Do You Remember When...

Memory is a difficult thing to define. Before I began writing this post, I looked online for a definition.  I found a few:

·        “The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.”

·        “Something remembered from the past; a recollection.”

·        “Memories that are not consciously remembered can exert control through the subconscious” was a theory put forth by Sigmund Freud.

·        Another interesting definition I found was, “a past that becomes a part of me.”

Whatever definition we find best describes “memory,” it is fascinating to think of all the memories we must have stored in our brain.

We all have memories of sad or extraordinary occurrences in our lives.  For those of us who were around in 1963, a memory to which many of us refer is exactly where we were when we heard that John Kennedy was killed.  I was in high school when the announcement came over the public address system.  I remember that right after the announcement, a male student said loudly, “Now I’ll bet they will cancel the dance tonight!”  I was already stunned by the announcement, but I was shocked that was the first thing that came out of that kid’s mouth.  Having just experiencing the 50^th “anniversary” of that terrible day, it is especially sharp in many of our minds. 

Many of our strongest memories are about where we were when certain things happened.  An odd memory came to my mind a couple days ago.  I distinctly remember that, as a college student, I had just driven up to my home when I heard on the radio that Walt Disney had died.  He was an amazing man, but it surprised me that I had been storing that event in my mind since 1966.

I also remember exactly where I was when I learned that Elvis Presley died.  It was one week to the day after my younger son was born.  Again, I was in my car when the announcement was made on the radio.  I loved Elvis’ music, and I had seen him in concert, so I was upset with the news.

Until I put these memories in writing, I did not realize that these three major memories were all about someone dying.

When I was a young woman, I was sitting at home watching TV when I received a phone call from a local radio station asking me when I learned that my father was missing.  Until that phone call, I did not know that he was missing!  It turned out they had gone hiking in the mountains and were found the following day by rangers.  It made TV news and the newspapers!

A much happier, rather amusing memory I have is the first time I saw The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.  I was watching it with my family.  I was sitting on the edge of the couch closest to the TV watching the program.  We were all laughing at them with their funny haircuts.  In fact, I remember I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face.

We do not remember days; we remember moments.  ~Cesare Pavese, The Burning Brand

Some of our memories are painful, while we enjoy reliving others over and over again.

I would love it if some of you reading this blog would share some of your own memories.

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Best of Show

I have been struggling this year getting into the holiday “spirit.”  The ads and decorations started SO early, and I found it annoying.  Finally, today my husband and I visited our local mall where each year they have the Festival of Trees.  I think many malls have a similar event.

Individuals, non-profits and businesses decorate a Christmas tree and enter it into the “competition.”  There are also decorated wreaths and centerpieces entered.  Community leaders judge the trees and award them first, second and third place ribbons.  The trees then go on sale to the highest bidder, and the money from the auction goes to charity.

More trees than ever were displayed this year, and the mall was decorated more beautifully than ever before.  We are located in the “the old west” in a city that would not exist without the huge military base.  Because of our location, several cowboy themed trees are displayed in addition to patriotic and military related trees.

As we walked down the rows of trees, every one beautiful in its own way, I felt the holiday spirit seeping into my brain.  By the time we left the mall, I was looking forward to the holiday season.

We took a few pictures of our favorite trees.  I’ll share a few below.

 Best of Show

                 Cowboy Christmas

   Dr. Seuss Christmas                

 Patriotic Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving!  I wish you all a safe, warm and wonderful holiday.

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The Battle Between Sweet Potatoes and Yams

There has been confusion between sweet potatoes and yams for as long as I remember.  Sweet potatoes are often mistakenly called yams in the US. The canned  "yams” we find in grocery stores are actually sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are what most of us in the US serve at the holidays. The more red-skinned of the two are sweet potatoes. Even grocery stores produce departments often mislabel them.

They are really two very different vegetables.  I found this article online explaining the many differences between them. 

http://uanews.org/blog/sweet-potatoes-vs-yams

As people gather for meals during the fall holiday season, there are bound to be disagreements, such as the age-old debate: Are those sweet potatoes, or yams?

Kelly Murray Young, an assistant agent of horticulture for the UA Cooperative Extension in Maricopa County, can settle the debate: Sweet potatoes and yams are not the same thing. They aren't related. Not even close.

"The way we talk about plants is different from how we talk about groceries," Murray Young said.

"A green bean is actually a fruit. But in a grocery store, we don't think of green beans that way," she said. "When we think about how living things are related to one another – how humans are so different from jellyfish, for example – we come to these different divisions. Sweet potatoes are as different from yams as humans are from snakes."

It's all in the classification.

While both come from groups of flowering plants, yams, which are starchier than sweet potatoes, are in a classification of plants referred to as “monocots” while sweet potatoes are classified as “dicots”, Murray Young explained. In fact, the more brightly orange and sweeter sweet potato is in the morning glory family while yams are more closely related to agave, she also said.

