everyone's mail but mine

I just mailed out some books the other day, and I couldn't believe how much postage is costing me these days. I used to think that people who charged anything more than $3 for shipping a book were ripping me off, but now I know better. Even at the media mail rate, you can barely ship a book out for less than than $3, unless you are somehow getting your mailing envelops for free.

I guess this is a sign of the times, what with the decline of written personal correspondence due to the popularity of email. Unfortunately, it seems to me that the overall service of the mail has also gone down in recent years. Maybe it is just the town that I live in, but I have a post office box, and they can't seem to get anything right. I have had several clients who sent me checks that I never received in my box. And it seems that every time I check my box, there is someone else's mail in it. So who is getting all of my mail?

Based on the amount of mail that I get addressed to someone else, you would think that I had a community mailbox. The funny thing is that even though I only use the box for business, I get all kinds of misdirected correspondence. I get credit card offers, insurance bills, paychecks and tax returns, forwarded mail from other post office boxes, birthday cards, and even lingerie catalogs - all addressed to other people. What's next? Quinceanera invitations? Bar-Mitzvah announcements? Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes notices? Some well-concealed cash would be nice.

It's fairly obvious that the raise in the price of postage hasn't done anything to improve the service in my area. I guess they're just trying to keep up with inflation and the rising cost of gas. Every monopoly has its day...but what business owner in his right mind would want to take on this one?

intermittent car problems are the worst

We recently took a long roadtrip to visit our relatives. Before we left, I had noticed a strange clicking noise coming from the passenger side of our car. So I took it in to the mechanic, and they suggested that we replace the axle. That seemed to work - for a few days. Then the ticking noise returned. So I took the car back in, and when they checked it, the noise was gone. I was standing right there, and I couldn't hear it anymore, either. What a pain.

How can I expect the mechanic to diagnose the noise problem if the noise disappears? I'm sure you can guess what I heard coming from the underside of the vehicle the next day, can't you? Yep, the ticking returned promptly. Unfortunately, I wasn't in a position to take it back to the mechanic. So I waited another couple of days until my schedule permitted a visit back to his shop. Fast forward a few days, and I finally made it to his shop. I left the car running, and asked him to come out and have a listen. By the time he got to the parking lot, the ticking had almost completely subsided. What gives? He said that we could bring it back in a few days and he could try and lube a few things to see if that would help. Unfortunately, our vacation was coming too soon to leave the car in the shop, so we delayed taking it in until we got back.

Now we're back home, and the sound keeps coming and going. I don't know whether to bother taking the car in or not. Obviously, I can live with the noise - I was just worried that it may be a sign of some other problem. Since the car was able to drive about 2,000 miles with no problem, I may just live with the noise. That's what loud car stereos are for, right? Now if it was something more pressing, like a potential safety issue, or if the a/c compressor had crapped out on me (summertime humidity here is rough), you know I'd be the first in line at the automotive shop. But a little ticking here and there?

I guess I can live with it for now...

taking the coddle from my kids

We took our kids swimming in a nearby lake last week. It was the first time that they had tried swimming in anything but a swimming pool. At first, my daughter totally freaked out. She was climbing down the ladder from the dock, and her feet were slipping on algae. I had to explain to her that algae is nothing to be afraid of. You'd think she would have already known this, seeing as she has a fish tank at home that has had algae in it. But I guess stepping foot into dark green lake waters for the first time can be a little intimidating. Admittedly, I didn't exactly dive in head first, either. It had been about twenty years since I had gone swimming in a lake. But once we are all in, it was difficult to get them to leave, as expected.

I think it is good for our kids to get their dose of raw nature now and then. Otherwise, we run the risk of overprotecting them, and having them mature into scaredy-cats. Plus, one of the primary reasons we moved to the Ozarks in the first place was the fact that it doesn't resemble the perfectly manicured lawns of suburbia in any way. And I don't regret it (except when we get tick bites - I hate it when that happens.)

Next up on our list of places to swim is an area near Eureka Springs called Hogscald. It is a magical place, and there are a great many waterfalls and other natural water features that are in rare form right now, thanks to all of the rain that we have been seeing.

the sign of a dying forum

It's sad but it seems like these days we cannot help but run across spam. Even if you manage to thwart it off in your own personal inbox, you're bound to still see it in forums, on websites and chat groups, and of course in your messaging boxes on the various social networking sites that are out there.

Lately, I've been noticing a flood of spam on several of the online forums that I visit. I don't know if the spammers have suddenly figured out how to get past the built-in anti-spam features of BB software, or if spammers are actually hiring live people to do their work for them instead of robots. But either way, it is a shame, and it is a sign that a forum may be on its way out.

