Lunch time

So I have been asking myself lately, why do people feel the need to go have lunch at exactly Noon. It is like we are programed to eat at a specific time. Did someone write a book about the times to eat and I just missed it? I have never really gotten the breakfast "time", dinner "time" thing. But it seems that we are designed to:

Eat breakfast at 8
Eat lunch at Noon
Eat dinner at 6

Well that doesn’t work for me, and it doesn’t work for most of the people I know. Ok sure, the breakfast thing works. I grab a banana or apple on the way out the door at 8 am and eat it on my way to work or when I get to work around 8:15. But the lunch, this has always made me ponder. I don’t know about everyone, but for me, I usually work from about 8:30-6 or around that. So for me eating lunch after I have only been at work for 3 ½ hrs doesn’t seem logical if I am going to be there for 9 ½ hrs…or am I crazy?? I just ate 3 ½ hrs ago if I eat now….then I have to go 6 hrs until I eat again. That doesn’t include the drive home and of course the never ending stops that I have to make before I get home, be it the grocery store, gas station, dry cleaners, post office, bank….I seem to never make it home before 6:30 on a good day!!! Most days it is 7 before I walk in the door!! Then of course I have to change, run (or some form of workout after sitting on my butt for 9 hrs) and then of course comes cooking dinner!! So I am not going to eat until 8:30-9 at night! Yah I know late right, but heck, how do you suppose I eat any earlier. Can’t eat before I run….that would just make me sick….can’t eat before I cook. I guess that is why a lot of people vote for fast food on the way home, they get to eat right away.

But for me, a good lunch time is between 1:30-2:30. That way, I don’t snack. It is 5-6 hrs between breakfast & Lunch and then 6-7 hrs till Dinner. If I try to eat at Noon, like some unknowns to me book said, by 5 I am so hungry that I can’t run after work or do anything because I feel like if I don’t eat I will DIE!! So I have come up with a new schedule that people who work 8-6 should follow:

Eat breakfast at 8 (see no change there)
Eat lunch at 2
Eat dinner at 7

That seems so much better to me! Take your break later in the day, get up and move later in the day. You always see these commercials promoting their snack products (like the peanut commercial) to eat at work around 3. Well if you just had lunch and you were up moving around at 2, you won’t be dragging around 3….in fact you will be just fine. AND you won’t start dragging until well it’s time to kick back and drive home!! Look at that!! I have solved the problem, to me it makes sense, so why are people still going to lunch at NOON??

Ok and some people will say...aren't you suppose to eat 5 meals a day. 3 normal and 2 small snacks, and to that I say...WHO HAS TIME!!!?? I am lucky as heck to get the 3 in! Any more and I would not make it!

My Bloody Valentine

So I finally got to see My Bloody Valentine. I had wanted to go see it when it came out in the theaters because

A) I love horror movies
B) It was the first horror movie to be in 3D!!

How wicked cool would that have been to see. But sadly I didn’t get to go, mostly because I couldn’t find anyone to go with me and really, being a female and going to the movies alone just really says all the wrong things. So I didn’t see it…but I did talk my boyfriend in to renting it with me. It was not my proudest moment. I did the whole, “please…please please” thing. Which eventually worked or it wore him down that he figured it would just be easier to say yes. Either way we rented it curled up on the couch with some popcorn and turned out the lights. I was ready for a few good screams!!

It was a little different than a lot of horror movies, the beginning really started off like those 80’s horror movies and the story line was kinda “Blah”. It was bloody right off the bat, but it had that 80’s crap movie feel to it. Which of course I enjoyed, cuz if you know me, you know I have a thing for crap horror movies. So it starts off with this Guy, Harry Warden a miner who goes crazy down in the coal mines because a collapse occurs trapping him and a few other miners inside. Harry kills those around him so he has more oxygen to breath. The rescue workers find him alive, but he is in a comma. He wakes up in the hospital and wreaks havoc in the hospital on his way out. He heads back down to the coal mines only to find a high school party that is being held there. He goes loco and only 4 kids service the attack and everyone else dies. Tom Hanniger (played by Jensen Ackles), Sarah (played by Jamie king), Axel (Played by Kerr Smith) and Irene (played by Betsy Rue). Tom can’t handle almost being sliced throw with a pick axe, so he leaves the town. You think that would be the whole movie right. Well it’s not it is actually only the first 15 minutes of the movie. The movie jumps to 10 years later. Tom returns to the small mining town, only to find that his girlfriend Sarah is now married to Axel who became the town sheriff. Soon after Tom arrives in town, Harry Warden strikes again, once again bringing chaos and destruction to the small town.

