In the florist business we sold over 3200 different products, not counting the different sizes or varieties of single products.
When you have that many different items, we can take a beating and sell a few of them at a loss to keep all the prices uniform, without it affecting the bottom line.
The same holds true for the lesser inventoried items as well. We had the same price for a dozen long stem roses, regardless of color or variety. Even so, Talisman cost more than Double Yellow, and Yellow and Cream cost more than Red. Talisman cost so much more in fact, that they were sold at a loss. Most folks bought Red roses, so supply and demand kept their price down lower than the rest. So we based our sale price of a dozen roses slightly lower than what Yellow or Cream dictated, because the number of sales of Red made up for the difference. We once tried charging 2 bucks more for a dozen Talisman, and guess what, they didn't sell at all. Folks would opt for the Double Yellow instead, which was basically break even for us.
FWIW: I did reduce the size of my product from 12 oz down to 10 oz, and then down to 8 oz, where it has been ever since.
Actually, I started out with 12 oz bottles in the beginning because that is what I had in my inventory from other products.
Then I went to a fancy twin neck 10 oz dispenser bottle that cost a fortune. But at that time, I did not have so many middle men. I sold direct to wholesalers. Then as business grew and I had to cut prices to sell to distributors, this is when I made a major change and dropped down to 8 oz bottles, it also matched the size bottle most other aquarium products came in at the time.
When it came time to take on a mfgr. rep. who also handled storage of the product for shipping to distributors, and I worked out a minimum order I had to cut my prices again, but in the long run, I made more by not having to deal with all the other stuff.
Most of the bulk ingredients in my product, have gone from 69 and 89 cents per unit, up to 1.95, and 2.25 per unit.
Or from $4.25 per batch up to $10.95 per batch, and this is for only two of the ingredients. Most of the other ingredients are much higher priced, but we use less of them per batch. There is no way I can raise my prices as high as what my ingredients have cost without crossing the point where my product will not sell.
When sales were high, I could buy in larger bulk quantities of the main ingredients I use.
But sales have tapered off over the years as many left the hobby, and other hi-tech equipment was purchased by others, so the need for my type of product has gone down. This also means I cannot buy in the larger quantities, which also makes my price for ingredients higher.
I used to ship 48 bottles per case for 45 dollars per 4 case shipping cost.
After they damaged a few shipments, I switched to 24 bottles per case, and shipping costs had risen so that the 25 dollar shipping cost has risen to 55 dollars for 5 cases going out.
Then over the past two years, that price kept climbing nearly weekly until it now costs 85 bucks per 5 cases to ship.
I tried raising my price by only 25 cents 5 years ago, and my number of orders dropped in half. So I cut it back to what it was before, and my sales went right back up to the normal amount for the past 5 years.
So, as you can see, I'm at a stalemate here. Folks just won't pay more for the product at this time. Now maybe if all the vendors raised their prices to cross that threshold limit, maybe then. After all, the Dollar Menu at most fast food places is now 2 for 5 bucks. So the dollar items jumped up to 2.50 that quick.
Here is something to think about regarding taxes.
On a 25 dollar item, when you got up to the register to check out, and the cashier gives you these two options.
We can charge you 19.00 for the item if you pay 1.00 in excise tax, and local sales tax on the 19.00. Total 21.90
Or we can charge you the normal amount of 25 dollars, plus local sales tax on the 25 dollars. Total 27.50
Which of these two options do you think people will select?
The way the system works right now, everyone is selecting the 27.50 amount, because they don't know any better.
The government still only gets their 1 dollar with either method you choose.
That extra 4.00 is shared as profits on taxes by the companies down the chain of distribution and manufacturing.
How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
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Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
There isn't much advice I can give you about running a business. I think you have a bit more practical experience in that area than I do. I am familiar with economics but only in a general sense and thus can provide general opinions on that subject. The success of your family business speaks for itself. It didn't last as long as you, or the family, would have liked to see it run, but what you did do made a mark in the community. For that you all can be proud. Your personal table top businesses impress me as being run out of necessity; you need the income. But, I think you have business blood flowing in your arteries. You can't not be involved with some sort of commercial enterprise. LOL So, if I were to suggest closing shop that would violate two critical driving forces behind your operation. I don't know the ultimate solution to your current dilemma, but I am certain you will find an appropriate action to take. As I said, it's in your blood.
Taxes will always be needed. There is no work around for the need to fund the operation of the taxing body. I think we can agree on that point. Your business background gives you some behind the scenes insight that non-business type people could benefit from. The reality of it all is that no matter what it costs to collect the tax, the consumer of the product or service is burdened with paying it. That's a simple fact of the economic system we know and love so much. I see taxes as a cost of doing business. The consumer does not care about the line items that make up the list of costs, taxes et. al.. Of course nobody in their right mind would pay a higher price if they had a choice of two options. When we all get to the checkout lane there is only one choice. Pay the price asked or don't buy the product. The accounting practices of the merchant are not negotiable at the point of sale. While I must agree that businesses may not be offering the lowest prices they can to the consumers, the consumer has the final say. They will or will not buy at your price no matter what the cost components, profit margins, or outright gouging practices happen to be. Think about the Apple iPhone. Is it really worth the $1000 you must pay for a cheap one? The people who buy it feel it is and we all know Apple is inflating the price just because they can. The same line of reasoning goes into taxes on products. Economics is not all science. There is some psychology going on there too.
