Handstands Across America

"The 4-Hour Workweek" Book Review

2009-06-17T18:56:00.036-04:00

I just finished the The 4-Hour Workweek, which is saying a lot because In my reading list is not all that impressive. In the last few years, I finished a total of like 3 books. The The Da Vinci Code, Choke, and I attempted to read Atlas Shrugged (and only got about 200 pages in).

In the Beginning (of the book)

The book really dragged for me in the beginning as Timothy tried to brag, but not brag about everything he has done. He lists how he has won a kickboxing championship, a world record holder in tengo, went to Princeton (but didn't finish until he came back after a break) and owns his company BrainQUICKEN. This was annoying, but it soon passed, and some decent knowledge began to trickle through.

The "New Rich" (NR)

The "New Rich" are the type of people who have setup business that can run without oversight, or the owner's time. They are people who live with a series of "mini-retirements" rather than vacations, and cut out the extra fat from their life. This being things they don't need whether it be a job, or possessions, or anything.

Becoming part of the "New Rich" - Cutting out Time Wasters

One of the biggest thing Timothy Ferris suggests is to cut out all time wasters. This being emails. He suggests that you only check email at certain times and make sure this is known by everyone. If someone constantly tries to start conversations without a purpose, tell them you have something you're in the middle of and ask them to send you an email. He loves email because it either makes the person define a problem instead of running in circles, or has them go ahead and figure it out on their own.

Outsourcing your Life

It almost gets to the point of hilarity, but he suggests that you should outsource work that is purely time consuming and not something you need to do. He suggests getting someone in India, or elsewhere to do it, based on the costs. For about $X a week, you can have someone working full-time for you who could do research on a certain topic, do scheduling, whatever. My two favorites were when he used one of his outsourced employees to write part of a chapter in the book, and when he cited someone using a outsourced employee to send their wife flowers, and apologize for him.

What's the goal?

He sums up the goal is to free yourself of the burdens of what people "assume" they must do, and then enjoy life. He defines enjoying life as "loving, being loved and always learning" which I would pretty much agree with.

A-

Final Thoughts and Grade

I thought this book had a lot of really good quotes and ideas, and would highly recommend it. On a grading scale I gave it an A- because it contains a lot of really cool ideas that I liked, but I did not like his tone in the beginning of the book. There is a lot more in the book that I found important, but I did not mark those sections as I read. Being the first book review I have done, I will attempt to "doggy-ear" pages when I read next time so I will have exact quotes.

If you have an office job, and feel like it could be better, I would definitely go grab it down at your local library or on Amazon.

June 12 of 12

2009-06-13T11:26:00.002-04:00

8:20 am - Reminder Text [Flickr]
Google Calendar helped remind me about 12 of 12 by sending me a text message.

10:00 am - Morning Coffee [Flickr]
Orioles over the Nats any day.

1:00pm - Office Space [Flickr]

3:00pm - Laundry Complete! [Flickr]
Laundry seems to take forever.

5:37 pm - My Packing Skillz [Flickr]
I have to get real luggage. Using a crate is kinda "ghetto".

6:30 pm - Kristen at the Helm [Flickr]
I-85 northbound to Ashland, VA.

8:30 pm - Wendys [Flickr]
Road trips do not equate to healthy eating.

9:35 pm - View of Harpers Gentlemens Club and Exotic Carwash [Flickr]
You read that right... Exotic Carwash. We dropped off Kristens roommate to go hang out in Greensboro with her brother, and this is their drop off spot. The brother called. "I've been here forever, where are you!" "We're 2 exits away" "Well hurry up, I feel like I'm going to get mugged."

9:42 pm - Exactly 124,000 miles [Flickr]
Kristen's Car is perfectly at 124,000 miles at the gas station. Lucky number of the day.

12:46 am - Sheetz for a pit stop [Flickr]
Bathroom - Check, Slushie - Check, Doughnut - Check, and we wonder why America is fat... Cause we're pigs!

