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Personal Update 202312 | 31 Dec 2023

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is from 12 Nov 2023 while taking a walk at Kent Park.

WRITING TOPICS

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202311 | 30 Nov 2023

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is from 22 Oct 2023, looking west at sunset on a bike ride heading home.

Writing Topics

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

Middle East

For the fourth quarter, since October 1, I’ve added only a few new writings to the Resources For Life dot com website, which were mostly relating to the heightened conflict in the Middle East.

I already have existing news posts for this year on Lebanon, Iran, Qatar, and Palestine / Israel, as well as other countries in the region. So, I’ve updated those, but didn’t need to create much new.

On Facebook, a “suggested post” for me with a peace dove and the words “Thankful for Palestinian-Israeli Ceasefire” showed up as the cease fire details were unfolding. It was a post of mine from 21 Nov 2012 that Facebook randomly selected as a previous post on the same day. I decided to accept the suggestion and share the post. The timing was appropriate to share it again.

I’ve followed Middle East news for about 25 years, mostly with an interest in efforts that prevent conflict and violence.

The song “Prayer of the Mothers” by the group Women Wage Peace was made into a video (below) that shows women involved in the peace movement in the Palestine / Israel area. I wrote an article in 2018 about the video and their efforts. [Learn More]

The group Koolulam works to promote peace through music, by inviting people from diverse backgrounds to sing songs together. On 28 Feb 2018 they had an event where a group sang “One Day” by Matisyahu. I wrote an article about the event, and shared the video. I was able to get help from my Arabic and Hebrew speaking contacts for translation assistance to share the lyrics, and Koolulam gave me permission to embed their video on my website — it was otherwise blocked for viewing outside of YouTube. You can watch the video on my original post. [View]

My hope for myself and for others, is that we can grow and expand our sense of compassion. I guess it’s human nature, or the habit of some, to have selective compassion. We hear about tragedies, but for concern to be expressed, we first want to know the race, religion, gender, or nationality of those involved. If the incident feeds into a narrative we’re trying to push, we’ll get involved and march in the streets. If it doesn’t fit our ideology, we go back to binge watching a show or some other activity.

In February this year, a tragedy in a region of predominantly Muslim countries resulted in over 50,000 lives lost in a matter of hours. To me it seemed like a big event, but because it was an earth quake, and people couldn’t blame any popular vilified group of choice, the media was mostly silent after one or two days. I still check the news on conditions in the region.

In 2020, the largest non-nuclear explosion in history took place. It effectively wiped out an entire country that still hasn’t rebuilt three years later. We couldn’t blame any of our preferred vilified groups of choice, so it got a couple days coverage in the news, then everyone forgot about it. I’ve been more closely following the news from Lebanon since that blast in Beirut. [Read More]

These massive tragedies happen, and if there’s nobody to blame, there typically is no marching in the streets, no flag waving, no public mourning, no candlelight vigils.

In the area of the Middle East, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caspian Sea, there is archeological and cultural heritage dating back thousands of years. If you go back far enough, you’ll discover all of our ancestors are most likely from the cradle of civilization. There are numerous UNESCO World Heritage sites in that area. The entire area is a huge fragile protected outdoor archaeological museum, with people still living there — people who are sort of everyone’s relatives, and it is everyone’s homeland.

If we increase our compassion for humanity to include everyone who suffers, regardless of how or why or who they are, it would make the world a better place, and it would de-politicize our emotions and humanity.

To people who want to know which side I support in the war, I’ll share what I wrote to someone in October, “I strongly support both sides (the innocent people on both sides who are suffering), and strongly condemn both sides (those who are making the situation worse).”

More Next Month

I’m going to skip my usual entries this month for tech writing and how many steps I took. I’ll include more about that next month.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site. 

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202310 | 1 Oct 2023

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well. The photo above is from my morning walk on 7 Sep 2023.

