Tip of the WeekThe Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it will revise emissions targets and reconsider California’s Clean Air Act Waiver to set emissions in its state.On April 2, the Environmental Protection Agency made it official. The targets that the auto industry has been required to work towards for the better part of a decade will be revised, meaning lowered. This is a move that auto industry and political experts saw coming following the presidential [...]
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الاثنين، 9 أبريل 2018
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الأحد، 8 أبريل 2018
Snydersville biologist to give talk at Nescopeck State Park
Don Baylor, who spends much of his time helping other people catch trout, might not find a moment to fish on Saturday when the season opens in most of Pennsylvania.An aquatic biologist from Snydersville, Baylor tells anglers what flies to use during different hatches and advises clubs, towns and counties about how to care for streams and watersheds.An accomplished fly tyer who as a boy plucked feathers from a pillow to make his first lures, he now teaches anglers who are just [...]
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Source Business - poconorecord.com https://ift.tt/2IBDCrn
Interactive Tax Assistant 101: Ask the Internal Revenue Service Your Tax Questions without Spending Hours Stuck on Hold
Got a tax law question? Don't waste your precious time waiting on the phone for an IRS representative, try the Interactive Tax Assistant program first.
Source CBNNews.com https://ift.tt/2Hhyycc
Source CBNNews.com https://ift.tt/2Hhyycc
The Prolonged Payoff of the Humble Hand Tool
When it comes to value for your home-improvement dollar, few items pay off bigger than hand tools.
I learned the value of hand tools from my stepfather, who had a two-car garage filled with them, but wasn’t about to let me mangle any of them. In junior high, he gave me a claw hammer that once belonged to his father. The handle was an unshaped, varnished, round piece of wood with no grip. The head was attached to that handle through sheer force of will and would slide up and down the top of it in mid swing.
I always thought the head of that hammer would end up flying through a window or drywall. Instead, it lasted me nearly 13 years — until my stepfather took it back and gave me an $18 steel rip claw hammer from Lowe’s. I’ve used that hammer to build stairs, lay cement board, frame out walls (a nail gun came later), lay courses of cedar roof shingles, and bust up the occasional scrap wood for the burn pile.
Contractors will swear by a $45 Estwing (though you can get a decent one for $23) and the finance guys like themselves a $9 Stanley. But if you have the right balance, the right materials, the right feel, and treat it right, a mid-range tool will last forever.
I received that lesson again about 16 years ago when my father, at Home Depot for Black Friday, picked up 100-piece tool kits for me and my brother-in-law. The Home Depot house-brand Husky kits came with a wood-handled claw hammer, vise grips, multiple pliers, a ratcheting screwdriver with interchangeable heads, multiple other screwdrivers, a tape measure, hex wrenches, a small crescent wrench, other wrenches and a full socket set and ratchets. Altogether, it was likely around $150, and some tools in the set aged better than others.
Nothing has outright broken, but the wooden hammer feels every strike, the ratcheting screwdriver’s heads have either stripped or vanished entirely and the crescent wrench is useless for all but the most minor tasks. Yet the pliers, vise grips, and channel locks have bailed me out of more household jams than I care to mention, while the socket set sees use on a regular basis: Changing car and mower batteries, rotating mower wheels and tires, starting up and shutting down the well pump, and addressing the occasional emergency with the car, hot-water heater, or sump pump.
While not every generic, slightly discounted tool is perfect for the job, the well-made ones that get scoffed at for their plastic cases and “fit and finish” have generally stood up to the task.
This isn’t to say I’ve avoided pricier, name-brand tools: I just don’t pay name-brand prices for them. Thanks to mixed lots and the tool shelves at estate auctions, I’ve managed to come away with some sturdy, vintage Craftsman tools, Channellock groove-joint pliers, Stanley hacksaws, and a small Bostitch compressor with a Hitachi nail gun and Stanley staple gun. The compressor cost around $50 (a similar one sells for twice as much at Walmart), the hacksaws were $5 a pop (versus $16 at Home Depot), and the Craftsman and Channellock tools would run about $80, but came in a box that sold for $20.
Unfortunately, those tools alone didn’t teach me every lesson I needed about durability and frugality. A discount shop like Harbor Freight can help you out in a pinch and give you an inexpensive tool for tasks you’ll only need to perform a handful of times. But their rating from the Better Business Bureau coupled with some bad experiences with their drill bits (seemingly made of balsa wood) and wrenches (really shouldn’t be that thin) has left me wary of buying tools there for everyday use.
