We're giving Kelly a break today while she works on some great stuff about reverse mortgages. But, we'll still put her in the limelight with an email she sent the other day...

CNN: Buy, Sell or Comb-over?

In recent years, a pseudoscience has emerged around the theory that left-partedness signals leadership potential, while parting on the right suggests a little something off-kilter. Among CEOs of the 50 largest companies in the Fortune 500, only three part their hair on the right.

Here is CNN Money's  hair analysis.

What I want to know is, where is this research? CNN doesn't quote it, and a simple Google search turned up the same quote used by CNN. Whatever the research, our Chairman has got the right looks for the job.

By Paul J. Pickett

As a fan of the Detroit Pistons, I hate the Boston Celtics.

But as a fan of the NBA, I love the team in green and white. They’ve won more world championships than any other team in NBA history (16)…including three during the era I became a fan of the game of basketball and the Pistons/Celtics formed a bitter rivalry– the 1980s.

But that’s the thing – the Celtics haven’t won a title (or even been competitive for one) since the 80s. But this year they’re back and their rivalry with the Pistons may just be renewed.

by Cora Bledsoe

The other day at Starbucks, I had my heart set on a white hot chocolate. What is this you ask? It's like traditional hot chocolate with one key difference -- it's made with white chocolate instead of milk chocolate. So after I get my drink, I drive off from the window with moments to spare before I'm off my morning schedule.

Just before I turned out of the parking lot, I took a look at my drink and it looked a little dark. I thought, "That's weird. Maybe it's just a shadow.” After all, I was peeping through the hole in my sip top. I took a quick swig even though it was still piping hot to verify my suspicions.

Sure enough it was regular hot chocolate. BLASTED!

A while back, Kriste lamented a dispute with T-Mobile customer service, and how hard it was to fight charges on her bill. T-Mobile made good by Kriste and gave her a refund. Her persistence paid off. Next, here comes AT&T with a schedule of fees based on how you pay your bill.

What??

If I happen to be running errands and want to drop my payment off I have to pay extra? And let's not forget what the good folks at Consumerist point out as the really unfair part -- people who don't have checking accounts to pay their bill pay more, too. Yes, you get charged extra if you pay your bill in cash.

This one hits home because somehow I totally forgot to pay my phone bill a few weeks back, and so I called in a payment to make sure it got there on time. Guess what I found on my next bill! Yes! A $30 fee!

AT&T, I'm sure, realizes it's the first place people go for basic phone service. Kinda like Blue Cross is the "insurer of last resort" in Michigan. If you can't afford a cell phone or cable-based phone service, you can still get a basic phone line through AT&T.

I'd like to see AT&T use that situation to improve their reputation, not leverage it to make more money. Can you imagine the power of a movement by AT&T to embrace its position in the community? The ideas are already teeming... identifying community outreach programs is as easy as paying attention to how people pay their bills.

Does AT&T have the guts to make good, too?

When you get to a web site, what kinds of things make you run away? You know... hit the "Back" button, start a new search, or even shut down your browser. Of course, there are the downright offensive web sites, but I’m talking about seemingly normal sites, where you get there and you just can't believe "this company" is in business.

Here are a few examples from people here at Quicken Loans:

1. Circuitcity.com – Ouch! My eyes hurt! And why do they have to use a popup to advertise their sweepstakes? It's almost as painful as trying to find something inside the store. Hm. Maybe there’s a clue...
2. Staples.com – If everything is a link, which link do I click? I literally gasped when someone forwarded me this entry. Out loud. And I work all alone. The guinea pig thinks I'm insane. If I wanted envelopes, I'll subject myself to the corner drug store and pay the higher price, thankyouverymuch.
3. HM.com – Just go there. After I figured out how to pick the country, I still had no idea what this site was about. And then I got there… the US home page. I still don't know what H&M (now that I see there's an ampersand) sells, and the main message is about a podcast. You have to be a hard-core H&M lover already to get past this.

Now, think about the web sites you absolutely love. You know… the ones that grab you in 3 seconds flat and suck you in. Sometimes you’re looking for them, and sometimes you aren't. Seth Godin talks about the idea of creating an experience that attracts people because they're ready for you. We'd like to share some web sites that do a great job of this, and even attract people before they’re ready to buy. This next list of sites make sure you’ll come back when you’re ready to plunk down your cash.

