Every Sunday I work at Fedex Office (formerly Kinkos). I have worked there for around three years. When I started working there it was more of an actual job, 20 to 30 hours a week. Now I just show up every Sunday and help out around the store. It is often slow on Sundays, so I get time to study or read the books they sell.
Kinkos sells an inordinate number of self-help books in their retail section. Perfect for the resume-copiers and workers that frequent the store. Over the years I have read a good number of the books and I think that they have actually taught me some important lessons about life and relationships.
Before I enumerate the things that I have picked up from the books, I ask you to throw away preconceptions about “self-help” things. There is a stigma about “self help” that regards such books as snake oil for suckers. I propose that the books are not. Most of them propose a new way of thinking about life that a person might not encounter in the everyday, 9-5 life.
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Categories: Breathtaking
Tagged: forgiveness, gratitude, kinkos, law of attraction, life, positivity, success, swagger, the secret
If Turbotax says it, it must be true.
While doing my taxes, I got a little bit of wisdom courtesy of Turbotax… and a pretty nice refund.
Categories: The Interwebs
Tagged: school is cool, turbotax
Could the iPad Reinvigorate Print?
I will preface this post saying that I am not an expert on any of the new technologies I am about to discuss, nor the various pay models involved in making journalism financially viable. But, this is my blog, so here I go.
The iPad was introduced yesterday and many sources, more informed than me have commented on its potential effect on the media, specifically magazines and newspapers. The new revenue would come from subscriptions to an app that the company would provide.
Now, I will list off some thoughts on what the effect that truly mobile, live, easily accessible news and information will have on people, the media and society. Some of these are already happening and some are just hypotheticals that I am thinking off, as I sit here.
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Categories: Journalism
Tagged: apple, ipad, iphone, kindle, media, mobile, news, newspapers
Beware. Balloons and baby strollers are deadly.
Stumbled upon while on the UTSA campus.
Categories: Incredible
Tagged: baby strollers, balloons, fail, utsa
I added a few more pictures to my Iraq Picture section. In the pictures I uploaded, I tried to show that what you see (or have seen) in the media about deployment is probably true, but there is also downtime and even fun times that happen during deployment (in my experience, at least).
A Janky looking Iraqi DVD Shop.
When did the word “janky” enter the lexicon? I enjoy using it!
Categories: Incredible
Tagged: Iraq, Pictures
Looking at my life, I realized that I own few actual things, rather I rent it or rely on “The Cloud” for my needs. In this case, I refer to the cloud as a collective of people sharing, rather than owning goods. Not necessarily cloud computing.
Of course people have been living with rented things for decades, but new technology has enabled people to get goods and services without relying on the traditional model of ownership. It occurred to me that doing this is likely more sustainable.
So I thought I would list the various ways that a person can live “Life in the Cloud” or living without having tangible ownership of an item.
Pandora – music in the cloud.
Netflix – movies in the cloud.
Car2Go – share a car.
Bike Sharing – share a bike.
CouchSurfing – loan out your couch.
BookMooch – trade books.
Wikipedia – collective information.
SwapASkill – swap your skills with others.
Google Apps – applications and more in the cloud.
Any other ways that people can enjoy material things without “owning” them?
Categories: Lists
Tagged: car2go, couchsurfing, netflix, ownership, pandora, the cloud
On January 1st, I checked the results of the poll that I posted several weeks ago. It was the closest margin in mustache shaving poll history, five for yes and four for no. So, I have shaved my mustache.
A Staggering Turnout
I would like to think all those who made their opinions clear. The question swept the interwebs. Those pondering their own mustache future in 2010 were greeted with my question.
A very important question indeed.
Yes, here I am in my non-mustache-only-goatee glory. I sincerely apologize for looking like I am taking a mugshot.
Grizzly
So Fresh and So Clean
Categories: Incredible
Tagged: facial hair, mustache, new year, shave
