Saturday, December 31, 2011

12 Inexpensive Ways to Relieve Stress


12 Inexpensive Ways to Relieve Stress
“Stress:  1. a force that strains or deforms  2. mental or physical tension“  Websters New World Dictionary
Despite our best intentions for creating a lifestyle free of stress, we have only succeeded in creating more stress than our mind and bodies can really handle. The good news is there are practical ways to reduce stress in your life without having to spend a whole lot of money. It is important to note that there are both environmental and emotional factors that create stress in your home, workplace and outdoors in a city. You might feel the stress of a difficult job, or the emotional strain of a negative relationship, but toxic chemicals in your cleaning supplies or exposure to electro-magnetic frequency’s from your computer and T.V. may not be so easy to detect. They can, however, cause stress to your immune system and eventually will need to be removed or reduced.
For now let’s take a look at some ideas for dealing with stress on a daily basis. By taking one-step-at-a-time you can at least begin to manage the stress that comes from living in a time that demands our complete attention and much of our precious energy. The goal here is to open up space in your day to recharge and reinvigorate your body-mind for the next go-round of activity.
1. Medical research has shown that lack of sleep can stress the body more than anything else you do. Make sure to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night for best effect.
2. To make sure your body can sleep at night, reduce the amount of stimulating foods, such as sugar, caffeine and alcohol, that you ingest each day. For some people even one cup of java can cause insomnia. Stay away from your computer or smart phone before bedtime as it can interfere with your ability to sleep.
3. Take time each day to stop and do nothing. You can do this at your desk with a few stretches and then sitting, lean your head back on the chair and close your eyes for 2-3 minutes. Or, lay down on the sofa or bed and take a 5-10 minute nap. This is a very easy and effective way to refresh and revive the whole body system.
4. Step away from what you are doing and make a cup of herbal tea, then sit and sip it slowly.
5. Take a 15-30 minute walk outside in nature and focus on your breathing. Stand and take deep breaths of fresh air and long exhales to expel the stale indoor air from your lungs.
6. Take 10 minutes each day to sit in meditation. This can be done anywhere you find yourself. Sit with your back upright, hands resting on your thighs, close your eyes and let your mind quiet and empty. Bring your attention to your breath and let the thoughts pass like clouds moving across a blue sky. This can be a powerful moment for your body-mind to relax and rejuvenate.
7. Plan 1-2 days a week when you will not turn on the computer or watch television. Use the time to hike in nature, read a good book, volunteer to help a friend, clean out your kitchen cabinets and cook yourself a healthy meal.
8. Go on a spending diet and stay away from shopping malls and other crowded venues. Instead, take time to be silent and alone with yourself. This is a wonderful time to think about your life, to set goals, to plan and notice what is and what is not working. This awareness allows you to make changes before situations can get out of hand.
9. Put aside 10-15 dollars a week and indulge your senses with a monthly body massage. This can go a long way towards releasing stress, worry and anxiety in a short period of time.
10. Take a restorative yoga class at your local yoga studio. This special form of yoga utilizes nurturing physical postures to relax, rejuvenate and alleviate the effects of chronic stress in your daily life. Once you know the routine you can practice at home in your personal space.
11. Light some candles in your bathroom, put on some soft music and take a warm bath. Add some muscle relaxing bath salts and a few drops of Lavender oil to calm and relax your mind.
12. As all your worries and fears rise up to engulf you, just remember what is happening in the given moment. Anxiety comes from creating a negative future in your mind, one that has not happened and will probably not happen. It is all a product of your imagination and if you can stay focused on what is happening in the present you can reduce the stress this way of thinking can cause.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Sears to close 100 to 120 Kmart, Sears stores


Sears to close 100 to 120 Kmart, Sears stores

Sears Holdings plans to close 100 to 120 Kmart, Sears stores as sales disappoint ( by  By Anne d'Innocenzio)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sears Holdings Corp. plans to close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores after poor sales during the holidays, the most crucial time of year for retailers.

