Labor Day Relaxing

There is something special about Holiday - even more than just everyone feeling relaxed and putting work on the back burner.  Maybe it's that extra hour of sleep that gets everyone in a calm and better mood.  Maybe it's the Family events or special cook-outs that create a loving atmosphere.  Ours was marked with a great meal with the Isetts and playing Probe (a 1960's board game) late into the evening.

Labor Day marks the official ending of summer.  Last night it went out with a bang - first the WEBN fireworks and then at 6am this morning some of the loudest thunder I can remember followed by a downpour of rain.  Today will just be a laid back day of rest followed by taking Jenna back to Miami.

Colossians 3:12-15

Is it all just coincidence????  Many would say yes - you decide.   In my Friday morning Bible Study we are reviewing the book - "One Month to Live" by Shook.  This book I just happened to see in the books on CD when I was making my annual trek to Wilmington NC to see Rich McCord.  I like listening to it so I checked it out and read it and used it daily for my own daily spiritual time (back in February).  I suggested it to my Friday morning Bible study and on Friday we were covering the second week - Love Compassionately and specifically the chapter on Forgiveness.  We spent some time on Colossians 3:13.  So here is the coincidence.  Last Thursday I was looking for a movie for Ellen and I to watch together - hoping to put in practice one of the suggestions of the book - spend more time today with the loved ones you would want to spend time with if you knew you had one month to live.  So I pick out this PG movie called "The Secret Cave".  I was too busy to watch it last week, but since Jenna was home this weekend I suggested we all three go down to the movies room and watch it.  Jenna had homework to do so it was just Ellen and I watching.  The movie had some deep messages but was a mystery that would keep children interested.

Lo and behold right in the middle of the movie the pastor in the movie recites Colossians 3:13.  One of the deep messages hidden inside.

Colossians 3:12-15  KJV
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, and also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Philips Modern English
As, therefore, God's representatives, purified, and beloved, put on that nature which is merciful in action, kindly in heart, and humble in mind.  Accept life, and be most patient and tolerant with one another, always ready to forgive if you have a difference with anyone.  Forgive as freely as the Lord has forgiven you.  And, above everything else, be truly loving, for love binds all the virtues together in perfection.

Miami Vs UK

College Football is here and Miami's first game is Downtown Cincinnati at the Paul Brown Stadium.  Jenna is back for the holiday from Miami and it's good to see she is working hard at school.  This year the tickets are in our name and a great thanks goes to Jeff Crawford for introducing us to John and Mary Ann Luecke (Class of 44).  It was this introduction that caused us to attend Miami Football games for over 20 years.  And likely is why Jenna grew up thinking of Miami fondly and decided to pick Miami as her single choice of school to attend.

Microsoft Dodges a Bullet - Maybe

Well the computer saga may be over.  After a day of tuning, adding memory to 2 gig, and my road testing, Jenna's flawed  HP Pavilion DV2310US is running like a top.  But in reading reviews and attempting to find blogs with advice, I'm convinced this model is a lemon.  Just shows you a Lemon Computer with an Unliked Operating System is Apple's best marketing campaign.  Will Jenna be appeased and use this one, or will she continue the research and desire for an Apple -  stay tuned.

Then Susan entered the picture while obtaining a new charger for her cell phone, the Verizon rep told her about the new $199 Laptop with $39.99/mth internet access.  RATS - and I'm stuck until 6/16/2010 with my Sprint access at $61/mth (with tax).  Apparently the offer was sweetened when the rep said the laptop is free if you buy a blackberry phone for $149.  Actually I can't wait to see the competition drive down wireless data access even further. 

I will say all the technology tinkering has gotten my gadget temptation at an all time high.  If Jenna picked the Apple or Verizon alternative, I would gladly take over her laptop now that it is tuned so well and deep six this Acer that I am on.

Oh - I did create a history of my laptop purchases:

8/16/02  - Circuit City buying a CPQ1510US for $2,103.98  Paid (9/28/04) Radioshack service center $40 to look it over after 10 months of thinking it was broken- currently it's screen is malfunctioning
11/7/03  - Circuit City buying a CPQ2195US for $1,249.99 with $250 rebate that I didn't get (long story)
11/7/03  - Paid for 3 yr service agreement $284.16  (and ended up using it once on 6/11/07 after spending $40 for new adapter)
6/09/07 -  Jenna and I buy together HP DV2310US with $100 or $150 rebate?
6/09/07 - Paid for 3 yr service agreement $329.99 and used twice already for hard drive, motherboard, ethernet connection new battery
11/2/07 - Bought from Wyborski an Acer Walmart Early Black Thursday special $348.00 Bought 2 gig memory in 2/09 for $40
9/4/09 Bought 2gig memory for $33 for HP DV2310US

So 4 computers and $5K in 7 yrs.This substantiates my theory of buy cheap, buy often and buy less than you need.  Also I'm tempted to buy again with Windows 7 -  go figure NOT ONLY MAY MSFT DODGE A BULLET but all this attention could cause me to buy yet another laptop with Windows 7 preloaded.  Why?  Because my other lesson learned is not to upgrade any computer with a new operating system.

