Cleanin' out the ol' Inbox....

(This is a re-post - the first one had some problems with the images)

I don't know why, but I got a wild hair this morning and started cleaning out the e-mail inbox.  

My inbox, my desk, my laundry basket and kitchen sink all have a common reflection of a flaw (probably just one of many) in my character - they are all an unorganized mess.  But since I use the Google Apps implementation of GMail, I don't really worry too much about the Inbox. Since Google is all about search, GMail is all about finding old messages in that big fur ball of mail. I've never been one to use an elaborate taxonomy of folders, labels and sorting and such.  I just type in a couple of key words and names into GMail's search box and I usually end up with a fairly short list of messages to go through to find the one I am looking for.  To be honest, I have yet to not find something I am looking for. And I do save everything - or more correctly, I delete nothing.  I even have a hard time archiving stuff to get it out of the Inbox. 

Its not quite as bad as it sounds. I do have a number of filters set up to apply GMail labels to regular incoming pieces such as newsletters, e-bills and statements, mail from frequent correspondents, friends and relatives and regular alerts ("so-and-so is following you on Twitter" - I don't know why but I do). Some of these are labeled just to flag them with a bright pretty color so I won't miss them in all the flotsam and jetsam of my pile of mail. But it does come in handy. As I found out today. 

So after listening to Gina Trapani on TWIG extolling the virtues of managing her mail using GMail's Priority Inbox and watching her video "Control Your Email Inbox with Three Folders", then thinking back to Merlin Mann's "Inbox Zero" talks and articles, I guess I got to feeling guilty.  That and the fact that the counter for the number of messages in the Inbox was north of 1,556. 

So we started pruning. I started pulling up labeled groups of messages and got out the machete. I decided I really didn't need to keep five years of notifications from my bank that my statement was available for viewing. Same with the notices from the phone company, AT&T, the gas company and the electric company that my bills were ready for download and payment. I also decided there wasn't much point in keeping all of the Google Voice notifications of pending voice mail messages, so I got rid of a couple hundred of those. Posterous sends out an e-mail digest of all the posts you've subscribed to.  Often times I see those on a computer at an office where they have blocked all sorts of stuff, so I end up saving the Posterous post for later and then not getting around to it. Or at least not getting around to moving it out of the Inbox.  A bunch of those went today.

But that's when I found something almost magical about this big pile of digital debris.  I was going through the old Posterous digests and came across the posts from Andy Inhatko and his trip to Bejing last year.  I've always enjoyed Inhatko's writing and enjoyed going back through them. So I'm glad I kept them. Same thing with many, many messages from friends, family members and others.  Kind of going down a memory lane looking at what we were talking, what the social and political landscape were two years, three years or even six years ago, when I first started using GMail.  So those messages didn't get whacked - just archived out of the Inbox but still safely deep in the bowels of some computer at Google.  I can display "All Mail" and then search on a date range and be taken back in time - sort of.  I know, sounds kind of dopey, but its still fun. 

I didn't get to Inbox Zero. Still, I did make progress.  

And I'm not caught up in having an empty Inbox.  At least until Google tells me I'm out of space. 

Posted via email from greg-c - on the go....

Cleanin' out the ol' Inbox....

I don't know why, but I got a wild hair this morning and started cleaning out the e-mail inbox.  

My inbox, my desk, my laundry basket and kitchen sink all have a common reflection of a flaw (probably just one of many) in my character - they are all an unorganized mess.  But since I use the Google Apps implementation of GMail, I don't really worry too much about the Inbox. Since Google is all about search, GMail is all about finding old messages in that big fur ball of mail. I've never been one to use an elaborate taxonomy of folders, labels and sorting and such.  I just type in a couple of key words and names into GMail's search box and I usually end up with a fairly short list of messages to go through to find the one I am looking for.  To be honest, I have yet to not find something I am looking for. And I do save everything - or more correctly, I delete nothing.  I even have a hard time archiving stuff to get it out of the Inbox. 

Its not quite as bad as it sounds. I do have a number of filters set up to apply GMail labels to regular incoming pieces such as newsletters, e-bills and statements, mail from frequent correspondents, friends and relatives and regular alerts ("so-and-so is following you on Twitter" - I don't know why but I do). Some of these are labeled just to flag them with a bright pretty color so I won't miss them in all the flotsam and jetsam of my pile of mail. But it does come in handy. As I found out today. 

So after listening to Gina Trapani on TWIG extolling the virtues of managing her mail using GMail's Priority Inbox and watching her video "Control Your Email Inbox with Three Folders", then thinking back to Merlin Mann's "Inbox Zero" talks and articles, I guess I got to feeling guilty.  That and the fact that the counter for the number of messages in the Inbox was north of 1,556. 

So we started pruning. I started pulling up labeled groups of messages and got out the machete. I decided I really didn't need to keep five years of notifications from my bank that my statement was available for viewing. Same with the notices from the phone company, AT&T, the gas company and the electric company that my bills were ready for download and payment. I also decided there wasn't much point in keeping all of the Google Voice notifications of pending voice mail messages, so I got rid of a couple hundred of those. Posterous sends out an e-mail digest of all the posts you've subscribed to.  Often times I see those on a computer at an office where they have blocked all sorts of stuff, so I end up saving the Posterous post for later and then not getting around to it. Or at least not getting around to moving it out of the Inbox.  A bunch of those went today.

