tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42006976179650806972024-03-12T22:49:29.113-04:00My Orange ChairAnnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-5991246616120693692012-01-19T11:21:00.000-05:002012-01-19T11:21:06.643-05:00All Moved!<a href="http://myorangechair.wordpress.com/">My Orange Chair</a> is all moved.<br />
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Seriously, go follow me over <a href="http://myorangechair.wordpress.com/">here</a>!!<br />
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And take some <a href="http://myorangechair.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/survey-time/">polls </a>while you're at it :)<br />
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Bye Blogger!Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-46919013021191871582012-01-03T14:13:00.000-05:002012-01-03T14:13:29.003-05:00My Orange Chair is Moving<a href="http://myorangechair.wordpress.com/">My Orange Chair </a>is moving to Wordpress! It's my 2012 gift to myself to try something new and maybe even become MyOrangeChair.com (No promises though...you all know how cheap I am)<br />
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</div><div>It all started about a month ago when I was on the phone at work with our IT support. The guy had to remote onto my computer and I had google chrome which of course featured all of the pages I visit most often; blogger dashboard was one of them. The IT guy didn't say much but I heard a *mumble mumble* 'I don't understand why people use blogger' *mumble mumble*. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I took the bait and we had a brief conversation about the pros and cons of each. My interest was piqued so I did a bit of playing around with wordpress and lo and behold, I like it better. </div><div><br />
</div><div>So, if you have <a href="http://myorangechair.wordpress.com/">My Orange Chair</a> bookmarked please update it to: <a href="http://myorangechair.wordpress.com/">http://myorangechair.wordpress.com/</a></div><div><br />
</div><div>And if you're following by email, kindly give your address again over here: <a href="http://myorangechair.wordpress.com/">http://myorangechair.wordpress.com/</a></div><div><br />
</div><div>And then go over here and read any posts you missed: <a href="http://myorangechair.wordpress.com/">http://myorangechair.wordpress.com/</a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Happy 2012 Everyone!! </div><div><br />
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</div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-10286212451983391652011-12-28T14:04:00.000-05:002011-12-28T14:04:00.124-05:00Advocating at WorkWhat would you change at work and how would you do it? As young professionals in a very hostile job market it can be difficult to face work environments that don't give us everything our generation expects. We've got a laundry list of things we want and probably should have:<br />
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<ul><li>Good benefits</li>
<li>Decent salary that keeps up with cost of living </li>
<li>Flexible work hours </li>
<li>Telecommuting opportunities </li>
<li>Lots more! </li>
</ul><div>But we're like houses in the current housing market - there are lots of us, meaning oodles of choices and good deals for the buyers (or employers in this case). </div><div><br />
</div><div>But once you have a job and you're settled into work you have a new opportunity to advocate for the things you want. Only, the gutsyness we were raised with seems to be steadily fading away. If you take an issue or suggestion to your employer and their response is 'you're lucky to be employed', this isn't very encouraging, and you might be unlikely to try again in the near future. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Junior staff at an organization one of my peers works for gathered a list of issues, suggestions, and questions for HR and the higher-ups to address. I think coming together as a collective is a great way to approach this, especially for less experienced workers. But the staff didn't want to turn in this document before reviews because they were afraid it would affect any potential raises. So when is a good time to advocate for yourself and your benefits? It seems like the logical time would be around reviews but young workers seem to be scared that speaking up will end up hurting rather than helping in the long run. And maybe it will be more harmful - There seem to be organizations that are mistrusting of young staff - higher-ups see them as flighty, uncommitted, and too expensive as it is. But the truth is, young professionals might stick around longer if they were better taken care of. Unfortunately, the current model in many non-profits seems to be: <i>get out to move up. </i>So how can we become loyal employees who are taken seriously when we're not likely to get ahead in our organization? It's a bad cycle. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I think that there are office cultures out there that embrace the better model: If you take care of your employees, they will take care of you. But I really want to know the best way to advocate for yourself in an organization that doesn't function this way. </div><div><br />
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</div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-74683809999152210142011-12-19T14:18:00.001-05:002011-12-19T14:19:32.966-05:00Lady JudgementI have to admit, I have historically not been the most inclusive feminist; in fact, I've been a judgmental feminist. Younger me didn't grasp the fact that feminism was about <i>choice </i>and the freedom to have choices (even if that choice is a traditional one). But older me gets it - the women's movement has always been about being able to choose what we want to do with our lives.<br />
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So it was a real slap in the face when I sat on the other side of the lady-judgment table.<br />
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The other day at work I was talking with some women coworkers. We were just getting to know each other - gabbing about work, school, career ideals, and our big goals. My coworkers are impressive women with awesome goals which is great! But when they asked me what I wanted to do long term I took the circuitous route: I told them my interests (women, global health, west africa) and how I want to affect change. But then I said that I thought marriage had given me some perspective on what I wanted in terms of work life balance - which is, more life, less work.<br />
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and BOOM!! Came the lady judgement.<br />
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"Really??" they seemed to ask - as if they couldn't understand how marriage could change someone's perspective on this.<br />
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And I felt I had to backtrack and explain myself.<br />
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"Woah!" I said, "It's not like I want to stay home and make babies - I don't even want kids - it's just that there are a lot of things I want out of life and my career doesn't define me. I want to travel, become a better musician, a better chef - and sure, I am passionate about women's health across the globe but it's not the sole focus of my life and I won't treat it that way."<br />
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See, I'm a big proponent of non-traditional work schedules, and telecommuting, and, you know, having organizations function in the 21st Century. And I don't think that's unreasonable. But as a woman - even to other women - I still felt as though I needed to explain myself, and it was silly. Even here I feel compelled to explain that I don't want to NOT work, I just don't want to work in an old-school system that doesn't appreciate or understand the modern workplace.<br />
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I've grown up with very high-achieving people which has propelled me forward - heck, I am 23 and have a Master's degree which is pretty cool. But a certain level of judgement has always existed in my circles about choosing a less-career dominated life and I've played into it - so it was a unique experience to be on the other side of that for the first time.<br />
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</i>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-83491096276095725462011-12-13T09:24:00.000-05:002011-12-13T09:24:43.912-05:00Let's Play a GameAnd the name of the game is, <i>Multicultural or Racist? </i>(developed by my sister).<br />
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</div><div>I'll start you off easy and for each Santa you see, think to yourself, is this multicultural, racist, or neither?<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">*Thanks to Ikea for these gems! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div></div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-19901637113411071602011-12-09T15:27:00.000-05:002011-12-09T15:27:54.211-05:00I'm Political and I'm UpsetI am a politi<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">cal person. I care about the politics of women and I have no problem using My Orange Chair to talk about this. Recently, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' used her power to overrule the Food and Drug Administration's decision to make emergency contraception available over the counter for all women, including girls under 17. This decision was unprecedented, unexpected, and in my opinion, ridiculous. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">I understand that many people will have different opinions about this issue. Parents may support Sibelius and the administration because they want to know what their teens are doing. Others may morally opposed plan B outright. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">My feeling is that, in its truest form, this act ONLY serves to take away a woman's choice to manage her body. AND I have to say, if you're waiting for a confrontation with your parents, a doctor's appointment, and a prescription, you're rendering plan B useless - you really are just removing this option altogether for young women and we have so few options as it is. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Many of the arguments I've heard so far in support of Sibelius only point to the fact that we have deep systemic issues. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b>The problem:</b> We shouldn't be giving medication to young girls when they do not have education about it. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b>The fix</b>: (1) Comprehensive sex education in all schools, (2) Allowing pharmacists to do what they're trained to do, not just deal with insurance issues. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b>The problem: </b>Parents should know what is going on with their teens. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b>The fix:</b> Get realistic expectations about teenagers and give young women some credit. I lived in a pretty open environment with my parents and I wasn't even comfortable telling them I was sexually active. I can't imagine having to tell them I was pregnant. And if I were - I know exactly what I would've done and I would've taken it seriously. But there's a lot of shame and blame going on in our culture towards women who have sex which makes it inherently more difficult to talk about. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">I don't believe for a second that Sibelius made this decision on her own - I'm irritated with the <a href="http://www.salon.com/2011/12/08/obamas_phony_paternalism/">administration's phony paternalism</a>. Here's a clip from <a href="http://www.salon.com/2011/12/08/obamas_phony_paternalism/">Salon </a>writer<a href="http://www.salon.com/writer/rebecca_traister/"> Rebecca Traister: </a></span><br />
