Calling Out the lies! Health insurance is available for those with pre-existing conditions

News Flash! If you have a pre-existing condition that precludes you from getting insurance from a private insurer, you are eligible to become part of the Texas Health Insurance Pool. The pool provides affordable health insurance to those who are denied coverage. And it's not some fly by night insurance outfit, it's with BlueCross and BlueShield.

How is it that this little program has been kept a secret from POTUS and his cadre of Dems who keep claiming that it's impossible to get insurance with a pre-existing condition? The state of Texas has been providing this safety net since 1998!

What? you don't live in Texas? Well, just come visit, after 30 days you can have insurance. Seriously, check it out.

How on earth did I discover this? It certainly is not widely known and there is no advertising in any media that I have ever seen. I learned about the pool through a friend who was diagnosed with cancer. He didn't have insurance because he would rather spend his money on a $300,000 house and a boat, a deer lease and a new Ford 4x4, etc ad nauseum. Consequently, he thought he had no choice, but to pay for ala cart cancer treatments which BTW are at a substantial discount when paid for with cash. Because of his limited available funds, he had to make choices as to which treatments were the most cost effective. Eventually, after several treatments, his doctor mentioned that he could be eligible and should apply for the health insurance pool. My friend survived the cancer and the pool has saved him a fortune, plus he kept all his toys.

So, it begs the question, why even buy health insurance when such a pool exists? Why not save your money or spend it on 4x4 trucks, and just wait until you actually might need insurance then apply for the health pool safety net? Think of all the neat stuff you could have with the cash saved from not paying insurance premiums!

Sure, that would be abusing the system, and it is predictable that the corrupting forces of socialism will continue to be a deleterious drag on human character, even in the overly proud state of Texas.

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BIGGER GOVERNMENT = smaller people

By now, we have all heard plenty of reasons why people are against and/or for an increase in government's role in healthcare. But the reason that resonates most is the effect on the individual. This article gets to the core of the issue concerning the deleterious effects of excessive government on human character.

A summary of the five ways big government kills character:

1. People who are able to take care of themselves and do so are generally of better character than people who are able to take care of themselves but rely on others. Also known as pride.

2. The more people come to rely on government, the more they develop a sense of entitlement. Why work when there are handouts?

3. People develop disdain for work. Work is no longer considered a noble and worthy use of time.

4. People become preoccupied with vacation time.

5. People are rendered more selfish. Ever work at a can bank handing out food? The people that come in for free handouts are downright demanding.

As a result, Bigger government increases the number of angry, ungrateful, lazy, spoiled and self-centered individuals. Which is the same result that parents get when they never say "no" to their children!

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Capitalism to the rescue with a real stimulus plan

Leave it to a private businessman to offer some stimulus that makes sense.  It seems obvious now, but who else but a true capitalist would come up with a great way to encourage new business?  

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is offering funding for those who share their idea for a new business on his blog.  The really interesting part is that he is calling it an "open source funding environment".  Since the plan will be available to all who visit the blog, there is a good chance others will "steal" the plan and duplicate it elsewhere in the country.  After all, he says the idea is to help the whole country, not just one or two.

What a refreshing idea this is compared to the absurd pork spending that our government is offering.  It's comical to even suggest that our overbloated, non-functional government would know anything about starting a competent business.

 

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Two chances to win Money

Here's an opportunity to win a couple of free gift cards.

Your Money Relationship is offering a contest for a $50 Amazon gift certificate.  You can increase your chances of winning by doing various things on the site such as asking a question, subscribing to the feed by email, leaving a comment, etc.  The contest runs until 11:59 PM on January 31st.

Single Guy Money is offering a $100 gift card to your choice of Target or Wal-Mart.  To enter the contest just leave a comment on his site describing how you would like to spend the money.

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Save Thousands in Taxes with an “honest” mistake

It has never been more obvious than now, that we live in a society of haves and have nots.  The nominee for Secretary of the US Treasury did not pay taxes for several years and when he got caught in an audit, he paid only the back taxes that the auditors found, not all of the taxes that he knew about.  On top of that, he was not fined, no penalty.  If you don’t think we have a double standard between public figures and regular, non celebrity-type citizens try that and see how you are treated in the federal pen.

