Using Netflix in a Rental

Many house and condo rentals have internet enable televisions allowing you to access your Netflix. Try to remember to disable the device before you leave at the end of your stay. If you forget, you can do so online at Netflix or just call Netflix (the contact number is online) and they'll do it for you fast.

Another Travel Tip When Doing a Rental

Before agreeing to a rental, it merits asking whether the house/condo will have the manuals for the appliances and such or, if not, a tip sheet that covers such things. Otherwise, for example, while you have a very fancy modern oven/stove, you might find that you've set the "lock" on the stove-top or oven and have no clue how to unlock it. Yes, The Google should have the answer but doing such a search is not the kind of time you might prefer spending when there's a fantastic ocean walk and view out there. 

How to Travel in Ireland: Lavishly But Affordability

[From the NYT]

Go to Ireland, live lavishly but don’t spend a lot. A dream? It doesn’t have to be, said Siobhan Byrne Learat, the founder of Adams & Butler, a Dublin-based company selling luxury Ireland trips. “Ireland, in general, is an affordable destination,” she said. “And with some insider knowledge, you can stretch your money further and have a fabulous upscale vacation here.”

Below, Ms. Learat’s tips on a luxury-for-less trip to Ireland:

TIME YOUR TRIP RIGHT Avoid visiting in July and August, when it’s peak tourist season in Ireland and hotel prices are highest. Instead, Ms. Learat said, go any other time of the year, when costs dip significantly (temperatures in Ireland tend to be mild year-round). Ashford Castle, set in an 800-year-old castle in County Mayo, is one of the most upscale hotels in the world and has nightly summer rates starting at 600 euros, or $714. In March, however, rates begin at €315. Many high-end hotels also offer attractively priced off-season packages with inclusions such as meals.

HIRE A DRIVER-GUIDE Ireland is known for its private drivers who double as guides. They are skilled at getting around the country and also know the local history and attractions. They can accompany you throughout your trip and cost around €800 a day. While this price may seem high, keep in mind that you won’t have to pay to rent a car or book separate tours and also don’t have the hassle of trying to navigate around the countryside. “Driver-guides are well worth the money because you get so much out of them,” Ms. Learat said. You can find a driver-guide through Adams & Butler, your travel agent at home or through your hotel’s concierge.

KNOW WHERE THE DEALS ARE Did you know that the hotel staff in Ireland often give free room upgrades upon arrival for guests who simply ask for one? “Irish hotel staff are especially obliging and will put you in a higher category of room if they can,” Ms. Learat said. Also, some of Ireland’s top-quality golf courses offer discounts up to 30 percent for players willing to playing at dawn or dusk or have promotions such as play three rounds but pay for two. Another tip: Ireland is famous for its castles that have turned into luxury hotels. Many of these properties command high nightly rates, but the ones in less touristy areas such as Kilronan Castle Estate & Spa, in County Roscommon, which has picturesque lakes and villages, can cost as much as 50 percent less per night, compared with castle hotels in more frequented parts of Ireland.

DINE AT PUBS For excellent and affordable meals, look no further than a pub (get a recommendation for one from your hotel’s concierge or a local). “People often think of pubs as places to drink, but in Ireland, they’re where you go to enjoy delicious food and listen to traditional Irish music,” Ms. Learat said. The cuisine at pubs includes fresh oysters, locally caught fish, a variety of steak and lamb dishes using meat from local grass-fed lambs and cows, and in-house baked soda bread.

Travel Tip re Internet Availability

Virtually any place you go will have, or at least say it has, internet (wi-fi)  access. Still, especially when you're going to a remote exotic locale such as the Oregon coast, and you're renting a condo or house, it's a good idea to ask if the modem and router are in the unit and accessible. Otherwise, you might find that your unit accesses the internet through the modem/router in the condo next door, which is owned by someone else and to which you might not have ready access. In that event, if re-booting the modem or router is needed to re-connect you to the internet, you could be SOL, which is the one thing you don't want to be especially if you're on vacation and looking to have a stress-free time, and you don't want to not be able to watch Breaking Bad on Netflix, and you have to communicate with the guy painting your house while your gone and cellphone service in the condo itself is problematic. In all events, just make sure you've got an endless, spectacular hard-packed-sand beach to walk on and good restaurants to chow down at. 

