Lauren Wu dot com

There are lots of websites out there that supposedly help you find the lowest price for goods, including BizRate.com, DealTime and mySimon. D has had great experience using Froogle (part of Google).

My great discovery today is isbn.nu, a site that searches for the lowest price on books using words in title, author, subject or ISBN. You can also choose to view prices with and without shipping costs added in. It's a great service but be careful if you are looking for a book that has multiple editions - the lowest price shown may be be for an older version. Even though it may not be the cheapest store, I'll stick with Amazon.com since I like saving items in my Wish List, as well as peruse the reader reviews and recommendations.

A recently received email:

Hello Lauren and Dave,

I have been out of touch for a while and just wanted to say hello and see how you both are doing. As you may have heard from Henry and Linda, Frank and I unfortunately got a divorce which took a lot of my time and energy over the last few months. On a more positive note, our split was very amicable and drama free, so we continue to be friends...

Say, WHAT? D & I attended Frank and Jodie's wedding a few years ago. They bought a house last year, and we attended one of their dinner parties in January. As far as we could tell, they were happy together. They laughed a lot and loved each other very much. Or did they? What could have changed between this couple? Not too long ago, these two stood up in front of their family and friends to declare eternal love for each other, through sickness and health, for richer and poorer, till death do they part... Well, both parties are still alive, but they want to lead separate lives.

Call me a cynic, but even before I received this email, at every wedding I attended I would think, "I wonder if this one's going to last?" Statistically, one out of every two marriages end in divorce. D & I have been to dozens of weddings since we met up again in 1998, and so far, two couples have decided to get a divorce. This is the first. We're behind the curve.

I thought I was a good judge of relationships. I thought I could tell which ones would endure, and which ones were not meant to be. But that's not true, and I'm forced to question everything I've ever believed in regarding love.

D is even more practical than I am when it comes to love and marriage. He doesn't think any particular couple is necessarily made for each other. He says that all relationships require work. He's right. It's romantic to say, "I'll love you forever", but that's a total crock. For Frank and Jodie, forever didn't even last a decade. Sometimes, for whatever reason, things just don't work out, so how can I promise eternity? What I can promise, however, is to always try my very best to love D. Although my efforts can not guarantee eternal love, I can guarantee that any lack of effort would prevent it.

From the most recent TiVo newsletter I received:

"[FCC rules require] broadcasters to give equal air time to all candidates, free of charge, if they air entertainment content featuring a political rival. (Meaning if Arnie's films air on broadcast TV, all of the 134 other opponents in California's recall election race could demand equal time--FREE!)"

Cable networks are technically exempt from this rule, but some of them are adhering to it anyway. For example, the Sci Fi channel recently ditched their scheduled night of Schwarzenegger's films ... and replaced it with California-themed disaster movies instead. I love this country.

Dearly beloved, we are here today to mourn the loss of my husband, Dave. Yes folks, it's that time of the year again - it's NFL season! I'm about to become a football widow. I'm also going to start seeing a disproportionate amount of TiVo space being used to record games and ESPN programming.

I offered to get the NFL season pass on DirecTV for him so he could watch the games in the comfort of our home, but D prefers to hang out at Zeke's Bar. He likes being surrounded by multiple TVs showing different games.

D is part of a fantasy football league with some co-workers and they conducted the draft today. The only players he chose that I've even heard of are two quarterbacks: Jeff Garcia (San Francisco 49ers) and Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia Eagles). I'm amazed that he didn't select Eddie George or Steve McNair given he's such a diehard Tennessee Titans fan (the only one in the Bay Area, it seems).

D loves football, so I have worked very hard to be at least conversant in the lingo, although not fluent. "Touch back," I said the other day as I saw the ball soar across the field and bounce around the end zone. "Very good!" D exclaimed, visibly excited that I finally remembered the term after explaining it to me over five times before. It takes so little to make hubby happy!

I took my car in to Royal Motors Volkswagen to get the 40,000 mile servicing done on my New Beetle. It checked out without problems, so I'm glad that I didn't break my car.

