This Special Edition of the AsktheBuilder.com newsletter is being sent on a Sunday because I've discovered over the years that many people love to shop online on Sunday.

I beg you to read the alert below before you do go online and shop. Please consider forwarding this email to any and all you know that shop online!

With a tight economy and limited budgets, I don't want you to risk wasting money on products that might not be the best value! I also have a tip below about dry steam mops.

As I'm writing this, I'm fortunate to be sitting next to the fireplace here at my house. It's a magical crystal clear Sunday morning here in New Hampshire. It's cool with a light west wind. A perfect morning for a cup of Ghiradelli Mocha Chocolate hot chocolate. Mmmmm good.... It's a tantalizing blend of coffee and chocolate. That's my favorite ice cream by the way - mocha chip.

My office is in a fourth bedroom in the basement that has a french door that allows me to see out to the lake. I just snapped the above photo. There's no ice on the lake - yet.

This room shares a see-through fireplace with a recreation room. What a treat to have a wood-burning fire going and get the occasional whiff of burning seasoned oak. It's going to be a great day!

SHOPPING AND SCROOGLED

This is really timely since we're in the heat of the Christmas shopping season. I don't know about you, but Kathy and I are really interested in saving money and getting the best value for what we do spend. Kathy does all of her shopping online.

More and more people shop online each year, so it's critical that you choose wisely when clicking. Remember that scene in the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie where the old knight told Harrison Ford after he drank from the nondescript Holy Grail, "You chose wisely."

Well, you need to choose wisely, That means the odds need to be stacked in your favor, not someone else's.

A little over two weeks ago, we were watching TV one night and this weird commercial got our attention. Actually it got Kathy's attention as I was starting to drift into the comatose state that overcomes me about 8:45 pm each night. Kathy backed up the DVR so we could watch it again.

It was an edgy commercial with a young couple in a kitchen. They talked about how Google is not being as transparent as possible with the search results on their Google Shopping platform. It appears the only companies that show up in the search results are ones that have paid to be there.

Do you use Google Shopping? Did you know that? I know I didn't suspect that to be the case.

The companies that pay the most to Google probably get the highest position in the rankings. This doesn't necessarily mean they're selling fantastic products. You have to keep that in mind.

I visited the Scroogled website to find out more. Here are some of the quotes I saw when I was there:

Google (2004) Founders IPO Letter: "we do not accept payment for [search results] or for inclusion or more frequent updating."

Google's 2004 SEC Filing: "Our search results will be objective and we will not accept payment for inclusion or ranking in them."

Google (2012) Google's 2012 SEC Disclosure: "After all, ads are just more answers to users' queries."

Google Commerce announces shopping results will be paid for and exclude merchants who don't participate.

So, the questions that come to my mind are: Has Google crossed the line in their regular search results?

Is Google putting search results up at the top of page one that make them the most money?

Something tells me they've either crossed that line or they're testing it now.

If you read the quotes of the founders of Google at the top of the pages of the Scroogled website, you'll start to wonder what their philosophy might be now.

Remember that line the day sergeant used to say at the beginning of each week's TV episode of Hill Street Blues? "Be careful out there."

Indeed. Be very careful with the information you get from websites at the top of Google's search results! They may not be in your best interests, but that of Google's voting and non-voting stockholders.

You can watch the commercial I saw at the Scroogled website. Here's a video player that plays the commercial we saw plus a few others that are fantastic.

There are other videos that will play. Wait till you see the Bing it On Challenge one. It features a young man who grabs random pedestrians on a street in San Francisco and challenges them to see which search engine they like best. It's a HOOT! I'm still laughing!

You can take the same challenge the guy took who had to run down that San Francisco street in his underwear because he LOST!

But you get to do it in the privacy of your own home in case you lose. The best part is you may win an all-expenses-paid trip to any city in the USA!!!

If I win, I'm going to Hawaii!

DRY STEAM COMMERCIAL

Speaking of television commercials, I've been seeing a regular commercial for a dry steam mop that "converts to a vacuum cleaner is two seconds".

I want to alert you to a simple fact that steam, hardwood floors and laminate wood floors do NOT play well together. The last thing you want to do is inject water vapor into a wood floor. That can cause it to swell.

Steam is steam. It's hot water vapor. How they get away with calling it dry steam is beyond me. That's an oxymoron.

