Here are a number of Christmas songs to help you get in the mood for a simple Christmas. They’re written and submitted by a variety of individuals and groups and compiled on the New American Dream web-site.

Some of the merchandising products in the lyrics are a bit dated, but the focus is still the same. If you feel your Christmas spending habits are out of control, sing a couple of these to get things in perspective.

Buy and Sell
(tune of: Silver Bells)
(words by Erica Avery)
City Sidewalks busy sidewalks
lined with advertising
It’s the big retail season of Christmas
Children begging for each new thing
toys for mile after mile
and the mood of the season is clear

Buy and Sell (Buy and Sell)
Buy and Sell (Buy and Sell)
It’s Christmas time for consumers
Ching-a-ching (Ching-a-ching)
Cash registers ring (Cash registers ring)
Must we spend Christmas this way?

Maxing credit, running debits
buying things we don’t need
with money we don’t really have
Children crying, parents sighing
no time for family
and the reason behind it is clear

Buy and Sell (Buy and Sell)
Buy and Sell (Buy and Sell)
It’s Christmas time for consumers
Ching-a-ching (Ching-a-ching)
Cash registers ring (Cash registers ring)

Must we spend Christmas this way?

Consumer Wonderland
(tune of: Winter Wonderland)
(words by Erica Avery)
The TV’s on / are you watching?
Another product / that they’re hawking
one more thing you need
to make life complete
Welcome to Consumer Wonderland

In the stores / you will hear it
“Pricey gifts / show holiday spirit”
That’s what they call it
to get to your wallet
Welcome to Consumer Wonderland

At the mall we can go out shopping
and buy lots of stuff we can’t afford
we’ll have lots of fun with our new toys
until we realize that we’re still bored

When you shop / ain’t it thrilling
until / you get the billing
the money you still owe the stuff broke long ago
Welcome to Consumer Wonderland

Carol of the Toys
(tune of: Carol of the bells)
(words by Erica Avery)
High voices: Barbie Dream House Mi-ickey Mouse Beanie Babies Tamagotchis

Low Voices: Too Much stu- -uff

High voices: Cabbage Patch Dolls Ninja Turtles Super Nintendo Tickle-me-Elmo

Low voices: Too much Stu -uff

Repeat, changing key each time

HARK! THE NINJA TURTLES SING!

Hark the Ninja Turtles sing
Kid-dy marketing is king.
Fun to watch, expertly styled
To manipulate my child.

Garfield, Bettlejuice ‘n Tickle-me Elmo,
Ma I need it, ‘every child wails
Care Bears, Super Mario
Brainwashed, but they’ll never know

Hark the Ninja Turtles sing
Thriving thanks to your offspring

Hark the New Kids On The Block
Making millions ’round the clock
Ten year olds they hypnotize
Into needing merchandise

Time that should be spent on telling
Christmas truths instead of selling
Muppet Babies, Kid ‘n Play
Barbie for the holiday

“Hark,” commercialism sings
“Watch our programs and buy our things.”‘

UH OH WE’RE IN THE RED, DEAR
(Sung to the tune of Rudolph the red-nose reindeer)
Uh oh we’re in the red, dear
On our credit card it shows
Christmas is almost over
But the debit line still grows
Shopping like Santa’s zombies
Sent our budget down in flames
But all our Christmas spirit
Helped the giant retail chains

I’m so foggy Christmas Eve
Wondering how we’ll pay
Christmas doesn’t seem so bright
When our finances are tight

So here’s a plan for next year
Let’s forget the shopping spree
Let’s give a gift of love, so
All our Christmas gifts are free

JINGLE ALL THE WAY
Chorus: Profits here, profits there,
profits everywhere
Christmas time is funny,
we smell money in the air
Advertise, glamorize,
fool you with a flair.
Let’s make sure that Christmas
is a businesslike affair.

