The following are excerpts from my
soon to be published book:
Making
The Health Care System Work For You
The Soup and Salad Power Diet
Renaissance Joy
Ramblings
HOW TO SURVIVE IN THE URBAN
JUNGLE
Please let me know if anything
is helpful to you. All suggestions and feedback
are welcome!
Dear Renaissance Joy,
I often get bills from
companies that I know I have paid. I write them and
call them. They say they resolved the problem then I
keep getting bills. The late payments that they think
I owe ruins my credit rating but I don't want to pay
what I don't owe. What can I do?
Frustrated in the Urban
Jungle
Dear
Frustrated,
Send them the PESKY
BILL letter. You'll notice the PESKY BILL letter
threatens to charge them for your time each time they
bill you. Do exactly that. Go to a stationery store
and purchase a billing book. Send your bills weekly
to the accounts payable department of the company
that is billing you. Be sure to charge them interest
unless they pay immediately. It drives them crazy!
Sometimes they even pay the bill! Be sure you have
your phone number listed on your bills. I have
received phone calls from the vice president of the
company. In any event, the situation usually gets
resolved quickly.
Dear
Renaissance Joy,
I have a swimming pool
in my back yard and the neighborhood children love to
come here and swim with my children. I don't mind
having them but since this is California, I worry
that if someone gets injured, I'll be held
responsible. I don't want to tell my children that
they can't have their friends over to swim with them
in our pool. But it is a tremendous responsibility
for me. What can I do to protect myself?
Scared
Dear
Scared,
First of all make sure
your liability insurance is paid up and you have
plenty of it. Also discuss this with an attorney. I
like to have a release from parent. Although it may
not protect you in a court of law, it makes the
understanding between you and the other parents
clear. This is the release I get before allowing
other people's children in my pool. You may want to
customize it for your particular circumstances.
Dear
Renaissance Joy,
I work out of my home
office. I often have a handy person or construction
work done on my home. I can't stand by and supervise
all the time. Often tools are left around. Debris is
not hauled away. My neighbor had a construction
worker start on his bathroom. The worker dug a hole
and left it there for six months till he came back
and finished the bathroom. I'm considering having an
addition constructed but I'm afraid this will happen
to me. What can I do?
Help!
Dear
Help,
The important part of
working with anyone is communication. Your
expectations must be clear, in writing, and agreed to
with both parties. Don't forget a contract is only as
good as the people who agree to it. It doesn't
guarantee good workmanship. Look at the contracts
below. You can customize them for your Needs. Notice
the abandonment clause. This allows you to fire the
contractor without incurring a huge financial loss,
if s/he, starts your job and then leaves it to start
other jobs so many jobs can be tied up but not
finished. This is something many contractors do and
you have a right and a responsibility to protect
yourself from this kind of unscrupulous practice.
Dear
Renaissance Joy,
I will be hiring a
gardener soon. I am not home all day. How can I get
him to do what I want?
Wondering.
Dear
wondering,
Make a clear agreement
with your gardener. Use the agreement below as a
guideline and customize it for your particular
situation.
Dear
Renaissance Joy,
As a newly single
woman, I feel very ignorant about my car. I wish I
could do some preventative maintenance on my car. I
am worried that it will break down on me if I don't
but I always feel like I'm going to get ripped off by
the auto mechanic and they will want to do more than
is necessary. I am a single mother on a limited
budget. Can you suggest something?
Mechanically
Challenged.
Dear
Challenged,
You need to do two
things: Find a good mechanic, and take charge of the
process. Ask friends and family, failing that, ask
strangers on buses, planes and trains what mechanic
they use and could they recommend someone. Take
charge of the process of preventative maintenance.
Use the form below. Call your local high school or
college and find students who are studying auto
mechanics. Offer to pay to have a student come out
and check your car over periodically, according to
the checklist below. To lower your cost and make it
more desirable for the student, organize your
neighbors so that the student checks several cars at
one time in one neighborhood. This will lower your
cost, make it more profitable for the student, and
your neighbors will be delighted to have the
preventative maintenance done on their cars too.
A
Renaissance person is someone who has learned a
little extra about a lot of things and is willing to
share.
About Renaissance Joy
Renaissance Joy is the CEO of
Caring-Products. She is also the inventor of
Camp Stamp, Dr. Joy's Miracle ID Stamper and many of
the other products seen on the website. She holds
several patents and trademarks. She is a
published author. Her degree is in Social
Work, with graduate work in Educational Psychology.
She is also a health educator who introduced
Lamaze Method of Childbirth to Winnipeg Canada in
1969. She taught Lamaze for 11 years. She is
the founder of the San Diego Women's Chorus which she
conducted for one year. She had a psychotherapy
practice for 20 years before she retired from
it and went on to her developing her inventions and
her mail order, e-commerce business. She is a public
speaker and business consultant. Renaissance
Joy currently resides in San Diego, California where
she manages Caring Products as well as offering her
business consulting services and making some public
appearances. She has two grown children, two
dogs: a standard poodle, a giant schnauzer and
a cat named Dream Kitty, who doesn't like the
schnauzer Her hobbies include, singing
and playing the guitar, travelling to Mexico, and dog
carting. Thats right, the dogs pull her in a
surry! The diversity of her interests,
education knowledge and experience have led to the
identity, Renaissance Joy.
Do
you have a question you would like to ask Renaissance
Joy? Submit it below with your e-mail address and she
will answer your question and post it here.
