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Bowling is one of the most popular sporting activities in the country. In fact, over 50 million Americans hit the lanes on a regular basis, and the trend is spreading to other parts of the world. No matter what your skill level, you can enjoy bowling.

Even if you are brand new to bowling, you should always use the proper equipment whenever you bowl. Here are the most important accessories to remember:

Bowling Ball

Obviously, the bowling ball is an important piece of equipment to a bowler. All bowling balls are not created equal, though. Before purchasing a bowling ball, be sure to determine what ball weight you are comfortable with, as well as the size of the ball holes you will need. And don’t forget that some balls are designed for right-handers and some are made for lefties.

Bowling balls are classified according to skill level as well: beginner, intermediate and advanced. There are also bowling balls that are made just for kids. If you don’t want to buy your bowling ball, you can always rent or borrow one at the bowling alley.

Bowling Shoes

Another accessory required for bowing is bowling shoes. Bowling shoes are unlike any other type of shoe, and each shoe has its own purpose: one bowling shoe is made to improve sliding, and the other bowling shoe helps you brake. You can rent or borrow bowling shoes from the bowling alley, but don’t forget to ask for the correct size. You don’t want your bowling shoes to be too roomy or too tight. You won’t be able to bowl very well if your bowling shoes don’t fit.

Bowling Shirts

Bowling shirts are a popular accessory and can improve comfort while you bowl. Professional bowlers wear special bowling shirts that have collars. You don’t need a professional quality bowling shirt to play a leisurely game of bowling, but it is important that you wear something comfortable. Any shirt with a collar should work fine, as long as you can move freely and it doesn’t distract your from your game.

Bowling Gloves

Many bowlers like to wear bowling gloves because they help them get a better grip on the bowling ball. Having a nice secure grip on the ball can help improve both your accuracy and power, so you may want to consider wearing bowling gloves. They also help support your wrist, providing a nice and smooth delivery.

Bowling Towels

A bowling towel is handy to have around to wipe any oily residue from your bowling ball. You can use a regular towel or purchase a special bowling towel that you will find at the pro shop in the bowling alley.

Other accessories you might want to look into include bowling bags and bowling ball cleaners or polishers. For personal use, you may want to have your own face towels or wristbands. These types of accessories are not required, but can be a personal preference for many bowlers.

About this Author

For more bowling tips, including bowling rules and how to calculate your bowling score, visit The Bowling Coach.

Article Source:
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Are you afraid to speak in the public? Do you want to overcome your fear of public speaking? If your answer to the two questions above is yes, then read on as I share with you my own personal experience on how I overcame my fear of public speaking.

If you think you are alone with this fear of public speaking; then think again. I also had the same fears and many people all over the world also share your fears to speak in public. I recall several incidents that occurred while I was growing up. As a child, I often got punished with the rest of my classmates for failing to answer the teacher’s question; even though I had the right answer within me.

I preferred to be punished with others than raise my hand to answer a question; my fear of public speaking was so strong that I would rather risked being punished in school than to see myself being exempted from punishment, simply because I answered a question.

If there was anything I hated most, it was standing out from the crowd; and public speaking was one thing I hate. I often missed school feigning illness just to avoid the debate classes organized by the school management. Now how did I overcome my fear of public speaking? That’s what I am going to share with you now.

In this article, I am going to share with you my step by step strategy to overcoming my fear of public speaking. If you are willing to learn and take some actions, then below is my ten step guide to overcoming your fear of public speaking.

1. I acknowledged my fears: The first step I took to overcome my fear of public speaking was to acknowledge my fears. I wasn’t shy about it; I openly admitted that I was afraid to speak publicly. One of the mistakes people make is that they hide their fears; and this fear eats them up silently. They feign boldness on the outside but inside; they pray that the earth should open and swallow them.

The positive side of openly admitting your fears is that you will become more challenged to overcome it. Openly admitting your fears means you are facing your fears head on. It might earn you some mockery but it’s a way to go especially if you can use that mockery as leverage to boost your determination.

2. I traced the root cause of this fear: The next step I took to overcome my fear of public speaking was to trace the root cause of the fear. I came to understand that the root cause of this fear was the mentality I grew up with. During my primary school days, I recall coming first in class term after term. I was happy and my parents were, but it put a strain between me and some of my childhood friends.

My friends began to pull back from me because they felt they were out of my league academically and it hurt me. I wanted to be like everyone else; that was where I developed the attitude to avoid “standing out.” If being outstanding was going to single me out of the crowd, then I didn’t want it. Now having understood the cause of my fears, I decided to attack the root cause. I began to be me, regardless of what people said. I began to take on challenges, not because I loved challenges but I just wanted people to talk. This attitude pitched me against people who felt I was showing off but I didn’t care; I just wanted to be me.

3. I developed a strong desire to overcome my fear of public speaking: To be sincere, I don’t think you can overcome your fear of public speaking if you don’t desire it strongly. I was able to overcome mine because I desired it. I wanted to express myself in public without an iota of fear and I was prepared to do whatever it takes to bring such desire into reality.

4. I prepared my mindset to take whatever comes: I had a strong desire to overcome my fear of public speaking and also develop my public speaking skills. But deep down in me, I knew it wasn’t going to come easy; I knew there has to be a price and I was willing to pay it. I prepared my mind to accept whatever comes; I knew the worst may come so I prepared to meet it in advance. I prepared to take the booing, mockery and rejection that may arise in the process of learning to speak confidently in public. So if you really want to overcome your fear of public speaking, then you must be prepared to take whatever comes.

5. I kept an open mind: To overcome my fears, I kept an open mind. I knew I had to learn and learn real fast. Learning in this case is not the classroom kind of learning; it’s a type of lesson that can come in the form of suggestion, advice or even criticism.

6. I learned from the masters: The next step I took to overcome my fear of public speaking was to seek advice from the masters. I began to read books and listen to tapes authored by people such as Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Dale Carnegie, etc. By reading the materials published by these great public speakers, I tapped into their wisdom and gained inspiration from them.

7. I harnessed the power of positive affirmation: Another step I took to enhance my public speaking ability was to use positive affirmations. You might think it’s not effective but I stand to tell you that it works like magic. By using positive affirmations such as “I can do it” or “I know I am destined for this”, you will unconsciously boost your self esteem. Remember the bible says that the power of life and death is in the tongue, so learn to use the power of spoken words to your advantage.

8. I developed the passion to teach: Public speaking is more or less teaching. Most great public speakers are teachers so if I am going to excel as a public speaker; if I am to overcome my fear of public speaking, then I have to develop the passion to teach. That was how I became a teacher; sharing information over the web, on platforms and through hard copy materials.

9. I started small: Today, I speak on platforms; hold seminars and engage in one on one consultations but it was not so few years ago. I started small. I started out by practicing in front of a mirror; imagining myself standing on a stage. I worked on my body language and movement in my closet and from there; I proceeded to speaking for free. I also engaged in positive discussions and I wasn’t afraid to take a stand. I began to accept the crowd as a group of friends; never again was I to be scared of speaking in front of an audience.

10. I became a confident speaker: After taking the nine simple steps above, I became a confident speaker. I can now speak to any capacity of audience provided I am well grounded on the subject. But I want you to know that I didn’t develop my public speaking skills overnight; I underwent a process that was triggered off by my desire to overcome my fear of public speaking.

As a final note, these are the exact steps I took to overcome my fear of public speaking. If you take a close observation, you will notice that they are very simple steps. Well, overcoming your fear of public speaking will not occur by just reading this article. It will only happen if you take action just as I took action. I wish you good luck.

About this Author

And just before I drop my pen, if you need Expert Advice on How to Start a Business from scratch; please feel free to visit my blog. In addition, you can also download my free definitive guide on How to Become a Millionaire fast in less than a year.

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ajaero_Tony_Martins_Ifeanyi

Looking to start a brand new website but not sure where to begin? Well, the first thing you have to decide is the programming language you are going to use.

The two most popular web languages today are PHP and ASP Dot Net. Each has its own pros and cons. So it really depends on which language you are comfortable with. Of the two, many programmers prefer to work with PHP for various reasons.

1) Easy to comprehend. PHP is a scripting language that is very easy to learn. A novice programmer can become an expert in no time with some practice.

2) Fast to execute. There are many pre-made libraries that are included in PHP, making code writing a breeze. Programs that require numerous lines of code now require just one or two lines. That translates to lots of time savings.

3) Lots of free learning resources. The PHP community is an active one and a quick search will reveal tons of free learning resources on the Internet. Some scripts are even free for download, making the job of a PHP programmer a whole lot easier.

4) Open source. Since PHP is an open source language, that means any developer can choose to work with this language without having to worry about hefty costs. PHP runs on Linux based operating systems, which are also free. It can connect to MySQL (free as well) databases, which is a highly reliable and scalable solution. For this reason, PHP is often the preferred choice for both personal and business applications.

5) No lack of developers. If you can’t do programming, you may wish to hire a PHP developer to maintain or upgrade your site on your behalf. You can visit any developer resource site and there will be many people waiting to be hired to develop PHP applications. And this talent pool continues to grow on a daily basis due to widespread adoption of the language.

6) Free open source applications. Many useful applications are freely available for download and they are mostly based on PHP. For instance, the WordPress application is an advanced application that can be used as a content management system.

7) Affordable hosting. Since PHP can be run on any Linux server, there is no lack of hosting. You can easily locate affordable Linux hosting that cost less than $10 a month (for shared hosting). If you require more resources, you may also choose to sign up for a VPS or dedicated server solution.

Many developer tools available. As PHP is a highly popular scripting language, many tools have been created to increase the speed of development. For instance, with a PHP code generator, you can easily create useful scripts without having to write lines and lines of code.

Looking for web development software? Check out this cool PHP code generator.

Indie film financing and movie distribution reminds of what it would feel like dancing nude on stage (much respect for exotic dancers at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club!). You show up to pitch your movie project and need to be able to dance to a film investor’s music. It’s their stage and not yours as an indie filmmaker seeking film funding. They want you to make a sellable movie which appeals to movie distributors so the production can make money.

Most investors I’ve met with are not interested in putting hard money into indie art house films because those are tough sells to movie distributors and overseas film buyers aren’t usually interested in seeing them. The dialogue and scenes of certain art house type films don’t translate well to foreign buyers and movie viewers. Action, horror and skin does not need subtitles for people to follow the story is what I’ve been told by distributors. Talking head movies can make no sense to viewers that don’t understand subtle lines spoken in a foreign language.

Independent film financing continues to change as indie movie distribution gets more financially shaky. The place it’s hitting indie movie producers hardest is right at the source – film financing. Film investors right now aren’t feeling excited about putting money into movies that do not have bankable name actors. This is not like so-called indie movies that have A-list actors or are produced for millions of dollars. Those type of indie film passion projects you can make once you’ve made it in the entertainment business at the studio level.

Indie film investors and movie distributors won’t expect you to have an A-list actor, but they do want producers to have actors (B-list or C-list or D-list) with some name recognition or celebrity. The first question film investors and movie distributors ask is who the cast is. This is where most indie movie producers are blown out of the water because they have an unknown cast of actors. Plus there is a glut of indie movies being made because technology has made it more affordable to make movies.

The bright side is that entertaining indie movies are being made that might not otherwise ever have seen light of day before. The downside is meaningful movie distribution (getting paid) for indie produced films continues to shrink as indie films being made rises (supply and demand 101). I talked to one movie distributor that caters to releasing independent films and they told me they receive new film submissions daily.

They were honest saying they get very sellable movies and ones that are less than appealing, but with so many movies out there they no longer offer a majority of producers advance money against film royalties or pay a lump cash “buy-out” to secure distribution rights. Their business viewpoint is most indie filmmakers are just happy seeing their movie released. The term they used was “glorified showreel” for an indie filmmaker to display they can make a feature film. So, they acquire many of their movie releases without paying an advance or offering a “buy-out” agreement.

Not making a profit from a movie does not make financial sense for film investors that expect to see money made. When people put up money to produce a movie they want a return on their investment. Otherwise it’s no longer a movie investment. It becomes a film donation of money they’re giving away with no expectations. I’ve been on the “dog and pony show” circuit meeting with potential film investors and learning invaluable lessons.

I’m in the habit now of talking to indie movie distributors before writing a screenplay to see what types of films are selling and what actors or celebrity names attached to a potential project appeal to them. This is not like chasing trends, but it gives producers a sharper picture of the sales climate for indie films. Sometimes distributors will give me a short list of actors or celebrities to consider that fit an independent movie budget. Movie sales outside of the U.S. are where a bulk of the money is made for indie filmmakers.

Movie distributors and film sales agents can tell you what actors and celebrity talent is translating to movie sales overseas at the indie level. These won’t be A-list names, but having someone with some kind of name is a great selling point to help your movie standout from others. Brief cameos of known actors or celebrities used to be a good way to keep talent cost down and add a bankable name to your cast.

That has changed lately from my conversations with distribution companies. Movie distributors now expect any name talent attached to have a meaningful part in the movie instead of a few minutes in a cameo role. Cameo scenes can still work if there is a visual hook that grabs the attention of viewers in some way. But having name talent say a couple of lines with no special hook won’t fly anymore.

Another way to make an indie film in need of funding more attractive to investors is to attach talent that has been in a movie or TV show of note. Their name as an actor might not be that well-known yet, but rising stars that have appeared in a popular movie or TV show can give your movie broader appeal. If you cast them in a supporting role keep working days on the set down to a minimum to save your budget. Try to write their scenes so they can be shot in one or two days.

When you’re pitching to serious film investors they will want to be given a detailed movie budget and distribution plan on how you plan on making money from the film’s release. The Catch-22 that happens a lot is that most movie distributors that cater to releasing indie films won’t commit to any deal until they’ve screened the movie.

There is not built-in distribution like with studio budget films. Film investors that are not traditionally part of the entertainment business can get turned off when a producer does not have a distribution deal already in place. They don’t understand the Catch-22 of indie filmmaking and distribution. This is where a movie producer really needs to have a solid pitch that explains the financial dynamics of indie film distribution.

Most film investors will pass on an indie movie producer’s financing pitch that mentions self-distribution in it. From a movie investor’s business perspective it takes entirely too long for an indie movie to generate money going the self-distribution route. It’s like the old school way of selling your movie out of the trunk of your car at places, but now it’s done online using digital distribution and direct sales via a blog. That’s a long grind that most investors will not be interested in waiting around for. Moving one unit of a movie at a time is too slow of trickle for investors.

A possible way around the Catch-22 is to reach out to movie distributors while you are pitching to film investors. With a firm budget number and possible cast attached you can gauge to see if there is any meaningful distribution interest in the movie. It’s always possible a distributor will tell you that they would offer an advance or “buy-out” deal. They usually won’t give you a hard number, but even a ballpark figure of what they might offer can let you know if your budget makes financial sense to approach movie investors with.

I know one savvy indie movie producer that makes 4-6 movies a year on very reasonable budgets and knows they’re already making a profit from the advance money alone. The film royalty payments are a bonus. The producer keeps budgets extremely affordable and streamlined at every phase of production. Once you have a track record with a distribution company you know what you can expect to be paid. Then you can offer film investors a percent on their money invested into the production that makes sense.

Social networking with other indie filmmakers lets you hear what’s happening with movie distribution from other people’s real life experiences. A cool thing I’ve been hearing about is that there are film investors that won’t put up money to make movie that is going to be self-distributed, but they will roll the dice on a feature that is going to specific film festivals. Not the art house film festivals. The ones that are very genre specific like for horror or action films. Like Screamfest Horror Film Festival or Action on Film (AOF). Film buyers attend these events and meaningful distribution deals are made.

Independent film financing and movie distribution are areas of the entertainment business all filmmakers will have to deal with and learn from each experience. I was in the hot seat today pitching to a film investor. I’ve streamlined the budget as much as I can without making the plot lose steam.

The jam I’m in as a producer is there are hard costs that cannot be avoided that include lots of gun play including two rigging shots where baddies get shot and are blown backwards off their feet. Badass action films need experienced and seasoned film crews to pull-off hardcore action shots off clean and safe. The cast I want to hire has the perfect appeal and name recognition for this indie action movie to rock viewers. There is nothing that can get lost in the translation in this film for foreign film buyers and movie viewers.

What I think got lost in the translation with the potential film investor today is if I keep taking out below-the-line crew to save money I’m going to have to do rewrites to the screenplay to take out action scenes. These are selling points that will hurt sales if they are written out. But it’s my job as an indie filmmaker to balance a budget that appeals to film investors. We’ll see how this goes. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing fade out.

Get the inside scoop on writing, producing, directing, and movie distribution at Slice Of Americana Films. Check out the life and times of filmmaker Sid Kali.

There are overnight summer camps that are co-ed camps, boy’s camps, girl’s camps or brother-sister camps where boys and girls may have separate venues and activities. Basically, if you can think of any subject of interest, there’s probably a camp that specializes in it. Many kid campers are enrolled in summer camp by their parents early in the year, thus camps fill up quickly.

Camps are divided by gender – girls only, boys only, or co-ed and again by age group. An overnight summer camp is a supervised program for children and teens conducted during the summer months in most countries; children and teens, called campers, who attend camp, participate in a variety of activities, many of which are special interest. The variety of camps available today is almost innumerable, meaning there will be some specialized camps that may have availability left even into the summer.

Selecting the right camp that fits into your child or teen’s interests, special interests, needs, special needs and abilities will be one of the first steps Beyond the traditional sports – baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, tennis, football, and more – there are camps for outdoor enthusiasts that can offer horseback riding, hiking, camping, fishing, and even rapelling. Some camps have a targeted focus like religious study, academics, and competitive sports.

Consider these industry-recommended guidelines – for smaller children ages 7 and 8, there should be one counselor for every six campers; by age 15, there should be one counselor for every 10 campers. Children will get more individual attention and supervision with a lower number of campers per counselor. Although camp counselor jobs don’t usually pay very well, usually minimum wage or less, counselors receive free room and board; many take the job primarily for the camping experience.

There are many types of overnight summer camps with a focus on education that cater to students with differing ages and academic interests. Specialty overnight camps can range from $500 to $1000 per week depending on the program. Camp tuition can be expensive; similar to travel insurance, there are now insurance policies for families sending their children to overnight summer camp to cover last minute cancellations, homesickness, medical emergencies and emergency evacuations.

The reputation of an overnight summer camp can also be determined by asking what percentage of counselors returned from the previous year. Check the camper-counselor ratio to determine the number of campers for each counselor. Do you think, if you have more than one child, they would they benefit from attending the same summer camp together?

Weight loss camps are for children and teens in order to help them learn about how to lose weight and how to keep it off while having a great overnight summer camp experience. Non-profit camps often range from $1200 to $3000 for four weeks and $2500 to $5000 for eight weeks. Children or teens could typically explore subjects new to them like marine science, photography, creative writing, community service, drama, magic, scuba diving, video production, comic book design, crime scene forensics, cooking, yoga, rappelling, etc.

Homesickness is a frequent problem, but with a caring camp counselor most campers adjust easily. You want to ensure your child’s safety and comfort, so try to talk to current campers at the selected camps and their parents, if possible. If you spend the time needed to research your options and include your child in all the decisions, he or she will most likely have a memorable experience that provides opportunities to grow while having a lot of fun and making new friends. Choosing a camp close to home will save a lot of money on airfare and possible hotel or motel overnight stays for a parent, or other transportation costs; this is especially true if your child might get a case of homesickness and want to come home early from the overnight summer camp.

For more information on choosing the best overnight summer camp and finding the best sleepaway or overnight summer camp online and offline go to http://www.OvernightSummerCamp.biz a nurse’s website specializing in overnight summer camp tips, help, facts, free tuition resources, including information on overnight summer camp reviews

In the automotive employment market there are still very attractive job opportunities available all over the world. So if you are in the automotive employment market and want to make a change there are still a lot of opportunities all over the world.

In this modern world there do exist a massive shortage highly skilled automotive technicians all over the world. So if you are a highly skilled auto technician you can choose where you want to work in the world.

By just applying on one of the many automotive recruitment companies web pages, and they will search a job opportunity for you any place in the world. The fact is that a lot of emerging automotive markets have opened up in reasoned years, due to the power shift in the automotive industry.

This automotive employment market is going to become even bigger in the future as all new type of cars is going to hit the market. Like all the “EV” cars that are still in the prototype phase. All these cars will have new technology implemented into them, so new personnel must be trained to work on them in the future.

This will bring a paradigm shift into this automotive employment market, even the training methods and the skill sets that must be trained have to change in the very near future.

This will cause the manufacturers to start running extensive training and develop programs, to have highly skilled technicians to assist them to establish their brand. There will be coming new brands and brand name into the playing field and these brands will need to still build their names in the market place.

To build a brand name you need a powerful after sales service you can assist your customers with. This alone will create a new automotive employment market to the auto industry; just imagine an electronic or chemical engineer working at your local car dealership.

It may sound farfetched but it is possible as the cars in the future will be driven with power plants like fuel cells, hydrogen emission and electric motors. All of this is going to come to the market place in this modern world sooner than most of us do realize. So the predictions are that a big portion of the existing automotive workforce will leave.

They will leave this workforce as they are from the old school with old school principles that will become extinct with this new technology. The human tendencies are that you will stay ignorant if you become a member of the old school club. This only happens as the older people were conditioned that they can only learn something up to a certain age. All of us know this is not true but the system wants them to leave as it is harder to change and old horse to get rid of his or her habits

The system was created to develop a group of slaves that would be easier to condition, into what this slave system needs and not what the workers needs. That is one of the reasons why the older leading hands in the automotive employment market gets removed or retrenched. The general modern business conceptions are that older people are resisters to modern business, as they don’t want to change.

If all this highly skilled people are removed in the future the whole automotive industry will suffer a massive skills and brain lost that could have passed on to the younger people. Findings are that most of this older people in the automotive industry don’t want to share their knowledge and skills anymore, because they don’t see themselves as resistors for future development in the automotive industry.

So the automotive employment market will suffer great losses in the near future, due to this phenomenon.

About The Author

Rocco van Rooyen is an Author on Automotive Solutions. As an Entrepreneur and Author on the subject, he is at the forefront to provide solutions to all automotive related problems.

For more articles (or training) on Automotive employment or to get your FREE Mini Course to How to manage your Automotive Solutions go to http://automotivesolutionsforall.com.

Why do some children still do best after divorce and separation? Is there divorce parenting approaches that really work? Read and learn the divorce parenting approaches that really work.

