September 2007 Archive
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September 27, 2007
Quicken 2007 - Buggy - Simply Appalling
We "upgraded" to Quicken 2007 a few months back and I've been meaning to rant about it ever since. It is appallingly buggy. Straightforward functionality - such as the simple income v. expense graph on the front page - is broken, for example, and as far as I can tell, unfixable. It doesn't seem to be *losing* data, but it is not displaying it correctly at all and does not seem to present any options for doing so. There are interface glitches, the color choices are poor (and unchangeable as far as I can tell), and the font is too small, in addition to the incorrect data displays. And I'm not trying to (and won't) do anything complicated with it.I am just horrified that it was released in this state and think the software developers who shipped this monstrosity of an 'upgrade' should be deeply, deeply ashamed of themselves. I sent off a comment/bug report a few weeks back and have not heard a peep. The more time goes by without a bug-fix upgrade, the more tempted I am to try to revert back to Quicken 2004, but I'm not sure that will be possible.
I really cannot convey the depth of my outrage over this buggy, poorly-designed piece of crap. TheGuy and I have each been using Quicken since the early 90s and the current version does LESS for me (and what it does is BROKEN) than the version I had in 1995!
<=> | in: Technology
3 Comments --
I've been disappointed in nearly every Quicken upgrade of the last several years to some degree, but even so, it still beats any of the competition. I've tried to go to Money a few times, but they overly simplify too many too many things, making it useless for my purposes. For me 2007 fixed several killer bugs from 2006, so overall it was my least disappointing upgrade yet. My biggest complaint isn't a bug just the fact that Quicken still doesn't support HSA accounts as an account type.
Posted by: Scott Ladewig on September 29, 2007
Broken function bugging me: When you run an "Income/Expense By Category" report, there is an option on the "Advanced" tab under "Transfers" that says "Exclude Internal." Usually, this is an option that you want to pick on this most straightforward of personal finance reports --- otherwise, transfers between your various accounts show up as income and expenses and tend to make things wonky. Well, as far as I can tell, this option no longer works. At least not for me. Even though I choose it, my report always shows all the transfers, anyway. I wind up exporting the report to Excel so that I can delete the stuff I don't want.
I noticed Quicken 2007 has started trying to sell me Quicken 2008. This probably means that Quicken 2007 will never be fixed. The real question, though, is whether or not the same bugs appear in the new version...
Posted by: Allen on October 2, 2007
September 23, 2007
New iPod Accessory aka Consumer Endorphin Rush
Here is my new iPod Classic - after my old black-and-white, no-video iPod died earlier this year, I stuck to using just my shuffle while waiting for Apple to announce the new iPods. I got this one just before my trip to California this past week. It was very handy, and watching movies on it on the plane wasn't too bad.
We've actually managed pretty well - and I've been proud of us for it - with just one car. But TheGuy got a job a few miles away from the house and started commuting. So that constrained things a bit more. And then, over the last year or so, there have just been increasing moments when it would be handy to have a second vehicle. Our lifestyle has changed a bit (rather, is continually evolving, I guess) and having just one car when not within easy walking distance of the Metro just won't cut it anymore.
Add to that the fact that there are things that just don't fit in the Civic for pickup and hauling and we decided that it was time to get a second car, AND one that added functionality to the household. In other words, not just another Civic (which we've been perfectly happy with, with the exception of a couple of things.)
So, I started poking around. I originally had my eye on a Toyota Matrix, but a colleague reminded me that she and I rode in one as a rental on a work trip once and it was a piece of crap. My *dream* car right now is the Lexus crossover... but... how shall we say it? Umm. No! Not until I win the Powerball.
The CR-V seems good because it handles like a car (is a car base, and 4-cyinder), but gives us the extra room we want and a few bells and whistles neither of us have ever had on a car before. Together, we've been driving for about 40 years and have had a total of 6 cars between us -- that's not too bad... The Civic is paid for, so we'll have just the one car payment and we hope that each of these Hondas will last a very long time.
The dealership experience was annoying as always, but TheGuy thinks I did a good job negotiating. We got taken on a few of the fees, but I just can't bring myself to be enough of an asshole, and of course they count on that. :-/
The most amusing part to me is that we haven't given anyone any money yet. We just said: "oh, we'll finance through my credit union" and they said: "Ok, bring us the check this week." So hopefully the credit union will give me the money! Ha. (I'm sure Honda ran a credit check on me, though.)
What a world, though --
"No, really, I'm good for it.."
"Ok lady, [...putter around for four hours doing not much of anything...] here are the keys to your car - see you later!"
