She gets England, I get the Lavatory!

I no sooner got done writing the post about trying to find something to do while my wife is out of the country and 'POOF!', and idea came to HER head! "Why not start doing the bathroom upgrades like we talked about last summer?", she said. Why not, at this point it'll be the least boring thing I'll need to do all month. I figured that I'd do the bathroom medicine cabinets cause they're easy as pie to do. Oh Noooo.... she hands me this catalog full of bathroom vanities and faucets. I didn't want to get into plumbing projects because I'll still have to go to work every day now that I canceled my vacation and if I hook something up 'not quite right' in the water pipes I'll be able to swim to the lavatory when I got home. I'm sure I'll have no problems doing it but it's more than I wanted to get into all at once with no one home to run to Lowes if I need to hold a leaky pipe or something. In Florida you more often than not have to turn off the water outside the house while you work inside. What a pain in the ...........! (Guess what that word was.)

I hope she remembers to bring me back some Marks and Spencer's milk chocolate digestive biscuits, they rock!

Vacation? What's a Vacation? It's what Other People Get.

I was all set, I thought, to head out to Vegas with the wife in hand but of course something ALWAYS happens when you make plans. I shouldn't make light of it because someone passed away overseas and my wife and her mother will be in attendance, as they should be. It's been hectic around here while they scramble around packing and getting last minute errands done, like this morning. My wife wanted to get a 'quick' haircut so she went to our local Terrific Sams and walked right into it. She had to sit there for 45 minutes listening to a wedding party get their hair cut and listen to the bridesmaids gowns talk and the guys tuxedos talk and the 'oh she's so cute with those sweet curls' talk. She finally got done and out the door and is right now getting back into her packing.

Vegas for me it isn't, this time. There will be a trip to sin city, Nevada in the near future, I hope. For now, I'll try to come up with an alternative project to keep me busy around the house, when I'm not at Hooters for the wings!

Basic Vacation Necessities? Today - Yes!

Okay, I know I have to shed a couple for the vacation and YES, I'm still planning on Vegas, baby! I suppose that I should start thinking about the things I'll need versus what I think I'll need. Everyone who goes away always, I mean ALWAYS, brings too many things. How many shirts do you need for the casino or the pool? How many pairs of shoes and socks are needed when the hotel has facilities? Why are you packing a hair dryer? When was the last time you were in a hotel that DIDN'T have a hair dryer in the bathroom. I know the answer so don't say it! Today's necessities are electronic. We can't leave our home base without some vestige of 'staying in contact'. That's why almost all 'decent' hotels have free WiFi for the guests to use. They understand that we are just visiting and if they want us to come back they'll have amenities for our Blackberry and our laptop computer, so that we can 'stay in touch' without having to be there. They also know that if something very important, work wise, comes up we can address it without having to leave the hotel earlier than expected, allowing them to collect on our full stay. I'm not going to go into the MP3 players and the like because it's rude to wear headphones while your winning on the slot machines! I'm looking forward to this trip more and more every day.

Vacation and Over-Weight are Not a Good Combo!

Now that I've decided on my vacation plans the hard part enters the picture, what to do about a few extra pounds that magically appeared! It's not like I sit in front of the television and pig out on pork rinds or big bowls of ice cream, I don't. However, since the economy has been a bit 'touchy' shall we say, I have been spending more time at work reinforcing my position in the company and less time keeping in shape. My biggest fear is that I won't be getting much time between now and my proposed flight to lose much of anything except for some dark hair on my head. I have been looking around for alternatives but I've heard lots of stories about banned supplements and stuff that does nothing except empty weight from your wallet. I think I'm going to lean towards a fat burner since the other types of weight loss products don't seem to get a lot of respect. I know if I can get my metabolism up the weight will come off, with sensible eating also, that goes without even saying. There are many names they come by such as Fizogen, MMUSA, and Apidexin. I recommend you read the data on them and make your choice as I have. I actually went with the Apidexin because I liked what I read and put a link for you to read as well. The decision is yours to make, choose wisely.

I think I've Decided on the Vacation I Want!

