Tom's World » General

Dear Google: You impress me!

Tom — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:31:50 +0000

A little over a year ago, I purchased a picture of Albert Einstein at a flea market, framed it, and put it in my office. Until today, I’ve never seen another copy of it *anywhere*!

Using Google Goggles today, I took a picture of my Einstein poster

And here is what it found

I am STUNNED! It is obviously from the same photo shoot and looks like it could be a different crop of the same image. Absolutely remarkable, Google!

The image was found at this url:
http://www.elpais.com/fotografia/portada/Albert/Einstein/elpeputec/20080504elpepspor_1/Ies/

Iowa Castle, I FEEL Cheated

Tom — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:28:59 +0000

Last night (Wednesday April 30, 2008), our small family of 4 headed out to have a quick dinner and then over to Baskin Robbins for $0.31 ice cream. As per usual, we couldn’t decide where to eat, and then I remembered reading an article about Iowa Castle in the Des Moines Register. It was close, so we ventured over.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by a big sign on the window that read “10% OFF Dine in Only”. I thought, “Sweet, a discount just for eating here!” We ordered our meals (Crissy – #2 $4.99, Tom – #9 $5.99, Josh – Kids Nuggets $2.99 w/milk). We were charged $15.86, I thought nothing of it, sat down and proceeded to eat our meals. While sitting there eating, I thought to myself, gosh, for 10% off, it seems that we might have over paid a little bit. My math said $4.99 + $5.99 + 2.99+6% tax = $14.81 right? No one was at the counter (actually there was practically no one in the restaurant at all) so I thought I’d ask what the deal was. The guy explained to me that you only get 10% off if you have some special “VIP” card which he offered to me for future visits, and since I we ordered milk with the kids meal instead of pop it was an extra $0.99 charge. At that point, I accepted the answered and sat down to finish my meal. When Crissy finished her meal, she looked down at the placemat and read that on Wednesdays, for each combo meal purchased, receive $0.50 off a kids meal. At that point, I noticed that there was another window display on the other side of the building that said, “Kid’s Nite each Wednesday”. I decided at that point that I had given the establishment an opportunity to right any wrongs on pricing so I wasn’t about to re-approach the cashier about the kids night deal. Instead I thought I’d post it here and say to the world, “HEY IOWA CASTLE, I FEEL CHEATED!” It’s entirely possible that I was charged appropriately. It’s possible that a little carton of milk was $1.49 OVER the cost of a pop. It’s also possible that straight up, milk is $0.99 and they owe me a kids size pop because I apparently purchased both.

In summary, we went to Iowa Castle last night for dinner, paid $15.86 and I feel that we should have paid somewhere between $12.85 and $15.33.

Best Case: Kids Nite, 10% off, and no extra charge for milk on a kids meal (like the rest of the world)
($2.99 + $4.99 + $5.99 – $0.50) * 0.9 * 1.06 = $12.85

Allow only 1 discount (with and without extra milk charge):
($2.99 + $4.99 + $5.99 – $0.50) * 1.06 = $14.28
($2.99 + $4.99 + $5.99 – $0.50 + $0.99) * 1.06 = $15.33
($2.99 + $4.99 + $5.99) * 0.9 * 1.06 = $13.33
($2.99 + $4.99 + $5.99 + $0.99) * 0.9 * 1.06 = $14.27

There may be more combinations, but those are the scenarios I came up with. I know I’m being silly, but I am a bit ticked off at being misled (either intentionally or not) as to “deals” at this restaurant.

I’ll end on a positive note. The food was great, and I may even decide to eat there again.

On an even better note, Baskin Robbins was awesome. Josh, Crissy and I had ice cream cones and the total bill was $0.99!

Josh Has something to say

Tom — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 00:56:00 +0000

Josh has been BEGGING to tell everyone something!

SHall Turns 30!

Tom — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 16:35:59 +0000

Seth turns 30!

Download iPod format

Woah, Slashdot down, Slashdot down!

Tom — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 02:44:34 +0000

Tonight, I broke into a cold sweat. I went to read an article through slashdot about the first programming language I learned in college (Scheme) when suddenly, the unthinkable happened! SLASHDOT WAS BROKEN!

Chris P. tried it too and reported the same thing. Luckily, as of a few minutes ago, The Slash followed by the Dot worked once again.

Fireworks

Tom — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 02:04:29 +0000

Some outtakes from fireworks at Andy’s in Ohio!

Download iPod format

Fame Dancer

Tom — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 03:10:52 +0000

This is a funny video I put together for a friend. It’s a video of a friend of my friend put to an appropriate song

Also in mp4

Father

Tom — Mon, 30 May 2005 16:35:19 +0000

A couple days ago, my dad passed away. We’re going to miss him, but he’s in heaven now!
The last month of his life have been chronicled by my sister Jennifer. His obituary was published in the Muscatine Journal.
I hope that my son Joshua will love me as much as I love my dad.

New Project

Tom — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 15:37:31 +0000

Hello! Long time no see
It’s only been about 3 years since I last posted here. I post here in my free time, so you might be able to figure out why I haven’t posted in sooooo long!
I wanted to share my new project with you. Well, Joshua isn’t really a project. He’s amazing!

Winblows 98

Tom — Tue, 26 Mar 2002 03:33:15 +0000

I couldn’t resist the impulse buy!

Crissy pointed this one out to me in the store. For the potential defamation lawsuit itself, it was a must buy! I’m sure it will be a collector’s item.

The only question now: Should I open the package and play the games or leave it in the shrink wrap???