<br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Droid Serif', 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“As the father of two daughters,” Obama told reporters, “I think it is important for us to make sure that we apply some common sense to various rules when it comes to over-the-counter medicine.”</i></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Droid Serif', 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>First of all, the president was not talking about “various rules.” He was supporting a very specific rule, one that prevents young women from easily obtaining a drug that can help them control their reproductive lives, at an age when their economic, educational, familial and professional futures are perhaps most at risk of being derailed by an unplanned pregnancy. “As the father of two daughters,” Obama might want to reconsider his position on preventing young women from being able to exercise this form of responsibility over their own bodies and lives.</i></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Droid Serif', 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>But as an American, I think it is important for my president not to turn to paternalistic claptrap and enfeebling references to the imagined ineptitude and irresponsibility of his daughters – and young women around the country – to justify a curtailment of access to medically safe contraceptives. The notion that in aggressively conscribing women’s abilities to protect themselves against unplanned pregnancy Obama is just laying down some Olde Fashioned Dad Sense diminishes an issue of gender equality, sexual health and medical access. Recasting this debate as an episode of “Father Knows Best” reaffirms hoary attitudes about young women and sex that had their repressive heyday in the era whence that program sprang.</i></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Droid Serif', 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><br />
</i></div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-56086785594833911252011-12-08T12:43:00.001-05:002011-12-08T14:08:39.667-05:00Are You Working At Work?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's an interesting infographic I came across recently. Obviously some of these items are a big part of what people DO at work but I think a lot of us are looking at facebook for play. I don't have a problem with this - I think people need their cool down time and a chance to reconnect with others outside of their office. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://wac.1245.edgecastcdn.net/801245/blog.socialcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Socialcast_8hr_day4_FINAL2-500x1268.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://wac.1245.edgecastcdn.net/801245/blog.socialcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Socialcast_8hr_day4_FINAL2-500x1268.png" /></a></div>Source:<br />
<a href="http://blog.socialcast.com/the-8-hour-workday-%E2%80%93-productive-or-pointless/">http://blog.socialcast.com/the-8-hour-workday-%E2%80%93-productive-or-pointless/</a>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-26311944396893085462011-12-05T14:37:00.000-05:002011-12-05T14:37:15.555-05:00'Just Ask' isn't Such a Simple SolutionThere are a good deal of statistics out there about how and why women don't negotiate salaries when starting a new job. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/13/negotiate-young-women-college-graduates-first-job_n_875650.html">For example: </a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A May <a href="http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/content/Work_Trends_May_2011.pdf" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #ba72ba; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">study by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University</a> polled nearly 600 young men and women who graduated from college between 2006 and 2010. The authors found that young men are not only out-earning young women, they're doing so by an average of more than $5,000 per year. Male participants reported first-year job earnings averaging $33,150, while young women earned about $28,000.</span></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another report released in May, this one <a href="http://www.statesman.com/opinion/daly-wage-gap-proves-that-women-are-deemed-1522741.html" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #ba72ba; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">by the National Association of Colleges and Employers</a>, indicated that new female college graduates are earning 17 percent less than their male counterparts.</span></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The National Partnership for Women & Families <a href="http://blog.nationalpartnership.org/index.php/2011/04/" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: #ba72ba; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">reports that</a>, among full-time workers in the population as a whole, women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. </span></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">When asking the internet what to do about this problem the most common suggestion (in my findings) was "Just ask for more! The worst they can say is 'no'. But, it turns out that's not really true. </div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 18px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Kevin Drum has more to say about this at <a href="http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/12/ask-more">Mother Jones</a>: </div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/article/ask-more">E.J. Graff asked all the men to leave the room</a> before she linked to this reddit piece below, but I didn't. It's from an HR person at a tech company explaining why women <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/TwoXChromosomes/comments/hvv2m/i_work_for_a_large_multinational_tech_company_i/">routinely get lower salary offers than men:</a><br />
</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>The reason they don't keep up, from where I sit, is simple. Often, a woman will enter the salary negotiation phase and I'll tell them a number will be sent to them in a couple days. Usually we start around $45k for an entry level position. 50% to 60% of the women I interview simply take this offer. It's insane, I already know I can get authorization for more if you simply refuse. Inversely, almost 90% of the men I interview immediately ask for more upon getting the offer.<br />
<br />
The next major mistake happens with how they ask for more. In general, the women I have negotiated with will say 45k is not enough and they need more, but not give a number. I will then usually give a nominal bump to 48k or 50k. Company policy wont let me bump more than 5k over the initial offer unless they specifically request more. On the other hand, men more frequently will come back with a number along the lines of 65k to 75k, and I will be forced to negotiate down from there. After this phase, almost all women will take the offer or move on to somewhere else, not knowing they could have gotten more if they asked.<br />
<br />
At the end, most of the women I hire make between 45k and 50k, whereas the men make between 60k and 70k. Even more crazy, they ask for raises far less often, so the disparity only grows.<br />
<br />
I apologize for sticking around, but there's a reason. I've run into this before myself, and have always told women "Just ask! The worst that can happen is that they say no." But that's not actually the case. <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/29/AR2007072900827.html?hpid=topnews">Here's a bit of research on the subject:</a><br />
<br />
Their study...found that women's reluctance [to negotiate] was based on an entirely reasonable and accurate view of how they were likely to be treated if they did...."What we found across all the studies is men were always less willing to work with a woman who had attempted to negotiate than with a woman who did not," Bowles said. "They always preferred to work with a woman who stayed mum. But it made no difference to the men whether a guy had chosen to negotiate or not."<br />
<br />
So listen up, boys: there's a reason women don't negotiate as hard as men. Several of them, in fact. But one of these reasons is that men treat them shabbily when they do. So knock it off. Tell the women you love to negotiate the same as you would, and when they do, don't hold it against them. OK? </i></span><div style="line-height: 18px;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="line-height: 18px;">I have to admit - I did not negotiate my salary for my current position. I was so tired of being unemployed and I was also pleased with the salary and benefits offer. I realize that this could have been a mistake in the long run - nonprofit models of raises and careers can be pretty broken; you often have to move out to move up and raises are based on your starting salary. But it's unfortunate that "just asking" isn't really the simple answer so many people want it to be. </div></div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-3671029124283232632011-12-01T13:04:00.000-05:002011-12-01T13:04:13.959-05:00World Aids Day<a href="http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/3030-16.pdf">Did you know? </a>(from the Kaiser Family Foundation)<br />
<br />
• There are approximately 34 million people currently living with HIV and<br />
nearly 30 million people have died of AIDS-related causes since the<br />
beginning of the epidemic.<br />
<br />
• While cases have been reported in all regions of the world, almost all<br />
those living with HIV (97%) reside in low- and middle-income countries,<br />
particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.<br />
<br />
• HIV primarily affects those in their most productive years; about half of<br />
new infections are among those under age 25.<br />
<br />
• HIV not only affects the health of individuals, it impacts households,<br />
communities, and the development and economic growth of nations. <br />
Many of the countries hardest hit by HIV also suffer from other infectious<br />
diseases, food insecurity, and other serious problems.<br />
<br />
• Despite these challenges, new global efforts have been mounted to<br />
address the epidemic, particularly in the last decade, and there are signs<br />
that the epidemic may be changing course. The number of people newly<br />
infected with HIV and the number of AIDS-related deaths have declined,<br />
contributing to the stabilization of the epidemic. In addition, the number<br />
of people with HIV receiving treatment in resource poor countries has<br />
increased more than 20-fold since 2001, reaching 6.6 million in 2010.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://feministing.com/files/2011/12/aidsstatswho.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://feministing.com/files/2011/12/aidsstatswho.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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The ladies over at <a href="http://feministing.com/2011/12/01/world-aids-day/">Feministing</a> have this to say:<br />
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<br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 22px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Socioeconomic factors play a huge role in who is exposed to HIV/AIDS and who has negative health risks. While no cure exists, treatment can make it possible to live with the disease. Yet the drugs are expensive and inaccessible to many people. Only 28% of Americans infected with HIV are being treated effectively, <a href="http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011-11-30/An-end-to-AIDS-In-USA-complacency-is-a-major-barrier/51513224/1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #3c0e5c; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">according to the CDC</a>. The numbers are much worse in parts of the world where more people have less access to health care – 76% <a href="http://www.unaids.org/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #3c0e5c; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">of deaths</a> due to AIDS were in sub-Saharan Africa in 2007.</i></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 22px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>The good news is we’re seeing progress in research into stopping the disease. Exciting new research shows proper treatment for HIV is 96% effective in reducing transmission. Yet we are seeing <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15946803" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #3c0e5c; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">funding cuts</a> both to research and treatment and prevention programs worldwide. Cuts that put millions of peoples lives at risk.<span id="more-41680" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></i></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 22px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Funding is a major issue in the US, too. African Americans and trans folks have<a href="http://transequality.org/news.html#WorldAidsDay2011" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #3c0e5c; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">higher rates of infection</a>, with factors like income obviously playing a huge role. But there’s never enough money, so the pie gets divided up along identity lines. You may notice the focus of increasingly less visible HIV/AIDS campaigns shifting between different groups, usually African American boys and men or women and girls, depending on who the latest statistics say is most at risk. Which really serves as a distraction from the fact that there’s not enough funding being directed towards this issue to actually end the pandemic and make sure everyone living with the disease receives the treatment they need.</i></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 22px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><a href="http://www.unaids.org/en/ourwork/managementandexternalrelationsbranch/deputyexecutivedirectormanagementandexternalrelations/officeofglobaloutreachandparliamentaryrelations/2011wadcampaign/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #3c0e5c; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">UNAIDS has suggestions</a> for ways to take action on World AIDS Day. It’s also important for us to continue acting by pressuring government and international agencies to take serious, large scale action to end this pandemic.</i></div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-49356463041063128032011-11-30T08:45:00.000-05:002011-11-30T08:45:01.020-05:00Second Jobs - Are They Worth It?In this economy, a lot of young professionals (and older professionals) are taking on side jobs - these jobs help to pay off loans and make living a post-student lifestyle easier. In my own workplace I know a few women, of varying career levels, who go to work after work; it's hard!<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>For two years now I have been a part of an organization that works with exchange students. I even talked about how hard it can be over <a href="http://myojchair.blogspot.com/2011/09/going-abroad.html">here</a>. The extra money isn't much, but I have to admit that it was very helpful during the unemployed times. But I recently realized that with the new <a href="http://myojchair.blogspot.com/2011/09/dance-party.html">job</a>, the new <a href="http://myojchair.blogspot.com/2011/10/lovehate-relationship.html">commute</a>, and the new <a href="http://myojchair.blogspot.com/2011/10/its-hard-work.html">marriage</a>, the extra money is just not worth the time sink that this side job has become. For my own sanity I have to let it go. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I think it's important to evaluate how important free time is to you when considering whether or not to take on a second job (this is assuming that a second job isn't a necessity for you). I hate to quit mid-year but my priorities are 1) staying sane 2) staying fit and 3) staying happy and right now the second job doesn't help me to achieve any of those things.<br />
<br />
There are definitely young professionals out there who disagree with my stance on this, seeing a second job as a necessity for getting ahead. I understand their points too:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>A second job can help bridge your experience gap, allowing you to jump to your next, more desirable position, more easily</li>
<li>More $$$$</li>
<li>You may be more appealing to hiring managers because you've shown you take you can juggle many responsibilities. </li>
</ul><div><br />
</div><div>But it's all about priorities and if you can handle a second job and want to handle a second job, more power to you. </div></div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-44566528214718985772011-11-29T13:28:00.000-05:002011-11-29T13:28:22.756-05:00Then Gift Wrap Them!Everyone feels differently about the holiday custom of gift giving. My husband and I choose not to exchange gifts because we feel too pressured to find that one perfect thing in a very specific time frame. We like to give gifts throughout the year so there's less pressure and more, year-round fun. The rest of my immediate family does not subscribe to this idea and that's okay - it means I still get presents (rarely a bad thing).<br />
<br />
I'm torn on gift wrapping though. I love presents (just ask my husband, sister, um...anyone in my family) and I love ripping into some glittery holiday paper but did you know:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul style="background-color: white; display: table; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 28px; text-align: left;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 7px; list-style-type: disc; padding-left: 0.2em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">If every U.S. family wrapped three gifts in repurposed materials, the gift wrap saved would cover 45,000 football fields.</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 7px; list-style-type: disc; padding-left: 0.2em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">If every family reused two feet of holiday ribbon per year, the ribbon saved could tie a bow around Earth. </span><a href="http://bgm.stanford.edu/pssi_faq_holiday_waste" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: center;">Source: Stanford University</a></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: left;">Last year my sister bought reusable bags from a local Italian market and put everyone's gifts in the bags; so it was really like a present INSIDE of a present. Perfect. <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/11/22/that%E2%80%99s-a-wrap-some-alternatives-to-traditional-gift-wrapping/">GetRichSlowly</a> posted some other ideas recently to help make your gift giving greener: </div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>Go paperless</li>
<li>Use Bags</li>
<li>Recycle materials you have handy (suggestions from <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/11/22/that%E2%80%99s-a-wrap-some-alternatives-to-traditional-gift-wrapping/">GetRichSlowly</a>)</li>
