One of my friends and ex-coworkers is a graphic designer. While her career goal is to work in the video game industry (and she does), she also does work in other areas, such as website graphics.
Being friends with someone in a different industry than you has a wonderful way of opening your eyes to what goes on in other industries. I never realized how important it was to have a qualified service provider until I saw some of the behind-the-scenes work and what graphic designers do. This stuff isn’t easy — it’s not something you can hire just anyone to do.
My advice is if you are looking for graphic design in London, to be sure to look for quality firms, even if you have to pay a little more for it. Graphic design is part of your marketing approach, after all, so think of it just as another part of your business strategy in London. Poor design work will reflect badly on your business, and that’s just not something you want to have happen!
Every year in November there is a writing event I participate in: NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month. Basically, the idea is to write a 50,000 word novel just in the month of November. This works out to about 1,667 words per day.
There are some rules — such as it has to be fiction, you can’t have started any of the actual writing before 12:01 am November 1st, etc. — but for the most part it’s a casual contest in which everyone can be a winner.
NaNoWriMo is a national event, but a lot of local groups form during the month of November. We get together for kick-off parties, write-ins, or even just social meetings where we talk about our novels, read excerpts, and have fun not writing.
These kinds of events are pretty hard to plan, though, as it’s difficult to keep track of everyone. NaNoWriMo has a forum and a message system, but they don’t have any type of group management software, where the local group leaders could keep track of everyone more easily. Team management software would basically allow them to keep track of local members, send out invitations and automated reminders, and receive RSVPs from members. I don’t think we’d need a full-blown system, but it would sure help to have some of these features integrated into the NaNoWriMo website and forum!
Regardless, I can’t wait for NaNoWriMo to start this year. I’ll have to figure out how I’m going to juggle all of my responsibilities this year and still find time to work on my novel — I’ve struggled with that the last few years — but I have confidence that it can be done!
My husband and I have dealt with quite a few mortgage brokers in our lifetime. Besides the home we live in now, hubby owned his last home, and in addition we tried buying another property recently. So if you are looking for a mortgage broker, I can give you a few tips.
The first thing is that you should always look for a well-educated broker. Be sure they know what they are doing and understand the industry! SAFE mortgage licensing is extremely important, not to mention required by law (see this page on the SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act). It protects you, the customer, by ensuring that the mortgage broker you are dealing with has the correct NMLS education and is therefore fully qualified to be helping you get a loan.
You should also be sure to shop around. Often brokers will try to discourage you from doing so by insisting that they’ve got the best deals around. But don’t forget that your best interests and the broker’s don’t always line up — sometimes a broker may try to deceive you into thinking there aren’t any better deals, because he gets paid a higher commission if he gets you into a certain loan.
A local broker or a friend of a friend are also nice traits to have in a broker, but these things are not necessary. What is important is that you ensure yo only work with licensed and highly qualified brokers, and that you always shop around — because if you don’t look out for your best interests, who will?
I was amazed to find this video on YouTube, where a girl shows off zebra striped hearing aids to match her shirt:
I have really mixed feelings about this. In a way, I have a lot of respect for this girl — instead of trying to hide her hearing loss with the smallest possible hearing aids, or flesh colored hearing aids, she is comfortable enough with it to accessorize! Clearly she thinks of her hearing aids as a necessary part of her wardrobe — such as a shirt or a bra — but with the fashion potential of, say, earrings.
On the other hand, though, I’m a little dismayed about the zebra stripes. I’m not a big fan of animal print — okay, a little bit can be tasteful and cool, but I think animal prints are usually way overdone. The first example that comes to mind is the animal print sofa — gag. And in this case — do you really need your hearing aids and your shirt to be sporting zebra stripes?
What do you think? Do you flaunt your hearing aids, try to hide them, or just put them in and forget they exist? And would you ever wear animal print hearing aids?
I have never been one to try and mess with the law, but sometimes things just go too far. Just last Sunday, I caught someone in the act of breaking into my home and I was able to detain them until the police arrived.
The police asked me if I would like to press charges, and the word “Yes” escaped from my lips. This person had gone too far, and justice needed to be served.
But after I left the police station, I had no real idea how to proceed. I guess I needed a Tampa criminal lawyer, but truth be told, I didn’t know where to start as I had never been in this situation before.
I discussed the problem with my wife when she returned home that night, and she suggested that we talk to her girlfriend who was one of the best Tampa criminal defense lawyers and ask her for ideas. We gave her a phone call, and we will be meeting with her on Monday morning.
I just wish that we never had to get in this situation in the first place, and I don’t really look forward to going to court. But I just can’t stand by idly while someone tried to break into my home – he has to pay for what he has done, otherwise he will just do it again.
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