Visiting the Texas State Capitol

Posted on January 13, 2012 and filed under Traveling

Recently we visited Austin and had the pleasure of taking a tour of the Texas State Capitol. Here are some of my favorite photos.

iTiplist — Calculate Tips Efficiently

Posted on January 10, 2012 and filed under Web

My wife and I go out to eat often and each time I calculate the servers tip based on the services provided. For far too long have servers started getting undeserved tips. Often times people leave 10% because it seems customary or 20% because it’s a high class restaurant. If this is you, you’re doing it wrong.

The definition of a tip (gratuity) is as follows:
tip: (noun) — A sum of money given to someone as a reward for their services.

So why do we leave tips even if the services were unsatisfactory? Why do we delude these servers into thinking there are good at their job? This has to stop!

Introducing: iTiplist

If you are out on the go and need to calculate a tip based on the actual services provided, visit iTiplist.com, check items on the list and calculate. Whala! You now have your tip and total based on what you thought of the server.

It’s time to change the way tips are given!

P.S. If you tell the manager that you do not accept gratuity on your bill, 9/10 times he/she will take it off.

Places to Eat When Visiting Oklahoma City

Posted on January 2, 2012 and filed under Food

Our recent trip to Austin has inspired me with a list of unique places to eat when visiting Oklahoma City. These are my top must-eats before you leave (in no particular order). I hope you enjoy.

What’s your schedule?

Posted on December 6, 2011 and filed under Family

I asked my brother what his schedule was tomorrow. The response I received was not the response I expected.

The Best Birthday Gifts in the World

Posted on November 30, 2011 and filed under Family

Every year we are invited to a special event. An event like no other. My niece’s birthday. On this special day, Kyley is surrounded with family and showered with gifts, food and cake. Although this time seems very fun for her, there is no way to spend quality time with my favorite niece. Sure, she’s my only niece, but that does not make here any less of my favorite.

Anyway, while she is playing with her friends, unwrapping all of the gifts and stuffing her face with cake I stand quietly in the background documenting the occasion with photos. You can check them out here.

When all the fun subsides and the cake begins to settle in her stomach, I present my gift. What is it you ask? A gift card. Not just any giftcard, this one has two certain stipulations.

She cannot spend the money for 30 days.
She cannot spend the money without us there.

What does this mean to her? Fun shopping with her aunt and uncle! She is only 6 and does not really notice the 30 days, so the wait is no problem. In addition, she loves spending time us. What more could she ask for in getting to spend an entire day with her aunt and uncle?!

What does this mean to me? Fun shopping with our niece! Many things can happen in a matter of 30 days. Including forgetting about the shower of gifts from her birthday. That’s right. If you asked me who gave me what on my birthdays 20 years ago, there is no way I could tell you. However, if you ask my niece what she get’s from us each year, she will quickly tell you that we take her shopping and then she buys with her giftcard. My hope is that she remembers this forever. We also get the pleasure of spending an entire day with the exuberant, hyper and innocent girl. This (my favorite part) I will remember forever.

So, while others spend hours looking for a present only to spend a few minutes with Kyley while she unwraps and tosses it to the side, we get to spend hours with my niece while she picks out exactly what she wants. Afterwords, we grab a bite to eat and maybe even stop by the candy store after dinner.

SMALLER: Batch minify HTML, PHP, CSS and JavaScript on the Mac

Posted on November 13, 2011 and filed under Computer

I’ve been using smaller for about 3 months now and simply love it benefits. It makes minifying my css and javascript files extremely easy.

The beauty of the small app is it simplicity. While some apps are bloated with “cool” features and also include the ability to minify code, Smaller keeps it simple and just one thing.

This reminds me of Salsa dancing, you don’t have to know loads of moves to be a good dancer. As long as you know a couple moves but do those moves perfectly and with feeling, you are a great dancer.

Smaller does just that. Minify files perfectly.

Having Trouble Waking Up in the Morning?

Posted on October 27, 2011 and filed under Unfiled

If you have trouble waking up in the morning and constantly find yourself hitting the snooze button without even realizing it, the this is the perfect alarm clock for you.