The rising theory about why there exists widespread confusion about sweet potatoes and yams draws its source from the days of slavery in the U.S.

"What is understood is that African slaves in the U.S. thought sweet potatoes were yams, because they look very similar. That's where the confusion got picked up," she said.

Also, yams are very hard to find in the U.S., save the occasional farmers' market or specialty store, said Murray Young, who, along with her colleagues in Phoenix, hold public workshops to teach people how to grow sweet potatoes at home and in community gardens.

While yams have long growing seasons and tend not to grow well in Arizona, sweet potatoes have a shorter season and thrive. Their edible leaves, which can be used for salads, can be harvested all summer long, with the root ready to eat in the fall, Murray Young said, adding that sweet potatoes generally need only 90 to 100 days of growth before they can be harvested.

"It's hard to find greens that grow through the summer months, and people are becoming more and more interested in eating local and fresh foods," Murray Young said. "And people all over the world eat sweet potato leaves; it is an important part of the diet for people."

For those who generally cook sweet potatoes during the fall season, Murray Young urges people to go for the fresh roots.

"Try sweet potatoes fresh out of the grocery store instead of a can," she advised. "Try different styles. You can add your own sugar to bring it to the sweetness you like, or try it without butter to see how delicious it is." 

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Are You Involved or Committed?

Are you involved in your business, or are you committed to your business?  There truly is a big difference between being involved and being committed. If you are involved, you can pretty much do whatever you want whenever you want.  You can just come and go as you please, work your business whenever you can find a few minutes. Commitment, however, requires dedication, passion, persistence and perseverance.   If you want to be successful, you must be in all the way.  Many people work their business part-time while working an outside job.  They can still be totally committed to their business if they work it on a regular basis with an established work schedule.  Virtually all business owners are involved in the business in some fashion; however, all business owners are not committed to it.   Commitment means setting up a schedule of activities and performing those activities consistently.        It takes more than involvement to succeed.  Commitment is required.  Just like a brick and mortar business, hard, consistent and frequent work must be done.  Internet entrepreneurs must market their products and websites just as store front businesses do.  If no one entered Walmart’s doors or visited their websites, they would collapse.  So, do they sit and wait for people to go to their stores or website?  Of course not.  We see their marketing nearly every day!  Like Walmart, we must find ways to drive traffic/prospects to our websites.  If people do not know about our products or business opportunity, we will not be in business for long. When building your team in the home based business industry, do your best to seek out those who are committed. Those who are involved, but not committed likely did no research about your company, products or opportunity.  It is doubtful that they studied your website thoroughly to learn as much as possible.  Their questions will help you determine whether they have done “their homework.” Those who have read a lot about your products and business opportunity have excitement in their voice; they start talking to you about how they plan to market the business.    Those who are committed don’t just talk about what they plan to do, they do it!  They do not make excuses why they cannot do so.  If, you truly want to succeed with your business, you can do it!  Consider this… We all have the same 168 hours each week.  We sleep an average of about 56 hours a week.  For those with an outside job, they will deduct another 40 hours.  Finally, we will spend about 35 hours of each week commuting (if we work a j-o-b), eating and with personal hygiene. Thirty-seven hours remain to spend with your family and work your business.  Give your family 25-30 of those hours.  Then commit to working 7 to 12 hours working your business.  There are few people who cannot work those few hours.  If you have no outside job, of course, you can devote far more time.  If you work smart and consistently, your business will eventually be successful.

If you are not fully committed to your business, determine whether or not you really want to continue with your current company.  If you do, what is stopping you from committing to it?  Figure it out.  It is important, because it is time to get committed!  It will not be easy; it will take work!  But the results will be well worth the effort!

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Caution! Beware of Dingbat!

I just watched this video (audio actually), and it was hilarious!  So, today instead of writing a press release/blog, I'm going to share this video with all of you.  I hope you too will start the weekend with a huge smile on your face! If you enjoy it, pass it around so others can feel really smart. Hilarious! This is a REAL phone call to a radio show. Hmm.  This PR isn't the minimum of 250 words long, so I guess I'll have to write a little more.  Let me think.  What shall I write?   I've got it!  Continuing on with the humor theme, I will tell you about some of the interesting, bazaar and fun - or funny holidays that occur during November, this week and even today! The following rather odd holidays are observed during the month of November: Banana Pudding Lovers Month Epilepsy Awareness Month  Family Stories Month  Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month Greens and Plantains Month  Historic Bridge Awareness Month National Impotency Month National Peanut Butter Lovers Month Spinach and Squash Month Sweet Potato Awareness Month  NoSHAVEmber World Sponge Month This week includes a few more interesting holidays:   National Global Entrepreneurship Week World Kindness Week: National Young Reader's Week National Donor Sabath Today's (November 15, 2013) bizarre holidays are:  America Recycles Day I Love to Write Day National Bundt (Pan) Day National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day National Philanthropy Day  ======================== For affordable discount plans to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more, visit: http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance). Please visit my Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/XpressHealthcareTheWinnersCircle  For Xpress Healthcare® business opportunity info, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.

