Lucky Streak?

Well, things have been a little busy for me here, with my birthday, my sister's wedding/reception, and our van's repairs, but hee are some of the good things going on.

Friday May 8 Bob, our UPS guy and fellow NASCAR fan, delivers two big brown boxes to me. I had not ordered anything that I was expecting delivery for so I was puzzled as to what they were, since the return address info was cryptic. Upon opening one box, I found a backpack full of Tylenol-branded NASCAR goodies. I found the letter inside the backpack and after reading it, I realized I was a first-place winner in the Feel Better Fast sweepstakes I entered back in February 2009 for creating a custom helmet to be signed by the FBF drivers as the grand prize. Remembering how my submission did not confirm when I submitted my first helmet, I submitted a second helmet and got a confirmation that time. So I printed my certificate and stuck it on my shelf and forgot all about the contest... until Bob showed up with the 2 boxes for me. After realizing I won a first-place prize I opened the second box ti find it contained another full backpack! Each prize-pack contained the following Tylenol-branded NASCAR items:

• Clear backpack
• racing cap
• water bottle
• rain poncho with reusable tire-shaped container
• ear plugs with reusable mini container
• T-shirt stuffed into the shape of a car
  

So I won TWO first-place prize packs, just in time for my 40th birthday, which started the month of problems...

As my wife was picking up my birthday cake and ice cream, the drive shaft fell out of the van. She waited almost an hour before the tow truck arrived. I had the forethought to send our friends to stay with her and pick up the cake and ice cream so they would not melt. That was the start of our month of van repairs. Turns out the wheel bearing was also going and the fuel filling tube rusted and the brakes and calipers were also bad. The headlights were out, and the e-brake cable had snapped. After spending over $2,400 on repairs, we finally have most of the problems fixed and it is registered. All that is left is to fix the ball joint and get 2 new tires... that is another $600 to get everything fixed to good status.

A few weeks ago I entered another contest for NASCAR and Cheerios. Today, I got the following email:

Congratulations!

Your name was one of 3,300 winners selected in the Cheerios "Good for the Heart" Sweepstakes. As a prize winner, your first and last name, as listed at the time of entry, will appear on the #33 Cheerios race car, which is scheduled to race in Chicago, IL on July 11, 2009.
Go to www.CheeriosRacing.com after July 9, 2009 to view a replica of the car and see your name on the car!
Thanks again for entering the Cheerios "Good for the Heart" Sweepstakes and for committing to take care of your heart!
Note: Do not reply to this e-mail; it is sent from an automated system.
Official Rules

So, I guess even though May and June were tough for us, I still like my luck, so I will keep entering NASCAR sweepstakes and contests.

Say Thanks to our Troops this holiday...or anytime!

With the holiday seaso upon us and the new year coming, take a moment to say THANKS to our troops, It's a free service from Xerox and it takes just one minute to do. You can send a free postcard anytime and as often as you like. Either way, our troops fight for our freedom and whether you agree with the war or not it is still important to support our men and women who are called upon to do their job and put their lives onn the line.

We hope they all come back safely and with President Obama taking office next month, tey will hopefully be home soon. 

Happy Holidays and God bless all of our troops and their families!

iSync, You Sync, we all Sync but didn't think

OK, I have my mac mini, my Sony CLIE, and my Nokia 6126 phone. I use my phone a lot for calendar notes and contacts and sync it to my MacMini iCal and AddressBook. I updated my PalmOS or CLIE, transferred my old CLIE data into my new CLIE and syned tem both to my MacMni. Then back to my phone. Total time taken was 15 minutes. Seems all nice, neat and easy right?

WRONG! What I did not factor in was the different ways my data was stored on each of the different programs and how merging them put THREE entries of each into each device. Now I have to go back through one of them and delete the two duplicate I wish to discard. We are talking about a couple hundred entries. At least I am smart enough to figure out that if I went through each of the devices again, I would end up with the same problem all over again. Total time taken to undo the confusion? We are going on our 4th hour of sorting through my data.

So to those of you who want to sync their life from several devices into a few should consider the following. 1. Decide which records you need to keep on each device first. 2. Compare records and fill in missing data on ONE device (PC, PDA, Phone, Laptop, etc) 3. After manually updating the records, delete the duplicates form the other devices, keeping only the ones not on your primary device. Once you have done all that, sync your devices one at a time. This way you can check for errors & duplicates before adding a new set of data. Do this for each device you are planning to sync, even if only sporadically. You will spend less time preparing a little ahead of sync that you will repairing after sync so make it easy on yourself.

