Enjoy...

We are on Vacation…

See you next 

on 

Friday, July 19, 2013! 

By the by, we Love the e-news letter this article was in.

We know you will too!  

A sample of their refreshing content and a link lies below!

http://www.inc.com/one-thing-new/the-email-trick-that-could-save-your-vacation.html?cid=em01016week26d

The Email Trick That Could Save Your Vacation

After my last vacation, I declared email bankruptcy. Translation: I deleted everything. Find out why this works magic.

Nothing kills a pleasant vacation buzz like 1,042 emails waiting in your inbox.

That's why, after my last vacation, I declared email bankruptcy. Translation: I deleted everything.

My first encounter with email bankruptcy was inadvertent. I only discovered that a former colleague had deleted all the email that came in during his vacation because his boss told me I had better send him another one. It seemed sort of sneaky at the time.

But now that Lauren Young, a journalist and editor with Thomson Reuters (and another former colleague), has coined a catchy term for getting rid of all those messages, so-called email bankruptcy is out in the open. Respectable, even. “There’s something so liberating about going into your inbox and deleting it all,” says Young.

It’s not as if Young’s creditors are caught completely unawares, as I was the first time I encountered email bankruptcy. Her autoreply gives an alternate contact. It warns correspondents that due to the expected volume of email upon her return, she may declare email bankruptcy. She links to a story in Fast Company where she’s quoted speaking about email bankruptcy, so people know what it is. She encourages people to get back in touch when she’s back in the office.

Like a lot of tricks for managing email, this one has the unfortunate side effect of making someone else do more work. Someone managed to remember to send me an email, and actually sent it, and now I was telling them they had to email me all over again. Is that fair? “It’s totally fair for vacation,” says Young. “It’s so hard for people to really manage to unplug,” and then when they get back, they’re punished with the deluge of email.

While some might find temporarily solace in trying to keep up with their email even while they’re supposedly on vacation, a raft of studies detail the health risks of our always-on culture, especially to those who can’t seem to put down their smartphones.

The first time Young attempted email bankruptcy, she tried to finesse it. Her autoreply said that “due to the expected volume of email,” some messages might be “lost in the shuffle.” She’s not pretending anymore. “I’m done,” she says. “I’m down for the count. I’m starting fresh.”

Almost no one commented on her first email bankruptcy. “I didn’t ask or tell people. I just did it,” she says. “No one said, ‘You’re a bitch and I can’t believe you’re doing it.’" None of the higher-ups at her company minded. Her boss mentioned it in a meeting, but not in a negative way.

That’s the thing I found so shocking about my first (and so far only) attempt at email bankruptcy: Nothing happened, except that I got a whole day of my life back when I realized I wouldn’t be spending it sifting through email. I did scan my inbox to make sure I didn’t miss anything important. Maybe the truly bankrupt wouldn’t have done that, but since this was my first try, I was a little nervous.

Who shouldn’t do this? Well, Young says, you shouldn’t try this if your boss expects you to be at his or her beck and call 24/7. Then, I pointed out, you’ve got bigger problems. “True,” says Young. “But plenty of people work for crazy people.” Here’s hoping you’re not one of them -- and that a little bankruptcy makes your next vacation a bit more relaxing.

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Au Revoir...

Madame Le Tron

Join us here each and every Friday at 3pm central.  Starting-up again on Friday July 12, 2013.  

Strategic Partnerships…

 

"Just hanging Around" by "Le Tron ~ Toys With A Twist!"

Selling or Selling Out?

“No really, what do you think? Do you agree or not?” asked Madame.

“I… I… uhm…. I really don’t know, Madame,” replied Giselle hesitantly.

“Beep, whir, bing…” ‘CRACK, CHRUNCH!’  Then “O U C H ” printed across Managing Mike’s,

the recyc-letron’s, computer screen, which was imbedded in his chest, and he fell to the ground.

“Oh, Mon Dieu!” cried Madame Le Tron, rising from her computer desk.  “Not again!  If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times, Mike, you need to have someone  look at that joint.  I swear to you that the mechanism that locks your wheel in place is out of alignment, and if we don’t get it fixed soon, the damage could become serious.”

All of a sudden a roll of duct tape swooped into the room and unwrapped, and then wrapped around Mike’s ‘joint’ and aligned his wheel to the rod that attached it to his robotic body.

“Really?” exclaimed Madame Le Tron, as she threw up her arms and sank back into her desk chair.

A childlike titter came from Managing Mike’s direction.

“You are going to allow a 3-year-old ghost to administer to your robotic malfunction instead of a professional?”

“Madame, you know that Alice is well over one hundred years old and that she was 3 years old when she drowned in the bathtub upstairs,” stated Giselle with a tone of reprimand in her voice.

“Qui, Mon Cheri, but one hundred years in death does not a robotic repairman make,” huffed Madame, an unmistakable edge in her voice.  “I doubt that you would find duct tape as one of the ‘tools-of-the trade’ in a true robotic expert’s tool box.”

“Voila!” shouted Giselle, “Mike is up and running!”

Madame just rolled her eyes as Mike rolled, a bit unsteadily, in her direction to hand her a document that had just finished printing from his computer screen.

Giselle grabbed the document from Managing Mike’s wrench-like hand, causing him to wobble and fall.

Alice was at-the-ready, and pillows from the settee quickly appeared beneath Mike to break his fall.

“Incroyable,” whispered Madame Le Tron under her breath, as she shook her head in disbelief.

