One day...the story you are a bout to read will be a movie or perhaps a novel or at the very least a chapter in the story of my life.... one day.. At that point the real events will be fictionalized for humor. This however is the real story, just as it happened. I'll do my best to remember all that happened so that one day I'll be able to bastardize this trip into something more comical for entertainment purposes. You can read this story and be glad you stayed home this spring.
The story you are about to read is real and for those who can't handle long tales here are the highlights:
-Room was canceled and I found out one day before the trip
-Second degree burns
-Twisted ankle
-Delayed flight (no flight until 24 hours actually)
-Overnight hotel stay in lackluster hotel 20 min from airport
-Stolen luggage
-Room had no bed
-Nose bleeds
-Freezing weather I wasn't prepared for
-Really big hair
-Alex ate a scorpion
It all started in Jan. My boyfriends birthday is in March. March 26 to be exact. It is so expensive to rent a nice room in downtown Nashville, I decided why not just go some where. The average room downtown goes for about 500 bucks plus taxes.No kidding. For just a bit more I could just take him somewhere. So why not!!!
So I look at several destination but as weeks go by i see airfare going drastically up. More than I though it would. A few of the places I planned on going were now to expensive..so I decided on Vegas. It was the most affordable place to go. After booking everything I discovered why...his birthday landed on Easter weekend this year. Great. this was the fist mistake at the tipy top of this rabbit hole.
The Friday before we left for the trip I call Hotels.com to check on the room. They had cancelled it. I dont know why..but the canceled it and never told me. I mean they took the money...but somehow on Feb the 3rd the rooms were cancelled. I call the hotel to confirm this..yes..they had been cancelled. I re-book through them. The total was to be 375 and I was to pay 150 now. Ok I do this, because at this point I already have plane tickets so what choice do I have? ..I'm still out the original money mind you.
The day we are to leave I burned my finger on the curling iron. Badly. I didn't feel that my finger was on it at first. I screamed bloody murder once i did. Ice didn't even help. The pain was horrible and I ran to the pharmacy for help. They suggest this burn ointment. It hurt even more. I am running up the stairs to my house and turned my ankle..falling hard. I twisted my ankle and landed on my arm. My arm still hurts. I saw on the internet to try mixed up jello. This also didn't help. I have to leave at this point or risk us missing the plane so we are off..me holding my finger out of the window so air can blow on it. I took jello with me because the internet said so. I was worried it would get my bad checked by TSA.
I get there and they tell me my flight has been delayed and I am going to miss my connecting flight. They also tell me the next flight ..out of Denver..to get to Vegas is the next day at 10pm. NO KIDDING. There we are..with only a few minutes to figure out what to do about the trip. Cancel it completely or what. I have no idea what to do. I suggest to Alex a flight out of Denver may be cheaper than booking another flight out of Nashville. So we decide to take the flight and Alex bought us tickets the next morning with another company at 7am. I called the hotel and let them know what was up.I let them know I wanted to check in now because I needed the room as soon as I got there because I'd be exhausted.
We get to Denver and I am not dressed for an over night in a place just pounded by snow the day before. I was literally shaking as we got off of the plane. One teenage girl told me..we at least you look stylish. Yeah..I didn't for much longer. We asked for a refund for the leg of the flight we couldn't take. They tell us ok (I still dont have that money) but that they can't get us a hotel room for the night then..because this means we are cutting ties with the airline. Wait WHAT? Its midnight and we are in the Denver airport with no idea what to do. We push for the room. Then finally after dealing with the guy for several minutes get the room. TSA took our luggage because they didn't think we would want it??? We wait another hour for our luggage. We get the shuttle to our hotel that is 20 minutes away from the airport. It is just as lovely as I am sure you imagine. I am freezing.
So the next day we get to the airport and we have breakfast vouchers for anywhere in the airport except the one place I choose to eat..because of course. I walk away from the food and got something else. we get on the plane and land in Vegas. Alex luggage gets stolen by some couple who brought six bags with them. They bring the luggage back and blame Alex for them accidentally taking his bag. RIGHT... Anyway we get to the hotel by about 9am. The hotel gave my room away the night before. Let's recap here. I paid for the room (200 bucks I find out and not the 150..but who's counting money at this point right?) but there is no clean room available. After about ten minutes at the desk they send us to a room..with no bed...to hang out in until something else is available. the room is awesome..swanky actually..except for the no bed thing. They told us we could stay there if we want..but you know...no bed in there and all.
I take a shower and head to the pool. There aren't to many people there because it's like 70 out there, not really pool weather but I wanted some sun damn it. I am asked to move because the chair I picked was a rental chair.(part of the cabana it was close to) Right..there were so many people out there, I understand your dilemma here. Thanks pool police. (sarcasm-I realize some of you don't get it-there were not many people out there) We make it to dinner that night at the VooDoo Steak house, the view was beautiful but our hearts just wasn't in it..we were both running on copious amounts of caffeine and liquor to be able to move. We were in bed by 11pm.
During the night Alex gets a hellacious nose bleed. I hear him fumbling around in the night and wake up to a bathroom that looks as if a murder has taken place in there.on a side note we had no water either. It was cut off for about four hours I think.
