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September 24, 2006

Eatin' Good In The (Tacoma) Neighborhood

Working for Guru Labs has allowed me to experience new foods on someone else's dime. I used to think that I didn't like sea food. As it turns out, I do like sea food, I just don't like cheap sea food.

Here's a tip for frequent business travellers: if your room has a refrigerator, hit a grocery store and buy food you normally wouldn't because of the price.

Last week while I was in Tacoma, WA I stumbled on a great little Japanese restaurant called Twokoi. (Unfortunately it doesn't have its own Web site yet.) The menu was printed without any prices. Based on the atmosphere and the food I saw on other tables, I was expecting to spend $30 to $40 before tip. Boy was I in for a surprise! Appetizer, entree and a delicious bowl of ice cream were just $15 before tip.

I decided to start off with an adventurous appetizer: calamari (squid), sea weed & cucumber in a light sauce. Amazing! Truthfully one of the best appetizers I've ever had.
appetizer.jpg

For the entree I decided to push the limits of my sea food tolerance. I can't remember what it was called, or everything in it, but I do remember my soup had clams, crayfish, lobster and shrimp. The small iron kettle it was served in was also fun.
entree.jpg

To finish things off I had two scoops of of ginger ice cream. And speaking of ginger...

This was actually my third trip to the Seattle area. During the last trip I discovered a rich-hippy organic grocery store with a great deli and surprising chocolate selection. Last time I didn't have the courage to try the chocolate, but this week I was determined to take the plunge. I bought two bars:
naga_bar.jpg black_pearl_bar.jpg
the Black Pearl (ginger + wasabi + black sesame seeds + dark chocolate) and the Naga (sweet Indian curry powder + coconut flakes + milk chocolate). They didn't taste bad, and I did enjoy the experience, but I don't think I'd buy them again.

Hands down, however, the best food that week was the fruit. Here's a tip for frequent business travellers: if your room has a refrigerator, hit a grocery store and buy food you normally wouldn't because of the price. For example, over the course of just two days, I ate $20 worth of strawberries. Thanks to Bolthouse Farms C-Boost, I must have averaged ~3000% of my RDA for vitamin C. (Oh how I love Acerola!) I also had bananas, tangerines, plucots and awesome honeydew melon. (Apparently Washington is known not just for apples but also for its melon.)

Sound like fun? Guru Labs is hiring.

Posted by Stuart Jansen at 10:35 PM |

September 7, 2006

Free As In MLM Pitch

Today at work we started discussing the unusually large number of multilevel marketing companies in Utah. I'm sure most people reading this post will have a story to tell. Some stories will include the ending of a friendship.

It doesn't need to be that way. When someone starts treating you like a resource, return the favor. When someone invites you to listen to an MLM pitch, invite them to buy you dinner at a nice restaurant first. Offer to invite friends and family. I'd be willing to join you. Might I suggest Thaifoon?

(Full Disclosure: I stole this idea from my co-worker Clint.)

Posted by Stuart Jansen at 3:00 PM |

September 4, 2006

A Little Metainfo Could Go a Long Way

When Pat Eyler mentioned Glark without a link, I decided to find out what it was. Instead, I stumbled across a perfect example of context insensitive advertising. I can't help but think it should have been possible for the reporter to tag the article tragic_death and the ad server to evaluate rules like:

ad = ads.find_random_ad()
while article.tags.contains(ad.tags_to_avoid) do
   ad = ads.find_random_ad()
end

Posted by Stuart Jansen at 2:22 PM |

September 1, 2006

Whiteboard Life Saver

Raise your hand if you've felt that sinking feeling that hits just after realizing you've written on a whiteboard with a permanent marker. There ought to be a law. No sane person should ever leave a permanent marker within ten feet of a whiteboard. (Okay, you can put your hands down.)

Do you know what to do if you write on a whiteboard with a permanent marker? Back in college, I decided to doodle on the whiteboard next to a friend's phone. Unfortunately I grabbed a permanet marker cleverly disguised to look just like the erasable markers next to it. I was not thrilled with the idea of my inane little drawing being forever immortalized in my friend's kitchen. While I pondered whether to fake a seizure of offer to buy a new whiteboard, my friend explained it wasn't a big deal. Did you know that if you write over the permanent marker ink with an erasable marker you can get rid of most of the ink? Now you do.

Posted by Stuart Jansen at 1:25 PM |