Now that hockey season is over (thanks, Hurricanes) and even basketball has crowned its king (go Heat!), we've got 10 days of World Cup inconvenient programming to tide us over until the Tour de France starts.
Can't wait to watch the prologue July 1!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
whom to trust? (or: what's our ETD?)
Ending my stay at the Identity Mashup conference in Cambridge, I found it more than a little ironic that I was confronted head-on by the trust issue as I sat contemplating when to leave for the airport for my flight back to SFO.
My flight was scheduled to depart at 6:11pm from Logan airport. The forecast called for a wicked band of thunderstorms to come screaming through the area in the late afternoon. As the storms moved west to east, the entire Eastern Seaboard could domino through a series of longer delays as equipment got stranded on the tarmacs of IAD, DCA, EWR, LGA, etc. A witches' brew for spending hours trapped at the terminal.
Cue thunder and a darkening sky outside the classroom, and it was time to consult the flight status web sites to see what they'd say. That's right, sites. I like to triangulate in on the correct data, as I've been burned by relying on the airline to tell me everything's peachy when in reality it's going to hell in a handbasket. I don't think I'm the only one they've done this to, so maybe you know what I'm talking about.
So, at 3:45pm, sitting in Austin Hall at Harvard, I consulted three different web sites to try to learn when United flight 179 would really depart:
It seems it's in United's best interest to not show a delay so folks won't scamper to other flights. (Even though I've signed up for their "EasyUpdate" service that sends a text message to my phone should my flight status change, they seem to wait to send notices of delayed departures to me until after I'm standing in the security line at the airport. The worst of these times was when I was flying from Vegas to SFO and instead of finding out about the four hour departure delay while I was still on the Strip and near the poker tables, I got the text message as I was taking my shoes off at the scanner. Grrrr.)
For better or worse, I think the FAA doesn't have any reason to report anything but the facts (ma'am). And the Weather Channel has always been so very good at forecasting events in the future with great accuracy (not!), but still that three hour delay is one heck of an outlier here.
I check to see who's feeding the Weather Channel their flights status info and it turns out the data's coming in from FlyteComm (what a clever name!). Looking up the status of flight 179 on the FlyteComm site directly shows no difference from what's on weather.com, so there's no disconnect there.
The thought of spending three hours at Logan doesn't sit well with me. I'd rather spend the time observing the Code and Law panel and then going to the cocktails and demos event.
But what if it turns out United isn't lying? I check to see what the cost of relying on FlyteComm's data instead of United's by looking for the next departing flight to SFO from BOS. It's at 6:50am Wednesday morning. Ouch, it's an overnight penalty if I show up late for a flight that left on time.
After much gnashing of teeth, I decide spending three hours at Logan is a much better proposition than staying the night at Logan.
So I arrive at the airport in plenty of time to take off as scheduled: at 6:11pm.
The big lesson I've learned is to treat the flight tracker info on the weather.com site (powered by FlyteComm!) like I do any weather forecast: with great suspicion bordering on amusement as long as I don't get soaked.
While FlyteComm is launching an app for mobile flight status checking, I won't be using it. The data is only convenient if it's accurate, at least to me.
tags: idmashup06, idmashup, United, delay, trust, Thomas
My flight was scheduled to depart at 6:11pm from Logan airport. The forecast called for a wicked band of thunderstorms to come screaming through the area in the late afternoon. As the storms moved west to east, the entire Eastern Seaboard could domino through a series of longer delays as equipment got stranded on the tarmacs of IAD, DCA, EWR, LGA, etc. A witches' brew for spending hours trapped at the terminal.
Cue thunder and a darkening sky outside the classroom, and it was time to consult the flight status web sites to see what they'd say. That's right, sites. I like to triangulate in on the correct data, as I've been burned by relying on the airline to tell me everything's peachy when in reality it's going to hell in a handbasket. I don't think I'm the only one they've done this to, so maybe you know what I'm talking about.
