Blog
2009 Veterans Day
Veterans,
Thank you for your service. May the wind always be at your back and may the sun shine upon your face.
Thank you,
All of us at WorkingGrads.com
The Casino of Bodega donates $100 to WWP
Thank you Greg and Elizabeth, from The Casino in Bodega, CA, for your support to help our injured soldiers recover. Your $100 donation goes directly to the Wounded Warrior Project whose purpose is to:
- Raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women,
- Help severely injured service members aid and assist each other, and
- Provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of severely injured service members.
For those of you reading this blog please stop by The Casino in Bodega, CA to thank Greg and Elizabeth for their donation to help injured soldiers recover. The Casino is not a gambling casino but an old bar with a restaurant. They serve great meals and the company is friendly. Bodega, CA is the town where Alfred Hitchcock filmed The Birds (1963) and Ansel Adams took a striking black and white picture of St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church.
Passed the $1,000 donation mark!
To whom it may concern:
Today a kind man donated $20.00 for the WorkingGrads.com fundraiser to raise money for Wounded Warrior Project. He saw the sticker on my truck and wanted to help. I found out he was a Vietnam Vet and was injured while serving in the Marines in Vietnam. I never heard the guys name but am thankful for his service and his donation to help the soldiers injured from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The total raised and donated to date (8/27/09) is $1,016 which is a long ways from $1 million but in my view it's heading in the right direction. Just like ducks in migration, employees at WorkingGrads.com will go the distance to raise the million in order to help injured soldiers get back on their feet and prothestic feet with a smile!
If you would like to help please leave a comment or send money to the Wounded Warrior Project and let us know how much you donated so we can increase the donation thermometer.
Best Regards,
Andrew F. Ryan
Founder & CEO
Wedding at the Ryan Ranch
Wedding that took place at the Ryan Ranch on July 18, 2009. Watch and enjoy!
If you have any questions contact Walter J. Ryan Jr.
Happy 4th of July
Happy 4th of July. Thank You to all our veterans for your service and sacrifice.
July 4, 2009 Red, White, & Boom
For more information view: www.SantaRosaRedWhiteandBoom.com
June 6, 1944
On this day in 1944, allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=VideoArticle&id=51795
Harvard Business School article about the Economy
What Does Slower Economic Growth Really Mean? By Jim Heskett
God Bless our Troops/Veterans & Thank You
Thank you and God Bless our troops and veterans for their service and sacrifice.
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Marine Lance Cpl. Patick O'Day of Santa Rosa, California. Killed during convoy operations when his tank plunged off a cliff into the Euphrates River. He was assigned to 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Twenty-nine Palms, California. Died on March 25, 2003. Santa Rosa High School class of 2001. |
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SSgt Jesse Williams (1981-2007) . Eagle Scout. Santa Rosa High School Rugby player. Santa Rosa High School class of 2000. |
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Army Ranger Timothy Shea of Sonoma, CA. (1983 - August 25,2005) |
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Mr. Eugene DeSoto (aka Coach) |
Battle of the Bulge and D-Day survivor. Santa Rosa High School English teacher. |
| Dr. AJ Perry | US Navy WWII Veteran |
| Walter J. Ryan Sr. | US Navy WWII Veteran |
| Pat N. | Dan N. |
| Eric J. | Mike K. |
| Jeremy B. | David C. |
Please leave a comment about men and women you know that are serving or have served in the US Military.
Chico Wildflower 100
Thank you to all the supporters of the Road 2 Recovery ride in The 2009 Wildflower.
Trace Adkins & West Point Cadet Glee Club
Trace Adkins sings Till the Last Shot's Fired with the West Point Cadet Glee Club.
Food Bank Tweet Up
Food Bank Tweet Up - Using the power of Facebook for good!
We will be meeting (tweeting in twitter speak!) at the Grocery Outlet to buy food for the Jesus Center.
The Grocery Outlet is located at 2157 Pillbury Rd., Chico, CA 95926 in the North Valley Plaza center.
