IDEAL TRAVEL

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How many of you like to travel?  I am sure that most of you do.  There is nothing like planning for a vacation or even just time off from your place of work.  What would be your ideal vacation location?  How long would you stay for? What is it that you would like to do on your vacation? (Ie: hike, zip-line, scuba dive).

Well my ideal vacation is going to see Ireland, Scotland and Germany.  I have always been attracted to Ireland with its rolling hills and rustic history, who am I kidding!  All these locations have history and rolling hills!  Now in all seriousness, I would like to go for approx. 3-4 weeks.  With needing to accommodate for jet lag and time changes, this would be “the” ideal vacation.

 

Welcome to Ireland

Has anyone been to Ireland?  What did you do?  What were the ideal sites?  If you could recommend a place, would you recommend Ireland’s Ancient East?  I would, with all that history and legends – the love of all that architect and castles.  Not to mention the number of festivities that take place throughout the year!  For more information go to: ireland.com

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How about that Scotland Aye!!!

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 What is it that makes this country so vibrant, mysterious and not to mention the legends!  To visit the battlefield of Culloden that was to be the historic turning point for the Jacobite Rising, the castles that sit along the shores and not to mention the famous standing stones. Who wouldn’t love seeing all this.  Seeing all this rugged land that continuously stands untouched.  Just breathtaking.

To really appreciate this country’s history go to: visitscotland.com

Last But Not Least – Germany

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The most exciting thing you can do here is enjoy the food and drink!  The cuisine would be fantastic, a cultural change to your taste buds!  With the small village markets and festivals that seem to be endless in Germany would simply be the most entertainment you can imagine.  I have also heard first hand and have seen photos from family that they can be anywhere in the UK.  They hop on a train or jump in their vehicles and can be in Paris or Denmark or anywhere for that matter. The history of these quiet little towns or the big city life will bring to you an unexpected feeling of being welcomed.

Catch all the details of your destination here: germany.travel

The “Ideal Travel”, this would be mine to be able to enjoy the quaint little markets in the small villages that sit just outside of each country.  What is your Ideal Travel?

 

Please share your Ideal Travel and Comment on if you have visited any of these locations.

 

 

Lifestyle Re-Written

 

How does it come to this?  I go to the grocery store and purchase what is considered the norm in my household. A couple of KD, brown beans, diced tomatoes, etc. I thought we were wise shoppers until I stumbled upon an article posted today on Global News,  that Canadians are the second largest buyers of ultra-processed foods and drinks in the world, second to the Americans.  It’s true!  I had gone through my pantry, freezer, refridgerator and was disappointed in some of my purchases.

 

How is that this is what we do?  Comfort foods, quick snacks, juices, cheese slices and of course yummy  desserts.  This is not ideal and as I read the article, these are the kinds of foods my kids eat.  They are picky and if it were not for these foods, they would not eat.  This is really no news to me.  I myself have made great strides in purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables, maintain a routine by working out, walking daily and keeping busy.  It’s great if it is just me, however my kids do not share my values on health.   Let’s face it, the marketed packaging appeals to them and not to mention it tastes good with all that salt and fat (this I do agree with).  We have all resorted at one time or another to the Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide    and have tired to follow it to the letter, however some of us eat only when we are actually hungry.  However, when marketing has had this incredible power of influencing consumers, what other way was there?A report conducted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the University of Montreal was published and it stated that children are the highest affect of our population.

 

How is it that while I was growing up, these were not concerns, however 35-40 + years later, they are now looking at re-labelling.  This comes to no real surprise to me – I had been seeing dietician a year ago and the Government was already implementing this so that people were more aware of what the food we are purchasing was properly labelled for better lifestyle choices.  (even after consulting with a dietician – I still have difficulties with what the label says).  With food we need to level the playing field, for me and when I get groceries, if I am looking at a label, I might prefer it to be simple like good or bad.  Lets face it, food has become so complicated that it is no wonder we reach for the chips, crackers or cookies.  Not to mention today’s working mothers – do not want to spend that much time in a kitchen, quick and simple!

 

Do you know how to read your food labels?  Do you understand what it states?  I for one do not.  This new Guide shows you the Nutritional Labelling and how to read them.  The Globe and Mail had an article “There’s a long way to go to truly improve food labels in Canada” written by Carly Weeks

 

@carlyweeks

 

healthycanadians.gc.ca

 

 

Thoughtlessly Thought-Out

Has anyone ever notice that when the Ontario Government implements new laws/bills that it is never truly described as to how it affects people?

 

I am talking about this new labour bill that the Ontario Liberals had proposed to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.  Having the minimum wage boosted to $15.00 per hour is going to put this province into a form of recession.  Yes we have had a wage increase that was very much-needed, however for those of us that are just making over this amount seems duly unjustified.

