options – This method of treatment is for the individual who can recover on their own and quit long enough to start treatment therapy. They have been able to keep their career and  even their family intact, but still need counseling and education on how to stay sober and understand the importance of living a long life of being sober, and continued recovery.

What Happens After The Woodlands Alcohol Rehab Therapy?

Since the mid 1930s, the people that make up the group called Alcoholics Anonymous have found sobriety, and recovery can last the rest of their lives. People should seek out a group close to their living area after completing their treatment program, and attend meetings regularly to prevent relapsing into their previous life of drinking and abusing drug or alcohol.

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Spring Independent School District

According to Channel 11 News in Houston a Spring Texas High School teacher was accused and charged with sexual assault of a child/student and improper relations of a student and education professional. Ms. Deanna Higgins.

The Administration office at Spring H.S. Put Ms. Higgins on paid administration leave back in January of this year after an anonymous party reported the indiscretion between teacher and student. The Spring ISD Police Department immediately started an investigation into the matter.

Apparently Ms. Higgins is not the only Spring TX.  educator accused of this crime. The school district also admitted that another teacher in the district is on paid leave for a similar incident, but completely separate.

The Spring ISD is  sending a letter home with it’s students to explain what is going on to the parents.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/13/crimesider/entry5381581.shtml

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When the economy was booming just a few years ago, extravagant gifts were under every Christmas tree in America, but today our spending has become less and more realistic. This year we are putting things in perspective and giving to more of those in need than those among us that already have so much already.

Right now is not the time to lessen Christmas bonus’ to people who make our lives easier. Housekeepers, Babysitters, Nanny’s, Yard Maintenance, Pool Guy, and your favorite retail person(s) that you deal with regularly are having the worst times having ends meet due to purchasing power not being as strong right now. Gift cards from grocery stores like Kroger’s, HEB, and Walmart should be at the top of the gift giving list this year. They probably need that pack of underwear or just a little extra to help buy groceries and over the counter medications.

One thing our neighbor did which was very thoughtful was to give her housekeeper’s whole family flu shots this year. It cost $100.00 but it was something the family could not afford she said it was really because of selfish reasons. She didn’t want her cleaning lady to get sick and miss coming to work.

Sure kids want and will get toys, but if they are into sports, then buy them needed gear to perform in their after school sports, buy them a gift card to academy and let your son or daughter pick out what sports gear they need or want. Special sports shoes like cleats, etc are very expensive and this will also let your children realize the real world cost of things and not take it for granted.

So this Christmas give big but give smart Christmas gifts that will help keep everyone in your going and healthy.

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See larger image PlayStation 3 120 GB (Video Game) List Price: $299.99 USD New From: $298.99 Used From: $250.00 Released August 25, 2009.

* HDMI + Bravia Sync functionality that provides both 1080p output resolution, and instant in-synch connectivity between your PS3 and other Sony HDMI enabled products without the use of multiple remote controls.
* A new 33% slimmer, 36% lighter PlayStation 3 entertainment system that is also more energy efficient.
* Includes a Dualshock 3 wireless controller and a built-in 120GB HDD for storing games, music, videos, and photos.
* Built-in Wi-Fi for connectivity anywhere and multiple media format compatibility, including Blu-ray for crystal clear video on High-Definition TVs, CD-ROM, DVD, and others.
* Free membership and access to all the events, as well as game, movie, TV and other media content available on the PlayStation Network (PSN).

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For many years “Computer Repair Services” have received a public black-eye because of scam or con artists in the business. These guys are still out there but it’s harder for them to hide their deception now with the easy flow of news from the Internet and Consumer News TV reports where they fake a computer repair to see what the technician will say and how much they will charge for the services they did not perform. So don’t be surprised when a client is wary at first it’s just part of the business and you will have to earn their trust and keep it to profit in the future.

How did I start my first PC repair business back in the mid 80s? I went to an electronics outlet that sold all the components to build a PC - Took them back to my home office and started trying to assemble and understand hardware of the computer. The first time it took about four and half hours to build my “home-brewed” PC, but after that it only took usually 30 minutes to an hour. Back then the operating system was MS DOS 2.11 and that was a no brainer to install.

Today your learning curve is going to be much large as the hardware constantly changes and the operating systems are much more diverse and complex. You will need to be well versed in Window XP, Vista, and MAC OSX to become a player in this small business niche market. Actually there is so much knowledge needed that most of my buddies keep a wireless notebook with them and access the data from the Internet as they need it. Try and keep your focus narrowed somewhat and do not try to be everything to everyone.

Specializing in wireless networking setups, malware removal and virus removal is a must in the computer repair business. Home and Small business users are thwarted by these problems constantly and will need to competent help in these areas. Spyware and Malware are constantly changing and adapting to overcome the prevention software installed on PC’s and will always be around to hinder your clients in some way.

