Click on “COMMENTS” to see the feedback on this issue.
How to Get a Quick $24,000 Pay Raise
March 8th, 2010I looked further into the report released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and it was even more perplexing than I first thought. As previously reported, federal jobs pay an average of about 10% better than in the private sector in 83% of the fields surveyed, not to mention more benefits. But in some areas, the difference was astounding.
Examples:
A cook in the private sector averages $23,279, but averages $38,400 working for the government.
A graphic designer in the private sector averages $46, 575, but averages $70,800 working for the government.
A broadcast technician in the private sector averages $49, 265, but averages $90,310 working for the government.
No wonder we’re going broke. 
Be Careful when Ordering a “Free” Credit Report
March 7th, 2010A lot of people are getting confused by the commercial with the annoying jingle for FreeCreditReport.com. But oddly enough, that website is not where you go to get a free credit report. It’s owned by Experian, the credit-reporting agency, which is actually trying to sell you information. The correct website for a truly Free credit report, which you’re entitled to by federal law, is www.AnnualCreditReport.com, not www.FreeCreditReport.com
Don’t Hit the F1 Key When using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer
March 6th, 2010It apparently allows bad guys to sneak onto your computer and steal your information. Microsoft has issued this warning, and promises to find a fix, but hasn’t yet.
My New Favorite Money Quote
March 5th, 2010From Dave Ramsey – “If you don’t understand the importance of giving, you’ll never have financial peace.”
NBA or NFL?
March 4th, 2010Steve in Texas sends this, which sums it up all too well. Which organization would you guess this describes, the NBA or the NFL?
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
36 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21currently are defendants in lawsuits
84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year
Which organization is this, the NBA or the NFL?
ANSWER: Neither. It’s Congress, the same group of Einsteins cranking out legislation to keep the rest of us in line.
“Pray That She Doesn’t Change Her Mind”
March 3rd, 2010Here’s one of those situations you’d never imagine unless you’re in it. A colleague of mine is adopting a baby. They traveled from Nashville to Virginia to be there for the birth, but the birth mother has 10 days to change her mind. So he and his wife are in Virginia bonding with the child, waiting for 10 days to pass so that they can legally take the child out of state and not be arrested like the church group that was put in jail for trying to take kids out of Haiti to the Dominican Republic.
Feedback on 3-2-10 issue of Glenn Shepard’s “Work Is Not for Sissies”
March 2nd, 2010Click on “COMMENTS” to see the feedback on this issue.
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
March 1st, 2010Last night I talked to my friend Dennis Burton, a screenwriter who moved from Nashville to California a few years ago. Last week, he and his wife Diane drove from their home in the L.A. suburb of Sierra Madre to the Beverly Hills Country Club, to hear the director of The Blind Side (a truly awesome movie) speak about how he battled back from a bust that almost ended his career (The Alamo) to becoming a Hollywood hot commodity.
Dennis said something I find interesting. Unlike in Nashville where there are upscale neighborhoods, and neighborhoods where everything is nasty, there are almost slums just a stone’s throw away from the Beverly Hills CC. Guess that explains why those 700 square foot, one-bedroom houses we see on HGTV sell for $700,000. Which is yet another reason I’m glad to live in the South. 
Oh Canada!
February 28th, 2010I love hockey, and wore my Nashville Predators jersey and cheered when Team USA scored a goal to tie the Olympic hockey game for the gold with only seconds left in regulation play, and was devastated when we lost to Team Canada in overtime. I was hoping for a repeat of the 1980 Miracle on Ice, when Team USA beat the Russian national hockey team for the gold medal. But the reality is that Canada is more fanatical about hockey than Americans are about baseball, and it just seems right that they should win the gold medal when the Olympics are in Canada.
So for all my friends, colleagues, and clients in Ottawa, Quebec, B.C., Alberta, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan – and I have a lot in each – Congratulations! You guys deserved this one. (And if my friend Peggy McColl reads this, we’re taking you up on your promise to take us to an Ottawa Senators game.