Lee.org

With huge help from Megan, and her great friend Rachel, I submitted my application to the Samuel Merritt University Master of Occupational Therapy Program tonight!

“That was an innovative and original presentation you gave. Can I have your lesson plan so I can show other facilitators?”

That’s what my Interpersonal Communications professor said about the presentation that my classmate and I put on tonight. :-)

Here’s the review I’m posting on the Virgin Mobile site…

Total:  3 of 5 stars
Features 4/5
Performance 4/5
Ease of Use 3/5
Battery Life 1/5

I live in San Francisco. 4G sucks the battery fast (3 hours will kill the battery dead) but it’s fast when available. It’s definitely not available everywhere. Powering up the 4G takes like 2 minutes. :-(

Virgin 3G data is definitely universally slower than AT&T. The browser will hang for 20 seconds at a time. But browser pages usually eventually load.

Chrome has problems, an update is supposed to be forthcoming. I installed Opera browser which is working well.

I bought a $75 Seidio 4,000 mah battery so the phone will last all day with 3G turned on. Without it, the phone is DEAD at 7pm. With the new giant backpack battery, the phone is usually at 50% at midnight :-) …. but one day I had a runaway process or something so that the battery died at 8pm. :-(

But hey, $35/month for 3G and 2.5Gig/month! Begrudgingly happy.

And the 3D camera is a really neat Gee-Wiz toy.

Pros: (blank)
Cons: slow 3g, data sucks battery, spotty 4g service

Best yet.

local version:

local version:

Oh my, I’m nervous. I’d better start studying.

Why am I taking the GRE’s you ask?

I am applying to grad schools! My application to the Samuel Merritt University Master of Occupational Therapy program will be submitted in a few days. My application to the San Jose State University  Master of Occupational Therapy will be submitted at the end of this semester!

I got a flu immunization yesterday.

Last night I threw up three times.

This morning I couldn’t get out of bed. I have many of my normal symptoms of a cold: fuzzy thinking, slow reaction times, light sensitivity, exhaustion, poor appetite. But no respiratory issues and only minimal body aches,

This is dumb. I got immunized so I wouldn’t miss time out of my life due to illness.

From M:

‎”Upon graduation from Hogwarts, I invented the Self-Writing Cover Letter, an example of which you are reading now, streamlining the job-hunting process for employment seekers the world over. Thanks to this invention, every cover letter now quickly and accurately sums up the applicant’s relevant experience and qualifications, eliminating hours and hours of toil and anguish.”

A flick of the wrist, a “Curriculus Vitamos” and it’s done! Brilliant!

I sold my car 5 1/2  months  ago and got a bike. Did it pay for itself? Jump to the last paragraph for the money shot.

One Time Bike Expenses:

• $630 Bike
• $80 locking skewers
• $80 bike pump
• $30 bike theft registration
• $150 large backpack
• $20 fancy bungie cords
• $70 Shimano PD-A530 clipless SPD pedals (SM-SH56, silver – multiple release mode cleats)
• $100  Keen Austin Pedal Bike Shoes
• $40 bike stand
• $60 nice front and rear lights for city riding
• $40 bright headlight for dark roads

——————-
$1300 Total One Time Bike Capital Expenses

Ongoing Bike Expenses

Clipper Card

• 5-12 $90
• 6-12 $90
• 7-12 $185 (daily summer school at College of Alameda)
• 8-12 $117
• 9-12 $45

——————-
$517 total Clipper Card train & bus fares in 4 months

• $30 two flat tires fixed in 4 months
• $400 eating 500 extra calories day for 4 months

—————————————————————————————————-

4 Month (May 1-Oct 1) expenses while on a bike from above
$1300 + $517 + $30 + $400 = $2,247  / 4 months = $560/month.

Until I sold it, my car cost $610/month. Amortizing my capital expenses  over 4 the last months, the bike cost about the same ($560/month) as a car.

I haven’t figured in the bother of not having a car at the ready, having to occasionally rely on Megan to pick me up at the BART station, or the freedom of not worrying about maintenance.

In future months, the bike should cost:
$100/month transit expenses, or less as I slowly become able to ride longer distances.
$100/month extra food, I am eating a lot more while biking more!
$20/month misc expenses, a wild guess.

Curiously, I haven’t found good occasion to use my Zipcar membership at all in the year I’ve had it. I’m going to cancel my membership. Granted, I’ve gotten help from Megan and others with the occasional grocery store run.

Conclusion:

Going forward, it looks like the bike will cost $220/month ($2640/year) where the car used to cost me $610/month. ($7,320/month), a savings of 64%, $390/month ($4680/year). Hmm! That’s not as much savings as I thought, but it’s good. Or I can think about it another way… I now have a $390/month travel slush fund to do with what I please!

This has been in progress for almost 2 years but I just noticed it on the Golden Gate Bridge website.

Some excerpts:

December 2012: Functionality Testing

1. Toll collectors will continue to staff the FasTrak/Cash toll lanes and cash will still be accepted.

…

February 2013: Full Conversion to All Electronic Tolling

Toll collectors will no longer staff the tollbooths and cash will no longer be collected at the toll plaza. Instead, customers will have their choice of using FasTrak or the new Pay-By-Plate choices (License Plate Account or One-Time Payment.) Customers will still be able to pay their toll using cash in person at the Bay Area FasTrak Customer Service Center in San Francisco or at a number of new cash payment locations established throughout the Bay Area.

…

When the decision was made in January 2011 to convert to All Electronic Tolling, the GGBHTD had 32 full time Toll Collectors.

As of September 18:

9 have retired or departed the position for various reasons
3 transitioned to other positions within the GGBHTD
12 total have transitioned out of the toll lanes

The GGBHTD is continuing to work with the remaining 20 full time Toll Collectors to identify other positions within the GGBHTD that come open that the Toll Collectors may be qualified for.

…

Additional Stats on All Electronic Tolling

20 million southbound vehicles annually pay the Golden Gate Bridge toll
70% (14 million) of the 20 million use FasTrak today
30% (6 million) of the 20 million use Cash today
2.5% (500,000) of the 20 million that cross are from Outside of California

…

Cost Per Transaction

• Cash $0.83 per transaction
• Invoice $0.67 per transaction
• Pay-By-Plate (tied to License Plate) $0.39 per transaction
• FasTrak $0.25 per transaction

(Image some rights reserved 24thCentury)