Thoughts and Opinions

The summer is a wonderful time in the life of a fraternity member. We don't have to worry about many of the things that your average student does. I won't have to look for a new apartment for the fall and I don't even have to take classes to keep living here like people in the dorms. On top of this I still have a place where I can party whenever I feel like it. We also have freedoms that renters don't. I have a friend who can't leave his apartment empty for more than five days without paying extra so the landlord can keep up on the chores of the house. We definitely do not have anything here like that.
Now without classes and the majority of the student body being out of town for the next few months, it may seem like our lives here would get pretty boring. This of course is not true since we still have the organization of the fraternity to worry about. This inclusion is something that won't really ever go away for any of us even long after we have graduated and gone on to bigger and better things. My task for the summer has shifted from being a freshman servant for the last year of my life to being the interior decorator of the frat. I have to go around and do an inventory of all of the things which need replaced or updated to keep us up to code and to keep us functioning for as long as possible in the next year without having to buy any new supplies for house repairs or updates. These are the more technical things though because I also get to go out and find new bar stools since some were broken during the course of the year. We also need Counter Stools for the kitchen since we are getting it remodeled in July and then we'll have a full time cook as well.
This summer should be pretty fun for me here, all things considered. I'll get to lay in the sun and study code. I hit the bars and the hit the home furniture stores. I'll chill by the pool and then go home and try out my new Dining Chair which I will be having personalized for myself as part of a set for everyone. We'll see though, it might be more exhausting than I know.

In my cell biology class the other day we had an ethics talk about new things coming out and what is right or wrong in our opinion. An article came up about two parents who were deaf and they wanted their son or daughter (they didn't care boy or girl) to be deaf as well. So they told the doctor to pick the embryo that would produce a child that was deaf like them so that the child could fit into their family better.
We talked about how we felt about this and most of the class thought that is wasn't right for the parents to be able to decide that for the child. Without the child knowing he was destined for a life of hearing aids and struggles. Of course it isn't terrible to be deaf, but having to wear hearing aids and having problems causing them to frequent doctors' offices shouldn't be what parents wish upon their children.
It was really a heated discussion. Most of the class agreed that the parents were wrong to do this (it is like wishing your child had a disorder or disease) but one person thought that parents should be able to do whatever they want with their embryos.
If I was a parent who decided to do this I would definitely need some sort of sleep aid to go to bed at night. I am completely against this and feel that you should want your child to be healthy in any way possible and should love them the way that they come out.
We went on to talk about a lot of other topics as well like knowing what diseases your embryos may carry and insurance policies and testing on humans and so on, but this one topic really stood out to me and stuck in my mind. I feel like people shouldn't be able to change who you are before you are born without you having any say in it. I guess though that's an issue that I will have to deal with in the field that I am going into (pharmacy and research) and I will need to form a strong opinion on my beliefs before I enter the field. I definitely want to practice fair and impartial medicine when I'm a pharmacist one day but then at the same time I need to make sure that I stay true to everything that I believe in.

My father came home and told my mother last night that he has decided that he is quitting his job. That's right, a struggling economy where everyone else is hanging onto their jobs with all their might and my father is choosing to become unemployed. Well, I couldn't believe it either and then I decided to talk to him and see if he had really lost his mind or not. I mean this didn't really sound like a good idea, if you ask me, but I wanted to hear him out because my father is usually a very smart man, and I just knew that there must be more to it than what my mother was telling me. I got him on the phone and asked him about what was going on with the job thing. That is when he told me that he has been looking into how to franchise for a while now, and now that he has thoroughly investigated it he has decided that it is the right move for him now. I really wasn't sure about this buying franchise idea, so I probed him further and he told me that he has the money to invest in it, and that would allow him to be his own boss without many of the headaches. He said that he anticipates some layoffs coming at the company he is working for now anyway, so why not take the initiative and do something that he has always wanted to do, become the boss of his own place. Not only that but he told me with a franchise, you can have family come and work for you and that would allow mom and dad to work together on the business. Plus they will help cover health insurance benefits which is another big plus, especially at his age. All in all it didn't sound like such a bad idea. I asked about how mom was feeling about the whole thing and he assured me that they spoke about it a lot, until the wee hours of the morning as a matter of fact, and she is mostly on board about it now. Of course, he admits that this is going to mean big changes to their lives, but he is sure those changes will be for the best in the long run.

A friend of mine recently became unemployed and as a result he has lost his family health insurance. He wanted to buy the COBRA insurance through his company, but even with the government supplement that they were giving him, he just couldn't afford to pay the premiums. With his unemployment check, they will barely be able to get buy, but when he went to social services to apply, they said that he had too many assets because he owns a van, which by the way they need to get their family around town, and they are counting the value of the van, even though he didn't pay for it, someone at his church gave it to him and his family as a gift. In any case, he is still looking for a family health insurance policy, and although there is insurance agent marketing all over the place telling you that they have the best prices this insurance is still out of their range.

