A weblog about stuff and junk by Jake Sutton
So, the DOW is going nuts, and yet things don’t feel like they did back in the 90’s when it first crossed the 10,000 mark. The housing market sucks rocks (at least that’s the perception) and generally things “just aren’t the same” as the first time around.
I wondered why that was.
I am no student of the economy, so I found this post from last October fairly enlightening.
I would like to see more current (preferably light-weight and understandable) analysis, though.
How Not to Talk to Your Kids by Po Bronson (Interesting considering some gossip I’ve heard regarding how Bronson’s kid is handled day to day.) With nice extras in Po’s blog.
Then the students were given a choice of test for the second round. One choice was a test that would be more difficult than the first, but the researchers told the kids that they’d learn a lot from attempting the puzzles. The other choice, Dweck’s team explained, was an easy test, just like the first. Of those praised for their effort, 90 percent chose the harder set of puzzles. Of those praised for their intelligence, a majority chose the easy test. The “smart� kids took the cop-out.
As a so-called “smart” kid, I can recognize that. Luckily, my upbringing also offered example after example of work ethic and perseverance.
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Pharm Animals Crank Out Drugs — Ew… I’m generally fairly pragmatic about stuff like this, but yeesh this makes my skin crawl.
This might be scarier, though.
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This is awesome!
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, signed into law by George Bush the elder, led to creation of the ragingly popular Do Not Call List. But tucked away in the bill was another important provision that entitles consumers to take what’s called a “private right of action.” For each violation of the act, consumers can sue for a $500 penalty. Violations include calling after a consumer has told a company to stop, or failing to provide the consumer with a copy of the firm’s Do Not Call policy.
That’s almost enough to make me start answering those “Unknown Name / Unknown Number” calls I get every day.
Good News: I’m on vacation for two weeks starting today. The Wife and I will be doing our annual road trip to LA to see her brother Chris. On the way, we will hook up with his S.O., Kate, who is in Vegas working on Ocean’s 13. We’ll be hanging out in Los Feliz for a week with no specific plans - just maxin’ and relaxin’.
Bad News: It seems like work always has some kind of upheaval when I go on vacation. Last time we were acquired by a major corporation and the deal was finalized and announced just as I was leaving. This time we (just our office, not the major corporation) had a “10% workforce reduction” yesterday. It’s a major hit to the psyche of the remaining workforce, I’ll tell you that much. On a personal (and professional) level, I’m super bummed they decided to eliminate Matt’s position in particular. I’m not worried about Brozo - he’ll land on his feet without a doubt, but I’m gonna miss having him around day to day for sure.
In case you didn’t know, Yvon Chouinard is the man.
… Because he just won the inaugural award of OutDoor Celebrity of the Year. The jurors said he is renown for his “visionary business strategy and high degree of environmental awareness.â€? Stating he is “an outstanding figure above all because of his contributions to environmental protection.â€? Yvon is best known as the founder and owner of Patagonia, an outdoor clothing company, with over $240 million USD in annual sales. Yvon committed his company to only using organic cotton 10 years ago, even when there was no reliable supply. They had to built the infrastructure to obtain the fabrics they needed. He was also the first to convert his line of fleece jackets to using recycled PET bottles as feedstock. …
Back when I was just coming out of college with a degree I had already pegged as useless to me, one job I thought I wanted a lot was doing anything for Black Diamond. Sometimes I still kind of wish I could work for them…
No I didn’t, but at least I know what to do if I ever become a lottery millionaire, thanks to the fine folks at Rotten.com.
Rule #1: Don’t post the fact that you won to your blog (or anywhere).
For the record, Po Bronson’s book by that title doesn’t really provide any answers. It just tells you about some of the lucky bastards who have figured out an answer to the question.
So, yeah… This is something I’m thinking about a lot these days. Unless something changes drastically and some switch gets flipped in my head, I don’t see myself doing what I’m doing now for more than, say, another five years.
So what do I want to do instead? I have absolutely no idea.
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