Travel and Limos 101

It’s the busy travel season and since I am in the limo business, I want to share some tips if you are traveling and using a car service or limo company during your trip. There are so many disreputable limo companies that have no business even BEING in business and they give the rest of us a bad name. I have heard dozens of horror stories from my clients over the past few years that I feel it would be a public service to my readers and clients so that they know what to look for! Here are some things to know that will make your limo service a pleasant one and keep your holiday happy!1. BOOK EARLY – I cannot stress how important it is to book your limo service early to avoid disappointment and to make sure that you have a car for your event!! Thanksgiving Day is the single biggest travel day of the entire year!! If you don’t book your reservation at least 10-14 days in advance, you will NOT be getting a car. The same is true of New Year’s Eve which is the single biggest night in the industry–BOOK EARLY and USE A CREDIT CARD!! There are several reliable limo service websites, the two best in the industry are limos.com where you can rate your service and airportservice.com where many airport travelers find car service for airport transportation. You can easily check for limos at both websites and you can find my company, dependablelimos.com listed at both sites! Always use a credit card for your reservation so that the limo service KNOWS you are going to show up and get into the car. If you cancel your reservation within a certain time frame, your card will not be charged, but if you cancel at the last minute and/or don’t show up, expect to pay the full price for the trip. The limo company turned away people to honor your reservation and they expect to be paid for the trip. This is standard practice in the industry, it’s just like a guaranteed hotel room.2. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A CONTACT NUMBER FOR THE COMPANY. The airports are packed with people in the holiday season and people get lost in airports and traffic is usually very snarled outside major airports and limo companies are very tightly booked. If your plane is going to be late, then make sure you call the limo company and TELL THEM!! Any reputable company will bend over backwards to make sure that you get your ride no matter HOW late your plane comes in–but it helps if you let them know. If you get bumped and put on a different flight. CALL AND TELL THEM!! We are not psychic, and the more you help us, the better we are able to serve you. If your flight is early (it DOES happen) then call the company and tell them when you land–and always check your voice mail for a message from the company when you get off the plane. You might have to wait for your car, but you will get one and a little patience and understanding on both sides helps.3. AIRLINES LIE ABOUT ARRIVAL TIMES No matter how many times I receive bad information from the airline about flight times, it still infuriates me that I get incorrect information on a regular basis about flight arrival times from the airlines! If I ran my business like the airlines run theirs, I’d be in bankruptcy too–like so many airlines are!! Jet Blue is particularly bad about this–they have a flight from California to Ft. Lauderdale that is scheduled to arrive every day at 5 a.m. and it ROUTINELY lands about 4:15 a.m. This is infuriating as in order to meet the plane and get proper sleep, I have to go to bed about 9 p.m. Eastern time–and the plane leaves CA at 9 p.m. Pacific time (midnight EST) and I am asleep since I have to be up no later than 3:30 a.m. to meet this flight. When it arrives early, it breaks my back since it’s almost an hour’s drive to that particular airport.4. TIP YOUR CHAUFFEUR. Most limo drivers work almost entirely for your tips. We are waiters/waitresses with Lincolns. Limo company owners are buried with insurance bills that are ridiculous, as are licensing and permit fees and chauffeurs are working for your tips. The standard is 20% of the fare for good service and if you receive excellent service. which you do with my company and my affiliates, please show your appreciation to the hardworking chauffeur who drove the car safely, cleaned it before and after you got in and out, carried and loaded your luggage on both ends of the trip and took care of any special requests you made along the way.

Using and Implementing Outdoor News Screens

News is an obsession for many people, whether it’s via newspapers, the internet, mobile phone, TV or radio, most of us devour regular news content throughout the day.

Because of this desire to read news content, many outdoor news screens are being installed in many different types of locations to entertain, inform customers. These news feeds are often intermixed with advertising content to provide a revenue source that can pay for the screens and news content.

Most news screens receive direct feeds from over the internet from news agencies like Reuters, Association Press (AP) or Press Association (PA), but local and more targeted news is offered by many local news organisations.

Weather and sporting news are also provided on these types of screen and provides a reason for people to look out for the screen, hence creating a captivated audience for advertisers.

