I swear at times it really does seem to be true that when one thing breaks, everything breaks. A couple of weeks ago I somehow managed to lose my phone, presumably slipping out of my coat pocket at a movie theater (that’ll teach me to shut it off rather than turn it to vibrate). Within a week, while I’m continuing some hope of finding it, my wife’s phone does not slip out of her coat pocket while she gets into the car and the shuts the car door onto her pocket, phone nestled snuggly inside. Suddenly her phone’s display is completely out and it holds a charge for one, maybe two minutes at a time.

In normal circumstances we would just take out losses and buy some used unlocked phones off of Craigslist or Ebay and pay the $20 per phone activation fee to Verizon. However, just as we’ve done this, we are now sitting a mere 4 weeks away from the end of our 2 year contracts. You would think that surely Verizon would have some sort of method of pro-rating if something like this happens so that you get, say 23/24ths of a discount off a phone, alas, this is not the case. Instead we are caught between a rock and a hard place and living in the stone age of *gasp* no cell phones! How ever will we cope?

My good friend is leaving her job soon and recently discovered that the job is being offered for significantly more than she is getting paid (roughly a 20% increase). Perhaps this might be expected if they were looking to hire someone more qualified/educated or if a number of years had passed and they needed to keep up with living expenses, however in this case she has transformed the job to include a multitude of different responsibilities since taking it on—so much so that the position is now going to have assistants (paid as much as she is currently)—a mere 1.5 years ago. In fact, the replacement will not even be given as many of the responsibilities as she is currently, instead giving some of the responsibilities to the new assistants.

This brings up the question—is this fair? Does the employer have a responsibility to increase an employee’s salary according to their worth? From a strictly capitalist standpoint, that is of course not true. Employer’s pay as little to their employees as they can get away with and employees attempt to negotiate a wage as high as they can get away with. However, the not-for-profit world is a curious one which has many unwritten rules, such as: often working unpaid overtime to keep everything running in the understaffed office, buying small supplies needed out of one’s own pocket, and of course there is an understanding that you will not be paid as much as you would for the same amount of responsibilities in the private for-profit world.

The more cynical part of me understands that this underpayment is probably due in large part to her giving notice that she would leave for grad school within 1.5 years almost immediately upon hiring. Normally an employer would have incentive to give raises to a promising employee in order to avoid losing him or her to another company. However, given the short timeframe and inevitability of her departure, that incentive was pretty much non-existent for her employer.

At the same time, knowing what I know about the non-profit world, I think this was probably also a bit of poor management. Keeping an employee happy is not just about preventing her leaving, but also because happy employees are simply better employees. Even if it’s just a sign of appreciation and encouragement, a raise after a 6 months to a year was in order. Perhaps the problem was the her boss just knew her too well—that no matter what she was going to work her tail off until the end.

Well after putting it off for quite some time, we finally got a laptop yesterday. This is also my first interaction with Windows Vista. Most of the press I’ve read has been largely negative e.g. it is overpriced, it is buggy, it is slow, it is not enough of an improvement.

Personally, I don’t think the overpriced thing is very warranted. Sure if you compare it to Linux it’s very expensive, but the hassle of finding compatible software for Linux is the same reason why I was so eagerly looking forward to switching from a Mac to a PC when I left high school. Since laptops have to come with an OS I had to buy something whether that be Windows XP or Vista Basic and the $40 upgrade to Vista Premium doesn’t seem that crazy for the additional tweaks it provides to the operating system. I imagine the people complaining about the price are the same people with BitTorrent running 24/7 on their computers.

I’d like to tell you whether it is buggy or slow, but right now I cannot give the opinion at all. This is because Dell has flooded my computer with a monumental slew of adware, spyware and demo programs!! Perhaps if I was more computer savvy I would know exactly which programs were necessary (such as those that need to run in the background for the soundcard, video card, modem, etc.) and which ones are completely superfluous, but I think that might take some time, unfortunately.

The final criticism is that Vista is not enough of an improvement over XP. From a first impression, I’m inclined to agree with this. When you look at past jumps from Windows 95 to Windows 98 to Windows XP, it just seemed like there was more there in the progressions. That said, there are definitely some aspects I do appreciate, such as improving on the nested menus from the start menu which I never liked dealing with before, the instant search function right on the start menu, the ability to click on a specific section of a file path in the explorer window to go to that folder, and finally, yeah, the (admittedly-gimmicky) way of scrolling through windows with Windows+tab keys is pretty neat.

I was intrigued when it was first released that Microsoft was about to unveil a ‘top secret’ product. I have to say though, it was a bit of a let down (as these revealings often are) when the Microsoft Surface was unveiled. First there is the problem with the orientation. Perhaps I am a bit biased due to suffering from whiplash this year, but there is a reason why computer monitors, television sets, chalkboards, mirrors and other objects you need stare at are parallel with your eyes. Who in their right mind would want to awkwardly bend over a table for an extended period of time. In what has become a very rare occurrence lately Tom Cruise had the right idea:

I mean, I know standing up is a passing fad these days, but is it really worth this hunching over?

In one of the main promo photos, they even have one of the models kneeling on the floor to avoid the hunched-over look:

But perhaps most importantly of all, what is the point? Since when did sorting through photos with a mouse (or alt-tab or arrow keys) become so cumbersome that I need to buy what surely must be a table costing thousands of dollars? Sure the technology looked pretty, but at the end of the day, all it seemed like was using your fingers as a cursor to select different windows and expand or reduce them and the part where you place something on the table and it connects is not much of an upgrade from current Bluetooth (or other) wireless technology.

It’s possible that maybe I’m looking at this too much from a home consumer perspective rather than a business perspective, but until I see some concrete actual examples of why this would at all practical, I’ll stick with my now horribly outdated flat-screen high-contrast high-resolution monitor, thanks.

Continuing on from my previous post of packing and moving is a resource I should really come back to in a couple of months at wikiHow: How to clean an apartment before moving out. I’ve definitely had some very interesting experiences in that awful situation that is retrieving your damage deposit. My first experience with this was with 4 college football-playing roommates who, in an alcohol-infused haze, decided to commemorate their victory over a division rival by writing the score on the wall in permanent marker and then signing their names underneath. Unfortunately for me, in another alcohol-infused haze they also got themselves kicked out of the dorm, leaving me to do all of the cleaning at the end of the year, including painting over their chef d’oeuvre.

My next house had a pretty hilarious situation where my roommate's fiancée, who had lived there rent-free for the past few months, put herself in charge of divvying up the cleaning responsibilities. Her solution? One person clean one bathroom, one person clean the other bathroom, one person vacuum the stairs, one person clean the living room and one person clean the kitchen. Anyone who thinks that sounds like a fair distribution clearly has never done the latter before leaving an apartment (think fridge, stovetop, oven, cupboards that had hardly been cleaned in 2 years, all with everyone's stuff still in them).

After that delightful situation was a summer apartment where I somehow managed to forget to clean the oven (though I thoroughly cleaned everything else). My landlord’s response? She kept the entire damage deposit, claiming she had to pay over $150 for someone (read: her friend) to clean the oven and the rest of the deposit she kept in order to replace the garbage disposal that I had requested over a month ago for her to repair! It was at that point that I decided to really do some digging into how Tenant Law worked and found, to my pleasant surprise, that at least in Seattle, they are written rather largely in favor of Tenants. So, with the law on my side, I waited 14 days for the legally-mandated itemized checklist from her, received nothing and wrote a letter informing her of this requirement she had not met. In less than a week I received 90% of my damage deposit back in a mailed check with no note attached.

My last painful clean-up job was with roommates who were an unfortunate combination of lazy, dirty and conniving (they were in charge of divvying the remaining deposit money and I still suspect they received a larger deposit back than they claimed before giving me my 'share').

Thankfully, now I live with my lovely wife and the only damage deposit I foresee myself losing will be due to a pair of mischievous cats who insist on breaking every blind they can get their paws onto!

Well, while I am still carefully considering which direction to take my career, whether that be business school or whatever else, my wife has decided to attend law school in Washington D.C. starting this August. This is great step for her, but the first step, moving cross-country, will be quite a difficult one. Our first reaction was to look into the classic U-haul approach. However, once we started to add up the costs of such a rental considering the enormous mileage we would need to pay for as well as the trailer we would need to tow our car with (my wife doesn’t drive unfortunately), we started to really contemplate just how much of what we have is actually worth. This of course doesn’t even cover some of the horror stories I’ve heard from sources regarding the reliability of these moving trucks and the nightmare that would be breaking down on a 100+ degree day in the middle of Kansas.