Taxes will always be needed. There is no work around for the need to fund the operation of the taxing body. I think we can agree on that point. Your business background gives you some behind the scenes insight that non-business type people could benefit from. The reality of it all is that no matter what it costs to collect the tax, the consumer of the product or service is burdened with paying it. That's a simple fact of the economic system we know and love so much. I see taxes as a cost of doing business. The consumer does not care about the line items that make up the list of costs, taxes et. al.. Of course nobody in their right mind would pay a higher price if they had a choice of two options. When we all get to the checkout lane there is only one choice. Pay the price asked or don't buy the product. The accounting practices of the merchant are not negotiable at the point of sale. While I must agree that businesses may not be offering the lowest prices they can to the consumers, the consumer has the final say. They will or will not buy at your price no matter what the cost components, profit margins, or outright gouging practices happen to be. Think about the Apple iPhone. Is it really worth the $1000 you must pay for a cheap one? The people who buy it feel it is and we all know Apple is inflating the price just because they can. The same line of reasoning goes into taxes on products. Economics is not all science. There is some psychology going on there too.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
I guess when one is born and raised in a business environment, it becomes a part of out genes, hi hi.
I do agree that nearly every company will charge whatever the market will bear, and in some cases even more than that because of their trade name.
I had an uncle who worked as an accountant for Knapp-Monarch a small appliance company.
They only put their name on their products. But after they closed, my uncle moved to another small appliance company.
This second appliance company put anybodies label on their products, sometimes with a different decorative part, but always with a different range of serial numbers.
The reason behind this was all the stores who sold that product could advertise they beat the price on the same item.
And that was the clincher. Although the item was the same, the serial number was different for each store chain, and as I said, often with a different decorative component. Like on a toaster, they were identical down to the handle and knobs, which may be a different color and shape.
The same held true for many hardware items. The same company made the products for Builders Square and other hardware stores of the era. There was a very minor difference between the ones going to each store.
Take a hammer for instance, the only difference between the hammer at Home Quarters, and Builders Square was the color of the rosin used on wedge end of the hammer. Home Quarters was green and Builders Square was orange. Same Hammer!
I do agree that nearly every company will charge whatever the market will bear, and in some cases even more than that because of their trade name.
I had an uncle who worked as an accountant for Knapp-Monarch a small appliance company.
They only put their name on their products. But after they closed, my uncle moved to another small appliance company.
This second appliance company put anybodies label on their products, sometimes with a different decorative part, but always with a different range of serial numbers.
The reason behind this was all the stores who sold that product could advertise they beat the price on the same item.
And that was the clincher. Although the item was the same, the serial number was different for each store chain, and as I said, often with a different decorative component. Like on a toaster, they were identical down to the handle and knobs, which may be a different color and shape.
The same held true for many hardware items. The same company made the products for Builders Square and other hardware stores of the era. There was a very minor difference between the ones going to each store.
Take a hammer for instance, the only difference between the hammer at Home Quarters, and Builders Square was the color of the rosin used on wedge end of the hammer. Home Quarters was green and Builders Square was orange. Same Hammer!
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
Went to Best Buy for a printer one day. HP was introducing a new printer and offered it at a ridiculously low price if you bought it at Best Buy that week. I didn't know the history of the product, but the printer had all the features I wanted. I figured I could get a better price down the road at Computer City. They had this giant size sign as you enter the store saying they will match or beat anybody's price in identical equipment that is in stock. I think all they wanted was the model number, but the competitor had to have some for sale or the deal was off. As it happens the first guy I saw at Computer City was the store manager. Asked him where he kept these HP printers. He told me that they were out of stock and would be resupplied next week. I asked the price and he gave me the retail price. That's when I told him I was just at Best Buy and gave him the price they were asking. He told me to wait a minute and then he made a phone call (to Best Buy to ascertain that they did have printers in stock). He told me he would sell me the printer at the sale price if I came back next week. I thanked him and went back to Best Buy to buy the printer. LOL
Same printer. Different stores. Different prices. And, HP was enforcing price controls at that time.
Same printer. Different stores. Different prices. And, HP was enforcing price controls at that time.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
Don't get me doing on HP printers, or HP anything.
I have two HP Laser Jet Pro MFP M477 here I recently bought, the first was a duplex model fdn and lasted for only 500 sheets of printing. The second is the fnw model, it too only lasted for 500 sheets of printing. Actually the first one never worked right at all, but I didn't figure this out until after I bought the second one. But it began acting like the first within a month.
It costs more to have the repaired than I paid for them, because both need a new motherboard and something else.
All the service techs I talked to know automatically what the problem is, which is why many will no longer work on HP printers.
I went like 8 years without buying anything HP after they burned me so bad.
But everyone talked about how great they were, and here I got burned again, twice in a row.
This time it will be Never Again for sure!
I have two HP Laser Jet Pro MFP M477 here I recently bought, the first was a duplex model fdn and lasted for only 500 sheets of printing. The second is the fnw model, it too only lasted for 500 sheets of printing. Actually the first one never worked right at all, but I didn't figure this out until after I bought the second one. But it began acting like the first within a month.
It costs more to have the repaired than I paid for them, because both need a new motherboard and something else.
All the service techs I talked to know automatically what the problem is, which is why many will no longer work on HP printers.
I went like 8 years without buying anything HP after they burned me so bad.
But everyone talked about how great they were, and here I got burned again, twice in a row.
This time it will be Never Again for sure!
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
My little story was not about HP in particular, although they do have some interesting marketing techniques. I was simply pointing out how merchants manipulate prices, and their profits on popular items. And, by the way, Best Buy is still around doing great business. Computer City went bankrupt shortly after that story I reported.
Regarding HP printers, I'd have to agree with you that you have the worst experiences with them I've ever read about. It's interesting to me that it's always an HP product that fails disastrously. I don't think I do anything special over here but I can't report such negative results as you have seen with HP products. I used one of their early version laser printers until they stopped making the cartridges for a reasonable price. Their ink jet printers are all I need now and have been using them for many years. While I can't complain about their hardware, the software HP provides above and beyond the essential drivers is pure crap. It's a shame they can't make software to the same level as hardware. I've tried other brands of printers and they simply do not hold up as long as the HP's I've owned. Some don't offer drivers for Linux which really bummed me out when I bought an Epsom one year. So, in my humble corner of the world, HP is working fine.
