Office holiday parties are a time to celebrate the festive season and enjoy the company of colleagues outside of work. But sometimes these parties can get out of hand, causing embarrassment or even serious crimes. Craig Annunziata, managing partner of Fisher & Phillips, a labor and employment law firm, says most parties take place at night with unlimited access to alcohol. The overuse of alcohol can cause people to do or say inappropriate things, whether ... [full story]

You may want to think twice before you toss important documents into the trash at work. Careless disposal methods could lead to loss of confidential information or worse - workplace identity theft. Ira Winkler, a certified information systems security professional, conducts corporate espionage simulations in order to examine crimes against companies. He is then able to tell the company how to shield important documents and computer files. During his investigations, he has come upon significant ... [full story]

Are you feeling under the weather, or is it nice sunny weather that's keeping you from work? According to a survey by CareerBuilder.com, 32 percent of employees said they called in sick when they were healthy at least once in the past year. The survey polled 5,989 workers and 2,929 hiring managers/HR professionals. One in 10 workers admitted to playing hooky from work three days or more. Twenty-three percent of workers admitted to missing work ... [full story]

Would you say your boss is bad, good or great? Leigh Buchanan Inc. magazine's editor-at-large, says several practices separate a so-so boss from a great boss. A good boss needs to be patient and fair. It requires even more effort to be considered great. Here are some of Buchanan's findings: - Bad bosses tend to forget that everyone sees things from his or her own perspective; they only look at the big picture. Great bosses ... [full story]

You may want to rethink what you wear to work if you want to get ahead in business. A professional wardrobe could be as important as showing up to work on time and getting the work done. Sixty-eight percent of employees believe an employee's office attire affects his or her outlook for a promotion, according to a survey by Yahoo! HotJobs and Banana Republic. And 82 percent of human-resource professionals agree. "Wardrobe choices really can ... [full story]

TIJUANA - Armed men burst into Ensenada's morgue Wednesday night and took the body of a man who died in a helicopter accident earlier this week. The group later killed two police officers who attempted to stop them. The dead man taken from the morgue was identified as Pablo Gonzalez. It's unclear whether that's his real name or why such drastic measures were taken to recover his body. Mexican media reported he was a suspected ... [full story]

Q: Can you tell me anything about my "lily of the valley" vase seen in this photo? My grandmother brought it with her when she emigrated to the U.S. from Ireland around 1910. It stands about 6 inches tall and is hand painted with lily of the valley flowers, as well as several other blossoms. Since I was born in May and lilies of the valley grew wild on our property, we always used the ... [full story]

Q: I have been searching for quite a few years for the history of the pitcher seen in this photo. It has a translucent quality and the glaze appears to have been thickly applied. The figures and flowers are outlined in white and it is decorated with blue, green and white dots. There no identifying marks or numbers that I could find and it is in excellent condition. It was given to my great-aunt as ... [full story]

Q: I inherited the covered jar seen in this photo. The lid is trimmed in red and the base in blue. On the lid is the image of U.S. Navy Adm. George Dewey and on the side of the jar is a coat of arms, the date May 1,1898, and the words "Steam Ahead and Follow Me." On the other side is Dewey's flagship, the cruiser Olympia. The overall height is 9 inches and the ... [full story]

Q: Enclosed is a photo of a violet iridescent glass bowl that belonged to my grandmother. She referred to it as a sauce bowl. It measures approximately 8 inches in diameter and there are six matching smaller bowls. They are all in perfect condition. The flowers that decorated the inside of the bowl are in relief. I think the set is around 80 years old.   CARNIVAL GLASS - This carnival glass berry set was made ... [full story]