Author Archives: alanhs961

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Don’t Know What to Eat on the Road? Try This!

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So, you’ve decided to take a road trip. Yes, you’ve packed some snacks, but didn’t really relish the idea of taking sandwiches for lunch, dinner, or breakfast for that matter. And you don’t like the fast food selections you’ve been passing.

Well, there is a good alternative. You may come across a larger food store, such as an Albertsons, Winco, Kroger, Raleys, Safeway, Walmart, or some other. Many of these larger supermarkets will have sandwiches and other items ready-made and kept refrigerated, just waiting for you! And, at some of these stores, there may even be a full cafeteria of items as well. And if you’re a Costco member, good food is available there, too!

You can stop and eat a hot meal at some. Or, you can select from their refrigerated products, which, in addition to sandwiches, can include wraps, burritos, and salads. And some of the items can be had for less than at some fast food places!

Then, at the same store, you can find individual sized drinks as well. Then you can stop at that nearby rest stop just down the road. Oftentimes there are tables available, along with restrooms. And sometimes they just happen to have an awesome view as well, and you’re set!

I’ve done this and it’s great! Oh, just don’t forget those snacks from home, too! We still like those!

Have a great trip!

If you like what you’ve read here, let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading!  🙂

Unknown's avatar

Try a Cruise This Summer!

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Vacation time is here and there’s a great many choices out there! And one choice is to take a cruise.

A cruise? Isn’t that for the very rich and wouldn’t it be very boring, with lots of old people and boring days at sea? Most likely, the answer is no, and has been for a long time.

There are all kinds of cruises and cruise/fly combos out there. And even the ‘standard’ Caribbean and European cruises don ‘t fit that stereotype.

Advantages of a cruise? There are a great variety of types of cruises. For all kinds of people and tastes. There are cruises to Antarctica, cruises along rivers, more intimate cruises on smaller vessels, cruises that drop you off on a secluded beach or island, where you create your own adventure from there, and so on.

On many cruises, you can visit several places, with most of the time at sea being at night and tours during the day.

Oftentimes, on the larger vessels, you may have a great variety of entertainment and dining options, so that staying on board can be a viable option as opposed to taking tours at each port of call.

Cruise prices are more competitive now and within reach of more people today.

In 1992, I took a Caribbean cruise and it was great! I visited Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guadalupe, Grenada, Caracas, and Aruba, and took day tours at each port of call. And the ship was large enough to provide various entertainment options. It was far from boring and, at the same time, I saw that it accommodated the varying tastes of different kinds of passengers, too. And it shattered my stereotypes of cruising.

A few years earlier, my cousins went on a cruise where they had some beach time on what amounted to “their own beach” for a short amount of time. They, too, had a great time. Another person I know has gone on several cruises in North America and Europe and never had a bad time on any of them.

Are there disadvantages? Sure. Destinations can change due to weather, civil unrest at a port of call, health problems on board, and mechanical problems. One cruise my cousins went on was disrupted by a hurricane. Another person I know, was on the cruise following mine in 1992, and had to miss Caracas due to riots having occurred the day before. And of course there are the norovirus stories and recently the stories of cruise ships that had to be towed back to port.

Fortunately, these are less common than the media would have you believe. So, how to plan a cruise? First, do your research. If you know a good travel agent, use them. If not, find one. Booking a cruise yourself can be fraught with mishaps. An experienced travel agent can be sure that all your connections are viable and, if something goes wrong, they are much more able to help you than you can help yourself.

Also, get a passport if you don’t already have one, and if you do, make sure that there is more than 6 months left to renew it. It will make life much easier.

So, if you haven’t ever taken a cruise and want to do something different this year, book a cruise!

Bon voyage!

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And thanks for reading! 🙂

Unknown's avatar

Don’t Jump In The Water!

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June has just begun now, and the weather has warmed up. With that, the water beckons.

But don’t jump in yet! Unless you live in the tropics or near the tropics, chances are, the water hasn’t yet caught up to the air as far as warming goes.