But that is not the end of this guys sordid tale.  The WSJ points out a few more “goofs” of this supposed genius:

“Other tax issues also surfaced during the vetting, including the fact Mr. Geithner used his child's time at overnight camps in 2001, 2004 and 2005 to calculate dependent-care tax deductions. Sleepaway camps don't qualify.

Amended tax returns that Mr. Geithner filed recently include $4,334 in additional taxes, and $1,232 in interest for infractions, such as an early-withdrawal penalty from a retirement plan, an improper small-business deduction, a charitable-contribution deduction for ineligible items, and the expensing of utility costs that went for personal use.

The other cloud for Mr. Geithner involved an immigrant housekeeper whose work-authorization papers expired during her tenure working for Mr. Geithner. “

It takes some real audacity to try to deduct your kids summer camp.  Sure some accountant could have prepared his paperwork for him, but once again try that excuse with your tax  filings.  You and you alone are responsible for what goes on your tax forms. 

The other real kicker for me is the fact that this financial whiz took an early withdrawal from his retirement plan and lied about it to the IRS.  That action calls into question not only his honesty, but his money management skills.  After all this is no run of the mill, inconsequential nominee, this guy is going to oversee the IRS!!!  And all of our tax dollars in US Treasury.

His defense is simply that all of this was an “honest mistake”.

The guy can’t manage his own personal finances let alone oversee the finances of the country.  This is the change that we have been promised??  This is considered acceptable behavior by BHO??  What would be unacceptable?

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Free Blu-ray Disc player with TD Ameritrade Deposit

TD Ameritrade sent me another “exclusive” offer for a Sharp AQUOS Blu-ray Disc player in exchange for a deposit of $50,000 into my TD Ameritrade account. For another $50,000, I can get one year of 3 DVDs at a time from Netflix.  

While these items are some pretty nice gifts, it just isn't attractive enough to get me motivated to tie up 50Gs for one year in a brokerage account.   The Blu-ray can be purchased for $240 or less with a little internet searching.  

And even more disconcerting is the possibility of your account falling below the minimum, in which case TD charges your account for the disc player.

Evidently these give away offers are effective.  Last June, TD Ameritrade offered a free Nuvi for a deposit of 50 grand.  Either that or they are grasping at ways to encourage investors to get back in the game.

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The Storm that is Sarah Palin

Wow!  How did this news get to such monumental status?  Yes, it is exciting.  I am inspired – I want to move to Alaska and become a mayor.  LOL  I am also completely amazed at the storm this has stirred up.

Some observations:

• The media went after her aggressively because they were left standing flat-footed.  The press does not like surprises and Sarah Palin was a bolt from the blue to EVERYONE.  McCain wanted to steal the DNC convention thunder with a surprise announcement, and it worked but it also created this media attack attitude.  The press didn’t have any stories, nothing to report on her, because they had no clue.  They were left out and they hate that.

• I never dreamed  the Republican party would have a woman on the Presidential ticket.  Ever.  And she would not be there if it weren’t for John McCain.  He is certainly a maverick and a reformer of the party for taking that risk.

• Speaking of risk, Sarah Palin is taking a big risk - with a part of her life that many are uncomfortable risking - their families.  In this world, women are not seen as risk takers.  Some of her biggest critics are women.   They say she can’t do it – what they mean is they can’t do it.  This is way too risky for the average woman to even contemplate, meanwhile men seem to have little issue with it at all.

• The VP job will seem like a vacation to the Palin family compared to the Governorship of Alaska.

• Any time we are confronted with change, we do a little risk assessment.  I have to believe that she and her husband assessed the risk both to their family and the country and came to the conclusion that not running for VP posed an even greater risk to this country.  

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Google Chrome speeds past clunky Internet Explorer

I switched my internet browser from IE7 to Google’s new Chrome, today.  And, I found Chrome  to be just like advertised: sleek and fast.  I have read some complaints that only the tech geeks will change to Chrome.  I don’t really consider myself a computer techie and I don’t usually try out new software on the first day of a release.  

My decision to give a new browser a try centered around a problem with utilizing the latest version of Macromedia Flash with IE7.  Initially I though it was a firewall or antivirus issue, or maybe an ActiveX script issue, but after much trial and error  – IE still would not play flash.  I am sure there is a way to correct that problem somewhere out there, but I don’t care to spend another minute trying to figure it out.  I was about to download Firefox, when I learned that Chrome was available.   

