I hate unwanted callers
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Lots of great changes, appreciation, and finally reflection
In the past approximately nine months, I've gone through a great deal of changes, most good. This past Saturday I was at a Labor Day picnic and was asked by someone who hadn't seen me in over a year, "Hey Andy, what's new?" The only reply I could think of was, "Well, a lot!"
In the past year, I've gotten a raise (pretty substantial), moved out of my Dad's house, bought a house with my longtime girlfriend, Sarah, spend 6 months unpacking my junk (and some junk that a few people dumped on me during my move, the most of which ended up in Goodwill), developed a petting zoo in my new (4 fish tanks, 2 cats, a dog, 2 guinea pigs, and a Chinese Hamster), cut down 7 trees on my property (most of them were dying or too close to the house), bought a brand new mower, replaced a non-working washer and dryer set, worked on and repaired in excess of 14 computers since having moved... the list goes on. But in the spirit of being "connected", I've decided to update my blog, which will also be posted to Facebook for all my "friends" to enjoy...
I've also learned to appreciate the things (not material) that I have... a great girlfriend (whom I've should have married sometime in the past 8 or so years and my entire family agrees with that idea), a great first dog, Petey!!!! and a great family.
When moving, I've been pleasantly reminded of who my true friends are. Certain people, some unexpected, came out of the woodwork to help me into my newly discovered, total freedom from authority (read: parental) figures. Though, not everyone can be totally pleased.
Some people have seemingly alienated themselves from me which I am apparently the only one who can be blamed for such divisiveness. I guess those are the same people who accuse me of being antisocial. Let me just say, they can't be more wrong. Everyone close to me knows, they have an open invitation to visit with me, some of those know they have a place to sleep/live if they should so need. I don't know what it is about people, but I think everyone's always looking for traits in others which reflect their own inadequacies and like to knife you and twist it... letting you know your issues and scream them from the rooftops... let me just say this to you, keep your mostly wrong opinions to yourself. If you think someone else is the issue, I first ask you to internalize that judgment and think, "is it me?" In my experience, it's almost always been me when I'm faced with the aforementioned internalized interrogations.
On a lighter note, I really, really appreciate life. More so than ever. Even though daily, we face obstacles that try us and prevent steady progress, in the end we become stronger from walking tall against any issues in our way. I'm speaking very generally here, but always realize that you can do whatever you want, it's a matter of will. Do you want to? Make sure you do, and understand that you can!
Low gas prices yields complacency
I just received an email from T. Boone Pickens' email subscriptions... The subject line read: "URGENT: OPEC is tightening the noose around our neck"
From the desk of T. Boone Pickens
Hey Army,
I’ve told you this all along — our addiction to foreign oil could bring us to our knees, and there wouldn’t be a damn thing we could do about it. Now take a look at today’s headlines. OPEC just announced it’s cutting production by 2.2 million barrels. Remember – this is on top of the 2 million barrels in cuts they’ve already made since this summer! These guys are serious about getting the price of oil back up right where they like it: $75 a barrel, $100 a barrel, $150 a barrel.
This is exactly why now is the time to pull together and Push the Pickens Plan. Every time the price of oil drops, America falls asleep. The Saudis don’t. The Iranians don’t. The Venezuelans don’t. But we do.
President-elect Obama said it best a few weeks ago on 60 Minutes. “Oil prices go up, gas prices at the pump go up, everybody goes into a flurry of activity. And then the prices go back down and suddenly we act like it’s not important, and we start, you know, filling up our SUVs again. And, as a consequence, we never make any progress. It’s part of the addiction, all right. That has to be broken. Now is the time to break it.”
I couldn’t agree more. We’ve got to break that addiction now. Before it breaks us.
Click here to join your Pickens Plan District Group. Better yet, sign up to be the leader if there isn't one already so you can help bring in 500 more members to the New Energy Army in your Congressional District before Inauguration Day. Those first 100 days are right around the corner, and the way OPEC is playing we’re going to have to move fast.
-Boone
The sad thing is, everything in this email happens in real life. Now that gas prices are down again... people are happy. They've already forgotten how bad it felt to pay $4.00 per gallon. As a matter of fact, gas prices are so low, they're as low as they were in the early 2000's. However, people should really be upset because we've had to go into a recession to witness gas prices this low. Did we forget that part of the equation? Shouldn't we be more upset over recession/depression than we were over $4.00 gas prices? Why do we experience a level of satisfication with ourselves as a nation when gas prices go down? The situation at hand today is even worse because we're actually stepping back in time to 2002 or so where gas was as cheap as it is in the 4th quarter of 2008. We've seen a decline never seen before. We should ask "why did this happen?" Instead, we say "well, its really cheap, let's go on another vacation" which yields more and more consumption. Over time, when we start demanding more gas, the prices will skyrocket since the supplies are at reduced levels.
