Things to do in Summer

Summer... oh summer.

      It seems so short since summer began and yet so long since I began my task to find jobs, internships, and trips to the beach just like any other average person. But its been pretty busy, the good kind of busy where your mind is active, where your body is engaged in exercise and where your soul have a chance to enjoy some summer peace before fall semester begin.

TO-DO List

      Even before summer heats (pun intended), people tend to get a bucket list ready to smash their hibernation with some heat. Some other people though, don't have a clue to what to do with their summer time. Based on what I did, I can at least recommend the viewer some suggestions and things to do for this heat-packing season. Or whats left of it.

      Even though I haven't even gotten halfway through (not because im a lazy bum) I have enjoyed what I have reached so far.

Made me want to pick it up...
then kick it even father!

Enjoy the random things of the city.

New York City never seizes to amuse me.

      Honestly, if I ever took my time walking through all the corners of every block in the city, I could come up with a photo album of weird, amazing and cute things in the city. It would be called, enjoying the random things in the city. Like this annoying orange I found at the train station. :P

Clean your closet

Keep someone warm by giving out what you don't use.

Hope somebody will stay
warm this coming winter.

      Make it a habit to clean your closet ever summer. Not only do you make more space for more clothes, but you also get to warm some unlucky random homeless out there.
      Have a heart, donate your undies... For all I know, I did my first clean up like in forEVER and ended up with the Himalayan mountain of unused old shirts in my living room.

Relaxing at the beach

You never know the true meaning of free worries until you leave everything behind except a towel, metrocard and a huge water bottle!

      I went to the beach and enjoyed the blazing heat of the sun and the ice cold ocean water. But in this particular trip to the Coney Island Beach was different -it was relaxing. I left my phone and wallet in my house and the only thing I took with me was my Metrocard and my keys.
      If you ever wanted to detach from society or the city, there is no other way better than this. It was nice and the only thing i had to worry about was nothing since I also didn't bring my watch. I can tell you, not caring about the time is one of the biggest reliefs you can ever experience. Especially if you're swimming with your girlfriend ;)

Meeting up with your old people

A person will always seem uninteresting until you make the effort to know them better. Who knows? He/she might be the next president of the USA lol

Glow Stick East side
Community Meet Up

      But other than fun, I also met with old acquaintances from which i party with. Couple weeks ago I went to this glow stick east side community meet-up.
      The whole thing was basically to teach each other how to freehand...that didn't sound..nvm, we taught each other how to rave and dance and etc. it was a nice sight since it took place on the High Liner at the Meat Packing District.
     IF you're invited to go somewhere, do it!! Summer is a great time to meet new people and figuring out which ones are worth sticking with! Especially if it is on the High Liner. The sunset over Jersey city was beautiful.

Getting a Job

Enjoy yourself, but earn it. Nothing comes for free..

Just because you got $,
doesn't mean you got
$ to spend

      Then again, for some people, the notion of summer is "fun and parties", but for others it is an opportunity to look for a job and make pocket money. I wish I could have gone back to my home country (Costa Rica) this summer, but I am naturally broke. So instead, I went to become a summer job slave to earn money for a winter trip back to the tropical country of my dreams. Not bad eh? Hah! Jk.. But for real. Life aint butterfly and rainbows, its more like a tornado and rainbows. With that said, nothing comes for free.

      I found a good place to work and intern. I've been learning quite a lot and enjoy what i do, which by the way should be something everybody should aim for. I have my thanks to Press Tea and New York Pharmacy for taking me in and work.

Go Mozart!

Summer Photoshooting for my shoes

Art will always be embedded into the natural human spirit.

      To much free time? Write your thoughts, a script, a book, poems, songs, etc. If you suck at writing, then video blog, photo shoot, paint. And if you suck at that too then play sports, keep your fat ass active.
     Go to the gym to get super disproportionately ripped and bully back that fat guy who bullied you in high school! Have a water fight, go to 9gag, actually not because as soon as you know it, half your summer is gone hehe.

