I returned from a weekend trip to Atlanta yesterday. Upon inspecting my CHECKED luggage, I found the following missing:

• iPod Touch USB Cable
• Cell Phone Charger
• Razor Cartridge

I only have two possible explanations for this. Either one single Schick Quattro razor cartridge posed a significant threat to national security (they left my two other refill cartridges alone), or a TSA agent in Atlanta has the same cell phone as me and needed a charger.

Either way, I’m blaming you Obama. Now there’s NO way I’m ever going to pay for my own health care again.

• Beni Hana – Get a $30 gift certificate for the month of your birthday
• Tucanos – Free meal voucher mailed to you the month of your birthday
• Red Robin – Free burger certificate mailed to you two weeks before your birthday

Know of any more places that’ll slaughter the cow for free? Leave them in the comments.

Coming home after a hard day to a sink full of dishes is pretty depressing. Especially because I didn’t make a single one of them.

But before I complain, I need to remember that my roommates’ cooking (or lack thereof) has taught me some pretty worthwhile lessons. For example…

There’s no shame in eating frozen burritos everyday.

Lots of people don’t respect the time and money that frozen burritos can save. Sure, they smell funny — and probably stay in your colon for weeks. But don’t let that get you down, because you’re young and don’t really need vitamins anyway.

The same thing with life. There’s no need to spice things up — just keep on doing the same things every day. You’ll never get bored of it, and you’re probably saving a lot of money in the process.

Forget about the mess you make.

Someone will eventually need to use that frying pan anyway, so you might as well let them wash it. The same thing goes for brownies — you’re offering them to everyone, so you might as well leave them in the prime counter space, right in the way of everything else.

Similarly, someone will always be there to clean up after the mess you’ve made of your life. Your debt to society will eventually be paid by someone, so it might as well not be you.

Keep the deep fryer on the counter. Always.

There’s only space for a few appliances, so we might as well keep the deep fryer on the counter too. After all, we make french fries about once every two years. Indispensible stuff like that always needs to be kept handy!

And when you need anything else in life, go ahead and buy it. Then keep it around, no matter how much you don’t plan on using it.

Forget about the leftovers in the fridge.

It’s attractive to have moldy dumplings and stinky hamburger helper sitting on the back shelf. They’re part of the decoration. And while you’re at it, forget about the two pounds of hamburger you bought last week. Just go buy some more, and forget to cook that too.

And don’t forget to write your name on all this stuff. That way no one else will eat it either.

You can forget about your friends as well. They’re waiting to help you. They want to keep you company in times of need, or just make you happy when you’re sad. But you don’t need them — they belong on the back shelf, too.

Living with roommates is always a blast. I wonder, do you get these same worthwhile lessons after you’re married?

In the spirit of the Christmas shopping season, I present to you 3 ways dating is like Black Friday:

1. Waking up at 3am seems adventurous again. Seriously, unless it’s Black Friday or dating… why would you ever do this?

2. You think this sale is way better than the last one. Yes, in the moment, this sale does seem pretty good.

3. You go expecting to find the advertised deals, later to realize the store only carried one or two in stock. You know the saying… “Guys are like parking spaces.  You can look around forever, but all the good ones are taken.”

Got any others?  Leave them in the comments!

As I pass the one-month anniversary of my personal blog, I’m starting to wonder what ya’ll think.  Do you like the stuff I’ve written so far?  What would you like to see more of?

I’ve created a short two-question survey to find out.  If you have 30 seconds, please visit http://bit.ly/6KRXrB to take it.

I’ll be sure to share the results with ya.  Thanks again!

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who shop at Wal-Mart, and those who shop at Wal-Mart but are too scared to admit it.

When eating dinner with a bunch of fancy people, don’t choke on a piece of roast beef.

That was me last Thursday.  I was at the National Advisory Council‘s annual meet-and-greet for all Master’s students in the Marriott School.  About ten minutes into the dinner I bit off more tri-tip “fancy beef” than I could handle.  Moments later I was stumbling out of the room gurgling, coughing, and vomiting everywhere.

