Stress-Free Living

Hey, everyone! Long time, no blog, eh? I know it has been a while since I have posted anything and I hope that not everyone has given me up for dead. I have missed blogging and sharing all the things that are happening in my life. Not that there is a whole lot happening now, but I am planning to become more consistent on here and I hope you will join me.

I know you are expecting an update on my life, but that will have to wait. I had to get on here today and share one thing with you really quick that I read on Darren Hardy's blog. Darren is the publisher of Success magazine and is an individual who has really impressed me over the past year and a half. He did an hour of training at the International Training Event for my company in San Jose, CA last month that was simply amazing. Even though he makes his living in the personal development industry, he is one of those few people out there that seem to care more about helping people than helping themselves by convincing you to buy their latest product that is guaranteed to solve all your problems in 30 days or less.

In his blog post yesterday, he shared an experience of a social event he attended where he had to listen to constant complaining by a group of people about the economy, Obama's performance, the healthcare plan, etc., etc. I hope you'll follow the links in this message to see how he handled the situation when he got fed up with it because his response is awesome for dealing with complainers who are bugging you ... and for dealing with yourself if you fall into that category, too.

I'll blog again soon. I promise!

Choose To Live!

Unless you have had your head buried in the sand, I am sure that you have heard many debates over whether or not the U.S. was in a recession or not. Some said "Yes" while others didn't want to give it a stronger term than an "economic slowdown". The whole debate has served well to sell many newspapers and magazines and to drive people's stress levels up. Add to that the bank failures, home foreclosures and an unprecedented bailout plan that is going to cost the American taxpayers $700 billion and stress levels climb higher and higher. So, when the newspaper headlines officially announced that our great nation was in a recession, it was somewhat of a relief. At least now we can end the debate and get on with our lives.

Let me ask you a question, though. How did you feel when you read the newspaper or clicked on CNN this morning? Did it add to your stress and grumpiness or did you find something positive in it? When I read the official pronouncement of a recession, it didn't change my day one bit. Do you want to know why? Because my situation hasn't changed one bit. I still have a loving wife and wonderful kids. I still have my health and vitality. I still have a job that provides the majority of my income and a side job to supplement it; not to mention a recession-proof business that is endorsed by one of the wealthiest businessmen in the world. I still have my home and other comforts and conveniences that make life easier for me. I still have friends and acquaintances that I get to associate with. Life is still good!

I realize that not everybody has these things and there are people that are losing their jobs and their homes every day. It is an unfortunate situation that has caused a lot of people to become a victim of their circumstances and take a dismal view of life. But there are a few, a select few, who appreciate those things that really matter the most in life and choose a better outlook.

The following is a story that I have always loved which illustrates how we can choose to really live our life each day:

Jerry is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant.

The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gun point by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

Jerry continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'"

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Happiness isn't a booming economy, a home or a job - it is a choice. I hope each of you are choosing to live your life rather than allowing yourself to be victimized by your circumstances and allowing your life to pass you by because you are too busy grumbling about the recession and looking for someone to blame for it. (For more on who is really responsible for a recession, read my post "Are You In A Recession? I'm Not!" on The Millionaire Marathon Blog.) Find something good to focus on in each and every day rather than focusing on the bad. And once we have improved ourselves inwardly, we can change our circumstances for the better as well.

Choose to live today and every day to its fullest!

The Tri-City Herald Fails to Deliver

About Me

Allow me to start by taking a moment to welcome all the Tri-City Herald customers who have accepted my invitation to drop by this blog. By way of introduction, my name is Andy and I'm a 34 year old accountant from Kennewick who aspires to be a published author, a life coach and a nationally-recognized public speaker. I also aspire to create financial freedom for my family through the direct selling of telecommunications services as I work with the only company of its kind that is endorsed by Donald Trump.

I maintain this blog primarily to entertain people and inform them of an occasional event in my life. I also have a second blog called The Millionaire Marathon where I seek to teach, inspire and motivate people to really go for the things they want in life (even though I occasionally do the same on this blog as well).

I am married to a wonderful woman who is a Future Director in Mary Kay and is working hard to become a Mary Kay Director by January 1, 2009. Together, we have three growing boys of the ages 10, 5 and our youngest just turned 3 on Halloween.

I have done newspaper routes off and on (more off than on) since I was 10 years old. In my younger years I was Carrier of the Year two years straight when I was 14 and 15 and I am fairly certain I would have won the award three years in a row if I hadn't quit the routes to work at KFC. My wife laughs when people from routes I had 20 years ago recognize me in the grocery store and tell me that, even to this day, I was the best newspaper carrier they ever had.