But that's when I found something almost magical about this big pile of digital debris.  I was going through the old Posterous digests and came across the posts from Andy Inhatko and his trip to Bejing last year.  I've always enjoyed Inhatko's writing and enjoyed going back through them. So I'm glad I kept them. Same thing with many, many messages from friends, family members and others.  Kind of going down a memory lane looking at what we were talking, what the social and political landscape were two years, three years or even six years ago, when I first started using GMail.  So those messages didn't get whacked - just archived out of the Inbox but still safely deep in the bowels of some computer at Google.  I can display "All Mail" and then search on a date range and be taken back in time - sort of.  I know, sounds kind of dopey, but its still fun. 

I didn't get to Inbox Zero. Still, I did make progress.  

And I'm not caught up in having an empty Inbox.  At least until Google tells me I'm out of space. 

Posted via email from greg-c - on the go....

Squirrel Love in the afternoon..

This was just too funny.  

We have finally got a squirrel coming around.  Of course he is driving the dogs nuts.  Yesterday, while the pooches were inside taking their afternoon nap, he found one of Thor's toys - a stuffed plush giraffe.  Now I don't know what he thought he had found, but it was funny to watch and imagine.  After a few minutes of the squirrel holding, sniffing and what looked like kissing on the giraffe toy, he grabbed it and took it up into the Red Bud tree in the back yard. Leaves shook a bit and then the giraffe came flying out. 

Who knows?  I'm just sayin'... 

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from greg-c - on the go....

#Obamacare "reform" starts to kick in tomorrow

Bend over folks, here it comes again. 

No, I'm not talking about your overdue colonoscopy.... although that will be "free" to you after today. 

Some of the first "reforms" of Obamacare start to kick in tomorrow.  These include: 

• Dependent coverage under a parent's insurance extended to a "child" until age 26. The only real restriction is that the "child" has not been offered coverage by an employer.  Considering our current economic mess, that is highly unlikely - the employer part, not the offer.  Not sure if the new law mandates Mom and Dad have to pay for Junior's coverage. 

• Coverage for preventative services such as the afore mentioned colonoscopy and other services such as mammograms, immunizations and well-child care will not have deductibles or co-payments. 

• Lifetime limits on coverage will be banned.  In other words, its an open spigot for the payout by the insurance companies. 

Now don't get me wrong - I want people to have access to good medical care without having to break the bank.  I have been in the position of having to pay for many of these services myself due to the coverage I've had while being self-employed. The problem with these "reforms" is who is going to pay for them?  Some of these are significant broadening of coverage.  A colonoscopy would cost us about $1200.  My wife's mammogram would be around $800.  Shots for various things could run $25 to $100 depending.... And no lifetime cap on coverage makes it very difficult to actuarially determine what rates should be.

Under many group plans at good sized employers, these services and benefits are already included.  But the plans carried by small businesses or by individuals that don't have coverage through their employer don't have them.  So you say "good - now they do". Yes they do... but at what cost.  Are these costs just going to be eaten by the insurance carriers?  Contrary to what our deal leader would have you believe, insurance carriers profit margins are not so fat as to just absorb them. That means premiums will probably go up. Or maybe the insurance carrier decides that they can't be profitable writing coverage for individuals or small companies and simply pull out of the market.  Less competition for the remaining carriers means less pressure on them to keep rates down. 

I still say that all of this is part of the progressive's plan to move to a single payer system controlled by the government. More and more mandates on coverage provided by insurance carriers without a way of charging an adequate premium will drive more and more carriers out of the market until Obama and the rest of the progressive bunch can point to the health insurance industry and say "see, they don't work..." and they'll push in a government run healthcare system. 

And then get ready to really bend over..... 

Posted via email from greg-c - on the go....

Karl Rove looks like a cat in a litter box - and a jerk

Karl Rove was on Fox News Sunday today and alternatively looked like a cat in a litter box covering up his shitty comments about Christine O'Donnell's win in Delaware and then alternatively taking shots at O'Donnell and Sarah Palin, saying that instead of going to Iowa and other spots, Palin ought to be in Delaware campaigning for her good friend Christine O'Donnell.  It was a really katty remark the way he said it.  Hey Karl, maybe you ought to go to Delaware and throw some support O'Donnell's way if you are genuinely concerned about a GOP win there instead of being a jerk and sitting around waiting to say "I told you so.." when she loses the election because the Republicans left her high and dry.