Hang out with your crew!

Best things in life are your clumsiest, silliest friends.

Hamburg Reptile Show

       But what to do when you're both broke and unemployed and summer parties just became unfeasible option? You got your friends aaand the internet huehuehue... Nah but for real, i live with my siblings and try to live off what im earning. Its not easy, especially since bills don't discriminate seasons and just keeps on steam rolling over your innocent and already worn-out made-in-china wallet.
      Good Lord gave us friends to catch up during summer because we couldn't during the finals week of spring semester. 

Dating your couple. (or future couple) ;)

For me, a walk around the park with my lovely Bunz is good nuff.

Beautiful. Take your love out for a date. Doesn't necessarily means an expensive italian restaurant with a forty year old wine. A walk around her block, to the park or to the beach is good enough. A date here is meant to be to invest time to the person you care about.

There is so much more to do in summer. Visit your grandparents or whoever you consider family. Im telling you, summer works wonders and for a season of free time like this, take advantage of it. At least I can get pocket money out of productive activities, which will lead me to free meals, which will result in utmost satisfaction. lol

I'll be done for now because im starving for my breakfast! Like this orangutan!

That rage when you're so hungry you eat the peeling and drop the banana.

March against Monsanto?

Last Saturday on May 25, millions of protester marched peacefully against the genetically modified organisms (GMO), mostly controlled by the so called Monsanto, the worlds largest pesticide manufacturer. But before we go in further, lets get to know Monsanto first. Founded in 1901 by John Francis Queeny, Monsanto was a major producer of plastic and one of the first to mass-produce LEDs. Years later in 1983, Monsanto became the first corporation to succesfully genetically modify a plant and soon later Monsanto became a pioneer in applying biotechnology industry business model to agriculture.

Monsanto also tried seed petenting model which has also been critizied as biopiracy. Its lobbying to government from its chemical industry history have made the corporation controversial.Many activists have claimed Monsanto to be a corporate evil giant that owns over 50 big companies. While this assumption have not been verified, Monsanto claims to own 90 percent of all seeds, which turns into food and winds up in your grocery store. 

Moreover, on the March against Monsanto last Saturday, over two million protesters marched over fifty five countries through over four hundred fifty five different places. And yet the news media never made note of it. Think...

Boris bikes in NYC

When I went to London, I was surprised to see personal public transportation so readily available for the urban dwellers. It was the first time I ever heard of Boris bike (apologies if I misspelled it) and I was facsinated by the idea.

Citibank Bike station being
deployed next to Pace University

Today I saw Citibank desploy a station of "Boris" bikes next to my college and when I talked to the promoter, she said that the organization was installing over 300 stations all over the five boroughs. They also said that the process should take a couple weeks from today to finish and most of the stations would be put around the Financial District.

First thing i thought then was the price and amazingly it had the exact same pricing as in London! 0-30min i free and 1-2 hours is around 4 dollars.

Launched on 30 of July, 2010 by Mayor of that time, Boris Johnson. Barclays Cycle Hire deployed over 5000 bikes and over 300 docking stations all around London. The scheme invested over 25 million pounds (more than $40 million) and up to today is a great success.

I guess that from now on my foot will be resting a little more and my wallet will rest more in peace.

20+ spaces at this City Hall Station

Raising price? Why not service?

"The point is that if you do charge extra, then you also have to make sure that the charge is easy to digest."
-Frei & Morriss (Uncommon Service)-

Quick Recap

Some may think adding price to an added value is a fair trade off . Well sometimes its not like that. In any business field where customers are price-sensitive, a small raise in price -even by a dollar- may cause clients to flock from your business to another. But there is a way to hit both birds with a stone, maybe three.

Fedex initially added value to their brand by allowing customers to call in and track their package. This of course was expensive for the company to maintain a call service department and often times it was tedious for both parties due to communication obstacles. Fedex then took the idea of improving service while lowering cost by allowing their customers to track their package online.

