There are a lot of other things I would rather be doing than to look for an apartment in the busiest city in America. If you ever go and look at an apartment in New York City, you have to make a split decision to call this place home or to move on to the next apartment. There is no time to spend the night thinking about it. We discovered some great information that will help us for the next time and will help you now!

Measuring without a Measuring Tape

Looking for more room or do you just want to make sure your couch, bed, table, entertainment center fit nicely in your next apartment? Wear your “apartment hunting” shoes and measure out your furniture. My couch is 7 Diesel’s long. If you wear a different pair of shoes, you could end up 1′ short that you needed for your couch.

Take it a step further (no pun intended) if you are downsizing and measure your current rooms to see how they would stack up to your next apartment. If you think it would help, sketch out a quick diagram of each apartment you are looking at. This way you can look back at your notebook to see what each layout looks like. When you get up to looking at 4 apartments per day, 5 days in a row, they all start to look the same. You may end up in an apartment out of impatient frustration. In your notebook next to your measurements or sketches, be sure you jot down the address and broker that showed you the apartment. I saw different apartments with 5 different brokers.

Reason for the Season

There are seasons when rent is cheaper. During the winter time after November, you are more likely to not pay a broker fee and the rent on the exact same apartment will be cheaper. The reason is people do not like to move during the winter so if an apartment becomes available, the building is desperate to gain a tenant. The best thing to look for is a “No Fee” apartment which means the building owner will pay the broker from the first month’s rent or the deposit the new tenants put down. The nicer apartments and better areas will charge first month’s rent, security deposit and a broker fee. So, you would need at least $5,000 to move into your new home. After April, the No Fee apartments disappear, unless it is in a rough area and the apartment owner cannot get anyone to rent the apartment. Prime time to move to New York and get the best deal on an apartment would be between November to March.

Needs and Wants

Make an exact checklist of what you need and also add what you would like, but could do without. Physically write this list down so you do not overlook an absolute need you might forget about while the broker is pressuring you to fill out the paper work on it. Here is our needs/wants:
Needs: Under $1800, 2 Bedroom, 4 floor walk up or less, pet friendly, 3 blocks to a park, 3 blocks to a train, laundry in apt or in building, area that is not sketchy, more space than we are in now.
Wants: elevator, south facing to get sun in apt, close to Harlem River, Harlem west of 7th Avenue, Washington Heights, Hudson Heights, Inwood north of Broadway or south of Dyckman.

Every street block is different

We just looked at an apartment on 137th Street between 7th Avenue and Lenox Avenue. While walking there, I passed nice brownstone apartments between Frederick Douglass Blvd and 7th Avenue and started to get excited about what I am about to see. Once I crossed 7th Avenue, I was in a different part of town. While the apartment was freshly renovated on the first floor and duplex style, I did not feel comfortable there at all. The size of the apartment and the price were both right, but that stretch of the street is rough. Working from home would not be comfortable and I would not feel like that would be my safe place.

If you are looking to move in a few months, you should start looking at streets now. Document the areas and exact streets you would like to live on. Buy a Manhattan map and get green and red highlighters. This will make looking for apartments easier when the time comes. Brokers have a database of apartments that updates throughout the day each day. You can give them your specifications and call them up to see if anything has opened up in the areas you are interested in. Or at least you will be able to know that you have “that street” highlighted in red due to whatever reason.

Who should I work with?

It all depends on the area you are looking for. We’re looking for above 100th Street where there are some snoots that have never stepped foot about 100th Street. We used Bohemia Realty Group to find our new apartment.

Obviously Craigslist.org is a great place to start for searching. Another one is PadMapper.com which is a listing aggregator, pulling the addresses from Craigslist and putting it on the map. Problem is most brokers will not post the whole address so location could be completely off. If you are looking on a website that does not use Date Posted, you are wasting your time. When I search Trulia.com, the first ad to pop up is from 73 days ago. That apartment has probably been gone for 71 days now.

How much money do I need for a New York City apartment?

You do not need to be a millionaire to move to Manhattan. The cost of living is higher, do not get me wrong. I could definitely have a huge apartment in Tampa for the price I pay in New York! You just have to budget accordingly.

