gofer articles

Working capital is one of those business school topics that has real-world relevance for the small business owner with no formal training, operating mostly on his or her own common sense, such as Zalman Silber, serial entrepreneur and success story. In business management theory, working capital is a way to measure finances, in particular those readily available to a business. Working capital is thus an indication of operational liquidity, as simply derived by subtracting the amount of current liabilities from the amount of current assets. When current assets are less than current liabilities, a condition of working capital deficiency exists, also known as a working capital deficit.

All such individuals know about working capital, however, comes from having dealt with inventory and accounting day in, day out. But when these small-time businessmen and women think of the matter, they are likely only imagining two things, borrowing money or putting more equity in their business – the traditional sources of business capital.

Yet most business owners don’t realize that one of the best ways to find working capital is to let their suppliers do it for them! There’s no need for a small business loan when the money is already there. One must “think outside the bank” to realize this strategy, but if you think about it, working capital finance is simple when carried on the backs of your suppliers.

Typically, banks are not the most appropriate options for problematic situations concerning working capital. They can really foul up the works when all you want is to know whether they will lend you money. Bureaucratic red tape is inevitable, as is being nickeled and dimed on every little thing when it comes to banks. And now in these recessionary times, the typical business will also find whole lines of credit eliminated outright.

Instead, why not just let your suppliers finance your needs? If you think about it, suppliers typically finance working capital already, insofar as they provide and deliver supplies but only receive payment for them at the end of the month (or even later, in some cases). Such a situation in effect frees up your money for other purposes, money that is literally working capital!

They’re already participating, whether they’re aware of it or not, and since you’re only taking advantage of a system that’s already in place, you needn’t worry about any legal issues. What you do need to do is find a formula for calculating your supplies-to-finances ratio right now so that you can increase and maximize it to your benefit. One simple-to-understand formula for supplier-financed working capital is to multiply your total assets by a hundred (to generate an answer in percentage form) and then divide by the amount of your accounts payable (whether monthly or whatever terms you have secured).

Then you too can be a Zalman Silber!

Catholic saints are individuals canonized by the Catholic Church, officially recognized for their piety as residents of Heaven. Nonetheless, in a technical sense, all who are in Heaven who had once been human on earth are, by definition, saints, people perfected in holiness; this is the view subscribed to by the Eastern Orthodox Church.

And while the list of Catholic saints can vary between almost a thousand and a half names to over ten thousand, depending on who’s doing the counting (inexplicably, there appears to be no comprehensive official list), it is often understood in many quarters that numerous pious souls are obscure and outright lost to human history.

Thus the term “Catholic saints” refers to those formally recorded and so honored while not making the claim that such a list are the only such folks of piety and therefore the only group in Heaven. Canonization is the process whereby an individual’s life and deeds is examined for evidence of such recognition by the Church.

It’s lengthy and can take numerous years, and even whole centuries. Beatification is an official declaration that an individual is near sainthood. The final determination rests, nonetheless, on the provenance of two posthumous miracles of some importance.

In a certain sense, miracles are one of the most crucial aspects of a saint; the veneration of saints often rests on this point for many lay Catholics. Patron saints are those designated as being particularly associated with certain professions, causes, or qualities.

Saints are not considered to have power in their own right, but only that which has been granted by God. Yet the bodily remains and other relics of a saint is believed to be holy and might be used in certain ceremonies. Originally, saints were mostly martyrs, but over time other considerations became just as prominent.

The Mediterranean Diet is one of the most recent and popularly accepted ways of losing weight, and it’s based on one of the most ancient ways of eating anywhere in the world. So named because of its origins around the Mediterranean region, the Mediterranean Diet today is frequently said to reflect the healthy culinary habits traditional to Greece in particular, where salads predominate and any meat is grilled, almost never fried.

Like much of Greek cuisine, the Mediterranean Diet concentrates on dark leafy vegetables, fresh fruit, and high-fiber beans. Fats and protein comes from cheese, grilled meats and seafood, and of course olive oil.

Yogurt also forms a staple of this diet, as does nuts and grains. Such foods are recommended by most doctors as immunity-boosting and cancer-fighting, cutting heart disease and diabetes risks substantially and almost immediately.

With these foods, one usually feels more satisfied and less likely to binge-eat, some studies show. An essential part of this Mediterranean or Greek way of consuming involves significantly smaller portions, which are also shared. But take care: a few classics of Greek cuisine can be very fattening, too, for instance the popular spanakopita, or spinach pie, which is loaded with butter and can contain as many calories as a bacon cheeseburger!

