How To Foil Employee Theft and Detect Bad Tenants

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in I Should Keep My Opinions to Myself

 

Did you wake up today thinking about employee theft or bad tenants? No? Well neither did I. All right, I did wake up thinking about my bad tenant and how frustrated I am with the house she left in her wake.

But I didn’t make the connection to employee theft until I checked under the sink. And no, there weren’t office supplies stored under the sink.

So let me start with employee theft. . . On a flight to Chicago last month I sat next to a guy who only got called when big companies suspected big time employee theft. I’m not talking staplers and White-Out. I’m talking big money (and maybe the donuts).

He said his job wasn’t hard. In fact, he said once he’d figured out the secret – he rarely had to search for the person, he only had to figure out how they did it. That’s because 95% of embezzlers and thieves share a common trait. Yep. They all do one thing the same.

Don’t read the next line if you’re guessing. Stop right here. Did you figure it out yet?Threes_Company

The one trait they all share is this: they don’t take vacations. Yep. That’s it. They don’t get sick or take vacations because they know that an absence means someone might just figure out what they’re doing. Being absent means someone steps into their shoes. . . and does their job. And what happens when they call the boss to ask for help with something?

So, that brings me to my renter. The plumbing lines under the sink were propped up by a book, and then were duct taped together. Why is that? Why wouldn’t my tenant call me if there was a plumbing problem? Isn’t that what landlords do? Didn’t she ever watch Mr. Roper on Three’s Company?

She also didn’t call me when the lights wouldn’t turn on in the upstairs bathroom, or when the bedroom window broke. Nope. Because if I were to come over and see that house, she knew I would’ve been mad as hell.

I can tell you now, I’m no model landlord. I drove by the house every month to make sure it was standing, but that was it. I didn’t really go in. Now I know.

Unless you’ve got better advice (which I invite you to share), here’s the best advice you’re going to get today: If you’re a boss make your employees take vacation. And if you’re a landlord – stop by the houses of the people who never call – a lot!

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I don’t understand the health care thing. . .

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in I Should Keep My Opinions to Myself
Are there people who can afford health care but choose no coverage because they just don’t feel the need?

Are there people who can afford it but would rather spend their money on cable TV, AXE Jeans and fast food?

Are there people who say they can’t afford health care but it’s because they don’t manage their money well?

Are there people who have health problems they created, and thus can’t get health care?

Are there people who work hard, make good money, budget their money well and still can’t afford health care?

Are there people who live healthy but still can’t get health coverage because they have a health problem and don’t qualify?

I think the answer to all of those is YES. But it seems to me that only the last two groups really need help.

So if “food stamps” help buy food, why can’t they be used to buy health care for the folks who can’t afford it? Wouldn’t it be easy to expand that program?
And why can’t Medicare grow to handle the folks who don’t qualify for health insurance because of medical issues? That doesn’t seem so hard to do.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Medica...

Lyndon Johnson signing Medicare Bill

Wouldn’t that solve every real problem EXCEPT that health care is expensive? Once that’s the case and the expense is all that’s left – well isn’t that just a function of allowing more competition into the marketplace?
Allowing the health insurance companies work on a national level, not a state level? Taking away some of the roadblocks so that new companies can come into play?

Don’t you think Geico would like to try Health Insurance if they could do so easily? Seriously, if they regulate it like the car insurance industry – wouldn’t the prices come down?

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The Swine Flu: Another Acid Rain?

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in I Should Keep My Opinions to Myself

When I was a kid I remember the news media all in a tizzy about acid rain.  Factories were spewing Sulphur Dioxide which was killing the habitats of fish.  I think the absence of dead fish washing up on shore sent the media looking for another “big one” to hook.

Before that in the 1970’s the big things were Global Cooling and . . . . the swine flu. Can you believe that? Almost 40 years later and we’ve got people worrying about Global Warming and . . . . the swine flu. back in the 1970’s – only one person died from the swine flu.  Many have died from it this go-round, but more people will die from the regular flu TODAY than all of swine flu deaths combined.

Mean temperature anomalies during the period 1...

