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wiatrakDuring the summer electricity rates tend to skyrocket, but saving money shouldn't be as difficult.

Joey Estrada, with Lochridge Priest, shares some tips on what you should do before the temperatures get too high.

“Have a technician come out, check the refrigerate levels, check your system to make sure it’s running. Make sure your fan motor is running the way it should be,” Estrada says.

Estrada says you want to have a technician come in to take a look at your A/C unit to make sure everything is operating the right way.

“First thing you want to check [is] the filter. Make sure you’re keeping a clean filter. That helps the airflow get through as best as possible,” says Estrada.

pexels kammeran gonzalezkeola 7925938The U.S. Department of Energy has committed $27 million in funding to for research of wave technology to be transformed into electricity. The main goal is to make it commercially viable.

The DOE on July 7 said the money supports the Biden administration’s efforts “to build a clean energy economy,” along with the president’s target of net-zero carbon emissions from the power sector by 2050.

okGrid operators called for decreased electricity usage as several power grids went offline due to rising heat in Texas

According to the current grid conditions on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas website, Texans no longer need to cut back on their electricity use to avoid stressing the electrical grid.

After a week, consumers may return to normal usage of electricity that stressed the grid — and Texans’ anxieties. The ERCOT website said: “There is enough power for current demand,” and an ERCOT spokesperson confirmed the power conservation notice expired at 7 p.m. Friday.

openJob recruiters reported a shockingly high number of open jobs, starkly contrasting the desperate times we are in as we recover from the pandemic.

Yet total job gains increased only modestly, according to a Labor Department report issued Tuesday. The figures follow an April jobs report last week that was far weaker than expected, largely because companies appear unable to find the workers they need, even with the unemployment rate elevated at 6.1%.

Job openings rose nearly 8%, to 8.1 million in March, the most on records dating back to December 2000, the government said. Yet overall hiring that month rose less than 4% to 6 million. The hiring number is a gross figure, while the government's jobs report — which said 770,000 jobs were added in March — uses a net total. Tuesday's report is known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS.

zambiThe Biden Administration had a dream to make America fully green. In the process, they found out that making this reality was much more difficult than last thought. They now have to find a plan, and stick with it, to make America electric.

Emissions reduction, decarbonization of the U.S. power grid by 2035, and increased electrification in the transportation and building sectors will require an enormous amount of investment from the industry as well as government support.

saving MMany states are experiencing record heat waves, which means that Air Conditioners will be running at full throttle. During the summer months most Americans see an uptick in their electricity bills, and now add that people will be cooped up even longer in their homes due to the pandemic.

The typical household spends roughly $2,000 annually on energy bills, an Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson told TODAY. The EPA added that air conditioning is the likely culprit for energy bill increases in the summer months. Nearly half of a given home’s total energy bill is dedicated to heating and cooling systems.

It is projected that homeowners could see monthly energy bills rise by 10% based on data collected from renewable energy company Arcadia for those living in cities. Data was collected from energy use by 10,000 customer households across 13 major U.S. cities during March and April.

If you're looking to keep electricity bills down as temperatures soar, try these short- and long-term recommendations from the EPA and other sources.

lightbulbTemperatures are rising! In order to protect yourself from rising electricity prices, follow these easy tips to help keep you and your wallet cool.

1. FAN YOURSELF

Buying stand, box or ceiling fans is a small investment that can reduce your energy costs. Using fans to help cool your home means you can raise the thermostat setting by 4 degrees without reducing your comfort level. Just remember to turn off the fans when you’re not in the room. They aren’t intended to cool the space — just the people in the space, via the wind, chill effect.

pexels karolina grabowska 4968651Small business owners were on edge when the administration forced Government contractors to pay $15. Congress is now thinking of raising the wage again, which could change everything.

There is a popular mandate for a $15 federal minimum wage. Nearly two-thirds of Americans support the wage increase, include 40% who “strongly” back the proposal. In Florida, voters passed an amendment last November to raise the minimum wage, now $8.56, to $15 in 2026; it moves to $10 in September.

AAThe loss of money on Monday could have been even worse, but it could have been worse. But, investors are looking to see how American and other airlines recover.

