It Sickens Me
It started last Tuesday with a weak cough. That weak cough turned into a strong cough, and by Sunday night my chest ached and my head felt like it was filled with cement. Getting sick sucks. I don't think it is the Pig flu, just a bad cold. I pumped myself full of OTC drugs, practiced time-tested family remedies, and I feel a good bit better tonight. The cat has been terrific during this crisis. She has been so brave. Even though I'm sure she was worried about me, she still managed to eat, drink, and sleep 16 hours a day. What a trooper!
More posts coming soon...
Health Care Crisis Solved
I have the solution to the health care crisis in America. It has nothing to do with letting consumers buy insurance from companies in other states, and it does not involve government mandated universal coverage. These things may help bring costs down and cover the uninsured, and they may not. I don't know. Quite frankly, I don't understand half of what the stuffed suits in Washington are talking about these days, and I have a sneaking feeling that most of them don't understand either.
To bring down the cost of health care in this country we have to reduce demand. When demand for a service or product goes down it creates a surplus of supply. Thus, the law of supply and demand dictates that when demand decreases, supply increases, and prices go down. I'll let the politicians try to figure out how to increase supply and competition, but all Americans can reduce their demand for health care by doing the following:
- Maintain a healthy weight or lose weight if necessary.
- Be active. Get some exercise.
- Don't smoke or stop if you do.
- Don't drink and drive.
- Drive the speed limit.
- Get an annual physical
Imagine the amount of illnesses that are caused by obesity, drunk driving, car accidents, and smoking. There are many health concerns of which we have no control. We can't change our genetics (not yet anyway), we can't control other drivers on the road, and we can't always avoid bad luck, but if we take control of the things we can change we can solve this crisis.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I must say that I am working on the first two points in my plan, and that I have a lot of work to do in these areas, but I am already seeing an improvement in my overall health now that I am trying to eat a healthy diet and exercise.
The Government cannot solve all our problems, and lately it seems that it can't solve any problems. Whether it's fighting terrorism, reversing global warming, or solving the health care crisis; we all must make sacrifices and do our part. It may sound cliché, but united we stand, divided we fall.
How jetBlue Stole Christmas
Update. February 23, 2010. From work today, I finally booked my flight with jetBlue . I was on the phone for sixty five minutes, sixty of those minutes were on hold.
There was a time when jetBlue was a special airline. Unlike Southwest Airlines (aka the 'flying bus') with their festival seating, jetBlue was affordable, the staff was friendly, and there was a TV set at every seat. An egalitarian airline, jetBlue has but one class. I'm telling you, flying jetBlue was a real pleasure, but all good things must come to an end.
In 2007, jetBlue let an airplane full of passengers sit on the tarmac for over 8 hours, and as a result, suffered their first real negative publicity to date. Not long after this incident, jetBlue created a passenger bill of rights and promised to do better. Well isn't that just super?! Eager to show the world that they had mended their ways, jetBlue overcompensated during the next snow storm, and canceled way more flights than their competitors. I know this to be true because every person flying into New York to attend my parent's 75th birthday party (their birthdays are very close, so they decided to hold one big party) never made it there, including me! Every other airline found a way to get guests to my parent's party, but jetBlue had its head up its fuselage that day.
So, the airline decided to err on the side of caution and cancel a bunch of flights, and I missed my parent's 75th (I'll catch the next one, don't worry), but what REALLY made me angry was that on the day in question you couldn't get through to jetBlue on the phone OR the web! I had no idea, at the time, if my flight was canceled or still on time. Unacceptable. I know a little bit about the web, and even if their site went down, they could have posted a static html page with flight info updated every 20 minutes. Regardless, a company the size of jetBlue should have web infrastructure contingency plans, especially if they are not going to answer the phone.
Torch This!
