Red Is A Flavor

I live in the relatively small bedroom community of Rockledge, Florida.  At one time is was a hub of retail activity for the county, with Sears, Kmart, Walmart, and even a TG&Y (remember those?).  In recent years the city has been trying to spruce up its vacant retail areas and lure new activity.  Apparently, the only ones listening are those that can make pizza.

Within a four mile radius of my house, there are 14 different pizza places.  In the past three months, another one has started construction with city limits.

Being a person with a business and marketing background, I figured out the possible explanations.

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Pizza Places are the new "thing" for Witness Protection

Florida is the land of transplants, of which the largest migration takes place from New York.  I'm thinking the the FBI and CIA are see this as the perfect place to stash mob informants.  Set them up in a new house in a large neighborhood so they can blend in.  Toss them some money, so they can start a business so they do not have to answer to anyone.  They do what they know Italian food.

We benefit with expanding waistlines and shrinking choices.

There is a Screwed up Map Somewhere

Somewhere, maybe in the Small Business Administration, there is a map showing a non-existent college in Rockledge.  This eff'd up map is being used for marketing and planning purposes.  Colleges cannot have enough pizza and beer right?

Um...Hello?

Do these restaurateurs not own cars?  Have they never seen the wondrous and magical powers of Google Maps?  The pizza market is beyond saturated.  Why not open up a chicken or burrito joint.  The closest one of those is 4-5 miles away as the crow flies.

Here is what is needed within the city limits (in my professional opinion):

• Chicken - Pollo Tropical, Boston Market, KFC, Bojangles
• Burritos - Pancheros (@pancheros), Chipotle (there is are Moe's and Tijuana Flats within 6 miles)
• (Affordable) Seafood - While this may sound odd, there are only a few or so decent seafood joints in the county.  We live on the freaking ocean with one of the busiest ports in the country. It amazes me it was easier to find seafood in Nebraska than it is here.

BTW - If I expand from a four to a five mile radius, the number exceeds 20.

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Graduating from high school in 1992, means that I (by law I think), knew every line from Wayne's World. There was not a single conversation between my friends and I that didn't reference it in some way. In fact, (sadly) we still do today.

While it ranked up there as one of the most quotable movies of the 1990s, there are a couple life lessons that Wayne and Garth can teach us.

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"Live in the now", Garth

I see friends and family suffer from "plan-atitis" all of the time. At points in my life, I to have suffered from it. Life does not have a "perfect destination". You can plan, scrimp, save, align, whatever, for that house, baby, debtless living, but do not do so at the expense of the present. This is the only time you will be so-and-so years old. This is the only time you will be celebrating your so-and-so anniversary. Each month or year you put off that "thing", waiting for the stars to align, is one more month or year you will live without it and its memories.

"I have an extensive collection of name tags and hairnets.", Wayne

While Wayne's jobs were not life changing, each was an experience. During my teens I, like Wayne, worked various odd jobs, from a go-kart track attendant to a repo-man, from a dishwasher to a salesman. I made a little money, and I lost a lot. But the experiences and memories of each of those jobs is what has made me the person I am today. It also makes for some funny stories!

I'm know it sounds cliche, but it is true; "life's a journey, not a destination". (Aerosmith lyric is purely coincidental BTW).

Are there any life lessons that you can think of from the basement duo?

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I hate voicemail....I've always hated it.  It is far less efficient than email, IM and twitter.  It has virtually no accommodation for multiple users or threaded exchange of information.  It usually requires transcribing what was said into another medium.  It has absolutely no audit trail;  once you delete a message it is gone!

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I absolutely refuse to perform any consulting work via phone or voicemail.  I follow each phone call up with an email summarizing the call (see transcribing again), asking the other person to confirm what we talked about.  In most cases, the entire conversation would have been more productive, and less of it left to the imagination, if done on something that would have accommodated some type of threading, be it email, chat or other means.

I also refuse to leave messages on another person's phone beyond, "please return my call and my number".  Leaving details requires them extract the content of the message from my (fast talking) voice.   I leave a simple message stating who I am, and my phone number twice.  If I need to let them know details of something, I will say, "I'm following this message up with an email summarizing what I need from, or are providing to you".

Voicemail is an archaic method of communication in a world of MUCH better solutions.  Please do not leave me a voicemail, unless you "just" want me to return your call to chat.  If you have some bit of information to provide me or need something from me, please type it up and email it to me.  If you are just checking in, find me on Twitter or Facebook.

Follow Me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/jking89

Image: furryscaly [via Flickr]

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A report was released by the US Energy Department yesterday, estimating that the Yucca Mountain Nuclear waste project will cost $38.7 billion more than the 2001 estimate.

A simple, effective, cheaper, and more permanent solution is to direct this funding into research and completion of the Space Elevator, which is estimated to cost $40 million dollars to complete according to the 55th International Astronautical Congress in 2004.

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...getting rid of the country's nuclear waste will cost $96.2 billion and require a major expansion of the planned Nevada waste dump beyond limits imposed by Congress, the Energy Department said Tuesday.

Space Elevator? Never heard of it? It may sound like something of science fiction, but in fact, it is a real possibility using currently known technologies. NASA is actively exploring the elevator and is providing monetary prizes (like the X-Prize) for various components of the elevator. A quick "Google" of nasa.gov sites for "Space Elevator" returns over 25,000 results. New companies have already been founded on the potential market for the carbon nanotubes that will be required for its construction.