 

Questions to ask yourself:

• How many people do you know that may be affected by this wage increase?
• What kind of impact is this really going to make?
• Why does the Liberal Government believe that this will not affect the economy?

 

Jobs will not be totally lost however the impact of loyalty from employees to companies will dwindle, we are already seeing this (take no offence to this) with millennial.  There is no real commitment from people when they feel that their workplace is not complacent with the behaviours and attitudes that employees have shown.  For instance, and this is a big no-no in the workplace, cell phone use.  How many of you are texting or are on Facebook on company time?  Your manager or supervisor calls you in to have a discussion (first warning), you continue to use your cell phone; manager or supervisor calls you in again (2^nd warning – written).  and if caught again there are now consequences that are needing to be answered for.  This type of behaviour cannot be justified.  The wage increase just means that now it makes no difference where you are employed.  Therefore, people will bounce from job to job.  Now don’t get me wrong, people deserve to be able to support themselves, etc, however there is no such thing as workplace security no matter what the Liberals say.

 

I make no secret about it, I am not the bread-winner in my household however with this wage increase I could go out and apply to a pet store or a hardware store and make the same wage.  However, I will not be doing this, I enjoy my position and the people I work with but this does affect many people including myself.  As for small businesses, yes the government said that their taxes would be decreased to 3.5 percent instead of the current rate of 4.5 which is great but the fact that the Liberals have stated for businesses to improvise on how to make the minimum wage work in their companies is ridiculous.

 

As posted in the “Financial Post” from Metro Inc. is confirming its plans to extend its e-commerce service into Ontario at the end of this fiscal year or in early fiscal 2019.

Baskets sit stacked inside a Metro Inc. grocery store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Canadian 

 

There simply is not enough time to make these types of adjustments with current company budgets in mind.  There are plenty of overpaid employee’s that have a pretty cushy position so what would happen if all of a sudden their manager called them in and said “hey bud, sorry but we have to lay you off” or “there will be a wage freeze, we are not certain as to how long this wage freeze will be in place”.  Not so nice, facts are facts if minimum wage goes up, gas goes up, groceries goes up, hydro goes up (Yep you guessed it Ontario Hydro has requested they have a rate increase in their recent application along with pre-paid meters in Ontario).  Everything is affected except for the cost of living.  This will always an oversight.

  

Hollie Shaw (November 22, 2017) Metro plans to scale back store hours, extend e-commerce service in Ontario. Retrieved from www.business.finaicalpost.com  October 2, 2017

 

 

 

Consistently Impacted

For my first blog, I have chosen a topic of how social media impacts the news.  In a world that is constantly changing, so are our everyday habits. For instance, it is now November and the weather can change rather quickly. How many of you wake up in the morning and check the weather?  See what has been recently posted on Twitter? I know that I do and the rest of my family as well. With the questions of: is it cold out; what are the road conditions; what is the best route to take to work today; etc.  This then leads to the considerable changes of how our local news will be portrayed by the end of the day.  Not only are we checking the weather, we are also searching for any accidents on the highway or are there any constructions delays on our way to work.

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All of these little nuances that run our day to day activities and to manage to stay in the know and the now’s with the assistance of little apps called Twitter; Facebook; etc. gives you a basic knowledge of what has happened in the news, what company just opened its doors, what accident just happened on a highway or road that you need to take to get home or to work.Along with this are little article’s posted by big yellow bus, public school boards and local radio stations too needing to reiterate what is coming, what is current and breaking news and local traffic announcements.  With these as part of those two little words “Social Media” the public are always aware of what is transpiring in their community and are able to take the currently “posted” information and useful tips to help navigate through their day.

In a matter of minutes, people can scroll through all the notices that will give them the an up to date report of a particular player; what our prime minister is attending; severe weather notices; advertisements for brain games, airlines posting what is now considered a carry on as well.  Like anything else, I can go on and on about what is posted.

News Article **cnn.com**

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/09/health/aaron-hernandez-brain-cte/index.html?sr=twCNN110917aaron-hernandez-brain-cte0406PMVODtop

I for one prefer to see a brief notice of events and then be able to read an article that interests or impacts me.  With the level of communication that is being amplified through social media – the 6 o’clock news is really out of date when there is communication rushing through the lines by instant notifications to the public much faster than what awaits a person coming home to watch their local news.

Tell me, do any of you see how our news is being impacted by social media?  If so, what room is there for local TV news and programing. Such an article listed by the Bernstein Crisis Management Group “Factors that Influence” – Social media can let you spread the news wherever you are in the world at any point allowing news to be unfiltered and instant with no editing or lag time in delivery….