Fire Truck Financing - How to Protect Yourself From the Manufacturer's Bad Financial Situation

Fire Truck Financing - How to Protect Yourself From the Manufacturer's Bad Financial Situation

Do you know how to protect yourself from a financial problem with your fire truck manufacturer?

There has been lots of bad news for the fire apparatus manufacturers laately. One large manufacturer went bankrupt and closed its main factory. Another was sold for pennies on the dollar. The largest has its credit rating downgraded further into "junk bond" status. Several smaller manufacturers have just gone - with the horror story of departments who pre-paid hundreds of thousands of dollars left behind with nothing to show.

With the economy today is such a shaky condition, it's unlikely that the fire apparatus manufacturers will turn around quickly.

So, what can you do to protect yourself from a financial disaster with your manufacturer?

Here are the basic steps to protect yourself when making this large financial and important purchase.

1. Be prepared that, no matter what, you can lose money if your manufacturer fails during construction of your new truck.
2. Analyze deeply before you pre-pay for a truck or chassis prior to delivery.
3. Analyze very deeply before you enter into a complicated financial transaction such as a trade-in or turn-in lease with a manufacturer.
4. Take firm and "bullet-proof" steps to protect your money.

We'll look at each of these in more detail below.

Be prepared that, no matter what, you can lose money if your manufacturer fails during construction of your new truck

If your manufacturer fails during the construction of your truck, you will lose money. The reason is that you'll be forced to sign a contract a year or later than when you first selected and budgeted for the truck. Most certainly, the cost of the replacement truck will be much higher. Today, the average price of the average truck goes up about $ 18,000 each year. So, you may be forced to buy a replacement truck that is $ 18,000 or more higher.

If you paid for the chassis upon delivery and the manufacturer fails, you own the chassis and will have to negotiate with another manufacturer to build on that chassis. They will charge you more since these situations always have manufacturing problems. The new manufacturer will charge you more because building on someone else's chassis is always a hassle.

Your chances at losing money increase greatly if you enter into a complex financial transaction with the manufacturer. The following two points discuss what to do in these situations.

Analyze deeply before you pre-pay for a truck or chassis prior to delivery

When you give money to a manufacturer before you take delivery of your truck, you are lending money to the manufacturer. No matter what you call it. You are giving them money with the promise they will give you something back later. That is what lending money is.

It's easy to get traveled by a discount worth tens of thousands of dollars. It seems simple and easy. You pay a lower price for the truck. But you must measure what you are giving up to get that discount. Is your money in a saving account? Or will you have to borrow money to pre-pay the truck? Either way, you are losing interest or paying interest to gain that discount. The formula is to understand if what you lose or pay is more or less than what you gain.

Second, if you pre-pay your truck and your manufacturer fails (such as files bankruptcy), you become a General Unsecured Creditor in the bankruptcy. That is the last person to get paid. So, you must measure your risk and your tolerance for that risk. That's a fancy way of saying "How much money am I willing to lose?"

The key here is to understand exactly what is the worse that can happen and then if you can afford the worse.

Analyze very deeply before you enter into a complicated financial transaction such as a trade-in or turn-in lease with a manufacturer

The popular trade-in or turn-in lease is a very complicated financial transaction with lots of fine print and clauses that can cost you a ton of money if you do not understand them. These risks can be even higher if the manufacturer you are contracting with is on shaky financial ground.

The key question is "What happens if the manufacturer is not around in 5 or 7 years to trade my truck back?". There are several other questions to ask:

• What are my options if I can not turn my truck back?
• How much must I pay if I want the truck?
• Who will I negotiate with at the end of the lease term?

When you enter into a contract like this, you are getting more financially intertwined with the manufacturer than just buying the truck and depending on them for warranty and service. Your use and ownership of the truck can be thrust into bankruptcy if the manufacturer fails.

Take firm and "bullet-proof" steps to protect your money

The best way to protect yourself is to require the manufacturer to bond the contract and their performance. All financially solvent manufacturers should be able to provide bonds to cover your financial risk in doing business with them.

If you want to know how one manufacturer financially stacks up against another, request each manufacturer's performance bond costs. The higher the cost, the higher the risk.

The manufacturer will charge you, whether you see the specific charge or not, for this bonding. This is a small cost to prevent a large financial problem later on. It's always easy to know that you needed more insurance after the fire. The key is to properly protect yourself before the tragedy happens.

Also, unless you can shoulder a higher cost for another manufacturer to build your replacement truck, get a bond amount that covers the replacement cost of the truck. That's because you'll be pricing a replacement truck a year or sometimes even later than when you first budgeded. The price will go up.

