App makes dialing into conference numbers from your cell phone easy

Posted on August 18, 2013 by jrothmanshore

Have you ever tried to call into a conference number from you mobile phone?  It’s a royal pain.

The challenge stems from the fact that once you dial the number, you have to enter a 9 or 10 digit conference code.  It’s usually right next to the phone number in your meeting invite, but if you are doing this from your phone, the whole screen blanks out when you start dialing the phone number.  You have to then enter the 10 digit conference code fro memory.

Impossible.  While you can memorize someone’s phone number with enough practice, committing a random sequence of 10 digits for a conference code that you will never use again is beyond most people’s capacity.

There are a few workarounds; you could write down the conference code on a separate piece of paper, if you actually have a pen handy. Or, you could take advantage of the special codes for dialing that allow you to enter pauses (comma) or pound signs (#) at the appropriate places to create one long sequence for the phone to dial (e.g. 1-877-555-1212,,,1234567890#).  This however requires planning ahead to prepare it, or a very thoughtful conference call organizer.

Or you can use InstantMeeting, a free app from Plantronics.

InstantMeeting is an absolutely brilliant app.  It scans your calendar for all the events that appear to have conference call details in either the Location or Notes fields.  It then uses an algorithm to automatically pick out the phone number and conference code:

InstantMeeting automatically spots the phone number and code

InstantMeeting automatically spots the phone number and code

It has a lot of intelligence when it does this and can even use your location to choose the best number when multiple international dialing numbers are given.  But if it gets it wrong, it has a simple interface that highlights the numbers – just tap a different one to change it.

When you are ready, you hit call, and InstantMeeting automatically constructs a dialing code that includes the number, the necessary pauses, the conference code, and the confirmation hash (#):

InstantMeeting automatically constructs a dialing number including the conference code and confirmation

InstantMeeting automatically constructs a dialing number including the conference code and confirmation

They have even taken it another step forward and added options to email or message some or all conference attendees, including some stock standard messages like “I’m Running Late” or “Still Meeting?”

You can message the other participants with some standard messages like "Running Late"

You can message the other participants with some standard messages like “Running Late”

My only complaint is that the only way for it to find the numbers is via a calendar entry. If someone emails or texts it to you, you have to copy it into a dummy calendar meeting for InstantMeeting to find it. You can’t paste straight into it.

I was introduced to the app by Philip Pastor, who I had exchanged some suggestions about the best way to join conference calls in reference to my post about my Plantronics bluetooth headeset.  While it’s made by Plantronics, it doesn’t matter whether you are using a bluetooth headset or not.  It’s just an extremely useful app for those of us who have to regularly dial into conference number from our cell phones.  And they give it away for free.

They also have versions available for Android, Windows Phones, and even an Outlook plugin.

If you ever have to dial in to a conference call from your cell, go get it.

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Finding playgrounds that challenge kids to be brave

Posted on August 4, 2013 by jrothmanshore

I have the good fortune to live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where there are eight playgrounds within a couple of blocks of our house, including one at the end of our street. Our kids are very active and athletic, and having so many different parks has provided a wide range of challenges that has helped them grow strong and confident.

Still, I can’t help but feel that parks are losing something. As the city has started to renovate some of the older play structures, I have seen them rip down some of the more challenging jungle gyms and replace them with “creative spaces” like the Alexander W. Kemp playground on the Cambridge Common. This seems to be the new trend in playgrounds, where they feature large sand pits, water and movable blocks. The idea is that these allow kids to build and create and play in new, imaginative ways. I think this is great, but I worry that they lost their sense of – dare I say it? – danger.

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want to see my kids hurt. But I really do love to watch them exploring their limits and see proud look on their faces when they manage to do something they weren’t sure they could manage. I want to see my kids grow into independent capable people, and an important part of this is understanding what is safe and what isn’t. I won’t always be around to tell them not to do something foolish, and learning to climb to the top of a jungle gym helps them discover what their limits are and how to explore the boundaries in a sensible way.

Playgrounds seem to come in two age ranges: 1-4 and 5-12.  Very early on my kids lost interest in the short slides and simple ladders at the “kiddie parks,” so by age three they were on to the 5-12 playgrounds. They have a great time, and I have loved watching them quickly conquer these structures intended for older kids. My older daughter Ayelet has just turned five and has just about mastered the monkey bars, which was really the one remaining thing these playgrounds had that still challenge her.  Her three-year-old brother Rafael does an impressive job keeping up with her, although he isn’t quite up to monkey bars yet.

