Two Little Words That Cause Very Big Responses

Two Little Words That Cause Very Big Responses

In a slight departure from what I normally do here, I'm going to share with you a couple of words that can provoke an unintended response.  However, if you use them with a lot of forethought you can steer a person exactly where you want them to go.  Most of the time when these words are used there is little thought given to the process and if you carelessly toss these words about you can be headed into a very bad neighborhood.  This is especially true if the person you say them to is a fast thinker and already has the arsenal of knowledge in using these words.

WHY?

Although this is often used as a question, it is actually the opening for a debate.  When somebody asks you 'Why?' it puts you on the defensive.  It's almost accusatory in nature.  Admittedly there are times it's just a general question of curiosity.  As an example, if I tell someone I'm going to the store and the response is "Why?", they are really asking "What do you need to get?" in an abbreviated form using only one word.  If the emphasis is placed just right, the meaning of what you just read above changes to a snarky comment with "Why?"  Instead of, "What do you need to get?", it becomes "What do YOU need to get?"  Therein lies the problem with the use of the word "Why/"

Lawyers are very judicious (kind of a pun) when using the word "Why?"  They have, in many cases, thought it through and are looking for an opening to draw you into a debate that has been well thought out on their end.  I call this tactic 'Pretzelization of a Witness'.  That is a way of getting someone on the stand to answer a question so it can be twisted and turned into something it was never meant to be.  All of this is done for the benefit of blowing smoke up a juries collective butt. 

Having been on both sides of the boss/employee spectrum, I'm pretty well versed on the use of 'Why'.  Whether the boss or the employee, before I tossed that question on the table I would always try and think though all the possible answers and be prepped for whatever would come my way.  I wanted to take the conversation in the direction I wanted it and not the other way around.  

The key to using 'Why' is preparation.  Think through all of the potential answers and think them through a second time.  In getting ready to use the, as I call it, BIG W, it helps to bounce the situation off of a third neutral party.  You might consider doing a couple of bounces using two neutral parties.  A good offense is pre-active while defense is reactive.  Having preplanned how and when to use 'Why' is always the better place to be situated.

Let's say you're on the receiving end.  The quickest way to handle being asked this question is a slightly confused look, and pregnant pause followed by failing to understand the relevance of the question.  Good boxers know not to get drawn into the corner.  'Why' is the corner.  Don't go there.  Maybe a simpler way of putting this is force the person asking the question to change the question and get it away from 'Why'.  Don't get drawn into a debate that the other guy has rehearsed. 

I heard a minister once say, "God never answers the question 'Why' because He realizes it's the opening for a debate and He will not be drawn into one."  If you think about it, there is some very good logic there. 

FAIR

I really hate the use of this word.  REALLY!  This word gets used more than a $10 whore on 1/2 price day.  To use this correctly you need to understand it.  Fact is, most people THINK they understand it but don't.  After you read this you will really understand FAIR.

The use of the word 'fair' requires an established, understood, and, hopefully, written standard of practice.  Anything less than the above changes 'fair' from an accurate argument into a perceptive state.  That means what you perceive to be 'fair' can be totally different from what I perceive to be 'fair'.  When fair becomes a matter of perception it is no longer the right word for the argument.

Let me clarify this a bit.  Let's say I'm driving down the road at 50 in a 45 m.p.h. posted zone.  I get pulled over and get a ticket.  I say, 'Hey, this isn't fair,"  I lose because it is an established and written standard which can be proven.  Now let's say I'm driving next to somebody and we're both doing 50 in that same 45 place.  I get tagged for speeding and the other dude skates.  I say, "Hey, that isn't fair."  I win.  To be 'fair' in this case either my ticket is voided or dude 'B' gets tagged too.  The reason I'm correct in this case is, again, the established and written standard.  Let's call this 'provable equity'.

The use of 'fair' becomes wrong when it is 'unprovable equity'.  The word 'fair' is used often when the word 'equal' or 'equality' should be the word.

