Ring.com Smart Doorbell

It has been ages since I posted on this blog and I need to start posting things more often.  I was at a friend's house earlier this past month and off the bat I noticed he had installed a "smart doorbell" by "Ring.com."

When I asked how it worked, he showed me how whenever anyone presses the button (rings the doorbell) that his phone shows a picture and live video feed as to who is at the door. It can be set for motion sensor (it picks up cars driving by on the street up to 30 feet away). The video and pictures are stored on Ring.com's servers. I later found out that there is a $3.00 per month charge or $30.00 per year charge for this service.  His home has fiberoptic internet so there were no glitches with the video feed. He does note that while his phone receives a near-immediate video feed that his wife's phone may be delayed significantly for an unknown reason.  One of the other features is that you have the option to press the "talk" button on your phone and speak to whoever is at the door.

I think we are seriously considering installing one of these for our house. They also have non-doorbell camera systems that operate similarly with the ability to sense motion and the ability for you to speak to whoever is there at that moment.  It seems you could place one of these devices for a side or back door.

Thank you for supporting my blog by purchasing this smart doorbell here:


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U.S. National Park Free Days for 2014

The United States National Park Service offers free entrance to their parks on certain days (or holidays).  For 2014, here they are:

• January 20, 2014 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• February 15 to 17, 2014 for Presidents Day weekend
• April 19 to 20, 2014 for opening weekend of National Park Week
• August 25, 2014 for National Park Service Birthday
• September 27, 2014 for National Public Lands Day
• November 11, 2014 for Veterans Day

Obviously expect crowds. On our trip to Yosemite, it happened to be during the National Park Service Birthday of that year and so in addition to the usual volume of visitors, I am sure there were extra people present.

If you want to avoid those crowded days, just get an annual pass. Currently they run about $80 per year.  If you are 62 years of age or older then your price is $10 per year!  Click on the below link for more information.

Related website:

• Free Days: http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm
• Different Passes: http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm

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Possible Road Trips...

As we are mulling over future road trips, I ran a couple of these sites for ideas.


USA's 5 Best Road Trips was first featured back in May 2013 and was written by David and Kay Scott.  The two of them have driven more than 250,000 miles over 4 1/2 decades.  These are their choices (I don't believe they are in any particular order).

• Pacific Coast Highway or California 1: 1,700 miles from Southern California to Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Kid stops: 
• San Diego Zoo
• Skunk Train
• Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
• Hoh Rain Forest.
• Florida State Highway A1A and the Overseas Highway: 600 miles along Florida's Atlantic coastline. Kid stops:  St. Augustine's Marineland, John F. Kennedy Space Center, Palm Beach Zoo, South Florida Science Museum, Everglades National Park, Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center, Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory
• Newfound Gap Road, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Skyline Drive.  This one takes you through three national parks including Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Blue Ridge, and Shenandoah National Park.  The ideal time is Spring for blooms and fall for foliage.  Kid stops:  
• Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg
• Rafting in Asheville
• Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.
• US Highway 395 in California.  This 1,300 mile drive connects Southern California with the Canadian border.  Features include Lone Pine, California, Death Valley National Park, Lake Tahoe, and Reno.  Kid stops:  
• Bodie State Historic Park
• California Virginia Truckee Railroad train ride
• Reno's Discovery Museum, Pendleton
• Oregon's Familiy Aquatic Center, Sacajawea Interpretive Center in Pasco, Washington
• Children's Museum and Science Center in Spokane, Washington.
• US Highway 2. This is the northernmost U.S. highway and stretches 3,300 miles from Washington to Maine.  It includes a 700-mile portion in Canada.  Places of interest include Glacier National Park and three of the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, and Huron).  Kid stops:
• Coulee Dam tour
• Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
• Soo Locks
• Vermont Capitol tour

They offer suggestions on ways to cut costs on trips including the following:

• Compare rent vs. using your own vehicle
• Use reasonable driving speeds and make sure tire pressures are correct
• Look for the lowest gas prices when you have enough fuel to be selective
• Take snacks including a cooler with veggies and drinks
• Carry reusable water bottles
• Stop at a grocery store to pick up breakfast items to eat in the room or on the road
• Picnic for lunch or dinner
• Check for restaurant and motel coupons
• Ask for discounts at motels and hotels:  "Is that the best you can do?"
• Consider buying an America the Beautiful pass for $80. 
• Ask where the locals eat and what to do

They recommend looking into the following apps:

• GasBuddy
• AroundMe
• GoogleMaps
• MyRadar
• Hotels.com
• Oh, Ranger! Park Finder
• MapsGalaxy
• Tripit
• Yelp

For more details, read the complete article click here.

