Hello Everyone

It has been a while since my last post, and I am very sorry about that. Thank you for the nice emails and concern. We have been so busy at the salon, trying very hard to stay on top of our game. I have NEVER seen an economy such as this. I have lived through Coup D’Etats, Riots, Chicago’s East side,the gas crisis of ‘77/78, Baghdad the day before the invasion, Herat, Afghanistan during the war with Russia, BUT THIS IS BAD.

For most of this past week we have been doing corrective coloring and conditioning treatments on people that have BURNED their hair trying to do it themselves. Let me back-track a moment and tell you that since I am now an Internet mogul, I placed one of those Google Ads online that said “Hair Loss? I Can Help” . OH MY LORD the amount of phone volume crashed my phone lines and Verizon was out twice this week to fix them. NOT FUNNY. We are officially out of the Collagen Hair Treatments, they went like hot cakes. I called Clairol and Wella and they told me that the Hot-lines for them were also overwhelmed with calls.

I do not know if I should laugh or cry people. I DO know what being poor feels like, fear grips you and does not let go. The thought of hunger, homelessness, jobless, no health care is all depressing. A few years ago we never had these thoughts, if we did, we brushed them off as groundless. So what’s happened? I can blame many things: Cable News Media, Greed in Wall Street, Ineffective Government, and the ABILITY of all of the above TO HOODWINK US.

They say that if one does not ACT against a WRONG, then it is perceived as accepted. This is me taking a stand and saying I DO NOT ACCEPT THIS. I refuse and rebuke all fear, America IS and WILL be just fine. All of the economic indicators, except housing , have nowhere to go but up. Housing will take a while because the American Dream of owning a home had become a Fantasy instead. YOU CAN’T AFFORD A MILLION DOLLAR CONDO ON 100K SALARY PEOPLE. Get a grip, live within your means, do not do your own hair, turn off the news, look closely at your children’s faces and smile. As for me I have to go now…THE PHONES ARE RINGING OFF THE HOOK.

Hi, Voula Here:

I sat at my desk at work, took a sip of my latté and opened up the Washington Post a couple of days ago. I think I may have shrieked and got some stares. There was an article about one of my friends, Rusi, aka Ruslan Kogan to the world.

Saying goodbye to Ruslan was very hard for me. We had grown so close and now it was time to say goodbye. He was off to Australia, where he would complete the rest of his degree. That was the last hug I gave Rusi, and haven’t seen him since. I hear stories from friends, check out his facebook page ever so often and when I’m lucky, we send correspondance back and forth. Unfortunately, we have always been bad at keeping in constant contact.

I always recognized his natural entrepreneurial talents, it was easy to spot. At the time, he was working for GE, his position escapes my mind. So, it was by no shock or surprise to read about him in the Washington Post, even though he was thousands of miles away in Melbourne, Australia. Congratulations Rusi!

The T-Mobile G1 is the first phone in the market to use the Android platform, released in October. The second Android phone is to be release the end of January by Kogan. The Agora and Agora Pro are more favorable, in my opinion. A contract with a particular provider is not necessary. Just purchase, plug in your SIM card, and your good to go. It also helps that Kogan’s phones are significantly cheaper than the G1.

WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE:

Daniel Ionescu

Friday, December 5, 2008

The world’s second Google phone, based on the Android mobile operating system, is set to launch at the end of January. Manufactured under the Australian Kogan brand, the phone will come in two flavors, for $225 or $295.

The Agora and Agora Pro models are both available for pre-sale now on Kogan’s website http://www.kogan.com.au and are sold SIM-free – that is without a contract or network locking. If your wireless carrier is AT&T or T-Mobile, then you can snap the Kogan Android up January 29 when the units officially go on sale. Check with your carrier first, but migrating to the Agora should be as easy as swapping out the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card in your existing handset with the Agora – no need to renew your contract or pay any extra fees.

The Agora Pro is the more powerful out of the two models available and features a 2.5″ touch screen and an integrated QWERTY keyboard. On the Agora Pro you can browse the Internet and check your email via the phone’s 3G connection or via Wi-Fi. The phone also has GPS navigation and features a 2-megapixel camera on the back.

