Vacation Planning Websites Ramp Up-YMT Vacations Competes

A number of sources in the last month or so has built buzz around the online travel industry, specifically the flexibility options more and more consumers demand in online vacation planning sites. Given the current economy and the fact that it’s now summertime or peak travel season, the topic of “vacations” has jetted to the forefront. Where in the world can you go, how can you get there, what kinds of online tools can you use, and how can you save a few bucks in the process? These are questions that trouble many summertime vacationers.

YMT vacations has been delivering affordable travel options to customers since its founding in 1967. Back then of course you’d have visited the company directly — like a travel agent — to plan and book your travel, but in recent years, YMT Vacations has gone online with its signature travel packages. How does a company like this compete in the online realm amid Sasquatch-sized grizzlies the ilk of the big travel companies? By consistently providing BETTER customer service (not too difficult to do if you’ve ever tried to tussle with one of the big travel guys’ so called customer service lines), MORE AFFORDABLE and intriguing vacation destination packages to places like Hawaii, Alaska, and even Oberammergau, Germany.

In the very near future what I really liked about YMT vacations website is its impending “Vacation Desktop,” a flexible and customizable user page that will allow site users and prospective YMT travel customers to plan their vacation options, share photos, email friends and family with the details of their trip and route, access global weather, trip finders, contact a travel agent, and book a trip all from the same place. This type of personalization finally draws the line in the sand.

K-Designers Prove Big ROI in Home Renovation

In the last couple years the housing market hasn’t been so good. And that’s being optimistic. But yesterday morning I heard on a radio show that the housing market was rebounding strongly in some areas. When homeowners are still unsure about market prices and are seeking a solid strategy for building value into their homes, what’s STILL the best tactic? Home renovation… K-Designers, and award-winning design and remodel firm, continues to share that message.

But the topic of home renovation can quickly inspire a bucket-load of consumer “pain” especially the loss of big bucks to home remodelers that are…well, BAD and a big rip-off. Just consider the popularity of a resource like Angie’s List that allows consumers like you and I to publish reviews of home contractors of almost any sort. Here is a more level playing field.

Larry Judson, founder of K-Designers, dialed into his customer base early on and has since capitalized on the biggest source of customer/client pain. He specifically offers services to customers seeking more than what your local handyman can deliver. So what’s the “K”-difference? K-Designers specializes in customized renovations that allow home owners the chance to create environments with character, as well as build-in exponential worth. Even more proof of K-Designers emphasis on quality is their library of free whitepapers available on their home website. I dig whitepapers and believe that any company willing to take the time to address its specific industry trends and issues is taking a giant step in the right direction.

Sakwinder Narwal-Art of Fishing Meets Business Savvy

How many cracker jack entrepreneurs do you know that promote their fishing skills and know-how as a means to boost their business acumen? Sakwinder Narwal spins this innovative new marketing idea. I’ve envied fishermen, lusted over the tackle involved, and been a closet bass fisherwoman wannabe for some time now. So a guy like this with a message like Sakwinder Narwal is intriguing.

“Sak” as he’s affectionately called, spends all of his free time fishing. But like any good analyst, he digs deep into the fish, the nature of fish, into the science of ichthyology. Most guys stop with the ability to be able to spot a bass and identify it from a trout or perch. But Sakwinder Narwal wants to know it all.

He’s well-travelled, but not for business. He’s been all over the world seeking the hottest fishing spots. He’s sight-fished the Florida Keys, cast for shark off Montauk Point, NY, and loves a good tussle with a Louisiana redfish.

“Four Eyes” vs. Fashion Eyeglasses

Back in 4th grade my eyesight went south, quickly. I mean I already sat in the back of the class so when everything became blurry, it was like putting me in a cocoon. Grades tanked, parent-teacher conference ensued. The problem? I was suddenly very nearsighted. Suffice it to say eyeglasses have been an integral part of my existence since age 10. I’m acquainted with the term “four-eyes.” If it was like a stab to the heart for a 4th grader, I can say that four eyes can be quite trendy in the 21st century. Consider the fashion designers that work the hottest new styles of eyeglasses and sunglasses into their glossy spreads and the fashion designers that spin off lines of eyewear for the fashion-conscious.

I’ve worn contact lenses in the past, and at times they’ve been exactly what I’ve wanted. However, I keep two very different pairs and styles of eyeglasses that I’ve taken to wearing in the last 2 years–they are great for creating a new mood and look whenever I want it. Playground be damned—”four eyes” is definitely NOT a social slur anymore.

I only wish that even 10 years ago I had the resources available with Eyeglasses.com. I could have browsed styles I never had the chance to see in my local optical shop.

RENEW International Aids Catholic Communities In Time of Need

There may be no more momentous time in recent history for outreach the likes of RENEW International. This large Roman Catholic ministry provides a unique service–helping Catholic diocese around the nation pull themselves up the bootstraps. Where parishioners have strayed, lost faith in the Church, debated the ethics of Roman Catholic politics and otherwise become disillusioned, RENEW International has stepped in.

