Caroline's Corner

As some of you may have heard, my baby sister, Cindy, had a baby, Ellie Marie, 7 lbs. 12 oz., in the wee hours of the morning on July 2^nd.  The baby is TERRIFIC; and my whole family is enjoying the wonder of unconditional love. 

It never ceases to amaze me how the magic of a child can melt a heart with a smile or a coo.  Daily, Ellie reminds us of what is truly important in life – the moments. 

On a business note, this fall Caroline & Company will have been in business 21 years.  That’s 7,665 days of wonderful moments working with the great folks of Columbia.  Thank you!  We always enjoy helping you with your staffing needs.

 Hope to stay in touch,

What's New at Caroline and Company

Why not check out the NEW Employee Information section of our website. You’ll find excerpts from our handbook, want ads, and frequent questions and answers – all from a potential employee’s perspective.

If you’re a fan of WB5’s 7^th Heaven, Reba, Will & Grace, The King of Queens and more, be sure and watch for business people you know in our TV commercials.

Work Absences Due to Illness

Not sure how employee sick days directly effect your company revenues?  We've gathered some links to give you an idea of how the fall and winter season can impact your business.

	Get Statistics on Exactly How Employee Absences Impact Payroll Costs
	Ideas and Suggestions for Reducing Illness-Related Work Absences
	US Department of Labor Employee Absence Impact Reports

Weird Health Trivia

	Of all unscheduled work absences, 32% are due to personal illness.
	Flu typically affects 20 to 50 percent of the U.S. population each fall and winter.
	The average person will miss three days of work if they get the flu.
	Lost productivity due to the flue cost our economy around $15 billion a year.
	Americans endure about 1 billion colds each year.
	There are more than 200 different common cold viruses.
	Cough and cold medication sales totaled 3.2 billion dollars in 1995.
	Americans consume 42 tons of aspirin per day.

Fighting Germs in the Workplace

 

During the fall and winter months, employee illness can be a significant impediment to overall work productivity, company profits and negatively affect your business's bottom line. Take steps to minimize the impact in your corporate environment by reading our suggested links designed to help you through this year's illness season. HealthSmart's Excellent Suggestions for Limiting the Spread of Germ Exposure Between Employees Increased Benefits of Handwashing at Work Benefits of Minimizing Germ Exposure

Cold and Flu Information

Colds and Flu: Time Only Sure Cure Protect Against Winter Illnesses Cold and Flu Protocol My Pharmacy Cold and Flu Information

 Reflective Corner

Socks For Kids

This Holiday season Caroline & Company is teaming up with Rainbow House, a mid-Missouri emergency shelter for abused and neglected children of all ages, in a colossal effort to cover as many feet as humanly possible with new socks.  If you wish to be part of this worthwhile effort, you are invited to drop off new socks by December 22^nd in any size, color or design appropriate for kids, age newborn to eighteen.

Last year, Rainbow House provided services to over 444 mid-Missouri children – 192 of which stayed at Rainbow’s emergency shelter.  With a current building campaign under way for a new facility, this coming year the number of children admitted for emergency shelter could easily reach 250.  That’s 500 big and small feet and over 2,500 toes that will need multiple pairs of socks.

Why not help old Santa put new socks on each and every Rainbow House child for the coming year?  The old fellow left a huge basket in our office lobby at 311 Providence Road, Columbia, MO; and we really hope to fill it to the top.  Please help!”

Individuals or businesses, located in Columbia, MO, that can’t get by C & C office during business hours are invited to call 573-449-3109 to request free pick-ups of “Socks For Kids” donations.

Do you sometimes hate those annoying paperclip animations on your screen?  Not sure how to disable the password screen when Windows starts?  Then Annoyances.org should be your trusted source for Windows information. The site's singular focus on Windows makes it highly useful by identifying which version of the operating system your PC uses, and allows you to filter articles that aren't relevant. The site contains a glossary and Windows Roadmap, which summarizes Windows' capabilities and examines the differences between versions. Discussion forums are conveniently linked to articles, letting you jump to stories related to the topics mentioned. There are also links to Microsoft patches, as well as to freeware and shareware utilities that will add new luster to your Windows and improve your computing experience.

With the cold weather approaching, many of us spend more time at home renting movies. Do you have problems returning your DVDs on time to avoid late fees? 

With Netflix you can rent as many DVDs as you want for just $20 a month. You keep a revolving library of up to 3 DVDs at a time and can exchange them for new available DVDs as often as you like. The number of DVDs you rent depends on how quickly you watch and return each of your DVDs.

Currently Netflix offers an initial free 30-day trial that can be cancelled at any time during the trial period. Additional service features include:

	No late fees -- ever!
	Over 15,000 titles to choose from.
	Free shipping both ways in 1-3 days.
	No driving. No lines. No hassles.

Do you have a telescope at home?  Are you interested in learning more about space flight?  NASA's Human Space Flight will give you the lift off you need. The site uses real-time data to plot an image moving across a world map that pinpoints the location of the International Space Station, traveling at 17,000 mph. It makes beautiful use of Flash to depict the people and events of the most recent space shuttle mission. There's a list of spacecraft-sighting opportunities in cities from Houston to Hanoi, and the Skywatch Web-based Java applet lets you predict when an orbiting spacecraft will be visible from your backyard; the information is presented in graphical form so you can see how the craft will look against the stars in your location.