D volunteered to pick up my car afterwards. He took public transportation (!) and used the TakeTransit Trip Planner to map his route online. It is a nifty tool that may actually encourage me to take public transportation more often. Nextbus is the perfect complement to this service - I can't wait until it's fully rolled out in San Francisco.

For a few weeks now, the little oil can symbol on my dashboard would come on for about 1 second, and then turn itself off. This only happened once every few days, so I ignored it. I finally pulled into a gas station last night, and opened up the manual to my Volkswagen New Beetle to see that it was a warning for low oil pressure.

I followed the detailed instructions on how to check oil: I pulled out the dipstick, wiped it with a rag, pushed it in all the way again, and then pulled it out to see how much of the stick was covered with oil. As you can tell, this is the first time I've done this myself.

The diagram in the manual showed three areas of the dipstick: a, b and c. It was mandatory to add oil if the level was at a; you had the option of adding oil if the level was at b (but it wasn't necessary); and you were not supposed to add any oil if the level was already at c.

I did the test and there was no oil on the stick whatsoever. Not good. I poured in a whole bottle of engine oil (making sure that it was the right kind - I compared all the label markings shown in the manual), but even then only the very tip of the stick was covered with oil. It wasn't anywhere close to level a. I had to pour in another full bottle before it reached level b. Oops.

I spoke to hubby about it, and he said I'm supposed to add change [thanks Hans!] oil every 3,000 miles. Oh. Now I know. I hope I didn't "break" my car :-(

Until I get my act together and post something about myself, I wanted to point you to hubby's revamped website. He's added a recap of his Sacramento Adventure Race on Sunday, August 17, 2003. It's part of the adventure sprint series hosted by Balance Bar. His next adventure race is on October 18-19, 2003 near Los Angeles, CA at Lake Castaic.

See that little orange button on my right navigation button with the letters "XML"? That means that Lauren Wu dot com is now available in RSS format! It's created via Blogger Pro.

I've added this feature now because I've discovered that my favorite web email service of all time, Oddpost, now has RSS aggregation capabilities. Luv Oddpost.

In case you're wondering, RSS stands for RDF Site Summary.

I have finally added search functionality to my website! You can use it by entering a phrase in the text box in the navigation bar -- click on the "search" button and a list will appear showing you where that phrase appears on my site. I created a free Atomz account to do this a while ago, but I was unable to index my site properly until now. I kept on getting warning messages saying that only 2 pages on my website were crawled. It's because my navigation menus are created using JavaScript and the Atomz search spider can't follow links created that way. I ended up solving the problem by manually adding links to other parts of my website within <noscript> and </noscript> tags. Not the most elegant solution but it works. Let me know if there's a better way to do this.

Being a group ex instructor is definitely a negative NPV proposition, but the psychic rewards make it all worthwhile. The pay doesn't even come close to covering the cost of certification, so I appreciate what few perks I do get, for example, free membership in various instructor alliance programs at selected fitness apparel retailers such as Reebok, RYKÄ, Adidas (catalog only) and New Balance -- basically everybody except for the Evil Sweatshop Overlord aka Nike. Nike discontinued their alliance program this year. A pox on their marketing campaigns!

As members of these alliance programs, fitness professionals may purchase merchandise at a significant discount. There are some limitations, however: (1) you may only make discounted purchases for yourself, (2) product selection is limited, (3) sales can only be made through the alliance catalog &/or website, and not at retail stores.

I recently received an email from Reebok Alliance, touting their Fall 2003 catalog and on-line store. I 'm not usually a Reebok fan, but I took a peek anyway. Right on the main page was a sassy tank top with an intriguing crossback design. I clicked on the picture, assuming it would take me to the product page/description, but no dice. I then laboriously looked through all the individual tank top product pages, but they only had pictures of the frontal design, and I needed to see the back. After scouring the website, I eventually found a feature called Alternate View - See the product from a different angle. Looked promising, but the website provided no instruction on how to actually use this feature. I finally sent Reebok an email asking them whether (1) the product was available for sale and (2) how I could use the aforementioned Alternate View feature. Here's their reply:

Lauren:

Thank you for contacting Reebok Alliance! We apologize for not being able to offer the style shown on the internet to you. Some of the items you see pictured are from other markets around the world and not available in the United States. We apologize for the confusion and inconvenience this situation may have caused you.

