Google Voice and a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) adapter give us free dial tone on all our landline phones. Almost all calls within the US and Canada are free. International calls are near enough free. We use our home landline phones the same way we have always used them. People continue to call our… Continue reading Freekin’ Cheap: Free Landline Phone Service
Year: 2015
Urban Bike: City of Lakes
Today I’m off on my bicycle to visit every lake in Minneapolis, City of Lakes. It took some effort to draw up a list of 16 Minneapolis lakes, or, to be more precise, lakes and other notable bodies of water. The Minnesota DNR (Department of Natural Resources) defines a lake as follows: A lake… Continue reading Urban Bike: City of Lakes
Personal Space in Economy
I love to fly, even in Economy. Fellow passengers are almost always considerate, showing respect for personal space. They might even have interesting stories to tell.But I do have a few requests for my seat-mates. Please do not tug on my seat. If you only follow one request please follow this one: when getting out… Continue reading Personal Space in Economy
My Kagoshima: Getting Around the Region
Navigating Japan is not for the faint-hearted. Most overseas visitors arrive in Tokyo, only to enter a world of alphabets they cannot read, streets with non-consecutive house numbers, and train stations that are the world’s busiest. In my previous My Kagoshima posts: I emphasized the need to “chunk it.” Kagoshima Prefecture is a manageable chunk… Continue reading My Kagoshima: Getting Around the Region
Urban Bike: Yard Art in a Civil Society
I see things from my bicycle I don’t see from a bus or car. It might be an old guy on his bicycle, stovepipe hat, bushy beard, archaic black clothes, a character from a Dickens novel. Or a bearded guy cycling the Midtown Greenway in a girlie dress. They seek attention, or inhabit an alternate… Continue reading Urban Bike: Yard Art in a Civil Society
A Field by the River Thames
An unassuming meadow on a sunny day in October 2014. I had gone out of my way to walk across this field. Earlier that day I had traveled to the town of Staines, a short distance from London’s Heathrow Airport. Next morning I would catch a flight to Athens, Greece, the cradle of democracy. After… Continue reading A Field by the River Thames
Urban Bike: Car-Free Minneapolis Bridges
Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge. Below me sixteen lanes of traffic roar. I’m standing on the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge, one of many Minneapolis bridges I cannot cross in a car. The bridge takes me between two parks: Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and Loring Park. Loring Park. In Loring Park, the zig-zag approach to this old bridge tells… Continue reading Urban Bike: Car-Free Minneapolis Bridges
Freakin’ Cheap: Free Telecom
The typical household pays north of $20,000 over ten years in landline, long distance, and mobile phone fees. In our household, we pay almost nothing for these services. There is a long history behind free telephone service. In the 1960’s and 70’s, phreaking was the art of hacking the public phone system using tone generators called blue… Continue reading Freakin’ Cheap: Free Telecom
The “Worthy” Poor
I was helping “Maria” to apply online for a job. She had a good job history, she was eager and presentable. Maria was just the kind of person I would want to serve me in the low-wage position she was seeking. There were just a couple problems that prevented her from completing the form: she… Continue reading The “Worthy” Poor
My Kagoshima: Arriving
My 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 journeys to Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Japan. I’ve arrived in Kagoshima Prefecture on some of the newest transportation on the planet. Arrrive… Benefit: A Good Place to Stay: …by Boeing 787 Dreamliner Quick A hotel on the edge of Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park. (Hourly direct buses from the airport.) This is… Continue reading My Kagoshima: Arriving