The long weekend that started this holiday season has passed by and now the holiday madness has begun. Most people had a nice 4 day weekend which I was able to utilize very effectively on cleaning and getting all my holiday shopping done! I am very impressed with myself that for the first time in history I have ALL my holiday shopping done the first weekend after Thanksgiving. Impressive right?
As I’m sure everyone knows this weekend was Black Friday. A day that is filled with crazy people lining up in front of stores at 3am for a deal, people willing to fight over children’s toys and totally loose human courtesy to get what they THINK is a good deal.
Friday morning I was off from work and decided go buy some decorations for the apartment since now I live on my own. I wanted to decorate the inside and the outside of the apartment to give us a nice warm holiday feeling. First I went to the Christmas Tree Shop where I bought most of my decorations. Christmas Tree Shop is a really great store where you can get decent quality things for a VERY cheap price. I have never seen a store beat prices of competitors like the Christmas Tree Shop does. The store itself isn’t the best when it comes to customer service or everything being beautifully on shelves but hey you have to sacrifice somewhere for a good price.
After the Christmas Tree Shop I said oh what the heck lets go to Walmart and see if they have any ornaments for our first Christmas tree. When I got to the store they had all this equipment outside of the store to control lines and customer flow but lucky for me most of the crowds were already gone when I got there. The store was a disaster! Nothing was in its right place, people were scrambling for any leftovers of electronics, nothing was marked with the right price so needless to say I got frustrated and left empty handed.
On my way back home I thought back on the prices of things and realized how silly people are on Black Friday. You think you are getting a deal on things but in reality you are not. If you are a smart, clever shopper you know that you can get everything cheaper online these days. Shopping on places like Amazon or E-bay saves you a lot of money if you know how to shop well. For example I am getting my dad a GPS for Christmas. At Walmart the item was $193 but on Amazon it sold for $153.
If you want to be an event smarter shopper I would recommend not only shopping online but to also look for savings coupons on websites such as Dealigg, FatWallet or CouponCorner. There you type in the store that you are sopping at and it gives you all the coupon codes you need to save on certain items. It’s really that simple.
In conclusion on my Black Friday ranting, please do your researches before you buy. Everyone loves savings and if you can save $20 on each gift you guy this season more power to you. You can get yourself something nice with your savings so that you have something more to show off to your friends than grandma’s sweaters! Happy holiday shopping!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Bermuda, Bahama, Come On Pretty Mama...
I haven’t had a chance to write a blog in a while because I have been away for a few days. I have been fortune enough to take a 7 day cruise to the Bahamas, Dominican Republic and the Virgin Islands. We had beautiful weather and a great ship. The vacation could not have been any more perfect than it already was.
If you are looking to go on a vacation I would strongly recommend going on a cruise. Cruises in my opinion are worth the most for your buck. In one price you get all the food and entertainment for free and you literally have a buffet of food open for you 24/7. Not only do you have unlimited amount of food but you also have entertainment every night also for free. The time goes by slow because you are doing so many things that you don’t notice the time. At the end of the day you realize how many things you have done and surprise yourself that you fit it all in one day.
First we arrived in Samana, Dominican Republic. The country is beautiful but outside of the tourist areas it was very run down and poor. On the boat they offer island excursions but I would strongly recommend waiting once you are off the boat to do tours through the locals. Yes, it may be less reliable sometimes but you almost save 50% on all the activities off the boat. For example a tour on the boat of the island cost $69 per person but off the boat we paid $50 for 2 people. I think that the tour off the boat was a little better because we were shown around by the locals who really know and live the culture they were able to pass onto us.
The second island we stopped at is St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. This island was mostly for shopping and seeing around town. It was basically like Key West, Florida. Since it is owned by the USA, not much was different than Key West. We did some shopping and came back on the boat to explore and spend time in the sun by the pool.
The third island was Tortola, British Virgin Islands. On this island we took a tour with the locals of the island and the island was just beautiful. The island was mostly made out of huge mountains and a lot of palms. When we were driving though the town the roads looks very dangerous. It made things a little awkward because they drove on the opposite side of the road. In addition to that change they didn’t use any road signs like we do. If they were going to pass you on a street or turn you don’t use blinkers you just honk your horn really loud.
