BOGOPOD: Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts in the Conejo Valley!

UPDATE: BOGOPOD apparently is no longer in operation.

Happens all the time.  I get some coupons in the mail, tear a few out and place them on the desk or behind a magnet on the fridge.  But when I want to use the coupons, I can't find them, they have expired or I'm somewhere else.  Frustrating!

But there's BOGOPOD! www.BOGOPOD.com  provides online "Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts" coupons for local Conejo Valley area businesses! 

Visit BOGOPOD.com for an extensive list of discount coupons for restaurants, shopping, kids, activities, home improvement, services and much more.  All you do it find the coupon, click it, print it and start saving money!  No signup, no cost!  I love the fact that you don't have to download special software to print the coupon.  There's also a search function on the BOGOPOD website that shortcuts the process of finding what you're looking for.

Now on a separate but related topic of saving money, check out "Places Where Kids Can Eat Free in Ventura County"  here on Conejo Valley Guide to find places where you can dine out and not pay for your kids' meals!

What Got You Here Won't Get You There; Marshall Goldsmith's 20 Behaviors That Get in the Way

">Marshall Goldsmith's 2007 book, "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" has a list of 20 behaviors and habits that prevent people from moving forward in their careers.  In fact, when I read and review this list, I realize that these apply to all aspects of life, not just work.  So review these, print them out, live them and read the book if you want to be more successful at work and life!

As I read these, I cringe a bit at how often many of these apply to me, both at work and at home. On the other hand, reviewing this list also reminds me that we are all human and most all friends, family and co-workers also display many of these behaviors.  It helps to review and internalize these for both personal improvement and dealing with others.

1. Winning too much: The need to win at all costs and in all situations.
2. Adding too much value: The overwhelming desire to add our 2 cents to every discussion.
3. Passing judgment: The need to rate others and impose our standards on them.
4. Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasm and cutting remarks that we think make us witty.
5. Starting with "No," "But," or "However": The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone that I'm right and you're wrong.
6. Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we're smarter than they think we are.
7. Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
8. Negativity, or "Let me explain why that won't work": The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren't asked.
9. Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
10. Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to give praise and reward.
11. Claiming credit that we don't deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contributions to any success.
12. Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.
13. Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
14. Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
15. Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we're wrong or recognize how our actions affect others.
16. Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
17. Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.
18. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us.
19. Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.
20. An excessive need to be "me": Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they're who we are.

OUCH, now that I've typed this list I realize even more how I need to work on some things.  Hope this helps you too!

Looking for a local Ventura County job? Look here.

A Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Train Ride to Santa Barbara

This Thanksgiving my wife decided we would do something different with our young boys.  Forget about cooking and gorging ourselves in the comfort of our own home.  Forget about the relatives and the cleaning.  Forget about football games and carving.  We took the train to Santa Barbara!

Now taking the train from Camarillo to Santa Barbara is not exactly cheap.  For a family of 4, reserved coach seats put me out $108 round trip.  But this was about the experience of riding the train, not saving money.  (That said, it was definitely nice not worrying about parking and paying for parking in Santa Barbara!)

The Camarillo train station is at 30 Lewis Road. Parking was free. Taking the train was an adventure for us clueless suburbanite autobots used to our cars. We nearly missed the train because we didn't know which side of the train tracks to wait at.  Thinking our train would be on the east track, a more savvy individual informed us the other side was closed. So we literally ran up the path back to the other side with one gal who also had been waiting for the train. The train came a few minutes later and we hopped on.

We sat down near the gal who had run with us. Minutes later the ticket collector came by and it quickly became apparent she had no ticket for the train. My wife and I looked over and without discussion, we whipped out $20 to pay for her ticket. A small Thanksgiving good deed.

The train ride went by quickly. It was definitely a fun experience as we rode through Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria and took in sights of the Pacific Ocean.  In about an hour we were in Santa Barbara.

So this is what we did the rest of the day, leading up to a 7 pm return train ride:

• Rented a quad bike at Wheel Fun Rentals on State Street

• Rode the quad through Chase Palm Park up Cabrillo Boulevard past the lagoon to Stella Mare's Restaurant for a 1pm Thanksgiving feast.  Let me tell you, my wife and I were READY to eat after burning off calories on that bike!

• Enjoyed a 3 course Thanksgiving meal.  The main course options were (of course) turkey, prime rib and salmon.  I had the salmon and it melted in my mouth.  The rest of the crew had turkey and it was delicious.

