people can remain irrational longer than you can remain sane

John Maynard Keynes famously observed that markets can stay irrational for longer than you can stay solvent. Building on that idea, people can remain irrational longer than you can remain sane, or people can stay irrational longer than you can stay sane. That's why it's important to have people to rely on to help you stay steadfast in your convictions. When it seems the world has gone mad, it is your tribe, your community, your network, your family that helps you as you express your fear and anxiety and stress, even as you go out into a world that seems hostile to you and what you believe.

How to Make and Receive an Anonymous Donation

A couple of months ago, I came across the following letter to Dear Abby, seeking advice:

Dear Abby: Many years ago I shoplifted a $30 item from a department store. Now I'd like to clear my conscience and make amends, but how?

I want to remain anonymous, so I can't send a check. Sending cash by mail seems unwise, and even with Google I have been unable to find a corporate address for an appropriate division. Can you help?

Anonymous in the USA

~

Dear Anonymous: Because you have made an honest effort and haven't been able to come up with an address to send the money, try to find out if the department store sponsors an activity for charity and donate to that. Or, alternatively, give the money to a charity of your choice, which may salve your conscience and do a good deed at the same time.

Abby's answer seemed like a good faith effort to placate a restless soul wishing to right a past wrong, by suggesting that, if direct reparation was not possible, the guilty party could always settle a karmic debt through indirect reparation, by doing good works or giving to charity. As much as we'd all like to think we have been unfairly persecuted, picked-on, held to a higher standard than anybody else, or made to be the butt of jokes and the target of undeserved abuse or ridicule, few of us can say that we have never been nasty ourselves, bullied someone, screwed someone over in a way that makes you cringe even now, or teased someone mercilessly for a reason that society now very much frowns upon. Wherever you go, people are people, but we as human beings all know the value of a dollar, or at least are familiar with the concept of money and a unit of currency and what it can buy. If you have wronged a party in the past financially, you may think back with some shame about how you'd like to assuage your guilt, without fully owning up to the misdeed, or, better yet, express your sorrow and regret, without publicly identifying yourself. Perhaps you want to save yourself public embarrassment, or avoid having a target painted on your back, or you may want to prevent the people around you, who have stood by you in the past, from losing face. What to do? Make an anonymous donation with bitcoin ("btc" is the shortened form)!

If you have wronged me financially in the past, and would like to make an anonymous donation to me, you may send it to this address:

13TwEVYFgdDMsoXrwzbpDrV9ipXznpE8ZJ

This represents your new bank account number, and Wikipedia says your bitcoin address is a string of characters that will always start with a '1' or a '3', and will usually be around 33 characters (34 in my case). Here's how to get your own bitcoin address account number and start accepting donations: download and install the bitcoin client software on your computer. Once you're up and running, you now have something akin to a live, active bank account on your computer, in the form of a bitcoin digital wallet that keeps track of bitcoin coming in and going out. You are now part of the bitcoin network. You can get free bitcoin here.

There are of course many other reasons, besides crushing guilt, atonement and redemption, for why you'd want to conceal your identity when giving money to someone. An editorial in the Riverside Press-Enterprise says it best:

Federal Judge Morrison England Jr. ruled in Sacramento that contributors to the campaign for Prop. 8 in 2008 should not be exempt from campaign disclosure rules. Prop. 8 supporters filed suit in 2009, claiming that releasing donor names behind the $43 million campaign would subject contributors to retaliation and harassment, thus chilling free speech. Prop. 8 made same-sex marriage unconstitutional in California, and is the subject of a separate, ongoing legal battle.

Hot-button issues can generate angry disputes and bare-knuckle politics, certainly. And no one should face intimidation and threats for political views. But the First Amendment guarantees free speech, not freedom from the consequences of speaking out. People who want to express strong views on public issues — even by way of campaign donations — should not expect any shield from objections by those who disagree.

We live in a world where donating to the wrong political cause, which also happens to be deeply unpopular in your area, may result in serious consequences to your business, your livelihood, your income, family, and may be a possible detriment to your social state and emotional & physical health. To make things more interesting, the Supreme Court recently ruled, by a narrow majority in Citizens United vs Federal Election Commission, that limits on corporate speech (i.e., money spent by corporations in furtherance of some political cause or in support of a political figure) are unconstitutional. So we also now live in a world where, at least for the foreseeable future, corporations, just like you, are entitled to their opinions, and are allowed to say what they want, within reason (more on this later). We live in a nation where money is speech.