Question: Isn't the issue about a Senate majority somewhat overblown, considering if the GOP does win a majority, it will be by a thin margin.  Such a margin won't let them block a filibuster by the Democrats and won't let them overcome a veto by Obama, so they won't be able to repel Obamacare.  If its too thin, practically speaking it won't be a majority what with the likes of Snow, Collins and Brown - you would probably need a 54 seat majority to be sure. It will let them decide what comes to the floor for a vote, let them establish committee chairs, and most importantly, assign Harry Reid an office in the men's restroom in the basement of the Capitol.  I do think that a majority will let the Senate shut down Obama's agenda and generally stop the foolishness that is coming out of Washington.  And that is a good thing.  Everytime the government accomplishes something, it ends up costing me money or restricting my freedom. But clearly the notion of a Senate GOP majority is not going to solve our problems now. It is more a power play to give power to the Republicans in the Senate that would end up in committee chairman positions - more of the same.  Karl Rove's establishment buddies.  Thoughts?? 

Posted via email from greg-c - on the go....

Obama Bin Lyin' about tax cuts

The big conversation right now in the political sphere is whether there should be a tax cut for the middle class or a tax cut for everyone including those filthy rich people.

Let's get something straight.  No one is cutting your taxes.  While Obama would like you to believe that he is working to do that, he ain't

Remember, this argument is about whether Congress should let the Bush tax rate cuts from 2001 and 2003 expire on January 1st.

If they come to an agreement and vote to extend these tax cuts, tax rates will remain the same and your pay check in January ain't going to be any different than what it was in December - at least as it pertains to taxes. Your taxes won't be less.

Now if they can't get their act together and vote to extend these tax rate cuts, that's a different story - regardless of how much you make. Despite whatever fertilizer Obama is pedaling, the expiration of the tax rate cuts is going to affect everyone 'cause these tax rate cuts are not just for income taxes.  It will affect the tax code across the board. 

So unless you use the Charlie Rangel and Tim Geithner tax tables, you will be paying more.

(Oh - and it ain't the Republicans that are holding this up - Obama can't even get his own Democrats in Congress on board to increase taxes during this recession)

Posted via email from greg-c - on the go....

GOP is turning into a bunch of sore losers

This election season is getting interesting with the outcome of several of the recent primaries. Its also starting to show the true colors of the Republican establishment.

First there was Dede Scazzafava in New York's 23rd Congressional district.  The GOP leadership backed this liberal Republican with ties to ACORN and the labor unions in the primary race against Doug Hoffman.  When Hoffman pulled ahead of her in the polls thanks to widespread grassroots support, Scazzafava dropped out of the race and through her support to her former Democrat opponent, Bill Owens.  After the Republican party had pumped over a million bucks into her campagn. Can you say RINO? Even without party support, Hoffman made a good showing against Owens, losing by only 5 percentage points. Probably what Scazzafava's treachery siphoned off in votes. 

You would think the Republican party would take the hint that the voters don't want party regulars at the expense of conservative, responsible government.

But this past week we see more signs of big party politics in the GOP. 

This could be a good thing....

Seen over at Lagniappe's Lair:

 

Now that whack-job "pastor" Terry Jones has allegedly scrapped his plan to burn a Koran or two on 9/11 at the request of just about everybody, we now have the Olympic-class assholes over at the Westboro baptist "church" saying that they are going to burn a few, just for the attention.

 

And in keeping with the tenets of their "religion of peace", numerous radical 12th century goat-rapers (muslims) have sworn to kill whoever does this sort of thing.

 

OK, much as I hate muslim terrorists, I'm willing to take the position that if a few of them go all suicide-bomber and take out the whole inbred Phelps/Roper clan at Westboro, we can just let that one slide, provided, of course, that there are no survivors on either side.

 (My emphasis)

Posted via email from greg-c - on the go....

Paradoxical thought of the day....

Sent to my by my buddy Morgan.  Had to share it.

Paradoxical Thought for Today

 

"Fathom the odd hypocrisy that Obama wants every citizen to prove they are insured, but people don't have to prove they are citizens"!

 

~ Ben Stein

 

Posted via email from greg-c - on the go....

Well done @Pogoplug !!

If you thought I was a Pogopug fanboy after my post last weekend about how wonderful this piece of tech is, CloudEngines (the company that makes and sells it) just sealed the deal. 

A couple of weeks ago I saw an announcement that they were coming out with a wireless adapter for the Pogoplug that would let you connect it to your router wirelessly. So I guess you could have your router in one room and your Pogoplug in another room. At the time I thought that was kind of interesting but wasn't sure it would be something I would really use. But then they tweet'ed that they were going to make this available FOR FREE to existing Pogoplug customers.  I thought, "yeah right".  But check this out: 

They did have you pay the shipping, but hey, that's fair. 

And today, the nice folks at UPS sent me this: 

Yep! It is on the bus, headed for the house.  So now there will be something else to play with at del casa this long three day weekend. 

You gotta luv a company that makes a great (and insanely useful) product, provides great service after the sale and remembers their customers with goodies like this!  Thanks Pogoplug!  Well done! 

So, if you ever have a need to access your stuff from some other place or computer than where the stuff is at, check out Pogoplug. And they have even dropped the price while at the same time having good sales - contrary to the ol' "supply and demand" theory. 

*** not an employee, owner or investor of Pogoplug or CloudEngines.  Just a very happy customer. 

Posted via email from greg-c - on the go....