grab your booties...

it seems the chill of stagflation is in the air...

"okay Santa...what i want for Christmas is...well let me just show you...

I was just reading in the NY Times that a fashion executive was traveling in Morocco and gave a street beggar a crumpled up $1.00 bill. She looked at the crushed piece of paper, threw it back at the American exclaiming, "What is this? This is worth nothing!"

If that doesn't say buy gold I don't know what does!

If we are going to survive...we're going to have to get a little crazy...

a look back at the evolution of dance

I just read in businessweek about a move toward professionally produced videos for the internet now. Which is a move away from the amateur based productions. Which goes hand in hand with my latest behavior which has been watching the show 'lost'. We've been renting it on netlfix but the newest episode does not come out on DVD until Dec 11. It is available for free, however, on ABC. So it seems content owners will be putting forth their own content without the need for special distributors...it's great...the internet really has shaken things up...

but the article talked about a great video which was popular about a year ago. I never saw it...yes, i'm slow...if haven't seen it yet...check it out:

quick oats

I remember about 10 years ago trying to find 'steel cut oats' and having a really difficult time doing so. At the time, the product seemed like an exotic relic from days long gone...like a cotton gin...or a dial up computer...

But I just had breakfast and ate steel cut oats produced by the cereal Goliath 'quaker oats'. It seems a concern about being left behind in the steel cut oats market pushed the company to start offering the product. I bought it at Target.

I often blame corporations for creating the society that we currently live it. But perhaps they are just giving us what we want?

Or at least what we think we want...

warning: falling dollars ahead

Are you concerned about the falling dollar? Does it mean anything to you and me?

It does if prices have to get jacked up in order for companies to keep up with the declining value of the American currency. This is if inflation takes hold. We have not seen this hit us yet, because the fall in the dollar has been so swift.

For instance, take note of how the pricing difference on book covers regarding the Canadian dollar and the US dollar. Even though the Canadian dollar, or loonie, has achieved parity with the dollar these book covers have maintained the same pricing structure, which must be based on historical values. If the difference in currency pricing exists for a while, I suppose it's a matter of time before the methods used to determine these pricing structures catch up.

so is the falling dollar a concern to you and me? In this case, you just have to tell by the books cover...at least its price...

fortune cookie jokie

looking back, I only wish I didn't have so many regrets.

biPolar Barely

remember just about every child on the swing set 10 years ago had attention deficit disorder?

Apparently, now the mental illness de jur is bipolar disorder. And bipolar has more pricey drugs...

Mental illness works great for goosing profits for drug companies...and it keeps people thinking there is something wrong with them if they don't 'fit' the social mold...so it keeps people in line as well...

It's funny, because evolution works when it throws out concepts and ideas that fall outside of what everybody is...when it tries out new ideas...some work...some don't...

mental illness is one of those attempts by nature to force us to evolve...it's trying new things...and we label it as 'wrong' or 'incorrect' when in actuality, it's nature working...

eatwatch online

a great application gets better...eatwatch is online now!

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/online/hdo.html

rummaging through the attic

I am reposting old posts I took off line because it thought I was going 'in a new direction'...

New direction?

I've heard that life is lived forwards, but understood backwards. So i'm rereading old posts to understand my backwards life...

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't look backwards with me...

it's fun...

whacked...

well it was more...thudded...

i was biking from work to the train station and got 'thudded' by a car...at least it was a low emission vehicle...a prius...

i was just thinking how lucky i've been to have not been hit in almost 10 months of biking in the city...so now i'm a little more experienced and I have to find out what do do when hit next time...there's just so many cars in such a small space it's a given it'll happen again...

but's it reminded me of how much i think cars are over used today...

the most stressful thing about the incident was another motorist yelling at me that i was the one at fault...i'm actually not sure who was at fault, but it was a good lesson that i need to learn what my rights are as a bicyclist in the city...

i'd love to live in a car free community, but i don't think any exist..

but i'll be looking...so the worst that could happen would be to get thudded by a golf cart maybe...or a kid on a big wheel....

OUCH!

are you golden?

this news is just going to spike gold up even more...crazy...like gold needs any more support...

gold will correct back to a stable price i would say of 550 or 600/ounce...i think the stable baseline price of gold will be higher than the historical one...

why is gold going up? I think because people's values and what they value are in question...interesting...

value squeeze

another 'cheap' fortune cookie post:

if we are lucky, we get to find out what we value. we are very fortunate, if we find a life that allows us to live by those values. That is where we find harmony...or harmoney...or cheapony...

he who's values get squeezed, that is he who lives in an environment where his values get pressured or challenged, will forever be miserable.

within a relationship, fights usually erupt when these value disconnects are working themselves out. in time, harmony or a stable situation in which both people's sets of values can coexist will evolve if both people in the relationship express what they value. problems arise, when one person suppresses expression of values...

Dharma and a sense of humor

I love the quote from the Dalai Lama regarding China's outrage regarding his meeting with the President of the US, "That always happens."

"Stand-up Dharma"

lawrence of arabia

I watched "Lawrence of Arabia" last night and it is a great film. It explains a little bit about why Turkey is interested in attacking Iraq in the current news and the history of The Ottoman Empire. The film touched on the intricacies of the life and personality of T.E. Lawrence...and hinted there is much more to his story...

fortune cookie post

due to lack of time...the fortune cookie post is born:

"regret only exists when one believes all options have been exhausted"

blogging bottleneck

You would think I have a lack of ideas and things to write about...it's quite the opposite...i have too much to say I don't know where to begin...

the 'value question' comes up a lot in what interests me...

I think that is something that is highlighted in what is going on in Britney Spear's life...she's struggling with what matters in her life...I feel sorry for her...here's an update...

I think she may have grown too much to identify with her idea of what or who Britney is...

I really like how Daniel Day Lewis stopped acting and went into cobbling shoes in Italy...he turned away from the system identity and carved out his own...

buffoonbia university

this is an interesting article about Ahmadinejad (i can write it...i can't pronounce it...) speaking at Columbia University. According to the article the university president was rude to the speaker...that seems weird to me...but he really was an asshole...just watch:

into the system

I can't wait to see Sean Penn's directing of "into the wild"!

I loved the book. The story. And the ideas that the story of Christopher McCandless communicates. The ideas that many of us have, but few of us pursue. the idealistic concept of pure freedom. That it lives out there...somewhere...Chris looked for it...

These days' I'm finding freedom much more locally...right in my own neighborhood, and within the bay area...I'm finding it in some good books...one of which I just started. One I have already fallen in love with...

"Finding George Orwell in Burma" by Emma Larkin is a story about a writer trying to find what inspired and changed George Orwell to, without warning, pull up stakes from a stint he had in Burma with the Imperial Police Force and begin a career as a writer. A writer focussed on the struggle of the self within an oppressive system. Some people say that George Orwell wrote a trilogy of Burma when he penned Burmese Days, Animal Farm and 1984. Both telling of the country's history, and the uncanny ability to peer into it's future.

I just started reading the book but its timeliness with the Buddhist monks of Myanmar pushing for freedom is compelling. I salute their courage. I briefly saw a quote from a monk effectively saying, "this is our fight. Please let us stand tall." This is the courage that sends a chill down my spine and a tear down my cheek.

I somehow feel that if Christopher McCandless had such a struggle for freedom he would have said something similar. There are some amazing people in this world...

not buying "not buying it"

The aim of this blog was to address the issues covered in "not buying it". The author covered the issues so well, so thoroughly in a well-written manner that ...well...the job has been done....I love the book...check it out...literally...(unless you want to help the author out....then hit the 'barnes and noble'...getting all the contradictions here...)

not buying it

Reading a great book right now about an author and her boyfriend, and their year of taking a break from the consumer lifestyle...a year of not buying stuff...a year of 'not buying it'....

don't buy it! hit the library! great read...

slow down...you move too fast

man...where does the time go?

last night at a friend's birthday party i got to talking to two guys i didn't know. it's always fun meeting new people. I soon became to be known as 'mr. philosopher'...as we jumped from topic to topic...from 'the unabomber' to 'where is society is heading?'

it's amazing what range of topics you can discuss with strangers if you toss in humour and a little lite heartedness...

anyhow, one of the more shallow topics we discussed, but interesting nonetheless, was the speed of today's society...i later got into speed dating conversation with another movie loving fellow, but that's another story...

where are we rushing too?

and don't let anyone tell you different...speed is contagious....

