I’ve been enjoying my new car over the last few weeks!  It’s been so long since the last one and on those days when I’m not thinking, I’ll still search the parking lot for it; like I did last night!

Once upon a time I had a red Chevy Blazer with red vinyl interior that was Armor-All’ed to be slicker than a non-stick frying pan.  Anyways, I was coming out of a store one day and spotted a red blazer in the parking lot.  I unlock the door and proceed to sit in the driver’s seat.  it was at that point I noticed some books in the passenger floor board.  That’s funny, I don’t remember putting books there.  Well after scratching my head about this for a few seconds I realized thsi was the wrong blazer!  So I quietly open the door and exit the vehicle making sure to lock the door again.  After a quick look around, I found another red Blazer…MY Blazer.  I felt so stupid and wondered the odds that my key would open another GM product and that it would look exactly like mine!

So the economy is getting a bit stronger but there are still many professionals still looking for work.  Could it be your are not getting that job because of too much experience?  Just because you have enough work experience to cover three pages doesn’t mean you need to include it all on your resume. In fact, trimming your resume to create a more targeted message about your skills and achievements can be a better way to land your next job. Most employers are interested in knowing only the most applicable ways your skills can help their organization, and a concise resume is the first step. “It’s vital to make sure the relevant information is at the forefront and easily viewed by the reader,” says resume expert Charlotte Weeks and founder of Weeks Career Services. Not sure which experience to leave off your resume? Here’s what to consider:

Decades-old experience
Most hiring managers don’t care what you did 20 years ago, unless it was something truly spectacular. As you revamp your resume, be sure to focus on the last 10 years of your experience, with only a few mentions of previous achievements to provide breadth. But there’s always a caveat: If the role you held 20 years ago is still essential to your experience and it won’t make you appear overqualified, leave it in.

Appearing overqualified
Jam-packing your resume with too much experience can hinder your chances of getting hired. Most recruiters and hiring managers are looking for candidates with just the right amount of experience. As a general rule, shave off experience “when you’ve been working a lot longer than the years required for the job,” Weeks says.

Unrelated industry jobs
Once you’ve racked up enough experience, it’s OK to skip the mention of your summer college job or a position you held in an unrelated industry. While leaving it on your resume can demonstrate work ethic, it can also create a cluttered document that can confuse recruiters. As you gain more experience, most recruiters expect that irrelevant positions will no longer be listed on your resume.

Short-term jobs
Even if it pertains to your field, there’s typically no need to include a short-term position. For example, if you’re applying for a marketing manager role and you held a three-month stint in a marketing department five years ago, feel free to take it off. The only instance where keeping a short position on your resume is beneficial is if it is the only proof of industry experience.

Internships
When you’re just starting out, your internships are everything. However, as you progress in your career, these internships should be replaced with a more solid employment history that includes more permanent positions.

Create different versions
As you whittle down your resume, there’s no need to think you need to make the same trims for every position, Weeks says. For each position, she suggests looking at the specific job positing to see what of your experience is most relevant. “See what requirements they’re seeking, and make sure you include this information — if you legitimately have it — on your resume,” she says.

Condense work experience
Not sure how to fit in your most recent experience on your resume? One trick is to condense other bullet points. The older the job, the less information you need to provide about your role and achievements, Weeks says. As you build your resume, it’s important to take time to reassess the applicability of your experience. Since most resumes are one to two pages, it’s important to constantly edit to keep only the most relevant parts of your experience. This can be difficult with a 20- or 30-year employment history, but it’s often the only way to get hired.

Guess Snooki from ‘The Jersey Shore” is doing what seems to be a new trend; launching a perfume.  That’s right, for a moderate price I’m sure, you too can smell like Snooki.  I wonder if it’s the smell of stale cigarettes, B.O. and liquor?!?! Oohhh!  Sorry..I couldn’t resist   Have a great day~Chris Malone

This precious girl needs her new forever family! Could that be you?

Elisabeth is a 20 pound, one year-old wire-haired terrier mix who makes everyone smile. Her spiky hair gives her the look of a punk rocker, but she’s anything but snarly. She has a happy, even temperament and is delicate-boned and spry. Although she’s curious about what’s going on around her, she walks well on a leash and has the potential to have some very good manners with a little training. She also loves kids and gets along well with dogs!

For more information about how to make sweet Elisabeth the newest member of your family, call the Alachua County Humane Society at 352-373-5855.