Giselle read aloud from the printed page…

                       

My Dearest Madame Le Tron,

                                    I am aware of your concern in reference to my

                       current condition, and I regret that I am causing you

                       pain.  I, however, am also in pain.

            Given the current state of affairs, I have had

Ghoulish Gordon conjure up Alice to partner with me

until we have managed our current workload and I

may take leave to see a specialist in regards to my

mechanical malfunction.

“That sounds reasonable,” concluded Giselle.

“Reasonable?” intoned Madame Le Tron.  “Do you hear what you are saying?”

Exasperated, Madame rose once again from her desk and began pacing about the room. Her black-gloved hands waved wildly about as her curls sprung loose from her otherwise well-quaffed hairdo.

She calmed herself and said, “When one enters into a business partnership with another entity, to benefit the company as a whole, the said partnership must be strategically planned out.”

“That sounds reasonable,” repeated Giselle. 

“One must consider the pros and cons of the partnership as well as the strengths and weakness of each of the parties. One might ask, “How will the union between the two mutually benefit or disfavor the company and or those parties participating in the proposed partnership?”

“That sounds reasonable,” repeated Giselle yet again.

“Then, after much discussion, if common ground is obtained and the possible benefits appear to outweigh the possible consequences, the two parties should draft an agreement of terms to which each partner will be held accountable.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Giselle repeated for the third time in a row

Madame Le Tron, once again in front of her computer screen, sank slowly into her big black desk chair. She gripped the arms of the chair tightly in an effort to keep her temper in check.

“Therefore, to enter into a partnership that is haphazard, compromises the company for personal gain, or alters the integrity of the company in order to avoid a loss in production and/or revenues could, in the end, cause irreparable damage, not only to the company but, also to the parties involved, and could be considered selling out.”  Madame glared at Giselle.  She held up a single black-gloved hand and whispered sternly, “Don’t say it!”

“Say what?” Giselle whispered back.

“’That sounds reasonable.’ ”

“Okay…,” replied Giselle, as a tense silence filled the room.

Madame Le Tron looked over her dark black glasses at Giselle, then at Mike, then back at Giselle again. “Well…?”

“Well, what?” replied Giselle.

“Say something!” Madame demanded.

“What’s your point?”

“Good question,” responded Madame, as she dropped her head to the desktop .  “I just want Managing Mike to be all right, and I don’t think partnering with a hundred-and-some-odd-year-old ghost, who is only three years old, and have her wrap duct tape around him as he falls apart before our very eyes, is the right kind of partnership to have.”

“Are you finished yet?” Giselle asked Madame Le Tron, as she crossed over and put her arm around Madame’s shoulder to comfort her.

“No, I am also concerned that this partnership that we are about to enter into might be considered selling out.”

And with that a computer printout appeared and floated gently down from the sky.

My Dearest Madame Le Tron,

            I will make an appointment with the robotic

specialist directly, not only to appease you, but also

because this tape is highly uncomfortable, not to mention,  

dulling the shine of my finely polished chrome plate.

            In addition, before my collapse at the beginning of

this Blog, I was about to agree whole heartedly with the

upcoming partnership that you have proposed.

             The work you have put into it, the integrity of the

not-for-profit organization you will be working with, as well

as its mission and the nature of the products we create are

a perfect fit.

              As for Alice, with our ghost and fairy lines beginning to

“fly” off the shelves in ways that we never expected, who better

 than our petite phantom here to keep track of it all.

“There then, a partnership made in heaven, mais non?” suggested Madame Le Tron.

“Well, at least made in the other realm!” giggled Giselle.

Ah yes, all is well once again in the Wonderful World of Le Tron!

See you next Wednesday at 3 pm Central.

Au revoir,

Madame Le Tron

Note:  We continue to be amazed with our off-line sales and opportunities. Recently, while participating in a mystic fair in an old theatre, we saw a great opportunity to help the theatre raise funds as we raise our products’ and brand’s awareness in what appears to be our niche market.

Next month we will partner with the Friends of the Theatre’s not-for-profit group with a product designed especially for them. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to create greater brand and product awareness and at the same time help to raise funds to “Save the Mounds Theatre!”

What a “TWIST!”

We would love to hear about the “TWISTS” and unexpected opportunities in your business!

Please share them with all of our readers below…

Congratulations Class of 2013!

                      

                         

From All Of Us 

  

At 

             

     Le Tron ~ "Toys With A Twist!"

   CONGRATULATIONS 

LIZZIE LANDON AKA GISELLE!

It has been wonderful to have you a part of our team.  Best of luck in all of your future endeavors! We know that YOU will change the world!

So Giselle, on the eve of you next adventure Mademoiselle, what words of wisdom might you impart to those you leave behind...

Moving on is what life is all about, endings lead to new beginnings.

You have to do all the lasts to make way for all the firsts.

Fear for the future is good, it makes things more fun, more worthwhile.

The past is a completely different part of life than the present, always keep them separate.

Don't dwell on the bad of the past because there is nothing you can do to change it, just learn for the future.

Don't sweat the small stuff.

Ah yes, all is well in the Wonderful World of Le Tron!

We will be on vacation next week so please, if you are a regular viewer, or new to Our World, take a moment, now that you have arrived, to visit our archives and get to know us better.

We have a zany cast of characters, with a world that is even wackier than they are.  Read on and join in the fun!

Madame Le Tron!

We will return with an all new post on Friday, June 21 at 3pm Central!