Oh, as for my devices:

• My MacMini I LOVE! Bluetooth and WiFi are wonderful things and they work great.
• My Sony CLIE UX50 is an upgrade from my other CLIE SJ22 and I am learning all its nuances, plus how to read micro-text since the screen is a higher resolution but the same size as my SJ22 so everything is smaller. But again, I love its bluetooth and WiFi capabilities.
• My Nokia 6126 phone is what I carry with me everywhere so it is my main calendar and contact data device. Why not use an iPhone? You cant use the other features when ou get a call, and it is too costly to have on a pay-as-you-go plan. I don't use my phone a lot, unless I talk with my wife so we have the best phone plan for our calling needs. Otherwise I use it for emergencies and important calls when i am out.
• My Sony CLIE SJ22 deserves its props for its usefulness and longevity. I bought ours new in 2002 and 2003 (wife's). We have used them regularly over the past six (5 for wife) years and only recently my wife's touch screen stopped working. This was the catalyst for getting our CLIE UX50s. That and more capabilities like music player, camera/video for basic use, and updated games for waiting rooms and passing time.

There's a few things I must say about batteries and their life. Our SJ22 batteries still last about five days on a charge and we have NEVER replaced them! (I have a Panasonic home Phone from 2003 that has its original battery that only now needs replacing.) My secret? ONLY charge the battery when it gives you the "low battery" alert. This trains the battery to fully discharge, then fully charge again. Over a few hundred cycles this keeps your battery conditioned properly. My phone battery is also pretty good since it is going on 2 years now. There is NO battery out there that is "no memory." They ALL have a memory and over time you will teach it how to behave. So remember to always wait for the "low battery" signal before recharging them. If you worry about a cordless phone and you use it during the day, keep it off the hook for 3 to 7 days and recharge it overnight.

Speaking of powering down, it's time for me to recharge. Good Night!

Lighthouse Road Trip 2008

What is your favorite CHEEBURGER ?

CHEEBURGER CHEEBURGER is a casual 50s era restaurant that serves cheese burgers, fires, rings, salads, and shakes. They are located mostly in the eastern United States. What draws people in are the Cheeburgers which come in 5 sizes. You can find them online at www.CheeburgerCheeburger.com (note the spelling is correct. there is no letter "S" in their name.)

If you haven't tried a CHEEBURGER yet, you are missing out on a really great burger and restaurant. The atmosphere is casual and retro. Think 50s era decor. The Cheeburger is cooked to order and served to order in five various sizes. The smallest is 1/4 pound, 1/3 pound, 1/2 pound, 2/3 pound and the 1-pound Cheeburger. The best part is you can put an almost limitless combination of toppings on your Cheeburger.

So, for those of you who have eaten a Cheeburger, we want to know... What is YOUR favorite Cheeburger topping combination?

My favorite is currently a semi-serious 1/3 pound medium well topped with provolone cheese, peanut butter, bacon lettuce and tomato. It tastes quite good and is one of the more unusual combinations. (In fact, I was the first to order peanut butter on a Cheeburger at my local restaurant in Rochester New York. They came out to watch me eat it and ask questions.)

I sometimes like American BLT with onion rings, relish or pickles, and honey mustard. Others I have tried are Provolone Cole Slaw, Tomato Mayonaisse, and Honey Mustard.

So, post your comment with your flavorful Cheeburgers. Tell us what location (city & state)

And the photo:
I FINALLY ate The Cheeburger, a one-pound* mega-burger to get put on the wall. I had to do it before i started my diet so I picked the day before and ate nothing that day until we went to the restaurant. I ordered mine with peanut butter, bacon, American cheese, cole slaw, tomato, and onion rings. It comes topped with 2 olives. I took my time and finished it. The uncooked weight was 20 ounces but it cooked down to one pound of burger. That is the only time I plan to eat one. ;-)

Going Green in our apartment

Over the past few months my wife and i have made small changes to make our apartment and home life greener, as in better for the environment, our expenses and our life, We watched many shows on HGTV, Discovery, TLC, History and others to get ideas on what we could change and do for ourselves. Since we do not have a lot of money, we had to make these changes over time but we are now seeing the results of our efforts. Our electric bill is down 20%, our trash is down to one third of what it was a year ago, and we have not suffered in our comfort level or undue work to make these changes.

