« Older Entries

Gambling: They call it Lady Luck

Thanks to the Lotto and scratch cards and online casinos, more women than ever before are developing a gambling problem.

According to government figures, 60% of adults in the UK spend up to £50 per month gambling at the betting shop or on Lotto. As the result of changes coming shortly, the amount spent in this country per year is expected to go up from the current £42 billion to £60 billion.

30 million people regularly buy UK Lotto tickets in the second largest of the 192 lotteries across the world. And despite official figures telling us that a mere 1% of these have developed out of control gambling habits, Gamblers Anonymous are finding that they’ve had an increase of 17% in calls for help. GamCare has also seen an increase in requests for their counseling service.

Women have always dominated the Bingo scene, where they outnumber men, 70% to 30%. The average age is under 50 and the average spend for a night (including food and drinks) is £20.

Women tend not to visit casinos and betting shops, and favour on-line gambling instead where they have the perception of its being safer, less intimidating, more fun, more tempting and where they can remain anonymous.

As they are seduced by the escapism of on-line shopping, developing an internet gambling addiction, as they are encouraged by the on-line sites to create alternative realities: a different identity; and play along with the fantasy that it’s not real money they’re playing with.

There are something like 1700 gambling websites, including casinos, bingo halls, lotteries. Something to meet everyone’s tastes. And of course, they’re open 24 hours a day.

As says Lysette Offley of Sounds Positive in Henley on Thames, where hypnotherapy for gambling addiction is used: We’re fast approaching a time when the number of people in the UK with broadband access to the internet will overtake those still on dial-up, so access and availability to on-line gambling is increasing. Not surprisingly, problems are expected to increase.”

So what can a person do about it if they feel their habit’s getting out of control?

“Get help now. Don’t let it go on and on,” says Lysette. “There is plenty of professional help available and many ways to stop gambling. I see people regularly who are able to turn their lives around and with just a little help learn how to stop gambling. And of course there are self-help products too which can help enormously. Why would you play the victim of your habit when you really can do something about it?”

Sounds Positive specialises in fully downloadable self-help hypnotherapy products, incorporating other psychology techniques such as NLP and EFT. Stop Gambling is available from their website.

Insurance Agent Vs Insurance Company: Which Is Right For Your Business?

When it comes to buying insurance, the first step is to figure out whether you want to purchase through an insurance agent or direct from a company. While the two may seem one-and-the-same, the differences between the two can majorly impact your trucking business. This article aims to help you decide which option will work best for you and your trucking company.Coverage.When you choose to buy trucking insurance direct from a company, you are also choosing to buy one of the standard insurance packages. These packages were designed with a “one size fits all” mentality, so you might have to buy a package with coverage you don’t need in order to receive coverage you do need.Contrary to popular belief, insurance agents do not have the ability to negotiate a policy rate. However, the agent will be able to provide you a list of options at different price points. By being independent, agents also have access to other carrier policies and are able to tailor the policy to best suit your needs. Additionally, the agents may reach out to insurance companies most people have never even heard of, or don’t know provide commercial trucking insurance, which allows them to find even more coverage options for the insured (you) to review.Pricing.As mentioned previously, when you choose to buy a standard insurance package direct from an insurance company, there’s a chance you’re overpaying. Since the package is not tailored to your needs, there may be coverages within it that you don’t necessarily want or need. Additionally, when it comes time for renewal these agencies will only show you rates from their employer since it’s their job to keep you insured with that company.Agents own their own business, thus must generate income by charging the insured for the service provided. However, even with the additional fee, going through an agent usually results in a cheaper premium-sometimes up to 25%-due to their ability to price shop. Furthermore, when it comes to renewal, independent agents are able to reevaluate your premium based on new rates from multiple insurance companies. Therefore, the chance for cost savings increases.Experience.One of the biggest differences between buying direct and buying through an agent is the experience. On one hand, when you call an insurance company to talk to someone about your coverage, odds are you’re going to get transferred to someone in a call center. Yes, you will be speaking with an individual who has passed the same exams as personal agents, and therefore can address all of your needs. However, the biggest difference is that the next time you call you most likely will not be speaking to the same individual you spoke to previously.On the other hand, working with an agent allows you to form a personal relationship since you know that when you call you’ll be talking to either the agent or someone on their small team. These individuals will be familiar with your policy, instead of simply reading general information off a database. More importantly, insurance agents will be there to advocate for you during a claim.Time.We’ve all seen the commercials guaranteeing an insurance quote in 15 minutes or less, so for some it seems logical to go online and purchase insurance. If you are shopping for your best price though, it means you are spending 15 minutes on EACH insurance companies’ websites. Not only is this time consuming, but it results in multiple companies gaining your personal information (phone number, email address, etc.).When you work with an independent insurance agent, the agent does the searching for you. So while it may take some time, it’s the agent who puts time into reaching out to all the insurance companies, not you. Agents also realize time plays a significant role in a trucker’s career, which is why they’re oftentimes quicker when it comes to certificate processing and binding.When you’re shopping for trucking insurance, maybe you don’t necessarily care what’s in the package as long as you’re covered. In that case, shopping direct from an insurance company may work for you. However, if you want more insight into your policy and a more personalized experience, then finding an agent to create your optimal insurance coverage plan is your best option.

Tags:

Vocational Educational Training Enhances Skills And Knowledge

Vocational educational training has earned increased renaissance of enthusiasm in today’s world of high demand for skilled workers for businesses. Vocational education in details is an exceptionally various and featured topic which involves analysis from a wide range of references and sources to several specified topics on training, occupational programs and career paths. You will find numerous sources online that may help in offering detailed data about such educational training. Due to the desperate need rising on a large scale amongst company houses for skilled workers, nowadays, all over the world people believe that trading schools are rebuilding their stable foundation.There are numerous high school and graduated students who are tempted to learn new things and become chefs, computer science expert, mechanics, graphic artists, nurses, technical engineers and a lot more. The present generation of students enters the labor force for getting vocational training with a degree on hand but mostly lack the technical skills that are needed to stay one step ahead of other people without having any kind of on the job training. Those who are extremely educated in their own field of expertise may have obtained immense good quality education from courses and books but many of them have not even received a chance to work for the job which they had learned in a work environment. Such a batch of highly educated employees are often of no use to the companies out of the gate since they may be highly talented with long term promises but aren’t able to offer all that is wanted by the companies.It’s because of this reason that nowadays, companies’ hire new employees who’ve successfully completed their vocational educational training and learned how to apply the newly observed knowledge on the job. In this way the companies can now realize their gains significantly quickly. It’s also seen in this matter that not many business houses wish to adopt this strategy since it may involve a set back for several months or even years before they are able to realize some return on their investments.The vocational educators are specialized to teach both generic and specialized skills by employing various strategies and tactics. The business demands are also rising to employ the highly specialized workforce with the help of technical and profession educators. The expertise that are taught through vocational training can not be observed from any traditional books or learning and instruction methods.The vocational educational training has basically started focusing much more on training for employability in opposition with the typical bookish knowledge based degree or education. With the boost in such demands, students are today not merely obtaining the normal bookish knowledge but are also grabbing the opportunities of the best way to apply that gained expertise in the workplace together with how to interact and stay productive on the job and get trained within the working environment. Within the current scenario, more and more vocational schools and colleges or universities have started adopting such methods of expanded vocational education and training programs to ensure that every person can take the advantage and win in life.

Tags: