Book Review: The Four Hour Work Week
I just finished reading The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. There's some pretty compelling stuff in there. He hypes up his web site, however, as if there were some über-top secret stuff there that only people who buy the book can get. That's a load. Beyond that shortcoming, it's really quite an exciting and potentially life-changing book.
What the hell am I eating?
I'm reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, et. al. and it's got me thinking about what I eat. I'm already vegetarian, but a vegetarian who (a) eats a lot of cheese, and (b) travels a lot. Although the USDA and the FDA have some rules on food labeling, companies (especially folks like Kraft Foods) really push the limits in terms of convincing consumers that a manufactured, artificial product is somehow cheese. I have more thoughts, though, on what this really means.
International First Class
Paul, over at The Daily Ping, just blogged about flying business class. Nevermind that the title of his post is "Flying First Class." It prompted me to write the story of the one time I flew Internstional First Class—a league unto itself.
More Silly Hotel Stuff
I stayed at the Towne Place hotel in Irving, Texas in May. This one is amusing rather than ridiculous (c.f., my post on the Westin O'Hare). The hotel's monthly newsletter has various bits about pop culture. I put a couple bits of content through my unique way-too-much-time-on-his-hands™ analysis and report the results.
Pomp and Circumstance at the Westin O’Hare
I recently had the misfortune of staying at the Westin Chicago O'Hare. I don't know that I have ever seen a hotel more inflated than this. Read on for the most outrageous prices for the most ordinary and basic things.
When I entered my room...
The first thing I noticed was a pair of water bottles, 750ml each. I've been to lots of hotels, and I've found the occasional free bottle of water in my room. Most often that's occurred at longer-term places, like Residence Inns or Oakwood corporate apartments. Not here at the Westin. A tag on the bottle notes that if I drink it, I will see a $5.00 charge on my bill. I'll pass, thanks.
The Mini-Bar
The Mini-Bar is a common feature in upscale hotels. You have a small refrigerator in your room. It works on sensors built into the fridge. Touch anything in it and you immediately incur charges. They could figure out what you ate by doing inventory and noting what they had to restock. Of course, that's absurd. It would be correct. When my oldest son was a toddler, he went with us to Belgium and we stayed in a fine hotel. Toddlers can do a number on mini-bars. Thankfully, that hotel was gracious about understanding what had happened.
The Westin lists all the prices on a small card near the bar. Sadly, the prices aren't the prices. What's the point of putting prices down and then saying "15% stocking fee will be added..."? We're all accustomed to tax being added onto the price of things, so when it says "10% tax will be added" I realize that it's not the Westin's fault and that Chicago is just taxing me. But the Westin is making up this 15% stocking fee. Look at the prices in Table 1. The Westin charges me $2.88 (before tax) for a 12oz can of Pepsi. That can should cost in the neighborhood of 50 cents. Even $1.00 is within reason. But $2.50 plus a 15% stocking fee? Wny not say 75 cents plus 383% stocking fee? Or, for crying out loud, why not just say "$2.88" and be done with it? If you think this is bad, wait until you see room service.