Category: General

Good news to start your Monday – Starbucks has a stated goal to reach 40,000 stores worldwide. Although I am much more of a Dunn Bros. fan, I am all for more coffee shops. We may have to consider moving Select Metrix headquarters to this building: The people who work in Seattle’s tallest building face a tough decision: should they get their caffeinated indulgence at the old Starbucks on the building’s first floor or the new Starbucks, 40 floors up? And, if those lines are too long, is it too far to walk across the street, where a third Starbucks awaits?

The Executive Restaurant Recruiter directs us to an excellent program called Passionately Pink for the Cure. From the M&M website: October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and to commemorate, we’ve created a special pack of M&M’S Chocolate Candies. Each time you buy one of the specially marked bags, we’ll make a donation* to The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Help support breast cancer research and outreach programs while satisfying your sweet tooth! My wife was just 23 when she lost her mother to pancreatic cancer and I am certain many readers have had cancer affect their life in some manner. This is a worthy cause that can make… Read More

From a survey conducted by WetFeet of new graduates – here are the lists of most desirable employers by industry. Technology 1. Google 2. Microsoft 3. Apple 4. IBM 5. Yahoo Consumer products/pharmaceuticals 1. Johnson & Johnson 2. Procter & Gamble 3. Nike 4. Medtronic 5. Genentech Financial services 1. Goldman Sachs 2. Morgan Stanley 3. Citigroup 4. Lehman Brothers 5. JP Morgan Chase

I’m a coffee addict and I’m ok with that. I hand craft my own latte every morning to exacting standards. I consider myself a coffee snob. Until now. If you visit this page and look halfway down you will find a picture and description of a mobile espresso maker. For your car. I’m not kidding – part of the description: The heavy-duty plastic coffeemaker plugs into a car’s cigarette lighter and requires no additional cups or spoons. Add water and espresso-grind coffee to the pre-set markings inside the stainless steel inner core, screw on the top cap and plug it in. Six minutes later, two servings of espresso flow into… Read More

I found this story amusing – One in Three Workers Writes Down Computer Passwords, Study Says. For all the security measures taken by companies, a third of the works still undermine it. Staff still had a tendency to jot down passwords either on a piece of paper or in a text file on a PC or mobile device. Great analogy here: “This is really a lot like mom and dad buying a great new system for the house and junior leaving the combination under the door mat,” David O’Connell, senior analyst at Nucleus Research, told Reuters.

Tory Johnson at abcnews.com provides all the background you will ever want on National Boss’ Day. In case you were wondering, here is the explanation the definitive authority on this holiday: The goal? To express “appreciation for the ways bosses manage people, respect for their handling tough workloads, and gratitude for the coaching they provide.” That “definitive authority” was Hallmark Greeting Cards. I haven’t received a card yet.

According to Inc.com, if you live in Baltimore, you spend more time in line than any other major metropolitan city. With an average wait time of 5 minutes, 13 seconds, Baltimore ranked last in the comparison of customer service speed in the 25 most-populous U.S. cities. I suppose what really matters is what you are waiting for. Personally, I would wait 10 times that long for crab cakes in that town. Now for the coup d’gras: Phoenix had the shortest average wait for service at 3 minutes, 5 seconds. Residents of Portland, Ore., finished second, with an average wait time of 3 minutes, 30 seconds, and Minneapolis came in at… Read More

The month of October is Clergy Appreciation Month and dates back to 1992. Hallmark has a page giving details of this celebration. Here is some background from their site: The mission of Clergy Appreciation Month is to uplift and encourage pastors, missionaries and religious workers by providing physical, emotional and spiritual support. There are more than 1 million full-time Christian ministry workers in the United States, including 350,000 senior pastors. So make sure to thank your pastor, reverand, preacher and priest for all they do.

This whole premise of this website is funny. (h/t Seth Godin)