seattlejo.com

I have a personal assistant. i copy her on emails, send her text messages and give her chores to do. In return she sends me text messages and other reminders  when I have a task coming up. She keeps my to do list, and tracks the catagories of my tasks.

The cost? Free.

Iwantsandy.com is my new digital assistant. Part of a swiss army of knifes worth of  tools i use to keep track of everything going on in my life.

i find that i use it on the bus most often, reviewing my tasks mentally, I’ll think of something i want to do  and send off a quick message. Its then recorded on my to dist When i check in on the website I have the satisfaction of ticking off the things that i have done. I love ticky boxes. There is a certain amount of satisfaction gained from being able to tick off those things that are done.

Give it a try, I’m sure Sandy would love to help you with your to do list.

I took miss bit to school this morning (one of the chores i do during the life of leisure) Mid walk we were joined by a classmate and a little before nine i dropped the two of them off at school. Then it was off to Fremont. I’m meeting Aron for Lunch at Skillet Street Food, and decided to start my day down in Greenwood anyway. I wandered over to the bus stop and waited. checking the bus time via my nifty sms checker, i saw that i had about 10 minutes. So I decided to walk to the next bus stop. Then the bus stop after that.

Can you see where this is going?

It’s mostly downhill and only took me a little over 30 minutes to walk from 80th and Greenwood to Phinney and 36th.  It was a leisurely  though the 15% grade downhill was sure something even if it was downhill. I like being able to look at the  houses in the area and the different yards. i even found what i would consider my dream yard. Mostly concrete sculpture with lots of greenery in  pots all around.   i’m a  no grass person.  It’s also neat what you see when you look up into the trees

Welcome to Greenwood, a neighborhood north of the downtown core of Seattle. i live near 85th and Greenwood Ave, and have to admit that I feel a fair amount of possessive ownership of this neighborhood. it’s my stomping grounds.

it’s come to my attention that not everyone knows the area, and to be honest, i dont know everything about the area. So I decided i’d start at 85th and Greenwood ave, and explore the different shops so you know whats here for when you come visit. You are coming to visit right?

So Hi! Let’s get started on our tour.

I started today literally at the corner of 85th and Greenwood Ave and looked around at the businesses.

The four corners are thus :
Northwest : Greenwood Academy of Hair
Northeast : Washington Mutual Bank
Southeast: Sweet on You Gelato (no website)
Southwest :Antika’s Antiques (no website)

Greenwood Academy of Hair Yelp Reviews
Greenwood Academy of Hair is hair salon and cosmetology school. They are recently under new ownership and some small changes in decor and products used have happened. I’ve been going there for years and aside for a bum cut or two due to my wishy washyness , I’ve never had a problem. In fact when I turned the magical 30 , my girlfriend and I went there and availed ourselves of their spa treatments, each getting a facial, mudwrap and a waxing. We were truly pampered.

Washington Mutual
Washington Mutual is a bank. And as a nonmember of this bank, there is really little they can do for me. That said, my boyfriend banks there and has not run into any problems. They have an ATM, which does charge a small fee for usage.

Sweet on You Yelp Reviews
Sweet on you is a new gelato place, that just opened a few weeks ago. I get the feeling that they are still working out the kinks. They always seem to be out of what i’m looking for and they still dont take credit cards. (not a requirement mind you, but they keep claiming it will be soon.) I like the Gelato though, and will be stopping by occasionally to indulge.

Antika Yelp Reviews

Antika is a delightful Antique store. They are mainly furniture and  small decorative items.. They usually have vintage barware and a vintage bar in the window. As with all antique stores, they can be a little spendy, but the quality is fantastic. I’m always amazed by the nifty kitchen cabinets, the unique tables, and the ornate curios they have.  They are always friendly when I come even, even though I’ve never bought anything.

So thats the start. Lets see what else we can find for next time.

Remember the Sansa e250 I reccomended?
Well it’s big brother the e260 is on sale at woot. $42.00 plus $5 shipping.  Its the same as i have just twice the memory.

I’d love to get one myself but its not in the cards today.

—-

In other words, I’m addicted to woot! This is Sunnie’s fault  . (Of course) First it started with her please for a roomba. I helped her out , seeing as i was at a computer and she was not.   That gave me a key to the site. I began checking the  regular woots as well as the T-Shirts. You see each day they offer a shirt that is $10 including shipping. Sometimes the design is nifty and appeals to me,(I’ve been sunk by this one, this one   this one and this one) other times it’s  just not something I would wear.

Each week they do a design contest  (called a Derby) and the top three winners  get to see their shirts made and make some money from it too. Here you vote for the ones you like and get caught up in the excitement hoping the ones you want will win.

All in all, not much wrong with a $10 t-shirt.

I have an ipod. well no, I have 3 ipods. A shuffle, a nonfunctional mini, and a nano. So getting another MP3 player wasnt high on my list of priorities. Playing movies? Eh no need. More storage? No not really. I was surfing around ebay looking for a deal on an ipod as a gift for someone, and it struck me that Ipods are not the only MP3 device out there. I switched over my search and began looking at the other options.

Hmm playing subscription music from Rhapsody. Now thats a feature I could use. You see I’ve had a Rhapsody.com account since the middle of 2001. I’ve subscribed and unsubscribed a handful of times in the end always coming back to my saved play lists. By purchasing the right player, upgrading my account to pay $2 a month, I could take these play lists with me.

Enter the Sansa e250.

This little 2 gig player cost me a total of $50 including shipping. It has a color display,  plays video, plays music and has FM radio ** It took a little bit of doing to get it to sync the first time, and its slow loading music, but its more then worth it to have my  playlists  available to go and not have to buy these songs.

** FM radio prompted the following conversation

Me: It’s amazing. Radio is a playlist of songs I dont own!

Girlfriend : WOW! Thats shocking

Boyfriend : Someone should tell the record companies about that, that must be illegal