Not too late, I grabbed my bike, put on a couple layers and met the FBC and my friend at Turtle Park for the rendezvous before the ride.

It was a long ride, my legs were burning, and I felt good waking up sore. We went from Turtle Park, to Maplewood, down through Webster Groves, Kirkwood, down a breathtaking moonlit Trail, onto South County and ended up at the BMX dirt jumps.  There was a stop along the way where some shennanigans went on.  Let’s just say one guy fell in a river, he was naked of course. You should go the next time, partake in the enjoyment.  The ride is different every time, so you never know what to expect.  You deserve to treat yourself to a night of camradarie and childish behavior.  People riding are on all kinds of bikes at all levels. The FBC is huge and full of great people!  Makes you feel lucky to be alive.  Even in December through February, I’m betting it will be worth braving the cold.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of my family and friends and if you happen across this and we knew each other once (or I owe you money) it’s a good time to contact me in St. Louis.

I’ve been saying this for a while, but there WILL be a site design update to reflect my new location and fresh start.

The Lego Bible

We’re going to be moving from a house we own to an apartment or some other rental property. Why? Because despite being a buyers market, it’s not a freelancer’s market. They like for you to have two years under your belt before assuming you’re doing ok enough to give you a home loan.  I don’t care that much anyway. Why would I want debt again? The reason for my self-employment over the past year has been flexibility anyway. Now that we are moving back, I can finally settle in more to what I love.

I want to say thanks to my parents for helping us get organized and for coming out to move a few things. Also their willingness to help us keep moving, and not to lose focus. Also thanks to our real estate agents. When we were looking for houses, our buyer’s agent was tireless. And we seemed so close, but it wouldn’t be.  Our seller’s agent for our house is doing well too. We’re happy to be able to sell in this market. We found the right buyer and we sold intelligently. Sure I’d love to have the thousands of dollars I’m losing with going with agents. However, I’m doing ok.  There’s always a better way to get it done. This is the way I did it and I’ll leave the regrets at the door of my new home.

Mostly I’m excited to get back in touch with old friends, classmates. Making new connections will be fun and so will spending time with family, such as my cousins who work in electric and building. I want to job shadow everybody I can just for the heck of it.

Also, what is with these strange ports Apple uses sometimes?  Apple’s magnetic power port is a superior idea even though it’s a custom port. But when it comes to video ports and monitors and peripherals, they really need to just make it standard, to match everybody else. The more compatible the better we all are equipped. Even though it’s boring to be standard and its tempting to stylize ports a company shouldn’t create monitors and require the purchasing of a $30 adapter. How does it look when you overprice a connector while creating a headache for customers?  I hate having to carry these kinds of things with me.  Stop doing this to people. Stop making modified video, firewire, and USB ports on your and devices. Keep it simple because customers deserve it. And keep firewire when you make people depend on it.  They removed Firewire for the lesser MacBook and there’s really no reason other than an attempt to make people want to go over the threshold and buy the more expensive MacBook Pro. Unfortunately this will annoy people rather than encouraging them.

And that’s really what this is about. People buy things they don’t understand because they like what the technology does for them.  But as they understand it more and can compare with other products, if their product is missing something it’s frustrating because it’s limiting them. From my perspective, limiting people is wrong when you can do more to enable them. Free people to do more with what they have. You can be simple and standardized and connectable.

The kitchen is absolutely spotless, because we want to be able to pick up in a moment’s notice.  This subtle motivation to keep it clean also has shown me how much cleaner you can have it by keeping it clean all the time and saving time. We always liked surrounding our counter top with the things we use, like spices, sugar a couple appliances.  But having them put away and only having a fruit bowl visible is so pleasing.  The kitchen sanitized, but it’s calming rather than cold or empty. Pulling an appliance out of the cabinet is less of a hassle than I thought it would be.

Being a seller is not a good position though.  A seller pays both his agent, and the buyers agent from a percentage of the sale.  It is quite an expense.  And when you see how much it really is, and you look at how much work the agent is actually doing, then like me, you may get pretty upset and disappointed.  Not that being a realtor is super easy.  But let’s face it.  Some realtors might be making about $500 per hour when you look at time spent vs the big payoff.   Buyers agents ignore your house when it’s a FSBO, for sale by owner.  Even though they want to find a house for their client, they are getting paid by the seller.  If the seller is a FSBO, then they know there’s no contract for paying the buyers agent.  So you will be the last to be visited.  If you are a FSBO, make sure and advertise that the buyers agent will be compensated.  Be generous, even though you’ll see that agent one or two times, offer to pay them at least 0.5%-1%.  Then it’s worth their while. And people will actually knock on your door.  We had one buyers agent show up in 3 months because they and the client were walking the neighborhood. Unfortunately our house wasn’t ready to show, so we lost that opportunity.

