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My Review - Samsung SCH-i760 and Motorola S9

Introducing the Samsung SCH i760 Smartphone and the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Headset

I have had my Samsung SCH i760 Smartphone (with service through Verizon Wireless) and Motorola S9 Bluetooth Headset for about 2 months now. I can and have recommended both of these products.

I previously had the LG VX8600, which is a thin flip phone, which I would also recommend as well.

The Samsung SCH i760 Smartphone has a ton of features. It has touchscreen operation (you can use your fingers or use the hide-away stylus), Windows Mobile 6 operating system, 1.3MP camera, video camcorder, WIFI, microSD slot and much more. With the Windows Mobile standardized operating system, this device is very customizable. Windows Mobile comes with the mobile version of Windows Media Player (WMA, WMV, WAV and MP3 capabilities with the feature of synchronizing your mobile Media Player with your desktop Media Player to update your playlists, music and videos), File Explorer, Games, Calculator, Office Mobile (Excel, Powerpoint and Word), Notes, Tasks, Picsel Browser (kind of like the Apple iPhone and Touch browser) and Internet Explorer, Active Sync and Wireless Sync, Task Manager (to close programs instead of restarting the phone when it starts to bog down), and Windows Update that keeps you up to date when new patches come out, without having to go to the wireless store to update your phone. There are many programs that are available for FREE or for a small price. Check below for some recommended items.

I find the i760 to be a very great phone. It keeps me organized by keeping all of my ideas in the Notes program (you can type, write or draw), I can set tasks which appear on the main screen and you can set alerts of your tasks, to remind you of things at certain times.

The battery life extends as you begin to stress it and charge it. The first few times you use it hard, listening to music, etc, it only lasts a few hours on the slim battery, a little longer on the extended battery. The life takes about a week or two to work at full capacity. Now my slim battery lasts about 6 hours listening to music all day and maybe half an hour on the phone, after the 6 hours I tend to turn the music off and leave the last of the battery for a short call if I need to make one on the way home from work. The extended battery will last all day listening to music at work and still leave battery left for phone calls and some moderate web surfing. Using both batteries will allow you to do just about anything you want all day, especially great if you are traveling.

PROS:

Not many phones have WIFI, although there are adapters you can buy, this phone has WIFI built in, meaning you can connect to the internet for free, just as you can on a laptop. (You can connect online through the cellular network as well for an additional cost)

Small, not much bigger than my LG VX8600.

Slide out keyboard, easier to type than a touchscreen only keyboard phone - and may be easier than T9 for some people.

Touchscreen as well as ‘joystick’ usability.

Works very well with the Motorola S9.

Keeps you organized.

Upgradeable and customizable.

Comes with a standard and extended life battery.

Charges quick.

Light to carry on a waist clip or pocket.

Better reception than I’ve had in a phone previously.

Well built, strong, does not feel like you’re going to break it while using it.

Simple but professional looking design.

Built in speaker, which is pretty loud for the size, so you can play music while entertaining or going to sleep.

CONS:

When you are doing a lot on the phone, text messaging can be a pain; I’ve had the phone skip letters, having to go back and retype. If you type slower or use the word-hints, you will have more luck.

No T9 texting option.

The SEND and END buttons can be in a weird place when talking on the phone. Since I use the S9 to make most of my calls, it’s not such a big deal, but I have hung up on people by accident when using the phone up to my ear - you just need to get used to a higher placement of your fingers to avoid that mistake.

WIFI uses a lot of power. Not that it’s really a con, just turn off the feature until you want to use it.

The Motorola S9 Bluetooth Headset

The Motorola S9 is a stereo headset for listening to music (if your phone has the ability, which the i760 does) and mono (left side) when making a phone call. The S9 is very lightweight and as long as the buds are adjusted correctly, it will not hurt your ears.

It comes in a few colors, red as shown, mine is blue on the inside and I believe there may be one other color.

