Look Ma! I Got My California IOU Today!

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An update: Wells Fargo and B of A announced they will start accepting the IOUs again. Wells Fargo on 9/4 and B of A on 9/9.  Yippee! Or alternatively you can mail the IOU to the State Treasurer's office with a return address and they will send you a check to cash in return. 

Yippee!  California State Controller John Chiang today (8/13/09) announced they will be able to stop issuing IOUs on 9/4/09 and start redeeming previously issued IOUs on that date. 

Well you know, maybe holding on to this IOU isn't such a bad thing after all.  With money market and CD interest rates hovering near 1%, holding on to this $2000 IOU paying 3.75% isn't so bad.  And, the added bonus is that interest on the warrants is both state and federal TAX-FREE!  If you're in the 9.55% state and 28% federal tax brackets, that equates to a pre-tax yield of 6%!

So John Chiang, while I still enjoy ranting about these ridiculous IOUs because the cost of issuing and processing them must be outrageous, could I hold on to mine for another year!?

Chiang will give a more definite answer on the IOU redemption timeline after his emergency meeting with the Pooled Money Investment Board on 8/21/09.  I spoke with the California State Treasurer's office about the time frames involved. He confirmed that IOU holders will have to either mail in the IOUs to receive a check (with interest) or perhaps after the PMIB meeting, more banks will start accepting the IOUs again.

But if ya ask me, I'm holding on to mine until the end at this point.  If you take the IOU to the bank, they get all the interest :<

Originally Posted 7/25/09:

Its my own fault I suppose for filing my tax returns 3 months late (with extensions). Today I received, f

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Recent American Express Letter Regarding Security Breach - An Example of Good Communication

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My wife recently received this letter in the mail from American Express:

The 2nd page of the letter (not shown) apologized for any inconvenience and was signed by the VP, Privacy Officer.

While at first it was scary to read the letter, it quickly was apparent that Amex had a handle on the situation and was closely monitoring the account for fraud perpetrated by the former employee who obtained the credit card information.

And I was most impressed by the fact that the toll-free was immediately answered by a LIVE PERSON when I called at 8 pm!  No wait, no transfers, no provide all sorts of information.  The woman on the other end of the line was friendly, cordial, knowledgeable and answered all my questions. I was truly expecting a recorded line, 20 minute wait, hold, provide card number, PIN, mom's maiden name, mailing address, etc., etc.

Nice job Amex! You took a negative situation and turned it positive!

FREE eBook "Free: The Future of a Radical Price" by Chris Anderson

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This book entitled "Free: The Future of a Radical Price" has been launched as a free eBook by author Chris Anderson.  The book is about launching products for free or less than actual cost while converting some of the customers to additional paid features. Click the rectangle in the upper right hand menu below to enlarge the book.

FREE (full book) by Chris Anderson

Where (Not) to Smoke in Thousand Oaks, Calabasas and Moorpark

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Most of you have heard about last week's Moorpark City Council vote last week to prohibit smoking in most public places.  The new law, which becomes effective in August, is summarized below along with other state and local bans.  There are no federal smoking bans, though roughly 70% of the country has some type of workplace smoking ban (inversely, 30% of the U.S. population can still smoke at work).

State of California

Smoking in enclosed workplaces and within 20 feet thereof has been banned in California since January 1995.  The law also applies to restaurants and bars.  The law has certain exceptions, such as workplaces with up to 5 employees (assuming no minors and all employees consent), up to 65% of hotel rooms, etc.  Since 1/1/08, smoking in a car with a minor has been illegal in California.  Since 1/1/02, it has been illegal to smoke within 25 feet of a public playground (unless you are smoking on a public sidewalk within 25 feet of the playground, in which case it is perfectly legal).

City of Calabasas

The City of Calabasas smoking ban has been in place since 3/16/06 and outlaws pretty much all public places, both inside and outside...streets, sidewalks, parks, restaurants, stores, you name it. You are allowed to smoke in your home and in designated smoking areas.  You are also allowed to smoke in any outdoor area in which no non-smoker is within reasonable distance and due to the time of day you

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Mama Don't Take My Kodachrome Away!

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This past Monday, 6/22/09, Eastman Kodak announced it is discontinuing Kodachrome, the film it has manufactured since 1935. Kodachrome is now yet another relic of the past, like VHS tapes, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, GM, analog TV and unsliced bread. But the film certainly has its place in history, including its use in this well known 1985 Steve McCurry photo of a young Afghan girl.

While Kodachrome will soon be gone, it will forever be memorialized by Paul Simon's 1973 song named after the 35mm film that peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts. I love this song.

When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It's a wonder
I can think at all

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Time Lapsed Video of a Guy Who Walked 2900 Miles Across China

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This guy, Christoph Rehage, walked 2900 miles in one year across China, from Beijing to Ürümqi, and took pictures of himself along the way.  Personally I think I could have done this in 4 months...but getting past that this time lapsed video of Rehage's face is quite amusing and I love the music.  For more information about his journey (he originally planned to walk from Beijing to his hometown in Northwest Germany), visit www.thelongestway.com.

Twitter Continues to Grow and Grow in Popularity! Jump on the Twitter Bandwagon!

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THIS WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED IN JANUARY...but I'm updating this post due to the unbelievable popularity Twitter continues to have. Twitter is a PHENOMENON. The interesting thing about Twitter is that you can "follow" people you don't know, including a growing list of celebraties (including me of course at www.twitter.com/ConejoJoe. To some this is an incredible waste of time but to others this is interesting and fun (I'm somewhere in the middle). Here's just a small sampling of celebrity Twitterers along with their current followers...will be fun to see these stats a year from now):

http://twitter.com/PeteCarroll (22K followers as of 5/30/09)

http://twitter.com/adamsandler (102K followers)

http://twitter.com/kimkardashian (916K followers)

http://twitter.com/serenajwilliams (236K followers)

http://twitter.com/RyanSeacrest (1.1 million followers)

http://twitter.com/mileycyrus (704K followers)

http://twitter.com/jtimberlake (193K followers)

http://twitter.com/TheEllenShow (1.7M followers..wow!)

http://twitter.com/aplusk (Ashton Kucher...nearly 2M followers)

http://twitter.com/SarahKSilverman (110K followers)

http://twitter.com/mrskutcher (Demi Moore - 1M followers)

http://twitter.com/NotTinaFey (Tina Fey, I think 385K followers)

http://twitter.com/Oprah (1.2 million followers)

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