Banks made bad decisions.  They got bailed out, and they are still being given access to a lot of cash for 0% or very very low percentages. This means they can make even more money.

Merchant Accounts, the good and bad.

Banks also give merchant accounts.  These accounts let business do commerce with your credit and debit cards.  They don’t cost the consumer, they cost the merchant.  My business gets charged between 1.8% to 3% + a .20-.30c transaction fee.  In terms we can all understand if we cleared $10k through 400 purchases we paid them somewhere around $320 for the privilege.

Now we work hard not to pass this on to the consumer, we just soak it as a cost of doing business.  The point is that we pay for those cards.

On to debit cards.

Then the government said you can’t charge a heck of a lot more to merchants for those debit cards.  Rates were almost competitive to the above numbers where they used to be pretty cheap.

We like debit, saved us money, but lately, not so much. To the point we stopped asking, “Credit or Debit?” We just charged it credit, made so little difference.

Now banks are pilot testing charging their customers a “convenience” charge to use their debit cards (yea the BoA $5/a month comes to mind today.)

It’d be like charging you for basic check usage.  All because the government said you can’t keep extorting money from merchants. They turn and look back at the consumer directly.

Bank of America said that they need to make a profit.

I’m all for profit, really.  You make profit through excellent products and customer service. Not from just taking money for something which has been paid for 100x over.

Lets recap.

Banks make a lot of money.

Banks make a lot of money off your money.

Banks make a lot of money off merchants.

Banks want you to pay for more without giving you more.

Banks are not innovating.

Why should anyone pay more for the current level of services?

Why is banking culture so bad?

Now I know this isn’t all banks, and it probably doesn’t involve 70% of the private credit unions but there is an endemic problem with banking culture. I think it needs to really be thrashed for being so callous, stupid, and outright heavy handed with how it is doing business with our capital.  While our money sleeps in their coffers they use it to make more money.  They often charge us for this benefit, rarely give us anything back, and have you seen the current savings interest rate?  Oh yea it’s too small to see.

If I were a bank I’d be looking at how I can serve the consumer, what I could do to make their life easier, better, faster, while earning more with what little we have.

Instead many who took bailout paid back early (illegally) so they could get their kickbacks set back up for the executive arms.

It’s just sad, and I had to rant about it for a moment.  I’ve got a keen eye on those banks which hold mine, and my businesses monies.

July 15th, 2011 my first son was born into the world.  We’ve had our trials and tribulations but the birth of Richard Logan Ciordia was without incident.  Robin began mild contractions on July 14th, at around 1am.  For 21 hours we stayed at home and I got to take care of her, 3 square meals, a bath, even a little wine recommended by our doula to keep her relaxed for the long haul.  Her water broke amid transition and we went to the hospital where a calm and collected Robin said she really wanted to push and the nurse midwife didn’t really believe her.  On inspection she was -2 and Logan was nearly waving at them to let him out.  A quick 45m later Logan entered the world with a squeal and ready to have his first of many many feedings.

Richard Logan Ciordia

That was his birthday in a nutshell.  I’d have love to written this earlier but being a newly minted father, self-employed to many businesses I can easily say how overwhelmed I was, and rather still am.

The journey since then has been trying but expected.  If you are a parent you can grin and remember where we are. Sleep schedules that start at 8pm to try and fit 7-8 hours of cumulative (yea cumulative—no more contiguous) sleep.  He feeds nearly every 2 hours from mom.  Robin is a trooper, as always.  She is woman hear her roar and all that.  She keeps up with Logan’s demands like they were nothing and only into the evening starts to show wear.  I support her wherever I can.

Logan came into the world 7lb 8oz and is now a 9lb 13oz, I’d say he’s getting everything he needs.  I try and work a few times a day on tummy-time, neck building, baby massages and the like.  He’s not a docile one so we try and have him well entertained.  He started that way and has continued to be so, wide eyed.  His fussy moments are all valid so-far; I need a new diaper, feeding, or working on putting things in the diaper.