I did some quick internet searches and found ideas for similar road trips.

I hope you found this helpful.  Click here to see how you can support me.

Merry Thrift-mas...

I feel like I have partially neglected this blog.  Most of my attention has been with my photography blog which you can see by clicking here or on the link to the right.

I have been only skimming magazines and not really having time to pass things along to all of you, but hopefully that will improve.  I did want to pass along a quick read from USAWeekend that comes with the Sunday issue of many newspapers.  The article is from award-winning journalist and best-selling author, Jean Chatzky who wrote a featured article called "Merry Thrift-mas."  She made some key points as you all head into the home stretch of holiday gift purchases which include:

• Think "Life List," not Christmas list
• Consider what you could buy instead. This is called "opportunity cost" in economics
• Involve other and commit (to spending limits)
• Get more out of gift cards
• Embrace impulse control
• Shop (online) till you drop (limit yourself to 2 hours)
• Think life a recipient, not a giver

For more details click here for the full article: http://www.usaweekend.com/article/20121130/MONEY01/311300005/Merry-Thrift-mas

Related websites:

• Wikipedia entry on Opportunity Cost: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost

I hope you found this helpful.  Click here to see how you can support me.

Visit? Around the 4 Corners

In a recent newspaper, there was an Associate Press feature by Karen Matthews titled "Around the 4 Corners:  Modern Life, Ancient Ruins Coexist in Southwest."  This struck home a little bit because we have been planning to visit Mesa Verde National Park at some point and had recently visited the Wupatki National Monument and visited some of the ruins there and at the Grand Canyon National Park.

You can view the entries on my photoblog that are tagged with "Arizona" by clicking here.

The highlights Karen Matthews lists include visits to:

• The Hopi Mesas. This included a visit to a village that dates back to 1150 A.D.  The Hopi do not allow pictures to be taken in the villages.
• Chaco Canyon.  This is located in northwestern New Mexico and is accessible by dirt road.  It is an area that flourished from the 800s to 1100s A.D. and is run by the National Park service.
• Mesa Verde National Park. Yes, we want to eventually get to this place with the cliff dwellings which were mysteriously abandoned somewhere around 1300 A.D.
• Canyon de Chelly National Monument.  This is located in Arizona and includes the White House Ruins trail which is a 2 1/2-mile hike.

Other locations include:

• Grand Canyon National Park.
• Monument Valley.
• Petrified Forest.
• The Painted Desert.

Related websites:

• The original article is posted on-line on multiple sites but here is the Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/travel/ci_21472293/modern-life-ancient-ruins-coexist-southwest
• Hope Cultural Center: http://www.hopiculturalcenter.com/
• Cacho Canyon: http://www.nps.gov/chcu/index.htm
• Mesa Verde National Park: http://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm
• Canyon de Chelly National Monument: http://www.nps.gov/cach/index.htm
• Grand Canyon National Park: http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm
• Monument Valley: http://navajonationparks.org/htm/monumentvalley.htm
• Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert: http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm

I hope you found this helpful.  Click here to see how you can support me.

Having "the talk" with your senior driver...

It has been a while since I posted to this blog. Most of my attention lately has been with my photoblog. I did come across this interesting article about when to have the "talk" with your parents and when they should stop driving.

Some of the things to watch out for include:

• Unexplained dents and scrapes
• Poor judgment
• Getting lost or confused
• Feeling uncomfortable or anxious while driving
• Delayed responses
• Difficulty staying in own lane
• Close calls or near misses
• Poor attention to signals, signs, and pavement markings

Related websites in the article:

• American Occupational Therapy Association: http://aota.org/older-driver/consumer.aspx
• Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists: http://www.driver-ed.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1
• California DMV Senior Ombudsman Program: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/about/senior/senior_ombudsman.htm
• Eldercare Locator:  http://eldercare.gov/Eldercare.NET/Public/Index.aspx
• AAA's senior driving site: http://seniordriving.aaa.com/

5 Key Talking Points:

• Have an ongoing conversations, not The Talk
• Sharpen skills and seek solutions
• Recruit support
• Plan for driving retirement
• Take your time selling the car

For the on-line article and more details: http://www.calif.aaa.com/westways/2012/09/Pages/retiring-the-keys.aspx

Chatzky: 8 great rules to grow your money

In a USA Weekend issue from a month or two back, Jean Chatzky had written an article called "8 great rules to grow your money."

