ROI-calculating accurately
The phrase “return on investment” (ROI) is thrown around a lot, but do you know what it really means and how to calculate it??
Three ways to calculate ROI
Cash-on-cash If $20,000 is invested and it grows by $10,000, its a 50 percent cash-on-cash rate of return, which is great for wealth building.
Total amount of investment If you put $20,000 down for a $200,000 mortgage, the growth is happening on the $200,000, not what you originally put in. This is arguably less relevant because the amount made on what was originally put in is more important and helpful.
Lost opportunity cost When youre looking to raise money with another persons money, you need to demonstrate the loss he could incur if he doesnt invest. If you have an investment that pays a 20 percent interest and the lender has money in something that only pays 5 percent, you need to show him how much he is losing if he passes up your opportunity.
What the rich do that we don’t
The rich develop a wealth building niche that allows them huge rates of return on what they doreal estate, investing in the market, your day-to-day business. Once they make the money, without fail, the wealthiest of the wealthy buy bonds, key bills or some other type of fund that pays a return of three percent to five percent. They want to protect their principle. They only roll the dice in an area of expertise where they can expect a safe return.
A Sudoku A Day Exercises The Brain
Negative issues are usually associated with addiction. Drug abuse, excessive drinking, and even too much gambling are all negative activities that are highly addictive. But if there is one kind of addiction that is actually beneficial for adults and kids alike, it would be an addiction to sudoku puzzles. Researchers rank solving sudoku puzzles daily among the top ten non-traditional and alternative ways to boosts brain power. Other brain boosting moves include high-protein diets, listening to classical music, and lots of rest. These are simple but are rather difficult to follow because of budget limitations, personal preferences, and lifestyle. This is the advantage sudoku games holds over other brain boosters. They are accessible from newspapers, books, and even the Internet. They are also workable between breaks or at any spare time. So every time someone chastises you for doing sudoku again, kindly explain and hope that they pick up the habit too.
Though sudoku puzzles are not mathematical problems, solving the puzzles requires the most basic tool of mathematics and science: logic. Since the puzzles entail the use of logic, common sense, and concentration, the brain is put out of the stupor of doing routine, mundane tasks. In other words, your brain actually gets a break and a good work-out. Studies reveal that the more the brain uses its skills, the better it works. Brains that get more exercise are determined to be more active, and its cells are healthier. Researchers even associate sudoku brain exercises to physical exercise. They stress that just as physical exercise keeps muscle loss at bay, sudoku exercise keeps brain cells from dying and also encourages better brain function. Education is important, but studies actually show that students who do mental workouts like sudoku have higher IQs than students who do not. This only shows that doses of sudoku are more than just ways to pass time. They actually help in improving your ability to comprehend more complex ideas.
Ian Robertson, a neuroscientist, facilitated a research among the elderly with the premise that decreased mental ability is not inevitable with the right stimulation. The research included two groups of elderly people: the first group solved sudoku puzzles as part of their routine, while the second did not. After some time, their IQ levels were tested and compared to their test results before the experiment. The sudoku-solving group was found to have increased their mental abilities by a significant percentage while the other group showed no change. Dr. Robertson cited a similar research wherein 3,000 people, aged 65-94, were found to have increased their mental capabilities and age by as much as 14 years, just by ten sessions of brain boosting exercise like sudoku.
Other experts agree with these findings, saying that solving challenging mind games like sudoku puzzles inhibit or prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss. Health trends also show that adults with demanding, and intellectually challenging jobs benefit from better mental function when they age. Sudoku functions just like these jobs because it requires brain exertions.
As it is, experts advise adults to encourage children to solve puzzles like sudoku to start mental improvement earlier in life. Sudoku exercises are actually adopted by some schools to stimulate thinking and foster better academic performance of their students. So instead of letting kids watch TV, or read comics, hand them sudoku puzzles. Then, both you and your kids can defend your love of sudoku to those poor souls who do not understand the beauty, joy, and benefits of solving it.
02.8.12Store Cards, Credit Cards And Loans How To Borrow Money Effectively.
You dont have to have the lifestyle demands of Paris Hilton to need extra money these days. According to Credit Action, the total UK personal debt was 1,122 billion, a growth of about 10.5% over the previous year and in the UK and each adult in the UK has an average of 4.1 credit cards in their wallet.
In their most recent report, Credit Action also recorded 2.3 million personal loan agreements in the second quarter of 2005. Interesting, the national money education charity discovered a gap between the interest rates advertised for loans and the actual interest rates paid by the borrowers.
So, with such volumes of debt, what is the best way forward in managing your money?
1) Prioritise your spending
Decide what you need to buy and when you need it. If its not a necessity, put it to the bottom of the list. With Christmas approaching, its important that you have an awareness of your budget. Make a list of things you need to buy including Christmas presents. Once you have a list, shop around for the cheapest deal including some internet research. Thirty minutes of surfing the internet could result in significant savings, which will either reduce outstanding debt or contribute to savings.
2) Prioritise your borrowing
If you borrow money, when do you think youd be able to pay it back? For example, for smaller amounts of money that could be paid within a shorter period of time a credit card might be the most flexible way of borrowing money. Alternatively, if you need to borrow a larger sum of money and wish to make the repayments over a longer period of time then a personal loan could be more effective. Do some homework online, sites such as moneynet and moneyfacts provide online financial product guides and price comparison information.
3) Prioritise your requirements
In addition to thinking about how much money you need to borrow and how you want to repay it, you may wish to look at other ways in which your financial products could work for you. Examples include cash-back, reward points, charity donations etc.
4) Never, ever, take out a store card
Whatever the discount the store offers you on the day, remember, it wont be as a gesture of goodwill. Nearly all store cards carry a vastly inflated rate of interest and they rely on you not being able to pay off the balance in full straight away. There is a strong chance that what you ultimately end up paying is far greater than the discount on the actual day.
