Whew. You’re done. You managed to file your income taxes yesterday. (Some of you remember- long ago, when we stopped spending money to build America- that the Post Office stayed open until midnight [or 2AM] to yield that coveted 15 April postmark. No more…) And, now you won’t worry about taxes for the next 11 months.
Monthly Archives: April 2013
It’s way more than popcorn!
I’ve written a lot about ethanol for our fuel supply- both good and bad. (Ethanol as fuel stock and how the business case is provided, among others- check for ‘ethanol’ in the search at the right.) And, now that fuel demand is down, it’s not surprising that the stipulation that gasoline be augmented by ethanol is creating lots of problems. (For example, ethanol production is about 13.2 billion gallons- which is about 10% of the US petroleum production. With the drought, and the requirement that 14 billion gallons be combined this year, and lower gasoline demand, something has got to give.) So, it’s not surprising that the ethanol producers are looking at other things into which they can convert their corn, to insure the high returns (i.e., prices) they yield.
Some tests really go long…
When I was younger (yes, it’s true, I was younger once), I considered going to a elite school. The Bronx High School of Science. My guess is, had I gone there, I would have stayed in high school- but that is not the subject of today’s post.
Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe..
I’ve written before about the value (and pay) of CEO’s of large (and small organizations). And, the value of institutional memory. So, when one is new in a position- and in a new environment, it is difficult to trust your instincts. Because YOU have no basis for such instincts. So, you have to consider a fair number of options, or have folks you can trust that have that institutional memory upon which you can rely.
COPD?
We read that Chinese cities are overtaken by pollution. We know that there are plenty of those sites that exist in the US, too. All of this pollution makes breathing tough. It often leads to a progressive disease called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
Look both ways…
OK, it happened to me again, yesterday. I was getting ready to cross the street- no one was coming- except for the car that just pulled out of the spot by the curb and almost hit me. One of those danged electric cars that makes no sounds. (I admit it; I was on the curb- but there is a clearly marked pedestrian crossing, which in this area means- STOP if I am on the curb. But, of course, Mr. SaveTheEnvironment (actually it was a Ms.) obviously only cares about non-human things.)
Neuromarketing- a response.
So, my friends Ann Mullen (who kept me apprised of the blog) and Jaco Grobbolaar discussed neuromarketing last week. The premise of Jaco’s blog was that we can’t trust what people say- since they often do other than what they indicate to marketers (and others). So, marketers are looking to see (literally) more of how we think. The goal is to discern how our brain really is responding to those marketing approaches- and hone in on the best ones.
Time, time, time…
I’ve been remiss. I’ve not offered any advice to my clients who bill for their time in a very long time. Lawyers, Accountants, Management Specialists, Technical Services. So, this post is overdue. And, it applies to a lot of other specialties, as well.
Grocery shopping
When I was married, one of the biggest (ok, most frequent) fights we had was over grocery shopping. Yes, really.
The Song of the Sea
If I were able to work on the 7th day of Pesach (Passover), I would have posted this then. But, that day is one of the days where work is proscribed. So, this post was scheduled for today, the first day back to work after the holiday.