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The advertised price of this Coach bag is about $448.Chances are the price will drop -- handbag sales are on the decline and some prices have been slashed up to 65%.
While investors may be stressed, the shoppers are celebrating.
The trends in the handbag market is the topic of today's post a Blogher. Some women are opting to rent a la Netflix. Would you rent a handbag in order to carry a Birkin for $1600 a week?
If you check into one of the 300 Travelodge's around Britian and need a towel late at night, you don't have to call housekeeping, just go to the front desk.
They'll have lots of them -- that's because having towels on hand is one of the new training tips to help staff deal with the 70% increase in sleepwalking naked men who stay at Travelodge.
"We have seen an increased number of cases over the years so it is important that our staff know how to help sleepwalking when it arises," Leigh McCarron, the chain's sleep director, said in a statement.
One tip in the company's newly released "sleepwalkers guide" tells staff to keep towels handy at the front desk in case a customer's dignity needs preserving.
The company said naked wanderers often ask receptionists such questions as "Where's the bathroom?," "Do you have a newspaper?" or "Can I check out, I'm late for work?"
Studies have found that sleepwalking can be brought on by stress, alcohol, eating cheese or consuming too much caffeine. It generally takes effect an hour or two after going to bed, when people are first slipping into a deep sleep. Asked Thursday why she thought 95 percent of its sleepwalkers were naked men, a Travelodge spokeswoman said: "We have more men staying with us than women, so that could be a factor."
So here's what I've learned: a lot of men in Britain sleep au natural and they shouldn't eat pizza on business trips.
The number of naked males sleepers is very surprising and in direct conflict with the findings of some research reported in Psychology Today .That research ,which compares male/female behavior,found that
17% of men sleep in the nude while 83% of women say they sleep in the nude.
The study also looked at how many people clean their belly buttons every day so I am sure it meets the highest academic standards.
Some of the headlines for this story:
Travelodge Pulls the Covers Of Naked Sleepwalking Trend
Nearly Naked & Nude Sleepwalkers
Travelodge and the plague of naked sleepwalkers
Some of the observations of bloggers:
From Changing Places: "I asume they just let the naked women sleepwalkers continue wandering around, then?
From Lost Weekend "Perhaps unsurprisingly, and certainly disappointingly, 95 percent of these midnight ramblers are men.
And from Curly'sCorner Shop,the Blog
Travelodge has a “sleep director”
Yes, it sounds like an odd post, but the budget hotel group has been having increased problems caused by naked sleepwalkers, mainly stressed out men! They are even having to train their staff to deal with them.
Which reminds me that I knew a South Shields based policeman who suffered with this problem on an infrequent basis during the early part of his career, and was found by his colleagues wandering naked during the early hours in our town centre. They returned him to his home with little more than a traditional police helmet to cover his modesty.
Must have been an arresting sight!
You know your business trip may not go smoothly when the first words the customer service person at the airport says to you. "Your luggage is over the legal limit." You immediately think of that set of two pound weights and iPOD speaker that you threw into the roomy suitcase because you rationalized you had the room to include them.
You know your business trip is not going to go well when your Blackberry doesn't shut off when the flight attendant says to shut down all electronic devices.
Then, when you finally get to your hotel and try to charge the Blackberry you get the dreaded message:
JVM ERROR 523 RESET
Two hours, five Verizon customer service/technical support folks later you are the proud owner of a new Blackberry that you won't see until Thursday because you are on a business trip.
This is not the first time I have had a fried Blackberry when I was out of town. My last experience actually was captured in an article in the Wall Street Journal on Blackberry Addiction. I shared my symptons in a post in January, 2006.
You know your business trip may not go as planned after you resign yourself to four days without 24/7 access to email and see a message on your computer screen that it is recovering from a fatal crash --okay those aren't the exact words but it was very serious and for a moment I imagined my world for the next three days with no Blackberry, no computer,no Microsoft Outlook.
