If any of you guys follow Digg closely, you might have noticed an amusing article to hit the homepage a few days ago called You Might Be Addicted to Digg If. If you’re a keen observer, you might have also noticed this list was hosted on a new startup site called ListZe. This is a fun project I built with a buddy of mine (Parker) to help fill an untapped market of social organization and list management.

Lots of people out there have great ideas of informative or comical information they’d like to toss out as a list and submit to digg or reddit, but they don’t want to setup a whole blog or website, and then get limited static functionality from it. ListZe is a bit different. On this site, anyone can create a list and add items to it. Then other members can come along and add their own items that might have been forgotten originally. This is a great social collaboration tool in itself. Next members can vote items on any list up and down, effectively sorting the list in decreasing order, polarizing the items with the best (usually the funniest) up top, and the worst items on the bottom.

It’s a great site that could prove very useful to a number of people. Here are a few example lists for you to see the kinds of lists we serve:
– Funny Bumper Stickers
– 2008 Presidential Candidates
– Funny Blonde Jokes
– Excuses for Sleeping at Work
– Funny AIM Away Messages
– The Best Movies of 2007
– Amazing but True Facts
– Fun things to do at Walmart
And many more. View the complete list.

Yesterday I closed a large business deal, netting a nice profit. To treat myself, I picked up a new Movado. I’m not the biggest watch connaisseur, however I do appreciate a well made machine, and have started building a small collection. I’m also a firm believer that every man needs at least one nice watch.

I know it’s very traditional, but I didn’t have a Movado, so I figured start with the classic. I picked up a Movado Temo… a brand new line. The reason I chose this one was mainly the unique subtle triangle-design in the band.

(stock photo)

To see my actual watch (with horrible lighting), check out my Flickr set.

Now, you’re probably wondering about the 2nd part of the title, Hairballs. My wonderful girlfriend, Laura, is a huge animal person, and recently started her own blog, which she cleverly entitled Laura’s Hairball. The interface is a work in progress (sorry for the horrible photoshop on the cat), however it’s off to a nice start. She’s planning on using it as a general topic blog, discussing anything from current news to posting random jokes or pictures. Again, it’s still in it’s infancy, however if you swing by and leave her a comment, I’m sure she’d appreciate the feedback (and encourage her to post more frequently)! Good luck Laura!

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Tired of your desktop wallpaper? We can help!

I’m burning through the last few hours of my vacation now, on the plane returning home. It was a great trip ““ seven days in an oceanfront house we rented on St. Croix, an island in the US Virgin Islands. The plane ride is four hours each way however, and because of my inability to be inefficient, I can’t sit around and spend eight hours reading gossip magazines or doing crosswords. After much deliberation, I decided the best way I could spend my time would be to work on gaining backlinks for Desktop Nexus, my recently launched company for desktop wallpapers.

The only problem is airplanes aren’t the best vehicle for wardriving, so no internet. No problem. I’ve decided to promote Desktop Nexus through guest posting. Over the past six or so hours, I’ve designed, outlined, and written lengthy, high quality posts targeted to a few specific industry authority blogs that accept guest posts. Now granted, I’ve never guest posted on any of their blogs, however I’m assuming if they get an email with the post attached, and with as high quality as they are, the blogger would have no reason not to run it. Good, free, unique content is hard to come by these days, haha. At the end of every post, I’ve included a few sentences about me, with a few links to this blog and Desktop Nexus, as is the industry accepted standard for author citations and credit. I figure if I can get 4-5 of the articles to run, that’ll be about 10 high PR, high authority backlinks, with targeted anchor text… plus the traffic I might get from readers clicking on the links themselves. It makes sense. When I’m at home or at the office, I rarely have time to sit down and actually think out good content, as I’m usually programming or working on something seemingly more wholesome. Granted I could have written Digg-bait posts for the Desktop Nexus blog and hoped one of them went popular, however that’s very risky and borderline dirty SEO. Plus, (and more importantly) it also feels nice to help out some of the larger blogs I follow every day, as well as their readers. If any of the thousands of potential readers in these blogs’ audience are genuinely helped or inspired by my posts, then I feel like I’ve done something worthy of this time.

