Small Business Networks Platform Diving

Watching the commercial for the new Macbook Air for the 400th time is not what necessarily bothered me. This new system is cool, very lightweight, and let's face it Mac computers are pretty. I have had firsthand experience with the new Macbook Air and they are nice! No, I think what bothers me is the music on the Macbook Air commercial, New Soul (the name of the song). If there is one thing I have learned about any Mac commercial is that they have the uncanny ability to make me dislike certain songs - songs that I may have found myself liking if only I had been exposed to them in a different manner. Once I hear the same clip from the same song for the 400th time I can effectively say I will never like that song. Unfortunately, due to Apple's repetitve mass marketing efforts, pretty much any song from any Apple commercial I would now rather not hear.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised then when I walked into a client's office to find him with his freshly unpacked Macbook Air, whistling that tune - asking me to connect it to his Windows network. Don't get me wrong, I love Mac computers. I am not a fanatical Windows user who hates any other system. Actually, I think most people fall into Pro-Microsoft or Anti-Microsoft but I couldn't really care one way or another. What I do care about is the fact that this business owner who wanted me to connect up his new Macbook Air now expected to be able to access everything on his company network seemlessly as if he had a Windows XP computer sitting in front of him. Well without getting into the gory details, let's just say it took much more training and time then he wanted to spend on it and eventually he just took it home to use as a home computer; effectively replacing it with a new Dell laptop.

Does Mac have a place in the business networking environment? I get asked this a lot because more people are starting to see the value and steadiness (and simplicity!) of the Mac. My answer is typically "no" to these people. Can it be done? Absolutely. Is it seemless? Nope! Most (above 80%) small businesses that run at least one server do so on a Microsoft operating system. Mac and Windows, althought competitors, can talk to each other but it isn't seemless. The next natural question then is "Well can't I run an Apple server?" Sure, and this practice is becoming a little more common, but for simplicity, support, and familiarity most people want to stick with Windows.

In a business, I tell people that if you are going to purchase and use a Mac then it should be for graphics and multimedia purposes (even though a PC can handle these functions just fine). Other than that, until Mac makes more of a footprint in the market share then my clients will not be the pioneers who are forging ahead with this effort. Simply put: for small business networks, use Microsoft products. Cost is relatively low, and provided the design is sound you will have a network that hums along with no problems.

Mac is beautiful, but it's not curtains for Windows. Not just yet.

Windows *Bleep* and My Small Business

Microsoft Windows Vista.

"Vista" can almost be classified as a four-letter word if you talk to most of my clients. Over the past year it has managed to be negatively hyped more than any other Microsoft-related product in recent memory. Nine out of ten business owners are interested in Vista, but typically precede their questions with "I heard Vista is really bad, but..."


Here's the deal, as a Microsoft Gold Partner our company has been "required" to run Vista on all of our computers 6 months prior to its release and I have found it fine to work with. As many complaints as I have seen about the UAC prompts and all the other "annoyances" that supposedly protect users from themselves, I have yet to encounter a Vista issue that has prevented me from being productive. Understanding that we are still waiting on SP1 and there are plenty of bugs to be squashed, Vista is fine, Vista works well on hardware that is appropriate for running it.

Nearly every complaint I have discussed with clients can be attributed to:

I. Lack of user training on the new look and feel

II. Something that is being caused by design or new feature i.e. UAC prompts when the person decides to try to install spyware through a website

III. The software they are trying to use has not been developed for Vista, or is not Vista compatible yet. In other words, that is not Microsoft's fault - after all, its only been over a year since it has been released.

Over the next couple of years, the major manufacturers will start eliminating Windows XP as an offering, so when a client asks "When do I need to move to Vista?" my response is usually simple. Whenever you can begin planning for the financial and training costs. The key word here is "planning" - in other words, we will all have to make the move to Vista at some point so do it on your own terms, not because Dell or HP won't sell you Windows XP Pro anymore and you are forced to Vista.

Plan on cost of new hardware, licensing, upgraded software costs, and most importantly training costs. All of these things will be major factors in "when and how" you upgrade your organization to Vista. Understand that in order to do it right, migrating requires adequate planning and design by your technology firm - just going out and buying Vista computers will not cut it.

With proper assessment and design, your Vista migration can be smooth, allowing you to deal with the unending complaints because you moved the cheese. Technology can only help you so much so do not let your users fear changes!