I am more excited than this retelling conveys, I think. The Civic has become basically 'TheGuy's car' - as he uses it daily to get back and forth to work. So I feel like I've been without a car for a long time. And this one is nice, and while I *heart* Al Gore, I'm still a rural America chick at heart who assigns more significance to my carbon-producing conveyance device than I should. Still, this gets decent gas mileage and will be used as an occasional vehicle, not an every day vehicle. (TheGuy is still going to drop me at Metro in the mornings using the Civic.) To assuage some of my guilt, I'm thinking about getting a "Save the Bay" license plate. *cackle* (I'm already a member of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation... )
So that was our big news this weekend. I took it to the pool this morning and while TheGuy's off at his usual Sunday gig I'm going to pick up some stuff at the cleaners.. and who knows what else? Maybe stop at a Starbuck's! Oooooo.... ;-)
There are more pics in this set at Flickr.
<=> | in: Journaling
5 Comments --
*g* Cute post.
I have a CRV too, and am very happy with it other than the mileage. Everything I've heard about these cars, from CR to other owners says that, with proper maintenance, and these things will tell you when they need it, they will last forever. I'm certainly pleased -- apart from maintenance, I've had nothing happen but one flat tire (hardly the car's fault, of course) and I'm at 95K miles.
Posted by: BEG on September 24, 2007
Cute accessory:)
DH notes that we've been driving the same amount of time as you two and we've had two cars between us. He's not owned any and I've had two. I didn't have my first car until I was out of college though and it was my mom's and it was only 3 years old. I had that car for 10 years. I've had my current car 4 years. There are times I wish it was smaller, but most of the time I love my van:) I'm sure you'll appreciate all the hauling capabilities too.
Posted by: Joni on September 25, 2007
Curmudgeon report: I don't understand this "have to have size for hauling" argument. I had an Acura Integra for 15 years, which was essentially the (also discontinued) Accord hatchback body, and I could get 3 bikes in the back. Heck, I once got a full-sized recliner in there. And it fit into small urban parking spots, and got 28 mpg the whole time I owned it. Tragic that all this time later there's been no improvement (or rather, that all the increased efficiency has gone into horsepower that I don't need, rather than gas mileage that I'd feel much better about). [end grump]
Posted by: acm on September 26, 2007
The Accord is bigger than the Civic. A hatchback is more functional than a trunk.
Posted by: Medley on September 26, 2007
ACM,
I have a minivan because I have two kids and family who comes to visit on a regular basis. As we only have one car, we like to be able to fit more than four people in a car. Renting is a hassle.
The bonus for us is that dh has done a lot of work on the house and we've been able to use the van for hauling materials. Had I had my sedan, I would have had to make two trips for the tile because of the weight.
Believe me, when I'm done driving this van into the dust, I'm going for a motorized bike. I can only hope that the average size of vehicles in the greater metro DC area has gone down. It feels much safer to be driving something bigger around here.
Posted by: Joni on September 27, 2007
September 21, 2007
Finis.
A majority of the United States Senate, including a significant number of "Democrats" has voted to condemn freedom of speech.And with that revolting display of utter capitulation, I have canceled my nominal recurring contribution to the DNC -- I'd set it up to show support for Howard Dean's efforts, but truly, I am finished. Everyone's got their breaking point.
Avedon sums it up very well. Some snippets:
Have you ever seen the Senate condemn Saxby Chambless for morphing his Democratic opponent with Osama bin Laden?And, really, they're probably all totally compromised by Dubya's 'warrantless surveillance' and being blackmailed. As Avedon also wrote:
Have you ever seen the Senate condemn Ann Coulter for calling for the assassination of a Supreme Court justice?
Have you ever seen the Senate condemn Fred Phelps?
And what about the attacks on General Wesley Clark, or the treatment of General Shinseki? Did they condemn that? Did they even manage to muster up a little outrage over the full-scale attack on anyone who'd ever been awarded a Purple Heart during the 2004 campaign?
No.
But the Republicans call on you to condemn a mainstream organization that tells the truth about Petreaus disgracing the uniform to act as Bush's personal political shill and you fall right in line. How dare you?.
I think I can speak for every Maryland voter when I say we did not vote for you to go to Washington just to condemn your own supporters.
We sent you there to hold this administration accountable, to restore the Constitution, and to end the occupation.
When are you going to start doing that?
I want open discussion of the fact that the Democrats have been voting in ways that are indefensible and that maybe this has something to do with Bush's little program to spy on American citizens. It's not as if there's any reason to think this administration is above doing things we know the Nixon administration did, after all. Maybe what I ought to be asking Mikulski and Cardin is, "What do they have on you?"See also here.