Going through the process of divorce is a challenging life transition for both parents and children. During their parents’ divorce, children often feel a wide variety of conflicting emotions. It is very important for parents to provide their children with understanding and support. Overall, the children who do best after divorce and separation are those whose parents dominantly employ 5 divorce parenting approaches. They:

1. Listen to children and nurture an independent and empathic relationship with each of them.
2. Fully support the children’s relationships with the other parent making them feel loved and wanted in both homes.
3. Develop positive strategies for setting limits and imposing appropriate discipline.
4. Continue to hold reasonably high expectations for the children, regardless of trying circumstances.
5. Shield the children from their parental disagreements and resentments.

Each of the above is presented here below in great detail.

1. Listen to children and nurture an independent and empathic relationship with each of them.

To better help our children we must first understand them. To be able to understand them completely, we need to listen and create an environment favorable for them to speak out. To make things happen, you need to:

• Encourage your children to talk about how they feel. Let your children know that they can openly talk to you about their feelings of your separation or divorce.
• Keep lines of communication open and answer all questions about the changes. Make sure your children feels like they can ask you questions and get answers about why the divorce happened and what to expect.
• Convey that you are genuinely interested in their input. This will make your children feel they are participating in contributing to the process of recovering from the divorce.

2. Fully support the children’s relationships with the other parent making them feel loved and wanted in both homes.

Research tells us that children benefit from keeping the familial ties in their life that were meaningful and important to them prior to the divorce. Of these familial ties, the most important are the child-parent ties. Remember that divorce does not end children’s need for parents or it ends your role as parent. You should:

• Recognize that for your child to have the best chance of growing up to be a functional human male or female, he/she will need both parents as role models and nurturers. This means that there should be some pathway of getting through to the child whatever good that parent has to offer.
• Respect your child’s needs to have both parents there for them, without having them worry that they are going to die of embarrassment if you both start to fight in public. Encourage the other parent to stay involved in the children’s school and extra-curricular activities.
• Allow the children to enjoy the time that they spend with each parent. Encourage your children to spend good times with the other parent. Don’t be jealous or upset, as children do not want to take sides and love one parent more than the other.
• Help your children and ex-spouse have a successful relationship as just as you would help your children to succeed in school or sports. Remember that your ex-spouse is an important part of your child’s life. Just like you, your children have a shared history with this person as well as the present and future.

3. Develop positive strategies for setting limits and imposing appropriate discipline.

Often after a divorce parents will either become stricter or more lenient. Some parents feel like the other parent is letting the child get away with everything; therefore, they attempt to enforce discipline across both homes. Other parents do not want to spend the limited time they have with their child punishing them and tend to be too lenient. It can be difficult for children when their parents have drastically different rules and expectations. To give the child a sense of stability and security, you should do the following:

• Maintain consistent routines. Children feel more secure when there is a standard routine. At times, some parenting issues require communication and coordination between parents, if the child spends time with both parents. Both parents don’t have to do things exactly the same way, but it is easier for children if most things are similar at each home.
• Set limits and rules clearly, and enforces them. But within these limits do allow leeway for your children to be children.

4. Continue to hold reasonably high expectations for the children, regardless of trying circumstances.

Help your children have positive feelings about themselves. Children who feel good about them usually succeed. They seem to get better grades in school, they are better at taking on hard jobs, and they try their best. Also, they tend to make better friends because they seem surer of themselves. As parents, you can play an important role in helping children have positive feelings about themselves. Here are some ways you can help your children to feel good about them.

• Help them learn to set realistic and reachable goals so they can regularly achieve success. Praise them for success.
• Give your children responsibility so that they feel useful, and valued. Asking nothing of them implies that you think they are not capable of doing a job well, which is demeaning.
• Encourage them to make decisions, and teach that they must accept responsibility for those decisions.

5. Shield the children from their parental disagreements and resentments.

Stop fighting and work hard to get along with each other. Rumbles of discontent between parents leave children feeling insecure. It is therefore so important for you and your partner to try to agree on matters related to children and their needs. You can employ strategies such as:

• Be able to step back and keep your feelings about your ex-spouse separate from those you have about your children’s parent. Many people make lousy husbands or wives, but they are terrific parents.
• If you cannot be civil with your ex-spouse, then work out a plan and set up rules so that your child does not have to witness your wrath. Let your children feel with ease rather than going through a gauntlet of your venom for each other.
• Get to work on resolving your feelings about your ex-spouse. That means if you can’t get over this yourself, get some help. Other people are suffering besides you, and those other people are your children!

Certainly, some children still do best after divorce and separation. All their parents did were employing tested divorce parenting approaches that really work. You can raise healthy, happy and successful children even if you’re divorced. Follow the above approaches for your children sake.

Copyright by Ruben Francia. All Rights Reserved.

Publishing Rights: You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook or on your website, free of charge, as long as the author’s information and web link are included at the bottom of the article. The web link should be active when the article is reprinted on a web site or in an email. Minor edits and alterations are acceptable so long as they do not distort or change the content of the article.

About The Author

Ruben Francia is an author of an indispensable divorce parenting guide ebook, entitled “101 Ways To Raise Your ‘Divorced’ Children To Success”. Discover the ways to raising healthy, happy and successful children even if you’re on divorced. Visit his web site at http://www.101divorceparenting.com; marketing@101divorceparenting.com

Auto repair advice gives you simple and practical solutions for questions regarding your vehicle. There are numerous web sites providing comprehensive information on auto repair. These sites also feature links to auto repair service centers, shops and garages near your place.

You are given instruction on auto parts and their functioning. Online advice resources provide the service of experts who pinpoint the exact cause and suggest possible repairs before you visit the shop. You can even post car care or repair questions on their message boards. Car owners and mechanics exchange advice and help through these forums. Auto repair advice given on these sites is often free of charge.

Auto repair advice is sometimes provided in manuals given along with your vehicle. Whether opting for online advice or depending on repair manuals, the vehicle owner should have a clear understanding of the terms and techniques involved. In case you are taking your vehicle to a service centre, a written estimate should be sought and the history of the shop should be checked out with the Better Business Bureau. One has also to check whether the repairs provided have any guarantees. If so, get the details in writing.

It is important to verify whether your car is still under warranty before venturing to repair the car yourself. For cars under warranty, the repair work must be performed by a mechanic or a technician certified by the manufacturer. The repair in this case is usually carried out at the dealer’s service center. Some manufacturers do not offer to perform repair work and you may have the provision of carrying it out elsewhere. Read your warranty carefully to find out how you can get the repair costs reimbursed.

You can get repair advice from mechanics and experienced persons in the automobile industry. Repair advice is given for almost all models and types of vehicles, whether domestic or imported.

Auto Repair provides detailed information on Auto Repair, Auto Glass Repair, Online Auto Repair, Auto Body Repair and more. Auto Repair is affiliated with Discount Auto Parts.

Go Kart Engine Diagnostics: Solid State Ignition Failure Detection

I have had a couple of times where I had some dramatic failures occur on my go kart engines. One time I had a chain snap and the chain made a ferocious clunk and then fell off the go kart. The funny thing is that the engine kept running, and I had to shut it off.

I replaced the chain and ran into a peculiar problem. The engine would not start.

This is where most of us, with NO engine experience just throw up our hands and kick the go kart and go away. Then we throw it in the back of the pickup and bring it over to “Smokin Joes Lawnmower Repair.” There we spend about $200 to have the engine fixed.

I am here to tell you forget about going to “Smokin Joes.

First of all a basic understanding of ignition systems is required. (I am assuming that you understand the Otto Cycle or 4 cycle engine theory, so I will dispense with that SnoozeVille explanation)

Ignition systems are basically partial generators. The flywheel has a magnet, and the Magneto has a coil of wire in it.

The theory behind electric current is that when a wire (a simple wire ) is passed through a magnetic field that an electric current is induced into the wire.

And conversely, when a wire is induced with an electric current it gives off a magnetic field.

The Magneto (the device that the spark plug wire comes out of) has a coil of wire in it plus a core of iron to attract or concentrate the magnetic flux lines into the wire.

The wire then gets an instantaneous jump in electricity as the magnetic field in the flywheel passes by it. The sudden increase in electricity is concentrated as high voltage which is released as a spark in the spark plug.

The timing, or the firing of the electricity to the spark plug is regulated by circuitry. This particular circuitry is activated by a small magnetic sensing switch (which looks like a small cylinder of steel tucked in with the coil). When the magnet passes by the magnetic field activates the switch. The switch then releases the coil energy into the spark plug.

The spark plug is nothing more than a glorified jumping bridge for electricity. We all are familiar with this static discharge when we scrub our feet against the floor and the reach out and touch somebody. A spark jumps when we get close, like .125 inches and closer.

The design of the spark plug is to keep the electricity isolated up to the bridge. Once the electricity from behind shoves real hard, it forces the electrons in front to jump. Kind of like getting pushed off of a bridge.

So the white part of the spark plug is non-conductive and an insulator. The metal part is isolated from the rest of the spark plug and only becomes integral when spark completes the circuit or jumps across the gap.

Obviously, sparks cause the right concentration of Oxygen and Combustible gases or even dust, to ignite. Ignition is the excited state of electrons jumping from one molecule to another. This excited state releases heat and light: we call that flame or ionized gas.

Next time we will discuss how to trouble shoot the ignition system so that you do not have to pay Smokin Joes what you just have learned…and will learn.

The Go Kart Guru is a Go Karting Design, Fabrication and Performance specialist. Topics ranging from Turbo Charged Go Karts to Wood Go Karts, the Go Kart Guru has something to say (that will help you!) about it. Visit http://GoKartGuru.com for more details.

And for those with Vertical Lawnmower Engines, there is a special section just for you! Don’t throw away that vertical engine just yet!

The Essential Fly Fishing Technique

Czech nymph fly fishing was introduced to the UK during the 1990 World Championships. The Czech team beat the UK International teams on the Welsh River Dee. The Czech team caught grayling in numbers from places that were thought impossibly fast or deep previously by traditional fly fishermen. This sent shock-waves through the world of competition angling. The technique is today considered to be pretty much a standard – an essential part of every grayling anglers armoury and great for trout and other fish.

Firstly, let’s take a look at the flies, the Czech nymph has many, many variations, but all are based upon one simple design, utilising a heavily-leaded hook. They are intended to be fished very deep, in fast water, weight & a slim profile are important.

Czech Nymph Fly Fishing Tackle

A 5 or 6-weight rod will be sufficient, 9′ to 10′ is ideal for better control of the flies. Leader should be of about 9′ in length, NOT tapered as they are counter-productive as tapered leader won’t sink quickly enough. Just use something like 6lb down to the top dropper, with 4lb from there down. Use two 5-6″ droppers, one about 18″ above the point fly, the other about 18″ above that. The true Czech method is to fish the heaviest nymph on the top dropper, so that it helps carry the other flies down to the correct level. To help ensure rapid sinking of the flies, degrease the leader. You will be looking for takes on the end of the fly line, so depending on your eyesight you may wish to use some sort of bite indicator.