In retrospect, it was a very good idea from a financial standpoint for us to buy most all of our furniture used from Craigslist since now we don’t even need to consider the enormous cost of moving furniture across country. Now however, we have a very finite limit of what we can take (what we can fit into the car without putting too much of a load on the poor vehicle) and it is always amazing to see how many possessions one accumulates in such a relatively short time. Furniture is not the only item we will need to sell or give away through Craigslist. There are paint supplies, kitchen appliances, weight sets, camping equipment and host of other items that start to really add up. We would consider sending some possessions through slow shipping media mail or freight shipping if we had an address to send it to.

Another possibility to consider are these containers like Pods and Upack, but for now we’re just going to focus on achieving a Zen-like detachment from our possessions and toss them into the vortex that is Craigslist.org.

An old adage is that the best way to effect change is with your wallet. It's nice to see consumers of XM satellite radio following this often unheeded advice.

Last week, radio shock jocks Opie & Anthony were 'suspended' for 30 days (and according to some rumors, possibly even fired) after a guest on their show made what XM deemed 'inappropriate' comments on the satellite radio channel that has until now prided itself on its lack of censorship. While it is possible that this was just a reaction to the recent uproar and eventual firing of Don Imus due to inappropriate over-the-air radio comments, speculation is abound that it was in fact due to the possible impending merger between satellite radio companies XM and Sirius which would need approval from government regulators who might not take kindly to the obscene comments made that detailed fantasies of sexual violence towards government officials.

While recently sponsors withdrew following the comments of a shock jock (Imus), in an ironic twist now sponsors and consumers alike are withdrawing following a parent company’s disciplinary response to a shock jock's comments. It is impossible to be completely sure of what caused this situation to be reacted to in a completely opposite manner than the Imus situation. Perhaps it was Imus' declining popularity, a different attitude of his audience, or even the specific subject of his comments (does our society have a higher tolerance for misogyny and violence than racism?). However the consensus seems to be that Sirius and XM's appeal has not just been its lack of commercial breaks or original programming that it also has proudly advertised, but perhaps most of all, its role of serving as a safe haven from the ever-reaching arm of censors.

According to recent data, sales of the Hummer H2 fell 27% last year which was preceded by a 22% drop the previous year. Is this it? Are consumers finally turning green? After its original monstrosity, Hummer came out with a reduced-sized model, AKA the H2. That still wasn’t enough and more recently there has even been the yet smaller H3. Is the impending discontinuation of these models a sign that consumers are beginning to be environmentally conscious? Honestly, I extremely doubt it. Just like recent radio actions, the only motivation that consistently moves people is money. I complain about $50 fillups at the pump, but that’s is a bargain compared to what these guys are paying each week.

So why am I so skeptical about people’s motivation? For the same reason Fox News is so popular or why some watch the Daily Show every night but no other news program or paper, or why the people in my office who watched An Inconvenient Truth in the break room during the lunch hour were people who already whole-heartedly accepted the theory of Climate Change while one of my co-workers, who was immediately disdainful of the movie because of it being with that “Gore” guy and believed Climate Change was really ‘more of a religious question’ sat at her desk.

My point is, people in this day and age only expose themselves to a specific segment of media with a truncated range of ideas. As such, only in extreme cases do people have a large shift in their beliefs and priorities. The people buying hybrids are coming from Civics, not Hummers. The people coming from Hummers are probably limiting themselves to bastions of efficiency like the Navigator or Explorer. Environmentalism (with the exception of protectionism) only really began in the last 30-40 years. Its going to take much longer than that before a real paradigm shift occurs.

I have to put the word out about a GREAT movie I saw last night that just came out: Hot Fuzz. I hadn't really hear anything about it until we decided to go see a movie and saw it was playing at the local theater. It had very good ratings from IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes so we took a chance and it certainly paid off! A lot of it is a satire of cop movies from the 80's and 90's, but it's much more than just that. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard throughout an entire movie (though Borat certainly had its moments). I forget sometimes that although the price of movie tickets can be so expensive nowadays, the audience factor can be so great on a movie when an entire crowd of people is laughing together (the laughtrack effect--though I hate canned laughter on TV shows). So go see this movie in a theater while you still can!

So who else tried to make that argument in math class "How is this practical? When am I ever going to use this?" I know that I did and had fellow classmates who wholeheartedly agreed. Unfortunately for future defenders of this point of view, there is a clear cut example of just what math can do.

James Simons, a math professor and now head of a leading fund manager earned $1.7 BILLION last year. And this is not one of those cases of a CEO rolling in bonuses while the company flounders. His fund has earned upwards of 34% annual returns.

This scenario begs the moral question of whether these hedge funds (and other technical analysis traders) are contributing anything to the market which they profit from. They might argue that they are filling gaps created by market inefficiency while increasing the liquidity of financial markets, both of which can positive benefits. Federal Reserve chieftains of past and present have referred to it as 'greasing the wheels of capitalism'.

Others argue that it is manipulating wealth in a secretive manner to create more wealth while providing no good or service. It can't be said there is no argument in in this viewpoint---the methods are secretive and it is a process which leaves no tangible byproduct. It is interesting to note that the fund managers featured in the Alpha magazine report refused comment to the New York Times which might be an indication of their belief in how much water their defense holds...

When did we seem to just stop paying attention to these gas price increases? It somewhat reminds me of the casualty numbers in Iraq which were reported on a daily basis at first but then gradually slipped outside of the media's blinders. I know that some SUV or other large car owners probably won't be sympathetic, but my sedan was $1 short of 50 yesterday! We went out for dinner and a movie and the gas was more than both of those put together (even with these ridiculous $10 movie tickets nowadays)! I just looked around and apparently there are reports now that gas will soon be hitting $4 a gallon. Is there any end in sight? At least I can take solace when observing my English in-laws, some of whom pay upwards of $150 at the pump!

One of my current interests in my spare time is currency trading. I find the whole field of technical analysis of markets quite fascinating. One of the major characteristics of Forex (foreign currency exchange) is that the huge volume of the market creates extreme liquidity where one can buy and sell millions of dollars worth of currency in a matter of minutes. This 24 hour market holds many traders who make their living holding positions for just 3-5 minutes at a time, shooting for a small gain combined with the large leverage many brokers offer nowadays. This is why one trader who makes posts on some currency exchange message boards is beginning to stand out. "Jacko" as he is called, uses the single-minded strategy of only trading his favorite currency pair (the Euro/US Dollar), only in one direction and only at round numbers (1.3100, 1.3200, etc.) as well as the occasional buy on dips in the trend and 50% retracements.

Now some might be skeptical at first, saying that this is really just due to the bullish run of the Euro in recent years, but he is certainly no Monday morning quarterback, as you can see in a post he made last year predicting the huge run we've seen for over the past year.

He is a breath of fresh air among the day trading scalpers who make thousands of trades every year.

Having somewhat 'grown up' with the rise of the internet (I can remember computer labs devoted to teaching my classmates and I how to use it back in 1994), I can remember when it had an extreme biased towards younger people. As a result, your online persona never would really interact with the older generation. When Myspace, Friendster and Facebook initially came out, this seemed to be the case as well. However, as my generation has grown up and the internet expands to a larger and larger cross-section of society, this is certainly no longer the case.

Increasingly prospective employers are looking up their candidates online to gather more information on them which might not be known. This New York Times article from last year gives an example of a recent graduate who had been hearing no responses from job applications until he removed a satirical essay he had written online under his real name.

It doesn't just stop at jobs either. My wife, who recently has applied to law school, is part of an online community of fellow prospective students. Even at such a relatively small online community (at least when compared to mega sites such as Myspace), many suspect admissions committee members browse the site, connecting members accounts with their application, sometimes to adverse results if they speak ill of the institution or anything else inappropriate they might have said while under the mistaken assumption of anonymity.

Some tips when using an online persona:

1) Google your own name--make sure nothing that comes up (that you can have an effect on) puts you in a bad light professionally.

2) Keep online personas anonymous whenever possible. If you feel the need to put your last name there so that people can find you, look into making most of your info available only when someone has been confirmed as a 'friend' through the site (an option most social networking sites have).

3) If the above two options are not heeded, at least BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY ON THE INTERNET

Sincerely,
Anonymous

Obviously an important question to ask myself when pondering attending business school is what job I want out of it? What type of job that an MBA will help me get is desirable. I found an interesting sample of some of these jobs that are recommended for twenty-somethings looking to begin their career. In other words, me. For if I don't find something in a listing of "Top 20 Jobs" that I would like, I should really reconsider what I'm heading towards.

Thankfully there definitely are some jobs in there that look interesting. The first one listed in fact, Product Manager, sounds great to me. Although it sounds like one of those jobs with a crazy amount of work, it looks like a job where I could be able to use my creativity, problem-solving and general business skills (which I assume will have been augmented after going through an MBA program.

