TransGlobe and Social Networks

No one could have predicted the wild success of the social networking sites. In the past five years, they’ve utterly transformed the way we do things in the world.  Where at one time, they served as bulletin boards where we could log in and talk to people who had the same interests as we did, we can now connect to a stunning number of people all across the world, sharing interests, news, videos, and a whole generation is learning how to flirt across international borders.  It’s a great step forward for cultural understanding, and a great way to take part in the flow of information.  It’s not just people who are connecting, either.  Far-looking companies like Canada’s TransGlobe Property Management, are using these resources as ways of connecting with their clients in new and meaningful ways.

They’ve always made it easy for their customers, and have a sleek and user-friendly database that allows potential residents to browse through thousands of listings of residential and business properties in Canada’s communities.  They can now connect with potential customers on Twitter and Facebook, to provide them with more information, as well as posting splendid videos of the properties on youtube, so they can see more clearly what the buildings and the grounds really look like.  It’s stunning to think about how this information can now move so freely.  In the past generations, phone calls and meetings would have dominated the calendar, and now these things can be done in a few simple steps.  That means that companies like TransGlobe Property Management can use their time and resources for more essential things.  Things like taking prompt and courteous care of maintenance calls, and for participating in neighborhood charity events.  This way, businesses can use their time to really get to know the communities and the customers they serve, and that’s a step forward for all of us.

Driving on Icy or Wet Roads

Problems occur on any roads, when the weather begins to happen.  In Los Angeles, any time it rains there will be numerous accidents…one car accidents.  Some people just blame it on crazy LA drivers, which after living in the city for two years I must say that they are actually some of the best drivers around.  The problem is that it so rarely rains there that the oil gets built up on the freeway, and any Ford Lincoln Navigator repair manual will suggest that drivers slow their speeds.

The roads become an oil slick, and trying to brake suddenly when traveling fast becomes close to impossible.  The same is true for any of the Western States with low rainfall.  That was one of the things I was taught in driving school as a teenager in Arizona, that and how to change a flat tire, which I have never actually done myself, but carry my Ford Bronco repair manual should the need arise.  Ice on the roads is just as dangerous, as many times you can not see it, you only know it when you are top of it.  It is very important to drive with caution and to slow down, and to not follow too closely to another other drivers.

It is suggested by the DMV and in any Ford Ranger repair manual, that standard following time is five seconds, however it is best to increase this distance when the roads are compromised.  I myself got into a bit of a situation, and I was traveling at a very slow speed, five maybe ten miles an hour at the most.  I was coming up to a stop sign on a small Chicago side street, put on my brakes and my truck just kept on going, bumping in to the car in front of me.  There was no damage to either vehicle, however, the other vehicle just happened to be a police car.  Luckily the Chicago police officer found it to be more funny than anything else, as I still had my Arizona plates on my car.  He poked a bit of fun and then sent me on my way.

On the Boards in Seattle

With all the mystique of the great Northwest, and the luxury of being in an extremely cosmopolitan city, Seattle has been on the vanguard of culture and industry for some time now.  There is also easy access to some fantastic weekend getaways on beautiful islands, the mysterious and jaw-droppingly-beautiful Olympic national forest, and the Puget Sound views visible from various points all over the city.  It’s a beautiful place, and even a short trip here can replenish your lust for life.  If your adventures are keeping you in the city, there might not be a more livable city in the country.  With a thriving economy, and a culture that supports civic-mindedness, it has the average citizen in mind, and the quality of life is very high.  It’s a splendid place, in fact, to stay at one of the Seattle luxury hotels.

These accommodations offer the best in contemporary hospitality, and have the added appeal of a distinctively local brand of service.  They know how to treat guests very well here, and you’ll find a lot of agreeable things about the place.  It’s lovely to wake up and fall asleep to the sound of the rain, and if there is no rain, there is a strange lightness to the atmosphere of the city that will surely brighten your morning.  For coffee lovers, be sure to sample some of the local espresso before setting out on your day.  There’s a lot to do in a day here, but it’s also one of the nicest cities in the world to do nothing.  You can plan a walk around Green Lake, see the Pike Place Market, or just hole up in a great cafe and watch the people.  It’s got an enormously interesting local culture, and there’s an energy here that’s quite contagious.

