Category: Life

[Video] (Great?) Expectations

This one’s about my shattered expectations (and my ignorance) here in India…

Due to lack of Internet here in Baga, Goa, India the following video will be visible only in your mind’s eye. I can’t upload the actual video. I can barely upload a picture! (Yes, it is quite near impossible to get any work done here, try as I might.)

The setting: an open field just east of Baga Beach off the Arabian Sea.

The camera is held in my right hand and pointed at my face.

I begin speaking.

“Today I want to talk about expectations, because while here in Baga, Goa, India a lot of mine have been shattered.”

“First, here’s an Indian cell phone from Vodaphone.” [I show my cell phone to the camera.]

“The process of obtaining this was an interesting experience. It took 2 days, 4 visits to Vodaphone, and 5 or 6 hours of my time before I actually had this phone working.”

“This morning I tried to place a phone call and got a message saying my paperwork was never submitted and I can’t place outbound calls.”

“I called customer service from the phone and explained the situation. But because I got my phone in Mumbai I have to call the Mumbai customer support. I can’t call customer service in Mumbai because my phone won’t place outbound calls.” (Note: The first customer service call worked probably because I used the Vodaphone Service button on the phone.)

“Second, I got this Tata Indicom USB Internet stick from a friend.” [I show the USB stick to the camera.]

“I went to the local Tata store to get it activated, but since it hadn’t been in use for a year the SIM card is cancelled and can’t be reactivated. They tell me I must buy a new SIM. So I ask to buy a new SIM. They tell me they don’t sell the SIM, but I can buy a new stick. I’m at the Tata store, they tell me to buy a new SIM, but they don’t sell the SIM. :)”

[A cow walks behind me]

“I ask to buy a new stick. They ask me if I have my resident paperwork. Of course I don’t because I’m not a resident. I try to pay them off because that seems to be how everything works here. But they don’t accept my bribe. :)”

“This all boils down to my own ignorance. I was ignorant of how difficult things I take for granted are in the third world, but it makes sense in retrospect. Everything works differently here and I have to learn to roll with the punches or leave. Things (like a cell phone or internet) that should just work, don’t. It’s like real life Windows. Nothing works correctly, and nothing works on the first try. ;) ”

[A young child on a bike stops and stares at me. I make a comment to the camera about the child. The child appears in the video behind me.]

“What I’d like to know is times in your life when your expectations for something have been shattered and how you dealt with it. But if you have examples of expectations being met or exceeded I’d much rather hear that!” ;)

[Video ends.]

Persistence (or A Newbie Books Award Travel)

How persistence paid off after I booked an award ticket that wasn’t quite what I wanted…

A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. – Elbert Hubbard

I’m very much a newbie when it comes to booking frequent flier award flights. So while I was booking my flight to India a couple of months ago I settled on flying American Airlines / British Airways. I wanted to fly Cathay Pacific, but didn’t know how to get the person I was speaking to at AAdvantage to give me the CP ticket. She told me only the AA/BA flights were available. I knew that wasn’t true, but I didn’t know enough to get around it.

So I booked a series of flights that left DTW at 6:30am for a nice 9 hour layover in Chicago’s ORD airport! The rep told me there were no later flights available even though that was a lie. They just didn’t want to offer Award tickets on those flights. After being on the phone with them for upwards of 30 minutes I didn’t feel it was worth my time to try to figure out how to get them to book me a better flight.

A couple of weeks later I read this article by Gary Leff:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2009/12/12/little-white-lies-i-tell-when-booking-award-tickets/

You can see I was the first to comment on it.

Not much I could really do about the already booked flight, but now I had a plan for the future.

And then I thought: “I should use this to decrease my layover time in Chicago. 9 hours is dumb.”

First Try: Failed, Sort Of

I called AAdvantage up and asked for a later flight. “All they could do for me” was put me on the 9:40am flight. 3 hours later than 6:50am so already a win, but not a very big one. I wanted on the 12:55pm flight with an arrival at 1:05pm (only 10 minutes later due to time zone difference). That would leave just 4 hours layover before my flight to London (and then finally on to Mumbai!) and I wouldn’t have to wake up early to get to DTW airport.

But I let it be. I booked the 9:40am flight and figured I’d try again later.

Try Again

I tried exactly 2 days before my flight’s departure.

And this time I was going to get my 12:55pm flight. I didn’t care how long I’d have to stay on the phone. I was going to make it happen.

