FREEMAN-SPICER FINANCIAL SERVICES
Finance • Leasing • Accounting • Premium
316 South Eddy Street South Bend, IN 46617 / 574.234.0069 (V) • 574.234.6414 (F) • surekey@aol.com
Vol. 29, No. 8 • August, 2011 / www.Freeman-Spicer.com
[Remembering Eli Spicer 1914-2009] - It’s what you do for others that helps you succeed in Life!
Apologize . . . . . . Whenever you are in business, you are bound to make mistakes. At times you’re going to use bad judgment, say something wrong, offend someone, criticize unnecessarily, be too demanding, or act selfishly. The question isn’t whether you will make these mistakes - we all do. The question is: Can you admit to them? If so, the question becomes: Can you apologize? With a humble and sincere apology, almost everyone is willing to forgive. Many people are unable or unwilling to ever apologize. But the ability to admit mistakes is a beautiful human quality that brings people closer together and helps us succeed. (Don’t Worry, Make Money)
Dear Papa . . . . . . . An old Italian gentleman lived alone in New Jersey. He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:
Dear Vincent: I am feeling pretty sad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days. Love, Papa.
A few days later he received a letter from his son.
Dear Papa: Don’t dig up that garden. That’s where the bodies are buried. Love, Vinnie
At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.
Dear Papa: Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances. Love you, Vinnie (Fournier)
Government Spending . . .Trimming the fat from Europe’s Welfare States: Across the Continent, government belt-tightening is putting the squeeze on a variety of generous benefits that ordinary citizens and civil servants have come to expect.
Ireland: Civil servants are no longer getting “bank time,” a 30-minute weekly paid break that dated to an era when most workers went to the bank to cash their paychecks.
Italy: Under a new law, only the President and four other national leaders get high-performance cars courtesy of the state. Italy’s fleet of 86,000 official cars cost $3.6 billion annually.
Spain: A taxpayer-financed $3,600 bonus to new mothers for each child born, known as the cheque bebeʹ was discontinued on Jan. 1 of this year.
The Netherlands: Artists, musicians, and actors are bracing for a 22 percent drop in state arts subsidies. Dutch taxpayers spent $1.3 billion on the arts last year.
Portugal: At Christmas workers get an extra month’s pay. Now a surcharge will recover half of any amount above the minimum wage, yielding an estimated $1.1 billion.
Greece: Greek public employees may have to skip their island holidays, after a 30 percent reduction in vacation bonuses that in the glory days equaled two months pay. (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)
Health and Fitness . . . . .
• For every pound you lose, you alleviate 4 pounds of pressure on your knees.
• The risk of diabetes rises if you don’t get enough magnesium.
• Staying up late can lead to an additional 2 pounds a month of weight gain says a Northwestern Univ. Study.
• A new study finds women start to feel old at 29, men at 58. (Had to smile at that one.)
• Fat doesn’t make you fat. Calories do. Fat is good, just not too much.
• Start your day with protein, and end your day a little skinnier.
• 25 minutes of puzzles and games a day boost intelligence significantly says a Univ. Of Michigan study. (Men’s Health)
On That Note . . . . . I don’t know WHY I didn’t figure this out sooner! It’s the shampoo I use in the shower! . . . . . . . . When I wash my hair, the shampoo runs down my whole body, and (duh!) printed very clearly on the shampoo label is this warning: “For Extra Volume and Body.” No wonder I have been gaining weight! Well - I have gotten rid of the shampoo and I am going to start using “DAWN” dish soap instead. Its label reads, “Dissolves fat that is otherwise difficult to remove.” Problem solved! (B. Levy)
Facebook . . . . . . Why are teens fleeing Facebook? Early adoption of free technology is almost always driven by young people - but kids don’t want to be “friends” with their parents. The average age of a new Facebook user is approaching 40 years old, and the two fastest growing groups are adults ages 55 to 64 and 65-plus. For a teen seeking some level of independence and privacy, Facebook simply does not deliver on its original promise. With so many parental chaperones at the party, we should all be on the lookout for the next free platform that connects young people to young people - and that your mom is afraid to try. (Forbes) Answer: Google+
Good To Be a Hoosier . . . . After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago. NOT to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story in the L.A. Times read: “California archaeologists, finding 200 year old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.” One week later, a local newspaper in Indiana reported the following: “After digging as deep as 30 feet in a pasture between Logansport and Peru, Indiana, Bubba, a self-taught archaeologist, reports that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Indiana had already gone wireless.” Just makes you proud to be a Hoosier doesn’t it? (R. McDaniel)
Cut Grocery Bills With These Free Web Sites . . . . Groceries are a big expense for most families. It also isn’t an expense you can eliminate. Everyone has to eat. However, there are some ways to save money on groceries. A few stops on the Web can save you a bundle. Give these great sites a try.
Coupons.com - SmartSource.com - Valpak.com - Redplum.com
No cost, just sign in and print your coupons. Some even have deals in other areas such as entertainment, health care, etc. Try them out and see what your saving might be. (Komando)
Population . . . . . . Food for thought: There will soon be seven billion humans on Earth, but how does that number compare to other species on the planet? We are certainly outnumbered by ants. Harvard biologist and ant expert Edward O. Wilson has estimated that there are a thousand trillion to ten thousand trillion ants at any one time.* That would be about a million ants for every one of us. And doesn’t it seem like that when they invade our kitchens? Estimating animal populations, especially wild ones, is hard, but here’s a look at one category of animals we can count: the ones we eat!
Number of animals killed for food - worldwide in 2009:
1.7 million Camels 633 million Turkeys
24 million Water Buffalo 1.1 billion Rabbits
293 million Cows 1.3 billion Pigs
398 million Goats 2.6 billion Ducks
518 million Sheep 52 billion Chickens
* And they’re edible. Ants are a good source of protein and are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world. (Nigel Holmes - National Geographic)
Crunching Some Numbers . . . . . . .
● Average hourly compensation costs for manufacturing workers (out of 34 countries) #1. Norway, $53.89; #14. USA, $33.53; #34. Philippines, $1.50.
● Small business owners who’d rather have more time than more money: 30%.
● Job creation in 2010: Most jobs added - Texas, 235,700. Lost - New Jersey, 17,000.
● Consumers who have “unliked” a company due to excessive postings: 63%.
● Average pay (salaried and hourly): Highest - Massachusetts, $25.34/hour. Lowest: South Dakota, $16.02/hour.
● Venture capitalist investments in 2010, up 20% from 2009: $21.8 billion. (Inc.)
More Unuseable Knowledge . . . . . .
● 6 Million: The number of young people enrolled in 4-H (which stands for Head, Heart, Hands, and Health) programs. Believe it or not, that’s up from 1.9 million participants in the 1950s. (Fortune)
● FDA Guidelines on acceptable levels of “insect fragments” per gram:
Peanut Butter - 0.3 // Chocolate - 0.6 // Cornmeal - 1 // Macaroni - 1 // Wheat Flour - 1.5 // Ground Allspice - 3 // Ground Paprika - 3
// Ground Cinnamon - 8 // Ground Pepper - 9.5 // Ground Nutmeg - 10 // Ground Oregano - 125. (Wired)
What The Heck - Let’s Do a Few More But With A Laugh . . . .
• Ratio of an igloo’s circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi.
• 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope.
• Shortest distance between two jokes = a straight line.
• 5 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital = One I.V. League.
• Half a large intestine = 1 semicolon.
• 365.25 days of drinking low-calorie beer = 1 Lite year.
• 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling
• Basic unit of laryngitis = 1 hoarsepower.
Sincerely,
Edward C. Levy
President