Or, if you paid for a chassis, make sure you get ownership information for the chassis. This document is called a Certificate of Origin (C of O) and is issued by the manufacturer of the chassis .. If you pay for the chassis, insist on receiving this very shortly after you pay. If the manufacturer gives you the C of O, that means they have paid their bills - in this case, the chassis manufacturer. You will not get in the middle of any payment disputes between the chassis builder and the manufacturer.

It also means that, in the bankruptcy, you have proof to show the bankruptcy court that you are the legal owner of the chassis and you will not have a complex legal fight to get the chassis you paid for.

In Summary

Do not let the current financial environment scare you into delaying an important apparatus purchase for your department. If you understand what risks you are potentially taking and taking active steps to protect yourself, you should navigate these financial rapids without undue risk or stress.

How to Choose the Best Motherboard For Your Computer System

How to Choose the Best Motherboard For Your Computer System

The computer motherboard is a key internal part of a computer system. If the CPU or processor is considered as the computers brain then the motherboard can be thought of as the heart of the computer. Although the motherboard does not boost the speed of a computer, it plays a pivotal role for the overall functionality and features of a computer system. It can at times be a really daunting task to choose the best motherboard for your computer. For getting the best output from a motherboard you should follow some of the below strategies that will help you to find out the best motherboard for your computer.

Try to find out as much as you can about the brand name or manufacturer name while choosing a motherboard. A motherboard from a well known company gives many added features like a good warranty or product quality, so try to get a motherboard from well known and reputable company. You must also make sure about the availability of technical support from the manufacturer so when you need it, it is then available. Tech support is critical here as it is needed during troubleshooting. Among the manufacturers to consider, Tyan, Asus, Intel and Soyo. They are the market leaders and have a positive brand image among consumers.

After brand selection you have to focus on the compatibility of your motherboard with your processor. Different manufacturers provide a variety of processors such as Celeron PPGA, Pentium III, AMD Athlon and AMD K6-3. These processors need specific types of motherboards. The compatibility of the motherboard with a particular processor is the most important factor to consider.

Advanced graphics port or AGP is an appealing feature for the gamer and users who are interested in graphic design. AGP allows quicker communication between the video card and the computer so increasing the frame rate of graphics programs and video games. So if you are a gamer or have enthusiasm about graphics design, you should choose a motherboard with higher AGP performance.

The number of PCI slots in a motherboard are an important criteria to consider when choosing a good motherboard. Plenty of PCI slots allows for the attachment of ethernet cards, sound cards or modems and for future expansion. The more PCI slots that exist in the motherboard the more ports you will have to connect such devices. Also do consider the number of USB ports on the motherboard as these are also needed to connect with modems, mice and with other devices. For video capturing and editing, you should also have a firewire port. So make sure you have a firewire port if you are interested in video capturing or editing.

While choosing your chipset, you should bear in mind the memory type that is compatible with your selected motherboard. Compatibility of the motherboard with high performance RAM is also important. For getting better performance always choose the motherboard that is compatible with all the components of the computer.

Before purchasing a motherboard you must make sure all important features are reviewed that you need. You can browse the motherboards manufacturer's website to get all the important information related to what you will need. You can download the manual from the manufacturer's website and compare the features on various motherboards. So do consider everything covered above and make sure you get the all the information you need to end up with the best motherboard for your computer system needs.

The 20 Year History of the Toyota Motorhome

The 20 Year History of the Toyota Motorhome

For almost 20 years various manufacturers made the Toyota motor home in several models. During its heyday, this little camper was produced in over 60 different models and styles of motor homes.

Beginning with the rather small Toyota Chinook camper and carrying on through the largest of the Toyota based Winnebago and Itasca models, the Toyota based motor home help to establish many manufacturers in the RV industry.

Because of the large number of manufacturers it is not uncommon to see similar campers and very different names. The small overall size had to limit the variety of floor plans available. This caused a lot of manufacturers to build virtual duplicates that varied only in some of the fit and finish type of details.

It was not long until the manufacturers began to expand the size of the camper bodies. Using conventional manufacturing techniques found in the travel trailer industry, the stick and staple type of construction with aluminum siding became the standard.

In the decade of the 1980s production of the Toyota motor home peaked. Many different companies were producing many different models. Some of the larger companies that were in this business were national RV, the producers of the very popular Dolphin series. They also produced the Seabreeze models. At the same time Winnebago was producing the Brave, the Warrior, and the deluxe Itasca Spirit models.

Damen Corporation of Elkhart Indiana produce the Escaper motor home, while Coachman produced the popular Coachman and Savanna models. Leisure Odyssey was building the Americana, Santa Cruz, and the Laguna campers.

