The All-Terrain Wheelchair.

I apologize for the rushed nature of this blog post but I’ve got some packing to do and some sleep to get to!

A few months back I was watching this TED talk by Amos Winter, titled “The cheap all-terrain wheelchair.”  Winter and his team at MIT built something called the Leveraged Freedom Chair. His TED bio defines it as “a cheap level-powered wheelchair whose design and develop put the user first.”  Gone is the very typical wheelchair design, and enter is an innovative, more efficient, and some would say more practical design.

He began with the question, “How do you redesign the wheelchair, an essential aid for millions, to be even better, more affordable, adaptable for the developing world, and able to face any type of terrain or weather? ”  This chair was the answer.

Today, a colleague from my time working at my university’s newspaper sent me a link to this website.  It’s a very similar design, and I’ll be honest – I haven’t done the research myself to see if there is any overlap, but they are very similar on the surface. I wanted to thank you, Jay, for showing me this other chair.

I don’t think I would purchase one myself, but if there was ever an opportunity to rent one or to try one out, I would be all about that. If you guys have any other ideas for cool, efficient wheelchair designs, leave them in the comments!

1 thing you didn’t know about me.

I’m really into taking blog post suggestions from friends lately.

A few days ago, I made a Facebook post that was a play on a quote a friend delivered – she claimed that she knew everything that there was to know about me.  Of course I noted that this wasn’t true (I’d argue that this statement isn’t true for a single soul in the world – there’s no way that another person can know everything there is to know about another) and I then began to think…who DOES know everything about me? No one. No one at all.

BUT! I was trying to think of who even comes close, and of course Kristin is one of the people that crossed my mind.  When you spend as much time as spend together, it’s tough to not learn a lot of the intricacies about the other.

I thought back to one thing that I told her weeks back, after the made a pretty surprising revelation to me as well.  I don’t know if she’ll like that I’m posting it here, but it was really one of the more interesting facts I could even think of.  She told me about how she kept a train ticket that we had used in Boston in her purse because it reminded me of how great a trip it was (the trip took place about a week before her accident, and we haven’t really seen each other tooooo much since).   It took me to something that I didn’t even realize I did, but it was similar.

When we were in Boston, Kristin and I tried our best to split our costs right down the middle as we usually do when we travel.  We had gone out to dinner earlier that night and I paid, and we had to purchase a ticket for the T later that day, so she offered to pay for those.  In fact, I distinctly remember her not even offering – she just did it.  Obviously, I was thankful – that kind of act between the two of us really isn’t too uncommon anymore.  A few hours later, or maybe even the next day it was, I go scouring through my pants and jackets to try and find the ticket that Kristin purchased for me. Lost. Stupid. Me.

I was kind of afraid to tell her, but after some time I kind of had to fess up.  She wasn’t too mad about it (I know I would have been! That’s like 15 bucks just LOST!)  but we’d have to take time to make the journey and get another.  That second ticket I ended up paying for myself, I’ve kept in my wallet since that Boston trip which was almost two months ago, now. Why? Because the patience she showed me was admirable.  I know I, personally, would have been a little more ticked off than she was if the roles were reversed.

Keeping that ticket in my wallet, and remembering the patience that she had, reminds me everyday to be patient with the present situation we’re dealing with. There’s a lot more to it than that but for sake of brevity, but I’ll let you make the rest of that connection.

At times it can make my wallet a bit less slim, but it’s really of little important to me now.  Everytime I open my wallet that’s just one of the artifacts I see that aren’t high in utility but are astronomically valuable when it comes to memories.  Kind of like the super-stretched out hairtie that I wear on my wrist – partially because it’s orange but mostly because it’s a constant reminder…

Stop. Spam.

And, no, I don’t mean this kind of Spam.  Did you know that this kind of Spam is a portmanteau of “spice ham”? I didn’t. 

One of the smartest goals I made over the course of the winter break from academics was to STOP SPAM.  In November, I began to realize that my junk mail filter would catch some things that I actually didn’t want to be junk mail.  Some was actually mail from colleagues, and others were a sale that I was actually interested in from a favorite store.  Conversely, I would often  wake up in the morning with upwards of thirty e-mails that were truly junk mail if I didn’t have all of my filters set up properly. So, I decided to make a big goal for the winter break – try my best to really specify my filters so that I was only getting the mail that I wanted.

This task actually ended up being much easier than I felt it would be from the onset.  First, I decided to immediately delete every single G-Mail filter I had set up, and I reinstated my decision to have all of my accounts come to one inbox. I synced each of the fou re-mail accounts I have (Virginia Tech, personal G-Mail, Aspetto, personal Yahoo!) with each device that I check e-mail on (my iPad, iPhone, and Apple’s desktop mail application). Then, I deleted every single filter I had set up, on each account.

