When I hear the word "printer" my first thought is of that clunky appliance that prints out documents and seems to have somewhat limited life span. Well now we've entered the age of 3D printers that can produce everything from plastic figurines to body parts to houses. That's right, body parts and houses. I want … Continue reading This Isn’t Your Father’s Printer →

From an apartment in Barcelona to a hotel in Newark, NJ in 14 hours. Here's the details (I know, no one really cares): walk from apartment to bus stop take bus to airport check on our luggage go through security go through passport control wait for plane departure depart from Barcelona and fly across the … Continue reading That’s Logistics! →

Well we certainly did that.  105 videos, 2,600 photos, and 1,089,052 steps. Our journey started January 3 at JFK Airport, and we were one of the last flights to get out of New York that night because of a snowstorm that was about to hit the city. We weren't so lucky on this end (well, … Continue reading Take Only Pictures, Leave Only Footprints →

There's good customer service, there's great customer service, and then there's Alejandro and Fernando. Alejandro and Fernando were our hosts at our most recent Airbnb stay in Barcelona, and they was fabulous. From answering all of our questions prior to arrival (how to get from the airport to their apartment, what's the most economical way … Continue reading The Power, and Pleasure, of Airbnb →

I know, I know. All these great little coffee shops and cafes on the streets of Barcelona, and we go to a Dunkin' Donuts. But what can I say, sometimes you just want a taste of home. This Dunkin' Donuts is located on Las Ramblas, perhaps the most well-known street in Barcelona. Las Ramblas is … Continue reading The Magic of Google Translate →

Many people may view the years spent at college as among the best years of their life, but for others it is a time of tremendous stress and anxiety. But before people start calling such students snowflakes and other derogatory terms, consider the fact that when a student harms himself or others because of a … Continue reading The Stress of Going to College →

It used to be tech support's favorite acronym, RTFM, for Read the F***ing Manual. It suggested that users could just as easily have found the answer to their question by reading the manual instead of calling tech support. More modern versions of the phrase are STFW ("search the f***ing web"), GIYF ("Google is your friend"), and … Continue reading RTFM (Or in This Case, RTFL) or Better Yet, STFW →

Two weeks ago I wrote about how I had secretly hoped that I would have had the opportunity to be sitting outside at a London pub while there was a major snowstorm back home in Philly. As fate/Karma would have it, almost the reverse happened. London was hit with record setting cold temperatures and snow, … Continue reading Karma, Part 2… →

One of the things I have found different between restaurants in the U.S. and Europe has been how long it takes to get your bill. Prior to getting the bill, the service is similar on both sides of the Atlantic (usually, but more on that later). However, in Europe it takes a looooooong time to … Continue reading Restaurant Workers – Tips vs. Salary →

It's just one more technology that I'm late to the game using, but in just a couple of weeks I've become a believer. I'm talking about Shazam. No, not this Shazam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxQ-Ltfs9ds But THE Shazam, the one that is an app that can identify music, movies, advertising, and television shows, based on a short sample … Continue reading Shazam > Napster →