Monday, September 28, 2009

10 Bad Products

I like reading a website called Listverse, that publishes interesting Top 10 lists. I thought I'd throw one on my blog, just to take a break from the usual. I made a few edits to some of the entries, but I more or less agree with all of the choices.

Top 10 Worst Products Ever

Modern life is filled with a myriad of products; many of them are useful, but many of them are junk. Unfortunately we so often buy into the idea that life is better with these junk products and billions of dollars are spent every year acquiring them. This is a list of the ten worst products in modern times.

Disposable Eating Implements

It is becoming more and more common these days for people to use throw away cups, plates, and cutlery instead of glass, china, and metal. Not only is this a ridiculous waste of money (for the sake of saving a few minutes of dish-washing time) it places a burden on our natural environment. There is no reason that children shouldn’t use glass like everyone else – they did in the old days and it didn’t kill them. Do yourself a favor, save some money and buy a real dinner set.



Disposable Razors

The razor companies have it made – they have a virtual monopoly on the shaving market and people have become so reliant on them that they no longer know how to shave without a throw-away razor. These razors use cheap blades which go blunt quickly and can’t be re-used. Prior to these razors becoming so popular, men would use a straight razor which could be sharpened as needed on a razor strop. The initial price of the razor and strop needed to be paid once in most men’s lifetimes. You can still buy straight razors (or as they are affectionately known: cutthroat razors) and it is well worth the investment.


Diet Products

There are two main types of diet products – the first are strong medications that can be very dangerous, and the others are powders, herbal pills, and drinks. At the worst end of the scale we have drinks that solidify in the stomach so you feel full without eating and at the safer end of the scale are protein drinks used as meal substitutes. The fact is, all of these products are bad because they perpetuate the myth that you need to “diet” to lose weight. The only diet that truly works is moderation – eat less. It saves you money and makes you feel better.


Cough Mixtures

When you get a cold or a flu, there is virtually nothing you can do except keep warm and eat well. Cough medicines are marketed to people who are suffering and want respite – but it doesn’t come in a bottle. Instead of buying incredibly expensive mixtures (which do little or nothing to help), simply don't eat mucus-producing foods (dairy products, white flour, meat, eggs, potatoes, beans, rice, grains, fish, peanuts and fats) and eat lots of fruit that thins the mucus (pineapple, grapes, citrus) – it is cheap and just as effective at clearing phlegm. If you have flu ache, take Tylenol and lie down for the afternoon. The flu will run its course naturally and you won’t be out of pocket.


Self Help Books

Self help books don’t help. They are merely a marketing gimmick to get people to part with their hard earned money. When was the last time you met a person who had become a property tycoon after reading “Rich Dad Poor Dad”? When was the last time you saw someone beat depression after reading a self help book? This huge market now has books for virtually everything you could need, and ultimately the only person being helped is the author who is slowly getting rich. If you really feel that you need advice on life, try searching the internet for examples from real people who really found a way out of their problems.


Sleeping Pills for Children

Takeda Pharmaceuticals is a company that produces sleeping tablets for pre-pubescent and pubescent children. They used loopholes in the US marketing laws to advertise their products without mentioning the fact that they had not been fully tested on children and without listing any of the potential side effects. While that is bad enough, it is even worse that there are people who would consider buying these for their children. In most cases, a child who is not sleeping well can have their insomnia cured by more vigorous activity during the day. You don’t get side effects from turning off the television and computer.


Microwave Ovens

Microwaves have played a large part in the removal of decent cooking from so many of our homes and have helped the chemical laden “ready meal” market to blossom. In some supermarkets it is nearly impossible to find raw ingredients for cooking as the pre-cooked, pre-made meals now take up so much room. In most cases, there is nothing you can do in a microwave that can’t be done better on a regular stove and oven – and in many cases it can take as little time! Furthermore, oven cooking won’t give you food that is soggy, limp, and colorless – a microwave will.


Ab Machines

Infomercials have been pumping out a variety of ab building machines for the last ten years. The fact is, these machines are used once or twice and then end up in the garage or a cupboard never to be used again. The machines do nothing that the human body can’t already do, and if you are earnest about building up good abs, you would be far better off doing regular sit ups and getting a gym membership. It will probably cost the same price and won’t clutter up your home!


Sugared Cereals

It was a true genius that came up with the idea of taking something healthy and coating it with loads of sugar to appeal to children. Unfortunately this concept has now become so popular that many children will refuse to eat any cereal that is not sugary. All around the world governments are whining about fat children and trying to find a solution by banning all manner of things and trying to promote healthy living – but no one seems to be concerned about the fact that the majority of children start their day with a huge sugar rush followed by a crash and carbohydrate cravings.


