Boomer Woman Blog

08 January 2009

The Boomer Divide: 1954

Demographers, sociologists, and, perhaps most important, marketers don't fall into the trap of assuming everyone born between 1946 and 1964 can be defined neatly as baby boomer. One category for an entire generation? That only works for distant history. When the people are still alive—and visible for observation—a single category is too broad.

Enter the year 1954. At least for now, it's the dividing line between early boomers and late boomers and speaks more to the childhood experiences of the sub-groups than to any actual event of 1954. Early boomers know VietNam. Late boomers know Charlie's Angels.

You might call that having your outlook shaped by socio-historical context. Or more colloquially, you are who you were when. Me? I like to refer to Judy Harris's theory of group socialization: the child's peer group in ages 6 to 12 is the greatest influence on personality development. Whatever is influencing the group and however the group responds to the influence will drive a lot of that development. I know, I know, that always sparks debate. But even after we debate it, I will still stick with Harris.

Current affairs application of 1954 as the boomer divide:
The LA Times used the idea of early versus late boomers to help explain President-elect Obama's approach to politics and governing (and the approach of his cabinet picks, too).

© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

07 January 2009

ObamaNews ... and Warren Oversight

Summary-style news on the incoming administration is the strength of the web site of the Transition Team: change.gov. While the news can be sobering, the presentation is up-beat, to the extent that it qualifies as PR for the government. I'm not sure what this site accomplishes for the populace except for insight into one's own agenda. That's what it did for me. I clicked on the Agenda tab, scanned the options, and selected "Health Care." So. It's what I must care about most right now. I hadn't articulated that even in my own mind before.

My broader focus has been on jobs. (No, I'm not referring to my own.) As friends and family assess how they are doing in the economic downturn, every single one of them frames it in terms of, "I'm lucky to have a job." All of them see lay-offs in their industries; some of them have seen colleagues already handed a severance check.

That leads me to my other web reading: Elizabeth Warren's cop.senate.gov, which stands for Congressional Oversight Panel. Harvard professor Warren and three others are monitoring the spending of the TARP bailout money. At least, they are beginning to monitor....

Warren's reputation is the best thing COP has going for it. The web site is mercifully simple, with just 3 menu buttons at present. The problem is, that could be accused of being over-Mac'd, which means the intent for simplicity may be the site's downfall. With just a couple of posts so far, it doesn't inform much. But the potential is there and Warren's role is worth watching.

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

06 January 2009

From Analog to Digital: People and TV

How often does a new technology emerge that the luckiest advice anyone can give or receive is "do nothing." For a whole lot of folks, digital TV is a foggy thing. I actually spent some time reading the U.S. government's guide on the topic. You know, where the feds will help you with a discount on your converter box...if you need one.

All sorts of traps there. First, the discount is in the form of a coupon that expires if you don't use it in the prescribed number of weeks. And you can have only one. (The solution is to have a friend, neighbor, or relative request one—because the $40-value coupon is transferable.)

Second trap: figuring out why you don't get a coupon. Time's up. Fund is depleted. Now, you can get on a waiting list. So, you're more likely to give up on the coupon and pay full price (up to $80).

Third trap is actually the first one: knowing if you even need to learn all that.

The Consumerist has produced the simplest of flowcharts to lead you to action... or to do nothing. Even if you don't care a whit about this digital TV thing, you should click this link to The Consumerist's flowchart because it's such a good graphic. (Image at top of this blog is only a fraction of the flowchart.)

If you are genuinely foggy on your TV's configuration for the February 17 transition to digital, you'll like this old joke about baby boomers: most of them are analog people living in a digital world.

05 January 2009

Economic Indicator: the Mailbox

I was certain that I received less mail in the months of November and December. Short of counting pieces, which would be counterproductive to the enjoyment of spending less time sorting mail, I just made a mental note to check it out after the holidays.

I was right. Mail was down. Fewer catalogs—that was the first observation. And fewer credit card offers—it took a while to realize that one.

Year-end news reports made clear that credit card companies were changing their practices. Some people saw their credit limits lowered. Some saw their rates go up. And a smaller number of consumers saw the next painful result: lowered credit scores.

If you aren't carrying a balance, you just take in those news stories. Hmmm. Yep. Tough times ahead for anyone living on their credit cards. Likely to get worse as more people face layoffs. Hmmm. Yep.

So, the direct impact doesn't reach you until you notice you're receiving fewer credit card offers in your mailbox. What's wrong with that impact? That should be good news, right?