I’m thrilled to see how capable Ayelet and Rafael are, but it has made me wonder – where will they find their next challenges? I started to ask around if anyone could point me to parks that would present new, exciting adventures. A friend who loves rock climbing pointed me to the Esplanade Playspace across the river in Boston, so we made an expedition there.  I was pleased to see that it didn’t disappoint.

A massive rope play structure challenges kids to climb high

A massive rope play structure challenges kids to climb high

At the center of the playground is a massive rope climbing structure with many possible paths up.  If you make it to the top, you are rewarded with a great view and then a wonderful ride down the slide. Ayelet was excited to go up, but Rafael needed some encouragement. To help him get going, I went up to the top with him…and then looked down.

We were quite high, at least 15′ off the ground. It was a rope structure, so there was a straight view down. My first thought was “wow, this is a little scary.” And then I watched my kids carefully scramble up and across the top. They quickly learned how to use their hands and feet together, test their sense of balance, and pick a path to their destination. If they slipped, it would have been a nasty fall down – there were many rope structures that would have broken their fall, but I’m sure it wouldn’t have been pretty.

It's a long way down...

It’s a long way down…

But they didn’t fall. They were having a blast, learning to climb, learning what they could – and could not – do. Soon, they had figured out the “outside climb.” If you have the patience, you can see them go up, across, and down the slide in under two minutes – even three-year-old Rafael:

While they had conquered this path, the park still offers a lot for them on future visits. There are other, more difficult paths up the structure. And even though Ayelet is a pro on the monkey bars, she found new climbing options, like going backwards:

She still needs some help on the flip – good to see there are still challenges left.

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Using your iPad or iPhone to sign contracts electronically or scan documents

Posted on July 28, 2013 by jrothmanshore

My wife and I both switched jobs this year, so we have had to email a large number of documents back and forth. There were employment contracts to sign, background forms to complete, and so on.

Before the days of mobile devices, exchanging these forms was a bit of a hassle.  You had to print them out, sign them, and then either mail them back in an envelope or scan them on a flat bed scanner and email them.

This time around, we were able to use a pair of iOS applications – DocuSign Ink and Scanner Pro – to make the process easy and painless.

For simply signing a document, DocuSign Ink makes it an entirely paperless process.  I learned about it from a friend who is a lawyer and has to handle the signing of documents on a daily basis.  When someone emails you a contract to sign, you can open it directly  from the mail app on your device, sign it, and email it back, all without ever having to print it out.

When you first use the app, it has you draw your signature using the touch screen.

DocuSign Ink allows you to draw your signature

DocuSign Ink allows you to draw your signature

You then find the signature line in the document and drag your signature onto it. You can quickly scale the signature up or down so that it looks right.  There are also options to add a date or your initials.  When you are done, you hit another button to email the document back to whomever sent it to you.  The whole process takes just a few minutes.  No printing, no fuss.  And it’s free!

DocuSign Ink works great for documents that only require a signature, but for more complicated forms that aren’t designed to be edited electronically, you still need to print them, fill the out, and scan them back in.  This may sound cumbersome, but Scanner Pro makes it extremely easy.

The cameras on the iPhone and iPad have enough resolution for a high quality scan, but the magic of Scanner Pro is that it handles the cropping for you.  Using it is actually faster than a flatbed scanner.

The magic is in the automatic edge detection.  You just set the page down on a surface, make sure you can see it on the screen, and hit the capture button.  You don’t need to worry about it being lined up well.  Scanner Pro automatically spots the edges of the document and marks them for you.  You can make some adjustments if it didn’t get it right, but I have found it to be well over 95% accurate.

The edge detection of Scanner Pro is almost perfect

The edge detection of Scanner Pro is almost perfect

Once you are happy with it, you hit “Done”, and then you have the option of scanning more pages.  Once you have scanned all your pages, Scanner Pro lets you send the document as a PDF over email or upload it to a file sharing service like DropBox.

To give an idea of just how well this works, I recently needed to make some hand-written edits to an 8 page document while flying to California.  Once I had made all of my notes, I simply scanned all 8 pages and emailed it using the in-flight wifi.  The pages did not fit well onto the tray table and the constant rumble of the plane made it impossible to keep the iPad very still, but it didn’t cause any problems for Scanner Pro.  It snapped each one up, detected the edges, and then assembled them into an easy-to-ready PDF.

