Yet another awesome book by Malcolm Gladwell! This guy is truly a great writer of today. I'm just upset I hadn't discovered him sooner. The second I finished up this book I started "Blink" so expect that review soon.
Ever wonder how some things blow up huge and others don't? Gladwell compares the spread of something (be it a product, a disease, crime rates, etc.) to a virus spreading. How does it happen? Well the bottom line is word of mouth, with a message that "sticks", through those who are 1) connected and/or 2) in the know. Truly amazing connections that make you think differently about who and what you know.
The biggest lesson I learned from this book is that often it is the little things that matter and can affect change more than the big, looming issues. Frequently we overlook seemingly unimportant, detail issues that in reality can help overhaul the big picture and bring about the positive change you desire. The example from the book was the dramatic drop in crime in New York City during the 90's, which was a result of small changes rather than big ones.
I love these books by Malcolm Gladwell because he does so much research on all of the example stories. I love that all the examples and case studies are true stories so they are relevant to real life. He has a terrific, captivating writing style that not only makes you on one hand want to stop and think deeper about the issue you just read and on the other hand keep reading to see what could come next. Yet another strong recommendation for this book.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Of Dallas and Hotels
While I've been to the DFW airport a number of times, I have never spent any time in Texas other than an airport stop. I'm in Dallas all this week for some work training and I've got to see quite a bit of downtown Dallas.
Texas is hot and humid. I would say it feels like you see a bar on every corner much like you see a church on every block in Utah. A dissapointing note is that the restauarants (mostly sports bars) are pricey and disappointing. The food at the sports bars I ate at was tasty but I still felt it was quite overpriced (and I wasn't eating at elite places). I didn't even end up going to a Mexican restaurant (something I was excited to try) because I heard way too many bad reviews the past few days from those who had (overpriced and not that good). Oh well. Texas does have a lot going for it. The number 1 I would like to say is the presence of Diet Dr. Pepper! Every restaurant I've eaten at has had it in the fountain, and the hotel has it as part of their soda lineup during our training conference here. As Diet Dr. Pepper is my number 1 soda of choice I have to give this a big thumbs up.
Second, I really love the big city feel. I feel like I could easily live in a big city and enjoy it. Probably not ideal for little kids running around but for adults with no children it definitely has upside. This is really the first really big city I've ever spent time in and I really enjoy checking out the different designs of the sky scrapers. There are some really cool buildings down here which is another plus from my point of view. I wish Salt Lake City would add some more tall buildings to their skyline.
So overall I really like the city and have enjoyed Texas. I do have a complaint about the Sheraton I'm staying at down town. Not only the Sheraton, but all big time nice hotels. They suck! The room is not any nicer than what you get at the Fairfield or Holiday Inn and you end up getting a lot less! At a cheaper hotel you get free breakfast, free internet, and a decent lineup of channels on your tv. Everything here at the Sheraton and other high-end hotels is a la carte. No internet, breakfast, even their "gym" is a total joke for a hotel of this size (we were able to get them to give us guest passes to a 24-hr fitness down the street so I'll give them that). But in any case, I realize these huge hotels are needed to handle big conferences like what I'm attending (roughly 300 people for a whole week), but one thing I can say I've learned from all my travel is that for personal travel the only thing you're getting from these big time hotels is a larger bill and not much else. . . and probably less (honestly I'm pretty much getting less than basic cable from a tv that doesn't even work that well). Stay at the Holiday Inn, the Fairfield, The Residence or any other mid-range hotel and you'll get much more for your money.
One last thing about Dallas is I wish Salt Lake had more sports teams. Everybody knows how much I love the Jazz. I can only imagine how great it would be to have an NFL team. The Cowboys are huge down here and it makes me wish we had a pro football team like that. The NFL is truly king as the Mavs, Rangers, and Stars (NHL) are clearly a step down on the priority scale for this city.
Texas is hot and humid. I would say it feels like you see a bar on every corner much like you see a church on every block in Utah. A dissapointing note is that the restauarants (mostly sports bars) are pricey and disappointing. The food at the sports bars I ate at was tasty but I still felt it was quite overpriced (and I wasn't eating at elite places). I didn't even end up going to a Mexican restaurant (something I was excited to try) because I heard way too many bad reviews the past few days from those who had (overpriced and not that good). Oh well. Texas does have a lot going for it. The number 1 I would like to say is the presence of Diet Dr. Pepper! Every restaurant I've eaten at has had it in the fountain, and the hotel has it as part of their soda lineup during our training conference here. As Diet Dr. Pepper is my number 1 soda of choice I have to give this a big thumbs up.