5) Do you really need it?
As Christmas approaches, its easy to spend a little extra on clothes, food and drink and presents. However, if you make a list of what you need and stick to it, youre likely to save yourself more money this way than if you went out impulse shopping.
Resources:
http://www.moneynet.co.uk/credit-card/index.shtml
http://www.moneynet.co.uk/personal-loan-guide/index.shtml
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Gas
In the U.S., gas is the short form of gasoline, while in many Commonwealth countries, it is known as petrol. Gas is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture that consists of hydrocarbons and is used as a fuel in internal combustion engines.
There are different types of gasoline in the fuel industry. Small aircrafts use specially formulated, high-octane aviation gasoline, which cannot be used for ground vehicles. Vehicles involved in racing use specially formulated racing gasoline that has very low levels of benzene and an anti-knock index of at least 100. Gasoline used for scientific research has unusual properties, which depend on the nature of the research. Cars with gasoline engines use E85 gasoline that is a blend of 85% fuel ethanol and 15% gasoline. The reason gasoline is added here is to provide a good start and warm up performance to the car, which is possible because of ethanols low volatility.
The diesel engine cars or cars with compression ignition engines use E95 gasoline that is a blend of 95% fuel ethanol and 5% gasoline. No more than 5% gasoline should be added because this may lower the flash point to unacceptable levels. E85 cannot be used in diesel applications, and neither can E95 be used in gasoline engines because of the different types of engines.
It is always better to buy gas during the coolest times of the day, like early morning or late evening as this is when gas is found at its densest. Gas pumps measure according to volume of gasoline and not density of fuel concentration, so you have an advantage here. It is better not to fill your gas tank to the top as overfilling results in the sloshing over of the gasoline out of the tank. Gas has to be chosen wisely for use in vehicles because some brands have greater economy due to its better quality. It is always better to use brands that seem to be beneficial. To save gas, it is better to avoid too much warming up of the engine, even on cold mornings. About thirty or forty-five seconds of warming up is more than enough. Avoid unnecessary starting and stopping of the engine. You use the same amount of gas here as you would in idling the engine for one minute. Use gas wisely, as it is an unrenewable fuel source that will always be needed by mankind.
02.7.12Quick Books and Finances
When starting a business one is bound to face a variety of difficulties. Sometimes it seems the problems of creating a new entity are endless. You must find a source for financing. Somebody will have to cut through the red tape and deal with legal issues to get the company off the ground. You cant start a business without a strategic plan, therefore some time must be spent planning out the vision and objective of the company. A plan is useless without the right people in place to implement it, so it is also essential you hire the right people. As you can tell, the issues and concerns can be quite overwhelming. There is really no way around these issues. Each must be dealt with individually.
In the confusion created by all these issues and concerns, frequently one will forget about fundamentals of good business. That is to say, balancing the books and staying on top of your financial situation. Fortunately for the small businesses out there, great software such as Quick Books has been designed to make this aspect of running a business a breeze. The advantages of the Quick Books software are quite obvious to users of this software. For those of you who have never used the Quick Books software lets take a look at what it has to offer for your small business.
Quick Books is a software package that assists you in managing your accounting and financial data. Quick Books streamlines the accounting and financial reporting process, allowing a small business to operate void of any financial specialist. In the past, a small business might be forced to recruit and hire an experienced finance professional to handle the books and keep the company in a good financial position. It was no easy task for a small business owner with a minimal financial background to keep the sources and uses of cash organized, up to date, and accurate. Indeed this proved to be a pressing concern for many small businesses that could not afford to hire financial experts nor had the expertise themselves to keep the books. Ultimately, these small business owners had to make do with the knowledge they had and the results were not always pretty.
Thanks to the Intuit team that developed Quick Books, small businesses can compete on a more level playing field with larger businesses that can afford to employ financial professionals by making use of the powerful software program. Like TurboTax has simplified the tax filing process for individuals, the Quick Books software has created a simple yet extremely useful interface to input and track your companys finances. It doesnt take any expertise to enter the data the software needs to crunch the numbers, balance the books, and spit out the financial reports.
If you have recently started your own business and are lacking expertise in the accounting/finance arena, check out the Quick Books software today. Chances are it will fulfill all your needs and eliminate many headaches. There are many other competitors to the Quick Books software package that may meet your needs as well, such as the PeachTree accounting software. Most likely any of these software packages will offer the features and capabilities you will need as your business expands.
02.7.12Boxing Notebook: Corrales-Castillo III Should Be Mucho Macho!
Code Red! Code Red!
Saturday is the final clash between Diego Chico Corrales (40-3, 33 KOs) and Jose Luis Castillo (54-7-1, 47 KOs) for the lightweight championship of the world. Though 70 pounds south, theyre true heavyweights. Sportsbook odds are Castillo -220, Corrales +180 – based on what?
Tale of the tape: Corrales, 28, is a lightweight freak, 5-11 with a half-inch fist, forearm and thigh advantage over the 5-8, 32-year-old Castillo plus a one inch bigger expanded chest, reach, bicep and calf. Castillo needs a ladder to reach him (on paper).
Corrales has had great success against smaller, aggressive guys. Castillo is strong enough mentally and big enough physically (He demonstrated that last time with Chico) to mete out plenty of pain of his own.
But the physical discrepancies dont apply here. Chico doesnt fight tall. He likes to walk in and unload hooks and rights bang on the inside, fight short. He likes it physical.
Reviewing their first bout, I was amazed at Corrales success when he made space. When he pushed off on Castillo and attacked from the outside, he was effective dropping right hands and short hooks. He used the jab to control the pace – Castillo had no answers.So, why doesnt he stick with it? Hes like the guy that threw himself on cactus and when asked why said: It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Think back to Corrales-Casamayor II. Stick and move. Outbox the guy. Corrales’ trainer, Joe Goossen, should put it in letters of fire on a ringside billboard. Also, Castillo is prone to cuts. Spear him with the jab; open the scar tissue. Double-jab right over the top, keep moving. Do that all night, and Corrales gets the W. But, it isnt a safe bet.
