GOD BLESS PAULA DEEN!
OK America. It’s time to put your “big girl panties on” and get over yourselves. I’m in a mood this morning – beware. Your (mine too) weight/diabetes/heart issues ARE NOT PAULA DEEN’S FAULT! Give me a break. I can NOT believe that papers and reports this morning concerning Paula Deen’s announcement Tuesday that she has had Type2 Diabetes for the past three years. In all reality, this doesn’t affect anyone else, does it? Now if you are a huge fan as I am, and you are concerned for her, the best thing realistically you can do is to pray for her and her health.
My fired up state got started while watching the Today Show this morning, when Ann Curry (whom I love by the way) – as NEWS – discussed all the “upset people that felt betrayed” by Deen’s lack of honesty. WHAT? Why exactly do these public figures owe us anything “personal?” Really. She has built quite a business with her amazing cookbooks and television shows. You know why? SHE’S ENTERTAINING AS ALL GET OUT! She’s as much an entertainer as she is a chef. That being said, why is she EXPECTED to share her personal health news?
My fired up state increased as I climbed in my car to head to work and turn on my favorite radio personalities on 93Q – Tim Tuttle, Kevin Kline & Erica Rico – and they guys were TOTALLY bashing her. Erica was the only sane one in the group. I’m paraphrasing here in a big way, but Erica was fighting on Paula’s side by stating that she is not MAKING you cook her food. You think? Tim & Kevin, well – mostly Kevin, were talking about how bad her cooking and about how much butter and sugar she uses. So. The Jersey Shore reality show stars drink all day every day – does that mean you HAVE to go behave that way? HuH?
Has anyone ever read or heard of Paula Deen beating anyone over the head with her REALLY CUTE pots and pans all while forcing them to make a recipe from one of her books with multiple sticks of butter and cups of sugar. Of course you haven’t. Anthony Bourdain – star of “No Reservations” on the Food Network called Mrs. Deen, ” the most dangerous person in the world.” I guess the intelligence behind that statement explains why I’ve never heard of the guy and don’t even recognize him. Wow. The most dangerous person in the world? Think that’s a bit dramatic?
OK – so she has signed on with a diabetic drug company as a spokesperson. So she’s stands to make some money from these endorsements. Is that wrong for her business wise? Can you blame her? Think of all the stuff Trump has done, does he still have a high ranking tv show? Of course he does…..because he’s entertaining to watch. Watch one of Paula’s shows or catch her on the Today Show….she’s pretty cool. You’d want to sit and have a chat or two with her – but then I tend to like people that have BIG personalities.
I am so tired of everyone blaming these stars for how they are affecting the youth of today. Here’s an idea. TALK TO YOUR KIDS. Tell them that’s not right to suck down a stick of butter or 5 Red Bulls everyday. Or marrying someone you don’t know or don’t love and expect to spend the rest of your life with. Or drinking and driving. OR taking a gun to school and not dropping it when the cops tell you to. OR letting yourself tip the scales at 300 – unless you have a medical condition that causes you to gain weight, try pushing back. Trying exercising. Trying taking responsibility for yourself. Try not hanging out with a “bad influence” or “bad crowd.” Parents are so quick to blame everyone else for their own kids’ issues and missteps…..try parenting. It’s a concept that is lost on a lot of people.
Moderation. Only make ONE of Paula’s recipes a week OR only on holidays. It’s just like everything else. Most things won’t hurt you in moderation. Disclaimer…..I said MOST things.
Off my soap box now. Back to work! Anyone need a website or blog to VENT – ha!
Change & Websites
You know……….websites change (or need to change) at the speed of life. As I was working today, I kept coming across articles, tweets, posts – whatever the source, they all suggested change. Sometimes change is good, and sometimes it just takes a ton of effort. How many times do you think,”I really need to change that.” Really? How many times?
Well, when it comes to websites AND life, we all need to make the time. Whether it’s changing your meta-tags and titles on the websites you are managing OR changing the way you parent your kids, change is eminent. And necessary.
I’ve been analyzing a website that I just can’t figure out WHY it’s not ranking within Google’s SERPS. It’s number one on all keywords with Yahoo & Bing, just can’t figure out the Google-thing. WHY, I ask? At the office, we all comb the site source and try to figure out why this one is different than any other website we’ve developed. Just blows my mind – something is there that I just can’t figure out……..kind of like parenting, huh?
As my kids’ teen years just seem to be flying by “at the speed of light,” I’m trying to figure out “why things just don’t work.” Or, at least, why they don’t work easily. Today, I just have to admit: EVERYTHING and EVERYONE is just different. Every kid, every parent, every friend……….is different. Do I like that? Yeh, it would be pretty boring if everyone was the same, but if there was just a manual. With all the rules to follow. I’d follow them regularly and religiously.
That being said, check your tags and titles for proper keyword usage – has something changed with your business? Don’t sell a product anymore? Get it out the tags/titles/content. Make CHANGES. GO FOR IT. Your website is prime real estate for new content, and more important, new ideas/products to lure in new clients/customers. You can do it.
Set aside 15-30 minutes, once or twice a week and start hammering away!
Pinterest & Social Media at it’s Finest
It’s been crazier than normal lately. Been to Mexico with GREAT friends, home for 2 days, and off to Corpus Christi with 23 of my favorite high school students for TISCA – Texas Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association sanctioned swim meet. WHEW – all in the last week! On to more FUN things. Like Thanksgiving. Like prepping for Thanksgiving – ugh. And my new “I have a few minutes, so let me jump on the internet” past-time, PINTEREST. Gee, thanks Clair – this is a social media marketer’s and crafter’s DREAM…and it’s so simple.
I can blow more time looking at peoples “pins.” This, in my book, is so much more interesting than Facebook right now. A lot of my friends feel the need to tell me that they are going to bed, washing clothes, shopping for bras, God-forbid grocery shopping. Tell me something interesting – I’m tired of all the BORING POSTS. It’s NOT interesting to me, and trust me – I’m pretty easy to entertain. Tell me what you did for YOU, what your kids did that day that was special, upcoming plans/trips., a great recipe, a cute craft for Thanksgiving, a new product…something INTERESTING. Here comes the Pinterest plug. Think sticky-note heaven.
NO – I am NOT paid by Pinterest, with my social media marketing business and website design, that would be a reasonable question. It’s just a really cool site, especially if you lean a bit towards the crafty/cooking side. People “pin” things of “interest” (thus the PINTEREST name) in short little blurbs. If it catches your eye, click on it. If not, keep going. It looks a bit like a newspaper, with little boxes FULL of information. AND it’s different every time you long in. I saw this “hair” idea where the girl had “dampened her hair, and rubbed drawing chalk on it for color, then curled it.” Offers color, yet washes out. Alexandra would be all over that. Then I saw these cute little teacher gift-like ideas. Nice. Cheap & easy, and more importantly it’ll look amazing and be useful. Teachers don’t need anymore junk to sit on their desks unless it is uses precious space wisely! Just a plug for my teacher friends.