I’ve also had repeated battles with multi-head screwdrivers that find their way into my Christmas stocking every other year or so — they aren’t built to last. Instead, they’re made with the knowledge that you’re going to lose interchangeable heads, and basically turn themselves into thick-handled magnets once they’ve outlived their usefulness.
That said, I’ve built a solid tool collection by following my father and stepfather’s lead: Focus on the tools you’ll need every day, don’t grab for the cheapest or most costly model available and look for deals where you can find them. If you trust that you either won’t wear those tools into oblivion with commercial-grade use or won’t be paying a premium for a tool you’ll use a handful of times, the right hand tools can last a lifetime for less money than you’d imagine.
Just assess your tasks, look at your budget and build the best toolbox your well-stretched dollars can buy.
Related Articles:
- Cheap DIY Solutions to Spring Household Hassles
- The Basic Toolbox Everyone Needs to Handle Simple DIY Tasks at Home
- The Financial Trap of Buying Your Way Out of Life’s Little Challenges
The post The Prolonged Payoff of the Humble Hand Tool appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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السبت، 7 أبريل 2018
It's STILL Not Too Late to Lower Your Tax Bill: April 17 is more than just the Tax Deadline
Are you a procrastinator who waits until the very last moment to file your taxes? Here are a few last-minute ways to save on your tax bill for 2017.
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Source CBNNews.com https://ift.tt/2qbU5M2
Inspiration from Seneca, Austin Kleon, Emily Dickinson, and More
Once a month (or so), I share a dozen things that have inspired me to greater personal, professional, and financial success in my life. I hope they bring similar success to your life.
1. Austin Kleon on how to keep going
Summary, from https://ift.tt/2JpMOQU “Whether you’re burned out, starting out, starting over, or even if you’ve had success beyond your wildest dreams, that question always remains: How to keep going? This is a list of 10 things that have worked for me.
1. Every day is Groundhog Day
2. Build a bliss station
3. Forget the noun, do the verb
4. Make gifts
5. The ordinary + extra attention = the extraordinary
6. Art is for life (not the other way around)
7. You are allowed to change your mind
8. When in doubt, tidy up
9. Demons hate fresh air
10. Spend time on something that will outlast them”
Few things click with me and inspire me more is finding advice from someone whose life experience overlaps mine in a number of ways, they share what they’ve learned, and I find a mix of things that click perfectly with my own experiences along with some ideas I’ve never even considered.
So, for example, I have a “bliss station” (my office), and a big part of my writing is recognizing that “demons hate fresh air” (I constantly look at my bad traits), but I struggle greatly (or don’t even consider) the other things that Kleon discusses here.
That alone gives me some food for thought. Why do I not do X, Y, and Z? Would adopting them be valuable? What would my own list of ten things to get through a struggle be like? If that isn’t inspiration, I don’t know what is.
2. Marcus Aurelius on love and opinions
“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.” – Marcus Aurelius
For too long in my life, I worried a ton about what other people thought about me. Did they like me? Did they think highly of me? Eventually, I came to realize that there was honestly not very much I could do to really change the opinion others held of me. They often built that opinion based on moments where I wasn’t “on” and wasn’t trying to put my best foot forward.
What I learned instead is that, if I constantly applied the maxim of treating others as I would like to be treated, I generally got that kind of treatment in return. What do I want from others? Basic hygiene and clean clothes are nice. Kindness to others is nice. Treating others like people with dignity is important. A willingness to listen is nice. A helping hand when I need it is nice. So I try to do those things as much as I can.
Things that don’t matter to me: small talk, false niceties, unkept promises. I don’t bother with those things. If I don’t think I can really do something, I don’t say that I will. I don’t make small talk very well and often jump straight to more meaningful conversation. That’s just who I am and it’s how I wish others would act toward me.
It’s a hard transition, but it’s a really worthwhile one.
3. Plane Miraculously Flies To Safety After Sudden Engine Failure
From the description:
This incredibly lucky pilot missed a potentially fatal crash, after the engine of his biplane cut out during a routine maneuver, sending the aircraft plummeting down to the ground head first, before turning it back on in the nick of time.
Practicing a series of spins and loops above the ground in Coral Springs, Florida, pilot Chad Barber quickly finds himself in a spin for a different reason, as a steep incline during an attempted ‘pull, push, humpty’ suddenly results in the deafening sound of a dead engine.
The 26-year-old aviation enthusiast – who was attempting to thrust the plane into a vertical line – was left in a state of disbelief when he saw the propeller had stopped spinning, as the aircraft began plummeting towards the ground nose first.
Admitting the engine of his ‘Pitts Plane’ has never cut out for him before, Chad begins to level the vessel in an attempt to buy some time and begin a process of troubleshooting to re-engage the engine.