For example sake, we are going to talk about an apartment that is $1,600 per month. When signing a lease, you need to have 1st month and security deposit. The security is the same as your monthly payment. In addition, there is an application fee (typically $100 per person), a deposit to get the apartment off the market (typically $500) and then a broker fee. The deposit will go towards the broker fee. The broker fee generally is 15% of the total year lease but you can talk them down to 12%. Try for more if you can! 12% of a $1,600 per month apartment is $2,304. The total amount you need before you can move in is $1,600 + $1,600 + $200 (2 people) + $2,304 = $5,704.

If you find an apartment (off season) without a broker’s fee and the landlord is paying the broker, then your total would be $3,400 on this same apartment. Most of the time, you will not find as good of an apartment at $1,600 per month without a broker fee. You may find yourself in a rough part of town! If you do end up finding a good apartment without a broker fee, you might find that it is $1,800 per month which you would find that it would equal the $1,600 per month + the broker’s fee. If you end up staying for more than 1 year, the $1,800 per month apartment is now costing you more.

I do not have that kind of money in the bank.

My wife and I have impeccable credit. We pay off every credit card every month. But we did not have enough in the bank to pay all of the fees so we called up one of the credit card companies that we have been with for a long time and asked for a cash advance with 0% interest for a year. They gave it to us and deposited the money in our bank so we could use it the next day. I ONLY recommend this if you are good with balancing your money and know that you could pay off (loan amount / 10 months) each month. If you get approved for a year at 0% interest, shoot to have it knocked out in 10 months. Could you still afford the monthly rent amount plus 10% of the loan? If so, then go this route to help out on the initial costs.

Disclaimer:

I am not a broker and I am merely only an apartment hunter blogging about my experiences and what we did to help with our apartment hunting. Working with different brokers may have different fees and results. Have a good time apartment hunting in the Big Apple!

Fall/Winter. I have heard that this season has not acted like a typical fall season. I would not know as this is my first fall/winter in New York City and I am used to odd weather during December. One day I was jogging with the dogs in the morning when I walked up to another dog owner. We chatted about canine gabber and then she asked, “What season are you dressed for?” I was wearing a workout tank top and shorts because it was nearly 65 degrees while she was wearing a full coat, gloves and pants. “I guess I am used to Florida where you cannot dress for a season, but you dress for the weather that day.”

I missed the first snow of the season because I was in Tampa during Halloween. This early snow made the fall colors in the trees only last for a short amount of time. The second snow in early January lasted 2 days that dropped about six inches of light and fluffy snow between Friday and Saturday. The local park had every kid sliding down the hill with whatever they could find. Some kids had sleds newly purchased with the stickers still on it and some kids used a piece of wooden side paneling to enjoy the first real snow. As much as I wanted to pull out my Christmas gift of a snow skateboard, there were so many kids on the hill that someone most likely would have gotten run over!

I waited until Sunday when Marlyse and I went to the hill with our dogs. I had them dragging me around like snow sled dogs! We spent a good hour on the hill and that has been the only snow this season. I heard that 2010-2011 brought 57″ of snow compared to 7″ during 2011-2012. I better go snowboarding on a mountain with fake snow if I want to get it in this year!

It is now March and I am already thinking I missed a real winter in NYC this year.

Privacy is not obsolete. It is not an idea that faded away. Some people do not have a problem at all with posting their entire life on Facebook for their friends, friends of friends and family members of those friends of friends to see into their open life.

This generation depends on the number of comments they receive per post. Logging into Facebook every hour or every ten minutes to see what they missed when they are letting life in front of them pass by. While walking my dogs, this girl was so in tuned to her phone that she never looked up to see the others walking in front of her nor to see the 6 piles of garbage bags she tripped right into. I saw that she was trolling through Facebook.

“People will give up freedom for convenience, but if you give them both, eventually the choose the option with freedom.” – Eben Moglen, Professor of Law at Columbia University

Facebook is worth an estimated $75 billion and they recently went public to raise more money. When Google when public, they were worth an estimated $23 billion. What 99% of all Facebook consumers never ask is, “how do they get their money?” Most assume it is from the advertisements they see on the sidebars but when using a mobile device, there are no advertisements. Most consumers use a mobile device to access Facebook. So, how do they get $75 billion? Data. Facebook knows your exact age, what movies and music you like, what hobbies you have, where you work, an estimated amount of money you make per the job you have, your phone number, who your family members are that are on Facebook, how much traveling you do, the restaurants and locations you check-in to, keywords scraped from the posts that you either make live or private, photos that you delete and past information you voluntarily put on the timeline.

