New Year Resolution to Lose Weight? You May Pay More!

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Happy New Year!

Hopefully you had a good celebration to kick off the New Year.  Perhaps you even set yourself a new year’s resolution or goal you want to accomplish. Even if you didn’t, many people head off to the gym in the middle of winter to get some exercise after all the holiday eating and lack of exercise, but there is something you should know about gym memberships, if you are planning to do this.

If you are heading to get a gym membership and are overweight, there is a good chance you won’t get as good of a membership rate as your skinny friends.  Seems counter-intuitive, doesn’t it?   You would think gyms would want people who need to lose weight to join their club, but no, it appears they want pretty women and much prefer them to those who are holding extra pounds because pretty woman are eye-candy. It’s sad, but true. Watch the video above to see for yourself.

I recently wrote on my Facebook page that I believe we are living in one of the most deceptive times in our lifetime.  Where we used to expect and demand decency in business, we now tolerate absolutely deceptive practices without banning together to stop it.

And gyms are not the only ones who are outrageously offending us with shoddy practices.  Hotels, airlines, online stores–they are all getting in the game.

If you don’t shop around and read the fine print, or understand what the words “2 tickets left at this price” really means, you’ll get taken to the cleaners without so much as a clue!   When you dig, you will be surprised at how misleading companies have become in attempt to get you to pay top dollar for something!  For those who do their homework, they are likely paying 20-50% less than someone who doesn’t. 

It’s mind-blowing to be frank that they are getting away with this, and the only way I see this stopping if people wise up and stop supporting these tactics.

Last year I bought a router online at Walmart. It was inexpensive so I skipped doing my homework and did I get a big surprise! When I went to the store and happened to walk by it–guess what?  The store price was a good ten dollars cheaper for the same item (33% off!!).I was shocked and immediately returned the item and purchased it again through my local store.  I’m not paying for these gimmicks and I hope you don’t either.

Whenever you think you have the system figured out, too, I can promise you one thing:  The stores will be one step ahead of you again–setting things up to make sure they get your top dollar UNLESS YOU DO YOUR HOMEWORK every time you shell out your dough.

Be smart in 2013 and let companies know you are NOT falling for their gimmicks. They don’t work.  Do your homework and save!  You can easily afford a free vacation on your savings–there is no doubt about that!

Happy New Year!

Abduction of Quinn Gray on Dateline

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Originally posted September 2011 (re-run)

If you didn’t see Friday night’s Dateline, you missed a whopper of a story.  It was two-hours of action, deception and lies.  I would have to say this was one of the most hotspot littered cases I think I’ve ever watched.  Quinn Gray couldn’t have been a better subject!

For those of you who saw the show, here is Quinn Gray’s ransom note. 

So many hot spots:

  1. Notice Quinn’s normal bubbly written text?  When people are held at gunpoint, they get nervous and nervous hand writing isn’t so sweet and smooth! Hello.

  2. Quinn writes, “I need you read this and be calm!!”  Who under duress is going to think like this?   Just be calm, honey!

  3. Quinn writes, “…do not be a hero.”  Hero?  Who would think about heroes when you have a gun pointing to your head? 

  4. Quinn writes, “This is professional.”  What victim of a crime is ever going to think her abductors are “professional”?   I could see law enforcement calling someone professional, but not a victim unless they were talking about a crime in hindsight–not during the actual crime.  How does she know they are “professional” at this point? She hasn’t seen them do anything, if this is real and they just broke into her house. It’s ridiculous.

  5. I find it very odd she tells her husband they want $50,000, but he cannot get more than $9,500.00 out of the bank.  Had she tried at one point?  Would you know this if you were held at gun point?  Very odd information for a “victim” to have… She could have called the bank with the kidnappers and asked about  how much she could withdrawal, but she makes no mention of it.

  6. Then she says they only have $7,000, which makes it even more perplexing that she should would know about the $9,500 number because why ask if you don’t have it?

  7. Her use of the word “stupid” stands out to me as well.  When you are facing life and death, and you may not see a loved one again, and I can’t imagine you would worry about them doing stupid things.  You would worry about their life instead.  It’s odd to say the least. She doesn’t seem worried about him at all, does she?

  8. It’s odd how she is so sure she will be fine if he just gets the money.  Why would she be so sure?  A kidnapper wouldn’t give her the time to write that over and over again!  Time is of the essence if they are all standing around in her house, mind you.

  9. She writes, “Please do this honey!” Honey?  Again, its ridiculous!! 

Clearly, by her own word choices, she was not a woman under duress.  Had I found this ransom note, I couldn’t help but chuckle!!!! It tells a heck of a lot information, and while you couldn’t write it off, I would have been very skeptical. 

Word choices tell us so much…

When Eyes Deceive – Eyewitness Testimony

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Are you a risk taker?

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Bungee Jump - Interlaken, Switzerland

I thought this was a fun survey from NatGeo:  Are you a risk taker? 

Well, are you?  Do you know before you take the survey? 

Was the survey accurate? 

Anyone want to guess what they think I am? 

Clearly the man who is bungee jumping is risk taker, and what is so fascinating is in this moment, where most people would be expressing fear, he has none!  Risk takers rarely show fear or insecurity on their face (they almost never feel fear or insecurity).  Just a little fact from my observations.

Have fun!

Monserrate Shirley Arrested

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While I didn’t post this on my blog, there was a discussion about this case on my Facebook page and on my suggestions page.

A house exploded in an Indianapolis neighborhood which killed two people back in November.  This is the owner of the house speaking about the explosion above.  I found her behavior suspicious writing the following comment on my suggestion page:

Monseratte does not show genuine sadness though she truly wants us to believe she is sad. I see a lot of inconsistencies in her story. Does that mean she blew up the house? No. It simply means she knows more than she is saying, if you ask me.

 Consequently, and to no surprise to me, Monserrate Shirley has been arrested in connection with the explosion and the deaths of her two neighbors.