Chicago, Kevin Rollins, Experiment
13 Apr
I’m back from Chicaaago, and had a great time in a great city.
Fortunately I stayed with friends, so didn’t have to pay for housing. The whole trip was pretty cheap considering I stayed for 5 nights and was constantly out & about.
$300 plane flight
$350 spending.
5 days Total = $650
This was actually way under budget, yet I didn’t hold back on any expenses while there.
Now I must meet my goals for the next few months, and I’ll take another trip.
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Some Random Observations:
- Flying with ear plugs makes plane flights so much more pleasant.
- I give Chicago two thumbs up.
- My Treo 700w actually came in handy.
- Favorite picture during the trip:
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On Tuesday I saw/met Kevin Rollins the CEO of Dell at a speech he gave at UT. He was brought in to speak about ethics by a Mormon organization. He’s Mormon himself, so he also talked about how his upbringing has helped him bring strong business ethics into the company.
He originally started out as a consultant for Dell in 1993, but then soon was escalated to regional manager, then overseer of North American operations, then CEO. His speech was mainly geared towards how ethics is a strong virtue at Dell. Of course I’ve never heard a CEO say otherwise about their company!
His last words of advice were:
–Work hard now, because you can’t redo it later.
–Don’t have regrets.
–Dream Big.
Pretty standard stuff, but important nonetheless.
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I just finished my taxes, and I filed independently for the first time. I used TurboTax, and it was relatively painless. For 2006 I’ve been keeping excellent financial records, so next tax season should be a cinch…I’m actually looking forward to it!
Also, I’ve had experience with the homeless before in my bottled water experiment, but next week I’m doing a “homeless experiment” where I’ll actually be homeless for a few days to see what I can learn. I’m not sure how it’ll go, but that’s why I’m doing it!
good luck w/ homeless experiment?
seems kinda hardcore.
forgot to ask, what do you hope to learn from it? cuz yeah, voluntarily being homeless can’t be too common.
Congrats on meeting the Dell CEO, but when you met Michael Dell was better :-)
I’m curious about your new experiment too…you’re crazy Nev (In a good way!)
Homeless rule. Record some video while you’re homeless.
I knew a guy who pretends to be homeless — he honestly makes more than I do per week. You would be amazed how much you can earn — if your a savvy marketer.
Consider selling sheets of “Poetry”.. perhaps mini bracelets… or “art”….even “good luck” rocks. they will all increase your earnings as a homeless guy.
There use to be a blog about a homeless guy…. he would go into the library and blog about being homeless.. argh I forget the addy.
You could read down and out in paris and london, and see how that goes first..
Even though I don’t see the point of this experiment, I can’t wait to read about it
Sounds like a cool project. If you take your treo with you will be the high tech homeless guy, just do not get mugged or killed I like reading your blog.
Started a blog for downpayment on a house.
http://me2money.blogspot.com
Take look Nev let me know what you think.
you could pass as a homeless mexican. see how much you can panhandle!
Pras from the from the Fugees is doing the same exact experiment. He’s turning his experiment into a a documentary.
Maybe, if possible, you can do the same and post it.
In any case, good luck and don’t let anyone steal your shoes..
Is your ‘other’ income in March and April drug or gambling related?
Hey Nev,
I’m glad you had fun. Hmm we had something like that at Rutgers last week for our Acts of Good Will week. People volunteered to sit in cardboard boxes even amid the rain, followed by the hail, followed by the snow. Good luck with that, man. btw, you’re blog has inspired me to start my own…check it out when you get a chance: It’s at http://www.rohailrizvi.com
looking at that picture, Nev needs to get in the gym and do some bench pressing.
Great blog, Nev! Keep up the good work. You’re a resourceful person, so you’ll probably do fine with your homeless experiement.
some buddies and myself spent one week being homeless in santa cruz california, it was one of the most enlightening experiences I have ever had.
I love that picture of you and the art work. Ha!
I hope you learn something from being homeless. I was homeless for a month and a half, but I was put up in a shelter for that duration. If anything, I learned you get a whole bunch of clothes and personal care products for free. If you don’t mind doing a chore a day (sweep, make dinner, etc) you can enjoy free meals, free housing, and free TV. Of course, you may have to share a bedroom with a crack additct, you end up with more free entertainment by all the drama they show. Oh yes, and shelters tend to keep you as long as they can because they get paid mucho bucks from the state just to have you there. I wish you luck!
“I’m doing a “homeless experiment” where I’ll actually be homeless for a few days to see what I can learn. I’m not sure how it’ll go, but that’s why I’m doing it!”
This is what happens when you’re to good to accept job offers out of college.
That’s cool ! You and Kevin Rollings on 1 picture … WOW.
Hi KR,
Likely you don’t reemember me but I was a co-worker at Dell. The war stories we could tell….
I hope everything is going well for you and I know what a fine, decent person you are. too bad there aren’t more like you. All my best – Patrick P.
Hope by chance you see this.