The way Best Buy handled the situation with Dick Schulze this past week reminded me of a cartoon that I saw a few years ago.  In the depiction we see a young man behind a huge desk in an opulent office.  Standing in front of the desk is an old woman in ragged clothes. The caption reads; “I know mother but what have you done for me lately!”.

Neither rain nor snow nor dark of night – we have all heard that about our beloved Post Office.  But, and it is a big BUT, times and circumstances have changed.  The Post Office continues to see a decline in mail volume and everything we can see suggests that this trend will continue.  Earlier this year the Post Office recognizing this trend proposed closing about 250 sorting operations and over 3,000 small post offices and stopping Saturday deliver.  What happened?  Congress said no to these options and is working on an option to give the Post Office some $34 billion to keep operating inefficiently.  WOW how about that for cutting unnecessary federal spending?

As I think about this one question comes to mind, why are we only considering cutting Saturday deliver and why are we doing six day per week residential delivery? During the summer when we are in Minnesota we get our mail once a week. The Arizona Post Office accumulates our mail and each Wednesday sends a Priority Mail package to us in Minnesota.  This is a premium service, meaning that we pay for it, offered by the Post Office as an alternative to standard forwarding or providing change-of-address notices for our periodicals and other mail twice a year.  What we have found is that getting our mail once a week works just fine.  So if once a week can work maybe we could look at only delivering residential mail two or three times a week.  Just think about it either way it would be possible to cut something like half or more of the post office staff!  Let’s face it we, at least most of us, have migrated a lot of our correspondence from the “Snail Mail” to some form of electronic delivery resulting in the above mentioned decline in mail volume.  In all probability the volume of mail will continue to drop for the foreseeable future.  Now if your volume is dropping you only have a couple of options.  Either raise the price such that you cover your costs or cut your expenses.  In this case raising the price would in all probability exacerbate the decline in mail volume and chasing that would be a death spiral – that is if you were a regular business.

Now I understand that cutting the staff is not the top of the list for the postal unions – they vehemently  objected to the rather minor cuts in the earlier reference proposal – but as the Post Office is a labor intensive operation that is the best, and probably the only way, to make  a substantive impact on costs. But back to my point – why can’t we move to maybe twice a week residential mail delivery? Probably not something that could be accomplished in one step but why not start with something?  Maybe we start with four days a week and reduce to three in a couple of years and then to two in a couple more years.  In any event we should do something except provide more funding to allow a failed business model to continue. Any other ideas out there – let me know.

As one drives a substantial distance across our United States – our trip was something over 1,700 miles in 2 1/2 days – one observes things that range from the ordinary to the bizarre.  The drive from the Phoenix area to Payson AZ is beautiful.  Huge vistas, deep canyons and amazing rock formations.  Once we reach Holbrook AZ we hit the interstate system and usually stay on the freeway.  For instance, typically we take Interstate 80 through Omaha and pickup Interstate 29 North but because of the problems with I 29 last year we decided to take US 83 out of North Platt up to Interstate 90 in South Dakota.  What a contrast with the drive from Phoenix to Payson. Driving about 120 miles through the Nebraska sand hills there was one small town and a few ranches but nothing else – grazing cattle and mile after mile of rolling sand hills, some covered with grasses other showing large patches of sand. Contrasting such a huge area with little or no habitation to the congested areas of our country leaves one with the questions – What are we missing?  It makes going from the sublime to the ridiculous seem insignificant. Sitting in a traffic jam that is miles long contrasted with going miles and not seeing another vehicle or human being.  You may have thought that windmills pumping water were a thing of the past. Maybe in most places but not in the Nebraska Sand Hills.  We saw many windmills spinning and pumping water into stock tanks for the cattle.  While not on our current trip but going from Wickenberg, AZ to Kingman AZ is much like the Nebraska Sand Hills but the Sand Hills have an even more remote feeling.  At least there is more vehicular traffic on the Wickenberg/Kingman route.

Watching some people drive leaves one wondering what is going on – we followed one woman through a 12 mile construction zone with a 55 mph speed limit.  She was in a pickup and was obviously talking to someone in the other seat – even though we could not see anyone – talking on a phone but using her hands or ???? and she was doing it at 25 to 30 mph on Interstate 90!  Thankfully she pulled off 2 miles short of the construction zone end. And then there are the semi trucks that attempt to pass on uphill grades and take forever backing up traffic.  The dreaded orange signs – a construction zone coming – keep things interesting.  It never ceases to amaze me that it seems necessary to block off 2 or 3 miles of roadway to work on 100 feet!  Or why have two long construction zones going at the same time on the same stretch of freeway rather than having all of the resources on one stretch at a time? Evidently things like this are above my pay grade.