There’s one hitch….you have to be invited. Yes, by invitation only. I’ve been on the invite list since I was in Mexico on the 14th. UGH! People can invite you, or you can wait for the PINTEREST people to invite you. INVITE ME…..it’s really bugging me! Great site though – check it out. I know enough about this “social media marketing” to know these people are NOT TRYING TO MARKET anything because it’s taking too long and they are missing the opportunity to direct traffic to their site. They don’t NEED to be concerned, they clearly have TONS of traffic. People just share, to share. I’m sure there are a few marketers out there, but hey – you have to take some good with the bad.
This chandelier I’m sharing was something that someone “pinned” to the site from the DIY network. So “Katie” was on DIY’s site, and thought enough of this (and the how to directions) that she posted it, shared the link and the picture, and it caught my eye. Niiiiice. I tell all my clients that social media is taking over. People share SO much, and to me, this is worth-while sharing. I see where the research and marketing funds are going, and it makes sense. But seriously, some people abuse Facebook. Who cares if you are going to the grocery store. Tell me what cool things you are going to make with the grocery items. Chances are, I’ll see you at the dang store. HA!
Anyway, check it out. Neat site. I try to share the new ones that are kind of cool. Back to work. I have to crank out a “penile enhancement and surgery” site. Yep, you read it right…..
Homecoming – Newcomings 2011
It’s that time. Teens plotting and planning for Homecoming (or Newcoming for my George Ranch friends). Do I ask a date OR do I attend with a group of friends. School groups are organizing dinners and mum-making-parties…….it’s a fun time. It can also be a stressful time for all. My “newcoming” friends are all doing this for the first time since they were in high school – which is kind of funny (wasn’t so funny for me 3 years ago -ha!) to watch. I have to mention out loud – my friends at George Ranch in LCISD – who have found a way for their kids to do what all the other schools are doing, but under a VERY creative name. NEWCOMING. They are a new school, only has freshman – juniors this year. So technically, there is NO ONE COMING HOME! Thus the newcoming…..
Austin High School, where my kids attend, has this down to a science. ProGrad takes orders, assembles and sells Homecoming mums. I think that is an AWESOME idea. What a great fundraiser. Students and moms – maybe some dads, who knows, put this together.
The Austin Angels, the dance team at AHS, are putting on a Homecoming Dinner & Auction. Food by Pappas BBQ. Another great Texas tradition – bbq and football. Dinner tickets are going to be sold September 26-30 in the AHS Commons AND by all members of the Austin Angels. These tickets are ONLY $10. What a deal! Entertainment by the Angels, dinner by Pappas AND an Auction? I know where I expect to see all my friends on October 12th. Homecoming is that weekend, and yes, I realize my kids have a swim meet that weekend that has a location of TBA. Ugh!
Just wanted to share the information with y’all! If you want to share with your friends, visit the Austin Booster Club website for more information! GO DAWGS!
Let the Controlled Chaos Begin!
School has started and the controlled chaos has begun. Summer is always an exciting time for kids (and their parents) because “they don’t have to go to school,” yet sometimes if you think about it, summer can be more chaotic than the school year because of lack of structure.
NOW that the school-year induced structure is back, it’s a serious game of logistics involving who needs to be where, at what time, and with whom? Football and swimming have started and we are full steam ahead. With high school swimming getting cranked up this week – GO DAWGS – that’s just one more element added to the swimming mix.The big kids bolt immediately upon arriving home from school for swim practice that is in southern Sugar Land (yes – Sugar Land is big enough to have northern and southern sections). Chase driving has been such a blessing because I get to actually acknowledge #3 (Grant) when he gets home from school. That being said, the insurance on a 16 year old boy in a truck is quite interesting, but we have a great insurance agent in Sugar Land, thank goodness.
Fort Bend Gridiron Football has been such an incredible experience this year with the league experiencing huge growth. In its inaugural year, the league had 100 players, and now our numbers are over 500. What a GREAT pat on the back for this group of football enthusiasts that thought this league was something Fort Bend County needed. As a zoned league, meaning players are required to play for the zone that will feed their high school. Yes, I said it. Zoned. No recruiting. Positive coaches are instilling the love for the game with these boys – it’s great to see. With Bucky Richardson at the helm (WHOOOOP!), the television and radio exposure for the league has been awesome! Saturday is the first game day for this year for this league, and the boys are so excited and ready to go. GO Bulldogs! (And Ridgepoint, George Ranch and Clements Zones!)
With the Aggies potentially moving to the SEC (or some other conference), it’s proves to be a great swimming and football season for the Remy family. Gig ‘Em………….stay tuned.
Tornado Alley | Insurance Nightmare amongst other things….
NBC Images | today.com
WOW – what a few days it’s been for the “Deep South.” Most of y’all have heard me talking about Greenville, Mississippi and my last 2 years of high school and being “unfairly” transplanted. As I’ve matured over the last 20 years or so, I think I’ve grown to appreciate the small-town mentality. Now, I’m not saying that I get why some of my friends NEVER left the state (even for vacations, school, whatever), but I’m wishing we had a bit of a slower pace.
Greenville, MS, really does have a beautiful landscape to it. No hills or anything, but everything is so green and still a bit “untouched.” I’ve been watching all the weather reports, and have been trying to keep up with where the tornadoes have been. Not that it’s fair for tornadoes to hit ANYWHERE, but Mississippi & Alabama just don’t have structures and housing built to withstand what they are being bombarded with right now. I would think that inadequate homeowner insurance coverage is going to be a HUGE issue in the area – similar to when Katrina hit New Orleans. Total devastation in areas. It’s really sad.
NBC Image | today.com
One of my Facebook friends that left Sugar Land to attend Ole Miss doesn’t even sound bothered by the sirens anymore (we don’t have sirens here)…..just irritated that they kept her from finishing a paper on time. Some of her friends from Alabama were suggesting that sirens were better than blackouts. I guess I would tend to agree. The video footage coming out of University of Alabama right now is absolutely amazing. The footage NBC is carrying right now (link to footage) is startling. The guy shooting it is an ex-cameraman of some type, from the 3rd floor of some academic building shooting out towards campus. As a parent, student, breathing human-being, it is terrifying.
I can’t help but think about what on earth do you tell your kids about something like this other than “at least we are alive and we need to thank God and say prayers for everyone else.” Tuscaloosa, AL’s mayor said, “Neighborhoods……removed from the map.” WOW! Scary stuff. Where do you start in the clean up mission? Obviously AFTER you’ve found all your family and pets……..what do you do next? Call an insurance agent? Seriously. Chances are you are doing your insurance business with someone local. Which is good and it’s the way I think it should be, but what if their office got destroyed? You need to think about this. These local insurance agents are going to be busy for a while. Probably longer……..
While I’m praying for those that have lost lives, homes, and livelihoods in the MS, AL, and GA region, I’m taking a peak at exactly what’s included in my insurance policies. Not making light of what is going on with the weather, but we are staring down hurricane season here and we’ve already had a “surprise low.” Y’all check your papers – call your agent. If you need an insurance agent, call me. That way if we know we are all covered, we can sit in the driveways/middle of the street and have hurricane parties like we did last time. We were lucky y’all………….the South will rise again. Thinking about y’all!