I called AAdvantage and got the regular old spiel. “Sorry, there are no Award flights available on that flight.” Which was a lie, because I was looking at a booking screen that showed 2 available Award seats for 25,000 miles each. These are the “expensive” award seats. 25,000 miles one way domestic!

They said my particular Award ticket wasn’t bookable there.

So out comes a variation of Gary Leff’s little white lie tactic.

“I know you’re not supposed to book the ticket for me, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the airport for the 9:40am flight. Is there anything you can do?”

“Let me check with a supervisor. Hold please.”

3 minutes later…

“Yes, you’re booked on the 12:55pm flight.”

“Wow, thank you for doing that!”

And there it is. Nobody got hurt. Karol got the later flight. Thanks Gary Leff.

As an aside: The Business Class seats on both airlines were great. BA was better than AA because the seat folded completely flat and I got a great sleep. I have a strong feeling Cathay Pacific would’ve been considerably better, but I’m surely not going to complain about traveling in a very comfortable business class seat.

Do you have any stories of booking award flights or being persistent and getting what you want?

Loyalty

The story of how Luggage.com earned my loyalty…

How do we establish loyalty?

Once we have someone’s loyalty how do we keep it?

From the outside looking in it seems easy. When someone or some company screws up I feel like it’s common sense what they did wrong.

When I screw up, while I hope I see it, I don’t know that I always realize what I did wrong. So, if I ever establish your loyalty and somehow lose it, please let me know: (352) 577-0173 or KarolGajda AT Gmail.com. Sometimes I’m an idiot. ;)

Within the past 2 weeks one company has lost my loyalty forever and another has me wanting to do business with them over and over. There’s no need in focusing on the negative, but I need to tell you about the company that earned my loyalty.

How To Earn A Customer’s Loyalty

On January 17 I purchased a MetroSafe 300 computer bag for my new laptop (updated Ultra Light Packing List coming soon!) from Luggage.com.

I received the package on January 22.

When I opened it the bag looked much smaller than it should have been. “What is this? This has to be the wrong bag. It can’t fit a laptop.”

So I called Luggage.com (i.e. CSN Stores) and explained what happened. The customer service rep immediately started the process to get the correct bag to me. “Ugh, I’m so sorry, let me get this straightened out for you.”

A very short time later…

“OK, it’s all set, it’ll ship out in 24-48 hours, probably Monday of next week.”

“Thank you so much! There’s just one problem. I need the bag by Wednesday because I’m leaving the country for an undetermined length of time. Do you think you can do anything to help me out?”

“Oh wow, yeah, this bag won’t get there by that time with this shipping option. Can you hold on just a few seconds?”

“Sure!”

About a minute later…

“OK, I have it set to ship Next Day Air and you WILL receive it Tuesday or Wednesday depending on when it leaves the warehouse. I put a note to the warehouse to ask them to ship it urgently so they’ll probably ship it Monday. I would call them Monday morning to make sure they do that, but I don’t come in until Wednesday. What I’ll do is have a colleague contact them Monday. So you’re all set.”

“Wow, really? Thank you for doing that!”

I received the bag last Tuesday.

Let’s break this down some more.

Luggage.com (i.e. CSN Stores) actually LOST money on me. I’d never purchased anything from them before and only spent $100 (with shipping) for the MetroSafe 300. Sure, it was their fault for sending me the wrong bag in the first place, but they stepped it up when it mattered.

CSN Stores has empowered their customer service reps to make shit happen and I will definitely buy from them again when the time comes. In addition, knowing that they rock, you’re probably more inclined to shop with them too. :)

Why Loyalty Matters

If you want fleeting relationships, loyalty doesn’t matter. If you want lasting friendships, loyalty matters.

If you want to write for yourself, loyalty doesn’t matter. If you want a successful blog/book/comic/etc, loyalty matters.

If you want to get fat, loyalty doesn’t matter. If you want to be healthy, loyalty (to your body and your routine) matters.

If you’re looking to make money, loyalty doesn’t matter.

If want to build a business, there might not be anything more important.

Your turn. How do you feel about loyalty? Have there been any extraordinary people or companies that you’d like to share with the community? Please let us know in the comments…

On Being Ready

How much can you possibly prepare? Free thoughts inside…

Today I depart on a one way ticket (Business Class using AAdvantage miles!) to India. This is a bit of a different approach from my last trip since I honestly have no idea when I’m actually coming back “home.”

I’m not ready.

