Those who are looking for the ultimate “50 Shades of Grey” experience should take note of the packages currently being offered up by lodgings such as Hotel Max in Seattle, which gives prospective customers the opportunity to live out their wildest Christian Grey-oriented fantasies. Of course, if you make a big mess — tampon flinging included — chances are you’re going to have to pay a clean-up fee, especially since this place looks a little high-class.

According to their website, the hotel currently offers you the chance to “live out your fantasies with a two-night getaway in an Artist King room on the romantic 8th floor. During your stay, enjoy chauffeured town car service, a helicopter tour of the city and a private four-hour skippered sailing excursion on Puget Sound with gourmet picnic and a bottle of Bollinger Grande Année Rosé 1999 Champagne, a favorite of Mr. Grey himself.” Make sure to bring $1600, because that’s how much this particular package is going to set you back. How conveniently opportunistic!

Not to be outdone, the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon has their own “50 Shades of Grey” adventure. “In honor of Mr Grey’s chopper, The Heathman is offering a ‘Charlie Tango No Limits’ add-on package that includes appetizers and white wine at the hotel restaurant for six people, a helicopter tour of Portland, roses for the women, dinner at the hotel and limo transfers,” says the lodging. The price for this excursion: $2,750.

Is this ridiculous? A bit. If you’re really interested in getting the full “50 Shades of Grey” experience, spend all of that money on BDSM products and stay home. I can almost guarantee you’ll have more fun. If you haven’t read the novel, allow Gilbert Gottfried to introduce you to the mysterious Christian Grey. By the way — the clip embedded below is not safe for work.

Well a Spanish union has just sued and won a decision from the European High Court stating that if someone gets sick while on vacation, they have to have their vacation extended to cover the amount of time they were sick.

“The purpose of entitlement to paid annual leave is to enable the worker to rest and enjoy a period of relaxation and leisure,” the Court of Justice of the European Union, based in Luxembourg, ruled in a case involving department store workers in Spain. “The purpose of entitlement to sick leave is different, since it enables a worker to recover from an illness that has caused him to be unfit for work.”

If you are wondering, this is why the European Union is a breath away from falling apart. They cannot control their debt, they spend more than they have, yet the courts make ruling like this.

The Court of Justice had previously ruled that a person who gets sick before going on vacation is entitled to reschedule the vacation, and on Thursday it said that right extended into the vacation itself. “The point at which the temporary incapacity arose is irrelevant,” the court found. And since Europeans are guaranteed 4-6 weeks of paid leave a year, it extends to through the entire time they are on vacation.

When stuff like this happens, it is no wonder that the European Union is going south in a hurry.

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kate
@katetropa

“Europe’s highest court rules that workers who happen to get sick on vacation are legally entitled to take another vacation.” *sigh*

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What do those who wile away the hours on Twitter have to say about the singer’s barely-there attire? You’re about to find out in just second. All you have to do is scroll past the image you see below, which, for some, might be a little hard to do. After all, Fergie is pretty much letting it all hang out. If you’re a fan of impossible cleavage and extraordinarily flat stomaches, your eyes may linger on the image longer than most. Just know that, when you’re done ogling, Twitter reactions to Fergie’s bikini await your undivided attention.

Image provided courtesy of Fergie’s Twitter account

Looks like you made it down here! Now, for the promised twitter reactions. Honestly, you’re probably better off staring at the above picture for another 30 minutes or so.

A smartphone can help take some of the stress out of visiting such cities. After all, you’re carrying a map of pretty much every place in the world in your pocket, and there are dozens upon dozens of apps designed to help tourists find what they’re looking for. What most of these apps don’t help you with, though, is time management. They may tell you how long it will take you to get from Chicago’s Sears Willis Tower to the Adler Planetarium, but they don’t tell you much about how long it will take you at the Planetarium.

That’s where the new TimeTraveler app from Yahoo! comes in. Unfortunately, TimeTraveler doesn’t quite do what the name implies: if you were expecting an app that turned your phone into the TARDIS, I’m afraid you’ll have to keep looking. No, what TimeTraveler does is help you plan your trek through a city by showing all the points of interest on a map, then telling you how long it will take you at each place.

When you open up the app you’re presented with a selection of 29 of the most famous cities in the world. We’ll use Boston as an example, since that’s one of my favorite cities to visit:

Once you’ve picked your city, you set a start point, an end point, and the amount of time you have. Let’s say you’ve just finished lunch at Cheers (which is right across the street from Boston Common), and you want to make it to Fenway Park for an evening baseball game. You want to be there in plenty of time to get your beer and your hot dog and get to your seat by the time the game starts, so you give yourself 5 hours:

Once you put in all the details, TimeTraveler plots your route and picks attractions along the way that you can do in the amount of time you’ve allotted. Once it’s done, it shows them to you in a handy list:

If you tap the round icon at the bottom, you’re can check out a map that shows your start point, end point, and the attractions TimeTraveler has picked for you. You can also identify other points of interest along the way, including restaurants and hotels. You can also see pictures that others have taken of attractions in your area.