You can do what you want at your house, but I can tell you that I'd NEVER use a steam machine of any type to clean any wood floor or any material that contained wood.

SPECIAL AMAZON SHOPPING LINK

I've had at least two subscribers ask me for a special AsktheBuilder.com Amazon link they can use to start their normal everyday shopping at Amazon.com.

If you use my affiliate link, it helps you. How? The ever-growing revenue I receive from the commissions are allowing me to grow AsktheBuilder.com. That means I can hire more people - even remote virtual employees - and they can help me do more tool and product reviews for you!

Here's all you have to do. It requires three Easy Steps!

Step One: CLICK HERE

Step Two: Immediately bookmark the page you land on.

Step Three: Rename the bookmark to HELP AsktheBuilder!

You can rename it anything you want.

Rumor has it one subscriber might call it Soft DIY T-shirt. :->

I'll have more news and tips next week. With Christmas bearing down on us, I'll do my best to keep it short and sweet.

THANK YOU for helping me grow AsktheBuilder.com.

I'd like to know what I can bring you for Christmas with respect to new videos and reviews.

I usually don't send out two announcements or newsletters a week, but this is VERY IMPORTANT.

RIDGID NAILERS PRODUCT RECALL

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has just issued a recall on these two tools. Please FORWARD this email of mine to anyone you feel might have one of these tools or uses them at their job.

The triggers on these tools can suddenly have a major malfunction and shoot a fastener without warning. That's REALLY DANGEROUS - I know as I've narrowly missed being injured by nailers like this.

Go to the CPSC website to read more.

SHED QUESTION AND ANSWER ROUND TABLE

I've received numerous requests from subscribers that purchased the DIY Shed Video series.

They asked me to host a session where I answer any and all questions about how you build a shed.

What a great idea! This interactive round table is happening Tuesday night, December 11, 2012, at 7 pm Eastern Time on PowHow.com.

The cost to attend this one-hour Q and A session is just $20. There are a LIMITED amount of seats in the webinar! Right now there are only TEN seats left. Click here to register right now at Powhow.com.

You can attend this round table discussion even if you didn't purchase access to the videos.

FRIENDLY AMAZON REMINDER

I just wanted to thank you if you're one of the many subscribers who's using my affiliate links in this newsletter to shop at Amazon.com.

You benefit when you use the links.

How? I'm able to GROW AsktheBuilder.com faster to get you more FREE tool and product reviews.

Here's a link that takes you to some of my Favorite Tools. To start your shopping, just enter what you're looking for in the Search box at the top of the page. It's that easy.

It's really making a difference.

Last night, I was with about 35 members of my ham radio club as we toured the 911 call center that's just a few miles from my house in Laconia, NH. We only have two 911 call centers for the entire state of New Hampshire. The primary call center is in the capitol in Concord.

While there, one of the cool and collected operators was talking a person through how to do CPR. There was so much anxiety in the room, you could hear a flea burp. The professional operator's sitting in the cubicle in the center of the photo.

I can't tell you if the person that had the heart attack survived, but I can tell you that I'm glad I took the CERT training that includes CPR as one of the class segments. I'm also grateful we have such talented employees here at our call centers. The director of the center told us that two of his employees received national awards in the past two years for their skills and magic. Wow!

Do you know how to administer CPR? When was your last refresher course? The methodology has changed. Make it a New Years resolution to take a CPR course or, better yet, the entire CERT series. You'll *never* regret investing the time.

IMPORTANT PRODUCT RECALLS

There are two recall alerts.

The first is about a Jotul Gas Fireplace Insert that can cause electrical shocks and burn hazards.

The second is a Home Depot bucket mug that can catch on fire. Seriously.

iPhone 3G or 3GS

I'm still in need of a used iPhone 3G or 3GS if you have one for sale. Please respond to me with iPhone as the Subject Line.

UPDATE ON STRAIGHT TALK

I've had my HTC Nexus One phone working for the past week on Straight Talk and everything is working just great. I'm in a rural area and have a crystal-clear signal. The texting is perfect, and the Internet browsing experience is as fast as my Samsung Galaxy phone.

My HTC phone shows on the screen that I'm getting a 3G signal, so I'm tickled pink with that! I'll continue to give you reports about this experience. Suffice it to say that I'm now saving $75 a month on my cell phone bill.

TIP OF THE WEEK - ENERGY RETROFITS - RETURN ON INVESTMENT MYTH

The most recent issue of Remodeling magazine's cover story was about retrofitting houses with energy improvements.

