Author Archives: Patrick Rhone

Warren Buffett Be Giving Large, Yo.

This news is now all over the place but I would be remiss if I did not say something about it. In case you live in a world without media and have not heard, Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway and the worlds 2nd richest person, is going to give away a vast majority of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. You read that right. The worlds 2nd rich person is giving most of his money to the foundation of the worlds richest person.

Now before all you pinks get your panties in a bunch about rich guys giving other rich guys money, let us remember just how much the Gates Foundation has done to fight diseases, improve education, build libraries and sponsor NPR. Just think how much more they could do with even more money and resources. I mean, seriously, diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis could be a memory in a relatively short time with enough money thrown at them. The possibilities of this kind of philanthropy are staggering.

FORTUNE Magazine: Warren Buffett gives away his fortune

Early Review: Moleskine Pocket 18 Month Weekly Planner

Starting this week, I am moving from my trusty Moleskine Pocket Ruled to a new Moleskine Pocket 18 Month Softcover Weekly Planner. As regular readers know, I have been breathlessly anticipating the arrival of these new planners. They have a new layout which features a weekly calendar on the left hand page and a basic ruled page on the right, therefore allowing me to keep my action items and calendar items in one easy to carry place. Here are some quick initial impressions:

• I am not sure if this is due to age or wear and tear but the paper in the new planners seems brighter than that of the ruled style I was using.

• The pocket on the new planners is not gusseted like the old style and, therefore, items placed inside are a bit more difficult to see and access.

• The ruled lines on the new planners also seem to be closer together but I have not actually measured to see if that is correct.

• There are a wealth of additional pages included in the planner. Some you might expect like Time Zones, International Dialing Codes and Distances (a grid to figure out distances between major cities). There are some others that are surprising but useful such as Travel Planning pages, a page with a ruler on the side for being able to mark down measurements and some monthly pages for 2006-2008 to mark birthdays, anniversaries and other similar items.

• These have a softcover unlike the standard hard cover Moleskines. Although it is soft it still seems very durable and well designed (perhaps even better because it can flex a bit) for carrying in your pants pocket.

• I also have switched the pen I am using from the (still awesome) Pilot G2 Pro with a .05mm cartridge to a Uniball Signo Micro 207. This is due in part to Mike Rohde’s review and recomendation and also to my own side by side comparison. The Uniball has a slightly slimmer line and seems to dry more quickly. So far it is being good to me.

All in all, I am pretty pleased thus far. Also, a major shout out to Ninth Wave Designs where I purchased it from for the very fast delivery and friendly service. They rock and I recommend them highly for all of your Moleskine needs. they also have a great blog filled with lots of drool worthy artwork and Moleskine pr0n

Sweetest Day

On June 15, 2006 at 9:30PM, Bethany and I were married in a small candlelit ceremony with our family and close friends in attendance. It was beautiful, romantic, filled with love and plenty of fun. There are way to many details of the evening to post them all right now. All I can say is that it was a perfect day in every respect. From picking up friends at the airport, to picking up the cakes and desserts, to getting dressed, to seeing my beautiful bride for the first time, to taking pictures in the park, to eating dinner with the Best Ma’am and Man of Honor, to the space lit entirely by candles, to the beautiful music, to Rev Xanthia, to the heart felt and personal vows, to the moment we kissed, to the dessert and very expensive champagne, to the wedding night spent in our new loft space at home – It was all like a very beautiful dream. I know it was not because we have pictures to prove it all really happened.

This was followed by a whirlwind of setup, cooking, driving, picking up, delivering, frantic hand waving and then…

On June 17th, 2006 at 7:00pm, Bethany and I had a kick-ass reception. I won’t go into great detail as Bethany has done a much better and more thorough job on Indebride (she begins her 12 step program soon we hope). Let me just say that we put a lot of work into it and had a lot of fun. It was the exactly what we both wanted and envisioned and came off without a hitch.

I am still filled with humble wonderment every time I look at her and say “This is my wife”.

Update: Pictures from our friend Val here.