The Mini-Mirage was built by Mirage industries, while the still very popular SunRader was constructed with a fiberglass body by Gardener Pacific.

By the late 1980s the length of the camper body had expanded to 22 feet. This caused a massive overload problem on the original half ton pickup axle. A national safety recall was issued by the United States government to correct the problem. Most of the models were given a new one ton axle. However there are still a few units available today that have the unsafe axle. Caution is advised if you are looking at in 1980s version of this very popular camper.

In 1989 V6 appeared on the market in the Toyota chassis. This increased horse power became very popular with the camper owners and production continued until 1994 when Toyota stopped supplying the pickup chassis to the camper manufacturers for safety reasons. Winnebago produced some of the last V6 versions in 1994.

During its production lifetime, the Toyota motor home enjoyed a great popular success and was widely distributed across the country. Today the greatest number of units on the road seem to be concentrated on the east and west coast areas but these motor homes will turn up just about anywhere in the country.

How to Make Money From Things Found in the Woods

How to Make Money From Things Found in the Woods

There are numerous ways to make money from things you can find in the woods or even fields. Most people think of logging timber or cutting firewood, but I'm going to list some different options that involve less physically demanding work, less equipment, and less environmental impact. The majority of them will not affect the ecosystem if done moderately. Here are eight ideas to get you started.

Morel mushrooms, also known as dryland fish, can be found in the woods in the springtime across most of the entire Eastern half of the United States and a few places in the Northwest. Morels can sell for $ 20 or more per pound.

Pine cones come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They can be turned into crafts which can then be sold. You can also soak them in certain chemicals which will in turn cause them to burn different colors when put in a fireplace. These treated pine cones sell for around $ 15 for a 3 pound bag.

You can dig ginseng and other herbal roots such as goldenseal, black cohosh, and wild hydrangea. A pound of wild ginseng usually blows anywhere from $ 300 to $ 800 a pound depending on the market that year.

Arrowheads, flint tools, and other Indian rocks and artifacts can be found in fields and woods across the country. Just one nice artifact could be worth anywhere between $ 10 and $ 1000.

Keep an eye out for twisted, small trees or branches. You can make really nice walking canes out of these fairly easily. Just try to use trees or branches that have a unique, distinct quality. This makes the cane one of a kind item with character.

You can find giant cane, also known as river cane, in 23 states. It is often found in floodplains with sparse tree cover overhead. You can take a few of the larger ones and make fishing poles (cane poles) out of them and sell them.

You can find and sell antler sheds from deer, elk and moose. Many sell for several dollars a pound, but if you find a trophy-sized shed it could bring much more.

You might need to exercise some caution on this one. Most people wait until after the fall frost. It is gathering hornet nests. They generally bring around $ 20-30 apiece from people who want them as a type of rustic decoration or just collect them. Plus, hornets do not use an old nest, they build a new one each year.

Hopefully, you have gotten at least a few ideas from this article and maybe you have most of these things in your area. Just please be responsible when taking advantage of nature's available resources and always check your local laws and regulations before proceeding.

Why Does My Designer Want to Design Web Applications?

Why Does My Designer Want to Design Web Applications?

We are often mystified by the things our web designers want to do. At times, they seem to make no sense at all. Usually we go along with it because they are, after all, the professionals. One aspect that may confuse you is why your web designer would want to design web applications. In the sometimes puzzling world of web design, design website applications are used to help customize a website and improve its performance at the same time.

It can be very good for your own business procedures if your web designer wants to design web applications because they could design an application that allows most of your sales process to be automated. This is especially important on ecommerce websites as you need to have the facilities available to allow clients to buy whenever they want to. If the entire ordering and payment process is automated, it gives them less time to change their minds about the purchase and also makes it much easier for you on the admin side.

Your client's should also find their lives made easier by design website applications and this adds to their value to both the web designer and you. Perhaps you could have a currency convertor embedded into a travel web site or a Metric / Imperial calculator added into a site about baking.

Design web applications are also becoming more and more important in snagging market share. Custom website applications such as those developed for the iPhone and Android can be used as a triple way to enhance your brand or be introduced as another product to sell.

Custom web applications, specifically designed with your site in mind, are one of the best ways to set your site apart from the thousands of cookie cutter sites out there. They enhance your client's experience while browsing your site and can provide you with plenty of tools to make your admin processes easier.

Custom website applications can also be developed in order to get marketing information on your behalf. You could, for example, run a quiz on your site in order to gather information about readers. That is one form of custom website application.

In fact, web applications are what allow you to interact with your customers if you have a forum or blog on your website. It is the properly designed forum or blog that allows you to interact well with clients.