<ul><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: disc; padding-left: 0.2em;"><i><strong>Newspaper end rolls.</strong> If there’s a newspaper or printing company in your area, ask if you can buy an almost-finished roll. These still contain a ton of paper that can be used as-is or customized any way you want. Rubber-stamp it. Flick a loaded paintbrush at it. Let your kids draw holiday pictures on it. Or do the messy-but-fun activity of dipping their li’l hands into water-based acrylic paint and making hand prints on the paper. (And if your recipient is a “CSI” fan? Have them leave only their fingerprints.)</i></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: disc; padding-left: 0.2em;"><i><strong>Secondhand finds. </strong>Sometimes I find gift wrap at thrift stores or yard sales. But I’ve also seen rolls of butcher paper or brown at thrift shops; these can be decorated as noted above.</i></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: disc; padding-left: 0.2em;"><i><strong>Grocery bags.</strong> Cut open paper ones and use the non-logo sides for wrapping. Let your kids decorate them with bright paint.</i></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: disc; padding-left: 0.2em;"><i><strong>The Sunday funnies. </strong>These make great gift wrap year-round. Don’t subscribe? Harvest them at coffeehouses on Mondays. Tip: Discarded wrapping paper of any type can be crumpled up for use as packing material.</i></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: disc; padding-left: 0.2em;"><i><strong>Old maps. </strong>Doctors Without Borders sends me several huge maps of the world every year. Maps also end up in the free box at yard sales, and may be given free of charge at visitors’ centers.</i></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: disc; padding-left: 0.2em;"><i><strong>Periodicals.</strong> Small gifts can be wrapped in pages from magazines, calendars, catalogs or even comic books. You may luck into these in the “free” bin at yard sales.</i></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: disc; padding-left: 0.2em;"><i><strong>Foreign-language newspapers.</strong> Weeklies written in Chinese, Korean and Spanish can be found in my neighborhood. The interesting typefaces could be a hit with someone who knows or is trying to learn those languages.</i></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: disc; padding-left: 0.2em;"><i><strong>Dumpster paper. </strong>A whole lot of gift-wrap items will be tossed after Dec. 25. I’ve pulled gift bags, colorful tissue, ribbons, and large pieces of wrapping paper out of the recycle bin. Note: You don’t necessarily have to get down and dirty. I’m more of a <a href="http://www.donnafreedman.com/2011/07/06/dumpster-wading/">dumpster wader</a> than a dumpster diver, myself. A few years ago I found a large, still-shrink-wrapped roll of Christmas paper outside the dumpster. Still slowly making my way through it because of its design — not everyone appreciates the delicacy of Batman holiday wrap.</i></li>
</ul></ul><div>If you want to read more about gift-wrapping alternatives go <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/11/22/that%E2%80%99s-a-wrap-some-alternatives-to-traditional-gift-wrapping/">here</a>. For some people the paper is a non-negotiable but I'm partial to thinking outside the box when it comes to keeping the holidays green. </div></div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-36112370381066805282011-11-28T08:44:00.000-05:002011-11-28T08:44:12.008-05:00Keeping Sane Through the SalesIt seems to me that this "sale season" there were a lot of awful commercials, maybe more than usual. You had a woman doing physical training for shopping:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/VFBsxwKHT14?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And someone who actually used that HORRID song, <i>Friday</i> as though it were an acceptable tune: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dMH6d4Adm9U?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And it seems to me like our commercial culture has decided it's totally okay to be crazy - we are progressively normalizing insane sale spending. These commercials are designed to make us look at the TV and say, <i>Oh! Other people are doing it...it's totally fine to leave dinner early and camp outside of stores...it's NORMAL. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now I understand that there are two sides to this story. Families can rely on these sales for gifts - it helps stretch the budget. But I think our culture should be shifting its values back to the feast and away from the sales. Black Friday and Cyber Monday epitomize the problems with our consumerist culture. Instead of actively trying to just pair down our gifting habits, we scour sales to get as much as possible, and I bet a lot of it is stuff people didn't need and maybe didn't want in the first place. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">If you're the type who loves to do this type of shopping then more power to you. But I wouldn't suggest going out if you see it as a chore and I certainly don't think it's OK to normalize excessive spending and PT for shopping. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-41271432263398385132011-11-23T11:52:00.000-05:002011-11-23T11:52:53.725-05:00Gobble GobbleThanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it inspires people to appreciate food and family. Mike and I aren't traditionalists when it comes to either of these things. We love to experiment with food and don't feel tied down to traditional meals for the holidays (even though we are cooking a turkey this year). This will be our first married Thanksgiving and our first time preparing the whole meal on our own, in our new place.<br />
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Our parents and siblings can't join us (or we chose not to travel and sit in traffic to join them) so we'll have some different kinds of family with us this year; my basically-brother Brady (also known as the best bridesmaid EVER!!) and some new friends of ours (our first couple-friends in fact...very exciting!).<br />
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I really appreciate how people seem so giving during this time of year - willing to freely invite friends and acquaintances to join them for a meal. I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday.Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-18968321772786216552011-11-17T10:22:00.000-05:002011-11-17T10:22:39.385-05:00Occupy Student DebtMy <a href="http://myojchair.blogspot.com/2011/08/student-loans-and-my-soul.html">student debt tale</a> has all the makings of a horror story. I made choices that have now saddled me with a hefty sum of student loans and I am not the only one.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://blog.brazencareerist.com/2011/11/16/drowning-in-debt-college-grads-share-student-loan-horror-stories/">From Danny Rubin at Brazen Life: </a><br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">$38,000. $84,000. $253,000.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><em>$500,000</em>.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Those five and six-figure sums might look like payouts from different rounds on ‘Who Wants to be Millionaire,’ but you won’t find Regis or an oversized check anywhere near this kind of money.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">That’s because these totals represent what different people owe on their student loans. Some are in such deep debt that they can barely make payments on the <em>interest</em> of their loans. Forget actual loan payments. Those will have to wait for a better day.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Since Occupy Wall Street exploded two months ago, a website called <a href="http://occupystudentdebt.com/" style="color: #41a0b9; text-decoration: none;">Occupy Student Debt</a>sprung up alongside and collected horror stories of higher education.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><strong>Some are straightforward:</strong></div><blockquote style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Original Balance: $199.256.90</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Current Balance: $253,015.63</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Paid so far: $29,242.15 (I’ve never missed a payment)</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Interest rates: up to 10.7% (Citibank)</div></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong>Others full of panic:</strong></div><blockquote style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">HELP!</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I graduated college in 2005, originally borrowed a total of $54,232.62, even only paying a lower interest rate and a fluctuating repayment plan over the course of almost 7 years of paying back my loan. I still owe at this time an amount of $54,158.13. As you can see, not much has come off at all.</div></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong>And plenty more seem like all is lost:</strong></div><blockquote style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I GAVE UP ON BEING A LANDOWMER YEARS AGO</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Never mind the American Dream. Now, I’d just like to be able to pay my rent. Bills take care of my health and my cat’s health. Even my cat didn’t realize what she was in for in 1996, when I started grad school at a private university. Silly me.</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Universities, banks and politicians… please explain yourselves.</div></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">More than 300 people have posted on the site with tales of financial ruin. Thousands more suffer in silence just fordoing what we were taught all along: work hard, earn good grades, get into college and make something of ourselves.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Rising tuition, dried up state funding for public universities, easy access to loans (i.e. Sallie Mae) and a culture that pushes young people to four-year institutions (whether they want to go or not) have all led to statements like this:</div><blockquote style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Education debt… is a loaded gun to my head.</div></blockquote><br />
To me, this was the most shocking:<br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">While we may never pinpoint the root cause of student debt, it’s quite clear where we ended up.<b> A Pew Research study this past week revealed that a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times that of a 35-year-old. </b>That is believed to be the biggest wealth disparity in American history, and surely student debt, along with high unemployment, factors into the equation.</span> </i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
I am lucky in that my husband and I can live on his salary solely while we work to widdle away the debt. But I feel for those people who have invested so heavily in their education but aren't seeing positive results. I am not trying to argue the merits of higher education - I am just arguing that education is too expensive and students aren't given the tools they need to help themselves afford this massive expense.<br />
