Cell Phones

Cell phones. Everyone has them and they almost seem to be a necessity now a days. I can't go a day without mine; it has my email, schedule, reminders, and many other things on it. If I forget it at home I feel like I am missing an arm (how sad is that?) and can't function normally throughout the day. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people use their phones in anyway when they are at Subway ordering a sandwich or dealing with a cashier directly. Personally, I feel it is one of the rudest things you can do. The other day I was at a Subway getting a sandwich at lunch time and a girl in front of me couldn’t put her phone don’t for even one second. Being that it was lunch time; the line behind me was at least 5 people deep. Every time the person making the girl’s sandwich had to ask her twice what she wanted on it because she would always being looking at her phone the first time and not paying attention.  You could see frustrated the worker at Subway was getting and it was clear myself and everyone behind me felt the same way too. If she could have just put her phone down for even 3 minutes, her sandwich would have been made that much faster. There is even a sign posted in subway that says “please refrain from using your phone while ordering”.

Whenever I am in line waiting to check out anywhere and I am on the phone, I will end the call before I get to the cashier. They are giving their full attention to me, so I feel I should give them the same respect back.  It’s one from teenagers to do it, but when I see adults doing it I get really irritated. I was eating breakfast with my dad one day at a restaurant and this one lady was on her phone from the time she ordered till the time she paid for her meal. Not even when she ordered did she set her phone down to give the waitress her full attention. To me, that is very rude and disrespectful back.  It’s one from teenagers to do it, but when I see adults doing it I get really irritated. I was eating breakfast with my dad one day at a restaurant and this one lady was on her phone from the time she ordered till the time she paid for her meal. Not even when she ordered did she set her phone down to give the waitress her full attention. To me, that is very rude and disrespectful.

So please the next time you are waiting in line to check out anywhere or even ordering a sandwich at Subway, please just wait to use your phone until you are done.

Brooke

Probably Should Have Listened...Again

              Last week I was out on Thursday because my parents and I were going to visit some friends in Boston. My parents had been watching the weather and freaking out about how we were going to get stranded in the snow storm that was set to hit Boston the next day. However, I insisted we still go, everyone knows the storms are never as bad as they make them out to be, right?

            We got there Thursday afternoon; the sky was blue and bright. By Friday morning the wind had picked up and the snow was coming down, and it didn’t stop for over 24 hours. So, all the plans we had made: hockey games, dinners, shopping, sight-seeing, were cancelled. We spent the next three days trapped in a hotel because EVERYTHING was closed; driving was even no longer permitted. Walking in the snow was fun, but there was nowhere to go anyway.

            So yes, I did it again. I probably should have listened to my parents and just rescheduled the trip for another, blizzard-less weekend. So here I am, still asking, at what age will I be before they stop being right about everything?

                                                        Deserted town after the blizzard.

                               The street we got our rental stuck on when it was finally okay to drive.

Super Bowl XLVII

So in case you did not know Super Bowl XLVII happened at Sunday...but let’s be real you would be hard pressed to find a person who didn’t know that right? Like most people I went to a party for the start of the game and watched the first half on a nice 70 in TV. Doesn’t get much better than that right? Well I guess being there at the game would have been the ultimate view.  For me, the commercials are the biggest reason I watch the Super Bowl along with the half-time performance.  So let’s talk about those two things. First off I’ve seen better commercials, but a few caught my eye. The Taco Bell commercial was pretty comical, Dodge Ram had a pretty memorable moment, but I think the one that took the crown as the best would have to be the Budweiser commercial. I mean come on who didn’t find the baby Clydesdale growing up and then remembering his trainer after all that time just adorable? In fact the baby Clydesdale in that commercial was only a week old when the commercial was shot.  Now let’s get to the commercial I think stirred up the most controversy was the GoDaddy commercial with Bar Refaeli kissing a nerd. From what I have read, it took 60 takes to get that commercial right. To me, it was just plan awkward, the kissing sounds just took it over the edge. I didn’t get what the commercials message was supposed to be, because I was too distracted by the kissing and sounds.

Now to my second favorite part, the half-time show. Beyoncé gave a performance that will be remembered for a long time. She was judge on stage by former Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. From what was being said on my Facebook Newsfeed and Twitter Timeline, people loved the performance almost more than the game that was going on.  Coming off of the lip syncing scandal at the 2013 Presidential Inauguration, I think Beyoncé wanted to give a performance to remember.  She did just that people were giving her nothing but praise and I think she proved that she can sing live and still give everyone what they wanted.  Then something happened that really made my Twitter Timeline interesting, the power went out of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. If you were to look on twitter at this time, you would see things like Beyoncé’s performance took so much power and was so good that there was no need for the game to go on. I even saw a few that said that Bane from The Dark Knight Rises had come to the game just like he did in the movie.  My all-time favorite had to be a play on when Kanye West took the microphone from Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs to tell everyone that Beyoncé deserved that award instead.  The tweet went something like this...Kanye hits the lights, says “Super Bowl Imma let you finish but Beyoncé had one of the best performances of ALL TIME.” The blackout lasted 30 minutes before the power returned and the game was back on.

I think it’s safe to say this Super Bowl will be one to remember for a long time.