The closings are the latest and most visible in a long series of moves to try to fix a retailer that has struggled with falling sales and shabby stores.
In an internal memo Tuesday to employees, CEO and President Lou D'Ambrosio said that the retailer had not "generated the results we were seeking during the holiday."
Sears Holdings Corp. said it has yet to determine which stores will close but said it will post on http://www.searsmedia.com when a final list is compiled. Sears would not discuss how many, if any, jobs would be cut.
The company has more than 4,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Its stock dropped $8.67, or 18.9 percent, to $37.18 in morning trading. The shares dipped to their lowest point in more than three years at $36.51 during the first few minutes of trading.
The company's revenue at stores open at least a year fell 5.2 percent to date for the quarter at both Sears and Kmart, the company said Tuesday. That includes the critical holiday shopping period.
Sears Holdings said the declining sales, ongoing pressure on profit margins and rising expenses pulled its adjusted earnings lower. The company predicts fourth-quarter adjusted earnings will be less than half the $933 million it reporter for the same quarter last year.
Sears Holdings also anticipates a non-cash charge of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion in the quarter to write off the value of carried-over tax deductions it now doesn't expect to be profitable enough to use.
Sears said it will no longer prop up "marginally performing" stores in hopes of improving their performance and will now concentrate on cash-generating stores.
"These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers," D'Ambrosio said.
The weaker-than-expected performance reflects what analysts say is a deteriorating outlook for the retailer.
The results point to "deepening problems at this struggling chain and renewed worries about Sears survivability," said Gary Balter, an analyst at Credit Suisse. "The extent of the weakness may be larger than expected but the reasons behind it are not. It begins and some would argue ends with Sears' reluctance to invest in stores and service."
Balter also said Sears' weakening performance may lead its vendors to start to worry about their exposure.
The company has seen rival department stores like Macy's Inc. and discounters like Target Corp. continue to steal customers. It's also contending with a stronger Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, which has hammered hard its low-price message and brought back services like layaway, which allows financially stressed shoppers to finance their holiday purchases by paying a little at a time.
The tough economy hasn't helped, either. Middle-income shoppers, the company's core customers, have seen their wages fail to keep up with higher costs for household basics like food.
But the big problem, analysts say, is Sears hasn't invested in remodeling, leaving its stores uninviting.
"There's no reason to go to Sears," said New York-based independent retail analyst Brian Sozzi, "It offers a depressing shopping experience and uncompetitive prices."
Sears Holdings Corp., based in Hoffman Estates, Ill., said that the store closings will generate $140 to $170 million in cash from inventory sales. The retailer expects the sale or sublease of real estate holdings to add more cash.
Sears Holdings appeared to stumble early in the holiday season, as it opened its Sears, Roebuck and Co. stores at 4 a.m. on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Rivals including Best Buy Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Toys R Us opened as early as Thanksgiving night. Sears stores had opened on Thanksgiving Day in 2010. Kmart has been opening on Thanksgiving for years.
A hint that trouble might be brewing came in mid-December when Sears Holdings unexpectedly announced that 260 of its Sears, Roebuck and Co. locations would stay open until midnight through Dec. 23.
Kmart's 4.4 percent decline in revenue at stores open at least a year was blamed on diminished layaways and a drop in clothing and consumer electronics sales. Part of Kmart's layaway softness likely stemmed from competitive pressure. Wal-Mart had said that its holiday layaway business had been popular. Toys R Us expanded its layaway services to include more items. Kmart's grocery sales climbed during the period.
Sears cited lackluster consumer electronics and home appliance sales for its 6 percent dropoff. Sears' clothing sales were flat. Sales of Lands' End products at Sears stores rose in the mid-single digits.
Sears Holdings said it also plans to lower its fixed costs by $100 million to $200 million and trim its 2012 peak domestic inventory by $300 million from 2011's $10.2 billion at the third quarter's end.
D'Ambrosio acknowledged in his internal memo that criticism over Sears Holdings' performance was likely to come, but that the company was prepared for the days ahead.
"We will bounce back and become stronger than ever," he said.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Lodi’s Judi Harrison and Emily Paige help deaf children communicate using dolls

http://www.scribd.com/doc/76662039/Lodi%E2%80%99s-Judi-Harrison-and-Emily-Paige-help-deaf-children-communicate-using-Dolls


 

test4Lodi’s Judi Harrison and Emily Paige help deaf children communicate using dolls
Evelyn Nelsona, a Larson Elementary School student who had trouble communicated with students and her teacher,  makes her first sign to an I Can Sign Doll.