You’re eating up our lies and dashing to the stores Then all our prices rise and how the money pours
If we don’t keep you drugged and watching your TV You might see the hypocrisy then where would business be?

Chorus

We’ll tell you how to think and tell you what to try
What to eat and drink and how to live and die
And if our plan succeeds, when Christmas-time is nigh
Instead of seeking love and peace you’ll hunt for gifts to buy

Chorus

GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN
Slow down ye frantic shoppers for there’s something we must say
If you would spare a moment all the stores would go away
Big business has been telling us what Christmas means today

Now it’s time we decided for ourselves, for ourselves
Yes it’s time we decided for ourselves.

To some folks Christmas means a time for gathering with friends
And enemies might take it as a time to make amends
But TV says it’s time for pricey gifts and selfish ends

Now it’s time we decided for ourselves, for ourselves
Yes it’s time we decided for ourselves.

Some people feel that Christmas is when Jesus makes a call
For others it’s a time to stress good will and peace to all
But advertisers tell us it means Santa’s at the mall

Now it’s time we decided for ourselves, for ourselves
Yes it’s time we decided for ourselves.

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I read the Smart Canucks blog to find out about freebies, sales and deals from Canadian retailers. Periodically, they post a more general money-saving tip.

Today they posted a couple of ways to send a free SMS text message to cell phones from Canadian carriers. You should note: some cell-service providers charge users for incoming text messages. These text messages may be free to send, but could cost the recipient on the other end.

Method 1: From the wireless carrier’s website

Each wireless company has a website from which you can send free Text Messages:

• Free text messages to Rogers Wireless cell phones
• Free text messages to FIDO cell phones
• Free text messages to Telus cell phones
• Free text messages to BELL Mobility cell phones

Method 2: By email.

You can easily send emails to your friends’ cell phones directly from your email. You need to know the number and the carrier of the recipient to e-mail messages to their cell phone. Here is a list of the emails of different carriers. You need to replace the part before the “@” with recipient’s number.

• Rogers Wireless: [10-digit phone number]@pcs.rogers.com
• Fido: [10-digit phone number]@fido.ca
• Telus: [10-digit phone number]@msg.telus.com
• Bell Mobility: [10-digit phone number]@txt.bell.ca
• Kudo Mobile: [10-digit phone number]@msg.koodomobile.com
• MTS: [10-digit phone number]@text.mtsmobility.com
• President’s Choice: [10-digit phone number]@txt.bell.ca
• Sasktel: [10-digit phone number]@sms.sasktel.com
• Solo: [10-digit phone number]@txt.bell.ca
• Virgin: [10-digit phone number]@vmobile.ca

You need to replace the [10-digit phone number] with your friend’s number. For example, If your friend’s number was 613-123-4567 and their carrier was Rogers, you’d send an email to 6131234567@pcs.rogers.com

How to send Free Text Messages to Rogers, Fido, Telus, Bell & Virgin Canada Cell Phones at Canadian Freebies, Coupons, Contests, Shopping Deals & Free Stuff Canada

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January 1 is often the time people set or reset direction for their lives. They set resolutions, they review the past and set goals for the future. Regardless of how well or poorly you’ve been managing personal productivity, the New Year can be a good milestone to review your processes and see if there are places you can make improvements. Time management is a way of life and needs to be reviewed regularly.

Assess your productivity habits using the following 10 time management principles and see in what ways you can improve your productivity.

