Archive for July, 2009
Everywhere you look in the professional world, clothing style, length and cost signifies a little more than you might imagine. Like ancient tribes and civilizations used to determine a person’s rank or social status by the type of feathers, robes or medals they wore, today’s workplace is littered with examples of how what you wear signifies where you are on the corporate ladder. Be it a simple suit, casual work clothes or a white lab coat, work uniforms and dress codes are a lot more telling than you might think.
Next time you visit an office building, think about the different styles in dress you see and what positions they each signify. While each company has a different dress code, “lower totem pole,” behind-the-scenes employees are usually going to dress in a much more casual way (since customers or corporate partners only hear their voice) than managers, supervisors, presidents and human resource managers. Chances are anyone in a position of authority or having outside physical contact with clients and stockholders will be donning a suit and tie during their workday.
Another locale to keep an eye on work uniforms and wear is at middle to high end restaurants. Here, everyone from the busboys to the managers are dressed in different, telling attire. A busboy is mostly working on clearing and setting tables, so they are usually dressed in simple attire that is good for the constant moving and collecting they are prone to do. Since a waiter has more one on one interaction with the customer, they are going to be dressed up, usually each donning the same uniform throughout the workplace (men and women vary of course) with a sport coat sometimes included. A restaurant manager (or owner) is usually the best dressed one out of the lot (especially in a fancy restaurant), wearing a different colored shirt or sport coat than the waiters so that he can stand out. Then there is the kitchen, which is a whole different animal as head chefs usually don custom aprons, coats and hats that distinguish them from the other chefs.
One workplace where you might not pay much attention to the work uniforms and what they may signify is at the hospital. While a lab coat is a functional and very important piece of clothing to a medical professional (many are custom made with breathable fibers and advanced stain guards), few people know that its length may hold a secret to the medical professional’s seniority in the office.
In many hospitals, senior doctors wear longer lab coats, while medical students tend to wear shorter lab coats. One way to tell a student doctor apart from a senior one is that their lab coat is around hip-length. It is not until they graduate with a professional title, that they wear knee-length white coats, which signify seniority at many teaching hospitals. Today, some nurses, physician assistants and technicians wear long lab coats or medical scrubs, which are becoming a more comfortable option for many male and female nurses. Each hospital has its own tradition that determines the code.
Again, these aren’t steadfast rules in today’s workplace, but just something to keep your eye out for. A person’s work uniform might give off a little more information than you might think.
Author Kim Green has worked in the medical field and has had the opportunity to wear different styles of lab coats and medical scrubs – Medelita is the company she prefers to buy from.
What are you to do when the scorching sun refuses to take a summer vacation? It’s about as hot as you can remember it and there is no telling when it will quit. You’ve gotten your pre-season air brush tanning out of the way, your Mustang is gassed up and you’re ready to out run the sun. But, what should you do?
Eventually the winter doldrums always give way to a pleasant but short transition into the seemingly never ending heat of summer. For some, the heat is as welcome as an old friend but for many, the sweltering heat of the is almost as unbearable as a Billy Ray Cyrus concert. If you’re one of the people who worship the Sun Goddess then your summer months have been planned out for you since you were a young child. You’ll be spending every possible minute soaking up the sun, sitting by the pool and listening to takes of Billy Ray and his achy breaky heart.
However, if you’re one of those people who feel more at home in a Seattle rain storm then the apex of the equator you will most likely be jamming to Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Give me shelter” while hiding out two feet away from your 15,000 BTU air conditioner. The only bad part is, the summer months are the primary months for having fun and my friend, listening to the hum of your air conditioner may be an enjoyable break from the heat but it doesn’t constitute fun! So what are you to do? Fun will not find you in the cold recesses of your living room! After all, fun loves the heat!
Well, since spent the time and money for airbrush tanning and to get that Mustang ready for the road you need to figure out what you can do to beat the heat and have fun at the same time. This is actually easier then you think. It’s possible that you’ve forgone fun during the summer for so long that you’ll find it impossible to find fun things to do but don’t fret, it’s absolutely possible.