There are 3 buttons on each side of the headset. On the left side, there is a touch-sensitive + and - volume, with a Phone push-button in the middle. The right side has skip forward and skip back, touch-sensitive buttons with a Play/Pause push-button in the middle. If you are listening to music when you get a call, the music will pause, the i760 rings as well as the headphones in stereo, push the Phone button and start talking. The S9 has a built in microphone for phone conversations. Once the phone call is done, you can push the Phone button to hang up the call and push Play to begin listening to music again. You may also initiate a call by pushing the Phone button, waiting for the tone and speak, “Call Mom, Home,” for example. It will repeat back to you, confirm by saying yes and within seconds the phone is ringing. You can do all this within 30 feet of your phone, though I’ve had luck up to 60 feet, depending on line of site with the headphones and the phone.

I am unsure how it sounds on the other end of the phone, but I have never had a complaint about not being able to hear what I am saying. The S9 is rather simple, convenient and works very well with my Samsung SCH i760. The battery life is about 7 hours of constant use. It charges very quickly and is a great addition to any cell phone you may have.

Things you need for your Samsung SCH i760:

• FREE Microsoft Live Search - Search movies, gas prices, get directions and much more
• FREE MSNBC Mobile News - Watch videos, look at photos of the week, read headline, technology, business and more.
• FREE Playlist Manager - Hasn’t been updated in a while, but is the only good free program I’ve found. Allows you to select the MP3s you want to play instead of having to select another song after the current song is done. You can use the S9 to switch songs on the playlist and pause songs that are playing.
• FREE Weather Watcher
• Seidio Rubberized Slim and Extended Case with Holster

LINKS:

• CNET Review (8.0/10)
• Samsung Website for i760
• Motorola S9 Website

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Employment Tips For The Recession

It’s apparent we are in a recession. From the US dollar declining 45% in value compared to the Euro since 2002 and a staggering 15% (of the 45% total) just in this first quarter this year. Imports are down 2.9% from February to March, exports are down 1.7% in the same time frame. Donations to organizations are down. Commodities are up considerably from this time last year; corn is up 41%, eggs up 68.5% and gas is up 25%.

The average inflation that employers give you is 3-4% per year.

I came across some great tips from the CareerBuilder section in the News & Observer that I would like to share. Below are resume tips, strong career fields and links to more articles from CareerBuilder.

Revise Your Resume

Employers want to see that you are the perfect match for the position they are trying to fill. Have different resumes that are directed to the different jobs you are interested in, using specific keywords that relate to the position you are applying for.

List Your Career Summary

Mention your career highlights, past roles and strong skills. List a summary that gives the employer and idea of who you are by your experiences and briefly mention your goals.

Proofread

Nothing is more embarrassing than incorrect grammar or a misspelled word. Take your time and have someone read over your resume to get a second opinion.

Lying

As the old saying goes, “What goes around, comes around.” Lying may come around to bite you. Lying should not be considered when writing your resume.

Appearance

You only have one time to make a first impression. You want to make your resume short and sweet, memorable, clear and easy to read. Employers read resumes multiple times while they try to come up with candidates to schedule interviews with. If you make key points on your resume easy to find without relying on them to make notes, your resume will be more memorable.

Network

Sometimes the best thing you can do is know people. Education is a key, but to keep more doors open and opportunities available, networking, being friendly and helping people out will come around to help you in the future. I’ve found this to be true myself. In most company management manuals, fraternization is frowned upon. I believe you need to do the right thing if a weird situation pops up in the future, but connecting with people at a personal, non-work level, will help you out. Everybody wants to feel they have friends and not just people they speak to at work because they have to. Check out LINKEDIN.com.

Target Your Job Search

Don’t apply for every job available at a company. This will show management that you are unsure as to what you excel at and may put you out of consideration for any of the positions.

Recession-resistant Careers

• Health care
• Education
• Security
• Environmental Sciences
• Government

More Information From CareerBuilder

Recession Proof Jobs

Resume Blunders

All CareerBuilder Articles (VERY Informative)

Own or Rent

I am looking to buy a house.

I came across this great article that makes you think to be sure you are choosing the right option for your situation.

