Wednesday Art: Untitled 20091008

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The Museum

Lollipops

Weaver

Tue Pic of the Day: Winter Fun

Can it get any better? A little snow. A nice hill. A couple sleds. Warm jackets, snow pants, hats, and gloves. A trip to "old McDonald's" for lunch, followed by a matinee showing of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.

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UPDATE: Traveling Without a "Net"

UPDATE: AT&T Website Stops Selling iPhone in New York City

I remember visiting NYC back in March and complaining about the terrible reception I was receiving with my iPhone. It struck me as odd that I was in one of the most visited cities in the world, a cosmopolitan destination, and I could barely send and receive data, and kept dropping calls.

I've been following the recent cell coverage war between AT&T and Verizon, and independent studies have shown that AT&T does in fact have a faster network (coverage is a different story), but it appears they still don't still don't have the coverage problem sorted out in NYC.

Another angle on this story is the recent rumblings from AT&T that their network is "overwhelmed" with "data hog" users. The smartphone market (specifically, the iPhone) is growing faster than AT&T can expand their network. AT&T CEO Ralph De la Vega has gone so far as to say that AT&T is experimenting with the idea of charging for data usage -- very similar to how cell phone minutes are currently charged.

One would think that fixing the the coverage problem in NYC would be a good investment for AT&T, and not that difficult of a fix. Turning your back on the smartphone market as it continues to expand is probably not a good business decision. Charging users for data usage is not something I'm too excited about.

March 1, 2009

The title is a little dramatic, and not entirely true. Traveling
without a net, what does that mean?

It means since I have started blogging again this is the first time I
have traveled without a laptop -- hence, without the net and the
ability to post to a blog. Get it?

So what? Well, I'm writing this post on my iPhone, sitting in a plane
in Charlotte, NC. Once finished, I will send it to my blog for posting.

I can tell you are not impressed, but the amazing thing is that I am
posting to a web site (my blog) simply by sending an email.

I'm sure to most veteran bloggers this is not all that big of a deal.
To me it was a revelation of the power of Web 2.0. Think about, no
access to a browser, but I can continue to write and post thoughts to
my blog.

So, maybe not traveling without out a net, but traveling with a mobile net...

Post note: I wrote this blog on Friday, 27 February with the intention
of posting it once I arrived in NYC. However, upon arrival in the
city I found that my 3G connection, actually, cell phone connection in
general, was spotty. How strange is that, I get better cell coverage
in Jacksonville, NC than I do in NYC? AT&T, can you hear me now...?

Weekly Roundup: Dec 20-26

Blog Posts:

True Friends

Merry Christmas

Notecard Art:

The Museum

Pictures of the Day:

At the Movies

Light Kicks

The Specimen

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Weekly Roundup: Dec 13-19

Sat Pic of the Day: The Specimen

So, when was the last time you had pickled bologna, if ever? It doesn't look bad cut up on a plate, but if you saw it in the jar, you might rethink eating it. I will tell you, though, Ritz Crackers, pickled bologna, and Cheez Whiz make a pretty tasty hors d'oeuvre.

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Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

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Thu Pic of the Day: Light Kicks

Lights in boots and shoes is a great idea, but I wish someone would make them for adults, too. I'd buy a pair.

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Wednesday Art: The Museum

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Lollipops

Weaver

Panels

Tue Pic of the Day: At the Movies

Going to see a movie in a theater is the only way I have found to completely forget about everything. When I'm watching a movie, anything going on outside that theater disappears for a couple hours. My mind clears and I focus on the story being told on the screen. It's a great thing.

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True Friends

True friends are just that. It doesn't matter that you have not seen or spoken with them in months, or maybe years. It doesn't matter that life's events have taken you on different paths. It doesn't matter that you always don't see eye-to-eye with each other.

It doesn't matter because a true friend is someone you have established a family-like bond with, and this bond transcends any issues. You share the high and low points of life with them. When you need a true friend they are there for you, no questions asked.

A true friend is a rare thing, but you know when you have one. They are one of life's great pleasures.

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Related Random Thoughts

How Many Friends Can You Manage?