Kogan Agora is the less powerful brother and lacks Agora Pro’s extras such as GPS, Wi-Fi and the camera, but comes in cheaper at $225 (including US delivery) in comparison to $295 for the Agora Pro. Both models come with only 256MB of on board memory, but this can be extended via the phone’s microSD card slots.

Weighing at 130 grams, both models also bring Bluetooth connectivity and FM radio. Kogan also says that the phone’s talk time is up to 400 minutes while the standby time is of 300 hours. MiniUSB is used for charging and connecting to PCs.

Kogan Technologies is an Australian based, online-only enterprise, and was founded two years ago by Ruslan Kogan. Kogan manufacturers all its products in China and aims at selling online high-quality electronics cheaply. Kogan also sells LCD TVs, Blu-Ray players, video cameras and now – mobile phone.

shark

I’ve had another eventful week at the salon. More and more clients are losing their jobs. Older clients have lost half of their retirement funds, while the younger clients go to work in fear. It is becoming very hard to keep spirits high.

It gets better: I saw a couple of clients at the supermarket this morning. They hugged and kissed me and proceeded to explain that they are now cutting their own hair. YIKES!! Enough nonsense everybody.

LET ME TELL YOU A LITTLE STORY:

As a little girl growing up in Athens, Greece, I lived a charmed life. My parents had tried for 8 years to conceive me. My father was a successful merchant and my mom and I had everything we ever wanted. Early on, the government of Greece was overtaken by military dictators and my Father was promptly jailed for running his mouth. He was accused of being an enemy of the state. They seized our assets and that left us broke and scared. One day, as I was walking home from school, I saw my mom arguing with soldiers outside our house. They had removed all our personal belongings into the street. My clothing and toys were all in a big pile. I did what any young capitalist would do: I proceeded to sell my toys to all the kids that had gathered to see what was going on. Great first lesson on being homeless?

My poor mother was heartbroken. No one would talk to us anymore, they were afraid. The government had even seized our tea cups. She moved us to a working class section of Athens (think Barrio) and took a low paying job at a macaroni factory (Mellisa). She worked 14 hour days and came home with pasta in her beautiful hair. I heard her crying many sleepless nights. Until one day, she came home and said, “WE’RE GOING TO AMERICA.” Easier said than done. We spent countless days at the US Consulate office and one fine day we were granted immigrant visas. WE HAD $20 IN OUR POCKET WHEN WE LEFT GREECE.

January 14, 1974

Port of entry: Chicago, Illinois

As we came out of the arrival gate, two ladies in grey flannel suits greeted us. They handed my mother our Green Cards and Social Security cards, welcomed her to America and they both reached down and kissed me. They were Immigration officers. I kid you not.

This is the America I love.

This is the America I know.

To all that want to abandon ship…I say go ahead and leave. To all that complain…I say stop. And, to the rest…do not give up, our country has faced worst and has survived. Hold fast America. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am going to get my hair done(professionally).

The screeching was so loud that it reached into the vehicle’s interior. The occupants grimaced in pain as the sound careened inside their heads.

“Must you go this fast?!” Nadine’s yell was barely audible over the roar of the engine as Brian floored the pedal again.

“Brian!”

There was no answer.

The red coupe’s tires audibly swiveled around the bend; its driver clearly had lost control for a moment, but soon regained it. As the car vroomed past, bystanders were witness to the mechanical racket and the wind that was helplessly flung in its wake. WHOOOOSH!!!! The coupe was here in an instant and gone the next.

“Brian!” This time, her plea was much more urgent, but still there was no response.

“Brian! Kid, Brian! Kid in the street, GODDAMNIT!”

“Whaaaa-“ he replied, glancing to the side of the road and finally seeing the young child that had been in the periphery of his vision. He desperately flicked the wheel.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Outside the church, 9 year-old Addy embraced her new aunt. “Congratulations on the wedding,” she said with practiced solemnity, and then she paused and added with a mischievous grin, “I’m glad that you’re finally not living in sin.”

“Thank you, Addy,” the new bride said. “Now, I wonder where you learned that ‘living in sin’ phrase,” she jokingly mused aloud, while looking at Addy’s parents.

