Subscribe to RSS Feed Log in

The Next Big Clip

Wednesday
8 February 2012

Search on this Blog

Retirement Savings Calculated

Jul 31 at 3:03pm by Clip Catcher

Source: Long Beach Press Telegram

Like many people out there you probably worry about how much money you’ll have to spend in retirement.

Financial planners and academics have wrestled with this question for decades and come up with a kaleidoscope of strategies and formulas. A popular one says you can safely spend 4 percent of your savings the first year in retirement, increasing the amount each year to account for inflation.

But such simplistic formulas depend on many variables and don’t work for everyone. I came up with a more satisfactory answer in one day by tweaking and expanding an expense-tracking spreadsheet I’ve used for years.

This answer takes into account my personal circumstances and goals, with the added benefit that the numbers can be updated at any time for more accurate projections. (I suggest updating every year.)

A lot depends on your job prior to retirement of course, and how much you made.  That means whether you work as a drunk driving lawyer , the owner of an iPod repair company, an criminal attorney, or a wrongful death lawyer ,

You may need to modify my method to suit your situation and goals. But the basic concepts apply to everyone. If nothing else, this exercise will force you to take stock of your finances.

With patience and basic math skills, you can do what I suggest with pencil and paper. But it’s much easier and faster – and more effective – to use a computer spreadsheet program that lets you see right away how changing one number affects many others. Explaining how these programs work – I use Microsoft Excel, but any basic program will do – is beyond the scope of this column. You can find tutorials in bookstores and libraries.

Tallying all your savings, both retirement and non-retirement accounts (let’s say they total $600,000). Don’t count annuities and pensions that cannot be converted to cash and don’t count your home equity until or unless you cash it in and have another place to live.

Next, create not one but four columns for the money you expect to spend over the next year. The first one will be for day-to-day needs such as food, utilities, insurance and taxes; the second for “ordinary wants” such as eating out or renting movies; the third for “special” wants such as a European vacation, and the fourth for occasional needs, such as replacing an aging car in three years.

Add all projected expenses – say they are $30,000, $15,000, $0 and $0 respectively for the next year, totaling $45,000 – and subtract them from the $600,000, leaving $555,000.

From that $555,000, you’ll need to keep some money – say, $30,000 – liquid and safe for daily transactions and emergencies. At today’s paltry rates, the $30,000 will earn little or no interest.

That still leaves you $525,000, for which you will assume an investment return. I suggest starting at 5 percent, based on a conservative portfolio, to see whether that’s enough.

With a 5 percent return, you’ll make $26,250 on your $525,000. Add to it any other anticipated income, such as pensions and Social Security benefits, annuities or a part-time job. Say this other annual income adds up to $30,000, leaving you with $611,250 after one year ($555,000 plus $26,250 plus $30,000).

Repeat the process for all the years you anticipate living in retirement to see when or whether you run out of money. Remember to increase your projected spending each year to account for inflation.

Potential problems? Some years you may want or need to spend more. Investment returns may be less than projected. If you must cut back on spending, start with the “special” wants. If cutting spending is not enough, you may need to shoot for higher investment returns – which means taking on greater risk – and/or increase income by working longer.

Send questions or comments to Humberto Cruz or c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Buffalo, N.Y. 14207. Personal replies are not possible.

_____________________________________

My Take: I’d be willing to bet that if I was working as a NYC wrongful death lawyer , a work injury lawyer , a Bronx construction accidents lawyer or even ran my own iPod repair service , no calculator in the world could predict for me what I would need to live on in 30 years.  The economy is so unstable, foreign governments are so much a part of the big financial picture for Americans now, and mother nature her self all have way more control of this issue than I do.  I think the best way to plan is to save and stay healthy, that way you can work until you feel like and can afford to watch golf or play it.

—————————————————————

Other Resources:

Stay Secure
Roseville security guard services are not that expensive and they can provide some much needed relief for you if your business requires 24/7 surveillance.  Sacramento CA armed security guard referral services can help you locate a solid company with fully vetted security personnel.  Know them before you hire them!

Comments OffContinue Reading

Technology Isn’t Creating Bonds

Jul 30 at 10:10pm by Clip Catcher

photo

Source: TIME

With all of the technology at our disposal that aims to make us more connected, research shows we are more disconnected than ever.

In a Duke University study, researchers found that from 1985 to 2004, the percentage of people who said there was no one with whom they discussed important matters tripled, to 25%; the same study found that overall, Americans had one-third fewer friends and confidants than they did two decades ago.

Another recent study, by researchers at the University of Michigan, found that college students today have significantly less empathy – the ability to understand and share the feelings of another – than students of generations past did. The reason, psychologists speculate, may have something to do with our increasing reliance on digital communication and other forms of new media.

It’s possible that instead of fostering real friendships off-line, e-mail and social networking may take the place of them – and the distance inherent in screen-only interactions may breed feelings of isolation or a tendency to care less about other people. After all, if you don’t feel like dealing with a friend’s problem online, all you have to do is log off.