If the elevator were to become a reality, disposal of nuclear waste would be simply, "lift it...then push it toward the sun". No longer would the primary deterrent from nuclear energy (waste) be an issue.

Theoretically, the waste could be transported on heavy-lift rockets, but the cost per kilo and the safety concerns quickly eliminate that possibility. Even the most optimistic rocket proposals only claim to bring prices down to about $400 per kilo. The first space elevator is estimate to be as low as $220 per kilogram and would constantly decrease as time went on due to simple economy of scale.

Do you remember the controversy surrounding the launch of the nuclear powered Cassini spacecraft in 1997?  It is doubtful the public would ever let nuclear waste sitting on top of a controlled explosion become a frequent occurrence.

The combination of nuclear (along with wind, wave and solar) power, advanced battery technology, and the space elevator can essentially (almost) eliminate the earth's need for oil.

BTW - When I get around to running for President, this will be part of my platform.

• Space Elevator
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator
• Report: Nuclear waste disposal will cost US $96B
  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/nuclear_waste;
  _ylt=AgsCJtu2iNH_DJShw9IYwkADW7oF
• Space Elevator Economics
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator_economics
• Nova Science Now - Space Elevators
  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/
  sciencenow/3401/02.html
• US Government Results for "Space Elevator" (44,800)
  http://www.google.com/search?q=space+elevator+inurl%3A.gov

Image: timparkinson [via Flickr]

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I've seen the "Five Collar Cool" motivational poster, but I never thought it would make it into mainstream.  To the right is a Burdines ad from my local paper's May 13th edition.  Not only do the two dudes match, but they take layers to the Nth degree.  Throw on a pair of bright yellow Crocs and you are ready for clubbing.

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Breakdown of the Layers... 

1. Short-Sleeve Polo #1
2. Short-Sleeve Polo #2
3. Long-Sleeve Button-Up #1
4. Tie tied in a Single Windsor (Double would have been too much I guess)
5. Short-Sleeve Polo #3

Moneymaking Idea - Make dickeys with collars instead of turtlenecks.  It would be much cooler, to wear than 14 layers of clothes in the summer.

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I don't know what the people who created these things were thinking. Who's behind me in outlawing them?

Crocs - Because they are the ugliest footwear ever concieved. They are fine to wear in your garden, but please leave them at home.

Heeleys -Duh! I want to clothsline the kids I see on them in stores and businesses. I don't know which is worse the fact the stores are not stopping them, or the fact their parents let them do it.

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Now I know that roundabouts are something new to most American's when they encounter them, but damn people use some common sense in regards to other drivers. Drivers on a roundabout near my house simply do not grasp that there are two lanes moving around that circle.

Lets go over the basic rules for a two lane roundabout...

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1. The right/outside lane is for turning on the first or second exit after entry.
2. The left/inside lane is for any exit, except the very next one.
3. Do not change lanes within the roundabout
4. Yield to cars already in the roundabout

The second rule is where my peeve is...drivers assume that they can make an exit from the left/inside lane without regards or notification to the traffic in the right/outside lane. If you are in the inside lane, you are "supposed" to use your right signal to indicate to the drivers in the outside lane that you will be exiting, thus crossing that lane. I've seen it over and over, near accidents because the inside driver cuts off the outside driver because there was no signal.

Additionally, drivers continuuosly disregard rule three. DO NOT CHANGE LANES!!

Great video produced by Washington State DOT (should be required viewing for drivers) Click here to View

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Over the past couple of years, I've gained a new "pet-peeve". It seems that people have in general, forgot how to properly ask someone for help or advice with a task or a problem. Being a techie/geek I get little questions like these all of the time:

• What does this error mean?
• I downloaded a virus, how to I get rid of it?
• My computer stopped working, do you know why?
• How much would it cost to for a website?

[more]Without knowing what you were doing when you got the error, how in the world could I ever figure out what caused it, thus how to fix it. If you neglect to tell me the "since I moved my computer" part of your "computer stopped working" problem, I'll likely be stabbing in the dark for solutions. If I don't know what you want a website to do, how could I possible tell you what it would cost. Providing the person with the appropriate information regarding your problem will, most likely lead to a faster and better solution to the problem.

So next time you are asking someone to help you solve a problem Do the following:

1. Explain what you are trying to do "THE BIG PICTURE" - Don't just say I'm trying to put "this on that". Explain why you want to "put this on that". Providing the person to whom you are asking help a partial goal will ultimately get you a partial answer or none at all. Explaining the end goal, will help the person help you.
2. Explain what you have done so far - "I'm trying mount a tire and can't figure it out", is not a useful explanation of what you have done. If what you are doing it a 30 step process, let the person know the steps and that you have accomplished 1-13 so far.
3. Explain how you have tried to solve this dilemma - If you have tried a solution and it didn't work, let the person know. Doing this does a couple of things. First, it shows that you truely are trying to solve this, and you are not wasting that person's time by trying to solve a problem you really don't care about. Secondly, and more obviously, it prevents the person from trying those solutions again.
4. Listen! - The reason you are asking this person for help is probably because you think they know more than you about the problem subject. Remember this when they provide you a possible solution. Do not discard what they say, even if you do not understand. Ask! Also, If the problem solver is like me, they will probably try to show you how to figure out how to solve it, rather than solve it for you. Remember the "teach a man to fish" proverb!

Basically, if you are going to ask for help or assistance. BRING THE PERSON UP TO SPEED! Like I say to people all the time...."I'm not there for the conversations in your mind". If I was you wouldn't have to ask me for help...I'd already know.

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