I was in New York City for a fun little stint about a year ago. I was there as a tourist...as a relaxing tourist...

but i realized i was getting caught up in the fast walking, jay street crossing, new york speed...i got swept into the fast flowing currents of city life...i had to say to myself, "wow...slow down"...and i actually got out of the rip current, swam ashore and sat on the sidelines and let my heart beat slow down....and blood pressure drop...

i have to do that more these days as well...

now let me go...gotta run...

skilling on the loose?

lock your doors...hide you children...a threat is on the loose...

jeffrey skilling from Enron may be released early...

monopolize my time

I just played the game 'monopoly' for the first time in probably 25 years...and man it was fun! I forgotten how much fun that game is...it brought back a ton of memories from when I was a kid...

Buying properties, collecting rents...the unknown mysteries of the 'chance' and 'community chest' cards...the cheap, but mysterious 'tycoon' that is the monopoly logo...ahhhh, it was great...

is playing business in 'real life' supposed to be so much fun? Is that how Donald Trump sees the game of life...or does he actually identify with it?

The board game is great...the feel of the pieces...holding of the cards and money...i can't help but wonder how video games can compete...

For a long time, board games were seen as 'un cool'.

I remember playing 'risk' a lot in a high school (yes, I was a nerd) and had so much fun. I made a mad dash for the 'in crowd' my senior year and made it in long enough to have a look around. During a night of drinking beer (it was gross then) at 'the dike' that held back the eb and flow of the waters of the Everglades, I thought, "This is really boring. I wish I was playing risk..."

Maybe the 'un cool' feeling people had about board games was an effective marketing campaign by other growth industries, such as video games.

Board games are a minimal investment (i just bought monopoly for 11 bucks...) versus a video game system where you need the system, the games, the controllers, and of course the hi def flat panel tv...minimum for the 'bare bones system' will set you back ten times that amount...plus all that power you have to consume...

man...

video game suck......money and electricity that is...

fear this...

we, as Americans, have the idea that we are the "tough guy" on the block of international politics. Will we always believe this? Will it take a new Chinese bully to knock us off the top of the mountain? What will that do to Americans concept of themselves?

I was just sitting outside at a store eating lunch in the city and saw a guy walk by with an American flag on his t-shirt with the words, "fear this" beneath the flag. It didn't say:

“love this...”

or

“when you need help...”

but “fear this...”

As I watched him drive off in his oversized pick-up truck...I couldn't help but think maybe his shirt should say:

"pity this..."

P.S. But I was afraid to think it...was that wrong?

immigrant inventors

What will happen when Indian and Chinese immigrants decide to stay home and stop inventing for America?

Perhaps corporations will still be fine...they will have to separate themselves from America so as to not we weighed down by American politics.

human desire

I heard of this site, What a Way to Go, through Ran. Which hits on the conflict between our basic human desire to survive, which has been based on consumption and desire, and that desire destroying us. As individuals through obesity and over financial debt and as a society through socieital excess, enter the ARMs run amok. I haven't had time to see it or review it thoroughly, but I plan too... Check it out...

A Busted Best Man

I am 'co' best man (full disclosure...if you read the wikipedia link...i did zero of the duties so far...is that bad?) tonight for a wedding.

So I am going to give a toast that highlights three funny stories of my friends life up to the time when the other co best man entered the picture, at which point I will pass the 'mic' and he can continue with the saga.

The three funny stories are going to highlight three values i admire in the guy...intelligence....ability to entertain and put on a show...stand up for what you believe, even when it seems crazy...

how do you feel about weddings? does the modern wedding reflect values you have or are you just jumping through hoops prearranged by somebody else?

Sometimes it's hard to go with your values and still keep friends and a network of people. That I think is one of the challenges presented to all of us...hold onto your values...not get too bent out of shape trying to conform to others values, but still keep and grow your friendships and relations with others...

undefined values

Do you know what your values are? What exactly are values?

Are they what is important to you as a person? How do you determine them and where do they come from?

I have wondered about this for a long time. I grew up in the suburbs of Florida, where the values are different from what I value...how does that happen?

You would think my values would stem from where i grew up. Not so. I was always conflicted with the value system in suburban florida...

then I went to Malaysia with a science program as an undergrad and that solidified my differing world view and value system. I found a perspective that I connected with. A perspective that was greater than the suburban view of the world.

I am not exactly sure how to define what Florida suburban values are... I can't put my finger on it...

It's definitely not money per say, because everybody, everywhere values money...it's not that...it's something else...

It's not home prices, because those are talked about in San Francisco too...

I once heard that people from the East and West Coasts had more differences in common than Americans and Non-Americans...i wonder if that's what I'm detecting...

One thing for sure...A love of good pizza is one East vs. West value i'm not going to redefine any time soon...

ground zero

i'm in tampa florida for a wedding for a friend for high school....and I have family here...and this is where the real estate market correction is experiencing some of its greatest pains...

looking around at ground zero, there are a lot of 'for sale' signs...other wise people seem healthy and there is no large exodus of refugess. they seem okay. that's the big picture...I am waiting to hear more one on one stories...

outsourcing chinese manufacturing

Parents want to be able to buy, 'NOT made in china' toys and i think this is a start of a return to local manufacturing...local manufacturing movement will increase overtime especially when carbon credits and the cost of moving those good across the globe catch up with production costs...

Some indian call center companies are offering an option to have call centers based in low cost centers in the us. it cost a bit more, but you get 'that cultural connection' with the caller...

inside boys

We may yet avert disaster. It seems warren buffet was given 'an inside word' that a rate cut could be expected. Minutes ago a cut to the discount rate, or the rate banks get charged by the central bank to get money, was cut by 50 basis points...that's a half of a percent to me and you...that dramatically turned around stocks in europe and what wall st is going to open at. the reaction is akin to giving candy to a child...the child get wound up with energy and enthusiasm...or promising a fix to an addict...

how can changing one number affect so much money? can something so manipulated survive in the long run? or does the manipulation ensure it's survival?

rest easy folks, it seems the perfect storm just petered out...

The thing that confuses me...if the fed can't increase rates now...if we are so dependent upon low interest rates to finance our debt...how does the fed have any control? It seems they will never be able to increase interest rates again...

how long can that last?

not making sense...

this is scary...from cnbc.com:
"No one thing explains such dislocations, except that there is a flight to liquidity and a lot of things that used to make sense, don't make sense anymore."

weather report....

things are looking sketchy for...well...everything...real estate...stocks...currencies...i'm getting concerned about things...very concerned...it seems a perfect economic storm is coming ashore...i hope i'm like most weather men...

DT on the economy

Many people are crying "Uncle Bernanke" to cut rates....James Cramer...Donald Trump...

What is their motivation? the good of the American home buyer? Or their own greed...

Listen to Mr. Trump, the 'deal junkie'...you decide...I think these guys identities and purpose are tied up with cheap and free money. High rates are the equivalent of taking the 'junkies' fix away.

We've gotten used to and gotten addicted to easy money.

I don't think Mr. Bernanke should cut rates, and he knows this, but he may crumble to popular opinion and cut...and run...

a listed nation

We, dear Americans, are a nation of lists. Ever notice how everybody has a 'To Do:' list?

"okay, I gotta become a better climber by practicing on the 5.9 climbs..."

"okay, I gotta go do this....do that...and then make another list..."

I don't think other nations are as obsessed with productivity as we are. Where does this come from? the top? or do we send it up?

one this for sure...I gotta write more blog posts...if only i had more time and more space on my damn, stupid-ever-growing list...

PS I added a new book to the book list...

An idea crazy enough to work...

Have you heard the expression, “That idea is crazy enough it might just work?”

Well an idea that isn't all that crazy is working in: Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Lyon and Pamplona. The 'not-so-crazy' idea is Bike Sharing.

The concept is simple and summed up by “The New York Bike Share Project”:

“Imagine walking to a sidewalk corner and finding a public bicycle. With a cellphone call or swipe of a card, you unlock it from its bike rack and ride it across town. Once at your destination, you steer to the closest bike rack and, with one more call or card swipe, return the bike to the public network. You pay less than $.50 for the trip, and the bike is once again available for the taking.”

