Month: January 2019

What is Digital Printing?

~ burnsmp ~ Leave a comment

Digital printing does not use printing plates the way that conventional offset does, but instead uses toner.  In conventional offset ink is put on paper and the ink is absorbed into the paper.  In digital printing the toner sets on the paper and is not absorbed into the paper.  This gives a different look to the printed piece and often digitally printed pieces has a brighter color. Digital printing is usually used for smaller quantities.  We usually run up to 10,000 on our digital press but if it goes over that quantity, we move it to an offset press.

A big benefit of using the digital printing is the variable data capabilities. Variable data printing is a form of on-demand printing in which elements (such as text, numbers, graphics, etc.) can be changed from one printed piece to the net, without stopping or slowing down the press, using information from a database. For example, a set of personalized letters, each with the same basic layout, can be printed with a different name and address on each letter. At Burns, we can print and address double-sided postcards on one pass of the press. When we personalize a letter we add a bar code on the back of the letter and our smart inserter can then read the bar code on the back and insert the letter into a non-window envelope.  This is like a hand match without the expense of a hand match.

Advantages of digital printing

  • Setup costs are lower for short runs (up to 10,000)
  • Print only the amount you need, when you need it
  • Lower minimum quantities (as low as 1,20 or 50 pieces)
  • Inexpensive black and white digital printing
  • Improved technology has made digital quality acceptable for more uses.

One thing that the buyer needs to be aware of is that if you print a small quantity on the digital press and then decide on a larger quantity that requires the printing job to be put on an offset press, the two jobs will not look the same because of what I described above, ink being absorbed into the paper and ink setting on top of the paper.  They will both be quality printed jobs but will not have the same look.

One of our digital presses at Burns Mailing & Printing.

I Love Cooking

~ burnsmp ~ Leave a comment

Before my late husband Ken and I got married, he ask me if I would cook breakfast for him every morning.  That was probably his favorite meal and he was a big breakfast eater.  I agreed that I would and for 52 years, I did just that  and enjoyed seeing him enjoy the biscuits, pancakes, waffles and such.  When our two daughters, Kathy and Joy were in middle school and were old enough to have overnight visits with friends, they discovered that some families did not have a big breakfast like we did at our house.  In fact, one day Joy asked me “can’t we just have cereal like our friends have at their house”. However, when their friends came to our house, they were surprised that I cooked every morning.

I don’t cook like that now that Ken has passed away and sometimes I miss that very much.  However yesterday, I cooked all afternoon because we were celebrating Kathy’s birthday. I enjoy cooking for people who enjoy eating and last night was one of those nights.

Today, I am sharing one of my favorite recipes, pecan pie.  I have been making this for 40 years and it is the easiest recipe to make.  I usually have pecans and the other ingredients required so if I need a dessert in a hurry, this is my go to recipe.

Pecan Pie

3 eggs, slightly beaten

½ cup light brown sugar

1 cup white corn syrup

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

¼ cup butter, belted

1-cup pecans

Beat eggs slightly, add brown sugar, corn syrup, salt and vanilla. Mix well by hand. Stir in butter and pecans. Mix well. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake 45-50 minutes at 375 degrees or until set. I use broken pieces of pecans but you can use whole pecans as well.

 

I know What the Inside Of The Emergency Room Looks Like In Lisbon Portugal

~ burnsmp ~ Leave a comment

On my recent trip to Lisbon Portugal and to other day trips to surrounding cities I saw lots of interesting and magnificent things like this church and beautiful views of the city.  However, there was one place that I had not counted on seeing in Lisbon and that was the inside of the ER at a Lisbon Hospital.  Our first day of sight seeing begin with a visit to a castle.  We rode an elevator to get to a street that was pretty high up and there was a deck with a beautiful view of the city.  All of a sudden I felt like I was going to pass out and I did.  When I woke up an ambulance had been called and they quickly loaded me up and took me to a hospital.  This is where it gets different.  Most of us have been to an ER at a hospital and they put you in a room or cubicle for treatment.  Not so in Lisbon, they take you to a room that is very crowded, so crowded that the beds are touching each other.  There are no visitors allowed unless the doctor calls them back and there is security to make sure that rule is followed.  I understand the no visitors rule because they was not room for visitors to stand.   When a nurse needed to attend to a patient she had to move the beds over in order to get to the bedside.

Although the ER was crowded, the care was excellent.  Most of the nurses and the doctor spoke English.  They never asked me if I had insurance or for any payment.  They only took my personal information and my address. Turns out, when I got home and check with my insurance company, they will pay for all except the ambulance. They sent me home with a packet of information for my doctor here in Knoxville and it was all in Portuguese. However, thanks to Covenant Health, a translator was provided here in Knoxville so that my doctor had all the notes from Lisbon.  It was nothing serious and the next day, I was out touring again.  It makes me appreciate the good hospitals that we have here in Knoxville.  I feel very blessed.

Oh by the way I have another trip planned and I purchased trip insurance, just in case.

 

Emails – good or evil?

~ burnsmp ~ 4 Comments

If you are like me, you get a lot of emails throughout the day.  If you don’t control them they can over take you.  With the Christmas holidays, traveling and generally lazy about deleting them, I had a real mess on my hands.  I have spent considerable time the last two days cleaning them up and deleting about 700 emails.  I feel good that I can start the New Year with a little more control of my emails.  It is not that I do not like emails, I actually love them.  Especially the ones with purchase orders, requests for quotes, customer emails, church emails  and the ones from family and friends.  The ones that overwhelm me is the ones from where I ordered something for Christmas (and will never use again) that send me things daily. Some I have no idea why they are sending me emails.  Some of them start out with dearest, we would like to have a financial partnership with you, and I know that all they want to do is fleece me for money.

So if you are a customer, a potential customer, family, friend or church family please keep sending me email.  For the others I will try to be more vigilant and not acquire 700 before I clean them up.  This is my New Year’s resolution, hope I can keep it.

The New Year in Lisbon Portugal

~ burnsmp ~ Leave a comment

My New Year started off in Lisbon Portugal.  I have been blessed to get to travel with my family a couple of time a year.  This year we left for Portugal the day after Christmas and spent 10 days there.  Our apartment was in Lisbon but we took one overnight trip to Porto and several day trips outside the city. One of the highlights for my 11 year old granddaughter, Kate,  was the trip to Porto to the bookstore that was visited by the author J.K. Rowling when she lived there and was writing one of her Harry Potter books.  The bookstore charges to get in and they have to limit the amount of people in the bookstore.  There is a line for tickets and after getting the tickets a line to get in the store. 

 

As you can see from the smile on her face it was very much worth it. She also got to purchase a Harry Potter book, which was pretty heavy but she was willing to carry it around until we got back to the hotel.

This trip was very physical because Lisbon is very hilly, and in fact most of the towns that we visited were hilly. We tried to start at the top of the hill and walk down and then when I got too tired, we used Uber to get back to the apartment.

It was a wonderful trip but all of us were glad to be home.  Our luggage did not arrive with us and it was the next day before I could leave Nashville and drive back to Knoxville.  I am glad that today is Friday because I am still trying to recover from the trip.  It takes a few days.