Regarding HP printers, I'd have to agree with you that you have the worst experiences with them I've ever read about. It's interesting to me that it's always an HP product that fails disastrously. I don't think I do anything special over here but I can't report such negative results as you have seen with HP products. I used one of their early version laser printers until they stopped making the cartridges for a reasonable price. Their ink jet printers are all I need now and have been using them for many years. While I can't complain about their hardware, the software HP provides above and beyond the essential drivers is pure crap. It's a shame they can't make software to the same level as hardware. I've tried other brands of printers and they simply do not hold up as long as the HP's I've owned. Some don't offer drivers for Linux which really bummed me out when I bought an Epsom one year. So, in my humble corner of the world, HP is working fine.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
I bought a Konica/Minolta Color Laser right after I moved down here. It worked perfectly, even did photo's much better than I expected from a laser. The first time it reached its end of life warning, I replaced the engine for around 80 bucks, and used it up until the time it reached its end of life once again. It came with Linux drivers on the CD that worked with CUPS. What it didn't have was some of the features they provided for Windows users, but features I never needed anyhow.
I also used cheap aftermarket toner in it and it still produced excellent results for many years.
I've used Canon, Epson, Brother, and several Lexmark ink jets with little to no problems.
But every HP product has been an expensive and horrible nightmare for me.
I also used cheap aftermarket toner in it and it still produced excellent results for many years.
I've used Canon, Epson, Brother, and several Lexmark ink jets with little to no problems.
But every HP product has been an expensive and horrible nightmare for me.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
When I worked for a living my home computer arrangements were different than they are now that I'm retired. I did A LOT of printing back then because I did a lot of website and program development just for fun. I loved the first Epsom dot matrix printer I bought because it was a 132 column carriage and coding looked really cool printed out on that green and white lined paper that was perforated on the edges. LOL It just so happens that is what we used at work as well. I'm pretty sure the second home printer I purchased was that HP laser printer. The toner was something like $40 and the housing for the printer was metal. It was a heavy son-of-a-gun and did some marvelous color printing on glossy paper. Over the years the toner kept going up in price to the point where the last one I purchased was slightly over $100. That's when I got the Canon ink jet and learned about how the point of printers is to hook the user on buying ink. The Canon was all plastic and the print heads didn't last long. It wasn't until after I got rid of it that I read how to clean them with WD-40 to renew them to their original state. By then I was hooked on HP. Now and days I rarely use the printer per se. Much of what I do is use it as a copy machine or a scanner to save warranty documents. LOL
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
You would laugh at my office back home when I was printing and selling tri-fold color pamphlets.
A dozen Lexmark printers all lined up with quart bottles of the ink hanging from hooks on the wall, and little plastic tubes running down to the cartridges in each printer. There was a lot more to it than that, with the siphon boxes to prevent the ink jet cartridges from getting too wet, etc. It was fun to watch all those tubes dancing as the print heads went back and forth. I could use the same print head cartridge for a long time before they started missing a dot here and there. I would say the equivalent of being filled 8 to 10 times before I replaced them with a new cartridge. Back then gallons of ink for the Lexmark printers was fairly cheap, around 20 to 30 bucks is all. Now, if you can even find it by the gallon, it is more like 300 bucks a gallon or more.
I loved those little Lexmark ink jet printers. They could print on nearly anything, from paper bags to heavy card stock, like 90 to 120 but not over 120 because they would kink the cardboard.
I actually printed a lot of white paper bags for a few relatives weddings they used for table gifts and treats.
And when I had my gold stamping equipment, I did napkins and other gifts also.
When I think of all the things I've done over the years, it truly boggles my mind, hi hi.
A dozen Lexmark printers all lined up with quart bottles of the ink hanging from hooks on the wall, and little plastic tubes running down to the cartridges in each printer. There was a lot more to it than that, with the siphon boxes to prevent the ink jet cartridges from getting too wet, etc. It was fun to watch all those tubes dancing as the print heads went back and forth. I could use the same print head cartridge for a long time before they started missing a dot here and there. I would say the equivalent of being filled 8 to 10 times before I replaced them with a new cartridge. Back then gallons of ink for the Lexmark printers was fairly cheap, around 20 to 30 bucks is all. Now, if you can even find it by the gallon, it is more like 300 bucks a gallon or more.
I loved those little Lexmark ink jet printers. They could print on nearly anything, from paper bags to heavy card stock, like 90 to 120 but not over 120 because they would kink the cardboard.
I actually printed a lot of white paper bags for a few relatives weddings they used for table gifts and treats.
And when I had my gold stamping equipment, I did napkins and other gifts also.
When I think of all the things I've done over the years, it truly boggles my mind, hi hi.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
You certainly have a lot of history with careers and the projects you attempted in your life; and, I don't even know the half of what you did. At one time you explained how it was possible by multi-tasking. Even so you had to have an overabundance of energy to accomplish all the things you did.
The ink for my current HP printer never was cheap. The prices have come down now but buying it directly from HP was the most expensive way to go about it. I calculated the cost of a gallon of their ink based on what they gave you in a single cartridge. The price was approaching $17,000 per gallon. That's slightly misleading in that I do not know what the cartridge itself sells for. But, even if the plastic and electronics accounts for only half the price, that 17 grand is a conservative guess.
