Are Public Employees At Greater Risk On The Job Than Private Employees?

Given our string connection with public employees, here's a note of interest. According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, civil servants have a much higher rate of workplace-related injuries than workers in the private sector.

More on this tomorrow.

Tips For Saving Money During The Holidays (And All Year 'Round)

The holidays are fast approaching, and with them the one thought that consumes hearts and minds across the land:



How am I going to pay for all this stuff?



Short of giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to your MasterCard, one way to beat the holiday budget blues is by tightening up elsewhere. Naturally, this means you can afford to spend more on others, who in return will do the same for you. Either that, or you can make them feel like a heel throughout the upcoming year.



Here, according to the fine folk at WalletPop, are ten areas in which you can save some serious scratch by going the do-it-yourself route:

• Text messaging. Unless you text a ton and have an unlimited plan, those OMG's will leave you saying just that when you get the bill. According to the Chicago Tribune, the average phone carrier realizes a profit of 6,000% on each message. Which is nothing to LOL about when you're paying for it.



• Bottled water. No, this isn't some PC environmental deal, although that does figure into the matter. It's more the 4,000% markup we pay every time we buy a bottle of water instead of drinking from the tap. Granted, sometimes there's little choice in the matter. However, whenever possible grab a glass or refillable bottle.



• Popcorn at a movie theater. Yes, eating popcorn while watching the latest flick is almost mandatory behavior. But the 1,275% markup should be enough to make anyone decide they can live without for a couple of hours.



• Brand name prescription drugs. Unless there is no generic for whatever your doctor prescribes, always ask for the generic. In the past year, brand name drugs have increased in price by an average of 10% while generics have had a price decrease. Add this to the already far higher cost of brand names (anywhere from 200% to 3,000%)... you get the idea.



• Mini bar in a hotel room. Unless shelling out a 300% to 400% markup is your idea of a fun time, do not open that door!



• Coffee. No, no one's suggesting you abstain altogether from the stuff. (Unless you're like me and allergic to caffeine. But I digress.) No, where to steer clear is coffee shops. At a 300% markup over what you'd pay to brew a cup at home, a thermos would be a wise investment.



• Wine at a restaurant. If ever you wanted a reason to stop drinking, the 300% markup should do the trick.



• Greeting cards. 200% markup, or sending someone a hand-written note? Your call.



• In-room movies at a hotel. At a 200% markup, you're better off watching the local news. Or movies on your laptop.



• Pre-cut fruit and vegetable platters. Save 40% by doing your own chopping, slicing and dicing.

Now, there is one area the story missed...

• Not having both your Auto and Homeowners insurance with CSE. Do you really want to miss out on taking 14% off your Auto policy and 10% off your Homeowners policy? Didn't think so.

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/evyo

The Things You Can Do On Twitter

One of the more popular hobbies for folk on Twitter is the hashtag game. On Twitter, a hashtag (#) when placed directly in front of a word, or words strung together into one, creates a link which when selected will pull up a list of all tweets by all users who have the hashtag in one of their tweets. As an example, if you have a Twitter account (and if not, you need one), try searching the hashtag #insurance sometime. You'll get some interesting results.

The game aspect of hashtags comes when someone makes up one and it catches on. Occasionally they can be rather risque, but for the most part they're harmless.

One that's been going around today is #tweetyour16yearoldself. It's a way of doing what we all wish we could do; namely, warn ourselves about what we should and shouldn't do during our hazy, crazy teen years. It's also providing the opportunity for some rather witty statements:

• Do NOT alienate that history teacher! It will cost you an extra year of high school. You never listen. Ever.
  
  
• I think if I could just meet Rick Springfield, he'd see we were meant to be together! (Good Grief!)
  
  
• Try being a miserable teenager now instead of when you're 20 - it's much more socially acceptable.
  
  
• It gets better... but your hair doesn't.
  
  
• Keep putting money into $AAPL and don't sell. Trust me on this one.
  
  
• Irrespective of what your PE report suggests, learning to throw & catch is not an essential life skill.
  
  
• For the September 4th, 1986 lottery drawing, have Mom buy a ticket with the numbers 3-14-17-23-39-47.
  
  
• Keep the supermodelling up. You'll need something to fall back on if the neuroscience & astrophysics don't work out.
  
  
• Write a novel about a boy wizard learning magic at an old British boarding school.
  
  
• Keep ALL of your old video games and consoles. No point buying them twice, you idiot.
  
  
• Trust me, you'll be glad you grew up before the age where everyone has a cellphone camera & twitter account.

And my favorite thus far:

• #tweetyour16yearoldself has reminded me of what a self-pitying, self-righteous, whiny, know-it-all little snot I was at 16.

Election Day is Cupcakes and Cocktails Time -- Honest

As you hopefully know, today is Election Day across the nation.

