January 10, 2017 AsktheBuilder Newsletter
Once again, there's lots to share. I'm having a BLAST going back and revising all of my past columns at the AsktheBuilder.com website. More on that in a moment.
My oldest daughter Meghan, and her husband Brent, bought me an Amazon opens in a new windowEcho Dot for Christmas. I LOVE IT. It's just a little bigger than a hockey puck. Here's a photo of one:
The dot is your invisible companion that can settle arguments, tell you weather forecast, play music for you, etc. I often use it when we talk about something at the dinner table and two people can't agree. Here's an example.
My son and I wondered if we could get great barbecue in Austin, Texas. He and I are in the early stages of planning a one-week BBQ road trip. So I asked Alexa, "Alexa, can you get good barbecue in Austin, TX?"
She came back with a list of top-rated locations!
opens in a new windowCLICK HERE to for a partial list of all the Amazon Echo Dot can do.
We use it downstairs in the giant family room because I have the opens in a new windowlarger Alexa up in my man cave.
I'm still discovering all the helpful things it can do. For example, I just used it to set an important timer for an upcoming conference call.
I said, "Alexa, set a timer for one hour and six minutes." She responded very politely that the timer had indeed been set.
Some people don't like this technology. You may be one. All I can tell you is that voice recognition is the future and it's a time saver.
You can almost always *talk* faster than you can type or manually set something. Just about every text message I send I do so using voice recognition. I don't *type* all the letters and words. Sometimes you get funny results and I do send those for a laugh.
Meghan and Brent control the temperature in their house with their Alexa. They also control the lights. Instead of walking over to a dimmer switch, Meghan just says, "Alexa, set the kitchen lights at 30 percent."
If you have someone you know that LOVES technology and you're looking for a great gift, consider the opens in a new windowAmazon Alexa or the opens in a new windowEcho Dot.
Dresser Danger and Toddlers
Did you see the video that went viral a few days ago about the two twin boys who decided to go mountain climbing in their bedroom? Bob Tingler, a good friend and subscriber to this newsletter, asked me to share it with you.
opens in a new windowCLICK HERE to watch the video and discover HOW to PREVENT this from happening.
I decided to write out clear step-by-step instructions on how to keep kids like this from getting killed.
In this instance, the one boy kicked the Grim Reaper to the curb. But sadly, other toddlers have died when this happens.
If you have toddler grandchildren, or are about to have some, PLEASE send the following link to your kids or anyone you know that has an infant or an adventurous toddler. Infants will SOON BE toddlers:
Send the following URL to anyone that needs this information. It could be a friend, a son or daughter, a local newspaper letter to the editor, etc. Do whatever you can to spread the word about how to bolt a dresser to the wall.
Thanks Bob for the reminder.
I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!
I'm in the final editing phase of my opens in a new windowRoofing Ripoff book. Don't ask me how I overlooked this, but last year when I wrote most of it I FORGOT to ask you a few important questions!!!!
I NEED your input to really add some weight to things that are covered in the book.
If you've not yet taken my opens in a new windowAsphalt Shingle WARRANTY Survey yet, please do. I just announced it on Sunday.
If you've already taken the survey in the past two days, do NOT take it again.
You should take the survey if you have an asphalt roof, or are planning to put a NEW ONE on this year.
If you take the survey, I'm going to send you a SPECIAL EMAIL when the book is ready. You'll be able to get a 20 percent discount on the .pdf version of the book.
opens in a new windowCLICK HERE to take the SHORT survey. Thanks!
Latest REVISED Columns
I'm having a BLAST revising the columns and creating the helpful bullet-point lists.
If you're a new subscriber, I'm going back into my website and refreshing older content, revising it, and adding HELPFUL LINKS to save you time and money. Those columns that talk about the products I LOVE and USE will have DIRECT LINKS so you can get the products yourself.
For example, this morning I revised one I wrote, are you sitting down?, eighteen YEARS ago about opens in a new windowtankless water heaters.
You should READ IT, especially the stories sent in by homeowners like you that bought a tankless heater only to be shocked at what happened!
opens in a new windowCLICK HERE to read it.
I'm finding out that I'm revising columns faster than I thought. This means it might be a good idea for me to send out emails to you that just have SHORT LISTS of the columns I just did the day before.
If I just wait and save them up, then there may be too many for you to look at when I send out editions of the newsletter like this. I already have a big backlog. UGH!
I know that it's impossible to satisfy everyone, so let's try sending out short announcements and I'll monitor if I get too many complaints.
If it gets overwhelming SEND A REPLY TO ME and I'll make an adjustment. I don't want to stress you out, but I do want to SAVE you time and money!
I plan to make each Subject Line be a little different so you can save the emails if you don't have time to open each one. That may make it easier for you. See below.
It's a hard balance to strike with respect to keeping you informed, but not swamping you at the same time.
Here's a list of FIVE MORE revised columns you should really take a look at:
opens in a new windowLight Bulbs Burn Out TOO FAST
opens in a new windowSTOP Water From Leaking Into Your Basement / Crawlspace
opens in a new windowNASTY BioFilm in Your House!!! How to STOP It.
opens in a new windowTen SECRET Drywall Finishing TIPS
opens in a new windowModifying a Load Bearing Wall - SUPER IMPORTANT!
Okay, enough for today. WATCH for the SHORT Announcements about future revisions! I'll make this the Subject Line so you know:
AsktheBuilder.com (insert date) Column Revisions
Passez une bonne journée!
Tim Carter
Founder - AsktheBuilder.com
Do It Right, Not Over!
