New Router Arrived and Is Working For Now

Not having easy internet access is not a bad thing. I've been doing a lot of reading and today we took my mom on a number of errands she needed to do: the doctor, lunch, smog test, bank, and the library.

The router came after 5pm. I'd given up on seeing it today. It still had quirks to work out, but eventually got it working, both on my mom's computer and me via wifi.

Got to run down to the beach this morning. Also stopped at the 99¢ store where I bought four pair of sunglasses for 99¢ each plus tax. I lose sunglasses regularly and four pair in Anchorage would cost at least $30 and probably more. And I can't tell that the more expensive ones are any better.

Walgreens Store Opening Anchorage

Some regular readers my wonder if they are on the wrong blog.  But part of what I'm doing here is chronicling what happens in Anchorage - as I live it.  Last Wednesday I happened to be at Northern Lights and Seward Highway just as Walgreens was having its grand opening.

I was underwhelmed, in a very comfortable way.  This wasn't a super glitzy, high tech, over the top event.  This reminded me more of the US in the 1950s and early 60s. ("The 60's" in some ways is misleading - the first part was more like the Fifties.)

Flags, balloons, hot dogs, a brass band, Shriners, a drawing and a raffle, flowers, and they even had the recently won Kelly Cup.  People were happy, enjoying the hoopla and the sun.

Didn't know there was another Sea Wolves

A lot of businesses today seem bent on squeezing every penny out of their customers.  Hidden costs on cell phones, penalty fees at banks and credit cards, baggage fees at airlines seem to tell the customer - we've got you by the balls and there's nothing you can do about it.  Sure, there are smaller local businesses where the owners know your name and give you freebies now and then because they like you and appreciate your business. 

But I don't expect that any more from national corporations.  But Bruce Phillips, the regional rep for Alaska and 'half of Seattle' I think he said, sounded genuinely excited about the store opening and I felt he really had worked hard with his new store staff to make this store friendly to the neighborhood.  It could all be a good show based on marketing studies, but I don't think so.  I think it was genuine.  I had the sense that Walgreens gave him enough freedom to do what he wanted with this store opening and he was feeling good about the store and his staff and his work.  

Oh yes, my sound card ran out of memory just before they brought out the giant ceremonial check for $2500 for the Diabetes Association. 

You can watch the video and judge for yourself. 

No Bikes: Owen Told To Take His Money Elsewhere

A friend was by the other day and told me his tale of woe at Alaska USA Credit Union.  The lobby of the credit union was closed for renovation, so he took his bike around to the drive through lane, put several hundred dollars into the tube to be deposited and waited. 

You can hear Owen tell his own story below.





Even though the money was already to the teller, he was told he couldn't use the bike in the drive through. When he pointed out that the lobby was closed, he was told to go to another branch.

I called to check on their policy. Dustin told me that it varied from branch to branch. In some you can walk through the drive through.  Dustin figured it was the C Street branch because they've had some construction. He called them and they said they do not allow bikes in the drive through.

I called my own credit union - Credit Union 1 - and Kendra said she knew that people were able to walk through the drive through and didn't think there would be a problem with a bike, unless, of course, it was very crowded and the lobby was open.

I would add that Owen has been a member of AlaskaUSA for over 30 years. Since CU1 has no problems with walkers and bikers using the drive through when the lobby is closed, and other AlaskaUSA branches allow it, methinks this is one person who is just inflexible and unreasonable.

Ask, Help, Thanks - While Getting My Mac Fixed

I picked up my computer from the MacHaus about 9am yesterday.  He reset something and there was a $60+ charge.  But it worked.  Once I was home and on it for a short while, it suddenly shut down again.  And it was hot.  It restarted and I put an ice pack under it and it stayed on a while, but this wasn't going to work.

My Macbook is getting old for a Macbook - I bought it four years ago.  (OK, I think four years is a really short time for a good quality item to go bad, in general.  The computer people claim that in four years it will be out of date.  Generally it works fine, but I do need a lot more memory and speed with all the photos and videos I have.  But when I talk to the computer folks they act as if my Mac is well beyond the average life span.  But that's another post or five.)  I'm looking for a new one, but this shutting down is brand new and only began a few hours after I got it back with a new fan.  (The old one worked, but was getting really noisy.)

