Sex in the City

I only have a second..actually, I probably don't even have that. I have mid-terms this week, in addition to a million other responsibilities that all seemed to culminate in what can only be described as the Perfect Storm.

However, I just wanted to share that in Leadership Cleveland yesterday we visited the county jail where we were given an all access VIP tour that included the devices they use for full cavity searches, how to use a taser, information on how to distinguish violent criminals from the rest of the group (they wear the black and white striped outfits you see in movies) and a first hand look at how the prisioners spend their free time. Imagine a room full of probably 100 prisioners in orange jump suits all gathered around a television, watching Sex in the City. Somehow I'm not sure this was HBO's target audience.

Market Segmentation

My Monday night Marketing Management class is painfully boring, which is disappointing to me because Marketing used to be one of my favorite subjects. However, this teacher insists on illustrating every simple concept with a story about a place he likes to eat, or used to like to eat or may want to eat someday. However, ever so often an interesting fact sneaks into the two and a half hour lecture. For example, last night we learned that Google's unofficial business motto is "don't be evil." We were also introduced to this little tool called mybestsegments.com.

I may be a geek but I have always found market segmentation fascinating, so bear with me. The idea that you can predict what a person will buy or do based on their income, station in life and where they live has always interested me. When I waited tables I tried to see if I could guess what people would order before I walked up to the table. Eventually, I got pretty good.

On mybestsegments.com, you can type in any zip code and find the 5 most prominent marketing groups living in that area. There is everything from shotguns and pickups (my personal favorite) to Bohemian mix and Mayberry-ville. Not only is it interesting to see the type of people who make up your neighborhood, I could see it being a useful tool when contemplating a move or planning a trip. After it gives you the 5 areas you can click on them to see a brief description and their buying habits. For example, my old neighborhood in Chattanooga watched VH1, read modern bride and would most likely drive a Prius. My new neighborhood shops at the Limited and reads Gamepro magazine and drives Kia Spectras. I think I may a little out of place...

Junior Achievement

Recently, I signed up to volunteer with the Bradley County Junior Achievement. I had always wanted to get involved with this program because it combined my love of business and teaching young people and I finally signed up as one of my New Years resolutions to do more in my community. Its really an ideal way to volunteer for the non-committal person (I just couldn't do Big Brother/Big Sister but that is a whole different story). You only have to commit to one 6 week class. They give you a handbook and activities and it is very well planned out.

You can pick any age group you want, but their greatest need was with Middle Schoolers. I am sure that no one is surprised by this. Middle School is the worst time in everyone's life. Whether you enjoyed it or not, chances are you drove everyone around you insane with your awkward obnoxiousness. Just trust me here...anyway, I got up really early this morning and went over the manual 5 or 6 times trying to appear prepared for my new class of 8th graders. However, when I arrived at the class I was pleasantly surprised. I absolutely loved the class...several of the students were quite sarcastic which I personally think makes the class more fun. They were really interactive and funny and seemed to enjoy even the activities I thought were cheezy and a little childish. I think I'm going to love Junior Achievement, everyone should volunteer!

My Luck

My car has been swaying back and forth while I drive for probably about a month now. Tuesday night I was driving home around 10pm after watching "Slumdog Millionaire" (Amazing by the way) and I was scared to death I was going to get pulled over for drunk driving because of the amount of swerving my car was doing on its own.

Finally realizing I had ignored the problem long enough, on Wednesday I took my car to the tire center to have my tires rotated. I had not had them rotated in the entire 3 years I have owned my vehicle, I think the mechanic was impressed. I picked my car up at 5:00 after being assured that my tires were in great condition and I would not need to replace them for at least a year.

I was happy. Unfortunately my car was still not. I almost got car sick on the way home from the mechanic. Somehow the shaking had actually become worse. I took it back to the mechanic today at 10am to get the tires aligned. 2 hours later I was told that sometime between 5 yesterday and 10 this morning I picked up a huge nail in my front left tire. The hole is not repairable and since they are doing an alignment I have to get 2 new tires. So my $10 quick fix turned into a $300 problem. Everything always happens to me all at once....it's crazy. In the month of December my camera, my ipod, a light in my upstairs bedroom, and my house phone all decided to quit working. Its starting to be a bit annoying...

Never discuss politics

I have yet to receive my government cheese...