luring with fuel

One of the interesting side-effects of our current oil crisis is the unique approach that some businesses are taking by luring their customers in with the promise of cheap gas. At first, the ideas were pretty basic - spend a night at our hotel and we'll give you a $10 gas card. Then, cities like Branson went one step further and actually offered a limited time $1.99 unleaded gas promotion for visitors. A number of car manufacturers are now offering gas "guarantees" that state that they will cover the cost of any gallon that rises over $2.99 for the first year. What remains to be seen is if any of these tactics are actually working. According to all major sources, we continue to fall into a recession as each day passes, so my guess is that these "band-aid" ideas are seen as little more than gimmicks to the common consumer.

But you have to admit that it is a sad state of affairs when tourists are making their travel plans based on what kind of gas discounts they can get instead of what kind of hotel deals they can find. What is also sad is the negative effect that this is having on *all* industries - not just tourism.

divorcing from money

I suspect that our current national crisis has more to do with our relationship with money than any other factors. Everyone claims to live their life in the pursuit of happiness, but we have lost sight of what will give us true happiness. We work more to spend more, instead of spending less so that we have more time off. Why work until you are seventy years old so that you can spend your retirement in an old folks home, and saddled with debilitating diseases brought on by years of office stress?

A friend recently argued with me, stating that we all need money to survive. I am not denying that, but I do disagree with *how much* money most people believe that they need to survive. Everything is relative, and it is interesting that in some areas of the country folks can live comfortably on less than $20k a year. Why the difference? Is it simply the housing market and cost of living, or does it have more to do with the decisions that they have made and the objects that they purchase? I suspect that it has more to do with the latter, which would mean that location isn't the only thing holding us back.

Granted, it is difficult to change your lifestyle when you are surrounded by a community who lives differently. Imagine an Amishman trying to live in Los Angeles. It is also difficult when certain money-hungry cultural and regional traditions or beliefs have been embedded into our lives. Look at our current approach to nearly any holiday, and you'll understand what I mean. It's easy to say that you're not going to buy into yet another holiday that is being used as an excuse to give gifts and expensive throwaway greeting cards, but what kind of guilt do you experience when your friends and families haven't made the same decision, and they send you a gift or card for which they will not receive one in return?

The marketing industry has crept into every nook and cranny of our personal lives, and will not be happy until they've raised the expenditures for every holiday to the point of taking on more debt. Colored eggs and candy were once adequate to put a smile on any child's face for Easter. Now we've got $300 inflatable vinyl rabbits for the front lawn. For Halloween, we now have greeting cards and plastic tombstones to purchase. Next year, it may be faux cadavers and an inflatable hearse.

Weddings have already passed into the realm of deep debt. It's fairly common for parents of brides to take on a second mortgage to pay for a wedding. Does anyone really need a Hummer limo and an $8000 wedding dress? Even if you aren't a parent or a bride-to-be, as a member of the wedding party, you'll have expensive attire to rent, shower and wedding gifts, time that you'll need to take off of work, and bachelor and bachelorette parties (with bottomless booze and strippers) to fund. Maybe if you're lucky, in addition to that dress that you'll wear maybe one more time before you can't fit into it anymore, you'll get some nice bridesmaid gifts out of it. And with our society's relaxed attitude towards divorce, there's no guarantee that this wedding will be a unique event. Give it a few years, and the idea of reciprocal gifts for all who attend the wedding ceremony will be commonplace.

There's nothing wrong with a gift here and there for a special occasion, but let's not get carried away. We just need to simplify things and quit making the special events of our lives revolve around how much we have spent. In a nutshell, we need to quit spending money as if it were going out of style. Then again, maybe that is exactly what is happening...we just haven't (as a nation) caught that sort of "fashion bug" yet.

the new depression?

So everyone is talking about the end of America as we know it. With gas prices at an all-time high (with no apparent end in sight), America's flooded heartland in Iowa, and the poor performance of the stock market as of late, people are worried. And I don't really blame them. The real estate industry is seeing a total slump in most areas. I can attend firsthand that some areas of e-commerce are seeing less sales, even if the cost of gas is making online purchases more desirable. So what do we do now?

