With one week left until the Christmas shoppers are done, our shelves are looking a little bare.  Even though we have been stocking the shelves each day, the warehouse in the back of the store is pretty much empty.

At least it has been until today.  We received our last shipment of stock until the new year, and we have been putting it out all day.  It seems like the truck is pretty much bottomless, and we have been pulling pallets out of there for a few hours now.

I was happy to see some KWA airsoft and Echo1 airsoft guns come in.  They have been selling like hotcakes this season, and the last thing that we wanted was to run out.  There were a few days last week there where it looked like we were getting close, but somehow that disaster was averted.

Needless to say, I can’t wait until January when things get back to normal.  The stress of coping with customers and work here during the holiday shopping season is really getting to me and my patience is wearing thin.

Anyway, I guess my coffee break is over.  Back to stocking shelves for a few more hours here and then I can go home and relax.

Technorati Tags: Echo1 airsoft, kwa airsoft

Employees today are starting to realize that their old degrees and certifications might not cut it in this competitive world. Smart employees are doing all that they can to update their education. This makes them more employable (as well as generally just better at their jobs). It’s not an easy thing to do though.

The tough thing about going back to school right now is that you’ll probably have to make some sacrifices. You probably are not going to want to give up your job since it’s harder than ever to get a new one. As a result, you have to find a way to go to school while keeping the job that you have. You need to commit yourself to your education without compromising your career.

The best way to do this is usually to look for online classes that improve your credibility on the job. Would a Cisco Training Course make you look better to the boss? If so then you should look for a Cisco online training course that you can complete when you’re not at your job. Be willing to give up some of your free time. It will end up benefitting you a lot in the end.

Technorati Tags: Cisco Online Training, Cisco Training Course

A lot of people are interested in selling gold jewelry right now. Some people simply want to gather their scrap gold and sell it to an online pawn shop for some quick cash. Others want to actually get into the business of regularly buying and selling gold. If this is something that you want to do then you need to learn how to do it. But where do you get that kind of an education?

The first thing that you will want to do is to read everything that you can get your hands on about buying and selling gold. There are a lot of books and Internet articles on the topic. Read these with a grain of salt since some are sales-y and others are just plain incorrect. In total, though, they’ll give you a good overview of the business.

Next, supplement what you learn from your reading by actually speaking with people who have done what you want to do. Ask friends, co-workers and people on forums online what their experiences have been with selling gold. Ask a lot of questions. Take notes. There’s no school that you can go to for learning how to sell gold but it’s easy enough to learn if you put in the effort.

Technorati Tags: selling gold, selling gold jewelry

The first thing that I do when I get to the office each day is to make a To Do list. The point isn’t so much to make sure that I get everything on the list done that day. It’s mostly really just to clear my mind.

You see, if I don’t make a To Do list then I tend to have too many things swirling around in my brain. I’ll be in the middle of answering email when I’ll suddenly remember that I need to look into projector rentals and laptop rental for an upcoming convention. Then that will remind me that I need to invoice the client that I met at the same convention last year. And so on and so forth. It all swirls around in my head and I have trouble focusing.

By making a To Do list, I take all of those things out of my head and place them on the page. I don’t need to think about them anymore because I know that the list is there to remind me of what needs to get done. If something new does float into my brain, I add it to the list so that I can promptly forget about it. I think that this makes me more efficient than I could ever be if I tried to keep a mental list of all that I need to get done.

Technorati Tags: laptop rental, projector rentals

Recently when I was at the bar with my friends, I met a guy who works for a video game company, writing software.  It was interesting to talk to him about how the whole process goes.

Of course, not all software companies produce video games.  There are actually a lot of different opportunities these days for software companies and freelancers.

For instance, team management software is catching on right now.  The idea is to help teams — whether that is a sports team, a corporate team, HOA management, or even just friends who get together and party — keep organized and stay connected with one another.  If you want a real winner, design your software to interact with one of the social networking sites that a lot of people use, such as Twitter or Facebook.

Another good example for something software companies can write and make a lot of money on is iPhone apps.  Since the iPhone came out, people are app-crazy — they are always looking for apps to keep track of grocery shopping lists, to help them look up movie times or check the weather, and just about any other task you can think of.  iPhone apps are also usually quite cheap, which makes it easy for people to spend money on them — but since a lot of people buy iPhone apps, you have the potential to make lots of money on them.

Can you think of any other popular software programs right now that software companies or freelancers could capitalize on?

Technorati Tags: HOA management, iPhone, team management software

The first-time home  buyer credit has been in the news a lot lately — it’s expiring and lawmakers are trying to decide whether to renew the program.

Basically, the idea is to encourage more people to become homeowners by giving first-time homebuyers an $8,000 credit on their taxes.  That’s a pretty substantial tax credit for most homebuyers, so it is a big issue.  Proponents feel that continuing the program will maintain the current increase in home sales, whereas allowing the program to expire right now could cripple the  housing market’s recovery during a crucial time.