The timeline was not launched so people could see that you started playing baseball in 1989. It is another way to collect even more data from you that started before you joined Facebook in 2004 or so. How many people posted their first jobs that they had or maybe the middle school and high school they attended. What about love interests or a better way to host their scanned photos from the past.

Why do you think Facebook’s privacy policy changes? How many people actually look at their privacy policy more than twice per year, if that? Max Schrems is an Austrian law student used the court system to force Facebook to give all of the data they collected on him. 1,222 pages is what it resulted and there was data in there that he did not agree to let Facebook have, per the Facebook privacy policy.

In Europe, people are realizing that Facebook’s main focus is surveillance. Is Google+ a better option? I would not count on it. People use their search engine, check email through Gmail, post videos to YouTube, store their photos on Picasa, use Google to obtain analytics on their website, use Alerts to find when new information is on the internet with that keyword, store their non-Office documents both public and private, post stories on Blogger and they even have their own internet browser so they can see what people are looking at. If there is any company more dangerous to have my personal data, I would have to say it is Google.

Starting today, March 1, 2012, Google is taking their 60 privacy policies and combining them into just one. Before today, they were already collecting data per user from each individual Gmail, Youtube and G+ accounts, but each account was treated separately.  You won’t really see any difference as a user but now they are generating one single database with all collected data sent by your actions. This means the search terms you type in Google search and watched on YouTube are now combined so that they can specifically market to your interests but (this is the kicker) also be able to sell your searching data. They are not collecting more data than they were before but they’re going to be able to do more while all being associated with your Google account.

Do I have anything to hide? No, I am not but I hold tight to my freedom. If you look at my Youtube and Google browsing history you will find searches related to eCommerce, eBay, competitor softwares, speaking Mandarin, bands, specific songs, guitar chords, cooking, New York, MMA fights and web design. Personally, I just do not like an all-in-one holding all of my data collectively. This is why I cleared up my Facebook account and I now start using other services besides Google’s.

I used to want to work for Google or Facebook, but now they are making “Demolition Man” more and more real. What do I mean? The movie takes place in 2032 featuring futuristic driverless cars, face recognition in the mall, displaying ads based on that person’s interests and voice activated devices. When the movie was created, I’m sure they did not think that kind of technology would be around in 20 years as they projected it to be 50 years.

Google has a driverless car that they are testing in California. Nevada is the first state to pass autonomous vehicle legislation and DOT is already rewriting their legal framework. Face recognizing billboards are already in UK malls. The issue with Demolition Man that made it very unrealistic is that cursing, fatty foods and sexual intercourse were illegal. This country is far from establishing those principals!

To wrap up my longest post to date, I am going to withdraw from using bigger search engines unless I am searching for a specific term where the results would return scarce. I will not use social networks to display my entire life as I have in the past. I cherish my freedom and I do not agree with companies making money off of my internet presence they way these giants have shifted their focus.

References:

http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/

http://www.dailynews.com/business/ci_19593361

http://www.breakthemotion.info/talk-eben-moglen-free-and-open-software-paradigm-for-a-new-intellectual-commons/

http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2011-06/nevada-passes-driverless-car-legislation-paving-way-autonomous-autos

http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/24/face-recognizing-billboard-ad-identifies-gender-no-boys-allowed/

I’m going to take you on an adventure of what it takes to obtain the sought after standby ticket to see Saturday Night Live. Let me explain who all is allowed to participate in the viewing of an SNL performance. There are three types of audience members. Those that won the Saturday Night Live Lottery, those that know NBC employees and those that wait for standby tickets. The Lottery only allows people to sign up in August and if SNL draws your name, you are able to go to the show but you do not have a choice of which host you want to see. If you are not in the first two divisions, you are one of us. Simply a diehard fan hoping to catch a glance of our favorite actors and actresses doing the hilarious skits right in front of our faces rather than through a broadcasted signal to our television.

Maya Rudolph hosted Saturday Night Live on February 18, 2012. Anytime a past SNL member comes back to host the show, you are definitely going to see other past members join them on their old stomping grounds. This being said, everyone and their mother wants to see this show because you never know who it will star. A showing like this will entice the fans who do not have a lottery ticket nor know any of the NBC employees. Thus starts the adventure to get the lowest standby number possible to have the chance at getting into the theater.