So I tried to call Ben, who sold it to me originally to get his thoughts.  He wasn't at work (at Best Buy, not the MacHaus - but Best Buy doesn't do actual repairs in town) but another Mac guy said that they shut down if they overheat.  Could they check if the new fan is working? (Remember, I'd already taken it in to MacHause twice.)  So that's why I was in the car and not on the bike.  Getting out to Dimond and then maybe to the MacHaus and then to the redistricting board meeting downtown wasn't going to happen if I was on the bike.

It turned out Best Buy's geek squad would have to charge $70 to open the computer and check the fan, so I went back to the MacHaus.  That's when I passed these guys with their cardboard signs.

If you click and enlarge you can read the sign - Ask, Help, Thanks

For folks outside of Anchorage, this may or may not be a familiar sight.  It has been in Anchorage.  But recently, our mayor has had this thing about the homeless and got the Assembly to pass a law that makes it  illegal to give beggars money in the street from your car and there's up to a $300 fine.  Are these real beggars or is this a police sting operation?  Just joking, but it did seem kind of in your face given the new law.  I didn't have time to stop to ask if business was down.  (Can you imagine a tourist in a rental car getting fined for giving $5 to a street beggar?  That will be interesting.  Let's hope the police just give a warning.)

I got to the MacHaus and while they acted like I was the problem, they did check out the fan.  Lo and behold, "it's seizing."  They ordered a new fan and it should be here today or tomorrow.  The tech guy was much nicer to me afterward and even agreed that I shouldn't have had to pay yesterday morning when I first got it back.  He did say what he did was for a different problem (the computer wasn't starting - just got to the white screen and the little icon twirling around), and I pointed out that had never happened until they 'fixed' the fan and the computer started heating up and shutting down.  Which also had never happened before.

With a new Apple store due to open in the Fifth Avenue Mall this summer, I expect there will be a shakedown of the other stores that sell and service Apple products.

I'm still on J's computer and I have a ton of things to post, and I'll try to get some up.  I also need to decide on a new computer.  Even fixed, I know it isn't going to be dependable for much longer.

Life Beyond the Redistricting Board

There is life beyond the Redistricting Board meetings.  The board got out early today - 3:30pm - and I walked home.   Most folks have trouble imagining walking to the University area from downtown, but it's only about 3.5 miles which isn't much if you went for a hike.  And I needed the exercise. 

Headed for the post office, I ran across what looked like the State Ombudsman office.  It turned out to be the State Library, which turned out not to be a book library, but a library for the visually impaired.  This is on the north side of what used to be called the Post Office mall downtown, near the post office.  But they directed me to the third floor, where I found the ombudsman's office.  I've published several ombudsman articles and book chapters on ombudsman offices, but had lost track of the Alaska ombudsman.  I thought they were headquartered in Juneau, but they are here in Anchorage.  But the ombudsman happened to be in Juneau this week. 














A little further on there was a man on the roof untangling the flag above the Mexican Consulate. 

On 15th at C St. there's a little mall on the north side with a little Camera Service shop.  This place is a reminder of the best of what we lose to big box stores - competent, reliable service.  Someone who can answer our questions and guide us to make the right decisions.  You can get used cameras there, accessories, and repairs.  The edge of my Canon Powershot that has the little hand strap had come off.  I figured out how to slip it back on, but I realized there were two empty screw holes.  He found some tiny screws to fit in and noticed another missing screw on a different side.  $6.  That may sound a lot for three tiny screws and putting them in, but he has a minimum charge of $37 for service.  So, if you need camera repairs, check out Camera Service Center and keep him in business in case I need more screws. 




I passed a pawn shop and saw all these cameras.  There were no Canon Powershots.
I feel uncomfortable with pawnshops, knowing many people have left stuff there because they had no money and they got pennies for the dollar for their things.  There's a lot of jewelery there.  But I did find a phillips head screwdriver.  Our two good screwdrivers are missing and I have a started project on hold for lack of a screwdriver.  $.49.

A bit further on I stopped in the Korean grocery.  They didn't have any bananas, but he offered some banana milk.  Not quite what I had in mind.  But I got a small piece of ginger. 

And on 36th I passed this bit of urban wilderness.

Damn You Regulators, Leave Our Popcorn Alone

A March 23, 2011  LA Times article says that the FDA is planning to require theaters to disclose the nutritional value of their snacks, including popcorn.  And the theater owners aren't happy.