Everyone in Chico is encouraged to buy a can or two, so invite your friends to stop by. The Grocery Outlet will set aside purchases all day long.
This time the focus is on food for a meal in a box.
Per David Crow of the Jesus Center:
In this food drive we would like to put together a meal in a box. Please feel free to use your imagination. - look at it from your own perspective. What would you eat and or prepare for a meal for your family? Some days you may have a quick easy to fix meal, and other days it may be more elaborate. Simply put we are all the same. We all have pride and dignity and that is what we are trying to accomplish with this food drive. All I ask is that you have fun and enjoy yourself and know what you are doing is very important to our community.
Party Town at 1937 E.20th St
Today Chico Chamber of Commerce hosted Wake Up Now Networking Program at Party Town, a local business with all your party supply needs. Visit Party Town at 1937 E. 20th Street, Chico, CA 95928 or call (530) 345-8696 if you have any questions.
Battle of the Brews March 27, 2009
Santa Rosa Active 20-30 Club presents the 13th Annual Battle of the Brews! The money raised will go to "at risk" youth in Sonoma County. In 2008 the Battle raised OVER $50,000 FOR YOUTH!!! View the following link for more information: Battle of the Brews
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Over 150 Twitter Followers
Check out who's following WorkingGrads on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/WorkingGrads
Good reason to launch a start up.
California Business Ascent
Why Now?
History shows that when incumbents can't innovate, entrepreneurs do. The incumbents then try to legislate or litigate.
-- Shel Israel, via twitter
We've been hearing -- and repeating -- that one of the best times to start up a new venture is during a downturn. This isn't just whistling past the graveyard, or simply wishful thinking. As has been previously pointed out, some of the best companies were started in times of profound disequilibrium.
During the boom times, there's a lot more noise and crosstalk in the marketplace, as more and more frankly marginal ideas get funding and perhaps even some traction. At the Start conference last August, David Hornik noted that "when guys are leaving McKinsey to start companies, you know things have gotten crazy." One of the strategic advantages of launching during a period of economic upheaval is that there are fewer other entrepreneurs battling for scarce capital, media attention, and early adopters.
But it's also true that large companies who might attempt to disrupt competitive initiatives with their market power and political influence have enough problems of their own without diverting their resources to stamping out upstarts. The cat's away.
Posted by GCN Staff on January 27th, 2009 at 2:06 PM
Source: http://goldencapitalnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-now.html
Chico State of the City
Chico "State of the City" will be hosted today at:
Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center at 685 Manznita Court, Chico. 7:00 - 9:00a.m.
What is System Dynamics?
System dynamics is a methodology for studying and managing complex feedback systems, such as one finds in business and other social systems. In fact it has been used to address practically every sort of feedback system. While the word system has been applied to all sorts of situations, feedback is the differentiating descriptor here. Feedback refers to the situation of X affecting Y and Y in turn affecting X perhaps through a chain of causes and effects. One cannot study the link between X and Y and, independently, the link between Y and X and predict how the system will behave. Only the study of the whole system as a feedback system will lead to correct results.
The methodology:
- identifies a problem,
- develops a dynamic hypothesis explaining the cause of the problem,
- builds a computer simulation model of the system at the root of the problem,
- tests the model to be certain that it reproduces the behavior seen in the real world,
- devises and tests in the model alternative policies that alleviate the problem, and
- implements this solution.
Rarely is one able to proceed through these steps without reviewing and refining an earlier step. For instance, the first problem identified may be only a symptom of a still greater problem.
The field developed initially from the work of Jay W. Forrester. His seminal book Industrial Dynamics (Forrester 1961) is still a significant statement of philosophy and methodology in the field. Since its publication, the span of applications has grown extensively and now encompasses work in
- corporate planning and policy design
- public management and policy
- biological and medical modeling
- energy and the environment
- theory development in the natural and social sciences
- dynamic decision making
- complex nonlinear dynamics
Source: System Dynamics Society (www.systemdynamics.org)
2008 End of Year Poem
1st Book Recommendation
In the book The Age of Turbulence, Alan Greenspan conveys the education of a lifetime. He reveals the universals of economic growth, delves into the specific facts on the ground in each of the major countries and regions of the world, and much more.
