Gary Said...

Universal Buy-In - The Michigan School Retirement System

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-19T19:17:04-05:00

So the school system in the State of Michigan has an option as part of it's retirement plan. You can actually "purchase" up to five years of work (called Universal Buy-In) and then then when you have twenty-five years of work into the system it actually counts as thirty so you can retire five years early. Now it's a convoluted formula based on your age, your maximum salary and how many years you have in the system; so the younger you are and the least you make they cheaper it is. Plus, they'll take the money out of your check pre-tax dollars so you can get into this deal for as about $35 less every two-weeks (that's $50 pre-tax). When I got in on the deal the plan was better, now they charge you interest on what you owe, so now you're better off paying it off fast, before you had to spread it out. (Warning: if you're bored now, the post really doesn't get much more interesting. The part in bold near the bottom is the slightly/semi-interesting part that caused me to write this post.)

I recommend this plan* to people who are in the Michigan retirement system and I always mention it to the new teachers at school. The younger you are when you start the cheaper this will be; I don't want to hear you say you can't afford it, you can start this at about $17 a week, that's not that much and it should really pay off in the long run.

In my case, I didn't hear about it until I had been in the system for a few years so it wasn't cheap but since I knew I'd get five extra years of retirement payments so it seemed like a deal to me. I had it spread out evenly over the years I had left so it's been getting paid down slowly.

Another MobileMe Credit! 60 more days free!

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-19T14:57:04-05:00

So in addition to the 30 Day MobileMe credit from a month ago, they are giving another 60 days of free MobileMe credit.

My problems have not been too bad during this transition (I don't use their mail) so I'm getting 90 days total!! Plus they've doubled my space (back during the transition) which makes it 20 times the storage what it was a year ago.

The Tico Times

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-17T18:34:32-05:00

The Tico Times is the english weekly paper from Costa Rica. For the last eight months I've been subscribing to the paper edition of The Tico Times. I've mentioned my Tico Times delivery issues before, it usually takes a while to get to Michigan but it's much easier to read on paper than on the screen (they also offer a PDF subscription).

I've wanted to see what's going on in the country when I'm not visiting. I've been paying attention to opinion pages, letters to the editor, classifieds and more local ads. Of the five times I've been there it's all been in April or between the end of November and beginning of January (and really only covering half-a-dozen different weeks) so I've really only seen a portion of the year while there. So I've been paying more attention to the non-tourist type articles; when I'm there traveling I'm generally looking more for what's going on there at that time.

How I'm doing on my 101 in 1001 list...

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-17T16:01:25-05:00

I'm about 17 days from needing to complete my 101 in 1001 list, I haven't been working on it much so it's time to revisit and cross a few things off. I've only completed 52 of my items. Looks like I'll complete about 6 more. As resolutions go I'm still above average as I'll have done more than 18 items a year :)

So I love my 101 list but some things just didn't get done. I thought I'd have done better. Things I could have done to ensure I accomplished more:

Don't pick bands to make an effort to go see if they might not actually tour.

Don't pick a location to travel to when your interests might change (instead say "visit a country overseas that you haven't been to before")

Don't pick something to go to (like SXSW or Burning Man) that doesn't ever fit the schedule of the job you have.

Some items should really be two or three items.

Don't have too many items dependent on other items.

Don't make them too much work and not fun (I think I created some to just fill the list)

Don't pick so many vacation items, you might want to go somewhere else (especially when you consider I've gone to Costa Rica 4 times in the same period).

Don't pick such complicated items (do ______ once a year) that should have been separate items

If I would avoided the above I probably could have easily accomplished anther 20. Some were just are impossible to do based on the items I picked.

A few items I've just recently finally crossed off (but I might have actually done them months ago)
Take Mom to England
Get something for my car to integrate my iPod better
Move somewhere else local?
Go one week without using any cash
Change all exterior bulbs in my car

I've got a few that I did make some progress in the right direction so I'll credit myself a few points. But I've got a bunch that didn't get touched.

