Gary Said...

October is Domestic Violence month

Gary LaPointe — 2008-10-04T13:22:21-05:00

October is Domestic Violence month. They say one in four of us are affected some way by it. It's why you're seeing the purple ribbons this month. Every 15 seconds a woman is battered (it'll probably take you twice that time to read this blog entry). October is kind of an everything month (there are only 12 months to share) and breast cancer seems to get a lot of the attention and sometimes DV gets overlooked. (Related news.)

First Step is a local shelter in Wayne County and they are celebrating their thirtieth anniversay this year. Over 14,000 crisis calls, 7,000 nights of shelter and 20,000 hours of counseling are provided almost every year. I've volunteered with First Step, generally I'd be on call a few times a month (8-12 hour shift) and get called to hospitals (police stations, etc.) and talk to people and their families after they've been assaulted, I've also done things with the kids such as day care, field trips, etc. I originally started doing this at a shelter in Lansing; taking the kids on field trips and watching them while the Mother's were in meetings/sessions. Field trips were just the older kids (ones who walk on their own), but when were were just watching the kids it was from infants on up.

First Step always having fund raising events so keep your eyes out for those, it's a way to donate and have fun at the same time (sometimes it's a movie night with auctions, shopping at department stores [you get a discount and they get a cut]). Shelters are always looking for donations, please don't just think of them around the holidays, they need donations all year round. They always need volunteers to help. My links here just point to First Step, please search around for services in your area.

One of the oddest things in FaceBook (IMHO)

Gary LaPointe — 2008-10-02T22:04:07-05:00

So getting user updates about other users on FaceBook is interesting, but I always think ones like this are strange:

It just strikes me as odd. I suppose it's not any odder than changing your profile to stating that you're married, but one generates congratulations and the other doesn't.

UPDATE: In addition you can change your profile (this is the same person's info whom actually made this change today) to read:

Jane Doe So it's an strange system. It might as well as have a category labeled "confused".

Don't Vote!

Gary LaPointe — 2008-10-02T01:27:47-05:00

Don't watch this video! Lots of stars in it (telling you what not to do).

I thought it was a fun video, but it gets a little long at the end. Watch at least the first 90 seconds and pass it on to a few (5) friends.

And don't forget to register! Depending on where you live you have to do it in the next few days...

I spotted this video over at Eclecticism + It's like I'm Magic and thought I'd pass it along...

Google Reader

Gary LaPointe — 2008-10-01T13:07:59-05:00

I just haven't been able to keep up with all the blogs and web sites I read. I've never gotten into using the RSS feed readers very much. I like using the sites the way people have decorated their layout, what they chose to do tells me something about the person, not seeing it makes me feel like I'm missing something. But if I'm not actually getting to their site and reading, I'm really missing something, right?

So I thought I'd try Google Reader out, I choose Google for several reasons:

It's all via the web so it's multi-platform; most web readers are multi-platform, but Google apps are pretty Macintosh friendly.

If I'm in need of a fix they've got a mobile interface for mobile phone browsing (actually you can do most things Google on your phone at http://m.google.com/.

No matter where I read the feeds it coordinates them all so you know which feeds have been read.

They've got an off-line version using Google Gears, this is what motivated me to do do this with Google. This means if I plan before I don't have a internet connection I can sync my feeds to the computer and read the feeds off line but when I sync the computer back up, it marks the feeds as read (or stars them or what ever other things I do to the feeds).

I thought there was a Java version of Google Reader that I could put on my Palm Treo 755p phone, but I can't find it. That would make this even more useful. Does this exist? Can someone point me to it if it does?

ADDED LATER: I guess it doesn't cache the images for off-line viewing(?), disappointing, but I can live with it.

So I took an hour or two the other day and put all my sites in my blog roll into Google Reader. This took some time, but I think it was worth it. I think I'll add some of my news sites in there also (those weren't in my BlogRoll). There were several thousand posts marked as unread since it doesn't know what I actually have looked at, so I had to bite the bullet and mark them all as read. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to mark "all posts older than 1 week as read" (or something like that) so I had to mark them all.

WOW! I can can get through all my feeds pretty quickly now. It's so easy it almost makes me feel like I'm rushing, I need to slow down and chew my food enjoy the reading. Read the help for the key shortcuts! I've got it so when the reader starts up, it defaults to all the posts I haven't read and I can just hit the space bar to scroll through them all, as I space through them it marks them as read and scrolls through them.

Downsides:

I really miss the feel of the site though. Sometimes I'm reading something and I'm like who the heck is this? and I check and realize that I know the person but it's out of context so it's hard to tell. Makes me want to figure out a way to brand my feed.

They have feed recommendations, but they could be a little better and a few more of them.

They've got some other features like "Shared Items" and "notes" but I haven't used them yet. Any tips?