Our presidential hopefuls seem to think that they can stimulate our economy in some way and prevent another depression, but I suspect that (like so many former presidents) they are only blowing smoke.

Personally, I am trying to position myself and prepare for the worst. Even if a depression doesn't occur, there is nothing wrong with simplifying your lifestyle, spending less, and trying to live a more self-sustained existence. Of course, the media and the government would prefer that we spend more cash on *things* to try and bolster the economy, but if we spend all of our savings and the economy totally tanks anyway, we will be in much worse shape than if we had some cash saved up.

old school wheels

Speaking of skateboards, did you know that you can build your own old school board online? Check out the Warehouse Skateboards site for an easy to use custom board builder. You can pick old school styles that are up to 10" in width. All of the old favorite brands are there - from Alva, to Santa Cruz and Powell Peralta. It's slick. Personally, I've got my eye on a Creature deck that reminds me a little of the old Vision styled skateboards from the 80's (complete with black and yellow striped griptape!). They do free shipping on orders over $150, too.

And of course, for those of you with less imagination (and time), they have completes for some really reasonable prices. If I can't get the local library to install some bike racks soon, I think I'm going to have to just build a new board and take to the streets again. And who knows? Maybe people will see this as a sign of the economy and rising price of gas, instead of seeing me as a troublemaker like they used to.

How are you dealing with the gas crisis?

Let's be honest here - it is a *crisis*. How can we call it anything else? Inflation? Pfaw! This is something that the majority of Americans cannot do without. One cannot simply stop driving to work. If you're lucky, you might be able to setup a carpool, but that doesn't always work out.

Personally, I had already made great strides towards minimizing my dependence on gas. We manage to survive with only one vehicle, and since we moved to a small town we don't drive much. Unfortunately, we still have to fill up now and then. Yesterday, I spent nearly $75 at the pump. Not only was my car running on empty, but I had to fill a portable container so that I could also gas up my lawnmower. And even though we only fill up about once a month now, it still stung. We tried riding the bus for a while, but found that it never runs when/where we need it to, and they recently raised the cost of a monthly pass so much that I could buy a new bike every month for the cost of passes for my family. So what is the next step?

While the recent announcement of a hydrogen-powered vehicle is exciting, it isn't going to be available to most Americans for quite some time (if ever). And those hybrids are great but still overpriced. I have noticed more motorcycles and scooters on the road lately, but I don't see those as viable family transportation without additional sidecars. Our home is for sale right now, and our new location will be closer to town, so we plan on biking more often at that point. Unfortunately, I still have to buy myself a bike, so that is going to set me back at least a hundred dollars (and that would be for a Wal-Mart special). Another thing that bothers me is the fact that our town doesn't have any bike racks. While it may seem silly to want to lock-up a bike that only costs me $100, that would still be $100 lost if it were stolen.

Now don't get me wrong - I trust the locals in this town. I'm just not so sure about some of the residents of neighboring towns, or some of the rowdier tourist-types who might have their hearts set on some mischief. So what are my options? For one, I'm going to talk to some of the establishments downtown about setting up bikeracks. I'd bet that I could get some donations to cover the cost. We've got a ton of "green-minded" individuals in town as it is. Another option might be to pick up one of those razor scooters that folds up in your backpack. Or I could even try skateboarding, although the steep grades of some of the roads is a bit intimidating.

I guess I could walk, too...

you took the class, but what did you learn?

I was so bummed out while we were visiting Denver last week, as I didn't get to hang out with a good friend of mine because he had to work overtime at the last minute. He is a supervisor over some cable installation techs and there shouldn't have been a problem, but when one of his techs apparently didn't know what he was doing, my friend had to clean up the mess. It's a shame really. My friend said that he doesn't know why the tech screwed up the installation so bad, as he had been fully trained. Unfortunately, it appears that my friend has fallen prey to the same dilemma that many companies face. They pay their employees to attend a training seminar, but they have no way of knowing whether the employee walks away with the knowledge that he needs to do the job correctly.