Bottled Water

Bottled water is an utter waste of money and resources. To illustrate just how ridiculous a concept it is, I will demonstrate with Dasani Bottled Water. This product was created by Coca Cola and was marketed as superior bottled water. First of all, bottled water is a ridiculous concept in the western world where we all have easy access to tap water which is drinkable in most areas. Coca Cola wanted to be part of the ridiculous fad so they entered the bottled water market, but they simply filled their bottles with tap water! When the product was released in the UK it was a disaster. Scientific testing of the bottled water showed traces of bromate – a carcinogen. Coca Cola had to withdraw half a million bottles of the water and they pulled the product from the UK market.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Media Mayhem

We haven't had cable TV for over 9 months. Partly to save money and partly to minimize our TV watching. The digital converter boxes gave us the major networks and PBS, which was fine.

Until football season started.

I've had a hard time so far. I didn't realize how many good games were on ESPN instead of CBS or ABC (NBC is still the lame-o Notre Dame network). For the first two Gator games, I went to one of the Desert Gator viewing locations, a restaurant called Jilly's, and then last Saturday's game was on CBS. As a family man, it can be inconvenient to go to a restaurant to watch a game, not to mention it's more expensive, because when you're at a restaurant for 3+ hours, you're going to order something.

In addition to my football viewing woes, Cristina has had a hard time taping Oprah, the one show she watches regularly. She normally tapes it and then watches it at night while she's folding clothes. I know VCRs have become anachronistic (just go to the store to buy blank VHS tapes and you'll see what I mean) but we've been techno-hold outs. We've never had TiVo or anything fancier than a plain old VCR. I get tired of stacks of tapes lying around, tapes not being taped over because there's a certain episode she wants to watch with me. I haven't taped Gator games in years. If I see an instant-classic game that I want to keep for posterity, I'll download it and burn it to a DVD. Cristina doesn't like how watching multiple games disrupts our weekend family time, and I can understand that. I don't mind taping games and watching them after the kids are in bed. It's nice to be able to skip the commercials. But again, it's clunky to do it with a VCR.

So when Cris asked me how much it costs to get cable with a DVR, I jumped at the opportunity to do some research. We were already paying Cox $65 a month for internet and phone, so I checked out Qwest to see if we could add TV for not too much more than that.


So get this: we can switch over to Qwest and get faster internet (7 mbps vs. Cox's 1.5), free unlimited long distance calling, DirectTV (200+ channels) with DVR...all for about $95 a month. I'm willing to spend an extra thirty bucks for all that.Some people hate Qwest. Some people hate Cox. We've had 'em both before, and they both have their pros and cons. But I have no big gripe with Qwest, so bring it.

The switchover happened yesterday. Qwest is DSL rather than cable, so I no longer needed my old cable modem and wireless router. Qwest has a wireless modem that does both (one less outlet in use!). While the guy was installing the DirectTV dish last night, I got the modem up and running. I could immediately notice a difference in the speed on the internet, which was gratifying.

It's nice to know that we can call family from our home phone and not worry about how long we talk. Not that I'm a long talker anyway, but Cristina can sometimes yack away an hour or two at a time. Unfortunately, Qwest's international plan wasn't very good, so we'll stick to Skype for our Scottish, German, and Costa Rican contacts.

And we'll finally get to experience DVR. It still kind of blows my mind to think about pausing a live football game. I'm looking forward to taping some games this Saturday to watch after the kids are in bed. And though we will still limit the TV for the kids, it will be a relief to have commercial-free Noggin back. I like that channel. It's where we were introduced to the Wonder Pets!

The kids didn't know we were doing this until the guy was there last night installing the dish. Alex was so excited he had a hard time falling asleep. Funny...most families just take cable TV and video games for granted. To Alex, getting cable is something akin to Santa moving into our guest room. If we ever bought a Nintendo DS or a Wii,...geez, I think his head would explode.

Which brings up a thought: could limiting the media for our kids actually cause them to crave it more when they're old enough to make those choices for themselves? Maybe. Despite philosophical and developmental reasons for limiting media, there's also the "we must accustom our children to hardship" objective. From a personal experience, I had no cable TV until I was 11 years old. I wanted it badly then, but I can live without it today. Despite my football cravings, I'm far from a TV junkie. I'm kind of proud of how whenever someone asks me if I watch such-and-such, 9 times out of 10 I say "no." I wish I could say I don't watch much TV because I read so much. That would be the English teacher thing to say. But the fact is, I veg out on the computer more than the boob tube.