This crash was not a huge surprise, I've known since May when a Geek Squad Agent informed me that my computer just had a few months left in its old hard drive. I wrote about the laptop's condition in a post for Blogher, called My laptop is having hot flashes. At the time, my goal was to get to February 2008. And, yes I do back up.
You know your business trip may not go as planned when your destination is Los Angeles and the city is on fire.
I'll be here through Wednesday.
Image Credit: Flickr member BalerinoJamers and Measuring Up Blog
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The headline from the University of East Anglia in Great Britain reads Survey says 'never mind the b******s'
Had I not been reading Mark Haddon's A Spot Of Bother ( Haddon wrote The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night Time ,I am on page 225 of A Spot Of Bother) where he generously sprinkles the B word throughout I would not have know that B*****s' is evidently the very popular British expletive Bollucks.
From reading Haddon, you get the very distinct impressions that the Brits drop the B-Bomb at about the rate those of us across the pond drop the effing F-Bomb.
Allowing staff to swear at work can benefit them and their employers, according to researchers at the University of East Anglia.
Prof Yehuda Baruch, professor of management at the UEA-based Norwich Business School (NBS), and graduate Stuart Jenkins looked at the use of expletives and swearing in the work place from a management point of view.
They identified the relevance and even importance of using non-conventional and sometimes uncivil language at work and how it may have a positive impact.
The study found regular use of profanity to express and reinforce solidarity among staff, enabling them to express their feelings, such as frustration, and develop social relationships.
The results of the study, Swearing at work and permissive leadership culture: when anti-social becomes social and incivility is acceptable, are published in the current issue of the Leadership and Organization Development Journal (Vol 28 Issue 6, pages 492-507).
Prof Baruch said their aim was to challenge leadership styles and suggest ideas for best practice. “Employees use swearing on a continuous basis, but not necessarily in a negative, abusive manner. Swearing was as a social phenomenon to reflect solidarity and enhance group cohesiveness, or as a psychological phenomenon to release stress.
The Red Letter Believers are taking exception with the study's findings.
I say “bull.” There are far too many people who use their mouths instead of their brains. Many a manager has adopted profanity instead of persuasion to lead. Instead of controlling ones emotions, cussing demonstrates a lack of control. Depending on shock language demonstrates a severe lack of intelligence, verbal skill, and creativity. And for the Red Letter Believer, the Christian who is trying to live out their faith, it is never acceptable. Your words indicate your heart.
Needless to say, many a blogger picked up this story. Driftglass added a fabulous photo-
With the CAPTION Water for Mutha@&$!#ing Chocolate!
This is about ownership and responsibility.
Because you, personally, own the entire English language.
Every mother%$#@*g word of it.
And so do I. So do we all. And every day we raze it, build it, break it and birth it, because it is a living thing.
It is our inalienable birthright, and will be our most versatile legacy to little f*&^#$s not yet born, but as with driving the Big Rigs, or operating a band saw with your toes, the tool itself demands a certain level of responsibility and respect.
When used correctly, language not only feels like a mouthful of velvet rubies and chocolate mousse, it can reformat the world, heal a scalded heart, and get her to shed those pesky pants!
Used incompetently it is an embarrassment. A rusting dumpster in a reeking alley behind which the ignorant, the bigoted and the irrational believe they can pass out, occluded from scrutiny in s#@t-stained imbecile safety, but which turns out, by dawn's early light, to be a mini-bus full of liberals with digital cameras.
Note: This is a profanity free blog. Expletive symbols added to Driftglass' quote.
Image Credits: Red Letter Believers and Driftglass.
Under the file, you can't make this stuff up, from the entertainment blog, TMZ
That's right, Zoo Too House- a nonprofit raising funds to support animal shelters is seeking celebrity endorsement. Either the news of the bruhaha over Mutts and Moms and Ellen DeGeneres will help this agency or no celebrity is going to step up and support any non- profits that are focused on helping pets. Don't want to confuse the fans, you know.
Ellen fully admits she broke the agency's rules. But hey, as Americans we love breaking the rules. That's the topic of my post on Blogher today. Do you have criteria when its okay to break a business rule?
