Blog making a move

image by b-tal

This blog is relocating to www.andrea-zak.com.

Please resubscribe there, as I hope to start posting new content again soon.

The swift relocation to DC and the craziness of settling in that followed has taken a toll on my writing. But given my longer term career goals, I need to get back into posting at least once a week, hopefully sooner rather than later.

See you there!

On the Road Again.

I’m on the road from Los Angeles to the DC Metro area this week.  Starting a new job in DC on May 12th.  Since I’m not blogging, thought I’d pull together my random thoughts from the road that I’ve been posting to Facebook and Twitter.

April 26

Hence forth, people can no longer exchange jewelry, merely unprocessed mineral chunks.  Visit Tucson’s Desert Museum to understand why.

who knew — deep dish pizza — cheese peeled off of course — in Tucson is darned good. Try Zachary’s.

April 27

There is a Dairy Queen every five miles in TX.

Made it Abilene Texas. 100K residents and I swear 100K motels. PS to RJL: when noting I should make Abilene my first sleep stop after Tucson, you forgot to consider not one, but 2 time zone changes making my day even longer. Left @ 8am, got in at 10:30pm.

When planning your trip route, take into consideration changing time zones. It makes a HUGE difference. Lesson learned.

Before writing off a larger up front cost for simplified moving, consider that costs of doing it yourself + the unexpected.  (I could have shipped everything and just flown east for not much more than the cost of shipping/driving.)
April 28

edit: SW texas is DQ after DQ, central texas is cracker barrel over and over, NE scattered. Arkansas smells like grass & is v. green

Texas sun is so hot it melted my pilates fitness circle light and the glue off the soles of my merrell mules, thus shoes fell apart

Apparently I left my hair brush in the motel this morning, back in TX. grumble grumble. I need to go to CVS in Knoxville tomorrow

Arlen Spector changed parties? the things you miss when you spend all day on the road

April 29

As seen in Arkansas Billboard A: You will see God soon. Billboard B: Starbucks next exit. . . coincidence? I think not.

Billboard for local chicken joint in Arkansas: Milkshakes are the icing on chicken

Tennessee was beautiful the whole drive across the state. Lush and green the whole way

All those full, lush, green tree tops with vines covering tree trunks — I thought of broccoli piles at a farmer’s market all day.

Saw more state troopers in Tennessee today than in AZ, TX, and AR combined

Does going to the outlets in Lebanon to buy sports bras @ the Reebok store count as a cultural excursion in Tennessee?

Saw more cows in Tennessee than Texas. Crazy, right?

Had I left a week later, I think I might have seen all the wildflowers in bloom. Tiny bunches of pink, yellow, white, and purple popping up cross-country.

Baymont Inns are affordable places to stay when on the road.  Their King size beds can fit 3 people easy, four if spooning.

Five years ago, you’d be lucky if your Hotel offered Internet Access to guest, now even the Super 8/Motel 6 posts Free Wireless on its billboards.

Tip for the unemployed: car insurance

If you’ve been out of work for a while, or plan to be, check with your car insurance agent about pricing.   My agent called this week, regarding a different policy, and checked my rates.  By adjusting the projected annual mileage used in the formula that determines my rate (since I’m not commuting to work everyday) I can save about $200 per year.

Howdy new subscribers

photo by oskay

During my blogging hiatus it appears I picked up about 10 new subscribers.  I don’t know where you came from but welcome aboard! Don’t be shy about leaving comments.   No blogger wants to think she’s simply talking to the trees in the forest.

sorry I’ve been MIA

photo by kylemay

In the past few months I’ve been reading A LOT more and playing with my twitter account like a kid with a new toy at Christmas.

I’m very active over on twitter, if you’d like to dialogue there.

Otherwise, I’ve been more in my head, absorbing and processing ideas and information.  And I do hope to get back to a more regular blogging schedule eventually.

Please excuse the transition.

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VOD: Bricks and mortar Book Buying

Since my list of places that provide new homes for your books was so popular, I thought we’d visit the protocol for book buying in bricks-and-mortar stores.

