If there is a man on your gift list in the Chicago area, there’s no better gift than a visit to The 316 Club. I have written about them before as I am a member of this men’s spa in the Loop next to the Chicago Board of Trade.

As the “oasis with premium grooming services” for men, you can get a blade shave – even your head for bald guys like me – or a haircut, massage, etc. – check out their menu of services for complete details. They feature a bar with fine scotches, a pool table, WiFi and you can even get a shoe shine. Gift cards are available both at the Club or online, so you can treat someone to a single visit or a membership for a year of services.

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Regular readers of The Hot Iron know well my gripe with mobile phones locked to particular service providers, and them not allowing unlocked phones on their network. The one exception in the US has been T-Mobile, whom I have used for over a year after switching from Verizon Wireless. Though there were other issues I had with Verizon prompting me to leave them, it looks like one of them may be starting to go away.

This week Verizon Wireless announced at some point in 2008 they would start allowing unlocked phones on their network. However, only certain phones would be allowed “only if the devices have passed tests, which their manufacturers will pay for, in a Verizon lab” – a direct quote from another article on MSNBC.com.

Currently Verizon Wireless and all other mobile providers, including T-Mobile, sell phones that work only on their network. These phones generally come with a lower price than buying them direct from the manufacturer as the providers will subsidize their cost, not to mention control the software on the phones. Where your phone number is portable from one provider to another, your physical phone is not. With T-Mobile, you can buy a phone from just about anyone, and then you place the SIM chip they provide you in the phone and voila – it works. Hmmm, I never heard anything about a T-Mobile lab.

My gut tells me the Verizon Wireless spokesperson and all their executives were clenching their teeth when they made this announcement. This will force them, and all other providers who open their eyes to this, to provide quality service to their customers and not just rely on locking them into service with contracts or hardware. I hope this change for them is one step forward, and not accompanied with 2 steps back.

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As an entrepreneur with a home-based business, many people say to me they are impressed I have perfected a system for working at home. I usually respond by saying that they say this like they believe that I have come up with something definitive. When the puzzled look comes over their face, I tell them it is a continuous process to keep organized, managed and motivated. There have been many ideas that I have tried that did not help me, and many that have and I continue to use, and of course tweak.

I recently came up with a new one – I walk to work. Now before you call me lazy and question why I am boasting about walking a few feet to my home office, let me continue. When working from home, the line between living and working can become thin, blurred or sometimes non-existent. Adding more structure to my day was something I sought, not to mention getting a little exercise in the morning. One day I decided to walk with my wife to work. It is not a terribly long walk, but a brisk one as I try to keep up with the 7-time marathoner on her daily trek to her office.

By taking this walk, it has many benefits – a little exercise, a little more conversation with my wife in the morning, showering before noon and I queue up an errand or two for the walk back. Of course I start doing this as the cold winds started blowing off Lake Michigan, but there’s no time like the present to effect positive change!

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Not too long ago I found the photo blog of Thomas Laupstad of northern Norway. As I married into a family of Scandinavians who come from a land as beautiful as they are, his photos have been a great addition to my daily perusals in my feed reader, as I have commented before.

Thomas has put together and is selling a calendar of 12 of his amazing photos you can buy online. Here’s your chance to avoid those calendar stores in the mall and purchase an even better calendar right from the source!

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