So, at 3:45pm, sitting in Austin Hall at Harvard, I consulted three different web sites to try to learn when United flight 179 would really depart:
- United.com flight status widget- Scheduled departure time: 6:11pm. Estimated departure time: 6:11pm. It would appear the thunderstorms would be having no effect on the United schedule out of Boston.
- FAA's Flight Delay Information System - There's weather-related delays of 15 minutes for arriving planes and 30 minutes for departing planes out of BOS. No other East Coast airports are affected, so it looks as if the dominoes aren't in place to cause a really long delay, but why isn't the United site showing any sign of this? The FAA simply links to the United site to look up flight-specific info, so that's no help.
- The Weather Channel's Business Traveler Flight Tracker - The weather radar shows a wall of red descending upon the Boston metro area, and a the flight tracker shows the expected scheduled departure time of 6:11pm yet an estimated departure time of 9:27pm. A three hour delay? Yikes.
It seems it's in United's best interest to not show a delay so folks won't scamper to other flights. (Even though I've signed up for their "EasyUpdate" service that sends a text message to my phone should my flight status change, they seem to wait to send notices of delayed departures to me until after I'm standing in the security line at the airport. The worst of these times was when I was flying from Vegas to SFO and instead of finding out about the four hour departure delay while I was still on the Strip and near the poker tables, I got the text message as I was taking my shoes off at the scanner. Grrrr.)
For better or worse, I think the FAA doesn't have any reason to report anything but the facts (ma'am). And the Weather Channel has always been so very good at forecasting events in the future with great accuracy (not!), but still that three hour delay is one heck of an outlier here.
I check to see who's feeding the Weather Channel their flights status info and it turns out the data's coming in from FlyteComm (what a clever name!). Looking up the status of flight 179 on the FlyteComm site directly shows no difference from what's on weather.com, so there's no disconnect there.
The thought of spending three hours at Logan doesn't sit well with me. I'd rather spend the time observing the Code and Law panel and then going to the cocktails and demos event.
But what if it turns out United isn't lying? I check to see what the cost of relying on FlyteComm's data instead of United's by looking for the next departing flight to SFO from BOS. It's at 6:50am Wednesday morning. Ouch, it's an overnight penalty if I show up late for a flight that left on time.
After much gnashing of teeth, I decide spending three hours at Logan is a much better proposition than staying the night at Logan.
So I arrive at the airport in plenty of time to take off as scheduled: at 6:11pm.
The big lesson I've learned is to treat the flight tracker info on the weather.com site (powered by FlyteComm!) like I do any weather forecast: with great suspicion bordering on amusement as long as I don't get soaked.
While FlyteComm is launching an app for mobile flight status checking, I won't be using it. The data is only convenient if it's accurate, at least to me.
tags: idmashup06, idmashup, United, delay, trust, Thomas
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
creating the email link
setting it up so I can now blog from my Treo. Hopefully this will
allow me to post more often.
Monday, June 19, 2006
legislation as blunt instrument
Listening to Christine Varney, an attorney at Hogan & Hartsen, speak at the Identity Mashup panel on Privacy and Civil Liberties in Benign and Hostile Environments.
Hadn't quite thought of it in such a fatalistic manner, but this is what she has to say about legislation:
What kind of social recourse do we have, especially after "The Next 9/11" when the government goes after the third parties even harder.
tags: idmashup06, identity, berkman
Hadn't quite thought of it in such a fatalistic manner, but this is what she has to say about legislation:
Legislation is a blunt instrument that's rarely effective, has copious unintended consequences and is usually inspired by big companies.Then, Identity Woman Kaliya comments in the IRC:
The government doesn't have nearly as much data on us as the corporations do (witness the telephone records incidents).
The issue not being talked about [on the panel] is the way the courts have interpreted the 4th amendment as not applying to third party storage of information/data. Addressing this must be done legally/socially, not through technical protocols.But if we heed Christine's warning about legislation, we're stuck with finding a social way of addressing it. What's the answer then?