Most news screens are placed in quite hostile locations, however, such as draughty bus stations or even ferry terminals where spray and excessive temperatures can be a potential problem. Many of these outdoor news screens are in outdoor locations too so they need to be protected from the weather and other outdoor elements.

The TV screens used for providing these news feeds tend to be standard commercial grade screens commonly used for digital signage and other out of home use, few of these screens are designed for outdoor use so they are protected using outdoor LCD enclosures.

Designed to accommodate nearly all major sizes of screen, the LCD enclosure provides all the outdoor protection these screens require to allow them to function outside. They ensure the screen is waterproof whilst also ensuring the internal temperatures of the enclosure are never too high or too low from the optimum for the device-regardless of the ambient conditions.

Richard N Williams is a technical author and a specialist in the digital signage industry helping to develop outdoor digital signage and protection for plasmas. Please visit us for more information about LCD Enclosures or other digital signage solutions.

Why Payday Loans Have a Bad Reputation

Payday loans are the method of choice for millions of consumers whenever a financial emergency arises, as they offer quick cash in times of need, and are easy to apply and qualify for. So why are so many people bashing the payday loan industry? It’s simple, really. They see the unlawful actions of a few and assume that everybody is doing the same things – not disclosing terms, taking advantage of borrowers with usurious (excessive) interest rates, or in some unfortunate cases, requiring money up front; these loans are referred to as “advance fee loans,” which are Internet scams that have snookered hundreds of victims.As with any industry, there will always be some “companies” that seek to mislead customers to make money, all the while giving the industry a black eye. In addition to this, many borrowers take out payday loans without fully comprehending the terms of the loan, which obviously does not make for a positive experience. The fact remains, however, that obtaining a payday loan does not have to be a bad experience. If you research companies thoroughly, deal only with reputable companies with a proven track record, and carefully read the terms of a loan, you will find that obtaining a payday loan is a perfectly safe, manageable means to rectify your financial situation.Let’s examine the reasons why people choose to shy away from payday loans further. First, as previously mentioned, many borrowers are either not informed of the terms of the loan before signing the document, or simply gloss over the terms without fully understanding them. All of a sudden, the borrower finds him/herself in a precarious situation. It is mandated by law that lenders MUST disclose all terms in the loan agreement, including the interest rate and schedule for repayment. By simply reading over your loan agreement before signing it, you can decide whether or not you want to proceed.Secondly, let’s be realistic – the interest rates associated with payday loans are rather sky-high. What one must realize is that you are paying for convenience – you are getting fast money at a much higher interest rate than a regular loan. Whereas approval for a regular loan could take weeks, approval for a payday loan can be almost instantly. Credit does not factor into the decision either, so applicants with bad credit or no credit can get approved – when you consider all these factors, it is not hard to understand why lenders are able to get away with charging high interest rates. A rule of thumb to remember, as you have probably seen elsewhere, is you will be charged $15 for every $100 you borrow. The bottom line is, that if you borrow infrequently and responsibly, payday loans are the ideal short-term solution for a financial emergency.Probably the most unfortunate reason why payday loans get such a bad rap is because many borrowers misuse and/or overuse payday loans. They simply rely on them too much, and use them for unnecessary reasons, such as to go on vacations or purchase expensive things. That is not what payday loans are supposed to be for! Payday loans have an explicit purpose – to provide short-term financial relief for emergency situations – a hospital bill, car problems, etc. Overusing payday loans is another problem, as many borrowers have gotten into situations where they have to roll over loans because they cannot repay them. This results in financial ruin, as finance charges pile up and all of a sudden your financial “emergency” becomes a financial “nightmare”. Again, if you borrow infrequently and responsibly, this can be avoided, and payday loans can be seen for what they are.In conclusion, there is a common thread here – in order to get the full benefit of a payday loan and ensure that your experience is as smooth as possible, the onus is fully on you to make sure you do not either get taken advantage of or plunge yourself further into debt. By dealing with reputable companies, such as industry leaders OneHourCash or PayAdvanceLending, you can avoid being taken advantage of and feel secure knowing you are dealing in good faith. Lastly, by borrowing ONLY for financial emergencies and not for unnecessary things you can live without, you will be able to avoid any further debt and the despair that comes along with it. It is up to you – do your research, and make the right decisions.