Amy Currioman

I frequently wonder what’s going to happen with the travel industry. I get the distinct impression that more people are struggling financially and are therefore less likely to travel simply because of that one factor. In addition to their financial struggles I am frequently exposed to news articles about how many people are feeling that the extra security measures taken by TSA are overzealous and inappropriate. Passengers are asked to walk through the special screening machine that basically lets the TSA agent see what you look like naked and a lot of people are unhappy with that. Others feel that there negative health consequences to be exposed to whatever radiation is used to create those images.

And I’m pretty frequently seeing/hearing news articles about particular passengers that have been upset over measures taken by TSA.  For example one woman was really upset that she was forced to remove her Breast Prosthesis; another woman was upset that her five year old child was patted down by an agent. I can understand all of these people being upset; I would be upset too.In But the fact is that the terrorists are crazy people and they will use children and women as suicide bombers and I think that’s going to hurt the travel industry for many years to come.

Guest post by Sandra Ouellette

I think that it is absolutely amazing how much technology has changed just in my own lifetime!  When I was in high school, personal computers were a thing of the future, and the Internet was probably still a gleam in some genius’s eye.  When I was looking at going to college, my parents refused to let me go to the college of my choice – they wanted me to live at home.  The college I wanted to go to was a five hour commute, one way!  Back then a girl needed her parent’s consent to go to college!  Needless to say, I didn’t get to go to the college I wanted to go to, and could not get the degree I wanted.

Oh, how things have changed since then!  Anyone can get access to many different University Degrees Online without any fear of commuting, or whether they have to live at home or on campus!  My fifty-year-old brother-in-law just got his Master of Public Health degree last spring, getting the degree from WaldenU.edu,  I’m proud of him for continuing his education on into his middle aged years!

Thanks to Maureen Smythers for the guest post

I’ve never been one to want to be home alone.  I guess when I was a young child some traumatic event happened that ingrained abandonment fears or some kind of phobia about home invasions, I don’t know.  But whatever it is, I do not enjoy being home alone.  I get very anxious, to put it mildly.  So when Thomas was told by his company that he was going to have to travel one week a month, and that was non-negotiable I was one very unhappy camper!

Fortunately the company is giving Thomas a travel allowance generous enough that we could install a home security bear system.  I still don’t like being home alone, but when I have to be alone, I feel less vulnerable and try to distract myself by watching special “chick flick” shows on our Direct TV that I would not normally be able to watch if Thomas was home,  eating Edy’s vanilla caramel ice cream, and pamper myself by doing special beauty things like manicures, pedicures, dye my hair, avocado masks.  And sometimes I invite Laura over for a “ladies night” and sleep-over.

All of those things help to keep me distracted from the anxiety that I feel when I’m home alone.  Hopefully as the months go on the anxiety will slowly disappear.

A lot of people drink orange juice every morning. Its how they start their day.

I prefer a nice cup of coffee in the morning and rarely drink orange juice. When I was very young, I would drink orange juice in the morning. my parents were not big coffee drinkers at home. We all drank either a bi glass of orange juice or a glass of whole milk with our breakfast. My parents would wait until they got to work to have their first cup of coffee.

But I want my coffee first thing in the morning. And pleasse don’t talk to me until I have had at least one or two sips.

I was really surprised when I was taking business classes in college that my professor taught us that small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Small businesses employ more people than large businesses! And let’s face it, many large businesses are leaving the country in droves because the costs of doing their business tend to be less expensive in other countries. So small businesses are becoming even more important to our economy because they are the ones left behind that will be giving us our paychecks! You can blame the mass exodus of large companies on the labor cost if you want to, but that is really only part of the reason. There are tax breaks and environmental laws that make it easier for them to make a large profit. And like it or not, most large companies are motivated by profit.

Life is tough here in the US right now. Not just for the average citizen, but for small businesses. That’s why it is really important for the small businesses to be able to obtain small business grants. Grants are better than loans because you don’t ever have to pay them back! And there are a lot of grants available “out there” if you can find them. There is a website called businessgrants.org that can help the small business owners find and apply for a variety of grants. This is a good resource to remember if and when you decide that you want or need money to start up or maintain your own small business.