Czech Nymph Fly Fishing Tactics

• The water will be fast flowing water, normally considered to not be able to fish on using a fly, probably 18″ – 3′ deep. You’ll want to get your flies as near to the bottom as possible. Do not fish with more than about 3-4′ of fly-line outside the tip ring. This is difficult to do, as the fly fisherman’s natural tendency is to shoot a bit of line.
• This is extremely short range fishing, fish will be close to your rod! Do not cast conventionally, there is not enough line & the nymphs are far too heavy – the nymphs that provide the casting weight. Use a flicking action to throw the nymphs upstream at an angle of about 30 degrees. Done correctly, the ‘flick cast’ will extend the leader so that the nymphs lie in a straight line upstream. They will immediately start to sink rapidly as the current brings the flies back down towards you.
• To stay in touch with the flies, don’t retrieve any line, just track round with the rod, raising & lowering the tip as appropriate. Watch your indicator very closely! Any hesitation, draw, stutter, check – strike it immediately.
• Because of the fast nature of the water grayling and trout will have little chance to closely examine the fly and hit quickly. Fan cast the water ahead of you and, if no action, take a pace or two upstream & repeat. This is fast fishing, each cast is fished out in 5-10 seconds and you’re straight into the next one, a lightweight rod helps the weary arms. Often it is often useful to let the flies come down below you and allow them to fish for a few moments as they come round the bend and onto ‘the dangle’.
• Keep the rod tip above the indicator & steadily ‘lean’ downstream, dropping the tip as you do so. This can be a particularly effective tactic, taking one or two more fish out of water that has already been worked.

Obviously, with this technique you do not need to restrict yourself to Czech nymphs. The key is to use heavily-weighted flies, so gold-head / bead head flies, heavy tungsten nymphs will do just as well. ‘Matching the hatch’ is not a priority with this fishing! This is an active searching method and, as such, technique is more important than specific pattern. This sent shock-waves through the world of competition angling. The technique is today considered to be pretty much a standard – an essential part of every grayling anglers armoury and great for trout and other fish.

Firstly, let’s take a look at the flies, the Czech nymph has many, many variations, but all are based upon one simple design, utilising a heavily-leaded hook. They are intended to be fished very deep, in fast water, weight & a slim profile are important.

Czech Nymph Fly Fishing Tackle

A 5 or 6-weight rod will be sufficient, 9′ to 10′ is ideal for better control of the flies. Leader should be of about 9′ in length, NOT tapered as they are counter-productive as tapered leader won’t sink quickly enough. Just use something like 6lb down to the top dropper, with 4lb from there down. Use two 5-6″ droppers, one about 18″ above the point fly, the other about 18″ above that. The true Czech method is to fish the heaviest nymph on the top dropper, so that it helps carry the other flies down to the correct level. To help ensure rapid sinking of the flies, degrease the leader. You will be looking for takes on the end of the fly line, so depending on your eyesight you may wish to use some sort of bite indicator.

Czech Nymph Fly Fishing Tactics

• The water will be fast flowing water, normally considered to not be able to fish on using a fly, probably 18″ – 3′ deep. You’ll want to get your flies as near to the bottom as possible. Do not fish with more than about 3-4′ of fly-line outside the tip ring. This is difficult to do, as the fly fisherman’s natural tendency is to shoot a bit of line.
• This is extremely short range fishing, fish will be close to your rod! Do not cast conventionally, there is not enough line & the nymphs are far too heavy – the nymphs that provide the casting weight. Use a flicking action to throw the nymphs upstream at an angle of about 30 degrees. Done correctly, the ‘flick cast’ will extend the leader so that the nymphs lie in a straight line upstream. They will immediately start to sink rapidly as the current brings the flies back down towards you.
• To stay in touch with the flies, don’t retrieve any line, just track round with the rod, raising & lowering the tip as appropriate. Watch your indicator very closely! Any hesitation, draw, stutter, check – strike it immediately.
• Because of the fast nature of the water grayling and trout will have little chance to closely examine the fly and hit quickly. Fan cast the water ahead of you and, if no action, take a pace or two upstream & repeat. This is fast fishing, each cast is fished out in 5-10 seconds and you’re straight into the next one, a lightweight rod helps the weary arms. Often it is often useful to let the flies come down below you and allow them to fish for a few moments as they come round the bend and onto ‘the dangle’.
• Keep the rod tip above the indicator & steadily ‘lean’ downstream, dropping the tip as you do so. This can be a particularly effective tactic, taking one or two more fish out of water that has already been worked.

Obviously, with this technique you do not need to restrict yourself to Czech nymphs. The key is to use heavily-weighted flies, so gold-head / bead head flies, heavy tungsten nymphs will do just as well. ‘Matching the hatch’ is not a priority with this fishing! This is an active searching method and, as such, technique is more important than specific pattern.

Andy is CEO of The Essential Fly, a quality manufacturer or fly fishing flies, fly fishing tackle and gear and fly tying materials

Andy is a passionate fisherman and always looking at new materials and flies and their effects on the quarry fish. Andy has been lucky in fishing all around the world for many different fish species including salmon, trout, steelhead, pike (or muskie) through to sailfish and marlin.

Mostly Andy loves any excuse to go the the river, lake or sea and simply enjoy the delights of fly fishing. In his spare time Andy is totally hooked on fishing and spends time designing new fishing flies including steelhead flies, trout flies and pike flies and designing new and innovative fly fishing gear and manufacturing them cost effectively.

In the automotive employment market there are still very attractive job opportunities available all over the world. So if you are in the automotive employment market and want to make a change there are still a lot of opportunities all over the world.

In this modern world there do exist a massive shortage highly skilled automotive technicians all over the world. So if you are a highly skilled auto technician you can choose where you want to work in the world.

By just applying on one of the many automotive recruitment companies web pages, and they will search a job opportunity for you any place in the world. The fact is that a lot of emerging automotive markets have opened up in reasoned years, due to the power shift in the automotive industry.

This automotive employment market is going to become even bigger in the future as all new type of cars is going to hit the market. Like all the “EV” cars that are still in the prototype phase. All these cars will have new technology implemented into them, so new personnel must be trained to work on them in the future.

This will bring a paradigm shift into this automotive employment market, even the training methods and the skill sets that must be trained have to change in the very near future.

This will cause the manufacturers to start running extensive training and develop programs, to have highly skilled technicians to assist them to establish their brand. There will be coming new brands and brand name into the playing field and these brands will need to still build their names in the market place.

To build a brand name you need a powerful after sales service you can assist your customers with. This alone will create a new automotive employment market to the auto industry; just imagine an electronic or chemical engineer working at your local car dealership.

It may sound farfetched but it is possible as the cars in the future will be driven with power plants like fuel cells, hydrogen emission and electric motors. All of this is going to come to the market place in this modern world sooner than most of us do realize. So the predictions are that a big portion of the existing automotive workforce will leave.

They will leave this workforce as they are from the old school with old school principles that will become extinct with this new technology. The human tendencies are that you will stay ignorant if you become a member of the old school club. This only happens as the older people were conditioned that they can only learn something up to a certain age. All of us know this is not true but the system wants them to leave as it is harder to change and old horse to get rid of his or her habits

The system was created to develop a group of slaves that would be easier to condition, into what this slave system needs and not what the workers needs. That is one of the reasons why the older leading hands in the automotive employment market gets removed or retrenched. The general modern business conceptions are that older people are resisters to modern business, as they don’t want to change.

If all this highly skilled people are removed in the future the whole automotive industry will suffer a massive skills and brain lost that could have passed on to the younger people. Findings are that most of this older people in the automotive industry don’t want to share their knowledge and skills anymore, because they don’t see themselves as resistors for future development in the automotive industry.

So the automotive employment market will suffer great losses in the near future, due to this phenomenon.

About The Author

Rocco van Rooyen is an Author on Automotive Solutions. As an Entrepreneur and Author on the subject, he is at the forefront to provide solutions to all automotive related problems.

For more articles (or training) on Automotive employment or to get your FREE Mini Course to How to manage your Automotive Solutions go to http://automotivesolutionsforall.com.

Offering hand crafted children’s furniture online for sale is a terrific niche market. If you drill down a bit more you will find that you can offer items like tables and chairs sets, small bookcases and wall decorations. People love anything that is handcrafted and do not seem to mind spending money to make their kids rooms look great. Add the fact the children’s demographic is continuous, and you have a terrific market opportunity. Demand is strong for this market if you approach it with a good plan and a sensible mind.

Pros and Cons

Cons

First of all, anything that is hand crafted involves significant time. If you plan on making the items yourself, it can involve an amazing amount of time. I started out in this business out of the passion of creating something special. I quickly learned that the time to make each unit actually ate away at my bottom line because of the time it took to make the units. If your items are painted you have to contend with sanding, priming, painting at least two coats, artwork and sealing the project. Any shortcuts you can make will help cut down on your assembly time. If I were to coach someone through this process today, I would recommend having someone cut your parts or even supply everything you need. Anything you can do in this capacity will save you time which means you save money.

Pros

Just about everything today is made overseas. Finding good quality craftsmanship with a personal flair is getting harder and harder. You can build up a great following if you can offer special made items. Younger children’s items like tables and chairs do especially well. Targeting the right crowd of buyers also helps you sell for a better price. The “walmart” price conscious buyer is not who you are really after. Goods on the very high end also do well offering a higher margin but less frequency of sales. Of course this all is a matter of research. We made the habit of using commercial artists that were just starting out and willing to work for reasonable items. We would offer to name a line of products using their name and that had some good selling appeal. Who would not like having their own furniture line? (it reminds me of giving a person a title instead of a raise, but it does work)

Another technique that works well is outsourcing your parts after you develop a good feel for what is selling. There is nothing wrong with importing chairs or blank parts to help cut down your production time. Submit your own designs and many importers will build to your exact specifications. Finishing the product yourself using this technique can still be labeled with the handmade label. This is a powerful technique but you have to order parts in larger quantities to make it work best.

If you are thinking about setting out to specialize in this field, it can be very rewarding. Knowing the obstacles before you get into is, can make the difference between staying in the market or moving on to something else.

Ken Schulte is a contributing editor to http://www.routertabledepot.com as well as a coach for small business specializing in manufacturing.

So, we have finally closed the book on 2010. Now, as we transition into the new year, this is when most people reflect back on the year before. In the movie world, this is also when critics and movie lovers take the time to review the past year. Not to mention, this is awards season. With the Critics’ Choice Awards in just a couple of weeks and the Oscars less than two months ago, suffice to say the red carpet is officially out.

Today, I’m going to throw myself into that very ring as we bring you Couch Potato Club’s 2010 Movie Awards. Up front, though, I would like to go ahead and say, I’m going to do this different than those big award shows. For one, you’ll see some of the typical categories, but likewise there will be some off-beat ones. Also, call me crazy, but I believe the biggest factor in judging a movie is its entertainment value. Granted all of the other little facets of making a movie help to make a movie better, however I believe entertainment succeeds a movie’s technical prowess in order to define whether it is good or not. So, you won’t be seeing me awarding these “artsy” movies just because of their “cinematic achievement” (whatever the hell that is). Instead, I’ll be judging on good ole entertainment value (with acting, story, etc. playing factors).

So, without further ado, here are the winners of the first annual Couch Potato Club Movie Awards.

