Becoming Better Citizens

PRACTICAL JOKE

admin — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:17:42 +0000

As a practical joke, I swiped my roommate’s cell phone and left a burning cigarette inside his phone case. I didn’t know he’d go to make a call right and away reach right in and grab that burning cigarette. He immediately jerked his hand out of it and I saw the burn right there on his palm. I felt bad sure, but I also thought it was kind of funny. Still, I went and got a cold wet cloth for him and then a band-aid. It wasn’t a major burn or anything. It wasn’t something that would require him to go to the hospital or eventually make his hand fall off or something like that. Or at least, I think it isn’t. No, no, it can’t be. It’s just a cigarette burn. My uncle used to have all these cigarette burns covering his forearms and he never seemed like he was in any pain. Once I even saw him take a cigarette and put it out on his wrist. Now that’s what I call being a man. Of course my roommate is nowhere near close to being that manly. In fact, he doesn’t even smoke as much as my uncle does, but no one can.

PICKING UP LITTER

admin — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:21:29 +0000

These days, I gladly do keyword research at my job no matter how tedious it can become. Why? Because its nice to sit in a climate-controlled office and do your work. One of my old jobs was labor relief at a water plant. I was working this during the summer and some days it’d be so heat I’d literally see trees die and the air would sizzle and blur. Yet, my boss would still send me and my co-workers out there every day to do some sort of nonsense. We’d have to pull up weeds all day from a few patches of dirt and grass. That’s right. We would do that all day. 8 hours straight in the blazing sun. Some days, we’d pick litter. All day. Wandering around a water plant, picking litter, and throwing it into a garbage bag. The job was mostly a job to have one and was given to me because my family knew someone high up in the water plant, but this was ridiculous. I was highly paid for such a position, but I didn’t intend to stay that long. It just wasn’t worth it and I wasn’t learning anything from the job. What motivation did I have to stay?

ITALIAN VILLAGE

admin — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:53:19 +0000

Mrs. Murphy gave me and Joe two tickets to Jersey Boys She was supposed to go with her friend who died at Wicked but since her friend is dead, she wanted us to see the play. I thought this was a show similar to the film Jersey Girl starring Jennifer Lopez but this is about the Temptations. Joe and I are very much looking forward to going and are going to our favorite restaurant, Italian Village, for dinner before the show. Something odd happened today, though. I got a phone call from my priest, Father Rich. I haven’t heard from him in a while since I did some closet organizing for him. He said he heard some disturbing news about me and wants me to go to see him. I couldn’t think of what the news could be but promised that I would go tomorrow. I took Mrs. Murphy to get her hair done and ran into my neighbor, Paul, who said his cat was missing again. He then asked me if I was driving Mrs. Murphy around and I told him that I was doing her a favor. He said this was a good thing because last year she almost hit him when she was swerving all over the street.

SPRING TIME

admin — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:12:49 +0000

Chicago real estate isn’t that much different from real estate in other cities. Things get incredibly busy during the spring. Real estate agents and leasing agents barely have time to think so they’re always answering phones and setting appointments and then constantly going to those appointments. Things can still get hectic during the summer, but not as much. Some agents make a few grand a week during the spring and make most of their yearly income during that season. Fall’s still all right, but things start grinding down and getting slower. Finally, things die down during the winter. On some days, there’ll be no phone calls at all. The week of Thanks giving is traditionally the deadest business week of the year for real estate. You’re lucky if you get one or two calls that entire week. Things aren’t any better the week of Christmas and the week that then leads into New Year’s. You have to do well the rest of the year to be able to get by during the winter. It’s basically make or break. A good salesman will do fine, but not everyone is a good salesman. It’s the winter when they find out whether or not they’re cut out for the real estate business.

UNIVERSITY JOB

admin — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:33:05 +0000

While I was in college, I looked into getting a job at the university. I constantly saw people around the student union, on the grounds, and in the parking lots and thought it’d be easy money. Besides, I was already going to school so I might as well stay a couple of extra hours and get paid for it. I didn’t want to do anything really demeaning like helping in parking garage cleaning or pulling up weeds from the football field. I thought I could work as a parking lot attendant. I’d hang around all day in that nice, air-conditioned booth with the TV on, waiting for cars to come and go and pay for their parking. I doubt it paid that much, but I was a college student. I wasn’t supposed to be making that much money and I had student loans helping me out as well. I just wanted spare cash to burn and some kind of work experience to put on my resume so that once day I might have a career in something. I don’t know what yet. I don’t even have a major yet since all the subjects seem to be pretty much the same to me.

