Category: Observations Page 24 of 90

Shell Company Crash Course

On April 4, 2016

Planet Money is a phenomenal podcast on NPR which I refused to listen to for years because I thought it would be another boring financial show. It’s anything but and it has become a must-listen for me. They ran a series of shows explaining how off-shore accounts work and how to set them up.

In light of the recent Panama Papers leak, these shows offer good insight to how off-shore accounts work.

The Guardian provides a good overview to the Panama Papers. What are the Panama Papers? A guide to the biggest data leak in history

I’ll let the cast of Planet Money take you through the creation of “Unbelizable Inc.” and “Delawho? LLC.

Episode 390: We Set Up An Offshore Company In A Tax Haven : Planet Money : NPR

Episode 403: What Can We Do With Our Shell Companies? : Planet Money : NPR

Episode 408: How To Hide Money From Your Spouse : Planet Money : NPR

Episode 426: ‘The Rest Of The Story’ (2012 Edition) : Planet Money : NPR

7-11 Chivalry

By Carl

On April 2, 2016

In Observations

Friday night’s adventure started with stopping for gas at 7-11. I was nearly out when I rolled in.

I played the which side of my car is the door on game I’ve played with my new car despite it being months old. I fueled up uneventfully. As I was starting to leave, I heard the older woman next to me ask someone for help with her car. She had locked her keys in her car. And shut the door just enough the lock engaged and she couldn’t get it back open.

The keys were sitting on the seat. It was a brand new car. The means to unlock the car were inches away. But we had no means to reach them.

First, I tried breaking a branch off a nearby tree. It was long enough, but too brittle and snapped as I tried to maneuver it into position to press the unlock button on her door.

As we struggled, two Hispanic guys came over with part of a fishing rod and a screwdriver and we tried to fish for the unlock button. But didn’t get any bites. It was at the wrong angle from the door.

We ended up denting her door frame slightly but were no closer to freeing the keys.

At that point, they left and I had nothing else to help. I told the woman I lived just down the road and would check to see if I had anything at home to help her.

I rode home, said hello to my wife, and searched the house.

I found a long, skinny metal rod in the basement. I have no idea what it was part of but it was about three feet long and no bigger around than a pencil, it looked perfect to my eye.

I grabbed it and returned to the car and drove back to 7-11. As I went, I hoped she would be gone before I made the 5 minute drive back. But she hadn’t moved. Her car, still stranded where I left her.

I parked and walked over, rod in hand and said, I think this will work.

I fished it passed the door’s padding.
I angled it towards the unlock button. It was long enough, but not at the right angle to apply any pressure to the button. I needed a few more inches. Inches I didn’t have.

So we went to Plan B. Her keys were thankfully sitting on the driver’s seat of the car. The fob was visible with the panic button staring back at us.

I took the metal rod and nudged the keys up the back of the seat enough to flip the fob over. I had just enough length to press the unlock button.

With a satisfying click, the doors unlocked and she was able to open the driver’s side door.

With a huge smile, I got a hug and heartfelt thank you. I wished her well and we went our separate ways.

I returned home to dinner filled with warm feelings.

Hands making a heart in front of a sun from Unsplash.com - https://unsplash.com/mayurgala

Trying harder is my customer support secret

By Carl

On April 1, 2016

In Observations

Today I have tried to live up to my own ideal of trying harder and caring about other people’s problems.

I received a call from someone working for the local state government. He was frustrated because he had been trying to access a database hosted at the Food and Drug Administration. He’s been unable to access it for over two weeks.

I had no idea what this database was or know anything about it. But I was determined to help him where others had passed him off. So I asked him for his email address and his ticket number.

While he was on the line, I searched for the site in question on the FDA’s Intranet and found it. But it had no contact information for support.

I told him I would contact the technician assigned to his ticket and find out who he could call for support.

He was very appreciative and we hung up.

Now the real work began. I could have ignored him and gone about my day. After all, it’s not my job to support everything the FDA does. But I was determined to help. So I did as I said.

I emailed the technician assigned to his ticket and asked for a better contact number since the site in question had no support information.

The tech got back to me quickly with the proper phone number and call tree options to press to get support directly.

I thanked him and sent the information back to the guy working in the state government. I hope he gets what he needs. The rest is out of my hands, but I did my best to give him an avenue for support. Now it’s up to the technicians on the other side to fulfill his request.

As an experiment, I recorded today’s post using Anchor. It’s slightly different from the written text but the message remains the same.
It’s embedded below. Or you can listen to the file directly.

Eagle feeding time. All images © American Eagle Foundation.

Watching the Eagles

By Carl

On March 23, 2016

In Observations

When my wife and I went to the National Arboretum last year we heard there were Bald Eagles nesting there for the first time in nearly 50 years. The entire area was blocked off and a park employee was there with a telescope setup pointed at the nest. He was there to answer questions about the Eagles.

The Eagles weren’t in the nest the day we were there but we did have a great day exploring the beautiful lilacs and other flowers. We also found a wallet that looked to have been thrown over the fence. It had been there quite awhile so we dreamed up a story about it being evidence in a crime.

Recently, I found out there was a webcam setup to watch the Eagles nest and their newborn eaglets. Ever since then I’ve become somewhat obsessed with watching it. Being the geek I am, I was curious how they pulled off the setup.

From the American Eagle Foundation’s Press Release (PDF):

The USNA ran about a half mile of fiber optic cable to the cameras’ control box located about 200 feet from the base of the tree. The entire system is powered by a large solar array designed and built by students and staff from Alfred State, SUNY College of Technology.

There are two hi-def webcams. One providing a side view and the other setup above the nest. I was curious how they managed to set them up without disturbing the eagles. As it turns out, the whole thing was a big gamble.

“Bald Eagles don’t always return to their first year nest. We took a huge risk investing in this project and partnering with the Arboretum without any type of certainty that the Eagles would actually return,” says AEF’s P.R. Coordinator Julia Cecere, “It was happy day for everyone when both Eagles were spotted back on the nest this past October.”

I’ve enjoyed watching Mr. President and The First Lady, the names of the two eagles and their two baby eaglets on the Washington DC Live Bald Eagle Cam.

Chaos on the Bridge

By Carl

On March 17, 2016

In Observations

Chaos on the Bridge is the story of Star Trek: The Next Generation now on Netflix. It’s a fun documentary with some great artwork. I enjoyed the story behind the scenes of how it got made and succeeded. I’m glad it rode the good vibes of the original and it had time to find itself in Season 3. I’m very happy Patrick Stewart wasn’t made to act in a wig. It’s worth a watch if you enjoyed the series, or how things get made.

It also brought this image into the world. And that makes me smile.