Rockaway Beach Oregon: Preliminary Overview and Tips

We sent our Travel Advisory Team (TAT) to see what a stay might be like at Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast in mid-September. We rented a beachfront condo for them and paid all their expenses. Here is a recap of the first interim report they sent back:

1. The beach/ocean is absolutely spectacular, both in terms of sight (the water and sky change constantly) and sound (the crashing wave sound never stops). Even if you hit a spot of chilly and rainy weather, you should find breaks in the weather allowing for 3-7 mile walks on hard packed sand. Bring some warm weather-proof clothes.

2. Many places are walkable to town. Some might involved up to a 5- minute drive. There are no shortage of beachfronrt condos, houses, and "resort" units.

3. Even though you are smack dab on the beach with nothing in front of you except small dunes and some rocks, take care when getting onto and off the beach. If you use the wooden staircase at the Tradwinds Resort, the owner will track you down like a dog and scold you that that staircase is for guests only. If you stop by next door at the Rockaway Beach Resort, and ask the owner to "join" the "resort" during your stay so that you might use that staircase, he will give you the guffaw laugh and tell you he has a "no look, no tell" policy and that you are welcome to use the staircase. Swapping life stories (mostly listening to his and complimenting him on his and his kids' accomplishments), and a couple of tips on signage for the staircase, will seal the deal.

4. While Rockaway Beach does not have the colors one loves in Kauai, and it's a different beauty that many find as if not more spectacular, and it doesn't have the 84 degree constant temperature, here's a key point: While one can get to Rockaway Beach at far less cost and shorter time than getting to Kauai,, more important, one can stay in as nice or nicer house/condo, with as good or better beachfront view, and stay for 3+ weeks for the same amount it would cost to stay 1 week in Kauai. Note, however, one can go to Kauai anytime and find the same great weather, while the Oregon Coast season is much shorter. That said, while the Oregon Coast "fills up" between Memorial Day and Labor Day, going shortly before Memorial Day or after Labor Day will enable you to find great bargains, lack of crowds, and totally fine weather.

5. Our TAT loves Rockaway Beach, particularly because of how small the town is (with nothing here for tourists to see, so just move along) and how relatively few units there are for people to stay in. So, far, it's found some fabulous places to eat, and being able to walk to them is a huge plus. That said, there are scores of beachfront towns, some larger and more touristry (TAT did visit Cannon Beach a few years ago, and found it way too touristry and crowded, although that was during tourist summer season), and we have no clue what beaches anyone might like more or less. That said, if walking on the beach is your thing, and saving money is a plus: The Oregon Coast beats Kauai and California in a landslide (cf. what used to be a highway through Big Sur).

Here are the views from TAT's condo, although the photos understate how much better the views are in person from the condo:



  

Breaking Bad Season 3

Although two episodes were not up to blue snuff (it's like the writers decided to take some time off and have nothing happen, and let you ease back off the edge of your chair), Season 3 is terrific and begs you to watch more. Most timely, Season 3 explains in terms anyone can understand what money laundering is and how it works, which apparently is a matter confusing even to some smart people who you would expect to understand it better. Breaking Bad's intro to money laundering should prove invaluable when Mueller starts issuing money laundering accusations and indictments, which he suredly will. And none too soon to save the country.

Update CCleaner Immediately

CCleaner was hacked. If you use CCleaner, be sure you update it immediately to its latest version, which will protect you from any harm.

Link to Latest CCleaner Version Download

Take Toast to a Whole New Level

Take everything you thought you knew about toaster ovens and put them into a sack, mister. Breville, which has a slew of great products, brings you a smart toaster oven (for under $400) that is a toaster, convection oven, dehydrator, dough proofer, and air fryer. And it is large enough to roast a 14 lb. turkey.

Link to Breville Website

Offshore Grill and Beach Bakeshop (Rockaway Beach, OR)

Whoever said there's no good place to eat in Rockaway Beach, Oregon, is either a total idiot or trying to keep you away. The Offshore Grill for dinner (and likely for breakfast and lunch) is as good as it gets in every way. The food is unique and scrumptuous with exquisite presentations, the service is delightful and efficient, the ambience is soothing and pleasant, the prices are amazingly reasonable, and, while there's surely no problem parking, it's walkable to and from virtually all the beachfront condos and other places to stay. Likewise, Beach Bakeshop has totally delicious bake goods of all kinds, and it too is populated with pleasant personnel and marked by reasonable prices. 

