I've find myself at dinner on more than one occasion, semi-embarrassed, without cash, out of all places at a cash-only restaurant requiring a temporary loan. I don't know about you but I simply don't carry that much cash on my person these days. Repaying that short-term loan can be awkward when it comes to writing a check and / or finding a far away ATM which always leads to dark alleys plus the extra charges so I try to avoid that as much as possible. I don't know too many friends that have used Wells Fargo or Chase's application to send and receive cash because not too people actually bank at the same place and when it comes to credit unions, forget about it.
For all those awkward moments, we now have Square Cash. It's a free service (no hidden charges) that allow individuals to send and receive cash via e-mail. Yup, seriously. Money is transferred via one debit card to another up to increments of $250 on a weekly basis but with a simple verification of identity, you can send up to $2500 a week! No password or account setup is required and the app is available on either iOS or Android. Deposits happen fast within one to two days but Square is promising faster service in the near future.
The only caveat is that you have to trust Square to handle your transaction. So if anything, make sure your e-mail account password is a tad bit more secure when using the service but either than that, Square has had an awesome track record with their merchant business in detecting fraud through strong security measures and close human and machine monitoring. Start e-mailing cash today!
Square Cash is the quickest, simplest method I’ve seen for sending money from one person to another.
From everyday's hassle free Gazelle to sometimes can be creepy craigslist, everyone is all about getting the bets bang for their used item. As new entrant to the market, Sold is here to make it that much easier for us all. Check them out! They just released an app for Android and has had an iOS app since their launch in April.
If you missed it a couple of months ago, Techcrunch first reported Sold back in April here.
update: the first item I put up on Sold was a pair of Tokidoki Sol Republic Headphones that retail for $120 and the offer I got was $53. Seems reasonable for a "no hassle" sale, but I'm thinking that it's utility is worth more. It's actually unopened as well. Once you receive an offer, in my case 72 hours later, you have 24 hours to accept and being the transfer. I have 12 left to decide.
When it comes to buying your eggs at Vons or Ralphs or at any local grocer, which way do you lean? Are you paying the extra $1 a crate or $0.25 an egg for the free range or organic dozen?
Did you vote yes on Proposition 2 back in 2008 stating that farmers must increase cage sizes for chickens, veal calves and pigs by 2015. If you did, you'd be helping a great deal by off setting this cost by spending the extra dollars. In theory, everything proves to be a great idea, but with an economy such as ours, counting every nickel becomes priority.
But when people vote one way, then vote a different way with their fork, they unintentionally undermine the very agricultural changes they’re rooting for.
Because of the dichotomy between what voters say they want, versus the reality of how they shop, the California egg industry faces ruin. The situation was recognized as being so serious, in fact, that state legislators passed another law, AB1437, requiring that all eggs sold in California must comply with bigger cage standards.
When I asked a couple of friends through Facebook or Twitter on their opinions on a specific camera choice, I got an overwhelmingly response. They all gave great insights coupled with personal experiences and I just wanted to post my experience and my gratitude. First the twitter story.
Now a post from a great friend from High School.
I'm actually shooting with an Olympus Pen EP-3
(with misc panasonic/ oly/ third party Micro-Four Thirds lenses)
The NEX-7 is a nice camera, but Sony's native lens selection is kind of lacking. It's worthy of praise because you can use old manual lenses that benefit from Sony's focus peaking. Also, due to the large APS-C sensor size and flang mount in relation to a streamlined body, the NEX lenses are designed to be inherently big. It feels like handling a smart-phone with a soda-can attached. Kind of defeats the purpose of a smaller form factor when there's little to no native compact pancake lenses available. Plus, they try to bury every feature in the menu screen, requiring a proprietary learning curve... if only it worked like an apple product.
The OM-D EM-5 is pretty much an evolution of the EP-3. A compact Micro-four thirds camera with some "raise-the-bar" type features like the 5-axis stabilization, weatherproofing, fast rate viewfinder etc... The stabilization provided some extra stops for low-light hand-held shots. (Great for non-flash shots when your child is an infant, and better hand-held when the little one takes off running) In the flesh, this thing is pretty small. It's about the same size as my EP-3 sans the view-finder hump. I'd say MFT cameras had a lot of catching up to do in the last couple of years, but the current generation MFT cameras are the shit.
