Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Time Saving Tip - Office and nail varnish
Nail polish remover pads and nail varnish can be kept beside a woman's computer. While waiting for pages to load, do your nails.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Being A Good Loser and A Good Winner
Jealousy
I want to talk about different kinds of jealousy: envy, the evil eye, revenge, competition, and finally being a good loser and sharing success.
Jealousy harms the person who is jealous as well as the person feeling the jealousy. If it's a three person relationship, it can harm all three.
Let's take three examples, competing to get a parking place, winning a prize in a competition, getting a boyfriend or girlfriend.
1 EnvySome people are negative. They say: 'I never win,' 'why does it always happen to me,' 'I never have any luck.'
Some are materialist, collectors. They never have enough.
Like kleptomaniacs, they take things they don't need. Sometimes to give them away (like the
Oriental business man who provides girls for visiting customers). Or to notch conquests up. To boast about having a harem bigger than any rival.
This person might be a womaniser, see it have to have it.
He might not be interested in a woman until he sees another person after her. Then the woman's value increases. She is a challenge.
I was interested in a boy at college. He took no notice of me. Then at the Christmas party he moved in swiftly.
Much later I discovered that another boy had unwisely said that he was interested in me. My boyfriend-to-be instantly decided to get in first.
2 The Evil Eye
This could be spite or competitiveness. The evil eye says you can't have it if I haven't got one.
3 Revenge & Spite
The jealous person says: If I can't have it or them, nobody will. I was horrified at a Country Music festival when free music discs were given out and two people grabbed the same disc.
When person B refused to let go, person A twisted the disc and broke it.
Everybody had dozens of free discs. Why couldn't they have reached an amicable agreement? One could have said, I really have lots but I especially like this one. I've got two of this one. If you let me keep this, I'll gladly give you one of my duplicates. Which would you prefer?
4 Competition
This happens at the Olympics and all those TV programmes designed so that somebody has to lose each time. The programme builds up the suspense. The winner is jubilant. The loser is devastated. To me this spoils the pleasure for the winner.
I always feel much better when the loser says, Of course I want to win and I think I deserver to but the competitors are also excellent. If they win, I'm delighted for them and I'm thrilled I got so far and had a chance to take part.
5 Being A Good Loser In A Competition
In Toastmasters (speakers) if there are five competitors, two are placed first and second. It is thought too embarrassing to have three winners and one loser who came last. In primary schools in the UK some sports competitions won't have winners because the losers feel bad.
I do think everybody should get a prize. In toastmasters all the competitors are given a Certificate of Participation.
But some kids are such bad losers, so upset, that they refuse to compete again after the distress of losing once. They haven't been properly coached to feel good about participating.
The organizers haven't remembered to praise the losers for their efforts. Without losers, there can be no winners, in a race, except by default.
Congratulations
The loser(s) should congratulate the winner(s). The winner(s) should commiserate with the winners, or say how well they all did.
Consolation Prizes
I like consolation prizes. At bridge games we used to have a consolation prize for the people who came last. Otherwise they might have felt too embarrassed or disappointed to return.
At birthday parties party bags are given so the visitors are not envious of the birthday child who gets dozens of presents when everybody else has none. Everybody gets a present.
6 Sharing Success With Strangers
The vast majority of writers have unpublished novels and screenplays that have not yet made it and poems which never get published. Whenever a famous author comes to sign books at a writers' conference you see people in the audience with mixed feelings.
The speaker has to tell a rags to riches story, to show that it was not easy. To explain how despite success, there have been down moments. Otherwise the audience turns resentful about the boastful author who has the success which everybody else in the audience wanted and has not yet achieved.
The most popular speakers take the attitude, 'If I can do it (and I'm no better than you) anybody can. You can do it. I'll share my tips with you. And I'll help you.' This wins goodwill.
7 Sharing Success With Friend & Family
So often we see marriages of successful actors and actresses break up when one becomes more successful than the other.
They say, 'Behind every successful man is a helping woman.' (There must be several variations on this. Do you know any?)
In any successful businesses all the family is in the same business, working together. Husband and wife. All the brothers. Father and son. So and so and daughter(s).
8 Cautionary Tale - The BrontesThe saddest story I know about writers and jealousy is that when Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre became a sensational success, her brother Branwell, a would-be painter who had never made it, could not be told about his sister's success. The family felt that her success would make him feel more of a failure.
I think that's dreadful. That she could not share her success. That he would have not been glad for her. That he would have felt so downhearted at his own failure. That such a talented family, so good with words, could not have found a way to make him feel that Charlotte's success had brought fame to the entire family, a joy which they could all share.
After a tennis match the opponents shake hands. It's no fun winning table tennis against somebody who can't play at all. It's no fun if the are so sour about losing that you wish you had not played.
It's one of the most important things to learn is that you are competing against yourself, and that just by participating you have made a step forward.
Writers often send off an article or novels and are devastated by the first of fifth rejection.
But it may be a numbers game, like job-hunting. (And some people think that finding your lover or soulmate is the same. But this also depends on how fussy you are.)
One way to look positively at things is to say: 'You have to be in it to win it.'
Another saying is 'You can't win them all.'
Sales training teaches you that if you get a two per cent rate of buying, and you can make a living, for example as a recruiter, on two job placements a month. That means loads of phone calls going nowhere. But you just have to tick them off and think that each one is a step nearer the 1000th call. By the time you reach a thousand, not only have you got immune to the distress of rejection, you have perfected your approach so as not to repel but to positively attract the buyer.
Has this anything to do with social life? Of course it has. You must be a good loser in love. You must never give up hope. If you are a good sport, you will get invited to the next party and competition. You could get lots of little prizes and one day one big one.
In everything I do, for example, writing a book, a blog, or anything else, I've had one little prize just by seeing my work in print. And I hope one day to win the big prize.
I want to talk about different kinds of jealousy: envy, the evil eye, revenge, competition, and finally being a good loser and sharing success.
Jealousy harms the person who is jealous as well as the person feeling the jealousy. If it's a three person relationship, it can harm all three.
Let's take three examples, competing to get a parking place, winning a prize in a competition, getting a boyfriend or girlfriend.
1 EnvySome people are negative. They say: 'I never win,' 'why does it always happen to me,' 'I never have any luck.'
Some are materialist, collectors. They never have enough.
Like kleptomaniacs, they take things they don't need. Sometimes to give them away (like the
Oriental business man who provides girls for visiting customers). Or to notch conquests up. To boast about having a harem bigger than any rival.
This person might be a womaniser, see it have to have it.
He might not be interested in a woman until he sees another person after her. Then the woman's value increases. She is a challenge.
I was interested in a boy at college. He took no notice of me. Then at the Christmas party he moved in swiftly.
Much later I discovered that another boy had unwisely said that he was interested in me. My boyfriend-to-be instantly decided to get in first.
2 The Evil Eye
This could be spite or competitiveness. The evil eye says you can't have it if I haven't got one.
3 Revenge & Spite
The jealous person says: If I can't have it or them, nobody will. I was horrified at a Country Music festival when free music discs were given out and two people grabbed the same disc.
When person B refused to let go, person A twisted the disc and broke it.
Everybody had dozens of free discs. Why couldn't they have reached an amicable agreement? One could have said, I really have lots but I especially like this one. I've got two of this one. If you let me keep this, I'll gladly give you one of my duplicates. Which would you prefer?
4 Competition
This happens at the Olympics and all those TV programmes designed so that somebody has to lose each time. The programme builds up the suspense. The winner is jubilant. The loser is devastated. To me this spoils the pleasure for the winner.
I always feel much better when the loser says, Of course I want to win and I think I deserver to but the competitors are also excellent. If they win, I'm delighted for them and I'm thrilled I got so far and had a chance to take part.
5 Being A Good Loser In A Competition
In Toastmasters (speakers) if there are five competitors, two are placed first and second. It is thought too embarrassing to have three winners and one loser who came last. In primary schools in the UK some sports competitions won't have winners because the losers feel bad.
I do think everybody should get a prize. In toastmasters all the competitors are given a Certificate of Participation.
But some kids are such bad losers, so upset, that they refuse to compete again after the distress of losing once. They haven't been properly coached to feel good about participating.
The organizers haven't remembered to praise the losers for their efforts. Without losers, there can be no winners, in a race, except by default.
Congratulations
The loser(s) should congratulate the winner(s). The winner(s) should commiserate with the winners, or say how well they all did.
Consolation Prizes
I like consolation prizes. At bridge games we used to have a consolation prize for the people who came last. Otherwise they might have felt too embarrassed or disappointed to return.
At birthday parties party bags are given so the visitors are not envious of the birthday child who gets dozens of presents when everybody else has none. Everybody gets a present.
6 Sharing Success With Strangers
The vast majority of writers have unpublished novels and screenplays that have not yet made it and poems which never get published. Whenever a famous author comes to sign books at a writers' conference you see people in the audience with mixed feelings.
The speaker has to tell a rags to riches story, to show that it was not easy. To explain how despite success, there have been down moments. Otherwise the audience turns resentful about the boastful author who has the success which everybody else in the audience wanted and has not yet achieved.
The most popular speakers take the attitude, 'If I can do it (and I'm no better than you) anybody can. You can do it. I'll share my tips with you. And I'll help you.' This wins goodwill.
7 Sharing Success With Friend & Family
So often we see marriages of successful actors and actresses break up when one becomes more successful than the other.
They say, 'Behind every successful man is a helping woman.' (There must be several variations on this. Do you know any?)
In any successful businesses all the family is in the same business, working together. Husband and wife. All the brothers. Father and son. So and so and daughter(s).
8 Cautionary Tale - The BrontesThe saddest story I know about writers and jealousy is that when Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre became a sensational success, her brother Branwell, a would-be painter who had never made it, could not be told about his sister's success. The family felt that her success would make him feel more of a failure.
I think that's dreadful. That she could not share her success. That he would have not been glad for her. That he would have felt so downhearted at his own failure. That such a talented family, so good with words, could not have found a way to make him feel that Charlotte's success had brought fame to the entire family, a joy which they could all share.
After a tennis match the opponents shake hands. It's no fun winning table tennis against somebody who can't play at all. It's no fun if the are so sour about losing that you wish you had not played.
It's one of the most important things to learn is that you are competing against yourself, and that just by participating you have made a step forward.
