Author Archives: Steve Mays

In praise of Google Calendar

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It is fashionable of late to bash Facebook, Apple, Google, Amazon et al. There’s plenty to complain about I suppose (and I’ve done my share) but after the fire has been peed on and the dogs have been summoned, I really like Apple, Google and Amazon (I’ve never used Facebook). I like them a lot. Do I like everything they do? Of course not.

But this post is about Google Calendar. I’ve been using it for years. Anything of importance, anything I want to find later… goes into Google Calendar. Case in point: I’m in the process of switching health insurance companies and today I got a call from a representative of the new company, checking on one of the drugs I take. He also asked about a drug I didn’t recognize and said it was a one-time script on February 4, 2014. I had Google Calendar open so I hit the “G” key and typed in that date.

That was the day I hit some black ice and slid off the highway, getting just banged up enough that Barb insisted I get checked out at the ER. They gave me a muscle relaxant as I recall. Here’s a screenshot of that entry.

Note the link to my blog post on the event as well as links to PDF scans of the towing receipt; a summary from the ER visit; and a couple of insurance documents. Four years ago and I had it all from a 5 second search.

Is Google doing something with all of my data? I assume so. But I never see ads an they don’t charge me a dime. I call that a good deal.

Brunei skyline

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Brunei, officially the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, is located on the north coast of the island of borneo in Southeast Asia. (Wikipedia) My sister-in-law, Tonya, shot this brief clip. She and my brother make frequent trips to southeast Asia and spent most of the last 20+ years in Indonesia and Malaysia. My brother make several trips to China each year and returns with wonderful stories. Some interesting facts about Brunei:

  • Much of Shell oil comes from offshore drilling platforms in Brunei.
  • The 2015 per-capita GDP in Brunei was US $54,537 — ranking them 10th in the world. The U.S. GDP in 2014 was US $54,629.
  • Citizens in Brunei receive free education and medical services from the government.
  • Brunei has one of the highest rates of obesity in Southeast Asia. An estimated 20% of schoolchildren are overweight.
  • The literacy rate in Brunei is estimated at 92.7% of the population.
  • Caning is still a method of punishment for crimes in Brunei.
  • Brunei is just a little smaller than the U.S. state of Delaware.
  • Brunei has one of the highest car-ownership rates (roughly one car per every two people) in the world.

40 years of crud

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We pulled the bench seat out of the pickup today and hosed out forty years of nastiness. There are some rust spots but no more than you’d expect from a truck of this vintage. I’m having new upholstery put on the seat (as well as some new foam) and it should be ready in a few weeks. I might put down a couple of floor mats but I like the idea of being able to turn a hose on the cab when it gets dirty.

As if the fuel tank (right side of the photo) wasn’t large enough, there’s a second one. Still trying figure out how that works.

Why the Land Rover Defender is so expensive in the US

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“Used examples of the North American Spec (NAS) Defender can cost between $70,000 and $150,000 while the same car in Europe can be had for as little as $10,000.”  (CARSCOOPS)

When I started lusting for a Land Rover it was the Defender the turned my crank. I was completely unaware of the Series Rovers but SO glad I got nudged in that direction.