My brother and I had a running discussion about the "This is not a step label". We concluded that since many ladders had this embossed rather than merely written on the "not-step" it was meant to provide extra grip when we used it, rather than actually serve as a deterrent...

Two Thoughts:

Certainly feel out the corporate culture and weigh the full cost before asking for a raise.

If you're in the 20k range, don't ignore recent used. For a Japanese car with a life expectancy of 250k plus, a 2-5 year old car with 50k miles for 5k less may be the sweet spot for you. I got a used Subaru forester that I love for mild to moderate offroading (think rutted fire roads and trails, not boulder hopping)…

Now, I may not agree with Kurt's exact perspective on creationism, but if we are asking which is more plausible we are comparing two things:
1. A all powerful eternal being making the earth look older than it is
2. The universe beginning without a cause, biomolecules arising by chance through mechanisms that we have no…

I'm 29 and until my dissertation when my boss told me not to I always put two spaces after a period, so maybe she and I are the exception that proves the rule? It's certainly never worth doing something that will jeopardize your chances, but I am a little suspicious this is as useful or as used of an indicator...

Very true, but equally important:
"progress" that lacks the big picture understanding of where you are headed many not even be good...

About the diet sodas - one more serious risk is actually the psychological one. Your body gets used to sweets, so sweet things don't taste as sweet by comparison, causing even diet soda drinkers to consume more sugar in other areas. There have been multiple studies on the topic, and from personal experience I can…

I agree with you on everything but the Lithium Ion. While you are technically correct that when they are dead they are dead for good, this doesn't become a practical concern with the current tools. I use my Lithium Ion tools varying amounts, but they typically last months between charges. My first charge lasted me…

I teach at a medium size university with small class sizes (I usually have a little over 100 total students per semester spread around 3-4 classes). Even with this class size getting an A in a non-lab class and never coming to office hours or interacting with you outside of class may not get you a letter of…

That is a similar but good point. I was saying different nearby cities have different average prices. Where I live a million dollar homes is a 6 bedroom 8 bath estate on multiple acres of manicured landscape. Where my folks have lived for the last 25 years, their 4 bedroom 3 bath on less than 1/4 of an acre has almost…

I live in Southern California, but my house cost half what it would in San Diego or Los Angeles ... my salary is average for California standards, but high for where I live.

My Father-in-Law is an infectious disease doctor. He said the #1 thing his staff needed to help address the Ebola threat was a geography lesson. They have had false alarms over people who flew in from distant ends of Africa, nowhere near Ebola outbreaks...

My dad always reminded me of this when he worked with more troubled kids in our youth group at church. A teenager who was skipping class, committing petty crimes, and failing every class whose life is turned around shouldn't necessarily be comparing themselves to the A student who never broke a school rule. Their…

Philosophy is a discussion of ideas, definitions, and rational relationships. I am in the field of biochemistry where, like physics, philosophy is often belittled, but I find this trend wholly inappropriate. We can do an experiment, but when we try to draw a conclusion, or assess its implications into the way we live,…

I was pretty amazed too. I work as a professor at a Christian university, and the retirement benefit applies to office staff as well as the faculty.

0. It makes you more well rounded.

Not a substitute for finding a work life balance, but certainly a valuable component of finding one. I am a professor, and my wife is a stay at home mom. My wife and child join me for lunch at work at least once a week, and I take a longer lunch that day than others, playing with my daughter and stopping by other…

Anything Vitamix is amazing. If money is no object, the top model is nice, but if you are willing to push the buttons yourself instead of have a computer in it time how long at each power setting you can get 100% of the power of a vitamix (which blows away any other mixer) for albeit a lot of money, but a lot less…

Anything Vitamix is amazing. If money is no object, the top model is nice, but if you are willing to push the…

I'm fortunate to have an employer who matches the first 4% of my annual salary 2:1, so me forfeiting 4% of my salary today means 12% of my salary in retirement. I can't think of any other investment that gives an instant 200% return on investment, or any reason to ever contribute less than 4%, but even if yours only…