Chin Check: Corrales is no stranger to the canvas.
Floyd Mayweather dropped him five times one night. Castillo and Joel Casamayor scored five knockdowns and one knockout against him. You can develop muscles, strengthen your mind, but you cant train a chin. Plus, Castillo has found something with that short left hook.
In a recent FHM interview, Corrales analyzed the punch:
I got a left hook in that second fight and that was purely my mistake. I caught him with my right hand, and he was ready for it. I felt him pulling himself down and really losing some steam. I need to make sure my hand is at home and never cocked.
You can read the full interview here: http://www.fhmus.com/articles-1267.asp?cnl_id=5&stn_id=46&idx_id=1267
These guys bristle with macho. Expect the first few rounds to be more controlled: Corrales moving and setting the pace. Once Castillo breaks through, its MACHO TIME. Ill agree with the sportsbook odds – if Corrales chin holds up, hell land enough punches to eke out a split decision.
Jhonny Gonzalez-Fernando Montiel: Is it over yet?
Who made this fight? Was this a Barrera concoction? Maybe law school has him out of touch. Being Guatemalan, I can relate to the poor souls who were expecting a slugfest and got a snoozefest.
Look, when you match Mexicans, you dont expect Leonard vs. Benitez. To Latinos boxing equals fighting.Hit and get hit. We dont want a ballet. After a 12-hour shift, getting a crap paycheck, my wife yelling at me and my car breaking down all I want to do Fridays is hang with the boys, suck down some Coronas and watch two guys trying to kill each other cause they’re pissed.
How about an Im sorry bout? Daniel Ponce De Leon was on the same card, and he scored another KO. Doesnt a guy with a 90 percent KO ratio deserve to be on TV?
Joe Rein describes De Leons style: “Hes a clenched fist, sparring – an impatient 5-5 southpaw he brings it! -with little give in his legs over-wide stance – and constant I-want-to-kill-you lead lefts, making his handlers cringe.But he shrinks from no exchange – head down, squared-up, furiously winging to knock down a building. None of it by design, more a random act of violence.
Many of his free swings are blocked or parried, but when his sparmate steps back, thinking hes out of range, Ponce brings new meaning to “reach out and touch someone” with a wingspan just shy of Marcianos. The shudder when he lands makes it clear why hes dangerous.
Read more about De Leon here: http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/3849/are-you-making-any-money/ . Next time a fight sucks, HBO should sneak in a bonus bout. Who cares which, as long as its brutal.
Last Round
Chad Dawson should look awesome against Eric Harding in his first light heavyweight go.Hardings not lacking confidence:
I am willing to fight for winner-takes-all, he said. Dawson has made a big mistake. This is like a man against a young kid. He better be ready. Every fight is a must-win for me.
Harding outpointed Antonio Tarver in a WBC eliminator on June 23, 2000. He also fought ex-world champs Montell Griffin and Glen Johnson. Harding, the WBC No. 10/IBF No. 9 contender won USBA and NABF 175-pound crowns in his past two starts, 12-round decisions over David Telesco and Daniel Judah.
Dawson, the WBC No. 7/WBA No. 15 contender, said, I am looking forward to this. It is a great fight for ShoBox. I am a still an improving, young fighter who is stepping up in competition. Harding is a great fighter. He has a good resume, but I definitely think I am the stronger fighter. I am in great shape. The world will know my name when I walk out of the ring with a victory.
Dawson knows how to deal with awkward fighters. I was at Dawsons bout against Ian Gardner in New Haven, Conn. with TN promoter Jake Donovan, who commented about the fight:
The first few rounds were typical of a Gardner fight, even if the southpaw wasnt in complete control. Dawson carried the action, but Gardners awkward style caused him to miss nearly everything. Action was so dismal, that many in press row were more interested in the war of words between the two camps at ringside.By round five, Dawson took over for good. Gardner offered an occasional straight left, but seemed more concerned with a shot that caught him above the bridge of his nose. By rounds end, Gardner was slow to walk back to his corner, grabbing his head, as if something was amiss.
Chad Dawson was amiss. The guys the goods.
You can read the full story here: http://fightbeat.com/badchadfinal.php
10 seconds
WBA welterweight champion Ricky Hatton will sit ringside in Las Vegas on Saturday for Castillo-Corrales III, intending to challenge the victor of this epic trilogy, says his dad, manager Ray Hatton.
“He’d like to fight the winner, although we have heard rumors that Castillo will jump right up to welter afterwards and possibly fight Miguel Cotto.”
Im skeptical of a Cotto-Castillo bout coming off. On June 10, Paul Malignaggi has his own plans.
02.7.12Backache: A Common Problem
Backache is largely caused by sitting, standing or stooping for a long time and is prevalent amongst all age groups. Human physiology has undergone a sea change in the recent years with a large proportion of people spending a majority of their work time sitting in front of computers or desks or cars and other vehicles. The sitting posture puts pressure on our back and the constituent muscles thus resulting in backache.
Our spinal column is constituted in such a way that it provides the necessary stability to stand straight and the flexibility to move around. The spine includes a number of muscles that may get pressurized due to bad postures. Everyone of us is bound to face backache at one or the other point in our lifetime, but women in general are more prone to this problem.
A Womans body undergoes a lot of changes during pregnancy. During the last two trimesters of pregnancy, the center of gravity of her back changes due to the position of the fetus thus altering the curve of her spine. Bending and lifting are also a regular part of a womans daily routine and are the most common reasons of back pain. Menstrual pain can often result in backache amongst women.
