The Behrens Venture

My car battery is totally dead, so I’m sitting here on the street, waiting for AAA so I can leave this city. I’m just stressed and tired and want to gwt the out of here, this isn’t what I need now! Hell, I’m trading the car in next week, so it’s not worth buying a new battery, this is just poor timing.
Atleast Nike Plus just sent me an email asking for my thoughts! Someone cares!

Even when a flight isn’t delayed and everything goes perfectly, I guarantee you’ll still end up waiting somewhere along the trip, which will suck and probably be completely unnecessary.
Case in point, I caught a 6:40am flight this morning coming back to NYC and things were great until we landed. Then we sat on the tarmac for 15 mins for no reason. Then we taxied to the gate and sat there for another 15 waiting for the baggage people to remove the non-checked bags, which I had to wait for even though I didn’t check anything at all. At least the bus trip into the city was without problem.
I just seem to think that airports today are giant clusterfucks of incompetence and long lines. Airlines try to put on a mask of friendliness, causing the traveler to ignore the rules of the polite and tolerant stewardess because heaven forbid that the traveler should be forced to accommodate everyone else and turn off their cellphone for 2 hours. Flying should be a privilege, not a right that many seem to abuse. No wonder why airlines barely make any profit as it is.
To further complicate things, I’m currently on the train to NJ, heading to Point Pleasant to get my car, so I can return to the city tonight and move out of my apartment tomorrow. So fun.

One thing I never realized about NYC was how horrible the airport layout is. LaGuardia is too small, JFK is too big, and Newark is too far away. When I used to look at ticket prices online, I never took into account the travel and time cost to get the airport, but it’s one of the first things on my mind now as I’m sitting in traffic trying to get to JFK.
I’m heading home to Pittsburgh for the weekend, so updates might be lacking, but hopefully I can take some pictures and we can all laugh at them. I really hate Pittsburgh as a city, it’s such a depressed town. The only people I know who like it are the ones who live there. I guess that’s probably who counts the most though. TGIF!

It’s been interesting to watch how my life has changed since I got my Blackberry. We aren’t talking a major change, but more so how several things are more convenient thanks to it. Having a phone, the Internet, all my contacts, and a calendar connected together is nice. I was even reluctant to have my camera integrated into the device… but as with all technology, cellphone cameras have reached the point where they are passable and I don’t abhor using it…

So on that topic, its interesting to read about how laptops are becoming more pervasive when hanging out with friends and family. Technology is something we are all familiar with, but it shouldn’t necessarily become the focal point of our social lives, removing the normal interaction that we are used to. They bring up a great point of how it’s great to just show someone a funny YouTube video, but they might not react the same way as you. They are being forced to watch under strained circumstances. I’ve been in this situation before and pulling out a laptop in a crowded room just to show off a funny video does loose some of the context, viral videos just don’t seem like a very communal experience to me. The victor writes history and in a situation like this, your own interpretation of the video is what someone could get instead of just watching and then wind up more even more interested. Overall, I totally agree and find the social ties to be worth keeping.

Also connected, I loved read an article describing a “telebrunch”:

• an intransitive verb meaning “to partake of a relaxing meal with a physically absent friend, communicating with them via the use of a smartphone or similar device”
• a noun meaning: “a relaxing meal where one or more of the party are not physically present, but are communicated with via the use of a smartphone or similar device”

and I laughed because I’ve been in this situation many times already. Technology is great because I can be connected anywhere and anyplace to any of my friends. Half my friends have moved out to CA and I still talk to them daily, whenever I want, even that happens to be at brunch. Cellphones might have been the first major connection technology, but being able to just chat with someone at your and their convenience is even better. I love where the world is headed!

To relate to an earlier post I made about money, I found another person saying the same thing: “At what point does frugality trump enjoying life?”

Life is about the experience, what you get out of it, which you have direct control over how positive or negative that experience is. Don’t worry about the small things and just enjoy doing what you want.