Posted by special buzzer on August 21, 2009
Who out there has horror stories about a hotel stay? Gosh there are so many, like on the news when they reported that scams were even being pulled in hotels where prank callers asked guests to break their window to allow “gas” to escape from a fabricated gas leak. But I’d love to hear of some personal stories-stories that would warn me which hotels to stay away from!
Like the time we checked into a hotel in Santa Fe, and when we opened the door the bed was broken, the walls had holes, the cover was filthy…and that’s all we saw because we shut the door and got our money back. Or the time in Lakewood, Colorado, when two times someone tried to open our hotel room door at one in the morning, and then the manager called to ask us who we were and why were we in that room! Someone had evidently inadvertedly checked us out and had checked some drunk New Year’s reveler in! And we’d only just checked in at six that very evening!
I’ve been in hotels in Anchorage and hotels in Atlanta, and everywhere in-between. Most were really quite good. A few that stand out include the big resorts in Hawaii, but as far as regular hotels, one of the better ones was the Comfort Inn Medical Park in Durham, NC. They really knew the meaning of the term, “Southern Hospitality!”
Technorati Tags: Comfort Inn Medical Park in Durham NC, hotels in Atlanta, Santa Fe
Posted by special buzzer on July 12, 2009
Since I have been attending college, I would have to say that the best time of year for me is summer. Sure, you are probably thinking that I am just like other college kids, out partying and traveling all summer, but for me that isn’t the case. I don’t have a lot of money, so I have to work a summer job. But I don’t mind as I have done some pretty exciting things.
After my experience last summer of compiling new mover lists, I returned to work for the same direct mail company this year. I took them up on their offer to work with them again as I enjoyed the work environment as well as the job.
This summer, they have me processing mailing leads to ensure their accuracy. Though it may sound tedious, I certainly love the freedom there is working on your own and at your own pace. After a couple of weeks of practice, I have become very efficient at getting the work done.
I am hoping that they will offer me a position for next summer as well as I would feel a little more at ease knowing that I have a guaranteed job. I guess I will have to wait and see, but I am not too worried - I think that they really value my contributions here.
Technorati Tags: mailing leads, new mover lists
Posted by special buzzer on June 23, 2009
You know, I’m pretty happy in my second marriage, but there was a kind of rocky beginning, though I don’t entirely blame my husband for it. He told me he was divorced, but after awhile as it turned out, he wasn’t. He was legally separated and his wife was long gone, but he sort of dreaded the legal proceedings. I sort of figured this out as he stammered about it, and then claimed he “thought” it was all done. But he HAD seen a lawyer-it just all wasn’t completed. So, under the guise of “I’d better follow up with this guy; I haven’t heard anything,” he contacted the guy again, and the man finally mailed the papers to Michelle for her to sign.
Well, supposedly at the advice of her new lawyer, she wanted half of the house. But the initial agreement as it was submitted and approved by the courts had her giving up her half in exchange for Dave paying all the bills. Since his lawyer was old, slow, and unresponsive, he got advice and found he needed a lawyer in HER state, in a little town outside of Pittsburgh.
Well, after sifting through all the Pittsburgh personal injury attorneys and Pittsburgh wrongful death attorneys, he finally found one there willing to have her formally served under threat of a warrant for her arrest for contempt of a court ordered settlement or failure to appear or something. Guess what? She signed it finally.
Technorati Tags: Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh personal injury attorneys, Pittsburgh wrongful death attorneys
Posted by special buzzer on
When I first learned that I was going to be an uncle and my sister was going to have a baby, I was excited. It was the day that I had always dreamed of and the day that I always feared - it meant that all of a sudden I was in a competition to be the best uncle and I wanted to win.
But being a guy, I just had no idea as to what would be the perfect baby gift. If I would have had a girlfriend at the time, I might have been able to depend on her for advice, but sadly I was single at the time. I decided just to get in the car and go down to the toy store, and buy whatever jumped out at me.
Once I walked into the toy store, I was a little overwhelmed and confused. Instead of just having a couple of selections, I was faced with aisle upon aisle of decisions - not a good prospect for a new baby toy shopper.
After about thirty minutes, I ended up in the section of European toys, and came across a good selection of HABA toys. I picked out a set of wooden blocks and proceeded home. All-in-all the shopping trip took an hour.
But as it turned out, I did end up getting the favorite baby toy and started out as the favorite uncle - which is exactly what I wanted.
Technorati Tags: European toys, HABA toys
Posted by Buzz on June 13, 2009
When I decided that I was going to be a Scout leader, I decided that I wanted to be able to give the kids that I would be leading the same structured and fun type of program that I experienced in my youth. It was one of those memories that I have kept for my lifetime, and I hoped that the kids under my supervision would have a similar experience.
But the one thing that has changed since I was a kid is technology. In fact, with the Internet being available to us now, I was really looking forward to the opportunity that it presented for us to interact with the kids and parents and to have a central place for them to know the times and locations of all of our meetings and outings.
