Alex's Soapbox » General

The Cost of Cheap Eggs

Alex — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:29:04 +0000

On Hawai’i

Alex — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:34:59 +0000

Hawai‘i rises up from the sea like a dream the world dreamed for itself, beautiful but not meant to last… there is nothing that cannot be washed away… When everything around you seems to be eroding away to nothing, things you thought would last forever, could last forever, there’s only one thing you can do that makes any sense. Plant something.

– Honolulu Magazine

The Geeky Side of Michael Jackson

Alex — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:22:06 +0000

The late Michael Jackson was best known as a singer and entertainer, but he was also a patent inventor and a video game designer.

The Ratchet Theory of Real Estate

Alex — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:38:54 +0000

A friend once said in 2005 that real estate prices, especially in California, would never go down a lot, since a “ratchet effect” would make homeowners stay in their homes rather than sell at a loss. The latest report from the California real estate market has home prices down 38% year-over-year and 49% during the last 20 months – people were losing 2.5% a month in home value. I believed that prices in 2005 could only be maintained by an appropriate rise in income, and that wasn’t happening. With the market collapse, tight credit, and rising unemployment, it will only get worse this year.

You Are Number Six

Alex — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:55:22 +0000

Patrick McGoohan 1928-2009
“I am not a number, I am a free man!”

Whoo Hoo!

Alex — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:30:20 +0000

In Remembrance

Alex — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:50:54 +0000

Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
The night is falling
You have come to journey’s end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore

Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You’re only sleeping

Don’t say
We have come now to the end
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again
And you’ll be here in my arms
Just sleeping

Into The West – Howard Shore & Annie Lennox

State of the Union

Alex — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:13:03 +0000

Not sure what the ratings were for Bush’s last State of the Union speech, but once it started, everyone around me asked the bartender to switch channels to a game show rerun.

Time vs. Money

Alex — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 07:20:01 +0000

I was talking to a friend who actually said that he was considering postponing his retirement so he can buy a new BMW 5-series. I suppose the adage that time becomes more valuable than money as you get older is lost on a lot of people, and I hope most of us don’t fall into that kind of materialistic trap.

Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
- Lao Tzu

Prius at 500K

Alex — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:22:00 +0000

Cumulative Toyota Prius sales have finally hit 500,000. The graph below uses monthly sales data from mid-2000 through the end of 2007. It also shows the relationship between sales, the average price of gas in the US, and noteworthy events: