In a rut? Try something new

We are creatures of habit.   We tend to “rinse and repeat” our behaviors when it comes to where we shop, eat and play.  I’m guilty of this.  It’s partly because we’re all so busy that when we do have spare time to get out – we just want what we want and what we know.  So we rarely  - if ever try something new.

Wish I had a flashlight

A few years ago on a beautiful September day I set off to Acadia to take a hike.  I chose a trail I had hiked many times and looked forward to a nice two hour hike  followed by a cold one at Lompoc Café!.  But somewhere along the way things went terribly wrong.  Evidently I “zigged” when I should have “zagged” and before I knew it I was lost.  I didn’t panic.  There were people around and it was mid afternoon – plenty of daylight left.  But one bad decision led to the next and rather than asking for directions or grabbing a map I thought my keen sense of direction would lead me in the right direction.  Not so much!

Lessons Learned from a Cow

I love the Blue hill Fair and this year I was fortunate enough to broadcast  from the KISS 94.5 van at the fair.  When my shift was over I walked around and took in all the sights, sounds and good eats of the fair.  Frankly, most fairs don’t appeal to me.  This one does because of the animals!    I grew up in Pennsylvania farm country so the sight of cows, the smell of a bail of hay and even manure is comforting to my inner child! 

Building Customer Loyalty

I noticed the headlight was out on my 2002 Jetta so I took it into the dealership to replace it.  My car has 130k miles on it and like all of us with a few miles on us Ms. Jetta requires a little more upkeep than a newer vehicle. While I was there they pointed out several other issues that I need to address soon.

ATTN retailers - No means NO!

“Would you like to open up a charge card with us and get a discount on this purchase?” is a refrain we hear every time we check out at many national retail stores.  As someone who has had store cards and paid them off - my answer is always “no thank you”.   But it troubles me that retailers do this especially in light of our current debt crisis.

Finding Your Bread & Butter

I’ve just returned from California where I enjoyed a wine tasting at Chateaux Montelena in Napa Valley.  This winery has a very interesting history that was told in the movie “Bottle Shock”.   Part of that history was told to me by the gentleman pouring the wines.  He told me that way back in the beginning of the winery the owner wanted to produce red wines - but reds take years to produce and the winery needed cash flow to tide them over before the reds were ready to be bottled and sold.

Maintaining a Positive Attitude even when...

I was talking with a girlfriend recently and asked how her husband was doing.  He was laid off from his corporate job several months ago.  She said he’s had a great attitude about the whole thing.  There have been days when he’s been  down-in-the-dumps but after several days of feeling sorry for himself - he recognize that bad attitude wasn’t going to do him or anyone else any good and he snapped himself out of it.