Never co-sign for a loan, contract or other financial commitment unless you’re prepared to pay the whole amount yourself.
Generally, if someone asks you to cosign for them it’s either because 1.) they can’t get approved on their own, or 2.) they’ve been approved (but at a high interest rate) and a co-signer would get them a lower rate.
Cosigning isn’t just “putting in a good word” for someone. It’s asking you to cover their debt in case they don’t. Lenders generally know how to assess risk, so when you co-sign, you’re taking a financial risk that underwriting experts refused to. If the friend / family member / coworker you cosigned for falls behind (or just chooses not to pay his bills and party instead), you’ll get the harassing calls demanding payment. It’s a lose-lose situation: lose your friend/family member; lose your money.
If a family member dies, get a friend to stay at your home during the funeral
Sadly, thieves have taken to scouring obituaries to find places to burglerize and times their victim won’t be home. Obituaries usually name surviving family members and the time of the funeral.
When purchasing a used car, make sure the check engine light turns on when you first start the car. A lot of people rip out the bulb so you don’t know that the car needs repairs!
(1) Search for an ELM327 Bluetooth or WiFi OBD adapter. I found one on Amazon for 10 bucks shipped. This piece connects to the car’s diagnostic port.
(2) Download any one of a number of free OBD apps (I like ScanMaster Lite).
(3) Plug the adapter into the car (typically under driverside dash), turn the ignition to ON, and then use the app to connect wirelessly to the adapter.
(4) Using the app, check for fault codes even if the Check Engine light does not stay lit. Running the test may find a fault.
(5) If there is no error after the test, CHECK THE MONITORS to ensure they are all “ready”. This may require a drive cycle, around the block or on the freeway to trigger all the readiness monitors.
(6) If all monitors report as “Ready” and the Check Engine light is still off, you can then be relatively confident that there are no faults with the Onboard Diagnostic system.
Keep baby powder in your car when you go to the beach. It makes the sand fall right off when you put some in your hand and rub it on the covered areas. Moisture is what makes sand stick to you.
Always put your shoes through the airport x-ray machine last, especially if you’re in a rush. You won’t be able to accidentally walk (or run) off without something that’s still going though the scanner
When trying to come up with something creative, don’t try to be creative. Write every idea down on a piece of paper and don’t stop until you’ve got at least 100 ideas.
Creativity is a physical process, not a mental one. It’s also something that can be easily taught through certain exercises. While some people are naturally more creative than others, those that aren’t can make up for their lack of creativity through simple processes.
This process, as described to me by the president of Ogilvy Advertising, Rory Sutherland, is called “scamping.”
The trick is to think as little as possible, and work as fast as possible. You’ll probably start out with some dumb ideas. That’s fine. The goal is to bounce from one dumb idea, to a less dumb idea, and so on. You’ll soon find nuggets within these dumb ideas, and start building upon them. Personally, I wouldn’t stop until I’d gone through an entire stack, which would take about two hours.
Once you’re finished, it’s simply a process of elimination. Go back through all your ideas and start sorting them into two piles: good and bad. Once you’ve done that, take the good pile and sort them again by good and better. Keep doing this until you’ve narrowed it down to five ideas.
Once you have your top five, ask others to take a look at them and give you their feedback. You’ll generally be biased to a few of the ideas, so running them past others will help you get a better idea on which ideas are stronger.
If you screw up (in a minor way) and inconvenience someone, apologize once, then move on (by correcting your mistake if possible). Apologizing repeatedly & profusely doesn’t help anything, it’s just you trying to make yourself feel better
Never lend the tools you use to earn income. Be it the car you use to get to work,a bicycle, your computer, your cellphone, uniforms,etc. Don’t lend anything out that will affect your job or leave you without income.
Bonus tip: if you have a lot of tools mark them with a bit of spray paint. Just put a dot of the same color on the handles or somewhere it won’t be rubbed off. That way when your friendly neighbor borrows your hammer and then months later acts like its his you’ll know 100% that it’s yours. This is also useful if you are a working on a big job with other tradesmen and their tools.
Don’t validate people’s delusions by getting angry or frustrated with them
You’ll perpetuate conflict and draw yourself into an argument that quickly becomes all about countering the other person’s every claim. Stick to a few simple facts that support your argument and let them reflect on that
When convoying with other cars, the lead car should turn the blinker on first, followed by the 2nd, 3rd ect cars. Then the last car makes the lane change, and creates room in front for the next car to make their change. This prevents breaking the line up
If someone gives you a gift, text them when you use it! It will make them feel good
Even (especially) if it’s months later. Works especially well for clothes, jewelry, or kitchen stuff.
If someone interrupts a storyteller to steal the spotlight, maintain eye contact with the original speaker to encourage them and discourage the interrupter
Many times a more enthusiastic or extroverted conversationalist will attempt to hijack a story to have the moment of glory, but discourage this behavior by continuing to engage the original speaker instead of turning your attention to the hijacker. It will also discourage and subtly inform the hijacker of their rudeness without calling them out in a humiliating way.
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