Let me give you an example of the above.  I have a cookie and 2 kids.  One of youngsters weighs 50 lbs and the other is 100 lbs.  I split the cookie down the middle and give them each 1/2.  Whoops, then the argument starts.  The lighter of the two says, "That isn't fair.  I'm smaller.  I should get more."  The heavier one says, "Hey, I should be the one getting more.  This isn't fair.  I'm bigger and use more calories."  The 'fair' argument in this case is a matter of perception and invalid because there is no established, understood and/or written standard.  The actual argument is equality and since they are getting equal pieces both kids are wrong. 

Most teenagers throw out the 'fair' argument to parents.  Most parents don't understand 'fair' and take the bait.  When parents don't know the meaning of 'fair', teens often win this debate when they really shouldn't.  Parents - learn the difference between 'fair' and 'equal'.  Keep the argument on the proper track.  As a parent if you get side railed you will soon get derailed. 

Foxnews uses the term "Fair and Balanced" and I have a problem with their use of the word 'fair' when it should be 'Equal'.  I understand that 'Fair and Balanced' has a nice sound to it.  It does.  That doesn't make it right.  Likewise, "totally destroyed" has a nice sound to it but if something is 'destroyed' the word 'totally' is unnecessary.  Maybe Foxnews should simply say "Equal, Balanced" because if something is 'Balanced' there must be a state of equilibrium, so 'Equal and Balanced' would be the equivalent of 'totally destroyed'.

And now I give you the ABSOLUTE WORST use of the word 'FAIR' I ever heard.  A commentator was talking on television about something being 'fair'.  He was wrong in using 'fair' for all of the above reasons.  At the end he made it worse by saying, "What could be more fair then that."  'More fair' is like 'totally destroyed'.  

Don't get me started about how pissed I get when I'm watching television and the reporter says, "As you can see....."
  
© Krystalco LLC 2013  Any publication or reuse of the information on this blog, in part or whole, without express written consent is prohibited.

Flu, Colds, Winter, Humidity

Flu, Colds, Winter, Humidity

If I can save you some money and help prevent you from suffering with a cold, or worse yet, the flu is it worth a few minutes of your reading time?  I hope so and I’m betting you will too.  Okay, I’m in Las Vegas and occasionally I’m willing to place a bet.

The first three items in this title go together and so does the fourth, in a very big way.  So now it’s time for me to connect the dots.

Cold winter weather keeps people indoors more and in close proximity.  So once a person gets a cold it’s much more easily spread.  A simple sneeze, a handshake, and other contact can rush a cold or the flu through a building like flood waters over a dam.  

There are the obvious preventive measures that you hear like, get a flu shot, wash your hands, etc.  Now here’s the one that gets overlooked and can make a big difference…..regulate the humidity in your home and if possible your work environment.

The biggest compound in the human body is water.  Humidity is water in the form of a vapor and our bodies should be exposed to humidity in the 30 to 50 percent range.  Have you ever got up from an 8 hour sleep with cracked lips or a nose bleed from simply blowing your nose in the winter?  If so the reason is most often being exposed to low humidity.  For this example let’s say the outside temperature is 25 F with a relative humidity (RH) of 22%.  That would make the dew point -9F.  Inside your home or office let’s bump the temperature up to 72F.  You would have to add humidity to change the dew point from what it is outside, but for now we’re not going to do that.  Here’s the result.  The RH drops down to an amazingly low 4%.  Above I gave you the range your body needs so now you understand why your nose bleeds and your lips crack on those very cold winter days and nights.  Also that static electricity spark you get from walking on carpet is a sign of low humidity.  

Breaks in the lip surface and the nose lining are a flu or cold germs best friend.  That can be the equivalent of getting an infection from an open cut.  Those nasty germs can settle in, make camp, and involve your entire body in a battle which will send you to the doctor with a fever, headache, body aches, and….oh, you get the picture.  

The solution to all of this does not need to be expensive or complicated.  Here, at the very least, is what you need to do.  Humidity the area where you sleep and, if possible, the area where you work.  Humidity in your work area may be out of your control, but some is better than none so let’s concentrate on your home.  

