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Monday Morning Coffee

Monday, June 11, 2012

by Becky Sill

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"When roadblocks, locked gates, and unexpected turns sprout up along the path we've mapped out, we can quit on the spot and progress no further. Or, we can build a new path and follow it in whatever direction our imagination takes us. For those who dream, the choice is simple."
~ from Country Living magazine

A NEW DIRECTION!

So . . . you've done all those things the greatest minds have suggested - you've planned your life's objectives and created a career/life/family path, and have no doubt where it will lead you. You're on your own "Yellow Brick Road" to happiness and prosperity until . . . ZAP! . . . there appears a sign on the path that reads, "Road Closed."

You peer past the sign to determine the road condition. It looks OK, so you veer around the sign and continue. The road turns to gravel, then dirt, then narrows to a walking path. You leave the car, and continue on foot. Soon your arms are scratched by briars, you begin to tire, and the path abruptly ends at a sheer 200' cliff. Your trip is over. There are no more "yellow bricks" to follow. What now?

If you've ever come to the end of such a road in your life, you well know the sinking feeling that came over you. No matter how much you felt like giving up, the situation was no doubt resolved by creating a new road, a new path leading in an entirely different direction.

You may have had to hack at the briars, trim back the trees, and even bulldoze your way in a new direction. It may have taken time, with compass and hiking shoes, to blaze that new trail. It may have been exhausting work, but in the end you reached your destination.

You have two choices when faced with a roadblock. You can quit, or you can put your imagination to work finding an alternate route. In the words of Sir Winston Churchill "Never give up. Never give up."

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Simple Ideas for Cool Charging Stations

Monday, June 04, 2012

by Becky Sill

Simple Ideas for Cool Charging Stations Almost everyone has multiple gadgets that they need to keep charged. Between the cell phone, mp3 player, and tablet, tables and desks can look like a maze of cords. They can take up valuable space and become a hazard. Fortunately, you can create a charging station that will keep your items handy and organized.

Clear Table Space

Instead of laying your gadgets on a desk , table, or counter taking up space, consider another option: a wall shelf. One idea is to take the IKEA magazine holders and fasten a flat piece of wood on top, stain everything and hang it on the wall. You can use the magazine holders as a place to store your mail when you bring it in the house. The shelf will hold the cell phones and other items that need charged. The only requirement is that you place it near an electrical outlet.

Use a Cubby

Get a cubby like they have in day cares and schools and fasten it on a wall close to an outlet. Fasten a piece of white board close to the back of the cubby with small holes drilled for the cords. You can even put a picture on the fake wall to make it look interesting. The fake wall will hide the cords and you have a place to put your devices while charging. The cubby can be painted to fit any décor and allow you to put in a living room or kitchen or whatever room you use to charge your electronic items.

Use a Serving Bowl

A unique idea is to take a big bowl and drill a hole in the side for the cords to go through. Place soft padding inside the bowl and put your devices inside. This idea works well in a kitchen or dining room. You can glue wooden blocks to the bottom of the bowl to allow room for the cords before placing the padding inside.

Hiding the Wires

If you are concerned about the mass of cords from your devices either for safety or for aesthetics, you can buy cable boxes that will keep them hidden. You can fasten power strips that hide the cords on a table or you can integrate them in your design. If you use a shelf to charge your items, you will have a length of cord going to the outlet even if you place the shelf close to it. Buy some greenery or flowers and place in front of the cords either in a vase or fastened to the wall. The stems of the flowers can camouflage the ugly cords.

With a little imagination, you can design your own charging station without paying a fortune for some fancy design. You can re-purpose many household objects with just a drill for the cords and create a one-of-a-kind idea.

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Phone Charging

Monday Morning Coffee

Monday, June 04, 2012

by Becky Sill

Monday Morning Coffee

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"Half the failures in life arise from pulling in one's horse as he is leaping.""

-J.C. and A.W. Hare

GIVE SUCCESS A CHANCE!

Have you ever tried to accomplish something, but given up before your plan or actions have come to fruition? Maybe you're just trying to organize a huge stack of paperwork, or perhaps you're trying to build up your database of leads or increase your sales by a certain percentage within a certain amount of time.

Of course, you feel a degree of frustration if you don't achieve the results you were hoping for. Frustration points you in one of two directions: either you'll be defeated, or you'll be pushed to try even harder to succeed. The surest way to guarantee failure is to quit before you've given enough time or effort to get the job done.

Also consider by whose standards you are measuring your success. Are you trying to live up to someone else's unreasonable expectations or goals? Then it might be time to approach that boss or spouse or instructor and let them know that your progress is guaranteed, but perhaps not on the established schedule. Bill Cosby once said, "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."