This movie was full of blood and violence at every turn. I think it would have been awesome to see it in 3D, but even missing out on that fun aspect, it was still really good! Not the best plot, but if all you are looking for is blood, murder and a few screams this is a great movie to see. It had us guessing the ending and trying to figure it out. I of course enjoyed it, so down and out screams but I did jump a few times. I think I would have screamed had I seen it in the theater with the 3D…grr for not getting the 3D!! I am keeping some of those glasses next time we take the girls to a 3D movie

50 Things to Do To Stop Global Warming

50 Things to Do To Stop Global Warming

I spent some of my time today doing research on the carbon footprint that companies leave, and I found this least of really easy, quick & simple ways to reduce your own footprint. I'm not a treehugger so to speak, but I am really big on the environment and giving the plants and animals a voice, because they don't have one of their own. We are so careless with this beautiful world that we have been given, we need to take care of it so that our children's children don't have to clean up our mess!! I know I don't want my grandchildren having to pick up after me :-)


1. Replace a regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl)
CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.


2. Install a programmable thermostat
Programmable thermostats will automatically lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in the morning. They can save you $100 a year on your energy bill.

3. Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer
Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.

4. Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner
Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.


5. Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases
Look for the Energy Star label on new appliances to choose the most energy efficient products available.

6. Do not leave appliances on standby
Use the "on/off" function on the machine itself. A TV set that's switched on for 3 hours a day (the average time Europeans spend watching TV) and in standby mode during the remaining 21 hours uses about 40% of its energy in standby mode.

7. Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket
You’ll save 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple action. You can save another 550 pounds per year by setting the thermostat no higher than 50°C.

8. Move your fridge and freezer
Placing them next to the cooker or boiler consumes much more energy than if they were standing on their own. For example, if you put them in a hot cellar room where the room temperature is 30-35ºC, energy use is almost double and causes an extra 160kg of CO2 emissions for fridges per year and 320kg for freezers.

9. Defrost old fridges and freezers regularly
Even better is to replace them with newer models, which all have automatic defrost cycles and are generally up to two times more energy-efficient than their predecessors.

10. Don't let heat escape from your house over a long period
When airing your house, open the windows for only a few minutes. If you leave a small opening all day long, the energy needed to keep it warm inside during six cold months (10ºC or less outside temperature) would result in almost 1 ton of CO2 emissions.

11. Replace your old single-glazed windows with double-glazing
This requires a bit of upfront investment, but will halve the energy lost through windows and pay off in the long term. If you go for the best the market has to offer (wooden-framed double-glazed units with low-emission glass and filled with argon gas), you can even save more than 70% of the energy lost.

12. Get a home energy audit
Many utilities offer free home energy audits to find where your home is poorly insulated or energy inefficient. You can save up to 30% off your energy bill and 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Energy Star can help you find an energy specialist.

13. Cover your pots while cooking
Doing so can save a lot of the energy needed for preparing the dish. Even better are pressure cookers and steamers: they can save around 70%!

14. Use the washing machine or dishwasher only when they are full
If you need to use it when it is half full, then use the half-load or economy setting. There is also no need to set the temperatures high. Nowadays detergents are so efficient that they get your clothes and dishes clean at low temperatures.

15. Take a shower instead of a bath
A shower takes up to four times less energy than a bath. To maximize the energy saving, avoid power showers and use low-flow showerheads, which are cheap and provide the same comfort.

16. Use less hot water
It takes a lot of energy to heat water. You can use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of carbon dioxide saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year) instead of hot.

17. Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible
You can save 700 pounds of carbon dioxide when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year.

18. Insulate and weatherize your home
Properly insulating your walls and ceilings can save 25% of your home heating bill and 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Caulking and weather-stripping can save another 1,700 pounds per year. Energy Efficient has more information on how to better insulate your home.

