Today, as fuel prices continue to escalate, more car buyers are contemplating on getting small passenger cars instead of bigger vehicles such as those top-selling trucks and SUVs from Ford, giving up what they really need and want for the sake of saving more on fuel expenses. Again they slow down, then stop, look about, they hear the water slapping the bank from the Great Lake again, but can not see it. The breeze from the lake is picking up, as the window is rolled down they can feel the breeze, there is a chill to it, so they roll it up a bit more. Trees are swaying.

For firms who rely on billable hours, marketing often takes a backseat. Make that change. Retreats are a perfect time to create and set clear expectations for attorneys and partners for non-billable time devoted to marketing and business development. And don't forget to reward the performers! site It's no secret that Jay Leno beat out David Letterman when it was time for NBC to replace the retiring Johnny Carson in 1992. But, did you know since the six foot tall comedian started hosting "The Tonight Show" that he rarely takes a day off? One of his many cars can most always be seen parked in his reserved "#1" parking place at the NBC Studio in Burbank. And, on top of doing the show, Jay Leno still manages to perform more than 150 standup comedy gigs a year. The dark figure standing, staring by the street, is noticed by the two men in the front seat of the truck, they stare but keep going, --trees blowing to his right and left, the waves of the Great Lake of Superior, makes a humming sound, and everything else, as if you were in the middle of a hurricane, the stranger stands erect yet, never moving. He sees the eyes of the passenger in the Ford-truck, a small figure, a man of about forty, the driver calls him Skip, and he hears that. The taller man at the wheel, his arms are solid, and frozen to the wheel, is called Amery, for some reason you know he knows that. Every year when my wife and I filed our taxes some things from MY past (not hers) would creep up. If we filed our taxes on February 1st, we were lucky if we got our refund in August. I had a buy truck flatbeds that had a manual transmission. My wife cannot drive stick shift but I had to put her on my insurance because she is has a driver's license and lived with me. If she had tickets or a DUI from the past, my insurance would be sky high and I have never had any tickets and I don't drink and drive. It wasn't a problem for us but it could have been. I'd never been in a fraternity in college and only had one brother, so I never had to prove much in my lifetime. No initiation rights, crazy acts of bravado. Not even tested in war or proven to be a man. Sure, I've had some success in business, but sitting in that truck with a man like Harvey just brought all those male hormones to the front burner. Hot or mild. Just what kind of chile man was I to become? Make sure you're looking at your website as a marketing tool and not an IT plaything. Video, podcasts and blogs are great, but nothing can replace a good solid, well-organized homepage and clearly defined practice areas. Also- look at how the attorney biographies are categorized. Are they easy to navigate and easy to read? If not, consider hiring someone to revamp and redesign-it's a simple and non-expensive way to instantly update your firm image. A little later I waved my hand around in front of my face to clear some of the smoke and give myself a line of sight. I drained my beer and told Murphy that I had to bail. He slapped me on the back and headed toward the old scarred pool table. As I walked out into the sunlight I was thinking that I'd never have to see the inside of that place again.