Best Film: Inception

For me this came down to Inception and Black Swan. I’ve honestly spent days mulling it over in my head which would be my movie of the year. However, in the end, Inception wins out. Inceptionwas also perfect in a sense. With intelligent writing, good acting, fun action, great cinematography and so on and so on, the movie proved to be awesome style with great substance. Nolan proved once again here why he is one of (if not THE) most sought after filmmakers today. A narrative genius. After watching this movie, it made me realize what a god-send Nolan is to Hollywood really. Everybody in Hollywood should be taking notes. This is exactly how a blockbuster movie should be done. Let’s not kid ourselves, blockbuster action movies will continue to be the bread and butter of Hollywood for some time to come. While this is alright, the problem usually lies in that they’re so shallow and cliche and just “eh”. They usually just rely on cool action sequences and awesome looking special effects. Not Inception, though. This movie provides all that, but then actually brings substance to that style giving us an engaging and mind-bending/intelligent storyline to go with it. This perfect blend makes Inception my movie of the year.

Best Actor: James Franco – 127 Hours

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you want to test the merit of an actor? Throw him in a movie where he is pretty much the only one ever on-screen and he has to carry the entire movie himself. Where the whole weight of the entire movie rests most assuredly on his shoulders. Will he shine? Will he crumble? This is the test. Others have proven themselves in the same way (Will Smith, Tom Hanks). And truly I believe this (and the “retard role”) is one of the biggest ways to test an actor and see if he’s one of the greats. So, enter James Franco and 127 Hours. Playing a mountain climber that gets trapped under a boulder and is all alone, Franco is left to carry an entire film on his own. Does he succeed? Damn right he does. With flying colors at that. Keeping it interesting, conveying a range of emotions throughout the film and sucking you in all on his own, Franco clearly shows he had the mettle to tackle such a daunting task and come out on top. For that reason, he’s my actor of the year.

Best Actress: Natalie Portman – Black Swan

Natalie’s performance in the Aronofsky psychological thriller is absolutely brilliant. Her best work to-date in my opinion. Playing a role that requires her to eventually transition from sweet little naive princess girl to girl-gone-wild (in a dark side kinda way), she hits every beat without missing a step. I believe the biggest factor for a good actor/actress is range. Anybody can shine in a part that was just made for them (in line with their natural persona), but range and playing different personas/characters is where an actor/actress can show their true prowess. In Black Swanalone, Natalie Portman has shown, in just the 2 hours, that she has more range than most actresses around. She exhibited more range in one performance than most do in their entire career. For such a brilliant performance Natalie Portman gets my vote as actress of the year. I don’t think this is even up for debate.

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale – The Fighter

Here’s another that I feel is just a given and isn’t up for debate. Bale absolutely stole the show in every scene he appeared in The Fighter. The weight loss alone shows Bale’s dedication to his craft. Furthermore, the way he was able to lose himself in that crackhead persona and into the role of Dicky Eklund just further proved what an amazing actor Bale is. To really show you how brilliant his performance was, the video clip of real-life Dicky during the credits showed you just how well Bale nailed that performance. It had to almost be like looking in a mirror for Dicky.

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo – The Fighter

Yes, the supporting cast of The Fighter was just great. They’re the ones that kept this movie afloat. Leo’s turn as the “white trash” overbearing mother was great and was another (along with Bale’s performance) that really helped this movie shine. Without these two, The Fighter bombs.

Best Director: Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan

Like I said, best film was down to Black Swan and Inception for me. Aronofsky’s work here was damn near perfect. This was a brilliantly directed movie. From the camera shots to the music to the story-telling to what he got out of his cast, Aronofsky did a great job in conveying this thriller story very aptly on all levels. As one of my favorite modern directors, it’s no surprise that Aronofsky continues to impress year after year.

Best Screenplay: Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin – Black Swan

For me, screenplay/story is probably the biggest factor in determining whether a movie is entertaining. Afterall, without an intriguing and entertaining story, then your movie is just going to suck. That being said, it’s no surprise that this, for me, came down to Black Swan and Inceptionagain; the two movies vying for my Best Film award. However, in the end I have to go with Black Swan edging out in this category. The story was great in my opinion. Very thrilling and intriguing story that left you on your seat the whole while through. To top it off, though, was all the subtext present throughout the film. From the “life imitates art” to the “greed can consume us all” to the commentary of how much pressure can be put on an entertainer and the risks they ensue when losing themselves in a performance in order to be “perfect”. This script had it all and fired on so many cylinders. Truly was a great story and I loved how the main character’s life began to mirror the very character she was attempting to play on stage.

Best Ensemble Cast: The Fighter

I guess after the previous supporting awards, this should come as no surprise. However, I will say I was also seriously considering The Town for this award which had a very good all-around performance from its entire cast. However, the cast of The Fighter performed well in all areas. Even Mark Wahlberg was decent enough (and I don’t particularly care for him). Though, he was the weak link and his actual character was boring. However, everyone else turned in fine performances that, as a whole, really pulled you into the family in the film. Then the performances of Bale and Leo really just pushed the overall ensemble over the top. Meanwhile, Amy Adams delivered a very good performance as well standing out.

Breakout Performance of the Year: Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone

The movie itself, I found was fairly overrated. However, Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone did an absolutely wonderful job of playing the role of Ree Dolly. If not for her, the entire movie would have been a wash. However, her performance was very nice to watch. It made it even more worthwhile as I got to witness that this girl is actually a very adept actress. Before this, I had only seen her in ‘The Bill Engvall Show’ where she plays the typical cliche ditzy teenage girl. Which, honestly, there are a million and one girls in the nation that could pull that off. Watching her go from that ditzy teenager to this gritty and convincing performance was definitely a treat for me and showed me her worth. For that, she receives my Breakout Performance of the Year award.

Best Action Movie: Inception

Inception wins here. Of course being my Best Film of the Year, it’s going to also win in its specific genre category. The movie fires on all cylinders for an almost nonstop joyride, especially for the last half of the film. The last half especially, with the gun fights and chases and fights, etc. prove to be an adrenalin rush of action. Again, this is pretty much the Hollywood-action-blockbuster film perfected.

Best Comedy: Get Him to the Greek

Ok, here’s where some might disagree with me (if they haven’t already). However, it’s my belief that Best Comedy movie should mainly be based on which movie was the funniest. Granted, there were movies I liked better overall that fall into the comedy category (Scott Pilgrim), but on the laugh scale they didn’t touch Get Him to the Greek. Russell Brand is just hilarious. And his part as the typical rock star was great and hilarious. Even “P Diddy” (who I hate) had me cracking up during this movie. For me, it really was the funniest movie of the year.

Best Animated Movie: How to Train Your Dragon

Yep, I’m doing it. I’m kicking Pixar to the curb this year and letting someone else have Best Animated prize. Granted, I really enjoyed Toy Story 3, but for me How to Train Your Dragon was just the better movie and was more fun. It was cute, funny, inspiring in its own way and refreshing. I really enjoyed the movie. How to Train Your Dragon was one of those that had heart and depth and was really beautiful (both story-wise and animation). One that truly appeals to both adults and kids alike.

Best Horror Movie: Paranormal Activity 2

I loved the first one and the sequel proves no different. Paranormal Activity has been something of a savior for the horror genre I believe. And part 2 makes it a saving grace for Hollywood as the franchise goes mainstream. With good pacing and ‘storytelling’, Paranormal Activity 2, like its predecessor, brings the art of tension and suspense back to a seemingly hollowed out genre. It does a great job of really getting into your imagination and letting it run wild, in turn terrorizing yourself. Really a refreshing movie in the genre, I can’t wait for part 3 this fall.

Best Thriller: The Town

Yes, I realize Black Swan is a thriller, and I absolutely agree that it’s the better movie. However, like the comedy movie, I feel the Best Thriller movie should be judged pretty much solely on the “thrill” aspect. And while Black Swan did engulf me and keep in thrilled, The Town pulled that aspect off a bit better. Maybe because the action of it catered to that, I don’t know. However, The Town just had me really on the edge of my seat from start to finish pretty much. The action was good, the movie was so intense and the whole of it just never let up once it took off running, that I couldn’t help but be enthralled as I went on that thrill ride.

Best Docudrama: The Social Network

Social Networking has been spreading like wildfire in the past years, so it comes as no surprise that it would eventually become the basis of a film. The Social Network isn’t just any film though. Becoming one of the most talked about movies of the year and making a real movie to be movie of the year, the movie is a great all-around film that everybody should see. And it might be one of the most significant films of modern day (that or its counterpart ‘Catfish’).

Best Indie Film: Buried

Another thriller that just keeps you enthralled throughout (yes it seems I have a thing for thriller type movies). With such a minimal set and minimal story and cast, Buried just seems like it’s set to disappoint. Despite all these risks though it manages to succeed and become a very thrilling and captivating movie, with Reynolds carrying it well.

Best Fight: Zero-Gravity Hallway Fight – Inception

The visuals and special effects was just one facet of what made Inception so awesome for me. And this fight scene was one of those that stood out above the rest. Creative, cool to watch, action-packed, it really was just a really fun fight and pretty awesome.

Tearjerker of the Year: Toy Story 3

Did I personally cry? No. However, Toy Story 3 I feel is the movie of the year that will most likely make someone cry. Maybe it’s the connection after having grown up with the series. Maybe it’s just the depth of emotion created in some scenes that hit home for most people in a real-life way. Whatever it is, Toy Story 3 is sure to get the waterworks running for quite a few people. With scenes like the incinerator scene and Andy’s final time with the toys (especially when he realizes Woody is in there and he ends up parting with the toy that started it all), Toy Story 3 definitely has its moments that truly tug on those heart-strings.

Best On-Screen Couple: Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine

Both of these actors are some of the better young actors around today (Gosling being my choice for best actor under 30 even). They really show their worth here in this movie as well. Giving great and powerful performances the two shine on the screen together. The chemistry between them is absolutely marvelous and the genuine/real emotion they convey over the course of the movie provides for a good watch.

Best Villain: Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman) – Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Jason Schwartzman is just unconventionally hilarious most every time I see him. His appearance in Scott Pilgrim was just icing on the cake for a very good movie. Classic Schwartzman provided humor and intelligence to the role, standing out as my favorite villain of a movie filled with villains.

Worst Movie of the Year: The Last Airbender

I’m not even going to say anything. Everybody knows it sucks. Shyamalan again proves, that despite his last movie (The Happening being horrible) that he can still outdo himself and make a surprisingly worse film than he ever has. The guy is spiraling out of control straight down the drain.

Most Overrated Movie of the Year: The Kids Are All Right

I’m sorry. It wasn’t that good. The acting was decent. Mark Ruffalo was pretty much the saving grace of the movie. Other than that the movie was so pretentious and contrived and just flat out boring. Not nearly as good as people made it out to be (not even the performances). Wasn’t funny or humorous at all. And the movie definitely does not deserve even being considered as a Best Film nominee.

Most Underrated Movie of the Year: Kick-Ass

Sure, the movie got decent reviews, even did moderately well in its opening weekend. However, I feel Kick-Ass was just underappreciated for the year. Quite frankly, the movie, well….kicked ass. In fact, it may go down as one of my Top 10 or 15 favorite movies of the year. It’s one of the best comic book adaptations I’ve seen in a long while. For me, it was even better than it’s competitorScott Pilgrim. A truly awesome and fun movie that should have been given more credit. Very entertaining and more people should give it a shot.

Best TV Show (Drama): The Walking Dead

Admittedly, my typically TV show viewing consists of sitcoms/comedies. However, there are a few dramas I watch here and there. This year’s The Walking Dead proved to be one of those new shows that drug me in and made me love it. Making me eager to see the next season, and disappointed I’ll have to wait so long.

