Well,
I made an excellent vegetable pasta dish that was just loaded with nutrients. I can definitely say it was an awesome dinner. Felt so incredibly full after just one bowl.
It consisted of whole wheat, high fiber pasta mixed with steamed kale, roma tomatoes, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, baby zucchini, carrots and broccoli. Quite delicious and pretty easy to make.
I had a very, very vegan day. Super nutritious day actually! I had hot cereal with blueberries, a banana and fresh squeezed orange/apple/mango juice for breakfast. Then, for lunch, I made hummus, spinach and tomato paninis with popcorn, almonds and orange slices on the side. Then for dinner, I made a homemade whole wheat pizza with roasted red peppers, green peppers, pineapples and almond cheese. For dessert, I blended four frozen bananas with a little vanilla extract, some oranges and pineapple chunks. This makes a very awesome ice cream minus the cream and the load of fat! I drank close to a gallon of water today as well. Funny thing is I thought I would be starving but actually felt more than satiated and maybe a little stuffed!
Tags: orange slices, blueberries, homemade, wheat, Day, SuperWell,
After a series of medical setbacks in the last two years, I have decided to go vegetarian. I’m excited and nervous at the prospect, but due to the health issues I have had, I’ve decided that a plant-based diet will help repair my body. I will regularly post updates on my progress. I know it will be hard, as I’m addicted to animal proteins, sugar and salt, but I’m going to do it and improve my overall health.
I’ve had a series of food allergies and I got Bell’s Palsy last year. I had a previously unknown caffeine allergy, so I’m pretty much eliminating anything bad for me. That includes sweets, caffeine, etc. I’m going whole grains and foods and pretty much all plant based. No dairy included. Nothing with animal proteins!
I’m combining that with daily exercise of 2 hours and a heck of a lot more sleep. Although I’m in good shape at 15.6% body fat, I weigh 217.6 lbs I definitely want to get down to 190 as I want to do IronMan, some more marathons and other triathlons this year. It’s too hard to do with 27 extra lbs I’ve gotta lug around!
Tags: plant, prospect, gotta, bell s palsy, diet, exercise, heck, lot, caffeine
Avocado Boats
An unlikely topic for sure, but a great one. As I was making an excellent latin-inspired turkey soft taco dinner this past week, I was also making fresh guacamole as a side dish. I’m slicing and dicing, scooping the avocados diligently lost in processed thought. My daughter Bailey says to me “You should use those avocado shells like bowls to put the guacamole in.” Keep in mind that Bailey is my own personal Martha Stewart, giving the advice of a hostess/sous chef sage since she was knee-high to a grasshopper. I respond to her by saying, “You know Bailey; that is an excellent idea.” So the idea of the “Avocado Boats” started right there from fruition to completion.
So, I started off by completely cleaning the inside of the avocado shells so that they were essentially empty vessels for latin-infused goodness. The idea here was to prevent any kind of bad stuff from growing inside of the avocado shells and to prevent any form of oxidation of avocado remnants. Once I had them cleaned out, I rinsed lightly the inside of the shells to make them nice and smooth.
I then proceeded to put them on a plate and stuck them in the freezer for an hour. When they came out, they were hard shells that could support just about any food dish. I plated the food with Spanish rice in one avocado boat and some of that fresh guacamole in another. Topped it with some cilantro and they were good to go!
As I was taking Bailey’s idea to fruition, I realized that this would be great for those who are on diets and/or worrying about portion control within their diets. Guacamole is high in good monounsaturated fatty acids, but one still shouldn’t eat too much of it. A side benefit of this with regard to guacamole is that it keeps the guacamole nice and chilled. The kids gave a definitive thumbs-up with a cheering “This is a do-again!” approval. Olé! Win for Dad, inspired by Bailey.
Tags: freezer, guacamole, latin, organization, cookingHello all,
So for the last six months, I have been super busy starting a new company called build.Automate, Inc. As part of the startup, I was also developing a new product to go with that launch called the XData Toolkit. It was a fairly large venture that took an inordinate amount of time professionally and personally. The XData Toolkit is a WordPress plugin that allows one to, well, here is the product description:
“The XData Toolkit is an XML/XSLT transformation engine that allows one to retrieve data from multiple datasources such as MySQL databases, XML, RSS Feeds and REST-based Web Services. This toolkit is a powerful way to build your WordPress sites faster and more dynamically. Integrate scores of different data sources into your site without the need for custom coding and style it using XML standards-based XSL Transformation. Build queries online with the Dynamic Query Interface Builder. Create stylesheets without expensive development tools!”
Since its launch last week, I have been very pleased at the response to its acceptance within the WordPress community. I have 6 more pre-determined versions coming out in the next two months that will build incremental features. This tool has been a long time coming and will allow just about anybody to create large scale WordPress systems with large amounts of dynamic data. I look forward to its evolution from last weeks’ release to a full scale product suite, which is where it is headed. I plan to take on the big boys of XML editors by offering an open source product that does amazing stuff. I also plan to push the WordPress Content Management System into new frontiers.
