What I am proposing is a website/app that will help me out by doing the following:

1. Grab my schedule from my calendar, along with addresses for where I need to be
2. Plot that schedule on a map
3. Show me places I can crash between meetings
1. Possibly even show me the “cost” of crashing there
2. Free wifi is a must
3. Parking for free is huge too
4. Optimize my travel route for time or distance
5. Allow me to have this route on my phone, so that I can use it as I go
1. If the app had a schedule listed out and could one-click “get directions” to my google map, omg.
6. Give me reminders of where I need to be
7. Let me check in using Foursquare to places I visit (one button would be AWESOME)

The idea here is that it would help me plan my day, show me how much time I actually have between meetings including travel time, and the relative cost of stopping at Starbucks all the time.

For example, some of the places I would like to be able to stop at are places that have free wifi, like Starbucks, McDonalds, Libraries (some do, some don’t) and other places where I may or may not need to pay to use the internet.

I know there is someone out there who thinks this project would be really easy to build, and it would save me a ton of time and money. I would pay $4.99 for this app for sure, especially if I could plan it on my computer and share it with my phone.

Consider some of these things:

• Money
• Friends
• Family
• Thoughts
• Fears
• Focus

Let’s discuss stumbling blocks and what they do to cause you to be unfulfilled.

Some things to consider here:

• Fulfillment at home
• Fulfillment at work
• Fulfillment with your self
• Fulfillment with your friends
• Fulfillment with your thoughts
• Fulfillment with your actions

My goal is to start a discussion about fulfillment and what are the things you do that “fill your cup”?

The big question of the night was basically posed as

How do we get politicians to keep their hands off the money that we get from the county every year and how do we get the people of Boulder to vote yes when these things come up on the ballot

The question was worded completely differently and it took about an hour to break it down to it’s basic elements so that I could understand what exactly they wanted and how we could try to suggest things in order to help make a big difference in their messaging and approach to taxpayers and politicians.

Overall, I believe that we came up with some great ideas and figured out one of the biggest problems that Non-profits have when trying to communicate with the public.  Actually, they have the same problem that anyone in a jargon-laden world has. They don’t speak the same language as the people they are teaching, engaging, and asking for support.

I run into this nearly every day as the owner of a web development company. The problem is that I live in a box where we all speak the same language, then whenever I venture out into the wild (i.e. customer meetings, family gatherings, hanging with non-tech friends) I find myself either completely boring the people I am with or confusing the utter shit out of all of them. I have to stop myself and think, “How can I make this conversation as interesting to these people as it is to me, all the while helping them to understand why I am telling them this story and what the hell it is that I am saying.”

So many times, the options for sending the message out from non profits is either one of “hope” or “despair” trying to shock the normal people into deciding that this atrocity is so horrible that it must be stopped, or trying to get people to help with the snowball that is building.  It’s the difference between Sarah Mclaughlin singing a sad song with puppy pictures and a news story about how great the community garden was this year (for lack of better examples).

My personal opinion is that the reason that these shock and aww campaigns are used is simply a question of public ignorance of “why” these foundations and organizations exist.  It is too hard to explain to a mass of people why there are organizations trying to fight homelessness in Boulder and how that effects them in their daily lives in a 30 second commercial. Instead, we pull at heart strings and hope that is enough to get people to act. Instead, it turns people off like the Meth Campaigns to what you are trying to do. Last night we talked in the big group about how most of us fast forward or change the channel when that puppy video comes on tv because it is just too horrible to watch. I have never talked to any friends or family who have sent money into the ASPCA as a result of that commercial.  It’s not that it doesn’t make everyone want to go and slit their wrists to save the puppies.

