flights
My girlfriends and I have been working frantically all week on our finals preparation and on our group economics project. Our finals are all different since we are in different majors so none of those really match up except our economics final which we all feel really confident about. What we have been working on together is the general education project we had to do for that class. We had to choose a side of the economy and answer a question that we come up with on our own. We decided to answer the question of if the recent economic situation has effected the markets for cheap international flights and domestic discount airfares. We chose this because we could all knock out two things we need to get done at once. We have all decided that we want to go on a vacation together this summer. We knew that we wanted to go somewhere abroad and go backpacking. So we figured we could use this as a means to actually do some research for cheap international flights. We also wanted to compare any changes that these two markets may have suffered over the past few months, so that maybe if we can find some great discount flights domestically then we would consider staying national. So we have successfully planned a trip to France using our research data of cheap flights and have also completed our project a whole week in advance of the due date. Now all we have to do is finish classes next week and do great on our finals and we are off to France. We will be doing a ton of backpacking all over the country. We didn't just keep our research focused on the cheap flights, but we also found hotels all over the country where we are going to just stop off throughout our trip. We all know that we want to keep moving at all times and not stop in any one place for too long. We also know that we want nothing to do with any other mechanical transportation other than the two flights there and back. We are going totally rugged on this one.
Celebrity Foods: Chefs' Favorite
We are always impressed by the fabulous array of recipes with which celebrity Chef's so expertly "wow" us. For anyone that loves food or cooking, watching a pro at work is just as much food for the soul as it is for the palate. But no matter how fantastically the combination of gourmet ingredients tantalizes our senses, what impresses us the most are the actual favored food choices of those glorious Chefs. Expertly trained Chefs have the advantage of global influences and exposure to exotic cultural food secrets, so their favorite recipes are obviously spectacular for one reason or another. This is precisely the kind of foods that are prepared conveniently by specialty food companies such as Celebrity Foods.
Take Chef Bobby Flay, for example. He is one of the hottest commodities on the celebrity Chef market, with numerous cookbooks, television shows and prestigious positions under his belt, or under his "apron", shall we say. Chef Flay is the grill chef supreme, yet his favorite grilled foods boast such simplicity, we are dumbfounded. Bobby's choice for the most flavorful barbeque sauce is the homemade tomato-based version with the addition of mustard, molasses and Worcestershire sauce. For a grilled vegetable, the grill chef's selection is corn, because lightly caramelizing it over the flame brings out its best essence. Above all meats, he prefers to grill fish and for dessert his favorite is grilled pineapple brushed with olive oil, served up with really good ice cream.
The influence of well-reputed Chefs is so important that Forbes recently presented an overview of several highly respected masters and their favorite recipes paired with the most suitable beverages. Celebrity Foods is well-versed in the art of creating food masterpieces with fresh, organic ingredients. Here is a glimpse of those Chef superstars' preferred fare:
o Gabriel Kreuther, the Executive chef at The Modern at MoMA, New York prefers seared foie gras with litchis, served with a raspberry-flavored beer.
o Will Goldfarb, Pastry Maestro at Room4Dessert, New York apparently loves everything on his "Voyage to India," dessert tray - a chocolate parfait with chai, mango ice cream, dairyless coconut ice cream, mini India tuiles and spray-dried coconut.
o Mario Batali, Chef/restaurateur at the Del Posto, Esca, Babbo and Casa Mono, all in New York, is nuts about his tres leches cake (butter cake soaked in milk) with coconut gelato.
o Daniel Humm, Executive Chef at Eleven Madison Park, New York goes crazy for the poached lobster and morels in a cream sauce.
o Laurent Tourondel , the Executive Chef of the BLT Restaurant Group (BLT Steak, BLT Fish, BLT Prime), New York simply prefers a thick charred steak.
o Michael Lomonaco , Executive Chef at the Porter House, New York likes to sink his teeth into a 36-ounce, 28-dry aged Porterhouse steak.
o Wylie Dufresne, Executive Chef at WD-50, New York is blown away by the sage tempura and turkey carpaccio with capers.
o Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, Executive Chef at Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, Colo., will do almost anything for crab dipped in plantain batter, then fried with coconut water straight out of a whole chilled coconut.
o Anne Gingrass , Opening Chef at Postrio, Hawthorne Lane and Essencia, all in San Francisco adores the simplicity of spicy roasted lamb, a menu item which Celebrity Foods prepares with excellence.
o Tony Esnault, Chef, formerly of Ducasse at the Essex House and soon to open a new (as yet unnamed) restaurant, New York loves to cook a roast pork with angel-hair pasta risotto at home for his wife.