After this process was complete – the e-mail started flooding it.  At least once every ten minutes.  In the past, I used my old Yahoo! account that I created in, like, the 7th grade, for any junk mail purposes.  This is quite common – if you want to sign up for a quick mailing list, just put in that older, “dummy” e-mail address.  While some of the e-mails that come into that account are still useful, most aren’t.

So at this point, I began what was a few-day long process. Each day I would let the messages build up in my inbox, and then I would sit down at the end of the day and scroll all the way down to the bottom of each message that I felt was irrelevant. I was looking for one word, and one word only:

Unsubscribe.

I don’t know if it’s some kind of law, but just about every spam e-mail or mass e-mail listing that I was a part of had this denotation at the end of the e-mail.  It usually read like this: “If you would like to unsubscribe <insert your e-mail address or identity here> from this e-mail listing, please click here.” At that point you have to enter the e-mail address that the message was sent to, and you’re on your way.  Sometimes, it takes a few hours or even a few business days for the request to be processed, but it’s worth it!

So it takes about 60 seconds per e-mail list, or so, but now when I wake up in the morning I’ll have about a dozen e-mails.  Some are what I expect – e-mails from colleagues who stay up late, my bank account balance daily e-mail, the daily Whipple report for Virginia News, etc.  But gone are the mornings of waking up to numerous advertisements that maybe were relevant when I signed up for a list 10 years ago, but I couldn’t care less about now.

Deleting spam out of your life can be very time consuming. Before you sit down and get to actual e-mail, you could find yourself sifting through at least 30-40 junk messages which can take 5 minutes to delete, accurately, even if you’re just reading the headline.  I’m so happy to have that time saved in my every day life now!

I’d encourage this article that contains more tips on how to stop spam if you’re interested!

 

Eileen’s Bakery

Last week, one of my best friends in the world paid a visit to Fredericksburg.  She used to live in Fredericksburg when I did, and we went to high school together, but she ended up moving to Charlotte, North Carolina after that.  Both business and leisure have taken me to Charlotte quite a few times over the years, especially because Samy lives there, but of course I was so excited when she was in town for a friend’s wedding.

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One of my favorite families, Sam, her mom, her husband Reggie, and her sister.
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The outside of Eileen’s Bakery & Cafe, located at 1115 Caroline Street in Fredericksburg. I thought it was the most adorable little thing – it, apparently, was an old church.
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This is just the drink menu for Eileen’s – HOT VANILLA?!? What?!
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Just below this adorable banner is where you place your order.

It seemed like Eileen’s might have been better known for its lunch offerings but it was one of the few places that were open as early as we needed it to be since I had to be in D.C. by noon for a tour of the West Wing of the White House.

Their breakfast sandwiches were all hand made and in limited quantities so I honestly just assumed that they had to be good.  I was mostly in the mood for sausage but all they had was a spicy chorizo which also had a ton of garlic potatoes on it, so I was trying to be pleasant to those around me.  Instead, I went with the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a croissant. Ah. Maz. Ing. I think I also might have been mesmerized by the language they used on their website, which I had investigated because I had numerous suggestions of great places to grab a quick bite to eat in Downtown Fredericksburg:

Our breakfast sandwiches are made fresh every morning at the carck of dawn.  When the sandwiches are gone from the case they are gone until the next morning.  We sell out fast as our breakfast selection is tasty.

To be completely honest, if you plan on visiting, you’ll notice that their selection is also small.  They had a few sandwiches (maybe about 10) and about 8 of each of them – so, yes, they are going to run out quickly!

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These are the two sandwiches that I had a hard time choosing between.

I ended up going with the bacon, egg, and cheddar sandwich on a croissant.  I’m a sucker for a croissant.

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The bacon, egg, and cheddar sandwich. VERY tasty.

I love my bacon crispy but fatty at the same time (sorry if you’re a vegetarian and reading this…it gets better, I promise) and this was perfect.  I assumed the sandwiches would be served cold but they heated each one up before they served it and did so perfectly.  The croissant came out piping hot and butter, the bacon was sizzling and crispy (and fatty) and the eggs were tasty themselves – not watery, and held together very well.  It definitely ranked highly on my list of favorite breakfast sandwiches (and breakfast sandwiches, by far, are one of my favorite food groups).

The service was pretty quick. Since you order in line, they take the sandwich you want, heat it up while you pay, and serve you when you’re done with the transaction.  Even with a new employee (I think) being trained, it was pretty quick.  Overall, it was a great suggestion by an old friend, Sarah, on where to share breakfast with Samy for the last time before she moves out to Colorado.