For the evenings, the music scene is still pretty fantastic, and there’s always interesting local performance work in town.  If you’re in the mood to see something more international, but with a local flair, check out what’s playing at On The Boards.  They’ve been here since 1978, and moved to Queen Anne from the Central District in 1998, and have been bringing in consistently edgy and interesting work that no one else would touch in town.  It’s become a kind of haven for artists who are touring the world, and the country, with amazing backgrounds and reputations, but are a little too avant-garde for mainstream theatres.  Check their website, or pick up a copy of Seattle’s coolest underground paper, The Stranger for listings of what’s happening here, along with some occasionally pithy and sardonic reviews.

TransGlobe Continues the Work

With an excellent record for customer service, we’ve been serving the Canadian communities for over 15 years, and there’s a bright future ahead, to accentuate this fantastic present.  We have thousands of rental properties, for business and residential use, and we have buildings all over Canada. Certainly there will be something for you, and chances are, there will be many choices.  Once you start browsing through our extremely user-friendly database, you’ll see all the possibilities, and may even start decorating and arranging in your mind.  We love our buildings almost as much as our clients, and we work to make sure you know you’re in good hands with TransGlobe Property Management.

Not only do we take care of you at the very beginning, when you’re looking, we’re with you all the way through, answering maintenance calls promptly and efficiently.  It’s important to us that you’re happy, and that you enjoy your new neighborhood.  Neighborhoods are very important to us, too, you’ll soon see.  Our fleet of fuel efficient vehicles can often be seen around town, attending public events, and charitable fundraisers.  We at TransGlobe Property Management like to give back to the communities that have been our source of livelihood, as well as our homes, for all these years.

We recognize that good communities are created and not inherited.  The generations that came before us worked so that we would have the right infrastructures in place to create the communities we want, but it’s up to us to continue the work with love, and with vision.  Knowing our clients and knowing our neighbors is an important way to begin creating the kinds of communities our ancestors were working toward.  We respect their efforts, and integrate them in to the way we work with each other, to continue to make Canada’s reputation as having one of the highest quality of life ratings on the planet.

South African Hiphop

South Africa is an extraordinary country with an amazing history.  It is a rich combination of cultures and languages, with so many worlds existing simultaneously, offering a heady experience that will amaze any traveler here.  There is also a fantastic merging of the familiar and the unusual here, and a truly cosmopolitan sensibility that adapts quickly to individual tastes and styles.  There is a long tradition of hospitality here, and visitors can experience this fully at the boutique hotels.  South Africa has an extremely wide array of accommodation selections, and our hotels offer some of the finest lodgings to offer a fantastically unique luxury experience.

As boutique hotels, they are individual in character, offering a style and design sense that is unique and exquisite by any standards.  For visitors looking for an alternative to the uniformity of chain and corporate hotels, these are a spectacular way to arrange your stay in this spectacular place.  South Africa’s major cities all have an extremely exciting night life, with live music and performance that are truly stunning, as well as a wide range of pubs and restaurants that set the international standards for excellence.  Check out the clubs where DJs are spinning.  One of the exciting things about music in the past few years has been the rise of DJing all over the world.  The form has been around since the beginnings of hiphop in the late 1960s, but recent technologies have made it easier for young people to get started in the industry.

South Africa certainly has its share of DJs.  Some of the roots of world music begin here, of course, and continue to begin as new forms emerge, but hiphop is an interesting phenomenon that’s in a class by itself.  Although it would be easy to argue that the forms began here, the music is a form from the U.S., and didn’t get popular here until the second or third wave of hiphop hit South Africa.  In a very short time, however, South Africa became one of the leading countries in hiphop imports, behind France, and has been adding its own innovations in the last decade, in large part due to the availability of the technologies that make it possible for events like DJ battles to happen here.  It’s exciting to watch music evolutions in motion.