Scanner Pro is a little more expensive at $6.99, but compared with spending $100 on a flatbed scanner, it’s well worth the price.

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Two kids potty trained and not a clue how to accomplish it

Posted on July 21, 2013 by jrothmanshore

If you search on the web for “potty training”, you will find endless articles and guides with names like “Potty Training Guide” and “Potty Training – How to Get the Job Done”. It seems like everyone has the secret recipe for how to accomplish this great task.

Well, both my kids are now potty trained.

But I have no tips to offer.  No strategies to recommend.  Not even a “Well, this worked for me…”

I’m pretty clueless about how we actually ended up here.

My older daughter was a a potty training nightmare.  As is our style, we started gently and didn’t push it too hard at first.  At age two and a half, we offered her opportunities to sit on the toilet.  We made the bathroom a fun place to be, putting special books, games, and puzzles in the bathroom.  We got a fun sesame street toilet seat.  No luck.

Her day care friends were all potty training, so we hoped that perhaps peer pressure would have an effect, but it didn’t.  Then we tried bribes – the offer of M&Ms if she succeeded, but nothing happened.  We gave her chocolate chips just for getting on the toilet.  She got on but refused to use it.  We tried keeping her on for long periods using the iPad.  She watched TV happily, but still no luck.

As her fourth birthday was approaching, we started to get desperate.  Based on a suggestion from an online article, I created a mystery box.  We put some special presents inside, then covered it with stickers.  We put it in the living room and told her she could only open it when she used the toilet.  She was curious, but not enough to actually use the toilet.

Having failed with the carrot, I tried the stick.  At Thanksgiving, everyone left for the museum except me and my daughter.  I told her that we couldn’t go until she tried to use the toilet. We had a knock-down drag out screaming fight that lasted two hours.  I lost.

It became clear to us that she actually had perfect control, but she would only use a diaper. People pointed out that it had become a power struggle, and this felt somewhat accusatory – what had we done wrong in pushing the toilet to get her to react to this way? As far as we or anyone else could determine, nothing specific.  She just refused.

In the end, we had a former baby sitter come and look after her for a week.  She sat her on the toilet and told her she couldn’t get up until she used it.  It took about an hour and a half, but she did.  And she was very proud.

And that was it.  She was potty trained.

With my son, we remained very wary. Having failed so miserably with his older sister, we were scared to push it. At age two and a half, his day care teachers told us that he clearly was not ready and it would probably be a while.  Then, as his 3rd birthday approached, they mentioned that one of the other kids was potty training, and he was interested and liked to come along.

A few days later, as we were getting ready to go to the park, everyone went to use the bathroom.  My son announced he wanted to try, and he promptly peed in the toilet.

He practiced on-and-off over the next week or two, and then we started putting him in underwear.  That’s it.  He potty trained himself.

I’m sure “parenting experts” will look back on this story and explain the six things we did wrong.  Or that kids will simply potty train themselves when they are ready, and our mistake with our daughter was we tried too soon.

Sure, whatever.  Maybe they are right.  Maybe not.  I have no clue.

One thing I will say is that having kids potty trained is every bit as wonderful as I hoped. On a recent trip to Vermont, we simply used the bathrooms. As I walked out, I noticed the baby changing station and marveled at how much easier it was that my son simply used the toilet rather than having to haul a diaper bag around.

So to parents out there struggling with potty training their kids, you have my sympathies. I have no advice.

But it really is worth it once you get to the other side.

In the meantime, I simply cannot wait to throw out our diaper champ. It makes me want to recreate the scene from Office Space with the printer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQvr-bbOow8

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Fix it now or wait until it breaks?

Posted on July 14, 2013 by jrothmanshore

Most things in life get replaced at one of two points – when it breaks, or when it becomes obsolete.  Well, perhaps obsolete isn’t quite the right word.  I’ve owned seven or eight coffee makers in my life, but only two were replaced because they were broken.  Sometimes I stumble on one that has just the right aesthetic.

Waiting until  an item breaks works fine when items are either replaced quickly and cheaply (like a DVD player) or when not having one for a while is low impact (like a gas grill).  However, when the item is very expensive, time consuming to replace, and very necessary, the choice isn’t always quite so easy.

In the last week I’ve faced this with two items — a car and a refrigerator — and come to very different conclusions.