This is an incredibly exciting video to watch, simply because you can feel the tension growing as the plane’s engine stays off and it gets closer and closer and closer to the ground.
Upon watching it a few times and sharing it with my kids, I came to realize that another reason this video clicked so well with me is that it shows a person keeping cool under very intense pressure. That guy’s life is on the line and the G-forces from the quick drop of the plane are affecting him, yet he keeps his cool and tries the strategies he knows to get the plane started again.
Keep cool under pressure. It’s always a good strategy.
4. Cicero on gardens and libraries
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” – Cicero
A garden provides food to nourish the body and an outdoor environment in which to relax. A library provides knowledge and ideas to nourish the mind and soul. A lot of contentment can be found in just those two places.
I know that I get a ton of personal value from time spent in nature. I love going on hikes and working in the garden. I feel peaceful and relaxed, even if I’m exercising my body, and it sometimes feels like a mental “reset” of sorts.
Similarly, I absolutely love to read. I literally block off two hours a day for reading, nothing else. Few things make me more excited and engaged than digging into a good book and feeling a new idea click into place in my head.
Yeah, a life that has a garden and a library in it is a pretty good life, Cicero.
5. The Broccoli Tree: A Parable
From the description: Some thoughts on what can be lost, and what can’t be, when we share what we love. This was a video produced, edited, and inspired by Seth Radley.
When you keep something beautiful and positive and amazing for yourself and don’t share it with the world, you not only reduce the amount of joy in the world, you also keep the figurative bird in its cage, not allowing it to flap its wings and be all it can be.
Not only is this insightful in terms of sharing the beautiful things you discover with others, it’s also insightful in terms of parenting. There is often a desire in me to be overprotective of my children, to shield them from the world and keep their childhood preserved in a secret garden. A much better approach, as I’ve come to realize in recent years, is to prepare them with the tools they need to become excellent citizens in the world and then send them out there on the winds to make the world better and share their beauty.
Keeping something beautiful for yourself limits the value and joy it can give to the world.
6. Francis Bacon on superstition
“The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses.” – Francis Bacon
We are constantly looking for patterns in life, things that we can use to understand things better and make good choices. Our desire to find patterns is often a good thing and results in us making great connections and then making great choices in a variety of places.
The problem comes when we think we see a pattern when one doesn’t exist. We think someone doesn’t like us because we met that person when they were tired. We think a particular idea is cruel because our first interaction with it was from the mouth of an awful person, or because we saw that idea used to its worst end rather than its best.
I’ve found that it’s a good idea in my life to not make major decisions based on a small number of things, and to look for more evidence before making a negative conclusion.
7. Ryan Holiday’s notecard system
This article describes how author Ryan Holiday organizes ideas. Basically, he’ll read a book or an article and fill out some number of index cards, each of which depicts a key idea or quote from that source. He then organizes these cards by topic for future reference.
This is a nice system and it’s really useful when laying out ideas on a table, but I actually use Evernote for the exact same thing. With Evernote, all of the idea cards don’t take up any space and I can apply multiple “tags” to each idea so I can effectively file them in different groups.
I usually take notes by hand when I’m reading a book, then when I’m done, I’ll wait a few weeks and then go back through the notes, extracting anything and everything that rings true or rings powerful to me, turning those ideas into individual notes. As time goes on, this set of notes has become quite large, and it’s become a very useful resource for almost everything, whether it’s personal areas like parenting or professional topics. I turn to it all the time.
8. Poetry in America
Poetry in America, “created and directed by Harvard professor Elisa New, is a new public television series and multi-platform digital initiative that brings poetry into classrooms and living rooms around the world.”
Why am I interested? The public television series, which starts this Sunday and already has the first episode publicly available, is one of the best programs I’ve ever seen on the value of and interpretation of poetry. Here’s that first episode, focused on the poem I cannot dance opon my toes by Emily Dickinson:
It’s just amazing stuff, and the trailers for upcoming episodes show amazing promise, too. You can watch a trailer for the full series or previews for each upcoming episode. The first one was great – I can’t wait for more.
9. Seneca on long walks
“It does good also to take walks out of doors, that our spirits may be raised and refreshed by the open air and fresh breeze.” – Seneca, On Peace of Mind
Spring is slow in coming here in Iowa. Most days have a high merely in the 30s or 40s Fahrenheit, with nighttime temperatures still dropping into the teens. The ground still looks cold and barren and I don’t want to go outside without bundling up.
