My list of things to do:
Don't die of Swine Flu (on going)
Protect key cells in all essential spreadsheets
Maximize knowledge dropped
Take em' to school
Price out 4 Cu. Yards of dark cedar mulch
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
What a night!
Dear Readers,
Today I met my wife.
She doesn’t know it yet, but she is the girl I am going to
marry. Her name is Cory and she is
blonde. Cory knows Jim, and he set us up on our night out tonight.
I didn’t really know what to expect. It was kind of a half-blind
date. We have never met before, but I saw a couple pictures of her. I can’t
believe how hot she is.
She’s also smart – she is working on finishing her MBA, and
she used a few words that I didn’t understand at all. Luckily, I’m good at
acting like I know things, and I was able to use some of the context of her
sentences to figure out what she was saying.
I won’t lie… I spent most of the night trying to time my glances down her shirt when she wasn’t looking. Did I mention she was funny?
We laughed a lot. She also didn’t judge me when I didn’t tip
our bartender, and then had to go back to the bar 2 hours later to tip him and
apologize. I think I was so caught up in her, that I forgot to tip. It felt
like the world came to a stop.
I am wondering if she meant to let her hand graze mine as we
were walking down Chapel street? Either way, it was great.
In the most Eric way possible, I did not have the balls to
try and kiss her when I brought her home. I didn’t want to ruin a potentially
perfect night. I think she might have kissed me back if I had tried. Also, I
did not see any mase in her pocket book when she left it open on the table. I’m
going to take this as a positive sign.
We think we are going to see each other again, but she’s
leaving for vacation. I hope she doesn’t meet someone while she’s away.
Otherwise, I’m going to have to kill him.
Today I flipped a coin on my bed 6 times in a row. I decided
that if I could flip the coin 6 times in a row, and it landed on heads every
time then we would end up married. Amazingly, I did flip the coin six times,
and all six times it landed on tails. Damnit. Eitherway, it’s still about a
1/64 chance. Even if my odds of marrying this girl are 1 in 64, I’ll take it.
Those are amazing odds with a girl like her.
Ok, I’m going to stop being creepy. Right now, it’s on to
date number 2. I wonder what her ring size is?
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Rubik's Cube
7 days ago I purchased a Rubik's cube at a local (family owned) toy store. I allowed myself 10 tries a day which I recorded.
Here are my results:
From my first attempt (68:32) to my 50th attempt (1:58) I was able to cut 66 minutes and 34 seconds (66:34) off of my time, or 97.74%.
The green points represent my lowest time from each day and the corresponding green line is a trending average of those points. It's interesting to note that my fastest time always came in one of the last 3 attempts for that day.
The red points represent the average of my worst time and best time for each day.
This data tells me that I can expect to crack the 1 minute mark somewhere around my 92nd attempt.
So why am I posting this in a pseudo finance and economics blog? The idea is simple. Truth lies in numbers. With enough relevant data points you can find subtle trends in your financial life. Being able to set a budget, and being able to set budget expectations out into the future can eliminate the need for unsecured credit over a long enough period of time.
That's an exciting prospect.
Microsoft Excel... the cure to our debt disease?
Here are my results:
From my first attempt (68:32) to my 50th attempt (1:58) I was able to cut 66 minutes and 34 seconds (66:34) off of my time, or 97.74%.
The green points represent my lowest time from each day and the corresponding green line is a trending average of those points. It's interesting to note that my fastest time always came in one of the last 3 attempts for that day.
The red points represent the average of my worst time and best time for each day.
This data tells me that I can expect to crack the 1 minute mark somewhere around my 92nd attempt.
So why am I posting this in a pseudo finance and economics blog? The idea is simple. Truth lies in numbers. With enough relevant data points you can find subtle trends in your financial life. Being able to set a budget, and being able to set budget expectations out into the future can eliminate the need for unsecured credit over a long enough period of time.
That's an exciting prospect.
Microsoft Excel... the cure to our debt disease?
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tis the season
Christmas.
What a thing it is.
I, like many others, approached Christmas a lot differently this year than in previous years. Obviously, spending is down across the board… but it goes a little deeper than that.
My sister and my brother-in-law made the decision to enroll in the ‘Sponsor a Family’ program offered through a local non-profit agency here in Connecticut. It’s a great service they provide. Essentially, a family in need will contact the agency if they need help providing their children with a good Christmas. Then, people who are lucky enough to have some extra money this year can ‘sponsor’ that family and help buy them the gifts they want.