Sorry I haven’t posted for a few days, I’ve been too wrapped up in curling, biathlon, and women’s hockey. Yes, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games are in full swing, and who the hell cares? The Olympics were intended to be a sporting event for amateur athletes from around the word. Athletics and sportsmanship were supposed to allow athletes from every nation to put aside their differences for a couple of weeks and hopefully increase understanding of different cultures. Sounds nice, right? Unfortunately, the reality of the Olympics today is a little less noble.
Today, the Olympic Games are no different than any other big sporting event. Professional athletes, corporate sponsorship, and massive marketing campaigns are the norm now. And far from promoting a sense of global fraternity, the only thing that people truly seem interested in is the ‘medal count.’ Did you know that cold climate countries do better at the winter Olympics than warm weather nations?! What about this shocking fact: countries with huge economies and populations tend to win more medals than small, poor ones!! I feel such a sense of pride when I check the medal count each morning and the US is kicking Kazakhstan’s butt. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
I better keep it short. I’ve been away from the TV for far too long. I hope I didn’t miss skeleton or freestyle skiing.
Have We Met Before?
I was at a party a couple of years back, and I noticed a woman from across the room. I know this is a cliché, but I was standing in a crowded room, and she was sitting on a chair at the other side. An attractive woman, I thought I had seen here before. Her face was so familiar… Maybe she and I worked at the same company? Perhaps I saw her at the Magic game or at Publix? I was certain I had never met her at church, mostly because I haven’t attended church in over 20 years.
“Go talk to her,” the Voice in my head prodded me. The Voice was smart. It knew that I wasn’t seeing anybody, she was sitting alone, and the Voice swore that it saw her glace in my direction. The Voice insisted, “She’s checking you out, dude!” I didn’t know what to say, but she did look familiar, so I could use that as my ‘in,’ my ‘ice-breaker’, my ‘line.’ So, I checked my hair (yup still there) and walked confidently over to her.
“You know, you look so familiar. Have we met before?” I asked.
“No, I don’t think so.” She replied coldly.
“Do you work for (company where I work)? I tried again.
“No, I do not.” She said, emphasizing each word.
Panic struck me. She was looking at me like I was on fire, literally. “Bail! Bail! Bail!” the Voice screamed. This was my own personal Vietnam. I went in with no exit strategy.
“I guess you have one of those faces…” I offered.
“Bravo! [Slow sarcastic clapping] Way to charm her!” The Voice in my head moaned.
“No, we’ve never met.” The tone of her voice told me the conversation was over, so I said, “Oh, OK. Bye.” Then I did the slow ‘walk of shame’ back to my place against the wall…on the OTHER side of the room.
I think that every man can identify with this story, at least every guy that I know. I’m sure that guys with Brad Pitt looks and Bill Gates money... probably not so much. Getting shot down, or more precisely, ‘going down in flames’ has happened to me before, and it will happen again, but each time I get rejected I’m never prepared. It’s so humiliating. Most women don’t know this feeling of rejection, but it is a rite of passage for dudes. If getting rejected is so painful then why do I keep trying to interact with other human beings? I would have to say… trying to avoid dying alone is up there as a reason.
Seriously, my rejection by the woman at the other side of the room was her loss, and if she had been friendly, we hit it off, and became a couple; we would probably wind up breaking up and hating each other eventually anyway. So, you see, there’s an upside to all this! Too bitter? Let’s just end with this: it was her loss, and there are plenty of fish in the sea. Besides, never mind her, there was this other woman down the hall from where I was standing, and the Voice in my head…
Windows Phone
Microsoft gave a sneak peak at Windows Phone 7 Series, the replacement for Windows Mobile at Mobile World Congress 2010. I have read some very enthusiastic reviews so far, but Windows Phone 7 Series (WP7) must be more impressive in person compared to the photos I've seen. To be fair, photographs of videos screens and impromptu 'hands on' demos can't really shine a proper light on a product. From the product description it appears that Microsoft came to play, and I'm glad they didn't 'phone it in' (sorry about the bad pun). This product is a must for them. There is no way that Microsoft can leave the smartphone market to rivals Apple and Google. There is too much at stake. Desktop computing is dying, and the company that can control the Cloud, the TV screen, and the mobile device will be the winner. Microsoft has it's foot in the door against Google with Windows Live, Bing, and their Cloud Computing platform, and they have Xbox and Xbox Live in the living room, but they need WP7 to complete the picture.
