Geek Speak

The Mexican Fisherman Story

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, 'only a little while.'

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The American then asked, 'but what do you do with the rest of your time?'

The Mexican fisherman said, 'I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.'

The American scoffed, 'I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.'

The Mexican fisherman asked, 'But, how long will this all take?'

To which the American replied, '15 - 20 years.'

'But what then?' Asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said, 'That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!"

"Millions - then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

inAir: Measuring and Visualizing Indoor Air Quality

inAir: Measuring and Visualizing Indoor Air Quality: "

inAir (living-environments.net) is a personal tool for sensing and visualizing indoor air quality to improve awareness and understanding of indoor air quality. inAir provides historical and real-time visualizations of indoor air quality by measuring tiny hazardous airborne particles as small as 0.5 microns in size.

A Dylos air quality monitor, a commercial air quality sensor, is used to measure particulate matter. It counts the number of particles larger than 0.5 microns within a cubic meter of air. Attached to the sensor is an iPod Touch used to render the visualizations. A line graph is updated with a data point consisting of the average of the 15-second sensor readings from the past 20 minutes. To the right, a bar graph updates every 15 seconds making it easier for current activities to be linked to air quality variations.

Participants used inAir in 2 distinctive ways: to glance over the inAir screen unintentionally when they passed by the device, and to check how their current activity was affecting indoor air quality. Participants expressed a desire to provide a more direct mapping of the visualized data to health effects and also to help interpret the overall air quality (i.e. good, poor, hazardous). Also, participants mentioned that they checked the 24-hour history of air quality using inAir less frequently. Further results from the user evaluation study demonstrate how inAir promotes greater awareness and motivates individual actions to improve indoor air quality.

I cannot stop noticing that the project is an example of a desire to 'visualize' data, instead of making its meaning or causality more graspable for lay users. Many other similar examples exist, such as the popular graphs that depict water, energy and gas usage audits, or the depiction of CO2 gas emissions on utility bills.

A more detailed description can be found here (PDF).

"

Stop Expecting to Change Your Habit in 21 Days.

Stop Expecting to Change Your Habit in 21 Days.: "

I’m working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! Everyone’s project will look different, but it’s the rare person who can’t benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday’s post will help you think about your own happiness project.

In my research on happiness, I keep running into the assertion that it takes twenty-one days to develop a new habit -- but I’ve always had my doubts about the validity that number.

First, when it comes to developing a bad habit, two repetitions is probably enough. Order a doughnut with your coffee on Monday morning and Tuesday morning, and you’ll probably find it very hard to resist ordering a doughnut on Wednesday.

Second, at least for me, twenty-one days isn't nearly long enough to form a good habit. For my happiness project, I tried for many weeks to get in the habit of keeping a food journal, and I failed and gave up, and then tried again, and I never could get in the habit. Flossing is a challenge – though all the suggestions from these commenters has improved my flossing rate, I must say. Even writing in my one-sentence journal, which I enjoy doing, isn't really quite habitual yet.

Because I’ve always questioned that often-repeated statistic, I was very interested to read Oliver Burkeman’s article, How long does it really take to change a habit?

According to a recent study, a daily action like eating fruit at lunch or running for fifteen minutes took an average of sixty-six days to become as much of a habit as it would ever become.

However, there was a lot of variation, both among people and among habits – some people are more habit-resistant than others, and some habits are harder to pick up than others.

I found this study reassuring. My difficulty in picking up certain habits wasn't unusual. Fact is, habits are hard to alter, and that’s why developing a good habit is really worth the struggle; once you’re used to making your bed each morning, or going for an evening walk, or flossing, you don’t have to exert much self-control to keep it up.

The study also showed that if you miss a day here or there when you’re trying to develop a habit, it doesn’t derail the process, so don’t get discouraged if you can’t keep a perfect track record. But the first days seem to make the biggest difference, so it’s worth trying to be particularly diligent at the beginning of the attempted-habit-acquisition process.

What do you think? What has been your experience in developing habits? How long has it taken, and what tricks have you found to help yourself acquire -- or kick -- a habit?

* I've always been fascinated by bees and ants (also slightly terrified of ants, having read The Once and Future King at an impressionable age), and was amazed by this video of fire ants forming a raft to float down a river.

* Interested in starting your own happiness project? If you’d like to take a look at my personal Resolutions Chart, for inspiration, just email me at grubin, then the “at” sign, then gretchenrubin dot com. (Sorry about writing it in that roundabout way; I’m trying to thwart spammers.) Just write “Resolutions Chart” in the subject line.

