Blab Your Industry's Secrets =>HERE<=

In My Humble Opinion
61

Never give up your old office equipment as a “trade-in.” You’d do just as well to give it away.

Truth be told, at the last company I worked for, we had a set policy of destroying any competitive equipment traded in, rather than see it reappear on the market. Watching perfectly good, three or four year old high-end reprographics equipment rendered “non-competing” with a sledgehammer before being shoved into a compactor week after week gave me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach – especially since the most valuable stuff was being “upgraded” (more of a lateral move, really,) so that the government organizations that owned them wouldn’t have their budget scaled back the next year. “Use it or lose it.”

Anyway, we took those babies in, and except in rare cases (mostly colour copiers,) where it was considered worth the time/money to ship them to a distant market, they went straight to the scrap-heap. You know any “trade-in value” they had was strictly chimerical.

If it’s too much of a hassle to sell them for fair value, donate them to charity and write it off – you’ll still come out ahead.

62

Not all changes requested by clients in the computer graphics used is as intensive or time-consuming as you’re led to believe.

63

So, that’s his bottom line. It’s generally stupid to take work below your bottom line.

This will likely only be of use for U.S. Dopers, as I believe most of the governments in the rest of the world claim mineral rights for themselves.

If you own mineral rights and are approached for a mineral lease by an oil and gas company, they will likely offer you a bonus per acre (I can’t speak for the whole country, but I’d guess somewhere between $25 and $150 per acre) and a royalty of probably 3/16, possibly 1/8. Unless you own huge amounts of land that they want to lease, the bonus, which you get up front, is not where you make your money.

Say you own 40 acres of mineral rights. The difference between a $75/acre bonus and a $100/acre bonus is $1,000.

Piffle.

Where you make your money is in the ORRI (Over Riding Royalty Interest). They will give you a 20% (1/5) royalty. If things are really hot in your area, and you are savvy to what’s going on, you might be able to chip 'em for another point or two.

If things are so hot that everybody in town’s talking about it, and the local Denny’s is full of roughnecks at 5:30 A.M., you might get as high as 25%. They will not go beyond 25%. If they do, you’re dealing with idiots who won’t get their test well funded, and your royalties thus mean nothing.

But more than likely, they’ll easily go to 20%, and start putting up stiff resistance immediately beyond that. They have to be able to deliver 75% to industry to get their project done, and they need the points in between 20% and 25% to cheese the people who helped them put the deal together.

So, don’t take the 3/16 - demand 20% and be happy with it. Whatever they offer as a bonus you can add $25 to that and stand a decent chance of getting that, as well. But, if they balk at the bonus but give you the 20% royalty, as they will, don’t let the bonus be the deal killer.

Happy drillin’.

64

A product that millions of people trust their lives to every day is designed and made and maintained by people like me.

65

Before you trade in, sell, or discard that old computer, reformat or remove and destroy the old hard drive. You would be amazed at the stuff I have found. Many machines have had personal financial records and letters, and one lot of several machines had confidential client data from a state department of rehabilitation, including name, address, SSN, evaluations and case worker notes, all just dumped onto the market at scrap value!

66

A few tips regarding purchasing automobiles:

If you have bad credit, don’t count on your loan being approved when you drive away in that car. If the dealership can’t get you financed, you’ll have to give the car back.

When a salesman or finance manager promises you something, GET IT IN WRITING. If you don’t, then there’s a 99% chance they will not keep that promise.

READ YOUR CONTRACT BEFORE YOU SIGN. That is the time to negotiate your loan. If you choose not to, don’t bitch to your finance company later that you don’t like your loan terms. It’s too late, and the person(s) you complain to will think you’re an idiot.

It’s up to YOU to make sure you’re not getting a lemon when you purchase a car. If something goes wrong with your car after you purchase it, you still have to make the payments. The finance company is not responsible. (you don’t stop making your mortgage payments because your roof starts leaking, do you?)

People, always keep your contract paperwork, ALL of it… you never know when you may need it!

GAP insurance is a wonderful thing, and it’s usually dirt cheap. If you total your car the insurance company is going to pay the fair market value. If you’re upside down on your loan (owing more than the car is worth) then GAP will cover the remainder. Otherwise, you are responsible for the “deficiency balance”.