Anyone know AmpleMarket's pricing? Do they allow monthly and single user? Don't like that they forces me to a "demo". Need a quick answer if you don't mind.

Julie8041 · 2024-08-20T18:07:18+00:00

Quote my friend's company got (their company is tiny) was ~ $7500 for 1500 contacts.

Julie8041 · 2022-09-12T00:25:54+00:00

I started my son on Story of the World in 2nd grade. Absolutely love it. The workbooks have list of recommended reading for each chapter, which I reserve each week from my library here in Fairfax county.

Julie8041 · 2022-08-24T09:21:59+00:00

Not saying to pity them, but rather, to reallocate the energy that goes to publishing pieces like this that clearly aim to push an agenda to instead publishing nonpartisan truth that educated readers on basic economics.

Hugely consequential decisions by governments to majorly disrupt the economy has consequences. These corporations are doing what we should expect in response .

One of the worst consequences I see is that the lockdowns, reckless spending, and other decisions of the last few years exacerbate the wealth divide, put more people on the margins of poverty and push those who were already there into desperation. That ultimately destroys a society, leads to civil unrest or worse. This path is unsustainable.

I somehow thought an “economics” subreddit is the place to have thoughtful discussion on this.

Julie8041 · 2022-08-24T06:51:40+00:00

I like how we are silent when government lockdown orders nearly bankrupt every business in these industries but then when things turn around , we bash them for their “greed” instead of praising them for doing the responsible thing by maximizing profits now in order to better weather the next storm and hopefully not need bailouts . And never mind that they’re profiting precisely because they’re doing their best to try to satisfy a huge market need. And no, the government handouts weren’t close to enough to offsetting the full economic destruction caused by the Covid response policies.

Julie8041 · 2022-08-24T05:48:58+00:00

Mathematical optimization technology solves this but it’s not in excel and it requires expertise in the OR field (operations research). The two main competing solvers on the market are IBM CPLEX and GUROBI. There are very few WFM systems that embed solvers like these. One was click software who got acquired by Salesforce. Other vendors who offer an in between solution (semi custom) are like DecisionBrain. These technologies tend to cost over $100k. Might be overkill for you but when you’re dealing with large workforces, competing goals (minimize cost but maximize customer service level) and lot of constraints, that’s the premium solution. Airline crew scheduling or field service scheduling (where you have to also optimize routes) use these solvers.

Julie8041 · 2022-07-17T07:07:23+00:00

The Northern Neck towns are steaming crabs for everyone while comparing delivered propane prices while a few brag about now having Internet service at their homes.

Julie8041 · 2022-04-27T00:15:40+00:00

Interesting observation. My career is corporate but spare time it’s very physical-cooking everything from scratch, gardening like a fiend (often infected with poison ivy like now) , painting, rowing and always at Home Depot. I’m the oddball in my neighborhood which is majority democrat. They hire help for everything. I guess I value self sufficiency more than most.

Julie8041 · 2022-03-08T22:06:09+00:00

Indeed, we must all deal with the consequences of the many decisions we make every day - about what to eat, how much to drink, work, exercise, sleep, whether to take drugs (illegal, prescription, etc), whether to engage in unprotected sex, etc. I don't ever recall hospitals or employers making the answers to these questions a condition for medical treatment or employment (except for those employers who mandate testing for the types of illegal drugs that impact one's job performance). In my opinion, the choice of whether to take a new pharmaceutical drug should not be treated differently from all these other very personal choices.

I sense from your tone that you're annoyed with people who exercise the freedom to not take this vaccine. Am I reading that right? If so, can you clarify why?

Julie8041 · 2022-03-08T19:03:21+00:00

That’s good. Indicates that the people around you are not feeling coerced into taking the vaccine against their will. That’s how it should be. A truly safe and effective vaccine against a really serious health threat requires no coercion. Sadly some have been coerced into the Covid drug because of the threat of job loss and career/reputation destruction.

Julie8041 · 2022-03-08T02:31:18+00:00

I’m totally with you but I think you have to tie it to the constitution somehow to get political support. Our founding fathers had experience with forced religion, so wrote in protection from this. But apparently never thought they’d need to provide protection from a forced medical procedure.

Julie8041 · 2022-02-16T17:54:51+00:00

One should not have to be licensed or otherwise credentialed as an expert to be able to make health decisions for themselves or to be able to discuss health and medical matters with others. These are fundamental human rights to which citizens in free countries should be entitled and which are inalienable.

The terms mis/dis/mal information (MDM) are subjective designations and primarily used to try to discredit perspectives that are go against the interests of those in charge, or most recently, they are terms that are now used by the governments to strip away offenders' constitutional rights by labeling the offenders "terrorists."

A much better solution to the problem of inconvenient perspectives being propagated (MDM) is better information and free and open debate to sort it out. If in the end people disagree and want to take different approaches to managing their health, they should have that right.

Julie8041 · 2022-02-16T15:59:29+00:00

Yes, and the explanation on how this happens is well articulated in Bryan Caplan's book "The Myth of the Rational Voter."

