Don't Go Out of Your Way to Be A Target

From the "if you are ripping of investors left and right, don't flaunt your ill gotten gains on TV" file...

Here is a story about a guy who was rolling in (other people's) dough. He then went on a beyond annoying (but apparently popular with the kids) show on MTV called "My Sweet 16" with his daughter. The premise of this show is to illustrate the extremes of poor parenting as adults scramble to buy anything and everything their rude, obnoxious teens want. Anyway, the feds caught wind of his "buy my daughter everything she wants including a new Beemer before my 15 minutes of fame are up" debut on TV, even though he was bankrupt. Destitute even. At least according to his tax returns...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/30/business/30gas.php
http://gawker.com/373993/brat-teens-party-appropriately-leads-to-federal-investigation

So the moral of the story is to keep a low profile in most all cases--especially if you have reason to hide from the feds.

20 Things I Learned from My Granddad

Although my Granddad passed away years ago, there are still so many things that I learned from him that are ingrained into my own habits to this day. Here are 20 of his kernels of wisdom:

• Always shake your boots out before you put them on.
• Always have cash in your wallet.
• Pay cash for all of your purchases--never use credit (a house is about the only exception).
• Keep your firearms clean and dry.
• Family comes first.
• The only pan you need for cooking is a cast iron frying pan.
• You can't rush nature.
• Grow as much of your own food as possible.
• Keep your personal information, financial status, and political opinions to yourself.
• Go fishing as often as possible.
• Take time every day to talk to God and read the Bible.
• Talk to your garden plants and animals, it makes them grow better.
• Know some tricks to amuse the grandkids.
• Every man should have a pocket knife, pistol, and guitar--and know how to use all three.
• The best cookin' is home cookin'--restaurant food is a poor substitute.
• When you die, leave behind your good name and enough cash/land/resources to take care of your family.
• Buy land--they ain't makin' any more of it.
• Don't throw your money away on useless stuff, spend it on items that will hold or increase their value.
• Never rely on the government or charity to support you.
• Know an in-demand skill so you will always be able to support yourself.

Well, those are the first 20...I'm sure I learned about a million things from him which I will continue to list from time to time.

Let's Prepare...For Death

This topic came up because I met with my attorney today to update my Will and realized that it had been almost ten years since the last time I did this. Obviously you can just do nothing and when you die, it will be someone else's problem, however, one of the kinder things you can do for your loved ones is to be prepared enough so that all they will have to do is basically show up at your funeral to give you a final farewell. I have seen more than enough situations where someone dies and you'd have thought the rest of the family was raised by a pack of feral dogs. Underhanded tactics, legal maneuvering, even stealing from the estate...obviously grandma never thought this would happen after she died but all too often this is a common occurrence. Here's what you need to do to be prepared:

• Have a legally binding Will. This document will provide instruction on how you would like your assets and personal affects distributed after your death. Depending on your estate, an attorney can be worth his weight in gold. You can get a "do it yourself" Will kit and prepare this document yourself, however a good attorney can enlighten you to many things you should consider that will affect your estate planning both now and after your death.
• Have a Medical and Financial Power of Attorney drawn up. these are two separate documents that you should have in addition to your Will. Give some thought to who you want to have this power. Although my spouse is named as my first choice on these documents, I chose two separate people--one for the medical and one for the financial--should my spouse and I die at the same time.
• Have a Living Will (also called an Advanced Medical Directive). This is different than a Medical Power of Attorney and specifies what kind of care you would like if you are unable to make your own decisions.
• If you have a chronic or terminal disease, consider having a POLST form. You can get this form from your doctor and it spells out what kinds of end of life measures you want taken in regards to resuscitation and the like.
• Plan your funeral. When families are grieving, they tend to spend way more than is necessary or even needed just to give the deceased a fabulous send off. Unfortunately, this leaves the family paying for the funeral long after their loved one has passed. One of the best things an old friend did was plan every detail of his funeral then pay for it. All his friends and family had to do was show up at the cemetery on the appointed day and celebrate his life (and death) without having to worry about all of the details.
• Check up on the things that will sustain your family after your death. Both you and the spouse should have a thorough understanding of what life insurance, military benefits, social security, annuities, trusts, and other sources of support that you (or the spouse) would be entitled to if one of you should die.
• Consider the kids. If you have minor children, there are a number of additional things you need to consider. Primarily, you will need to decide who would be their guardian at your untimely passing (and talk to your choice prior to them finding out about it at the reading of your Will). Ensure that you have enough life insurance to support them until they reach adulthood, and consider who will have fiscal responsibility over this money (sometimes it isn't the guardian which can get sticky so chat with an attorney about this). Generally, you will want to leave the kids out of this discussion unless death is imminent since it is more likely to freak them out then be a productive part of your planning. As a side note, many people consider their pets to be their "kids"; in the event of your death it will be important to have a plan for what to do with your pets since pets often end up at the Pound if no one volunteers to take them.
• Let your loved ones know your wishes now while you still have the opportunity to do so. Apparently this topic came up ten years ago but the spouse had mostly forgotten what I said. Today I clearly laid it out in front of them (and the attorney), that when I die I want to donate my organs or whatever else can be used by someone else, cremate the rest, stick the ashes in a box, throw a small party for me at home and be done with it. If I am on life support with no hope, pull the plug. Pretty simple. In the days ahead I will also write an obituary and leave a "to be opened upon my death" letter with information about the location of my important documents/passwords/financial info/etc. then leave the letter with my attorney.
• I'm going to start giving away the things I want other people to have. I would much rather have the opportunity to see someone enjoying something I gave them now than to have all of my stuff in a pile in the front yard and cause my loved ones to put together the mother of all garage sales in order to liquidate my assets. Worse would be to start a family feud because X took something that Y knows was supposed to go to them.

