Wiser Worker Blog

You don’t need to be a lifelong reader of my blog to know that I love FREE Stuff, and the only thing I like more is FREE Chocolate. Yep folks, you read it right, free chocolate. I was excited about the Cash for Clunkers program, but this is something you all can take advantage of and NOW no rebate needed  It’s something that will give you a warm and fuzzy feeling,  of course you will need to work off the indulgence, but it’s worth it right? 

So here’s the scoop Beginning this week, Mars Candy is offering a quarter million people per week a free piece of chocolate just by going to the website www.realchocolate.com. You go to that Web site every Friday through October, don’t wait it begins this week: Friday, July 31, and put in your e-mail address. 250,000 people will be sent a certificate to get free M&M’S, SNICKERS, TWIX, 3 MUSKETEERS, MILKY WAY or DOVE.

Why are they doing this? It’s simple, times are tough and Mars want to help, so log on and take advantage, because it’s a rarity to find a company sharing the wealth.   

What does the unemployment rate mean?  I know that when the number is HIGH lots of people are out of work, but what do the numbers really tell us? The U.S. current unemployment rate soared to 9.7% this month

People may hear these numbers but most don’t understand what they mean. The 9.7% unemployment rate does not represent the amount of United States citizens who are not working. Instead, it represents the amount of people actively seeking employment who cannot find it.

The type of unemployment being talked about here is largely something called cyclical unemployment, this refers to unemployment that rises during economic downturns and falls when the economy improves. This is a natural byproduct of the normal upward and downward movements of the economy. In other words, what goes up will eventually come down and then back up then back down. It’s a natural cycle and one we have lived through time after time.  

So with this definition in mind what has to happen for unemployment to go down is the economy must improve. However to those that are unemployed this may seem rather gloomy. However it will bounce back and because you are a older worker you are most likely the best qualified candidate for any position.

There you have it the unemployment rate explained.

Do you have a clunker that has been littering your space for too long?  Well now you have someplace to turn that eyesore into CASH.  There’s a new stimulus program that was designed to turn your ugly old car into a new “green” car. The program is meant to encourage consumers to trade in older, less fuel-efficient vehicles for new vehicles that get better fuel economy by providing a credit worth up to $4,500.  

Don’t doddle the program doesn’t last forever….The Cash for Clunker Program is expected to begin on July 23 and end on November 1, 2009.  The program offers a credit that allows consumers to save from $3,500 to $4,500 on a new-car purchase. There are also various credits for trucks and work trucks.

Do you own one of these cars?  If you do you might be eligible for the rebate.

Here’s a list of Cash for Clunkers - Eligible New Cars or cars you will be able to purchase with your rebate.

To get the real skinny on the program visit the Cash for Clunkers Headquarters. Here you can get all the ifs and whatever’s on how the program works.

5 Important Things to Know

1. Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date
2. Only purchase or lease of new vehicles qualify
3. Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements, 15mpg)
4. Trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured in your name continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in
5. You don’t need a voucher, dealers will apply a credit at purchase

Good Luck!

I never really thought of the 7 natural wonders of the world because well I have been on one to many family vacations, and it all seems so huge to me.  Not to mention, I live a mere 3 hours away from the Grand Canyon and it is amazing.  So you might imagine my surprised when I found out that there is a selection of sorts for a new 7 natural wonder of the word list, and this election happens pretty often.  Who knew?  Really, have we been on this plant so long that we have worn out the mystery of the 7 natural wonders of the world that we need a new list?  What happened to appreciating and or honoring what we have? 

This is kind of the same position I feel that older workers are in; they are being replaced long before their time. Older workers have a lot of life left in them and we are not ready to be replaced.  I guess this deep down is why I created WiserWorker.com, I wanted to create a space where older workers could come to find employers who appreciated them.

In case you wanted to know the Current 7 Natural Wonders of the Word are:

Grand Canyon

Great Barrier Reef

Harbor of Rio de Janeiro

Mount Everest

Aurora

Paricutin Volcano

Victoria Falls

If you want to vote for the new contenders click here, still I feel so behind as I didn’t get a chance to visit the old wonders of the world. I can tell you think make sure you check out the Grand Canyon…it is amazing! 

When you work in an office environment with lots of different personalities you are bound to all have different ideas on how things should be done and absolutely there are going to be different perspectives. What you have to keep in mind is this: we are all sharing a space and it’s an absolute necessity to respect each other boundaries. With that being said it’s often necessary to bend a little to accommodate other people’s feelings and idiosyncrasies.

I am lucky enough to share my workspace with probably the best group of people around and we all know I have my fair share of “quirks” and more often than I like I find myself stepping on my fellow space mate’s territory. It might be that I use the last supply without leaving a note or maybe I left a dish in the sink. To me its forgetfulness, to the space community it’s seen as a lack of respect for the community. Regardless it’s not the best way to play nice in an office setting.

I promise you this when I forget it’s usually because I don’t think; when you get right down to it usually when we make a mistake it’s because we rush through life and forget the details that are so important to other people.  It’s not an excuse but the honest truth, still in order to keep harmony in the office I will try harder to respect the community rules as we all should old and new. In a nutshell what I am trying to say is this: if you are going to share your space with someone you better be prepared to learn to live within the community rules and REMEMBER them, and most importantly respect them.

It has many meaning to many people and we all look at ambition different, accordingly to Webster’s  this is the definition of ambition.   What does it mean to you?  To me: if you work hard enough and have the skills nothing can stop you from achieving your goals.

What do you suppose Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor used to drive her ambitions all these years? They are calling her story an all American once in a lifetime story. However I think it’s a modern day tail of what happens if you work hard and applied yourself. Ms. Sotomayer probably hasn’t taken many lavish vacations and probably hasn’t worked less than 60 hours a week in many years. Because where she is is where she always saw herself to be and that place is the Supreme Court.

Ambition means something different to each of us.  Everyone who speaks the term hears a message that applies to only them.  Ambition can mean finding a good job that gives you the ability to meet your financial obligations or it can mean something as large as being appointed to the Supreme Court.  

What’s important is this:  Are you are ambitious enough to make yourself happy? If you can answer this questions with confidence than you can hold head up high!