A whole house humidifier is ideal but can be expensive.  Since you are only using this for a few months in the winter let’s drop this down to a single room humidifier.  The cost can range from as low as $20 for a drug store steam humidifier to a couple of hundred bucks for an ultrasonic/steam unit with an automatic humidistat.  You will also need a hygrometer for measuring RH, especially with the cheap solution.  Fortunately those are inexpensive and readily available at your drugstore, Target, or Wally World.  The total cost for humidifying your bedroom can be as low as $30.  That may be less than you would spend on a trip to the doctor.  Remember your goal is to raise the humidity to right around 45%.

There is no ultimate weapon in cold or flu prevention.  The question is does this help?  I can tout you my personal statistics.  In the past 30 years I’ve had 1 major run in with the flu that put me down for a couple of days.  I’ve had 3 major colds (5 to 7 day events) and a couple of minor ones (less than 5 days).  You could say I’m exceptionally lucky and/or healthier than most people but based on other factors I think not.  When I even think I feel a cold coming on I drink lots of green tea with honey and I bulk up on vitamin C.  

I do know that with proper humidity winter nose bleeds and cracked lips will drop.  If regulating the humidity in your sleep environment helps keep you from getting a severe cold or the flu, isn’t it worth it?

© Krystalco LLC 2013  Any publication or reuse of the information on this blog, in part or whole, without express written consent is prohibited.

'WATER DEMYSTIFIED' or 'CLEARING THE AIR ABOUT WATER'

 

 ‘WATER DEMYSTIFIED’

 or

 ‘CLEARING THE AIR ABOUT WATER’

 

H2O, 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen is the combination that gives us liquid life.  Our bodies are mostly made up of it and the earth is mostly covered by it.  Today’s question is what do you really know about water?

There are more than 220 billion trillion gallons of water on the surface of this ever changing planet.  Unfortunately most of it is salt water found in the oceans.  Nature has an amazing process for desalinization of ocean water.   It’s called evaporation.  When the salt water becomes a vapor the salt is left behind so the vapor can reform as a more pure raindrop.  Of course, when that raindrop falls and if it makes its way back into the ocean it becomes salt water once again.  Every day the process continues and the earth just keeps on turning.

So much for science 101, I want to talk about the water in your home.  It is either well water or treated ‘city’ water.  Oh, I almost forgot, there are a few places where the water is actually trucked in for consumption.  I’m not sure what category that falls under.

When you boil this topic down (pun intended) there are only two areas of water that really should be of concern within your living space.  Those things are water hardness and water filtration.  They are, in fact, two very different things.  Hardness and filtration are not interchangeable topics.

Hardness

Hard water will not cause you any physical harm.  It may make your water taste strange and it also may give it an odor, but with regard to health the point is moot.  I have city water and although treated for chemicals and other crap that may cause physical and health problems, it is not treated for hardness.  Very hard water has 7.0 to 10.5 grains per gallon (GPG) of hardness.  Our city water has 19 GPG, which easily exceeds the standard of very hard water.

So if it is not a health problem do you really need to treat hard water to make it softer?  You may want to because of two other issues.  1) Calcium and Magnesium precipitate out of hard water in the form of scale.  These appear as white deposits that are left behind in the separation process.  It’s the same scale that leaves your skin feeling dry and sometimes itchy after a shower in hard water.  It’s the same scale that will eventually build up in plumbing and appliances, which can be a cause of future problems and shortened appliance life.  2) Hard water cuts into a soaps ability to lather.  It also causes soap to leave behind a sticky filmy scum.  With hard water you will need to use more soap to get the same effect of a clean wash in soft water.  

Since we’re about money savings here, hard water will cost you money.  So now the question become how do I fix it and at what cost?  A water softener is the fix and the cost will vary depending on the type and who installs it.  Figure the cost to be anywhere from $500 to 2K.  If you go much higher than the $2,000 mark you will have a hard time getting the return on your investment during the life of the softener system.  There are several types of softeners to choose from.  I’ll mention the most common here.  They are magnetic and chemical softener systems.  

