I don’t know about you, but online shopping really does take so much of the hassle out of life for me. I used to absolutely love somewhat aimlessly wandering around stores for aisles and aisles, just looking for that perfect thing that I may (or may not) have needed at that exact moment. But it was SO time consuming. As I grew older, and quite frankly as I gained more bills, I did that less and less often. Although I still love me some Tar-Jay and many other brick and mortar stores, I tend to be a bit more calculated with more purchases. Quite frankly – Amazon Prime has helped me do exactly that (and I think that’s the opposite for most people I know, where Amazon Prime has made them more reckless, and not more responsible)!
Now, I rarely buy anything on the same day, opting instead to put it on a list and then revisit it, asking myself, “Justin, do you really need that?” Whatever it is – whether it’s a cheese grater, a new watch, medical supplies, or food…it seems to have been working pretty well. For the past few years, I’ve found myself with less and less stuff, and more things that actually make it into part of my weekly, if not daily, routine.
And then this morning happened.
I read this article on my Feedly about Amazon’s new Same-Day delivery option, launching today. I’m only embarrassed a little bit to admit: there were a few things on my Amazon “save for later” list. Since the order minimum for this free same-day delivery option was $35, I immediately started thinking – Justin do you really need this? Yes. The answer was, obviously, yes.
So today’s entry to HESONWHEELS is dedicated to re-capping my experience with the first day of Amazon’s Same-Day delivery, in the D.C. metro area. I’ll update this post throughout the day with anything related to my shipment and experience ordering with Amazon today. If everything goes well, I hope it ends up being a service that is available in your area too!
This post is mostly just a “thank you” along with a little look behind-the-scenes…
Last week, I submitted a proposal for a conference called SXSWEco. More on the conference itself, later, if I can convince you to read as far. :) I posted the proposal on my social media accounts, and encouraged friends and family to vote. Through the Panel Picker process, in order to actually make it as a speaker to SXSWEco, I have to not only have some support on social media (30% of overall feedback is social media), 30% of input will come from the staff and how much they see my proposal fitting into the overall SXSWEco program, as well as 40% of input coming from the Advisory Board of tried and true professionals. Quite the process, eh?
So first, thank you! If you’re reading this, that probably means that you read my “thank you for voting” post on Facebook earlier this week. :)
“When are you available for lunch next week?” … Have you ever spent more time scheduling a meeting over email than actually talking over coffee? … If this question makes you cringe just at the idea of the never-ending email thread that it’s about to start, you’re in for a treat.”
These are some of the thoughts that Sunrise’s e-mail, as well as their blog post, posed me with this morning. I found myself screaming “Yes! ABSOLUTELY!” with big wide eyes at my screen. Their new creation aims to get around all of that, and I wanted to be one of the first to share it with you today.
Before I share “Meet” with you, I’m going to go out on a limb here:Sunrise is officially the best iPhone app (particularly, for calendars) that I have ever used. And I don’t say that lightly. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever said that about any calendar app ever. Read more after the jump …
I can’t remember the last time a video made me want to find my pup, Charlotte, and hug her any more. I feel like, as humans, we always talk about how we don’t know how much time have left with our (human) loved ones, but what about those who we care about that are furry?
This video captures that in a wonderful, wonderful way. Keep on keepin’ on, Pegasus.
I also found this link to the story, that goes a little bit more on depth, on Buzzfeed earlier this morning. Check it out.
With everything going in the media (and please trust, the aforementioned link is but ONE, and only ONE, example of that “everything”) concerning law enforcement, I wanted to take a moment to recognize many of the law enforcement officials I know personally. This country’s law enforcement network is one of the largest, most comprehensive, and cohesive networks in the world. Thanks to having luck in the family I was born into, I am grateful to know of the most dedicated law enforcement officials I’ve ever met – my Dad.
Yesterday, I had one of the best experiences I’ve had in a very long time. It was one of those Stranger Dinners that I have frequently explained here on HESONWHEELS.
For those of you who aren’t familiar, and also to give it a fresh explanation (the concept has evolved a bit since the first time I shared it here), a Stranger Dinner is many things. More than anything it defines the idea of eating a meal, in community, with people that you have a legitimate and facilitated opportunity to connect.
Whenever I travel, which I do frequently, I tend to encounter areas that many people that I’ve encountered in my previous life now call home. Does that make sense? It may be an old college pal, a recess buddy from the 5th grade, my cohort-mate from graduate school, or the person I met 1 day on an airplane 2 years ago. If we truly connected afterward, whether through phone or Facebook, or whatever, I tend to remember that they are one of a few people that live in the place that I’m travelling to – whether it’s San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, wherever (all locations of Stranger Dinners before, by the way).
The term stranger refers to the relationship that exists between 90% of the people at the dinner, in my opinion. I have met each of THEM before, and of course that also means they have met me, but they have not met each other. The real quick is that sometimes, though, people end up knowing each other in some way and discovering that throughout the process of the dinner. That has happened most often in Richmond and Blakcbusrg because, well duh…I’ve spent my whole life in Virginia, and so have many of the people that I am close to in life.
In this photo, Courtney D. (at the far end of the left side of the table) and Hadley C. (at the close end of the right side of the table) already knew each other before becoming students at Virginia Tech and then coming to a Stranger Dinner! This was one of the more successful stranger dinners, held at The Cellar in Blacksburg, VA!
So I decided to develop the idea of a Stranger Dinner after 2 occurrences. The first, and most impactful, was reading the book Never Eat Alone by an idol of mine, Keith Ferrazzi. The second was realizing that as often as I love to travel, there just weren’t enough hours in the day to have legitimate, meaningful opportunities for connection with as many people I wanted to see in that given trip. Now, Stranger Dinners don’t always provide those deep conversations 1:1 that I would hope for ME. But they do for others. And paying it forward in that way makes me feel even better, oftentimes, than just hogging that person’s attention for myself.
The truest beauty in Stranger Dinners, I hope, happens afterward. It is when those people who are still in that city or town even after I am gone continue to have a connection. In life, I am a connector. And I want them to continue that connection and no longer be strangers even once I’ve returned home and am sleeping in my own bed.
The actual format of a Stranger Dinner, what actually transpires at them, I have never actually published because I like to keep them unfamiliar, with variety, and honestly – even a little unpredictable. It’s for this reason that when it comes to structuring the seating at the table, if I have the opportunity to sit nearest to whom I may perceive as the most introverted, I take it. That way the lack of pre-known structure will hopefully encourage them to open up based on our more 1:1 conversation. And frankly, that’s another thing I love about Stranger Dinner. But that’s a little selfish, so I won’t go into that now. I also won’t share more about the Stranger Dinner Table that I’ve just been dying for someone to invent. But if you’re an engineer and like puzzles, and this sounds even remotely interesting to you then please let me know. :)
Anyways, I hope reading this has piqued your interest on stranger dinners. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll be lucky enough to share the community that is a stranger dinner in the not so far future. :)
One of my favorite but unfrequented neighborhoods in all of D.C. is Adam’s Morgan. I don’t know if anyone else does, but I call it AdMo, in my mind, all the time. I think its two strongest points are great night life and great restaurants. It’s home to two of my D.C. favorites: Brass Monkey and Sakuramen.
As I tooled around town earlier today, looking for a nice outdoor space to get some work done (#TeleTuesday), I stumbled upon Pleasant Pops. Located in AdMo, Pleasant Pops is a very interesting little space. Primarily, I was struck by their fun name. I mean, come on: a restaurant that is established, apparently, on ice pops? HECK. YES. It’s not quite summer yet, but still…who doesn’t love a good ice pop?