Dishes Gone Wild

When I called Cox this morning to cancel, the lady asked my reason for cancelling. I told her, "Oh, you know how it is. When you only have two choices, sometimes you just want to drink Pepsi instead of Coke." Silence. I don't think she got my analogy. But I was pleased to give her an answer that wasn't on her script.

So if you don't hear from me for a while, send in the paramedics. I may be in a DirectTV-induced coma.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Costa Rica is still on the table

A few people noticed the absence of Costa Rica as an option for moving next summer. It is still a possibility. We would love to live in Costa Rica for a couple of years for the cultural experience of it, for the chance to learn Spanish, to be closer to family even more distant than our east coast family. Though I can imagine retiring to Costa Rica one day, I'm not ready for a permanent move there. But a two-year stint or even a 4-year stint would be awesome.

I already submitted my resume to every English-speaking private school in Costa Rica, though it's still a bit early. I'll resubmit in January and see if we get any bites. A move to Costa Rica would be a lot more logistically challenging, but we'll see what's possible if a job offer comes my way. Until then, I'm putting my energy into Gainesville or Chapel Hill.

Friday, September 18, 2009

The Big Plan

Two years ago, Cristina and I had a long, heartfelt chat and we came to the decision that Cristina would not be going to Southwest College, which was the primary reason we moved to Phoenix.

With Southwest College out of the picture, there is no compelling reason to stay in Arizona. Alex and Bella go to a Waldorf charter school here, which we would have to give up if we went somewhere else, and Sofia is excelling in trumpet and academics at ASA. But other than that...we're ready to go back east. With the housing market suffering, we knew we’d need to stay in Phoenix a few more years until we could sell our house for a better price. But the time our children are still children runs shorter every year, so it's time to cut our losses and sell the house, even if it means a short sale. I'm not willing to live in the desert away from where we want to be just for the sake of building some equity, which could take another decade.

Choices
Our old master plan was that after Cristina finished naturopathic school, we’d move to Chapel Hill, NC. We like that area, it’s a small college town (our favorite type of town), just a few hours drive from most of my family, plus Cristina has extended family in the Raleigh area. So the natural conclusion would be to move to Chapel Hill.


However, we already have an established network in Gainesville. That is, we know the schools, we know the Baha'i community, we have friends and family there...it would be an easier transition. It's where Cristina and I met. It's where all three of our kids were born. There's a lot of energetic significance in that little college town. Moving across the country has really opened our eyes to the value and comfort of our roots. The idea of going back, of coming home, is extremely appealing. You know the cliche "if you love something set it free?" Our years away from Gainesville have made us realize how much we love it and miss it. This is what makes Gainesville a strong contender, even though the climate of Chapel Hill and proximity to the mountains make it a tempting choice.


It's not about the money
Whether we move to Chapel Hill or Gainesville, I'll be taking a hefty paycut. Some who are aware of our plans have suggested we move to Georgia, or even Orlando, where the pay is higher than Alachua County. No thank you. If it was about the money, we'd just stay here in Phoenix. We're seeking a quality of life, a proximity to certain things, that transcends salary opportunities. We can adapt to a lower income. Plus, for the first time in over a decade, Cristina is able to work full-time, so our earning potential is greater than it was when we lived in Gainesville before. And the urologist has made sure that it can't be jeopardized again.


Of course, in coming back to Gainesville, I could apply to any middle or high school. Buchholz is the “nice” school in town. But I still have a lot of friends at GHS, and it has special meaning for me. I taught there for 7 years, and they were the best, happiest years of my teaching career. I can’t imagine moving back to Gainesville and not teaching at GHS. It just wouldn’t feel right. I could teach somewhere else initially, but I'd probably try to transfer to GHS each year.

I know I’m not that old, but I feel comfortable with the notion of buying a house in Gainesville and just settling in, not on the lookout for where we might be in a few years. Tuesday night, at the ASA open house, Cristina was briefly talking football (weird, I know) with the assistant principal (who's a big Steelers fan). Cristina told her we're all about Gator football right now. I was fascinated that she said "we" instead of "he." Another reason I look forward to living in Gainesville is obvious. Those that really know me know that I’m nuts for my alma mater.


I didn’t used to think I liked the state of Florida that much. But living somewhere for 23 years, the most formative years of your life, has a cumulative effect. I even miss the humidity.

