For the most part, these have seemed to be very good deals at places that you might actually already shop or eat at.  I have purchased several myself over the last month of so.  Once you visit the website, you can click on the “Recent Deals” tab and see some of the offers that have been presented in the past.  For a consumer this is a great deal, but for a retailer, this is an awesome deal.

Although the retailer has to offer a discount and pay a small commission to Groupon, this gives them amazing exposure.  For example, in my city, an independent photographer offered one of her services at an almost 90% discount and sold over 450 certificates in one day.  Obviously, she is not expecting to make money on this sale, but as all photographers do, so will be attempting to up sell to larger packages.  What other method could have given her that many new customers in that period of time.  She may have just changed her whole life.  I see her hiring some additional photographers in the very near future.  So if you’re looking for a great deal, or looking for a way to get your small business on the map, visit Groupon.

Since I am currently on a diet… no scratch that… let’s call it a lifestyle change, I am always looking for healthy eating alternatives to traditional fast food for my lunches. Generally I stick with frozen microwave meals at this point. As I was reading through Entrepreneur Magazine I came across an article about new healthy restaurant chains that are being opened. One is called Seasons 52 and it is being opened by Darden (the owners of Red Lobster, Olive Garden and others). This is an upscale fine dining experience.

What got my attention more was a restaurant named Energy Kitchen that currently has nine locations in the northeast, New York area. This is a semi-fast food restaurant that only bakes, grills, and steams and every meal is under 500 calories. We’re not talking about health-nut food here. You don’t have to eat a seed bar for your lunch. They serve burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads and even other comfort foods such as meatloaf and grilled salmon. One thing you may notice is that most of the beef has been replaced. Where you would normally expect beef, you find things such as turkey, chicken and even bison and ostrich. I was unaware that it’s possible to get an ostrich burger for $7.00. Not a bad deal in my opinion.

I’m not writing about this company because I love to eat, although that is true. I’m writing because they are about to open up franchising across the country. They are planning to open as many as 1,000 locations in the near future. With my desire for entrepreneurship and my love of food combined, I would love to try to open one of these restaurants in my own home town. Unfortunately, this might not work out for me. As I perused the requirements, I noticed a couple of roadblocks. The franchise fee for each location is $30,000 and requires you to commit to at least three locations. $90,000 in cash…not going to happen this year. Next requirement: net worth of $1,000,000 with $300,000 of that liquid. Not going to happen for quite a while unless I invent some widget that I can sell a million of them. So, if you know anyone with money to invest, send them my way. I should only need a few hundred thousand and I’ll take care of the rest.

We hope to spend the next couple of weeks going through each room of the house filtering out those things that we no longer need/want. It’s amazing that in the course of a year, it seems that we’ve accumulated enough unecessary “stuff” that we could easily fill a two-car garage. The next two weeks will involve preparing for the garage sale, with pricing and other tasks as outlined below.

How to have a Successful Garage Sale

At my company, I was offered the opportunity to attend a retirment party for a co-worker. I wasn’t really close to this person, but in my defense… free lunch. After the meal and a short presentation by the CEO, they asked the retiree to go up to the front and they presented her with a cash amount that was given by employees, a gift certificate for an airline flight and a crystal mantle clock. Twenty years of service and this is what it comes down to. After all, this is an employee that is of no further benefit to the company, so what’s the point of a big reward anyway.

I agree that retirement in this scenario is a time for celebration. The employee has finally broken free from the chains of the corporate cubicle and can now live the rest of their lives in comfort, though it will likely be a meager comfort financially. I also know that this is more than many other will receive when it comes time to call it quits. This retiree recounted a story of her neighbor who was laid off at 61 years of age. What is their chance of getting another similar career at that age? Unfortunately, this is the reality for a large portion of the U.S. population. A lack of direction in life, a lack of living within means and the comfort of “security” has brought many people to this same situation. Don’t get me wrong, I know that there are many people who love their jobs and are somewhat forced into retirement, but that is the minority.

As the one-hour lunch ended and people lined up for a slice of sheetcake, I sat in my chair and stared, my mood darkening. “What if this was me in 30 years?” It made me almost want to cry thinking about it (I’m an emotional person, don’t laugh). Sure there would be a sense of relief, but I would hope, for my sake, that there would also be a sense of shame and regret, that this is how I spent my life.

