Not A Mystery

It is entirely possible that Airlines will soon revoke the law of diminishing returns.

And I’m not talking about their profits, but instead their ability to come up with new ways to tack on charges.

United Airlines has just begun to offer a new ‘service’, which they’ve dubbed Premier Line.

Board the airplane sooner and get earlier access to overhead bin space with Premier Line. You’ll also enjoy the benefits of priority check-in and priority security, where available. Premier Line is now offered in all United® and United Express® airports in the U.S.

So United will now charge you to board the aircraft earlier than your seat-mates. They should more honestly call it ‘Front Of The Line’, but that would invoke images of class warfare.

There Is Really No End In Sight

They’ve figured out that as more people bring along carry-on baggage, overhead bin space is becoming a scarce resource, and passengers  will pay for a leg-up so to speak.

And how much will they pay? The ad says it is ‘starting’ at $9, but we know that’s a teaser.

So I checked it out on my favorite San Francisco to London flight. In that real world case the actual charge $39 per passenger, one-way.

That doesn’t really guarantee you anything except the opportunity to stand closer to the door.

I’m not sure how many passengers will jump at this option, but I think there would be a larger market for the opportunity to get off the plane earlier.

The careful observer will have noted that the Bentley we saw in Santa Barbara last week was not sporting a front license plate. Wassup with that?

Spotted In Front of US Bankruptcy Court

My (protected) sources tell me that this is a (well known) trick used to disguise cars in case they are photographed by a traffic camera. The risk of spending $25 on a ‘fix-it’ ticket for the missing plate is insurance against a $300 fine should you get caught running a red light.

Foolishly doubting my (protected) source I Googled ‘fix-it ticket’ and confirmed that the Bentley was not a one-off. Here’s a typical result … from my collection of pics you’d think we don’t require front license plates in California.

Lots Of Examples With Missing License Plates

Further research reveals that a normal fix-it ticket requires payment of $25 admin fee.

However, the officer can mark [the violation] as non-correctable under specific conditions pursuant to CVC 40610.

In which case the fine jumps to $175. More interesting are the numerous posts in forums and blogs about the actual chances of being cited. Here’s just one example:

As a note, some jurisdictions cite for those with some frequency. If you live in a place where they heavily utilize red light cameras, expect some increased enforcement. If you live in a quiet, small community where the officers have some discretionary time on their hands (like mine), you might expect to get stopped for it. It really depends on where you live and how much time and effort the local cops are going to put into it.

So I have to admit this whole thing irritates me. While not an issue on the scale of testicular cancer or blood doping, it still irks me as a patriotic tax-payer that creeps are taking advantage of the system. While I am not.

But as Jack Nicholson said in Something’s Gotta Give:

We’ve got nothing but good news here.

The good news? No official corruption.

In not a single (anonymous) post could I find mention of bribes being used to avoid a ticket.

Compared to countries where every traffic violation has a standard fee paid immediately to the attending police officer, we are a nation of law-abiding scofflaws.

That’s gotta be something, anyway.

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Note: Actually my favorite line(s) from Something’s Gotta Give are:

Harry: I have never lied to you. I have always told you some version of the truth.
Erica: The truth doesn’t have versions, okay?

What do theatre owners and airline executives have in common?

Nothing.

Well, actually they do both provide their services to seated customers, which should imply some sort of similarity. But in practice nothing of the sort.

While the airlines constantly shrink their seats and services, theatre owners at least have a different take on customer satisfaction.

… theaters across the country [are] expanding the width of … seats and increasing … leg room, or row spacing …

“We want to err a little bit on the roomier side, because over the last 50 years Americans have gotten a little plumper,” [New York] City Center’s senior vice-president and managing director, Mark Litvin, said, “and we find these larger seats are much more comfortable for people.”

… Theatre Projects Consultants, a theater-development firm, found that the average standard width of seats in performing-arts theaters has expanded from 21 to 22 inches over the last two decades, “primarily due” to the concurrent rise in obesity. Over the course of the entire last century, the average width increased from 19 to 21 inches.

Source

If, like me, you spend your airtime crammed in coach you will be impressed with the ‘pitch’ on these seats.

