Category: Other Stuff

Somewhere between 40 and 50 percent of the people who get married in the U.S. end up getting divorced at some point. Many of them go on to date other people once their divorces are finalized.

Dating after divorce can be difficult to do, though, especially if you were married for a long time. So if you’re planning on getting back out there in the dating world following a divorce, there are some things you should do to prepare yourself for it.

Here are 10 things to keep in mind for your first date after divorce.

1. Make Sure You’re Ready to Start Dating Again

The first thing you should do before dating after divorce is take a good, long look in the mirror and decide if you’re definitely ready to date again.

There are some people who try to rush right back into the dating world following a divorce. And often times, they’re simply not ready for everything that comes along with trying to find a connection with a new person.

There is no set time as far as when you’ll be ready to date again. But you shouldn’t feel pressured to dive headfirst into dating if you don’t think you’re 100 percent prepared for it.

2. Find the Right Person for Your First Date

If you decide that you’re ready to tackle divorced dating, the next step will be to find the right person to go out on a date with you. The last thing you want is for your first post-divorce date to be awful because you chose the wrong person to go on it with.

It’s impossible to eliminate all the risk associated with trying to find a date. But you can do it by asking friends or family members to hook you up with someone who might be right for you.

That doesn’t mean you have to try and land Prince Charming on your first attempt at dating. But it does mean you should be a little selective and choose someone who, at least in theory, could be compatible with you.

3. Talk to Your Kids About Your Date Before It Happens

If you have kids, dating after divorce can be especially tricky. You may have gone to great lengths to help your children cope with the divorce itself, but dating someone else is a whole new ballgame.

If you intend to start dating again, sit down with your kids and explain to them why you want to date. They’ll be a lot more open to it when you talk to them about your intentions.

4. Use Your Date as an Excuse to Pamper Yourself

One of the best parts about dating after divorce is that it gives you an opportunity to pamper yourself.

You can go out and get your hair and nails done for your date and not feel bad about doing it. You can also treat yourself to a massage or a facial so that you feel your best when your date picks you up.

5. Dress Your Best for Your Date

If it’s been years since your last official date, you might not know exactly what to wear. Dating attire has gotten a lot more casual than it used to be in many instances.

Don’t let this deter you from dressing your best for your date. You should already be planning on getting your hair and nails done, so why not complete the look by putting on a dress that makes you look fabulous?

6. Pick a Place Where You’ll Feel Comfortable for Your Date

As your first date after divorce inches closer, you’re probably going to start feeling nervous. Those nerves are only going to grow in intensity over time.

Take some of the pressure that you’re feeling off yourself by picking a place for your date where you’ll feel the most comfortable.

That might mean choosing a more relaxed restaurant that will allow you to get to know someone while surrounded by a bunch of other people. It might also mean going to a movie where you won’t have to spend two hours talking to someone you don’t know.

Pick a place where you know you’ll be at ease. It’ll allow you to enjoy your date rather than feeling like you’re on pins and needles all night long.

7. Come Up With Icebreaker Questions to Ask

Some people don’t have any problem sitting down and asking questions to someone they don’t know. If you fall into that category, you probably don’t need to spend much time thinking about questions to ask prior to a first date.

But if you’re the type of person who doesn’t know what to ask on a date, come up with some sample questions beforehand. These questions might include:

• “Where did you go to college?”
• “What do you do for work?”
• “What kinds of things do you enjoy doing on the weekend?”
• “Who is your favorite NFL team?”
• “What’s the last really good book you read?”

You might even consider sitting down with a friend and giving your icebreaker questions a test run. You could find that it’s not as hard as you think to carry on a free-flowing conversation with someone when you have questions in mind.

8. Be Open to Talking About Yourself

When you’re on a first date, you don’t necessarily want to dominate the conversation. But you do want to prepare to talk about yourself for at least part of the date.

Think about the things that you’re comfortable sharing on a first date as well as the things that you would rather keep to yourself. It’ll allow you to open up to your date without going too overboard.

9. Avoid Talking About Your Divorce

If you’ve been divorced for a few years now, your divorce might not even come up in the course of a conversation on a first date.