The NY version of the concept was inspired from a trip to Paris by David Haskell, executive director of the Forum for Urban Design. The Forum is an organization of architects and planners that is testing the Bike-Share concept in New York.

Indeed the timing for the project may be fortuitous, since New York City's mayor, Mr. Bloomberg, London's inspired congestion-tax for a less car-crazed Manhattan recently ground to a halt. So the New Yorker City business-minded billionaire boss may want too look to his fellow New Yorkers, and the Parisians, for ideas. The progressive French city launched an ambitious 10,000 bike strong program enabling people to get out of their cars and start sharing bikes.

Next time you are in Paris, be sure to take a tour starting at one of the 750 “docking stations” scattered throughout the city every 1000 feet. All you will need is your credit card, enough room on the card for a modest fee and where to pick up your next croissant. Since the stations are conveniently located....well...everywhere, including popular tourist destinations, locating a return station next to that favorite cafe will be no trouble at all.

The program is slated by Parisian City Hall officials to generate €30 million for the municipality, as identified by International Tribune writer, Katrin Bennhold.. The city swapped use of about 1,600 billboards throughout the city for the costs of the program including the docking stations, the bikes and bicycle upkeep.

The Parisian model is just one version of a system for Bicycle Sharing. In Frankfurt you can pay with a cell phone. And in Copenhagen you can just grab a bike and go, no fee.

Many versions are possible. In San Francisco? Who knows. But, once you get people to step outside of a car, anything is possible.

Home Mortgage Applicants

Wamu is now forgoing applications for a mortgage. Their new policy is "Sleep right here!"

But seriously, I am interested in the homeless, how they got to be homeless and how unbelievably close we are all to homelessness, especially with foreclosure rates skyrocketing.

I do not yet know how to get involved in working with homeless people, or what I could even do to help, but I would like to do something...to me it strikes at the core of a society with a lack of community with a lack of priorities...

so right now I will just put up some pictures and thoughts...evaluate what my options to help are and go from there....

doing the right things...doing them right...

I think i got that slogan wrong...

that slogan was for a company i interacted with some years ago...it always annoyed me...

i think it's horrible to try and live life 'the right way'...what is the right way?

running late...and lazy

things just can snow ball and take on a momentum of all their own...missing a blog post...or two...or three...and so on...is a great example of how things can get away from you...

gotta start writing more...i've missed it...

gotta start working out more...i've missed it...

gotta start....well you know...the list goes on...and i love it...

death match and taxes

a well written blog (http://honesttaxpayer.blogspot.com) on exchanging blows with the IRS. Not a position any of us want to be in....

i don't feel good anymore...

are you happy?

Does your country reflect the values you have? do you feel the values flow from the country to you or from you to the country?

how did this happen?

my own ad

I don't think i am suppose to click on the ads on my blog, but i did...it was interesting...check out the video it led me too...this is great...with a great song...is that Jewel...ahhhhh jewel....

relationship angst

the movie, "Gabrielle" captured the potential torment of two human spirits trapped in a relationship that shouldn't be...

Best pizza in SF...so FAR

Okay, I love New York Pizza. It's actually an obsession and a big Value of mine. So I am going to continue to blog about finding the best New York Pizza in San Francisco...

Right Now I am zeroed in on Victor's Pizza on Polk...

More to follow

bernanke will sing the blues, so go gold

I have said it before...I'll say it again, Bernanke, the fed chairman, is in a tight spot. It is very unlikely we are living during the time of a global depression, but then again why take a chance. What is more likely: that we have mastered financial markets to such a degree that unforeseen events will never occur leading to corrections in the system, or, we cannot account for everything and shocks to the system will still occur?

You pick...

and kids....don't forget about the wildcard from the sub-prime situation...

I'm not saying that the world is falling apart. I am not saying that the economy is crashing. I am not saying that civilization as we know it is at and end....There is not need to re-watch the 'Mad Max' series to get 'psyched up' for a post apocalyptic Mel movie...but I am saying think...

before you buy that next BMW you so want...

before you say, "Well I'll pay off the credit card next month..."

before you think, "My job is secure, I'm going to just buy this house even though it'll be stretch, a strain and a great stress to my life..."

before you proclaim, "Life is great and this is how things are always going to be..."

about simplifying your life...your desires and your wants...

common but not well understood

IQ tests become stupid after a certain age.

why?

I think after a certain age general knowledge and problem solving abilities become commonplace. Anything the test can test falls within the 'realm of the known' so you are measuring a person's potential for greatness within a box.

I think of the scene in the jerk when he's at the carnival...great scene...he has to guess your weight within a pound or two...if not you win a prize... the window from which you can pick your prize and the window keeps shrinking...

back to the action...here's the dialog:
-----------------------------------

"Now, what do I win?

           
Anything in this general area right in here.

           
Anything below the stereo and
on this side of the bicentennial glasses.

           
Anything between the ashtrays
and the thimble.

             
Anything in this three inches
right in here, in this area.

              
That includes the Chiclets,
but not the erasers."

--------------------------------------

So funny...I always loved that scene, but i've only seen it once...don't know why it has stuck?!

anyway...real IQ finds a prize you really want with new connections made with in the 'chicklet window'...to think creatively...IQ tests don't let you make new connections...you have to pick the chicklets...

that said the only way to do anything interesting is to make new connections between already existing concepts, ideas and values.

haunted housing

It's not even Halloween yet, but the housing market is scaring investors. And rightfully so...and maybe not scaring them enough. The Fed has ascertained that the sub-prime woes will not hurt the financial system. I find it hardly comforting that they have to tell me that. To me, it's kind of like when the plane is going down, things look bleak but you...without missing a beat...tell the child next to you that, "don't worry, everything is going to be okay."

I'm do not think that the housing market is going to suck the rest of the economy with it down the drain. But I do think that nobody really knows how this is going to play out. My bet is on things being a little worse than the rosiest scenario, but not as bad as the worst. There...did not clear things up for you...but...don't worry...Everything is going to be okay...

just keep it light...

Every notice people that are native to San Francisco pronounce it correctly...and that is 'Sar-AN-CIS-Co'...it's all one world...as opposed to the tourist barking out, "Yeah, we just spent one hell of a time over dere in FRISCO!..."'

Gotta make up some T-shirts for the tourists with the correct pronunciation...so I can stop that wincing pain that goes up my spine every time i hear it...

"honda civic $43,000 or OBO"

check out edmunds.com true cost to own to get an idea what you thought was your cheap car, you might be surprised.

I am reading a book now called 'live well on less than you think' and he hits on this. He does not advocate going totally carless, but dropping down to one car per household, while a burden, will save you a tonne of cash!

he also talks about generation xer's and their views, "...the Xer's have developed the art of the short career. they do something for five years and then go onto something else. That kind of flexibility his how Xers work. They don't believe in long-term commitments because their experiences growing up included watching mom and dad get a divorce, dad getting laid off [i watched this with my dad]...things don't last and you can't depend on them...they want to be flexible and reinvent themselves when they have to."

Well said! that about sums me up!

Some other books i got at the library are: 'don't spend your raise', 'when you lose your job' (just in case....sticking with my generation x programming), 'six months off' (for if the last one happens..)...

and this one looks interesting: 'will work for food' about a 60 year old guy that gets fired from his job and is now homeless...takes place in contra costa county. he went there from San Francisco so people wouldn't recognize him as he panhandles...

at my last job i became friends with a guy that was homeless in Oakland for some time, about a year. He had a great saying, "keep it real". Meaning, don't get lost in all the BS that is out there. Great guy. He said, while he wouldn't want to be homeless again, that it was a great learning experience. I bet it was...

"I live at 222 Road Rage Drive..."

Being on a bike, can I get road rage? Although I don't get road rage, I find I have to bike aggressively sometimes in order to get where I am going...or cars will not let you in...out...or by...

It is speculated that road rage results from a sense of anonymous power from driving a car. I have heard of bikers at 'critical mass' smashing cars, particularly mini-vans, but I have never seen this. Although, in a large group, a sense of anonymous power could be sensed, even if on a bike. And the mini-van smashing incident would support the anonymous sense of power theory.