Me and My Dog
Me and my dog? Dogs …and kids………..you gotta love them. This dog, Cabela, has graced us with her presence. My son has dreamed of having a dog that was “trainable.” Well, Cabela is trainable, but seriously – where’s Chase going to get the time to do it right? So now we are looking at shipping her off to a trainer for a few months. This THOUGHT alone, makes all 3 children tear up. Mom……….is slowly drying her eyes.
Cabela has the sweetest disposition………VERY active, and still a bit nippy. You can see from her photo here that she’s grown a bit since the last I wrote of her. As I begin to think about shipping her off at 4 1/2 months old, I see something like this tonight. Chase (16) laying on the floor in the foyer, with his “Me and My Dog” shirt on from “Cabela’s” – yes, the hunting store. Cabela was absolutely mauling him with her tongue and he was rolling around like a 4 year old in the grass on a summer day. And I’m thinking, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt, right?” Such a mom thought.
They rolled around on the floor for almost 30 minutes until the puppy almost passed out, and the teenager almost fell asleep. And I went and got the camera.
How can we send a dog off for multiple months? Maybe she’s smart enough to get it done in one month, but wow, at the rate she’s growing, she’ll be GI-FREAKIN-NORMOUS when she comes home and that makes everyone sad. HOWEVER………….isn’t sort of a trade off to be able to take your dog somewhere and have her LISTEN…? If we truly want her to hunt, this has to happen. And now……..she is so fast, we can barely run her down if she gets out. And that’s the KIDS trying to run her down, not me – ha! She terrorizes the little people on the street because she gets SO excited and jumps up on them – they can’t remember to say down (which she knows by the way).
On the topic of discipline, one of my friends posted on Facebook that she doesn’t like other peoples’ kids. I agree. Some kids (and dogs) are just not being taught manners. NONE. Zippo. I really think parents might be taking the easy way out and entertaining kids with phones, DS’s, Ipods, and other odds and ends of electronic items. I’m guilty of it to a certain extent, but these kiddos need some discipline and manners. Kind of like this dog. If parents took 15 minutes a day (the length of time it takes a dog to learn a trick and then have it reinforced), with their kids – to talk to them, lead them ……… how many parents actually spend an entire 15 minutes a day TOTALLY giving their attention to ONE of their kids? Seriously. No phones, no computers, no tv’s, not cooking dinner………..just talking to their kid. I really think the numbers of parents realizing that they do NO WHERE CLOSE to this would be astounding and some parents would feel bad. Man – I feel bad that I don’t walk the dog enough or teach her enough on a daily basis.
We were very lucky to have a GREAT vet, Dr. Sandy Seaman, at Lexington Animal Hospital. I remember one day, when I was in with our miniature cocker spaniel AND my then 6 month old (playing the drop the toy game – we had a 3 drop rule), and Dr. Seaman said, “Just remember, your dog needs your love and discipline too. 15 minutes a day of TOTAL love.” WOW…….from a vet. Why aren’t pediatricians telling parents this? Huh?
I guess now, in my 40′s, I can say I’m thankful that my parents taught me some manners and some discipline. I’m worried about how this current generation of elementary school kids are going to be when it’s time to get a real job (and to leave home). Especially with parents paying for their kids to “travel” for 3-5 years post-college, to “experience life.” Just saw that one on the Today Show. I’m thinking the industry to be in is going to be law. I think these kids are going to need good, civil lawyers. With the already “sue-happy” world we live in, these kids are going to want to sue people for every little personal injury or thing that happens to them. OK – not ALL kids are going to be like this, but it’s a different world out there from when I was young. These kids don’t work, they do “activities.” Some don’t do anything but “hang.” I want to just “hang.” Hey – maybe just hang with my dog……
I know I just tied dogs to kids, and if you really stop laughing long enough to think about it, it makes sense. We all need to slow down, enjoy our kids (and our dogs), and make sure EVERYONE is learning something! Especially discipline and manners…………..
10 Commandments for Parents of Athletes
This list of 10 just dropped into my inbox and is something each and every one of us should have tattooed to our hands at meets, practices…..just every day! Something I need to really read and re-read. Dave Thomas, USA Swimming, visited First Colony Swim Team (FCST) and shared this with parents and coaches. It’s really, really good stuff for all parents to remember:
10 Commandments for swim parents:
1. Don’t impose ambitions on kids
2. Be supportive no matter what
3. Don’t coach your kid
4. Only provide positive feedback
5. Acknowledge fears, but try not to give them yours
6. Don’t criticize officials
7. Respect the coach (Coaching is not a profession, it’s a calling)
8. Remain loyal to a team
9. Find goals other than winning
10. Don’t expect Olympians or full ride college scholarships, you don’t need to be an Olympian to learn life lessons.
Do I think this is JUST FOR SWIMMING? Absolutely not. I could (and will) change this to “Parents of ALL Budding Athletes.” How many times have you looked out onto a practice field (or pool) and noticed a parent that is CLEARLY “living through their child.” Maybe fulfilling some dream or aspect of their life that never took shape? And number 8……….remain loyal to a team. That is something that will have to be another blog, another day – hmph. Football. Hmph! Times are changing in our area by the way! Check out Fort Bend Gridiron Football – a new youth football program in the Sugar Land area in their second year. Registrations are ongoing now – visit their website!
I think maybe I’ll expand on this list of 10 statements each week. Just maybe……….just thought I’d share today though!
Welcome 2011! I think……..
We’ve welcomed in 2011 – I think I’m about caught up with the “beginning of the year” duties and even accomplished a few things that didn’t really NEED to be done. However, catching up on the “Fun Things” is something I haven’t done a really good job of. During the “new year’s resolution” time of January, I always set totally semi-unrealistic goals for myself – some ARE attainable if I would just try – but this year is going to be DIFFERENT. HA!
Photo-blogging is going to the new thing this year for a lot of people in website design and marketing industry. I really think this is what is next – it’s already here – just going to get more serious. It’s going on “for fun” now – but imagine, a retailer that you like spotlighting an item or two, and really elaborating on it in a way that you can’t help but run out and buy it. A lot of people I know have family photo blogs. Why, you might ask. You parents CAN’T bug you for pictures AND they don’t have to get a Facebook account to see updated pics of your kiddos.
See, I think America is getting lazy and if you want to get someone’s attention, you need to do so with something that will grab their attention immediately. Either something shocking, REALLY interesting, or funny – whether it is a picture, video or a headline – is necessary to grab people’s attention these days. Now, do I want to read a blog where someone is writing about how many loads of laundry they’ve done, or how they’ve scrubbed floors all day? NOOOOOOOOO! I want to read about the things their kids do, something they find interesting at work, some product or service they offer. Something pertinent to me.