Best TV Show (Comedy): Modern Family

With a funny ensemble cast and very funny writing, Modern Family has proven to be one of my favorite new TV shows recently. And with ‘The Office’ being hit or miss anymore, Modern Familyis the one that consistently has me laughing the most. Most notably, Eric Stonestreet as “Cam” always makes me laugh and really steals the show almost every time he appears. His performance is what puts this one over the edge for me. Though, Big Bang Theory and Jim Parsons performance do come in a very close second for me.

If you like this article and found it helpful, visit my site couchpotatoclub.com for other articles on movie -related subjects as well as the latest DVD and movie news and reviews.

In talking with leaders over the years, I’ve noticed that most seem to struggle with celebrations. Some struggle with when to celebrate. Some struggle with why they should. And some don’t have a struggle because they don’t celebrate at all. (Here the struggle is for those they lead!)

Unlike many other leadership topics, there doesn’t seem to be much of a consensus on the topic. People range from one end of the spectrum to the other – from we don`t need a reason to celebrate to we don’t have time to celebrate. This article is meant to address some of the questions and challenges, and perhaps provide some balance to the discussion.

Why We Should Celebrate

Celebrations in general (forget about the workplace for a minute) typically are organized to recognize, reward, rejuvenate, relax and/or to have some real fun. Because we are human beings at work, we need to remember that all of these reasons have validity on the job too.

You’ve heard the old axiom that says people spend more time at work than they do with their families? Guess what, unless you work with your family, it`s true.

So, if celebration is at some level a human need, why wouldn’t we incorporate that into work?

Too new-agey or humanistic for you? Let me be more bottom-line for you:

Properly done, celebrations will improve morale, improve productivity, reduce stress, reduce turnover and improve Customer Service. If you are in the “we don’t need to celebrate” camp, any one of these should be reason enough to reconsider. Taking them all together should make it an easy call.

Why We Don`t Celebrate

I hear many reasons for not celebrating on the job. Here`s a partial list:

We haven’t succeeded yet.

We haven’t reached the goal yet.

The project isn’t finished yet.

Nothing happened

I expected we’d make that target.

We don’t have time.

We don’t have the resources.

No one wants to celebrate.

No one will organize it.

No one really cares.

It`s no big deal.

We are here to work, not to celebrate.

Some are more valid than others.

As leaders I know you can be creative enough to overcome those that are self-imposed limitations. The next time you hear (or say) a rationale for not celebrating, take a step back and decide if it’s a valid reason or simply an excuse.

Did you notice the one word that shows up in many of them – yet? “Yet” highlights a big gray area; few people will actually say they are against celebration – they just set the bar so high that none ever happen! (Keep that idea in mind as you read on.)

When We Should Celebrate

This is where many people get stuck. They realize the value, but either over do it (celebrate because it’s Tuesday afternoon) or under do it (it takes something amazing before we celebrate).

The key is to find a balance between those two ends of the spectrum. Here are some questions to help you determine when to celebrate, and if you have a “good enough” reason to do so.

Do people realize how much they are appreciated?

Do people realize how much they have achieved?

Are people overly stressed?

Do people need some perspective on the progress they are making?

Would you like to bring people together?

Could a celebration help me communicate any important messages more effectively?

Do we just need to have a little fun?

Remember that celebrations can be for achieving a goal, but they don’t have to be!

The real decisive point about when to celebrate (and how to do it) is this question:

Will people appreciate and enjoy the celebration?

Consider this a leadership primer on celebrations.

It’s likely I haven’t answered all of your questions or solved all your dilemmas about celebrations (that wasn’t my goal), but I hope I have given you some tools and some things to think about.

If I achieved that, I can celebrate.

Remarkable leaders also look at all parts of their role and all the ways they can contribute to success. And with success comes the chance to celebrate! One of the best ways to increase success is as a member of The Remarkable Leadership Learning System – a one skill at a time, one month at a time approach to becoming a more confident and successful leader. Get two complimentary months of that unique system as part of Kevin Eikenberry’s Most Remarkable Free Leadership Gift Ever. Kevin is a bestselling author, speaker, trainer, consultant and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group.

Market Overview

The car rental industry is a multi-billion dollar sector of the US economy. The US segment of the industry averages about $18.5 billion in revenue a year. Today, there are approximately 1.9 million rental vehicles that service the US segment of the market. In addition, there are many rental agencies besides the industry leaders that subdivide the total revenue, namely Dollar Thrifty, Budget and Vanguard. Unlike other mature service industries, the rental car industry is highly consolidated which naturally puts potential new comers at a cost-disadvantage since they face high input costs with reduced possibility of economies of scale. Moreover, most of the profit is generated by a few firms including Enterprise, Hertz and Avis. For the fiscal year of 2004, Enterprise generated $7.4 billion in total revenue. Hertz came in second position with about $5.2 billion and Avis with $2.97 in revenue.

Level of Integration

The rental car industry faces a completely different environment than it did five years ago. According to Business Travel News, vehicles are being rented until they have accumulated 20,000 to 30,000 miles until they are relegated to the used car industry whereas the turn-around mileage was 12,000 to 15,000 miles five years ago. Because of slow industry growth and narrow profit margin, there is no imminent threat to backward integration within the industry. In fact, among the industry players only Hertz is vertically integrated through Ford.

Scope of Competition

There are many factors that shape the competitive landscape of the car rental industry. Competition comes from two main sources throughout the chain. On the vacation consumer’s end of the spectrum, competition is fierce not only because the market is saturated and well guarded by industry leader Enterprise, but competitors operate at a cost disadvantage along with smaller market shares since Enterprise has established a network of dealers over 90 percent the leisure segment. On the corporate segment, on the other hand, competition is very strong at the airports since that segment is under tight supervision by Hertz. Because the industry underwent a massive economic downfall in recent years, it has upgraded the scale of competition within most of the companies that survived. Competitively speaking, the rental car industry is a war-zone as most rental agencies including Enterprise, Hertz and Avis among the major players engage in a battle of the fittest.

Growth

Over the past five years, most firms have been working towards enhancing their fleet sizes and increasing the level of profitability. Enterprise currently the company with the largest fleet in the US has added 75,000 vehicles to its fleet since 2002 which help increase its number of facilities to 170 at the airports. Hertz, on the other hand, has added 25,000 vehicles and broadened its international presence in 150 counties as opposed to 140 in 2002. In addition, Avis has increased its fleet from 210,000 in 2002 to 220,000 despite recent economic adversities. Over the years following the economic downturn, although most companies throughout the industry were struggling, Enterprise among the industry leaders had been growing steadily. For example, annual sales reached $6.3 in 2001, $6.5 in 2002, $6.9 in 2003 and $7.4 billion in 2004 which translated into a growth rate of 7.2 percent a year for the past four years. Since 2002, the industry has started to regain its footing in the sector as overall sales grew from $17.9 billion to $18.2 billion in 2003. According to industry analysts, the better days of the rental car industry have yet to come. Over the course of the next several years, the industry is expected to experience accelerated growth valued at $20.89 billion each year following 2008 “which equates to a CAGR of 2.7 % [increase] in the 2003-2008 period.”

Distribution

Over the past few years the rental car industry has made a great deal of progress to facilitate it distribution processes. Today, there are approximately 19,000 rental locations yielding about 1.9 million rental cars in the US. Because of the increasingly abundant number of car rental locations in the US, strategic and tactical approaches are taken into account in order to insure proper distribution throughout the industry. Distribution takes place within two interrelated segments. On the corporate market, the cars are distributed to airports and hotel surroundings. On the leisure segment, on the other hand, cars are distributed to agency owned facilities that are conveniently located within most major roads and metropolitan areas.

In the past, managers of rental car companies used to rely on gut-feelings or intuitive guesses to make decisions about how many cars to have in a particular fleet or the utilization level and performance standards of keeping certain cars in one fleet. With that methodology, it was very difficult to maintain a level of balance that would satisfy consumer demand and the desired level of profitability. The distribution process is fairly simple throughout the industry. To begin with, managers must determine the number of cars that must be on inventory on a daily basis. Because a very noticeable problem arises when too many or not enough cars are available, most car rental companies including Hertz, Enterprise and Avis, use a “pool” which is a group of independent rental facilities that share a fleet of vehicles. Basically, with the pools in place, rental locations operate more efficiently since they reduce the risk of low inventory if not eliminate rental car shortages.

Market Segmentation

Most companies throughout the chain make a profit based of the type of cars that are rented. The rental cars are categorized into economy, compact, intermediate, premium and luxury. Among the five categories, the economy sector yields the most profit. For instance, the economy segment by itself is responsible for 37.7 percent of the total market revenue in 2004. In addition, the compact segment accounted for 32.3 percent of overall revenue. The rest of the other categories covers the remaining 30 percent for the US segment.

Historical Levels of Profitability

The overall profitability of the car rental industry has been shrinking in recent years. Over the past five years, the industry has been struggling just like the rest of the travel industry. In fact, between the years 2001 and 2003 the US market has experienced a moderate reduction in the level of profitability. Specifically, revenue fell from $19.4 billion in 2000 to $18.2 billion in 2001. Subsequently, the overall industry revenue eroded further to $17.9 billion in 2002; an amount that is minimally higher than $17.7 billion which is the overall revenue for the year 1999. In 2003, the industry experienced a barely noticeable increase which brought profit to $18.2 billion. As a result of the economic downturn in recent years, some of the smaller players that were highly dependent on the airline industry have done a great deal of strategy realignments as a way of preparing their companies to cope with eventual economic adversities that may surround the industry. For the year 2004, on the other hand, the economic situation of most firms have gradually improved throughout the industry since most rental agencies have returned far greater profits relative to the anterior years. For instance, Enterprise realized revenues of $7.4 billion; Hertz returned revenues of $5.2 billion and Avis with $2.9 billion in revenue for the fiscal year of 2004. According to industry analysts, the rental car industry is expected to experience steady growth of 2.6 percent in revenue over the next several years which translates into an increase in profit.

Competitive Rivalry Among Sellers

There are many factors that drive competition within the car rental industry. Over the past few years, broadening fleet sizes and increasing profitability has been the focus of most companies within the car rental industry. Enterprise, Hertz and Avis among the leaders have been growing both in sales and fleet sizes. In addition, competition intensifies as firms are constantly trying to improve their current conditions and offer more to consumers. Enterprise has nearly doubled its fleet size since 1993 to approximately 600,000 cars today. Because the industry operates on such narrow profit margins, price competition is not a factor; however, most companies are actively involved in creating values and providing a range of amenities from technological gadgets to even free rental to satisfy customers. Hertz, for example, integrates its Never-Lost GPS system within its cars. Enterprise, on the other hand, uses sophisticated yield management software to manage its fleets.

Finally, Avis uses its OnStar and Skynet system to better serve the consumer base and offers free weekend rental if a customer rents a car for five consecutive days Moreover, the consumer base of the rental car industry has relatively low to no switching cost. Conversely, rental agencies face high fixed operating costs including property rental, insurance and maintenance. Consequently, rental agencies are sensitively pricing there rental cars just to recover operating costs and adequately meet their customers demands. Furthermore, because the industry experienced slow growth in recent years due to economic stagnation that resulted in a massive decline in both corporate travel and the leisure sector, most companies including the industry leaders are aggressively trying to reposition their firms by gradually lessening the dependency level on the airline industry and regaining their footing in the leisure competitive arena.

