Sam on Maui

Yay! 10/15/10 measurements: Right Upper Arm - 14" Waist - 42" Hips - 45" Right Thigh - 26" 1/18/11 measurements Right Upper Arm - 13.25" (-.75) Waist - 41" (-1") Hips - 44.25" (-.75") Right Thigh - 25" (-1") Thank you Weight Watchers! Still working towards my 5% goal, but so far so good! :D

Tonight my friend Jonathan ran the finale game for Man of War III, a Napoleonic-era British Navy role-playing game. It was the culmination of a ten-year arc of three campaigns (Man of War I, II and III), tying up loose story ends and officially retiring the game. It was a very enjoyable game, especially because Jonathan always did a lot of research into historical events, ships, military, etc., to set the tone for the game (truth be told most of the players are history buffs anyhow). There were ship battles, espionage, trading, diplomacy, blowing up those darn Frenchies and more…

Well, after enough mulling it over, I'll be going with the Samsung Focus. Just to recap my bigger reasons why: The only thing I’m really worried about the Quantum is the slider keyboard. I’ve never had a phone with one before, so I’m worried about wear and tear. The Focus is one piece – no mechanical mechanisms to go awry. The Focus’ screen is nicer than the Quantum’s, and is a bit larger to boot. That would be easier on the eyes. The Focus has been called the best WP7 phone available for AT&T right now, and I’ve seen one article call it the second best phone for AT&T after the iPhone. My worries over the physical keyboard ended up being a deal breaker. Given my Centro's performance I fully expect the Focus to last more than my two-year obligation (which is more than I can say for the normal cheapy, "free with contract" phones I used to get). But the Centro is very simple, mechanically, unlike the LG Quantum. That slider is just one more thing that can go wron...

Well, its been a few months of thinking and pondering, but I’ve finally made up my mind about what kind of phone to get next. I have to admit, the market is full of options that would be great upgrades from my Palm Centro; the iPhone, Android, the Palm Pre, etc. So, come March, I’ll be getting a Windows Phone 7… er… phone.

At work we’ll sometimes go out to eat for birthdays, splitting the check at the end. At the end of the meal we have to go through two steps; figuring out the tip, then everyone’s share (joys of going dutch). Sometimes everyone fends for themselves, but the birthday boy/girl gets their meal for free, with the rest of us splitting the bill. a b c d 1 Bill Tip % Amount Total 2 format as $ format as % =a2*b2 =a2+c2 3 4 # of people $ per 5 1 =d2/a5 Its easy enough. Things are laid out the way they are so its easy enough to adjust. You put in your bill into a2, the percentage you want to tip into b2, and the rest gets figured out for you. If you’re splitting something, change the 1 in a5 to however many people you’re splitting by. For instance, if me and two friends of mine went to eat, with the meal costing $24 and is wanting to tip 30%? a b c d 1 Bill Tip % Amount Total 2 $24.00 30 $7.20 $31.20 3 4 # of peop...

I had started looking for a checkbook program (not seriously) for my phone to use for my debit card. My Palm Centro is an older, now discontinued, entry-level smart phone, so a lot of folks have moved on, developer-wise. In a "why didn't I think of this before?" moment, I fired up my Centro's spreadsheet (provided by DataViz’s Docs to Go ) and whipped up a quick and dirty way to keep track of my expenditures!   a b c 1 =sum(b:d)     2       3       Its basically a one-cell formula, usable for any spreadsheet. Cell a1 gets the equation to show the current balance, with columns b, c and d getting the number entries (deposits are positive, purchases are negatives). A1’s result is bolded to help it stand apart from everything else.   a b c 1 37.77 50.53   2   -4.67   3   -8.09   So, while there is room to improve it? My current balance is there, all quick and convenient l...

"The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable." - Sun Tzu While not incredibly well-read or knowledgeable, I think I'm starting to find finances more interesting now than I have ever before. Maybe I'm at "that" phase in life. Certainly, it started when I finally got tired of making my money and having nothing to really show for it. Thanks to that I went through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, which has probably been the best $92 I've spent on myself in a long time. I've tried reading Richard Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad, although have never made it through the thing even after trying for close to a decade. The idea of debt as a tool seems dangerous to me - a bit worrisome. But, I can see his points, and there is the whole risk/reward aspect to c...