Second, I really love the big city feel. I feel like I could easily live in a big city and enjoy it. Probably not ideal for little kids running around but for adults with no children it definitely has upside. This is really the first really big city I've ever spent time in and I really enjoy checking out the different designs of the sky scrapers. There are some really cool buildings down here which is another plus from my point of view. I wish Salt Lake City would add some more tall buildings to their skyline.
So overall I really like the city and have enjoyed Texas. I do have a complaint about the Sheraton I'm staying at down town. Not only the Sheraton, but all big time nice hotels. They suck! The room is not any nicer than what you get at the Fairfield or Holiday Inn and you end up getting a lot less! At a cheaper hotel you get free breakfast, free internet, and a decent lineup of channels on your tv. Everything here at the Sheraton and other high-end hotels is a la carte. No internet, breakfast, even their "gym" is a total joke for a hotel of this size (we were able to get them to give us guest passes to a 24-hr fitness down the street so I'll give them that). But in any case, I realize these huge hotels are needed to handle big conferences like what I'm attending (roughly 300 people for a whole week), but one thing I can say I've learned from all my travel is that for personal travel the only thing you're getting from these big time hotels is a larger bill and not much else. . . and probably less (honestly I'm pretty much getting less than basic cable from a tv that doesn't even work that well). Stay at the Holiday Inn, the Fairfield, The Residence or any other mid-range hotel and you'll get much more for your money.
One last thing about Dallas is I wish Salt Lake had more sports teams. Everybody knows how much I love the Jazz. I can only imagine how great it would be to have an NFL team. The Cowboys are huge down here and it makes me wish we had a pro football team like that. The NFL is truly king as the Mavs, Rangers, and Stars (NHL) are clearly a step down on the priority scale for this city.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
CPA! (AKA Most boring post ever)
So today in the mail I finally received the little slip of paper from the state department of occupational licensing that says I am officially a CPA! Pretty exciting for a nerd like myself I know. Most people probably are thinking, "Holy crap! You've been graduated and working in accounting for a year and half now! I thought you were already a CPA! You suck for taking so long!" Well, it actually takes a while including passing all the tests and you have to get a certain amount of work experience before everything is complete. So now it's all complete and basically the big thing I get out of it is to shoulder more blame if something goes wrong with a job I'm working on :).
I can say with full certainty that being a CPA just means you spend your life working. For some reason in college there is this big myth that your job basically entails golfing a ton and wooing clients. I'm pretty sure I golfed a grand total of 3 times last year and I haven't even thought about taking them out of the garage once so far this year. What I DO do without myth is spend 15 hours a day sitting in a chair in some back-corner conference room or cubicle. Combine that with my sweet eating habits (pretty much every meal is take out since we're too busy working) and you have yourself one fat brandon! That should be my new nickname. . . fat brandon! It has a ring to it.
This sounds like a gripe session, but I actually like what I do. Not necesarily how much I do it, but I do learn a lot of interesting things and deal with interesting situations (and people for that matter). I've already been to a ton of different businesses in this state and others and seen various types of business operations that I wouldn't see elsewhere. The sad part is, as I see myself learning more about accounting I also see myself digging deeper and deeper into the "ultra-nerd" pit that I've basically already lived in my whole life. These things that I find interesting put the world to sleep (and certainly my wife :)).
Fat Brandon, CPA. It has a ring to it, right?
I can say with full certainty that being a CPA just means you spend your life working. For some reason in college there is this big myth that your job basically entails golfing a ton and wooing clients. I'm pretty sure I golfed a grand total of 3 times last year and I haven't even thought about taking them out of the garage once so far this year. What I DO do without myth is spend 15 hours a day sitting in a chair in some back-corner conference room or cubicle. Combine that with my sweet eating habits (pretty much every meal is take out since we're too busy working) and you have yourself one fat brandon! That should be my new nickname. . . fat brandon! It has a ring to it.
This sounds like a gripe session, but I actually like what I do. Not necesarily how much I do it, but I do learn a lot of interesting things and deal with interesting situations (and people for that matter). I've already been to a ton of different businesses in this state and others and seen various types of business operations that I wouldn't see elsewhere. The sad part is, as I see myself learning more about accounting I also see myself digging deeper and deeper into the "ultra-nerd" pit that I've basically already lived in my whole life. These things that I find interesting put the world to sleep (and certainly my wife :)).
Fat Brandon, CPA. It has a ring to it, right?
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