Don’t forget about the hole in the ozone layer. It’ll get bigger and bigger and then someday we’ll all burn to death. That’s what we were told in the

5th grade. The hole is still the same size today, and the Australians have been told the measures they took were the measures that stopped the Ozone hole from growing. Way to go Ozzies.

So what’s next Uncle Sam? I guess in the absence of war-time body bags washing up on shore, the media and government give us something to be mad at so we’re not mad at them.  And since the Swine Flu hasn’t yet taken Obama’s Health Care plan off the front page – we should be due for the next plague any time now.

Acid Flu? Swine rain? Global Ozone Cooling?

I hope you already own stock in the hand sanitizing companies.

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Re-usable Maxi-Pads; Not As Crazy as Cash For Clunkers.

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , ,
Posted in I Should Keep My Opinions to Myself

Let me provide my man-ly credentials on this subject before we begin. I’ve got a 36 day old in diapers,  a 19 month old in diapers and two older boys – and I pay taxes. Whether it’s maxi-pads or diapers – I’ve thought through the disposable arguments.  So while my original thoughts on this subject were nothing short of aghast!, I’m now thinking reusable maxi-pads is not too crazy an idea.  (Look! This lady is making a living selling them on Etsy.com). At least it’s no crazier the other environmentally friendly “Cash for Clunkers” program.

In this day and age of environmentalism gone wild – the reusable maxi-pad is almost the sanest new idea. What seems to have gone terribly wrong is the Cash for Clunkers program. Here’s a program where taxpayers as a whole are buying cars for a select few individuals who probably don’t need a new car.  These people don’t even have car payments – and they’re not the kind of people who just buy a new car every year. They’ve actually taken well enough care of their car that it has become a clunker.

And on top of that, the taxpayers are paying to destroy these cars. We’re actually creating new landfill material.  That means that the car manufacturers are now going to have to make more cars. Where’s the carbon footprint equation on that? And the people who make their living by scrap metal have just seen the rug pulled out from under them. The value of metal has gone WAY down because there’s so many crushed clunkers. What are these people going to have to do?

How many of them will have to get second jobs and start driving to another workplace?

So what’s the point of the Cash for Clunkers program, again?  If they just want to throw our money away, why don’t they just give the employees at GM $4,500? And what are the chances that the women in Obama’s administration are actually using reusable maxi-pads? While it seems crazy, it’s really not any crazier than disposable diapers – and environmentally sound at that.

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Charity and National Health Care

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in I Should Keep My Opinions to Myself

This idea of a National Health Care program is completely opposite of Thomas Jefferson’s intentions in the Declaration of Independence, in the U.S. Constitution and in the attached “Bill of Rights”. Do you realize that all three documents spend 90% of their time espousing what the government shouldn’t be doing?  The government “shall not abridge the freedom of speech, shall not take your home to quarter soldiers, shall not violate your property rights, shall not . . . shall not . . .shall not.

Painting of Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale (1805)
Image via Wikipedia

The goal of the Founders was to create a government that wouldn’t take over our lives.  Moreover, the Constitution also sets forth what the government CAN do as well.  Congress can coin money, create laws that protect us and provide for the common defense. That’s it. That’s all the government was formed to do. And basically since Roosevelt, our Presidents and elected officials have spit on the Constitution to get re-elected.

How many times, during elections, have you been told what a candidate will start doing for you? They’re always telling us how they’re going to fix things when they get into office and it’s always something the government is going to do to fix it.  How about the Department of Education, Food & Drug Administration, Social Security Retirement, and now the ownership and management of banks, auto manufacturers and soon Health Care.

None of these things are bad things to do, but they’re not what the government is authorized to do nor are they things the government should do.

I’m willing to give up some of what I have because much of what I have is as wrong as a National Health Care program. Free Government Schools, Social Security and Unemployment are “gifts” that society now treats as rights. When a National Health Care program is passed, it won’t be long before it’s considered a natural right, too.