Some highlights of the article:

Lots of Calories

A 2009 survey based on laboratory tests commissioned by the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington found that a large popcorn serving contained as much as 1,460 calories — which is the equivalent of eating nearly three McDonald's Big Macs.

The center's survey of the nation's three biggest chains found that a large popcorn at Regal packed 60 grams of saturated fat and 1,200 calories (260 calories more with butter topping), and the equivalent size at AMC theaters had 1,030 calories and 57 grams of saturated fat. A large popcorn at Cinemark, which uses canola oil, had 910 calories and 4 grams of fat.

Lots of Profits

As David Ownby, the chief financial officer of Regal Entertainment Group, the nation's largest theater circuit, recently said at an investor presentation, "We sell a bucket of popcorn for about $6. Our cost in that $6 bucket of popcorn is about 15 cents or 20 cents. So if that cost doubles, it doesn't really hurt me that much."

Lots of Denial

They argue that the proposed rules are an unwarranted intrusion into their business because people visit theaters to consume movies, not food.

"We're not restaurants where people go to eat and satisfy themselves," Gary Klein, the theater trade group's general counsel, said. "It's dinner and a movie, not dinner at a movie."

Except that:

Theater operators . . . generate up to one-third of their revenue from selling popcorn, sodas and other snacks.

According to the article such disclosures are already required in California and New York City.

But theater executives contend that such disclosures should be voluntary and that they're only selling customers what they want.

"The average person goes to the theater four times a year," Klein said. "I don't think they care."

Corporations have incentives to resist giving out information that would allow people to make better choices if that might impact their bottom line.  Same as the oil companies aren't promising anyone in Alaska that the $2 billion tax reductions will lead to more investment in Alaska.  Trust us, we're here to take your money.  And we don't care what happens to you.

UPDATE April 2, 2011:  The New York Times reports that proposed rules exempt theaters from disclosure:

The federal government on Friday released proposed rules requiring chain restaurants and other businesses that serve food to post calorie counts on menus and menu boards. But after objections from theater chains, the rules give a pass to those box-office snacks — even though a large popcorn and soda can contain as many calories as a typical person needs in a day.
The new disclosure rules also exempt alcoholic beverages served in restaurants, including beer, wine and high-calorie mixed drinks like margaritas and daiquiris.
The Food and Drug Administration said it would accept consumer and industry feedback on the rules before finishing them, hopefully by the end of this year. They are expected to go into effect some time next year, said Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods at the F.D.A.

Clutter Wars - Getting Unlocked

For years I've looked at these locks in the garage.  Local stores said they couldn't help.

But it's the age of the internet and so I thought I'd send Master Lock an email with pictures of the locks including the serial numbers on the back.


But they're way ahead of me.  They have an FAQ page on lost combinations. 

Question:

I've forgotten the combination to my standard dial combination lock. How do I obtain the combination for personal use?

Answer:

A) My lock does not have a serial number:      To provide enhanced long–term security, Master Lock has discontinued imprinting a serial number on the lock body on combination locks sold through retail locations. For greater convenience, we encourage consumers to store their combination at our secure website, Masterlockvault.com, which is easy to use and offers 24/7 access. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide combinations for non–serialized locks, if the user did not register with Masterlockvault.com. B) My lock has a serial number:      Use current instructions (see below) Due to increased security concerns nationwide, Master Lock recognizes the heightened need for additional safety measures. We no longer provide lock combinations in response to phone, fax, or email requests. Please follow the procedure outlined below to obtain the combination to your lock and submit your request to: Master Lock Warehouse 1600 W. La Quinta Rd Suite/WHSE # 1 Nogales, AZ 85621 Procedure: Print out the Lost Combination Form from a printer friendly page, or download the PDF file. Have your Lost Combination Form notarized by a Notary Public to prove that you are the owner of the lock (you can include up to 6 combinations on one notarized form). Note: Inmates at a correctional facility - in addition to the lost combination form, you must submit your request on official prison letterhead. In lieu of notarization, the form must be signed by a prison official. Photocopy the serial number on the back case of your combination lock. This copy MUST clearly show that the lock is not attached to anything. Be sure to hand write the serial number on the photocopy. Mail the original completed, notarized Lost Combination Form and the photocopy of the back of your lock to the address above. Note: It will take approximately 4 to 6 weeks to process your request for a combination. Note: If the form is not fully completed and notarized with a raised seal or rubber stamped seal, or if the serial number is not legible on the photocopy, your request will not be honored. Master Lock does not reimburse for any Notary fees. Store your combination at www.masterlockvault.com - a FREE service from Master Lock! The Master Lock Vault provides a safe & convenient place to store all of your confidential data for quick & easy access from your PC, iPhone, or any other mobile devices!

