I have a natural love and respect for old Mother Earth, so I can’t help feeling a bit miffed off when I happen upon other people who are not ‘doing their bit'for the environment. After all, it’s not that difficult, is it??? Being kind to our planet should come as second nature (excuse the pun). But even if it doesn’t, then learning to be ‘environmentally responsible'really is easy peasy!
Personally I am hot on recycling and I go out of my way to be green in every other possible way. I only use the car when I really have to, I will only buy bio diesel fuel, I do not allow my children to litter and I am always walking around the house turning off any unwanted lights.
I know it is hard enough to plan enough activities to keep the kids occupied during school holidays, but don’t forget to keep some ideas back for the odd days when school is closed for inschool staff training sessions. These pop up at annoyingly regular intervals nowadays (of course, naturally I approve of our teachers getting up to date training), but it means taking days off work and organising something that will keep the kids happy.
Fortunately, I have a trusty stand-by that I am willing to share with others. It’s actually pretty obvious, but it works all the time: the good, old-fashioned zoo.
Actually zoos nowadays are not old-fashioned at all. Gone are the days when all you could do was traipse around small, smelly cages. Instead, zoos try to get young people (and us adults, too) involved in caring for the animals, as well as teaching us all about the species.
There are interactive games that educate you about wildlife while you play; there are plenty of electronic information points; and opportunities such as naming an ant in an anthill or throwing a fish to a penguin will delight children of all ages.
something for everyone
A good zoo, such as London Zoo in Regent’s Park, has such a great range of animals that even fussy kids who declare that they are not actually interested in seeing the animals will always find something to amuse and entertain them, or to wonder at. The sight of elephants spraying each other with water, or baboons thrusting their blue bottoms at you, will make even the most sceptical and cynical child laugh, and no one can look at the muscular power of a lion or tiger without being impressed.
Then there the houses that might make kids give a happy scream of horror: the insect houses with their giant spiders or the reptile houses with the evil-looking crocodiles.
The zoo is my advice for keeping the kids occupied, and trust me, it works.
I am now going to make an admission which would probably stun my boss…so it’s a good job he is illiterate and doesn’t bother reading his minions blogs, right? Only kidding Dave! I love you really!
The admission is this: I am hopeless with computers…yes I can work Facebook and use email, but that doesn’t mean much in today’s amazing techno land of marvels that even kids can operate, right?
Except the thing is, I bumped into an old friend in the street – a tech friend – and the following conversation ensure:
Her: “Hey, how are you? Where do you work now?”
Me: “Oh, not bad, still slaving away. I work at an IT firm.”
Her: “Great! Me too! What software you using?”
you CAN learn about computers. Stop being afraid. The only person stopping you is YOU!
Then it hit me: I really didn’t know the name of it. I could just about work it…something like XZ complete recruitment software package …but that was all I could remember. My old friend looked positively mortified with me, as if to say “YOU’RE recruiting people? You can’t even recruit yourself!” And I didn’t blame her. It was pretty tragic. In my position I was supposed to be the one telling others what to do!
Anyway, the point of all this is that I, don’t laugh, enrolled in a local course for senior citizens and those who aren’t great with computers. Everyone in the room was much older than me and knew much more.
I should also explain something: much of my work is about communicating with people, not actually handling computer stuff. Thank God…
My findings from doing the course? I reckon I am cracking it. It was a bit intimidating at the beginning, but soon enough I was getting the hang of it and getting to grips with things which had terrified me before. It felt like a serious breakthrough.
The best bit? Well, the next week my boss asked me to do a presentation with out software. And, while I will admit that I was no threat to Steve Jobs, I was on the ladder, and people liked the way I explained things.
Which meant something useful had gone in!
So the message here is simple: you CAN learn about computers. Stop being afraid. The only person stopping you is YOU!
(Update: there are now free courses in most libraries in England. Just visit yours or email them to find out more information and see when the next one is starting. Sometimes they are even one-to-one, which is pretty fantastic because it means you really get the most out of it.