Writers often send off an article or novels and are devastated by the first of fifth rejection.
But it may be a numbers game, like job-hunting. (And some people think that finding your lover or soulmate is the same. But this also depends on how fussy you are.)
One way to look positively at things is to say: 'You have to be in it to win it.'
Another saying is 'You can't win them all.'
Sales training teaches you that if you get a two per cent rate of buying, and you can make a living, for example as a recruiter, on two job placements a month. That means loads of phone calls going nowhere. But you just have to tick them off and think that each one is a step nearer the 1000th call. By the time you reach a thousand, not only have you got immune to the distress of rejection, you have perfected your approach so as not to repel but to positively attract the buyer.
Has this anything to do with social life? Of course it has. You must be a good loser in love. You must never give up hope. If you are a good sport, you will get invited to the next party and competition. You could get lots of little prizes and one day one big one.
In everything I do, for example, writing a book, a blog, or anything else, I've had one little prize just by seeing my work in print. And I hope one day to win the big prize.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Marriage and Friendship and Shared Activities
My parents did everything together. Never a night apart. If one was ill, the other stayed home. When they went out they went out together.
My ex appears for two days at Christmas and he buys the drinks and sends me off to buy food. If I query or try to discuss anything he's buying, he demands, 'Who'd doing this job - you or me?'
But new friend has another plan. We have twenty shared activities, ten of which we want to do, and ten which don't want to do, chosen by the other person. We each select ten activities which we want to do, but which take the other person out of their comfort zone.
My best holiday when I was single when I was with a girlfriend. Our plan was we each chose one activity we each liked but the other didn't. Then a third from a list of activities we both voted for.
That way we did not miss out on anything we liked. But both did what we wanted two thirds of the time. I think that's best.
I've heard of marriages which broke up where one person vetoed what the other did. Usually it's the man who decides. One couple only ever went on holiday to Spain. Others won't ever eat at an Indian restaurant because he refuses to eat spicy food or be stuck with one choice eating omelettes. I like the three list system. What do you think?
My ex appears for two days at Christmas and he buys the drinks and sends me off to buy food. If I query or try to discuss anything he's buying, he demands, 'Who'd doing this job - you or me?'
But new friend has another plan. We have twenty shared activities, ten of which we want to do, and ten which don't want to do, chosen by the other person. We each select ten activities which we want to do, but which take the other person out of their comfort zone.
My best holiday when I was single when I was with a girlfriend. Our plan was we each chose one activity we each liked but the other didn't. Then a third from a list of activities we both voted for.
That way we did not miss out on anything we liked. But both did what we wanted two thirds of the time. I think that's best.
I've heard of marriages which broke up where one person vetoed what the other did. Usually it's the man who decides. One couple only ever went on holiday to Spain. Others won't ever eat at an Indian restaurant because he refuses to eat spicy food or be stuck with one choice eating omelettes. I like the three list system. What do you think?
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Remembering Names
First I ask about the spelling of somebody's name. If there are not alternative spellings, I like to chat about the meaning of names. Especially foreign names.
It enables me to learn interesting facts. It shows the other person you are interested in them. Sometimes you tell them things they didn't know. Other times they can feel good at telling you something new.
To give you some examples: Some African names are days of the week. Kofi (as in Kofi of the UN) means born on Friday. In the language of the Asante Tribe of Ghana. Kojo means born on Monday. Maybe somebody can add more.
Any dictionary of names will give you lots of meanings and variations on names.
For example, I know several people called Peter which is one of my favourite names
An obvious short form is Pete. You could chat about whether he ever gets called Pete and how he reacts and whether he thinks people called Pete differ from Peter. You end by saying either, 'I hope one day I shall know you well enough to call you Pete,' or, 'I shall always be careful to call you Peter.'
Peter is Greek or Latin for rock. Variations include: Panos, Pedro, Peers, Peirce, Perkin, Perry, Petr, Pierce, Pierre, Piti, Pjeter and Pyotr. (And many more.)
Peterson is son of Peter.
If you are running a meeting, and you spot somebody called Peter on the list, you have an opening for a chat with them.
If you see the list in advance you can look up the name of your VIP guest speaker, or the man you want to talk to.
If you spot a Panos and find out that his name is Peter in English, he will be very impressed with your knowledge. And flattered.
I used to be afraid of revealing my research. But I found that if I told people what I had done, they were even more impressed by by diligence and determination. It's not as if I work on a TV programme and have a team of secretaries and researchers to do this for me. I just do it naturally.
You can also tell people the meaning of your name, so they don't forget you.
(Interesting public speaker for your club - contact AngelalLansbury@hotmail.com
It enables me to learn interesting facts. It shows the other person you are interested in them. Sometimes you tell them things they didn't know. Other times they can feel good at telling you something new.
To give you some examples: Some African names are days of the week. Kofi (as in Kofi of the UN) means born on Friday. In the language of the Asante Tribe of Ghana. Kojo means born on Monday. Maybe somebody can add more.
Any dictionary of names will give you lots of meanings and variations on names.
For example, I know several people called Peter which is one of my favourite names
An obvious short form is Pete. You could chat about whether he ever gets called Pete and how he reacts and whether he thinks people called Pete differ from Peter. You end by saying either, 'I hope one day I shall know you well enough to call you Pete,' or, 'I shall always be careful to call you Peter.'
Peter is Greek or Latin for rock. Variations include: Panos, Pedro, Peers, Peirce, Perkin, Perry, Petr, Pierce, Pierre, Piti, Pjeter and Pyotr. (And many more.)
Peterson is son of Peter.
If you are running a meeting, and you spot somebody called Peter on the list, you have an opening for a chat with them.
If you see the list in advance you can look up the name of your VIP guest speaker, or the man you want to talk to.
If you spot a Panos and find out that his name is Peter in English, he will be very impressed with your knowledge. And flattered.
I used to be afraid of revealing my research. But I found that if I told people what I had done, they were even more impressed by by diligence and determination. It's not as if I work on a TV programme and have a team of secretaries and researchers to do this for me. I just do it naturally.
You can also tell people the meaning of your name, so they don't forget you.
(Interesting public speaker for your club - contact AngelalLansbury@hotmail.com
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
How To Be And Find Good Neighbours
Neighbours
So the neighbours don’t talk to you? In Holland apparently when you move in you are expected to invite all your neighbours to a housewarming party to introduce yourself. (If you don’t, it’s considered you are unfriendly and nobody talks to you.)
That’s an obvious thing to do, once you think about it. My parents did this when they moved into a close of only six houses. They had a housewarming and invited all the neighbours.
They knew that for the next twenty years they would be seeing those people going in and out of doorways and driveways. So much better to have somebody you can smile at, wave to, rush over to chat to, call to and invite in for coffee.
As well as chatting about the traffic problem, the awful murder, the wonderful new shops, the park you’ve discovered, the new leisure centre, the bargain in the supermarket, and where to find a cleaner or window cleaner, or curtains to fit the funny shaped windows and where is the water pipe hidden and can you lend me some pruning sheers, give my car a jump start or lend me some sugar.
Some people are natural nurturers. If your neighbour is a good friend, you tend to want to help them, too, because you very quickly find you are indebted to them and are desperately trying to repay all the coffees and meals, and advice and loans.
You can trust them with your keys. And they’ll phone you if they see anything suspicious.
So the neighbours don’t talk to you? In Holland apparently when you move in you are expected to invite all your neighbours to a housewarming party to introduce yourself. (If you don’t, it’s considered you are unfriendly and nobody talks to you.)
That’s an obvious thing to do, once you think about it. My parents did this when they moved into a close of only six houses. They had a housewarming and invited all the neighbours.
They knew that for the next twenty years they would be seeing those people going in and out of doorways and driveways. So much better to have somebody you can smile at, wave to, rush over to chat to, call to and invite in for coffee.
As well as chatting about the traffic problem, the awful murder, the wonderful new shops, the park you’ve discovered, the new leisure centre, the bargain in the supermarket, and where to find a cleaner or window cleaner, or curtains to fit the funny shaped windows and where is the water pipe hidden and can you lend me some pruning sheers, give my car a jump start or lend me some sugar.
Some people are natural nurturers. If your neighbour is a good friend, you tend to want to help them, too, because you very quickly find you are indebted to them and are desperately trying to repay all the coffees and meals, and advice and loans.
You can trust them with your keys. And they’ll phone you if they see anything suspicious.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Avoiding domino effect injuries
First a friend cancelled a meeting telling me his mother was unwell, then that he had a sports injury.
I first wondered
1 Was he making a polite excuse. I dismissed that. I think he is more direct. Certainly not shy in emails. And a girlfriend has also cancelled not knowing anything about anybody else's problems. A whole week of stresses.
Could it be the weather or the international situation? Am I seeking links when none is there? Some accidents happen independently. By chance a few fall into clusters.
However, I think we can see occasions when one illness or accident leads to another.
2 One stress has made him prone to another. Domino effect.
I've noticed that illness and accidents in families and friends seems to run around.
Two common accidents:
1 An elderly person is ill. Pills are not locked in cupboard but on kitchen table or bedside. Then their grandchild is hospitalised because of eating pills.
2 A car breaks down on the motorway. The driver, passenger, or person helping is struck by another vehicle.
This might be because other drivers don't realise the stranded car is stationery and hit it.
Or that the person injured is concentrating on the real problem, the breakdown, not on potential problems of other accidents.
So why are we accident prone? Stress? Doing too much? Rushing too fast? Lack of sleep? Anxiety about another problem causing a second due to lack of due care and attention?
I'm the ENFP type on the personality typing analysis, which is why I don't like driving. (I drove to Cornwall with a friend. But since then having had a traffic accident I avoid driving as much as possible.) I'm a typical academic. My mind is on the past and future, not on the present. I reckon you are a more practical type.
A friend of mine is injured. I get a minor injury.
Long ago my baby was underweight. My father carried upstairs a heavy weighing machine sent by NHS. My father was hospitalised with back trouble. My mother-in-law ended up in the same hospital with another problem.
I seem to have 'come out in sympathy' with a friend like husbands who get false pregnancies and aches and pains when their partners are pregnant. He was injured. I rushed about anxiously, not looking where I was going. I got injured.