I started delivering newspapers again at the start of this year to work through a period of financial difficulty and to pay off some debts. We have long since cleared that period but I elected to stay on as a substitute carrier as I enjoy having the extra cash to put towards our family goal of becoming completely debt-free, to splurge on the occasional family adventure, and for the exercise I get as I work.

I am currently servicing approximately 435 customers over seven different routes, but those numbers tend to change nearly every week. I try and start the first route between 2-3 a.m. and I keep a good hard pace to get it all done by 5:30 a.m. to allow me time to play some basketball with my friends before work every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and to hit the Court Club for an hour of weightlifting on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. There are some days when the long days and short nights catch up with me and I need a little extra rest. On those days, I settle for just getting up with enough time to get the newspapers out by the deadline.

How the Tri-City Herald Fails to Deliver

I have invited Tri-City Herald customers to read this post to give them an understanding of the delivery issues that are affecting them as paying customers. They fall under three major categories:

1. Failure to Deliver Quality Carriers

The reason I am currently delivering your newspaper instead of a regular carrier is because of a combination of factors:

Size - Most of the routes I deliver cover large areas with sizeable gaps between customers. This makes for long delivery times compared to routes where the customers are closer together and the routes smaller in area. An example of this is that I had two routes earlier this year located side by side where I could deliver to 100 customers in only 20 minutes time where more recently I covered one route that covers twice the area of those two routes and it takes me 25 minutes to deliver to only 45 customers.

Difficulty - A lot of the routes that I get assigned to are hard on the body and the vehicle. I was recently delivering a number of routes in the south hills of the Canyon Lakes area which meant lots of running up and down steep driveways and stairways and across large lawns. Terrain isn't the only difficulty though. Every route faces the difficulty of Sunday delivery. You have seen the size of your Sunday paper combined with the additional ads. Multiply that size and weight by anywhere from 30-80 and imagine one person trying to carry that and deliver on foot. It can't be done without making multiple, time-consuming trips or by having someone drive you. And many parents these days are either unwilling or unable to drive their kids around on Sundays - especially considering the gas prices over the past year.

Low Pay - I was delivering one route for several months this past summer as they could not seem to find anyone willing to stick with it for such a small amount of money. This is why I take on so many routes and keep such a fast pace while delivering. Although I drive my car to deliver, some of you have seen me in the early hours jumping out of the car and racing from house to house, throwing papers as I go (my apologies if I have woken you with a poorly thrown newspaper). That isn't so much to keep me slim and trim as it is me trying to maintain an average of at least $20 an hour to make the delivery worth my time.

Changing Attitudes - It used to be that newspaper routes were delivered primarily by kids and young teenagers, but that is not the case any more. It is partly because it is hard to find reliable kids that are willing to work hard and consistently. I was just reading the book The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch where, in one of the chapters, he talks about how studies have shown that there is a growing sense of entitlement among today's youth. As a result, many are unwilling to do these routes either because it is hard work or they feel the work is beneath them. I agree with the lesson that Randy learned from his father who taught him that manual labor is beneath no one. That is one reason why I don't mind doing the paper routes even though I have a college degree. I think it sets a great example of hard work for my children.

I still think a paper route is a great way for kids to learn responsibility and to be dependable.

2. Corporate Failure to Support Substitutes

Due to the difficulties of finding good, quality carriers that last for a long time, we substitutes are a necessary evil that the District Managers are extremely grateful for. Unfortunately, that gratitude does not extend upward into the higher corporate levels.

District Managers have openly admitted that the overall corporate attitude is that, in spite of our assistance and support with the difficulties of high turnover of carriers, a substitute should be done away with as soon as possible. They fail to recognize the value of good substitutes in that they minimize customer loss by maintaining, and oftentimes improving upon, customer service and delivery until a permanent carrier can be found to fill the route again. They just want us gone altogether.

Until that happens, it would appear that the corporate executives wish to make our work and getting paid for our work as difficult as possible. They have instituted the use of constantly changing contracts, attempted to shift company costs to the substitutes, and refused to make payments for certain services we provide that we were being paid for in the past. It has made my life and that of the District Managers who employ my services very difficult. There was even a point this past summer where I was owed over $1,500 for work I had done and the Herald was refusing to pay due to the fact that they changed contract requirements after I had performed the work.