1. Set goals and have a plan to reach those goals. Goals give your life, and the way you spend your time, direction. Coals are the foundation of effective time management. Do you know anyone who is successful? Have you spent time talking with them about their success? Chances are, they credit setting goals as a major step in their success, and continues to be important as they look for new ways to challenge themselves. Setting goals is not just for champion athletes or wealthy people. Everyone needs goals to give them direction. It’s not complicated. However, it can be challenging. The process of goal setting can be of value to you in building drive and commitment; important factors in achieving success.
2. Set priorities and make daily plans. You can spend your days responding to the next crisis that grabs your attention or you can set priorities to using your time effectively. You need to know what is important in moving your toward your goals. Then, eliminate those things that prevent you from meeting your priorities. Organize in a way that makes sense to you, but once you have an order for things, do first things first.
3. Deal with the important, not the ugent. There’s a quip that says, “Lack of proper planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” Work to be effective, rather than merely efficient. Efficiency means doing the job right, but effectiveness means doing the right job efficiently. Urgent tasks usually have short-term consequences, while important tasks have long-term, goal-related implications. Work toward reducing the urgent tasks you must do so that you have more time for what is important in the long run.
4. Delegate effectively. Delegation is getting things done through others. If you don’t delegate effectively, you attempt too much. You will either “burn out” or you will not complete everything on your task list. Delegate everything but those tasks at which you personally want to excel. Remember that delegation never absolves you of responsibility; you are still accountable.
5. Avoid or consolidate routine details. Time is often lost in the starting, stopping and changing of different levels or types of activity. Save time by grouping similar tasks together. Make all your outgoing phone calls at the same time. Organize your errands into a single run. Reply to e-mail once during the day. This is a more efficient use of your time.
6. Learn to say “no”. “No” is the most powerful time-management word in the English dictionary. There are times when we have demands on our time which exceed our ability to manage them. Learning to say “No” is a critical skill that needs to be mastered. Taking on more than you can manage leads to frustration as nothing gets done very well. Learning to say “no” to the unimportant makes life much easier. However, use good judgement when saying “no” in the workplace.
7. Control interruptions. Controlling drop-in visitors who interrupt your workflow requires both tact and judgement. The office culture where you work will have influence on this practice. If yours is an organization that encourages less-formal communication, you may find people dropping by to discuss anything from last night’s big game to next week’s big presentation. When appropriate, establish periods of the day when you block interruptions so you can focus on difficult or important tasks. Save routine tasks for the times of the day when you permit interruptions.
8. Maximize technology. If you’re having trouble finding a way to do something more effectively, chances are that there is a tool or software on the market to help you do it better. Much of this technology can help you make maximum use of otherwise wasted time. For example, answering e-mail on a Blackberry while waiting for a doctor’s appointment.
9. Don’t be a perfectionist; work toward excellence. The time cost of perfection is greater than the outcome benefit derived. Work to be excellent, not perfect. Make your work the best in can be under the circumstances. Excellence is attainable, gratifying, and healthy; perfection is often unattainable and frustrating. We all want to do the job right, but no one is perfect. Spending too much time trying to do something better prevents us from moving on to potentially more important tasks. Of course, if you’re a surgeon, the closer to perfect, the better.
10. Stop procrastinating. We all put things off. We hope to avoid tasks that are boring, difficult, unpleasant, etc. When faced with something we don’t want to do, we can find a dozen tasks of no consequence to fill our time. We secretly hope that, by procrastinating, the unpleasant task will shrink and go away. Unfortunately, the reverse is often true; the deferred job just gets bigger and more difficult. Procrastination is the result of indecision. Visualize the end result of an activity rather than the activity itself. Break large tasks into multiple smaller units. Clear the clutter. Create an environment that is conducive to getting the job done, and reward yourself after completing the job.

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There are four basic methods of giving a speech: impromptu, manuscript reading, memorization, and outlined.

1. The Impromptu Speech

In one sense, the impromptu speech requires the least preparation; in another, if you’re a subject-matter expert, you’re always “preparing” impromptu speeches. With little advance notice, the speaker is asked to speak for a few minutes on a specific subject.

If you find yourself in this position, take a moment to prepare and apply the following principles:

1. Formulate the central idea. Don’t try to discuss the entire subject. Limit yourself to a specific aspect that you can discuss in a few minutes.
2. Open your talk with a sentence that says something. Don’t apologize for what you are about to say. Begin with a bang and get straight to the point.
3. The body of your speech must be unified. You can give examples, illustrations, comparisons, and contrasts to help explain your key sentences. Be as concrete and specific as possible.
4. Conclude on a strong note. You can repeat your key sentences, but rephrase them. Restate them briefly but clearly.

