They may not be elegant, but they are simple and cheap. Oh, and they are pretty damn durable, too.

“What am I talking about,” you may be asking. I’m talking about accessories like wallets, notebook holders, and whatnot made out of only duct tape. The original inspiration for this comes straight from the source, but I was intrigued by the design for the Ducster, a wallet to hold a Hipster PDA. I modified the design quite a bit to suit my own tastes, and I had a great time playing around with it. I wonder if more people would want more accessories like this? I’m considering playing around with a wallet that fits my needs and maybe even using that clear packaging tape instead of duct tape. I bet that would look sweet!

I have always fancied myself to be fiercly independent, thinking I can get along without anyone else’s help or even influence. I have always liked to think that I didn’t care what others thought about me or how I ran my life as long as I felt good about it. But as I have been thinking about my decision of what to do with my life, I have noticed that I rely more and more on the reactions and opinion of my friends and family. It is important for me to get “buy-in” on a decision regarding my life. As I describe my business idea to friends, my confidence in my idea is deeply influenced by their reaction.

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I have a decision to make. I have to decide for myself whether or not I want a job or don’t want a job. I don’t want a job. I already know that, but I will need a job at some point, or at least a source of income. But what I really mean is that I have to decide what I want to do with myself immediately after I finish up working at Edusoft at the end of October.

On the one had, I should take some real time off; time I will spend doing actually nothing. I will ask myself, “What is it I want to do with my free time?” and whatever it may be, I can do. That sounds great, but I fear that I will just waste my time, watching TV, writing in my blog, or doing other pointless excersises that do not contribute to my self worth.

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I received in the mail today a letter from Delta letting me know that they are combining their two different rewards programs, both of which I have been a member of for a number of years. The letter assured me that I would still be provided with the same excellent service I have come to expect (which isn’t saying all that much), but my concern really is whether or not those frequent flier miles are really worth anything anymore.

Over the last 10 years or so, I have accumulated over 200,000 miles that I can redeem for free travel, for stupid office gifts or for magazine subscriptions. I learned tonight that I can also donate the points to charities. I have been flying Delta most of my life, as they are based out of Atlanta, and I have had an American Express card that offers me 1 SkyMile for every dollar I spend. I am religious about using my credit card in order to amass rewards points, but I never actually redeem the points, so why do I keep up with this ritual, when I could instead use a credit card that offers me cash back?

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My friend Seiken has a band called Foxtail Somersault. It is wall of sound, shoe-gazing music. Lots of layers. Lots of electronics that Seiken plays with as he cranks on his guitar. They really quite good. They play at the Make-Out Room tonight, so if you live in San Francisco, you should go.

Haven’t heard of a hipster PDA yet? It is just like an electronic PDA, except better:

1. It fits in your pocket
2. It is easy to use
3. It doesn’t break when you sit on it

The only real drawback is that you have to remember to carry around a pen.

Sean’s last day was yesterday, and so in classic Sean style, we went out to karaoke at San Francisco’s most fabulous karoake bar: The Mint (with arguably the worst website ever). We’ve had a lot of people leave the company as it has gone through its different stages of life, but this one hurt just a little more, as Sean was half of the dynamic duo that I relied on to keep me up to speed on pop culture and local events. Plus, he always has such wonderful rants to share with us. I’ll just have to make sure he updates those more often.

In setting up this blog, I have been spending a lot of time trying to come up with a unique site design and then implement it well. This takes much more time than I would like, though I’m sure I will be happy with the outcome when I am finished. But my real problem is that if I offer a site feed, then people who are interested in reading what I have to say (I can’t imagine there would be more than 2) would be able to read what I have to say without the benefit of looking at my beautifully designed pages. So why shouldn’t I just post a feed and let the feed reader worry about user interface and design?

I’ve been biking to work recently as a way to cut down on my frustration derived from driving. I try to be a good cyclist, because I know how much drivers hate cyclists in the city. And they have every right to hate cyclists who do things as stupid as bike the wrong way on a one-way street. What is the point of that, when there is most definitely a one-way street in the opposite direction one block away? Worse yet, I came across a guy biking on the wrong side of a two-way street, coming right at me in the bike lane. I yelled to him that he was biking on the wrong side, but he didn’t seem to care. You are ruining it for all of us.

I was reading in a local coffee shop yesterday when a woman barged in and announced, “I’ve found money. I need the largest house coffee you have. And I need a lot of room for milk and suger.” I wanted to slap her right there. She clearly hadn’t been taught manners as a child. She didn’t storm out in a hurry, so it’s not as if she needed to be curt to get in and out fast. And then, when she left, she took about 50 paper napkins. It’s too bad the barista was polite to her.