As for the full-frame 5D's:
No one will argue against the Mark III as the current industry standard. (And some confess: most of the time it's just to appease the clients). As a matter of fact, I was introduced to the smaller MFT cameras from a bunch of guys who have to lug around 5D's for a living. From a practical standpoint, the Mark III is a big investment on just a body when most of us don't get paid to do this. Not to mention, once you get the essential full-frame lenses you'll be lugging around a lot of equipment, averaging the cost of a Hyundai under the baby stroller. Try to chase your toddler around with all that.
To conclude, you should base your decision on what you like to shoot and the overall system. The body is pretty much dated in a year or two since the consumer camera industry is as, if not more fickle than the computer industry.
^Being a gear-head, I'm sure you already know all this but I figured I'd share my thoughts anyway. Good luck with the camera shopping man, there's a lot great choices. Just make sure you do it soon so you'll have a handle on the hardware before the baby starts to grow up quick.
Let me know what you go with and if u have any questions on the MFT side of things. And read up...we're all biased in some way.
What another awesome excuse for a post. If you haven't entered before or even seen a post here on elijahnicolas.com in regards to DCRainmaker's blog giveaway, check it out again. More specifically, check out the post here or just click on the picture of the Garmin 310XT below. Ending tonight at 11:59pm Eastern, Ray Maker is giving away another Garmin 310XT. What makes his giveaways awesome is that he is actually purchases these gifts for his followers. If I start rolling into that kind of dough, I'm PROMISE, I will start doing the same. Granted his blog is amazing in terms of reviews and just overall content so I have a lot to learn.
Here's to making three entries for the latest and greatest!
Since the New Year's, I was finally able to pick up my car, meet a new friend named Jacob and take more pretty cool pictures using my Canon S90. We'll go in chronological order.
If you don't remember what I did to my car last November, you can refresh yourself with some "before" video recorded by Qik on my iPhone. Of course, I posted an "after" video of the finished product because it was just about 2 months since I've driven the beast and I was excited to take delivery! Summing it up, I got what I wanted on my BMW 5.28iT Sport Wagon; an upgraded BMW E39 M5 Front bumper paired with Xenon Fog lamps as well as updated Angel Eye Headlights w/ clear corners! It all couldn't have been possible without the awesome help of Todd at Performance Auto Collision (company website / kudzu review) in Alpharetta, Atlanta who kept me up to date with the entire process and prevented Geico from using shady/cheaper third party parts, Umnitza - who provided the parts but I can't say it was without hardship in communication and transaction and of course Manoj who dropped me off to see my finished product.
Season 3 Episode 18 of HBO's Entourage is definitely the one to watch for an uplifting feeling. The feeling that one can relate to Johnny Drama is hits home. From failing reviews to how what those who judge mean nothing while everyone else's (the layman) opinion mean everything. I'm still on the Airtran flight commuting home and have another ~30 minutes until touchdown in San Diego.
I was able to sell my David Clark Headset that I never used for a good 20% Discount of retail in just 2 days after posting them in the company classified intranet. I'm definitely happy with the price I got and now, I'm just in the mood to cleaning out the closet again. There are a lot of things just lying around and although the DVD sale didn't take off on Amazon.com, I'm just going to list what I can on eBay. I've listed my older Treo 650 for $75 but got nothing so far. It's a little disappointing since I bought the device for $600 just 3.5 years ago, but that's the way electronics depreciate I guess.
I got my car back today from the dealership and have my job cut out for me. Or at least I can say that Kurt and I have our jobs cut out in the fact that there are two oils leaks that I have to repair hopefully in the next month or so. The oil pan gasket on my E30 doesn't seem that difficult, but something about the rear engine seal is definitely going to take about an entire day to work on especially since I'll have to guess what parts I need in advance so my car isn't disabled while we wait for a shipment of goodies. Anyone out there with an '88 E30 iC just drop me a line with some DIY instructions as I'm in need to save as much as possible by not getting the stealership repair it and not buying a new car that comes with a monthly payment.
Well, things are good. We had a great surprise party that was thrown by Ms. Buffington and Ms. Pitfick last Friday at an awesome bowling / dance club style place, the cake that they surprised us with was tremendous and I'm up and running at 100MPH once again.
Of course, right as that happens, my car takes a dump and I had to tow it today to the BMW Dealership. Who knows what I'm going to end up with now. Oh yeah, the latest attempts (2 times now) to help Manoj get an iPhone have been failures due to everyone else wanting one and the lines at the Apple store just never ending. AT&Ts in Atlanta have all sold out and it's really just been too much fun.