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For Love or For Money: Spending Money On Your Hobbies

For Love or For Money: Spending Money On Your Hobbies: "

Finding a hobby or a passion is on some levels like finding a good partner - there's a certain element of chemistry involved. But there’s also a practical (financial) side of the equation that might make one hobby feasible but render another hobby’s pursuit unrealistic.

Some activities, such as running, reading, Frisbee, etc. are relatively inexpensive, or have a low entry cost. On the other end of the spectrum, there are sports or hobbies that require more money. Golf, sailing, skiing, horseback riding, deep-sea diving, etc., all require significant monetary commitment.

Finances are one of the reasons why I didn't pursue figure skating lessons, even though I am really interested in the sport (an interest nurtured when I first saw Olympic figure skating on TV) and would love to learn to gracefully glide about the ice. Unfortunately, ice skating is an expensive pursuit. The rink time rental, the coaching lessons, the skates, all would add up much more quickly. Life And Debt In Chicago is a figure skater and has posted on the costs of her hobby. After a few ice rink excursions, I decided I didn't enjoy skating enough to make the sacrifices necessary to pursue more lessons.

Recently, I have begun attending Argentine tango lessons several times a week. At $15 per class, tango is not the most expensive hobby by any means. But Argentine tango, as with other types of social dance, is definitely a recurring cost activity. Classes, dance parties, and shoes make up the bulk of expenses. Of course, one can always spend hundreds or thousands to go to traveling workshops or even Buenos Aires, but that's not a requirement to participate in the hobby. But I absolutely LOVE Argentine tango, and reason enough for me to spend 4 nights a week in class and $200 a month on tuition.

So how do you decide what hobbies might be worth pursuing? If you like several different hobbies, should you let money make the decision for you? Here are some questions that might be helpful to ask yourself:

1.      Does the hobby make you healthier – either physically (get more exercise / balance) or emotionally (more connected to friends / social circle)? Americans frequently don’t get enough exercise – so if you find a sport / dance that you enjoy and that gets you off the couch? That’s two birds with one stone. If you love to bike but running on the treadmill isn’t your cup of tea, then a $1,000 bike could be a good investment in your hobby and your health.

2.   Can you afford to pursue this hobby without going into debt or compromising on your major financial goals? There's no point in going into debt for a hobby - don't let worry about money take away your enjoyment. Before you invest heavily in an activity, especially before you commit to an expensive hobby (buying new skis, signing up for a night dive cruise in Australia, etc.), you should have your financial foundation in order.

3.      Does it help you in your career? If you like golf and business deals are often made on the golf course in your line of work, then golf would be a good hobby to invest in. If your coworkers frequently get together for poker games, it might be a good idea to learn how to play.

4.      Does it make you happy? Because at the end of the day, time is finite. In today’s life we have a myriad of work and family obligations – a hobby should be a time for you to recharge your own batteries. When you complete your scrapbook, descend from the mountain top, or cross the marathon finish line, you should feel a renewed sense of joy. You should feel ALIVE. That’s the feeling I get when I walk out the studio after 3 hours of dancing, and that’s why tango (and its accompanying expenses) is here to stay in my life.

Krystal At Work works hard to make room in her budget for her passions: hiking, camping, rock-climbing, and skiing. Krystal has spent over $5,000 in the past two years on those pursuits. Once you’ve determined that you want to pursue certain pastimes, especially they are more expensive hobbies, there are trade-offs. Krystal is debt-free, maintains a frugal lifestyle, and researches the best value on equipment and lessons so that she can do what she love.

The best part is when a hobby pays for itself. Once you achieve a certain level of expertise, you might even make money from your hobbies. Little Miss Moneybags from NYC is a perfect example of someone who has managed to make money from her passion: she loves belly-dancing, and for the past couple of years she has earned enough money through performances to subsidize her class fees, costumes, etc.

Bottom line: if you really enjoy an expensive hobby, don’t automatically assume you can’t pursue it. Money is money, but money is only money. There are many ways to make a hobby more affordable (renting equipment, buying second-hand equipment, taking group lessons instead of private tutoring, participating in your hobby once a month instead of once a week, barter with instructors, making money from your hobby, etc.)

Finding a hobby or a passion is on some levels like finding a partner – sometimes there will be sacrifices and compromises involved, and sometimes you decide it's not worth the cost. But then you find something that brings a smile to your face, a bounce to your step, and more joy to your life, and you know: your investment in terms of time and money is repaid ten folds.

