Because we wish to present the highest quality service to all our readers, we have now installed Google Analytics to the blog. This will allow us to track the volume and source of our readership and thus tailor our offerings in a more efficient manner.
For those of you Fourth Amendment / privacy-loving crazy liberals, have no fear. Your secrets are still safe with me, especially since I won't have access to them. Also, I'm not the government, so the Fourth Amendment does not apply here.
Special thanks to Cheryl Freiburg for her expertise in helping set this up. (However, this is not enough to merit an additional award at this time.)
Also, special thanks to Amanda Johnson. Your site is the #1 referrer!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
New Year's Resolutions
NONE!
(We here at The Best Blog Ever never admit to any of our deficiencies, and nor should you.)
Happy New Year to you all.
(We here at The Best Blog Ever never admit to any of our deficiencies, and nor should you.)
Happy New Year to you all.
UFC 92 Results
UFC 92 was last night. Kristin and I were out and about, so I didn't have a chance to watch it. But it was a truly great fight card:
ENJOY.
- Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight title
- Nogueira vs. Frank Mir
- Rampage Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
ENJOY.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Growth & Branding
Caution: This could be a very nerdy post.
I started this blog in early September with this post. Through word of mouth and some aggressive marketing (me begging people to read), blog readership is at an all-time high (20+ readers). Who knew this blog would have such a far-reaching audience? But with this blog touching all parts of the blogosphere, some issues obviously arise.
When you look at the corporate world, such rapid growth can lead to multiple problems. One is expanding so quickly that you build too much capacity. Then, when the industry retrenches, you have a lot of costly idle capacity. Fortunately, blogging is very scalable, so we don't have that problem.
The second issue is developing your market. Do you want to be a producer for the masses, or do you pick a niche and try to service that group extremely well? If you try to be a producer for the masses and be all things to all people, it's very possible that you serve none of them very well. You end up being in a low-margin business with high fixed costs. And when the market changes, you can't be very nimble. On the other hand, if you want to be a niche player, you have to do at least one thing better than all your competitors for one specific segment of the market. There can be high margins. But such high margins quickly attract competitors. And if you're entire business is dependent upon one small market, bad things can happen quickly if you lose that market, or the market shrinks, or whatever.
So, maybe you can see my quandary. I can either continue aggressively marketing this blog to all. In the short-term, I will likely gain more readers. But there's a good chance many of them won't like it, and they will spread bad word of mouth to other potential readers, thus diluting the brand. Or, I can be very selective in choosing prospects, discussing the blog only at the right time and only with the right people, and hopefully building up an audience that is smaller but more loyal (and creating great brand awareness and recognition).
The question is how I want this blog to be seen by (potential) readers. Do I want a select few to really love it, or do I want the masses to just like it? Obviously, this is an issue that someone in marketing should be able to solve. So I asked Kristin Pagano (Associate Brand Manager of Guitar Hero at Activision, and also my wife) what she thought about these branding issues, and she said "You're a dork." So this problem isn't going to be solved by a professional.
Oh well, all that for nothing. I guess I'll just keep doing what I've been doing. Never mind this post.
I started this blog in early September with this post. Through word of mouth and some aggressive marketing (me begging people to read), blog readership is at an all-time high (20+ readers). Who knew this blog would have such a far-reaching audience? But with this blog touching all parts of the blogosphere, some issues obviously arise.
When you look at the corporate world, such rapid growth can lead to multiple problems. One is expanding so quickly that you build too much capacity. Then, when the industry retrenches, you have a lot of costly idle capacity. Fortunately, blogging is very scalable, so we don't have that problem.
The second issue is developing your market. Do you want to be a producer for the masses, or do you pick a niche and try to service that group extremely well? If you try to be a producer for the masses and be all things to all people, it's very possible that you serve none of them very well. You end up being in a low-margin business with high fixed costs. And when the market changes, you can't be very nimble. On the other hand, if you want to be a niche player, you have to do at least one thing better than all your competitors for one specific segment of the market. There can be high margins. But such high margins quickly attract competitors. And if you're entire business is dependent upon one small market, bad things can happen quickly if you lose that market, or the market shrinks, or whatever.
