If you own a mobile oil change business and you have at least 100 monthly customers or 300 customers total you may wish to consider buying bulk oil to save costs. Oil is a large cost in the mobile oil change business, although not as much as labor. But any savings you get means more profit for your small business.

As the Founder of the Oil Change Guys, let me share some secrets with you. You see suppliers for bulk are usually regional and sometimes for best service and price you may find it is more a matter of the area rather than the brand. Although for customers it is more about brand. Some larger fleet customers will specify brand and you want to make sure you can oblige otherwise your competitor gets the account instead of you.

We have always found that a proper deal with a local regional supplier can in fact be significant, even to the point where the regional Oil Company reps pay you a visit and see what they can do to help you. Including things such as no-interest loans and/or financing deals based on purchases or guarantees of purchases. This can assist you with expansion dollars to take on larger local and regional accounts and expand your business, buy new units or buy out a pesky competitor, which can add accounts without long travel times.

To find a bulk oil supplier you will probably need to check around. Let’s say you are in OH for instance. This is a good state for jobbers and suppliers, which means there are some really good choices and a little bit of competition for you to get better services, extras and a lower price. Of course too across the River in KY you will find a support structure available through Valvoline, although they might also consider you competition to their own in-house mobile oil change units. They do have mobile oil change company software.

Of course if you are doing fleets and intend to do more you may not wish to put all your eggs in one basket as some larger fleets prefer Chevron which has a huge following and others will only use Shell Rotella; http://www.rotella.com/ One good place to check to see which jobbers are in your area servicing oil needs is to check with the local School District, why not check with the Superintendent of Transportation, where do they buy
their bulk oil for the buses? That might give you a good lead?

Indeed it pays to shop around when looking for a jobber of bulk oil and it further makes sense to use a local supplier as they may end up referring business to you, because they know you will be using their products. So think on this, as you supplier is part of your business team, all the way around it. They know it and you should know it too.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

arian6: “Maybe we could get together sometime and play.”
tomekee8: “Yeah that would be fun. My dad just gave me a new x-box.”"
arian6: “Maybe I could come over to your house sometime. “What games do you have?”
tomekee8: “I’ll show you”
arian6: “Okay, where do you live?”
tomekee8: “I live at…”

“Tommy, are you getting your homework done?” The voice of Tommy’s mother insistently penetrates the closed and locked bedroom door.

tomekee8: “Hold on.”

“Tommy?” The knock on the bedroom door is firm.
“Just a minute, Mom.”
“You better have that report finished! It’s 10 o’clock. What are you doing in there?”

tomekee8:”My mom’s outside. Talk to you later.”
arian6: “Okay, but don’t forget to tell me where you live, I want to come over.”
tomekee8: “Don’t worry, I’ll…”

“Tommy! It’s time to go to bed. Do you have that report finished?”
“Just a minute, Mom.”

tomekee8: “kk. Talk to tomorrow.”

Tommy exits messenger and feeds some paper into the printer. He races to the door just as the printer starts spewing out printed sheets.
“Almost have it, Mom.”
His mother enters Tommy’s room, clearly suspicious. “Is that all you’ve been doing in here?”
“Sure, Mom. What else would I be doing?”

The Secret Wilderness

It’s virtually impossible for parents to know what a child is doing online. Today, children can access the web through their own computer, the library or a friend’s computer, or even their own cell phone.

We know what the benefits to the Internet are, but we are a bit mystified by the dangers. To those of us who grew up without the Internet, we tend to be either completely naive, or in a perpetual state of overblown hysteria, seeing a pedophile behind every keystroke.

So, what are the actual cyberspace dangers to our kids, anyway?

Because of the anonymity of the Internet, anyone can assume any identity. Even though chats ask for a member profile to be filled out, there is absolutely no guarantee that the information is in any way correct, or that it has to be filled out at all.

Consequently, there is no absolute way of telling whether the person you are chatting with is who they say they are. Does this mean that that person is dangerous or has harmful intent? In nine cases out of ten, the answer is “no.”

But there are those few cases in which a pedophile is posing as someone else, and does have harmful intent. Statistics tell us that 1 out of 5 children accessing chat rooms are approached by pedophiles.

How can you possibly know what your child is doing in Cyberspace?

While most parents feel they know what their child is doing online, the truth is that only 25% of all children approached by a pedophile have actually reported it to their parents.

Children accessing pornographic sites (either deliberately or accidentally) rarely tell their parents. And, I can guarantee you, none will tell you about whom they are talking with on the messenger services unless that person becomes threatening or scary in some way.

Then there are the blogs and MySpaces, which are proving to be more and more dangerous as children post private information, pictures of their family and friends, and even their own home addresses and telephone numbers.

The Internet has become an intensely personal place, one where the child can talk to to anyone without supervision, and, in the process, give out sensitive and vital information.

