We had a good response on our YSK segment last week. Here is part 2 segment of the series.
01. If you are being docked 30 minutes at work for a break you never take, you are owed those unpaid wages
Too often, people just roll over and accept things like this. Sometimes employees asked to to sign a waiver acknowledging they must take a break or are relinquishing it with no pay. You should not do this.
02. Keep stray kittens around for at least 2 months before taking them to the shelter as it greatly improves their survival rate
Due to the stress caused by shelters, baby kittens don’t have a strong enough immune system yet to make a healthy start. Litter in your yard can be frustrating, but if you just gave them some time, most strays make it because being outside at that age helps them thrive.
03. The Food Donation Act protects you from US civil & criminal liability for products donated in good faith
Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act – Summary by Feeding America
The actual law – Published by GPO
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Food Waste
Last Week Tonight sited the University of Arkansas’ findings that they could not find a single case of food donation related liability. If the federal law was ever tested or effectively overturned in court, we should know about it by now. For partially eaten leftovers and quickly perishable foods (e.g. restuarants): The only viable anti-waste solution I heard of found for them is to sell it to a pig farm for animal consumption – This is what many Vegas casinos do. Lots of non-profits are willing to pick up food. The additional cost is at or near zero if the employees spend time facilitating unloading of old food that a non-profit picks up instead of time spent throwing it away. Of course refrigerated or prepared food may vary. Companies like grocery stores can already track food depreciation/loss for accounting purposes. Any donated food simply moves to a different column on a balance sheet and becomes tax deductible.
04. Betterexplained.com is a site that explains confusing mathematical ideas in a very intuitive way instead of “it just works”
For example, the article on imaginary numbers is very helpful. In general, the way this is taught on schools is very mechanical and unintuitive. The article explains how it is very similar to negative numbers but nowadays we don’t look at negative numbers as weird but when you think about it, you are subtracting something more than what you have. The same with imaginary numbers. Where does it lie in the cartesian plane? How does a negative have a square root? Read the article and be amazed with the explanation. Link
05. The abbreviation “e.g.” is short for ‘exempli gratia’ and is used to mean “for example.” The abbreviation “i.e.” is short for ‘id est’ and is used to mean “that is to say.”
These abbreviations are commonly misused interchangeably, but they mean different things. Mnemonic devices to help keep them straight:
e.g. = “example given”
i.e. = “in essence”
Additionally, it is grammatically incorrect to end a list after “e.g.” with “etc.” The “e.g.” already indicates a non-exhaustive list, making the “etc.” redundant.