Critical mass is a good idea, but i think they need to develop a little more sensitivity to people in cars. I feel sorry for so many people locked in their cars...critical mass should show there are good alternatives to the car. Good, peaceful alternatives...

and they should also just let the mini-vans go in peace...

the future of idea management is non-profitable

non-profits are where the future of idea development lies, not the corporation. Resistance to a few benefiting off of the many will continue to pressure corporations. Recently the non-profit, One Laptop per Child (OLPC), has pressured Intel to start passing out laptops to kids in the developing countries of the world. It has brought Intel to the negotiating table. The two may work together.

I think this trend will continue. The pressure on corporations to become good corporate citizens also reflects this trend.

who killed the electric car?

I watched 'who killed the electric car'. A great movie and worth a watch. The EV1 that GM put out looked like a really neat car and the owners of the EV1 were really passionate about them. Some were even arrested in protesting the 'collecting' of their cars when GM killed the program. It was sad...the killing of an idea...but maybe good riddance because check out Tesla's cars...

But I wonder if Tesla is only 'allowed' to be in the marketplace because it's niche is so small? And that's why it has such a high priced car to limit it's mass market appeal? One has to wonder?

All of the policy and guidance shaping our markets (such as the success or failure of the electric car) and society as well as what our values are really gets set from the top down. And it's a shame that our leaders are really just self-promoters interested in making money whose values don't always reflect those of the community. I suppose one value that is universally accepted is that of money. So when money is most valued, those individuals who value it most will rise to the top.

Perhaps this can only last so long. I suppose Bush knew, as well as those that put him in power, that his popularity would dissipate, but that it doesn't matter. He did what he had to do...his job is done...

asset lite and a core

Jeff Skilling at Enron pushed for an 'asset light' concept for the company. While Enron ended up creating a new definition for "go big or go home", innovations that the company was responsible for and still in use today are not credited to the company. It's amazing to think that Enron was selected for six years in a row as the 'most innovative company' in the world by Fortune Magazine. I think the asset light theory truly is/was innovative, as long as it had a 'liability lite' side as well.

I think true happiness and freedom comes from not buying and identifying with the expensive house, the car, or the iphone...as my grandmother used to say, "Keep your Assets light, and your Dreams in sight."

In a totally different mode...i've joked that we need a peace corps type unit within the military which consists more of police and social enablers to go into Iraq...John Edwards has received some out of context 'slams' for his bumper sticker comment but his ideas seem very sound, which includes a 'Marshall Corps'....Read for yourself...

BBQ

Grilling...grills...BBQing (for a history of)...represents how we can take something as simple and as primitive as cooking meat via burning charcoal and elevating it to the 'realm of the expensive'.

I just grilled last night on a fold up grill bought at Lowes for under $10. A grill for under $10! amazing! (Which is cheaper than this grill cover...and my 'cheapgrill' can easily be clean up, folded up and stored away...not cluttering up my living space....)

And compare that to the price of this grill.

We take something simple, make it complex and expensive. We have to elevate everything to the "realm of the complicated". I think if we kept grilling, or transportation or life simple, we would then be saying to ourselves, "what else is there?" and have to come to terms with the simplicity of everything. And that everything boils down to a grilled piece of chicken is a grilled piece of chicken. So a lesson in 'applied philosophy' is keep life simple and pure....buy the ten buck grill and use your $689 saved to buy chicken for the next 10 years....

who needs a home?

Sometimes we have to question things that are given to us as 'givens'. I think home ownership is one. Here's an excerpt from a Forbes article:

Certainly there are plenty of stable, wealthy, well-educated places in Europe, at least, where homeownership is far rarer than it is in the U.S. Nearly 70% of all Americans own their own homes; only 34% of the Swiss do. Thriving cities like Hamburg, Amsterdam and Berlin have rates of ownership of just 20%, 16% and 11% respectively, according to the United Nations.

REI bike class

Love the REI...did you know they are offering bike maintenance classes?

the right book

I keep looking for books on 'surviving and thriving without a job'. There is the classic, 'how to survive without a salary' that I have read a few times. But I am looking for something updated. With real life stories. With real hints, tips and tricks of staying ahead of the curve ball without a job. I am thinking of finding people living this life, get their stories, adventures and methods for living 'outside of the system'. I think I will write it just for myself, now that I think about it...as a guide...get buy in from the experts who are living this life now...

make it a free on line resource...

This link comes from a great reader of the blog: about freeganism

sit back, relax and watch your quality of life drift away...ahhhhhh

The very thing that makes India-China such a powerful economic force, their massive pools of cheap labor, is going to make their transition as burgeoning first world nations very interesting to watch.

As Americans, we benefit in being a relatively small population relative to the worlds population in terms of economic well being. Only very few can have such a high quality of life. We have had that benefit as a result of the scales being tilted in our favor in the last 50 years. That's not right, but it what has been and it what is. And it is what we have gotten used to.

Now those economic benefits are flowing away from our shoes, we will most definitely see a waning of our quality of life in terms of economic measures. But in terms of real quality of life...in not driving a car quality of life...we are just seeing the potential of what can be.

As a foot note, look at a recent businessweek publication on the real cost of outsourcing and the new ground we are breaking in measuring economic data...

I Tuned Out

Okay, my music purchased from itunes did not carry over. Guess what? I'm still smiling with insignia...

pod break

Okay, the fifth or sixth ipod i got from the apple store to replace my long ago defunct Ipod...went defunt. I gladly moved onto a cheap non Ipod mp3 player by Insignia which is the best buy brand. I have not had it long enough to proclaim my love it it...not just yet. But so far I am highly smitten with it. This is why:

1- it's cheap...coming in under 60 bucks you aren't sweating Ibullets at the check-out (and I made the purchase with a gift card i got from my computer purchase a few months back so it was a token to buy),
2-it's very light, but still has a screen,
3-it has a replaceable battery,
4-i'm out of the itunes prison...

I thought it was going to be a real pain, but it was painless. AAC was converted no problem. So were itunes songs which I didn't think was possible. I made the switch even thinking I was going to lose songs I purchased on Itunes, which was a non-issue...

I am going to go out on an Ilimb and say the Iphone is going to be a bust. A big bust! Not initially. Early adopters will go out in droves to buy the thing, but in this case it's going to be painful to be an early adopter.

I think the consolidation and 'centralization' of your mp3 player, phone and hand held device is a bad idea. If your device goes down (take note...my Ipod did)...then you are not only out your mp3 player, you are without communication, your phone, and you are dead in the water with your files saved on your hand held device. And your wallet is broken as well...because you paid an arm and a leg for the thing in the first place. The thing doesn't even have to get busted...it just has to be misplaced...

No...the future...is seperate devices, but devices that can 'talk' to each other so your devices 'back each' other up. You have an 'ecosystem' (trying to bring that word back to the business world) of devices with no central device that you can't do without.

"Forgot your phone?" no worries, your mp3 player will play backup until you get your phone back...

"sat on your mp3 player?!" No problem...your phone has your fav songs...

Palm is moving in this direction with it's new foleo...

devices need to help one another...not compete with one another...just like their owners...

a biking society?

Until today I've always been disgruntled how we are such a 'car society. But today i thought, "today is the best time ever to become a biker as a main means of transportation!".

Sure we are dependent on the car today. But 150 years ago we were depended upon the horse and carriage. Not the bicycle. And asphalt makes for a great biking surface. I think we still may yet become a biking society. All of the pieces are there. Groups like the San Francisco Bike Coalition are making life in SF better for the biker...

I believe things will get better...look at GM...

Heck, my girlfriend is even thinking of trading in her car for a gem car since her commute is only 7 miles. On days when we have a trip that's been planned we can rent an appropriate vehicle for that trip...a SUV...a Truck...something with 4 wheel drive...

She excitedly biked to work one day. I am having to tell her to take it slow...so if my girlfriend, a lifelong car driver can think this way, then things are getting better I think...

cheap light

I want to get a rechargeable light for my bike and found this site on building your own...

and another cool site on how to make a new bike for a hundred bucks..

one year later...