We have a nice realtor, she’s friendly and helpful.  But we are damn good clients too.  We have done nearly all the suggested work, we’ve cleaned up and polished just about everything, we’ve staged rooms, gotten rid of clutter.  An agent is motivating, because they create the push behind you, reminding you about your chances to sell.  But I don’t think they are as big of a use as a $1000 consultant could be.  If you pay someone to help you, you are a lot more likely to carry out with your own necessary work.

I feel like if I was to do this over again, I would start my own “properties” company and get a real printed sign and a dedicated phone number and answering service.   Then I would spend a $100 bucks or more on the best books and follow all the great advice from them, from repairs to painting to cleaning, storage and staging.  Then I would try to take a real estate class and find out what is required to qualify buyers.  Then I would put myself on the MLS including several of the free databases.  I’d start a house website and advertise it on craigslist.  That way I’d be a lot more prepared and probably still save a ton of money over the eventual sales costs.  Or if that failed I’d still be better off if I went with a regular realtor in the end.   As long as buyers and their agents are showing up, you are gonna find one that can buy your house.  And you can dump some of the savings you’ll have (from avoiding mainstream realtors) and either do more repair work, or just lower the price of the house.

I’m not saying it’s all that easy.  I have a lot going for me in this area already.  I work from home and control my hours, and I’m good at photography and multimedia so it’s nothing for me to take a well-lit shot or stitch a panorama together and size it properly for uploading.  But I do believe that even without some of my skills, anyone motivated could do what these agents are doing and just pay the minimum paper work fees to experienced people.  I feel as though, agents are good and helpful, but their interests in certain things are low and their pay grade is much too high.  And they hold tight to their community so it’s hard for us diy people to work in the same market.

Speaking of DIY, I’ve become a little more experienced in working on houses. I’ve done wood trim (not so great, but not terrible) and I did a good job with tile grout.  I’ve learned a little electric work, enough to be very dangerous. I know more of what to look for in a house, and more of what I like in our next home purchase.  I know better what things will cost and easy ways to find good helpers.  I’ve learned not to settle for cheap tools and that it’s very easy and better to borrow whatever you can from neighbors.  You won’t know you really need a tool until you’ve borrowed it. Borrow it first every time you can.  You might find you can get a better one than your neighbors and use theirs as a starting point. I’ve learned how much crap is for sale at hardware stores. Like I spent a few dollars on this rubber sanding block that is annoying to load with sand paper and that a piece of 2×4 wrapped in sandpaper was way better and faster.  More than anything I’ve learned that you really need to learn how to mud and repair with all the varieties of it.  Learn mud materials and you can fix so many problems.

I’ll offer this piece of advice that I actually didn’t take, but I might in the future.  If you want to do something to your house that you think you should be able to do, and aren’t sure how.  Call around and see if you can job-shadow somebody doing tile work, or installing windows and see if you can’t figure out how to do it from that.  It might mean a lost Saturday, but you might learn a great life skill.  You might still need to pay for it, but having the opportunity to ask questions and peek into what the pros are using, as tools and materials and technique might be just enough.

