While driving on the freeway the other day, I couldn't help but remember something from the book "Napalm and Silly Putty" by George Carlin. He asked, "Did you ever notice that anyone going slower than you is an idiot and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?"

Phoenicians can't seem to find the middle of the road when it comes to driving. They are either driving a huge relic at 40 mph, white knuckles gripping the steering wheel, or they are driving snazzy new SUV's or compacts at triple digit speeds. I must have been on a break when it was explained that the diamond pattern in the HOV lane has nothing to do with extra passengers and everything to do with how fast you are supposed to drive in that lane. Most people get up to WARP 5 in that lane and if you are only going 10 mph OVER the posted speed limit, you will be subjected to horn honking, light blinking, agitated waving and any other intimidating behaviors the driver can think of at the time. At the very least you will experience being buzzed as the driver whips around you at the first opportunity and gets back in line ahead of you with 1/4 inch to spare.

Traffic in Phoenix has gotten worse with time. After being away for six years, my sister recently returned to the Valley and described our traffic as "carnage". It is not uncommon to witness a minimum of one accident per outing, and witnessing several is common. Long ago I stopped counting all the "near misses".

I believe there are two reasons for the speed and recklessness of today's drivers. The first reason is that we have become so accustomed to multi–tasking that we carry that over into our driving. We are thinking about our dinner plans while talking on our cell phones and trying to drive 65 mph at the same time.

It's as if everyone on the road has developed attention deficit disorder and driving has the lowest priority. The second reason for bad driving seems to be the prevailing attitude that manners are as unnecessary to driving as they are to everything else in life. So often, the near misses and/or accidents I see could have been prevented with a little common courtesy. Los Angeles traffic is usually heavy, but almost everyone will adjust their speed to allow others to merge into the flow on the freeway. In Phoenix, I watch people speed up to make sure that the cars trying to merge must come to a dead stop and wait for a lengthy break. Of course, the people trying to merge will often go ahead and pull out whether there's a break or not, causing several other near misses, squealing tires and brake lights. Paying attention to what's coming up ahead of you and remembering to be a courteous driver would more than likely reduce the number of accidents by seventy five percent.

In Phoenix we need to pay closer attention to our driving because of the signage. Our signs are strategically placed to let you know where you've been, but seldom help you figure out where you are going. If I believed in hell, I would know that there is a special corner reserved just for the people who designed the signage at the airport! That situation is too painful to go into right now, but please remember to take a friend who can attempt to read the signs while you drive and also a large sack of bread crumbs so you can find your way out! Our airport is one of the few that has a North and South side which is confusing enough without being sent into "the corkscrew" before being routed to a parking spot.

If there happens to be an accident on the Northbound side of I–17, the Southbound side will slow to a crawl just to try to get a look. If it's something gory you want to see, set your VCR to tape Jerry Springer or Fear Factor. Otherwise, say a quick prayer for those involved in the accident and maintain your driving speed and attention to what's going on around you so that another accident can be avoided.

Another puzzling occurrence is that ADOT and municipalities rarely communicate with each other to find out who's doing what to which roads. The state will frequently close a state route and post signs asking you to take Y Street as a Detour when the city roads people have decided to close a main intersection of Y street for repairs. I have personally experienced "spaghetti traffic" and I would be happy to never experience it again!

If you have to do any travel throughout the Valley, there is one ray of hope that can greatly assist you in your journey. Every Friday the Arizona Republic runs an informative piece that tells you which roads will be closed, which are under construction, the best routes from point A to point B and many other helpful bits of information. Once they even ran an article on the history of the names of our highways wherein we finally learn why one road has three or four different names.

As difficult as it may be with our busy schedules, it is definitely time to slow down, concentrate and become conscious as we travel about the Valley. To those of you who have always done your part to be a conscientious driver, we say thank you and keep up the good work! If you know that you are Dr. Jekyll at home and Mr. Hyde in the car, find a way to be more relaxed behind the wheel like listening to soothing music. Make a conscious effort to be calm and courteous. If you see that a lane is closed ahead, don't wait until the last second and ram your vehicle into line. If two lanes of an on–ramp narrow into one, the unspoken, polite rule is that every other car falls into line creating a flow of traffic that keeps moving.

We are driving ourselves crazy and we need to stop. Let's all work to create order from the chaos that is alive and well on our streets. If we practice courtesy, consciousness and safety we can succeed in making driving fun again! And we can spend most of our time and energy working for a viable Mass Transit system that will allow us an alternative to driving, as well as save some fossil fuel for the next generation!

Jenny Dickason is one of the founding partners of InTheSpirit Marketing (an Arizona email marketing company) and the principle of MuffiBindi Productions.

