Meet and Grow Rich

After we my mother in law died we went about going through all of her personal belongings to see what things we wanted to keep and what things we would need to try to sell. Well being that she was from a different generation (or maybe a completely different planet) than us, there were not too many things that we decided to keep. A lot of her things got disposed of at an estate sale. But some things we decided to try to sell ourselves.

One of the things we decided to take care of on our own was her massive collection of jewelry. My wife picked out a few heirlooms to keep, but most of the jewelry was revolting. I know you can get cash for gold, so I took a box of this stuff to a local place that specializes in this sort of thing. I figured I would simply sell scrap gold and we would get some cash.

For the most part that is exactly what I did. But there was a very pleasant surprise with a few of the pieces. I felt like I was on that TV show Antiques Road Show. It turns out that some of this ugly (really, it was ugly to me) jewelry was worth a lot of money and even had historical significance. I’m glad the guy at the shop was honest because I never would have known.

Technorati Tags: Antiques Road Show, cash for gold, sell scrap gold

A few months ago I went to see my doctor. I was making small talk with her about this and that. Somehow the topic of insurance came up. She informed me that she has a type of disability insurance for physician professionals. I had never heard about this before so I asked her more about it. She told me that it basically means that she’s insured in case she ever has to stop working due to a disability. I asked her how this differed from normal disability insurance. She told me that it insures her if she gets injured and can’t do her specific job whereas normal disability insurance only applies if she can’t work at all.

A couple of weeks ago I had a dentist appointment. I remembered my conversation with the doctor and asked my dentist if he also has this type of insurance. He told me that there is something called dentist disability insurance that is specific to his industry. I learned a little bit more about it from him. The moral of this story is that you can learn a lot of things that you don’t know simply by having conversations with the people that you encounter every day of your life.

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When we think about who is fighting the war on terror usually the first thing that comes to mind is our government’s armed forces. These would include the army, air force, navy, marines and even the coast guard. And while it is indeed true that these services are on the front line in our war on terror, there is also another group which is playing a role too. And while their role is specifically defined, it can also sometimes be controversial.

I am of course referring to private military contractors. The big one that makes headlines occasionally is a US company called Blackhawk. And while they prefer to be called security contractors, private military contractors or PMC’s they are often times referred to as mercenaries. These PMC’s are fully combat ready with full tactical gear and often provide support for government militaries.

But here’s where we get into the grey area. The Geneva Convention says that contractors may not use any offensive force. If they are offensive then they become illegal combatants. And where do you draw the line between offense and defense in a war against terror? So as it stands now these security contractors try to fill the role of being more like body guards than combat troops.

Technorati Tags: PMC’s, tactical gear

I was doing some search engine optimisation in London earlier this summer.  In case you don’t know what that is, it is the very latest in positioning your company on the internet.  You don’t have to have an internet-based company, but it is a wonderful marketing tool for getting your business name to the forefront when people search your business subject, or by a keyword.

Anyway, London hasn’t changed a whole lot since I was there in 1987.  There are some newer conveniences, roads and some building projects.  But the wonderful flavor of the place remains the same.  What an easy place to live in!  And getting to and from the theatre district-it is just so easy and wonderful.  I would say it is easier than going to Broadway.  Unless you’re staying right there in midtown Manhattan or something.  And of course the subway system has no comparison to New York’s…meaning that it is so much better than New York’s!

I’d like to go back.  Maybe do a little graphic design in London.  It’s inspiring in a whole different way than the US. I just sure wish they’d switch from using so much diesel fuel in their public transportation.  It bothers my nose.

Technorati Tags: graphic design in London, midtown Manhattan, Search engine optimisation in London

Schools frequently have to hold events in order to raise money for educating children. If you are a teacher, parent or school staff member then you might be asked to plan a school event.

Here are five tips to keep in mind when planning school events:

1. Get a clear picture of what you want the event to be. If you don’t know what you want to do then you’re going to have a hard time executing the plan to do it.
2. Get it down on paper. You should treat this almost like a small business plan. Get it organized on paper first.
3. Make a list of volunteer activities. You’re going to need volunteers to do just about everything. It helps if you know what “everything” entails so you can assign tasks.
4. Choose a few people to help you oversee things. You don’t want to have to do everything yourself so find some people who can help.
5. Expect some things to go wrong. Don’t feel that everything has to be perfect. You’ll put too much pressure on yourself. Just do your best and it will be fine.

Planning a school event is like planning a party. Get a theme and a plan in mind. Let people know exactly what they can do to help. And then don’t worry if a little bit of punch gets spilled because everyone’s still going to have a good time.

Technorati Tags: school events