Finding the night life is always a great way to beat the heat since the sun is usually going down before the interesting people are showing up. So, when the sun is at it’s highest, you’ll be nice in cool sleeping off last night’s party. When it’s time to wake up, you’ll be ready to go out because the temperature will be going down. Also, think cool places. A vacation north is always a good way to beat the heat. Travel away from the equator and you’ll find the summer months a bit more tolerable then previous years. Canada is always nice in the summer and in certain locations you can blend your new found love for the night life with the cooler temperatures of the great white north.
If it’s just the heat that bothers you and not the glaring light of the sun then check outdoor water parks. You can keep cool in the water but still enjoy being outside. Most of the larger water parks have in-door facilities that will help to keep you cool.
With a little planning it’s easy to have fun even if you are one of those people who would rather be located to a snowy town then overly sunny California. But if you’re content in losing all of your friends when June rolls around it’s also easy to turn yourself into an oversized snow cone by sitting right on top of your air conditioner. The choice is all yours!
Kim Green loves to start the summer with airbrush tanning to help get that perfect tan!
Whether fans like it or not, in sports it’s all about the rules. Besides giving the games their structure, rules are meant to give all participants a (supposedly) even playing field. Some are logical, some are seemingly illogical, and some are so confusing that you need a diagram to figure them out. A league rulebook covers everything from the dimension of a field to the uniforms worn by the players. And not just the jersey or the pants or the helmet, but leagues have rules on accessories too. Have you ever wondered what kind of jewelry an athlete is allowed to wear on the field? Like is a pitcher player allowed to wear a men’s wedding ring on the on the mound? Or is a hockey player allowed to wear a necklace? Here is a brief rundown on what professional athletes are allowed to wear in the four major sports.
NHL
Since most of the a players body is covered on the ice (save the neck and face) by their uniform, skates, socks, gloves and helmet, the NHL does not have any rules pertaining to what type of jewelry can be worn during the game. Since it’s a high impact sport, players are apt not to wear any type of earrings or rings during the games. As for necklaces, as long as they don’t appear outside of the jersey they are allowed.
NFL
If there is one sport that is hyper critical of what a player wears on the field, it is the NFL (or as some fans have dubbed it the “No Fun League”). Not only can you get penalized for excessive celebration on the field, but also for wearing non- sanctioned socks or shoes. And the rules begin from the time someone hits the field for pre-game practice all the way to the time they leave the stadium. Rules are even enforced during post game interviews! Ironically, though, the NFL does not have excessive rules on what kind of jewelry can be worn on the field. Since hands are primarily used for catching and blocking, rings are generally not worn as they could affect the catching or throwing of a ball. Necklaces and ear rings, on the other hand, are worn, as long as they are within reason. Bracelets, on the other hand, must be covered at all time. Did I mention that officials review the entire game afterwards to make sure (once again) that no one broke uniform rules during the game? Wow.
NBA
In the past few years the commissioner’s office has begun to come down hard on NBA players with a new dress code that has limited what a player could wear before and after a game. This is extended to the court where NBA players are not allowed to wear any type of jewelry. This means earrings; bracelets, rings and necklaces are all no-no’s. The only accessories allowed on the court are knee and elbow braces, headbands and, of course, tattoos.
MLB
Major League Baseball, on the other hand, seems to have a very liberal policy when it comes to jewelry. Essentially you can wear any type of jewelry unless it’s deemed by an umpire as “distracting” or can interfere with the game. In other words, pitchers can’t wear rings as they might scuff the ball and no giant mirrored necklaces that might distract the batter from the ball (not that anyone is thinking of wearing it, but you get the idea).
Seems most sports don’t allow for jewelry, not even mens wedding rings, so what’s a guy to do? Keep that ring somewhere safe until the game is over!
Author Kimberly Green had to keep sports in mind when looking for mens wedding rings as her husband loves to play all sorts of sports!
Is there any precious stone that symbolizes more than a diamond? While they are one of the hardest mineral compounds on earth (they are used in the industrial world for cutting, drilling, grinding and polishing), to the average person diamonds have come to symbolize more delicate qualities such as wealth, beauty, quality, opulence and, of course, love. What would a wedding be without a diamond ring, or a red carpet event without celebrities showing off diamond necklaces, earrings and pendants? Even hotels and chefs are grading not by numbers or letters, but instead by a diamond grading system.