After a bit of searching, we found an article about Scout troop management software that would work perfectly for us. One of our leaders was a little hesitant (since she was not very computer savvy), but after all of us leaders sitting down for an evening, we were able to sort things out.
I would like to think that the scout software has provided us a better way to keep our scout troop organized and keep the parents informed. Besides, it also follows the principles of Scouting because it is friendlier to the environment.
Technorati Tags: scout leader, scout software, scout troop management software
Posted by special buzzer on May 25, 2009
Creating sales incentive programs is not the hard part. It’s creating sales incentive programs that work that remains tricky. We all know that sometimes it’s necessary to add an element of enticement to motivate your employees, but we have to keep in mind that sometimes it’s not what you give; it’s how you give it.
Sure, you can just offer incentives to your staff members for overachievement, but make sure these gifts can be given immediately. No one wants to wait a long time for a reward. That’s why there are employee recognition reward programs online that offer staff members e-certificates they can redeem right away. All they have to do is hop online and browse through a catalog of gift. They choose a great reward, such as a gift certificate to a restaurant or tickets to a movie, and the system will gather their mailing information. Then, their reward will be sent to them. You, the boss, don’t have to lift a finger or get involved.
And also, keep in mind that it really is not the price tag that people care about. They want the recognition and respect of their supervisors. Sometimes folks just need a little motivation to rise above the rest.
Technorati Tags: employee recognition, sales incentive programs, supervisors
Posted by Spaycial on May 21, 2009
Data really is precious for anyone who runs a business. This might include current project files, past and present customer information, marketing data, and of course your business’s financial information. If this were lost, YOU would be lost without it. How long would it take you to get your business back up and running again like it was before you lost the data?
So you can see why data ought to be the biggest thing you try to protect. The best way to do this is to back up your data regularly, but also that you store your backups somewhere offsite — ideally online, on a remote server. This way, if anything happens at your office — a fire or a flood, for instance, or a burglary — your backup will be safe.
In order to back up online, you will need to find reliable FTP hosting and storage. Then you get an account, and upload your important data regularly — hopefully once a day, if you can remember. You may also be able to find an online backup service that installs a program on your computer and does it for your automatically, so that you don’t have to remember to back up your files yourself.
Technorati Tags: backup, free file transfer, FTP hosting
Posted by special buzzer on April 28, 2009
After I sold of my restaurant two years ago, I took a break. You see, I had been living and breathing the restaurant business for just about ten years and it was time that I took some time for myself. It was the best thing for me to do, and I enjoyed spending time with my family for a change.
But, being the hard worker that I was, I couldn’t just stay in retirement - I really needed to do something.
One of my best friends had been doing some consulting work for document imaging companies for about five years, and he suggested that I check out what the opportunity involved as he thought that it would be a good fit for me.
I talked with his boss, and in no time, I had become an independent document management software vendor. It helped that I was a little obsessed with technology, and I picked up how things worked really quickly.
Needless to say, I love the freedom of being my own boss, but at the same time, I like the security of working for a larger company. I don’t have to commit my entire life to the business anymore (like the restaurant), and I can spend more time with my family while I continue to provide for them.
Besides, in just a couple more years, it will be time to retire and try something different.
Technorati Tags: document imaging companies, document management software vendor
Posted by Buzz on March 21, 2009
Companies have conference calls. Sometimes, there is a conference call to plan for and discuss reports that need to be reported on a conference call. With the global landscape of organizations today, employees from one organization may only interact via conference calls due to the rising cost of travel. While conference calls are suppose to be efficient, you could spend hours sitting at your desk, glued to the office while sitting and listening to report after report via conference call.
With listen only earpieces, you can move around your office and still listen to the content of the call. There are a variety of commander series headsets you can use to communicate via the telephone but having full use of your hands to type on the computer, check emails, open mail, sign paperwork or read documents without interrupting the conference call. While productivity is supposed to improve by participating in teleconferencing thus eliminating the time and effort of person to person meetings, it doesn’t always improve efficiency. Calls often last too long and people don’t feel right cutting off someone who’s gone off tangent. By using a tactical headsets, at least you can get some work done while participating in a conference call, especially if it has gone over schedule.
Technorati Tags: commander series headsets, conference call, tactical headsets
Posted by Buzz on March 20, 2009
When you have a product that you want to sell on to other people then it is much easier to do this when you have an online store If you are selling services or a product and you need to be able to receive money from people then this is much easier if you have your own store. With an online store you can get merchant services, which allow you to take credit card payments online. When you can accept card payments through your store it makes it much easier as not everyone has a pay pal or money bookers account.
Not all ecommerce software gives you the ability to take credit card payments so you should be sure exactly what you are getting when you sign up for your software. If you get a store builder that is customizable then it should also have a merchant services option. Customizable software is by far the best bet for successful ecommerce because it means that you can change the software to reflect your particular business and unique selling point. Nowadays business competition is tough, and with more people deciding to put their businesses on the net, it is going to get even tougher.
Technorati Tags: ecommerce, merchant services, online store, store builder