Arizona Historical Society Pays Tribute to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

And exhibit opens this coming Thursday at the Museum of the Arizona Historical Society.  This exhibit will illustrate the incredible life and career of an incredible woman, Supreme Court Judge Sandra Day O’Connor.  The museum is located close to Papago Park in Tempe, Arizona and will include photographs, iconic artifacts including her collar and her judicial robe and items from her childhood while she grew up on the Lazy B Ranch as well as other personal items from the family’s collection, and will include a video presentation of her life…a document from youth throughout her years of education, and her career in both the civic and the legal worlds.

O’Connor has become an icon, a female icon for just what a girl can accomplish in this day and age, and she did it all, in her day and age.  She became the leading voice for females throughout the United States, spanning twenty five years.  She was born in 1930, and prior to her Supreme Court seat, the first held by a woman in the history of the United States–appointed to her by President Ronald Reagan, she served as  a judge for the state of Arizona, and Associate Justice.   In 2006, the Law College of ASU was named for Sandra Day O’Connor.  She has remained influential and retained a spirit that is unequaled.

Any young girl who dreams of a career in any law office in the country, or any woman dreams of reaching her goals to the best of her aspirations and abilities, will find inspiration in the exhibit and in the life of this remarkable woman.  Not only will the exhibit open, but her house, an adobe house wherein she raised her children has been moved to the site of the Historical Society and will continue to serve as a gathering place and office for those who wish to join her in her continued efforts towards political and social reforms in the State of Arizona, civil action resulting from civil talk.  Just a few days ago she was awarded by President Barack Obama, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  This the highest honor bestowed upon a civilian in the United States, and one that is well deserved.

Grilling Hot Peppers

A new outdoor kitchen means a new lifestyle.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you start to see the changes when you start cooking outdoors.  Fresh food on the grill means more than just a sense of free-spiritedness, where you’ve dedicated part of your life to being outdoors.  It’s also a very healthy choice, as grilled foods can offer splendid healthy side effects, and of course, they are extremely tasty.  When it becomes a question of lifestyle, then, grill islands are central to your outdoor set-up.  Our fine selection has something to offer everyone, and we can help you find the perfect island to suit your tastes and sense of style.

We offer a large variety of choices, including grill islands with their own sound systems, media centers, lighting options, and a host of shapes and styles.  You’ll be spending plenty of time here entertaining your family and guests, so it’s important to find something that you’re delighted with.  In no time you’ll be grilling all kinds of wonderful new creations to the delight of your friends and family.  One thing that people learn very quickly is that almost everything can be grilled, and most foods can be magnificently enhanced with the flavor of outdoor cooking.

Meats of course are the heart of grilling, but fruits and vegetables have remarkable tastes brought out by open flame.  Hot peppers can be very well served by careful grilling and roasting.  One of the most common methods is to simply place the peppers directly on the grill, and cook on both sides for a few minutes until the skin darkens.  Then take the peppers off the flame and wrap in aluminum foil for approximately 20 minutes.  This steams the peppers.  Unwrap, peel the skin and seed the peppers, and then they can be used in your recipes for an outstanding taste.  This works with all kinds of hot pepper, from anaheim chiles to jalapeños, and can offer a smoky taste that you’ll absolutely love.

Graduation at Fort Wayne International Business College

My nephew is finally going to graduate. He has been a problem for my sister for years and we were loosing hope in him actually doing something positive with himself. He always leaned to the lazy side not putting much effort into much of anything, let alone school. Now he is going to be graduating from the International Business College in Fort Wayne, IN at the end of this semester. I am very proud of him and really never thought he would do it. Hoped he would, but this is truly a surprise. We can not figure out what kicked in but something did and we are sure glad. Not only is he going to be getting a degree, learned another language on top of it all he is graduating with honors. Now that I’ve gotten my reservations at hotels Fort Wayne I am going to plan my route.

