All Entries in the "Uncle Mike" Category

Support the United States Post Office With Your Own Junk Mail

A Tip From Uncle Mike:

I am sure that you are inundated with continual mail for you to switch credit cards. This and others. Here is what you do.

And, as you know, I always want more than one advantage from what I do.

a. When you receive a junk mail solicitation do the following:

• Take everything that is in the envelope, including the envelope that it came in. Place it all in the “Postage Paid Return Envelope”
• Mail it all back to the sender.

b. You accomplish two things:

• You have less trash in your trash basket.
• You give the USPS much needed revenue to avoid the next increase.

Pass this on..your friends will appreciate it.

Mike Thrifty

• Save by Knowing Your Shipping & Mailing Options Having been operating an online business for the past 2.5 years, I have almost come to take my knowledge of mailing and shipping options for...
• Online prices for some postage will be a little cheaper The US Postal Service will be raising their prices on Monday, May 12th, 2008. The first-class stamp won't be the only service that will be...
• Junking your junk mail The proliferation of spam in this day and age is truly amazing. Office Live’s junk e-mail filter helps keep that nasty stuff out of your...

Haiti: Turning People’s Lives Around

As my regular readers already know, my Uncle Mike is very involved in assisting the poor children in Haiti. He has made friends with two other volunteers there, who have kept a blog of their experiences. It can be difficult reading, but it’s a first hand view of the difficulties this country’s people endure. We thought we’d share it with you.

This is from the introduction to Maria’s Blog, Live From Haiti:

“Maria and John Carroll spend several months a year living in Haiti. John works as doctor in this scandalously poor country. Maria writes about John’s hard work. Haiti is the kind of place that breaks your heart as it fills it up. The more people learn about this country, only 600 miles from the United States, with its lovely, suffering people, the better off we will be. And isn’t that what we all want, especially your mother?”

Hope you enjoy it. Does anyone out there have any similar experiences?

A Self Made Millionaire Gives Back

(Uncle Mike is on the left.)

My Uncle Mike is the youngest of 8 children. He was born to my Italian immigrant grandparents in the 1930s. They grew up quite poor. His father worked in a local shoe factory with other immigrants. I have heard that his mother, in broken English, would tell the milkman, “when my sons grow up, they’ll pay you“. The funny thing is, the milkman always left the milk.

From this poor childhood, sixty some odd years ago, my uncle has become a millionaire. He first put himself through college, then started his own travel agency. It was onward and upward from there. He lists a string of accomplishments that go far beyond what I would ever hope to do.

Today, he is retired, enjoying his senior years with family and friends. Always one to embrace new ideas, he has his own website, and has been to Tibet to study Buddhism.

He has also recognized that it is time to “give something back to the milkman”. What goes around comes around, after all. To that end, he has recently written a document entitled “An Action Plan for the Economic Development and Reconstruction of Haiti“, and is working with various organizations to enhance the life of those in this ravaged country.

In particular, he has grown fond of working with the priests at the Timkatec Orphanage of Haiti. This next short story epitomizes the type of innovation and creative thinking of a millionaire.

At the orphanage in Haiti, a school bus was needed for the children, and there was none to be had. Somehow, my uncle managed to locate one here in Massachusetts. Step one accomplished. Now the next problem was, how to get this school bus to Haiti. After all, he couldn’t drive it. What could he do?

Well, as it turns out, my uncle still has some friends in the Cruise line industry. He pulled a few strings, and got them to load the bus onto a Cruise ship and bring it down to the orphanage. Imagine the priests’ surprise when my uncle came driving in with the bus!

That is my Uncle Mike. He lives life out of the box. And he’s a really great uncle, to boot.

If you’d like to make a donation to the children of Haiti, there’s a link in my sideblog.

• iCruise.com Transatlantic Cruise to Sto. Domingo from $349 Cruise specials abound in every corner of the travel sector. You can find bargain vacations in almost all destinations around the globe. If you are...
• EPA Reviews Cruise Ship Discharges in Alaska The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Cruise Ship Discharge Assessment Report is the first national account made by the agency on discharge standards utilized in Alaska...