Police Officer Buys Eggs For Woman Caught Shoplifting, Video Catches Hug

 Video: http://youtu.be/Hm4WDvzjMBY

An Alabama woman caught shoplifting eggs from a Dollar General store left with food to feed her family and a hug from a police officer that chose to purchase the eggs for her when she was apprehended.

Tarrant Police Officer William Stacy was called to the Pinson Valley Parkway Dollar General on Saturday after store employees caught a man attempting to steal a dozen eggs, Tarrant Police Chief Dennis Reno told AL.com/CBS Atlanta reports. Stacy approached the would-be thief as she headed toward her vehicle in which her young children awaited. She told Stacy that she was only stealing in order to feed her children.

A video caught by a fellow shopper shows the exchange between the two, which ended in a hug shared by officer Stacy and the woman in the parking lot. Dollar General told Stacy it would not prosecute and he offered the woman a deal.

"We CAN all just get along," the two declared.
“We CAN all just get along,” the two declared.
“He said, ‘If I give you these eggs, will you promise that you won’t shoplift anymore?’”

Reno told AL.com. “He knew that she was telling the truth and that’s the reason he went in and bought the eggs.”

Stacy purchased the eggs for the woman and she responded by asking the officer if she could give him a hug.

“Police officers do this all the time. Of course, these are the kind of stories that never get told,” Reno said. “Every police officer in Jefferson County has done this at one point in time.”

The video of the friendly exchange has been viewed over 400,000 times via Facebook.

Source:  http://www.notyourhomepage.com/

Travel Like A Business Owner, Frugally!

People who don't travel much will often think that business travel is exotic. Interesting cities, nice hotels, restaurant meals all seems so much better that the everyday "humdrum" existence they live!

Then there are the people who actually travel for business, whose view might be a little different. Longer hours, no home cooked meals, miss their own bed, hotels are all the same when all you do is use them to sleep and shower, restaurant meals get old and then there is the time away from family. Not often mentioned but equally off putting is the exposure to germs and people you might not otherwise choose to meet! Too often you find yourself in an aircraft where invariably you are sitting next to a large person who overflows into your space, and has a very obvious cold!

Now that I have put business travel into context, it IS a valuable, and needed, activity for any business that has multiple locations or even just clients in multiple locations.

Business owners approach travel with the goal of achieving their business needs as effectively and as "cost effectively" as possible! Here are some business travel tips from a business owner:

"Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship." Benjamin Franklin

    Book ahead! Last minute travel is costly... and does not allow you to plan your days as effectively as you might.

    Look at travel options... don't go with the same airline all the time just to collect points! In Canada I might travel on Westjet, Air Canada or Porter based on price, convenience and my travel needs for a given trip.

    Be frugal with hotel bookings. Generally it's just a bed and a shower. You don't need the most expensive hotel. I find a reasonable place, convenient to my meetings. I often use sites like Hotwire to get great rates and have friends who use airbnb.

    Limit travel in business hours. I get early morning flights when headed west, and late evening flights when headed east. This means I can maximize my time at my destination. For example if I leave Toronto at or before 7am I can arrive in Calgary or Vancouver around 9am local time, giving me a full day in that city.

    Look after your body. Eat well, get enough sleep and work out. You don't even need a gym to work out! Pushups, ab exercises, squats, lunges, walking the stairs etc. are all good exercise that you can do anywhere.

    Travel with hand sanitiser. In the "germ environments" of planes and hotels it makes sense to act like a health professional. Wash your hands often!

    Travel with supplements. You will likely not get the nutrients you get with your regular diet so bring vitamins, ColdFX even some pain medication. It will help you stay healthier and hence more effective.

    Limit your alcohol intake. It is easy to let this get away from you when you are visiting colleagues and clients in other cities. Exercise some restraint, your body will thank you.

    Take materials with you that will make your travel time effective. Catch up on reading, create a reading file with photocopies or cutouts of articles. Put materials on your kindle, iPad or other reader.

    Travel light. Learn to pack effectively and think through your wardrobe... if you can travel with carry-on luggage only you will save time and aggravation. (Learn to us an iron... there is one in most hotel rooms).

    Spend like it is your own money. As a business owner it IS your own money! Tip appropriately, but not extravagantly. Choose reasonable but not crazy restaurants. Take the team for a couple of drinks, but don't make a night of it.

"Entrepreneurship is living a few years like most people won't. So that you can live the rest of your life like most people can't." Unknown


Source: http://www.eagleonline.com/blog/

Oh, Christmas Tree!

As tempting as a pricey, artificial pre-lit Christmas tree may be, few things about the holidays are as satisfying as a fresh, real Christmas tree.

Fresh test. Gently grasp a branch between your thumb and forefinger and pull it toward you. Very few needles should come off in your hand if the tree is fresh. Shake or bounce the tree on its stump. You should not see an excessive amount of green needles fall to the ground. Some loss of interior brown needles is normal and will occur over the life of a tree.

Keep it fresh. The best secret for keeping your tree fresh is water, water, water. Once you get your tree home you want to cut 1/4-inch off the end and immediately put it into water.

Be sure to store your tree in a cool, shaded place out of the sun such as a covered porch or garage until you are ready to bring it into the house.

Never allow your tree to run out of water. If a fresh tree is properly cared for and watered, it should stay fresh through New Year’s Day.

Additives. The National Christmas Tree Association does not endorse any additive to the tree’s water. Your tree will stay fresh with just plain water.

Whoops. Within four to six hours of exposure, the tree will form a sap seal over the stump and it will not absorb water. If you forget to make a fresh cut and now the tree is all set up and decorated, do this: Remove the water from the stand (use a turkey baster to suck it out). Now drill holes into the side of the trunk below the water level. Immediately refill with water making sure none of the holes are above the water line.

