Friday Night Links (3/26/2010)…

I would have to say that this week went much better than I was expecting since it was the first week that I was alone with the twin 1 year olds while Mrs. Digitante headed off to Florida for work. Fortunately I have two really good little girls who made my life easy.

Now it’s about time to cap of that week with gaggle of links. Let’s do it.

• Laws of Negotiation – In the United States, negotiating is something that is looked at with embarrassment and nearly shunned. However, in much of the rest of the world, negotiating is the only way to get what you want. Everything you purchase boils down to two things: 1) You have something the business owner wants (money) and 2) He has something you want (the goods or services). While negotiating is a good thing and you should definitely do it, you need to be sure you are fully prepared and know what to expect and what not to do. Check out this guide for specifics.
• Hidden Cost of Living – Typically, people look at rent or housing prices in the urban core of a city and instantly think it’s too high. However, the Center for Neighborhood Technology added transportation costs to housing costs to get the true amount of your income you are spending. Amazingly enough, most urban core costs are less than living in the suburbs. I can only imagine that will get worse if gas prices begin to rise again. Be sure to check out your location to see what the cost of living looks like where you are.
• Shine Stainless Steel with Flour – Over time, those shiny new stainless steel sinks tend to get cloudy and the finish turns to more of a matte. No need to spend money on expensive stainless steel cleaners and polishers when you have a bag of flour right in your pantry. Just sprinkle it on dry, grab a cloth, and start polishing till you get a nice mirrored finish.
• Magnetic Nail and Screw Holder – In high school, I worked construction. Part of my job was putting up shingles, screwing down deck boards, and hanging drywall. I had a nice tool belt (actually still have it) and it had a little pouch hanging on it that would hold nails and screws. The problem is that those nails and screws were not stacked uniformly in the bottom of the pouch. No, they were pointing every which way and each grab in there for another screw caused 4 or 5 screws to poke into my fingers. No fun. If only I had known about the MagnoGrip Magnetic Wristband. Makes me kick myself that I didn’t come up with it first.