The way I see it, my friend (as their boss) has two options to avoid this problem in the future. Either test all of his techs for proficiency after training (which can be expensive and time-consuming), or pick up some sort of training management software to streamline everything. I think he's going to opt for the latter choice, so as to not find himself working late nights every now and then to cover his techs' mistakes. Conductor is great software because they let you try it out for free for 30 days. In my friend's case, they do so many jobs that he should be able to see results within a week or two...basically as soon as he has managed to design his training program and have his techs complete it. As a bonus, the software allows integration of many of the extensive requirements of groups like OSHA, ISO, and the JCAHO. It also allows you to setup filters so that you can better organize who you are training, and what modules they can (or need to) access.

I can't see any reason why more businesses wouldn't opt to use a piece of software like this, short of not knowing that it exists.

karma

Several days ago, while on "vacation" with my family, I ranted a little bit about my mother-in-law's place smelling bad. Well, wouldn't you know that when we got home our own house smelled horrible? It must be the kitchen sink, as the trash can was empty. Even worse, we had several home showings while we were gone, and some of the potential buyers noticed the smell enough to mention it to our agent.

So there you have it - karma at its finest. I complain about my mother-in-law's stinky abode, and my own gets in a funk while we're away. Just wonderful.

how small can we live?

That's the question that is foremost on my mind right now. I'm planning on downsizing as soon as we can sell our house, and I've been reading lots of books about the efficient use of space in home design. From what I have read thus far, it seems as though we will only be limited by zoning, local codes, and whatever others say about us that we allow to bother us. Fortunately, we will be building our new home in an area that is outside of city limits and building inspections, so that should help.

We are also redefining what we think about houses, including the idea of traditional rooms (living room, dining room, kitchen, etc). Although I do still see the benefit of private versus public space, the concept of having formal rooms for each activity gets negated pretty fast when trying to cut down floor plan space. You quickly realize that many rooms can serve double-duty, either via convertible walls and built-ins or simply by re-arranging the furniture.

My parents think we are crazy. They can't imagine a family of four living in anything less than 2000 square feet. We're hoping to live in something half of that size...or less! But that has more to do with their experience than anything else. Just because someone has lived in a cramped space doesn't mean that all small spaces are bad. They just need to be well designed. I told my father how much I was estimating for basic construction and he couldn't believe it. He said that he has spent more on appliances than we are going to try and spend on our whole house. Of course, he is a custom home builder so when he thinks of appliances, he's talking about top-of-the-line stainless appliances, six-burner stoves, front load washer and dryer, and the obligatory wine refrigerator. We're actually leaning towards apartment sized appliances and weekly visits to the laundromat.

glad to be home

Well, I must admit that our little jaunt to Denver has completely reaffirmed our decision to move to a smaller town. Although we initially were drawn here by the lack of traffic congestion, lower cost of living, and numerous types of creative small business opportunity, living here has also granted us the chance to start over again with a new style of living. Granted, we could still be living simply in Colorado, but it wouldn't be as easy on us or our children. After only one week in Denver, my children were getting accustomed to the television, fast food, and manicured lawns of the burbs. It's hard to avoid when it is *everywhere*.

Not that there is anything wrong with manicured lawns or suburbia, provided that you have the energy, inspiration, and expense required to maintain it. Personally, I couldn't stand it. Outward appearance doesn't always equate to inner enjoyment, as my weekly lawn-cutting outings proved. I also found it ridiculous to try and re-climatize what is essentially a desert or grassy plain with water-thirsty lawns. If the city of Denver quit watering their lawns for a week or two, they would go dormant or dead. Talk about trying to fit a square peg into a round hole...

So yes, it is good to be home - back in small town America, where things move slower and we adjust to the seasons, instead of trying to adjust the seasons themselves.

family visits are not vacations!

I'm writing this little post from the spare bedroom of my mother-in-law's place, which always smells like mothballs and farts. It also has tiny toilets that are not "man-friendly", if you know what I mean. She bought the place more than ten years ago, replaced the carpet and painted all the walls, and it still smells horrible. Maybe she needs her ducts cleaned. Maybe it is her.