Is this a winner for Microsoft? At this point, who knows? WP7 phones won't be available until late 2010. I believe it is not too late for Microsoft to be a viable player in the smartphone market. Apple has yet to monopolize the market in the way that Microsoft did with desktop Windows, and it appears that Apple's competitors are finally getting organized (Android, Open Handset Alliance, Palm webOS, Flash 10.1, etc.). With that said, I've seen this scenario before: a company demos some brilliant technology only to epically fail to market the product.
A lot can happen between now and the 2010 holiday season. If Microsoft can execute what was demonstrated today, and Apple doesn't re-revolutionize the iPhone between then and now, Microsoft might have a chance to get back into the game.
Men Don’t Diet
I don't drink to excess. I don't do drugs. I'm not a shopaholic. I don't gamble. After a very stressful day, like I had today, many would engage in self-destructive behavior like these, but not me. Food is my drug of choice, but I'm happy to say that I did not give in to temptation tonight, and I stayed on my diet.
I have been struggling with my weight since I was twenty years old. For the first twenty years of life I was a healthy weight, not slim or muscular, but healthy. Compared to today's teens, I was almost anorexic, but back in the 70s and 80s I didn't have a problem with over-eating. Something happened to me in college. I gained the 'freshman fifteen' and just kept going. In the ensuing 20 years, I have tried every diet and diet program out there with varying success. I have lost tremendous amounts of weight time and time again only to gain it back. Fact is that every reasonable diet works. If you follow a sensible diet plan you will lose weight. Keeping the weight off is the difficult part, and where I struggle the most.
Now I find myself, once again, starting ANOTHER diet. This time it is Weight Watchers. As I said, any diet will help you lose weight, but what I need most is the accountability that a plan like Weight Watchers provides. When I have to step on a scale once a week at a meeting, it keeps me honest. It's only been a couple of weeks on the plan, but so far so good. Weight Watchers is easy to follow and I've lost seven pounds.
The thing that I don't understand about Weight Watchers (and Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, Optifast, etc. -- I've been on them all) is why there are so few men involved. The last meeting was all women and me. The meeting leader suggested that you reward yourself when you reach a weight loss goal with a non-food reward. She suggested going shoe shopping! Let me tell you, when I want to celebrate the first thing I do is go to Nine West and pick me out a pair of strappy heels! Sheesh.
I once told a business client, who was treating my colleagues and me to a night out in Miami that I couldn't over-indulge at dinner because I was on Jenny Craig. After he stopped laughing, he asked me if I had to wear a dress at the Jenny Craig meetings. You don't HAVE to wear a dress, I told him, but I choose to wear a dress because skirts make me look fat. Seriously though, why are there so few men using these programs?
I guess men are supposed to be strong enough to just cut back on fattening foods and hit the gym when they want to lose weight. Going to group diet classes is just too girly. The thing is...it ain't working. I still see tons of obese men walking around the mall. There must be a market out there for men who need help losing weight but don't want to hang out with middle aged women talking about shoe shopping during Weight Watchers meetings. Hmmm... Maybe there IS a market for just such a service...
Maybe someday there will be such a place, but until then I will stay the course with Weight Watchers. I'll be there next Monday night wearing my Vera Wang and Jimmy Choos, figuratively speaking of course.
Nexus D’oh! II
It looks like my concern that the Google Nexus One would supplant the Motorola Droid as the top Android phone was unfounded (in sales at least). According to an article on Gizmodo, the Nexus One only sold 20,000 units during the first week of sales and 80,000 in the first month. Compare those numbers to the Droid: 250,000 in the first week and 525,000 in the first month of sales! Only the original iPhone beats the Droid at 350,000 and 600,000.