– There are some things I wasn’t able to accomplish while in the US due to logistics and timing. Nothing critical, just a few things I wanted to do that I didn’t make happen.

– I have 2 print books I wanted to read, but didn’t have a chance to even start page 1. I only read one book at a time, and while I did finish a few print books, I didn’t make it to these last 2 (Alain De Botton’s The Art of Travel and Nassim Taleb’s Fooled by Randomness). Due to my ultra light packing (packing list update coming soon!) there is no way I’m taking them with me.

– I just got a new computer (12.1″ screen, higher resolution and much easier to work on than a 10″ netbook) and the Windows 7 transition has been less than stellar.

– I’ll miss my family and friends even though I don’t see many of them on a very regular basis anyway.

And then there are some What Ifs, mostly:

– What if I get sick?

– What if I can’t find suitable health services wherever I happen to be?

– What if I get mugged?

And other stuff that’s out of my control.

Then I realized none of us are ever ready.

It’s impossible to prepare for every contingency.

You can plot and plan. You can can write lists and make phone calls. You can review and research.

You can do “everything,” but it won’t be enough. Accept it.

It’s almost guaranteed that things won’t go as planned.

If nothing else, I’m ready for that.

How To Catch Fire (or “The Doctor Will Be With You Shortly”)

“That looks like a third degree burn. Hey Rachel, does this look like a third degree burn?”

[Looking at the burn.] “Yes, it does, that looks bad.”

“Hmm…we’ll wait for the Doctor to look at it before we send you to the ER.”

It was Monday January 21, 2008 11:00 pm at an after hours clinic in Lake Buena Vista, FL. The nurse didn’t sound particularly delightful as she looked at my hand. I didn’t know the severity of a third degree burn at the time and she didn’t explain it to me. The Doctor would do that an hour later.

How It Went Down On That Fateful Night:

I have a lot of friends in bands. Back when I lived in Orlando, when they’d tour and come through the area they usually stayed with me. This time around my friends The Swellers were hanging out.

Monday was their day off. They went to Universal Studios. I got some work done. When they came back to my place later we went to get groceries to cook up some food.

Their guitarist (at the time) Garrett bought tofu, which he was going to fry with some other foodstuffs.

We got back to my house around 9 pm and Garrett got to work. First, he filled a skillet with about an inch and a half of vegetable oil. Then he turned the heat on High.

I don’t cook with oil so I didn’t think anything of it. Until I looked at the skillet 2 minutes later.

The oil was boiling.

That just didn’t look right. But again, I don’t fry foods so I was a bit out of my element.

I looked at Garrett: “Dude, that oil is boiling. I don’t think it’s supposed to do that.”

His response?

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m just gonna flash fry this tofu.”

When you come at me with a declarative statement like that I’m going to think you know what you’re talking about.

10 seconds later their drummer Jono said: “Hey Garrett, I think this oil is going to catch on fire.”

Garrett’s response?

“Don’t worry man, I’m just gonna flash fry this tofu.”

His confidence eased my fears a little.

Then…

BOOM!

The skillet went up in a 2 foot flame.

That oil obviously hit its flash point.

“FUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!”

Lucky for me I keep fire extinguishers all over my house.

One is right next to the stove in a cabinet.

Another is in the upstairs bathroom.

And yet another is in the garage.

Being that I’d never used a fire extinguisher, didn’t know anything about oil fires, and was solely focused on getting that fire out of my house I didn’t reach for the available fire extinguisher.

Call it panic.

Call it ignorance.

Call it stupidity.

But I grabbed the flaming skillet with my right hand.

As soon as I started walking with the 2 foot flame in hand the fire started moving towards my hand.

Have you ever put your hand inside a camp fire?

Try it if you want to get a sense of the pain I was in.

I got into my hallway and started spilling oil.

A few drops fell on my carpet and proceeded to melt a quarter sized hole in the middle of the hall.

Of course, spilling oil on the ground also meant I was spilling it on my hand.

Have you ever had oil splash back as you were, for example, sautéing onions?

Now imagine that pain multiplied and constant.

As I spilled the oil on my hand again I thought for an instant of dropping the pan and letting my house burn.

The pain just wasn’t worth saving my home and its contents. That’s what insurance is for anyway, right?

But I held out for a few more seconds until I got to my front door.

I opened the door and slammed the skillet on my front porch.

Immediately a massive flame sparked up the side of my house.