No, She Did Not!

I belong to a non-profit organization.  We are planning our annual holiday party, so one of the members went to a local restaurant to see if they could accommodate the group and to determine the price and menu available.  She spoke with the owner and got all the details.  The owner advised her that if we guaranteed 50 people would attend, the price would be $9.95 per person for the buffet, but she would need confirmation of the number within a week. 

Five days later, our representative returned to the restaurant to finalize our reservation and to advise the owner that there would be 53 in attendance.  Upon arrival, she was told that her price had increased to $10.95 per person.  Upset and disappointed, our rep confirmed the reservation for 53 people at the increased rate.

On the following day, a few of our members saw an ad in the local newspaper advertising party reservations at that same restaurant for $9.95 per person.  Our group leader returned to the restaurant – ad in hand – and spoke with the owner about the increased price she had quoted our group.  Unbelievably, the owner refused to honor her original quote.  Our group leader canceled our reservation and is now seeking another place to have our holiday party.

This situation is an example of extremely poor business practice.  As I thought about it, however, I realized how ignorant the owner was.  Because she increased the price, she lost a party of 53 people who would have each paid $9.95.  Worse than that though is the fact that each of the 53 people who planned to attend, and even those in our group who did not plan to attend but learned about the situation are unlikely to ever dine at that restaurant again. 

Most people eat at restaurants with at least one companion, so beyond the members of our group, those with whom they may have dined are now lost patrons as well.  Continuing this loss of business a step further, many of our group members will tell others about what the business owner did.  I already have told a couple friends who are very unlikely to return to that restaurant.  (And I’ve told all of you, but you are not local.)

There is no way to determine the exact number of customers this restaurant lost, but clearly it will lose some.  More importantly, this restaurant’s reputation has been damaged.

For those of us who have internet businesses, poor business practices and customer service can destroy our reputation much more quickly than that of a brick and mortar business.   If we do not provide excellent service to just one customer, that customer could post their complaint on any high ranking website, and within hours, hundreds if not thousands of people will be aware of whatever it is that we did or not do to upset our customer. 

Something as simple as telling a prospect that they will earn a six-figure income in a month can come back to destroy your standing in the online community.  Every day I see people who post that they GUARANTEE success to those who join their company.  No matter how great your business may be, some people will simply not work their business.  It happens all the time with internet businesses.  How will that guarantee hold up?  Unless I am missing something very basic, if someone does not work, I see no way they can earn money.

The whole point of this blog is to stress the importance of our reputation, both on and offline.  Our business practices must always be fair and honest.   It seems to me that I heard somewhere, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  That says it all, does it not?

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Help! Thief!

I believe most people realize that identity theft is a huge problem today.  How safe are you?  Are you taking measures to protect yourself from identity theft?  (Correct answers appear at the bottom.  No cheating now!)

Take the quiz below to see how much you know about ID theft.

1.    How frequently is someone victimized by identity theft? Enter your response as a comment below.

A.    Every 3 seconds

B.    Every 30 seconds

C.    Every two minutes

D.    Every 10 minutes

2.    Which three US states have the highest per capita ID theft ranking? Leave your answer in comments below.

A.  CA, GA, FL
B.  NY, TX, DC 

C.  TX, FL, NV

D.  DC, CA, LA

3.    In which age range was the victim of the single highest (dollar amount) case of ID theft?

 A. Elderly
 B. Young Adult
 C. Teenager
 D. Young Child

4.    How many people reported that they were victims of ID Theft in the United States during 2012? Leave your guess as a comment below.

 A. 5 million
 B. 10 million
 C. 12 million
 D. 20 million

5.    What is the percentage of increased likelihood of fraud for smartphone owners? Enter your answer as a comment below.

 A. 10%
 B. 25%
 C. 35%
 D. 50%

6.    Which age group is the most likely to become a victim of identity theft? Leave your response in comments below.

 A. Elderly
 B. Young Adults
 C. Teenagers
 D. Young Children

Correct quiz answers:  1=A     2=A     3=D (In one case, over $700,000 was stolen.  Children are often victimized, because no one usually checks their credit until they are 18 years old, too late to do anything about it.)     4=C (Actually 12.6 million)     5=C     6=B (Young adults are more digitalized. They often provide their personal information in a variety of places online, an invitation to identity thieves.)

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