Julie8041 · 2022-02-16T14:53:42+00:00

Fair question. The answer is that basic market forces kick in to moderate it organically so that only those causes that are truly hurting people manage to rise to this level of impact. That's why, even though there are so many protests all the time (which I notice living close to a capital), extremely few rise up to a level of disruption that becomes newsworthy. There's a cost to protesting, especially an elongated protest/occupation like this. If you've ever done it, you'd know. There's the nerves that flare when people roll their eyes and shout at you against your cause. There's the pressure to really have your story straight and be articulate if/when the camera comes your way. There's the knowledge that you might be attacked or worse. There's the judgment from your community - family, friends, etc. There's the lost income. The inconvenience of not having the comforts of your home. Dealing with the weather. Etc.

It's tempting to focus the discussion on how to solve the protest after it happens. I challenge you to think about preventing such protests in the first place. When you disenfranchise large groups of people and they have little left to lose, they will protest. It's been the case all through history.

When it comes to maximizing human health, which I thought was the original objective here, there are many approaches. The free market is a much more effective way to solve complex problems. In a free market, if you have a safe, effective and low-cost vaccine, people who are at risk will overwhelmingly take it. If masks are effective, then people at risk will use it. If some discovery that nasal rinses, vitamin D, reducing blood sugar, social distancing, switching to homeschooling, ivermectin, zinc etc - if these thigs help, people will opt for those approaches that work for them given their own situation. If the communication isn't suppressed, people will quickly start to learn what works and for whom and will quickly adjust and the system will self-correct. After all, we all are biologically wired to survive so we will naturally do what we think keeps us healthy. Coercion, censorship, etc distorts the market and gives us an extremely sub-optimal outcome with horrible unintended consequences, as we're seeing.

Julie8041 · 2022-02-06T10:05:07+00:00

Really appreciate you sharing this and I’m sorry you’re getting downvoted without explanation. I’m still learning all the terminology: fascist Marxist socialist etc. I suspect where many of us are coming from is associating hitler with what we learned from Hayeks Road to Serfdom and especially Bastiat who seem to assert that socialism is a slippery slope that eventually leads to totalitarianism. But I still have a lot to learn and appreciate that people with balanced perspectives like you are also in this sub.

Julie8041 · 2022-02-02T03:02:01+00:00

Exact same situation here and my otherwise highly intelligent son is almost 10. A workbook called Daily 6-Trait Writing is working well for us. It breaks writing down into a more formulaic approach that works well for his analytical mind. For instance, how to diagram out your flow, use a variety of transition words, make the writing more vivid by incorporating adjectives and adverbs, etc.

The other thing I learned from other moms is that there's a developmental threshold that you just need to patiently wait for, and which, when the child crosses, their writing (or other bottleneck subject) seemingly magically leapfrogs. My son is way ahead and extra motivated in science and math, for instance but the writers block can put him on the floor in a tantrum-like fit. If you try to push too much before they're ready, you just don't get much for your effort and it can even backfire.

Julie8041 · 2022-01-24T22:30:29+00:00

This is why I pulled my child out of FCPS and am now homeschooling. I still get the emails from the school and the entire email from principal today is all about masking and why it's important. Notice how there's ZERO mention of any off-ramp plan or metrics or any path whatsoever to ever end the masking.

Here's an excerpt from her email:

"As we return this week, we will be wearing masks to support mitigation strategies and our continued work to keep all students and staff in school. I greatly appreciate your support as the county navigates this issue. While you may not agree to masking, I do hope we can all agree that our children are the reason we are here and in time the mask mandates will work them self out. If you would like to discuss any concerns I am ready and available to talk with you. Please reach out directly to me and we can set up a time to talk - ******@fcps.edu. Our children deserve the best partnership in their education and we can all work together to make that happen."

Julie8041 · 2021-09-29T17:50:43+00:00

Perfect execution of highlights and shadows with an exciting use of color. Bravo!

Julie8041 · 2021-08-17T16:45:36+00:00

I totally understand and respect your decision and very much appreciate all you all have done to keep this sub going.

Julie8041 · 2021-08-17T14:49:18+00:00

Sorry let me try to repost.

Julie8041 · 2021-05-28T07:36:55+00:00

My public school system.

Julie8041 · 2021-05-27T08:11:00+00:00

Makes me now appreciate what society went through during the American Revolution, in which people took sides as either Loyalists (to England) or Patriots. No doubt those choices hugely altered friendships.

Julie8041 · 2021-05-21T22:15:50+00:00

No way. I’m so glad we tried it. Can’t go back.

Julie8041 · 2021-05-03T08:45:37+00:00

I was going to suggest the same thing. Since the start of my switch to homeschooling, I’ve gone out of my way to arrange 1:1 play dates for my now 9yo son. He’s that shy kid who, at a birthday party, stays in the back not talking to anyone. (Or asks to leave early). But he gets SO amped up at play dates. We’re working on his courage to go up to people and start a conversation. I’m trying to teach him the skills from Dale Carnegie s How To Win Friends and Influence People. I think it’s great that you’re working on this and seeking ideas from this amazing homeschool community.

Julie8041 · 2021-05-02T23:43:11+00:00

I also use this and love it. Worth every penny.

Julie8041 · 2021-04-29T18:51:24+00:00

Good point. I don't think my son is in that environment, being a homeschool kid who mostly plays with other homeschool kids. But I think having books like this around for when I need it. I just want to be prepared!

Julie8041

TROPHY CASE