Drinking fountain etiquette

There is a certain etiquette when you are getting water from either a fountain or a water cooler and you are trying to fill a very large container. If there are people waiting to simply get a sip or small cup of water while you are trying to fill a 1 gallon container, consider stepping to the side and letting the next person go in front of you.

Thank you.

28

Today I turn 28. 28 is actually a lucky number for me. It is not only the day of my birthday, but it is also the day my sister and brother were born. In fact, every child born with my family name in America is born on the 28th. Kind of strange huh?

It has been quite a year. It really doesn't seem like a year ago I was taking a break and visiting Jenny in Princeton. A year ago I wasn't living with my girlfriend, I hadn't even met her yet. I was still living in California and I was still at my previous job.

So much has changed, and I must say it has all been for the better. I'm much happier in this time and space than I have been in a long time.

[sappy]

The largest contribution to that change in attitude is no doubt the girlfriend who always manages to put a smile on my face. I love that I have someone to share my day with after a long day at work. I love that she always takes such good care of me, even when I am a pain in the ass. I love that I never feel lonely anymore because I get to wake up next to her everyday

[/sappy]

Also a major factor is the change of job. The job isn't perfect but its a vast improvement over the previous employer. The work is just a lot more interesting. It's good to try and solve problems that actually matter to a large majority of people. I joke about it at work but here is the sad statistic. I spent 4.5 years at my previous employer. In that time I worked on several small projects but spent most of the effort on 2 major products. By the time I left, we had sold exactly 1 unit each of those products. ONE EACH!!

Compare that to the more than 1,000,000 subscribers we will in all likelihood reach with my next product and you can see the vast change in scope I am working on. True, my indvidual role is much more limited in my current job. But even so, it isn't 1,000,000x less.

What a year. I can't imagine that my 29th year on this planet can bring about any more change than my 28, but hey you never know.

Aftershave

Wearing lots of aftershave is bad.

Wearing lots of aftershave to work is worse.

Wearing lots of aftershaves to work when you work with mostly men is unexcusable.

Fixing Ikea Furniture

I found a great way to fix cheap Ikea furniture. One of the problems with buying Ikea furniture is that it is often quite fragile. The dowels and the screws they give you to put together the furniture is bound to fall apart. The joints just won't hold when put together with this cheap solution.

I have a table I bought from Ikea. Despite the fact that it was one of the more expensive pieces that they have, it too suffered from the "Ikea Wobble". I've own this table for well over 4 years and have never been able to tighten the joints tight enough to prevent it from wobblign. Sick of this, I decided to try and fix it. So I bought this glue called Gorilla Glue. It works great. I used it on all the joints of the table and now the thing is sturdy as a rock.

Must Resist ...

I'm not sure what is going on but I am slowly starting to use products made by Microsoft. Most of you know, I hate Internet Explorer, or more precisely I hate IE 6. I much prefer browsers like Firefox because of tabbed browsing, which in my opinion is a must-have feature.

But in the spirit of helping out, I dowloaded and installed IE 7 which currently is a public beta. I figured I would give it a try because it has things like tabbed browsing and pop-up blocking and I have to stop believing that Microsoft is the evil empire. Further, there are still many sites that just don't render correctly on Firefox, specifically ones with more multi-media. However, I refuse to use a product I don't believe is any good just because the company I work for may happen to create it. If Microsoft can't make a good product, I will be happy to use a competing one.

Well I'm here to say that IE 7 is a big improvement. So far, I don't have any real complaints. I'm not ready to endorse it over Firefox, but Microsoft is closing the gap. It's funny though, I still have some reluctance to help out Microsoft even though I am now Microsoft. I don't trust myself :) Some of my willingness comes from the fact that I know in my product, there is a ver concerted effort to protect users privacy.

Wait. Did you hear that? I swear someone just said, "Resistance is futile."

Seattle Rain

Coming from Southern California, you can take for granted that when it isn't rainng, it most likely is not going to rain in the next few minutes. No such luck in Seattle.

I walked out of my apartment today. It was a nice day, somewhat overcast but not too cold and not raining. I only left with the sweatshirt on my back and not much else. I then got to work and decided to check out the library. Again, no rain and the library is only down the street, so I decided to walk.

It wasn't raining so I took for granted that it wouldn't rain on my way back. Mistake. Of course, this is Seattle, not Los Angeles, and sure enough it was raining on my way back in. Somehow, I'm going to have to try and remember that no rain now is no guarantee for later.

Jelly Belly's Deceptive Marketing

I love jelly beans, especially the Jelly Belly brand, but they just did something that really pisses me off.

