Valdot.org - Business Valuation and More

The Wembly

2007-09-08T23:10:00.000-04:00

I came up with a quick, delicious and maybe even a little healthy (although not too much) dessert tonight, which I would like to call a Wembly (my Friday night dining club knows this etymology!):

In a small bowl pour in half of a single serving cup of organic apple sauce. Then, a single layer of pralines. Next, pour the rest of the apple sauce over the pralines. Top off with granola (I absolutely prefer Kashi Mountain Medley Granola Cereal) and spread on a thin layer of cream cheese fruit dip. Crumble over a little bit of lemon short bread cookie and there you go! It's a very flavorful dessert with many fun layers of taste.

Tommie & Jasper's Small Screen Debut!

2007-08-19T13:09:00.000-04:00

I rented The Ultimate DVD Doggie Sitter from Netflix last week to see if my dogs, Tommie & Jasper would have any reaction. The results were better than expected! The video is full of squeaky toy sounds, barking and music. They were definitely drawn to the TV by the squeaking sounds. They settled in front of the TV and got themselves comfortable, even though their bed and designated couch were only a few feet away. Tommie started cleaning Jasper's ears and eyes, as he usually does. This time, however, he cleaned Jasper to appropriately-themed music from the DVD, and I captured the event on my cell phone's video camera--enjoy the clip!

Nacho à la Esquimaux

2007-07-30T02:06:00.000-04:00

Here's a fun way to enjoy ice cream with your fingers! Nacho à la Esquimaux is simply your favorite flavours of ice cream on top of Cinnamon Sun Chips smothered with fudge or butterscotch sauce. This sweet variety of Sun Chip gives you a tangibly decadent dessert! As pictured, I've used Hershey's Double Chocolate Sundae Syrup and Hard Shell toppings, along with pralines, sprinkles and reduced fat whipped cream...topped off with a maraschino cherry! Deep deep down in the center is the secret ingredient that makes this dessert extra enjoyable, sweet and special. Of course, we must all find our own secret ingredient :-)

2007-07-05T00:52:00.000-04:00

In celebration of a youthful spirit, timeless beauty and a generous, unwavering heart, I would love to have a muffin right now.

2007-04-12T10:36:00.000-04:00

No matter what...

2007-04-08T23:32:00.000-04:00

Right down the line, always and truthfully.

...but I haven't added anything new yet :-)

2007-02-13T11:54:00.001-05:00

It's Official!

2007-02-06T23:30:00.000-05:00

So, I'm now one of those lonely people that posts pictures of their dogs in their blogs and calls them their "children" and puts cutesy captions under each picture. *sigh* Without further adue...here are three reasons why dogs are the best!

1. They're interlocking:

2. They're stackable:

And...*best* of all:

3. They can parallel park!

2007-01-31T10:20:00.000-05:00

So, is this something you do often?

2007-01-27T00:56:00.000-05:00

heyThere ICU :-)

A Little Redecorating

2006-12-14T01:49:00.000-05:00

Est-ce que ce par divan intéressant est pour mon bureau? Peut-être une couleur différente, que pensez-vous? Mes assistances d'une! *<:o)

A Delicious Vegetarian Sandwich That Tastes Like a Big Mac!

2006-08-10T21:56:00.000-04:00

(Pictures to follow soon!!!)

Over the last few days a new type of vegetarian sandwich has evolved from my daily dinner routine. Tonight I had the revelation that it actually tastes pretty close to a Big Mac (which, as you know, is a trademark of McDonald's Corporation, who undoubtedly reserves all their rights), yet is has none of the same ingredients. Here is the dead simple recipe that you can follow:

Ingredients

One Quorn patty, microwaved for one minute in a paper towel. If you don't know what Quorn is, then you should read about it. (Hint: It's not made out of corn and it's not made from animals.)
One whole wheat wrap (or whatever wrap you prefer, but I prefer whole wheat).
Fresh alfalfa sprouts, about 1.25x the surface area of the Quorn patty, plus a pinch more.
Small slices of fresh dill havarti cheese, just enough to take in its flavourful taste and creamy texture.
Three spoonfuls of a *premium* fruit spread; i.e. Polaner's, Triple Fruits. Basically fruit, sugar (no HFCS), water, pectin. I use an E.D. Smith & Sons, Limited "Triple Fruits" spread with raspberry, strawberry and blackberry.

Directions

Place the wrap on a plate.

Place the alfalfa sprouts on the center of the wrap and distribute them in a round pattern. The pile should not be too thick.

Place the dill havarti slices/slivers upon the sprouts, evenly.

Place the microwaved Quorn patty upon the cheese.

Apply the fruit spread to the Quorn patty evenly.

Fold over the corners of the wrap and enjoy!