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So now the question is, what can we do and how can we affect change that resonates with students and those thousands of graduates with crippling debt?Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-17515833268181233182011-11-16T13:04:00.000-05:002011-11-16T13:04:54.361-05:00Animals in All Caps are Feminists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ludu58hca81qmf9gqo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ludu58hca81qmf9gqo1_500.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; color: #3c3b36; font-family: Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">STOP TELLING ME TO ‘CHECK MY PRIVILEGE’ AND LISTEN TO WHAT I’M SAYING! WE’RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE SOLIDARITY AS WOMEN! IT’S THIS KIND OF PETTY INFIGHTING AMONGST POCS AND WHITES THAT PREVENTS US FROM MAKING PROGRESS IN THE FACE OF GENDER-SPECIFIC INSTITUTIONAL OPPRESSION! WE CAN’T WORRY ABOUT HOW DIFFERENT RACES EXPERIENCE THE TYRANNY OF THE PATRIARCHY! OUR OPINIONS AND SUFFERING ARE DIFFERENT BUT THEY ARE ALL EQUALLY VALID! IT’S ONLY MEN’S OPINIONS THAT DON’T MATTER! YOU HAVE TO SEE THAT!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; color: #3c3b36; font-family: Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">* </span><a href="http://animalstalkinginallcaps.tumblr.com/post/12624915191/stop-telling-me-to-check-my-privilege-and-listen">http://animalstalkinginallcaps.tumblr.com/post/12624915191/stop-telling-me-to-check-my-privilege-and-listen</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk34/feministing/Feministing%20NEW%20ALBUM/bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk34/feministing/Feministing%20NEW%20ALBUM/bear.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 22px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">THANK YOU FOR YOUR OPINION REGARDING MY EYELINER, BUT LET ME EXPLAIN A COUPLE THINGS TO YOU:</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 22px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">1. I DON’T WEAR IT FOR YOU, NOR DO I PICK OUT MY OUTFITS BASED ON WHAT I THINK MEN WILL LIKE. YOUR CONSTANT OGLING HAS NO BEARING ON MY DECISION TO FLATTER MY FIGURE OR ENHANCE MY NATURAL FEATURES WITH BEAUTY PRODUCTS. THAT IS YOUR GENDER’S CONSTANT MISGUIDED PERCEPTION.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 22px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">2. YOU DON’T LIKE “WOMEN WHO DON’T WEAR MAKEUP.” YOU LIKE WOMEN WHO ARE WEARING CONCEALER AND BARE ESCENTUALS FOUNDATION CAREFULLY BLENDED INTO THEIR NECKLINE, CHEEKS TINTED LIGHTLY WITH SOFT ROSY CREAM BLUSH, EYESHADOW ONE SHADE DARKER THAN THEIR FOUNDATION, EYELASHES DOTTED WITH GREY PENCIL AND LIPS THAT HAVE BEEN ENHANCED WITH A LIGHT BERRY GLOSS.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 22px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">THAT’S PROBABLY $200 WORTH OF CREAMS AND POWDERS AND TAKES MORE TIME TO APPLY THAN YOUR ENTIRE ‘SHIT, SHOWER AND SHAVE’ ROUTINE, ALL SO ASSHOLES LIKE YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ‘NATURAL BEAUTY’ WHILE WE’RE WAITING FOR A DAMNED BUS.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 22px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">3. EVEN IF I HONESTLY CARED ABOUT YOUR AMATEUR MAKEUP CRITIQUES I WOULDN’T IN A MILLION YEARS GO OUT WITH YOU BECAUSE YOU’RE AN IGNORANT, BALDING FASHION CASUALTY WITH NOODLE ARMS AND A BEER GUT WHO CAN’T KEEP HIS EYES OR OPINIONS TO HIMSELF.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 22px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">IF YOU KEEP TALKING TO ME I’M GOING TO SHOVE YOUR SANDALS UP YOUR ASS AND YOU CAN WADDLE HOME IN YOUR SOCKS.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 22px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">* <a href="http://animalstalkinginallcaps.tumblr.com/post/11851340713/thank-you-for-your-opinion-regarding-my-eyeliner" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;">http://animalstalkinginallcaps.tumblr.com/post/11851340713/thank-you-for-your-opinion-regarding-my-eyeliner</a></div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-47559131068349064032011-11-14T10:41:00.000-05:002011-11-14T10:41:04.409-05:00Work/Blog BalanceWhen I accepted my current position I knew I wanted to continue blogging. My Orange Chair was such a great way for me to keep my hands busy during unemployment and expand my network. But blogging can be a full time job - in fact it is for tons of people. I have to admit that it's been hard to find the balance between work, family, and blogging. My sister and I discussed starting a blog on the same day and I've given her crap from time to time for not following through on her end yet. But I get it now - it's hard work, especially when you have a mission or are trying to talk about certain topics.<br />
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To expand my readership in the beginning, I reached out with force on other blogs, constantly commenting and searching for people who were talking about things I cared about. It's not so easy to do that anymore; I'm still trying but I know I'm not as successful as I want to be.<br />
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I can't imagine how successful bloggers maintain the rest of their lives. Or even how full time working moms do everything they do. It's kind of awesome but also exhausting. I know we all juggle the important facets of our lives around while walking a tight rope and singing an aria so I'll be your cheerleader and proponent of your vacations.<br />
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Questions for discussion:<br />
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How do you balance everything? Do you wish you had one (or five) less thing(s) on your plate? Do you think men and women experience the stressors of life balance similarly, differently?Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-58938140100858405442011-11-09T10:17:00.000-05:002011-11-09T10:17:40.810-05:00Investment ResearchInvesting is a very salient issue for me right now. The other day I talked about wanting to find a <a href="http://myojchair.blogspot.com/2011/11/searching-for-financial-advisor.html">financial adviser</a> but I'm still doing a lot of research on my own. I have to admit, I'm as investment savvy as I am technology savvy - meaning, not very. But I'm trying to figure this stuff out because I think it's pretty important to have a firm grasp on what's going on. My husband *gosh I love saying that* is on the up-and-up when it comes to global economics but is about as clueless as me regarding stocks, bonds, blablabla.<br />
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Want I want to do though is share the resources I am finding and start some conversations about different investment styles - what works and for whom?<br />
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I'm not a big risk taker when it comes to money. I don't gamble simply because I'm a hoarder with my cash and I don't want to lose it to chance. Well I know that investment carries risk and as someone who is young, <a href="http://www.obliviousinvestor.com/asset-allocation-for-young-investors/">some people suggest taking a higher-risk road. </a><br />
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But I should back up and start at the beginning with some<a href="http://www.mangomoney.com/blog/trends/investing-basics"> Investing 101</a> by MangoMoney:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ljqDkNp791I?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mangomoney.com/blog/money/investing-terms">Investing 101: The Terminology </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/26tSo_-aHkw/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/26tSo_-aHkw&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/26tSo_-aHkw&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And here's the important one for today -<a href="http://www.mangomoney.com/blog/money/investing-types"> Investing 101: Investment Personalities</a><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/vYtTmY2uYYo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">*Why does the only female personality need to be the 'moody' one?*</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I realize that these videos simplify things quite a bit but some of us need simple to start understanding investment lingo. I still don't have a solid idea of HOW stocks and bonds work but I now have firmer grasp on what they mean for me and my money. I think my biggest struggle with high-risk investing will be not wanting to bolt at the first sign of trouble, even though I should be able to handle the changes over the long haul. </div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-82075697616149039982011-11-07T11:10:00.000-05:002011-11-07T11:10:29.893-05:00Searching for a Financial AdvisorMike and I have always had a very simple 'couple's financial plan' - pay off the student debt asap while still squirreling away some savings.<br />
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It hit me pretty quickly when my work place's financial rep for retirement plans came that we need to develop a more serious financial plan sooner rather than later. The overall goal remains the same but I think it's time to make it a little more complicated and formulate some real, tangible goals. So naturally I talked to my sister about it - she is totally obsessed with financial planning these days so I knew she'd have some resources. Here are some things I'm thinking about now that I'm on the prowl for a financial adviser:<br />
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1. Creating an actual, numerical, goal for retirement - putting a dollar amount on what I want out of retirement will make it more likely that I will actually achieve it.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://wohlnerfinancial.blogspot.com/2011/10/yes-you-really-do-need-financial-plan.html">A report by HSBC said,</a> <em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">Americans with a financial plan have accumulated on average $127,000 in retirement savings vs. $56,000 for the average U.S. household. Non-planners have an average of around $23,000 saved.</em></span><br />
<em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Almost 44% of those without a plan associate retirement with financial hardship, while this number is only 19% for those with a plan.</span></em><div><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></em></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">2. I've got a lot of questions to ask because anyone can become a financial planner and some of them just want to sell me stuff. <a href="http://blog.equifax.com/retirement/10-questions-you-should-ask-before-hiring-a-financial-planner-part-1/">Here's a GREAT read</a> about the top 10 questions you should ask when interviewing financial planners. They include: </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">How are you compensated? </span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">How do you communicate with clients and what can we receive from you? </span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">Do you have experience working with clients similar to me? </span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">Who will I be dealing with? </span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">What credentials do you hold? </span></span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">Interviewing financial planners seems daunting but I know it's a smart choice for us because we have a lot of questions. Should we be investing money on our own or putting a lot into our 403b? What percent of our income should we put towards debt v. savings? If we want to buy a house, what's a reasonable mortgage?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">Got any tips for the search? </span></span></div></div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-26883620962978533552011-11-04T09:22:00.000-04:002011-11-04T09:22:39.757-04:00Talking About ItI really thought when I got the job that I would get to stop talking about my unemployment to people. I obviously don't mind writing about it on the blog - but in real life, it's a different story, it's a little uncomfortable.<br />