The next day we were so exhausted we both just couldn't move. We didnt leave the room until 2pm. I went to Cabo Wabo and Alex went to gamble a bit and hit the gym. I am sitting out on the patio and it decided to turn cold and windy. I had to leave my nachos because it was so cold on the patio. It was so windy I was holding the basket of chips down because other wise they were flying in my face. I go into the mall beside the restaurant..and get hollered at buy the guys in the kiosks in the middle of the mall. Hey..Hey (I put on my shades) Hey James Bond...Come back...(I keep walking)..fuck you fake blonde lady (I kid you not) I flipped the guy off. He was selling flat irons. Like I haven't seen these tired fucking flat irons in every mall I've ever been to. These guys are always so aggressive..and usually more so with me. I have no clue why. I'd never buy their bullshit cheap, no name hair products. I hate to be talked to by strange men to begin with..seriously sales guys..I'm not the one. I am the LEAST likely person to even tolerate you. I've had some of you guys fired before. I suggest you back off. Why this is allowed is beyond me. Yelling at people as they walk through the mall creates a hostile environment. I'd rather a guy tell me I had a nice ass than yell at me to come back to their freaking kiosk.
Anyway Alex tells me to come back so we can meet for dinner later that afternoon, we have plans for Fremont Street. I'm waiting at the monorail and don't see it get arrive. This lady is standing in the door and I assume to hold the door for me. I rush in, sit by her and tell her thank you for holding the door for me. Are you having a good time on your trip?? She is just staring at me. Finally her husband starts talking to her..in German. She moves to the other side of him. No kidding. I realize she had no idea what I was saying, she didn't hold the door for me..and probably thought I was scary. ..so ok then.
Bu this time it was freezing in Vegas (because of course it was) and I stopped to buy a hat as my hair was flying everywhere and flip flops because my feet were blistered everywhere from he past couple days, I'm seriously limping. I can't seem to find a sweat shirt. We don't stay on Fremont long because it's just so cold outside and the cold is making me more exhausted and we have both really just been running on fumes anyway. We eat at a place called Nacho Daddy that I in my exhausted state find hilarious. Their margaritas are terrible and the food so greasy I gt heartburn BUT they have scorpion shots. This is a shot of your favorite liquor with a scorpion in it. Alex did one. I told him I couldn't kiss him ever again now.
The next morning we check out and I have no idea what they are going to charge us for the rooms because the prices kept changing. all in all for three nights (one that we didn't actually stay there) we paid about 440. So Whatever. ( I went from originally paying 300-to 375 to 440 and I think they have a security deposit on me ill get refunded but i really just don't know about that).
I finally found a sweat shirt at the airport I pulled over my head for warmth (it was still cold) and the fact I needed a clean soft thing to wear. Plane rides always make me sick and take me at least 24 hours to recover from, So I mostly try to sleep through flights. You know those women who effortlessly look amazing? I am not one of them. First of all my hair is a weekly two to four hour process. It has to be babied even on trips or I start to look like a psycho in a horror movie. This trip didn't allow that. My skin is also pretty dry. face, eyes..all of it. So I start to wrinkle up and get a bit scaly..not just on my face either. Plus this is the dessert. Look my people are pale whiteys..we just don't fare well in dry hostile environments. At this point im looking about 10 years older and in a crazy way..the bags under my eyes aren't helping. My skin is also a bit blotchy and my lips chapped. My face, hands and body are also swollen at this point. I look totally different with my make up done right..but when I'm fighting all of this I just stop caring. I went from wearing designer clothes and well done make up to a pony tail and crazy amounts of lip gloss. I looked..a mess..the change was a slow process over three days..but it still happened. I felt bad Alex had to be seen with me..but I have never traveled well. I kinda always look like I just finished up a fight I may not have won after a flight.
There was this sweet old lady next to me whose husband had recently past away and she was going to live with her daughter in Nashville. So I had no idea what to say to her, I just smiled and nodded. she was very sweet but that was uncomfortable and she certainly wanted to talk to me. Good grief. When I was finally home I just ate pizza and passed out.
*According to my estimation this trip cost about 990 dollars more than what I planned. Plus Alex had to pay for his own airfare for his birthday trip. I mean I was broke, I couldn't do it. I'll just go ahead and say it was FRONTIER we booked with and I'll NEVER do that again. I've always flown Southwest but with it being Easter weekend fares kept going up leaving me with little choice. You can't just put someone on a flight an entire 24 hours later than the original flight. You don't get hotel deposits back. Southwest would have made it right. Lesson Learned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTsgqvmUPn4
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
The rise of Trump and Sanders
To start off I need to make one thing very plain, I am a libertarian and I do not endorse Trump, Sanders or the Republican or Democratic parties. In addition I follow Sanders, Clinton, Trump. Rubio and Cruz on all social media. I read their posts and the comments under them. I feel I have a decent handle on what the average american is thinking. I have been following political ideas and thoughts on social media for a few years now, but even more so now that its "crunch time", so to speak. Now, lets talk about why two people with what seems like polar opposite views are surging in the polls and yes even though Sanders isn't winning he does have quite a bit of support, enough for it to be concerning for the Democratic establishment. For years I have been telling my conservative friends I thought there was very little hope for the republican party and that if they didn't make some drastic changes, they wouldn't be winning presidential elections. Similarly, rise of Sanders fits that narrative, yes I blame republicans for his sure a bit more than democrats. What's going on? I think I have some decent ideas about that so lets talk about it..shall we?
1.Republicans are focused on the wrong things.