So, maybe you can see my quandary. I can either continue aggressively marketing this blog to all. In the short-term, I will likely gain more readers. But there's a good chance many of them won't like it, and they will spread bad word of mouth to other potential readers, thus diluting the brand. Or, I can be very selective in choosing prospects, discussing the blog only at the right time and only with the right people, and hopefully building up an audience that is smaller but more loyal (and creating great brand awareness and recognition).
The question is how I want this blog to be seen by (potential) readers. Do I want a select few to really love it, or do I want the masses to just like it? Obviously, this is an issue that someone in marketing should be able to solve. So I asked Kristin Pagano (Associate Brand Manager of Guitar Hero at Activision, and also my wife) what she thought about these branding issues, and she said "You're a dork." So this problem isn't going to be solved by a professional.
Oh well, all that for nothing. I guess I'll just keep doing what I've been doing. Never mind this post.
Random Thoughts From Christmas
Christmas has come and gone. All that build-up, and it's over so fast. So with that, let's recap some of the major issues topics from the last two days:
- Prosciutto is the best of all the salted cured meats. This is not debatable.
The best Christmas gift I received was some packets of salt. They were wrapped, and from Santa. You really never know when you're going to be eating a steak, and there will be no salt on the table. And when that happens, the Nunnellys will mock you for years to come. It's best to come prepared with your own salt.- Guitar Hero World Tour is a big hit, if you can get someone to sing. Chris Corradini made an excellent singer on Christmas Eve. However, yesterday, I took one for the team and belted out "Hotel California" in a very unforgettable ear-splitting performance.
- Another phenomenal Christmas gift was from my cousin Domenic to my Aunt Lucretia. She came strolling in yesterday in her brand new Neil Diamond jacket. She wore it with great pride. Truly amazing.
The second annual Feats of Strength was canceled. Apparently, my cousin Steven had been sick the week prior and had not had a chance to practice. He was supposed to do 100 push-ups in 5 minutes, for $100. He bowed out gracefully. - My cousin Domenic seems to have consumed a whole bottle of Jack Daniels on his own. Good job, and keep up the good work.
- My cousin Pam is considering starting her own blog. I think she'll be using it mostly to post pictures of her kids Drew and Addison. Whatever the use, I'd like to think that I was her inspiration.
- For years, we have played Trivial Pursuit on Christmas. I can't believe it has taken so long for me to realize this, but it's a really bad idea to let a bunch of mostly Italians (who already yell at each other most of the time) try to play a game like this. There is always so much yelling going on, it's maddening. SERENITY NOW!
- Next year, we're playing Battleship.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Moms To Start Reading
I may have had a breakthrough in getting my mom and my mother-in-law to read the blog. Last night, I sent them both an email with the link to the blog. Now, there are no excuses (although I'm sure I'll be hearing shortly that they "accidentally" deleted the email). If only they could actually bookmark the site (assuming they know what bookmarks or favorites are). Anyway, the next time I see them, they will need to prove that they actually read the blog. So as to ensure their loyalty, I am including in this post a code word.
The code word is : tippy toe.
The code word is : tippy toe.
Happy Festivus
Last night, Kristin reminded me that I should wish all my readers good tidings during this holiday season. So as not to offend anyone and/or their religious beliefs/non-beliefs, we here at the blog need to remain a bit generic.
So we will wish you a Happy Festivus. If you don't know what Festivus is, shame on you! Go look it up right now! I can divulge that it includes a pole (as opposed to a Christmas tree) with a high strength-to-weight ratio, the feats of strength (likely a wrestling match), and the airing of the grievances (very common at an Italian family Christmas).
Happy Festivus everyone!
So we will wish you a Happy Festivus. If you don't know what Festivus is, shame on you! Go look it up right now! I can divulge that it includes a pole (as opposed to a Christmas tree) with a high strength-to-weight ratio, the feats of strength (likely a wrestling match), and the airing of the grievances (very common at an Italian family Christmas).
Happy Festivus everyone!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Adventures In Selling A Car
Kristin and I have been thinking about acquiring a new car. Both our cars are six years old. They both work. But they are requiring a little bit more in maintenance costs every year. Both would need new timing belts soon (or "training wheels," as Kristin calls them). So when all was said and done (car payment minus lower maintenance costs), it wouldn't be all that expensive to lease a new car. Plus, the joy of driving a brand new shiny automobile. But first, we'd need to see what my car would fetch.