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But, as I get to know people in the office and have to interact with various affiliates/clients/etc. I am often asked, "where did you come from?" or "where were you before this". I realize that it's a reasonable question to which I could respond about my previous positions months and months ago. But I think that's untrue - I graduated from graduate school and was unemployed for months and that's where I came from.<br />
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I know too that people are really asking about my experience and my work history but I think it's important to keep the conversation going about unemployment. And since I'm choosing to be honest, I want the take away to be two-fold.<br />
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1) You don't have to be employed to get employed.<br />
I think people are often told that it's easier to find work when you have work. And this could be true. But that doesn't mean it's impossible for someone who is unemployed to find a good position!<br />
<br />
2) Unemployment is real and still out there.<br />
It's easy to stop thinking about the struggle of unemployment when it's not happening to you personally. If your immediate family members are employed and you're employed, you can forget. But a lot of people are still struggling with unemployment and I know what it's like - you think about finances constantly, you worry you aren't doing enough to find work, that you're not hire-able, perhaps there's debt to worry about? This is a reality for millions of people and I haven't stopped caring just because I have found work.<br />
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I do still talk about previous experience and school when I talk about where I came from, but unemployment was my reality just as much as internships and school work and I think it's okay to say so.Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-13211348987096087592011-11-02T11:13:00.000-04:002011-11-02T11:13:19.777-04:00Honeymoon adventures in EspanaThis is a primarily picture post about my adventure in Spain with my husband. We've sent out all of the pictures to friends and family at the wedding but wanted to share some adventure stories here too. Hopefully Mike will write a guest post (my first one!) about our adventures.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Here's a rough outline of our itinerary on a map: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-imu_-I11dFs/TrFdq9nq6CI/AAAAAAAAEFw/C3-CmCMe3GI/s1600/spainmap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-imu_-I11dFs/TrFdq9nq6CI/AAAAAAAAEFw/C3-CmCMe3GI/s400/spainmap.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">*<i>Start in Barcelona, Figueres, Cadaques, Espot (in the Pyrenees), San Sabastian, Bilbao, Sevilla, Ronda, Granada Cordoba*</i></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Omfxl2IUluA/Tq2qwF6BinI/AAAAAAAAB5I/SBpXvk_vaLQ/s1600/DSC02416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Omfxl2IUluA/Tq2qwF6BinI/AAAAAAAAB5I/SBpXvk_vaLQ/s320/DSC02416.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> This is Day 1: We're looking a little exhausted in Park Guell in Barcelona - fresh off the plane and already on adventures.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gvx4HZMHV60/Tq2qz6HNcdI/AAAAAAAAB54/I7k2q3SvKZw/s1600/DSC02422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gvx4HZMHV60/Tq2qz6HNcdI/AAAAAAAAB54/I7k2q3SvKZw/s320/DSC02422.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Gaudi had an amazing way of manipulating materials to create natural images.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0Y6ZdGRIgVg/Tq2q1twGiJI/AAAAAAAAB6I/3uQqHUwBpWo/s1600/DSC02424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0Y6ZdGRIgVg/Tq2q1twGiJI/AAAAAAAAB6I/3uQqHUwBpWo/s320/DSC02424.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y6WxpOQl7uY/Tq2q4aecWMI/AAAAAAAAB6g/4WnfzyYdS0k/s1600/DSC02427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y6WxpOQl7uY/Tq2q4aecWMI/AAAAAAAAB6g/4WnfzyYdS0k/s320/DSC02427.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sPP1sR8n4cQ/Tq2q5fA_oZI/AAAAAAAAB6o/mUgb2VJ5_7Y/s1600/DSC02428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sPP1sR8n4cQ/Tq2q5fA_oZI/AAAAAAAAB6o/mUgb2VJ5_7Y/s320/DSC02428.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fr79v4d14u0/TqCKvZBFgYI/AAAAAAAAALM/zKb4xUym1kQ/s1600/P1020401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fr79v4d14u0/TqCKvZBFgYI/AAAAAAAAALM/zKb4xUym1kQ/s320/P1020401.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TJQbTPeK1KQ/Tq2rVB5GVeI/AAAAAAAAB-Y/9NEZiArSbs0/s1600/DSC02476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TJQbTPeK1KQ/Tq2rVB5GVeI/AAAAAAAAB-Y/9NEZiArSbs0/s320/DSC02476.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sat7wUiEmy0/Tq2rWNul_GI/AAAAAAAADIU/B8yRLnqxZsI/s1600/DSC02478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sat7wUiEmy0/Tq2rWNul_GI/AAAAAAAADIU/B8yRLnqxZsI/s320/DSC02478.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7rGdUBmDFAM/Tq2rXp0RZ8I/AAAAAAAAB-w/ly_SR31j3iE/s1600/DSC02482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7rGdUBmDFAM/Tq2rXp0RZ8I/AAAAAAAAB-w/ly_SR31j3iE/s320/DSC02482.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JwBJ-7hsh4s/Tq2rYsXakDI/AAAAAAAAB-4/HdK5XBi8c-I/s1600/DSC02484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JwBJ-7hsh4s/Tq2rYsXakDI/AAAAAAAAB-4/HdK5XBi8c-I/s320/DSC02484.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wo2mcvy5WWg/Tq2rZGXMAXI/AAAAAAAADIw/mD3QBeJX4pg/s1600/DSC02485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wo2mcvy5WWg/Tq2rZGXMAXI/AAAAAAAADIw/mD3QBeJX4pg/s320/DSC02485.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-utQ7WZ2L1bc/TqCMGrQ5XqI/AAAAAAAAAPM/2b8ArrOM0Nk/s1600/P1020439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-utQ7WZ2L1bc/TqCMGrQ5XqI/AAAAAAAAAPM/2b8ArrOM0Nk/s320/P1020439.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sJYGzwKFAhU/TqCMgEsckFI/AAAAAAAAAQc/p-KzdFXzOkM/s1600/P1020451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sJYGzwKFAhU/TqCMgEsckFI/AAAAAAAAAQc/p-KzdFXzOkM/s320/P1020451.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9rUwh_VbQGs/TqCMl-GU6NI/AAAAAAAAAQs/n16C-gbdpVE/s1600/P1020452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9rUwh_VbQGs/TqCMl-GU6NI/AAAAAAAAAQs/n16C-gbdpVE/s320/P1020452.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oAQlK5AvYXc/TqCNwTlVfpI/AAAAAAAAATk/Pe0hPSkB7A0/s1600/P1020481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oAQlK5AvYXc/TqCNwTlVfpI/AAAAAAAAATk/Pe0hPSkB7A0/s320/P1020481.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Hiking at Montserrat, a few hours away from Barcelona. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mkO-ZuwYY-U/TqCOW5TASrI/AAAAAAAAAVE/yN9UhFxnpQU/s1600/P1020495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mkO-ZuwYY-U/TqCOW5TASrI/AAAAAAAAAVE/yN9UhFxnpQU/s320/P1020495.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> It was a long way up and we're sweaty!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ChebcUm2mvo/TqCOZq6tTcI/AAAAAAAAAVM/FaVHBEHI9_8/s1600/P1020496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ChebcUm2mvo/TqCOZq6tTcI/AAAAAAAAAVM/FaVHBEHI9_8/s320/P1020496.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oH7Y2Yhq1hE/TqCOfWNPSmI/AAAAAAAAAVc/3Q6669QR4bA/s1600/P1020498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oH7Y2Yhq1hE/TqCOfWNPSmI/AAAAAAAAAVc/3Q6669QR4bA/s320/P1020498.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ku5bbfT2IdA/TqCOjwHhLbI/AAAAAAAAAVk/wjCI4tAdINk/s1600/P1020499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ku5bbfT2IdA/TqCOjwHhLbI/AAAAAAAAAVk/wjCI4tAdINk/s320/P1020499.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> We noticed that Spanish provinces view themselves as autonomous - not really a unified Spain</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ygfXAcgZDV0/TqCO_vvkkaI/AAAAAAAAAWk/3BwCKKIfiyg/s1600/P1020510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ygfXAcgZDV0/TqCO_vvkkaI/AAAAAAAAAWk/3BwCKKIfiyg/s320/P1020510.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-giWkmgC-LgE/TqCPJ7zwj5I/AAAAAAAAAW8/kiNmaGQBEbc/s1600/P1020513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-giWkmgC-LgE/TqCPJ7zwj5I/AAAAAAAAAW8/kiNmaGQBEbc/s320/P1020513.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o6F0UZ3HZKQ/TqCarbOLHbI/AAAAAAAAAk0/CaC9oV1mytk/s1600/P1020650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o6F0UZ3HZKQ/TqCarbOLHbI/AAAAAAAAAk0/CaC9oV1mytk/s320/P1020650.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The Dali Museum in Figueres - one of our favorite places we saw and one of the very few museums we went to. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TT83ibahDys/TqCb1tMnN7I/AAAAAAAAAnM/NI9003QtAtA/s1600/P1020672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TT83ibahDys/TqCb1tMnN7I/AAAAAAAAAnM/NI9003QtAtA/s320/P1020672.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Mas Pau - a beautiful hotel outside of Figueres and our 2nd favorite hotel of the trip. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oNrhRMrA9LE/TqCcH9gtgSI/AAAAAAAAAn8/zqa_mUFQixc/s1600/P1020678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oNrhRMrA9LE/TqCcH9gtgSI/AAAAAAAAAn8/zqa_mUFQixc/s320/P1020678.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DVjNgjDdyqo/TqCcKcAgpMI/AAAAAAAAAoM/eNmKu6md97E/s1600/P1020680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DVjNgjDdyqo/TqCcKcAgpMI/AAAAAAAAAoM/eNmKu6md97E/s320/P1020680.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-97HniV2bXgM/TqCcoRmULII/AAAAAAAAApU/OmbMZy5fVeQ/s1600/P1020699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-97HniV2bXgM/TqCcoRmULII/AAAAAAAAApU/OmbMZy5fVeQ/s320/P1020699.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Cadaques, where Dali spent his formative years. Right on the Mediterranean. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QV7IUUbOEHE/TqCcspA_DPI/AAAAAAAAApc/5JxvRZ_fsOM/s1600/P1020700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QV7IUUbOEHE/TqCcspA_DPI/AAAAAAAAApc/5JxvRZ_fsOM/s320/P1020700.