After 10 years, we have finally retired our gas grill. We abused that poor grill through winters and rain and no proper shelter from the flaky Michigan winters. So, we went all out and got an infrared grill from Lowe's. Don't get me wrong, I love the grill. Infrared was definitely the way to go for us.

But I just gotta tell you about the packaging on this thing! You know how places like Lowe's try to sell you the assembly, and, we, thinking we're smart, decided to try assembling it ourselves. Usually that goes bad. We've made that mistake before, and yet we still don't learn.

This time it was different.

Not only was this grill easy to put together, they even packaged all those tiny bits well. You know it – you open the box, and along with all the random big pieces, you get the wad of plastic bags with screws, nuts, and other silly metal things that are hard to identify.

"Which screw am I supposed to use?"

If I were young and cool, I guess I'd say "why I heart WOMMA."

But since I'm no longer either, I'll stick with the traditional. "Why I love WOMMA."

Here's why.

Well, first, for those not in the know, WOMMA is the acronym for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. WOMMA is the trade association for word of mouth (WOM) marketers and currently has around 100 member companies. About half of the members are brands such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Dell, and Quicken Loans.  The other half are agencies that provide WOM services. For the full list check out the WOMMA member page.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend two very special fundraising events. They both made me realize that caring people are not a silent minority and that change can happen if we want it to.

The first event, the Keith Hamm Foundation's annual fundraiser, was a truly amazing night (I went this past Saturday night).  Here's a little background.

Last year I wrote about Quicken Loans VP Mark Miller being named the Michigan Lymphoma and Leukemia Society's Man of the Year for organizing the Keith Hamm Foundation, dedicated to the discovery of a cure for blood-borne cancers. Mark and his close friends created the Keith Hamm Foundation as a lasting memorial to Keith, who died of cancer last year.

This year's fundraiser was a great success and generated over $20,000 for cancer research.

Tax time can be frustrating, but here at the DIFF, we found a super simple chart that Yahoo! Finance posted from the IRS which breaks down when you'll receive your tax rebate by your social security number! However, we must insist you only check it out after you've finished filing your taxes, so get on it if you haven't already....sure hope everyone is getting a refund!

Last Friday, I took the day off to participate in a Read-A-Thon at Savage Elementary, my alma mater in Belleville, Michigan.

I attended Savage about 13 years ago for my 5th grade year. Like I told the kids I read to, it was the place where I realized what I loved to do – write! The teacher who inspired me is still there – Mrs. Larabell. She was also the person who guided my particularly odd memory and encouraged me to put it to use in spelling bees. She eventually accompanied me to the spelling bee district finals for elementary schools, where I took 3rd place. It was one of my prouder moments.

I wasn't the only Quicken Loans team member there – veteran reader, one of my good friends and President’s Club Banker Jim Woodworth also read to several classes. He’s in the picture above with me. And no - I’m not that short, Jimmy is just that tall.

Oh my gosh. I saw this article and wanted to cry.

How could something so good be so bad for you?

Men's Health has put out the 20 Worst Foods in America. Read it and weep.

Please, dear readers, learn from this great list. Next time you crave for that double deep fried overcooked cheesy beefy starchy thingy, think of this list before you scarf it down.

The worst food of all?

Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing which comes in with a whopping 2,900 calories,  182 grams of fat, and  240 grams of carbs. Ouch!

Here at the DIFF blog, we strongly agree that an ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure. Procrastinate and pay a higher price than you should have.

Just like the Boy Scouts, we believe in the motto "be prepared."

Ok, I'm lying. I'm like the biggest procrastinator in the world. I don't do anything until the last minute and that's just the way it is. With the exception, of course, of my taxes.

A wise college professor once told me, "the one place you never want to owe money to is the IRS. They don't like it and they always get what they are owed – with lots of interest and penalties."

Don't mess with the IRS.

I already think the Wii is pretty great. I'm an excellent bowler and can totally hold my own at boxing. Not so great at tennis, though.

And get this: According to Yahoo! Games, the U.S. Department of Energy has made it possible to defuse bombs using the Wii remotes! They've replaced the typical joystick with the ultra-sensitive Wii remote and have made great strides in controlling their fancy bomb-defusing robots. "By virtue of its unique motion-detection capabilities, the Wiimote has streamlined the process and allows operators to focus more on the collected data and less on how to steer."

