All Posts Tagged With: "Florida"

“The Week in Review: Money Issues” is my weekly blog research on financial topics that define us as Americans, and shape the way we should do business.

It’s moving day (I really always hated moving day, to be quite honest)!

And before you start telling me how it’s so easy to hire a moving company, let me interrupt you with a “Not as long as I have both my hands and legs!” Really, I got myself into this mess (I’m a hoarder, my wife would say … I use the term collector. LOL) so I better be man enough to dig myself out of it! Let me just say this, however … “Hey dumpster divers, 3100 S Dixie Highway, Boca Raton, Florida! Lots of good stuff!” She made me get rid of the entire living room set and a ton of other knick-knacky, beachy sort of things (sorry surfers … I’m keeping the boards!). Well, it’s all in the moving truck now, and ready to go to a new home …

Here goes some great reading material that I dug up for you this week … enjoy while I bust my butt unpacking all this heavy stuff: Continued

When I first got down to Florida (three years ago), I got a job at as an Administrator for an Assisted Living Facility (ALF) in Lantana, FL. This place looked like a really nice place to take your parent to when you can no longer look after them, and/or they can’t do it by themselves. Man, was I wrong — this place was an evil dump!

You know what I had to deal with for those few months? No? Well, let me tell you what then: 1) the two money-hungry owners (or scoundrels for short) who were only worried about their next round of monthly checks, 2) the untrained staff, who were always on the verge of killing someone (and were stealing from the residents on the daily), 3) The “fancy” British “Chef” (this guy was a real joke) who always had a problem feeding the residents the right way (he also had a problem with authority and making friends), and the sixty or so elderly residents who were totally getting the short end of the stick!

This place should have been closed down after I told everything I know to the proper authorities, but yet it still exists to this day! Are you thinking of dropping one of your parents (who tried to raise you right) off at one of these places? Well, you better select the right one — and if they’re already there, the following will help you know if you picked a winner: Continued

My fiancée, Jen, loves everything about Jimmy Buffett!

His beachcomber lifestyle epitomizes a relaxed attitude. Take for example one of his greatest hits Margaritaville, of which she tells me only “posers” listen to (color me poser then). In this song, Jimmy (as a young man in Key West) is living the high life in a “bummy” sort of way! His days are filled with eating shrimp and sponge cake, losing his salt shaker constantly and getting hammered off of margaritas on the daily (which are horrible, by the way). This cheap ass can’t even afford a new pair of sandals (in the song, he “blows” his old crappy ones out).

Jen’s wanting a piece of this way of life is the reason we moved to South Florida. Too bad we didn’t get all the way down to Conch Country. Instead, we’re stuck in a far worse place than we started off with: Boca Raton. Before you damn “snowbird” New Yorkers jump down my throat, let me explain why this place has nothing to do with the beach lifestyle that many people would associate this part of the Sunshine State with … Continued

Florida: The Sunshine State (nice, lovely). Florida: Hurricane Alley (truth, reality).

When it comes to hurricanes, no one does it like Floridians. Once you’re here long enough, you won’t bat your eyelashes at anything less than a Category 3 (even that might not get more than a passing glance). Me? I haven’t been here long enough, and tomorrow is going to be my first one. If I don’t make it, pass this article on to my loved ones. If I do, it means that my internet search worked. It’s a 50-50 (decent odds). Anyway …

By preparing for these things days in advance you are guaranteeing your place as one of the smartest guys in your neighborhood (you’ll be the “Lord of the Flies”, not Piggy). Stocking up now will be much cheaper and easier than dealing with the scared freaks at Publix the night before (I’ve seen it firsthand)! To be prepared for the worst, read on …

Continued