One part of the story listed the 10 Reasons to Retrofit. It said, and I quote, "Some people invest in energy retrofits because they want to help achieve energy independence or reduce greenhouse gases or reverse climate change. For everyone else, here are 10 more tangible reasons."

The first reason listed was:

Save Money

It then said, "Savings on energy bills vary but are immediate and will likely grow over time as prices increase."

WRONG! Stop the train! That's a very misleading statement, and I see many publications say it all the time. I hear home improvement TV hosts say it. I hear it on home improvement radio shows. It's a half truth. It's bunk.

Here is what I've said for years about saving money on energy improvements:

You do NOT save money on energy improvements or retrofits UNTIL SUCH TIME as you pay yourself back all the money, PLUS interest, you spent to do the improvement or retrofit. You pay yourself back with the lower utility bills. After you have paid yourself back the money you spent, THEN you finally start to save money.

Does that make sense?

One of the retrofits they used as an example was a tankless water heater. Do you think you'll save money with one of those bad boys? Well, go read my past column about tankless water heaters - and read the comments at the bottom of the column!!!

DRIVER TOOL - EXCELLENT CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEA

I'm taping a video later today about the very handy Worx SD Driver tool. You're going to LOVE this parody video. No more clues. I'll send you a special alert about this video in a few days.

If you want to try to guess what I'm going to do in the video, go check out this ingenious handy cordless driver tool.

Please keep in mind that you can help me grow AsktheBuilder.com if you do all your shopping at Amazon.com AFTER you click one of my Amazon affiliate links. Thank you so much for doing that!

SHED VIDEOS - AND MORE VIDEOS

I'm spending time telling you about the shed videos because they're a harbinger of what's to come. In 2013, you're going to see me produce many more instructional videos.

Why? I'm getting hundreds of positive comments about the teaching style I display in the DIY Shed videos. Perhaps I missed my calling!

Those folks that purchased the DIY Shed video series months ago have been having a field day over the past few days. Last week I promised you that videos would be uploaded and made accessible. I delivered - finally!

There's a link just below where you can watch three really cool videos. But read this first.

Over the weekend, I received a series of emails I knew I was going to get. Two that stood out were the ones from Henry Wollman who lives in Rocky, Oklahoma and Russell Morris who hales from Queensland, Australia.

Henry had a bunch of follow up questions. There were things he wanted to know more about in the videos. What's interesting is that I could have added about three questions to each of the questions he asked.

Going into the project I knew that would happen. My answer to Henry was pretty simple. Imagine trying to package forty years of hands-on building experience into a series of videos. Imagine how many thousands of little steps there are in building a simple shed.

It's impossible to fit all of that information into a video series taking the time to explain each and every tip. It would take thousands of hours of video to answer a majority of questions.

Russell's email was more succinct. He pretty much hit the nail on the head capturing my vision of the DIY shed video series back in May when I launched the project.

He said:

"I just want to tell you that you have made a fantastic video series. Very well put together, and in a very good logical sequence. There are very few lingering questions about any details. Just about anyone could follow this and with almost no experience and build a pretty respectable shed. I know I will be referring to this many times in the future. Great Job!"

Russell Morris, Robina, Queensland Australia

Russell's pretty much right on target. Just like a book might leave you with questions, the goal is to impart plenty of information to get you on your way. I know my shed videos do that.

Here are three FREE videos from the series that I want you to watch. The one video will blow you away if you've ever had trouble measuring something accurately. You'll possibly discover the problem was with the tape measure!

Are you sitting down? If you remember way back when I launched the project, I said there would be 100 videos in the entire series.

I just checked. I've edited and uploaded 85 videos. I believe in video #86 I show you the first two roof rafters in place. There are MANY MORE videos yet to edit and upload, so you can see how enormous the video series is! At this point, I believe it could easily go over 200 videos, but I'm not sure. I'll know more by this weekend.

Remember how I said the videos would be sold a la carte? You don't have to buy the entire series if you just need to know how to do one aspect of the shed construction.

Well, we're starting to load the different categories onto the shopping cart. For example, the Wall Framing category videos, all 13 of them, can be purchased for just $19.99.

There are going to be nearly 25 different categories when I'm finished! It will cost you lots of money if you purchase the shed videos one category at a time. Even more if you buy them one video at a time.

