Olympic Fever

Have you been following the Olympic coverage over the last two weeks or so? There’s too much to watch it all, or you’d never get anything done, but the number of amazing stories, personal triumphs and defeats, come-from-behind victories — it’s everything we love about athletic competition, stuffed into two and half action-packed weeks! What always amazes me is when the coverage is about to shift to a different event, I’ll think to myself “I don’t care about that, it sounds kind of boring.” And then ten minutes later, invariably, I’ve been drawn into the competition, rooting for the American competitors to bring home the medals! So what do you think about the Olympic games this summer? What events have you enjoyed (or not enjoyed) the most? Let us know in the comments — if you’ll excuse me, the Women’s Hockey Semifinals (yes, it really exists!) will soon be beginning and I’m not going to miss that...

The Power of the Sun!

Saving you lots of "Green" has always been our most important goal. But now we're pleased to announce that at the same time, we're also environmentally "Green" as well! Over the last month, we've had just over 1,350 solar power panels installed on the roof of our office here in Oakland, New Jersey — check out the picture! That's enough panels to power around 80% of the entire building! Which means we've reduced the amount of electricity we consume from the power grid all the way down to 20% of our consumption this time last year! That's a huge difference! And of course, not only does it fill us with pride to be reducing our carbon footprint, it saves us money by keeping our operating costs low. Which means it's easier for us to keep our prices at their absolute LOWEST for YOU! Everybody wins! Just one more reason you can feel good about spending your "green" at Haband!

Post-Memorial Day

It was a pleasant Memorial Day up here in Jersey, although kind of hot. Still, we're not complaining, especially when Tropical Storm Beryl impacted so many of our Haband friends down in the southeast. But hopefully the weather was nice where you are and you were able to make the most of your Memorial Day. Whether you spent the day on the lake, at a family barbecue, or something altogether different, we hope you gave pause for at least a moment to remember the true reason we celebrate Memorial Day: those brave American servicemen and women and their families who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. We'd love to hear about your Memorial Day - Tell us all about it in the comments section below!  

April Showers and May Flowers!

No, those are not the names of two of my former girlfriends. I've just come in from working in my garden, so I've got weather on my mind. We had a wetter than normal April up here in the northeast, but according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("Weather Dudes" for short) April was a mixed bag, precipitation-wise across our great United States. Some got more than usual, others less. But hopefully, you got enough of those April showers to be looking at least a few May flowers. As for me, my tomato and pepper plants are really doing well and I hope the lilies will start to bloom sometime soon. What have you got planted and how is it doing so far? We'd love to know!

Graduation Gift Guide 2012

Graduation is just around the corner once again, and I'm sure many of you have children or grandchildren who will be graduating from college and starting a new life on their own.  Picking the perfect gift can be tough and it often seems like they have everything they need already! Maybe… but I doubt there isn't something they could use! Try our gift guide below for some great suggestions — and don't forget about good ol' cash. Who couldn't put THAT to good use, right? ;-D

1. Something for the New Apartment- Many students this year will be moving to a different city - either to start a new job or to find the right one! Something like a single serve coffee brewing system might be just the thing to get your graduate started.
2. Personalized Jewelry/Cufflinks-  For the men add a classy professional look with a some personalized cufflinks.  For the ladies a personalized necklace or bracelet will certainly be appreciated.
3. Tablet or eReader- These fancy new computer Tablets and eReaders seem to be everywhere these days.  Get them the latest tech and you will sure be getting them something that is both productive and fun.
4. Networking Cards- Hopefully the job offers will be flying through the window but realistically they will need to do some job hunting.  Plus you never know when you might run into the one person that can help.  Make sure your grad is prepared with some networking cards.
5. A Family Memento or Heirloom- Nothing makes a better gift then something with sentimental value.  When I graduated my mother repaired an old watch for me that had once belonged to my grandfather.

We're not Down with Down!

The Haband Proggy Award proudly displayed at our Oakland, NJ office!