That's basically it. Most people try their best to NOT think about death, but a little pre-planning can make a world of difference for those you leave behind.

Survival Psychology

First, let me preface this post with the fact that I am in no way a psychologist, psychiatrist, or any other kind of mental health professional. I have, however, worked with many front line military and medical professionals and there are a number of traits I have noticed in those who successfully (or as successfully as can be expected) transition through traumatic incidents.

Those who have good survival psychology skills often have the following qualities:

• They are funny as hell. While during a traumatic incident they are all business, when it comes time to kick back and let lose, they are so funny. Pranks and gallows humor are just a couple of ways to safely relieve the pressure that builds up. Some of the funniest people I know are coroners and paramedics.
• They have other interests. On the job they give 110% but it isn't their entire life. They realize one way to let off steam is to concentrate completely on something different (preferably something that doesn't include blood and guts). A trauma surgeon I know is also an award winning painter, a Navy doc enjoys curling in his off time, a fire chief spends all of his free time on his boat...
• They release the pressure physically. Working out is a common way to relieve stress, but so is chopping wood, kayaking, gardening...anything that gets your mind off of the horrific last call and lets the mind and body focus on something more mundane can be cathartic.
• They know they can't control people or situations. Expectations often go out the window in traumatic/survival situations. The ability to be flexible, "go with the flow", and get the job done is paramount.
• They seek help when they need it...some more willingly than others. CISD, QI reviews, counseling, talking with others who have survived similar situations, all are options to work through psychologically traumatic events.

As a side note, those who don't seem to survive psychologically trying events very well remind me of a pressure cooker. They add a whole lot to the pot, the lid is latched on tight and the heat is cranked up high. Eventually they blow a gasket and you end up with quite a mess to clean up.

5 Simple Steps to Surviving a Disaster

Today we will look at the five basic steps that can help you survive a disaster. Note that these step are equally applicable to an immediate disaster such as a earthquake or a house fire, or a longer term disaster such as a pandemic flu or an economic depression/recession.

#1. Prepare ahead of time, practice what you will do, become as educated as possible about disaster scenarios, and drill, drill, drill! That's basically what this blog and the CNI site are about. You need to know what disasters may happen, do the research to find out what to expect, what steps to take to survive, how others have survived similar situations, and what skills/equipment/supplies you will need to survive. Most importantly, you need to practice and drill as much as possible. This includes fire drills, earthquake drills, tornado drills, financial disaster drills, my home was just carried away in the storm drills, etc.

#2. Don't panic! Whether the disaster strikes in the middle of the night (a house fire) or is looming on the horizon (a recession), don't panic. Most people panic because the event was unexpected, they have no clue what to do, they feel like they have lost all control, and their mind starts racing with all of the worst case scenarios they have ever seen on TV. Next, they flap around like a chicken accomplishing absolutely nothing that will help them, their family, or the situation. Panicked people make poor decisions, poor estimations of the situation, and sometimes create worse outcomes than if they had just crawled under the table in a fetal position.