Most, if not all, the printers I ever bought stated explicitly that they are for home use only. Heavy usage such as what you were doing with the advertising business voided the warranty. Considering how cheaply the printers are made I can understand why their use must be limited. In fact given the profit they are making on the ink they could give those printers away free and only sell the ink for them. But, I'm thinking that isn't perfectly legal.
The ink for my current HP printer never was cheap. The prices have come down now but buying it directly from HP was the most expensive way to go about it. I calculated the cost of a gallon of their ink based on what they gave you in a single cartridge. The price was approaching $17,000 per gallon. That's slightly misleading in that I do not know what the cartridge itself sells for. But, even if the plastic and electronics accounts for only half the price, that 17 grand is a conservative guess.
Most, if not all, the printers I ever bought stated explicitly that they are for home use only. Heavy usage such as what you were doing with the advertising business voided the warranty. Considering how cheaply the printers are made I can understand why their use must be limited. In fact given the profit they are making on the ink they could give those printers away free and only sell the ink for them. But, I'm thinking that isn't perfectly legal.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
I started a lot of small businesses that didn't get very many orders back to back. Some only had one order per week, some only one order per month, and one only got one big order every 3 months. So one day I might be doing a gold stamping order, another day sharpening saws from the hardware store which usually took a whole day to get them all done.
I always looked at it this way. When you only have one business, it is risky, but if you have 5 businesses, and one doesn't do anything that month, you still have four others that do. The only bad thing was when I had orders come in from all of them on the same day, and they all needed them right away of course, hi hi. But for the most part, when I got home from my day job, there was always a couple of hours of work to do in any one or two of the little businesses.
Take my AZ-NO3 product that has been on the market now for 25 years. During the good years, and after I got the mfgr. rep. He would order enough product to get the 500 pound shipping weight. I could do his order in a single day after the enzymes were cultured. So, on the day I got the order I would start the enzymes, which took maybe half hour total. Then I had to wait three days for them to be ready. I would set up to package, get the box labels and stuff printed. Then only spend one day bottling and packaging. This is actually an ideal business, because it only took me about 6 to 8 days a year to keep him stocked up to sell to distributors. Some good years it may have taken 12 days a year to keep his inventory up. But heck, with all that free time, I had plenty of time to work a full-time job, and keep several smaller side jobs going too.
The high speed commercial crash printer I owned cost around 15k new, but I got it very used for around 3k. It could print all 250 multi-page newsletters in under two minutes. That part was great.
BUT, when you get your changes for those newsletters on Thursday night, and they want to pick them up on Saturday afternoon, and the crash printer breaks down, it takes a week to two weeks to get it repaired, and that is only if they have the parts. Thankfully it was a very common printer, used by most places who made mail-outs. Mine only used black ink, so color was only possible by running one pass for each color, which I only did a couple of times on that printer.
When that printer was broken, and I had orders to get out PDQ I ran around and bought four Lexmark inkjet printers. Then I added two more right away, because I had another order. Then a friend who worked in IT came over and took one of my old computers and turned it into a print server capable of handling 12 printers at once, well sorta, they had to start printing one right after the other. Although inkjet printers were fairly slow, when you have a dozen of them doing the same job, it gets done lickety split. Heck, if you send 20 pages to each printer, you get 200 pages done super fast.
Early on, I was manually filling each ink cartridge before starting the print runs. Then from a little experimentation I was able to semi-direct feed the ink cartridges from a bulk supply using anti-siphon boxes between the supply and the print cartridges. This way the ink cartridges only maintained a specific level of ink in each cartridge.
The warranty didn't matter much anyhow, because I had to cut the cases apart for the ink feed system. And besides, they only cost me between 89 and 120 bucks each new. I did toss a couple of them away before I realized it was only a timing band that needed replaced in them. I would use them until the paper feed would start causing problems, then just toss them and stick a new one it its place. Compared to the 150 to 300 bucks it cost for a simple repair on the crash printer, I was well ahead of the game, and could now print in color. And Lexmark inks were colorfast, getting them wet would not hurt the image.
Albeit, the tri-folds were printed on a special clay based paper that made it absorb ink and be glossy at the same time. Didn't cost but maybe a buck or two more than normal 24 pound paper per ream.
One of the reasons I got so much business was I could do the advertising flyers for the small guys who couldn't afford to have thousand printed and placed out by the big guy companies who normally stock the tourist trap racks.
I would do the layout for them, with changes before each printing, and I would also do anywhere from 100 to 500 copies for them on the inkjets. If they wanted more than 500 it was best to go with offset printing, of which I had a guy available to do that for me also. In fact, he's the guy who took over my tri-fold business after I started Wonder Plants and needed to work on that all day.
I always looked at it this way. When you only have one business, it is risky, but if you have 5 businesses, and one doesn't do anything that month, you still have four others that do. The only bad thing was when I had orders come in from all of them on the same day, and they all needed them right away of course, hi hi. But for the most part, when I got home from my day job, there was always a couple of hours of work to do in any one or two of the little businesses.
Take my AZ-NO3 product that has been on the market now for 25 years. During the good years, and after I got the mfgr. rep. He would order enough product to get the 500 pound shipping weight. I could do his order in a single day after the enzymes were cultured. So, on the day I got the order I would start the enzymes, which took maybe half hour total. Then I had to wait three days for them to be ready. I would set up to package, get the box labels and stuff printed. Then only spend one day bottling and packaging. This is actually an ideal business, because it only took me about 6 to 8 days a year to keep him stocked up to sell to distributors. Some good years it may have taken 12 days a year to keep his inventory up. But heck, with all that free time, I had plenty of time to work a full-time job, and keep several smaller side jobs going too.
The high speed commercial crash printer I owned cost around 15k new, but I got it very used for around 3k. It could print all 250 multi-page newsletters in under two minutes. That part was great.
