Breaking Even

The Enthralling Show That Is Kitchen Nightmares

I was over at my friend's house tonight (she has wonderful things she shares with me like a washing machine and cable) and I got completely caught up in this show, Hell's Kitchen. It's probably a show you've seen 100 million times but hey, it's new to me so I'm writing about it!

The premise: In each episode, Gordon Ramsay (famed chef of Hell's Kitchen) visits a failing restaurant and through tough love, ingenius ideas, and a few F-bombs, tries to help improve the establishment in just one week. Ramsay revisits the restaurant a few months later to see how business has fared in his absence.

So what I like about the show is it's much more about running a business and psychology then it ever is about food.

Motivating Wait Staff
Gordon made it a game for the wait staff to get their tables to try everything on the menu and even put a little money behind it. Because an idle mind is one that starts goofing around in the kitchen. Like most people, the staff worked better when they had 1) a goal and 2) an actual stake in the outcome.

Seeing Where You Are Throwing Money Away
Too big menus and too big portions meant keeping at lot of ingredients on hand that eventually got thrown away. Gordon tightened up menus as much for sanity as for keeping food waste to a minimum.

Making Sure Your Manager Has Their Head On Straight
Just showing up and taking $200 from the register? Uh no. (I wouldn't even think of doing that, even with my tiny business!) Not only can you not tell why you are going thousands of dollars into debt when you do this and, well, it's kind of illegal.

Fixing Broken Things
Because constantly hassling with something that doesn't work is costing you money in productivity. Plus it's usually easier to fix what you've got then buying new, am I right?

Setting A Mood
Do you want to eat at your own restaurant? Do you want to do business with yourself? When faced with the question, the owners/chefs said no. And the changes made, even if small, can really change the mood and attitude.

The Same Old Thing Will Keep Getting You The Same Old Results
Try something new, gosh darn it! A new recipe or a new sign just might help.

"Don't take it personally, just take it seriously."
Both Sarah and I looked at each other when Gordon uttered this and agreed this was pretty true, whether you were the one doing the managing or being managed.

I know, don't you love it when I write about television? It probably sounds like I've come off a deserted island or something. Does anyone else love this show?

Why I Love Life Without Television

This was originally my guest post on Bible Money Matters. I had quite a day (which I'll probably get into explaining tomorrow) so forgive me for reusing; I figured since it would be new to Breaking Even, Inc. readers that you wouldn't mind. Happy Friday!

 

“Did you watch American Idol?”

 

“Hey about that guy on the Today Show this morning?”

 

“When’s the game on tonight?”

 

When you start paying attention, it is amazing to find how many conversations rely on television. You only start noticing when you don’t have it.

 

I’ve only had cable television for two years of the last ten. I am now in a period sans television.

 

You wouldn’t know it talking to me. I follow enough news and celebrity gossip online to know what’s going on. I am only sometimes completely out of the loop.

 

“Why don’t you just get cable?” people have asked me.

 

I’ve found there are several reasons (some monetary but mostly personal health-related) to not have cable.

 

1)      I save the money I would pay on a cable bill. The two years I did have cable, it was included in my rent. I find that I can find better ways to spend $60 or more a month. . . like high speed internet.

2)      I save money on electricity to run the television. Sure there is a television that we have to watch movies but not running the television means one less electronic device is running.

3)      If you do have a favorite show, there are plenty of ways to watch it without having cable. You can watch many shows online. You can also rent or buy the DVD of a season of your favorite program. You can borrow from you local library or a friend for free. You can have it all, without commercials, which brings me to…

4)      I’m not constantly seeing commercials that make me want to buy things. While I can’t prove this, I bet people who don’t watch commercials buy less.

5)      Television leads to higher incidence of obesity and depression.  When I had cable, I was headed towards both as I ended up watching hours of it every day.

6)      I have more time to do other things. I walk the dog, I blog, I read… There are so many things in life that I do that not watching television seems like a very small thing to not do.

7)      I have less negative energy in my life. I don’t know if it’s less electromagnetic waves or less reality television but I feel like I have less negativity in my life.

 

All this said, it is clear that I don’t have the willpower to turn off my television. If you can watch an hour or two a day and then turn it off, more power to you. If you can watch television and still do what you need and want to do, good for you. I am not disciplined in that way. And I think maybe at least a few other people aren’t either.

 

No matter what, I know that having at least one no television night is doable by everyone. As kids my family had it. We ate dinner and played games usually. It was kind of fun, since we were purposely not turning the television. My mom usually made a special snack. I highly recommend it for anyone. If you live alone, make it the night you have friends over for a potluck dinner. When I lived alone, having my friends over one night a week forced me to socialize initially but after a few weeks, I was looking forward to Wednesday nights and the happiness that only real people can provide.

 

If you do want to watch less television, 43Folders has some great tips. Actually, I’d recommend anyone who thinks television is too big a part in their lives to skim the article because it’s pretty interesting.

 

So here’s to more money in your pocket and a happier life being less controlled by a box. I'd rather sit outside if I'm going to sit on my butt! 

 

Image from http://www.hoardedordinaries.wordpress.com/

I Want My (Internet) TV

Online Television Not The Real Thing Yet But Will Do In A Pinch

We are lucky enough that television (or at least websites with television-like qualities) is making it's way online. Great for people like me who don't want to pay for high speed internet and cable (guess which one won out for me?) Let's check out our options, shall we?

YouTube, Metacafe, Videojug, etc.

Idea: User submited (and theoretically user generated) videos; ability to rate the videos and sometimes embed them into your own website; you can make one video or a hundred.

The Pros: Short enough to "sneak a quick one", easy to keep clicking from one to the next

The Cons: Often short, sometimes crappy, highly addictive to some people

My Take: I don't like these kind of videos. Nerve Scanner, a blog I love, is great about getting the coolest, funniest ones off the web. I'm not patient enough to watch a bunch of ok videos to find one good one. (Meanwhile Sean will watch YouTube karate videos for hours, though he also likes people being clumsy). To each his own I suppose.

iTunes, or any online location for video podcasts

Idea: User generated and submitted content; like a audio podcast, you can subscribe and get all the episodes; most often a series (it's kind of a commitment). Also, iTunes often has a free television episode every week if you are looking for something random.

The Pros: Usually when people commit to making a series of videos, they are more commited to it then the average person. You can expect content that was thought about at the very least, and if you like what you see, you can see more on the same subject by the same people. Easily loadable on the newer iPods.

The Cons: Sometimes videos seem a little more on the informative side and a little less on the fun side. Sometimes podcasts also just "disappear" (as in they stop being updated with no explanation).

My take: I don't count on anything from iTunes. I use it to learn something (like I love the WhoWhatWear Daily video podcast) and when I go on a trip, I'll download some free television for entertainment. Other then that, not much iTunes for me. 

SurftheChannel.com (from Comment faire de l'argent...en economisant)

Idea: A central place you can go online to watch all your favorite shows... and shows you didn't even know existed (hello, "Make Me A Supemodel"!)

The Pros: Hundreds of shows (everything from Little House On The Prarie to Will and Grace) and by hundreds of shows I don't mean just different shows. There are over 300 LHOTP episodes! You can take the experience to full screen too.

The Cons: It takes awhile to load full screen (so just get up and make popcorn while you wait). The quality is also a little bad. Oh and sometimes the videos have distracting subtitles:

My Take: If I'm bored some Friday night and want to watch a little bit of "Make Me A Supermodel" to test drive it, I will. If I really like the show, I may rent a DVD of a season of it. This is the closest thing to a cable experience I can have at this point.

ABC, NBC, (Television Network websites in general), Hulu

Idea: Networks, not wanting to lose their audience or potential for online revenue, have moved some of their shows online. The good news is sometimes independent companies (like hulu) are thinking of better ways of bringing the episodes to the average computer.

Pros: Video quality is usually good, automatically blowing up to full screen well. Full length shows!

Cons: If you have a five year old (and on it's last leg) laptop, your video card may not be up to snuff. I could only watch about 5-10 seconds of any NBC show before my computer spaced out. 

My take: If I had a good enought video card, this would actually be the closest thing to a cable experience for me.

Image from blogsmonroe.com, Check out a post about Hulu here.

 

So the good news is, if you want a television experience, it can happen online. It certainly does have a little bit of a ways to go to make it similar to a real television experience though. If none of what I've listed above works for you, here is someone who has done enough research to rank each site and list what's available in table format.