The Briefcase on CBS Review

A new show called The Briefcase aired Wednesday this week. It is a reality show where 2 struggling families are each presented with a briefcase containing $100,000. They have 72 hours to decided if they will keep all the money for themselves, give it all to the other family or split it up some way between them. What is interesting is neither family knows the other was also presented a briefcase with the money and is in the same situation deciding what they will do with the money.

Over the course of 3 days they learn more about the other families and what they are going though. They even visit the home of the other family to see how they live. It is a huge decision the families have to make and there are a lot of reasons pulling them back and forth on whether they should keep the money for themselves or give it to the other family in need.

After watching the first episode, I found it to be enjoyable and full of emotion as the families try to do the right thing. It makes you ponder what you would do if you were in the same situation as them. The first instinct might be to keep the money because you don't know the other family's situation but as you learn that they are also in need, you don't want to be greedy especially if they could use the money more.

I won't spoil the end result but is sure will be interesting to see how all the episodes pan out. For example what if one family decides to keep it all while the other family decides to give it all. Then one family would get $200,000 while the other would get $0. I can imagine that might cause a little drama at the end if something like that were to happen!

If I were in the situation, I might split the money and keep $50,000 and give the other $50,000 away. It seems like it would be the most fair thing to do in a situation like that. Of course you never know if there would be some kind of twist with a show like this. For example, what if at the end of the show, the producers said something like, because you choose to give it all to the other family, you are rewarded with twice as much? This show does not do this, but you could easily see them working in a twist like that.

What would you do if you were presented with $100,000 and given the choice of keeping it all for yourself or sharing it with another family in need?

The Island on NBC Review

A new show The Island premiered last night on NBC.  It is a reality style show that takes 14 regular guys from all walks of life and puts them on a deserted island without very few resources to see if they can survive.  It can be described as a cross between Survivor, Utopia, and Lost, however there are some elements to this show that make it unique.

For one, unlike other reality style shows, it is not a competition so no one gets voted off.  If someone gets sick or gives up, they will be able to leave this way, but other than that, it is up to the guys to work together to make it on this island.  Another interesting thing about this show is that there is no camera crew with them.  They give the guys 4 main cameras to film with to capture everything that goes on.  From the first episode, it looks like it is edited with other clips like aerial shots, but most of it is filmed by the guys themselves. 

The show is hosted by Bear Grylls who is known for his survival skills. He does some narration but he does not join them on the island. After reading up on the show, it looks like it will be a 6 episode series.  Since there is no winner, it is not clear how the show will end or what will happen to the guys on the island.

I had not heard anything about this shown until seeing the previews for it right before it aired, but it looked good, so I decided to check it out.  After watching the first episode, I have to say it was pretty good!  There is already a lot of drama within the group as they try to agree on what to do, where to camp, where to go, and how to divide up resources.  As things get tough early on, tensions between the group increase making for great tv!

I won't spoil any of the details, but so far it looks to be a good show and I plan on tuning in next week. The Island airs Monday nights at 10pm Eastern time on NBC. 

The Concert Story

The following is a story from back when I was in college:

One Saturday night my college roommate and I decided to go to a concert with a group of friends. It was at another campus which we had to drive an hour to get to. There were about 6 or 7 of us total; some of which had tickets already, but others, including myself, had to buy tickets when we got there.

So we arrived at the venue about an hour early. We go to the ticket window to get our tickets, but when we ask them, they are all sold out! So now what? We drove to this place, half the group has tickets to get in, but the others do not. The options now were either wait outside for a few hours and do nothing or find a way to get in.

One of the girls in our group knew one of the bands and thought she might be able to get us in. Since she had a ticket, she was able to go in and talk to the band. She came back out and told us they could open up the back and let us sneak in.

Understand, we wanted to buy tickets, but at this point, we were willing to find another way to get in. So we go to the back door, knock, and sure enough someone opens it for us. We were all excited! We marched on in with smiles on our faces. The door was behind the stage and led out to the main floor. So we walk out onto the floor, only trouble is it was completely empty. We stood out like a sore thumb, as group of kids that just randomly emerging from behind the stage.

Needless to say we were confronted by security immediately. They asked to see our tickets and since we didn't have them, they promptly escorted us out the front door. Strike one. But we didn't give up. We put our thinking caps on and tried to come up with another solution.

