It’s been a long time in the making, but I’ve finally finished the new layout to the point where I can use it. Take a look around, let me know what you think via the comments in this post.

Some notable changes:

* Google search has been removed for the moment, I’ll probably put it back in but I need to find a place for it. I think the new site search works better.

* Adsense ads will be reincorporated at some point.

* No more sidebar jazz, I thought it was getting too busy.

I’ll be making some tweaks here and there over the following weeks.

Enjoy!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Have a good one and I’ll see you guys on Monday.

This is a new segment that I’ll be running from time to time which will highlight some the better posts stored in the Workplace Life archives.

Here are three posts that you should check out:

1. How To Fail Successfully - Failing successfully? As crazy as it sounds, there is a right way and a wrong way to fail.

2. Top 5 Resume Mistakes - The top five resume mistakes I’ve come across (and a bonus sixth one), a good read if you are currently polishing up your resume or writing one for the first time.

3. What You Really Say At Work - There are two languages spoken at work: What you actually say, and what you mean to say. Here are a few translations for your reading pleasure.

As you may have noticed, the update frequency of this site has slipped quite a bit. This is due to a number of reasons, the main ones being that I am currently invested in several other internet ventures that are taking up a lot of my time. However, don’t worry, I’m not abandoning this site. On the contrary, I’m planning a complete overhaul of the layout and I am working towards getting back to daily updates.

Please hang in there and thanks for your continued support!

I saw this article over at LinkTipIdea and thought it was a great reminder on how to save money. It is my opinion that not enough people take advantage of the fact that there are literally thousands of coupons available on the internet for almost any product that you can imagine. Most of the time it just takes a few minutes to search and then print out these coupons, no strings attached.

Remember, next time you are looking to buy anything, take a few minutes and search Google to see if there’s a coupon for it. You might just end up saving yourself a nice chunk of change.

I’m not sure how many of you actually travel by train anymore, but I do it at least five to six times a year. I like it, and I think it is a very underused way to get around, especially with gas prices and plane tickets being so expensive. However, it never fails that when I get a regular ticket (not a fancy Accela ticket), I always seem to pick a busy time. This compounds the problem that for some reason, most people think that if they don’t get on the train right away it’s going to leave without them. This means that they rush to board the first train they can jam themselves into.

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That’s right, after about four months of labor, I finally got my first paycheck from Google! It’s a pretty good feeling, and I encourage all of my fellow fledgling bloggers out there to tough out the hard times. It’s definitely worth it when you finally get that green.

Probably one of the hardest pieces of information to keep track of in business is someone’s name, especially if you don’t’ work with them very often. Also, at meetings, conventions, and other corporate gatherings you are usually introduced to tons of people, and it can be quite hard to remember everyone’s name two weeks down the road. However, just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean it isn’t absolutely necessary. Remembering someone’s name automatically puts you in their good graces. It shows that you are on top of your game and interested in their business or what they do. The question is, how do you make sure you do remember their name?

There’s an interesting article over at 43 Folders discussing various tricks to remember somebody’s name. It’s a collage of name remembering tricks that the author has scoured from Google, and I think they are pretty good. In particular, I like the one about repeating a persons name in conversation multiple times after you meet them, as this trick seems to work very well for me. A word of caution though: You don’t’ want to be too overbearing when doing this, just slip the name in when you can. Don’t force it.

Do you have any special tricks you use to remember a name? Let us know in the comments section.

Thanks to Link Tip Idea for the heads up on this one.

With the price of gas rising pretty close the national deficit per gallon, owning a fuel efficient car has become more important than ever. The question is, what are the most fuel efficient cars? Luckily, the J.D Power Consumer Center has done the research for you. They’ve put together a list of the Top 10 Fuel Efficient Cars.

Unfortunately for me, I don’t own any of them. While I’m not in the market for a new car at the moment, fuel efficiency will definitely be at the top of my list of things to consider when I am.

Thanks to LinkTipIdea for this tip.

Getting directions today has never been easier. With the advent of Map Quest and Google Maps, accurate (for the most part) directions are but a click away. However, one big mistake that many people make when getting directions off of the internet is throwing away the accompanying map that comes with them. Sure, everybody keeps the actual step by step directions, but how many actually keep the map with their route drawn on it?

Why keep this map? Well, as we all know, sometimes these directions can be a bit confusing. Even worse, when following these directions you can even find yourself getting lost. This is where the map comes in. Although not super detailed, these maps can usually provide you with at least some semblance of the direction you should be going in. Also, if the way you are taking has heavy traffic or construction, you can sometimes use these maps to find a quicker way around it.

Remember: Next time you print out directions, keep the map. You never know when it might come in handy.