Chances are that whatever goals you've set for yourself, you can achieve them, but setting reasonable goals in the first place will go a long way toward success. Maybe you should "pull in your horse" BEFORE he leaps if you feel he's not going to make it over the hurdle. Also remember that it's your effort to achieve that is ultimately the most important part of that success (kind of like the old adage about the journey vs. the destination). Don't forget the words of Lloyd Jones, who said, "The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed."

Success can be a relative term and depends upon the perspective of yourself and others. Do whatever you can to accomplish your goals or the goals that others set before you, but regardless of the outcome, you should ultimately be satisfied with the work you've done.

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DIY: How to Repair a Shattered iPhone Screen

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

by Becky Sill

DIY: How to Repair a Shattered iPhone Screen Steve Jobs may have demanded perfection when he asked his designers to use glass for the iPhone screen, but did he realize the potential catastrophe if someone dropped the smartphone? Glass is, unfortunately for the iPhone, extremely breakable. Perhaps while pulling it out of your pocket your iPhone suddenly slips through your fingers and cracks on the hard surface beneath your feet. In such dire circumstances, have no fear. The following do-it-yourself guide will show you how to repair your shattered screen.

First, know your options. Did you opt for the insurance package when you got your iPhone? If you didn’t spring for the extra $100 coverage plan, there are other options. Apple offers a screen repair service for $199. A host of third-party businesses will perform the same repair for anywhere between $100 and $150. Yet another option, if you’re the adventurous, mechanically-inclined type, is to fix it yourself. To repair the screen yourself, you’ll to need to supply yourself with a few tools, which leads us to the next step.

Second, purchase a replacement kit. There is an array of replacement kit choices, so now is also the time to do a bit of research. offers an iPhone repair kit for $119.95. Another do-it-yourself kit on Amazon costs only $6.90. Because the difference in price is so huge, consider the components and parts supplied in each. If you buy the cheaper one off iFixitAmazon, will you need to purchase other tools or replacement materials later? Understand all the costs involved, including the components and tools necessary, before you make any purchase.

A common mistake here is ordering the wrong part. To ensure you receive the repair kit that corresponds to your phone, make sure you know what generation you own with this helpful guide. Usually, for later generation iPhones (iPhone 4, iPhone 4s), if the front screen is cracked, the entire hull of the phone has to be replaced. Because the Apple design engineers fuse together the LCD screen with the glass touch panel, you to have to replace both parts even if one of them is working. The back panel, however, is easy to replace if damaged.

Third, don’t let reviews scare you off. Repairing the iPhone screen is a logical, mechanical task that is not hugely expensive, especially since there are plenty of online tutorials to guide you through the process. If you’ve ever added RAM in a laptop, or replaced your computer’s hard drive, repairing the iPhone screen is a piece of cake. It may be challenging because the parts are unfamiliar and small, but it doesn’t require any soldering.

Finally, set aside a few hours for the repair. This clear and comprehensive video from DirectFix.com shows you how to replace the iPhone screen. By following this process step-by-step, you can replace your iPhone screen with a little bit of elbow grease and not too much expense.

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Iphone Broken Screen DIY Cracked Screen

Brighten Someone's Day with a Random Act of Kindness

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

by Becky Sill

Brighten Someone's Day with a Random Act of Kindness Have you ever had a stranger offer you their place in line at a grocery store or open the door for you when your hands were full? If you’ve really been lucky, maybe someone paid for your meal at a drive-thru. We call these random acts of kindness - when someone does something nice for us even when they don’t know us.

The idea is to be nice to someone so they can pass it on to someone else. If we all lived this way, think how much nicer the world (or your community) would be. Here are a few ideas to help you with some random acts of kindness of your own.

Money

One of the biggest ways you can help someone is by using your money. You can do any of the following and it will make a difference:

-Put a quarter in a meter when you are about to leave or in the spot next to you

-Tip a service person more than the usual

-When you leave a foreign country, give away all of the currency that is left instead of converting it back

-Offer to babysit for free

-Offer your services to a charity organization for free

-Donate items

-Give a warm coat to someone in a homeless shelter

Your Time

Sometimes it can be even harder to give away your time than it is your money. Here are some ideas that don’t cost anything more than a few minutes or hours.

-Donate blood

-Give up your seat on a crowded bus or in a waiting room

-Visit a nursing home and spend time with a resident

-Smile at a stranger

-Let someone take your place in line

-Open the door for someone

-Carry someone’s bags when their arms are full

-Tell a service person that they are doing a good job

-Volunteer at a hospice to sit with a terminally ill person

Your Wisdom

Have you learnt anything special in your years of living? Draw from that pool of knowledge and help someone else.