So my goal, it to daily, put up a photo. Whether it’s an old photo, recent photo, something I’ve seen somewhere on the news, a client’s product – just something. Almost every day. This generates “new content” and that is a necessary part of successful SEO-ing. VERY integral part. It makes the search engines sit up and take notice of your site. So remember that if you have a website.
Search Engine Optimization is obviously a part of my life as is Social Media…….it’s not going away anytime soon. So….let’s play the game! HA! Have a good one!
Puppies……and Christmas!
Let me set the stage. With one holiday upon us, college football winding down, and Christmas around the corner, things show NO signs of stopping any time soon! Cabela (aka – The Terrorist) has settled in to being a member of our family – in a very toddler type of way. The first week the puppy moved in was a blur to me. The first 4 nights were quite rough as I do not work well on little to no sleep. Nights 5 & 6 were only “one potty run” nights and I began to appreciate the puppy for what she is – ADORABLE! Beautiful head, cute personality, and black as night. Problem #1 = doesn’t matter what color color you place on a black lab, you can’t see them at night. Especially at 3am in the morning. Problem #2 = the cat. Mufasa has little to no appreciation for the puppy. Pure toleration.
Cabela keeps us on our toes, especially me as I try to work from home while semi-entertaining a puppy and managing her potty schedule. Who knew labs pee this much?and The cat is in hiding, barely eating, Caroline, well – let’s just say protects her food and bone. Past that, she’s been incredibly tolerant. We are crate training which I believe is the only way to go. Cabela already at 10 weeks old, goes to her crate when she needs to sleep. WAY COOL! She’s learned to sit on command in one afternoon with NO TREATS and “leave it” seems to be going well. This is almost a full time job.
Thanksgiving is next week, and I’m looking forward to the break and the fried turkey. What does your family do for Thanksgiving dinner? Baked turkey? Fried? Ham only? What a process. Coordinating families is hard enough, but the food schedule that goes along with this – WOW! Gotta run – dog needs a break. So does Mommy…………..
Is Organic Search gone for good? Enter Google Places
As I am typing this, Google is implementing it’s newest “schtick.” Google is putting MUCH MORE emphasis on Google Places, and it’s ability to guess at what you are trying to search, an extension of Google Instant. If Google thinks you are making a local search, it offers you local results via Google Maps mixed with organic results. This is happening LIVE right now. This MAJOR GOOGLE CHANGE has it’s good points and it’s bad. Then there’s the REALLY BAD. For whom, I just don’t know yet.
Good Points: For sites that aren’t doing well in the organic listings, they could possibly get some traffic through the Google Places change. Today.
Bad Points: If you were ranking, say, 5 or 6 in Google because of a properly optimized site, NOW you may lose some traffic because of the addition of the sites from Google Places. You may NO LONGER be on the front page. Looks like about 7 Google Places have been added to the “normal” listing. Do we even KNOW what normal is any more?
The REALLY Bad: Results look spammy right now. Maybe Google will get it fixed, but Google is currently putting PAID ADs in the results listings. Is good old fashioned organic search gone for good? With the mixed results I noticed that some of the Google Places (Maps) had page titles……WHAT?
This seems to be affecting local searches only. It’s always been a bit of a game, as I tell my friends, whether to put your geo-modifier at the head or tail of your search string. Who knows…………..this is going to be a wait and see kind of thing!
I was just searching houston guns. The Google map on the right hand side of the page and was staying static, thus covering up the paid ads as you were scrolling down the page. Bet there are some advertisers out there that are NOT happy with that.
I have confidence Google will get some of this worked out, and fast. Some of it………..well, we’ll just have to wait and see! Good luck!
Sports: Coaches & Parents
Our youngest is into football and I’m having a blast with the pee-wee footballers. They are still so enthusiastic about life. EVERYTHING is a big deal. They still share – these kids are 2nd and 3rd graders – everything with such a passion. Where does that passion go? One our players – I just adore him – his enthusiasm about everything is precious and NOT annoying. I call him Kamakazi Sam……..he’ll do anything they ask him to. And for the most, he tries his hardest. It doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty cute.
This is a GREAT story Coach!
You can see from his face that whatever he’s telling Coach is VERY exciting to him. That’s so cool. Youth sports can be so influential in these little kids’ lives and this coach is taking the time to listen. I wish everyone felt that way, because there are just some people out there that should NOT be coaching young children. No one is perfect and coaches, good and bad, hurt kids’ feelings all the time. Last week, while I was watching a kids’ pitch baseball game, I could hear some pee wee football coaches that were absolutely out of control. I felt so bad for the players, mainly because the players could not possibly be mature enough to handle what was being dealt their way. Why do some coaches have to scream, cuss, and verbally berate athletes? Who learns this way? Seriously, does anyone? I’ve participated in sports with a few different types of players. There are the ones that get fired up from all the yelling because they are self-motivated, and want to please. Some players get so mad that they foul out, get ugly on the field or court or take it out on someone during play. Then you have the players that just shut down because they think you hate them because you are yelling at them. There is such a fine line……….seems these days, some coaches don’t recognize that ALL KIDS are different.
I’m okay with instilling the fear of God, Coach, Mom and/or Dad into kids. Matter of fact, I think it’s good for kids to be a bit scared of their parents and coaches. Discipline is really okay. A little bit of fear of getting in trouble with a parent or coach can’t possible hurt THAT much, can it? But in this day and age where parents are trying to be best-friends with their kids, who disciplines them? My best friend listens, but she sure doesn’t discipline me – and if she tried……………..whoa Nelly! And the coaches that try to be their players best friends…….that doesn’t help either. As a mom of a daughter, frankly that scares me. There’s time AFTER graduation to be friends with coaches on a social level.
Where are we missing it as parents and coaches? In my mind the electronic age DEFINITELY has something to do with it. These kids can’t communicate – they are growing up staring at tiny little screens on their phones and are “plugged in” to their mp3 players all the time so they can’t possibly hear someone trying to communicate with them. My kids plug in just like everyone else’s kids do. We have house rules and we don’t allow devices at the dinner table or in the car……no wait. I’m fine with not communicating at 5:00am in the morning on the way to swim practice – HA! Dinner table and the car………..is that enough? Probably not.
I think all teachers and coaches that work with kids under the age of 16 or so, should have to go to some type of training prior to stepping into the practice or competition arena – psychological classes on kids. After the training, those coaches that don’t have kids of their own, should have to spend at least a week with a family where mom and dad go out of town. Seriously, understanding the dynamics of kids, whether it is social or competitive behaviors (or lack there of), is so integral to being a great coach in my opinion. Look at some of the greats – a few of them were obnoxious yellers and tantrum throwers. But when you talk to their players, almost everyone of them will tell you that they knew those coaches loved them and truly cared about them. The ones that help you finish college. The ones that come visit when you have your first child. The ones that keep up with you as you continue to grow outside of their world. But what do you think the players of these yelling monsters in pee wee sports would say if you could GUARANTEE them anonymity? For most, I don’t think it would be positive.