The Simple Spam-Killer

Nothing is a more monumental waste of time then sitting at your desk in the morning and filtering through 157 viagra, cialis, levitra, and get rich stock emails. I estimate that a person could essentially waste 1-4 seconds a day per spam mail they have to deal with, either by deleting or by adding to a "junk mail filter." If you have 50 of these a day on average, then realize you could inevitably we wasting a good amount of time just deailing with junk.

A client of mine sat with me and did a calculation, once, on how much time he spends dealing with junk email each day. Turns out, he was burning almost 20 minutes a day dealing with the incessant spam that came to him. His company employs about 150 people - so let's say all 150 spent the same amount of time dealing with that junk each day. How much time is being wasted?

I am a big fan of efficiency. Everything I do with my business is process and document driven. When I go in to an organization and see such a blatant waste of time in terms of dealing with junk mail it blows my mind because spam is such an easy thing to eliminate and the payoff is huge!

My advice is simple - do one of the following:

I. The best option is to invest in a service that filters and tests your email before it even gets to your organization, whether or not you are hosting your email in your office. This is typically one of the most expensive options, but also the most effective. Good anti-spam services will typically run anywhere from 30-60 independent spam tests on each email that comes through.

II. Having anti-spam and anti-virus services on the server that provides your email services is the next best thing. If you host email in your office, then this requires you purchase software to provide the filtering. This costs less than option I, however understand that the spam still gets to your server in some fashion and you are relying on software to eliminate it.

III. Running anti-spam software on your personal computer is the cheapest in terms of software costs, but I would say most of my clients who do this end up seeing little value over time. The software has to be maintained and tweaked by the user and is usually not very intuitive. I never usually recommend this option unless we are talking about a single user with little spam.

If you are having spam problems, stop procrastinating and do something to eliminate it. Honestly, with all the facets of your business that require fine tuning and improvement - eliminating spam has big and immediate payoff compared to its minimal solution cost. For more information, have a look at http://www.vcsolutions.com/spam_filter.php to see how my company does it.

Michigan IT Consulting Firms: Choosing the Right Partner for your Business

Your business relies on technology and computing systems that are becoming more complex by the second. Trusting mission-critical systems to simple backups and upgrades is no longer enough Many small to medium-sized businesses are finding themselves in need of a solid IT firm to manage their technology needs rather than relying on their “friend of a friend”, or part-time computer technician. Here are some tips to greatly increase the odds you choose the right IT consulting firm for your business.

1. Determine your company’s high-level technology needs. Do you have any specific wants or needs, such as email, a website, or a server? Are you concerned about data security or disaster recovery plan? What is it about your significant business processes that can be improved on by technology? What kind of growth do you expect in the next 1-3 years and how will your current technology solution handle it? Is someone even helping you plan for this growth? These are the types of overarching questions you should consider before you consult with an IT firm. Having a list created is key to relating your desires to the IT firm and also provides good basis for a conversation that can be elaborated on. You may not be familiar with your technical options that exist so let your IT firm help you. The IT firm with which you contract should provide a technical assessment that identifies the current state of your technology and learns how it interacts with your day-to-day business functions. How can an IT firm support you in a cost effective manner if they are not familiar with your specific setup?

2. Make sure the IT firm you select has adequate resources. Your business probably needs 24/7, 365 day support. What does the IT firm have in place to accommodate this level of service? Do they proactively monitor? Do they have offer expedited service? Computers crash at the most inopportune times and your computing needs often do not take holidays. If you contract with a sole proprietor you will be putting your business operations and data at risk by relying on a single individual that can become ill, be out of town, etc. Making sure they are an established firm with a good track record of service to numerous clients is an invaluable, mandatory step in choosing your IT service provider.

3. Ask IT firms about their processes. Like any business, an IT firm should have established business processes and procedures on how they operate on a daily basis. If these core processes are non-existent then how will the IT firm bring any type of order to your chaos? During the initial meeting, a IT firm should be able to quickly describe their maintenance, repair, service, and support processes and show examples of documentation. Ask about their company’s philosophy, mission statement, and examples on how they practice that mission statement every day.

4. Check references and certifications. Ask potential IT companies for at least 3 corporate references and speak to them. Trust is a difficult asset to hand out to a new IT firm, so speak with someone who has already made the leap. You can also ask for a list of certifications such as Microsoft’s Gold-Certified program which assure the company has been through intensive training and quality control programs.