Friends Don't Owe

When You Lose Someone You Love

Weekly Roundup: Dec 13-19

Blog Posts:

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Thoughts on Public Transportation

UPDATE: What Gordon Gekko Can Teach Us About Smartphones

UPDATE: Thoughts on Free Wi-Fi

I resolve to...

Notecard Art:

Lollipops

Pictures of the Day:

Mr. Postman

Entertainment Center

The De-Icer

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Weekly Roundup: Dec 6-12

Saturday Pic of the Day: The De-Icer

This picture was taken looking out the window of an airplane at Reagan Airport in DC. The view was comforting and unnerving. Comforting to know they were getting the ice off the plane. Unnerving to know there was ice on the plane in the first place.

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I resolve to...

It's a little early to make New Year's resolutions, but I thought I would get an early start this year. Hell, I just thought I would get a start, because I usually don't make resolutions.

I don't make resolutions because they don't work. They don't work because you're trying to give up a vice that's near and dear to you; something like lose weight, but you like food too much, or exercise more to try to mitigate your love for food, and lose weight.

Resolutions take discipline. After all, you are resolving to do something different. To make a change in something you have identified with yourself that needs "fixing."

But, are you serious about making a change, or are you just resolving because it's what everyone does this time of the year, and you hope just because you've resolved something it will motivate you to make it reality?

If you're not serious, why set yourself up for failure? Why not think about what you're resolving to accomplish until you are really ready to make the change?

So, after prattling on about how unsuccessful New Year's resolutions are, and how I don't make them, I've made a resolution this year. I have resolved to stop saying:

- At the end of the day...
- It is what it is.
and
- In a perfect world...

Everyone uses these phrases. I recently heard a news story that referenced these phrases as a few of the most used/abused (and annoying) phrases of 2009. I realized that I use them and how silly they are, and have resolved not to use them any more. Pretty simple, huh?

Are you truly resolving to change anything with your life this New Year's?

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Relates Random Thoughts:
Life as Business

The Battle of Wills

Do Something

Pic of the Day: Entertainment Center

I don't subscribe to tv cable service any more. This is how I watch tv and movies now.

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UPDATE: What Gordon Gekko Can Teach Us About Smartphones

UPDATE: "Morgan Stanley: Mobile Internet Market Will Be Twice The Size of Desktop Internet" and With a New Phone, Google May Challenge Apple"

I found these articles interesting because they speak to my "If your are not connected, you are not connected" philosophy. The Morgan Stanley study is pretty definitive about the projected growth of the smartphone. Google's recent overtures into building a smartphone, as opposed to just supplying the Android operating system for them, is telling of how important they think the future smartphone market will be. It's coming folks... Eventually, being constantly connected to a network is going to be the the rule, and not the exception.

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June 2009

TECHNOLOGY: "Smartphone Rises from Gadget to Necessity," by Steve Lohr, New York Times, 10 June 2009.

For a growing swath of the population, the social expectation is that one is nearly always connected and reachable almost instantly via e-mail. The smartphone, analysts say, is the instrument of that connectedness — and thus worth the cost, both as a communications tool and as a status symbol.

If someone would have asked me two years ago if I would spend my money to buy a smartphone, I would have told them they were crazy. I've been issued Blackberrys for work, and that is how I got my first "taste" of, what I refer to as, my "mobile brain." However, I wasn't ready to spend my hard-earned money on a personal smartphone. Then I began commuting to work in DC on the train/metro and AT&T offered me a Blackberry for thirty dollars -- it's been all down hill since then.

I used the Blackberry for about seven months and then traded up to an iPhone. I couldn't survive without it now. My personal and professional lives depend on having constant access to the network.

Some may scoff at this notion, but before you pass judgment ask yourself: Could you survive without your cell phone? I would venture that many would say yes they could, but if you dig deep and really think about how much you rely on your cell phone, I think you would have to admit that it would be difficult.

It's the same way with a smartphone, which is essentially a cell phone on steroids. The main difference between a regular cell phone and a smartphone is the smartphone's data plan, which provides access to the internet.