When hearing how much my sister enjoyed the whole process, I decided to sponsor a family as well. Doing so brought many surprises.
The first surprise was just how many people there are out there who need help. I know Christmas isn’t supposed to be just about giving gifts, but try telling that to a mother with a 4 year old and a 6 year old. I don’t think I can begin to imagine how hard it must be to tell your kids that Santa couldn’t make it this year.
The second surprise came when I was given a list of items the family had asked for. My family is a single mom and her two young sons. I expected to get Christmas lists full of things like Xboxes, TVs, computers, Blu Ray players, etc… but what I found was just the opposite.
Here is the list from the oldest son, a 7 year old: (this is his entire list)
Battleship (the board game)
Spiderman action figures
Spiderman web slinger
Jeans
Sneakers for school
Snow boots
Blow up snow tube
Nerf Football
That’s it.
That’s the list.
He’s not asking for video games, or flat screen TVs. He’s asking for small toys that every kid should have. A football, some jeans… a snow tube.
I realized after reading the two lists (they were both very similar) that not only do these kids deserve everything they asked for (and more) but their Mom also deserves whatever she wants for raising her two kids so well.
I remember when I was young (and Santa was still bringing me gifts every year) just how much I was given on Christmas morning. Dozens and dozens of gifts wrapped neatly under the tree. If I asked for it, Santa brought it. I had a great childhood (and I have a great Mom)
Last week I went out and got them everything on their lists. Since I had budgeted so much more than what it required, I was able to pick up a few extra things for the Mom.
The point of this story is not to boast about my charitable giving, or to brag about how great my childhood was, or to make anyone feel bad if they can’t afford to sponsor a family like I did.
The point of this story is to try and make you think. Maybe it’s too late this year… maybe the gifts are already purchased, they’re already wrapped… maybe they’re sitting under the tree, or hidden secretly in the way back of the hall closet. That’s fine. But as you sit around the tree on Friday tearing open boxes of Burberry scarves, Coach bags, flat screen TVs, gift cards, Xboxes, and whatever else it is that you may give/get this year, take a moment to stop and think.
Think of how happy one boy is going to be on Friday when he sits down and rips open a brand new football.
Christmas.
What a thing it is…
What a thing it is.
I, like many others, approached Christmas a lot differently this year than in previous years. Obviously, spending is down across the board… but it goes a little deeper than that.
My sister and my brother-in-law made the decision to enroll in the ‘Sponsor a Family’ program offered through a local non-profit agency here in Connecticut. It’s a great service they provide. Essentially, a family in need will contact the agency if they need help providing their children with a good Christmas. Then, people who are lucky enough to have some extra money this year can ‘sponsor’ that family and help buy them the gifts they want.
When hearing how much my sister enjoyed the whole process, I decided to sponsor a family as well. Doing so brought many surprises.
The first surprise was just how many people there are out there who need help. I know Christmas isn’t supposed to be just about giving gifts, but try telling that to a mother with a 4 year old and a 6 year old. I don’t think I can begin to imagine how hard it must be to tell your kids that Santa couldn’t make it this year.
The second surprise came when I was given a list of items the family had asked for. My family is a single mom and her two young sons. I expected to get Christmas lists full of things like Xboxes, TVs, computers, Blu Ray players, etc… but what I found was just the opposite.
Here is the list from the oldest son, a 7 year old: (this is his entire list)
Battleship (the board game)
Spiderman action figures
Spiderman web slinger
Jeans
Sneakers for school
Snow boots
Blow up snow tube
Nerf Football
That’s it.
That’s the list.
He’s not asking for video games, or flat screen TVs. He’s asking for small toys that every kid should have. A football, some jeans… a snow tube.
I realized after reading the two lists (they were both very similar) that not only do these kids deserve everything they asked for (and more) but their Mom also deserves whatever she wants for raising her two kids so well.
I remember when I was young (and Santa was still bringing me gifts every year) just how much I was given on Christmas morning. Dozens and dozens of gifts wrapped neatly under the tree. If I asked for it, Santa brought it. I had a great childhood (and I have a great Mom)
Last week I went out and got them everything on their lists. Since I had budgeted so much more than what it required, I was able to pick up a few extra things for the Mom.
