Thinking Out Loud: Staying in touch via Jamble
Quick. What’s a six-letter word for staying in touch with friends? For me, the answer’s easy: Jamble.
Jamble is an online version of Scrabble played through a website called itsyourturn.com. You can invite specific users to play and include a short message with each turn. And while Jamble is great for honing my word skills, what I really love about it is the way it helps me stay connected to my friends and former co-workers in Michigan. On any given day, I’m playing at least five games with as many different people.
My friends and I got hooked on Jamble about 10 years ago while were all working in the creative department of a big advertising agency. Jamble was something fast and easy we could do first thing in the morning to get our brains moving or whenever we needed a break from the daily grind. Jamble became so popular throughout our agency that we would have tournaments with brackets and cash prizes. If we were out of town or stuck in a studio for hours on end editing commercials, we’d pass the time by playing Jamble with whoever was back in the office.
I tried getting my husband and other family members to jump on the Jamble bandwagon, but for some reason, the game never caught on with them. My husband used to say it was because no one else had as much time to fool around at work as my friends and I did, but I took umbrage to that. After all, we were “creatives” and everyone knows the creative process takes many different shapes and forms, including word games, chair races and Nerf gun wars, among other things.
In 2005 I made the decision to retire from advertising and become a stay-at-home mom. Given the fact that I had worked my entire life, I was both excited and terrified by the prospect of no longer being connected to the working world. But I needn’t have worried. I had Jamble to see me through. With a quick visit to itsyourturn.com, I could easily keep up on all the agency news, gossip and happenings while simultaneously cooking dinner and doing laundry.
A year after retiring, I left my all my Michigan friends and moved with my family to Naples. Although I adapted well to my new environment and made friends quickly, I still maintained a strong link to my past through Jamble. Each morning I would check my game status to see who had moved and, more importantly, what they had said in their 350 words-or-less messages. Even if I didn’t have time to form a word using the letters CHTOFRA, I would check my Jamble games to see how Maureen was doing with the book she was writing, what kind of car Andy decided to buy and when Johnny VO was coming to Naples. Through their brief and sometimes cryptic messages, I followed the daily lives of my friends and maintained relationships that might otherwise have withered over time. I shared in their sorrows and disappointments, joys and accomplishments, including the dissolution of our former ad agency and two successful cancer remissions.
Happenings In Naples - News
quick visit to itsyourturn.com, I could easily keep up on all the agency news, gossip and happenings while simultaneously cooking dinner and doing laundry. A year after retiring, I left my all my Michigan friends and moved with my family to Naples.
Mangrove Gathering Eco Cafe A free public gathering for people who care about the Earth and want to socialize and keep up on current Southwest Florida environmental happenings. 7:30-10 pm Free. Eco-Living Center at Rutenberg Park, 6490 South Pointe
The investigation, named Ultima Scommessa (Last Bet), is focused on 18 games, with five of those being Serie B matches and just one (Inter Milan v Lecce, on March 20th) in Serie A. The investigation was prompted by some strange happenings immediately
The high-profile events include a selection of cultural happenings such as the Verona Opera (June - September), Ravello Music Festival (May - October) and Tuscany's Puccini Festival (July - August). Sports fans may prefer the holiday packages
In the early 1990s some residents from the northern part of the City of Naples were frustrated with current happenings within the Naples City Council. That frustration eventually led to the formation of the Naples Better Government
Paradise Coast Happenings – May
An interactive website sponsored by the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau highlighting the imagery of Alan S. Maltz, the “Official Fine Art Photographer for the State of Florida”. Maltz will concentrate on capturing the beauty and magic of the Paradise Coast region to feature in his next large format coffee table book, Journey Through Paradise . The website, scheduled to launch in the spring of 2011, will give users their first ever glimpse of Maltz in action.
U.S. Visa Cardholders Increased International Travel Spend by six percent in 2010
In 2010, the global tourism industry showed signs of strength. With an overall 18 percent increase in 2010, visitors from Canada ($9.2 billion), the United Kingdom ($2.5 billion) and Mexico ($2.0 billion) rounded out the top three inbound source countries, increasing tourism spend in the U.S. by 18 percent, 11 percent and 18 percent respectively.
Our Customers Say it Best
“First of all, everyone was extremely polite and eager to help. I could sense a certain pride they had in their city and state. Whether it be a store clerk or a resident sitting next to me having coffee, they would start up a conversation and quickly offer recommendations for sights and activities that I shouldn’t miss. A staff member at a coffee shop actually sat with me and drew a map of where I should visit.
Furthermore, this is the cleanest city I have ever visited. Landscaping is immaculate, city streets are all well maintained and directional signs are easy to read. The beaches are free of dogs, litter, and liquor. It is a quiet, relaxed place to be and the people look healthy and happy.
I don’t know why I chose to come to Naples for a week. I knew it was on the coast and that was appealing to me. I live on the coast in California and it is beautiful here, but your water in the Gulf is calm, warm, clear, and shallow. It is a different kind of beauty and one I will surely come back to. I don’t know how you do it but whatever you do, it’s working.
I just had to tell you.
Anne Godsey, California
A Really Successful Legislative Session
The just completed legislative session in Tallahassee was a whirlwind of activity. The House went into session at 1:38 a.m. and passed the budget and adjourned at 1:52 a.m. Although it had planned to come back at 10:00 am in the morning, the Senate reconvened, finalized the budget and adjourned by 3:34 a.m. finalizing the 2011 Legislative Session. Here is a recap of the last few hours and the outcome of important tourism industry issues.
Happenings In Naples - Bookshelf
The late baroque era, from the 1680s to 1740
Other music Much information may be gleaned from contemporary accounts of happenings in Naples. Some of these so-called avvisi - reports from diplomats sent ...Comenius and the Low Countries, some aspects of life and work of a Czech exile in the seventeenth century
Two translations of a description of these happenings in Naples by Alexandro Giraffi were published in the Netherlands in 1650. See Comenii operum (Reber ...Real happenings
Old Beppo and Nina, his wife, with their two boys, lived in one of those little excavations which everybody who has visited Naples will remember. ...Opera annual
... were it not for its even more scum-of-the-earth counterpart at Naples ! ... vintage Sardou — but so were the actual happenings in Naples and Sicily, ...Frommer's Amalfi Coast with Naples, Capri & Pompeii
... Nativity representations to depict current historical and political happenings. ... 7 Naples After Dark A warm southern city, Naples is best experienced ...Day-to-day Knowledge Directory
HILTON NAPLES FLORIDA HOTEL Naples Florida Hotels, Shula's ...
Hilton Naples Hotel, the premier choice for Naples Florida hotels, lodging 30 minutes from SW Florida International Airport and 15 Minutes from Naples Airport.
"What's Happening around Naples"
This brand new juried show will feature works in all media by 125 artists from across the ... hosted by the NAA in conjunction with the Downtown Naples Association. ...
"What's Happening around Naples"
8/1 - 8/19: Naples Art Association Exhibition: Looking at Light. Looking at Light is our ... Directions: Naples Art Association 585 Park Street Naples, FL 34102 ...
Happenings in Naples Florida
Purchase real estate in Naples from Agnes Tabor, REALTOR; agent. Sellers listing to sell, ... Naples as far as you can go before Marco Island. What is happening so close to the ...
Whatever happened to? Naples finance guru Bruce Sherman ...
It's been less than a year since Bruce Sherman retired as the chairman and chief investment officer of Naples-based Private Capital Management. Since leaving the ...