Amazon's Kindle - A New Way to Organize Your Books

If you know me, you know I love to read. When I travel, I usually read 5-7 books a week. So, when I travel, that means packing 5-7 books in my suitcase - making it heavier than I want. And now, with airlines charging for baggage by number of bags and by weight, this has become an issue for me.

Amazon has created an electronic book called the Kindle. With the Kindle, you can download over 190,000 books, magazines, and newspapers directly onto your Kindle, thereby making carrying books a thing of the past.

I haven't purchased a Kindle yet - I understand they are coming out with a upgraded version in the next few months. If you have a Kindle, I would love to hear what you think of it.

A Quote from Winston Churchill

Here's another quote I received in my daily emails from Real Simple Magazine that I wanted to share with my readers:

Out of complex intensities, complex simplicities emerge

Winston Churchill

Organizing Your Paint Chips

Here's a little tip that has worked well for me when I'm trying to keep track of what colors the walls inside my house are painted. I keep a paint chip sample for each room I've painted with the color and name of the paint on one side and the room where this paint was used on the other.

Then I keep all the samples together on a small metal binder ring that I keep with my paint and painting supplies.

No Email Fridays - Would This Work for You and Your Office?

Check out this recent article from ABC World News about companies that are instituting a "No-Email Friday" policy. What do you think? Could you survive without reading your email for one day? Would your business survive?

Let's Clean Out That Garage

Now that summer has ended and the weather is cooling off, it's time to tackle that messy garage. Make sure to pick a weekend when the weather will be favorable with no rain in the forecast.

First, go through and remove anything you know you will be giving away and get it out of the area right away.

Then, start early on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Eat a good breakfast and bring water outside with you to keep you hydrated during the day.

Take EVERYTHING out of the garage and sort it into categories:

Gardening/yard: lawn mower, rakes, shovels, potting soil, flower pots, weed-wacker, hedge trimmer

Tools: tool boxes, electrical tools, cutting saws/tables

Recreation/sports: skis, skates, bicycles, helmets, bats/balls

Auto supplies: motor oil bottles, jacks, car covers,

Holiday/other decorations: Christmas tree, Halloween decorations, ornaments, flags

Bulk items (groceries/durable goods): paper products, cans of food

After you have finished sorting, go through each category with an eye toward honesty: What do the kids still play with? What do you really use? Are you still skiing? Snowboarding? Roller skating? Biking?

Once you've pared the contents of your garage down to those items you can't live without, you can begin the organizing process.

Create zones in your garage for each category you've organized your belongings into. Each of the items in the above categories should be stored with the other items in that same category; i.e. lawn and garden items should be kept together, holiday decorations should be stored in containers - labeled and sorted by holiday. Keeping the same holiday decorations together will save you an enormous amount of time when decorating for the holidays.

Once you've established the zones for your belongings, now is the time to purchase containers for those belongings.

Clear plastic containers work well because they stack nicely and you can see what is inside. Rubbermaid and Sterilite make excellent containers and they are readily available at Target and Walmart nationwide. Label each box with its contents and stack together with the labels facing outward.

As I've said before, cardboard storage boxes don't do well in garages due to possible insect or rodent infestation or if the garage gets wet.

Who knows, after you're done cleaning and re-organizing your garage, you just might be able to park your cars inside again.

If You Do Nothing Else Today ....

..... remember to VOTE!

What Are You Doing Tomorrow?

Last July, while walking back to my hotel from the San Diego Comic-Con, I passed the San Diego Hall of Administration building. What appears on the front of the building caught my eye and made me want to post it today - the day before the Presidential Election:

Good Government Demands the Intelligent Interest of Every Citizen

Remember this tomorrow, when you go the polls.