Latest Numbers
Here are the latest numbers provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Consumer Price Index (CPI): - 1.7% in Nov 2008
- Unemployment Rate: 6.7% in Nov 2008
- Payroll Employment -533,000(p) in Nov 2008
- Average Hourly Earnings: +$0.07(p) in Nov 2008
- Producer Price Index (PPI): -2.2%(p) in Nov 2008
- Employment Cost Index (ECI): +0.7% in 3rd Qtr of 2008
- U.S. Import Price Index: -6.7% in Nov 2008
p - preliminary
Thank You Z MAN MACHINING
I wanted to thank Ken Zetterquist, the owner of Z MAN MACHINING, for contributing $100 to ChicoGraduate.com's goal to raise $1 million for the Wounded Warrior Project. Last night Ken came into Woody's Bar & Grill and handed me his card and $100 cash to help the injured soldiers. I was shocked because I just met Ken a month ago and I've only told him about ChicoGraduate.com once or twice. Although I was shocked I was thankful and I bet the injured soldiers will be too. 100% will be sent this month to the Wounded Warrior Project to help the injured soldiers.
Z Man MACHININGZ MAN MACHINING
(Harley Engine Work: Pan-Shovel-Evo)
2117 Fair St.
Chico, CA 95928
Phone: (530) 891-1374
Fax: (530) 891-6208
Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride
A video created by the Wounded Warrior Project
Remember Pearl Harbor: Dec. 7, 1941
On behalf of ChicoGraduate.com, I would like to thank the men and women that served during World War II. Pearl Harbor is a day we should never forget. May such a day and war never be repeated.
Sincerely,
Andrew
ChicoGraduate.com now Twitter's/Twhirl's
ChicoGraduate.com is now Twittering/Twirling with the username "ChicoGraduate." I'll continue full blogs and news on ChicoGraduate.com since Twitter only gives brief updates.The link to the page is: http://www.twitter.com/chicograduate
Have a good day,
Andrew
Construction Spending Data
Total construction activity 2008 ($1,072.6 billion) was 1.2 percent below the revised September 2008 ($1,085.7 billion).
For more information go to: http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/briefroom/BriefRm
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
November 2008 ISM Report Released
Today the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released the November 2008 Manufacturing ISM Report on Business®.
| Purchasing Managers' Index |
36.2% |
Typically when the PMI is above expectations stock and bond prices decrease while inflation and interest rates increase. When the PMI is below expectations stock and bond prices increase while inflation and interest rates decrease.
The latest economic activity in the manufacturing sector failed to grow in November for the fourth consecutive month.
For more details on the ISM Report on Buisness® go to the ISM website at: http://www.ism.ws/ISMReport/MfgROB.cfm?navItemNumber=12942
Source: ISM Report on Buisness®
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today's a day to give thanks for something small or large. I hope you have a joyful day with your family, friends, and/or pets.
Today on my family's dinner menu we're having:
- Turkey w/gravy
- Grandma's salad w/crab from Spuds Point in Bodega Bay
- Jello (family recipe!)
- Mash potatoes
- Yams w/marshmellows on top
- String Beans
- Carrots
- Turkey Dressing
- Cranberry sauce
- Pumpkin Pies
- Mincemeat Pie
- And more!
My top three choices include:
- String beans
- Grandma's salad
- Turkey & gravy combo
Actually it's all good. What are you having for Thanksgiving? And what's your favorite course? How many people will you be celebrating Thanksgiving with this evening? We're having 9 at my parents house.
Once again happy Thanksgiving, have a good day and safe travels. That's all folks!
-Andrew
P.S.
Don't forget to stock up on extra groceries. Stores offer some great deals during the holidays!