No. There is no good news in the current economic downturn. A decrease in junk mail, unfortunately, is bad news.

Credit card companies (including the ones turning into bank-holding companies in order to apply for federal bail-outs) are expecting increased charge-offs in 2009. That's not a word we're accustomed to hearing because a charge-off is an expected part of the credit card business. It's the amont of bad debt that a company writes off every year. If you were a credit card company (or any business relying on humans making monetary payments) you would expect to see several percentage points a year labeled as charge-off, loss, etc.

But you probably wouldn't be prepared for a double-digit percentage. And that's a possibility in the near future. Current charge-offs are around 5.5%, which sounds OK compared to the 7.9% level in 2001. The problem is that the average for the past 10 years was 5%, so high charge-offs in 2001 were countered by much lower charge-offs in other years. And other economic indicators (layoffs, foreclosures) are much more dramatic now than in 2001.

We can hope that the dire predictions for 10% charge-offs are wrong. Not so much because we care for the credit card companies' profits as because we know what that double-digit percentage would represent in terms of consumers' need to use their cards for staples, not luxuries.

From the movies: If you are old enough to remember Kramer vs Kramer (1979), you can correct me if I have mis-remembered the protagonist's use of a department store credit card to buy food for supper. I'm thinking of Dustin Hoffman's character. The cocktail-party-style foodstuffs provided sustenance for the man and his son when cash was short. (If you remember all this, you are also old enough to remember the first time your local grocery store accepted credit cards. And then your movie theatre. And then your fast-food drive-through.)

04 January 2009

Packing with Cling Wrap [Not Refrigerated]

It's a small thing but struck me as brilliant. Rather than look for the right-sized storage container (with lid) for the holiday gift-wrapping supplies, just wrap the basket in cling wrap. Admittedly, it took several layers of the plastic but the result is a secure basket, the contents of which are visible. Credit goes to the young man who came to help us pack away the holidays. He's the absent tree man's younger cousin. And he's young and broke, which makes the drive to the dome acceptable to him.

This smart helper is also responsible for my favorite part of the day: seeing the solar lights burning brightly in the closet.

03 January 2009

Rumors of Stores Closing: Not All True

There's a nice sense of relief when rumors of economic ruin can be denied—thanks to Snopes.com's "Store Closings" report. In Snope.com's words, email reports on chain store woes were a "mixture of accurate, inaccurate, and outdated information."

For fastest reading (and most accurate information), scroll to about the half-way point on the web page. That's where the accurate reporting on chain stores begins. (Snopes.com investigates rumors and reports on their accuracy as well as explains the how and the why behind the rumors' spreading in the first place.)

We'll probably have more such misinformation to sift through in 2009. I am struck by how much of the information was based on partial fact (yes, Pep Boys did make store closings) but mainly suffered from outdated data. So, the claim that Pep Boys would close all stores by December 2008 was a wild exageration of what really happened. The chain closed 31 underperforming outlets at the end of 2007. And the important missing context? Those 31 represented a fraction of the chain's 600 stores.

No guarantees for Pep Boys or any other chain as the recession deepens—and maybe it takes a year to get the whole story—but it's nice to see the rumors proven wrong.

02 January 2009

Personal Technology: Checking Internet Speed

Test the speed of your Internet connection by logging into an MSN web site and entering just two pieces of information.

1 - Enter your area code.
2 - Select the type of connection (dial-up, LAN/WAN, DSL/Cable).
Then just click on the Test It button.

My results were consistent across several trials. The measurement is made against CNET servers. CNET is my favorite "tech help" resource, as noted in a previous blog.

There are a lot of similar free services on the web. Speakeasy Speed Test is the most entertaining of the sites. Click a city name and a test with that server will ensue, complete with animation for both download and upload speeds.

What these sites are checking is best described as your potential connection speed. If your neighborhood is surfing at the same time or other external forces (such as lots of "hops" of data around the globe before the data reaches you) are at work, you may still experience slower downloads than the test indicates is possible. So, our fiber optic service (FIOS) tests wonderfully but we routinely experience slow loading of web sites. One great lesson that only took a few weeks to learn: piping radio across the web slows surfing by anyone else in the house. YMMV.

YMMV = your mileage may vary. Interesting cross-over advisory from automobiles to computers.

01 January 2009

Housing Values: Checking with Online Estimators

When I checked online housing price estimators two months ago, I found a wide range of values estimated for our home, topping at a million bucks. Last night's check on the numbers removed that unrealistic option but still produced a wide range of potential values.