In order to keep their party conservative they continue to focus on the wrong things and have completely misjudged the population. The average american isn't worried about social issues. They don't want to close planned parenthood, they believe abortion should remain legal, they don't care if gay people get married and so forth. It isn't even necessarily that they are vehemently pro these ideas, they just don't care about them. It's kinda like-oh we are talking about that AGAIN. When they see republicans going after planned parenthood or some crazy lady not giving out marriage licenses, they maybe entertained but they end up not seeing republicans in a good light. It isn't what they feel is important or what they think a politicians focus should be on...so while many of you republicans spend hours making meme's about gay marriage, the average american wants to know what you are going to do about the stagnant economy and wonders why this party seems so bent on being in everyone's business. Hey if this is the republican party, if this is what you want to be about, fine. Just don't be surprised when the bulk of Americans start to vote democrat. Currently about 42% of Americans identify as Independents, their opinions matter when it comes to elections. http://www.gallup.com/poll/180440/new-record-political-independents.aspx "But the share of independents, which surpassed the percentages of either Democrats or Republicans several years ago, continues to increase. Currently, 39% Americans identify as independents, 32% as Democrats and 23% as Republicans"
2. People have been chronically out of stable work or underpaid for eight years.
I know republicans the economy is bad but people should just be able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps anyway. Democrats... oh yeah the economy is fixed? Right it's fixed, fixed so much we feel we need a seven dollar increase in minimal wage. hummm...could it be people can't find work that actually PAYS a decent wage, and people who normally would work a blue collar job is stuck at wal-mart? I have seen people say when speaking of Trump or Sanders..I just want a good job. I'm voting for him because I JUST WANT A GOOD JOB. People just want to make decent money and right or wrong a good amount of people feel either Trump or Sanders can help them. I know if you have a good job and your friends have a good job, it doesn't seem as if there are any problems. The fact is our good paying blue collar jobs are almost gone from the United States and middle management middle class positions are drying up. We are left with ten to twelve dollar an hour positions with little room for growth. People are putting of marriage and having a family because of unstable and low wages. People aren't lazy, they are exhausted. So has the economy recovered if people can find work but it isn't work that can support them? It can make you hard core democrats and republicans angry but the average american just wants you to work on the economy. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/09/16/poverty-wages-remain-stagnant-despite-economic-recovery
3. People are disparate for a change.
The average american doesn't want free healthcare, the average american doesn't want to see endless social issues disputed in the news..the average american just wants work. Its easy to hope a man like Trump who runs a multitude of business can bring work back to the United States. I continually hear politician get on the news and say I want to win but I want to win with a conservative, republican..what does that even mean. FIX THE ECONOMY. None of the other people running exude the confidence that they can help bring back work to the average guy. It isn't about hate or borders or anything except money. This morning I just saw a republican pundit go on and on about Trump and planned parenthood as if this was a thing that made people vote or not vote for him in the first place. Sanders, Sanders is riding the same wave from the opposite view point..I'm tired, and I need better pay. I think this guy can make business pay me more money. I'm a hard worker, I deserve a decent income. Hey about ten years ago these people would have had those decent jobs.
So republicans and democrats you can be realists and listen to me and change your narrates...or we can swear in president Trump in November. It's fine to have ideas to expand on your ideas, but these are things to focus on AFTER the work is done. Clean up the economy, fix stagnant wages and bring back blue collar work and then you guys can go back to hashing it out over social issues.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
The truth we can't admit out loud about labyrinth..
First let me state I loved Labyrinth as a kid. In fact its a very girl positive movie. Female hero..nobody rushes in and saves her..that kind of thing. Yes preteen girls in the 80s LOVE them some Labyrinth. I have heard all kinds of theories about this movie..relating it to a girls sexual awakening to just growing up in general. Why are there so many theories on this film..because to take it at face value is just to hard for us to do...because the lead male character is almost 40 while the lead female is only about 14. SO LET ME BE BLUNT. We don't need crazy theories the film is self explanatory...
David Bowie was great in this movie and I'm not saying the character should have been played by another person (it probably wouldn't be a cult favorite if it was) but uh...Bowie was WAY to old to play the character of the goblin king for out brains to accept the story...as is. So adults...most particular male adults it seems...feel as if they have to come up with some alternate explanation for the film. You can do that all you want but it doesn't change the story.
Sara is a really pretty 14(ish) year old girl who is fascinated with a book about the goblin king. The real goblin king takes note of her and falls in love with her. (now this can even be her imagination, but if it is..she is totally into older dudes) He loves her so much that he would do anything for her...and when she finally asks for something he is given the opportunity to be a part of her life. She then rejects his gift and his declaration of love ( I ask for so little. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.) and asks for him to return her brother to her. She has no desire to give up her life with her family to be with him. Devastated he tells her fine her brother is in my castle and if you can get him back..he is yours. He does this as an attempt to manipulate her and win her love. ( I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for *you*!) She however gets her bother back..tells him basically she has no feelings for him (you have no power over me) and sets everything right. For us to admit that this is a story about unrequited love means we are ok with pedophilia...but I mean the story is what it is. Maybe it would make more sense if the goblin king was played by a teen and we could just say what the story is without making up fake theories. ..but I can't deny David Bowie was great in the film, and its quite funny to think of Bowie in a children's flick.
David Bowie was great in this movie and I'm not saying the character should have been played by another person (it probably wouldn't be a cult favorite if it was) but uh...Bowie was WAY to old to play the character of the goblin king for out brains to accept the story...as is. So adults...most particular male adults it seems...feel as if they have to come up with some alternate explanation for the film. You can do that all you want but it doesn't change the story.