1:29 am - That took way too long [Flickr]
This trip took 7.5 hours, oh man what a lonng drive.

1:30 am - "Home" for the weekend! [Flickr]
Made it to Ashland, VA. Time for this overtime 12 of 12 to be over!

Under Construction

2009-06-11T08:31:00.004-04:00

If you are brave enough to actually get to this, I consider you a true friend, or this is purely an odd coincidence. I'm currently re-doing my page and it looks like absolute crap. The main reason I'm blogging here though is because I'm falling down on the "new posts" list on www.urizone.net and it is very important for me to not fall off. Also, 12 of 12 is coming up tomorrow!

Welcome to My South Carolina Home

2009-06-03T21:09:00.005-04:00

My South Carolina Apartment[View Slideshow]

Welcome to my Living Room [Flickr]

Maybe you like this corner of the ceiling better? [Flickr]

Why are You Sitting on the Floor? [Flickr]

Deck with Bike [Flickr]

Open Kitchen and Living Room [Flickr]

Kristen has discovered that she really likes thai food, so I made some tonight.

Thai Red Curry Chicken with Cilantro over Brown Rice [Flickr]

Artsy Shots?

2009-05-23T02:55:00.004-04:00

I played around with the camera tonight and got these two:

Fossil Watch at 110am [Flickr]
I'm trying to learn more about lighting, and this is a mix of lighting tricks and Photoshop.

Alvarez Guitar [Flickr]

Upcoming Handstands

2009-05-23T00:49:00.004-04:00

In the next 8 weeks, we should get handstands in...

Shenandoah National Park
Charlotte, NC
Raleigh, NC
Outer Banks, NC
Smokey Mountain National Park
...

Just giving ya'll the heads up. WATCH OUT for the ninja handstand kick!

Atlantic City - Jason's Bachelor Party

2009-05-20T17:24:00.006-04:00

We headed up to Atlantic City this past Saturday for Jason's Bachelor party...

[View Slideshow]

This SCREAMS Bachelor Party [Flickr]

Why so sad? [Flickr]

Johnny Rockets [Flickr]

Ballys Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA [Flickr]
After a delicious Johnny Rockets dinner in Atlantic City.

Caesars, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA [Flickr]
Mega windy, and kinda wet. Perfect boardwalk weather... not. So we hit the casinos.

Steven is SOO cool! [Flickr]

Heading Down into the Casino [Flickr]

...

Well, that was fun :-) Definitely lost too much gambling, but I had fun... Blackjack is EVIL!

Outside My Window

2009-05-06T20:03:00.003-04:00

2009-05 Outside My Window[View Slideshow]

I am up on the top floor of my new apartment and I have the birds, the bees and the rain visiting.

These HUGE Bumble Bee like things are EVERYWHERE [Flickr]

A peaceful nature backdrop [Flickr]

A branch in sunlight [Flickr]

Cleared for Landing [Flickr]

Virginia Cardinal in South Carolina [Flickr]

Cardinal Photo Op [Flickr]

Can we be friends? [Flickr]

May downpour off the roof [Flickr]

Drip [Flickr]

Afternoon Dove [Flickr]

HDMI Cable Prices

2009-04-30T21:44:00.002-04:00

This stuff is ridiculously priced! I got 3, 6 ft cables online for less than 10 dollars the other day... including shipping! Walmart ftl

Hot-Atlanta

2009-04-30T09:06:00.005-04:00

Atlanta[View Slideshow]

Kristen and I went on our first excursion to (Say in southern accent) Atlanta, Georgia this past weekend.