The Littlest Chocolatier

It’s been written over on The Secret Chocolatier’s Blog his first visit to our shop. Now he can be found with us in the shop nearly every day.  He doesn’t like being left alone so Robin or I can be found with him in a sling doing work or having a grandparent give him some love.  He has no idea how loved he is or how lucky he is to have so much family (and chocolate) around.  It’s going to be neat seeing him grow up in such a social environment.

I could say more but there is always more to be done.  We’re overjoyed with Logan and are looking forward to seeing him develop around us.

These days with a life so busy the only self-study I’ve had focus for is ways of getting a better nights sleep and a more vibrant way to wake up. There are many products on the market that cost too much or have subscription prices which are untenable. Especially since I don’t have a sleep disorder. Enter Wakemate, a little company that uses actigraphy technology where you wear a wristband to sleep.

The Way We Move

The way the wristband works is to monitor your motion during your sleep cycles.  We move around more when we are in ligher sleep than the motionless when we are in deep sleep.

As you can see in the above screenshot when I first go to sleep I’m fidgety then it slows into some basic rhythms.  Wakemate takes this data and turns it into something a bit more understandable (see below).

This is data that can be used…

When to Wake

If you had a choice would you rather wake up from a deep sleep or a light one?  Generally when you wake up from a deep sleep it’s like rising out of a fog—you drag the full weight of sleep and try to find enough inertia to wake.  That’s not the kindest way to wake in the morning.  With Wakemate you use your smartphone (or iDevice) to set a wake up time window usually within 20m. If you wanted to wake up at 7:00am then Wakemate will attempt to find you in a light sleep from 6:40 with a forced alarm at 7:00am.

We’re Too Smart

Putting the idea into practice is a bit more interesting.  The reality is we human’s are very adaptable and don’t like to be monitored or told what to do.  Really, who loves their alarm?

Throughout most of the first week I was conscious going to sleep that there was something watching me. Waiting for me to sleep.  I’d think in my mind, ‘I’m not asleep yet, but I’m motionless—it’s going to think I’m asleep—but I’m not.’  Strangest thoughts that would cross my mind.  That eventually subsided as your caring for its opinion waned.  Even so once and a while I know I’m moving my wrist now when I’m awake but motionless.  Silly, right?

The rest of the nights sleep is your own.  Waking though.. the alarm catches you.  You roll over, little thoughts flit across your still mind and then the alarm catches you with one of it’s rather melodic tunes.  That’s how simple the first few wakings were.  From this point you are somewhat awake, pulling yourself out of that floating comfort zone might take some effort but you were closer than farther.

Adaptation is Amazing

Over time you adapt, you know it’s watching again when you wake.  You roll over, this time as little thoughts flit within your head you have one that startles you… it says, ‘You’re awake, but if you move or do anything more than this thought the alarm will go off and this moment will be over.’  Now that’s amazing right?

Some mornings now I’ll pre-wake and make sure I am deadly still so that I might not leave my tranquil comfort zone.  No matter what I am no longer surprised to hear the alarm.  I rise up in sleep, acknowledge my conscious mind and then *alarm-chimes* it’s time to get up.  Then the onslaught of psychological modifiers that want to beg me to stay warm and sleepy hit—Wakemate doesn’t help with those thoughts.  It’s up to you and what your day has in store for you to wipe those away.

Getting Better Sleep

If finding out how to outwit technology isn’t something you care about maybe you just want to study your sleep.  Wakemate allows you to see your sleep objectively over time.

When we begin to watch our actions we can change our behavior (something to really remember).  Wakemate allows us to catalog our evenings data with tags. Were you stressed, drink a lot of caffeine, have a late night, watch tv, fan on, fan off, etc.  If you are doing your own sleep studies and want to see how a behavioral modification will effect you.  Do a trial of a week with or without the behavior and correlate your own information on better/worse nights sleep.  Not a bad beginning for <$60.

Future Thoughts

Wakemate has taught me to recognize it when I am lightly sleeping and if I am of a good mindset I can act upon it easily.  I don’t know how much I’ll use Wakemate as my alarm though because of how I get snarky about waking up by being monitored.  My favorite part of Wakemate is evaluating my evenings sleep and knowing that I can get a good night sleep by changing a few things in my routine for the day.