I am literally counting the days, though, until I can burst from my front door and go on a long walk in any direction I choose. I can’t wait until I can sneak off on a Friday afternoon and go for a hike in a nearby state park, or block off a Sunday to do the same with my wife and my children.
Few things recharge me more than time spent walking outside, preferably in nature. I love every single aspect of it – the noises of nature, the feeling of my body exerting itself, the smell of the environment, the flood of natural colors and natural light. It’s incredible. It’s one of the biggest simple pleasures in my life.
10. Secretariat winning the 1973 Belmont Stakes
From Wikipedia:
The 1973 Belmont Stakes was the 105th running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York held on June 9, 1973. Facing a field of five horses, Secretariat won by 31 lengths, the largest margin of victory in Belmont history, in front of a crowd of 69,138 spectators. His winning time of 2 minutes and 24 seconds was an American record for a mile and a half on dirt and has not been broken.
For the first half of the video, this looks like a close horse race, but for the second half, Secretariat just pulls away, length after length after length. You think that the lead can’t get any bigger… and then it does… and then it does again… and then again. By the end of the video, the camera literally can’t keep Secretariat and the second place horse in the same frame, so the camera operator just gives up.
I get goosebumps whenever I watch this performance. It’s one of those rare moments in history where you can see a truly exceptional performer be perfect at just the right moment to give a truly exceptional performance. No matter whether you love horse racing or don’t really care that much, you can’t help but be blown away by this.
The thing is, each length that separates Secretariat from the horse behind him isn’t all that much. With each pace, he’s only gaining just a little bit. But he keeps going and going and going and going, gaining a little and a little and a little until it’s a lot, an almost unbelievable lead.
There’s a lot to learn from that. It’s not about a huge difference. It’s about being just a little bit better at the little things and then repeating them over and over and over.
11. Ayesha Siqqidi on who you should be
“Be the person you needed when you were younger.” – Ayesha Siqqidi
This, along with the more general goals to treat others as I would like to be treated, is a central principle in my life. In as many lives as I can, I want to be the person I needed at various points in my life, even up to now, and be the person I think I will need later on.
Again and again, I find that acting this way is the best thing that I can be doing with my time and energy. It rarely costs me anything to act in that way, but it almost always provides a huge multiplication in value for others. If they pay forward even a fraction of that value, or even a fraction of the people I have tried to help pay me back even a fraction of what I’ve given them, not only will I be supported when I need something, I will have made the community around me a far better place.
Yes, some people are always going to take and take and not give back. My experience is that those people are never happy, because nothing is never enough for them. Rather than being angry about it, I usually feel … sad, I suppose. The world has far more abundance than I can ever possibly use, and it would terrify me to feel like there wasn’t enough of the things that actually matter to go around.
12. Johan van Hulst
I did not know the story of Johan van Hulst until recently, upon reading his obituary in the New York Times. His story is one of those that makes you realize the kind of deep goodness that’s possible in people.
In 1943, he ran an operation in Amsterdam that involved pairing young children who had been marked to be sent to concentration camps with families that had children of similar physical description, then smuggled the children to those families. The families would then claim the children as their own, which worked because van Hulst aided with any necessary papers. He orchestrated some very clever smuggling tactics to get the children from the main clearing site for Jewish children out into the Amsterdam community and into the arms of host families in the countryside, and then he would work subtly with a couple of partners to edit records, removing the names of the smuggled children. Pretty much every child rescued in this way put van Hulst’s life at risk. Through this process, which he was able to continue until late 1943, he was able to rescue between 600 and 1,000 children from being executed.
As his tactics were being uncovered in late 1943, he personally escaped into the countryside, taking a dozen children with him personally.
What were his reflections on what he was able to do? He doesn’t view himself as a hero. From the NYT article:
“I was at the center of a particular activity,” he told the Dutch newspaper Het Parool two years ago. “It’s not about me. I don’t want to put myself in the foreground or play Resistance hero. All I really think about is the things I couldn’t do — the few thousand children I wasn’t able to save.”
May we all do something even a fraction as heroic as van Hulst at some point in our lives.
The post Inspiration from Seneca, Austin Kleon, Emily Dickinson, and More appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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These 3 Things Make Concert Tickets Harder and Harder to Afford
You scanned the list of cities for anything within a four-hour drive, called your concert buddy to get on board and then clicked over to the ticket site to snag some seats — just to find that this experience would be costing you a few hundred dollars (and that’s for the “cheap” seats).
Womp, womp.
No, your music spectacle-loving eyes do not deceive you.
Concert ticket prices are on the rise (and have been for a few years now), and it’s starting to get a little ridiculous.
But why in the name of all things rock and roll is it so incredibly expensive to take in a live show these days?
