Before You Were Born Things Were Different - Part 2

I like the way my brain will suddenly take me to a place I haven't remembered for a long time... like the time my friend and I bought DQ blizzards. They said they were so thick you could turn them upside down, and they wouldn't fall out of the cup. My friend liked that and turned his upside down for all to see. We saw the blizzard quickly slide out on the ground... the smile was gone... and advertising became a scam.

When I was a kid, meals were different than they are now. We ate stuff people cringe at now. During my week the typical fare included kidneys, pork liver, beef tongue, blood pudding, pieces of bread with brown sugar and milk, pig tails, tapioca, kool aid, and salmon patties, to name a few. Since my dad was a hunter, we also had rabbits, pigeons, ducks and venison, often with shotgun pellets in it. Margarine was white, but came with a colour pack if you wanted to make it yellow. Roast beef, pork chops, and turkey were sort of normal. Spaghetti was rare. My grandmother could make a whole meal in a wood stove... potatoes, roast, veggies, and pie. It always amazed me how it would be cooked perfectly with no burning. She even chopped the wood. There were no fast food places until, as a teenager, I discovered pizza. One pizza place was called Vito's Cave. It was downstairs, and it was like being in a cave. My first time there I had to watch others because I didn't know how you should eat pizza. And the only kind of donuts was honey-dipped. Eventually they added chocolate-iced honey-dipped. We never bought more than one or two at a time.

People have always had pets, but in those days kids' pets were a little different than today. Dogs were popular, but I can't remember anyone with a cat. In cages we had rats and turtles. I had a huge white rabbit that we mated with some guy's male rabbit, and there were 11 babies. He got to pick first, and I gave them away after that. My favourite pet was a baby raccoon I found in the woods. I put him in my bicycle carrier and took him everywhere, and he got lots of attention. Then one night a big old raccoon attacked him, and he died. My dad took his shotgun out in the yard (this was in the city) and shot him down out of a tree. That mulberry tree reminds me that we had no driers, so washed clothes were hung on a line in the yard. The birds liked the mulberries, and it was common to have purple bird droppings on your clothes. In the winter the clothes froze stiff as a board... funny sight.

By the time I got to high school I was very naive and very young because I had skipped a grade. We had 2 choices... the academic and the tech high schools. I had no ideas about the future, except that I liked music and chose it for an option. I found out that my mother didn't make lunches, and I ate in the cafeteria. I was already a sports star, so I tried out for the track team and the basketball team. I guess we were shorter in those days. Our centre was 5'11''. Today everyone is more than 6'. School was school and had some new and baffling things for me. I took Latin and always wondered why. Physics was a total mystery to me, and I had no interest in people who lived hundreds of years ago, so History was the absolute worst thing ever. The outcome was a report card with 96% in Math and 50% in History. Of course I blamed it on my Grade 8 History teacher. Something many of you never heard of was the provincial exams to graduate from high school. Every kid in Grade 13 in Ontario academic high schools wrote the same tests, and your marks were published in the local newspaper. What a slam for some that was. My buddy, who was nicknamed "Ace" because he couldn't pass anything and once had a score of 1 on a Chemistry test was so embarrassed. His marks were like Math 19, Eng 38, Physics 10... I kid you not... right there in the paper for all to see.