• Currently we have a very shallow way of working with our data and after reading and voting within the User Voice Wakemate community know that they want to give us this type of functionality.
• Let me add context to the evening’s sleep; if I remember dreaming at 1am then lets add notes to a timeline.
• System corrections, sometimes the actigraphy is off—I was awake at 3am but there it says I was not.  One thing white papers talk about on actigraphy as that it needs to be trained to the individual.  Right now I don’t know how or even if the Wakemate system has any adaptation to you as an individual.  Let the users help.
• Wakemate requires at least 4 hours before it will offload your data, what about nappers (being worked on)
• Interruptions, if I have to use the restroom the iDevice might complain that it can’t reach the wristband. I need to have a pause or Sleep Interrupt button.  Especially with a newborn on the way this device is not going to be able to keep up with that style of sleep but I’d love to record it so I can help adapt to it.
• Exporting of Actigraphy data, let me at my data—I want to run cool plots of my own.
• Longer battery life. Currently we get 1 maybe 2 days of charge.

Wakemate is in it’s infancy and has a lot of good room to grow.  I hope they can continue to pull in ideas and desires of their public to make better and better ways of looking at a time in our life we usually feel we have little control over.

Sleep well.

For those that hate to read, the good news is that Robin is pregnant, around 17-18 weeks and after yesterday’s sonogram we are happy to announce a boy is on the way.  Our new one should join us late July.

Best Laid Plans

6, maybe 7 years ago I laid out a plan to my wife.  To hold off having children about 5 years.  Because of course by then we can handle children and figure out the rest because life will be so grand then.  Well life never takes the course you plot.  You can occasionally steer a few degrees but for the most part you are swept up in circumstance.

Our life was no exception but youth makes you quite naive.

Trials by Fire and Loss

I’ve been wanting to tell our story for a while but with all painful or trying events you need time before you can reflect properly.

Over the past year and then some we had the harsh reality that life is much more precious and messy than we ever expected.  I like to tell others that we, we meaning boys, are raised with the notion that if you look at a female wrong—she’ll get pregnant.  That’s just not the case. The Doctors will tell you that if it were that easy we’d all be set with just a couple of sperm and eggs and continue humanity rather easily. Not! Then once you conceive that’s just the first of your uphill climbs, there’s a 1:3 chance that a woman will miscarry—another thing you are never taught so when it happens to you it’s absolutely soul crushing.

If you’re lucky you won’t roll those dice until your second or third child, at least then you have a consolation prize as our Dr. put it.  Robin and I had the misfortune to experience this a few times early on.  Robin is amazingly strong and I am there for whatever her needs may be.  I’d like to say ‘We were strong’, but the strength really lay with her.  I am but a bystander, a woman goes through so much I can barely comprehend.

In the end we probably became a little too clinical for our own good but it’s hard not to.  It’s like in a scary movie when you know something bad is about to happen so you prepare yourself.  We began to steel ourselves to what might occur. To any of those out there that are going through this or even more difficult procedures we send you our hope.  We know we’re getting off easy comparatively and we respect anyone trying to have a family of their own.

Perseverance and Time

Today marks a new chapter for us and one we are excited to share.  Robin has had me under NDA for so long, I am a social creature after all and it’s been tough to bite my tongue. I like to show my joy. Especially for this!

We are happy that our early hurdles are behind us and from what we could tell we’re hoping for a safe and sound journey for the rest of Robin’s term.

The only thing I regret is my decision to make Robin wait for a family.  If I had any foresight into how long it would take just to get us to this point I would have been happy to start sooner than later.  I encourage those other plan makers I know out there to take note that your plans will not go accordingly, so be kinder and more flexible with your goals and each other.

We are gracious, humbled, and deeply happy.  We look forward to what is to come!

Just to be clear I’m a humanist/centrist with fundamentals rooted in the Libertarian party.  I don’t think either party is serving us well.  The infighting, positioning is like watching animals in a hen house and while they bicker nothing gets done.  I’d rather things get done that can be refined in time than nothing at all.  Inaction causes far more problems.