5. Evaluate the personalities. Ask to meet the folks in the company with whom you will have the most interaction. Are they condescending tech geeks or friendly and approachable professionals in whom you can trust. Remember these folks will have access to all your company data – choose carefully. You are looking to create a trusting relationship so make sure you like them!

Peter Marsack is the Director of Technology for Vision Computer Solutions – a Michigan IT consulting firm based in Northville, MI. Founded in 1995, Vision Computer Solutions offers computer and technology services to businesses and residential customers in southeast Michigan. Headquartered in Northville, Michigan, Vision Computer Solutions is a Microsoft Gold-Certified Partner and Microsoft Small Business Specialist.

Cited Works: 10 Reasons You're Not Getting Your Work Done

A colleague of mine sent this one over to me after a recent discussion we had on why we never can seem to get anything done! I suppose this can be considered as the typical nature of the small business, but sometimes it just gets annoying!

Anyhow, I immediately related to this article even after point #1 - I now am in the process of never using email again! (I joke, but man that would be nice).


Are you having trouble getting all your work done? Is there a project you can't seem to find time to finish, or something you haven't been able to get started? If it doesn't seem you'll ever be able to cross everything off your "to do" list at work, see if any of the following are keeping you from getting your job done.

1. You have too many distractions. A recent survey by the research firm NFI Research found that 66 percent of senior executives and managers say e-mail is one of the biggest distractions in the workplace, followed by the crisis of the day and personal interruptions. According to the bosses surveyed, other workplace distractions include unexpected meetings, phone calls, Web surfing, socializing, instant messages and noise.

2. You don't have the resources you need.A carpenter needs a hammer, an accountant needs an adding machine and most office workers need a computer. Nevertheless, new employees don't always have what they need to hit the ground running. (An employer once took a month to supply the software needed to do the job I was hired to do.) Likewise, if your co-workers aren't providing you with the data or assistance you need, your work may suffer. Before you blame your co-workers for not helping, consider if they are facing similar challenges getting their own work done.

3. You don't know what you’re doing.Clayton Warholm, an expert on workplace miscommunication, says there are two main reasons employees may not know enough to do the job. Either the assignment wasn't clearly stated by your employer (you don't know what to do) or you haven't been trained properly (you don't know how to do it). Training will only help, however, if you have the talent needed to do the job.In their book 'First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently,' Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman reported findings of interviews conducted by the Gallup Organization of more than 80,000 managers in over 400 companies. They found "the right talents, more than experience, more than brainpower and more than willpower alone, are the prerequisites for excellence in all roles" and, unlike skills and knowledge, "you cannot teach talent."

4. You have too much work.Some people have so much work on their plates they couldn't do everything on their "to do" list even if they worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This may happen in any job, but particularly in fields facing a shortage of workers. The result: the frustration of trying one’s best to get everything done but not being able to do so.

5. You have poor time management skills.Workers with good time-management skills do what’s most important, while those with poor time-management skills work on what looks most fun or easy -- then frantically try to catch up on important work that has become urgent because the fun and easy work was done first. Hint: Work is rarely easy or fun if you end up missing deadlines and have to deal with an irate boss or customers.

6. You're procrastinating.Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today? Actually, you may have a good reason -- to avoid pain. When we procrastinate, it's often because we’re afraid the job or the outcome will be unpleasant. For example, if you’re afraid of failure and fear that no matter what you do it won't be good enough; chances are you'll avoid doing anything. If your own need for perfection is holding you back, realize most employers and clients would prefer that you do an imperfect but good job, rather than not do the job at all.

7. You feel undervalued.If you think you're underpaid and unappreciated, chances are you aren't giving 100 percent. Consciously or not, many employees try to “balance the scales” to ensure that what they give the employer is equal to what the employer gives them. According to Louis V. Imundo, author of 'The Effective Supervisor's Handbook,' when the negatives of a job outweigh the positives, "employees may put less effort into their jobs, be absent more frequently, be careless or psychologically withdraw from work while being physically present."See Also: Work From Home Jobs That Pay

8. Your company's priorities keep changing.You are working on Project A when the boss says, "drop everything and work on Project B." When this happens, it may feel you’re not getting any work done, but your employer may feel otherwise. As the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (the most widely used personality assessment) shows, some people are flexible and find it easy to change direction and exciting to start new projects, while others find it frustrating to not complete projects. If you are the latter and work in an industry where change is constant, you may want to consider a career change.


