Displaying 691 To 720 Of 1,384 Comments Doing Business – The Right Way Yup! I’m going to get to that down the line. It is an essential part of what I do. I always tell clients that bookkeeping and accounting is a specialty that only an expert should touch. Doing self dentistry or surgery is the medical equivalent of doing your own books, in my opinion. I generally have BIG issues with CPA’s that handle the books, however. They generally set up the Chart of Accounts for tax purposes and never really look at the business needs in that area. Properly setting up the accounts for business management is a completely different bag, and a CPA firm generally has no idea what a business does or needs from that point of view. As a result, the P&L and Balance Sheet tell the owners nothing, and THAT is a big issue and mistake. Getting the Chart of Accounts in order so that a business can be rationally run is a cornerstone of the financial area of what I do. I absolutely will cover this in detail. 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 5:59 am Actually, it was Maggie the cat jumping on my head at 3 AM that did it… Couldn’t get back to sleep, so…. 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 5:38 am Thanks. It’s actually relatively simple to invent that perfect gadget or that unique service to fit a niche market, really. That’s the BUSINESS dream. What is MUCH more difficult is to have a roadmap and strategy to use the business dream to get to the personal one. That personal dream is what keeps people going, whether they realize it or not. Making it real, visual, and in your face is a reminder every day that you need to make the business a success so you can succeed at making that personal dream come true. Succeeding articles will show people how to do that by creating a business that essentially runs itself while making reasonable profits. There is no better way I know of to create those personal dreams. Money can be made, but time is locked in. Time is what people really want, in the end. 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 5:22 am Thanks. I have a BS (lol) in Business Administration and an MBA in Business Communication, but none of that prepared me for standing in front of an owner whose business is upside down and having maybe a day or two to analyze what is wrong, map a plan to fix things, and start implementing it. I have all this stuff in my head, and I am a teacher at heart. Every job I’ve ever had (with a couple of exceptions) has been as much about teaching than anything else. What I hope to do is to keep people from GETTING into trouble rather than spending huge bucks once they are in quicksand. That’s an uphill sale, though. No one wants to spend money when they are on firm footing, or think they are. 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 3:54 am Thanks. Insomnia is a wonderful thing sometimes! 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 3:32 am Maybe you read that wrong, or I miscommunicated. I would require that facts be used to formulate an opinion. I really don’t care what the resulting opinion is. » Posted By PocketWatch On February 12, 2011 @ 9:42 am I would require opinion based on facts, not made-up stuff. Watch carefully… every time they use the phrase “some say…” Who is that ‘some?’ Could be the guys in the break room. I can make up anything using that technique, and have absolutely nothing to back it up. That is Fox… I have no problem with anyone or whatever their political stances are, but I have BIG problems with fact free reporting or opinions based on nothing. That’s not opinion, that’s fantasy. » Posted By PocketWatch On February 12, 2011 @ 9:30 am Wow! First of all, to say Fox ‘represents’ the Conservative side is debatable. I would be more likely to say that Fox is the propaganda arm of the conservative side, framing issues in such a way as to make debate or facts irrelevent. Propaganda is unhealthy. Factual coverage of issues, and real debate versus screaming talking heads, corrections in misstatements, those things are healthy, and are not generally any part of Fox. How can anyone take Fox seriously when one of their on screen personalities denies outright and with a straight face that they ever use Nazi comparisons, and, within hours, dozens of examples are aired and another personality THAT SAME NIGHT does it again? And that is one example. They are not invaluable, they are cancer of the brain for this country. In other countries, I have been told, Fox is viewed as satire and comedy, and no one imagines anyone takes them the least bit seriously. If they thought people here did, the impression is people here are pretty gullible. » Posted By PocketWatch On February 12, 2011 @ 9:16 am Dusty, I have gone back over my own articles multiple times and corrected grammar, mispellings, added or deleted words or phrases, and corrected all sorts of mistakes. I love the ability to edit stuff here! 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 10, 2011 @ 6:19 pm Gifford’s rehab and the plight of others without access to her level of care Before the last Presidential election, I had an interesting conversation… Location: Panhandle area of Oklahoma, one of the most conservative areas of the country Subject: Socialism (I have no fear!) Someone used the word, and I stopped them and asked the following: Without regard or thought as to how to pay for it, would you agree or disagree with these things… That every citizen has the right to basic health care without regard to ability to pay… That every child born in the US should have an education up to about a 2-year degree or vocational school… That it is a crime that there are homeless people in this country, and that everyone should have at least a roof over their head, nothing fancy… That it is shameful that there are hungry people in the richest country in the world, and that no one should lack for at least a couple of square meals a day… And if we could have all those things… just the basics of those things, would you be willing to pay more in taxes to ensure your kids and grandkids would be OK? —- I got a very interesting reaction… a lot of nodding heads and no objections, many thoughtful looks, and they all agreed that they would be happy to pay higher taxes if that’s what they got for their money. No squalling about paying for somebody else’s problems… none of that. They all understood the issue of shared responsibility and risk. I’ve had similar experiences and conversations since then with real people. When put the right way, people recognize the need for these things. Their common sense gets shouted down and drowned out by bumper sticker slogans and screaming talking heads and sloganeering politicians. I am firmly convinced that the right message, using the right approach, and the right language can get people to see what’s right in front of them. I am also convinced that most people do not have this locked-in political stance that is assumed by the MSM and the political parties. I mean, my God! If I can get people like this to see the sense of a socialistic agenda in 15 minutes of Socratic conversation, how hard should it be? » Posted By PocketWatch On February 8, 2011 @ 1:21 pm I saw that you were really getting frustrated last week, Abby. I played the game and got nowhere, reporting deletions that made no sense. Posted the instructions to do it over and over again, thinking that it might help, until those, too, were deleted unceremoniously. I try and play the game as written. Call me naive or an optimist (anyone that knows me, knows that THAT is far from the truth!), but I tried. I had thought that my limited cache as a voice of reason and reasonable debate would carry SOME weight, but, as in any corporate culture, there is little or no loyalty downward. » Posted By PocketWatch On February 8, 2011 @ 1:01 pm Just teasing you… » Posted By PocketWatch On February 8, 2011 @ 12:52 pm FS, good to see you… I was tempted to troll you, just for old time’s sake (like 2 days ago) so you’d feel at home, but refrained. 