Sudden jerks or movements can also result in back pain. Several conditions such as Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, Viral infection, Bladder or kidney infection, Gynecological problems in women, tumors and trauma can also cause backache.
Excess weight or the wearing of the wrong type of shoes can also result in back pain. Regular exercises that strengthen our abdominal muscles are the best solution to treat backache. Maintaining the right posture and keeping our body weight in check can go a long way in the prevention and cure of backache.
02.7.12Burners: Up Close and Personal
There’s been a bunch of smoke blown about in the grill industry lately about burners and burner materials. One manufacturer says this, and another says that, one sales rep tells you there’s not much difference, the next tells you it’s the heart and soul of your grill.
So much is said, but little is shown or demonstrated, and it’s hard to know just what is the best material for a grill burner. If you pardon our pun here, it’s easy to get burned.
In another article, we graphically explained what happens to a sheet metal burner after time and use. We explained how burn-through happens, and what materials are less succeptible.
How do you avoid burn-through? Well, you *could* keep the burner clean. This is a messy and time-consuming process, as you have to get in there with a small, pointed tool and carefully poke each little hole in the burner. *Some* manufacturers actually require this, else you void the warranty.
If this sounds like a lot of work, well, it is. It’s a ton of work, and it isn’t the cleanest job on the planet.
There’s an easier way: know what you are getting into when you look at a particular grill. Obviously, there is no way to know the thickness or quality of a burner – that is, unless you actually cut a few of them in half! Now, no person in their right mind would even think about doing this, right? Think of the expense, the mess…
Well, we did. In fact, We cut open the burners from several of today’s favorite high-end grills: Alfresco, DCS, Fire Magic and Lynx. Looking for thicknesses, we also examined how these burners are constructed to see if the orifices are drilled, molded or punched. We looked at other features as well, including nickel content.
(At the time of this article, we were able to review a Star grill, a relative newcomer to the consumer grill market, which has been producing professional cooking equipment for almost 80 years. Their new entries in the consumer market use essentially the identical burner as DCS: a 14-gauge Stainless Steel Sheet Metal burner. The only difference we noted was the burner’s feeder tube: the DCS is ramped up to the burner tube, while the Star’s feeder tube is level with the burner tube. For this comparison, use the DCS burner as Star’s performance. Where there are differences, we will note them.)
Here’s what we found:
Fire Magic:
* .240″
* 2 guage
* 4 lbs., 4.6 oz.
* 13, 125 Btu, used in pairs
Lynx:
* .240″
* 2 guage
* 8 lbs., x.x oz.
* 25,000 Btu
Alfresco:
* .035″
* 20 guage
* 2 lbs., 2 oz.
* 27,000 Btu
DCS:
* .75″
* 14 guage
* 3 lbs., 2.24 oz.
* 25,000 Btu
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Teen Safety In The Workplace
When teenagers go off to work-sometimes for the first time in their lives-parents want to know they will be safe in the workplace. Who will look out for their safety? Industrial hygienists are professionals who specialize in ensuring safe and healthy work environments for employees of all ages.
Are teenagers safe in the workplace? Do they know what to watch out for in terms of safety? Consider these statistics from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH):
• On average, 45 percent of American teens are employed each year-more than any other developed country.
• More than three million U.S. teens enter the workforce every summer and thousands of these teens are admitted to emergency rooms due to work-related injuries.
• Nearly 200,000 adolescents suffer injuries on the job and approximately 70 die from these injuries each year.
• Teens have the highest rate of nonfatal work-related injuries, even though they encounter the same potential on-the-job hazards as adults.
• The reasons for teen work-related accidents include lack of experience, gaps in current laws and enforcement, inexperienced supervisors, working in industries that don’t generally hire professionals trained in industrial hygiene and/or safety, physical limitations due to lack of size and strength, and simple lack of maturity (“goofing off” on the job).
• The majority of deaths and injuries of teen workers on the job occur in retail stores and restaurants.
• Common potential hazards include automobile and machinery operation (for teens old enough for such tasks), working in high-homicide industries such as retail, working with or near electrical or hot equipment, working jobs with fall hazards, and working jobs requiring manual lifting.
02.7.12Lower Your Medical Bills By Finding Medical & Hospital Bill Errors
If you have been admitted to a hospital and find yourself owing a substantial amount of money there are a few things you can do to substantially reduce your bills. With a little perseverance and investment of time, you can uncover costly overcharging errors you’re not responsible for. After you’re done, you can negotiate what you legitimately owe and the payment terms.
Here’s what to do:
Request both the hospital and your insurance company to audit the hospital and doctor bills.
Demand an itemized bill (you are legally entitled to an itemized bill if you request one) and review your self for the following:
Duplicate Billing: Make sure you haven’t been charged twice for the same service, supplies or medications.
Number of Days in the Hospital: Check the dates of your admission and discharge. Most hospitals will charge for your admission day, but not for your day of discharge. If you have been charged for the day of discharge, ask the hospital to waive the charge for that day.
Incorrect Room Charges: If you were in a semi-private room, make sure you’re not being charged for a private room.
Operating Room: It’s not uncommon for hospitals to bill for more operating room time than you actually used. Compare the charge with your anesthesiologist’s records.
Unbundled Charges: This is when a group of tests are billed individually, when they should have been billed together. Surgical procedures and tests frequently consist of several parts. For instance, you could have received a cervical MRI and a lumbar MRI. A hospital or MRI facility can bill $1,200 for each MRI if they were done at different times, however, if they were performed on the same day the total amount that the facility will be paid by an insurance company may be only $1,400 or $1,800 instead of $2,400. Many times, MRI’s will be scheduled on different days, frequently one day after the other, in order to bill at the higher rate. Do not allow a hospital or MRI facility to charge you the full price if they did this. An example of a procedure could be where you fractured two fingers or two ribs and you were charged the full price to set each finger or rib individually, instead of the full price to set one finger or rib and a discounted price for the second finger or rib.
