This may just be common sense to me but look at this package. I took this picture today at a local grocery store. To me this has all sorts of warning signs on it. First, it’s pre-spiced. It doesn’t just have a little tarragon sprinkled on it but a BBQ rub.  Usually they use a Cajun rub because it’s a better mask of smell. Think about it…why would they spice the chicken for you? Is it that hard for you to do yourself? They do it because this chicken is bad. It’s got a good stink to it and they are trying to hide if from the consumer.

You can’t see it but down in the lower right is the sell by date. It was yesterday. Butchers don’t want to ever EVER throw away meat. Instead they try to move it fast. They spice it up. They put it on special. When I see “Butchers Special” I hear “Salmonella Special”. Some butchers even change the sell by date.

NEVER BUY CHICKEN ON SPECIAL UNLESS THE SELL BY DATE IS FIVE DAYS AWAY! Even then be careful. No you probably won’t die. You may not even get sick but it’s just not worth it.

Butchers get serious pressure from grocery store management. They have to be profitable and they can’t afford to throw away product.

I imagine to most people this is obvious but to some young twenty something on a budget….it may be a life saver.

When you purchase a new computer do the following:

1. Find the Microsoft Windows Media (DVD) that came with the machine. This DVD is your lifeline. Unless you buy a new copy of Windows, this is the only copy of Windows that you can install on your machine. Everyone carelessly loses these DVD’s. I guess they think they will never need them again. Unfortunately, operating systems become cluttered and need to be reinstalled.

The other day I was working on a friend’s machine that had the same copy of Windows on it for six years. It hadn’t even been patched. It was slow, sluggish and spitting our errors like crazy. I was amazed that it still worked.

Don’t think that if you lose the DVD you can just borrow one from a neighbor to reinstall. It won’t work even if you have your original Windows License Key. The DVD is built to match the make and model of the machine. You need the original DVD and the original license key.

The DVD may not be labeled “Microsoft Windows XYZ”. It might say, “Recovery CD”. If you are not sure, call the retailer.

I was able to get replacement media from Dell. I got lucky.

2. Write down the Windows License key. It can be in various locations. They used to print it on the DVD. Sometimes it’s on a sticker on the media envelope. Check the bottom of the computer for the sticker with the code. It’s conveniently put on the machine where it receives the maximum amount of wear. Write it down now before it gets rubbed off.

3. Next label the DVD with the make and model of the machine. Half the homes in America have multiple computers. It can be tough to find the right DVD. Dozens of times I’ve asked people for their DVD’s so I can repair their machines. It’s always a joy sorting through the DVD’s looking for the right one.

4. The next step is optional. It involves separating the operating system from your data. The process is more technical and many people can’t do it themselves. I’m not going to go through the details but just talk about it generally.

It has been a best practice for decades to separate your SYS (system) volume from your data volumes. Your Windows partition or partition is inherently vulnerable. Running your computer is like cooking a meal—it can be messy. You don’t fillet, chop or whisk in the living room and you shouldn’t store your data with your operating system.

There are dozens of things that can crash your computer. When the computer goes down, files can be corrupted. You want to separate your data from your system files. Doing so reduces the chance of data loss and makes backup and recovery much easier. Microsoft is keeping users in the dark ages by putting the “user” directory on the same partition as the operating system. Millions of people have lost their valuable data because of this.

I recommend you create two partitions. The first partition should be around 40GB in size. That is usually enough for the OS and all the applications you will install. The second partition can use up the rest of the available. This is where you will store your data (music, personal files, photos, etc.). Windows allows you to redirect your “Users” directory to another location. This will be your “D” drive or whatever drive letter you chose. The goal is to have one partition for the system to use and another for your data.

Some machines have additional partitions already created for automatic recovery. I wouldn’t destroy those volumes. Just leave them alone.

There are tools available allow you to repartition the drives without hurting the working boot partition. I’m hoping that Windows 7 will allow you to do it natively.