United executives have said recently that bookings are rising ahead of the peak summer vacation season, and they expect that trend to grow stronger as more Americans get vaccinated against COVID-19. The airline predicted that a number of financial measures will improve from the first quarter into the second.

snow1A sudden drop in temperature that was almost a week-long shut down individual units and occasionally entire plants at 25 refineries in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Tennessee.

Six million barrels per day (bpd) of national refining capacity was out of production before refineries in Beaumont, Corpus Christi, and Port Arthur, Texas, began restarting on Feb. 22.

By comparison, Hurricane Harvey idled a fifth of national refining capacity at the end of August 2017.

dogJust like many of you, I have been working by myself for a while now. Loneliness has been something bothering me ever since and Here are a few tips you can use to make yourself happier.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who sometimes misses their old job purely from a human contact perspective. Office banter, chatting about weekend plans, or simply having another person to bounce ideas off are all things I yearn for now and then.

Loneliness isn’t a hot topic of conversation amongst remote workers. It’s somewhat stigmatized and aligned with weakness in the same way that depression and anxiety are. But it’s okay to feel that way; we all do from time to time.

So how can you cope with working alone? In this post, I’ll highlight some simple but effective methods to help you banish the isolation blues.

CryptocurrencyIf you haven't recognized the future of cryptocurrency, you’re not alone. Approximately only 15% of Americans currently own a kind of digital currency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum. A large percentage of the people who have bought the currency have acquired it over the past two years. Regardless of your ability to invest, it’s likely that digital currency will impact you soon.

Mainstream Institutional Adoption Is Already Here

The writing started to be on the wall, perhaps when MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor first publicly endorsed Bitcoin. As a publicly-traded company dating back to 1989 and known for having lots of capital in excess reserves, Saylor coming out and publicly ringing the alarm of crypto and even calling it "superior to cash" indeed raised some eyebrows among institutions and created a snowball effect. 

goldEvery single one of us has a bad habit. If you struggle with one of the following habits and can quit, you’ll see that being a millionaire is not far away.

As for me and many other people, these 20 habits are what kept me from being a millionaire.

1. Sleep when you shouldn't

If you wake up until noon and work 12 or more hours per day to make up for a late start. Here's the thing. I understand perfectly because I struggled with it for years. We are not all active people in the morning. Me, I still stay in bed on cool, rainy mornings.

Successful people are known to wake up early, usually before everyone else at home, so they can get started early on to get work started, catch up on the news, answer emails, and exercise without sacrificing time. they spend with their family.

stay positiveYou might think you have your life in full control. You make sure your responsibilities are always fulfilled, and you’re happy. Everything's good than good, right?

Hold your horses.

There are lots of things that are dragging you down that you don’t even know about.

Here are 5 things that can be affecting you (and how to fix them):

Think outside the boxEvery day we have people who constantly tell us an inspirational thing, but because we are humans, we let negative energy get to us as much as positive energy does. But, what emotions and perspectives we put in our minds affect our behavior. Don’t you agree?

From the moment you wake up to the minute you’re in your bed, a lot many things happen to you. If not from external sources, numerous things are running in your mind. You never realize you’re designing your mindset by envisioning things & with the thought processes that follow. For some, the glass is half full, while others take it as half-empty. It’s all about your vision after all.

We’re here with a mindful read that will help you discover the power of positive thinking & how practicing the same will bring lasting bliss to your life.

Take the First Step to Positive Thinking by reducing Negative Self-Thoughts

studentsBusiness Ideas For Students

It’s believed that some of the most successful innovators in the world start in college. Look at Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin. Whether you’re running low on cash, or you need money to pay tuition, you could earn an income and start building a business empire at the same time. Whether it’s running errands for others or tutoring, here’s a list of a few businesses that are ideally suited to people in college:

seoThe website you make is the best tool you have in your arsenal. If you just follow these 5 easy steps, you can make a beautiful website that engages visitors and makes them excited to work with you.

1. Pick a Domain Name

A domain is the unique name of your website.

You can choose any name you want, but it’s best to have one that matches your business or professional name. Not only does this keep your branding consistent, but it can also significantly impact how you appear in search engine results. A good domain name may help you place higher in rankings, which can increase the number of people who click to access your site.

flagI believe that CEOs should not be vocal on political issues. I think it is wrong for executives to take a position, for the whole business, on public-policy questions that don’t directly affect them.