But if your divorce is still a relatively new thing, you might be tempted to bring it up on your first date. Try not to do it!

You could give your date the impression that you’re not over your divorce. You could also drudge up feelings of anger and frustration and bring them into your date.

You can casually mention that you’re divorced at some point and let your date know you have kids if you’d like. But don’t get too much deeper than that on a first date.

10. Try Not to Expect Too Much From Your First Date

No matter how good a first date might go, remember: It’s only a first date!

When dating after divorce, there are some people who scare off their dates by trying to get too serious too quickly. It’s best to take things slow and allow them to develop over time rather than rushing right into a relationship.

If you have a great time on a first date and you would like to go on a second date, send signs that make that clear. By simply letting someone know you enjoyed their company, you’ll put a second date on the table and give them the chance to make the next move.

Dating After Divorce Can Be a Rewarding Experience

Initially, dating after divorce can be very overwhelming. It’s not easy to go from being married to dating again.

But once you’ve been on a few dates, you’ll enjoy the connections that you make with new people. You’ll also increase your chances of finding someone that you want to get to know better.

Read our blog for additional tips on dating, being a better mother, running your household more effectively, and more.

There’s one big reason we all drug test our employees – we don’t want them high or coming down from a high on the job.

But did you know that there are a range of benefits, including avoiding accidents and fatalities related to workplace drug use? It’s true.

You could come to work one day to find your star employee (who you didn’t drug test) dead on the scene.

On that positive note, let’s look at why spending the $50 – $70 on a pre employment drug test is more than worth your investment.

It could be the difference between never having to file a workers comp claim and that becoming your new reality.

Get more information in the drug-free guide below.

What Do Pre Employment Drug Tests Look For?

When you order a drug test, there are levels of tests. They range in what they test, the more drugs they look for, the more expensive the test.

The test you choose depends on what kind of usage you care about, along with your budget.

The standard test is for alcohol and marijuana usage. However, in the middle of the opioid crisis, more employers are looking for heroin and pill usage.

There are different types of tests too. A urine test is the most common and the cheapest. But, it can only test for results for so long. The most you’ll get out of a urine test is results from maybe a month back.

Here’s a quick guide to the types of drug tests and the drugs they test for.

Urine Tests

The most common test screens for alcohol, amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines, opiates, & cigarettes.

Blood Tests

A blood test can tell current and past use from the remnants of drugs available in the blood. They can test for things like cocaine, nicotine, alcohol, methamphetamines, and opiates.

Mouth Swab Tests

Saliva tests are the least accurate, but the cheapest. They only capture drug use from the last two or three days and day-of-test use. But, they’re cheap and quick to process.

Hair Tests

The longest of all the tests, hair tests can capture three months back from the day of testing. To do a hair test, you do actually lose a small patch of hair.

Technicians cut 100 strands of hair, usually by creating a tiny ponytail at the scalp. The hair isn’t pulled out, so there’s no pain involved.

Hair tests don’t capture alcohol use, but they capture pretty much everything else. That includes cocaine, weed, heroin, and opiates. methamphetamine and phencyclidine (PCP).

Benefits of Drug Testing

When you hire a new employee, you’re putting a lot of faith and money behind that choice. They may have access to your finances, your data, and your building.

High Productivity Levels

When your employee uses drugs in the workplace or comes to work after a night of drug use, they don’t get much done.

Some people can go through withdrawal symptoms at their desk, leading to multiple trips to the bathroom and low work volume.

Other people won’t come to work at all after a long night of drug or alcohol usage, leading to no-call no-shows. You lose money when an employee doesn’t show up since their work doesn’t get done.

You also spend precious time scrambling to find people to cover for them.

At the very least, your employees will waste time and concentration thinking about their drug use.

Worst case scenario, people will use drugs at work – even sell them on their breaks or worse, at their desk!

People who know they can be randomly drug tested at any time are less likely to use – and more likely to be productive.

Prevents Need to Sponsor Substance Recovery

If you have an employee that has an undetected or develops a drug problem, you may be on the hook for their recovery.

Recovery programs are expensive, you’re looking at around three thousand dollars per employee – and that’s if they only go once.

It Deters Drug Users

Saying that you’re a drug-free workplace and insisting on a pre employment drug test stops drug users from applying in the first place.