5pm Friday night, I receive a call from Marlyse, “Hey! I was walking by the NBC building to make sure we knew where to go at 3am when we plan on standing in line for standby tickets. There is already a line of people so I am in line!” Our initial plan was to wake up at 2am, jump on the train and get there around 2:30-3am. She counted 45 people in line by 5pm th e previous day when the standby tickets are handed out at 7am Saturday morning. “You are in line? Um…ok, so I guess I will pack some food and warmer clothes for us,” I replied. “You should bring the tent and Coleman stove!” she said with excitement fueled by adrenaline. “I am not bringing the tent due to Occupy Wall Street people being forced to take down their tents. How are we supposed to cook over an open flame on the side of the street without a permit!” I often think of consequences first before thinking of possibilities. It is something I am working on. I offered to bring our folding chairs but she told me to bring the air mattress. So I brought an entire bed set.

6pm, I arrive to Occupy NBC ready for some urban camping in front of the Rainbow Room entrance on 49th Street. We have a full length camping backpack where I even stored a rolled blanket on the bottom. I either looked like a camper or homeless! Sunshine still casts over the city while we wait for the sun to appear again. Luckily, the neighboring air mattress had a battery powered pump as the only one I have is electric. I was planning on huffing and puffing but she saved my lungs. The sidewalk area designated for SNL fans was only so wide that the edge of our air mattress was about 8″ from the curb. Had I rolled off from the slant of the curb, I would have been in the street! After this, we make our sandwiches for dinner as I brought lunch meat, cheese, cut tomato, spinach and bread.

8pm and the sun has set while the temperature has dropped. It was around 45 degrees when I got there and now it has to be closer to 38 degrees. All of a sudden, two men who were dressed in chef outfits pushed a cart next to the barricades. “Corn Chowder courtesy of Lorne Michaels, the Saturday Night Live producer.” Lorne Michaels bought the diehard fan dinner! Our neighbors said that when they were in line to see SNL hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy bought pizzas for everyone in line. While this is not a typical thing, it is definitely nice when you are standing in line for so long. Further down the line, someone setup a 4 man dome tent for just herself! She was asked by the police to take it down about 30 minutes later. Then somewhere around 2am, she put the poles back in and set it back up after the police left for the night.

10pm and now it is starting to get pretty cold. Probably the 100th person asked us what we were waiting in line for. To which some responded “SNL” as if everyone knows what the acronym stands for. When I responded, I tried to explain a little more in-depth but could have reduced the questions with a sign stating the information. That is what I do for a living! Reduce questions by making processes easier to understand! The NBC public bathrooms close at 11pm so we have to use the facilities for the night, otherwise, we either hold it or find a 24 hour place. Marlyse and I finished up another round of Rummikub where she wins and then we bundle up under our blankets because it feels like the temperature is below freezing now.

1am Saturday morning and we only have six more hours to go. Now, the party goers are out and driving around. Back-to-back for about thirty minutes there were people shouting from cars, “wake up!” or just obnoxiously honking. I was probably most scared during this half hour because you never know if the driver fully has his eyes on the road. Also, all of the fans were barricaded closest to the road rather than against the building wall. I prepared myself by covering a little more in case an inconsiderate passerby decided to throw something liquid out the window. Luckily that did not happen but I was as prepared as I could be for it.

3am and it is bathroom time! From the hot chocolate we got from Starbucks, the water we brought and the soup we ate, our 11pm bathroom break did not last us long. Marlyse goes to McDonald’s on 47th and when she walks in, it is a graphic crime scene. People are in line and the registers are rolling but there is blood splattered all over the floor! Not intending on purchasing anything, she just needs to use the bathroom but out of gratuity, she plans on buying the cheapest thing on the menu. She asked the person in front of her, “what happened here?” Evidently, a man that just paid for his food and was waiting got beat up by someone and his face had leaked blood all over the floor. No one from McDonald’s had cleaned it up! Marlyse got to the front of the line and first asked, “Are you still serving food?” The cashier replies, “Yes, how may I help you?” She responds, “Maybe someone can clean the blood up off the floor here? Anyway, I just need to use the bathroom. Do I have to buy something?” Seeming to ignore the blood comment, “You do not need to purchase anything. The bathrooms are upstairs.” While talking, the man that got beat up came back for the food he purchased. He still had blood all over his face. She goes up, uses the bathroom, comes back down and there is still blood is on the floor. The icing on the cake was that the guy went back up to the counter to complain there were no onions on the burger he ordered!

