JJ photo
posted by Michelle at
10:06 PM
|
3 comments
links to this post
March 26, 2007
May 10, 2006
Our Lives Are All About Maintenance
It amazing how much of our time we spend doing maintenance. With all the maintenance, it’s amazing there is ever such a thing as progress, or productivity. Think about it. You know we spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping (OK, some of you survive on less than that, but not me).
Perhaps another 1/3 goes to maintenance. How much time do we spend getting ready for the day? Maybe that averages an hour a day (wide variance here). Then there’s preparing food and eating—-anywhere from ½ hour if you’re a fast food junkie to 2 or even 3 hours a day. There are maintenance errands to be run and tasks to be done, such as oil changes and dentist visits and grocery shopping and bill paying. If you have a pet, there is poop to be scooped and food to be fed and maybe walks to be had (though not so much with a cat). And of course there’s all that time we sit on the john. Gee, it’s a wonder we humans ever get anything else done!
Perhaps another 1/3 goes to maintenance. How much time do we spend getting ready for the day? Maybe that averages an hour a day (wide variance here). Then there’s preparing food and eating—-anywhere from ½ hour if you’re a fast food junkie to 2 or even 3 hours a day. There are maintenance errands to be run and tasks to be done, such as oil changes and dentist visits and grocery shopping and bill paying. If you have a pet, there is poop to be scooped and food to be fed and maybe walks to be had (though not so much with a cat). And of course there’s all that time we sit on the john. Gee, it’s a wonder we humans ever get anything else done!
posted by Michelle at
1:07 PM
|
3 comments
links to this post
April 30, 2006
Frankly, My Dear
Sayings come and go, but "don't give a damn" keeps rolling along.Unlike many emphatic terms, it is not a vulgarism. Damn is a dictionary word with several meanings.
When used emphatically, it alludes to an old Hindu coin that was used extensively in India, the value of which fluctuated greatly throughout the centuries. It reached a high of one-fortieth of a rupee and a low of one-thousandth of a rupee. When the damn was at its lowest, British troopers, because they could get little for it, used its name to describe valueless things or facts. The saying, because of its succintness, has become the leader of forceful speech wherever English is spoken.
Common Phrases And Where They Come From, Myron Korach
Tags:
posted by Michelle at
5:37 PM
|
3 comments
links to this post
April 28, 2006
No More Kicking
Check your tire pressure at a glance. Radio Shack offers caps for your tires' air valves that have a built-in pressure gauge. They come in sets of 4 and cost between $3 and $5.
Tags:
posted by Michelle at
3:46 PM
|
2 comments
links to this post
April 27, 2006
Primerica Recruitment
Went to a Primerica meeting tonight since I had nothing better to do. I had flashbacks to my Vector Marketing (selling Cutco) days. (My now-husband-just-friends-at-the-time bought the largest set from me. He intended to buy one good chef's knife and ended up buying a $400 set. As a broke college student. And we were only friends at the time. And I didn't show him any cleavage.)
Primerica is the marketing arm of Citigroup. Educating folks on investing for retirement and, of course, selling their products/services. But they talked a lot about recruiting others. Selling insurance, mutual funds and such is one thing (I would like educating people about money, course this would be from a biased standpoint, which I wouldn't like), but recruiting friends and family--no thanks.
I think Citgroup's plan is this: Recruit as many people as possible and have those folks sell to as many of their friends and family as possible. Doesn't need to go out further than that, and most recruitees won't last long, but it won't matter. Citigroup isn't interested in making a millionaire out of me--they're interested in getting as many people signed on with their products as possible. But to do that, they've got to emphasize recruitment.
My definition of a salesperson: someone who convinces someone else she is on their side when she is really not.
Primerica is the marketing arm of Citigroup. Educating folks on investing for retirement and, of course, selling their products/services. But they talked a lot about recruiting others. Selling insurance, mutual funds and such is one thing (I would like educating people about money, course this would be from a biased standpoint, which I wouldn't like), but recruiting friends and family--no thanks.
I think Citgroup's plan is this: Recruit as many people as possible and have those folks sell to as many of their friends and family as possible. Doesn't need to go out further than that, and most recruitees won't last long, but it won't matter. Citigroup isn't interested in making a millionaire out of me--they're interested in getting as many people signed on with their products as possible. But to do that, they've got to emphasize recruitment.
My definition of a salesperson: someone who convinces someone else she is on their side when she is really not.
Tags:
posted by Michelle at
8:14 PM
|
23 comments
links to this post
Wasting Time By Saving It
Boy, wouldn't it be convenient, I thought, to print postage directly onto my envelopes during my resume sendout blitz. And Stamps.com has a 4-week free trial offer. So I signed up. They pull you in with "Free $25 postage, Free digital scale, Free supplies kit." So why not.
Besides the fact that after I signed up I learned I only get $5 worth of free postage during the trial period and the rest comes in intervals after the 4-week trial if I remain a paying customer. Sleazy.
But OK, I still get $5 free, right, plus the added convenience of not having to drive the entire mile to the nearest post office.
But by the time I'd installed the program, reformatted my Excel address file to only contain the info I wanted included in the first phase of my blitz, converted it to a .csv file, uploaded that into the program, and gone through their tedious address verification process (in conjunction with the US Postal service, so you can imagine how quick and efficient it is)--well, I've wasted a helluva lot of time.
Damn technology. Lures us into thinking we're saving time and energy and money, when in the end it just complicates things.
Besides the fact that after I signed up I learned I only get $5 worth of free postage during the trial period and the rest comes in intervals after the 4-week trial if I remain a paying customer. Sleazy.
But OK, I still get $5 free, right, plus the added convenience of not having to drive the entire mile to the nearest post office.
But by the time I'd installed the program, reformatted my Excel address file to only contain the info I wanted included in the first phase of my blitz, converted it to a .csv file, uploaded that into the program, and gone through their tedious address verification process (in conjunction with the US Postal service, so you can imagine how quick and efficient it is)--well, I've wasted a helluva lot of time.
Damn technology. Lures us into thinking we're saving time and energy and money, when in the end it just complicates things.
Tags:
posted by Michelle at
2:00 PM
|
1 comments
links to this post
April 23, 2006
Money Laundering
I did some money laundering today. Quite by accident. Seven one-dollar bills. Usually it's my watch that gets it. I've washed (and dried) my watch at least half a dozen times, and it keeps on ticking. And I beleive I paid all of $9 for it at Walmart.
Tags:
posted by Michelle at
8:31 PM
|
0 comments
links to this post