All things said, the trip was relatively uneventful and we arrived safely here in Alexandria Minnesota.  Now if the weather will cooperate we might be able to play some golf but with our luck with May weather the last 4 years that is doubtful.

Not only has it has been more than two weeks since I last booted up my PC but we have made our semiannual migration Arizona to Minnesota and the PC did not make the trip. In other words I cut the cord and completely migrated to my MacBook Air.  If one were inclined to hyperbole you could say the metamorphosis complete! For some I suspect this is not a big deal, but this from someone that has had a Microsoft DOS or Windows machine since the first IBM PC in 1981, it is something that I would not have forecast. I suspect the first question that comes to mind is why? The answer to that question is actually fairly simple – The MacBook Air.  I have found the 13″ MacBook Air to be the best computer I have ever owned or used. What’s not to like.  At 3 pounds with a sharp display, fast with an i7 processor and because of the 256 GB Solid State Drive comes up from hibernate almost instantly, the package is complete. Add to that a great backlit keyboard and silky smooth track pad and the decision becomes even easier.

By way of disclosure, I have not completely gone away from Windows.  Because there are a few applications that I use that are not available in the Mac format I run Windows under Parallels on the MacBook Air. One in particular, Sperry Software’s Send Individually, is invaluable as it allows me to send emails to a much larger group than my ISP will otherwise let through. Sperry has no plans to port the Microsoft Outlook add-in to Outlook for the Mac but have indicated that a Gmail version might be on the horizon. As I noted in an earlier post, one can run Windows on the Mac using Boot Camp, a part of the Mac operating system, but Boot Camp requires a reboot to switch between the Mac and Windows operating systems.  However the convenience of running both operating systems side-by-side under Parallels to me more than justifies the $80.00 expense for Parallels. Having said that, for the most part I run Mac programs, including Microsoft Office and Outlook.  I have to maintain Outlook for Windows as noted above.  On the PC Google’s Chrome was my favorite, and day-to-day, web browser and continues it’s rein on the Mac.

So in five months I will know for sure whether or not I am a convert.  With no PC to default to I will have to use the Apple tools to accomplish, and complete, all of the challenges that arise. Having said that, I seriously doubt there will be any problems as I tried everything that seemed relevant before departing Arizona. But as I go through the summer I will post any issues as well as how things are going generally. By the way this post was composed while on the road on my “New” iPad and Pages but more about that later.

How It All Began

In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot. And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she had been called Amazon Dot Com. She said unto Abraham, her husband, “Why doth thou travel far from town to town with thy goods when thou can trade without ever leaving thy tent?”

And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said, “How, Dear?” And Dot replied, “I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have for sale and they will reply telling you which hath the best price and the sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah’s Pony Stable (UPS)

Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with the drums. The drums rang out and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever moving from his tent.

But this success did arouse envy. A man named Maccabia did secret himself inside Abraham’s drum and was accused of insider trading. And the young man did take to Dot Com’s trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to horse flesh. and, before very long, there were many others and They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Siderites, or NERDS for short.

And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums.that no one noticed that the real riches were going to the drum maker, one Brother William of Gates, who bought up every drum company in the land. And indeed did insist on making drums that would work only with Brother Gates’ drumheads and drumsticks.

Dot did say, “Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others.” And as Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel,(or as it came to be known “eBay” ) he said, “we need a name that reflects what we are,” and Dot replied, “Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators.” “YAHOO”, said Abraham. And that is how it all began, It wasn’t Al Gore after all.

Thanks to my friend Gayle for this one.

Golf!