It's different if you live overseas, and if the lock is attached to something, they won't help out.  

I'm sure we have more than two of these, but I'll start with these two.

[UPDATE:  By May 1 I'd found four more locks and sent the info into Master Lock.  Eventually I got the combinations to them, lost them, then emailed them and got them again.]  

Costco Changes Fish Policy

Last July I posted this in the post  "Costco Reigns as Biggest Offender" from a Greenpeace report

. . . And while most U.S. supermarkets could stand to improve their sustainable seafood policies, Costco reigns as the biggest offender. Everything at Costco is huge—the same is true of the store's environmental footprint. Of the 22 IUCN Red List species, Costco sells 15: Alaskan pollock, Atlantic cod, Atlantic salmon, Atlantic sea scallops, Chilean sea bass, grouper, monkfish, ocean quahog, orange roughy, red snapper, redfish, South Atlantic albacore tuna, swordfish, tropical shrimp, and yellowfin tuna. The store's fish coolers really serve as a one-stop shop for oceanic destruction. . .

 Greenpeace has a new message up this week:

Costco has agreed to remove over a dozen red list items, pursue better practices in aquaculture and assume more of a leadership role in the ongoing global effort to develop a more sustainable tuna industry.

If you want to know all the specifics (I know I like hearing about all the details), Costco has publicly announced that they’re going to:

-- Eliminate 12 red list species, which will not return unless the company can find an MSC-certified option. This is certainly not perfect—we’d like to see these unsustainable options off the shelves until the populations recover—but it’s a major step forward. The species are:

     - Atlantic cod
     - Atlantic halibut
     - Chilean sea bass
     - Greenland halibut
     - Grouper
     - Monkfish
     - Orange roughy
     - Redfish
     - Shark
     - Skates and rays
     - Swordfish
     - Bluefin tuna

-- Pledge to play more of a leadership role within aquaculture;

-- Partner with World Wildlife Fund to examine their remaining wild-caught species and determine how to best transition to the most sustainable alternative; and

-- Acknowledge the role that the canned tuna industry plays within the global sustainable seafood movement and is in the process of shifting to more sustainable tuna sources in all sectors (fresh, frozen, and canned).

It’s fantastic that Costco's leadership has taken some incredibly important steps forward. Still, this is just the beginning—the company has a long way to go, and just as we monitored the continued progress with the victory around Trader Joe's, we’ll also be keeping an eye on Costco to make sure that they follow through on these policies and continue improving their stewardship towards the oceans.

I'm quoting from Greenpeace, which is touting this as a big victory, because I can't find anything about it on the Costco site.  Here's what I got when I used their search tool:

And the link shows what I got when I just searched for 'fish".

What's Going to Happen When the Post Office Dies?

When I got back to Anchorage I went to the post office to pick up our held mail.  It was about 4pm.  There were about 14 people in line ahead of me.  There was one clerk, who kept going into the back so there was no one behind the counter for minutes at a time.  The crowd was getting longer. 

I understand that for most government agencies that face private competition (like schools) the private companies can skim the most lucrative and easy to handle business and leave the government with the more expensive and difficult business.  Private schools don't have to take every student, and you know that parents who pay for their kids' education are going to take more interest in their kids' schooling.  Fedex and UPS have taken the high end quick delivery business and left the post office with expensive daily to your door delivery for everyone.  So the post office can't use its express mail profits to help cover home delivery, because the others are taking much of that profit.  And we end up with post offices with nobody behind the counter.  But they really have to take care of customers and can't leave them waiting in line like this.

I thought about just shouting out so the people in the back could hear, "DOES ANYBODY WORK HERE?"  Everyone else looked so accepting of this pitiful service.  But when someone else came to the front (the only clerk was gone again) to talk to the person at the counter, I got out of line and went up to him, and more politely said, "Is there anyone back there who could help out?  There are all these people in line (more had piled in behind me) and NO ONE is out front here.  I just need to pick up mail and so do others."  He said he was a carrier and on his way home, but he'd get the manager.  Shortly thereafter a man came out, looked concerned, and asked for the people picking up mail.  About five of us came over and I got out much faster.