The airlines might try to claim that frequent flyers are not succumbing to obesity like their theatre-going cousins.

But given that they now force some customers to purchase two tickets if they require a seatbelt ‘extender’, that excuse just won’t fly.

Talk about fast news cycles.

It’s the Economist’s Big Mac Index for 2010 … again!

In a sign of these unusually uncertain times The Economist has speeded up their news cycle, and in the process seems to be taking themselves and their index more seriously. Used to be we’d get annual updates to the index, this one has taken only six months.

I’m guessing that somewhere in the depths of the newsroom is an aspiring summer intern taking a run at the IMF and the ECB. And why not.

Just to review, The Economist has been publishing their (not so tongue-in-cheek) Big Mac Index since 1986. It’s a reality check on world-wide currency exchange rates, based on the concept of Purchasing-Power Parity. Purchasing-Power Parity (PPP) says that exchange rates are correct when the price of similar goods are the same in each country. The Big Mac survey compares the price of a Big Mac all over the world. The Big Mac is, after all, a basket of standard ingredients put together in a consistent process.

Coming Soon, A Ringtone Quoting Exchange Rates

And while I have a hard time getting excited about this morning’s price of a Big Mac in Krakow, the fact that Lisbeth Salandar would have to fork over SKr 48.4 in Stockholm if she wanted to treat Mikael Blomqvist might raise my blood pressure a few millibars.

When the world gets even more unusually uncertain we can probably expect the BMI to go live stream, with possibly a Twitter Feed and an iPhone app.

Hold the ketchup.

We left NYC just before our invitations to the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic arrived. Drats.

Who would’ve guessed, polo in the midst of the city, with fancy attendees acting out a great scene from Pretty Woman, by stomping-on-the-divots during half time.

Plus a plethora of pretty faces, some of them Royal.

And perhaps here’s an example of sons improving on the fathers. We might call this the Tale of Two Princes.

HRH Prince Charles (on the right) has lately acquired the habit of saying silly things and promoting silly causes.

In a radio address … Prince Charles called for a return to spirituality as a guiding philosophy for human endeavors, with an associated downplaying of technology and science. He warned of the dangers of unrestrained scientific research and the perils of “tampering” with nature. He was inspired to pen these thoughts during a recent pilgrimage to a remote Greek monastery.

And the response: “You should tell Prince Charles who advocates organic farming. Let him travel by bullock cart or horse or small boat driven by wind when he comes to India. Why should he travel by Boeing aircraft?”  -  Chengal Reddy, president of the Andhra Pradesh Farmers’ Association

HRH's As Far As The Eye Can See

HRH Prince Harry (on the left) appears to be doing better, at least in his choice of causes.

On Sunday, June 27, 2010, the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic will return to Governors Island for one of the most highly-anticipated events of the season, attracting a fashionable crowd from around the globe, and featuring the glamour and excitement of polo, “the sport of kings.”

The Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic will once again benefit the American Friends of Sentebale, a charitable organization founded by HRH Prince Henry of Wales and HRH Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, who are committed to transforming the lives of the orphans and at-risk children in Lesotho, Africa, many of whom are living with HIV/AIDS. Nearly one third of Lesotho’s population is infected with HIV/AIDS, and through Sentebale’s thoughtful and effective work, the organization is striving to affect positive change in the country.

Source

No matter how you cut it though, they both seem to be doing better than the rest of us.

Love those Royals.

No trip to NYC would be complete without a Bagel Schmear.

When I was a kid growing up in the Bronx, my Dad would take me to what he called “The Bagel Factory” early on Saturday mornings. I was too young to remember where exactly it was, but I do recall the noise of the ‘elevated’ train up above. And yeah, the taste of those bagels. Killer. Fresh, soft and hot. Mmmm.

So of course we had to find a bagel shop for Leslie.

Here is Murray’s on Sixth Avenue.

And it’s nice to report that there was one guy on Wall Street with some soul.

More than ten years ago, when he was putting in long hours as a Vice President at Merrill Lynch, Adam Pomerantz had a dream.  A dream of someday running his own business – not a business on Wall Street, but something much closer to his heart, and his stomach.