The Plan
So that brings us to present day. Here's the plan so far. I’ll teach here at South Mountain High School for the rest of this school year. We are tentatively planning to move back to Gainesville summer of 2010. That gives us about 9 months to pay off more debt and get the house ready to sell. I've already talked to a realtor about helping us with a short sale, a negotiation with the lender to accept less money than what is owed.

With a summer 2010 move, Sofia would be about to start high school, Alex would be ready for 4th grade, and Isabella would be ready for a 2nd year of Kindergarten (it's a Waldorf thing...but really, who wouldn't want two years of Kindergarten? They say the best years of your education are Kindergarten and grad school). Alex and Isabella would hopefully go to Expressions Learning Arts Academy, where Sofia went for Kindergarten and 1st grade. It’s a good school.


Assuming I get hired some time in the spring, we would plan to drive the moving truck to Florida around the end of June. Maybe I can even squeak in another summer school stint for some extra cash. We're toying with the idea of flying the three kids to North Carolina for a couple of weeks before we arrive in Gainesville, just to make the truck loading and driving easier.

I anticipate spending a few weeks in July living with my mother-in-law, with our stuff in storage, while we look for something to rent. If we do a short sale on our house, we probably won't be in a position to buy for a little while, but it's hard to say. The economy is kind of crazy right now, in case you haven't noticed.

Pitfalls
Two things could cause us to be in Phoenix one more year. The first would be if I can't get a job. Even if our house sells, we're not moving if I don't have a job. It's not like 2004 when we moved to Phoenix without a job. The economy was better and a leap of faith wasn't as risky. No way I'd do that now.

The other pitfall would be if our house doesn't sell. But now that I've looked into short sales, I feel confident we can sell it.

Looking forward
I’ll miss living just 5 minutes from a major airport, that’s for sure. But driving to the Orlando airport (my favorite airport in the world, by the way) is a good excuse to visit friends who live in Orlando.

I’ll miss Trader Joe’s, but it won't be long before Florida has TJ's.

I won’t miss the 115 degree summers that seem to never end. I won’t miss the blazing sun with no rain in sight for months. I crave those Florida summers where it thunderstorms every afternoon.

I love the idea of being 30-minutes from tubing down the Ichetucknee River.

I can't wait to get back to those cheap flights from Florida to Costa Rica.

I even miss Eastern Standard Time Zone. It's a challenge to stay in touch with Steve in Scotland with the time difference, but it's even worse in Arizona, where the difference is 8 hours.

I look forward to being just a day-long road trip away from my family again. After driving 7000 miles two summers in a row, driving from Gainesville to Asheville seems like a walk in the park. Living across the country can give you some perspective like that.

And I know I can speak for Cristina on this one: I miss trees. I haven’t said that too much during the past 5 years, because I knew it would only make it worse for Cristina, but I do miss trees and greenery.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

21 Month Capsule

For the past few years, I've had the noble ambition to type up a year-in-review, print it on nice paper with some photos, and send it out to family and friends. I usually get the review written, but the publishing part is where I stall. I stumbled upon one that I had written for 2008, and it seemed a shame to let it go to waste. So I added on some updates for the past 9 months and will now post it for your viewing pleasure. So instead of a year-in-review, it's the past 21 months in review...

The D. R. P.
At the start of 2008, we took stock of our finances and realized that we were building up too much debt. So we started our big Debt Reduction Plan. This included getting second jobs and doing all we could to minimize expenses. In January, Wayne started tutoring after school at a local elementary school. Cristina worked part-time at Brilliant Sky, a local independently-owned toy store. In addition to earning a little extra, we cut expenses by getting rid of our cable TV, changing our health insurance plans, and deferring our student loans. To defer our loans, Wayne decided to attend college part-time. He enrolled at South Mountain Community College, taking incredibly challenging classes like the Art of Storytelling, Golf, and Introduction to Cinema.

Spring
Doing his part to help the economy, Wayne bought his first gas grill with part of our tax rebate stimulus money. Sofia’s school, Arizona School for the Arts, requires all students to spend the 3rd quarter working on a massive research project, concluding with an oral presentation. Sofia’s presentation on Egyptian Pharaoh Hatshepsut was excellent. In April, Wayne’s mother, Fran, came for a visit. She quickly became a part of our busy lives. She got to meet our little dog Vivien. She attended several of Sofia’s performances at school, and ate at Pizzeria Bianco for her birthday. While Fran was here, Cristina attended her first 5-day Jin Shin Jyutsu training. JSJ is an ancient art of harmonizing the energy in the body. Cristina fell in love with the technique in 2007 and is learning to be a practitioner. Two days before she flew home, Fran took a tumble on the stairs and broke her ankle. So her last 2 days in Phoenix consisted of emergency room adventures, wheelchair exploits, and lots of family TLC. We were sorry she had to leave us that way!