I’m not a morning person. I never have been and I probably never will be, however recently for work I’ve been having to wake up early, and as such, I’ve put together a few tips that help me get by.

• Don’t eat breakfast – Just grab a glass of juice, and eat lunch early if you get hungry. When I eat a full meal in the morning, I feel weighed down and groggy all afternoon.
• Reward yourself – Tell yourself if you go to sleep early, you’ll get up a little earlier and swing by Starbucks, or some kind of reward. Motivate yourself to go to sleep early, as that’s the key.
• Don’t hit that snooze button – I know it’s tempting, and I know “a few more minutes won’t hurt anything,” however you must resist. You set your alarm for that time last night for a reason, and the voice of reason is dulled when you first wake up.
• Take a Shower – I’ve tried taking a shower in the evenings before I go to sleep, and in the mornings when I wake up… and I’ve found taking one in the morning works much better for me. That kick-starts my energy for the day, and without it, I’d never wake up.
• Play music while you’re getting ready – Some might not have this convenience (roommates, etc), however if you turn on the radio or TV while you’re getting ready, it helps get your mind thinking for the day, rather than enjoying it’s grogginess.
• Open your blinds before you go to sleep – What seems to be one of the smallest things makes a huge difference. If you open your blinds before you go to sleep, when your alarm goes off in the morning, the sun beaming in through those slats might just give you enough energy to smile and want to get up.
• Cherish the morning – There’s a certain empowering energy in being up early… the birds chirping, the dew in the air, serene tranquility… cherish it. Walk outside and take a deep breath. Learn to enjoy mornings, not dread them. They really aren’t so bad.

Hopefully these help you as well. Good luck!

Desktop Nexus is a wallpaper site with the vision of stepping over the boundaries of traditional wallpaper sharing… and I will go as far as saying that it is currently one of the most technologically advanced wallpaper galleries in the entire world.

Completely member oriented, anyone can upload wallpapers, then the community votes if they’re a high enough quality to be added to the galleries, or if they should be deleted forever… all driven through the “Pending Additions” categories. Heavily endowed with AJAX and RSS, meta-moderation, voting and tagging, it’s truly fresh in this industry.

For example, if someone uploads a 1024×768 wallpaper, Desktop Nexus will automatically resize and remaster that wallpaper for another visitor who requests it in say, 1600×1200. It then goes a step farther and will show an AJAX script to allow any user to instantly crop (interactive) or stretch the wallpaper to create a widescreen version for anyone who requests it… so essentially one wallpaper of any size is uploaded, and Desktop Nexus will make it available to anyone with any resolution… completely bypassing previous limitations of wallpaper sharing, standard aspect ratio or widescreen.

Now, let’s take a quick visual tour of the coolest parts of Desktop Nexus.

AJAX Wallpaper Uploads, plus the ability to upload ZIP files for Mass Uploads (upload dozens of wallpapers at a time!):

And after the wallpaper is uploaded, it undergoes a voting process where the community decides if it’s quality is good enough to be added to the galleries:

Wallpapers can be tagged with descriptive words to link similar ones together. AJAX technology helps suggest commonly used tags as you type.

Our tag clouds are a great way of quickly seeing what’s popular in each gallery.

Every member (quick, free signup) gets a My Desktop Nexus profile they can tweak and customize, allowing them to share everything from their hobbies to their favorite wallpapers.

I have big dreams for this site, and for nearly a year I’ve poured my heart into it, spending a week on a small detail most users would never even notice. I honestly believe this site could become the next YouTube, as to this day there is no household name for wallpaper sites. There is a dominate site in almost every industry, but wallpapers is 95% scattered small sites. Before when I wanted a wallpaper, I went digging through Google Images, sorting through the low quality and odd size images. Sure, Webshots did pretty well, but I believe they shot themselves in the foot with advertising in their downloadable client. We can do better. I want someone to be sitting in their chair and decide their desktop background is getting old, and for the first thought through their mind to be “Desktop Nexus”.

