Month: January 2003

SXSW Costs?

Ashley Bischoff1 Comment

I would like to attend South By Southwest and I’m trying to figure out whether I can afford to go. SXSW Interactive runs from March 7 - 11 and I was initially thinking that I could go down for just a few of those days, to save money. However, there’re speakers I’d like to see on either end (Richard M Stallman on Fri March 7, and Ben & Mena Trott on Tue March 11).

In order to make an informed decision, I figured on calculating a cost-estimate and comparing that to my funds (it sounds so simple…). Here’s what I’ve come up with (on the assumption, so far, that I would drive down Friday afternoon and return Tuesday night), but let me know if I’ve forgotten anything:

  • SXSW Fees: $120
  • Hotel for Friday night through Monday night, assuming I can find someone with which to share a room: $40 x 4 = $160
  • Breakfasts for Saturday through Tuesday morning: $5 x 4 = $20
  • Lunches for Friday through Tuesday: $10 x 5 = $50
  • Dinners for Friday through Tuesday:$20 x 5 = $100
  • Additional Beverages for Friday through Tuesday evenings: $10 x 5 = $50
  • Gas, one tank in each direction, but figuring on three tanks just to be sure: $15 x 3 = $45

So, that comes to about $545. Did I miss anything?

[Dow update: -141.45 to 7,989.56]

Side-mirrors & Blind Spots

Ashley Bischoff1 Comment

I was listening to Car Talk this morning on NPR (a rerun from yesterday, I suppose). Anyhow, at one point during the show, a caller asked about the best way to adjust her side-mirrors to avoid blind spots.

So, Tom mentioned to her that they recently featured an article on their website (“the Car Talk section of Cars.com”) on adjusting side-mirrors:

Instead, adjust the driver’s side mirror by resting your head against the driver’s side window and then turning the mirror so that you just see the side of your car. Once this is set, move to the center of the vehicle and turn the passenger side mirror so that you can just see the side of your car from the center of the vehicle. That’s it. You won’t see your own car in either mirror, yet what you will see is far better. Cars behind you show up as usual in the inside rearview mirror above the dash, but the instant the car leaves your field of vision from the rearview mirror the outside mirror picks it up. […]

Tom went on to say that he was skeptical at first and that it took some getting used-to. However, he now prefers this setup much more than traditional mirror-alignment.

I used that method to realign my mirrors this evening, and I’ll see how it goes as I drive around tomorrow.

Catalina Tuna

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

As I eat tuna (and apples) for breakfast and lunch every day, I sometimes play around with the recipe a bit. Generally, it’s a can of tuna with a tablespoon of mayo and some fresh ground pepper. Lately, though, I’ve been adding various dressings that I’ve found in the fridge as an extra ingredient.

On my first try, I went with some olive oil vinaigrette as a safe bet. This added a subtle flavor overall, as the dressing is primarily oil and spices. However, it was a good improvement and it gave me the confidence to go on to try other dressing combinations.

Feeling more adventurous, I went for some Caesar dressing the next day. Voila — Caesar Tuna. It tasted better than I thought it would, though I felt like it almost needed a few croutons ;).

And, the old stand-by, I tried blue cheese. This was mega-delicious. It seems like blue cheese works with so many foods, and so well. Ooh, it just came to mind that I could try crumbled blue cheese sometime (as opposed to just dressing). Perhaps with some more income, I’d be tempted to give that a try.

Just yesterday, I tried Catalina dressing. I’m not sure if it was me who bought it in the first place but, sure enough, it looked a little lonely in the fridge. Catalina is an interesting dressing — it’s similar to French, and I’m not quite sure what differentiates the two. In any case, I added a dollop of Catalina after having mixed in the mayo and the pepper (as usual).

Like the other tuna-dressing combos, I was expecing deliciousness the next day. Well, it didn’t quite work out. It was if I had not just tuna, but some kind of bizarro ketchup-tuna. It wasn't bad to the extent that I didn’t eat it, but I don't think I’ll try that one again.

Silly Dow, Tricks are for Kids!

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

Tossing away its earlier gains, the Dow dropped 238 points yesterday (yikes!).

On the week, the Dow lost 5.3 percent, or around 455 points, its worst weekly point loss in six months. The decline set it back to levels not seen since mid-October.

The Nasdaq gave back 2.5 percent, or 40 points, on the week, while the S&P lost 4.5 percent, or 40 points, for the week.

The Nasdaq on Friday joined the Dow and the S&P 500 in erasing all of its gains for 2003. […]

I’m reminded a bit of this article - Wall Street Suffers Worst Setback Since Yesterday:

Stocks took another beating yesterday in what analysts are now calling the worst day on Wall Street since the day before yesterday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to a record low, while the Nasdaq plunged even further. The last time either average visited these levels, George W. Bush was president, Alan Greenspan was chairman of the Federal Reserve, and “Malcolm in the Middle” was still on television. […]

As a barometer for our economy, I have an interest in the Dow. So, I might just include the Dow activity at the bottom at the bottom of regular posts (especially if the Dow activity isn’t newsworthy enough for its own post).

Oh, and the ‘Russians’ re-record is from me ;).

Resume Skill-Levels?

Ashley Bischoff1 Comment

A friend of mine suggested that I include skill & skill-level pairs on my resume (as opposed to just the skills themselves). Something like this, I suppose:

XHTML/HTML, Expert
CSS, Expert
JavaScript, Advanced
Python, Novice
[…]

It seems like a sensible idea on the outset, but are there any disadvantages to this approach? And, if not, what type of separators and layout would you recommend? For instance, I used commas in the example above, but I suppose colons or hyphens could also be used.

And, the skills-section of my resume is currently in three columns, but would that be too crowded with the skill/skill-level pairs? (So, maybe two columns or just one column?)