Sara is a really pretty 14(ish) year old girl who is fascinated with a book about the goblin king. The real goblin king takes note of her and falls in love with her. (now this can even be her imagination, but if it is..she is totally into older dudes) He loves her so much that he would do anything for her...and when she finally asks for something he is given the opportunity to be a part of her life. She then rejects his gift and his declaration of love ( I ask for so little. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.) and asks for him to return her brother to her. She has no desire to give up her life with her family to be with him. Devastated he tells her fine her brother is in my castle and if you can get him back..he is yours. He does this as an attempt to manipulate her and win her love. ( I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for *you*!) She however gets her bother back..tells him basically she has no feelings for him (you have no power over me) and sets everything right. For us to admit that this is a story about unrequited love means we are ok with pedophilia...but I mean the story is what it is. Maybe it would make more sense if the goblin king was played by a teen and we could just say what the story is without making up fake theories. ..but I can't deny David Bowie was great in the film, and its quite funny to think of Bowie in a children's flick.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Lose 5 five pounds with jumping jacks....
Yes I know all kinds of horrible ways you can drop five, ten and even fifteen pounds in a month...this however is by far the easiest AND its probably really good for your cardiovascular health. Also this isn't like a magic pill or spell, it isn't easy-but it is kinda fun to challenge yourself every once and a while. I am not making wild promises to you. If you do this you will lose about a pound and a half a week. THAT'S IT. Anyone who promises you can lose more than that a week (without training like crazy and starving yourself..is lying) Also I am not a doctor, trainer or anything. I have a social work degree...we can talk about how you feel about your body if you like...but that's about all I am actually trained to do...lol. HOWEVER..from personal experience I know this works and its far easier than an hour in the gym every night or eating some crazy restrictive diet. It also isn't going to shape you up...you need weights for that or maybe squats, I don't know. I am not a trainer, remember.
1. Eat sensibly- weight loss is based primarily on what you eat. so don't eat like a whole pizza or drink a bottle of wine. Don't go nuts and deny yourself all the time either because you wont last 30 days.
2. Eat a-lot of cabbage. If you don't think you can stomach it..then skip this..but I firmly believe cabbage is good for digestion. Again I'm not a doctor, but it worked for me. Seriously I am a big cabbage advocate... or lettuce or kale if you like..whatever..eat a salad people.
3. So here is the main part. This is the part you have to do that you aren't going to like. Are you ready? You are going to need to do 1,000 jumping jacks every day. EVERY DAY. Well I actually did circuit training on Sundays and normally skipped Saturdays but I would think EVERYDAY would be best. Basically that is burning approximately 500 calories daily. I accomplished this by doing 75 of them 15x a day..which actually put me just a tiny bit over the 1000 mark.
I guess I am going to start my 1000 jumping jacks a day next Monday and I'll be 5 to 7 pounds thinner by mid February. :) If you decide to do it too..let me know in 30 days how it all turned out!!
Monday, December 21, 2015
Guess which candidate has the best social media campaign
QUICK NUMBERS:
Cruz: Total Followers-2,601,303/Total Engagement: .15%
Rubio: Total Followers-2,786,963/Total Engagement .04%
Sanders: Total Followers: 4428200/Total Engagement .14%
Clinton:Total Followers: 7,474,837/ Total Engagement: .08%
Trump: Total Followers: 10,905,948/ Total Engagement .28%
SO what candidate has the strongest social media presence. Who is getting the most people to engage with them? The answer may surprise you, it surprised me. How did I get interested in this? What would possess me to compile this information and cross it? I have this odd habit of becoming fascinated by, um..interesting people. For instance Mike Tyson. I'm obsessed. I watch his cartoon, any YouTube videos that pop up..basically anything Mike Tyson related.....I find him fascinating. Like wise I find Trump fascinating and that's how this all started. I began following him just to see what he would post. I noticed his social media engagement (as he has lots of it) and wondered..how did the other top candidates compare and I decided to do a basic cross study comparing Trump, Clinton, Sanders, Rubio and Cruz across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Let me explain just a few things to those who are't quite as savvy on social media basics. First Facebook is still the most important platform. People are basically on Facebook..all of the time. Everyone is on Facebook 18-60..everyone uses Facebook. The demographics are good too. The average age of Facebook users is 40. I bet you didn't expect that did you? Also 75% of people use Facebook. These are the people who vote, so when you see the information I'm going to give you, consider that. . Next is Twitter. The average age of a Twitter user is 37 and about 25% of people use Twitter. Lastly is Instagram. This is primarily a tool for young people. The age range is primarily 18-29. While one may say this isn't the age group that votes, I would say if someone in that age bracket interacts with you on Instagram, they are probably very interested in what you have to say and probably the type of person more likely to vote.
*DISCLAIMER:
First, this was no scientific study, obviously. I compared followers, likes, shares, re-tweets and positive vs negative posts. I used Facebook posts from Dec. 14th to Dec 17th, the last twenty-five Twitter posts, and the last ten Instagram posts. Then I averaged the numbers to get an engagement score for each candidate because it's fine and dandy to get followers, but its another thing entirely if they are engaged in your campaigning. Re-tweets and shares weigh double as this widens the candidates reach to new voters and causes discussion. I did not consider things such as comments because those could be people expressing dislike in the candidates views. This is not in any way to give a complete take on social media engagement as many other things would have to be taken into account and since I'm not getting paid..I didn't go to deep with this. I'd also think a really good study would include YouTube. I am not endorsing any candidate. I will give my take on their social media campaign though. Math is not my strong point, so take my stats with a grain of salt or you know..do it yourself.