From the list view, tapping on any of the attractions on your route brings up a card that shows some basic details of the attraction. Details include business hours, location, and some information about why the place you’re going is famous. Of course, business hours are subject to change, and the owners are under no obligation to inform Yahoo! when that happens, so you should always double-check the hours of any place you plan to visit.

Though I have not, like Johnny Cash, been everywhere, man, I’ve done a fair bit of travelling in my time. I’ve often found myself in a new city feeling overwhelmed with the amount of stuff there is to do in the little bit of time I have. As such, I’ve used a lot of different apps for tourists. While they all have their pros and cons, there’s an awful lot of overlap in the kinds of things they do. Truth to tell, most of them don’t do a lot more for me than I can get just by using my iPhone’s built-in Maps app.

TimeTraveler, however, stands out from the crowd in a big way. Though it may not put a flux capacitor in my phone, it comes as close as it possibly can to the next best thing. It’s available today as a free download from the iOS App Store, where it’s currently at the top of the list of featured new apps. For more information, you can check out Yahoo’s TimeTraveler page.

Wait. What?

Yes, that Saw. Check out the official description below.

“Let’s play a game…onboard the beautiful and luxurious Carnival Glory! If you’re a Fan of the “SAW” movies, you don’t want to miss this oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to cruise with your favorite “SAW” Celebrities. This amazing (5) night cruise departs from New York City and travels to the most beautiful points in Canada (the last six “SAW” movies were filmed in Canada). During this amazing cruise, you will be able to party with the “SAW” Stars and meet other fans who love “SAW” just like you! You will attend fantastic pool and dance parties, question and answer Sessions and many special events. You can also get autographs from the “SAW” stars, take FREE individual photos with the “SAW” stars, attend FREE movie screenings, and much, much more.”

By now you’re probably racking your head thinking “Saw Stars“, who could they be referring to? Cary Elwes? Danny Glover? Shawnee Smith? Tobin Bell? I mean you gotta at least get ole’ Tobin onboard, right?

Well… no, none of those.

But the “Saw at Sea Cruise” does feature the likes of Costas Mandylor, Anne Greene, Ned Bellamy, Rebecca Marshall, and Mark Rolston. Still not sold? Well, there is a special guest appearance by Dan Yeager (who plays “Leatherface” in the new movie “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D). Admit it, you’re “onboard” now right.

Well, before you rush off to IMDB to see just who the &$*# these people are, check out the image below:

It should be noted that everyone on the Saw Cruise will get a FREE Dan Yeager Autographed photo. What? Shut up and take my money.

Still not sold on this cruise? Well my friends according to the cruise site “Jigsaw’s legendary “Puppet” will be onboard the Cruise! This Puppet was used and seen in the SAW movies.”

The cruise is a 5 night round trip from New York City to Canada which will run August 11-16, 2012. While on the cruise you’ll visit Saint John, NB, Canada and Halifax, NS, Canada plus two “fun days at sea”.

The ship you’ll be traveling on features “22 lounges and bars, nightclubs, a casino, spa, salon, gym, jogging track, miniature golf, and duty-free shops and restaurants. There are amazing restaurants for everyone, including sushi bar, buffets, pizzeria, deli and steakhouse – there’s food available 24 hours a day. Relax in any of the CARNIVAL GLORY’S (4) pools or take a wet and wild ride on the 214-foot waterslide. Most of the ship’s extra spacious staterooms feature ocean views and the majority of those boast private balconies. No matter how you choose to spend your cruise, you’re guaranteed a great time.”

News of the “Saw at Sea Cruise” is starting to spread via Twitter:

For more information on this cruise go here. (PDF)

The decision was based off of a Nielsen research study,”U.S. Advertising Spend and Effectiveness,” which found that recommendations from “personal acquaintances was cited as the most trusted form of advertisement by U.S. Internet consumers (76%). Forty-nine percent said they trusted consumer opinions posted online.” This makes a lot of sense. If you know that you like a lot of the same things as your bingo buddy Sally, then you are more likely to purchase the same Sandals resort package in Jamaica that she did versus what some stranger suggests.

TripAdvisor launched its Trip Friends product in June 2010. The places that a user’s friends and associates have been is highlighted on the Cities I’ve Visited Facebook app. They can also see this information on the FB Timeline. People can also view hotels that their FB friends have rated on TripAdvisor and they are listed first in the company’s hotel rankings section. This was made possible through the travel site’s continued integration with Facebook.

Adam Medros, vice president of global product for TripAdvisor stated in a recent press release that “we are excited that 100 million travelers have had a personalized experienced on TripAdvisor, making TripAdvisor the world’s best site to plan a trip using the wisdom of your friends.” He went on to explain that “providing travelers with a social trip planning experience will continue to be a strategic focus at TripAdvisor, and we look forward to having even more travelers see their friends’ travel recommendations on TripAdvisor.”

