Hasta La Gadget!

“Today will be your last day.”

These words randomly emerged from the recesses of my memory the other night.

I was washing dishes and listening to a TED Talk. I was not feeling particularly nostalgic that evening or thinking about anyone or anything in particular.

My memory rewound farther to that moment of elation when I received your email offering me the internship. It paid $10 an hour and, given my field, I knew that any pay would impress my professors.

I then found myself fast-forwarding to the scene in which I left that Park Avenue building for the last time, crying as I called my mother from the pay phone to tell her I had been let go. These bookend memories brought their friends from the years in between to crash my peaceful, boring-adult party of kitchen upkeep.

“Today will be your last day.”

Every bit of context surrounding those words swarmed together to form that grand finale in which, as a nervous 20-year-old, I sat on one side of the glossy boardroom table, while you and your colleague–I think his name was Martin–sat on the other. I had mostly worked under your auspices, but on occasion Martin and others would assign me menial tasks.

I tearfully gripped my iced tea as the reality set in. You were firing me.

And it is with these embarrassing memories that I looked you up recently, out of pure curiosity. I wondered where you were in life.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that, after investing such a large portion of your life into corporate America, you not only climbed the ladder; you redesigned the ladder.

It seems you started calling your own shots, and that’s pretty cool. But the truth is, I also Googled your name with something of a humble goal: I want to thank you for firing me for being a horrible employee 14 years ago.

You implicitly taught me a number of life lessons I wasn’t learning in any of my overpriced college courses. The internal conversations I had after being kicked out of my tiny little cubicle that summer included dialogue that should routinely find its way into the college classroom.

It is with the following list that I wish to both apologize for my performance and thank you for firing me. Had you never fired me, I’m not sure that I would have made the changes necessary to perform well at the following summer’s internship in public relations (yes, someone else actually hired me) or, really, any of the professional endeavors which followed. Failing my first internship taught me many things.

Here are just a few:

1. Everyone is your boss. It does not matter who is assigning a task. Everyone is your boss.

2. There is value in creating tasks for myself in the event that I was not given enough to do. This taught me how to take initiative and investigate the dilemma of not knowing what I do not know.

3. The importance of taking notes and asking questions can’t be overstated.

4. If an overpopulated and slow elevator might make one late to work, arrive a few minutes early or take the stairs.

5. Following the elevator fiasco, you taught me that 9:05 a.m., or worse yet, 9:10 a.m., is indeed considered “late.” Moreover, arriving at 8:55 a.m. is probably closer to being on time than arriving at 9:00 a.m. on the nose. Arriving at 8:40? Even better.

6. I learned that it is not permissible to leave an hour early without asking, even if it is my birthday. (I really have no idea what I was thinking with this one. There is no excuse for leaving the office early without expressed permission from your employer, and no, not even if it’s your birthday, and no, not even if your boyfriend surprises you by showing up at your job. He’ll have to wait that final hour at the very least.)

You didn’t start out intending to teach me these rules of professionalism. I learned only after our meeting in that boardroom that I should have done some things differently. The skills you taught me have been applicable in every job I’ve had since.

I now teach my college students what you taught me, and I hope they’re listening.

For firing me and encouraging me to find myself, you became one of my biggest inspirations.

Come hang with me! www.heycollegekid.com

Have you ever wondered why Netflix has that countdown between episodes? Well, that worrisome thought will never interrupt your binge-watching again.

While writing his weekly “Thank You Notes,” Jimmy Fallon finally explained the reason for the streaming service’s timer. Apparently, Netflix does it just to mess with us. The company knows we’re going to keep watching, and they want us to know that they know.

For the record, Netflix does give you the option to opt out of automatically playing the next episode. It’s currently available on a number of devices.

But if you haven’t heard, the new season of “House of Cards” is coming out next month, and Netflix has plans to premiere up to 20 new shows or new seasons of original shows a year. So really, why bother?

“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on NBC.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is holding up his “go big and go bold” attitude as something Republicans need to emulate in Washington.

In a speech to Iowa conservatives Saturday, Walker ran through a litany of changes he’s implemented that curtailed union power, relaxed teacher tenure laws, strengthened gun rights and restricted abortions. All resonated with a Freedom Summit crowd sizing up potential 2016 GOP presidential candidates like him. Walker shared stories of staring down union interests in the face of mass protests, constant jeering and even death threats to him and his family. He fought off a recall attempt and then won re-election last fall.

The neighboring state governor drew connections to the leadoff caucus state, noting how he attended elementary school in Iowa until his family moved.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) continued to tease a potential bid for the Republican nomination for president this week leading up to a Saturday address at the Iowa Freedom Summit.

Palin characterized herself as having a “servant’s heart” in a Thursday interview with ABC News, saying she’s “had enough” of seeing a “sign on the Oval Office door saying, ‘No Girls Allowed.'”

“Of course, when you have a servant’s heart, when you know that there is opportunity to do all you can to put yourself forward in the name of offering service, anybody would be interested,” she said.

The Washington Post followed up with Palin on Friday in Des Moines.

“You can absolutely say that I am seriously interested,” she told the Post. “As I said yesterday, I’m really interested in the opportunity to serve at some point.”

Palin has said many times that she hasn’t ruled out a run for the White House, saying she’ll “never say never,” and that she’d “love to see a woman on both sides of the aisle” pursue the role.

The 2008 vice presidential candidate has also weighed in on a potential challenger for the Republican bid, shrugging off 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney after learning he may pursue a third bid.

“We need new energy. We need new blood. We need new ideas,” Palin said.

Dear Mr. President,

Job well-done on your penultimate State of the Union address, your leadership and persistent pursuit to ensure that all Americans have access to the American dream should be commended. The policies and administrative actions that you have shepherded over the last six years have moved our country’s economy in a very positive direction. Most Americans believe that the quality of our lives continues to improve, but as you noted, there is more work to do. We must work together to ensure that every citizen, no matter their zip code, sexual orientation, gender identity, or their family background, has an opportunity to work and receive a decent living wage to provide for their family.

I simply have one plea — please, Mr. President, do not forget our children!

I quite was surprised that you did not mention opportunities for the White House and Congress to work together on child nutrition issues and The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act as national priorities for this fiscal year, particularly as Mrs. Obama has been a tireless and compassionate advocate in improving the health of our nation’s children. As you know, one of these programs provides nutritious free and reduced lunches to more than twenty-one million school-aged children. Nine million women, infants, and children receive assistance through The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and other food programs. The re-authorization deadline for these programs is scheduled for September 2015.

As you might agree, part and parcel to increasing our nation’s middle class means that we must do more to ensure that every child has access to high equality education, and that begins with proper nutritional options for every child. We know that hungry children have difficulty learning. Moreover, if we are to ensure that all of us, particularly our children, have the ability to work hard and succeed, we need your restated commitment for the successful re-authorization of The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act. This legislation is an opportunity to review, improve, and strengthen much-needed programs that positively impact the lives of millions of children and their mothers. Likewise, this is an excellent opportunity for the White House and Congress to successfully work together in a bipartisan manner, and supporting programs such as The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act that assist American families in rearing healthy, well-nourished children is essential to the continued economic strength and success of our country.

I remain deeply committed to advocating for resources to end hunger within the United States and around the world; especially among children. After retiring from Congress, I accepted the position of Assistant Director-General of the Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In that position, I encouraged countries around the world to organize and work together to end hunger and poverty, as stipulated by the Declaration of the World Summit on Food Security. I am as committed as ever to see these goals manifest both at home and abroad, but I need you to do all that you can to work with Congress to reauthorize and strengthen The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act. Again, thank you for your steadfast leadership.