We're excited to announce that Haband has recently been recognized with an award from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for taking a stand against the use of down feathers in our products! The man-made alternatives we use not only perform better, they're more durable too! But best of all we get to say, to paraphrase what you often see in the credits at the end of a movie, "No animals were harmed in the making of this item!" Because the only thing better than saving money is saving money with a clear conscience, don't you think?

Spring is in the Air

Springtime in New Jersey is a wonderful thing. Of course, the same can be said about Spring most anywhere. Although our heart does go out to all the allergy sufferers in the Deep South dealing with record pollen counts! But outside of that, what's not to like? Nice breeze, flowers beginning to bloom (even earlier than usual this year), and the temperatures MOST of the time fall within that "just right" range — warmer than the cold of Winter, cooler than the heat of Summer.


Plus, there's baseball season! The first regular season game was yesterday, in fact. Which means no matter whether you prefer to watch in person, at home, or at a local gathering place, you can be secure in the knowledge that you will soon be discussing so-and-so's on-base percentage, earned run average, or home run count with co-workers, friends, and total strangers. Baseball must be every statistician's favorite sport! 


But it's true that there are some people out there who couldn't care less about baseball. However, I'm willing to bet you a box of Cracker Jacks® that they have their OWN favorite things about Spring! So what's yours? We'd love to hear it in the comments section — tell us what you love most about Spring!

Happy Valentine's Day from Haband!

To you from all of us here, a very Happy Valentine's Day! I bet you think this is the part where I am going to go into a big, long explanation about the history of St. Valentine, and how the custom of Valentine's Day came to be, and how it makes the greeting card companies, chocolate makers, and florists a ton of money each year — but you'd be wrong! In fact, all we want you to do is think about that special someone and how much they mean to you. Do something nice for them (even if all you have to give them is a peck on the cheek) and be thankful for them. Then, make sure they know you are. To me that's the perfect way to spend Valentine's Day. But whatever the perfect Valentine's Day looks like to you, we hope that's exactly what you receive today. 'Til next time, friends...

Celebrate your Sweet Tooth all this month!

You might not know it (I didn't until today!), but February is National Chocolate Month! Considering the 14th is Valentine's Day, if I had to pick a month to be National Chocolate Month, February seems like a pretty good choice. But did you know that there's more to chocolate than the sweet taste alone? Here's some stuff I came across on the internet this morning:

• Your "theta" brain waves (whatever the heck THOSE are!) can apparently be    raised by the very smell of chocolate, helping you to relax. Makes sense to me - I can't remember the last time I was stressed while eating a Hershey's® bar!

• Drinking a cup of hot chocolate before you eat may help diminish your appetite. So if you're looking to drop a few pounds, maybe that could help. Who knew Mom was so right when she said, "Don't have sweets before dinner, you'll ruin your appetite!"

• Chocolate may provide cardiovascular benefits by helping maintain the "stretchiness" of your blood vessels. It also increases the level of antioxidants in your blood, which I hear is a good thing. And it contains oleic acid, an unsaturated fat that may help raise the amount of GOOD cholesterol you have.

• Finally (and this is the one that really grabbed my attention), at least one study has found that men who eat chocolate live an average of one year longer than those who don't. Ladies, I don't know if the same is true for you or not, but why risk it? Let's all add some chocolate to our diet! And believe it or not you can even get your chocolate fix at Haband! Check out our 10 Box Chocolate Set! That's good for you health AND good for your pocketbook! A win-win if ever there was one.

So if you've always had a Sweet Tooth, live a little and give in to it every once in awhile — you might just live a little longer! And you'll definitely make your February a lot sweeter!

Groundhogs Day

This just in from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania...

Looks like it's going to be 6 more weeks of winter, according to the official weather prognosticator of the Animal Kingdom, Punxsutawney Phil. Although if it's 6 more weeks of the same kind of winter we've been having so far, I think it would be hard to tell the difference between that and an early spring. Most days here in Oakland it feels like spring already!