To permit comparison, I set my own "fair price" on the dome. It's a figure that provides profit above the original cost and reflects what I would have called a reasonable price last summer. That's when we actually thought about moving and met with a realtor—but realized all markets were working against us and we'd better sit tight. So, my X value has never been tested but I'll use it for these comparisons and I'll repeat the process in another several months.

At RealEstate.com, our home value is estimated at 68% of X.

At Yahoo! Real Estate, home values are figured with the assist of two databases, reported side by side. The value for our house from Zillow.com is 110% of X. The second one, from appraisal.com, comes in at 170% of X. Yahoo! doesn't attempt to reconcile the estimates.

A Bank of America web site also offers a range, but at least a bit narrower, at 120% to 150% of X. The values are presented as a minimum and a maximum, presumably from a single source.

So, overall, I found a remarkable value range: from 68% of X to 170% of X. Even though the majority of estimates exceeded 100% of X, I'm not counting on them. Neither am I testing them. (Sitting tight.) But I will track them this year and perhaps learn more about online estimators than about the housing market?

31 December 2008

Now buying rawhide in bulk. You would, too.

$11.39, Rawhide PE (now buying in bulk)
$7.99, Dog Toy Rubr (big rolly ball)
$2.99, Dog Toy (cloth-stuffed bone with squeaker)
$7.99, Dogtoy Chain (Rubber! I promise, rubber!)

I am reasonably certain that we will someday have enough chew toys in the house and we will speak of something other than said toys.

No image here today. Go to www.moneytoliveblog.com for Katy's contribution to Sherman Documentation.

30 December 2008

Boomer Lens: Gran Torino

Yea for the best Christmas movie, or at least best for the Christmas season because it's not actually about Christmas. Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino delivers the anti-hero he is famous for, but also communicates it to younger generations who may not know his film history. At 78, Eastwood can speak to at least two younger generations old enough to enter the R-rated film.

As a boomer, I remember Eastwood in those earlier anti-hero roles. And I also remember cars like the Gran Torino. My Gen X movie partner doesn't have those memories but knows Eastwood from later works, such as Million Dollar Baby and the very recent production Changeling.

These were my boomeresque thoughts during Gran Torino:

<> Eastwood at 78 physically resembles Henry Fonda in his last movies.

<> This film earns its R rating not only for rough language and violence but also for ethnic slurs.

<> Demonizing the protagonist's family is typical in films but rarely justified. After all, what family member would seek association with a foul-mouthed racist grandfather who keeps guns and ammunition in the house?

Those were the only thoughts that I can recall that were not about the story that was unfolding on the screen. That means Gran Torino is nearly fully engaging. Best movie of the season for me.

29 December 2008

Leaning Toward "Sherman"

$250, gift from Katy
$4.48, dog food
$6.97, puppy pads
$2.84, dog treat
$6.88, pooper pick-ups
$2.62, leash
$1.52, chew sticks
$2.24, Clr Adj (cannot even remember what that is)
$8.87, water bowl (specifically with non-skid rim that's still dishwasher safe)
$24.88, pet bed
$7.99, medium Kong (toy for holding food treats)
$0.99, cloth rope toy
$10.99, NCF SO9 (must be something necessary)
$1.47, tennis balls
$111.99, dog crate
$2.99, Holiday dog chew on 50% sale
$3.49, more Holiday chew on 50% sale
$22.99, pooper scooper
$15.99, water bottle specifically for travel (built-in bowl)
$29.99, harness with seat belt connection for car travel

We're not totaling the receipts. We are helping with one segment of the economy as we outfit the dome for this new resident, a Labradoodle.

28 December 2008

Personal Technology: CNET TV on the Web

Technical help videos, tutorials, from tips are housed at CNET TV:

CNET (pronounced SEE-NET) is a platform of CBS Internet, having been acquired in 2008. CNET offers more than personal technology but the CNET TV platform reflects what most of us associate with the original company’s offerings: television shows about computing and the Internet.

The CNET TV web site carries the tradition forward with short videos (hundreds of them) that answer old questions (how to increase performance on your XP machine) and introduce new wonders (such as the next prediction for the BlackBerry Bold—no relation).

