Monthly Archives: January 2010

Reputation Management: The First Step to a New Job

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For many people nationwide this difficult financial time has left them not just tightening their proverbial belts, but instead has left them without a job and means of income completely. All are left with an uncertainty of where to turn next, but not all choose the same path. For some this is an opportunity to pursue things they never had time to before. Many head back to school for degrees that will help put them a step ahead when the job market begins to improve. They attempt to better themselves while they wait out the storm. For many more there is no other option except to find a new job. Before you hit the pavement with resumes in hand, there are a few things that you can do to prepare and, hopefully, deliver that long-awaited offer.
With the world becoming ever more internet based, it is not unusual for employers to utilize this tool when considering an individual for employment. Before you begin you job search try typing your name into Google and see what comes up. If nothing comes up or it is all positive then you are free and clear for this part. If there are some negative comments you may need to consider some reputation management. Monitoring can be done fairly easily from your home or by contacting an marketing agency that specializes in that type of work. Even if they can’t help you, they may be able to suggest some things you can do yourself or perhaps a link that can get you going in the right direction.
The next things that you want to check is your social networking sites; Facebook and Twitter. Look them over closely for anything that could be damaging or incriminating. New reports estimate that nearly half of all employers check the Facebook‘s of potential employees. Don’t leave anything on there that you wouldn’t want your boss to see. For many this will be their first impression of you, so make it the best.
Once your online reputation is cleaned up and you have revamped and strengthened your resume, you are ready to not just hit the job market, but knock their socks off.

Museum Ships from San Diego to Tampa

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From coast to coast, around the nation’s shores, there lie ship museums, vessels that once plied the oceans and now are moored to piers to enlighten travelers and tourists alike.  In San Diego, California, you’ll find the H.M.S. Surprise, a replica of a Royal Navy 28 gun frigate, which was used in the film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, as part of the Maritime Museum of San Diego; while, on the other side of the nation, in Tampa, Florida, you’ll discover the SS American Victory, a 455 foot long VC2-S-AP2 merchant ship used in World War Two, which now is a floating museum devoted to celebrating the men and women of the American Merchant Fleet, which provided its service to the world ever since 1775, two hundred and thirty-five years ago. 
 
Check out the local Tampa hotels by visiting the site here, and prepare to come aboard and receive an amazing education on American Maritime History.  The idea of the American Victory Mariners Memorial & Museum Ship is to preserve and interpret maritime culture, as well as its legacy of the maritime industry, encouraging young people to share the enthusiasm and understanding of the important contributions the industry made in history.  
 
The American Victory offers a tour of the restoration process, allowing visitors to see what an operational merchant cargo ship from the 1940s is like.  The vessel in three wars: World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.  If you go, you’ll be able to see almost the whole ship: immense cargo holds, the hospital and galley, weaponry, radio gyro rooms, steering stations, a flying bridge, wheelhouse, crew and officer messes, the engine room, crew cabins, the chartroom and lifeboats, and so on.  You’ll also see a photographic history of the ship and other period merchant vessels, including uniforms and documents and medals.  Admission for adults is ten dollars, while children pay half that, and those under three years of age attend for free.  Once you’re finished in Tampa, consider heading for San Diego next to visit all the museum ships available there!

Revolving Museum in Lowell

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Lowell, Massachusetts, is where the Industrial Revolution really took hold in the United States in the 19th Century.  Known as the Mill City, Lowell in the 21st Century now features a National Historic Park, turning several mill buildings into museums that thoroughly explores that historical era.  You’ll find such museums as the Boott Cotton Mills Museum, which explores the Boott Mills and its one hundred and twenty year life, which ended in 1955 (you’ll find here original mill equipment, allowing visitors to both feel the vibrations of these machines and hear their constant, thrumming roar).  While the American Textile History Museum is currently closed to the public, you can certainly see the National Streetcar Museum as well as the New England Quilt Museum.
 
More interesting to me, though, is the Revolving Museum in Lowell.  This facility is designed to be a kind of “evolving laboratory of creative expression,” intended to serve people in different ages and abilities and backgrounds.  The idea is to allow people to express themselves and experience art’s power as an experience of transformation.  How is this done?  By exhibiting public art displays, both at the Museum and other locations, using educational programs, working with Lowell’s residents and students.  Just three years ago, in 2007, the Revolving Museum won the Massachusetts Culture Council Commonwealth Award, an award intended to honor how the Museum integrates the arts, the sciences, and the humanities in Lowell. 
 
The museum’s founder, Jerry Beck, operates from the principle that “art can be made anywhere at anytime with anybody.”  At first, the Revolving Museum was centered in Boston, some thirty miles away from Lowell, from 1984 to 2002, moving from location to location. Finally, the museum made a permanent home in Lowell in the historic Lowell Gas & Light building, constructed in 1859.  Since its time in Lowell, only a few years, the museum has held fifteen major exhibition, promoting social values with Lowell’s youth as it does so. 
 
If you should happen to stay in one of Lowell’s hotels, take the time to check out this intriguing museum and its work for the community.

Finding True Love in New York City

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Okay, this time I really just could not wait to arrive at LaGuardia Airport in New York. I had only been to the city three times prior to this last trip and while I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each of them, I have to be honest and say that my excitement and also reason for visiting this last time was not surpassed by any of my previous experiences. Even when I saw Kathleen Turner on Broadway in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Okay, so yeah, that was a great experience, and one that I will never forget. Nor will I forget seeing Cyndi Lauper and Allen Cummings in Bertolt Brecht’s Threepenny Opera. Oh, and to be fair the music for that show was by Kurt Weill. So yes, those great Broadway shows and my previous experiences in New York City were absolutely incredible, but still, they just can’t compare to my most recent trip.

