My liberal friend

Playing golf with my liberal friend before the election naturally brought on some discussion of politics. At one point in the conversation he said, "Well, at least you're not one of those (blank) Tea Party radicals ." I ask him what was wrong with them. His reply was, "They're ruthless and want to control the whole political process. They're against everything progressive especially when it comes to women's rights. They want the world to return to the days of June Cleaver."

I told him I'd never heard any of that and they just seem to be interested in following the founding fathers and the constitution. Unlike the "Occupy Wall Street" radicals, when Tea Party members gather for a demonstration they always leave the place clean and litter free. At that point he went into a tirade on green energy. Arguing with a liberal is like trying to pick up a dog's dropping by the clean end.

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New health care laws

A local law firm is holding seminars on what employers can expect and what will help them understand and prepare for the employer responsibility requirements under the Federal Health Care Reform that becomes effective January 1, 2014.

In 2014, employers with more than fifty employees can be required to pay a penalty if they do not offer health coverage to some or all full time employees and dependents. A company that offers health coverage to full time employees and their dependents but the coverage is either not adequate or is unaffordable may also be fined.

The Internal Revenue Service has now issued guidance on the employer responsibility requirements as well as on the State Exchanges. Most employers will need to act now in order to be in a position to comply with these new rules in 2014.

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Nice way of saying "Caveat Emptor"

Nick Ostergaard, Central Indiana BBB advertising review manager, wrote, “The average person is exposed to between 3,000 to 5,000 advertising messages daily. Undoubtedly, a certain percentage of these messages will have some sort of spin or bias that is not entirely truthful or not truthful in a practical setting or sense. The BBB monitors local advertising, but the ultimate responsibility rests with the consumer to verify that claims are factual and understand the context in how the claims were made prior to making a purchase based solely on an advertised claim."

The BBB is cautioning consumers to be on the lookout for exaggerated claims and they say that ad messages can sometimes be less than truthful. No kidding? Some examples I've seen right here on Indy television are ads for new carpet at 70% off. The question is off of what? There was an ad in the Indianapolis Star by "Deal Chicken" for carpet cleaning at 58% off. Why doesn't the BBB or the Indiana Attorney General challenge these ads for authenticity? Does anyone remember the stink the BBB made about "Steam" carpet cleaning?

At one time there were rules that said in order to have a sale on something it had to be offered for a higher price for a certain period of time. With no enforcement of FTC guidelines by anyone and with increasing numbers of mendacious merchants, discounts have become meaningless. And on top of these so called legitimate ad offers, there is also the "Bait and Switch" element of just plain crooks in the business. "Buyer beware!"

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Be wary of "pay per click" programs

When "pay per click" came on the advertising scene it was a big hit. Promoters made a lot of money and some of the early users did as well. Then competitors multiplied and rates almost doubled with some providers. Many participants found they were spending more for keywords and pay per click than there was commensurate business.

There were also reported cases of computers programmed to automatically click the right buttons to make money for the promoters of the schemes. Other slick operators found ways to circumvent the process and the rest is history. Maybe the problems some of the high tech companies are having on the stock market are related.

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What does a carpet cleaner do on his day off?

The answer is watch a half-hour television infomercial by Rug Doctor®. It was interesting how they make all of their competition look bad in the demonstration. The woman in the infomercial cringed at the dust mites and germs the host said were in that carpet. She said, "They give me the creeps." I wonder how many were discouraged from buying new carpet by that statement.

To encourage buying their machine, they said carpet should be cleaned every ninety days. In the real world the consumer cleans their carpets once or twice a year. In some cases, it is cleaned every eight years whether it needs it or not. But the thing that got my attention more than the rigged demonstration was that I didn't hear the famous Seal of Approval mentioned nor did I see the logo. And Rug Doctor is CRI's "Star."

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Invista™ boosts Antron® production

Invista™, the owner of the Stainmaster® brand, announced that it is investing $20 million in its North American manufacturing facilities. The company serves the residential and commercial carpet markets, and says it will significantly increase production at its Camden, South Carolina, plant. The company plans to double the volume of Antron® solution dyed nylon made there.

The best news I can take away from this release is that they are going to make more nylon fibers. I'm glad to see nylon getting some of the attention it so well deserves. Invista's recent commitment to polyester has a troubling element about it from this old cleaner's perspective. I hope they're careful fooling around with that poly stuff.

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History

What's going on with the "History" channel on television lately? I used to enjoy the programs that actually explored history from ancient to modern times. Wars from our own Revolutionary war to Desert Storm were exhibited in interesting formats.

Now since NBC took over programs are dominated by people killing alligators in swamps, Alaskan truckers, pawn shops in Louisiana and Las Vegas and "pickers" who buy old junk for cash. I wonder how much of that cash is reported on tax forms, and is the sales tax paid?

Back in the great depression there were people known as "Rag Pickers." They walked the back alleys of neighborhoods singing out, "Rags and old iron." They would buy cloth, metal and junk of all kinds for pennies from people who were suffering from the hard times.

I remember my dear grandmother chiding me to pay attention in school or, "You'll grow up to be a rag picker." Maybe NBC is just preparing us for the future.

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There are some limits

Not long ago I heard a long dissertation on how extraction cleaning works and the speaker insisted there must be at least 30 Hg (Inches of mercury) for vacuum, 800 PSI (Pounds per square inch) of water pressure and at least 250° (Fahrenheit) of heat in order to clean carpet. It's a good thing we're in the cleaning business or I'd have serious doubts about our ability.

