5 
4 | § ¶Coffee: Nowhere Like Far From Home
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I was never a coffee fan. As a matter of fact, I would gladly
prefer Lipton tea (the worse of them) to a regular drip coffee -- that
is, unless it is Colombian coffee brewed by my Colombian wife.
But I must say that on a sunny Friday morning, on my way to see a
client in Torino (Italy), I tasted an espresso that changed the way I
feel about coffee forever.
8 3 | § ¶The Improved Tax Man
-- Collecting More Through Enforcement
This morning the IRS (Internal Revenue Service – The Tax Man in the USA) informed that they collected record money from tax evaders, particularly large business and high-income people.
While some people are in favor of more taxes, I am in favor of more enforcement. It is the kind of budget balancing action that doesn’t require extra legislation. Read More 5 4 | § ¶Cost of Living? Fair Salary?
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A friend sent me an e-mail this morning asking me how did he finds out
if the salary he is receiving is fair and keeps him above inflation.
That is a difficult question. People expect salaries to increase
with inflation or cost of living. However, a salary is a payment
for a service. A fair salary increase (or decrease) doesn’t
necessarily matches inflation rates. Services are priced
according to market forces (offer vs. demand). The expected
salary represents what the average employer would pay for your services
given the education, experience, and the quality of the job
performed.
9 2 | § ¶Shirt Quest: The Adventure
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For the skinny and not-rich-yet guy, finding a good quality well fitting dress shirt (or any other piece of clothing) can be extremely difficult.
My dress shirts where showing some wear (the casual ones as well, but being casual, that was tolerable). To make it worse, I only had the basic solid color, button down, oxford or pinpoint oxford selection: blue, ecru, white, and yellow: shirts that almost yell and cry asking for a tie. (Making them less versatile on some occasions). That’s when I decided to start looking for shirts.
What was supposed to be as simple as going to the nearest department store, resulted being a challenging task.
Read More 2 6 | § ¶When Public Transport Doesn’t Help Themselves or the Environment
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Logan Express (Framingham) Airport Bus fare has increased yet again: $20 round trip + $11/day for parking. For a daytrip you spend $33 in transportation to and from the airport.
The park-at-airport-no-bus-trip option will be: $22 central parking + $7 tolls + $6 gas = $35. $29 if you use economy parking, $37 if you use Terminal B parking.
Read More 4 3 | § ¶Business Casual? Not The Rule Anymore
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Before I left home (just after having returned from college), my mother packed exactly five dress shirts in my suitcase: one white pinpoint, two light blue oxfords, and one ecru pinpoint. She didn’t even packed a suit (I had none at that time, had to acquire them later), just a navy cheap sport coat (that I will surely replace as soon as I find a suitable one), and five ties. During the nineties my career didn’t required any fancy wardrobe. In my industry (Information Technology) it wasn’t rare to see people in shorts, sandals, and t-shirts at work. I normally used polo shirts and jeans. Even when dealing with customers, a polo shirt and Dockers pants where the norm.
As a result, I seldom used the dress shirts or a suit: except for presentations, international business travel, weddings, funerals, interviews and commencement ceremonies. I mention international business travel because in most of the world people dress a bit better, although a suit was not always required. Even during my lengthy business trips sessions, those four shirts where all I needed (hotels do the laundry and I pack very lightly anyways).
As the dot.com crashed, I started sensing some changes in the atmosphere (in the US and abroad). They have taken a long time to be noticeable. But even in my small, high-tech company I have noticed marketing guys and sales guys starting to use sport jackets at a minimum. Suits when you encounter with banks, and insurance agency customers, or in big cities like NYC.
All the sudden I noticed something: 5 dress shirts will not be enough anymore, the plain colors would not be flexible enough, the navy blue suit could not be the only one, and the cheap sport jacket will not do me any good. The shoes, although serviceable, would have to be improved at some point. The fact that I am approaching 30, and my job faces customers all the time doesn't help.
I am still deciding what changes have to be done. Will probably take some time and money (disposable income, which I don’t readily have). For now, I am concentrating on the shirts part: as they will be needed when ether I use a jacket/suit or not: business dress, or business casual. 4 9 | § ¶Why I oppose nationalized healthcare
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First of all, I do believe that healthcare should be discussed at the
state level, not at the federal level. Why? Read my article
on my opinion on federal versus local responsibilities.
However, even if healthcare was to be considered as part of the federal
government responsibilities, I have a few reasons why it wouldn't work
very well, and I have seen places where it hasn't worked very well.