Healings from the Heart Su Humphrey, RMT, HTAP Energy Healer for Small Animals & Equine By Appointment 602.741.5880

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Are you in the process of changing careers or looking for a new job? If you have already applied for a few jobs, there is a good chance that you may end up having an interview scheduled soon, if you don't already have one arranged. As you likely already know, a job interview is often the deciding factor in whether or not you get hired.

That is why it is important that your interviews go off without a hitch.

To ensure that they do, you may want to familiarize yourself with the most common job interview dos and don'ts, some of which are outlined below.

One thing that you will want to do is prepare for your interview. There are too many individuals who mistakenly believe that all interviews are the same. This is actually something that you do not want to do. Yes, many interviews are similar in nature, but they are not all the same. In all honesty, it depends on the job that you are being interviewed for and the employer in question. Instead of assuming that your job interview will be just like the last one, you are advised to expect something different, to help keep you on your toes.

Another thing that you will want to do is practice for your interview. As it was previously mentioned, many job interviews are similar in nature, despite being a little bit different. They are often similar based on some of the basic questions that are asked. For instance, some of those questions may be centered on your professional goals, your need to succeed, and so on. No matter how prepared you are for these questions, they can be difficult to answer in the moment. That is why you do want to prepare for your interview by doing a few practice runs, preferably with a friend or a relative.

The questions you are asked during the interview process enables an employer to gain insight into you, your life, and your work habits. When responding to them or even when just making conversation, keep everything professional in nature. What you do not want to do is divulge too much information about your personal life. For instance, employers do not need to know how old you are or if you have any children. Also, do not badmouth any of your previous employers or bosses, as this will tend to make you look bad yourself.

When going for a job interview, it is important that you are properly dressed. To increase your chances of getting a job, you want to look professional for your job interview. This not only includes your clothing (do not wear jeans, sweatpants, or clothing that is too revealing), but your appearance as well. If you need to put on makeup or get a haircut, go ahead and do so.

When looking to hire a new employee, many employers want someone who can represent the company in a positive matter. That is why it is important that you do place at least a little bit of focus on your appearance.

Since the interview process is what is often the deciding factor in whether or not you are hired, you will want to make sure that your interview is one that is memorable, and in a good way. If you prepare well beforehand and use these job interview tips you can leave a positive impression.

Hi Folks,

This is just a quick and friendly reminder.

FRIDAY is the deadline for sending in anything You want to be in next week's newsletter

Have a GREAT Weekend!

Jenny & John

What is it that motivates you?

Now motivation is an interesting thing that goes right to the heart of our values. Because, in fact, that's what values do.

They motivate us to do things AND they tell us how we should feel about what we have done (or didn't do as the case may be).

For many of us, when asked what do you value, we would probably answer with something like "family" or "career." The thing is, those are actually categories, filing cabinets if you will, about what our values actually are. We may place more importance on one category as compared to another at any given moment.

So if you want to find out what *really* motivates you to do the things that you do, pick an area of your life and do the following:

Suggested areas are:
* Spirituality
* Career & Finance
* Relationships
* Family
* Personal Growth & Development
* Physical Health

Note that "sales" is actually a sub–category of career. Here's the process (I'll use career to demo):

1. Ask yourself – What's important to me about career?
2. List the answers ‐ keep going until you run out of words (or get repeats)
3. Wait a minute (you've just emptied the bucket, now it has to fill again)
4. Now ask yourself "Let's pretend I have (Read through your list), what else is important to me about career?"
5. List the answers ‐ keep going until you run out of words (or get repeats)
6. Repeat steps 3 thru 5 until you can't get any more words – you may have a pretty big (or not so big) list at this point
7. Now, remember a time you were really (I mean REALLY) motivated about career.
8. As you go back to that memory notice what emotions or feelings were present and add them to your list
9. Repeat steps 7 & 8 until you get repeats
10. Now ask yourself "Let's pretend I have (Read through your list), what would cause me to leave?"
11. Add to your list
12. Now ask yourself "Let's pretend I have (Read through your list including #11), what would cause me to stay?"
13. Repeat 10 thru 12 until you get nothing new.

The next step is to sort your list in whatever the order you feel they actually are, NOT how you want them to be (or feel they should be). The top 5 are the primary motivators, 6–10 are secondary, and anything after 10, while important, plays a relatively minor role. Also, if you have more than 10 you probably have a large number of "away froms" as well (running away from the lack of something rather than towards it – e.g. running away from poverty rather than towards wealth – and yes that makes a difference in performance and motivation).

Which reminds me...Write down EVERYTHING...EXACTLY as it pops up! If you get "integrity" as an answer somewhere and "lack of integrity" somewhere else those are actually 2 separate values.

Now that you know what you really value, you can redesign how you do what you do to take advantage of your own internal drives...rather than constantly fight yourself. Of course, if you want to actually change and reorganize those internal values (or get rid of the "away froms") you may want to call me for a session or three <grin>.