The point of this story is not to boast about my charitable giving, or to brag about how great my childhood was, or to make anyone feel bad if they can’t afford to sponsor a family like I did.
The point of this story is to try and make you think. Maybe it’s too late this year… maybe the gifts are already purchased, they’re already wrapped… maybe they’re sitting under the tree, or hidden secretly in the way back of the hall closet. That’s fine. But as you sit around the tree on Friday tearing open boxes of Burberry scarves, Coach bags, flat screen TVs, gift cards, Xboxes, and whatever else it is that you may give/get this year, take a moment to stop and think.
Think of how happy one boy is going to be on Friday when he sits down and rips open a brand new football.
Christmas.
What a thing it is…
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Numbers, In-laws, and Happy Hour with your Work Friends
I’m a numbers guy. I love numbers. I tend to break everything down to its most basic form. It’s a great way to get a grasp on things and to identify trends over time.
Baseball is a pure numbers game. If a guy has a career .335 batting average in the regular season, but a .175 in the post season, then it’s fair to say he can’t take the pressure of October.
If I average 23 miles per gallon in my car at $2.65 a gallon with a 14 gallon tank, but I can increase my mileage by 18% if I drive 10% slower on average while on the highway (by reducing my speed from 65 Mph to around 59Mph) then over a year’s time I can save myself $347.36 (assuming I fill up once a week). I can get 57.96 more miles out of each tank, and nearly 4.14 more miles per gallon of gas I burn.
So what does it have to do with In-laws and Happy Hour?
Well picture this. You’re at the mall, it’s December 23rd and you’re battling the crowds trying desperately to find a gift for your in laws. (Or maybe you’re cousins, or your uncle, or anyone else that just seems impossible to shop for). What are you going to buy them? Every year it’s the same old crap. Candles, knick-knacks, gourmet jellys, hot sauces, sausage and cheese logs… useless gifts that no one wants.
Well this year, instead of exchanging pathetic, crappy gifts, put that money to use. Here are some more numbers…
That 18 dollar candle you bought your Sister In-law? Here’s what you could have done with that money.
The Connecticut Food Bank is a non-profit entity that exists for the sole purpose of providing free food to Connecticut residents that can’t afford to eat. (Every state has some kind of food bank, or soup kitchen program. Google yours to find out what it is.). Essentially a family in need will put together simple lists and the food bank will help them fill their kitchen cabinets.
Because of the way the CT Food Bank has its distribution lines set up, they are able to purchase a lot of food for very little money.
For ever 5 dollars that gets donated the food bank is able to purchase enough food for 18 full meals. Think about that. 5 dollars = 18 meals.
That 18 dollar candle? At 3.6 meals per dollar you could have purchased 65 full, well balanced meals for a local family.
But lets break it down a little more.
Pretend for a second you are back at the mall and you’re starving. You hear on the TV and read on the internet that fast food is bad for you, so you opt to avoid the food court and you head right on over to the Ruby Tuesday’s for a nice sit down meal. You and a friend both order a tall, cold, refreshing, American brewed Miller Lite and you treat yourself to a nice lunch time salad. Then the waiter comes back over and asks the standard, end-of-a-meal question: “Any dessert or coffee today?” Well you’ve had a long day of battling the Christmas crowds. You think “Why not?”
You and your friend decide to each get a brownie sundae and a nice hot cup of coffee, bringing your total bill from $26 to $40 (and your total calorie intake to more than you probably want to think about). That’s 14 dollars right there.
But you’re not done yet! You leave Ruby Tuesday’s and you stop off at the gumball machine. 2 gumballs at 25 cents a piece. Sugary AND delicious!
As you’re preparing to leave you notice a sign hanging up at the Gap. “30% off your entire order when you spend $100 or more” Wow! What a deal! You think to yourself “It’s about time I bought something for myself this holiday!” and walk on in. 2 Sweaters, and a sassy silk scarf later you’re down another $70.
So you get back to your car. The spending spree has come to a end… or has it?
On the way home you stop off at a gas station to fill up. While standing in line to pay (because paying in cash is 6 cents cheaper per gallon) you pick up a National Enquirer. “No way!” you think, “Brittney Spears was caught sleeping NAKED on a beach in Belize??”