Generally, the water in lakes and rivers takes longer to warm up from the summer sun than the air does. Where I live, when it first warms up significantly, people head for the nearby rivers and lakes. Unfortunately many jump in and some drown, sometimes even if they are excellent swimmers. This is because of the shock effect of the cold water. This can be exacerbated if the difference between air and water temperature is great. The coldness can easily paralyze the best swimmers if they jump in and are unaware of the temperature difference. In many areas, the water is made colder still if it is coming down from mountain areas that often still have quite a bit of melting snow on them, as in my area.

So, when is it safe to jump in? Well, it depends. Often, in areas where this is a problem, the local weather people on the local news will talk about this. In my area, it is usually late June to early July before the local rivers warm up enough to make jumping in not as dangerous. Of course, that doesn’t mean one should be reckless, as there are still other dangers, such as rip currents , undertows, and underwater obstacles. But, with common sense and a little checking with those who know, you can go and enjoy your local river and lake.

Have a great and safe summer!

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site!

And thanks for reading! 🙂

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Stop and Think: Seeing the Plus Side and Remembering Those Who Contributed to It

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Hi everyone! You know, we are all so busy with our lives and so preoccupied with our own problems, that we often fail to stop and take a mental look at the good things we have. Just as it is a good idea to stop and smell the roses, it’s also a good idea to just stop and think. About the good things and people we have in our lives, and to remember those who contributed to those good things.

Yes, perhaps you’re financially poor, worried about yourself or relatives, or the job, or a myriad of other things. I’m the same way. But oftentimes, through a mixture of personal will and probably some ‘mental luck of being’, I see or hear of people in worse straits than myself or those I care about.  Here some examples:

I hate the fact that I’m short. But then, I’ll see an obese man who has all kinds of trouble doing things that I do without even thinking about it, such as walking far, getting into a small car, tying my shoes, getting in and out of chairs, and I think to myself, ‘Thank God I’m not him’ , and realize that being short isn’t the worst thing in the world.

I’ll see or hear someone who is acting obnoxiously, and thank my parents and others who taught me not to act that way when I was a child, so I wouldn’t make a fool, and worse, out of myself as an adult. Again, I am thankful that I’m not that obnoxious person.

Sometimes, I’ll find myself mentally griping at circumstances in my life, then hear about some people who are being oppressed in one way or another in some other country. I then remember that I live in a free country that’s been kept free by the efforts of those who worked and fought and died to keep it that way. And I am grateful because I know that things could have been a lot worse.

And when I’m on the job and thinking it’s too hot or cold, or the fliers are too bulky, I notice that I am outdoors, and seeing things that I could never see if I had an office job. I also can wear what I like, have near total control as to how I plan my day, when to take breaks, etc., and I have employers who are not micromanaging me. And I am thankful that I have the job I do have, when so many are either unemployed or have jobs that they despise and are too afraid, mentally tired, or too literally stuck to try to change things.

So, do take some time to see the good things you have and remember those who contributed to those good things. You will feel better, trust me.

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Unknown's avatar

Road Trip!

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With summer coming up, one’s thoughts turn to travel, and the idea of a road trip. I like travel in most forms, and when I travel in winter, I do prefer to fly to avoid snow issues, but traveling by car is my most preferred method.

Travel by car allows the most freedom. If I see something along the way that I want to check out, I can! If you’re flying from Las Vegas to Albuquerque, you’ll likely be flying over the Grand Canyon. But stopping to take a picture from the rim is impossible to do from a passenger jet at 35,000 feet, for obvious reasons. But if you’re traveling by car, yes, you can stop to take pictures.

Car travel, (or RV travel, etc) usually involves less hassles. No security checkpoints, no true restrictions on liquids, items, etc. Easier transport of items. You also know how much you can take and know that someone else won’t have taken your trunk space. None of the hassles that you encounter when flying.

You see the scenery along the way when you travel by car. You can see things from a plane, too, but only if you have a window seat, and your field of vision is restricted.

