Is the Dyson Fan a Scam?

August 13th, 2011

Like everyone else I’ve seen the television ads for the Dyson fan and wondered how the thing works without fan blades. My cousin and I were recently discussing this very thing when we decided to do a little research on the topic.

After visiting a few customer reviews we discovered that there are in fact blades contained in the fan’s base. The air is simply channeled up through the round “air foil.” A couple of days later I examined a display model at my local Home Depot. The commercials have often described the noise generated by a conventional fan as unsettling. “The blades buffet the air creating a pulse, but the Dyson fan creates a constant stream of air…” or something along those lines. Sorry to say the noise level (if that bothers you), is about the same as a conventional, less sexy, general market fan. The air put out by the Dyson fan is not too bad, also about the same as her more average cousins. The Dyson fan is not a scam. For the most part it does what the manufacturer says it does. But nor is it, in my opinion, as cool as they imply either. There’s really no new method of moving air, as the design would seem to suggest. So what’s the draw? Well obviously its aesthetics. The Dyson fan looks like something you’d see sitting on Captain Picard’s desk, particularly the mat grey model with the blue air foil. But good looks are costly. The price on most models has come down to around three hundred dollars… yes down. So you’re looking at paying more than ten times the price of a more plain Jane Wal-Mart fan.

At the end of the day the Dyson fan is a cool product, however how much is your average consumer willing to pay for cool? As for me I’ll stick to my old school oscillating fan that I paid about twenty dollars for, even if it is unsettling.

Tags: Aesthetics, Air Foil, Captain Picard, Commercials, Conventional Fan, Couple Of Days, Cousin, Cousins, Customer Reviews, Desk, Display Model, Dyson, Fan Blades, Home Depot, Noise Level, Old School, Oscillating Fan, Plain Jane, Television Ads, Tyler Texas, wal-mart
Posted in Tyler Businesses | No Comments »

Southside Bank in Tyler TX and obtaining a business loan

January 24th, 2011

Southside Bank is considered to be the most convenient bank in Tyler TX because they are in just about every grocery store in town and they are scattered throughout the city in several much larger facilities. Their recent billboard campaigns encourage you to use them for family loans for things like vacations and old antique cars. I have tried getting a loan for an antique car before and let me tell you if you want to see a bank loan officer give you a blank stare just ask the question about a loan for an antique car, very few know if this type of loan is even possible accept for the uber wealthy.

Southside Bank Locations in Tyler and Phone Numbers

1201 South Beckham Avenue, Tyler – (903) 526-8682
6201 South Broadway Avenue, Tyler – (903) 581-9773
113 N Northwest Loop 323, Tyler – (903) 535-4463

Southside Bank has been around Tyler TX for some time and most who have lived here for awhile have noticed how well they have spread themselves out over the city.

They have not only created large brand new facilities going out as far as Lindale TX but they have gotten into almost every Brookshires grocery store in town as well.

Southside Bank also happens to be in the SuperOne food Store on Hwy 110. When visiting the Southside Bank website it looks a little old school when logging into their online banking but the functionality is all there.

I have been pleased with the online banking this far as I can easily check my bank account on my computer or iphone. I have made transfers between accounts through their online system on my phone as well.

When talking about loans with Southside Bank I have had great conversations with one loan officer there while another one sort of gave me as little information as possible.

As you can imagine banks get asked by thousands of people a year for loans and many of these people simply have no credit and have done no research in regards to a business plan or how a business idea may succeed.

When you walk into Southside Bank asking for a loan you need to come with an easily understood business plan. Although it is good to have a complete business plan with figures to back it up a loan officer will usually glance over one page that outlines what it is you want to do and make their mind up for there.

A trick to getting a loan for a business idea is to visit 100 banks if you have to. Tweak and redefine your business plan and make it easy to read. Be a pleasant person to talk to and don’t come across as begging the loan officer.

One last few bits of advice is to attempt ahead of time to establish some kind of business credit.

There used to be the things called pass book checking accounts in the old days but these are no more. The pass book account allowed businesses to slowly build up credit.

A better way to build up business credit is to buy a CD (Certificate of Deposit) at the bank you are trying establish a reputation at and take a loan out on that CD.

Pay the CD off over a few years time and never be late in making your payments on that loan. Once your business loan is paid off you will have a better credit score to use in getting that business loan.

Also try opening up a cell phone business account using your tax id as this will assist in building business credit. Go out to mint.com and find a good low interest business credit card and apply for that as well. By having the credit card, bank loan, and cell phone account you will be establishing credit using 3 different business accounts, just don’t be late on your payments.

If you haven’t already you will need to setup an LLC which will allow you to get a tax id to establish credit on. Rather than building up credit on your personal social security number you need to build up business credit. Go out to legalzoom.com and they can automate much of the tasks involved in setting up a new Limited Liability Company. You will get a tax id that you can use to open up a business banking account.

Be sure to buy that CD and take a loan out on that CD using your business tax id number and not your social security number so that you are building business credit and not personal credit.

Tags: Antique Car, Asking For A Loan, Bank Loan, Banks, banks in Tyler TX, Best Tyler Texas Bank, Billboard, Blank Stare, Brookshires Grocery Store, Business Idea, Business Loan, Business Plan, Convenient Bank, Conversations, Family Loans, Food Store, Functionality, Getting A Loan, Iphone, Loan Officer, Loans, Northwest Loop, Old Antique Cars, Old School, Phone Numbers, South Beckham, South Broadway, Southside Bank, Southside Bank Tyler Texas, Southside Bank Tyler TX, Tyler Southside Bank, Tyler Texas Bank, Tyler TX
Posted in Banks | No Comments »

Junior’s Taqueria in Tyler Texas

October 20th, 2010

http://www.tylertxdirectory.com Juniors Taqueria has a plate that comes with six small beef tacos on corn tortillas

Jr’s taqueria is located under not 1 but 2 billboard signs next to Home Plus in Tyler off the loop.

