Using Words to Your Advantage in Life and Business

Using Words to Your Advantage in Life and Business

Words and phrases are interesting things.  Each represents a package of ideas and associations, instantly unwrapped the moment we encounter them.  If I say, “She stood in a cold, dark, damp basement on a winter day, with only a bit of gray, overcast sky visible through small windows around the perimeter; the rhythm of ice rain hitting…

McCormick Annual Report 2015

An Accounting Homework Assignment for Those of You Who Want to Learn to Analyze Businesses

I get a lot of requests for real-world examples or homework assignments that have to do with some of the more important investing concepts.  This morning is your lucky day if you’re fairly new to the finance game and want to give diving into SEC filings or annual reports a try.  Here’s a (fairly) easy introduction to how things can appear better, or worse, than they really are.  Ready?  Let’s go.

Crown Maple Syrup Colors Joshua Kennon

Crown Maple Syrup from Madava Farms Should Be In Your Pantry (and a Case Study for Your Entrepreneurial Files)

After my recent semi-annual rant on the sorry condition of the maple syrup industry in the United States, which began with our discussion of the food industry polluting its products last Autumn, it should come as no surprise that, lately, we’ve been on a quest to find the ideal luxury maple syrup; honest-to-goodness, real, from-the-Earth maple tree sap with nothing else added that will become our go-to syrup for enjoying with breakfast, cooking in recipes, or using as a sugar substitute when the occasion calls for something with a different flavor profile.  

Free Pancakes at IHOP Day

You Can Get Free Pancakes If You Go to IHOP Today!

March 3rd, 2015, is the 10th anniversary of National Pancake Day.  If you head to an IHOP, you can get free pancakes.  They ask, but you are not required, to make a donation to charity in lieu of paying for your meal, with the goal being to raise $3,500,000 this year for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
You might want to consider bringing your own maple syrup, though.  As you know, one of the few things in life that irritates me to no end is the (what I consider) stupidity of the pancake industry, which has now, in 2015, nearly completely replaced every single store brand maple syrup with “pancake” syrup instead, which is really dyed corn syrup.