If she herself is not in danger of pedophiles, she can bring YOU into the danger of identity thieves who gain access to your sensitive and vital information posted for all to view by your own child.

Knowledge and Communication are the Keys

The first thing to do, if you haven’t done it already, is to completely familiarize yourself with the Internet and what is available to your child.

A good place to start is with the Article “Child Safety on the Information SuperHighway”, http://www.safekids.com/child_safety.htm.

Once you have become an Internet Initiate (if you aren’t one already), you are ready to sit down and talk with your child about the Internet and its dangers.

Be sure to listen more than you talk, and be sure that you are calm, and not in a state of low (or high level) panic. Gently find out as much as your child will tell you about what she is doing and who she is talking with on the Internet.

Warn her about harmful websites, and ask her to tell you if she accidentally accesses something that is disturbing to her.

Don’t stop there – find out what she’s actually doing

You have to understand that your child will not tell you everything, particularly in the case of an older child, and especially a teenager.

Older children and teenagers, as we parents know, have entered the independent/invincibility realm of human maturation, where they are not going to tell their parents everything (or, perhaps, anything), and don’t feel there is any danger to themselves.

They think they can “handle” everything. It’s great to try to foster open discussions, but you are going to have to do so knowledgeably.

You are going to have to know what your child is actually doing.

What does monitoring software do?

The good news is that software packages have been created that will enable you to:

1) Monitor your child’s emails.
2) Monitor and record all websites visited.
3) Block objectionable web sites.
4) Record keystrokes, including hidden text such as passwords.
5) Monitor internet messenger services.
6) Run unobtrusively in the background.

In addition, the software will automatically email you the records of all activity on your child’s PC.

That sounds great but …

Monitoring your child’s PC — it sounds great, but it’s not a panacea.

Obviously, your child has other sources of access to the Internet than the computer at home. She can go to the library, visit a friend’s house, or even gain access to the Web by cell phone.

There is no way you can know what is going on in those instances, but you can know what is going on at home. And what is going on there is an indication of what is going on somewhere else.

There is no substitute for communication. Yes, you must regularly sit down and talk with your child about the dangers of the Internet and what she is doing, but by installing PC Monitoring software on her machine, you can do so knowledgeably. You can let your child know that you know – and you can block sites you don’t want her to access.

Perhaps one way to do it is to monitor her PC use for awhile, then tell her openly what you have done, and show her some of the websites she is accessing, and that you are going to block them.

You can also show her some of the messenger conversations she is having, and ask her if she really knows who the person is she is talking to. If she gives out any sensitive information, you can and should point that out.

She probably won’t like it

Well, as we all know, she’s not going to like it. But then again, she probably won’t like any supervision you give her. But it lets her know you are watching, that you know what she is doing – and, above all, that you care.

It will give you edge you need — and, what may be just as important…

Peace of mind.

If you have Binge Eating Disorder, you understand the feelings of loneliness. You know what it is like to live in a secret world that no one knows about. You have a big secret, but no one is allowed to see that side of you.

At restaurants with friends, you order just the right amount of food and can’t finish it all because you are so full. Little do your friends know that you had already eaten enough food for three people just two hours before meeting them for another dinner.

You talk to your friends about why you are overweight. You don’t know why, you say. They are just as stumped as you are. They see what you eat and it is small portions. Not even unhealthy foods most of the time.

But what they don’t know is that you have Binge Eating Disorder. You have something that is constantly looming over your head. Food. Food is a dream and a nightmare mixed into one. Food makes you feel better and then makes you feel worthless the very next minute.

You don’t want to let your friends into your secret world though. This is your world and they will not understand. They may just tell you to stop eating so much. They won’t understand.

But, if they are your friends, they will understand. You cannot let any self-limiting beliefs stand in your way anymore. Your friends love you and will stand by your side when asked for help. You mean everything to them.

The first step that you can take is to tell someone that you trust. Stop dealing with this big problem on your own. Ask a friend to just listen to you when you need them. Often talking about problems and just getting things off of your chest will make you feel so much better. Plus, if you are hanging out with someone and talking about it, you are less likely to turn to food. It isn’t as available and you are not alone. You are forcing yourself out of your comfort zone and that is okay.

Get help and find a trusted confidant. Expose your secret world to them little by little, or by however feels right to you. Listen to yourself and let that be the judge. Once they know where you are coming from, they will be able to help you to where you hope to go in the future.

Don’t let binge eating disorder get the best of you; seek a friend to talk to and watch you start to feel better about yourself and your situation.

By: Kristin Gerstley
http://www.endbingeeating.com

Notice to publishers: you have rights to republish this article on your website as long as you keep all links in tact and clickable. Thank you.

Kristin Gerstley is the owner of www.endbingeeating.com which is a site that helps people overcome their Binge Eating Disorder. She also publishes a free newsletter offering tips on how to stop binge eating and regain control of your life.