INTERESTING TIMES

admin — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:26:56 +0000

Whenever I’m in between jobs, I usually get by with temp employment. Actually, it can get pretty interesting. There have been months where I have literally worked a different job every week. It’s like a different world with every assignment. And it’s not always office work too. I’ve done customer service for a week when I’ve sat in a chair and had people yell at me all day over the phone or opened up emails where people yelled at me. I didn’t really care though since I was only there for the short term. Once, I got a short-term job picking apples. I’m serious. I hopped up onto the back of a truck and they drove a whole group of us out to an orchard. I even got a healthy tan and to keep basketful of the apples. And they were my favorite type of apples, golden delicious apples. I ate them for lunch every day of the next week when I was working as a courier between different real estate offices all owned by one guy. So at the very least, I’ve acquired a lot of different job skills and have had a lot of different experiences. None of which I regret since I’ve learned a lot.

SUMMER TRAFFIC

admin — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:50:00 +0000

I cannot wait for the summer. Not because it will be sunny and I can go to the beach, or because it is my birthday or for vacations. I actually cannot wait for the summer because I want to work. Yes I said it. We have two of the biggest sales of the year at my store and that means there is money to be made. Hopefully it will keep me from filing for

Dallas Chapter 7

by the winter. It is unbelievable the amount of traffic this place gets during the summer. Last year I made pretty good money and that was at the end of the sale, and I saw what everyone else was making at the time so I know I will do well. I just wish I were still downtown because I know I would be making a lot more. Maybe if I get this acting job, I will try and move back downtown for the summer, make my money and then go. I am pretty sure I will do ok at my store, but I just know it will not compare to downtown. I was doing twice what I am doing now in terms of numbers when I was downtown.

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:49:42 +0000

If you are going through bankruptcy, you undoubtedly have some bankruptcy questions. This is a really tough and stressful time but knowing there are lots and lots of people who can help will really make it easier for you. Having emotional support from family and friends is also very important, as being bankrupt can put a big strain on you, your family and friends. Know that unfortunately, you are not alone, and that there are people you can turn to for help. You most probably have seen all of those infomercials for debt repayment. Most of those places will be help to you, just never give out your personal information to anyone or anyplace that sounds shady or fishy. You should always go to a reputable place. There are a bunch or really great websites that you can not only find some great advice, like this one right here, but that you can also file through, chat with lawyers and research tips about bankruptcy as well. You should know that anything that looks too good to be true, most of the time IS too good to be true. You should not fall for any false promises or hope. This stuff now a days is usually pretty easy to clean up so you should not get too crazy about it. Just find a good lawyer to help get you and most importantly keep you on the right track and im sure you will do just fine.

LIVING IN THE CITY

admin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:28:35 +0000

I’ve used my fair share of products and gone to my fair share of spas and salons for treatments, and out of all of them I would have to say that my award for the best Chicago hair remover would have to go to New Horizons. I live right in the city, but I hadn’t heard about New Horizons until I saw one of the doctors perform a procedure on the Learning Channel. His appearance on the show made me look them up, that’s when I found out that they were only about a fifteen minute drive from me. The doctor’s there use something called the lightsheer diode laser system, and it is absolutely amazing. The treatment is totally non-invasive, there are no needles, there is also no plucking, no hot wax and no chemicals – I really felt no discomfort at all while undergoing the procedure. Even better than the no pain factor is the fact that after five or six treatments, permanent results can be achieved, which means no more worrying about that unwanted hair. I’ve been through three treatments already and notice a drastic difference in the amount of hair that is coming back, and with how long it seems to be taking for the hair to return. The lightsheer diode seems to be a miracle when it comes to hair removal.

BANKRUPTCY INVESTIGATION

admin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:49:37 +0000

The bancarrota filing was the only thing we could do. I had resigned as Senior Vice President, but had to stay on due to the fact that I was the only one who knew the entire manufacturing process. This was really uncomfortable. But the company didn't have any choice. I felt totally embarrassed. It was my fault the company was in the shape is was, due to my carelessness. I didn't do enough due diligence. We were in contact with the German authorities, but not one of the men we had met with was to be found. Interpol even had notices out on them, but all we had were pictures. They have assumed identities of people long dead. The German law firm wasn't even sure what they could be charged with even if they were wedged; Maybe some type of fraud. The only thing we would accomplish in catching them would be to perhaps find out who is behind this, and why. We suspected some of our competition. Our company lawyer, Thomas, did some research on our competitors across the country and world, and found a number of suspects that we could pin this on. We had no reason or authority to pursue an investigation though.