There are some people whose whole world revolves around their appearance. They worry about the right trendy haircut, the right makeup, their weight and muscle tone, the newest fashion styles, all the must-have accessories like designer sunglasses and purses, bling, etc. I say that a person should be well groomed and dressed appropriately for the occasion but there is a lot more to consider about a person than their appearance. However, I am not discounting appearance and for some people with congenital disfigurement, accident victims, and people who were shortchanged in the good looks department who could use a little help, there are excellent plastic surgeons and cosmetic surgeons who can help.

If you are thinking about cosmetic surgery, there are many things to consider in selecting the right physician. Do you want a surgeon who is local to your home or would you prefer some privacy and look for someone in a nearby city? Does the physician have all the right credentials for the specialty you need? Have you seen examples of their work, such as friends or people that you know, or perhaps some before and after photos? Is the fee schedule in your price range? Do they have a good “bedside manner”?

One way to find the right cosmetic surgeon is to consult an online directory that lets you search for the criteria that is important to you. I like the web site called “ienhance.com” that has an extensive directory of qualified medical professionals, including plastic surgeons and cosmetic surgeons. Before committing to someone you don’t know, check out this directory and see if there are other options or if the one you are considering is listed here. It might make a difference in your decision and the outcome.

I’ve driven along Interstate 40 many many times over the years. You can almost take I-40 coast to coast, except it breaks up around the Tennessee and North Carolina border. Over the weekend I logged over 15 hours on I-40 and I noticed a few remarkable things.

There was almost no road construction the entire trip, and the one tiny stretch of construction that was in Eastern Oklahoma was not being worked on so there was no delay to traffic at all. Just a thousand orange cones restricting access to one lane for a few miles.

There was an awful lot of roadkill and shredded tires on the sides of the road. I don’t remember the roadside ever being this trashy. I can’t understand why the different states don’t have someone in the highway department checking the road and removing roadkill and huge hunks of tires. It’s a safety issue, after all.

There were dozens of dead armadillos on the road side. I mean dozens. There never used to be any armadillos this far north. There were dead armadillos as far east as Tennessee and throughout Arkansas and Oklahoma. The past couple of years must have been the start of an invasion of armadillos. It was a large number of carcasses of a variety of animals but the number of armadillos outpaced the other types combined by more than double, including skunks, oppossums, raccoons, deer, coyotes, snakes, rabbits, etc.

Thinking back to when I first started working with the internet, I’m amazed that this modern technology tool has grown so quickly and has opened up the world to all of us. Just the concept of sending data across phone lines, cable connections, satellite signals and even the local networks within a building or a home is just astonishing.

It is interesting to reflect back to the pioneers who promoted dial up access and email accounts and compare them to the other major industry inventors and leaders, such as Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, and Sam Walton. All these men have contributed to a vastly improved quality of life for millions of people. And so has the internet.

Some of us are still trying to figure out how to make money using computers and the internet aside from a daily tool at the desk job or standard corporate office. I believe there is a huge potential for people who can recognize early trends and make a move quickly, such as people who can build a portfolio of domain names and web sites. I’ve heard the phrase “online real estate” used and I think that’s very appropriate. If you invest in domain names you are actually accumulating property. So with the right help in web site design and marketing, anyone can start their own online real estate empire.

That’s why I’ve looked into the iGoMogul website. These are the type of experts that I’m talking about who can help the early adapters get in on the ground floor of the online real estate development. I think it is all very exciting and I want to be a part of this new frontier. I just need a little help to get started on the right track.

I’ve always believed that one of the most important people in an organization is a good receptionist. She is the person with the power to connect you with the right person or to send you packing empty handed. She is the gatekeeper to the organization’s power center and worth making every effort to befriend.

A good receptionist also sets the tone for the visitor’s first impression of the company. If the receptionist is well dressed, attractively made up and coiffed, and confident in her work environment, it speaks volumes for what the visitor can expect from the rest of their dealings with that organization.

Even after I’ve left a company and moved on, I’ve kept track of the receptionists that worked there with me and I send them an online card or email to stay in touch every once in a while. You never know when you might need a favor, and I want them to know that if they ever need a favor they are welcome to call on me.

When I started with my last company, everything happened pretty fast. I got a call from their Human Resources Manager that the COO wanted to meet with me for an interview while he was in Atlanta on business. She promised to reimburse my expenses for the trip, as Atlanta is 5 hours away and not exactly just down the street. The meeting went well and he offered me the job on the spot, indicating that I should plan to move to the west coast after Labor Day. I was fine with that, but a little miffed that I wasn’t invited to their annual convention in August. IT seems that attending the convention would be a great quick start to joining a new company. A chance to meet all the power players at once and put a face to the name.

I suggested to the HR Manager that I attend and she agreed it would be a good idea, so she cleared it with the COO and told me to make all the travel arrangements to get out to Las Vegas for the convention.

So by then company owed me several hundred dollar and I asked for an expense report form to turn in the expenses for reimbursement. That’s when things got strange - no one would send me an expense report. I was out of pocket for three months, which wasn’t a huge problem but made me very uncomfortable wondering if I was going to get the shaft. It wasn’t until I got out their and sat at my new computer that I understood what the problem was. The company uses online expense and time management - they don’t use printed forms.

As I learned how to use the time management program I became a big fan. It is so easy to use and the reports it generates are fantastic. When you are involved in construction and multiple contracts, having access to Time Management Software is a valuable management tool. The right program helps track all the expenses and project information so the management team as well as all the team members always know where we stand, week by week, day by day - even hour by hour because the data is presented in real time.

Having access to the time management and expense program was such a joy, I forgave them for the first few months of uncertainty.