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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Debt stress can affect
work, personal life and health
By
Mark Cole
Chief Operating Officer, Consumer Credit Counseling Service
Special to GwinnettForum.com
SUWANEE, Ga., Feb. 15, 2005 -- American households with credit
cards carry an average revolving balance of $8,000 to $9,000. According
to the Federal Reserve Board, total U.S. consumer debt (credit cards
plus car loans) recently passed the $2 trillion mark, averaging
out to $7,296 per person. Some consumers are carrying balances that
are more than their annual salaries. They may not realize that debt
stress can negatively affect virtually every aspect of their lives.
"Consumers with large credit card balances may not recognize
how much stress is created from carrying that much debt," said
Suzanne Boas, president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS)
of Greater Atlanta. "The stress of debt can affect your work,
your personal life and even your health."
CCCS encourages consumers to make 2005 a happier year by taking
control of their finances. Here are some tips on how to recognize
and solve debt stress:
How to recognize debt stress:
On the job: Productivity at work can decrease if you are
distracted by worries of how you will meet your monthly obligations.
If you find it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand and
your thoughts are wandering to your financial situation, debt stress
has invaded your work environment.
At home: A major cause of divorce is money and arguments
over money. If you and your partner are arguing about money on a
regular basis, you are likely experiencing debt stress.
In life: Most people make life decisions based on finances
-- where to live, how much house, what career to pursue, what car
to drive. When your finances keep you from making decisions that
are best for you, debt stress may be involved. It may keep you from
changing to a preferred job because you are afraid you won't be
able to make debt payments. Or, lack of financial freedom may keep
you in the same location when you'd rather move. The stress of debt
can also affect your health, causing headaches, stomachaches and
taking a toll on your nerves.
How to handle debt stress:
Assess your current financial situation: The only way to
understand what you are facing is to have a realistic picture of
what you owe. Gather all your credit card statements and other bills
and add up the total.
Create a debt repayment plan: Once you know how much you
owe, craft a plan to pay off the balances. Trim expenses or increase
income to add to your current payments. Your goal should be to pay
off the balances as quickly as possible. Sacrifices now, will mean
less stress and a better financial future.
Avoid adding to debt: Do not make any credit purchases until
you have paid off your current balances. Then, make a covenant with
yourself that you will not charge any purchases unless you have
a plan in place to pay off the balance in 90 days or less.
Commit to managing your money: At least twice a month, allow
some time to manage your finances including paying bills, balancing
your checking account and analyzing your expenses. Remember to prioritize
and always keep current on shelter (mortgage or rent and utilities)
and transportation.
Get help if you need it: If you are overwhelmed and not
sure where to start, contact CCCS at 800-251-CCCS or www.cccsinc.org.
Get professional help before the situation gets worse and you are
completely stressed out!
ELLIOTT
BRACK
A
puzzle, Karl Haas, Richard Tucker and even a bumper sticker
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
FEB. 15, 2005 -- It's catch up time today. But first, a little
mind-bender, from the 2005 Old Farmer's Almanac:
On her bookshelf, Mary has a ten volume set of books, numbered
1-10, in order, from left to right. Each volume has 100 pages. She
took the books off the shelf, and on the front of the first page
of volume I, she attached a sticky note. On the back of the last
page of volume 10, she attached another sticky note. Then she put
the books back, in order, as they were. Ignoring the covers, how
many pages lie between the two sticky notes? (No peeking: answer
below.)
* * * * *
We pause today to mark the passing of classical radio personality
Karl Haas, who died recently. A musicologist, he was the host of
Adventures in Good Music, heard on Radio WABE in Atlanta for years.
He died February 6 in Detroit at age 91.
Haas |
His program, which brought musical enjoyment to millions of listeners,
was for many years the most listened to classical music radio program
in the world, carried by hundreds of stations in the United States,
Australia, Mexico, Panama and world-wide by Armed Forces Radio.