19. Be sure you’re recycling at home
You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates.

20. Recycle your organic waste
Around 3% of the greenhouse gas emissions through the methane is released by decomposing bio-degradable waste. By recycling organic waste or composting it if you have a garden, you can help eliminate this problem! Just make sure that you compost it properly, so it decomposes with sufficient oxygen, otherwise your compost will cause methane emissions and smell foul.

21. Buy intelligently
One bottle of 1.5l requires less energy and produces less waste than three bottles of 0.5l. As well, buy recycled paper products: it takes less 70 to 90% less energy to make recycled paper and it prevents the loss of forests worldwide.

22. Choose products that come with little packaging and buy refills when you can
You will also cut down on waste production and energy use... another help against global warming.

23. Reuse your shopping bag
When shopping, it saves energy and waste to use a reusable bag instead of accepting a disposable one in each shop. Waste not only discharges CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, it can also pollute the air, groundwater and soil.

24. Reduce waste
Most products we buy cause greenhouse gas emissions in one or another way, e.g. during production and distribution. By taking your lunch in a reusable lunch box instead of a disposable one, you save the energy needed to produce new lunch boxes.

25. Plant a tree
A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%. The Arbor Day Foundation has information on planting and provides trees you can plant with membership.

26. Switch to green power
In many areas, you can switch to energy generated by clean, renewable sources such as wind and solar. In some of these, you can even get refunds by government if you choose to switch to a clean energy producer, and you can also earn money by selling the energy you produce and don't use for yourself.

27. Buy locally grown and produced foods
The average meal in the United States travels 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. Buying locally will save fuel and keep money in your community.

28. Buy fresh foods instead of frozen
Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.

29. Seek out and support local farmers markets
They reduce the amount of energy required to grow and transport the food to you by one fifth. Seek farmer’s markets in your area, and go for them.

30. Buy organic foods as much as possible
Organic soils capture and store carbon dioxide at much higher levels than soils from conventional farms. If we grew all of our corn and soybeans organically, we’d remove 580 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere!

31. Eat less meat
Methane is the second most significant greenhouse gas and cows are one of the greatest methane emitters. Their grassy diet and multiple stomachs cause them to produce methane, which they exhale with every breath.

32. Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible
Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year! Look for transit options in your area.

33. Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmates
Sharing a ride with someone just 2 days a week will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds a year. eRideShare.com runs a free service connecting north american commuters and travelers.

34. Don't leave an empty roof rack on your car
This can increase fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 10% due to wind resistance and the extra weight - removing it is a better idea.

35. Keep your car tuned up
Regular maintenance helps improve fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. When just 1% of car owners properly maintain their cars, nearly a billion pounds of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere.

36. Drive carefully and do not waste fuel
You can reduce CO2 emissions by readjusting your driving style. Choose proper gears, do not abuse the gas pedal, use the engine brake instead of the pedal brake when possible and turn off your engine when your vehicle is motionless for more than one minute. By readjusting your driving style you can save money on both fuel and car maintenance.

37. Check your tires weekly to make sure they’re properly inflated
Proper tire inflation can improve gas mileage by more than 3%. Since every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, every increase in fuel efficiency makes a difference!

38. When it is time for a new car, choose a more fuel efficient vehicle
You can save 3,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year if your new car gets only 3 miles per gallon more than your current one. You can get up to 60 miles per gallon with a hybrid! You can find information on fuel efficiency on FuelEconomy and on GreenCars websites.

39. Try car sharing
Need a car but don’t want to buy one? Community car sharing organizations provide access to a car and your membership fee covers gas, maintenance and insurance. Many companies – such as Flexcar - offer low emission or hybrid cars too! Also, see ZipCar.

40. Try telecommuting from home
Telecommuting can help you drastically reduce the number of miles you drive every week. For more information, check out the Telework Coalition.

41. Fly less
Air travel produces large amounts of emissions so reducing how much you fly by even one or two trips a year can reduce your emissions significantly. You can also offset your air travel carbon emissions by investingin renewable energy projects.

42. Encourage your school or business to reduce emissions
You can extend your positive influence on global warming well beyond your home by actively encouraging other to take action.

43. Join the virtual march
The Stop Global Warming Virtual March is a non-political effort to bring people concerned about global warming together in one place. Add your voice to the hundreds of thousands of other people urging action on this issue.