Here other tips for giving an impromptu speech:

• Expect the possibility that you might be called on to speak, so make some preparations early.
• Maximize whatever small amount of preparation time you are given to your benefit.
• Practice active listening.
• Manage speech anxiety by reminding yourself that no one expects you to be perfect when giving an impromptu speech.
• Use the fundamental principles of speech organization: tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them.
• Consider the impromptu speech as an opportunity to practice and develop your speaking skills.

2. The Manuscript Speech

A manuscript speech is written out and read verbatim. When it’s important that the exact words are used in a correct way, a read speech is appropriate. Political leaders read speeches for accuracy and precision. They lack the spontaneity of the impromptu speech or the extemporaneous speech. It’s important for the speaker reading a speech to maintain rapport with the audience.

Here are some guidelines in giving a manuscript speech:

1. Only use a manuscript when what you are saying is of critical importance.
2. Use good oral style.
3. Practice, practice, practice.
4. Develop body language and gestures that support what you are saying.
5. Use effective vocal variety/contrast.
6. Remain flexible.

3. The Memorized Speech

This method of delivery is good only for elocution pieces. Like a speech that is read, it lacks spontaneity. In addition, memory can fail during delivery and can cause embarrassment. This type of speech should not be used in public speaking classes.

Here are some guidelines in giving a memorized speech:

• Stay focused on your specific purpose and on the key ideas you want to convey.
• Speak in the moment.
• Practice, practice, practice.

4. The Outlined Speech

This should be the commonly used method of speaking. It is not read nor memorized. It spontaneous and natural. The speaker has time to prepare the ideas they wish to convey and the actual words are formulated at the moment of delivery.

This type speech must also be practiced but the words and arrangement of words are changed to something better and more effective. In rehearsing, the speaker is simply guided by an outline. If notes are held, these material or data which expound the ideas. The speaker doesn’t memorize the speech, but the order of ideas to achieve unity, organization, and clarity in speech.

An extemporaneous speech:

• Requires careful preparation.
• Is based on a key word outline.
• Allows the speaker to remain direct, involved, and flexible.

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Posted in Motivation

Do our thoughts shape our lives? Albert Einstein believed so. He said, “The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” James Lane Allen, author of the book “As a Man Thinketh” states, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”

It’s easy for us to focus on the negative parts of our lives. In doing this, we sub-consciously shape our future responses toward the negative. If you want to move in a positive direction, you have to shape your thoughts with positive thoughts. One way you can focus on the positive is to have a pride-experiences list.

List past experiences that are positive for you; things you are proud of, that energize you as you recall them. Include your earliest memories. They can be anything from building a house to drawing a picture or running a race. It only matters how you feel about it. The standard for items on this list is your own pride in feeling, “I did it myself.”

Examples of pride experiences are:

• Coached my baseball team to a winning season
• Created an innovative new procedure and trained staff how to use it
• Designed a go-kart with 2 friends and won first prize in a race
• Doubled the sales volume in my product area in a two-year period
• Earned enough money to travel through Europe by holding three part-time jobs
• Helped solve an important personal problem for an employee or neighbour
• Initiated a program, product or procedure at my job
• Learned to swim and dive at age seven
• Organized and led weekend Girl Guide camping outings
• Raised $1,000 organizing a raffle for my children’s school
• Remodelled and redecorated part of my house
• Set up and ran a summer business that earned enough profit to pay for my school tuition
• Successfully managed a difficult project to completion
• Taught myself how to create a web site by studying a how-to book
• Wrote an innovative database program to help my class manage a research project

This is not merely a mental exercise; write the list on paper or in your PDA. Refer to the list regularly. In particular, when you feel negative thoughts coming on, pull out the list and remind yourself of the things you have and can accomplish.