I'm not too technical, but it's air velocity that moves water not vacuum. There is only so much room inside the hose to allow air movement. Add water and that space is reduced. As an example, 1 GPM (gallon per minute) requires about 12,000 LFPM (lineal feet per minute) of air movement through a 2" hose to remove at least 95% of the cleaning solution.

That amount of recovery ensures quick drying and prevents problems such as overwetting, browning and mildew. A machine that puts down 3 GPM of solution requires more than 21 Hg for recovery. Many truck-mounts pump up to 7 GPM and operate at 15 to 18 Hg of recovery. We've been at this business for more than 50 years and never came close to those numbers.

I'm glad our customers don't judge us on the numbers thing. According to the BBB, Angie's List®, a newspaper and three television stations that we have worked for on bait and switch consumer complaints over the years, there is no better record of customer satisfaction than that of our service company in Indianapolis. So who's right?

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Thanks Mohawk

Operation "Finally Home" gives custom made, mortgage free homes to wounded and disabled veterans and to spouses of our fallen heroes. Mohawk Industries has helped build a home for Marine Staff Sergeant Vincent Gizzarelli in Jacksonville, NC. He is a wounded vet with two deployments and more than 10 years of service in the Middle East. Mohawk donated 3,000 square feet of carpet, hardwood, laminate and ceramic flooring and Watkins Floor Covering of Jacksonville volunteered a crew to do the installation.

The story brought back some memories for me. Jacksonville is located just outside the main gate of Camp LeJeune and has been the primary liberty port for Marines stationed there. It was a city of about 500 people the first of three times I was stationed there during WWII and the Korean War. You can imagine how a town of 500 looked when 20,000 Marines were let loose. I remember being treated with friendly southern hospitality at the USO by the residents of that great little town. Today 70,801 people call it home.

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Happy Birthday

Today is the birthday of the Continental Marine Force of the American Colonies. It was founded during the Revolutionary War and was authorized by the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775. This small group, with 131 officers and about 2,000 enlisted men, was the genesis of the modern day United States Marine Corps.

The Corps was founded in Tun Tavern at the corner of Water Street and Tun Alley in the city of Philadelphia which is now located under Interstate 95. This seems appropriate since Marines have always had the dirtiest assignments and when a war is over they get run over by budget cuts and threats of disbandment.

Marines, Marine Corps Veterans and especially "old" Jarheads celebrate this historic day.

Semper Fi Marines!

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Bustin' our buttons 11/9/12

Here's a recent Angie's List customer comment:

We called to schedule a carpet cleaning and I spoke to Jan. She was very nice and knowledgeable. I gave her room dimensions and she gave me an estimate and explained that they would determine the final cost once they had seen our rooms.

Their price is so reasonable! I had used this company before I was an Angie's List member and I remembered how much I had liked them and their work. I was delighted to see that they were on Angie's List, and even more delighted that it was the same two gentlemen from the past job.

They were a pleasure to work with and except for a much cleaner carpet, it's like they were never here. Very clean in their work and efficient with time. Very accommodating with our questions. Great with explanations. Our carpeting looks so nice!! We will always use them for our carpet cleaning and we can highly recommend them to anyone for their needs!

Cathy Freyn    Indianapolis, IN

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Nice article on Soil-a-way

http://www.soilaway.com/oct2012-soil-away-visits-indy-and-bane-clene.php

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Think about this tomorrow

For nearly four years, we've heard "It's all Bush's fault!" But on January 3, 2007, and for the last two years of the Bush administration, Democrats controlled the House and the Senate. Unemployment was 4.6% on that date with an economic record of 52 months of job growth.

That day, Barney Frank, a Democrat from Massachusetts, took control of the House Financial Services Committee and Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, took over the Senate Banking Committee. The economic meltdown occurred 15 months later when more than 5 trillion dollars in bad housing loans were dumped on the economy by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Bush had asked Congress to stop Fannie & Freddie seventeen times beginning in 2001 because of the financial risk to the banking industry and the general economy.

Congress sets the budget and Democrats have controlled the Senate since January 3, 2007. They controlled the budget for '08, '09, '10 and '11. For fiscal '09, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid bypassed President Bush entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep the government running until Obama could take office. They passed a massive omnibus bill for the '09 budget and Barack Obama, as a member of Congress, voted for it. Then, as President, he signed the budget-breaking omnibus bill to complete 2009. After that the Democrats in Congress went on a spending binge. If Obama inherited anything, it was the mess he and Congress made. In a nutshell, what Obama is saying is, "I inherited a deficit that I voted for and then I expanded that deficit four fold, but it's all Bush's fault."

Thanks to Fritz Rench, Chairman of Racine Industries, for sending me these facts about the mess in Washington.

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Inflation

Here's the second e-mail on the same subject which is very timely:

Mr. Bernanke says inflation is under control and is running at only 2 % to 3 % a year. Washington DC is like a huge rock and he must have his head squarely under that rock or in someplace where the sun never shines. Everything we buy costs considerably more than the last time we bought it. Some things have doubled or tripled in price.

If you don't think we're on the doorstep of real inflation, think again. All the sign posts are out and indicate it is already upon us. A 600 million lottery prize, athletes paid 20 million to play baseball or football, a million dollars for winning a four day golf tournament and government executives paid millions of dollars to leave their jobs spell disaster and hyper-inflation.

Mr. Bernanke recently refinanced his mortgage. He showed a net worth of somewhere between one and three million dollars. That's a big somewhere! No wonder the Fed can't keep track of their banks and all the loose money floating around.

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