Summer
Wayne taught summer school for the second year in a row. Wayne also had a week-long reader’s/writer’s workshop training to attend in July. But we were not willing to abandon our plans to get out of the valley for the summer. Initially, we were going to tour the west coast, but it became too hard to juggle this plan with Wayne’s commitments. So we opted for another cross-country drive to the east coast. The day summer school ended, the drive began. We spent 5 days on the road, stopping at Carlsbad Caverns and a Texas water park called Schlitterbahn. Our summer road trip included extended stays in Gainesville, Florida and Asheville, North Carolina (where Fran’s ankle was healing up nicely). To maximize our time, Wayne flew back to Phoenix the day before work started. Cristina and the kids took their time driving home, visiting as many museums, science centers, and friends and family that they could squeeze in.

Back to School
Sofia started 7th grade at Arizona School for the Arts. Alex began 2nd grade at Desert Marigold (DMS). Bella started 5-day preschool at DMS. Wayne continued teaching 10th grade English at South Mountain High School (13th year of teaching!) and Cristina was hired as a Kindergarten assistant at DMS. Her new job curtailed the toy store job, as being in the classroom is more time and energy consuming. In October, Wayne took Bella to her first Gator football game. Wayne, Alex, and Bella flew to Florida for Gator homecoming. Alex enjoyed his 2nd Gator Growl and saw the Steve Miller band. They all had a great time at the game and even got a few autographs afterward. (During that weekend, Cristina attended her 2nd JSJ training and Sofia stayed with friends.)

The Home Stretch
We had a rare Thanksgiving in that we stayed home and had no visitors. Wayne cooked a way-too-big turkey because he waited too long to buy one and the only ones left were 24-pounders. But the meal was good and the leftovers were plentiful. Christmas break also yielded no visitors. However, we did go to the Grand Canyon Baha’i Conference where we saw Red Grammer and (Cristina’s favorite) Smith and Dragoman. We also drove to New Mexico to spend a few days in the snow with Uncle Doug and Aunt Lynn.

2008 Wrap-up
Overall, 2008 was a good, productive year. The economy may be tanking, but our lives are chugging along full strength, with no serious injuries or illnesses, thank God (except for Fran’s ankle). Our debt is slowly going away and everyone is happy in their school and work.

Spring 2009
Cristina’s mom visited us in March while Cristina made her first solo trip to Germany since she was in high school. Her friend Marion had a baby last fall and she spent 2 weeks with her and Harald and their new baby. While there, she visited the Baha’i Temple in Frankfurt (she’s seen 3 of them now) and spent a night in London on her way back and visited our friend Paula Posas. Stateside, Wayne and the kids visited the little towns of Jerome and Sedona, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, and Lake Havusu. Wayne’s parents came in late April and stayed through Mother’s Day with us. And Wayne did two notable things in the spring: he bought a ukulele, and he went off all drugs for the Crohn's that has been in remission for 3 years now.

Summer 2009
Wayne taught summer school for the third summer in a row. Cristina and the kids flew down to Costa Rica midway through June and Wayne joined them as soon as summer school ended. Full details of our Costa Rican summer were blogged, so there's no point recounting them here. But it was a great trip.

Back to School
Wayne started his 14th year of teaching the day after returning from Costa Rica. He’s teaching seniors and sophomores this year. Bella started Kindergarten with a new teacher, Ms. Susan. It’s the first time she has not had her mother in the same classroom and it’s going just fine. Alex started 3rd grade with Mr. Tanner, and Sofia began 8th grade at Arizona School for the Arts, where she earned 1st chair trumpet. Cristina continues to work at DMS as a Kindergarten assistant, this time with Ms. Julie.

Things to Come
The plan is to move to the east coast next summer, pending employment. The primary choices are Gainesville or Chapel Hill. Stay tuned for a blog post updating our years-old plan to move back east!

Monday, September 14, 2009

We made the News

Cristina, Sofia, and Alex went to the Swap Phoenix thing today, a clothes-swapping group Cristina belongs to. A reporter and camera crew were there, and all three of them appeared on the news at 10. Alex is quite the interview!

https://youtu.be/UsWFfOOommw