“Batteries for phones and laptops could soon recharge ten times faster and hold a charge ten times larger than current technology allows.”

Yes, please.

This lead me to ask myself a question; what is my string? In other words, what do I get excited about? What would I rather be working on or doing than anything else? What would I sacrifice just about anything to be able to do?

Once you answer those questions and figure out what your string is you should immediately start to plan how you can spend more time doing it.

I know a lot of business books say “Do what you love!” but that isn’t the point of this post. I don’t think you have to make money at something that you love doing in order to enjoy it. In fact, I’d wager that for most things we enjoy in life money can actually lessen the joy of doing it. Especially if it becomes your main way of making a living. When you have to make money doing something it isn’t nearly as enjoyable as doing it simply because you want to. My cat gets nothing out of chasing the string. Actually, in most cases he doesn’t even get the string!

I’m still in the process of truly figuring out what my string is but when I figure it out I’m going to try do spend more time doing that activity. Maybe you could do the same.

Yes I have been known to eat fish eggs right out of the fish. I don’t do this for shock factor – I do it because I truly enjoy trying out new things to see if l like them. Side note: The fish eggs right out of the fish tasted to me a lot like grits with a sprinkle of salt.

Which is my I’m proclaiming my love for sushi. I’ve mentioned sushi here before but I’ve never just come out and say that I love it. Or, jot down the reasons why. Oh, and by the way – the photos that spurred this post on are photos from Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market that I saw linked to from the Flickr Blog. Tell me that place doesn’t look like a fish-lovers Graceland.

I suppose I love sushi because it is nearly unadulterated. Most sushi is first frozen to kill any potential parasites or whozawhatsits – but besides that you’re getting fresh, raw, unblemished fish from the ocean into your mouth. Most of the time the tastes from sushi are subtle. Many people like to spice up their sushi with wasabi and soy mixes – and I do too on occasion – but I truly do enjoy the subtle tastes in sushi all by itself.

I find that I enjoy subtleties in most of my foods. Wine, for example, is something I enjoy even more when the fruit of the wine isn’t altogether apparent, but you need to search for the tastes, usually on the finish, to figure it out. I was given a lovely homemade apple wine from a friend not too long ago and the taste of the apples was so subtle that I found the wine extraordinary. Some would sip the wine, expect to be hit with the flavor of apple all over their palate, and be disappointed when that didn’t happen. I, on the other hand, actually am pleasantly surprised when that doesn’t happen.

The subtleties found in sushi are many. The taste of sushi is, at least for this novice, extremely hard to articulate. On the one hand, you have the combination of raw, nearly tasteless, meat combining with the taste of some of the best rice you’ve ever had. Sushi rice is typically prepared with a dabble of vinegar to keep the rice loose – which brings an altogether “freshness” to the sushi. I suppose one of the main tastes of good sushi is, well, freshness. It tastes like you’re eating something brand new.

Other tastes seem to come from the type of fish that it is. The subtle differences between red snapper and salmon, as an example, seem to be more in texture and density than in taste. I can tell the difference between the two blind-folded (I think) but it’d be more based on the feel of the fish than the taste itself. Most sushi has a base taste. That base taste is spread out over all the difference kinds of sushi and then subtle hints are thrown in to mix it up. I suppose that base taste could be best described as the ocean. Not overpowering, mind you – but just enough for you to know where it came from.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. I love sushi. If you’ve never tried it. Do yourself a favor and try something new just to see if you like it. Maybe you won’t catch a fish in a lake and eat the eggs out of it like I did – but perhaps you can have a nice sushi chef make you a few pieces of heaven to try the next time you have the chance.

“I Can’t Drive 55″ – Sammy Hagar. For the duration of my driving life, this was my religion. I quite often would exceed the speed limit to the point of wondering why there even was one. I’ve had an epiphany. Driving the speed limit is actually useful, and has many benefits. Once again, I’ll elaborate.

Recently, I had to take a short trip to Wilkes-Barre – which takes me exactly 45 minutes. I’ll explain my use of the word exactly momentarily, for now take my word for it. I decided just prior to going, for reasons that I will keep to myself that are above and beyond the reasons stated in this post, that I would shelf my racing gloves for this trip. So, how long will it take me to get to Wilkes-Barre going the speed limit nearly the entire way? I’m glad you asked.

Benefit #1: Consistent speeds expedite travel time calculations.

I am taking for granted that going the speed limit will allow for greater consistency of average speed over large distances. But I have a few reasons to back up this assumption. 1) The simple fact that going 85MPH is not legal will sometimes cause inconsistencies in speed. For example, when driving through an area that is known to have police officers in parked police cars waiting for people going 85 you will inevitably slow down. 2) Most cars (unless modified) are not meant to take corners at 85. 3) Weather and road conditions may sometimes inhibit going 85.

