Don’t lie. Honesty is the Best Policy. Honesty in the Work Place and in Life.

A few months ago I found a set of table and chairs that was being discarded from an apartment move out. They were in good condition so I decided to save them by putting them in one of the storage rooms on site. 

I posted them for sale online and found a buyer. The buyer was far away but they were willing to drive out to come pick up the set. We arranged for pickup the next day. In the morning, they confirmed they were on their way. I went to the storage room to get the items ready, but to my surprise, they were not there!

This was a locked storage room that was not easily accessible but apparently someone went in and took the items out. There were only a few of my co-workers who had a key to that room. I quickly asked them if anyone took the items out or know where they went, but everyone said no.

So I messaged the buyer and told them not to come because I no longer had the table and chairs. Unfortunately they were already on the road and did not check their messages. I wrote a few more messages, but they did not see them until they got all the way here. As you can imagine, they were very upset when they realized they drove all that way for nothing. I ended up getting a bad rating as a result. 

After this happened I asked our manager to check the cameras to see who went in the storage room. After checking the cameras, the manager was kind of vague about it and basically said it does not matter who took it at this point. Even though the manager did not confirm who took it, it was clear one of our employees did but she didn’t want to cause any conflict within the team. 

Cut to a few months later, we are doing apartment inspections and I happen to be assigned to inspect one of the units where one of our co-workers lives on site. As soon as I go in, what do I see? The exact table and chairs that were taken from the storage room.

The next day I decide to confront him about it. I knew it would not go well, but I felt like I should mention it because if I did not, it would be like letting him get away with it. 

So first thing in the morning I mentioned how I saw the table and chairs that was taken from the storage room and reminded him that he told me he did not take them. Immediately he got upset with me for accusing him and claimed he bought them.

The thing is, this is a very distinctive set that is not made anymore and the exact number of pieces that were in the storage room were now in his dining room. About 3 people had the key to that room where they went missing, and coincidentally it just so happened to appear in the apartment of one of those 3 people. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened.

Despite this, he still did not admit to it. I didn’t want to keep pressing it because I knew the truth and there was no point in making matters worse, so I just let it go. 

I was pretty disappointed with him, not because he took the table and chairs, but more so because he was dishonest with me, not only initially, but because he continued to be dishonest even when being caught with indisputable evidence. 

We went on with our work day without any issue, but something like this stays with you and now I know I cannot trust him. Trust is very important, not just in the work place but in life in general.

I can see how people lie frequently to try to save themselves in the short term, but examples like this show how lying just makes things worse in the long run.

He had the option to admit his mistake and apologize for lying to me which would have been the mature thing to do. Instead he continued to lie even more and as a result he damaged his character even more. 

The moral of the story is don’t lie. Honesty is the best policy. Yes it might be tempting to lie especially if you think you can get away with it, but over time that dishonesty builds up and people see it. It will have a negative affect on you in the long run if you are seen as a person who is dishonest and cannot be trusted. 

Next time you are confronted with a situation where you might consider lying, do the right thing and just tell the truth. People will respect you more for doing this rather than lying to them. 

Bibibop Review - My New Favorite Restaurant

When it comes to restaurants, I love the fast casual style. I also like restaurants that are healthy and have a lot of variety to choose from. Because of this, my go-to style is places where you can get a bowl and just add whatever you want to it. 

I used to get Chipotle, but over the years I got kind of tired of it. Recently I tried Cava, which is very good and has Mediterranean flavors. I also tried Sweetgreen which I thought was just ok but seemed to be lacking in flavor and seasoning. 

Then I found out about Bibibop which is another place where you can build your own bowl. It has Asian inspired flavors, but they have so many ingredients to choose from that it really has a wide range of flavors.

So far I have tried it several times and it is always very good! I usually get the veggie bowl with ingredients such as sweet potato noodles, purple rice, black beans, curry chickpeas, pickled red onions, cucumbers, carrots, kale, and corn.  

The sweet potato noodles actually don't taste or look like sweet potatoes. They are clear like rice noodles and have more of an asian flavor. The purple rice tastes pretty similar to regular rice but it just seems better with the purple color. Both are good and you have the option to add both to the bowl.  

For proteins, I have tried the tofu which was pretty standard tasting, lightly cooked and not overly seasoned. I also tried the korean crispy chicken which was pretty good but a little spicy. 

For sauces, the yum yum sauce is flavorful and seems to go well with the bowls to add some richness. I also tried the sesame oil but didn't care for it. Same with the ginger sauce which I didn't really like much. The teriyaki sauce is tasty but pretty high in sodium. Overall the bowls are so flavorful, they don't really need sauce but if I had to recommend one, I would go with the yum yum sauce. 

They have 2 sizes for the bowls, regular and small. I read that the small was supposed to be half the size, but in store it looks almost as big as the regular bowl and the price is almost the same. Between these 2, it is probably best to just get the regular bowl considering the price is not much different.

Pro tip, there is also the Bibicup which is a smaller portion but is actually still a lot of food and plenty for 1 meal. It is hidden under the "Sides" category. They really should put it next to the bowls in that category. With the Bibicup, you get a good portion of food and it is a very reasonable price. 

Also I did try the snickerdoodle cookie since I have been into cookies lately. It was just ok but kind of dry. I would pass on it unless you really want a dessert to go with it.  

Bibibop also has a rewards program with the app. You get a free bowl after $10 purchase. They also have frequent specials with discounts.

With healthy delicious food and a good price, it has become my new favorite restaurant. I recommend trying it out if you have one near you!  

Home Buying Tips and Advice Learned from Going Through the Process

Recently I went through the home buying process and learned a lot along the way. I figured I would share what I learned to help others out there who are looking to purchase a new home. Here are some tips and advice on buying a house. 

When you see a property that looks good, act quickly. Make an appointment to see it soon. If you like it enough to make an offer, don’t wait. Put in the offer soon. The more time you wait, the more time it gives others to see the property and make competing offers. 

Don’t expect to get a good deal on a good home. In a competitive market, any good property is going to have a lot of interest which means it is likely to get several offers. If you want to get the property, you have to have the best offer. This means it is usually going to be at asking price or even higher. If you put in a low offer trying to get a good deal, someone else with a higher offer is going to get it. 

Seasons have an effect on the housing market. Home prices tend to be lower in winter and higher in the summer. There also tends to be less of a selection in the winter and more of a selection in the summer. 

Look at the sale history of the property. If it is being bought and sold frequently such as every few years, it means people don’t like it enough to stay. If it has a history of long ownership such as 10+ years it is a sign that the people like living there. 

When you are touring a house, try to visualize living there. Think about what it would be like to live there. Think about your every day life and what it would be like if you were there. It can be hard to get a full understanding of a house with one visit. If possible you may want to visit it again at another time of the day such as at night. 

See a lot of different kinds of houses and different locations. The more options you see, the more you can figure out what you like and don’t like. There are so many factors to consider when buying a home and getting out to see them in person is a great way to compare these different factors. 

Pay attention to the showing agent’s observations of the property. Often they will see things about it that you might have missed. Also it can help to bring other people with you too see the property also and they may also be able to notice issues that you might have missed otherwise. 

Expect to pay more than you thought. There are plenty of cost estimators out there but once you get into the process all of a sudden there are more charges than you thought and things are more expensive than you thought. Make sure you have plenty of buffer room and backup funds to cover it. 

Shopping for a house is fun. Buying a house is not fun. It is fun to get to tour houses and see what’s out there in the beginning. Once you get an offer accepted, that is when the fun stops and the work begins. Working with realtors, attorneys, and loan officers can be time consuming and stressful. Negotiations, contracts, qualifications, inspections, you name it. There is a lot to do and you have to get through it all if you want to make it happen. 