Another regret that I have from this visit was not trying their coffee. Seemed like it was pretty good (other people in the party had some), but I wasn’t in the mood for coffee as I had slept quite a bit the night before.  Next time I find myself having pulled an all-nighter in Fredericksburg…

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The dessert selection.


Although I didn’t try any of their desserts, their bakery seemed to be pretty popular. Most of the images on their website were of their pastries.  Next time I’m in the area, I’m going to be sure to sure to try one or two. If you do, let me know what you think of them!  I think I might even have to stop by here for lunch this afternoon…they have ample parking and are pretty conveniently placed if you are just strolling through Downtown Fredericksburg.  You could definitely tell that it was a church because the ceilings were fairly high, but that was one of the cooler things about the venue (I had meant to take a picture of these ceilings but didn’t for some reason).  Overall, I really did like Eileen’s!

TL:DR
Flavor? (1-10) 9.5
Customer Service? (1-10) 9
Would I go back? (Yes/No) ABSOLUTELY!

 

Giving back.

On Tuesday I had a fantastic opportunity to give back in a way that I never really anticipated.  A teacher from my high school Facebook messaged me back in August, and asked me if I would ever be available to chat with the group that she advises – the National Honor Society.

So, I am the NHS adviser at Stafford, this is my second year… I love hearing about all your philosophies regarding service as a way of life. I would like you to invite you to be a guest speaker at an NHS meeting, if you are back in town on any first Tuesday of the month. I’m personally in love with spreading the news about service and how it can improve so many lives around you. Let me know if your grad schedule could accommodate us.

Obviously flattered, I immediately looked at my schedule and tried to figure out how I could potentially accommodate theirs.  Of all the first Tuesdays of the month, even though I had to work, I decided to go ahead and take leave for the 8th of January.

So this date was on my calendar for months, and you know, that’s one of the things I love about keeping such a detailed calendar.  You have these dates that are oftentimes just so far off into the future, but if I’m blessed enough to live to see it and still have that opportunity – it always comes.  And it’s kind of cool to be able to think “man, that seemed so far off…” But now it’s days ago.

The talk that I gave to the group was pretty simple, with a theme of leadership, caring, and service.  I explained to them how I become disabled and how that formed my personality.  I told them about the AC4P movement and how that has shaped who I am. And I think many of them were very surprised to learn that, even though they knew I graduated from Stafford, I was only 22 years old (I’m gonna be so sad when I can’t tell people that I’m younger than they think anymore haha I think I only have 3-5 years left of that).

I told them about how important it is to keep in touch with teachers and friends who helped form who you are.  I know for a fact that without many of the interactions that I’ve had with other people over the years, I wouldn’t even be half of the person that I am today.

And on that note, I also told them about how important service is to me in my everyday life and how its important for you, personally to get just as much from service as the people who you are serving do.  When I’m helping other people, one of the things I really get a high from is just knowing that I am helping that person – it also makes me feel good too, good for helping this person or these people.

I encouraged them to try and position themselves to where they can see more of the benefits of their service – to not just donate canned goods, but go somewhere and use those canned goods, turn that can of tomato soup into grilled cheese and tomato soup that you can watch a homeless man eat, and feel proud in the process.

This week, my Monday really wasn’t the best day. I remember it vividly – it was long, I was tired, I was feeling pretty emotional, and I was missing Kristin a lot. But when I went to sleep late Monday night I just told myself – there’s no way that tomorrow isn’t going to better.  I’m going to make it better.  And luckily I was able to do that.  Thanks to each of those students that I met.

After the talk, many students came up to me and told me about how my message to them was inspiring and empowering and that was my goal.  I don’t always need that external confirmation but it’s nice, and I’m thankful for each of the students that just delivered a simple ‘thank you’ before they went on with the rest of the day.

A lot of my high school friends often give me a hard time for so often going back to my high school.  All my teachers told me as I graduated in 2008 that I wouldn’t come back as I had planned because, as most students do, I would grow up and move onto bigger and better things.  While my life has definitely become more complex and demanding in other ways, I don’t see that as an excuse or reason to forget where I came from.  I didn’t dread high school like a lot of my peers did. In fact, I enjoyed it.  I was pretty torn up when it came time to leave, but then I learned – you really do have to be happy with your life at whatever phase you’re in.  I realized that there is no reason to, when its time to transition, move on and try new, “bigger, better” things.  While it’si mportant to move on when it’s time, I think it’s even more important to always honor and pay respect to those who helped you become who you are presently.