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Taking stock of the Eat Local Challenge

Taking stock of the Eat Local Challenge: "

Although there are already five days under October’s belt, it’s not too late to consider taking part, in small or large ways, in this month’s Eat Local Challenge.

Jen Maiser, who is one of the editors of the Eat Local Challenge website, describes the challenge as follows:

“The traditional Eat Local Challenge is a basic concept: commit to eating only locally grown foods for a period of thirty days. Declare 'exceptions' that you will not be eating locally, and try as hard as you can to have everything else come from your local foodshed. 'Local' is traditionally a 150-mile distance from your home, but can really be defined as any area near you. Some locavores choose their county, state, or region.”

This year, the challenge will have a thoughtful focus, week by week. This week’s theme (it runs through Friday, October 9) is Taking Stock, or, as Maiser wrote, “We'll take this week to reassess eating locally. Do the old eat local tenets hold up under a 2009 microscope? Where could we be doing better with eating locally? What should this month hold?”

In an entry at 5 Minutes for Going Green, Diana Prichard takes stock of her and her family’s approach to this year’s challenge—they came to it gradually, but are using this year’s challenge as a jolt to their already-changing consumption patterns.

“I don't recall a fundamental shift in perception ever having taken place. Rather, it was a slow and steady evolution that led us to curb our long-distance consumption at the dinner table. It wasn't a conscious decision made, but it did turn out most convenient and achievable that way. I imagine much in the same ways that it would be most achievable for other families to go about it in the same way; slowly integrating local when and where it's most possible.

But there's also something uniquely exhilarating about a sudden dramatic shift in routine, a rush in making a big change and making it stick. That's why this year I'm participating in the Eat Local Challenge, because for as many things we've replaced with local alternatives there are just as many others — most vices, no doubt — that still need replacing. And I'm hoping you'll join me.”

Jennelle of Delicious Potager is another blogger taking part in the challenge, but was already beating herself up a bit on Day 1. I'd argue she has nothing to worry about -- her approach, which includes cleaning out her refrigerator of what was already there, whether it meets her challenge guidelines or not, is an entirely practical approach to the exercise.

“I don't think it makes much sense (especially in this economy) to throw out perfectly good food,” she wrote. And with local milk and beer within a 250-mile radius rather than a 150-mile radius, she decided that would be her personal distance limit for the challenge.

Have you considered taking part in such a challenge? As you take stock of your own eating habits, are there small changes you could make that would bring you closer, geographically, to the food you eat?

Genie blogs about gardening and food at The Inadvertent Gardener, and tells very short tales at 100 Proof Stories. She is also documenting her year in photos at 365 in 2009.

"

Make people feel like you CARE

"People will forget what you said.  People will forget what you did.  But, people will NEVER forget how you made them feel."


It's "Friends Day” - Send this to all your good friends.  Even me, if I am one of them.  See how many you get back.  If you get more than 3, you are really a lovable person. 

......................  I am waiting! 

A Great Day Starts With...

Hi

The ONLY way to start your day..... Tim Horton's

Make mine a medium tea in china with double milk...Please.

Ahhhh...what a relaxing way to start my day.

Thanks!

Smiles :o)

Gary

Taxes On Short Sale, Loan Modification & Mortgage Foreclosure 8 Nov08 Qualified Cpa & Attorney

Taxes On Short Sale, Loan Modification & Mortgage Foreclosure 8 Nov08 Qualified Cpa & Attorney: "

Tax on 1099C, Cancellation of Debt Income; Short Sale, Loan Modification & Foreclosure. Exception; Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, Bankruptcy & Insolvency. Go To http://RealEstateMarketingT…..

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Money Mindset Class Starting Soon

Money Mindset Class Starting Soon: "

Today I’m excited to announce a new 4-Week Web Class that I will be teaching…

It’s called “Money Mindset.”

I believe the right mindset about how/why/when/where to make money is absolutely key to someone’s financial success.

Many know by now that I’m a HUGE believer in having the right mindset when it comes to starting or growing a business. And now for the first time ever I’m going to teach a complete systematic approach to figuring out what you want in your life and then how to strategically plan and take action in order to get it.

Check out the video where I make the controversial statement…

Is ‘The Secret’ A Bunch Of B.S.?

Click here to watch the video and learn more about my new Money Mindset 4-Week Web Class.

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Financial Basics Pack

Financial Basics Pack: "

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