One of the important things that kids need to think about, when it comes to career planning is if they are going to go into medicine, is how much they will need to pay for medical malpractice insurance. I remember about thirty years ago when I was friends with a guy who was thinking about becoming a pediatrician that he was telling me that when he got the medical malpractice insurance quote for going into a private practice by himself that he decided to join a group of doctors because the cost of the insurance was lower if he was associated with a group. Going out on his own was more than he could afford. I think it’s really sad that so many good medical practitioners have to charge really high prices to their patients because of the cost of insurance!
Business loans
by Mary AnneEver since we found out about the business opportunity that is on the market, we’ve been looking for ways that we can afford to buy it. We weren’t really in the market to buy anything; this was a surprise opportunity. We’ve called our local banks, the two that we do business with to see if they are going to be able to help us. We think we have good credit, but to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure. It scares me to think that we might have to apply for any business loans with bad credit, because I’m concerned that the interest rate will increase the monthly payment so high that we can’t afford it. Wish me luck!
Entering the age of the Internet
by Mary AnneMy boss asked me to help get the company create a website for the company. After years of hearing me try to persuade him that he needs to enter the twenty-first century he has finally decided to take the plunge. I’d like to take the credit for getting him motivated to do it, but I suspect it is a result of his joining a local business networking group. Anyway, he wants me to create the new company website, promoting the company’s products and services. It will be quite a job, but I am up to the challenge! I’ve created several websites in the past, so I have a good idea of what I am doing.
Equal pay for equal work – my take on the wage gap problem
by Mary AnneWomen have come a long way in their struggle for equality with men. But generally speaking, women still do not earn as much money in the job market as men do. Women earn only about 77 cents for every dollar that men earn.
I find this news very discouraging; I feel that women should earn the same amount of money if they are doing the same work as their male counterparts.
When I first entered the job market umpteen years ago, I found that the company that I worked for systematically paid the male employees more money than they paid the female employees – for the exact same job. When I inquired why that was so, the reply was that “men had families to support and needed the money more than the females did.”
The logic behind that assumption was that the men that worked there were married, with children, and that the wives stayed home to take care of the children. And the assumption continued that the women that worked there were young and single and only had to worry about supporting themselves. So the company felt that they were paying their employees based on their employees needs, rather than on their level of production.
I have always felt that if I am producing at the same level as another person, I should be paid the same as that other person, regardless of marital/family status. I ended up going to work for a large, unionized corporation, where the union contract prevented that type of wage gap discrimination. For me, that was the best option for me to be treated more fairly.
Drop boxes
by Mary AnneRecently I’ve noticed that quite a lot of people use mailboxes for other uses other than as a receptacle to hold incoming and outgoing mail. Mail boxes are being used by some places as drop boxes. The first time I saw a mailbox being used in that manner was by my mother-in-law. She had set up an arrangement with some clients of her book-keeping business to use padlocks on
residential mailboxes and use them as ways to deliver and safely store clients records.
The first time I noticed that type of arrangement was when I saw my mother-in-law was using a mailbox with a padlock on it as a drop box. She had a padlock on the box, and she explained that the office’s courier had a copy of the key so he could pick up and deliver correspondence independently of the US Postal service.