Here are the major take home points.  For more details, click the link below to be taken to the article on usaweekend.com.

• Bank your windfalls.
• Manage what you can.
• Credit cards don't have to equal debt.
• Don't let your money run out before you do.
• Put your 80-year-old self first.
• Buy experiences, not things.
• Tax evasion is illegal. Tax avoidance is smart.
• Face your finances.

These are all basic and important tenets to live by.

For more details, click here: http://www.usaweekend.com/article/20120330/MONEY/303300006/8-great-rules-grow-your-money

Forbes Magazine: MailStop

Here is something interesting that I read in a recent Forbes Magazine.

It is about an app called MailStop that allows users to take a picture of the junk mail that you receive and the app will automatically request the sender to remove you from their list.

It was funded as a non-profit and the funding stops at the end of this year so MailStop will need to find other streams of revenue or additional funding to continue operating.

To view the article on Forbes.com click here: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2012/0507/technology-postal-service-software-war-on-junkmail.html

To learn more, visit the official website here: https://www.catalogchoice.org/mailstop

To view all the options for subscribing to Forbes Magazine on Amazon click here:  Subscribe to Forbes Magazine

Forbes: MakerBot Thing-o-Matic

I was browsing a recent Forbes Magazine article on 3-D printing.  In this article they discussed how Golan Levin, a Carnegie-Mellon professor solved a problem of connecting a variety of different toys together.


He measured the pieces of various toys to within three microns and with those measurements you can build connecting pieces with a 3-D printer such as the MakerBot's Thing-o-Matic.


Very cool...


Official announcement: http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2010/09/25/announcing-makerbots-new-3d-printer-the-thing-o-matic/

To view all the options for subscribing to Forbes Magazine on Amazon click here:  Subscribe to Forbes Magazine

Visit? Southern California Places to Explore Space

These recommendations are also from a recent Westways Magazine for Auto Club members.

Here are some places to consider visiting if you are interested in learning more about different aspects of space.

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  Started in the 1930s, it offers free weekly tours on Mondays and Wednesdays. jpl.nasa.gov
• Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial. This monument honors Ellison S. Onizuka, the first Asian American in space and one of seven astronauts that perished in the Challenger explosion. onizukamemorial.org
• Columbia Memorial Space Center.  This is next door to the Downey Studios building where all the Apollo astronauts were trained and where the Apollo space capsules were built.  Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM.  columbiaspacescience.org
• California Science Center. The space shuttle Endeavor will eventually call this place its home. Open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM.  californiasciencecenter.org
• Griffith Observatory.  A grand art deco building overlooking Hollywood that features the Samuel Oschin Planetarium. Wednesday to Friday Noon to 10 PM and Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM to 10 PM.  griffithobs.org

I hope all of you find these places interesting.

Visit? New Mexico's intergalactic attractions

In the recent Westways Magazine that is published by the American Automobile Association, they had 7 places to visit in New Mexico that all had to do with space (in one way or another).

Here they are:

• Spaceport America.  This is outside of Truth or Consequences and you can take a tour for $59. http://www.spaceportamerica.com/
• Very Large Array (VLA). This has 27 antennas that travel on railroad tracks that can be found 50 miles from Socorro. www.vla.nrao.edu
• White Sands Missile Range. wsmr-history.org
• New Mexico Museum of Space History.  nmspacemuseum.org
• National Solar Observatory. This can be found 36 miles from Alamogordo.  nso.edu
• Apache Point Observatory. Located near the National Solar Observatory. www.apo.nmsu.edu
• Roswell. Information about Robert Goddard and his rockets as well as the Roswell incident. roswellufomuseum.com
• Chaco Culture National Historical Park.  These American Indians built their homes and structures to line up with solar and lunar events.  nps.gov/chcu

For driving purposes, it looks like it would probably require at least four to five days to cover all of these points of interest at a comfortable pace.

Golden Gate Bridget Turns 75 this year

It looks like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is turning 75 years old in 2012.  They are having a big celebration on May 27, 2012.

For more information visit here: http://www.goldengatebridge75.org/

Westways - Common Breakdown Causes

In the recent Westways Magazine, it described how the fuel pump was a common cause of car breakdowns. 

