Tag Archives: Transportation

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The Value Equation: For what am I willing to exchange my personal information

Mother’s Day is a big event this year. Little Sister is coming to celebrate with the Nonagenarian and me. We’ll be having sunset tea at the hotel where Little Sister held her wedding reception 30 years ago. Fond memories abound. The Nonagenarian is excited.

Little Sister and I celebrated the Nonagenarian’s 85th birthday together. That was a huge success, so I am attempting to replicate the transportation. We hired a limo and driver. The advantage was that no one had to be the designated driver and we got to tell the waiter who asked if we had time for more wine, “Our driver is picking us up at 3.” He didn’t believe us. We know this because, when we ordered the second bottle of wine, he worried if we would be rushed to complete it. “Our driver is not picking us up until 3.” “Oh, you were serious.” Mother nodded happily, her mouth full of cake from  a plate on which the kitchen had written in chocolate syrup, Happy Birthday.

I’ve been researching limousine services online – as you do. All of them make inquiries complicated.  The most recent attempt to get a quote, and one out of which I bailed, wanted my home phone number and made it mandatory. The limo is supposed to be a surprise. The one most likely to answer the home phone line is the Nonagenarian. Nope, not going to exchange my personal information to spoil a surprise that might not even come to fruition.  Data collection fail.

The course I took last week, about creating online forms, provided some really interesting data about form completion. Any more than 5 fields and the percentage of failures-to-complete rises dramatically, and continues to rise the more fields you add. The kind of data requested is the line in the sand for me. [Remember I'm an online marketer. I get why the questions are asked.]

I never complete a form online that makes disclosing my income mandatory. Studies have shown that people who complete online forms do not hesitate to lie when asked that question. The data are useless. Home phone is another one…the Nonagenarian has enough difficulty managing the stupid calls for duct cleaning or help with our credit card debt. I don’t add to her burden.

Do you want my personal information? Then you have to make the value exchange work for me…not you.

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Tricorder Blues

When I was a young girl sitting on the living room floor in front of our black and white television, I marvelled at Spock and his Tricorder… or Bones and his device. They were possibilities. I never imagined that in my lifetime, rudimentary Tricorders would be everyday tools. I write this on a ‘droid tablet, a “real” handheld device capable of analysing data, storing information and scanning.

June 2 would have been my maternal grandfather’s 130th birthday. Victoria was Queen. The Wright Brothers had not yet flown. Transcontinental trains in North America were new-fangled and the epitome of high speed transportation. A mere three generations after his birth, we’ve been to the moon, transplanted hearts, and nearly annihilated ourselves, twice!

Sadly, for all our advances, poverty, prejudice and fear continue to exist. There is no Tricorder yet capable of eradicating ignorance.

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Dealing with the inconvenience of air travel

Modern hub-and-spoke system (circa 1995)

Image via Wikipedia

Commercial flights are not my favourite means of transportation. Flying is inconvenient, over taxed and essentially inhospitable. [Obviously I don't fly business class.] Here are 5 tips for dealing with the inconvenience of air travel:

  1. Airport security and customs personnel are right – even when they are wrong – so don’t try to beat the system – pack your carry-on according to regulations.
  2. Collect airports - When I flew YYZ to Jackson Hole via Atlanta and Salt Lake City, I added two new airports to my collection.
  3. Dress up, not down…you’ll get more respect from the dozens of people who are in a position to make your trip a nightmare…and you will be chosen for an upgrade over a backpacker.
  4. Take the route less traveled – there are reasons that certain flights cost less than others and it isn’t always because there are multiple connections. Everybody opts for convenience, so you are competing for space with the majority.
  5.  Own the discomfort and lack of amenities if you purchase a no-frills airline – remember you get what you pay for.