On Sunday, I checked Kelley Blue Book, and the trade-in value of my car was $6700. This was a little disappointing, but not altogether unexpected. The private resale value was around $8-9k. This still wasn't what I wanted to get for it, but no big deal. I then went to the Infiniti dealership to look at the G35's. While talking to the salesman about my current car, he indicated that they could do a trade-in, but Carmax would give me a better deal, probably closer to the private-party resale value than the blue book value.
So after a little more car shopping that day, we went to Carmax. We went through the whole process, then waited while the appraiser did his thing. After an hour, the representative came back to the office where we were waiting and told us that the car was in great condition (great exterior, great interior, great structurally, great engine). So I expected a solid offer well above the $6700 quoted by KBB. He then proceeded to offer us $4000. I was appalled. Kristin was ready to throw something at someone's head.
Anyway, after getting an explanation from the appraiser, we left and drove to the Audi dealership. After talking with the salesman, and after he had "his guy" inspect my car, they came back and offered us only $2600 for it. Who knew I was driving such a jalopy?!?!?
(This isn't my actual jalopy, just a picture of one found on wikipedia. A picture of my car has not been included so as to protect its identity.)
Anyway, to commemorate my jalopy, please go here. This is an oldie but goody. It's uncensored, so if you don't like bad words, you shouldn't watch. If you do like bad words, you should watch multiple times.
To end, a decision has been made to keep my jalopy (I really like saying that word) for a little while longer and completely run it into the ground.
On Sunday, I checked Kelley Blue Book, and the trade-in value of my car was $6700. This was a little disappointing, but not altogether unexpected. The private resale value was around $8-9k. This still wasn't what I wanted to get for it, but no big deal. I then went to the Infiniti dealership to look at the G35's. While talking to the salesman about my current car, he indicated that they could do a trade-in, but Carmax would give me a better deal, probably closer to the private-party resale value than the blue book value.
So after a little more car shopping that day, we went to Carmax. We went through the whole process, then waited while the appraiser did his thing. After an hour, the representative came back to the office where we were waiting and told us that the car was in great condition (great exterior, great interior, great structurally, great engine). So I expected a solid offer well above the $6700 quoted by KBB. He then proceeded to offer us $4000. I was appalled. Kristin was ready to throw something at someone's head.
Anyway, after getting an explanation from the appraiser, we left and drove to the Audi dealership. After talking with the salesman, and after he had "his guy" inspect my car, they came back and offered us only $2600 for it. Who knew I was driving such a jalopy?!?!?
(This isn't my actual jalopy, just a picture of one found on wikipedia. A picture of my car has not been included so as to protect its identity.)Anyway, to commemorate my jalopy, please go here. This is an oldie but goody. It's uncensored, so if you don't like bad words, you shouldn't watch. If you do like bad words, you should watch multiple times.
To end, a decision has been made to keep my jalopy (I really like saying that word) for a little while longer and completely run it into the ground.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Kristin's One Post
There has been a lot of confusion about some remarks I've made about Kristin never having posted. Multiple readers have pointed out that Kristin did indeed post a single time. Actually, that was me.
I would hate for Kristin to be given credit for something she didn't do, and so would she.
I would hate for Kristin to be given credit for something she didn't do, and so would she.
Trying To Get More Parents To Read This Blog
Yesterday, we went to my cousin's daughter's baptism. Afterward, we saw Kristin's parents at their place in Newport. It was an excellent opportunity to re-advertise this blog to "the older generation."
At the baptism, I tried to convince my mom and my aunt that they should be reading the blog. My mom said she couldn't read the blog because she couldn't figure out how to find it. As I mentioned in last week's post, she wouldn't be able to figure out how to type in a simple URL. When I mentioned that she could just put it in her favorites, she had no clue what I was talking about. Then, to deflect criticism, she commented that I "must have too much time on my hands." Too predictable. As for my aunt, after she boasted that she indeed knew how to use the internet, she pretty much admitted that she didn't know how to use the internet when she mentioned that it would be too difficult for her to find.
At the Nunnelly residence, we pulled up the blog for Kristin's mother to read. Before, she indicated that it was just too hard for her to find on the internet. Anyway, she read through the blog and DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL. (Actually, she kind of enjoyed Cheryl's guest post, but she didn't much care for mine.) Can you imagine the disappointment and utter shame her relatively-new son-in-law must have felt because his mother-in-law didn't like his musings? At that moment, I considered shutting down the blog for good. I mean, I can understand my mom's reaction: she's an Italian woman, and all she does is yell and have a bad disposition. But Carol Nunnelly, come on!