The problem is, as empathy wanes, so does trust. And without trust, you can’t have a cohesive society. Consider the findings of a new study co-authored by Kevin Rockmann of George Mason University and Gregory Northcraft, a professor of executive leadership at the University of Illinois who specializes in workplace collaboration. Northcraft says high-tech communications like e-mail and (to a lesser extent) videoconferencing – which are sometimes known as “lean communication” because they have fewer cues like eye contact and posture for people to rely on – strip away the personal interaction needed to breed trust. In a business setting – as in all other social relationships outside the workplace – trust is a necessary condition for effective cooperation within a group. “Technology has made us much more efficient but much less effective,” said Northcraft in a statement. “Something is being gained, but something is being lost. The something gained is time, and the something lost is the quality of relationships. And quality of relationships matters.” 

In Rockmann and Northcraft’s study, 200 students were divided into teams and asked to manage two complicated projects: one having to do with nuclear disarmament; the other, price fixing. Some groups communicated via e-mail, some via videoconference and others face to face. In the end, those who met in person showed the most trust and most effective cooperation; those using e-mail were the least able to work together and get the job done. (Let’s hope they weren’t the ones working on disarmament.)

Northcraft thinks this is because real-life meetings, during which participants can see how engaged their colleagues are, breed more trust. Over e-mail, meanwhile, confirmation of hard work gets lost, which tends to encourage mutual slacking off. “If I don’t think you are taking a task seriously, then I won’t either,” Northcraft says. “And e-mail doesn’t allow us to verify that you are taking it seriously.”

So even if a colleague is working hard, his e-mail correspondent doesn’t know it and is thus less likely to work hard himself. In the study, the groups who met by videoconference did better than the e-mailers, who tended to shirk their responsibilities – suggesting that visual cues are key for trust.

“We all know how inefficient meetings are, and we all know the limitations of e-mail,” says Northcraft. “You have to have both.” So despite the capacity for mobile communicating, he advises businesses to make sure employees get together often enough to “recharge” their relationships and develop enough trust to last during periods of lean communication.

The same is true of relationships with family and friends, Northcraft says. It’s not enough to stay in touch by text or e-mail or Facebook. Now and then, alas, you have to pick up the phone or make a personal visit to Mom and Dad.

These days kids know more about how to find the best SEO services or data delivery than they do about interpersonal relationships. In fact, they probably know how to download everything from high-tech collocation Los Angeles software to applications for graphics programs, but couldn’t tell you a thing about their best friends’ favorite place to go camping. Camping? What’s that?

For employees, the bad news is that your daily deluge of e-mail isn’t going away, and neither are those endless meetings. But the good news is that hard data on the benefits of face time may be enough to persuade HR to fund your trip to a regional office. Summer might be a good time to build some trust with those colleagues up in Maine.

_____________________________________

My Take: My son wants to be an air cargo handling guy, or possible open up his own SEO services company. He’s working now for a Collocation New York, but also has a part time job at a local air cargo company loading planes. He’s a master at CD duplication and understands everything there is to know about off-site racks and data storage and downtime, but ask him to make me a DVD copy of my work so I have some back up at home, and he just won’t get around to it.

————————————————————-

Other Resources

The Tooth Doctor

Looking for a safe, well respected Virginia dental services provider? Take the pain out of searching for a good Virginia dentist by visiting the reliable folks at 1-800 Dentist. Link to the site here.

Comments OffContinue Reading

Anne Rice Quits Ditches Church

Jul 30 at 6:06pm by Clip Catcher

photoSource:  USA Today

Anne Rice, the famous novelist for New Orleans who’s son is gay, has announced she will no longer consider herself a “Christian,” although she remains a firm devotee of Christ, because the faith’s denouncement of homosexuality.

Rice and her son shared their thoughts openly:

“For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

Rice writes about contemporary characters living in worlds of chaos, especially spiritual chaos within the realm of a technologically shifting world, where data recovery on self and searching are key.  Not data solutions for business, but data on the brain and the soul’s imprint.

The mother of novelist Christopher Rice, who is gay, goes on to say:

I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

In a USA TODAY profile of Anne and Christopher, Rice talked about growing up Catholic, drifting away as a teen and marrying an atheist. After the death of a young daughter, she began writing her vampire books,…about lost souls looking for answers, so in a sense I was always on this journey back. I do get people saying, “How can you be such a fool to believe in God?” I sense many are young Goth kids who feel abandoned. I just say, look, you’re looking for the same things that I was, transcendence and redemption. I found what my characters were looking for.

Even now, as she tosses off organized religion, Rice posts that she’s still… an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God … Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.

______________________________________

My Take: All I’ve got to say is hallelujah! I’ve got nothing but respect for Rice for doing this.  It’s time more so-called “Christians” with fame and fortune reconsider their ties to a faith that promotes wars and hatred against anyone who doesn’t fall in to the so-called Christian mold.