It is a provocative report. It is an alarming report.The Advocacy Group,The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recently announced that over 60% of the lipstick they tested in four cities--including Minneapolis--- contains unacceptable levels of lead.
The cosmetics industry is fighting back saying the report is a bunch of whooey.
Oh, and there are no plans for a lipstick recall.
Hmmm.. as soon as a mention of lead in toys hits the headlines millions of toys are pulled from shelves.
So why aren't the lipsticks being recalled? Probably because the Consumer Product Safety Commission didn't issue the report. In fact the FDA says that these are not new claims and that previous claims are just an urban legend.
There is another reason. Women don't care, not really. According to Fracas
Seems to be scary business. It might be enough to prompt women everywhere to gather in large groups, create bonfires and toss their lipsticks into the fire and break into a little Helen Reddy.
Or not.Follow the history of cosmetics and you’ll find that making one’s self beautiful has always taken precedence over health, logic and (one might even say) sanity. Ancient Romans used fat from sheep mixed with blood as nail polish and reveled in mud baths that were a mixture of mud and crocodile excrement.
As Sewing points out in her article, “Reports of harmful toxins in cosmetics is nothing new.The Food and Drug Adminstration has been aware of concerns about lead in lipstick in the past. Many of the reports have been “urban legends,” said a FDAspokesperson Stephanie Kwisnek . She added the agency has no plans to take action in response to the latest report.In calls to both Walgreen’s and Dillard’s, neither company planned to pull lipstick brands from their cosmetic shelves.Local makeup artist Heidi Schulze isn’t worried about using lipstick. In her 30 years in business, she says she hasn’t heard of any problems with cosmetics other than allergic reactions.”If you really wanted a safe way stain your lips,”she said, “you could go to Whole Foods and get an organic dye.”
The current claims,courtesy of CTV.ca
About 60 per cent had detectable levels of lead, ranging from 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm). The remainder had no detectable levels of lead.
Here are some of the products with the highest lead levels:
- L'Oreal Colour Riche "True Red" - 0.65 ppm
- L'Oreal Colour Riche "Classic Wine" - 0.58 ppm
- Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor "Maximum Red" - 0.56 ppm
- Christian Dior Addict "Positive Red" - 0.21 ppm
One-third of those brands containing lead exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's limit of 0.1 ppm for lead in candy.
The cosmetics industry has gone on the attack saying that lead is not intentionally added to lipstick that it is found naturally in ingredients including water.From The Star Tribune,
Smacking their lips: The trade group that represents lipstick manufacturers said the amounts of lead found aren't enough to pose a danger. "These levels, considering the products and how they're consumed, really don't present a concern," said John Bailey, executive vice president for science at the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, a Washington group whose members include L'Oreal, which makes Maybelline, and P&G, which makes the Cover Girl brand.
Despite its stance that it has already tested the lipstick and they are fine,The FDA says it will look into the claims. They are not saying when we will have their findings.
Meanwhile, 40% of lipsticks do not have high levels of lead. So what are they doing differently? Is it just the water they use? And why aren't "the good guys"speaking up? Why the silence?
It would be fascinating to hear from some of these companies to learn what they are doing differently and why they can product lipstick sans the lead.
Here is the list of lipsticks tested.
Image Credit: Flickr member Mrs.Potatohead
Taco Bell is opening 10 fast food restaurants in Mexico.
Saying its not a Mexican restaurant, Taco Bell claims instead that it is bringing Americanized food to Mexico.
God bless the spin meisters.
"What we are bringing to Mexico is not Mexican food, it's our exciting quick-service restaurant brand," said Rob Poetsch, a spokesman for Yum Brands. [..]" It's about value and convenience - that's the universal appeal."
Quoting pop culture historian Carlos Monsivais reaction Fast Food News reports,
“Taco Bell wants to take advantage of the perception that if something comes from the U.S., it tastes better, that a country that has been Americanized is willing to Americanize food that is central to its cuisine.
“It is an absurd idea, and given that it's so absurd, it may just be successful in upper-class areas,” Monsivais added.