Buying and selling homes is very expensive with all the fees and commissions involved. Frequent buying and selling is not very cost effective. If you are going to buy, look for something that you will be happy living with for a long time. 

Crave Cookies Free Cookie for New Customers. Crave Review and Comparison

Cookies are one of my favorite deserts so recently I have been trying out some of the specialty cookie places. I started with Crumbl and recently I tried Crave Cookies. It is very similar in terms of the business model where they have gourmet cookies that rotate each week. 

One thing I like about Crave is they are more generous with the promotions and discounts. When you download the app, they give you credits for a free cookie right away. With Crumbl, it is hard to even get a discount let alone a free cookie. 

So far I have tried a few different flavors such as cookies and cream, caramel biscoff, and churro horchata. Overall they ok. Compared to Crumbl, they seem to be less sweet and more crunchy, so it will depend on your preference which one you like better. One thing I noticed is they seem to have a flavor like they have absorbed from the packaging or something which is not great. 

Another thing I noticed when placing an order on the app is they charge a .25 service fee. This even applies on the free cookie. I looked it up and I couldn't really find much information on this or why they charge the fee. 

Overall, if you like cookies I would recommend trying it out if there is a location near you. Also keep an eye on their social media pages where they post about other weekly specials and promotions.  

The Correlation Between People Who Eat At Raising Canes and People Who Litter

Over the years one of my hobbies was picking up trash to clean up the neighborhoods. It eventually led me to a job in grounds keeping where I clean up garbage for a large apartment complex. Over the years I have noticed patterns on the types of things that are most littered. 

When it comes to fast food restaurant trash, the ones I find more than any other are from Raising Canes. Now the reason this is odd is because there are not many of these restaurants near my location. The nearest one is 5 miles away. Pretty much every other chain has several restaurants closer by, yet despite this fact, it is still the most littered. 

One might think it is a fluke, but these findings have been consistent and it is not just one one specific area, it is everywhere I go. I will say they Raising Canes does put their logo on pretty much all their containers so that may have a small contributing factor, but it still does not explain why their trash is found so much more than other similar restaurants. 

It has really become a joke. Whenever I find a cup or a wrapper from there, I say to myself "The joke continues" because it feels like a joke the universe is playing on me haha. 

I am curious if anyone else has noticed this? It is possible there is just some strange correlation between people who eat at Raising Canes and people who litter? 

Five Guys is Not Good

As the title states, Five Guys restaurant is not good in my opinion. Recently my work ordered a group lunch and they picked Five Guys. I pleaded for other choices but that is the one they went with. 

As someone who doesn't eat much meat, this place really has limited options. Heck, even if you do eat meat this place has limited options. It's pretty much burgers, hotdogs, and fries and that's it. I went through every item on the menu trying to find at least something to order. I reluctantly settled on a veggie burger with cheese. I requested bbq sauce as well.

I go to the location to pick it up for our group. Now I used to work for Door Dash so I have experience picking up from this restaurant. Let me tell you, it was always one of my least favorite places to pick up from to the point where I pretty much refused to take orders from there. 

Right off the bat as soon as you walk in there is a nauseating smell. It gives me a headache almost instantly just being in there inhaling the fumes from the cooking. 

Another thing is, they don't start the fries until you get there. The point of pick up is that is is ready to pick up when you get there. No one picking up wants to wait extra time for the food to be cooked after they arrive and are ready to pick it up. 

Then of course is the greasy fries that soak through the bag. They used to just give a paper bag which was a disaster of course but now even with a plastic bag it is pretty disgusting with the oil and steam. 

So back to picking up this order. It's for 8 people and they all have fountain drinks. After waiting about 10 minutes for it to be ready they give me the order and 8 cups. Just great, now I have to fill up and prepare 8 cups of soda. And the machine is one of those touch screens with all the different choices which seems like a good idea except it just makes everything more difficult. Try getting the right while trying to control the flow with a touch screen.  

