March 2010

Having your own business means getting lots of solicitations from companies that want your business.  I guess custom pens are a big business because I am often sent pen samples even though I have never purchased any.

Last week, I got a pen sample unlike any that I’ve ever gotten before.

Dear Morris Tsai,

I designed and produced the enclosed full-color
sample especially for you.
It was a labor of love, and I hope you
agree it looks terrific. Actually my whole company is buzzing with
excitement for you. Everyone who saw your pen loved it!  I took the
liberty of producing this custom-designed sample to make a dramatic
statement and to demonstrate to you how important your account is and
will be to my company and me. I’m sure you’ll agree you’ve never seen
anything like this before. My patented graphic process is creating a
real
buzz in the promotional pen industry!
…
I understand that the image we created for you may not be exactly how
you want it. NO PROBLEM!

(bold, my emphasis)

Here’s the pen:
and the other side:
Nothing says incompetence more than having a pen that says it.

If a sample pen was damaged during production, wouldn’t you just make another to send instead of sending a pen that said that the original pen was damaged? 

Copy of the letter:

Evidently, not so much for DSW.

I had a 50% off coupon for DSW shoes on St. Patrick’s Day so I used it to purchase the Asics Men’s Kanbarra 5 Black/Silver running shoe.
 

I received my package yesterday and found the following shoe, the Asics Kanbarra 5 Silver, Black, and Royal.
So, they sent me the wrong shoe.  Not a problem.  So I gave them a call.

To my surprise, it was not a packing error.  They were sold out of the black shoe and substituted the silver ones and asked me if I wanted to keep them or exchange them for another model.

Since I find these shoes even more hideous in person than in the picture, I switched to another model.

I just find it strange that they would just send the same shoe in a different color, rather than contact me and let me know that the black was sold out.

They said that they were in the process of changing the images on the website from the black shoe to the silver ones. But, checking the DSW site still shows the black shoe today, six days after they were sold out.

Princeton.edu: A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain.

“Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn’t true, at least under the conditions of our tests,” said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. “When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they’re becoming obese — every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don’t see this; they don’t all gain extra weight.”

Via DaringFireball

Something that I’ve suspected for a while.  I always try to avoid items
with High Fructose Corn Syrup.  But, it’s hard to avoid.

Having said that, I don’t believe that High Fructose Corn Syrup should be blamed for everything.  Simply replacing HFC’s with sugar doesn’t make things better.  I believe that we need to move towards eating more natural foods.

The Story of Stuff: Bottled Water

Animated reason why we shouldn’t drink bottled water.  Worth a look. 

VIA Daringfireball.

NYTimes.com: Taiwan’s Steaming Pools of Paradise

An article on Taiwan’s hot springs.  I’ve been to Taiwan quite a few times, but have never been there.  Sounds like something I need to do the next time I go back.,

Look what I got for my 40th birthday!  A Battlestar Galactica cake!
 My girlfriend had Take the Cake in Cincinnati make the cake with the Battlestar Galactica’s Colonial Seal.  What a great surprise!  The cake was delicious- a chocolate cake with strawberries and a buttercream frosting.

Cincinnati.com: ‘Diners, Drive-ins and Dives’ host Guy Fieri calls Terry’s Turf Club ‘legitimately wild’

Story in the Enquirer about Guy Fieri’s taping of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” at Terry’s Turf Club.  I love the burgers there, but now with this airing, the lines are going to be insane.

Here are the three restaurants that were taped in the Cincinnati area.

Virgil’s Cafe
710 Fairfield Avenue
Bellevue, KY 41073
(859) 491-3287
www.virgilscafe.com

Blue Ash Chili Restaurant
9565 Kenwood Road
Cincinnati, OH 45242
(513) 984-6107
www.blueashchili.com

Terry’s Turf Club
4618 Eastern Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45226
(513) 533-4222

One of the benefits of being 40 is that you’ve accumulated lots of old stuff over time.

Today I present you with the Floppy Disk or “Floppies” as we used to call them in the day:

These are 5 1/4 inch floppy disks.  These were even archaic in 1988.  I had stopped using floppy disks when I retired my Apple II and moved on to my Macintosh II with it’s 3 1/2 inch disks.  I bought this pack to use with the 286 PC’s at the University of Pennsylvania computer lab.

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”- Satchel Paige

There was a time where I couldn’t imagine what it would be like turning 40. Today that day has come and I don’t feel any different than when I turned 30.  I’m not afraid of aging as that’s a natural part of life.  But, becoming old. That’s a different story. 

Turning 40 is just a reminder that life is a journey and that there’s still a lot of new challenges and experiences that await.

I saw this at the Jim Dandy’s BBQ in Sharonville taped on the glass right where you order. 

Who exactly isn’t in favor of the Constitution?  I wonder how many of the Tea Partiers actually have read the Constitution or know what is in it?  The problem with the Tea Party to me is that it’s a lot of anger and rhetoric with no real solutions to the problems we have today.