I made a run for the garage fire extinguisher. It was the biggest one I had.

Total run time: 15 seconds.

I got back to my porch and thankfully my house wasn’t on fire, but the skillet flame was holding strong.

You know the famous Jimi Hendrix picture where he’s kneeling down by his burning guitar?

The scene on my front porch was similar.

I quickly pulled the tab on the extinguisher and let it fly. The fire was out in seconds.

My pain, however, was at an all time high.

Even with all the adrenaline pumping through my veins I was in pain that I’d never felt in all my years.

My hand was no longer on fire, but it was soot black and oozing clear liquid.

I dropped a barrage of F-bombs as I ran to the bathroom to clean off my hand with a little soap and water.

That solved the soot black hand issue.

The pain and oozing liquid, however, were not so easily taken care of.

When you’re young you’re taught to put ice or cold water on burns.

For some reason I felt that just wasn’t right.

I’m glad I stuck with my instincts in this case because I later learned putting ice or cold water on a severe burn can cause permanent nerve damage.

Looking at my hand I wasn’t sure I didn’t already have nerve damage. But I digress.

It was now 9:30 pm and I asked somebody to find out where the nearest after hours clinic was. Lance, The Swellers bassist (at the time), found it. But it was 25 miles from my house in Lake Buena Vista. Right by Disney.

Why go to an after hours clinic instead of the Emergency Room?

I’ve never been to an ER, but from the stories I’ve heard the wait is very long. I didn’t want to wait and I also didn’t want to pay the $500 immediate ER fee. I do have health insurance, but ER visits are $500 straight away.

I got the address to the clinic, grabbed my keys, and headed for the door. Somebody said “Hey, Garrett’s gonna drive you.”

“No he’s not, I’m driving myself.” :)

I didn’t trust anybody at this point, especially not Garrett.

So Jono decided to hop in the passenger seat.

Should I mention that the clear liquid oozing out of my hand was dripping all over my house and now my car?

I sped down the highway at 90mph and got to where the clinic was supposed to be. It was, of course, nowhere to be found.

I drove up and down the street a couple of times then had Jono call back to my house so somebody could give us the clinic’s number.

During this whole time the pain had not subsided and it still felt like my hand was on fire.

We called the clinic and apparently it was about 100 feet away from where we had stopped. We’d driven by it already, but their sign was NOT lit up and the driveway had a literal forest surrounding it. The clinic was not visible from the main road.

It was now 10:30 pm. We ran inside and I filled out forms with my left hand which I’m sure nobody could read.

They called my name a half hour later. As thanks for making me wait I left the clinic a puddle of my ooze in the waiting room.

The nurse looked at my hand and said it was a third degree burn. She called over another nurse who said the same thing and that I will probably need to go to the ER, but to wait for the Doctor before making any rash assumptions.

My thoughts were somewhere between “Oh sweet, all this and I have to go to the ER anyway. Sounds amazing!” and “MAKE THE PAIN STOP!” Although maybe a little more vulgar. :)

I was led into my last waiting room. Jono joined me in this final resting place.

“The Doctor will be with you shortly.”

30 minutes and another puddle of ooze later, the Doctor comes in, looks at my hand and drops this gem on me:

“Oh, no, that’s not third degree. If it was third degree you’d have to amputate your fingers because they’d be useless.”

I looked into his eyes and shouted “Shut the fuck up!”

Then we all laughed.

I don’t remember his name, but this was the best general practitioner I’ve ever met.

This was good, but they weren’t weak burns by any stretch. A 2nd degree burn that two nurses think is a 3rd degree burn is a pretty horrific burn. :)

The doctor gave me 3 prescriptions. An antibiotic, a burn cream, and Vicodin.

A nurse also administered a tetanus shot, smothered my hand with said burn cream, and bandaged me up.

Does the story end there?

Almost.

It’s past midnight, but my pain is no different than when I first caught fire. It would mellow for a few seconds and then come shooting right back like some sick torturous game.

So now we had to find a 24 hour pharmacy. Nearest one? 30 miles from my house in the opposite direction of where we were. i.e. 54 miles away.

Back in the car. Back to speeding. Got to Walgreen’s pharmacy around 1:30 am. Got my prescriptions at 2 am. Downed the Vicodin at 2:01 am. Felt great at 2:30 am.