So, full-well-knowing that I’d be averaging 65 on my way to Wilkes-Barre, and knowing the distance between my house and my destination allowed for concise calculation of travel time. So, I was able to burn a new CD (more on this later) which was timed out so that I could listen to all the songs without missing a song, nor listening to one twice, for the amount of time it would take to get to my destination. Which was pretty cool.

Being almost out of gas didn’t help either. With gas prices on the rise, I wanted to see if I could save a few cents on gas. Buying gas in Wilkes-Barre has almost always proved to be slightly cheaper than buying it locally. Not that I don’t want to support local businesses, but when it comes to gas, the best price wins my patronage.

Benefit #2: Fuel efficiency.

Most cars, not all, are rated for their best gas mileage at 65mph. This means that your car will use less fuel and maintain a cooler temperature running at said speed. This is not usually due to horsepower, but rather gearing. American made cars are generally geared to be most efficient at the average highway speed of 65. Whereas German produced vehicles, which can take advantage of the Autobahn, are geared for higher speeds. The difference between most consumers vehicles is in fact; gearing ratio.

Of course, on occasion there is some mandatory maintenance to automobiles. The oil should be changed from time-to-time, tires rotated/replaced, and many other little fixins’. Just recently I had a transmission take a mechanical poop on me, due to misuse and time.

Benefit #3: Less aggravated wear and tear.

If you don’t push a machine to it’s limits, and operate it within certain parameters set out by the manufacturer; chances are the machine will last longer. For instance, push the Channel up (+ or ^) on your Television remote control 5 times. Pushing it again, you should get the same results the 6th time. The remote control was designed for each of it’s buttons to be pushed many times, even rapidly at times. Now, hit the same button 1 more time, this time applying about 1,500lbs. of pressure. No doubt, the remote will break into a few hundred pieces. My point? Cars are designed with specific purposes in mind. Exceeding those purposes can put a huge amount of strain on the car. Do you know how much your car weighs? Look it up sometime – you’ll drop to your knees and kiss your break pads once you see what they actually slow down and stop.

In my region of the Blue Planet, we don’t have an extraordinary amount of endangered species. However, you could actually save a species from extinction by how fast your traveling. Over the edge? Exaggeration? Not hardly. I can almost guarantee that more White Tailed Deer are killed each year by car then all the hunters in our area. Our drivers are far more efficient with a bumper than they are with an arrow or bullet.

Benefit #4: Saving the whales.

I don’t drive on water, but you get my point. When a car is tested before sale, there are certain specs that a car is graded for. Things like acceleration, braking etc. Some manufacturers even release information such as “feet to stop”. So I would know that if I was traveling at 65, and literally slammed on the brakes, I would stop within 25 feet (not an actual or educated guess, just an example). If I was going 85, it would take 40 feet, let’s say. If an animal jumps out at you and your going 85, chances are your going home with some meat. Or a truck will have to bring your car home.

There are many more benefits, that I don’t need to elaborate on. Stating the cons will then reflect the pros, as I will do below.

• Speeding Tickets
• Tire wear
• Accidents

These are just a few.

When it comes to tailgating Chris used to be an expert. I wanted to keep tailgating separate from speed, as you do not need to speed to tailgate.

What is tailgating? For those of you unfamiliar with this term, tailgating is when you drive entirely too close to the car in front of you, leaving very little room for error. Although I am not an advocate of this behavior, I am certainly not innocent. I’ve caught myself on more than one occasion being able to read the odometer of the driver ahead of me. Exaggerating? Yes. But I am sure that Chris has been able to determine whether the driver ahead of him had eaten garlic that day or not. He drives so close that sometimes he asks the driver if he minded him changing radio stations.

More to the point, tailgating allows for very little room for error. This error may not be your own mind you, other drivers are of more danger to you than yourself. Of this you can be sure. If a driver all of the sudden decides that he/she wanted to turn down the road that they are currently passing, and slams on the breaks, your SOL. This happened to me on the way to work one morning, fortunately I was just far enough away that only our bumpers touched. I knew in the back of my mind I had been fortunate, because I was going faster than I should have been. The woman in front of me realized that it was her fault for slamming on the breaks, and so she was very nice about the situation. In our state, as far as I am aware, if you hit someone from behind it’s almost always your fault.

I didn’t set out to make a point, or to change anyone’s habits. Yet – I am going to make a concerted effort to slow down, back up and take it easy. Leaving early, planning the trip and keeping a clear head are all good actions of protection.

[tags]life, driving, good form, repost[/tags]

I’m sure some of you out there do a fantastic job of utilizing each and every feature of everything you own – but I know that I don’t – and I’d like to start trying. Here is a few examples of products that I think go under utilized by many people.

Oh, by the way, I’ll be staying away from the obvious one, your computer. Nearly everyone I know with a computer uses it for “email and eBay”. The computer is the most under-utilized product of all time. But, I said I wasn’t going to mention that.