Honestly, I don’t know if retirement even exists anymore for most people. I’m talking about retirement that used to be described as “Work forty years for a big company, retire in your sixties with your company pension and spend the next 20 years golfing and fishing.” I can see how that would seem desirable, but I don’t see that for myself. I would love to travel internationally in retirement if that’s an option, but I would hope that I was still beneficial to society. I see myself possibly as a business owner in “retirement”. Whether this is a traditional business or just a form of investments, such as real estate, I really don’t see myself ever quitting. I have fond visions of being able to take something of value and turn it over to my children if they choose.

To sum up this post… umm. Well, I don’t really have a specific point. Apparently I failed blogging 101.

To my readers, though you be few: May you pursue your passion with all of your strength. May you not be held back by perceived security. May your funeral be your retirement party. Then there will truly be cause for celebration.

You may have already heard about this.  I have heard about it at least two time since yesterday.  I think the news people like it because it makes a great headline that gets a reader’s attention.  You can read the original article at Yahoo.

Here are a few surprising findings in the article:

• About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009.
• A family of four making as much as $50,000 will owe no federal income tax for 2009.
• The top 10 percent of earners paid about 73 percent of the income taxes
• The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax.
• In 2007, about 38 percent of households paid no federal income tax, a figure that jumped to 49 percent in 2008

It’s just my personal opinion, but I think that most families could make it on$50,000 a year with a family of four.  I’m all for tax cuts, but not for tax handouts.  I’m also for a more fair tax code.  Is there any reason that one person should be getting checks from the government while someone who worked hard (thus improving the economy) has to hand more than one-third of his income to the government?  I happen to have an extended family member who a few years ago was receiving a check from the government when it came around to tax time.  His family wasn’t struggling.  They lived in fairly affluent neighborhood, his wife chose to stay home and he was working his way up in a professional career, but just getting started.  Apparently, this is the new definition of poverty in America.

Why people start a blog?

Sometimes you have a thought that you want to share with others, but it’s not important enough that you want to call up all of your friends and let them know about it. If it’s not important enough to share in person, is it valuable enough that people want to read about it on your blog?

Sometimes you want to communicate with a large audience at once and don’t have time to distribute this information person-to-person. Obviously your interaction with those others has been cheapened when doing this. Wouldn’t it be better to share this important information face-to-face with those that you know will value the information?

Some people just feel like they have to get things off of their minds. Back in the day, this was accomplished through a journal. If you were really good, maybe someone would read your journal after you died and publish some of your writings. With today’s instant fame potential, it seems that some people write just hoping that they’ll be discovered and become an overnight sensation.

I think that some actually want to pass on useful information to whoever might be listening. These are the people who share knowledge without any expectation of payback or fame. A friendly comment now and then would be appreciated, but they’re not looking for anything else.

And then there are those who spit out multiple posts weekly in an attempt to attract subscribers and thus increase their value to advertisers. The blog has become their career. In the past, I have subscribed to many of these, but I am beginning to lose my patience with them. I recently removed nineteen blogs from my RSS reader in an attempt to simplify my life in one small way.

Why do I blog?

That’s a very good question, and I’m glad you asked. I think it’s a little bit of everything that you see above. I want to share information that is interesting to me, but I’m not sure if anyone else is interested. I want anyone who has an interest to be able to read it, but I don’t want to approach them with this information. There are days when I just have thoughts that I want to put “out there”, but I don’t know where else to put it, but the internet. Occasionally I want to share a handy tip that I’m proud to have thought of. And then there are days when I think that maybe I should put more effort into blogging and start spitting out cookie-cutter self-help posts and make some dollars in the process. I have no doubt that I could attract subscribers and make money doing this, but I have a feeling that I might hate it.

Where does this leave me? Not sure. My guess is that you’ll continue to see posts from me at random increments of time that ramble about any miscellaneous topic that’s on my mind. To me, it’s therapeutic, but I don’t get a huge benefit from it and I’m postulating that you don’t either. For now, it seems that this is the nature of the open internet. Maybe some day, the common person will find a truly valuable use for the publishing capabilities of the internet. Right now, I will estimate that .001% of us already have.

Unrelated Tidbit:  Have you ever seen a double-pendulum? It’s wacky. Just search on youtube.

A significant threat to any successful organization is that over time its employees become too contented, too self-satisfied, even unconcerned. In other words its employees become complacent. To help guard against this happening at [CompanyName], by April 1 please provide me in writing one suggestion of something that can be accomplished within the next 12 months that will noticeably improve your personal performance, your job, or the organization in general.