New Production

It is an exciting day at the office! Today is the day we start production for our latest "Don't be a Nick, Come see Chad" campaign, so this blog will be pretty short. At Nixon Insurance our agents work hard to get you the best coverage at the best value and hey, they have a little fun doing it.

To date, these videos are definitely my favorite thing I’ve worked on for my internship with Nixon. This video will feature a Valentine’s Day theme, and of course Nick trying to skimp out on something that he probably shouldn’t. Keep your eyes peeled for new videos on our YouTube channel and Facebook page, posted twice a month!

The War on 74: Part 1

                The War of 74, for anyone who follows Bradley Basketball, they love and hate that phrase at the same time.  They love it because it means Carver Arena will be filled with Braves fans all the way to the very top of the arena but it also means they have to sit through two plus hours of tension filled basketball.  Last night was no different, 9,088 people filed into Carver Arena to watch round one of the War on 74 take place. Now the last time the Braves beat the Redbirds was back in Jan. 6, 2009.  Needless to say this win was a much needed one for the Braves. If you were watching the game at all last night, you would have thought after the first 11 minutes had been played that it would be a blow out game with ISU on top. ISU led 25-9 with 9:01 left in the first half. Never underestimate the determination of a Brave though; at the half the Braves had gotten the score up to a more respectable 38-26. With an 12 point deficit and 20 minutes left of playing time, the Braves still had a long way to go.

When it comes to Bradley Basketball, the Braves usually have a mediocre half and then a half where it’s like “where did this team come from?” That’s exactly what happened, Walt Lemon Jr., a junior guard was determined to give the seniors a win they have deserved for so long. Along with the help of senior Dyricus Simms-Edwards, the Braves made a comeback that shocked everyone in the arena.  You could feel the energy in the place the crowd wanted Bradley to win and I think the Braves could feel that.  The student section of filled into the upper bowl and it was amazing to see the school spirit going around. At that point, I have never been more proud to be a Bradley Brave. With a career high of 27 points, Lemon helped give the seniors that win they have never had against the Redbirds. The last 1:51 of the game took what felt like the longest 13 minutes of any game so far to complete and it was well worth it. The Braves came out on top with an 83-77 win.

The student section sort of “rushed” the court, to be fare they haven’t had a reason to do that in a while but it was nice to see the students support the players. Some of the players even joined the crowd of students on the floor to join in the celebration.  Let’s all be reminded this was only round one of the war, there is still one to go and it won’t be an easy win at all. Bradley will have to fight for the next one because ISU will not stand to have Bradley win at Redbird Arena.  I think it’s safe to say that last night every Braves fan in that arena was so proud of the men’s basketball team and what they had just accomplished.

Brooke Neal

Super Bowl Sunday

It’s that time of year again; Super Bowl Sunday is nearly here. I mostly enjoy the Super Bowl for three reasons: the commercials, the junk food, and the half-time show. Here are a few Super Bowl statistics from an article in the L.A. Times and the NFL website:

·         61 million Americans will attend a Super Bowl party (in 2012).

·         40% of those watching the Super Bowl are not football fans.

·         Super Bowlers will consume 100 million pounds of wings, 53.5 million pounds of avocados, 28 million pounds of chips, and 8 million pounds of popcorn.

·         3% of employees take a “sick day” on the Monday following the big game.

·         9% of employees take that Monday as a vacation day.

·         In 2012, the average price for a 30-second ad on NBC was $3.5 million.

·         There were 12,233 tweets per second sent as the game was nearing an end.

·         Google searches for “super bowl recipe” increased by 23 times in the week leading up to the game.

·         $10.8 billion was spent on beer for the game for (enough to buy 10 B2 stealth bombers) an amount enough to fill 493 Olympic-sized pools.

Those are just a few of the ones I found interesting and comical. It’s obvious we Americans take our football very seriously! No matter which team you are cheering for, or if you are like me and just like to have an excuse to eat junk food, have a safe and fun Super Bowl Sunday!

First Day of School

After six and a half weeks of a nice long break from school, it's finally time to go back. I remember my first year of college, I was so nerves for my first class. I didn't want to be that person that went to the wrong class sat down and realized you weren't supposed to be there (I've seen this happen before). Now it's like nothing new anymore I just go and sit in a seat waiting for class to start. The thing that makes me most nervous, is the professors. There is a website called RateMyProfessor.com where you can find your school and look up professors to see how students who have had them before rate them on how good they are at teaching. Not every professor is on there, but the majority of them are and some of the reviews they get can be terrifying. I of course use this website when picking classes because I want the best professor for that subject. Sometimes all the professors for a particular subject are not that great and you have to pick the one you think you will be able to deal with the best.

I only have two classes today, and one of the professors got really good ratings so I'm not worried about that one at all. On the other hand, I was looking at the ratings for my other professor and turns out he hasn't gotten very good ratings. I know everyone likes different teaching styles and prefers classes to be taught different ways, but when 3 out of the 5 ratings are not good, I get a little nervous. I'm trying not to get too worried about it, because I want to see for myself what he is  really like before I draw up any conclusions. Then I'm always so nervous about the first exams the professors give, because every professor's testing style is different and I have a hard time studying for test when I don't know the style of the test. After I've taken the first test though, I figure out the best way to study for that professor and everything goes a bit more smoothly.

Anyway I just can't wait for the first week to be over so things can start to get on a normal schedule and hopefully go the way I have planned for things to go.

Brooke