#3. Take necessary immediate action! If the house is on fire, get out. If someone is bleeding to death, apply a compress. If the house starts shaking, get in a safe location. If someone is shooting thorough your windows, hit the ground. If the nightly news reports that the economy is on life support, do nothing (this is not a case where there is a necessary immediate action to take. You could run down to your local ATM but then you would have to brawl with the other thousand people all wanting to withdraw their money from the bank which would be a poor decision on your part). This is where drills come in. If you drill and drill and drill a variety of scenarios, then in an actual disaster, your body knows exactly what to do even if your mind is still trying to catch up with what is going on. This is why the military, police, first responders, firemen--basically anyone on the front lines, drills over and over again. They don't have time to consider a reaction, they need to react immediately.

#4. Acquire information, make educated decisions, and in many instances, resist the urge to follow the crowd. After any necessary immediate action is taken, you need to take a minute (depending on the disaster, you may have two minutes, two hours, two days, two weeks, or two months) and acquire all of the information you can about the situation. Consider the source of your information and the validity of the information (is it from a trusted source, rumor, someone else's uneducated guess?). You will then need to make educated decisions about your next steps. For example, your family has escaped your burning home and the Fire Chief says it looks to be a total loss. Your next steps will be getting the family to a safe place such as a hotel or grandma's house, then follow up the next morning with your insurance company (but since you were so prepared this will be easy...you have your BOBs, plenty of cash, and all of your insurance info including a recently updated household inventory on your backup jump drive at the office). Larger incidents will require more evaluation and possibly a variety of responses. For example, the economy is teetering on a recession, everyone is panicking and selling (homes at half price, stocks, gold), so you sit down and take a look at your situation. After careful evaluation you come to the conclusion that your home is easily affordable (and you can cover six months of house payments from your emergency fund if necessary) but you have a few outstanding bills (you decide to take a second job for six months to knock off these debts). The stocks you own may have taken a nose dive but they are pretty solid companies so you determine that you will hold the stock instead of selling at a huge loss like apparently everyone else is. Food prices are rising but you have a small garden so you decide to double the size of the garden and have the whole family pitch in to help. You heard on the news that the economy will improve if everyone will just go shopping but looking at your finances, you decide this is not the time to follow the crowd and spend money frivolously. Get the idea?

#5. Do what you can do and make corrections as you go. You can only do what you can do. If you didn't have enough money to cover six months of house payments in an emergency fund, you lose your job, you end up in foreclosure, and lose your home, then you do what you can do. You find another place to live and you determine that finding a job and building up an emergency fund will be the next most important steps you can take. If a pandemic strikes and you have made as many preparations as possible and a family member gets sick, then you do whatever you can do to take care of the sick person. If your house burns down and your BOBs were in the living room and you only have the clothes on your back, you do what you can do (receive shelter from the Red Cross, acquire the basic necessities such as food, toiletries and clothing, get back to work, and rebuild your life). If your home was flooded for the fifth time, consider moving to higher ground.

Finally, look on the bright side--people have been known to travel the world carrying only what will fit in their pockets. Job loses often lead to a job that is an even better fit than the job that elevated your blood pressure every time you entered your cubicle, The bottom line is that if you have survived the disaster and are still alive, then there are always options that will move you forward, it may not be the direction you thought you would go, however that is what life is--learning from your experiences, making adjustments, and continuing on.

Day Zero 101 in 1001

I stumbled upon this website... http://triplux.stilljournal.com/dayzero/ and thought it was a wonderful idea. The purpose of this site is to get people to set 101 goals that they will complete in 1001 days (about 2.75 years). Anyway, I put together a list of my own--I didn't feel it was necessary to post it on the site--and surprisingly have started accomplishing the goals I have listed. Most are simple things that I needed to do but just never got around to (update my Will, have a vision screening done) and a few are longer term goals (become fluent in Arabic, renew my diving certification, summit Everest). Anyway, take a look at the site and think about all of the things you want to accomplish...maybe even make a list.

