In attendance: David, Dan, Louella, Dave N., Uman, Donna, Catherine, Lenny, Roberto, Julie, Greg, Lori, Nancy, and Joe

1) "Finding simple helpers" (Lenny)
When you need the assistance of a great dentist, doctor, mechanic, etc., whom do you turn to? The group shared some personal experiences of professionals that they have used, and provided great service. There some online resources, such as eopinions.com, or Craig’s list, but the information provided there is usually very general. It is also interesting that when one is ‘on track’ and more open, he or she is more willing to interact with other people, and consequently come across more helpful information or contacts. It is a much more effective approach than just than just using the yellow pages or doing a web search. A book that discusses this phenomenon is called "The Lazy Man’s Guide to Enlightenment"

To keep expenses to a minimum, get creative and see if you can barter your services with other professionals.

Business advice:
S.C.O.R.E (retired executives), Small Business Administration, College of DuPage has a great SBA resource center. The Women’s Business Development Center (at the corner of Michigan & Monroe) offers resources to men as well!

Attorney:
Kevin Kahill explains things in simple language, and he is upfront with people (if he doesn’t know something, he tells you).

Healthcare:
Raymond Hatland (on Pratt near Western). He also advertises in Conscious Choice magazine. Andrew Pasminsky (on Belmont Avenue 773-477-PAIN or 773-477-BACK), who does herbal, acupuncture, yoga, naturopath (muscle manipulation). For cranial-sacral work, Kathy Tendrick in Hinsdale. For discounted massages from student masseurs, try one of the Chicago massage schools, or the Oshiatsu Clinic in Evanston at 813 Main Street ($35 – contact Liz Wolf). Keith Bergenson (945 W. Sheffield) operates the Center for Integrative Care.

Mechanic:
Steve Wong (5900 N. Block of N. Broadway – contact Nancy at 773-528-4885 for the specifics). Also try Dan Hill (Schaumburg – 847-370-8490)

Financial Planner:
Craig Mickelson (out of the Western Suburbs – possibly St. Charles)

Beds & Mattress:
The Tempur-Pedic mattress is supposed to help provide an incredible, deep, restful sleep; it conforms to the body, and provides more support where it is needed. VS member Lori Swedlow’s family operates the "Relax the Back" store at 1925 N. Clyborn (773-348-2225). VS members can get a 10% discount by contacting Lori.

Consulting:
VS member Louella Krueger Ward provides management consulting services (773-878-5520)

Life Adventures:
VS member Dan is embarking on a 3 month sabbatical, which will include biking from the Midwest out to the east coast. There was some lively discussion around the therapeutic benefits of taking extended periods of time off. VS member Joe Abbatacola helps people have more fun and adventure in their lives, and assists clients with planning sabbaticals, adventure vacations, exiting the career fast track, and preparing for an active retirement.

2) Going Paperless (Joe)
Though a lofty goal, it would be nice to eliminate all paper, and sell your file cabinets on E-bay! Psychologically, organizing your files & getting rid of clutter can open you up, release blocks, and allow your creativity to shine through.

The first step is stopping paper from coming into the home. There were some great ideas discussed at a recent VS meeting to reduce mail coming in, such as putting your name on fraud alert with the credit reporting agencies, and getting off of direct mail lists. With bills that come in, pay them through automatic payment or online, and download electronic statements for your records.

With existing paper files and documents, it obviously makes sense to purge as much as possible. With scanners, you can scan in documents as a PDF file, or convert them to (searchable) text using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. TIF files will take up too much room. Some of the larger scanners allow stacks of papers to be loaded for scanning, versus the one-at –time loading of small scanners. CNET has reviews on-line of multi-function printers/scanners/faxes. The HP5170 is only $300 and works well, but only one page can be scanned at a time. Many problems were reported with Dell’s multi-function units.

Filemaker was mentioned as a good database management system to allow searching for documents and information. Microsoft’s "One Note" is a good tool. Also, Scansoft’s Paperport Deluxe Pro 9. Check out www.download.com to see if there are trial versions of software. A nice-to-have would be when you scan & store files, to include an expiration date, so that maintenance and getting rid of old documents would be a breeze. Obviously, you have to be concerned about if the software you use eventually is no longer available, you will have to migrate all your information to a whole new platform.

3) Spirituality and Retreat Centers (Louella)
Louella shared her experiences from her Machu Pichu. Dave discussed the powerful free lecture that a Shaman presented recently at the Omega Institute in Austin, Texas.

Spirituality Centers - Local:
Advita Sages – Oak Park
Theosophical Society – Wheaton
Shin Buddhist Center – Chicago (Broadway & Leland); service Sundays 11 am –12 pm
School for Exceptional Living - Chicago
Science of Sprituality – Naperville
Temple of Kriya Yoga – on Kedzie in Chicago
Swedenborg Library – 77 W. Washington in Chicago
Chicago Jungian Association – Chicago (Micheal Mead has done powerful retreats to help young me turn their lives around)
Transitions Bookstore – Chicago
Institute of Noetic Sciences

Other Centers:
Omega Institute (Austin, TX, Costa Rica, and the East Coast)
Esalen (Big Sur, California)
Paradise Island Yoga Vacation - Nassau