27 December 2008

Boomer Lens: Benjamin Button

Forrest Gump meets The Notebook. The most striking feature of Benjamin Button last night was the incredibly silent audience. They chuckled at the obvious invitations to laugh but otherwise sat in silence during the 2.75-hour adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story. (My movie partner commented that she read the book in less time than it would take to see the film. This, as we decided on toward-the-end location of our third-row seats in case either of us wanted to visit the ladies' room.)

Directly in front of us (that would be on the second row of the theatre), two young teenaged girls began the evening with excited chatter. My movie partner knew what I meant when I said, "Maybe tonight will be like Man in the Iron Mask." Anyone who knows me well has heard this story. It is my favorite movie-going experience.

In going to see Man in the Iron Mask in 1998, I went for the story. In my youth, I had read Dumas on Louis XIV. Three young girls sat a few rows ahead of me in an otherwise empty theatre and clearly could not resist having conversation during the movie. (I am the sort who patiently accepts people talking in movies, at plays, and even at concerts. That doesn't mean I like it but I accept it. I figure most people will grow out of the behavior. This describes my approach to people in general, actually.)

In that Iron Mask theatre, the girls' chatter was not constant. It even seemed to follow a pattern. Eventually, I understood: conversation ended whenever Leonardo Di Caprio was on screen, and resumed for every other scene.

So, would the girls at Benjamin Button have similar reaction to Brad Pitt? They did not. They were just as silent as the rest of the audience. Although one of them did use her cell phone during the movie. Twice. Texting.

Read Fitzgerald's original short story online. My movie partner read beforehand; I read afterward. Not reading the short story also works since you can prep with Forrest Gump.

26 December 2008

Boomer Lens: Marley & Me

It doesn't matter what any reviewer proclaims about Marley & Me (the movie), this film will be a blockbuster, heartwarmer, and all around family classic. We contributed to its opening day proceeds, with our new Christmas tradition of going to a movie early in the day.

There is no real surprise in the story. Most of us have had family joys and family sadnesses, and a good portion of us would also claim to have had the world's worst dog. Still, we enjoy the parts of the movie that make it a blockbuster, heartwarmer, and all around family classic.

The boomer lens is satisfied with glimpses of Alan Arkin and Kathleen Turner. (Our Xer daughter didn't have the same reaction but that's what generational differences are all about.) Arkin's and Turner's physical appearance backs up an observation from years ago: as male actors age, they benefit most from clean-cut grooming; as actresses age, they benefit most from "relaxed" dress and hair. In Marley & Me, Kathleen Turner hits that mark. So well, in fact, that the dialogue's poodle reference works.

(The observation about screen views of aging actors is my own. I formed it 4 decades ago when I saw a then-young Colleen Dewhurst pull off an on-screen aging of a character by letting her hair appear mussed and slightly gray. The real Dewhurst never reached old age: she died in 1991 at the age of 67.)

25 December 2008

Holiday Greeting. That's All.

Merry Christmas!

24 December 2008

One Boomer Woman's Holiday Cards

Holiday card exchange now includes the Internet. E-cards have matured and I enjoy them just as much as the physical kind.

A former student sent me a winter greeting online from the Jacquie Lawson collection. The programming of Lawson's cards is impressive (and has been for several years) and this year the artist has added considerable interactivity to some of them. Especially Lawson's dog cards are great choices for children.

(I was inspired to renew my subscription at Lawson's site: $18 for 2 years.)

Last night I finally clicked on my e-card from American Airlines that arrived via email. I'm actually impressed by a corporate e-card? I am.

And even though I quit sending snail-mail holiday cards 10 years ago, I am lucky to continue to receive cards from more than a dozen friends and relatives. A former student insists on giving me gift certificates, three artists in the family send original creations, and far away nieces send us cards never expecting reciprocity. Missing this year: Tom's card from his employer. Post-layoff, there are no holiday greetings!

23 December 2008

Boomers Exhausting Holiday Giftwrap

News reports on holiday shopping are making clear that many Americans are holding back. The retailers doing well in this season are those offering very deep discounting to draw shoppers to their stores. Consumer experts wonder what those retailers can do post-holiday when shoppers will expect even greater discounts.

My conversations in the past week have not centered on gift shopping, but rather gift-wrapping shopping. Three boomer women have told me that they are not buying any wrap or ribbons. All are determined to exhaust the supplies they have on hand and then adopt green alternatives.

One additional comment was made by a non-boomer (meaning, young) woman: "I'm buying only silver paper from now on. Change the ribbon and it can fit any occasion."