Formula is likes+shares+shares divided by followers =engagement number
Total engagement is all likes+all shares+all shares divided by the total number of followers.
*No the Facebook posts aren't the same amount..those candidates not posting enough have themselves to blame for not using free advertising. Of course there are those candidates who prefer to get much engagement on a well thought out post rather than just posting multiple times.
TED CRUZ
FACEBOOK: Followers-1,764,303 (Posts-35) Likes-273073 Shares-47756 Engagement: .02%
TWITTER: Followers-660000 (Posts 25) Likes-10082 Re-tweets-6857 Engagement:.03%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-177000 (Posts 10) Likes 27303 Engagement:1.5
Total Followers-2,601,303 Likes-310458 Shares/Re-tweets-109226 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT: .15%
Notes:From What I looked at Cruz was running a mostly positive campaign. He takes his social media campaign seriously and I believe he has purchased likes and possibly followers on Facebook. (many of his posts had no engagement on them, which is odd) He didn't seem to know what to post on Instagram though, however he had the highest engagement on Instagram. His feed seemed to be full of endorsements, places he can be seen, and things he wants to do in office. Cruze is trying hard, but maybe he should follow Trump or Sanders for idea on how to do social media correctly.
MARCO RUBIO
FACEBOOK: Followers-1,167963 (Posts 18) Likes-42881 Shares-4069 Engagement:.04%
TWITTER: Followers-1,020,000 (Posts 25) Likes-13855 Re-tweets-6746 Engagement: .02%
INSTAGRAM; Followers 599000 (Posts 10) Likes 24358 Engagement:.40%
Total Followers-2,786,963 Likes 81094 Share/Re-tweets-21630 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT .04%
Notes: Rubio's social media is focused on things he wants to change, such as repealing Obamacare and other things he dislikes about the current administration. While not exactly positive, he isn't cutting down other politicians running so I would say he is running a positive campaign that is clearly focused on the message he wants to get out. His Twitter the day I viewed it however, was mostly re-tweets of other people's messages. At first I didn't think he even had an Instagram account he was using because @marcorubio has 3 posts and 600 followers. I decided that just couldn't be correct and found the account he is using, it's under @marcorubiofla or .marcorubio16. It is confusing. I was however able to get a clear view of the things he wants to tackle in office. It is important to remember though, that isn't all your social media should be about.
Bernie Sanders
FACEBOOK: Followers-2,655200 (Posts 26) Likes-758641 Shares-292901 Engagement: .50%
TWITTER: Followers-1,300,000 (Posts 25) Likes 35,483 Re-tweets-20336 Engagement: .05%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-473000 (Posts 10) Likes 305000 Engagement: .64%
Total Followers: 4428200 Likes-1099124 Shares/Re-tweets-626474 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT: .14%
Notes: Sanders is running a positive campaign. While yes, he remarks on the GOP, he is mostly focused on things he wants to change and not running other politicians down. His social media game is on point. It is handled very well. Although I would say he is posting on Facebook through two accounts. To get enough posts in the specific time I had to use posts from each page. I am not sure if this is a social media technique or not..but I feel he should focus on one main page for his campaign. He has great Instagram pictures, an informative Facebook and a fun Twitter feed. I give his social media game a B+.
Hillary Clinton
FACEBOOK: Followers- 1,989837 (Posts 29) Likes 314305 Shares-35879 Engagement:.19%
TWITTER: Followers- 4,910,000 (Posts 25) Likes 28184 Re-tweets-19781 Engagement; .01%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-575000 (Posts 10) Likes 191200 Engagement:.33%
Total Followers: 7,474,837 Likes 533689 Shares/Re-tweets:113320 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT: .08%
Notes: Hillary has the most negative campaign of all of the candidates. It is disappointingly negative. As I looked through her posts it really stood out and was the main thing I remember from her social media. So, Hilary..you don't like conservatives..got it. Quite a few of her posts had NO shares or re-tweets, this leaves me to believe..much as I thought about Cruz, that she is purchasing likes. I'm sorry but if you have that many followers and your engagement is THAT low..something is up. I didn't feel looking at her pages were at all encouraging.
Donald Trump
FACEBOOK: Followers-4,863,948 (Posts 29) Likes-2131419 Shares-222795 Engagement: .52%
TWITTER: Followers-5,320,000 Likes-111402 Re-tweet-71045 Engagement:..04%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-722000 Likes-235700 Engagement: .32%
Total Followers: 10,905,948 Likes-2478521 Shares/Re-tweets-587680 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT.28%
Notes: Trump has by far the highest number of followers and a decent engagement with them. His campaign is surprisingly positive. He is focusing on the fact he is ahead in the polls and places you can catch him. However I believe he could increase his engagement by focusing on exactly WHAT he plans on doing in office. According to these numbers though, I'd say if the campaign was between Hilary and Trump..I'd bet my money on Trump right now.
Follow up notes: I'm really curious as to how well social media and the engagement of people who follow politicians on social media will do so far as determining who people will vote for in the election. I'll do this again once we have our candidates selected and get closer to election day. Of course the reason these numbers aren't compiled by a paid professional with the time to do all of it correctly is we have no idea how social media will effect the election. There is a huge difference between social media usage now as what it was at our last election. The time the average person spends daily on social media is now almost TWO HOURS and 40 minutes of that time is Facebook. Its fairly obvious that Facebook is a great way to engage with voters, however my view is that people first like you and then engage with you on social media, so television is still a very important media.