I’m at the point in my career and at a comfort level with the CEO that I feel that I can open up and not have any adverse repercussions regarding my suggestion, but still feel a bit of trepidation.  I have to turn this in, so if you have the time, please read this and let me know what you think.  If you don’t like my suggestion, then what would you recommend at your company?

Recommendation:  Encourage Creativity and Thinking

If an employee is easily replaceable with a new-hire with few weeks of training, then the employee is not performing.  If an employee’s position is set up in such a way that the processes are so defined that year after year, a new employee can easily step in and take over, then efficiency may be increased, but it will lead to a dissatisfied, demoralized employee.  No one wants a factory job for the rest of their lives.  They want a career that they can grow in, influence, improve and flourish in.

All of the perks/benefits in the world may keep employees around, but will not keep them motivated and growing.  A culture of creativity, thinking and employee input will encourage employees to strive for success.

I believe that this culture starts with the company (all the way up the chain) being open to employee ideas, no matter how extreme.  Notice that I say open to ideas, not accepting of all ideas.  This very exercise is a strong indication of the willingness to do so.

Secondly, I believe that this culture is dependent on the physical atmosphere of the office space.  No one will be motivated to be creative when walking into a building and being enveloped by beige floors, beige walls, beige cubicles, white ceilings and harsh lighting with limited natural lighting and views of the outdoors.  I think that this could be improved dramatically through the use of more contrast within the office design.  The quickest and easiest way to accomplish this would be with a much more liberal use of artwork.  Although we have a few photographs on the walls, I have been told that the same pictures have been there for many years.  Although not a daily occurrence, there have been times that I have returned from a lunch with my mind swarming with thoughts and ideas only to walk into the office and physically feel the creativity suppressed by the atmosphere therein.

The final ideas related to increasing creativity are a little more on the extreme side.  But remember, we’re open to that kind of thing.  There are times when I feel like I just need a thinking area, a thinking room with no distractions.  There are times when I need to solve a problem and sitting at my desk I know that there are e-mails, phone calls, people approaching my desk and many other distractions that will make it nearly impossible to think through a situation properly.  Most of us don’t have offices with doors.

A final idea is telecommuting part-time for positions where possible.  Although many companies fear that this will decrease productivity, many have found that it actually increases productivity due to the increased mood and motivation of a person within their own home, or Starbucks for that matter.

So you asked for ONE SUGGESTION.  I gave you one suggestion: encourage creativity and thinking.  I just fleshed it out a little bit for you.

After a bit of research, I decided that I would attempt to put together a square foot garden.  This would alleviate both of my issues stated above.  First of all, I could build the garden box above-ground which allows me to put weed-blocking materials below.  Secondly, I am able to build a cage around the garden to keep away the scavengers.  basically, it is a very contained ecosystem, yet still exposed to the needed elements.  I have built a 4 foot by 4 foot box that is 6 inches deep and divided it into 16 equal square foot sections with garden twine.  I then filled the box with a mixture of peat moss, compost and other soil.

I then built a cage out of a simple wooden frame and chicken wire which I stapled to the frame.  The frame can be easily lifted off of the garden box, but hopefully not by rabbits.  I cannot even imagine having to work with chicken wire on a daily basis.  This stuff is the spawn of the devil.  Actually, after immediately slicing my finger as soon as I tried to unwind the roll, I quickly discovered that I should be wearing leather gloves when handling.  The difficulty of handling is apparent by viewing the pictures.  Not exactly pretty.

Currently I’m working on sprouting the seeds inside and waiting for the outdoor frost potential to subside.  I’m also working on a system for making my own compost from household waste for future use in the garden.  I’m leaning towards buying a pound of redworms and letting them do the work.  There is quite a bit of information on “vermiposting” on the internet. Pictures of these other endeavours will be forthcoming.

The article on MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35788511/

Here are a couple of examples that I pulled from videos on the White House website.  I know the lighting is different, but I think if you watch some of the videos, you would notice a difference.  In the latest video, his hair looks completely black, when we know that at one time he was graying.

This picture is from this video on February 19, 2010

This picture is from this video on March 5, 2010

Great, now this site is turning into a political entertainment blog.  We’ll be the TMZ of Washington D.C.  I’m going to have to buy a better camera and a telescopic lens.