Oh well, I will try to lift my spirits and summon the courage to keep going. Hopefully, this blog will continue its rich tradition of excellence in perpetuity. But if it does not, you can trace its demise back to yesterday, December 13, 2008. And if that happens, I apologize, but you know ultimately whom to blame.
At the baptism, I tried to convince my mom and my aunt that they should be reading the blog. My mom said she couldn't read the blog because she couldn't figure out how to find it. As I mentioned in last week's post, she wouldn't be able to figure out how to type in a simple URL. When I mentioned that she could just put it in her favorites, she had no clue what I was talking about. Then, to deflect criticism, she commented that I "must have too much time on my hands." Too predictable. As for my aunt, after she boasted that she indeed knew how to use the internet, she pretty much admitted that she didn't know how to use the internet when she mentioned that it would be too difficult for her to find.
At the Nunnelly residence, we pulled up the blog for Kristin's mother to read. Before, she indicated that it was just too hard for her to find on the internet. Anyway, she read through the blog and DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL. (Actually, she kind of enjoyed Cheryl's guest post, but she didn't much care for mine.) Can you imagine the disappointment and utter shame her relatively-new son-in-law must have felt because his mother-in-law didn't like his musings? At that moment, I considered shutting down the blog for good. I mean, I can understand my mom's reaction: she's an Italian woman, and all she does is yell and have a bad disposition. But Carol Nunnelly, come on!
Oh well, I will try to lift my spirits and summon the courage to keep going. Hopefully, this blog will continue its rich tradition of excellence in perpetuity. But if it does not, you can trace its demise back to yesterday, December 13, 2008. And if that happens, I apologize, but you know ultimately whom to blame.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Additional Award
Believe it or not, but we found additional dollars in the 2008 operating budget. Therefore, we can give out just one more award. So without further adieu:
Best (fill in the blank): Cheryl Freiburg
Congratulations, Cheryl, I always knew you could do it!
Best (fill in the blank): Cheryl Freiburg
Congratulations, Cheryl, I always knew you could do it!
Not Happy About Not Winning
Guest Post by Cheryl Freiburg:
Hey everyone, Cheryl (Cabigas) Freiburg, guest-blogger of the day :) Now, for those of you who have read the previous post, you see that my mother has won an award. So not fair! I think the awards committee (Chris) has a preference for CPA's or something. That or he realizes that my mom now works for the "Man" and is trying to get in good with the IRS. Hmmmm....
So anyway, I was given a chance to indicate why I deserve an award. So let's get right down to it.
1) My mom is your best new reader. Without me she wouldn't even know about your blog (let alone what the word "blog" means!)
2) Loyal reader - yeah yeah yeah, you're all loyal readers. But is anyone else as big of a dork as I am to put a feed of Chris's bog on your iGoogle home page? I know, I should be embarrassed, but I'm not. I'm that dork.
3) Quality trumps quantity - so yeah, maybe other people comment more than I do (I'm talking to you Logan!), but I'm telling you it's all about quality of the comment over the quantity!
4) A little history for those of you who are not as big a dork as I am (reference #2 above)... So yesterday I notice that Chris has posted a blog that there is an official name change from "Chris & Kristin Pagano's Blog" to "Chris Pagano's Blog" - so of course like the loyal reader I am, I click on the link to see that the blog post has been removed! Later that day, I get the following email from Chris:
"Was my blog post today that Kristin made me delete bad? Should I have left it up? Thanks for your objective opinion."
So of course, I'm thinking, well, if my objective opinion is important enough to be sought, then obviously I am like the Mr. Miyagi to Chris's Daniel-san! This alone makes me worthy of some sort of award!
5) And this is really the most important - this blog was birthed because we put it in his head! Over a nice long dinner conversation about starting a baby blog for our impending arrival, Chris was inspired to begin this wonderful literary masterpiece known as Chris and Kristin Pagano's blog (ok, so a little ass kissing might help, right?). So the blog wouldn't even be here if we never had the discussion about it!
And seriously if I don't get some sort of award after this, well, Chris, I would sleep with one eye open. I know people who know people!