Here is what we did, the cost, and the effects it has:


• Changed to compact fluorescent bulbs - total of 15 bulbs = $52. electric savings $10 a month = $120 for the year. $120 * 7 years = $840 - 52 (price of bulbs) = 788 net savings.


• I bought a KVM switch for 4 computers. (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) to allow one monitor, keyboard and mouse to be shared with 4 computers. Cost of KVM $60. Now I use 3 less CRT monitors and save on electricity and desk space. Electric savings = $8.00 a month = $96 for a year. $96-60=$36 net savings forst year and $96 each year after. When I buy an LCD monitor, the savings will increase as LCD monitors use LESS energy than CRT monitors.


• Using recycle bins. Waste Management company in our area (Rochester NY) collects more than just the "#2 or #5" plastics. They will pick up all hard plastic (no bags or wraps), glass, metal, cardboard, paper, and newspaper. No styrofoam products. We used to throw much of this away since we were told by the community office that they only took #2 and #5 plastics. When i asked the recycling collector, he told me the list I gave above. They are glad to see people recycle and are quite friendly. Maybe it is job security but the bigger picture is a sustainable planet environment. Anyway, we use our in-sink disposal to grind food scraps that the dogs don't get to eat, so only true "garbage" goes into the trash bin. We also bought a second trash can to put bags in and toss our cans & bottles into for deposit returns. fast and easy to do.


• Installed a programmable thermostat to manage indoor climate. Our community maintenance was willing to install this for free but it is easy to do yourself. This saves money on energy bills by maintaining a constant temperature range. We went with a 7-day model for $60 but there are cheaper models with fewer features as low as $30 at many hardware/home improvement stores. The basics of saving energy use here is that you set up a schedule for the week, weekend and vacation days. Once the schedule is set, the thermostat automatically keeps the home at the set range. So when you are home, you set it to "living" temps and when you are not home (work period, vacation) you can set it higher or lower (wider range) since humans are not home to feel the temperature. Pets do not seem to mind an extra 5-10 degree range increase and you will save a little more on your energy use. Since we just installed ours today, I have yet to see the actual savings for us, but I have heard other people report they saved 5-10%. As long as i see the $60 I spent for the thermostat in energy savings, I will be happy.


• Along with the new thermostat, we use fans to move air around the room for cooling. This doesn't use much energy and allows you to set the cool side about 5 degrees warmer while maintaining the same comfort level.
  
  
• Running our dishwasher and laundry washer with only full loads saves us on water (yes, our apartments charge for water use and sewer.) and on electricity. We give our meal plates to the "pre-washers" when we are done with a meal and then rinse the plate/bowl. When we have enough to fill the dishwasher, we run it overnight. We also use the air-dry setting (no heat) to save on energy. Doing laundry in the evening to late-night also reduced the price of the energy we use because it is off-peak use.
  


• We tried filling a half-gallon milk jug with water and out it in the toilet tank to save a half-gallon per flush, but since some things took 3 or 4 extra flushes to get the waste down, we took it out. It was using more water and less power per flush. This is a good method to try for a month and see if it makes a difference in your water and sewer use. Try a smaller bottle, like a 1-liter or 20oz bottle. Every little bit helps.
  
  
• Replace your standard shower head with a newer unit. Standard shower heads use more water and they are usually the basic unit in most apartments and homes (and motels). By replacing it with a newer model, you will use less water. Don't worry about loss of water pressure. By restricting water flow, they actually increase the pressure for times you want to use it. We bought and installed a hand-held model with 5 settings, including low-pressure, high-pressure, free-flow, turbo-massage, and rainfall. We use rainfall as a temporary "off" while washing because it lowers water use until you need it to rinse.
  

That is all we have done so far but we encourage our neighbors and friends to try some of these changes and see for themselves how easy and inexpensive it is to live life a little greener. Please feel free to provide comments or suggestions. You can find more ideas at the following TV network sites: HGTV.com, Discovery.com (Disc, TLC, PlanetGreen), DIYnetwork.com, RochesterHomepage.net, and more.

Live a greener life!

How well do you know gadget news online?

Cousin Ned the Tech Geek

If the world were a family get-together, you’d be Cousin Ned the Tech Geek. You love electronics and attempt to drag your family and friends into the digital era every chance you get. Sure your grandma spends an hour a day polishing that filthy iPhone you gave her with Windex, and your dad uses his MP3 player as a bookmark, but you’re proud of your gifts because they’re new, fun and extremely useful… once they figure out how to plug them in anyway. Of course, if you ever want to make sure you’re giving presents that people truly enjoy, try the MyThings
Giftlist and find out what people REALLY want.