BUT, when you get your changes for those newsletters on Thursday night, and they want to pick them up on Saturday afternoon, and the crash printer breaks down, it takes a week to two weeks to get it repaired, and that is only if they have the parts. Thankfully it was a very common printer, used by most places who made mail-outs. Mine only used black ink, so color was only possible by running one pass for each color, which I only did a couple of times on that printer.
When that printer was broken, and I had orders to get out PDQ I ran around and bought four Lexmark inkjet printers. Then I added two more right away, because I had another order. Then a friend who worked in IT came over and took one of my old computers and turned it into a print server capable of handling 12 printers at once, well sorta, they had to start printing one right after the other. Although inkjet printers were fairly slow, when you have a dozen of them doing the same job, it gets done lickety split. Heck, if you send 20 pages to each printer, you get 200 pages done super fast.
Early on, I was manually filling each ink cartridge before starting the print runs. Then from a little experimentation I was able to semi-direct feed the ink cartridges from a bulk supply using anti-siphon boxes between the supply and the print cartridges. This way the ink cartridges only maintained a specific level of ink in each cartridge.
The warranty didn't matter much anyhow, because I had to cut the cases apart for the ink feed system. And besides, they only cost me between 89 and 120 bucks each new. I did toss a couple of them away before I realized it was only a timing band that needed replaced in them. I would use them until the paper feed would start causing problems, then just toss them and stick a new one it its place. Compared to the 150 to 300 bucks it cost for a simple repair on the crash printer, I was well ahead of the game, and could now print in color. And Lexmark inks were colorfast, getting them wet would not hurt the image.
Albeit, the tri-folds were printed on a special clay based paper that made it absorb ink and be glossy at the same time. Didn't cost but maybe a buck or two more than normal 24 pound paper per ream.
One of the reasons I got so much business was I could do the advertising flyers for the small guys who couldn't afford to have thousand printed and placed out by the big guy companies who normally stock the tourist trap racks.
I would do the layout for them, with changes before each printing, and I would also do anywhere from 100 to 500 copies for them on the inkjets. If they wanted more than 500 it was best to go with offset printing, of which I had a guy available to do that for me also. In fact, he's the guy who took over my tri-fold business after I started Wonder Plants and needed to work on that all day.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
Since you have a way of stirring my curiosity, I did some reading about AZ-NO3. Of course I don't have any idea about the theory and barely followed the details, but I did leave the webpage with an insight into something we talked about elsewhere. That would be COVID-19 vaccines and the mRNA that delivers the protein killing molecules to the target virus. Viruses are not enzymes but the idea of targeting something specific is exactly how the vaccine works. I found it quite interesting that you were into that technique 25 years already.
I get the idea behind diversity of businesses. I talked to farmers who seem to go by the same philosophy. They are farmers to the core of their souls, but most of the small timers have a day job which pays the bills. Like yourself they always seem to be working on something and never have a moment free to themselves. That works fine for quite a few people, but I was a 9-5 kind of guy who enjoyed the fact that I could leave my job behind come the end of the work shift. I worked for somebody else who decided they didn't need me after 36 years of service, and that certainly was a negative aspect of that kind of work. But 36 years of steady work, a pension, profit sharing, and decent retirement SSA funds isn't all that bad.
I get the idea behind diversity of businesses. I talked to farmers who seem to go by the same philosophy. They are farmers to the core of their souls, but most of the small timers have a day job which pays the bills. Like yourself they always seem to be working on something and never have a moment free to themselves. That works fine for quite a few people, but I was a 9-5 kind of guy who enjoyed the fact that I could leave my job behind come the end of the work shift. I worked for somebody else who decided they didn't need me after 36 years of service, and that certainly was a negative aspect of that kind of work. But 36 years of steady work, a pension, profit sharing, and decent retirement SSA funds isn't all that bad.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
Just curious if you read this part also: Where all the technical mumbo-jumbo was spelled out?
http://stonebrokemanor.classichauslimit ... report.pdf
You can laugh here too, at one time I knew what all of that meant. Chemistry is what replaced my electronics knowledge.
But as you know, that knowledge only lasted like five years. Now all that jargon is mumbo-jumbo to me also, hi hi.
I actually made a few things while I had that bit of backwards knowledge in my headbone.
Had a few experiments on other things that didn't go as planned, but worked out perfect for another phase of the operation.
I'm actually glad it didn't work out, because dealing with eggshells and separating out the individual components was a hard and smelly mess to do. I could have never done it on a large scale without a factory to do it in, and large equipment.
I had a wonderful nest egg myself, but it was stolen along with my Wonder Plants business.
2.3 million I had stashed away in an offshore account, but of course this was set up by that attorney who ended up in prison.
The sad thing is, I scraped my fingers to the bone, worked long hours, ate very little, spent no money on anything, because it all went to get my business up and running. Heck, just the mold for the inner growing chamber cost 140 thousand dollars.
Plus all the equipment I needed to raise all those plants on roller conveyors. And of course buying the three-story building I operated in. Which I managed to get paid off after about 1-1/2 years, that's' how good the business was doing in the beginning.
Ha, I got to be a big shot for about 2 years, spending a month at a time in Florida on buying trips. Well, until that last trip when the crooks took off with everything and left me holding the bag. The school of hard knocks eh!
I was finally beginning to get back on my feet doing things I liked, like renovating houses, but one for me first, when I suddenly had to become a caregiver, which also ended up with my having two heart attacks a couple of years apart.
I'll tell you, now that takes the wind out of your sails real fast.
And here I am! Strapped to a desk, not making money at it either, hi hi.
http://stonebrokemanor.classichauslimit ... report.pdf
You can laugh here too, at one time I knew what all of that meant. Chemistry is what replaced my electronics knowledge.