Where are people with charitable hearts going to go when the government provides everything? And when is government going to recognize that charity, private enterprise and human nature will come to the aid when beckoned. Soup kitchens, scholarships, and small charities nationwide have been helping people with health care, school and simple things like food and shelter for years.

When did the world give up on their efforts and decide that eliminating them was better than bolstering them?

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Socialism Isn’t Our Future, It’s Been Here For A While

Posted By: dan | Tags: , , ,
Posted in Growing up Military, I Should Keep My Opinions to Myself

I’ve been trying to figure out why it bothers me so much that our President has Marxist/Socialist ideas.  I mean he’s had these ideas since at least his days at Harvard when he wrote his thesis on the redistribution of wealth. It didn’t bother me then, so why should it bother me now?

Well the answer is it doesn’t bother me. What makes me crazy is 53% of the country wants the same things he wants. That’s what drives me crazy. Somewhere there’s a guy in America that thinks we should throw the Constitution out and go with a Dictatorship. But I don’t care what he thinks. Like Obama, he’s entitled to his opinion. But if 53% of the nation believed that too . . . well that’d be a different story.

Unfortunately, it didn’t begin last November. A few years ago the City of Chicago banned the sale of foie gras in restaurants. The City of New York banned trans fats in restaurant food. The State of Tennesse is currently voting on a bill to outlaw the practice of wearing low slung jeans.  Most states have laws banning people from riding their motorcycles without helmets.

To me the crazy thing is at least 53% of us are OK with this. These are all small things, I realize. But they all have one thing in common. All the laws are telling us that we’re not allowed to decide for ourselves, we’re not allowed to take responsibility, we’re not allowed to make decisions – that’s what the government is for.

I thought the government’s job was to protect your right to own property by creating a courts and justice system. I thought the role of government was to regulate commerce and enact laws. I thought the government’s role was to protect our nation from the threat of other nations. I thought the role of government was to collect taxes from which to do the above.  I also thought the government was supposed to stay out of the way so that YOU could pursue happiness.

I choose not to order foie gros, I choose not to wear my pants low, but I choose to eat trans fats. All because I have the right to choose, still. Someday – those options and many more will be gone.

Now, 53% of the people have decided that government should decide happiness, health, fashion, and food for us. When will 53% of us be for personal responsibility again? Until then, I sit and wait in the loyal minority.

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Obama’s Voters Want Change?

Posted By: clippershiptravel | Tags: , , ,
Posted in I Should Keep My Opinions to Myself

Obama’s slogan this year was “change”. No specific change, just change in general. Well, generally people agreed with that mantra and elected him – which means we got change – a new President. The question that remains to be seen is whether he’s an Apple or a Coke.

Think about the difference change has meant between two pop-culture icons, Apple and Coke. Apple reinvented itself with the iPod several years ago. They successfully changed from an art department computer company to a mainstream technology company that has been making in roads on Microsoft ever since. Coke on the other hand has been stung by change. On April 23, 1985 Coke decided to change its formula and created New Coke. From April 23 to the middle of July – Coke felt customer backlash like no company ever had. They changed back to the old Coke. Change was definitely a taboo concept for some time at Coke.

So when we elect change, what are we going to get? Coke or Apple?  Fortunately, as Coke has shown us change doesn’t have to be permanent. However, unlike a company that relies on profits for growth, government doesn’t necessarily have the same motivation to go back, to do things the way they were – especially when there were some unhappy people back then. Government’s motives are much less pure. Thus changes made by the government are almost impossible to reverse.

So, be the change you want to see in the world. Whatever that is. Don’t like the way government runs – join it and make some changes. Don’t like the way your company treats you – quit and start your own company. Don’t like your high insurance rates because you smoke – stop smoking (it can’t be that tasty).  And lastly  – stop being silent. Obama’s call for change erupted a nation of people who were apparently quietly waiting for his challenge.  Don’t wait 4 years to get excited about change, change things now. Who else is going to do it? 

You’re no different than the Senators, the CEO’s, the celebrities.  You are the change. Just 20 years ago, the Senators, the CEO’s and the celebrities were just regular people, too. Nobody is born to effectuate change. You have to decide to do it on your own.

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