I think this is the last trip to visit family that we will be making in a long time. The 900+ mile roadtrip across Kansas is anything but enjoyable, particularly with the children in tow. It takes twice as long to drive as it should, since the kids have to use the bathroom every half-hour. (When they are home, they poop once a day. While traveling, they go four or five times a day. I'm starting to think that they enjoy touring public restrooms or something.) Gas is now ridiculously expensive, and I'm tired of using up my free hotel nights (earned throughout the year with credit card purchases) on these hellish journeys. When we arrive here in Denver, the wind and dryness is absolute murder on my sinus cavities, and every time I blow my nose it looks like a kleenex full of blended raspberries. Yuck!

The kids also act horrible when we come here - a result of being overstimulated, exhausted, and spoiled rotten by their grandparents. Our family members fight over our time, and always feel cheated even if we plan outings specifically with each one of them. Regardless of how well we coordinate the visit, they are never satisfied. On top of all of that, my wife and I get zero time alone and the guest bedroom doesn't even have a lock. So no nookie! Honestly, this is it. No more traveling to visit family. If they want to see us, they can come visit us from now on.

packing light gets harder as you multiply

My wife and I used to think we were hip, light travelers - we even hoped to book ourselves a backpacking trip for Southern France at one point. We could survive on a few pairs of underwear and socks, a bar of soap, and some light, layered clothing. Traveling light makes for such an easier trip. There's less baggage to carry, less to pack and unpack, and you can usually skip the baggage claim altogether if your bags are small enough to be carried on a plane. We took many of these "light-footed" trips when we were younger and saw no reason to change our travel style.

Then we had kids and reality hit. At first, there was the baby furniture that we had to bring along - the playpen, the stroller, the carseat, etc. Sure, you can get a playpen at most hotels nowadays (with some other kid's vomit and urine stains all over it), but stroller and carseat rental is ridiculously expensive. Carseats can easily add an extra $5 or $10 per day to your auto rental, and there have been numerous reports about family vacation destinations like Disney World charging more for stroller rentals than one would pay for a car rental. Although kids clothes are smaller and don't take up much room in a suitcase, they tend to get dirtier more often so we find that we sometimes have to bring several changes of clothing for each day.

So it looks like we won't be traveling quite as light as we would have hoped this summer. And it probably means that we'll be waiting at the baggage claim like everyone else. Honestly, I can't stand waiting for my luggage. Somehow, our suitcases are always the last to come down the ramp, and there's always some moron who mistakes one of our bags for his own. Sometimes, I find that security left one of our suitcases partially unzipped. That's always fun! I can imagine my stray bikini briefs tangled up somewhere in the conveyor belt system...

Airport security has become a real headache. I understand the reasons behind it, but I wish that everything didn't have to be so slow and difficult. Trying to get through security while holding our shoes in our hands with the kids at our sides is a real hassle. Why couldn't they just add x-ray machines under the floor? The security personnel are usually in a bad mood, too. I'd also like to know how they can avoid being responsible for damaging people's luggage and other personal belongings. My laptop bag once got ripped going through the x-ray, and as I've already mentioned, they've managed to break the zippers on our luggage several times in the past. Let's just say that I am glad that we haven't yet splurged on an expensive set of Briggs and Riley or Andiamo luggage. It stings enough just to see our little American Tourister set tumble down the conveyor belt with duct-tap wrapped around it!

of sex shops and privacy

Of all the retail stores on the internet, stores that sell adult toys and lingerie should be sitting near the top of the list when it comes to protecting customer privacy. Unfortunately, I recently discovered just the opposite to be true. There is such a store from which I have purchased a few gifts for my wife. I won't mention the store name, but let's just say that it is named after two biblical characters - two very early biblical characters. ;)

I've made a few purchases over the years, and haven't really had any trouble with their service. Their shipping is sometimes slow, but they deliver items discreetly and their prices are competitive. We've had a couple of items that were mis-described in their store, but nothing earth-shattering (vinyl versus real leather!). Honestly, I only make purchases with them about once or twice a year, so I don't have too many experiences.

