Landscape Planning & Designing

My friend, Mark, just sent me photos of his new garden. He had the grass dug up and covered the ground with crushed granite stone instead. Mark is an architect and so is his partner so they know what they are doing.

My house has a large garden that I have always wanted to change but I have no idea what to make of it. I have trees and plants which though I like for their shade and greenery, I hate the work of caring for them. With a grassy lawn, you can imagine the time it consumes keeping it neat and tidy!

I just came across this boston landscaping company which offers an obligation-free landscaping consultation which I think is an excellent service for homeowners who would like a new garden that would not only look beautiful but is also functional. After all, a garden is an extension of the house.

This company, SLDA Landscape, promises to make every garden unique because they take the trouble to find out in-depth what the homeowner wants. On top of that, they make sure to work within our budget, yet enhance the value of our home with their creativity.

Luckily with services like these, we don’t have to be architects or landscape designers to own a beautiful garden too!

L.A. To Foot The Bill For Michael Jackson Public Memorial Service

Last week, Michael Jackson fans and non-fans were discussing on the web if it's OK for Los Angeles to collect donations from Michael Jackson fans around the world to help pay for the cost of his public memorial service. The bill came up to US$1.4 million.

While many people said that either the City or Michael Jackson's family should pay, the webpage that was set up with a PayPal account still received US$35,000 in donations from Michael Jackson fans. if not for crashes to its server due to a surge in web traffic, I guess the collected amount would be a whole lot higher.

Surprisingly, today, L.A. Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, returns from a 9-day South African holiday to deny that he was the one who solicited for donations, that his staff did it, and that we should ignore his Tweets or the webpage and that the City will foot the bill. It is not known if the donations would be returned to sender.

Hard Task Of Collecting Debt

My friend, Alex, tells me that he dreads going to work these days. I am sure we all are feeling, or even reeling from, the effects of the slow economy but for Alex, his company has many clients that are just unable to settle their bills these past few months and it is not surprising seeing how difficult it is for cash to come by. Or perhaps they are just unwilling.

Alex has been given the unenviable task of contacting these debtors and chase for payment. Alex thinks he is not suitable for the extra task because of his soft character and he gets bullied.

I told Alex that he should propose to his management to engage a debt collection agency to do the job. They are the specialists and they would know what to do when encountered with debtors. They don't need to factor in any past business association or relationship. They just do their work professionally.

Yes, this would surely be the solution for Alex and he need not worry about going to work doing something he doesn’t like anymore. After all, collecting debt isn’t even in his job scope and he shouldn’t be made to do it when his colleagues aren’t! Don’t you think so too?

Michael Jackson Autographed Painting To Be Auctioned On eBay

I just read this from Indopia that a painting by Leon Jones of Michael Jackson and autographed in silver paint pen on February 9, 2002 by both Michael Jackson and his long time friend, actress Elizabeth Taylor, will be put on auction on eBay on July 17th, 2009.

It is not stated why Leon Jones managed to paint Michael Jackson or how and this isn't the only painting of Michael Jackson he has. It is not stated if this painting was painted from Leon Jones' imagination or if Michael Jackson posed for it but the fact that he autographed it means that he knew about it and endorsed it.

This would surely be a great addiction to a Michael Jackson collection for any of his fans. It is not known how much the starting bid would be but part of the proceeds will be donated to a children's charity. I am sure Michael Jackson would be delighted to know about it.

Source: Indopia

Vision For The Company

I am often asked where I would like to see my small company in ten years' time. Well, obviously I would like to carry my own label. Because of time constraints, I cannot expand my idea right now. I believe I already have the capital and if what I have is insufficient, I could pool investments from a few friends who may be interested to be sleeping partners. That's the level of participation I am interested in. Not more than that.

I know that starting my own label would be a lot of work. Besides pushing the brand name to the public, which I could get help from a Branding Company I would need to rush the stocks out as fast as possible to avoid high holding cost.

Even if I may not have the time to get this project off the ground, I have already identified several companies that would be able to help implement it; from the manufacturer to the marketing company. Of course, with my limited budget, if I do not plan to seek investments from third parties, I am going to start on a small scale but that would still be a dream come true!

In any case, it is good to dream. It’s free after all! Time would tell if I could turn this dream into reality!

The Original Hamburger Bed

I was searching for bedroom redecoration ideas when I stumbled upon this Hamburger bed. Gosh, this is just the kind of bed I like, I tell you. I harbour dreams of owning a house that is like a doll house with novelty items. Conventional items are just not my style. I love oddities and this kind of bed would just suit me the most!

At this point, the hamburger bed has attracted over forty bids and rose from a starting bid price of 99cents to its current US$570. I have to say that it's pretty costly for an original famous Hamburger bed!

Now, if I were to buy it, I really have no idea how much I am willing to pay for it. I may like novelties but I certainly like them cheap. Besides, think about the logistics of shipping it over to me. LOL

Source: IGN
eBay listing: HERE

Debt Collection Agency

My cousin, who is an illiterate, told me that he has been receiving official letters from a company demanding payment for a debt that he owes a bank for his credit card bills. My cousin does not know why this company has taken over or why he has to pay this company instead of settling the bank directly. He was also worried that making payment to this company, he would STILL owe the bank.

After reading those letters, I explained to him that this is a debt Collection Agency that has been entrusted with the task of collecting bad debt by the bank. I am sure my cousin is only one credit card debtor and it would be easier for the bank to just pass the task to an agency to handle all such accounts. It is just a cost effective measure, I guess.

The fantastic thing is that this agency told my cousin that if he would settle his debt in one lump sum, he would be able to get a discount of up to 30% on the total. I guess they just want to close these debtor accounts as fast as possible. I think my cousin has already owed them for longer than ten years! And the amount isn’t that much too!