Nick's Blog

Nor-Cal Life and Adventures in Entrepreneurship

Entries for October, 2009

Halloween is Big Business

Between costumes, candy, pumpkins, decorations, and drinks, Halloween has turned into a $5 billion dollar business.  Billion with a B.  I just want my share.
But it’s a great holiday.  For trick-or-treating, you get dressed, you go to work, and you get paid — in candy!  I like Greg Behrendt, and his comedy bit about trick-or-treating [...]

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

I appreciate the effort, and everyone loves a loyalty program but I have a hard time believing something is “free” when you have to buy 8 other things first.  The real cost = the 8 other things.

Still, better than nothing.  I’m just saying don’t put the part about “no free lunch” on the punch card [...]

Creative Pumpkin Carving Ideas

If you’re tired of the same old jack-o-lanterns, I thought these were pretty good.
A variation on the more popular Screamer pumpkin:
Drowning pumpkins:

Star Wars Death Star (way too many cuts):

My precious:

Dirty:

Crazy face:

Conjoined twins:

Tiki fire god pumpkin:

And the winner is:

Slow Mergers

Slow mergers are drivers who attempt to enter the freeway at speeds well below the pace of traffic.  There are very few possible reasons why slow mergers do what they do:

They don’t understand how the freeway works
They’re suicidal
They want to save gas

I want to rule out the first two by assuming that at least 99.9% [...]

Disney: World’s Greatest Merchandiser

If you’re gonna sell out, you might as well go all out, right?
After a weekend at Disneyland, it became apparent there is no greater merchandiser than the Walt Disney Company.  Their marketing minds have come up with every product imaginable, and then plenty more.   There are your standard mouse ear hats, character t-shirts, princess costumes, [...]

Disneyland Trivia

We’re off to the Happiest Place on Earth, so here’s some trivia I found interesting about Disneyland.

Disneyland opened in 1955, after a year of construction.  The price tag for the entire project was $17 million.
Opening day was somewhat of a disaster.  Double the expected crowds showed up, water fountains didn’t work yet, the pavement on [...]

History According to Grandpa Simpson

I love this video.  So many classic Grandpa lines.

Announcing CarryMyStuff.com

CarryMyStuff.com, a new comparison shopping site for handbags, luggage, backpacks, wallets, laptop bags, and more is now live.  I’ve still got some work to do to get it fully operational, but most of the functionality is there.
We have tons of products from more than 1000 name brand manufacturers at all the top stores.

Nike Women’s Marathon and the Commercialization of Running

Bryn was a champ and completed her first half marathon on Sunday.  The Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco raises money for leukemia and lymphoma, with a heavy dose of female empowerment along the lines of “you can do everything the boys can do” and “run like a girl.”  Which is great, to get people [...]

Friday Brain Game

Can you outsmart your brain?  Try this, it’s really fast:
1. While sitting at your desk in front of the computer, lift your right foot off the ground and start making clockwise circles.
2. Now, with your foot still circling, lift your right hand and draw the number 6 in the air.
Did your foot change directions?  Crazy.