But you can purchase the entire set of DIY Shed videos, right now, for just $97.

That price is going to go up. I've said that for months now, and every month the price goes up as I find out how many videos there really are.

I'm only going to sell 100 sets at this $97 price, then the price will jump to $147.00. Even at that price, it will be a huge bargain as the videos will cost less than $1 each at the higher price. Remember, I think there will be about 200 videos in the complete series.

Here's the kicker. I have a few of the official DIY Shed hats left. There are only fifteen hats left. The first fifteen people that order the entire shed series at $97 get a free hat. These are deluxe hats, not some POC hat you see for $5 in a catalog.

Check out the handsome hat in the photo below. You can see the completed shed in the background.

If you're one of the first 15 people to buy the series of videos, you'll get an email from Roger letting you know you made the cut and get the nice hat. If you do NOT get the email, then you got to the cart too late. Sorry about that!

Go watch the three FREE videos.

I want to warn you upfront. This newsletter is light on home improvement tips, but HEAVY on tips on how to save money. I felt that's really important with the tough economy and Christmas bearing down on us.

Next week, I'll have my Top Ten Tools List for you if you need Christmas gift ideas. Some things on the list will be very high quality for very little money. Wait till you see the powered Worx screwdriver that resembles a pistol. Watch for that next week.

I spent part of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend cleaning the garage allowing me to put Kathy's car back in it for the winter. She's happy now that her car is tucked behind the door.

Now I've got to work on the other side so I can get my truck under cover. Believe me, it's a real treat to not have to deal with frosty windshields. I also don't know anyone who looks forward to brushing snow off cars or chipping ice from windshields.

I'm back at editing and uploading the DIY Shed videos. I got a good chuckle the day after Thanksgiving when Marshall Stewart, a subscriber to this newsletter, and his friend Diane stopped by to see the shed.

Marshall lives in Virginia, but came up to spend Thanksgiving here in New Hampshire. Diane lives about 30 miles south southeast of me, and the two of them drove up on a brilliant late fall New Hampshire day to get a tour of the shed.

Marshall ribbed me about my delivery time line for the finished videos. What follows is not the exact wording of his quote, but it's close. As he descended the stairs from the shed attic he quipped, "I've edited my share of videos and your optimism is fanciful!"

Well, all I can say is that this week those that purchased access to the videos will be starting to watch quite a few! Hurray!

TIP OF THE WEEK - SAVE MONEY ON YOUR HEATING BILLS

This newsletter is focused on saving money. Would you like to save money on your heating bills? Of course you would!

Every year you hear the same old advice: Caulk air leaks, check weatherstripping, add insulation, install a programmable thermostat, etc. Yes, those are all great ideas, but for some people, that list could be challenging. Maybe you don't have the money to buy the things you need to SAVE money.

So just do this one time-tested thing that absolutely works. How do I know? My father-in-law did it back in the 1920's when he was a small lad.

Put on more clothes and turn down your thermostat. I'm serious. Right now I'm wearing a tee shirt, a long-sleeve synthetic tee shirt and a hooded sweatshirt. I have on heavy long pants and insulated boots. I'm toasty warm in my house, the boiler is only coming on every so often and I'm saving money on propane.

My father-in-law often tells the story about the frost on the covers as he climbed under them in his unheated bedroom. He's still alive at age 93 to talk about it. You don't have to go to that extreme to save lots of money.

I'm here to tell you that wearing long underwear, hooded sweatshirts and more clothes will keep you toasty warm in your house if you lower the heat setting. Will you be fashionable? No. Will you have extra money for other things? Yes!

SAVING EVEN MORE MONEY

Each week, I get replies to this newsletter from subscribers that are being crushed by the tough times and horrible economy. Well, the dismal economy is hitting the Carter family right between the eyes. We're right there with you in the same boat.

Kathy and I are doing all sorts of things to save money. More importantly, we're looking at all of our current expenses to see where we can trim some additional excess fat.

For starters, we just refinanced both our first and second mortgages. Just shaving one percentage point off the interest rate on our first mortgage will save us over $500 per month. That's significant money that can be either put in savings or used to pay off the debt faster.

If you've not refinanced your home lately, the rates are at historic lows. You could save enormous amounts of money.

Don't wait to refinance. It's practically impossible for the rates to get any lower than they are right now. How can I know that? It's easy.