In summary:
We've cut our consumption as a result of $4.00 gasoline. We've seen the prices fall through teh floor. We've realized how bad it is because we're now acknowledging that we're in a recession, but we're not maintaining our consumption, in terms of gasoline. OPEC is cutting production at record rates. We're likely going to increase consumption of gasoline because of the return of the lowest levels of gas prices in the last decade. Thusly, gas prices will skyrocket once again. And this time, we're in a recession. Keep that in mind people.
Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!
Google and their expanding empire
Today the first Google Android powered device was announced. It's an HTC G1 on the T-Mobile network. It will be released sometime in October. While I was watching this video, something struck me that I've never really wanted to think about. I knew it, but didn't want to pay attention to it. Google's reach is constantly expanding and consumers blindly buy into it. They offer an abundance of free, very useful applications that increase the productivity of daily life. Throughout the video, all the features/applications are synchronized with your Google account. With a Google account you can do a lot, from Gmail to purchasing things with Checkout, from YouTube to productivity suites with Documents, Reader and Calendar.
I've always been a fan of Google since they offer many free applications/services that their competitors don't or aren't even interested in offering. What we consumers have to keep in mind is that these free offerings are totally available for the sole reason of driving advertising revenue. After all, how would Google still exist without any income?
Back in college when Google's stock was about $350 per share, I did an extensive report from an ethical point of view. Based on the company's ethics, I recommended to my peers to buy their stock. After all, Google's motto is "Don't be evil".
Since then many new applications have been released. Their reach has grown far beyond what it was in the Spring of 2006. Back to the video. They're highlighting that you have access to all your Google apps right from your handheld Android powered phone. This is really great, but again, we need to remember that they're trying to drive ad revenue.
Suppose that they're motto is a fluke and they somehow were subpoenaed to turn over all their user data to courts to allow prosecution of their customers, for example? How evil would that be? A company like Google has so much user data in their databases that if it were hacked or otherwise compromised by a court of law, for example, their customers would be wide open to attack.
Imagine if you use Google Documents and Calendar on a daily basis for work related activities. Is it right for Google to turn over potential trade secrets to a court of law or prosecuting entity? Is it right for Google to track each user that watches given videos on YouTube and turn that information over to Viacom, for instance, so that they can be prosecuted if the content that the user accessed was copyrighted?
Advances in technology provides us with tough questions. I'm not so sure that we should be so tightly integrated with one company's services that they're linked to your mobile phone and go with you wherever you go. You'll never be disconnected from Google's database if you opt to use their very convenient, useful, and free services.
Just a thought to keep in mind... think about it.
The new Facebook
Many, many people are against the new Facebook design. I've read about it in my local newspaper, the Pottstown Mercury. I decided to see for myself if I like the new design.
Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with it at all. It takes a little time (no more than 10 minutes) to get used to. Frankly, if you can't get used to it in 10 minutes or less, you might be Petarded. You should welcome change, not be averse to it. I never understood why many people my age are so critical of their parents for being totally against change but end up possessing the same trait.
Anyway, when I use the new Facebook, I feel like my focus is trained a bit more. There are separate tabs for Info, Wall, Pictures, etc. If you want to visit a different section of someones profile, you aren't distracted by the other sections.
Also, since I'm not a big fan of Facebook apps, this separation of Profile subsections is great. I can view a person's profile without being bombarded by all their pointless apps that they've added. Apps usually fall under the Boxes tab or a completely separate tab to themselves.
In conclusion, I don't see the need to create a group called '1,000,000 AGAINST THE NEW FACEBOOK LAYOUT!' It just shows that you're supporting the ideals of your parents (or preceding generations) blind conservatism and changeless outlook to the future. After all, we're the technology generation and I'd say that Facebook is heavily technology oriented. Did you think it'd stay the same for long?
Costco – Navigating the Free Samples
I really like Costco. From my personal experience, you can get a 3 month supply of the basics (toilet paper, soap, etc) for 3 people for about $90. They have a virtually unlimited return policy that really can't be beat anywhere else. They have a very helpful staff. Best of all the Costco perks, are the free samples that they distribute every day during lunch time.
When Sarah and I were on the way back from our vacation in Delaware yesterday, the traffic was so bad near Christiana mall that we decided to stop in to a few stores, one being Costco. It was so busy. The isles were packed, and Costco's isles are very, very wide. There were samples being given out at the end of nearly every other isle.
Pretty much the only thing I hate about Costco (and this has nothing really to do with Costco) is the huge amount of fat people swarming around the free samples. Free samples are no joke to them. The is a unspoken line very similar to like when you're at the deli at a regular food store. However, these fat people do not have any regard for this unspoken queue. They will jump in front of you, take multiple of the same sample, and look at you as if you're wrong for waiting in line like everyone else. Perhaps this is just how people are in Delaware? I don't think so. This is how the people that flock to Costco for the sole reason of exploiting the free samples. This is madness! No, This is Costco!!
