Major Causes Of Vehicle Breakdowns - Broken Alternators For Example

By MoneyBlueBook

These days, nothing lasts forever. Unless the item in question is one of those seemingly indestructible NASA Mars Rovers that are still chugging along the Martian surface despite having already greatly exceeded their original lifespan - or if the item is a substance or product that doesn't have any oscillating mechanical moving parts such as a compact disk or a gold bar, the item is bound to break down, corrode, or malfunction eventually. Despite the millions of dollars spent on improving the quality and lifespan of products, it seems all mechanical devices are destined to break down inevitably, and oftentimes when you are least prepared.

As discussed in a recent post, out of nowhere I recently experienced a vehicle breakdown in the middle of the night. While I was waiting in my car with the engine still running the motor suddenly stalled, and all dashboard controls and indicator lights stopped working. Turning the ignition key was met with cricket chirping silence, and even the electronic door lock stopped responding to my unlock button pressing, causing me to worry momentarily. At the time I grew concerned as I wasn't sure how I was going to get out of the vehicle without a working or functional electronic door lock. Then I laughed and realized I could manually pull up the door lock tab to open the door that way and use the metal key to manually lock the car door again. It's funny how I've grown so dependent to using the key less lock

By MoneyBlueBook

Well it was bound to happen and it finally did. My trusty 2004 silver Honda Accord that I purchased brand new during graduate school finally died on me. I think there are several valuable lessons to be learned here, and one of them is that nothing lasts forever. Particularly if it's a man made machine with moving parts susceptible to corrosion and wear and tear, the mechanical device is bound to break down sooner or later. No matter how reliable the vehicle brand, the quality of the materials or products used, or even how skilled the engineers that built the cars are, the fact of the matter is that cars, like all that is based on technology, inevitably wear down. But despite this inevitability, I'm still rather surprised that my car broke down so early on in its lifespan. My Honda Accord was only a 2004 model, with just 60,000 miles on it - the vast majority of the mileage accumulated through long distance interstate highway driving. I don't use it to commute to work so it's not like it was subjected to the rigors of stop and go driving, or exposed to the frequent acceleration and breaking style driving of bumper to bumper traffic. That's why I was so shocked when my car suddenly broke down this weekend.

Responding To A Sudden Car Breakdown and Engine Stoppage In the Middle Of The Night

For the last few days my car sounded sluggish and felt a tad underpowered whenever I stepped on the gas pedal, but I

By MoneyBlueBook

These past few weeks have been tough on me. Not only did my trusty Honda Accord suddenly break down, but I've been experiencing major Internet service disruptions at home caused by the incompetence and admitted overselling activities of my current broadband service provider Comcast. For months now, I've been plagued by frequent Internet outages coupled with agonizingly slow download speeds reminiscent of my old 56k screech-and-hiss modem days. The breaks in service finally culminated into the complete stoppage and loss of my home Internet signal. Furthermore, the service disruption repair activities were hampered by a series of powerful thunderstorm waves that swept through my area this week, knocking out electricity, cable TV, and broadband Internet service for almost all seven days. While my car was washed and scrubbed sparkling clean by the rain and wind, lightening sparks managed to knock out the power in my neighborhood. Electricity was "quickly" reactivated in 1-2 days, but cable TV and my precious broadband Internet service wasn't repaired and fully restored until nearly a week thereafter.

For the last few days I've been a pretty sad fellow. Not only did I feel isolated and cut off from the real world without convenient home access to the Internet, I haven't been able to properly update my personal finance blog, nor have I been able to check my email messages, or tend to the operations of any of my online passive income businesses. On a normal weekday I usually receive close to 50 emails a day from a variety of personal

By MoneyBlueBook

Editors note: These offers are no longer available

Periodically throughout the year, Citibank cancels out old expired promotional offers and issues new ones to entice first time customers to open new Citibank checking and savings accounts. While I'm already a long time Citibank customer and won't be able to qualify for the latest Citibank promo deals, I still like to keep tabs and updates on all free money offers out there (whether banking or credit card related).

I've edited and updated my compiled list of Citibank promotion codes with the latest active bonus offers for new Citi banking customers:

• Currently, Citibank is providing a new $200 bonus deposit offer with the opening of a new Citi checking account (Promo offer code: CEMX). This offer expires on June 30, 2008.

• Citibank is also offering a new bonus offer for 16,000 Citi Thank You Network reward points with the opening of a brand new qualifying Citi checking account (Promo offer code: CSVL). The promotional Thank You points are instantly redeemable for the equivalent of a free $150 gift card. The new Citi account holder will also get to earn triple Thank You Network points for 1 year. This offer expires on July 31, 2008.

Citibank Is A Decent Banking Option For New Checking Account Customers - Not So Much For Savings Accounts However

For those of you out there who have yet to settle on or select a primary bank to handle your banking funds and transactions, you may want to take a look at what Citibank has to offer. While they offer pretty unimpressive interest

By MoneyBlueBook

Have you tried out the Capital One Card Lab program from Capital One credit cards yet? It allows you to build your own custom credit card using a pretty nifty online gadget. This novel web based feature from Capital One represents a promising shift and emerging trend in the credit card business towards providing customers more control and choice over the credit card selection process - by allowing them to create and set the terms and conditions of their credit card rewards and promotional offers. This is a growing movement that I hope is ultimately picked up by the other top credit card companies like Citibank, Chase, American Express, and Discover as well.

While credit cards and financial services in general have a history and reputation of being dry, complex, and frequently confusing, Capital One's new Card Lab online tool tries to make the application and selection process more entertaining and engaging, while still staying informatively functional at its core. The company's improved workshop tool gives customers a glimpse at the future of credit card creation, personalization, and customization. Through its convenient Card Lab website, users and prospective customers are given full informational control of the online application cycle, as the site offers interactive tools that permit them to select from a menu of credit card interest rate terms and rebate rewards to build their own unique credit card program to meet their needs. By providing consumers greater control and manipulative access to all card variations and reward terms in a way that is accessible

By MoneyBlueBook

My online messaging routine was doing fine for a while. Every morning I would check my Yahoo e-mail account for messages, and then go about my regular work day, periodically checking back for personal and business related messages. Since I forward and consolidate all of my personal, work, and blog business related emails to one account with Yahoo, I have one easy point of access to my messages - essentially one well oiled emailing machine. Of course, there was always the occasional spam, but that was usually manageable - until now - until the Nigerians struck, and struck hard.

Spammers and Scammers Are Relentless And They Can Afford To Be - Sending E-Mail Lures With Scam Bait Doesn't Cost A Thing

Starting very recently, I've been receiving nearly 20-30 spam related messages everyday. I have no idea how they are effectively evading my spam filters, but they are. These spam messages are driving me absolutely crazy and are irritating to say the least. But one can't help but find some amusement from the content of these desperate messages. These spam letters that flood the web are mostly from the poor African country of Nigeria - sent by notorious computer users who run well documented Nigerian 419 scam operations. You know when you receive one of these classic Nigerian 419 spam letters as they are pretty recognizable. Usually the Nigerians use very flowery, British style English comprised of exaggerated legalese-type terminology to make the content appear more legitimate. However, oftentimes their lame use of the English language borders