I’m actually glad for the excuse to leave early, even if it meant swallowing the great Rock of Gibraltar.  I’m so quiet and introverted that the thought of socializing and making chit-chat with people at events like this is positively repulsive.

But even though I’m a Quasimodo in disguise (I don’t have a bulging eye quite yet…), my future career depends on networking.  And socializing.  Eek.

That’s why I love Penelope Trunk’s blog post about Networking Tips for Introverts.  It makes me feel like there’s hope in the world for us shy guys.

Facebook is turning into one big scam.  Predators are taking advantage of innocent, technologically retarded people every day.

Today’s latest deception comes with the Facebook group, “DISLIKE BUTTON is finally here! ADD it now.” The creators of the group are purporting to give members a “Dislike” button on their news feed.  Here’s what’s wrong with this picture:

• The Dislike button isn’t real.  It’s a Firefox add-on that will ONLY work if you have Firefox.
• Even if the supposed Firefox add-on works, it’s not communicating with Facebook.  That means if your friends don’t have Firefox AND the plugin installed, they won’t see that you dislike something anyway.
• Adding this Firefox plugin could be a real security problem for your Facebook account.  It’s a shady plugin at best, and may allow these people to see your Facebook updates or even track your Facebook habits.  Worse yet, the plugin may contain other malware or spyware.
• The instructions to get a dislike button include becoming a Facebook fan of a movie called “the Artifice.”  That’s just deceiving — you don’t need to be a fan of some unrelated movie to install a Firefox plugin.

Let’s add this to the list of scams on Facebook.  If Facebook keeps getting worse, we might have to start calling it MySpace.

If you care, here are the deceiving instructions as found on the DISLIKE BUTTON group’s home page:

Dear Microsoft,

No matter what those meanies might say, you’re not a bad company.  You truly care about making quality products, satisfying your customers, and preserving your legacy of product innovation and development.  You’re the ones that have made the personal computer what it is today, and I’m grateful for you.

I’ve even forgiven you for some of your mistakes, in both the distant and recent past.  Yet there’s still one decision I’m appalled at: why did you strike back at Apple with the “I’m a PC” commercials?

First, you’re the dominant operating system in the market.  Striking back at a smaller, insignificant competitor reveals a serious chink in your armor.  It reveals your low self esteem and lack of confidence in your products.  To make matters worse, your commercials are generally of a lower quality anyway.

Second, you’re a software maker, not a computer maker.  Don’t let Dell, HP and Sony pass the responsibility of defending the PC market to you.  If the general public even knew what an operating system is, you could compare apples to apples by shoving Windows 7 up against Snow Leopard.  Unfortunately, most people don’t even care anyway.  They just want a computer.

Third, Apple is not yet in a position to seriously compete with you.  Apple is targeting a very specific market that a) wants to spend a lot of money on a computer, b) wants to identify with an exclusive brand, and c) wants to be different from you.  As long as Apple keeps targeting this exclusive segment, it will only be skimming the customers off the top of your huge market base.

Fourth, your real competitor is Google.  Google makes software just like you, and they’re trying to oust your operating system, web browser, and productivity suite.  They’re bearing down on you, and you’re largely ignoring them.

You really are great, Microsoft.  Just stop being so sensitive towards Apple, and start focusing on where your efforts will really make a difference: Google.

~Cody~

Here’s a business idea: make a way for women to know how much their dates give for a tip at restaurants.  Is he a tipper or a stiffer?  I’m sure many women would like to know.

Restaurants could install kiosks within the refuge of women’s restrooms.  Then, a curious wife or girlfriend could request a web URL that would later reveal how gratuity-conscious their significant other really is.

What do you think?  This is, of course, another example of technology breaking down healthy communication between couples.  But it would be really fun, and a chance for restaurants to make an extra buck or two (or improve gratuity receipts!).