What’s cool about Chrome?

• Speed – pages download much faster!
• Less clutter on the header and the footer only appears when you hover over a link.
• It has a bookmarks bar – you can drag your favorite site links right to the bar for easy access, similar to the home page icon.  For instance, I have my favorite weather site, sports team, netflix, etc., one click away all of the time.
• It has tabs, similar to IE7, with the added feature that when you open a new tab, several of your recently visited sites appear as thumbnails.
• And for those of you concerned about losing your bookmarks - all of my bookmarks transferred over from IE.

As for the nay-sayers, who think Chrome will flop, they may have discounted the strength of Google’s brand.  I would have never tried out a Microsoft product on the first day of release, yet I did not hesitate with Google.  And, of course the biggest factor – speed rules.  IE was getting so clunky and lethargic on my PC that I was considering upgrading the machine!  Instead, I switched to a new free browser, saved $1200 and left IE in the dust.

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Snakebit!

It seems such things happen when you least expect it. Fortunately, I was ready with basic first aid. My dog, a small terrier mix, got bit by a snake last week. I was cutting tree saplings/suckers out of an english ivy bed and the dog was in the ivy, also. He let out a yelp, jumped straight up about two feet, and then ran, eventually circling back to me. I could not find any wound on his legs or body, but 20 minutes later his snout and neck were swollen. He was in a lot of pain and lethargic. I could see a puncture wound in his muzzle and reddish/brown liquid oozing out.

I figure worse case it was a copperhead and best case just a bull snake. I have never seen a rattlesnake on this property. Since I could not identify the type of snake, it escaped in the ivy, I assumed the vet would not be able to give an anti-venom. I checked the internet for dog snake bites and found that vets do not typically give anti-venom for copperheads, anyway (because the mortality rate is low).

I gave him 25 mg of Benadryl with peanut butter ( 1 mg per lb body weight). That helped immediately, swelling did go down and his head perked up. He curled up next to me and we took a nap. He was significantly better a couple of hours later.

The next day the puncture wounds on his muzzle were much more visible and I noticed that he had a bruised sore spot inside of his upper lip. I took him to the vet and received a weeks worth of tablets of prednisolone, clindamycin (antibiotic) and neomycin ointment (topical treatment for the puncture wounds). The vet thought it was most likely a copperhead and a defensive strike (less venom) - since it didn't kill him! He also said he never gives anti-venom because it can cause reactions that are more harmful than good. The best treatment is Benadryl followed by antibiotics - good stuff to know.

In my internet research I came upon an informative list of things to do and not to do when a pet is snake bitten:

"Do's"
Remain calm. Do everything possible to keep your pet calm and quiet. Excitement and activity cause the venom to be circulated more rapidly through the victims system. Obviously, the calmer and quieter you are the calmer and quieter the victim also will be.

Call a veterinarian. Tell the vet what medications you have on hand: antibiotics, prednisone, Benadryl, etc.

Administer Benadryl. The proper dosage is 1mg/pound.

Clean the wound with an antibacterial solution. Be gentle, the bite site will be extremely painful.

Administer a broad-spectrum antibiotic. For a 20 lb dog, administer approximately 250mg of amoxicillin.

Loosen or remove the victim's collar. If the bite is the head or neck area, the extreme swelling (which occurs quickly) could cause strangulation from the collar.

Encourage the victim to take fluids.

Keep the victim warm if he/she appears to be in shock.

"Don'ts"
The "don'ts" listed below represent the most recent advice and thinking.

Don't apply ice. The most recent thinking on the use of ice for snakebites is that while ice will aid in controlling swelling, it also slows circulation of the body's chemical defenses to the affected area. Additionally, applied incorrectly, ice can further damage the already traumatized tissue.

Don't cut a "X" across the puncture wound and attempt to suck out the venom. The cut further damages the injured tissue. Additionally, while venom is not harmful if digested, its absorption via the membranes in the mouth may envenommate the person trying to suck the venom from the wound.

Don't apply a tourniquet unless you are experienced in the use of this highly risky procedure.

This list did help as I had considered applying ice to help reduce the swelling. And I was fortunate to have small 25 mg tablets of Benadryl on hand that could be cut up and fed to the dog with peanut butter. Even with the peanut butter, one of his favorites, I had to coax him into eating it. He would not take any water. Something he usually laps up after a little peanut butter.

