I’ve dubbed today Random Thoughts Thursday. You’ve seen several disjointed random musings posts lately because conversations with friends, family, coworkers, and “tweeple” (Twitter people) have spawned some interesting trains of thought. Here’s more of what’s been on my mind lately:
- Bungee jumping vs skydiving: Specifically, what is the rate of accidents for one vs the other?
- Percy the cat: This is such a hilarious story from 2009. Apparently a cat named Percy would jump on a train every day, take it to a nearby marine life center, and watch the penguins all day!
- Unroll.me: I have carefully created filters on my Gmail account for incoming emails, but for those with less patience, there’s Unroll.me. It links to your email account and sends you a once-daily roundup of all your subscription emails (think LivingSocial). Another victory for email efficiency!
- Windows Live Writer: I read Peanut Butter Fingers’ post on Everyday Blogging Tools and was inspired to test-drive Windows Live Writer, which apparently saves tons of time when blogging. Unfortunately, it is only available on Windows, but luckily I have a PC! The program allows you to compose blog posts in a format similar to Microsoft Word, which makes it more user-friendly than the WordPress format.
- If This Then That: Also known as IFTTT, it is an online service that allows you to use commands to create an automatic chain of events. Example: IF someone mentions you on a tweet, THEN send a tweet back thanking them or IF a photo pops up on Instagram, THEN save it to Dropbox. The list of “recipes” is extensive- check it out!
- Ethiopian food: On Saturday, I spontaneously suggested to a friend that we try out Abyssinia, a local Ethiopian restaurant. Our conversation: “We should go.” “Cool, when?” “Tonight?” And soon we had eight adventurous eaters ready for a hands-free African eating experience. The verdict: casual hole-in-the-wall; friendly service complete with hugs; decent prices ($22 per person including tip and drinks); and delicious food.
- Grass Is greener: Do not stop reading after the next sentence. Promise? A line from a Justin Bieber song got stuck in my head (I didn’t realize it was him until after it was planted there) because it rang true to me. “The grass isn’t greener on the other side // it’s greener where you water it.” Trite but true! #lessonslearnedfrombiebersongs
- One red paperclip: I have no idea what caused me to remember this story, but I somehow thought about a guy I’d heard of who took items and traded them for slightly better items off the course of the year. After Googling it, I got the whole story: a guy took a red paperclip and eventually ended up with a house! Pretty insane the power of bartering, huh? A teen did a similar thing and ended up with a Porsche will still in high school.
- Resubscribe to my blog: My sister reminded me to tell you all that when I switched web hosting, all of the subscriptions to my blog were cancelled. Apologies for the inconvenience, especially if you thought I wasn’t posting these days! You can resubscribe using the Subscribe to Blog by Email widget on my right sidebar.
- Spize Café: My sister and I grabbed lunch at Spize Café on Fayetteville St in downtown Raleigh the other day and remembered our old obsession with the place. The food is absolutely incredible; the service and owners are great; the interior is stylish; and the prices are very good (about $9 for an entrée that gives you leftovers). It’s one of my top 5 favorite restaurants in Raleigh.
And my favorite Instagram picture of the week so far:
What random thoughts are on your mind?
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