Slot Machine Strategy

It isn't too often that you can walk away from a casino with more money in your pocket than you went in with. If you play long enough, eventually they will get their money back with interest. The best tactic is to set a budget for yourself and then quit when you have "earned" about fifty percent more than what you came in with. But sometimes luck will not go your way and you will end up leaving an entertainment fee at the casino. Here is another tip; find a slot machine that you can afford to play the max bet on. You are wasting your time if you play a five line machine at 1 credit per line if the max bet is ten per line. Yes, your money will go fast, but the payoff is much better when you win. So many times I see people playing conservatively and wondering why they never win. Remember the trick is to find a machine that is in your budget.

School Budgets

This past Sunday our local newspaper had a story about how the public school system here has a growing budget shortfall. The story detailed where the money gets spend each year and I had assumed that technology costs were adding to their costs, but actually the biggest culprit is the cost of benefits for teachers. If you read between the lines, that mean healthcare. It made me realize that the escalating cost of healthcare is having a ripple effect in ways that I did not suspect. The situation is putting pressure on school officials and they are asking for tax increases to cover the rising cost of healthcare for teachers. I work for a small company and we have had to switch health insurance providers twice in the last three years. I don't think that swithing insurance poviders is a long term solution, but we have few other choices. Unfortunately I think the situation is going to get worse before it gets better. Paying property taxes and insurance feels like paying rent. I guess that's because I am old enough to remember when things like insurance and healthcare were affordable.

Little Snowman

Here is a picture of the snowman that my girlfriend and I built. We would have made him bigger, but the snow was not very packy that day. The little guy was kind of cute while he lasted. With the warmer temps, I am sad to report that he melted last week.

I spent most of this past week working on the seminar video that I mentioned in my previous post. In addition, I have a manuscript that I am reviewing for a client. Reviewing manuscripts is another business idea that I had. Although, pricing that service could be a challenge. I consider myself a slow reader, mostly because I read every word and don't use the word skipping technique implemented by speed readers. We will have to see how this one goes as it is my first writing review for someone other than my girlfriend. You need solid literary skills, if others are looking to you for help.

One more cat pic

Here is one last picture of Oscar watching TV. He is watching small critters from a video game I am playing. He usually takes up this position whenever there is a nature show the screen.

This week it was tax return time for me. Each year it seems to get more complicated than the last. As my small business grows, it makes more sense to use some of the deductions that are available. But taking those deductions adds to the amount of paperwork that needs to be filed. My only advice is, don't be afraid to use the online tax services and save all your receipts. Having all your info from the previous year automatically transfered to your new tax return is also a real time saver.

I don't know if this is normal cat behavior, but sometimes Oscar likes to lay on his back and watch TV. Now if I could train him to do that on my command, that would be impressive. Maybe he is just imitating his owner?

This week, in addition to digging out of two snow storms, I started working on a 6 hour seminar video. The video was shot with two cameras, so it took 12 hours and 150 gig of disk space to transfer all of the data to my computer. I'm going to have to watch out once I start editing, because the temporary files created during the editing process are going to eat up the remaining disc space quickly. The video will be divided into 4 parts, so removing each part from the system as it gets completed is the only way to proceed without adding another hard drive.