DJ Trava

Archive for July, 2009

Summer in the United States is all about kicking back and relaxing. It’s all about cooking out on one of those drop in grills and being surrounded by friends and family.  Having the right equipment can really help you make the most of your summer. How nice would it be to have outdoor sinks for your summer cook outs? Okay enough about the equipment, what can you do in your own back yard to entertain you family and friends? Outdoor entertaining is really quite easy.

First off you need to get yourself to the grocery store. Nothing says summer like grilling up some cheeseburgers.  Why not try out a new recipe instead of just always going for the same old same old cheeseburger. Making a little bit of an effort is sure to impress your friends and make your cook out even more memorable.

The next thing you should make is a refreshing summer cocktail. Always of course make sure to have beer on hand, but make the extra effort and find a recipe for a mojito or some other kind of drink that invokes summer memories.  You don’t even have to mix your own cocktail. They have great pre-mixed ones already at the store. You can just pour it out into a punch bowl, nobody will be the wiser.

If you don’t want to buy all the stuff for you summer rendezvous, consider having a pot luck. That way each person can bring their summer specialty and you can all share. It also will lessen the financial burden so that everyone can have a good time on a little bit of money.

Set a budget for each item so that nobody goes over the limit. That way you can all just have some summer fun without breaking the bank!

I’ve noticed the people of Dubai have a tendency to be derisive about its calmer and more gentler neighbour Oman. But, I will say that all of the people I did meet during my 3 month stay at one of the Business Hotels Dubai has plenty of, not one person was able to leave Dubai with out a least one backward glance, wondering if they made the right move. Where as all the people I’ve talked to who have left Dubai have no compunction about leaving Oman.

I find it easy to convey to those whom worship the gleaming towers and all the fantastic nightclubs and night life, the understanding of time and substance which Dubai offers just as well as Oman offers. I’ve seen, through my business trips, that people in Oman work just as hard and as long as those in Dubai, but for some reason, I aways see that in Dubai, these hard workers have time to do more. I think everyone in Oman should at least give Dubai a chance.

I saw some tourists being approached while they wondered through Bastakiya with leaflets to go visit Oman. I got one of those leaflets and it does it’s best to lure the unassuming tourist to come see the real Arabia. Breath in the Frankincense. But, the real Arabia is no longer. Everything has changed, not just Dubai, but all the UAE has changed. Modernity has won over. About the only way to experience the old Arabia is to take a Camel Caravan Tour, but that’s all fake, it’s not a real caravan of old, just a tourist trap. The leaflet even boast about snorkeling in their waters compared to Dubai that one will actually see tons of coloured fish swimming among the coral reefs. This is farthest from the truth, all of the water and the water-life surrounding the UAE is in bad shape. The pristine waters are no longer pristine, too much development has caused all waters to be polluted and damaged.

I can understand why Oman wants to believe they still have held on to the traditions of Arabia, and denounce the opulence of Dubai, but to be perfectly honest, I like progress, and Dubai is working on correcting the environmental issues caused by it’s phenomenal growth. I just hope Oman will open its eyes too and begin to see that it too has grown as fast as Dubai.

Okay so you have decided that you want to donate to a charity. Now, how do you decide where you would like your money to go? Before you decide which charity you should donate to, make sure you are donating to a reputable charity.  Check out charitynavigator.org. They offer a comprehensive listing of tons of charities that would love to have your help.

Think about what you love and support. If you have a soft spot for animals, think about donating your time and money to the Humane Society or your local animal shelter.

Donate to causes that you find important. That way you will be able to feel good about where your money goes. If you find that childhood diseases and cancers are a big deal, you should donate to St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. They are a hospital that specializes in children’s diseases and treating children whether or not they can afford treatment.

You also don’t have to donate anything monetary either. Something that is even more precious is your time. If you have extra time, think about getting involved in events or office work for your favorite organization. If you want to raise money, become a fundraiser and go around to local businesses and try to solicit donations.

Charities have hundreds of events that you can help them with. Everything from the American Cancer Society to the American Heart Association could use your help.

CEO of choosehottubsdirect.com, Steve Barbarich decided he found it important to support people after Hurricane Ike. So he donated some of his proceeds to help those affected by the hurricane.

It does not matter what you choose to do, a little bit of charitable effort will really go a long way. Just make sure you have a passion for what you are working with. Charity work is so important in this world today. Do it on your own, with your company or friends, but make time to do it.