😉 I think you are on to something, and maybe MORE than 2 tiers… 3 or 4 maybe. If I have a cold, I really don’t need a doc, I just need someone that can check to be sure it’s nothing worse and maybe give me a scrip for something to ease the symptoms, give flu shots, that sort of thing. Next level is maybe flu, small cuts, ordinary stuff that doesn’t need much more than the average military medic or EMT couldn’t do. After that, normal pregnancies, sprains, maybe even simple broken bones… I don’t know… Then you get into the heavier stuff that needs a full time staffed and equipped clinic. Finally, full-on hospital and after care for serious stuff. Seems to me that at each level, your records might be available and they could bump you up to the next level easily. Point is, if I need a few stitches, I’m sure a competent nurse or EMT could handle it just as easily as a doc could. » Posted By PocketWatch On February 8, 2011 @ 12:51 pm Abby! You have an Author’s tag! Atta girl! Is that like a badge or something? 🙄 » Posted By PocketWatch On February 8, 2011 @ 12:45 pm Question for discussion…. I don’t have a sense of what people envision… Would a single payer, everything for everybody health care system be preferable (think about the problems that might result), or should it be more of a single payer basics plan, with the ability to add riders privately to cover “extras”? (Who would determine what is basic and what is extra, for example…) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 8, 2011 @ 11:45 am This is the unfortunate reality, and the dilemma. Whether it is healthcare or education, access to services is partially – and sometimes completely – determined by either wealth and position, or both. The dilemma is how to equalize this reality as much as possible without reducing any service to its lowest common denominator. Libertarians and neo-cons suggest (or demand) that a Wild West free for all service system is best, and we know that is just a dream state that is somehow vaguely connected to the idea that a non-existent “free market” will shake things out. Of course, there is no such thing as a free market, and nothing is said about who gets the short end of any stick when someone has no means to participate in it or just how moral that mythical system would be. Socialists are just as deluded. To give unlimited access to everyone means that the quality bar will be lowered. This is because resources ARE limited, locations are limited, and top-notch expertise SHOULD be rewarded properly. So, how do we minimize the plight of a have-not in a service system without damaging the system? In this case, as it has been said ad nauseam, that a single-payer health system (Medicare for all) is the way to go. That is true up to a point, but it does not go far enough. To say “Medicare for all” and move on, dusting our hands is a half-realization. What is NOT talked about, and needs to be, is that in a Medicare for all system, insurance companies DO play a part. Medicare for all should cover, as a moral, ethical, and civil right, the basics. Save your life, checkups, get you on your feet. If you want to have more, THAT is where you pay for it through carrying rider insurance. With that we get to a real choice, not the false “covered or not covered” choice of the sociopathic Randians. People that do not pay for health care are freeloaders on us all. We know that. The current mandate for coverage is a stopgap measure to eliminate, or at least quantify, the cost of that freeloading. At the moment, I have no insurance. Having had a bout with bladder cancer a year ago, I am supposed to have regular checkups, which I cannot afford, so I don’t have them. Which will be cheaper? Having those checkups that we all pay for through a taxation system, or waiting until I hit the ER and need a bladder replacement surgery and lifetime followup, which adds to everyone’s health insurance bill? We are a sad, sad country and society to have that large a disparity between choices. PS: Memorial Hermann is where I had my bladder surgery last year, and they ARE top-of-the-line. » Posted By PocketWatch On February 8, 2011 @ 11:18 am Bring it. As a Socialist, I haven’t been pleased for 30 years or more. Still am not pleased. 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 4:59 pm I read that. And you are absolutely right. As always. 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 4:55 pm Esteemed? LOL We’ll see. There are a number of very scary-smart people here that are likely to hand me my ass if I don’t bring my A-game. Holding my own for now… 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 4:38 pm Yep! I figured out how to get to WordPress, finally (little link at the bottom of the Dashboard)named, strangely, “WordPress,” then searched the word ‘smilies.’ Sheesh! 🙄 » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 4:29 pm Evening, Foxxy! 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 4:26 pm Doing a happy dance! Found it! Got my screen shot on my desktop! Little things make me happy…. » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 4:15 pm Ok… maybe someone new will ask and I can ride along. It’s a very trivial issue… I hate to bug people over essentially nothing. » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 4:09 pm I know. The way I learn new tools is to hunt and mess around on my own. Make mistakes, screw up. I’m doing a good job! 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 4:06 pm Howdy! 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 4:05 pm Ok, I give up. I was given the link for the smiley thingies twice and lost it, twice. I have been hunting around for the last 15 minutes to see if I could uncover that part of the site on my own (I remember it’s a file in WordPress, and I can’t find that either). Gonna take a screeenshot of that page! I am officially an idjit! 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 4:02 pm Hey Dawg! 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 3:41 pm Coinyer keeps saying that he’s waiting for everyone to leave so he can be King! LOL I like that guy! 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 3:40 pm 170 of mine out of 1600 went in one day. » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 3:33 pm Mordor? 8) » Posted By PocketWatch On February 9, 2011 @ 3:31 pmComments Posted By PocketWatch
Participants: The owner of a large truck repair company, a couple of his mechanics, a vendor, and 3 customers, and me
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