5 days later I flew up to Michigan to go snowboarding at Boyne Highlands with huge blisters on my right hand. The first run down a hill I fell on said hand, the blisters all popped, and my glove got soaked in blister ooze. I hope you weren’t just eating lunch. ;)

###

This happened exactly 2 years ago today. I mentioned in my Best Of 2009 article that I’d be posting it for pure entertainment. Hope you enjoyed it. And I hope you learned a few things. Most important: don’t put cold water or ice on a severe burn.

[Video] Location, Productivity, and Happiness

How does location affect your productivity?

Hey hey!

I did something different here with this video. Different is the wrong word. Maybe time consuming would be better. I don’t think I’ll do it this way much in the future. Too much editing. :)

Watch the video here:

If you can’t watch the video, the gist of it is the question:

“How does location affect your productivity?”

Bonus question: “How does location affect your feelings of happiness?”

Personally, when I’m cold (in any location) my productivity goes down considerably. As does my happiness. :)

Why Do We Strive For Things We Don’t Truly Want?

Striving for something you don’t want is as useful as burning money…

I recorded the following video last month in LA at TreePeople and somehow never posted it!

It’s about striving for meaningless goals.

Specifically, I tell the story about a man I met in the movie industry who is 69 years old, and still waiting for the “big score” so he can do what he really wants in life. He was good at his job (he owned the company), but he didn’t enjoy the work.

That could have been me one day as I was on that same track.

How about you?

Watch the video here:

Now, ask yourself, is it all worth it? Are you Enjoying The Process?

Last Name “Of” First Name “Best” – 2009 Edition

Not a normal “best of” post. But not an abnormal one either…

Before I begin: thank you. Thank you for reading what I write. Thank you for sharing articles with your friends. Thank you for commenting. Thanking you for e-mailing me.

There are a lot of blogs out there and the fact that you take the time to make mine one of your worthwhile reads means a lot to me. I hold myself to a high standard and I don’t take it lightly that you and I have connected.

Here’s the deal with blogs: the archives are where you can find some of the greatest hits. More than likely, you’ve just arrived at this blog within the past 2 months.

Due to the nature of blogging, with a constant stream of new content coming in, those older articles don’t always get the attention they deserve.

If you’re anything like me, when you discover a new blog that you connect with, you go back and read through every article on the site.

Quite a few of you have e-mailed me about doing just that on this blog and that thrills me to no end! :)

But, being that we’re all busy people, it’s not always possible to wade through the archives. So I’ve done it for you in a slightly atypical fashion.

What I mean by that is there is a lot of commentary and a bit of info about the future (such as a possible product launch) below. Specific traffic stats, most popular and least popular articles, and other fun stuff like that is also included.

This is, by far, the longest article I have posted. Over 2,600 words. I obviously decided not to edit for brevity as I usually do.

Oh, if you have your own blog and have done a Best Of post please comment with a link to it.

(Note: all links open in a new window/tab.)

Top Post Of The Year

That award goes to…you ready?

How To Wash Your Clothes While Traveling aka 15 Minutes – Clean Clothes – Anywhere In The World

That’s in terms of visitors: 9,371. And there’s a very good reason that particular article had more visitors than any other.

It’s linked to on my ZenHabits article: The Beginner’s Guide To Minimalist Travel

In terms of activity though, the top post goes to:

Travel Light, Travel Anywhere: The Ultimate Light Packing List

It has almost 100 comments (granted, about half are mine) and, with 6,972, just a couple thousand visitors shy of the How To Wash Your Clothes article.

I fully expected my light packing list to be my most popular article. I’m a big fan of reading packing lists and I know other travelers love reading packing lists too. Light packers are a passionate bunch. :)

This Article Can Change Your Life

The first article on Ridiculously Extraordinary that got any traction (i.e. links, comments, and e-mails) was:

How To Stop Having Problems or “The Eighty-Fourth Problem”

It’s one of my favorite articles and also in the top 5 (in terms of visitors) on this site.

Most Likely To Help With Your New Year’s Resolution

If that Resolution has anything to do with weight loss or exercise that is. :)

Get Fit In 1 Minute or “Am I Gonna Die From Heat Exhaustion?”

After I wrote this article I felt like “Wow, this is gonna be huge.”

I was dead wrong. It’s one of the least popular articles I’ve written. 503 visitors, 7 comments, and 0 links. wonk wonk

That’s OK though. Maybe this mention will give it new life. ;)

While we’re on the subject of unpopular articles. How is just 194 visitors (the least of any article on this site) and 0 comments?

