Good consumer experiences!

It's often easy to moan about when we get bad service, I figure I should bring it out when I get good service! It's happened twice to me in the last month or two.

First, after one of the snowstorms we had, my garage door had broken and wasn't opening right. I called up a company called DuPro (based off a reco by a friend). The guy was really helpful, and made an extra effort to fit me in his schedule (hmm, I'm out in that area anyway, I'll just drop by and take a look). He dropped by a couple of times, the first time he determined that he needed a certain part, and the second time he actually fixed it. He even apologized to me that it took so long. And it was actually less than what he had thought it was gonna be.

Second, I think I've ranted here in the past about how no one really can cut my hair right, being an Asian guy. Based off another reco, I went to Martin's Barber on Rt 42 in Sharonville. It looked like an old house that someone used to live in. I walked in, and the guy asked "haircut?" I said "yup." And he said, "well you're up!" The haircut was great (no funny stuff sticking up) and had a great conversation with the guy. On top of it all, it was $11... which I think is cheaper than Great Clips! I usually tip $2 at Great Clips, I tipped like $3 this time and I actually think I will happily tip MORE next time.

Martin's is a great case study for how a small mom and pop can beat the Wal Marts of the world. They offer a service that's personalized, not mass produced... no one at Great Clips can cut my hair right because they're trained to handle the majority of the population. They have a great sincere conversation with you, and I'd happily pay more than the national chain for that service.

Alpha alpha alpha

So a recent story about a 22 year old man and a 20 year old woman who fell off a cruise ship and survived got me thinking about the last cruise I took in Alaska... About 2 or 3 times we heard the "alpha alpha alpha" call over the ship's intercom, and we deduced it meant a medical emergency. Well, I tried to find out if there were other codes, and I found out (unofficially) these:

Oscar- Man overboard
Alpha- Medical emergency
Charlie- Bomb threat
Bravo- Fire onboard, or grounding

All that got me thinking I actually had a pretty good time on that cruise. Will hafta do it again someday. Definitely have to do it with a bunch of friends, and ideally with a significant other.

Congrats!

Congratulations to frequent blog contributor and longtime friend Winston on getting engaged on Tuesday! I was lucky enough to be someone he bounced ideas off of, and for the first time got to see a little bit of what happens behind the scenes of a proposal. I even was chatting with him up to the point where he went dark to go pick her up.

Interestingly, the only way I knew that she said yes was that I saw it on his Facebook profile. The best part was a quote from college friend Chris. Check it out:

Chris: You sure move fast. Congratulations!

Hour and a half? Brings all those commitment-phobic guys to shame! Congrats again!

24 - Deja vu?

I came across my posting last year about the show 24 and how it uses the same storyline every year. Well, I figure I'd compare what I blogged last time to the show so far this season. You'd be amazed.

Leadership issues at CTU - Every season, they must go through like 3 directors of CTU. There's always politics going on, and inevitably someone always gets brought in from "Division" or heaven or something and takes over the ship leaving an oh so uncomfortable tension in the room.

This year: Yup, more political tension. This time they bring in Ricky Schroeder to act as the random person they bring in to run the place that no one likes.

Kidnapping - So in the first two seasons, I got to the point where I was thinking, OK, how long before Kim gets kidnapped again. Since Kim has made another appearance this season (I guess she decided to cope with her dad's death by becoming a porn star girl next door), how long till Kim gets kidnapped again this season? Over under is 2 hours.

This year: It's Milo, Chloe's ex (and current?) husband. He gets kidnapped and is forced to program something that activates the nuclear bombs.

Family issues - So this time around it's someone's sister. Last time it was someone's metally retarded daughter. The first season it was Jack's daughter. Funny, I just noticed it's always women. Oh wait, I guess there is the one gay son of the secretary of defense who they tortured. Speaking of which...

This year: Yup, more family issues. Jack's dad is connected to terrorists, and he kills Jack's brother.