Now, let me cut to what I really want to talk about, which is the nature of the world some live in now, and most soon will live in in the future. The days of constant connectivity are coming, and it's going to be very difficult to avoid it. Sure, you can go Ted Kazinsky and check out of society -- please don't send letter bombs to people -- but few are disciplined enough to pull this off.

For the rest of us, we're going to be expected to be connected ALL the time. Just look at the rise of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. We are living in the age of the constant stream of information -- real time information. I've said it before, knowledge is power; those that have the knowledge, have the power and the advantage. Being constantly plugged into the network is the means for obtaining the knowledge. Smartphones are becoming the delivery mechanism for maintaining the constant stream of information.

Gordon Gekko, Michael Douglas's character in the movie Wall Street said it best. In a discussion with Bud Fox, Charlie Sheen's character, Gekko said, "The most valuable commodity I know of is information. Wouldn't you agree?" Gekko proceeds to tell Fox that if he wants to be a player he needs to start getting information. He finishes the discussion by telling Fox, "If you are not inside, you are outside."

My point here is that it's important to feed your brain, and more and more this is happening through smartphone-like devices. To paraphrase Gordon Gekko: If you are not connected, you are not connected.

Image is property of the Random Thoughts Blog.

Wednesday Art: Lollipops

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Weaver

Panels

Fenced In

Pic of the Day: Mr. Postman

I walk out to this mailbox most days to check my mail. I say most days because I get so little mail anymore it's not worth it to check every day. How about you? With the exception of Victoria's Secret catalogues and junk mail, do you get much mail these days?

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Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Thoughts on Public Transportation

Let's face reality: to embrace public transportation means to give up control. Give up control of your time. Give up control of many conveniences. Give up control of certain options.

When you opt for public transportation your schedule becomes, at the same time, rigid and fluid. You are at the mercy of the schedules of the trains and buses of the system, so your schedule is rigid. Sometimes the trains and buses don't run on time. So when the trains and buses are not on time, your schedule moves from rigid to fluid -- fluid because now you have to go with the schedule the system gives. But, is this any different than getting stuck in a traffic jam?

Likewise, certain conveniences of jumping in your vehicle and driving from point A to point B are sacrificed. Maybe the ability to avoid the inclement weather, or the need to physically walk any distances -- you go "door to door" when you're in your own car. But, you are still going to have to park your vehicle, and very rarely are you going to be able to park close enough where you don't have to walk. You're still going to be exposed to the elements.

Finally, maybe you don't have certain options that require the flexibility of having your own vehicle. Maybe you can't stay late at work -- you have to make the train schedule. Is this a bad thing? It's a built in reason to get out of work at a descent time. Maybe you don't have the option of meeting at that restaurant for dinner, or the bar for a drink. How about coordinating a linkup at a place near your commuting route?

I think these arguments are offered by folks who have never given public transportation a chance; never really stepped out of their comfort zones.

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Related Random Thoughts

Life as Business

Mo Money, Money Problems

Appearance is Everything

Weekly Roundup: Dec 6 - 12

Blog Posts:

Life as Business

Crappy Weather

Notecard Art:

Weaver

Pictures of the Day:

Buffet

Metro

VRE

Barber Shop

Bull Riding

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Pic of the Day: Bull Riding

Do you think I rode it?

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Crappy Weather

Since many have experienced a first blast of winter weather for the season I thought I would take a moment and reflect on a weather related phenomenon.

What is it about crappy weather that makes people lose their minds? With the storm that blew through the mid-West and East Coast this week, there was a lot of questionable judgement on display.

You can rest assured that soon after it starts raining or snowing you are going to hear rescue sirens racing to the seen of an accident. It's as if people forget the rules of driving, or forget that they are driving.

Fashion sense usually takes a hit, as well. What makes a guy think that crazy Russian-style winter hats or Australian outback hats are remotely suitable for urban wear? I'm no fashion maven, but certain things just don't work.

When the weather gets poor, take a breath and evaluate your decisions. Slow down your driving speed, increase your following distance, and for God's sake scrutinize you fashion choices.