He followed his heart and his stomach, and when it was right he just knew it.  He found a small storefront in Greenwich Village, which he renovated on a shoestring budget, opening Murray’s Bagels in November 1996.  Adam named Murray’s Bagels for his father, from whom he learned his love of bagels and appetizing.

Murray's On Sixth

And here’s a Schmear you can believe in.

Screaming For Lipitor, Before It's Too Late

Just to prove that Murray’s retains some of it’s Wall Street Heritage, here’s the tab. Two bagels, with Lox, and Schmear. Total price, just shy of $20.00.

If The Cream Cheese Didn't Get You, This Will

It’s a good thing my Dad isn’t still alive, because this bill would put him in his grave.

“It’s good though.”  – Utah Philips

I always do what I’m told, as long as I can understand what’s expected. Which, during our week in NYC, was easier said than done.

For example suppose you are on a NYC subway and have an emergency. What you are expected to do depends on what kind of emergency is in progress.

If you stop and read the instructions, they actually say not to pull this emergency cord in case of fire, medical or security emergency. Hmmm.

Think Long And Hard Before You Pull That Cord

Then we came across this signage near a fire house.

Not What We Thought

As we were standing there, a huge ‘Hook and Ladder’ truck pulled up to back into the firehouse. When I stopped to take a picture Leslie pointed to the sign that was directly over my head and asked me what it meant.

Since I grew up in NYC I pretty much ignore signs altogether, but explained that it meant you couldn’t Sit in a car while it was parked in a  No Standing zone. Which is actually pretty funny when you think about it.

But when I did the Google thing, here’s what I found:

PARKING REGULATIONS

What people generally understand as “parking” is legally divided into three categories: parking, standing and stopping.

• A NO PARKING sign means you may stop only temporarily to load or unload merchandise or passengers.
• A NO STANDING sign means you may stop only temporarily to load or unload passengers.
• A NO STOPPING sign means you may stop only in order to obey a traffic sign, signal or officer, or to avoid conflicts with other vehicles.

So No Standing really refers to a ban on unloading merchandise. You know, all those delivery trucks that park (Stand) in the street while they unload packages.

And if you want to put a number on that, a ticket is worth $115 for the City of New York.

Who would have guessed?

All of which says to me that it really is getting harder and harder to do what you’re told.

Back to our NYC Notes with a few more travel tools, for you traveling tools.

Today we will talk restaurants.

While I’ve used Zagat, Yelp and Open Table before we got to NYC, I must say that they really shine in a big city with a high density of good restaurants. And when you couple them with Google’s direction capabilities the results are simply amazing.

Here is a display of nearby restaurants (based on my GPS iPhone’s location), in both Zagat and Yelp, two popular apps. I’ve clicked on Balthazar, which was on Leslie’s Bucket List, a great place for lunch. Also dinner, but for more $$$.

After you click on one of the restaurants in the map display you can read reviews in both apps. Yelp has many more entries than Zagat, but the latter has more structured reviews for easier comparison.

Nearby Restaurants Displayed In Zagat (Left) And Yelp (Right)

Once you’ve identified a few candidates, and read all the reviews, you can go to Open Table and make the reservation. And finally of course Google will direct you to the entrée.

Below you can see some available times on Open Table at 10 Downing, another target from Leslie’s Bucket List. They also display a list of other nearby restaurants and their openings. You just click to reserve. There has been some discussion of whether you get the same priority for seating when you use Open Table compared to calling the restaurant directly.

Reservations At All Nearby Restaurants

I felt like we get better service coming in from Open Table, but that could just be because we were traveling in a better circle of restaurants than we normally do. On the other hand, the restaurant knows you will be solicited by Open Table to review the restaurant after your visit, so that can have some effect.

Note that you can make a reservation via Open Table directly from within either Zagat or Yelp, but if you go to the Open Table app itself you will get times for not only your target restaurant but other restaurants in the same area.

One of the pluses we got from staying in Soho, was that we could walk to scores of restaurants in just a few minutes. You can see that from Four Points Sheraton Soho where we stayed, that it was only 6 minutes and one turn to 10 Downing via Google.

Great time-saving tools, and convenient.

Some of my favorite words, speaking as A Tool.

