Two of the craziest news stories

/ Shane / Leave a comment

Okay, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few days, you’ve probably seen these. But they are worth mentioning nonetheless, just in case.

The first was that boy in Fort Collins that was (n’t) up in the balloon. It’s not nearly as interesting now that the whole thing is all over, especially since we know now that the boy wasn’t actually up in the balloon. But I was following it real time, and it was fascinating. Basically, this family has like some kind of crazy homemade aircraft / balloon at their house. At the time, it looked like a kid had climbed inside and the balloon became un-tethered from the house somehow. At one point I remember that the news helicopter was racing after the thing. It had risen to just under 10,000 feet and was in danger of entering some major flight zones or something. It was like a movie. Of course, it turns out that the kid was hiding in the attic, but it was a wild ride while it lasted.

Okay, the second one comes complete with some gut wrenching video. This lady was standing on a train platform in Australia on a windy day. She stops to do her hair or something, and in the worst-luck-god-really-hates-me-timing, a gust of wind blows the baby’s stroller forward and off the platform onto the tracks, just as the train is pulling up. The video is so heart wrenching, the way she slips when she starts after it, the way she is left holding her arm out for the baby after the train comes through. The good news is the baby was fine, just a scratch on its head. If you watch the video, you won’t even be able to believe it.

Which leads to the obvious question, what the heck kind of stroller was it, and how can I get one? That thing must be built like a tank.

Mint.com

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This whole post is more or less a commercial, so feel free to skip it.

I became aware of Mint awhile ago from a friend on twitter, and I thought it looked pretty cool. I promptly filed it and forgot it. However, it came up again recently when I discovered that the site was co-created by a co-worker of mine’s son. So I took another look at it, and I have to admit that it’s pretty nifty.

Basically, it is a free online application that allows you to track your finances, similar to Quicken or some other financial software package. You hook it up to your accounts, like your bank accounts and your credit cards, and then it pulls in information from them. From there you can see all your balances and make nice graphs and charts, as well as categorize expenses and set up budgets. You can also get text or email reminders about things, like when your credit card is almost full, or if you’ve spent over your budget in a category.

Then, Mint takes this a step further. It can analyze your spending habits and not only give you tips about it, but it can actually search out deals for you. For example, it can suggest credit cards with lower interest rates, or savings accounts with higher interest rates. This is obviously how they make their money, by getting referral fees, but do you care? It’s good for everybody.

So anyway, I just thought it was a neat little site that some people might be interested in.

That is all.

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Caffeine is the enemy

/ Shane / 3 Comments

Fall makes me feel like drinking tea. So the other night I opened up some new White Chai that I bought and gave it a try. Not too long after I started to feel very light headed, and then eventually sick to my stomach. Finally, I had to lay down for a while until I felt better. That’s right, a cup of tea laid me out. That’s the kind of party animal I am these days.

So of course, I had to try it again.

Though I hadn’t had this particular tea before, the ingredients of the tea were pretty standard. I thought maybe it was a coincidence that I happened to feel sick after I drank the tea. Also, I hadn’t eaten any supper that night, so there was a lot going on. The second time, I had eaten a huge super, so I wasn’t going in on an empty stomach. This time I didn’t feel sick, but I did feel pretty light headed for a while. Of course, that could have been the power of suggestion, after the previous night.

The only thing I could figure was the caffeine. A while ago, I decided to cut caffeine out of my life, where possible. I drink caffeine free pop and I drink decaf coffee. If one cup of tea can give me a caffeine buzz, I guess it’s working! I searched the box for information about the caffeine content, but I didn’t find anything. I can only assume this means it has the regular amount of caffeine, that is, it is caffeinated, but not ridiculously so. In fact, it is white tea, which I understand to be the least caffeinated tea.

So my question to the tea drinkers out there is, how much caffeine is in tea? Has any one else come across this? Is there something else in there besides the caffeine that could be hitting me?

#1 place not to live

/ Shane / 2 Comments

Alright, I was alerted to this video via SModcast. Basically, it is a village in Columbia where there are only two ways in and out: either a massive, dangerous hike half way around a jungle, or a ridiculous, crazy zip line across a perilous gorge. The Columbian government says it is not worth building a bridge across the gorge, because there are too few people living in the village. For the record, I don’t necessarily disagree with that. I mean, come on, you just *have* to live on the other side of a perilous gorge?

Anyway, in order to get to school, the kids don’t have time to do the hike. So they are forced to use the zip line twice a day, every day, back and forth. They also carry all of their groceries, etc. in burlap sacks at 30 mph over a 1,200 foot drop over a raging river, using rope slings and a wooden hand brake. The video is only a few minutes long and well worth the watch. And don’t worry, they save a shocker for the end.

Story Update

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I forgot to mention on here that I got my story back from Writers of the Future. I was hoping for an Honorable Mention, which would have been pretty good for my first time out. Alas, I did not get one.

At first I was a little discouraged, since I think it is my favorite story that I’ve written so far. However, shortly after I sent that story, I discovered an “unwritten rule” of the contest: you must establish the speculative element of the story on the first page or so. The story I sent, though clearly a speculative story, does not establish that immediately. So it is quite possible that the story was disqualified on a “technicality” if you will.

Actually, I’m glad to have that story back, so I can send it out to some more traditional markets. Writers of the Future ties a story up for quite a long time. Here’s hoping!