Here is another big one. Your digital camera. At the time of this writing we have two digital cameras in our household, one for taking stills or landscapes, another for quick shots on the go.

If your digital cameras are anything like mine they come with a fairly extensive user-manual that I’ve almost never fully examined. If there was a button on the camera that I failed to recognized, I’d take out the manual and look it up – but that would be the extent of my reading of the manual. Digital cameras have tons of great features to help you the best possible photos in any given situation. Obviously many digital cameras ship with a few superfluous features like automatically adding cute little frames to your photos, etc. – but more often than not – your digital camera has some great features that you are simply not utilizing. Myself included.

Another under utilized tool would be your Tivo, if you have one. At least in my case, I rarely use Tivo for anything other than recording the shows I really like. Most of the time, if I really like the show, I watch it live and I have the Tivo in place for watching the same show twice. Eliza uses the Tivo much more efficiently than I do since she records more shows and her favorite football games each week – but what about the other 23 hours in the day that the Tivo sits there doing almost nothing? Could it be recording a few cooking shows to use as a guide for dinner that evening? The do-it-yourself painting show to let you know how to paint your kitchen? Or even the special on moths indigenous to the northeastern United States? Ok, maybe I won’t find that program – but you get the point.

Living room electronics, although not as common as things like digital cameras, also go under-utilized by many. What I mean by living room electronics is the combination of your television, DVD players, and surround sound systems. Thanks to retail stores like Best Buy and Circuit City a fair amount of people do have surround-sound systems in their living rooms. Most of them consist of 1-price packages like a “Sony setup” or a “Bose-system”, most of which are crap – but yet they put out a far better quality sound than the two speakers in your TV.

Most of these speaker systems come with detailed instructions on how to setup them up for proper acoustics in your home. Many of them have presets for specific media like DVDs, music on CD, and the sound coming through your TV. But yet most people simply plug everything in, turn the volume up to 11, and listen to a severely distorted version of the T-Rex getting running in Jurassic Park. At least that is what I do. Maybe what I should be doing is carefully setting the system up to get the best, and clearest, quality sound from what I’ve spent so much money on.

I suppose my point is this. If you’ve paid money, any amount of money, for a product – maybe it’d be worth spending some time getting the most use out of it, before you replace it with a bigger, better version with more features you won’t end up using. I’m going to try to do the same.

I’m not saying that living simple is difficult because you wish to have more “stuff” than you need, it is the fact that if you don’t pay constant attention to things, “stuff” creeps up on you.

Take for instance some old reference books I have laying around. In front of me I have Beginning PHP 4, and the Javascript Bible 3rd Edition. Neither of which I’ve bothered to open for years. Both of which are out dated. Both of which hold little more value than kindling for the next fire (if I even had a fire place). And both are taking up space in my apartment.

These aren’t the big space wasters in our apartment though. Winter clothes, jackets, air conditioners (in the Winter especially), half-full freezers, shelves of extra bathroom products, golf clubs that could use to see some grass, old computer equipment, bins full of cables and wires, and hundreds of DVDs are just a few things that are taking up space in our apartment almost needlessly. Granted, some of these things are time specific necessities, but like I said – if you do not keep a critical eye on your things they can get out of hand.

Why live simply? Eliza and I enjoy the freedom of living simply. Less bills, more fun we always say. We’ve done fairly well so far too. We both have our hobbies and interests, and so we have things to quench those thirsts, but overall we’re not the type of people to try to get involved in “everything”. Some people, and we know a few, try to do everything everyone else does. Not only is that expensive and a waste of time, it’s boring. Get your own interests, do your own things, and be yourself. Much funner that way. Yeah, I said funner.

Anyway, back on topic. Eliza and I have been chatting about chucking some things, cleaning up the rooms and going through each thing to weigh its value to space ratio and giving it to the garbage men if need be. Can you tell it is spring? Again, we don’t have a lot of stuff, but we don’t have a lot of room either. And, we both think it is time to be out with the old, and in with the new.

For instance, we’ve been wanting to make our own wine for a very long time. This spring we’re taking a trip to the Finger Lakes again, so we’ll be able to stock up when we are there, but we still want to have some space to make our own batch or two of wine. To do this, we must make room. To make room, things must go.

I think we’ll start tonight, with the kitchen. Not necessarily to get rid of things, but more to take stock of what we actually have and perhaps move things around a little to fit better. As we buy things, like new pots and pans, our organization sometimes goes a little haywire. Time to rethink that.

Do you find yourself having too much “stuff”? Do you purge?

Note: Some have been having problems leaving comments. Not sure why, but I reuploaded the worpdress commenting script, even though I think it was an issue with the server. If you are having trouble commenting, please contact me and let me know.

[tags]life, organization, cleaning[/tags]