On a recent trip to Maine over the July 4th holiday, our car engine suddenly died while on the road.  There were no signs of an impending failure.  The engine just suddenly switched off while the car was on the road.  We pulled over and tried restarting the engine, and it roared back to life as though nothing was wrong.

The following morning, it repeated this behavior three times.  Each time, there was no warning — no dashboard lights or warning sounds.  It would just cut out suddenly and then be fine after I started it up again.

I took it to a Sears Auto Center that was open on July 4th, but they said that they weren’t equipped to do any diagnosis unless there was a dashboard light indicating an issue.  They recommended two auto repair shops, but both were closed for the holiday.

We minimized use of the car the rest of the trip (we were travelling with other family members and generally had enough space to squeeze everyone in to the other cars for the day trips), and then we took a gamble and decided to drive the car home.  As a precaution, we sent our two smaller kids with my sister-in-law and drove our niece home instead, on the theory that if we found ourselves stranded by the side of the road, it would better to do it with one 12-year-old than two kids under the age of six.

However, the car made the 170 mile trip without failing at all.  I continued driving it the following week, and there was no hint of its earlier troubles.  It was as though whatever was wrong with it only occurs in Maine.

So, now the conundrum.  Clearly something is wrong with the car.  And when your car is out of service, it is extremely inconvenient.  You have all the hassle of getting the car to the mechanic and back plus the challenge of not having a car that you need to get kids to school and get yourself to work.  So do you take the car into the mechanic while it is still functional and have some control over the timing, or do you wait for it to fail again, which could be at a much less convenient time?

In the end, I decided to wait until the car fails again before taking it to a mechanic.  My rationale is that if I try to have it fixed now, the mechanic might charge me hundreds of dollars to replace a likely cause like the alternator, but I have no way of knowing that this was in fact the source of the problem.  If I just drove it nearly two hundred miles without an issue, I might drive it for months without running into a reoccurrence, only to have it fail again later.  I would simply have no good way to evaluate if the problem was fixed.

So I’m waiting on this one.

I reached the opposite conclusion on our refrigerator.  Over the 8.5 years we’ve owned it, we have had it repaired three times.  Once the freezer failed, and the other times the refrigerator had trouble regulating its temperature, causing either the main compartment or the freezer to get too warm.  Each repair has cost a couple of hundred dollars plus the hassle of arranging to be home for the four hour repair window.

Once again, we are seeing the warning signs of a refrigerator repair in our future.  The freezer temperature is rising from 0 degrees up to as high as 10 degrees and then dropping back down.  The outside of the refrigerator is getting very hot, indicating that it is working hard to get the temperature under control.

The struggles seem to correlate with the hotter summer days we are experiencing, and I suspect that once we reach the end of the summer, it will be fine again.  It’s not broken right now, and there is a pretty good chance it might make it another year.

Deal with it now, or wait?  Having a broken refrigerator is a major hassle, since you need to either eat the food right away (especially the ice cream!), move it to family and friends’ homes in a hurry, or throw it away.  Then you have to arrange to be home to meet a repair man who might not be able to come for a few days, or else buy a new one and then be home for a delivery window.

After some discussion, we decided not to wait.  A failure like this always happens at the wrong time, and whereas I can take a taxi if my car breaks down, there are no easy work arounds for a broken refrigerator.  I’ve decide its not worth spending more money on fixing it (Consumer Reports recommends replacing a fridge if it is more than eight years old), so we can plan for the swap at a time we know will be easy for my wife to be there for the delivery.

So off to Sears we go.

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The sad state of astronaut and space toys

Posted on June 30, 2013 by jrothmanshore

When we were in California a few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to see the Space Shuttle Endeavor at the California Academy of Sciences.  In its temporary housing, you can walk around and under the giant orbiter.  I was amazed, but the kids were a little overwhelmed.

The Endeavor was impressive, but the kids were more excited about the older, smaller scale capsules

The Endeavor was impressive, but the kids were more excited about the older, smaller scale capsules

What really excited them were the three older space capsules the museum had from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.  My son Rafael (just turning three) loved counting the different number of seats in each capsule (1…2…3!), and he insisted we keep returning to a side display that showed the space suits of a Mercury and an Apollo astronaut.  We had to talk about his gloves, his helment, and all the hoses and zippers.

