a blog from a guy in an office http://www.adamwlewis.com a blog from a guy in an office is a web log created by adam w lewis en Tue, 6 Jan 2009 02:29:15 GMT Yoo-Hoo - My Favorite Drink http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/yoohoo-my-favorite-drink http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/yoohoo-my-favorite-drink#viewcomments Tue, 6 Jan 2009 02:29:15 GMT Adam W Lewis adam@adamwlewis.com http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/yoohoo-my-favorite-drink
For Christmas my wife actually packed me a box full of Yoo-Hoo bottles and Apple Chips (which will be another blog post... because Apple Chips are totally awesome!).

So, this blog post really doesn't have a 'purpose', other than to announce to the world, that I LOVE YOO-HOO!

Adam holding a Yoo-Hoo Can ]]> Thu, 1 Jan 2009 16:40:38 GMT Happy New Years & New Board Game http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/happy-new-years-new-board-game http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/happy-new-years-new-board-game#viewcomments Thu, 1 Jan 2009 16:40:38 GMT Adam W Lewis adam@adamwlewis.com http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/happy-new-years-new-board-game
Yesterday we bought a new board game to add to our collection (which I plan on publishing here soon) called Q90. The concept of the game is simple, one team member draws a card, then the other team members have to ask questions to guess what the "thing" on the card is. They can ask any question, and as many questions, as they like. The trick is they only have 90 seconds to guess the "thing", and the person with the card can only say Yes, No, Maybe, Don't Know, Not Sure, and Kind of.

The game is extremely fun, but, also very challenging. For example, here is one that me and my mother got. (I can't remember all of the questions and answers, but this is close enough for an example)

I drew the card with the category "Objects"

Mom: Is in a house?
Me: Yes
Mom: Is it in the bedroom?
Me: No
Mom: Is it in the living room?
Me: No
Mom: Kitchen?
Me: Yes.
Mom: Is it an appliance?
Me: No
Mom: Do you use it for cooking?
Me: Kind of
(Long pause for thinking)
Mom: Is it a type of food?
Me: No
Mom: Is it a utensil?
Me: No
Mom: Is it a tool?
Me: No
Mom: Is it a rag?
Me: Kind of
Mom: Is it dish towel?
Me: Kind of
(Long pause again... 10 seconds left...)
Mom: Is it made of cloth?
Me: YES!
Mom: Is it a pot holder?
Me: No!
(At the last second....)
Mom: Is it an apron?
Me: YES!

As you can see, it is challenging because you start with virtually anything in the entire world and have to narrow it down within 90 seconds. After playing it a few times we've gotten a little better and know certain questions that can help eliminate huge chunks of answers, but still, I'd say we only get 50% or less correct.]]> Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:21:5 GMT Almost The End of 2008 http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/almost-the-end-of-2008 http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/almost-the-end-of-2008#viewcomments Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:21:5 GMT Adam W Lewis adam@adamwlewis.com http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/almost-the-end-of-2008
Well, I think we're getting off around 12 or 1 today, I'm going to get some "real work" done before we go.

Happy News Years everyone, as I know I probably won't get a chance to post that at midnight.]]> Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:38:28 GMT Blackberry Storm - FAIL http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/blackberry-storm-fail http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/blackberry-storm-fail#viewcomments Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:38:28 GMT Adam W Lewis adam@adamwlewis.com http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/blackberry-storm-fail
"But neither I, nor any of the several BlackBerry addicts I asked to try it out, considered typing on the Storm’s keyboard to be very similar to using the keyboard of a traditional full-sized BlackBerry"
- Walt Mossberg, Wall Street Journal


"... that wow-inducing clickable screen - just isn’t all that great."
- Joshua Topolsky, Engadget


"TIRED OS lag on a piece of hardware this gorgeous is unacceptable. Scrolling through menus is jagged, slow, and pokey."
- Daniel Dumas, Wired.com


"Ultimately, the Storm’s touch interface feels like a failed experiment."
- Yardena Arar, PC World.


I, of course, have not used the Storm, but once I do I will write my own review and see how it compares to those above.]]> Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:32:54 GMT Economy Woes Head to Wendy's http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/economy-woes-head-to-wendys http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/economy-woes-head-to-wendys#viewcomments Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:32:54 GMT Adam W Lewis adam@adamwlewis.com http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/economy-woes-head-to-wendys Anyone who knows me at all knows my favorite food is of course.... CHICKEN. I love it in pretty much are shapes and forms. In a pinch for lunch, I often find myself driving through Wendy's getting a 5 piece nugget and small fry (though their fries suck now that they switched their cooking oil....). Recently I noticed, hey, those tasty breaded meat balls aren't 99 cents any longer!! They are now a $1.19!! That's a 20% increase!! Clearly the economy is in bad shape when Wendy's raises their nuggets by 20%. :-( I am officially sad.]]> Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:23:38 GMT Busy Times http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/busy-times http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/busy-times#viewcomments Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:23:38 GMT Adam W Lewis adam@adamwlewis.com http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/busy-times Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:01:23 GMT The New Blog http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/the-new-blog http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/the-new-blog#viewcomments Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:01:23 GMT Adam W Lewis adam@adamwlewis.com http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/the-new-blog Thu, 9 Oct 2008 21:28:41 GMT When Will It End? http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/when-will-it-end http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/when-will-it-end#viewcomments Thu, 9 Oct 2008 21:28:41 GMT Adam W Lewis adam@adamwlewis.com http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/when-will-it-end Dow Jones Industrial Average on 10-09-08
The stock market dropped almost 700 points today, and many people keep asking me, "what are you doing about the stock market?", "are you worried about your stocks?". My answer. No way. Any risky investments should have been sold long ago, and all other investments.... are still good investments! The market will not be down forever, that is pretty much a fact. So the way I look at it, all the stocks that I considered "good investments" two weeks ago, are now half off. I think now is the time to invest any unused cashed in good proven companies that we know will go back up after this market scare is over. These companies include Google, GE, P&G, and several others.

