FREEMAN-SPICER FINANCIAL SERVICES
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Vol. 29, No. 6 • June, 2011 / www.Freeman-Spicer.com
[Remembering Eli Spicer 1914-2009]
Agree Or Disagree . . . . . . . How much do your employees agree or disagree with these statements:
• I receive an appropriate amount of criticism.
• I get adequate feedback on how well I’d doing.
• People cooperate with each other here.
• I am not afraid to say what I think.
• I feel free to use my judgement when a decision is needed.
• Problems in the organization are faced openly and frankly.
• Important decisions are made without undue delay.
• The right people are consulted before decisions are made. (Smart Moves)
A New Supermarket . . . . . . opened down the street from my house. If has an automatic water mister to keep the produce fresh. Just before it goes on, you hear the distant sound of thunder and the smell of fresh rain in the air. When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and you experience the scent of fresh cut hay. In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks and smoked ribs. In the seafood department, the fresh, clean, crisp smell of the ocean and the sound of waves slapping the shoreline greets you. When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying. The bread department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread and cookies. I don’t buy toilet paper there anymore! (Fournier)
Building The Perfect Worm . . . . Spider silk is three times as tough as Kevlar and superior to threads produced by commercial silkworms. But spiders don’t take well to being “farmed,” as silkworms do. So scientists at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wyoming genetically engineered silkworms to incorporate spider DNA, allowing them to spin high-strength silk. Large quantities of the super-strong silk could be used in better protective ballistic clothing and medical bandages. (Popular Mechanics)
Cincy Tops On Unwelcome List . . . . . Cincinnati may be the “Queen City,” but when it comes to bedbugs, it’s definitely the king. The Ohio city was ranked first in the number of bedbug treatments performed by Orkin Pest Control during the first months of the year, the company said last month. In a bedbug survey by Terminix released the day before, Cincy ranked second. Cities with the most bedbug treatments, according to Orkin:
1. Cincinnati 6. Washington
2. Chicago 7. New York
3. Columbus, Ohio 8. Dayton, Ohio
4. Denver 9. Philadelphia
5. Detroit 10. Baltimore (Chicago Tribune)
“It’s practically impossible to look at a penguin and feel angry.” (Joe Moore)
Collection Agencies Increasingly Target Wrong People . . . . If you have a common name, watch out. You could get “tagged” with someone else’s debt. Debt tagging is the term used in the collections field when an innocent consumer is blamed for someone else’s overdue debt. Why it happens: The problem has gotten worse in recent years because banks and credit card companies are increasingly selling debt for pennies on the dollar. “You start out with all the information about the person who owes the money, but the file gets transferred, and something gets lost or misinterpreted. Then the debt is sold again and again, and the problem is magnified,” said Bill Bartmann, president of CFS II, a collection company. The Law: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires the collection company to provide you with the precise amount owed, the company to which it’s owed and information about when the debt was incurred. What to do: If you know the debt isn’t yours, you may dispute it by sending the collection company a letter explaining, for example, that while your name is Jane Young, you are not the same Jane Young who owes $10,000 to Sears. Say in your letter that you do not want to be contacted again. Also, insist the erroneous debt not be included in your credit file, and if it’s already there, it should be removed. Realistically: Michael Hughes, a retiree in Virginia, suddenly started getting calls from collection agents telling him he owed $12,000. “I tried to tell them that they had the wrong Mike Hughes,” he said. “They didn’t care.” In Hughes’ case, he had a different middle initial, address and Social Security number. But they worked at the same tire manufacturing company. He got the real debtor’s phone number and gave it to the collection agent. That stopped the calls and caused the collection agency to admit its error. (Chicago Tribune)
Going Green . . . . . . . In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day." That's right, they didn't have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn't have the green thing back her day. In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks. But she's right. They didn't have the green thing in her day. Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right, they didn't have the green thing back in her day. Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right, they didn't have the green thing back then. They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But they didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. (Didn't have pizza joints either!) But that old lady is right. They didn't have the green thing back in her day. (AOLWebSuite - Fournier)
Tough Love . . . . . . . Always remember that you are an expense item to your company, and if you don’t make yourself worth more than you cost, then you are an expense they simply can’t afford. Pretend I’m your boss. Here is my position: Do your job. Don’t complain. If you aren’t willing to do that, don’t be surprised if I tell you to get your butt out of my business. Is that fair? Sure it is. It’s fair to my customers. It’s fair to the other employees who pick up your slack. It’s fair to me because I am the one paying you. And mostly, it’s fair to you because I am rewarding you for the effort you are giving me. (It’s Called Work for a Reason)
Women Who Know Their Place . . . . . Barbara Walters, of 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan, several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands. She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. Despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women are still happy to maintain the old custom. Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, “Why do you seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change? The woman looked at Ms. Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation said, “Land minds.” Moral of the story is (no matter what language you speak or where you go): Behind every man, there’s a smart woman! (LaFree)
The Most Popular Science Websites . . . . . . . . .
1. Howstuffworks.com 9. PopSci.com
2. NOAA.gov 10. ScienceBlogs.com
3. Discovery.com 11. PhysOrg.com
4. NASA.gov 12. NewScientist.com
5. ScienceDirect.com 13. Livescience.com
6. ScienceDaily.com 14. Space.com
7. Nature.com 15. ScientificAmerican.com (eBizMBA)
8. Treehugger.com
A Priest And A Rabbi . . . . . were sitting next to each other in an airplane. After a while, the priest turned to the rabbi and asked, “Is it still a requirement of your faith that you not eat pork?” The rabbi responded, “Yes, that is still one of our laws.” The priest then asked, “Have you ever eaten pork?” To which the rabbi replied, “Yes, on one occasion I did succumb to temptation and tasted a ham sandwich.” The priest nodded in understanding and went on with his reading. A while later, the rabbi spoke up and asked the priest, “Father, is it still a requirement of your church that you remain celibate?” The priest replied, “Yes, that is still very much a part of our faith.” The rabbi then asked him, “Father, have you ever fallen to the temptations of the flesh?” The priest replied, “Yes, rabbi, on one occasion I was weak and broke with my faith.” The rabbi nodded understandingly and remained silent, thinking for about five minutes. Finally, the rabbi said, “Beats the hell out of a ham sandwich doesn’t it?” (Doolittle)
Sincerely,
Edward C. Levy
President