Are We Still Cool? » not cool

Cool Mum dances in the street to Beyonce (video)

cool mum — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:04:22 +0000

It was date night and we got a little sidetracked on the way from the subway to our dinner reservation. Not one member of the Cool Fam has been known to resist a spontaneous dance party. [-5 cool points]

I’m an aficionado of efficiency

cool dad — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:04:26 +0000

Life has been somewhat crazy and upside-down, but all in a good way. I’m waiting for the subway train to come, questioning myself because I’ve let a couple of local trains (that make every stop) pass by while waiting for an express train (makes only certain stops). I’ve been waiting so long that I think I made a mistake by letting all of those locals pass by.

My degree from the University of Florida is a bachelors in industrial engineering. One cornerstone of IE is efficiency – finding the most efficient ways to do tasks to save time and money. Though I realized about 3/4 of the way into the degree that it wasn’t my calling, efficiency is hard-wired into my personality.

I constantly question my decision-making, wondering if I could have done something better. As I type this on my phone (in order to maximize my commuting time), I’m weighing getting off to transfer to a local train, which will stop closer to my office, or staying on the express, which will get me a further stop faster.

At grocery stores, I scan the checkout lines and switch lines depending on variables like:

Number of customers
Volume of customers’ merchandise
Speed of cashier
Width of conveyor belt
Age of bar code scanner

OK, I’m not an engineer, so those last two aren’t true. But I really do watch for people who get in the other lines at the same time as me to see if they leave before I do.

Maybe I’m just trying to make the most of my time. Maybe I have mental issues. Maybe I’ll read some psychiatry journals on the pot to study up on it.

Are you an efficiency freak like me? What extremes do you go to?

Transformation, one wireless plan change at a time

Mom Jeans: If they’re good enough for the President…

cool mum — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:25:59 +0000

If Mom Jeans are good enough for President Barack Obama, then they must be good enough for Cool Baby.

At a very young age, CB began wearing jorts. Most of our readers disapproved. A recent realization–we have since moved him on to Mom Jeans. What do you think?

I think these things may be making a comeback. I did see a very mom-ish pair of jeans at H&M today. Not only was the waistband high–it was elastic! Just like CB’s jeans.

[-10 cool points]

Cheapo uncool household tricks: Trash can-free living

cool mum — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:32:15 +0000

Here is a tradition we have carried over from our first NYC apartment . As minimalists, we didn’t want to purchase a trash can, nor did we have any space for one. We also suspected that Cool Baby would one day dig for buried treasure in it.

I took a hint from childhood camping trips and decided to hang the trash in a grocery bag from the door hinge. The bag on the right holds our stash of clean grocery bags, while the bag on the left holds the actual trash. Classy.

[-5 cool points]

If you found this post amusing, intriguing, or even a little disturbing, you should subscribe to AWSC? There’s a lot more where this came from.

This post is part of Works for Me Wednesday.

Cheapo uncool household tricks: Blocking bathroom windows

cool mum — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:16:37 +0000

Upon seeing our new apartment, one of CD’s first comments was, “People can see us go to the bathroom! Privates are called privates for a reason!”

The next day, he came home to this:

A few weeks went by, and CD mentioned that he was tired of looking at a Starbucks box every time he answered the call of nature. (Please note, we don’t even drink coffee.) The next day, he came home to this:

We are anti-drill after a big failure in the last apartment, so I tried to put up a tension rod and curtain we already owned. It wouldn’t fit in that narrow window, but I figured out a way to put it at a precarious angle and keep it up. CD still thinks it’s a bit unprofessional and that our curtain could land in the toilet at any minute. So far so good.

[-5 cool points]

This post is part of Works for Me Wednesday.

Transformation, one wireless plan change at a time

cool dad — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:57:32 +0000

New York has continued to transform me in ways I’d never have dreamed. First, we turned our backs on our ballyhooed prepaid wireless plans for real plans that we could depend on in the city. Now, I’m eagerly waiting for the mailman to deliver

*choke* I can’t say it…

My new (used) Blackberry. i’m so confused.

Yes, I’m getting a Blackberry and the data plan. Before you hit unsubscribe because you just don’t know who we are anymore, there is a sane reason for this sudden turn of events. We won the lottery. Just kidding.

Actually, it’s my love of efficiency that’s trumping my love of frugality. I have a 35-minute (on average) commute every day. Much of that time is spent either waiting for the subway or riding it. When we lived in Florida, I used to redeem my driving time by composing blog posts and movie scenes in my head. However, the train isn’t the insulated environment like the Corolla was, so it’s hard for me to word-process in my head.