On the whole, there are many different reasons for your web designer to want to design customized web applications.

Why You Should Understand Technical Analysis When Analyzing Financial Instruments

Why You Should Understand Technical Analysis When Analyzing Financial Instruments

Technical analysis has been around for many centuries of years, dating back to the 18th century when a Japanese rice trader developed candlestick charting.

Just after the turn of the 20th Century, Charles H. Dow's (as in Dow Jones) contributions greatly increased the discipline of prominence and his works were then expanded upon most notably by Hamilton (1922) and Rhea (1932), and a host of others thereafter.

Despite the continued development of the theoretic side of the discipline, until quite recently technical analysis remained confined to the realm of large enterprises that possessed the necessary money and resources required to utilize it effectively.

Initially the money and resources were used employing research analysts who would construct and maintain hand-drawn charts but this historically save the way to computers. In the early days, however, computers filled entire rooms and, once again, could only be afforded by large institutions.

It has only been in the last 10-15 years that personal computing power has allowed retail traders / investors the opportunity to utilize technical analysis as a tool for analysing financial instruments which, in all honesty, has proved to be both a good thing and a bad thing.

For an example of how far along we've come in this area, one need look no further than the I-phone which already allows traders / investors to access trading platforms and charts in order to place trades at any time, where they may be around the world.

Interestingly, technical analysis has also become a significant source of revenue and profit for major financial institutions due to technological advances, ie the Goldman Sachs of this world.

Algorithmic and high frequency trading have developed because computers can read information, interpret it, and execute orders much, much faster than human beings. The clear majority of these systems are based on price action and technical rules, not fundamental ones.

Whilst the discussion of these types trading goes beyond the scope and purpose of this article, it is interesting to note that the traditional broker / dealer model, whereby research analyzes provide fundamental analysis based on recommendations for brokers to sell and, in turn, dealers to execute , is being chipped away by technical analysis driven, computer executed, algorithmic trading methodologies.

The growth of technology and the subsequent ease with which retail traders / investors can access the market has also given birth to a new class of people who have adopted the misguided belief that they can achieve success in the market through the use of technical analysis, despite the fact that they have very little education or experience.

And this is not entirely the fault of the individual. A large portion of the blame must be worn by the many and varied 'operators' out there who have hijacked technical analysis and promoted it as a means by which people can make quick and easy riches.

The quick and easy part could not be further from the truth and it is the promotion of the discipline in this way that, in my opinion, causes significant damage to new traders / investors and, as an extension of that, the discipline itself.

Technical analysis, like any other method of financial analysis, is not something which can be learnt overnight and it should never be promoted as such. It requires a reasonable amount of focused learning before one might be considered competent in the area.

Once a competent level is reached, it then takes many more years of study and application before one may be considered an expert in the field. To put it in perspective, I have been studying technical analysis for five years (including both private and accredited learning) and I would consider myself just above competent. That being said, technical analysis does not necessarily require as much learning as some other areas of financial analysis which, once again, creates a double-edged sword.

To flesh out this assertion, consider the following comparison between technical analysis and fundamental analysis.

Fundamental analysis is a traditional discipline which is taught at the most prestigious business schools around the world. It involves looking at a company's revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities and all the other financial aspects of a company in order to determine its value.

The process can and should involve in-depth analysis of the company's balance sheet and income statement, which often requires application of some very complex mathematical formulas and quantitative models.

There is, however, more to fundamental analysis than just number crunching, which is where qualitative analysis comes in.

Qualitative analysis concerns the breakdown of all the intangible, difficult-to-measure aspects of a company. This process requires bold assumptions regarding a range of micro and macro economic considerations, many of which will simply not even be known to a retail trader / investor.

For example, understanding and quantifying the effect of proposed changes to tariff laws in a country to which the company in question exports 40% of its production, is not something retail traders / investors are likely to be able to do, let alone factor into their decision-making process.

As you may imagine, it requires many years of study to become a fundamental analyst and the performing of the discipline by a retail trader / investor who has not studied the principles is essentially impossible.

That's right people, knowing a company's current P / E ratio and comparing it to other stocks in the sector in order to decide whether it is cheap or expensive does NOT institute sophisticated fundamental analysis, just as saying that has just printed a 52-week high does not measure worthwhile technical analysis.

It stands to reason, therefore, that most retail traders / investors simply do not use this method of analyzing financial instruments and if they do use it, they are very do so ineffectively. I certainly do not know too many retail shop assistants, doctors, or taxi drivers who study fundamental analysis for kicks.

