Stars and Stripes

Happy Flag Day 

Yesterday’s clouds are gone, leaving only sunny skies.

History 

Just like ships crossing the ocean hundreds of years ago during colonial discovery, going to the moon was a voyage to the unknown. A mission to explore uncharted depths of space.  

The Sales Pitch

Imagine trying to sell NASA on a computer system in the early 60s filled with integrated chips when computers back then were the size of a room, Software wasn’t even invented yet and everybody thought computers weren’t reliable. In the 60’s software was like the Wild West, nobody knew anything about it. For the development of the program NASA would  rely on a woman programmer named Margaret and among many others a young 23 year old Don, who was just happy to have a job, but ended up designing software program for the Apollo lunar landing. 

50 in July 

Throwback to July 1969, two weeks before Mom was in labor giving birth to yours truly, the world held it’s breath when the human race landed on the Moon. It was one of humanity’s greatest achievements.President Kennedy said in the early 60s “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard” Kennedy's words still have the power to inspire us.  

We can do anything we set our minds to.  Doubt or uncertainty about making that important sales pitch?  Just take the first step ....“You can do it and you will, the very difficulty of it is why you must”.  You never know, you might make history.

Source: 13 minutes to the moon podcast.

Car Industry writing code?

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced at their Annual Shareholder Meeting, the company is “pretty close to being able to release its own insurance product and that it has “a bit of software to write” to make it “ready for market”.  
Is it smart for the car industry to get into insurance?

Source: TechCrunch.com

Two cars Different states

You can own and keep a car in a state that isn't your permanent residence, but you should register and insure it in the state that it is garaged.

15 Minutes

With Prom season also comes the danger associated with drinking and driving.  Every 15 minutes someone dies from an alcohol related collision. Teenage drinking and driving has been a leading cause of death among teenagers so it’s critical teens avoid drinking and driving or riding with an impaired driver. Below is a link to a video titled 15 minutes created by students, school officials and the California Highway Patrol to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving. 

15 Minutes

Source: Castro Valley High School /YouTube 

Let them know if they need a safe ride home for any reason, you are available.

Teresa

mano a mano

Great American Feuds

Throughout American history there have been feuds like when VP of the United States shot and killed Alexander Hamilton, the former Secretary of State in a NJ duel .  Thankfully things have changed a little bit.  Now feuds are usually handled in court.  But sometimes in the ring, like Pacquiao Vs Mayweather or Frazier Vs Ali.  Sometimes in the media - the beef between Cardi and Minaj.

Over a dude 

Joan Crawford and Bette Davis had a feud which lasted their entire lives.  Davis fell in love with Franchot Tone but he married Crawford.  Many years later after Davis heard about Crawford’s death, she allegedly said “you should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good.  Joan Crawford is dead. Good”.  (yikes)

Car Fights

The Dodge brothers started out being the main supplier of transmissions for Henry Ford and they were early shareholders in the company.  Then Dodge launched their own car to compete with the Ford Model T.  In response, Ford lowered the price of his model and Dodge sued.  Claiming reducing the price of the model cheated shareholders. Ford was ordered to payback dividends to shareholders, including the Dodge brothers.  After the ruling Ford made an announcement about his plans to sell the company to his son and started a rumor about a new car business.  This drove down the value of Ford shares and investors like the Dodge brothers sold their shares back to Ford; which allegedly was Ford’s plan all along.



I just had a bittersweet memory in my Ford Expedition, circa 2002 looking back at my kids in the rear seat ... No Fighting! No Fighting! No fighting!



Teresa




Source:  Brain Stuff Podcast, Time and Bleacherreport.com

Wagers, Coffee & Cakes

What are the Odds

Insurance companies don’t take bets on death. Seems clearly illegal, but they do something similar.  Both parties come to an agreement and money changes hands for a LIFE Insurance policy.  

Insurance and gambling goes back thousands of years.  The code of Hammurabi has clauses about bartering a type of insurance. Merchants would borrow money to fund a ship’s voyage and be protected if the ship sank.