All in all, however, eating in a Mediterranean manner is generally recognized by study after study as having substantial advantages. Small wonder, then, that everybody from sedentary couch potatoes to competitive athletes follow this diet so enthusiastically! Of course, the greatest diet is the one that you’ll be able to actually stick with while helping you reach your goals, and the Mediterranean variety is no do-it-all miracle on its own. Depending on your particular circumstances, you might also need to augment proper nutrition with adequate exercise and rest. But there is no better-tasting first step than some grilled and sautéed Greek staple to get you moving forward!

Racing strategies for alleycat races can be very individualistic. An alleycat race is an informal bike race, likely popularized by bicycle messengers. Of course, informal racing has always existed, but the adjective “alleycat” is a fairly recent addition; the first official use was by a 1989 Toronto race. Messengers participating in that and subsequent alleycats helped spread the name and idea far and wide.

As individual as the strategies are the rules involved, for one characteristic of an alleycat race is its extremely localized nature, with just about everything tailored to local conditions and practices. Team racing may be relatively rare, as the work of a bicycle messenger that these races reflect is solitary.

On the other hand, relay races are fun for the contestants precisely because it puts an fascinating social twist on the otherwise singularly solitary nature of their work on the weekdays (alleycat races take place around major holidays so that messengers, who live paycheck-to-paycheck with little to no benefits, can take part).

Alleycat races involve not only speed, but traffic handling skills and a rider’s intimate knowledge of local routes. As may be imagined, alleycat races heavily reflect the bicycle messenger subculture, not least of which is the fact that they’re of questionable legality in most jurisdictions.

Originally spontaneous, their growth has meant increasing organization, which in turn means working with local authorities, such as acquiring all necessary permits. But organization has also meant that alleycat races can be highly creative and themed with social causes such as global warming and bicycle advocacy.

In keeping with its anti-establishment roots, numerous alleycat races resist formality, particularly in the form of obtaining permission. The right to free assembly is evoked to justify these generally spontaneous races. Sadly, motorized vehicles occupy such a venerable place in American culture that authorities curtail such rights in favor of maintaining automobile convenience.

Bronze statues are all over the place. Keeping them clean appears like quite a challenge! But apparently, bronze statues need only the most basic levels of care in order to look fairly presentable. All that is required is good ol’ soap and water. That’s it! Dish soap and warm water. Go figure!

Hard to believe, of course, given the state of your typical bronze sculpture inside the parks or on the street. And just why are so many made of bronze in the first place? Well, it turns out that bronze has some characteristics that make a sculptor’s job that much easier.

They’re strong but not brittle, so that more daring action poses may be used with less visually intrusive supports. They also expand a little right before setting so that a mold is likely to be completely filled, down to the slightest detail.

Interestingly, the cleaning of iron statues, a less popular but still fairly common type of sculpture, will probably be much more involved. Rust or peeling paint may need to be removed first. Using sandpaper should suffice, and then it’s on to the soap and water! Stone statues, however, generally require no soap at all except in cases of heaving staining. White marble statues, however, must not come into contact with bleach.

Regular exposure to the chemical will almost undoubtedly damage the marble! In fact, there’s almost never a good reason to use bleach with statuary, besides the fact that it’s harmful towards the environment, killing any plant it touches.

Now all this sounds simple enough. So why are all the bronze, iron, and marble statues out there so dirty? In a word, funds – or the lack thereof, rather. Local and national parks departments are among the very first to be cut back in an budget shakeup, and unfortunately this is an even worse recession than any previous within the past seventy-five years!

College flags rank amongst the most valuable of memorabilia, with a wide range of styles that reflect the unique heritage of each individual institution. Officially licensed college flags and pennants ensure authentic insignia as well as quality construction, and they provide a source of revenue that goes back to support the school. One may purchase flags or pennants to hang by the door of one’s house or show in one’s garden as well as banners that may be streamed over an entrance or across the yard. Two-ply constructions allow designs to be viewed properly from either side.

But most varieties of college flags are most often to be found at intercollegiate games, particularly football games. They are utilized by the fans to cheer on their team, and waving them is symbolic of the school spirit. One popular activity while waving them is to sing the school’s fight song en masse. In fact, it is hard to conceive of a college flag apart from that college’s fight song. One would seem incomplete without the other.

Thus, there are hundreds of fight songs, just as there are hundreds of flags. At times both are equally old and hallowed, and sometimes each is of vastly different vintage. The earliest fight song in generally recognized to be Boston College’s “For Boston” of 1885, but it is not certain which is the oldest college flag. Indeed, it is not certain when the tradition of college flags and pennants began, although one may safely imagine that their origins roughly coincided.