Again, these are just my thoughts, but I for one am not worried about the market, and am continuing to buy up stocks of companies I've had my eye on for awhile.]]> Thu, 9 Oct 2008 18:10:52 GMT New Rubik's Record (for me anyways!) http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/new-rubiks-record-for-me-anyways http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/new-rubiks-record-for-me-anyways#viewcomments Thu, 9 Oct 2008 18:10:52 GMT Adam W Lewis adam@adamwlewis.com http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/new-rubiks-record-for-me-anyways As many of you know, while I sit and contemplate the best way to write a program or try to come up with an algorithm to solve some problem I often scramble and solve one of the many Rubik's Cubes that adorn my desk. I have the tradition 3x3x3, then a 4x4x4, a 5x5x5, a mini 2x2x2 and a Square-1. I typically only time myself on the 3x3x3 though... not really sure why, just never did on the other cubes... but anyways, today I completed the 3x3x3 from a complete random scramble in just 1 minute 9 seconds. While this is no where near the fastest Rubik's cube solving time, it's still my personal best so I'm proud. My average time is right around 1 minute 35 seconds.]]> Wed, 8 Oct 2008 16:30:26 GMT Totally Unprofessional http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/totally-unprofessional http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/totally-unprofessional#viewcomments Wed, 8 Oct 2008 16:30:26 GMT Adam W Lewis adam@adamwlewis.com http://www.adamwlewis.com/articles/totally-unprofessional So, my wife and I decided it was time to replace the carpet in our master bedroom. Not that the carpet was old, but our house flooded in the spring and there's been a musky smell to it ever since. We found some carpet we liked from a gentleman at the local Flea Market, we'll call him "Frank". I don't want to mention his real name because over all I really do like the guy, I just have to get this off my chest. So anyways...

We found the carpet on Sunday, September 28th. Unfortunately, we didn't have my truck so we had no way of getting it home. We paid for it though, and told "Frank" we've come pick it up the next weekend on October, 4th. He said that wasn't a problem and asked if we needed any padding. I told him we probably would, but that I would call him in during the week to let him know. He said, "Oh, you don't need to do that, I have plenty" and he points to a bunch of pad in the corner. I'm sure you can already see where this story is headed but...

The 4th arrives and I take my truck down to "Frank"'s to get the carpet. We load it up and then I tell him I need 20 yards of padding. He says... "Mmm, I'm not sure I've got enough, I knew I should I brought more in." I tell him that's okay, I'll get it somewhere else and he said, "Oh no no, I've got a warehouse just a little bit down the road. If you want, you can come by this week and get it." So I tell him okay, and he gives me his card with his warehouse address on it.

That takes us to last night. I called "Frank" to see what time he get to his warehouse so I could pick up padding this morning. He told me he gets there around 8, but to call him on my way just to make sure he didn't oversleep or anything. So this morning I get up bright and early, get ready, and start heading to his warehouse (which is 25 minutes from my home). I call him at about 15 til 8 and ask if he is at his warehouse yet. His response.... "Yes yes, I'm here... but, I'm not sure if I have enough padding for you. How much did you need again?" I tell him 20 yards and he tells me he'll measure and call me back. He calls me back in 10 minutes and tells me he only has 14 yards.

So now, it's 7:55 in the morning. I need padding for my carpet that is suppose to by laid at 9:00. My only choice is Lowes. I do a U-Turn and head back toward home. I get to Lowes at 8:10 and go to the carpet padding. Of course, they only have three remnant pieces, two of which don't have their size marked. I ask someone for help and it's clear they are clueless about carpet padding. I tell them I need one roll of 7/16 carpet padding and he says, "well let me see what I can do" and he walks off. About 3 minutes later another guy comes up to me and asks if he can help me. I explain what I need, and that I didn't think the first guy understood. He says he'll go get and off he heads.

Ten minutes go by and the first guy comes back and walks right by me without saying anything. I ask him, "so, did you find what I needed?" He answers, "Yeah, Chris is getting it."

Ten more minutes go by and a third employee now asks me if he can help me. I explain to him that some guy is suppose to be getting me padding and he says, "Oh yeah, Chris is getting some padding. It's on the top shelf though and the lifting crane is broken so it may be a few."

Another ten or fifteen minutes pass and finally Chris come dragging my padding. I drag it up the front counter and... of course, the cashier doesn't know how to ring up padding. There is no tag on it or anything. She asks me what it is, so I tell her and she looks it up in the computer. She then asks me how much I got of it. I tell her 45' x 6', but that I think they do pricing by the square yard. She says she does not know, so she calls someone to ask. THE FIRST GUY comes up, the one who knew nothing about padding, and tells her "no, we sell by the foot, charge him for 45'." So she does, and I pay, because at this point is 8:55 and I need to leave.

So, I have to go back tonight and complain that I was over-charged on the padding, because I should have only been charged for 30 square yards, but instead they charged me for 45 because they thought it was billed by the foot.]]>