File this under the category of " If at first you don't succeed..." Seems that this is not Taco Bell's first attempt at entering the Mexican market. From the Epicurious blog
Of course, it's not the first time the "Mexican" food chain's made a run for the border. When it opened up shop in Mexico City in 1992, Taco Bell's poor showing forced it to slink away with its tail between its legs.
Taco Bell will be kickoff its Mexican launch with 10 restaurants. If Mexicans decide they like this American food there are plans to open as many as 300 Taco Bells in Mexico.
According to the San Diego Union Tribune, local taco vendors are not concerned.
Adrián Beltrán, a 34-year-old taco shop worker at the popular Tacos El Gordo in this city's Rio Zone, said there is no competition between traditional Mexican food and the products Taco Bell offers.
"Competition? Please," he said. "Personally, I like the Jack in the Box tacos. Now those are good tacos. How come those guys don't come here?"
Taco Bell Mexico will be serving french fries and soft ice cream along with its Americanized Mexican cuisine.
Meet Mona Shaw. a 75- year -old resident of Bristow ,Virginia. Mona walked into a Comcast Customer Service Center, took out her hammer ,and started smashing telephones and computer screens all the while saying, "DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION NOW!"
She is quickly becoming the darling of the blogging set. When you read her story, you feel her pain. While no one is advocating that unhappy customers should walk into a customer service center wielding a hammer, it's not as if her frustration and anger were not justified.
They were very justified From InsideNova.com
Shaw's problems began when she and her husband, Don, waited all day Aug. 13 for a Comcast worker to come to their house to install its much-publicized Triple Play service, which includes digital cable, digital voice and high-speed Internet service. The Shaws were Comcast customers already but wanted to upgrade.
No one came Aug. 13 but two days later, a representative arrived.
According to Shaw, the Comcast worker didn't finish the job, told her that he needed a third party to finish it and left his equipment there.
Before leaving, the cable guy gave her the option of changing her phone number, but Shaw said she didn't want to change a number that she has had for 34 years.
The next day the Shaws couldn't receive calls but were eventually able to make calls.
That Friday, Shaw spent the morning on the phone with Comcast and made a frustrating trip to its Manassas office that resulted in no assistance from a company manager, she said.
When the Shaws returned home, they discovered they had no phone service at all.
A cell phone call to Comcast resulted in their receiving a new number and a promise that someone from the company would call on Monday. In the meantime, the Shaws figured out on their own how to plug their phone directly into the equipment the worker left.
That weekend, Shaw called the State Corporation Commission, the regulatory agency with authority over Virginia businesses. She says she spoke with the SCC's Larry Kubrock and was promised that someone from his agency would contact Comcast.
The Shaws waited Monday for a call. Finally, around 4:30 p.m., Mona Shaw put a hammer in her purse and returned to the Manassas Comcast office.
"I smashed a keyboard, knocked over a monitor ... and I went to hit the telephone," Mona said. "I figured, 'Hey my telephone is screwed up, so is yours.' "
Shaw said she was panic-stricken the previous Friday when they came home to no service because of her need in the past for emergency medical help. Their house on Bristow Road isn't close to a neighboring house.
"It's totally not like me to do stuff like this," she said. "But it is so irresponsible and so disrespectful [what they did]. I can't think of any company reacting that way. It's like they got you in their clutches and they'll do what they damn well please."
The story is a headline writers delight. Here are some:
Mona Shaw, folk hero to the Comcast Masses M2TV
Bring Your Hammer To Get Good Customer Service Pacer's Digest
Tool Time: Woman,75 Takes Hammer Down to Cable Office My Fox Houston
When Grandma 's Gets Fed Up Over Analyze It-Let's Break This Down
Way to Go Mona! Musings
Can You Hear Me Now? 11.12.74
Old Woman beats the hell out of cable company Zombie Chronicles
Mona was arrested for disorderly conduct. Her hearing is in December. Do you see FREE MONA T-SHIRTS in the near future?
Several weeks after the incident, Comcast sent Mona a letter thank ing her for subscribing.
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