Pay Cash, Save Your Privacy

Well I could go off on the former Governor of New York but Letterman and Leno have covered the topic pretty well. The lesson learned from that incident, however, should not be missed--if the guy would have paid cash, he would not have earned the title of former Governor before his term was up. Here's why you need to pay for as many things as possible:

• Using a credit card leaves a paper trail that anyone can refer back to at any time.
• If you have more income than is stated on your W2 (we're talking lots more here) and you put it in your bank account to cover your debit card/check transactions, the IRS may wonder where the extra money is coming from.
• Using any form of payment other than cash allows retailers to glean information about you and you can eventually find yourself being overwhelmed with advertising and marketing material reserved for their "special" customers.
• If you only spend the cash you have, you will avoid bouncing checks, overdrawing your account, racking up credit card debt, and eventually finding yourself with a less than desirable credit score, dismal credit report, or worse, in collections or filing bankruptcy.
• You do not need to provide additional information about yourself when you pay cash. How many times have you wrote a check or used a credit card and the salesperson needed to look at your ID as well? By writing down the information on your driver's license, the clerk will then know your age, address, and in some states, your social security number.

A Few Words on Accents

Occasionally the use of an accent will come in handy. Obviously you don't want to sound like someone trying to have an accent. Here's a couple interesting links that address this topic:

• Sound Comparisons http://soundcomparisons.com/
• Can You Guess Where She's From http://www.gadling.com/2008/03/04/can-you-guess-where-shes-from/
• For more info, Google 'how to speak with an accent'

DPT--Go Outside This Evening

Here's a pet peeve that quickly turned into a blog post idea. While driving through a neighborhood this evening, I lost count of how many homes were well lit up inside and had basically no curtains so anyone who cared to look could see all the way through their homes. In each home I could have told you what kind of TV the family had, what TV show they were watching, how many family members were home, what they were eating for dinner, which bedrooms belonged to the children...get the idea? So tonight make it a point to go outside and walk all the way around your home. Take a look in to see what you, your neighbors, and the burglar casing your neighborhood, can see and take steps to secure your home, and more importantly, your privacy.

Your Travel First Aid Kit

My first aid kit goes everywhere with me. Although I rarely need it (except as noted a couple of posts ago), it has been quite useful to treat others traveling with me and on a couple of occasions I've even used these meager supplies to treat some of the locals.
It stands to reason that the closer you are to civilization, the more basic your kit should be—why haul a five pound kit around if you can walk across the street to a pharmacy in your location of choice and buy what you need? By the same token, if you will be traveling off the beaten path, in remote areas of any country, in war zones, or in truly impoverished areas, you are going to need a pretty hefty kit to see you through whatever medical situations you may encounter.

Before you leave:

• Update all of your standard vaccinations
• Get a tetanus booster if needed
• Get your series of Hepatitis shots
• Get additional vaccinations (flu shot for example) if needed
• Renew your prescriptions and carry enough prescription meds to see you through your trip
• Only consider the heavy-duty vaccinations/treatments (ie: for malaria) if it is absolutely necessary

In your first aid kit carry:

• For sunburn: high SPF suntan lotion and Noxzema to soothe the burn you will get from not using the suntan lotion.
• For intestinal upset: acidophilous tablets (helps restore the bacteria in your gut, can be found at Walmart and health food stores); try these for a day or two then switch to Imodium if needed. Tums is also useful to have on hand.
• For general pain such as headache, body ache, sprained ankle, backache, fever: Ibuprofen and Tylenol. If someone is having a heart attack, give them aspirin.
• For allergy and congestion: use Sudafed for congestion and Benadryl for allergies. If you have serious allergic reactions, bring along an Epi Pen
• For wound care: anti-septic wipes, alcohol wipes, bandaids, gauze pads, cloth tape, triple antibiotic ointment, Ace bandage, petroleum jelly, moleskin
• Tools: Surgical scissors, needle, thread, magnifying glass, flashlight, tweezers, Nitrile gloves, hand sanitizer, water purifyer
• Male/Female stuff: use condoms at all times—if you don’t you will either leave behind a kid or bring home a disease; both unpleasant thoughts. Monostat to treat yeast infections.
• Prescription meds: a good general antibiotic (and the knowledge to know when and when not to use it), a good general pain killer (ditto with the knowledge part), regionalized medicines such as an anti-malarial drug, deworming pills, etc.

That's pretty much the basics. If you need items that are any more advanced than these (scalpels, LMAs, needles and syringes) then it's best to bring along someone with advanced medical training and, of course, an advanced first aid kit.

51 Ways to Save Money on Food

Yesterday we saved money on fuel, today we will save money on food...