Spineless, gutless, principle-less Democrats. Anyone got an explanation other than complicity, gutlessness, or blackmail?
What a total joke.
I'm really going to be hard-pressed to vote again any time soon.
<=> | in: Civil Rights & Feminism / Democrats
1 Comments --
yeah, it's a lot like converting your entire party into the Lesser of Two Evils (which I thought we were trying to get away from). sigh.
Posted by: acm on September 24, 2007
September 15, 2007
A Good Day
I had a really good day today. I had to cancel getting together with friends (which was not good) because somehow a cross-country trip I'm leaving on tomorrow had slipped my mind. Yes, I am lame. Really, I think I was just blocking it out because I don't want particularly want to go. But I'll manage.But, the day was good, anyway. First of all, I think fall is coming. We woke up and it was just stunningly good weather -- clear sky, fresh air, nice breeze, moderate temperature. We went swimming, and then came home and opened up all the (new!) windows in the house for the day. Got home, changed, and started working on laundry, housework, filing, organizing, and preparing to pack for the trip. I'm almost always super-productive in the house right before a trip because I hate coming back to leftover tasks or clutter. Also began messing around with the process of ripping DVDs for my new iPod so I can watch some on the plane tomorrow. Had that process running in the background while doing all sorts of other stuff around the house. Ran out and did a few errands, grabbed a salad at Panera as an early lunch (really, we should buy stock in Panera), came back home, and continued housework.
At some point I suggested we get an early dinner at Mike's since I'll be gone for a few days. So we did that - no wait; woot - came back, turned the baseball game on, and I started packing. My packing list is pretty refined, but every time I travel I find something to change about it. Eventually closed up all the windows and then I took a nice hot soak while waiting for the last DVD to rip. The Nationals beat the Braves. The house has been aired out. My iPod has a color screen and plays videos now. And TheGuy and the kitties are great companions. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary today - just a good-energy, productive, yet relaxing day.
<=> | in: Journaling
1 Comments --
yay! we love days like that.
a little change from swelter to cool breeze definitely helps!!Posted by: acm on September 17, 2007
September 14, 2007
Book Purge - Phase I
Proof that the long-discussed book purge is actually happening:
There will be another round after these have been dropped off at our local library. But this is a nice chunk. It's still painful for me - after putting this pile together, they sat in the closet for about a year! But, even with this chunk leaving, we have not been able to reduce the number of bookshelves in the house. And stuff has a way of just accreting and encroaching, and without deliberate attempts to purge, purge, purge, it will all just become overwhelming. So, these books will go to the library. We've got another box of other kinds of stuff filling up for Goodwill. And as the season changes, it's just about time to go through the closets for clothes to be rid of. Out, out, damned stuff!
<=> | in: Journaling
1 Comments --
Hey! Since when did you buy our old futon?!
Seriously, weird; it looks exactly like ours, down to the wood stain and the blue cover.
(Sorry to clutter up this thread with non-spam.)
Posted by: Zach on September 18, 2007
September 6, 2007
Mooooooooo Cards
My first batch of Moo minicards arrived (and of course I had to put a picture of them up at Flickr.) I think they are so cute.
<=> | in: Photography
3 Comments --
And wehat exactly are you going to do with your Moo cards?
Posted by: Scott Ladewig on September 8, 2007
So far, I've taped a bunch to the 'chin' of my iMac (I'll post a picture of that to flickr one of these days), mailed a few off to people, and handed out a few by hand. Also stuck one in a card I sent to someone.
They are great fun. Little bitty pieces of art!
Posted by: Medley on September 9, 2007
They are really cute:)
Also, I got the mixed cd, by the way. DH gets the mail, so it took me a while to notice it. I haven't had much chance to listen yet. Life in the fast lane and all that:)
Posted by: Joni on September 11, 2007
September 3, 2007
Larry Craig and the Media
You know what bugged me most about the whole sad Larry Craig debacle? (For those not keeping score at home, Larry Craig is the Republican Senator from Idaho who pled guilty earlier this summer to disorderly/lewd conduct in an airport bathroom sex solicitation sting - apparently rumors have circulated for years that Craig is closeted...) What bothers me most is not the rampant Republican hypocrisy. Who here is surprised that yet another high-level Republican's "private" life is full of sexual hypocrisy? How many times does this sort of thing have to happen before recognizing that Republicans are a bunch of total head cases when it comes to sex and sexuality? Big surprise, there? (Read Talking Points Memo for the past week or two to get up to speed on this latest hypocritical Republican sex scandal.)And, what bugs me is not even how completely offensive it is that the moralizing, judgmental, stick-their-nose-in-your-private business party is the one that always gets caught paying for sex or having sex in other ways they've tried to make illegal. The most ironic comment most recently about this sort of thing was Rudy Giuliani snapping at someone who asked about his estrangement from his kids. He said something to the effect: you leave my family alone and I'll leave your family alone. Apart from the veiled threat there, and apart from the fact that Rudy's trying to be the candidate of the self-proclaimed "family values" party, who here thinks that ANY REPUBLICAN is going to leave their family alone? A major purpose for that party, it seems, is to dictate how people should live their lives and what constitutes a right and proper family and what doesn't. So I'm just going to sit over here and point and laugh at Rudy -- because he and his party will not leave my family alone, and any questions about why his adult children want nothing to do with him are perfectly legit in the environment his party helped create.