Topic Reports for 2023

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related context are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

Walking and Travel

In September I walked about 131,000 steps covering 21 miles in about 10 hours. These calculations are provided by Google as totals of my outdoor walks and other steps. The Google Maps and Google Fit monthly reports provide cumulative reports as well as weekly and daily reports. These help to stay mindful and motivated. Below are the travel and steps summary reports. The top report is from the Google Maps app and the bottom report is from the Google Fit app.

Social Media Outreach

I posted some more pictures and reviews in September using Google Maps. The total cumulative all-time views are now at 10.2 million.

My main goal for the posts is to help local small businesses become more discoverable, and also serve the many people who visit our community for big events, healthcare, education, and other reasons.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site.

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202309 | 15 Sep 2023

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. I hope you’re doing well.

Featured Photo

The featured photo this month at the top of the page is from 29 Aug 2023 while on my daily walk. It’s the completed parking area that replaces a field of prairie grass previously used by wildlife and pollinators. Below is a photo of what the field looked like in July prior to the parking area being developed.

Asphalt Habitat

The new parking area helps accommodate RV parking and vehicles during football games. It is also used by weekday commuters, mostly those working at the hospital. Proposed names for the new parking area will undoubtedly include “Prairie View Parking Facility” since it is common for developments to be named after the habitats they replaced.

There’s a saying that we sometimes can’t see the forest for the trees, meaning we can get so focused on specific details of an issue that we don’t see the overall picture. In this case, there is no forest and there are no trees, but the principle is the same.

It’s easy to be discouraged by the loss of natural spaces and it’s disappointing to see habitats removed. Of course, the driving forces behind sprawl and development are far upstream. Often with projects involving the de-beautification of natural spaces, the protests and “solution” involve moving the proposed development to someone else’s neighborhood or backyard. We subconsciously know that the landfills, the power plants, the factories, polluted rivers, deforestation, smelly waste water treatment facilities, and similar byproducts of massive demand are apparently, given our present technologies, necessary to sustain all that we do. We just don’t want to look at those things or be reminded of them.

Anyone who has been in the Iowa City area for a few decades ends up being somewhat of a welcoming cheerful ambassador to greet and help visitors. With the new parking area, I’ve already had an opportunity to meet and visit with some of the travelers that come to our town by car or RV. On game-day weekends, the parking area turns into what looks like a traveling RV show. Many enthusiastic football fans descend on the area for the camaraderie and festivities that accompany the big game (every game is the big game when you’re a fan). I like to meet new people. I like RVs. I like seeing people having fun and socializing. So, there can be some positive aspects to this development.

Big parking lots have always been an important aspect of human experience: at large factories, theme parks, concert venues, shopping malls, sporting events, and remote commuter lots that reduce city traffic congestion by replacing cars with public transit. For many people, the concrete jungle and asphalt parking areas are our habitat. The spaces that support cars and parking are part of the complex mix of what makes up our human habitats.

WALKING AND TRAVEL

In August I walked about 160,000 steps covering 34 miles in about 10 hours. These calculations are provided by Google as totals of my outdoor walks and other steps. The Google Maps and Google Fit monthly reports provide cumulative reports as well as weekly and daily reports. These help to stay motivated. Below are the steps and travel summary reports for August. The top report is from the Google Fit app and the bottom report is from the Google Maps app.

GOOGLE POSTS 8.9 MILLION VIEWS

I posted some more pictures and reviews in August using Google Maps, and there were over two million views. The total cumulative all-time views are now at 8.9 million as of mid-September. As the collection of posts grows, the number of monthly views increases.

My main goal for the posts is to help local small businesses become more discoverable, and also serve the many people who visit our community for big events, healthcare, education, and other reasons.

TOPIC REPORTS FOR 2023

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. The list of topics expanded considerably in April. I keep adding to these reports, typically with one or two additions per month with a video or article link. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related elements are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site.

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202308 | 31 Aug 2023

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update.