The last island we arrived to was a private island called Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. This was by far my favorite island. The water was as clear as post cards truly show it and the water was really warm. We went snorkeling on this island because I couldn’t pass this clear water. Even though we didn’t go snorkeling deep we saw a ton of beautiful fish. I think I even saw Nemo! At the end of the trip I felt that 7 days is a perfect amount of time on a cruise. If I was to be there any longer I wouldn’t appreciate the adventure as much because you get too spoiled.
Tomorrow is back to work day! I probably have a ton of work and e-mails piled up for me so I better lift up my sleeves and get to work! It’s always good to bring your best foot forward after a vacation in a work place so people see that you can handle a large load of work.
If you are looking to go on a vacation I would strongly recommend going on a cruise. Cruises in my opinion are worth the most for your buck. In one price you get all the food and entertainment for free and you literally have a buffet of food open for you 24/7. Not only do you have unlimited amount of food but you also have entertainment every night also for free. The time goes by slow because you are doing so many things that you don’t notice the time. At the end of the day you realize how many things you have done and surprise yourself that you fit it all in one day.
First we arrived in Samana, Dominican Republic. The country is beautiful but outside of the tourist areas it was very run down and poor. On the boat they offer island excursions but I would strongly recommend waiting once you are off the boat to do tours through the locals. Yes, it may be less reliable sometimes but you almost save 50% on all the activities off the boat. For example a tour on the boat of the island cost $69 per person but off the boat we paid $50 for 2 people. I think that the tour off the boat was a little better because we were shown around by the locals who really know and live the culture they were able to pass onto us.
The second island we stopped at is St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. This island was mostly for shopping and seeing around town. It was basically like Key West, Florida. Since it is owned by the USA, not much was different than Key West. We did some shopping and came back on the boat to explore and spend time in the sun by the pool.
The third island was Tortola, British Virgin Islands. On this island we took a tour with the locals of the island and the island was just beautiful. The island was mostly made out of huge mountains and a lot of palms. When we were driving though the town the roads looks very dangerous. It made things a little awkward because they drove on the opposite side of the road. In addition to that change they didn’t use any road signs like we do. If they were going to pass you on a street or turn you don’t use blinkers you just honk your horn really loud.
The last island we arrived to was a private island called Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. This was by far my favorite island. The water was as clear as post cards truly show it and the water was really warm. We went snorkeling on this island because I couldn’t pass this clear water. Even though we didn’t go snorkeling deep we saw a ton of beautiful fish. I think I even saw Nemo! At the end of the trip I felt that 7 days is a perfect amount of time on a cruise. If I was to be there any longer I wouldn’t appreciate the adventure as much because you get too spoiled.
Tomorrow is back to work day! I probably have a ton of work and e-mails piled up for me so I better lift up my sleeves and get to work! It’s always good to bring your best foot forward after a vacation in a work place so people see that you can handle a large load of work.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Life Lessons
Every day you learn something new that you may not have known before. It always seems that whatever age you are, you know everything but that is far from the truth. College teaches you theoretical things but little do you know how much the work force teaches you. I myself have learned certain lessons lately from watching people and getting involved myself and I have to share them.
Lesson Number One: Promote Teamwork
We were taught since we were children to work as a team, share and that there is no I in team. As we grow up we get teamwork homework assignments, work as teams in groups and learn how to better interact with others. You would think that by the time we reach adulthood we got this teamwork thing down right? WRONG! From witnessing people and seeing how some people really interact in a workplace its difficult to see how people still do not work in teams. There are certain people who will always try to be independent in hopes that it make them look better. There are people who will purposely do certain things to make another person look bad so that they can point out how great they. Little do they know that good managers will always spot the good guy without help from others.
Teamwork gets you further than working alone. When trying to work as a team don't look at each others and what one person is doing wrong versus what you are doing better. What is important in team work that everyone is looking in the same direction. As long as a team has the same goal in mind everything will fall into place. Coaching people along and teaching them what you know shines more to a manager than one person complaining about another. Being a team means supporting one another and making sure the work gets done.
Lesson Number Two: Don't Get Involved in Drama
Nothing is worse in a workplace than drama. Working with students I see a lot of drama on a daily basis. Whether the drama is between two students, students and educators, students and administration or between two co workers. Whatever it may be it never looks good on you. Drama causes issues which causes a team to loose its focus on the goal of the organization. Its one thing to be part of a dramatic event but its even worse when you get involved and its not even any of your business.