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My Own Good Ideas

Questionable Judgement

The Never Ending Phone Call

Pic of the Day: Barber Shop

Given my line of work, I get a weekly haircut. For me, Thursday's are haircut days. I love a good haircut. There's just something about sitting in that chair, closing your eyes, and being pampered for twenty minutes.

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Wednesday Art: Weaver

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Panels

Fenced In

Sprockets

Pic of the Day: VRE

Another commuting picture today. VRE is the Virginia Railway Express. It's the commuter train that connects the Northern Virginia suburbs to DC. This picture was taken at about 6:00 AM this morning as I made my way downtown.

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Life as Business

Do you run your life like a business? That's a weird question, huh? What I mean is: do you handle your finances, your time, your resources, your "people" (spouse and children) like you would if you were running a business?

I know this sounds cold, and maybe it is. But, if you consider the things that make a business successful - accurate finances, customer service, quality work/products - aren't these the same things that could make your life successful?

Pay your bills on time and live within your means. Take care of your spouse and kids to the best of your ability. And strive to be the best spouse and parent you can possibly be - make yourself better every day.

When you look at it this way, doesn't make sense to run your life similar to running a business?

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Related Random Thoughts

What Really Matters

The $100 Rule

How Much is Your Time Worth?

Pic of the Day: Metro

I'm attending a training seminar in downtown DC for the next couple weeks, which means public transportation. Hands down, the best way to get around - or get from the suburbs to downtown - in DC is to use public transportation, and I love riding the Metro. You climb aboard and let someone else do the work while you relax with your thoughts. I'm writing and will post this entry while making my way home.

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Pic of the Day: Buffet

So, that was the sign at the head of a Sunday BBQ buffet at one of my favorite BBQ joints. Just the the idea that retaurant management had to post the sign made me go, "Hmmm...". I never get my money's worth at buffets because I never eat enough, but I guess some folks must...

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Elevator

That's the elevator from the National Gallery of Art in DC. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's a huge elevator - the biggest I've ever seen. It's in the East Wing of the gallery, which houses the modern art collection. The National Gallery of Art is well worth a visit if you get to DC.

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Mo Money, Mo Problems

"Possessions are a way of turning money into problems." - Brian Eno

Yet another quality quote from Bono's 14 November New York Times column. In our "if some is good, more is better" society, Eno's quote succinctly summarizes the overall problem.

It's difficult to get out of the spending cycle. We've created a society where our way of life - our economy - depends on Americans spending and accumulating.

We buy stuff to replace perfectly good stuff, only to throw perfectly good stuff away (which causes environmental problems), and buy more stuff. And that stuff is bought on credit, which many Americans can't afford to pay off. It's a vicious cycle.

It's hard to break the cycle because we all want. We want the best stuff for ourselves and the best stuff for our kids.

Maybe if we wanted a little less and appreciated a little more, life would be easier.

How much stuff do you need? Does that stuff really make you happy? Is that stuff really what is important?

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What Really Matters

Moving and Purging

Responsibility

If Some is Good, More is Better

Panels

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Fenced In

Sprockets

Sunburst

The Battle of Wills

Every morning when I awake I fight the "battle of wills" -- the struggle to get my lazy butt out of bed to exercise. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but it's an epic struggle almost every morning.

I can honestly say, over the years, I have won the daily battle of wills more than I have lost, and for that I am proud of myslef. However, one time losing is the same as ten times winning.

We all fight a daily battle of wills, you just may not call it that. Some may look at my battle of wills and think it is trivial. Why is getting out of bed and exercising a battle of wills? For me morning exercise sets the tempo for my day. It gets me up and moving. If I can make it through my morning workout, the rest of the day is easy.

I use my battle of wills as a simple way to motivate myself to achieve for the day. I have made it so that I can't afford not to win my battle of wills.

What is your battle of wills?

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Exercising: My Love/Hate Relationship With the Gym

The $100 Rule

Hobbies: The Family, Work, Exercise Triumvirate

What Really Matters

What do you see in the picture? Maybe a whale, truck, cream cheese tub, and a travel bottle of shampoo?

To a four year old these items are fifteen minutes of pure bathtub enjoyment.