I don’t care if you make lockpicks or run a home based candle business, or have a million-company that manufacturers cell phones, if you all yourself a Christian you should promote love and tolerance.

The Christian church uses so many social lock out tools aimed at keeping young, gay men and women away from faith and worship.  This makes about as much sense as burning Scentsy wickless candles in the rain.  Why ostracize people when your faith is supposed to promote the teachings of Jesus on love and compassion?

——————————————

Other Resources

Bandwidth Options in Hosting

There are a ton of questions that a company generally needs to ask when setting up a particular server situation and one of the most obvious questions will often involve bandwidth questions and the connectivity levels available of various dedicated server hosting options. The amount of data that is able to be streamed through a particular set of servers is the amount of bandwidth that it can handle and there are a few ways to pay for this. One method is paying for what the average customer pays which is a set amount. Another method is to pay for it on a metered basis.

Family Law

Wellington FL injury attorneys and West Palm Beach Florida family attorneys are ready to provide you with legal representation if you need it. For a concise listing of Florida attorneys click here.

Comments OffContinue Reading

Report Indicates Economic Retraction

Jul 30 at 3:03pm by Clip Catcher

photo

Source:  Los Angeles Times

The findings of a recent government report suggest that the U.S. economy slowed sharply in the spring and points to a protracted recovery and unemployment.

The nation’s economy grew at a modest 2.4% annual rate in the April-to-June period, the Commerce Department said in its first estimate of gross domestic product for the second quarter.

That compares with a GDP growth of 3.7% in the first quarter – a figure adjusted up from 2.7% reported earlier. But Commerce officials revised down the growth in the fourth quarter of last year, to 5% from 5.6%, as it did for prior quarters, painting an overall picture of a deeper recession than previous data suggest.

The latest slowdown in real GDP — the total value of goods and services produced inside U.S. borders after adjusting for inflation — was widely expected by analysts. The data confirmed a recent softening of consumer spending, and a much weaker trade balance in the second quarter offset continued strong gains in business spending for equipment and software.

Data also reveal a slowdown business expenditures on operational costs, including spending on collocation services for offsite data storage, investments in upgrades for call answering service providers, and community marketing programs.

Many analysts have forecast even slower GDP growth for the second half of this year, taking into account the increasingly smaller support that the economy is getting from government stimulus and a restocking of companies’ inventories that had been slashed during the recession. Some government programs have expired, such as the first-time homebuyers’ tax credit, which has set back the housing market. And anemic job growth and the debt crisis in Europe have roiled financial markets, adding to consumers’ jitters about spending and businesses’ cautiousness about hiring and investments.

“The post-recession rebound is history. We don’t foresee a double-dip, but we do expect growth to slow even more markedly, to a 1.6% annualized rate in the second half of the year,” said Bart van Ark, chief economist at the Conference Board, a New York-based research group, in a statement Friday. “Such a slower pace is unlikely to sustain strong profit growth, and would also weigh on employment and wages.”

Economists at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute argued that the latest GDP report was more reason for the federal government to provide additional stimulus to keep the recovery on track and ease the pain for millions of unemployed workers.

“Contrary to the often-made claim that the near-term economic future is ‘uncertain,’ today’s report provides near certainty that very high unemployment rates will — absent aggressive action by policymakers — plague the economy for years to come,” said Josh Bivens, an EPI economist.

_____________________________________

My Take: You know things are bad when smokeless cigarettes, clothing and toys are taking a beating at the cash register. But electronic cigarette products and other optional retail items don’t tell the story of recovery near as well as reports of small businesses holding back on expenditures for growth, whether that’s investment in services provided by offsite data collocation providers, in-house answering services, warehouse expansion or even upgrades on telecommunications equipment.   The bottom line is, when small business pulls back, the rest of the economy goes right along with it.

Other Resources:
Hiring the Legal Experts
Hiring a Riverside CA personal injury law firm is not a straightforward task.  When you think about what it takes for the best Los Angeles criminal attorneys it’s understandable that hiring one would be complicated.  But it doesn’t have to remain a mystery.  Click here to find out more about how to hire an attorney with confidence.

Retirement Minded?
If you’re 50 or older, chances are you’re one of the people for which all the baby boomer info out there is targeted.  You are likely meeting with senior financial planning folks to discuss your ability to retired in comfort, thinking about geographic possibilities for new digs, or making decisions about career changes at mid- to late-life cycles.  Click here to link to a pretty laid back site with all kinds of resources for boomers, from dealing withmenopause to vacationing with aging parents.

Comments OffContinue Reading

One in Five Californians Needs Counseling

Jul 29 at 10:10pm by Clip Catcher

photo Source: Los Angeles Times

Almost 5 million California adults say they are in need of mental health assistance according to ta report from UCLA.

However, only one in three people who perceive a need for mental health services or are in serious distress have seen a professional for treatment, the survey found.