And don't tell anyone, but according to a study done by the National Geographic Society he's only been right a third of the time anyway - and that's with 50/50 odds! Wouldn't it be nice if you could be wrong 2/3 of the time and still keep your job? Maybe they ought to use an octopus instead - remember that octopus from a few years ago who predicted the World Cup winners? He had a much better record. And besides, Octopus Day sounds way more awesome.

Funny thing about Groundhog Day is, it's not really a zoological holiday so much as an astronomical one - February 2nd is pretty much the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Seems like that might have something to do with the origin of the Groundhog Day concept, as the half-way mark makes a pretty good place to make a guess about what the rest of the journey to spring will be like. But as for how the groundhog itself got involved in the legend I haven't the foggiest idea.

Anyway, enjoy the next 6 weeks of "winter", everybody!

The Year of the Dragon

Hey all, Duke stopped me in the hall today and wished me a "Happy New Year!" When I questioned whether he's been that busy that he's just getting around to his well-wishes, he began to tell me all about Chinese New Year. And rather than me translate his story (and possibly screw it up), I decided to include his memo to all Haband Associates below - hope you enjoy!

Happy New Year, everybody!

Nope, that's not a mistake — and no I haven't spent the last 22 days hibernating! I say "Happy New Year" because that's just what it is — today is the first day of the Chinese New Year! It's also called the Lunar New Year since its date on the Gregorian calendar (the one most Americans traditionally use) changes each year based on the phases of the moon. The Spring Festival — which starts today in many regions of Southeast Asia — lasts for 15 days and is associated with firecrackers, paper lanterns, and the color red. Why? Well, many many years ago, according to the legend, a great beast called the Nian would wreak havoc on the rural villages, preying upon the livestock, and even people. Scary! The usual method the people employed to deal with the beast was to simply hide inside their homes, with doors and windows locked tightly to keep the creature out. One year, someone got the idea of trying to scare the Nian away using fireworks, lighting lanterns, banging drums, and lots of red decorations. Lo and behold, it worked! And it still must be working today because I've been to China during the Spring Festival myself - and while I saw lots of amazing sights and had lots of tasty food, I never saw any Nians!

So Happy New Year to you and yours, whether you're celebrating or not — Now, I'd stay away from the fireworks if I were you (someone might call the cops!!) but if you wanted to hang up some red Chinese lanterns (for good luck or to keep any local Nians away) I've found a neat website to show you just how to make them! And if you wanted to order a red shirt or jacket or something like that in the spirit of the day, I just happen to know a nice little website where you can do just that. What? You know I have to sneak one plug in there!

'Til next time my friends!

Duke Habernickel

Happy 306th, Mr. Franklin!

Today, January 17th, is the birthday of one of our country's all-time most important citizens, a person without whom our lives would be different in more ways than you or I could possibly count! I'm talking about none other than Mr. Benjamin Franklin himself, and from a purely personal viewpoint, I actually owe quite a debt to Mr. Franklin - he was instrumental in the development of both the Post Office and the publishing industry. And without both, there would never have been a Haband in the first place! 

By the way, while I was reading about Benjamin Franklin's life, I also learned a new vocabulary word: polymath. A polymath is someone who is an expert in many, many fields and the term certainly applies to Ben Franklin. Writer, statesman, inventor, scientist, humanitarian - he was all of these things and more. No wonder the U.S. Mint saw fit to place HIS likeness on our highest denomination unit of currency, the $100 bill. (Did you know he's the only non-President to  be honored in such a way?). 

However, there is one thing about which I believe Benjamin Franklin was wrong, and I wonder if you'd agree! When the matter was discussed of selecting our young country's official bird to serve as its symbol, Franklin was not in favor of the majestic bird we recognize in that way today. He pushed for a more, shall I say 'portly' choice - the Turkey! (I'm glad we went with the Bald Eagle, aren't you?)

So Happy 306th Birthday, Ben, and Gobble! Gobble! Your impact is still felt today, over three centuries later. You know, I bet he'd have been a Haband customer, too!