The Potential Entry of new Competitors

Entering the car rental industry puts new comers at a serious disadvantage. Over the past few years following the economic downturn of 2001, most major rental companies have started increasing their market shares in the vacation sector of the industry as a way of insuring stability and lowering the level of dependency between the airline and the car rental industry. While this trend has engendered long term success for the existing firms, it has heightened the competitive landscape for new comers. Because of the severity of competition, existing firms such as Enterprise, Hertz and Avis carefully monitor their competitive radars to anticipate Sharpe retaliatory strikes against new entrants. Another barrier to entry is created because of the saturation level of the industry.

For example, Enterprise has taken the first mover advantage with its 6000 facilities by saturating the leisure segment thereby placing not only high restrictions on the most common distribution channels, but also high resource requirements for new firms. Today, Enterprise has a rental location within 15 miles of 90 percent of the US population. Because of the network of dealers Enterprise has established around the nation, it has become relatively stable, more recession proof and most importantly, less reliant on the airline industry compared to its competitors. Hertz, on the other hand, is utilizing the full spectrum of its 7200 stores to secure its position in the marketplace. Basically, the emergence of most of the industry leaders into the leisure market not only drives rivalry, but also it varies directly with the level of complexity of entering the car rental industry.

The Threat of Substitute

There are many substitutes available for the car rental industry. From a technological standpoint, renting a car to go the distance for a meeting is a less attractive alternative as opposed to video conferencing, virtual teams and collaboration software with which a company can immediately setup a meeting with its employees from anywhere around the world at a cheaper cost. In addition, there are other alternatives including taking a cab which is a satisfactory substitute relative to quality and switching cost, but it may not be as attractively priced as a rental car for the course of a day or more. While public transportation is the most cost efficient of the alternatives, it is more costly in terms of the process and time it takes to reach one’s destination. Finally, because flying offers convenience, speed and performance, it is a very enticing substitute; however, it is an unattractive alternative in terms of price relative to renting a car. On the business segment, car rental agencies have more protection against substitutes since many companies have implemented travel policies that establish the parameters of when renting a car or using a substitute is the best course of action.

According to Tracy Esch, an Advantage director of marketing operations, her company rents cars up to a 200-mile trip before considering an alternative. Basically, the threat of substitute is reasonably low in the car rental industry since the effects the substitute products have do not pose a significant threat of profit erosion throughout the industry.

The Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Supplier power is low in the car rental industry. Because of the availability of substitutes and the level of competition, suppliers do not have a great deal of influence in the terms and conditions of supplying the rental cars. Because the rental cars are usually purchased in bulk, rental car agents have significant influence over the terms of the sale since they possess the ability to play one supplier against another to lower the sales price. Another factor that reduces supplier power is the absence of switching cost. That is, buyers are not affected from purchasing from one supplier over another and most importantly, changing to different supplier’s products is barely noticeable and does not affect consumer’s rental choices.

The Bargaining Power of Buyers

While the leisure sector has little or no power, the business segment possesses a significant amount of influence in the car rental industry. An interesting trend that is currently underway throughout the industry is forcing car rental companies to adapt to the needs of corporate travelers. This trend significantly reduces supplier power or the rental firms’ power and increases corporate buyer power since the business segment is excruciatingly price sensitive, well informed about the industry’s price structure, purchase in larger quantities and they use the internet to force lower prices. Vacation buyers, on the other hand, have less influence over the rental terms. Because vacationers are usually less price sensitive, purchase in lesser amounts or purchase more infrequently, they have weak bargaining power.

Five Forces

Today the car rental industry is facing a completely different environment than it did five years ago. Competitively speaking, the revolution of the five forces around the car rental industry exerts some strong economic pressure that has significantly tarnished the competitive attractiveness of the industry. As a result of the economic downturn in recent years, many companies went under namely Budget and the Vanguard Group because their business infrastructure succumbed to the untenability of the competitive environment. Today, very few firms including Enterprise, Hertz and Avis return a slightly above-average revenue compared to the rest of the industry. Realistically speaking, the car rental sector is not a very attractive industry because of the level of competition, the barriers to entry and the competitive pressure from the substitute firms.

Strategic Group Mapping

As a moderately concentrated sector, there is a clear hierarchy in the car rental industry. From an economic standpoint, disparities exist from a number of dimensions including revenue, fleet size and the market size each firm holds in the market place. For instance, Enterprise dominates the industry with a fleet size of approximately 600,000 vehicles along with its market size and its level of profitability. Hertz comes in second position with its number of market shares and fleet volume. In addition, Avis ranks third on the map. Avis is among one of the companies that is having issues recovering its revenue margins from prior to the economic downturn. For instance, in 2000 Avis returned revenues of approximately $4.23 billion. Over the course of the next several years following 2000, the revenue of Avis has been significantly lower than that of 2000. As a way of reducing uncertainty most companies are gradually lessening the level of dependency on the airline industry and emerging the leisure market. This trend may not be in the best interest of Hertz since its business strategy is intricately linked to the airports.

Key Success Factors

There are many key success factors that drive profitability throughout the car rental industry. Capacity utilization is one of the factors that determines success in the industry. Because rental firms experience loss of revenue when there are either too few or too many cars sitting in their lots, it is of paramount importance to efficiently manage the fleets. This success factor represents a big strength for the industry since it lowers if not completely eliminates the possibly of running short on rental cars. Efficient distribution is another factor that keeps the industry profitable. Despite the positive relationship between fleet sizes and the level of profitability, firms are constantly growing their fleet sizes because of the competitive forces that surround the industry. In addition, convenience is one of the crucial attributes by which consumers select rental firms. That is, car rental consumers are more prone to renting cars from firms that have convenient rental and drop off locations. Another key success factor that is common among competing firms is the integration of technology in their business processes. Through technology, for instance, the car rental companies create ways to meet consumer demand by making renting a car a very agreeable ordeal by adding the convenience of online rental among other alternatives. Furthermore, firms have integrated navigation systems along with roadside assistance to offer customers the piece of mind when renting cars.

Industry Attractiveness

There are many factors that impact the attractiveness of the car rental industry. Because the industry is moderately concentrated, it puts new market entrants at a disadvantage. That is, its low concentration represents a natural barrier to entering the industry as it allows existing firm to anticipate sharp retaliations against new entrants. Because of the risks associated with entering the industry among other factors, it is not a very attractive sector of the marketplace. From a competitive standpoint, the leisure market is 90 percent saturated because of the active efforts of Enterprise to dominate this sector of the market. On the other hand, the airport terminals are heavily guarded by Hertz. Realistically speaking, entry in the industry offers low profitability relative to the costs and risks associated. For most consumers, the main determining factors of choosing one company over another are price and convenience. Because of this reason, rental firms are very circumspect about setting their rates and that generally force even the industry major players in the position of offering more to the consumers for less just to remain competitive. Hertz, for example, offers wireless internet to its customers just to add more convenience to their travel plans. Avis on the other hand, offers free weekend specials if a customer rents a car for five consecutive weekdays. Based on the impact of the five forces, the car rental sector is not a very attractive industry to potential new market entrants.

Conclusion

The rental car industry is in a state of recovery. Although it may seem like the industry is performing well financially, it is nonetheless gradually regaining its footing relative to its actual economic position within the last five years. As a way of insuring profitability, besides seeking market shares and stability, most companies throughout the chain have a common goal that deals with lowering the level of dependency on the airline industry and moving toward the leisure segment. This state of motion has engendered some fierce competition among industry competitors as they attempt to defend their market shares. From a futuristic perspective, the better days of the car rental industry have yet to come. As the level of profitability increases, I believe that most of the industry leaders including Enterprise, Hertz and Avis will be bounded by the economic and competitive barriers of mobility of their strategic groups and new comers will have a better chance of infiltrating and realizing success in the car rental industry.

Sources

“Passenger Car Rental.” Encyclopedia of Global Industries. Dec. 2004. Gale group. 02 Feb 2005. http://galenet.galegroup.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu/servlet/BCRC.

“Car & Truck Rental.” Hoover’s AB&D Company. Jan. 2005 . Hoovers. 04 Feb 2005. http://premium.hoovers.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu/subscribe/ind/factsheet.xhtm. “

Rental car foes war on each other’s turf.” The Associate Press. Fall 2004. The Enquirer. 08 March 2005. http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/10/11/biz_rentalcars111.html.

“United States – Car Rental.” Data Monitor Industry Market Research. Nov. 2004. Gale. 12 March 2005. http://search.rdsinc.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu/sessions?products=BNI.

“A synthesis of tactical fleet planning models for the car rental industry.” IIE Transactions. Sept. 2003. Gale. 12 March 2005. [http://www.fleet-central.com/arn/01stat3.cfm].

“Corporate travel plans moving to Web.” Crain’s Chicago Business. Apr. 2001. ProQuest. 12 March 2005. http://www.proquest.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu.

“Tracy Esch.” “Car rental market leaders make rebound .” Business Travel News. May 2002. Gale. 12 March 2005. http://search.rdsinc.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu.

“Avis Equips Rental Car with Satcomms 1999.” Newsbytes News Network. Oct. 1999. Gale. 12 March 2005. http://search.rdsinc.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu.

“Car Rental In the United States.” Data Monitor Industry Market Research. Nov. 2004 . Gale. 13 March 2005. http://search.rdsinc.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu.

“Global – Car Rental.” Data Monitor Industry Market Research. Nov. 2004 . Gale. 13 March 2005. http://search.rdsinc.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu.

“Corporate and Travel Trends.” Travel Trade Gazette. Nov. 2003 . ProQuest. 14 March 2005. http://www.proquest.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu.

“Car rental market leaders make rebound.” Business Travel News. May. 2002 . Gale. 14 March 2005. http://search.rdsinc.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu.

“Car rental market leaders make rebound.” Business Travel News. May. 2002 . Gale. 14 March 2005. http://search.rdsinc.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu.

“Ovation Travel.” Wall Street Transcript. May. 2002 . LexisNexis. 14 March 2004. http://www.lexisnexis.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu/cis.

“Avis Offers New Deal for Free Weekends.” Newswire. Feb. 2004 . LexisNexis. 15 March 2004. http://www.lexisnexis.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu/cis.

Rodrigue Monestime has authored several articles. He holds a BS in Business Administration with high concentration in Management Information System (MIS). He is the founder of BizVita.com [http://www.bizvita.com], a site designed for busy professionals with an all-in-one approach to the daily facts of the global business environment.

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Are you thinking about switching careers? If you are, you’re not alone. Most Americans switch careers three times in their lifetime. Nevertheless, switching careers is scary. And it’s especially paralyzing the older you get. But making a career switch is very possible and much more common than you might think. Before you’re ready to leap, realize that it’s a heavyweight decision that deserves some time and solid thought. Here are seven steps to help you on your way.

1. Gain insight from your current situation.

When considering a career switch, the first thing you should do is learn from your current situation. To do this, take a step back and study what you do for a living today and why you do it. Examine the reasons that you are in your current job or career. Was it what you went to school for? Was it what your parents wanted you to do? Was it the “hot career” at one time? Did you just “fall into it”? Did you love it at one time? Did you do it for the money you could make? Was it just to pay the bills? The answers to these questions can provide valuable insight into the core reasons that you want or need to change.