Well, it’s because you (yes, you) downloaded that illegal song off LimeWire back in middle school.
OK, I’m mostly kidding (but sort of not).
The real reason involves both those buy-up bots that allow for major price gouging and the artists themselves.
The Good Old Days
Decades ago, the live-music scene was a very different place.
In the year 1965, a ticket to see The Beatles at Shea Stadium in New York would have run you a whopping $5.65 (the most expensive ticket price offered for that show).
In 2014, the most expensive ticket tier to one of One Direction’s MetLife Stadium tour dates in New Jersey averaged $900. (The most expensive resale ticket was listed for $4,895.)
By comparison, adjusted for inflation, that $5.95 your Aunt Linda dropped to see Ringo (yeah, she was a Ringo fan — fight her) would have cost about $44.72 in 2014.
But these insanely high ticket prices aren’t just a problem for fevered boy-band groupies.
Last summer, the average ticket price that would get you in the door at an Adele concert was calculated to be $395.79 — the most expensive average ticket price for a touring female artist. Taylor Swift made the second spot on the list at (a slightly more affordable?) $236.65, while Lady Gaga’s show clocked in at just over $186.
And those are average ticket prices, meaning some people are paying much, much more.
In anticipation of Taylor Swift’s “reputation Stadium Tour” this year, some fans are dropping a whopping $896.50 (face value) for VIP tickets for the “Snake Pit Package,” which gets you an up-close-and-personal view of the singer, a collector’s box with a digital video component, a limited edition “reputation” book and an LED laminate and lanyard.
For the same show at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, you could pay as little as $69 for seats in the nosebleed section — if you could snag them in time. But previously bought seats in the same (not great) section are already being resold for $228.60.
Even if you manage to lock in the original price, though, it’s not unusual to pay an additional $17 or more in service fees and taxes, bringing that $69 ticket to $86 for a seat with a pretty disappointing view, where you’ll end up watching the show on the giant screens that flank the stage.
Blame the Bots
These extreme ticket prices are happening for a couple of reasons.
On one hand, it has a lot to do with the common frustration among music lovers everywhere: those bots and scalpers that buy up all the tickets in batches the second they drop, only to turn around and resell them at double, triple or even quadruple the original price.
We’ve all experienced some version of the same disappointment: You set your alarm for 10 a.m. on (what could be) a fateful Tuesday, you sign on to your account, you wait for that countdown clock to hit zero, select the first seats you see (no time for strategy!) and click through — only to be told those seats already have been sold.
So you cross your fingers and refresh the page. You see two more seats, this time across the stadium from each other (you can gush about the show with your friend on the ride home, right?), throw them in your cart and click through.
Nope, those have been sold, too.
You refresh again, but you’re met with the stark image of a stadium full of grayed-out seats. The whole experience lasted less than three minutes. You’ve missed the window, and it’s due largely to bots and scalpers.
If you’re still planning to attend the show at this point, you’ll be paying dearly for the opportunity.
But while it’s nearly impossible to stop individual buyers from reselling their tickets at exorbitant prices, most ticket-selling sites are trying to eliminate the use of bots.
Adele, for her part, famously worked to keep her tickets out of scalpers’ hands, saving her fans an estimated $6.5 million on resale ticket prices. Bruce Springsteen (definitely) and Taylor Swift (debatably) did the same.
But there’s no foolproof plan when it comes to scalpers. During that same tour season, resale tickets for the Adele show in Denver, Colorado, were going for as much as $579.
Or Is It the Artists?
While the resale value of concert tickets is often sky-high due to these pesky bots, the exponential rise in face-value ticket prices can be blamed on (attributed to?) the artists themselves.
But why?
The easy answer is that artists simply aren’t making money off record sales anymore.
With the introduction of streaming services and free music platforms (and the rise of illegal downloading over the past two decades), it’s getting harder and harder for artists to make a buck off recorded music.
To recoup some of those losses, artists are charging more for live concert experiences.
As the demand for more spectacular spectacles grows (think: indoor fireworks, laser shows, an army of backup dancers, giant flying hotdogs), these shows are becoming more and more expensive to put on.
After all is said and done, the artists themselves take home only a portion of the total ticket sales. Take, for example, Lady Gaga, who reportedly took home $10 million less than Elton John during the 2011 touring season despite having similar upfront sales figures.
Look, it’s not like these artists are hurting for money: Gaga’s $90 million take-home pay that year was nothing to take lightly.
But even when artists work to keep their prices low for their fans’ benefit, and even if ticket distributors don’t inflate the prices and tack on enormous fees, and even if bots and scalpers can be nosed out and shut down, the fact still remains: Enough people are still willing to pay up for a live concert experience.