My Adjustable Rate Mortgage Adjusted

Gary LaPointe — 2008-09-26T15:49:18-05:00

So it's that time for my five year ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) to start adjusting. Was a little nervous because I didn't know how it would go. It could have go up 2% but it only jumped from 4.25% to 4.875% so I'm pretty happy about 5/8ths of a percent (it'll stay that rate for the next year). What I couldn't understand was why my payments dropped if the rates went up? Turns out they recalculated my mortgage based on what I currently owe and since I've been paying extra on my mortgage it went down; so even though my interest is going up $45-ish a month it actually dropped my monthly payment.

I've had a really great experience with my first mortgage. I set it up with a local company and it was immediately sold to HSBC (it was sold so fast; I signed Friday at 4 pm and Monday I got HSBC paperwork dated from Friday). I purchsed the five year ARM at 6.875 interest (I think I paid a small amount for points to drop it 3/8 of a percent) then a few years later I had them redo my interest rate to 5.25% with just a phone call (and a $750 processing fee on my MasterCard) and then I did it once more (5 years ago) to 4.25% for another $750 phone call. The phone call required no paperwork, just them checking my credit and my payment history. So I managed to stretch this 5 year ARM out to almost 9 years while dropping my interest rate in the mean time.

It's worked out quite well for me (other than the fact that housing values have dropped) especailly since I never thought I'd live here even 5 years :)

International Driving Permit

Gary LaPointe — 2008-09-25T14:37:03-05:00

I got my International Driving Permit today. It's a boring slightly-larger-than passport sized booklet. It's $15 at AAA (no membership required) bring 2 passport-type photos if you have them, they'll charge more if they need to take your photo. If you go in they make it up and you take it with you; you can mail in for it also (a list of the 180+ "participating" countries are on the application form). Make sure they check all your endorsements on the form before you leave; they forgot to check my motorcycle endorsement (I noticed before I left).

When you travel you still need to keep your driver's license with you. This is just an official document with your info copied to a specific page and then the key to that page is translated into 11 different languages so whomever pulls you over can figure it out.

Sorry, the photos are a little blurry, I took them with my webcam, but you should get the idea; besides they're official documents I shouldn't be posting hi-res copies, right?

Those WERE the droids I was looking for...

Gary LaPointe — 2008-09-22T14:01:55-05:00

I love this!!!

Of all the "these aren't the 'droids you're looking for" jokes / spoofs / parodies I think this is the simplest funniest one I've ever seen. I got this off PhotoBucket after spotting it on someone's MySpace page.

If you don't understand it, it's a popular reference from the first (4th) Star Wars movie...

Are you a creature of habit, food wise? - Friday Question #38

Gary LaPointe — 2008-09-22T00:36:21-05:00

Do you eat the same thing everyday? Are there any foods/drinks, you feel like you have to consume on a daily basis? Or… do you like some variety?

I'm totally a creature of food habit. Breakfast is almost the same every day (turkey bacon, fried egg, cantaloupe and OJ; sometimes I mix it up with real bacon). If I'm at a restaurant, I probably know what I'm getting before I went there (I decided what to eat and then picked the restaurant). Most restaurants I only get one or two different things. If it's a sandwich, it's "no pickle, no mustard and no mayo". And at a few places I have a favorite table or two (at my local Einstein's they know I'm disappointed if I can't get the table I want). I really need my daily Coca-Cola but I try not to have any after 2 PM (unless there is alcohol in it). And I try to have at least 3 bottles of water a day (if not more).

From Friday Question #38.

Sunsets of Costa Rica

Gary LaPointe — 2008-09-19T13:34:02-05:00

I uploaded a album of sunsets to FaceBook. These are from my last two trips to Costa Rica. There are a few dozen and I think all of them are labeled where and when they are from.

If you are a member of FaceBook be sure to add me as a friend while you're there. Just click on "Gary's Profile" at the top and then "Add as a Friend".

Trism for the iPhone

Gary LaPointe — 2008-09-18T22:11:20-05:00

So I saw this preview for Trism a few months ago, it looks like a cool game and shows where some games are going with motion sensors in the game unit itself.

Looks like a fun smart thinking game, I'd probably buy it if I had an iPhone or iPod Touch, it's only $4.99.

But that's old news, why am I bringing it up today? Because Steve just tweeted that since July 11th (10 weeks ago) he's made $250,000 from the iPhone Apps Store!!! I'm assuming that's before Apple's cut, which I think is 30%, but that shows that innovation (and fun) sells. Plus, the Apps Store make it easy to sell your product and also makes it hard to steal your product (you can only download and install from the store). (Robert Scoble pointed that tweet out in his feed)

Tamarindo, Costa Rica

Gary LaPointe — 2008-09-18T13:32:35-05:00

So I like this town, it's a tourist town so it's missing some of the remoteness of some of the other towns, but it's got every thing you might need. Lots of restaurants and hotels, a beach with surfing so it's a got something for everyone. The beach could be bigger, especially since the tide comes up pretty high but I've never been very far up or down the coast from to see what else there is, maybe the next trip.

