Connect A Million Minds

I'm not only dedicated to the improvement of one's body and health, but am also a very passionate advocate and living example of the importance of continually challenging oneself both mentally and intellectually. I live to grow, learn and evolve daily, and thanks to my blessed lifestyle, I can pursue further education on my own terms.
I think that everyone should have the opportunity to improve and become as educated as they possibly can, because it does help you to not only be a better person in the world, but to also to be better able to control your own destiny.

I also like to see young people excell and take an interest in the not so typical areas of life, like science, mathematics, engineering, technology and the like, because that really is the future. Forget just trying to be an athlete or an entertainer - technology and the sciences are where more focus should be to really aid not only young people, but all of us in build an amazing, lucrative and secure future. Not only that, you'll end up being intelligent as hell! ;)

That's why I'd like to shed some light on the Connect a Million Minds project, which is designed to provide resources for youth to have exposure to becoming a part of technology, engineering and science through activities, workshops and fun, interesting things to get involved in, thus sparking more of an interest in these areas. Time Warner Cable has invested 100 million dollars towards this project, and I'm also all for it!
Take a look at their website and see what they are trying to do for our youth and their futures. I think it's a very worthwhile cause!

Here is the link to their website: Connect A Million Minds
Here is their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ConnectaMillionMinds

Let's all help our kids build better, sharper, more brilliant minds and futures today! ;)

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Whatever Happened to Professionalism??

Oh, what a pet peeve this is for me. I know that we are now a more "casual" society these days, but even in the midst of that, one thing should remain the same; performing the duties of your job in the manner in which they are supposed to be performed. I can't help but to notice that this one simple concept is lacking in so many people lately in businesses all across the board. There really need to be classes in business and service etiquette, because more and more people these days just don't seem to have it. I'm sick of trying to do business with people who don't know how to be professional.

First of all, when someone walks into your store, office, restaurant, etc, greet them. Yes! That is part of your job to greet the customer! OMG, who knew? I can't tell you how many times I've walked into a store or business, and the person in charge or behind the counter either ignores you, looks up and just waits for you to speak, or flips their head indicating "what?". God forbid they actually say "Hello" or "How can I help you?" This nonchalant, "so what, you're here" attitude is something I'm seeing more and more often lately when I go to shop or get service somewhere. You want my repeat business, you'd better be a bit more welcoming and professional when I come into your store. Why is that so hard?

Secondly, please don't greet me as "Hey", "Yo", or "What's up". Are we BFF's and nobody bothered to inform me of it? Are we 'homies' that were just hanging out on the street corner together drinking a 40 last night? I swear, I've never seen you before! What is this "Yo"? Or "Hey". We are not at some party! This is a business!!

I walked into a sewing machine store some months ago, and upon my walking in to purchase a machine (I was so ready to buy!), the proprietor of the store looks up from the counter and says "Wassup!", all casual and laid back like I'm somebody he is super familiar with and maybe even dated in the past. He looked to be about late forties/early fifties, white male, by the way. I'm like "what???". I said to him "do you greet all of your customers with "Wassup?" How about "Hello, how can I help you?" He goes "what's your problem, you uptight or something?" I'm like, "Nope. No problem at all, because I'm not going to be doing any business with you. You just lost a sale!". I turned on my heel and walked out. I then went home, got on the internet and ordered myself a really nice sewing machine on Ebay. The nerve! What was he, smoking weed?? The unprofessionalism of some people astonishes me! "Wassup, indeed!"

My favorite is the guy that burped into my ear on the phone while taking my food order. Here I am ordering a mini pizza from one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants, busy telling the guy on the phone what I want on it and suddenly this loud "BBUUUURRRRRRPP!!" erupts out of nowhere from the other end of the line. Without missing a beat and without saying the least bit of an "excuse me", the guy just continues on "that's pepperoni you want on it, right?" I actually couldn't answer him for a couple secs, I was so shocked. I was about to get a bit belligerent and tell him how rude I thought he was, but then I remembered; don't ever piss off anybody that is going to handle or serve you your food. He's not the cook, but he's going to bag it up. I decided to stay cool so my food didn't end up with any little "surprises" on or in it, you know? But wow, what a NERVE, huh? It's a wonder I kept my appetite. After that little incident, I refuse to order from the place when that guy is taking orders. If he picks up when I call, I just hang up on him. I call back until one of the other order takers answers. Kinda feels good to do that to him, lol.

Imagine having a customer service rep, or any business person just belch in your ear and not even excuse themselves. Yow! People just have no boundaries whatsoever these days!!

I have a million other stories of where I've dealt with severe unprofessionalism, but I will stop here. If I told even half of them, this post would take days!!! What's the worst unprofessional pet peeve of yours? With me, not being greeted or being greeted inappropriately ticks me off. I also don't like it when they don't say "thank you" at the end of the sale, especially if it's at a small business. I'm helping you pay your bills...you'd better thank me! lol. Another thing I hate is when someone that's supposed to be giving you service is texting or playing around with their little device and they don't stop immediately when you come up to ask for something. I walked into a store recently, and the girl behind the counter finished her texting for a good 30 seconds before finally acknowledging me and saying "Can I help you?". Well, damn, at least she got the second part right! ;)

I know I'm definitely a Diva on all of this, but years ago when I had my very first jobs as a receptionist, cashier, and waitress, I was trained to treat all customers like kings, and I did! The type of customer service that I gave when I did these jobs is something I hardly ever see these days.