My own experience is that I have more than a dozen rolls of Christmas and Hanukkah wrap. It may take years to work my way through them. But this year, all the name tags went quickly. As the package in the foreground (in the above graphic) demonstrates, a visiting 2-year-old can make short work of all available stickers.

22 December 2008

Kindergartners on a polar express

Admittedly, I had not imagined the number of children riding on polar express trains last week but I now have the images in my brain.

My niece Jacqueline teaches kindergarten and told me and other relatives at a holiday gathering about her experience with her K class. They all wore pajamas, of course, as did the teachers for the 45-minute round-trip train ride. Seats were arranged in clusters of four and children juggled their mugs of hot chocolate on their own. (No tables on the train—but there was only one partial spill, which speaks well of 5- and 6-year-olds.)

Jacqueline was enriched by the experience beyond the acquisition of a pair of flannel pajamas: she sat with 3 children and had uninterrupted conversation with them. She told us that the regular teaching day never affords that luxury. So, she enjoyed the train ride on more than one level.

21 December 2008

Holiday shopping picking up

Lofthouse

People may fall into three categories: those who buy and eat Lofthouse cookies, those who eat Lofthouse cookies purchased by others, and those who have no idea what this is about.

Yesterday at Walmart in Hot Springs, Arkansas, these were the fast-moving merchandise. Obviously much slower moving: cut flowers turning brown around the edges. On the plus side, the shoppers at Walmart proved the biggest and most bustling holiday event I've seen in this season.

Today I'm back in Texas and will check out the shopping crowds in the days leading to Christmas.

20 December 2008

Shipping Stories

Just for comparison in the gifting season...
5-day UPS ground from Arkansas to California: $17
2-day UPS air from Arkansas to California: $54
Everyone reading this knows what I did yesterday to get the box to San Francisco before too many days of Hanukkah can pass.

The photo above represents the convenient shipping when glass jars of liquids are involved: send it in the car of a relative who is heading in the right direction. This is also the most economical shipping method. And it worked for more than half of the season's gift-giving this year!

19 December 2008

Personal Technology: iPhone Santa

Favorite seasonal mall shot
Apple Store
Tysons Corner Center
McLean, Virginia

18 December 2008

When Bedding Is the Gift

I was a teenager when I married and we were mainly poor. Oh, we were resourceful and inventive and had lots of fun creating a home from thrift stores but we were still mainly poor. I remember a treasured wedding gift: a blanket. It was far more important than the silver asparagus server although you can guess which gift has survived almost four decades.

In those salad days, I appreciated an ongoing gift from an older relative who visited every year. She brought a set of sheets on each visit. The collection was slow-growing but tided me over the years that pretty bedding was far down on the priority list.

For this holiday, I get to give a gift of bedding, except it's really a gift of laundry. We will be houseguests amid a string of houseguests and I told our hostess that I have the efficient plan for that. We shall bring our own bedding and remove it, too. She laughed out loud and said, it's my gift! Yes, it is.

© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

17 December 2008

Fast Food Senior Discount

My first senior discount. (Well, I'm not counting AARP discounts at motels.)

When I reached the pay window at Taco Bueno today (selected for lunch because it has drive-through and the temperature outside was 27 degrees), this sign was visible: If you're 55 or older, you've earned a 10% discount. Just ask about it when you order.

I was past the ordering point but asked anyway. Yes, that's 40¢ off.

I had a fleeting thought about whether anyone is ever carded when claiming senior status. And another thought about 55 being awfully young to be considered senior. And a final thought that I was very happy to save almost a half-dollar.

16 December 2008

Home for the Holidays: Fertility Grilling

A few weeks ago in San Antonio, I had dinner with a group of boomer women and conversation moved to holiday stresses. One of them told about a young friend's dread of traveling home to Florida for holidays because of her relatives' questions about when she would have another baby. I volunteered advice, which is only half-joking: tell the relatives that her poor husband has fertility issues and a second child is not likely.

The group of women expressed the obligatory opinion that the daughter should be able to tell the truth (she likes having only one child) and have that respected by the relatives. Then they acknowledged that relatives who ask questions about reproduction are probably relatives who want more of a reason than, "I don't want to."

At that point the group got creative. The couple can tell her relatives that she has a fertility issue, and his relatives that he has a fertility issue. That way, any resulting gossip (which could go on for years) will be equal between them.

Not a recommended course of action.

But an entertaining thought, nonetheless.

15 December 2008

Best Holiday Gifts for the Young and for the Retired

Best holiday gifts....