Featured Photo

The featured photo this month at the top of the page is from 27 July 2023 while on my morning walk. It is the construction site for a new parking area that replaces a field of prairie grass used by wildlife and pollinators.

I was disappointed to see the field removed, but it’s a good reminder of how we need to do what we can to support preservation where natural habitats remain.

Below is a photo of what the field looked like in July prior to the parking area being developed.

Trail Tree Trimming

The photo at the bottom of the page is from 24 July 2023. Some trees that needed light pruning of a few small branches were unfortunately cut down completely rather than trimmed.

A few days earlier I was walking with a friend on the trail. They noticed some small branches hanging low on the trail and asked who was responsible for pruning the trees along the trail. I explained that I was, but had neglected the trees this year. I told them, “I need to get them pruned soon or someone with no training and less patience will just cut the trees down.” I felt really bad that I didn’t get to the trees in time.

I’m not officially or formally responsible for trimming trees on local trails, but I’ve done so in the past to avoid having others use arbitrary, haphazard, excessive cutting. I’ve explained this in the 2017 video “Bike Trails – Maintenance and Tree Trimming” embedded below.

FYI — I’ve lost about 35 pounds since recording that video. I mention that not to be self conscious about weight, but just to explain why I look different today.

WALKING AND TRAVEL

In June I walked about 218,000 steps covering 59 miles in about 17 hours. In July, I walked about 10,000 more steps for a total of 229,987 steps in the month.

The calculations are provided by Google as totals of my outdoor walks and other steps. The Google Maps and Google Fit monthly reports provide cumulative reports as well as weekly and daily reports. These help to stay motivated.

Below are the steps and travel summary reports for July. The top report is from the Google Fit app and the bottom report is from the Google Maps app.

Reviews Had 1.6 Million Views in July

I posted some more pictures and reviews in July using Google Maps. By the end of the month, there were 1.6 million more views of all posts and photos.

If I write a review and take photos of a very popular tourist destination, that will result in more views than information about a place with less popularity. I’m focusing on the places I’m going to anyway, and not making special trips simply to gain more views.

TOPIC REPORTS FOR 2023

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. The list of topics expanded considerably in April. I keep adding to these reports, typically with one or two additions per month with a video or article link. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related elements are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site.

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

flat lay photography of three tray of foods

Noom Wellness App and Service – Review

Summary

Noom is a wellness app and service that provides insights into nutrition, eating strategies, food choices, and optimizing exercise. There are daily lessons to improve knowledge about food choices and consider environmental stimulus factors that cause people to reach for food. Through a series of questions, the app becomes customized for each user. I used Noom for the 10-day free trial period. Here’s what I discovered.

Holistic

Noom takes a holistic approach to weight loss and wellbeing and for that reason seems more helpful than programs that focus almost entirely on exercise, or food limiting diets, or food home delivery services, or expensive supplements. The program guides people to avoid extremes and instead focus on attainable and maintainable goals and practices.

New Eating Mindfulness

When Weight Watchers promoted their point system for eating, it allowed people to consider the impact of fiber and foods high in fat along with other factors, rather than just counting calories. Their program promotes a realization that not all calories are the same.

The Noom system emphasizes foods that are filling but low in calories. An example given in the app is a grape compared to a raisin. The grape is considered to be a better choice. Calorie dense foods like nuts are not prohibited, but it’s suggested they be eaten sparingly.

Food tracking is based on a three color system that conveys low, medium, and high density choices. To learn more, read “How are the food colors determined?”

Pay More to Help Others

An interesting part of the initial membership process is the option to pay about $10 to cover the cost of the trial period. There’s even an option to pay about $18 to help cover the cost for people who can’t pay anything.

The reason for the sliding scale isn’t explained, but presumably it is to promote a positive state of mind through the act of generosity and helping others.

If you decide to cancel before the paid subscription kicks in, special offers are available to ensure people don’t drop out only because of financial reasons.

One Problem. Many Causes.