So, given the difficulty of both obtaining and applying the skill set required to perform fundamental analysis, people have invariably turned to other, seemingly simpler methods. One of these methods is technical analysis.

As mentioned above, there are many 'operators' out there who have promoted technical analysis as an easy method of mastering not only stocks, but other, more complex financial instruments. Websites with the tag lines like 'sign-up and learn to trade like a pro' have popped up across the internet like pimples on a teenager's face.

In my opinion, this is extremely damaging to the discipline because it creates unrealistic expectations for new investors / traders which, inevitably, can not be fulfilled. When these expectations are not fulfilled, it leaves many retail clients believing that technical analysis is nothing more than glorified guesswork or tea-leaf reading. And, in all honesty, I do not blame them.

The point, however, is that technical analysis is a useful, valuable and easily accessible tool for analysing financial markets but that it should only be used after the appropriate study and research has been conducted.

Just as you would not put the knife in the hands of a first-year medical student to perform your open heart surgery, do not think that because you have read one book or attended one seminar on technical analysis and know what a moving average is that you're capable of utilizing it to make sound trading / investing decisions.

Whilst I may seemly have just attempted to promote technical analysis to an intellectual status beyond that of the common man, whilst at the same time eviscerate the usefulness of fundamental analysis for retail investors, that is absolutely not the intent of this article.

The intention is to encourage retail clients to develop their knowledge and skills before committing their hard-earned dollars to the market. The intention is to ensure that new traders / investors do not get to get up in get rich quick schemes. The intention is to empower you as a trader / investor.

One of the clear benefits of technical analysis is its accessibility; If you have a computer, an internet connection and access to a trading platform with decent charts, you can conduct technical analysis. You must acknowledge, however, that just because something is easily accessible it does not make its application easy. This is the one of the key themes that I am intending to convey through this article.

Let me put it another way for you.

Driving at 200km / h is easily accessible. If you have a reasonably modern car and a stretch of road, you can do it ... but does this mean you should? Absolutely not. Why? Because the chances are you will hurt yourself and / or someone else.

The same applies to technical analysis and trading / investing. If you try to go 200km / h with your trading, you will put your trading account into the wall. So, before embarking upon your technically driven trading / investing career (or even if you have already begun) do not just read one book, read many - and then read some more.

Do not just attend one seminar; attend an intensive workshop where the presenters trade real markets, in real-time. You should even consider formal study. In Australia, FINSIA (the Financial Services Institute of Australia) offers courses in technical analysis and advanced technical analysis.

Educate yourself people and for heaven's sake, do not believe the tag lines !!!

Windows XP Will Not Shut Down - Try These Tips

Windows XP Will Not Shut Down - Try These Tips

If you are running Windows XP and it will not shut down here's a few things you can try. This is a fairly simple problem to fix. First of all let me say, I know how annoying this problem can be. I used to hate sitting there looking at the computer waiting for it to shut off.

You can pull the plug from the wall or hold your power button down for more than four seconds, but this is not the proper way to shut down your computer. Each time you do an improper shutdown you cause more damage to your system. There is a couple of reasons why XP will not shut down.

First of all you want to update your virus definitions of run a full scan. The same with your spyware cleaner. A virus or spyware running in the background can interrupt your system when you go to shut down. These stubborn programs do not want to be shut off and continue trying to run. In most cases, even the largest reason XP will not shut down is because of a corrupt registry.

When Windows tries to shut down. It references the registry to see if any settings have been changed. If it comes across corrupt entries or registry keys that are trying to reference software that is no longer on your PC, by default it will wait the full 30 seconds per program. So what you need to do is clean and repair your registry. By installing and un installing software you create registry keys. Uninstall programs never do a complete job and leave behind entries. You need to clean these out of your system.

Over time, your registry will become bloated and slow. This causes slow start ups, slow shutdowns, blue screens, slow program load times, and other annoying problems. The best way to clean and repair your registry is with a third-party program designed to do this. You can do it manually, but is not recommended. Delete or change the wrong file and your computer may become unusable or unstable.

It is much easier using software that is safe and effective and will not remove any entries that you need to run Windows. The whole process can be done in less than a minute. Running a scan on a fairly new computer rejected in over 300 errors. The PC, we ran a scan on was less than a month old. So you can imagine an older computer will have a lot more errors and bad entries.

Once you clean and repair your system it should run like it did when you first bought it. Some systems have become so corrupt that it would take over 30 minutes for the computer to shut down. Computer technicians like this problem because it is easy to fix. For service calls, they will carry repair software on a CD or memory stick, run a quick scan on the PC and repair it. Now you can purchase same software they use and save yourself the service call fee. Or a trip to the shop.