Let me give you an example of how it all works. A farmer grows wheat. He sells the wheat, hopefully for a small profit, to a large wheat co-op. This co-op then sells, at a profit, the processed wheat to giant processed wheat distributors.

These distributors then sell the bags of flour to commercial bakeries. The bakeries use the wheat to make bread that they sell to grocery stores. You then buy the bread from the store. Each time the wheat changes hands, a profit is usually made.

The banks that lend (sell) you and I money get it from other banks. Those banks buy (borrow) their money from the Federal Reserve. In an effort to stimulate the economy, the Federal Reserve lending rate to these monster banks that distribute money to other banks is at or near zero percent.

The money you and I 'buy' (borrow) at the closing table has usually gone through two or three bankers hands. Every step of the way each banker needs to make a little profit. Because the Federal Reserve rate is at or near zero, I was able to get a fixed loan for 15 years at an astounding rate of 2.75%. The Federal Reserve rate CAN'T drop below zero percent.

The mortgage broker I dealt with here in New Hampshire was fantastic. He was ultra professional, and worked his you-know-what off to get us a fantastic rate.

The next thing we're working on is saving money on our cell phones. Oh my gosh I simply can't believe what we spend on those devices! With Kathy and my two kids, it's easy to have a total monthly bill north of $300. That's insane.

I have a data plan on my phone because of my business travel and it acts as an emergency connection to the Internet in case our high-speed cable service goes offline. That plan plus my meager 450 minutes a month costs me close to $120 a month!

Guess what? My really good buddy Chuck Eglinton, an expert on technology and gadgets, told me a month ago about an unbelievable cell phone deal. It's called Straight Talk.

By the time you read this, my new SIM card should be here and I'll have UNLIMITED talk, text and data for only $45 a month. Are you sitting down? It gets better, much better.

THERE'S NO CONTRACT!

You can even get pay-as-you go if you want. Chuck's been using this service for about two months and has had no issues. My daughter Meghan has been using it for about a month here in New Hampshire and it works flawlessly.

Watch the hilarious videos at top of this page and see if this service will work on your phone. Halfway through the third video, I was laughing out loud.

Your existing phone may not work on Straight Talk, but if that's the case, Straight Talk sells phones that do work. There are two different standards when it comes to cell phones.

Chuck explained it to me this way, "StraightTalk uses the GSM network, not the CDMA network. This means you can insert a new StraightTalk SIM card into your old phone that uses the GSM band, such as an old AT&T phone or T-Mobile phone - or any of the phones that StraightTalk sells."

The bottom line is that you can significantly lower your cell phone bill, have unlimited minutes, and forget about the fear of a huge bill.

NEED TWO IPHONES!

Did you upgrade to an iPhone 5 and have an iPhone 4 that you no longer want? I'm in the market to purchase two used iPhones to put onto the Straight Talk network for Kathy and my son.

I'd love to buy your iPhone if it's in fantastic shape and you want to unload it. Reply to this email and quote me your lowest price. Change the Subject Line to: iPhone for Tim

GREAT DEALS AT AMAZON.COM!

Ron Thompson, who lives in North Carolina, wrote to me overnight.

"I used the Amazon link through your newsletter and purchased about $X,XXX.xx worth of stuff at Amazon. Don't know how you can track it, just thought I'd let you know. Thanks for allowing me to help your site out. Take care and Merry Christmas!"

No, Ron, thank you for helping me out! The tiny commission I get from Amazon will help me grow AsktheBuilder.com so I can produce more FREE tips and tool reviews for you.

Ron's email came at a perfect time because I've received emails from subscribers wondering if I can *see* exactly who buys what when they go to Amazon.com. They're worried about privacy. I totally get that.

Have no fear! Amazon issues a report each day of what was purchased, but there are NO NAMES associated with the giant report. Look at a small screen shot of the report I can see. This is just a small portion of the huge report.

One of the great things about Amazon are the deals they email you each day. You get these emails once you purchase something and then go back to browse around looking at products.

Amazon remembers what you're interested in and IF that product goes on sale at a later date, Amazon sends you an email alerting you of the better price.

So, you can SAVE MONEY by browsing around at Amazon looking for things days or weeks ahead of WHEN you need them.

But remember, Amazon can only alert you if they know how to reach you. So buy something now and you'll start to get the money-saving alert emails. Those emails are among the first I look at each day.