Your loyal reader,
Cheryl
Hey everyone, Cheryl (Cabigas) Freiburg, guest-blogger of the day :) Now, for those of you who have read the previous post, you see that my mother has won an award. So not fair! I think the awards committee (Chris) has a preference for CPA's or something. That or he realizes that my mom now works for the "Man" and is trying to get in good with the IRS. Hmmmm....
So anyway, I was given a chance to indicate why I deserve an award. So let's get right down to it.
1) My mom is your best new reader. Without me she wouldn't even know about your blog (let alone what the word "blog" means!)
2) Loyal reader - yeah yeah yeah, you're all loyal readers. But is anyone else as big of a dork as I am to put a feed of Chris's bog on your iGoogle home page? I know, I should be embarrassed, but I'm not. I'm that dork.
3) Quality trumps quantity - so yeah, maybe other people comment more than I do (I'm talking to you Logan!), but I'm telling you it's all about quality of the comment over the quantity!
4) A little history for those of you who are not as big a dork as I am (reference #2 above)... So yesterday I notice that Chris has posted a blog that there is an official name change from "Chris & Kristin Pagano's Blog" to "Chris Pagano's Blog" - so of course like the loyal reader I am, I click on the link to see that the blog post has been removed! Later that day, I get the following email from Chris:
"Was my blog post today that Kristin made me delete bad? Should I have left it up? Thanks for your objective opinion."
So of course, I'm thinking, well, if my objective opinion is important enough to be sought, then obviously I am like the Mr. Miyagi to Chris's Daniel-san! This alone makes me worthy of some sort of award!
5) And this is really the most important - this blog was birthed because we put it in his head! Over a nice long dinner conversation about starting a baby blog for our impending arrival, Chris was inspired to begin this wonderful literary masterpiece known as Chris and Kristin Pagano's blog (ok, so a little ass kissing might help, right?). So the blog wouldn't even be here if we never had the discussion about it!
And seriously if I don't get some sort of award after this, well, Chris, I would sleep with one eye open. I know people who know people!
Your loyal reader,
Cheryl
More Awards To Give Out
Happy Friday everyone. I'm sitting here at my desk during lunch time, so I figured I'd do a quick post.
Now would be an excellent time to give out the second edition of my awards. However, we are now officially in a recession, and there's no money left in the budget to give anything other than a single award. What can I say, times are tight.
So I really put some effort into this, to try to determine who's most deserving. And after much thought, here's the award:
Best New Reader: Lynda Cabigas
Congratulations, Mrs. Cabigas, you have won a non-cash appreciation award from THE BEST BLOG EVER.
Thank you all for playing. As always, we appreciate your support.
Now would be an excellent time to give out the second edition of my awards. However, we are now officially in a recession, and there's no money left in the budget to give anything other than a single award. What can I say, times are tight.
So I really put some effort into this, to try to determine who's most deserving. And after much thought, here's the award:
Best New Reader: Lynda Cabigas
Congratulations, Mrs. Cabigas, you have won a non-cash appreciation award from THE BEST BLOG EVER.
Thank you all for playing. As always, we appreciate your support.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Chris & Kristin
This is my second post today. The first one displeased Kristin. I was trying to exert some pressure on her to post, and I mentioned it in the post. And I changed the title of the blog (to exclude her name). Clearly, she was not pleased. She made some threats, and I blinked. That post was deleted.
Anyway, on to tonight's post. I am stealing the idea for this post from Jennifer's blog. (Who knows, that may even garner her another award at some point.)
Things You Should Know About Chris & Kristin:
Anyway, on to tonight's post. I am stealing the idea for this post from Jennifer's blog. (Who knows, that may even garner her another award at some point.)
