Hannah and I recently did a guest lecture at the University of Virginia. In this 10 minute excerpt, I swear a little, make fun of Bono, and probably piss off small retail shop owners. Deal with it. It’s the truth.
TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
Best types of business for a mobile lifestyle? Products are better than services. I tend to do a whole bunch of service businesses, but products are better than services, because a product you make it once and sell it a bunch of times and every time it makes money. A service? You or somebody you hire, which a lot of times is the case in my case, has to actually be there.
So, as much as you may think that being a rock star or a movie star might be a really great life. When U2 showed up down here and put on their little tootie fruity show? Bono had to show up and sing. When you pay your money and go and see U2. Four guys had to fly in from Ireland, put on their little shiny pants and get up there and flop around, but every time they sell a CD they don’t have to do that. It’s a very different model, products versus a service.
The internet is better than physical. If you’re going to sell something, sell it on the internet. Don’t sell it physically. Physically you have to show up and stand around. Physical retail establishments blow my mind. The idea that you have to show up every day at a place kills your mobility right away — you’ve got to open the door at 9:30 and close it at 9:30 (or whatever) and the whole time you’re just standing around just in case someone might want to buy a latte. Just in case. Two hours in the middle of the day, no one comes in? Guess what? You’re still standing there, or somebody you hire is still standing there. It’s just bad for mobility to have some sort of physical storefront or any kind of place that you physically have to go.
My Mom whooped another common sense kitchen tip on us recently. So, I turned the video camera on her and had her show us how she keeps grilled shrimp moist and steady on a skewer.
Finally, be sure to soak your wooden skewers in water before you skewer your shriimp. It keeps them from bursting into flames.
BTW, do I get any points for not making any lame “shrimp on the barbie” jokes?
Special guests Susie, Jack (and Hannah) help me demonstrate how a damp paper towel can change your life. Well, maybe not change your life, but it will help keep that flexible cutting board from creeping off to Nova Scotia.
Traveling the world sans pants just got a lot cooler. Google’s Street View has always been a great way to see panoramas of streets from all over the world. Today they’ve added some great improvements.
Instead of having to inch along streets using those evil forward and backward arrows, you can now use their spiffy new “pancake” to get around. Check out this short video to get the lowdown.
“Why don’t we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers.”
Ken Robinson is right up our alley. This 20 minute talk is terrific…and quite funny.
I’m a sucker for a really good singer. The fact that Madonna is rich and famous and this guy is playing at the Temple Bar for a $5.00 cover charge is clear proof that life is unfair.
In this video I show you how I use a brilliantly designed and dirt cheap file holderto keep my active projects organized, in view and easy to retrieve. The system also makes working while traveling a breeze.
This short video shows you a simple trick I use to “practice” a new language. If you have any trouble watching the video above, it’s also available on YouTube
UPDATE:
Our favorite way to learn a new language is by using the all-audio courses from Pimsleur. They are pricey, but they work.
You listen to a 30 minute lesson each day, then do the practice trick I spoke of in the video. Of course, audio won’t teach you to read so you’ll need another program if you need that. Here are links to the specific Pimsleur Spanishand French series’ we’ve used.
Behold the finest food storage containers on planet earth. The IKEA 365+ Food Saver. The big deal here is the lids. The containers are available in four sizes, but the lids are all the same size. No more frustrating searches for the one lid that fits. But wait…there’s more plastic perfection.
Clear Lids for Easy Identification of Contents
Rubberized Easy-Grip Edge
Stackable
Built-In Steam Vent
Dishwasher & Microwave Safe
Cost: $2.00 to $5.00
Finally, don’t let the low price fool you. These tubs are heavy duty. By far the most substantial containers we own. Bravo IKEA! You’re always exceeding our expectations.
We are a family with three small kids figuring out how to travel the world, work from anywhere while home schooling our kids. We also blather on about life hacks, saving money and cool stuff we love. Snarky bios of each cast member are here.
to keep my active projects organized, in view and easy to retrieve. The system also makes working while traveling a breeze.