Of course, all this is easier said than done. I imagine a job with that level of responsibility is rarely simply handed over to fresh grads...

As I pay my taxes this weekend, numerous complaints about our insane taxation policies come to mine, but the following just seems like there could be no earthly reason to justify: why can we no longer file taxes online for free?? Starting this year if your household adjusted gross income for a joint filing is a hair over $52,000, you are no longer allowed to use a free filing service. So let's get this straight. I have to PAY, in order to GIVE MONEY to the IRS in a method that makes it EASIER for them!? By submitting my taxes digitally, the IRS gets to: handle less papers that take up physical space, they can easily crunch numbers for statistics, they can easily crunch numbers to determine whether an audit might be advisable and most importantly of all, it would cut down on errors on both sides since numbers are automatically calculated for taxpayers and automatically transcribed for the IRS!! I can only come up with two possible reasons why this policy is in effect:

1) Tax preparation companies such as H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt have spent a great deal of money and effort lobbying the Ways and Means committee and others.

or

2) The IRS is a bureaucracy like any other, i.e. they have an inherent bias to either grow or at least maintain the status quo. After all, it would be very likely that an increase in efficiency for them would mean a reduction in employees and budget.

Meanwhile, it seems all I can really do is cling to my pipe dream of the Fair Tax where this annual headache and waste of time would be abolished.

The now-infamous Aqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare in Boston has brought to light the recent increase in guerilla and viral marketing techniques from companies. The move makes sense really when you look back at the evolution of advertisements. It began with the simple testimonial approach at the beginning with '9/10 doctors agreeing', celebrities telling you their product of choice, or fellow 'housewives' telling the audience what products work from them. Then around the 80/90s there seemed to be a move towards simply placing products next to sexy images (to the point where advertisers such as Budweiser were satirical of themselves in years to come). It makes sense that this gradual move towards subtlety would eventually result a new emphasis on Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOM). I can't help but feel this really caught on with Ronco infomercials and his "if you promise to tell just 3 people..." sales pitches.

It's even got to the point where entire companies are devoted to increasing this WOM advertising, such as BzzAgent where consumers are paid to conduct WOM advertising among friends. Does this bring up an ethical question? Companies like BzzAgent claim that there is no condition that forces the product 'ambassadors' to give positive reviews--but is it not somewhat implied? When someone cooks me a free dinner, I don't give them an objective critique of their product. Heck, even at the grocery store where they are giving out free samples, I feel it impolite to say anything negative about the free food I was just given (as if the employee heating the product up in the microwave cares!).

At the end of the day though, as long as people are not being seduced into pyramid-scheme rip-offs or products dangerous to their health, does it really matter? If my friend subconsciously influences me to buy a diet Pepsi instead of Coke next time I'm at the vending machine, does it hurt anyone? (well besides Coca-Cola that is!). Perhaps the best argument against it is that we may be at beginning of a dangerous downhill slope?

Reading about successful business entrepreneurs, the lesson that seems to come through the strongest is that contrary to some public perception, having a successful business is not a easy path to riches, but one of tireless work, long hours, concentration, patience, and absolute commitment to success. Attempting to start one's own business with anything less than 100% commitment to the endeavor is the surest and quickest route to losing one's business, savings and mind. This is nothing new of course in the arena of entrepreneurship as we see in this old photo of an inventor selling his new "bulletproof" vest to the police department.

An interesting article in the BBC news today how a simple foreign accent can impart so much meaning to someone’s perception of a person, particularly in America. I was lucky enough to do a bit of traveling after high school and it was very interesting at the hostels how the Americans seemed enamored by British/Australian/New Zealand accents while the reverse didn’t seem to be true much at all. My theory is that its due to the overwhelming exportation of the American entertainment industry where other English-speaking countries are inundated with American accents to the point where it’s commonplace. Conversely, in America we only come into contact with the occasional accent in the media and it’s often used purposefully to add something to personality/character, whether the stuck-up Brit Simon Cowell, the friendly Australian Claire (Lost), the English gentleman Jude Law or the posh Robin Leach on Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous. This is where the article is particularly interesting when they interviewed a former real estate agent who used it to market a product to appear upscale which is not a rare occurrence when you think of everything from Lexus car commercials to even Sheba cat food!

I don’t like to mix politics into this blog too much but I feel like this is something any American should be educated about. Whether for or against the current action in Iraq, it is surprising how many of us (government officials included) know so little about the differences between Sunnis and Shiites (or ‘Shias’). This is a great summary of some of the primary differences between the two groups of people who we are fighting and/or helping over there. Surely a better education on this can only help general understanding of the issues often being discussed such as federalism, multiculturalism, secession, civil war, etc.

Time management has always been something that has plagued me, particularly when I was a student. Most time management advice I have read or heard has been mainly fluffy and vague. Recently, however, I came across David Allen and his Getting Things Done (GTD) approach. I’ve had a chance to read some of the stuff in his ‘free’ section (great that he gives away a fair amount of free advice instead of just teasers for his books and seminars) and in contrast to most of what I’ve read before, he has some great concrete advice such as exactly how he sets up and uses his PDA as well as specific categories he uses for organizing incoming work. Its some great stuff that I hope to learn better and try to incorporate into my day to day life. Certainly something that will come in useful should I go into business school and especially in a career in business afterwards.

This is the kind of innovative business where you're pulling for them to succeed. Pizza places seem like one of the most common small businesses to open. It seems easy--some dough, tomato sauce, cheese and cut up toppings and you get to charge 15+ bucks for it, right? The problem of course becomes that many see this and you get a litany of pizzarias opening up that all seem about the same regardless of whether they're chain or locally owned. Therefore its great when someone actually puts a little innovation into this somewhat-tired industry. The layout and functionality of the site looks great and so does the corporate culture. Hope they make it to the U.S. someday!

Well the Oscars have come and gone and I most definitely did not watch it this year you might think is strange considering I made a good effort to see most of the major movies leading up to it. Besides the fact that I wasn't greatly looking forward to Ellen Degeneres hosting (too bad Billy Crystal can't just do it forever), the movies this year have really been disappointing. With the exception of Little Miss Sunshine, I hardly cared much for anything in 2006 (Prestige is the only one I would add next to Sunshine). The Departed was a pretty unoriginal cop/mafia story that would look pretty sorry without its all-star cast. Babel seemed like it was just trying to fit the mold of a 'powerful-movie-with-a-message', but just seemed bland to me. The Queen was interesting at first since I didn't know what it was about and thought it was bold to do a movie on something so recent as that without the guide of memoirs or first-person narratives, but it somewhat bored me after a while since I knew where the story was going and nothing seemed to really grab my attention. I never quite felt in the mood for Iwo Jima, so I can't really comment on that, though it didn't seem like a movie I'd particularly love. The only war movies I've liked in the past have satirical black comedy thrown in.

It's certainly possible that I just missed the movies that I would have liked better. I still haven't seen the foreign films such as Pan's Labyrinth, the Lives of Others and The Science of Sleep.

Regardless, here's hoping 2007 picks it up!

Whole Foods has just announced that they've merged with Wild Oats. I always find this an interesting practice where companies are getting a little competition from another company so what do they do but simply buy them out. I better know "Wild Oats" as "Henry's", where I go to for the kind of items Whole Foods carries without the ridiculous markup. In the summer the differences in pricing between those two stores' produce is incredible--I remember them selling 7 lbs of oranges for $1 at one point. Hopefully Whole Foods will keep Henry's as it is and just leave it as filling a niche that their main store does not--the way that the Gap has Banana Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch and the Gap to bridge niches in the market.

No matter what though, at least I'll still have good ol' Trader Joe's!

Zillow's Report Card: Proceed with caution

Definitely one of the coolest Web 2.0 sites that can be used for business out there is Zillow. The basic premise is that it is a real estate service company which combines satellite data with value estimates of homes all across the country. Certainly not without criticism, but a recent article from the Wall Street Journal found that although it is surprisingly accurate most of the time, approximately 1 out of every 10 of these "Zestimates" can be woefully off by 25% or more. Still, as a ball park figure, it certainly can aid both buyers and sellers estimate the homes value. Furthermore, Zillow is always in development, having created a wiki recently with possibly more such tools in the future. As always though, a market comes down to how much a buyer is willing pay for the good and how eager a seller is to relinquish it. This is something a general algorithm will never be able to accomplish with complete precision.