9. You’re burned out.According to the Web site of the American Psychological Association, burnout is emotional exhaustion resulting from overwhelming stress at work. It may be caused by a hostile work environment or fears about job security, but it is often results from long hours, stressful deadlines, high expectations, worrying about a project or taking on more work than you can handle -- in other words, working too hard. Because it can lead to serious conditions, such as depression and heart disease, you should seek professional help if you are experiencing burnout.


10. Your "reward" for completing the job will be more work.What happens if you consistently go the extra mile to do exceptional work ahead of schedule? Oddly enough, many companies "reward" their hardest working employees with more work. Instead of time off, a bonus or another benefit, productive employees are only given more work to do. If this happens in your company, it's no wonder you're not feeling motivated to work hard.


http://jobs.aol.com/article/_a/10-reasons-youre-not-getting-your-work/20080221112109990002?ncid=AOLCOMMjobsDYNLprim0001

The Staggering Evil of My Phone Company

One of the value added services I provide to my clients is to have a look at their phone and Internet bills in order to hopefully give them an option that saves them money or gives them more of a bang for their buck. Only after reviewing no less than 200 plans and bills have I begun to realize that the telephone companies do their best to make these plans and services as confusing as possible. To make matters worse, in their attempts to clarify their billing and itemizing charges they actually confused the consumer more. I get to say this because the review and renewal of my own plan just came up and I find myself looking for someone to explain why I made the switch to AT&T from TDS Metrocom to begin with.

I was offered a plan that saved me money for one whole year, and now I either get to argue over rate hikes or I get to go through the hassle of changing providers again.

Here's a thought, be competitive and be fair with your pricing. Then try laying information out in a manner that can be easily understood. You would be amazed how successful this makes you and the high level of customer retention you maintain.

Internet Advertising, Revision 2

Banner ads and intrusive pop up ads have become as much of a part of the Internet as my daily search engine use. Unfortunately, we are now so inundated with advertising on websites that it has all meshed together to become no more than annoying white noise. I sometimes wonder about the effectiveness of website banner ads or pop ups. I mean do people really click on all of that garbage? My assumption is that if you are looking for something in particular you search for it, you don't decide to purchase Viagra while reading up on the coming NFL Combine on ESPN.com.

The whole point of effective Internet advertising is to catch and hold attention and this has become lost in a confusing, annoying sea of ads. Much like the commercials on TV, though, people find ways to ignore them. With the advent of TiVO and DVR's, most people will either fast-forward through the commercials, or change the channel all together and "keep checking back" until their show is back on. Instead, I would rather close a pop up, ignore it, or go to a different website. In other words i always skip the ad.

Internet advertising, revision 2. Understanding how important time is to people, why not figure out a way to pay a person to view an ad or commercial? There are many sites that have now appeared that basically pay you to watch or take surveys, but there is a particular type of site that has hit the scene that I am impressed with.

A few months ago a stumbled on to a site called moola.com. The premise is simple. The site gives you a penny, and by playing games against other human players, or a computer bot, you can risk as much of your balance as you would like. The bigger the risk the bigger the payout. However, what happens if you lose all of your money? The site will keep replenishing your first penny. In other words, you can never go broke. Where, then, does advertising enter the picture? Before each game you play the players are subjected to a sponsored video, usually 20-30 seconds long. Once the video completes, the game begins. Sometimes you will even be asked a question about the ad and if you fail to answer correctly, it replays it - this makes it very hard to ignore else you will have to watch again. How does the site afford to keep replenishing people's pennies - the advertisers, of course. They have essentially found a way to show people ads and commercials, maintain their attention, and pay them for their time. This made for an effective combination and after a few weeks playing, I knew what commercial I was about to see within the first couple of seconds. The site also fosters a great community of players where people spend just as much time talking as they do playing. I found the way this site keeps people in their seats to advertise to them revolutionary. Moola.com (a link that contains a reference code to my account - shameless!).

Another example of this is a site that I recently discovered called centsports.com. The premise is the same, except the site emulates actual sports betting. Real lines, real bets, but the money is given to you and you watch an ad before every bet you submit. This is the safest betting I have ever seen because if you lose your money the site gives you more.