There's nothing wrong with a point of view, unless that point of view can get you in trouble. Whether it be reporting a crime to the police, but fearing retaliation, blowing the whistle on corporate financial fraud, or saying something contrary to what everyone else believes, there is the idea in this country of your basic right to freedom of speech, but just watch what you say. A recent article by James Temple makes the point that:

The Federalist Papers, which sought to encourage ratification of the Constitution, were written under a pseudonym. Unidentified sources were critical to the Washington Post's Watergate scoops, and the New York Times' publication of the Pentagon Papers.

And the promise of anonymous speech online allows people dealing with disease, depression, sexuality questions and countless other life challenges to seek out information and support, without necessarily revealing their situation to bosses, ministers or parents.

"The United States was founded on the presumption that anonymous or pseudonymous speech was a part of civic discourse," said Michael Froomkin, professor at the University of Miami School of Law, who has written several papers on this issue.

Of course, there are limits to what you can say anonymously. If you publicly defame someone, or even imply that somebody in an official capacity has committed a crime, that person can petition the court to force the forum wherein you posted your anonymous comment to reveal your identity, so that person can sue you for libel or slander, as was reported last month in the Los Angeles Times:

The commentator, Almostinnocentbystander, had wondered on the newspaper's popular Huckleberries Online blog if $10,000 missing from the Kootenai County Republican Party might be stuffed in local GOP chairwoman Tina Jacobson’s blouse, prompting Jacobson to file suit against "John Doe" for defamation.

U.S. District Judge John Patrick Luster in his ruling Tuesday rejected the idea that freewheeling Internet commentators necessarily have the right to hide behind the 1st Amendment — not even under the special privilege that often attaches to newspapers’ anonymous sources.

“While the individuals are entitled to the right of anonymous free speech, this right is clearly limited when abused,” the judge wrote in his order, released in Kootenai County District Court.
...
Dave Oliveria, who administers the Huckleberries Online blog, took the comment down a little more than two hours after it appeared.

Still, he and attorneys for the newspaper argued in court papers that the ability to comment anonymously draws in readers and points of view that would be lost if everyone had to ‘fess up to their identities.

“It’s based on a belief that we have freedom of speech in this country, even if it’s anonymous, and people ought to be able to say what they want in whatever fashion,” Spokesman-Review Editor Gary Graham said in a telephone interview.

Should you decide to take a stand and support anonymous (or pseudonymous) free speech by investing in bitcoin, you can buy them by visiting an exchange like http://mtgox.com, or, if you don't mind paying a higher fee, you can buy your bitcoin with much less of a paper trail, and, should the mood strike you, get btc possibly faster, by using a service like http://www.bitinstant.com (you deposit money at a physical bank branch, and you get your btc about an hour later).

Freedom of speech! Just watch what you say.

--

A satoshi (0.00000001 btc) is the smallest amount a bitcoin can be divided into, and this is the QR code of my own aforementioned personal bitcoin address:

The Danger in Selling Digital Goods on Ebay & Accepting Paypal as Payment

Many of you casual gamers on Facebook may know how popular digital goods are in the online marketplace, where people pay lots of real money to buy items used in video games and online transactions. Digital goods can range from cell phone ringtones, music, movies and shows, electronic books (ebooks), rights to domain names, online accessories and characters (avatars) in video games, electronic gift certificates and coupon codes, online electronic currencies like Linden dollars and bitcoins (btc), financial & cash services like ukash, moneypak, pecunix and more, secure, encrypted web browsing and software packages, sometimes written to a flash drive that you can use to boot from, and I'm sure there is much that I missed and am not aware of. I'm not going to identify what I sold, because it's embarrassing that I not only got scammed, but that I spend so much time online acquiring digital goods. Maybe it's because my fear is I am socially inept in crowds and I would rather be indoors playing video games than out mingling and meeting people. Suffice it to say that, yesterday, around this time, I felt richer. 24 hours later, I feel poorer. Here's the story:

I poured quite a bit of time and effort into acquiring an online digital good. At the same time, I decided to take advantage of a temporary promotion on ebay where you can list items for free for the next 3 days. Among the many items that I listed, I decided to take a chance and list that particular digital good, my asking price for it about 25% higher than what I paid for it, after ebay and paypal fees. I had done my due diligence, looked at competitors, saw many people buying and selling the same item on ebay, and thought, with my account in good standing and lots of positive feedback, why not see if it might sell? Well, imagine my pleasant surprise when I got out of bed in the morning, checked my email, and saw that my item had sold through Buy It Now for a couple of thousand dollars, hand to God. The buyer also seemed good, with 76 feedback and a rating of 95.4%, and he paid me with paypal, in the amount of $2736 after ebay and paypal fees. The buyer used ebay messages to specify the online address where I could deliver the item, and after confirming the money was in my paypal account, I promptly sent the item to him.

I was feeling high for about most of the day, happy that all the money, time and effort I had spent in my online community was beginning to pay off. The ebay buyer had told me the item had been received, and had even given me positive feedback. Imagine my surprise and horror when, around 10 pm yesternight, about 11 hours after I delivered the digital good, I received 2 messages, one from ebay, one from paypal, with the Subjects: "MC143 eBay Listing Removed", and "Notification of Cancelled Withdrawal", respectively. The first message said:

We recently learned that someone was using an account to bid on items without the account owner's permission. For this reason, we have canceled all bids on the following listing...All associated fees have been credited to your account. Please note that we're working with the account owner to prevent any additional unauthorized activity.

If you have any concerns or questions, click "Customer Support" at the top of most eBay pages.

We're sorry for any inconvenience, and we thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Sincerely,

eBay Customer Support

The second message, from Paypal, came about because I was trying to transfer the money sent by the buyer for my digital good into my bank account, and it read:

Recently, your account balance became negative. To cover your negative balance, we have reversed "Pending" electronic funds transactions that you had initiated from your PayPal account. This is to confirm that the following transaction(s) have been cancelled...Thanks,

PayPal Finance Department

Long story short, I called ebay, told them the buyer was making a false claim, because I had been in touch with the buyer by the hotmail email address associated with the buyer's Paypal account, and also by ebay messages, and I had an email from the buyer saying the digital good had been received, and the buyer had even given me positive feedback. My protests had no effect. In the eyes of the ebay customer service agent, Dustin, the account that bid on and won my item was accessed by a third party, without the account holder's permission, and for security reasons, Dustin could not tell me what the criteria or proof was that ebay possessed showing them the account had been accessed by a third party. When I told Dustin that the problem was I had lost the item I sent to the buyer, Dustin put me on hold, then said he was going to advise me to contact law enforcement about this. When I told Dustin that the buyer was in a different country, Dustin said "that's the only way we can resolve it." When I asked for the payment back, Dustin said they could not do that, because the items were purchased by a third party. At this point Dustin must have heard me typing, because he asked me if I was recording this call, and when I said yes, Dustin said at this point he is forced to disconnect this call. Click. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the embarrassing story of how I got scammed out of the digital good I had, and the money I paid for it.

November 7, 2013: Latest update on this case is here.

Heather, Rachel, Michelle, Casey, Ann or Tiffany from Account Services or Cardholder Services

Update: David Lazarus at the Los Angeles Times has written two recent articles about this issue, with some news and interesting ideas:

• http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20140107,0,1818707.column
• http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20140114,0,1753169.column

--

From phonespam.blogspot.com:

Hello. This is Heather at account services. And we're calling in reference to your current credit card account. There's no problems currently with your account. It is urgent however that you contact us concerning your eligibility for lowering your interest rate. Your eligibility expires shortly. So please consider this your final notice. Please press one now on your phone to speak with a live operator and lower your interest rate. Or press two to discontinue further notices. Thank you and have a great day.