Are Fans at Fault?
It all comes down to supply and demand.
As more and more people continue to demand tickets, high ticket prices continue to be a sort of self-regulating system.
Even in the absence of bots and scalpers, arenas will continue to sell out at not-inexpensive price points, and devoted fans will continue to scramble for the closest seats — or any seats at all.
In a December 2017 episode of the podcast “Freakonomics” titled “Why Is the Live-Event Ticket Market So Screwed Up?” economist Eric Budish explains that almost across the board, live-entertainment tickets are underpriced simply because so many people are willing to pay so much more.
“So artists often want to sell their tickets at … an artificially low price. And what I mean by that is a price at which demand dramatically exceeds supply,” Budish says, adding, “If a ticket price is too low, that means the artist, or the venue — someone is leaving a lot of money on the table.”
The fact that artists want to make tickets more affordable for fans is great for their image, Budish notes, but putting an exclusive product on an undersaturated market leaves a lot of profit waiting to be had — and it’s profit that resellers are happy to snatch up.
So the problem is, in actuality, threefold.
It’s the bots and scalpers, it’s the artists and it’s us, the willing (albeit a little grumbly) participants.
In the end, there’s no easy answer to how to make ticket prices more affordable or accessible, but here are strategies for beating the bots to the box office.
Either way, arenas are still selling out.
Fans are still showing up.
Artists are playing their shows, packing up and moving on to the next sold-out venue.
And we’ll be there, of our own volition, on tickets that cost us the entirety of our grocery budgets for the week. (So go ahead and buy that front-row ticket — we won’t judge.)
Grace Schweizer is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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الجمعة، 6 أبريل 2018
You Could Save a Life if You Carry Naloxone. Here’s What You Need to Know
What is Naloxone?
People in the throes of an opioid overdose often have dangerously shallow breathing or stop breathing altogether. Brain damage and death can occur within minutes.
Naloxone, also known by the name brand Narcan, temporarily reverses the effects of opioids and restores normal breathing patterns.
Naloxone is packaged as an injectable (primarily for use in hospital environments) and as a prefilled auto-injection device similar to EpiPens used to treat people with severe allergies.
Naloxone is also available as a nasal spray.
What To Know About Naloxone
Unless you’re a medical professional, it may seem intimidating to administer naloxone to someone during an opioid emergency.
But swift action with the antidote can mean the difference between life and death, so keep these things in mind.
- Naloxone works. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “From 1996 to 2014, at least 26,500 opioid overdoses in the U.S. were reversed by laypersons using naloxone.”
- If you’re worried you won’t know when to use naloxone in an emergency, know that administering the drug to someone who isn’t overdosing on opioids is will not cause significant harm, according to the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy.
- 40 states and the District of Columbia have Good Samaritan or 911 drug immunity laws that protect people who intervene during a opioid overdose.
- The National Conference of State Legislatures says the laws protect people from “arrest, charge or prosecution for certain controlled substance possession and paraphernalia offenses when a person who is either experiencing an opiate-related overdose or observing one calls 911 for assistance or seeks medical attention.”
Where to Find Free or Low-Cost Naloxone
Naloxone is a prescription drug, but it is widely available throughout the U.S. even without a prescription.
- Learn where to find naloxone near you by typing “[your state] naloxone” into your favorite search engine.
- Contact your insurance provider to find out whether naloxone is covered under your plan.
- Medicaid and Medicare will pay for naloxone, but coverage varies by state.
- Check with your local community health clinic to find out where to get naloxone in your area.
- People with commercial insurance in Arizona, California, Colorado, Missouri, Nevada and Ohio can get naloxone for free through drug manufacturer Kaleo’s pilot distribution program.
- CVS Pharmacy dispenses naloxone without a written prescription in 46 states.
- Prescription and nonprescription naloxone is available at Walgreens pharmacies nationwide
Once you have a supply of naloxone, make sure you learn how to administer it. Contact your local health department if you have any questions.
Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She enjoys telling readers about affordable ways to stay healthy, so look her up on Twitter (@lisah) if you’ve got a tip to share.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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Money is Serious Business, But This Kate McKinnon Kids’ Video Makes it Fun
Then you haven’t seen “Saturday Night Live” comedian Kate McKinnon do it.
McKinnon teamed up with financial journalist Beth Kobliner — the author of “Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not)” — to create a video dropping some financial knowledge on a group of young children.
It’s cute, hilarious and will give you some tips on how to broach the touchy subject of money with your kids.
