I’ve never been a smoker, so I can’t speak from experience, but from what I’ve seen, quitting cigarettes is hard. I will always remember a conversation about cigarettes with my grandfather. He said, “I haven’t smoked in 30 years. I still get cravings for them. If I knew I was going to die in 6 months, I would start smoking again today…”
Lifeplex in Plymouth sent out a sign up program for a smoking cessation program. It is an 8 week program. The cost is only $40. As an additional carrot, the program included two free months of membership in Lifeplex.
I thought the Lifeplex program was a good one. One I was willing to promote with ECC employees, of which we had four smokers that I knew of. To sweeten the pot, I added the following incentives:
As further evidence that the nation’s construction industry continues to struggle, nonresidential construction spending fell 3.3 percent in January, with outlays decreasing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $572.1 billion, according to the March 1 report by the U.S. Census Bureau. Year over year, total nonresidential construction spending is up only 0.8 percent (unadjusted for inflation).
Both private and public nonresidential construction spending were down for the month. Private nonresidential construction spending fell 5.1 percent on a monthly basis, but is 4 percent higher compared to one year ago. Public nonresidential construction spending declined 1 percent in January and is 2.7 percent lower than January 2012.
“January’s construction spending decline was particularly alarming because the loss in momentum spread deep into privately financed categories,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “In previous months, decreased spending in a number of public spending-oriented sectors like sewage and waste disposal and public safety was roughly counter-balanced by increased spending in intensely private segments, such as power and manufacturing.
“That changed in January, with privately financed segments like power and manufacturing reversing course and experiencing substantial monthly declines in construction spending” said Basu. “The upshot is that nonresidential construction spending is virtually unchanged over the past year.
In 1925, the Indiana General Assembly provided for the designation of December 11 as Indiana Day. By law (Indiana Code 1-1-10) “The governor shall issue a proclamation annually designating the eleventh day of December as Indiana Day” and citizens are urged to celebrate “in appropriate and patriotic observance of the anniversary of the admission of the state of Indiana into the Union.” Reference here.