Therefore, from a purely econimic benefit point of view, here is what it is worth on an hourly basis to pick up the following coins:
1 penny = $36.00 per hour
1 nickel = $180.00 per hour
1 dime = $360.00 per hour
1 quarter = $900.00 per hour
Think about that next time you see something silver on the ground.
·Autopilot for cars
·An efficiency mode for cruise control. Rather than maintaining a certain speed, you would enter minimum & maximum speeds and the car would figure out how to get you to your destination within those ranges – factoring in the terrain – most efficiently. This would be especially nice if coupled with autopilot.
·“Smart” keys integrated with your cell phone. Your phone is your car key.
·Credit card functionality built into a smart phone. Pay with your phone. I think they already do this in Japan.
·A “smart” credit card that combined all your accounts into one card: you pick at time of payment which card to charge
Summer vacation…by the numbers
1999 Honda Odyssey
July 11, 2008 – Aug 10, 2008
AZ - NV - UT - ID - MT - Canada - MT - ID - UT - ID - UT - AZ
Total Distance: 4,917
Total Fuel Cost: $819
Ave Fuel cost: $4.28
Fuel Cost/Mile: $0.165
Avg MPG: 25.69
My favorite local Asian restaurant, Oasian, has apparently gone out of business.
They made the best chicken curry in the world. I was in the neighborhood last night and decided to stop in for a bite…only to discover the “Available” real estate sign on the building.
:-(
All was not entirely lost for the evening, though. I hit Yoko Fast Food on the way home and picked up some yummy yakisoba.
This summer marks the 34th consecutive year I have hated AZ summers.
Why do humans live here?
I checked Sears, Discount Tire, Costco, and the Tire Rack. Walmart.com (with free shipping to the store of your choice) came out the clear winner.
Brigham Young once said, "I do not recollect that I have seen five minutes since I was baptized that I have not been ready to preach a funeral sermon, lay hands on the sick, or to pray in private or public." And then he added, "I will tell you the secret of this. . . . If you commit an overt act, repent of that immediately, and call upon God to deliver you from evil and give you the light of His spirit" (JD 12:102–3)
I came across this quote several years ago and have thought of it often since that time. It came to mind again this morning when our scheduled EQ instructor called this morning with the news that he would be out sick today. You never know when you will be called, unexpectedly, to preach a sermon…
I live in the Phoenix metro area. It is one of the hottest metropolitan places on Earth (add Riyadh, Saudi Arabia & Baghdad, Iraq to get the top three).
On Monday, it was 105 degrees on my commute home. Yesterday, at the same time, it was 57 degrees.
Ladies and gentlemen, hell has frozen over.
A guy drives from Chicago to NYC -- 800 miles -- on one tank of gas:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/19/earlyshow/main4107075.shtml?source=mostpop_story
Watch both videos at the bottom of the page. The first one teaches you the basic techniques for hypermiling.
Follow Dad’s advice: “Drive as if your car didn’t have brakes.”
68% of drivers and passengers between the ages of 16 and 20 who were killed in car crashes at night in 2006 were unbuckled.
During daytime, 57% percent of the young motorists and passengers who were killed were not wearing seat belts.
An email I wrote to my siblings yesterday…
Do you remember how we had a locking cupboard in our old, pre-fire kitchen? Do you feel like having inaccessible Oreos in our house growing up affected you negatively in any way?
We have a problem in our house with kids spoiling their appetites by eating “special” food items, like granola bars, at unauthorized times (supposed to be for school lunches only). Potato chips, chocolate chips, and marshmallows are also a problem. Frankly, I have caught my kids eating regular sugar, powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, and hot chocolate mix -- all straight out of the container with a spoon.
Becky is afraid that a locking cabinet might somehow mess up our kids psychologically. I’m tired of walking into the pantry to find my children stuffing their faces with chocolate chips and then throwing their uneaten dinner in the trash every night.
What do you think?
When are we going to go on a crazy adventure that challenges both our physical endurance and our sanity?
Havasu Pei?
Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim?
The Narrows?
BTW – The Payson Spring triathlon is June 14th. Let’s do it!
Mediocre, overpriced food.
Deafeningly load dining area. Is it really necessary to blare hip-hop music over the already load jungle noises?
Horrible service. The place was not busy on a Wednesday night, but it took an inordinately long time to get our food. The waiter never came back to check on us. We had to go find our own condiments. Our drinks were never refilled. It took 25 minutes to get our check…after we told the waiter we were in a hurry to leave.
I don’t plan on ever going back.
Joseph Smith’s Relationship with God -- Some interesting points. I liked it.
The 8th Habit -- Covey probably should have stopped at 7.
Made to Stick -- Very good. I will "reread" this one.
Great Speeches of the 20th Century -- Funny how the political speeches all pretty much sound like they could still be given today.
The Tipping Point -- My third time through this book. I'm a big Gladwell fan. He is a fascinating storyteller. See Blink below for more...
Principle Centered Leadership -- Very good stuff.
Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon -- Like chiasms, there are unknown gems in the text.
The Wisdom of Crowds -- My second read of this one. I recommend it.
Blink -- Probably my third time through this one. Very good. For a taste of the unusual author, watch this...
Words that Work -- Some will find the author's approach and background unsavory. He has some very good points, though.
25 Things to Say to the Interviewer to Get the Job You Want -- Pretty hoacky
Analyzing Financial Statements -- A snoozer
Freakonomics -- My second time through. I disagreed quite strongly with most of his conclusions the first time through. This time it was less offensive. I still think he is wrong on many topics. Despite having said that , I recommend it.