...for very small children: socks
Old friends of ours gathered for their first grandchild's second Christmas. In fact, all the grandparents were present. A normal round of competition had ensued and this 22-month-old boy had quite an array of toys. He played with only one gift: a 6-pack of colorful socks. His mother looked sternly at all the grandparents and said, "We're all going to remember this next year. Right?"

...for anyone retired: consumables
Those little jars of marmalade really do have a purpose. Same for the small packets of fancy hot chocolate or flavored coffee that no one buys for themselves. Small denomination gift cards at McDonald's, Sonic, etc., are also welcomed but the emphasis should be on low cost. It's amazing how many of those cards are lost every year.

14 December 2008

TSA: A Welcome at Dulles

Most of us have learned to dress for airport security (no shoe laces, few layers), pack for Xray (easy to unpack laptops), and wait to buy bottled water. There's been another preparation: steel ourselves for rudeness. That's because any expression of exasperation after being barked at by airport personnel can be misread by security personnel and land you in a time-consuming interview.

Here's my happy report from Thanksgiving travel between Dallas and Dulles: not only no rudeness, but downright helpfulness from airport personnel. TSA folks were as close to folksy as could be, although the people examining bags were as somber as usual. The airline's counter and gate agents went out of their way to find me a great seat on an earlier flight. No one barked at any station. I saw more smiles.

My experience matches the press releases: TSA understands that it has a PR problem and is wise enough to know that a PR problem ends up being a cooperation issue in a business that hinges on customer cooperation.

Half of my Thanksgiving travel was uncrowded. The other half was crowded. TSA was pleasant on both halves. I'll be interested to hear friends and family report on December travel.

13 December 2008

Bye Bye Buggy: New Developments in the Stroller World

I knew that strollers and car seats progressed dramatically in the past 25 years. They are prettier and softer and sometimes even more convenient to use.

I also knew that stroller manufacturers rolled out twin and triplet strollers to the extent that they are now common. When I was a stroller pusher, those models were rare and expensive. Well, this week I've learned what is expensive now in the stroller world. It's the day care stroller. Sometimes on sale for under a thousand dollars.

After spotting a Bye Bye Buggy, I couldn't resist the google search. It produced:

Bye Bye Buggy
KinderVan
Turtle Bus
Quad Stroller

Being boomer-aged makes me appreciate the ingenuity of these products and simultaneously certain that I don't want to push one.

12 December 2008

Personal Technology: Power Cord on the Air Desk

Hard to say which I value more: the extra power cord for the laptop or the air desk. So, I have both. Twice. That is, the dome has an air desk upstairs and another downstairs.

Air desks cost too much but after one becomes accustomed to suspended laptops, it's hard to go back to holding one. (I have a beautiful lap board that I'll display on another Friday.) As you may be able to discern from the photo, an air desk has plastic platforms (1 or 2 or 3, of varying sizes) on arms that allow the computer to swing away with little effort.

An extra power cord for a laptop isn't quite the luxury it used to be. In my history of laptops, I started buying extra cords just a few years ago when prices dropped. Today's extra cordage is half the cost of 12 years ago.

11 December 2008

Boomer Woman Transported by Film

Friends and family will confirm that I am not much influenced by a movie's reputation or review in deciding to go see it. In fact, there's little decision-making at all. I'll see anything.

But my usual fare is comedy. Sometimes romance. Sometimes the combination. I'm never dissuaded by a critic's warning of banality. "That's OK. I don't mind mindless."

While my usual pattern is to go to a movie in spite of the newspaper review, yesterday I went to a film in reaction to a review.

Chicago Tribune's Matt Pais on Transporter 3:
"Because sometimes you're just in the mood to see a car park on top of a moving train."

Who could resist that invitation? I went. And, hey, compared to the bicycle sequence, the car-park on the moving train was the realistic part of the movie.

I have no idea what Transporters 1 and 2 entailed but I am mildly amused at 3. And that I've seen it.

10 December 2008

Selling Globally through PayPal

I received an email from PayPal advising me that I can now receive payments to my PayPal account in Euros, Yen, Fracs, Forints, Pesos, and, oh, about a dozen more currencies.

Upon receipt of 50 Euros (or whatever), a PayPal account holder has option to a) accept the payment with conversion to $X U.S. Dollars, b) accept the payment in Euros and create a Euro Balance in the account, or c) deny the payment.

PayPal promises a "competitive exchange rate" but the more important concept here is that the everyday PayPal merchant (anyone with a web page and a linked PayPal account) now how opportunity to sell globally, to borrow PayPal's advertising line.