What kind of social recourse do we have, especially after "The Next 9/11" when the government goes after the third parties even harder.
tags: idmashup06, identity, berkman
Esther Dyson at Identity Mashup 2006
Listening to Esther chime in on the opening panel "What You Need to Know About Identity"
Her high-level overview of the Accountable Net:
Dyson was just at the Where2.0 conference (all about maps and location and GPS and stuff like that). What the conference was really about was identity: you in the map (as an avatar in Second Life, or as a place on a Google Map), and all the tools for representing self on the map.
Do we want privacy or do we want attention? Newest tools are about attention, establishing a conspicuous identity in the world. But we don't realize the slime trail we're leaving. When we do see it, we may be alarmed at what can be traced back to us. We need better understanding of the "cost" of using these new attention-getting tools.
I like her ability to cut to the chase on the challenge ahead (bold is mine):
tags: idmashup06, Esther Dyson, berkman
Her high-level overview of the Accountable Net:
The accountable net notion is peer-to-peer (I'll be accountable to you, and you be accountable to me) and that only works with a persistent identity.
The first commandment of the Accountable Net: Do ask, don't lie.
You have every right to ask who I am and what I've done. I don't need to answer, but if I don't I can't expect to be extended the same privileges as those who do answer. If I do answer, I cannot lie (and if you don't like my answer, you don't have to extend me priviledges you don't want to).
Dyson was just at the Where2.0 conference (all about maps and location and GPS and stuff like that). What the conference was really about was identity: you in the map (as an avatar in Second Life, or as a place on a Google Map), and all the tools for representing self on the map.
Do we want privacy or do we want attention? Newest tools are about attention, establishing a conspicuous identity in the world. But we don't realize the slime trail we're leaving. When we do see it, we may be alarmed at what can be traced back to us. We need better understanding of the "cost" of using these new attention-getting tools.
I like her ability to cut to the chase on the challenge ahead (bold is mine):
The debate isn't about whether there will be a national ID card or a chip or what have you... we're already there. It's called your DNA. So, the problem isn't so much identity theft, but that folks will aggregate your segregated identities and add stuff you don't want there by aggregating.
tags: idmashup06, Esther Dyson, berkman
Thursday, June 15, 2006
better than boot camp
So, news out of Herndon, Virginia today is the release of Parallels Desktop for Mac that allows you to run WinXP (or any other version of Windows back to 3.1) on your PowerMac as a window within the Mac desktop. At last, we can run Windows apps (Visio!) at the same time we're running Mac programs (everything else!).As you know, this differs greatly from Bootcamp's either/or proposition where you can boot into either operating system but only one at a time.
Isn't this just an update to Virtual PC? Well, according to Mossberg in the WSJ, Parallels is written specifically for the new Intel-based Macs so it runs fast, even faster than some of the PCs running WinXP native.
I think I've finally discovered the last straw holding me back from replacing the old Gateway with a MacMini and becoming a mac-only household (at last!)
tags: MacBook, Boot Camp, Parallels, switch, Thomas Thomas Kriese
Monday, June 12, 2006
full-face irony: stupidity scrolling
Is this ironic or what?
While watching the US World Cup team get dismantled by Czechoslovakia on ESPN2 this morning, the scroll at the bottom of the screen flashed news of a motorcycle accident involving a footballer (in the US-sense of the word).
As the story came into focus, the scroll updated to show Ben Rothlisberger, star quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, had been taken to the hospital after crashing his motorcycle into a car.
Eyewitnesses state Ben's head hit the windshield of the car and there was blood involved.
Eyewitnesses also reported he wasn't wearing a helmet. (hey, helmets are only for game days!)
My first thought was: how incredibly stupid is it for Ben to be riding around without a helmet on? Safety issues aside, he's breaking the law, isn't he? Or at least violating the "thou shalt do nothing stupid" clause of his NFL contract with the Steelers, no?