But as you know, that knowledge only lasted like five years. Now all that jargon is mumbo-jumbo to me also, hi hi.
I actually made a few things while I had that bit of backwards knowledge in my headbone.
Had a few experiments on other things that didn't go as planned, but worked out perfect for another phase of the operation.
I'm actually glad it didn't work out, because dealing with eggshells and separating out the individual components was a hard and smelly mess to do. I could have never done it on a large scale without a factory to do it in, and large equipment.
I had a wonderful nest egg myself, but it was stolen along with my Wonder Plants business.
2.3 million I had stashed away in an offshore account, but of course this was set up by that attorney who ended up in prison.
The sad thing is, I scraped my fingers to the bone, worked long hours, ate very little, spent no money on anything, because it all went to get my business up and running. Heck, just the mold for the inner growing chamber cost 140 thousand dollars.
Plus all the equipment I needed to raise all those plants on roller conveyors. And of course buying the three-story building I operated in. Which I managed to get paid off after about 1-1/2 years, that's' how good the business was doing in the beginning.
Ha, I got to be a big shot for about 2 years, spending a month at a time in Florida on buying trips. Well, until that last trip when the crooks took off with everything and left me holding the bag. The school of hard knocks eh!
I was finally beginning to get back on my feet doing things I liked, like renovating houses, but one for me first, when I suddenly had to become a caregiver, which also ended up with my having two heart attacks a couple of years apart.
I'll tell you, now that takes the wind out of your sails real fast.
And here I am! Strapped to a desk, not making money at it either, hi hi.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
I read the web page but did not open the link to the .pdf file. At this time I have read both documents and am duly impressed. There are a multitude of technical terms in your documents and some description of the processes involved in achieving the end results. No doubt aquarium keepers are familiar at least superficially with all that is discussed in the documents I read. The presentation of the information seems to be well suited for the intended audience, that is a non-academic reader. There obviously are a couple good reasons for that particular style. For one the information is intended to be a reference for selling the product and not a comprehensive lab report. The need to protect the trade secrets involved is also evident and well appreciated. I can't give any more of a critical review than that. The buyer of the product most likely doesn't care about how it works beyond what you describe in the information sheets, so that a white paper approach is apropos. As far as I can tell, you did an above average presentation in your documentation.
Back in my senior year of high school I had to take a chemistry class taught by one Mrs Artisuck (I think that's how she spelled it, and it certainly is the way we pronounced it). Mrs Articuck's reputation was well known and feared, and the kids who required a chem class to graduate did all they could to get into somebody else's class. Well, I was not so lucky. Chemistry was an interesting subject and in the end I got a fair grade. However, there was a chapter in the chemistry text book that dealt with oxidation/reduction equations. Just about every word of your website and support document reminded me of that chapter in the HS chem book. LOL Chemistry equations work pretty much the same way as algebra. The equations can be manipulated in order to get the desired results, but I never to this day could discover the logic and reasoning for the processes involved. That is the exact reason I nearly failed algebra 101, and the chemistry redox equations worked exactly the same way. Add two chemical compound formulas and then solve for what the reaction will produce. Will it reduce or will it oxidize? Well, that part I got because it had something to do with valence and made sense. Knowing how the chemicals will react just by looking at their formulas was and still is a mystery.
Well, good ol' Mrs Artisuck claimed that this part of the class was critical. If we could not solve 25 random equations, it would mean failing the class. And, as seniors in high school, you do not want to fail ANY class. That would mean summer school and delayed graduation. She loved that fact and we all were positive that she deliberately gave us impossible formulas to make us fail. After failing the test and the make-up test, dear Mrs Artisuck would send those failing students to visit with the school's principle. As it turns out the principle was very familiar with Mrs Artisuck's approach because he had to interview hundreds if not thousands of seniors over the years. She had tenure and could not be fired. And, we had to get a passing grade in order to graduate. That's all the principle could do about the problem.
So ... Mrs Artisuck volunteered to come to school early each day to hold a special session for us dunces. We went over and over and over the redox formulas until we were all able to pass that 25 formula grade-defining test. As I recall it took about two weeks and the only reason I passed was because I finally memorized the formulas. I never did figure out how to solve them intuitively, or as a chemist would.
Thanks for reminding me of all that.
Back in my senior year of high school I had to take a chemistry class taught by one Mrs Artisuck (I think that's how she spelled it, and it certainly is the way we pronounced it). Mrs Articuck's reputation was well known and feared, and the kids who required a chem class to graduate did all they could to get into somebody else's class. Well, I was not so lucky. Chemistry was an interesting subject and in the end I got a fair grade. However, there was a chapter in the chemistry text book that dealt with oxidation/reduction equations. Just about every word of your website and support document reminded me of that chapter in the HS chem book. LOL Chemistry equations work pretty much the same way as algebra. The equations can be manipulated in order to get the desired results, but I never to this day could discover the logic and reasoning for the processes involved. That is the exact reason I nearly failed algebra 101, and the chemistry redox equations worked exactly the same way. Add two chemical compound formulas and then solve for what the reaction will produce. Will it reduce or will it oxidize? Well, that part I got because it had something to do with valence and made sense. Knowing how the chemicals will react just by looking at their formulas was and still is a mystery.
Well, good ol' Mrs Artisuck claimed that this part of the class was critical. If we could not solve 25 random equations, it would mean failing the class. And, as seniors in high school, you do not want to fail ANY class. That would mean summer school and delayed graduation. She loved that fact and we all were positive that she deliberately gave us impossible formulas to make us fail. After failing the test and the make-up test, dear Mrs Artisuck would send those failing students to visit with the school's principle. As it turns out the principle was very familiar with Mrs Artisuck's approach because he had to interview hundreds if not thousands of seniors over the years. She had tenure and could not be fired. And, we had to get a passing grade in order to graduate. That's all the principle could do about the problem.