Up Selling: This occurs when a doctor orders a generic drug which is readily available, but the hospital provides you with a more costly brand name drug without your knowledge or consent and bills you for the more costly medication. Since you are not an expert at determining whether or not a drug use generic and you may not have even been in a mental condition to make that determination; your doctor ordered the generic drug; and it was readily available in the hospital drug store, you are not responsible for the increased charge.
Fraudulent Coding Also Called Up Coding: Hospitals may change the charge for a lower cost service or medication to one that’s more costly. For instance, a doctor may order a generic drug, but the hospital “accidentally” bills the patient for a much more expensive brand name drug when the generic is actually provided. If done intentionally, this is fraud. Where this occurs several times on one bill or occurs with multiple patients, this could constitute intent.
Fraudulent Coding/Weird Charges/Fake Language: Hospitals may invent confusing language to cheat patients. They use medical sounding names for everyday items and charge you an astronomical price. For example, an “oral administration fee” is really a charge for the nurse handing you pills. You do not have to pay for that because it is part of the room and board. Other items that have been reported as appearing on hospital bills are: “disposable mucous recovery systems” (a box of Kleenex tissues); “Thermal therapy” (a plastic bag filled with ice); “Gauze collection bag” (a trash bag); and finally, a patient who was given a teddy bear by the hospital and charged for a “cough support device.” Not only is this fraud, but if it wasn’t requested, the teddy bear was a gift.
Keystroke Error: A computer operator accidentally hits the wrong key on a keyboard which can result in an incorrect charge or a charge for a service you didn’t get.
Canceled Services: You may have been charged for expensive services or tests which your physician ordered and then canceled or for some reason was never rendered.
Assignment: Check to see if the hospital or doctor accepts assignment of your insurance payment. This means that the hospital or doctor is allowed to bill your medical insurance and to receive payment directly by your insurance company, without a check going to you. This is a good thing. You can find out if the medical provider accepts assignment by asking your insurance company. When a hospital or doctor accepts an assignment, you are assigning to the hospital or doctor, your right to the reimbursement check from your insurance company. By accepting assignment, the medical provider is now in your position and has whatever legal rights you had to collect the payment, and no more. When accepting assignment, a hospital or doctor may not legally seek any payment from you. This means that if the medical provider bills your insurance company for $3,682 and you were only entitled to be reimbursed $1,136, the medical provider must accept this amount and you are not responsible for the remainder of the bill.
Why do hospitals and doctors accept assignment? Because when the check goes to the patient, many patients keep the money which requires the hospital or doctor to sue the patient. Accepting assignment allows the medical provider to know that they will be paid and to avoid the costs of litigation if the medical provider must sue the patient to recover payment for services rendered.
Negotiating: Finally, after eliminating all of the errors you can find, try negotiating your bill. If you are able to pay a lump sum settlement to the hospital, you can usually negotiate the amount you owe. You should be able to deduct at from one third to one half of the bill, which is probably the amount that the hospital would have to pay a lawyer to collect a fee from you. Keep in mind, that collection agencies routinely settle bills for 50%. Depending upon your income, you may even be able to settle for as little as 10%. If you are unable to pay a lump sum settlement, you should be able to negotiate a payout over a period of years. If you do not earn much money, you can remind your medical provider that if they obtain a judgment against you, the court may award as little as $25 per month, even if the bill is thousands of dollars.
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The unhappy client: How to fight back and keep the business
Historically, there have been unavoidable situations that test an agencys client relationships. Today, there are tools that can minimize, or even eliminate these threats.
As an example, one situation that plagues all relationships is the unexpected surge in project cost.
Its an old story. You send your client an invoice that is 30% higher than the estimate. The client goes nuts. Your response is that the copy was changed thirteen times in two days. And THEN there were the layout changes . . .
Nobody is happy. Your client really doesnt think they made all those changes, and after-all, youre told, it should have been right the first time.
So now you have to recreate all the time records and find all the copy versions. You discover that because things were happening so fast, vital information never made it into the traffic system or on to a conference report. Plus, you have to go through the emails of multiple agency people to see who said what to whom.
The result? You give-up and figure out exactly how much of your hard-earned revenue you are willing to sacrifice to keep the client happy.
This cycle is repeated everyday in agencies everywhere.
Which leads us to the central proposition:
How an extranet can make you rich, and keep your client happy
Lets look at this same scenario at an agency that uses an extranet.
You send your client an invoice that is 30% higher than the estimate. Along with the invoice, you send a copy of all the comments, requests, and approvals made by the client.
Time spent creating the report: 90 seconds.
Quality of the evidence: irrefutable.
Net result: you get paid, the client realizes their mistake, and everybody is happy.
This sounds way too good to be true.
Maybe. But its not. A client extranet automatically organizes all the comments, requests and approvals made by your client, your staff and your vendors. Not only that, it also compiles a complete record of who saw what, when the saw it, and what they did with it. All the information is in one place, and can be available to anyone at any time.
Entries into the extranet can be made by any user at any computer, 24 hours a day. And everyone with an interest in the project can be notified and see all the entries immediately.
The bottom-line is that having a complete record of what everyone did and when they did it can be the saving grace. It can save time, save money and save your sanity. Most importantly, it can save your relationship. All it takes is the implementation of a client service extranet.
02.6.12Computer Consulting: Should You Moonlight While Starting Up?
A tremendous number of people are able to earn sizable supplemental income by having a moonlighting computer consulting business. But even more importantly, by moonlighting, you can figure out if you enjoy computer consulting before you take the plunge into building a full-time computer consulting business.
