I have been battling a stuffy nose and a sore throat for the last week, but it takes a severe sickness to cause a missed “work” day because I play professional baseball. Even if I am unable to play, I am required to go to the field to see the trainer. This sickness wasn’t nearly bad enough to keep me from work, but what if it had been? At what point is staying home better than going to work?
Workplace Environment
Viruses can spread through the workplace very easily. This is especially true in jobs with common areas and a lot of interaction. Schools are a good example of a setting where sickness spreads extremely quickly. Teachers are typically advised to stay home if they are sick. Even if you feel as though you are plenty healthy to go to work, you need to keep your coworkers in mind. If you could spread a sickness to them, you are doing everyone a disservice.
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There has been a lot written recently about the idea of a spending fast. You take a break from all non-essential spending (you still have to pay your bills and buy groceries, after all) in order to break the habit of mindlessly spending money.
While I don’t think I would want to participate in a spending fast, I do see the value in saying no to spending more money on occasion. Indeed, I’d rather prioritize my spending so that I am paying for the things that I enjoy and want, rather than watching the money trickle away because I’m mindlessly spending money on things I don’t particularly care about.
When to Say No to Spending More Money
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I have been a baseball nut my entire life. While the game is boring to many, it strikes a chord with me. The intricacies of what happens on the field never cease to amaze me. Baseball has been known as a sport of statistics since its inception. In no other sport are statistics followed so closely. For a number of years, they were merely derived from box scores. Big home run hitters, base stealers and strikeout pitchers dominated the league leaders. Recently, a man named Bill James turned these traditional statistics on their head. By introducing Sabermetrics to the game of baseball, James changed the way general managers and front office personnel view their employees.
What are They?
Sabermetrics uses traditional and modern statistics and molds them into something more tangible. These revolutionary stats can show how much or little one contributes on defense and also how many runs they helped create throughout the season.
While statistics used to only show half of the story, Sabermetrics attempts to show the entire thing. Power hitters who were once thought to be huge contributors are now often seen as defensive liabilities. Fielders with good fielding percentages are now highly sought after for their fantastic range. Sabermetrics have essentially placed values on items that were previously ignored. The name of the game is wins and losses and these statistics can be an effective predictor of overall record.
If America’s pastime and most traditional sport can have a statistical revolution, what is in store for the rest of the world?
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Lately, we’ve been getting a lot of credit offers in the mail. A LOT. Some days, we have four or five offers in the mailbox. We have good credit, so it’s not surprising that our mailbox is flooded with offers. However, even those with less than stellar credit are starting to see an uptick in the offers they are getting. With the economy showing some signs of life, and since many people paid down debt during the recession, credit card issuers are venturing out there with offers.
However, not everyone is getting the same offers. Credit card issuers vary the offers according to your credit profile. Some of the card features that can change according to your credit include:
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Green is the new black.
Buzzwords like “green living,” “eco-friendly,” and “environmentally friendly” are everywhere. Sure, you’ve checked into those products already, but you might decide that these solutions are pricier than their toxic counterparts.
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Banking is one of the many aspects of life that is becoming almost unrecognizable with changes in technology. With mobile banking and 24-hour a day access to your financial information, many of the functions of your local bank branch are becoming obsolete. The banking industry has to work to keep up with new demands, and that means how we bank will be changing. Here are four ways that banks will adapt to keep up with changing customer needs:
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