The Costa Rica Plan

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-16T13:42:12-05:00

So I've had thoughts for a plan for Costa Rica, I've had it for a while but haven't specifically verbalized it very much. I think maybe the closest I've gotten to verbalizing it is in my 101 in 1001 list, the item that says "Decide if I might actually want to live in Costa Rica" the result has been blank but as the plan proceeds you'll get the gist of which direction I'm heading...

A few of these will be long posts and some will be short, some might just refer back to some earlier posts that fit in with "the plan".

It's Mother's Day in Costa Rica

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-15T18:43:26-05:00

I knew Costa Rica didn't celebrate Mother's Day on the same day that we celebrate in the U.S. but I didn't know why. It's celebrated on Assumption Day the day when the Virgin Mary (Jesus's Mother) was "was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory". Antwerp (Belgium) also celebrates Mother's Day on on August 15th which falls on a Friday this year.

Yucky!

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-15T12:34:45-05:00

I hadn't been feeling great these past few days and yesterday it got a little worse, I did go in but since I'm worse today I'm thinking that wasn't the best idea. Actually the last seven days have been pretty busy, so not a shocker that it caught up with me. Today I went in for a long morning meeting that I needed/wanted to be there for, but then I headed home.

I stopped at Bangkok 96 in Dearborn for some great fried rice with chicken, peanuts, shrimp and more in it. It's delicious but a little spicier than I remembered. That might not have been the best idea...

A nap will really be nice but unfortunately, I had a lot of fun stuff I wanted to do tonight after work :(

The Velvet Hour

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-14T23:27:40-05:00

So I specifically wanted to mention The Velvet Hour it's this odd bar with these velvet curtains and candlelight. No baseball hats or cell phones allowed! I was nervous for a minute since I had sandles on, but it was so dark inside I don't think anyone noticed :)

It's the second place we went and we and you could have just walked by because the door is kind of hidden (see photo); it's not a fancy door I just thought the hidden part was interesting (although the camera flash lights it up good). I'm pretty sure Jen was the one who knew about this place (I think she usually picks out the places). Some of the boys got some Absinthe to drink but the rest of us got a carafe of some house specialty that I really liked but if I recall correctly it was kinda pricey ($90?). Can anyone tell me which one we drank?

Piece Pizza and DaveCago 3

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-14T23:05:44-05:00

So we had a whole crew at Piece Pizza again (we were there two years ago), thirteen people I'm thinking. Mostly people I'd met and a few wonderful new people! Our first photo is a little blurry (but that's because we were drinking) but it's got the most people in it. Starting on the left is Kevin and Katie, Suzanne, Mrs. RW and Tori in front. Tori I hadn't met before but since she brought brownies she was quickly treated like family! Suzanne was another new person and even though she was a non-blogger she was really fun too!

This is Robin and Leah at our third location for the evening (we got around). I've met Robin before and was thinking I didn't know who Leah was on-line but I just didn't remember that I did know, because when I got back to the hotel and turned my computer on, the first thing I saw was her tweeting about being pulled over by the police during her cab ride home.

As usual Dave made us cool badges to wear and these had a "Piece" theme. Get it? (Guess whose site I stole this badge picture from?) And not only did we have cool buttons too, Piece Pizza gave us some of theirs!

Speaking of Dave is it a coincidence that he's wearing his "Zombies Ate My Brain Shirt" in this zombish looking picture (you really need to click for the full effect). That's RW sneaking up behind him.

That's Jenny and Mocha Momma whom I've both met before but I don't have a photo of Lynne and Kosh.

We just ate and drank and chatted and after we ran around to a few other places The Velvet Hour and the Tequila bar where we went a few years ago (name anyone?). It was just a bunch of old and new friends getting together, it seems much simpler than when I have to tell people who I'm going to go see in Chicago. Some of the people didn't get to stay the whole evening and coincidentally (sadly) some of those were the ones I talked to the least earlier in the evening (I'll talk to them first next time!).

Argh, that's a lot more cutting and pasting than usual. But I think I got everyone and all the names right...

I didn't have as many photos as I thought, so maybe I didn't get all of them recovered (or maybe they were more blurry ones than I thought).

I recovered my photos !!!

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-13T13:06:45-05:00

I thought I lost my photos from Chicago the other day but I purchased the $20 software CardRaider from ecamm and now it's all better. I download the program, it scanned my files and I think it recovered them all (movies and photos). I'll try and post some tonight post some tomorrow (I forgot I've meeting Mom for dinner).