Fortunately, I have learned when I need to stand firm on issues and when I need to dance the corporate paperwork dance to keep getting paid on a regular basis. I have developed a pretty good working relationship with the District Managers in order to keep myself informed and ahead of the corporate games so as to avoid unnecessary difficulty. It is really unfortunate this attitude that they have chosen to have towards the very people that are trying to help them. It has damaged my relationship with the Tri-City Herald to the point that I have started working in a new direction to transition out of delivery service without disrupting service to you as a customer. This new direction is working with the telecommunications provider endorsed by Donald Trump. It is an exciting opportunity and I would love to share what I am doing with you. Click here for more information about an amazing offer that ends Nov. 30 and for a link to my website.

3. Failure to Forward Tips

This, I feel, is the largest abuse of the Herald's relationship with their customers and one that you should be aware of. Typically, when a customer makes a payment directly to the Tri-City Herald with a tip included, the Herald will forward the tip on to the carrier. This is not the case when there is a substitute on a route. The tips that you pay into the Herald do not go to the substitute carrier that is currently delivering your newspaper - the Herald keeps them!

Denis Waitley taught me that the word "tip" stands for To Insure Performance. Because of this Denis actually advocates giving a tip in advance rather than after good service has been given. Well, as of right now, your tips are only insuring the performance of the Tri-City Herald balance sheet right now.

I do not tell you this to try and solicit tips from you. I work hard to make the amount of money that I make and am appreciative of my health and ability to do so and I appreciate the compensation I receive for my efforts. I have had the added pleasure of meeting some of you in the early hours and have appreciated your kind expressions of satisfaction in my level of service both in your words and in the tips handed to me. I have even managed to spot a rare "To the TCH Carrier" envelope taped to a door or propped up on the edge of the porch where I would see it. Again I thank you for your generosity and thoughtfulness. (If I have missed other generous offerings, I do apologize. I can only think that I overlooked it due to the pace that I keep and the darkness of the morning.) Nor do I tell you this to try and upset you to the point of canceling your subscription or of making angry phone calls into the Tri-City Herald as both of those could make a significant impact on my income. I just want to make you aware of the situation so that you can determine whether the tips you choose to pay go to the carrier or the company.

I do not know how long I will be a substitute on your route, but you can always check this blog to find out. I will post route changes as the occur as well as maintain a side section that is labeled "Nice Guy Delivery" where you can check to see if your address falls in my current delivery area (A good reference, too, if you notice changes in the quality of the service you are receiving. You can check to see if it is me or someone else). If I am still delivering to you and you wish to leave me a tip, you may e-mail me at niceguyblogging@hotmail.com and leave me instructions of where to look for the envelope. Otherwise, you can call the Tri-City Herald at (509) 586-2138 during their office hours and instruct them to leave a comment on the "top sheet" for the route with said instructions. This method will actually work whether I am your carrier or whether somebody else is.

These are the three areas where I feel the Tri-City Herald has failed to deliver to you as a paying customer. For the most part, I have no control over these situations, but I will continue to do what I can to minimize the impact of these difficulties where I can.

A Small Favor

If you have read this far in the blog, I appreciate you taking the time to come by and see what I have to say and invite you to come back again soon. I do have one last favor to ask of my Tri-City Herald customers and I hope you do not mind me asking. During the winter months, sidewalks and porches are filled with decorations and/or become wet and slick at times. Please leave a porch light on to insure my safety, to protect your decorations from damage, to keep your paper dry, and to enable me to deliver to your doorways more accurately. I would really appreciate it.

Thank you again for visiting my blog and I hope to see you here again. Don't forget to click here to read about the details of the awesome telecommunications offer that expires this month. You can also click here to find out more about the company I am working with and some different ways that I may serve you. If something peaks your interest, e-mail me at niceguyblogging@hotmail.com with your name and number to allow me the opportunity to discuss those interests further. Have a great day!

The Golden Rule and Our Economic Crisis

WARNING! Serious blog topic ahead. Proceed with caution.

Every morning I catch the tail end of the AfterMidNite radio show hosted by Blair Garner. It is generally a country music show, but the last two days Blair has gotten on his soapbox a little bit about two issues that I wanted to share with you.