Things You Should Know About Chris & Kristin:
- Who's older: me (by three years)
- Who's taller: tie (or Kristin when I don't stand up straight)
- Who's smarter: Kristin (I can't remember anything anymore)
- Who's the bigger dork: me
- Who's the better driver: me
- Who's the better Dyson vacuum cleaner operator: me
- Who's the better cook: Kristin
- Who makes better chocolate chip cookies: Kristin
- Who makes better chocolate chip cookie dough: me
- Who eats more: me
- Who's the bigger fan of Kelly Clarkson: me
- Who's masculinity is now in question: probably me
- Who sings better: neither
- Who's a fan of the Tennesse Titans even though she now wants them to lose because Vince Young isn't playing: Kristin
- Who uses up 95% of the closet for her clothes while her husband gets two feet: Kristin
- Who cleans: me
- Who has more friends: Kristin (she always has about 15 more on facebook than i do, and i can't catch up)
- Who looks more like McLovin: me
- Who watches more crappy TV: Kristin (America's Next Top Model, Gossip Girl)
- Who's the better blogger: me
- Who's "the best blog(ger) ever": me
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
There's a lot of territory to cover in this post, so let's discuss all the major issues:
Kristin went to the mall yesterday. She came home with a new sweater which she had bought for me. Now, if you'll recall an earlier post, Kristin and I had agreed that we would not be exchanging gifts for Christmas. Therefore, she should not have gotten me this "gift." Kristin then indicated that it wasn't for Christmas, that I could have it now. Who knew that you could get around the Christmas gift ban by simply saying something is not for Christmas? So you can see what I'm dealing with when I try to make agreements with Kristin. In some respects, she's like a lawyer always looking for a loophole. From now on, every time we make an agreement, I'm going to need a contract that's two inches thick to cover every contingency so that she can't get around the basic spirit and intent of the agreement.
Then last night, we went to dinner with the Nunnelly boys, Garrett and Patrick. Normally, one might say that they were in rare form, but from what I've seen before, this was a normal game-day performance. We covered lots of ground. Here are some thoughts from the evening:
That's it for today.
Kristin went to the mall yesterday. She came home with a new sweater which she had bought for me. Now, if you'll recall an earlier post, Kristin and I had agreed that we would not be exchanging gifts for Christmas. Therefore, she should not have gotten me this "gift." Kristin then indicated that it wasn't for Christmas, that I could have it now. Who knew that you could get around the Christmas gift ban by simply saying something is not for Christmas? So you can see what I'm dealing with when I try to make agreements with Kristin. In some respects, she's like a lawyer always looking for a loophole. From now on, every time we make an agreement, I'm going to need a contract that's two inches thick to cover every contingency so that she can't get around the basic spirit and intent of the agreement.
Then last night, we went to dinner with the Nunnelly boys, Garrett and Patrick. Normally, one might say that they were in rare form, but from what I've seen before, this was a normal game-day performance. We covered lots of ground. Here are some thoughts from the evening:
- Both Pat & Garrett indicated that they were fans of this blog. (Seriously, though, can you really find someone who's read the blog who isn't a fan?)
- Neither of them were happy that they didn't receive blog awards from me a couple weeks back when I decided to acknowledge certain people. Who could have known that that would have created such a firestorm of controversy? Listen, people, this isn't T-ball; you don't get awards just for showing up! Awards are meted out for outstanding achievement in the field of excellence. If you step up your game, you may be recognized in the future. The question is, what can you do to to be recognized. We'll get to that a little bit later in this post.
- Based on last night's events, both Garrett & Pat indicated that today's blog post had to be really good. My apologies, but I don't think I can live up to that standard. I mean, there was a lot of good material from last night's dinner, but I'm not allowed to reproduce much of it (too much sensitive material). In fact, I even wrote down notes this morning of the important items to discuss, but I still don't think I can do enough of what it takes to meet such lofty expectations. So I apologize if I let the two of you down.
- With my readership growing to such great levels, I am quite proud of what this fine blog has achieved. More people are reading it than I expected (my expectation was that no one would read it, but it sounds like I may even have at least five readers). Anyway, the only people not reading it are some of the potential grand parents of our first child (TBD). They are either "busy" or not technologically competent enough to type in a simple URL. They even claim that I "have too much time on my hands." You know what, it's going to be their loss. When grandchild #1 comes along, they'll have no idea, as it will be announced here and only here. How do you think they're going to feel when they've been left out of the loop? And they'll have only themselves to blame.
- Get Kristin to post. We're getting up to 40 posts sooner or later, and Kristin has contributed exactly zero of them. This blog was set up to be for and by both of us. If it's just me, this blog loses a certain amount of credibility. This blog would be more "fair and balanced" if she wrote on a (semi-) consistent schedule. In fact, for every post I write, Kristin reads it, laughs, and comments that I'm a dork. Clearly, I need someone "cooler" than myself for balance. If you can convince Kristin to contribute, you will get an award.
