What’s a better product—Coca-Cola or Pepsi? Don’t worry, capitalism lets you decide. It’s simple: whatever you like more is best. If that’s too subjective, we can let the sales numbers settle it for us. Coca-Cola wins. End of story, right? Capitalism loves to tell us the best ideas win. Survival of the fittest—except instead of nature’s brutal selection, it’s a relentless competition to see which multinational can give us Type 2 diabetes faster. Coca-Cola is the perfect capitalist success … [Read more...]
4 Things Your Dishwasher Can Teach You About Studying
I like to calculate the average percentage discounts from the list price for 'Sub of the Day' offers at Subway to decide on what days to go there for lunch. Spoiler: It depends on where you live. Speaking of which - did you know that Subway on Isle of Man has a 'Mango Chicken Tikka' as their sub of the day on Tuesdays? But let's get back on topic... I buy all my socks on a single a day of the year to get an identical stack of socks so I don't need to ever sort socks again. I organize my … [Read more...]
That Gap Between Expectations and Perceived Reality
I recently talked to a fellow entrepreneur who seemed quite stressed out. Despite business going well, being healthy, and otherwise not having any complaints, he felt stressed. Very stressed. I could relate because I tend to feel the same way. Despite being in a very good position - no shitty boss, no looming deadlines, no dreadful finances - I feel stressed. A while back, it dawned on me that stress isn't necessarily the result of any tangible, or even any external, factor. It can be … [Read more...]
The Bike Runner
The following is based on a true story. Names were changed to protect the innocent and guilty alike. Gavin and Stephen were browsing the sweets selection at the newspaper agent. I didn't do any browsing of my own. I didn't have any money. Not that I was poor. I just didn't have any money. I felt uncomfortable waiting for them to make a decision. Last time I 'browsed', the proprietor asked me if I was going to buy anything. My English at the time was rudimentary at best. I struggled for the … [Read more...]
Confessions of a Myspace Blogger
Roughly ten years ago, during my first year in Thailand, I wrote a number of blog posts on Myspace (is that a 'don't ask, don't tell' thing?). I originally signed up for the site to meet new people (okay, women). It actually was a really useful site back then to meet new people (as in actual people), and I ended up finding my first circle of friends in Bangkok on it. I didn't want to put my real name up on the site (it was public), but also didn't want to explain that it was a fake name when … [Read more...]