I feel like the big issue here is really one of communication and education by making the issues topical to people in their own lives. As a business owner, if I could see how this money could directly or indirectly effect me, that would be huge!  For example, if the local grocery store was earning a percentage of the money that was allocated by the county because it funneled through the people who needed it to that store, it would be really easy to show them why this is important. Then that store would become an advocate for the bill(s) pretty quickly. Or, if as was suggested in the groups last night, you could show the honest statistics to each school and the parents of the children in that specific school about how 3/20 of the kids in the school are homeless or below federal poverty standards, that hits home. It hits home really hard.  “Yes, in this school. Right now. Every day.”

This is all well and good, but how does a not for profit get this information together? and then, how do they afford to get this message out there?  After learning what I learned last night, admittedly I am still ignorant to the inner workings of NPOs, I think that the big campaigns don’t do anything. We discovered that most of the campaigns that had been started had not been seen or realized by nearly anyone in the group. Were they ignored? Were they even seen in the first place? I think the issue is that they are not topical enough. The Meth Campaigns although fucking awful, are well known because they are so awful. The ASPCA commercial is the same way. Global Warming is topical and hits home because it’s in the news constantly and its fashionable to be green.  How do we fight something like homelessness and poverty levels? Make it hit home, make it hit my door step like a micro burst, but do it in a way that appeals to my wallet and my sense of family. Don’t hit me over the head with nasty pictures and sad songs.

It’s a fine line, but after what I saw last night, it seems like it can be done.

—

Bottom Up Destruction is a term that was used last night to describe what happens when a seemingly small eco-system completely fails and has overarching effects throughout the entire world. Think about what would happen if all the bees died, or the plankton.

This of course makes me wonder, is it the method of delivery, the situation, or maybe the people involved? In the movie situation (admittedly I have not read the book) the characters pay it forward interpersonally, giving something or doing something directly for someone else. In the coffee shop or drive-thru scenario, the person who starts it is gone before the next person gets their treat, leaving the barista or cashier to actually do the paying forward for the original person.  This creates a sort of impromptu ambassador of paying it forward out of an unsuspecting cashier. Does this situation perform more admirably than if the person actually paying for the drink was to stand there with the cashier and buy the drink for the next person, right in front of them?

To figure this out, I pose a sort of experiment to you. Next time you are at a coffee shop, take $10 and do an experiment for me. With the first $5, walk up to someone who is standing in line (with no one behind them) and hand then the money – saying something along the lines of, “This is for your drink, please a the drink for the next person in line – pay it forward”.  Then walk out until that person leaves, go out to your car or around the corner or something. Come back into the store and wait, see if they actually did what you suggested or just took advantage.  With the next $5, hand it to the cashier and ask them to “take care of the next guy, asking them to pay it forward. Please do not give me credit for this.”  Go sit down and wait, see if the idea is paid forward.

Report back what happens. I would love to hear your results.

I tried the first experiment this morning, once I have a couple comments I will say what happened.

I guess this was no prelude. It was when it was an idea and I started writing, then it became an call to action. whoops

Create a minimum of 3 meals using the ingredients below. One meal must use potatoes (I have 3 pounds of potatoes that need to be used), one meal must be a salad and use cherry tomatoes, and one meal must be a juicer recipe.  You can assume that I have things like condiments, spices, and every-day kitchen ingredients.  You are not limited to the ingredients I have, but please utilize as many of them as possible.

Ingredients I have:

• Potatoes 3-4 pounds
• Jalapenos
• Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly
• Tortilla shells
• Fruit
• pears
• nectarines
• grapes
• apples
• oranges
• kiwis
• lemons
• limes
• grapefruit
• Cherry tomatoes (from garden)
• Vegetables
• Carrots
• Onions
• Cucumber
• Frozen corn
• Shallots
• Chives (from garden)
• Garlic
• Cremini Mushrooms
• Lettuce (from garden)
• Milk
• deli sliced ham
• deli sliced turkey
• Eggs
• Frozen Edamame
• White Wine
• Vodka
• Rum
• Beer

Have fun! I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Emails: 52 since 3:30pm     Tasks: 31

10:30pm – Went to the gas station to pick up some liquid energy and a snack for tonight, cricket decided she was going and offered to drive.  I bought 3/5 Monster Energy, a Nos in case the monster energy’s flavor sucks (it will) and a bag of sunflower seeds for $10.78.

Get Glue – Monster Energy

11:00pm – Got home from the gas station, set up my seat and cooler.  Then I started an episode of The Office halfway through. Michael impersonates “Survivorman” and then says “That’s what she said”. Started this blog post.

Get Glue – The office, earned “The Office Coming Soon” badge

11:10pm – Started episode 8 of Pawn Stars. Rick laughs at a guy for asking too much for a Coke Machine, laughs at another guy about some comic books.

Get Glue – Pawn Stars, was offered 10% off Pawn Stars Merchandise

Emails: 58      Tasks: 31

11:15pm – finished a Spicy McChicken and a Double Cheeseburger. Looking forward to hearing about how awful my food choices are from friends on twitter. This food is already having a McGangBang in my stomach.

11:25pm – installed login lockdown on a WordPress site, realized that it would be a ton of fun to restore cars with Tony. Maybe that’s the next thing we do with Spotted Koi?

11:55pm – my stomach is starting to hate on me for all this garbage that is sitting in it.

Emails: 66   Laptop CPU temp: 50* C

1:15am – found out google maps API v3 sucks at removing hundreds of markers from the map, this is a serious downfall to v3.  Now we have to restart this half of the project on V2 and tell the customer we need another 48 hours. Also, we’re eating this extra time. This kind of sucks.

Pawn Stars Episode: 14     Emails: 28

Task completion status: minimal – still don’t know where to start. I guess I’ll kill these emails off.

 1:50am – emails almost nearly tackled, a couple of tasks completed from both PM list and personal list, email tasks completed.  Checked reddit for a couple minutes break.

Emails: 17 (6 new since 1:29am)    Tasks:30

2:15 – checked analytics and adsense, two sites together are averaging $20-25 per month. How can we make that $50-100?  Started 2nd Monster drink.

Emails: 22 – wtf!?      Tasks: 30, I closed 2 tasks…how is this possible?

2:50am – stopped for a minute to look at Facebook/Twitter/EmpireAvenue after closing out a couple tasks for my projects.  I started typing stupid shit in emails I am sending out, repeating peoples names in sentences and then closing applications instead of closing windows. Will have to double read everything before I send it out.  Also, I am amazed how many of these Pawn Stars episodes I have seen and recognize.

Emails: 25 – seriously, who is sending me emails at 3 in the morning?       Tasks: 24

Pawn Stars Episode: skipped 17, 19, 20 – no watching 21

4:00am – My break was an hour long, fell into reddit for a while. Getting back to work now. Hopefully this doesn’t effect my overall completion of tasks too much. Oh man, I have to pee like crazy all of a sudden.

4:20am – I decided to go through my inbox from the bottom up, checking anything that I was saving for later. While doing this, my legs started cramping up. I think it is probably from not drinking enough water. Oh well.

4:40am – my stomach is ready for food, it started talking to me. Also, the tip of my thumb has started to feel like I have a pin in it. My cats are a little confused by my presence in the living room, they are staring at me.  Time seems to be moving much faster than it does during the day.

Emails: 27   Tasks: 22

4:53am – I am starting to get spacey. I noticed that I am starting to stare at things and not move for minutes at a time. I was in the middle of writing something, looked up at the TV and by the time I looked down I had to re-read what I was working on to figure out where I was.

Emails: 20    Tasks: 22

5:23am – all my emails are tackled as of right now. I am closing Sparrow so I can focus on the tasks in PM and on my paper. My brain feels like there is fog in there and my eyes make everything seem like it is way further away than it really is. It’s like being high, but crappier.