- You can comment on my posts. Since I don't know anything about the internet, I have no clue how to see how many people are visiting the blog. So I can only tell who's reading it by your comments (either in the blog itself or via email). Comments within the blog are especially useful because we can generate a sense of "community" that is sorely lacking.
- You can guest blog. This blog is about presenting ideas, important ideas. As one man, I can only do so much. If you have something to say, you are more than welcome to say it here. Just send me an email with your post, and I will put it up and indicate that you are the author. You might even realize that you have a special talent and that you should start your own blog. (Garrett and Patrick, I'm looking in your direction.)
That's it for today.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Financial Karma?
Yesterday
I was reviewing our tax situation yesterday, and I had thought that Kristin and I were going to owe an additional $6k with our tax return. But as I re-ran the numbers, I remembered to add some additional deductions that I had previously forgotten. Those would save us $3k in taxes. So while I wasn't happy to be paying additional tax, I was feeling very good that our payment would be much smaller.
But then I got an email from AT&T regarding my new cell phone service. It indicated that text messaging was not included with my plan and that I was being charged $0.20 for each text (both outgoing and incoming). So I called AT&T to add $5 to my monthly charges so that I'd be covered. This new cost made me feel less happy.
Then, as I was driving home, I went to cash in my winning lottery ticket, and I received $11. Clearly, I was riding high. (And yes, per Logan's suggestion, I did let some of it ride, as the new jackpot is $146MM.)
Then, I went to pick up some dress shoes that I had left at the shoe repair store. I was thinking the total cost would be less than $40, which is more than what we ever paid in Santa Clara for having my shoes re-heeled, polished, and Kristin's shoes being fixed. I had two pairs of shoes there, and it cost $97 (for polishing, re-soling, and re-heeling). I was appalled, and my day was again ruined.
Then I needed to pick up our dry cleaning. The bill was $26. But they accepted coupons from a competitor, so that knocked off $4. So my day ended just a little bit better.
Today
I tried to sell one of Kristin's investments (a municipal bond from San Joaquin Hills). According to the Schwab statement, it was worth just yesterday approximately $13000. Today, when I called Schwab so that they could solicit bids on the open market, it would only fetch $7600. Again, my day wasn't going so well.
But five minutes later, a check for $50 arrived in my office. Apparently, a month ago, I had taken a survey for financial advisors, and they had promised a $50 check for completing it.
Conclusion
Clearly, on a dollar for dollar basis, things are not quite evening out right now. But it's good to see that for every loss, there's a gain. And vice versa.
I was reviewing our tax situation yesterday, and I had thought that Kristin and I were going to owe an additional $6k with our tax return. But as I re-ran the numbers, I remembered to add some additional deductions that I had previously forgotten. Those would save us $3k in taxes. So while I wasn't happy to be paying additional tax, I was feeling very good that our payment would be much smaller.
But then I got an email from AT&T regarding my new cell phone service. It indicated that text messaging was not included with my plan and that I was being charged $0.20 for each text (both outgoing and incoming). So I called AT&T to add $5 to my monthly charges so that I'd be covered. This new cost made me feel less happy.
Then, as I was driving home, I went to cash in my winning lottery ticket, and I received $11. Clearly, I was riding high. (And yes, per Logan's suggestion, I did let some of it ride, as the new jackpot is $146MM.)
Then, I went to pick up some dress shoes that I had left at the shoe repair store. I was thinking the total cost would be less than $40, which is more than what we ever paid in Santa Clara for having my shoes re-heeled, polished, and Kristin's shoes being fixed. I had two pairs of shoes there, and it cost $97 (for polishing, re-soling, and re-heeling). I was appalled, and my day was again ruined.
Then I needed to pick up our dry cleaning. The bill was $26. But they accepted coupons from a competitor, so that knocked off $4. So my day ended just a little bit better.
Today
I tried to sell one of Kristin's investments (a municipal bond from San Joaquin Hills). According to the Schwab statement, it was worth just yesterday approximately $13000. Today, when I called Schwab so that they could solicit bids on the open market, it would only fetch $7600. Again, my day wasn't going so well.
But five minutes later, a check for $50 arrived in my office. Apparently, a month ago, I had taken a survey for financial advisors, and they had promised a $50 check for completing it.