Like any other retail site, I provided a dedicated email address when I registered. I like to do this so that I can better track my email, and if I start seeing spam, I know exactly where it is coming from. A couple of weeks ago, I started seeing spam arrive in this mailbox. It was all of the typical stuff - the badly HTML-formatted messages trying to sell me Rolex watches, Viagra or Phentermine. You get the picture; certainly not store-related sale announcements (although I guess you could argue the relativity of Viagra to sex shops). None-the-less, I immediately contacted their customer service department, and after a day or so received a reply. It was a canned response apologizing for the inconvenience, with a promise to have my name removed from their future marketing lists. Gee, thanks but no thanks! Once you've sold my email address, you can't just take it back.

So, I deleted that dedicated email address and I won't order from them again. I hope it was worth whatever money they made selling their customers down river. Lame!

do my kids need to know their grandpa?

So my father-in-law recently hooked up with a new girlfriend and decided to retire and relocate to Arizona. We haven't seen him in several years, but would like the kids to know their grandfather. Unfortunately, the only time that we have for vacations seems to be in the middle of the summer, and I certainly don't feel like traveling in that kind of desert heat. So what are we supposed to do?

First, there's the obvious choice - try and convince "Grandpa" to take a trip and visit us instead. Seeing as I have already mentioned that we haven't seen him in several years, you can probably guess how well that plan is working for us thus far. Apparently, his new girlfriend wants nothing to do with his old life - hence the relocation and the fact that he only calls us when she isn't around. She prefers to pretend that his former marriage never existed, although my wife and our children are the inconvenient proof of it. So at this point, we have to make a decision. Do we bite the bullet, and sweat like pigs driving across the desert for him? Is it worth the expense? The last time we took a roadtrip through a desert area was on a trip to California and we had to stop in Nevada. The Reno hotels were very expensive. It was as if they were taking advantage of the fact that they were the first "oasis" of a city that we ran into for several hundred miles. Maybe we just visited at the wrong time of the year. I guess we should have planned ahead and booked online. Will our stay at an Arizona hotel be the same way? Normally we would cut our expenses by staying with relatives, but I don't think we are welcome to do that in this case. Most of all, do I feel like using up our limited vacation time and spending tons of cash on gas (or even more on airfare) for a trip that will probably be miserable and uncomfortable?

There comes a time when you have to make a decision about unhealthy family relationships. I know the old saying says that "family is forever", but isn't family also a two-sided street? If Grandpa wants a relationship with his grandchildren, he is going to have to stand up to his new wife-to-be. If not, well I hope he has fun with his new life/wife in the desert.

a sucker for murals

Ever since I was a kid, I've been a sucker for a good wall mural. Maybe it's because I am still a hopeless dreamer. Or maybe I just like to feel like I'm outside when I'm inside. I remember my Father taking me to the local hardware store, where I saw my first bedroom mural - one of those nifty moonwalk scenes that covers an entire wall. They also had one that made you feel like you were in the jungle. I always thought it would be neat to have one of those as a kid, so I plan on someday painting one for my kids in their bedrooms.

Fast forward twenty years or so, and some ingenious media specialist came up with the idea of televised fishtanks and fireplaces. Of course, there's been a bit of backlash from the fishtank elitists, but for the most part we can all understand the benefit of having an aquarium that you can turn on or off, and never have to clean. I have noticed that they are always stocked with the most expensive and exotic tropical species, too. (Sorry, I just can't see paying $50 for a fish.)

Today, I ran across a new form of mural - for hot tubs.




In addition to the fancy decking surrounds and other high-end hot tub accessories on the market, you now have the affordable option of adding a customized mural for the underside of your hot tub cover. Normally, the backside of a cover is a dull gray or brown, and it makes for a slight eyesore sitting next to the hot tub while in use. But with these new SpaScenes products, you can add a little bit of sunset, beach, or waterfall to your private spa getaway without having to actually maintain a surrounding landscape. It's another one of those maintenance-free alternatives that often makes us wonder, "why didn't I think of that?"

Best of all, it fits in perfectly with my little mural obsession.

the garage sale career

Can you believe that there are people who make a living by running a year-long garage sale? Personally, I can barely make it through a weekend of running a garage sale, but I have been noticing that in many of the small Ozark towns there are folks who place permanent "yard sale" signs in front of their homes. Many of these homes have highway frontage, and bank on the fact that there are lots of out-of-town travelers passing by. But who in their right mind feels like manning a garage sale all year long? Certainly not me.