Then I checked to see that Pennsylvania's Governor, Edward G Rendell, repealed the state's mandatory helmet law back in 2003. Wow, it seems there's a full-blown epidemic.
While Ben's only taking his own life in his hands, the governor's set up thousands of others to make a mose unwise decision to ride without a brain-bucket in place.
Technorati tags: Steelers, helmet, motorcycle, Thomas Kriese, Thomas
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Monday, June 05, 2006
Melanie II
For someone who doesn't like her picture taken, I'm glad I can rely on others to sneak photos of her (she always runs away when she sees the camera in my hand).
So beautiful. I'm lucky to have her as my wife, and the mother of my daughters.
So beautiful. I'm lucky to have her as my wife, and the mother of my daughters.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Wright Brothers Monument silhouette
I've been driving by the Wright Brothers monument for decades (literally) and this year was the first time I bothered to visit up close and personal (in all honesty, it was more for Hannah than for me). Although my parents have pictures of me at the Monument from when I was 18 months old, I can't recall teh visit myself, so it doesn't count.
I'm so glad we went this trip... there was much more to the monument than I expected.
Instead of there simply being a replica of the 1903 craft and some markers in the field, the exhibit showed how the Wright brothers' scientific approach made it all possible. Granted, much of the "sprucing up" may have been done in time for the Centennial Celebration a few years back, but the residual upgard is very impressive to walk through.
Instead of being the tinkerers I thought the bicycle-building brothers were, they instead were very methodical scientists who broke out the process of flying into three problems to be solved: 1) lift, 2) control and 3) power.
In the exhibit hall, there were installations that showed how the brothers created a kite version of the aircraft to refine the "lift" technology, then created a glider version of the craft to further refine lift and work on in-flight control and finally made the engine to provide the power via push propellers. And all the notes they took along the way were shown, as well. Very methodical and ultimately led to the solution.
Walking through the monument grounds, I found myself thinking about all the big hairy "unsolvable" problems out there and how they might break down into components to crack one at a time along the way. An inspirational day, to be sure.
Makes me think I should spend more time walking around historically significant sites to change my frame of reference.
Technorati tags: monument, Thomas Kriese, Thomas, Wright
I'm so glad we went this trip... there was much more to the monument than I expected.
Instead of there simply being a replica of the 1903 craft and some markers in the field, the exhibit showed how the Wright brothers' scientific approach made it all possible. Granted, much of the "sprucing up" may have been done in time for the Centennial Celebration a few years back, but the residual upgard is very impressive to walk through.
Instead of being the tinkerers I thought the bicycle-building brothers were, they instead were very methodical scientists who broke out the process of flying into three problems to be solved: 1) lift, 2) control and 3) power.
In the exhibit hall, there were installations that showed how the brothers created a kite version of the aircraft to refine the "lift" technology, then created a glider version of the craft to further refine lift and work on in-flight control and finally made the engine to provide the power via push propellers. And all the notes they took along the way were shown, as well. Very methodical and ultimately led to the solution.
Walking through the monument grounds, I found myself thinking about all the big hairy "unsolvable" problems out there and how they might break down into components to crack one at a time along the way. An inspirational day, to be sure.
Makes me think I should spend more time walking around historically significant sites to change my frame of reference.
Technorati tags: monument, Thomas Kriese, Thomas, Wright
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
room with a view off the back of the ferry
As is our OBX tradition, we spent the day on Ocracoke Island. To get there from Salvo (where our rental beach house is located), you have to drive about 35 miles south on NC-12 to Hatteras Village. Then, you queue up and wait to board the free (er, taxpayer-supported) ferry to Ocracoke Island. Each ferry holds about 40 cars, and you just can't help getting your hopes up that you'll get on the next ferry departing. That kind of luck doesn't happen often, and sometimes you can wait as long as 90 minutes for your queue to get directed onto the boat. It takes 40 minutes to cross the 4-mile span thanks to the serpentine path they have to travel to avoid sand bars. The channel itself is no more than 500 yards wide from one spit of sand to the other.