I bought a box of Jelly Bellys. They are expensive, and I recognize this, but I like them enough to buy them anyway. But I bought a box which was a fairly good size, probably 8" x 5". Now it was clear that the box didn't contain all jelly beans and there would be somewhat less than a full box but when I opened the box I was greeted by a bag that wasn't even half the size of the box.

Now why on earth do you package a bag of candy in a box that is twice its size. There is only one good reason, to trick your customer. It's bad marketing and bad business. Even though its my favorite candy, I may have to think long and hard before I buy any more Jelly Belly branded Jelly beans.

Sugar

In the category of "one of those small things that makes you really happy."

I come into work today and go get my standard 1/2 cup of coffee to start the morning. I am the type of coffee drinker who goes light on the cream but HEAVY on the sugar. One of the most annoying things about it is that I have to open lots of little packs of sugar to get my coffee just right. It's trivial, I know, but doing it every time I want a cup of coffee can be really annoying.

Well the miracles of all miracles has happened. I now have sugar which I can pour from a can. I'm very excited.

Orientation

I finished my orientation today. It was orientation so it wasn't very interesting but it wasn't as bad as it could be. It lasted a day and a half and went over various topics like corporate responsibility, diversity, leagal affairs, and IT. They made the most of the session and one of the highest compliments I can give such an event is that it didn't temper my enthusiasm for my new job.

What may have though is that I had some issues setting up my computer and connecting to the corporate network. You would think at such a high power tech company and with a tech saavy employee like myself, there shouldn't be too much of an issue. Oh well, nothing is perfect.

One of the most impressive things about going from a small company to a large Fortune 500 company is the sheer number of benefits you never realized you don't have. One of the things I kept saying to myself throughout the whole orientation was, "What? Yet another benefit?" Things like charity matching, discounted services, and paid activity fees. These things don't really show up on your bank statement but they really make a big difference.

Like in my other blog, I won't be talking much about work in this space. In all likelihood this might be might last post about it.

Seattle - First Impressions

So far, so good. I like Seattle a lot. The only negative thing so far would be the weather. It has rained 2 out of the 3 days we have been here and it has been very chilly, but so far nothing I can't handle. My girlfriend is even adjusting well and she has never lived outside of Southern California. We decided to drive around during rush hour and it wasn't that bad. It wasn't good but coming from L.A. it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.

Yesterday we went into downtown Seattle to do some touristy type things. We went to the Seattle Space needle which was pretty cool. We even had Cotton Candy which I hadn't had since I was 10. We were all excited to take the Monorail but found out that it was broken. Bummer. So we ended up walking the 8 or so blocks into the retail core to do some shopping.

I am still debating where to live but I am leaning toward the Bellevue area. It's close to work and there are some things to do there. I didn't really like Redmond because it seemed to quiet and I didn't really like downtown because it suffers from what all downtowns do. It was too busy and I hate living in places that have no parking or where you have to pay for parking.

Think Taxes Don't Matter?

Yes, in case it isn't clear, I'm moving. I'm moving out of the great state of California and to the gloomy state of Washington. Why on earth would I do that?

This is due in no small part to one of my favorite subjects, taxes. You see, California has an absolutely horrendous tax system. It has an astounding 9.3% levy on income over $56,642. To make matters worse, it has a pretty high sales tax and the gas tax doesn't help either. Now in comparison, Washington has NO STATE INCOME TAX. Of course it has to generate revenue somehow which it does so through sales, gasoline, cigarette, and property tax. But guess what. Everyting except the Cigarette tax is lower in Washington than in California!

Even if they weren't higher it would make little difference to me since I tend to save a great deal of my income rather than spend it, I don't smoke, and I don't own (and will not own for the time being) property. Now, I surely pay the property tax indirectly through rent but considering I can get a much nicer place for much cheaper than I can get in California, I think I can live with it.

Now I had a competing offer on the table with a company in California. The money was about the same but in the end it was pretty clear that the Washington offer was better simply because I would not be paying state income tax on it. Washington had a built in 10% edge. (There were other reasons I took the job but it's not like I ignored the effective 10% raise).

Ever hear of the Laffer Curve? It is basically the idea that you can only collect so much in taxes before the revenue drops off because people stop working or move to avoid the tax. Believe me, it's true. And the story isn't isolated to just me. I know plenty of other people who make a great deal of money who decided not to come to California in no small part to the rather unfair tax burden.

So instead of getting some taxes from me, and getting the productive work that well-paid workers provide, California will get nothing from me. But hey, you have the beaches and sunshine right?

