I don’t fly very often – maybe four times a year at most – but I’ve been amazed at the slowly increasing level of security at airports in the way that it slowly but surely grinds down the freedoms of passengers who travel. My experience trying to do something as simple as bring a laptop bag with me to CES 2010 is a perfect example of this. The video above though is simply outrageous; as a relatively new parent, with a child who is still breastfeeding, I found this particularly painful to watch. The way this mother was harassed is simply mind-boggling. That the TSA agents would vengefully target her – that they would force her to miss her flight to teach her a lesson – is a grotesque abuse of power. Someone needs to reign in the TSA. Please share this video with others and let your voice be heard on this issue.
Texting And Driving: Please, Don’t Do It
Warning: The above video is quite graphic, but that’s exactly the point.
When I’m driving and I see someone texting on their phone while driving, I feel a flash of anger. Why? Because that person is putting the safety of everyone around them at risk. And for what? So they can be in constant contact with their friends/family/work? Unless they’re a brain surgeon giving life-saving instructions via SMS to a trauma team as they drive to save someone’s life, they don’t need to be texting or checking their email. If it’s really that important, pull over for a few minutes and get your communication done. Phone calls are bad enough, but with a phone call your eyes are at least on the road – texting adds road-blindness into the mix, making for a lethal combination.
Texting while driving needs to become as socially reprehensible as driving drunk; people who do it need to be chastised and shamed by their peers and by the public.
“The Little Book of Procrastination Remedies” by Leo Babuta
“Procrastination is one of those topics that, it seems, I can’t write enough about. There isn’t a person among us who doesn’t procrastinate, and that’s a fact of life. It’s deep within us. We think we’re going to do something later, or read that classic novel later, or learn French later. But we always overestimate how much we can do later, and we overestimate the ability of our later selves to beat procrastination. If our current self can’t beat procrastination, why will our future self do it? I thought I should cover some of the best procrastination-beating strategies, in light of my recent book, focus. People seem to want ways to beat procrastination, so they can actually get down to focusing. Here’s a quick guide.”
I recently started following a new blog called Zen Habits, written by the interesting and compelling Leo Babuta, and his post on procrastination really got me thinking. If you struggle with getting things done sometimes – and who doesn’t? – then you owe it to yourself to give this a read.
This Video Will Make You Smile, Guaranteed
Simply amazing, beautiful, and wonderful…via @rahulsood
Happy Halloween!
Dear Skechers…Stop Being Dumb
When I find a type of shoe that I like and fits my feet comfortably, I’ll end up wearing that style of shoe for years. Skechers has a make of shoe called Klone that I really like, and I’ve purchased several pairs of them over the past few years – in fact, I’ve worn the same brand and style of shoes for so long, I can’t recall what I used to wear before.
Typically I wear a pair until they start to wear out/get really dirty, then I’ll swap to a new pair. My current pair though developed a worn out shoelace – you know, that little plastic tip piece fell off – and so I needed a new pair of shoelaces. I measured the laces out that come with the shoes, and the laces were 68 inches long. Thinking I could pop into any store that sells shoelaces and find what I needed, I checked Wal-mart: nope, they don’t have that length. I checked a couple of other stores, including a shoe repair store that seemed to carry every type of laces ever made, and they didn’t have any either. It seems that the seven-hole Klones make for laces that are much longer than normal.
I was in Edmonton a couple of weeks ago, and at West Edmonton Mall I walked past a Skechers store. I thought “Aha! Shoelace victory shall be mine!” I went in and was told that they don’t sell shoelaces there. What? WHAT? The nice young women working there said that they get people coming in and wanting to buy shoelaces all the time, especially for shoes like mine that require extra-long laces, but they’re not permitted by Skechers corporate to sell shoelaces. What? WHAT? That has to be one of the dumbest things I’ve heard this month – why wouldn’t a shoe store sell shoelaces for their own shoes, especially if those shoes require laces that are difficult to buy elsewhere? This is off-the-charts stupid. The nice young women dug through a box of shoelaces they had there – perhaps from shoes they couldn’t sell – and managed to find me a pair of laces that were within a few inches of matching. Good enough I guess.
I’m sure I can find the proper laces online somewhere, but if I, as an extremely loyal Skechers shoe-wearing customer, can’t find what I need at a Skechers store, what does that say about the company and their ability/willingness to service their customers? Nothing good.
Dear Skechers, please stop being dumb.
My First Decent HDR Image
I’m reviewing some new software that, for the first time in my opinion, puts quality HDR images within reach for average users. The problem I’ve seen with other HDR software is that it either produces awful, garish images, or requires an engineering degree to figure out. I’ve never found HDR software that I found both powerful and easy to use until: HDR Efex Pro really brings the elements together. It’s not exactly cheap ($159.95 USD), but it’s within the realm of what most photography buffs should be willing to pay for quality software.
The above image is available as desktop wallpaper for 16:9 monitors or 4:3 monitors. It was taken at Lighthouse Cove, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada in early September 2010.
UPDATE: Thanks to some good advice from a photography friend, I’ve tweaked the image and I think it’s better. Enjoy!
It ‘Aint Easy Being Green
A bit over a week ago, I was driving about 5.5 hours for a funeral. We have a 2009 GMC Acadia that seats seven people, and we drove the first leg of the trip (about three hours with a break in the middle, 287 KM) with myself, Ashley, and Logan in the car. We used up 1/4 of a tank of gas, and I refilled it when we finished the first leg. The next leg of the trip, the last 2.5 hours (248 KM) had two more adults (approximately 360 extra pounds including bags), and we used up half a tank of gas. Adding that extra 360 pounds made the fuel efficiency more than twice as worse, which begs the question: does it always make sense to carpool? Or is there a crossover point where, based on the type of vehicle you have, it’s better to take two vehicles because you’ll use up less fuel that way? I’m sure someone who’s brilliant with math can figure that out…but it made me wonder if the common wisdom of carpooling was actually wise in all circumstances.
Hi, I’m Jason. I’m a Cautionary Tale to Investors
“Of course, not all seminars are created equal. Some are bad ideas, others encourage insanely risky behaviour and, to be fair, some are useful. Most people think investment scams target the elderly and most vulnerable. To counter that idea, I offer the story of Jason Dunn, a 30-something lifelong Calgarian, prolific blogger and generally smart person. To make a very complex story simple, after attending an investing seminar, Dunn borrowed $50,000 against his home and bought a stake in a strip mall, Castleridge Plaza.”
I was contacted a few months ago by a reporter for Avenue Magazine named Tracy Johnson. She found several of my blog posts here about Concrete Equities and Wealthstreet, then contacted me to discuss what happened. We spent quite a while on the phone – the story needed context – as I explained what’s happened over the past few years. I chose to talk about what happened with my investments as a cautionary tale to other investors; this quote pretty much sums it all up from my perspective:
“As someone who routinely spends hours researching which digital camera or laptop to purchase, in retrospect I’m shocked that I didn’t do at least as much research when selecting a company to invest my money in — especially when I was investing 10 to 20 times more money than I’d ever spend on a camera or laptop.”
You can check out the full article here – it’s worth a read.
A Day in the Life of RockPointe Church, Bearspaw Site
I had the privilege of capturing some of what goes in my home church, RockPointe, on any given Sunday at the Bearspaw site. Children’s ministry, worship, fellowship, and teaching are a core part of what happens every weekend. If you live in the Calgary area, I invite you to come check us out one weekend at any of the four sites we have.