We’re still tweaking the site and adding new functionality all the time, so stay tuned. I’d also appreciate any feedback you have on Desktop Nexus. Thanks!

Go There -> Desktop Nexus Wallpapers

Last night I finally got to see a movie that has been recommended to me countless times, and I had been wanting to see for a while, Boiler Room. It was absolutely incredible. If you are in sales, or even business at all, definitely check it out. Twice.

That’s right, watch it once for entertainment, then watch it again for personal gain. Boiler Room has some of the best sales pitches and closes I’ve ever seen. The second time watching it, consider it instructional material. The hardest part of this is you have to separate yourself from the immoral side of what’s actually going on in the movie. Don’t get caught up in the characters or plot, but simply watch the techniques of selling.

Watch Giovanni Ribisi (the main character)’s rebuttals to common objections and excuses. Watch him move the conversation in any direction he wants, always aiming for a close. Watch his psychological techniques, saying lines like “I don’t care how much stock you pick up,” rather than saying “I don’t care if you buy stock or not.”

No matter if you’re cold calling clients, following up on hot leads, or talking face to face with a customer who just walked in the front door of your shop, this movie demonstrates some sales techniques, that if mastered, can prove invaluable to your business.

Now, if you don’t have time to watch the full movie, or if you’d rather have a quick recap, here are a few of the highlights I’ve found on YouTube:

This one isn’t selling to a client, but is a great, persuasive speech given by Ben Affleck:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvICN8DNMpY

This video is GOLD. A cold call that appeals to virtually every sales technique in the book with brilliant execution. The end gets a little harsh and pushy, more than I’d personally like to go, however it’s still an amazing sales close.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yunGYX2_uBE

Here’s another amusing conversation of Seth analyzing a telemarketer that called him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW-PHukzdgM

Here are some great quotes from the movie:

“Move around, motion creations emotion.” – Very true. When you’re selling your product, don’t be still. You need to be passionate and energetic, excited as if you honestly believe it’s the greatest product in the world. Stand up, walk around, move, get some blood flowing. Your pitch will increase in power exponentially.

“There is no such thing as a no sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock, or he sells you on a reason he can’t. Either way, a sale is made, the only question is who’s going to close, you or him?” – An absolutely brilliant line that I’ve never heard or thought of before. Your job in sales is to disarm any inhibitions and or excuses the other end might have. Consider each call a battle- either you win or they do. If you lose, at least go down fighting. You’d be surprised how many calls that seem hopeless can turn around in an instant.

“I just want you to test me out.” – This is a great quote for closing a new client. It shows you have confidence in your product, otherwise you wouldn’t say it. It’s an indirect way of saying “if I believe in my product, you can too.”

“… you’d be pretty excited about my next idea, right? Of course you would, you’d be out there handing out my business cards, wouldn’t you?” – This line was particularly interesting for me. It’s nothing revolutionary, but it’s a cool line to add to your book, and pull out at the right time. Often times during a sales call you come around to asking hypothetical questions about how good the outcome of them buying your product would be. An example of this in use, “If my widget increases your productivity by 500%, you’d be happy wouldn’t you? (I suppose so.) Of course you would! You’d be handing out my business cards wouldn’t you?” This is a great line for reinforcing their positive image of your product, while easing the mood a bit and still maintaining a level of professionalism.

Boiler Room, despite it’s immoral plot, is one of my favorite movies to date. Check it out.

Ratings for the new James Bond: Casino Royale are through the roof. Every review site on the internet is hailing it as the best Bond movie yet. I love James Bond, but I HATED Casino Royale.

This post has a bit of spoilers (not too bad though), so if you haven’t seen it yet… don’t. And if you have seen it, don’t see it again.