I'll upload some pictures from the party and update this entry once I get them from the camera and onto the computer. I also just got a wind of the potential shcedule that I might have in August. Once, it's final, I'll try to upload it. Till then, I'll write more later on. It's freaking 3:00AM and I've just not been sleeping! Gotta clean the up the mess the tornado left in my room!
It's finally here; The Simple, Modern Sorapot by Joey Roth. Mr. Roth sold out the first 300 and with the 2nd batch, he included a pack of some of his favorite tea from The Simple Leaf; a sample 1 oz pack of Honeybee Nepal Oolong. That to me was more than worth the wait. He had the kindness to notify me and ask if I could wait, and I agreed. What else could you do as a customer but accept his reward for not minding to wait? That's customer service right from the top. Now, for the details. I arrived home after a long 4 day trip not expecting anything except my Surefire G2 LED Replacement Flashlight and low and behold, something else was awaiting my unwrapping!
The first picture is of the Mr. Roth Seal on top of the outer packaging. Not much to say here except that the package weighed in at 5 lbs. Next, compensation for the long wait was a 1 oz. bag of tea and a coupon for my next order at The Simple Leaf which was perfect because I haven't found a great place in Atlanta to buy some fresh leaves just yet. I faintly remember that there was a place in the Lenox Square Mall, but it's just too far to go check out. Here's are two more pictures before you have to click on more to keep on reading. Check out the string and the innards!
Intricate but simple. I know that's an oxymoron, but that word alone sums up the amount of detail that I believe had to of transpired in the overall package design. Untying the box was such a joy but opening the egg crate box to reveal what was inside was that much better. The directions wrapped around the glass pot, that was awesome. Forget about the little small pamphlets that no one looks at! Unrolling this paper was just too good. Creative!
The lighted picture is the best that I could offer being that I'm still stuck using my measly 4.0 MP Sony DSC-P9. The first picture shows the final product sitting on top of the box ready to get dismantled and injected with some tea leaves! The final product couldn't have looked any better. The construction is flawless, but I have to say that the spout is a little harsh in that it isn't smooth like the rest of the steel. Doesn't seem like the finish was thorough, but either than that, nothing else was short of perfect. More than a conversational piece, it's just an awesome pot. The second picture shows the steel casing unscrewed and the glass taken out. Conveniently coupled with my Zojirushi Water Boiler, I just have to put some leaves in, reassemble the device and then pour the hot water in and wait. It was meant to be!
There next two pictures show the Sorapot before the water ready to go with leaves inside, and the next with the tea brewing away! The tea was a little dry and I have yet to perfect the master brew, but being my first try, I was more than happy to get going and drink away.
This piece will definitely stay with me throughout the my travels and will always sit alongside my favorite items. It's not just art...it's simple but wonderful at the same time. Fulfilling if you want to call it. I just think that everyone should get one already and help out Joey Roth because he is the man.
If you want high quality, detailed pictures, as mine do not give the Sorapot it's well deserved recognition, head over to the official site: Sorapot - a Simple, Modern Teapot
Now if he every produces his teacups, count me in to complete my coffee table set.
For anyone that is drinking tea, wants to start drinking tea or for anyone that is even slightly interested in the world of teas, you can jump start your hobby with this new tea pot designed by artist Joey Roth. After almost a full year of constant retooling, Joey Roth has finalized the design and has made the Sorapot available with an initial run of 300 pots. There's not much else that you can say about the pot except for the fact that its beautiful! It's something that you can display, converse about and even watch as your tea leaves unfurl in the glass tube. Not ever has tea been brewed this elegantly. Some people are already referring to this pot as the one that would have been if designed by apple. What do you guys think?
Below is a picture of the final design for the Sorapot.
Ever since I became a Regional Airline Pilot, I have succumb to a simple life. I didn't have one that was too extravagant I might say but of course, others have had a difference of opinion. I ended up selling my Mercedes C55 AMG because I no longer wanted to bear the responsibility of the monthly payment (not that I was making it either while in school) but I felt like it was time. I will also be transporting my car bar to my mom from Atlanta and driving once more the 1985 Turbo Diesel! I'm excited to be driving that car again, but getting it there is one thing. I'm too sure exactly how I might accomplish this car swap, but we'll see how it goes.
To date, I have been spending less and less and becoming a little more frugal with my cash flow as it has been restrained by the paychecks that the airline provides me. Even though I am as skilled as I feel I am (BS degree and professional airline piot training) I'm forced to be dealt the cards of a poverish wage. It'll be a while before I can ball it up again, but I will once more. It'll just be by slower and different means. I have been able to experience the good life and I am more than eager to get back there. I do feel a sigh of relief and look foward to just being simple. I hardly buy clothes anymore or things (although I want the new PS3 and no I didn't get an iPhone) but we'll see how things go in the next few years. It's going to be an interesting ride!