There are a lot of software programs but most are a lot more expensive. Thanks for the recommendation Dave!!

Olympic Winners via Google Maps

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-11T13:50:20-05:00

This is kinda cool, I like the map with the Olympic Medal winners marked on it.

You can click the little tab at the top to just show the map.

I lost most of my Chicago photos :(

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-10T19:35:06-05:00

I've got a very strict process I follow when copying photos from a camera:

Lock the memory chip (which I always forget to do).

Copy the photos to a computer.

If I copy the photos to another device (CD, DVD, FTP, external hard driver) then I delete the files from the memory chip.

If I can't copy them, I move them to a folder on the chip "to delete" so that I know there is a copy somewhere but not a great copy yet (and then I don't confuse old pictures with new).

I was in a hurry I wanted to get that stuff done before the train took off, I figured someone would sit next to me since the train is sold out and I wanted to get all the USB SD adaptor and cameras put away.

The first thing I did was that I moved them to a new folder and then something bad happened. I'm not sure if I tried to drag the new folder to my computer too soon or what but I had to force a reboot and they chip is now goofed. I will be using some recovery software on this. I had just quick reformatted the chip so all the files should be sequential so I'm hopeful.

I took lots of photos and video while testing this new camera out with the bloggers and while running around Chicago. I'm so bummed. I guess I've got 5 hours on the train to see if I can find some software to download to fix it. I do have a few photos I took on my other camera, but none of the DaveCago people are on it and neither are any of the night shots I was taking (after a second look, other than out my hotel room window, I really didn't take any with the other camera).

Any Macintosh software suggestions? I have a Windows machine if you have a Windows only suggestion.

On the train.

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-09T09:16:28-05:00

So the guy at the Amtrak station always makes me feel funny when I stop to pick up my tickets the night before (I've already pre-paid them) like I should wait until the next day. But I always feel like I'll fell rushed in the morning when I do it. And today I did feel rushed and there wasn't even a line. I'll just be getting my tickets in advance next time, it's just not something I need to have to be concerned about (I'd rather get 5 minutes extra sleep).

They train isn't too full and I got a seat with power! So that means my laptop is powered and I'm all set for the ride (I can charge my phone as I tether it too).

There are two little girls and a baby in front of me, so I've been pretty entertained by them. Although the older ones are already half-asleep

The poor woman behind me wants to go to Hammond (Indiana) but I guess this one doesn't stop there, the next one does so she's trying to figure out what to do. I always thought these three trains did the same route all three trips. Now that I've checked out the Wolverine Wikipedia entry it still seems like it stops there.

Unfortunately, my return train is already sold out, so that's gonna be packed. Well, if the last thing I do is roller blade, maybe no one will want to sit next to me :)

Later: This train is starting to fill up.

Blogger Meet-up in Chicago Tomorrow

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-08T21:51:29-05:00

So a bunch of bloggers are getting together tomorrow and I'm going. It's officially DaveCago 3 which means Dave from Blogography is in town and organizes a get together. So tomorrow evening we're getting together to have drinks and dinner and drinks and just generally have a great time. I've gotten together with some permutation of this group the last two years and I wanted to do it again. I'm not even sure who's coming, I only know of a few for sure but I'm assuming the group is more like 10-15+ people.

What else? I'm not sure if anything's up for Sunday but if not, I'll have my roller blades because down by the water in Chicago is one of the best places to go blading. I going to try to hit Standing Room Only for my ribs one of the days (it's not too far from my hotel).

I'll be taking the train, because I love the train!! I get too tired if I drive in on the same day to do stuff, the train lets me go in the morning and be awake the rest of the day (and also lets me be semi-productive for those five hours). If only I could take my bicycle on this stretch of the train, I really like having my bike in Chicago (you can really cover some ground).

Blame is a Killer by Amy Ray - Free Song Today

Gary LaPointe — 2008-08-08T07:35:03-05:00

Every day RCA has a free song download. Today it's Blame is a Killer by Amy Ray (one-half of Indigo Girls fame). Just thought you should know...