So when others are ill or injured, take extra care of the health of yourself and the rest of your family. You think thing can't get any worse? They can. It just teaches you that the first problem was not the worst or only thing which could happen to you.
Take care.
I first wondered
1 Was he making a polite excuse. I dismissed that. I think he is more direct. Certainly not shy in emails. And a girlfriend has also cancelled not knowing anything about anybody else's problems. A whole week of stresses.
Could it be the weather or the international situation? Am I seeking links when none is there? Some accidents happen independently. By chance a few fall into clusters.
However, I think we can see occasions when one illness or accident leads to another.
2 One stress has made him prone to another. Domino effect.
I've noticed that illness and accidents in families and friends seems to run around.
Two common accidents:
1 An elderly person is ill. Pills are not locked in cupboard but on kitchen table or bedside. Then their grandchild is hospitalised because of eating pills.
2 A car breaks down on the motorway. The driver, passenger, or person helping is struck by another vehicle.
This might be because other drivers don't realise the stranded car is stationery and hit it.
Or that the person injured is concentrating on the real problem, the breakdown, not on potential problems of other accidents.
So why are we accident prone? Stress? Doing too much? Rushing too fast? Lack of sleep? Anxiety about another problem causing a second due to lack of due care and attention?
I'm the ENFP type on the personality typing analysis, which is why I don't like driving. (I drove to Cornwall with a friend. But since then having had a traffic accident I avoid driving as much as possible.) I'm a typical academic. My mind is on the past and future, not on the present. I reckon you are a more practical type.
A friend of mine is injured. I get a minor injury.
Long ago my baby was underweight. My father carried upstairs a heavy weighing machine sent by NHS. My father was hospitalised with back trouble. My mother-in-law ended up in the same hospital with another problem.
I seem to have 'come out in sympathy' with a friend like husbands who get false pregnancies and aches and pains when their partners are pregnant. He was injured. I rushed about anxiously, not looking where I was going. I got injured.
So when others are ill or injured, take extra care of the health of yourself and the rest of your family. You think thing can't get any worse? They can. It just teaches you that the first problem was not the worst or only thing which could happen to you.
Take care.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Cover Art Needed
My design for the cover of the book of Family History for my mother in law Pearl had to be done quickly. So I took one of the standard designs offered.
I sent them feedback telling them what I needed.
I need a better choice of cover pictures includinga) Cartoons b) All professions c) Memoir or family history pictures d) Better colours e) Load a photo to fit a frame - you convert it to PDF / pixels whatever. :lol:
1 Cartoons needed. I went looking for a picture for my book of comic poetry. Nothing amusing available. Not a single cartoon.If I look in Clipart in Word I find dozens of cartoons.Please include cartoons. :P
2 All Professions neededIf I look in Vistaprint's business card pictures I can see half a dozen for every profession. So writing a book for eg lawyers or primary school children, I would like to be able to use different images on half a dozen books.
(I also need a choice of images to be sure my book of recipes does not have the same cover as every other cookery book by other writers.)
In addition to Vistaprint, look at the selection of designs offered by sticky address label printers such as Ablelabel. You can order Initial letters, signs of zodiac, religious symbols, animals, every profession - dozens of designs.
All ages needed, too, from babies to the elderly. And all nationalities, from flags to city symbols.
Alternatively give some links to clipart sites which offer pictures free or very cheaply, under 5 dollars. If I'm doing books for 10 members of my family, even 5 dollars for a picture for each book would be a lot of money. And 25 dollars would be a lot if I only want one picture and can't be sure the set includes anything suitable. But a free site, or a very cheap price for a dozen pictures would be great. :lol:
3 I would like to write memoirs or family history book for numerous members of my extended family.
Each one needs a different pictures. It needs to be bright and jolly.
I don't want those dismal pictures in brown and grey with skulls which suggest I am waiting for granny to die whilst standing in the mud by her grave. :shock:
I looked at the tropical picture - only one of a palm tree - and it's a sunset - telling my 90 year old granny that she's at the end of her life and it's about to set! :shock:
I picked a bridge. Somebody said that's a symbol of passing on to the next life. :shock: How about a 'family tree' picture for all of us genealogists.
4 Photo frame to fill
Finally, I suggest being able to upload for the front cover a photo to fit in a frame - square, oblong or portrait. Or round or oval or heart. Just square would do. 8) You do the conversion of pixels, PDF whatever. :idea:
I know I should be able to do it in a photoshop program. But hundreds of people can't do this. :cry:
If it's that easy that I should be able to do it, you must be able to set it up so that we can send a photo of the author or subject of the book to you to stick in a frame on the front cover.
Even if you chopped my photo off at waist level and turned it into sepia it would be better than nothing. :P
I just wanted granny's latest photo, or her wedding photo, on the front cover. If you can arrange this, I'll do it for her next birthday. She would be thrilled. :wink:
I sent them feedback telling them what I needed.
I need a better choice of cover pictures includinga) Cartoons b) All professions c) Memoir or family history pictures d) Better colours e) Load a photo to fit a frame - you convert it to PDF / pixels whatever. :lol:
1 Cartoons needed. I went looking for a picture for my book of comic poetry. Nothing amusing available. Not a single cartoon.If I look in Clipart in Word I find dozens of cartoons.Please include cartoons. :P
2 All Professions neededIf I look in Vistaprint's business card pictures I can see half a dozen for every profession. So writing a book for eg lawyers or primary school children, I would like to be able to use different images on half a dozen books.
(I also need a choice of images to be sure my book of recipes does not have the same cover as every other cookery book by other writers.)
In addition to Vistaprint, look at the selection of designs offered by sticky address label printers such as Ablelabel. You can order Initial letters, signs of zodiac, religious symbols, animals, every profession - dozens of designs.
All ages needed, too, from babies to the elderly. And all nationalities, from flags to city symbols.
Alternatively give some links to clipart sites which offer pictures free or very cheaply, under 5 dollars. If I'm doing books for 10 members of my family, even 5 dollars for a picture for each book would be a lot of money. And 25 dollars would be a lot if I only want one picture and can't be sure the set includes anything suitable. But a free site, or a very cheap price for a dozen pictures would be great. :lol:
3 I would like to write memoirs or family history book for numerous members of my extended family.
Each one needs a different pictures. It needs to be bright and jolly.
I don't want those dismal pictures in brown and grey with skulls which suggest I am waiting for granny to die whilst standing in the mud by her grave. :shock:
I looked at the tropical picture - only one of a palm tree - and it's a sunset - telling my 90 year old granny that she's at the end of her life and it's about to set! :shock:
I picked a bridge. Somebody said that's a symbol of passing on to the next life. :shock: How about a 'family tree' picture for all of us genealogists.
4 Photo frame to fill
Finally, I suggest being able to upload for the front cover a photo to fit in a frame - square, oblong or portrait. Or round or oval or heart. Just square would do. 8) You do the conversion of pixels, PDF whatever. :idea:
I know I should be able to do it in a photoshop program. But hundreds of people can't do this. :cry:
If it's that easy that I should be able to do it, you must be able to set it up so that we can send a photo of the author or subject of the book to you to stick in a frame on the front cover.
Even if you chopped my photo off at waist level and turned it into sepia it would be better than nothing. :P
I just wanted granny's latest photo, or her wedding photo, on the front cover. If you can arrange this, I'll do it for her next birthday. She would be thrilled. :wink:
Creating A Family History Book For A Birthday Gift
For my mother-in-law's 91st birthday I created a book about the history of her life, so far.
I sent the text up to Lulu.com on line Monday evening. Eight days later it arrived through my letterbox. Five working days.
A day after the birthday - I'd hoped it would be quicker. Previously I'd sent a text off on Saturday night and received the finished book by Thursday. Four working days.
The minimum size of a book is 68 pages. That's 68 sides plus cover. 34 bound sheets. It's still a very slim booklet. I had only about 10,000 words of text. So I divided it into about 40 subjects and put each one on a new page. Some sections ran over a couple of pages. I opened with a pieces on our family surnames and ancestors. Some sections ran over two or more pages. I added a few extra pages: Title page, Contents; lists of photos, contacts, list of favourite resaurants.
Pearl was absolutely amazed by the book. It's quite surprising and impressive to write your own memoirs, to see them in print, even with the help of a ghost writer. When you have it done for you, and you are not world famous, it is even more impressive. She was amazed at the amount of information I put in the book.
We take her out to dinner every weekend. I'd been asking her about different members of her family every mealtime. I would write notes in my diary under the table or dash off to the toilet and write it on a scrap of paper, then type it up when I got home.
Some of was originally written into a Family History book I bought from the hospital trolley in the maternity ward when my son was born. I've been updating it ever since. I wish I'd written more.
I sent the text only version off to the printers in a hurry to have it ready for the birthday. Later I added the photos.
I am now waiting for the illustrated version to arrive. It was despatched by Lulu.com, according to the email they sent me at lunchtime today. I had only two copies printed.
After she has read her text version and given me feedback, I shall be able to update it for an even better version.
I now want to do more. My late parents. Myself. My son.
Then I shall be able to offer it as a service to other people.
I sent the text up to Lulu.com on line Monday evening. Eight days later it arrived through my letterbox. Five working days.
A day after the birthday - I'd hoped it would be quicker. Previously I'd sent a text off on Saturday night and received the finished book by Thursday. Four working days.
The minimum size of a book is 68 pages. That's 68 sides plus cover. 34 bound sheets. It's still a very slim booklet. I had only about 10,000 words of text. So I divided it into about 40 subjects and put each one on a new page. Some sections ran over a couple of pages. I opened with a pieces on our family surnames and ancestors. Some sections ran over two or more pages. I added a few extra pages: Title page, Contents; lists of photos, contacts, list of favourite resaurants.
Pearl was absolutely amazed by the book. It's quite surprising and impressive to write your own memoirs, to see them in print, even with the help of a ghost writer. When you have it done for you, and you are not world famous, it is even more impressive. She was amazed at the amount of information I put in the book.
We take her out to dinner every weekend. I'd been asking her about different members of her family every mealtime. I would write notes in my diary under the table or dash off to the toilet and write it on a scrap of paper, then type it up when I got home.
Some of was originally written into a Family History book I bought from the hospital trolley in the maternity ward when my son was born. I've been updating it ever since. I wish I'd written more.