I wrote a couple of articles a while back expressing my desire to take some time off, if and when finances permitted. The deals are rolling in because a lot of people just aren't taking the offers and they're so good right now, they all want our business! I think I've decided on Vegas this time. I've never been west of Florida and I've always wanted to see LV, just never had the time to book it. Since I'm looking for a 'taste' of Vegas without all the glitz, I'm leaning towards the Red Rock Hotel and Casino. It's just far enough from the hustle and bustle of the strip and still close enough to Red Rock Canyon. I've always wanted to leisurely take in a canyon, and still do 'stuff'! I did have other choices like the Riviera, Tropicana, Sahara, MGM...it goes on and on, all very nice establishments. I just want to have it all at arms length this time through. I'm looking forward to experiencing the casinos and shows, not looking forward to losing any money and hopefully I'll win instead. It would be great if I won enough to pay for the trip and sides and ya, a little bit extra for a rainy day would be nice!

Eye and Vision Problems Affect Everyone's Eyes

That was kind of snappy, in a weird kind of way but it does express a concern that affects most Americans. I say most Americans because this country has become a mecca for the 'electronic lifestyle and lively-hood'. We are a nation of squinters and 'wide-eyes', always trying to get one more word off the screen before rubbing our tired eyes into submission.

"Vision problems are only a problem when you can't see anymore!" said the blind man.

Poor wisdom at the very best. Eye problems can be minor issues when treated promptly, especially with young children. I have personally made eyeglasses for several children under 5 years old and what a treat when they see clearly for the first time and your there to be in on it with the parents. Most eye problems are corrected either with eyeglasses or contact lenses. I personally prefer the eyeglasses to the contact because I've seen some bad things happen with poor care of contacts. I have also seen first-hand a benefit of contacts as well. Like the time when my mother-in-law was trimming a bush outside, a pointed leaf hit her square in the eye and scraped the side of her sclera(white part) because the contact stopped the initial prod of the branch from entering her eye dead on. The hospital said she was very lucky to have been wearing them. If she was wearing eyeglasses she would have saved the trip to the hospital altogether! I'm going to say it again, hind sight is 20/20!

There are other issues that can be detected through an optometric examination such as diabetes and high blood pressure, just by looking at your eye. I do recommend getting a dilation exam once every two years, unless your doctor recommends sooner, for the overall health of the eye. This is where the doctor can look into the eye, non invasively, and make sure everything looks as it should. If it doesn't, get it fixed sooner than later! Any other questions should be directed to your personal eye care professional to answer.

Xmas Gift List is GOLF and SOCCER SPORTS EQUIPMENT

That's right, it's that time of year again where the stores are your second home. I have an uncle and two nephews to buy SPORTS EQUIPMENT for! How LUCKY can a guy get? How EASY could it be? Uncle always has one word when you ask him what's up, it's GOLF! The same goes for the nephews when you ask them what they're up to, SOCCER! I keep trying to tell them that there are other words in the Websters Dictionary but I get blank stares like I'm from Pluto or something. Oh, should I say Pluto since it lost it's planet status? Who cares! I just have to make sure I know what they HAVE and find out what they WANT! It would be catastrophic to present them with sports gifts that they already possessed. I just have to make time with the aunt to get the wish lists from her so as to avoid a faux pas at Xmas. Wish me luck and I hope I have some credit left when I'm done shopping.

An LCD HDTV THEATER at Home for MOVIES . What's Missing?

A good friend of mine just got the deal of a lifetime recently when he bought a spec home from a local builder. Since the housing market got a bit 'gray' lately he was able to shop around and get a great deal on a home to his liking at a price he could live with, only he got a little more. He got a home theater room! HOME THEATER ROOM! You have to be kidding me. Only millionaires and Hollywood types on TV have those! Needless to say I'm a bit jealous of this situation. He even saved enough on the closing to buy an LCD HDTV for his MOVIES. Doesn't anyone use whole words anymore? To finish his room he now has informed me that he needs to get home theater seating to go into his home theater. I said sure, no problem, so long as I had dibs on one of the chairs. Since he is the host he can supply the popcorn! Oh, by the way, what was missing? He has no MOVIES! lol

Got a COLD , FLU , FLU SHOT ? How About Prevention?

