INSPIRATIONAL: Mothers’ Day memories

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother’s Day!

I wish my Mother and Mother-in-law was here so I could wish them both a great day.

My Mom passed early in April. Her last years were hard on her: physically and emotionally. Her dignity was gone many years before. I know she was upset with her life in her last years.

My Mother-in-law passed 38 years ago. Way to soon. And, Frau was never the same after that. She went quickly and, while shocking, it was dignified. Wonder what would have been if she’d been permitted to stay around. Life would have been different!

Neither women tolerated fools well. Both we’re hard workers.

Both women grew up poor and that went with them throughout their life.

I have many regrets, but “Life Goes On”.

Miss you Moms!

(Interesting how “Mom” is defined in the media. Mother-in-laws probably have as big an impact on your happiness as your Mom does. THe popular phrase “If momma ain’t happy, no one is” is always applied to wives; I extended it to the Moms as well.)

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SERVICE: Using the user to … …

Saturday, May 8, 2010

*** begin quote ***

Dear Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia Member

   This weekend there was a patch implemented that corrected the Portal Error members have been receiving. Please go to the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia website and try to access your account. If you continue to get the Portal Error, please give Web Support a call at (866) 292-6253 Monday-Friday 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. excluding Holidays. Please reference this email when speaking to a Technician.

*** end quote ***

I’d call this “using the user as unpaid debugging help”!

Argh!

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RANT: Sadly, this picture says it all

Saturday, May 8, 2010

http://www.resistnet.com/

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My Rx for our problems:

(1) End welfare. Corporate and private.

(2) End the “War on (some) Drugs”

(3) Bring our troops home. (From all 170+ countries!)

(4) End the Fed and return to sound commodity money.

(5) Repeal the Federal income, estate, and excise taxes.

(6) Close the Federal Department of Education, and a bunch more.

(7) Pass “Read The Bills”, “One Subject At Time”, and “Enumerated Powers Act”.

The that fellow in the picture would really have something to complain about!

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INTERESTING: Identify people; not so good

Saturday, May 8, 2010

One thing sucks on the net is identifying unique people.

Just try finding your classmates from your high school class.

Even fellow college alums are hard; high school is near impossible.

My advice: start collecting now.

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MONEY: Changing my position on “emergency funds”

Friday, May 7, 2010

From time to time, folks ask me for advice and “help”. I try hard to give them the best I can in both areas. Interesting that they don’t follow the advice and ignore the help. Yet, will return for more.

Guess I’m getting cynical.

Part of any financial plan, job search, or almost any kind of advice that I give is about having an “emergency fund”.

A financial plan starts with an emergency fund and then proceeds on to savings and later investments. (For the truly wealthy, after investments come speculation. I only know two people in that category. And they don’t need my advice.)

In the past, I advised an “emergency fund” in a demand deposit account, preferably in a Credit Union, equal to some multiple of the individual’s “burn rate” (i.e., how much you spend every month; what goes out). The multiplier was at least 6 but could be as high as 60 depending upon how secure your employment was, how hot your field was, how hot your industry was, and how old you were. IF you had a large savings and investments portfolio, THEN you could “sanity check” the multiplier.

Now, I’m getting older and wiser. I think that you need an “emergency fund” that’s the equivalent of a 5 year MONTHLY CD ladder. Yes, 60 cds. SIXTY. Each one equal to your burn rate.

It’s a tough world out there.

You could be locked out of your savings and investments. You need more security. You have to build up to this advice and it’s not easy. But we have hard times coming. And, six months of burn rate in nickels stored at home.

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POLITICAL: Massachusetts Ballot Initiative to Roll Back the Sales Tax from 6.25% to 3%

Thursday, May 6, 2010

http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001kpRLqd
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QU37Fcvz0-tR-cUvgI7ZTtuV0s-U-2NELVTORi0R0MVlYXkWEBYrxAGU%3D

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Massachusetts Ballot Initiative to

Roll Back the Sales Tax from 6.25% to 3%

*** begin quote ***

Kelly-Williams is a nurse in Cambridge and a spokesperson of the union-funded Coalition for Our Communities, the main group opposing Howell’s initiative. She points out that the cut would leave a $2.5 billion hole in the state budget.

“And we already have a shortfall of $2.5 billion. Where is this money going to come from?”

Kelly-Williams says she already knows the answer.

“I fear devastating cuts to educational services, as well as fire and police safety for our communities.”