Emails: 0     Tasks: 21

5:40am – I looked outside and I am starting to see signs of a sunrise. I also got initial tasks for two projects setup and assigned so that they can get started right away. Only 3 more project’s tasks to set up and assign and then on to the remaining tasks I have in PM

Tasks: 23  Projects to Assign: 3   Sun: Coming up

6:45am – It is light out already, I had to scan a document and send it out so I opened my email program Sparrow again. Already back up to 17 emails.  I have assigned all the tasks from my projects, all that’s left are tasks in PM and checking up on a couple active projects. I just thought it was strange that I switched from using colons after my time entries to dashes, so I scrolled up to see when I had switched. I hadn’t switched, I just imagined it. Everything I do from this point forward needs to be double checked. I no longer trust my fingers to type what they are supposed to type, or at least my brain to interpret correctly, or whatever I am trying to say here.  Ding! 18 emails now. Shit.

Emails: 18   Tasks: 23, still   Sun: Smug bastard is out, making the sky blue again.

Ding! 19 emails. Fuck. Shit.

7:17am – Something I learned and discovered while describing my evening: Monster energy drinks taste like someone poured pixie sticka into 1% juice drink from concentrate with high fructose corn syrup and then mixed it with soda. It is this thick syrupy nastiness that tastes like fruited ass.

9:07am – I drank a fruit smoothie thing, exercised hoping that would wake me up, and took a shower. I basically feel like complete shit. Not only did the jumping around not help, it made me nauseous. I need water, but also want caffeine so that I can work a real day of work. Not sure if that will happen.

9:34am – Trying to sit at my computer is not working, set the coffee pot and my phone to go off 15 minutes before my meeting at 11. I am going to put head to pillow and let eyes rest.  It is amazing how this feeling sort of swells up inside from the stomach through the chest and then attacks the brain and eyelids. It is a foggy weakness that is all consuming at the moment. More for later. Hopefully the slapstick silliness sets in during or after my meeting, that could be fun and with this customer – they would find it hilarious.

Empire Avenue

82.87 eaves/share

275 overall total wealth

Twitter Grader

Rank 41,088 out of 10,167,587, Grade 100

Twitaholic

• Ranked 21,621st on twitaholic.com! (by followers)
• Ranked 38th in their location on twitaholic! (by followers in ‘Denver, CO‘)

Twitter Counter

#43,218(43,194 yesterday)

Tweet Stats

I use tweetdeck and talk mostly in the morning. I also average 13.3 tweets per day.

Tweetwasters

Matt Bernier has 17,177 total tweets and assuming they spent an average of 30 seconds per tweet they’ve spent 515,310 Seconds or 8,589 Minutes or 143.14 Hours or 5.96 Days using Twitter!
Hey, you. Ye with 5.96 days of Tweets. Breathe once in a while!

Retweet Rank

Retweet rank: 175,516 - approx 94.85 percentile

Chirpio

No ratings, I am neither hot nor cold

FollowCost

Average Updates Per day: 14.98 or 706.06 milliscobles

Twitemperature

32 degrees F, 0 c – I am ice cold

Tweet Sentiments

Sentiments
Index[0-100]:	54.30
Positive:	30
Negative:	22
Neutral:	41
Total Analyzed:	93

 Xefer / Twitter Charts

I have no idea.

 TwitGraph

I tweet mostly on Tuesday, my top word is “your” and I bother these people the most:  @TJKimberly, @yosoykia, @tjkimberly, @aaronkwhite, @BizCoachDeb  (notice that they don’t take capitalization into account)

Twitalyzer and the Dashboard

Lots and Lots of data

Klout

Score of 60

Sites that didn’t work for me at all:

http://yvoschaap.com/twitterthoughts – mysql table missing error

http://www.mytwitterweighsaton.com – mysql failed error

In summary, I don’t think any of it means anything. It’s kind of fun to see what people rank you on though!

For brevity’s sake I will use “follow” to refer to friending, liking, following, buying, or selling from now on.