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MgWri2w3SUU/TqCdGgHZRVI/AAAAAAAAAqc/m6sRvfrvd7I/s1600/P1020708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MgWri2w3SUU/TqCdGgHZRVI/AAAAAAAAAqc/m6sRvfrvd7I/s320/P1020708.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iUpQbDqI0e4/TqCdTEiEi7I/AAAAAAAAArE/IzXass3b3Bc/s1600/P1020718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iUpQbDqI0e4/TqCdTEiEi7I/AAAAAAAAArE/IzXass3b3Bc/s320/P1020718.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> One of the BAGILLION roundabouts we encountered</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Many more photos after the jump...</div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1dpWvkLg6yo/TqCfoooPu7I/AAAAAAAAAxw/l8DRn_QELAE/s1600/P1020808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1dpWvkLg6yo/TqCfoooPu7I/AAAAAAAAAxw/l8DRn_QELAE/s320/P1020808.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Hiking in the Pyrenees</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P0qr7FZ3CWY/TqCfzFyTN0I/AAAAAAAAAyE/rxFcuKMbo6w/s1600/P1020810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P0qr7FZ3CWY/TqCfzFyTN0I/AAAAAAAAAyE/rxFcuKMbo6w/s320/P1020810.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B3xB2NJuBGw/Tq2rhx9BU7I/AAAAAAAACAA/UqXHSlU0Ts8/s1600/DSC02502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B3xB2NJuBGw/Tq2rhx9BU7I/AAAAAAAACAA/UqXHSlU0Ts8/s320/DSC02502.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4YNe1uow-4c/Tq2rftTGqCI/AAAAAAAAB_w/bgcLLbePMl0/s1600/DSC02498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4YNe1uow-4c/Tq2rftTGqCI/AAAAAAAAB_w/bgcLLbePMl0/s320/DSC02498.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--gbFGsjsaTo/TqCgZo5uQTI/AAAAAAAAAzk/hqo8wXwwUVQ/s1600/P1020823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--gbFGsjsaTo/TqCgZo5uQTI/AAAAAAAAAzk/hqo8wXwwUVQ/s320/P1020823.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YFiv0qrwtys/Tq2rjrXHPMI/AAAAAAAACAM/3qKhGD-1DvE/s1600/DSC02505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YFiv0qrwtys/Tq2rjrXHPMI/AAAAAAAACAM/3qKhGD-1DvE/s320/DSC02505.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Qpizbgbtf0/TqCg71IK6KI/AAAAAAAAA08/IFklUjqttsU/s1600/P1020835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Qpizbgbtf0/TqCg71IK6KI/AAAAAAAAA08/IFklUjqttsU/s320/P1020835.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Other side of the Atlantic at San Sabastian (regionally known as Donostia); referred to as "mecca" for Spanish food.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N7Ry14AxPKU/TqChLtI8dRI/AAAAAAAAA1k/_a9ig9PS-mU/s1600/P1020840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N7Ry14AxPKU/TqChLtI8dRI/AAAAAAAAA1k/_a9ig9PS-mU/s320/P1020840.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> It was bright outside</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gDwBdiybfI0/TqChyQ4bjPI/AAAAAAAAA3E/ra7AUL3np8M/s1600/P1020852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gDwBdiybfI0/TqChyQ4bjPI/AAAAAAAAA3E/ra7AUL3np8M/s320/P1020852.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G7NEtB89yts/TqCjDbVOLJI/AAAAAAAAA6U/AsvIh0nqoNY/s1600/P1020882.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G7NEtB89yts/TqCjDbVOLJI/AAAAAAAAA6U/AsvIh0nqoNY/s320/P1020882.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The Guggenheim in Bilbao </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B4qNdk-KYkU/TqCjKXHIE5I/AAAAAAAAA6k/tRWDGXNeZvc/s1600/P1020884.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B4qNdk-KYkU/TqCjKXHIE5I/AAAAAAAAA6k/tRWDGXNeZvc/s320/P1020884.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AwMeClF_9_0/TqClb5KD4xI/AAAAAAAABAw/_Ld3RWwKMbc/s1600/P1020934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AwMeClF_9_0/TqClb5KD4xI/AAAAAAAABAw/_Ld3RWwKMbc/s320/P1020934.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Gorge in Ronda - outside of Sevilla</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wUBXrQB-XIU/TqClgQYUDMI/AAAAAAAABA4/6St33w9E8Vw/s1600/P1020935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wUBXrQB-XIU/TqClgQYUDMI/AAAAAAAABA4/6St33w9E8Vw/s320/P1020935.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jPWgXeGOwSw/TqCpohjquTI/AAAAAAAABLg/w6rbZhwnBV8/s1600/P1030029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jPWgXeGOwSw/TqCpohjquTI/AAAAAAAABLg/w6rbZhwnBV8/s320/P1030029.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FZHvvVk5bTY/TqCrN4PA9jI/AAAAAAAABPg/2ZWKtBxnWa0/s1600/P1030063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FZHvvVk5bTY/TqCrN4PA9jI/AAAAAAAABPg/2ZWKtBxnWa0/s320/P1030063.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Early EARLY morning at Alhambra in Granada</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c0Ac6zdzwQI/TqCso126DXI/AAAAAAAABSo/gsfRmGdqZCQ/s1600/P1030090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c0Ac6zdzwQI/TqCso126DXI/AAAAAAAABSo/gsfRmGdqZCQ/s320/P1030090.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bTdvA0iQ4Fk/TqCucmGns8I/AAAAAAAABXg/AMoii0j7_Qs/s1600/P1030129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bTdvA0iQ4Fk/TqCucmGns8I/AAAAAAAABXg/AMoii0j7_Qs/s320/P1030129.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HIfF9ujp1_0/Tq2unXqBQfI/AAAAAAAACVY/bTrYy5w6xZ8/s1600/IMG_0761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HIfF9ujp1_0/Tq2unXqBQfI/AAAAAAAACVY/bTrYy5w6xZ8/s320/IMG_0761.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Cordoba</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YPr0C0GTF-g/Tq2um2wTjcI/AAAAAAAACVQ/nd5w7dck86w/s1600/IMG_0760.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YPr0C0GTF-g/Tq2um2wTjcI/AAAAAAAACVQ/nd5w7dck86w/s320/IMG_0760.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OgsniJSGNGM/Tq2uv7dHD8I/AAAAAAAACW4/6vlWpxsAJnI/s1600/IMG_0774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OgsniJSGNGM/Tq2uv7dHD8I/AAAAAAAACW4/6vlWpxsAJnI/s320/IMG_0774.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j3uK2lA_baE/Tq2uwUpGcDI/AAAAAAAAD-c/DvAgJyhGKtk/s1600/IMG_0775.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j3uK2lA_baE/Tq2uwUpGcDI/AAAAAAAAD-c/DvAgJyhGKtk/s320/IMG_0775.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-41310575402617205982011-11-02T08:47:00.000-04:002011-11-02T08:47:10.221-04:00Staying in the GameWhen I was unemployed (which wasn't that long ago) I spent a good deal of time doing<a href="http://myojchair.blogspot.com/2011/08/informational-interviews.html"> informational interviews</a> and trying to expand my network of connections. Right before the <a href="http://myojchair.blogspot.com/2011/10/its-hard-work.html">wedding</a> & honeymoon and immediately after my getting hired, one of my connections introduced me (virtually) to a fantastic group of people.<br />
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The only problem was the timing. I was just hired and about to be terribly busy or out of the country for 3 weeks. I did my best to respond to and get in touch with everyone in the group but I know I didn't reach out to everyone. It was also difficult for me because I had just been hired and wasn't looking to skip out of the job.<br />
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But I decided it was more worth it to stay in the game - to keep growing my network - than to take the easy road and not follow-up. I think a lot of people forget to do this when they are happily employed. Unfortunately, those people might be unprepared if something happens to their job.<br />
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So last week I had a great call with one of those connections. I explained I wasn't looking for a new job but I still wanted to talk to her, get to learn about her career, and follow-up in the future. This call was wonderful! The woman was so sweet and so willing to be in touch. I had been worried that she wouldn't respond favorably to a call that wasn't going to lead anywhere but instead this contact offered guidance and future support. <a href="http://myojchair.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-reallyinformational-interviews.html">I know I've preached about informational interviews before. </a>But I am absolutely certain that there is no harm and probably a lot of benefit to continuing network expansion even when you have a job that you're happy with [which by the way - I have. Yay job!]Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-33069440011160205012011-10-31T09:10:00.000-04:002011-10-31T09:10:37.076-04:00Yes Means Yes<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">One of the most important books I have ever read is<i> Yes Means Yes</i> described by its authors and editors as <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">"a groundbreaking new look at rape, edited by writer and activist Jaclyn Friedman and Feministing.com founder Jessica Valenti. Through the anthology — and now this blog — we’re trying to move beyond “no means no” to connect the dots between the shaming and co-option of female sexuality in our culture(s) and some of the ways rape is allowed and encouraged to function."</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px;">From </span><a href="http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/about-yes-means-yes/">http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/about-yes-means-yes/</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I have passed this book around to my friends, male and female, and have had some of the most important conversations around sexuality, rape, and enthusiastic 'yes' because of it. Author Jaclyn Friedman recently did an <a href="http://www.salon.com/2011/10/30/a_sex_guide_for_todays_girls/">interview at Salon</a> about her new book ,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-You-Really-Want-Shame-Free/dp/1580053440">“What You Really, Really Want: The Smart Girl’s Shame-Free Guide to Sex and Safety.”</a> A description of the book from Salon is included below: </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 13px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></i></span><br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Too many books in this genre promise certain drive-your-man-wild tricks, or they take a side in the politicized debate over hookup culture. <b>Friedman instead has one thing on her agenda: Getting girls to explore and embrace their own authentic sexual identities without shame, fear or guilt.</b> Instead of arguing for empowerment through one-night stands or, conversely, abstinence, she leaves it up to young women to decide what it is that’s best for them. But she also offers guidance along the way, urging them to critically examine the social pressures and media messages that have shaped their understandings of sexiness, sexual fulfillment and love.</span></i></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The book is filled with writing exercises that prompt readers to reflect on everything from body image to sexual assault. It’s essentially a guide to writing one’s own personal sexual manifesto. This is a rare thing in a culture filled with generic, passive models of female sexuality – from pop offerings like the Pussycat Dolls to hardcore porn stars. </span></i></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">(Emphasis mine)</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">Below I've included a few of my favorite excerpts from<a href="http://www.salon.com/2011/10/30/a_sex_guide_for_todays_girls/"> the interview: </a></span></span><br />