The survey was conducted among more than 44,000 adults as part of the 2005 California Health Interview Survey, administered through the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Since the survey was conducted, the recession probably has contributed to worsening mental health for even more people, said the lead author of the study, David Grant.

The survey showed that lack of health insurance coverage was a major reason why people didn’t seek help — a situation that may be rectified somewhat by state and national mental health parity laws now in effect that require insurers to cover mental health conditions similarly to the way they cover physical conditions. (The final phase of the federal law went into effect on July 1.) However, stigma continues to be a barrier to mental health services. The survey found that men, people 65 and older, Latinos and Asians were less likely to seek help because of the stigma associated with mental or emotional problems. But being poor is the biggest barrier to care.

According to the survey:

  • Women were nearly twice as likely as men to say they needed help because they felt sad, anxious or nervous (22.7% compared to 14.3%).
  • Adults under age 65 were twice as likely to perceive the need for help (20.2% compared to 9.2%).
  • The poorest adults were more than five times as likely to report symptoms of serious psychological distress compared to those living well above the federal poverty level.

“The findings also demonstrate a crucial need for continued efforts to expand mental-health services and to meet threats to such services caused by the ongoing state budget crisis in Sacramento; reduced state funding for local mental health programs and public insurance programs could be devastating to hundreds of thousands of Californians with mental health needs,” the authors wrote.

Mental health services always seems to be a big target when it comes to trimming state and local budgets. Lawmakers can get away with it, of course, because the stigma surrounding mental illness prevents people from protesting such cuts. Given the number of people in pain, according to this survey, it may be time for Californians to overcome the perceived stigma and demand expanded public funding and insurance coverage of mental health care.

__________________________

My Take: The findings of this report do not surprise me in the least.  I know a lot of people who say they would attend regular counseling sessions and even give up the high-cost of rock concert tickets or sell their cars for cash if they thought they could get their hands on the right mediation to help them cope with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.

Let’s face it, when you don’t have enough money to keep the bills paid and live relatively at ease, everything is expensive and that includes movie theater tickets, clothes, shoes, food, transportation and the basics.  What happens when your 18-year old comes home and says he wants to go to an expensive academy truck driving school in NY?  If you don’t have the money to pay for the basics, how do manage the cost of sending a kid to truck driving school?

You might sell damaged car parts at a swap meet or you could teach ballet at the local YMCA.  It doesn’t matter.  Stress and anxiety do not discriminate against race, color or creed.  But there is truth to the claim that more well off individuals have less of a need for counseling because they have money to help them work out the little things.

—————————————————————————-

Other Resources

Cheap Housing Isn’t Good

One false assumption that many people operate under when they see listings of cheap houses whose owners have lost that property to the bank or lender due to a foreclosure start to believe is that whenever someone is able to buy a cheap house that they’re improving the economy because they enhanced the number of sold homes within the country. But issuers of New York title insurance and people who deal in the insurance for homes know that cheaper sales don’t necessarily benefit the economy. There is still a loss of money somewhere when a home is foreclosed and sold for a greatly reduced amount.

Battling for Copyrights

There have been an extremely significant number of people talking about the potential for various types of pirating rules that may come into play soon in the United States government and some songwriters are concerned that their production music might fall by the wayside as far as their potential for copyright protection is concerned on the internet. Given the fact that the only rules regarding copyright and piracy issues that have made it into the government so far have been rather draconian, it’s likely that a lot of work needs to be done on the creation of a proper rule.

Good Web Hosting Prices

When a company decides to set up an internet presence, they might be surprised to find out that modern web hosting options will often create a maze of different costs regarding the monthly fee charged by the average web hosting service and generally, doing some research will usually make it easy to figure out which plan might be the best type of investment. One piece of advice is that whenever a hosting plan is chosen, the amount of bandwidth and space chosen don’t have to be extreme in the early days of a website’s existence and there’s no reason to get the super deluxe plan at the start.

Look Your Best

Looking for a good Crestview FL plastic surgeon? Considering a Panama City Florida face lift?  Check this video out first and find out what you need to know before you have cosmetic surgery.

Denver Legal

Denver divorce lawyers are a different animal from other lawyers. If you’ve worked with personal injury attorneys Denver CO, you have had the experience of one side of the states laws and regulations.  Denver divorce is a whole other legal animal.  For a little background on Colorado’s divorce laws, click here.

Comments OffContinue Reading

NASA Company Lays Off 1,300 Plus Workers

Jul 28 at 4:04am by Clip Catcher

NASA_logo

Source:  Associated Press
In preparation for the termination of the Space Shuttle Program, a NASA contractor has announced the layoffs of more than 1,300 space shuttle workers.

Layoff notices were issued to 1,394 USA employees in all, company spokesperson Kari Fluegel told SPACE.com. The layoffs take effect Oct. 1 and were announced earlier this month by USA officials.

“Our workforce has known for several years that the Space Shuttle Program has been scheduled to end, but layoffs are always difficult for everyone involved,” said Virginia Barnes, USA president and chief executive, said in a July 6 statement. “We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible.”