Beginning today through February 3, users can visit the Expedia Facebook page and suggest a new name for Vacation Packages. Expedia will compile the entries and will select ten finalists. Users will then have the chance to vote for the winner among the ten finalists. The entry that receives the most votes will win the contest and get a vacation worth up to $10,000. The second-place winner will win a $500 Expedia credit. Voters can also win one of a several $250 travel credits.

Voting for the winning selection will begin on February 8 and end on February 15. Participants can vote for their favorite entry once per day through February 15. The voters themselves may earn a prize. Each vote counts as a sweepstakes entry.

"Vacation Packages have been available on Expedia.com for years. Billions of dollars in free money goes unclaimed because consumers simply don’t know, or don’t believe, that when they book their flight and hotel together, they may save,” said Tim MacDonald, senior vice president and general manager, Expedia.com.

“So we’re asking for their help in finding a name that will work better. Come up with a better name and win a trip of a lifetime."

This week, I was speaking with a client who wanted to be able to go on vacation with the knowledge that his business was still moving in the right direction. He wanted to be able to go away and be away without checking in (and stressing out) throughout the day. That conversation inspired this post.

As a small business owner or self-employed professional, you place a high value on your time. It’s easy to get caught up in reinventing the wheel over and over again. As you grow and bring on help (a virtual assistant, customer service, etc.) it can be hard to let go and feel confident that your business is moving in the right direction without you being in the office and following up on every detail yourself.

In order to work less, get more done and make sure your staff is doing things they way you want them to be done, you need to create systems.

Business systems are really powerful. They can help you:

-          Manage growth

-          Delegate

-          Bring on assistance

-          Focus on the big picture while still knowing the day-to-day tasks are being handled in the manner in which you WANT them to be handled

-          Standardize your processes

-          Be assured your clients will have a solid and consistent experience with your company

-          Provide for top-notch client service

-          Stop reinventing the wheel

I always recommend my clients create an Operations Manual. In it you will list all the tasks that must be done in your business with step-by-step directions for each task. It should be regularly updated.

The goal of your Operations Manual is to allow anyone to walk into your business and quickly get up to speed. It allows you, the business owner, to know your business is moving forward in the direction YOU want, even when you are not there. Plus, it gives you direction for processes you do over and over but which aren’t part of your daily routine.

Your Operations Manual should be easy to read, use simple language and have practical information. It’s a good idea to have an easy-to-use table of contents.

There are many software options for your operations manual. You can use something as simple as Microsoft Word, although there are many “fancier” options out there. Another route to take would be to use a web-based collaborative tool such as Google Docs or SharePoint so everyone on your team/staff can update the document.

Since your Operations Manual is a living, breathing document, it’s important that you put a quarterly review of it on your calendar. 

According to a survey conducted by Yahoo! HotJobs, 51 percent of Americans will not take vacation this summer, opting to save their money instead.

"A perfect storm of economic factors is developing," said Tom Musbach, senior managing editor, Yahoo! HotJobs. "The economic downturn is leading to layoffs and stretched resources, which in turn leads to increased workloads and pressure to improve performance. Employees, now more than ever, need a break from the pressure, but are instead choosing to forgo vacation in order to meet growing demands and protect dwindling wallets. Eventually something will have to give."

Likely that something is driving a car, one of America’s favorite pastimes, though it wasn’t mentioned in the survey. The survey took a more general approach, asking about how the economic downturn was affecting work, America’s other favorite pastime. Thirty-five percent said the economy is increasing the pressure to improve performance, even as 44 percent report heavier workloads than a year ago.

Thirty-eight percent officially have put themselves on the job market and 35 percent have updated their resumes because of an economy that has produced rapid inflation due to rocketing gas and food prices. The "mooks and minions" and all that imaginary money haven’t help the situation, either.

Yahoo!HotJobs’ assessment reveals American workers are "on the brink of burnout," but the poor economy is only fourth on the list of top five workplace stressors. From greatest to least, survey respondents listed leadership structure; lack of resources to get work done; a third place tie between too much work, unappreciative or demanding clients and the boss; the poor economy; and coworkers.

Stress reduction in the workplace, though counterintuitive to some employers, is an important measure to take. According to the survey, 44 percent said they are less focused when they feel stressed, and 33 percent said they are less productive. The authors of the study called reducing stress during rough economic times "vital," and an important factor in increasing productivity and improving performance.

It could also keep employees sane; 41 percent admit to taking off work for "mental health." The other half who plan to use their vacation days this summer won’t be using them to relax. Forty-eight percent will use them to run errands.
 
Compared to generous vacation time guaranteed to European workers by law, American workers are already notoriously un-vacationing. Financial pressures look to reduce what little time off is taken already. The upside is—if you want to call it that—many market-leading antidepressants will go generic status in 2010; see your neighborhood Wal-Mart for your $4 mental margarita.