My son was so excited, and I wanted to be able to bring part of that experience home with us.  Before we left, I stepped into the gift shop (without the kids, of course), and I was reminded of the sad state of astronaut and space toys.  There were tons of space shuttles of various sizes, but none larger than about 10 inches.  Then they had many types of cheaply made astronaut sets.

All the space toys are like this - tiny astronauts and spaceships of different scales

All the space toys are like this – tiny astronauts and spaceships of different scales

I’ve seen these sets before when I have tried to find space toys for my kids.  The astronauts are all about 1.5 inches tall and have no moving parts.  There might be the occasional rocket ship or lunar lander, but they are out of proportion with the astronauts.  They are abstract pieces from various aspects of the space program, designed to be historically accurate and manufactured as cheaply as possible.

I knew just what I wanted, and they just didn’t sell it.  I wanted a nice large astronaut the size of an action figure (3 and 3/4 inches) where you could really see the details on his suit.  And then I wanted a space capsule that he could fly in.  It would have a hatch, and you could put the astronaut in and take him back out.  I’m less concerned about the historical accuracy than I am the interactivity.

In my mind, for an astronaut toy to be successful, it needs to really engage the child.  My son needs to be able to pretend that he is the astronaut and that he is the one going on the space mission.  The astronaut has to be able to get in to his space ship, blast off, fly through space, and then get out and explore some exciting destination.

Convinced that the stores must not have the right suppliers, I went onto Amazon to see if I could find something, but as far as I can tell, it just doesn’t exist.  No one is making a capsule with an astronaut who can fit inside it.

Given that the Space Shuttle program has ended and new Orion program will be using a capsule, toy makers are missing a big opportunity.  If NASA really wants to gain serious funding, perhaps they should consider borrowing a page from George Lucas and the marketers of Hollywood and partner with some toy makers.  Some kids who are really excited about their space toys may be just the thing that convinces people to spend on space exploration and firing up their kids’ dreams.

Back home in Cambridge, I stumbled onto a toy that wasn’t quite what I was looking for but met my requirements.  When my son was having a hard time letting me leave at his day care, I was talking him about pretending to take a trip to the moon.  One of the teachers went into a closet and pulled out a rocket ship toy to distract him.  It was in rough shape from many years of kids playing with it, but I realized it was what I wanted.  I went online and ordered one for my son for his birthday (as a gift from his grandparents).

This rocket ship from ELC has a cockpit, living quarters, and a rover comparment.

This rocket ship from ELC has a cockpit, living quarters, and a rover comparment.

The ELC Lift Off Rocket has a cockpit that holds two astronauts, living quarters, and a rover compartment.  Abandoning historical realism for a design similar to the rocket ship from Tintin, this is a toy that a kid can really play with.  It even has a big giant handle that allows a small hand to lift it up and fly it around the room.  The astronauts aren’t as realistic as I would like, but you can take them in and out.  They can actually fly their spaceship.

A space toy kids can get excited about.

A space toy kids can get excited about.

The rocket ship was a huge hit with both my son and his older sister.  They flew it all over the house, pretending various places were the moon and needed to be explored.  I’m convinced if the science museums around the country stocked this in their gift shops, they would fly off the shelves.

Before I would let them play with it, I made sure to take out the batteries.  I’m not sure exactly what they do, but it looks like the ship will make sounds and light up the bottoms of the engines.

“Why are you taking out the batteries?” my daughter asked me.

“Because it’s powered by your imagination.”

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A word of thanks to my tissue donor

Posted on June 25, 2013 by jrothmanshore

When I think of human body part donation, I immediately think of the big ones – hearts, lungs, kidneys, and livers.  These are the procedures at the cross section of medical technology and human biology that turn one family’s tragedy into another family’s life saving miracle.

I’ve known that there were other kinds of donations, too, like corneas or skin grafts. But I never paid much attention until this year, when I found myself the recipient of someone else’s bone tissue.

This isn’t a dramatic story.  My life was never at risk.  The tissue donation had probably taken place months earlier.  But it will have a big impact on the quality of my life.

For example, I will be able to eat an apple.

Last December, I developed an ache in my lower front tooth.  I’ve had a lot of fillings (I wish I had taken better care of my teeth when I was younger), so the occasional ache is nothing new, but this one didn’t go away.  Fearful I had cracked it, I went to my dentist.

He couldn’t see anything wrong, and it didn’t hurt when he gave it a firm tap, so he took an X-Ray and found something that surprised him.