After a crab cake sandwich lunch at the Jolly Roger on Silver Lake and then a scoop of peach ice cream from candyland (yum!), we decided to forgo the beach since we had several small people who were lacking naps. We lucked out on the way home... we were the last car let on the ferry back to Hatteras. Which meant we had prime real estate on the stern of the boat. Perfect for popping the hatch and watching the propellor wash put distance between us and Ocracoke.
Technorati tags: Thomas Kriese, Thomas, ferry, Outer Banks
After a crab cake sandwich lunch at the Jolly Roger on Silver Lake and then a scoop of peach ice cream from candyland (yum!), we decided to forgo the beach since we had several small people who were lacking naps. We lucked out on the way home... we were the last car let on the ferry back to Hatteras. Which meant we had prime real estate on the stern of the boat. Perfect for popping the hatch and watching the propellor wash put distance between us and Ocracoke.
Technorati tags: Thomas Kriese, Thomas, ferry, Outer Banks
Monday, May 29, 2006
Hannah and Virginia Dare
At least Hannah kept her dress on for the pose. She loves mimmicking statues wherever we go, and this stop at the Elizabethan Gardens was no different. Great to see that Virginia Dare has Morton's Toe like me (and now, Hannah).
hydrangeas at Elizabethan Gardens
We're at the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a family vacation. Yesterday (Sunday) was a wonderfully sunny and warm day. Today, an overcast Memorial Day, made for the perfect opportunity to go to the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo, North Carolina. We usually go later in the year, when the hydrangeas are in full bloom. Most were closed tight, but I did manage to find a couple that were starting to burst into color... here's a pink one. Look to my Flickr stream for some shots of the blues.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
with six hours to go
Well, we did it, and with six hours to go til the car arrives to take us to the airport in the morning. The girls are tucked into bed and Melanie's sleeping too. I'm stuck in my usual vacation Eve restlessness as my mind clicks through everything I've needed to get done in order to go away for an extended period of time. Never fails, this insomnia. And here's what's clicking between my ears tonight:
I need a vacation.
- The offer on the new house was accepted and we've gotten it inspected with the results satisfactory for us to move forward
- Our current house is completely cleaned and prepped and staged to be shown for the two weeks we're gone
- I've got "lenders competing for my mortgage" courtesy Lending Tree
- our old monitor, microwave and printer are by the side of the house waiting for E-Waste Services to recycle them
- Papers and mail are stopped
I need a vacation.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
pest inspections and room for a car
We had the pest inspection on the new place Saturday morning. "All" that was found was dry termite infestation (recommended fix: fumigation. cost: $3,000) and a few of the upper deck's joists are rotted (recommended fix: replace deck. cost: $10,000). I had to call Heidi, our realtor, to get her to talk me off the ledge about the sudden $13k increase in the "price" of the home. And all this before the general home inspection on Monday morning. I think they'll find at least $5,000 worth of stuff to be fixed Monday. Yes, we put in an as-is offer on the home, but I'm none to pleased at all the $$ associated with fixing the place up.
Looking on the bright side, since I'll be living a little over a mile from work (I now live 30 miles from work), I'll be getting back 12 hours a week in reduced commute time. Plenty of time to do all the fixits.
Back to the Campbell home front: To help make room as we de-clutter our current home, Melanie and I rented a 5x10 unit at a nearby storage complex.
On Friday night, I made my first of 8 trips over to the space. In between sessions riding the elevator and creeping, fully loaded, down the creaky floors, we've cleared out all our boxes of books (unopened since our move from Virginia) and all the assorted other "stuff" that's taken up so much room here in Campbell.
