Netflix - A Fun Service Worth Trying

I recently purchased what has turned out to be a great birthday gift for BR: Netflix!

After receiving the gift, he took a few hours to rate some 200-300 movies. Then, in addition to the movies he chose as his favorites, Netflix was able to recommend more movies he might like.

Combining his favorite movies and Netflix suggestions, he created a BIG list of all of the movies he'd like to see. Netflix has a HUGE selection of movies and TV series, so this was easy.

Then, Netflix started mailing him the movies and he's been telling everyone how much he loves Netflix ever since. Just this weekend, he signed up both his mom and his dad with Netflix.

Each DVD comes in its own envelope. After you watch each DVD, you mail it back and Netflix sends you another.

You can watch as many DVDs as you want-- or you can keep each DVD for as long as you want. You send them back whenever you feel like it (1 day, 1 month, or 1 year later...) and Netflix will turn around and send you a new DVD from your list ASAP.

As you can imagine, Netflix has been wonderful! There are 3 options you should try:

• A gift subscription for a friend, family member, or co-worker (you purchase the subscription online and then print out the gift certificate to give them)
• A subscription for yourself (they're month to month, so you can cancel anytime)
• A two-week trial membership (excellent choice if you aren't sure if Netflix is right for you)

Go sign up here now!

Shame On You, Scamming College Student!

I received an e-mail today from a college student in the state I grew up in. The student claimed to be PayPal (the online financial transaction company) and of course, needed some log in information from me or he would cancel my account.

Isn't this just typical? Well, anyway, sometimes when I get these spam fishing e-mails, I check to see where the links actually take you.

Today, the e-mail's links went to the department of engineering at a large university. This really upsets me. Not only is the person a scammer, but they're using the servers at a public institution to help them. They weren't even smart enough to host their scam off somewhere else. Not that this matters, but you know...

I don't normally take the time to follow up on things, but today I took a few minutes to forward the e-mail to the Dean of Engineering at the school.

Hopefully, he'll stop the kid from sending it on to more unsuspecting internet users.

If you want to learn more about how you can stop receiving spam e-mails, visit www.ftc.gov/spam. If you have received a spam message that you would like to report, forward the message to this e-mail address: SPAM@UCE.GOV.

While we're on the topic, if you receive telemarketing PHONE calls that you'd like to get rid of, check out the Do Not Call Registry's web site here: www.donotcall.gov.

Good night and happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Career Goddess Salary Negotiation Blog

I found this important post on Career Goddess' blog here.

Yesterday's USA TODAY ran an extensive multi-page section on women and retirement was informative and yet it missed one very important FACT -- WOMEN EARN 77% FOR EVERY DOLLAR A MAN EARNS and a major contributing reason is that women don't negotiate salary and men typically do. I have seen this in my work as a career counselor having helped thousands through my private counseling and job search seminars. Women seemed shocked when they follow some solid salary negotiation strategies that resulted in securing thousands of dollars more. Men expect it. In fact, the biggest salary raises (over 15%) come from quitting your job and moving to a new employer but only if you successfully negotiate your compensation package. Women need to step out of their comfort zone, and not be humble or complacent. You must ASK to be paid what they are worth. If you don’t know what your skills are worth, go to www.RobinRyan.com/tools to get a good idea of the range you should be paid for the work you do. Sadly too many women are timid and just accept the first salary offer an employer makes leaving a great deal of money on the table that could have added to their retirement savings account if they had strategically asked. No one will volunteer to pay you top dollar unless you expect and ask quantifying your skills and experience convincing the employer you are worth the additional dollars.

Birthday Escape: Day 1

(I'm going to try to give the run down on what I did while we were out of town, to give suggestions and feedback for other travelers. I'll add photos as they become available... and, if I've forgotten something, there's nothing an edit won't fix.)

Let's start at the beginning: Day 1 of my adventure. I had a typical day on Tuesday (Nov. 7) last week. I went to work, had lunch, worked. Everything was normal, with one exception.

Instead of going home after work, I headed to the airport. Oh, and-- I wore jeans to be comfortable on the plane. Pretty exciting for a Tuesday... :-)

I hopped onto a 6:45 PM flight from MEM to LAX. It arrived after 9 PM and I hauled my huge bags out to the curb. (It often seems that the first time you try something, an extra suitcase is required for moral support.)

BR picked me up at the curb outside of the baggage claim. It was great to see him.

On our way to Santa Monica, we stopped at one of my favorite spots in Santa Monica. It's a little diner called Swingers. You can check out their web site here: http://www.swingersdiner.com.

They've recently come out with a new drink menu that features mixed drinks, so it's now a fun place to get Mohitos at some late hour. That and cheese fries, humus, veggie chilli, ahi tuna, or whatever other slightly off beat food you may desire. I went with the mohito and cheese fries while BR got a wonderful black and white milk shake.

After our snack, we headed back to the homestead in Santa Monica to dream of warm beaches and lush landscapes.

Hawaiian Angie

As I mentioned in the previous post, I'm back. I've been gone to Hawaii... I can't wait to share the details with you, but for now, I'll post one photo from the first day we arrived. As you can see, I'm a little jet lagged from traveling for two days.

By the way, the t-shirt I'm wearing is for a new music web site you REALLY should check out-- www.Pandora.com. It's the new "music genome project" and you just might like it...!

I'm Back!

I've been out on a birthday adventure. I'll fill you in ASAP!

An All TIme Low / Office Space Flashback

OMG - Did you know that there are cubical decorating kits?

Check it out: http://www.buycostumes.com/productgridview.aspx?pCatID=partysupplies&cCatID=CubicalPartyKits.