Since it's a tourist town, it's got lots of parking so it's generally not a problem parking right where you want to be. This is a big bonus if there's a huge downpour (or you're really sick).

A lot of the people in Costa Rica scoff at Tamirindo because it is a big tourist town (especially the smaller towns on the coast some of them are just rude about it) but it's completely different from the smaller towns so (to me) it shouldn't be compared, you might as well as compare it to New York City; but if you're looking for surfing NYC isn't the place and if you're looking for theatre Tamarindo isn't the place, so the question is "what is it that you are looking for?" and this might be it...

Here's the Tamarindo Photo Album I put together. I'm trying this with the MobileMe service, so if it doesn't view very well for you let me know and I'll put it in the old format. Notice the buttons at the bottom of the photos for Grid, Mosaic, Carousel or Slideshow; be sure to check out how they work.

Dear McDonalds

Gary LaPointe — 2008-09-15T15:37:22-05:00

So I'm getting desperate in my quest. As a last resort I e-mailed Ronald and Co. today, I said:

Dear McDonalds,

I see that McRibs are back at "participating" McDonalds.

How do the fans find a McRib?

Where in Michigan (Detroit or otherwise) or even Toledo, OH or Chicago can I find one of these? I'm traveling next month? I'll schedule a layover for my flight so that I can stop in a McRib city, seriously!

Is there a list somewhere or at least someway I can check out some specific markets?

Thank you,
Gary

Do you think I might get a response?

San Jose and La Sabina Park in Costa Rica

Gary LaPointe — 2008-09-13T23:59:33-05:00

So I enjoyed the San Jose area on this trip. Next trip I plan to spend a little more time in the city area to check it out more. It seems many people who relocate move to the middle of the country; while that seems anti-intuitive to me, the coast seems more obvious, there are a lot of conveniences there that I need to consider.

When I was in San Jose, I chose my first restaurant based on a few things: It wasn't an American chain, it wasn't Chinese and it had hightop tables (had I known they had WiFi I might have gotten my laptop and factored that in too). It was a local little sports bar with food so I thought I could get a feel for some local "stuff". But the people who ran this place spoke English so well I have to assume they weren't locals. Even some of the people who appeared to be regulars conversed in excellent English with each other so it wasn't really the experience I was looking for.

But since the food was delicious and they wrapped the napkins around the bottles all cute and fancy it was worth it.

Most of these photos are from the park but that's because I was busy during most of the daylight hours while I was there. I'll get some more next time. So here are the photos from San Jose at the La Sabina Park.

Liberia, Costa Rica - My short stay

Gary LaPointe — 2008-09-12T17:18:53-05:00

So I keep saying I was trapped in Liberia, but it was a really nice town. When I started to build this album I thought I had taken more photos, but I guess I didn't, so it's kind of a mish-mash. Here's a map of Liberia, the place I stayed (the El Punto) is just south of the Santa Rosa Mall.

Next time I fly to Liberia I'll definitely be spending the night and checking out the town some more, the nearby African Zoo and the Rincon de la Vieja volcano (which I had gotten a recommendation for).

Here's some photos of Liberia that I took.

El Punto Hotel (B & B) in Liberia, Costa Rica

Gary LaPointe — 2008-09-10T14:39:55-05:00

So when I got trapped in Costa Rica for the few extra days I ended up staying at the El Punto B & B. It turned out to be an excellent place, it only has five or six units with a theme of colors, it might be the cutest place I've ever stayed. My unit had A/C, a ceiling fan, a very hot shower (but I never could get that much heat from the two sinks), two beds, two tables, three chairs and something I'd call a kitchenette but there wasn't a way to cook anything but coffee (had a sink and medium refrigerator). I had found huge very comfy towels and a washcloth, made me feel very civilized. Outside I had another chair and table with a hammock. There was free internet but only up by the office and they also had what appeared to be a community area with couches, chairs and a television. There was also a nice double-sided page with info about the area (such as suggested restaurants), how to access the WiFi and useful info that all hotels should mimic.

Breakfast was amazing! A mini loaf of bread with jellies and jams and watermelon and pineapple and eggs with coffee and juice. My only real complaint is there just isn't enough space to unpack (but I have that complaint quite often).

Here are some photos of the room at El Punto and of breakfast (breakfast included coffee and OJ which didn't get shown in the photos).

It's right around the corner from a nice outside mall, across from that is a Burger King/Papa John's/Church's Fried Chicken and down the street a bit (easy walk) is the downtown area. I'll stay there again sometime (on purpose). I think they're pretty close to the Zoo (that's supposed to be excellent) and a nearby Volcano that was also recommended to me. Plus if I'm flying out of the Liberia airport it's pretty convenient (I think during the busier season they might provide airport transportation?) and a cab was about $15.