I have a question

Everyone has a morning routine or at least one thing they do every morning besides wake up. To each of us we would consider everything we do each morning as normal, but somethings we do every morning are not normal. So with that...

What is the most unusual behavior in your morning routine?

When I asked this at work, my boss answered that she does her hair and makeup in bed. For me I don't think anything I do is absolutely unusual but I do wake up without an alarm clock every morning.

The shopping mall of business ideas

Living in my brain is like waking through a shopping mall of business ideas. The problem is that I'm too chicken to actually walk into any of the stores. I just look and smile, and keep walking. I've sheepishly started some ideas, like Duster Books, which lasted 5 years.

Recently I looked into an idea and ended up doing more research, and spent more time on it than any other project, paper or assignment in my life. The was a birthday party center for kids. I actually got pretty far. I was actually negotiating a space in a mall (the terms were quite favorable) and then didn't do it. It would probably take $300,000 and I would have to leave my current stable job. That's why I didn't do it.

I've heard that most businesses start with less than $15,000 in capital. That's much easier to swallow than 300K.

So the problem now is that there are lots of ideas. When I say them out loud they sound so silly. But I'll share them with you and you can tell me what you think. (in no particular order)

1 Corporate Blogging platform
I've been a big blogger advocate for a while. At work I'm facilitating the integration of a new corporate blogging platform. It is experimental in nature and I'm really excited to see where it goes. But the platform is horrible. I admit, I helped pick it out. But when we did pick it out last year, the options were so slim. Either use this, or build our own custom solution from open source code. The choice was obvious with our resources for this being project very limited. The platform was even ranked #2 as far as corporate blogging platforms go. Ok, the platform isn't that bad, but the user friendliness is non-existent. Using it is like trying to put your seatbelt on when it is already buckled (and you can't unbuckle it first). So, I think I could build a better platform with better user friendliness.

2 Sell anything online (pet supplies?) using the a 4hww principle of outsourcing.
The idea is that you outsource everything. Outsource the website, outsource the inventory, outsource absolutely everything. Apparently it's a lot cheaper than you think. I mention pet supplies because at one time I heard it was a 40 billion/million dollars a year business. I heard that in Manhattan alone there is 4 million pets. Sounds ridiculous I know, but I wouldn't have to sacrifice work/life balance, I still keep my job and the hope is that another income source would be gained. Just outsource it all.

Anyway, I'm interested in what people think. Remember, these are potential ideas waiting to be molded further. I'm not doing them yet, so you can discourage/encourage me all you want. Do you have your own ideas? I would be interested in hearing them.

Leaving for the north

Five years ago I shaved my head, then the very next day I learned I was going on a journey to the cold north. The expedition base camp was to be Alert, Nunavut (Canadian territory), a mere 522 miles from the North Pole. The scientists I was following would fly out to the ice near or at the North Pole to do their science thing and I would video tape them. I spent weeks getting ready. I grew my hair out. I wrote an outline and partial script for the video. I spent my allowance for gear that they gave me. I gathered video equipment. Then I packed it all up one night, and the next morning Minna took me to the airport while it was still dark.

Happy Birthday Ryan

It's my friend Ryan's birthday. We've had some good times together. He's been in many of my videos from Hawaii and more. Wyatt and Britney made a birthday tribute to him.



I'll add my part to the tribute:

Ryan likes milkshakes

Ryan helped make the Canoe House famous

Skateboarding with Ryan

Ryan helped shaved my head

And Ryan stars in one of my all time favorite videos called "Making Up".

Oh yes I can't forget The hike

Pretty happy and tired right now

Well, I'm pretty happy with how my blog is turning out, at least right now.

But earlier today I said to Minna, "I think I've run out of stuff to put on my blog."

She laughed, "already?"

"Well I can't think of anything to post."

But it turns out that if it gets late enough I'll pretty much post about anything. It's kind of like, instead of filtering what I post with "beer goggles", its like I have "late hour goggles".

I have a question?

I work with a pretty tech savvy group, but when I asked this question, the answer was 'no'.

Have you ever sold anything online?


Minna and I recently sold a bunch of stuff on ebay and have sold some stuff on craigslist.org (the best garage sale ever). So have you, and what was it?

For us it was:
This wonderful table we were sad to part with, but it didn't fit in our small space.


We even sold Minna's car on ebay before we moved to New York.


Here is almost everything we've ever sold online. This doesn't include the leather journal business I used to have.

I was working at the APL one day...

This was almost five years ago to the day (2003).

I was working at the APL (Applied Physics Lab) at the UW, at the helpdesk. As I wandered the halls of the building teaching very intelligent scientists, and people with very high IQs, how to use their email and printers, I got to know the warm folks at the Polar Science Center. Most of the year these bearded scientists crunch numbers and write reports and ask for more money from the National Science Foundation. But for a few magical weeks, at just the right time of year, they get to go to cold north and gather data for more crunching. I assume the additional data will, in turn, help them ask for more money. I began asking if anyone was video taping this or making a documentary on the upcoming trip. "No, why?". I was interested. Their response was, "Well, we can look into it but don't count on anything."

A couple weeks later the secretary on the 6th floor asks if I "have a passport? Because you'll need it on the way through Greenland." I was so excited! Then I remembered how cold it is, and I realized, that must be why all those scientists wear beards, to stay warm. Then I was wishing I hadn't shaved my head bald the night before.