Today begins the year of the ox for the Chinese New Year. There was a link on the front page of Yahoo that gives a forecast for the coming year based on the sign of your birth year. Since I was born in the year of the snake, my forecast for the coming year is really good for my career, especially in the latter half of the year. That’s exciting and I’m looking forward to the good things promised to come my way. Of course, if this comes true I won’t know if it is a result of a horoscope prediction that comes true or if Obama will be taking the credit for an economic turn around. Or both?
Opportunities in a Bad Economy
A wise woman once told me, “for every door that closes, God opens another door.” I’m pretty sure there is a paraphrase to that somewhere in the Bible, but I’m not even close to an expert on that. The point is, that for everything bad that happens you should have faith that someone good will come from it.
The economy is struggling now and people are losing their houses, their jobs, and their health insurance. Yet all of these bad things that are happening will result in new opportunities for them and for others.
One of the industries that is still growing and actually benefitting from the bad economy is the health care sector. Perhaps some people who would not have otherwise considered a career in health care may now pursue the medical fields. We have had a shortage of good nurses for years. Perhaps that will now change and the people who need medical help in the future will have better health care available to them.
The New Miss America
Tonight’s Miss America pageant was full of beautiful and talented women. After I saw them onstage, I knew right away that Miss Indiana Katie Stam would be crowned Miss America 2009.
She closely resembles one of the actresses on CSI Miami and I think it would be very cool for the CSI Miami writers to do an episode with both of them in it as sisters. That could be her big break, second only to this pageant. Katie is majoring in communications in college and has both the looks and the composure to be on TV. Congrats Katie!
Miss America 2009
Call me “Shallow Hal,” but I still like watching the Miss America pageants. I think it is nice to honor attractive, accomplished women and that young girls should be allowed to see that there are good role models for them besides the ho’s and the drug freaks promoted in the popular media, like Madonna, Pink, Lindsay, etc. Most of the Miss America contestants are wholesome, ambitious, talented, composed and attractive. It is good to showcase these qualities and I wish they (mass media, network TV, etc.) would do more to promote wholesome role models for our young people.
This year’s pageant is going to be held at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino, hosted by Mario Lopez. I plan to watch and I suppose I’ll be cheering for Ellen Carrington, this year’s Miss Tennessee, although Miss Texas is always a beautiful woman, too.
Keep Your Post Its
Today’s newspaper has a post it note ad on the front page, which is becoming an almost daily nuisance. The post it note covers up part of the headline and tears the paper when I try to pull it off to throw it away. I suppose someone in the sales department of the newspaper thinks they are hot stuff and is busy selling post it note ads to their newspaper advertisers as a novelty item, “sure to get attention!”
In my opinion it backfires, as the post it note irritates me and makes me think badly of the sucker who is paying money to put those sticky annoyances on my paper. There are other ways to get my attention with your advertisement, and annoying me with post it notes that tear up my newspaper’s front page is not a good way.
The Right Gear
My grandfather bought his first motorcycle in 1929, when Harley Davidson came out with their new engine, the 45 cubic inch V-twin that became known as the HD flathead. He used to tell us great stories of his adventures on that bike and I’ve been around bikes my whole life. My dad bought me a minibike when I was 4 years old and I’ve been riding two wheels ever since.
One of the most important things about riding a bike is to protect your body. When I ride I’m going to have everything covered for protection, from a helmet on my head to boots on my feet. If you look at an experienced Harley rider, you’ll see that they protect their bodies, too.
When you see cops on motorcycles they will be riding Harleys and they will be fully covered for protection, and if you pay attention to what the cops wear, you’ll see they have on high, leather boots. Most of the time when I ride I have on leather boots, but not the ones like the cops. But then I got to thinking that maybe I should try a pair of those.
The web site www.copshoes.com has a great selection of Motorcycle Boots in different styles from all the top brands. The web site lists a toll free number for calls from the U.S. and also a number for international callers. They even ship to APO and FPO addresses.They take all the major credit cards, including Paypal. This is one of the most customer friendly sites I’ve seen and the boot selection is top notch.
Donuts for Breakfast
There are plenty of branded donuts to choose from when you want to have donuts for breakfast. The grocery stores caryy Hostess, Entenman, Little Debbie, and their own bakery produced selections. There are also specialty bakery stores, such as Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts.
Personally, my favorite donut bakery is the Shipley Donuts. There are only a handful of those stores around town, and none of them are on the normal route to my office. So if I want to pick up some donuts on the way to the office, I either go out of my way 15 minutes to the bakery and then get stuck in traffic on the way back or I go by the one Krispy Kreme store that is on the commute route.
I like Shipley enough that I would be willing to go by there on my way home and keep the donuts overnight for presentation the next morning. That’s not as good as freshly baked, but at least they have the full flavor of the Shipley recipes. But the Shipley stores close down mid afternoon, and the best donuts are sold out each morning to customers who drive over in the morning and get first choice. So I am resigned to only having Shipley donuts once in a blue moon and when I get the ocassional urge to treat the office with donuts, they will just get the convenient Krispy Kreme glazed.
Looking Better
Talking with my sister this afternoon, we got onto the subject of cosmetic surgery and medispas, and how the whole business of looking good or looking better has really taken off this decade. I think a lot of that has to do with the medical advances, with new surgical procedures, new pharmaceuticals approved and on the market, and the development of laser technology.
My sister, on the other hand, says that the media is to blame – or to take the credit, depending upon which side of the argument you choose to take. The media shows perfect women and men, with shows all about losing weight, getting makeovers, and how to dress. The success of shows like The Biggest Loser” and “What Not to Wear” make me think that her argument has merit.
Personally, I think most people do care about how they look and they pay attention to proper grooming, coordinating their wardrobe and reflecting a certain amount of conformity to fashion and current styles, such as the new eyeglass frames or the length of skirts and even pants.
That’s why businesses like “Make Yourself Amazing” at www.mya.co.uk are creating a strong internet presence, with informational articles and photos of before and after that help convince people to seek out self improvement procedures.
Did you know that the most common cosmetic procedure is for eyelids? The second most popular cosmetic procedure is rhinoplasty – also called a “nose job.” And the third most popular is liposuction surgery.
All of these procedures have a reason they are so popular and are well accepted by society for both men and women. So the question remains – is it due to the media, pure vanity of this generation, or because the technology has improved to make it available at a reasonable cost?
Is it the Flu?
There seems to be a lot of people getting sick this week. Several people are coughing, sneexing and moaning through their day at work. This drives me nuts. If you are sick, sty home and don’t spread your germs to everyone else. I’m glad I’m you and strong and stay healthy most of the year. I sure don’t want to end up with the flu right before Christmas if people are sick with the flu and not staying home to take care of themselves.
Hockey – Finally
We suffered through a couple weeks of preseason hockey games. Now the real deal is here. We have so many players retired, suspended, traded off and injured that my favorite team is barely recognizable. Other than the fact that they play in the town where I live, I have almost no reason to cheer for this groups of newbies and sissies they call our team.
Even the team motto is LAME. “They stick with you.” I mean, WTF? Are we talking about oatmeal sticking with you or a hockey team that skates, fights and scores? Gah.
So we lose the season opener to the worst team in the League and then last night our first home game we beat one of the best teams in the League. Talk about extreme hot and cold. I’m so glad I didn’t waste my hard earned cash on season tickets this year. All my extra money is going into my gas tank with the price of gas up so high. If I was to be paying for the season tickets I’d have to be making some huge personal sacrifices in my standard of living and I don’t think this team has the power players to make that worth it. So I’ll watch the games on TV this year and maybe even watch the games for a few other teams with the quality players that deserve my support.