This came directly from the News and Observer Parade:

“Before the housing boom went bust this year, homeownership was considered a good investment. But now, with the rash of mortgage foreclosures, renting may be a more attractive option. Here’s why.

Renting can save money.

According to the popular myth, renters are just throwing there money away. But the reality is that when you buy a home, you’re paying for closing fees, mortgage interest, property taxes, private homeowners’ insurance and maintenance — costs that return nothing on your investment. You’d be better off banking that money or putting it into the stock market. IN fact, a recent study by Fidelity Investments indicates that stocks provided investors with nearly 4.6% higher average returns in the last 45 years than real estate.

Homeowners’ tax deductions are overstated.

Conventional wisdom says that buying a home saves you money because the mortgage interest is tax-deductible. But a study by the National Multi Housing Council points out that half of homeowners don’t get a break, because even with mortgage interest and property taxes, their total deductions do not exceed the stanard federal tax deduction ($10,900 for couples and $5450 for singles).

There are more options available to renters.

With fewer houses and condos selling, more owners are converting their properties into rentals or providing incentives to lure prospective tenants. In condo-heavy cities such as Palm Beach, Fla., for example - where the vacancy rate has jumped 2.5% - investors are undercutting apartment rates to generate interest.  A lot of people are offering three free months to attract renters, says Robert Smith, a real-estate adviser in Orlando, Fla.  And modern apartments offer amenities that may be unaffordable in a new home.

Renting Give you Flexibility.

Buying a home is a big commitment.  If you have to move for any reason-say, for work-your property would need to appreciate by at least 10% for you to recover your sales costs, which typically takes about five years.  Renting allows you the freedom and mobility you need to find the right job before you tie yourself to a massive home investment.”

With all of that said, I think that if you are planning on staying some where for 3 years or more, it would be a good idea to buy a house.  The way I see it, most of the money you put into a house, you get back - instead of renting, you get absolutely nothing back.  Even if your property starts to decrease in value, which is a one in a million chance, you still aren’t losing as much money as if you were renting.

I am actively looking for a house/townhouse as of now.  My lease for my apartment is up August and hopefully I will find a place before the deadline for me to resign comes up.  I would like to find a roommate that I know and trust so I would have more spending money - but I am very independent, so it will be hard to find anyone I’d want to live with.  Either way though, I will be updating my experience of purchasing a home, or, if I have to sign a lease again because I ran out of time.

Hillary and Obama Gas Tax Debate

Hillary wants to temporarily and minimally reduce gas prices by putting a cap on the gas tax. This sounds great to people in need right now. Obama wants to create alternative fuels, which would help us out in the long run and he does not support the temporary and minimal relief that Hillary is calling for. Hillary is taking that fact and portraying it as negative in her television ads. When the real fact is, he doesn’t support it BECAUSE he wants to do something BETTER.

I would support Obama over Hillary at this point in the race. The long-term economy is more important than today, in my opinion. Hillary can help us out and save us $30 a year right now with the gas tax cap, but that will not solve the use of gas with the increasing amount of vehicles on the road. The ideas Obama has spoken about show he is more for the people.

Rent

The buildings I am in were built in the 1980’s, the appliances are new and they have great service, when you need something they fix it right away. I received a new lease agreement in the mail, saying my rent was going up $30. When I asked management why it goes up so much so fast, they said everyone is going up, the average between $30-50. I don’t understand why rent goes up so much so fast. The mortgage that the owners are paying on the buildings doesn’t go up, insurance and employee wages do, but $50 per tenant will add up to a lot more than the small increase the employees will get. I understand everything is a business and everyone wants to get paid, but to go up $30-50 a year per tenant is lucrative for the same service.

With the increase last year and this year, I will be almost up to $700 a month for a one bedroom, 790 square foot apartment. A little over a year ago I was paying $615, now $680? The housing situation has forced some home owners to move back into an apartment complex. I don’t have numbers on the occupancy to capacity rates for either before the credit crunch or now, but I would imagine the apartment communities are at a higher occupancy rate now, meaning they are bringing in more, as well as charging more? People do take advantage of situations, and it makes sense, but when is too much? The range between the rich and the poor is expanding.