Later in the evening, I gave him another ½ dose of Benadryl to help him with the pain and keep the swelling down over night. By morning, he was much better, swelling reduced, and he actually ate his cup of dog food. It’s amazing how resilient dogs are!

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Did your pay raise beat inflation?

In 2008 the average pay raise in the USA was 3.7%. That was 1.8% over the projected rate of inflation. So the effective pay rate increase was (3.7-1.8) = 1.9%. Unfortunately, those projections for inflation were low.

In reality, the actual inflation rate, year to date, is up 5.6% from its level a year ago. And that is the government’s calculation of the inflation number -which always seems lower than the effective rate.

Just out of curiosity I checked my budget expenses in MS Money and calculated my own inflationary rate for gas and food. For the year to date, I have spent a whopping 34% more on gas and another 30% more on groceries compared to last years expenses.

What can we expect for pay raises in 2009?

According to this Wall Street Journal article merit increases for next year are expected to average around 3.7%. Given these numbers, it seems there is no correlation between the average pay increase and inflation. The old cost of living adjustment, COLA, has long given way to performance only raises, which has conveniently ended any ties to inflation. A raise is only a raise when it exceeds the rate of inflation. Anything less and you are losing ground.

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Selling a car on Craigslist

I finally came to the conclusion that I no longer wanted to mess with trying to fix my Toyota Supra. I had spent some time investigating the issue and narrowed the problem down to one or two possibilities – both of which are more costly to repair and more trouble than I am willing to take on. Plus, in the back of my mind, I kept thinking that when you are dealing with a 20 year old car there is always going to be something that needs repair. I started dreading doing any work on the vehicle and got to the point where I was ready to part with it. So, just like that I wrote up a description, slapped a price on it and posted it with some photos on Craigslist.

The listing was free and very easy to execute. I wrote a quick paragraph describing the car, submitted it and few minutes later received an e-mail from Craigslist with a link to be used to publish the listing. The same link can be used to edit or delete the post at a later date. The listing runs for 45 days.

It didn’t take long – within three hours I had a couple of e-mails with phone numbers of the interested party requesting to set up a viewing time. I knew right away I had a really good hit. The first guy to respond actually rebuilds Supras and was looking for a car just like mine to use to rebuild his damaged racing/show car. I liked the idea of only showing the car once; the fewer strangers visiting my house the better! We arranged a date and time set for three days later for him to “meet” my car. In the meantime, I received many more e-mails from people interested in the car. Most folks wanted to trade. I had offers for vans, cars, two motorcycles, a fish/ski tri-hull boat and a registered yearling quarter horse. I rejected all offers to trade, as I was trying to get rid of something and didn’t want to add any more stuff to my collection.

The Craigslist site does a good job of warning sellers about common scams. For instance, cashiers checks can be easily faked and the individual cashing the check is held responsible! The only way you would want to take a cashiers check, nowadays, is if you called the bank and verified it on the spot.

I also read through their scams FAQs and it really made me wary of even cash! It’s not that hard to counterfeit bills and since I don’t deal with cash on a regular basis, I don’t have a counterfeit bill detector pen. Even so, it probably would have been worth it to pick one up for a few bucks just for the peace of mind.



In preparation for the showing, I found a bill of sale form on the internet and an application to transfer the title. As usual the buyer tried to low bid my price, but I held firm. The car had generated a lot of interest, so I knew I could sell it given more time. He finally relented but had to go to an ATM to get the remaining cash. Evidently he was confident he could talk me down, because he had initially arrived with $500 less than I was asking.

I signed over the title, completed the bill of sale and made copies of both. He arranged to pick up the car the next day. It was obvious that he was excited about getting the car, so it made me feel good that I had found the right home for my Supra. In fact, its got a whole new exciting life ahead for it as a model show car!

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Upgrading my workstation - the hard way

My Dell Precision 650 dual processor workstation has fully depreciated after 4 plus years and now it’s time to order a new machine. I attempted to go through my employer’s IT department, but the cost of an extra 8 GB of RAM sent the total over their allowed budget for a workstation. I reasoned that it could be ordered with 8 GB and then once it was delivered, I could order an additional 8 GB on a separate purchase order to get it to the desired 16 GB.