When the moderator of a forum can't filter out the Viagra, Rolex and Anoretix weight-loss messages from the legitimate ones, it turns off subscribers to the forum. For example, if I am reading threads on a music forum, the last thing I need to see between a post about my favorite band being on tour and the latest albums being released are off-topic plugs for affiliate marketing sites, bogus college degrees, and get-rich-quick schemes.

I must admit that I do feel bad for moderators, as they certainly have their hands full. Aside from the incoming spam, they have to deal with the trolls and the vulgar members of our online communities, and apply swift justice to those looking to break the rules of netiquette. It's certainly a job I wouldn't take on without a lot of thought.

a new source for one-off cd duplication

In the world of indie musicians, it is fairly common to have several boxes of backstock CDs that you cannot sell. They may be sitting in your basement or in a closet, or a garage. Either way, they take up space and most musicians will do just about anything to move them. I've given CDs away, brought boxes of them to record stores to try and pawn them off there, included them as "freebies" with other sales.

Unfortunately, if you want a professional product, you need to press a minimum of 500 discs at a time. (There are a few companies that advertise 300, but the price per disc is very inflated). Then there are companies that do professional looking CDR duplications. Most offer a product somewhere in the $3-$4 range. Along comes Kunaki.com, a company that says it is merely a "machine". There is no customer service, no live person to talk to. You simply upload your product, "it" databases your music and art, and spits out copies when you need them. They'll even send you a free copy to see how it will look like. Sounds promising enough.

At $1.75 per disc, their price makes it even more attractive. Unfortunately, they quickly make up for that with $5 shipping for one disc. If you want to save, you need to order in bulk. If you order about 10 copies, you can get it down to $3 per disc (shipping included). The artwork looks a little fuzzy on the disc face, and their software couldn't preview my 16bit art for some reason. Aside from the three hours it took to upload my product to them online, it was pretty painless.

Best of all, you're not left sitting on hundreds of copies of CDs that you cannot sell. I'll have to report on my experience with them in the future, as I just uploaded my first album to them. But so far, so good.

the time of the month...for cellular therapy?

There's a controversial new article making the rounds, courtesy of large sites like CNNMoney, regarding a new technology that centers around future stem research potential. Similar to the idea of having your body cryogenically frozen so that it may be "healed" of its ills in the future (when medical technology is much more advanced). Rumor has it that Walt Disney believed it enough to have his own body frozen. However, many have dismissed this rumor as just that - a rumor.

Whether you believe it or not, there are corporations out there who take the concept of "stalling for a cure" very seriously. From cord blood and stem cell research to this latest article on stem cells via menstrual blood, as a society we have always been fascinated with death and how our future technologies might affect it. Some find these suggestions offensive. Others believe that they are sacrilegious, or simply ridiculous. Personally, I don't know where I stand on these issues, but the cost is too prohibitive for me at this time.

Regardless of the ethical stance one might take, we cannot argue that the idea of curing fatal diseases and eradicating genetic flaws is appealing. Anything that reduces human suffering is a noble pursuit.

Here's the press release:

Taking Control: Future Therapies for a Host of Serious Diseases May Be Found in Women's Menstrual Blood

July 07, 2008: 01:28 PM EST


OLDSMAR, Fla., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With today’s hectic lifestyle, where most women are juggling careers, family, relationships, and a host of activities, the idea of possibly facing a serious illness in the future is not something that readily comes to mind -- especially when a woman is in the prime of her life. But what most women don’t know, is that the key to treating a number of possibly life-threatening diseases that she, a parent, a sibling or even her children may face in later years, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, may be found within her own body -- in vital stem cells, which can now be harvested from her own menstrual blood.

Now, thanks to the revolutionary research and technology of C’elle, a service dedicated to providing women with a safe and easy method of collecting and preserving stem cells found in her menstrual fluid each month, even the busiest woman can take control of her future, right in the privacy of her own home. With C’elle’s non-invasive collection process, menstrual cells are processed and cryo-preserved (stored at a very low temperature) for potential cellular therapies that may be used in the future. These self-renewing cells one day may even be used for sports medicine or cosmeceutical treatments, such as anti-aging therapies.

"C’elle enables and empowers a woman to take control of her future health, and possibly of those genetically closest to her, in a fast, painless and stress free way," said Michelle Kay, Marketing and Sales Manager for C’elle. "We live in exciting times, as science and technology are discovering how extremely valuable menstrual blood stem cells really are, and the enormous treatment potential they represent for future therapies. C’elle’s ongoing research is supporting these promising findings."