I've been roused from sleep by these unsolicited, automated phone calls, all having to do with card member services, or account services, relating to your credit card debt, lowering your interest rates across all lines of credit, repairing your credit, financial services counseling, or debt negotiation. Fraudsters, con men, whatever you want to call them, ultimately, they're looking to get your money. These robocalls piss me off, and if you want to do something more than just hang up, you can get even. I've pressed '1' to get connected to a live agent. The people who get paid by the telephone marketing scammers have learned to be wary of giving out too much information, especially to an angry caller, because they know if too many people complain, the money will stop coming in. However, if you have a little time, you can employ the following strategy to make yourself some money fighting crime, and help bring down these organizations who try to scam people. The next time you get one of these calls, here's what you should do:

1. Pretend that you are interested. The first two things the representative may ask you are your name and how much credit card debt you have. You can use a variant of your name, or create a new name for yourself (in order to not arouse suspicion, try to make your new name similar to your real name, so that it's easier to remember, such as starting with the same sound or letter. If your name is Mike, then Mark or Malcolm. If John, Jerry or Jesus). Tell the representative you have credit card debt of $16,000 (which is about the national average), so that he or she will get excited about possibly doing a balance transfer with you over the phone, or getting your credit card number so he or she can bill your credit card for "services".
2. Do not give out any of your personal information, such as your credit card number. Inform the representative that you have some discomfort doing business over the phone, and you would like to do some research before you go forward. Tell the telemarketer, "I have a fear of scams, and would like to make sure this is a legitimate business", and "I would like to take advantage of that 4 to 8% rate, but before I do, can you tell me what is your company's name and physical location?" To lull the scammer into thinking you are sincere, I might go so far as to give out my ZIP code and the toll-free number of my credit card company (Craig in the comments below prudently advises retaining your expired credit card for just this occasion, or perhaps switching around the last four digits of an old credit card), but when you are prompted for your credit card number, stall them until they give you some kind of traceable information, such as an official company name, their callback phone number, and of course their physical location.
3. Ask for, and record, the company's name, the name of the person you are talking to, get a call-back number and an address, and note the time and the date of the call.
4. Report the call and any of the information you have to the authorities.

Enough people who complained were finally able to identify and bring down three telephone scammer companies, including Mutual Consolidated Services in Tacoma, Washington, and multiple companies in Florida:

http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/whistleblower/2009/06/26/hunt-for-rachel-from-cardholder-services-takes-me-to-a-company-in-florida-but-she-wasnt-there/
http://www.kirotv.com/money/18910460/detail.html
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/07/mutualconsol.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0923190/index.shtm

These are three URLs I've used to lodge complaints about the calls:

https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form1088.action
https://complaints.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Depending on your state, you can possibly make yourself some extra cash by suing the telemarketing company in small claims court if you are on the "do not call" registry:According to the California Attorney General:

In order to file a complaint, you must know either the name or the phone number of the company that called you. Our office cannot trace the phone call you received and obtain this information on your behalf. You also must provide the date that the company called you and your registered phone number. You may provide your name and address, but it's not required for you to submit a complaint.

According to the FCC:

Some states permit you to file law suits in state court against persons or entities violating the do-not-call rules. You may be awarded $500 in damages or actual monetary loss, whichever is greater. The amount may be tripled if you are able to show that the caller violated the rules willfully and knowingly. Filing a complaint with the FCC does not prevent you from also bringing a suit in state court.
States also can bring a civil law suit against any person or entity that engages in a pattern or practice of violating the TCPA or FCC rules. You can contact your state Attorney General’s office or consumer protection agency with particular complaints, or to encourage such suits.

Happy hunting!

Update: Some new variants of this automated robocall telephone scam start out with:

1. This is Visa Mastercard member services. Congratulations, you now qualify for a lower interest rate on all your credit card accounts. Press the number 2 to speak to a customer service agent, or press 3 to decline this offer.
2. "Hi, this is Tiffany with Account Services, calling in reference..."
3. "We have closed the file on your annual credit card review, and you should have received mail..."
4. "This is an important message from cardmember services..."
5. "Hi, this is Anne with Account Services with some good news!"

one of the best computer deals out there right now

This past Memorial day, I got a brand new computer. It took Dell about a week to assemble and ship to me, and about a week for me and machine to get friendly. Coming up for air, here's one thing I really love about mi computador nuevo: the place where you rest your hands on your wrists, as you are about to type, feels really good. It's never too cool, which is what you might expect from a smooth metal surface, and it's also never too hot, which is what you'd expect from metal sitting just millimeters above powerful circuitry. The wrist rests on my new machine have a high-quality brushed metal finish, that feels almost silky, and the fact that you can rest your palms before typing, and not have the coolness transfer from the metal to your body, is a nice touch, and feels just right. It's kind of like you were shipped a computer with the luxury upgrade of hand-and-wrist-rest warmers, and evokes in me a great deal of confidence in my recent purchase. Those Dell engineers, artists and designers thought of everything, and presumably come from the same school of thought as the geniuses who gave you the ability to keep your cooked rice hot, your favorite massage chair heated, your toilet seat warm, your movie theater seats toasty, your car's front seats comfy in that morning chill, heck, yes, even your steering wheel warm:

Sure, it's a minor detail, as can be said about any luxury, and I'm not quite sure how they did it, but it speaks to the finesse of a homegrown company that has been at it for years, and has finally come into its own. My new laptop is also energy star 5.0 compliant, unlike your tv set-top box or DVR, meaning when it comes to your utility bill, this laptop uses less electricity when idle, and very little power when you've got it asleep, or hibernating.

My previous computer, an Acer Aspire 9410-2028, was purchased back in August of 2007, and did not have any hand/wrist warmers. It was a good computer for its time, at a good price, but fast forward to the present, about 3.5 years later, and now getting anything done on the same computer is a real slog. First, the hinges broke about a year and a half ago, which meant I had to find a way to prop up my screen or else it wouldn't stay up by itself. Then, for the past year, if I ran my operating system for a while without rebooting, I noticed extreme latency, lots of disk spinning, very slow response time, and often my screen would suddenly go dark for a minute or more because of my graphics driver crashing (this occurred sometimes multiple times an hour). If I tried to switch between web browser tabs or web browser windows, I dreaded having to endure 6 second to several minute waits while the computer finished what it was doing and caught up to me. Trying to switch between a browser window to my desktop, or playing a movie, were bitterly negative experiences, evoking in me a range of responses from impatience, to taking the Lord's name in vain, to prolonged bouts of swearing and exasperation, sometimes leading to existential cries that made me doubt my commitment to sparkle motion:
If you're in the market, looking to buy, or have been shopping for a new computer, you could do a lot worse than what I got for $1239.61 ($1,123.99 + $6 environmental disposal fee + $109.62 tax):

Dell XPS 17 (L702X), Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64-Bit
PROCESSOR               2nd generation Intel® Core i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz
OPERATING SYSTEM        Genuine Windows® Home Premium, 64-Bit, English
SERVICE PLAN            1 Year Limited Hardware Warranty (Mail-in repair in 10-14 business days - Shipping not included)
HD DISPLAY              17.3" FHD (1080p) with 2.0MP HD Webcam
MEMORY                  8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
VIDEO CARD              NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 550M 1GB graphics with Optimus
BATTERY OPTIONS         90 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
HARD DRIVE              1.0TB 500GB 7.2k HDD x 2
OFFICE SOFTWARE         Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook
SECURITY SOFTWARE       McAfee Security Center with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 30-Day Trial
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE  Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
WIRELESS + BLUETOOTH    Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1000
SOUND OPTIONS           JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3

Dell XPS 17 for:
Order Subtotal:          $1,123.99
Shipping and Handling:   $9.00
Shipping Discount:      -$9.00
Environmental Disposal Fee: $6.00
Tax Total:               $109.62
Total Amount:            $1,239.61

What was important for me was the 64-bit quad-core Core^TM i7 2720qm CPU, only 1 or 2 steps below the state-of-the-art, most advanced chip currently out on the market. Also, I needed my next computer to have 8 gigabytes of RAM, 1 terabyte of hard drive space, a 17-inch high-resolution 1920 x 1080 screen (yes, high definition), and the ability to play Blu-ray DVDs. To get this computer at such a great price, I had to make two sacrifices and apply two coupon codes:

1. opt for the limited hardware warranty (essentially, I am betting Dell won't send me a lemon) of "Mail-in repair in 10-14 business days - Shipping not included" instead of the standard 1 Year Home Express Service of "Mail-in repair in 1-2 business days - Shipping included"


2. decide against the 3D capable screen and the 3D glasses


3. These codes subtract an additional $500 off. Both codes expire June 30, 2011, but you can always search for dell coupon codes to find the combination that gives you the most money off:
   • 8GHR80Q1PLLCF7
   • 7WR1C2?HTTQQ11