As far as being able to see products from the back, in the Alliance catalog you will be shown pictures of the view of the back of certain items. We apologize that the feature online is only to show a larger picture of what is shown, if you have any further questions please reply to this email or contact our Customer Service Representatives...

Folks, this is a prime example of how NOT to build a retail website. It is counterproductive advertising unavailable products and listing site features that don't work! So much for trying to be a Reebok customer. Back to trusty Sports Basement...

Now that summer is upon us, we can all benefit from the information in this WSJ article (subscription may be required) regarding skin cancer and the sun. According to the article, The sun's harmful rays can cause painful burns, premature aging and wrinkles, skin cancers and serious eye disease. Sunshine contributes to one million new cancers each year, affecting about one in every 70 people.

SPF Basics: SPF (sun protection factor) is an indicator of how much longer you can stay in the sun before burning, If you would normally burn after 10 minutes in the sun without sunscreen, then 15 SPF sunscreen theoretically would allow you to stay outside for about 2.5 hours without turning red.... Once you've reached the time allotted by your SPF, adding more sunscreen won't buy you more time because you've already maxed out your skin for the day. SPF applies to blocking UVB rays but UVA ray exposure should also be limited because they penetrate more deeply. Tanning booths use UVA rays, and those who frequent them are two to three times more likely to get skin cancer.

Here's some tips on sunscreen in the article:

• Apply at least least an ounce of sunscreen (enough to fill a shot glass) each time
• Wear sunscreen even when you're only in the sun for brief periods at a time. It all adds up
• Reapply sunscreen at least every two hours
• Look for sunscreen that offers "broad spectrum" protection against both UVB and UVA rays
• Check the ingredients for Parsol 1789, aka avobenzone or butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, an effective UVA blocker. Sunscreens in other countries may contain mexoryl, supposedly an even better blocker, but it hasn't been approved in the U.S. yet
• A white T-shirt has an SPF of only 5, less when wet. The looser the weave and lighter the color, the less protection. As a precaution, it's a good idea to put sunscreen on all parts of the body, even areas covered by clothing
• Wear sunglasses that block at least 98% of rays. Sun damage while young increases risk for cataracts, age-related blindness and other eye diseases. People with light-colored eyes are at highest risk, as are people who work outside or are regularly exposed to sun glare, such as fishermen and ski instructors.
• Products with alpha-hydroxy acids, certain antihistamines, anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, antidepressants, cardiovascular drugs and diuretics may increase the risk of burning. Read the label and check with your doctor

Am I stating the obvious by saying that New York City smells? I didn't notice it when I lived here, but that's probably because I was used to it then. It smells like fear, hope, poverty, money, frustration and opportunity all mixed in together.

My olfactory organs kicked into overdrive as soon as I came off the plane at LaGuardia airport. It was warm that day, causing hot air to steam off the tarmac. Everything seemed sticky and stifling.

I used to think that the stench was limited to the NY subways, but the pungent smell has now risen up to the city streets. Or was it always that way? It's a combination of sweat and stale urine, with a little rotten garbage tossed in for good measure. I guess it's typical of any overcrowded city where busy people are rushing around at all hours of the day, despite the standstill traffic.

I tried running on the streets tonite, but there was nowhere to go. Not only did I have to dodge pedestrians, but I was stopped by traffic lights every 2-3 blocks. They're small blocks too. 20 blocks=1 mile I think. Central Park is supposed to be a popular and better place to run, but I wasn't about to go there at night, especially since people have been assaulted there in broad daylight.

For all of its drawbacks, New York City is a unique and fascinating place. There are few cities where tasty food and exciting entertainment are available 24/7. It's exhausting just being there, but it builds character and mental stamina. Sinatra is right, if you can make it in NYC, you can make it anywhere.

Flying is such a pain. At most airports, including San Francisco International (SFO), passengers are now require to have a boarding pass before going through security. All my stuff is usually hand carry, so I try to use self check-in terminals whenever possible. To operate them, you enter your frequent flier card or credit card into the machine.