I swear, I need to give a class! ;)

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The 2010 Winter Olympics, and a Fitness Diva Giveaway!!

AND THE WINNER IS.....




Reality TV Rave!

I gotta tell ya, this is Reality's lucky year! She just got finished winning one of my Lucky 100 Links a couple weeks ago! Congrats, Reality, and I'll be contacting you to get the info I need to send your $25.00 Amazon gift card!
And thanks to all of you who entered. This was fun! We must do it again soon! ;)

Woo hoo! You all know I am an Olympics junkie, and the Winter Olympics are just like the ice cream that goes along with the cake for me. I love watching the skiers, the luge, the figure skating, and of course, my snowboarders! The other sports don't escape my attention either. Love 'em all!

I am always so awestruck and inspired by the level of talent on display upon the world's stage during this event.
I also enjoy the drama; "the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat", the back stories that they come up with for some of the competitors and their special little mini dramas....it's like an athletic soap opera! 'Who will get the gold? Will he/she finally clinch the medal at this, his very last Olympics??? Will competitor xxx from country yyy overcome the recent personal tragedy that overshadowed his last year of training for the gold??? And how about so and so, the severely underestimated underdog who managed to beat some of the best in the world and make it through all the trials to clinch a spot on the Olympic team??? O...M...G!!!! Love every bit of it, just like I do the Summer Games!

AND GUESS WHAT. THE FITNESS DIVA LOVES THE OLYMICS SO MUCH THAT SHE'S HAVING A WINTER OLYMPICS GIVEAWAY!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!!

Just name the 15 sports comprising the Winter Games, and you could win a $25.00 Amazon gift card!!


The rules are simple:
Comment on this post with your answers, listing all 15 winter Olympic sports.
Include the email address you where want to have the prize sent to if you win.
Sit back and hope lady luck picks your name!
The winner will be chosen randomly, most likely out of a hat. I might video it. ;)
All entries must be received by 11:59 PM EST Sunday, Feb 14th, Valentine's Day.
Any place in the world that can use Amazon.com is eligible.

I will withhold all replies until the contest closes Sunday night, but this one is easy, folks! You all know how to find the answers, you web mavens! That's why I'm picking a winner randomly.

Okay, let's get crackin'!
And Happy Winter Olympics to you!

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Fantasia Looks Fantasic!

I got a good look at American Idol's season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino on her new reality show, "Fantasia For Real". The show is actually good, and without even intending to, I ended up watching it on one of those marathon runs they do on the weekends. I have seen lots of pics of Fantasia since she won idol, and I gotta tell ya, she was getting pretty heavy there for a while. Almost every pic I saw of her showed a puffy, lumpy, not so pleasingly plump girl, and while no one is perfect, when you live your life on the stage, I'm sorry, you do need to be a bit more body conscious than the next person. Judging by what earlier pics of her showed, there was not one iota of attention paid to diet and exercise on her part.

Well, no more of that! The 2010 version of Fantasia is lean, slim and tight!

Before

After

How did she do it? According to Fantasia, she now works out every day and has added some salad to her diet. She says that while she still craves some of that good southern food which tends to put that weight on thick, she has learned to be a bit more disciplined and say no to those high calorie dishes more often than not. Good for her, and a great habit for her to pick up at such a young age. It starts right here...the earlier you get on the health and fitness train, the better!

Kudos to Fantasia, and may she keep it up! Lookin' good, girl! ;)

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Competition

As humans, I think it's just a natural instinct to try to be better than the next one, to get more light, get more shine, more accolades, more acknowledgement than the next one. To stand head and shoulders above the crowd. The winner does get the biggest prize, after all, right?

I started being competitive when my younger brother was born. He was born when I was six. Until he came along, I was the big thing in the household, see. I ruled! And I liked it that way! ;)
But then, ut oh, here comes a boy child. I don't know if this is the case in most families, but all of a sudden, when a son is born, OMG, it's like the seas just parted or something. Suddenly, I was not the hot ticket anymore! At that point, I think I began working harder to at least be the more talented, smarter and more noteworthy one between us! I had to! And I haven't stopped~!! lol! Nothing will make you strive to achieve like sibling rivalry!

We all as humans compete for everything; jobs, status, mates, back in the olden times, food and just basic survival... Competition is a way of life, I guess. Hell, even bloggers are out here trying to compete on some level. I can't help but to notice that many bloggers step their game up either by copying what they see other bloggers do on their blogs (the majority compete like this), or by finding some new way to stand out. The second, I respect more, because that takes talent. The first, not at all, because if you have to copy someone else to step your game up, you really still suck, basically! LOL! Ya know? You're just copying somebody better than you! By that token, you will ALWAYS be second or third best! That just wouldn't work for me. I wouldn't be able to respect myself if the only thing I was good at was copying someone else! ;)

Anyways, how about you? Are you competitive, or are you one who just lays back and lets the chips fall where they will? How about only children versus those with siblings? Does having to compete for parents' attention as you're growing up make you more of a go getter? I wonder. I know I definitely had to step my game up when the siblings started coming. I'm guessing that this is a very common thing. I'm glad that happened for me though. Because now when I see someone trying to compete with me, I have the drive and ability to take them DOWN! From years and years of practice! Guess that's why I became a fighter so many years ago. It's just natural for me, dudes, just like breathing! BRING IT ON!~!!!!!!, I always say! I'm ready for you! Watch me!! ;)

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