Jason's Notes About Stuff

It's Sunday, May 7th, 2017, in the evening. In less than 48 hours, we'll have a good idea of how the 2017 BC Election is turning out. A mere two months ago, I was nominated to represent the BC Green Party in the BC NDP stronghold of Port Coquitlam. I must admit, at times, I am finding myself filled with some fear, doubt, and confusion. Fear of the worst. Doubt about our strategy. Confusion over how it has all unfolded. My confusion stems from the BC NDP's strategy. After spending the first half of their campaign firing missiles at the BC Liberals, the second half has featured them launching a full nuclear assault at the BC Green Party. Thankfully, my NDP running mate has not (to my knowledge) participated in this barrage, but I've seen very nasty behavior in many other ridings, especially on the island. The BC Liberals are running a classic neoconservative campaign, yelling loudly, and trying to scare people about losing their job, or having to pay ...

This was the first time I've ever bet real money on an election. And I won. Even I'm a bit surprised. But only a bit. In mid-October, I posted " Why Trump Could Still Win " at a time when major news outlets said that a Trump win was virtually impossible . Good ol' Michael Moore  (yeah he's still around) made a far more eloquent prediction at " 5 Reasons Why Trump Will Win ". Of course, way back in July 2015, I took note of Trump's social media campaign, and realized that this election would be won or lost on social media . This was also true for Obama in 2008 and 2012, but one major, major thing had changed: The Facebook and Twitter demographic. It used to be that these were filled to the brim with liberal college students. Now there's a much more diversified crew. The rural "red" states are much better connected, and much easier to reach. My political leanings are complicated. I don't fit nicely into either...

My original title for this post was "Why Trump Will Win." Since then, nearly every major media outlet in the world says that a Trump win is a statistical impossibility . October 17th prediction from fivethirtyeight.com We'll see. I've toned down my prediction for the moment. Keep in mind that these polls have changed drastically over time: There's still another debate, and several weeks before the actual day. As far back as July 2015, I mused on Facebook: "Wow, Trump really knows how to play the social media game. I feel like he might win based on that alone." I think it's easy for upper-middle class, college-educated folks to dismiss the idea of a Trump win, but bear in mind: Clinton is the status quo. A lot of people do not want the status quo. A lot of people are pissed off at the status quo. Nearly every recent election has been won on the promise of significant change .   For better or worse, Trump promises change ...

Last week, I was hanging up my laundry, listening to a great business podcast about consulting, and was hit by a wall of wisdom: "Your reputation in business is in large part based on your ability to make commitments and fulfill them. If you can make commitments and fulfill them, people trust you. That's what trust is based on. If you and I are developing a relationship, and the first thing you tell me you're going to do, you do, I go, "Ok, that's cool, he did what he said he was going to do." Now, I'm not going to trust you with my life at that point. But then, the second thing you say you're going to do, you do. A few weeks, a few months, then years, if you continue the habit of doing the things you say you're going to do, then I trust you with more and more. And that's how our reputations are built." [1] I think this applies equally to business and life in general. So many people fail this simple test. It really comes down to ...

Anyone who knows me knows one simple thing: I really, really hate being wrong. Everyone does. Nobody likes the feeling you get when you realize you're going to have to eat some humble pie. Mmmm... pecan humble pie But over the years, I've learned important lessons about how to handle this situation. I had one of these moments recently while registering a new car here on the island -- a long process that takes several hours and visits to 4 different places . (Traffic police, bank, insurance company, inland revenue) At the very first stop, the police traffic division, we realized that we were missing one of the two vehicle identification numbers. (Unlike American cars, Japanese vehicles have two VINs) The number had not been entered on any of the previous documentation. I had this situation with a previous car, and they went ahead and entered it with just the one number. This time they insisted they needed both numbers . I pushed back and tried to explai...

Here is the update to my post last month entitled " Losing weight is hard ". Through a program of restricted eating and intense exercise, I was able to lose most of my December "Christmas baking" weight: I'm back down to around 160lbs and about 13.5% body fat. Surprisingly, this is still on the high end of normal! Mid-range for my height should be about 155lbs and 12.5% body fat. That will be my goal after we return from the wedding. Even 130lbs would still be in the "healthy" range. I can actually remember quite well when I was 130lbs. It would have been in high school, where admittedly, I was a bit of a beanpole :-) Another interesting chart is my one-year plot (missing the period when the scale was being shipped ): When I look back and see how I was up over 170, that seems so high, but meanwhile it had become the "new normal." It's important to keep things in perspective, and I've found that our Internet scale ...

A formula for success and happiness, in both business and life: Keep your own expectations tempered, but always try to exceed the expectations of others.

Thought of the day: Graphical information takes much longer to produce than text, but is interpreted faster and more accurately.

Don't think: "I'll just do that tomorrow." Think: "Wait a minute -- What if I can't do that tomorrow?" This is one situation where having a slightly pessimistic view gives an advantage.

If you want to eat healthy, you need to make your inherent laziness an advantage. Today I was busy programming and started craving a sweet, sugary snack. I mean really, really craving. So much so that I decided to walk to the store and buy something. Walking to the store is necessary since we have been good about not keeping any junk food in the house . I started to get ready to go out, but caught myself asking, "Wait, do I actually need this? Is it really worth the effort?" If there had been any type of sweet snacks in the cupboard or fridge, I would have wolfed them down long before any such consideration. So instead, I went to the fridge and got a few grapes -- even though they're not really my favorite food. That satisfied the craving and I was able to get back to work. So if you want to eat healthy, it's simple: Keep only healthy food in your house Use your laziness to your advantage :-)