About a year ago on NPR i heard an interview with a guy that got rid of his car...an SUV and went car free. It has been in the back of my mind for a while now and just the other day I stumbled upon his book in the library called "how to live well without owning a car". It's a wonderful, positive book that reminds you of all the potential and interesting ways you can live you life by learning to ask why...

autobody swapping

I rarely watch a movie from beginning to end anymore. I ususally spread a movie out over several nights...kinds of nice to spread it out. Tonight we finished up wathing 'my left foot'. Great movie. Can't say enough about the DDL, Dan Day Lewis, and all of his movies..."last of the mohicans", may "be the best action film ever!". Anyway, we followed up 'my left food' with a bit of the movie 'cars'...talk about a leap in genre...

Cars is cute and kind of funny...bit a bit of the gag reflex kicks in while watching it (kind of when eating something too sweet and gooey)...we'll finish it up tomorrow and the next night maybe...but there's something definitely weird about watching computer animated cars act human-like...i don't know yet...are there any humans in the movie at all? Are the humans mindless machines without personality?

Remember the string of the 'body swap' movies in the eighties like 'Big' and 'visa versa'? why was that so big in the 80's?

Anyway, maybe that happened on earth...all the humans got swapped with their cars? would it be that far from reality? We really are our cars in american society....if so...who am i since I don't have a car?

he or she

Ever wonder who invented beer? A man or a woman?

Some things just seem so obvious....man and beer go together like pizza and...beer...but who knows...

did you know beer goes back to possibly the 7th millennium bc? not century...millennium...that's 7000 bc...it's possibly human's first beverage (after water i am sure)...

amazing...guess i don't have to worry about ever getting a DUI...so great...

car sickness

Wow...I feel great! I just sold my car for a lot less than I paid (teaches me) and I feel so light. I realized I've been suffering from car sickness for the past year...that feeling of weight and burden that results from car fees, registration fees, parking fees, fear of tickets, gas prices, oil changes...blah blah blah...sorry felt a little whoozie there...flash backs...

I have to pick up the check tomorrow and thought, "hey, what if these guys screw me and don't pay me...and they have my car!"

and i thought...

"They did me a favor, they they liberated me. That alone is worth it...and I can cancel my insurance policy...and that gnawing aching feeling to pay the registration...guess what...gone! so even if they screw me...they saved me..."

Funny thing is, what happens if there is a technological 'phase change' and a leap in electrical car technology (want to see the future...check out tesla!)? How will people be even able to sell gas cars? Personally (like a blog is anything else but my personal opinion...), I think electric and internal combustion will be competing technologies...kind of like 'flash memory' and hard drives...one cheap and dirty and the other elegant but expensive...

but with either technology, chances are i'd still suffer from car sickness...

we'll always have paris

I enjoy saving and making money more than I enjoy spending it...more or less. I do not enjoy spending money on large ticket items...i think most of my money goes out on food...eating out...it always has...ever since i first earned my first paycheck...ahhh, my first paycheck.

I have for the most part been independent from my parents for money. After turning 18 I have not received any hand outs from my folks, of which I am very proud. What I have saved, I have saved on my own. I have stayed with my folks, but I have never had them incur an expense on my part. I was never a liability. Always an asset I have tried to be whenever I stay with anybody...never a burden. I am not ruling out staying with my parents if i should fall on 'hard times', but i can never see ever having to ask them for dough. thank goodness I never will have too...on the contrary, i want to give to them...

I couldn't help thinking about this stuff when reading about paris hilton crying like a baby episodes when she had to serve her time. Granted I have not walked a mile in her manalo blahnik aligator boots I can say that I have lost respect for her acting the way she has...

simulated simulations

this is fascinating stuff...

here we go...

okay, here it is...'the nth life' lives...so interesting

coincidences

the matrix identified deja vu as carrying signifigance. what about coincidences?

what is a coincidence?

perhaps...a seemingly unlikely event that occurs nonetheless...but that's just a stab at a definition...

but what do coincidences mean in your life? if your life consisted of one coincidence after another versus a life that never had a coincidence...what would that mean?

I argue that coincidences mean you are on 'the correct path' in life. the more coincidences, the more you are 'in tune' with what your natural state in life is...

i have no logical arguement for this but i am working on it...

did you say "damn ears?"...

NO old man, I said "Panniers..."

I am shopping for bigger panniers or saddle bags for my new bike. We biked up to the grocery store yesterday to load up on supplies. biking to the grocery store was great! a total adventure and fun. The benefits were...it was fun (as stated), cheaper (no fuel used), no extra purchases (because of limited room), no bags needed (we used panniers and back packs), and it was easier (everything was already packed to go right into th kitchen).

That said, I have a new bike (still have to sell the honda civic) and I am getting ready to equip it with panniers. I found this site which is about building your own panniers. Don't know if i am there yet...maybe down the road...

soft and squishy

my avatar in this life is getting soft, mushy and gooshy...i am enjoying the food and drink too much...

so i am dusting off the 'toughness training for life' to get a little tuffer...will keep you posted...

but the party isn't over just yet...one more piece of chocolate...

the wonderful world of deep sleep

so i just got back for the grand canyon...and it was....well...grand...we drove a really long way in not too much time. It is a twelve hour drive one way and we did two, one day drives. We left Friday and got back today around 9 am, so we drove through the night. It was a trip that had some really 'trippy' parts to it since we did not get, as expected, much sleep last night. We stopped briefly in Las Vegas via the Hoover Damn, which made the trippy parts even more trippy...

which got me thinking about sleep...I think the longest record of somebody going without sleep is around 11 days. During that time, it becomes difficult to discern between dream and reality.

I've often thought sleep, seems logical, is the brains means of post-processing the days events...

A more fun and sci-fi story for sleep just hit me in a sleep deprived haze...and going with the 'it's a simulated life' concept...what if sleep is actually when our brains receive their 'processing' or programming for future thought and/or download data to a 'higher processing power'?

interesting spin on this world being a simulation....just a thought...or was this just 'scripted'...keeps you guessing...

vagablogging

this is a cool site about vagabonding.

current story is about a family going around the world...i was going to write about having kids and it putting you in the poor house and the 'bore' house as well...this story looks at it slightly differently....

pssst...hey mister...wanna buy a blog?

So I am in the process of selling my car. I love dealing with deal makers...and hagglers...I feel more comfortable with them because you know where you stand. It's funny...

I tried selling my car on craigslist, but dealing with individuals is annoying...people are too afraid to negotiate with.

Now dealing with a car dealership...that's more my speed!

Go figure...you would think dealing with private citizens, who are not used to haggling would be more stress free. Not so...give me the hard core hagglers...they don't take things personally...I like that...

They see it more as a game...and that's all it is...I am not a salesperson, but I think I might like to try my hand at it part time...

maybe down the road...

so there was a woman there buying a new accord...she started talking to me and tells me she's getting married and, as well as buying a car for herself, is buying a car for her husband as a wedding gift. This seemed excessive...she mentioned her husband was on paxil and, to be honest, she seemed a little 'out of sorts'. I couldn't help but thinking that she was getting into something a little over her head...

I was negotiating to get rid of a car and she was negotiating to buy two. I am much happier being on my side of the table...

much happier 'off loading'...i am concerned about her, however. I was thinking about how the salesman wouldn't care about her state of mind. They just want to make a sale.

I can't blame them...it's their job...

But, I couldn't also help but think she wasn't prepared for the fight. She wasn't in the right frame of mind to be spending that kind of money...

negotiating is fine when you are prepared for it...but I don't think she was...

The salesman have 'their game face on.' The normal consumer is a sitting duck...

I think a great non-profit service would be teaching consumer the 'art of the steal'. teach people how to negotiate...

level the playing field...

X=Y

I was just reading an article in Fortune Magazine (Yes...very system magazine, I know...) and there was an article about generation Y. Could generation be the next cause for change in our society? The article says, "They're ambition, they're demanding, and they question everything, so if there isn't a good reason for that long commute or late night, don't expect them to do it. When it comes to loyalty, the companies they work for are last on their list, behind their families, their friends, and their communities, and their co-workers, and of course, themselves."

There are a lot of them, so they can't be ignored. And if they don't like a job, they will just quit and move back home with their parents, because "...there is not stigma".