New Company of the Day
As of November 14, 2008 a new company will be linked to the "Company of the Day" link on the homepage. The link will change every day or every two days. This will help advertise the businesses in the ChicoGraduate.com directory. Our goal is to raise $1 million for severely injured soldiers and advertise YOUR business.
Have a nice day,
Andrew
Thank You Veterans
Dear American Veterans,
On this day 90 years ago the shooting ceased and "the Great War," also known as World War I, had come to an end. Since then wars and battles have continued and American soldiers have continued to serve and sacrifice their lives to protect our country. Thank you for your service and protecting our freedoms.
Sincerely,
ChicoGraduate.com Administration
Jobs Posting Example
Hello friends and fellow business associates,
Check out the example job posting under "Jobs." It's a very basic example to give you an idea of what your job posting will look like. Post a job when seeking future employees and bidding out construction jobs big and small. If you have any questions click on contact us or call 530-809-0684.
Heart of Gold
562 Manzanita Ave.
Chico, CA 95926
Must See: Commanding Heights
Commanding Heights is a must see video. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/hi/story/index.html
Freedom to Choose and a Pencil
Lesson of the day: Free to Choose - vol 01, 1980 presented by Milton Friedman.
Time management & Folding t-shirts
To my amazement this worked on my first try! Now you can fold your shirts quickly and work on more important issues like painting your house or balancing your checkbook.
Buying Stocks without Risk
A video is shares with you how to use Google Finance. It's not a video on what company you should buy or sell. Google finance is a useful tool to use and research companies.
Baseball, Football, and Older Workers
Sports
College football game: California v. Arizona starts at 7 p.m. pst.
Must see 2008 MLB Playoff game: Boston v. Tampa starts at 5 p.m. pst.
Suggested Reading
Bureau of Labor Statistics July 2008 publication about Older Workers
Here’s the link: http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2008/older_workers/
Saving Money #1
Benjamin Franklin once said, "a penny saved is a penny earned." This applies to businesses, individuals and government agencies. Start by saving a percentage from every paycheck. Also try to find a large jar and start saving $1 a day, think of it like a piggy bank but with more value. The challenge with leaving the money in the jar involves siphoning money out before the year is over. At the end of the year count how much you have and hopefully you'll have $365. Put at least 75% of it in an account that gains interest and use the other 25% on a treat or donate it to the Wounded Warrior Project. If $1 is too small then up the ante and try $10 or $100 a day!
Round up & Pizza
It’s Monday again and everyone is either happy or not enthused to go to work. Either way I hope it’s a good Monday for you all. Today’s blog reflects my weekend at my dad and mom’s ranch. It all started when I left Chico at 11:00 a.m. on Friday and returned for a presentation to Alpha Phi (thanks for the pizza), at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday.
The following is a timeline of my weekend.
10/3/08
• Left Chico at 11:00 a.m. for the family Fall round up. Dad got all the cows in by himself to the upper hill pen but needed help bringing them down to the lower pen. I arrived at 3:15 p.m. and we started right away. After being dropped off at the upper hill pen with Molly and Bo (dad’s ranch dogs) we waited 5 minutes for dad to open the gates down the hill and then we brought the final group of cows and calves down the hill. Unfortunately one cow was a professional escape artist and she escaped through a patch job in the fence. Actually the cow was not an escape artist but a quality control administrator that likes to test whether the fences are good or bad. Except the one escapee we were able to get the rest of the cows and calves into the lower pen.
• 6:00 pm ate a delicious meal fixed by my mom.
• Later mom and I went to the phone store to get cell phone plane updated and get a new phone.
10/4/08
• Got up at 6:00 a.m.
• Arrived at the ranch at 7:00 a.m. and it was raining.
• Dad, myself and a family friend separated the cows from the calves. Not to mention a little help from Molly. Bo supervised on the side. Bo is considered a pet while Molly, a Blue Healer, is considered a working dog and she's pretty good. She’s still young and hasn’t perfected her skills but I have to admit it’s quite a site to see her work. She was wired with adrenaline from the moment we started to the moment we ended.
