I’d heard that today was “BRING YOUR TEDDY BEAR TO WORK” day and wish I’d known in advance.  I’m a collector of Teddy Bears – even having one of the first ones that I had as a kid.  He’s now in his 30s and still sits on My bed at home.  Teddy Bears have also influenced another hobby of Mine – My PT Cruiser and car shows.  If you’ve seen a lot of the custom PT Cruisers on the roads out there, you’ll notice that a lot of them – maybe as many as half? – are customized and personalized – with flames, as woodies, as old surfer wagons, with 50s or 40s or even 30s motifs and all sorts of other styles. Of course, there are just as many that are simple, plain and unadorned.  Simple economy cars – even if they’re not too good with the MPG. But I would have loved to have brought one of My Teddies to work today… Maybe the 5 foot tall polar bear.  Or the one My mom got Me for My 40th birthday from Vermont Teddy Bear Company – with custom clothing and My name embroidered on his back.  Or maybe the one from My youth…?  Could even go with current events and bring in the Banker Bear ...

 I saw this post on one of the mailing lists I belong to, its something to bookmark for the future if you are in the job market for a tech and or EDI related job. Web-based Job Boards http://www.dice.com http://www.nettemps.com http://www.monster.com http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ http://careers.msn.com/ EDI Consulting Firms http://www.edispecialists.com http://www.remedi.com http://www.sterlingcommerce.com IT Recruiting Firms http://www.miraclesoft.com http://www.sogeti.com http://www.ttinc.net http://www.teksystems.com https://portalqa.manpower.com/wps/portal/USCampus http://www.oxfordconsulting.com and many others. - Cast a wide net. Set up automatic searches on the job boards so you will be emailed daily with listings. Do not limit your searches to telecommuting opportunities as this limitation doesn't seem to be used consistently. Select Contract-1099/Independent & Contract-W2. - Decide whether you want to publish your resume. Doing so will subject you to many phone calls from many people across the world, all of whom you need to carefully vet before committing. Placing very prominent words to the effect, "Telecommuting Contracts Only" wherever appropriate and in the header of each resume page may eliminate inquiries for full-time and contract on-site positions but probably not. - Visit the forums on Dice.com. Dice was probably the first IT contractors job board and can be a good source of advice for first time contractors. While work at home contracts aren't common, I'm noticing more and more lately. I have recently been asked to lead a five person development and implementation team from my office for the first time in my career. Perhaps people are realizing it isn't always necessary for workers to be on-site to be productive. Credit: ...