My company build.Automate, Inc. has the operating mantra of “Superior User Experience, Superior Quality, Superior Service, Superior Results”. You can get more information at my company’s website at http://www.buildautomate.com .
I ended up getting some free time last night before bed and decided that I would finish the Xpandable Author Tab WordPress plugin that I started a month ago. This handy, dandy little utility is great for blog authors that have an extended author description stored for them in WordPress. It saves quite a bit of screen realty on your blog post by encapsulating your author information into an author box that can be expanded upon clicking a button. By default, the information is collapsed upon a reader coming to your post. I still have to add this to the WordPress plugin repository over the next few days, but it is forthcoming. More information and the sneak peak download is on this site at http://www.vaughnbullard.com/apps-plugins/xpandable-author-tab/ . Any suggestions, comments or tips is certainly appreciated.
Tags: bit, author description, Tab, repository, wordpress plugin repository, Tab WordPress, blog, Author, Plugin, few daysOK, so I am a small business owner that uses Intuit Payroll System. If you are a small business owner, maybe you should pay attention to this post as it details the changing of my business work location from the San Francisco area to the Northern Virginia/DC metro area. The fact is that Intuit claims that they “Hard Code” states into the system. It kind of infuriated me enough for me to blog about it. Special highlights have been emphasized for good measure.
Please wait for a customer support representative. We’ll be with you shortly!
You’re now chatting with ‘Susan’.
Susan: Hello, Vaughn, how may I assist you today?
Vaughn: Yes, I am trying to figure out how to change the primary work location on my setup. It is currently set to San Francisco, but I am trying to change it to Ashburn, VA.
Susan: Unfortunately you are not able to make a state change to the primary address. You would have to create a new payroll account for this.
Susan: I understand how frustrating and tedious this is and I completely understand, but our payroll service is currently not setup to handle primary state changes in an account.
Vaughn: Well, does that mean I have to pay for a new service?
Susan: Cancel the current one after you setup the new account in VA.
Vaughn: mmmm, no. Can’t do.
Susan: Yes. New service.
Vaughn: I need to be able to change the primary address.
Susan: Unfortunately this is the only current workaround to change the primary work location if it’s in a different state from what it is currently set to.
Vaughn: I would like a complete refund.
Susan: Our system is hard coded in where you won’t be able to change from one state to another.
Susan: Are you wanting to discontinue services with us?
Vaughn: Who, in this day and age, hard codes states into a system?
Vaughn: I would like a complete refund.
Vaughn: Then when I get the refund
Vaughn: and only when I get the refund, I may setup a new payroll
Vaughn: Your system just charged me $51 on Saturday.
Susan: Again, I’m sorry about this Vaughn and I can not issue a refund because you are not able to change the primary state on your account without having to open up a new one.
Vaughn: I’ll just get the CC company to back out the charge.
Vaughn: This is total baloney.
Susan: I put in a feature request about being able to change the primary state without having to open a new account, but at this current time, opening up a new one would be the only option.
Susan: You can also provide your feedback at onlinepayrollfeedback@intuit.com.
Vaughn: Hold on, on the phone with bank.
Vaughn: backing out the charge
Susan: Ok. I can hold.
Vaughn: You can transfer me to a manager correct?
Vaughn: while I am waiting
Susan: I can see if my manager is available, yes.
INSERT 5 MINUTE WAIT HERE
Susan: Is this in regards to not being able to get a refund on our end?
Vaughn: of course it is
Susan: One moment Vaughn.
Vaughn: I’ve talked with Visa and my bank
Susan: Vaughn you still there?
Susan: Ok.
Vaughn: They will refund me the money.
Susan: Ok.
Vaughn: I am going through and deleting information from your system.
Vaughn: And putting in false information since your system will not allow me to delete anything,
Vaughn: etc.
Susan: Totally up to you, but if you wish to file your year-end-forms with us it will have the information you have entered.
Vaughn: No need.
Vaughn: I will get a service
Vaughn: that actually cares
Vaughn: about their customers’ needs.
Susan: Sorry to hear about that Vaughn. I can see where you are coming from that why should you have to open a new account just to change a primary state location, but unfortunately our system won’t allow it to change from one state to another.
Vaughn: My question is if you can change my billing address why can’t you change my business address
Vaughn: Even the Visa and my bank reps said that was ‘crazy non-sense’
Vaughn: It is simply a business decision to make money
Susan: And being a customer myself for any other business, I can see what you are saying, but as mentioned, I have sent this over as a feature request to our engineers.
Vaughn: Don’t need feature requests, just need it changed in the database.
Vaughn: Actually, let me talk to a manager
Susan: Sure!
Please wait while I transfer you to ‘Amy’, who will be better able to assist you.
You’re now chatting with ‘Amy’.
Amy: Hello Vaughn. My name is Amy.
Amy: I am a manager here at Intuit.
Vaughn: Do you have any power to change stuff in a database?
Amy: When specifically regarding changing the primary state location, I do not.
Vaughn: How on Earth did your engineers design your system?