Some day when I get motivated I will attempt to reconstruct the history of my desktop purchases.  That's another long and assorted tale.

Cool September Nights

I love the Fall Season - by far my favorite.  Maybe the start of football, the memories of school, the disappearance of my allergies, the smell of burning fireplaces, the wearing of jackets and sweaters - and probably many more.  Late last night I wandered outside to feel the seasonal change - the full moon illuminated the yard, the crisp clear skies revealed the stars.  The soft lights in the office and foyer with loved ones safe in bed, gave me the comfortable feeling of home. The welcome interruption by Nelly the black Lab with wagging tail added to the warm feeling inside of peaceful comfort surrounded by the crisp cool September air.  Nature's noises were present but in a few more hours everything would be quiet. 

Jenna's HP Laptop Saga - Will Microsoft take the fall?

I can see most of today will be consumed with Computer repair diagnostics.  Susan delivered the old Compaq notebook as a backup to Jenna last night.  I now have her HP DV2310US with me at the office and I am sufficiently frustrated (I can now understand Jenna's stress level).  So out comes all the documentation.  The Computer purchased from the defunct Circuit City on 6/9/2007 was a lemon.  It had problems that Jenna talked about continuously until I got involved the next year 6/30/2008 and we sent it in (at that time the ethernet connection didn't work, there were power problems, DVD intermittent problems and a bunch of runtime errors on bootup).   The hard drive was replaced (there goes Jenna's data), replaced gad combo drive, repaired ethernet port and tested battery charging circuitry).  .And related to that same saga we did get a new battery on 7/10/2008.

The power problems continued and I had to get involved again two months later 8/6/08The computer was sent back again and they "replaced the motherboard due to bad bga causing power issues". 

Now here we are again - a year later 9/2/2009 with similar power issues and I am about to call the extended service number that I paid $330 on purchase of the machine.  (By the way the machine cost was $930). 

So -   I'm beginning to have pity on Jenna (she put up $400 of her own money back in 2007) on this computer.  This could be the straw that breaks Microsoft's back.  Because you connect hardware problems with Vista and Microsoft - Microsoft may take the fall. 

Stay tuned

Cost of Communication/Entertainment/Subscriptions

Well as i was tuning the Compaq, I discovered two new open networks for Cincinnati Bell Wifi Hotspots.  After bothering a rep to figure out my user id and password (I'm a Zoomtown subscriber) - bingo I was on.  My Zoomtown plan includes Wifi access.  And since my office sits directly over a Wifi hotspot (now at Coffee Please), I guess I could avoid internet costs at my office.

A couple of days ago, I computed all the costs of my communication, news and magazine subscriptions:

Verizon (3 family phones 2100 minutes +txt)    $175/mth
Cincinnati Bell (wire phone, long dist, and internet)  $79/mth  i (internet is $30/mth)
TimeWarner Cable  $61/mth
Sprint Data Access for laptop   $61/mth
XM Car Radio  $10.50/mth
Netflix    $6/mth
Dr Laura Streaming  $4.58/mth
Go-to-my-pc -   $14.95/mth
OnStar  Safe and Sound (two cars)  -  $16.66/mth  (prepay $199/yr per car)
Enquirer Subscription - $15.22/mth
Magazines Susan subscribes to (People, Oprah, and others for her business)- ?????
Security at House -   ????
Yahoo Email (two accounts for POP download) - $1.67/mth  ($20/yr per account)
American Express Gold Card Annual Fee  (Susan has two cards one for Business)  $150/yr
itunes (this seems to be monthly but varies) - $2.66  (YTD thru Aug)
Sams Club Membership - $35/yr

So what does this all mean?   The hidden "costs" of the decision to subscribe can easily add up.  Also some of these just automatically renew.  I'm sure I'm missing some annual or monthly fees.  The communication and entertainment  adds to over $400/yr.  This is what we were predicting in 1996 during the Telecom deregulation.  I'm sure my focus on this has minimized the cost and many people probably spend over $600-$800 per month. 

So my frugal message for the day - watch the pennies spent per month.  This really adds up.  Said a different way - if you could save $10/mth and put in a savings account earning an average of 3% in 25 years you would have $4,471.23