Just a couple hours ago, I made the coup de grace: once again there's room to park a car in our (two-car) garage. Years ago, when we first purchased the place and then promptly went away on vacation, I parked my car in the garage. Looks like the last few nights we're here in Campbell I'll be able to park my car in the garage again. A fitting bookend, methinks.
Three nights 'til we leave on vacation. Two nights 'til the broker tour of our current home. One night 'til the general home inspection at the new place. Better get my sleep.
Looking on the bright side, since I'll be living a little over a mile from work (I now live 30 miles from work), I'll be getting back 12 hours a week in reduced commute time. Plenty of time to do all the fixits.
Back to the Campbell home front: To help make room as we de-clutter our current home, Melanie and I rented a 5x10 unit at a nearby storage complex.
On Friday night, I made my first of 8 trips over to the space. In between sessions riding the elevator and creeping, fully loaded, down the creaky floors, we've cleared out all our boxes of books (unopened since our move from Virginia) and all the assorted other "stuff" that's taken up so much room here in Campbell.
Just a couple hours ago, I made the coup de grace: once again there's room to park a car in our (two-car) garage. Years ago, when we first purchased the place and then promptly went away on vacation, I parked my car in the garage. Looks like the last few nights we're here in Campbell I'll be able to park my car in the garage again. A fitting bookend, methinks.
Three nights 'til we leave on vacation. Two nights 'til the broker tour of our current home. One night 'til the general home inspection at the new place. Better get my sleep.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
so close yet so far away
It appears that the owner of the property we're trying to buy from a) doesn't really care to sell it, b) doesn't see the value of dotting i's and crossing t's or c) all of the above.
UPDATE: turns out is was a much simpler (mundane) reason: jet lag
He'd just landed from a trip to Europe when he mis-marked the counter to the counter to the counter. Our offer has been accepted. Now we just have to see what the inpsections turn up tomorrow (pest) and Monday (general home).
UPDATE: turns out is was a much simpler (mundane) reason: jet lag
He'd just landed from a trip to Europe when he mis-marked the counter to the counter to the counter. Our offer has been accepted. Now we just have to see what the inpsections turn up tomorrow (pest) and Monday (general home).
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
thank you, may i have another?
We leave for a two-week vacation next Wednesday morning (7am flight out of San Jose).
Knowing we don't quite have enough to do already to prepare for getting ready to depart for that amount of time, we've spent the last 72 hours doing the following:
Knowing we don't quite have enough to do already to prepare for getting ready to depart for that amount of time, we've spent the last 72 hours doing the following:
- walking through a house we wanted to buy that we didn't even realize we were in the market for
- hiring an agent to sell our existing home (while we're away on vacation)
- getting pre-qualified on a loan
- renting a storage space and reserving a rental truck
- pulling $30k in earnest money deposit out our collective butt (aka thin air)
- putting in an offer
- getting a counter offer
- countering the counter offer
- sticking a "for sale" sign in our home's lawn
- scheduling cleaners, painters, gardners, stagers, inspectors, notaries, broker's tours
- beginning the de-cluttering process of our existing home
blowout on highway 101
Melanie was driving in to my office so that we could get some notary work done (relating to buying our new home). All seemed to be fine, from my end, until I got a panicked call from her just minutes from the office.
"I think the tire's going flat," is how she started our conversation.
"Where are you?" was my opening salvo.
"The Woodside exit, oh shit, the tire just came off. I'll talk to you later."
What?!? I called right back and got her to describe exactly where she was. I also got her to confirm that she was standing so that the van was between her and traffic. With that knowledge tucked in my belt, I got Dan to give me a ride in his car to the scene.
Five minutes later, as we neared, I was so very glad to see that one of the CHP Freeway Service Patrol trucks was pulled up behind our minivan and the coveralled rep was already trying to get the blown tire off the van. Turns out he'd come upon Melanie and the girls a minute after she'd gotten off the phone with me. The Woodside exit was the northern end of his route and he was turning around to head south on 101. His job is to patrol 101 looking for breakdowns and flat tires to get the victims off the shoulder as quickly as possible so as to thwart looky-loos from slowing down all the rush hour traffic passing by the scene of the breakdown.