I had an idea about doing Field Reports while traveling, but after Australia Field Report: Sandboarding The Stockton Sand Dunes bombed I decided against it.

Eventually I did something similar with my Friday Updates, which have been a little bit more successful, although I’ve only written a few thus far. :)

Most Search Engine Traffic

Based on comments and e-mails I’ve received on this article, it seems like I could also call this one Most Helpful.

How I Cured My Dandruff and Itchy Scalp

I think the reason it has helped so many people is because, as far as action steps, it’s the easiest to accomplish. There are no costs or barriers to entry.

My Favorite Article

Similar to the Get Fit In 1 Minute article, after I wrote this one, I thought it was going to be huge. It’s still my favorite article, if only because it helped me personally clear things up in my own head.

“Go into my head and come back out and tell me I’m wrong.” – Mitch Hedberg

Whoa, tangent!

Part of the reason it’s not popular may be because I posted it, oh, 3 days ago. :)

That article is, of course, How To Achieve Perfection.

I Almost Didn’t Post This One

Being that my goal here is radical honesty, and as much as possible, transparency, I’m glad I posted this:

How A 19 Year Old Made $5,000 In 30 days While Simultaneously Breaking Every Copyright Law In The Books, Getting Kicked Off Of eBay, and Going To College Full Time

Being young and dumb is no excuse, but it’s my excuse.

I left that article off with a cliffhanger:

I did procure another eBay account so I could continue selling strictly legal items, but I was out of the copyright violations business for good. That is, until 4 years later when I became a search engine spammer…

Nobody has asked about that and I haven’t posted it, but the story starts off with a death threat.

Sometimes my life has been like what you’d read about in a novel or watch in a movie. Usually it’s not, but sometimes …

I’ll Post This One Soon

In keeping with the novel/movie theme: I caught on fire once.

If you’ve never felt the pain of melting flesh you’re in good company. Just not my company. :)

The reason I haven’t posted it is because there aren’t really any lessons to be learned and it’s a fairly long story.

But sometimes a blog can be pure entertainment. So I’m posting it on January 20, 2010 which will be the 2 year anniversary of my first real brush with death.

But I digress, this is about the archives, not the soon-to-be archives. :)

How To Get Started With The Freedom Mindset

Get rid of stuff. Plain and simple.

Give it away. Sell it.

7 Tips: How To Declutter Your Life Using Craiglist

While we’re too attached to material possessions we can never be free.

But I’m no monk. I do own “things.”

Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom means I can lose everything and still come out on top. I mean that. I can lose every. Single. Material. Possession. Including money.

None of it matters.

The only possession that matters is what is in our heads.

I’ve invested countless hours and tens of thousands of dollars (not University, that was free) into acquiring knowledge and that’s more important than anything else.

You will never regret getting rid of stuff and investing that extra time and money into knowledge acquisition. I promise.

This Article Needs A New Headline

How I Cured Years Of Excruciating Stomach Pains Without Doctors Or Medicines

This article should be more successful. But I think since the title talks only about stomach pain it keeps people from reading it. The article will actually teach you how to figure out how to deal with almost anything that ails you.

If I had to change the title today I might call it “How To Use The Elimination Diet To Cure Virtually Any Health Problem” or something along those lines.

The Rest of the Bunch

If you haven’t read through my archives, following are links to every article on this site with commentary, and in order of popularity (in terms of visitors).

About Karol Gajda and RidiculouslyExtraordinary.com – This is actually the 3rd most popular page on this site. At first that surprised me, but after analyzing my own blog surfing habits, it makes complete sense.

On Achieving Goals (or “Just Fucking Write”) – I’m a little bit surprised that an article with the word “Fucking” in the headline is the 4th most popular on this site, but you can’t fight with facts.

The Iron Mind – If somebody were to ask me “What is your life’s philosophy?” I’d point them to this article. I see The Iron Mind shine through in a lot of my writing. It has enveloped every fiber of my being.

How I Cured My Seasonal Allergies Forever – After the How To Stop Dandruff article I linked to earlier I think this one, based on e-mails/comments, has been most helpful. Much like the dandruff article, I believe it’s because the action steps are easy. And the barrier to entry is ~$15.

The Persistent Shower Companion (or Early Mornings At The Munich Airport) – Your guess is as good as mine as to why this is one of the most popular articles on this site.