5. Finally, create a backup plan. Your machine will crash. It will absolutely crash. There is no doubt about it. Don’t risk losing your photos, financial data, music etc.

I recommend two things: an external hard drive and an online backup service. Get an external hard drive and use it to backup your machine once a week. Second, purchase an online backup service for continuous offsite storage. There are many providers to choose from: Mozy, Carbonite, iDrive or Sugarsync. These services are available for MAC’s and PC’s. Some of these services have a free offering for people with less than 2GB of data. Online backup costs around $5 a month and is well worth it. The great thing about an online backup service is that if your house burns down you still have all your data.

If you follow these steps you will make MY life much easier.

Everyone likes KFC chicken. The flavor of the original recipe is awesome. However, I occasionally get the extra crispy because I love the texture. Why can’t they do a hybrid and combine the two?

For years I have made a habit of ordering a free credit report each year. In order to get the free report they make you sign up for a paid account. They give you 30 days free afterwhich they start charging your credit card. I always cancel five minutes after I get the report so that I don’t forget.

Today I was reviewing my credit card bill and found this obscure charge. I did some checking and found I had missed this charge for the last 10 months. I called the number and guess who it was? Freecreditreport.com.

I told them I had cancelled the account immediately but my protests went nowhere. I told them I hadn’t received a phone call, letter or email this whole year. (yes I checked my spam filter) Saying that they didn’t care was an understatement.

It was my fault for not scanning my credit charges more thoroughly but that doesn’t excuse theft. I’m disputing it with my credit card provider but I don’t expect much to come of it.

An interesting note is that I recently signed up for credit monitoring from the same company. Our mortgage lender lost our personal information and offered to provide two years of free credit monitoring. I asked Experian (the owners of both companies) why they let me open two monitoring accounts with the same SSN. They said they were two different systems.

I’m convinced that the three credit bureaus are all crooked. 

Did I mention that the support person hung up on me after waiting 15 minutes to talk to her manager? I need to get in the habit of ALWAYS asking their name at the beginning of the call. I need to get in the habit of doing a lot of things.

I have plenty of experience working on computers. As a result, I gladly assist friends and relatives when they need help. One of my biggest frustrations is dealing with the lousy installations that come from manufacturers. They put on tons of software (garbage) that nobody uses. I don’t have the statistics but these apps significantly slowdown the machines. Most people won’t notice the loss of resources. The machines run fine when they first get them. After you install all your personal applications, wallpapers and backgrounds and then run the larger applications that are memory intensive, you already expect the machine to run slower. You never get the opportunity to run the applications in a pristine state so you don’t realize how nicely the machine can run. The biggest annoyance that the user may notice is on startup. The amount of time it takes to load the OS can double because of these garbage apps.

These garbage apps have several negatives. The consumption of valuable resources is significant but there is another side consequence. Because the vendors have contracts to load this junk, they purposely don’t provide you with the operating system media (CD’s). Instead, they want you to use the recovery disks if you have a problem. The recovery disks preserve all the garbage applications. They also offer few options for reconfiguration. Believe it or not, everyone doesn’t want to install the OS (i.e. Windows) the way the manufacturer does.

It is downright criminal to sell someone a copy of Microsoft Windows and not provide them the CD’s to install at a later date. Frankly, the situation is good for everyone but the consumer. Microsoft doesn’t have to worry about a CD that may get pirated and the manufacturer’s costs are less because they don’t have to provide the CD’s.

Some may think that uninstalling the applications is good enough. Consider this; I worked with a software product once that made over 3,000 changes to the Windows registry. The uninstall program for that product removed about 300 of those registry entries. As bad as that is, you can expect less from the garbage apps being installed by default.

When you purchase a computer, make sure you get the CD’s for all the applications you purchased. If they won’t give them to you; tell them take a hike. I called Circuit City about this issue and their recommendation was to buy a new copy of Windows. That’s right. Spend another $250 just to get the CD’s.

Like I say, it’s downright criminal.