Speaking of origins, numerous flags have changed over the years owing to cultural advances that made it unacceptable to feature mascots based on racial stereotypes or designs integrating the old Confederate Battle Flag. Many alumni protest, but ultimately new generations of students with no sentimental attachment to old symbols make the revised models their own.

Severe headaches? Squinting? It may be signals of declining eye-sight. So what do you do next? You head to see an eye doctor (of course) and it could possibly be that you will require eye glasses or contact lenses. Now there is always the option of laser surgery but this posting will not talk about that.

Go for the glass? Eyeglasses have been around for decades – think Benjamin Franklin, an iconic wearer of glasses. Glasses are either created from plastic or glass. The frames for them also come in a wide variety of materials. And, if you are concerned about not finding the proper frames, don’t worry they now have frameless styles. And if you are one of those individuals who can’t even consider putting their finger in their eye and cringe at the notion of it, eyeglasses may be your best option.

Nonetheless contact lenses provide some advantages over glasses. One advantage, the rain, I believe you know what happens. Two, fog, eye glasses tend to fog up. Three, moving down your nose anytime you perspire, etc.

Whichever you decide on, the most fundamental issue is the fact that you see clearly.

When in the market for a self study CPE course, here are three consumer suggestions that might save you time and money. First, ensure that the credits you would receive are even acceptable to whatever certifying body governs your professional license.

It might seem absurd, but there are actual instances on record of folks – otherwise fully qualified professionals – who have overlooked such a minor detail and gone on to take a course and earn credits that turn out not to be recognized by the board with jurisdiction over their licensure.

Secondly, inquire whether there are any pilot CPE courses, programs which are experimental in nature for which tuition is free (or drastically reduced) in exchange for, typically, some type of student suggestions at the end. Such trial programs, however, bear actual credits.

The primary stipulation common to such pilot courses is that students really complete the course. Occasionally, the only other obligation is that detailed suggestions be provided to help improve the course for full-fledged deployment. Other times, all the information that course-designers need to know are test scores and the like, with no other feedback needed. Whatever the case, pilot courses are a win-win situation for all concerned.

Last but not least, think about an online CPE instead of conventional correspondence through the mail. Some of these web-based courses might even consist of familiar fare such as workbooks and the like, but much more often than not everything is online, instantly accessible and available at a much lower cost due to not needing to print and bind materials and pay for the postage to send them to a student.

Technology even makes such programs better, with multimedia and interactivity often built into the design of the program, allowing for much more interesting and pedagogically helpful presentations. Perhaps best of all, test results are almost always instantaneous!

It’s essential to go with the right equipment when in the great outdoors. Though beautiful, Mother Nature can be deadly – quickly. One essential part of anyone’s gear when enjoying our national parks needs to be portable shelter – in other words, a tent. Something like the Big Agnes tent, as fine a line as any made anywhere.

They’re created from dye-free fabric which is breathable but waterproof, venting moisture to the outside while keeping everybody dry inside. Their poles are constructed from an anodizing process that’s environmentally friendly.

You see, tent poles normally need two really toxic chemicals as a part of the anodizing process. However the Big Agnes tent are made from a unique method that eliminates phosphoric and nitric acid, eliminating the polishing stage altogether.

This also has the added benefit of reducing waste water, because with out employing these toxic chemical substances, any rinsing water that’s used can be safely recycled. Of course, there are lots of reasons why a Big Agnes tent is such a best-seller.

Top quality and reliability is one, plus design and features. And also the company’s reputation for other merchandise is solid, which makes consumers of portable sheltering curious about the whole Big Agnes product line. Indeed, it appears that the organization is most famous for its sleeping bags, which are unlike traditional designs in that the bag and the pad are united into one.

How they do this, they slide the pad into an built-in sleeve based at the bottom of the bag. This way, the top two-thirds is insulated as per usual but the bottom simply contains the pad, doing away with insulation material that loses most of its capability when compressed under the weight of a body anyway. For several individuals, such details don’t really matter, but for true enthusiasts, such craftsmanship is important.

To make money by blogging, you’ll want to find explosive niches to blog, topics people care about – a lot of folks. The easiest thing to do, if all you truly care about is money, is to start up an MFA website. No, this isn’t a Master of Fine Arts website, but a made-for-Adsense website. A site designed specifically for Google’s Adsense program, where you place interactive ads that pay you for each click made on them!