Using Noom offers an insight into the many different factors that can result in people gaining weight and having trouble losing it. For an individual, there may be one or a few primary factors. Everyone is different.

Great for Newcomers

Anyone who is new to weight loss will benefit from learning about tracking food consumption, tracking activity, tracking water intake, and being mindful of things that prompt eating. Learning and applying these habits should be impactful.

People who have had their attention on other things in life may one day notice that a busy work schedule or life disruptions have resulted in 10 or 20 pounds of extra body weight, or more. Noom can help give them some efficient ways to get back to a healthy weight.

Plateau Buster

If someone is already aware of the many “tips and tricks” for tackling weight loss, Noom may not offer too many new insights. The most seasoned weight-loss practitioners will already be familiar with most of what Noom has to offer.

For these people, Noom may help serve as a plateau buster if the a malaise or fatigue has set in after reaching a plateau. Not having ongoing positive feedback through seeing results makes a person less motivated. Noom offers an external motivator to keep you on track through times when there is little or no weight loss despite best practices.

Noom helps a person stay mindful of their weight loss and wellness goals with daily reminders and the engagement of learning exercises.

Room for Improvement

Here are some areas where the Noom system seems to have room for improvement:

  • BARCODE — When using the barcode feature to enter foods, once the food has been identified, the app returns to the barcode camera view which suggests perhaps more foods could be identified and added to the meal, but it doesn’t work. So, it’s an extra step to go back and add more food items.
  • CHANGES — The lengthy survey process presumably customizes the plan. It’s not clear how one might go back and tweak their plan based on some changes in lifestyle or diet preferences. It’s also not clear how a person might go back and review their survey answers later. There should be a way to adjust for life changes or provide adjusted answers.
  • DIET PREFERENCE — During the personalization process, Noom lets the user select a preferred diet based on things like diabetes concern, or desiring low-carb options. Oddly, the system doesn’t let the user choose more than one of these customizations.
  • FOOD TRACKING — For anyone already using a food tracking app like Lose It, the limited abilities of Noom food tracking may feel like a hinderance. You’ll go to scan fairly common foods and the barcode won’t be recognized. Even foods searched by name may not show up. I had a few occasions where serving sizes and calories were way off. If you’re having to enter all the nutritional information manually, it becomes time consuming. With an app like Lose It, a person can focus on calories, or carbs, or protein, or any other factor to guide your eating choices. Lose It lets you easily repeat a meal from a previous day by entering it with a tap. Noom has a clumsy work-round for this which is creating a recipe or dish, but then the details are lost once pasted in as a meal. It’s really better to just have the ability to repeat a meal with a list of items.
  • NOTIFICATION DOT — The main menu is accessible by taping on three lines in the top left corner of the app. On the top line of the menu, there is a red dot on the right side. It’s a bit distracting and seems to suggest there is some new notification or something that needs action. I contacted support about it and nobody seems to know what it’s for or how to make it go away. It looks like a notification alert, but it doesn’t seem to serve a purpose. A similar red dot appears and goes away when new messages are available from support.
  • SUPPORT — The support system seems to be a hybrid of AI-driven automated responses mixed with some human responses. There’s not a personal coach that you get to know by name, but whoever is online in the virtual call center will answer the questions. So, the consistency and quality of support may fluctuate.
  • SWEETS — Noom and many other diet programs emphasize sweets as rewards, and cheat days as a way to keep unhealthy high calorie foods in a person’s diet. Similar to this is the abundance of foods on the market that use Monk Fruit, Stevia, and other artificial sweeteners. For people who seem to have an uncontrollable chemical addiction to sweets, maybe this is helpful. However, there are some people who can slowly reduce their intake of sweets and have a diet that’s naturally low in carbs and low in sweets without it feeling like a sacrifice. There should be some way for the Noom system to choose between continuing with sweets, moving slowly away from sweets, or being fine without sweets.

