It wasn’t on purpose. I got in a car accident and totaled my car. After being released from the hospital, I realized that the keys for my home were locked in the totaled car, which was locked in a tow truck place that didn’t open until the following Monday. So, I stayed at the Citizen Hotel for 2 nights. While it was an unfortunate circumstance, it proved to be one of the best hotel stays of my life. It was also my introduction to Marriot’s “Autograph Hotels.” The service was awesome!
I’m a big fan of intentional decor so I appreciated the attention to detail. The hotel features quotes from US presidents and politicians. The Citizen also offers great views of Downtown Sacramento that you can find in few other places!
I’ve had a number of high-profile guests visit the Sacramento area and I’ve booked stays with them at the Citizen and never had any complaints. The Citizen is an experience. It’s encircled by a great park, local restaurants, and Sacramento nightlife.
Listen to the most recent episode of my podcast: Black Men Speak: Anger + Healing + Growth + Mentorship https://anchor.fm/seasonedwithsalt/episodes/Black-Men-Speak-Anger–Healing–Growth–Mentorship-e4b5uu
Itunes Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/seasoned-with-salt/id1438061295
On December 29, 2018, Clemson University Head football coach Dabo Swinney learned that his Tigers would meet Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide. This would be the 19th time these teams would meet and Clemson’s 5th chance to beat the tide. This would be no ordinary game for Swinney. He played and coached at Alabama. He was born and raised in Alabama.
Spectators and sportscasters didn’t give Clemson a chance. For the entire season, all you heard was that Alabama’s team was the best team of all time.
Conceivably, this would be discouraging for a coaching staff. Not for Swinney. He knew that the key to success for champions was not just about skill and ability, but coaching. At halftime, Saban notes that Clemson’s success was not about better athletes, but the game-plan constructed to exploit Alabama’s deficits.
The lesson we can learn is that when all factors are even, preparation and strategy make the difference. This principle is applicable to so many areas of life. Considering your qualifications alone as the reason you should be hired can be detrimental. Proper preparation might include studying a company website or scheduling informational interviews with people who work for the company you’re interested in.
It’s Thursday, September 27, 2018 and I’m viewing the world through the eyes of the Wall Street Journal. As always, I want to remind you that, JESUS IS THE LORD OF THE MARKETPLACE. Here we go!
1. General Motors’ Cadillac HQ moved from Detroit to New York four years ago and will be moving back to Detroit.
2. Yale’s in trouble. Folks want to know why their student population is 44.7% white, per data from October 2017. The Justice Department and Education Department opened an investigation.
3. New home sales flourished in the month of August. “Used home sales” still lagging.
4. The CDC said that 80,000 people died from the flu last winter. This is the highest it’s been in 4 decades.
5. McDonalds will cut down on the preservatives. The Big Mac, quarter pounders and kids meals will be free of preservatives. They want to create a healthier image for themselves. The culprits have been the buns, cheese and sauce.
The girls head to Coachella for episode #4 of Season three of Insecure! Before they go, Issa and Molly are both inundated with work. Very different kinds of work. Molly is rushing to complete a work project while Issa is doing Lyft runs and tucking her tenants away for the weekend!
The girls have a way of finding the best AirBnB spots. Their fortune makes me feel “insecure.” Is it my money or my effort? Either way, I decided that Kelly is in charge of finding it and she sends it to the groupme. I have a lot of respect for her, hence my eagerness to pin every good idea on her.
The trip Is overshadowed by Molly, the pill. When the pill isn’t the center of attention, it’s Nathan, Issa’s new guy. After learning that he didn’t call her after they skinny-dipped and took a tour of LA, I was less interested in his character. Issa let Molly (the pill) influence her into quick forgiveness and their burgeoning romance would be the primary storyline for the episode.
The episode loses steam when all of a sudden, everyone else’s poor decisions become Issa’s fault. She is taking the blame for the way the night ended as though it was all her fault, but primarily out of her guilt. She had a fantastic night. She and Nathan made “mush mush” on a dead Farris will.
The episode ends with Issa running into Lawrence at a 7/11 in Coachella county… of course this after a very awkward car ride with Tiffany. I am over pregnant Tiffany. She is only fun when she is vulnerable.
I forgot to finish this last week so I’m posting it.
The plot thickens. The things that makes Insecure a great show are the many opportunities for us to make connections between our own lives and the lives of the characters. We get to see the highs and lows of middle class living and the ways friends survive the world together.
In episode 4, a few things happened that I liked.
All in all, when the dust settles, the episode was worth watching. I watched it twice. I missed Kelly. I love when the girls get together. Please writers… one Kelly appearance per episode. Please. Thank you.
Bless God! It The Wall Street Journal notes for Wednesday, August 29, 2018!
1. Although home sales are down for the summer months, the cost of homes has remained stable and affordable. It’s a buyers marker with an over saturated market… especially with new Home developments.
2. Barnes & Nobles has some legal challenges. Their former CEO is suing them, claiming they created a lie about him to have him removed. This would make a good book!
3. Best Buy is doing better but plans to invest in operations, dimming the prospect of future revenue growth…. but you have to invest in your infrastructure, you know.
4. Tiffany reports that y’all still love her jewelry. Affluent buyers ain’t playing. Pay attention to where and how often you see advertising for luxury brands…. that’ll let you know if you are “somebody” or not! Haha!