The dark shadow on the second tooth from the left is a rare condition called internal resorption

The dark shadow on the second tooth from the left is a rare condition called internal resorption

There was a shadow on the root of my tooth that indicated a very rare condition called internal resorption.  The tooth was essentially attacking itself from the inside out.  My dentist told me he can easily go 5-10 years without seeing this in any patient.

No one knows what causes it.  There are some theories that perhaps it could be related to a trauma early on, but I have no recollection of an injury.  It was not in any way caused by poor brushing or flossing from my youth.  I was simply unlucky.

A couple of visits to specialists informed me that there was no saving the tooth.  It was too far gone for a root canal.  In fact, most people never have any aches from this condition and don’t discover a resorption until the tooth breaks off in their mouth.

A periodontist told me that my best hope was for an implant, but it was not certain that this would be possible.  The lower front tooth is the smallest one in the mouth, and the bone is extremely thin there.  For an implant to work, the metal post needs to fuse with the bone, and there often is not enough bone to support it  If an implant didn’t work, we would be looking at either a bridge or a denture.

A bridge would be a very undesirable choice for someone my age, since it compromises the teeth on either side of it.  I am in my late 30s.  “A bridge is unlikely to get you over the finish line,” my periodontist explained to me.  In other words, I would live much longer than the bridge, and that would mean dentures by my 50s or 60s.

The only way to know if an implant would work was to remove the tooth and try.  The tooth came out easily enough (frankly, it was easier than some fillings I have had), but there was virtually no bone left in the gap.  And this is where the tissue donation came in.

My periodontist packed the hole with ground up bone tissue.  Bone is apparently a very dynamic organ.  We think of our bones as solid, but they actually are constantly absorbing and regrowing tissue.  While the ground up bone is not actually alive, it would create a lattice work for the living bone around it to build on.  If all went well, within two months, my jaw bone would re-knit into the hole and repair itself.  The powder would be absorbed and simply disappear.

For the next eight weeks, I waited.  I had the occasional soreness which I hoped was a sign of bone growth and not a failure.  And I wore a “flipper” tooth, which is essentially a retainer with a tooth on it.  It was there to protect the wound, prevent the other teeth from shifting around the hole, and allow me to smile without looking like a pirate.  I could eat most foods, but things that required big bites like a bagel were challenging.  Apples were impossible.

When the time came for the implant attempt, I went in with great nervousness and tried to prepare myself for failure and a bridge.  The procedure went on for 45 minutes, and the longer it went, the more hopeful I became.

When he was done, he said, “Well, that bone powder worked out really well for us.”  Apparently the bone had completely grown back into the hole.  It was perfect.

The bone had successfully regrown and was holding the implant

The bone had successfully regrown and was holding the implant

I had my new implant.  It still wasn’t strong enough to hold a tooth yet, however.  The bone needed to integrate the screw post in, and only if that was successful would my dentist be able to place a crown on it.  I still faced the possibility of an implant rejection, so I went into another 8 week waiting period.

Luckily, the implant healed well, and soon I was back to my regular dentist to get fitted for a crown.  5 months after my tooth was removed, I had a new crown placed in.  No more “flipper” tooth with a retainer.  I can eat and smile like a normal person again.

I keep thinking back at how lucky I am not to have a bridge, and I know that without the donor tissue, that woud have been my only option.  I have no qualms about receiving it – hey, I figure, they clearly don’t need it anymore.  However, I still understand very little about where it came from or how it made its way to me.

I’ve asked some friends in the medical profession, and none of them seem to know much about the process.  I’ve also learned that they now have sources of bone tissue that come from cows or pigs.  It’s possible mine isn’t from a person, although based on the questions I asked my periodontist at the time, I’m pretty sure it was human.  But I just don’t know.

To my bone donor, whoever you are (or whatever you are), thank you.

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On Fathers and Screwdrivers

Posted on June 16, 2013 by jrothmanshore

This morning, my three year old son Rafael called me into his room for help.  He has a wooden step-stool carved with the letters of his name as puzzle pieces, and the “L” was stuck.  He couldn’t get it out.  It was in backwards and had become wedged.

It's intended for kids, but the puzzle letters can easily become jammed if put in wrong

It’s intended for kids, but the puzzle letters can easily become jammed if put in wrong

“Hmm, we’re going to need a screwdriver,” I told him.  “Can you get it?”