If you have ever seen the movie Office Space, you know a bad idea for an invention when you see one. One of the characters in the movie has an idea for a “jump to conclusions” mat. It’s a type of door mat and there are different conclusions written on it, that you can jump to, the character explains. Although, that really might not be much lamer than the pet rock, but hey, that guy made a million dollars!

America is all about having brilliant ideas and making them into something that the public wants. Whether that is a Shark Steam Mop or a rock with googly eyes glued on. America is a nation of consumers!

And anyone can be an inventor, you don’t have to be especially clever or especially smart, you just need an idea and make it something that other people would want. And you don’t even have to get a patent before you start making the rounds with your idea. You can wait about a year before you file a patent. The only risk you run is that someone could potentially knock off your idea and it might be tough to prove who had the idea first. So for insurance purposes, filing for a patent early is never a bad idea.

You should know that a patent does not enforce itself. If you suspect someone has ripped off your idea, you need to hire an attorney and file a lawsuit. Then you will have to pay attorney’s fees and you will not be guaranteed to win the case, so the process can get quite expensive.

These are just a few things to take into consideration before you bust out on your own on the big bad streets of inventions. If you have an idea you believe in, it’s definitely worth a try. Consult the book by Steven Barbarich, “The Complete Manual on How to Make Money from Your Ideas and Patents” as a resource.

The FBI has been busy this week, on the east coast of the United States.  Rabbis in New Jersey and New York were arrested on Thursday for crimes of money laundering, an international operation.  And in Hoboken New Jersey, many government officials, including the Mayor, were arrested for political corruption and their involvement in a kidney smuggling ring.  Yes, human kidneys.  More than forty people were involved and subsequently arrested.  In the process of the investigation for the money laundering rabbis and mayors, FBI investigators just happened upon a man who had been, allegedly, buying kidneys from people in Israel and selling them in the United States, along with fake designer purses and handbags.  Levy Ishak Rosenbaum is a businessman from Brooklyn, and admits to having been involved with the illegal sales for ten years.  Kidneys were purchased for ten thousand dollars, and then sold to those needing transplants in the United States for one hundred, sixty thousand dollars.  Rosenbaum called himself a matchmaker.

This was just part of a sweeping investigation on political corruption in New Jersey which included commissioners, council members, inspectors, 3 mayors and twenty nine other public officials.  Criminal negotiations had been taking place for years, in basements, diners and parking garages.  The two separate operations, of the rabbis accused of money laundering, and the bribery and corruption in the government of New Jersey, were linked by Solomon Dwek.  Dwek was arrested in 2006, on charges of fraud when he tried to pass a bad check, for twenty five million dollars.  He has since become a government informant and led the FBI to the two criminal networks.  He passed himself off as a real estate developer, and he offered bribes for permits to city officials, including the Building Inspector and the Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Director.  He bribed many others including workers in the health department, housing officials and inspectors.

I’m not a New Yorker by choice, but I really have a difficult time imagining a life without Central Park. It’s my only green sanctuary, a respite in what seems to be an infinite sprawl of steel, concrete and glass. Central Park is the only place where I can collect my thoughts, get grounded, relax and just breath. I consider Central Park the lungs of New York, supplying the much needed oxygen for a busy and bustling crowd constantly on the go. I even recommend all my visiting friends to book a room a one of the Four Star New York Hotels that over look Central Park, I’ll even go so far has to pay for the room if necessary.

I actually have a friend coming to visit this weekend because there’s is a celebration of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, the founder of American landscape architecture. A true parkmaker. Olmsted, after leaving a career as a journalist partnered with an English-born gentleman named Calvert Vaux. The two of them won the Central Park design contest in 1858. After that they went to Brooklyn and created Prospect Park. Even though they were partners, it was Olmsteads voracious personality and social standing the outshone Vaux.

My visiting friend and I both have an extreme appreciation for the contributions Olmsted made to American parks in general. His fundamental design principles came from his understanding of social class structure around the world and he detested slavery and made sure that all the parks he created were accessible to all people no matter their social standings, race or religion. Truly a revolutionary in his concepts of the time. He planted his reputation, one park at a time, as America’s preeminent landscape architect. One I and my visiting friend will appreciate this weekends celebration at Central Park.

College is seen as a rite of passage. It’s the time where a young adult can break free from the restraints of their parents and figure out what kind of person they are on their own. And sometimes that person is the one that wants to drink heavily and do beer bongs. This is when school life can suffer and lead to dropping out.  It takes more than the drinking age of 21 to curb college binge drinking. It has to be a personal choice.

Yet, worse than the threat of having to drop out, is that this binge drinking can lead to a big problem, alcoholism. And this alcoholism can get worse and manifest itself into other drug abuse or simply just the need for addiction treatment.

