Source:  Most common travelers’ tipping mistakes – Travel Kit on NBCNews.com. The most ironic part of the story? McManus’ waiter likely wasn’t even expecting 2 cents—because in Australia, restaurant patrons rarely tip at all…. (Re: tipping in the U.S.) One Australian travel insurance agency has even decided that their clients need educating: “Since Australians don’t tip at home, there is great angst about it, and they have come to blows over it,” says Phil Sylvester of the Sydney-based World Nomads Group. “We finally decided it was a safety issue that needed addressing—as in, ‘Don’t get into a fight, learn to … Continue reading Tipping…..

  Source: Personal Tweets Costing Employers $650B – ABC News. When does twittering at work become frittering away your employer’s time — and money? When your tweets aren’t work-related. Business research firm Basex puts the productivity cost of workplace interruptions, including employee abuse and misuse of social media, at $650 billion a year. I don’t know of any tweets that would be work related as the above article mentions but then I am by no means a Tweeter expert. As a matter of fact I only very rarely visit that site.  It is hard to believe that it has been almost … Continue reading Personal Tweets Costing Employers $650B – ABC News

  Source: Page 2: Scientists Explain Why President Obama’s Calls for Cooperation Meet Resistance – ABC News. In this case, research suggests that how you ask someone to join a community effort may determine whether or not you are successful. Telling the world we need to work together sounds great, but may not be as effective as had been thought. Or as the study put it, “…the frequent and pressing calls for Americans to recognize their shared fate and think collectively may result in unintended consequences of undermining the very motivation they seek to inspire.” This quote is from an ABC … Continue reading Scientists Explain Why ….

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe. ~ Albert Einstein Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ~ Albert Einstein If a cluttered desk is that of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk? ~ Albert Einstein Albert Einstein was one of my first heroes in life. His biography was one of the first “really long” books I read in my early life. I always felt an almost kindred relationship with him.  I think maybe I am an “ignorant” version of him. … Continue reading Stupidity, Insanity & Cluttered Desks……

I just read a news article about the grilling that Hillary Clinton got at congressional hearings lately. One of the questioner couldn’t understand why she did not respond to cable citing some staff level concern. In answer she stated that the State Department gets about 1.5 million cables a year and they are all addressed to her. I hope that answered the person’s question but I seriously doubt that it did. The article got me to thinking about the time we have to do things. There are about 0.5 million minutes in a year. If Hillary spent the entire year … Continue reading Just A Minute…..

  I thought I would use this Photo Saturday to show you some of the custom cabinets I made when I was in the business.   Continue reading Cabinet Shop Examples…

Source:  Whitney Houston’s mom ‘angry’ the star died alone – TODAY Entertainment. The Grammy-winning singer was found dead, face down in her bathtub, at the Beverly Hills Hilton on Feb. 11, 2012, the night before the Grammy Awards. The final coroner’s report listed the cause of death as accidental drowning and “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.” The document also indicated that Houston had cocaine, marijuana, Xanax, Benadryl and muscle relaxants in her system when she passed away. I know Whitney Houston’s death is old news but when I started to putting down some thoughts on drug use in … Continue reading Using Drugs….

For those of you who don’t know what Adobe Flash is it is an add-on to your web browser that allows you to view all the videos around now. But, it also is used to make many of those flashy things that distract you from reading content. Those just bug me to no end! Maybe being deaf I am more sensitive to that flashing than most people are?  To remove this pain I have purposely chosen to do without Flash.  I can tell you my web viewing life is simpler now. I used to have a large post-pad handy to cover up all those flashing ads; that did a pretty good job but it was cumbersome. Continue reading “I Don’t Have Adobe Flash….”

  Source: Republican Re-Branding: The ‘Happy Party’? – ABC News. “We want to build a massive party that’s exciting, that smiles, has a good message across America, and that’s what you’re going to see,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told reporters at a news conference on Friday shortly after he was re-elected to another two year term. Sharon Day, a GOP activist from Florida who serves as co-chair of the RNC, put the party’s new approach even more bluntly: “I will talk to a head of lettuce if I can get them to vote Republican.” I am glad to see … Continue reading It Is Not Just “All Talk”….

Source: Thomas Edison hologram chats at Detroit Auto Show – CBS News. Past met present at the auto show Monday when a holographic image of Thomas Edison was used to promote vehicles from electric truck and van maker VIA Motors. Bob Lutz, the retired General Motors executive who led development of the Chevy Volt, took to the stage at the North American International Auto Show to listen as a hologram of a person portraying the inventor gave advice about the potential for electric vehicles. “Thank you very much, Mr. Edison, and I assure you we will not let you down,” Lutz … Continue reading Thomas Edison hologram chats at Detroit Auto Show…