Torture - So how many times have we seen that room with the eerie dark glow where they inject someone with some stuff that makes them sweat? And how many times has Jack shot someone, shocked someone, or broke someone's fingers?

This year: Jack cuts off the fingers of a Russian guy to get him to tell him where the bombs are built. And of course the obligatory torture of his brother while tied in a chair.

Security issues at CTU - So at least twice someone has bombed, gassed, or somehow infiltrated CTU. You think their security would be a little better?

The only thing this year, which is the same as last year, is a potentially wrongly accused CTU agent who's framed as a spy. Ricky Schroeder starts to torture her, but they get distracted.

This year, once again the Vice President figures out a way to wrestle power from the righteous president. And the VP decides to do something horrible.

I can officially say to the show 24: GET SOME NEW MATERIAL.

An example....

So in the last blog, Dave mentioned Chipotle... Here's what it did. Not too shabby.

Stocks and wives

So as I'm sitting here after my Marketing Research exam (which means I get out early), I'm looking over my stock portfolio. My method of picking stocks is to buy what I know, which is a philosophy of a guy named Peter Lynch, who managed the Magellan mutual fund. He talks about one time when his wife tried to give him stock advice, telling him that the Gap was doing well because it was always crowded. He brushed her off and instead went with some tech company. After Gap did a ton better, he vowed then and there to always listen to his wife for stock advice.

Since I'm absent of a wife, I figured Karen and her girlfriends would stand in nicely (most of the guys that read this blog I already talk stocks to). So any stock tips? What makes a good company to buy? Well, here are some ways to seed your thoughts:

When have you ever complained that something was too high priced, but bought it anyway because you wanted it? (Starbucks is a good example here)
When were you willing to stand in line or fight crowds to buy something?
What's the latest trend that you don't understand?

Can't wait to hear from you!

Sunday Night Badinage

Thoughts from the first post-Surya apprentice:
-I caught James saying "moment of truth" (did Surya Procterize him?)
-Notice how this week's task consisted of selling a bathroom cleaner from Dial, one of P&G's competitors? And Surya fired the week before? Hmm... Would there have been conflict of interest? I noticed they didn't mention he was from P&G until later in the show, I wonder if they mentioned it only when they figured out they were gonna fire him anyway.

Alas, the Badgers today were upset today by UNLV. Tom and Wendy joined me at BW-3 but had to leave to appease little Owen... I wouldn't be very happy either with the way the Badgers played.

Went bowling with Kristi and Jon on Saturday night. Kristi (who's very anti-blog) asked me if I knew that Lindsay (the mustard girl!) was in labor. I said yes, I read it on Karen's blog. Kristi is one of those people who sends out a Christmas letter every year. So I explained to her that a blog is like a Christmas letter, except you do it more often. Maybe I'll tell her I mentioned her on my blog and see if that gets her interest.

The Government Who Cried Wolf

Thanks to Karen for finding this article (http://www.violentacres.com/archives/137/the-government-who-cried-wolf). As someone who wants to find out the truth, and base my actions upon those truths, this about sums up my feelings towards the world. Maybe this explains my issue with forcing people to use fluorescent light bulbs. See previous blog where they say outlawing light bulbs "would save $18 billion a year in electricity, and save the amount of power that would be produced by 30 nuclear reactors or as many as 80 coal plants." Perfect example of what this article is talking about.

Our company has something like this too... we have this thing where we hafta come up with a "low cost" plan for each project. Basically we hafta figure out how much money we could've spent but didn't, and we get to report that as "low cost strategies." You'd be amazed what kind of stuff you can come up with.

The Government Who Cried Wolf

March 15th, 2007

...I consider myself to be quite the Average Joe when it comes to politics. By that, I mean I am mildly ignorant about what goes on in Washington and I go to the polls with only a vaguest understanding of the issues. Oftentimes, I end up voting with my gut or just giving up altogether and voting down party lines.

I don’t want to be ignorant. I want to make informed, solid, confident decisions. However, the more I read about the people in power, the more I have a sneaking suspicion that everything they say is all bunch of bullshit. Every time I attempt to do some honest research, I am confronted with nothing but lies.