Happy Wednesday!  Being somewhat in the south we  all know the powers of duct tape.  It can repair just about anything right?  Apparently this was the thinking of  a Ryan Air flight crew.  A plane with 200 passengers on board had to turn back after tape used to patch up a pilot’s window came loose. Passengers watched in horror as ground crew put the tape around the edge of the windscreen shortly before take-off from Stansted, Essex, to Riga, Latvia. The Irish Aviation Authority said the tape was being used as an extra precaution to secure a new window seal. But the pilot aborted the flight after 20 minutes when the tape started to become loose and made disturbing noises. Ryanair insists normal procedures were followed throughout, and there was no danger to passengers or crew. But one passenger, Anthony Neal, 33, of Bromley, Kent, said: “We were kept in the dark, and were terrified. I could see guys taping in the windscreen with what looked like duct tape or gaffer tape. “We were in the sky, then the pilot said due to damage on the windscreen, we were going to have to turn back.” Former pilot John Guntrip said: “This could have been disastrous, the pilot could have been sucked out mid-air if the window had come off.

TEENS AND 20-SOMETHINGS LOVE BAKING: A new study released today reveals that teenagers and those in their early twenties are six times more likely to bake something from scratch every day compared with any other age group. Sixteen to 24-year-olds who have grown up watching cooking shows on TV have been responding to the programs. The poll of more than 1,000 people found that older generations bake less regularly with nearly one fifth baking no more than once a month and only 1 percent of the over 55’s baking every day. However, six out of 10 people agreed that if they make the effort to create something from scratch at home, it tastes much better than bought food. (Daily Mail)

The Halloween classic & must-see “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” will be on ABC-TV this Thursday night at 8. I know, YouTube and several other web sites have the movie available to watch anytime, but there is something about watching it on the traditional TV.  So set your DVR’s, er, no don’t set your DVR.  Make your family plans to watch it Thursday!

By now you have picked out the perfect pumpkin and perhaps you have already carved it.  Here are some tips on keeping your carvings fresh and fly-free for up to 7 days courtesy of Cheryl Stoughton of Pumpkin Masters:

==Spray the carved area with water, cover the entire pumpkin in plastic wrap, and store it in your fridge or basement throughout the day or when not on display.

==Give your pumpkin a bath. Submerge it in a filled sink for up to eight hours. “Check on it periodically to make sure it isn’t getting too soft,” says Stoughton. “If you leave it in too long, it can split.”

===Keep the carved edges fresh by sealing in moisture with a think layer of petroleum jelly.

According to careerbuilder.com, nearly one-third of workers plan to or are considering dressing up for Halloween at the office. Here’s some last-minute costume ideas for trick-or-treating through the cubicles:

A Day Off — Using black lettering, write October 30, 2011 or November 1, 2011 on an orange shirt. When people ask what you are, say, “A day off!”

Running Late – Show up to the office with messy hair and disheveled clothes with your pajamas showing underneath.

Vending Machine — Dress in black and fasten snacks to yourself with the cost of each item displayed. To be really evil, place an “out of order” sign on the real vending machine and charge your co-workers for your snacks. When they pay, make sure you throw their snacks on the ground as the vending machine does.

Office Gossip — Make up fun stories about your co-workers. Fasten the stories to yourself and put the name of your favorite grocery store tabloid on a hat. Hang around the water cooler and invite people to read the latest news.

Pink Slip — No one ever wants to be served the dreaded pink slip at work. Wear a pink slip over your work clothes and chase your co-workers.

Post-it Note – Wear all yellow. When people say “trick or treat” at your cube, pass out real Post-it notes.

Red Tape – Buy red tape and tape it all over your clothes and cubicle. When people ask what you are, make them cut through some red tape to get the answer.

Leftover – Wrap yourself in aluminum foil and give yourself an aluminum swan hat. Place a sign on your chest that says, “Anything left after 4pm on Friday will be thrown away!”

Happy Hour — Wrap a tie around your head and carry around an empty (yes, empty) martini glass with you throughout the day. At 5pm, scream, “Happy hour!”

Headhunter – Carry a mannequin or doll head around with you, holding it by the hair.

~Chris Malone

What a great weekend!  Saturday started off with a delightful drive to Ocala for the Ocala Arts Festival.  I don’t know how they do this, but as far as I can remember the weather for this event is perfect without a cloud in the sky.  It’s always nice to talk with fans of 98.5 KTK and who doesn’t love a mega corn dog from the food vendors?  Then to see Tim Tebow do what he does best and lead his team from a 12 point deficit to an overtime win was the perfect way to wrap up the weekend.

By the way, the time change is still two weeks away.  Time to move the clocks back on November 6 by one hour to end daylight savings time.

A recent article in Woman’s Day points out a few things your boss won’t tell you but it’s important information and perhaps explains the actions he/she does that have you scratching your head.
Your boss doesn’t watch your every move – unless you give them reason to — but is keeping tabs on you. Ask yourself, “Would I want my boss to read this?” every time you post something on Facebook or any another social media site, suggests Edith Onderick-Harvey, president of Factor In Talent, an Andover, Massachusetts-based corporate consulting firm. “Be careful about how much you share about your weekend or what a jerk [you think] your coworker is,” she urges. Otherwise, your boss may start seeing you in a less-than-professional light, and that could carry over to how she values you as an employee.