Water As A Fuel? Yes, it’s true!

http://www.whyworkforever.org/assets/WaterPower.wmv

Water turned into a fuel? I didn’t believe it either. This genius idea is one step closer to alleviating our dependence on oil. Full electric and hybrid cars along with water fuel proves to me that anything can be done. Maybe someday we will have vehicles that can run on multiple types of fuel and you just choose what you want to fill your vehicle with. Cars with higher fuel economy help, but multiple sources of fuel is what we need in the future. Check out this video of the new technology.

How Bad Will The Economy Get?

Over the past 2 weekends I have collected sections of the newspaper relating to the economy to create another article on the current condition. The general consensus is the economy is getting worse. For three consecutive months the national unemployment rate has increased, now 5.1% - and here in NC, the unemployment rate is 5.2%, up .2% since February. It’s hard to believe that the bank situation could evolve into such a national crisis; economists believe the rise in unemployment relates to tighter credit on the construction and housing industries. It’s harder for developers and other companies to get loans; in return they don’t have as much money for projects or to employ as many workers. The higher cost of fuel and fear of a recession are also causing businesses and consumers to cut back, which slows economy growth.

North Carolina in the month of March alone, trimmed 8,400 jobs, in all industries. Citibank plans to cut 9,000 jobs and AT&T plans to cut 4,650 jobs. AT&T is reducing operations, in part, because last year alone 1.6 million landlines switched to the cable and wireless phone services. Citigroup experienced an enormous first quarter loss of $5.1 billion in 2008 and $10 billion in losses posted in the 4th quarter of 2007. Write offs keep climbing for mortgages, credit cards, auto and other types of loans. Citigroup expects more workforce reductions. Other companies have been cutting back as well. Merrill Lynch, the world’s largest brokerage is cutting 4,000 jobs, JPMorgan Chase has released information that jobs will be cut. Wachovia will cut 500 jobs and Washington Mutual plans to lay off about 3,000 workers.

Oil prices set another record high today, 4/22/2008, at $119 a barrel. The average gallon of regular unleaded gas is $3.51. Prices are expected to continue to rise to more than $120 a barrel before investors begin to sell. With that said, does that mean people investing in oil are actually contributing to the extreme prices we are paying at the pump?

Healthcare is also a big issue that is crunching the budgets of Americans. From my research, the average family pays about $12,000 a year on healthcare, nearly double since 2000. For the people without healthcare, the average cost of an emergency room visit is $1,000. Many people are postponing care because they can’t afford the bill or the cost of healthcare. The amount of out-of-pocket expenses we pay are expected to double again by 2017. If people that can’t afford the treatment seek attention anyway, it can drive them to bankruptcy. A study by Harvard shows that 50% of bankruptcies were linked to medical bills.

I wrote an article about my rent going up, the summary being that the range between the rich and the poor is growing. If you own a house or rent and you have healthcare, what can you afford? Not much else, food prices are rising due to gas hikes. With all of the daily necessities being so expensive, how can anyone spend money on luxury things or go out to relax on the weekends?

Now there is always a positive side to every negative. With the American dollar declining, investing overseas beneficial – of course you need to play your cards right. Businesses understand this and are benefiting. For example, Coca-Cola can sell a can of Coke for $1 in the US, but sells for almost $2 in the UK, this means the US Dollar is worth about half of what 1 British Pound is worth. When the currency is converted from the British Pound to the US Dollar, Coca-Cola makes almost twice the profit. Other companies that benefited this week from overseas profits are IBM, Google and eBay, just to name a few. There are a few companies that plan to take advantage of the profits from overseas, which does not benefit Americans, but when the dollar begins to strengthen again, economists believe the changes will shift back to growth in jobs in the US.