Refine Your Signal (or Fuck The Fluff) – 2 of my top 10 articles have the word “Fuck” in the title. I’m not stupid though, it’s not a formula that will consistently work. The reason it does work is for the very fact that it’s inconsistent.

How To Travel Anywhere In The World, Live With Locals, and Enjoy Outstanding Experiences By CouchSurfing! – My first Black Book. I spent more time on this than anything else on this site. In terms of traffic, links, and other quantitative measures it wasn’t worth it. In terms of exposing CouchSurfing to just one more passionate person (which I know I accomplished!) it was a tremendous success. I owe a lot to CouchSurfing and will never stop extolling the benefits of being a CSer.

Accountability Statement #1 – The effects of this article is probably why you’re reading this site right now. Thank you for reading. :)

How To Be Socially Unacceptable (or Why I Quit Drinking) – Still going strong. I hope this article will help people for years to come.

Mind Control For Fun and Profit! (or How To Brainwash Yourself) – The day I posted this article I purchased MindControlMethod.org. I’m considering making it my first “big” product. I don’t know that I will, because I haven’t asked you yet to find out what you really want. But you can see where my head is at. I believe a fully fleshed out Mind Control Method course will help a lot of people get into a Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom state of mind.

Needs vs. Wants or My Mom Thinks I’m Crazy or How To Be Congruent – I don’t have much commentary about this, but I think, if you haven’t read it yet, you should. :) I’m proud of this article. Biggest takeaway: Wants are dictated by outside influences. Needs are dictated by biology.

F!&k “Doing It While You Can” (or How To Make Things Happen) – It’s OK to be a follower (sometimes).

Steal This Blog! – Not an actual article, but an important part of this site. Feel free to steal whatever you want from it. :)

Permission To Do Nothing – Sometimes the best course of action is no action.

Enjoy The Process – Is it all worth it? Are you on the right path in your life? Here’s how to know if you are.

Why I Quit Traveling – I had a feeling this one would get a bunch of comments after I posted it. And it did. Sometimes my gut is correct. :)

How To Procrastinate Like A Bad Ass (or How To Overcome Writer’s Block) – I’ve used this writer’s block cure at least once since I posted this. It works so well.

Announcing Ridiculously Extraordinary Black Book #001! – OK, I shouldn’t even post this here because it’s really just a post linking to Black Book #001. But it’s here and it’s more popular than a lot of other articles! WTF! :)

Why We Do What We Do (or How To Be Present) – A recent article that had good comments, even if the visitor count may not be high. I’m proud of this one. The original version of this article was written in June ’09 prior to the launch of this site. By the time I posted this version it was a completely new article and about 1,000 words shorter. Tangent: I spent the 30 days before launching RidiculouslyExtraordinary.com writing over 30,000 words of content. About half of that content has seen the light of day. I don’t know how much of the rest will ever make it.

Powder Is For Babies (or How I Keep My Only Pair Of Shoes From Smelling Like Boiled Rat Piss On Extended Trips) – I use Gold Bond instead of Baby Powder now. Maybe I should update this article?

Zero The Hero or How To Pay 0% Credit Card Transaction Fees When Traveling Outside The US – Must read if you live in the US and are planning on spending time anywhere else. It includes info on banks in addition to credit cards.

An Unlikely First Post: Notes From How To Build A High-TrafficBlog Without Killing Yourself – Useful notes from Tim Ferriss’s presentation.

I Love My Mom So There Is No Cursing In This Article (or Why Cursing Is Good) – Lively comments, even if the visitor count isn’t exceptionally high. Censorship gets people talking. :)

I Spent A Night In Jail + L.A. meetup soon! – A Friday Update with video from the Jailhouse hostel in Christchurch, NZ.

90 Second Smoothie To Kickstart Your Day – Mmmmm…the tastiest article I’ve written. :)

What It’s Like To Tour With A Rock Band – The Swellers Record Release Edition – If you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to spend 24 hours/day for 3 weeks in a van with 4 other guys this one’s for you.

How To Pay $82/month For Health Insurance (For The Self-Employed or Uninsured) – I thought this one would get a lot more traffic. I guess people don’t want to pay a penny for health insurance. That’s cool and maybe it’ll happen some day soon. Moving on…

How To Quickly and Easily Clean A Blender – I had one of those “aha” moments when I figured this out.

Friday Update: Thank You Edition #1 + RE Black Book #001 – Yes, thank you!

9 Essential Books For Bloggers and Freedom Seekers (or How To Save $50,000 On An MBA) – Considering this was posted on Christmas Eve I think it has been fairly successful in terms of traffic.