So how do you gain this knowledge to help your computer customers? You have your own little workshop setup at home and create these problems and then overcome them. Setup a PC just to experiment with virus’, spyware, and the like - read up online how to get rid of them. Some spyware programs require manual removal and something like Norton or other security software packages just cannot handle it automatically. You can easily infect your “test pc” by just surfing the net normally and you will eventually run into these problems or surf the message boards to see where people are getting their problems from and go there.

Optimizing the hard drives and registry of a Windows PC is a necessity today and you will need to be well versed in this area. There are plenty of good optimizing tips and files available free on the Internet for this process. Just Google it. Also learn all the speed up tricks for programs like explorer, Safari, and Firefox - You will be amazed at how slow the default setups are on these packages. Your customers will love you for it.

A personal backup service is a great and profitable niche area to expand in also - Most and I do mean most people never back up their computers. They don’t see the need until it’s too late and even then after it happens they are at best lax about it. So offer to come by weekly, bi-monthly or monthly and back up all their systems for a set price. You will need them to purchase the external hard drive equipment that they need to keep on hand for you, but it minimal in price these days. Another approach is to charge a setup fee to get all of their computers set to back up online with a service. You may even be able to realize an affiliate fee from the backup service to make a little extra money from this offering.

On the subject of pricing - Never cut your prices to get a client - set up your pricing structure and stick to it. Why? Because you will get lots of calls from who think your services should be just about free. They think computers are cheap and so should the repair should be as well. You do not want these people as clients - They will constantly be a source of pain in your business and your pocketbook so keep them away by keeping your pricing intact.

How much should you charge? Personally I would not even leave the house for less than $80.00 for the first hour and $50.00 for each additional hour. When it comes to repairs, upgrades, and virus removal the time is varied depending on the situation, travel time, customer interaction, etc. So do not give a flat fee price because you will almost always lose. If you show up and fix the computer in 10 minutes - then you charge the minimum of one hour (be upfront with your initial contact with the client) and if it takes 96 minutes then you charge for two hours.

What to do if a customer refuses to pay after you have provided your services? It’s simple you send them a bill, then follow up in 30 days with a bill via certified mail, then another with a letter attached telling them you will file for a service-lien against their home or business and the cost of that will be rolled into their computer repair bill. They will not be able to sell their home or business real estate until this is paid. Be sure and document all correspondence, phone conversations, etc. to keep everything legal. Then you have to forget about it until they go to sell their property. But it works like a charm when say a $225,000 home sale is pending on a $350.00 computer repair bill. Be sure and check with your county court clerk for the proper process in doing this and what your limitations are so you keep it legal and honest.

Getting customers is easy - Do about four or five freebies up front (nothing too involved just to get your name out there) - and the word of mouth will start - Tell the freebie clients you are doing this just to let people know about your offerings and that you will not be doing anymore gratis work from then on. Print up cheap and large amounts of business cards and give them out where ever you go. The first 90 days are going to be slow, this how long it takes for people to start hearing about you. Remember they will not need you until they are in trouble most of the time. Just be there for them when they call.

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• First things first - Stop eating out - This is one of the biggest money wasters of all time - Planned meals at home can cost less (unless you are eating Chilean Sea Bass, and Prime Roast every night) and will afford you to make healthier recipes for you and your family. You can feed a family of four for as little as $10.00 for dinner if you buy in bulk and shop the sale items at your local grocery store. Restaurants charge so much these because of advertising, overhead like insurance, and employee theft, expensive ingredients and numerous other reasons. Then on top of that they expect you to pay the waiters salary. It only takes a half hour on a weekend morning to plan your next weeks meals.

• You’ve heard it before but never go to the grocery store hungry. You will generally buy twenty percent more if you are and will probably end up throwing it away due to the expiration date (because you bought too much food). Another tip is keep some cheap chewing gum handy - this will keep you from snacking on samples while shopping and keep your impulse buying down at those demo tables the stores have setup to get you to buy over priced items.

• Back to buying in bulk for a moment - Rice and Bean can be purchased in fifty pound bags at Sam’s Club or Costco and even at Fiesta Super Markets. You can buy inexpensive air tight food containers from many locations (check while at Sam’s when picking up your food). As long as you can keep it air tight and moisture free then it will last a long time. Breakfast Cereal is very expensive and the prices keep going up as the boxes get thinner every year. So definetly buy the large bags of breakfast cereal and go for the store brand instead of the national brand which is going to be anywhere from 25 to 35 percent higher due their advertising budgets.

• Halt all purchasing of bottled water - It’s OK to keep your hurricane emergency supply on hand (Remember Ike - Yikes), but invest in a good under counter water filter system and just keep refilling your old water bottles. It would be great if we could just drink the regular tap water but God only knows what’s in that stuff at any given moment. Even if you just use a Brita 35530 Ultramax Dispenser in your fridge you will save a huge amount of money over the course of a year. Better yet - most people in the Spring TX and The Woodlands area who have newer refrigerators with water dispensers already have filtered water - just keep you filter changed when it the warning light comes on.

• Saving money means spending more time doing things for ourselves instead of paying others to do for us. You can involve the whole family in the extra chores to become more frugal and possibly get some quality time your loved ones by doing it together.

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