Who Is This?

I have to admit, sometimes when someone calls me from a number I don’t recognize, I do not answer. I send it voice mail. Especially if I see an 800 number or some out of state number. If I don’t recognize the number, they probably have the wrong number. Or so I assume. Although, sometimes I am a bit curious. The Do Not Call List is supposed to help with unwanted telemarketers, but it seems like after I registered my phone number I started receiving more telemarketing calls! There are a couple sites out there that can help you identify unrecognized callers. One of these sites is anywho.com. Anywho allows you to use the reverse search function and search by phone number to determine who’s behind all those unwanted phone calls. Or if you need to look up a number, you can search by name for a person or business.

Another site I use is whocallsme.com. This allows you to search by phone number and find out who a phone number belongs to. This site is mainly comprised of posts by other consumers who have had the same annoying phone calls you have. People leave comments about the phone calls they have received from various phone numbers. 800notes.com is another site I use. It allows you to search by phone number to find out who an 800 number belongs to. This site has proven very useful also.

Any of these websites can serve as a free information resource. Hope this helps you identify any unwanted callers.

Monday Morning Bus Ride

Anyone that knows me, knows that I can be very dramatic at times. I have never really been a person that had used public transportation. The bus takes too long to, it runs when it wants to. And when I want to go somewhere, I want to go. I don't want to wait. So a company I used to work for moved downtown. I thought to myself, well I will try to bus and save myself some time and money. Downtown parking can be very expensive. And the bus should let you off pretty close to the building. I was apprehensive to say the least. But I said well I will give it a try and see how it goes. Below is what happened on a random Monday morning bus ride in Downtown Dallas. Enjoy!!

There I was riding on the bus minding my own business, when the bus stopped and start blowing the horn. Then she ( the bus driver) pulled up to the next block and stopped. She then came over the speaker and said a man was being stabbed at the previous block. She had called the incident in to her dispatch and she was advised to wait there until authorities came. At that point we either had to stay on the bus and wait or get off and catch another bus.
Keep in mind I was 10 blocks from work. That's way too far to walk.

The next bus coming was a bus I didn't recognize and had no idea where it went. But everyone else got on so I did too.Anyway it started going all over downtown. So I got off near Main Street and was like I guess I will walk the 5-7 blocks to get to work since I had no idea how to get there on the bus.

So as I was walking, almost at work, a group of about 6 men saw and me and started hollering out all kinds of stuff. They then proceeded to tell me ain't no need in me walking faster, at which point some of the men began to follow me.Running after me is more like it.

So at this point I was terrified and began to slowly jog.

I got to an area where there were more people and then the police drove by and the guys went on their way. I guess they get a kick out of scaring women who are on their way to work.

So finally I got to work, late, in a real bad mood. And nervous because I was just pursued by a group of men.

So I finally decided to ask a lady who takes the bus I got lost on, where exactly does she get off.

She proceeded to tell me that if I had rode the bus farther it would have let me off ride at the door of the building!!

I nearly got stripped naked when I could have stayed on the bus??!?!?!

I was visably upset because that first bus had no business stopping before it brought me to work.

Needless to say, I am not riding the bus anymore. That was just too much.

Deal or No Deal

You've probably heard some of the same commercials I have. Buy a new car, no money down, $5 down, good credit, bad credit, no credit. And like me, you probably thought...yeah right. And like me, at some point you might have even said, "That's false advertising!"

Well I have thought the same thing. Some deals just sound too good to be true. We have all seen the TV commercials that try to sell you a magic pill that cures all, but has its own set of side effects. I thought it would be interesting to explore some instances were false advertising got a couple of companies in trouble.

The first claim involves Dell. Dell has become a popular brand computer and this may be attributed to its no interest or no payment advertising claims. Well in 2008, a judge found Dell had engaged in false advertising, abusive debt collection practices, fraud, and deceptive business practices. After its ads promised no interest or no payments, many customers were slammed with high interest rates.

Ever used Pantene Pro-V? Well some of users were apparently not very satisfied with its claims. One of its ads in China claimed the shampoo would supplement amino acids to make hair stronger for a lifetime and up to 10 times stronger. After several complaints regarding the ad's authenticity, a British advertising authority determined that the ad wouldn't be shown with those claims. Procter & Gamble had a similar ad discrepancy with a skin cream that claimed it would make skin look 12 years younger. Apparently, some people used it and didn't quite see the results they had expected. I remember the commercial, never used the product though.

The next time you hear or see an ad and you say to yourself, that sounds too good to be true. You just might be right.

My Neck and My Back

Every now and then I feel a little pain in my neck. Not because somebody is being a "pain in the neck", lol. But because my neck starts to hurt. When you sit in front of a computer for 8 hrs or more each day for 5 or more days a week. It happens. Most companies know nothing about ergonomics. Either they don't care to know, don't care enough their employees, or don't want to invest money to figure it out.Fitting the desk to fit the person. Making sure that things are set up correctly so people won't get neck aches and carpal tunnel.

Ensuring your desk is at the right height. Your chair and keyboard are aligned. All those things are important but most people never think about them until something happens.More companies need to fit employees to their work stations and maybe worker's comp claims would decline and employees would take less time off for neck aches, and back aches. Anyway.....

Ergonomics actually means laws of (nomos) work (ergon). It's about adapting the job and work space to the employee to ensure optimal safety and productivity. Pretty cool huh?

Anyway I used to get massages weekly because I company I worked for brought a massage therapist on sight. It was a really great morale builder. Since I no longer work there, I have search for reasonably priced massage therapists. Massage Envy offers your first 1 hour massage for only $39. That's a pretty good deal. Too bad I've already had my first massage.

I am in need of another one. I will have to give them a call...hopefully they have some 2nd time massage specials. Hey its a recession....Ouch....my neck hurts.

The Start of Something New

So I love,love, love new things. I think to me they represent new beginnings. I get excited about new things. New cars, new shoes, new homes, new jobs. Its all exciting. So today I embark upon this new thing. My new blog. I am full of information and feel the need to share. Some funny, some serious. I like learning new things and having a wealth of info.

So I will share what I know in hopes that my readers will enjoy it. I think in today's technology age, more people ate moving toward social networking and internet news rather than print. They have new devices like kindle and the nook that are e-book readers as opposed to old fashioned books.

I also enjoy reading, writing, and finding new info. Hey I said I get excited about anything new lol.

Here's to a new blog...and new information