• We burned some calories in the 70 degree weather by riding the quad back, stopping by Chase Palm Park, running around at the playground and visiting the carousel.

• Hung out by the beach near the pier, dipped our toes in the water, walked onto the pier for ice cream and headed back up State Street.

• Walked up State Street and had a snack at Baja Sharkeez, walked back to the train station, played Red Light, Green Light, Simon Says, Tag and other games until the train arrived.

What an unbelievably beautiful day it was!  There was not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was in the low 70s.  There were NO CROWDS in Santa Barbara!  I have to thank my wife for starting what may well be a new tradition for us!

And I ended the day tired...and HUNGRY! Yes, believe it or not, I think we actually burned off more calories than we consumed! What a great feeling!

Bore Your Twitter Followers to Death With These Seven Practices!

Twitter is a great way to connect with people.  I've met some fascinating people via http://twitter.com/ConejoJoe and I've made dozens of friends and acquaintances through Twitter. I'm also doing business with several fellow Tweeters and have helped some Twits finding jobs.

People join Twitter for various reasons (networking, selling, curiousity, meet people, share info, obtain info, etc.). Tweeting on Twitter is hard work. I'd say roughly 50% of my 600 or so "Followers" never post anything (that's not to say they aren't checking out others' tweets).  Another 25% post rarely.  The other 25% post regularly.

Most Twitter postings are boring, mundane and irrelevant. Often I paying attention or stop following fellow Twitter users as a result.  That's not to say that I, the infamous Conejo Joe, have been immune to such practices...in fact, I'm sure many people think I should just shuddup!

But as a prolific Twitter user, I feel it is my duty to share these 7 Twitter Practices That Will Bore Your Followers to Death!

Constantly Promote Your Product

"Eat at Joe's Restaurant" "Joe's has great BLT sandwiches!" "Visit Joe's at www.joesrest.com" "Joe's is open 7 days a week!" "Can't beat Joe's for breakfast!" "Joe's has the best omelettes in town" "Come visit Joe's"

You get the picture. I've seen this many a time. If all you do is promote your product, people will tune you out! Nobody signed up for Twitter looking for advertisements!  Mix is up a bit, interact with people, talk about something interesting, for pete's sake!

Say the Same Thing Over and Over Again

Some people set up robo-tweets that tweet the same thing over and over again, spaced out.  Booorrrring!  Originality goes a long way in Twitter. So don't do this or you'll lose people.

Publicly Thank People for Retweets

I know I'll get pushback on this because so many people do it.  But if someone "retweets" your message, do you really have to publicly thank them for it? It's nice and all but the rest of us don't really need to hear you thank them. How about thanking them via Direct Message?  Or better yet, take the time to review their postings and return the favor!

Send Me a Direct Message After I Start Following You

"Thanks for the follow! I look forward to connecting!" "Welcome to our Twitter account!" "Hi, check out this service at.." Every time I get a DM, the message goes directly to my cell phone as a text message. I hate that. If you really want to lose me as a follower, send me a DM immediately after I start following you.

Constantly Complain and Whine

"I hate my job" "It is too cold outside" "I'm sick" "My job sucks" is an excellent way to get people to tune you out.  Nothing wrong with some occasional venting of course. But to do so regularly really is demotivational to people following you.

Post Mundane Thoughts of No Particular Interest

"I ate a delicious chicken sandwich for lunch" "I'm flying to Peoria today" "Good morning everyone" "My pillow is fluffy" "I'm at Starbucks" "My shoelace broke this morning"

Yes, thank you for sharing.  Now go get a life and find something interesting to say, why doncha!?

Long, Boring Public Interchanges

"You going to the Tiddly Wink Convention in San Dimas?" "Yes, and you?" "I'll be there Friday" "We need to hook up" "Yes, where should we meet?" "Will Joe Schmoe be there?" "Yes, let's try to hook up" "OK"

ZZZZZZZ.....come on Tweeters! You really think other people want to hear this stuff?  Of course not. This is the equivalent of talking loudly on your cell phone in a restaurant. Use the Direct Message feature for one on one conversations....paleeezzee!

Like I said before, I'm not claiming to be a perfect angel with regard to these Twitter practices. But think about what you share in Twitter...is it really something the world needs to hear?

Be interesting. Be unique. Interact with people. Ask questions. Share useful information. Selectively retweet other posts you find to be standouts. Be funny. Now these are some practicies that will develop long-term relationships in Twitter and beyond!