Here they are:

• Fuel pump. Keep tank at least 1/4 full and change the filter.
• Batteries.  Test them once or twice a year after the third year it was installed.
• Radiators and transmissions.  Use the correct fluid types.
• Hoses and belts.  Be sure to have them visually inspected.
• Tire inflation pressures.  Be sure to check them at least monthly.  The recommended pressures are typically found by the driver's side seat

For more details go to this link: http://news.aaa-calif.com/pr/aaa/auto-club-research-top-needed-230955.aspx

AAA Members-Only Night at Magic Mountain

In case anyone missed this announcement in the last Westways magazine. Members get admission on May 18, 2012 to Six Flags Magic Mountain in southern California for $27 and for $10 more you get access to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Parking is also complimentary.

For more details go to the following website:  http://www.calif.aaa.com/en-ca/find-discounts/Pages/six-flags-member-night.aspx?

Trafalgar - rediscover the romance of travel

If you are looking for some travel ideas, this is a great place to start.  Their catalog and website have a pretty amazing list of vacation ideas that start at about one week in duration and can go up from there.  I have not personally participated in any of their packages, but most of the lodging and food and travel appear to be included.  There are some meals and optional activities that may not be included.

If you do not like to "micro"-plan your vacations, then just buy one of their packages.  If you want to have full control over your itinerary and pace, then you pay want to see what their schedule is like and try to reproduce it.  Of course, you need to balance this with the possible increase in cost to your trip. 






I had previously posted on a similar service that Disney offers called "Adventures by Disney" which you can read by clicking here.

Related websites:

• Adventures by Disney
• Trafalgar

I see some itineraries that look very interesting.  Just need the time and resources to go.

To see how you can support me, click here.

Stop upgrading everything...

Just watched this video on Yahoo! Finance which talked about the Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs.  Mike Daisey visited the Foxconn manufacturing plant where a lot of our electronics are built.  He says that the United States exported jobs, but not values.

One way to "revolt" against the poor working conditions is to fight back the internal feeling of the need to upgrade everything you have as soon as something new is released.


For more information, click here to view the video.

To read about Foxconn on Wikipedia, click here.


To see how you can support me, click here.

Doh! Boba Tea House was closed

I lost count of how many times I have received my 10 percent discount for wearing my Boba Tea House T-shirt.  We were going to treat the kids today, but it appears that they closed early.

Yeah.  We have saved a whole bunch, and some of it may have been money we would not have spent, but it is an occasional treat, so it is all good.

We will have to take a rain check on this one.  I usually post pictures on my photoblog, but here is one for you:

To view pictures on my photoblog, click here: http://leftyphotoblog.blogspot.com/

To see how you can support me, click here.

Money Magazine's 2012 Retirement Guide

Yeah, I must be going through a Money Magazine issue (still receiving for free).

They start living well on less with six recommendations:

1. Fine-tune your budget
2. Turn time into money
3. Live smaller
4. Move to a lower-cost area
5. Work part-time
6. Become debt-free

They also have articles on the following:

• How to draw the max - safely
• The right portfolio now
• Five great low-cost towns
• Medicare: What no one is telling you

To read what to do or for further details, click on the link on how to support me and purchase a subscription through Barnes and Nobles.com

To see how you can support me, click here.

You can also read more details on Money Magazine's website.

Money Magazine - Three Reasons to Love the Slowdown

In a recent Money Magazine issue (still receiving this one for free), there was a feature in their "Economy Watch" section titled Three Reasons to Love the Slowdown.

The reasons are:

1. Stocks are more attractively priced
2. Interest rates will remain low for a while
3. Investment properties are a deal

To read what to do or for further details, click on the link on how to support me and purchase a subscription through Barnes and Nobles.com

To see how you can support me, click here.

Visit? Get sailing

In a recent Sunset Magazine, they mentioned that the 2013 34th America's Cup will be held off the coast of San Francisco.  They have a feature that goes through some of the basics of what to expect as well

In the following link, they have listings on where to sail.  Their favorite charter companies include:

• Aloha Yacht Charters, San Diego
• Marina Sailing, Long Beach and Newport Beach
• Sail Channel Islands, Oxnard
• Sail San Diego, San Diego

Click here to go to Sunset. com to read more about how to get started sailing as well as find places in Seattle, northern and southern California to sail.


To see how you can support me, click here.