kubitsky.net

Over the past couple of months, my experience with shopping in retail stores has been extremely terrible. I used to just complain that brick-and-mortar stores were terrible because they never had what I wanted in stock. Selections were poor and stock was always low. Now I can add poorly kept stores, terrible customer service and ERRORs everywhere to that list.

I shop online, but I’m not a fan of shopping online for everything. Sometimes I like the experience of being surrounded by the physical goods, inspecting them, and trying them. Especially for clothing and electronics. I don’t enjoy needing to return things, which seemed to happen far too often when purchasing goods online for me. But, now I can extend the pain of needing to return things to my in-person shopping as well.

Every single shopping trip I’ve taken in the past 2 months, including large grocery store trips, has resulted in me returning items to the store. I’ve had to return a faulty aluminum water bottle, a ripped purse, a pair of 2 right shoes, wilted spinach, missing parts from Ikea lamps, cracked pot for plants, etc. What’s up??? Why are products in stores so poor. Why are the staff so mean when you return them nicely?

I had the pleasure of listening to a talk with George Lakoff, introducing the concepts of his new book, The Political Mind. He argues that the political divide in the United States is not just about the usual arguments of money, power, social structure and history, but that that the ultimate source is in the brains of its citizens.

He goes on to explain the amazing new research has shown that much of our reasoning is unconscious. We all use frames, prototypes and metaphors to rationalize our ideas and decisions on a subconscious level. Previously it was thought that emotion stood in the way of reason, but it is quite the opposite. Emotion is required in order to be rational.

I was so inspired by Lakoff’s 60-minute talk that I immediately bought the book and began reading it as I waited in line for a personalized autograph. I hope to be able to use this book to gain a better understanding of how people make decisions and how we can use empathy, understanding and language to bring about new ideas and new perspectives. I look forward to finding interesting symmetries between his work with linguistics, cognitive science and political theory to the world of information architecture and user experience.

Fast Cat Sports is offering a local Philly Marathon Training program. The Philly Marathon is on Sunday, November 23rd and training begins on July 7th — 20 weeks prior to the race. Dave Thomas, is one of the coaches and owners of Fast Cat Sports. I trained with him for the Alaska Marathon. He’s fantastic!

If you are interested in running a marathon, consider teaming up with Fast Cat Sports for guided training and tips on food, race performance, shoes, etc.

Information sessions:
Thursday, June 19 @ 7pm, Lloyd Hall (upper level), Kelly Drive (Boathouse Row)
Thursday, June 26 @ 7pm, Lloyd Hall (upper level), Kelly Drive (Boathouse Row)

For more information the Philly Marathon Training, visit http://www.fastcatsports.com/FCMTphillymarathonpage.html

Be one of the first to get a sneak peek at the new Morae scheduled to release in Summer 2008. TechSmith will be demonstrating the interesting new capabilities that bring this usability testing software beyond just website testing. Come and check out Morae and UserVue and ask TechSmith all the questions you like.

For more information about the event: http://phillychi.acm.org/?p=69

To register for this FREE event:
http://upadelawarevalley.org/events/event_register.php?id=9

my first pair of glasses

Originally uploaded by ckubitsky

I’m getting old.

I’m very excited to see my Grandma tomorrow. I haven’t seen her in about 8 years. I’ve used all the excuses in the book for not making the 6-7 hour drive out to see her, but this year is different. I’ve realized that I need to spend more time strengthening relationships with family and friends, and less time filling my days with busy work. Good relationships are one of the most important things a person can have.

I’m taking advantage of another research trip to Pittsburgh, and taking on a half day visit with my Grandma. I’m so excited to see her. There’s so much to catch up on.

After my injury I was really concerned that I wouldn’t be able to complete the Broad Street Run (10 miler). I was afraid that I would have to walk a portion of it or worse — injure myself to the point that I wouldn’t be able to run again. Fortunately, that’s just a result of my typical pessimism and not reality.

Before I was injured, I convinced myself to run Broad Street in 1:35. That would put me at about a 9:30 min/mi pace. This pace is what I’ve been training at for longer distances. Last year I ran Broad Street in 1:49 (an 11:00 min/mi pace with a nice sprint at the end).

I’m still recovering from my injury so I had to mentally prepare myself for running 1:40, but I managed to finish Broad Street in 1:34.57. That’s 15 minutes faster than last year and I loved every minute of the race. I felt as though I could run 3.1 miles to make it a half marathon when I was done. I know I’m crazy, but I’ve always loved running and hope that my next race will be even better!

After a short break in my training, I will begin preparing for the Philadelphia Distance Run in September (half marathon) which will require me to train to run in the heat, which I loathe. Then on to the Philadelphia Marathon in November.

April has been a really rough month. I managed to injury myself running and therefore was unable to walk or do much exercise. Throughout the 3 weeks of recovery I put on a couple more pounds. But, for the past week I’ve been able to run and walk the dog normally. The result is getting back on track with my weight loss and back in shape for Broad Street.

Got another quick email from Dinko. He’s back in Namche, which means he’s on his way back to Kathmandu. He’s having a fabulous time despite the little stomach illness and altitude sickness between 12,000 and 18,000 feet. He did manage to go to the Everest Basecamp and can’t wait to come back and share the pictures and stories with everyone…only not toooo fast.

He raved about being able to take 3 showers during the past 2 weeks, of which one was out in the open only wrapped in a tarp. Too bad we won’t have a picture of that - HA. And lastly, he announced that he most certainly looks like a Yeti now that he hasn’t been able to shave since he left Philadelphia.

For all those interested, he will be back this Friday. I can’t wait ;)