Archive for September, 2012

Fantasy Monday Night Football


18 Sep

We had a bad weekend, fantasy football wise. Our main running back left his game early with an injury, and it just never picked up. We came into Monday Night Football needing 58 points to even tie. Even with our quarterback, kicker, and defense playing, that’s not super likely. Except that last week, our QB and Kicker got 54 points all on their own, so there’s hope, right?

I am typing this with a little over 3 minutes still left in the game. We need 15 points to tie our fantasy game, 16 to win. It’s possible, but not probable.

Replacement Refs


17 Sep

We all know I am a football fan, and that I tend pt prefer the “violent” sports (hockey, roller derby, etc), but I also believe that you can make these games safer for the players without losing the spirit of the competition. The NFL says they believe in player safety, as well, and yet…

I don’t know much about the labor dispute with the regular NFL refs. What I do know is that the NFL chose to lock them out, necessitating bringing in replacement refs, and that, sadly, player safety has been one of the things sacrificed by that decision.

Blog Feature: Heart Like a Dog


15 Sep

Heart Like a Dog is Jodi Stone’s new site. It is a pretty place, but it’s not the way the site looks that keeps me coming back. It’s her writing. Her obvious love for her dogs, and the fact that she is honest about her training issues makes me feel less like a dog parent failure when my 3 act up.
Today, Jodi is asking for advice on how to get a dog to take a treat without the accompanying human fingers. I have a little experience in that, so was happy I could contribute to the knowledge base there.

Your Money Friday: Coming Home For College


14 Sep

With the college school year having just started or about to start, here’s you question of the week. Is it okay for a kid who went away to college to decide they want to come back home after only one semester or one year? Plenty of people return to their hometowns after college. Is 4 years “away” really that important? And if it is, what about those kids that don’t leave for college- the ones that stay local and do not move until after graduation, or the people who never live outside their hometowns? Do they never actually grow up?

Finding a Missing Monarch


13 Sep

Since I didn’t even know that King Richard III’s body was missing, I was rather surprised to hear that archaeologists in England think they may have found his skeleton. It makes sense that because he was killed in battle during the English civil War of the Roses that his body was not taken to London to be buried, but instead was buried somewhere near where he fell. It just hadn’t occurred to me that one of the monarchs of England had been “lost”.

They don’t know for certain yet if this is Richard III, but they are starting DNA tests.

Crowdsourcing Medical Care


12 Sep

If you’re a regular here, you know I’m a huge fan of crowd source funding. I like it for creating new projects at Kickstarter. I like it for making loans at Prosper. I like it for a charitable combination of the two at Kiva. And now I like it for donating to help those in developing countries get the lifesaving/improving healthcare they need through the new charity, Watsi.

Watsi is embracing the power of the good in people. It allows those who can to help pay for medical care for those who would otherwise have no chance of getting treatment.

The Space Elevator


11 Sep

I recently linked to the 16 Kickstarter projects that could destroy civilization. One of those projects was the re-birth of the Space Elevator. Michael Laine of LiftPort Group was looking for $8,000. He got $70,000.

Believe it or not, this is a problem. While $70,000 is a lot of money, it’s really nothing when it comes to the costs of building technology needed for a lift system that one day will carry things into space. He’s hoping the backing of 2,300 ordinary people will impress angel investors enough to convince them to give him the kind of money he needs.

The EKG Ap


10 Sep

Here in the US, if you need an EKG, you go to the doctor, it gets ordered and off you go to be hooked up to expensive equipment, at least if you have money or some kind of insurance. But what about people in developing countries where the majority of the population does not have access to advanced medical care and an EKG machine?

Enter Catherine Wong, a 17 year old from New Jersey. She recently invented an ap that will work as an EKG. Because the sad truth is, more people have access to smart phones than do hospitals.

Blog Feature: PT Money


08 Sep

This weekend I am in Denverfor FinCon12, the annual conference for financial bloggers. You can bet I’m having a great time hanging out with a number of the bloggers I have gotten to know over the last not quite 2 years. But as a blog feature, I feel it is only fair this week to highlight PT Money, the blog of the host founder of FinCon, Philip Taylor. The site is filled with practical advice, written by Philip and his contributors. I love this recent guest post 5 Financial Moves to Make Immediately After You Get a New Job.

Your Money Friday: Tranfer of Wealth Within Families


07 Sep

Here’s the dilemma- You’re doing pretty well for yourself and have some disposable income. Your parents, who sacrificed quite a bit when you were young, are still struggling, or at least living pretty close to the edge, or so it appears to you. So you, being a good kid, decide to use some of that disposable income to help out your parents- either through taking them out to nice dinners or paying a bill here and there. But then your parents turn around and financially help out a sibling whose not doing as well as you. What do you do?

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