Had enough of your wife’s nitpicking about “changes” that need to made to the house? Unfinished repairs, backyard woes or a new closet - it never seems to end. Well, its time you pulled up your socks and become the man in charge! Running a home is like running a factory - something will go wrong every day and you need to be around to fix it. But, unlike in offices, every time you call a carpenter, a plumber or More
Thanks to TV shows like Dragons'Den and The Apprentice, the message that entrepreneurs can come from any walk of life and make it has been cemented into the minds of millions of people – young and old. It just goes to show that if you have a flair for business and a passion for what you do, almost anything can be achieved. Just ask Alan Sugar.
Alan Sugar, of course, is the king of doing things his own way. Although even he isn’t immune to disaster, in the main he has enjoyed a prolific career, making him undoubtedly one of England’s most loved doers.
do your research and look at designs from different time-periods and countries. It’d be a shame to spend all that time developing something, only to discover that actually it was already done in the 1980s
Feel like you have an idea for something cool and unique? Here are a few tips to get you going:
Make sure it is UNIQUE: this is probably the single biggest issue – after all, producing something unique is tough and not everyone can do it! So, if you’re going to produce Bespoke Packaging for your home-cooked dog food, make sure it’s really good and really different. This should ensure you stand out from the crowd and attract attention.
Be sure to have a plan: so many businesses fail and it’s a shame. What’s even more of a shame is that usually it comes down to one thing – lack of any kind of a plan. You need to have a grasp of the numbers and the vision, so if you can’t do that then maybe you should seek some help to make it all concrete.
Business partners are good, but don’t fall into the friends trap: many business fail when the partners don’t see eye to eye. It’s a classic problem and not something which is going to vanish any time soon, so be sure to go into business with someone who is trustworthy and you can really depend on!
Just because it hasn’t been done doesn’t mean it CAN’T be done: if you are creating a brand-new product, though, be sure to do your research and look at designs from different time-periods and countries. It’d be a shame to spend all that time developing something, only to discover that actually it was already done in the 1980s and didn’t take off at all…
Make sure there is profit: profit is not turn over, and without profit a business can’t survive! Make sure the figures are clear in your favour. After all, you’re not running a charity, are you?
It is surely an advantage to have a proper online recruitment software - it saves you time, money, human resource and space. Nevertheless, many people tend to believe that it is a nightmare for potential employees who rely on human reaction among all other things and a real interview if they want to stand out in front of recruiting managers. This article is in disagreement with such a statement - recruiting according to human reaction has been removed as a More
As absolutely every person working on a desk, you might also be bound to serve your bad habits. They might be so diverse that it would be impossible to narrow them down to a particular group. And even if you work for the prosperous Rowan Dartington financial services company, you might still find it difficult to cope with such deep and addictive issues.
Bad Habit number one, the all times winner is Facebook. It is even worse than smoking because More
I admit it: I used to be one of those people who says they hate Facebook. Yes, like those people love to do, I would revel in the joy of spreading the message that Facebook was just a pointless waste of time. And while there are elements of that attitude which I still haven’t shaken off, for the most part now I believe that FB is a powerful tool. Especially when it comes to promoting something.
The use of internet is constantly increasing due to factors such as globalization, education, business reforms and so on. Nowadays, even the Red Diesel Dundee traders can be contacted easily through internet, people from the high classes are now communicating through the web and so on and so on. To maintain such a vast network, the energy use of internet servers and machines is dragging to world to a certain overuse of communication. It is a rising problem, as I More
Just after finishing my search for a red diesel supplier recently I went jogging with some friends of mine and was asked by one of them if I knew when was the best time to take vitamins. Since I have read a lot about these kinds of things here is what I shared with him.
Doctors prescribe mineral and vitamin supplements for various reasons and there are various combinations of multivitamins and vitamin available. So, the perfect time of taking More