But they shouldn't need customers telling them.  They should have a way of sending someone up front when the line gets too long.  Queueing theory is an old science and all the  retail companies larger than 5 employees use it.  It has formulas for when you need to send more people out to keep customer from waiting more than a predetermined 'acceptable' wait time.

We used to have good post office service in Alaska.  But this was really pitiful.  (OK, I know you Chicago readers wonder what I'm complaining about since they didn't throw out my mail, but we're used to better.)

Oh yeah.  When the post office dies, UPS and Fedex will be able to raise their prices and speciality businesses may be willing to deliver regular envelopes, birthday cards, grandkids' paintings, love letters, etc.   But the price will be like express mail. And people who live far away (Alaskans, are you listening?  Ted is gone) might not get any kind of service.  And Benjamin Franklin will roll over in his grave.

[UPDATE Feb. 3, 2011 - Here's a piece from NPR's Talk of the Nation on the joys of snail mail.]

Digital mail already does much of what the post office did and we will survive.  And the gap between the haves and have nots will grow.  I'm not sure what this will do to US businesses in competition with foreign businesses that still have government postal service.  And we'll be a step closer to virtual and further from natural.

Queueing is also a great word to know if you play scrabble.

Now Why Would I Want To Do This?

I guess the glass-half-full view of this is that it is pretty straightforward.   I'm posting it so readers who aren't also bloggers see what kinds of offers we get:

Hey there,

We have been reading the articles on your website <http://whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/> and are very impressed with the
quality of your information.  [These things always say how great your blog is without anything that is directly related to the blog.  Here at least they stuck in the url.]

We have a team of copywriters who specialise in writing articles on various topics and would like to write an original article for you to use on your website – this article will not be used anywhere else on the Internet.  [Possible translation: We're an advertising company and are looking for cheap web presence. The articles are about travel and driving trips with links to travel insurance or or lube.


In exchange all we ask is that we can have one or two links within the body of the article back to one of our sites. You can view a sample of the quality of our articles at

http://www.insu4less.com.au/blog/

http://www.lubebile.com.au/blog/  [I've left the links out and changed the urls, I really don't want to encourage them]

If you are interested in having us write an article for your website please just let me know and we would be more than  happy to have one written for you within two weeks.


Kind regards,
Patria

This post is to remind you that I only put in links because they're relevant to the post and/ I find them useful and/or interesting. If I do post something someone asked me to post, I'll let you know. If I were to accept some sort of kickback (I never have) I'd let you know. But not all bloggers are like that and people like this are trying to take advantage of them. And you.

Who owns an airline ticket — you or the airline?

That's a question LA Times writer David Lazarus asks in an article today:

That's the intriguing question Santa Monica resident Peter Szabo faced during the holidays when he attempted to use just half of a $435 round-trip ticket that he'd purchased three months earlier from US Airways.

The carrier said Szabo, 32, would need to pay hundreds of dollars more to make just a single leg of the journey.

"Basically, they wanted me to pay an additional $350 to use only half of what I already owned," Szabo told me. "I can't think of another scenario in another industry that would compare. If I buy two tickets to the symphony or a Clippers game but only use one, I don't incur an extra charge."

It's one I've wondered about for a long time.  Any other ticket you buy - whether it's for a movie, a sports event, a play, a train - you can give to someone else to use or even sell if you can't use it.

But you're stuck with airline tickets.  Any changes you want to make, add an extra fee and possible even another fare.  To a certain extent, they could argue that they price tickets to encourage people to buy early, but you could buy early and then find out the fare went down.  And they used to sell bulk tickets to travel agents at lower rates and they could then resell them.  (I don't know if they still do that now that they've tried to cut out travel agents.)

The LA Times article goes through the craziness of the airline ticket policies and is worth reading. 

Meanwhile, it reminds me that we really need an effective organization that represents the needs of airline travelers.  I'm sure a good one would get lots of members.  Some organizations that represent airline passengers:

Flyers Rights - An organization that, according to its website, was founded in 2006 by Hanni to get the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights passed.  The website looks good and has interesting information, but also has gaps - not all pages have tabs to get back to other pages.  Travel Weekly published a critical article about Flyers Rights, but Travel Weekly is a travel industry website, so they have a vested interest in not having strong consumer groups. 