44. Encourage the switch to renewable energy
Successfully combating global warming requires a national transition to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. These technologies are ready to be deployed more widely but there are regulatory barriers impeding them. U.S. citizens, take action to break down those barriers with Vote Solar.

45. Protect and conserve forest worldwide
Forests play a critical role in global warming: they store carbon. When forests are burned or cut down, their stored carbon is release into the atmosphere - deforestation now accounts for about 20% of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Conservation International has more information on saving forests from global warming.

46. Consider the impact of your investments
If you invest your money, you should consider the impact that your investments and savings will have on global warming. Check out SocialInvest and Ceres to can learn more about how to ensure your money is being invested in companies, products and projects that address issues related to climate change.

47. Make your city cool
Cities and states around the country have taken action to stop global warming by passing innovative transportation and energy saving legislation. If you're in the U.S., join the cool cities list.

48. Tell Congress to act
The McCain Lieberman Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act would set a firm limit on carbon dioxide emissions and then use free market incentives to lower costs, promote efficiency and spur innovation. Tell your representative to support it.

49. Make sure your voice is heard!
Americans must have a stronger commitment from their government in order to stop global warming and implement solutions and such a commitment won’t come without a dramatic increase in citizen lobbying for new laws with teeth. Get the facts about U.S. politicians and candidates at Project Vote Smart and The League of Conservation Voters. Make sure your voice is heard by voting!

50. Share this list!
Send this page via e-mail to your friends! Spread this list worldwide and help people doing their part: the more people you will manage to enlighten, the greater YOUR help to save the planet will be (but please take action on first person too)!

by Globalwarming Facts
http://globalwarming-facts.info/50-tips.html

Seizure - by Robin Cook

I just finished reading Seizure by Robin Cook. Although this book started off really slow, I got into it at the end, well about 1/3 of the way into it. I guess after reading WWZ you really expect too much from a book, too much action and excitement

So the story is about Dr. Daniel Lowell and his girlfriend/colleague Dr. Stephanie D’Agosta, who’s brother is connected to the mafia, start their own gene therapy research company, CURE. Together they develop the HTSR technique which is unheard of but can heal so many different diseases. They go to Washington DC to try and get more funding for their research so they can take it to the next level when they are blindsided by Senator Ashley Butler who is a democrat, but very conservative. Ashley destroys them in front of the senate but then contacts them because he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and he wants them to cure it so that he can continue in his political ambitions.

Ashley sets aside some money and contacts a privet hospital/medical facility in Bahamas which is run by 2 very questionable doctors, both of whom have been questioned on their research with reproduction. Ashley agrees to support the HTSR bill if Dr. Lowell and Dr, D’Agosta agree to perform the procedure on him and cure his Parkinson’s. Both Daniel and Stephanie question it at first but agree if they can save their company it is worth it. The only request that Ashley has is that they use the Shroud of Turin to collect the DNA sample from.

Ashley uses his connections to gain access to a few threads the Shroud of Turin from the Catholic Church. However the church is worried on how the threads will be used, because they do not want any more scientific testing done on the Shroud, so they send someone to follow the threads and see what is done with them.

Stephanie’s brother finds out that CURE is in trouble and is worried that he is going to lose his investment into the company. When he finds out that Stephanie and Daniel are going to the Bahamas he thinks it is for vacation and not for work so his partners send a thug after Daniel to beat him into coming back to Washington DC and saving his company.

The story has a number of twists and turns and antagonists. Daniel and Stephanie seem to encounter trouble at every turn, when all they are trying to do is save their company which could help to cure millions of people.

This book ended up being very good and I enjoyed it. I would recommend it to people who enjoy more of the science side of things.

I have now started reading Saga of the Seven Suns book 2, I read book 1, which I enjoyed and I am looking forward to finishing book 2. I think there are 5 all together so it will be a while before I finish them all. My best friend as also told me I have to read another book after this so the Saga will have to go on hold again.

