Not DUTY Free

It has been a while since I last posted anything, primarily due to my increase responsibilities at work. This has been a good thing though...I think...as it has provided me with a new opportunity to expand my horizons more globally.

My success in recruitment is being taken overseas as we look to increase our international student population. Although the travel excites me it isn't exactly a bottomless budget so we'll need to be creative and targeted on how we approach this. I've got a great team to work with so this should be a lot of fun as we move forward and accomplish this goal!

Perhaps I should polish up my Spanish, or take on more languages too...and I'm off!

Meteorologist Flop

Perhaps you may have heard that a deadly cyclone hit Myanmar killing an estimated 15,000 people thus far, and the death toll continues to climb. What you maybe have not heard was the serious miscalculation on the part of their local meteorologists and the government. These quotes come from the World News on MSNBC;

-----"The government misled people. They could have warned us about the severity of the coming cyclone so we could be better prepared," said Thin Thin, a grocery store owner.

-----"Before the cyclone hit, the government had only put out “storm news,” saying the cyclone would travel at about 30 miles an hour, whereas it struck with winds of almost four times that speed"

In an area that has seen many of these natural diasters (tsunami's, tidal waves, cyclones/hurricanes) strike over the past few years no mild storm should every be assumed.

United untied

Long gone are the days of peaceful travel, airport customer service, and luggage that actually arrives with you when you at your final destination. Yesterday (and still today) United Airlines has made certain I have had to witness this loss first hand.

My letter sent to customer service explaining the story is attached as the picture below if you care to read it...


The cliff note version: poor customer service, delayed flight, lost baggage from United

The question then becomes who is to blame?
1. Terrorists - they stole the most precious commodity from us; time.
2. Airlines - apparently they are not keeping their employees happy nor are they doing a great job of forecasting. Nearly every airline has experienced bankruptcy, or merging with others to broaden their reach and also to avoid any further financial complications
3. Employees - again unhappy might be an understatement, but these employees will soon top the USPS as the most disgruntle employees in the world
4. Overseas call centers - do I need to explain this one?
5. Travelers - true some people are idiots when it comes to travel and they do slow down the process but that only accounts for slow check-in, security checkpoint, and boarding...not my lost luggage!

In closing I will say that United Airlines, which I have traveled nearly 20,000 miles with, has continually disappointed me...yes I have now learned my lesson!

Lucky to live in the U.S.

So I came across this article 'We are under siege' and it made me count my blessings for the country I call home. I always thank God for the blessings he has bestowed on me and my family but this is one that really made me think about how lucky we are.

The article is a journal from a family living in Zimbabwe at a time when the country is in political turmoil. It talks about the threats and fear they live with on a daily basis in this election year. The current president Mugabe has been in power since the 80's and has essentially destroyed its economy at any cost. So how does someone like this stay in power and keep threatening families like the ones in the article?

First of all the country's rate of inflation is 100,000% with an 80% unemployment rate. Is that possible? To give you an idea of how bad this is lets use the misery index, which takes unemployment rate plus the inflation rate. Now in the past 60 years the U.S. average has been about 11.25, that is nearly 4,500 times better off than the average of Zimbabwe today.

The other quite obvious point would be to control the political scene by threatening voters and rigging the elections, death has been the fate of some opposed to his ideals. This is loosing steam though as the elections right now are in re-count, which could spell the end for this 82 year old rein in Zimbabwe. We can only pray that someone, anyone will be a better leader for them than him.

So the next time you hear someone complain about their living situation in the US add this to your ammunition box and tell them how lucky they are. This is only one of thousands of stories as to why you are lucky to live in the U.S.!


Also in Zimbabwe is the beautiful Victoria Falls