I sent the text only version off to the printers in a hurry to have it ready for the birthday. Later I added the photos.
I am now waiting for the illustrated version to arrive. It was despatched by Lulu.com, according to the email they sent me at lunchtime today. I had only two copies printed.
After she has read her text version and given me feedback, I shall be able to update it for an even better version.
I now want to do more. My late parents. Myself. My son.
Then I shall be able to offer it as a service to other people.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Making websites user-friendly
Speaking of usability, you often get to the end of a page on a site and don't know how to move on. For example, on many sites, you go to top left and click on home.
Yes, of course I know that. But I didn't for the first week or so. Every site must have newcomers to that site and newcomers to the internet.
And contacting the site managers should be easy. You are there to give them free feedback, when market research would cost them thousands of pounds. At least they should have a feedback site with an automatic message saying, 'Thanks for your feedback. We haven't the resources to reply to every message but we do read them all.'
One publishing site, lulu.com, uses volunteers to man a help service. You are limited to two queries in 24 hours to give everybody a chance of asking a couple of questions.
Most times when I explain my problem and what I've tried so far, I suddenly see the answer by process of elimination. But it's having them there which makes me feel confident and keeps me with them trying to solve the problem.
Yes, of course I know that. But I didn't for the first week or so. Every site must have newcomers to that site and newcomers to the internet.
And contacting the site managers should be easy. You are there to give them free feedback, when market research would cost them thousands of pounds. At least they should have a feedback site with an automatic message saying, 'Thanks for your feedback. We haven't the resources to reply to every message but we do read them all.'
One publishing site, lulu.com, uses volunteers to man a help service. You are limited to two queries in 24 hours to give everybody a chance of asking a couple of questions.
Most times when I explain my problem and what I've tried so far, I suddenly see the answer by process of elimination. But it's having them there which makes me feel confident and keeps me with them trying to solve the problem.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Tip 9 Indexing A Notebook
When you get a new notebook put the date on the front and an indication of the contents such as 'Summer Holiday in Italy August 2000' or 'Marketing Conference in Shanghai 2005' or 'Homework for GCSE English' or 'My poems'. Write your name address and phone number on the inside cover. Write the numbers 1 3 5 and so on on the top right hand corner of the pages throughout the book.
Save the front two pages for contents writing the heading CONTENTS. Write down page numbers in a column.
Save the back two pages for an index. Mark a column to add page numbers later.
Rule margins if you don't already have margins. When possible buy a notebook which already has printed margins.
Store notebooks in a shoebox labelled with the year and the contents of the notebooks. Number the shoeboxes so you can keep them in order.
Save the front two pages for contents writing the heading CONTENTS. Write down page numbers in a column.
Save the back two pages for an index. Mark a column to add page numbers later.
Rule margins if you don't already have margins. When possible buy a notebook which already has printed margins.
Store notebooks in a shoebox labelled with the year and the contents of the notebooks. Number the shoeboxes so you can keep them in order.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Improving Restaurant Cleanliness, Prices and Profits
A restaurant owner says that his customers seemed more concerned about price than cleanliness.
My view is that a customer will rarely tell staff about cleanliness.
My son who is in marketing said that when you see a dirty restaurant you refuse to pay high prices; you expect a high-price restaurant to be clean.
I think this is because you think the restaurant can afford cleaners, and because you will pay more to get cleanliness.
One restaurant manager told me that if you criticize your staff, they complain to head office that you are being bossy.
My son says if the owner is on the premises, he's in charge. He can tell the staff what to do.
One restaurant owner said it's hard to make money in his area because rents are high and there are lots of restaurants.
My son said then look at the other restaurants and see which ones are full (I think you have to know whether that full restaurant is making money - but if it's just being full that makes your profit, that's what you look at). See their prices, their cleanliness, their menu choice, and copy what they are doing.
My view is that a customer will rarely tell staff about cleanliness.
My son who is in marketing said that when you see a dirty restaurant you refuse to pay high prices; you expect a high-price restaurant to be clean.
I think this is because you think the restaurant can afford cleaners, and because you will pay more to get cleanliness.
One restaurant manager told me that if you criticize your staff, they complain to head office that you are being bossy.
My son says if the owner is on the premises, he's in charge. He can tell the staff what to do.
One restaurant owner said it's hard to make money in his area because rents are high and there are lots of restaurants.
My son said then look at the other restaurants and see which ones are full (I think you have to know whether that full restaurant is making money - but if it's just being full that makes your profit, that's what you look at). See their prices, their cleanliness, their menu choice, and copy what they are doing.
What can you do? Ask not what your country can do for you
Every day when I wake up I realize how indebted I am to my fellow human beings. Every item in my house has been deigned and build by somebody else. The bed. The kitchen table. The toaster. The microwave. The kettle. My clothes.
I can sew my own clothes, run up a caftan with two seams and cut a V-shape neck. But somebody else designed the sewing machine. A factory worked built it. A store sold it. The fabric was woven and printed by somebody else.
I can grow apples in my garden. An awful lot of work. Somebody planted the apple tree for me. My gardener mows the lawn. To stop the apples getting worms, I have to spray the tree with pesticide or washing up liquid (controversy here). Either way, somebody else packaged it.
My car, the train, bus or plane - I could walk. Using shoes that somebody else made. And somebody else made the pavement. First I must lock up - but somebody else made the keys, and the door.
Even the poorest person must realize that in great-great-grandfather's day we had outside toilets and no electric lights.
Yes, camping might be fun for a week. You can go out to enjoy nature, trekking or climbing Everest, using crampons made in a factory. Calling on the emergency services for help. Wearing goggles.
Native tribes live in jungles. Most native people have a life expectancy of 30 years.
Most of the world is complaining that the west isn't helping them enough. They can't seem to cope on their own. Why? Can't they grown their own food and make their own clothes and build their own homes?
Americans arrived in a land without cities and built cities. Americans had to cope with the economic Depression of the thirties and came out of it.
Singapore started with very little late in the last century. Lee Kwan Yew eliminated corruption and got the place organized. Now Singapore's ahead of most of Asia and much of the West. A garden city, free of crime and litter.
I think lots of the world's problems would be solved if children and citizens started with the point of view that they need to develop their skills until they can find something to offer the world.
Full employment. Some sensible parents say to their children: Don't just sit there - do something!
Whether you are tidying your bedroom, sweeping the street, making a cup of tea for somebody else, learning to sing in tune, designing a dress, or a computer system, or performing brain surgery, you can be playing your part to make the world a better place for yourself and everybody you know.
I can sew my own clothes, run up a caftan with two seams and cut a V-shape neck. But somebody else designed the sewing machine. A factory worked built it. A store sold it. The fabric was woven and printed by somebody else.
I can grow apples in my garden. An awful lot of work. Somebody planted the apple tree for me. My gardener mows the lawn. To stop the apples getting worms, I have to spray the tree with pesticide or washing up liquid (controversy here). Either way, somebody else packaged it.
My car, the train, bus or plane - I could walk. Using shoes that somebody else made. And somebody else made the pavement. First I must lock up - but somebody else made the keys, and the door.
Even the poorest person must realize that in great-great-grandfather's day we had outside toilets and no electric lights.
Yes, camping might be fun for a week. You can go out to enjoy nature, trekking or climbing Everest, using crampons made in a factory. Calling on the emergency services for help. Wearing goggles.
Native tribes live in jungles. Most native people have a life expectancy of 30 years.
Most of the world is complaining that the west isn't helping them enough. They can't seem to cope on their own. Why? Can't they grown their own food and make their own clothes and build their own homes?
Americans arrived in a land without cities and built cities. Americans had to cope with the economic Depression of the thirties and came out of it.
Singapore started with very little late in the last century. Lee Kwan Yew eliminated corruption and got the place organized. Now Singapore's ahead of most of Asia and much of the West. A garden city, free of crime and litter.
I think lots of the world's problems would be solved if children and citizens started with the point of view that they need to develop their skills until they can find something to offer the world.
Full employment. Some sensible parents say to their children: Don't just sit there - do something!
Whether you are tidying your bedroom, sweeping the street, making a cup of tea for somebody else, learning to sing in tune, designing a dress, or a computer system, or performing brain surgery, you can be playing your part to make the world a better place for yourself and everybody you know.
Friday, August 10, 2007
How Much Do You Charge For Freelance Work?
You can see why builders charge by the hour but the house-holder wants a fixed fee.
But the same applies to any freelance creative person, whether it's a writer or artist. Unless you are churning out similar things every time and know exactly how long it will take.
Gathering information can take more time than the work itself. For example, typing up and re-wording a menu and doing the layout.
The gathering information is an elastic rope. The problem can be that the customer keeps adding information and spends thirty minutes a day chatting. If you have time, fine.
I now know why one person who quoted a fixed fee for creating a website said he would start when you had all the information and pictures and would allow only one update on it. That was his solution. Cost control. Control of time.
Yet another way of doing business is to get satisfied customers. You allow as many changes as are needed until it's right.
The other problem can be with you. The customer says, 'Yes, that's fine,' giving your work barely a glance. He just wanted something good enough, which was why it needed improving in the first place. But you keep re-reading it and seeing things you could have done better for days afterwards.
But the same applies to any freelance creative person, whether it's a writer or artist. Unless you are churning out similar things every time and know exactly how long it will take.
Gathering information can take more time than the work itself. For example, typing up and re-wording a menu and doing the layout.
The gathering information is an elastic rope. The problem can be that the customer keeps adding information and spends thirty minutes a day chatting. If you have time, fine.
I now know why one person who quoted a fixed fee for creating a website said he would start when you had all the information and pictures and would allow only one update on it. That was his solution. Cost control. Control of time.
Yet another way of doing business is to get satisfied customers. You allow as many changes as are needed until it's right.
The other problem can be with you. The customer says, 'Yes, that's fine,' giving your work barely a glance. He just wanted something good enough, which was why it needed improving in the first place. But you keep re-reading it and seeing things you could have done better for days afterwards.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Tip 8 First Profiles and Posts - Good First Impressions and Lasting Impressions
DAINTY PAINTY
Some people put colours and borders on blogs. They decorate their comments and emails with little smiley faces.
They add interesting fonts.
Like this. (Arial.)
Or this. (Courier.)
Or this. (Georgia.)
Or this. (Lucida Grande.)