All in all, don't get involved! It is much beneficial for you to keep your name clear of drama and issues in the workplace if it does not pertain to you. When it comes to running programs and events your manager will be more opt to choose you for the job because he or she knows that you can get along with everyone. Not being involved in workplace issues shows that you can solve issues easily and you can be relied on. Then when some problems escalate to bigger problems you can feel good that you didn't have to be in the middle of it.
These are my two lessons for today. Sometimes we have to learn these things the hard way and sometimes we are lucky when someone warns you about them ahead of time. There are many times I think its best that we learn some things the hard way but this time, I hope you take my advice!
Lesson Number One: Promote Teamwork
We were taught since we were children to work as a team, share and that there is no I in team. As we grow up we get teamwork homework assignments, work as teams in groups and learn how to better interact with others. You would think that by the time we reach adulthood we got this teamwork thing down right? WRONG! From witnessing people and seeing how some people really interact in a workplace its difficult to see how people still do not work in teams. There are certain people who will always try to be independent in hopes that it make them look better. There are people who will purposely do certain things to make another person look bad so that they can point out how great they. Little do they know that good managers will always spot the good guy without help from others.
Teamwork gets you further than working alone. When trying to work as a team don't look at each others and what one person is doing wrong versus what you are doing better. What is important in team work that everyone is looking in the same direction. As long as a team has the same goal in mind everything will fall into place. Coaching people along and teaching them what you know shines more to a manager than one person complaining about another. Being a team means supporting one another and making sure the work gets done.
Lesson Number Two: Don't Get Involved in Drama
Nothing is worse in a workplace than drama. Working with students I see a lot of drama on a daily basis. Whether the drama is between two students, students and educators, students and administration or between two co workers. Whatever it may be it never looks good on you. Drama causes issues which causes a team to loose its focus on the goal of the organization. Its one thing to be part of a dramatic event but its even worse when you get involved and its not even any of your business.
All in all, don't get involved! It is much beneficial for you to keep your name clear of drama and issues in the workplace if it does not pertain to you. When it comes to running programs and events your manager will be more opt to choose you for the job because he or she knows that you can get along with everyone. Not being involved in workplace issues shows that you can solve issues easily and you can be relied on. Then when some problems escalate to bigger problems you can feel good that you didn't have to be in the middle of it.
These are my two lessons for today. Sometimes we have to learn these things the hard way and sometimes we are lucky when someone warns you about them ahead of time. There are many times I think its best that we learn some things the hard way but this time, I hope you take my advice!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Berkeley College has been having quite some fun with all the creative ideas that SGA and Ms. Young, have been coming up with! When I was in college we started doing the JDRF walk and collecting donations for JDRF. We had a ton of fun doing this so I noticed that the tradition has continued. I have to find out how it went this year but I love their flyer and they motto that they came up with! Check it out:
From what I can see Berkeley has gone such a far way just from the time I have graduated. When I look at their website it looks so good that I cannot even remember what it used to look like. We now have all these events posted on the website such as plays, career fairs, art galleries, etc. where before you had to log into Blackboard in order to view any events. I am very eager to continue following up with Berkeley and seeing where it goes next.
One thing I have to give Berkeley huge props for is that it never uses models for its advertising to the students. I feel that Berkeley gets its warm feeling and a trusting feeling towards students because it has true Berkeley students that give examples to potential students on what the college is about. The students on the front page are Berkeley students, the career fair pictures are Berkeley students and event the professors on the page and real Berkeley professors.
You know you can feel good about a college when it’s not afraid to show its own students work. Berkeley is proud of the work that it’s done with its students and that makes us as students proud to be Berkeley graduates.
From what I can see Berkeley has gone such a far way just from the time I have graduated. When I look at their website it looks so good that I cannot even remember what it used to look like. We now have all these events posted on the website such as plays, career fairs, art galleries, etc. where before you had to log into Blackboard in order to view any events. I am very eager to continue following up with Berkeley and seeing where it goes next.
One thing I have to give Berkeley huge props for is that it never uses models for its advertising to the students. I feel that Berkeley gets its warm feeling and a trusting feeling towards students because it has true Berkeley students that give examples to potential students on what the college is about. The students on the front page are Berkeley students, the career fair pictures are Berkeley students and event the professors on the page and real Berkeley professors.