Shuttle program ending

The Houston-based United Space Alliance is a partnership between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin that has operated the space shuttle fleet for NASA since 1995.

Fluegel said 902 layoff notices were issued to USA workers in Florida, which is home to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral that serves as both launch site and home port for the agency’s three shuttles. Another 478 layoffs were issued for Texas, which is home to NASA’s shuttle mission operations, with 14 more in Alabama, where NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is based.

About one-third of those receiving layoffs in each division nominated themselves for the cutbacks, Fluegel said.

NASA’s space shuttle fleet is set to retire next year after 30 years of launching astronauts into low-Earth orbit. The shuttles began flying in 1981 and have flown on 132 missions so far.

Two final shuttle missions are currently scheduled (in November and February, respectively) to complete the International Space Station, which has been under construction since 1998 by a consortium of 16 countries. Congress is discussing the possible addition of a third and final shuttle mission. If approved, that extra flight would likely launch next summer, NASA officials have said.

Fluegel said that if the extra shuttle flight is approved, it will not affect the impending Oct. 1 layoffs. But there could be repercussions for more layoffs ahead.

“This plan wouldn’t be affected at all, but it would affect the timing, obviously, of when we would do layoffs, and how we’d do layoffs, next year,” Fluegel said.

Debate on commercial spaceships

NASA is retiring its three space shuttles (Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour) to make way for a new plan that aims to send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025, and then on to Mars. That new plan replaces the agency’s previous Constellation program, which sought to return astronauts to the moon in the 2020s.

President Barack Obama proposed cancelling the Constellation program, which included new rockets and spacecraft to launch astronauts. That plan would set aside $6 billion over five years to support the development of new commercial spaceships that could ferry astronauts into space.

Draft NASA authorization bills under review in both the Senate and House of Representatives, however, would cut the amount for commercial crew services, if approved.

NASA’s next space shuttle to fly will be Discovery, which is slated to launch Nov. 1 to deliver a storage room and robot assistant called Robonaut 2 to the $100 billion International Space Station.

_____________________________________

My Take: New York sexual harassment lawyers can’t do much to help these guys and girls out. Doubtful too that New York employment lawyers could either.  Once the money runs out for space exploration, workers pretty much reach the end of the line. But, as the say, this current economic downturn has forced a lot of careered individuals out of their comfort zones.  People are having to reinvent themselves at 40, 50 and even older, trying to find a new way to make a living as the tech world changes how we do business and the training for keeping up with that technology gets more and more expensive to latch on to.

I have a girlfriend who worked for 20 years as an executive travel agent. Her job went south after 911.  She took a year on unemployment and then moved to Southern California, where she now runs a pretty successful San Diego wedding design company.  She is a top source for San Diego CA wedding chair covers, flowers, decorations and other items you need for weddings and special events.  I know someone else who was laid off from his tax accountancy firm and now works as a trainer for a pretty good New York defensive driving course.  He teaches safety courses online and off and helps people prepare for their driving tests.  He loves it.  He says it’s better than his old job because he gets to be outdoors and makes his own hours.

———————————————————–

Other Resources

Room Below?

If you’re looking for a Denver Colorado basement refinishing expert, consider these basement finishers.  These guys are considered to be among the best basement refinishing Colorado companies and basement remodeling contractors because they deliver high quality craftsmanship at a competitive prices.


Comments OffContinue Reading

Boy Buried In Sand Is Rescued

Jul 28 at 4:04am by Clip Catcher

photoSource: Los Angeles Times

An 11-year-old in Manhattan Beach was rescued after being buried for five minutes under the sand the broken sand tunnel he was building.

The boy, visiting the beach at 8th Street with family members Sunday afternoon, was on his hands and knees about six feet down in a hole he was digging diagonally toward another hole his cousin was digging, said Battalion Chief Dave Shenbaum of the Manhattan Beach Fire Department.

The boy was trying to connect the two holes into a tunnel when he was buried by an avalanche of sand.

“He had about six feet of sand above him coming down on him,” Shenbaum said.

When the boy’s cousin looked up and didn’t see him, she asked a man playing on the beach with his son for help. The man, realizing that the boy was probably buried, called others to help him.

“About 20 other beach-goers started to dig frantically,” Shenbaum said.

Lifeguards joined the efforts, officials said, and the boy was pulled free after five minutes, unconscious and unresponsive. Rescuers performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and “in a very short period of time, he started to breathe on his own,” Shenbaum said.

“He was seconds away from death,” said Shenbaum, who arrived with paramedics. “The great part of this story is that you had beach patrons and bystanders working together with county lifeguards … to dig this kid out and save his life.”

Often patrons, not patrol will save the lives of near-drowning vicitims because they are usually first to spot them due to crowds.  The implications, say officials, are that, whether you’re a professional DWI lawyer California or a banker, everyone should know basic CPR.

The time factor was so crucial that if beach-goers had simply called paramedics and waited without doing anything, “he would have been dead,” Shenbaum said.