I am taking the occasion of his graduation as an opportunity to go on a road trip and have some time to myself. It is going to be a really long drive taking two days minimum. I’ll be leaving Phoenix on a Tuesday morning to give myself plenty of time to get there for his graduation on Saturday. Leaving early on Tuesday I will be able to make it to Santa Fe, NM by late Tuesday afternoon and spend the night and Weds morning with an old friend there. From Santa Fe I’ll head north into Colorado. In Southern Co I’ll pick up some back roads heading north and east and should make it to Hays, KS on interstate 70 by late Weds. Hopefully I will be able to get on the road really early out of Hays, KS, if so I should be able to make it all the way into Fort Wayne by late Thursday night giving me the whole day Friday to spend with my sister, nephew and family.

Well now all the plans are in place i can focus on the perfect gift for this surprising achievement.

Yogesh Verma Abstracting Jaipur

Jaipur is affectionately known as the Pink City, named for when the facades were painted in the last century for the Prince of Monaco’s visit.  It is a spectacular place to visit in photographs, and in person, it is simply stunning.  The stuff that dreams are made on, Jaipur is a brilliant city, with a city plan based on a cosmic principle and shaped like a mandala, and even thinking about Jaipur can lead to lovely musings.  Planning a visit here is a fantastic pleasure, and when you start planning for Jaipur, hotels seem to be everywhere here. We’ve taken the guesswork out of that, and offer you the best of the selection, so that you can enjoy a magnificent luxury hotel while still keeping to your budget.  Our hotels offer a magnificent combination of tradition and innovation, so that you can enjoy being spoiled and still be very well-connected to the world at large.

Jaipur is a gorgeous experience in discovery, where you can see old world temples or splendid contemporary shopping excursions, all in the same day.  Jaipur is simply a gorgeous city, and there seems to be a sensibility for the art of everyday detail everywhere you look.  The famous Rajasthan Biennale is held here, featuring some of the most exciting art in India, and there are young artists who are beginning to make forays into the international arena.  One of these, and surely a face to watch, is Yogesh Verma, who recently completed his BVA at the Rajasthan School of Art in Jaipur.

He has been showing his work all over the state, and has a very bright future ahead of him.  The young artist works in painting abstractions of the human form, and general abstracts that speak to a host of fears and desires.  The work is bold, extremely bold, and he has a sensibility that is very loose and free, but still somehow remarkably restrained, so that the hidden impulses beneath the drip-paint figures plays a profound role in the work, and the effect is really stunning.  He’s making good connections in the Indian Art community, and will be an exciting name to look for in the years to come.

Commitment to Place

With two decades of experience in serving the private and public sector in Oklahoma City, Mary Myrick is making a difference in the community here.  Her work is focused on client-based outcomes, so that each project is an individual work, and her culturally diverse team has enormous professional expertise in many areas.  This means that at Public Strategies Inc. they meet the clients where they are, and their projects range from program management to public relations, and technical assistance to marketing.  This range is only possible through a large vision, one that is based in a commitment to the public good.

The track record for Public Strategies is excellent, and reflects the years of experience in using a mutli-disciplinary approach to problem-solving and expertise in making quality improvements that make a quantitative as well as qualitative difference.  They work with a number of clients, demonstrating a wide range of interests, having worked with Oklahoma State University in graduate research projects, the Oklahoma Association of Youth Services, and the Harding School of Fine Arts.  This is a fine demonstration that Public Strategies works with large and small institutions, and works in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.  This reflects a broad approach that is based on experience, and demonstrates a quality that only comes from a commitment to place.

Public Strategies also has offices in Texas, Colorado, and the DC area, showing that Mary Myrick’s overall approach has a broad appeal.  However, it is also very locally-focused, and the work in Oklahoma City comes from a real love of the neighborhoods.  Looking after youth and families, and keeping a sharp eye on the future, the fundamental principle is hope and optimism.  Making a brighter tomorrow today is the bottom line, and this works to build stronger communities, and make living easier.