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STEPPING OUT FLORIDA!     

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Three Simple Steps To a GREAT Business Introduction

Here is a very quick, easy and powerful way to begin your 30 second introduction:
You must simply answer each of the following four questions in
no more than two short sentences:
Step One
State your name
Step Two
1. What do you do?
2. What problem do you solve?
3. How is your product or service different?
4. Why should I care?
Step Three
Repeat Your Name
Add your Company name ONLY if it’s importnat
Add a tagline line something that makes it memorable
By keeping each answer brief, you will develop a succinct story that should take no more than 30-60 seconds.
Then practice, rehearse, ask for feedback and improve over time

(By Bryan Daly –  2nd Founder at Linked Local Palm Beach and The Business Connection)

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TEN SIGNS HE’S MARRIED:  (OR SHE)

As a divorce attorney and a past serial dater, I have had the unique opportunity to view every facet of relationships between men and women from beginning to end. Like most men and women, I have entered relationships with the utmost optimism only to experience it fall apart along the way. Every day I encounter the end of marriages. In my last article, I touched on infidelity as a major cause of divorce. As a woman with many single girlfriends, I have continuously shared the excitement when a friend met a new and interesting man only to learn later in the relationship that her new lover had lied about his single status. Often, women get caught up in the hot romance of a new relationship. If a married man who preys on unsuspecting single women is an expert in this despised behavior, it will take more time for the woman to catch on to the game he is playing. Many of my clients learned of their husband’s infidelity when they received a call from the “other woman” after she found out her boyfriend was married.

Please note that although my practice is not gender-specific, I find that single men are not nearly as offended if they find out that their new lover is married. From professional and personal experience, men enjoy relationships with no attachment more than women. In many instances, a female client often gets dumped by her lover once her lover realizes that she wants to get divorced in order to be with him.

Single ladies, take heed. Following are ten signs the new man in your life may be married.

RED FLAG #10: When you go on a date with him he pays for everything in cash. Paying for dinners, trips, and lingerie in cash is a way a married man may avoid the wife who inspects his receipts or the wife who writes checks for the bills each month. In our electronic society, most people no longer carry around cash, so if your new boyfriend always pays in cash beware especially if any of the signs listed below also apply to your situation.
RED FLAG #9: He only has time to be with you during a four-hour window after he gets off work. If your new man habitually places severe restrictions on the times and places he can see you, either he is dating someone else or he is married. A nice guy who is really interested in getting to know you will not have to be home by 10:00 pm for that important business meeting in the morning.
RED FLAG #8: His occupation is a “traveling businessman”. Some traveling businessmen may want to have their “cake and eat it too” (suffice it to say that most single women are familiar with this dreaded expression). It is very easy for a married man who travels constantly with his work to lead a secret life. While I reiterate that not all traveling businessmen cheat on their wives, this particular lifestyle is very attractive to the man who flies passenger jets for a living or to the man who sells the very best of German engineering parts on three different continents. It usually takes an unsuspecting woman months to find out that the traveling businessman with whom she has fallen in love is actually married.
RED FLAG #7: He never invites you over to his home and insists that you only spend time together at your residence. The reason he doesn’t want you to come to his house is either because his home looks like he lives in a college dorm or because he is married.
RED FLAG #6: He receives calls from his cell phone that he will not answer in front of you. Secrecy is paramount to the man who is married but yet presents himself as being single. If your new lover routinely behaves this way in front of you, either he works in espionage or he is married.

RED FLAG #5: When you call his cell number you always get voice mail, and then he returns the call some time later. The age of cellular technology is all too convenient for married men posing as singles. He can be at home with his wife and then go out to his car to return your call moments later.
RED FLAG #4: He never introduces you to his children, friends or family. If this sign is evident, either your boyfriend does not view you as serious dating material or he is most certainly probably married.
RED FLAG #3: He says he has filed for divorce, but you cannot find an open civil case in any county within a one-hundred mile radius. This sign is the only sign on my list that arises after a woman suspects her new boyfriend might be married. It usually begins with the woman having a talk with her new man and questioning him about her suspicions. He replies that while he is technically married he is separated from his wife and has filed for divorce. He then explains that he was afraid that she would not have gone on a date with him if she knew he was still legally married. She searches online and spends an entire day making phone calls to every superior court in the area. However, there is no open civil case listing her new lover as a plaintiff or a defendant anywhere.
RED FLAG #2: You get a call from his wife while you are at work asking you why your number appears in his call log so often. When a wife finds out her husband has been cheating, she cannot resist the emotional temptation to confront the “other woman”. If this happens to you, all you can do is comfort her and assure her that you did not know the new man in your life was actually married to her. Then, I recommend you make one very important phone call afterwards.
RED FLAG #1: You come home to find that his entire wardrobe has been dumped in your driveway. No explanation necessary.