The privilege of being allowed to freely select those who hold positions in government is not one to be taken lightly. Many a soldier, sailor, Marine and airman over the past two hundred and thirty years has paid the ultimate price so we can vote for the candidate of our choice. And then complain about them all the way up to the next election.

And if you don't vote, turn in your 'right to complain' card immediately.

A few enterprising individuals have added culinary enticements to the appeal to vote. For example, locations of The Counter hamburger chain are offering a free side of fries today with proof of voting, otherwise known as your "I Voted" sticker. Meanwhile, assorted bars in San Francisco (I'm personally amazed they have anything left to serve after last night, but whatever) are offering fifty cent drink specials to people who've voted. For those whose taste run more toward frosting than the foam atop a glass of beer, various shops are devoted to enticing your sweet tooth with the offer of a free cupcake upon proof of voting.

In any case, free food or not... please vote. Thanks!

CSE Insurance With IICF Serving The People

Bob Pick was kind enough to provide some details of this year's volunteer efforts on behalf of IICF.

On Thursday the 21st of October, 13 of us went to the Alameda County Community Food Bank. The food bank distributes food to other agencies in Alameda County, who then feed the needy. Our job was to bag a few carrots. 2500 pounds of them to be precise. They brought in about four boxes of loose carrots, grown specifically for the food bank. We put the carrots into bags, and put them into other boxes, after tying off the ends - the hardest part of the job. Lori Velasco and I thank everyone for a job well done.

Those who participated at the food bank were Lana Hee, John Conduracki, Craig Martinelli, Keenan Wong, Lori Velasco, Nick Chuinklin, Melissa Frasier, Antonette Caren, Sebastian Lopez, Maureen Boesch, Gigi Rayos, Ken Grant, and Bob Pick.

Special thanks go to John Conduracki and Craig Martinelli for providing rides to those who needed them, even going out of their ways, sometimes by intent.

The previous day, a smaller group including Tony Razo, Gordon Ching and I went to near the Caldecott Tunnel to the Gateway Gardens Vegetation project - in the area of the Oakland Hills Fire. We took a pile of mulch and spread it around to prevent growth of fireweed and other burnable plants. These guys worked hard - shoveling mulch into wheelbarrows, taking the wheelbarrows where the mulch was needed, and spreading it out. In just 3 hours, we got rid of a dump truck's worth of mulch.

A few photos from Thursday's carrot caper:

The gang gathers for a group photo. (L to R) Maureen Bosch, Melissa Frasier, John Conduracki, Craig Martinelli, Ken Grant, Bob Pick, Keenan Wong, Gigi Rayos, Lana Hee, Nick Chuinklin, Lori Velasco, Antonette Caren (Sebastian Lopez was hiding).

Lori, Gigi and Antonette smilingly note how much faster their box is emptying than...

... the one belonging to Nick, Keenan and Ken.

Ken silently reminds Nick and Maureen that if he hears "what's up doc" one more time...

John and Lana bag away.

See? There really is a bottom of the box!

Nick's future is so bright he's gotta wear shades.

One more group photo, this time with Sebastian.

Don't forget our Holiday Card and Calendar Design Contest!

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/e17w

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight

One of those "talk about that in order to talk insurance" posts, so please bear with.

There's been word of some sporting event taking place tomorrow in the San Francisco Bay Area. Anyone heard about that? I know the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils are playing tomorrow night in San Jose...

Seriously, it is well nigh impossible to go anywhere or do anything up here without being reminded the Giants are in the World Series. Orange and black are the colors du jour, and at least one-fifth of the population in these parts know how to spell Lincecum. Whether they know who he is is a matter of debate. But one thing at a time.

The problem with all the excitement is that for those of us who every time we hear the phrase "your San Francisco Giants" immediately reply "they ain't mine," the hype is highly distracting from assorted tasks at hand. Like, oh, this election thing coming up next Tuesday? If the Series goes to a Game Six, be thankful it'll be the day after or else all campaigns in the City by the Bay will have to be decided by coin toss due to lack of ballots cast.

Luckily, I have the aforementioned Sharks-Devils game to fill time tomorrow evening, although given how it'll be starting when the baseball game will be drawing to a close I imagine the only people paying attention to hockey when the puck drops will be me and hopefully the players. The rest of the time? I'm predicting a lot of reading, or guitar practice or similar activities.

Anyway, went through all of the above to discuss the danger of preoccupation.

We all get carried away with, at various points in time, certain events to the exclusion of most everything else in life. Which is okay. To a point. However, we must never allow ourselves the unaffordable luxury of sailing blissfully and merrily along, living solely in whatever moment is most appealing. Life happens regardless of whether we approve. Or appreciate the interruption.

Be prepared. That's where we come in.

That all said, sometimes we do need to blow off some steam...