5. Trump wants to wage a war against Google, now. He threatening to have them handled if they don’t stop elevating the news of his presidency over regular news. A coward hates a maverick spirit.
6. Do you care that companies like Yahoo scan your emails so they can accumulate data to sell to companies? Send an email to yourself about a product and see how long it takes for an add for the same item to show up in your Facebook timeline. Yahoo will charge you $3.49 a month to stay out of your inbox.
7. Mexico is deep in the auto making game. Cars like the Ford Fiesta, TOYOTA Yaris, Jeep Compass, Ford Fusion, VW Bug and Honda Fit are built in Mexico.
8. Guess what’s a thing now… hiring sleep coaches for babies! She Shellenbarger wrote a great article you should check out if this fascinates you.
9. Looking for something to invest in? Enhanced beverages might be the move. Kombucha, alkaline water and oxygenated water are becoming increasingly popular. Kombucha has seen a 38.2% increase in sales in comparison to last year. Alkaline water, 43.9%.
10. Buy tires in Amazon.com and Sears will take it from there! Back in May, Amazon started shipping the tires you buy on Amazon to one of 47 Sears.. this has been MAGIC for the struggling retailer.
11. BuzzFeed will launch a site that reviews and recommends products to customers. I’m with that.
12. New hotel markets…. college towns! Makes sense… helicopter moms need a place to stay. If you got bae but your roommate is weird…. boom.
13. DSW … investment choices. Numbers looking good.
14. Men’s Warehouse’s parent company CEO is retiring. I live for CEO searches. I like to see the Changes in the stores when there is new leadership.
15. Retailers ought not be too excited about sales boom. Amazon is still that dude… that’s the advisement they are getting. In other words… don’t let the quarterly success fool you, you got work to yet do! That’s a good thing for consumers. Business competing for our business and loyalty.
Have a blessed day and remember that JESUS IS LORD!
D. Beaumonte
It was weird. Something didn’t click. My cousin said it was because the writer may have been a white male. I’m not sure. Episode 3 of season 3 made me realize that it wasn’t an hour long. Generally, I am wondering “how did they fit so much into so little time?
Not all was negative. The following thoughts surfaced for me.
1. Is Daniel bad for Issa or is Issa bad for Daniel? Her friends gave the impression that Daniel was bad for Issa but history proves the opposite. Issa has always been emotionally unavailable to Daniel. He’s the “good guy” who is always available in her “in between” stage.
2. Molly is also awkward in a not-so-awkward way. The experience at her new phone should only be discussed in the company of other like-minded people. Therefore, I will only note that we can learn a bit from her storyline about what falsifies we have about fitting in and working with “your own” folks.
3. Being a group chat outcast is a thing. I had to pause and share that I identify with being in the big group chat but not the small one. Tiffany and I have similar challenges. Not as fun and free…. too serious… too traditional… and too good to exposed to what folks think you think you’re too good for!
4. Kelli is my people! She keeps it 100. I would love to see people!
5. The plot surrounding Issa’s work life can be boring. Some episodes, it’s reminiscent of our experiences but other days, it’s very “mmmmkay.”
6. Where. Is. Lawrence?
7. I like a fuller reorientation of Molly’s life in each episode. These episodes need to be longer.
Overall… I wanted more.
In this season of my life, God has demonstrated to me that I can be comfortable being uncomfortable. One of the things that stands in the way of our dreams is a fear of failure. I was so afraid of the unknown that I was willing to subject myself to treatment I didn’t deserve. When I gained the courage to trust God, it had nothing to do with a back-up plan but everything to do with God’s plan. I wish I could say that after I took that leap of faith, God rilled put a 10 year plan. He didn’t. There were days when I was fully motivated and other days when I worked to keep busy so I wouldn’t think about the inevitable. Or, what I thought was the inevitable.
The turning point for me was reminding myself of the lessons God had already taught me through experience.
1. God is in control. Period.
2. You can stress over what you can’t fix.
3. You can do more than you think. Try.
That’s it.
– Dominique
Today’s lesson from Regina Brett’s “God is Always Hiring” is EVERYTHING changes when you change!
Yes, everything changes when you do. The chapter outlines Ms. Brett’s experience with love and relationships and ends with this truth… “I didn’t need to find the right person. I needed to become the right person.”
We have experiences that lead us to change and to think differently. For the writer, it was the anger associated with failed relationships. It may be something else for you! Whatever it may be, you CAN change. You may not be able to change others but you can make the decision to change yourself. So, the affirmation for today is simply “Thank God for the people, places and things that led me to change!
This a reflection from a book entitled “God is Always Hiring: 50 Lessons for Finding Fulfilling Work” by Regina Brett.
Lesson #1 — “When you don’t get what you want, you get something better–Experience.
This chapter was a reminder to me that it is completely okay to want more than just a job. Because I only have one life and can’t redeem the time, I should be looking to do what I love to do rather than doing something just pays the bills.
“In God’s economy, nothing is ever wasted. The dots all connect in time,” Brett writes. That’s such a refreshing reminder. There are no bad experiences. All experiences count. Thank you, Lord!
Today, I’m making a list of all the lessons I’ve learned in all the places I’ve had the privilege of working. ALL experiences count.