I can’t imagine not liking kids and trying to coach. I’ve talked to so many coaches that really just don’t like kids – I think they are CRAZY to continue coaching. I would have to call myself a liar if I sat here and told you that I like ALL KIDS and ALL AGES. Of course, I have my favorites, but that’s life. I think you become a better coach when you figure out how to treat ALL your kids the same, whether they are fast/slow or talented/not-talented. You could be making a HUGE difference in that child’s life. I just wish more coaches believed that way……..because you know………my way is the best!! HA!
Have a good one!
Traffic Signs & Signals
OK – I’ll a
dmit it. I’m paying more attention to traffic signs, signals, and “what is the purpose of” on the road these days because I have a child in drivers ed now. So……….for those of you that are reading this and live close by, have you thought about the purpose of the actual traffic signal/yield/white stripes combo at University and Hwy 59? Specifically the traffic signal on the post on the little median when you are turning into Telfair. For those of you that DO NOT live close by – let me set the stage. Hwy 59 is a major Houston freeway, and can get relatively congested. When driving south on 59, and exiting the freeway at University Drive, you enter a good, old fashioned, one-way feeder road with 5 lanes. People FLY down this feeder – and I mean FLY! The first intersection you descend upon is University Drive – turn right, and you are in Telfair. Now this all sounds simple, but it’s not. If you are not careful, you’ll either get popped from behind or rear-end someone VERY EASILY. And you’ll be calling your auto insurance agent.
This intersection has normal signals hanging over the intersection in a normal position. It’s this right turn……….It’s one of those right turns with it’s own little “driveway” – one with curbs and a median in between the right turn and the main intersection (it’s illegal to turn right at the intersection btw – it’s marked). Immediately to the left of this “right turn” is a median with a full blown stop light. It has a red light, yellow light, green light AND a green turn signal. Here comes the confusion. The markings on the street include the white stripe that normally means “stop here.” It also has a strip of white triangles about 1 foot away from the solid white line. Okay…..here’s the kicker. There’s also a Yield sign which in some countries must mean STOP HERE. And a traffic signal? Huh?
There is NO WAY the traffic light on the median is for the main intersection because it’s too far away. If it IS for the intersection, someone wasn’t paying attention to it’s placement. If you start into this little “right turn pathway” you can no longer see the light AND you have to really really really look over your shoulder to see if anyone is coming. So what are you supposed to do? Stop and look for traffic, Yield and look for traffic…….pick a white line to do SOMETHING AT……….we see so many traffic accidents there, that auto insurance agents really should be advertising there. Seriously.
General consensus? Red light means stop – I get it. Yellow light – be careful – I get it. OK – I’m an Aggie, and yes I get the concept of the green light. It’s the red light/yield sign/green arrow thing……….in my opinion, yield means yield, not stop. If there is no traffic approaching, and someone stops (not yields) and you pop them from behind, shouldn’t it be their fault for stopping rather than yielding?
Signed………..Confused Driver.
Summertime
Summer always brings that welcomed relief from the every day insanity during the school year. But I’ve started thinking, I like the structure of the school year. You can almost always predict what is coming next. With three kids all involved in two different types of swimming, we always know what’s coming next……… swimming. Some sort of swimming. With the big kids being active on a USA Swim Team – year ’round swimming and competition – and the littlest of offspring still involved in local neighborhood swimming, I thought I could manage going back to coaching. Did I mention NO ONE CAN DRIVE THEMSELVES ANYWHERE WITHOUT ME GOING? We are close to Chase driving, but October is still a ways off. The schedule has been a bit brutal for me as I’m still trying to get work done for Bizopia, all while coaching the Tarpons and carting the FCST’ers to practice. Weekends have been full of swimming for the kids and fun for the adults (I think we’ve had about 5 going away parties for awesome neighbors). An uneventful summer so far. And that’s NICE!
The main part of both swim seasons are now over. Coaching was a BLAST – summer league kids are just the best. Not sure about the parents (wink wink), but for the most part, the kids are doing it because they like it. Some parents, just like other sports, are living vicariously through their kids and imposing their own “gotta go faster” mentality upon their young swimmers. JUST LET THEM HAVE FUN. If they like it, they’ll stick with it. Pressuring summer league swimmers is just nuts……buying a 5 year a $170 Fastkin II Recordbreaker (as illegal as it is) is even crazier………..right up there with the dads seen OILING their 8 and Unders down. Yes, you heard me. Oiling them down with baby oil – And I’m proud to say it was NOT my second favorite team in the league this year. More on this topic later – that can be it’s own post. The theme for the summer this summer is – Let it be BUMPLESS summer (referring to rubber bumps on girls’ swimsuits that are now deemed illegal in FINA swimming.)
“Back to the grind” is right around the corner, and it is probably welcomed by most. Even the kids. They get to see their friends; you would THINK it would cut down on the texting. I think probably not. I think it’s just going to add to the list of “have to text to’s”. Ha! Real swimming starts Monday and the constant carpooling with limited drivers. Oh well. It’s our chosen extracurricular activity……along with pee-wee football. But more on that note later! Adios!
Driving while Texting
I have had the pleasure of starting drivers ED here recently and I have quite a few friends getting their licenses this summer. A fun road trip for high schoolers – now that some of us are driving – is to Galveston to hang out on the beach. EVERYONE LISTEN – WARNING! I was doing some research for Mom and I came across this…..Galveston has new “texting while driving” laws with $500 fines. HELLOOOOO! So if you are driving through Galveston and get caught texting and driving, cops can write you a $500 ticket. To make it clear, if you are driving through Galveston don’t text and drive.
Here’s a true story. A few weeks ago, I was participating in the Texas High School Triathlon championships in Katy, Texas, and one of the participants was hit by a guy texting while driving a Ford F-150 on Mason Road. This participant was a stud swimmer, 5:00minute 500 swimmer…….we’re talking fast! I think he swims for COOG. One of my old coaches now coaches him, and said that he has to have multiple shoulder surgeries because of this accident. The idiot that was texting while driving ran a red light and popped this kid during the bike portion. A cop was standing right there blowing an air-horn trying to get him to stop, but he wasn’t paying attention and now this kid has to pay the physical price. Not cool. If this were in Galveston or Galveston County, that would have been an automatic ticket for the texting and a ticket for running the red light.
Now – if you get hit by someone that was texting and driving and it causes an accident, and you get hurt and your car is messed up, you will need a Houston personal injury attorney that can also handle auto accident. If you get in any auto accident you will need to call an accident attorney these days anyway. You just need the right kind of attorney because everyone is sue-happy.
Since I’m helping Mom with research (she does SEO for Bizopia), I’m learning about all the different kinds of attorneys. A personal injury attorney will help you if you are an injured victim of any type of accident including car accidents, falls at work, slips at work and many other types. Dad’s company has designed some pretty cool websites for some different kinds of attorneys, including personal injury lawyers.