Excited, he jumped up and said, “I’ll go get my screwdriver!” as he ran out the door. Oops, I realized he meant his toy ones.  “Okay, but get mine too!” I called after him.

Today happened to be Father’s Day, and my mind immediately jumped back 20 years to the biggest argument I ever had with my own father.  It was over screwdrivers.

I was 18 and leaving for college in a couple of weeks, and I was gathering the various odds and ends that each college-bound student packs up and hauls off in their family car for their first adventure as “independent” young adults.

I needed some basic tools, so I went with my father to the hardware store to get a screwdriver.  I knew just what I wanted – my mother had told me about a four-in-one screwdriver that seemed perfect.  Inside the handle, it stored two different size philips and two different sized flat-heads.  It was compact and would be great for putting together furniture, tightening hinges, and what not.

My father had something else in mind.  He pulled off the shelf a 9-piece screwdriver set containing assorted sizes of philips and flat-heads, including ones with long shafts for hard to reach screws and short “stubby” ones for tight spaces.

It wasn’t what I wanted, and we proceeded to have a knock down, drag out argument in the middle of the hardware store.  My father tried to explain to me all the reasons why I wanted a set like that, and I set forth all the reasons I didn’t need it.

“How are you ever going to fix a broken doorknob without a stubby?!” he pointed out.

“I’m not.  For something like that, I’ll call plant operations!” I retorted.

The debate raged on for days, neither one of us willing to give in.  In the end, I took two sets of screwdrivers with me to college – the four-in-one I originally wanted and a 9 piece set from my father.

I still have both sets to this day.  For most jobs, I used the four-in-one I originally wanted, but when I became a home owner, I did find the special ones in the nine piece handy.

When my son returned with the screwdrivers, he also had two sets.  One was from a plastic tool set my sister gave him for Hanukah a few years ago, but the other was my real one.  It wasn’t the four-in-one, and it wasn’t the nine piece set either.

Eight years ago, my father went to MOMA in New York and saw the most interesting screwdriver set.  Remember our famous argument, he bought it and sent it to me.

A versatile screwdriver set with a beautiful look

A versatile screwdriver set with a beautiful look

The “MUJI” is from Japan and has a beautiful design aesthetic.  It has eight different heads which can be used as is or they can be attached to a base for a longer reach.  They can also connect to the base sideways if you need more power.  They are small and compact but very versatile.

I appreciate the design aesthetic, but I also love that these screwdrivers are perfect for almost any job.  They are small enough to fit in a kitchen drawer, and I always grab them for projects around the house.  They are just right.

Fortunately, my son and I did not have an argument over the screwdrivers.  I used mine to loosen the stuck letter, and then he used his own to pop in the rest of the way out.

Working together

Working together

Happy Father’s Day, Dad.

 

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Rationalizing a subscription to Amazon Prime and finding it generally useful

Posted on June 9, 2013 by jrothmanshore

Amazon has designed their free two-day-shipping Prime subscription program well.  For any item sold directly by Amazon, you can just order it while you sit on the couch and know you will have it the day after tomorrow with no shipping charge, or you can spend the time to drive to the store, find it, and buy it.  Amazon knows that the certainty of having it the day after tomorrow (as opposed to a vague 3-5 days) will allow them to win sales that would have gone to brick and mortar stores.

For years, I had been tempted to get a subscription, but the math just wasn’t compelling.  I added up how much I was already paying for shipping on products over the course of the year, and it was only about a third of $79 prime membership.  This was due partly to the fact that many times I was able to use the free 1-2 week “super saver” shipping and partly due to items that shipped from 3rd party vendors that weren’t eligible.

The only way I would be able to justify it was by buying a lot more through Amazon Prime, and I wasn’t quite ready to sign up for that.  Sometimes the fact that you have to actually have to go to a store to buy something is a barrier to making the purchase, and that saves money.

A few months ago, however, I decided to go ahead anyways.  There was a specific item I needed in two days, so I figured if I was going to pay for the shipping, I might as well bite the bullet and subscribe.

My change in heart was largely due to the fact that our schedules have become much hectic, and we have had a lot less time to run errands.  My theory was that if we could save time by ordering more stuff through Amazon, it would be worth the $79.  Also, every time we walk into Target, we leave with three other things we hadn’t planned on buying, so perhaps reducing the frequency of these trips  would help compensate for the likelihood of buying more stuff through Amazon.