Size. When choosing a tree remember the most important characteristic is water capacity. A good rule-of-thumb is one quart for every inch in diameter of the tree’s trunk. For example, the average six-foot tree has a trunk with a four-inch diameter, so the tree stand should hold one gallon of water.

Proper fit. You should also make sure the stand fits the tree. If it is too big or too small it might cause the tree to tip over. Never trim the sides of the trunk to fit in a stand.

Fire hazard. The National Fire Protection Association tracks fires and their causes. According to their data, of all residential fires real Christmas trees are involved in less than 1/10 of one percent (0.1%). Sensational blazing trees on the evening news are often doused in a flammable liquid to create a show, or are very old and dried out.

An industry. There are close to 15,000 farms growing Christmas Trees in the U.S., and over 100,000 people are employed full or part-time in the industry.

Caution. Never burn a tree in a fireplace or wood stove. Pine trees have a lot of sap which can flash and also create a chimney fire.

Source: http://www.everydaycheapskate.com/

Rescues, Crashes and a Tornado as 'Pineapple Express' Hits California

Strong winds, torrential rain and snow that caused widespread blackouts in Northern California hit the southern part of the state Friday.

After drenching Northern California the previous day, the storm dumped up to 5 inches of desperately needed rain in Southern California. A landslide left 10 homes uninhabitable and fire officials executed a dramatic rescue of two people from the Los Angeles River.

There were street flooding, traffic tie-ups and wind gusts up to 60 mph in some areas. At its height, about 50,000 customers lost power, though most had it back quickly.

A small tornado hit South Los Angeles as well. The "wind event" occurred at 10 a.m. blowing a roof off a house and causing other damage. No injuries were reported, MyFoxLA.com says.

Meanwhile, the poor weather contributed to a spike in traffic accidents. California Highway Patrol reported a total of 236 vehicle collisions in San Diego County Friday, significantly higher than the average 50-75 on a dry day, MyFox5SanDiego.com reported.

As the storm crept down the coast overnight, its powerful winds caused power outages around Santa Barbara, where the National Weather Service said up to 5 inches fell in coastal mountains. Amtrak suspended service between Los Angeles and the Central Coast city of San Luis Obispo.

In Camarillo, a Ventura County city about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles, rain was falling at about an inch an hour over hillsides ravaged by a 2013 wildfire. With few roots to hold the soil in place, the deluge caused part of a hillside to give way.

Debris brushed aside concrete barriers crews had set up on the slope and surrounded about a dozen homes with silt, sticks and rocks -- some as large as a couch. The force was so great that two large earthmovers used to set up barriers were swept down to the street, with one nearly buried.

Near downtown Los Angeles, the fire department rescued two people from the storm-swollen Los Angeles River. Orange County fire officials and Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies each pulled a body from smaller waterways, though in both cases the cause of death wasn't clear.

Even after the fast-moving storm cleared out, the risk remained that sodden topsoil on wildfire-scarred hillsides could collapse.

The threat of slides in several other inland Southern California areas led to some evacuations.

It was the second major storm in a week for Southern California and the storm is expected to intensify as it moves across the state.

Click here for video.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/

Why Fakes Destroy Value

It's not unusual to encounter people who think that the concern over fakes and counterfeit items is somehow exaggerated.

This often goes hand-in-hand with the view that attempts to track down and punish the perpetrators is somehow the product of commercially jealous 'mega enterprises' that can't compete with the 'little fella' trying to make a living by running rings around them.

However, this really isn't a question of Robin Hood versus the big guys - and here's why.

Who is the big business?

The first thing to note is that, perhaps paradoxically, it is the counterfeiters who are often the big business here. They can be vast enterprises and they're not Robin Hoods. They're actually selling their fake goods for vast profits and getting fat on the results.

True, they might be getting their items manufactured in appalling sweat-shop conditions in undeveloped areas of the world but the people producing the items for next to nothing won't be seeing much if anything of those huge profits.

Who is suffering damage?

Another myth is that it's only big bona-fide manufacturers who are suffering.

The reality is that the consumer also suffers.

Rarely are counterfeit goods ever even close to the same quality as the originals. They may pass a casual visual inspection but ultimately when they start falling to pieces shortly after purchase it's usually the public that suffers.

So, when you actually start to consider the damage caused by fakes and the battle against them, it's easy to identify victims and none of them are the fakers and criminals.

Destroying value and trust

However, the really big and perhaps most serious impact of faking and counterfeiting arises from the almost irreparable damage it can do to trust and latent value.

Let's consider one perhaps slightly obscure example - that of antiques and specifically Confederate State of America memorabilia.

Over many years the fakers of CSA civil war items have become so proficient that now many people, including some experts, can struggle to be sure of the difference between a genuine and fake item. The result is that the re-sale value of many perfectly genuine CSA items has been massively reduced because many purchasers now can't be sure whether they're buying a real or counterfeit item.

This is tragedy not just in value terms but also historical legacy.

Clearly, modern manufacturers do not wish to see consumer confidence in their brand destroyed by similar considerations and that's why they go into battle against the counterfeiters using the most modern approaches including things such as security holograms and DNA encoding.

Summary

For all the above reasons, it shouldn't be the counterfeiters that get our sympathy.

Ultimately their activities are destructive not only to big business but also the consumer, the small collector, the family that has its heirlooms and so on.

The attempt to beat the fakers is a battle that should concern us all and be one that we not only take seriously but actively cooperate in. if we don't, we may find ourselves in a world where you just won't be able to take any commercial description or branding seriously - and that's a scary thought.