Rich Dad's Guide to Becoming Rich -- Robert Kiyosaki has become an industry unto himself, but he has some very good advice.
How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less -- Pretty weak. I lost interest about 1/3 of the way through it.
Super Crunchers -- Very closely related to Freakonomics & The Wisdom of Crowds. I recommend it.
The Birth of Plenty -- Similar academic tone as Collapse. I liked it. More on one particular finding of this book in a future post.
Woman in White -- Becky recently read this in her book club. She was so excited about it that I decided to read it as well. A good read. I recommend it.
A Perfect Mess -- A few good points. I think the authors wanted very badly to find evidence for a position they supported.
Crashes, Booms, & Panics + Government Regulations -- Decent info and history of the markets
22 Immutable Laws of Marketing -- My second listen to this book. Most of the examples seem quite anecdotal. I would like to see examples backed by stronger evidence.
The post is quite long, but check out Joseph Smith's 1844 presidential platform here. It will take you 10 or 15 minutes to read, but it contains some fascinating tidbits. Some of his complaints about partisan politics are still valid today.
Over the past week, I have had occasion to shop at both CVS and Walgreens. I was amazed/annoyed at how loooong the printed receipts were -- 12 to 18 inches -- even though I had only purchased one or two items. In both cases, this was due to the customer satisfaction surveys they both wanted me participate in.
I just got a receipt from the world’s most exasperating place to shop, Wal-Mart, and was pleasantly surprise by the fact that they have begun double-sided printing on their receipts. Despite numerous items purchases, the receipt was only 6 inches long.
Saves paper, reduces trash, and takes up less space in my wallet. Bravo.
Next on my wish list for Wal-Mart:
1. Turn off the accursed public announcement system (take note, most Wal-Marts are near deafeningly loud)
2. Staff more checkout lines (today’s Super Wal-Mart had two lanes staffed by humans open)
3. Hire employees with an IQ above 75
4. Offer an affordable dental insurance plan so your employees can fix their visibly rotting teeth
I remember my undergraduate Marketing professor mentioning that the odds of a shopper buying a store brand drug (ex., Wal-Mart acetaminophen versus Tylenol acetaminophen) increased with education level.
I was reminded of that fact when I was at Costco over my lunch break today. I was just about to pick up a box of Claritin when I noticed a Kirkland brand equivalent right next to it (it wasn’t immediately obvious to me because the Claritin was in blue packaging and the Kirkland was in red).
As many store frequently do, Costco posted the “cost per 100” data for both products. The Claritin was $45 per 100. The Kirkland product was $3 per 100. That is a 15x difference! Unbelievable. I was expecting 2x to 3x…not 15x.
I wonder what percentage of shoppers walk away carrying the Claritin…
How did the phrase “meteorite rise” gain widespread acceptance?
From our perspective here on Earth, wouldn't "meteorite fall" be more accurate?
Jon Shill is flying Predator drones in Iraq via remote control from his base in Las Vegas. That is the way to fight in a war. Picture take in Jon's boyhood home (now Shandon's home).
Russel Trapnell is a glutton for punshiment. After finishing his MBA he went to dental school. Now he is the fifth of five sons in his family to enter Orthodontic school. He'll exit with great teeth and a license to print money.
Mark Truman, Me, Nate Woolf, and Nigel Miller freshmen year at the Morris Center getting scones on a Saturday morning.
Aaron Desmond. My longest and favorite missionary companion. I think we lived and served together for a total of 10 months. After an illustrious career in the jewelry business, he now remodels temples around the world:
Before moving to Charlotte, NC my old MBA racquetball nemesis, Jonathan Francom was a frequent visitor in our home:
MBA buddies, Jared Sorenson & Jeremiah Grant at my house.
Seven people live in my house. Six of whom brush their teeth with some degree of regularity. I counted 12 tubes of toothpaste and over 30 toothbrushes.
The extra half inch of packaging on the top and bottom serve no justifiable reason that I can think of. When unopened, the wrapping surreptitiously conceals this dead space.
Notice how far my fingers go into the pointless pyramid at the bottom of the package.
He was the cover story in the November 2007 issue of Fastcompany and was also covered by NPR.
I figure they pay the logical consequence for their aerodynamic idiocy at the pump.I don’t know what to get her next. She thinks a Suburban is too big. I say heck with that -- we need to return to our roots: a Ford Econoline!
Incidentally, if you are going to get a tattoo, don't get one of a Chevy Cavalier:
High School: For some reason dad sold the Cavalier and I started driving my mom's hand-me-down white Oldsmobile DIESEL that looked something like this. Needless to say, I didn't win any friends based on how cool my car was. Did I mention that it shook violently and stunk of diesel fuel?
Post-mission: Another babe magnet car. It is a wonder I ever got married. This was also a hand-me-down car from mom. I can't remember if I also briefly shared the Apex Megadominion Pearl Destroyer with Jason, but if not the car we did share looked a lot like the Pearl Destroyer.
Married life: 1995 Nissan Altima, shown here in our NJ driveway. This was the first car I had a direct hand in selecting (note the shift from GM products to Japanese cars).
The Altima served us well for 11 years until the engine died and it was deemed to be worth around $250. I figure it was fully amortized by that point.
2002 Toyota Prius: This was one of my "Oops! I accidentally bought two cars on eBay" Priuses. I only owned it for about 6 weeks.
2005 Toyota Prius: More on this car in a future post. I love it!
As part of my 2008 fiscal responsibilities goal…
I am proud to announce that I brought my lunch from home everyday in January!