Addy’s mother blushed the brightest shade of red. “I… I…,” she began to stammer but was cut short by the heavy sound of clicking heels.

Addy, her parents, and the new bride all turned heads to see Brian and Nadine positively hoofing it up to where the group stood. Nadine arrived first, clearly flustered.

“Oh, Debby, Debby, I’m so sorry! We missed it, didn’t we?” Nadine asked the new bride, even though she already knew the answer.

Shaking her head, the new bride smilingly said, “That would be an affirmative but, you know, you can be there on time when Kevin and I renew our vows in 10 years or so.”

“Well, if we had just bought a GPS unit from ActionGPS.com like I had suggested, none of this would have happened,” Nadine said, barely controlling her voice.

A tall gentleman strode to the edge of the group; it was Nadine’s father. “How many times have I told you about not listening to my little girl, Brian?”

“I tried to tell him, Dad, but he said that he could get by using his atlas. So, we got lost instead,” came Nadine’s reply.

“Aw, Hell! An atlas is about as useless as tits on a bull. Can’t you do anything right, Brian?,” asked Nadine’s father. All in the small group of people laughed…, well, all except Brian.

“Shoot, I even use a GPS when I go fishing. That GPS unit can find the fish! The darn thing is damn near indispensible. I mean, boy, it basically gets you where you want to be in life.”

Brian’s eyes lit up, thinking that he had found an instant to rebut all the negative attention. “Sir, I don’t know if I would go that far,” he said bravely.

But, Nadine’s father was more than ready. “You want to find your way to the chapel with my daughter, don’t you, son? Then, I would suggest that you get yourself a GPS.”

“I know one thing; he’ll certainly need it to find his way to the couch tonight!” said Nadine.

The group roared with laughter… well, all except Brian.

“That is so clever,” he noted, turning the wine bottle so that he could see the full label. “They’ve a photo of the bride and groom on here with the wedding date, and the whole bit!”

The front of the chilled Sonoma, California chardonnay had beads of silvery condensation on it, and was delightfully cool to the touch. To the eye, the label on the wine was indeed unique. Instead of the normal staid presentation of facts about the wine type, vineyard, and such, there was a picture of the bride and groom on their first date, taken eight years ago. A print of intertwining golden leaves framed the photo, making the couple in the photo appear to be enclosed by a forest of pleasant yellow.

“I wonder who in the family took the time to design and paste on all these photo? There must be some artsy soul in the bunch,” he concluded.

The woman with whom he was having the conversation picked up her glass of wine and took a sip. “Well, you’re talking to that artsy fartsy person right now.”

“Oh. Oh! Well, tell me, how did you do it and how long did it take you?,” he asked. He was definitely impressed with this apparent master of the arts.

The woman, though, took her time in answering. She skillfully balanced her wine in one hand and slowly and luxuriously adjusted her white linen dress with the other. When that small task was complete, she took a slow sip from her glass.

“I don’t know you very well…,” she trailed off.

“Jacob,” he said.

“Thank you, Jacob. As I was saying, I don’t really know you that well, and one never gives away secrets of the trade to just any inquisitive outsider,” she said half jokingly.

“Ah, you are a tough one! I knew that I’d liked you for some reason,” he said with glee in his voice. “But, you must tell me more about your craft.”

“Alright, well, I have also done several of these customized bottles for parties of the company that I work for. The wines could be just about anything, from the Chardonnays which you see here before you to Cabernet Sauvignons. I have even done labels like these for bottled water, too.,” she said with pride.

Jacob’s eyebrows went up, as did his esteem of her. “You must be quite the efficient artisan, madam, to pull off such feats! I must say that I am impressed, quite impressed.”

By now Jacob was positively beaming at her. Here was a woman who was coy, clever and very easy on the eyes. Most importantly, she was a challenge!

Another sly grin stole over the face of the lady with whom he flirted as she said, “Jacob, I think that I can let you in on my secret. Would you like to know how it is that I do what I do?,” she asked him and winked one eye.

Jacob needed no time to think over his response to such a question. “Yes, I do believe that I would enjoy that most wholeheartedly,” he said.

“Then, you must come close, so that I can put my mouth near your ear,” she said.