My wife was initially puzzled about why I suddenly subscribed after always stating it wasn’t worth it, but she immediately started using it happily.  And it is certainly paying off for Amazon.  Our mentality for gifts and many other items that would have meant a trip to the store has become “Let’s see what we can find on Amazon Prime”.

Exactly what Amazon was hoping for.  And we are happy customers.

But the happiest member of the family is probably my son Rafael, who is about to turn 3.

While we were on vacation a few weeks ago, we spent a day at the Santa Monica beach in California.  We went for a walk to get lunch, during which he slept the whole time in his stroller, clutching his monkey lovey.  When we got back to the car, we suddenly discovered that the lovey was gone.  We retraced our steps, but we couldn’t find it.  We had spares at home, but we had only brought one on the trip.

As we drove back to my sister’s house where we were staying, my wife and I discussed what to do.  I thought he might manage okay without it, but my wife was less convinced.  She started to make phone calls to see if she could find a store that sold it in LA.

I pulled over and looked on my phone.  Amazon sold it direct, making it eligible for Prime shipping.  Two days would be free, but I could get a reduced rate for next day shipping for just $3.99.  We ordered it and continued on our way.

With Prime, shipping a replacement monkey was free for two-day delivery of just $3.99 for one-day

With Prime, shipping a replacement monkey was free for two-day delivery of just $3.99 for one-day

That night we explained to Rafael that we had forgotten his monkey at the beach, but we called the beach people and were sending it to us tomorrow.  He agreed to borrow a stuffed animal from his cousin.

The next day, a delivery van showed up with a small package.  We opened it and gave it to Rafael, saying, “Look, they found your monkey and sent it back to us!”

He looked at, then held it up to us with a big smile and said, “A new monkey!”

My wife and I looked at each other and said “Um, yes, the people at the beach found it and sent it!”

My son turned and ran into the house saying, “A new monkey…a new monkey!”

Well, at least he was happy.

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When traveling with kids, renting a car using Hertz Gold is a must

Posted on June 2, 2013 by jrothmanshore

We just returned from a trip to the California with our two kids, ages 3 and 5.  Flying with kids is never easy, but for the for the first time, it wasn’t difficult, either.

Their attention spans are now long enough to focus on watching videos and playing on their iPads for the bulk of the flight, so we weren’t forced to entertain them the whole time.  Once again, landing treat got us through the last 20 minutes when electronics must be turned off, and soon the kids were running down the exit ramp.

The kids’ good spirits lasted through picking up our luggage and taking the tram to the car rental station, but then I found myself staring in horror at the lines.  It was the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, and there must have been over a 1000 people standing in lines for various rental agencies to get their cars.  Waiting through these lines would take at least an hour, probably two.

And thankfully, we didn’t have to.

When I signed up for TripIt Pro a few weeks ago, it came with a couple of perks.  One was a complimentary Hertz Gold membership, which normally costs $60.  I had booked our car rental and answered all of the questions online (declining the insurance, navigation systems, etc.), so we simply turned and walked right past the long lines and headed down to the special Hertz Gold desk.

When we got there, we found another 50 people in line, all of whom had been stuck in the line upstairs and called to upgrade themselves for expedited service.  However, there was an electronic board next to the desk, and we spotted a line that read “Rothman-Shore Stall 212”.

Since it was my first time using the service, I conferred with an attendant helping triage people in the line about what I needed to do.  When he realized we already had an assigned stall, he said “You?  You just go.  Get in the car and go.”

And so we did.  We walked over to the car, put our bags in the truck, installed the car seats, strapped in the kids, and left.  At the exit gate, an attendant printed our contract, which took a minute or so, and we were on our way.  In and out in 10 minutes.

Now this is the way to rent a car.

Flying with kids on any flight over one hour is like a sporting contest.  You map out a strategy of what toys, games, and distractions will get you through the flight, and you pour all your effort into making it go as smoothly as possible.  You leave it all out on the field.  By the time you get to the rental car, you don’t have much left, and the kids have had more than their fill of sitting and waiting patiently.  You just want to get in the car and go.  Even a line of 6 people is too long.

So, paying $60 to just skip all the waiting for the car rental is money well spent.  You just go.

Frankly, I’m not sure why all car rental agencies don’t do this by default.  I have to imagine that it saves them money by not needing a rental agent to spend time with each individual customer.  And it breeds good will.

I have to say, I am never going back.

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