The last thing I want to do in this blistering piece about life before you were born is to talk about how we managed to survive without technology and batteries. Here is what most kids and adults carry in their pockets in 2012: a mobile phone, all your favourite songs to listen to, access to the internet, a movie player, the latest sports scores from around the world, a gps locator and maps of everywhere, all your books to read, text messaging to any phone number, all your friends e-mail addresses, the phone book yellow pages, what restaurants, gas stations, hotels, and tourist attractions are nearby, dozens of games to play, a camera, a video camera, a tape recorder, and more. Did you read that I wrote "in their pockets"? At home today are: a television with 300 channels from around the world, a machine that records a hockey game which is on at the same time you are watching a basketball game, a computer loaded with family photos that can be made into a slide show and burned to a dvd for watching on your tv, an elaborate games machine for all kinds of games and with some you can get out of your chair and hit baseballs or ski or sing or play the guitar, and so much more. Now believe it or not, here is what I had for activities: a pen knife for whittling, a gun carved out of wood, a used bicycle, a baseball glove, a woodburner tool, a fishing pole, a bb gun, paper and pencils, and a wooden sword. In high school I got drums, a guitar, a record player, records, and a girlfriend. Did you notice that not one thing needed batteries? I spent all my waking hours outside doing something when I wasn't in school. I joined the Boy Scouts, and we did a lot of camping in summer and in winter. I loved the woods and the snow, and there are stories about trying to open a can of beans when you forget a can-opener, taking an entire 70-page newspaper to get a fire started, and cutting a hole in the ice to get water and sticking a little evergreen in it to keep it open and being unable to pull the tree out of the hole with 12 guys. Youth, before you were born, grew up learning to create and develop physically active things to do.

Uh oh... I lied. I just thought about candies and munchies in the dark ages. Soda pops were coke, orange crush, wishing well lemon-lime, root beer, and Vernor's gingerale. There were no chocolate bars for a while. We had black licorice only, suckers, jelly beans, and boodle bags (a very small bag with hard candies and different sweets). We didn't have chips, cheesies, pretzels, and carmelcorn. The big treat was an ice cream cone, or a candy apple from the lady in our neighbourhood who made them and sold them from her house. We munched on a lot of fruit. I loved oranges, pomegranites, grapes, and peanuts (not a fruit). I'll stop now. Imagine the fun I had as a teacher telling my students these stories. What a wonderful time it was before you were born.

Your Tutor - Preparing Your Child to Excel in Their Subjects

If you feel your child has a need to improve in a particular subject, a well-trained tutor can provide one-on-one home tutoring that will help your child excel in their studies. A professional tutoring service that has tutors trained in all subject areas will be able to provide the help needed to address your child's weaknesses. Allowing a tutor to come to your home and provide tutoring services to your child will also be beneficial in that you do not have to drive and take your child to another appointment. Your child is also able to learn in and environment he/she already feels comfortable in.

Using a tutoring company that has a curriculum developed by education experts will give your child a learning advantage over the competitors who do not. A good choice is to use a service that regularly updates their curriculum so it stays in line with state guidelines and standards. This will allow your child to keep up academically with their peers or receive the academic challenge they need to advance in a particular subject. Some of the subjects your child may receive help with through a professional, in-home tutoring service includes:

• Algebra

• Grammar

• Reading Comprehension

• Writing

• SAT/PSAT & Exam Preparation

• Chemistry

• Geometry

• Mathematics

• Calculus

• English

A tutoring service is also an excellent way to prepare your child to take a college entrance exam. Your child can receive SAT/PSAT & Exam Preparation that is designed to equip your child with the knowledge and skills they need to take the SAT with confidence and earn a high score. Your student may begin the program with a real full length SAT test. A professional tutor will then score and analyze the results of your exam and design a personal SAT program that is custom built around your student's specific weaknesses and strengths. Your child will learn test taking techniques and strategies that will guide them through the common misunderstood concepts. The tutoring experts will show your child how to narrow the choices on the test, how to manage their time wisely, and other techniques that will help improve their prospect to scoring well on the exam.

With the fact to face tutoring your child will receive in their own home environment, they can avoid much of the anxiety and embarrassment of getting this service at another location, and focus more on exceling in a subject they are having a problem with. You can call a professional tutoring service to get the help you need to help your child excel in school with eve most challenging courses.

Things To Know Before Doing An MBA

Are you considering doing an MBA? There may be a lot of reasons why you want to do an MBA. You may be someone who has been working in the same organization for a number of years without being promoted even once or you may be someone who wants to make it big in the corporate world and think that doing an MBA after your graduation is your best bet. Whatever it is, knowing a few things before you enroll into a management course is a good idea.