-Join Big Brothers or Big Sisters and mentor a child

-Volunteer to tutor a child or adult

-Offer your skills to a career center or other place that helps people find jobs and teach others

-Give tips to a tourist about the best places to visit or eat

-Praise people whom you notice doing a good job

-Volunteer at a charity organization

You can find hundreds of ways to give your time, talent, and money to help others. This list is just to give you a start to find ways that you can make an impact in the world. You may think that you are just one person, so how much of a difference can you really make. To just one person, you can make a world of difference.

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Monday Morning Coffee

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

by Becky Sill

Monday Morning Coffee

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"The manner in which it is given is worth more than the gift."

~ Pierre Corneille (1606-1684)

JOIN THE VOLUNTEER BRIGADE!

Back in the '70s, CB radios became popular, especially among the nation's truckers. You could tune in Channel 19 and listen to a constant chatter among truckers and others with radios. If you were traveling on an interstate highway, you could get info on traffic, weather, wreck scenes to avoid, radar traps, and other useful tidbits. It was like there was a whole other world of activity going on around you IF you had a CB radio. Those who didn't were oblivious to the activity - yet it was still there.

The same is true of the volunteer brigade - those who offer their time and talents to worthy causes without reward. In any given community, there is a work force that operates 24/7 without any expectation of reward. If you're not one of them, you are probably oblivious to their daily actions to serve the community - but they are out there working whether or not you know it.

One example that comes to mind is a recent wreck scene. At 1:00 AM a vehicle traveling at over 90 mph left the road, went over an embankment, and hit the bottom upside down. A witness to the crash was amazed to see about 15 firefighters, EMTs, and rescue squad volunteers on the scene within 5 minutes after the wreck was reported. The witness asked in surprise, "Where did you guys come from?" One minute traffic was normal, and those 15 volunteers were in their warm beds. Five minutes later they were saving a life.

There are many ways to make a life-altering contribution to others as a volunteer. Most are not as glamorous as saving a life, yet all contribute to the many unmet needs of community members. Each of us has talents that can be put to use for those in need. A little self-examination will help identify your potential contribution. With all the blessings we enjoy in this country, each of us should make an effort to reach out to others. Why not join the volunteer brigade today?

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Volunteers Community Service

Monday Morning Coffee

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

by Becky Sill

Monday Morning Coffee

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"The test of courage comes when we are in the minority."

~ Ralph W. Sockman

A LEAGUE OF YOUR OWN!

Have you sometimes felt like you were “out of your league” when reaching toward a lofty goal or competing against others for the “brass ring”? Imagine being a 5-foot-5-inch tall player in the National Basketball Association! Every time Earl Boykins of the Denver Nuggets walks onto the court, he hears jeers like, “Look at the little guy!” and, “Who decided to let the ball boy play?"

Although diminutive in size, Boykins always dreamed of playing in the NBA. Obviously, it took heaps of courage, determination and hard work to make that dream come true. In a year when many college players now recognized as “underachievers” were selected in the first and second rounds, Earl Boykins went undrafted.

But if you do not doubt yourself, you can either ignore the doubts of others or use their disbelief as a tool to motivate your achievement. When you set your goals a little bit higher than what you can reasonably accomplish, it’s surprising how far you can go.

Boykins started his professional career in Canada, and then began a series of short-term contracts with several NBA teams. While no one offered to keep him, he did not give up. In and out of season, he worked out, ran drills, and played every day. He explains, “There are no days off for me. I have to work longer and harder than everyone else to be successful.”

Then he set another goal and refused to waiver from it: He would only join a team that offered him a position as the top backup – setting a reasonable goal, but “kicking it up one notch.”

Now he plays for Denver, with his statistics and playing time on the rise. Another lesson from this? Be aware of the promise in others, recognize greatness in unexpected places, and seize the opportunity to nurture the success lying just below the surface.

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Monday Morning Coffee

Monday, May 14, 2012

by Becky Sill

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"Trouble creates a capacity to handle it."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. "What one has to do usually can be done."
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

A BLUE RIBBON EFFORT!

Have you ever surprised yourself with a moment of creativity or lucidity, just when you were sure you didn’t have it in you? Last fall there was a garden club show, and one of the members who always performed well was considering not entering. She had just returned from vacation the day before to discover that unwelcome pests had ravished most everything in her garden.