So after about another 10 minutes of making the drinks I am finally able to load everything into the car. I have to keep the windows down because the smell is overwhelming.

I get back to work and set up the food. I get my veggie sandwich and it has no cheese and no sauce. So I pretty much got raw vegetables on a plain bun. Delicious... not. Glad I brought my lunch as usual just in case for situations like this. 

Anyway, just wanted to rant because I am disappointed by this restaurant and my experiences I have had there. Anyone else have a similar opinion? Feel free to leave a comment. 

Wrong Number Text Scams, Whatsapp. Be Careful! Almost Got Scammed!

About a week ago a got a text message from some number I didn’t recognize asking something about if I am coming into work today. I figured they accidentally got the wrong number so I told them they may have the wrong number. They apologized and said they would treat me to coffee if I was in the area. I said I was far away but thanked them for the offer.

I thought this was a friendly exchange but little did I know at the time, it was just a common set up for what is known as a wrong number text scam which the scammer will try to befriend you to gain your trust over time and then eventually try to convince you to invest money into a scheme which you will end up losing money.

Anyway so they continued the conversation and I guess I was intrigued enough or just willing to make a new pen pal so I continued to chat with them. Soon they asked me to transfer our conversation over to Whatsapp. I asked why and they said they were using a work phone that other people use. I didn’t have the app but it looked ok so I downloaded it to the phone to continue the conversation.

As the days went on she shared more about herself including pictures and videos which seemed to be real. I was still a bit skeptical so I started looking up the phone numbers and the images but nothing turned up so it seemed legitimate. 

It soon became apparent that she was very wealthy. She said she had her own jewelry business and that she also makes money by investing in the gold market. She spoke about this investing several times and mentioned that she could teach me to do it if I was interested. 

I was still considering that this was possibly a scam so I knew I did not want to invest any money, but it was tempting especially since she apparently was very good at it. She said her aunt was her mentor and taught her about investing. 

About a week in, the relationship was going well. We chatted several times a day and we seemed to be getting along great. I really thought I got lucky by randomly getting into a conversation with a stranger who just happened to be beautiful, single, and rich. Of course this should have clued me into the fact that it was probably a scam, but I wanted to believe it was true. 

Even certain examples along the way that seemed a bit odd and didn’t quite check out, I brushed off and kept believing that this could be the real thing.

I told me sister and she immediately said it sounded like a scam. She sent me examples of common scams and honestly the descriptions matched up with what I was dealing with so I started to get a little more cautious.  

I started to dig a little deeper and search for terms like “wrong number text scam” and “gold investing scam". Examples on Reddit started popping up and I was shocked by what I found. There were tons of examples of pretty much exactly the same set up leading to a scam!

It starts with an innocent wrong number text and they keep chatting back and forth to gain your trust. They ask you to move over to Whatsapp to keep chatting. They mention that they are rich from investing and offer to help you get involved with it. Once you agree to invest money with them, it turns out it is a scam and you lose your money.

I was lucky I discovered it was a scam before it got that far so I did not lose anything. I told myself I would not put any money into it in case it was a scam but I will admit, the idea of it was tempting. I was really believing this person and starting to take their advice and direction on big decisions which is pretty scary considering it was all fake.

I believed this relationship was real for about a week until I discovered the similar examples online. I consider myself a pretty tech savvy person who is well educated when it comes to tech scams. I have seen many examples of it online and taken a lot of cyber security courses as well, and even with all of that, I still managed to get pulled into one of these scams.

It is really sad that there are people out there doing this, taking advantage of people with the sole intention of stealing their money. They are preying on innocent people who are often seeking out a relationship and they exploit this for their own personal gain. I was lucky I did not lose anything in this interaction but many people out there get further into it and end up losing a lot of money.

I wanted to share this example of what happened with the hope that it will help others not fall victim to the same scam. Be careful out there. If something seems too good to be true it is!