Now examine why you want to leave your current career field. Remove any company or management related politics that are specific to your current employer from the picture. See your situation for what it is and ask yourself why you are looking to switch. Are you being forced out because of market shifts of business trends? Are you burnt out? Do you want to make more money? Are you miserable doing what you do? Have you tried your best but found that your career is “just not a good fit”? Have you decided its time to pursue a long lost career love?

Inspecting your current situation and reasons for your desire to change careers will provide a foundation for your next step.

2. Look inside

Whether you already have a career in mind or you are searching for a new career, you must look inward. In order to gain the most from your reflection, it is essential to start with a clean slate. Set aside any notions (real or imagined) about what type of money certain careers offer. Discard any stereotypes or judgments of occupations. Distance yourself from any pre-conceived ideas about what you are right or destined for.

Now seriously examine what you truly love. First start with the obvious. Look at your hobbies and interests. List out the things you are passionate about or in which you have talent. Give yourself credit for things you are good at and don’t be afraid to write things down that you love, but are not yet good at. Write them all down, even if you think they may not be a possible career path. You’re just brainstorming at this point and you should not eliminate anything right out of the gate. And it’s important to bear in mind that what you may think are your interests are not necessarily all of your interests. To help you get a good look at your interests, observe the simple things. What kinds of news stories perk your interest? What kinds of TV shows do you enjoy? What kinds of books magazines do you find yourself drawn to? What kind of people do you like to associate with or find interesting? What parts of your current career have brought you the most satisfaction?

Next, remind yourself of what you wanted to be when you grew up. Is it something you still want to be? Do you still get stars in your eyes when you think about it? This may give you some real clues. And of course, depending on what you wanted to be, that young dream may be out of reach. Or…is it? Think about it. If your ideal career aspiration at the age of 10 was to be an astronaut and you are now over the age limit or are not physically able to, you can rule it out. But what about other careers associated with astronauts or astronomy? There is a wide array of careers that touch upon astronomy from teaching, to marketing telescopes, to writing for a science magazine, to building models or sets for movies to working at a museum on a space exhibit! When you look at your passion and then use a little imagination, the sky (or should I say space) becomes the limit.

Lastly, look at what type of person you are. Be honest with yourself. Do you enjoy working with your hands? Do you enjoy working alone? Do you enjoy a social work setting? Do you enjoy being part of a team? Do you enjoy working at night? These are all examples of questions that will lead you down the path to discovering and evaluating whether a given career path is right for you.

As you are going through the exercise of looking inside, it is important to avoid cluttering your mind or list with any “buts”. If your answer to the question “do you enjoy working with your hands” was “yes”, leave it at “yes”. Don’t append any knee jerk reactions to your answers such as “yes, but I am clumsy” or “yes, but those jobs don’t pay as much”. Leave your mind open and you will be pleasantly surprised at how easily any natural human discouragement subsides.

3. Explore what’s out there

Now that you’re armed with a list of personal interests and talents, sit on them for a few days and let them cook. Let yourself get used to your newfound list. You may find yourself adding a few more during this time or even crossing a few out.

Begin your next step by opening your eyes to what’s out there (not what you perceive to be out there, but rather what is out there). Pick up your local community college catalog and flip through both credit and continuing education courses. Look online for education or career programs. Make a list of the careers of your friends and family. On your next ride to work or to the store, turn off the radio, look around and take notice of the buildings and businesses around you. Look at the people you see outside and start piecing together what their days are like.

The object of this exercise is to compare what is out there, with what interests you. Let’s stick with the astronomy example. You’re interested in astronomy. So what? Well…now you’ve begun looking through the local community college catalog and there, you see a continuing education course on astronomy. You’ve now found something concrete, a class that you can take that will allow you to pursue your interest. But what is a continuing education course going to get you? A couple of things. One, you will meet other people who share your interest. These people bring information to the table. They may know of groups or clubs that you can join. Or perhaps, they may have friends or relatives who are looking for someone to do research work or work part-time in their science store. Two, you will be able to further your interest…or be able to rule it out as a career path. You may learn that you really love astronomy and would like to pursue it further. On the other hand, you may learn that it really isn’t what you thought it was and you really don’t care enough about it to pursue it as a career. Any way you slice it, you will learn something about yourself and at the very least will have met others who share your interest.

Let’s try another example. Perhaps, on your way to work, you start to notice a road construction worker. The first day you see him, you’re in a suit, he’s in jeans and he’s joking with a coworker as he shovels asphalt under a sunny sky. You think to yourself, “Boy it’d be nice to get out of this suit, work outside…break a sweat for once! Maybe I’d like to do that…” The next day you see him and you watch as a driver leans out his window and curses at him. “Hmmm”, you think. The third day you see him, it’s raining and cold and he’s out braving the elements while you’re dry and warm inside your car. “Cross that one off the list”, you think. If you had only noticed the man on the first day, you’d only have seen him on a good day. If you had only noticed him on the last day, you’d have seen him at the worst. Either way, without really opening your eyes full time, you may have a fragmented impression on what it means to be this or that. The point here is not to look for distinctly negative or positive things about a given occupation, but to begin to see it as a whole. With this type of information, you will be able to form an opinion on whether a given occupation could be a possibility for you.

In addition to concrete and mindful exploration, talking to your friends and family is an invaluable type of investigation. When you start bringing up your interests or ideas for possible career paths in conversations or e-mails, you will no doubt hear a lot of “Oh! Susan’s son teaches astronomy at the university, he’s writing a book on the Hubble telescope this year.” or “Oh John does construction on the side, he loves it!” By talking to other people, you may make connections or gain insight into the experiences and opinions of people connected with your interest areas. It will also trigger some more ideas for you. Perhaps it never occurred to you to pair a love of writing with a love of astronomy until you talked with your cousin.

4. Do your homework

So, you’ve looked inside. You’ve come up with several interests and you’ve taken steps to explore what’s out there. By this time, you’ve come up with a few things you might like to do or have found one you’ve decided you want to pursue. Now it’s time to get to work. It’s time to delve into what it really means to have a job in a particular career field. To accomplish this part of your journey, you need to do serious research.

Your research homework consists of concrete exploration of available paths for your career options. For the majority of careers, you will need to embark on some type of structured educational path. Examples of this are things like sponsored career programs, college degrees, certification programs, professional designations, internships or apprenticeships. Even if your chosen career path does not require ordered training or education, you will no doubt have to “put in your time” and you will need to find out what and how much time you will realistically be expected to “put in”.

So how do you find out? Let’s say you’ve decided you want to seriously explore being a pharmacist. Wonderful! How do you get to be a pharmacist? For starters, inquire with your friends and family to see if anyone knows a pharmacist that you can speak with. Talk to your neighborhood pharmacist, find out where she went to school and ask her about any professional designations she holds or ongoing education she may be taking. If you’re brave, ask her what kind of salary pharmacists can expect to earn. In addition, pick up that college course catalog again and inspect the pharmacology program. Look at the prerequisites and notice how long the program will take to complete and how much the courses cost. Read the course descriptions. Do they peak your interest or do they make you want to throw the book down? A great supplement to all of your research is the internet. There are plenty of newsgroup, blog, forum and professional association sites out there. Any of these can give you a solid peak into what it means and takes to be a given occupation.

For each career path you are interested in, you will want to know the following:

• What are the education requirements?
• Does it require any job certification?
• Is there an apprenticeship required?
• Does it require travel?
• How much money can you make?
• Where are the regions of the country that people in this career field are more successful? more in supply? more in demand? make more money?
• Will it require you to relocate?
• Will it require regular, ongoing education?
• Will it require you to have your own business or work for another company?
• Are there yearly fees? (e.g. license renewal, union dues, association membership, equipment, etc.)
• How many hours will you normally work in a week?
• Are there any age requirements or cut-offs?
• How much will it cost you to become gainfully employed in the field?
• How long will it take you to become gainfully employed in the field?

The answers to these questions will help you narrow your career choices further and may even get a fire burning under your feet.

5. Take financial stock

Okay. You’ve done it! You’ve come up with one or more career paths that you’d like to embark on. You have looked into what it means to be employed in the career field(s) and you are now powerfully armed with the knowledge of what it takes to get you where you want to go! But like everything in life, it’s going to cost you. You now need to list out all the costs, add them up and compare them with what you will be able to swing. There’s no doubt you will be able to accomplish your goals, no matter what your financial situation. It may take you longer than you like or may come at the expense of some other items or conveniences in your life, but you can do it if you set your mind to it and approach it methodically. This may mean you have to call upon your research skills again and explore financial options such as grants, scholarships, payment plans, or 401K or private institution education loans. You even may be able to pay for education or experience by doing an internship or by performing work using a skill that you currently have in exchange for training or experience.

When you are taking financial stock, allow yourself breathing room. Perhaps your goals are not financially feasible at this moment in time. Perhaps you just had a baby, your youngest son needs braces, or you’ve just paid an absorbent amount of money to repair your car. It’s okay. Rejoice in the fact that you’ve come this far. You can put a plan together and start saving or start applying for aid or other means of financing. There may even be things you can start to do that will be free or cheap, such as volunteering in the field or reading books to prepare you for your studies. Most people don’t have the luxury of quitting their jobs while they switch careers, so most likely you will be living a “double life” while you prepare for the switch. Whatever you do, don’t break the bank, because you’ll inevitably find yourself right back where you started.

6. Check your calendar

Great! You’ve got it all under control. You know where you’re going, how you’re going to get there and how you’re going to pay for it. But can you afford the time? Do you have enough free time or flexibility to meet the educational requirements? Are you young enough or old enough to fall within any professional age requirements? If you have the time and the age, skip this step. If not, the last step of your journey is to shuffle your calendar!

Shuffling your calendar may be easy. You may know right away what to eliminate or move in order to make room for your new career path. Conversely, finding the time might be downright complicated. Maybe you have small children, maybe you have an ailing parent, maybe you have church or community commitments…any of these things would make working towards a new career an uphill battle. Here again, it may mean that you have to post-pone your journey for a little while. Or, it could mean that you have to settle for beginning your education informally by reading books or taking online courses when you can. Whatever your challenge, don’t lose hope! Faith in yourself and perseverance will get you where you want to go.

7. Take the plunge

You’ve arrived at the last step. It’s time to jump in! Time to register for that first class, accept that internship, or apply for that entry level or part-time job in your chosen field. Whatever you’ve found to be the first step towards your new career, delight in the fact that you’ve come a long way and you’re doing it! You’ve done a lot of hard, thorough work and you have a lot to be proud of. Start down that path with your chin up and your shoulders back!

Food for your trip

You can’t take this trip without packing! If you leave home with one thing, leave home with the comforting knowledge that your approach to a new career is circular. This means that you can always go back to the beginning of the circle or to any point within the circle. If you’ve started a class or program and found that you hate it. So what? You’ve learned to cross it off you list and go back and take another look. Even if you get all the way to end of the path and decide it is not for you, take comfort that you did your best and its time to go back to another number in the circle. There is no shame in that.

So go on now…get out of here! Your train is leaving and you better be on it! Just don’t forget to take some pictures along the way, stop and smell the flowers, buy a few souvenirs and by all means, don’t forget where you came from!

Alotta Candor is a staff writer and commentator for JobSchmob.com, the “lighter” side of the working world. She is proud to be a liberated ex-corporate office worker.

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