The Association for Airline Passenger Rights began in 2008. 

The purpose of the AAPR shall be to educate policymakers on travel-related information important to airline passengers, improve accessibility for passengers with disabilities and protect the consumer rights and responsibilities of airline passengers. Prior to AAPR, every aspect of the airline industry was represented in Washington, DC except for the people who pay the bills - airline passengers! The airlines, pilots, flight attendants, service crews, and air traffic controllers are all represented, and now AAPR will level the playing field by representing the interests of airline passengers.

The US Department of Transportation has a list of publications for airline passengers online.

The Airline Travelers' Association website is sparse and isn't accepting new members, so I wasn't even going to mention it, until I found this blog post that even questions whether it really represents passengers or airlines.

Skype Apologizes for Outage With 30 Minute Free Land Line Call

I mentioned last week that Skype wasn't working.  Today they emailed an apology:

To our valued customers:

As 2010 draws to a close, I would like to take a moment to thank each of you for your patience, understanding, and support during Skype’s recent outage.

We know how important your Skype conversations are to you and we take any disruption to our service very seriously. We are pleased to confirm that Skype is back to normal allowing you to connect with friends, co-workers, family and loved ones.

As a valued customer of Skype, we would like to offer you a sincere apology and offer you our gratitude with a credit voucher worth a call of more than 30 minutes to a landline in some of our most popular countries, such as USA, UK, Germany, China, Japan. Or spend it however you like on Skype. . .

30 minutes on Skype to a landline phone wouldn't cost anyone too much, but still it's a nice gesture.  

"The Story of Electronics" Latest "The Story of Stuff" Video

On my recent post about recycling an old computer, M left a link to a new "Story of Stuff" video, this one focused on electronic equipment called "The Story of Electronics." It came out November 9.  My post is just an illustration of the point being made in the video.   Again, Annie Leonard clearly and succinctly outlines the problem of our designed to throw away culture.  This is definitely worth watching.



It helps to understand the economics concept of externalities -  or as Annie calls it - "externalizing costs."  It's one of the failures of the market system identified even by proponents of the market as a failure.  Milton Friedman, in his Capitalism and Freedom, called them 'neighborhood effects."  Basically, capitalism is supposed to work better than government by doing things more efficiently.  By being more efficient, companies can make items cheaper and sell more products.  But this only works if the price of the item reflects the cost of making the item.  But if some of the costs of the items are not borne by the company making them, then this efficiency doesn't work.  So, if the company doesn't have to pay for the air pollution it creates, then this cost won't be reflected in the price.  But society as a whole, which is affected by the pollution, still has to pay for extra health care and other costs that are 'externalized' by the company.  Thus, the efficiency of the market fails when these costs of production are externalized to the society as a whole and the company doesn't have to pay for them and they aren't reflected in the price of the items. 

The costs of landfills and the health costs resulting from the toxic chemicals in electronic equipment are key externalities discussed in the video.

The video's solutions are summed up as
Make 'Em Safe, Make 'Em Last, Take 'Em Back


I'd note that the original Story of Stuff video has resulted in one of my most viewed posts - my reaction to a quote by Victor Lebow in the video. 

Becoming a War Reporter in the Home Clutter Wars

There's been a war going on for at least seven years over possession of what was once my daughter's room.   We've been fighting an uphill battle since the year we rented out the house while we were on sabbatical.  The room became our storage unit while the tenant had access to the rest of the house.  

We've fought the boxes now and then, successfully unhooking emotional claws long enough to donate, recycle, or trash.  And for periods of time we've managed to confine the boxes to the overcrowded refugee camp in the closet.   But somehow, when we aren't looking, troublemakers manage to sneak out and set up cardboard shanty towns on the floor.

I posted before and after pictures of this room last summer when we had temporarily reclaimed the floor. Things have again gotten out of hand. 

So I commissioned a report from a prestigious think tank on whether this war is even winnable and if so, what is the best strategy.  Here are the findings and recommendations.

