Over the years, I learned that one shouldn't just buy because there are sales. I only buy the necessary when it's needed. I am a minimalist, so I guess that makes me somewhat of a less/non gullible consumer...and to me that's a good thing. Last Friday was Black Friday, and as always, the die hard consumers were out doing what they do best...looking for deals!

This year, my mindset was to stay home and try to make money from Black Friday rather than spend any (not like I ever do anyway). After a couple of hours of online research, I stumbled on a special "Black Friday Only" deal from the web on a 16 gigabyte Apple Ipod Touch. I found a niche, and I capitalized on it. I call that going back to the basics.

To get started, I ordered a few ipods and charged them to my credit card. Immediately after ordering, I made some simple html listings, used some images from google to showcase the product, and listed the items for sale on ebay.

In less than 4 hours, a couple had already sold. I sold some more over the weekend, and as of now, I have one left still for sale on ebay. After paying ebay seller fees and shipping costs, I profited 25% per sale (that's nearly $50 per ipod of profit) all without spending a dime out of my pocket, nor leaving my house...not bad for finding a deal :) !

The one thing I learned is that next year, I'm actually going to plan for this event, and seriously capitalize on it. It was effortless and highly profitable...and sort of came about on the fly.

From Wikipedia: A person's Golden or Grand Birthday, more commonly referred to as the "Star Birthday" occurs when they turn the age of their birthday.

Today is my golden birthday! I am thankful to God for the blessings and opportunities I have received so far in my life, and I am thankful for all my family and close friends, who have helped me become the person that I am today. A year like this only comes once in a lifetime and I intend to make the best of it; so look out world...I'm coming at your head on!

Here I am, sitting on a park bench on Washington Street a little while after I left the office. My day was interestingly busy today. I did not get to take my lunch break at work until 4pm. Things kept on coming my way so I was unable to make it to the gym as I usually do during lunch hour...but I got a lot of things done.

My friend was running late so I got my laptop out of the car and started to blog about my day. People walking by kept looking at me funny...black man with a hoody on top of a 50 cent beanie, sitting on a park bench in a middle of downtown around 6:30pm on a Tuesday evening, with a laptop on his lap, 2 feet away from a silver bmw...hmm, clearly something had to be wrong with that! Whatever people...give me a break!

Anyway...I went to Dexter's for some drinks with some friends, we then headed to Bento Cafe for a late night sushi dinner with a few sake shots in the mix, and enjoyed some good conversation. Good times!

This morning I attended an interesting mass service at my neighborhood church, Saints Peter & Paul, in Winter Park, FL. During today's gospel sermon, the preacher made a humorous allusion to religion and politics by telling a short story that gave everyone a good laugh. This is how the story goes...

After many years of service in the government, a senator (this is fictitious) passed away and headed for the afterlife. Upon arriving through the gates of the afterlife, a Saint welcomed him and said: "We don't see political figures like you here very often! Because of this, you will spend one day in Hell, and one day in Heaven, and decide for yourself where you wish to spend eternity."

The senator agreed and took the elevator down to Hell. When the doors opened, the scenery was just beautiful. It was nothing like what he had imagined. There was a golf course, and all of his senator pals from the previous life were there. The senator joined in on the fun, played a few holes of golf, enjoyed some laughs, good food, drinks, and music, and overall had a wonderful time; even the Devil came out to party.

When the day arrived to an end, the senator took the elevator from Hell back to the gates, and took the elevator up to Heaven. When he arrived in Heaven, things were peaceful and relaxing. Free of doing as he pleased, he sat on a floating cloud, listened to harp music, and watched the angels fly by all day. When the day finally came to an end, the senator went back to the gates of the afterlife and communicated his final decision to the Saint.

He said: "You know, Heaven is really nice, but I think I like it better down in Hell." The Saint then granted his wish and led him down to the elevator back down to Hell. The Senator was very excited to rejoin his comrades. When the doors opened, things were different. It was dark, red hot, and filled with suffering, sadness, and nothingness.

As the Devil welcomed him, the senator said: "Hey, wait a minute, what is going on here? This isn't how things were yesterday! It is hot as HELL! What happened?" The Devil responded: "Yesterday we were campaigning my friend...and today, we got your vote!"