The boy was taken to Harbor- UCLA Medical Center, where he was alert and answering questions, officials said.

“The county beaches have an ordinance where it’s illegal to dig these types of holes to prevent just these types of accidents,” Shenbaum said. “They do a very good job of preventing them, which is why you don’t hear about many of them.”

While most beach-goers build sandcastles and small holes, those digging several feet down are generally cautioned by lifeguards to stop. The same goes for people burying themselves feet-first in the sand.

“The problem with the sand is it’s so dense,” Shenbaum said. “You remove one bucket of sand and two buckets fall into its place.”

____________________________________________

My Take: This story scares the bejezua outta me!  I have an 11-year old boy who absolutely loves to bury himself on the beach and I worry about this kind of thing happening to him all the time.  He’s not much of a swimmer, yet, and doesn’t seem to want to surf.  He’s more into basketball and other team sports where you wear sports pads and the logos on the wall padding say Subway and Yum Yum Donuts.

I wonder if this happened on a fancy beach where the Hollywood elite live if anyone would have noticed  I can imagine them walking around in their Laguna beach jeans all into their own stuff to notice someone in trouble on the sand.  That city is famous for wannabees who walk around in their Mek denim and soak up the whistles from the guys on the dolly truck and workbenches.

————————————————————

Other Resources

PA Legal

Need to contact a Philadelphia drug lawyer? What about hiring Bucks County criminal attorneys? Before you make a call know your rights and exactly what you’ve been charged with, or your friend or family member has been charged with.  If you are smart, you’ll know more about your case than they do before you pay them a dime.

Maintenance of Dual Action Polisher Pads

This company gets a lot of questions about the pads associated with the dual action polisher, the Pro Polish foam pad and the Buff Magic Compounding pad.  Let’s start by clarifying that Pro Polish should be used with the black foam pad and Buff Magic should be used with the wool compounding pad. When using the foam pad, only one tablespoon of Pro Polish should be used to start. Apply the polish directly to the pad and go to work with your car polisher. The amount of polish needed to replenish the pad varies depending on the original state of the surface.

Comments OffContinue Reading

Hen Sitting Becomes A Business

Jul 28 at 3:03am by Clip Catcher

SOURCE:   CNN Money

You’ve heard of cat-sitters, dog-sitters and, of course, babysitters. But chicken-sitters?

Two backyard farmers have stepped up to meet an unusual need in Portland Oregan: hen sitting for vacationing owners, and we don’t mean on the eggs.

In May, Rhonda Piasecki, 43, and Sharon Rowland, 35, launched Just Us Hens, which they believe is the nation’s first chicken-sitting service. The business partners, who each boast a full roost of laying hens (four for Piasenki; eight for Rowland), met last year working at Portland’s Urban Farm Store.

“At the store, you’d just talk people’s ears off about chickens,” says Piasecki, who is also a drummer for Klickitat, a local jazz-rock band.

But the seed the store sells started to aggravate Piasecki’s asthma, right around the same time that Rowland decided she wanted to spend more time with her 3-year-old, chicken-loving son Sterling. A friend suggested that Piasecki become a “chicken consultant,” while Rowland’s husband floated the idea of seeking out hen-sitting gigs.

So the women teamed up to offer a slate of services: $15 per visit for hen sitting, $25 for hen health house calls and $50 an hour for consultations on urban agriculture. In late May, they launched a blog, followed by a full website in early July. They also publicized their services at Portland’s online chicken chat group, PDXBackyardChix, which has more than 1,000 members.

The fledgling company has only a handful of customers. But as word passes through Portland’s substantial population of urban hen keepers, they hope Just Us Hens will take off.

There’s certainly an audience for it. Chickens are all the rage in Portland, where longstanding city regulations allow residents to keep up to three of them — but no roosters — without a permit. Even Mayor Sam Adams has a brood: three hens, all named Alma. (Adams let his chief of staff’s daughter, Alma, pick the names.) Hundreds of chicken enthusiasts will turn out on Saturday for Portland’s seventh annual Tour de Coops, a self-guided stroll through 25 backyard hen houses, including the mayor’s own.

One of Just Us Hens’ first customers was Renee Wrede, a nurse in Southwest Portland who worried about what would become of her new flock when she and her family took a beach vacation. Rowland signed on to watch “the girls”: two barred Plymouth Rock hens, one Ameraucana, one Blue Laced Red Wyandotte and one Welsumer.

During daily visits, Rowland fussed over Poppy, Hyacinth and the other chickens, holding and petting each one. After she fed and watered them, she emailed Wrede to report on how the birds were faring in her absence.

Wrede was thrilled and says the service exceeded her expectations.

“We do have a house-sitter, but she has no idea about chickens,” Wrede explains. Rowland, on the other hand, was hard-working expert: “She even scooped the poop!”

The proprietors of Just Us Hens pride themselves on creative problem-solving. “We welcome weird situations,” Rowland says.