He was called the "world's most passionate voice for good
music." And he broadcast his program with charm and intelligence.
He loved puns in the titles of his programs, such as "The Joy
of Sax", "Baroque and in Debt", "May the Source
be With You" and "No Stern Untoned." Sometimes his
titles pushed you, but you appreciated them.
Haas received many major awards, including two George Foster Peabody
Awards for excellence in broadcasting from the University of Georogia.
In 1991, he was received at the White House where President George
H. W. Bush awarded him the National Endowment for the Humanities
prestigious Charles Frankel Award. In 1997, he was the first classical
personality to be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
Haas is survived by his daughter Alyce, sons Jeffrey and Andrew,
and grandchildren, Jessie Knox-Haas and Sophie Haas. His wife Trudie
preceded him in death in 1977.
Karl Haas, 1913 - 2005: may you rest in peace.
* * * * *
Richard Tucker had an especially good day last month. First came
the announcement of his appointment to the Georgia Board of Regents,
and that same night, he was installed at the new chairman of the
Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, an organization where he was once
the president. All-in-all, January was a good month for him. You
see, he's also a January birthday boy!
* * * * *
Waiting to post: Here's a bumper sticker someone curmudgeon is
ready to put up any day now:
"I'm already AGAINST
THE NEXT WAR."
* * * * *
The answer to the Old Farmer's Almanac puzzle:
800 pages. Page 1 lies at the right hand side of volume 1 as you
view its spine. Similarly, the last page of volume 10 lies at the
left hand side of the book with its spine facing you. No pages in
volume 1 or volume 10 lie between the sticky notes.
And while we are at it, you may remember that the Old Farmer's
Almanac predicts weather, too, which has to be done months in advance.
Let's see how they do for today, February 15. The Almanac says about
southern states' weather for the period Feb. 15-19: "It's the
windchill factor, stupid!" Let's see if it is.
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FEEDBACK
2/15: Finds responses
interesting living in this great country
Editor, the Forum:
Your quip about "literal" or "interpretative"
responses to the State of the Union speech is interesting, especially
coming from a journalist! It does point out that people hear what
they want to hear.
I'll bet that the President (or his writers) spent more time and
effort into saying what he really wanted to say than the lady who
gave the interpretative version!
Did he mean what he said or what the hearer wants to think he said?
It's a great country!
-- Charles Summerour, Duluth
CALENDAR
Chamber's monthly outing
is Thursday near Norcross
You're invited to the Gwinnett chamber of Commerce's Business After
Hours on Thursday, February 17, from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. at Outback
Steakhouse, 4015 Holcomb Bridge Road in Norcross. Bring your appetite
for steak and shrimp the Outback way.
Business After Hours is Gwinnett's largest monthly networking event
that provides a way to meet new people, gather business ideas and
network with fellow Chamber members. The evening is open to the
public and no RSVP is required. It is free for Chamber members or
a member's guest, $20 for non-members.
March 1 Suwanee auction
of items includes five vehicles
Vehicles, tires, office equipment, weed eaters, and mowers are
among the items that will be auctioned during the City of Suwanee's
surplus sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 1. The auction will take
place at the City's public works facility on Mary Lou Street, located
a half-mile from City Hall.
Auctions United Inc. will conduct the surplus sale, at which items
will be sold to the highest responsible bidder.
Among the items to be sold are:
1997 Ford Crown Victoria
1994 Ford Escort LX (4-door)
1979 GMC 1500 Pick-Up
1993 Chevy Cavalier RS (2-door)
1986 Buick LeSabre LTD (4-door)
Rims and Tires
Weed Eaters
Mowers
Tanka Water Pump
Wheel Barrow
Brass Water Meters
For more information and a complete list of items to be sold, please
contact Mac Hackney at City Hall, 770/945-8996 or mach@suwanee.com
.