1. We all have to be good helpful individuals, and make the best moral decisions we can based on the information we have. There’s no reason to give any extra weight to claims that have no evidence. There’s no reason to think that what has always been done is right. There’s no reason to assume you have any moral high ground based on the past. There is only now, there is only what you do to help others.
2. You may think that there is a vast conspiracy. And you might be right. But you probably are mostly wrong. Don’t trust or put faith in the political system. But also don’t think that you are alone in trying to create balance. Don’t feed more unverified claims into the mix. Strive for accuracy and truth above all else, no matter if you have a large following or not. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do. All it takes is one mistake or false claim and many of your actual truths can be disregarded. Don’t take the risk.
3. Turn off the television and ignore nearly everything related to politics. Focus on issues wherever possible and find your path to make a difference through initiatives. A phone call is better than nothing. Raise awareness in ways that you are capable. Don’t let conversations run into the ground. You probably won’t change people, and perpetuated divisiveness is the likely outcome both of reading drivel and pundits.
4. Don’t let others create divisions or try to separate people. Don’t let them make others out to be bad people, different or somehow less than valuable. They aren’t doing it for your benefit. They don’t know the entire truth. They are weak and their thinking is corrupt. Their minds are dark.
5. When you look at the world, your neighborhood, people on TV and you get angry, you are tired of people making messes, of trashing what used to be great, and you wish that things could be better. You are the only one that can actually affect that. By picking up a small amount of garbage, by having a conversation, by creating any kind of ripple, you are your answer and your solution. And you must do it often. And you will continue to be aggravated and you must relearn that you are the answer to the problem. If you ask yourself how somebody like you could make the change, you will get the answers that you can actually follow. A scary neighborhood is scary because you haven’t started the nightly walk organization, because you haven’t created a group that cares for good.
6. Meetings where people talk are fun. Politics works that way. Meetings are productive only in small ways. Ideas come from there, but meetings are not work. People don’t often collaborate at a meeting on actual work. They “plan” to carry out the work after the meeting. But the great ideas that come out of the meetings rarely can’t maintain their energy as they filter down through the budgeting, sub-committees and then to the real workers. Lawmakers and CEOs don’t know how to do the work. They are too used to having meetings and then having people do it for them. We need more working meetings.
7. The government’s money spent is your money. Repeat this and understand it. It’s constantly wasted everytime a frivolous initiative or lawsuit is carried out. Too many politician’s have a game where they take the issue of the day, act as though they have a huge vested interest in it and use it for notoriety, all the while taking your money to pay for promotion, lawyers, research etc. They no longer understand that it doesn’t belong to them. They are too used to spending any time they want. Real statistics and economics will reveal that the issue of the day is more likely an anomaly and should be gracefully ignored. Do your best to identify these sensationalized stories. Real important issues are buried because they are constant, continuous and boring. These are the ones that need attention and money.
8. Do more things for others. Because it’s good. When people are scary, get to know them. People don’t like to go to war with friends. People don’t like hurting people they know. War goes on because we haven’t done enough to create relationships.

Here’s my walkthru because you have a few minutes.

Our story starts off ok at plates.mo.gov.  Right at the top, a single big link to “Click Here to Renew Plates Online” cool!  Or maybe not so cool.  I’ll explain in a couple points.