Lastly, but oftentimes most important, you have more control over your trip. You can leave when you want to. And if you need to, changing motel reservations is much easier and often less costly than changing or cancelling flight reservations. Also, there are less likely to be delays caused by things beyond your control, like the airline simply cancelling your flight, even though you are well, and all ready to go, or flight delays due to weather on the other side of the country. (Yes, I have heard of flight delays at an airport where the weather is perfect, because of “chain reaction” delays caused by weather in a location far from that airport!)

Are there disadvantages? Sure. Flat tires or maintenance issues you must handle yourself, though AAA is a great help. It’s slower. Driving from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles, California takes two days. It only takes 4 hours by plane nonstop if you also throw in the 2 hours that you should arrive before your actual boarding time. Arrive at the airport at 7am to leave on a 9am flight and arrive before lunchtime.

Though gas, motel rooms, and eating out can add to the expense of a road trip, I usually find driving to cost somewhat less, especially if your final destination is a friend’s or relative’s house where you’ll be staying, and sometimes eating, for free. If you’re renting a car after the plane trip and staying in lodging that you’ll be paying for at your destination, then the cost of gas, eating out, and lodging almost don’t matter and the overall trip, boosted by the plane fare, may be much more expensive.(Though still worth it if you like travel as I do!)

And, if driving long distances really tires you out or is just not your thing, then travelling by car is its own disadvantage for you.

But, if you don’t mind driving and are fed up with airports, (and your destination is drive-able, since you can’t drive to Hawaii,) think about a road trip!

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading! 🙂

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Why I Like Lists, oh, and Go Check Out My Page of Lists!

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Hi everyone! I’ve added a new page to this site, called, “Page of Lists”. Currently, it has one list right now,  Books and writings every American should read and why. I will be adding more lists in the future for different things, such as the 10 best, 3 highest, etc. And, I invite you to let me know if you have any ideas for lists, and they can be included, so long as they’re clean.

Many of these lists are informational and based more on what I’ve heard and read and on my opinions, but hopefully, they can be informative and entertaining, also.

I first got hooked on lists when I read “The Book of Lists” by David Wallechinsky, Amy Wallace, and Irving Wallace in 1977. It was very informational, without being overly wordy or involved, providing information in an easy to absorb format. I’ve since read the subsequent books that they’ve put out, as well as a few others from different authors covering different subjects.

So, I hope you check out my new page, the Page of Lists, from time to time. There’s only one list there as of the writing of this post, but there will be more.

If you like what you’ve read here on this post, blog, and site, please let others know.

And thanks for reading! 🙂

Unknown's avatar

Your Cubicle is not really Your Space : How Not to Decorate

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So, you’ve got a job in cubicle land and you have your very own cubicle. Yours to decorate as you wish? Well, maybe, but there are some risks.

I once worked in cubicle land and had my own cubicle, too. Now, some people decorated their cubicle greatly, bringing pictures, heirlooms, and other things, while others, didn’t decorate at all. I leaned towards not decorating. At most, I had a picture or two, and maybe a small calendar.

And this was for several reasons, all huddled under the main reason which is that, your cubicle is not really yours. It belongs to the company.

One, departments are often compelled to move, and moving means that you have to unpin and remove all those belongings you brought from home, in addition to all the company material that must be moved.

Second, a cubicle cannot be secured the way your home can. So, that nice little vase you got as a gift that so impresses your co-workers, is also impressive to thieves. And it may not be the nighttime cleaning staff either. It could be co-worker in your department, or one just passing through.

Then, while it may not be offensive to you, that object or picture you brought from home may be offensive to someone else, resulting in your superior coming to you and demanding you take it back home. How your superior does this may or may not be embarrassing to you. And it may go on your employee record.

Or, it could just be a distraction in one way or another, resulting in the same demand being made of you to remove said item or picture.

So my advice? Ok, maybe an innocuous picture or two from home, but try not to go beyond this, and don’t bring anything that you know is against company policy or is too valuable to lose.