Learn True Billable Hours
Moonlighting as a computer consultant will also give you an appreciation of true billable hours. What does this mean? For example, let’s say you spend 10 hours working, but you may only be able to bill for 4. Or you spend 10 hours and can only bill 6 or 7 of these 10 hours. That’s the reality. You can read about it until the cows come home. But unless you experience it firsthand, you will not get the full picture.
What Constitutes Non-Billable Hours?
What takes up those non-billable hours?? The other responsibilities of running a business. These include:
Marketing
Business Development
Paperwork
Organization
Billing and Collections
Accounting
Until you experience owning a computer consulting business firsthand, it’s very difficult for you to know whether you’re really going to enjoy it, and whether you’re really cut out for small business computer consulting.
The Benefits to Moonlighting
But the number one benefit of moonlighting while you still have a day job is there’s no pressure on you. If you don’t like computer consulting, oh well, no big deal. But the moonlighting experience gives you a great way to put your toe in the water without making a huge commitment. Plus, you don’t have to bet your family’s financial well-being on the whole thing.
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Noni Fruit Juice: Nature’s Gift for Everybody
Morinda citrifolia, commonly called Noni is a native fruit that grows in Southeast Asia. Noni has been gaining popularity in Western countries because of its health benefits. This fruit is widely used as traditional medicine for many health conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome, menstrual problems, arthritis, respiratory problems, poor digestion, and many more. Noni is also rich in vitamin C and contains naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and enzymes. Because of the health benefits of this fruit, Noni is now available in different consumable forms such as juice, liquid concentrate, tablet, and capsule form. The juice, which is reddish brown in color, is usually mixed with other juices to make it taste better.
02.4.12Stealing the Home From Under You: The Growing Problem of Title Fraud
Copyright 2006 Donna Lewczuk
Imagine this. A Canadian homeowner a successful professional with a lovely home in a nice neighbourhood arrives home after work one day to find a For Sale sign on his lawn. Imagining that it may be a practical joke, he asks his wife if shes unhappy with the house! But his wife has no idea why the sign is there, or who put it up. It turns out that the couple are the victims of title fraud a crime thats on a worrisome rise here in Canada.
How is it possible? While there are several variations on the crime, the basics are usually the same. The fraudster will target a home and falsify legal documents to create a convincing paper trail to prove their ownership of the home. They then proceed to mortgage the home and disappear with the money. Often, the rightful owners will have no idea whats going on until a financial institution tracks them down to demand payments on a loan they never knew existed. In some cases, the fraudsters have actually stolen their identity: an especially difficult twist for the homeowner, who must also clear his/her name.
The easy access to electronic data — on both people and property — may be contributing to the rise in title fraud, which is costing homeowners and financial institutions millions of dollars each year. And though its a serious challenge to the lenders, it can be financially devastating to the homeowner.
Fortunately, Canadians have access to some protection against title fraud. A growing number of Canadian homeowners are purchasing title insurance: a product that offers some specific protections against title fraud and other potential pitfalls:
A new survey shows a minor zoning violation that will require a variance a process that will delay the close of the sale. Title insurance may allow the sale to close on time. Several months after moving in, a new owner discovers that the heating ducts were cut off in an amateur renovation, done without permits. Title insurance could cover the cost of the repair and related expenses. An older property has the lenders worried: though theres no evidence of any problem, there is no survey for the property, and no record of permits for water or septic. Title insurance may provide lenders with the confidence to proceed with the mortgage.
Not surprising, title insurance is gaining support among both lenders and lawyers, who see the value of this kind of increased homeowner protection. Although some protection exists through your lawyers errors and omissions insurance and the Land Registry has an assurance fund in place that may be helpful homeowners have learned the hard way that accessing these monies can take time, legal hire, and money (potentially a lot) on their part. On the other hand, title insurance available at a modest, one-time cost gives you immediate payout on a wide range of title problems. Best of all, title protection insurance is not limited to new purchasers only its now available to current homeowners as well. In case youre wondering, the couple in the story above which is based on one of the case files of Canadas leading title insurance company did eventually regain title to their house. But its a cautionary tale. Next time you make any changes to your mortgage, make sure to inquire about title insurance.
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An Age Old Secret For Accessing Knowledge
Over the centuries, human beings have developed many techniques to gain access to their inner wisdom and improve learning.
One technique that many people have found very beneficial is to have an imaginary guide that they can call on for advice and insight.
A modern variation of this technique has been developed by intelligence researcher Dr. Win Wenger and it is detailed in his book The Einstein Factor
This exercise is sometimes called Putting on the Experts Head
This technique enables you to access some of the enormous untapped potential that resides in the mind of every individual. This technique can even accelerate your ability to develop a new skill. It gives you access to parts of yourself that you are normally not aware of.
The first step is to decide what knowledge or skill you would like to develop in yourself. What are you interested in that you would like to do better? You might wish to improve your skill at archery, portrait painting, doing mathematics, or playing a musical instrument.
Once you have decided what skill or knowledge you would like to develop, take some time to think about those people you consider an expert in this chosen field. Whose skills do you admire? Who do you think of as a great role model and expert in the field?
The person need not be currently living. Before you move ahead with this exercise, you may wish to research the life of the person you have chosen.
You might even decide you want to see the world from the perspective of your favorite animal or bird, such as a wolf or an eagle.
When you are ready to do the Experts Head exercise, prepare yourself by deeply relaxing your body and your mind. Take some time to get comfortable in a place where you will not be disturbed. Internally scan your body for tension, and allow your muscles to relax. Breathe calmly and smoothly in a relaxed way.
Now think: is there a particular place where you would like to meet your imaginary expert? You might want to meet this guide in your own home, but feel free to imagine another site. For example, you could visualize meeting in a beautiful garden, in a forest, on top of a mountain, or some other location.
You can improve your ability to visualize imaginatively by speaking out loud your inner impressions to a tape recorder, or to another person. Eventually, even the slightest glimmer of imagination will be reinforced and amplified by consistent practice of this exercise.