Piasecki has developed a homegrown solution for a common poultry problem: hens plucking their own feathers. She located a chicken-loving seamstress in Arkansas, who she claims is the nation’s best source for chicken aprons. The aprons run $7.50 apiece and can be draped over the chickens’ problem areas. “They fit perfectly!” she says.

Just Us Hens isn’t the only chicken-related business to take flight in recent years. Katy Skinner, of Yacolt, Wash., runs The City Chicken, an online clearinghouse of chicken-keeping wisdom.

She’s seen entrepreneurs make money selling prefabricated coops or coop blueprints, as well as giving classes and lectures. But hen-sitting? Even for a seasoned chicken guru, that’s something new.

“This is the first I’ve heard of a hen-sitting service,” she says. “I hope they get a lot of business!”

___________________________________


My Take: I’ve got friends who, since losing their full time jobs in the last few years have started all kinds of small businesses to survive, selling imprinted school T shirts, running Key West fishing charters and providing in-home cold laser therapy for injuries and beauty treatments, like pedicures and manicures.

Apparently there’s a big market for promotional products freelance sales reps, although I don’t know if that’s something a couple of urban farmers would relate to, anymore than I guess they’d be interested in providing laser treatment in homes.  But maybe running Key West Florida sport fishing trips wouldn’t be that far off the mark.

Either way, I think it’s great that these two ladies saw a need for something and are willing to provide it.  I hope the chicken craze never ends.  It’s awesome to have fresh eggs for breakfast and hens make great pets!

————————————————————

Other Resources

Comments OffContinue Reading

Options For Saving More

Jul 25 at 2:02pm by Clip Catcher

 photo

 

Source:  US World & World Report

If you’re looking for ways of saving money, why not start with money saving tips that are relatively pain free in addition to cutting down on vacations, shopping for unecessary items and eating out too often.

[Slideshow: 20 Things You Should Never Buy Used]

With a little imagination, you’ll find plenty of ways to reduce spending without making big changes to your lifestyle. And to get you started, here are eight painless ways to save money.

1. Get healthy: As someone who has struggled to stay fit, I realize that eating healthy and staying in shape is easier said than done. But for those who are in good shape, you can save a lot of money on life insurance and individual health insurance plans. And as an added bonus, you’ll feel better and have more energy.

2. Rethink auto insurance: Every year, reexamine your auto insurance policy for savings opportunities. For example, consider raising your deductible, which lowers premiums. For older vehicles, evaluate whether you really need collision coverage, which covers damage to your car when your car hits or is hit by another vehicle or object. And make it a habit to compare auto insurance quotes annually, which can be done online in minutes.

3. Improve your credit score: Of all the painless ways to save money, improving your credit score is arguably the most important. From home loans and car loans, to credit cards and auto insurance, a good credit score can save you a small fortune. Over a lifetime, the savings can easily reach tens of thousands of dollars.

4. Invest on the cheap: Whether you are a passive investor who sticks with mutual funds or an active stock and options trader, there are easy ways to save money. For mutual fund investors, stick with funds that have low expense ratios. My rule of thumb is to keep the weighted average expense ratio for all mutual funds under 50 basis points (0.50 percent). As compared to funds that charge well over 1 percent in fees annually, the savings over a lifetime of investing can be substantial. And for active traders, stick with discount brokers that charge $10 per trade or less.

5. Think triple play: One of the biggest monthly expenses for some is the cost of Internet service, cable, and phone. The major of providers today offer discounts when you bundle all three of these services together. Called a triple play, you not only save money, but you also get the convenience of a single bill each month.

[See 9 Surprising Facts About Your Credit Score.]

6. Go prepaid with your cell phone: While this option won’t be right for everybody, many can save a small fortune with prepaid cell phones. You can find prepaid cell phone plans that charge just $0.10 a minute. And because they are prepaid, you don’t have to commit to long-term contracts. Two of the more popular prepaid cell phone carriers are Net10 and Cricket.

7. Shop online: There are several benefits to shopping online, convenience being chief among them. But shopping online can also save big money. Many retailers offer special discounts to online shoppers. And virtually every company that sells products or services online offers promo codes, discounts or coupons. Particularly if you have a big purchase planned, make sure to search the internet for deals before buying.

8. Get cash back: If you have good credit, there are a number of cash back credit cards that pay up to 5 percent on purchases. The key is to use the card for monthly bills and everyday expenses, not to charge things you don’t need. Put monthly bills that accept credit cards on automatic payment, and use the card for everyday purchases such as groceries and gas. And as an extra precaution against overspending, pay the credit card bill in full several times throughout the month. It’s easy to do online, and it prevents any surprises at the end of the month.

______________________________________  

My Take:  This article makes about as much sense as me rushing to download sci-fi movies and buying sorority apparel online when I don’t have the money and a no longer in college.  I’ve explored every “triple play” option there is for phone, Internet and wireless and the options have never been cheaper than they are if I piecemeal them together through different carriers.  I an search online for Greek apparel and movies download for about $29 a month; discontinued my landline because I have a cell, so no costs there; and my wireless plan is about $45 a month because I watch my minutes and I don’t have to talk on the phone just to get my shopping done.