Already this ministerial organization has provided a backbone that’s allowing Roman Catholic communities everywhere the chance to recover and cast a wider net to current and potential parishioners.

In 1976 the seeds of RENEW International were sown in a diocese in Newark, New Jersey. There two parish priests lamented the loss of spirituality in their Catholic community and surmised that if it was happening to them, could it not be a new spiritual epidemic threatening to drag down other dioceses? Thirty years later the organization continues to successfully transform downtrodden and discouraged dioceses nationally and now internationally.

Distressed Residential Investment Buzz Grows – Why Jeff Barcy Can Celebrate

Residential investment pros everywhere should be tipping back a martini in celebration of the news I heard yesterday: “housing market took the biggest leap in 4 years….” Investment gurus like Jeff Barcy in San Francisco finally get to ramp business back up. CEO of Ridgeback Partners, he’s an example of a financial real estate investment professional that’s stayed positive in the midst of a tanking economy, housing bubble whompus, and scads of bad economic press and doomsday journalism.

I just finished reading an MIT article written 2 years ago underscoring the dire real estate market. In the article Jeff Barcy comments from his perspective as institutional RE investment pro–his position at the time with Hearthstone. Barcy lamented back then the biggest “difficulty” was convincing RE investors that the market could ultimately rinse out with big rewards for gutsy investors.

Ridgeback, with Jeff Barcy at the helm, are digging hard into a market that’s garnering some new and big buzz: “distressed residential opportunities,” wrecked mortgage securities, and more of the REIT debris that could ultimately prove a win-win for all involved.

All I Want for Christmas – Already…Swiss Army’s Presentation Pro KNIFE

I don’t have this and I haven’t used it….YET. But gosh darn it, when I saw this months Wired magazine’s full-page spread on the Victorinox (aka Swiss Army Knife) Presentation Pro Soldier’s Knife I knew at first glance that this was a tool I just have to have.

Think MacGyver knife armed to the teeth with data tools:

looks like a Swiss Army knife

blade like a Swiss Army knife

scissors, file, flat-head screwdriver…

oh, but wait….

here’s the clincher:

32 MB flash drive–removable– or what V. calls “memory stick” (flips out like a cool blade that fits in your computers USB port)

and a data encrypted fingerprint sensor so you can lock all your most secret stuff on deck, so to speak

on-board laser pointer

Bluetooth remote

All I can say with my eyes rolling around in my head is, “Wow!”…it’s gonna be so mine come Christmas.

Officially available later this month….

Word has it the price will be $330. But check out Victorinox’s line of Swiss Flash knives and you’ll find a wide array of equally cool and ready to do battle knives with built-in flash drives, laser pointers, even ball-point pens, in easy prices from $34 to $140

On the Pro version it’s all about that snazzy fingerprint sensor…how Mission Impossible can you get?

Mother’s Day: Where I Get Fresh Cut Tulips

I beat myself up every Mother’s Day trying to brainstorm some amazing gift to give my mother — the woman that birthed me, raised me and has loved me completely unconditionally since the day I popped out into the world. And I’ve thrown some curve-balls her way….

But I’ve stopped getting myself all “vechlempt” over a holiday that between me and my mom is simple–Flowers. My mother, now 86 years old, is a fireball–still taking jazz dance class and rocking it in senior aerobics. Really. And up until about 5 years ago the gardens around her home were amazing. My sister and I had installed a number of high-end perennial gardens 17 years ago–they’re mature and have overgrown their edges and rock walls to the point that for my mother they are unmanageable. If you garden then you know the kind of natural “out-of-control” to which I refer. But on Mothers day I’ve finally decided that flowers are the ticket.

The landscape/garden shop I used to work for has stopped doing floral arrangements, so I tried 1800flowers.com a few years ago. I recall exactly what I ordered (AGONIZED over the final decision)–2 dozen fresh cut yellow and red tulips–delivered right to her home–when I couldn’t be there to do it in person. To be honest I had been reluctant, especially having been a professional in the gardening business. I thought ordering flowers this way would assure me some boring and bland funeral-styled arrangement, so the actual experience was a big bang for both she and I. Scored points for that.

Remember, here is a woman whose gardens dish up some pretty juicy perennial flowers each Spring and Summer, so Mothers day flowers that arrive via delivery truck had better be pretty special in order to get her  high on being  my mom. She and I understand that flowers on Mother’s Day are unsurpassed, they aren’t lame, or too much of what-everybody-else-does…they are absolute essentials for celebrating life.

Trophy Shops

Ever noticed how trophy shops are located in some of the dingiest parts of town–anywhere? Cemetery monument companies, as well. I just know that somewhere in that fact is some absurd irony….

My Favorite Cheap Coffee Mug

I love my Jacklin’s Fly Shop coffee mug. I bought it on the back end of my first day ever fly fishing and in Yellowstone, to boot. Others will forever look at it like “What the hell….”–it’s brown with a trout jumping up out of a river with the name of the fly shop across it, a fish hook posing as the “J.” I drink my morning coffee from it everyday and it will always remind me vividly of my 3-rainbow-trout-day on the Firehole River when I learned to cast (just like I’ve seen in photographs).