So ... Mrs Artisuck volunteered to come to school early each day to hold a special session for us dunces. We went over and over and over the redox formulas until we were all able to pass that 25 formula grade-defining test. As I recall it took about two weeks and the only reason I passed was because I finally memorized the formulas. I never did figure out how to solve them intuitively, or as a chemist would.
Thanks for reminding me of all that.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
At the time I developed my AZ-NO3 product, the elimination of nitrates was considered impossible.
I was already quite brave after finding a way to recharge mixed bed resin water purification cylinders.
What drove me so hard after I figured it out, was once I started selling my kit to do just that, the company who made those cylinders spent tons of money on ads saying they are impossible to recharge.
I got back at them with an ad that said using mixed bed resins are self-defeating, because the resins neutralize each other when mixed, so you get a very short life span of the product.
But the whole thing was, they said it was impossible to separate the resins once they were mixed, and yet I found a simple way to do it. I also sold a lot of kits before I decided to give the information away for free. It did take me a while to figure out simple chemicals they could easily buy, and the right amounts of those to make it work. But I did!
I never did well in school, especially chemistry class. I never could grasp how if two elements were good, that adding more of the better element made it a poison. A simple example is H2O water, two hydrogen molecules combined with one molecule of oxygen. OK, that being said, the air we breathe is O2 or two parts oxygen. So logically, making H2O2 should be nothing more than oxygenated water, right? No, that is Hydrogen Peroxide, and is poisonous, and/or can cause physical damage to our personage, hi hi. Chemistry is not logical (linear)! So I guess it is for those object oriented folks who know how to program.
I was already quite brave after finding a way to recharge mixed bed resin water purification cylinders.
What drove me so hard after I figured it out, was once I started selling my kit to do just that, the company who made those cylinders spent tons of money on ads saying they are impossible to recharge.
I got back at them with an ad that said using mixed bed resins are self-defeating, because the resins neutralize each other when mixed, so you get a very short life span of the product.
But the whole thing was, they said it was impossible to separate the resins once they were mixed, and yet I found a simple way to do it. I also sold a lot of kits before I decided to give the information away for free. It did take me a while to figure out simple chemicals they could easily buy, and the right amounts of those to make it work. But I did!
I never did well in school, especially chemistry class. I never could grasp how if two elements were good, that adding more of the better element made it a poison. A simple example is H2O water, two hydrogen molecules combined with one molecule of oxygen. OK, that being said, the air we breathe is O2 or two parts oxygen. So logically, making H2O2 should be nothing more than oxygenated water, right? No, that is Hydrogen Peroxide, and is poisonous, and/or can cause physical damage to our personage, hi hi. Chemistry is not logical (linear)! So I guess it is for those object oriented folks who know how to program.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
You are talking about biochemistry which is not the same as the physical chemistry most people are familiar with. The poisonous quality of H2O2 is due to the body's inability to extract the oxygen from the molecule. It has to do with valence, or the way elements bind with each other. The elements in water can be broken down easily because that valence binding is loose. Hydrogen Peroxide fills in the valence holes and binds the oxygen to the hydrogen in such a way that the body cannot break it down. Thus the liquid contaminates our body fluids. I know of people who drink H2O2 in very limited quantities for supposed health reasons. Then, too, these people also drink urine for the same reason. It just goes to prove that we can tolerate a limited amount of poison in our systems. LOL
The argument you were getting about the inability to separate mixed resins is plausible. If you have the right equipment and chemicals you can break down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen - that's part of those redox formulas Mrs Artisuck was trying to pound into our heads. The practice is well known but when presented with the chemical formulas of several compounds and are asked what will happen when you mix them, I draw a blank. The competition you faced in your business used those formulas, I'm sure, but you did not. You did something different which is why you were successful and they were not. In fact I would venture a guess to say they were correct based on traditional techniques. You, however, were not being traditional. LOL
In any case, what you are doing has more to do with biology than it does chemistry. The two sciences interact because we are all made of chemical compounds after all. You found a catalyst that seems to do the "impossible" and your 25 years of selling it is testimony to your brilliance. With all due respect I would hesitate to say your discovery was scientifically uncovered. If you were a true scientist you would never have attempted to do what you did. Your efforts have benefited many people around the world and I think regardless of how you came to make your product you can be proud of all the good things it has accomplished, Mrs Artisuck notwithstanding.
The argument you were getting about the inability to separate mixed resins is plausible. If you have the right equipment and chemicals you can break down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen - that's part of those redox formulas Mrs Artisuck was trying to pound into our heads. The practice is well known but when presented with the chemical formulas of several compounds and are asked what will happen when you mix them, I draw a blank. The competition you faced in your business used those formulas, I'm sure, but you did not. You did something different which is why you were successful and they were not. In fact I would venture a guess to say they were correct based on traditional techniques. You, however, were not being traditional. LOL
In any case, what you are doing has more to do with biology than it does chemistry. The two sciences interact because we are all made of chemical compounds after all. You found a catalyst that seems to do the "impossible" and your 25 years of selling it is testimony to your brilliance. With all due respect I would hesitate to say your discovery was scientifically uncovered. If you were a true scientist you would never have attempted to do what you did. Your efforts have benefited many people around the world and I think regardless of how you came to make your product you can be proud of all the good things it has accomplished, Mrs Artisuck notwithstanding.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
I use H2O2 in an inhaler, but it is at only a 1.5% solution. It helps with my breathing and a lot cheaper than some of the meds I was buying.
Yes, but I figured out a way to separate the resins using the exact same two chemicals used to charge those resins.