As Judi Harrison thinks back to the young girl who introduced her to sign language, tears flood her eyes. Harrison, a Lodi resident, recalls the girl and her mother visiting the salon where Harrison worked. The girl would touch her own chin and then waver her hand downward as Harrison did the woman’s hair.
Finally, Harrison asked the mother what the girl was doing. 
“She is telling you ‘thank you’ in sign language,” the mother said.
Never had Harrison thought that the girl was deaf. Nor did she expect that one interaction would lead her to a new love and passion for helping deaf children.
Touched, Harrison signed up for a sign language class at San Joaquin Delta College in the 1980s. She was hooked. She learned all she could from Denise Reich, the former instructor. 
Since then, Harrison’s family has housed a deaf person for five years. They volunteer wherever they can, serving as interpreters and trying to match deaf people with volunteers. Her daughter, Emily Paige, volunteered in Elk Grove at Merryhill teaching the children sign language.
Yet no one in their family is deaf. The little girl who inspired Harrison all those years ago ignited a fire in Harrison’s heart that has fanned out to her daughter, who has in turn taught sign language to her four children.
But that love and knowledge was not enough. Twenty years ago, the duo began a project to create a doll that deaf children could relate to, a doll with malleable hands and fingers so that a child can manipulate the fingers to sign.
“The only dolls out there are closed fisted dolls,” Harrison said. 
The I Can Sign dolls, made with parts from the United States, went through many phases, patterns and designs. Materials were tested at Harrison’s home.
“I thought it was going to be easy,” Paige said, laughing. “We tried muslin, cotton, different hair. We wanted it to be sturdy, so the kids can play with it, but also easy to clean.”
They found some fabrics were too stretchy or the leg size was too big or the hair just wasn’t right.
“They are Julia-tested,” she said, refering to her very active 3-year-old daughter.
The dolls, who can wear newborn clothes or clothes in the American Girl doll collection, are customizable to which ear the hearing aid is placed. Children can pick the eye color, the hair color, the sex, baby or bunny.
Emily picked up the boy doll, Preston, with its Justin Beiber-inspired hair-do. 
The idea behind the I Can Sign dolls is to “fill a gap for every deaf persons needs, starting at home. It is to remind them that society hasn’t forgotten them — you’re not alone in the house surrounded with the hearing,” Harrison said.
The students can trust the dolls.
“The dolls are good for keeping secrets,”  Harrison said. “The dolls fit in with deaf kids and are not intimidating.”
The deaf do not have a word for everything like the hearing do. Instead they use synonyms and read how a person is “talking” with them, whether they are happy or angry, in order to get the meaning.
“I remember signing to a group of students, ‘It’s raining,’ and they asked how I knew. They didn’t realize you can hear the rain fall,” she said.
Harrison became emotional remembering instances like this one.
“I admire them so much,” Harrison said.
Denise Reich: The educator
She hunkered down in her chair at the kidney shaped table. The pre-k and kindergarten classroom looks like any other classroom you may find at Larson Elementary. 
“Today we are going to make a red chicken!” Denise Reich said, excitedly. She stressed “red” and “chicken,” repeating the sign in American Sign Language for her pre-schoolers and one kindergartner.
They were excited. They laughed and jumped in their blue chairs. They are just like other young children, except they cannot hear.
The eight students in her class are deaf or hard of hearing. After lunch, Reich put on her microphone transmitted through a FM station. She then calls up each student to put on their hearing aids. 
“Aaa. Eee. Ooo. Ccc. Shhhh. Mmmm,” she whispereed into their ears. They repeated each sound and earned a big hug as a sign of a job well done.
Reich is amazed with science and improvements in hearing aids and cochlear implants.
“They used to have to hang big boxes around their necks. Now the devices are so much smaller,” she said.
A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is deaf or hard of hearing. 
In 1987, when Reich came to Lodi to teach the deaf there was not a school for the deaf. Now, she is glad Lodi Unified School District realized the need. When a position was posted for Lawrence Elementary School, she immediately applied. She had been living in Lodi, but  commuted to her Modesto teaching job for seven years. 