Chase
Weather in Oklahoma
OK – this spring/summer weather is Oklahoma is scary! It’s been a bit tough around here, but NOTHING like what they are going through. I have family in Tulsa and they are in the direct line of fire. Thank goodness for Facebook. I posted on my cousin and his wife’s pages – to let us know all is well. My cousin’s mom saw the post and responded that she had just talked to them. Did you SEE the hail they had 2 days ago? It doesn’t really matter what kind of homeowners insurance you have – that can’t be too much comfort staring down what they have coming at them.
Just read a post from my cousin-in-law, still moving their way. The Weather Channel is showing video footage of the young man from University of Oklahoma (I think) that tried to go out for a simple jog with the intent of “outrunning” the storm. Evidently the storm caught up with him, and he was pelted with bigger than golf ball size hail. He was lucky to live. He jumped in a truck with some very nice man, and says it probably saved his life. He had welts on his back from where he was hit. CRAZY!
I was checking out the Weather Channel’s videos. WOW – go check out the softball sized hail video. I know we had some minor roof damage during Hurricane Ike – but can you imagine what kind of roof damage these poor people have? What their cars look like? Does normal car insurance cover things like this? I’m cleaning my garage out this weekend so I can get at least ONE of my cars inside. AND I’m checking my homeowners insurance? Is this considered an “act of God?”
Looks like the storms are all merging – heading straight towards my cousin and his family. I’m logging off and going back to Facebook. WOW – technology has come a long way. Play by play action via texting and Facebook. Nice in ways, but I feel helpless! Good luck to those in the path of this WICKED storm!
New iPhone App for Accidents
Since I’m in the Houston SEO business, I have to keep up with “what’s new” with our clients. One client, the Larry Jones Insurance Agency, Houston car insurance quote service and provider, has just shared with me a pretty cool iPhone app. If you’ve EVER been in a car accident, did you get all the info you needed at the scene of the accident or did you have to play phone tag with the other driver(s)? I was in a small fender bender when I was about 20 – luckily it was not my fault, but the fault of a sobbing 16 year old that had GREAT insurance. But that was without kids…………
I’ve been very lucky to NOT be involved in any car accidents since I’ve had kids. They seem to add a new element to just about everything however. Think about it. We all had these cute little cars in the beginning – now most with kids of us are driving tanks for some sort. That being said, I can’t complain because my “tank” is “pimped out” as my oldest son explains it. SO, in the event of an accident, I would want to make sure that I get all the information that I need from the other driver (because naturally the accident will NOT be my fault – ha!) so I can restore my beautiful white diamond tank to it’s original condition.
Now…assume the kids are with you and you are involved in an truck accident. What are you going to be worried about, the car or the kids? I would imagine that I would be so incredibly wigged-out about the kids and making sure that they are okay, that I might only collect HALF the info necessary to file a proper claim. That’s where my client comes in. Mr. Jones is a Nationwide car insurance agent in Spring, TX. His agency services all of Houston, including Spring and the Woodlands. He has shared this new iPhone app with me – Nationwide Mobile. This FREE iPhone app features an “accident toolkit” complete with agent phone numbers, your insurance policy numbers, and your vehicle information. This toolkit has a list of all the info you need to share with the other driver (especially the truck driver)………all the little specifics you are NOT going to remember if you are rattled in the least.
When you have left the accident scene (or before), you can peruse the app’s suggestions for towing companies should you need to be towed. It also offers Nationwide’s Blue Ribbon Repair Facilities as well as the numbers of the closet agent. Information available at your fingertips to help you get your claim processing as fast as possible. COOL! They (Nationwide) are quite impressed with the flashlight feature also.
So…….you might want to call (or visit their website – it’s pretty good – plug plug) Larry Jones and get an auto insurance quote today….and this handy-dandy app….the other insurance companies aren’t offering apps for phones. Call for a quote today.!
Welcome to MOMMY May!
Every year, as summer swim-team gets all cranked up, a group of friends and I just STARE at each during practice sometimes. Most of the time we just laugh and say, “It’s just May.” So many things are starting up for the summer, before all of the spring sports finish up (baseball) and before school is out. Entire new projects are dumped into our laps as moms (and dads).
This particular “project” conversation was centered around band. One mom was sharing that her son had decided to go into band and the mom was acting like her life was going to end. Evidently this child was known for not sticking things out and for getting bored quickly. They had already gone through the piano thing. They had piano movers go get her mom’s piano and they moved it to her house and tuned it for her. They started piano lessons. They bought “the cool music.” Didn’t last………..
You know, baseball, swimming and soccer really have relatively low start up costs. You might need to buy a ball, swim suit, some goggles or a bat and glove. Music………..well that’s a different story. You buy a piano and you are stuck with it for a long time. Piano lessons – fee wise – are not too bad as most music lessons are relatively inexpensive comparatively. Now, when you start buying multiple band instruments or string instruments because a child is “changing their mind,” that’s a different story.
I was in band in junior high as well as high school. I played flute, piccolo and saxophone……and I don’t remember ANYONE renting band instruments. Nor do I remember my friends’ parents allowing them to bail on commitments either (ADHD comment – another blog, another time).We all saved up over the summers and bought instruments OR upgraded to better ones that our parents had us starting out on. I was lucky. My mom had a flute – the one she had played on in high school. It needed some work, new pads and few keys needed some reshaping and a few news pins. So I just used that one until I really got into band, which was only a short year later. That’s when I used my own money and bought my solid silver, Armstrong concert flute with the B foot (instead of a plain ole C foot). The one I still play today.
NOW you can rent band instruments. That’s pretty cool because IF you have a child that doesn’t like to stick to commitments or one that changes their mind all the time, you could rent a band instrument. We have this great music store, sort of between Sugar Land and Houston, called Fort Bend Music Center. I’ve written about it before………they have it all. From sheet music to piano sales, it’s all in one place. It’s great.
Fort Bend Music Center has recently expanded and enlarged their showroom that is full of beautiful upright pianos as well as baby grand pianos. The drums are right there for you too touch. Guitars are bit higher – I’m sure that is KID-related. My youngest LOVES going there. One day, I had stopped in to peruse their stock of sheet music, and one of the drum lessons instructors took Grant (then 5 yrs) over to “bang” on the drums. He remembers that to this day. Fort Bend Music Center added more lesson rooms, thus more teachers…………
It’s almost summer. What are YOU going to do with all your days of NO SCHOOL? Learning to play and to appreciate music has never hurt anyone. Matter of fact, there are many reports out there that suggest learning music really helps with math retention, computation and skills. You might consider hopping on over to the music store and see how you can entertain your kids this summer……….
Workin’ kind of weekend!
It’s was one of those weekends where everything seemed to be a bit tied to work. My youngest played in “Friday Night Under the Lights.” Our community, New Territory, looks forward to these wonderful spring-ish Friday nights for good old-fashioned hot dogs, hamburgers and baseball. YOUTH baseball that is. Grant’s game was at 6:00pm – the sun is still out. I guess he was a bit let down that he didn’t get to play in the dark. The league provides hot dogs and burgers and the teams that play (normally 2 games) bring the desserts and chips. It’s a blast – everyone just hangs out, chats with neighbors, and the players run rampant after they’re games.
