You're out of here

And now time for a "what is wrong with people?" episode straight from my life. At work I was doing an intake interview for a customer. He had expressed an interest in seeking funding to continue his education. I gave him the things he would need to do before he took the next step in the process and told him to give me a call when he had completed them. He asked for my phone number, and I rattled off the number to the office. Then he said "No, what's your number?". I deflected with "that's not available". According to my coworker, he asked at least 3 times. My memory has thankfully blocked that. Here's the kicker: on the basis of the intake interview I already knew he had no job (dealbreaker unless you are independently wealthy) and kids (dealbreaker period). As I told someone, even if he was the hottest guy I had ever met (and of course he wasn't), there was not a chance. Seriously, how deluded do you think I am? He has now been assigned to the one male employee we have at another office. I no longer have to deal with him. After telling this story to some of coworkers I found out this is not an unheard of experience. I've already said that my next job will not involve dealing with the general public. This is just one of many reasons why.

Shrimp with Peppered Citrus Fruits

This time of year citrus fruits are at their most readily available and most reasonable price in my part of the country. It's a great time to make this recipe for shrimp with peppered citrus fruits. I made some recently and served it over couscous. It was delectable.

Sometimes you have to be where you are

I've recently started using a phrase of my own creation quite frequently. It is this "sometimes you have to be where you are." I've used it in both my personal and professional lives. Through a variety of circumstances we can find ourselves in situations of which we are not overly fond. However, there is no going back to change what led us there. We can only deal with where we are, make plans to move forward, and do our best to make the future better than today.

Homemade Snack Bars

Sometimes you just need a small snack to tide you over until your next meal. I'm a big fan of snack bars as they are portable and shelf stable, but a lot of them are almost sickeningly sweet (and I like sweets). I ran across this recipe while reading magazines online at work (yes, I do that a lot). It looked promising as it seemed simple to prepare and used real ingredients, not weird lab chemicals. I whipped up a batch, and they were great! I made another batch this weekend. I added another tablespoon of butter as the first batch was a bit crumbly. I didn't use sunflower seeds in the last batch or this one, but I decided this time to add some ground flax instead for a heart health boost. Here's how it worked:

This recipe makes 24 nice size bars. You could cut them smaller to reduce the calories/serving if you like. Here are mine sliced:

For storage I put them in a gallon freezer bag and keep them in the freezer. That way they stay good for a very long time. 

I like this recipe as it is so customizable in terms of what ingredients you use, how easy it is to prepare, and the fact that it uses real whole ingredients. Give it a try and let me know what you think. 

A leading contender for "America's Dumbest Criminals"

Man posing as fake cop pulls over off-duty state trooper

I think he'd make a strong showing in the competition don't you?

Best Financial Advice I Ever Got (or Gave)

A saw a link to this article, and of course I had to read it. It was very interesting to see the different ideas that were listed.

Overall it confirmed two things I've thought for a while. The first is no one will care as much about managing your money as you do. After all, it is yours. Now that doesn't mean that everyone necessary cares a lot about managing their own money. It just means that however much you do care about it, everyone else will care about it less.

The other thing is that the best way to manage your money is the way that works best for you. While there are some constants which apply to everyone- live below your means, save for a rainy day and pay attention to where your money goes, the details of investments, retirement, etc. are deeply personal and specific to each person's unique personality and life circumstances. You have to do what's right for you.

Life Lesson From LinkedIn

One of my connections on LinkedIn recently "liked" this image. As soon as I saw it, I had to "like" it as well. I printed it out and posted it at my desk.

Other than the grammatical issue of "person" being singular and "they" being singular, it is so accurate. I have been on the receiving end of this myself, and I've seen it happen to others. It has no good outcome for the person doing the pushing. Managers and employers sometimes think they hold all the cards, but a disgruntled employee can hurt you in more ways than you can possibly imagine, both intentionally and unintentionally. An employee who is "done" with you is in the driver's seat and knows it.

Snow Days Rock

I wanted to tell you how fabulous my snow day yesterday was. It started off great as I got to awaken without an alarm clock. I ate breakfast, then I did a few things around the house. Before you know it, it was time for lunch. Since I was home, I decided to make spaghetti & meatballs with garlic bread. While I was cooking it, I got a call. It was someone calling about a job I had applied for Friday after work. Yes, within half a business day I got a call. That is practically unheard of. I talked with the person who would be my boss, and the more she described the position, the more excited I got. I mentioned that I'd have to interview outside normal business hours due to being new at my job and not having time off, and that didn't phase her in the least. She said she'd send me an interview worksheet to complete.

Excited by this call, I finished fixing my lunch. It was delicious.

Another project I had decided to try for the day was my first attempt at making from scratch whole wheat bread with my new KitchenAid mixer. I got that mixed up and started the rising process. By that point I had received the interview worksheet which was some scenarios based on things I might encounter in the job. I'm a bit of a nerd, so I actually enjoying answering them. I compiled my responses and e-mailed them back. Later in the afternoon the person called and thanked me for completing them so quickly (she knew I was home on a snow day). She asked if I could interview at 7 AM on Thursday. I said of course. She also said if by chance my job was closed again today or opened late we'd try to schedule my interview for then.

I spent a lot of time in the afternoon goofing on the internet. I also went outside for less than 5 minutes to make sure I could get my car doors open and to scrape my windshields. I finished baking my bread too.

Looks pretty doesn't it? I was quite proud. I ate some for breakfast today with nutella, and it was tasty.

Yesterday evening I got a pleasant surprise when my boss called to say our office would be opening two hours late today. Of course I was not sad at this news! I promptly e-mailed my interview contact, and shortly thereafter we set up my interview for 8:30 this morning. Yesterday was a very good day.

All the financial advice you need on an index card

University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack offhandedly mentioned to someone that all you really need to know about personal finance could written on an index card. When challenged to prove it, here's what he did.

I think he did a great job. Note that these aren't necessary easy, but they are simple. If most people followed just half of them, we'd be in a lot better shape.

Why I Love My Job Today

Friday afternoon about 45 minutes before we left the office, we got a wonderful present by e-mail. Due to predicted bad weather, our office would delay opening until 10 AM today. This was a huge cause for celebration as the state doesn't do this. It's always "open for business as usual". We were happy little peeps for sure. Last night it got even better. I got a called from my boss, and the office is CLOSED. I did a literal happy dance in my apartment. Life in GOOD.