Recently Wal-mart executives (ironically joined by union leaders from other parts of the country) made a public call for Universal Health Care to be offered by the state. Naturally, given the general public perception of Wal-mart's altruism, many are skeptical of the multi-national corporation's true intentions. Certainly it can't be ignored that getting taxpayers to fund their employees' health care benefits would save the company billions of dollars--perhaps even increase employee productivity among those who are not covered by the health plan (over half). Perhaps this is being a bit too skeptical though. I do think Wal-mart gets a disproportionate amount of negative attention simply to due to being the biggest of the retail superstores since it makes them the most cost-effective for advocacy groups to target. I must agree with them however, the current plan of depending upon employers to give health benefits is certainly not working fantastically, with 45+ million Americans uninsured, with Wal-mart being a prime example of this.

When searching for a used car to buy last month following getting rear-ended, I decided to subscribe to Consumer Reports Used Car Buying Kit, which although seemed quite expensive ($24) was probably worth it in the end given how much money was being spent on the car itself. I must say the website is very useful. From the Buying Kit, I went from being very sure I would get a used Nissan, to finding a Toyota Avalon that I am very happy with yet I knew next to nothing about the Avalon model before seeing it as a recommended car on the website. Not only was the Kit extremely helpful, but the website itself is very useful for other random consumer reviews such as: hefty being superior to glad, Trader Joe's dishwasher detergent being very good, Wal-mart's laundry detergent being easily the best buy and Sears' vacuum beating out the much fancier and expensive Dysons. I doubt I'll keep up the subscription, but I think I might print out some of these reviews while I can...

In what is probably unsurprising news to those of us at the pump, Exxon Mobil recently reported the largest annual profit in U.S. history, $377 billion (beating the previous record that was held by none other than Exxon Mobil with $370 billion the previous year). Alongside them Royal Dutch Shell set a personal best as well this year with $25 billion.

Now I am someone who respects a company with a sound business policy that satisfies customers and makes huge profits, but this is just an antitrust robbery! How else can a company make these sorts of achievements while really doing nothing to improve the way they do business? There has been no significant raise in demand for their product, yet they thrive. Obviously I'm not the only one to be a bit shocked by all this, and yet nothing continues to be done. Given the current state of affairs, it seems like an alternative product or perhaps a cut in demand for oil seems the only way Exxon Mobil et al. will cease to continue setting records at the expense of frustrated consumers.

I continue to ponder what to do with my career. I do know that I need to move my career forward somehow seeing as I want to eventually support a family, but right now I’m unsure as to ‘how’? Paying rent, bills and all other expenses at the same time as attending business school seems like so much to take on right now. I’ve had many people further in their careers warn me about the perils of taking on a huge student loan. The only solution I can really see is attending an online business school while working full-time, which seems like a lot, but could definitely be the best available option. Simultaneously I’ve been looking at learning day-trading which just from the outset, is a tidal wave of necessary knowledge and potential risk from my current perspective. Then again, I suppose going into the business world always presents significant risk as is the case in any open market. Right now I will continue to look at both options for the future, studying for the GMAT and reading up on technical analysis and hopefully come to some sort of decision.

Or who knows, maybe some day I can do both 

Easily one of the biggest stories in the world of business today is Microsoft's impending release of Vista . Those of you who read my previous tirade against Apple's business practices might assume I am happily anticipating this release. However this could not be further from the truth.

Reports are that Microsoft worked extremely hard at this upgrade, pouring in billions of dollars, but what really came out of it? Rounder corners? (Isn't that what XP did?) Translucent window edges? (Who cares?). Certainly one thing it is reported to do well: eat up an enormous chunk of your computer's available RAM.

Right now as I use XP, I don't really see anything I 'need' from an operating system. What I love about windows is its compatibility where millions of people around the globe develop great freeware that I can use with XP. I need something to find files instantly? Download Google Desktop Search. I like Mac's visually appealing program launcher on the bottom of the screen? Download RKLauncher. Don't like Internet Explorer? Get Firefox and the tons of compatible extensions. There's even a Windows XP Vista theme that has fooled some people into thinking its the $200+ new operating system.

Still though, people will upgrade to upgrade, businesses will tack it on to their ample IT budget just like they did with flat-screen monitors in what seemed like increased DRM ability that Micro$oft has its eye on, Vista being a bit of a Trojan Horse.

Really though, this is still mostly speculation, though one thing I feel comfortable speculating is on Microsoft's current business model allowing Vista to make them a whole lot of money.

Update on the car crash-

Well over a month later and this car crash business is still affecting us. I've been driving around in a rental car for a few weeks now- finding a new car has not been easy. After paying for a consumer reports package on how to look for a new car I have been searching through the different models looking at reviews, recommendations, and blue book values.
My priorities were: good gas mileage, low road noise, enough room to cart things about (not a 2 door car), relatively safe and not too expensive to maintain. Then of course my budget- $3500- $7500 (I received $3200 for my totaled car)

So firstly I was looking at Camry's and Corollas, both highly recommended as reliable on consumer reports, easy to maintain being so popular- easy to get parts for etc. I had actually got as far as deciding on a specific 2000 Corolla a few days ago (I was loving the gas mileage in these times of Global Warming.) When I drove it however, it really did just feel a little too small- it just didn't feel safe- particularly as I now know what it is like when an SUV hits a much smaller car. After weeks of research and looking at cars I felt back to square one. Still with the rental car at $35 a day I knew this was no time to give up for a while and today I can report good news!

I DID finally buy a car! It is a 1998 Toyota Avalon with 100k miles. Its a few more miles than I was hoping for, but apparently they run as long as Camrys (~250-300k) since they have the same engines. It also has more room in the back/trunk and they say it gets great gas mileage--30+ on the highway. Also I managed to pay a little over $1,000 less than for the 2000 Corolla (with 83k on it).

So yay- our Chiropractor appointments still continue but we do have the car part out of the way!

A recent big piece of news from the business world was the iPhone. On January 9th of this year, Steve Jobs unveiled what had been strongly rumored by salivating Apple fans. I must admit, I come from a bit of a bias having quite a distaste for Apples. Although I grew up on them, and can see some of their benefits, overall I hate their business plan.

Now that's a strong word, but I'm surprised its not a stronger sentiment among consumers (Apple seems to be growing quite well since Jobs' resurgence and the emergence of the iPod). I'm surprised that more consumers aren't taken aback by Apple's attitude of forcing their customers to use their hardware only as Apple sees fit. At first it was restricting software for the Macintosh computer, then it was the dreaded iTunes music service on the iPod (I particularly dislike how it is impossible to have a subscription service) and now, in a similar attitude they are not allowing the future customers of the iPhone to install software on the Mac OSX that the device is running as well as forcing customers to use a specific phone service, Cingular instead of the current preferred carrier (where I live currently, for example, Verizon has much better service).

However, even with my problems with how Apple does business, I must admit, it does look pretty amazing.



I just hope there's some truth behind the the rumored "Googlephone" or else I might find myself betraying my business principles!

The first step of starting your own business is an idea. Something about your business must be original in some way, correct? It might be something as plain as a location for a franchise store where there is a market niche, or it might be a revolutionary technology. I have yet to come up with anything ground-breaking for sure, but I thought I'd put out an idea I had to my readers. Feedback is of course welcome.

From what I've seen, there are people out there who might have no problem drinking a $2 Charles Shaw alone, but would feel awkward putting it out for guests. Yet these same people might not want to shell out the $10-15 a bottle or more when sering at their house to their 20-something year old guests who can hardly tell the difference beyond seeing an interesting label from a respectable locale such as Napa, Chianti or Bordeaux. This is where my product would step in. For a relatively low price, we would ship stickers of fictional yet exotic-sounding wines that can be easily applied onto any bottle. Sounds shameless, but in this age of anonymous online ordering, I believe there's a market!

Oh and no stealing! ;-)

Well apologies all for the lack of posts recently. I have been involved in a car crash and have been spending a lot of time dealing with the many repercussions that come along with such things. It does seem horribly unfair that even when you have done absolutely nothing wrong you still have so much to take care of. Insurance can only do so much.

The accident happened as follows: I was at a stop light which then turned green and I set off down the street, meanwhile a guy coming in the other direction decided to suddenly turn across our line making a left turn. Crazy behavior causing me to throw on my breaks all of a sudden. The big SUV behind us then ran into the back of our car.

Following the accident things didn't seem so bad, our body work in the back of the car was messed up, but the car seemed almost drivable. My wife and I both seemed fine, apparently no injuries. One of the craziest things was that the guy who turned across our lane causing the accident just drove away not stopping. Luckily we got his license and handed it over to the police. It appeared the lady behind us was to be full responsible however, she was very apologetic and exchanged details with us no problem. We sent the car into the shop and spent the remainder of the day in a good amount of shock, but otherwise fine.

