Ode to January: January is my favorite month of the year. It’s not simply a matter of aesthetics—though I do appreciate the beauty of bare branches, snow-covered ground, and a monochromatic winter landscape. The appeal, however, is more psychological than visual: after the excesses and over-stimulation of December, January is like a huge sigh of relief…{read more}
Minimizing Paperwork: Print to PDF: Like many people, I make the majority of my financial transactions online: from shopping to paying bills, from retrieving statements to managing bank accounts. In the past, I used to print off a paper confirmation of each one. For some reason, I thought I needed physical “proof” every time money changed hands—be it a deposit into a savings account, or a receipt for a sweater ordered over the internet. So although I was conducting the majority of my business electronically, my files were still bulging. Then I discovered the three magic words that eliminated 90% of my paperwork: “print to PDF”…{read more}
Why I Love Ebooks, Part 1: In response to my post on Printing to PDF, Stuart brought up the subject of ebooks. Oh Stuart, you had to get me started… I know this is a controversial topic here, and some of you fundamentally disagree with my opinion. But it’s an issue near and dear to my heart, and I just can’t refrain from pontificating on it…{read more}
Why I Love Ebooks, Part 2: In Part 1 of this topic, I talked about how moving overseas (and being separated from my favorite tomes) made me a huge fan of ebooks. Even before I moved, however, I was growing weary of physical books. I didn’t like how everything I read seemed to stick around on my bookshelf. Consequently, I committed to get rid of (resell, pass on, or donate) books directly after I’d finished them. I’m a fast reader, though, so in many cases books would leave my house just a day or two after I purchased them! That didn’t feel quite right either…{read more}