Magnetic…..Although it does alter the ionization of water, which will turn hard water into SOFTER water, this is gray area technology.  It should also be noted that magnetic or electromagnetic softeners (Such as the Easy Water system) must have the water used quickly after being altered.  If the water is not used for its intended purpose it will return to its hardened state.  

Chemical…..Salt water softeners are the most economical and, contrary to what some water softener companies would have you believe, very little salt remains in the water during the softening process.  I repeat, very little salt remains with the water.  Some very expensive water softening operations would have you believe salt softeners are bad.  They will point to some areas where it is against code to install a salt water softener.  Here’s the down on dirty on the code issue.  In a few areas of California and Texas it is against the law IF you have a septic system and are not on city sewage.  This is not done because the salt in your potable water is excessive.  This is code because during the backwash process the salt will go into septic tank, which often have outflow lines and leach beds.  These leach beds COULD let the salt makes its way into an aquifer.  Notice I used the word COULD and not WILL or DOES.  This code thing is a precautionary measure and there is no hard evidence of this ever happening.  It’s an err on the side of caution thing.  Very California in nature. 

There are also Potassium water softeners.  If the salt thing really bothers you regardless of the facts, simply go potassium.  It will cost you three to five times as much in buying the potassium, but hey, it’s your choice.  

Watch the warranty on the softener you buy.  Remember you get what you pay for and this is no exception.  If you buy a $500 softener with a 5 year warranty, don’t be surprised if you are having a funeral for it in 5 or 6 years.  This is especially true in very hard water areas.  

Filtration

Filtration is the area you should really be concerned with because this CAN affect your health.  Notice, again, I said CAN and not DOES or WILL.  If you are on city water it must meet certain Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, which removes the bad stuff down to a defined safe level.

Here’s a fun little fact.  Blind taste tests have shown some city water is favored over bottled water.  If you’re buying bottled water to drink at home you really need to ask yourself “WHY?”

If you want the ultimate in pure water for cooking and drinking then your best option is to install a Reverse Osmosis (RO) water filter under your kitchen sink.   For every gallon of RO filtered water used an additional 4 gallons are washed down the drain in the filtering process.  At an initial cost of less than $200 (Oh, you will be buying filters after the initial cost at a cost of around $30 a pop and some units use 3, 4 or 5 filters.) The water pouring out of these devices is about a pure and clean as it gets.  In fact, RO water purification systems are used in many bottled water plants.  Yep, and you can have it at home for pennies compared to what bottled water costs.  

DID YOU KNOW BOTTLED WATER COSTS MORE THAN GASOLINE?  If you pay $1 for a 16 oz. Bottle of water that makes the cost of water $8 per gallon.   I’ve seen places charging $3 a bottle or $24 a gallon for water.  I truly do understand the OCCASIONAL need to buy a bottle of water, however, I don’t understand how any sane person is willing to pay big $$$ for tap water that costs …… less than $1.50 per 1000 gallons.  (NOTE:  EPA guidelines for bottled water only apply if the water is shipped across state lines.  State guidelines apply for product produced and sold within the state.  In many states it is perfectly legal to bottle city tap water and sell it.)

Oh, for those of you that regularly buy bottled water just because you THINK it tastes better or you THINK it is better for you, I’ve got this bridge in New York that I’m selling for a real bargain price…………….

 

© Krystalco LLC 2013  Any publication or reuse of the information on this blog, in part or whole, without express written consent is prohibited.

Economic Wisdom from the Stupidity of Our Government

Learning Economic Wisdom from the Stupidity of Our Government

There’s an old saying that goes something like this; a lawyer that would represent himself has a fool for a client.  Likewise, a doctor who would operate on himself has a fool for a patient.  

The nice thing about fools is that wise people can watch their costly stupid errors and learn from them.  The wise person learns for free while the fool picks up the tab.  

In this ‘Gold Nugget of Truth’ the fools we will learn from are from both sides of the government aisle.  They are both Democrats and Republicans, and foolish beyond belief.  Of course, there is the Queen of Fools, Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) who once said, “We have to pass the bill to see what’s in it.”(Referring to Obamacare)  After making a statement of that type you really don’t need to see her brain scan to see what’s in it or not in it.  Duh. 