Or this. (Times.)
Or this. (Trebuchet.)
Or this. (Verdana.)
Or webdings.
(I created this blog elsewhere. But when I copied it here, the codes for the smiley faces were not recognized. So I'll have to put more effort in if I wish to add smiley faces.)
SHRUGGER MUGGER
Other people cannot find time to press the shift key to create a capital letter. Nor can they be bothered to use the spell checker. The checker only requires a click on that little ABC icon.
Why is this?
MIKE THE PSYCH SAYS ...
Is it personality type?
One classification system divides people into judgers and perceivers. Judgers like everything just right.
E FOR EFFORT
If you've got it, flaunt it. I've got a 40DD - and grammar.
JUDGERS
I'm not a judger. But I do judge people by how much effort they put into their relationship with me on the internet.
Yes, I do like to write right. It's my one skill.
Most females have more creative and literature skills than mathematical skills. Not all, just most. Most men veer towards scientific skills. Not all, just most.
As I learned in my first lessons in Philosophy at university, to say that something IS the case is not to say that it should be the case.
But if you find you have a skill, you can improve it. If you find you have a weakness, or an area where you make errors, you can improve upon it.
My skill is English. I mostly get paid to help. I sometimes give out free advice.
Some people are pleased and return the compliment by sending thanks, compliments, blings. Or are so impressed and intrigued that they invite me out to lunch or dinner.
I can't do maths - actually I got through O level and did Pythagoras's theorem, but I never use it now.
(Please excuse a little aside. Who would call their kid Pythagoras? Such a pretentious name. Only parents who reckon their offspring will grow up to be a mathematical genius who will survive the centuries and needs a grand name.)
Where was I? Ah, yes. Listen up, kiddies. All you boys at the back, too.
SHRUGGIES
One guy on a dating site, I read his profile somewhere yesterday, says that people write and criticize his spelling and grammar.
He complains, 'They are so picy'(sic). The word should be spelled picky. He is not picky. He is shruggy.
(Just in case anybody has wandered onto my blog from a Spanish, French or Indian site, sic is Latin for 'thus' or 'like this' and means the spelling error is in the original, which I'm quoting, and not, heaven forbid, my own mistake.)
Let me focus my mind and make things clear to you by bringing this post to a conclusion with a quick recap or summary.
SUMMARY
I look at posts and admire those who have put lots of effort into making their work look attractive, a showcase for the creator. I read emails and take it as a compliment if somebody has taken the time to get things right. It shows they respect themselves and me.
I reckon that they take trouble. They are likely to remember to phone and turn up to meet me.
They will enhance a first meeting, or a birthday, by bringing gifts in fancy coloured wrapping paper with pretty ribbons. They will generally be good to know.
They are likely to make the effort to create a birthday cake with a personalized message. They won't think it's a nuisance. They will feel that it is fun.
And they will be proud of what they've done. Just as I consider it enjoyable to decorate this post with little smiley faces to make people laugh.
That's what a beautiful blog or a perfect post says to me.
CONCLUSION
Yes, I am picky. I pick the best fruit and the best people. You may not be born with every skill, but you can work to make yourself the best and to attract the best.
I hope I have given you insights.
And entertained you.
If you have any comments, agree, disagree, add another thought, feel free to write in. Bye for now.
Some people put colours and borders on blogs. They decorate their comments and emails with little smiley faces.
They add interesting fonts.
Like this. (Arial.)
Or this. (Courier.)
Or this. (Georgia.)
Or this. (Lucida Grande.)
Or this. (Times.)
Or this. (Trebuchet.)
Or this. (Verdana.)
Or webdings.
(I created this blog elsewhere. But when I copied it here, the codes for the smiley faces were not recognized. So I'll have to put more effort in if I wish to add smiley faces.)
SHRUGGER MUGGER
Other people cannot find time to press the shift key to create a capital letter. Nor can they be bothered to use the spell checker. The checker only requires a click on that little ABC icon.
Why is this?
MIKE THE PSYCH SAYS ...
Is it personality type?
One classification system divides people into judgers and perceivers. Judgers like everything just right.
E FOR EFFORT
If you've got it, flaunt it. I've got a 40DD - and grammar.
JUDGERS
I'm not a judger. But I do judge people by how much effort they put into their relationship with me on the internet.
Yes, I do like to write right. It's my one skill.
Most females have more creative and literature skills than mathematical skills. Not all, just most. Most men veer towards scientific skills. Not all, just most.
As I learned in my first lessons in Philosophy at university, to say that something IS the case is not to say that it should be the case.
But if you find you have a skill, you can improve it. If you find you have a weakness, or an area where you make errors, you can improve upon it.
My skill is English. I mostly get paid to help. I sometimes give out free advice.
Some people are pleased and return the compliment by sending thanks, compliments, blings. Or are so impressed and intrigued that they invite me out to lunch or dinner.
I can't do maths - actually I got through O level and did Pythagoras's theorem, but I never use it now.
(Please excuse a little aside. Who would call their kid Pythagoras? Such a pretentious name. Only parents who reckon their offspring will grow up to be a mathematical genius who will survive the centuries and needs a grand name.)
Where was I? Ah, yes. Listen up, kiddies. All you boys at the back, too.
SHRUGGIES
One guy on a dating site, I read his profile somewhere yesterday, says that people write and criticize his spelling and grammar.
He complains, 'They are so picy'(sic). The word should be spelled picky. He is not picky. He is shruggy.
(Just in case anybody has wandered onto my blog from a Spanish, French or Indian site, sic is Latin for 'thus' or 'like this' and means the spelling error is in the original, which I'm quoting, and not, heaven forbid, my own mistake.)
Let me focus my mind and make things clear to you by bringing this post to a conclusion with a quick recap or summary.
SUMMARY
I look at posts and admire those who have put lots of effort into making their work look attractive, a showcase for the creator. I read emails and take it as a compliment if somebody has taken the time to get things right. It shows they respect themselves and me.
I reckon that they take trouble. They are likely to remember to phone and turn up to meet me.
They will enhance a first meeting, or a birthday, by bringing gifts in fancy coloured wrapping paper with pretty ribbons. They will generally be good to know.
They are likely to make the effort to create a birthday cake with a personalized message. They won't think it's a nuisance. They will feel that it is fun.
And they will be proud of what they've done. Just as I consider it enjoyable to decorate this post with little smiley faces to make people laugh.
That's what a beautiful blog or a perfect post says to me.
CONCLUSION
Yes, I am picky. I pick the best fruit and the best people. You may not be born with every skill, but you can work to make yourself the best and to attract the best.
I hope I have given you insights.
And entertained you.
If you have any comments, agree, disagree, add another thought, feel free to write in. Bye for now.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tip 7 Organizing Folders
I've found a great new way of naming folders. I start with the first name because that's what the person will say when they phone. Then their location, then their job, then origin.
For example, JonLonITScot. So when I file, I look for the name on the end of the email. If I have two Johns, I can see which is which and memorize it.
So when John phones I can ask are you in London. If he says yes, I can then ask how's the IT world, or have you been back to Scotland recently.
Easy filing. Easy phone responses.
For example, JonLonITScot. So when I file, I look for the name on the end of the email. If I have two Johns, I can see which is which and memorize it.
So when John phones I can ask are you in London. If he says yes, I can then ask how's the IT world, or have you been back to Scotland recently.
Easy filing. Easy phone responses.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Tip 6 Organizing Your In Boxes And Emails
Sometimes you need a clean sweep of your emails and inboxes. (I admit I just wrote a new introduction to fit the best clipart illustration I could find, a broom! Unfortunately it has to be jpg for this site. When I solve this problem I'll load up the picture. Meanwhile, just think of a broom sweeping out your email box.)
The problem is that I have about 400 emails in both of my inboxes. Unfortunately today's vital information about the meeting time has disappeared.
You want to re-read the last email and sound positive before getting a phone call from your boss, dinner date or ex-husband.
Maybe your ever-efficient boss or ex is lost overseas. He knows where he is - but you don't - until you find his email. Was he in Shanghai or Taiwan?
My most efficient man told me I should never have more in my inbox than would fit on the screen.
If only I followed his example, I would be jetting around the world in first class hotels, running a business in half a dozen countries, instead of frittering my time away writing jolly blogs for you, dear.
Now you know why my husband and I don't live together for more than six and a half minutes. I'm forever trying to keep up with his example but he's already gone.
For example, my typical crisis: 'Help - where is today's vital email - are we meeting at 7.30 or 8 - where's his email?'
Do you ever have a last minute panic?
I do. I shouldn't. If I can organize a pupil doing A level English, make them a year plan for homework and revision, tell them to keep their homework file on the far right of the top bookshelf, I should be able to organize my own life.
And what is more important than the emails with the phone number of the person you are meeting today, and the venue?
Yes, the information should be copied into your diary. But you've had three phone calls and emails since the email confirmation. Where is it? Here's how I try to organize my email inboxes.
Dating Sites
If anybody is about to see me for lunch, dinner, the weekend, whatever, their latest email saying 'see you at six in Serenade Restaurant' stays in my inbox.
If my correspondent has gone quiet, or jetted off to Australia for 3 months, they are archived in a folder.
To prevent the emails being lost and forgotten I might add a reminder by re-labelling the folder, for example, NicktheNerdopeninOctober. If the system tells me that's too long a name for a folder, I shorter it to NicNerdOct.
Dating sites have their own problems and solutions. General emails have different systems.
General Emails
I find that anything taken out of the email inbox is likely to be forgotten.
Some important events get their own file. For example, Granny's80thparty.
I want my system to be clear to anybody else, so that if I fell and sprained my ankle and wrist and ended up in hospital or bed unable to reach the computer, I could tell a member of the family or visiting well-wisher where to find an email contact to cancel a meeting.
Similarly, your work email should be clear enough for somebody to take over. In case you are hospitalized, stranded overseas, or need to get a phone number.
You might change jobs but stay on good terms and want to be able to go back if the salary is increased, so you should leave things clear for whoever takes over your job.
In my g mail account the archived folders are alphabetical. Sometimes you have to decide whether to list under Jon Smith or Smith Company. If you want to file a daily bulletin, to save trawling to the end of the list, file under Jon Smith because J is earlier.