The WORK side of 
Friday night: Summer League Swim Team…We are getting cranked up for practices to start on May 3rd and meets June 7th. As a coach for one of the 2 neighborhood teams AND the website manager/designer/hand-holder for the team’s website (sponsored by Bizopia, Houston SEO Website Design company – which I of course work for), I am evidently fair game for a whole slew of questions regardless of the fact that my child is playing on the field – even at bat. Most of the comments/questions I got Friday night were about the new team suits – a solid black team suit with green trim – and the cutest fish-logo. Can you imagine sitting in a room with 10-18 women trying to get everyone to agree on a suit that will make all 200+ swimmers happy…..? SpeedoUSA forced our hand in forcing us to choose a new suit this year by discontinuing their “2 year suit” program
. These new suits look great – the fish is recognizable to other teams – and has been for quite some time. We’ve done a very good job of “branding” our logo in the community. It’s on EVERYTHING. Every kid I’ve talked to LOVES them, but the parents think they are boring. Oh well.
I worked with a local company, Echo Apparel Solutions, over off the Beltway 8 & Gessner. They were great to work with and do business in Houston, Sugar Land, Katy and surrounding areas. This fish is some kind of elasti-rubber like iron-on thing. I don’t know the specifics, all I know is that we were able to very cost-effectively customize our apparel for the team. This company does all kinds of things: custom embroidery, screen-printing, sublimation as well as providing great choices in corporate apparel items to customize. Team and League uniforms galore. They also did these cool, yellow safety-vests for my church’s volunteers to wear in the parking lots so new members can identify them. Pretty cool. They’ve also personalized duffel bags, sweatsuits (team-wear) as well as fan-wear for National Fusion Soccer, one of the local club soccer clubs. If you need anything for your company, your team, your church…….give Echo Apparel a click or call.
Yesterday, we had our parent meeting for the Tarpons. All those new parents sitting out there in the audience, soaking up every word we said. RELAX………it made me feel old. This is a FUN thing. Yes, it’s hotter than you know what, but the kids that participate – LOVE IT! Keeps the kids off the computers and games and couch for at least an hour every day. What a deal…$95 dollars for one swimmer for the summer. Starts in May, ends in mid-July. Every day……experienced coaches, good technical teachers, fun in the sun, and a little friendly competition. In my book, summer swim team is the best deal around money wise. We are VERY lucky to have such wonderful sponsors – one of which I need to start designing their site.
My youngest and I put in a garden on Sunday. That’s WORK! He wants to attract butterflies and bees, and to grow “something”. He’s such an outside kid. Summer swimming is good for him because it gives him something to do every day – gives us something to form a “schedule” around. I think I’m going to let him “work” on a website “like Mommy does.” We have a family site that I don’t do anything with because I’m always working on someone elses’ site. He’s old enough to “write” a little blog on a page on our family site. He already has a Facebook page – social media marketing at 8 years old. HA! The grandparents will love it…..plus it will help him with his typing skills which the schools ASSUME these kids can all type. Push buttons, yes. Type, no. Who knows, maybe he’ll follow in our footsteps and work at Bizopia one day and design websites for a living. Hmmmm……….maybe not. Don’t think he can sit still that long. We have time……..
Back to work. Working on a mobile auto glass repair site for Affordable Auto Glass of Houston. Great company – easy to work with. Next in line……..a limousine company, then a media transfer company in Sugar Land. Lots to do……..more to come. Bring on the week…………
Moving at the Speed of Life
Moving at the speed of life………..think about it. That’s what we all do, right? Our local news station uses that phrase on their commercials and I think it is so true. You HAVE to live (or move) at the speed of life. The speed of my life sometimes seems unmanageable. Like the speed in which my kids are growing up. I’m getting older too, but my goodness, those kids are growing like weeds. We just attended our oldest’s Spring Sports Banquet where he received his Varsity letter jacket as a freshman. That was a HUGE deal when I was in high school (more on this topic later). Now we are going to get his learner’s permit for driving – guess I’ll need to start collecting auto insurance quotes. When did all of this happen? Moving at the speed of life……..
Easter came and went with a visit from the in-laws, including my sister-in-law and her family. Her kids are SO CUTE – we don’t get to see them near enough. She decided to stay in a hotel, even though we could sleep my husband’s parents, my 3 kids, and her 4 in our house IN BEDS. I really think they thought they’d need to take a break from our “speed of life.” Multiple practices by multiple kids, at multiple pools – I guess our “speed of life” does move along at a pretty good clip. It COULD tire someone out that is not used to it. Ha! Gotta keep moving……..
Work is incredibly busy – tough juggling sick kids, the swim schedule (high school and club swimming for 2 of the kids), and work……..and a husband, a dog that breathes VERY heavy all the time…did I mention she breathes very heavy ALL THE TIME? Like she’s been on a run or something. She’s old and we love her! Between the dogs, 3-5-8 year olds literally running through the house, constant activity in the kitchen (which needs new countertops – might as well remodel the kitchen really), the GREAT meals (ones we cooked AND sushi at Sasu)…..we all did great to survive. It’s like you need to take a vacation from a vacation, does that make sense? Moving at the speed of life…..
Now that it’s spring time I’m reminded of how much TIME the yard, garage and landscaping takes. Time that is VERY limited. I want to install some time of patio cover so we can better enjoy our yard AND our SLOWER moments at home. You know, take advantage of it when we do have some down time. In my constant pursuit of making my life (our lives) easier, I thought I’d clean the garage out last Tuesday evening. It was really nice outside. So I tell my son, “Go open the garage door.” Easy enough, right? It got stuck. My husband, using all his strength….and that’s a lot, tried to open it, bent the rails and it jammed. Two wheels popped off the track and we can’t get it up or down. As any multi-tasking mom would do, we found the number of a client of ours, Certified Overhead Garage Door, and asked if they would come out. Not only did the tech come out at 8pm, he fixed the garage door, fixed the garage door opener (which had blown out WEEKS ago), AND…get this…..is a handyman on the weekends (can take care of the “dog-attacked” door frame. THAT’S GOOD LUCK. I can’t say enough about Dillon and Certified Overhead Garage Door – plug plug. Nice, prompt, played with the dog AND explained what he was doing to my 8 year old. And did you catch the part about doing it fast? Moving at the speed of life………
Now back to my SEO job – working on a pretty cool company’s site that I’ll let you know about next week. I like to share clients when I think someone might could use the information. Like for broken garage doors……….insurance, you know. The things that break or involved kids! More later……on letter jackets!
Post Spring Break SEO Blues
OK – back at it! Right? After a week at Lake Livingston, a beautiful woody, quiet lake, outside of Houston, I’m back it. I did pretty good NOT working while at the Lake. It was a little cold one morning, and my eyes wandered over to my computer. Seriously, I only took it in case our web-designer needed info on a site we are trying to finish up for TPG Software.
