Pick Up a Book

Books have a unique power to introduce you to new ideas that can be life changing. The best books are written by people who are knowledgeable and passionate about the subject. They write about their experiences and feed off their passion.

If you are looking to improve your knowledge base in an area, read a book. Reading books can help you understand and comprehend problems more quickly than you can on your own.

Books have been written on almost any subject you can think of. People living in this world before you have paved the road and recorded their journey in books for you to benefit from.

I read many different kinds of books. For my individual business development, I have spent much of my time reading books on personal development, sales, and customer service. There are many great books on these topics, and I wanted to share with you a few of the best.

If you decide to read any books on personal development, sales, or customer service, start with these.

1) How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, by Dale Carnegie. If you have ever lost sleep due to worry, this book is for you. It discusses how bad worry can be for your health and techniques to conquer it. This is a great book for anyone, but especially for the small business owners who lose sleep over business worries.

2) How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie. The title makes the content of this book seem manipulative, but it isn't a book on how to trick people into liking you. It is a book that teaches you the principles your mother tried to teach you but didn't sink in. It teaches how to be genuinely friendly and treat people with respect.

3) The Power of Positive Thinking, by Norman Vincent Peale. This book is the best one written on positive attitude I have read so far. With countless stories and examples, the author teaches you how you can change your world by changing your attitude.

4) Thinkertoys, by Michael Mickalko. This book is a great reference to help you with creativity, especially in business. It contains many different exercises to help you develop your thinking process. Practicing the exercises within this book will help you start thinking more creatively.

5) Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless, by Jeffery Gitomer. This book, written about customer service principles, can be a harsh reality check for some business owners and managers. If you want to succeed in having the best customer service in your industry, you must read and practice the principles described in this book.

6) Little Red Book of Sales Answers, by Jeffery Gitomer. If you have a sales question, this book has an answer. The book is written in a question and answer format, so you can find the information you are looking for very quickly. Even if you don't like the answer, it gives you a great place to start thinking of solutions.

If you haven't read any of the books above, pick one and start reading. All of these books relate to work, family, and personal development, so they can be read by anyone.

The books listed above are not meant to be read just once and put away. In order to be completely effective, they must be studied and the ideas within them implemented into your daily routine. Only by taking the principles in these books and practicing them will you see the change that will affect you life.

John

Top Five Items To Check Before Bringing Your Equipment In For Service

With mowing season in full gear, the equipment service shops are backlogged with several weeks of repair work. Some stores might even have trouble getting your equipment back to you within a month. Yes, it is that busy.

However, if you are confident in your mechanical abilities, you can check some of the most common problems yourself.

Below is a list of items you can check yourself. Maybe you can skip the trip to our small engine technicians.

1. Correct starting procedures. Make sure you are using the correct starting procedures, as listed by the manufacturer's operations manual. Not following these procedures could lead to problems in starting and operating your equipment.

2. Clogged Air Filter. Small engines need oxygen to operate. If your unit turns on and then quickly shuts down, it could be starved for air. If it starts, it probably has good ignition and fuel, but uses up the oxygen it can get quickly and shuts down. Check the air filter, it could be dirty or completely clogged.

3. Dirty spark plug. Having a dirty or wet (flooded from gas) spark plug can keep your unit from starting and running correctly. If dirty or black, you can sand away buildup with fine grit sandpaper. If wet, your can dry with air or a soft rag.

4. Low or No Oil. Making sure the correct oil level is in your engine is vital to operation and for getting the most life out of your engine. Always keep a close eye on your oil level and quality.

5. Contaminated fuel. Any fuel left in a small engine is not suitable for use after 30 days. Either drain and add fresh fuel or add a fuel stabilizer to old fuel.

These five items are not always the cause of small engine problems, but they can easily be fixed and should be checked first if you are having engine trouble. If you are not comfortable checking these items on your unit, or you are still having problems after checking these, please bring your unit to our small engine mechanics and the will look for other possible solutions.

John

Animal Outreach Association


Animal Outreach is one of Midland's finest animal adoption programs. Their main function is rescuing adoptable dogs and promoting them for companionship. In Midland, thousands of animals are euthanized every year, many of which would make wonderful pets, if only given the opportunity.

The volunteers of animal outreach personally visit shelters and do personality assessments on dogs as to their adoptability. They place all the dogs rescued in foster homes until they find them an adoptive family. Since they have no shelter and work solely off this foster home system they are always in need of volunteers.

Every Saturday, Animal Outreach takes homeless dogs to PetsMart for adoption. If you are intrested in adopting an animal, email them at gotoholl@aol.com.

In addition, if you are intrested in adopting a pet directly from the Midland SPCA (City of Midland Dog Pound), you can visit the link below and watch for dogs that might come available if their owners don't pick them up.