Perhaps the economy has people spooked about spending $1200 on a computer, but I was surprised I wasn't able to find this deal advertised anywhere else. I found this deal on my own, meaning I took the time to pick out which computer I wanted, and, through trial and error research, which applicable coupon codes were stackable, as many of the codes have restrictions. At first I looked on techbargains.com, then on Costco's website and in their stores, and I was contemplating buying an HP Pavilion dv7t Quad Edition customizable Notebook PC for $1484.14 ($1,344.99 + $8 recycling fee + $131.14 tax), but that tax rate of almost 10% seemed exorbitant to me. In a defiant act of tax avoidance (remember, Jesus votes Republican), I decided to do some research on computers being offered for sale on ebay, where sometimes you can buy items tax-free. At one point I was willing to pay $1600 for the right configuration of parts, but not being able to find what I wanted from ebay, I decided to go on Dell's site directly. There, I found I still had to pay tax, but Dell's grand total price was almost $300 less than the HP I was first expecting to buy, for an upgrade on the CPU, hard drive spin from 5400 rpm to 7200 rpm, 17.3 inch screen with resolution increase from 1600 x 900 to 1920 x 1080, and I was able to throw in a 50% upgrade in battery life, from 6 to 9 battery cells.

Until the end of the year, Dell is taking an additional $20 off, and throwing in free shipping. You can actually get this computer for $20 less than what I paid! Here's the link to what it looks like:

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xps-17?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=corp&~lt=popup

Green Travel: Bring a Folding Bicycle on an Airplane

I was in Los Angeles last week to attend an event; a friend from high school had gotten married, and his wife was having a baby shower. Shortly after I received the invitation, the best deal I could find was 3 weeks away, and so I booked the first flight leaving Oakland on a Tuesday morning, and the last flight coming back to Oakland the following week on a Wednesday night. My sister, who lives in LA, being a mother of an almost 4-year-old girl, hadn't been getting much sleep, and she balked at picking me up when my plane arrived at Burbank airport at 7:15 am. I decided that, when I arrived at my destination airport, I was not going to jump into a rented car, but get on my bike and, depending on the grace and mercy of the public transit system, ride to where I needed to go. The last time I was in Los Angeles was 4 years ago, for my sister's own baby shower, and I had a rental car for a week; by the time I came back to the Bay Area, I had gained 10 pounds, due to increased caloric intake and lack of physical activity. This time I was going to save money and get some more exercise. Here's what I did to become a green traveler (or, a green traveller, as they say in the United Kingdom):

What you will need:

• tape measure
• folding bike
• bicycle lock
• clear plastic garbage bag
• bungee cord, also known as a shock cord

1. Confirm your airline's baggage policy. I was allowed to check-in two bags for free, in accordance with the Southwest Airlines checked bags policy:

   Weight and Size Allowance:
   Maximum weight is 50 pounds and maximum size is 62 inches (length + width + height) per checked piece of luggage. ...[O]verweight items from 51 to 100 pounds and oversized items in excess of 62 inches but not more than 80 inches (e.g.; surfboards, bicycles, vaulting poles) will be accepted for a charge of $75 per item.

   If you don't want to be forced to pay $75 at the ticket counter, use measuring tape and a scale to make sure your bicycle conforms to the size and weight limitations. Besides your folding bike, I recommend you bring a backpack as your other bag, because your folding bike's wheels are smaller than your standard bicycle, and you don't want to make your ride even more unstable by having a heavy bag slung around your neck, hanging off one side, making your bicycle ride unpleasant and unsafe.
   
   If your bicycle lock is a U-lock, it's likely the TSA agent may consider that it can be used as a weapon, so don't try to bring it onto the airplane cabin in your carry-on; rather, lock your U-lock to your bicycle during the check-in.


2. Pack light. Erykah Badu, in her famous "Bag Lady", exhorts, "Bag Lady, you're going to miss your bus. You can't hurry up, cause you got too much stuff."
   
   Do not be the bag lady, who would surely hurt her back, dragging all her bags like that! Besides my folding bike, I had one backpack, into which I put my laptop computer, a change of underwear and an extra pair of shorts, an extra 16-inch inner-tube, and hard plastic steel-core tire levers, in case I got a flat tire. I got a lot of my tips for how to pack light from this article.