I watched my daughter so completely focused on these objects in the bathtub that she was oblivious to the fact that she was almost hypothermic because the water temperature was dropping. Oh, and by the way, that cream cheese tub is not a cream cheese tub, it's a boat.

It's the holiday season, and watching my daughter derive so much pleasure out of those four simple toys helped set the tone for me for the rest of the season.

It's not about "Black Friday" and waiting in line for hours outside Best Buy to save $50 on a television.

It's about the simple pleasures in life. It's about watching your daughter completely enthralled with a whale, truck, cream cheese tub (boat), and a travel bottle of shampoo.

These are the things that make her and me happy. These are the things that really matter.

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Shiny With Bright Flashing Lights

No TV? What to Do?

How Many Friends Can You Manage?

Fenced In

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Sprockets

Sunburst
Blue Alien

Shiny With Bright Flashing Lights

I spent some time in a New Haven, CT BW3's recently and made an interesting observation. It's not an earth shattering observation because I think we are all aware of it. It was just one of those "aha" moments when something becomes perfectly clear.

It was your typical BW3's: football on TV (I was watching my Michigan State Spartans implode against Penn State) and good wings.

But, this BW3's had another element: It had a gaming area with several large, shiny games with bright flashing lights.

My aha moment of clarity was this: If you put a large, shiny game with bright flashing lights in a bar, grown men will waste their hard-earned cash to play the game -- even if they have no earthly clue how to play it or hope to win at it.

Now mind you, this BW3's was near the campus of Yale, and it was the Saturday of the Harvard vs Yale football game, so there was (or should have been) a lot of brain power in the bar. Brain power that should have known better than to waste money on large, shiny games with bright flashing lights.

But, the allure of these games was too much for the male patrons. They had to test their "skills" against games (a large punching bag game and, what looked like, a large "poor man's" version of Tetris, to name a couple) that were probably unwinable.

To make matters worse, the punching bag game promised a free sixteen ounce beer to the person who broke the high score.

What does it all mean? I think it means that men are gullible, but I'm happy to say that I resisted the temptation to plug my cash into one of the large, shiny games with bright flashing lights. A moral victory?

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Did you ever see (tow truck)...
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Appearance Is Everything

"Always be more than you appear and never appear to be more than you are."

The above quote came from a 14 November column written by Bono for the New York Times. According to Bono, the quote was something German Chancellor Angela Merkel (she attributed it to her father) said during a conversation she was having with Bono and Bob Geldof.

I'm not sure if it's an original quote by Merkel's father, but it said volumes to me. Below are a few things that came to mind immediately when I read the quote.

Always be more than you appear...
- Don't believe your press clippings or your evaluations.
- Constantly strive to be better every day -- never be satisfied.
- If something is worth doing, it's worth doing well.
- Work as hard as you can always.

...never appear to be more than you are.
- A little humility goes a long way.
- Let your actions speak for you.

If more people prescribed to Merkel's fathers' school of thought the world would be a much better place.

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Do Something!
Be Unexpendable
How About a Little Responsibility and Humility?

Sprockets

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Sunburst
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City Blackout

No TV? What to Do?

Do you watch TV on the Internet?

I recently moved from North Carolina to the northern Virginia area. Just prior to the move my TV bit the dust. When I moved into my new home I had to make a decision: Buy a new TV, or not?

I opted not to get a new TV. I have been traveling quite a bit and didn't want to shell out two thousand dollars for the TV and another hundred bucks monthly for the cable service, only to not watch it.

I typically don't watch much TV, but I do like to watch sports on the weekends and some reality shows (I've been known to get sucked into Saturday Deadliest Catch marathons).

So, when I feel the urge to watch TV, or a movie, I have been resorting to the Internet. Most of what I want to watch is actually available on the Internet (it's still pretty hard to get streaming sports on the Internet, though).

I don't really miss not having the TV option. In fact, I find not having the TV option frees up a lot of time for more "constructive" things.

I think, eventually, we are all going to be watching TV in some form through the Internet. How about you?