We were in NYC for a week, and regrettably I never got any face-time with my Peeps at Goldman Sachs. But while Leslie and I were having a beer and burger at The Spotted Pig one afternoon I was reminded that NYC is a hotbed of financial innovation.

As I looked out the window, with beer in hand, I noticed an entrepreneur with a small re-cycling business.

A few weeks ago I described my own financial returns in the area of recycling. So I was interested to compare a professional’s return with my, admittedly amateurish, effort.

Recycling By A Professional, Don't Try This At Home

Here’s what I calculate:

• I’m estimating 250 recycle units in the bag(s).
• Containing all aluminum cans, at 32 cans/pound we are looking at 7.81 pounds.
• At a recycle value of $1.57/pound this bag would fetch our small businessman $12.26.

On the other hand, if he switched from recycling aluminum cans to plastic bottles the return would be better:

• If the 250 units were plastic, at 14 bottles/pound we are looking at 17.85 pounds.
• At a recycle value of $0.93/pound that same bag would fetch our businessman $16.61.

Which would be a 35% increase in cash flow for the same amount of effort.

I was briefly tempted to consult with our entrepreneur, but then Leslie reminded me that he probably knew more about his business than I could hope to learn. And, she insisted rather strongly, that he didn’t need any help from me.

So I stayed right where I was, and quietly sucked down my beer.

Note: If you are interested in the detailed financials of residential recycling, and who wouldn’t be, see our previous post.

In preparation for our week in NYC I installed a number of travel apps on my iPhone.

Even though I grew up in the Bronx, I haven’t really spent much time in NYC since I moved to California after college. And I didn’t want to act like I was from Rio Linda when we hit the Big Apple. After all Leslie is from Rio Linda, and one in the family is enough.

F2U, Rio Linda the “Big Apple” is what non-natives call NYC.

But of all the apps I loaded, the best by far, was the one I didn’t load.

Google Maps.

If you have a smartphone with GPS and a broadband connection (like an ordinary iPhone), this will get you anywhere. No matter whether you are driving (insane in Manhattan); taking a cab (almost insane if it’s during the day and you want to go cross-town); taking a bus (sane but slow); taking the subway (sane and quick); or even walking (probably the best).

When you get a route from Google you can specify your mode of transportation.

Of course if you are taking a subway there’s no connectivity underground, so remember any directions before you submerge.

Here’s an example. Leslie took me to the Brooklyn Flea on Saturday. Great market by the way. When we were done we wanted to get over towards DUMBO which is a longer walk than we wanted, but how to get there on the bus? I had no clue.

Here’s how I figured it out in less than 30 seconds.

Google found my location from the GPS. Then it told me to walk a block to DeKalb Ave. and take the B38 bus towards downtown. Oh, and by the way, the next bus will come in 8 minutes.  Click to enlarge the image.

From Brooklyn Flea to DUMBO On The Bus

This Google service saved us hours of time and let us feel like native New Yorkers no matter where we were. If you travel, this is the only way to get around as long as you have a net connection.

I’ll discuss other apps over the next few days, that were equally useful for different tasks.

Traveling these days reminds me that I’m really not in Kansas anymore.

Or should I say, Rio Linda.

We went to Smalls Jazz Club.

It was on Leslie’s Bucket List for our week in NYC.

If you are in NYC, don’t miss Smalls.

On our first visit we saw Ehud Asherie Solo Piano with Harry Allen on Tenor Sax. And then The Joris Teepe Group featuring David Kikoski on piano, Alex Sipiagin on Trumpet and Willard Dyson on Drums.

Alex Sipiagin was great on the trumpet and reminded me of Manny on Black Books, but Leslie told me I’m nuts. About Manny, not his trumpet playing. Kikoski was incredible on piano and reminds me of nobody else on this earth.

We liked those groups so much we went back a second night to see the Neal Smith Quartet.

I even took this picture with my iPhone. As you can see, Smalls lives up to its name.

Abraham Burton on Tenor Sax, Mulgrew Miller on Piano

Smalls has a website that not only lists their schedule, but has links to all the artists.

They also have a live webcam so you can watch the performances even if you aren’t in NYC. Although the video is pretty poor (what do you expect), the sound is actually quite good!

Loud applause now.