Weakonomi¢s » weakend

Weakend: Pet Barf

The Weakonomist — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:20:16 +0000

There’s perhaps nothing grosser than watching a cat work on a hairball. Their entire body is working on the pile that is just about to land on your floor. Then you get to see whatever it is they’ve eaten recently. Most of my life has been spent living with cats, even in college. It was The Sheconomist that introduced me to dogs. And while our boxer doesn’t have long hair, he likes to eat fast and sometimes it comes back up.

And when that happens he’s no different than any other house pet. And what do they all have in common? They all barf, and they all barf in the same place.

The carpet. Our humble abode is blessed with hardwood, tile, vinyl, and carpeted floors. Additionally there are rugs. Given all these options where should our dog choose to let dinner fly but the carpet floors of course! And while we clean that up we do what any responsible pet owner does and shove them in the bathroom in case they throw up again. This is where we have tile. So we’re safe. Or so we thought.

In the bathroom is a bathmat which takes up less than 10% of the space. And our dog wasn’t finished… Where did he go? Where else?

Such is the life of pet ownership. Totally worth it.

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Weakend: Trusty Mouse

The Weakonomist — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:16:15 +0000

I’ve had this mouse for almost nine years now. I remember exactly when I got it. At the time, optical mice were just hitting the mainstream and mine was purchased to go with my new laptop.

In all that time this mouse has lived in 7 places in 4 cities. I’ve bought two wireless mice to replace it twice and they’ve both broken after a year or so. After the last one broke I got out this guy again and decided to keep using him until he broke. The button in the middle stopped working a long time ago but all I care about are the clickwheel and the thumb button (and the left and right clickers).

Untold levels of dirt, grime, coffee, and dust have accumulated on it over time but it’s still going strong. Some things are just built to last. So to you, Logitech mouse, you have my undying appreciation. Here’s to another 9 years.

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Weakend: Birds Like You’ve Never Seen Them

The Weakonomist — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:54:32 +0000

More videos from BBC Earthflight Related posts:Weakend: Top 100 Viral Videos of 2010 Weakend: It’s Actually “One Small Step For A Man…” And Other Moon Stuffs Weakend: I’m Going To Miss Physics Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. Related posts:

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Weakend: Every Presentation Ever

The Weakonomist — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:46:21 +0000

Been there. In the audience, and unfortunately, facing it…

Via: Curiosity Counts

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Weakend: DIY

The Weakonomist — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:52:51 +0000

I’ve always been the kind of person that prefers to pay someone to do something for me. In the strictest sense, I like to pretend every waking moment is worth the amount of money I make driven down to the hour. So rarely have I considered it worth my time to take care of some simple things myself.

In reality, I think I’m just too lazy to learn how to do some stuff. But that’s started to change recently. At some point hardware stores started to look like toy stores to me. Now I’m buying tools, drilling holes, and taking more of a Tim Taylor attitude to the things I own.

But I’ve never done anything with my car. Happy to pay someone so long as it comes with a guarantee. But after working on other things and not wanting to spend hundreds of dollars this weekend I decided to look into some of the stuff a dealer wants to charge me to do. My car is telling me one of the things I need to replace is the filter in the cabin. This filters the air that comes in through the vents. I passed the last time my car told me to replace the filter because the dealer said they would need to rip out the entire dashboard to replace it. The cost was north of $150.

Not worth it so I took my chances. 20k miles later my car wants to replace it again. Not dead yet, but I asked the dealer for a quote on all the service. Aside from basic services which I expect to be less than $150 even at the dealer, they need to replace this filter. Total quote, over $300. This thing must be a pain in the ass to get to.

So I looked it up. The part (which I’m holding in my hand) is about $30. Cheaper online or at a auto parts store. The process to replace it, about as hard as filling up your gas tank. I had to remove one latch on my glove box and pull the thing down. The filter was right there. So I pulled it out, cleaned it with my finger, and put it back in. Later today I’ll go buy a new one.

I’m not about to start changing my own oil, but I could get used to this DIY stuff. Whether you can afford to pay a mechanic or dealer to do the work is almost irrelevant. Some of these things are so simple it’s not worth your time to take it somewhere to get this kind of thing worked on.

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Weakend: Screw The New Year

The Weakonomist — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:13:33 +0000

So it’s New Year’s Eve and soon people will tell you to have a happy new year. The holiday is about new beginnings, out with the old and in with new. A chance to make the next year better than the last.