3. I decided to enclose my bike in a plastic bag in an effort to conform to Southwest's Special Luggage Sports Equipment Policy:

   Bicycles (defined as nonmotorized and having a single seat), including Bike Friday and Co-Pilot, properly packed in a hard-sided bicycle box that fall within the dimensions and weight limits established for normal Checked Baggage, (i.e., 62 inches or less in overall dimensions and less than 50 pounds in weight). Pedals and handlebars must be removed and packaged in protective materials so as not to be damaged by or cause damage to other Baggage. Bicycles packaged in cardboard or soft-sided cases will be transported as conditionally accepted items.

   "Conditionally accepted" means Southwest assumes no liability for damage sustained during transport. I decided on a see-through transparent bag because I imagine the airport baggage handlers will be a bit more careful if they are able to see that it's a bicycle they are handling, than if the bicycle was in a canvas bag or hard-sided case. Once your bike is unfolded at your destination airport, you can easily store the plastic bag in your backpack.


4. You will also want to bring a spare inner tube that is in your folding bike's tire size, and tire levers, in case you get a flat tire. Los Angeles has a lot of gas stations, bike shops, and people with bicycles and tire pumps in their garages, where you can use a pump if need be, but if you will not be in a densely populated area, you may also want to bring along a bike pump. By the way, for those of you concerned with how the change in air pressure during a flight may or may not affect the compressed air in your bicycle tires: before I began my voyage, I had my tires inflated beyond the recommended upper limit, and at both of my destination airports, when I received my bike, there was never any problem with my tires or inner tubes.

My 2005 Dahon Presto Lite. This model is no longer available for retail sale. I bought mine second-hand. It came without mud guards.


Folded size, with right pedal, is 30 x 20 x 17, for a total of 67 linear inches. On this model, the right pedal is easily removable. Folded size, without right pedal, is 30 x 20 x 11, for a total of 61 linear inches. Weight is about 18 pounds.


Folded bike with U-lock, locked to frame.


Folded bike with U-lock, locked to frame, covered by clear plastic garbage bag, and secured with bungee cord.

Did you ever have any problems, or unexpected events or hiccups, with checking-in your bike at the airport?
On my recent flight, during both check-ins, with my removable right pedal affixed, neither Southwest ticket counter agent made an issue of the extra few linear inches or, for that matter, ever took out a measuring tape. There was one incident where, during my first check-in, a Southwest ticket counter agent said she would have to charge me $50 to transport a bicycle. However, I pointed out that, on their website, the Southwest policy is that bikes under the size and weight limit count as checked-in baggage and are not subject to a fee. The agent looked up the policy, gave my folding bike a once-over, looked at the bike's weight, and said it was ok.

If you're looking to buy a folding bike, I recommend:

http://foldingcyclist.com/folding-bike-buyers-guide.html

though one drawback is the guide doesn't have folded-size dimensions. If you have the time to look for a second-hand, well-maintained bike for a good price, I recommend Craigslist, which is how I found mine.

Conceivably, you could also bring a folding bike with you on a boat cruise, or sight-seeing in an RV or tour bus. So now you have another option as a green tourist. Next time you travel, don't rent a car; bring a bicycle.

How to Pack Light, for Men and Women

In preparation for a recent trip to Los Angeles, I read up on some tips on how to travel smart and avoid baggage fees. Debra Saunders advises people to pack heavy, but this part of her column I definitely agree with:

European travel guru Rick Steves has recommended that, regardless of the length of a trip, that the savvy male tourist pack only three pairs of socks and underwear, a pair of shorts, two short-sleeved shirts, a long-sleeved shirt, a sweater, a windbreaker and one pair of shoes. On his Web site he tells vacationers they should fit everything they are taking into one "carry-on size bag."

A tip for couples traveling with a small child or children, from John Flinn:

"But you can't pack light if you're traveling with small children," protested several readers. Apparently no one told Andy Sedik of South San Francisco: "My wife and I just returned from a two-week trip to Eastern Europe with our 14-month-old daughter using only two carry-ons, an umbrella stroller and a diaper bag. Not only is it possible, it makes life on the road so much easier. Once you travel light, you never go back."