Trying to back out, she explained that there was nothing in her yard but weeds, but a friend insisted, “I’m sure you’ll find something.” Lacking inspiration, she headed out to the yard with her tools and bucket anyway. She worked, recalling the words of her mother. “You will not always have the things you would like, but you can always make do with what you have.”

She discovered a vine with little blue flowers crawling up the trellis. She realized how pretty the bright yellow dandelions were. Wild daisies and pansies appeared in unexpected places, “sown” by bird droppings.

She headed back to the house and began her arrangement, hiding a coffee can pot inside a sewing basket. She then rushed over to meet the submission deadline. Glad that everyone else had already deposited their entries, she sneaked in her less-than-blue-ribbon quality candidate. She didn’t even stick around for the judging.

When she returned to pick up her contestant, she was shocked to discover a blue ribbon pinned to it, with a note that read, “This entry gets the blue ribbon because it meets all the test requirements for proportion, suitability of container to the contents and beauty, and also is very original.”

So she did “make do” with what she had, although she thought she didn’t have a chance. So remember that your own strength and creativity are always there, you just never know just how much you’ve got until you are called upon to put it to use!

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5 Ways to Brgihten Up Your Workplace

Thursday, May 10, 2012

by Becky Sill

5 Ways to Brighten Up Your Workplace Since work is where many people spend the majority of their waking hours, it is conceivable that they would want it to be a place they can enjoy. Happy employees are productive employees, and part of a manager’s job is to keep their staff in a working mood. Here are a few ideas on how to make work feel more like play.

Celebrate

Allow your employees to celebrate holidays by decorating and bringing in food. You can extend this to major holidays and include other days that are appropriate. You may have to create rules to reign in the enthusiasm of your staff, but allow them to have some fun, too.

Celebrate major accomplishments of a department, group, or individual. It will make everyone feel more like a team. People will be honored and feel important to be acknowledged in a special way.

Decorate

Let everyone get creative with the office design. If not for the entire area, at least have each individual office or cubicle show some personality with personal items. Hang motivational posters or beautiful designs that inspire.

Have Fun

Select a day for everyone to dress up in a theme. It can be funny or serious, but let everyone be creative. You may have to provide some guidelines, but let them have freedom with the idea. You could also have a restaurant cater a meal, or bring in snacks and dessert as a treat.

Another great idea is to set up a get-together outside of work for the group to participate in. It could be a movie, bowling, or another activity that everyone enjoys. Creating camaraderie between co-workers outside of their workplace can produce a stronger bond at the office.

Get Involved

Have your staff get involved in the community and volunteer with a charity organization. If possible, try to allow some time during work that they can do something. This way, it won’t take time away from their family, and it will encourage them to volunteer for a worthwhile cause.

If it is not feasible for employees to volunteer during work time, they can organize a fundraising campaign to raise money for worthy causes. The company could volunteer to donate money for extra work done during a period of time. For instance, every employee who surpasses their sales goals would receive money for their chosen charity.

Communicate

Designate a certain time each week or month to have an informal meeting. This should be a time when employees can talk about their daily work, or vent their problems. Your job will be to listen instead of conducting the meeting. While this may not seem like it makes work more fun, it gets problems out in the open so they can be dealt with, and the staff can enjoy their jobs.

If everyone has to spend most of their waking hours at their job, why not make it a fun place to be?

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Monday Morning Coffee

Monday, May 07, 2012

by Becky Sill

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"There is a law in psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you keep and hold that picture there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking."

- William James (1842-1910)

YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!

Walk into a totally dark room. What do you see? "Absolutely nothing," you say. Now, turn on the light. Where did the darkness go? Really - where is it now? Hopefully you will agree that darkness cannot exist in the face of light.

During a lifetime, we experience many types of "darkness." It may appear in the form of discouragement, fear, hopelessness, grief, ignorance, or poverty. Yet, in every case, there is a "light" in which such darkness cannot exist.

Fear, for example, cannot exist in the face of courage. Education denies ignorance any chance of survival. Grief disappears in the presence of peace-of-mind. Discouragement ceases when hope prevails. Wealth denies poverty its chance.

No matter what form darkness takes, it cannot exist when faced with its opposite. That also means we have the ability to send darkness on its way at any point in time. No matter how overwhelming the darkness appears, it is our thoughts and our minds that ultimately control the outcome. How powerful is that?

In the words of several favorite authors: "Think you can, think you can't, either way you're right." "Your life is what your thoughts make of it." "We are what we think about all day long." Finally, in the words of Tom Bodett, from one of his Motel 6 commercials: "We'll leave the light on for you!"