Offshore Grill Menu

Beach Bakeshop Website

New Wireless Plans

Competition in the wireless world has heated up. You might check with your carrier to see what new plans and prices might be available to you. AT&T customers, in particular, should look at the two new unlimited data plans, especially, the Unlimited Choice Plan, which for $135/month gives you unlimited data on 3 devices and a free subscription to HBO. Likely Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint have great offerings (e.g., T-Mobil will pay for your Netflix subscription). Is this a great country or what?

Best Delivery of The Line: Michael Keaton in Nightshift 

Wireless Smartphone Charging

Tired of having to plug a cord into your phone to charge it? Who isn't? Even if you have an older phone, like a Samsung Galaxy S3, you might be able to charge it by just putting it on a charging pad. To see if your phone will do so, just type into The Google (without the quote marks): "Can you wireless charge a [insert make/model of phone]?" If so, you can find a charging pad on The Amazon for around $15 (or a faster charging pad for about $35). You might need a Qi capable back, which also you can find on The Amazon for about $10. 

Auto Android

If you're still staring at your phone to see what Google Maps is telling you, if you have a relatively new car with a USB port and a screen, and a data connection, all you have to do is install the Auto Android app on your phone and plug your phone into the USB port and, shzam, the map will be on the screen and the instructions will play through your radio. Auto Android also will handle your phone calls and music.

Link to Auto Android App in Play Store

PS: There are other Android apps that seem to do the same things and for all we know they might be better. Likely, there is an iOS  app that will do the same things.

PPS: Plugging in the phone will over-ride the Bluetooth connectivity. But the upside is you won't be draining your battery (at least I don't think so).

Breaking Bad Mystery Solved

One of the classic scenes in Breaking Bad (Season 3) is the RV destruction scene. The owner of the lot looks familiar and everyone has seen him but no one can place. Sure, you can use IMDb to figure it out, or you can turn to our Memory Association Department (MAD), which grokked the answer in under 12 hours: He was the guy who played the alternative Kramer on Seinfeld.

New Car Buying

While buying a used car might have made economic sense back in the old days, what now rolls off car lots are not your grand-father's car. The convenience and safety advances are nothing short of spectacular. On the convenience side, a properly equipped car will do everything your phone does right from your phone and you can see it all and control it all on the car's big screen. On the safety side, a properly equipped car will warn you of every lurking danger including ones you cannot see (e.g., it will show you and warn you about cars in the blind spot of your mirrors). Unless you have gone through the kind of training we put our employees in our Car and Road (CAR) department, it's difficult to tell if you're getting all the convenience and safety features you crave and deserve, because they aren't all available on all models. Here's what we recommend: After you decide what make and model car you want (based on looks and comfort), then look at the list of all the features available on the highest level of that car, and then look at the list of all the features available on the next level down, and so on. You'll then be able to make an informed decision.

Here is what a happy subscriber sent us by way of a thank you for assisting her in buying a new car:

 

New iPhones: Go With the X

Apple unveiled three new iPhones: iPhone 8 ($699), iPhone 8Plus ($799), and iPhone X ($999). While we are not a fan of the iPhone, we STRONGLY recommend that, if you're going to buy a new iPhone, eschew the 8s and go with the X. It's hard to see how the 8s will be huge sellers, but the X has caught up with Samsung Galaxies' cool features of full larger screen in smaller casing and wireless charging, and has the added cool feature of no Home button. You can read a nice overview of the three phones here, which carefully read, confirms our prediction and recommendation: Link to Overview Article

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 9 and All the Way

Season 9 of Curb Your Enthusiasm comes out on October 1 on HBO. For those of us on a limited budget who do not subscribe to HBO, as always, we will be signing up until Season 9 concludes. Note, you often can get HBO on a trial-basis for as low as $5/month and you can cancel it at any time. As an added bonus, we will be able to stream from Amazon Prime the much-talked-about HBO movie All the Way (the story of Lyndon Johnson's first year as President). Now for the head-slapping what-a-coincidence can--you-get-enough Brian Cranston moment: Brian Cranston (the lead in Breaking Bad) not only plays Johnson in All the Way, he has a significant role in Season 9 of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Matt's Big Breakfast (Sky Harbor International Airport)

As noted in an earlier post, one can enjoy Barrio Cafe at the Phoenix Airport, which is great given that the noise level at its 16th Street location makes eating there unbearable. One drawback is that Barrio Cafe is at one extreme end of Terminal 4, so it often is inconvenient. Now for the good news: Matt's Big Breakfast has a Terminal 4 location at the extreme other end, and the food there is delicious and the portions are quite generous. Even though it says lunch is not served until 11 am, in fact, lunch items are available well before then. The place is a little loud but still tolerable. So, whichever end of Terminal 4 your gate is, you've got great food at hand.