Is the everyday PayPal merchant up to this?
Up to making sound decisions about accepting payment?
Or decisions about holding it in non-U.S. currency?

I use PayPal sporadically to receive workshop fees. I don't much care for the service charge (a few percentage points) but I value the ability to receive credit card payments from clients who expect that convenience. For the occasional user like me, the PayPal system takes less energy than establishing and maintaining a bank/credit merchant status. PayPal has various types of customers but many are like me. So, I'm quite impressed that a need has emerged for global transactions that (we'll assume) make this service worth Paypal's effort.

Assuming the market is there, I'll return to my primary question: is the everyday PayPal merchant up to this? Using myself as example (theoretically, not in actuality because my PayPal transactions are always in USDollars), my answer is a Reluctant Yes. Why reluctant? I can imagine making errors. A lot of them and not just the arithmetic sort. Currency exchange represents more than simple arithmetic; it's all about trends and cycles and predictions, none of which is very sure right now.

Still, PayPal's international currency service assures us that global markets occur at all levels. Nothing I would have predicted when I set up my PayPal account 5 years ago.

09 December 2008

DVDs in a redbox near you

I've never used redbox and have never heard anyone talk about it. But I have seen several red boxes in area stores, so I was aware of the growing use of automated DVD rental booths. My surprise today, at a McDonald's near San Antonio, was an outdoor redbox. At first glance, I thought the fast food restaurant had placed a walk-up ordering booth for food. Not very logical, obviously, as the booth was literally right in front of the restaurant. In a few seconds the purpose of the booth registered: this was a place to pick up DVD rentals. For heaven's sake.

My next thought was, gee, how many people coming for McDonald's actually want to pick up a DVD, too? And literally 10 seconds later a car pulled alongside and the driver went to the redbox. And that's all he came for. So, fast food has nothing to do with DVD rentals. Except that McDonald's owns a large chunk of redbox. And is smart to realize that great restaurant locations can be great other-things locations.

Redbox has its own web site (www.redbox.com) and a remarkable amount of humor under HELP, beyond the general faq. (Click that tab for basics but keep reading the next HELP tabs to marvel at the humor. This is corporate McDonald's? Really?)

08 December 2008

When less is more: Hotel services

Last night we stayed at a $57 motel with free Internet, free parking, and, yes, freeway noise all night.

Tonight, our $159 convention hotel has non-working Internet and $23 garage parking.

Can I blog on an iPhone? Yep. Very slowly. Good night.

07 December 2008

Internet on the Interstate: Safety Rest Area in Texas

"Bell County Safety Rest Area, Southbound" is the new roadside facility (Fall 2008) located on I-35 heading south, halfway between Waco and Austin, Texas. The architecture resembles a grist mill. But better looking.

Historical information is on display and so is practical information for this part of the country. A storm shelter is located near the restrooms, complete with sitting benches and photographs of tornadoes and storms.

Lobby seating area (see photo above) includes perfectly placed electrical outlets—you know what they mean. Yes, Texas rest areas and travel information centers provide free wireless Internet access. And convenient electric for your laptop. The computer network name is Texas Safety Rest Area Free Wifi, and it opens with the TexTreks Web portal. There's even a toll-free help line: (866) 532-5235.

The TxDOT web site gives this reason for providing wi-fi at rest areas: "Wireless Internet service is provided to help drivers fight fatigue, a major cause of auto accidents. The service encourages drivers to make regular stops and return to the road rested and alert."

It's not all about wi-fi, though. New and renovated rest areas are designed to promote exercise (via walking paths), safe roadside stops (security systems and cameras are well advertised), road information (with maps, road condition reports, and weather updates). Federal funding helped make these rest areas possible.

On a personal note: Tom Bold and I spent more time exploring this rest area than we have ever spent at a roadside facility. In short, TxDOT met its goal: get drivers out of their cars to "refresh." We didn't actually boot up a computer but having spotted the electrical outlets at the table, we did wonder out loud if wi-fi were in the house. We reached for iPhones nearly simultaneously. We couldn't get a clean photo of the network name on a phone screen, though, which led to another distraction: is a screenshot possible on a cell phone?

06 December 2008

Boomers over 60: The Purpose Prize

Lots of heroic tales this season and many awards honoring people for their good deeds. Here's one more source of honor: the Purpose Prize. Nominations are now open for the 2009 prize, with links to information about past winners (including the 2008 winners announced this week) of the awards to "social innovators over 60." Honorees receive rewards of up to $100,000 each.

