Did You Know? 2.0

There is a very thought provoking presentation that I ran across several weeks ago. It has been redone from its original PowerPoint format and was re-released this week. It was originally created to start a conversation among a small group of Colorado teachers. Since then it has started more than 5 million conversations around the world! It asks some tough questions and presents some very interesting data. Their website provides the sources for the data at shifthappens.wikispaces.com. My favorite quote from the presentation is:

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein

It’s clear to see that the time is now rather than later to ask the question, “Did you know?”.

Click here to view the presentation on TeacherTube.com.

Flying Tomatos

From the Piedmont Credit Union email inbox:

We received an email coupon yesterday from “The Flying Tomato”. It’s a new restaurant in what used to be “The Gaslight Grill” which used to be something else, which used to be “The Ground Round” which I think used to be something else. Perhaps The Flying Tomato will out live its predecessors. The email said it was ok to share the coupon with as many people as we would like. So here it is in pdf format. Click here to download.

I have not been there to eat yet but I love Italian food. I think, with this coupon, that I’ll take my wife there on her birthday next week. My only question is, “If the service is bad, do we get to throw tomatos?”

Updated June 26, 2007: We went there and enjoyed our meal. Click here for my review on yelp.com.

Updated July 13, 2007: Just got word from Tom, our CU President , that he took his mother-in-law there and it was closed! I think that’s a new record for this location that has been home to so many restaurants.

A Prom Account?

Last week I had the pleasure of watching my niece discuss her next year’s prom dress with her mother. She wants a combination of two dresses so that means having it tailor made. It proves to be most stunning. As they moved on to the cost of such a dress the conversation got a little more exciting, especially when they got down to how much money Mom was forking out. Trying to think of a way they could compromise I thought of the following: Start a credit union savings account for the purpose of paying for a prom dress next year. Mom could put in a specific agreed amount and anything extra would be the responsibility of the daughter. If they start now by the time next year’s prom rolls around they could easily have enough to go totally all out on the dress. It even teaches good savings habits to both Mom and daughter.

My family lives near Richmond and are faithful members of their own credit union, but If a Piedmont Credit Union member wanted to do something like this there are a couple options.

1. Use a Special Savings Account
2. Use a Vacation Club

Neither of these two accounts have ACH, ATM or Debit card access. This is good if you want money to actually stay there. The Vacation club even has the added deterrent of a fee for taking it out more than twice per year.

So if you have an event coming up that will require you to spend a good amount of money(prom, wedding, birth of child, etc.) consider being proactive now by saving up for it rather than just reacting to it when the time comes. Here’s hoping next year’s prom will be unforgettable. (I went to the movies on my junior prom night and I’ll never forget it because it’s the only movie I ever saw where the sound went completely out. It was called “The Year of the Comet” and I went with two friends both named Jeremy. I can’t believe I remember that and don’t really recall the senior prom at all!)