Supposedly August 7th is a good day to keep in mind for new and upcoming Apple products...we'll see what ALPA and ASA provides for the pilots in the next few weeks.
I decided that I should finally get my 10K mile service this morning right after the Valdosta Nap that I had. I'm not that tired just yet but I guess that I should be especially after having only 2.5 hours of sleep. I've been slacking when it comes to the daily things such as bills, car washes, you know...the basic stuff. I've been spending a lot of time just traveling and relaxing a little bit. Today marks the last day of my relax schedule as you can see if you click on my July Schedule, I'll be flying around 96 hours and some change. It's going to be a doozy and I guess if you were to take in the time that I am "On Duty," I'll be working more than 40 hours a week when you compare it to the normal worker bee. Make sure that you look at the calendar and see if you are going to be at the cities that I will be having a layover at and if you are, leave a comment...Let's have dinner.
I was driving yesterday to work while the thunderstorms were surrounding Atlanta and of course, we were delayed by a few hours. What do you expect you know? But one the way to the parking lot, I had my windows down and the driver next to me in a Honda Accord coupe looked at me, and rubbed in fingers together in a way while saying, "You making the ends eh?" I was just laughing a little bit, but I have to admit that I'm a little irritated that people or the general public still think that pilots make a lot. It provides for the perception that since we make so much that 1) We don't care about the passengers 2) We are too good to be them 3) We don't deserve the raises that we are fighting for. It makes us look spoiled and in fact, I have to think twice if I can buy a stupid value meal at McDonald's for breakfast which in fact I just did and it was good. We couldn't even get breakfast at the hotel this morning because they don't start the service until 0700! We left at 0545 of course to go get ready. The fact is is that ALPA needs to begin informing the public a little bit better at the airports or something. I mean, it'll definitely be a while if not it'll take me my entire life to achieve the American Dream if I just sit back and hang out at the airports.
I was on top of the iPhone news debut yesterday and am still frantically thinking about getting one. I can't believe it because I can't afford it, but damn...all the videos look sick! I guess I'll do better as long as I don't go to the store and look at one. I heard that once you touch it, you can't let it go. Damn this tech addiction!
Anyways, like I might have mentioned a few days ago, I'm going to try and be better in updating this blog. Please leave you comments and stuff and it'll motivate me even more.
I tell everyone that commuting is worth the "better" life in San Diego and as long as I keep telling myself that, the 10 hours that I spend traveling back and forth is all the more worth it. I find myself spending less on gas which is awesome but a little more on food. I haven't done any grocery shopping though lately and my workout routine is suffering a little bit. I have yet to study for the new endeavor into the Air National Guard but we'll see how that pans out. I've got the books coming to me this week .
These last two days I've been eating a lot of hamburgers again and loving it. I just started spending more money too which isn't the best thing financially, but my stomach is definitely more happy! Last night in Fort Wayne, Indiana I headed out to a Bar / Club named "Club 412" and had two pints of beer along with an awesome cheeseburger. I had two pints of the Blue Moon Honey Special which was actually really good. I definitely enjoyed the night but I find myself having a little too much of alone time. Even this evening as I ate dinner in the A Concourse, I realized that being a pilot really takes someone that likes to be alone. I mean, it's easy to meet people along the way, but it isn't conducive to creating long and everlasting friendships; it's a colleague here and a friend there. I'm not complaining but the ride as been so far so good.
I met a guy on the plane who told me about a possibility in the Border Patrol and that might be an interesting turn especially if I get to fly! We'll see where it goes!?
I also did a little bit of shopping the other day and found a good deal at Hollister for a brown long sleeve thermal looking shirt. I got it at 50% off for $12.90. Then of course, I ended up getting the bug and realized that I needed board shorts and since Pac Sun was having a 25% sale off of boardshorts, I got a new pair of Billabong shorts and a Hurley Shirt. That's as much shopping as I have done lately except for the all the pilot stuff that I've needed and it was nice.
I'm on the plane back to San Diego right now and am watching the HBO Series "Extras" which is a hit in Britain. I have to say that it's just simply hilarious! It's by the creator the Office and the comdy is just excellent. I'm sure that it'll become a show in th US sometime soon and depending of the actors, I'm sure that it'll take off right away.