And speaking of pictures, it’s a good idea to take advantage of today’s technology, and make a copy, so if the picture at work goes missing, you’ll still have the original on your computer.

Good luck with your cubicle, even though it’s not really yours!

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site!

And thanks for reading! 🙂

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The Mental Hand

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We all have two hands, right? Well, actually we have 3. That’s right, 3.

The 3rd one is your “mental” hand. This is the one in your mind and it can be a great resource for any of us. This is what you use when you really stop and think about something, such as your politics, or you’re wanting that great new thing, or any other serious self-examination of our own lives, something most of us don’t do, or do too little of.

I refer to this kind of mental examination as a “mental hand” because I liken it to the mental equivalent of using one’s hand to really feel what a physical object feels like, or even experiencing something in the flesh.

It can often help if one uses that mental hand before making an important decision. If one is thinking of getting that new big-ticket item, like a house or a car, they are often in a frenzy to get that new item. Oftentimes they won’t think of the negatives that could be involved, starting with the money that would be spent, so they don’t use their mental hand and buy the item.

It doesn’t mean that it is automatically a bad decision, but, because they haven’t thought it through, it is more likely to turn out bad, or at least, any negatives that come up will be more of a shock and will retard the good points more, because, by not using their mental hand, they were mentally unprepared for the shock of the negatives.

But, when one can stop that frenzy, that overwhelming desire to make that purchase, or to stick with a way of thinking or doing, and use their mental hand to really do an honest, unbiased, objective analysis, one is much more likely to make a better decision.

Using the mental hand to its fullest potential means that you can see and ask yourself if you really need that new car, is the political party you support is really the right one, is that employer one you would really want to work for, do you really want to live in that area, do I like my friend Joe Blow because he’s Joe Blow and I’m letting him exploit me because I’m  just shallow, or is it because he really is a great person and friend?

The mental hand allows you to take a ‘time out’ and really consider the important choices, or any choices, in your life. It doesn’t guarantee a good decision, but it does increase the odds for one.

If you’re using your mental hand before you make major decisions, keep doing it. And if you really haven’t, start.

I’ve used my mental hand more and more, and it’s improved my life and will improve yours, too.

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading! 🙂

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As Long as You Know the Score (And Be Sure You Know What You’re Saying!)

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Once, when I was in high school, this guy, that I’ll call “Johnny ABC“, was saying, in the presence of a group, that his family came from a long line of famous people. Feeling a stupid need to challenge him on this, I replied that “The only place I’d seen your name was the name of a street“.

Well, later on, he confronted me and he was not happy. Luckily, I had the good sense to apologize and managed to defuse the situation, though I have the feeling that he harbored bad feelings about this in the back of his mind through the last time I saw him, which was at graduation.

In looking back, I realized several things. One, though I never meant to be insulting when I said what I said to him, it was insulting, especially in the way I said it. It implied that his name was associated with dirt, the gutter, the bad image of any street, so to speak.

Second, what he was saying could have been true, which would have made me look even more foolish in my playing the one-upmanship game.

Third, he wasn’t insulting me or challenging me when he said what he said, but was talking about himself. 

What should I have done? Simple. I shouldn’t have said anything. I learned some important lessons through that experience.

First of all, even if I’m right, I learned it can often be better to keep quiet than to try to correct someone as it can make them feel foolish, especially if you’re among a group of people, and also make you look like you’re always trying to take people down or engage in one-upmanship.

In most cases, as long as one “knows the score”, that’s all that counts. 

Of course, if the consequences of the other person being wrong can be detrimental, by all means, tell him or her! If Joan says she’s sure that the cake someone else brought over has no nuts and you know that it does have nuts and you know Joan is allergic to nuts, you must tell her!

All I’m saying here is to follow the adage, “Be sure your brain is running before you throw your mouth into gear!”

I have found more and more that it’s good to live by this.

Second, whatever the person is saying, they may just be right after all! Just because Johnny ABC’s name wasn’t Franklin, or Columbus, or Lincoln doesn’t mean that they aren’t related to him. Names change through marriage and other means as well. And I certainly didn’t know his family history, so who was I to say that he was wrong?