Your attitude is as important as your assignments– Like ‘em or not, office politics matter — both day to day, and in the long run. “What your manager won’t tell you is that what may be even more important than completing tasks and following directions is your ability to work with her and your coworkers,” says Onderick-Harvey. Even if you’re getting the job done, if your coworkers find you to be abrasive, rude or just unpleasant, it will be hard for your boss to promote you.

Speak up!–Don’t be afraid to make yourself heard. The most valuable employees take initiative, says Patty Briguglio, president of MMI Public Relations in Raleigh, North Carolina. “I like having an employee who isn’t afraid to show her personality,” she says. “I don’t want someone to just fill a spot at a desk.” If you want a promotion, ask for it, says Briguglio. Also, let your boss know what you need to succeed, urges workplace consultant Steve Langerud, director of professional opportunities at DePauw University, whether it’s training, time or money.

Follow the lead–if you’re not sure whether your boss prefers to communicate in a meeting or via email or phone, ask, suggests career and executive coach Lauren Mackler. Also ask what he/she wants to be consulted on and what he/she prefers you handle on your own. And take cues from her personality, says Mackler: If your boss is introverted, don’t keep pushing for face-to-face time.

Toot your own horn–Your boss can’t possibly keep tabs on what every employee is doing every day — it’s up to you to let him know! “When you wrap up a project, send a congratulatory email to your team and CC your boss,” suggests Mackler. You might also send him/her a monthly overview of the projects you’ve completed and other accomplishments, and have these month-to-month emails on hand at your annual performance review. And speaking of performance reviews…

Bosses don’t like performance reviews, either–“They’re just as painful for your boss as they are for you,” says Daniel Debow, co-CEO of Rypple, a web-based feedback tool. “But you can help make them easier.” Rather than trying to recall the details of a project from 10 months ago on the day of your review, keep track of your successes as they happen, suggests Debow. You should also try to connect with your boss regularly throughout the year — not just on review day.

Dress like you mean business–“Dress every day as though it’s possible you’ll be called into the company president’s office for a meeting,” urges former business manager Sue Thompson, a consultant and speaker with Set Free Life Seminars. Even though your manager has more important things to focus on than your clothes and your business etiquette, if you fall short in either category you’re just asking not to be promoted — and you may be on the verge of a very uncomfortable conversation.

Bosses appreciate positive feedback, too–if you make your boss look and feel good, you’ll reap the rewards, promises Stefanie Smith, head of executive consulting and coaching firm Stratex. Generally your boss is the one doing the encouraging and nurturing, but you can turn the tables to your advantage. Compliment your boss in front of other people, suggests Smith. Just be sure to keep your kind words sincere — and brief.

Be a problem solver–“Most employees bring up problems and expect the boss to solve them,” laments Jennifer Prosek, CEO of consulting firm CJP Communications. “The employees who stand out are a part of the solution.” If you’re struggling with a project or a client and aren’t sure what to do next, present your boss with three possible options. Even if she instructs you to do something entirely different, she’ll appreciate that you’re thinking ahead.

Take responsibility for your actions–Whether you’re running late (“The traffic was terrible!”) or botched a big time project (“Well, she sent the email late!”), don’t try to push the blame elsewhere. Instead, acknowledge your mistake and take care not to repeat it. “Even if you’re a nice person with decent skills, I can’t promote you if you refuse to accept the blame when you mess up,” says Deborah Becker, the owner of a State Farm Insurance agency in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. And when you make a mistake, keep your apology concise. “The phrase ‘I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,’ goes a long way.”

Have a great day!~Chris Malone

Have a great (and green) Halloween!

Barbie’s had a number of different looks over the years, but her latest reincarnation is drawing the ire of some parents.

Tokidoki Barbie, marketed as a collector’s item for $50, sports tattoos on her neck and a pink bob. She also comes with a black skull-and-bones tee shirt, leopard leggings and sky-high sparkly silver shoes, and is the result of Barbie’s collaboration with Simone Legno of the Japanese-inspired lifestyle brand Tokidoki, the Huffington Post reported.

Notice Babs hasn’t inked Ken’s name anywhere??…hmmmm lol

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/29549022/detail…

It’s the 4th Annual Heart of Florida Asian Festival

Women’s apparent need to gossip is apparently natural. According to a new book, ladies have a basic evolutionary need to voice concerns about others to their peers. John L. Locke wrote in Duels and Duets that the desire stems from a deeper need to protect the community they live in. He explained, “One study of gossip showed that gossipers were concerned about women who are bad housekeepers, and women who are bad mothers, and women who are promiscuous. Those things are all threats to each woman in a community; therefore they have every good reason to want to talk about those things.”

My Aunt BeBe always said: “If you don’t have anything nice to say…
Come sit next to me!” LOL