The Democrats want me to believe that anyone who doesn’t support government sponsored programs that promote a victim mentality (such as welfare and social security) is a cruel, intolerant, selfish asshole. The Democrats want me to pay minorities for past atrocities (Through affirmative action, etc) committed against their ancestors based completely on the color of my skin. If I argue or point out the fact that my ancestors did not even live in America when slavery was rampant, they call me a racist. Should I be against gay marriage but completely supportive of homosexual civil unions, I am a homophobe. The Democrats want me to believe that supporting speech that is hateful strictly based on a person’s constitutional rights is akin to agreeing with the person being the jerk.

I am starting to wonder if ‘Intolerance’ is the Democrat’s big lie. It seems to me that they use that word as a weapon to demoralize people and create social stigma around any idea that is contrary to their own. Excuse me if that doesn’t seem very tolerant to me.

The Republicans want me to believe that anyone who is an Atheist possesses no morals and will someday commit a crime. They tell me that I only resent being spied on because I have something to hide. If I support abortion because I believe it is more merciful to end a life than to bring it into the world unwanted and abused, they accuse me of being a heartless murderer. If I say it is better for a child to be raised by a gay couple as opposed to being completely abandoned, the Republicans say I lack family values. If I insist that school should be a place for education and not religious training, it is obvious to them that I don’t give a shit about the children.

Perhaps ‘Family Values’ is the Republican’s big lie. That phrase is being used to shame the opposition into supporting religious agendas in a country that prides itself on religious freedom. Just because I am not a Christian does not mean that I do not see the value in a strong family unit, nor does it make me a criminal.

The Feminists tell me that men and women who complete the same job do not make equal pay. If true, I agree that is unfair. However, when I make note of the fact that men do not get equal rights in family court, I notice that the feminists are suspiciously quiet.

Is Feminism about equality or superiority? Do they even know anymore?

Some scientists say global warming is a very real phenomenon. They say that unless we act now, there will be tragic consequences for the future. Other scientists say that the Earth has gone through varying climate changes for billions of years. They note the tropical climate back when dinosaurs walked the planet and the ice age that soon followed.

Who shall I believe when both groups hold their hands out for more grant money?

Every time I turn on the TV, I hear varying versions of the phrase ‘SEE HOW YOUR CHILDREN ARE IN DANGER, NEWS AT 11!’ Undoubtedly, I am worried and I quickly tune into the news that night….only to watch a report about a steep set of stairs or a chair that is being recalled because of its tendency to pinch thighs. Serious Thunderstorm Alerts turn out to be minor rainfall and scary viruses that sweep the nation are nothing more than common colds.

When did the news embrace cheap scare tactics in lieu of unbiased, factual reporting?

We are told that we’ve gone to war to prevent more terrorist attacks similar to the one that took place on September 11th. The President assures us that he is trying to prevent the loss of more American lives. But as the war rages on, one can’t help but notice the death toll is rising. We were told the Middle East had Weapons of Mass Destruction. Then someone said that they didn’t. Then we found some chemical….things? I don’t know. Something doesn’t quite add up anymore.

My gut tells me that everyone currently in power is a liar. But if that is the case, then who do I believe? Where do I go for unbiased facts when every legitimate source is suspect?

I consider myself an Average Joe in that I have lost faith in it all. I have turned my television off and I have canceled my subscription to the newspaper. I have lost the will to sift through partial truths, minor falsities, purposeful deceptions, and bald face lies. Instead, I have focused all of my attention on My World and I pay little mind to what goes in The World.

But, someday, I wonder what will happen if some vital information was suddenly stumbled upon. Perhaps the politicians will try to warn us and we will all sneer at them in disgust. Maybe the media will frantically attempt to report the news…to billions of people who only roll their eyes in response. Scientists and Activists may beg us to believe them only to be met with bored, apathetic sighs.

I wonder if one day this world will be met with tragic consequences simply because those in power refused to stop crying wolf.