Link to Matt's Big Breakfast and Menu

WeChat

WeChat is a multi-platform app that lets your chat, text, phone, and more for free from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world. Many people swear by it. Others find it annoying.

Link to WeChat Homepage

Amazon Smile

AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice.

Every item available for purchase on www.amazon.com is also available on AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com) at the same price. You will see eligible products marked "Eligible for AmazonSmile donation" on their product detail pages.

If you represent a charitable organization and you would like to learn more about registering your organization to receive AmazonSmile donations, go to org.amazon.com .

For more information about the AmazonSmile program, go to http://smile.amazon.com/about.

Writing Assistant

Hemingway is a fantastic tool to help your writing. I'm just sorry it wasn't around when I was still writing.

Hemingway is an online word processor and text editor which is free to use. It describes itself as a "distraction-free writing environment", but online word processor is just as good. It's free because it's really a promotional tool for the company's paid-for offline version, but the online version is still very useful.

It has 2 modes. In writing mode, the distraction-free element takes over. You see almost nothing except a blank screen, ready for you to write. There's a minimal toolbar for select bold, italic and so on.

When you're ready to review your work, click the button to switch from writing to editing mode. The system now automatically highlights sections of your text in different colours in order to show incorrect spellings, sentences that are too long, sentences that are hard to read, phrases which should be simplified, and so on.

When you're finished, just copy and paste the text from Hemingway into wherever you want it, such as the email you're composing or the document you're working on

New Way to Deal With the Post Office

If you experience the problem of your mail not being delivered--which happens far more often than it should when a substitute is assigned to your normal delivery person's route. Calling your local post office is useless ... they don't answer. Going to the local post office is sheer insanity. But here is a new way, which might not work, but it's cheap, and just might work. Sign up for the Informed Delivery option that gives you an email each day showing what letters are coming. When they don't appear, go back to the website and you can submit by checking a box a notice of non-delivery. Also, you can copy the email and fax it to your local post office (its fax number is on its website and the fax machine does answer). 

Tips on Buying a New iPhone

Just as it would be immoral for PETA to give buying tips on new furs that might lead to the senseless slaughter of furry animals, it would be immoral for me to give buying tips on iPhones. That said, after checking with our department of Morals & Ethics (ME), I have been given permission to share with you this excellent article on the topic. It's a must read if you are being drawn inextricably to buying a new iPhone and refuse to lie down on the sofa until the feeling has passed, and is timely given the expected September 12 release of the iPhone 8.

Link to Excellent Article re Buying a New iPhone

Economizing on Gazpacho

Although gazpacho season is nearing an end, to supplement earlier posts about gazpacho and celery stalks, please note the following: Many people cut off the ends of the celery stalks shown on the two stalks at the left and throw them away. This is a waste of food and money. After excising the ends from the stalks, put them into a sandwich bag with a little water to keep them fresh, and store them in an accessible place in your refrigerator. Then, take them out when you make your next batch of gazpacho and use them before having to use the stalks themselves. The gazpacho will taste just as good and you will smile when you think about the money you've saved and perfectly good food you did not waste. 

Shame on Obama re the Dreamers

What Trump did today viz the Dreamers is beyond sickening. But Obama's timidity in not averting this moral outrage is disheartening as well. Obama had a chance to solve the calamity now facing the Dreamers. Here is a letter written while he was still president, which unfortunately was ignored:

"The executive orders and the legislation President Obama signed all can be reversed. But, there’s one thing that cannot be reversed, and that’s his pardon power, which he could use to end the “immigration war” that is gripping our country and that Trump threatens to exploit in such a cruel way. It has been suggested that the President protect 200,000 green card holders by pardoning them for minor criminal violations. As commendable as that is, it does not go far enough and is not fair to Dreamers and the like who have lived exemplary lives while in the country. Thus, President Obama easily can, and should, stop any effort by the Trump Administration to mass deport undocumented immigrants. All the President has to do is pardon them en masse for the crime of entering and remaining in the country illegally. The President need not pardon any serious crime committed by any immigrant before or after coming to this country, so felons could still be deported. In this way, the Dreamers would be safe, citizenship would not be granted, and what to do with undocumented immigrants would be behind us, and out of Trump’s reach. Obviously, the President might not be willing to go this route. But, if he wants a lasting legacy, it looks to be the only way where he can stand up to Trump and carve himself indelibly into the right side of history."