Next day we awake and my wife's neck is killing her, she hadn't been able to sleep all night, my neck is similarly sore. We are advised to seek medical attention and have spent some good time now with a Chiropractor. The next brick to drop is that our car has been totaled. Weeks after spending $1500 on the clutch we are now going to be given just $3200 for our car- it's gone :-(
what seemed like a small accident has turned into a nightmare, with medical bills, neck braces, rental cars and many many decisions to be made. Life is suddenly a whole lot more complicated.

've been doing some more reading into technical analysis with the intention of eventually day-trading some of my investments. So far most of my reading has been establishing the base of reading price action—looking for trends through support/resistance levels, patterns such as triangles and wedges, and reversal signals such as heads-and-shoulders and triple-bottoms/tops. My understanding is that these are really meant to be side-additions when interpreting signals from tools such as moving averages and oscillators which I'm just beginning to get into now. There's a fair amount of me that's still a bit skeptical of the field of technical analysis, but I know that there are people out there who are successful at it, so why not me?

Wow, my recent Thanksgiving trip to Seattle has certainly made me question the idea of moving away from California for school. It was so so cold up there, and that is nothing to what it would be like in DC or New York. After a while I guess I have just started to take the San Diego weather for granted. It had been a long time since I had seen endless rain like that, so depressing. I swear it affects my mood. It certainly makes it more difficult for me to get up in the mornings, my 6.30 am mornings in SD are tough at first, but as soon as I pull open the curtains and see the bright blue sky I always feel ready to get up and go. Hmmmm I wonder if I will always feel like that? Anyway it makes the idea of an online or local education far more tempting when I head out of this city.

My new favorite site: kayak.com
I just love this site- the layout is wonderful, so easy to use. The flights are always the best deals around- such a refreshing change from Expedia et al. I love the way it just sends you to the correct airline's site. Mainly I love this site because I feel no need to shop around, I just use kayak and know that this is most likely the best deal there is and can stop looking. So many hours of time saved.

I recently spent the day kayaking with a lady who went to Harvard Business School for her MBA. She was showing me how many doors it has opened for her- she really has been able to have three very separate careers since that time, all doing very different things and all thanks to her time at HBS. This has lead me to a little more research on MBAs myself.

This article on 'What's an MBA really worth?' is certainly a little gloomy and suggests that skills learned in business school are not necessary to make one a business leader. The social networking they do concede to be important however, and point to Harvard in particular as offering a big leg up through the close knit ties you make as a business student.

An article in business week suggests however that an MBA is usually worth the costly investment (getting to over $100,000 in some cases). Or at least that most graduating with an MBA will have no trouble paying off their loans when they enter into thier 6 figure starting salary jobs (the article is not so clear as to whether the MBA is needed for such a career path).

This site offers some wise advise as to when to enroll in an MBA program- namely when ti is most necessary for your career. This is unlikely to be right after undergrad, but maybe important somewhere down the road in your business career. The site also mentions that an MBA really is important for getting into the top echelons of a business.

So conclusion- Getting into Harvard Business School or Wharton would be nice :-)
Otherwise it seems best to leave the MBA for a little while, get more experience, and make use of it when I really know what I need it for.

Currently I'm reading into day trading. At first glance, my 'too-good-to-be-true-so-it-probably-is' alarm went off. That was until I discovered the sheer volume of literature on the subject and the enormous population who participates. Right now I'm looking through what many consider to be the standard literaturen for the practice: Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John Murphy. Not exactly an all-night page-turner, but it is a very comprehensive introduction to Technical Analysis and day-trading. I plan to follow Murphy's book with a couple of other books on the mindset and psychology that is necessary for day trading. I've read from several different sources that this is a vastly underestimated necessity for anyone who looks to succeed in day-trading. Hesitation, second-guessing as well as over-confidence can be disastrous. Hopefully with a few books under my belt, I'll be able to gauge my confidence level and decide whether to invest the capital needed to begin trading.

Headed up to LA this weekend.
Saturday evening we stayed on Beverly Blvd. and went out to a Comedy Club to see Doug Stanhope, it was a lot of fun. First we had dinner at the club and were pleased to find out that all those who came for dinner had thier seats reserved for them, which meant we got a really top notch spot, right at the front.
The first act was a woman who was about the most unfunny person I could ever imagine. Her jokes revolved around premises such as- using Star maps instead of real maps and Canadians having free health care meaning they just go and have CAT scans for fun, if this wasn't enough she never expanded further than the premise of the joke. She just simply stated it in one sentence and moved on to the next one. Every time a slight courtesy laugh.
The following two acts were much better, although a little cheap in their use of almost purely offensive subject matter. This gets a laugh without any sort of cleverness and is, I think, a little lazy. Still Doug Stanhope himself was great, just long streams of consciousness, moving effortless from one topic to the next, often having five different jokes running concurrently and never seeming to be at all concerned that he was on stage and needed to entertain people. His humor was often smart and inciteful. It was a very fun evening.
Next day we headed of to Buena Park for a trip to Knotts Berry farm. After a very successful trip to Disney's California Adventure earlier in the spring we were eager for more theme park fun. Unfortunately we were a little disappointed. Knotts certainly had more roller coasters than CA Adventure. The Excelorator and the Silver Bullet being among the most fun, as well as a few others, but there was something just wrong about the park. After a morning of wandering around a little disparities we finally realized what this was- there was no theme. CA adventure is a wonderful celebration of everything great in this beautiful state, from the boardwalks of Santa Cruz, to the mountains of Yosemite, to the vineyards of Sonoma the diversity and beauty of the State is all included. From the minute you step in through the mini golden gate bridge to your trip down the fake Hollywood Blvd. You really feel that you are in California, even our beautiful State Poppy is celebrated.
Contrast with this a theme park whose theme is some mix between Peanuts, Pioneers, God Bless America and every tacky children's toy that can be sold at different stands. No thought has gone into the layout of the park, each ride seems to have just been plonked down wherever it might fit. The result is that the only time you really enjoy are the 50 or so seconds you spend on each ride. This isn't good enough.
Additionally the management of the park was poor, no single rider line, no fast track system and no comprehensive map explaining about different rides. The entertainment was hilarious and by far the highlight of the day. 20 kids all dressed up in the colors of the flag singing songs about our wonderful nation and how everyone else in the world wants to live here- really great for the international tourists that was. Worst of all there were maybe 2 drinking fountains in the whole park- not fun in Southern California.

All this got me thinking that the tempers business is really quite fascinating, the difference between an excellent and a really poor job being manifested in so many ways. I've spent the whole day reading Amusement today and the IAAPA ( International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) . I've even found that you can study themeparks. Maybe I will have to think about doing my MBA with a focus on themepark management, I think it would be fascinating to work one up from mediocrity like Knotts to something really great,

Went to a very fun Halloween party last night.

First let me proudly say we spent a total of $14 on our costumes (for the two of us.
I was Clark Kent - Superman t-shirt covered in white button down shirt, black pants, glasses, gelled back hair. Of course top buttons were down to show the Superman T-shirt below.

("I'm very mild mannered" in case people didn't quite catch on. )

My wife was Hermione Granger. Black dress and coat, red scarf, black witches hat, back combed bushy hair and topped it off with a S.P.E.W. badge.
"You can't apparate or disapparate inside the Hogwarts grounds- haven't you ever read Hogwarts, A History."


Anyway, lots of fun was had - some jello shot eyeballs, and other interesting Halloween delights were on offer. The best costume we saw was Lil' Kim in her jail uniform, big booty and all. The worst costumes being soccer players (three different ones, none of whom incidentally knew anything about soccer).

The Prestige-

Wow, what a great movie. Still in my mind I am going back over little details, tiny little plot and character items that had been placed, early on to set the scene. Now that the movie is over and their significance realized this film is even more appreciated in its magnificence. Even now several hours later I am still a little blown away by this film.

Christian Bale was of course just amazing, a really and gritty performance. Hugh Jackman was also so great that I barely made the connection with the actor- this was not what I would have expected for Mr. Jackman. The rest of the star studded cast all did wonderfully, and indeed this was one of Michael Caine's better choices (we still haven't forgiven Miss Congeniality).

At times the plot of this movie seemed slow, but it was all important after the fact, this was simply setting the show, setting the scene for the amazing prestige. Mind you, a movie not for the faint hearted and the rather more gruesome aspects of the movie are still horrifying me as I speak.

Of course you are guessing right to the end, and I am heartily glad I saw the movie before anything was spoilt for me.

i do not want to say too much more, as I am afraid to give too much away. but worthy of Oscars certainly this is an incredible movie that must be seen. Just be warned, if the birds upset you, this is only the start.