• You hit down to make the ball go up.
• You swing left and the ball goes right.
• The lowest score wins, on top of that, the winner buys the drinks.
• It is harder than baseball – In Golf; you have to play your foul balls.
• If you find you do not mind playing Golf in the rain, the snow, even during a hurricane, here’s a valuable tip …….. your life is in trouble.
• Golfers who try to make everything perfect before taking the shot rarely make a perfect shot.
• A ‘gimme’ can best be defined as an agreement between two golfers…neither of whom can putt very well.
• An interesting thing about Golf is that no matter how badly you play, it is always possible to get worse.
• Golf’s a hard game to figure. One day you’ll go out and slice it and shank it, hit into all the traps and miss every green. The next day you go out and for no reason at all you really stink.
• If your best shots are the practice swing and the ‘gimme putt’, you might wish to reconsider this game.
• Golf is the only sport where the most feared opponent is you.
• Golf is like marriage, if you take yourself too seriously it won’t work, and both are expensive.
• The best wood in most amateurs’ bags is the pencil.

Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies followed by a good bottle of beer.

Golf isn’t life – it’s more important than that!

What is a mulligan called in Ireland?  Three.

When is our tee time!! – Have a Great Day.

Thanks to Pat Echelbarger for the following. The “I hit my Drive 270 Yards” section really lends credence to the “Tee it Forward” initiative championed by Barney Adams that I discussed in my post on March 28, 2012.

The Wall Street Journal’s John Paul Newport offers an interesting read in a recent Sunday column titled “Golf’s Biggest Delusions: Nine Things People Say About the Game That Aren’t True—and One That Is”. Armed with recent data results from PGA Tour ShotLink and Pelz Golf Institute joint studies, Dave Pelz helps him clear up two of those misconceptions. Newport writes:

“I hit my drives 270 yards.”
Hah! Maybe once, with the wind behind you, on a rock-hard fairway, when the ball bounced off a cart path and a squirrel advanced it an extra 10 yards. On no subject are golfers, especially male golfers, more deluded than on the distance they hit their drives, with the possible exception of their attractiveness to beverage-cart personnel. Here are the brutal facts, accumulated by Dave Pelz over several years of monitoring thousands of players at amateur tournaments. He used the same ShotLink equipment used by the PGA Tour to determine that, in 2011, the world’s best players averaged 291 yards off the tee. Male amateurs who play to a 30 handicap average drives of 166 yards; 20-handicappers average 183 yards; 10-handicappers average 214 yards; scratch amateurs average 235 yards. So dream on.

The biggest difference between Tour pros and amateurs is how far the pros hit.
Despite the pros’ prodigious length, their most compelling advantage compared with amateurs is their prowess in getting up and down from 30 yards. The pros manage to do so 46% of the time, while 10-handicap amateurs succeed only 11% and 30-handicappers less than 3%. “The short, partial-swing wedge is the high-handicap amateur’s worst shot,” Pelz said. Part of the problem is a poor feel for distance due to lack of practice. Even worse is hitting the ball fat or thin. Given the delicacy of the half swing, a fat hit might advance the ball only a few feet while a scull could shoot the ball 30 yards over the green. Even once they reach the green, amateurs could face their second-worst shot: long lag putting.

Other “delusions” Newport tackles in the article, which can be found here, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203918304577241550813907764.html, include “In Scotland, golfers never take longer than three hours to play a round”, “Ben Hogan’s ‘secret’ went to the grave with him” and “A 10-handicapper should shoot 10 over par.”

Golf Ethics question

What if you were playing in the club championship tournament finals and the match was halved at the end of 17 holes. You had the honor and hit your ball a modest two hundred fifty yards to the middle of the fairway, leaving a simple six iron to the pin.

Your opponent then hits his ball, lofting it deep into the woods to the right of the fairway. Being the golfing gentleman that you are, you help your opponent look for his ball.

Just before the permitted five minute search period ends, your opponent says: “Go ahead and hit your second shot and if I don’t find it in time, I’ll concede the match.”

You hit your ball, landing it on the green, stopping about ten feet from the pin.

About the time your ball comes to rest, you hear your opponent exclaim from deep in the woods: “I found it!”

The second sound you hear is a click, the sound of a club striking a ball and the ball comes sailing out of the woods and lands on the green, stopping no more than six inches from the hole.

Now here is the ethical dilemma: Do you pull the cheating bastard’s ball out of your pocket and confront him with it or do you keep your mouth shut?

Thanks to Scott and Jerry for today’s item.