Noom Alternatives

If Noom doesn’t work for your situation, an alternative would be to use Lose It or a similar food tracking app. Another good option is FitBit for tracking food, exercise, and sleep. The Apple Watch does a good job of tracking exercises, sleep, and meditation, but lacks the food tracking feature.

Unique to Noom are the personalized insights into an individual’s behavior and body needs. An alternative would be to get some good books on diet, exercise, wellness, and the psychology of eating. Commit to reading a certain amount each day and keep a journal of notes about what you read.

Since Noom is free to try, and might work for you, it’s worth checking out. At a minimum, it will be a learning experience. The initial option to feel good about donating money probably does work for most people.

white united airlines plane

Seven Flights in Three Days

Summary

This is a writing about a disappointing experience with airline travel. I was helping the travelers who went through the experience described here. Over three days they had seven flights, with one of the seven having reached the airport, but unable to land due to a regional power outage impacting the airport.

Initial Ticket Purchase

Initially a non-stop flight from Chicago to Delhi was purchased, with a slight seat upgrade to avoid sitting in cramped economy seats for the 14 hour flight. The non-stop flight cost was a bit more than a flight with multiple stops.

Flight Cancelled

Many weeks prior to the departure date, the airline cancelled the non-stop flight and substituted it with a 1-stop flight which would be Chicago to Newark, then Newark to Delhi. There was to be a 5-hour layover. There was no reimbursement for the downgrade from a non-stop flight to a 1-stop flight. Having an intermediary stop always increases the chances of delays or problems with connecting flights.

DAY 1

Cedar Rapids to Chicago

A free itinerary change was offered as compensation for the change in flight plans, and surprisingly, the airline was willing to add a Cedar Rapids to Chicago flight to the itinerary at no extra cost. That would save a drive to Chicago, but also added in the uncertainly of a timely departure and arrival in Chicago. At least it was some consolation for the downgrade from a nonstop international flight to a 1-stop flight. Thankfully, the Cedar Rapids to Chicago flight was on-time.

Chicago to Newark 5-Hour Delay

The Chicago flight was so late in departing that the flight arrived in Newark with a 5-hour delay. As the plane from Chicago was arriving in Newark, the plane to Delhi was taking off.

Another Chicago to Newark flight that was scheduled for later in the day had actually been on-time and could have reached the connecting flight on time. It’s always frustrating to know that another option was available that could have worked.

Overnight Stay in Newark

Because of the flight delay and missed connection, the airline provided a hotel voucher to stay near the airport in Newark. The voucher covered only a portion of the hotel cost.

Day 2

Newark to Montreal

The only remaining flights from Newark to Delhi were multi-stop flights that would go through Europe to change planes for a flight headed to Delhi. Some of the travel options had two-stops including one domestic airport and then a European airport before continuing to Delhi. These stops would include changing airplanes with short layovers in foreign countries which were likely to result in more missed connections.

A direct flight from Montreal to Delhi was available and seemed like the best option. The airline was willing to arrange whatever itinerary was preferred and offered a Newark to Montreal flight to catch the non-stop flight from Montreal to Delhi. So, this option was selected.

Montreal to Burlington

The flight to Montreal came close to the Montreal airport, but never touched down. It circled above the airport about 6 times and then was re-routed to Burlington, Vermont.

It had been impossible to land in Montreal due to power outages caused by excessive air conditioner use which shut down a region of Canada that included the power to the airport and more than 200,000 people.

The excessive air conditioner use by people in the area was a result of historically high unbearable high temperatures in Canada. The airplane landed in Burlington, and then sat on the runway awaiting further instructions from air traffic control.

Burlington to Montreal

Once emergency power was provided to the Montreal airport, it was possible for the plane to return to Montreal. However, the significant delay due to rerouting resulted in a very short connecting time in Montreal. At this point the remaining connections in India would not be feasible. It made most sense to just travel back to Iowa and plan a trip for later with a direct flight, as was originally requested.