Everybody is trying to get the best deals with purchases they must make, such as the grocery store trip for example. The companies that sell the inexpensive, off brand-name items, must be making a good amount of money right now. I would expect the dollar menu at fast food restaurants to be a big hit as well as fast, easy, cheap meals such as ramen noodles. It seems like the things from that tried to get us out of the recession of 2001, such as easy to get mortgages, are coming back to hurt us. My previous question arises again…how bad will this recession get and how long will it last? The government has not officially said we are in a recession, but it is pretty obvious it will be coming soon. The sad part is in recessions, the unemployment rate will most likely increase. The candidates running for President really have their hands full. I believe if one or two of the nation’s problems were addressed, other problems will correct themselves or at least not make the whole economy seem as tense as it is.

My Roomba 535 Review

I’ve had my Roomba 535 for about 4 months now. I never owned or knew anyone that owned the older models, but the new 500 series, from what I’ve read, has really improved from the older version.

My 535 is in the lower-middle area of the Roomba 500 series and I have only seen the Roomba 535 available for sale online. The 530 and 560 are available in stores, but the 530 does not come with one (where the 530 does not) ‘lighthouse’ and the 560 (includes 2 lighthouses) is a good amount more expensive than the 535. You could buy a lighthouse for your 530, but one feature that makes the 535 better, is it is upgradeable. You can remove the middle module and make it, basically, the 570, the highest Roomba in the 500 series. With the module upgrade you can use the wireless command center, which allows you to set up to 7 different cleaning times for the Roomba. The 535, stock, only allows one setting, such as every morning at 8AM. I bought the 535 because it comes with 1 lighthouse (which is all I need right now) and it has the option to upgrade.

For people that have never owned a Roomba before, you may be wondering what a ‘Lighthouse’ is. A lighthouse serves to purposes, to be a temporary wall and a ‘permanent’ virtual wall. The temporary wall/lighthouse tells the Roomba to finish one room or area before it goes to the other side of the lighthouse. By moving the switch to Virtual Wall, the Roomba will never go on the other side. The Roomba does a very good job at vacuuming. Even if you feel your carpet is clean, it will pick up dirt and pet hair that you most likely won’t pick up if you vacuum yourself. The Roomba tends to repeat areas and it does take more time than if you did it yourself, but in return you get a clean home and – the best part – you aren’t the one cleaning. The Roomba is quiet, a lot more quiet than a normal upright vacuum, so you can watch TV while it is vacuuming. You will have a new view of what clean is. You can set the Roomba to go out on a schedule or you can click the clean button. The Roomba plays a ‘beep beep’ backup noise and slowly backs up, the brushes and the vacuum turn on and it starts to do its thing. The Roomba goes underneath furniture and beds to help on the dust and allergies, it can go on hard floors and carpet and do a good job cleaning on any floor type, it also moves along walls and uses its spinning side brush to pull dirt close to the walls and in tight corners, as if you were using your vacuum hose extension. It is best if you let the Roomba do what it wants, in most cases, even though it seems it’s repeating areas. It may be sensing more dirt in those areas.

When the Roomba senses an extraordinary amount of debris, it will spin around and give extra care to the area, you can tell when the Roomba senses these areas, not only by its reaction, but the blue dirt sensor light illuminates. The Roomba also has a ‘Spot’ button that makes the Roomba focus on a small area, it spins in circles about 3 feet out and then it goes back to the middle. If there are things in the way of this 3 foot radius, it will adjust accordingly. The Roomba also has a ‘Dock’ button that tells the Roomba to focus more on getting back to the dock than cleaning. I use this if I want it to clean the kitchen and then go back without doing a full cleaning. It tends to still clean a lot, which isn’t bad.

The lighthouse is a huge feature for the Roomba. The Roomba will clean better because it is not going all over a huge space, running into things and running out of battery before it cleans everything. I split my 800 square foot apartment into two sections with the one lighthouse, it cleans my bedroom, bathroom and hall and then once the Roomba communicates with the lighthouse to say it’s ready to cross, it goes and cleans the living room and kitchen. It cleans better and faster. It will clean my whole apartment and park itself back in the docking station before it dies, which is about 3 hours.

