usa job typing

When I was young my Aunt Joyce would send me a birthday card each year and put a bit of money in it.  I so looked forward to those cards.  We were a large family and being noticed as an individual and special was rare so receiving these cards just made my day -- somebody was actually thinking of ME!  It made quite an impact on me and now that I am an adult I have been sending birthday cards to my friends and family for years now, especially to the children in my life.  There is just something special about receiving a card in the mail. Recently, someone contacted me through my blog to introduce me to an on-line card service.  No, it's not e-cards (I am not a fan of e-cards as one more e-mail cluttering up my Inbox is not a welcome thing), but these are actual hard copy cards that you can customize and send out with your own special message.  The cards are all made with recycled paper and you can even include a gift if you like and this company will send it off for you.  What a conv

Years ago when I was a child, I would canvass door to door with my sister for a charity for cancer research.  Many times we would hear, `My husband gave at the office`as a reason for not donating.  Whether they had or hadn`t I was never sure, but I know today that offices do fundraise for charities and workers are happy to participate. Recently, with the Haitian earthquake disaster, a friend mentioned that one of the doctor`s at the hospital where she works was asking people to sponsor him in a swim for Haiti.  He raised over $1,000.  Another office raised almost $1,000 in a fundraising effort they organized.  The old adage `every little bit helps`, really does.  Imagine how much we could raise if everyone contributed in some small way from door to door, office to office and nation to nation. As a new grandmother to a one year old, it breaks my heart to see the young children left without family and home.  It is so sad, because you know children so young have no idea what is going on. 

I was participating in a Harvard sponsored webinar with my boss the other day.  The topic was on personal branding and they were making recommendations to executives on how to polish up their image.  I guess he thought I needed the help. One of the things they recommended to executives was to use their electronic calendar to leave themselves reminders.  From a personal branding point of view they suggested that if you kept reminders then you would be seen as someone who is on top of things and nothing gets by you.  -- Wait a minute! The thought is good, but...that defeats the purpose of the Scheduling feature in Outlook.  If someone puts in a "birthday" or a "pick up the dry cleaning" reminder in their calendar as an all-day event, to those who are using the Scheduler, it will look like the person is busy for the day and in reality they may have the day open.  When you are checking through the Scheduler, it gives no details on the meeting, just that you are not free

I started a new blog called The Administrative Bloopers Blog   When you have a moment come and visit me over there.  It won't affect this blog, it will still be going strong, but I wanted a place for everything else and it seemed the right fit.  Let me know what you think.

I went to a grocery store recently and when I got to the checkout I had to pack my own bags.  Another time I was trying to find a full-serve gas station to fill up, but there was nothing to be found.  I had to wonder what do people with physical limitations do when they need to get gas? I remember when self-serve gas stations first started.  The men loved it because they could get out and pump their own gas.  The incentive was you saved .002 cents a litre.  That was never enough to get me out of the car!  Now, there doesn't seem to be a difference in price at all, it is just common practice that we have to do it ourselves.  I travel far to try and find a full-serve station, but they are becoming extinct. Recently, I bought a new laptop.  It was expensive,but when I brought it home I had to do all the work to get it up and running.  What is wrong with this picture? The list can go on, but I think you get my drift.  What about in the office, are we asking our bosses to self-serve or