For more information about C’elle, please call 1-877-892-3553 or visit www.celle.com.

the elusive online price

In this global economy of immediate gratification and online shopping, I am finding it hard to believe that certain items still cannot be priced over the internet. Particularly in the construction industry, I am having a very difficult time finding online prices of standard items such as windows. What gives?

I don't feel like contacting some strange company halfway across the country just so that I can get an idea of what the windows in my new home will cost. The last thing that I need is a bunch of sales calls from someone at a window company.

It's actually pretty pathetic. While some aspects of online shopping have become easier and more streamlined, others have only gotten worse. In many cases, if you search for an item, you will get results for fake "articles" written by self-prescribed "professionals" with links to an affiliate site. Many want you to plug your personal info into a form so that they can sell your email address. Other "articles" direct you to a site that promises the exact info you are looking for, only to deliver a handful of paid advertising links.

I thought Google was supposed to be filtering the internet for relevancy. Could it be that for many of these searches, there are *no* relevant sites that aren't centered around affiliate links and paid advertising? Pretty sad...

social media for pet owners

The latest in the string of social networking offerings is a site for owners of pets called zootoo.com. Like most social media sites, it is driven by user content, and includes a pet services directory, journals, videos, targeted pet groups, pet radio with famed Pet Talk host Harrison Forbes, and a collection of useful forum-style questions and answers.



What makes this site a little different is the fact that they help pet shelters and rescue groups around the country in the form of shelter makeovers. So while other sites' profits fall entirely into the pockets of some large media mogul, in this case you can feel a little better about some of those profits going towards a cause that you believe in.

The site automatically finds your locale based on your IP, and you then have the option to find fellow pet owners by your pet type and breed. The website also has some fun photo comparison contests and an interesting section called "Pet Wars". Now before you go rushing off to PETA, this isn't a "battle" between pets in any way. Rather, it is, as they state on their site, the "first cuteness contest for ALL pets in America." Sounds like a real challenge...dogs versus cats...birds versus reptiles.

living vicariously through your online identity

It is common knowledge that people act differently online than in their everyday physical lives. From the comfort of a somewhat anonymous computer screen, the ugly duckling is a swan, the shy boy is a ladies man, relatively unknowns are infamous, and some men are women (?). Social networking sites have only contributed more to this phenomena. Is this healthy?

Are we living vicariously through these online profiles? Are we "trying out" who we *could* be with our lives, while not affecting those in our actual lives? Or will these online masks, these pretend lives, eventually catch up with our real lives?

a digital family heirloom?

When my children grow up, what type of family heirlooms will they receive from me? I have an old rocking chair that was passed down from my grandmother, and I have some old family photos, but when it comes to the photos that we have taken, many of them only exist in digital form.

At first, once we started using our digital camera in lieu of our 35mm, we would wait a month or two to get prints. That span eventually became six months, and then a year. Then we tried printing them ourselves, which we found to be costly and lacking in consistency. So we quit printing them altogether. It was too easy to just keep the photos on the PC, digital frame, or a disc that we can insert into our DVD player and view as a family. When I have time, I sit down and put together a slideshow, syncing the photos to music. Is this what I am supposed to hand over to our children when they have families of their own? One of the options that I have been considering are the print-on-demand services that allow you to upload photos which they will print into a nice hard-bound book for you. It's a little pricey, though.

I understand how much easier it is to just make copies of digital media for everyone, but it just doesn't seem very personal to me.

is it wrong to rely on government health care?

One of the big debates looming on the horizon is the government health care issue. Numerous presidential candidates spoke of a national health care plan, while some avoided the subject altogether, as if to believe that our system works just fine. Some say it is a nod towards socialism, as if there were no socialist ideas already implemented here in the United States (think public schools, social security, etc).

Most Americans fully expect to receive social security when they qualify for it. Those that don't, suspect that it will be gone by the time they qualify (and I can't say that I blame them for that belief). However, it is also understood that social security alone will not be adequate for the rising cost of health care and our increased need for it as we age. So we take our hard-earned money and invest in supplement plans like medigap to cover costs that aren't picked up by programs like Medicare.

Regardless of whether you believe in the benefits of a little socialism here and there, you can't deny that social security and Medicare (as they exist today) are not adequate, and that it is a shame that anyone in this country (particularly the elderly) should have to live without sufficient medical care. It is also a very disturbing thought when we see how much financial assistance is being poured into countries in the middle east.