richmackey - the blog

I’m sitting in the Denver airport waiting to fly out to exciting Dayton Ohio. A few days ago I indulged and got the new blackberry pearl, so I’m posting from that. Can’t do hyperlinks or much else but general text seems to work well.

Just a quick post before I head out. I’ll write more later about the potential house, TiVo HD, Apple’s new products and everything else that happened this week.

In case you’re curious, this trip puts me over 90,000 airline miles for the year. Blech.

I had the distinct pleasure of registering my car in Colorado last weekend. I intended to write about it then, but hey… I procrastinate sometimes.

Having registered a car in 5 states now (IA, NE, IL, CA, CO if you’re counting) I knew enough to find the DMV web site and figure out what I needed to do/have to expedite the process. In CO you need proof of identification (driver’s license), old title, old registration, emissions testing, VIN verification. Obviously the last two are the unique ones. Fortunately, the web site tells you where to go for your emissions test, and the VIN verification can be done by the same people who do emissions. Convenient. And a rip off. Why?

I have a 2006 BMW 330xi. It has 8,000 miles on it. I’ve had it roughly 8 months. I bought it new from BMW (was still on the boat coming to Los Angeles when I paid for it) and received it at a California dealership. So. The car is new. The car is efficient. The car is rated with California emissions. Given those things, you would think I could forego the emissions test. But no one can. You must pay the $25 to get the test. I can deal with that, it’s clean air, all good.

Now. The VIN Verification. This kills me. A girl at the emissions place looks at your license plate, looks at the VIN on your window (or inside the door in my case), and writes it down on a piece of paper. That’s your VIN verification. Follow me on this. I have a NEW car. Financed by BMW. I have the original title (with power of attorney from BMW Finance). The registration from the state of California. Yet, no one looked at those things as a piece of verifying the VIN. A girl looked at the car. Wrote it down on a piece of paper - and that’s more accurate and valid than anything provided by BMW USA or the state of California. For this, I pay $9. Granted, it’s only $9 but still. I would think the process could be a bit better.

So the car is registered. I’m legal. (If you have a Colorado license and do not have Colorado plates on a vehicle registered in your name, it’s a $1000 fine if you get pulled over. Per incident.) The rest of the process went smoothly, but oh what a joy it is to deal with the paperwork of getting ‘legit’ in a new state.

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Caffeine intake: 4 cups coffee, 1 Dr. Pepper (can)
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Days since last trip: 03 (Austin, TX 7/31-8/2)
Airline miles traveled year-to-date: 74,510
# of airline flights year-to-date: 79

*I have chosen to consolidate miles and not show individual airlines. Just easier that way.

When I was at Ogilvy & Mather/Chicago from 2000-2003 I worked on the Sears business. Started on Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) and then moved on to Craftsman tools later. The TV we did was iconic and dealt with the breadth of the tool line and the history and heritage Craftsman has. It always amazed me that it was always ranked #1, #2 or #3 on quality among all worldwide brands (not just tools, all). The other two that flirted with the top 3 were Rolls Royce and Waterford Crystal. Good company indeed.

So seeing these ads gives me mixed feelings. While I find them funny, I’m not sure they do a lot for the brand overall. Seems to cheapen it a bit to me. Take a look and feel free to post comments.

Gymnastics :30

Bowling :30



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Caffeine intake: 3 cups coffee, Annie’s Cafe
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Days since last trip: 02 (LA - 7/13-7/14)
Miles traveled on American year-to-date: 20,323
Miles traveled on United year-to-date: 34,370
Miles traveled on Frontier year-to-date: 10,140

So I’ve been spending WAY too much money today. I impulse buy like NOBODY’S business. Got a new scanner (deep sale), Bose speakers for work (necessity) and the BF and I got a new MacBook for him today. I must stop!

Ironically, the one thing we both want and have agreed on is the new dual-tuner TiVo. We have 3 TiVos in the house currently - my original Series 2, a Humax DVD-R TiVo and a 40-Hour. I’ve looked for them at Best Buy (for instant gratification). Found it on Amazon.com for cheap… but still haven’t made the purchase. We always have issues with conflicts on TV shows, and I’ve been DYING for the dual-tuner (as well as an HDTiVo) for a while. I just haven’t pulled the trigger. Maybe if I prep the 40-hour to give to my parents (who need one - everyone needs one!) it’ll motivate us to go get the dual-tuner.

So I continue to shop… and maybe by next weekend I’ll get the TiVo. I’m told I HAVE to buy it before fall so we can sample a ton of new shows. That gives me a little time

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Caffeine intake: 3 Cups of Coffee, Iced Venti Non-Fat Chai, Huge Coke
Current music: Watching TV (maybe I should get rid of this category)
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Days since last trip: 02
Miles traveled on American year-to-date: 18,521
Miles traveled on United year-to-date: 32,646
Miles traveled on Frontier year-to-date: 8,460

It’s about time I give an update on my life since last fall. A lot has happened - I took the job in San Diego, was there 6 months, and then my department was moved to Denver. So - I now live in Denver (Stapleton area) with my boyfriend, whom I met in San Diego. I’ll back up.

My first week in San Diego I met a great guy online. We chatted for all of about 40 minutes then met for lunch. Then dinner. Fast forward to April, and when I was relocated to Denver, he came with. We’ve been together about 8 months now, and things continue to go very well. We just sort of ‘get’ each other, and complement one another in so many ways, it’s hard to explain. He was working in IT for DC Shoes in San Diego, and took a job at the Apple Store here as a Mac Genius. So of course, we have the whole Apple geek thing going on

The job has been going well. Work is tough and long, and I’m back to traveling a lot (mileage updates below). Overall, I’m challenged with new and different things every day - which is awesome. It just gets a little tough sometimes.

That’s about the size of things so far - more to come as I’m going to try to blog weekly, if not daily.

-rfm

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Caffeine intake: 3 cups coffee (Delectable Egg)
Current music: Nothing.
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Days since last trip: 03 (Chicago 6/13-6/15)
Miles traveled on American year-to-date: 18,521
Miles traveled on United year-to-date: 29,870
Miles traveled on Frontier year-to-date: 8,460

So I figured it was finally time that I put something in the “thoughts” section of the web site. I think a blog will be about the best way to do this. Seems easy enough. Now I just have to modify the template to fit the look of the rest of the site. Branding and all.

Just a word of warning - some things you likely won’t see here:
1. Me bitching about work in specific terms.
For starters, I like my job. Even if I didn’t, people are getting fired for that crap. I like income.
2. Much racy content.
I’m not big on sharing out the sordid details of my life/sex-life (when I have one) so you likely won’t read about that here.

What you will find:
1. Comments about products and services I find helpful or interesting.
2. Rantings about companies that piss me off.
3. Ravings about companies that surprise and delight me (there are a few).
4. General thoughts on the world at large.
5. Plenty of useless facts - I’m full of ‘em.

With that, enjoy. I’ll start regular posts later today or tomorrow. For now, back to work.

Peace
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Caffeine intake: Grande Vanilla Latte, Diet Pepsi
Current music: None
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Days since last trip: 05
Miles traveled on American year-to-date: 42,047
Miles traveled on United year-to-date: 5,252