Amy: I understand that you are frustrated that our system does not support being able to change your primary state. In order to have the correct state listed, you will need to create a new account to have Virginia as your primary location.
Vaughn: This is bogus. You mean to tell me that your system pulls my primary state and account information from a flat file on some system?
Amy: Yes, that is correct. The information that was provided when you set up your account allows our system to determine what state files to generate when taxes are due.
Vaughn: Are you kidding me?
Amy: Is your business location in San Francisco?
Vaughn: Is the primary state and account information in a flat file or in a database?
Amy: I am actually not provided the information on how the system is coded, so I cannot provide an answer. However, at this time, our system is designed in a way that locks in the state when that information is entered upon setup
Vaughn: Can I speak with your manager or a technical person that knows how the system is coded?
Amy: Customers are typically recommended they do is set up their primary state to the address the IRS has on file for them.
Amy: I can provide a recommendation or a feature request on your behalf to our engineers to solve for your situation in the future, however at this time, the main solution would be for you to create a new account with Virginia as the primary location.
Vaughn: Can I speak with your manager or a technical person that knows how the system is coded, as you yourself stated, do not have the requisite knowledge to solve my problem.
Vaughn: ?
Amy: Within my organization, none of my associates on the management team are aware of coding of the site. You can email onlinepayrollfeedback@intuit.com to have your request for more information forwarded to the department that can answer that question.
Amy: I understand it is not ideal to recreate a new account, however I do show that you signed up as recently as September, so transferring your data will not be too time consuming.
Vaughn: I’m not worried about time consuming.
Vaughn: I am not transferring anything over.
Amy: You mentioned you want to change the account from CA to VA.
Vaughn: That is correct.
Amy: Do you have any employees that live or work in Ca?
Vaughn: Just myself. (I said this because I knew they would try to charge me more or come up with some other weird excuse)
Amy: There is no charge to set up a new account.
Vaughn: Yes there is, there is a hold on CC when you sign up.
Amy: We ask for that information, however billing does not begin until you approve your first check within the new account.
Vaughn: So, you’re going to transfer my $51 in credits to the new account?
Amy: An with Intuit Online Payroll, you actually will receive your first month free, so you will not be billed until your second month.
Amy: Will you be adding new employees at anytime? and if so, what state will they be located in?
Vaughn: Just myself and in Virginia
Amy: Is the filing address for your business with the IRS listed as your California location or in Virginia?
Vaughn: Virginia
Vaughn: 12345 MyStreet
Vaughn: Ashburn, VA 20148
Amy: I see. Thank you for providing this information
Amy: So, as it stands, it would be ideal for you to create a new account with VA as the primary location. When creating a new account, indicate that address above and please reenter your employee and your own information.
I dealt with this for over two hours. At the end of the exchange with Amy, my chat window magically froze. So, I go back to the website, re-login and then start a new session with another customer service representative. She started to make the change and then she said “let me review your previous chat history with Amy” and then suddenly she cannot do it because there’s magically a problem with the “state being hard-coded” in “our system”. So, after about 45 minutes additional wrangling with that customer service rep, I think Intuit got the hint that I wasn’t going to back down until they gave me what I wanted-which was a refund. I think the point here is that a company in this day and age has to be upfront about “dumb” policies. If your system has a flaw, state it and let the customers decide for themselves whether or not their business should be placed with your company. Don’t give BS excuses to customers and just expect them to “drink the kool-aid” . AND, if your system has an obvious flaw like this, get it solved immediately, no excuse, no compromise. Customers will vote you out of the market.
:V
Tags: intuit, business work, good measure, workaround, payroll service, payroll system, northern virginia
OK, so in the spirit of “Technical Tuesdays”, I have added iPhone support for VaughnBullard.Com. There is no need to add any apps to enjoy the wonderful and enticing writings donated to mankind by ‘moi’. Jokes aside, all one has to do is go simply to their Safari browser on their iPhone and type in http://www.vaughnbullard.com . A iPhone themed version of my website will then be displayed. It’s very cool. Then, if you feel like it, click the ‘add’ button and click ‘Add To Home Screen’ and you’ll get a pint size icon of my head masquerading as an iPhone app. That will now be your shortcut for launching my blog.
Happy Reading,
:Vaughn
Tags: Technical, Technical Tuesdays, Screen, add button, VaughnBullard, attachment, iphone, spirit, type
Yes, so I’ve finally finished up the redesign of my blog. I’ve meant for the blog to be more concise, have a lot more functionality and a lot more readability. Some of the features include:
Welcome to my new blog. After years of maintaining a ‘Yay Me’ blog, I have gone utterly simplistic. Gone are the commendations and awards, now just my writings and contributions on my website. I’m trying simply to engage my readers and followers in informative, helpful and inspiring ways. If you are interested in seeing more of the projects that I am working on, please feel free to go on over to my projects page. Eat well, live well and love well. Boy, that sounded kind of prophetic or pathetic?
Best of luck,
Vaughn
Tags: commendations, page, yay, blog, love