John Strasser is a hypnotherapist and coach and helps people clear the gunk out of their head so that they can excell and thrive doing the things they love to do. His website is http://lifetranscendent.com.

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Are you the parent of a teenager who uses the internet? If you are, have you already had the internet safety talk with your teenager? If you haven't, it is time for that talk to occur. As nice as it is to be able to use the internet for school research projects or to communicate with friends online, it is important to remember that the internet can also be a danger to children and teenagers.

So how do you do it? How do you have that talk with your teenager about internet safety? Brining up the subject can be hard, as your teen may automatically become defensive. The good news is that you do have a number of different options. One of those options is to just go for it.

When you outright discuss internet safety with your teenager, make sure that you pick a good time to have the talk. Don't start ranting right away about your teen's internet use and the dangers after a disagreement or when tensions are already high. With teenagers, this can lead to other problems. It may cause your teenager to not listen to you just for the point of not listening or they may purposely defy you.

Another option that you have, when looking to discuss internet safety with your child, is to wait until your child gets off the computer. When they walk away, ask them if they know about being safe online and the dangers that the internet has. This is a great opener, when your child is already using the computer. It may make you sound less like an overprotective, overbearing parent, at least in the eyes of your teenager.

When discussing internet safety with your teenager, it is important to not assume that your child already knows. Even if your child stops you and tells you they already know how to be safe online, don't stop. Be sure to restate your point and establish any internet rules you would like your child to follow. It is important to remember that many teenagers think they know everything, but many don't. For example, your child may know that there are internet predators out there, but do they also know that pictures of them smoking or drinking underage could get them suspended from school or even arrested, no matter how “cool,” they look on a MySpace page?

Speaking of MySpace, it is important to know what you should talk to your child about. Since many teenagers use MySpace and other similar social networking websites, they should be discussed. Make sure your child knows that anyone can hide behind a computer, even a sexual predator. Also, let them know the dangers of posting personal information and pictures on their social networking profiles.

In addition to social networking websites, like MySpace, internet chat rooms should also be discussed. Internet chat rooms are different, but similar in nature to instant messaging programs, like AOL or MSN. Generally speaking, instant messaging programs are safer for teens to use, as they aren't automatically paired up and thrown into a chat room with other internet users, who are essentially strangers. As with social networking websites, make sure that your child knows that they could, essentially, be talking to anyone. Tell them to get out of a chat room right away if the tone turns sexual in nature or if they receive a private message from someone who makes them feel uncomfortable.

You may also want to discuss personal blogs. Many websites, like Blogger.com and WordPress.com allow internet users to start free blogs. Many teens find this a nice and easy way to vent or allow their friends to stay up–to–date on their thoughts. Your teenager needs to know that anyone can view these blogs, so their information really isn't private and personal.

As you can see, there are a number of different ways that you can go about discussing internet safety with your teenager. Remember to do so, however, before it is too late. Any child who uses the internet should be well aware of the dangers that lurk.

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A question for all you WAHMS (Work–At–Home–Moms) out there: How often have you been accused of not really working if you work from home? Many people think that working at home isn't working at all, and that you have all of the free time in the world. Those who have spent any time working at home know that there is a lot of time and energy that goes into effectively working at home. Friends who call in the middle of the day, spouses who expect you to be doing more while home or family members who make offhand comments, can undermine those efforts.

Not all stay at home moms work, and if you have friends who don't, it can be hard for them to understand that your days really aren't free. Calls during your working time, invitations to lunch and uninvited guests can throw a wrench in your work schedule. In order to get your friends to respect your time, it's important to make your working schedule clear to them.

If you don't have a clear work schedule, then it is time to make one for yourself. By setting office hours for yourself, you make it clear to everyone around you that you are serious about your work. It will also help set boundaries for your time. Tell your friends that you will be unavailable from a certain time to a certain time, but you'd love to talk before or after those times. You may even go so far as to turn off your phone. If you do answer the phone and someone wants to chat, politely let them know that you are working but can speak after a certain time. Also, schedule things like lunches or visits for one day per week. This way you'll reduce the drop–ins and spontaneous invitations.

Spouses can sometimes have difficulty understanding why, if you are home all day, the housework isn't done. This problem can best by solved by familiarizing him with the nature of your business. Show him exactly what you need to do each day, and how long it takes to do each task. Help him understand your work schedule, and how much time you need to work per day. Showing exactly how much money you are making will help him realize the benefits of your work as well.

Then ask him to help you come up with solutions for working at home and maintaining the household. Make a list of things that need to be done each week, and assign duties to you, him and the children (if they are old enough). Then taking care of the house becomes a family priority and something that you all share responsibility in. Notify him of any special projects by keeping a work calendar on the wall. That way he can see what is going on with your work schedule, and why you have ordered pizza for dinner three times in the last week!