The IT guy would have no part of that deal. He said that I should order the machine to meet the requirements – which means I have to write a capital equipment request. That translates into a lot more paperwork, requires 9-10 signature approvals and instead of being on a 2-3 year refresh cycle, the workstation will need to fully depreciate before its next replacement – that’s 4 plus years. All of that for 8 GB of RAM. Such is corporate life…

Last week, I got the price quote and the justification paperwork together and sent it on its journey through the corporate procurement cycle. It’s going to be a great workstation. It’s a Dell T5400 with dual quad Xeon processors, 64 bit OS and a 512 MB video card. I’m looking forward to the expanded capability – it will allow me to build much larger and more complex computer models for electromagnetic simulation purposes.

The only downside is that now my PC at home is going to seem like even more of a slow dog! It’s a little old Dell Dimension 2400. I actually won it in a lottery at work. If that sounds odd, let me explain how it worked. For each piece of old computer equipment brought in for salvage, you got a lotto ticket. The first 5 names to be drawn won various types of new computers. I hauled in a bunch of old computer equipment from the labs that I manage and amazingly my name was drawn 2nd and I won a desktop PC. Too bad they don’t have those lotteries anymore!

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Free Nuvi with TD Ameritrade deposit

TD Ameritrade sent me an “exclusive” offer for a Garmin nuvi 660 navigation system in exchange for a deposit of $50,000 into my TD Ameritrade account. For another $50,000, I can get an additional $200 Shell gift card.

Those are some pretty nice gifts – sure beats the old toaster or steak knives that Savings and Loans once offered for opening a new account. The nuvi can be purchased for $399 or less with a little shopping around.

The fine print on the offer indicates that the account must maintain the balance for a year.

Account must remain open with minimum funding required for participation in the offer for 12 months, or TD AMERITRADE may charge the account for the cost of the product(s).

I wonder how many investors will take them up on this offer? I don’t hear too much talk about people wanting to invest in the market, right now. Most seem to be in damage control mode. They are frustrated with losing money and are moving into safer, non-stock related investments. Moving 50 grand into a trading account is the last thing on their mind.

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Simulations have their Limitations

Okay, I appreciate the fact that a lot of animals lives will be spared by using this software. The software allows students to skip the hands on dissection of frogs with a virtual simulation. But, when I read this article, all I could think about was my own experience with recent electrical engineering graduates. It seems a lot of universities are saving money by buying software to simulate oscilloscopes. We actually have electrical engineering graduates that have never used real scope hardware.

Oscilloscopes are a critical design and diagnostic tool and no design or test engineer worth his or her salt would ever be without one. Yet, I have had new hires point at the trigger control knob on a scope and ask me, what is this for?

All that we can expect from colleges and universities is to teach students basic fundamental engineering, but now so many are not even grasping the core skills. This is a problem for the future of electrical engineering and really frightens me when I see the same thing could happen with medical students who one day may only use simulation software even though they will eventually deal with real living and dying humans daily.

Surely, we will never get to that point, right? If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be working with engineers that had almost no hands on, lab experience, I too would have thought that impossible.

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Are you ready for the digital TV transition?

As you have probably heard, the transition to digital TV will occur in February 2009. Which means that anyone using rabbit ears for TV reception will need a converter box. Those of us that have basic analog cable can relax …a little bit. I currently receive analog cable and have an analog only TV set. According to this article, the FCC is requiring cable companies to continue to make all local broadcasts available to their users, even those with analog televisions until 2012. The cable operators have two choices. They can either continue to convert the digital signal to analog and pipe it out to homes or they can offer the digital signal only and roll out converter boxes to all their subscribers.

Hmmm. The keyword in that sentence is: local. I interpret that to mean my TV will only receive the local yokel stations and not the full suite that basic cable now supplies. I will probably need to upgrade to a digital cable package to receive anything beyond local TV stations.

I watch very little TV now, when I do watch, it is usually CNN or CNBC news and finance programs and of course sports on ESPN and TNT. I would not expect those to be local broadcasts and will require a digital Standard Definition (SD) or digital High Definition (HD) cable package.

I anticipate that I will want to upgrade, but for now, I have decided to order the coupon for the set top digital conversion box. I want to try this setup first and if I decide to upgrade later, I will still have a backup system in place. A backup is desired in the event of storms or bad weather. It is common to lose satellite TV transmissions during storms and for those with cable transmissions, the actual cable can be disconnected due to down trees or lines.