This morning at the Hillcrest farmers market I saw my old Boss, (a typical Nazi head chef type). Even just seeing him made a chill go down my spine. It makes me so grateful of my current job, which although perhaps not as excited as work in a kitchen, I nonetheless do not live in constant fear of his tirades. That sort of living is so tiring.
I really don't appreciate having nice bosses enough, what a difference that can make! One of my friends is currently having real trouble with her boss. she loves her job generally, really enjoys everything she does, has no problem working very hard and is really dedicated. The boss however is driving her to a point where she is almost ready to throw in the towel. In contrast to my old nightmare boss, this is not a guy who storms and yells. Rather he is quiet, passive aggressive and is his most hurtful by simply not answering questions he has no interest in and failing to appreciate a single thing that she does.
It is a frightening thing how much power our bosses can have. However crazy and unstable they might be as individuals, however poor their judgment might be, they nonetheless have our future careers in their hands, and through a less than stellar recommendation in the future can possible alter our course for the worst.
Tomorrow is Bosses Day. Something I really think is a stupid excuse to eat more unhealthy food and donate to Hallmark. Nonetheless now appreciating how lucky I am with my bosses I think I will throw in a few dollars for the bunch of flowers our office is planning on getting our top exec.

Hmmm going back to the joint MBA/JD thought and I just don't think it really would have any value. Well, I mean that it just wouldn't be worth it. Plus I am the last person who needs to procrastinate further! I need to decide MBA or JD, or whatever else I will do and just get on with it. It seems to me the joint degree option is really just for those who can't decide, those who have big eyes, or those whose parents will pay for them to do both, and end up with a prestige worthy son/daughter. Searching around I really honestly haven't found a place at it is useful. Especially the option at Northwestern. I mean if you can get a JD or an MBA there you should be pretty set, there's just no reason to do both.

Considering an MBA or Accounting Degree

Recently I've been becoming more and more attracted to the idea of an MBA. I've been hesitant at times due to hearing from some people that it is a degree which attempts to teach skills which cannot be taught, that succeeding in the business world is not about learning theories in the classroom.

Part of my recent change in preference has been due to my internship at a start-up company. It's not until I really dived into the business world up close that I realized how much there is to it that can be taught in general. Business plans submitted to investors, marketing techniques, basic accounting, these are concepts which the people I'm working with would have been fortunate to have learned prior to actually attempting to do it. Theirs has been a process largely based upon trial and error, meanwhile their time line for attracting an investor for their company draws nearer.

Setting my sights on an MBA also gives me more time to really decide if this is what I want to do. Since many MBA degree programs not only recommend, but require students to get multiple years of work experience before entering their programs, I can use this time to not only build my resume but explore other opportunities, including deciding whether this is the right path for me. Hopefully this current internship will do even more to help answer that question.

Until then, if you're interested in getting your MBA, here are some resources I highly suggest:

• How to become an accountant
• Career Information on Accounting
  
• Online MBA
• Types of MBAs
  

Well after hundreds of Craig's List purchases and sales I think we finally have our house the way we want it. The final touch was posting our beat up old coffee table for free (it went in about 1/2 an hour) and finding a replacement. We were so lucky in finding a replacement, some guy up the street - about 3 blocks from our house, selling a really great light wood table, with a matching end table. All for the wonderful price of $25. I think we should be able to make money off this one.
Not so much with the Lazy Boy sofa bed we just bought- got torn on the way in and took the value down t least $100. Oh well you win some and loose some.

Best purchase of the month: Our King Sleigh bed, with accompanying wonderful mattress- all for $450. Not cheap but certainly value for money. I haven't woken with a single back pain since!

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,

I am really loving this show. I'm so happy to have something to replace the WEst Wing so adequately. It certainly ids the best new show of the season. I guess I am still not entirely sure that I like Amanda Peet's character. She does not seem believable and is not as strong as Sorkin's female characters like CJ and Abby Bartlet.
Still I think Matt Perry and Brad Whitford are just great, and it is really nice to see Timothy Busfield also- great role for him. The writing in the show, from the dialouge to the humanity simply puts every other show on television to shame.
One thing I am not quite happy with is the female comic lead, she just doesn't seem funny. Still I will give her a chance, and in the mean time enjoy the show and be inspired to move to LA or New York and start working in television. It looks so exciting and I love how Sorkin removes the trivial.

So, always one to wonder about the value of an MBA, I've been thinking about the advantages of a joint JD MBA, specifically at Northwestern. The program is joint with Kellogg school of business and Northwestern Law school. You end up with a JD and an MBA in just 3 years. First year and summer are spent at Law school, second year at Business school and then the third year you do both. It certainly is exciting to think that in 3 years you could come out with such a huge qualification. Still, I'm not sure what its actual value is. I was also a little put off at first by the thought of having to take the LSAT and the GMAT, but it turns out all you need to submit is your GMAT score.
Still it seems that the majority of students come out working in a law firm- so why even bother with the MBA- but I do like the flexiblity it would give you.

Wife's birthday today.
Her sister e-mailed her yesterday to say happy birthday, her other sister talked to her today and 'didn't realize it was the 28th already in US. so I guess between them they got it right. Her Dad thought she was 25 today, that;s not until next year.
Still we had a fun day, Birthdays are very important to her. I got her a pink Ipod Nano, so thin I can't really believe they make them so small- meanwhile my mother also bought her a pink Ipod- well I guess it shows that was a good idea and now she gets to walk around saying she got 2 pink ipods for her birthday rather than say that her family forgot what day she was born :-)

I saw this new business idea today from Germany about a breaking up agency. It really seems like a stretch and I can't imagine why people would actually invest money into such an idea. It sounds like something out of a futuristic novel. I mean if you really don't want to see someone ever again, why on earth would you spend money on breaking up with them- with all the technology of text messaging and e-mail why would you waste your time and money? I guess we'll have to wait and see if the idea actually takes off, but I doubt it.

Well Craigslist works its magic again. We have managed to sell our TV and our Love Ac for the price we paid for them. It's so great, I think I will just keep changing furniture and appliances every few months, probably good for my brain or something- they always say variety is good. It's also a good thing not to get too attached to anything. That way if we have to pick up and move some day soon it won't be a big deal, we'll just sell it all with no regrets.

Sitting at a beautiful beach front restaurant this weekend I started to wonder why it is that San Diego does not develop its water front more. With the nature of Mission Bay, Coronado and La Jolla Cove, the coastline is immense, it seems bizarre that people haven't grapsed this opportunity more often, especially as it seems you can add an automatic $10 per plate onto a dinner entree if you have a sea view. It's not like there isn't development, the waterfront beach houses are endless and gorgeous. I just feel they would be more profitable as restaurants.
The same is true of the river, in Mission Valley particularly the San Diego River is just beautiful and yet there seem to be no river view restaurants at all. It's one of my dreams, I still hope to open a waffle restaurant one day in San Diego, and I think the river would make a perfect setting for that, nice deck outside, make use of that beautiful free externality.

Why is it so much harder to sell things than to buy them? I have been rearranging my house this week and hope to sell my television and love sac, sadly this seems to be a lot of work and sadly no takers.
Hopefully it will simply be a case of fixing on the right price and then suddenyl BOOM everyone will want them. Still this does seem like a lot of work, and at the end of it I don't come out with cool stuff.....

Pet Peeve of the week:

Blogger's spellcheck. It is just awful and doesn't recognize the most common words. Then when I spell a word wrong by missing the first letter it comes up with some completely random ideas for words I might have missed.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhh

Oh and by the way it didn't recognize 'Blogger's' or 'spellcheck'

I was just recommended this new site: headbutler.com . Very nice review of books, movies, TV shows and indeed all sorts. I was immediately struck by the article on entourage- show we have found ourselves watching at those times when working seems impossible.
At first I hated it, so shallow- I mean what exactly is the point of the show? But then I started to get into the characters, and certainly as Headbutler says, the humor. Ari Gold is a hilarious character, although there is no one funnier than Johnny Drama, played by Kevin Dillon.
One thing that really bugs me however is Eric or 'E'. This character shows no talent as a manager, never really does anything and you wonder what on earth he is paid for. He's also really goofy looking and his liaisons with the intelligent, attractive, affluent Sloane are not even slightly believable.

Still, it's a pretty good show, certainly has some excellent banter written in. I'll be glad when the decent TV shows start back up though.