4am the line is awoken by a man yelling out, “free bagels, tea and coffee!” I was not sure if Lorne Michaels paid for this also or Chock Full o’Nuts was doing this as additional business in the middle of the night. They were selling everything else but offered hundreds of people a free morning breakfast which was nice.

6:30am and the sun is starting to shine on the tallest buildings. The sky gradually changes from midnight to navy blue. Excitement and anticipation fill each person that just went through an urban camping experience. It seems everyone is up and begins packing at the same time and around 6:45 everyone cinches up due to the void of camping gear.

7am rolls around and the pages are walking around but still no tickets. An entire hour passes and they do not start passing out tickets until 8am. When it is your turn, you have to weigh the odds. We are next in line. “How many people have signed up for the dress rehearsal versus the live showing?” The attendant’s response was, “25 for the live show and 18 for the rehearsal.” Again, there are better odds for the rehearsal so we went with the rehearsal. We trek back home, take the dogs for a walk and then go to bed.

7pm Saturday, we are walking through the rain to get to the Rainbow Room. As we walk in, all of the lottery ticket winners are there and the hundreds of standbys wait. Around 8pm, they split the standbys. “The first 60 people, please step over here!” At first, we think they are allowing 60 of us but this is just in preparation. Then phase 2, “the first 30 people, go through the metal detectors!” Heart pounding of the possibility to get in. There could be 1 seat or 60 available in this 300 seat theater but we do not know at this point.

We line up in numerical order in front of the elevators just waiting for the NBC Pages to count the number of available seats. From afar, Marlyse and I hear, “18″ and my heart sunk while my eyes were as wide as possible. We hold ticket numbers 19 and 20. In fact, they put 1-10 in elevator G and 11-18 in elevator H. Our neighbors were able to go up and we stand there waiting to see if possibly they found more seats. “19″, we hear a page say. “Who has lucky number 19?” I shove my wife forward and say, “She does!” The page opens the elevator doors and she gets on the elevator alone while 20-30 watch her. Tears start to well up in her eyes and I simply say, “have a great time!” I wanted to take a picture of her in the empty elevator but my phone just did not want to function fast enough.

The elevator door closes and then that same page states, “thank you all for coming but we do not have any more seats available. We look forward to seeing you next time.” I slowly put my jacket on and take my time walking out the Rainbow Room revolving door. I knew that there was a possibility of not getting in but I never considered the possibility of being split up. I walk around the city and then make my way back to Rockefeller Center, sitting inside facing the ice skating rink and watching people experience skating on a popular touristy piece of ice.

After the elevator doors shut, Marlyse exits alone and the page at the top of the floor tells her, “Run! You have to get in there right now!” She walks briskly and the page repeats herself, “Run! They are starting right now!” Marlyse gets a wristband put on her and they sit her on the stairs during the opening. A page tells her, “We are going to put you here for right now but I may move you.” Obviously, someone miscounted when saying there were 19 available seats or possibly a guest was in the bathroom. They end up moving her to the security guards chair! Feeling bad that they told her she could watch the show and putting a wristband on her, they did not want to send Marlyse away. The security guard says, “You know, up here is where Lorne’s friends and family sits. His office is right over there.” The view in the top-left corner of the balcony is horrible. You cannot see anything but the band stage from there, but you are there able to get a glimpse of your favorite actors and actresses. With a standby seat, you never know where you will sit to fill in the gaps!

Want to have the chance to get a standby ticket? Here is a list of what you should bring with you if you are going during the winter!

- Photo ID (cannot get tickets without this)
- Air mattress (and pump) with blankets and pillows
- piece of plastic to cover your body and belongings in case of rain/snow
- A sign explaining “Waiting in line for Saturday Night Live hosted by (name) and (band) is playing”
- Propane gas with stove top that attaches to the bottle (saw others doing this)
- gallon jug of water (or more) with pot so you can make tea, hot chocolate, etc
- ear plugs (if you can deal with the noise of traffic or crazy people)
- bread, lunch meat, cheese, snacks
- gloves, extra scarf, extra socks, warm head covering, extra blanket
- entertainment: book, board game, cards, fully charged electronics (keep them near you)

When some are asked, “What are you going to do different in 2012?” you hear the general simple responses of:

• work out/lose weight
• eat healthier
• quit smoking/drinking
• put away money in the bank
• volunteer
• floss…

But then by the time February 1st comes, those simple goals are given up on. Let me ask you, are these goals either too simple or not detailed enough? Sure, anyone can make a goal but when are you going to take the time to plan out the HOW so giving up on yet another resolution is not as simple.