What's up ATL [Flickr]

Downtown Atlanta from our Perspective [Flickr]

World of Coca-Cola [Flickr]

Atlanta Aquarium Silhouette [Flickr]

Atlanta Aquarium (The OMG Window) [Flickr]

Atlanta Aquarium Tunnel - Atlanta, Georgia [Flickr]

Shark [Flickr]

Shark! [Flickr]

Nearly 20 foot long Whale Sharks [Flickr]

Handstand Portal [Flickr]

Another World [Flickr]

Shark! [Flickr]

Atlanta Aquarium Tunnel [Flickr]

Sting Ray [Flickr]

Kristen and Starfish [Flickr]

Piranas waiting for blood... [Flickr]

Where's Nemo? [Flickr]

Poisionous Fish [Flickr]

Atlanta Handstand [Flickr]

Greenville SC Nightlife...

2009-04-25T00:03:00.002-04:00

Wild Wings. More to follow...

5 Reasons why SC might not be too bad

2009-04-23T09:26:00.006-04:00

Reasons why SC isn't too bad:

Today
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday

Can you beat that forecast?

I got my keys last night.. but they didn't open my apartment. Better success today is hoped for today :-) My mom and bro will be in Atlanta this weekend, and it looks like Kristen and I might get to meet up with them on Saturday at "Six Flags Over Georgia". Sweeeeet.

Sales tax in South Carolina

2009-04-22T17:42:00.004-04:00

So, it bummed me out that I got charged sales tax on my 1 year supply of contacts I just bought from 1800contacts.com. It is the first thing that will be shipped to my new apartment, and they said because you're in SC, we'll charge you tax. Whaaat? Boo! I looked it up.... and found http://www.sctax.org/News+Releases/Archived+News+Releases/2000+News+Releases/04140001.htm. I did all of my Christmas shopping online last year and I very much hate the whole shopping experience. Hopefully SC did not just Tax my American Freedoms. I mean, I thought this was the most Red state that you could get, doesn't that mean less tax? I guess I'll figure it out. But this is your word of warning. Think twice before moving somewhere... make sure you don't get taxed on your internet purchases!

w00t! safely made it to

2009-04-22T00:14:00.002-04:00

w00t! safely made it to Greenville!

ben and jerry are on welfare!

2009-04-21T15:22:00.001-04:00

bogus! i want my ice cream!

Bristol, England

2009-04-21T08:39:00.004-04:00

I got an email yesterday from someone asking to use a picture I had taken of the Bristol Bridge in Bristol, England. It seems like I might get paid for it so it will be my first step into "professional" photography! I would put up the photo, but I want to see how this works first. I know they want sole rights to the image for 3 months, so I don't wanna break that. Pretty awesome though!

Here is a DIFFERENT image, that I took from the same night :-)

On another note, www.foreignaffairs.us IS a auto shop. I knew it had to be. I always see it driving down I-81 on my way to Virginia Tech. So, that mystery is solved :-)

Did you know?

2009-04-20T11:53:00.002-04:00

Milepost 159.15 is where the chesapeake bay watershed ends on I-81.

Foreign Affairs

2009-04-20T11:09:00.003-04:00

What is foreignaffairs.us? Exit 213B on I-81. I would guess an auto shop?

On my route to Greenville,

2009-04-20T11:06:00.002-04:00

On my route to Greenville, SC via I-81, I pass Greenville, VA | Blacksburg,VA | Blacksburg, SC | Greenville, SC. Whoa.

Blogger vs Twitter

2009-04-20T10:47:00.001-04:00

This is my first mobile blog post... because isnt this what twitter is for? I think I am going to start using this over twitter just because. What do you use?

Packing...

2009-04-19T00:38:00.001-04:00

Almost done packing! Will finish in the morning, and Monday morning it is bon voyage! Blacksburg -> South Carolina! It's crazy, but I'm pumped :-)

3 2 1 Contacts

2009-04-16T23:15:00.003-04:00

My vision history is pretty straightforward. I'm nearsighted. In 10th grade, I got glasses to see in the back of the class and such. A prescription of -1.25 in both eyes. Time went on, and my sophomore year of college I got contacts:

Baileys Crossroads Hour Eyes Prescription -> Not bad, but eventually ran out.