Conclusion
Clearly, on a dollar for dollar basis, things are not quite evening out right now. But it's good to see that for every loss, there's a gain. And vice versa.
Del Taco: A For Customer Service; F For Customers
So I decided that today would be a Del Taco day. I've been here in Pasadena for work for six months now, and this was only my second trip. So I walk over there just after noon, and there's a line 6 deep.
Near the end of the line is a group of three people who are about four feet behind the line and huddled in a group. Thus, they didn't seem to be in line. So I got in line just in front of them. Right after that, I hear a voice right behind me, and I realize they're now officially in line. So I felt bad, asked if they were in line, then moved behind them.
Eventually, they get up to the front. Instead of ordering as a group, one person orders for herself. Then the next two order. The problem is that they really don't know what they want. Then when they got charged, they realized that they don't want what they said they ordered. Then they start re-thinking their entire order.
At this point, the girl at the cash register opens up the second register to help me, while she's still helping them. She takes my order, then I pay. She goes back to help the other two at the first cash register, who are now complaining about how much change they should be receiving. Then the girl behind the counter takes the order of another customer at the second cash register.
Finally, I got my food and left, with the people who were in line in front of me still not able to figure out their own situation. I do hope the situation was eventually resolved to everyone's benefit.
Near the end of the line is a group of three people who are about four feet behind the line and huddled in a group. Thus, they didn't seem to be in line. So I got in line just in front of them. Right after that, I hear a voice right behind me, and I realize they're now officially in line. So I felt bad, asked if they were in line, then moved behind them.
Eventually, they get up to the front. Instead of ordering as a group, one person orders for herself. Then the next two order. The problem is that they really don't know what they want. Then when they got charged, they realized that they don't want what they said they ordered. Then they start re-thinking their entire order.
At this point, the girl at the cash register opens up the second register to help me, while she's still helping them. She takes my order, then I pay. She goes back to help the other two at the first cash register, who are now complaining about how much change they should be receiving. Then the girl behind the counter takes the order of another customer at the second cash register.
Finally, I got my food and left, with the people who were in line in front of me still not able to figure out their own situation. I do hope the situation was eventually resolved to everyone's benefit.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Happy Birthday to Jennifer
Since Jennifer is a past award winner of this blog, we here at THE BEST BLOG EVER would like to extend her the warmest wishes on her birthday. (Please note, all you non-winners, that it's time to up your game. Logan, good job so far.)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
I Just Won the Lotto
I bought a $5 quick pick for the Mega Millions. The jackpot was something like $126MM. And I just happened to match the mega number plus two other numbers. So I will be collecting a cool $10 (for this 1 in 844 chance). What will I do with the money? I don't know. But I can tell you this - I will not be sharing it with Kristin. She didn't win this money; I did.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Water Bottles Everywhere
Kristin is a very organized person. She has spreadsheets for everything - mailing addresses, our checking account, etc. She keeps detailed records (brokerage statements, back account statements, tax returns, medical and dental records, car maintenance records, insurance statements, etc). She never throws away her credit card receipts. Our apartment is kept organized at all times. We even have a calendar going out six months to make sure we're not double-booked (I must say that we are pretty popular).
And yet, amazingly, she will never throw away her water bottles. There are currently two semi-empty water bottles in her car, one on her night stand, and one on the coffee table. And when I mention this, she says "Why don't you mind your own business?" When I say that it is my business, she says "Oh" and then proceeds to ignore me.
And then, when I pick up after her and throw away the water bottles (into the trash), she points out that we recycle, and the trash is not where the water bottles go.
That's it. There's no moral to this story. I'm short on material for the blog, and I thought I'd write something.
Re-enactment only. This is not one of Kristin's actual water bottles, as none could be found at the time of this writing. And yes, I am aware of the irony.
And yet, amazingly, she will never throw away her water bottles. There are currently two semi-empty water bottles in her car, one on her night stand, and one on the coffee table. And when I mention this, she says "Why don't you mind your own business?" When I say that it is my business, she says "Oh" and then proceeds to ignore me.
And then, when I pick up after her and throw away the water bottles (into the trash), she points out that we recycle, and the trash is not where the water bottles go.
That's it. There's no moral to this story. I'm short on material for the blog, and I thought I'd write something.
Re-enactment only. This is not one of Kristin's actual water bottles, as none could be found at the time of this writing. And yes, I am aware of the irony.
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