I guess the lesson learned here is: you have to advertise your products! Apple and Motorola/Verizon inundated television with commercials for their phones. Google’s marketing plan so far is to have text and image ads all over the web via Google AdWords/AdSense. Combine the lack of television advertising with the fact that you can only purchase the Nexus One through Google.com, and you have a recipe for disaster. You can go to any Apple or AT&T store and hold an iPhone in your hands, or you can visit the Verizon store for a demo of the Droid. Being able to actually use an expensive product before purchase means a lot. Not to mention that stores and salespeople have a vested interest in making you buy their phone. When Verizon or AT&T gets you in their store, they can do the hard sell, and they can up-sell you service plans and accessories. When you go to google.com/phone, you will see an awesome demo of the Nexus One, but all you have to do is close your browser when you've had enough.
Selling consumer electronics is not like launching Google Maps. The Nexus One can’t be in ‘beta’ for 3 years. If Google search goes down, so what? Users will switch over to Yahoo! or Bing. If a user’s Nexus One locks up, they are going to want immediate customer service. When you shell out a couple hundred bucks for a phone and it doesn’t work, you’re not going to be too pleased with searching a support forum for answers.
Unless Google finds a partner to help them sell and service the Nexus One (T-Mobile is the Nexus One network, but they don’t provide customer sales or support), the Motorola Droid will continue to be the Android top dog (until the next big think comes along in about 10 minutes ).
Baseball 101
In less than a month, pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. It's time for baseball again. Here in Florida, the idea of Spring Training is not difficult to fathom, but depending on where you live, there still may be snow on the field and bitter cold winds blowing. None the less, in two days the New Orleans Saints will be walking off the field with the Vince Lombardi trophy (mark my words: 24 to 17), and then it's time to start thinking baseball.
I plan to write a number of baseball-related posts in the coming months. Among the topics will be steroids, the color barrier, and my favorite team, the Mets. In this post, I want to have some fun, so I am going to attempt to explain the game of baseball in a single post. Baseball is the most complicated sport. If you doubt this fact then attempt this exercise. Try explaining the game of soccer to somebody that knows nothing about the subject. Then, try doing the same with baseball.
Soccer: a game played on an outdoor rectangular field with a goal at either end. Two teams compete to kick a ball into the other team's goal. The objective is to score more goals than the other team in the allotted time. Players can kick the ball, but cannot touch it with their hands. Only the goaltenders, one on each team, can defend his team's goal by using his hands. Now, there are more rules and many nuances to Soccer, but with the above knowledge a person could watch a game of soccer and understand it. Baseball is a whole 'nother story.
Years back I was in a new relationship with a woman who had recently moved to the United States from Eastern Europe. She knew NOTHING about baseball. When I tried to explain to her why I was yelling at a man named Piazza on TV to 'swing the damn bat!', I realized how daunting a task it is to explain baseball. Even people who have no interest in sports understand the basics of baseball, if they grew up in America. It's part of the culture. You just pick it up through osmosis. In grade school, your teacher gave you 'three strikes' to stop talking during class, and you 'hit a home run' when you received an 'A' on your geography quiz. In retrospect, I believe my attempts at explaining baseball to my girlfriend was partly to blame for the failure of the relationship. She thought I was crazy and just making this stuff up. She would say to me in broken English. “Do you think I’m fool? How can a ball be out of play but be caught by other man and first man be out?!” You no need to make up story to impress me. Just be real with me. Next think you’re going to tell me is that they play 162 games a year then have a 3 tiered playoff system.” Ok, so maybe she never said any of that, but I’m sure she was thinking it. Anyway, below I will attempt to explain the rules and game play of baseball in conversational style, off the top of my head...until I get tired and stop. Then it will be the reader's chance to pick up where I left off and comment the rest of the rules.