It's interesting to see how these types of sites avoid being classified as gambling websites because they do not let people deposit money into their accounts, thus the money that is being used is all generated by the site. That aside, I think we are seeing the next evolution of Internet advertising in sites like these.

Provided the site keeps your attention, the ads will too.

Social Networking Websites

On the advice of my marketing company and many numerous friends who took the courageous leap long before I did, I begrudgingly joined the sites of MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Myspace? Complete waste of my time. I see almost no value in the use of Myspace. Yes it is a very popular site, with many adolescence minds collaborating over what Britney's next move should be and what they are currently watching on TV while sitting on the couch. I truly wanted to like being a part of it, unfortunately I was immediately bored and decided to move on.

Then came facebook. Now that they have opened the doors to anyone; no longer limiting their membership to college or high school students, I was able to sign up. As opposed to Myspace, I found myself intrigued more with the interface, usage, and the applications that you can decide to use. I even managed to find quite a few people I have known in my life on there and was able to reconnect with those people whom I had no contact with for years. The look and feel of the site along with all the little fun to-do's it offers had me hooked. Every day I find myself checking my Facebook page wondering what my "network" is doing today. Such a simplistic idea for a site and yet so entertaining. Maybe spending 5-10 minutes a day on it proves that the site is not history changing, but for a site that is growing by tens of thousands a day - that is a lot of time people are spending on their site!

LinkedIn is my favorite from a professional standpoint. I was amazed how many of my peers were on this site, allowing for communication between everyone and the sharing of thoughts and ideas. It's also interesting seeing how everyone is "linked" together - turns out some of my friends and peers know people that I deal with but I never would have known it. LinkedIn allows for quite a Google indexed listing - turns out Google gives LinkedIn a pretty high priority in their search rankings.

Maybe being 30 I do not fully appreciate the power of some of these online social networks - I know there are hundreds more that I will never see or experience, but it amazes me that through the use of technology, we have found better and more efficient ways to be both closer together and further a part at the same time!

G'n'R Wasn't Singing About This

Just a little time for an update today - ironically, it will be an excerpt from a Wiki article:

"Patience is the ability to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset, or to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties.

Impatience is an opposite of patience or having a lack of patience."

When leading a business, it always seems that these two come as a package deal.

Follow the Leader?

It astounds me at the stories that I hear concerning managers and their employees. I sometimes wonder what the purpose of such titles are as "Manager" and subordinate. How is it that a word as simple as "Manager" provides a person with a means to treating others negatively? Understanding that all businesses need structure and hierarchy, I find it confusing how some manage to find their way to a role of leadership when they lack even the simplest of people skills. It makes me wonder how many people need to be elevated to a level of status just to feel as if their day or their lives are complete versus having a passion for what you do and showing it in your daily work.


Leadership is a piece of a puzzle - one necessary to complete the big picture but without the other pieces is incomplete in itself. Leadership is respecting your team members and your employees, not barking orders and dictating with an iron fist. Being a leader of a team doesn't mean you should be good at giving orders, it means you should be good at identifying the best facets of your teammates' skillsets and putting them in positions where they will be most effective and even enjoy. Leaders can spot true talent, not pretenders. Jim Collins ("Good to Great") is a big believer in "getting the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus (http://www.jimcollins.com/lab/firstWho/p2.html)." I couldn't agree more. With the right people on the bus, management is easy.



Next time you are in the position to lead your peers, instead of getting angry or issuing commands try getting opinions and asking what they would do. Examine process, not individuals. Improve your methodology and process so you don't make the same mistakes repeatedly. You will be surprised what a calm, methodical approach will accomplish instead of acting like a hot-headed idiot.

Peace.

Insert Name Here, Small Business Tech Celebrity

Clarity Quest has gone and done it now...

A couple months ago, Kevin Mooney and I attended the recording (can you not say "taping" anymore?) of a local community television program that was titled at the last minute "Technology in the Home and Small Business." This was brought to us from the efforts of our aforementioned marketing company. I have to admit, it is exciting to contribute to such a historic event considering I have never been on TV (/sarcasm). I did work on stage in a previous life, but watching yourself on TV is a little different.

It was a great little Q & A session with our host, Mr. Bob K. I wish they would have left in a bit more of the content - we delve in to some pretty informative issues regarding the small business, specifically although these apparently made the cutting room floor.