But, back to Craig. What bugs me the most about the Larry Craig tearoom scandal (google it) is that a sitting U.S. Senator managed to plead guilty to a crime without any of our esteemed national media noticing. For months. Don't these yahoos know how to set Google News Alerts? There are only 100 Senators, after all -- considering that a Kennedy can't get a parking ticket without CNN going into 24-hour breaking news mode, it just strikes me as pathetically incompetent that the national media are so insulated and isolated at their little cocktail parties that this just slipped by them. Or, the news organizations have been so stripped of beat reporters that there's just no one responsible for, you know, national news-gathering. Anyway, that's what struck me when I first heard about it. The hypocrisy from the self-righteous party is par for the course and to be expected from modern Republicans, but for weeks and weeks to go by before the media pick up on a Senator being arrested and then pleading guilty to a 'scandalous' crime? What a joke.
<=> | in: Media Dysfunction / Republicans
4 Comments --
did the original guilty plea make news in Minnesota? I ask only because it would affect the utility of a Google search . . .
Posted by: acm on September 4, 2007
Google News Alerts are an example, of course. I also mentioned the lack of beat reporting. I presume there are triggers one can set in Lexis-Nexis as well and various other dbases that reporters have access to. I'd wager good money that there won't be much reflection about priorities on the part our national media, though.
The Star Tribune, in response to readers who wondered as I did, is already trying to figure out why this was missed:
http://www.startribune.com/161/story/1395490.htmlPosted by: Medley on September 4, 2007
The thing that chaps my ass is this. Look at David Vitter, who is tangled up in the DC Madame scandal. We've got Diaper Dave here, who appears to have spent public monies and times on a prostitute. Do the Republicans throw him under the bus? No. Why?
Well, Craig is a senator in a Republican controlled state. The Republican governor will appoint another Republican in his place. The other thing is, Craig actually voted against extension of the Patriot Act, which reportedly infuriated Bush.
Vitter, on the other hand, is in a state controlled by Democratic governor (albeit one that skirts on the edge of being a DINO) and so his replacement would alter the balance in Congress. LA does not have a requirement that replacement senators be from the same party (some states do, I think). He's also a very good boy, is Dave, and rubber-stamp-votes along party lines.
Bah.
Posted by: BEG on September 11, 2007
BEG: Oh yes, the politics just REEK, as you say.
Disgusting and hypocritical, but unsurprising.
Posted by: Medey on September 13, 2007
September 2, 2007
6th Anniversary
We celebrate our wedding anniversary on September 1st, and yesterday was our 6th. Happy anniversary to us! Doesn't feel to me like it's been 6 years - on the other hand, a lot has happened in the last 6 years! TheGuy sent me some roses (among other things). In this pic you can see some of the roses, and a couple of our new windows (heh - which, really, we should call this year's joint anniversary present!).
<=> | in: Journaling
6 Comments --
Well, Happy Anniversary to you both! May you have many more.
Posted by: Liz on September 2, 2007
Happy Anniversary!!
Posted by: Fazia Rizvi on September 2, 2007
Thanks!
Posted by: Medley on September 3, 2007
Yay for anniversaries:)
Posted by: Joni on September 3, 2007
Happy Anniversary! I know what you mean about it doesn't seem like 6 years... except for those times when it seems longer. In a good way ;) (Our sixth wedding anniversary was on 8/31)
Posted by: Jen on September 3, 2007
Gotta admit that my first reaction was "wait, she's been writing this blog for longer than that!"
Congrats to both of you!
Posted by: Dan Lyke on September 4, 2007
Might be time to look to some of the Open Source alternatives. We're currently using QuickBooks 2003, but unless there's a supported Linux version in the offing, when we switch off of it it won't be to another Intuit app.
Posted by: Dan Lyke on September 28, 2007