This is a must-buy piece of journalism.
5 dollars later you’re back in the car. Then you’re phone rings. It’s your friend Maggy from work. She and a few other people from the office are down the street having some happy hour drinks.
2 hours and $24.55 later you’re finally home. Full of chocolate, Miller Lite, and the satisfaction we get from a day of shopping.
The above scenario is pretty typical I would think. We go out with the intentions of buying a few gifts, and sticking to our budgets… then, before we blink we’ve spent $114.05 more than we had planned to spend.
Imagine what that $114.05 could mean to someone who can’t afford to eat. That’s more than 410 meals for a hungry family. Assuming a family of 4, that could feed them for more than 34 straight days.
I’m not asking you to make financial decisions in life based on what others don’t have. But as one last little eye-opener let’s break it down one more time.
Forget the desert and coffee, forget the Gap purchases, forget the National Enquirer, and forget the happy hour drinks. Let’s go back to the gumball.
One gumball for 25 cents. If the average American only ate one single gumball a year that’s $75 Million dollars spent a year on gumballs.
At 3.6 meals per dollar…. Well, you do the math…
Baseball is a pure numbers game. If a guy has a career .335 batting average in the regular season, but a .175 in the post season, then it’s fair to say he can’t take the pressure of October.
If I average 23 miles per gallon in my car at $2.65 a gallon with a 14 gallon tank, but I can increase my mileage by 18% if I drive 10% slower on average while on the highway (by reducing my speed from 65 Mph to around 59Mph) then over a year’s time I can save myself $347.36 (assuming I fill up once a week). I can get 57.96 more miles out of each tank, and nearly 4.14 more miles per gallon of gas I burn.
So what does it have to do with In-laws and Happy Hour?
Well picture this. You’re at the mall, it’s December 23rd and you’re battling the crowds trying desperately to find a gift for your in laws. (Or maybe you’re cousins, or your uncle, or anyone else that just seems impossible to shop for). What are you going to buy them? Every year it’s the same old crap. Candles, knick-knacks, gourmet jellys, hot sauces, sausage and cheese logs… useless gifts that no one wants.
Well this year, instead of exchanging pathetic, crappy gifts, put that money to use. Here are some more numbers…
That 18 dollar candle you bought your Sister In-law? Here’s what you could have done with that money.
The Connecticut Food Bank is a non-profit entity that exists for the sole purpose of providing free food to Connecticut residents that can’t afford to eat. (Every state has some kind of food bank, or soup kitchen program. Google yours to find out what it is.). Essentially a family in need will put together simple lists and the food bank will help them fill their kitchen cabinets.
Because of the way the CT Food Bank has its distribution lines set up, they are able to purchase a lot of food for very little money.
For ever 5 dollars that gets donated the food bank is able to purchase enough food for 18 full meals. Think about that. 5 dollars = 18 meals.
That 18 dollar candle? At 3.6 meals per dollar you could have purchased 65 full, well balanced meals for a local family.
But lets break it down a little more.
Pretend for a second you are back at the mall and you’re starving. You hear on the TV and read on the internet that fast food is bad for you, so you opt to avoid the food court and you head right on over to the Ruby Tuesday’s for a nice sit down meal. You and a friend both order a tall, cold, refreshing, American brewed Miller Lite and you treat yourself to a nice lunch time salad. Then the waiter comes back over and asks the standard, end-of-a-meal question: “Any dessert or coffee today?” Well you’ve had a long day of battling the Christmas crowds. You think “Why not?”
You and your friend decide to each get a brownie sundae and a nice hot cup of coffee, bringing your total bill from $26 to $40 (and your total calorie intake to more than you probably want to think about). That’s 14 dollars right there.
But you’re not done yet! You leave Ruby Tuesday’s and you stop off at the gumball machine. 2 gumballs at 25 cents a piece. Sugary AND delicious!
As you’re preparing to leave you notice a sign hanging up at the Gap. “30% off your entire order when you spend $100 or more” Wow! What a deal! You think to yourself “It’s about time I bought something for myself this holiday!” and walk on in. 2 Sweaters, and a sassy silk scarf later you’re down another $70.
So you get back to your car. The spending spree has come to a end… or has it?