If you are not yet able to easily imagine a location in which to meet your chosen expert, dont worry. Simply move forward to the imagined encounter with this person, whenever you are ready.
Your imaginary encounter may go exactly as planned, or there may be surprises in store for you. Perhaps someone you werent expecting shows up. Perhaps your chosen expert does not want to participate. If no one appears in your minds imagination, ask for someone to come forward, and then wait.
When your imaginary guide appears, handle the encounter with as much politeness and respect as you would a real life encounter with a real person. Do you feel comfortable in the presence of this expert? Do you have the sense that the expert feels comfortable with you?
Even if these guides are figments of your inner mind, you still need to be sure you are accessing a part of yourself that wants to promote only the best for you.
If you get any sense of discomfort between you, thank the expert for coming, and politely dismiss him or her. Think of another expert you admire in your chosen field and create an imaginary encounter with that person. You may even have to create a totally fictitious character to be your imaginary expert.
Once you have established a meeting with your chosen expert, mentally picture yourself and your visiting expert standing facing each other in an attitude of great respect. Gently put your arms out and slowly remove the experts head from his or her body. Since this is only an imaginary person or animal, the head should come off quite easily.
Place the experts head above your own, facing the right way, and lower it over your own head. Now believe that you are looking out at the world through the eyes of your chosen expert, hearing through the experts ears, smelling through the experts nose.
Take the time to allow the experts mind to slowly merge with your own mind. Now gently pull the experts body towards you, and step into it. Feel as if it fits you perfectly. Feel that you have merged with the experts body and can feel and do the same things.
When you feel that you are actually in the experts body, notice what seems different to you. Does the world look different in any way? Do any of your attitudes feel different? How does your body feel different? Can you feel the confident attitude of the expert? Memorize the sensation.
Focus on the differences you notice and start to talk about them out loud. Spend at least five minutes doing this step. When you have finished, gently step out of the borrowed imaginary body and carefully remove the experts head from you own. Respectfully return the head and body to the expert. Thank that person for allowing you to have this experience.
You can use the Experts Head technique to improve your skills at some desired activity, or to accelerate your ability to learn to do something you have never done before.
First spend a few weeks performing the Experts Head exercise daily to familiarize yourself with it. Once you are accustomed to the process of donning the experts head, you are ready to use this technique to accelerate your skills development.
First spend a few minutes performing the desired skill entirely in your mind. Feel as if you are actually performing perfectly it and that you really know how to do it. Then move to the Experts Head exercise, and spend about 10 15 minutes, performing the activity in real life, but mentally be the character of the expert, wearing the experts head and body.
After about fifteen minutes, gently remove the experts head and step out of the experts body. Thank the expert for the use of his or her body, mind and talent. Ask the person to continue filling your mind with more of their expert knowledge and ability even when you are not practicing this exercise.
Before the experience starts to fade from your memory, spend a few minutes writing down or speaking out loud everything you can remember. Write down or speak everything you can remember that was really different when you were in the experts mind and body, rather than as yourself.
When you wish to improve a particular skill, first spend about 15 minutes mentally doing it as yourself. Then slip into the experts head and body to continue the exercise in real life for another fifteen to thirty minutes. If you repeat this process about three times a day, you will experience a greatly accelerated ability to master the skills you desire.
Please realize that advice and knowledge received in this manner is not infallible. Do not feel obligated to act on any advice received from your inner dialogue with your imagined guides unless you are absolutely convinced it is appropriate for you at this time.
This technique can greatly increase access to your inner creativity and wisdom, but you will still need to make informed and reasoned decisions about what you do.
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Flameless Candles, A Revolution?
Are you scared to sleep at night with a candle burning in your room? Do you still want to enjoy the warmth of the candle light? Flameless candles are the best solution for you. There is nothing more pleasant than basking in the warm light of a flameless candle. They are useful for other events as well, at work for instance where other types of candles are not allowed, when you go for a picnic or on a boat ride. Flameless candles are perfect for a range of situations, without your having to worry about the wind blowing them off or your kids getting burned. They may be a little bit more expensive than the regular ones, but they’re worth every penny.
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Get Red Carpet Glam Without Paying Designer Prices
Some say getting red carpet glam is close to impossible on a tight budget. But it actually can be quite simple if you know exactly how to stretch your wardrobe dollars.
It’s trendy to try to get a good deal and the savviest shoppers take pride in paying next to nothing for their fashion finds. Whether you’re getting ready for a wedding or high school prom, or just want to freshen your wardrobe, here are some tips to help you create your own personal style on a budget.
* Give online auctions a try. Creating your personal style is easier with unique items like those being auctioned online. You’ll come across many hard-to-find items at hard-to-beat prices.
* Plan ahead. Scour sales racks for traditionally expensive items like cashmere or in-vogue bathing suits. Shop for winter items in April and summer items in September. End-of-season sales yield great buys on pieces you’ll wear for years.
* Mix and match. Mix high-end pieces with inexpensive items. Cheap and steep easily go together to help create a unique, personalized style.
* Accessorize. This is the single most important part of completing your unique style. An impressive handbag, stunning brooch or striking shoe can dial up any outfit. And these extra touches don’t have to cost a fortune.
Just ask Star Jones Reynolds, co-host of ABC’s “The View” and red carpet fashion correspondent for E! this past awards season. Jones Reynolds is renowned for her fashion-at-a-value sensibility and has been mixing designer pieces and inexpensive items for a long time. In fact, on the red carpet at this year’s Oscars, she paired a couture evening gown with $20 shoes. The gown was by revered designer Richard Tyler. The shoes? They were from her very own Starlet Spring Collection available only at Payless, proving that you can get glamorous red carpet fashion for less.
