Jumping to Conclusions


Blog

For anyone who has seen Office Space, the thought of jumping to conclusions bings to mind the scene where one of the worst product ideas is featured on the silver screen. It’s funny, because the product is so terribly thought out. Like, seriously you cannot put all possibly solutions on a mat and you can’t […]

January 31, 2017

Negotiations


Blog

I’m a born sucker. I’ll take taken for a ride on any “deal” that comes my way, assuming it’s something I am planning to buy. Not sure why, but when I hear the amount people are asking for something, I either decide it’s the right price or that it’s too much. Right on the spot. […]

January 31, 2017

Subletting


Blog

I think we have a desirable apartment. We showed it to six or seven people so far and already two people have handed in applications to sublet. A few more expressed interest in doing so. And who wouldn’t want it? It’s a steal at the price for a two bedroom apartment in such a great […]

January 30, 2017

Zawacki Tobacki No Mo


Blog

On Friday I went to divvy up some of my first batch of Zawacki Tobacki and was met with quite a surprise. The whole bag was full of mold. That’s my life, isn’t it? I’m not entirely sure what caused the mold to grow. I mean, I know it has to do with mositure and […]

January 30, 2017

Subletters


Blog

I’ve been fielding a bunch of emails, texts, and calls from people who want to sublet our apartment. It seems like it’s going to be an easier deal than when we sublet the last one. But subletter are weird. I mean, they’re flaky but even before they have a chance to be flaky you can […]

January 26, 2017

Craigslist


Blog

Craigslist is a fascinating concept. It successfully digitized a part of the print newspaper industry. Some have argued that Craigslist is largely a part of newspaper’s decline, but at the end of the day what is important is that there is an online classifieds section for me to browse and post to for free when […]

January 25, 2017

Agenda


Blog

Today my agenda consists of two major things and both are the result of people not doing things they way they should have. The first is a lunch meeting with my boss and mentor. We are going to rework the development schedule for the year because my boss had us set the schedule and then […]

January 24, 2017

Welcome Back


Blog, Peace Corps

I sent a message to a railroad company the other day to see if I could get an idea about the number of and frequency of trains in a particular area. I got a response as from a customer service representative saying they forwarded my request to the appropriate person . They ended their email […]

January 23, 2017

Safety


Blog

As a tall, white male there are few places where I do not feel safe. I feel comfortable walking around Madison alone at all hours of the night. Also, as a man who spent two years in Ukraine, where the office staff stressed safety, I feel even more confident in my safety. My understanding is […]

January 20, 2017

A wrench in the plan


Blog

This morning I went to the board meeting, it went less smoothly than I anticipated. That’s good, though; that’s what I was asking for. The boardembers actually we’re questioning things. As it turns out, they had been meeting for an hour before I showed up, like usual. My boss has presented the proposed budget for […]

January 19, 2017