Today, there is a 3-year-old to kindergarten class at Larson. Victor School teaches the first-through fourth-grade students. Houston Elementary School teaches fifth through eighth grades. High school students are taught at Tokay High. 
“Now (the deaf) are being cared for throughout instruction,” Reich said.
Reich graduated from the University of the Pacific and then received her master’s in deaf communication at Lewis & Clark University in Portland, Ore. She had hearing loss due to numerous ear infections when she was a child.
As an educator, her goal is for her students  to move into mainstream classes. 
“There was a time when deaf students thought that at the age of 18, they died or just disappeared. The children didn’t see deaf adults,” she said.
Once, when one of her classes met a deaf adult, she says the students were in shock. Now, she has a deaf Santa come to class during the holidays. 
Captioning on television, Blackberries and texting devices have helped parents and students become more involved.
Facebook also helps Reich keep track of her former students. 
“It’s so nice to see what they have done in their lives,” she said, adding that some of her students are now in schools such as  University of Houston and California State University, Stanislaus.
However, the communication methods differ from family to family. 
Of all the families that Reich has worked with, about 20  communicate through signing. Others find the language difficult, which leads to some parents or caregivers giving up.
“Parents quit once they think deafness is a barrier. It holds (the child) back. It’s disappointing,” Reich said. “On the other hand, there are families where even the aunts and uncles sign. Those kids will go far.”
The students have taught Reich to be flexible. Everyone — even deaf students —  learn at different speeds, but eventually, they succeed.
“Their only limits are what we put on them,” she said.
For Reich, teaching deaf students is her passion.
“Every day I enjoy coming to school. I am tired when I go home, but I love it,” she said. “This is my 31st year ... I just know that this is my calling.”
Meeting the dolls
Monday morning was like ever other morning in Reich’s classroom. She was finished placing hearing aids in students’ ears when visitors arrived.
Harrison, Paige, and Paige’s daughter, Julia, entered with three dolls in their arms. The children turned in excitement.
Hugs were exchanged between teacher and former student. The class moved to their story-time rug and sat down.
One by one, the children were introduced to the dolls.
Immediately, Zahra Franklin-Villanueva picked up the baby doll. She inspected the hearing aid and pointed to her own. She cradled the baby doll. The two were inseparable.
“See Zahra, just like you,” Reich told her. 
Noah Camello played with the boy doll, making him skate along the carpet on black rollerblades. Leysli Villegas-Perez also played with the boy doll, examining his hearing aid. The children touched the fingers, moving them up and down, bending them into signs. 
“These are perfect. They love them,” Reich told Harrison. “They don’t have anything like this.”
But perhaps the most successful moment of the morning was when Evelyn Nelson, a new student in the class signed for the first time to the doll. Coming into the class last week, she only knew thumbs up and “no.” Reich had been working with her earlier in the day on signing horse, cat and dog. She would not sign to the teacher or her classmates.
But on Monday, Nelson signed “I love you” to the doll.
For Reich it was overwhelming.
“For her to see the doll and sign ‘I love you’ — she knew exactly that she was supposed to form her hand like the doll. Tonight I will go home and cry,” she said.
For Harrison, it was also an emotional morning.
“Oh my gosh, to have them see and be able to relate ... To see them talking to (the dolls) — that’s what we wanted. The only difference is communication,” she said.
The doll makers gave the children hugs and said goodbye, but left the dolls in the classroom. Tears of happiness filled Harrison’s eyes as she left.
The students returned to the work table, where everyone  sang “The wheels on the bus go round and round ...” The doll signed along on Reich’s lap. One by one, each student was called up to help the doll. 
The mother-and-daughter duo believe every deaf class should have their dolls nationwide.
Harrison’s goal now is to translate popular reading books into sign books. Parents can learn the language, as well as bond with their child while reading beloved stories.
“Every child deserve to communicate in their own language,” she said. 
To contact Jen Howell, email Jenh@lodinews.com.