Someone came up with a good idea. Since we had a few tickets, those with ticket stubs would all go in. Once inside, they would all give their ticket stubs to one person who would then walk them out and distribute them to those of us who needed them. Good idea, but their was one more barrier.

They stamped your hand when you went in the first time so if you left and came back, you had to show your stamp. We needed the stamp to get in. Luckily it was a simple design, just a block letter with black ink. With a quick trial, we figured out you could color over it with black ink, then press it against someone else's hand to make a light copy. Then you could darken the new copy in with the ink pen. We did this and it looked good!

So with our homemade stamps and recycled ticket stubs, we approached the doors. Feeling nervous, but trying to act as normal as possible, we walked up, showed the ticket stub and the stamp and before we knew it, we were in!

By this time the place was packed, so even though there was a slight chance of being noticed, we blended into the crowd. We got to enjoy the concert and we all had a great time!

What we did was not necessarily right and I certainly do not recommend it, but at the time, given the circumstances it seemed like it was ok. We gladly would have paid to get in, but because they were sold out, there was not much else we could do. Also, the place was standing room only so we weren't taking anyone's seat. Yes, it was a bit crowded, but that's how concerts are. All in all it was an adventure filled night that involved suspense, creativity, and live music from one of our favorite bands!

The Chipotle Story - How Little Suggestions Can Have a Big Impact

Sometimes giving feedback to a company can really make a big difference. I learned this one time years ago when I replied to a question on a website for one of my favorite restaurants at the time, Chipotle. The question was something like, "Do you know of a location where we should build a new restaurant?" Now at the time, the closest Chipotle to my house was a good 20 minutes away; not super far, but not exactly close either. Also around this time they were building a new shopping center near by and there were a bunch of openings for new stores. I thought, "Hey, wouldn't it be nice if the put a Chipotle in there?" So I went ahead and put in the suggestion for the new location.

I didn't actually expect them to take my advice, but it was worth a few minutes of time just for a chance. I don't remember if I got a reply back; maybe an automatic reply stating something along the lines of, "Thank you for your suggestion. Our team will look into this location..." So months went on and I forgot about it.

But then something amazing happened. I was driving by the new shopping center and guess what sign had just gone up? "Coming Soon - Chipotle Mexican Grill"! I was shocked and excited! They actually must have read my email, looked into the location and decided it was indeed a good place to open a new restaurant. I was going around telling everyone how I had recommended they put a restaurant there and then they actually did! It was so nice to be able to drive only a couple minutes instead of 20 minutes to get to one of my favorite restaurants.

Sometimes it pays to take the time out of your day to give feedback to businesses because they actually do listen and might make big moves based on what you have to say!

What to do with Old Clothes, Shoes, Electronics and More

Whenever you are cleaning up and trying to get rid of stuff you don't want, the first solution you may think of is to just put it in the garbage.  This may seem like the easiest thing to do, but usually there is a better option.  Recycling is becoming easier these days and most things can be recycled rather than thrown in the garbage.  Here we will go over some of the options for getting rid of things you do not want by ways such as donation and recycling.

Clothes and Shoes - Unwanted clothes and shoes are easy to donate if they are still in good condition.  Most local thrift stores will accept them.  Examples include Good Will and Salvation Army.  Often there are also convenient collection bins set up around town for drop offs of old clothing. For items like these that are in poor condition, you can still donate them to organizations such as USAgain which recycles them and has many drop off locations.

Electronics - In the fast changing tech industry, electronics such as tvs, computers, and cell phones seem to get outdated faster than any other category.  If your device is still fairly new, you may be able to sell it on sites such as eBay or trade it in at Best Buy, but if it is older, you may want to donate it to a thrift store, or recycle it at an electronics store such as Best Buy which will accept most electronics for recycling at no charge.

Light Bulbs and Batteries -  Many local hardware stores and Public Works departments accept the CFL bulbs and batteries that should not be disposed of in the trash.  You can find your nearest drop off center with recycling websites such as Earth911.

Furniture and Large Items -  Often these items can be donated but they can be hard to transport.  In situations like this, you may want to have someone pick them up by posting about them on a website like Craigslist which has a Free section where you can post about items to give away.

Recycling Events - Keep an eye on village news for local recycling events such as paper shredding days and specific dates to drop off specialized items such as tires or hazardous materials. Events are usually found on the calendars on the local community websites.

They say one person's trash is another person's treasure so before you are going to throw something out, make sure to consider the donation and recycling options above because in most cases there is someone else who would be glad to have it!