I enjoy this with a cup of cranberry/raspberry juice (100% juice) and some kettle cooked chips on the side. You get that "Big Mac" taste when you taste all of the ingredients together. Remember....fresh, quality ingredients are important!

Anonymous Posting is Back, Thanks to Word Verification!

2006-08-10T21:36:00.000-04:00

Good news, everyone! (pffffttt, HA!) Now that blogger.com has enabled word verification to prevent automated spam comments, I've re-enstated anon comments. Word verification involves a human commenter typing in the letters found in an image. Since spam bots cannot read the letters from a graphical image, this assures that only live people are posting. Thanks Blogger/Google!

My Dogs

2006-01-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

Pictures of Tommie (Canis Cuddlepuppycus) & Jasper (Canis Littlewhitehounddogus)

Mmmmmmm.....brrrraaaaiiiinnnnssss!!!

No More Anonymous Posting

2005-04-27T13:36:00.000-04:00

I've turned on the "only registered users can post" feature. Too many spam posts and trolls to bother with. Anonymous cowards be gone!

Did ET Use the Force?

2005-03-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

Ever since seeing a cameo of ET's species in Star Wars Episode I (watch for them in the Galactic Senate meeting), I've had the theory that ET, the alien in the Steven Spielberg film, was using the Force when he made Eliott's toys fly around the room and when he made the kids' bikes fly. I found a couple old Usenet threads that get into some more detail about this. Here is a link to one: Google Groups : rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc and here is a link to another: Google Groups : rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Before dismissing the idea as nothing more than George Lucas throwing in a clever cameo, read the comment in the second link about ET's reaction to a child wearing a Yoda costume for Haloween...an unintentional coincidence, or the greatest cross-marketing scheme devised by mankind to date?

Trenton State College Business Alumni Chapter Social

2005-03-14T21:38:00.000-05:00

The School of Business at TCNJ (formerly Trenton State College) is hosting a meet 'n greet for current business students and business school alumni. Since most of my co-workers went to Trenton State, I'm almost looking at this as an unofficial company outing :) The event is March 24th at 8pm. Click here for details!

Dividend Policy Study Now Available

2005-02-17T12:45:00.000-05:00

I co-authored a January 2005 study of dividend metrics for U.S. public companies with revenues of $25 million to $500 million. The study can be found by following this link to the MPI Securities website.

After the Coffee and Dessert - A Discussion of Tonight's ASA-Princeton Meeting

2004-10-18T22:00:00.000-04:00

I would like to extend a warm thank you to everyone who came to tonight's meeting. For those of you who were not able to attend (or for anyone who would like another copy of the presentation), please click here to download a color PDF file of the presentation.

The commenting system has been turned on, so if anybody would like to leave a message with further comments or questions, please feel free to do so!

Please note that any posts made here are owned by their respective authors. Any opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent my views or those of my employer. Thanks :-)

ASA - Princeton Chapter Meeting on October 18, 2004

2004-10-12T16:22:00.000-04:00

I'm going to be the guest speaker at the October 18, 2004 meeting of the Princeton Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers. We'll be at our usual meeting location, Good Time Charley's, at 40 Main Street (Route 27) in Kingston, NJ. Social time is at 6pm and the dinner/meeting begins at 6:30pm. Here is an excerpt of the official meeting notice:

This month’s meeting will feature John L. Varga, III, Senior Valuation Analyst of Management Planning, Inc. (“MPI”). John began his appraisal career with MPI in 1998. Over the past six years, he has been actively engaged in the valuation of closely held securities and the intangible assets of companies in many industries for a variety of purposes, including estate and gift taxes, income taxes, fairness opinions, sale, merger, stock purchase plans and buy-sell agreements. In support of the foregoing, he has prepared documented valuation analyses for presentation to management, directors and stockholders of client companies, as well as to attorneys, accountants and bank trust representatives. John is also an Candidate Member of the American Society of Appraisers.

John conducts MPI’s ongoing proprietary studies relative to the following areas of valuation interest: (i) fixed-rate preferred securities; and, (ii) voting versus non-voting price differentials. With respect to the latter study, John will speak to us regarding “The MPI Study of Voting/High Vote and Non-Voting/Low Vote Price Differentials.” His presentation will summarize some of the major aspects of this important study, including: (i) the basic data compiled; (ii) the presentation of the data; (iii) the major factors giving rise to price differentials; and, (iv) the conclusions reached.

This will be my second public presentation (the first one was at the New York ASA chapter on the same topic). It should go well! I will put up another post after the presentation where you can download a PDF of the onscreen presentation and leave questions and comments.

Up and running at last!

2004-09-28T20:53:00.000-04:00

Hallelujah! I've finally decided to put my domain name to good use. As the header on my site implies, the site is about "business valuation and more." Therefore, here is a business valuation link and more for starters!