World War Z

I just finished reading World War Z by Max Brooks for the third time. He has also written The Zombie Survival Guide which if you are not a fan of the living dead, I do not recommend. But if you are like me, then it is another must read! I love World War Z it is one of my favorite books of all time. It is always hard to decide on a favorite book, because of all the different types out there. But this is one of the top books, it is so detailed and in depth it makes you feel as if you are truly there! You can relate to the characters. It seems so realistic, as if “Yes this really happened!” and “This is how we would all react, and survive….”
I have a very special obsession with Zombies. Something about the idea of the dead rising up and attacking the living just gives me a fearful adrenalin rush. Although I know that zombies don't exist, part of me is truly waiting for the day that some crazed scientist does end up creating zombies trying to figure out how to evade death. I guess that is why I have re-read The Zombie Survival Guide over and over again. It helps me prepare, along with other things. I think about what would happen (one of the reasons I didn't take a first floor apartment...that and peeping toms and crazy rapist men)!
So World War Z is not just one story, it is a bunch of stories. It takes place a few years after the great zombie war; Max Brooks goes around the world and interviews people on their experiences with zombies. He tells their stories through their eyes. One of my favorite sub-story is the tale of what happens at Yonkers. So I felt I should give everyone a little...long quote. I have been trying to get my best friend to read this book for a while, so I sent her this to help encourage her….and it did :o)

“Funny thing about Zac, you always expected them to be dressed in their Sunday bests, that‘s how the media portrayed them, right, especially in the beginning, G’s in business suits and dresses.”
“The fire was dying and Zac was still coming. The Fear everyone was feeling. The little voice in the back of your head that keeps squeaking oh shit, oh shit. We were the last line of defense the afterthought when it came to fire power, we were suppose to pick off the random lucky G who managed to slip by the bitch slap of our heaver stuff. Maybe 1 in 3 of us were expected to fire our weapon, 1 in every 10 expected to score a kill. They came by the thousands, spilling out over the freeway guard rails, down the side streets around the houses, threw them, so many their moans so loud they echoed right through our hoods. We flipped our safes off, cited our targets, the order came to fire. I was a saw gunner, a light machine gun that your suppose to fire is short, controlled bursts about as long as it take to say DIE MOTHER FUCKER DIE. The initial burst was too low. I hit one in the cheat I watched him fly backwards and hit the asphalt and get right back up as if nothing had happened. Dude when they get back up… I did my best to control my fire and my sphincter. Just go for the head, just keep it together, all the time my saw is chattering Die Motherfucker Die. We could of stopped them, we should of, one guy with a rifle that is all you need right, professional soldiers, trained marksmen, how could they get through? They still ask that. Critics and armchair patens who weren’t there. You think it’s that simple, you think after being trained to aim at the center mass your whole military career you can suddenly make an expert headshot every time? You think in that strait jacket and suffocation hood it’s that easy to recharge a clip or clear a weapon jam? You think after watching all the modern wonders of warfare fall flat out of their high tech hyper ass, after already living through 3 months of the great panic, and watching everything you knew as reality being eaten alive by an enemy that wasn’t even suppose to exist that you’re going to keep a cool fucking head and a steady fucking trigger finger.” Wanio stabs that finger at me. “What we did we still managed to do our job and make Zac pay for every fucking inch, maybe if we had more men, more ammo, maybe if we’d just been allowed to focus on our job” his finger curls back into his fist. “Land warrior, high tech, high priced, high profile, netro-fucking-centic land warrior. To see what was in front of our face was bad enough, but spybird uplinks where showing how truly large the horde really was, we might be facing thousands but behind them, were millions, remember we were taking on the bulk of New York City’s infestation. This was only the head of one really long undead snake stretching all the way back to Times fucking Square. We didn’t need to see that, I didn’t need to know that. That little scared voice wasn’t so little any more. Oh SHIT OH SHIT, it wasn’t in my head anymore, it was in my ear piece, every time some jerk off couldn’t control his mouth, Land warrior made sure the rest of us heard it. “There’s too many, we gadda get the fuck out of here” someone from another platoon, I didn’t know his name, started hollering, “I hit him in the head and he didn’t die they don’t die when you shot them in the head” I’m sure he must of missed the brain, it happens, a round just grazing the inside of the skull, maybe if he’d been calm and used his own brain he would’ve realized that. Panics even more infections then the G germ and the wonders of Land Warrior allowed that germ to become airborne. “What they don’t die, Who said that, You shot him in the head holy crap, their indestructible” All over the net you could hear this, browning shorts across the impo-super highway. “Everyone pipe down Hold the line say off the net,” It was an older guy you could tell, but suddenly he was drowned out in this scream, and suddenly my eyepieces, and I’m sure everyone else’s, was filled with the site of blood spurting into a mouth of broken teeth. The site was from a dude in a house behind the line. The owners must’ve left a few reanimated family members locked up when they bugged out. Maybe the shock from the explosion weakened the doors, or something, cuz they came bursting out right into this poor bastard. His gun camera recorded the whole thing; fell right at the perfect angel. There were 5 of them, a man, a woman 3 kids. They had him pinned on his back, the man was on his chest, the kids had him by the arms, trying to bite through his suit, the woman tore his mask off, you could see the terror in his face. Ill never forget his shriek as she bit off his chin and lower lip. “Their behind us” someone shouted “their breaking out of the houses, the lines broken, their everywhere” Suddenly the image went dark, cut off from an external source and a voice, the older voice was back again “stay off the net” he ordered, trying real hard to control his voice and then the link went dead. I’m sure it must have taken more than a few seconds, it had to, even if they’d been hovering right above our heads but it seemed as if as soon as the communications went out that the sky was suddenly screaming with JaySaws, I didn’t see them release their ordainments, I was at the bottom of my hole cursing the army and god and my own hands for not digging deeper. That ground shock the sky went dark, debri was everywhere, earth and ash and burning whatever went flying above my head, I felt this weight slam between my shoulder blades soft and heavy, I rolled over, it was a head and torso all charred black and still smoking and STILL trying to bite me. I kicked it away and scrambled out of my hole”