They killed every aspect of James that made him, well, Bond. When I think James Bond, I think girls, cars, gadgets, and a charming smoothness that make guys watching want to be exactly like him. Let’s analyze these in order. First girls… I’m not going to talk about this one in too much detail for fear of my girlfriend slapping me, but they casted ONE girl in the whole movie that attempted to tackle this bullet point. The second aspect of James Bond is cars. Granted he drove an Aston Martin DB9 Sport, which is a gorgeous car, and in one scene he jumps into the car in hot pursuit of the bad guy, and you expect a wild, explosive, Bond-like car chase. However to my dismay, that scene only lasts 20 seconds and the car is absolutely destroyed. Kinda sad for a car enthusiast. Next in line is gadgets. In Casino Royale there quite simply are no gadgets. There’s a cell phone with GPS and a GPS tracking bug… that’s about it. Impressive. Finally is Bond’s famous charm. In Casino Royale, he simply doesn’t have any. He’s egotistical and arrogant. He couldn’t care less about other people, and is completely sappy near the end. At one part my friend turned to me and asked “Is this James Bond, or a chick-flick?”

And another thing, Daniel Craig does not look the part of a smooth super-spy. Throughout the entire movie, that kept nagging at me in the back of my mind… he doesn’t look the part. Absolutely horrible casting.

This movie has tried to reinvent James Bond, but they’ve destroyed him. If they had not slapped the “James Bond” brand on it, and instead made a completely different movie, with a new name… it wouldn’t have been half bad. However they instead tried to expand on an existing image, and they ruined what was a good series. It almost seems like they made a separate movie, realized it was slightly similar, so they went back and changed a few parts so they could call it James Bond.

One example of how they’ve destroyed James Bond, was a scene where they asked him if he wanted his martini shaken or stirred… to which he replied “Do I look like I give a damn?”. I’m sorry… but James Bond would NEVER say that. He’s always polite, charming, and smooth…. not rough and a jerk, like he came off in this movie. I could go on ranting, but I think I’ve said enough. If you’re a James Bond fan, and you enjoyed this movie, can you PLEASE enlighten me as to why? Because as of now, I think that was the absolute worst James Bond movie I’ve ever seen… and I’d even go as far as saying it’s one of my least favorite movies overall.

Quite sad, really.

I picked up the DVD for Jarhead the other day, and throughly enjoyed it. There were a few parts that were a bit extreme, but overall it was a very intense, well made movie. It makes anyone who watches it NEVER want to be a Marine (as long as you’re sane), heh. Jake Gyllenhaal is a fairly unknown actor (to me at least) who does an absolutely phenomenal performance, especially when paired with Jamie Foxx. I’d be curious to hear from an actual Marine how accurate this movie is, but from my perspective, it looks very realistic (or at least the studio did a good job with it).

And on that note, some links.
- IMDB: Jarhead
- Official Jarhead Movie Site

I don’t think I’ve done any plugs on this blog before, but I have to say, I’ve never been so impressed with a keyword service before, as I am with Wordze. Levi (boogybonbon.com) dedicates countless hours night and day to building this service up, always messaging me to check out his latest additions and newest features. It’s a service that truly listens to customer requests, and acts on them.

But beyond customer support, the quality of the system he has in place is extraordinary. You can query a single keyword, and in a fraction of a second get back a hundred thousand highly-relevant keywords. And with the API it’s easy to tap into your current operations… then using it’s flexible search options… you can always find the exact keyword lists and keyword research (!!!) you’re looking for. Comparing Wordze and his competitors is like comparing apples to oranges. Sure, the other services have been around longer, but there is no doubt in my mind that the outstanding quality and flexibility of Wordze, Levi will easily surpass them in the future.

Check them out: Wordze Homepage – Wordze Tour

All right, so I was at a conference almost all day today presented by Eastern Data (EDI).  Standard technology conference, a few speakers from the deep-pockets, and a big room full of booths with crowds of people everywhere.

Microsoft had a pretty big presence, bringing their cross-country tour showbus, AMD and Intel spent some money there, and there were booths from every company from Viewsonic to Logitech to Tyan to Crucial to Benq to Asus to Koolance, etc.