1) Don’t eat out, cook at home. This is the single most effective way to save money on food.
2) Cook from scratch instead of buying pre-prepared food.
3) Use coupons but only for really good deals or for items you would buy anyway.
4) Buy in bulk. If you have a small family, share the cost and the item with a friend or relative.
5) Check out ethnic grocery stores for great deals on spices, ethnic staples, fruits, and vegetables.
6) If you must eat out, use “buy one, get one free” coupons or share a meal.
7) When you come across a great sale, stock up.
8) Cook enough to have leftovers to take for lunch the next day.
9) Bring your own from home: morning coffee and muffin, lunch, bottled water, movie treats, etc.
10) Check out cookbooks from the library and write your favorite recipes in a notebook.
11) Buy smaller amounts of fruits and veges then use them up quickly to avoid spoilage.
12) If you are having a party or a holiday dinner, make it a potluck and have everyone bring something.
13) Plan your weekly menus around store loss leaders.
14) Invest in a freezer so you are able to stock up on meat, bread, etc. when they come on sale.
15) Cook double or even triple batches of your favorite meals then freeze the extras for a later meal.
16) Glean (with permission) from a farmer’s field or orchard after the harvest.
17) Forage for free local foods (ie: berries, nuts, mushrooms, etc.).
18) Make your hobbies those that produce food: fishing, hunting, crabbing.
19) Grow a small indoor herb garden.
20) Drop the soda habit. Soda pop is expensive and it’s not good for you anyway. Drink water or tea.
21) Buy in season (ie: a watermelon in December will be very expensive, but in July will be quite cheap).
22) Shop as infrequently as possible (once a week, once every two weeks, or possibly once a month).
23) Avoid pre-packaged and pre-prepared foods (ie: bagged salads, baby carrots, etc); a head of lettuce and bag of regular-sized carrots are much cheaper.
24) Barter. Figure out what you can trade with local farmers (plumbing services, yard work, etc) for eggs, produce, or milk.
25) Shop bakery outlet stores for great deals on bread and other items.
26) Make things you would otherwise buy from scratch. Items such as cookies, sweet and sour sauce, potato salad, and even Dairy Queen Blizzards can be made at home (find recipes for these items online).
27) Attend events that provide food at low or no cost. Meetings, the fire department spaghetti feed, etc.
28) Eat less. Portion size is way out of control. There is no reason to eat 5,000 calories a day.
29) Change your diet. You don’t need meat at every meal. A couple of meat meals a week, a couple of fish meals a week and three vegetarian meals a week will more than provide for your protein needs.
30) Try foods you wouldn’t normally eat. Try tofu, dried fish, and garbanzo beans.
31) Shop at the Dollar Store (for example, a can of nuts at the grocery store was $4, the same size can at the Dollar Store was $1).
32) Know your prices. Keep a price book so you will know when you’ve come upon a good deal.
33) Grow a garden. Even if you only grow your own tomatoes, you will save money.
34) Preserve your own food. Try canning, freezing, pickling, drying, etc.
35) Base your meals around staple grains (rice, bulgher, couscous, lentils, oats, etc.). Add a little meat or fish and handful of vegetables and you’re set.
36) Check out books from the library, study the “frugal food” topic online, read blogs, participate in forums…there’s so much information out there on saving money on food.
37) Never buy junk food. If you must have potato chips or cookies—even Twinkies—make them yourself.
38) Challenge yourself to eat all of the food in your house before you go shopping again. There’s probably stuff in the cupboard you haven’t seen for four years!
39) Create meals that stretch. Soups, stews, pasta dishes, salads…all of these meals can be easily expanded to feed more people or create more leftovers.
40) If you can’t grow a garden, join a CSA (www.localharvest.org/csa) program.
41) When shopping, check out the unit price to make sure you are getting the best deal. Note that sometimes the unit price is not computed for sale items so bring a calculator.
42) Make up a weekly menu and stick to it. When you’re frazzled and have no idea what to cook for dinner you will be more tempted to order out.
43) Go grocery shopping with a list and cash; you’ll be less likely to pick up extra stuff and overspend if you aren’t using plastic to buy your food.
44) Buy a larger chunk of meat (whole chicken, side of pork) and cut it up. Why pay someone to cut up meat and sell it to you at a higher price when you can easily do this?
45) Organize your pantry. People often buy duplicate items because they are unorganized and can’t find an item because it is hidden in the back of the cupboard.
46) Have pre-cooked items on hand for a quick meal. Hard boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, rice in the rice cooker—all can be used to whip up a quick meal.
47) Check out the off-price grocery stores (Grocery Outlet is popular in our area) for food items that are much cheaper because they are over-runs, close to the expiration dates, or from other areas of the world.
48) Cut down on the snacks. One simple snack a day (a cookie, a muffin, popcorn) is plenty. Many people snack continuously throughout the day adding pounds and impinging on your food budget.
49) Make breakfast simply and inexpensively. Oatmeal, rice and eggs, pancakes…all of these items are cheaper and healthier than sugary breakfast cereals.
50) When traveling, eat cheap. Eat where the locals do, eat what the locals do (meaning no American fast food), always have food with you, and check to see if your hotel includes a free breakfast.
51) Always ask. If it’s the end of the day at the farmer’s market, ask for a deep discount on the leftover produce. If the neighbor’s tree is full of apples, ask if you can have some.

