In case you want to leave Facebook too, here is a guide on how to delete your Facebook account.

The Last Steps
And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; — I Thessalonians 4:11 (KJV)

I’M COMPLETELY FREE OF CREDIT CARDS!

I have not a one to my name or business.

It was fun calling them all and closing the accounts.  They all wanted to know why. My reasons, when I shared them, totally baffled them!

He replied with the following:

THIS IS FANTASTIC!!!!   You are now in the 15% of households with no credit cards. Ironically, as recently as 1970 only 15% of households had a credit card.  What a run it has been for the banks but a disaster for most families.  Keep up the good work!!

I used to think that having credit cards and paying them off each month was OK.  My friend tried to convince me that having credit cards would increase my spending and limit my ability to control my spending.  At the time, I didn’t agree with him.  However, when I decided to leave my corporate job, I needed to cut my spending in half.  That was when it really hit me.

It always surprised me when my credit card bill arrived, how it was always bigger than I expected. I was always able to pay it off, but it was a disappointment to do so and have to miss some other goal I had set with my money. Now that my credit cards are gone and all the bills paid off, it is a wonderful feeling to not receive those bills every month.

I will admit that it has been an adjustment to not just put it on my credit card when I needed or wanted to buy something.  It takes more planning and discipline to manage the budget this way.  But, isn’t that what I am trying to do?  I will also say that I am getting pretty close to cutting my spending in half from what I used to spend.  Pretty amazing, huh? Maybe it is true what I have heard, that you will spend 40% more with credit cards than without.

• Czech Republic
• Singapore
• Honduras
• Bahrain
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Taiwan
• Jordan
• Guatamala
• Haiti
• Brunei
• Nicaragua
• China
• Dominican Republic
• India
• Darussalam
• Canada
• Costa Rica

Yes, there was an item Made in the U.S.A., but it was about 25 years old!

The people of the United States have lost the capability to produce their own clothing and many other necessities. What will we do if war comes to the world? I can answer this for you.  We will suffer.  Our nation used to be able to produce anything we needed from the natural resources within our borders.  Sadly, that knowledge and infrastructure has been lost.

I remember, back in the 80′s, when Wal-Mart tried to spur American manufacturing.  Sam Walton penned this letter to spur a change in the United State’s ever-widening trade deficit. The following quote is underlined for emphasis in the letter.

Our Wal-Mart Company is firmly committed to the philosophy of buying everything possible from suppliers who manufacture their products in the United States.

U.S. manufacturers could compete if there was a corporate will to do so. Sadly, the next quarter’s bottom line and the laws of our country almost mandate that our manufacturing capability be moved outside of the country.

I believe that hard times are on the horizon, perhaps even war.  Anyone have a good loom for sale?

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; – I Thessalonians 4:11 (KJV)

God bless, Mike

Then in January of 2002 I setup the first version of mikesmind.com.  You can see the page in the Wayback Machine. (The images and background are missing now.) I think I was blogging before blogging was so popular! In 2004 I moved this site to XOOPS and in November of 2004 I moved this site to WordPress.

Over the years I have setup several websites, participated on others, joined forums, and enjoyed the internet. It just seems that I have been online for more than 10 years! During that time, I also made the switch from Windows to Linux.  So much has been made possible because of the access to information that the internet provides.  I would say that the best internet inventions have been Google, RSS feeds, and WordPress.

• No Credit Check
• LOW Fee – Only $12 per $100 Borrowed
• LOW Rate – Only 18% APR
• 30 Day Payment Period

Have we not learned from the recent financial trouble our nation is going through? It is hard for me to imagine how this can be a good deal for anyone!

• No Credit Check – The folks who need a payday loan are probably poor credit risks. Do you want that for you credit union?
• LOW Fee – Only $12 per $100 Borrowed – That’s 144% annually when compounded monthly!
• LOW Rate – Only 18% APR – Yes, this might be a low rate when compared to credit cards and payday loan outfits. I like 0% better when you don’t take out a loan.
• 30 Day Payment Period – I wonder what happens after 30 days?

This doesn’t seem to be a good idea for banks to promote.  What about teaching people to be financially responsible?  I guess you can’t get that from this credit union!  I suggest Dave Ramsey.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=O68MByaMVdM

One thing I find when searching forums is that there is a lot of “try this” and “try that.”  That approach can lead to more problems.  It is real useful when the “try this” and “try that” threads get summarized into a tutorial that really works.

I was having two problems with You Tube on my PC.

1. Sound: I wasn’t getting sound for a lot of different applications, including videos from You Tube. The  Simple guide to Sound Solutions for Hardy,Intrepid and Jaunty Jackalope Users on Ubuntu Geek worked for me.   This guide is truly step-by-step for fixing sound problems.
2. Flash Video: My flash video in FireFox 3 would just sit there with the circle of dots going round and round in the center of the screen.  I found a guide called Flash not working with Firefox 3 on Ubuntu Intrepid using flashplugin-nonfree after upgrade from Hardy by Jamie Morrison.  It is not as user friendly as the Ubuntu Geek guide, but it worked.  Follow the steps under the Resolution heading.

Hopefully, these two steps will help you like they helped me!

I use Citrix to work remotely for my employer.  I was never able to get Citrix working in Ubuntu 7.10, although it worked just fine in Ubuntu 6.06.  (Something about library incompatabilities.)  As usual, I Googled for help.  This time I found a great tutorial called Running Citrix ICA client on Linux – Ubuntu 8.10.  Unlike many tutorials, this one was straight-forward, to the point, simple, and it worked!  My thanks to Cary Brown.

Now for the big suprise.  Running Citrix on Linux is twice as fast as it was for me on Windows XP!  What a nice surprise.