Causes

• Rampant consumerism is NOT the issue- with the exception of books, there are relatively few impulse items.
• Both rational and emotional needs to remember, document, and stay connected.
• There's an array of photos, slides, old letters, kids' art, mementos, tapes, gifts, and old documents
• Relentlessly changing technology has left its detritus of old computer, telephone, and camera debris.
• Retirement brought old work materials home that haven't been properly triaged.
• Way station - the room is the way stay station for things being eliminated from other parts of the house.  So things may look worse than they really are. As new stuff is added old stuff does move out. 

Obstacles to winning the war

• Emotional Attachment - "But these letters are from my grandfather who I never met." "This is M's favorite stuffed animal." "But this is Cocoa's collar."
• Exaggerated Sense of Future Need - "But we might need these telephone bills from 1985 one day." "I could use this cracked mug to plant something in."
• Distorted Sense of History - "But these old checkbooks are archeological data of how people really lived."
• Distorted Sense of the Future - "But surely our (unborn) grandchildren will want to see these."
• Distorted sense of Economics - "But these Dungeons and Dragons magazines will be valuable one day."
• Lack of Will -"What's playing at the Bear Tooth?"
• Lack of Clear Goals and Deadline - "I'm gonna start on it when it gets cold outside."

And one more that is relevant to this post:

• Blogging - takes too much time and gives excuses to do other things

Strategies

• Blog about the war.  This will give me incentive to get more done. Consider yourselves warned. But it should be fun. I have a post on great meals coming up.
  
• Deadline.  There will be people coming this summer, so the room (and other parts of the house) not not only must be liberated, but also transformed into an inviting livable space with no traces of its former war zone status.

Immediate Steps

• Write this post.√
• Take old computer. monitor, and keyboard to Total Reclaim Saturday

RECYCLING COLLECTION EVENT:
Saturday November 13, 8 AM - 5 PM

In celebration of America Recycles Day, Total Reclaim will accept electronics for recycling at the discounted rate of $25 per carload.

Night Window Shopping on Westwood

We managed to see a movie and have dinner last night. Then walked along Westwood Blvd. for about ten blocks.

LA Shots

Here are some photos from the last few days.


Bright Santa Monica house, not quite finished.

Italian Stone Pine Bark

 

OK, I get the Karma/Carma pun, but it wouldn't seem that Chevron (I guess their branding works, or is it someone else?) would pay to remind us we're all going to get screwed for polluting the earth with our cars. 

At Hurry Curry - Venice and Beethoven.  Delicious and ridiculously cheap.

 

After those rainy first days here.  

And today it was pushing hot.

Car or mobile storage bin?

 

There was a small arts and crafts fair at Moorpark and Laurel Canyon near where we were visiting.  I was impressed with the quality of the work.  Young people, but also retired folks.  One guy was a National Geographic photographer.  This guy was a pathologist and does really interesting work with paints and collages.  While we were talking, there was a loud crunching sound.

Ah, California.  Who says you can't meet others while driving?   We met Deano. Not driving.  I was admiring his neat shadow boxes with my camera and he didn't like that.  But I apologized and we had a good talk.  He's got a blue thumbnail.  I have pictures but he made it clear posting them would not be appreciated.  So go to his website. 

Another hospital visit.  (My mom's doing fine, this is someone else.)

And the ride home on the freeway.  Don't worry, we were going less than 10/mph at this point.  Six lanes southbound.  I'm no longer used to driving 60 mph with so many cars all around me making sudden moves.  At night.  So crawling along was fine. 

Salmon No Brainer

My mom wanted us to pick up some stuff from Costco near Marina Del Rey on the way back from our bird watching outing (more on that later). I saw the Alaska salmon and then I saw the Atlantic farmed salmon.

When the quality is better and the price is lower, does the shopper even have to think?


By the way, the bottom line on the Atlantic salmon sign says "Color added through feed"

More Alaska Vanity

Some of these are more scrutable than others.

This is a great government program. People are actually willing to spend more than they have to for a license plate. All these people are adding to the state's coffers voluntarily. And not all plates cost the same.  From the DMV website:

And there are a few rules:

Plate Restrictions:

What you CAN USE on a personalized license plate: Letters A to Z Numbers 0 to 9 Spaces

What you CANNOT USE on a personalized license plate: Ham radio call signs Special symbols such as -, #, %, &, etc. Duplicates of active personalized plates Ethnic, racial, vulgar, or indecent connotations