Last week his daughter became sick, and was running a fever and he was very concerned. He said he had to wait and see how she was before deciding to take her to the doctor's office, because he really couldn't afford it. His wife told me on the side, that he has been extremely depressed and frustrated and has been out looking for a job every day, trying to take care of his family. She said that they never used their health insurance that much, but it was nice to know that if they needed it, it was there for them. She said she could take anyone in the family to the doctor for only a $5 co pay and that was worth the peace of mind of being able to get them checked out and know that they were okay. She said when she called her doctor's office and told them that they didn't have insurance any more, they told her that she would have to pay cash at the time of the visit and that the office visit alone was $70.00. She says they don't have any savings left and she is worried that if John doesn't get a job soon, that they are going to go under.

I have just found out that I am pregnant and one of the first thoughts I had was how to turn our spare bedroom into a nursery. When you are having a baby there are many things to think about, after all just the items they will need during the first year of life can be extremely overwhelming. My mother offered to buy us a pushchair because she knows they can be very expensive, but since she said that I began thinking that maybe I can't really afford to decorate a nursery. My husband will be taking on another job to help pay for it, but I know that I don't want to over do it, because there will be higher priority needs for a baby besides what their room looks like. Since I am not too far along yet, I will plan to do the work early in my pregnancy, because from what I hear some people start not feeling well by the end, and I had a friend who had to spend the last 3 months of her pregnancy in bed, so I really don't want to wait til the last minute.

Today, I went online and found some nursery wallpaper really cheap. It is a yellow paper with ducks, which I like because I don't want to know the sex of the baby in advance, or anything like that. Some of the nursery decor that I came across was a little too over done, and I really wanted something cute, so this duckie paper will be perfect. I also found the cutest nursery decoration. It is a duck mobile, with all different color ducks on it. It plays Brahms Lullaby, which is my absolute favorite. It is just the cutest little accessory and it must be meant to be since it plays my favorite lullaby and matches the great inexpensive wall paper that I got, then it is definitely meant to be.

I am so looking forward to becoming a mom, but there is a lot of work to be done before this baby comes, and I know that these next 7 months will fly right by.

Blogs are the next big thing. They can be used for so many different reasons and it seems like right now that everyone and their mom (and even grandma) has a blog.
I know for one of my classes we have to use the schools blog host to journal and keep track of a plant that we are growing for extra credit. This way, the teacher can log onto the web site and she can keep track on when we posted and can read them and grade them at any time. I know other people in my school and at other schools as well that have assignments that are turned in this way. It is usually happening with younger teachers that have used some sort of blog before, but the older teachers are even getting in to it.
I know other people who just keep blogs for the fun of it, or to record what they have been up to, especially if they aren't around the people they love and talk to. This can be a way for people to stay in touch and know what's going on with each other's lives. One of my friends was looking through a website of hosting reviews that shows the best hosting sites and compares the top ones so that she could find a reliable and cheap one for when she studied abroad. She was able to find one and now that she is in Barcelona she can post her pictures for us to see and write about what she has been up to, and we can comment and keep in touch with her and also our other friends this way.
We really are lucky to be growing up in such a technology based atmosphere and learning environment. Some people may think that this keeps us out of touch with our friends and families because it is less personal, but really blogs and other technology are a way for us to keep in touch better. When our parents were in college they didn't get to stay in touch with their friends from high school by sending emails or writing a blog or even calling. They had to wait for breaks or write real letters or go and visit each other. This way, we are able to keep our friends and families close to us, even though we are hundreds of miles apart at times.

Many companies don't realize that making their web hosting choice is one of the most important decisions they will make for their company. If you use a web host that is unpredictable and unreliable, this can cause you to lose a lot of business. Even if you have the most amazing product at the absolute best price and give outstanding customer service, none of this will matter if people can't access your site all the time, or get unreliable and slow page loading. Many times when a customer hits on a site like this, and the pages won't load, or the service is unavailable, they will turn to your competitors out of frustration and this will cause you to lose potential business. Over the short run you may only lose a few customers, but in the long run you can wind up losing a lot of money just for making a poor web hosting choice. With the market being so fierce your competitors will be looking for any business that is out there and will be happy to take any business off your hands for you.

Researching fully your web hosting options is extremely important. Knowing exactly what you are looking for and how to tell a good web hosting service from a bad one is really the key. Things to consider are:

- Other customers feedback.
- Bandwidth available.
- Types of files, limits and sizes on the host.
- Whether they offer a trial, this way you can find out if your page is accessible at all hours and whether or not your pages download efficiently.

