Oh happy day!

That nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach...
That notion that you have forgotten something big...
Something, monumental...

Well don't worry, it has not passed yet, but you better start making preparations, because March 4th, 2007 is a big day.

You still have time to get you cards and presents in the mail...
You still have time to decorate...
You still have time to commemorate...

For those of you who have not yet guessed it, Sunday is my 10,000th day. Yes, I will have been on this planet for, count 'em, 10,000 days since my birth on October 17, 1979. Now I know that tradition calls for sending a dollar for each day that the person has been alive, but this is completely unnecessary as a Starbucks' gift card, a star in my name or a charitable donation would all suffice as reasonable 10,000th Day gifts.

Random Quotes from Random Emails

I know, I know, I have been an absentee blogger lately, for that, dear reader, I apologize. I will offer a full explanation in a later blog post, but right now I am trying to clear out two very full inboxes. So, I thought I would include some random quotes I have written -- they are from some random emails as I engage in The Great Inbox Cleanup of 2007.

"Old and odd... true, but really, who doesn't like fists of spaghetti?"

"Damn painted clowns! They are like bowls of fruit without the banana."

(No, they aren't supposed to make sense, they are taken out of context, that is where the humor is derived from...)

"...so I decided NO WORK last night and took advantage of Mr. Tivo."

"...and if we can think of 6 more [songs] and we can make a 10 track Top Alternative Covers of Rap CD!"

"We have attached this year's ballot, fill it out before you come and bring it -- the person who gets the most correct will win bragging rights and a big kiss from Asia."

"Does Papa John put nuts in his Pizzas?"

Saving you money

This seems like a pretty good idea -- it is a program that logs onto your cell phone account and tracks/informs you of your minutes used/left in the month.

Now you will be able to afford to take me out to dinner instead of paying overages on your phone bill.

http://www.watchmycell.com/

This will blow your mind...

From the Sweet Links department:
Here is your Quantum Physics lesson for the day, in cartoon form, for everyone's enjoyment. Trust me on this, it is five minutes well spent. (Double slits will never be the same for you again).

A few of my favorite podcasts

If you have an iPod or similar digital audio player you should be listening to podcasts. Free audiso content on the web — it is what we were all looking for back in the days when illegally downloading music was still legal.

Below I have listed a few of my favorite podcasts with a link to their homepage and a link to iTunes so you can subscribe yourself:

• This American Life
  
  If you have not heard This American Life, it is quite possibly one of the greatest radio programs ever. Each week host Ira Glass picks a topic and does a number of stories on that topic talking to interesting people from all over the country.
  


• Grammar Girl's Tips for Better Writing
  
  Everyone can benefit from a tip to improve their writing abilities, and Grammar Girl has come to the rescue.
  
  
• Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
  
  The weekly news quiz from NPR. A great way to catch up with the weeks news and enjoy a little academic humor at the same time.
  


• And of course there is the the Princeton Review's Vocab Minute which I wrote about here.
  

Professor Livingston, I Presume...

When I was in college I took a personal finance class... I was a senior and I needed to take an elective that would not be too demanding. Despite the fact that I majored in business and took plenty of 400 level classes in the subject, I still learned one of my most valuable lessons in Professor Livingston's Business class for English majors. I now pass her advice onto you:

Do not use a credit card for anything that you will not have at the time that the bill arrives.

When you are in college and have no income, this advice seems inapplicable and possibly even impossible. But once I was out in the real world, I realized that this was some of the best personal finance advice out there. Not using your credit card on things that are immediately used up or consumed automatically makes you more financially responsible, and in a world where credit card companies are consistently trying to get you to open a new account, a little responsibility with revolving credit is a good thing.

This means that you should not use your credit card for eating out, bar bills, or gas. Vacations and groceries are out too... Think of it, all of a sudden this one little piece of advice forces you to live within your means.

In addition, when you do restrain yourself to only using your credit card on things that you will have when the bill comes, you have some flexibility if you ever get in a financial bind. You may be able to return the item that you should not have purchased in the first place or you could sell it on eBay. Either way, if you still have the item when your credit card bill comes it still has value, the same can't be said for that round of drinks you bought at Lazy Larry's 'British' Pub.