How can you NOT love that quote, how can you not want to go get this book right now. Heck if you love zombies, this is about as good as you are going to get. Every single zombie book I read now, I compare to this one and none of them every even come close. This is the best zombie book every written and it has the ability to become the best zombie movie ever made. Today I found out that they are going to be turning this book into a movie. Part of me is very excited and CAN'T wait to go see it. But the other part of me is worried. We all know what they do to books, they destroy them and the movies are never as good as the books, but what if this one is. What if it isn't. I make my boyfriend watch all kinds of stupid horror zombie movies, and he knows I am always thinking about them…he jokes, but I don’t (I just tell him.."you wait until the freaking crazy scientist bring some poor bastard back to life and he start biting and infecting people, you wont call me crazy then, you will be asking me What the F^CK do I do!!!). I am fascinated by them, a different fascination then I have with Vamps, but still, it is there. If anyone can recommend a zombie book even ½ as good as this one….please do….I gadda know, is there one??

Rules for Video Conference

I may be young in my career (my grown-up life), but I have sat in a number of video conference and I am already frustrated with the way some individuals act! It just grinds my nerves and I want to yell “STOP IT!!” I get so frustrated sometimes, so I decided to write a few simple easy to follow guidelines.

• Don’t just assume that because you are home, you do not have to dress appropriately, please don’t join into the conference in your P.J’s. Do you hair, put on a clean shirt, maybe even a little make-up. People can see you.

• Pick a quiet spot, just because you are not in the office doesn’t mean that it is ok to have the TV, Radio or Children in the background drowning out the conference.

• Be aware of your surroundings, we don’t need to see what your bathroom looks like or be able to tell if you have done laundry in the last week or not. An office space is best.

• If you are leading the Conference, have someone to help you manage it, i.e. answer questions that are coming in, call your attention to points that participates are bringing up etc.

• Please pay attention when you are in a video conference, yes sitting at home is relaxing, but it is rude if you start to doze off or try to focus on something else.

• Do not eat or drink! Everyone does not need to see what you are having for lunch or listen to you chew…be polite.

• Remember if you are going to record the conference, get permission. This isn’t a phone tap & you are not the government. Get permission, have people sign off….whatever you feel is needed, you don’t want any backlash!

• Turn your cell phone off and your home phone down, just like in a movie theater the ringing is SO annoying and distracting. This also means don’t take any other calls as well!

• Please do not text or IM during a video conference, others can see you typing away.

• Do not minimize the conference and surf the web, you will be distracted and it will show!

• People are looking at you so please watch your non-verbal signals, you may be in the privacy of your own home, but some things do not need to be shared and you do not want to send the wrong message.