The first issue started with the Tuesday morning BrainBuster question which was: "Statistics show that only one in five men do this. What is it?" The answer to the question was give up their seat in. While Blair was shocked that the statistic was so low, Tim, the producer of the show that is frequently the butt of Blair's jokes and is occasionally heard laughing and commenting in the background, said he could understand why men wouldn't because these days many women will get offended if you offer her your seat or open a door for them because they feel it puts them in a subservient position. I agreed with Blair who thought that was a ridiculous reason to not do it. He went on to eventually say that it is an act of kindness and consideration and follows the golden rule. Whether they take it or not is up to them.

Blair's comment about the golden rule sparked another commentary session on this morning's show regarding the $700 billion bailout that lawmakers are trying to pass. Tim and Blair started out talking about how we, as Americans, have become a bit spoiled. We have had it so good for so long that we just want more and more and more. When money isn't readily available, we have ready access to credit cards and loans to get us all that we want right now. When we overextend ourselves, we declare bankruptcy and then start over. It is like a "get out of jail free" pass.

Corporations and banks have become exceedingly greedy these past few years. With the expanding housing market, financial decision-makers took advantage of the population's general financial awareness and engaged in subprime lending practices (the practice of giving loans to those who would not normally get them) and predatory lending practices (deliberately targeting borrowers who may not have fully understood the terms of their loan or lending to people who were never likely to afford the interest payments in the long-run). Many of these loans included exorbitant fees and hidden terms and conditions in the loans that translate to dollars for bankers.

Now that the housing bubble has burst, these practices among others have unleashed an economic crisis that is rippling through nearly every household in America and extending outward to countries around the world. And all this happens as corporate and bank executives take home multi-million dollar bonuses. Did you know that Alan H. Fishman, the newly-hired chief executive officer for Washington Mutual that was on the job less than three weeks before its crash, was given a $7.5 million signing bonus (which he gets to keep) and is eligible for $11.6 million in cash severence? At least Kerry Killinger, the previous WaMu CEO, turned down his $1.4 million bonus for 2007 due to the deteriorating situation of the bank. Fishman can walk away with up to $19.1 million for spending less than three weeks worth of his life guiding WaMu into bank failure. (I think WaMu customers got a raw deal on that one. I would have done it for only $1 million.)

I always wondered what the difference is between an executive that illegally takes millions of dollars and crashes the company like Enron and one that takes millions of dollars while legally crashing the company. They both make their decisions out of greed and self-interest. They both ultimately run their company into the ground. The only difference I can see is that one goes to jail while the other one doesn't.

The point is that all of this could be avoided if Corporate and Bank executives and even each of us, individually, followed the golden rule. How different would this be if the banks really considered the borrower and their long-term ability to pay back the loans rather than focus on the fees and the interest they would collect that would boost their annual bonus? How different would this be if they considered the long-term impact on the American economy if the housing market turned rather than expect it to be booming forever? How different would this be if we stopped throwing billions of dollars at the people who are trying to get the American people deeper and deeper in debt and actually used it to teach and help people to get out of debt?

The $700 billion bailout package that is being considered is like a "get out of jail free" card for the very people who have caused the financial crisis we are in. They get to keep their fancy houses and summer homes, their flashy sports cars and their millions of dollars they have collected creating this mess; they get to keep the job that they failed to do right! And the majority of the American people that are suffering because they got greedy get the tax bill that is going to result because of this.

I don't know about you, but I prefer to get what I pay for. Did you know that if you applied the $700 billion to every existing mortgage on the books today, you would pay down over $20,000 on each and every one? If you took every mortgage under $75,000 that is currently on the books (my mortgage does not fall into that category) that $700 billion would pay them all off completely!

I would prefer not to spend the $700 billion at all and follow a better plan to work our way out of this. Dave Ramsey has an opinion on how we can fix this without putting our nation deeper in debt. See Dave's 3 Steps to Change the Nation's Future and read all of it, including The Common Sense Fix proposal.

Now I did mention that each of us need to follow the golden rule as well. Do you have any idea how much smaller our nation's deficit would be if none of us cheated on our taxes? Do you have any idea how much different your children's lives would be if you set the example of living within your means, paying off your debts and avoiding bankruptcy by any and all means possible? I am sure there are other examples to apply the golden rule to and it is definitely something worth thinking about.

There is no doubt that financial hard times lay ahead for our nation, but if we use the golden rule as a guideline and look at the long-term effects of our decisions rather than settle for band-aid solutions that will fail to stick in the long run, we can weather the storm and make things better all around.

