Am I the only one who just noticed that it’s Wednesday? The holiday week with the free day is completely screwing me up.
Just to make this a relevant post:
Spend less!
Save more!
Invest!
Wee!
Delayed Gratification, Take II
How much would you pay for a kiss from the world’s sexiest celebrity?
That was the focus of a recent study that I can’t find today. There is no celebrity waiting in the wings to deliver the drool, and the study doesn’t name which celebrity it is. That’s an exercise for the reader.
This was a study into how we value nice things.
The fascinating part of the study is that people would be willing to pay more to get the kiss in 3 days than they would to get the tongue slipped immediately.
Anticipation adds value.
Instant gratification actually causes us to devalue the object of our desire.
This goes well beyond “Will you respect me in the morning?”
The last time I talked about delayed gratification, it was in the context of my kids. That still holds true. Kids don’t value the things that are handed to them.
The surprising–and disturbing–bit is that adults don’t, either. If I run out to the store to buy an iPad the first day I see one, I won’t care about it nearly as much as if I spend a week or two agonizing over the decision.
The delay alone adds to the perceived value. The agony turns the perceived value into gold.
If I spend a month searching for the perfect car, the thrill of the successful hunt adds less value than the time it took to do the hunting.
Here’s my frugal tip for today: Delay your purchases. While it may not actually save you any money, you will feel like you got a much better deal if you wait a few days for something you really want.
Cut Your Business Costs with Eco-Friendly Energy
This is a guest post.
Improving your carbon footprint can fall low on the list of professional priorities for many business owners. Yet, as we all become increasingly aware of the implications of ecological practices, opting to go green is an appropriate business decision.
As suppliers and business to business contractors tailor their products in favour of conservational customs, it is likely that adopting eco-friendly operations within your company will benefit both your books as well as the environment.
By making small, uncomplicated steps, government research proposes that, together, UK businesses could save in the region of £23 billion per annum. This proposed figure suggests that snubbing sustainable efforts is at an economic cost to owners individually, in addition to any ecological expense.
As the importance of your carbon footprint is established, deciding which areas within your company can be conveniently ecologically enhanced is a simple way to get started.
Speak With Your Energy Provider
Many energy providers now offer guidance to their customers surrounding any eco-friendly improvements that could be made.
Business electricity from British Gas comes complete with free energy efficiency advice to help ‘cut down your energy consumption and reduce your electricity bill’. The advantages of this initial consultation are augmented by the ongoing provisions incorporated in all business electricity from British Gas packages.
Select a supplier who is willing to help you and your business reduce the impact of your Climate Change Levy (CCL) and is eager to invest in renewable energy resources.
Say ‘Goodbye’ to Guesstimates
According to research completed by British Gas in 2011 ‘companies typically spend as much as 46 per cent of their energy usage outside of business hours’.
Although it is relatively easy to predict the periods when your business’ energy usage is at its greatest, monitoring your actual consumption may highlight any unexpected wastage.
A facility such as Business Energy Insight™ – available with business electricity from British Gas – does exactly what it says on the tin, giving consumers an awareness of their confirmed energy consumption.
Combined with accurate meter readings from Smart Metering or similar, energy insights eliminate any estimation and uncertainty. Through this perceptiveness, business consumers are able to monitor, measure and model their energy utilisation, saving money and resources.
Don’t Go It Alone
Being unsure of how to go green is one of the reasons many businesses choose to linger with standard systems. As well as expert assistance from energy advisory services, schemes are in place which can structure your steps into the world of energy efficiency.
The IEMA Acorn Scheme presents a progressive profile of six stages for business owners to accomplish. These stages ensure that legal requirements are covered and can be completed over a phased period to fit with other business demands.
On completion of the scheme, an IEMA Acorn Certificate is attained to confirm your businesses compliance with British Standard (BS) 8555. Your details are also entered onto the IEMA Acorn Register.
Organically Positive PR
Every organisation needs their Unique Selling Points. Though your services, products or facilities may speak for themselves, going green is the current way to enrich your business.
Clients and customers want to buy from those they trust and often those who follow an ethical ethos. Choosing to ‘go green’ and consistently demonstrating and delivering ecological practises will verify the concerned culture of your company.
While investing your time into employing eco-friendly systems may not reap instant rewards, the positive connotations surrounding conservation will always ensure that you are ahead of the game when in competition with a company that doesn’t deliver on these principles.
Whether you choose to be officially certified via IEMA Acorn or you simply state your environmental policies on your website and company literature, being ecologically aware can cause an upturn in capital as well as cutting resource costs.
Taking Things Further
When you are hoping to tackle more than the basics and want to do more to aid our environment, there is a myriad of informational services willing to help.
Making this move doesn’t have to cost the earth, business grants are available to help you render these affirmative changes. Check online at www.grantsgreenmachine.com for any that may be applicable for your industry.
Locally, councils may be able to offer either erudition or funds specifically appropriate to your project within your region.
Conservation doesn’t have to be costly; check your books and you may find that going green could profit both your environment and your enterprise.
Does Amanda Bynes Need a Conservatorship?
The publicly documented downward spiral of Amanda Bynes may be reaching its breaking point. She has been on psychiatric lockdown for the past three days, and her parents are petitioning for conservatorship in California
on the grounds that they believe she is suffering from acute schizophrenia. They claim that the troubled starlet is unable to make safe decisions regarding her own well-being, not to mention the safety of others. The issue is complex, but the former childhood star has demonstrated that she meets the criteria to have external guardians instated to protect her from unpredictably irrational behaviors.
