With the cold winter months upon us in the northern hemisphere, longing for getting out and exercising outside will be in our thoughts until the spring. In the meantime, stationary bikes and treadmills will have to do.

To help you through this time, get DVDs from the Ultimate Bike Training series from Energy Fitness Coaching, one of my clients. In these programs, Coach Kelly takes you through an intense workout focused on your tempo or time trial ride. Filmed along Lake Michigan in Chicago on a nice sunny day… that in itself will motivate you even more!

This is a great gift for the triathlete on your list or for yourself if you need extra motivation any time of the year. Read more about and order the DVDs on her Web site and view a preview of the DVDs as well.

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In a world where many people work from home or in remote locations where they are by themselves, many things that they normally would be conscious of in an office environment are often not considered. For example, many entrepreneurs get up in the morning and ease into work, forgetting to shower until late morning or even later! Not to mention the line between the home and office becoming blurry or even non existent.

On my monitor I have a dot-com relic – a “rear-view mirror” given to people in the cubicle world to see who was coming up behind them. Stamped on the mirror is “Planet Direct,” a personalized Web portal once part of CMGi now called MyWay.com and owned by another acronym holding company, IAC.

Why would I have a mirror when I work at home? Before you write it off solely to vanity (though I won’t deny it isn’t some part of it!) it is there so I can look at myself when I am in conversation with someone. It reminds me there is a person on the other end of the phone, and if I was in front of them, I would be concerned about my facial expressions – something that can unconsciously carry over into a phone conversation.

The next time you are about to make a phone call – smile first, and be aware of it while on the phone. A positive attitude going into it can help the outcome of the conversation. And who knows – maybe the person on the other end of the phone will somehow realize you are smiling and may be smiling back?

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You have to admit it; the idea of going to the driveway and seeing a new or pre-owned car with a giant red bow on it would be a nice present. If you need a replacement for your current vehicle that is sporty, stylish and fuel efficient, allow me to suggest the line of Hondas, and the place to get them is Silko Honda on the Route 44 Automile in Raynham, Massachusetts.

Silko, who is a client of mine, features the complete line of new Honda vehicles, from the Civic Hybrid to their other models of Accord, Civic, CR-V, Element, Fit, Odyssey, Pilot, S2000 and Ridgeline. They also feature a variety of certified pre-owned Hondas and other quality pre-owned vehicles, as well as complete service and parts departments.

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Even though there is a writer’s strike for TV and movies, there seems to be plenty of humor in the media in the form of the news.

British Airways has suspended a flight attendant for apparently eating a muffin off a tray collected from a passenger that was destined for the trash. Read the story to the end; even the BA spokesperson gets punny!

This story could be analyzed form all angles, everything from environmental consciousness to scavenger laws. I can’t wait for the day to read the headline about the airline that figures out how to make a profit while providing excellent service to their passengers.

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With less than a week until Christmas, not to mention the normal rush and anxiety of the holidays, why not give the gift of laughter? Or suspense, or mystery, or even endless sobbing? With the gift of a Netflix membership - for someone or yourself - they can choose their preferred genre of entertainment.

I have been a subscriber of Netflix for over a year and my lovely wife and I watch as many TV shows as we do movies. We are big fans of Prison Break on Fox but don't have (or want) TiVo, so we selected the first 2 seasons, and are now caught up of the episodes we missed. With everything from movies to documentaries to kid shows, it's the perfect gift. And choosing and maintaining your queue of selections is half of the fun.

As I have written about before, Netflix is also offering selections of movies to be streamed over the Internet. I have tested this on a PC hooked up to my PC and the clarity and quality was excellent. The ability to stream movies is included with your membership - more information is available on the Netflix Web site.

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