Coffee, Cakes and Selfies

Posting pictures and drooling over cakes and coffee seems like an Instagram trend but in the late 1600s men would gather at Edward Lloyd’s small coffeehouse on Tower St, near the London docks to network & gossip.  He created a newsletter called Lloyd’s List with lots of info about ports, tides and ships.  His coffee shop in London became known as THE place for getting Marine Insurance.  Men would gossip, drink coffee and tea and place bets.  There were  auctions and they would insure ships.  The insurer would draw up a contract and sign his name underneath - now known as underwriting. 

Edward Lloyd’s small coffee shop became known as the place for obtaining marine insurance. Lloyd grew to became a pioneer in Insurance - Lloyd’s of London.  Today Lloyd’s list is only available in digital format.

Would you like a Chocolate Croissant  or a Glazed Donut with that coffee?

Source: BBC 

To hear more about this check out BBC podcast 

BBC Podcast 50 things that made the modern economy: Insurance

Familiar Insurance Services

Familiarinsurance.com

Java Fix

Is our pint sized quick Java fix killing the environment?

In 2018 Keurig alone sold close to 10 billion K-Cups.  According to USA Today, over 40 percent of Americans use coffee pods.  These plastic pods are difficult to recycle so they end up in landfills.  In 2014 there were enough coffee pods buried in landfills  to go around the Earth 10.5 times. Plastic waste is an even bigger problem in 2019.  

“Some cities around the globe began banning K-Cups entirely, due to the product's recycle-resistant nature”

Will using refillable pods make a difference?

Read USA article Here

Marisa Palmer: Nespresso is the first single-serve coffee company to develop a facility dedicated to recycling their own coffee pods. Why? Because we have a coffee pod recycling problem.

Read Business Insider article Here

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Once Upon a Time

Ever After

Once upon a time a Man commuted for work into NYC on Northern State Parkway.  Married with an infant and another child on the way.  He had a nice home and liked his job.  

It was a beautiful sunny day, the sky was clear and as usual early AM traffic was light.  He was keeping up with traffic, doing about 75 MPH, car next to him doing the same.  Along with 2 cars driving behind him.  All 4 cars going at same speed, the skies were clear, good driving conditions.  Suddenly his tire blows out,  pulls him to the right, sideswiping the car driving in lane next to him. This creates a chain reaction and the cars behind them crash into them.  Man wakes up 2 weeks later out of a medical induced comma. He had been pulled out by the jaws of life and lost his right leg.  But even worse, the man in the car next to him was killed in the crash.  He also was married with an infant child.  The survivor lived the rest of his life wondering if he had been driving a little slower would the man in the other car survived. Does 5 MPH make a difference? He spent the rest of his life celebrating milestones with his family thinking of the child who was left without a father. There was no way to avoid the tire blow out, but would it of made a difference if he was driving the speed limit.

If a front tire bursts, you should feel the force mostly within the steering of your vehicle. With a rear tire, you should feel it more in the seat or body of the car. Whether the blowout occurred in the front or back, your response should be the same in either situation.

What to do

According to the National Safety Council here is what to do if you experience a tire blowout.

• Keep a firm grip on the steering wheel.
• Do not slam on the brakes.
• Let your car slow down gradually.
• Pull to the side of the road once you have slowed to a safe speed.
• Activate your emergency flashers.

The benefits of benefits

Penny Wise

Benefits are expensive but necessary to attract and keep talent. People are happier at their jobs when they have good benefits.  Although not as sexy as a six figure salary, more than ever, job seekers are considering benefits when job hunting.

The Race

Employers offer good packages to retain good employees. At the top of the list is medical insurance, but job seekers are also demanding a retirement plan, disability insurance and more.  USAA offers a strong 401k program with an 8% match and according to SHRM, the average company in the U.S. matches 6%.

Courtesy: Glassdoor

The reward

Give employees the benefits they value, and they'll be more satisfied, miss fewer workdays, be less likely to quit, and have higher commitment to meeting employer goals," says Joe Lineberry, a senior vice president at Aon Consulting.