Finally, I’ve learned through this and some other experiences that I don’t need to be the smartest person in the room and that, if I do know something that I feel must be said, I don’t need to take someone else down to say it! And, whatever the other person is saying, if it’s not attacking me, I shouldn’t attack them.

If you feel the need to retort in a way that puts the other person down, or the need to challenge anything someone else says in order to get the last word or make yourself look more intelligent than the other person, try to quell it if possible, because it will eventually bite you back if you don’t.

And go ahead and have your say, just don’t do it a way that’s insulting or that tries to take someone else down. The idea is not to attack, but to contribute! 

I found that I’ve learned much more by being humble and listening. I don’t usually learn as I speak if I’m just saying what I already know.

So remember, be sure your brain is running before you throw your mouth into gear!

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading! 🙂

Unknown's avatar

Who to Work For, Big or Small?

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Looking for a job? One question to ask yourself is, do I want to work for a big corporation or a small business? This can be more important than you think.

For me, I prefer, in general, to work for small businesses. But first, I’ll tell you what I’ve experienced and read so far.

I worked for a large firm for 13 years, before I left and moved on to take a few jobs with much smaller businesses.

In terms of articles I’ve read, I have found that the vast majority of job and career advice centers around big executive jobs in large firms or in fields that are held to be, lets say, “prestigious”, such as the legal field. However, some of the advice given can certainly be applied to any field or job for any size employer.

So, is it best to work for the big corporation or the small business?

Let’s look at the big corporation first.

Getting that corporate job can be hard and complicated work in itself, and requires a lot from you before you’ve even been hired.

Unless you know someone in the company who is really powerful and loves you to death, you will most likely have to submit an application with a resume and cover letter to Human Resources, or HR. Having spoken with people in the HR where I worked, I can tell you that some HR reps will send an application and resume to the shredder or round file for so much as a period on the resume that isn’t perfectly round! (I’m talking microns here, and believe me, I’m not kidding!)

It’s now coming to the point where they will also require such things as your social media passwords, credit reports, and require that you pay for the checks they do on you as well. Oh, and if you’re currently unemployed, some will now reject you out of hand, also. They also have all sorts of reasons that they will deem you to be unemployable.

Then, you may have to go through several interviews. And, according to various articles I’ve read, wearing business attire and being polite is just the beginning of what you need to do to ace the interview. You also have to read the interviewer’s mind and body language, as well as watch your own, and of course, you can do all of the best things from all of the articles’ suggestions (as they often contradict one another), and still not get the job!

And don’t think for a second that, even if all of the interviewers say that you’re a shoe-in for the job, that you have the job. I was told this by interviewers many, many times, but didn’t get the job after all. You don’t have the job until the company officially says that you do!

Let’s say you survive the application process, checks, and interviews and finally get the job.

Oftentimes, keeping the job, and especially trying to move up the career path in a large corporation means not only trying to present yourself well and doing the job well, but learning to decipher a multitude of hidden messages, dealing with office politics, trying to read the mind of the boss, knowing what words to use and when, and hoping nothing in your past, no matter how innocent, will come back to destroy you.

Now, I’m not saying that this is always the case, but you’re more likely to encounter this when working for a large firm or corporation. But let’s say your unit, boss, and even upper management is friendly and easy to work with and for, there are still some disadvantages.

Rules may be the biggest one. Even if your boss and colleagues just adore you, your boss cannot give you those two extra weeks of vacation, or that raise or bonus you asked for, and that promotion, or even lateral movement you wanted to make may be turned down by upper management or the rules themselves, no matter how much your boss and colleagues are in your corner backing you.

Changes, including layoffs are another. The bigger a business is, the more like a government it becomes. Unless you are really close to the top, you become less a person and more of a cog to the higher-ups. That means it’s easier to force bad changes like layoffs or poor assignments upon the employees. After all, the CEO sees, “employees“, not “John, the loyal employee“. Things become less personal to the higher-ups.