Passe, I know. But it happens to all of us.

Scoot’s Bookstore Tips

Law enforcement rage out of control?

Is it just me, or does the police force in the US seem to be getting increasingly violent everywhere you look?

Last week,  17-year old Virginian was tasered in his own home by police after neighbors phoned in a domestic dispute.

I find it hard to believe that police cadets aren’t taught multiple ways to subdue a possible suspect.  Aren’t weapons that can kill you meant to be a last response?

On New Year’s Eve, a twenty-three year old African-American was pulled from his vehicle in his family’s drive way in Texas. After his mother, who came outside to see what was going on, got shoved by an officer, the young man questioned the treatment of his mother.  He was promptly shot by the officer.

Family members had difficulty believing a shooting at the home of the only black family on their Bellaire block was completely random. . .

Speculation aside, investigators and the family are trying to figure out why the officer stopped the men in the first place.

‘The vehicle turned out not to be stolen. Why they thought it was stolen and how they got a stolen report is something that is not clear yet. All that will be determined in the investigation,’ said Holloway.

The most heinous though took place on New Year’s Day.  The recent shooting of a compliant Oscar Grant in Oakland has caused an uproar and a very public demand for justice.

A BART police officer shot the man at point blank range who was laying on the station platform, restrained by officers.  Despite the confiscation of a number of cell phones of witnesses, several managed to make their way into the hands of local reporters covering the story.  The officer in question refused to testify before Internal Affairs, resigning so that he could not be compelled to do so.  The city’s citizenry await word of what charges, if any, will be filed.

Has police work become more treacherous in recent years that the police are running scared and shooting unarmed civilians? Does law enforcement seem more enticing to certain personalities?  Have 8 years of shivving the Constitution left officers thinking they to can act with impunity?

I’m certainly not alone in being concerned.

A new study published this month in the Emergency Medicine Journal reports that roughly 98% of ER docs believe some of the patients delivered by police are victims of police brutality.  But since there aren’t any laws requiring this sort of abuse to be reported, unlike parents assaulting their children, doctors look the other way.

That data was collected in 2002, so the nearly 2/3 of physicians that felt they saw at least 2 instance of police brutality a year. . . how many do you think they’re not reporting now?

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a world of possibilities and adventure in 2009!

Best of 2008 blogging

photo by gep

It’s the end of December, and blogs are brimming with all sorts of end-of-year reviews.
Taking the lead from Elysa over at GenPink, I’m posting links to my favorite posts of 2008.

Professional:

McKinsey’s Model Centered Leadership for women — key traits and behaviors to get ahead professionally

The Personal and Professional Benefits of Philanthropy

When is enough enough? Enhancing mental agility (when is taking brain-enhancing drugs for non-medical reasons OK?)

The marketing machine: non-fiction books (thinks to think about when marketing a NF book)

Personal:

Favorite Reads of 2008 — trying to hit 50 books before the 31st, realistically, it’ll be more like 45.

A Guide to Life Coach Selection

Making grad school more affordable

Defining Gen Y (my response to a query about what events have shaped the Gen Y collective)

Politics:

Little room for “just war” when diplomacy and police work trump bombing (The US seems to be the only developed nations that hasn’t caught on to the fact that exercising soft power and creating open dialogues is more effective than dropping bombs)

What story is mainstream media creating? (why we should be thinking about the motives of the media in their reporting)

Foreign correspondents fading away (are we ready for foreign reporting that reflects indigenous, not American perspectives)

Why I’m Voting Obama, part deux

Video-of-the day shorts from around the web

A Short Love Story in Stop Motion (a sweet animated romance)

Wassup! — covers 8 years of G.W. Bush is minutes

Intentionally disturbing commercial: STD awareness (a PSA that got my attention)

Since I’m constantly adding new bloggers to my Google Reader, as well as meeting them on Twitter,  it would be great to hear from some of them (Tim, Sally, Allison, Andy, Jen,  Andrew, Monica, Amanda and you too!  What are your best posts of 2008?