So today I was sitting at work filling out my time sheet, and sorting to get very very annoyed. This week my semi-boos, (well she is a little above me, but really I do much more than she does) had a flat tire in the morning, she never showed up the whole day! This woman is off sick or on vacation pretty much one day per week, goes home with a headache plenty of days. Filling in my time sheet and having to leave out Monday, a federal holiday, but unpaid for temp employees like myself it hit me how she was getting paid not only for that Monday, but also for the flat tire day and every other day she finds an excuse for. Meanwhile I do her work whilst she plays around on the internet. I was told months ago I would be made into a permanent employee and yet here I am still waiting.

this avenging after work I then went over to my internship, I had been working on a project for them that they were having some trouble with. It has been quite a challenge but is just in the area I am good at- sorting out spreadsheets, making new systems etc. They were so appreciative of everything I had done, and amazed at how quickly I had done it. The difference was certainly stark- if only these guys could even afford to pay me as a temp!

Just watched the season premier of House MD. It was actually really good, the new House fresh from last season's operation is a very interesting character and I love the struggle he has to understand his hallucination and himself. I heard the other day that a theory for the writing of House is that conversations between him and Watson are like the two sides of one's mind. Now I have heard that I can't watch the show without thinking about it.

Looking forward to this labor day weekend. Somehow a three day weekend seems so so much longer than a two day one. Prehaps it is just because my wife is not working this saturday like usual, but it seems like we will be able to do so much.

Prime things on the list: BBQ in Mission Bay Park with friends and Snorkelling with Leopard Sharks in La Jolla. Should be fun, I really want to get into snorkelling. then of course we can catch up on chores, watch movies, cook a nice dinner together.

Can't wait, what I wouldn't give for a 4 day a week job!

Sitting in the car on the way back from a coworker's birthday lunch I was being told of all the many benefits my current job has to offer if I were to be employed full time. Three and a half weeks paid vacation, a weeks unpaid vacation, some of the best medical and dental coverage around. Sometimes it is really hard to make myself dig in, quit this job and move onto something more worth while. At the end of the day I know three and half weeks vacation only really amounts to $2500, nothing compared with what business school will cost me. Still the thought of lying on a beach whilst being paid is some how incredibly appealing.
However I have my resolve, I have already started my internship and know I am heading down the right path.

I am definitely not going to cave in and watch Prison Break tonight. Such rubbish, and yet easily to be drawn into I know.

I was shocked with the Emmy results last night- how on earth did 24 win anything- it is just really really bad television, and how it could win where there are pretty decent shows like Lost, House MD and of course the West Wing (which really should have won). Then there was the most ridiculous of all- Kiefer Sutherland after being denied best actor several years in a row suddenly won for his performance as Jack Bauer- yikes. What exactly did he do better this time?

I don't really understand why these awards exist at all, they are utterly meaningless. The only thing which made any sense was Alan Alda's win- very much deserved.

I went to my proposed internship tonight after work. Met a few more people in the company and looked at some projects I could get involved with. It all seems very positive. They are very aware of my needs and trying to work with them accordingly. I think there is probably a lot I can learn and get out of this opportunity- still taking things kind of slow seems like a good idea for now.

Watched the season 2 premier of Prison Break last night. Utterly awful. I will be happy to give this years season a miss.

Firstly- the last season ended with the prisoners in the dead of night, surrounded by helicopters and police and just totally about to be caught. How would they escape we all wondered. Well, it seems we will never find out as the writers obviously had no clue either. Next thing we see it is daylight and they are still running from the police, the helicopters, the cars etc. Totally ludicrous. They then manage to throw off their pursuers with the aid of running in front of a mile long train- the oldest cliche in a book.

This all followed by a ridiculous FBI agent who makes unbelievable leaps in logic to follow Schofield's every move. And of course a plot all too much a rip off of the Fugitive.

The only good thing I can say is that they killed off the moronic Veronica.

I went to look at the internship tonight. It seems really interesting , a great bunch of young people in an amazing startup with a great concept. Definitely something I could get my teeth into. they were however very reluctant for me to quit my job and join them. They are currently looking for investors, if this doesn't happen it is likely the company won't really get its feet off the ground.

Still it does seem like soemthing very exciting to be a part of, and I would definitely learn a lot and be able to push myself into new skill sets. If the company does get off the ground then who knows- maybe even a job down the line.

It is an interesting decision, I don't feel like I would have too much too loose even if they don't make it. Worst case scenario I go back and find another admin job. You neve rknow what doors will open for you until you get there.

To start out I am going to just go in there a couple of nights a week, without quitting my job. then I will be able to make an informed decision.

Pet Peeve of the week:

I really hate it so much when people send me a group e-mail that starts: "Sorry you guys for sending a group e-mail, I really hate group e-mails but its just the only way I can keep up, the only way I can write to everyone"

Of course it is, it is the same for everyone, that is the reason people send group e-mails! All that you do by starting this way is to make everyone who ever sent you a group e-mail feel really bad about it, whilst conveniencing yourself with this handy solution to keeping in touch.

Arrgh!

Still considering the internship possibility. One thing I keep coming back to is that this time in life must be for education, not quite at any cost, but almost that way. It will be so hard to learn later on in life. I am not learning much right now as an admin assistant. I mean I have discovered a world of mail merge and every other facet of Microsoft Office that will no doubt be useful in the future, but I think that I have almost reached a brick wall.
This internship I may not learn too much, but surely I will learn something, and possibly a lot. It will open new avenues of thought for me, stimulate new ideas, make me aware of a world of business perviously closed to me.
The lack of income shouldn't concern me too much, college can be $30,000 a year, and this wil be free....

I just had my first real conversation with the head of the start up company I may be interning at. He wanted to make sure to give me some disclaimers about working at a start-up company like his before we get anything started. His warnings were that a) there's not really money for the company to grow at the moment as they are currently seeking investors, b) there's very little delegation and no 'employees' so to speak since the company in its current form is only made up of a few people and c) I would probably be given very open-ended projects with little direction (which I think would be very good for my development). Now the plan is to come by and check the place out with some more face-to-face time.

I'm somewhat on the fence with this internship. On the one hand, it sounds like a fulfilling field as well as a lot of room for creativity and challenges. At the same time, however, it is a significant investment of time, energy and potential money (since I'm working for free instead of somewhere else) without any guarantee of what I will be able to get out of the experience, both in terms of learning and my resume. Hopefully this introductory meeting will help the decision-making process.

Well I have one new angle to peruse in the internship spectrum. I have been hoping for a while to get involved in a small business where I could make my mark and get the feel for what a young start up is like. I wasn't quite sure how to go about this, but fortunately I now have a contact in just what I have been looking for. It is a small company that works with both charities and local business for the mutual benefit of both. As a start-up I hope that interning there may well lead to me being given more responsibility than prehaps would occur at a larger organization,

Well I shouldn't get ahead of myself, but this does look promising

Okay,

Decided that interships are teh way to go- at least to figure out what on earth it is I want to do with my life. So- I have volunteer training at Project Wildlife this wednesday which should at least give me some idea if working with animals is really as appealing as it sounds, then I am looking around for an internship in a political office (most likely city council) another interst of mine. I've doen the cooking thing and definitely decided it wasn't forme, the only remaining area seems to be to get some experience in the business world, see if I like it and then gain enough experince t apply for my MBA.
It seems the economy is slowing and joblessness is on the rise, which makes it all the more important for me to pick the right career I think, and certainly to get the relevant experience ASAP.

New Business idea:

A bit of background-
when I would first go to my now wife's parent's house one thing I was a little surprised by were the strings and srings of pleated garlic hanging all over the kitchen, I hadn't really seen such things before. There were strings of onions also all pleated together by thier leaves. Aparantly every time the family would go abroad to Spain or Portugal they would pick up loads of these strings and bring them home as gifts for friends, and of course to decorate thier own kitchen. They would buy them from local markets, villagers having strung them together. Of course these strings never quite work for me and my wife, we get through the garlic and certainly the onions so fast that the strings never last too long. However they look nice and certainly add a rustic feel to a kitchen. So when I spied a few at our local farmers market this weekend I wandered over to get a look, thinking I might buy a string. Then I saw the price tag......... $22! and this was for the tiniest string, only about 10 heads of garlic. I couldn't believe they could get way with charging that much.

So simply idea-undercut these idiots. Maybe this business idea is not for me- but someone who has a piece of land- grow some garlic string it up and get selling!

So I started doing a bit of a search for internships today- just to see what is out there and my main conclusion- WetFeet.com sucks! Everyone had told me this is the ebst place to look for internships but it is just awful, so commercial and only comes up with those scammy internships they show you on craigslist where you work for "environmental groups" and basically stand on the street with a clip board.
Still google it seems is a much better tool for this than Wet Feet, and I found agood list of internships in the Bay Area which is where I may well be living.
gspp.berkeley.edu/career_resources/docs/intstats_2006.pdf

Maybe I can also try Craigslist up there as it seems to be a lot better than the one we have down here (Not that I am moaning San Diego Craigslist- you are great on the furniture side of things just not so hot with jobs and volunteer oppertunities.)