Tips for men from John Flinn (Note the sidebar, "The Art of Packing", which covers 'Packing for Cruises' and 'What Women Want'):

This is everything I pack for a typical three-week trip to Europe or South America, riding trains and buses and splitting my time between town and country. It all fits easily into a carry-on bag, with room left over for a bottle of Côtes du Rhône, a baguette and a few souvenirs.

Tips for women from Eliza Hussman:

I had carried around heavy suitcases for years, mostly because I always seemed to get a bad case of the "what ifs" while packing: "What if someone spills something on my dress and I need a backup?" or "What if it stops raining while I'm there and I need a swimsuit - or three?" or the dreaded "What if those sandals don't look as cute with that dress as I'd thought and my friend asks me if I brought a different pair?"

Tips for women from Christine Delsol

• Two pairs of shoes is the maximum: Good walking shoes that will hold up for eight or 10 hours at a stretch, and a lighter pair -- comfortable sandals that can go with skirts for more formal outings in hot climates, or perhaps stylish flats in cooler weather.
• A light, longish skirt is the best staple for hot climates. Unlike shorts, skirts can dress up or down, they are as welcome in restaurants and cathedrals as at the beach, they ward off sunburn and require little space. Take several.

determine your prorated share of the utility bill

Americans are scared, for these are lean and mean times, for anyone who has read the news, though we may be encouraged by signs that the economy has hit bottom and the downturn could be due for an upswing. With experts saying the unemployment rate is likely to go up past 10% before companies start hiring again, the sheer number of unemployed Americans in the middle of a jobs recession will likely provide the necessary heat to make people change their debt-accumulating, hypomanic ways. What I mean by "necessary heat" is, in a recent Lehrer News Hour segment analyzing the latest political events (concerning David Souter's retirement and Arlen Specter changing party affiliation), David Brooks offers a profound insight that, after turning it over in my head, I would tend to agree with more than not:

You don't change when you see the light. You change when you feel the heat.

Reference: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june09/politicalwrap_05-01.html

Because this economic slump may be severe and prolonged, an article on how Americans need to start consuming again makes the following points:

• We've gone from an age of entitlement to an age of thrift.


• the American population, continually infused with immigrants, has self-selected for hypomania, i.e., a tendency to action, an appetite for risk, an endless belief in human possibilities

Reference: http://www.slate.com/id/2213595/pagenum/all/#p2

Ever since I turned 19 and left home for college, I've lived with other people (and still do). This has not only expanded my social repertoire, but saves me a lot of money. In the spirit of the age of thrift, you, former sole occupant of the 1 bedroom or studio apartment, now may be in a shared housing situation, via Craigslist, living with one or more mates in a room, flat or house. When it comes time for roommates to divvy up the gas and electricity bill by figuring out who owes what, one of the more difficult tasks to settle may be how to fairly apportion the amount you owe, given that the day you move in may be after the day the billing period begins (or the day you move out before the date the billing period ends). In either case, you may not feel it's entirely fair to divide the gas & electricity bill, which accounts for energy usage in the unit, evenly among you and your fellow tenants under the lease, because then you would be liable for days when you could not possibly have drawn power from the grid or gas from the line. Now, courtesy of my former housemate Kimberly Scott (now Kimberly Lightholder), who provided this formula to me after a bit of trial and error, here's a simple and easy way for you to fairly prorate your share of the utilities (assuming, of course, that there are no other issues involved in the fair split, or prorating, of the monthly bill, such as one or more flatmates' constant use of a high energy consuming device, such as the central gas heater, or an electric heater, air conditioner, mini-refrigerator, grow lights, and/or aquarium):

The test for this formula is, if you add up the amount that each person is calculated to owe, for all residents, that should equal the amount in the electric & gas bill.

1. ascertain the number of billing days in the billing period. Let's call this b. For example, if your billing period is from June 7 to July 8, b should be 32 days


2. count the number of days you lived in the residence. Let's call this a.


3. determine the number of total billing days. That is, add up the number of days each person lived in the unit, for all residents. For example, let's say 4 people were already residing in the 5 bedroom house you just moved into:
   
   total billing days = b + b + b + b + a


4. divide the bill amount by the total billing days. The quotient let us call k. k is what you will multiply by the number of days you lived in the residence in order to arrive at your prorated share:
   
   amount of power bill
   -------------------------- = k
   total billing days


5. k * a = your prorated share of the utility bill