Did You Google It?

We live in a highly technological age. And, for the most part, it has snuck up on most of us fast. Because of this many of us are unaware of what is out there and how to find it. The simplest and most effective way of gathering information these days is to google it.

There are some things you should be googling before you take another step forward. I cannot tell you how many times I have thought in hindsight, oh if I had only googled that person, that business, that address, that XXX you fill the blank, before I proceeded. It would have saved me a world of hurt.

Here are some areas in life that you should be googling on a regular basis, if not for your own curiosity then for your well-being and safety.

Oh if I had only googled my landlord's name before I moved into that apartment!

I had the landlord from hell when I lived in New York City but I didn't know it until after I moved into the apartment. He was pretty much a high rent slumlord, He never did anything to fix items around the apartment and there were a lot of complaints about him. I found out, after the fact, that articles had been written about him on the net, if only I had googled his name and read those articles! I have since added my own nightmare experience about him to the long list of others in the hopes that some naive tenant will be smarter than I and google his name before they sign the lease!

Google your Blind Date!

There is no reason in the world you shouldn't be googling that blind date or internet date before meeting up with him or her. People have been killed on blind dates! I know, I've seen it on TV :) Seriously, you can find out a lot about a person if you just google their name, including if they are even real. Many scammers use internet dating sites to bilk out thousands of dollars from unsuspecting, lonely people. You can also google a picture to see if the person you are talking to is really that person. This is especially true of people over the age of 50. So google their names and maybe you will save yourself some heart-ache and your hard-earned money! On a less than romantic note if you are in the habit of renting out rooms or having a roommate, you should most definitely google that person just to make sure you're not sharing your house with a serial killer!

Google the House you are hoping to purchase.

I was just reading an article about a couple that purchased a home where a murder/suicide took place. The article pointed out that owners do not have to disclose whether something like that happened in the home! So, it would behoove you to not only talk to the neighbors about the home but also google the address. If something untoward happened in the home it is more than likely going to be on the internet. If the houses in haunted, there might be an article about it on the internet. In any case, it costs nothing to google so check it out before you sign on the dotted line.

Google Your Employer/and or Company

It's not only employers that google employees but potential employees should by all means be googling their employers. I wish I had done this too. I took a job as a live-in nanny in New Orleans that turned out to be the job from hell. And, although there was nothing on the internet about her, there is NOW! I wrote a scathing article warning anyone who has the wherewithall to google her name not to work for her. I was actually contacted by another nanny, through the article, who told me of her nightmarish time spent in the employ of Cruella Da Ville. So, for goodness sake, google your employer and/or company it could save you a lot of trouble down the road.

Businesses

Recently I signed up for a gym membership. I only wanted to use the gym for two months as I knew I would be moving in two months. The manager said that was no problem at all, all I had to do was give him a call and that would end the contract. When I wanted to cancel my contract I had nothing but trouble. Oy, when will I learn! Of course it was a problem. The company that removed the amount from my checking account was a different company than the gym, the person I had made this agreement with couldn't be found and I was given the run around. When I finally, out of curiosity, googled the business I found out that a lot of complaints had been filed against this particular gym. If I had only googled it beforehand I never would have signed up.

So, the moral of the story is..when in doubt, google, when you are making a high-end purchase, google, when you are meeting a stranger in a strange town, google! Google it and you will save yourself a lot of time, effort and trouble!