Still Waiting!

So my big news is getting ever closer but it seems I still have some waiting to do. I have an important meeting on Friday and depending on how that goes I may have some interesting developments to announce.

In the meantime I will continue to be looking for freelance writing work because the bills are starting to come in and I am not the kind of person who can continually live off of my husband.

I am completely stretched to the limit at the moment and I cannot wait for the weekend. Not only will I know the direction my life will be taking for the next little while, but I will also have a lot less stress in my life.

Stay tuned!

Change in Plans!

So I started this blog a long time ago as part of the curriculum for a public relations program at college. My intention in taking the program was to enhance my PR skills and to make myself a little more current. I had been out of school for a long time before returning and I wanted to make myself a little more employable and get out of my current rut.

Now that the program is finished, I feel the need to change the direction of this blog. It has been neglected for quite some time now and it seems like a waste of cyberspace to leave it here existing, yet contributing very little.

So my plan now is to turn this into a blog about me. It is an honest explanation of me and my life and is written more for me than anyone else. My life is about to change in a big way and hopefully this blog will help me to maintain my sanity during this whole process. Updates to follow!

Avril Lavigne and Canon Cameras

Currently, Canon Canada is airing commercials promoting 2 of the different digital cameras that the company produces. As part of this campaign the company is using Avril Lavigne as a spokesperson.

The campaign began with a launch in October where fans won a chance to meet Avril. It continues until the end of December with a contest where you can win a camera. The television ads feature Lavinge prominently and air on various channels.

I have to say that I just don't get it. Avril typically appeals to a much younger audience than myself and the cameras that are being featured are $230 and $700 respectively. This is certainly not going to be in the budget for the average teenager. I am curious to see how this campaign will play out and if it will be effective for the company. I just don't see any obvious connection between the spokesperson and the product.

Carbon Offsets?

I recently purchased tickets for my husband and I to travel to B.C. for the holidays. As I was completing my purchase through Air Canada, I was given the option of purchasing carbon offsets.

It seems that since May 2007 that Air Canada has developed a program to help travellers reduce their carbon footprint. The program, called zerofootprint calculates how many carbon tonnes your trip will produce and then calculates how much money you can donate in order to offset this.

While I agree that it is necessary to do something about the environment, I am not sure I agree completely with this method. I want to do my share for the environment but I would like to see the company do more. There is little information about what else the company works on to reduce waste and emissions. It should not be up to me to make Air Canada look good. Especially since the company has been lacking in the good news department for the last several years.

This is a good start but a company with a history of irresponsible management should not be responsible for managing my contribution to the environment.

Surprise! The car is not free!

This morning in the Toronto Sun, I was reading a piece by Michelle Mandel written about a young couple that leased a car.

It seems this young couple found themselved in need of transportation and so they began a sting of bad decisions by leasing a car they could not afford. Instead of purchasing something within their means the couple over extended themselves and signed a lease at nearly 30% interest on a $10,000 car.

After a few months the couple both lost their jobs(no explaination as to why), and stopped making payments on the car.

This is where the article gets interesting.

It seems that both the couple and the columnist are aghast that the company has gone to great lengths in order to track down and repossess the car. This includes contacting the couples references that were listed on their leasing application and then taking the extreme step of contacting the couple via facebook while posing as potential friends.

While I think this last step is rather extreme, it is the attitude of the girl in the article that shocks me. After all of this the lesson she has learned is to not use facebook. Really?! Nothing about living within your means, or returning the vehicle that you are no longer paying for. I have to tell you-if you owed me 10 grand I would probably try to track you down too!

I personally don't feel that the company is entirely in the wrong even though the article is slanted that way. They may have gone to extremes to collect what was owed but this couple clearly had no intention of returning the car they had only made 5 payments on.

Something really happens on "The Hills"

OK, I am a little embarrased to admit this but I actually watched "The Hills" last week. Now I know this is a faux reality show, but it actually had a true life lesson to teach.

If you have an icky boyfriend and you work for an event planning company, it is not a great idea to invite him to your workplace. It is also not a great idea to loudly announce how drunk you are with your boss within earshot. Heidi Montag learned this the hard way and lost her job because of it.

While the show has very little relevance to my life and I cannot see myself living the same lifestyle as the characters on the show, I think that it was an excellent example of what not to do in the workplace. Heidi's coworker was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of adding people to the guest list and drinking at the event, and she was fortunate enough to keep her job.

Who knew? Something with substance was learned from "The Hills".

Avril Wishes She Could Skate Like This

Next month Napanee will showcase some of the best in Canadian women's hockey during the National Women's Under-18 tournament. Teams from across Canada will try to prevent the Ontario Red team from winning their fifth consecutive gold medal in this tournament. Two Trentonians will be competing against each other with Danielle Skirrow playing for the Ontario Red team and Jamie Hatheway playing for Ontario Blue. The girls are normally teammates for the Durham West Lightning in the PWHL. Also playing in the tournament will be Brianne Jenner who was recently named as the captain of Canada's National Women's under 18 team. This tournament will preview some of the next big talents in women's hockey and fans will be treated to highly skilled and fast paced play. Women's hockey is traditionally a more exciting game to watch because of the intelligent style of play, the focus on the game, and the lack of fighting. This is an excellent opportunity to view some of the best hockey our country has to offer and watch what will most likely be some of our future Olympians. All games will take place at the Strathcona Paper Centre in Napanee beginning on November 5th with the Gold medal game happening at 1pm on November 9th.