If the emails are rarer, keep them under Smith company. I sometimes end up with both labels. This doubles the number of files. You might consolidate and reduce it to one.
Or keep both going so that when Jon sends you Jon Smith emails you can find the folder fast. But when he sends you emails from Smith company you can find that, too.
Do you have any other systems?
The problem is that I have about 400 emails in both of my inboxes. Unfortunately today's vital information about the meeting time has disappeared.
You want to re-read the last email and sound positive before getting a phone call from your boss, dinner date or ex-husband.
Maybe your ever-efficient boss or ex is lost overseas. He knows where he is - but you don't - until you find his email. Was he in Shanghai or Taiwan?
My most efficient man told me I should never have more in my inbox than would fit on the screen.
If only I followed his example, I would be jetting around the world in first class hotels, running a business in half a dozen countries, instead of frittering my time away writing jolly blogs for you, dear.
Now you know why my husband and I don't live together for more than six and a half minutes. I'm forever trying to keep up with his example but he's already gone.
For example, my typical crisis: 'Help - where is today's vital email - are we meeting at 7.30 or 8 - where's his email?'
Do you ever have a last minute panic?
I do. I shouldn't. If I can organize a pupil doing A level English, make them a year plan for homework and revision, tell them to keep their homework file on the far right of the top bookshelf, I should be able to organize my own life.
And what is more important than the emails with the phone number of the person you are meeting today, and the venue?
Yes, the information should be copied into your diary. But you've had three phone calls and emails since the email confirmation. Where is it? Here's how I try to organize my email inboxes.
Dating Sites
If anybody is about to see me for lunch, dinner, the weekend, whatever, their latest email saying 'see you at six in Serenade Restaurant' stays in my inbox.
If my correspondent has gone quiet, or jetted off to Australia for 3 months, they are archived in a folder.
To prevent the emails being lost and forgotten I might add a reminder by re-labelling the folder, for example, NicktheNerdopeninOctober. If the system tells me that's too long a name for a folder, I shorter it to NicNerdOct.
Dating sites have their own problems and solutions. General emails have different systems.
General Emails
I find that anything taken out of the email inbox is likely to be forgotten.
Some important events get their own file. For example, Granny's80thparty.
I want my system to be clear to anybody else, so that if I fell and sprained my ankle and wrist and ended up in hospital or bed unable to reach the computer, I could tell a member of the family or visiting well-wisher where to find an email contact to cancel a meeting.
Similarly, your work email should be clear enough for somebody to take over. In case you are hospitalized, stranded overseas, or need to get a phone number.
You might change jobs but stay on good terms and want to be able to go back if the salary is increased, so you should leave things clear for whoever takes over your job.
In my g mail account the archived folders are alphabetical. Sometimes you have to decide whether to list under Jon Smith or Smith Company. If you want to file a daily bulletin, to save trawling to the end of the list, file under Jon Smith because J is earlier.
If the emails are rarer, keep them under Smith company. I sometimes end up with both labels. This doubles the number of files. You might consolidate and reduce it to one.
Or keep both going so that when Jon sends you Jon Smith emails you can find the folder fast. But when he sends you emails from Smith company you can find that, too.
When my son worked in recruitment the business was very much based on Time Is Money. Hundreds of calls aday, including cold calls and outgoing calls, hundreds of incoming query emails from prospective company clients and CVs from hopefuls.
The boss said they had no time to classify everything in the inbox. They simply let it grow indefinitely in date order and made new folders for vital information.
One way of classifying vital information is to forward items of interest to yourself, perhaps in another email account.
Do you have any other systems?
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Tip 5 Phone A Friend - Heated debates with heating repair man
I was hot and bothered because I had no heating. Central heating. Radiators. I've got hot flushes but the radiators are cold.
I don't like cold showers. I can put the hot water boiler on. But the main system which is on a timer is not working and no radiators react.
I've got the heating engineer back. The week before last he fixed the flue and he flew.
He was ill last week with 'man flu' he says. I don't want to know. I just want the heating fixed.
At a reasonable price. First I paid a plumber. He changed the pump and a triple valve.
The problem was not solved. But I paid him happily because he did another job. He plumbed in a shower head beside the hall toilet, like the ones you get in the Far East. (I brought the attachement back from the Far East. He recommends a central heating engineer.
The engineer fixed one problem, which I didn't know I had. But not the main problem. NO HEATING!
I told a friend, 'I've had the heating engineer'. My friend makes a pun on the word had: 'You had him, did you!'
I retorted with another pun, 'I had to make sure I wasn't had. I checked the bill.' Three meanings for the word had: actually short for an implied word - had a visiting, had a relationship, caught and had too big a bill - cheating you out of money. Isn't the English language funny.
Now, July 11, the man says he's changing the junction box. He is re-wiring it in. The 'relays'.
I had no idea whether I needed that. So, I got him to speak to my son who did electronic engineering at Brunel and my son agreed that he'd had problems with relays in equipment and whether or not it caused the problem the system needed changing if not updating. Let's hope it works.
Hurray - it works! The heating is on. Just like old times.
I don't like cold showers. I can put the hot water boiler on. But the main system which is on a timer is not working and no radiators react.
I've got the heating engineer back. The week before last he fixed the flue and he flew.
He was ill last week with 'man flu' he says. I don't want to know. I just want the heating fixed.
At a reasonable price. First I paid a plumber. He changed the pump and a triple valve.
The problem was not solved. But I paid him happily because he did another job. He plumbed in a shower head beside the hall toilet, like the ones you get in the Far East. (I brought the attachement back from the Far East. He recommends a central heating engineer.
The engineer fixed one problem, which I didn't know I had. But not the main problem. NO HEATING!
I told a friend, 'I've had the heating engineer'. My friend makes a pun on the word had: 'You had him, did you!'
I retorted with another pun, 'I had to make sure I wasn't had. I checked the bill.' Three meanings for the word had: actually short for an implied word - had a visiting, had a relationship, caught and had too big a bill - cheating you out of money. Isn't the English language funny.
Now, July 11, the man says he's changing the junction box. He is re-wiring it in. The 'relays'.
I had no idea whether I needed that. So, I got him to speak to my son who did electronic engineering at Brunel and my son agreed that he'd had problems with relays in equipment and whether or not it caused the problem the system needed changing if not updating. Let's hope it works.
Hurray - it works! The heating is on. Just like old times.
Tip 4 Where's That Worker? Workers' Phone Numbers, Bills & More Fun Jobs
TURNING UP
Woody Allen said that ninety per cent of success was simply turning up. That applies to performing comedy. But also to fixing my central heating.
The gas board - easy call, see your bill, and they turn up to take a look. Except that the gas board wanted £5000 to change the boiler, flush the radiators etc.
A friend who has property told me the the price of the boiler itself. Then the gas board wanted to put me on a waiting list and could not say when they would do the job.
The worker can also get half way through the job and not come back. He has another urgent job to do. He can come back, 7 a.m. , after you were up late last night. Or 5.30 to 8 pm Friday night when you wanted to go out to dinner with the boyfriend or have a family meal in, or a romantic dinner. Just imagine it.
Very romantic. Half way through the champagne toast 'To us,' lover boy goes to kiss me and the heating man appears, 'I've got a slight problem. What it is, is this. The valve on the ..'
CLEAN SHOES
Workers come in with muddy shoes. Drill holes and leave dust and walk dust in and out. (Some boyfriends and husbands likewise.)
If you challenge them they say they aren't allowed to take their shoes off, because of health and safety regulations, must keep their dainty little toes covered. (Funny, everybody in Singapore can take their shoes off when enterting the house. Admittedly workers all slop about in flip-flops because of the tropical heat, no laces to undo.)
Well, how about plastic overshoes for indoors? Permanent or disposable.
Some temples and mosques in the Far East have overshoes. People with false feet can't remove their footwear. And you don't want to catch verruccas from other people's feet.
If they had to keep on removing the overshoes they'd do less running in and out.
STAYING PUT
Why does a worker have to keep walking in and out of the house to his van? Letting all the cold air into the house. Is he nipping out for a fag? A drink? Lunch? Having sex with a friend in the van?
Making phone calls on the time he's charging me for? I don't mind him getting a phone call or two if he answers calls from me on another person's job.
Why can't he bring all his tools inside in one tool box?
He's marching mud in and out of my hall. Okay, so I wash out one pale-coloured runner at the end of the job, the one which can be machine washed. I lug it backwards and forwards, watch the time. He's taking up my time too.
And hoover the other runners.
And fold back the carpet in the kitchen so he can get to the boiler.
And fail to go to the coffee morning at the neighbours at which I would meet everybody from the whole street.
But I need my central heating.
Although it's summer, I dry out bathroom towels on the radiator. Never realised before.
I could shut down the whole heating system in summer if I had a towel rail on an instant heater. But instant heaters, little fan heaters which you trip over, and ones on the wall which are not on a timer need constant attention. Remember to switch them on when you get up. Then they get switched on and left on accidentally overnight and during the holidays are expensive. That's why you have one big system on a timer.
Bleeding Radiators
But then you need to bleed the radiators. My gardener takes all his radiators off and empties them out on the lawn. I asked, 'How do you prevent the raditors leaking all over your carpets?'
He said, you have to plug up the holes with corks.
We can do it ourselves. You can hear the air in the radiators. Let it out of the top of the radiator with the key.
If We Do Two Jobs It's Cheaper
Cheaper for the first job. Dearer for the second? Certainly dearer to have two jobs done.
The thermostat has gone on the heating boiler has gone. (Do they break something every time?)
However, I can alter the temperature on the main boiler, down from two and a half to two.
If the thermostat is done with another bigger job, it will be half the price, only £50 instead of £90. Ah, the roof man made the same offer. If we do this little job with a bigger one ...
At least I am now organized. I have the heating man's card. It has only a phone number. I have written the address and his surname on the back. Now if I forget I can hunt for them in the local phone book or the Internet. I won't forget. I put the card on the nocticeboard. I have the number in my address book four times, under heating engineeer, his company name, his first name and his surname.
Workers' Phone Numbers
Where's that worker? It must be cheaper to bring a man over from Nepal and employ him for a year. He can sleep in the garden summerhouse. Ah, that has a leaking roof. The man of the moment promised to do that. Where's that worker?
Woody Allen said that ninety per cent of success was simply turning up. That applies to performing comedy. But also to fixing my central heating.