For example, overnight I got an email about how I can save $25 if I spend $100 on select DeWALT tools. I had been looking at a DeWALT drill / driver combo kit, and Amazon remembered that.

TOTALLY FREE PHONE CALLS

Now here's an interesting scenario. Let's say you want to make a phone call on a cell phone and do it totally for free? It's possible. My buddy Bob Rankin writes about how to do that if you use BobSled.

Read Bob's quick article now on how to use a WiFi enabled cell phone to make free calls!

That's enough for you to chew on this week.

I'll have lots of new information for you next week.

Happy Thanksgiving to you! It's really odd to write that because quite a few of the subscribers to this newsletter don't live here in the USA. I regularly get very nice emails from subscribers in Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the UK to name just a *few* countries! To them, this coming Thursday is just a regular day. No big deal.

I feel that Thanksgiving should be a holiday celebrated by many across the world not unlike Christmas. There are many things to be thankful for.

It's really important to start each day thinking what you should be grateful and thankful for. I started doing that a few months ago, and it's really improved my outlook each day.

Here's my very short list as I compose this newsletter. Believe me, I could fill this entire newsletter with things I'm thankful for:

• I'm thankful to have you as a subscriber.
• I'm thankful for Kathy's health, that of my kids and sister, and all my relatives.
• I'm thankful for the support and understanding I get from Kathy and my kids.
• I'm thankful for the support network of dear friends that help me constantly.
• I'm thankful I live in a land where I can write and talk without fear of what I say.
• I'm thankful I got to see my dear friend Mike before we had to send him back to Heaven.

What can you be thankful for? You may be having a tough time right now, but surely there's a small list of things you can be thankful for. Please take a deep breath and reflect on that. You'd be shocked at how calming it is to do just that.

TIP OF THE WEEK - USING A BELT SANDER

I could write about some of the tips about how to use a belt sander, but how about I just show you?

Please watch my belt sanding tips video!

TRAVEL TIP

Are you traveling over Thanksgiving? Do you need to stay at a hotel or motel?

Use Tripadvisor.

Kathy and I used it about a month ago before we drove back to Cincinnati to see her dad. I found an amazing motel, the Glass House Inn, on that website and the reviews convinced me it was the perfect place to stay.

Read my TripAdvisor review and tell me if you wouldn't want to stay here. On my monitor, it's the one titled: Go Back in Time to a Fantastic Place

I also ask that if you do find a great place to stay, by all means tell the world about it on TripAdvisor! Post a review!

MOTH BALLS - WATCH HOW YOU USE THEM

Diane Ellis is a subscriber to this newsletter. Unfortunately she made a mistake. She used a product without reading the label. She wanted to share her story to drive home a point:

Read LABEL Instructions - ALWAYS

"We were having a problem with animals (probably mice) in our attic. A friend suggested getting some mothballs and scattering them in the eaves. We thought that sounded like a great idea. WRONG!!! Never, EVER, use mothballs anywhere inside your home, even the attic.

Within hours, the mothballs were converting to gases, making our entire second floor -- where the bedrooms are -- unlivable. The gases were so strong we were nearly choking. The fumes were coming through the bedroom ceilings from the attic. We knew we had to remove the mothballs, but how do you do this when there is no flooring in the attic??!!

OMG it was awful. We spent hours moving plywood around the attic, on our stomachs using a vacuum cleaner to suck them out of the crevices. It took two weeks for the smell to dissipate.

After reading the instructions on the mothball box more carefully, it says never to use them inside your home or attic.

I'm 53 years old. When I was a child, my grandmother used them in her wool clothing in the summer. We thought moth balls were pretty innocuous. We were wrong. They are highly toxic, and SHOULD NOT be sold in the housewares department, near the ironing boards (that's where I found them at Walmart)."

 

DESIGN SOFTWARE AND KEITH CARNEY

Are you thinking of building a home or doing a large room addition? You may want to try to do the plans yourself using software from Chief Architect. They've been in the design software business for years and years. I would always see their fancy booth and hands-on demonstrations at the trade shows I would attend.

Home Designer Software by Chief Architect announced its new version 2014 a few days ago. The new 2014 version offers enhanced tools and advances to existing features that allow you to do much of what an architect can do. Well, maybe that's a stretch.

Home Designer 2014 can be purchased at HomeDesigner.com. A free trial version is also available for Home Designer Pro.