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Moving and Purging
The Importance of Social Networking Tools
Thoughts on Free Wi-Fi

Sunburst

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Blue Alien
City Blackout
City

Blue Alien

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City
Untitled 1

Do Something!

Do you ever feel like you're going into a battle of wits unarmed? Like you are making decisions with only partial information?

We all have to make decisions with partial information because rarely do we ever have all the information needed to make a perfect decision.

There's a saying: A timely, GOOD decision is better than a PERFECT decision made too late.

So, the moral is: Do your homework, gather as much information as you can, but, ultimately, make a decision. Doing something is usually better than doing nothing.

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Getting From Here to There

Guest Post: Exercising: My Love/Hate Relationship With The Gym

By Patricia "Patty" Pendleton

When I moved to Minnesota at the age of thirty-six I decided to get healthy. Well, I would like to think that was why I joined the gym, but it really was my desire to get skinny. I even went so far as to have liposuction a few years back. All that did was take the fat from my butt and redistribute it to my abdomen and arms. I have never liked to exercise. If I could take a pill to do it I would go that route. I do not like getting sweaty and winded. I haven't the drive to be the best and compete for glory. I just want to be thin, plain and simple. It sounds vain and I own up to that. After being nicknamed Piggy by my two older sisters during my teen years my body image suffered greatly. Now, going on thirty-nine I am still battling this demon that drove me to do an unspeakable thing to my body. I joined a boot camp class.

Over the years I have spent thousands of dollars on at-home exercise equipment. Sitting in my garage right now is the elliptical machine I had to have. The most exercise I got from that thing was dragging it up from the basement this past weekend so I can Craigslist it so I can pay for my gym membership. At the gym there are plenty of free classes I could go to, but I decided to do the boot camp class, which cost extra, much to the dismay of my ever patient husband. I did the boot camp class because it is supposedly the hardest class at the gym. Boot camp is for bad asses and I wanted to be one of them. I wanted to have a sculpted stomach with a tight, high muscular butt, free of cellulite and jiggle. I wanted arms like Madonna. I would get thin in this class. I just knew it.

After twenty-four weeks of boot camp class not much in my physical appearance has changed. I still have my mom gut and, sadly, cellulite. However, I can pump out one hundred seventy push ups during the hour long class when told to do so. I can even run five miles with little fatigue. If someone told me I would be able to do these things when I first started I wouldn't have joined at all. I would have said: "They are going to make me do what? Why would I want to run holding twenty extra pounds of weight over my head? I am a house wife for Christ sake, why would I ever need to hold a plank position for ten minutes?"

Though my initial goals were not achieved, the whole "thin" thingy keeps me going. It isn't because I love the feeling of reaching a new level of strength and endurance. Rather, I am afraid if I quit now I really am going to get huge. I figured I was burning, on average, at least five hundred calories per class. Times that by three, and the calories I burn running twice a week, and I would have to cut out a lot of food from my life to maintain my current weight. It is a vicious cycle. The exercising increases my appetite, so I have been eating more food then ever, and if I quit exercising my metabolism is going to tank. I feel like the rat on the wheel running in circles and going nowhere fast.

Another thing about exercising I have noticed is I don't feel any healthier. In fact, I have more aches and pains then ever. My ankles, knees and the muscle right underneath my left butt cheek have suffered from "fitness". The running has made my neck problem flare up from all the jarring. I hate exercising so much I clench my teeth the entire time (when I am not mouth breathing, gulping air into my burning lungs) creating tension headaches. On top of all that it makes me swear like a sailor. I drop the f-bomb at least thirty times during a class. I think the other people in class think I have Tourette Syndrome. So what is a woman to do?

I have one month left to figure it all out before my boot camp ends. It would have been over this week, but I won an extra month doing a fitness challenge at the club. Isn't that ironic? I can admit I am proud that I have stuck with it as long as I have. My motivations were shallow and trite, but I think in all this misery, which I paid extra for, I learned something about myself: I realize if someone tells me to do something I will do it. On my own I am a quitter. I need people to inspire, motivate, even threaten me to reach my potential. I can live with that.

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Hobbies: The Family, Work, Exercise Triumvirate