I love generation Y. I think I may be one of them.

I was thinking of that logic. What if your threw out all of conventional expectations and just didn't give a crap about what people thought about you. Life, in some respects, would have some great rewards!

"Mom....Dad...I'm HOME!"

I think of my parents place...an active adult community with pool, gym, library...I think I may be moving back...it's good to have a plan!

face it...your a sim

so we got a new roommate. great guy. a computer engineer. I floated the idea of 'an nth life'. he believed it was logical. that it was highly unlikely that we were the first society to create alternate worlds. that it makes sense that our world is just a simulation of another world. actually there are probably number simulations running with slight variations to address different questions about all the things we question...the meaning of it all, why do we exist, how did we come to be...

fun stuff!

Poor Inc.

Businessweek did a story on the working poor of america. These stories always interest me. While many people are interested in the well-to-dos. I'm interested in the "well, I do not..." The working poor...

Two individuals they focus on in the story are sisters. Their dad left them a house free and clear. He paid it off, the remaining $60k before he died. Within a few years the two sisters amassed 170k in debt and are thinking they may have to sell the house. They can't afford it. Both work jobs. These stories are so sad, but you have to wonder if these stories of financial calamities are preventable? What happened here? What unfolded? A series of bad choices? Bad luck? Both?

bizibee

no posting...i've been keeping really busy taking care of things...so little time to write.

dump the car and bike to work week next week, 17 may. SF bike coalition

everybody is cheap

i think all adults are cheap. event he beamer drivers out there are cheap. everybody wants a deal...

but what separates us as cheap adults are those that are willing to do without. those people that are willing to put in more work, get more out of an experience, but have a little more pain...that's the group that has it figured out...

dump the dollar

It's funny. Sometimes I speculate on things, thinking that they are out in left field...such as a dollar devaluation. I speculate, part because it makes sense on some level and part because it's fun to speculate.

And it's always interesting to then see an article such as this.

I think the days of a singe world reserve currency at coming to an end. Regional currencies will emerge to diversify away from dependency upon a single currency. What will this to do the dollar? Why wait to find out...

the guantanamo chronicles

just watched 'the road to guantanamo'. It was an okay film.

But the funny thing is...we created a terrorist training facility in Guantanamo bay. If the guy you have is not a terrorist, you are creating one or at least somebody that is not going to be friendly and compassionate with your situation. And if you do have a terrorist, then you are just reinforcing their beliefs to hate. I'm not saying that we should roll out the red carpet and party with suspected terrorists....but I am saying we should believe in compassion, humility and reason.

Peaceful resistance has been employed by Gandhi and Dr. King. When groups are oppressed. When people do not have power.

Have those tactics ever been employed by the group with power? When a ruling group (a group with power) feels threatened has that group ever used peaceful means of control and mediation? Would that mean giving up power and creating more of an equity which would lead to another group oppressing the oppressors? I suppose that is the fear....

carly tips

I have Carly Fiorina's book, tough choices, and I did what I normally do with a new book. I thumb through and just pull out things that interest me. Here's a good tip and excerpt from carly and her book:

"I wasn't prepared for the questions, and so I began thinking out loud. 'well, I don't think lack of technical expertise is our biggest problem on this board. I think operational..."

But I like that strategy. In stead of sitting there with a 'daaah' look on your face...'think out loud'.

Thanks Carly!

keep your mind open and your wallet shut...

I do not know how the average joe or average jose makes ends meet today? I do not own a home, barely drive (although the car is on the auction block), do not have kids, am mindful of money, have no credit card debt, and i earn a decent wage....and still find it 'tight'...

I looked up at gas prices the other day at a Shell station I was walking by and just about fell over. the 'cheap' gas was clocking in around a three and a half bucks for a gallon of the liquefied hydrocarbon concoction.

Throw in a Dulce de Leche Frappucino and a trip to the mall and there does not seem to be enough dollars to fill the gap.

It's easy to see we are on a path towards a recession. Despite a recent good quarter for a string of companies and their earnings, when was the last time the consumer was in such a tight spot? Housing woes, a slowing economy with increasing gas prices and a massive trade deficit worsening a budget deficit. You have huge capital outlays going into an unpopular war and stiff economic competition from China and India waiting to jump off the bench and take your spot on the field. Things economically couldn't look any worse...could they?

And that's the obvious stuff. The more muted stuff such as the privatization of public assets such as the 'Indiana Toll Road' by Macquarie Infrastructure group along with the Chicago Skyway' as well as others.

Got $2.5 billion? The Chicago Midway Airport is up for sale.

Cash strapped municipalities are selling off infrastructure and private equity firms are snapping them up. They love the predictable cash flow such assets produce. Is this bad? Who knows maybe they will be regulated and things will work like clockwork, or they'll 'get Enron' on our ass...

The point is that there is so much up in the air. It's really hard to 'keep it all' together these days. To keep things sorted in your mind as you define your mid and long term goals, plan for retirement, decide what to invest in or for how long, how much money you are going to need 20 years from now....

With so much up in the air, my main long term goals include 'stay flexible', 'keep an open mind' and 'be mindful of opportunities'. With so much change on the horizon, the last thing I want to do is get stuck in a limited, one-way perspective on the world.

i am going to have a dream

I once was a lifeguard. It was perhaps the best job I have ever had. I could workout on the clock. Stay in shape. Be outside. And have fun. It truly was a great time of my life.

During one of our 'poolside philosophy' sessions I asked a fellow guard, “What's your dream?”

We are always told in movies and songs to 'have a dream'. To 'never let go of your dreams'.

And I agree. But what is a dream of ours? Are they just fleeting ideas that happen to be a little less fleeting than others?

Where do we dream up these dreams? Are they just unrealistic expectations we have of our life? Or are dreams something very real to nurture and develop?

They give us a purpose. That's pretty important.

Can dreams be dangerous?

Think of the dream of the 'Third Reich'!

AT the time of my 'poolside chat' I really didn't have a dream. I was running on a day to day whimsical cycle that was strung together by a plan created from a societal -hard wired- flight chart that mapped what I was supposed to be doing at that stage in my life. And, believe it or not, it worked well. It was a great time of my life.

But I have nonetheless continued to develop my ideas of my dream. And I do have a dream. But more importantly I have several dreams. Different sizes of dreams and compartments of dreams.

One dream, or idea, I have relates to this blog. I dream of creating a non-profit someday, that develops the concepts of self, experience and role within society that is independent of your job. A internet based center than provides a base of support and identity when one is without a job, which is a major source of self-identity in our society. When a person is between jobs, they are always on their way to getting another job. Very infrequently do they stay in that position. I want to freeze frame and stretch those moments out and give people the time to fully explore that opportunity before they have to 'rejob'. Because this is the time when dreams are born.

Or, sometimes...a time when dreams die...

A job serves its purpose. It provides, obviously, society with services that are needed. It provides individuals with cash flow, structure and a sense of purpose. But everything has a cost, and the cost of a job, that a person must accept, to a certain degree, is the identity the job gives him or her. That's the price we pay. Sometimes the price we pay is a forgotten dream.

Any role or responsibility has the potential of 'robbing us of our dreams.' Anything that is greater than oneself presents that potential, whether it is being a lifeguard, a religious follower, a parent or a little league coach. Any role we play can ultimately 'become us'.

The motivation for picking our role, is what interests me however. I want to lessen the societal pressure in terms of identity that motivates people to return to the workforce for identity.

A dream is made up of a lot of 'dreamlets'. One dreamlet of this idea is to provide a forum for people to discuss ideas as well as learn about finances. To feel more empowered even without a job.

I want to create relationships through an organization that provides identity and lessens that societal pressure. A center that supports people in exploring their individuality through writing and creative pursuits. A center whose mission springs from each individual instead of being crafted and then handed down and shaping the ideas of its members, this organization will learn from the people it supports.

That's one of my many dreams....

the right wrong number

this is great...

i was just on the phone with REI (such a great guy...love the REI) to register for a class...when i got a phone call on my cell. Thinking that it is the guy that is coming by to look at my car (yes i am selling it), REI dude puts me on hold.

