“I enjoy reading, I just don’t have the time.” I’ve said the above many times over the years, particularly since having kids. People would ask if I’ve read Ready Player One or the Game of Thrones books and I would sheepishly have to admit that I haven’t (or crack a joke about waiting for the movie/TV series). In fact, I have a hard time remembering the last book that I read for pleasure….
Recently at work, a question was broadcast over Slack (for those unfamiliar with Slack, think of a messaging tool that is a cross between email and instant messaging) asking if anybody had any interesting stories about stocks that they had sold that they later regretted. The story was to be used in an upcoming podcast (if you want to hear the dulcet tones of my voice recounting the story, check…
Today this article came up in my Facebook feed. It echoed a sentiment I’ve seen in many different places. Stop buying stuff, start buying experiences. This is good in that it helps people reduce their waste but bad in that it simply replaces one outlet for excess spending with another. Spending is a big issue with Americans awash in debt and often headed towards bankruptcy. Spending gobs of money on yourself…
In our media saturated world, it can be nigh impossible to find the signal in the noise. That is to say, we have access to so much content all the time that it’s tough to find the music, movies, books, and games that truly speak to us, that really matter to our lives, that greatly influence and stimulate our thinking. Realistically, there is so much content that we’ll never be…
It’s summertime and that means most of the United States is turning on our air conditioners. As of 2009 over 87% of all homes in the U.S. had some form of air conditioning, and that number is probably well over 90% now. Cooling accounts for 6% of an average home’s annual energy use. This might sound small, but when you consider that you’re only running your AC for about 25%…
Springtime is upon us. The birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming and our thoughts naturally turn towards light bulbs. Okay, maybe not naturally, but this is the best time of year to think about your lighting. By this point in time we probably all know that LED bulbs are the best, but many of us are still dragging our feet on installing them. Maybe you’re just waiting for your…
The 90 days are up. So what is the verdict of my P90x3 Challenge Finale? As the title suggests: disappointment, but also hope. First, a quick update on what has happened since the last check-in. After being discouraged by my progress up to that point, I had vowed to do better by cutting back on the fast food breakfasts and working out harder. I had mixed success. I was able…
I ended the P90x3 challenge kickoff with “See you in a month for the first check-in”. I know it’s been longer than a month, but my editor convinced me that a check-in for the sake of a check-in just wasn’t a good idea, so I compromised and decided to check-in at the halfway point. So now that I am half done with my P90x3 journey, how are things going? The short answer?…
My favorite line in Raising Arizona is where H.I. walks into the Short Stop and says “I’ll be taking these Huggies and uh whatever cash you got“. It’s hilarious for a lot of reasons, but it also speaks to a real world truth: diapers are expensive! In my last post I went over how much easier reusable diapers are than disposables, but didn’t really cover the cost. Cost is hugely important though,…
I started thinking about diapers over a year ago when my wife was pregnant with our first child. The idea of sending a ton of disposable diapers to landfills had always disturbed me, but I was also afraid of the difficulty of cloth diapers. I was going to be the parent staying home so I’d be doing the majority of diaper changes. Did I really want to sign up for something as hard…