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<b>It’s awfully hard to know where the cultural messaging starts and where the “real you” begins.</b>Well, like I said in the book, it’s actually impossible to know that. There is no real you that’s separate from all the ways that we as individuals have been influenced as we’ve grown up and gone through the world. The idea of some sort of sexual blank slate that you can get back down to and start from is a really harmful idea, because it’s impossible to achieve.<br />
The idea is to figure out what are the ways you have been influenced, which one of those influences are bringing you pleasure and happiness, and which one of those are hurting you or keeping you from experiencing pleasure and connection.<br />
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<b>I know so many young women who identify as feminist and feel very conflicted about some of what really does do it for them because they feel like it’s politically incorrect.</b><br />
That makes me so sad! No one speaks for feminism writ large, but myfeminism says that any one sex act is no more empowering than the next. There’s nothing inherently degrading about any sex act. It’s all about how both people involved are approaching it. On the flip side, there’s nothing inherently empowering about any sex act. I think people sometimes misunderstand my work and think I’m advocating that everyone go out and have casual sex, as though that would be empowering for everyone. What I want is to help women create a sexuality for themselves that is centered around what works for them.<br />
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">My sister bought me my copy of 'Yes Means Yes' and I've been sharing it ever since. Friedman asks and answers important questions about how our culture influences our sexual lives and what it means to be a feminist. I recommend her writings to anyone! I swear she'll change the way you think about approaching sexual relationships with your partner(s). <br />
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</span></span>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-60471808358691222302011-10-27T12:53:00.000-04:002011-10-27T12:53:48.582-04:00Student Loan Initiatives - Unclear About What's NewSince I have my mountains of student debt to start dealing with, I always pay attention to what's going on government wise with student loans. So when <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-unveils-student-loan-relief-plan-in-denver-campus-appearance/2011/10/26/gIQAOcDNJM_story.html">Obama unveiled his student loan relief plan</a>, I was intrigued. Unfortunately, I'm not really seeing anything new enough to require an "unveiling".<br />
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The president's plan is to be enforced by executive authority which is good (in my opinion) because it won't need Congress but it is pretty limited in scope.<br />
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<a href="http://askheatherjarvis.com/blog/what-student-loan-borrowers-need-to-know-about-obamas-student-loan-initiati">Heather Jarvis at Student Loan Expert</a> breaks it down:<br />
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<i>The changes will reduce interest rates for some graduates, and will have a significant impact on student loan payments for current students.<br />
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The Administration will:<br />
Offer a limited-time discount (including a .5 percent interest rate reduction) to the about 6 million borrowers who have at least one Direct Loan and at least one FFEL loan.<br />
Make more generous Income-Based Repayment (IBR) terms available sooner for about 1.6 millioncurrent students by moving up the effective date for improvements to the Income-Based Repayment plan from 2014 to 2012.<br />
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Student loan borrowers who have graduated or are no longer in school can choose the current Income-Based Repayment plan. Fewer than 450,000 borrowers participate in the Income-Based Repayment plan, and millions more of the 36 million Americans with federal student loan debt can likely benefit. The administration says it will take steps to let borrowers know about IBR and make it easier to participate in IBR. </i><br />
This seems to me to be a very small, very early first-of-the-first kind of steps in helping with student debt burden. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">“The administration is clearly acting in the interest of students, and this is a good thing in the current environment,” said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education. “But the fact remains that the biggest student loan issue facing us is the doubling of interest rates in eight months.”</span><br />
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</span></span>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-79531706132039435702011-10-26T12:11:00.000-04:002011-10-26T12:11:03.941-04:00Girls, Boys & HPVThe HPV Vaccine, Gardasil, has been a topic of controversy in the public health arena but my only complaint has been that it has been primarily marketed towards girls. Boys get HPV too. In fact, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/10/10/us-hpv-infection-rates-idUSTRE4998UN20081010">men are at very high risk of getting HPV</a> - so why do we ignore this and only vaccinate the women?<br />
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1) women tend to be more health conscious<br />
2) women are at risk for cervical cancer which is linked to HPV and people care about cancer<br />
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But the problem is - we end up putting the health and social responsibility of STD protection on women, again. Luckily, a government panel agrees with me and believes that <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45031684/ns/health-mens_health/#.TqgrAps8101">boys should get the vaccine for HPV too</a>. Something this article points out is that the "the vaccine has been slow to catch on — only about a third of adolescent girls have gotten all three shots....Last year, just 49 percent of adolescent girls had gotten at least the first of the recommended three HPV shots. Only a third had gotten all three doses." <div><br />
</div><div>My husband's response was that it surprised him that the rate of vaccination is so low among girls. I wasn't so surprised and here's why: </div><div><br />
</div><div>1) The vaccine is expensive and many insurance companies don't cover it. When I got mine, my parents had to sign a form saying that we would pick up any of the cost if our insurance company failed to pay. </div><div>2) The vaccine is a series of 3 shots. This is easy when you're dealing with infants who have a wide array of vaccines in their schedule. But the target age for this is 12-13...not so easy. People forget or don't want to come back for the rest of the series.</div><div>3) Some out there believe that the vaccine promotes promiscuity. What!? </div><div>4) People don't get the shot at the right age or think you should wait until you're sexually active before you get the vaccine. Wrong - you want to get the vaccine BEFORE you are exposed. </div><div>5) People can be afraid of vaccines. </div><div><br />
</div><div>The struggle to get women to buy into Gardasil is unfortunate and it's a problem. If women are more health conscious (in general), how do we get men to buy into the vaccine?? Unclear. But I do know that if men can be vaccinated, it will reduce the spread of HPV and the incidence of cervical cancer in women and anal & penile cancer in men. Yup...it's linked to cancer in men too! So maybe this thing is important enough for everyone to get at a young age - all three rounds of it! </div>Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200697617965080697.post-30173503667232424362011-10-25T15:11:00.000-04:002011-10-25T15:11:05.464-04:00Love/Hate RelationshipIt's day 2 and I already have a love/hate relationship with my commute and new job. I love my job and hate my commute.<br />
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This morning I got up super early (please don't yell at me if you have a more heinous commute than me and have been doing it for eons), did my morning routine, and went outside for the Baltimore circulator to take me to Penn Station where I grab my commuter train. My circulator bus is the first one that comes in the morning and this was my first time trying to catch the bus (I went in later yesterday so my husband was kind enough to drive me). The sign that tells you how long your wait will be said 25/50 min. Well that wasn't going to work for me- I had to be AT the train station in 25 minutes, not on my way there.<br />
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The walk to the station is about 20/25 minutes and I started it, calling my husband in a huff. OMG, I said, this is gonna SUCK - I did not want my commute to be that much longer even if the walk is better for me. But then, like an angel's song, I heard the vroom of my bus just as I approached the next bus stop. Perfect timing! So I hopped on and was at the station in time to buy coffee before my train. This morning I caught up on Breaking Bad episode 12 and got halfway through 13. I think my fellow commuters thought I was weird when I would laugh out loud or gasp when something crazy happened. Whatever.<br />
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Apparently the mornings are easier - I have my coffee, I'm freshly showered, and ready to dive into some good dramas (tomorrow it will be Heroes Season 2). But my sister was right, winter evenings suck! I didn't even get home that late last night and I was sooooo over it. Having a commute that is over an hour can just drain you. I did not feel motivated to exercise, cook, or be a fun person - this is clearly going to be hard work.<br />
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But this morning, when I got to my job, and had fun work to do - a day full of meetings and tasks, I felt relieved. This is what I've been waiting for! Things to keep me busy (and I don't mean cover letters!!). I don't think I will ever fall in love with my commute but like my sister told me, it just becomes a thing you do.Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999801444009643283noreply@blogger.com1