Anyway, enough background, story time.  I went with a  business partner of mine, Brian.  We showed up a bit late, registered at the front desk, got our name badges, bags for swag, and a few freebies to start it off (t-shirts and such).  They also gave us a raffle ticket for some prizes given out after each presenter and some plastic poker chips for vegas-style tables set up around the convention.  We walked into the first speech presentation and listed to AMD ramble on for a while, and then they called the first raffle prize.  Brian won it!  It was a brand new, high-end AMD processor.  He was all happy, because there was about 1,000 people in that room, and he was the lucky one.  Then someone else rambled on, and they announced another prize, a very nice Microsoft laptop carrying case”¦ and I won!  Now, people all around us saw me and Brian talking and making wise-cracks at the speakers, so they knew we were together”¦ so it felt really strange getting up and claiming the prize after Brian had just won.  I was afraid a mutiny was about to hit from all the glares, haha.  Anyway, we then went to walk around with the vendors and see all the booths.  After we got bored and couldn”™t carry any more free tshirts, pens, brochures, or stress balls, we went to the blackjack tables scattered around the room.  We used the couple of plastic chips they gave us earlier, and Brian quickly lost all his”¦ however I didn”™t.  I started winning, and winning”¦ I went all in a few times, and kept winning.  Before I knew it, I had a few tens of thousands of dollars in play money.  Now we were feeling incredible about that, so I decided to cash out while I was still ahead, and we took our ticket to the prize table.  We got there and realized it was $100 play money for every single credit, and the prizes got pretty expensive fast.  I thought I might be able to at least get a coffee mug or something small.  Well the lady we got was very confused and hyper-active, and obviously couldn”™t do math, because I ended up leaving with thousands of credits worth of prizes, haha!  I got a nice Intel jacket, a few nice polo shirts (Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Cisco, and Oracle), a few tshirts, some mouse pads, a few cool/strange looking coffee mugs, and another REALLY nice laptop carrying case.

So there I am, walking out of the convention with 4 bags of free stuff, so heavy I can barely carry it”¦. probably worth a good five hundred dollars in total.  It was quite a day. 

Heh, and unfortunately I’ve been hit by another wave of work, and I’ll be very busy for a while again too. I’ve been traveling all over the southeast on corporate server repair calls (usually Sun boxes), as well as doing heavy web development for a few companies. We’re also in talks with Comcast and Costal Computer Corporation about rolling out some joint-marketing ventures in the CRM industry.

I also called the printing company about the e30 tshirts today for United Bimmer, and I’m sending them the original image in a second, so hopefully we can finish the design work and begin printing in the next week or so. I’ll keep you posted on that.

And also, in my endless free time, I’ve formed a conglomerate network site for all my sites, to bring them all together. It’s called Eldium Interactive. http://www.eldiuminteractive.com and it’ll add a bar to the top of all our network sites like this: http://www.eldiuminteractive.com/showbar.php (example). That should connect all the related sites a bit better, and also help our search engine optimization greatly, since it’ll unite the entire network with a single website, rather than scattered links everywhere. Oh, and if anyone has any experience writing Press Releases, contact me.

Thanks guys, and hopefully things will clear up soon and I can resume more-frequent posting.

I found this great website where you can write up an article, and it makes it look like a scanned newspaper. (link) Check out this article I wrote:

Online BMW Community Connects Drives Around the World
For centuries BMW automobiles have been known for their luxury and prestige, but only recently are they beginning to get recognized for their community. Using internet bulletin boards, enthusiasts freely chat about their cars and organize real-life events, commonly referred to as “meet-ups”. We have met and interviewed Harry Maugans, founder of a thriving online BMW community called United Bimmer. He explains the growing fascination with web-based communities: “United Bimmer brings those passionate about BMWs together in a place where color or gender has no weight- the only requirement is a interest in BMWs. Owners can freely discuss their latest modifications and get feedback from the community, then participate in our innovative Rate-My-Car system. They’re allowed to drool over Edwin’s sick e46 m3, or poke fun at Witeshark for being Apple-obsessed. They can read comprehensive DIYs written up by Dudesky, or watch heated debates between headlight vendors (popcorn recommended). There are limitless ideas, so hop on, register, and post away!” Harry also mentioned that if you make fun of him for kicking a mailbox’s ass, he’ll ban you. So there you have it, a global movement using forums as a method of connecting enthusiasts, all united under a single obsession. Check out United Bimmer’s website at www.unitedbimmer.com.