I do work with several blogs, so being able to do that work on the subway would be sweetly efficient. In comes the smartphone. I can write or edit posts, jot down flashes of inspiration, take pictures of unique NYC moments, and keep up on my blog reading. I have my justified myself yet?

Plus, my favorite justification: By doing my freelance work with the smartphone, it will eventually pay for itself! That excuse works great for guitar equipment, though not so well for red leather pants with ‘COOL DAD’ stitched into them.

So, barring a collapse of the United States Postal Service, I should get my Blackberry tomorrow (supposed to be today grrr). And don’t worry, I’ll still be the same, cheap, humble Cool Dad that you’re used to. Of course, with an awesome new (used) Blackberry smartphone!! [+10,000,000 cool points]

Do you have a smartphone? Are you happy with it?

I destroyed the cheesecake. It’s getting me back

cool dad — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:50:00 +0000

I love cheesecake. Chocolate, pumpkin, topped with berries – just about any kind, I’ll happily devour. I hear that in some secret places around the USA, there are “cheesecake factories,” where you can go in, sit at a table, and order these wonderful cakes of cheese and receive them within 10-15 minutes. Unfortunately, you have to pay a tip, which of course keeps us away.

Today, the Cool Grand ‘Rents treated us to New York-style cheesecake from a bakery around the corner. It was decadent. Smooth, dry, rich. Cool Mum got me a piece for my birthday, and I savored it for several days; just eating slivers at a time.

This time, I took half a piece, which I noticed weighed a substantial amount, and I inhaled it. Like the movie, gone in 60 seconds. Well, maybe 5 minutes, but for this brick of cream cheese, eggs, flour, and sugar, it was way too fast.

My stomach has been grumbling ever since, and not in a hungry way. In a “What the heck is wrong you with you up there, brain?!”

I can’t wait to sleep this off and begin afresh tomorrow with breakfast at a local diner. I think a pound of home fries would get the morning started right.

How often do you overdo it with one of your favorite treats?

photo: m.ariii

Cool Announcement: We have more space!! (sorta)

cool dad — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:25:00 +0000

On my way home last night, I was in the best mood. I think I smiled either on the outside or the inside the whole time. Sadly, it was for the most geeky reason.

Under my arm was tucked a box from Newegg.com that contained my first 1 terabyte hard drive.

I was giddy because my new tech purchase that would double my current storage space. There’s also a sentimental reason for my happiness: I could alleviate my worries of losing all of our photo and video memories if our one external hard drive failed. What a romantic, huh?

Still, I feel a little weird that tech gear made me that happy. Now that I’m setting up my new drive (which is actually an internal drive and a SATA-to-USB enclosure for you geeks out there), I’m in a very good mood again.

Do tech gadgets make you giddy? What’s your favorite tech toy?

Our wild Friday nights

cool dad — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 03:41:00 +0000

It’s a typical, relaxing Friday night for the Cool Fam. Much to your surprise, I’ll admit that we don’t:

1. Have drinks at a fancy club in SoHo.
2. Meet socialite friends for dinner at a swanky restaurant that doesn’t allow jeans and two-year-olds.
3. Party late into the night in the Village.

No, after the boy goes to bed, we hop on the computers. Well, not hop on them because that would be bad for the LCD screens. I mean, we go online.

Cool Mum researches New York stuff. I blog or catch up on shows. We talk as much as whispering can take us. And you know, it works.

When/if we ever move out of this apartment, I think our wild partying lifestyle will pick up where it left off (wherever that was). But for now, we’ll just surf on Friday nights.

What does your typical Friday night look like?

Believe it or not, my life is blogging

cool dad — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:26:00 +0000

Every day, I edit 6-8 blog posts, on top of writing a couple here and there. Obviously, from yesterday’s news, those posts aren’t coming up here! So what’s up with the blogging two-timing?

I have a part-time job as a writer/editor for a blogging community site. My life seems to be all blogging.

As I walk down the street, I look for things to blog about.
On the subway, I rack my brain for good blog questions.
At night, I hug a life-sized Seth Godin body pillow to inspire my blogging ability while I sleep.

By God’s grace, I’m not burned out by blogging. Fortunately, I have a true blog home with true blog homies. Here I can be my silly, cheap, neurotic self (whoever that may be).

And you got me: that last list item isn’t true. Of course, it’s a Carlos Whittaker pillow. He’s a lot more huggable.