In any case it will certainly mandate some tough decisions from Bay state lawmakers who have $51.8 billion in total state spending to work with this year.

“This will mandate cuts that will be devastating,” said Kelly-Williams.

Howell isn’t buying it. “This is the Chicken Little, ‘Sky Is Falling’ defense. They say this about every effort to cut taxes.”

“These guys,” she said, referring to Massachusetts elected officials, “are addicted to spending. While the economy has been shrinking, these guys have been spending more money.”

She says the only way to stop them, is through a voter mandate.

“This is it,” she said. “They won’t stop on their own.”

Key Facts About the Massachusetts Sales Tax Roll Back to 3% Initiative:

2010 total Massachusetts state government spending is $51.8 Billion. $3 Billion Higher than 2009.

In 2009, the Democratic state legislature and Democrat Governor Deval Patrick raised the Massachusetts sales tax to 6.25%.

The Alliance to Roll Back Taxes’ Ballot Initiative to roll back the sales tax from 6.25% to 3% will be on the Nov. 2nd Massachusetts Ballot.

*** end quote ***

I applaud Ms. Carla’s tilt at the big gooferment windmill.

It unprecedented to have a roll back of ANY taxes.

Who knows what can happen when they get the “ball” rolling?

Maybe we could have the same in New Jersey?

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SERVICE: TABZON — not recommended

Thursday, May 6, 2010

http://www.tabzon.com

*** begin quote ***

The best little in-out board for your office.

Tabzon is a free online in-out board designed to help you keep track of your co-workers’ whereabouts.

   * Centralised Team

   * One-Click Updates

   * Quick Contact Lookup

   * No Software

   * Safe, Private, & Secure

   * Completely Free!

*** end quote ***

I tried it to solve a person problem. I learned about it on blog. (Unfortunately, I forgot which one.)

I thought it would be like a public bulletin board that who show anybody status. It only shows if you have defined users. So it’s a closed community that you have to “invite”. Argh! I didn’t get that from the description. It doesn’t have the granularity of control.

I gave them other feedback as I worked with it.

“You need to declare what it costs on first screen. Always will be free? Freemium? Something else?” (Addressed!)

“Email address restrictions should be up front. Not after you wipe out all the input I did. Argh!” (Don’t know.)

“Your activation email goes directly into spam folders. Unlike what others do. Something needs fixing.”  (Don’t know.)

I was trying to use it as a bulletin board for family to know when to call my wife.

Yes, realized. And, yes. It appears to “reset” to unavailable for no apparent reason.

On May 5, 2010, at 12:07 AM

>Hi again,

>Nice to see your finding the idea useful in a way we handn’t intended.

>This behaviour is odd indeed. Just a couple of things to confirm :

It’s always showing “unavailable”. I’ll try and find another solution. Argh! Sorry. It looked good.

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INTERESTING: Verify and validate “change”

Thursday, May 6, 2010

http://www.careerhubblog.com/main/2010/04/17-tips-for-dealing-with-volcanos-change-and-uncertainty.html

17 Tips For Dealing With Volcanos, Change and Uncertainty

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Ever-changing technology, globalisation and hyper-competition have conspired to make most of our professional lives an ever-changing landscape. Add to that a changeable economic climate, political uncertainty and a sprinkling of volcanic ash and voila – you have the makings of constant change and unpredictability.

While your ability to create and execute detailed plans may have served you well in the past, in today’s economy and work place, it’s your ability to operate in a much more fluid environment that determines your progress.

Regardless of whether you’re currently trying to lead a team through change or attempting to navigate your own career through a turbulence, here are 17 tips which may help.

1. Focus on clear outcomes instead of detailed plans

*** end quote ***

(0) Check your paradigms and memes. Change is a delta based on a previous perception. What if that perception is wrong? Our memes shape our perceptions and vice versa. Sunset is the other side of sunrise. Both are unique changes but they are inexorably linked. Are they one? Similarly, we have so many blind spots about some many things (i.e., time; culture; distance; interpretation). Those paradigms and memes might be wrong. Worse yet they can be silently invalidated by changes over time without us perceiving that change. So, very carefully, examine and reexamine your paradigms and memes. Challenge what you think is true. Test it. Don’t depend upon it without reexamination. It can bite you in the a double q.

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TECHNOLOGY: Interesting panel

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

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POLITICAL: Fixing Arizona using power point?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

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