Politicians often have their hearts in the right place, but have their heads up their asses.  That disease is also known as ‘Craniumrectus’ and the cure for it is a ‘POPULECTOMY.’  The Populectomy got its name from the way the treatment works.  The patient suffering from Craniumrectus is pulled by the underarm area until you hear a popping sound which indicates the head is now removed from the rectum.   Since it’s a disease I invented I can also come up with any cure that suits the need.  So there.

Back in the days of the early 80’s politicians from both sides of the aisle were pushing the fact that every good hard working American should own a home.  Those well intentioned albeit stupid elected gurus encouraged banks to loosen up credit.  That encouragement gave way to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Those government started pseudo institutions led the way for more money to loan.  Easy loans with looser qualifications were becoming the rule.  Eventually rules became so loose
that you could work at McDonalds and qualify for $400,000 home loan.  Are you starting to see the flaws in this yet?  If so, you have probably just passed the IQ of the typical Senator or Representative. 

No money down, no problem.  Give money away, print more, build more homes because our economy is expanding.  It looked that way on the surface but in reality it was a false economy. 

At some point reality must set in and it did, in the form of a real estate crash.  Our elected officials would have you believe it was the banks fault, but it was the boys and girls in Washington that encouraged and backed those loans.  So those same deluded geniuses in DC decided they needed to do something.  “Hey”, said one of ‘em, “Here’s an idea.  Let’s borrow money we don’t have.  Run up the debt.  Do some kind of ‘feel good’ rescue home loan thing, oh, and spend a trillion bucks or so on economic stimulus.  You know, green projects.  That leaves us with the ‘feel good’ home thingy and a ‘look good’ environmental thingy.”  And thusly, nearly all the lemmings in Congress voted to approve it. 

Now the Man-In-Charge, who just spent a year lying to the nation about healthcare, decided to make bad loans to green companies.  Enter Solyndra, which took around $500,000,000  in taxpayer money and then went four paws to the ceiling.  That was only the beginning.  Several other companies followed suit and some of them used inside track (questionable tactics, if you prefer) to get those wonderful, screw the taxpayer, loans.  

Ah, but the best (sarcasm) was yet to come.  Obamanation decided to loan $132,000,000 to an upstart battery company called A123 Systems.  You could also call it Solyndra Junior because it too went belly up.  Here comes the good part. You see, China holds more than a trillion bucks in U.S. debt.  Much of the money for the stimulus was borrowed from China.  China, seeing a potentially good thing, swoops down and latches on to A123 for nearly nothing.  The U.S. Taxpayers are out the 132 million and the absolute worst part is we are paying interest to China on those millions I just told you about.  Yep, they get a free U.S. company and we pay them interest.  We the people…just got screwed….AGAIN.

So what’s the message in here for you?  Well, there’s three of them.  1) Paying interest never benefits you the borrower.  But there are times, specifically when you buy a home you will need that loan which leads us to #2) Live below your means.  If you can afford a $250,000 home why not settle for something considerably less expensive.  Something you can pay off early and pay less interest on the loan.  Wow, what a novel concept.  Going into debt is NEVER something you should take lightly.  Besides ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ is so 1970’s.  3)  Think before you vote and only vote if you think.  Remember career politicians and lawyers RARELY make good Senators, Representatives or Presidents.  What we need are good common people with good common sense.  

Current office holders need not apply. 

© Krystalco LLC 2012  Any publication or reuse of the information on this blog, in part or whole, without express written consent is prohibited.

2 Rules for Instant Saving

Advertising 101 - - Ways of separating you from your money and/or influence your thoughts.

Let’s start this with the simplest rudimentary definition I could come up with for advertising.

Advertising – a presentation designed in part or whole to create a predetermined desired response.

Now let me break this down a bit further for you.  The presentation of an ad can be in a nearly endless variety of forms.  You can have newspaper, radio, television, internet, magazine, billboard, word of mouth, direct mail, and testimonial ads, just to name a few. 