In the world of celebrity Chefs, Emeril Lagasse is a rock star. He is the essential "people's" prince of the kitchen, entertaining us with his New York style patter and adept ease at preparing haute cuisine with an artistic flair. Everyone loves Emeril. The world-renowned Chef got his culinary introduction at his Portuguese mother's elbow, helping her add the vegetables to the big soup pot. He inspires us and comforts us with his classical renditions of New Orleans Creole dishes. Celebrity Foods is the best for creating menus that reflect the cultural influences we receive from very early in life. Likewise, our favorite Chef thoroughly enjoys the opportunity to cook some of his dad's favorite dishes: boiled crabs; andouille and cornbread stuffed pork chops; Southern style greens cooked with bacon, onion, a little molasses, and a bottle of beer and homemade chocolate pudding. "Happy. Happy. Happy."
SIP phones
Last Saturday, my dad asked me to come back to his office to help out again. And as usual, I grumbled for about 10 minutes before pulling myself up off the couch and grudgingly going with him to his car. It would be another long day of tidying desks, filing mail, and sweeping the reception area. Meanwhile, all my friends would be having fun in the absolutely stunning weather outside, which it always was the days that I had to go in to my dad's office. Still, when I got there, it was a little more interesting than I expected. He had these new phones on each desk and they looked pretty cool. I thought he just replaced the phones, but it turns out they were SIP phones that used a completely different network. These phones actually carried the voice data through a VoIP (voice over internet protocol), which used his existing internet line. He loved it because it meant cheaper calls with his long distance clients and a consolidated monthly bill for all his communication needs. Plus, he used something he called a Microsoft fax, which I think is a type of network fax, over the VoIP as well, along with the SIP phones. I still didn't know what he was talking about, but it helped get my mind off things as I helped him around the office during a Saturday where the weather was gorgeous. I've heard of VoIP from my friends before, but I only thought of it as a cool way to get cheap long distance through one or two lines. I didn't know that my own dad used it to connect multiple phones and even run his network fax through it. It wasn't any different from his previous phone system. Earlier I had imagined VoIP to be some weird setup where you call people through a cheap microphone and headset connected to your computer. But these phones looked nice, they looked normal, and they could do all the same things that normal networked office phones could do. Needless to say, I was amazed. But it still didn't change the fact that I was cooped up in an office during a wonderful Saturday!
italian villas
Short ceremony, simple dress, kitchen-cooked food, home-prepared flowers - my friend Sergei's wedding was a far cry from the lavish weddings you see nowadays. Even though he didn't spend a ton of money on it, we all enjoyed his wedding and it was a good time of fun, celebration, and fellowship among friends to recognize probably one of the most important events in Sergei's life. He was a student, so he didn't have that much money to spend on a wedding anyways. More than that, we wanted to save enough to have a decent honeymoon, and indeed he did. He booked a ticket for him and his new bride to fly into Rome and then promptly headed out to the northern coast. There they rented one of the many units among the Cinque Terre apartments nestled in the hills, among many other brightly colored houses on tiered lots overlooking the water. They didn't bother with hiking between the towns, but stayed in the town and fully enjoyed the culture, the quaint markets, and the beautiful views from their apartment. They were living the life among Italian villas while kicking off their marriage. After they came back, we were all interested in their trip. It turned out they stayed in many different Italian villas during their 2 week tour of Italy. They rented Umbria villas and Le Marche villas on top of their stay among the Cinque Terre apartments. From what we heard, these locales are simply beautiful, especially in the spring and early summertime. Many wealthy Americans wish to buy Umbria villas or Le Marche villas as vacation or retirement homes, and I would say that it's not an unreasonable choice. Many of these villas are well-constructed, are part of pleasant communities that share beautiful pools and golf courses and private beaches. These villas are definitely not for everyone, but you can always rent one to try it out, either as a vacation or honeymoon. I definitely wouldn't mind living in one of these villas, enjoying the weather, trying to assimilate into the culture, and hosting friends and family. It may be long shot, but it's not bad to dream.
Payday Loan
So being a broke musician, this college stuff is a huge step up for me these days I mean I used to love giggin around and not having a care in the world except trying to figure out how to end that last verse or how to begin the guitar solo. Now I am all about school because I feel that I am properly using all of my god given facilities. I don't have to spend my life living paycheck to paycheck anymore either. I mean I still do but I have less of an urge to just go out and blow every check on junk that I don't really need. I just think I am much more suited in my personality to be someone who is asked to study and learn all day long rather than be responsible quite yet. That is something I think I should have spent much more time transitioning in to rather than just diving in because it caused me a whole ton of grief. When I first started playing and didn;t have enough small gigs to pay the bills and give me money to buy dinner, I would always just pick up a payday loan when I didn;t have enough to foot the bills. I would get the payday advance and then spend it all the night of my next gig. When I would finally pay it off during the week I would find myself back to broke again and really needing another cash advance. That was the way I lived for about two years. I am glad I had the experience and the safety net of the payday loan, but I think I am much happier now trying to find a career for myself where I won;t have to eat what I borrow and pay what I spend. Plus, here in college I feel like the campus is much safer that in the big city where I lived. I am one of those people who have had some bad experiences with people stealing their stuff and getting mugged in the city. I don;t know many with the shared experience, but we all agree that it makes you much more weary to be where you are. It's not like I could just run away from it all so easily, it took a lot of work to get where I am especially considering what luxury I was living in before.
