Pandora's Casket

Whenever we offer our products or services to the general public we need to always remember that our thing are either liked or disliked. No escaping it at all no matter how hard we try to wear that cloud over our heads.

The hardest to swallow is when a client decides that they did not like it at all. This can and should be an eye opening experience. The experience is laced with many layers from returning to the ground to re-visiting the item in question to see what was wrong and how to be fixed. The later is usually thought of after the many stages of anger, disappointment, back to anger again then maybe insecurity.

We must always remember that what we offer is not perfect and there is always room for improvement. It is a shocker though to learn that someone out there does not simply love what they received. As in my services and products there may be over 200 people in a month that will rave on and on stating how wonderful whatever it was is, then out of the blue that one lone person comes out and says they disliked it for whatever reason given.

That one person for a bit can shake the very essence of my thought process. After some ranting I will look to see what it was I may have done differently with the product and make a mental self note to be watchful for the same error. Constructive criticism can be a good thing when you are in business. I have had my share of the not likes only to have used what they stated in attempting to perfect a product line for the masses.

Putting aside ego, truly listening to the criticism is something that we need to train ourselves to do. Not easy but in order to keep gaining new clients we need to do this to persevere and make whatever it is we are making even better.

We should be thankful to those that dislike what we do. As they are the ones that help us in making what others love.

Each summer any and all coins that I get or find in the laundry goes into a cobalt bottle for Nick's school savings account.

I save the quarters though in another jar for Colton for his lunch money as he only likes to use change. Last summer Nick took in nearly $30 in coins for his account. I am always surprised at how fast and how much the coins add up. Right now the bottle is starting to get heavy and it has been barely a month!

The bad thing though is the sorting and counting it for his deposits. He does not like to sit long enough to do it so it becomes a struggle counting. He worked for the bank last year and will do so again this coming school year so you would think that he would enjoy it a little more.

By working at the bank he has firmly decided that he does not want to go into banking as there is to much-counting & paperwork!

If you have children you certainly know the person that lives in your house that makes a mess, sees a mess but has no name. You ask your children who made the mess? They answer I Don't Know. Hmm, so I Don't Know did it? Because the children will all say loudly, It Wasn't me!

My youngest son is famous for making a mess, especially in the kitchen and then saying I don't know who did that. Like I told him someday I am going to put surveillance cameras in the kitchen and catch this guy red handed making those messes and not cleaning them up.

Then I got to thinking about it and there must be two people living here that I have yet to meet. They hide very well. Their names being, of course Mr. I Don't Know and Ms. Nobody. I just wish that they would stop making messes or simply clean them up then they can live here as long as they want!

Until then I am searching for the invisible man and woman!

Guest post written by Larry Snopes

I have to say that when it comes to the outdoors, I haven't always been the biggest fan. I would much rather stay inside and watch a movie or video game than go outside and fish. But that's kind of changed a little bit over the past few years. A lot of my friends are the outdoorsy types and will take me along on their adventures now.

Well I decided that it was time I actually plan that stuff too and while I was doing that I ran across the site www.CLEARWIRELESSINTERNET4G.COM. After I looked through it some, I decided to sign up for one of the packages on there for my home internet service.

I think that my rafting adventure will be really fun. I'm proud that I put all of this together myself and I've never been rafting before. So I think that this is going to be a whole lot of fun. If my friends don't have a good time, I'll just make sure that they do the trip planning next time.

Everyone wants to have a web site that gets noticed. Especially if you have a business site that sells products or services. Yet for the novice getting the word out can be a pretty stressful thing. There are free things that you can do of course and cross your fingers that your site will be spidered and rise to the ranks while people are searching or you can hire a seo company to do the marketing for you.

A good firm will do the marketing that is right on the money for you. Leaving them to make sure that the key words are correct for your business. This can be another tricky thing-key words. Have you ever sat and thought about your business and what words that you should or should not use? Having a seo company do this for you is simply wonderful. Making sure that the words get your site noticed is important to say the least.

Using a company that also helps you with optimizing your site for the quickest load times and other content checking (key words again!!) helps with your placement. Hire a professional seo company that knows the game and plays it well so you are the winner spreading the news of your web site.

This has been one hot week here. Just like every other summer my hours have changed and just now starting to get used to them. Of course by the time I get used to them it will be time to change back. The heat in my room and even the work room sometimes is unbearable to say the least. So working later in the night and very early in the morning are the best options for me for the next few months.
I will say that by doing this the downstairs is neat as a pin as I get so bored not working during the day. haha I have read, worked on projects and watched a few of my shows to catch up. I even get the chance to garden in the early evening.

I sprayed for weeds in the flower garden today so I will have to wait till tomorrow to see what happens there. Hopefully it will work well and cut down on my weeding!

I have also had more time to answer letters from friends which I had a few say they were glad they were sitting down! I usually do not have time and if it isn't work related well it's on the back burner. Today I sent gift cards to a couple of friends children that sent birth announcements earlier in the week. I figure that a gift card is great so they can just get what they need instead of my guessing.

So more late night work and hot summer days ahead of us!

Yesterday was so hot I could not believe it. I am just amazed at the high temperatures that are hitting us so early in June. This heat usually does not hit us till August so it's a little weird. Since it has been so hot my hours have changed to working early mornings or very late at night. Giving a lot of time during the day to either catch up on projects or do more intense cleaning.

One thing that I did do was go over to WaldenU.edu to read up on the information regarding scholarships and topics such as that. Colton is doing his share of research as well but the more info the better the decisions that he can make. The information that I did find was really helpful in breaking down all the ways that kids & parents can find financial assistance for college if it is needed. Talking about grants, loans and scholarships. What was interesting was the break down for each making it helpful in understanding what they all meant.

Walden University has a lot of information for the new student that is looking for financial ways to get into a good college. There is even a blog like section that helps those people that are looking for employment either during school or after graduation. A lot of great information there. Colton read both sites as he really needs to learn what is expected from schools and potential employers.

Today is more heat with maybe a small break tomorrow. Which means that Colton and I will once again be researching colleges and scholarships. At least we have a good jumping board looking at Walden University to start with!

Pagan Spirit Gathering, one of America's oldest and largest Pagan festivals, brings together Wiccans, Druids, Heathens, Shamanic Practitioners, and other Pagans from across the nation and world to celebrate Summer Solstice.

This year's gathering will be held June 19-26 at Stonehouse Park in Northern Illinois.

This year's gathering includes a wide variety of rituals, concerts, workshops, youth program, and other activities, including an expanded Pagan Leadership Institute.

Hundreds of Pagans have already registered and are preparing to attend. Want to join us?

Register Right Away! We just extended the final registration deadline to 11 pm central daylight time on MONDAY, JUNE 13.

To take part in PSG 2011, you must register on-line with a credit card before 11 pm central daylight time on Monday, June 13.

No registrations will be accepted after this date. Registrations will not be accepted via phone or postal mail – online with credit card only. We are not taking any at gate registrations.

To register and for more info about this year's PSG, visit http://www.circlesanctuary.org/psg/onlineregistration

SPREAD THE WORD: Please help us get the word out about this year's Pagan Spirit Gathering and the need to register on-line by June 13 in order to participate.