Follow Mindy R. Smith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MindyRSmith
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BLOG TOPIC:  IS YOUR HAIR HURTING YOUR CAREER?

Posted Monday, May 09, 2011 by NewBeauty Staff

According to hair color maven Sherry Ratay, your hair color could be playing a role in where you fall on the corporate ladder. Ratay believes that the modern businesswoman must put as much effort into her hair color as her clothes and makeup.
“No matter what stage in a woman’s career, hair color can work with or against her,” Sherry says, “Unfortunately, there is still a gender imbalance in the work place, with women still under-represented in high-powered positions. For that and many other reasons, it is important to be aware of how they portray themselves in the corporate world.”
Here are some of Sherry’s coloring tips for women in the workplace:
For women graduating college, leave behind the bleached-blonde locks and stripy highlights and opt for a more subtle shade. Think blonde on blonde shade, like Jennifer Aniston.
Take in consideration your budget, availability and lifestyle. For those with limited time and budget, I suggest a low-maintenance technique I call Butterflies, where I create beautiful color through mid-lengths and ends, like Eva Longoria.
Cover those grays. Gray hair ages women 10 to 15 years. Need I say more?
Understand and analyze your skin tone, eye color and existing hair color. Your hair color palette should follow along.
Maintain healthy and shiny hair. And above all, have a professional appearance from head to toe.

FROM A MAN’S PERSPECTIVE—HIS COMMENTS:                                       Hair-MaleModel-PatrickCase_THB

Thomas B said…
I’m a guy, but i’ll weigh in on this subject.
Having worked in the medical field dominated mostly by women, I disagree that only women are judged by appearance, I think it’s gender wide, if you look good( or are good looking) you have a better chance at everything…fair? No..Who said life was fair!
That said:
#1 – No dark roots or multicolored hair…Highlights ok, circus NO.
#2- Cover the gray, “UNLESS” you are all gray and it suits you.
#3- Keep your hair “HEALTHY LOOKING” no one wants to see straw like hair.
#4- change & update your cut & look~If your 45 and still have the same cut as your high school graduation picture, something is terribly wrong and your hair is probably the least of your worries…

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Problem Forgetting Boring Stuff?: Do you tend to forget appointments, addresses, PINs, and passwords. Don’t worry! ―the brain wasn’t designed to store such data, called declarative memories, for a long time unless you make a concerted effort to do so. This type of information, which by nature isn’t special or exciting, has a short shelf life. Other declarative memories include historical dates and birthdays.(except your wife’s-  
Solution: The only way to make essentially boring data part of your long-term memory is to store it properly so you can retrieve it later on. “If you don’t make a conscious effort to learn your PIN, your short-term memory will flush it out immediately,” says Zaldy S. Tan, M.D., director of the Memory Clinic at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston and author of Age-Proof Your Mind. Attach some sort of meaning to it. For an important date, like your niece’s birthday, give it an emotional connection (eight days after the Fourth of July). For less important information, like a dentist’s appointment, don’t even try to remember. “This is exactly why God invented the PDA and the date book,” says Aaron P. Nelson, Ph.D., chief of neuropsychology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, and the author of The Harvard Medical School Guide to Achieving Optimal Memory (McGraw Hill, $17, amazon.com). “The onus isn’t on your brain to do the heavy lifting.”
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(While we’re on the subject….)
7 Steps to Prevent Alzheimer’s  

(American Health Newswire) — Can you prevent Alzheimer’s disease? New research shows up to half of all Alzheimer’s cases are attributable to seven preventable risk factors.

About 33.9 million people have Alzheimer’s disease worldwide, and researchers expect that number to triple in the next 40 years.

In the new study, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association 2011 International Conference in Paris, researchers reviewed data related to predisposing factors for Alzheimer’s. They identified seven risk factors: low educational attainment, smoking, physical inactivity, depression, midlife obesity, midlife high blood pressure and diabetes.

Results suggest a 25 percent reduction in all seven risk factors could prevent as many as 3 million cases of Alzheimer’s disease worldwide.

The researchers found low educational attainment contributed to the largest proportion of Alzheimer’s cases worldwide, and smoking contributed to the second largest proportion of cases. Physical inactivity came in third.