I’ve also had a gym membership and exercised religiously for years, but it’s never lowered my premiums for health insurance through my employer.  The best way to cut costs there is to opt out of them altogether, eat organic vegetables, cut out drugs and alcohol and pay attention to your body so that you know when and how to take care of it best. 

In short, to cut costs the fastest all you have to do is make lifestyle choices and changes. 

Other Resources:
Court Careers
Thinking about a career in the Los Angeles courts?  It is possible to quickly train for a career in the LA County California court reporting service in less than two years.  Not sure what a court reporter does or what the pay or hours are like? Click here to find out.

Mediation Support
An Austin divorce lawyer  can help you and your spouse settle quickly on an amicable settlement.  Before you call one, though, consider the services of a qualified and reputable Austin divorce attorney who is experienced with mediation.  Studies show that divorces handled through mediators vs. divorce lawyers in court are often less acrimonious for all involved in the post marital world.

Comments OffContinue Reading

New Guidelines Allow Some Veterans To Use Pot

Jul 25 at 4:04am by Clip Catcher

photo

Source:  Associated Press

New federal guidelines will allow patients treated at Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics to use medical marijuana in the 14 states where it’s legal.

The directive from the Veterans Affairs Department in the coming week is intended to clarify current policy that says veterans can be denied pain medication if they use illegal drugs. Veterans groups have complained for years that this could bar veterans from VA benefits if they were caught using medical marijuana.

The new guidance does not authorize VA doctors to begin prescribing medical marijuana, which is considered an illegal drug under federal law. But it will now make clear that in the 14 states where state and federal law are in conflict, VA clinics generally will allow the use of medical marijuana for veterans already taking it under other clinicians.

“For years, there have been veterans coming back from the Iraq war who needed medical marijuana and had to decide whether they were willing to cut down on their VA medications,” John Targowski, a legal adviser to the group Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access, which worked with the VA on the issue.

Targowski in an interview Saturday said that confusion over the government’s policy might have led some veterans to distrust their doctors or avoid the VA system.

Dr. Robert A. Petzel, the VA’s undersecretary for health, sent a letter to Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access this month that spells out the department’s policy. The guidelines will be distributed to the VA’s 900 care facilities around the country in the next week.

Petzel makes clear that a VA doctor could reserve the right to modify a veteran’s treatment plan if there were risks of a bad interaction with other drugs.

“If a veteran obtains and uses medical marijuana in a manner consistent with state law, testing positive for marijuana would not preclude the veteran from receiving opioids for pain management” in a VA facility, Petzel wrote. “The discretion to prescribe, or not prescribe, opioids in conjunction with medical marijuana, should be determined on clinical grounds.”

Opioids are narcotic painkillers, and include morphine, oxycodone and methadone.

Opioids are considered high-risk links to all kinds of potentially harmful conditions including depression, alcoholism and erectile dysfunction.  Although marijuana has not been used as an erectile dysfunction medication  before, it’s also widely believed that it has the ability to enhance performance among men who may be suffering from ED.

Under the previous policy, local VA clinics in some of the 14 states, such as Michigan, had opted to allow the use of medical marijuana because there no rule explicitly prohibiting them from doing so.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there are 14 states and the District of Columbia with medical marijuana laws. They are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. New Jersey also recently passed a medical marijuana law, which is scheduled to be implemented next January.

______________________________________

My Take: It’s pretty obvious why the Fed has so many roadblocks out there against the use of marijuana as a legally prescribed medication for certain health conditions.  If they legalized it 100%, what would that do to the drug manufacturers of narcotics that are now prescribed for pain issues that have been proven to be just as effectively treated by marijuana?  Who would buy Viagra if marijuana did the trick for those suffering from ED?

What if the world refused to buy big company products and made their own perfect organics producgts at home, using plants and natural ingredients available at any market or community garden?  What would happen if organic skin care took over the need for fancy makeup and expensive eylash extension kits , porcelain nails or lipstick selling for $14 a tube.

Maybe it’s time we just took a hard look at not only the superfluous use of lash extensions and makeup, and Viagra and other addictive narcotics and prescription meds and make some better choices about using natural and plant-based products over chemicals?

———————————————————–

Other Resources

Kids Count

Searching for a quality child care finder service online should not be difficult.  What is difficult is making sure the childcare facilities these sites recommend are safe, fully licensed and above all legitimately interested caring for your child.  Beyond anything else you should always ask a center for at least three parent references before you decide to enroll your child.

Decal Décor

Looking for a fun and inexpensive way to spice up your walls?  Try vinyl wall lettering or decals.  They make really fun wall letters and stickers and decals for kids’ rooms that are fun and easy to remove as they grow out of certain themes.  

Comments OffContinue Reading