Overnight Stay in Montreal

It was necessary to stay overnight in Montreal since no other departing flights were available. Even though it was just after 5PM, all the airline staff had left the desks, presumably the airport had mostly cleared out due to the power outage. The lack of staff at the airport made it difficult to get assistance or arrange for a hotel. Eventually hotel accommodations were established without any help from the airline. Navigating at night in a mostly French-speaking city was a challenge, but ultimately there was an overnight stay at a hotel.

Day 3

Montreal to Chicago

The flight from Montreal to Chicago was anticipated to arrive within an hour of the departing Chicago to Cedar Rapids flight. Given the experience so far, there was some hesitancy in trusting that there would be sufficient time to make the connecting flight.

The flight arrived in Chicago later than expected. Only with the assistance of airline staff providing rapid transit through the airport was it possible to make the connecting flight to Cedar Rapids.

With very little time to spare, boarding of the Chicago to Cedar Rapids flight was achieved.

Chicago to Cedar Rapids

The flight from Chicago to Cedar Rapids was on-time and arrived without any issues.

Lost Luggage

Both checked bags were tagged and were properly updated to reflect Cedar Rapids as the ultimate destination. However, only one bag arrived in Cedar Rapids. The other was recorded as still being in Newark. A request was made to have the bag delivered. The airline promised to make arrangements for the bag to be brought to the home.

Three Hour Wait Times

Throughout the three-day ordeal, there were numerous times when it was necessary to contact the airlines. The quickest way to get support from the airline was with online chat. Due to “an unexpectedly high number of requests” the wait time was sometimes estimated as three hours before communicating with a customer service representative. This made it hard to get service in a timely manner, resulting in more delays and problems.

Day 4

Cryptic Text Message

The following day, a text message was received from an unknown number, without any identification as to who the sender was.

The message stated:

  • “Your delivery is on the way. You can visit https://a1234.app.goo.gl/ABCDE to view your delivery tracking information.”

The link was actually slightly different than what is shown above. The letters and numbers were different.

Since the sender didn’t identify who they were, and the message didn’t indicate what the delivery was, and the link to be clicked was not a valid shipper or business, it seemed like a scam. So, after taking a screenshot, it seemed best to choose the option to “Report Junk” and delete.

Using a secured off-site computer, it was possible to check the link. It did not work.

Bag Delivery Issues

The third-party baggage delivery company stated that they arrived at the home with the bag, but nobody was home so they couldn’t leave the bag.

There actually were many people at home the entire day, looking out the door and awaiting a promised phone call prior to delivery.

Another notation stated that the bag was actually delivered and had been left at the residence earlier.

Subsequent communications stated the bag would arrive by 10 PM.

The bag didn’t arrive.

It was finally delivered the following day.

Over 20 major airlines contract with HomeServ — an independent company that operates a website called “Where’s My Suitcase.” This is the company that was supposed to deliver the bag.

This is an excerpt from the About page for the delivery company:

  • “HomeServ provides total delivery solutions by developing strong and mutually beneficial relationships with our partners. … our management team understands how to meet individualized delivery needs with integrated and customized technology solutions.” [Source]

The company has an “F” rating with the Better Business Bureau and an average of 1.45 stars out of 5 based on customer reviews and complaints. [Source] Here are a few examples of the 1-star reviews:

  • “The tracking number they gave us to follow up on wheres my suitcase, did NOT work. The website did not accept the tracking number. … Wheres My Suitcase appears to be a scam.” (2 Jul 2023)
  • “Complete absence of service. No way of contacting them. Their website offers no information. By using them Airlines show their complete disregard for their customers” (19 Feb 2023)
  • “My experience is exactly like several others here. American Airlines turned my luggage over to this company 48 hours ago. They promised delivery that same night (Monday). It is now Wednesday. They do not respond to email and have no posted phone number.” (27 Jul 2022)
  • “Two bags were left on our doorstep on July 13th by wheresmysuitcase, but they reported to Air France that they delivered three. There was a phone number on the yellow tag; called several times, and the employee says all three bags were delivered because that’s what shows on their tracker. They got no signature because our only contact was a text, not a ring of the doorbell.” (19 Jul 2022)
  • “Same issues as other reviews. No way to contact, questionable service people. I filled out the “waive signature” in the email that was sent to me, and asked them to drop my bag at the door because I was going to be on calls. All of that info was confirmed by them to me. Then around time of bag showing up I get 2 calls and an email from the driver from his random number asking me for a tip when he arrives and telling me that he won’t leave my bag unless I am there. Totally shady and disruptive.” (19 Jul 2022)
  • “This company needs to be investigated for fraud. There isn’t any way to contact the company. Worldtracer indicated that 3 of my bags were assigned for delivery and picked up by this company for delivery. They only delivered 2 bags and the driver said he didn’t have the other bag. The whereismysuitcase.com emails and website tracker indicated they had 3 in route, however only 2 showed up. There is no accountability and the airline could not reach the company. It is a dead end without any resolution. There is clearly a point where the bag went missing and it’s when the third party (whereismysuitcase.com) took possession. They do not respond to their customer service emails or have any way of communicating with their contractor or the owner of the baggage. It appears that the airlines are not vetting these third parties and fraudulent activity is happening at Whereismysuitcase.com” (15 Jul 2022)
  • “Terrible company. My bag was pick up from the airport on 6/24 and it is 6/28 and I have not received my bag, there is no longer and tracking info available, and no phone number to call with any questions.” (28 Jun 2022)
  • “The company has no public phone number and does not respond to emails. It is very likely that they may have stolen my luggage, but how could I know? American Airlines reps have told me they cannot contact this company. Unbelievable and unethical, if not downright illegal.” (22 Jun 2022)
  • “My bag was delayed into LGA on a Monday night. The wheresmysuitcase.com web site announces that the bag would be picked up by noon on Tuesday and delivered by 5:00 that day. As of Wednesday morning the bag had still not been picked up, but the web site continued to advise that it “will be delivered” by 5:00 on Tuesday. Ditto for this morning (Thursday).I have an Apple AirTag in the bag. It shows that the bag has left the airport but has been delivered to an address in Queens. I am in Westchester. I will now call be calling the police to report the theft. No airline should ever consider using this company.” (6 Jan 2022)

Conclusion

There are so many details to the above saga. It exemplifies the poor state of customer service and logistics today. The aspects of the delays caused by extreme weather conditions offer insight into what to expect in the future as climate extremes impact various aspects of society.

The airline industrial complex is too big to fail, but also too big to succeed. There’s seemingly nothing that individual consumers or legislators or government agencies can do to improve the situation.

There are many other key industries globally that are strained and failing, with stories similar to the ones above in healthcare, education, and other professions. Automated systems with humans no longer in the loop have resulted in runaway technology that nobody seems to be able to improve or replace.

Positive Business Models

Efforts have been made to incorporate human-centric principles and practices into business operations. The Triple Bottom Line refers to business placing the planet and people above profits. The rise of B Corporations places attention on the ways businesses can have a more positive impact in the world.

There’s a fork in the road that businesses encounter at some point:

  • OPTION #1 — Will a business take the path of maximizing profits? Some companies are still in a hyper-greed mode causing harm to the planet, employees, and consumers. They create stress, harm, loss, and waste. Someone at the top of the pyramid benefits. Everyone else suffers.
  • OPTION #2 — Another path is to pursue maximizing product quality, service quality, consumer safety, environmental stewardship, customer service excellence, and other things that make the world better? This can be referred to as “business forward” — a model where business improves society.

Until the airline industry is able to fully shift to the more humane, ethical, and beneficial business approach, conditions will likely remain the same or get worse.

Personal Update 202307 | 1 Jul 2023

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. The featured photo this month is from 23 June 2023 while on my morning walk. The trail is near a wetlands area. I’d shared a similar photo from the same location last summer. The photo at the bottom of this page is of the Old Capitol on 24 June 2023.