Sometimes the Roomba will get stuck or stop, which is no big deal. It doesn’t get stuck too often and the top reason it shuts off is because the brushes need to be cleaned. The best thing to do is to pull out as much hair as you can from the ends of the brushes and the cogs/drives that move the brushes. You will have to do it more often in the beginning, but normally you would have to clean the brushes every other time it cleans. You don’t need to dump the trash can too much, even though it’s small, but at first you will because it will pick up a lot of fur and dirt. I ran my Roomba every day for the first week and now I run it between every other day and every 4 days. Sometimes I start it before I go to work and sometimes I do it while I’m doing my weekend laundry or while I’m watching TV after work. I’ve found that maybe starting it before work may not be the best idea because if it does get stuck, you don’t have much of an idea of where it could be, maybe under the bed, maybe under the furniture…it depends on how large your home is. If it’s running while you are home you will at least know where you heard it get quiet, like in the bedroom or in the living room. As the Roomba finishes up and parks, it makes a ‘Hey look, I did it’ noise, letting you know it parked correctly in the base and is now charging. I have only had it mis-park once. If it is unable to park, it usually turns and tries again.

I would recommend the Roomba 535, in particular, because I think it is a great investment, it’s a good deal for the money and it saves you time while keeping your place clean all of the time. I will be adding pictures and cleaning up the text this weekend!

What People Make

There doesn’t seem to be a middle-class. When you find out how much people make you notice that you’re either rich or poor. Now I’m not saying that everyone is poor, as in poverty, where you can’t live..but compared to the other income spectrum - we aren’t that wealthy, financially. What you do with your money as you age can make you wealthy for retirement age or earlier. I just can’t fathom the fact that some people make more in a year than I will ever make, working 2 jobs, in my whole lifetime.

The News and Observer had about 75 people, famous and ‘average-joes’ and their incomes. The collection of people are very random and does not say their education or experience, but it gives you a good idea. From my review, I can say the average income for people from the age of 22-65 is between 26k and 65k. Besides the bulk of the individuals being in this range, there were a few making 70-80k and only a few making 100-300k. The celebrities start at 5 million and get a good bulk of them in up to 33 million. Then there are a few celebrities in the 90-115 million range, and a couple of CEO’s making in the hundreds of millions. Now to make a joke out of the whole situation, a dog (Leona Helmsley’s dog) makes 12 million - a DOG.

If your goal is to be young and rich, as my goal is - but I am starting to find is nearly impossible - you need to have a brand new idea, a niche or improvement in an existing business, be an entrepreneur, or be very good at investing, and with any gateway, find a way to make a money, little or substantial, from a large group of people. There aren’t too many positions, even in large corporations, that will make you extraordinarily rich.

What I mean by idea, for example, is the computer, radio, TV, the car, phone and then the revision with the cordless and cell phone; or the idea of reality TV shows.

What I mean by a niche or improvement in an existing business, is CarMax (selling used cars has been around since there have been cars but CarMax buys a good percentage of certain colors [silver, green, blue] family-type cars, making a little money at a large volume), program software for businesses that will help them out - such as SAS with their statistical software, LCD TV’s(getting bigger screens, making the insides lighter and smaller), you get the idea. Make sure to patent your ideas and then you have to ’sell’ the idea. You have to sell it to people on why doing things from A to Z your way is better than the previous, or other ways.

Being an entrepreneur and investing is pretty self explanatory. You need to be outgoing, creative and take risks.

To live well, though, and be in the higher income spectrum you need education, willing the learn, be adaptable, be a people person - and to make things easier, you need connections or be in the right place at the right time – such as a position opening up from someone leaving the company or an expanding company.

As I grow up I am finding out that you need to be a thinker AND a doer, you need to be adaptable and you can never settle. You always need to continue to learn how to better what you are currently doing, learning new technologies and how they can benefit you and find what interests you. What you may be good at and interested in now doesn’t mean you will be interested or want to continue to do that career in 5 or 10 years. The majority of people work for a good majority of their life in the amount of years they work and hours per week. I also believe it is good to have little businesses or services you can do for others to make additional money on the side. Of course being smart with your money will get you more no matter how much income you make. Also you need to keep up on your education, always show you are interested and willing to learn and go above and beyond sometimes if it is possible – work a weekend or bring in treats for your coworkers and bosses. Most of us will need to work for a long time, it doesn’t have to be miserable, but hitting it big would sure be more fun!