Just last week, my neighbor cut down a tree and took out the cable for the entire block. This was on a Sunday and TimeWarner Cable initially told him they would not be out until Tuesday! He explained to them that a lot of people were without cable and many had their phones on that line, as well. Fortunately, TWC relented and sent out a repairman that had us all back up within 8 hours of the incident. During that cable-less time, I watched the NBA quarterfinal game through a blizzard! I had forgotten just how bad analog TV reception can be. After that reminder, I am enjoying my crystal clear picture more now than ever. ;)

That brings me to another factor to consider. With my own converter box, I expect improved picture resolution. My existing Yagi antenna will receive the digital transmission which will then be converted at the box sitting on top of my TV. This should improve the picture resolution over that of the cable company converting the digital signal and then piping an analog signal to my house. The shorter distance that the analog signal travels the less likely it will be exposed to interference/noise.

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Delayed Feedback backfires

Last Thursday, my manager gave me an award. It was an “on the spot” type of award designed to be handed out to commend an employee’s performance. The idea behind this type of award is to get the award out quickly, skipping red tape and a long, drawn out approval process. You are not going to get rich on these type of awards, but it is always nice to know that your work is being noticed and appreciated.

The award caught me by surprise. I have not done anything outstanding lately (besides my job) that deserved an award. Once the paper explaining the award was in my hands, I immediately scanned the words as to why I had been so honored. The words were even more shocking. To my amazement, the award was for a test effort that I had completed over one year earlier! My manager noticed that I was taken aback by all of this. Without my asking, he began explaining that I had been nominated for this for some time, but the award money had been delayed.

I was appreciative, but it didn't take long for me to start wondering about all of this. It’s times like these when you are reminded that you work for a large corporation that is sluggish, unresponsive and simply out of touch with the employees and the work they are doing.

Maybe I should not be surprised, the award system has always been a joke around here with awards given for piddly items while major accomplishments go un-noticed. The simple reason for that incongruence is the fact that managers are not closely involved with the people and the tasks at hand. Unfortunately, my employer has recently taken steps to even further that disconnect. At one time, each manager supervised approximately 25 people, but now that front line supervisor job has been eliminated and an upper management position added. This reorganization has resulted in one manager for every 80 to 90 employees.

Awards are kind of a strange motivational tool anyway. I don’t do a job to get special awards. I do the work that is needed to get a job done. I would work just as hard as ever, even if the award program was cancelled.

No, this doesn’t affect my work, but ironically it does make me question my employer’s sincerity. After all the hype and corporate talk about enhancing the workplace and improving communication, I see that nothing has really changed.

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Are we buying stolen goods on ebaY?

“Hey, check out this great deal I got on ebaY - it’s brand new, still in the box and half price!”

I have heard similar boasts several times from co-workers and most don’t seem to care why it was priced so cheaply. They rationalize that since it was on a website, it must be okay to purchase. In fact, they encourage others to go online and try to get the same great deal.

There is a difference between being frugal, which is getting something for a fair price, and buying something at an incredibly cheap price that screams out “I am stolen merchandise”.

Yet, just about anyone will tell you that a lot of the stuff at the local flea market is probably stolen. And, if you think about it - isn’t that all ebaY really is - a worldwide flea market.

You might argue that sellers put their wares out there at low starting bids, so what can one do? Well, for most inexpensive items there is probably no way to know if it is stolen or not. Whereas for more expensive items your first clue might be when you see someone willing to sell a brand new, high dollar item with no reserve.

So, how do people get all this stolen stuff? Most business owners can tell you that theft is greatest amongst the business’ own employees. The “help” will rob you blind. Nothing like biting the hand that feeds you! I have seen this first hand and have always envisioned that the thief rationalized the whole thing by some kind of Robinhood scenario where the poor steal from the rich. He says stuff like, “The boss has so much money, he will never notice this item missing and besides he can report the loss on his insurance.” People can find excuses for even the most abysmal behaviors.

Because employers must trust employees and can not watch them all day, theft is real easy. An employee picks up an item off the store shelf, sets it in the back alley while no one is watching, calls his buddy to come pick it up and the next night it’s on ebaY.