Considering these things when choosing a web host can save you a lot of time, money and headaches. Making wise business decisions when starting up your own web site and business can ensure that you will have a successful and profitable business and choosing the right web host that can keep up with your growing business is extremely important.

Microsoft Certification is something that I have heard about before but never really thought about or looked into. The other day though, I came home for the weekend from school and was at my sister's family birthday party when my aunt was telling us how my uncle is going through Microsoft Certification training.

We all kind of wondered why, since he is the CFO of his company and has been for years, and then she told us that he got laid off because their company was failing from the economy being so bad. It was really sad, but it also is insightful. He is now getting his resume together and looking for a new job but taking classes and refreshing a lot of stuff that he learned years ago as well.

He said that it really sucks to have lost his job, but he is taking classes and getting certified and even doing a lot of stuff outside of finding or trying to get a new job. He has time to go out and try new things and start over with his career and maybe do something completely different (or the same) as he was doing before.

I also thought about how competitive it is going to be when I get out of school and need to find a job. Things like Microsoft Certification and other things added to your resume will look really good and you may need to set yourself apart from other people. Every person applying for that job probably has had an internship in that area and has the same good grades and you need to find a way to make yourself more appealing for that job than the other people. So besides schoolwork we need to be volunteering and getting involved and joining groups and clubs and getting training and certifications like the Microsoft Certification and other professional ones that could help you in the future.

There are never too many things that you can do to help yourself get a head and prepare for the future, or in some cases losing a job and needing to find a new one. So I think I have learned a lot from the economy being the way that it is and although it sucks, it may have made me a better student and even maybe a better person overall. I work harder and I get involved more and hopefully one day it will all pay off.

It seems like everyone these days has a Subway franchise. When I went home for break a little while ago I heard about my Aunt and Uncle opening a subway and I was shocked, but then after talked to my roommate I heard that her family was doing it to.

Franchise information is something that we went over in a lot of my classes. I think now that the economy is that way that it is, less people are opening businesses and franchising, but a couple of years ago, it was the thing to do. We talked about the steps you have to take in order to franchise, and how there are so many how to franchise books out there written by people who have been through it and you can even find your particular business out there, like a subway and it will tell you step by step what needs to be done and how to do it. Everything from money to cleaning to making a sub sandwich is covered in the book and it seems like a first grader could follow the steps. It seems like anyone and their mom can write a book now a days and that is what's happening. People write about their feelings and experiences and they get published and if you are somewhat famous in anyway, you can get published (even though we all know you didn't write the book yourself) and now apparently anyone who has franchised or feels like they know something about it can write a book to people who want to learn more.

I wonder if franchising will become bigger and bigger again once the economy gets better and people have extra money to do things like this or if it will just be a thing of the past. I remember a time a few years ago that it was seriously something that everyone was doing from family members to friends to teachers. It seems weird that your Aunt and Uncle have a subway ha, but thats what was happening. I guess only time can tell where the future of franchising will be, but i have a feeling that it will be bigger than ever once people get back on their feet, I just have to wonder how long that will last because it seems like once people have something, they really don't want it anymore and lose interest.

I was just reading this article about how many stores are starting to make the same or at least very similar designs of lingerie for plus size women. Although I am not plus sized, I do know a few people who although aren't fat, are considered to be in that department size speaking. I think that this is such a great idea. Many of the girls that are even just a size ten or twelve are considered plus size. I'm a size six or eight and that's really getting close. I think I read somewhere that the average size is a size ten, but when I was watching Americas next top model last year they were saying that the plus size girl on the show was a size twelve. So that means that most average women are considered to be plus size or close. Clearly it would be a wise business decision to start to make clothing and lingerie to fit a wider selection of sizes, because then they would have more sales.
I also don't really think that plus size should even be a term. Why can't you go into a store and just find all sizes? Why does there have to be a store just for skinny girls and average girls and then for another one that is for bigger girls. It just doesn't make sense to me or from a business standpoint. The more people you can cater to, the more money you're going to make. And I actually do know a lot of people who are on the border of sizes so they have to go everywhere from store to store finding the right size and style. If there was a store that had it all, Cleary it would be appreciated.
I think that all sizes should be carried everywhere. We need to stop labeling and dividing people and recognize that no matter what size you are, you need clothes and want to look good and feel good in them. Weight is such a huge issue right now, especially since it's the New Year and people are making resolutions, but I feel like there is way too much stress on it. With all of these weight loss shows and labels being put on people they are making people feel bad about themselves (even I feel like crap when I watch these shows and I eat healthy and work out every day). We need to just let people be how they are and be proud.