Trailer Hitch Bike Rack

After fair amount of homework, went with the Softride “Element” 4-bike rack… pricing is consistently $210’ish and I went with my local REI for solid local support.

Was torn between this Element and the $70 more big brother “Dura” model… which ads “anti-sway cradels” (i.e. seat tube rubber wraps) + built in lockup cable + hitch bolt lock + beefier + 5 lbs… I’m thinking I’ll be good at rigging my own anti sway, the rest really didn’t appeal to me and (I presume since we chose the low end 4 cyl. Kia Sportage for it’s gas mileage) I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that I have to use the 1-1/4” hitch extender - so the less weight/torque the better.

Notable feature of the Softride line is its parallelogram bars that keep the bikes perpendicular to the ground when you lean the rack away to open your lift gate... Yakima/Thule hasn't copied that yet… and the only other means for simple tail gate access out there are $600 plus “swing away” style that really look clunky to me. If this sounds useless to you, fine but I feel like it's "last inch" convenience like that which helps things slump over the swear words threshold when you just want to get something out quickly and get going.

There are a couple higher end models to be aware of if you’ve got cash to burn: a lighter aluminum one and a hydraulic Assist model that helps raise back into locked position… cool but my sweet spot is lower end.

The Softride’s are a great price against the field... one can easily hit $300, $400 , $600 for no great reason... I've read a lot about these on Amazon etc and am thoroughly prepped to be careful/creative with rubber straps that seem to be highly prone to tearing … but the metal parts and basic functionality are reported solid across the board.

Roof Cargo Box

Installed this last night... found in local Pep Boys inventory… blasted them with a $20 coupon that expired that day :) so I got it for $210 + tax… my pet theory is that this is so poorly marketed that you are very likely to find this SKU in your local store as well… they had 1 unit and I can’t help but wonder if it was the one and only that their inventory system ships to each location.

This PepBoys SKU is barely a rebrand of the SportRack “Voyager XL”… the manual inside is OEM, headered with “90274 Voyager XL” and “A90275 Aero XL”… one forum I read said this bugger gets down around $100 sometimes during PepBoys promos… something to keep an eye on.

Dimensions: 35 pounds (doesn’t feel like it), 18 cubic feet (this is the max end of the range from what I could see), 62 x 39.5 x 19 inches. We have a “mountain buggy” stroller & kiddie trailer that are in the 31” width, 45” length, 15” height (when flat) range so this opens the possibility of tossing up there if we want to suffer the inconvenience – more likely for a longer trip with a nice usage window between load and unload.

Note: SportRack is a Thule acquisition circa 2005.

This same basic model goes for a big range of prices under different names:

• over $500 as the A90275 Aero XL on Amazon for no good reason.
• Or only $280 as the SR7018 Vista XL.
• Walmart carries it as Aero XL for $300 and $250, take your pick haha.

It was very straightforward to install… a casual 30 mins by myself, taking time to center both axis… the u-bolts are simple and practical… but I’m hoping this $30 quick release kit lets me pop it off at will so that we can readily garage the SUV… will report back on that.

The one other one I saw out there in this bargain range is the X-Cargo Sport 20 currently for $180 at Sears local pickup, but they didn’t stock it locally, and it was ringing up $90 to do the oversized shipping… something to keep an eye on if you’re in the market… 20 cubic feet is up there… 67.5 x 36.25 x 20.25 inches, same 35 lbs.

Correcting 401k excess deferral

hey dad thanks.

i think it's going to work out now.

got fidelity rolling with cutting me the check and i've got the 1099-R details in front of me online to plug into turbo now as well.

the way i understand it now is that i've got one 1099-R to enter on this year's return (with code "P" for previous) which represents the correction of the excess deferral.

and then i've got the earnings on that (just $26 bux) in another 1099-R that is (with code "8") to be put on next year's return.