First, while these CEOs have the right to their own opinions, they can never speak merely as individuals; they always speak for and represent the companies they head. As CEOs they have the right, and perhaps the obligation, to speak out on matters affecting their organizations, but unless they have asked their boards for approval before speaking, they don’t have that right on unrelated matters.

yes noIf you have started a new business and are looking for it to grow and become a multi-million dollar brand, you have to follow some bits of advice. Here are 4 tips to keep your business from falling.

1. Too Much Overhead

This is the number one mistake entrepreneurs make when starting out. You buy too much. I know that you want the best brand-name furniture and the top designs, the best systems, the best tools, etc. However, we must crawl before we walk. You should be focused on surviving your first year in business.

kidsAre you kids looking to make some more money? Have they been begging you for an allowance? Give them a job! Here are a few job ideas for your kids to consider.

Business Ideas For Kids

Entrepreneurship can start early. There are plenty of opportunities for kids to start their very own businesses at a young age. In some cases, they might need adult help or supervision, but here are some different ideas that might appeal to younger entrepreneurs:

maskThe number of people with major cases of the Coronavirus in Texas is still declining, even with officials who reported over 1,600 cases on Sunday.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 21 new fatalities from COVID-19 Sunday along with 1,465 confirmed cases of the virus and 219 probable cases.

South Padre IslandThe community of Boca Chica Village was once a place for retired people and outdoorsy people who enjoyed living outside, exploring nature, and doing whatever they can outside

Today, traffic backs up the lone highway out of the unincorporated area that's now home to only about half a dozen residents — and SpaceX's Starship facility. During the day, selfie-seeking tourists line the road for photos with the stainless steel spaceship under development. At night, excavators plow the earth at the busy construction site. Before test launches, residents receive a notice suggesting they temporarily evacuate for safety.

Social MediaAs we have seen in the past couple of months, “cancel culture” is real: what started as a single negative comment from one person on the internet can turn into a full-frontal attack on you personally and your business. If you ignore negative comments, then you can potentially make the point that you can’t deal with it anymore.

The beauty of social media is that it’s a two-way dialogue, unlike TV and print ads. Remember, these media platforms are live, 24/7. A simple blurb posted at 3 a.m. about your company, your level of customer service (or lack thereof), your products, your political or community activities could, in an instant, trigger a consumer boycott.

mlotekTalent is that natural ability some have in something. Talent is futile unless you work on it. Just because you have talent doesn’t mean that you can be the #1 on the team if you don’t do anything.

“Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”

pexels pixabay 210607Tencent  Stocks plummet for the 2nd day in a row, causing a loss of 62 Billion dollars. One business says this can destroy the value of their financial business.

The stock fell more than 4% in Hong Kong on Monday, following a 4.4.% drop on Friday. China’s top financial regulators see Tencent as the next target for increased supervision after the clampdown on Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co., people with knowledge of their thinking have said. Like Ant, Tencent will probably be required to establish a financial holding company to include its banking, insurance, and payments services, according to one of the people.

pexels alesia kozik 6772024Tesla makes $1 Billion dollars as BitCoin hit $60000 dollars. Looks like their bet on the Crypto world is working.

Tesla made a $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin. At the time Tesla purchased their Bitcoin, it was worth $33,000.

At $60,000, Tesla is up roughly $1.2 billion on its trade. That’s almost a new factory that could produce hundreds of thousands of Tesla vehicles a year.

IMG 9263503Here are a couple of simple steps you can use to help you take your weaknesses and make them strengths:

pexels harrison haines 2869635U.S. gasoline demand goes back to normal levels as people go back to the road during the economic recovery caused by COVID 19.

Demand Is nearing the normal levels for March. The demand on  Thursday was 17.5% higher than the Thursdays from the past month

“It’s been an impressive rebound in the last few weeks of demand and I continue to be surprised every day,” noted Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

pexels andrea piacquadio 3855619Earning money online has never been as easy as it is now.

The growing world of online has opened up some unusual but real opportunities to make money from the comfort of your home. And do not worry, you don’t need special skills or qualifications before you say get set go.

schoolThanks to schools closing across the country, millions of kids are missing from their classrooms. Kids are developing mental issues, yet Congress is letting teacher Unions Manipulate them into giving them more money, and they're using the kids as hostages.

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