Debt consolidators
Going to school and trying to pay bills can be a difficult balance. Before I began school, I began the bill consolidation process to make it easier to pay off my past debt while going through school. Finding a debt consolidation company that was reputable and would help me with this process was not an easy task. Many debt consolidation companies wanted a lot of money from me up front to help me resolve my problems. Well, quite frankly if I had a lot of money sitting around I wouldn't have needed their help, would I?
Unfortunately, good solid debt consolidators are not as easy to find as you may think. Sure, there are tons of advertisements on the TV and in the newspaper that would lead you to believe that they are there to help you. What I actually found is that most of them really want to rip you off, and get some more money from you. With so many people in debt and the economy in such bad shape, quite honestly there are millions of people out there for debt consolidators to prey on. You can find a good consolidation company that can help you lower your interest rates, bring down your monthly payments, and even sometimes cut some of your debt down to a manageable amount. It is possible. I have accomplished this task. Still, making my monthly payments is not easy.
I am working two jobs in addition to taking a full time class load. I work during the day and take my classes in the evenings. On my breaks at work, I do my school work. This semester, I coordinated my schedule to take some online classes, which helps with flexible scheduling. I can take my classes when I can fit them in between jobs and other classes.
If I had been smart, I would have gone to college right out of high school, but now because I waited; it has made things a lot more challenging. The only good thing is that I don't really struggle with getting everything done, I just do it. Unlike my younger classmates, who whine about not being able to get their school work done with a part time job, I know the realities of being a grown up, and I have made up my mind that I will get a college degree. I think that this probably gives me more drive to succeed, since it will not be my parents or anyone else that I let down, just me.
PBX phone system
My brother is in between jobs right now and is thinking of maybe starting a business instead of getting another job. We were discussing everything from the business name, target customer group, pricing, and location. One thing we realized was how many costs there were to a business that we hadn't thought about before. We started to look for ways to cut costs and improve efficiency. My brother's a big web and tech guy, and he wanted to use the internet as much as possible. We were talking about advertising primarily online, conducting the majority of the communication via email, and maybe even using webcams to minimize the need to come into the store in person to get minor things done. As for the phone lines, we decided that if he ever starts the business, he won't use phone lines. The best phone system is VoIP (voice over internet protocol), which uses your internet line to transfer voice data. I can't give away details of my brother's possible business (he'll probably get upset!), but I can say that it will involve talking to clients from many different places, some of which are really far away. VoIP would be the ideal phone system for that since it could be a lot cheaper. Later, when his business grows, he may use a PBX (private branch exchange) or PABX (private automatic branch exchange) phone system, which is just a fancy way of saying that he will have several office phones that need to be networked together and be able to communicate with one another within the office. This PBX or PABX will connect to the phone network in general, so it'll be great! Plus, he will be able to combine his VoIP service with internet, cable, and whatever data services he's using. Maybe he can get a discount and save more money, which is really important for a starting business. Of course, all this might be irrelevant if he gets another job. But the good thing is that we discussed VoIP, which is not only useful for businesses, but maybe useful for your home as well.
Baseball cards
When I was a kid I began collecting baseball cards. As I got a little older, I began to like football cards and basketball cards and began trading cards with all my friends. We didn't really know that there was any value in the cards, we would just make trades based on the players that we liked. We would flip for them and I won quite a few cards from other people. When I reached my teens I no longer did anything with them, and just kept them in my closet in shoeboxes. I had about 10 shoeboxes full of cards and when I was leaving to go away to college, I was going through all my stuff and came across them. I was amazed when a friend told me that they may be worth money, and so I went online to research about rare trading cards.
I actually found out that there is a whole market out there for selling sports memorabilia. I never really had thought of them as much more than a childhood memory before this, but now in my adult life, they actually could serve a purpose. I started looking and realized that a lot of the cards that I had were actually worth good money.
I wasn't sure if I should part with them now, I mean I really did need the money. They could be worth more in the future if I saved them, after all most of my cards were in very good shape, a few not so good. I decided to really take the time and research each individual card and found out that there were several cards that were actually worth upwards of $100 and 2 that were worth almost $500 a piece. I decided that these would be the ones I would sell and I would save the rest of my collection for a rainy day. I wasn't really sure how to go about selling them. I went to a local place, but they weren't offering me near the amount that I was seeing these cards for online, so I decided to try and sell online.
I found a website that allows you to auction off merchandise and decided to get on there and try to sell these cards. I called it a sports auction and ran the group of them together and took $1200 for the 7 cards I had! I could not believe my eyes!