2011 has been such a stretching year but my wife and I seemed to accomplish a lot of our goals due to detailed planning. New Years 2011 we were living in Tampa with full time jobs and we were surrounded by family and friends. Our resolution was to find jobs in New York and then move there over the summer. That is not something that can be done on a whim and with a lack of planning. As detailed as we had to plan a life change such as that, what makes you think the list above does not require some details? You are not going to quit smoking one day because you feel like it. You are not going to quit drinking while being with the same crowd that frequents the bar every Friday and that is the only time you spend with them.

What about a change of mindset or work ethic? In the past month, I feel like I have given initiative-based advice and recycled phrases due to peoples circumstances, so, I might as well make it public and someone else can benefit from it.

Ask yourself these questions: Are your work ethics on the offense or defense? Do you take action when you see it is necessary or do you wait for an action to then deliver a re-action? If your new years resolution is to get a better position at work or at another job, what actions are you taking to do so? Or are you waiting for your boss to recognize how you work to then give you a raise? If that sounds like you, maybe some things that I have gone through can help you create a more detailed 2012 new years resolution.

I enjoyed reading and listening to The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. I got the book for my mornings lunches and nights and I also got the CDs for the car. While you cannot follow this process word for word unless you are trying to create a start-up business, follow along with it and see how similar principals can be applied to your life. The primary phrase that I live by daily in my work ethic is, “Are you productive or are you active?” I have this taped on the top of my monitor. There were some many things that I did day to day that just made me active but I did not feel like I was being very productive.

I assessed my daily routines and figured out what could be altered so there was not unnecessary repeated processes. My main one was to take my Outlook off of the “refresh every minute” mode. Is it absolutely necessary to interrupt your production to get your email updates every minute? Or could you possibly have your notifications to come through every 10 minutes? I have increased to not checking emails for an hour and eventually, I want to get to the point where the duration is longer than that. There are so many things that can be done when you do not have the audible and visual notification that you need to stop what you are doing and see that you have another spam message or something that can be taken care of later. If it is absolutely important, generally people would call for immediate assistance.

Every year, I take a step back and actually think, “What can be changed this year?”  Do not let another resolution fade away. Set a goal, jump in the driver’s seat and get it done. Do the necessary planning that will keep you accountable and tell others that are as excited about accomplishing their resolution too. Are you being productive or just active?

Bryce Avary from The Rocket Summer played every song on his older two albums “Calendar Days” and “Hello, Good Friend”. This event was at The Studio at Webster Hall in New York City on 12/17/11.

I saw some videos of how customers acted inside some stores during Black Friday and I am glad I did not witness anything. It probably would have driven me to do something outside of my character when seeing people trampled, other customers pepper sprayed, people destroying store displays or fights breaking out over a $2 waffle maker.

Honestly, I wanted to go Black Friday shopping this year but not at the craziest hour of the day. More for the experience than the deals because if I want a deal, I can score it on eBay for probably less than a Black Friday sale. My alarm was set for 5am and I ended up hitting snooze 4 times. I chose sleep over the experience. We finally woke up at 8am, took our time and then got to Urban Outfitters by 9:30am. It was not busy and there were not crazy lines and we were still able to get incredible deals on our purchases.

I remember when stores began opening at 5am years back and I thought that was ludicrous. 5am is now the standard where 4am is a new time but the thing that made me double-take was the fact that stores such as Walmart and Best Buy were opening as early as 9pm on Thursday…for Black Friday. What will beat the 9pm next year? 6pm where it cuts into the Thanksgiving dinner? I read in the newspaper about customers being robbed in the parking lot after making their 2am purchases. Shopping during hours not meant for shopping brings out the people you do not want to encounter during those hours of the morning.

One thing I really liked about the way Best Buy advertised was that they offered all of the Black Friday sale prices online. I think that was genius. Have an online quantity count for each product and then open up the sale at a certain time that webmasters can moderate the traffic and assure the site won’t crash. Obviously I think online shopping is the way of the future where retail brick-and-mortars will only see about 25% of the sales and online sales will be 75% of the sales.

