Undercover Boss is CBS primetime’s newest reality show.  The show, from executive producer Stephen Lambert (Wife Swap, Secret Millionaire), follows CEOs from major companies as they go undercover to see how their companies really work.   I saw the first episode, centered on Larry O’Donnell, president and chief operating officer of Houston-based Waste Management Inc., as he donned a WM jumpsuit; the cover-story for the camera-crew accompanying him was that WM employees were told it was a documentary about someone trying out for entry-level jobs.  He was so slow at gathering trash on a Boca Raton, Florida landfill that his supervisor fired him. Continue reading →

It was chilly and sunny here yesterday, a nice clear day. After last week’s rain, I noticed the new sod is now green out at the easement where they put in the city water pipes last month.  Wow, that was less than two weeks ago.  Now it looks as though it’s always been there.  The bamboo have all lost their leaves, they make such a nice feathery carpet on the garden floor.  Many of the oak leaves are down right now as well, giving a bit of a bleak look to the garden, but it also lets me see what is really there, not hidden behind giant leaves of green. Continue reading →

Last week I took a few days off work, then I took another, and then another. Being my own boss is good in that I can make time for everything I need to do, and get the work done as well.   Yes, I also tend to overwork myself and spend way too many hours at the computer, but this year I am working on that.  Really. As witnessed by my taking the entire last week off.  At first it began as me just catching up on sleep, then I began the furniture arranging and housekeeping and gardening.  A few days in to my stay-at-home vacation, I pondered the idea of going somewhere for a few days.  Get out of Dodge for awhile. But there was really nowhere I wanted to go and nothing I particularly wanted to do.  Other than what I was doing already. Continue reading →

Last month at Wachovia Bank the teller asked me if I wanted to open a free savings account that would have $1.00 deposited into it each time I used my debit card.  I thought, “what a great idea” and asked her to email me info about it.  “How can they do that?” galpal Sally Carmany asked me.  What they do is deduct $1.00 extra per debit card transaction, and that $1.00 goes into your savings account.  I still thought that was a cool idea.  Tricking yourself into saving your own money. Continue reading →

The February 2010 Horizons Magazine is now online.  Horoscopes on page 44.  Enjoy!

I had a blast today with Valerie Saurer, a real life friend I met first on Facebook last year, who turned out to be a real find.  I’ve been running her Prosperity Project in Horizons Magazine each month and enjoy the insights at her blog: The New Book of Clues.  Last week she made a post on Facebook “I am joyfully and gratefully holding the vision of myself living in my beautiful new home. It has a huge kitchen with lots of storage, beautiful wood floors, a purple reiki room, and a huge screened in porch. It is nestled in a secluded garden filled with fairies and mango trees. I am happy there, surrounded by love. I hear laughter and singing among the wind chimes.” She posted a link to pics of the house and sounded so excited about it.  When friends are excited about something, that joins me in the excitement with them and I want to help them achieve it.  You’re the same, aren’t you?

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Yesterday I sat down to do my billing and got a pleasant surprise: I’d forgotten that I began the billing last week, as soon as I sent the February mag to the printer.  I didn’t want to send bills out that early, because I always want the advertisers to have the current issue in their hands before they get a bill for the next issue.  So, seeing that my job was half done – I was stoked!  Simply by forgetting I’d begun the billing earlier, I felt like someone else did half the job for me. Continue reading →