It reminded me that my company has made itself a great name with our clients and with all of the new customers we bring on board, by giving them the best in skilled technical and customer service. While I painfully watched myself in this clip, it reminded me that to be a truly good technical company, all it takes is passion for the business - everything else follows suit. Customer service and listening to your clients is what makes the difference. The technical skill should be there no matter what. Set yourself apart by being the "ungeek."

See the video here - it will also be added on the sidebar content. Be nice!

Cited Works: Four Secrets to Always Being Employable

A good quick read - this was stumbled on by my peer at the company:

Never before have Americans been as responsible for keeping themselves skilled and employable as they are today. I tell people to expect to have as many as nine different careers in their lifetime, with an average of three jobs in every one. In short, for those who don't keep a focused eye on their abilities to adapt and grow with the changing workplace, a day could come when it becomes tough to find a "good job."
How do some people always manage to be employed and on track for continued success? They follow the four secrets to staying employable.

1. Keep your definition of a "good job" reasonable.

As we progress professionally, we acquire skills and experiences that often afford us greater opportunities in terms of salary and benefits. The problem lies in making the assumption that once we are offered a larger compensation package that it becomes the starting benchmark for any job we take in the future. The result is the "golden handcuff effect" - a sense that we are held hostage by our current job because there's no place else to go.
Smart workers know each job opportunity provides criteria that must be weighed differently against our wants and needs. Staying employable means simplifying our list and planning for the day when we won't have the same level or type of perks. This keeps job options more plentiful and movement to new positions easier.

2. Use the "3x3x3 rule" to create and implement your own professional development strategy.

Forget about waiting for your annual review; smart workers take the review process into their own hands. Assess your professional strengths and weaknesses. Then build a game plan to leverage the first and minimize the second, you can identify how you plan to stay employable. I encourage individuals to follow the "3x3x3 rule" for skill development:
A. Choose three skills you want to enhance.
B. Identify three ways in which you could learn and grow each skill.
C. Articulate three examples of how you can demonstrate your enhanced skills in this area to your employer.
By taking professional development into your own hands, you remain focused and in control of your employability.

3. Be the "go-to" person for something employers need.

Like depositing into a retirement fund, employees use the early part of their careers to develop skills to accumulate professional wealth. Sadly, after a decade or so, some employees believe they've earned the right to live off of the interest accrued from their efforts. Mid-life often brings about changes in how an employee wants to allocate his or her time (ie. want more time with a spouse, family, home, hobby, etc.). Smart employees know this doesn't have to diminish the quality of the time they put into their careers. To stay employable, focus on being the "go-to" person for a particular problem, task or technique. Building subject-matter expertise in a specific area that's in demand within the workplace will create a personal insurance policy that ensures you'll always be the "go-to" employee who's in demand.

4. Create a board of advisors for your company-of-one.

Smart individuals don't do surgery on themselves, pull their own teeth or represent themselves in legal matters. They defer to professionals who have the training and expertise that gets the best results. Smart employees do the same with their careers. In an age where employees are in essence a company-of-one -- responsible for keeping the services they deliver in demand -- doesn't it make sense to seek the counsel from those who can help you make the best career decisions? Smart employees solicit the advice of individuals they feel approach career success in a manner they admire. Whether it's a relative, co-worker, former manager or even a professional career coach, seeking advice from those who know more than you will give you the perspective needed to be proactive and successful at staying employable.
Career paths are full of twists and turns; they're rarely straightforward. To avoid roadblocks, use the four secrets outlined above and you'll be able to make course corrections that will help you stay employable.

J.T. O'Donnell, career development specialist and co-author of the nationally syndicated workplace column "J.T. & Dale Talk Jobs" distributed by King Features Syndicate.
Copyright 2008 J.T. O'Donnell

(http://jobs.aol.com/article/_a/four-secrets-to-always-being-employable/20080130112709990006?ncid=AOLCOMMjobsDYNLprim0001)

A great article- one that my team will be seeing very soon! (No I did not see this hunting for jobs!)

The Evening Television Patience Tax

In my watching of American Gladiators: The Grand Finale, did I realize that slowly but most assuredly my patience was slowly seeping from my body - through the couch and floor. I reminded myself that I like this show, yet still feel like I should be doing something more productive on my Sunday evening. I miss the writers - but more importantly I need something better to do!