Cruz: Total Followers-2,601,303/Total Engagement: .15%
Rubio: Total Followers-2,786,963/Total Engagement .04%
Sanders: Total Followers: 4428200/Total Engagement .14%
Clinton:Total Followers: 7,474,837/ Total Engagement: .08%
Trump: Total Followers: 10,905,948/ Total Engagement .28%
SO what candidate has the strongest social media presence. Who is getting the most people to engage with them? The answer may surprise you, it surprised me. How did I get interested in this? What would possess me to compile this information and cross it? I have this odd habit of becoming fascinated by, um..interesting people. For instance Mike Tyson. I'm obsessed. I watch his cartoon, any YouTube videos that pop up..basically anything Mike Tyson related.....I find him fascinating. Like wise I find Trump fascinating and that's how this all started. I began following him just to see what he would post. I noticed his social media engagement (as he has lots of it) and wondered..how did the other top candidates compare and I decided to do a basic cross study comparing Trump, Clinton, Sanders, Rubio and Cruz across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Let me explain just a few things to those who are't quite as savvy on social media basics. First Facebook is still the most important platform. People are basically on Facebook..all of the time. Everyone is on Facebook 18-60..everyone uses Facebook. The demographics are good too. The average age of Facebook users is 40. I bet you didn't expect that did you? Also 75% of people use Facebook. These are the people who vote, so when you see the information I'm going to give you, consider that. . Next is Twitter. The average age of a Twitter user is 37 and about 25% of people use Twitter. Lastly is Instagram. This is primarily a tool for young people. The age range is primarily 18-29. While one may say this isn't the age group that votes, I would say if someone in that age bracket interacts with you on Instagram, they are probably very interested in what you have to say and probably the type of person more likely to vote.
*DISCLAIMER:
First, this was no scientific study, obviously. I compared followers, likes, shares, re-tweets and positive vs negative posts. I used Facebook posts from Dec. 14th to Dec 17th, the last twenty-five Twitter posts, and the last ten Instagram posts. Then I averaged the numbers to get an engagement score for each candidate because it's fine and dandy to get followers, but its another thing entirely if they are engaged in your campaigning. Re-tweets and shares weigh double as this widens the candidates reach to new voters and causes discussion. I did not consider things such as comments because those could be people expressing dislike in the candidates views. This is not in any way to give a complete take on social media engagement as many other things would have to be taken into account and since I'm not getting paid..I didn't go to deep with this. I'd also think a really good study would include YouTube. I am not endorsing any candidate. I will give my take on their social media campaign though. Math is not my strong point, so take my stats with a grain of salt or you know..do it yourself.
Formula is likes+shares+shares divided by followers =engagement number
Total engagement is all likes+all shares+all shares divided by the total number of followers.
*No the Facebook posts aren't the same amount..those candidates not posting enough have themselves to blame for not using free advertising. Of course there are those candidates who prefer to get much engagement on a well thought out post rather than just posting multiple times.
TED CRUZ
FACEBOOK: Followers-1,764,303 (Posts-35) Likes-273073 Shares-47756 Engagement: .02%
TWITTER: Followers-660000 (Posts 25) Likes-10082 Re-tweets-6857 Engagement:.03%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-177000 (Posts 10) Likes 27303 Engagement:1.5
Total Followers-2,601,303 Likes-310458 Shares/Re-tweets-109226 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT: .15%
Notes:From What I looked at Cruz was running a mostly positive campaign. He takes his social media campaign seriously and I believe he has purchased likes and possibly followers on Facebook. (many of his posts had no engagement on them, which is odd) He didn't seem to know what to post on Instagram though, however he had the highest engagement on Instagram. His feed seemed to be full of endorsements, places he can be seen, and things he wants to do in office. Cruze is trying hard, but maybe he should follow Trump or Sanders for idea on how to do social media correctly.
MARCO RUBIO
FACEBOOK: Followers-1,167963 (Posts 18) Likes-42881 Shares-4069 Engagement:.04%
TWITTER: Followers-1,020,000 (Posts 25) Likes-13855 Re-tweets-6746 Engagement: .02%
INSTAGRAM; Followers 599000 (Posts 10) Likes 24358 Engagement:.40%
Total Followers-2,786,963 Likes 81094 Share/Re-tweets-21630 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT .04%
Notes: Rubio's social media is focused on things he wants to change, such as repealing Obamacare and other things he dislikes about the current administration. While not exactly positive, he isn't cutting down other politicians running so I would say he is running a positive campaign that is clearly focused on the message he wants to get out. His Twitter the day I viewed it however, was mostly re-tweets of other people's messages. At first I didn't think he even had an Instagram account he was using because @marcorubio has 3 posts and 600 followers. I decided that just couldn't be correct and found the account he is using, it's under @marcorubiofla or .marcorubio16. It is confusing. I was however able to get a clear view of the things he wants to tackle in office. It is important to remember though, that isn't all your social media should be about.
Bernie Sanders
FACEBOOK: Followers-2,655200 (Posts 26) Likes-758641 Shares-292901 Engagement: .50%
TWITTER: Followers-1,300,000 (Posts 25) Likes 35,483 Re-tweets-20336 Engagement: .05%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-473000 (Posts 10) Likes 305000 Engagement: .64%
Total Followers: 4428200 Likes-1099124 Shares/Re-tweets-626474 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT: .14%
Notes: Sanders is running a positive campaign. While yes, he remarks on the GOP, he is mostly focused on things he wants to change and not running other politicians down. His social media game is on point. It is handled very well. Although I would say he is posting on Facebook through two accounts. To get enough posts in the specific time I had to use posts from each page. I am not sure if this is a social media technique or not..but I feel he should focus on one main page for his campaign. He has great Instagram pictures, an informative Facebook and a fun Twitter feed. I give his social media game a B+.