Every year we go through the same, but different, routine of being warned that a tough COLD and FLU season is on it's way. Yes, I got my FLU SHOT for whatever strains of the FLU may be anticipated for this years cocktail in a syringe. I'm getting a bit tired of having to do this every year when just by taking a few simple precautions by EVERYONE we could, for the most part, be almost germ free. It may sound disgusting but I have witnessed many people, even well dressed people, bypass the sink while using bathrooms or using reusable handkerchiefs instead of disposable paper tissues. I know, "I'm in a hurry but I showered, my hands are clean already" or "I get a clean handkerchief every morning". Okay, we are not able to stop these germ spreaders because you can't have Germ Police stationed at key health spots all the time. I personally don't want to live in a world that would even consider this by the way. The message I'm trying to clumsily make here is that WE spread the germs through apathy. You know, "I have a cold and so what! I don't feel good, don't bother me with this!". Well once you touch that door or sink handle and have the need to rub your nose or eye BEFORE washing your hands you have just shared their illness. COLD and FLU germs can live on surfaces a long time before becoming useless and they can't wait to get into your moist blood stream and grow. There has to be a better way to deal with these sweet peoples habits. I found a few things on the Internet that looked hopeful and some that were junk in a new wrapper from years ago. One of the items from EcoQuest intl actually cleaned not only the air but physical surfaces too. I thought that was really good, especially when it came to the 'unwashed toucher's' out there that could care less about leaving the knobs and handles they touch contaminated for us to enjoy like they do. I also saw those ionizers that just cleaned the air and were mostly tailored to the smokers or bad chefs that pollute the house air. They work but are limited and don't always justify the expense involved. I know places like Shaper Image cater to these items but the prices are very high there for a single use item. I like to buy multi-taskers that give me more bang for the buck. If an item can clean my air AND surfaces that is a wise purchase! FLU SHOTS are still a good fall-back for your time at work though!

Commission is Income and Income is Money for You

There are an huge selection of Internet marketing ventures to chose from on the world wide web and if your like me you'd like to find a 'hot' direction to follow. If you find a 'hot one' just let me know. I can tell you right now that you will not find it. Nobody who does business on the Internet jumps right into it and makes a huge commission right away, has bragging rights that they had untold income and money flowing out of their pockets. The real money makers earned their income by doing their homework and followed the steps. The first step is to get people to your website, if you don't you'll need that Walmart job after all! The real 'money makers' went by the numbers and took the steps that were required so that the income continued after the initial money transacted to them. One hit wonders are here and gone just as fast. If you want to create your own stable business, either from referrals, links or sales you will need some solid support and direction. One such piece of business advise I came across was from an Internet businessman named Stone Evans. He had some software that made sense of everything. You still have to do you homework and research for your niche but with his help and your determination there's no reason why you can't benefit as well. I'm still going over my material because I don't want to be doing this when I'm 70 or so, not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just that I want to spend some time fishing and doing things that I've been putting off while I hold down my 8-5 daily ritual. I want financial independence ASAP and I'm determined and so should you.

Healthcare , Health Insurance and Medical Administrators

I would have to say, without a doubt, one of the most difficult places to be employed, let alone be responsible for, is a health care facility in these times of varying insurance coverage and medical predispositions with so many people looking for affordable healthcare. I did work for a Health Maintenance Organization in the Boston area for several years when things were going along pretty well and they were considered the 'good times' and working conditions were nice, to say the least. This was before the economic crunch that we have been spiraling into for the past several years where health care insurance is getting harder to get every day. In these environments the management of these medical facilities becomes ever more important, not that it was ever less important, to attract and retain top medical talent such as surgeons, medical doctors and support personnel such as LPN's, RN's and CNA's and administrators with their support staff to name but a few, or so. I was reading some trade publications and came across and intersting article about one such person, an administrator named Dan P Neumeister, out of Chico, CA. This gentleman wears many, many hats in the course of his work days. I was noting how prolific and savvy one must be in todays demanding health care field with associations, past administrative experience, and higher education that never seems to come to an end. I tip my hat to all of those dedicated people who basically devote their lives to their professions in health care as it can be demanding and rewarding at the same time! Good job guys and gals!