That means you don’t need to worry (so much) about random and continuing drug tests.

Every employer should reserve the right to drug test employees if you suspect something. This is usually written into the employment contract and you can decide what you consider suspicious.

This is a point you need to make sure they read in the contract and sign a consent to be continuously tested.

Communicating Drug Testing Practices

You don’t need to tell potential employees that you drug test pre employment at the first interview. Don’t even mention it until you have a final pool of applicants.

For most people, drug testing is part of the onboarding process. They schedule drug testing before someone starts the job, but after the job offer is made.

Most people don’t schedule the first shift or give employees the green light for the first day before the results come back.

The things you want to test for depends on your organization and your personal values.

Now that states are legalizing recreational marijuana it makes things a little trickier for employers. Yes, you can still consider marijuana an illegal substance – since that’s what the federal government considers it.

If you don’t consider it illegal, that is, that it doesn’t bar employment, let your employees know. This is a new avenue for all of us and will be for probably the next 10 years.

Want to know how to read a drug test cup in case you need to test yourself (for science or reference) or a future child? Not a bad idea!

Testing Your Employees

Finally, knowing what you want to do for your employee’s drug use is a personal decision. If you’re a small business owner, think about what drugs you consider as a bar for employment.

Then, communicate with your (almost) employee about your pre employment drug test policy.

We’ll leave you with this final tip – if someone asks about the drug policy before you bring it up, that’s a bad sign. Maybe they’re just being thorough, but more likely they’re looking to buy themselves some time so they can stop using.

Want more information on running your own business? Click here!

Ever wonder how many people vape? According to the CDC, 9 million Americans vape regularly with 12.6% of all adults have tried an e-cigarette or vaping device before.

The Juul is one type of e-cigarette that has been touted for helping cigarette smokers quit and eliminating the harmful chemicals found in traditional cigarettes.

But is the Juul worth it? We’re going to give you a quick Juul vape review so you can decide whether or not it’s worth your money.

What Is a Juul?

The Juul is a particular brand of vape. You insert a “Juul pod” into the device and inhale. The Juul turns the liquid in the pod into vapor as you inhale, which mimics the feeling of taking a drag of a cigarette.

Juuls look similar to elongated USB sticks. They’re smooth, flat, and rectangular. This makes them portable and usable, but it also helps mimic the feel of holding a cigarette-like object, which is great for people transitioning from cigarettes to vaping.

Juuling vs. Vaping

Is juuling the same as vaping? Well, yes and no. Vaping is simply the act of inhaling vapor from a vape or e-cigarette device that usually delivers a flavor and nicotine, which is what you get from juuling.

But juuling is slightly different from other types of vapes. A Juul is much simpler to use, and it’s great for beginner vapers. The sleek and simple design mimics cigarette smoking much better than clunkier, more heavily customizable vape devices.

The Juul is small, sleek, and easy-to-use. Other vapes can be large and have too many confusing options for beginners (or even experienced vapers).

So while juuling is vaping, technically, it’s unique in how it’s made, what it looks like, and how easy it is to use.

What Are Juul Pods?

The Juul itself is the device that you’ll inhale from. The pods are what provide the nicotine and the fun flavors that are associated with vaping.

The Juul pod ingredients include the juice itself which contains:

• 0.7 mL of juice
• 0.59 mg/mL nicotine
• Benzoic acid
• Glycerol
• Flavors and extracts
• Natural oils

Each individual pod contains the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. You’ll get around 200 puffs from each pod. So depending on how much you vape, these small pods can last a while.

They also come in classic flavors like tobacco and mint, or more interesting flavors like creme brulee and mango. You can check out the selection of Juul options on Vape In The Box.

Wrapping Up on Our Juul Vape Review

The Juul is a unique type of vape. While you will be inhaling vapor like any other vape, the Juul offers a particular design and high-quality pod that you won’t find with other kinds of vapes.

Whether you want to quit smoking or you just want to jump into this new trend, juuling could be for you. Hopefully, this quick Juul vape review gave you a better idea of what juuling is and how it compares to other types of vapes.

If you’re looking for other reviews of products, check out our blog.