• Our vet showed up at 8:50 a.m. and we were ready to preg-test the cows. It took 1.5 hours because of some chute malfunctions and we had a lot of cows.
• Once we were done with the cows we broke for lunch. Mom cooked up some cheeseburgers and they were delicious.
• After lunch we went back to work caring for the calves. This took 1-2 hours since we had more chute malfunctions and other tasks.
• Once we were all done we separated some of the cows and then we fed all the animals.
• For dinner we had another delicious meal, this time the main course was meat loaf.
• After dinner dad went to bed. Mom and I decided to watch the movie John Adams with Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. What a GREAT movie. I suggest everyone rent or buy this movie and watch it. Especially during this time of year with the presidential election around the corner.
• Finally went to bed around 10:00 p.m.
10/5/08
• Got up at 6:00 a.m. and spent an hour looking for my wallet that was knocked into a crack between the washer and hot water heater. The story of how it got there is too long and no big deal.
• When I arrived at the ranch chaos had begun. The cows and bull were OUT, not good at all! Somebody, maybe me, left a gate open and half the heard found the hole. Luckily after some quick actions we were able to get most of the lost heard back. After some more separating we finally loaded some cows in the trailer to haul to the auction.
• I followed Dad most of the way as he drove to the auction and then separated to go help my Grandma with some yard work. At her house I probably ate more then worked. She fixed up some good BLT’s.
• After working at Grandma's house, I packed up my stuff, said bye to my mom and started back to Chico. On my way back I stopped by a cousin’s house and he gave me some tomatoes!
• Luckily I made it back in time for a presentation to Alpha Phi.
It’s now Monday, October 6, 2008 and it’s time to return to the website. Stay tuned and have a good week.
Like Porky Pig said from Looney Tunes, “That’s all folks!”
-Andrew
The New Site is OPEN!
Welcome everyone to my first live blog. I'm Andrew F. Ryan, the owner of ChicoGraduate.com. Please look around the website and let me know what you think. Your support and suggestions will greatly be appreciated. Also, direct your attention to the Business Directory to see if there's a business that may be of service to you.
Personal Blog
Yesterday evening, around 2:40 p.m., I received a phone call from Jeff at Chico Web Design saying my website was ready to go live! I was excited and called my parents right away to tell them the news. After some meetings, some editing, and learning how the site works I was able to post ChicoGraduate.com live by 10:00 p.m., and continued to work on it until 3:55 a.m. so I could make it presentable to my BNI group on Thursday mornings. I set my alarm for to 5 a.m. thinking I would wake up and actually get up by 6:30 a.m. but unfortunately I woke up at 7:20 a.m. which meant I was late for my BNI meeting. Although it was extremely late for the meeting, I decided to go and share the news with my fellow members. I was glad to share the news with some of the members but I was not glad I was late. I hate being late and try to follow the golden rule my dad taught me, "if your early your on time and if you're on time your late."
Zzzz
It's currently 4:08 a.m. on October 1, 2008. After some hours trying this out and simplifying the directory I think it's coming together. I still need to fill the following menues: Advertise, Making History, and Terms of Service...there is probably more. Time to get some sleep but need to get this done...we'll see.
-AFR
History of the Internet
100 Miler Chico Bike ride
Sunday - April 27, 2008
Chico Velo Wildflower Century
WOW, what a bike ride. Going down hill was much better than going up Honey Run or Table Mountain, two brutal climbs. Like Henry Ford said, "Before everything else, getting ready is the secret to success."This quote applies to business and non-business applications. After the 100 miles my body was telling me that I should have prepared a lot more. Although I could hardly feel my legs, I still had fun and believed it was worth doing. Hundreds of bikers rode 100 miles, 60 miles, or 30 miles. My friends Kyle and Nicola also conquered the 100 miler!
- AFR
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