Goshen, NY

I was headed past the animal farm this week and this goose was in the road (as it often is) and this time it came right up to the car as if he/she wanted to hop in. I snapped this with my cell phone before he/she waddled away chattering on and on.

Photos by Debra Walsh, Copyright © 2012 Debra Walsh. All Rights Reserved. These photos may not be reproduced, used or transmitted without the express, written permission of Debra Walsh of Keller Williams Realty in Goshen, New York. If you would like to use an image please contact me directly. Thank you for not plagiarizing!

Tell Enterprise Rent-a-Car to stop fighting against a law that would ban renting recalled cars.

This is a sad story that started with two young sisters who were killed in an Enterprise rental car that had recall issues. It should have been taken off the lot to be repaired but never was.

Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (carconsumers.org), says lobbyists for rental car companies told her last year at a meeting in the State Capitol Building in Sacramento that their companies sometimes needed to rent cars under recall, particularly during busy holiday weekends.

In just a matter of days, Congress is set to consider a new law that would force rental car companies to fix recalled cars, but Enterprise Rent-a-Car is lobbying against it -- and hard. Enterprise's opposition could block the bill, allowing Enterprise to continue to ignore car recalls like the one that killed Cally Houck's daughters.

Cally Houck has dedicated herself to making sure that rental car companies fix recalled vehicles so no one else loses their life to rental cars that are known to be unsafe. She says it's critical to stop Enterprise's opposition now, before they kill the law. Cally started a petition on Change.org asking Enterprise Rent-a-Car CEO Andrew Taylor to stop opposing the law to force rental car companies to repair recalled vehicles.

Click here to add your name to Cally's petition.

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It is that time of year again. Time to gather receipts, make note of all home improvements, upgrades and energy efficiency installs. Not only can this help in your tax deductions but can help reduce your bill totals all year long.

Klout - Measures your online influence using data from your social networks

I think like most people I am still trying to figure out Klout. As you climb the ladder of Klout by interacting with people on Klout and other social media sites your Klout "score" will increase pretty steadily as long as you do this on a daily basis. But watch out! If you go away on vacation or take a weekend off you will see a dip in your score almost immediately. (At least I have)

When you start using Klout and develop a number you will be able to give and receive Klout, that is another of the ways to get to know Klout members and enhance your score.

Once you get above a certain level (usually around 35 or so) you are eligible for "Perks" or FREE stuff. I got my first FREE Perk in the mail this week. About two weeks ago Klout had notified me that I had a "Perk." It said click here and you will get a pencil from Blackwing. Then I got their Twitter name which is @pencilscom. Now I had never heard of Blackwing or @pencilscom. So I did what I had to do and basically forgot about it for the moment.

Well yesterday my package came - always a nice surprise to receive a package! When I saw it I thought just how big is this pencil??

So I opened the box to find another black box with a note on card stock. I was impressed already. Pencils.com I could tell is a company that goes all the way in doing even the smallest things.

When I opened the black box, in black tissue paper I found a velvet bag that had two Blackwing pencils (very cool BTW), a supply of erasers and a sharpener in a small plastic case.

So to Klout THANK YOU! Pencils.com (Blackwing) Pencils THANK YOU THANK YOU! And I look forward to many more PERKS in the future!