And this is what it looks like:

Well, the M3 problems were solved by changing the fuel pump. Replaced that and it started right up. I’ll try to write up a DIY article on it later (I took pics). That was the sweet part.

The bitter part of this (bittersweet) article, is today my 328 sold. I posted a tribute to it on United Bimmer, haha. Link

Some of you guys know my luck with cars… those of you who don’t… you will soon. heh

You know how sometimes on manual cars if they’re started wrong, they shake violently forward and backwards? Well yesterday I was driving along yesterday going about 30, and it randomly started doing that. I thought maybe it didn’t get into gear correctly or something, so I shifted and it smoothed out. Weird.

About 500 feet later I got to a stop sign. As soon as I stopped, I stalled. Weird. I started the car back up, and the revs jumped and struggled to stay up it looked like, but eventually they dropped too low and I stalled again. Weird. I turned the car on again, and the RPMs dropped straight to zero and stalled. Weird. I then tried to start the car again, and it wouldn’t turn over. I could hear it trying with the “reur reur reur reur reur” sound, but it wouldn’t start.

Luckily I have some amazing friends who are pretty savvy with a wrench (since I’m not). I called them up, and half an hour later there was a line of BMWs up and down my street (yes, I ended up having to buy pizza for everyone who came out, hah).

Rob was the most knowledgeable (as usual) and ended up going down the list of things to scratch off. We were first thinking maybe it was a vacuum leak and the engine was starving, and each additional time I tried it, the hose got more loose or something. No visible hoses were detatched or loose. Airflow was fine, and even removed the intake to allow direct air suction, to no avail.

We then thought maybe it was the fuel, so took off the backseat and listened for the fuel pump clicking on when the key was moved to the ON position. It clicked on, and upon removing the cover in the engine, we think could hear fuel moving through the fuel rail. Okay, another one off the list.

We tried disconnecting a few things, and forgot we left the TPS (throttle position sensor) off when we tried starting the car, so that threw a CEL that confused us for a while. But we soon realized our mistake and went on to the next thing.

The next CEL it threw (checked via the pedal trick) was 1281, something about the DME’s memory retention. We tried unplugging the ECU (battery first of course) for 15 minutes to let it reset. We plugged it back in, and the car started!…. for about 4 seconds. It did the same RPM struggle, and stalled again. Start again, stall. Tried to start again, and it wouldn’t turn over. Same thing as last time.

Seems like a ECU problem. No signs of wetness, and it hasn’t really been in the rain recently, so I’m ruling out the older e36 problem of flooding because of the drain plug. We tried plugging the ECU into Rob’s 93 325i (also a DME 413), and his car did the exact same thing, the engine wouldn’t turn over.

I thought that meant it was the ECU for sure, but alas wrong again. I spoke with a local BMW tuning shop (strictly german) and they explained the two types of ECUs in 1995 m3’s… burgundy label vs clear label. I’m pretty sure the label on my DME was white (if I remember right), and thus clear label, meaning it has the early stages of EWS, and without the microchip setup, it wouldn’t start Rob’s car anyway, regardless of if it was good or bad. So currently I don’t know if my DME is good or bad.

I checked the thread this morning in United Bimmer’s lounge, and Rob mentioned he was onto an idea regarding the HFM/MAF. He’s still sleeping now though, so I don’t know what he was talking about.

Anyway, right now my car isn’t drivable. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? What would be the next step for troubleshooting it? Thanks!

Thread link on United Bimmer, with other’s suggestions and discussion: Car stalled and now engine won’t turn over

Update 5/14 – We’ve pretty much narrowed it down to the fuel pump or fuel pressure relay. I’ll probably just change out the fuel pump and see if it works. Follow the thread on United Bimmer for more frequent updates.