If so, we’ll all be royally fucked. But at least we can take our children by the hand and say, “This. This is why lying is bad.”

March Madness!

March Madness is always fun because you try to find any affinity for a college that you can to figure out who to root for. Well here are mine:

University of Wisconsin!!!!! Of course, my alma mater!
Marquette University - One of my dad's alma maters and the team I grew up rooting for (before I went to Wisconsin of course)
Xavier University - My soon to be MBA alma mater! (Karen, I hope you let your class out early tonight to watch the game!)
North Texas - Both my mom and dad's alma maters
UCLA - Another one of my mom's schools

Man, after doing this exercise, I realized how much schooling my parents got after they got their undergrad in Taiwan.

Another awesome thing is CBS lets you watch the games on line for free! They even have a "boss button" that pops you to a page that looks like a spreadsheet.

The great bulb debate continues

Thanks to Brian K for riling me up again with the article that follows. Part two of my thoughts:

Incadescent light bulb: $0.25
Fluorescent light bulb: $5

A fluorescent light bulb costs 20 times more than a regular light bulb. How many light bulbs are in a house? 30 or so? That means that you now hafta pay $142.50 extra now to light up your house. So ask a low income household what they think about having to pay $142.50 extra for light bulbs for their house. What's the answer to this? Raise minimum wage of course! (I'm being sarcastic).

Article:

Check out this article from Morning News Beat;
Turn Out The Lights, The Party's Over…
The New York Times reports this morning that "a coalition of industrialists, environmentalists and energy specialists is banding together to try to eliminate the incandescent light bulb in about 10 years."

A complete phaseout, the coalition estimates, "would save $18 billion a year in electricity, and save the amount of power that would be produced by 30 nuclear reactors or as many as 80 coal plants."

The Times writes, "In an agreement to be announced Wednesday, the coalition members, including Philips Lighting, the largest manufacturer; the Natural Resources Defense Council; and two efficiency organizations, are pledging to press for efficiency standards at the local, state and federal levels. The standards would phase out the ordinary screw-in bulb, technology that arose around the time of the telegraph and the steam locomotive, and replace it with compact fluorescents, light-emitting diodes, halogen devices and other technologies that may emerge.

"Compact fluorescents are three times as efficient as old-fashioned bulbs, and light-emitting diodes six times as efficient. These also last much longer. But while they cost much less to run, they are more expensive to purchase, and getting home users to change the bulbs in the estimated four billion sockets in the United States would probably require eliminating the choice."

However, not everybody is on board. General Electric, according to the Times, "has been campaigning against the elimination of incandescent bulbs, and promising instead to bring out a new model that is twice as efficient as its current bulbs."

Congrats to Rachel

Congrats to That Girl Rachel for her acceptance into nursing school! Dave's comment about him saying "helllooooo nurse" to her all the time now reminds me of how much I love the Animaniacs as a kid. They were funny on so many levels!

So, as a tribute to Rachel, I found this sound clip! Enjoy.

Bye Bye Surya

So Surya was fired last night from The Apprentice. I actually felt like he was the right guy to be fired. It's funny how all the way to the end he kept talking about his "5-2 record" on teams he's been a part of. Jim and I had a discussion about that, he felt that with Trump being "results oriented" that the record would hold sway. I think that the record is one of those correlation but not necessarily causality situations. His Proctoid like style on the show just didn't seem to fit, and his team winning wasn't necessarily caused by him being there. I can say that 100% of my tennis teams that I was on won the state championship. Did I cause us to win? Not a chance, I sat the bench and watched others play the whole year.

By the way, I must emphasize the disclaimer... I'm sure there was a lot of editing on the show to make Surya out to be the bad guy (as it is to all of the people who got fired). My comments are only in the context of the show, and seriously doubt any correlation to this show and actual business acumen.

Now the question is do I keep watching or do I stop? The only storyline that intrigues me is what happens with Tim and Nicole...