Still feeling very unsure of myself and the future- getting conflicting advice coming in from all over the place.

I have been talking to people who say you should not even bother applying for an MBA unless you have 5 years work experience- 3 years being the absolute minimum.

Other people have been telling me how useless a Masters Degree in Policy would be and how it isn't worth the money.

I just don't know- it seems like one of the best things that comes out of either of these is the contacts and the internships. So now I am starting to think if this really is the bet thing to come out can I not just do the internships without the high tuition costs and the seemingly almost useless piece of paper at the end? I am going to start looking around for internships and see if this would be a possibility- if it doesn't work out I can always apply the year after.

So one more year and I will be half way to fifty. Yikes I am getting old, 24 is probably time to start making some decisions. I feel like there is nothign I am sure about anymore, like I am undeciding things more than deciding.

I don't have a clue about career yet, which means I don't know what education path to get myself on.

I don't know where I want to live- I thought it was San Diego, but then now I think probably not, I thought it was California at least, but now I think I am not even sure about that, I'm not even sure if I want to live on the West Coast. I uess we are pretty sure we want to live in the US, but even then sometimes we change our minds.

I think we are pretty sure we want three kids- but if there was ever anything as unrealiable and almost unplannable as that.... and even if we do have three kids how can we afford them.

Hmm, I thought life would get less confusing as I got older, not more.

Today we decided to make a big lifestyle change in the pursuit of happiness.
Stop watching the shows we watch all the time, stop with any unhealthy food/ and other such habits, start conciously saving money. My wife wants to get rid of the TV altogether but I'm not sure about that yet.
On the proactive side, go out for more walks, go to the zoo more, go to the beach occasionally, go hiking, camping, snorkelling. All very idealistic probably but I think we should give it a shot. stop feeling so lazy and tired all the time and start to refuel our energy.

I celebrated my 1st wedding anniversary this weekend- an impressive feat I feel, we have at least beaten all the celebrities. In truth it all went by rather quickly, and it amazes me that peoples marriages could ever last less than a year. I guess those are the people who sit around not doing too much else, with tons of time to over analyze.

Anyway my wedding anniversary made me come up with a great new business idea- well it seems it has already partly been done- but I think I could do it better. For those of you (most likely guys) who don't know, each wedding anniversary corresponds to a different material. 1st year is paper, 25th silver etc. Now there are also "modern anniversaries"

Traditional / Modern
1 Paper/ Clocks
2 Cotton / China
3 Leather / Crystal, Glass
4 Linen / Appliances
5 Wood / Silverware
6 Iron / Wood
7 Wool / Desk Sets
8 Bronze / Linens, lace
9 Pottery / Leather
10 Tin / Diamond
11 Steel / Fashion Jewelry
12 Silk / Colored Gems
13 Lace / Textiles
14 Ivory / Gold Jewelry
15 Crystal / Watches
20 China / Platinum
25 Silver / Sterling Silver
30 Pearl / Diamond
35 Coral / Jade
40 Ruby / Ruby
45 Sapphire / Sapphire
50 Gold / Gold
55 Emerald / Emerald
60 Diamond / Diamond


Personally I think the modern ones are a bit dumb- (desk sets? clocks?) plus they have diamonds 3 times, when the only time a diamond might possibly be worth buying would be after 60 years of marriage.

Anyhow here is the idea, create a web business that not only provides great ideas for dealing with all these anniversary gift types, but also sells you some of the ideas. Now this About site almost does this, but I think it could be made much more fun, appealing, and commercial (non offensive commercial) surely just what any guy has been looking for.

My mom's thoughts:

seems like the thrust of response to this world cup has been sadness of defeat.
who would have that that uber-successful Beckham would evoke such
sympathy. But the photos of his response to the loss, his
resignation, even the photo of him returning to England with "wife and
child" were so sad. Joy, such as Ghana's at making it to the initial
rung of the finals matches, fades to the past.
Germany who handled loss with such dignity and acceptance, good words
to say for the Italians even, just took away from the fun of Italy
pulling through. Now I am unrealistically thinking maybe scores
shouldn't count unless unless at least 15 minutes are given to the
other team to respond pull something together) plus Italy also has
these game fixing allegations to deal with
Brasil, whom I truly hoped would win -- at least somebody from
another continent should be there at the end -- seemed to evoke the
least sadness -- I was stunned and in disbelief --I love the fun and
enjoyable skill show-off-ness that can be part of Brasil's play ---
but I did not feel the tragedy of defeat. Is that because of less
coverage and media sympathy/empathy for non-first world/European
countries? Or because the assumption that they will be there strong
again next world cup, so a loss is just a little blip.. Or maybe that
the game still has more elements of fun there?
is the world cup too big, with too much riding on these single games.
luck/serendipity can be such a large part of a too highly evaluated
prize. It needs to be more fun, more communal joy, less tragedy.

I thought it might be interesting now the world cup is over to post some thoughts from my friends and family as to how it all went.

Here for a start are my wife's thoughts:

It was really quite a disappointing world cup. Not so much because chosen teams didn't get through (although that didn't help), but there was just a lack of excitement, very few goals scored, very denfensive football being played and far far too much coming down to chance alone. I didn't think any of the teams in the semi finals deserved to win the world cup. I guess we had been hyping it up after having so much fun last world cup and this was a little disappointing.
I think our situation didn't help things either- last world cup we were in England on a break from school, watched all the games live (usually along with Ben, Harriet, my dad and my uncle Stephen). This year we often watched in the evensong after the games had been played (which for me somehow is not so much fun), almost always by ourselves, and were deprived of the excitement of a surrounding Nation. Even at Little Italy on Sunday we found many of the people were just there to party, or be belligerent rather than actually watch the game.
I think I am changing a lot too- I don't think sport deserves the emotional energy and substantial time I used to give it. When I was 16 years old I was the most fanatic football fan. Going to all the Cambridge United games I could, watching every Premiership match on the TV, the European matches, everything. I knew every player, every back story- I loved it so much.
However after a few years- mainly after taking a break from it all in Brazil, I realized that it was not worth my time and energy. The leagues I especially found to be so transient. There was no real loyalty- players who had been at a club for years would suddenly start to play for their arch rivals, provided they were paid enough. In the end the league came down to how much money a club had and which players they could buy. Interesting for some perhaps, but increasingly not my thing.
This being the case I still loved international soccer as this was where the loyalty still existed, this is where people really played with passion for their country, selflessly wanting to win for their fans and their nation. Such a sense of camaraderie.
I think this is till the case, but there was too much bitter disappointment in this World Cup- only Ghana and Italy came out winners. Last time around Northern Ireland did tremendously well, so did South Korea, and Brazil of course. England didn't go too far, but we beat our deadly rivals Argentina and the country was in carnival mode. Somehow there seemed less of those minor successes this world cup. I hope I will enjoy it more next year and it is not just that I have grown apart and started to find this a trivial affair.

Had a great day today,

Went down to Little Italy to watch the world cup final. I hadn't actually realized what a huge Italian population San Diego had, they outnumbered the French 100 to 1. A huge screen had been set up in the street, so that all could watch, literally thousands of people were there.

of course along with the good atmosphere you get the bad also. Some guy- who had evidently been drinking since 8am in the morning, was sitting on a chair, and yelling at the 100 or so chairless people in front of him to move out his way as they were blocking his view. This was about the most obnoxious thing I could imagine, and his yelling continued for much of the first half, spoiling the game a little and certainly suggesting that perhaps he wasn't all that interested in watching anyhow.

I was initially supporting Franc- Zidane being my main reason, wanting him to have a good exit out. I have to say I was a little swayed by the huge crowd around me, and my thought of the scenes of celebration- but nothing did more to complete my shift in allegiance than the head but. How sad that it should end like this for him. We expect such things from the youngsters, hot and fiery tempers from the likes of Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo, and the 98 Beckham, that is just part of the world cup. But we do expect these older ones, Figo and Zidanne, the greats of this decade, to set an example, to be sportsmen, It was a shame and left us all with a bad taste in the mouth.

This has been sadly quite a disappointing world cup.

EIN number arrived- already, yay.

I'm actually amazed how quickly it came, I am definitely not used to government doing things at any sort of resaonable pace. My wife's visa, permanent resident card, and work permit have all taken extortionate long to come throuhg- i'm talking years- and yet this one little number came in a matter of days. I guess it shows what this capitalist country values- businesses. And of course not only that, but the government is of course very encouraging of you paying them all the taxes you can.