Sometimes The Simplest Idea Can Make The Biggest Difference

Trevor McKenney: I guess it's hard for people who are so used to things the way they are - even if they're bad - to change. 'Cause they kind of give up. And when they do, everybody kind of loses.

Pay It Forward

I love the concept of this movie. A young boy named Trevor and his classmates are challenged by their social studies teacher to come up with an idea that can change the world and act on it. The teacher does not really expect anything worthwhile to come out of this assignment, so imagine his surprise when Trevor actually comes up with a simple, yet brilliant idea.

Trevor comes up with the idea of doing three acts of kindness to other people. The recipients of these acts are not allowed to pay the giver back, but instead must pay it forward by doing three acts of kindness for others. The intention is to create an ever-expanding ripple effect of acts of kindness and good that eventually would encompass the entire world.

The quote above, however, illuminates the danger that we all must be wary of - apathy! Apathy is generally defined as the absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement.

Have you ever had an idea that could effect change either in your personal world or the world beyond? Perhaps you had an idea to get out of debt, to lose weight, to develop a significant talent, to render service to others, to start a business, etc. Why didn't you act on it or, if you did act on it, why didn't you see it through to completion? I can almost guarantee it is because you lacked the passion, emotion and excitement to do so or you suppressed it by giving in to your fears.

Passionate people effect change. Dave Ramsey is passionate about helping people become more financially literate and sets them up with a plan and the principles to get them debt-free and financially secure.

Emotional people never give up when those emotions are channeled in the right direction. If you have ever watched The Biggest Loser on T.V., you become a witness to people making extreme weight changes because they have an emotional reason for doing so. And when the pain seems unbearable and the task impossible, they draw upon that emotion to push them through the worst so that they can achieve their best.

Excited people are contagious. Some might even say they are annoying, but that is only because somebody else is excited about something and the sound of it is intruding on their dull, dreary existence. But the extreme levels of excitement create a magnetic pull that sweeps people up and fills them with excitement for what is going on. Soak some excitement up and pass it on to someone else!

I think all of us should have a world-changing idea that we are acting on whether it is one that we came up with or somebody else thought of it first. It should be an idea that we can be passionate, emotional and excited about. Out of my concern for other people's financial well-being and a desire to increase my ability to give to others, I developed The Millionaire Marathon. I still believe it is a concept that will help change the world when it catches on. I am also working on another world-changing idea that I hope to share with you real soon.

Do you have an idea that you are currently acting on? If not, take the one from this movie and go and complete three acts of kindness and ask your recipients to pay it forward. Who knows - you may just change the world!

Do You Have Gas?

There was an article in the newspaper yesterday that covered an inquiry as to how the presidents of the four largest fuel companies can justify their record profits (something like $123 billion among the four of them) while the prices at the pump continue to rise. I wish I could say I was shocked at how they defended their position completely and refused to take responsibility for the impact their record profits are having on the American economy. I am all for making profits, but not when there is such a heavy impact on everyone I do business with. Then, on top of it all, the rationalized continuing to get something like $18 billion in tax breaks for continued research and development. Come on! You can't part with a little bit of your profit to pay to improve your business? It's ridiculous!!!

There is an upside to all of this, though. People are carpooling more to save on gas which cuts down on the pollution from automobiles. Others are biking or walking places that they would normally drive to. So, these high gas prices aren't all bad. I just hate to see so many people and businesses struggling to make ends meet while these companies are making money hand over fist.

On that note, let me share with you an e-mail that my boss forwarded on to me yesterday:


TIPS ON PUMPING GAS

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon.

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose, CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some other liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.

Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON!

Gas rationing in the 70's worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor.

An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS.

Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis.

Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.

I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.

These companies import Middle Eastern oil:

Shell................................ 205,742,000 barrels

Chevron/Texaco........... 144,332,000 barrels

Exxon /Mobil................ 130,082,000 barrels

Marathon/Speedway.... 117,740,000 barrels

Amoco............................... 62,231,000 barrels

Citgo gas is from South America, from a Dictator who hates Americans. If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is now $90 - $100 a barrel)

Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:

Sunoco..................0 barrels

Conoco..................0 barrels

Sinclair..................0 barrels

B P/Phillips..........0 barrels

Hess......................0 barrels

ARC0....................0 barrels

If you go to Sunoco.com, you will get a list of the station locations near you.

All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers. It's really simple to do.

Now, don't wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!

I'm sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)...and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) .. and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers!!!!!!! If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted!

If it goes one level further, you guessed it ..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. How long would all that take?