You know you can feel good about a college when it’s not afraid to show its own students work. Berkeley is proud of the work that it’s done with its students and that makes us as students proud to be Berkeley graduates.
Halloween is Around the Corner!
Halloween is just around the corner, and I have been on a Saw watching spree. So far I have watched Saw I, II, III and IV. Today I should see Saw V and then my life will feel complete! It seems like every year Halloween looses a little bit of its holiday feel. I remember when I was a child everyone went trick or treating with their kids! Our town used to have to set a curfew for kids to stop walking from house to house but last year it was nothing like that. We barely got any kids coming to our house or even walking around the neighborhoods.
I’m guessing since the world has gotten a little more dangerous in the past few years parents are a little more fearful for their kids. First it was the envelope powder that killed people, and then it was contaminated candy and let’s not forget all the kidnapped children that have been all over the news lately. Parents instead of sending their children trick or treating send their kids to Halloween parties with their friends that are monitored by parents. In a way I do believe that is the better alternative but it does lose a lot of the Halloween spirit.
Today is already Wednesday and the week is just floating by for me. I work 2 late days so I could accommodate the evening students and this kind of confuses my life cycle making my week go by so much quicker. On Wednesdays I go over student grades and let them know what they have to do in order to pass. Some students care, and some don’t. Some tell me they will do something about it some tell me they will do something about it and never do anything. Sometimes I feel like I am talking to a tree and sometimes I feel like I just want to bang my head over the wall because you can tell someone something 10 times and then when their dropped they come crying to you. I guess that’s just how the world goes sometimes.
I’m guessing since the world has gotten a little more dangerous in the past few years parents are a little more fearful for their kids. First it was the envelope powder that killed people, and then it was contaminated candy and let’s not forget all the kidnapped children that have been all over the news lately. Parents instead of sending their children trick or treating send their kids to Halloween parties with their friends that are monitored by parents. In a way I do believe that is the better alternative but it does lose a lot of the Halloween spirit.
Today is already Wednesday and the week is just floating by for me. I work 2 late days so I could accommodate the evening students and this kind of confuses my life cycle making my week go by so much quicker. On Wednesdays I go over student grades and let them know what they have to do in order to pass. Some students care, and some don’t. Some tell me they will do something about it some tell me they will do something about it and never do anything. Sometimes I feel like I am talking to a tree and sometimes I feel like I just want to bang my head over the wall because you can tell someone something 10 times and then when their dropped they come crying to you. I guess that’s just how the world goes sometimes.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Student Loan Changes
Student loans are something that almost every student has to face unless you are one of the very few lucky ones. Student loans are given to students in need of financial aid based on their income information. Loans com in 3 different ways: Subsidized, Unsubsidized and Parent PLUS loans. The difference between Subsidized and Unsubsidized is that Subsidized is interest free until 6 months after you graduate and Unsubsidized is not interest free.
I have taken out student loans for my education and have finally started paying them off in May. You have a 6 months grace period after you graduate to find a job and get yourself stable so that you can start paying off your loans. When the paying off time comes you have a choice of consolidating your loans and keeping them separate and letting Sallie May send you one statement. Now, the trick with consolidation is that it’s best to consolidate if your interest is more than what is currently offered. For example I have 5 different loans and for all of them I have different interest rates. One has a 2.8%, 4.7% and the rest are 6.8%. It wouldn’t make much sense for me to consolidate my loans right now at 6.8% when I am paying less interest on some of my loans.
The reason I am mentioning student loans is because there have been some changes going on with student loans. In recent months my bank account has been getting charged more from Sallie May than the Sallie May website has been stating. This is like you seeing your credit card bill is $100 but you are being charged $130 a month for your bill. I decided to give them a call and I found that apparently one of my loans has been sold to the Department of Education but Sallie May still manages it.
What this means is that Sallie May is charging my bank account more so that it can also cover the other loan that is under the Department of Education. There is no specific reason why Sallie May has sold certain loans and not the others so there is no need to worry if your loan was sold. They were simply restructuring their company and this is what ended up happening.
