Blog Posts by Michelle

Hurricane Irene is bearing down even as I write this post. Be safe and heed warnings by local and state authorities.
Here is a great article on tips to keep you safe and comfortable during a hurricane.
Hurricane tips

In a survey by TripAdvisor, out of some 1100 respondents, 78% believe "toplessness" is acceptable in places where it is culturally acceptable. Most of these respondents cited places like Spain and other parts of Europe where it is a social norm. But did you know that right here in good old New Jersey there are nude beaches?
Gunnison Beach is a "Clothing optional beach" in Sandy Hook NJ. One can take a "Seastreak Ferry" from Manhattan to visit the beach.
Prior to 1972, Gunnison Beach was a military base where the soldiers (mostly men) would go skinny dip. Eventually it continued its skinny dipping tradition.Nowadays the beach attracts visitors of all ages.

There are some basic ettiquetes:

1. No gawking
2. No Public sex - get a room
3. No taking pictures

Almost every employee has an email account. It is one of the necessities that help employees, clients etc communicate with each other. Yet, this has become a source of "stress" for most employees. Why do we stress out on emails? In a recent study at Boston University titled: Email as a source and symbol of Stress; Professor Stine Grodal outlines her findings on how emails have blurred the line between private me time and work time. While in the past it was rude to call your employees during their private time, that distinction has been crossed with emails. We all know what stress brings along with it. Feeling of being overworked, fatigue, high blood pressure grey hairs, wrinkles and Adult Acne.
Some of the issues are: 1. Poorly written emails - causing readers to waste time figuring out what it means resulting in lost productivity. 2. Work pileup: Email inbox is synonymous with the dreaded table inbox of yesteryears. Emails get piled up and the recipient feels the urge to respond or

Just to be clear - this is not a recipe for making fudge!
We all fudge truth. Researchers fudge their data a bit to be more successful, global warming fudge, - you know, make it more sensational for readers.
Research poll indicates that men often fudge about how much they make by 10%. Women fudge about their age and weight.
Overall both fudges is to help them look attractive in their jobs or help them in finding the next best job.So should women fudge about their incomes?
(On other note, I am now craving for real fudge. Where did I put my car keys?)

So "Justice has been dealt". The guy who terrorized one and all - Americans, Pakistanis, Indians, Afghans and more regardless of their faith now lies at the bottom of the ocean. The Navy Seals executed a well practiced plan and fulfilled their objective. Kudos to all involved.
Now comes the guessing and second guessing. Is he really dead? Did our Pakistani buddies know about it or were they just lying and milking the situation for more aid? Would releasing the photos put an end to all of these wandering minds?
All of this controversy is taking away from the key achievement

In a side note, some Kuwaiti newspaper has published a alleged will of Bin Laden. Salient features:
1. His wives cannot remarry 2. His children must not join Al queda. (But the poor hapless minions can blow themselves for a cause he espoused)

How many times one comes across a website with photos of individuals that look like models. Websites for dental services, doctor practices, engineering design offices, beauticians and more have websites that show glamorous people in stereotyped pose.
Stock photos can be obtained from several websites on the internet. Some webdesign firms offer their own cache of photos taken specifically for certain work. Smaller businesses, new businesses are more inclined to using stock photos for obvious reasons.
Question is - do you get turned off when you see stock pictures or do you simple ignore them and move on to the content and judge a site by its word content.

It's summer and once again the gas prices make their anticipated jump in the hopes that American will take vacations, drive more and cause more demand for gas. But guess what - economy has been in the dumps the last few years, job losses, unemployment and basically uncertain conditions have caused most of us to hunker down and weather the storm. So what really is fueling the rise in gas?
I do not completely buy the argument about growing economies. If Americans cannot afford current gas prices how can families in these countries far less a day afford high gas prices?
Already, I shiver when I have to travel. I drive if I can visit at least 3-4 chores and mentally map the shortest possible route.
Food manufacturers have already shrunk the amount of food in their packaging while keeping costs same. Others have raised their prices. Either way costs have gone up. Is there any company out there that has not raised prices?
How do you handle it?

Jasmine flowers have been used as fragrance by women long before modern fragrance houses captured the aroma for "anytime, anywhere" use. The term Jasmine is derived from the Persian language "Yasmin" which means "Gift from the God"

In India, Jasmine is called "Mogra" in Hindi or "Mallika" in Sanskrit. Ayurveda mentions the use of flowers and its essential oil as a "Sattvic tonic". It symbolizes compassion and love and hence recommended as an aphrodisiac for women. Ayurveda also recommends its use in curing specific ailments.

Chinese call the flower "Mo Li" and use the flower for scenting and herbal tea. Some manufacturers blend Jasmine flowers with Green tea.

Scientists have discovered that the sweet smell of Jasmine is just as effective as valium in calming nerves. Jasmine increased the GABA effect significantly and compared favorably with sedatives and relaxants- with the harmful side-effectslike dizziness, impaired coordination and hypotension.

Laboratory tests