Turns out that a girl was on the phone, and it was the wrong number. (for the record, I never get wrong numbers that are english speaking girls...they are usually chinese speaking men...although that has died off...i think the guy that had my number previously was a guy...and...chinese...)

anyhooow...while on hold i thought, "Oh no! I think the class is on the weekend I am going to grand canyon..let me check..."

And so i did...and it was....

So the girl that should have been a chinese speaking man, got me to realize i was already committed...and made my life a little less chaotic...

but now i have to find out when they are offering this class again...maybe taught by a chinese man...who misses a bunch of calls because they come to me...

too slow to market

i thought it would make a great documentary...people living outside of the system...at least I will get to watch it...

connect two

what is a 'connection' with another person? You know what i am talking about? Don't you...Maybe we aren't 'connecting'?!

Is a connection with another person just communicating with another person in a really effective way? Two or more people that share similar styles of communication so that you feel that they 'get you'?

Here's a cheap cheapstreet times 'funercise' for you to do at home? list the three people you have connected with most in your life? are there any common links? why these people?

Did you find more connections when you were younger or more now?

the nth life plus 3

So I think the universe and the human mind are linked in some way. As our minds envision something beyond the edge of the universe, the edge of the universe expands. The universe is as big as our minds accept it is.

a place holder

I love these 'business cliches'. "a place holder' is a big one now.

"oh, that's just a place holder..." What the hell is a place holder?

Remember when 'niche' was being used in a business context? that one was great. I remember Carli Fiorina slinging that one around...

"IN this business ECOsystem..."

I've got to read her book and sympathize with her along with the soldiers fighting in Iraq and the orphans of darphur...

Poor carli...

only a fragment

"Only 41 percent of the adult population works [in France]..."

-Financial Times

gotta grow old...

Birthdays...or mile markers of a life.

Today is my birthday. Tax Day.

No wonder I like blogging about money so much...everybody was talking about their taxes when i was born. The doctor ran out of the room to mail his taxes...

Should've been an accountant...

Anyway, back to birthdays. Funny thing...I never really thought about it until this birthday, but I relish getting older. It's one more year 'in the bank'. One more year of experiences. Bundled up and packaged in my life. I want to be old. I want to be old, retired and wrinkled. I can't wait!

My parents are retired. And I have to tell you. It's the life. I love learning and hearing about life in the 'active adult' community. It is such a great story. As I said...I can't wait!

Each year that passes, is one more year I am closer to seeing how this story entitle, "my life" turns out. I once heard an expression, "if you don't want to die young, you have to grow old..."

I will tag onto the end of that...

"you have to grow old...have no job, live life as you wish, say what you want to say, and throw your inhibitions into the wind!"

soul money

I see Mexican immigrants, probably illegal, hanging out in the Home Depot parking lot. They wait and wait....and wait to find people who will hire them for day labor. Sometimes I see five or so snuggled into a car eating a meal. Or just hanging out chit chatting...looking very content...happy...

We all want to be rich. It's part of our growth. In order for us to look past material success as a path of enlightenment and fulfillment we have to have had wealth. Just like the story of the Buddha. He didn't have humble beginnings. He had opulent beginnings. And realized the path to freedom was not paved with gold. But we must look for that path first.

Many times I have heard very wealthy people saying, "the fun was in making it...not having it..." That makes sense. They had a purpose. A path to follow. Especially if that was their main goal. It seems once they have material success, however, that path may end, but another is waiting just head out of the clearing...one that goes back into the woods of uncertainty...that's the path I would like to get on. But first I have to find some material success..."Did anybody see a path ladened with gold around here?...anybody?...i know it's here..."

sympathy for the devil

Another aspect of the Enron story lies with Lay and Skilling. Both were visionaries. Men that dreamed big dreams. Dreams, that ultimately, were too big for them to control.

Men with those dreams and those visions can all too often get lost in the relation of the thought to its execution. Details become meddlesome intrusions into the fantastic voyage of big ideas.

These guys envisioned and tried to implement movies on demand with Blockbuster. They created EnronOnline, considered to be the first successful online business. It is hard to not admire them for their visionary 'bulls eyes'.

I think that might have been their downfall. Without a grounding element, they became intoxicated with their own importance. I really admire the two for their daring dreams and I find them larger than life fascinating characters. With a little more failure earlier in their careers, they may have ultimated succeeded. And in the case of Skilling, who knows what else remains of his story...until then, however, perhaps even in spite of what else he may accomplish, I think both will forever be remembered as greedy thieves.

low wattage, high return

Ran hits on an interesting idea of energy, money and quality of life. And the link between each. Jeff Vail touches on it from another level. More societal.

It makes sense that energy is of utmost importance to us. Since we harnessed energy in its purest form, fire, we have been hooked with no going back. Sure we can abuse energy, just as we can anything else. But it is vital for humans and our society.

I think the idea of linking quality of life with energy usage is brilliant. That should be in the general matrix of how well a society is run. Right up there with interest rates, economic growth and infant mortality.

When I apply it to my own personal finances, getting rid of my car will free up a lot of energy I have tied up in my personal energy budget. From the money that is in the car, to the insurance to the gas used to run the car. Just the emotional energy I put into worrying about the car being towed.

same space, different people

So my girlfriend, being the entrepreneurial spirited girl she is ("quick, she's giving those away, get some!" i love it) rents out a room.

The guy here now got a job in europe so is leaving. He has only been here for about 2 months or so. Very nice guy.

The guy here before him rented the room for about a number of months. He's since back east but travels a lot for work and is in the area for the next week or so. Very interesting and fun guy... So we are going to meet up.

It's need how these guys have never met and never will meet, but are connected in one way or another. And now are almost overlapping in space...just as one is leaving..the movie 'babel' kind of hit on this...

I really enjoy meeting people and intersecting with their lives and seeing how their lives intersect with others. I do not think you can know or have too many people in your life. Connecting with people is one key aspect to a good life. (not that any life can really be a bad life...)

A friend told me once, you can maintain friendships with up to about 100 people. I wonder if that's true? (Might make for a good screenplay...)

Another aspect to a good life...beer...good beer...

Enron: the smartest guys in the cell

If you have not yet seen Enron: the smartest guys in the room, see it!

Most excellent story. I still can't believe this happen during the recent past. I remember watching the 'ask why' advertisements on tv. I remember reading articles about how the company was the most innovative.

So many 'average joes' worked at Enron. I wonder how many people working at Enron felt guilty about leaving early? Or that they didn't do a particularly good job on a particular project? How many beat themselves up because they took too many personal calls during the day?

the places that scare you

went to my favorite pizza place for lunch (not one of those places that scares me) and popped into a book store on eastern philosophy. A book called 'the places that scare you' jumped out at me and was by Pema Chodron, who is a resident teacher at Gampo Abbey, a Tibetan monastery for westerners in Nova Scotia. My sister told me of this place about a year ago (almost to the day) and I have wanted to go since. It is still part of the plan.

Some things ring true...

The book starts out with,

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye"

too busy to call

I've noticed I have not been calling my friends. I have noticed I am becoming dependent upon email to maintain friendships, because I can email at work....sort of...

Another one of the dark sides of work. You figure you can't make or received personal calls at work. So that's 9 hours of the day gone...Perhaps I'll have to do that more on lunch time?

Then weekends are a real squeeze to call everyone, friends and family, you did not call during the week along with doing all the stuff you want to do...

I want to start volunteering with the homeless...one more thing...

A great book, CrazyBusy, hits on this point. He identifies keeping connected to what is important to you. If you lose your connections, then you yourself are lost. Many of the books ideas ring true...

a herd of choices

I recently looked at a stock I have been tracking. And it's gone up...quite a bit, in the last two months.

I was talking to my girlfriend right after I noticed this trend in this stock (MIC) and she asked,

"Why didn't you buy it?"

And I realized I was too overwhelmed with other stocks I was watching. Essentially, I had to many options. Too many opportunities. And just the opposite happens than what you would expect...when you have too many choices you end up taking none...