While diamonds are traditionally presented in the western world in round (circular) cut, diamonds are also available in dozens of other cuts like pear, heart, marquise, oval, princess and even in a steep triangular cut known as “Trillion”. When it comes to the color of a diamond, though, very few people know that there is a whole world out there apart from the traditional clear, “colorless” diamond (no diamond is truly colorless, but they often appear that way). Differences in the quantities of atoms that a diamond contains along with the amount of light it absorbs (think complicated earth sciences) gives consumers a variety of different colors to choose from when picking one.
A diamond’s colors can range all over the spectrum: blue, green, olive, yellow, brown, orange, red, pink, purple, and even black. Traditionally known as a grading system for ski courses, black diamonds have had quite a large resurgence in the gem world recently, as jewelry companies have become more apt to offer a large variety of jewelry featuring the darker stone. Most jewelry companies now offer the black stone as an edgier choice to the traditional “colorless” diamond. Pairing a black diamond alongside “colorless” diamonds can give jewelry a stunning depth and contrast.
Black diamond wedding rings are beginning to catch on with couples looking for something a bit different for their nuptials. For a women’s ring, black diamonds are usually paired with smaller “colorless” diamonds in a traditional wedding ring layout that can either choose to show off a large black diamond in the center, or mix smaller darker diamonds in with the “colorless ones”. The male wedding bands typically feature small black diamonds inserted into the traditional wedding band which can either be silver, black, or mixed.
Those looking for something new for their next ring purchase might want to check out black or colored diamonds. Not only do they give a new dimension to traditional jewelry, but they also look just as beautiful and elegant as their colorless counterparts.
Author Kimberly Green had matching wedding bands made of black diamonds and is very pleased with the craftsmanship.
There are a million and five ways to think you look cool but there are only a few ways to actually be cool. It’s an attitude not a persona. It’s in the eyes, not in a pair of skin tight acid wash jeans. It’s in those killer polarized sunglasses, not a slicked back hair style. Get ready to be stylized in the fashion of “cool.”
There was a reason why Arthur Fonzarelli was the coolest man in the world for over ten years. It wasn’t a flashy over dramatic bravado, it was low key swagger. The first part of being cool is to know that you are cool. If it’s a goal you are trying to achieve then you’ll never be cool. It’s not a learned behavior; it’s something you just know you are. It’s a change in mind set. Once you worry about other people thinking you are cool you’re no longer cool. This can literally be the most confusing concept of being cool but it’s absolutely the key to achieving this legendary status. Once you have that Fonzy swagger the rest of the pieces will fall into place.
If you look throughout history the coolest people have always been the people who could walk away from any situation and command respect. That’s a true sign of a person who is genuinely cool. Those people tend to be helpful, considerate and intelligent people. If you lack in any of these fundamental qualities you’ll find it hard to be truly cool outside of your social circle. True coolness transcends all social groups. In order to do so a cool person will possess a natural skill to communicate and work with every other social group.
Once you’ve achieved all of the above requirements you can accessorize your coolness with items like a throwback leather jacket (if you are going for that Fonzy look.) a stylish car (nothing to radical or high priced) and even a sweet pair of polarized sunglasses. Just about any accessorizing that you do will undoubtedly be cool, not trendy. There is a difference. You do something cool became it’s simply cool, not because it’s trendy to do so. Someone who is truly a cool person doesn’t concern themselves with current trends. It’s that slight outlawness that makes them cool in the first place. Most people who run screaming to the next big trend will always be the same people who envy the cool people.
So if you’ve been wondering if you’re actually as cool as you think you are then most likely you’re not and you need to work on your approach to being cool. If you’ve always wanted to be cool then stop being envious of those who are cool and just be cool. Once you stop worrying about being cool, you’ll be cool! Get it? It’s the attitude. You can wear a pocket protector have high pants and know more then the average college student and still be cool. If you’re still reading this and still wondering if you are ever going to be cool, stop reading and go buy the new Britney Spears album because you are never going to be cool. If you are amused at the fact that people worry about being cool, well, my friend, you are one cool person!
Author Kim Green is always cool wearing polarized sunglasses from Kaenon!
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