Maybe I'll work on honing my Wii skills tonight....you never know when I might get called in for some major covert operation to save the world.

Ok, here is my official and promised follow-up to my first post about the Knork last month.

First, I want to thank Lacy Simon, Knork Inc's vice president of marketing. Lacy found our first post (a testament to the power and connectivity of blogging) and sent me two sets of Knorks – a beautiful and super sturdy stainless steel set and a semi-disposable plastic set that's best for camping, picnics, and other outdoor use.

The Knorks have been tested and reviewed by several of my DIFF mates and me. We've scooped with them, cut with them, mashed with them and used them on various types of food.

By Cora Bledsoe

Reading the Washington Post article today about Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination really made me think. I thought back to February when I visited Memphis and had the opportunity to tour the National Civil Rights Museum. It’s located on the site of the Lorraine hotel where Dr. King was assassinated. I went there knowing that it would be interesting, but I had no idea I would learn so much on the tour that I’d never known about Dr. King, his life and the circumstances surrounding his death. 

It didn’t take a trip to Memphis, however, for me to know that although we’ve come a long way since King’s death, we still have so far to go. Many areas of our country are still very segregated and racial, gender and other inequities still exist. No one ever said that the issues would be fixed overnight, but the “one day” in King’s "I Have A Dream Speech," is taking a long time to get here.

Work request for Quicken Loans 
Facilities team, Livonia, Mich.:
Raid Clayton’s desk for gum. 
Watch for random squid 
and octopus hiding in his lunch.
Put mustard packets on 
Ryan’s chair.
Steal Kaufman’s Metamucil 
(and secret diet pills).
Wrap everything on Jen R’s desk 
in bubble wrap.
Create a big banner with “The Reg” and hang it from the ceiling.

A task list like this is what they get when they leave The DIFF Critic in charge for a day. I won’t divulge what happens to people who walk away from their computer without locking it first. Good thing for Josh, eh?

Yes, that’s right! All those crazy folks from the Quicken Loans team that handle web-based e-commerce-y stuff have taken off for the day. (Thanks, Matt… ever since we did away with titles, I have no clean way of referring to this talented group of people!) What’s better? They left me in charge of The DIFF!

But, wait… where did they go? They are all off brainstorming cool new tools and content for quickenloans.com, Q-topia and Quizzle, and probably dreaming up some new stuff that I wouldn’t be able to tell you about yet anyway. And they all went to a cool place – The Parade Company Studio.

We got an e-mail today from our Chairman, Dan Gilbert which almost sent the majority of Quicken Loans team members hightailing it down one of the busiest roads in Michigan - 8 Mile.

The reaction heard across the 4th floor of our building was mixed - "Whaaaaaat?" "Seriously?" "Wait a minute...." until we figured out it was a day-late April Fools joke on the whole company. And I use the word "we" lightly - word is some people might have taken the e-mail a bit too seriously....

After we realized it was a joke (many indicators in the e-mail), you have to wonder - do other company's Chairmen have a sense of humor? If they do, do they use it? Does your leader make you smile? Do you work at a place where fun is frowned upon? I once heard a story about another company (which shall remain nameless) where two team members were reprimanded for high-fiving too much.  Hmmm. Not a place I'd like to be.

I consider myself (and my fellow team members) enormously fortunate to work at a place where having fun is a priority and humor is celebrated. It's this kind of stuff that makes Quicken Loans the #2 place to work in America. In fact, Web Marketing is spending tomorrow brainstorming and enjoying each other all day at an off-site at The Parade Company! I'm really looking forward to it.

Here is the e-mail from Dan (Chairman/Chief Prankster) in it's entirety -

Yesterday was opening day down at the old ball park in Detroit and although I didn't make it down there (Kelly did and got Tiger funky – that's her 3rd from the right) it got me thinking.

Thinking about what baseball means to me and why I love it so much.

And why we REALLY love it in Detroit.  Why we love our Tigers. Even during the dark years of the Tigers being one of the worst teams in history (1988-2006), we loved them.

Most folks I know around here grew up playing baseball for sure, but our love for the game goes beyond a simple nostalgic feeling toward a game you played as a kid. No, for Detroiters, baseball is bigger than that.