“What really mattered was how common the risk factors were in the population. In the USA, about a third of the population is sedentary, so a large number of Alzheimer’s cases are potentially attributable to physical inactivity. Worldwide, low education was more important because so many people throughout the world are illiterate or are not educated beyond elementary school. Smoking also contributed to a large percentage of cases because it is unfortunately still really common,” Deborah Barnes from the University of California, San Francisco, was quoted as saying.

These findings suggest there are ways to reduce the preventable risk factors that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.

SOURCE: The Alzheimer’s Association 2011 International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Paris and published online in The Lancet

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BLOG TOPIC:   THE LOW-DOWN ON BACK PAIN!

Like many Americans, we spend most of our day sitting—in the car, at work, on the couch, in bed. And we wonder why so many of us have back pain. Stretching expert Kristian Berg, author of Prescriptive Stretching, confirmed our suspicion about the connection between the upright position and the down-low condition. “Sitting is one of the biggest contributors to lower back pain,” Kristian says. “When you sit, you tend to slump, which puts about ten times more pressure on the discs in your lower back than standing up does.” A few small tweaks can give your back a break. First, keep your abs engaged while you’re sitting. (That’s a fancy way of saying don’t let your belly sag—hold it tight, but not clenched.) Also, stand up and walk around for a couple of minutes every 20 minutes or so. Finally, if your back feels a little achy, here’s an easy stretch for quick relief: Sit up straight with your feet together on the floor. Cross your right leg over your left, so the right foot is resting on the left thigh, just above the knee. Use your hands to push down gently on your right leg, while you engage your abs and tilt your pelvis forward, scooping your lower back forward (so your back is more c-shaped). Hold for 5 to 10 seconds, then release and relax for 5 seconds. Switch legs and repeat.

Kristian Berg’s book Prescriptive Stretching (Human Kinetics), is available at Amazon.com

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I HATE PAYING INSURANCE! DON”T YOU?  THIS IS HELPFUL:

Ways to Save Money on Your Homeowners Insurance Premium

The most effective way to save money on your homeowners insurance premium is to pay smaller claims out of your own pocket and only look to your insurance in the event of a large loss.  The fewer claims you have, the more insurers you’ll have bidding for your business and the lower their rate quotes will be. Other ways to lower your premium are to:

  • Reduce your risk of theft and fire and ask for discounts if you have any of these items. Consider installing dead bolts on all outside doors as well as installing a burglar alarm. Also, if you are building or renovating, consider a sprinkler system and the newer higher tech fire resistive materials.
  • Increase your deductible. Ask your insurer for premium quotes using different deductible levels to see how much you could save by covering a greater portion of the claim cost out of your own pocket. It may be worth it to go with a higher deductible, particularly if you’ve got the financial capacity to pay a higher deductible in the event of a loss.

Make sure that the damage is significant enough to warrant filing a claim. This is a subjective decision as it will depend on where you have set your deductible. Just make sure you have money set aside in an emergency fund to cover the deductible in the event of a major loss.

  • Compare prices regularly.  Shop your policy around by getting premium quotes from other insurers every year or two. You don’t necessarily have to change companies, but this is generally a worthwhile exercise. It’s relatively easy to do and you could find another insurer that will save you a significant amount of money on your homeowners insurance.
  • Use the same company for homeowners and auto insurance.  Almost all insurers will give you a discount on your premium if you purchase insurance for both your home and your car from them.  Be careful though. Sometimes, even with this discount, you could end up paying more than you would by shopping for the least expensive coverage from two separate, unrelated insurers.
  • Take advantage of group discounts. If you are a member of a national group like AAA, AARP, AMA, ABA, etc. ask your agent if there are any special discounts for your group.  And if you or your parents were in the military, be sure to get a rate quote from USAA, a company that specifically caters to military personnel.  As with other discounts, you’ll want to make sure that the discounted policy is indeed less expensive than your other alternatives. In other words, don’t buy it just because the insurer is giving a discount to your group.
  • Use your clean credit report to your advantage. Depending upon the laws in your state, insurance companies can use your credit history to grant or deny coverage or as a factor in setting your premium rate.  So be sure to get a copy of your credit report and make sure any erroneous information is removed (this is a good idea even when you’re not shopping for homeowners insurance). You’ll usually be given the option of whether or not to grant the insurance company access to your credit report. So, if you have decent credit, let them see it and it could save you some money.
  • Pay your premium in advance.  If you can afford it, pay your full annual or semi-annual policy premium up front.  Some companies actually give you a discount for doing so, while others will charge an extra fee ($3 to $5 each month) if you elect to pay your premiums monthly.