When I tried using the machine this morning, I received an error message indicating that my name couldn't be verified, and that I had to see a ticketing agent (defeating the purpose of self check-in). If this happens to you, here's a tip: try another card. It turned out that I received the error because only my last name could be read off the magnetic strip. The machine required my first name as well. I retried with a debit card and it worked.

During the flight, I read the Skymall magazine. Some of the merchandise they sell is truly bizarre, like "Mombasa, the Garden Giraffe". For the bargain price of $895 plus $79 shipping, you can buy your own 8-feet tall designer resin giraffe for your yard. And somebody would buy that because...? Other stuff was much more interesting and useful. I have their atomic travel clock (I bought it somewhere else) that I use as an alarm clock. It automatically synchronizes with this thingy in Colorado that sends out a signal four times a day across the continental US. Theoretically, your clock is always perfectly on time, and you don't even have to adjust it for time changes.

Here are some items that may be potential purchases for the future:

• Instant poker table top ($99.95) -- gift for D?
• Decorative sink strainer/stopper (2 for $11.95) -- for sis/mom because there are no garbage disposal units in Canada or Hong Kong
• Bike rack ($39.99) -- allows 2 bikes to be parked side-by-side
• Oxygenics showerhead ($29.50) -- for dealing with the pathetic water pressure in my apartment

Note: I have been informed by sophisticated Europeans European Slashdot readers that the correct term to use is "mobile phone" or "wireless phone". Only in the US do we use the outdated term "cellphone". Most wireless networks in North America are digital &/or hybrid, while the word "cell" implies analog. Update & clarification from my knowledgable friend Scott: Cellular simply refers to the fact that the antennas provide coverage in 'cells' which is true regardless of the air interface (TDMA, CDMA, UMTS, NMT, GSM, etc.)

I think I dropped my Nokia 8260 mobile phone one too many times. It turns on for about 30 seconds before shutting itself off. The battery overheats in the process as well. I've managed to recreate the same effect with another battery so I'm pretty sure it's a phone issue. I bought the phone back in November 2001 so I don't feel too bad about buying a replacement (D tut-tuts me about buying a new phone every year).

My existing service contract was with AT&T Wireless but I was disappointed to find that the Nokia phones they carry are no longer sleek and cutting edge. Their 3G phones are clunky and cumbersome.

I asked my boss, the resident "gadget guy", for advice, and he suggested I switch to Verizon Wireless because they're supposed to have the best coverage in the country. They carry some pretty sexy wireless phones to boot. Despite all the hoopla about camera+phone designs, after doing some research (especially reading user opinions on CNET), I bought an LG VX4400.

I've used my phone for about two weeks, and it's great except for:

• The battery life isn't as long as the Nokia, but I didn't expect it would given it has a color screen.
• All the ring tones it comes with suck (they're all cutesy annoying tunes)
• It doesn't come with any games
• The standard charger only works with regular batteries, and not extended ones (which tend to be thicker/larger)
• There is no plain color background/wallpaper, making text difficult to read

I probably sound way more negative than I feel since I really do like this phone. The blue LEDs are very cool, and I like the fact that it's a flip phone so I don't accidentally press buttons and call somebody by mistake.

Some of the other things I don't like about my phone are more related to the carrier (Verizon), as opposed to the phone design itself. For example, Get it Now sucks. I can't figure out how the pricing for works. I'm told that I'm charged "per use" for the MyTonz application. What does that mean? Am I charged per ringtone downloaded, or am I charged each time I use MyTonz (unlimited ringtone downloads)? It's also annoying that I have to access Get it Now through my phone. Verizon is just trying to trick me into using up my minutes. I like AT&T's setup a lot more where you can do everything through the Web and then have the selected application pushed to the phone. Also, be warned that Verizon charges $1.25 each time you call 411. What a ripoff! Last time I checked, AT&T charges only $0.75.

Reception on the phone is decent although I couldn't get dial out or receive calls in the San Francisco Nike store the other day even though my phone showed a strong signal.

If you would like more information about this phone, as opposed to the useless manual, check out this exceptional VZ4400 FAQ. Also visit bitpim which is a program for hacking the phone (solves many of the problems I listed above). I used to be into doing that kinda stuff, but I'm too cheap to buy the $20 USB cable.