As one who for years flew 100K to 125K miles annually and now flys as few as three or four times per year it was comforting today as we flew from Phoenix to Boise Idaho to see that little if anything has changed. Leaving from Terminal 4 at Sky Harbor Airport we worked our way through TSA security – not much of an issue for me but my wife with her new stainless steel knee gets the full monty.  As a practical matter we allow at least one-half hour for the process.  While many airports have upgraded the food options that transition has not made it to the section of C concourse where our gate was located.  In that area the options were Burger King and Pizza Hut.  Gourmet dining at its best. Today we are flying Southwest so get in line and on to the aircraft.  Grab a seat and the fun begins.  I prefer aisle seats so the dodge-em game begins – me hoping to dodge my head away from the assorted items passengers bring on the plane and swing around with abandon.  Successful until someone wants the window seat and has a backpack that will not fit in either the overhead bin or under the seat in front of him.  Twice he hits me in the head with this overloaded missile and after attempting to hold it on his lap and stuff it under the seat (it would not even get between his seat and the seat back in front of him) the flight attendant mercifully took the bag from him – again narrowly missing my head – and checked it to Boise.  As the gentleman slid by me it became painfully obvious that soap and a shower were not high on his agenda.  We are set to go but evidently there is a passenger that checked luggage that has not boarded and we spent about 15 or more minutes while this was resolved.  During our wait we were serenaded by our gate agent with his “Southwest” versions of a couple of songs.  He was quite good.

We are all settled in and shortly after takeoff the “screaming baby” chorus begins and continues for about 45 minutes – one-half row behind and across the aisle from me.  Finally mom got up and walked the infant and quiet ensued.  The balance of the flight was uneventful – landed only about 5 minutes late and luggage arrived quickly.  My guess is that any of you who fly could have written this post with only minor differences at least and quite probably would have more issues that we faced.  Bon Voyage!

Well I have been using my “New” iPad for a couple of weeks and am very pleased with it.  For starters I have not noticed any heating issues that have been referenced by others.  For full disclosure I am probably a typical user – email, web browsing, composing letters and emails, some spreadsheet work but I am not a gamer so do not push it hard.  By the way, I still love the Belkin keyboard case.  The keyboard is detachable which allows for a variety of ways to type when you are not on a flat surface and having the “right shift key” makes touch-typing realistic.  Having said that, I have used the “New” iPad to watch live broadcasts and some short subjects.  Battery life seems comparable with my original iPad – I did not have the iPad 2 – and have not witnessed any issues with the battery lasting the full day and often times more than that.

The new retina display is gorgeous with everything sharp – a noticeable improvement over my original iPad – again I did not have the iPad 2.  Due to increased battery size, the “New” iPad weighs more than the iPad 2 but is still lighter than the original iPad so to me there is no issue here.  Having said that my guess is that the small increase in weight over the iPad 2 is negligible and probably not noticeable unless you have one in each hand.  But the real kicker is the 4G LTE connection.  Today, I had my first opportunity to use the “New” iPad in a 4G LTE area (here in Tonto Verde we only have 3G) and the difference is nothing short of amazing.  For instance, there were 7 app updates for the iPad and 4 for my iPhone.  I started the iPhone updates first but the seven updates for the iPad were completed a number of minutes – I did not time it but it was over 5 minutes more – before the 4 for the iPhone running on 3G!  As a matter of fact the connection speed was noticeably faster than what I have at home on my wireless network and a guaranteed 12 meg connection from Cox. Hard to believe. Can’t wait for the new iPhone which is rumored to have 4G LTE.

So why would one purchase the “New” iPad?  For those with the iPad 2 I suppose it is a tough call unless you are in a 4G LTE area and routinely do things where the speed increase really pays off.  But for those of us that have, or had, the original iPad I think the additional features are worth the upgrade.  Additionally, as I noted in an earlier post there is a market for your current iPad which helps offset the cost of acquiring the new one. I had another reason to upgrade.  My original iPad was on AT&T that does not have the coverage or speed that one can acquire from Verizon – my “New” iPad is on Verizon.

As I am writing this post, I received a review by Walt Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal tech writer, about the new Nokia phone and in it he highlighted the differences between 4G LTE service for AT&T and Verizon.  Here is Walt’s comparison.  While Walt’s comparison is on a phone I suspect that the same hold true for iPads.

And if LTE—which I consider the only true 4G network in the U.S.—matters to you, bear in mind that AT&T offers that service in just 31 markets, versus 203 for Verizon. In most places, the Lumia, like other AT&T phones, including the AT&T version of the iPhone, delivers a slower version of 4G, which is really just a souped-up version of 3G.

In the end, your own circumstances will drive whether or not the “New” iPad is worth the jump but if you do I doubt that you will be disappointed.