Friday, December 16, 2011

10 Better Ways to Answer the Tell Me About Yourself Question

10 Better Ways to Answer the Tell Me About Yourself Question


You know it’s coming.
It’s the most feared question during any job interview: Do you think I would look good in a cowboy hat?
Just kidding. The real question is: Can you tell me about yourself?
Blecch. What a boring, vague, open-ended question. Who likes answering that?
I know. I’m with you. But unfortunately, hiring managers and executive recruiters ask the question. Even if you’re not interviewing and you’re out networking in the community — you need to be ready to hear it and answer it. At all times.
Now, before I share a list of 10 memorable answers, consider the two essential elements behind the answers:
The medium is the message. The interviewer cares less about your answer to this question and more about the confidence, enthusiasm and passion with which you answer it.
The speed of the response is the response. The biggest mistake you could make is pausing, stalling or fumbling at the onset of your answer, thus demonstrating a lack of self-awareness and self-esteem.
Next time you’re faced with the dreaded, “Tell me about yourself…” question, try these:
  1. “I can summarize who I am in three words.” Grabs their attention immediately. Demonstrates your ability to be concise, creative and compelling.
  2. “The quotation I live my life by is…” Proves that personal development is an essential part of your growth plan. Also shows your ability to motivate yourself.
  3. “My personal philosophy is…” Companies hire athletes – not shortstops. This line indicates your position as a thinker, not just an employee.
  4. “People who know me best say that I’m…” This response offers insight into your own level of self-awareness.
  5. “Well, I googled myself this morning, and here’s what I found…” Tech-savvy, fun, cool people would say this. Unexpected and memorable.
  6. “My passion is…” People don’t care what you do – people care who you are. And what you’re passionate about is who you are. Plus, passion unearths enthusiasm.
  7. “When I was seven years old, I always wanted to be…” An answer like this shows that you’ve been preparing for this job your whole life, not just the night before.
  8. “If Hollywood made a move about my life, it would be called…” Engaging, interesting and entertaining.
  9. “Can I show you, instead of tell you?” Then, pull something out of your pocket that represents who you are. Who could resist this answer? Who could forget this answer?
  10. “The compliment people give me most frequently is…” Almost like a testimonial, this response also indicates self-awareness and openness to feedback.
Keep in mind that these examples are just the opener. The secret is thinking how you will follow up each answer with relevant, interesting and concise explanations that make the already bored interviewer look up from his stale coffee and think, “Wow! That’s the best answer I’ve heard all day!”
Ultimately it’s about answering quickly, it’s about speaking creatively and it’s about breaking people’s patterns.
I understand your fear with such answers. Responses like these are risky, unexpected and unorthodox. And that’s exactly why they work.
Otherwise you become (yet another) non-entity in the gray mass of blah, blah, blah.
You’re hireable because of your answers. When people ask you to tell them about yourself, make them glad they asked.
Let me ask you this: How much time did you dedicate this week to becoming more interesting? Let me suggest this: For the list called, “61 Stupid Things to Stop Doing Before It’s Too Late,” send an e-mail to me (scott@hellomynameisscott.com.) , and you win it for free!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Nissan aims to shift gear with Microsoft cloud computing deal

Car maker targets locally customizable CRM
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM system in the Windows Azure cloud will blend dealer and CRM and social collaboration tools, aimed at helping Nissan to increase dealer sales and develop a stronger relationship with its customers.
Andy Palmer, executive vice president at Nissan, said: "We are delivering a next-generation dealer management system. It will help meet our business needs, especially to better understand our customers and dealers. This will enhance our sales and brand power."
The new dealer management system will initially be rolled out to Nissan's dealership networks in Japan and "other strategic regions across the globe", said Nissan. It did not say when the system would be extended internationally.
The system will have the flexibility to be customised for the needs of a specific country, region or manufacturer. Nissan also intends to explore how Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Windows Azure can work together as a platform to deploy other applications across the company's global network, "and to standardise its information architecture in the cloud", it said.
The Azure platform consists of various on-demand services sold through three product brands. These are Windows Azure, an operating system providing scalable compute and storage facilities; SQL Azure, a cloud-based, scale-out version of SQL Server; and Windows Azure AppFabric, a collection of services supporting applications both in the cloud and on premise.
Microsoft has now installed a version of Apache Hadoop on its Azure cloud service. The company now offers a limited preview version of the open-source data analysis platform, often used for Big Data analysis.