Each click from a unique visitor, as determined by a unique IP address, typically. That is why it is so crucial to find explosive niches to blog about, since you’ll only be making money if enough folks click on the advertisements you put up on your site. Of course, you now come to the next problem to be solved: how to attract all those folks?

First off, know that you need to attract tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of guests to your site – each day. That is right; every day, your web site needs to have enough traffic for you to make money, given that every click will usually only yield pennies – yes, pennies! So you’ll need thousands of people clicking those ads to be able to make a decent amount of money every day. That’s how you blog residual cash to your business, by getting commission off of referrals!

But conversion rates, the number of folks who actually generate income for you, are normally around three percent. That means for every hundred visitors, chances are only three or four – or two or one! – will actually click on an ad, netting you less than ten cents, normally. That is why it is so essential to find topics which will interest the greatest number of individuals! Blogging popular television shows is really a good way to go in many cases.

If you’re typing in something like “loans for bad credit franchise” you need to read this article. It will talk about just that, a loan for those with bad credit histories to be able to open up their dream franchise. Going into business for yourself is probably the proudest occasions in anyone’s life. And going the franchise route really boosts your chances of success. After all, everything’s already determined for you! You just need to put in the hard work – and cold cash.

What is there for the majority of businesses out there? Well, let me tell you…Small business loans. Starting out business certainly will not be so difficult, but maintaining a franchise or business is sometimes amazingly challenging. Oftentimes a little too impressive but ideally it won’t be for the most part. But it happens even to the best sometimes and when the loose link finally breaks the chain, franchise loans dive to the rescue, based on the scenario.

But you know this, needless to say. That’s why you were Googling the web for “franchise loans bad credit” in the first place! You’re possibly just a normal everyday person who’s tired of working so hard for someone else, making them prosperous and putting their kids through school. It’s your turn now for a piece of the real action, financially speaking!

But, speaking of finances, you’ve got none and your credit is shot – like most regular everyday folk in these recessionary times. That’s why you will need that franchise loans bad credit so much! It’s your only chance. But guess what – even if you had excellent or even perfect credit, the bank ain’t gonna just give you a few hundred thousand dollars to jumpstart your dreams. You’re still going to have to have lots and lots (and lots and lots and lots) of your own money to trigger.

For instance, lenders feel that with more of your own jeopardized, you’re very likely to try your dog-darned hardest to succeed. That’s understandable enough. For another thing, people, even banks, just don’t want to commit so much to an unknown. Now the point that it would be a franchise makes things less of an unknown, but there are still all the typical unknowns that attend any enterprise, specifically startups.

So the very first thing is, you’ll still need to have your own money (lots and lots and lots and…) to put in – in advance. But after that, and typically with some months’ worth of credit card receipts to prove your sales, your new venture will be able to attract some financial help at last, despite your bad credit, by means of a cash advance. That’s where cash is advanced to you towards your anticipated monthly credit card sales, with a previously agreed upon percentage deducted for repayment purposes. This arrangement in effect lets you pay pack at your own pace, with no fixed costs to meet despite your income!

The recent PBS/POV documentary “Wo Ai Ni Mommy” concerns the adoption of a Chinese eight year-old by an American family. More specifically, it’s a movie chronicle of a slightly handicapped older child’s integration into the social milieu of a Long Island Jewish family. Most of the documentary can be rather uncomfortable to watch, in a creeply queasy way, the cringe-worthy kind reminiscent of family get-togethers, as viewers are treated to some potentially unflattering details which jointly seem to make the case for better pre-adoption screening beforehand.

It is not recognized from the ninety minutes of screentime whether such matters were involved, as the filmmakers intent appears to be a simple record of what happens in such cross-cultural/racial/national adoptions. Nevertheless, even a psychological evaluation can only do so much, since it’s difficult to guage the subtle aspects of human motivation, which also frequently happen to be those bearing the most weight.

In the documentary “Wo Ai Ni Mommy,” one such subtlety concerns the very fact of a cross-cultural/racial/national adoption. While the Sadowskys, the American family featured by this film, were asked why they happened to choose a Chinese girl as opposed to any number of children in the United States, there was never actually an answer given.

It was just love at first sight, claims the mother, which begs the question of why she had happened to select to view Chinese babies first. And even though one with an understanding of the wider context of the popularity of Chinese adoptions in turn-of-the-century America might point out that she had several friends who had also adopted girls from China, the ultimate question of just why China, of all places, remains unanswered.