Take your own quiz at MyThings.com

RGRTA? Make it G.R.E.A.T.!

After moving away from Rochester and living in Florida for 14 years and riding buses for over twenty-five years, I have some suggestions that may make the RGRTA system much easier to use and better overall. I have prepared a more formal proposal to give to them but for the public, here are the basics of it.

NAME CHANGE.
Saying RGRTA is just shy of a tounge-twister and it doesn't have a "nice" sound to it. Something less corporate and friendlier would be better. Tampa shortened Hillsborough Area Regional Transit to HARTline and it made a great difference. Applying a similar approach to RGRTA, we might use a catchier name like "GREATride" which comes from Greater Rochester Extended Area Transit (G.R.E.A.T.)" There would be a wide variety of marketing slogans and tag lines available.

Another option for a new name would be "ROGER transit" which comes from ROchester GEnessee Regional transit authority. The marketing might go something like "Ride with ROGER" to work, for errands or to play. If they want an icon to put a face to, use the front of the bus and make it look more like a face. A third version might be "Reggie" from the "REGional" part of the RGRTA.

ROUTE CHANGES.
Looking at many of the routes, they are misleading. "15 Latta" only hits a small part of Latta Rd and "6 Jefferson" only goes a very short way on Jefferson. Many of the routes are like this, as well as not running on a defined easy to read or remember schedule and route. They need to update ALL the routes and run them in a grid (with a few exceptions). Then number them in an easy pattern. I know many of these routes have been in service for more than 30 years but keeping them just because they have been there has created many challenges and conflicts in using RGRTA.

ROGER would have service running routes with even numbers East-West and odd numbers run North-South. Since some streets run diagonal there would be a few routes that might have a grouping like all numbered 60s or something. The numbering could also be broken into regions like NE, NW, SE, SW, and outer/extended areas.

Another suggestion in this area is to have the buses run "dual alternating routes" which it like having bus #101 run the Route 1 Lake Ave to downtown then when it hits the downtown transit center it becomes #1 again. This pattern lets buses run more routes while shortening the time between routes to have stops every hour or so instead of every 73 minutes like the Lake Avenue route. While we are talking time, run major buses earlier and later in the day so evening and night shift workers can get to & from work a little easier.

Simple, easy to remember routes and schedules are what people want when using the transit system. Making it too hard to remember how the system works will turn riders away.

TRANSIT CENTERS, SIGNAGE AND SYSTEM MAPS.
The few major transit centers are the malls and the downtown square. While these work, they could use a little improvement. Make them more "welcoming" and have routes that serve the area and that connect to "crosstown" and local routes. This makes it easier to catch a bus from a local area to transit center, then crosstown to another TC, then on to a local route.

While marking bus stops with signs is nice, LABELING the sign with the route numbers that stop there would be much better for riders. Many transit systems do this and it makes a big difference in finding your way along the system. Think of it this way, a new rider or an infrequent rider is less likely to ride the bus if they do not know what routes stop near their home. By labeling the stop with route numbers it makes it easier for new patrons to see that Routes 1,6,& 16 stop there so they can see what buses they live near and what buses connect at that stop. Since RGRTA has the confusing system of running alternate segments (like the Route 1 with its 4 route variations), GREATride/ROGER would improve signage to show at a glance that this is a limited stop and is not served on every run. I know there is a bus stop in front of my apartment complex but I and others have not seen a bus actually stop or even go by it in over two years. Limited stops could be signaled by color bands or color circles behind the route number that it refers to.

Along with this, the large system-wide route map that shows where routes run should be readily available like route schedules are.

WHAT IS WORKING NOW.
The Freedom passes are a good thing. The one-zone-one-fare is not. It was created to make money for RGRTA. They disguised it by saying it is easier to remember. Transfers were easy to remember. One transfer, one connecting route. But now if you are going to take two buses somewhere, you have to take two to get back so spend the $3 for the one-day unlimited pass so you can stop along the way as needed.

So what do you think about these ideas? Will they work? Would they make it easier to "Take a GREAT ride" or "Ride with ROGER" or am I just wasting my time? I invite the public to comment on my proposal to gauge how riders and the public view my suggestions. Provide your input by posting your comments on this blog topic. I would be interested in hearing from current anf former RGRTA employees, and riders.

Thank you for reading my suggestions to improve RGRTA to benefit all of the Greater Rochester Area.