In the grand scheme of things, I don’t really care if you stop following me. This is not because I am a heartless bastard, which you probably now think I am, it is because your un-follow doesn’t change anything for me. Ok, it is possible that you could have been the next million dollar deal maker in my life and changed my bank account forever – but if you are that fickle about me you wouldn’t feel comfortable with me holding your cash.  I would hope that my work speaks for itself, despite who I am or am not online.

As long as there has been social interaction, there has been a discussion about what it means when someone stops following you.”Why isn’t the hot girl in Calculus talking to me anymore?” Yes, there were hot girls in my Calc classes in High School and College.  Was it because I was a year younger than everyone in my class? Was it because I was socially awkward and emotionally unstable in High School? Does it really even matter now?

Answers: Probably. Probably. No, but I am probably am “friends” with them on FB now.

On certain days Social Media and the people who are involved seem nothing more than those curiously passionate friends in High School that would walk right up to you and say, “You didn’t <insert asinine reason here>, so we can’t be friends anymore”. Only with Social Media, it seems that people are saying, “If you don’t follow me, I am not going to follow you.” Take that! Damn, I am so offended because you obviously care so much about our social connection that you are willing to throw it away for what could be something as small as an oversight on my part.

Yes, I hope that people stay happy with me but I cannot expect that everyone is going to agree with me all the time.  I am going to offend someone out there when I bring up dinosaurs, evolution, the fact that I am not particularly into religion, that I don’t want to listen to political pundits, that I believe that we actually did walk on the moon, or that “me shit turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbert.”*  It’s OK that you don’t agree with me or like what I say. If you want to stop following me or stop talking to me, great! That is totally your choice and I am proud of you for exercising your right to that choice. I exercise my right to that choice every day.

The problem I have, and the reason I am even writing all this drivel, is that so many people dwell on the negative and deal in the negative every single day. With social interaction, whether personal or impersonal, if you are negative then you breed negativity. If you say something negative, the next guy is going to talk about what you said and share your negativity with someone else.  Your negativity may effect someone’s attitude, which gets projected to someone else as “Man, that guy is having a bad day” or “What the fuck!? That asshole just cut me off!”.  This gets people no where, just like dwelling on whether someone follows you back or not. Obviously, I am never going to watch That 70′s show again, because Ashton won’t follow me back on Twitter.  What an asshole.

The reason I love Social Media (and the internet) is because it gives me the opportunity to find out about new people, get exposed to things I have never even dreamed possible or likely, and have real discussion with people that I would never have met otherwise.  There are tons of great ways to be involved in Social Media and there are millions of people out there with who to interact. If 1, 100, or even 1000 people don’t care for you – Screw ‘em. It doesn’t matter, you will find more people out there. If you can’t find more people, then maybe you should try something else.

You can un-follow me here:

http://twitter.com/mbernier

http://facebook.com/mkbernier

http://empireavenue.com/mbernier – lots more links here, please vote with your un-follows!

*A quote from Super Troopers, one of my favorite movies.

Take the ingredients listed below and help me come up with creative meals using these ingredients. I also have a full pantry of spices as well as various alcohols, condiments, etc.

I am looking for recipes and instructions for how to utilize the ingredients in recipes. I love all kinds of foods and trying new things. I will take pictures of things that are suggested when I am done.

If you are curious if I have an ingredient like spices or condiments, just shoot me a question and I will answers.

Have fun and thanks!

Ingredients:

• Frozen pizza
• Mini frozen pizza
• Snack packs:w butterscotch, chocolate and fudge
• tortilla Chips
• salsa
• wheat bread
• spaghetti noodles
• spaghetti sauce
• chicken breasts
• bacon
• mojito lime marinade
• lemonade
• Frosted Flakes
• Milk
• Fire roasted Diced tomatoes
• Frozen taquitos

Updated with incidentals discovered in Fridge:

• Lemon
• Lime
• Avacado
• Celery
• Onions
• Serrano peppers (2)
• garlic
• cilantro
• frozen cooked shrimp
• eggs
• flour
• corn meal
• rice

I am open to healthier options!