For instance, using arcade game tickets to “buy” prizes at places like Chuck E. Cheese’s or Dave and Buster’s can help children learn the lesson of sticking to things you can afford instead of taking out loans.
Or you could borrow McKinnon’s method of using pizza to teach your kids about delayed gratification. Which do you think they’d go for — one bite of pizza now or a whole slice after waiting a little while?
McKinnon also showed it’s good to have early discussions about future careers — even if kids come up with weird jobs like a gagitator. (You must watch the video!)
The information is very timely as April is Financial Literacy Month.
Kobliner pops in throughout the video to help reinforce the personal-finance lessons. She also shares more helpful tips on teaching kids about money on her website.
As Kobliner states in her book, kids’ basic money habits are formed by age 7. So it’s important to have money talks with your children sooner rather than later. Add some humor to the mix, and those conversations won’t be as difficult as you think.
Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She enjoys writing about parenting and money.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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McD’s Lowers Barriers, Triples Benefits of Tuition Assistance for Employees
But while the global fast-food chain doesn’t have to work too hard to keep its patrons’ affection, thanks to that value menu and those golden, crispy, salty fries, the company has realized that as one of the largest employers in the world (with about 1.5 million workers), it has a responsibility to better the lives of the people it employs.
This week, the company announced it would bump up its tuition-assistance program for employees — and make those funds easier to get ahold of.
McDonald’s Tuition Assistance Program to Expand
In April of 2015, the company launched its tuition assistance program, “Archways to Opportunity.”
The program aims to help all employees, whether at franchised or company-owned locations, improve their English skills, earn a high school diploma, work toward a college degree and generally to make “an education plan for success.”
Since the program was rolled out, more than 24,000 employees have had increased access to education opportunities, while more than 16,400 employees have been awarded tuition assistance.
Previously, employees could receive between $700 and $1,050 in tuition assistance per year, but not until after nine months of employment — during which they had to work a minimum of 20 hours per week.
Now, however, employees will receive between $2,500 and $3,000 in tuition assistance per year and will be eligible for the funding after 90 days of employment in which they work a minimum of 15 hours per week.
Eligible crew members previously received $700 per year in tuition assistance and will now receive $2,500 per year.
Eligible managers previously received $1,050 per year and will now receive $3,000 per year.
The funds can be applied to any school, whether a community college, a four-year university or a trade school. There is no lifetime cap on the tuition funding one employee can receive, so employees are allowed and encouraged to pursue an education at their own pace.
In its recent news release, McDonald’s notes that the lower barrier to entry for the tuition- assistance program will allow employees more time to focus on school, as employees can now meet the requirements with roughly two full-time shifts per week.
The company also says that two programs — one that helps employees earn a high school diploma and career certification online, and one that provides college advisory services — will be extended to workers’ family members, while “career exploration resources” will be available to employees later this year.
“By tripling tuition assistance, adding education benefits for family members and lowering eligibility requirements to the equivalent of a summer job,” David Fairhurst, who leads McDonald’s global human resources and training, said in the release, “we are sending a signal that if you come work at your local McDonald’s, we’ll invest in your future.”
These changes will be go into effect on May 1, 2018 but will be retroactive to January 1, 2018.
Grace Schweizer is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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Looking for a Playful Job? Legoland Is Hiring a Master Model Builder
Your family’s feet are irreparably damaged from stepping on the thousands of Lego bricks that were constantly scattered around your childhood home.
You’ve argued that Christian Bale’s Batman couldn’t hold a candle to the Lego Batman.
When Lego released its biggest set ever, a staggering 7,541-piece Millennium Falcon, you scoffed, said “Piece-a-cake” and it’s now proudly on display in your room.
Sound like you? Then you’re in luck, because a dream job that fits your skill set has opened up.
Legoland Discovery Center Columbus is on the hunt for the next Master Model Builder, so if you have a passion model building and you’re willing to move to Ohio, keep on reading.
Become a Master Model Builder for LEGO
As I’m sure you can guess, the No. 1 requirement for this job is a love of all things Lego.
But aside from your brick-building passion, you’ve got to have the skills to back it up, because this isn’t a normal job application — it’s a competition.
Hopeful applicants must travel to Columbus, Ohio, on May 5 for the two-day Brick Factor competition and must out-build the best of the best to earn this coveted position.
The winner of the contest will be offered a full-time position at Legoland Discovery Center Columbus, which is set to open Fall 2018.
What You’ll Do
So what, exactly, does a Master Model Builder do?
On top of constructing awe-inspiring, large-scale Lego models, the job also includes mentoring children in model-building workshops and making media appearances on behalf of the company.