I think part of the issue here stems from paranoia about people who can’t afford to own homes qualifying for them anyway.  We’ve done a lot to prevent this from happening the same way again — the SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act, for instance, ensures that mortgage brokers are qualified to assist people in finding a loan — but many are afraid that we still haven’t done enough.

Personally, I don’t think there is any harm in continuing the program.  If someone can’t afford a house, theoretically they shouldn’t be able to get a loan these days, so whether they get a tax credit is a moot point.  But continuing the tax credit will help to attract those who can afford a home, which should be our ultimate goal here.

Technorati Tags: first-time home buyer, SAFE Mortgage Licensing

Reducing how much paper you use is good for the environment not only because it saves trees, but also because it cuts down on the amount of paper trash you send to the landfills.  Here are a few ways that you or your business can cut down on your paper consumption.

• Get bills electronically.  Many banks, credit card companies, and other companies that bill you now offer the option of receiving your bills in electronic form.  The more people switch to paperless billing, the fewer trees will have to die for that company’s paper needs.
• Use electronic bill pay.  Many banks also now offer a way to send checks electronically.  In addition, credit cards often allow you to pay online, and companies like PayPal offer you ways to get paid electronically.  These are all great options for reducing the amount of paper you use (in the form of checks, envelopes, stamps, etc.).
• Reuse paper.  If you print stuff, try to reuse paper as much as possible.  For example, I try to print unimportant things such as driving directions and maps on paper that has already had something printed on the other side.  I also try to consolidate my printing as much as possible by using both sides of the paper when I print things such as manuscripts for editing.
• Rethink printing.  It’s also important to think carefully every time you print about whether you really NEED to print this thing.  For instance, instead of making photocopies of the checks clients send me, instead I scan them onto the computer and keep only electronic copies.
• Go paperless.  Every office has documents and other paperwork on a daily basis.  See how much of this you can convert to electronic!  If you are worried about the amount of data it will produce, or how you will organize your documents, check into these data storage solutions or look into finding document management software providers to help you stay organized.

There are plenty of ways you can reduce your paper consumption — these are just a few ideas.  What other ideas can you think of?

Technorati Tags: data storage solutions, document management software providers, paperless billing

There are pros and cons to telecommuting. However, I’ve been doing it for nearly ten years now and I strongly believe that the pros outweigh the cons.

Some reasons that telecommuting is so awesome include:

• I can work from anywhere. If I want to travel to Fiji and work from my Fiji resort then I can do that. If I want to stay in bed all day and work from there then I can do that too.
• It feels like I’m independent. Yes, I rely on bosses and clients and a bunch of other people in my work. However, working from home gives me the feeling that I’m independent in a lot of ways.
• My working relationships are stronger. Oddly enough, I have much better working relationships with my clients now than I did when I worked in an office. Since we’re working from separate locations, we really have to trust each other. That’s a great thing when it works right.
• Appointments are easier to schedule. It’s simpler to see doctors, receive packages from UPS and generally make plans with professionals when I work from home.

Of course, there are all of those things that you usually hear too (like that you can work in your PJs) but it’s these other things that really make telecommuting terrific.

Technorati Tags: Fiji resort, travel to Fiji

It may seem a bit unusual to consider designing a wheelchair lift into a newly built house. The reality, however is this is the perfect time to think about adding this type of functionality. There are a number of reasons why you might want to have this built in during the initial construction phase of your new home.

Depending upon the size and structure of your house, you might find that having access to a lift not only effective for those wheelchair bound, but others as well. Moving items between the various levels of your home can be made much easier when a lift is in place.

And while not all lifts are designed the same, there are plenty on the market that can easily, and safely double as a normal elevator.

Wheelchair lifts come in a number of sizes and capacities as well. Additionally, by preparing for its installation in advance, you will minimize costs, potential damages, and the need to pipe in electricity to an area that might not have had the lift in mind when initially designed.

So if you’re in the market for a new home and have the luxury of hiring an architect, consider the addition of a well place wheelchair lift now rather than taking it on years down the road. If nothing else, the value of your home will definitely reflect your conscientiousness.

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There is nothing quite like sleeping in when you have a big test at school, but somehow I have managed to do just that.  Not only is it frustrating (since I was going to brush up on things before I left home), but now I have to go do the exam on an empty stomach, which isn’t good at all.

But that seems to be the pattern of life for me since I picked this school out of the handful of chef schools that I short listed to be on my wish list.  It wasn’t easy picking out one out of the many culinary arts institutes across the country, but after much deliberation, I went with this one.

From an education point of view, the teaching has been second to none, and I feel that the price they charge for the caliber of school is too low (just don’t tell them that).  I especially love our instructors, and their patience, but also their dedication to making us the best chefs we can be – it is a good feeling to know that your instructors actually care if you succeed or not.

But enough of this rambling, time to transfer busses so time to put the laptop away.  I should arrive to the school just in time for the test – wish me luck!

Technorati Tags: chef schools, culinary arts institutes