On the way home you stop off at a gas station to fill up. While standing in line to pay (because paying in cash is 6 cents cheaper per gallon) you pick up a National Enquirer. “No way!” you think, “Brittney Spears was caught sleeping NAKED on a beach in Belize??”
This is a must-buy piece of journalism.
5 dollars later you’re back in the car. Then you’re phone rings. It’s your friend Maggy from work. She and a few other people from the office are down the street having some happy hour drinks.
2 hours and $24.55 later you’re finally home. Full of chocolate, Miller Lite, and the satisfaction we get from a day of shopping.
The above scenario is pretty typical I would think. We go out with the intentions of buying a few gifts, and sticking to our budgets… then, before we blink we’ve spent $114.05 more than we had planned to spend.
Imagine what that $114.05 could mean to someone who can’t afford to eat. That’s more than 410 meals for a hungry family. Assuming a family of 4, that could feed them for more than 34 straight days.
I’m not asking you to make financial decisions in life based on what others don’t have. But as one last little eye-opener let’s break it down one more time.
Forget the desert and coffee, forget the Gap purchases, forget the National Enquirer, and forget the happy hour drinks. Let’s go back to the gumball.
One gumball for 25 cents. If the average American only ate one single gumball a year that’s $75 Million dollars spent a year on gumballs.
At 3.6 meals per dollar…. Well, you do the math…
Friday, December 11, 2009
+ and -
There have definitely been some cons to the recession (which has now technically ended… technically) that may have gone overlooked.
There’s the big ones of course… job losses and layoffs, bankruptcies, the eroding of 401k values, the stock crash (and current rebound), the bank failures, etc.
But what about the things that may have gone slightly overlooked? I’ve compiled a list of changes I’ve noticed over the past 18 months: I have identified the Good things with a + and the negatives with a -
- Small candy at Halloween
+ People tipping better when they go out
- A dramatic decrease in the amount of jelly in jelly munchkins
- My bag of sugar only has 4 lbs (instead of the usual 5)
+ + More stores are now stocking Coke in glass bottles (awesome!)
+ Gas prices have stayed relatively flat
+ People have decorated more this Christmas than ever
+ People are seeing the value in generic brands (medication and food)
- There are longer commercial breaks on the radio
- The price of green tea has gone up
+ - Black Friday was even more of a mob scene this year
+ No one was trampled to death on Black Friday
+ Big box retailers are willing to haggle (Best Buy, Sears, Gap, etc)
- The toothpaste I buy contains half an ounce less (bogus)
- Art is looked down upon as a dispensable luxury
+ People are being more reasonable with their holiday gift buying
+ People as a whole seem nicer (holding doors, being polite, etc)
- The number of Chihuahuas in shelters has quadrupled (why??)
+ Sales of domestic bears are up nearly 5% (Miller Lite!)
+ + Customer service has become important again
- Soup no longer comes with crackers free of charge (really?)
That’s the list for now. I’ll keep updating it throughout the winter.
There’s the big ones of course… job losses and layoffs, bankruptcies, the eroding of 401k values, the stock crash (and current rebound), the bank failures, etc.
But what about the things that may have gone slightly overlooked? I’ve compiled a list of changes I’ve noticed over the past 18 months: I have identified the Good things with a + and the negatives with a -
- Small candy at Halloween
+ People tipping better when they go out
- A dramatic decrease in the amount of jelly in jelly munchkins
- My bag of sugar only has 4 lbs (instead of the usual 5)
+ + More stores are now stocking Coke in glass bottles (awesome!)
+ Gas prices have stayed relatively flat
+ People have decorated more this Christmas than ever
+ People are seeing the value in generic brands (medication and food)
- There are longer commercial breaks on the radio
- The price of green tea has gone up
+ - Black Friday was even more of a mob scene this year
+ No one was trampled to death on Black Friday
+ Big box retailers are willing to haggle (Best Buy, Sears, Gap, etc)
- The toothpaste I buy contains half an ounce less (bogus)
- Art is looked down upon as a dispensable luxury
+ People are being more reasonable with their holiday gift buying
+ People as a whole seem nicer (holding doors, being polite, etc)
- The number of Chihuahuas in shelters has quadrupled (why??)
+ Sales of domestic bears are up nearly 5% (Miller Lite!)
+ + Customer service has become important again
- Soup no longer comes with crackers free of charge (really?)
That’s the list for now. I’ll keep updating it throughout the winter.
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