Poor decisions can be made regarding equipment as well, where the employees who have to use said equipment have little or no say or recourse when problems arise.

When I worked for the large corporation, I used to run a roomful of printers and would make sure that various departments had their reports printed and delivered to them. Well, the company decided to get new printers, which is perfectly understandable.

However, these new printers did not perform as well, and had a very bad flaw. If a report was over a certain size, the new printer would literally shut down and fail to complete the job. Now, if the old printer had done this, which was rare, all that was needed was for the printer to be shut down and restarted. The old printer would continue the job from where it left off so that you wouldn’t need to print the whole report over again.

The new printer didn’t do this. It would lose the job, no matter what you did, and would have to reprint from the beginning! This happened one day with a report that was about 3,000 pages and the most important page was the last page, which summarized the whole thing. They never got that page despite several frustrating attempts to get it printed, as well as having the help of the IT department.

Why didn’t the people in charge of purchasing equipment test out these printers at the manufacturer’s for this problem, I’ll never know. Quite possibly, due to the size of the company, the purchasers had no idea of the size of the reports these printers would have to deal with. And, since I was an employee in the field, I could only tell my immediate superiors, which I did. The machines were replaced about a year later, possibly due to multiple complaints, but it may have been solved naturally earlier within a smaller company where those who make purchases for the company have greater contact and exposure to those who will use the equipment.

There are some advantages to working for a larger firm, if you can handle the disadvantages.

Have a bad boss who’s out to get you? In a big corporation, unless he or she is the CEO, they have to be more careful in what they try to do to you, as there are the rules and channels, and they, too, have a boss they have to report to. There is probably a system as well for “skip level” meetings, where you can talk to your boss’s boss or even higher in some companies. And your colleagues might be on your side and, as a group, might have more sway with upper management. This can be especially useful if the boss is new and upper management has the collective conscience to at least wonder why you or your unit has suddenly gone downhill, just after this new boss arrived.

Big corporations can also afford bigger pay, greater benefits, and more perks, if they’re willing to offer them. Being large, they are less likely to suddenly go out of business, but size is absolutely no guarantor of this not happening. Employees of some large corporations in the past have arrived at work to find the doors closed for good, too. But, chances are you may see the writing on the wall sooner. And, if they have several divisions, they may just transfer you instead and use the economic benefits of simply not having an extra building to maintain instead of laying off people, including you.

What about small companies?

Here are the advantages.

They are more intimate. When you try to get a job there, especially if it’s just a mom-and-pop, chances are the owner will be the one to see your application and resume. He or she is probably a lot less interested in keywords on your resume or whether you are right or left-handed, or what your credit score or Facebook page looks like. They are just looking for someone who can man the counter, or sell accounts for them and who will fit in and be reliable, and if they say you’ve got the job, you’ve got the job!

If they really like you, they can give you that raise, extra time off, or other perk you asked for and don’t have to answer to some higher-ups.

Also, they are easier to contact and more likely to seek your input when making business decisions that can impact your job.

And, if they are contemplating letting you go due to economic reasons, they may find another way to survive without letting you go, because they know you personally and you’re not just some far distant employee.

And if they do have to lay you off for economic reasons, they may call you back later if things improve, because they remember you.

Of course, there are some disadvantages, too.

They usually have less money, and may not offer as much pay and probably few to no benefits. And, if times get too tough, you may be laid off and the company may even go out of business.

If you have a bad boss and he or she is the owner or a relative of the owner, you’re probably out of luck.

If you’re the type who has to be constantly rising on the career ladder, you may hit a glass ceiling rather quickly and end up frustrated.

So, these are things to consider when deciding how big or small a company you want to work for. And of course, it’s important to remember that you can encounter any of the advantages or disadvantages listed above at any size company.

So, good luck with your decision and job! Oh, and if you need a resume, see the services page for more info.

If you like what you’ve read here, be sure to check out the rest of this site and blog and let others know, too! And be sure to follow this blog as well. And thanks for reading! 🙂