Illiniblog

Hello from the University of Illinois campus... I'm here to attend a career fair for an Asian American conference. I got here as fast as I could so I could catch the Badgers vs. Mich State at a sports bar. Well, the "sports bar" I went to didn't get ESPN+. And they called themselves a sports bar. Well, in an interesting twist of fate, Wisconsin plays Illinois tomorrow afternoon. I think they DEFINITELY will be shown in a sports bar, so I might stick around and take it low key and watch it here.

It's been an interesting week of self-discovery after that training because I'm in the middle of finding a new job within the company and gathering feedback for a work and development plan. One feedback I'm getting loud and clear is that I'm lacking in engineering "technical mastery." Guess it's all coming together...

I'm also reading the book "A Perfect Mess." This book talks about the hidden benefits of disorder... basically, sometimes the cost of keeping things organized outweighs the benefits of something being organized. It rips on people who make careers out of making people feel bad about not being organized. What this book does for me is to tell me that my style is just as legit as other styles, and I don't fight my style in order to fit in and be successful.

Panerablog

Greetings from Panera Bread on Winton Road. I have about 1.5 hours to kill before my volleyball game, so I brought my laptop to use the time. I'm doing exactly what I would be doing at home... eating, playing online poker, and maybe blogging. I just finished stuffing my face with a $9 pizza (they call it a "Crispani" to justify the cost). It was good, but I don't think it was $9 good. I wish more places would offer wireless.

Today I took a training class with Tom that tries to help you decide what type of job you fit in. First thing we did was to take this personality test thing, which I really like doing because they always do tell me something. One interesting thing it told me was I'm "selectively social" i.e. I enjoy being with people I know, but if not I don't mind alone time. So you guys should be flattered that I "selectively" socialize with you! It also gave you some insights as to what role would fit you. My top one was "clerical" which a couple others had too. We figured it meant more to do with data driven. Next few were music, art, and science. Out of the 20 or so categories, 4th from the end was: ENGINEER.

Thank you notes

I've always wondered what it must be like to hafta try to come up with a personalized thank you note to all the people that got you gifts for a wedding. I mean it's gotta be tough, you've got hundreds to write! And to add to that, the gift was probably something picked off the registry. I went to a friends wedding recently, and picked a knife sharpener off the registry. I didn't even go to the store, just went onto Linens and Things's website and ordered it. I got a thank you note back from the happy couple, and it said glad you could make it, etc., and then:

"Thank you for the knife sharpener. It will help us keep our knives sharp for years to come."

I really do appreciate the effort that was taken to give me a thank you note. I wish I could somehow say hey, I know you guys appreciate it, you don't hafta write me a note.

Banning light bulbs

Hey all,

I've been reading stuff about this senator in California that wants to ban incadescent light bulbs because they are inefficient and use up a lot of energy. Sounds good doesn't it? But I would argue that light bulbs aren't the root cause of environmental issues, and banning them won't help in the long run. It might actually hurt. The right thing to do in principle is to put the pain where it belongs... i.e. make environmentally unfriendly plants pay to have things cleaned up. That actually helps so much more long term than banning light bulbs. Here's why:

Let's say you ban light bulbs and save 1 million watts of electricity. Where is this savings gonna come from? You think coal burning plants (I'm gonna use coal burning as an example of something that's environmentally unfriendly) are gonna voluntarily burn less coal? If 1 million less watts are used, electricity prices go down, and the plants that make energy most inefficiently would close. As of right now, I would say stuff like wind energy and alternative energy are less efficient, so it would severly hamper their development. Much like low gas prices hamper the development of hybrids. The higher gas prices actually made hybrids that much more viable, and that's why they're out now.

I'd like to credit Winston with an idea that would help. Remember Space Ship One? There was a $10 million prize for the first team to take a ship to space. There was no government funding at all. So how about a $10 million prize for a working windmill that generates enough electricity to light up a city? Or something like that? My new life goal is to have enough money to be able to fund stuff like this.

I'm with the enviromentalists who want to make sure humans don't screw up the earth. But I want make sure that we're doing things that really help, and not just things that feel good.