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“If you envy successful people, you create a negative force field of attraction that repels you from ever doing the things that you need to do to be successful.  If you admire successful people, you create a positive force field of attraction that draws you toward becoming more and more like the kinds of people that you want to be like.” —Brian Tracy

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This is a David Letterman oldie that has been around the block a few times. If you’re still feeling the effects of yesterday’s turkey dinner, this one’s for you.

10. Hundreds of volunteers have started to stack sandbags around you.

9. Doctor tells you your weight would be perfect for a man 17 feet tall.

8. You are responsible for a slight but measurable shift in the earth’s axis.

7. Right this minute you’re laughing up pie on the carpet.

6. You decide to take a little nap and wake up in mid-July.

5. World’s fattest man sends you a telegram, warning you to “back off!”

4. CBS tells you to lose weight or else.

3. Getting off your couch requires help from the fire department.

2. Every escalator you step on immediately grinds to a halt.

1. You’re sweatin’ gravy.

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• Do not share your user names or passwords.
• Use only secure Internet browsers that allow secure transmission of data -look for the closed padlock symbol in the bottom right corner of your screen and the ‘https’ prefix in the website address line.
• Only give your credit card details when you initiate a purchase.
• Keep a record of your transactions, either by keeping your email confirmations or by writing down the confirmation numbers provided by the merchant.
• Carefully check each of your monthly credit card and bank statements and look for unauthorized purchases and withdrawals.
• Confirm the retailer’s delivery and return policies before you make a purchase.
• Never respond to an unsolicited email request for personal or account information, even if it appears to be from a trusted source.
• Never send payment information, including credit card numbers or bank account information by email.
• Enroll in the Verified by Visa (VbV) service. VbV helps ensure purchases made online at participating merchants such as Air Canada, Future Shop, Birks, La Senza, Dell Canada and Best Buy, are made by the actual cardholder through the use of a personal password.
• Educate yourself about online shopping and safety at http://www.visa.ca/en/personal/securewithvisa/shoppingtips.cfm.
• Choose difficult passwords. Avoid using ones that are easy to guess such as your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, or telephone number.

- News Canada

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Posted in The Simple Life

On the first day of Christmas, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner gave to me… 12 tips for protecting privacy. Six of the tips are for consumers and the other six for merchants. With increased commercial activity during the holiday season of the year, it is a good idea to be extra careful to guard againstidentity theft.

Six points for consumers:

1. Ask how personal information (eg. name, address, phone number) will be used. Determine whether it will be shared with others.
2. Minimize the number of identification and credit cards carried.
3. Tear/shred receipts, copies of credit applications, other documentation containing personal information, don’t just throw it in the garbage.
4. Do not provide a Social Insurance Number unless absolutely necessary. Ask to use other forms of identification.
5. Remove mail from mailboxes as soon as possible after delivery. Follow up with creditors if bills don’t arrive on time.
6. Refuse to give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the internet unless you have initiated the contact or you know who you’re communicating with.

Six points for merchants:

1. Make protection of personal information a company priority; designate someone in your business to coordinate privacy policies and practices.
2. Make your staff aware of privacy and security obligations; all employees must follow good practices in their everyday transactions with customers.
3. Protect personal information in your custody - keep records under lock and key, make sure credit card slips are out of reach to the public, not beside the till. Information on your computers should be password protected with adequate safeguards.
4. Reduce the amount of customer information you collect; if you don’t need certain information for a transaction, don’t collect it. For example, Social Insurance Numbers are rarely needed for retail transactions.
5. Shred or securely dispose of all customer information once it is no longer needed. Make sure copies of receipts and return slips are safe.
6. Obscure credit card numbers on customer receipts. Thieves are looking for receipts that contain all the information needed to misuse a credit card; name, credit card number and expiry date.

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