This development is the latest in a long saga of antics for Bynes, and the recent news report inserts a tragic twist into her somewhat comedic downfall. She had a pristine public persona only a year ago; however, at this time, she was caught publicly smoking marijuana. No one expected this incident to escalate, and it was treated like an innocent youthful infraction; however, the act recently turned criminal when she was reported for smoking in the lobby of her apartment complex.The comedian ran from the arriving police officers, and hurled a large cannabis apparatus out of a skyscraper window. The water-pipe was never found, but it presumably shattered upon impact. Bynes was incarcerated by the New York Police Department. During this time, the actress accused law enforcement of sexual assaulting her in a very lewd manner. Her absurd claims were never substantiated. The case against her is pending, and she has been evicted from her residence.
This was not the first criminal case against Bynes; she is also dealing with hit-and-run allegations in California. It was also not her last interaction with the police. Most recently, the actress doused an elderly woman’s driveway in gasoline and set it ablaze. She accidentally covered a puppy in the flammable liquid, so she ran down the block looking for something to save the animal from catching fire. After ransacking a convenience store, officers accosted her. The exchange resulted in the psychiatric hold that has been placed on Bynes.
Unfortunately, grounds for conservatorship can be exceedingly challenging to meet. Clear proof of mental illness needs to provided, and the standards are rigidly strict; however, if anyone has showcased the fanatical craziness that constitutes a lack of personal responsibility, it is Amanda Bynes.
Her schizophrenia is no longer dormant. The actress has become obsessed with plastic surgery, and she has deformed her face with cheek piercings. She uses online social networks to decry public figures for their ugliness. Victims of this attack include even Barack and Michelle Obama. Furthermore, she makes offensive sexual remarks towards rappers, and she wants to be a hip-hop artist herself. She has spent fortunes on a wig collection, and she employs a different style at every court appearance. The actress even used one as a disguise for an incognito trip to a trampoline emporium.
Anyone that has seen her Nickelodeon program would not be shocked to learn that she was schizophrenic. The role had her switching between dozens of identities for different skits, and she even played a character that was, in effect, obsessively stalking the star herself. “The Amanda Show” was neurotically fast-paced. Ultimately, the entire program can now be viewed as an eerie foreshadowing to the budding of a latent psychological disorder. If the legal standards of insanity are not met, then she will be free to wreak havoc on herself and others.
Walking Dead: Would You Be Ready for the Apocalypse?
Would you be ready for the apocalypse? The Walking Dead asks that question every week. There is a great deal of human intrigue in the show, but the show is always asking you, the viewer, if you would be ready to deal with an apocalypse on that order. The idea goes much farther than dealing with zombies. Truly, zombies are the easy part of the apocalypse.
Lost People
We live in a world where we are very connected. You know people from all over the world, and it the entire world has been overrun by an apocalypse at once, all the people you are connected to around the world are effectively gone. There is no chance you will ever see them again. The people on the show deal with those ideas every day. There are so many people they miss that they never go to to say goodbye to.
Insecurity
The one thing that the apocalypse creates is insecurity. You will have no idea what is going to happen the next morning. You never know when someone in your crew is going to be bitten or killed. You have no idea when you will run into other humans you cannot trust. There is not a safe place on Earth. Even if you lock down a house, there is no way to know for sure that zombies would not get in.
Violence
The Walking Dead graphically depicts the violence that is necessary to kill zombies. You would have to “kill” thousands of people who have become zombies. You can see their wedding rings. You can see them in their uniforms, and you know that they used to be somebody. However, you have to end them in order to save yourself. Many of us believe we could do that, but we need to think twice before we assume we could be that violent.
Order
The lack of order in the world is the thing that would break most of us. We can reconcile loss, but that loss is hard to reconcile when there is no order in the world. There is not one authority on the planet that is still operating. How would you be able to resolve problems without such a structure?
On the show, all these problems are handled violently. Murdering violent people is all part of the job if you want to stay alive. It is one thing to kill a zombie that is no longer a person, but it is something else to kill a real person who is simply a thieving criminal.
You might think that you would do just fine when you are watching The Walking Dead, but you would not know unless it happened in real life. The zombie apocalypse is not all fun and games. At its heart is a tense human emotion called loss that we would all have to confront head on.
Future Dreams
While jogging with my wife a few days ago, we had a conversation that we haven’t had in years. We discussed our dreams.
It’s an important conversation for couples to have. What are your hopes? What are your dreams? Where do you want to be in 10 years? In 20? In 50? Planning for the future gives you a map for the present.
My wife and I hadn’t had this conversation in years. A few days ago, we did. Our life-goals are simple and achievable.
I want to leave the corporate world and support my family with writing and the training classes I do. I want a chunk of land outside of any major metropolitan area, but close enough for the entertainment and shopping. I want enough land to expand my classes on my own property, relying on no one.
My wife wants enough land to have some horses. It was unspoken, but I think she wants my goals to take off so they can support her goals, too.
We want a comfortable retirement and we want to help the kids with college.
We’re a bit behind the game for college funding. That’s ok, though. There is nothing wrong with a kid working his way through college and learning those life lessons.
We are also behind on the retirement. But, if I can support us doing the things I love, I don’t need $X million. Retirement isn’t a cessation of activity, it is taking the time to do the things you love on your own schedule. If writing a book while sitting on my private range is enough to fund our life, that’s the perfect retirement.
