Blogger now has an iOS app!

Here's my first meaningless post from the new iOS Blogger app. :-)

Get it in the app store.

Test complete!

This is what $91 gets you on FTD.com

My wife called me today to thank me for the flowers I sent her for Valentine's Day; I asked her how the flowers looked and she says "It's the thought that counts", OUCH! She sent me this photo of the arrangement and it looks very sad and is poorly arranged. I expected a lot more from FTD; my mom owned a flowershop for many years; we would have never sent out an arrangement looking like this; it barely resembles what I selected.

There was a great deal on Groupon to get a $40 credit at FTD for $20 which sounded like a good deal. I did not want components of an arrangement shipped in a box to my wife so I went to the FTD site to see what was available and they had the option to order florist delivered arrangements and I found one that I liked. I decided to go for it and made my first Groupon purchase.

Back to the FTD site and viewing the arrangement I liked FTD Sweethearts Bouquet (this link is to a FTD affiliated site because FTD has removed the arrangement from their site but this is the exact same arrangement) I decide to upgrade and go bigger by selecting the premium version which in the text description on FTD.com said has 13 roses and looked a lot fuller.

The FTD tally:
Sweethearts Bqt $64.99
11V2

Shipping/Service Fees: $18.99
Tax: $7.34
---------------- ---------
Subtotal $91.32

Groupon Gift Certificate:($40.00)
Total Charge: $51.32


My out of pocket total was $71 because of the $20 Groupon savings.

Never again will I order flowers though the FTD site. I am going back to ordering from a local florist.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #66

Postcrossing Postcard #66 is from Brazil and is a photo of Farol da Barra(Portuguese) a historic lighthouse in Salvador. This card traveled 9,836 Kms (6,112 Miles) and took 13 days to reach me.


An excellent mix of stamps from Brazil, a Trompete(Trumpet), Sapateiro(Shoe Maker), and a depiction of João Guimarães Rosa a Brazilian novelist, considered by many to be one of the greatest Brazilian novelists born in the 20th century

Hoover Dam at night

Hoover Dam at night
Originally uploaded by targeteer2k.

Last week we were driving to Las Vegas on the 93 and got to drive over the Hoover Dam. Since it was late at night there was plenty of space to stop and take a few photos of the Dam and the new bypass bridge in the background. Turned out better than I had expected.

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #65

Postcrossing Postcard #65 is from the Czech Republic and is a city view card of Vyškov. This card traveled 9,789 Kms (6,083 Miles) and took 10 days to get to me.

Stamps from Czech Republic; a drawing of a Cyclamen and Hockey players. I even got a whale sticker. :)

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #64

Postcrossing postcard #64 is from Finland and is a photo of a summer cottage in Finland situated on a small island with trees. Looks like a nice place to vacation at. This card traveled 8,988 Kms (5,585 Miles) and took 12 days to get to me.

This Finnish stamp is a photo of a butterfly called The Purple Emperor (Apatura iris).

Postcrossing Postcard and Stamp #63

Postcrossing postcard #63 is a view card from The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China. The building in the photo is of the administration building at the university. This card traveled 10,613 Kms (6,595 Miles) and took 76 days to get to me!

The postage for this postcard was metered so there is no stamp.

I started posting stories on Whrrl

I recently downloaded the Whrrl iPhone App and have posted a few stories. I created a couple stories while on a walk around the streets near my office just for the fun of it and to test the app. My most recent story from this past Saturday is from my morning at World Tai Chi and Qigong Day at UCI; this story was featured on the main Whrrl page!

I plan to continue posting stories as I find it to be a great way to share some experiences with my friends and strangers (new friends?). I think I'll create a story next time I send out new Postcrossing cards or play an Akoha mission; hopefully get more people interested in these 2 fun activities.

There is a widget to place my stories on this blog but it's to large to put in the side margins so I am going to just place it here in this post for now and when they come out with new widget that is narrower I'll add it to the blog.