Just as fish swim in schools, and prey animals travel in herds. Their many numbers, with each individual displaying similar behavioral traits (must like stocks or items on a grocery shelf or local chain restaurants) the predator's senses get overwhelmed. Perhaps that is why the predator picks the weakest animal. Not that it is deficient, only that it is acting differently so it is easier to focus on...

that's the difficult part of human society. Act too differently and you will get taken out, but the only way to excel is to 'think different'. Finding the balance between the two is the fun part I suppose.

making good use of time

Riding the train is great. At first I thought,

"Wow, I have to sit on the train for 45 minutes 2 times per day...gotta be a better way..."

then it hit me, that time is mine. I am guaranteed some 'me time'. I am now starting to meditate on the train. Something I could never find the time to do before...

mirror economics

I was expecting the business sector to stay strong while the economic stamina of the consumer got winded. I did not expect the housing market of the East Bay to weaken, however. Now in looking at it it makes sense. The East Bay market is essentially spill over from San Francisco. I was looking at the Bay Area as one piece. Actually it is several. San Francisco, South Bay and East Bay. San Francisco has the financial sector and the San Francisco name. South Bay will maintain it's real estate values b/c of the tech sector. The area has such a strong economic base. East Bay, however, doesn't.

the human experiment

This is a story regarding Halle Berry's close call with suicide. I have to admit, I read the article because I saw how hot she looked. But after reading it, I realized how we all go through hard times, even super hot stars like Halle. I thought of Anna Nicole Smith. I thought of the 'downside' of stardom. How we, as the public and society, essentially dehumanize these people to products. How they become idealized and how this affects them and their lives. We often look at one aspect of their lives and think of how great it must be. I for one, would never want such a life. Is is absurd how the public and people talk about the stars and their lives? Perhaps, it gives us all a chance to discuss 'the human experience' and gives us all a common denominator. We can all relate to these stars on one level or another. So in that sense, pop culture, ties us all together with a human link. Even if they are, to many of us, a product...

The following story is from here:

Halle Berry came close to committing suicide after the failure of her marriage to baseball star David Justice, but changed her mind at the last minute, fearing her death would leave her mother heartbroken.

The Oscar-winning actress was so depressed after the relationship collapsed in 1997, she started the process of poisoning herself with carbon monoxide in her car.

It took an image of her mother Judith finding her body to stop her.

Berry tells Parade magazine, "I was sitting in my car, and I knew the gas was coming, when I had an image of my mother finding me.

"She sacrificed so much for her children, and to end my life would be an incredibly selfish thing to do. It was all about a relationship. My sense of worth was so low. I had to reprogram myself to see the good in me. Because someone didn't love me didn't mean I was unlovable. I promised myself I would never be a coward again."]

intuitive clutter

I believe in 'vibes'. But how do you separate the genuine and real intuitive feeling from the other clutter that rattles around in your mind?

the [justin.tv] story goes on...and on....and on...

This sort of thing is becoming more and more and more common...totally links with 'the second life', 'my life bits', and all that stuff...it's interesting, but seems to be very 'ed tv' like...doesn't seem that original, but here you go...just one more dot in the pattern emerging. Blending 'reality' with 'what is reality?'

But I think a far more useful approach, would be professional series for career exploration. the "a day in the life of..." series. Where a doctor, firemen, clerk, accountant, legal professional, lumberjack...etc do this 'justin tv' thing and interested students or people wanting to explore a field can view...instead of just entertainment.

to be honest (and i'm rarely this blunt)...justin.tv just seems stupid...

--------------------------------

ON a different note; where do companies come up with these names? Microsoft has been really good at coming up with names that are cheezy but sound edgy...previous ones, such as 'zune', 'urge' (with mtv), and now 'deepfish'...

The departement of defense has a computer program to come up with names for operatons, such as desert storm, or desert shield, or but i bet microsoft just has a bunch of twenty-something nerds sitting around trying to come up with 'cool' names that just end up sounding...silly...

Microsoft did try the concept of naming something for what it was suppose to do. The 'play for sure' label. Only problem with that strategy is your screwed if it doesn't 'play for sure'.

I think it would be great if the military operation names actually described what was going on behind the scenes. For instance, when we invaded Iraq it would be:

Operation: Line Your Pockets

or

Operation: Big Dick Syndrome

or if we invade Iran it's really simple:

Operation: Oh Shit!

In the movie, 'enron: the smartest guys in the room', there are sound bits of the traders coming up with names for different trading strategies. Many were describing how the company was robbing, errr excuse me 'arbitraging' the state of california...good movie if you haven't seen it...

JFK

No matter how we got here, why we are here or where we are going... To me that is the ultimate puzzle. The ultimate 'riddle, wrapped up in a mystery, inside an enigma...'

(I always thought that phrase came from the movie JFK...great flick...)

Anyway, it's so great...the life...

A friend of mine started a blog...so great, about bike riding... I guess his blog reminds me its about finding something you love and doing it...

I love biking. I bike to work everyday. May be the best commute ever! I look forward to climbing onto the bike when i leave work. Whether it's raining or nice out. I love the SF weather...never know what to expect...I like the uncertainty...

But no matter what this life is about, our purpose in it, how much we have to work...finding joy in something is part of the mystery. And I think joy can be found by letting go and letting the 'currents of life guide you...'. Finding something that gives you 'the ride' you are looking for...

I still have a long ways to go before I am in shape enough to ride with my friends, but it's nice to know it's about the fun...it's nice to know, that maybe life is more of a 'joke, wrapped in a limerick, and served on a woody allen line...'

“

I contemplated suicide again - this time by inhaling next to an insurance salesman.

”

sdr

self destructive relationships have a definite place in human relations. the same factors at play in an individual, the accepting of the universal laws that want them to succumb to the forces of entropy and the energy concentrating forces of life, are at play. these two forces threaten to rattle most relationships to pieces. I think understanding the factors at play, put us in a slightly better positions of mastering them.

the nth life part n+1

So why create a 'simulation' of our world? Why bother? Why would a society create a simulated world such as ours?

I think it is inevitable that we will do this. That means, somebody else must have already done so, increasing the likelyhood that our entire universe is basically a 'simulation'. Which, in a funny way changes nothing while at the same time changes everything.

But why create it...To answer questions and to learn. Our universe was created to study how life evolves and how ideas evolve. We were created for the reason of creating ideas. That is the purpose of our society, accoring to 'the nth life' philosophy, is to think and generate ideas. To create.

Basically, any group or society that created our universe is basically God. But when asked why God would create our universe I never have or can come up with an answer that is logical and satisfies me. Why a somebody or group of somebodies (who would basically be God) would create our universe the answer is so simple and incredibly obvious. To learn. To study.

Doesn't that make sense? Or at least doesn't it make great science fiction? I really think this stuff would make a great story or screen play...kind of a bit of a twist on 'the matrix.'

Perhaps i'll start putting some ideas for a story up here...

the unbearable weightiness of ownership

Okay fine! I am going to evaluate going carless. Having a car-free that is a carefree existence. Here is one more option in my bag of tricks.

I mentioned it to my girlfriend and she said, "Sure. Plenty of europeans at work just share one car."

This is a kind of exciting adventure.

Who knew that getting my car towed would be a great experience and lesson. I am looking at it as I paid a 'consulting fee' and the consultant said, well you could save a bundle if you got the car out of your life. But instead of the consultant writing a report and tossing it onto the desk saying, "there you go...".

They went one step further and took my car! (you have to pay extra for that service you know...and not all 'lifestyle consultants' even do it...i got lucky...)

Some may say that such a positive view on subject matter is delusional. I would say, I just prefer to pull out of any situation what supports what I want to accomplish in this life.

So had a great impromptu night last night. Love the impromptu situations...perhaps the best ever...I think I would like to structure my life to maximize 'the impromptu'. How does one do that?

I spoke with one of my good buddies and had tentative plans, but we kind of left it that we would hook up the following week. But then I ended up throwing the frisbee around with our european roomate we have who is leaving to head back to europe soon. the frisbee was great...great cheap game! Even some cheap little kids joined in. one kid asked, "excuse me sir, can we play?" So we tossed him the frisbee...

Following frisbee it was off to a irish pub for two pints of guiness...(made by Diageo by the way, the world's leading producer of spirits and paying a nice 4% dividend) and an evening of good conversation and live band...can you say, "so great"?

oh, we did drive...but i think biking would have been much more fun...especially if we had a frisbee in tow...