If you see any changes in your billing give Sallie May a call as soon as possible so you can find out what is happening to your account. The man I spoke to on the phone said that most people did not get notification about this change even though they were supposed to. It’s important to keep all your information together and keep track of your payments because it’s very easy to lose track of things. Stay on top of your bill and make sure you call as soon as something doesn’t make sense to you about your payments.
I have taken out student loans for my education and have finally started paying them off in May. You have a 6 months grace period after you graduate to find a job and get yourself stable so that you can start paying off your loans. When the paying off time comes you have a choice of consolidating your loans and keeping them separate and letting Sallie May send you one statement. Now, the trick with consolidation is that it’s best to consolidate if your interest is more than what is currently offered. For example I have 5 different loans and for all of them I have different interest rates. One has a 2.8%, 4.7% and the rest are 6.8%. It wouldn’t make much sense for me to consolidate my loans right now at 6.8% when I am paying less interest on some of my loans.
The reason I am mentioning student loans is because there have been some changes going on with student loans. In recent months my bank account has been getting charged more from Sallie May than the Sallie May website has been stating. This is like you seeing your credit card bill is $100 but you are being charged $130 a month for your bill. I decided to give them a call and I found that apparently one of my loans has been sold to the Department of Education but Sallie May still manages it.
What this means is that Sallie May is charging my bank account more so that it can also cover the other loan that is under the Department of Education. There is no specific reason why Sallie May has sold certain loans and not the others so there is no need to worry if your loan was sold. They were simply restructuring their company and this is what ended up happening.
If you see any changes in your billing give Sallie May a call as soon as possible so you can find out what is happening to your account. The man I spoke to on the phone said that most people did not get notification about this change even though they were supposed to. It’s important to keep all your information together and keep track of your payments because it’s very easy to lose track of things. Stay on top of your bill and make sure you call as soon as something doesn’t make sense to you about your payments.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Small Thought
This morning I was at the store and I had a small gift card for it. At first I didn't really know what I wanted to get but then I saw some really pretty fountains and smelly diffusers. Then my train of thought was do I want to get it for my house or do I want to get it for work. After pondering for about 3 minutes I had a thought. My thought was did we ever noticed that we spend more time at work than at home? I was thinking to myself where will I get more use out of it home are at work and the answer was very clear! WORK!
Sometimes people think that work is all about making money but is it? If you have to spend most of your time only to earn money are you working to live or living to work? I believe that many people need to ask themselves these questions before starting college. What is it that you want to do? When do you want to do it and how do you want to do it? What goals do you want to achieve in your life? What time frame do you want to achieve them in? Who do you want along with you achieving these goals. its amazing how many jobs you can narrow down by simply asking yourself those questions.
For example if you want to be a business man and own your own business you have to be flexible. You have to have a partner who will want to sacrifice some things with you. You may not be able to take off from your business whenever you want so many vacations may not always be an option. Maybe you want to travel the world so working for a big corporation that allows you to travel and do business in many places is a great option for you. If you enjoy working with children maybe you need to be a teacher. If you like to read maybe you should be a researcher.
There are many career options for everyone but first you need to ask yourself some very basic simple questions. Doing what you choose to do will take a lot from your life so make sure you re doing something worthy and something you really enjoy. Money is not the most important factor in your life and when you are in a store looking a fountain to put on your desk, make sure its a desk where you enjoy spending time at.
Sometimes people think that work is all about making money but is it? If you have to spend most of your time only to earn money are you working to live or living to work? I believe that many people need to ask themselves these questions before starting college. What is it that you want to do? When do you want to do it and how do you want to do it? What goals do you want to achieve in your life? What time frame do you want to achieve them in? Who do you want along with you achieving these goals. its amazing how many jobs you can narrow down by simply asking yourself those questions.
For example if you want to be a business man and own your own business you have to be flexible. You have to have a partner who will want to sacrifice some things with you. You may not be able to take off from your business whenever you want so many vacations may not always be an option. Maybe you want to travel the world so working for a big corporation that allows you to travel and do business in many places is a great option for you. If you enjoy working with children maybe you need to be a teacher. If you like to read maybe you should be a researcher.
There are many career options for everyone but first you need to ask yourself some very basic simple questions. Doing what you choose to do will take a lot from your life so make sure you re doing something worthy and something you really enjoy. Money is not the most important factor in your life and when you are in a store looking a fountain to put on your desk, make sure its a desk where you enjoy spending time at.
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