Ads are designed to appeal to you on one of two different levels:  emotional or intellectual.  Please note, most ads are emotional with only a very very small percentage going for an intellectual appeal.  Of the few that do go for an intellectual appeal, most of those ads are still driving you for an emotional response.

You probably have no idea how much research goes into marketing a product.  Demographics, packaging, color, shape, even down to a product release date all go into the final mix. 

Professional product and ad people along with focus groups, study, inspect, digest, dissect, analyze, and scrutinize, everything involved with the product and its collateral just to come up with the perfect winning combination.  The sad part is regardless of time and money spent there is no sure fire way to guarantee or predict a winner.  There have been times when companies have spent hundreds of thousands of bucks only to have the ship of their dreams sink more disastrously than the Titanic.  Then there have been those totally goofy-assed, totally insane ideas that defied all logic only to become million dollar babies.  

Let me name some name of some losers.  Before I do let me add this, you may not recognize some of these because they are losers, but at one time they did exist.  Here goes – Libby’s Fruit Float, Wine & Dine, Soakee (Bubble bath), Yucca Dew (Shampoo), Waterford (Cigarette), RCA 8 Track Quadraphonic Player, Bowmar Calculators, 4 Track Tape Players, Betamax, Laser Disc players, Soybean Hamburger Extender, Polaroid Big Shot Camera, McDonalds Hula Burger, McDLT, Arch Deluxe, McLean Deluxe, Edsel (automobile), The Baconeer, PSSSSSST (spray dry shampoo in a can), Action Detergent, and this list could go on.

Now here are some products that became big winners, regardless of sensibility – Troll Dolls, Mood Rings, The Pet Rock, Beanie Babies, Snuggies, just about any Ronco product (Splatter Screen, Pocket Fisherman, Smokeless Ashtray, etc.), Instant Coffee, Breeze (Detergent), Oxi Clean, Duz (Detergent), and I’m sure you’ll think of a lot more.  

You could spend hours analyzing each of the above winners and losers to determine what went right or wrong with the product.  Actually some would require very little thought, like PSSSSSST.   If I remember correctly you sprayed it on, rubbed it around, combed your hair and it was supposed to be clean.  Yeah, this works how???  Oh, I add more crap to my already dirty hair, comb it and it’s magically cleaned by who?? Houdini??

I saw an ad on TV the other day advertising a flashlight with a magnet attached. At one point in the ad it claims to be “as bright as daylight”.  Really?  I’d love to know how that works.  

Oh, when you get that 25 foot “Shrinking Garden Hose”, be ready to open the box and see a hose that’s only a little more than 8 feet long.  Just add water and expands to 3 times its length.  So you just paid $19.99 + Processing and Handling for an 8 foot garden hose.  But wait; add some more money for processing and handling and we’ll include a second 8 foot garden hose for free.  Hell, we may even through in the ‘Old Brooklyn Lantern’ (you know, with the ‘Authentic Antique Globe’ – Think about that line of BS), and if you call within the next 10 minutes we may throw in a ‘Slap Chopper’ plus an AMAZING anywhere light bulb (which is really just another flashlight because it produces light and is battery operated) and we’ll also start sending you advertising cards in the mail that are never a standard size so they stand out and make you want to read them (usually this is reserved for political hacks trying to get into office so they don’t have to work for a living), but if you email right this very minute we’ll include a Lint Lizard which will prevent you from having a ‘DANGEROUS Dryer Vent Fire’ (as opposed to a non-dangerous dryer vent fire??).  Oh, but remember you must pay additional processing and handling.  That used to be called S&H or shipping and handling until they marked up the shipping so much that consumers were getting wise to the gimmick.  Thus, change the name and change the game.  

So there you have it.  If you want to save money there are only 2 things you need to know:

1             1)    The difference between a want and a need.  Example – People often want a 

                     new car, but do they really need one?  Often the answer is no.  Always live

                     by needs and not wants.

2             2)   Keep emotions out of EVERY purchase.  When emotions creep in, money 

                     drains out.

Congratulations – you are a wiser consumer.

 © Krystalco LLC 2012  Any publication or reuse of the information on this blog, in part or whole, without express written consent is prohibited.