The following is a story I wrote a while back about when I got lost in Mykonos, Greece.

Every summer my family and I try to go on one major vacation. During the summer of 2000, it happened to be a ten day cruise through the Greek Isles. Beginning as a relaxing trip, we toured Rhodes, Santorini, Melos, Crete, and Ios”¦ but then arrived at Mykonos. While docking, Mykonos looked absolutely beautiful; the entire city was constructed on the edge of a cliff. Sparkling white rooftops glimmered in the Mediterranean sunlight and Greek architecture spotted the skyline. I couldn”™t have chosen a more beautiful city to get lost in.

Mykonos was built many years ago as a coastal city designed for protection. After you get past the entrance, every building looks identical, forged together with concrete, creating endless catacombs of houses and shops. This design was intentionally confusing in an attempt to secure the city”™s valuables against pirates and raiders of the time. Upon walking down one path, you could take a turn, and everything looked identical to where you came from. This is fun while you”™re only a few streets from the entrance, but of course that wasn”™t the case.

I was with my parents looking in a small gift shop about half a mile inland from the dock. I found a necklace there, unique to the island. It was intricately woven with rare shells from the local beaches, and I immediately wanted it. I approached my dad to purchase it, and he suggested we look around at other stores and maybe I”™d find something I liked more. I agreed, put the necklace back, and we continued on our way.

About an hour later we came across a local jewelry store. My mom immediately fell in love with a style of ring sold there, and as a result my parents ended up spending what seemed like hours looking at every ring in the store- determined to buy one. After patiently waiting for so long, I finally pleaded to go back to the first gift store we found and buy that shell necklace I wanted. My dad must have felt sorry for dragging me into the jewelry store and taking so long, so he handed me some cash and off I ran. I zipped down the narrow walkway between residential houses (5 feet wide maybe, enclosed by concrete on every side) and through 5 way intersections. I knew every twist and every turn- exactly where to go to get back to that gift shop. Or so I thought.

After five or ten minutes of running, I started to notice the tourist shops grew scarcer and the residential housing became more rundown and neglected. I definitely hadn”™t noticed this on the way in, and a slight chill ran down my spine as the idea of being lost crept into the back of my mind. I climbed one of the wooden ladders often found besides the houses, and looked as far as I could see. I could faintly see the ocean over miles and miles of paths and buildings”¦ all perfectly identical. My heart skipped a beat as I realized how far from the ship I had gotten, and fear of being left behind overtook my mind. I knew the disembarking was not far off, and the sun was starting to get fairly low in the horizon. I climbed down and frantically started searching for people to ask directions, but I was out of the tourist area and I could not find anyone who spoke any English. When I asked how to get back to the dock, their answers all sounded Greek to me. I knew I was on my own.

Gaining a boost of courage, I started sprinting in the general direction of the ocean. Paths seemed to wind in every direction except where I wanted to go. Dusk was rapidly approaching and my fear was growing rapidly. I just kept running for what seemed like hours. The paint started to get more fresh, the houses seemed to get better kept, and I knew I was heading the right direction. Suddenly I came around a corner and nearly ran into someone standing in the middle of the walkway, locking the door to their shop. I came to a quick halt and then realized who he was It was the man from the jewelry store my parents were in! I explained how I got lost in the catacombs of buildings, and he just stood there and laughed a hearty laugh that did nothing but anger me inside. Finally he told me my parents were a few shops down looking at something else. They bought the gold ring and stayed in the same area until I got back. I immediately ran up to my mom and jumped into her arms. They were worried, but decided it”™d be best to remain in the area where they last saw me (my mom saw this as an opportunity to continue shopping), hoping I”™d find my way back. We immediately left for the dock, and made boarding only a few minutes before sail.

I”™m sure I slept well in our cabin that night, and from that point on I”™ve always known not to wonder off or go anywhere without a cell phone. I was very lucky to have found my way back that evening without incident, and hopefully I”™ll never have to try again.