Moving: The Good

Sometimes moving is a real pain in the ass. But I actually like moving. The thing about moving, is that I take it as an opportunity to clean house. It is amazing how much crap you can accumulate the longer you live at a place. I haven't moved in over 3 years, the longest amount of time I have lived in a place since I left my childhood home on my way to college. As I start going through things, I'm realizing how much crap I have that I probably don't need, and I'm starting to throw it out. I have old magazines, brochures, receipts, etc. things that I have absolutely no use for and end up taking space in a corner somewhere.

Out with the old in with the new. I did it with the job, now I need to do it with my stuff.

How Not To Grow A Company

Here is a quick list about how to not grow your company

• Pay less than the prevailing market wage.
  
• Give less than average raises. (which compounds the above problem two fold)
• Do not have a bonus structure that rewards your top employees.
• Do not give stock to key employees thereby eliminating incentive to see the company do well.
• Give your top employees assignments that are completely uninteresting.
• Do not communicate to your employees how you plan on allowing them to grow their careers.

It's funny. If your stated goal is to grow the company, and grow it quickly, then you have to be willing to pay the piper. Good talent does not come cheap. Good talent does not come simply to help YOU make money. Good talent needs an incentive. Those incentives are normally either money, good opportunities, or interesting work. By doing the above, you eliminate the possibility of ever finding good people. This problem compounds itself because good people want to work with other good people. Working at a company like the one above has to make you wonder about the people who still work there.

I am one who believes you should not complain about your current work situation because if you think you are underpaid, overworked, etc. it is up to you to prove your employer wrong. We live in a free society where one is free to work or not work for any given employer. I have had opportunities to leave before. In every case there was more money, more stock, better work etc. There was always some incentive to work hard to see the company do well. (I did not leave until now because even though the offers were good, I knew I could do better and I was not looking to leave my company, even if it was bad, for just any other opportunity)

I'm just not sure what delusion top management is under to believe that they can grow a bad company to a great company with talent that is below the competition. I am not advocating that a company goes overboard. I'm not suggesting you should pamper your talent or give them excessive perks. I am simply saying that you have to provide some incentive for top talent. Hoping top talent wants to work for you "just cause" will never work.

Silence

It's odd. Even though I have more time on my hand now, I have less time to do things like Blog. Sorry for the sudden silence that has suddenly overtaken this blog. I will update a little more as it becomes a little more firm.

Everyone have a great Superbowl weekend! My pick? My future hometown!

Change Is In the Wind

Change is good. Change is exciting. Sometimes you have to have change to just get away from a bad situation. Sometimes change is good in and of itself because it opens up new and wonderful opportunities. Sometimes its a combination of both. I have never been scared of change. Maybe it's because I handle it well; I've rarely if ever felt so overwhelmed I needed to quit. I believe that if you don't accept change you become like the dinosaurs, and I am not about to be going the way of dinosaur. I am going to not only accept change as it comes, but seek it out.

Small changes can be a Microcosm of the much larger picture. Seemingly insignificant events can cause a chain reaction, the butterfly effect. This chaos can be frightening, but if you navigate it correctly, you should be able to come in for a soft landing.

Time to Cancel Blockbuster?

I've been thinking more and more that it is time to cancel my Blockbuster subscription. Lately, its felt more like a chore to watch all the movies I get from them then something I really want to do. I still get about 3 movies a week from them, but in all honesty, I watch them somewhat reluctantly.

I'm also not crazy about the service. The movie turnaround time is pretty bad considering I'm not a heavy user anymore. Most of my movies don't get scanned in as "returned" until about 2 days after I send it. This despite the fact that their are "distribution" centers all over the L.A. area.

Also, they do really funny things with my queue. I get movies I don't really want that are like 5th or 6th on my list of things I want. I'm not a heavy user anymore. I should be able to get one of the top 5 movies in my queue. I know Netflix throttles its users and determines priority this way, and I'm pretty sure Blockbuster does it as well, but this should not be happening to me considering I'm a relatively light user.

Maybe I'll give it another month. But I'm starting to think it might just be worth it to just rent movies the old fashion way.

Kobe Bryant Scores 81 Points!

It was one of those games you talk about where you were when it happened. I happened to be in the car with my girlfriend after having a great dinner at Houstons. I had missed the previous two Laker games traveling and I didn't want to miss this one, but it was a special occasion so I made an exception.

On the way back from the restaurant I tuned in to see if the Laker game was over. I had caught the first quarter of the game and the Lakers were down by double digits and playing really bad. I wasn't expecting much.