That was what was supposed to be impossible to do.
It is easy to separate items of slightly different weights by using different densities of liquid to separate them with.
But when you are talking about a plastic resin the balls or beads of which all way the same before being treated, that's an entirely different story. You have Cations and Anions mixed together, made from the same plastic beads, then treated. But then that's the trick to doing it. They were not new beads, they were beads that were already made either as cations or as anions, so they still had slightly different properties, even though neutralized by usage.
As far as my AZ-NO3 product goes, there are some products on the market for different purposes that some aquarists think works well for them, but in reality, they are doing more harm than good. They end up with undissolved and dissolved organic carbon in there aquaria which can cause algae blooms and a few other things that are worse. People who use my product find it actually helps eliminate algae blooms and other things besides what it is designed to do. So a lot of my sales have to do with folks using my product for a purpose I don't recommend, but it works, and that's the selling point.
Yes, but I figured out a way to separate the resins using the exact same two chemicals used to charge those resins.
That was what was supposed to be impossible to do.
It is easy to separate items of slightly different weights by using different densities of liquid to separate them with.
But when you are talking about a plastic resin the balls or beads of which all way the same before being treated, that's an entirely different story. You have Cations and Anions mixed together, made from the same plastic beads, then treated. But then that's the trick to doing it. They were not new beads, they were beads that were already made either as cations or as anions, so they still had slightly different properties, even though neutralized by usage.
As far as my AZ-NO3 product goes, there are some products on the market for different purposes that some aquarists think works well for them, but in reality, they are doing more harm than good. They end up with undissolved and dissolved organic carbon in there aquaria which can cause algae blooms and a few other things that are worse. People who use my product find it actually helps eliminate algae blooms and other things besides what it is designed to do. So a lot of my sales have to do with folks using my product for a purpose I don't recommend, but it works, and that's the selling point.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
When I read about you AZ-NO3 used for purposes other than for which you designed it, I think of the last computer I purchased. It was a laptop designed for gaming and Windows only. The manufacturer stated explicitly that they cannot provide any support for OS's other than Windows, i.e., Linux. That always raises a red flag because I don't know if they boogered up the firmware to suit Windows only or if they simply don't want to be bothered with the plethora of problems associated with Linux. I went to their support forums and read about several people dual booting which told me they didn't disable Linux via firmware. So, as you well know, I now use that computer to multi-boot from the HDD/SSD and from USB memory.
I find it extremely interesting that inhaling hydrogen peroxide helps your breathing. I guess the dilution greatly reduces it's harmful effects, but the extra oxygen atom attached to the hydrogen in the peroxide seems like it would be rendered useless if not toxic. But then, I had an uncle who used WD-40 to relieve his rheumatoid arthritis pain. Go figure.
I find it extremely interesting that inhaling hydrogen peroxide helps your breathing. I guess the dilution greatly reduces it's harmful effects, but the extra oxygen atom attached to the hydrogen in the peroxide seems like it would be rendered useless if not toxic. But then, I had an uncle who used WD-40 to relieve his rheumatoid arthritis pain. Go figure.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
The computer guy who I used to build my computers, they work mainly with corporate Linux machines and servers. We have enough Windows laptop repair places who don't touch desktop computers around here anymore. They won't look at a Linux laptop either, or a MAC or the new specialty laptops. I guess they have enough business they can turn down everyone else.
And this might be why my computer guy's business keeps growing in leaps and bounds, but sadly, their prices are going up very fast too.
H2O2 is basically used to help cut the phlegm in the lungs. I works faster than Guafenesin tablets, and Albuterol inhalers.
2 to 3 ml of H202 doesn't even cost a penny. Guafenesin, the generic I buy, is about a nickel, and Albuterol is around 20 bucks a dose. I also have Budesonide and Performist both are way up there in price like 100 bucks or more per dose.
Actually, some of the chemicals in the medicines we take are highly poisonous, but they use such a small amount, you just have to be careful not to take too many of them in a day.
And this might be why my computer guy's business keeps growing in leaps and bounds, but sadly, their prices are going up very fast too.
H2O2 is basically used to help cut the phlegm in the lungs. I works faster than Guafenesin tablets, and Albuterol inhalers.
2 to 3 ml of H202 doesn't even cost a penny. Guafenesin, the generic I buy, is about a nickel, and Albuterol is around 20 bucks a dose. I also have Budesonide and Performist both are way up there in price like 100 bucks or more per dose.
Actually, some of the chemicals in the medicines we take are highly poisonous, but they use such a small amount, you just have to be careful not to take too many of them in a day.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
I have used peroxide as a cleaning agent, but I never thought about using it to clear out my lungs. Then, too, I don't have a need to do that. You are absolutely correct about toxic chemicals being common to the drugs we take. And, yes, the size of the dose does matter. I've read about people who take in snake venom to build up an immunity to it so that they can work with snakes in the wild or on their job. Many years ago I was reading about aspirin and what is allowed to be present in one tablet. There was a ppm spec for cyanide's presence in common aspirin. Somehow that wasn't as bad to read as the spec for how many rat droppings and insect parts are allowed to be mixed in with hotdogs.
If I ever decided to fix computers again, it would be desktops only. LOL I can replace a few simple things in a laptop but most desktops are very straight forward. That's where all my professional experience is from my Motorola days. Linux is no more of a challenge than Windows, at least as far as setting up a new system goes. Troubleshooting a system that crashed is some other world experience.
If I ever decided to fix computers again, it would be desktops only. LOL I can replace a few simple things in a laptop but most desktops are very straight forward. That's where all my professional experience is from my Motorola days. Linux is no more of a challenge than Windows, at least as far as setting up a new system goes. Troubleshooting a system that crashed is some other world experience.