My high school played a large part in that.  I realize that for some it doesn’t. But for me it did, and I appreciate that.

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s look at the world a little differently.

Tonight, I want to share 3 feel good moments with you.

  1. The first is a video.
  2. The second is a photo.
  3. The third is a story.

1. I discovered this video on a friend’s Facebook wall and not only loved the music behind it (Give a Little Bit by Roger Hodgson, the voice of a band named Supertramp).  It’s actually an ad for Coca-Cola apparently but I love the message behind it.  It’s just a feel-good video to encourage us all to have a little faith in humanity.

2. I discovered this photo on the same friend’s Facebook wall, actually.

Violin Player
The story appended to it follows…

“A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people.

The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”

3. Last, this is a story that I shared on my own Facbeook wall earlier this afternoon.
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I was impressed that 6 hours later it now has almost 100 ‘likes’.  I didn’t think this story would be so widely liked but, when I re-read it a few times and thought about it more, I was kind of moved by it all over again.  Today I wore that jacket, too.  It’s great, one of my favorites – all black (versatile), with a red Polo horse on it.  It’s extremely warm (I was almost sweating as I had dessert with a friend this evening, perfect for skiing haha) and insulating…even has a zipper section on the collar for a hood to fold into.  The normal price was $100 and it was marked down to twenty dollars off.


Most of all though I think people may like this story because it just goes to show how a small and seemingly insignificant act can really be what changes things. I was more than ‘bummed’ – I loved this jacket as soon as I saw it, but I have an almost identical Virginia Tech fleece, and didn’t necessarily think I needed a second one.  But this lady, who I assume was buying this for a male relative, was nice enough to let me have it even though I offered it to her.

I remember seeing her check-out too…I had kind of been hoping at some point she would put the jacket back!  But I assumed that as they scanned it for her she was buying it.  I’m sure you already know that I wasn’t ever expecting to own this jacket because, well, she had purchased it.  But it just goes to show that a small gesture of kindness can really go a long way and pay dividends in the long run.  I wish I could find the lady – to thank her with a wristband and to let her know how jazzed I am over this jacket.  But that’s one of the most interesting parts about being being randomly and, more importantly, actively kind – you really never do know the full impact of your actions.

Pho Junkies

Hello everyone! I’ve been MIA lately with the food posts so I wanted to be sure to include this one right away.  This meal was had at Pho Junkies food truck near L’enfant Plaza in Washington D.C. By the way, pho is pronounced as “fuh.”

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The Pho Junkies food truck.

If the tag line tells you anything, they believe their food is “better than BRAINS!” I honestly had never heard of pho prior to encountering this truck, but my coworker, Brent, and his friend swore on the quality of this particular food. He looks at me, and he’s like “dude…you’re in college. You must eat Ramen.” And yes. He was right.In fact, they called it “classy Ramen.” I was sold.

Pho originated in the early 20th century in northern Vietnam and the word pho may be derived from a French word that means beef stew.  So, it’s a traditional Vietnamese dish that has chicken or beef in addition to the broth, noodles made from rice, and herbs.  Apparently it’s pretty popular for street vendors but, like I said, this was my first encounter with it!

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I decided to get the three meat option, with steak, chicken, and meatballs.
It was only $10! All of the noodles are in the bottom here.

As you can see, it was a LOT of food and it was very filling! Options included green onion, white onion, cilantro, lime, jalepenos, and bean sprouts – I got everything but the bean sprouts.  The whole shebang was ten dollars.

First, let me say I was VERY happy that I went with the three meat option.  I loved having the different textures of meat, along with the ocntrasting texture of the rice.  I was worried, at first, about this just being a big bowl of sodium but the broth was great.  I couldn’t stop thinking, and told Brent, about how great it would be if you were sick. Like chicken noodle soup, just better.

The meats were interesting.  While meatballs are probably one of my favorite meats EVER, the chicken stood out here.  You could tell the meat was lightly cooked and then probably finished off cooking inside the broth. I thought it made the meatballs just too mushy.

Anyone who has ever been in my house before knows just how much I love cilantro – I wish they had put more in my pho, because that was one of my favorite parts!  The entire soup itself, though, had a very distinct flavor, probably due to pho spice, and that had some great traditional Vietnamese flavor that I loved which set this apart from probably any other meal I would have had today.

TL:DR
Flavor? (1-10) 7
Customer Service? (1-10) 8
Would I go back? (Yes/No) Yes

I would definitely go back here. While it’s not going to be my go-to place (DC Taco Truck still takes the cake on that one), if it’s in the area it’ll definitely be a suitable option for lunch!