1. Quickly it all goes to hell.  Next we have a long list of reasons why I won’t be able to complete this process.  A bunch of exceptions. Thanks for the vote of confidence.  Just like the mean ladies downtown.  Why not shove these on a sidebar m’kay?
2. After the exceptions list we have the prominent “Click Here” button.  That must be it.  It has to be, I’m so tired of reading exceptions. Well actually it’s not it. ‘Click Here’ and a page tells me my renewal is not complete.  No kidding.  That’s why I’m here.  Site error? After trying that button 5 times, I realize I’m not experiencing a site error, it’s just a horribly placed and vaguely labeled button.  That button is to  check if my renewal went through. It’s for people who did this 5 days ago and want to verify the system accepted it.  Why is this “click here” button here? The first site page told me to this page to renew my plates.  If I wanted to check my already renewed status, that option should have been on the very first page.  I’ll repeat this just so it sinks in.  On the “Renew my plates” page I start off with reasons why I might not be able to renew and then just under that we have the unlabeled link to check my renewal.  Oh but it gets better.
3. After figuring out the first half is not applicable, we scroll down to “Getting Started”  Wait, what?  I thought I already started 10 minutes ago? Oh that’s right, the first 10 minutes you are just playing with yourself.  Duhh.  If you haven’t realized it yet, this chunk that says “Getting Started” info needs to be placed at the top.
4. Next we have a big orange panel of what we need.  Now were talking.  I like strong color backgrounds used for emphasis. This colored list is good Except for #6, you actually do not need your insurance card to do this.
5. Next we must agree that we won’t submit false information and a reminder that’s against the law.  I’m kind of mixed on agreements these.  As someone who would never do that, it seems cheesy. I’m also not sure this will matter to one who intends to insert false info.  Oh well it’s not too annoying.  “I agree, please continue.”
6. Enter your pin and license plate#.   Aw dang it.  What is my plate #.  Why didn’t that nice orange box tell me I needed that?  Oh good it’s on the paperwork.  You see if I took the time to find my license plate, the session would have timed out in a matter of a hundred seconds idle time.  Then I have to start over.  Thanks.
7. After entering my pin and license itt verifies my information. Cool,I’m in the system! That’s convenient right?
8. Then it verifies your information again (pay special attention to the way your name is listed there).
9. Then you have a form that says “enter ID and product code. But then it says if you aren’t from X counties you don’t need to do option one, move on to option 2.  Interestingly option one, which is the product code area, isn’t actually labeled as such? But that has to be what they mean right?   Hurray! I can skip to option 2, Jackson County has it’s privileges!  Option two isn’t labeled either, so go ahead and muddle your way through that, which is the best way to fill out critical government forms anyway in my opinion. Hope I’m right.
10. Option 2 is Fill out your name, address, city state etc. (as printed on your tax receipt, and they say damnit make sure if your address has two lines, then use both address lines of the form. ) Ok, Ok I will.  I need to follow the format of the tax receipt. I’m fine with that.  But wait, why am I even filling this out again?  You already showed me that you had my information.  You verified it to me 2 or three times where you made me agree it was correct.  This is just another chance for me to make a mistake and get kicked out again.   And…
11. Error, (I’m paraphrasing) “You need to fill out the appropriate information.”  That’s vague.  So I DID need the product code and ID from Option 1?  But I don’t have a product code or ID on my tax bill.
12. So maybe just a temporary error.  I’ll try again…Error, And again, keep getting it.  WTF?  I read the error page thoroughly.  It mentions I might need cookies enabled.  And it links to instructions for IE and..Netscape Navigator?  Jesus, that browser isn’t supported any longer and is unmistakenly dead.  I’m using Firefox.  Then I wonder is this a Firefox issue?  I’m going to be really mad if Firefox isn’t supported and netscape is.  And what about people on Mac using Safari? Screw this, I’ll go to the horrible unsecure Internet Explorer in order to submit my legal information over the internet.
13. Now I’m in IE, ladadadada,  doing it all over again. Then I notice something.. When it makes me verify my personal information twice, it shows my name as Last, First M.  I didn’t notice it the first time because it’s just a quick verification.  Wait, you don’t think that I need to print it that way on the next page do you?  But I followed the tax receipt, like they told me and on the tax receipt it was printed normally.  Ok, I’ll try it.
14. Blammo, it works. Thank GOD.
15. Then 38 seconds of screaming, one broken coffee mug. Who in the hell is going to realize this naming convention? I’m lucky. I spotted it by pure luck. Everyone else is going to get pissed off and bring their anger to the DMV office.  Why do they want this?
16. Ready to pay?  Great!  Simply fill out your personal information AGAIN.  AHHHHH!!!!! You already have my info!!! WHY WHY!!!!
17. Next, do you want to pay by Credit card or E-Check?   (It’s a trap.  I remember it from months ago. Pay by credit card and it will cost you a few dollars, and an e-check is 60 cents charge) Obviously I’m gonna go with e-check but how many people don’t realize this?  Yeah everybody else.  Later and on other pages, they call these “convenience fees.”  Hey DMV dickwads, It’s more convenient for YOU if I pay by credit card or check, because it eases your lines, your parking and your employees.  And yet you make ME pay for YOUR convenience.  And even though it’s just 60 cents, FU.
18. Next we have the longest processing time ever.  I am on the supposed double-fast DSL and it just creeps along. Normally I don’t complain about this kind of thing, but if this was dial-up, it’s totally gonna time out on me.  After all that work if it times out on me,  I’m grabbing my torch and saber.  If it happens to time out, it won’t tell me if the payment went through.  Then everything’s in limbo.  Then I’m going to call the DMV, take up their time and give them the 3rd degree.  So, find a fast way to process payments. Period.  And if it costs more, you fire one guy from your web team who created this monstrosity and pay for it that way.
19. Lastly we end on a good note.  A decent 1 page formatted receipt that we can print out.  But the happiness of that is quite thin because going back to point #2, because I received this notice that it went through, why would I come back and check that ridiculous ‘Click Here’ button on the front page to verify my renewal.  I suppose I could somehow forget that I didn’t renew and I come back to check?  Given the rarity that would happen, it makes that “Click Here” button at the beginning seem very dumb for it’s placement.

Ok DMV, see ya next year.  At that time I’ll need an inspection so it’s gonna be even more fun.  Oh if anyone from that website group reads this.  Maybe consider spending about 2 hours, with some pizza and a couple testers to just walk through the paying process like I did.  This should never have created this poorly.  Clearly there was no testing done.  Or there was, but everyone was completed drunk when they did it.  And you know what.  I know that if their web guy or girl does read this, she’ll be upset.  I’m sure you are a nice person web guy/girl.  I don’t mean for you to get down in the dumps.  But you first need to admit this is bad logic, programming and design, and never do it that way again.  Because though you think it’s no big deal and my posting is much too offensive, It’s you who have caused pain to hundreds of thousands of people by doing this, including your co-workers who answer calls and have to pick up the pieces from a broken process daily.

Things turned out just fine.  I really like NPR, which I never would have imagined 10 years ago.  I like how you can listen to it and it differs so much from most radio stations. Say what you want about XM, Sirius satellite radio, I still think it’s important to be surprised by subjects too. Anyway, if you want to have a listen, I just clipped my two-minute part in .mp3 audio below.

The books they recommended to me were:
Galatea 2.2: A Novel (Paperback)
Ratner’s Star

If you like books, you can listen to the whole show here online at the Walt Bodine Archives