Walking and Travel

In June I walked about 218,000 steps covering 59 miles in about 17 hours. That’s about double of my May walking totals. The calculations are provided by Google as totals of my outdoor walks and other steps. The Google Maps and Google Fit monthly reports provide cumulative reports as well as weekly and daily reports. These help to stay motivated.

Below are the steps and travel summary reports for June. The top report is from the Google Fit app and the bottom report is from the Google Maps app.

Reviews now at 3.8 Million

In recent months I’ve started using Google Maps to post reviews of parks, restaurants, museums, businesses, and other destinations.

With billions of people using the Google Maps service, even just a small fraction of views result in surprising numbers.

I am now at about 3.8 million views and gaining at a rate of 500,000 per month. Of those views, about 3.5 million are of photos and 300,000 are people reading reviews of places.

It’s taken some effort to reach “Local Guide Level 8” by earning over 15,000 points. That was achieved by making about 4,500 contributions in the form of photos, comments, and reviews.

If I write a review and take photos of a very popular tourist destination, that will result in more views than information about a place with less popularity. I’m focusing on the places I’m going to anyway, and not making special trips simply to gain more views.

TOPIC REPORTS FOR 2023

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. The list of topics expanded considerably in April. I keep adding to these reports, typically with one or two additions per month with a video or article link. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related elements are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site.

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202306 | 24 Jun 2023

Greetings

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. The featured photo this month is from 15 May 2023, taken at sunrise of Niagara Falls from Ontario, Canada. A zoomed-in variation of that photo is at the bottom of the page. [More Niagara Photos]

WALKING and Travel

My Google Pixel phone helps keep track of my walks and other travel. In May, I walked about 180,000 steps covering 28 miles in 9 hours 22 minutes. I spent about 50 hours driving 2,092 miles. In a more typical month, my driving miles would be about 300, but May included a road trip to Canada to visit Niagara. It was my first vacation since 2019. [More Niagara Photos]

Work Life Balance

Today as I write this monthly update, I have about a dozen computers needing attention from different people and additional non-computer work that’s pending. I’ll take a break today for my walk and some time away from computer screens, but generally my work continues through the weekend as a quiet time to catch up on pending projects.

This year I began supporting a large group of people who were getting support from another tech person in our area who is no longer consulting. It’s been a good fit and a wonderful expansion to the community of people I already support. I’m adjusting to take on extra people. Some live a few blocks away, or have limited periodic support needs. So, I’ve been able to handle the additional work without too much strain.

TOPIC REPORTS FOR 2023

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. The list of topics expanded considerably in April. I keep adding to these reports, typically with one or two additions per month with a video or article link. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related elements are already present.

TECH WRITING

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site.

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

Personal Update 202305 | 31 May 2023

GREETINGS

Thanks for taking a moment to read this month’s update. The photo above is from 7 Apr 2023, taken at the Des Moines Art Center looking out the large windows to the grassy area behind the center. I applied the “Surf” artistic filter available in the Prisma app.

Walking

Last month, with nicer weather becoming more frequent, I started walking more regularly. The photo at the bottom of this page is from a walk on 18 Apr 2023.

Topic Reports for 2023

I continue to expand on the topic reports found on the Resources For Life dot com website. The list can be found on the What’s New Page. The list of topics expanded considerably in April. I keep adding to these reports, typically with one or two additions per month with a video or article link. Adding incrementally takes very little time since the post and related elements are already present.

Tech Writing

If you’re interested in the latest tech-related guides and articles I’ve posted, you can visit the Posts Page on the Iowa City Tech website.

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to be notified of these monthly newsletters [Subscribe] or scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address where indicated to be notified of every post to this site.

THANKS

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 23 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith/philosophy), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and public interest efforts. This is based on the Life Map presented on the Resources For Life website. [View]

The photo above is from a walk on 18 Apr 2023.