05 December 2008

Shopping for Oneself

OK. I bit. The NYTimes graphics with web links for 25 Gifts under $25 led me to the air plant, Tillandsias (color: Kendra). $25. Free shipping at DWR until December 20. Guaranteed I cannot kill it. I'll let you know. I recommend you visit the NYT page for the graphics. So nicely done!

A colleague told me that she was shopping at a store in Denver and spotted a remarkable offer: 2 Sweaters for the Price of 1. She thought and thought about who would like these sweaters. Finally, she realized that no one would like them as much as she would, herself. So, she got them for herself. I applauded her reasoning.

04 December 2008

Our Egalitarian Society & the Economic Down-turn

No, I'm not going to propose that we are all equal in our circumstances caused by the economic down-turn (AKA recession). But our egalitarian society is at play in responsibility for certain next choices.

In the olden days (I am certain this was as short as a decade ago), we were assured that financial advisers could guide us well and that we were not expected to be able to analyze markets, project long-term needs, and so forth. So, regardless of whether you took that to mean you should follow advice to invest in stocks, buy bonds, or buy an annuity, you probably nodded agreeably to other (sure) things: your employer's retirement plan and the offer of a long-term care insurance policy.

Well, times have changed.

This week, a Wall Street Journal article* reported on a change in Conseco's long-term care insurance policies that may increase premiums for the customers and even reduce their benefits in the future. The change is intended to "cast off" a losing proposition for the company as the policies are transferred to an independent trust that will handle claims as it can based on $175 million current capital. The 140,000 policy holders may or may not be well served—only time will tell. But the fact that new policies haven't been sold since 2003 suggests that Conseco predicted bad times ahead for long-term care policies.

Here's my point on our egalitarian society: the WSJ article advises that new buyers should "take particular care in picking out a financially stable insurer."

A recent conversation with a friend in Colorado underscores the power of that advisory: "Our financial guy says we need to decide about keeping Jeffrey's retirement account with the company or cashing out now. He said we have to think about whether the company will be around in 8 years to pay out the money. I told him I thought he was supposed to know. And he said, no, it's up to us to make that assessment."

Well, as I said, times have changed. Experts aren't even claiming their expert status anymore, or at least they don't want to shoulder the responsibility of analysis. And in an egalitarian society, after all, we are all equally able to make the analysis. There's the rub. It just may be that we really are equally able.

* McQueen, M. P., (2008, December 3). "Insurer Casts Off Long-Term-Care Policies," Wall Street Journal.

03 December 2008

COBRA Update: Projecting Health Care Bills

In making a choice between COBRA options (following Tom's lay-off), we discovered that the two plans' coverage works out to "a wash" in most scenarios. The plan with a high deductible (and therefore lower premiums) requires more paperwork on the consumer's part but carries the potential of savings if health care bills are low (less than the amount of the deductible of $3000).

Our approach was to try to project health care bills for 2009. Tom phoned his cardiologist's office to see what he could learn. A nurse returned his call to report on what his next visit would involve. Reluctant to name prices, but encouraged by Tom to estimate based on typical charges, she outlined these potential costs: $1000 for the echocardiogram and $2200 for the nuclear stress test.

That amount of detail was enough; no need to estimate labs or any other miscellaneous costs. After the deductible, the two plans and their premiums work out to the same overall benefits, and Tom learned that he will surely exceed the deductible of the lower-premium plan. That means the "regular" plan is the better choice because it is paperwork-free.

So, Tom's individual COBRA cost will be $608/month. The break-down: $545 for medical, $62 for dental.

Tom was lucky in his lay-off in that his COBRA costs were covered "free" by his employer at the start. Not all unemployed workers have that luck and so must pick up their own COBRA premiums immediately. Regardless of the timing, though, one cannot help but compare medical insurance costs with unemployment checks; for Tom, COBRA will now be almost half of the unemployment check. (Obviously, a younger person may see a smaller percentage of the unemployment check needed for medical insurance.)

02 December 2008

Ride-on Luggage

Spotted at a D.C. airport last week: the Trunki.

Just might be the single greatest spin-off of luggage on wheels. (And it is, by the way, an openable suitcase sized for carry-on as well as ride-on for ages 3 to 6.) Boomer-aged readers will recall with me the amazement we all felt when ice chests got wheels—long, long past the time that luggage got wheels. What else have we not put on wheels?