Now, let's say you have no interest in drawing your own plans or clawing your way up the learning curve of a complicated piece of software. I absolutely get that. You want a pro to do your plans and be assured the space is going to work.

Well, just look to the right and click that handsome black and red ad for Keith Carney! He'll draw your plans. He drew the plans for my DIY Shed. Guess what? He lives over 150 miles away from me and NEVER had to come to my house for a site visit. We did everything via email or on the phone. Need I say more?

HEART ATTACK

Tonight is graduation night for me! I graduate from my CERT training. Part of that training was CPR.

Tell me, if you were in a public place, say a shopping mall, and someone collapsed, would you know what to do? My good friend Loren sent me a link that teaches you, in just minutes, how to properly react if you see someone collapse from a heart attack.

Would you like to see how EASY it is to save someone's life? It could be that of your husband, wife, son, daughter or a friend. Go right now and watch this unbelievably cool interactive video. You'll be asked during the video to make a few simple choices.

This is a STUNNING use of technology. PLEASE watch the video and PLEASE forward this entire newsletter to all your email friends so that you can help them.

Not only will your friends discover what to do if they see someone collapse, they'll get introduced to some helpful home improvement info!

GET MORE HOME IMPROVEMENT TIPS - FOR FREE!

The Christmas shopping season starts in earnest in just a few days.

Do you shop at Amazon.com? If so, you can get more helpful home improvement tips for FREE by helping me grow my business.

If you use one of my affiliate links to enter Amazon.com to shop, I get a tiny commission for each thing you buy. This does not cause the price of the item you buy to go up.

I would appreciate you doing this for me. Please help me grow AsktheBuilder.com for you!

Help Grow AsktheBuilder!

Three weeks ago, I mentioned a fantastic contest that Bosch was running. They're giving away a $1,000 tool treasure trove. But you're running out of time. You MUST ACT NOW.

To enter, all you have to do is take one or two photos of your MESSY workshop, garage tool area, or cluttered truck. You then upload them and write one or two sentences.

YOU could be the one to win! But you only have FOUR DAYS left to enter. Do it NOW. Click to enter the Take-Back-Your-Day Bosch Contest.

STAIN SOLVER SALE - ALMOST OVER

Earlier in the week, I told you about the FLASH Stain Solver SALE.

You get 15% off the 4.5-pound size and Free Shipping.

Only 200 4.5-pound containers were on sale. They are almost gone.

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A REGULAR Newsletter will be sent to you on Tuesday!

I forgot to mention a few things in today's newsletter.

WASHINGTON DC MEETUP!

I'll be in Washington DC this coming Friday for a meeting. I fly in early and back home at 10 pm.

I can do a meet up for dinner. Dutch Treat.

If you can't make the dinner, I might be able to do a quick breakfast as my plane lands at 7:50 AM and I don't believe I have to be anywhere until about 10:30 or 11 AM.

If you want to get together THIS Friday, November 16, 2012, please respond to this email, but change the Subject Line to DC.

Be SURE to put in a cell phone number where you can be reached on Friday in case there's a last minute change of plans.

I'll then send out an email on Thursday as to where we'll meet and what time. I should easily be available as early as 5 pm, but it might be 6 pm.

NEW TOOLS ADDED TO TIM'S FAVORITE TOOLS

I forgot to tell you that each week I'm adding MORE new tools to my Favorite Tools feature.

I added a great drill / driver set of bits and a very cool Moleskin book that's a must for you.

TODAY'S TYPOS

Ugh! As usual, I was pressed for time sending out today's earlier newsletter. Some pesky typos snuck into the newsletter.

I got a friendly nudge from Elaine C. about my faux pas with the Coast knife. It's knives, not knifes. Duh!

In the same review, I then put anyone and it should have been any one.

FRIENDLY REMINDER

If you get value from my newsletter from time to time, you can really do yourself and me a huge favor.

Start your shopping at Amazon.com using my affiliate link. It doesn't cost you a penny more to do this, but it really helps me produce this newsletter and grow AsktheBuilder.

If you do lots of your Christmas shopping at Amazon.com and remember to do this, you'll benefit.

How? If I can get just 10 percent of the subscribers to do this, it can generate enough revenue for me to hire more people.

That means you get more tips, more product reviews, and better stuff! It's that simple.

You can always find the affiliate link in the ads to the right. See the ads with the green up arrow? Click one.

Thanks so much.

Tim Carter