Reversal of fortune

December 24, 2008 · Filed Under General · Comments 

Yesterday I blogged about how rude people were while out shopping. If you read yesterday’s comments, several people pointed out that they weren’t experiencing the same. In fact, they were enjoying quite the opposite. So today when I had to go back to the mall, I was really curious as to what moods I would run in to on what has to be the most stressful shopping day of the year. Face it, you have one last shot to get that special someone that special gift. Tensions are likely going to be high.

When we got to the mall I had a pretty good idea of where we were going to look. I had the kids with me and we were shopping for mom’s gift from the kids. Don’t worry, I already had mom’s big gift taken care of, so this was just for some stocking stuffers and something small from them. The first store turned out to be a bust. Then, as we walked past the line-up for people wanting to get a picture with Santa, it made me really glad my kids are older. The line was ETERNAL! I did not envy those parents.

We went in several stores and purchased items in a few of them. We didn’t run in to any long lines, which had to be a Christmas Miracle. Also, we didn’t run in to a single person with any sort of attitude. People in the mall were downright cheery. What an incredible turnaround from my previous day’s experience.

After returning from the mall we had some friends over for dinner and some games. They just left and we are wrapping the last few gifts for morning. We had a great day and I’m looking forward to watching my kids open their gifts in the morning.

I hope your Christmas is filled with family, friends and good cheer.

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Change of plans leads to domino effect

December 18, 2008 · Filed Under General · Comments 

It’s funny how one small change of plans could set of so many other things. This week, thanks to the snow in Las Vegas, we have decide to change our plans and skip our trip to California. Sure, this is a bummer, but not as big of a bummer as driving over the El Cajon Pass in the snow… with no snow tires or chains…

Once we made up our minds to skip the trip, a list of things to do started piling up:

- Call family in SoCal and explain why we aren’t coming out 25 times.
- Cancel reservations for the dog with the kennel
- Send niece/nephew Christmas gifts
- Cancel lunch plans with friends in SoCal
- Cancel hockey tickets for Sunday’s Ontario Reign game

Since we are going to be in town all weekend, that also brings up some opportunities.

- Friday night happy hour with friends
- Saturday night football game with friend
- Morning poker tournament at casino
- Get some additional planning done for WordCamp

On top of all this is the fact that we both really want to go to California to see family and friends. And, the weather did clear up nicely making our decision to skip the trip seem hasty. I just have no interest in driving in the snow. My luck, we’ll make it to California fine and then get stuck trying to get back home. No thanks. We’ll just plan to visit after the new year.

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December = Top 10 Time

December 10, 2008 · Filed Under Entertainment, General · Comments 

I knew I had written about this before so I wanted to link to it. I had to dig deep in the archives. This post was from 5 years ago.

One of my favorite things about the month of December is that every TV station starts running their ‘Top 10′ shows. I have loved these type of shows since I was a little kid. Top 10 sports moments being my all time favorite. What’s nice is that these days you get way more than just sports in general. You’ll get top 10 touchdown plays, amazing baseball catches, goals in hockey, NASCAR crashes… you name it.

Today I found a great article on Time.com entitled “The Top 10 Everything of 2008.”There are a total of 50 different Top 10 lists. I haven’t made my way through all of them yet, but I will over the next couple days. Regardless, there are some stand-outs.

  • #7 Top 10 Buzzwords: Rickrolled: If you haven’t been RickRolled, you just haven’t lived. Seriously, they RickRolled everybody during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. That’s a big RickRoll.
  • #9 Top 10 Buzzwords: Tweet: With my addiction to Twitter, you know I had to include this as a stand-out!
  • #3 Top 10 Gadgets: Apple iPhone 3G: The first gen phone was good, but with the release of the new phone also came the App Store. A great source of both productivity and anti-productivity. How this isn’t the #1 gadget of the year is beyond me.
  • #1 Top 10 Viral Videos: Where the Hell is Matt?: this guy travels around the world shooting video of himself doing a silly dance either alone or with a group of natives. It’s sillyness is part of the fun. The places this guy visited and the smiles on the kids from around the world are simply amazing.
  • #3 Top 10 Viral Videos: Christian The Lion: Seriously, if this video doesn’t touch you, you may want to check yourself for a pulse.

I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the videos, but it will have to wait for another day. I’m off to compile my own top 10 list. I should probably pick a subject first.

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Give until it hurts

December 5, 2008 · Filed Under General · Comments 

December is the month for donating. If you have the means, you should be donating things you are no longer using all year round. But in December it’s good to step up the efforts because winter is starting (or in full swing depending on what part of the country you are in) and less fortunate people could really use the help.

I know what you might be saying; “I’m too busy and I don’t have time to gather the stuff and go donate it.” Well, you may only need to look as far as your work or to an event you may already be scheduled to go to.

Today my office had scheduled a blood drive. Since I’ve been getting tattooed for the past 20 years, I haven’t been able to donate blood for quite some time. But, I did a little research and found that my last tattoo was about 20 months ago. So I stepped up to the plate and donated blood along with 36 others at my office. What an awesome turn-out for such an important cause.

Tonight we went to an event called First Friday. Technically speaking we went to an off-shoot event, but close enough. It was hosted by the guys over at Black Diamond Digital. They open their doors once a month to clients and friends for a few drinks, some snacks and some excellent networking. The invitation for this month’s event prominently requested you bring a bag of gently used clothes to be delivered to charity. We were already planning on going to the event. Grabbing a plastic bag and filling it with forgotten items in our closet took no time at all. We didn’t have to go more than 5 steps out of our way to deliver the clothes to charity. By the time we left the party, the two bins they had out were overflowing with bags of clothes all because they took the time to include it on the invitation.

If you aren’t sure how or where to donate, the American Red Cross’s website is a great resource for easy ways to donate.

If you are feeling a little more adventurous, Avenue Z is trying to coordinate a Virtual Food Drive where 200 readers each donate a 10 pound bag of non-perishable food items. That’s literally a TON of food donated to charity. Your part wouldn’t cost you more than $20.00 and a few minutes.

There are dozens and dozens of ways that you can donate. Pick one that suits you and get out and do it. But by all means, please do what you can this holiday season.

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Blog Tip: Clean Your Blog

October 10, 2008 · Filed Under General, Technology, blogging · Comments 

I just set a reminder in my phone to repeat every 2 months. It says 3 simple words; CLEAN YOUR BLOG!

I logged in to the admin section of JohnHawkinsUnrated the other night and was checking the plugin page when I realized I had to scroll down a page and a half to get to the plugin I was looking for. I then scrolled back up slowly and realized that there are quite a few plugins that I have installed that I just don’t use/need any longer. I went through and deactivated at least 7 plugins that were no longer being used. I’m sure there are more that I can remove, but was trying not to go overboard on my first pass.

Wigets, this is another area that I need to be careful with. They are so easy to install, but you really need to evaluate their value to your site. Are they worth the space they are taking up on your site? Are they worth the extra load time it puts on your blog? If not, kill ‘em.

Take 5 minutes and go through your WordPress plugin page and remove any plugins that aren’t being used and then remove any widgets that are taking up space on your blog and are not adding value to your readers. Your blog should be lean and mean. There is no bonus for having the most plugins running at once.

Remember, lean and mean.

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