One morning, the kids weren’t awake yet, so I figured I was safe and jumped on the WiFi to peruse the news. BIG MISTAKE. Bus accident outside of San Antonio. Need an accident attorney , is all I can think. Here I go, I’m addicted and I can’t help it. My mind starts playing the word games I know so well as SEO. Oh man……. I need to check my sites, I’m behind. I’ve got to blog blog blog for SEO purposes.
Blogging is SO important these days (for link building), as is social marketing. It’s a lot to keep up with. Trust me. I’m trying to keep up with quit a few sites, not including any I manage for “free.” Sorry…back to the bus accident. It’s worth staying on top of though – we are seeing good movement on sites with some minor social marketing and good strong blogging.
We finished up our trip at the lake with no major catastrophes……well one cousin fell in the lake. We all lost bets because we (my sis, her hubby and mine) all thought it would be my youngest. IT WASN’T. HA! We got home on Thursday, rushed out the door to the Black Eyed Peas at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with the kids, and Friday morning I decided to cut in new flower beds in an attempt to remodel my backyard. I really need to be remodeling some on the INSIDE of my house – when I do, I’m going to call one of my clients, Home Remedy of Houston – a reliable Houston Remodeling company . They are SO NICE! Anyway…….back to business.
Monday rolls around. I don’t even remember where I was 2 Fridays ago, my big kids have new swim schedules, which means new carpools, and the littlest is playing baseball. Thus the Post Spring Break SEO Blues. There is so much I need to do. I need to check some titles and tags, run reports, BLOG and tweet.
Spring Break is a good concept but I’m really thinking I’d rather have the extra week during the summer OR at Christmas……..Getting back into the swing of things can be tough. It’s Wednesday and I’m exhausted! Good luck to you and I hope you aren’t struggling with the Spring Break Blues!
Trains, TVs, Pianos and Swimming
Woke up this morning to news reports of a train derailment in Santa Fe, Texas. That really not that far from here. We live pretty close to some tracks and I always think – how fast would officials move through an HUGE subdivision like mine telling neighbors to “shelter in place”. We don’t have train accidents that much. AND we live close to Nalco Industries. Seems there are always train cars being loaded and unloaded. Through my job, I’m aware that train accidents (or rail accidents) fall under a very interesting law called FELA. FELA stands for Federal Employers Liability. The way I understand it is that there are very specific laws regarding what employers must do to keep their workers safe. WOW – this is VERY different than a workmans’ compensation claim. It is up to the injured worker to prove that the employer/rail owner failed to provide an unsafe workplace. Think about this – FELA covers injuries on the tracks, on the trains themselves, as well as injuries in the railyard. That’s a ton of different places injuries/accidents could happen. 20 cars derailed in this accident this morning……..that would have tied up traffic on Hwy 90 for DAYS. Issues would need to be handled by an experienced lawyer – luckily we’ve developed a wonderful working relationship with the attorneys at Burwell Nebout Trial Lawyers – they handle FELA cases in Galveston, Texas City as well as Houston. See – your job pays off sometimes. If I need an attorney, I know who to call!
Our old tv, bless it’s heart, is on it’s last leg. Luckily I have a client that sells all the newest and prettiest LCD televisions. The pictures are INCREDIBLE. J&K Electronics make buying a tv in Houston, easy. Especially LCD tvs. NOW, for my other half and I to decide on what size and what brand…hmm . That might take a while. In the mean time, I’m going to haul my pc that’s in need of a little repair and RnR. The pros at J&K also offer pc repair services. So I guess we’ll take the laptop for repair and look at some tv’s while we are there. Add one for this weekend’s list.
Pianos……….where do I start? We have a VERY old, one octave short, upright piano from my grandparents. My mom learned on it, I learned on it, and my kiddos have banged around on it. Literally. My youngest, at about 3, took a plastic bat to the keys. Chipped off the tips of the keys. Nice huh? My husband HATES the piano – not the piano instrument – just this piano in particular. It looks old. My daughter cries every time I suggest getting rid of it. I’ve checked with Fort Bend Music Center, my piano moving and sales experts and friends, and it’s not worth fixing it. Heartbreaking! But WOW – have you looked at new pianos lately. Fort Bend Music Center has some VERY cool upright as well as baby grand pianos for sale. Guess I’ll have to pay them for their piano moving services – maybe I can donate the piano. Suggestions? Add it to the list……
And swimming………MAJOR champs meet this weekend in the Woodlands. BEAUTIFUL facility – nice for spectators, BAD for parents with TWO kids. I’ll have to sit in the middle. Both big kids should do well. High School season is over for Chase, and Alexandra is due a VERY good swim or two. Watching some swimming and catching up with a friend that I never get to see anymore due to our kids’ schedules. Friday – Sunday at the Woodlands. Add it to the list……..
FunnySEO & Marketing – the MacBurger
In a Facebook exchange today with a few of my friends (Susan Sternberg has an AWESOME photography blog on Smugmug and Tina Tilghman is a massage therapist at the New Territory Club – both out of Sugar Land), we were discussing the MacBook. As the director of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SMO (Social Media Optimization) at our Houston website design company, Bizopia, I can’t afford any “down” time on the computer. I am constantly blogging here and on 4 other blog sites. These sites are part of my SEO job and I chronicle about our clients as well as tips on SEO (and on a good day, swimming tips of the trade).
My other half (husband) has been pushing me on the MacBook subject lately because of virus-issues, and how this Apple product interfaces with so many of the things I use…….Adobe Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and all the IPods, ITouches, and IPhones that my family owns. It just makes sense. So, on Facebook I posted something like “am I going to be able to get used to this QUICKLY?” Meaning – at MY AGE. I tried to explain and remind a few of the guys here in the office that we didn’t have computers when I was in the womb 
and all I’ve really know is a good old fashioned Windows driven PC. I still remember when they dumped this THING with a “mouse” on my office desk. I just stared at it – I had had ONE class in college on a Mac (I was in Kinesiology/Education-WHOOP!) – and that was it. Everything I know has been self-taught. THEN here came “Windows” and all the changes with all the different versions………
So I post my “concern” and friends started commenting as they do on Facebook and one friend asks “what is a MacBook? Is it something from McDonalds?” Naturally this opens an entire other string of comments (well, it IS Friday). I throw out there – wouldn’t a GREAT and POWERFUL pairing – Apple & McDonalds? McD’s could use one of those “branding iron” things on their buns and make a MACBurger? I don’t know – in my “marketing” mind, I think it would work – ha!
Just one of my totally random thoughts at work. It’s all about the wordplay for me – it’s an SEO thing!!!! Finding different ways to market client’s ideas through words and the search engines on the internet. Some are easy, some aren’t. Susan Sternberg’s is real easy – go look at her photos on her blog site – you’ll get the “picture” fast. They are WONDERFUL. I’m particularly fond of the Austin HS Swim Team pictures………
More later – I totally stopped working on Houston Auto Glass Repair‘s newest website – http://mobileaffordableautoglass.com – and I need to finish it. BTW, the guys are great – and yes, I’ve had to use them. Unforunately, it was due to a bozo act with my Navigator……….broke the tailgate window – they fixed it in less than an hour FROM THE TIME I CALLED.