Hillary Clinton
FACEBOOK: Followers- 1,989837 (Posts 29) Likes 314305 Shares-35879 Engagement:.19%
TWITTER: Followers- 4,910,000 (Posts 25) Likes 28184 Re-tweets-19781 Engagement; .01%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-575000 (Posts 10) Likes 191200 Engagement:.33%
Total Followers: 7,474,837 Likes 533689 Shares/Re-tweets:113320 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT: .08%
Notes: Hillary has the most negative campaign of all of the candidates. It is disappointingly negative. As I looked through her posts it really stood out and was the main thing I remember from her social media. So, Hilary..you don't like conservatives..got it. Quite a few of her posts had NO shares or re-tweets, this leaves me to believe..much as I thought about Cruz, that she is purchasing likes. I'm sorry but if you have that many followers and your engagement is THAT low..something is up. I didn't feel looking at her pages were at all encouraging.
Donald Trump
FACEBOOK: Followers-4,863,948 (Posts 29) Likes-2131419 Shares-222795 Engagement: .52%
TWITTER: Followers-5,320,000 Likes-111402 Re-tweet-71045 Engagement:..04%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-722000 Likes-235700 Engagement: .32%
Total Followers: 10,905,948 Likes-2478521 Shares/Re-tweets-587680 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT.28%
Notes: Trump has by far the highest number of followers and a decent engagement with them. His campaign is surprisingly positive. He is focusing on the fact he is ahead in the polls and places you can catch him. However I believe he could increase his engagement by focusing on exactly WHAT he plans on doing in office. According to these numbers though, I'd say if the campaign was between Hilary and Trump..I'd bet my money on Trump right now.
Follow up notes: I'm really curious as to how well social media and the engagement of people who follow politicians on social media will do so far as determining who people will vote for in the election. I'll do this again once we have our candidates selected and get closer to election day. Of course the reason these numbers aren't compiled by a paid professional with the time to do all of it correctly is we have no idea how social media will effect the election. There is a huge difference between social media usage now as what it was at our last election. The time the average person spends daily on social media is now almost TWO HOURS and 40 minutes of that time is Facebook. Its fairly obvious that Facebook is a great way to engage with voters, however my view is that people first like you and then engage with you on social media, so television is still a very important media.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
How to get rid of Telemarketers.
I have been in sales and marketing for quite sometime now. I specialize in calling business over the phone and social media. I'd like to help business people who seem to have no idea how to handle a sales call to their organization...because really i speak to some people who really have no clue. I imagine this would also work for people who telemarket your home.
Do not say anything else say this EXACTLY:
I am not interested, put me on the Do not call list.
THEN HANG UP.
Saying anything else means the sales person has to rebut you. Literally anything else you say and they have to argue back with you. People listen in on the calls. Sometimes we get text messages from people listening telling us not to let you off the phone.
No one wants to talk to you, no one is disparately trying to make a sale. Believe me you are one of hundreds of calls ill make in a day. For the love of God if you are not interested let us off the line. Don't explain why you are not interested..i do no care.(yep even you just bought the same thing from someone else, youre in a contract, whatever..say none of this as I HAVE TO REBUT IT) Do not tell me your boss will never do it..I do not care. Don't tell me you are all set..I still have to argue with you. If you just say you aren't interested we have to call back. If you don't speak English, people call back, If you put them on hold, they call back. If you say something mean, we call back. IF you play a prank, we call back. If you say this is the wrong number, we call back. If you say this is the douche bag registry, may I have your fist name..WE CALL BACK. There is seriously nothing else to say except what i told you to say. Something may get you put off for a month or even six..but yeah-you will get called back.
Don't SAY ANYTHING BUT:
I am not interested, put me on the Do not call list.
THEN HANG UP
Do not play games with me..I have all of your personal information. Address, name, ect. Yeah even at businesses trust I have most of the names of the employees even if I don't ask for someone by name. Pissing a telemarketer is a pretty bad idea. At the very least we will make sure you get more phone calls because honestly..we have nothing better to do than call people.
In addition, as hard as I try to make sure I'm calling the right kind of organization perfect for the product, sometimes I mess up. Your business just isn't big enough for me to sell to. Let me find out if 'i can help you. Im not asking you questions because I'm super nosy and believe it or not..most of that information is probably public somewhere. Yep even who your phone company is, how many employees you have and what insurer you offer your employees. All of it..available. I'm just asking to save us both time. Now this is less likely with what I'd call a true telemarketer as their leads are purchased, but then again maybe they have even more information.
Lastly, Half of the time we are on autopilot, no I have no clue what you were even saying..do you want my crap or not. Just to let you know however, you shouldn't always say no. Getting the best rate on things DOES occasionally mean talking to a sales person and letting two companies fight for or to keep your service.In the past I have been authorized to give stuff away and offer a minimum of a 20% discount on top of whatever you are paying now. At one point I was even giving doctors coupons to give their patients free drugs at no cost to them, so yes occasionally you absolutely should talk to those pesky phone operators.
Now I say this to help people. Sometimes I am on the phone and I'd like to help them. I so badly want to tell them what to say, but I can't. So use this information! lol USE IT!