Info. from Weiss Ratings:  1-877-934-7778

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BLOG TOPIC: Wine Manners

From a “Dear Amy” (or “Ms. Manners”) column in the Chicago Tribune:

Dear Amy,
My friend was miffed when he brought fine wine to a dinner party and  the wine wasn’t served with dinner. The hostess “scooped” the fine wine and in return, served him her cheap swill. I disagree with your response and think the hostess’s action was in poor taste. A host should always offer to serve the food or wine that has been brought by the guest.

Dear Amy,
I bring my good wine to the party and leave it in the car. If the hostess is pouring fine wine, I will return to the car and bring in in my wine to share, saying I forgot to bring it in. If swill is being served, I excuse myself. I have a wine opener in my car and  fill my glass with my own stash, then return to the party.

Signed: Touche’

Dear Touche’:
If you were a guest of mine, I’d suggest you stay in your car.

Reprinted in the Boston Herald, April 25, 2011                      ‘Ask Amy’ Column.
Chicago Tribune TT500
435 Michigan Ave.
Chicago, Ill.60611
Email questions, comments to: askamy@tribune.com
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BLOG TOPIC:  Does blindness make you a better judge of wine?

‘The Blind Wine Chick’

“I gave myself the name,” says Alex Elman of the moniker she clearly wears quite proudly. “I feel in life if you can’t laugh at yourself, you can’t laugh at anything. And to immediately make people feel comfortable with my blindness you have to be a little self-deprecating.”

Elman lost her vision 16 years ago as a result of diabetes. Not long afterward, she had a kidney pancreas transplant and her diabetes was gone.

Through it all, she maintained a passion for wine which first began after college when she went to work for Perrier-Jouët Champagne in France and continued under the tutelage of her stepfather, , an early pioneer importer of French wines. Later, she worked at New York’s premier wine retailer Sherry-Lehmann. Elman speaks Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and French.

Last November, she introduced Alex Elman Wines, a curated collection of Argentine wines which represent her personal philosophy. Affordable at $12.99 per bottle, and grown on a sustainable vineyard, each varietal tastes of its terroir or geographic point of origin. Each label e bares the likeness of Elman and Hanley, her seeing eye dog. The wine varietal—chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, Torrontés and malbec—is printed in Braille.

Starting Sunday , Elman brings her wine to Publix and Whole Foods Market, with tastings in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Oakland Park, Plantation, Miami and Miami Beach.

Does her blindness maker her a better judge of wine? “I really don’t know the definitive answer to that question,” she says. “Maybe I smell and taste better.”

Elman considers Florida a more important market than New York because we buy our wine in the same stores where we buy dog food, bread and cheese. “Although New York is very important, in Florida you have the ability to sell wine in grocery stores and large chain markets, she says. “In New York, it’s only in smaller stores.”   PHOTO: Alex Elman and Hanley

By John Tanasychuk April 14, 2011 Sun-Sentinel

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HELPFUL TIPS TO AVOID IDENTITY THEFT:
Identity theft is a huge problem, and anybody can be a victim! The problem is it usually takes a year before the victim becomes aware that his or her credit is now trashed. If you think it could never happen to you, think again.

STEP 1- to keep you from becoming the next horror story. When you are writing checks to pay your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete credit card account number in the “For” line of the check. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won’t have access to it.

STEP 2- the next time you order checks from your bank, have just the initials for your first (and middle) name printed on the return address line. If someone takes your checkbook, they won’t know your name or if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but you and your bank will know.

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The World’s Best Hamburger Recipe:  Burger_187

(Easy:  Just mix all the ingredients together, form into 4 to 6 patties, and grill 5 min..on each side)

INGREDIENTS
– 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef(or you can use ground chicken or turkey)
– 1/2 onion, finely chopped
– 1/2 cup shredded Colby or Monterey Jack cheese
– 1 teaspoon soy sauce
– 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
– 1 egg
– 1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
– 1 clove garlic, minced
– 1 tablespoon garlic powder
– 1 teaspoon dried parsley
– 1 teaspoon dried basil
– 1 teaspoon dried oregano
– 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
– salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat a grill for high heat.
2.In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients. Form into 4-6 patties.
Grill patties for 5 minutes per side on the hot grill, or until done how you like.
Enjoy!

(Recipe credit to: Daniel Poulos in Jupiter; thanks, Danny)

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