Absinthe Is Legal In The US Again

I overheard that Absinthe is legal in the United States again.

The first time I heard about Absinthe was in the 2004 movie, Eurotrip. Since not everything is real in the movies, I looked to see if there was such an alcoholic beverage and there is.

Absinthe, or you may see it spelled as Absinth, is a strong, green colored, anise (liquorice) flavored, alcoholic drink. It has been called the ‘Green Fairy’ The herb Artemisia absinthium, Woodworm, is the main ingredient in Absinthe. Woodworm has a psychoactive chemical called thujone, which is said to cause hallucinations of a Green Fairy and create a different experience than other alcoholic drinks.

The woodworm-infested cocktail has been outlawed in the United States since 1912 because of the thujone. With Absinthe being recently legalized again, consumers are not yet able to purchase it at the liquor stores. I was able to get my hands on the drink, purchasing it and having it shipped from overseas. There are many different versions of the drink, extra woodworm, anise (original) flavored and I have also seen more fruity flavored combinations available. Beware though, buying Absinthe online does not mean you are getting true Absinthe. Prices range from 50 to a few hundred dollars, the cheaper being of less quality. I have also seen a ‘kit’ where they send you what is supposedly woodworm and give you directions on how to brew it - like brewing tea.

Absinthe is traditionally enjoyed with sugar cubes and ice water. There is a special ’spoon’ with holes through it. You first fill your glass with a shot or two with Absinthe, then you continue by putting the sugar cube on the spoon, pouring cold water, slowly, over the cube until it is dissolved. Then the drink is ready. I have had Absinthe that I purchased online, I drank it the traditional way Absinthe is served - but I did not notice any Green Fairies with my drink, but I also did not consume too much. From my experience though, Absinthe has a very strong, different taste, than most other drinks. There is a bar in downtown Raleigh (where I live) that has the drink available for purchase. I will be going downtown soon, I would recommend giving it a try and posting your experience!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe
http://www.absinthebuyersguide.com/
http://www.absinth.com/

Economy Outlook - April 2008

I get the weekend paper and watch the news just about every day. There hasn’t been much but bad news about the economy lately. It’s pretty obvious we are in another recession, but how long will the recession of 2008 last and how bad will it get?

There has been four airlines that have either filed for bankruptcy or bankruptcy protection in the past 2 weeks. 3/31 - Aloha Airlines, 4/2 - ATA Airlines, 4/7 Skybus Airlines, 4/11 Frontier Airlines. Champion Airlines has announced that it will be ceasing operations on 5/31. From the articles I have read - these companies could not overcome to the rise in gas prices.

In the local newspaper it shows the national unemployment rate has shot up to 5.1% - 80,000 jobs were cut in March alone and just barely past the first quarter of the year, we are nearing a quarter-million jobs lost so far this year. Many different businesses were hit, such as construction and real estate firms and mortgage brokers (due directly to the housing market crisis), legal services, airlines, temporary agencies and more.

Another article I found interesting, polled 803 phone-based interviews between March 29th and April 1st. Five economic issues were asked to the people polled, two of which were of most concern - Cost of Gas and Cost of Health Insurance. The other three economic issues - Amount of Taxes You Pay, Housing Slowdown and Ability To Find Or Keep A Good Job - were also clearly issues.

You may be interested to read my article from earlier in the week [Gas Up $6 A Tank In 1 Week?] ‘The Walmart Effect’ may also be one negative for our economic issue, as touched on in my previous article. This effect relates to the airlines because the airlines tried to compete by having the lowest air fares. It may not be well accepted by all people, but I believe it is good to buy the next step up, do it right the first time…If you can buy an item for $5, buy the $8 item. It’s not much more, but the quality is usually better and will last longer than the $5 item - so not only will you get more life out of it but you will have less headache from having to replace the item sooner and spending more in the end. Do it right the first time. It will also help the economy. The highest cost is creating the initial product, using the higher quality materials only increases the production prices slightly - as retail usually works, the price of the item not only goes up due to higher production costs, but it usually has a higher profit margin, thus helping the economy - and indirectly, you.