Christiansburg Eye Doctor Prescription -> Acuvue Oasys = Corneal Ulcer = Not Fun

Another Christiansburg Eye Doctor Prescription -> Focus Night and Day = Still Dry eyes, but better, -1.50 in the left eye, and -1.75 for the right = at most can wear them during the day, but really red eyes if I wear them for long

MacDonald Eye in Ballston today: "You don't need that much prescription, you are seeing better than 20/20 with -1.25 still, oh and these dont' fit very well, try this other kind... AND THEY FIT PERFECTLY. It was amazing, that feeling where you have contacts on but don't actually feel them. Wow, that makes sense. So Hopefully these will work out well when I get them! I went through so much discomfort and non vision because of shitty eye doctors. WTF.

It's nice outside

2009-04-14T23:59:00.006-04:00

So, today was pretty dreary on and off, but I had a good day none the less. I made a "checklist" to start my day, and got through most everything. I went for a run, I made a doctors appointment, did my laundry and so forth. I also went out tonight and saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in a long time. It was a good day, and I complement it on mixing things up, and getting off our butts to go do something. Sure, we're nerds and we can still "Tweet" or "Blog" about it, but it certainly provides better content than "I watched a re-run of 'Everyone Loves Raymond'" :-p

I met up with my friend Travis, Lisa and Z, as well as their friends Liz and Sam at Fodo's in Chinatown.

I Then managed to truck it out to Jammin Java in Vienna to see Stanley Chong's band "Taking Saturn". These guys are good. Drummer = Best one I know, Guitarist = Awesome, Singer & Bassist = Really good. They were really tight and put on a good show. I also liked the fact that they were genuine and nice. I thought they sounded like a mix of Blue October and Linkin Park. When I told people they sounded like Blue October after the show I got some weird faces, but hey, it's what I thought.

Check them out: http://www.myspace.com/takingsaturn

UPDATE: TwitPic is HIGHLY unreliable, this is now on flickr.

Backyard Life

2009-04-13T23:34:00.001-04:00

I took a lunch break and took some pictures in the yard today. Then tonight, I played around with a few, and here they are.

Pretty Flower [Flickr]

Perched Robin [Flickr]

April 2009 "12 of 12"

2009-04-12T23:19:00.005-04:00

April's 12 of 12 was on Easter Sunday. I mostly spent the day cleaning, and hanging out. It was a nice and sunny day, although it was slightly chilly at the same time. My cell phone failed on me and the pictures I did take didn't save correctly. This means no picture from playing tennis around noon, and no picture of Dan I jamming around after dinner. In any case, here is my official 12 of 12 for April. It was created using a new php script I just wrote!

10:10am | Breakfast [Flickr]
Mom was so nice to have made breakfast and left it for us lazy kids who slept in!

11:17am | Dad and "Kitty" [Flickr]
They have a understanding.

1:16pm | A well used piece of plastic. [Flickr]
I attempted to organize my electronics using this dresser because I have them scattered all over the place!

3:37pm | Grapes, a healthy snack. [Flickr]

4:35pm | Catnap [Flickr]
It definitely seemed like this would be a good idea, but I never got a chance to take one.

4:50pm | Dirty Car? [Flickr]
Today was overall cleaning day, and car cleaning was not left out.

7:27pm | Sunday Potluck [Flickr]
The food is always delicious and bountiful. It is always a highlight of the week :-)

7:29pm | Running away from the camera [Flickr]
"J" wanted to run away from the camera, and thoroughly like this game. He didn't like the idea not being able to play with the camera himself though.

7:32pm | Dan and Conor [Flickr]
They are always up to something.

8:17pm | Light games [Flickr]
Dan shows his perfected skills of light painting after dinner.

8:24pm | "Kids" [Flickr]
Here are most all of the kids of the Sunday potlucks. Lots of fun.

10:08pm | On the Bluetooth for a late call [Flickr]
I found my Bluetooth headset today while cleaning and put it to go use!