My Automatic Life

I have machines in my house for many useful purposes.

Washing Machine - Cleans clothes I put into it.
Dishwasher - Cleans dishes I put into it.
Roomba - Cleans my floor.
Freezer Ice - Makes ice for me automatically.
Microwave - Warms up food automatically.
Garage Door Opener - Let's me enter and exit easily.
Thermostat - Control the central air temperature setting.
Garbage Chute - Not actually automatic, but still very cool.
Wireless internet - Once the WAP key is programmed, connection is automatic.

I'm still waiting for services that will cook food automatically, but that shouldn't be too far in the future. Also, a service to sort and organize the clutter that's spread across my house would be a big plus. Until then, I will continue to insist the truthfulness of the old axiom that life is hard.

Community Action

Newton, MA is planning to fix one of their most broken roads! The Nonantum Road is going to get widened, un-potholed, and generally fixed.

See the Public Hearing information

I approve this, though I wonder if I could get them to extend the bike path that runs along the Charles River from near Watertown Square to Waltham Station. A solid path here would enable dozens of Waltham residents (and me) to bike to work in Cambridge or Downtown Boston without navigating the chaos of Watertown Square.

Rob's Cipher

Can you break my cipher?

0004100916371019
1579103316091669
1039106916071049
1663103110611567
1051160117331103
1553187918471283

I'm going to pre-emptively make the claim that it's not supposed to be something you can figure out in less than a week, however if you make several correct guesses about what to do then you'll find that, in fact, this is easy.

Supermarket Convenience

I have a convenience problem with supermarkets near me. There are 4 legitimate options: Whole Foods, Stop and Shop, Shaw's, and Russo's. Each has pros and cons and each sells things that I buy regularly as a "loss leader". I get granola bars from Whole Foods because they're 33% cheaper there compared to any of the other options. I get produce (fruits and vegetables) at Russo's because it's noticeably fresher AND sells for a discount of about 10%. Then for everything else Stop and Shop and Shaw's have the standard "Weekly Special" offers so I can get everything else that I need for pretty good prices. And while it's nice that I can shop around based on quality and value, having all these options is terribly inconvenient.

I attended a meeting the other day where they defined Value as Quality * Convenience / Cost. I think this holds true for my supermarket situation... if I want to adjust my situation to make it more convenient, I need to sacrifice 1 or 2 of the extra trips and either pay a little bit more or accept options that aren't as good quality. Ho hum.