So if you’ve got the charisma of, well, a Lego, then you might not make the cut.
The job listing doesn’t give pay details but does say the Master Model Builder will get a “competitive salary” plus a benefits package and free entry to all Merlin attractions (Madame Tussauds, anyone?).
And let’s not forget: You’ll get to handle all the Lego bricks your heart desires.
Think you’ve got what it takes? Then head over to the job listing to enter the competition. But don’t dawdle — the deadline is April 25.
Kaitlyn Blount is a junior staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She still thinks The Lego Movie was unfairly snubbed at the Oscars.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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Here’s How to Score a Free Membership to Thrive Online Organic Market
But this program to curb food insecurity hits a little closer to home.
Online grocery service Thrive Market offers Thrive Gives memberships that reduce its $60 yearly membership fee to $0.
The company says it has 400,000 members and promises wholesale pricing on popular organic food brands, as well as its own product lines.
While the company works with partner organizations to distribute free memberships, individuals can also apply for a Thrive Gives memberships.
How to Apply for a Free Thrive Market Membership
Low-income families can apply for a membership on the Thrive Gives website.
The application asks about monthly income, the number of people in the household, and whether you receive any government assistance. There’s a short essay field where you can explain why you’re requesting a free membership.
Teachers, students and veterans must verify their status before receiving a membership confirmation email.
The free membership lasts one year. When it expires, Thrive Gives members can choose to pay for a membership or reapply for another free membership.
Thrive Market ships to the contiguous United States. The company announced last week that it has begun to offer frozen meat and seafood options. It does not offer fresh fruits and vegetables.
Lisa Rowan is a senior writer at the Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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Got Lots of Interests? This Remote Data Collection Job Could Be for You
Westat, a research firm, is hiring remote telephone data collectors across the U.S. to survey people on a variety of topics. You’ll need to have a very specific technology setup and won’t get benefits — but it’s hard to beat working from home.
If this doesn’t sound like you’re kind of gig, be sure to check out The Penny Hoarder Jobs page on Facebook. We post new opportunities there all the time.
Telephone Data Collector at Westat
Responsibilities include:
- Conducting phone interviews on a variety of topics, including transportation, the environment, health and education
Applicants for this position must have:
- A telephone landline
- A corded telephone with a hands-free headset attachment
- PC with Windows 7 or later
- A printer
- Latest version of Internet Explorer
- Adobe’s Shockwave and Acrobat Reader
- Updated anti-virus software
- High-speed internet access at 10 mpbs download speed
- Wired Internet access — no WiFi
- Webcam
- Quiet and secure work space
- Ability to work 15 to 40 hours per week, including evenings and weekends
Apply here for the Telephone Data Collector job at Westat.
Alex Mahadevan is a data journalist at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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Put Your Tastebuds to the Test: Help Noosa Yoghurt Create a New Flavor
If you’re one of those people who enjoys creating your own yogurt flavor combinations, it’s time to put your imagination and taste buds to the test.
Noosa Yoghurt has put the word out that it’s hiring five foodies to be Noosa Flavor Finders. They’ll be tasked with creating new yogurt flavors for the company.
No, this is not a full-time gig, but you’ll get compensated financially and earn bragging rights knowing you put your own spin on this active culture. Those chosen to be the company’s official Flavor Finders will get an all-expenses-paid trip to visit the Noosa farm in Bellvue, Colorado, to see how the yogurt is made and will receive a $2,000 stipend to fund your flavor-finding mission.
How to Apply
To apply for this gig, post one photo on Instagram or Twitter that includes:
- Food that inspires your unique Noosa flavor
- A tub of Noosa (optional)
- A caption describing your dream Noosa flavor. You must include @noosayoghurt and #flavorfindercontest.
Only one entry per person will be counted during the contest.
Pro Tip: Make sure to use the hashtag to check out your fellow foodie competitors’ submissions and get the scoop on the Noosa flavors already available. You might be surprised by some of the exotic combinations — I’m talkin’ to you, raspberry habanero.
Qualifications for Selection
To be successful as a Flavor Finder, you should:
- Have the photography skills to take irresistible foodie pics
- Be willing to try new foods and flavor combinations
- Not be afraid of the unknown in the quest to create tasty yogurt
Your Duties as a Flavor Finder
Here’s what will be required of you if you are selected as a flavor finder:
- Travel as far — or near — as you want to find the most interesting and delectable combinations to help influence future Noosa flavors
- Share your tasting adventures via social media
Your role will begin May 7 and conclude September 1. The deadline to submit your foodie photos is April 20, so don’t delay! Click here to check out the official rules.
Matt Reinstetle is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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