Thieves outside your house

Star Ledger reported “Here’s a tip: Leave trash collectors’ holiday gifts alone”

A homeowner spotted two jerks stealing tips and gifts left for the garbage men. His actions resulted in the police arresting the scoundrels.

Chatham folks are good to their garbage collectors, leaving between $20 and $60 in envelopes taped to the lids or hats and gloves, sometimes cookies and, rarely, beer or liquor, police said.

The suspects, it turns out, were well-aware of the generosity of Chatham residents. Both men are former employees of the company that handles the town’s trash and were allegedly stealing from their former co-workers.

This is a typical example of why you shouldn’t leave anything outside your house. Don’t leave tips outside — try to hand it to the person. Never put your outgoing mail in your mailbox. It’s just an invitation for thieves. They can be gone so fast you’d never know they were there. Odds are in their favor that no one will notice them or do anything about it.

-Roland

The cost of raising a child

Disclaimer: I’m always getting these kinds of emails from friends who think thirty people they know what this. I don’t know the source or accuracy of this.

Subject: CHILDREN…………PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!

The Price of Children

I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It’s nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn’t even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171.08 a week.
* That’s a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is: don’t have children if you want to be “rich.”

Actually, it is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watching Saturday morning cartoons,
* going to Disney movies, and
* wishing on stars.
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay on Mother’s Day, and cards with backward letters for Father’s Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:
* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, So . . one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

Love and enjoy your children and grandchildren!

Medical Identity Theft

Baseline Magazine reports: Medical Identity Theft: Providence Health’s Serious Pain

“A phone call that Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006 brought news that every CIO dreads. Someone had stolen a computer bag out of a systems analyst’s car four nights before. Gone were 10 computer disks and tapes holding information on what would turn out to be more than 365,000 patients—everything from Social Security numbers and birth and death dates to diagnoses, prescriptions and insurance numbers. Data on doctors was missing, too, including Medicare and Medicaid numbers, state license numbers, names, addresses and phone numbers.”

Employees were foolish and reckless with how they handled the health records…

“At most facilities across the company, employees back up data daily to tapes and disks and send it off to be stored in a secured building, O’Brien says. But at the company’s Home and Community Services unit in Portland, which cares for frail and elderly patients in their homes, employees took the backups home themselves, in their own cars, she says.”

These foolish and careless actions have a significant impact on the company as well. Not only has their reputation been badly damaged, but…

“Providence has spent $7 million so far responding to the breach. “This was not a cheap mistake,” CIO O’Brien says.”

Ultimately consumers end up paying the bill for all this nonsense that could have easily been prevented.

Another use for duct tape

Got this suggestion by email. I guess this little darling was getting into trouble.

For the record, I don’t suggest you do this.

NORAD Santa Tracker

Fire up your computer Christmas Eve, point your Web browser to www.noradsanta.org and huddle around with your kids. Once again, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will be using their sophisticated tracking equipment to follow the jolly elf as he penetrates American airspace, invades homes and evades our finest pilots.

My kids have enjoyed it the past two years. I’m looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us this Christmas Eve.

Enjoy.

« Previous Page