As a side, I find it amazing that criminology students are taught that crime follows opportunity. Indicating that anyone would steal given the opportunity. Gee, a lot of us have worked in stores and never stolen a thing, yet we were surrounded by temptations. The truth is some people are just always looking for an opportunity to steal or commit another crime. You don’t have to give them an opportunity, they will find it or make it all by themselves.

The next time you see one of those deals that is too good to be true – ask yourself, is it possible that item was stolen? Do you want stolen goods?

Most of us want to be highly regarded by our friends, families and peers. The only way to achieve that and really believe that you are highly regarded is to expect more out of yourself. Hold yourself to a higher standard and eventually you will become that person of great integrity, honesty and sincerity.

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Will the Sub-Prime fallout sink your Pension Plan?

Did you know that it’s possible your pension fund was invested in sub-prime loans?

State Street, which manages hundreds of pension funds, has been accused of investing pension money in highly-leveraged investments in mortgage-related financial instruments – otherwise known as sub-prime loans.

As of October 2007, Prudential is one of four companies suing State Street for engaging in “deceptive, impudent and incompetent investing” without notifying Prudential or its retirement plan participants. The companies claim they have lost tens of millions of dollars in State Street funds that they were told would be invested in risk-free debt like Treasuries.

And to add a little more fuel to the fire, State Street has revealed today that they could spend up to $1 billion on the related litigation. Evidently, they expect quite a battle.

Up to now, I have been relatively unscathed by the sub-prime mess. Sure, the drag on the stock market has taken me along for the ride, but that type of risk is always present in the market. The resulting housing bubble burst has had little impact in my area and since I do not have a mortgage and am not planning on selling my home anytime soon, this most recent financial crisis has been a minor nuisance.

However, I do have a pension. And stories like this about State Street make me wonder just how far this sub-prime octopus can reach. Do you have a pension plan? Do you know who manages that fund for your employer?

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Climbing the Procrastination ladder

I realized this past weekend that I don’t have a priority list, I have a procrastination ladder. At the top is the one task that I dread doing the most. The number one reason that I put off a task is that I don’t know how to do the work. This uncertainty leads to anxiety about not doing a good job. In other words, I don’t want to make a mistake.

To combat this, I typically research the internet for “how to” information, as well as ask co-workers or friends for insight. This step does help build confidence, but it doesn’t always get me motivated to jump in and get to work. For this one particular task, which was a home improvement project mortaring in bricks for a fire pit and flower bed, I even wondered what it would take for me to get it started. I had already purchased all of the materials and done all of the pre-work. What else could I do to get myself ready?

Then it happened. I got another new task that was even more daunting! The home improvement project was no longer at the top of my procrastination list. I now had an even more dreadful task that jumped to the top. All of sudden, I found that I would rather try my hand with the masonry work, which I have no experience, than tackle this other new job.

The good news is that I finished the masonry work and it turned out just fine. It did take some practice and trial and error to get the right consistency of mortar, aligning and leveling the bricks and not getting excess mortar everywhere.

I now feel like I have some inertia going in the right direction and maybe that will help carry me into the next task. Plus, I found a post at this interesting site that provided a template to help work through procrastination. I plan to complete this template for my new daunting task.

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Bracing for higher prices and lower sales

Want a bicycle? Consider buying now, as prices are on the rise. According to Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, which is America's leading source of cycling industry developments, the country’s economic situation is about to hit the bike shop. It is expected that bike prices will rise by 10-12% and other cycling equipment will increase 10-20% in the coming month.

The cycling industry is citing the economic downturn, falling dollar and rising energy costs as the primary factors behind this jump in prices.

All of this sounds familiar. Similar price hikes are on the horizon for other items that are made in China, such as toys, footwear and clothing according to this NY Times article. The article warns of the impact of the falling dollar in addition to the result of China’s changes to labor laws, increased labor rates, increased regulation and higher prices of raw materials.

All of this has contributed to escalating inflation in China, which in turn is predicted to result in 20-30% boosts in prices for Chinese made goods purchased in the US.

How will Americans react? Will we tighten the belt? Cut the TV cable? Trade in the cell phone for a cheap, prepaid tracfone? Commute by bicycle? or sign up for another credit card?

It’s my observation that people have already begun to be more careful about spending money and they are putting off large purchases. A bigger concern, given higher prices and the soft economy, is how are all these local bike shops (LBS) and other small retailers with razor thin profit margins going to weather reduced sales?

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