The gas board - easy call, see your bill, and they turn up to take a look. Except that the gas board wanted £5000 to change the boiler, flush the radiators etc.
A friend who has property told me the the price of the boiler itself. Then the gas board wanted to put me on a waiting list and could not say when they would do the job.
The worker can also get half way through the job and not come back. He has another urgent job to do. He can come back, 7 a.m. , after you were up late last night. Or 5.30 to 8 pm Friday night when you wanted to go out to dinner with the boyfriend or have a family meal in, or a romantic dinner. Just imagine it.
Very romantic. Half way through the champagne toast 'To us,' lover boy goes to kiss me and the heating man appears, 'I've got a slight problem. What it is, is this. The valve on the ..'
CLEAN SHOES
Workers come in with muddy shoes. Drill holes and leave dust and walk dust in and out. (Some boyfriends and husbands likewise.)
If you challenge them they say they aren't allowed to take their shoes off, because of health and safety regulations, must keep their dainty little toes covered. (Funny, everybody in Singapore can take their shoes off when enterting the house. Admittedly workers all slop about in flip-flops because of the tropical heat, no laces to undo.)
Well, how about plastic overshoes for indoors? Permanent or disposable.
Some temples and mosques in the Far East have overshoes. People with false feet can't remove their footwear. And you don't want to catch verruccas from other people's feet.
If they had to keep on removing the overshoes they'd do less running in and out.
STAYING PUT
Why does a worker have to keep walking in and out of the house to his van? Letting all the cold air into the house. Is he nipping out for a fag? A drink? Lunch? Having sex with a friend in the van?
Making phone calls on the time he's charging me for? I don't mind him getting a phone call or two if he answers calls from me on another person's job.
Why can't he bring all his tools inside in one tool box?
He's marching mud in and out of my hall. Okay, so I wash out one pale-coloured runner at the end of the job, the one which can be machine washed. I lug it backwards and forwards, watch the time. He's taking up my time too.
And hoover the other runners.
And fold back the carpet in the kitchen so he can get to the boiler.
And fail to go to the coffee morning at the neighbours at which I would meet everybody from the whole street.
But I need my central heating.
Although it's summer, I dry out bathroom towels on the radiator. Never realised before.
I could shut down the whole heating system in summer if I had a towel rail on an instant heater. But instant heaters, little fan heaters which you trip over, and ones on the wall which are not on a timer need constant attention. Remember to switch them on when you get up. Then they get switched on and left on accidentally overnight and during the holidays are expensive. That's why you have one big system on a timer.
Bleeding Radiators
But then you need to bleed the radiators. My gardener takes all his radiators off and empties them out on the lawn. I asked, 'How do you prevent the raditors leaking all over your carpets?'
He said, you have to plug up the holes with corks.
We can do it ourselves. You can hear the air in the radiators. Let it out of the top of the radiator with the key.
If We Do Two Jobs It's Cheaper
Cheaper for the first job. Dearer for the second? Certainly dearer to have two jobs done.
The thermostat has gone on the heating boiler has gone. (Do they break something every time?)
However, I can alter the temperature on the main boiler, down from two and a half to two.
If the thermostat is done with another bigger job, it will be half the price, only £50 instead of £90. Ah, the roof man made the same offer. If we do this little job with a bigger one ...
At least I am now organized. I have the heating man's card. It has only a phone number. I have written the address and his surname on the back. Now if I forget I can hunt for them in the local phone book or the Internet. I won't forget. I put the card on the nocticeboard. I have the number in my address book four times, under heating engineeer, his company name, his first name and his surname.
Workers' Phone Numbers
Where's that worker? It must be cheaper to bring a man over from Nepal and employ him for a year. He can sleep in the garden summerhouse. Ah, that has a leaking roof. The man of the moment promised to do that. Where's that worker?
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Tip 1 Overcoming Telephone Reluctance
Afraid to pick up the phone?
On several occasions I've worried all day and phoned only to find that the person I wanted was on holiday or and if I'd phoned earlier I'd have saved hours of worrying. Often the thing you are afraid of never happens.
1 Plan the conversation. Your one-minute elevator speech. Remember you may get an answering machine.
2 Smile. It improves the tone of your voice. You feel better, too.
3 Relax.
4 Check the name of the person you are calling.
5 If you don't get through, chat up the secretary.
Make a list of phone calls and work through them.
If you are too scared, just ring to check the name of the person you are calling. Often once the phone is in your hand and the number is dialled and somebody answers - you're there.
Loads of other tricks:
Imagine the other person is naked or in bed.
Think how scared they are when they answer the phone to you and re-assure them.
Remember that if you have a list of 100 phone calls, every one brings you nearer to going home time. And success!
Any more tips? Please send them to me.
On several occasions I've worried all day and phoned only to find that the person I wanted was on holiday or and if I'd phoned earlier I'd have saved hours of worrying. Often the thing you are afraid of never happens.
1 Plan the conversation. Your one-minute elevator speech. Remember you may get an answering machine.
2 Smile. It improves the tone of your voice. You feel better, too.
3 Relax.
4 Check the name of the person you are calling.
5 If you don't get through, chat up the secretary.
Make a list of phone calls and work through them.
If you are too scared, just ring to check the name of the person you are calling. Often once the phone is in your hand and the number is dialled and somebody answers - you're there.
Loads of other tricks:
Imagine the other person is naked or in bed.
Think how scared they are when they answer the phone to you and re-assure them.
Remember that if you have a list of 100 phone calls, every one brings you nearer to going home time. And success!
Any more tips? Please send them to me.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Tip 3 Teaching People Facts, Skills, Goals - & When To Speak Up For Themselves
Tip 2 Teaching Life Skills - Facts, Organizing, Skills, Goals, Speaking Up
What is the role of a teacher?
1 To educate - impart useful information.
Often if you have the facts, you have the skills, or can teach yourself the skills, choose your goals and speak up for yourself.
2 To teach skills. The policy of teaching a man to fish, not giving him a fish.
This is where so many parents go wrong.
Mother cooks and cleans. She should teach her children, male and female, to cook and clean. Then when she is entertaining or has guests to stay, they can help. When she is iill or old they can help. When she is dead, they can look after themselves.
My mother cooked. She should have taught me to cook.
Making Money & Saving It
My father looked after my money. He should have taught me to look after my money.
So many parents think they should give children financial handouts. Then children live on the dole. Run out of money. Can't manage finances.
Children and teenagers should be taught the essential rules which apply to family life, marketing and citizenship. Find out what the other person needs and give it to them.
3 Goal Setting
Unless you have a goal (such as passing O level English), you can't see the point of the steps (doing tonight's spelling test or essay).
Looking At The Mountain
The Gotta Have A Dream theory.
If you look at the mountaintop, it might encourage you to take the next flight of stairs.
The One Step At A Time Theory
But if the whole journey seems too great and distant, maybe you have to encourage the pupil or yourself to look at the project 'one step at a time'. The teachers and pupils have to know themselves.
Life coaching is about thinking of the big goals and then selecting the small achievable steps and doing them.
Goal-setting - Fulfilling Expections
Some of us spend our whole lives waiting to be told what part to play (pupils, customers).
Others tell others what part to play (teachers, doctors, authors).
Resisters
Some people are Resisters. Tell them to do one thing, they do the opposite. Lazy. Contrary. Procrastinators.
One method in NLP Neuro- Linguistic Programming - using positive language to set actions and goals - is to tell a resister to do the opposite. The person who persists in eating is told he must eat more - until he stops and says to the teacher and himself: 'No - I've had enough!'
Pleasers
Others are pleasers. Easily led. Easily encouraged.
Resisters Creating Role Confusion
If you don't play the part you were given (boy with girlfriend, man with wife, drunk on barstool), but you are homosexual with heterosexuals, sober with drunks, drunk with people who are sober, they are confused abut what role you are playing and what role they are playing. This is what makes them upset.
Control Freaks
In the UK adults are free to do what they want and marry who they want. It is illegal to force somebody to marry against their will.
In other societies the individual is part of the group and is expected to conform to the good of the group. To resist the will of the group shows the group is out of control of its members and brings disrepute, shame, attack on the honour and the control exerted by the elders or leaders.
Conforming to Family & Society
Honour killings - expecting children, even when they are adults, to play the roles their parents give them. But the government expects each person to be born, get married and die, to live three score years and ten.
Only the law courts can decide whether you should be put to death. In this country we don't have the death penalty. So honour killings are not allowed because:
a) Adults have a right to choose who to marry.
b) Law courts of independent persons must decide disputes. The judge and jury are separate.
c) Killing citizens is not allowed.
Speakers
Speakers are confident. Audiences clap on cue.
Theatre Critics & Review
Maybe theatre critics should follow the rule recommended in Toastmasters International which trains speakers. CRC - commend, recommend, commend - or praise, criticise contructively, praise. All critics should CRC. Teachers should CRC.
Teachers and Teaching
What's wrong with the new idea that children should not put up their hands? Simple. Those who fail must be taught to persist until they succeed.
The shy should be given confidence. You don't prevent people succeeding in case others are jealous.
If giving prizes to one makes others a failure, you give prizes to everybody.
At a party you give goody bags so that not only the birthday boy or girl but every child receives a gift. You don't ban presents in case others are jealous.
Don't spread misery. Spread happiness.
Speaking Up - For Children
Teachers should be encouraging the shy to put up their hands.
Start every lesson by making every child put up its hand and answer with its name when asked. The physical act of raising the arm. The mental effort of answering the teacher. The social effort of answering a question without hesitation. Knowing an answer which not everybody else knows.
Speaking Up - For Shy Adults
Join a speakers club which trains speakers. Toastmasters International is worldwide.
Obviously, if you think you have a great system, you should try to spread the word.
Civilization and organiation may be better than anarchy.
But if spreading your system means killing others, it is time to consider whether you have lost sight of the end and defeated the aim of happiness of many with the unhappiness of the few. This is where religions and wars can fail or succeed.
What is the role of a teacher?
1 To educate - impart useful information.
Often if you have the facts, you have the skills, or can teach yourself the skills, choose your goals and speak up for yourself.
2 To teach skills. The policy of teaching a man to fish, not giving him a fish.
This is where so many parents go wrong.
