SCAM About SAM registration

In order to do business with the Federal government you must be registered under their SAM system.  There is no charge for registering.  This week I got an email that looked like it was official and it said my registration was expiring.  My registration does not expire until March 2018.  At first, I thought it was legitimate but when I went a little further, it gave the option of signing up for 1 year, 3 years or 5 years and of course it asked for personal information and money.  This is when I realized that this was a scam and when I checked on the internet, other people have been scammed by this.  Of course, they want your credit card and personal information.

If you do business with the federal government, please be aware of this scam.

 

 

 

Goodbye TO 2017

I can’t say that I am sorry to see 2017 go.  This has been a tough year for me health wise and I am hoping that 2018 will be better.  I did have some great things happen in 2017, so it was not all bad.  I went to Spain with my daughter Joy and her family.  We had an apartment in Seville but we went to Granada and Cordoba as well.  I love traveling and experiencing the different cultures.  I also had a all girls beach trip with Joy, Kate (my granddaughter) and myself.  This trip was not the adventure trip like Spain but it was a relaxing lay on the beach, eat seafood and a trip to the nail salon kind of trip.  I will take any kind of trip that my pocket book can afford.  Looking forward to a trip to Puerto Rica this spring. We will be in San Juan, where we have been assured that everything is OK there with power restored shortly after the storm. My heart goes out to the people in areas that are still suffering from the storm.

Wishing each of you a healthy and prosperous New Year!

 

 

What? You Can’t Believe Everything You Read On Facebook?

I almost fell for the Amazing Calendar being posted on Facebook. If you haven’t seen it, it shows that 01-01-2018 is on Sunday and that 02-02-2018 is on Sunday and so on.  Does that mean that I can’t believe all the political rhetoric as well?  I need a good laugh so this is my giggle for the day.

Hope that all of you have a wonderful new year and watch out for the things you read on the internet.

My daughter is an exceptional Cook

I, like so many others, had lots of good food to enjoy during the holidays.  This is probably why my jeans were a little difficult to zip this morning.  I pride myself on being a pretty good cook and taught my daughter, Joy, some things about cooking such as how to make biscuits etc, but Joy has gone way beyond what I taught her and thus the word exceptional.  She not only looks at recipes but she also is studying the chemistry of how salt, fat and different ingredients work in cooking. She fixed a delicious beef tenderloin with a device called Sous Vide.  She seasoned the tenderloin and put it into a zip lock bag and submerged it in a pot of water.  The sous vide is attached to the pot and it cooks the beef inside the bag.  The beauty of this, according to Joy, is that it never overcooks the meat, even if it is left for longer than recommended, it will not overcook the meat.  The results were outstanding.  I had some left over tenderloin on a sandwich for lunch today,  and it was perfect.  I am going to check out getting sous a vide, the brand name of her sous vide is Joule.  I can learn a lot from my daughter.

Mayor’s Business Advisory Council

Last Thursday, I attended my first Business Advisory Council meeting.I had been to a meet and greet previously, but this was the first meeting for me, where a presentation was made by a City of Knoxville employee.  Our presenter was Peter Ahrens, director of building inspections. When I saw the topic, I thought, this is going to be boring, but it was anything but boring.  We learned more about permits, pre-submittal conferences and expedited permits, and blighted neighborhoods.  Peter’s department is changing some procedures to expedite approval of new buildings and  re-modeling of current buildings so that business can get in their buildings a lot faster.  Making it easier for permitting, inspections etc. makes it easier for business to locate in the city.   More business in Knoxville increases the tax revenues, creates jobs and helps the overall economy of Knoxville. For me, as a small business owner, this is very important.

Lets keep moving forward Knoxville.

Christmas Lunch at Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc.

Tomorrow is our traditional Christmas lunch at Burns.  This will be my 27th year of celebrating Christmas with my work family and what a great family they are.  Many of my customers comment that it is just like family coming to Burns.  That is what I are striving for is to make our customers feel at home and to make my employees feel part of the Burns family.  It is also a time to reflect on the ones who are not with us in this Christmas season. The one that I miss the most is my late husband Ken Burns (our founder).  He loved getting together with our employees at Thanksgiving and at Christmas. We have also lost some of our  employees including the death of my nephew Scott Dean. We will also miss those who have retired or moved on with their careers.  We hope that you are celebrating with your work family and your families at home.

From all of us at Burns Mailing & Printing, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 

Postage Increases To Take Effect January 21, 2018

 

Effective January 21, 2018, the cost of a first class stamp will go from .49 each to .50 each.  The first class post card rate go from .34 each to .35 each. Large flat envelopes will go from .98 each to $1.00 each.  Metered first class mail will go from .46 each to .47 each.

Overall prices for Priority Mail Express will increase by 3.9%.  A one lb. package going to Zone 8 using Priority Mail Express wil cost $35.04 compared to $33.76 currently.

Now is a good time to buy Forever stamps before the increase in postage.

 

My Christmas Traditions Have Changed

The only thing in life that never changes is that everything changes.  My Christmas traditions have evolved over the years from having small children, who are so excited about Christmas, the teenage years and finally to having adult children.  After the children left, Ken and I continued to put up a tree and all the decorations.  We celebrated with them and when the grandchildren came along it was all fun again.  I still celebrate with my family but now that Ken is gone, I just can’t seem to bring myself to put up a tree.  Each ornament is a memory of years gone by and they are precious memories.

I will be enjoying the trees that my family has put up and making new memories.

Merry Christmas to all.