Hung Truong: The Blog!

Grocery Shopping in Seattle

As some of you may know, grocery shopping is very important to me. It’s one of my favorite adult activities to partake in. Which is to say that grocery shopping is one of those things that you do after making the transition from kid to adult. Or at least that’s what I like tricking myself into believing.

In Michigan, I went to Meijer, because it pretty much had everything I needed. I’d also make a side trip to Trader Joe’s maybe once a month for hippie supplies. Now, in a new city, I must figure out where to get my foods and stuffs. Meijer is strictly a Midwest chain, unfortunately.

Now, the obvious choice would be to pick the closest grocery. It’s pretty easy to calculate the distance to the closest grocery because I live above the PCC Food co-op thingy. Literally. I am on the fifth floor and they take up the first floor in my building. I could literally jump down to the store entrance. Actually, a firefighter pole setup might be safer and cooler, but I’ll have to ask my landlord about it. The PCC is pretty high quality; it makes Trader Joe’s look like Wal-mart. But things there also cost an arm and a leg (good thing I upped my accidental death and dismemberment insurance (AD&D)). So I go there for quick and inexpensive things, like bananas or other produce, or when I really need something bad (like tofu). Also, PCC doesn’t sell anything that’s not “natural,” so I can’t get goldfish crackers or Drain-o there.

There is a Trader Joe’s in Ballard that’s pretty nearby that I’m hitting often. I also just discovered a Fred Meyer (I dunno if there’s a relation to Meijer) that has a Chase bank in it (bonus points, just like my old Meijer!). The Fred Meyer is gigantic and pretty close to Wal-mart vibe. I’ve also gone to Safeway for my unnatural foods. When I shop at the University Village, I can hit up the QFC (which is like Kroger/Smith’s) on the way. I haven’t been to Whole Foods yet, but I don’t see a reason to with the Whole Foods-ish PCC taking care of my overpriced grocery needs. There’s also apparently a place in Ballard called Ballard Market (appropriately) that’s supposed to be pretty decent. I’ve also gone to the Asian market, Uwajimaya, in the International District, but that’s more of a specialty case. Also, I don’t eat enough food to shop at Costco (orange juice excluded from this statement).

As you can see, I am a bit obsessive about grocery shopping. I haven’t found a store that has all the stuff I need/want in one location at the price I’d like to pay. So for now I think I’ll forage around multiple stores, which is inconvenient but somewhat necessary. Ever since I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I feel like I should be a bit more careful in the purchasing and preparation of my food. I don’t feel too bad spending a chunk of change on something at PCC. Unless, of course, there’s a random markup and I can get the same thing somewhere else for 40% less. Oh, and I just got a hold for In Defense of Food at the library, so hopefully that will make me a bit less picky.

Made It To Seattle!

You may have noticed that this blog has been pretty quiet for the past few weeks. Okay, you probably haven’t.

It’s because I traveled from Ann Arbor, MI to Seattle, Wa. All by myself! My car actually helped a lot, too.

I haven’t written much, yet I have much to write about. You might see a post here soon. Besides this post, telling you that I’ll be posting again soon…

Here, enjoy a picture of a Salmon mosaic art thing I took at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks:

Craigslist: Addiction!

I have had some experience with craigslist before, but never selling stuff. I just looked at some apartments. But since I’m moving and I need to get rid of stuff, I listed a few things on craigslist to sell.

One girl contacted me about my coffee table almost immediately after I listed it. Her roommate picked it up and he told me she’s kind of a hawk on craigslist. Many people contacted me about stuff and never replied after I replied to them. Some people just didn’t show up. Lots of people are bad about calling before showing up. Actually, no one so far has called before showing up. This is bad, because what if the thing already sold?

The most interesting thing about craigslist interactions is that they consist of two parties who don’t really trust each other, except that they recognize they’re both just normal humans who are probably okay. There’s a lot of implicit trust set in.

Like, for example, the dude who picked up my table left his wallet in my apartment for some reason. Maybe that’s like a form of escrow. Then he paid me after the entire table was ready to be driven away. The person who took my couch paid me upfront, before I helped her husband move the couch into their truck. Either way is fine, I guess, if you believe that people are inherently trustworthy. Or at least trustworthy enough to not drive away with your table if you go back into your apartment to get him some tape to hold down the drawers. Also, it would be much easier to just steal from people than set up an elaborate craigslist scam.

I wonder if anyone has done research on the psychology of craigslist. There’s certainly a lot of risk/reward built into the system, along with not knowing people, whether they’re trustworthy, etc. There’s also just a mad adrenaline rush when you get a wad of money and someone takes your couch for you! I have a few more things to get rid of, so hopefully the rest of my transactions go as well as my previous ones!

SXSW 2010 Panel Proposal: Student Startups! Entrepreneurship in the University

I have once again proposed a panel for SXSW 2010. Last year’s didn’t get picked, but I have a good feeling about this one. I don’t see any other panel ideas that are too similar to it and I think it’s a neat idea. Basically I’ll get a bunch of student entrepreneurs and have them talk about the challenges and opportunities of doing startups while still in school. I know a few other entrepreneurs and I’m trying to enlist the help of others. Here’s the proposal:

Description:
While student startups are not a new phenomenon, universities and venture capitalists are beginning to see the advantages in supporting them. Join a panel of student entrepreneurs in a discussion on finding funding, incorporating a company and balancing homework, work and life, all while attending school full-time.

Questions answered during the panel:

1. How are universities starting to support student entreprenurship?
2. What are the legal implications of using university resources for personal business? (copyright)
3. How can I “double-dip” schoolwork and startup work into the same project?
4. What kinds of venture capital support are available specifically for student startup businesses?
5. Into which type of corporate structure should a student startup incorporate?
6. How much money do I need to get started as a student entreprenur?
7. How can I get my classmates to provide free labor?
8. What should I look out for when accepting work from non-company students? (ownership rights)
9. How does one achieve a healthy work/homework/life balance as a student entrepreneur?
10. What happens when I (and my partners) graduate?

So far, my pal Ben Congleton has said he’ll be on the panel. Now to find a bunch of other panelists! You can also help by voting for my panel (I should have mentioned this first) here!

Open vs. Proprietary Platforms

There’s been a lot of talk lately about proprietary platforms. Apple has been rejecting apps left and right due to various reasons. For example, they rejected the Google Voice app using their generic “duplicates iPhone features” reasoning. Isn’t that kind of reasoning grounds for an antitrust case? They also rejected a dictionary app for potentially bad words! Someone think of the children!

While I think Apple deserves some credit for popularizing the whole app store notion, they also kind of suck for holding such an iron grip on it. It’s nice to find apps in the store without having a third party directory or searching for apps all over the mobile web. But it sucks when honest developers get screwed because of totalitarian control.

I wonder if there can’t be a nice, happy medium. Maybe an app store combined with a way to legally (without jailbreaking) install apps via a third party. For now, the iPhone’s App Store is great for customers, but I have a feeling that abused developers will eventually learn their lesson and go elsewhere.