Amongst the mess of negative news floating around, there tends to always be the strong areas such as government jobs, hospitals and health-care - which increased employment in the past months, as well as educational services, day-care providers, insurance companies and bars and restaurants. I understand why employment at bars has gone up with the economy the way it has been (sad but true), but I would have figured restaurants would have declined - dining out tends to be expensive and I figured people would be not going out as much at a time like this.

Education seems to be a platform that can help you have job security, I see that more and more everyday. For example, if the department at the company you work for is transitioning out, if you have a good work record, education AND show you are willing to learn, most employers will try to find another position within the company if it is available. Learning is not only a good way to help cement opportunities now but also for the future. I think in the coming months colleges and universities will be seeing an increase, even more than the trend has been in past years, of enrollment, due to people educating themselves to move into a new work field or just giving themselves an advantage in the work place.

Gas Up $6 A Tank In 1 Week?

I know the economy hasn’t been too great, the jobs have been going down, the housing situation isn’t that great (although for some - the rich - now is perfect), gas prices have been going up…I tend to just fill up my car every week and just move on with it. But today I looked at the price to fill my tank and it was up to $46, from $40 just ONE week before. That is 15% in ONE week. Now for anybody that understands the significance of that, that is a HUGE number. As an example, most people will get 3-4% raises each year, the rate of inflation (this year I got a whopping .9%…yeah that’s right, not even 1% - it was blamed on ‘corporate’…yeah, right). That’s 3-4% in 365 days, this was 15% in 7 days. My measly ‘raise’ of $4 a week has already been engulfed, and more, by the raise in gas this week

This situation goes back to the all-famous saying, ‘The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.’ This is so true. Say you have some money to invest into these oil stocks or any other company that is doing well, you can make a few pennies or a light chunk of change from the amount you put in. But the people that have lots of money already, have an even easier time getting even MORE money.

Take a look at the poor, they already have trouble affording rent and buying a car or riding the bus. With a raise in gas prices, everything else goes up too, food prices, going out to the bar (beverage prices), in reality - anything that needs to be shipped, goes up. These people had a hard enough time to begin with and now with the prices going up they have a harder time. I saw on TV this morning, that they were going to raise the tax fairs. Last year when the gas was $2.50 I guess, I’m not quite sure, I try not to look at the prices - it cost my mom $40 to travel 12 miles from my place to the airport when I had to leave for work that morning. Now that same trip with the rise in gas prices and fairs would easily be $60-70 dollars. I don’t know about you but I sure as heck don’t want to spend almost a whole days worth of salary (after taxes) just to go a few miles to the airport. Some people give up and don’t take on the challenge when they are working 50-60 hours a week and either not being able to pay their bills or just barely paying them, so then they go on to some government system to help them pay for things.

This affect, in turn, screws the huge middle-class as well. The taxes will go up to pay for the poor that can’t afford their rent or food. So the middle class is out more money and then that means there are less people going out to eat or spending money on luxury items, so that again screws the poor and some middle class.

All of this also affects the economy because there will be less research on new technology items or improvements to things already in existence, who can afford to buy them? Not many people, so why invest in that. And all of this time, the rich have hardly become affected. They can take their excess money out of one stock and move it to another that is doing well at the time, or - in the housing situation we are in now - buy property to renovate and resell when the market goes back up.

The economy is really having a hard time right now. Some people blame it on the banks, some people blame it on gas. I think it’s both. People would be able to handle one OR the other, as with most situations, but BOTH is a double whammy, too much. The government, from what I’ve read, has done it’s deal to ‘help,’ by lowering interest rates. And I put ‘help’ in quotes because, from my understanding, when the feds lower the interest rate on mortgages, that makes the value of a dollar decrease, which - in the long run - screws us all, unless you invest in stocks over seas or buy another currency now before it’s too late and when the dollar gets low enough, buy the US dollar back - but with any of those ideas, you need money.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.