DailyKos had a few great questions and answers which I thought I’d share because it is worth keeping in mind as you enter the election booth.  The real curiosity is why we don’t hear more of this.

I don’t think our country is reaching escape velocity or the world is going to end tomorrow.  We’re in a pickle to be sure but we’re always in one.  Life is messy.

Last I leave you with a clip from Jon Stewart’s recent Rally to Restore Sanity.  Jump to 3 minutes in where you can understand more of the common sense we need to restore.

I just want people to think, ask good questions, and seek good answers. I’d love to see more political parties enter the fray and root deeper so we could have a more balanced view of all of us. Not only would it be healthy it would allow for far more compromise to be reached.

I keep going back to this point in my head..

You Pay for What?

We pay what for these services?  We have rights to these services?

It’s a mousetrap that has some fantastic connectivity and resources and we get upset when the capital motivations are there by default?

Yes this is the question game.

Look at your web browsers. You accept cookies, beacons, and report all your whimsical anonymous data every moment.  It’s not off by default.  Why?  Because it would kill the ad revenue of browser business models.

Natural Born Skeptic

We should be born skeptics is all it comes down to. If you don’t pay for a service, expect the service to want something out of you for using it. If you pay for the service I expect a lot more for my money and expect to have recourse when things go awry (hear that check baggage fee!)

Defensive Driving

You are taught that a defensive driver is the best driver—they’re all out to get you I can hear my parents saying.

Same thing exists online.  Enjoy the ride but beware of all the caveats.  Find out what data you are bleeding out—if it’s anonymous, how it’s correlated, is it sold, and then come to peace with those things or use anonymizers and a load of plugins to attempt (and I say attempt because it is an attempt—not a guarantee of true anonymity) to stay off the radar.

Free Will

We use these services of our own free will.  Eagerly walking into a commercial trap because we like what it has to offer at a price that can’t be beat. While I expect some civility in these services I don’t expect them to look out for my interests and neither should you.

I’ll be curious to see how the course of data laws, options, our expectations, and free enterprise all mingle over the next decade.

I let some intuition do the driving here as I wasn’t quite sure what I was up to but had a good inkling of where it was going to head.  This is not a quick recipe but it is rewarding and can feed up to 8 or give you leftovers galore. You can cut corners and I’ll let you figure that out. For me we have a huge supply of heritage tomatoes (tear drop, zebra, polish) I wanted to assimilate.

Spagetti Sopressata Bake

• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup pasta water
• 1/2 cup bell pepper
• couple bay leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 med. sweet onion
• 8 oz mushrooms (a package)
• 1.5tsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 lb sopressata (sliced & Julianned or cubed)
• 3/4 lb uncooked thin spagetti
• 2 cups Italian cheese blend (or favorites)
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tbls oregano
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp sugar

Cooking Steps, Start the Sauce

1. Smash and dice garlic
2. Dice chop onion, pepper
3. Food process or dice your tomatoes
4. Heat deep saucepan over med-high heat
5. Combine garlic, onion, pepper, 2 tsp salt, pepper, garlic powder in saucepan.
6. Heat until soft, about 3m
7. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and bay leaves
8. Raise to a boil and simmer covered for 30m

Sautee Time

1. Take your soporessata sauté/fry to a light/medium crisp, remove & set aside
2. Chop mushrooms, add butter—sauté through sweating, add 1tsp salt & some pepper continue cooking to your liking
3. Once first 30m is done with sauce add these to it for another 10-15m uncovered

Casserole Assembly

1. Preheat oven to 350’
2. Prepare spagetti according to package/your taste
3. Take 1 cup pasta water, add to sauce
4. It’s about layers; add sauce to baking dish, add noodles, add cheese
5. Top layer should just be sauce
6. Bake for 30m
7. Grate/add parma to top, return to oven at broil for 5m

Remove from the oven and let it sit 5-10m.  During which time you can make some garlic bread, tasty salad, or a side of choice.  Cut into portion squares and enjoy!

We got a healthy dinner, packaged 2 sizable portions, and are freezing a few portions for a quick meal in the future.