Binge drinking used to mean drinking heavily over several days. Now there is a more defined definition. Binge drinking is when a man drinks five or more alcoholic drinks in one day and for women it’s four or more drinks in a row. This definition is over the period of the past two weeks.  Heavy binge drinking is defined as doing this at least three times in the last two weeks. And in college, this can be something that happens on a nightly basis.

Besides a hangover, binge drinking can result in alcohol poisoning. Binge drinking can turn into alcoholism and could lead for a need of dual diagnosis treatment.

Binge drinking has become a way of life for many people on many college campuses. And the dangers are easily avoidable. If you think you are binge drinking, assess why you think you are and figure out if it is affecting your life negatively. The binge drinking you do in college could end up having a negative effect on your entire life. The sooner you get help, the better.

When travelers are looking for the perfect place for their dream of a hotel, Chennai, India is like a dream answered.  With a long and exciting tradition of performing arts and local culture, it is one of the most creative spots in the south of India, and the world, for that matter.  Our hotels are designed to help you reinvigorate your spirits and your mind, as you enjoy your stay in this lovely city.  The hotels have a fantastic combination of old world charms and hospitality, and cutting edge technologies.  One can be extremely well-connected to the business world, or can choose to get lost in the luxury of the place.  With first-rate chefs serving up some of India’s finest dishes, excellent in-room entertainments, and a knowledgeable concierge who can help one navigate the city, there are splendid reasons to choose this city to make a new adventure.

Chennai’s most attractive quality to the artistic jet set is the Kollywood film industry.  It is set is Chennai’s Kodambakkam district, and is the central place where Tamil films are made.  The presence of this industry keeps the city young and always on the move, and for tourists and locals, it is a great place to watch the movie stars.  One star who’s sign is certainly rising is Anushka Shetty.  Her background is in computer science at Bangalore University, and she has also worked as a yoga teacher, and her guru is the famous Bharat Thakur.

She made her first film, Super, in 2005, and in that short time has stacked up nearly two dozen movie roles in both Tamil and Telegu films.  She was often dismissed unfairly because of her good looks, but her role in Vikramarkudu caused some critics to start taking her more seriously.  One of her upcoming movies, Vettaikaran, promises to be a very exciting new film.  It is about a hunter, played by Vijay, whose life path suddenly takes another turn, and there are fascinating questions about the nature of destiny.  The word on the street is that the chemistry between him and Anushka is positively electric.

Team work.  Just one of the beneficial aspects children learn in boarding schools in Northumberland and in schools around the world.  Benefits to ones health can begin at an early age, and should begin at an early age as studies show that physical activity throughout one’s life results in less instances of diabetes as one grows older, as well as ensures that ones bones and muscles will be as healthy and as strong as possible.  And children who begin to exercise tend to remain active their entire lives.  In the past thirty years, the occurrence of obesity in children and teenagers has doubled.  Many factors have contributed to this, but mainly society in general has become more sedentary.  People get their entertainment from the television, and more entertainment and work on the computer.  According to some statistics kids watch television for approximately three or more hours a day, and spend twice as much time on computer video games.  And as it relates to music, through participation in sports kids learn the value of teamwork.

Participating in music class will also have physical benefits for youth.  Many rehearsals focus on breath work, this can be as exhaustive for one as is swimming or running.  The motor skills for musicians become more developed and when working in bands, senses of cooperation and team work are essential, as with playing sports.  It is a sad state of affairs however, that music programs, as well as other arts programs are being pulled from schools in an attempt to save money.  It has long been known, that music provides children withopportunities in the studies of science and language, as well as mathematics, however budgets are often cut and the arts are first programs to go.  In any case, there are still great programs available to students, and many touring companies make it through the United Kingdom to offer programs, and often times first looks at activities for some children.  Northumberland remains dedicated to the students and they will benefit from the programs for many years to come.

If a customer calls your business to complain about a product or service then this is not necessarily a bad thing.  In fact you should use it to your advantage.  For every complaint you receive thare are potentially hundreds who will not bother contacting you and instead will spread negative information about your produsts and your companies services.  This has been well documented in the patient complaint tracking field.

If there are complaints they should be recorded in an efficient manner and the dealt with immediately.  Once the cause has been discovered this information should be relayed back to the customer.  This relatively simple process is the key to improved quality and increased customer satisfaction.  It has been well documented that it is far easier and cost effective to keep an existing customer rather than attempt to find a new one.  Therefore customer complaint management is an important consideration for businesses today.