Slowly and purposefully, Jacob inched his body closer to hers. Their faces came closer, closer and she turned at the last moment to avoid a brush of lips. He smiled at her skillful move.

Purring in his ear, she whispered, “Take out your phone and give it to me.”

Puzzled now, Jacob reached into his suit jacket and produced his PDA. He tossed it to her, but stayed right next to her as she punched the phone’s buttons.

After a few seconds, she tossed the phone back to him. He was even more confused now. “Take a look,” was all that she said.

On his phone was a website, SignatureWines.com. As he read the opening page of the site, he burst out into laughter! That was how she had made all those unique, personalized labels. She had ordered them from the website!

“So, now you know my secret! Signature Wines & Beverages has a large selection of wines and drinks from the California wine country, and the best part is that you can design your own label online or you can choose from some pre designed labels that they already have made,” she said.

“That sounds pretty simple, something that even I could do,” Jacob said, still laughing a bit to himself. “Well, I must admit, I was enjoying our conversation and the story about these beautiful labels so much, that I left me wide open and you got me. Yes, you did, you got me!”

“On the contrary, Jacob,” she said, “if I had ‘gotten you’ as you claim, it would probably be our pictures that people would be seeing on these wine labels, don’t you think?”

All business cards were created equal, or so I thought until I was presented with a card created by GL Print.

Being in sales, I’ve been to my fair share of conferences, meet & greets and business happy hours. Talking to people is the name of the game, and after the standard chitchat, you can almost bet on there being an exchange of business cards. Some are plain, some have a bit of decorations, but the whole problem is that everybody has them, and they’re just not memorable. Again, or so I thought…

It was the silvery glimmer around the paper edges that caught my eye at first. The borders of the card seemed to glow and wave the light back and forth, reflecting all the sun that was in the room. Tom LaOrdio (real name not listed for the purposes of this article) extended his hand which offered this business card. I’ll be honest and tell you that the only reason that I can recall his first and last name was due to the impression of that card. He offered it, and I took it quickly, I remember. Man, was I eager to examine it. My card looked nothing like it. My card didn’t even feel like this damn card.

To make it short and sweet, this card’s quality was so good, not only did it make Tom LaOrdio a person whom I will never forget, but the card made him look like a real professional and me an amateur. I’m not saying it looked slick or like something that a used-car salesman might be; I mean that this card was just complete business. I had to ask this guy where he got a card like this.

I remember him pausing and laughing to himself for a second. There was a big, shit-eating smile still on his face when he answered me. “You’re not the first person to ask me that,” he said. “You’re about the first person within the past five minutes, so I can give you that!”

It was my turn to laugh. But, I didn’t reply. I wanted him to spill.

Finally, Tom began again, “A few months ago, I was in Chicago, just going through the motions at some business conference. You know, it was just the usual, and there I was, bored out of my skull trying to pass the time.” He interrupted his story for a second to rub his chin thoughtfully. “I was talking to this unremarkable woman, not really paying attention, and all of a sudden, she reaches over and offers me her card. But, this was no card that I had previously seen, and my whole face changed. Bang! This thing was a business card and a phone card! And, it was tailored to her industry, even! She had my attention then. I admit that immediately after she gave me her card, I was too busy examining it to really listen to whatever the hell it was that she was saying. However, I’ll also admit that I did end up buying 100 units from her that night, too.”

I let out a long, low whistle. This was some card.

“GL Print was where she and I got these business cards from. This business card has gotten me more call-backs and more business than any other thing that I carry with me. And, if you care about increasing your sales, you’ll check them out,” he said finishing his drink.

As soon as I got home that night, I went onto GL Print’s website, GL Print, and saw exactly why their business cards stand out.

- First, the basis of the cards is great quality paper.

- Second, they’ve pre-selected some designs and images according to the industry which you’re in.

- Third, you can customize the designs and even upload photos.

- Fourth, GL Print will get those cards to you in a 24 hour turnaround.

On the same website, I was able to order flyers, posters, and greeting cards. GL Print was my one stop shop for all my office needs, simply put. After dealing with GL Print, I have come up with my own slogan for them: “If it has to be mint, then make it GL Print!”