51 Ways to Cut Fuel Costs

I don't have to tell you that fuel costs--both the fuel to run your car and the fuel to run your home--are out of control. Here's some ways to conserve this precious resource (and save you lots of money in the process):

1. Keep your tires properly inflated.
2. Use Mapquest (http://www.mapquest.com/) to figure out where you're going before you leave the house instead of driving aimlessly to find your destination.
3. Take all of the excess weight (golf clubs, etc) out of your car.


4. Use Gas Buddy (http://www.gasbuddy.com/) to find the lowest gas prices in your area.


5. Do all of your errands at the same time instead of a few each day; group your errands for the most efficient use of your gas.


6. Use public transportation four or five days a week and only use your car for the day you do all of your errands.


7. Use the lowest octane gas your vehicle can tolerate.


8. Fill up your tank during the coolest time of day.


9. Don’t drive like a maniac. Reving the engine, racing, quick stops and starts—all are gas wasters.


10. Drive a more fuel efficient car.


11. Sell all of your cars and use public transportation (buses, cabs for errands) when necessary. Don’t laugh—some people could take a cab five days a week and it would still be cheaper than their lease payment, gas, and insurance.


12. Keep your car in optimal condition (tuned up, filters changed, etc).


13. Change your work scheduled to avoid driving during the busiest parts of the day.


14. Drive smoothly—smooth starts, smooth stops instead of jamming on the brakes, a firm foot on the gas instead of “on the pedal, off the pedal, on the pedal” driving.


15. Buy locally grown food (at the grocery store or farmer’s market); it’s cheaper than having your oranges driven in from Florida.


16. Shop second hand; this reduces the cost for fuel used for packaging and transportation of new goods.


17. Save a trip. Shop online, have items delivered to your home, call if you have questions instead of going to an office to have them answered, have your pizza delivered, etc.


18. Hop a ride with a neighbor who is heading in to town.


19. Use Traffic Land (http://www.trafficland.com/) to see how traffic is in your metro area before leaving the house.


20. Use Public Routes (http://www.publicroutes/) to plan your trip by public transportation.


21. Grow a garden—save the huge cost of transporting your food from all corners of the country, the cost of commercial, petroleum-based pesticides, and the fuel costs for having your produce commercially prepared and packaged.


22. Carpool. If you must drive, ride with others to save gas.


23. Look into vanpooling, worker-driver buses, and other transit options if you work for a large company.


24. Use Flex Car (http://www.flexcar.com/) or other car sharing options.


25. Challenge yourself to go one day, one week, even one month without using your car.


26. Look at options for telecommuting, either for a few days a week or permanently.


27. Quit your job. In two income families, the costs for transportation (not to mention, food, clothing and daycare) can quickly surpass the income the lowest wage earner is earning.


28. Lower the heat in your home and put on a jacket/blanket.


29. Trade in your gas-burning lawnmower for a push mower.


30. Garage your car during the warmer months and drive a moped or motorcycle instead.


31. Install an on-demand water heater—these save a considerable amount of fuel.


32. Hang your clothes outside instead of using your gas-fired dryer.


33. Look into fuel banks (http://www.firstfuelbank.com/).


34. Do your errands online—pay bills, banking, order library books, buy postage—many of your errands can be accomplished online and save you the gas you would otherwise use driving around town to do them.


35. Communicate online instead of driving to your friend’s house. Use a chat/video conferencing program to accomplish this.


