AsktheBuilder.com Issue #1325 (Not Sure!)

February 26, 2025

Dear ,

The What Happens When part of this newsletter is below. It's all about how all of my products, including the amazing Digital Library might vanish overnight.

You may not think so, but you're a blessing to me. I never cease to be amazed and in awe of responses you might send back after I publish a newsletter.

It happened this past Wednesday. I coughed up like a bad hairball a rare mid-week issue featuring some great products. I received the following respectful and meaningful email within a few hours:

Dear Tim,

 

I looked at two of your recommended items (mechanical pencils with 1.3 mm leads and the Canon printer) and there were too many valid 1 star reviews ("valid" meaning they were not silly complaints, like "the product arrived late" or "item is the wrong size") for me to consider buying either item....P.S. That has also been my experience with some of the other items that you recommended in the past - the windproof lighter comes to mind, I don't remember offhand the other ones."

I was busy when the email arrived and just skimmed over it. I mis-read it and thought the person was basing his/her no-buy decision on silly reviews. I caught my mistake the next day.

Here's what you need to know about any product you see me promote on my website, in this newsletter, or in a video I create.

I test and use the products. In some cases, I test them for months before rendering an opinion. There have been many products I've told people NOT to buy.

About eight years ago, one of my reviews put me on Milwaukee Tools black list. I was brutally honest and they didn't like what I said one bit. They stopped sending me tools.

READ my review.

I realize the enormous trust you place in me and never want to abuse that for a silly 50-cent commission on a set of mechanical pencils or some other product.

Let's hone in on the items this subscriber was talking about. The mechanical pencils are top-drawer. I've been using them for two weeks and have not had an issue. Everything about them is great. My friend Wayne, who suggested them, is an even tougher critic. He's also had no trouble.

My new Canon printer/scanner is working perfectly. It's a complex machine with many moving parts. Think how nimble any printer needs to be to grab one sheet of paper and move it through the machine.

The scanning capability and the instant transfer of the image to my computer is well worth the $59 price.

The lighter the subscriber talked about might be this one.

I use that lighter to start fires all the time. The electric arc doesn't blow out. The lighter holds a charge for months.

The bottom line is you can either trust me or you can trust someone you don't know. I often don't even pay attention to 1-star reviews for a host of reasons.

The Big Basement Project

For the past few months every Friday morning, I drive 70 miles south to Nashua, NH. I arrive at my son's house about 8:30 AM and have a latte with him and Cheddar the corgi. Cheddar doesn't drink coffee, but he is food focused.

I work alone on Friday as my son has a day job as a software engineer. He and I then work together all day Saturday.

A month ago we finally completed the wretched drywall phase. I loathe doing drywall. My son started to paint and then we started two weeks ago on the magnificent Embassy Ceilings suspended ceiling system.

I thought you might like to see the progress. Realize that BEFORE we started, the basement was one giant open space. There were just four steel columns poking up out of the concrete slab. The photo below shows just 20 percent of the basement.

CLICK HERE to see how much progress the two of us have made working on Saturdays. Keep in mind we've done all the work. No subcontractors have done a thing.

What Happens When I Retire?

I'm actively trying to retire. It's not going to happen next week or next month, but who knows when I might sell the Ask the Builder brand or God decides, with no warning, that He needs a master plumber and builder up in Heaven.

I've been working for the past 65 years. Yes, I started with part-time jobs when I was 8 years old. I'm tired. I want to just kick back and do the things I really love.

There's no guarantee that Ask the Builder will continue when I retire. Everything could disappear including the website.

How does this affect you?

All of my digital products might vaporize. My kids have ZERO interest in keeping Ask the Builder alive. They have their own lives and don't want to be involved in customer service.

This is WHY you should seriously consider purchasing my entire Digital Library today. 

You get $1,200+ worth of products that you might NEED a month or a few years from now for just $79.99.

I've resisted raising the price of this product for three years. That ends in just five days.

On March 7, 2025, I'm RAISING the price to $119.99.

Purchase the Digital Library now and save $40.00.

If you decide to take a chance thinking it will still be available months from now, I wish you good luck!

#DoNotComply

Once bitten, twice shy...

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

The BEST Love Story of all time - well, maybe a close second.

That's enough for a Wednesday afternoon.

Peace out.

Tim Carter (PhD, FullyAwakeology)

Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

Electromagnetic Adventures: www.W3ATB.com

My Pronouns: Told/You/So

Do It Right, Not Over!