Much to my surprise, I heard the announcer say that Kobe had scored a career high 67 points. I thought I must have misheard. There was no way he could have gone off for 67. Then I thought, the game must be almost over. But there was still five minutes left in the game!

I started to drive quicker, in an attempt to get home to see the end of an historic night. Kobe didn't disappoint. He would go on to score 81 points. 81 POINTS!!!! Do people realize how insane that is? It's the second most points scored in an NBA game ever, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game. (which will never be beat. Then again, why bet against Kobe?)

Some people will say Kobe shoots to much, and needs to pass more. But I play a lot of basketball. I've played in games where I thought guys are shooting the ball way too much. But I also have played in games where a guy is just on fire. And if a guy is on his way to score 81 points in a game, you shut up and you pass him the ball. You do everything you possibly can to make sure that he gets as many looks as possible. It's not often you get to witness history.

Lies That HR Tells

I was in my company meeting the other day and the HR lady told people they made a mistake about how a charity we are running would work. Instead of the money being taken out of on a pre-tax basis, it would be taken out post-tax. But she assured everyone it would be OK because you can just take care of it at the end of the year on your tax return.

I couldn't believe the crap I was hearing. If you know anything about taxes (and you really should if you don't) you know that THIS IS NOT THE SAME THING! I can't believe any HR person can get away with saying that it is.

What am I talking about? Most people DO NOT itemize their tax bill. Most people take the standard deduction which is $5000. That means, you are better off taking the standard deduction until you have at least $5000 in deductions. How many people have $5,000 in deductions ($10,000 if you are married)? Fully 2/3 of all Americans take the standard deduction. That means they get NO tax benefit from donating to charity, having a mortgage, or having any business expenses. Zip, zilch, nada. All those tax breaks you supposedly get (my favorite being the mortgage deduction) actually don't benefit you unless you have $5,000 in other deductions.

Now, should the #1 concern about giving to charity be your tax break? Of course not. But for an HR person to say that it is equivalent is just a flat out lie.

Maryland Overrides "Wal-Mart" Bill

Yesterday, the Maryland Senate overrode the veto of a bill that would require employers to spend at least 8 percent of its payroll on employee health care or pay the difference to the state in taxes.

This is effectively a "Wal-Mart" bill because it is the only company in the state that currently hires over 10,000 employees and does not pay the minimum 8 percent.

Now any regular follower of my blog knows on what side of this issue I fall, but I am not here to argue that. I just wish, just once, that a company like Wal-Mart would say, ok, if that is the cost of doing business, so be it, and then pick up and walk out.

It will never happen, but boy do I wish I could see it. Then we would really get to see who needs who. Maybe Wal-mart really does need to have a presence in Maryland. Maybe they need the of revenues that state represents to Wal-mart's bottom line (my guess would be that I would fall in less than 1%). Maybe the states would realize that some jobs are better than no jobs, even if the state has to foot some of the medical bills. Maybe then, the citizens of a state could decide once and for how important Wal-mart is or isn't.

It may be sick and perverse, but the economist in me would love to see the experiment.
It's funny. As much as Wal-Mart doesn't think about , or just discounts, the negative effects of its policies on the state's economy, the Wal-Mart critics don't think about the positive effects Wal-Mart brings either. We as a society are so compartmentalized. We see things for what we want to see them as and how they directly affect us without thinking about the larger consequences.

GPS - where is the line?

On the radio today, there was a story about Sprint refusing to release the location of a GPS phone which would have helped find the location of a child which was mistakenly taken when a thief stole a SUV in Riverside. Sprint has a procedure to allow law enforcement to obtain the information, but apparently this did not take place. In response, Riverside politicians threatened to now allow Sprint to put up any more Cell Phone towers.

Are you kidding me? First off, I'm not entirely sure Sprint did the wrong thing. While I can sympathize in this particular case, the life of a child was at stake, there is no way that Sprint cna just release the position of one of its phone for whatever reason. But T, how can you be so heartless? The life of the child was at stake!

Think About It. What happens the first time a person calls screaming that their child is missing and in fact the phone is on the person of their ex-girlfriend who they are now stalking? She is trying to hide from him, but he clevely concocts a story and bam, he finds her and kills her. Maybe this example is a little extreme but the point remains, you can't just be giving out the position of these phones without proper clearance from law enforcement.

I mean really, clearly this is a stunt by the idiot politicians of Riverside to win a few brownie points with their constituents. Their threat of not allowing any cell phone towers is hardly a stiff penalty considering that Sprint probably has coverage throughout most of Riverside already.