A fine look into some of the nitty gritty details of older-child adoptions further complicated by language, cultural, as well as physical barriers due to mild disformity, “Wo Ai Ni Mommy” is heartwarming while wistful, raising many more questions than it intends to answer, in the process highlighting just how complex an adoption could be.

The 1099 Form is filed on behalf of independent contractors in the United States annually as required by law. Independent contractors are persons or corporations that provide goods or services to another person or corporation within the terms of a contract or verbal agreement.

All those people or companies that make use of independent contractors must file a 1099 Form for every contractor compensated an amount of six hundred dollars or more for the duration of a single year. As might be imagined, it is possible for thousands of such contractors to be hired, and so those who make use of more than two hundred and fifty need to file all their forms electronically, that is practically always generated by software.

In addition to a 1099 Form, the 1096 is also necessary when it comes to paper copies sent through the mail. Payees typically use the info on their 1099s to complete their own tax returns, and will most likely use the Combined Form 1099 that records all the independent contracting they have completed for the year.

Generally speaking, however, taxpayers are not required to attach a 1099 to their own federal income tax returns except under certain circumstances. Guidelines concerning 1099 forms are to be found in IRS Publication 1220.

Use of the 1099 has become quite controversial in the current financial recession as more and more employers seek to conserve money by classifying an ever larger part of their workforce as independent contractors. The benefits to the employer in savings are essentially passed onto the worker, whose take-home or net earnings will take a substantial hit relative to that of a regular employee. However the practice has becoming increasingly widespread in the American economy today because very few candidates can afford to complain or hold out for a better job offer in such recessionary times.

All of it started when I was swimming pool resurfacing just last week. I typically see her only in her bikini, which is quite an eyeful all right, but this time she wasn’t wearing one.

No, despite the hot summer sun she was all dressed up in a business suit. But her buxom bosom couldn’t hide itself, all the same, and her generous shapely hips filled up every centimeter of her mini-skirt.

I looked up from swimming pool resurfacing, of course, and greeted her the way I usually do, politely, professionally.

“I like that pink skirt you are wearing.”

I answered that they were shorts, fashionably baggy and made out purposely to appear like skirts.

“They look great on you, honey.”

Now normally I’d imagine she was being polite, but for some reason I suspected – hoped – that this being my last day on the job before school starts, which meant that there was a subtext to our conversation now.

“I’ve never ever seen you like this, Mrs. Fugon. You look great!”

“I’m glad you think so. I sort of wore it just for you.”

And there I was, in the middle of swimming pool resurfacing when she and I somehow found ourselves kissing and fondling one another. I told her how stunning she was and she said the same of me. We spoke of our shared secret yearning all the days of this long summer now so suddenly short seeing how I was heading off back to college across the country and we finally decided to confess to one another.

“There’s always the weekends, Amy. Not to mention the holidays.”

I began to protest that there would never be enough time for me to spend time with her – all the usual sentimentality that comes with being so young, I now realize scarcely a week later, but she hushed me with a kiss and told me never to say never.

“And don’t call me Mrs. Fugon; you know it’s Claudia.”

Sadly, it didn’t quite come to pass that way. I blame youthful exuberance for embarassing her, though she was very gracious in demurring.

Well a girl can still dream!

Pass by a statue in the park, and chances are that it’s a bronze sculpture, which rank among the most popular of cast metal works due to a naturally occurring trait that makes it a lot more convenient to fashion than many other materials. Bronze alloys expand a little prior to being set, and this helps to ensure that even the finest details of a mold are filled.

Moreover, bronze sculptures are strong while not being brittle, a quality recognized as ductibility, so that works may be fashioned that illustrate actions performed mid-sequence, as if frozen in time, for example leaps and flights, simply because the needed supports require will smaller and thus less obvious (that is, visually intrusive) cross-sections.

Few examples from antiquity exist relative to those sculpted of stone and ceramics due to the precious nature of the metal. In times of war, such art was simply melted down for arms, or victorious conquerors melting them down for recasting and to produce new statues.

Few bronze statues survived from ancient times, and those which do are often not in good condition. The originals on display in museums have been painstakingly restored to a quality suitable enough for exhibition but even the naked eye can still easily discern traces of wear and tear.

Modern-day works are usually some ninety percent cooper and ten percent tin, though in ages past other components figured into the alloy, elements like phosphorus and manganese and aluminum and silicon. But reactive chemicals are frequently added these days to be able to obtain novel effects such as a marble-like luster.

This kind of corrosive materials are applied after final polishing to be able to form a patina or film, establishing for the sculptor a degree of control over the color and finish. As can be imagined, working properly with bronze requires a high degree of technical skill.