Forum Members impress me

[Mi Bankruptcy]

Since joining this forum to research Bankruptcy I have come across some pretty intelligent people sharing a lot of useful information. I would like to know what is the process or method you use to begin your research on any subject. I write for a political blog so quite often I research politics. I use several govt websites to gather statistics and I use other political sites to gather credible references.

How would you dispute my claim that installing a windmill on each property could reduce energy cost by 85%? I made this up. So, how would you research it to dispute or endorse my claim? Additionally, how do you evaluate your source?

[AngelinaCatHub]

OK, many questions in one. First I agree with you abut this forum. Second, wind power depends upon where you live. Solar here in Florida would work better. I have a lawyer friend who is totally solar and sells back electricity to the grid, but at night his air then balances it out.

I am all for alternative energy that is why I burn many oils in my diesel. Burning oil is still sun power. The diesel was invented to burn soy bean oil. Spark plug engines are obsolete if we wish to become independent from mid east. I never throw away our French fry grease I mow the lawn with it.

Building batteries and disposing of them will cost more energy than worth while. Nuclear is the best. Shoot the residue into the sun in the future. It is clean, and has a superb safety record.

Wind is nice if you are on the sea shore or an open place. I have a small windmill still in the box because I have no practical way to use it here.

Remember this, after the batteries, you must have electronics to convert it to A.C. and 110 volts at this time. Still more pollution to throw the stuff away when worn out.

Any other questions?

[AngelinaCatHub]

Re-reading, I did not answer your question. I must admit, I have my own opinion of the life wisdom I have had. I built two passive solar hot water for two houses I built. My sources? Mother Earth News of years ago, and life beliefs. I wish I could help you further. 'Hub

[Mi Bankruptcy]

Thanks Hub.. I was looking for a philosophical or methodical approach to research. How members start their research. I.E. I started coming to this forum to learn about bankruptcy. I also read government websites about bankruptcy. This may be a tuff question to get the answers I was looking for. I was trying to see how other people conduct their research.

[BROKENN]

I agree, this forum has been a treasure and an emotional lifeboat.

I research by reading, looking up each word I do not know, even within a definition. I read more, buy books, google (key words are the trick). As an engineer, I will draw out concepts to understand something and be to apply it practically. I look at things logically and peel through data... bad data? false data? do I need imperical data? Kinda like that Study and research. Make a matrix of important not important.

[liz417]

Hi Mi,
When we starting thinking about filing for bk, I knew nothing about it, so I "google" bankruptcy. At the time I was also looking for an attorney as well. I was so confused, so I read, read, read everything I could. I was a member of another "bk forum" but it wasn't much help. It was run by a few "experts" and their answer to all the newbie questions were, "find an attorney" After a few weeks on that useless site, I began looking around the web again (google search) and I found this forum! Thank Goodness!

[Mi Bankruptcy]

I like the matrix.. What is imperical data? I could google it. LOL

[Mi Bankruptcy]

Hi Mi,
When we starting thinking about filing for bk, I knew nothing about it, so I "google" bankruptcy. At the time I was also looking for an attorney as well. I was so confused, so I read, read, read everything I could. I was a member of another "bk forum" but it wasn't much help. It was run by a few "experts" and their answer to all the newbie questions were, "find an attorney" After a few weeks on that useless site, I began looking around the web again (google search) and I found this forum! Thank Goodness!

Hi Liz,
Did this site help you create a plan. Or did you just ask questions as they came up?

[AngelinaCatHub]

Thanks Hub.. I was looking for a philosophical or methodical approach to research. How members start their research. I.E. I started coming to this forum to learn about bankruptcy. I also read government websites about bankruptcy. This may be a tuff question to get the answers I was looking for. I was trying to see how other people conduct their research.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Hi Liz,
Did this site help you create a plan. Or did you just ask questions as they came up?

Can you simplify your request? Drop it down to what are you attempting to see? I do wish to help. 'Hub

[liz417]

Hi Liz,
Did this site help you create a plan. Or did you just ask questions as they came up?

Between the few weeks I was on the "other bk forum" and found this forum, I had retained an attorney (my first meeting). So No, it did not help me create a plan, but this fourm (and the people on it) help ease my mind by answering all my questions (of course I was so overwhelmed on my first attorney visit, I didn't ask all the right questions) and it's helped me ASK the right question to my attorney! Although, we still haven't filed, now I know that I NEED to plan out everything and I don't have to rush into BK unprepared (which I thought I had to do prior). I have learned what to expect for the best and worst case senario at a 341 meeting and I've learned a wealth of information regarding district allowences, means testing, IRS standards and so on. I even know (by googling) the Trustees in my district!