Payless is a smart place to scout for inexpensive accessories for any occasion, said Jones Reynolds. The Starlet Spring Collection boasts all the top dress footwear trends of the season for under $25 a pair, including slides, T- and ankle-straps, embellishments like bows, brooches and jewels, and the hottest colors of the season, including metallics and colored foils.
Keeping these tips in mind will help you maximize your style from head to toe – without maxing out your credit cards.
02.4.12ESL Bingo!
One of our customers recently wrote to me with some
feedback on our bingo games. I thought her comments were so typical and highlighted some misunderstandings and problems with ESL bingo.
Her comments were –
It took a long time for my students to learn how the game is played but once they did they had a lot of fun.
This is a very typical comment and illustrates a
ms-conception. If native speakers were to play the same bingo game, it would be simple because we understand the vocabulary and the rules. And if we had questions about the rules, we could easily consult the rules and clarify our concerns.
However, for a native speaker, the situation is very different. They don’t understand the vocabulary, not the rules, where are in a foreign language. So, it is going to take some time to set up, and probably the first game will be difficult, but after that, our experience is students can’t get enough!
Here are some pointers and suggestions for playing bingo:
* Prepare before you start. Before class, review the vocabulary and make a note of any difficult words. Before actually playing the game, introduce the words. This can be made into a game as well. Instead of simply telling students the definitions, say something like, “If you are going to win, you will need to know these words. Here are some clues for winning.” or “I’m going to tell you 3 clues, are you listening?”
* The first game MAY be difficult, but preparation will help. With proper preparation, you will see a huge change on the second or third game. They are so eager to win they will learn the rest of the vocabulary themselves.
* Students love to help each other, and love to be the one that ‘knows.’ Use this to your advantage by allowing students to work together for the first game. Depending on the group, you may want to allow some helping and working together on the second game as well. After that, students should have a grasp of the game and some of the vocabulary
to play without sharing or helping.
We have found Bingo to be an excellent supplemental activity for ESL students. If played at the end of the class, students leave their English class feeling positive and look forward to coming back.
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Skate Board A Hobby Turn Serious
Skateboard shed its transport equipment image of the late 40s and 50s to become what it is today, the recreational tool. The early skateboard championships were soap box derbies held in cities during that era of crude skateboards, which sometimes used to double up as surf boards too.
Skateboards as Sports Gear
With mass production becoming a reality in the 1960s skateboards underwent a lot of transformation for better; from solid wood or metals to plywood for decks, flat no shape to concavity, clay composite steel wheels to polyurethane made ones and finally single action trucks (axles) to aluminum constructed two part trucks. There is so much more in the safety, comfort and durability departments that you need to look into when buying skateboards.
Well, how do these things help? At first, the question may strike an irrelevant chord, but not so when you see the difference. Just taste this for samples: Without that innovative concavity would it have been possible for those champion skateboarders to takeoff from flat ground? Forget that for a minute, speeding along the streets wouldnt have been a reality but for the grip tapes now you find on the decks, which prevent you from slipping even as you takeoff.
Did you know, what helped easy turning at such high speeds? Of course you do your skillful foot work but the rubber cushion in between the two part truck flexes when you turn by front foot while pressing by the back foot. It is this flexibility that gives you additional turn which was harder in older skateboards.
Skateboard Ramps
If you are not on the streets you are skateboarding on the ramps. Ramps are carpentry constructions made in plywood. As you are aware, there are just as many ramp plans as you like and the simplest one is the obvious bank plan (flat plan), half pipe, quarter pipe, pyramid plans etc, all of which are named after their shapes.
Then you have the launcher ramp for the lion hearted guys and girls. Skateboarding over this launches you into the skies vertically. If you dont want to fly, you still have an option that interests you. You can ride the walls with two identical ramps placed at a distance apart.
Skateboarding Championships
Championships have encouraged many aspirants to take-up the sport and excel there. Television coverage has catapulted skateboarding to top youth sport. The most famous competition are them all is the annual X-Game Skateboard Championships. Skateboarders from all around the world take part this is event to gain recognition and fame, not to mention lucrative sponsorships and turn this one time hobby to a serious career path.
02.4.12How To Uncover Your Passion For Ultimate Success – Part 1!
Once you have prepared your body and mind for success, it’s time for the next step and to choose the right target to shoot for. The more clear you are on what you’re shooting for, the better your chances will be of hitting the mark.
I would lock myself in my room and take the phone off the hook…or even better, find a place away from your normal environment, a quiet peaceful place, preferably around nature – in the woods or a nice park, etc.
Once I’m there, I would take a few moments to relax and soak it all in. Get your mind to a calm, comfortable, relaxed state. Then, I would start by making a list of all the things I enjoy doing, all of my interests and hobbies, all of my passions. Since we’re starting from scratch, we might as well pick a subject/business that we would enjoy doing, right?
I would spend at least a good few hours on really getting this information out of myself. Think of what your ideal jobs or careers are. What have you enjoyed doing in the past? What did you enjoy a lot as a kid? What are the things that really make you come alive?? Add everything to the list. Don’t worry about how you’re going to make money doing those things yet. Just put together as thorough a list as you can.
See…you want to do what you enjoy, what you love.
Pick the kind of lifestyle you want first – then build the business around that!
Only after your list is done, should you think of turning those hobbies/interests/passions into a business. Pick the top 5 choices out of your list and think of how you can help others by doing them. For example, if you really enjoy cooking and that was one of your top 5 choices, you can now start thinking of ways to turn that into a business.
You could, for example, share your recipes with others, teach them to cook like you, or you could even cook for them. Personally, I love selling information. So, I would probably decide to sell an informational product, say a book of recipes, a ‘learn-to-cook’ type of manual, or something along those lines.
My belief is that when you do something you really enjoy doing and you find a way to help others while doing it, making money is just a natural end result.
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