College While You Work

This morning one of the new girls in the warehouse showed up wearing a blue scrub shirt with a logo on it that says “Kaplan,” so I asked her about it. She says that she’s taking classes at the new Kaplan Learning Center and she plans to become a medical transcriptionist when she completes the class. There’s probably going to be a strong demand for that, with health care one of the constantly growing industries.

So I looked up Kaplan on the internet and learned a lot of good things about that company. They have learning centers all over the U.S. and a really good arrangement in the U.K. where they been established as an affiliate college of the University of Essex to offer full degree coursework completely online. So you can get a degree in Business Management, Marketing, Sales Management and other relevant courses completely online through Kaplan.

There are a lot of people who could easily take advantage of the Kaplan open learning programs to get a Business Degree Online. An online course gives you the flexibility to study from anywhere work, home or even while traveling. All you need is access to the internet and you can work on your Kaplan open learning degree from anywhere.

The Kaplan website tells you everything you need to know about their online program. They have a virtual tour and a prospectus that you can download from their site, and sections with answers to the most frequently asked questions, such as:

• How quickly can I start on my course?
• How do I apply?
• What are the entry requirements?

The fees are reasonable and if you pay at the start of the course you get a significant discount. The fees include everything you need except for your computer and the charges for internet access. I like the way they give you several ways to contact them for more information or to register. Check out their web site if this is something you have an interest in. 
 

Cobalt Commercial

Funny commercial on the History Channel tonight was for the new Chevy Cobalt. The scene starts with a car parked at the gas pump. The pump hose disengages itself, reaches down and deflates the rear tire of the car. Then the words, “Gas Pumps Hate Us” show on the screen. The car’s owner comes out of the convenience store with chips and drink and goe sto get into his car when he notices the flat tire. Then the words “Chevy Cobalt . . 36 MPG” come on the screen.

Makes you stop and think, could I downsize to a Cobalt for the sake of the better MPGs?

Tool Man

Well, today the wife dropped the latest bombshell. She wants to put a guest bathroom downstairs, with the thought that we’ll be making the downstairs into an mother-in-law apartment sometime over the next few years. The downstairs runs along the entire length of the house, so there is plenty of room down there to buildout a couple of rooms for sleeping and watching TV, and if we put in a full bathroom we can plug into that plumbing and put in a tiny kitchen along the shared wall.

The perfect spot for a bathroom is adjacent to the laundry room. We can put in a walk-in tub, a toilet and still have room for a nice sink and vanity. I told the wife to start looking at fixtures and pick out the things she wants so I can get an idea of the prices and we’ll work up a budget for the remodeling project.

She found a nice website that has plenty of bathroom vanity and cabinet styles to choose from. The site helps refine your search by different categories, such as price range, dimensions, finish and brand name. We decided to start the design with looking at Bathroom Vanities and spent a lot of time browsing thorugh the different pictures and dreaming about our new bathroom. I never realized there were so many things to consider and we had a lot of fun talking about the different styles and the advantages of everthing from the number of doors on the cabinet to the type and shape of the sink.

The same site, Quality Bath, has faucets and fixtures, mirrors and lighting. Everything you need to coordinate the new bathroom. So we’re making a list of our choices and going to sleep on it tonight. We want to make these important decisions with a clear head and make sure we are both on the same page.

Ice Road Truckers

Tried to get all the honey-do chores done today in time to catch the “Ice Road Truckers” on the History Channel tonight. At 7:00 is a re-broadcast of last week’s season premiere, and then at 8:00 is the new show of the series.

I’m totally hooked on this show. I am fascinated that these men take their lives in their hands to drive trucks over the frozen rivers and frozen ocean in the Arctic. They are modern cowboys with true grit.

Breakroom Chatter

The girls in the breakroom were all atwitter about a marriage counselor called Dr. Ellen. Evidently she has been on several of the big talk shows, including Oprah, The View, Montell and Sally. She has a unique approach to saving marriages - putting the jazz back into the sexual side of the relationship.

After I heard enough of the girls chattering about this, I have to admit my curiosity was aroused and I checked it out on the web. Dr. Ellen Kreidman’s web site has some self-test quizzes about relationships and some interesting points in her approach to trying to save a marriage or relationship.

I’ve not considered marital counseling but I’m always open to ways to enrich or improve a relationship. From what the girls were saying in the breakroom, my secretary is going to order Dr. Ellen’s tapes from the website and give them a listen, then report back to the group. I’ll have to keep my ear out for her critique.