E-Newsletter from Office Supply Services

April 2008

Volume 24

Welcome to the OSS Journal

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the OSS Journal. Each month our newsletter will contain information to keep you informed of new products, helpful information and other topics of interest. Feel free to forward this newsletter to your fellow employees and friends! We look forward to our time together each month and welcome your comments.

Featured Recipe - Tuscan Pork Chops

Editor's note: You can modify this by using Rotel tomatoes to add some extra kick if your taste leans toward something a but more spicey.

Ingredients

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon seasoned pepper
4 (1-inch-thick) boneless pork chops
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced*
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup chicken broth
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons capers
Garnish: fresh parsley sprigs

Preparation

Combine first 3 ingredients in a shallow dish; dredge pork chops in flour mixture.

Cook pork chops in hot oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove chops from skillet.

Add garlic to skillet, and sauté 1 minute. Add vinegar and broth, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet; stir in tomatoes and capers.

Return pork chops to skillet; bring sauce to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 4 to 5 minutes or until pork is done. Serve pork chops with tomato mixture. Garnish, if desired.

*1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic may be substituted.

Yield

Makes 4 servings

10 Ways To Make Your Workplace Better

Check out your own behavior. Are you someone you would like to work with? If not, then work on your attitude, keep your promises, and be less critical of others.

Focus on what's right, not what's wrong. Nothing is perfect, even you! Notice the things that are working and showcase people who are making a difference.

Hang out with the winners. Avoid the negative nanny's and the gossips. They'll only drag you down to their level. You will become like those you associate with so don't waste time with gossips and complainers.

Recognize, reward and compliment those who make a difference. Set the tone and recognize those around you who exemplify a great attitude and who work toward a common goal. Praise others for their hard work and let them know they are appreciated.

Project a positive and confident professional image. Do your job and keep a smile on your face. Don't get caught up in the daily wrangling. See the big picture and note where you fit in and make a niche for yourself. This job may just be a stepping stone in your career so don't burn any unnecessary bridges and always work to improve your job skills. It will make you a more valuable employee and increase your value to the company.

Have a life outside of work. Don't let your whole life revolve around your work. You will become miserable and dissatisfied and make your family unhappy too. Variety and balance outside of your job makes you more relaxed at work and adds to your overall perspective.

Relax, take a deep breath. Don't sweat the small stuff. Not every day will be perfect so don't go on a rant just because the last person to use the copier didn't refill the paper tray.

Recognize change and be ready to adapt. Change is inevitable so be ready to embrace it and make it work for you and not against you.

Continue to grow professionally. Join a trade association and read books and articles that relate to your specific field. Stay ahead of the curve and keep informed of current trends.

Make your work environment conducive to working. If your office is disorganized you'll waste valuable time throughout the day searching for files and documents, replacing lost information and running in circles. Organize your work and your desk space and create an area of workflow that suits your needs and the space you have. Clear out the clutter and make your space functional.

Who Invented QWERTY

We use it everyday. Instruction for using it is taught in most schools but where did the arrangement for the QWERTY keyboard come from?

In 1875, Christopher Sholes with assistance from Amos Densmore rearranged the typewriter keyboard so that the most common letters were not so close together and the type bars would come from opposite directions. Thus they would not clash together and jam the machine. The new arrangement was the "QWERTY" arrangement that typists use today.

Look at the keyboard of any standard typewriter or computer. "Q W E R T and Y" are the first six letters. The first practical typewriter was patented in the United States in 1868. It had a movable carriage, a lever for turning paper from line to line, and a keyboard on which the letters were arranged in alphabetical order.

But Sholes had a problem. On his first model, his "ABC" key arrangement caused the keys to jam when the typist worked quickly. Sholes didn't know how to keep the keys from sticking, so his solution was to keep the typist from typing too fast. He did this using a study of letter-pair frequency prepared by educator Amos Densmore, brother of James Densmore, who was Sholes' chief financial backer. The QWERTY keyboard itself was determined by the existing mechanical linkages of the typebars inside the machine to the keys on the outside. Sholes' solution did not eliminate the problem completely, but it was greatly reduced. QWERTY's effect, by reducing those annoying clashes, was to speed up typing rather than slow it down.

The new "QWERTY" arrangement is the one that typists use today. Although typists' speeds quickly surpassed the one- and two-finger speeds achieved by early typists on the original alphabetic keyboards, the actions on the newer typewriters kept improving to keep up, and the jamming problem did not recur. Sholes himself was granted a patent on an improved keyboard arrangement in 1896.

Get the New Greener Office Products Catalog

OSS is please to introduce our New Greener Office Products Catalog, the catalog of environmentally friendly office products!

The Greener Catalog is one more tool in an effort to becoming environmentally conscious at work. The new Greener Office Products Catalog offers great selection and competitive pricing with more than 2,500 SKUs on more than 100 pages that are environmentally focused. Products are offered in categories such as office products, furniture, technology, janitorial and maintenance products and much more!

Contact your sales rep or call our office today and ask for your copy of the new Greener Office Products Catalog and start making a difference! Visit our website to learn about how to be more environmentally conscious.

In This Issue

Featured Recipe of the Month

10 Ways To Make Your Workplace Better

Who Invented QWERTY

New Greener Office Products Catalog

Featured Product - Warehouse Sale!

Featured Product

Spring Warehouse Sale!
Clearance on all Overstock Seating While Supplies Last!

Hickory Chair

Visit our web site to see our complete selection.

You can now see our entire inventory of overstock and returned office seating on our web site! Most of these task chairs, executive chairs and side chairs are brand new and a few are gently used and feature manufacturers such as HON, Allsteel, La-Z-Boy, Hickory Chair, SAFCO and more.

Visit our web site here and see photos of our current inventory. Each item is pictured and prices start as low as $10! Free delivery is available in our standard service area. Call our office or contact your sales representative for more information.

Our warehouse has many brand new (some outdated) and some slightly used furniture items that need to be sold at a deep discount to make room in our warehouse for new products. In most cases there is only one of the items available as shown and the item is no longer available for re-order. It will be noted if more than one is available. The condition of the product will be listed to the best of our knowledge. All sales are final and no returns are accepted.

You may visit our warehouse and see the items prior to purchase by appointment only. Please contact your sales representative or call one of our customer service representatives for more information.

Fabric colors and lighting may not always provide the best representation here. Please bear this in mind when making your purchase decision.

Click here to see our selection today!

Order online 24/7 at www.ossone.com

Office Supply Services Inc.
704.786.4677 - 800.248.0525

Fax - 704.786.0440