Friday, April 20, 2007

The art of the road trip

Us_road_signsHave you ever dreamed of taking a road trip across the US? If you have, you're not alone... I, for one, would join you in a heartbeat! If you're considering heading out on the open road, you can't afford to miss The Art of the Road Trip by Robert Isenberg. Check it out at:

http://travel.msn.com/Guides/article.aspx?cp-doc


Friday, April 13, 2007

London 'UK's ID fraud capital' by Mathew Plowright

Stolen_dog_tagDid you know that Londoners are almost three times more likely to fall victim to ID theft or fraud than those living elsewhere in the UK?

Or that the three northern English seaside resorts of Blackpool, Southport and Scarborough, saw a marked rise in the number of reported ID fraud cases, while Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, Llandudno in North Wales and Chorley in Lancashire have also been identified as high-risk ID fraud hotspots?

Check out the UK's top 10 ID fraud hotspots (according to a report compiled from research carried out by credit reference agency Experian) at http://money.uk.msn.com/Banking/Current


Wednesday, April 11, 2007

The Procrastinator's Creed

Guilty_dogDo you procrastinate? I saw a discussion about procrastination on an email networking site that I belong to which culminated in the following Procrastinator's Creed:

1. I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.
2. I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.
3. I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.
4. I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.
5. I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.

6. I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given.
7. I shall never forget that the probability of a miracle, though infinitesmally small, is not exactly zero.
8. If at first I don't succeed, there is always next year.
9. I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind.
10. I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get around to it.
11. I obey the law of inverse excuses which demands that the greater the task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task.
12. I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is wait/plan/plan.
13. I will never put off until tomorrow, what I can forget about forever.
14. I will become a member of the ancient Order of Two-Headed Turtles (the Procrastinator's Society) if they ever get it organized.

I can certainly identify with a few of those... can you?

Friday, April 06, 2007

Caught in the middle?

Egg_salad_sandwichesDo you belong to the sandwich generation? Are you one of those people caring for an aging parent whilst still having responsibility for one or more children under the age of 18?

The combination of an aging population and the fact that many boomers put off having children until their 30's and 40's means that more and more of us are caught in the middle, squeezed from above and below and, literally, feeling like the filling in a generational sandwich.

Read Melissa Segrest's account of one American woman's story of being Caught in the Middle at: http://boomers.msn.com/articleSG.aspx?cp-documentid=385773&GT1=9306.