A few years ago, a laptop belonging to the college I had graduated from was stolen. A staff member had taken it home with them, only to have their apartment burglarized. Unfortunately, the laptop contained sensitive information on students dating back 10 years, meaning that a whole lot of students could potentially be victims of identity theft.
Since then, I’ve been a little more cautious about protecting my identity. Most credit cards now offer protection against identity theft, and it’s not too difficult to prove that a new card opened up in your name wasn’t actually opened by you. The problem is all the hassle of having to do this, and the possibility of frozen accounts, debt collectors, and other financial troubles until you get it all sorted out.
Here are some of the things I do to protect my identity now:
Shred sensitive documents before throwing them away. We have one of those home shredders, but eventually I want to upgrade to something a little nicer — not homeland security shredders or anything, but something that will shred in both directions for greater security. i Shop Shredders has a pretty good selection, I think.
Keep an eye on my credit report. In Colorado I get a free credit report every year — not to check my score, but to see what is listed on my report. If I see anything that shouldn’t be there, or an account that I have but that is reported inaccurately, then I’m right on it!
Check my financial accounts online and frequently. No more paper statements for me! Not only are electronic statements environmentally friendly, they also offer greater security because they can’t be stolen out of your mailbox!
Taking certain precautions is important because it dramatically reduces your chances of being a victim of identity theft. Don’t let those dirty thieves get you!
You’ve heard of the proverbial "water cooler" — a place in the office where all the employees gather to gossip during the day. This place doesn’t always have to be a water cooler, though. It’s usually just someplace where people tend to go periodically throughout the day. It could be work related — for instance, the room where you keep fax machines, printers, copiers, or electric paper cutters. It could also be someplace the employees visit on short breaks, such as the bathroom, water fountain, kitchenette, break room, or coffee maker.
It’s good for employees to have an opportunity to destress and chat a little bit throughout the day, but of course you’ll want to make sure it doesn’t get out of control. If you start noticing that people are gathered at your office’s version of the water cooler almost continuously throughout the day, it’s probably either time to set and enforce some rules, or to call a staff meeting.
Here are some examples of things you could do to prevent gatherings like these from interfering with work productivity:
Put fax machines, paper cutting machines, etc. someplace that is highly visible. Employees are less likely to congregate if they are in plain view — particularly of their supervisors!
Or, you could put machines like this in a room that requires a badge to electronically unlock the door. This way there is a sense of being monitored, which may prevent employees from lingering too long. This is an especially good idea if you have expensive equipment that you don’t want to be subject to coffee spills or personal use, such as paper stack cutters.
Send a questionnaire around asking employees about their opinions on their work hours, break times, etc. Sometimes the problem may be as simple as your employees feeling overworked. A different break policy could resolve the problem.
People often enter a nutritionist’s office seeking advice on the best energy bar to add to their diets. What they’re hoping to find is a quick answer. They want the doctor to say that a specific brand is definitively the best one on the market. Unfortunately, life isn’t nearly so simple.
The reality is that the best nutrition bar is going to vary from person to person. This is due to the unique dietary needs of each individual body. It is also due to differences in the reason that someone might seek an energy bar.
For example, there may be one person who wants a nutrition bar to use as a health snack during a busy work day. Her sister may be an ultramarathoner who needs a boost of energy that can be easily carried and quickly consumed. Their brother may want an energy bar that can be used as a last-minute snack as well as for an energy boost at the gym.
These three bar needs are clearly different. Factor in the fact that each of these people has a different body shape and size and a different diet plan and you can see that they may each require different types of energy bars.
You may not realize it but when you go to different places you will find plastic cards all over. You have more than likely used on before and never even realized it. There are a couple of different places that a lot of people use these cards every day.
So where have you possibly used these laminated cards? Here is a small list of the cards you may have used without realizing it.
One: Grocery and department stores use these cards. They are the gift certificates that you can get. They have the stores design on them and you can get them for different denominations to purchase products from their store.
Two: Hotels are another place that you have used these cards. The keycard that they give you to get into your room is one.
Three: Gas stations are another place that use these cards a lot. You can purchase pre-paid cards for future gas. The gas station’s name is printed on the card for advertising purposes, of course.
Four: You have probably gotten a phone card at some point in your life. Phone cards can be found in most stores selling the different types of gift cards. Different phone cards can be used for either national or international calls.
These are just a few of the places that you can find these cards. These businesses use a plastic card printing service to get the cards that will help them best promote their business and give their customers something they want or need.
I travel a lot! When I travel on business I like to feel at home wherever I go. So this involves doing a lot of the things I would do at home while I’m on the road. I have invested in technology and gadgets to help me feel at home.
When I travel I am also careful to have a social life. For me this involves attending sports events and concerts when I can. Before I head of on my trips I check show ticket blogs and see what events are coming up in the cities I will be visiting and then go online to search for sold out concerts tickets and sold out sports tickets. I can usually find what I am looking for.
Indulging in these types of social events after a hard days slog really takes my mind off work and helps me to feel more at home when I am on the road. It has also meant that I have seen some great sporting spectacles and concerts at different places around the country!