...AND again I have the answer if you REALLY don't want too talk to anyone:
I am not interested, put me on the Do not call list.
THEN HANG UP.
Do not say anything else say this EXACTLY:
I am not interested, put me on the Do not call list.
THEN HANG UP.
Saying anything else means the sales person has to rebut you. Literally anything else you say and they have to argue back with you. People listen in on the calls. Sometimes we get text messages from people listening telling us not to let you off the phone.
No one wants to talk to you, no one is disparately trying to make a sale. Believe me you are one of hundreds of calls ill make in a day. For the love of God if you are not interested let us off the line. Don't explain why you are not interested..i do no care.(yep even you just bought the same thing from someone else, youre in a contract, whatever..say none of this as I HAVE TO REBUT IT) Do not tell me your boss will never do it..I do not care. Don't tell me you are all set..I still have to argue with you. If you just say you aren't interested we have to call back. If you don't speak English, people call back, If you put them on hold, they call back. If you say something mean, we call back. IF you play a prank, we call back. If you say this is the wrong number, we call back. If you say this is the douche bag registry, may I have your fist name..WE CALL BACK. There is seriously nothing else to say except what i told you to say. Something may get you put off for a month or even six..but yeah-you will get called back.
Don't SAY ANYTHING BUT:
I am not interested, put me on the Do not call list.
THEN HANG UP
Do not play games with me..I have all of your personal information. Address, name, ect. Yeah even at businesses trust I have most of the names of the employees even if I don't ask for someone by name. Pissing a telemarketer is a pretty bad idea. At the very least we will make sure you get more phone calls because honestly..we have nothing better to do than call people.
In addition, as hard as I try to make sure I'm calling the right kind of organization perfect for the product, sometimes I mess up. Your business just isn't big enough for me to sell to. Let me find out if 'i can help you. Im not asking you questions because I'm super nosy and believe it or not..most of that information is probably public somewhere. Yep even who your phone company is, how many employees you have and what insurer you offer your employees. All of it..available. I'm just asking to save us both time. Now this is less likely with what I'd call a true telemarketer as their leads are purchased, but then again maybe they have even more information.
Lastly, Half of the time we are on autopilot, no I have no clue what you were even saying..do you want my crap or not. Just to let you know however, you shouldn't always say no. Getting the best rate on things DOES occasionally mean talking to a sales person and letting two companies fight for or to keep your service.In the past I have been authorized to give stuff away and offer a minimum of a 20% discount on top of whatever you are paying now. At one point I was even giving doctors coupons to give their patients free drugs at no cost to them, so yes occasionally you absolutely should talk to those pesky phone operators.
Now I say this to help people. Sometimes I am on the phone and I'd like to help them. I so badly want to tell them what to say, but I can't. So use this information! lol USE IT!
...AND again I have the answer if you REALLY don't want too talk to anyone:
I am not interested, put me on the Do not call list.
THEN HANG UP.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Crimson Peak
I was fooled. I saw the trailer for months for Crimson Peak and it just looked so delicious, so beautifully scary, that I couldn't wait to watch it. Also Steven King said it scared him, so there was that. I waited for months to watch this film....oh the disappointment.... (there are very light spoilers below if you are not the very intuitive sort, so warning.)
First I should have known because Guillermo del Toro wrote this, anything he writes is boring. Yeah he knows how to make things so visually unique it usually saves him but his writing skills are just lacking. He takes what starts out as a good idea and somehow makes it boring. Everything I have every watched the he wrote himself with his own original material ( Hellboy doesn't quite count because it was not his original creation) Is just boring. The same thing happens again in Crimson Peak.
The film is just..tedious...and not very well told. Why does Mia fall in love with the baronet??? The only real reason we are given is because he can waltz really well. Seriously, that's it. There is nothing to back it up what so ever. He doesn't do anything dashing like save her life or overly romantic such as talk to her about he too is missing a parent and understands the pain of losing his mother tragically (which would have fit in the story). The love story part was very obviously written by a man. The fact that the romantic parts are quite lacking hurts the entire film. Even the doctor who is also in love with her, their scenes are just lacking. Why does he love her. why does he go to such extreme lengths for her?
Then there are the ghosts. Yeah they are visually interesting to look at, but I am in no way afraid. Were there not enough of them? I don't know. Stephen King, I am so calling you out right now. You are going to tell me this frightened you when you wrote one of the best ghost stories ever written. Um, Crimson Peak is no Shining Stephen and shame on you for letting me think the ghosts who live there could in anyway live up to the ghosts who live in The Stanly. There is no suspense with the ghosts in this film. All of the suspense come from trying to figure out what is going on between the brother and the sister. Yeah, it's pretty horrid in a flowers in the attic kind of way but it isn't enough to push the entire story. I was there to see murderous ghosts, not whatever that was.
Final thoughts: The movie felt like it was to long because not enough was happening. If you are going to write a romantic movie, spend a little time learning about freaking romance. Watch a few damn chick flicks or at least turn on the lifetime movie network for a few days. Ultimately Del Toro needs to learn how to make monsters not just amazing to look at but actually frightening...and tell me again WHY this film was rated R? This movie would have worked better for the Twilighters with just a few adjustments, trust me on this.
Horror Fans don't waste your time on this, go out and watch the much better Tales of Halloween. I loved this anthology film. It's not quite up to par with Trick R Treat but pretty close, I plan on making this film part of my Halloween tradition.
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