Mother cooks and cleans. She should teach her children, male and female, to cook and clean. Then when she is entertaining or has guests to stay, they can help. When she is iill or old they can help. When she is dead, they can look after themselves.
My mother cooked. She should have taught me to cook.
Making Money & Saving It
My father looked after my money. He should have taught me to look after my money.
So many parents think they should give children financial handouts. Then children live on the dole. Run out of money. Can't manage finances.
Children and teenagers should be taught the essential rules which apply to family life, marketing and citizenship. Find out what the other person needs and give it to them.
3 Goal Setting
Unless you have a goal (such as passing O level English), you can't see the point of the steps (doing tonight's spelling test or essay).
Looking At The Mountain
The Gotta Have A Dream theory.
If you look at the mountaintop, it might encourage you to take the next flight of stairs.
The One Step At A Time Theory
But if the whole journey seems too great and distant, maybe you have to encourage the pupil or yourself to look at the project 'one step at a time'. The teachers and pupils have to know themselves.
Life coaching is about thinking of the big goals and then selecting the small achievable steps and doing them.
Goal-setting - Fulfilling Expections
Some of us spend our whole lives waiting to be told what part to play (pupils, customers).
Others tell others what part to play (teachers, doctors, authors).
Resisters
Some people are Resisters. Tell them to do one thing, they do the opposite. Lazy. Contrary. Procrastinators.
One method in NLP Neuro- Linguistic Programming - using positive language to set actions and goals - is to tell a resister to do the opposite. The person who persists in eating is told he must eat more - until he stops and says to the teacher and himself: 'No - I've had enough!'
Pleasers
Others are pleasers. Easily led. Easily encouraged.
Resisters Creating Role Confusion
If you don't play the part you were given (boy with girlfriend, man with wife, drunk on barstool), but you are homosexual with heterosexuals, sober with drunks, drunk with people who are sober, they are confused abut what role you are playing and what role they are playing. This is what makes them upset.
Control Freaks
In the UK adults are free to do what they want and marry who they want. It is illegal to force somebody to marry against their will.
In other societies the individual is part of the group and is expected to conform to the good of the group. To resist the will of the group shows the group is out of control of its members and brings disrepute, shame, attack on the honour and the control exerted by the elders or leaders.
Conforming to Family & Society
Honour killings - expecting children, even when they are adults, to play the roles their parents give them. But the government expects each person to be born, get married and die, to live three score years and ten.
Only the law courts can decide whether you should be put to death. In this country we don't have the death penalty. So honour killings are not allowed because:
a) Adults have a right to choose who to marry.
b) Law courts of independent persons must decide disputes. The judge and jury are separate.
c) Killing citizens is not allowed.
Speakers
Speakers are confident. Audiences clap on cue.
Theatre Critics & Review
Maybe theatre critics should follow the rule recommended in Toastmasters International which trains speakers. CRC - commend, recommend, commend - or praise, criticise contructively, praise. All critics should CRC. Teachers should CRC.
Teachers and Teaching
What's wrong with the new idea that children should not put up their hands? Simple. Those who fail must be taught to persist until they succeed.
The shy should be given confidence. You don't prevent people succeeding in case others are jealous.
If giving prizes to one makes others a failure, you give prizes to everybody.
At a party you give goody bags so that not only the birthday boy or girl but every child receives a gift. You don't ban presents in case others are jealous.
Don't spread misery. Spread happiness.
Speaking Up - For Children
Teachers should be encouraging the shy to put up their hands.
Start every lesson by making every child put up its hand and answer with its name when asked. The physical act of raising the arm. The mental effort of answering the teacher. The social effort of answering a question without hesitation. Knowing an answer which not everybody else knows.
Speaking Up - For Shy Adults
Join a speakers club which trains speakers. Toastmasters International is worldwide.
Obviously, if you think you have a great system, you should try to spread the word.
Civilization and organiation may be better than anarchy.
But if spreading your system means killing others, it is time to consider whether you have lost sight of the end and defeated the aim of happiness of many with the unhappiness of the few. This is where religions and wars can fail or succeed.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Tip 2 When to call Call Centre Managers - don't get irate
My son has worked in call centres.
Often at night there are only half a dozen or fewer staff. The manager works 9-5 or 10-6 so one of the night staff is appointed 'manager'.
Alternatively if you demand to speak to the manager, the person answering simply hands the phone to the person sitting alongside, and the other one of the pair reciprocates.
So don't waste time asking for 'The Manager' at night.
Instead of asking for a manager to come to the phone instantly, ask when you can speak to somebody higher up the chain who is empowered to make a different decision.
Before ringing off, find out the name of the person you spoke to and note the date and time.
You may want to keep a phone call log book of all calls in order of date and time.
You want to be able to say: I spoke to Mr So and So, department, title, and telephone extension so and so, on such and such a date, at such and such a time, and he said I would get a ten percent discount if I paid by Friday.
And keep a duplicate page for all calls to one company if you have an ongoing problem such as returned goods.
For example, 'I phoned you on Monday the first at 10 am, on Tuesday the first at 11 am, on Wednesday at 10 am, and your company promises that all calls are answered in 24 hours. Can you see my problem and can you offer a solution?'
Often at night there are only half a dozen or fewer staff. The manager works 9-5 or 10-6 so one of the night staff is appointed 'manager'.
Alternatively if you demand to speak to the manager, the person answering simply hands the phone to the person sitting alongside, and the other one of the pair reciprocates.
So don't waste time asking for 'The Manager' at night.
Instead of asking for a manager to come to the phone instantly, ask when you can speak to somebody higher up the chain who is empowered to make a different decision.
Before ringing off, find out the name of the person you spoke to and note the date and time.
You may want to keep a phone call log book of all calls in order of date and time.
You want to be able to say: I spoke to Mr So and So, department, title, and telephone extension so and so, on such and such a date, at such and such a time, and he said I would get a ten percent discount if I paid by Friday.
And keep a duplicate page for all calls to one company if you have an ongoing problem such as returned goods.
For example, 'I phoned you on Monday the first at 10 am, on Tuesday the first at 11 am, on Wednesday at 10 am, and your company promises that all calls are answered in 24 hours. Can you see my problem and can you offer a solution?'
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Handy List of Homophones Or Soundalikes - for transcribing text and speedwriting phone messages
It's important to write down messages accurately. You can write text abbreviations or speedwriting but to make things clear and save time on re-reading, and sometimes clear up confusion, we have different spellings for different meanings. For example, confirm dinner is not the same as confirm diner.
You need to take extra care if your first language is not English, or you are taking down a phone message in a hurry.
A noun is the name of a thing, an object or idea. If you can put 'the' in front of a word it is probably a noun.
A verb is a doing word, an action. If you can put 'to' in front of a word it is probably a verb.
Affect - to affect (verb). Cause a change.
Effect - the effect (noun). A change or result.
Hangar - large building housing aircraft (noun)
Hanger - support for clothes with hook at top (noun)
Pray - prayer or appeal to higher being (verb)
Prey - animal hunted for food or person or creature being victimized by predator (noun).
(Post being revised - come back later for more.)
You need to take extra care if your first language is not English, or you are taking down a phone message in a hurry.
A noun is the name of a thing, an object or idea. If you can put 'the' in front of a word it is probably a noun.
A verb is a doing word, an action. If you can put 'to' in front of a word it is probably a verb.
Affect - to affect (verb). Cause a change.
Effect - the effect (noun). A change or result.
Hangar - large building housing aircraft (noun)
Hanger - support for clothes with hook at top (noun)
Pray - prayer or appeal to higher being (verb)
Prey - animal hunted for food or person or creature being victimized by predator (noun).
(Post being revised - come back later for more.)
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
When do you ask a friend to pay for advice and help?
It's difficult sorting out how much to help friends and when to be professional.
If you want to offer only professional, paid help, you might say: 'I'll give you advice over dinner and half a day tomorrow morning. But I'd like half a day, say tomorrow afternoon, to relax. If you seriously want me to spend a whole day working professionally on this project, my rates are ....'
If I have a good friend I'm always glad to give advice and help, especially if they do other things for me or I love their company.
I like to be in on the start of a project. Sometimes you don't want to pay out until you are sure you have a viable business. First want to know if a friend can really carry through, doing their share, giving it time, getting things done.
If a project takes off and makes money, some time later you can start discussing whether another project started from scratch as a joint venture. That could make money for both of you.
I've heard of people who write to authors and say, here's my idea for a book. You write it and we'll go fifty-fifty on the profits. But the writing is the work. So the writer writes back, 'How about I give you one of my ideas and you write it and we go fifty fifty?' The other person never replies.
It also depends on personality type. Some people are 'nurturers'. They love helping.
Normally I'd help friends for free and charge strangers. Assuming that I have enough income to live on.
People may ask you to work for nothing when they are fund-raising for charity or running community projects. If you are retired and looking for something to do, that's lovely.
But people can't take up your working day when you could be doing other work to earn a living. You simply have to say, 'I need to work between 9 and 5 to pay my bills. I'll see you in the evening or at the weekend.'
If you want to offer only professional, paid help, you might say: 'I'll give you advice over dinner and half a day tomorrow morning. But I'd like half a day, say tomorrow afternoon, to relax. If you seriously want me to spend a whole day working professionally on this project, my rates are ....'
If I have a good friend I'm always glad to give advice and help, especially if they do other things for me or I love their company.
I like to be in on the start of a project. Sometimes you don't want to pay out until you are sure you have a viable business. First want to know if a friend can really carry through, doing their share, giving it time, getting things done.
If a project takes off and makes money, some time later you can start discussing whether another project started from scratch as a joint venture. That could make money for both of you.
I've heard of people who write to authors and say, here's my idea for a book. You write it and we'll go fifty-fifty on the profits. But the writing is the work. So the writer writes back, 'How about I give you one of my ideas and you write it and we go fifty fifty?' The other person never replies.
It also depends on personality type. Some people are 'nurturers'. They love helping.
Normally I'd help friends for free and charge strangers. Assuming that I have enough income to live on.
People may ask you to work for nothing when they are fund-raising for charity or running community projects. If you are retired and looking for something to do, that's lovely.
But people can't take up your working day when you could be doing other work to earn a living. You simply have to say, 'I need to work between 9 and 5 to pay my bills. I'll see you in the evening or at the weekend.'
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