Note here that Fedex didn't raise price, they just cut it. If they had raised it then there might be a chance they lose clients, but instead improved the service and kept the price steady. It inst guaranteed that they would earn more customers, but one thing is certain, Fedex customers felt comfortable with the company and that surely increased their loyalty. Though customers should all be treated equally, loyal customers is worth by far more than a regular client.

About the book

The book may be quite monotone sometimes, but it shows clear points that no service manager should avoid. Its affordable and doesn't take much time to speed read.

P.D. I have learned that sometimes cutting expenses on what you think what is good for customers is not always bad and the other way around.

ENJOY THE REST OF THE EVENING!!!

:)

When you most need it.

Today was a hard day. Like those dreaded days in your life you end up asking yourself "why me?". I had started the morning with an unexpected visit from my boss at the worse timing. I was watching YouTube when there nobody at the pharmacy, just after i had entered my break from website development. As soon as she left, the small place filled up with a never ending crowd! In the midst of the hectic environment, i forgot to call my partner about this deal we had to buy shirts for the pharmacy's advertising campaign. He canceled the deal and cut all the progress we had made.

Later on when all the patients were gone, boss showed up again, throwing all the paychecks for me and leaving me to decide how to deliver them. I decided to deliver the uptown branch myself for many reasons. On my way uptown Manhattan  my $39.99 earphones got stuck on the handrail of this staircase i took after making evasive maneuvers through the crowd, and ripped apart. I was pissed and tired. When i came back to the Chinatown branch, I waited nearly an hour for the boss and the head technician, Rowson (cool guy) to close the pharmacy.

After nearly a decade of waiting I finally resolved into leaving with my girlfriend. As a last minute planning, We both went to our favorite tea spot. I didn't feel like going, but she had been waiting for me at work so the least i could do was making it up for her.

We had fun, discussed about our days and had amazing drinks and food. Then i remembered how i felt throughout the day and went all stressed again. On our way to the train station she explained to me other reasons that may have caused the termination of the deal and other things. That helped me. Maybe the other guy really was having a bad day too, and if we meet again and don't get along, perhaps he's not the right person to make business with. I agreed.

When I got home, i dropped my bag on the floor, dragged my feet to my room and as i took off my jacket, i saw a small message written by my girlfriend i haven't seen before. Made my day and made the time typing this post worthwhile. Thank you Xenia :)

I guess that was a divine timing. Thank you Xenia, you're the best.

Anger is a choice.

"Its not what you eat that kills you, its what's eating you that kills you." -Pastor Kerrick-

Today I learned more about an emotion I thought I already knew. I learned how can it be triggered and how to defuse the landmine of Anger.

When we hear about anger, the first thing to pop in our heads may be someone shouting with squinting eyes and blood-rushed face. But what exactly is anger?

"Anger is the destructive emotion we feel when trying to control what is outside of our control." You see, we are ambitious beings, and many of us want to control everything. However, in the midst of controlling everything we tend to lose control of ourselves.

Alexander the Great conquered a great chunk of the world and in one of his celebrations he had an argument with one of his childhood friends, which resulted in Alexander killing him. He later recognized what he did and regretted bitterly. He had conquered the 'world', and yet he couldn't control his soul.

What I am saying here is that anger is a choice. Don't believe me? think of a time you were arguing with someone and in the midst of the argument the phone rang. What was your tone when you picked up the phone?

Eleanor Roosevelt once said,
         "To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use you heart."

Proverbs 29:11,
         "A fool gives full vent to anger, but a wise person quietly holds it back."

Have a nice day :)

Costa Rica from the Skies

         This is my city, my province, my homeland -San Jose, Costa Rica. Many times have I complained about her and few times have I praised it. I do miss it, true and this video changes my perspective. My country, my beautiful country. You have abolished your army in 1960, you have guaranteed free public education and you have been home to over 5% of the world's biodiversity. I could go on an hour about your deficiencies, but I could go instead a day about your legacies.