For those worrying about clothing shopping and “I have to try it on first”, I’m waiting to see the first site that allows you to upload all of your dimensions and a few full body photos where you can keep an “online closet” of your purchases from Forever 21, H&M, American Eagle, etc. Then a “suggested clothing” section from your favorite retailers will compare the clothing you currently have, the style you wear and then suggest articles to purchase while displaying the way they would look on your uploaded images form fitting to the dimensions entered.

I know this will be the future but someone has to develop it and it will not be cheap or easy. Especially to create a similar API connection between all of the participating stores. I have ideas like this all day… talk to me if you are an investor!

If you have not purchased anything online before, give it a shot today since it is Cyber Monday. Stick to websites that are trustworthy. If you are going to shop on eBay or Amazon, look at the seller of the item first. Make sure they have enough “feedback” that shows you can trust them as a seller. If they have 10 feedback and 2 of them are negative, I would not trust them as a seller. This is the list of sites I personally would trust for Cyber Monday sales:

• eBay
• Amazon
• Best Buy
• Target
• JCPenney

You can also check the Cyber Monday Twitter account and also this Facebook page. Another place I usually look for deals is Slickdeals.net. Hope this helps get you on the track of buying online today!

I had an interesting dream last night, considering I typically don’t dream. Usually I stare at the back of my eyelids and the highlight of my slumber would be waking up and feeling refreshed. Last night, I had a dream but it does not make a lot of sense but the difference between this dream and any others I have had, I remember details about this dream. Usually everything is vague. That is why I want to document it while I still remember it.

I was sitting on a bench in a small theme park near a carousel on a spring day. Colors seems a bit more vibrant than reality so I was just taking in the sights. While sitting and people-watching, two guys walked close to me and one had an ice cream cone in his hand. The one without the ice cream cone was telling a funny story that seemed to be wrenching his friend into deep laughter. I wish I could have understood them and hear the funny story but they were speaking in a language I have never heard before.

Then, after he was finished telling his story, he pointed at the ice cream and said something. I translated it to be, “can I have a bite of your ice cream?” The friend either did not understand what he was asking or was trying to avoid the question. He asked again with a little bit of a louder voice and a joking manner. The friend hesitantly handed over his newly purchased melting treat and then pointed at the bottom of the ice cream cone and said something. I understood, “take a bite from the bottom because I do not like eating the cone.” The holder of the ice cream dessert pointed at the bottom and said a very questionable phrase, lifted up the cone and then just kissed the cone.

The purchaser pointed again and in very clear wording seemed he was instructing, “If you want to take a bite, you eat the cone because I do not want it.” He took a bite and received no ice cream because the waffle was woven too tightly to let any of the creamy goodness pass through. He put his other hand out and said what appeared to be, “are you happy now? I took a bite and tasted no ice cream. Here is your cone back!”

That was the dream. Why did I dream about two friends arguing in a different language over an ice cream in a theme park next to a carousel? Or maybe this was the point. I could understand the conversation without knowing their language. I understood them better then they understood each other. And why was the purchaser so stingy with his ice cream? If he would have had the sharing spirit and gave his friend a small bite, the friend would have been satisfied and there would have not been any confrontation. They could have kept walking but because of selfishness, they had to stop and discuss the ice cream while they could have been at their next destination in the park.

Any thoughts on this?

A friend of mine sent me a link to watch this guy who finds the hidden history of New York City. In this video, he jumps into the subway to see an abandoned station. He also shows an area underground where a lot of homeless go to get out of the weather. To finish the video, he climbs up to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge for a complete view of the city. Watch this, it’s awesome.

“As long as you feed me and walk me, I’m completely self sufficient.” says Rhino. “I’m gonna be up in your business as caninely as possible because I need attention like woah.” says Ellie. I’m glad they balance each other out very well. Especially living in such a small place compared to the Tampa mansion!

They are wonderful dogs and I have absolutely zero room to complain about them. I kinda brought them into this new world, this new lifestyle, this new smell. Of course when we walk through uncharted territory with a lot of people surrounding us, they should be stepping faster than normal. Or when the bus is kneeling and the air lets out from the hydraulics, I would jump a bit when I’m from a quieter neighborhood for the past 4 years. Cut them some slack Brett!