I can understand why someone might want to park used Harleys or classical cars that they have for sale in front of their homes, at least on weekends with high visibility, but I just don't have the patience to sit in my yard all day every day waiting for someone to buy my junk. I don't care how convenient it is - that form of "work from home" nickel and diming just has no appeal to me. Sometimes I think that these people are simply using their yard as a waste receptacle, and have no real intention of doing anything with it. If it sells, great. If not, they let it sit - in the rain, snow or shine.

my computer died!

It finally happened. After years of problem-free computer ownership, I finally had a hard drive crash. It started out with occasional clicking noises, and then the system would hang when I went to reboot. Eventually, it turned off for good and wouldn't boot back up. I tried problem solving it - disconnected all peripherals, swapped out the ram, replaced the CMOS battery, and tried some new IDE cables. But nothing fixed the problem. Lucky for me, the drive is still under warranty for another three months, and I managed to back up everything from the drive to DVD-R before it crashed for good.

What is really strange is that a number of my neighbors have been reporting computer trouble in the last two weeks. I am wondering if there may be a connection. We have been seeing lots of inclement weather lately, including some dazzling lightning storms. I always try to disconnect my PCs during extreme weather, but I don't always get the chance. Now I'm just worried that if some lightning fried the system, there may be other issues with the motherboard that I won't see until I have mounted the replacement drive.

It is also a bit discouraging that this is the first PC that I would have a hard drive failure with, and it happens to be the fist PC that I built myself. :(

kids today have it easy

Isn't this what every generation says about the next? I remember hearing my parents lament about how they would have to walk miles to school as a kid, through rain and snow...uphill. We were fortunate to get rides or take the bus. However, aren't are parents to blame for making life easier on us in the first place? Weren't they involved in the progress that has happened since their own youth? If our childhood isn't building the amount of character that theirs did, why did they allow our childhood to be so much more sheltered?

Perhaps they had no choice. Perhaps we are all at the hands of marketers, and any old fashioned values that we try to hang onto will inevitably be replaced by whatever is popular on television. Where my parents spent their Saturdays at the cinema, I spent mine playing Atari. My kids watch a lot of television on Saturdays, but I suspect that they would be playing the latest video game if I felt the need to provide it to them.

As parents, we have to decide just what creature comforts we are going to allow for our children. It is not good enough to let the television educate them on what they need and what they don't. If we expect to retain any of our traditional beliefs and cultural values, we are going to have to teach them to our children in spite of what the television might say. It is not going to be easy to compete with the likes of movie stars, but we have to try. We have to determine whether it is better to always try and make our children's lives easier or if it better to let them "suffer" a little through their adolescence (for example). Isn't that what makes us who we are?

Obviously, there are certain new developments that we all would want for our children because they caused us such discomfort when we were their age. For example, I had pretty bad acne and the only acne treatment available from dermatologists involved painful dry ice applications and toxic creams that would dry my face out. Seeing as acne was a physically painful experience for my teenage years, I would be happy if something allowed my children to avoid it. I don't think it would qualify as overt coddling. Will I buy them cellphones because all of their friends have them, though? Doubtful.

my stumbleupon heroes

As I've mentioned before, I've become quite active on StumbleUpon. And while it is easy to find new sites via their Mozilla toolbar, it isn't as easy to find good ones. Affiliate marketers and web profiteers have been converging upon these social bookmarking sites in an order to "Stumble" their own sites. Fortunately, they are easy to recognize, and even easier to mark as invalid. All you need to do when you run across one of these sites is to check who submitted it. From there, you can go down the list and tag each site as "spam" or "scam" or "affiliate"...and hopefully it helps to weed these types of sites out for the next stumbler.

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that affiliate marketing has no place in social bookmarking. I'd just like these sites to be filed in the appropriate category - shopping, for example. Historic watches on eBay, in my opinion,l don't belong in the "history" category. I also believe that affiliate marketers should be using the toolbar and stumbling/rating other people's sites, too - not just their own.

There are a group of stumblers (my heroes) who are taking it upon themselves to expose these scam artists for what the are. Thank goodness for that.