"PS: There is a misconception that the pardon power extends only to pardon those who have been convicted of a crime. President Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon and President Carter’s pardon of Vietnam War draft dodgers put that misconception to rest. There also is a misconception that the pardon must name the person(s) covered. President Carter’s pardon of Vietnam War draft dodgers put that misconception to rest."

Our Pick for Hybrids

Here are our two picks for a hybrid, which cnet happens to concur in, one for the budget-minded and one for those of us who appreciate a little comfort:

Best of the best: 2016 Toyota Prius

It was Toyota that brought hybrids into the mainstream and its cars continue to define the class and serve as the high water mark. The all-new 2016 Prius liftback continues this tradition with an amazing EPA-estimated 58 city mpg and 56 combined mpg. Bizarre styling aside, it's the total package.

Luxury hybrid: Mercedes-Benz S-Class Hybrid (S550e)

The S550e is a tech flagship that takes an "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to Benz's massive arsenal of performance, driver aid and comfort tech features. More impressive is that the plug-in comes in at the same approximately $95,000 base price as the non-hybrid S550 and offers a similar level of performance. There's almost no reason to not choose the hybrid.

Caution re XIV

[From the WSJ (9/5/17)]

Some exchange-traded funds related to the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, could vanish just when traders might want them most. The VIX, also known as the fear gauge, measures the cost of buying insurance against a drop in the broad market. At issue are funds that seek to profit when short-term VIX futures contracts fall in value. The VIX itself isn’t an investible product and the VIX futures don’t exactly track the VIX, but they are closely correlated.

The prospectus for the first fund,VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-TermXIV 0.05% ETN (XIV), states that the exchange-traded note could be liquidated “if the intraday indicative value is equal to or less than 20% of the prior day’s closing indicative value.” Put another way, if the note’s value declines 80% in a single day, “the fund goes ‘poof,’ ” Peter Tchir, managing director of global macro at New York-based Brean Capital, wrote in a recent report. “Although the VIX going from 8 to 14.4 doesn’t seem that insane, it would be an 80% move in the index,” he writes. (There would need to be an 80% move in short-term VIX futures, too, for the fund to go bust.)

The other fund is ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures (SVXY), and it essentially has a similar story. “[A] single-day or intraday increase in the level of the fund’s benchmark approaching 100% could result in the total loss or almost total loss,” states the prospectus.

How likely is it that the two funds could get wiped out? “Such a VIX move is equivalent to a 3% market move,” says Mr. Tchir, meaning a 3% drop in the stock market could send the VIX up 80%.

That, however, is just when traders might want such funds because big jumps in the VIX are often followed by falls in the VIX. “Historically, any time the VIX is over 20 it tends to retrace fairly quickly,” says Mr. Tchir. That’s exactly when the short VIX funds would look attractive.

The VIX currently reads 12. VelocityShares confirms that its fund “has the potential to be liquidated” if its benchmark moves more than 80% in a single day. However, the company says that over the past two decades, the VIX hasn’t moved 80% when the S&P moved 3% in a single day, “and VIX futures certainly have not even come close, so that analysis seems pretty weak.”

ProShares declined a request for comment. Mr. Tchir admits that such big moves in the VIX are rare and that it is “difficult to equate a change in VIX to what would be required to create such a ‘knock-out’ event.” He also says it is difficult to rely on historical information in this case because in the past VIX futures had little activity and there were no VIX-linked funds.

Still, he considers “risk of an 80% single day rise in the index the funds track as being possible on as little as a 3% single day equity move.”

Brandless Goods

The Brandless Goods website, where everything sells for $3 and it boasts of huge savings by cutting out the "brand tax" and "brand markup," gets mixed reviews. Some raves for sure; while others find the "deals" no better than what can find in one's grocery with a little looking for non-branded items. That said, we do like their clean packaging.

Link to Brandless Website

PS: Amazon's dropping ground beef price to $4.99/lb is already having an effect, as you can see other grocers dropping their ground beef prices lower than that. For your steak tartare, however, you should select a higher grade meat.