And yes, I guess after all that over the top introduction, anyone reading this certainly deserves to know the reason why my last trip was so special. And if you haven’t already figured out why I was so eager to settle into my five star hotel New York City, I was going there to finally meet in person the love of my life. Well, maybe that sounded a bit strange without being privy to the actual background of this relationship.

It just so happens that I met Alex through an online dating service. It was actually as a fluke that it happened, especially since I don’t even live in New York. A friend of mine was desperate to meet someone and she wanted to join this service but was too nervous to do it alone. She begged me to sign up as well, and while it’s not like I had date offers lining up at the door, I was just never really interested in these services. So, to help my friend I went ahead and put up a profile, but I listed New York as my preferred search area. It just seemed like a big enough city that my actions couldn’t come back to haunt me. Well, I guess the joke would be on me if I wasn’t the one laughing. It turns out Alex responded to my ad and we just started talking regularly. I would still be a skeptic, but we’re getting married next month so I guess I can’t be.

Bubba is in Florida

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It’s our last full day in Miami, Florida. We decided to head to the beach today. We’ve pretty much stuck around our hotel because it’s so fantastic, there was really no reason to leave this wonderful resort of Florida: check out this site and you’ll see why.  At the beach, we found out that it would cost us a bit of cash to rent a deluxe lounge chair; the price was kind of a shocker for us, $18! We really didn’t want to put our microfiber towel on the sand, so we just ended up walking along the beach for a couple of hours, then headed back to relax poolside at our resort hotel and that didn’t cost us a thing!

Later, we thought we catch a bus to explore some of Downtown Miami and check out Little Havana. Little Havana was not so big a place. From there we walked around downtown Miami, and it was pretty much like any small city with its tall buildings. We ended up at the Bayside Market, which we found had some very interesting stalls, shops and restaurants. We actually ate at ‘Bubba Gump Shrimp Company‘, it’s a whole restaurant devoted to the Bubba character in ‘Forest Gump’. They truly had tons of ways to serve the shrimp and there was a little gift shop. After that, we enjoyed getting a fruit smoothie at one of the vendor stalls. Today as been one of the more relaxing days we’ve had in a while, which is a strange thing to say, being on vacation and all, but we’ve been on the go from day one of our trip, catching all the trains, buses and waiting. Lots of waiting. Then having to find a great restaurant to eat at and catching a taxi to take us there, so today was a real treat. There was nothing on our agenda, which dawned on us that maybe that’s how we should travel from now on, no agenda, because today really was a very nice and relaxing day, a day that made us really feel like we were on a vacation.

The Charm of the Court: Pete Sampras

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Pete Sampras found a rickety racket in the basement.  In that moment his life changed forever.  His parents and others knew it to when they started to notice how hard he could hit the ball.  It made dings in the garage door of his childhood home.  Since then his burgeoning talent has taken him to soaring to great heights of fame and fortune.

Like most professional tennis players, he discovered his dream early on to play tennis and never stopped pursuing that dream.  His fierce talent isn’t the only thing that makes him a success on and off the courts.  He has a charm and the looks that prove popular with fans and advertisers alike.  Unlike the tennis bad boys of the seventies and the eighties, most players like Sampras have toned it down a bit, and try to keep temper to a minimum, thought there are always going to be a few flare ups from time to time.

However, Sampras is the kind of player that rarely loses his cool.  During the year 1990, he won the US Open.  At age nineteen, he is the youngest to do so, especially since you can only start to play the hard and heavy players at age eighteen.  Throughout the years he has racked up some impressive numbers that are a testament to his strength and his skills as a player.  With Grand Slams, he ranks with more than ten wins.  At Wimbledon, he has been there and won that seven times.  Additionally, he has two Australian Opens under his belt, and with the latest Australian Open Tennis Championship, he is looking probably to put one more there.

His style is part of what defines him as a player.  He has great serves and volleys and a demeanor to match.  He is always pleasant at interviews and to fans.  He might not be flashy, but he does have certain kind of grace and gentleman charm.  He is the Gary Cooper of the tennis court.

Austin’s Zilker Botanical Garden

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One of the spaces in the city of Austin, that has become one of the beloved spaces, is the thirty acre garden located along the banks of the Colorado River, the Zilker Botanical Garden.  In many cities, in fact just about every major city, the botanic gardens are rich with history, rich with the tender loving care of someone who planted them years and years ago, and the continued care provided by those alive today.  This garden in Austin has a few varied sections, each with its own theme.  There are the delicately tended Japanese gardens, the herb gardens, and the rose garden, all situated along the banks of the streams that run throughout.  There is even a section that is dedicated to the prehistoric dinosaur era.  A fascinating section for kids, as I know no child, male or female who is not totally enthralled by that long ago time period.

Like most things in Austin, Texas this garden is a unique anomaly, a collaboration between the Austin Area Garden Council and the Department of Parks and Recreation.  When looking for an adventure on a budget, and heading out from your room in one of the Austin luxury hotels, make a stop at the garden as it is, and always has been, free to the public.   The garden remains open year round and offers classes, seminars and docent led tours.  The Zilker Garden was established in 1955 and has followed through with their commitment and their mission, which is to promote the love for and the education of gardening for people of every age.  More than half a million people visit the garden each year, from all corners of the world.  And throughout the years, thousands upon thousands of school age children, and adults alike, have benefited not only from the peaceful nature of the garden, but from the information provided as well.