Within minutes he had the spare tire on and the shredded original in the back of the minivan. Very efficient, very friendly, very helpful. All I had in my pocket was $18 cash, so I pushed all of it into his hand even though he said "it's a free service." His helping us out in a jam was worth so much more than that.
We didn't make it to the Goodyear shop in time to get the minivan's tire replaced tonight. Melanie will have to do that in the morning.
I checked out TireRack tonight to get an idea how much it'll cost to buy a replacement Bridgestone Turanza EL42. It looks to be a $200 proposition (as long as the rim is still ok). And to pour salt in the wounds, based on feedback at the TireRack site, this particular tire model is a piece of shit anyway (2 in 10 would buy the tire again, given the chance). We only managed just over 7,000 miles on this one. I wonder how long the others are going to last?
"I think the tire's going flat," is how she started our conversation.
"Where are you?" was my opening salvo.
"The Woodside exit, oh shit, the tire just came off. I'll talk to you later."
What?!? I called right back and got her to describe exactly where she was. I also got her to confirm that she was standing so that the van was between her and traffic. With that knowledge tucked in my belt, I got Dan to give me a ride in his car to the scene.
Five minutes later, as we neared, I was so very glad to see that one of the CHP Freeway Service Patrol trucks was pulled up behind our minivan and the coveralled rep was already trying to get the blown tire off the van. Turns out he'd come upon Melanie and the girls a minute after she'd gotten off the phone with me. The Woodside exit was the northern end of his route and he was turning around to head south on 101. His job is to patrol 101 looking for breakdowns and flat tires to get the victims off the shoulder as quickly as possible so as to thwart looky-loos from slowing down all the rush hour traffic passing by the scene of the breakdown.
Within minutes he had the spare tire on and the shredded original in the back of the minivan. Very efficient, very friendly, very helpful. All I had in my pocket was $18 cash, so I pushed all of it into his hand even though he said "it's a free service." His helping us out in a jam was worth so much more than that.
We didn't make it to the Goodyear shop in time to get the minivan's tire replaced tonight. Melanie will have to do that in the morning.
I checked out TireRack tonight to get an idea how much it'll cost to buy a replacement Bridgestone Turanza EL42. It looks to be a $200 proposition (as long as the rim is still ok). And to pour salt in the wounds, based on feedback at the TireRack site, this particular tire model is a piece of shit anyway (2 in 10 would buy the tire again, given the chance). We only managed just over 7,000 miles on this one. I wonder how long the others are going to last?
rule of thumb: the cost of moving
We suddenly find ourselves neck-deep in the home-buying process and one of the things we have to calculate is how much it'll cost to move all our stuff from one address to the other.
Thanks to the folks at Cor-O-Van, we have this nifty rule of thumb on calculating the costs:
Thanks to the folks at Cor-O-Van, we have this nifty rule of thumb on calculating the costs:
- A loose approximation would be to assume an hour for each room of furnishings, or each 1000 pounds of goods to be moved.
- Add an hour for each flight of stairs and or elevator, at either end of the move.
- Add additional men for extra heavy items like a piano or large appliances & over-sized furniture.
- Do not forget to make allowance for the time to drive from one address to the other, then double the drive time as a truck can take much longer to make the trip.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
gold star: diaper wallet
on my way to looking up reviews and opinions on car seats for the little one, I come across this parent hack entry.
How frickin' brilliant is this? Granted Hannah's finally grown out of her pullups, I've still got plenty of months ahead of me to change Charlotte's diapers.
I gotta make me one when I get home.
How frickin' brilliant is this? Granted Hannah's finally grown out of her pullups, I've still got plenty of months ahead of me to change Charlotte's diapers.
I gotta make me one when I get home.
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