Drove the MGB for its last official day as my only daily driver. Driven top down to work on 16th for my new personal cold weather record: 25 degrees. On ride home it sleeted/cold rain briefly on me. Sleet stings. Car is complete now thanks to some good friends. Sadly now my 1962 MGB will be for sale.

My new daily driver became a 1989 Saab 900 SPG. I love those cars. Yes it’s old, but I’ll be doggone if I’m going to buy a brand new car with all the proprietary parts the manufacturer puts on them.

Wife says I should use this more when collecting late invoices and dealing with insurance adjusters.

Note the double pen action in pocket. I’m ready.

Think about this: How many businesses on the Earth have survived 89 years? 

Fact: Most don’t survive the first year.

Those that do, rarely make it past 20 years.

And Snappy’s is on its 4th owner, Charles Dowell.

Founded in 1923 in Mount Airy, NC.

Pictured above: The “World Famous” Pork Chop Sandwich with all the fixings.

Have a good day,

Kirk Sanders

Thoughts from my travels from NC to Upstate NY and back.

Technically, one hoards to accummulate rations for future need. However, hoarding has become synonymous of recent with excessive gathering of items or animals. See reality shows on animal hoarding for an example.

So as my family drove up rural country roads, especially in a particularly impoverished part of Pennsylvania, it was amazing to see hovels with vast quantities of items like riding lawnmowers surrounding the house. It made me wonder this: do the poor folks gather junk in an effort to compensate for not having monetary wealth?

Kirk Sanders

Went to a bank work out session (not for me). Moral of the story: Always think long and hard before you sign a personal guaranty. Deals always look so rosy when you first start the deal. Think about whether you can withstand the business imploding and your left standing with payments on the loan.

The problem is most businesses / people have to much debt that sucks the life out of the cash flow. Also, a lot of people keep rolling their debt over and refinancing instead of working to pay it down. Nail down a fixed amortization loan.

The man/woman with a debt free business can take home a lot more cash without having to kill it to make a lot of revenue.

My favorite is a guy I know who started out pressure washing as soon as he got out of school. No business debt. Boy, I wish I had his networth. He kept branching out into other service and manufacturing ventures. 

Just my two cents worth.

Decided I had enough time cooped up in an MGB with the top up. So I went topless this morning and drove to work. It’s been down all day. I wasn’t bad, only my ears were cool on the ride to work. 

But I got some serious looks. And I don’t think it was because I lack a grill, have overspray on my radiator, and have no bumpers. I overheard a couple folks comment “look at that nut”. Yes we can hear everything without a top and rolled up windows.

Too many people buy convertibles for the idea. I know some folks who hardly ever ride with the top down. That goes for a lot of things, though. I know a lot of people who buy huge homes and don’t need 1/3 of the space, then have to live with bigger mortgage payments, utilities, etc. Some buy cars that have 450 horsepower and go 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, but they never race the car or drive it like a dervish on a race track.

Then there’s people like me who drive a 49 year old car with top down with temperatures in the 30’s, I guess some might lump me in the same group. Oh well.

Now I’ve got to ride home with top down in running shorts.

Ciao,

Kirk

So get this:

Lawsuit Filed Over Smell of Corpse in SUV

A Michigan woman is suing a local Ford dealership, claiming that the company failed to inform her that the vehicle she purchased had been stolen multiple times and once contained a dead body. According to the suit, the dealership told the plaintiff the bad smell was from a dead animal, but a hazardous materials company found it was a “human odor.” WELL, IT WAS TECHNICALLY A ‘DEAD ANIMAL’ OF THE KINGDOM MAMMAL. The general sales manager at the dealership claims the smell was not there when they sold the car and that they “would love to get to the bottom of it.”  Boston Globe, Boston Globe  12/06/2011

Read Article: Boston Globe  HEY, YOU BOUGHT A CAR WITH A BAD SMELL & YOU KNEW SOMETHING DEAD WAS IN IT. LIVE WITH IT.

Here are a couple of personal property items the Forsyth County Sheriff will be selling this month:

1- 12/21/11 at Noon at 1202 Fairchild in Winston-Salem– 2007 Bobcatt T300 track loader. VIN 532015904 (Colonial Pacific v. Mario Flores 10 CVS 4649)

2- 12/07/11 at Noon at 1202 Fairchild in Winston-Salem- 1992 Ford Super Wagon (Colonial Pacific v. Mario Flores 10 CVS 4649)

Remember: got to bring cash or cashier checques or some mix of the two. You can’t leave and go to the bank and return.

Caveat: you are purchasing items at Sheriff’s sales subject to any liens (bank loans, taxes, etc.). A lot of people make the mistake thinking they automatically are getting clear title. Do your own due diligence or buy it at a ridiculous price that you can walk away from.

Sometimes you can get a good deal. Be savvy.

I appear at these sales for out-of-county or out-of-county collection attorneys or collection creditors and bid.

www.kirksanderslaw.com

Always make sure your tree man is insured and bonded. You’ll have serious homeowner insurance issues otherwise if a tree or branch falls on a building or house.

Also, get it quoted in writing before the cutting begins.

This is a tree man I use a lot for house and rental properties- James Redmon 336-749-5197 (Tree Cutter). His price is incredible. *Note: I recommend him but you are responsible for your own due diligence. Ask tree cutters for referrals. RULE: Don’t pay until the job is done unless you work an arrangement to pay as certain portions of jobs are completed.

He cleared a ton of brush and small trees from my yard this Fall. This picture is one of 3 piles hauled away & the picture is taken at an angle. It was a huge pile that was 5 feet tall. The City Brush Removal Service loved us.

If the tree or brush is along a property line, talk to your neighbor in advance. Trees that have trunks on both sides of the line are jointly owned.

Never cut down a neighbor’s tree without permission. There’s a statute that awards treble damages for the value of the tree.