Jumping Into Canyons + Go Go Goa, India – A Friday Update with some awesome videos. :)

How To Drive 1,802 Kilometers With A Cat In Tow (or How To Pull Kitty From A Thorn Bush) – I still have daymares (nightmare while awake) about this. I can deal with Jessie dying in the natural course of life (which I hope won’t be for a while!). But losing her like this would have devastated me. None of these comments make sense unless you read the story.

The Do Shit You Love Show Bonus Footage – Good times with Baker from ManVsDebt.com.

I Make You Wanna Jump, Jump + Being Vulgar – Oh wow, do not watch this karaoke video. :)

How To Get Lost In Notoriously Dangerous South Central LA (or How To Get A Free Ride From The Police) – Good times in Watts almost 10 years ago.

End of the Road + Extreme Ziplining – A Friday Update with video from the free public zip line in Auckland, NZ!

The End

There we go. Every article from 2009.

Tonight I’m going to party it up (sans alcohol) at my friend’s 3rd annual NYE party. Lots of my favorite people will be there along with a few guitars. That means there may very well be video of me singing Creedence Clearwater Revival songs in the near future. ha!

In that regard…

When it’s time to party we will party hard. – Andrew W.K.

But more importantly…

We do what we like, and we like what we do. – Andrew W.K.

How To Achieve Perfection

I’ve been struggling with this for far too long…

I have to tell you something.

In the 6 months I’ve had this blog I haven’t written a full article about a topic that I’m incredibly passionate about: veganism (specifically, compassion for living creatures).

It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s that I just can’t seem to get my thoughts out into a flowing string of coherent sentences.

I have thousands of words written on the topic. (I’m afraid to even look at the total word count right now because I know I’ll have to edit profusely.)

The problem with these thousands of words is they are rambling, disorganized, cluttered, and don’t make my point as strongly as it needs to be made.

I’m not into preaching. I won’t tell you how to live your life. You and me? We can make our own way.

That said, for you to understand the Ridiculously Extraordinary Way, you have to understand every aspect of the man behind it.

Everything I write is a filter.

If you like what I have to say you will stick around.

If you don’t, you’ll filter yourself out and stop reading what I write.

I’m fine with both outcomes.

I’m not here to change your mind. I’m here to help you synthesize what you already believe. If what you believe aligns with what I write then we’re a match. If it doesn’t align we part ways amicably.

Maybe I’m struggling with perfection? Logic and experience tell me perfection is unattainable. My heart tells me I need to attain perfection.

I’ve received quite a few e-mails (and comments) regarding veganism. There is nothing I’d like more than to point everybody to an article on this site that explains the whys, the hows, and all the other ancillary information on the topic.

But it hasn’t worked out.

I’m great at pushing myself to keep writing even when my writing isn’t coming easily. I’m not good at forcing myself to keep writing an article that just doesn’t want to come out.

Maybe the article is in chrysalis, still not quite ready to fly like a butterfly.

I don’t know.

I’m a firm believer that anything you want in life you can have. But perfection? Perfection is not meant to be acquired.

So then, How Do We Achieve Perfection?

We don’t.

We achieve a high level of imperfection.

And you know what?

That’s perfect.

The Do Shit You Love Show Bonus Footage

Check out Baker from ManVsDebt.com interviewing me for his Do Shit You Love Show…

One of my last days in Auckland, NZ I hung out with Baker from ManVsDebt.com to record Episode 1 of his new Do Shit You Love Show.

Before you watch the bonus footage below check out the full show here (link opens in a new tab/window):

The Do Shit You Love Show Episode 1

We discuss traveling, following your passions, and doing what you love, among other things.

Make sure to watch until the end to hear the question I ask you. Then answer it in the ManVsDebt comments. :)

When you’re done, come back here and watch the bonus footage of me asking Baker a few questions:

It was getting dark in Auckland and by the end of my video you can barely even see us. I did boost the brightness in Windows Movie Maker even though that makes the video very grainy. What can you do, it is bonus footage. ;)

###

Last Friday I mentioned that my posting schedule this week will be changed up a bit. There will be no article tomorrow, and I’m posting this Thursday instead of Friday.

There will be no Friday Update and the article I post won’t be about the Holidays. It’s actually an article I shouldn’t post at a time when a lot less people will read it. If you know me by now, you know I don’t do what’s expected. ;)