-30-
NOTABLE
Marriott at Gwinnett
Place wins major diversity award
The Marriott Hotel near Gwinnett Place has won a major industry
award. It was voted the number one full-service Marriott Hotel in
an ongoing survey of event planners conducted by Marriott Hotels
& Resorts.
The survey asked event planners to rate hotels on satisfaction
of service and staff. The Atlanta Marriott Gwinnett Place Hotel
ranked number one among the 279 Marriott hotels that participate
in the ranking. It bested dozens of internationally known properties,
including hotels that have been awarded Mobil Travel Guide's coveted
five-star rating.
Marriott's survey addresses all aspects of a meeting or convention,
including service, food and beverage, facility satisfaction and
willingness to return.
Bruce Johnson, director of Sales and Marketing for the Atlanta
Marriott Gwinnett Place Hotel, says: "We are extremely proud
of our staff. This recognition is a true testament to their hard
work and dedication. Our hotel continues to strive for excellence
in guest service and satisfaction, and we intend to keep our number
one ranking in 2005."
The hotel also received a prominent local award in 2004, being
named as Gwinnett magazine's "Hotel of the Year." They
also recently completed a $1.9 million dollar renovation of the
hotel's meetings space and lobby.
The Atlanta Marriott Gwinnett Place, managed by Crestline Hotels
& Resorts Inc., is one of the nation's largest independent hospitality
management companies. Founded in 2000, the Company presently manages
36 hotels, resorts and conference and convention centers with nearly
7,800 rooms in 11 states and the District of Columbia. Additional
information about the hotel management company is available at the
company's web site: www.crestlinehotels.com.
RECOMMENDED
READ
- An invitation: What Web sites or books have you enjoyed?
Send us your best recent read along with a short paragraph as
to why you liked it, plus what book you plan to read next. --eeb
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TIDBIT
2/15: Columbus native
Carson McCullers significant U.S. writer
With a collection of work including five novels, two plays, 20
short stories, more than two dozen nonfiction pieces, a book of
children's verse, a small number of poems, and an unfinished autobiography,
Carson McCullers is considered to be among the most significant
American writers of the 20th century. She is best known for her
novels The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The Ballad of the Sad Café,
Reflections in a Golden Eye, and The Member of the Wedding,
all published between 1940 and 1946. At least four of her works
have been made into films.
 She
was born Lula Carson Smith on February 19, 1917, in Columbus, where
she graduated from Columbus High School at 16. Encouraged by her
mother, McCullers began formal piano study at age ten. She was forced
to give up her dream of a career as a concert pianist after rheumatic
fever left her without the stamina for the rigors of practice or
a concert career. While recuperating from this illness, McCullers
began to read voraciously and to consider writing as a vocation.
In September 1937 she married James Reeves McCullers Jr., of Wetumpka,
Ala., whom she met when Reeves was in the army stationed at Fort
Benning. The marriage was simultaneously the most supportive and
destructive relationship in her life. McCullers and Reeves divorced
in 1941, only to reconcile and remarry in 1945.
During a separation from Reeves in 1940, McCullers moved into a
house in Brooklyn Heights owned by George Davis (literary editor
of Harper's Bazaar) and shared with the British poet W. H. Auden.
This house became the center of a bohemian literary and artistic
constellation including Gypsy Rose Lee, Benjamin Britten, Peter
Pears, Richard Wright, and Oliver Smith. Following her father's
sudden death in August 1944, McCullers moved with her mother and
sister to Nyack, N.Y., where Mrs. Smith purchased a house. McCullers
spent most of the rest of her life in this house on the Hudson River.
In addition to the New York Drama Critics Circle and Donaldson
awards for her play The Member of the Wedding, McCullers
also received two Guggenheim fellowships (1942, 1946), an Arts and
Letters Grant from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and
the National Institute of Arts and Letters (1943), and various other
awards and honors. She was inducted into the National Institute
of Arts and Letters in 1952.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Here is one way to
test a person's character
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test
a man's character, give him power."
-- Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of USA.
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