Dads Want More Kid Time

According to CareerBuilder.com and CNN.com, 37% of working dads say they'd dump their jobs if their spouses or partners made enough money to support the family.  Thirty-six percent said they'd take a pay cut to be able to spend more time with their kids.  Here are some of the survey's other findings:

Twenty-four percent of working dads feel work is negatively affecting their relationships with their kids.

Forty-eight percent reported missing at least one significant event in the past year of their child's life because of work.

Eighteen percent reported missing four or more significant events in their child's life in the past year due to work.  

Twenty-seven percent of working dads say they spend more than 50 hours a week working.  Eight percent reported working more than 60 hours /wk
. 
Twenty-five percent of working dads say they spend less than one hour per day with their children.  Forty-two percent say they spend less than two hours each day. 

Thirty-six percent of dads say their companies do not offer flexible work arrangements for them.

How about you? How many hours are you working? How many Opportunities have you missed? There's no right or wrong answer here, but take a moment spend time with your family, it's the greatest joy and reward on earth!

This newsletter is intended for entertainment purposes only.  Credit is given to the authors of various articles that are reprinted when the original author is known.  Any omission of credit to an author is purely unintentional and should not be construed as plagiarism or literary theft.  

Copyright 2008 John & Linda Cramer  ( Prudential Nichols Real Estate Daphne, Al 36526).  This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical, legal, financial or tax advice.  Any and all decisions and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a qualified physician, attorney, financial advisor and/or CPA.  We cannot be held responsible for actions you may take without proper medical, financial, legal or tax advice.

·         What if there were no hypothetical questions?                                                                        

·         If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages? 

·         Is there another word for “synonym”? 

·         Where do forest rangers go to “get away from it all”? 

·         What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant? 

·         Would a fly without wings be called a “walk”? 

·         If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent? 

·         Why do they put Braille on drive-through bank machines?

·         How do they get deer to cross the road only at those yellow road signs? 

·         What was the best thing before sliced bread? 

·         If you ate both pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry? 

·         If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done? 

·         Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?

The World Is Rich With Opportunity

Do you think that opportunity only knocks once?  If you do, Richard Carlson, author of Don't Worry – Make Money, says you're buying into one of the most perpetuated myths in our culture.

Carlson argues that this kind of thinking inspires people to do things they really don't want to do, and that it's based on a “never enough to go around” mindset that just isn't true.  Thinking that it's “now or never” often encourages bad decision making, he says.  For example, you might take a job you don't want or move to an area that doesn't suit you.

The world we live in is rich with ever-increasing opportunity, says Carlson.  The world is in need of creative people, and everyone has unique gifts and talents to offer.  You just have to figure out how it's going to work for you.  There are thousands of jobs out there that you can do.  There are thousands of business opportunities.  But first you have to overcome your fears:  the fear of not having enough, and the fear that you only get one shot and then it's over.

It just isn't so.  Your life will be filled with great opportunities over and over again.

It's Graduation Time

Here are some wise words for graduates from a commencement address given by bestselling author Anna Quindlen: 

“You walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing no one else has.  There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree; there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living.  But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life.”

Small Mistake – Big Problem

In today's ever-punitive world of credit ratings, here's a story of how something fairly insignificant can hurt your credit. 

A customer who had a decent rating ordered a clock that cost $11.95 from an insert included with his department store credit card bill.  He received the clock – but it quit working two days later.  The customer tried to reach someone right away at the toll-free number where he'd ordered the clock, but this time no one answered. 

He decided that the department store should take some responsibility in the matter, and to not to pay his bill until everything was cleared up.  Instead, the department store applied a $29 penalty fee to his credit card bill and reported him to the credit bureau for nonpayment.  Good-bye, decent credit rating! 

The account, it turned out, was managed by an entirely different company, which was indifferent as to whether the department store's customers were satisfied.

Points To Ponder

·         What if there were no hypothetical questions? 

·         If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages? 

·         Is there another word for “synonym”? 

·         Where do forest rangers go to “get away from it all”?

Shopping for Father's Day, Sunday, June 15?  Well, according to an online survey by InteractiveDad.com, nearly 30% of dads said a tie is their least favorite gift to receive.  Other non-favorites?  Twenty-one percent said cologne or aftershave; 16% said underwear; 15% said socks; 14% said power tools; and 13% said electronic gadgets.

 So, what do dads want?  An overwhelming 36% of dads said they want dinner out with their family as their Father's Day gift.

Thanks, Honey!

No one would ever make light of the discomfort from a bee sting, or minimize the potentially fatal results of a bee sting to someone who's allergic.  Then there's the problem of bee colonies coming to live in your attic, backyard tree or other location too close for comfort.  Yes, sharing our space with bees is a challenge – and it's also a blessing. 

There are thousands of bee species, but the two we're most familiar with are bumblebees and honeybees.  It's domesticated honeybees – and their pollination activity – that bring us one mouthful in three of the foods we eat, either directly or indirectly.  Directly when we're eating any of the 90 crops honeybees pollinate, from almonds and apples to cucumbers, oranges and zucchini; indirectly when our food comes from animals that consume crops dependent on honeybee pollination.  Many of your favorite flowers also need bees to bloom, and don't forget fragrant beeswax candles, and that sweet bee by-product:  honey!

 Honeybees tend to sting when the colony feels threatened or when you swat at or step on one.  The U.S. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) suggests, “Generally, if you leave a bee alone, it will leave you alone.”  If a colony has moved in too close for comfort, contact your city or county health service or a professional exterminator for advice – do not try to remove the colony yourself. 

So, while it's best to avoid all bees, it's good to remember how meager our menus would be without them.  And the next time you sink your teeth into a juicy, crunchy apple or a sweet, cold slice of watermelon, remember they're brought to you by bees and say, “Thanks, honey!” 

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