The tacos have beef, onions, cilantro, cheese, and avocado. They are delicious little tacos.

I eat there about once a month when I am over on that part of town. It is right across the highway from Sweet Sue’s.

They also have the old school coke in a bottle and the restaurant is tiny but a nice place to chill for lunch.

The lunches are cheap but very very good. You gotta try this place man!

mov icon IMG_2394.mov

Tags: Avocado, Beef Tacos, Billboard Signs, Cheese, Coke Bottle, Corn, Corn Tortillas, Juniors, Lunch, Mov, Old School, Onions, Place Man, Sweet Sue, Taqueria, Tyler Texas
Posted in Tyler Businesses | 1 Comment »

CCC Sale in Tyler TX

September 3rd, 2010

The CCC Sale is about to kick off again.

What this means to you is a very large selection of used kids clothes in a 30,000 sq foot building called the Harvey Convention Center, “ever heard of it” 😉

900 East Texas families bring their gently used clothes to this one place and you get to pick through and find some really cool stuff.

This place doesn’t just have kids clothes but you can also find toys, DVD’s, books, and old school VHS tapes.

Truth About Abs – Click Here

There is also a furniture section with beds, cribs and other such stuff.

We keep coming back to this sale year after year simply because there is too much stuff not to want to get your hands on some of it.

I see the Children’s Clothing Consignment Sale as a treasure hunting experience and it all goes to making your kids look cuter.

The fall sale starts September 16-18, 2010 Thursday – Friday 9am – 6 pm and Saturday 9 am – 4 pm. Admission is free.

They accept Visa, MasterCard, and debit cards.

Tags: 9am, Admission, Beds, Ccc, Clothing Consignment, Cool Stuff, Cribs, Debit Cards, East Texas, East Texas Families, Furniture Section, Harvey Convention Center, Kids Clothes, Old School, S Books, September 16, Sq Foot, Treasure Hunting, Tyler TX, Visa Mastercard
Posted in Tyler Businesses | No Comments »

Mythology of the Sacred Spur in Gilmer

July 21st, 2010

I’m not entirely sure what brought up the memory of dining at the Sacred Spur restaurant just outside Gladewater. I guess I saw it on a community site and started reading and watching the reports and critiques on the rustic dining there and I found no one with whom I could entirely agree. Even the report listed on Tyler TX Directory while accurate, was short. So I decided that there was room for another report, especially given that the passage of time has perhaps allowed for a little perspective on my visit.

First off, in the interest of full disclosure I was present at the same event as the author of the first directory article on the Sacred Spur. Spending the evening at the Spur is like going to an off- beat movie that some viewers love, and others despise. You either get it or you don’t. My father, who loves the mythology of the west and the cowboy mystique, got it. Our out of town guests decidedly, did not. The Sacred Spur is only open a couple of nights a week, Fridays and Saturdays. The food is very simple, steaks, chicken, potatoes and an admittedly pretty Spartan salad bar. Meat is cooked over a very old school hanging grill. There is usually musical entertainment of some kind, generally a local country band or artist. The food is expertly cooked. My steak was a beautiful medium rare. Reservations are highly recommended however as the Spur is not a dining institution, it’s very much a mom and pop kind of business (or should I say ma and pa). This was an issue at the time of my visit since they actually ran out of most cuts of steak, something prone to happen at this sort of casual family run restaurant. When the food is gone it’s gone. Another issue was the fact the store’s debit card register was down. Evidently it had been down all night and the staff had failed to warn us. Fortunately for them our party was able to scrape up enough coin to pay the bill. If you go, best to take some cash just in case.

A lot has been written and reported on the Spur. It has been really praised in the news and dining reports in our area. It’s often held up as traditional Texas fare. I’m not sure however that grilling a great steak alone constitutes Texas cooking. When I think of traditional Texan food I think bar-b-q. Steaks are good, Texas beef the best of course, but I’ve had good steaks many places. If I want good brisket or other forms of BBQ, Texas is really the only place to go.

If the Spur was closer to Tyler I would not object to going more often. As it is, the drive makes it a lot of work. The food is good but it’s also pricey, and given the inconvenience of travel, and the propensity to occasionally run out of food it can be a gamble. One other thing, be sure any guests you bring along are good sports. If they’re adverse to any risk and not adventurous dinners, or if they don’t appreciate the novelty or local color, take them to Luby’s. At least they’ll know what they’re getting and you won’t have to hear about for the rest of the night. For more information on the Sacred Spur see the following web pages: http://www.facebook.com/pages/East-Mountain-TX/The-Sacred-Spur-Ranch/152459857514, or http://www.myspace.com/thesacredspurranch. Also, check out the report by KETK, http://www.ketknbc.com/news/eats-texas-the-sacred-spur-ranch. Lastly, look for the title, Sacred Spur Ranch – A rustic authentic Cowboy ranch restaurant, located elsewhere on this site.

Tags: Cuts Of Steak, Debit Card, Fridays, Full Disclosure, Local Country, Mom, Musical Entertainment, Mystique, Mythology, Old School, Passage Of Time, Perspective, Potatoes, Salad Bar, Saturdays, Spur, Steaks Chicken, Town Guests, Tx Directory, Tyler TX
Posted in Restaurants, Texas Style | No Comments »

Recent Posts