“Free” Groceries And Prayers
We won the Idaho Lottery. Only $100, but it bought groceries. It was a nice surprise Sunday morning…
Our latest grandson “Grif”, who was born August 8 is still in the hospital in Boston. There were some complications during pregnancy. If all goes well he will be able to go home later this week. Your prayers are welcome…
© 2009 Moody Publishing Co
Self-Charging Cell Phones — Free Energy?
I just found this article on cnet, Australia about a self-charging cell phone being developed by Nokia. The system would collect all the ambient radio waves given off by all the antennas, TV masts and other broadcasting equipment that surrounds us every day and use that energy to charge the cell phone.
The concept is not completely new. The Palm Pre, which was released in June uses a similar concept for its Touchstone charging block.
The basic concept for this “free energy” idea was dreamed up by Nicola Tesla in the early 1900’s. His idea was to broadcast radio waves into the atmosphere and have a receiver in each home set to pick up, amplify and use the energy from these broadcasts to power a home, building, etc – all using the free energy his radio signals would generate. It would take over 70 years, thanks to computers and more sophisticated technology to begin to make his idea a reality.
As it is, Tesla literally created the foundation for the technical world we enjoy today by inventing the alternating current generators that provide electricity to our homes and a lot of the circuitry that is the basis for radio, television and satellite technology.
Who knows, in another 20 years Teslas dream of providing free energy to the world might become a reality. Might be fun to witness.
© 2009 Moody Publishing Co
Saving Money One Item At A Time
The Saturday Market is a weekly column that highlights interesting products from throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
While we are sworn to keep the true identity of The Shopping Nazi a secret, there is a real, live person behind the website, who is an expert at sniffing out value. He began his career at a local non-profit organization as a mild mannered associate. When he was asked to go on a shopping expedition with the chef his true identity began to emerge as he questioned every purchase with an eye to reducing costs.
After a couple of weeks, he reduced the food budget in half, while maintaining and even improving the quality of the products the organization was buying. Now, through The Shopping Nazi website, he shares his valuable insights several times a week, searching for value one item at a time.
© 2009 Moody Publishing Co
Welcome To Friday
Another week gone. Incredible. As I get older I always wonder where the days go. I’m not ready to ride off into the sunset, yet, but I do enjoy watching it from a distance…
Terri and me at Julia Davis Park, Boise
For those who wonder, I write these columns on Friday, Sunday and Monday each week. If something incredible crosses my desk in the mean time I will share. Nothing incredible, yet this week, unless you count going to bed at 6PM, yesterday and waking up at 4AM. 10 hours of sleep. That may be why I feel so lucid at the moment…
OK, for those who have been curious…
My favorite TV show: Boston Legal. Excellent ensemble cast and a great sense of humor – if not the bizarre. Kinda sad that ABC decided to cancel it…
Favorite Movie(s): Medicine Man with Sean Connery, Wag The Dog puts a great spin on things, and for a great satire on the state of television in 1976 and today, Network
Favorite Blogs and media websites: Idaho Radio News, Blatherwatch (Seattle radio) and Radio Daily News.
ONE of my favorite newspapers: The Minneapolis Messenger. My father grew up in Minneapolis, Kansas. He is gone, now, but I like to keep up on what’s happening there.
© 2009 Moody Publishing Co
Back In Boise
Back home and back to work. I still haven’t adjusted to getting up at 4 in the morning. I doubt I ever will. In some ways I envy those who can. I worked for two radio personalities who did the morning drive shows on their stations. They managed to do it for over 30 years. Amazing. There has to be a little bit of insanity there somewhere…
While I was driving back home, yesterday, I was talking with a friend of mine who works at an inbound call center (there are ALOT of them in Boise). In spite of how they appear (you are just sitting at a desk and answering calls all day), they can be mentally and psychologically draining – sometimes because of inconsiderate customers and sometimes because of the drudgery of taking one call after another for 8 hours…
He was telling me how he and his wife (who works at the same call center) have to literally force themselves to go to work every day. It is especially difficult because he is an entrepreneur at heart and was working for himself until this recent economic downturn. There is something to be said for being in charge of your own financial destiny…
He and I are going to get together later this week to see if we can create a marketing/escape plan for him. This should be fun!
NOTE: The reason there are so many call centers in Boise, according to senior managers, is because we have no “regional accent”. I guess that’s a good thing…
© 2009 Moody Publishing Co
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