But before you start thinking about how great 2012 could be, stop and consider whether 2011 was really so bad. In my family we would always have a fire and write down the things we’d like to forget and then throw them in. A great way to cleanse the mind. What would you put in the fire? Did you feel the same way about 2010 when it was finishing up a year ago?

Why not instead of looking forward to a new year and new possibilities, or trying to forget the bad moments of 2011, cherish every moment. In business we’re supposed to applaud failures, because we learn from them. 2011 was a good year. It had ups, it had downs, even found some grey hairs for the first time. Call them battle scars.

Life can always be better. It can always be worse. Enjoy the ups and downs. Even if 2011 wasn’t a great year for you, you should feel good if you made the best of it.

Resolutions do not work. The motivation people find to make the resolution will fade by MLK day. To the universe this is just another day. Tomorrow is just another day. Make the most of next year but not in the name of forgetting a prior one. Here’s my guide on how to do it:

Step one: don’t take life advice from an anonymous blogger.

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Weakend: The Contact Page For The American Postal Workers Union

The Weakonomist — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:52:02 +0000

This is the actual contact page for the APWU. Even the USPS allows you to email them.

Contact APWU

Please remember that inquiries and requests for assistance must be sent in writing directly to the appropriate union representative.

Problems related to individual grievances must be directed to your local steward, president or your national business agent.

For these reasons, and due to the increase in spam and virus traffic on the Internet, the APWU does not post officers’ or staff e-mail addresses on this Web site.

Contact information for your local union officers and the Regional Coordinator and National Business Agents who represent you is available in the Members Only section. Select “My Local and Personal Info,” then log-in and visit the links under “My Local Profile.”

Contact information for all national union officers and business agents is given in the Directory of National Officers.

Click here [PDF] to see which APWU national officers are responsible for specific articles in the union’s Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Postal Service, and which officers are responsible for interpreting various USPS handbooks.

You can call or write to the national union headquarters at the following address:

American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO
1300 L Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 842-4200 or (202) 842-8500

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Weakend: What Do You Own That You Love?

The Weakonomist — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:45:25 +0000

This week I read an article about an executive at Google. Google is famous for asking interesting questions in interviews, they are usually brain teasers designed to find candidates that are different. Mind you, Google only picks the best of the best. So they’re looking for the most interesting among that crop. There were two questions the exec said she asks to learn more about the personality of the candidate. They were:

What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen in the last six months?
What do you own that you love?

I’ve been thinking about this all week, and while I have answers that are true, and would be great for an interview, I can’t help but feel like I’ve shortchanged myself. Maybe I’m just not a passionate person. Help me out, what are your answers?

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Weakend: Rice Professor Is My Hero

The Weakonomist — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:45:05 +0000

When I was growing up I learned to respect the people in national government. They were public servants, doing the country a favor that involved some level of self-sacrifice. I should have known that it may have been Congress all along that demanded that respect. Why should we respect Congress? More often than not it’s a power play and leaves many of our elected officials much more well off financially. There is no sacrifice, it’s a dream job. That’s why when Rice professor Douglas Brinkley refused to give respect that was demanded and undeserved by Congressman Don Young, he became my hero.

The politics of this conversation to me are irrelevant. Part of me agrees with the Congressman, but the last few years have jaded me and I have no more respect for Congress than a dog does for a tree. Here’s the video of the two skirmishing. I only wish it had escalated. Another video below is a followup interview.

Followup interview with Douglas Brinkley

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Weakend: Tis The Season Of ‘Delivery Status’

The Weakonomist — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:30:26 +0000

Amazon.com is one of my favorite things in this world. Not only can I do my shopping in my underwear, but I don’t have to drive anywhere either. Amazon is of course not the only site out there, but it is the biggest.

The downside of online shopping is the lack of instant gratification and being able to touch and feel the products you’re shopping for. Instead, you check the delivery status of your order. Has it shipped yet? Is there a confirmation code available? Why hasn’t it shown up on the Fedex site yet?

The worst is when you worry about being home when the package arrives. Will they just leave that expensive item? Will someone be home to sign for it or will you have to go down to the distribution center to pick it up?

A small price to pay to avoid having to go to the mall, but a price nonetheless. Happy shopping.

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