Many Work At Home Moms can be hurt over offhand comments about working at home. Family or even friends can say things like "Well you have the time, because you are at home." In situations like these, you have two choices. You can either get upset and offer a flustered defense or you can take their comments with a grain of salt and offer a calm response. Depending on the situation you can say something like "Well, let me check my work schedule. I know I am not available on these days" or "That would be great on Friday afternoon, which is when I leave time in my work schedule for those types of things."

Remember, working at home is new territory for many people although the numbers of WAHMS are growing. It may take some time for the average person to understand the commitment and scheduling that it takes to effectively work from home. Some people are just too narrow–minded to change their view to understand you can be more productive working from home.

If the man in your life is thinking of getting into brewing beer because he loves drinking different beers, there are some solid reasons to encourage that enthusiasm. Your first reflex might be that he already has a love of beer and that making his own is going over the top. But in truth, making the move toward home brewing has a lot going for it and it is a very creative and productive approach to the love of fine beers.

There is a difference between a true lover of beer as a fine beverage and the average "beer guzzler". Beer actually has a rich history and the diversity of flavors, textures and blends of beers is almost as strong as the wine culture which we know is one where real connoisseurs know what a fine wine is. So the move toward making beer identifies with that side of the beer culture that seeks the finest in flavors in beer and seeks to become part of the way very good beer is made rather than just be a consumer.

By encouraging your beer connoisseur to develop this newfound passion for beer making, you are emphasizing the noble and creative side of his love of good beer. And the new social connections that novice beer makers find at retail beer brewing stores and local societies devoted to this hobby will help him become educated in the best way to make a truly fine beer at home.

Once his home brewing hobby takes off, you'll find that the passion shifts. It starts out with the novelty of drinking a beer that you made yourself. And then if becomes more and more about improving the quality and taste of the beer.

Along with the creative side of beer making, if you start to produce your own beer at home, there are some economic benefits. Like everything else, beer prices are going up. But the costs of making a batch of beer at home are phenomenally low if you break it down to a per glass cost.

True, there is equipment to buy up front. But it's a myth that getting set up for making beer at home costs an arm and a leg. You don't have to set up a brewery on the scale you may have seen when you toured the beer factory in St. Louis last summer. There are beer kits that give you all of the basic equipment you will need and you can usually have a home beer production factory going at home for under $200. And when you consider you can make many gallons of great tasting beer with that same set up, that's a pretty smart investment.

In addition, beer (like any alcoholic beverage) is taxed at a pretty high rate. But you're buying the *ingredients* for beer (grain, hops, fruit, etc.). Which often means NO additional taxes.

It's not out of the question that if your beer loving guy develops his abilities as a Brewmeister, you may find a market to sell the beer he makes. There are lots of brew pubs that specialize in quality home made beers. So if he can develop a unique taste and recipe that can be replicated consistently, you may be able to bottle it and sell it at local pubs. If that beer gets some popularity with the local beer drinking popularity, you may be able to make back your investment in equipment and supplies to make beer and even turn a nice profit from a great hobby.

These are all good reasons for you to encourage that fascination with how to make beer at home in your loved one. And if you jump in feet first and become a beer maker yourself, this new hobby can become a family affair and a wonderful way to share the fun together. And who knows, you may even get to be a bit of a beer connoisseur yourself!

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InTheSpirit Marketing is a partnership between Jenny Dickason of Muffi Bindi Productions and John Strasser of http://johnstrasser.com.

Phone numbers: 480–273–8798 (John) and 602–866–3355 (Jenny).
Mailing Address: InTheSpirit Marketing c/o Jenny Dickason; 13250 N. 33rd Ave.; Phoenix, AZ 85029

Even though InTheSpirit Marketing is interested in presenting you with advertisements for quality products and services, please understand that InTheSpirit Marketing cannot spend the time to do the due diligence it takes to ensure that only reliable services and products are advertised with us.

Because of this, you should understand that InTheSpirit Marketing does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any of the advertisements or articles presented in our newsletter or the quality of any products, information or other materials displayed, purchased, or obtained by you as a result of an offer in connection with any advertisement.

Although all of the articles have been selected for their content, articles and advertisements were written and offered by "The Author(s)" and "The Advertiser(s)". The publishing of of such articles or fee based ads within this newsletter does NOT constitute a recommendation of the products or services mentioned or advertised by InTheSpirit Marketing.

InTheSpirit Marketing encourages you to do your own due diligence before purchasing any product, whether it is offered here or anywhere else for that matter, before purchasing. Please use your own judgment and carefully check out those products that interest you.

The information contained on in this newsletter is not intended to provide specific legal, medical, psychiatric, financial or tax advice, or any other advice, whatsoever, for any individual or company and should not be relied upon in that regard.

We accept no responsibility whatsoever for the content, profitability or legality of any published articles or advertisements contained within the InTheSpirit Marketing Community Newsletter.

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