36. Walk or ride a bike instead of driving—you’ll save gas and get healthy at the same time.


37. Drink tap water—it takes lots of fuel to create the plastic bottles, fill, and transport bottled water.


38. Wear natural clothing (cotton, wool), man-made fabrics are usually based on petroleum products.


39. Read about other’s fuel reduction efforts (http://noimpactman.typepad.com/) and become inspired.


40. Switch from high fuel hobbies (car racing, flying, boating) to low fuel hobbies (fishing, hiking, basketball).


41. Think reusable instead of disposable—canvas shopping bags, containers instead of plastic baggies, books instead of magazines.


42. Move closer to where you work or work closer to where you live in order to save transportation costs.


43. Avoid situations where you will be idling for long: drive-thru bank or restaurant lines, crowded mall parking lots, roads that are under construction, etc.


44. Let your kids walk, ride a bike, or ride the bus to school instead of driving them every day.


45. Vacation closer to home to reduce transportation fuel costs.


46. Use “old fashioned” methods of cooling your home (open the drapes on the cool side of the house then close them to keep out the mid-day sun, open windows in the morning and evening but close them during the heat of the day) instead of the air conditioning.


47. Mail small gifts (ie: gift cards) instead of larger items that cost more in fuel to ship.


48. Reduce electricity use (which costs fuel to generate).


49. Pull out your gas fireplace and install a super efficient wood-burning stove
    
50. Eat at home—imagine how much fuel goes into restaurants—transporting the food to the restaurant, fuel for the stoves and heating/AC system, employee’s transportation cost, etc.


51. Just think--no driving means no tickets, no accidents, and no insurance claims.

Preparing for the Flu

A couple of weeks ago I headed out of the country, planning to get a little R & R in a nice sunny location. Before the plane even taxied to the gate, I had come down with the flu. Now, I could blame the woman sitting a couple of rows behind me who looked like the poster child for pandemic flu as she hacked and moaned her way across the Pacific, however it does take a few days for the virus to gestate so I'm sure I picked it up somewhere closer to home. As I rolled around in misery for a week and a half in my four star hotel (not all bad as it is nice to have someone cook for you, serve you, and clean up your room on a regular basis when you are sick) I did have time to peruse the internet to find out more about the flu--an affliction I hadn't had for more than a decade. Here's what you need to know...

Before you get sick:

• Keep yourself in good shape and eat a healthy diet (ie: lay off the sweets and junk food and exercise)
• Get a flu shot. This is a hit or miss proposition as sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.
• Keep your distance from people. The flu virus is passed person to person through droplet contact; if you're within sneezing distance of a sick person you are much more likely to catch what they have.
• Wash your hands OFTEN. People who are sick usually cough into their hands then transfer their germs via anything they touch such as the telephone receiver, a pen, a handshake, the computer keyboard, etc.
• Don't touch your face. The virus enters your body through mucus membranes (eyes, nose, mouth) so when someone coughs on a pen and you then use the pen then set the pen down and rub your eyes, you have just transferred the virus to it's new host--you.
• Prepare ahead of time. Put together a comprehensive first aid kit and have plenty of tissue and soup on hand. When you are hacking up a lung is not the time to be schlepping to the store to buy your cold medicine and dinner.

After you get the flu:

• Figure on getting the following symptoms: fatigue, fever, headache, muscle aches, cough, runny nose, etc.
• Isolate yourself. Better to suffer alone than to be out and about sharing your germs and infecting others.
• Drink lots of liquids (water, broth, tea, juice, etc) to help your system flush out the virus.
• Don't take antibiotics. People think that antibiotics can cure everything, however antibiotics treat bacterial infections (sinus infection, lung infection, bladder infection), they do not treat viral infections.
• Consider taking an anti-viral. Most of us should just ride out the experience, suffer for a bit, and marvel at our immune response, however there are anti-viral drugs available for certain situations that a doctor can prescribe that can significantly decrease the length and severity of the flu.
• Treat the symptoms. If you're tired then rest. Have a headache/body ache/fever? Use Tylenol or Motrin. Cough and/or runny nose? Cough syrup and/or Sudafed can cover up the symptoms.
• Even though you feel like hell, avoid the clinic or hospital unless necessary. Call the nurse hotline for direction if needed, and of course call 911 if symptoms become dangerous (extremely high fever, difficulty breathing).

More info:

• http://www.flufacts.com/
• www.cdc.gov/flu/
• www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/flu.html