1. MBA may be losing its sheen

No matter what anyone tells you, the truth is that MBA may be losing some of its sheen. The media is increasingly reporting examples from the corporate world that people with management degrees are not being considered to be demi-gods anymore! Yes, that's right. There was a time when MBAs were the ones who left everyone behind while climbing the ladder of success. They were the ones who had the promotions and the best pay packages. But not anymore. As the global economic times continue to plummet, it is the people with real work experience and work-related skills who are being considered more important than MBAs. However, that is not to say that doing an MBA is not worthwhile anymore. They are still relevant in most sectors though their shine may just be waning a bit

2. Getting work experience necessary

A lot of graduates jump into the MBA scene right after their graduation. This may not be a very smart move. The best bet for you at this point of time is to get yourself some work experience in the field you want to make a career in and then do an MBA.

3. Is choosing a part-time degree a good idea?

A lot of people mull their heads over it. We think that choosing a part-time management degree is a wonderful idea. This follows from the last point where it was pointed out that work experience is important. So considering that you already have a day job, it would be a good idea to do your MBA part-time, may be taking night classes. There are many Executive MBA programs offered by premier institutions as well and they are specially designed for working professionals.

4. Ask your organization whether they will sponsor you

A lot of organizations sponsor their employee's education. It is a good idea to ask your boos whether the organization would fund your MBA. Though we don't know for sure, chances are that your organization may sponsor your degree. It is a great way of saving the educational expenses and getting your degree. It will keep your organization in the loop and may even help you secure a promotion.

The Business Of Cleaning

Starting your own cleaning business can be a daunting task, but it can be easy enough if you find the right help. First of all, you should have enough money to start up. If that requires getting a loan from the bank, do it; to make money you have to spend money. After acquiring sufficient funds, you will need to start spending; things on your shopping list should include: cleaning supplies, many workers, a location to run your business out of, and maybe even vans to ship your workers out. After completing all of these, you will need to determine what type of cleaning business that you want to operate. There are several choices, including private home cleaning, office cleaning, industrial cleaning, or even specialized cleaning, such as the inside of cars or even cleaning places like schools or churches. Depending on what field you choose, you will need different supplies, but they will all be very similar jobs.

Once you have made all of your purchases, you will need to get all of your necessary licenses, generally you will need to register with the Better Business Bureau, and then follow all of your state's particular guidelines for regulations of personal cleaning businesses. You may be able to bypass these if you operate a cleaning franchise, like The Maids or another business. Depending on what you do, this may be the most difficult part of running your own cleaning business.

Next, you will most likely need to hire workers. Secretaries, vacuumers, scrubbers, dusters, cleaners, drivers, you name it. Good screening of potential employees will ensure that your business will run, well, cleanly. You will need at least one crew full of people that can do one job (like cleaning one house or building), and this crew will need their own supplies and equipment. Also, you will need vehicles that can transport your employees from the home base to the place that needs to be clean. Once your business is all ready to go, you will need to find customers. A good place to begin is with close friends and family members who can be given services for free or at a reduced price, and they will do you the favor of spreading the word around town about your new business. Also, advertising is a good idea, things like placing your logo on trucks, vans, signs, and in the paper and on the news will help you get your first customers. One final thing to consider is to have a discount available, just so you can get new customers used to your service.

Once your business is in full swing, you will need to regularly maintain by always paying your bills, ensuring that you have happy customers, and especially keep your employees happy. You must likely want to give them as little as possible so that they are happy, but you will still be making money. Make sure you are stocked up on cleaning supplies, and make sure your equipment is working. At this point, you may want to hire an accountant to deal with your money flow, and find ways to make more cash out of what you are doing. For example, you may want to purchase a different brand of cleaner for cheaper, or you may have some of your employee's multi-task.

All in all, running a business is difficult, and specializing in cleaning is especially difficult, as you can have regular customers, but your services are only needed every couple of months. However, it is a good thing that you don't need many customers to make profit, as cleaning is an expensive chore. So good luck on owning your own business; you'll need it.