[Mi Bankruptcy]

Well. My daughter was doing research in school for a project on another country. She pulled some information and looked at her report. She used the internet to come up with some of her answers. However, I had to point out that her references didn't appear to be credible to me. I.E. John Doe threw up a website or blog and wrote down some stuff. I had to teach her about conducting "credible research" Since members of this forum seem so informed or knowledgeable I wondered how they conducted research into areas where they were unfamiliar or had limited knowledge of a subject. How do they approach their research.. For instance, I changed a electric water heater for the first time last month( bankruptcy curse) I had some experience with remodeling. I took some pictures of my current water heater and took my digital camera to lowes to find my parts and a new water heater. I also researched online.

[liz417]

Well. My daughter was doing research in school for a project on another country. She pulled some information and looked at her report. She used the internet to come up with some of her answers. However, I had to point out that her references didn't appear to be credible to me. I.E. John Doe threw up a website or blog and wrote down some stuff. I had to teach her about conducting "credible research" Since members of this forum seem so informed or knowledgeable I wondered how they conducted research into areas where they were unfamiliar or had limited knowledge of a subject. How do they approach their research.. For instance, I changed a electric water heater for the first time last month( bankruptcy curse) I had some experience with remodeling. I took some pictures of my current water heater and took my digital camera to lowes to find my parts and a new water heater. I also researched online.

Hi again,
There was an interesting thread awhile ago and the poster (sorry, but I can't remember her name, I'm sure someone will know) and she talked about how when she first started the Bk process (before she filed), that she was on a site and the "advisors" were up to no good and was giving false info on purpose! She didn't know any better and "followed their advice" and ended up being screwed (in BK)! I always look around the web and find sites (on everything from cooking, automotive problems to animal care, etc.) I compare the info and *if* it is pretty similar, I go with it.....that doesn't mean it's always right~sometimes I get myself all worked up and the problem ends up not being that bad....

[Bandit]

I would start with history, then some recent facts. Look into charts, stats and graphs, compare windmill types and what is being generated and why.

Then consider all the knowledge I have learned up to date. I remember seeing them on the hills in California decades ago and back then they looked like giant monsters. I have two small 15 foot windmills on this property and I am kind of fascinated by them, though mine only show the direction of wind and speed. One could be used to irrigate a pond.

Then after studying all the good things I would study the negative things.

The most recent I have seen was a documentary on windmills through TV... is that bats are being killed by the huge windmills and they have to figure out a way to protect the bats. They were dying from the updrift causing some kind of breathing/lung problem. In order to not upset and create unbalance of nature they have to figure out how to protect & keep the bats from dying.

I feel confident that your claim to 85% savings with only one unit is way over rated, without doing any reasearch. How was that?

[fltoo]

I have a strange, mixed background and education in finance, economics and English.

No, allot is not a word, LOL. It is two words, a lot.

I had no knowledge of BK pre-planning whatsoever. I knew the terminology, tax ramifications and such, but had no idea of what BK entailed until I came to the conclusion one day that it was my only choice left.

I search under BK of course and came up with many sites for credit consolidation help, lawyer sites and this forum.

I researched credit consolidation companies firstly. If I came up with XYZ consolidation company, I would then search under, "XYZ" complaints or reviews. Took me one second to figure out this was not the way.

I then searched for BK information and came up with dry information that I could not personally relate to my situation.

I started reading this forum and learned from people that were going through the same thing. If someone mentioned, "insider payment", for instance, I would then go back and research the term outside of the forum.

I cannot impress upon you enough how this forum has helped me avoid some major mistakes. For instance, I had a "fraudulent transfer" that I had no idea would be a problem. All the posts about handling creditors calmed me down to the point that I never blinked an eye when they called. The personal input here is invaluable.

But, I do have to warn, that as with any information on the internet, you must research on your own. There are many good hearted people even here that give out erroneouos information.

So, if I were about to blog about wind power, I would search, "alternate energy sources". I would research each one individually and then search each one for pros and cons. Then I would search under, "complaints about wind power" and "reviews of wind power users". Ultimately, any information gleaned would be verified through some kind of wind power trusted site, maybe a research site or wind power company site.

Good luck and have fun blogging.