Paraskevidekatriaphobia - A morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th. Therapist Dr. Donald Dossey, whose specialty is treating people with irrational fears, coined the term. He claims that when you can pronounce the word you are cured.

I could care less about if a Friday falls on the 13th day of the month. However I’m terrified of needles, though I get one every week for my allergies. With flu season approaching it’s probably time I get appointments booked for us to go get our flu vaccine. Now I know people argue in favor and against getting the flu shot and if their are any benefits, but it seems to have worked for us last year.
I know.. there’s no way to prove that the flu vaccine we got last year really prevented us from getting sick during the winter. When they produce the vaccine they try to guess which flu could come our way and try to tailor the vaccine. So we could be protected for “x” and it so happens that “v” comes-ah-calling.

Speaking about flu shots… what ever happened to all that fuss about the bird flu? Did the bird flu flew the coup?

BTW.. it seems my fear of needles is called Needlephobia!

Enjoy this Friday 13th.

Let me repeat that again… I work from home! How easy it is for others to forget that though you’re home, you’re just like the rest of the working population and do have work to get completed.

Yesterday I totally forgot to make my usual “work from home Wednesday” post, as I was a bit occupied learning a new software/tool (Camtasia). What a cool tool for making presentations, videos, tutorials etc.

When working from home you MUST set some rules or you’ll constantly have to stop working to do odd jobs, take phone calls.. drop coffee off for some & their friend! Make it clear to everyone around you that though you didn’t have to punch the time clock or put on some uniform for the 9-5, you still do have to work.

One of my main distractions is the family phone, so I’ve decided not to answer it when I’m working. My girls know that if it’s an emergency (and their school also knows) that they can reach me at my office line. If you work from home and share the same phone for both work and everyday family life, may I suggest that you get a second line dedicated to work. This way you can filter the calls you accept.

BTW.. don’t give the business line number to friends or you’ll find yourself back in the same situation.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Chris…

Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don’t unravel.  Author Unknown

The north will be meeting the south today as we celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada. When you combine the normal fixings for a (north) Canadian Thanksgivng (Turkey, cranberry, stuffing etc) and you mix in some Caribbean (South) cusine you have the ingredients for some serious heartburn :(  Hey… but a what a tasty spread it’ll be.

As we gather with family and firends today, I’d like to wish everyone a happy and tasty Thanksgiving.

NOPE! I didn’t forget it’s Pet Peeve Monday!  Why do most people only cook turkey on Thanksgiving, Easter or Christmas? Is it law that you can’t  roast the BIG Bird any other time ? And what about the few of us who DON’T like turkey… can we not have a thanksgiving with some mouth-watering  prime rib?

Gotta go wake my girls…. it’s time to stick the “fowl” in the oven and the little cooks they are, they love to help out.

Have a great Thanksgiving Canada!

I guess we must be having fun (time flies when you’re having fun) since it’s already been 3 years since we purchased our first home and we’re now getting ready to renew our mortgage. It seems that entrepreneurs (people who don’t have a real job ) will continue to get the shaft from banks. Without a weekly pay stub to show the banks, when we originally got the mortage we not only had to have a much bigger down-payment than what’s normally expected, we also had to settle for a mortgage with a high interest rate. We’re finding the same thing again, even though Caron does have the “Pay Stub”!

The Good..

Though we do have credit card balances, we make it priority to always pay on time so our credit card report shows no late payments or anything negative.

The Bad…

Student loans follow you to your grave Get it paid as soon as you can since it will never go away and will affect your credit score.

Advice…

If you have huge credit card debts, you may want to consider getting your mortgage broker to include those debts into your new mortgage… like a consolidation loan. Though it will mean a longer term on your mortgage, if you consider the interest charged by your credit card company compared to the interest on the mortgage, you’ll find one will be a lot less. Wanna guess which one has the lower interest rate?

The key to a great mortgage or getting help with credit card debts is to get professional help. We’re lucky to have someone who’s willing to listen to our needs and goals to help us get debt free (except for the mortgage) by Jan 1 2007.

Time to find the money to pay off the taxes we owe to the federal gov’t yea.. entrepreneurs continues to get the shaft!

Have a great Thanksgiving with your family and loved ones.

It’s “work from home Wednesday” …  today I’ll like to speak at bit about staying connected. The internet is the fuel behind this entire telecommuting revolution, since it’s made it so simple to keep in contact with the outside business world.

As a home user, you can choose from four Internet access options:

•  DSL: DSL stands for digital subscriber line. It uses ordinary telephone lines and a special modem to provide an Internet connection that can transmit high-bandwidth information to a user’s computer. A DSL line can carry both data and voice signals. The data part of the line is a dedicated connection to the Internet and does not interfere with use of the telephone. DSL is high speed and is always connected to the Internet.

• Cable Internet: Cable Internet uses your local cable TV line to receive broadband Internet content. This data rate far exceeds that of modems and is about the same as DSL. Your local TV cable company is typically the cable Internet service provider.

• Dial-up access: This may be the best option if you are on a tight budget. Dial-up access uses a modem and a telephone line to connect to the Internet. The drawbacks of using this option are that data is typically transmitted at a slow rate and it blocks the telephone line.

• Satellite Internet: If cable or DSL aren’t available in your area, or if the slow dial-up access speeds are not acceptable, consider using satellite internet. It’s available to you if you live in the Northern Hemisphere and have an unobstructed view of the southern sky. The service is expensive and the data rate is not as fast as a direct line, but it is a good connectivity alternative if you live in an isolated location.