On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 5:27 PM, Papa Brent Anderson wrote:

    I Got too much in a Roth IRAs one year.  Got a distribution to correct it, but did not file proper form so had to pay the excess contribution penalty again.  It was hard to see how to file that to avoid future penalties (every year til fixed)  Seems like it was indicating somewhere that one received a distribution to correct an excess contribution.  Maybe that will give you something to search for.  Tomorrow I'll try to find a record of what I did.

        Papa Brent

On Monday, March 25, 2013, Brent Anderson wrote:

hey wouldn't you know it, i'm over on the 401k combined between army and R/M... both go right into Fidelity but their bozo 'puter isn't smart enough to put 2 and 2 together... what a country...

anyway, i remember you did this for an IRA maybe in the past and wondered if you did it in Turbo Tax and if so if you could sorta walk me through it.

i've got all the HR/Fidelity paperwork started today to where i should get the overage check paid back to me from Fidelity before 4/15 and be able to correct it and avoid the oft discussed extra penalty.

but what i'm not really clear about is

(A) where to enter this in turbo tax... like am i just supposed to edit my own W-2 and add it into Box#1? - R/Metro says they are not going to issue an amended W-2.

and (B) i'm guessing that the check will probably come back with my contribution plus a little earnings and i should probably include all of that somewhere

and (C) what should i do with the 1099-R when i get it because there's all this chatter about filing that next year versus this year.

appreciate any insight you can give and i'd love to do a quick call with you if you have the time.

Brad, CC'ing you in case you've done this before as well.

Mockup / Wireframe / Prototype Tools

Balsmiq “Mockups”

• demo video
• Adobe AIR based licensed$$ desktop version – very full featured
• Web based demo - works well for quick thoughts

Pencil

• free
• Cross platform desktop app
• Sketchy stencil for the “low fidelity” look

Gliffy

• free basic web functionality
• $$ubscription model for featured version

SketchFlow is apparently coming back to VS2012 – Microsoft seems to be in a bit of a tizzy buttoning down all the loose ends in the latest transition to all things immersive.

Infragistics has Indigo Studio

There’s tons more out there… prototyping is apparently a very hot item

iTunes finally has “add to play up next”

WHY did that take till 2013?!?

Can’t believe they whacked CoverFlow in iTunes 11… I guess I’ll probably forget how much I liked the full screen CoverFlow eventually but man what a wild judgment call on Apple’s part there.

DST T-SQL

-- this code returns the start and end datetime’s for DST in the current year

-- DST begins at 2am on the SECOND SUNDAY of March and ends the FIRST SUNDAY of November
SELECT
  DATEADD(HOUR, (MULTIPLIER + 7 /*skip the first week*/) * 24 /*24 hours a day*/ + 2 /*offset to 2am*/, StartWeek) AS StartDate,
  DATEADD(HOUR, MULTIPLIER * 24 + 2, EndWeek) AS EndDate
FROM (
  SELECT 0 AS MULTIPLIER, 1 AS DOW UNION ALL
  SELECT 6, 2 UNION ALL
  SELECT 5, 3 UNION ALL
  SELECT 4, 4 UNION ALL
  SELECT 3, 5 UNION ALL
  SELECT 2, 6 UNION ALL
  SELECT 1, 7
) dow,
(SELECT
  '03/01/' + convert(varchar, DATEPART(YEAR, GETDATE())) AS StartWeek,
  '11/01/' + convert(varchar, DATEPART(YEAR, GETDATE())) AS EndWeek
) DST
WHERE DATEPART(WEEKDAY, StartWeek) = DOW

Enable SSL Connections to SQL Server

“SQL Server Transport Encryption” is a good Google phrase for this technology. Reference: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms191192.aspx
Obtain an SSL Certificate A self signed certificate is easy and works fine... here’s one way: Get the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/confirmation.aspx?id=17275 All you'll need is the "SelfSSL.exe" tool so the custom install is minimal. Find SelfSSL.exe in default install path: C:\Program Files\IIS Resources Good reference for SelfSSL usage: http://www.sslshopper.com/article-how-to-create-a-self-signed-certificate-in-iis-7.html, scroll down to "Generate a Self Signed Certificate with the Correct Common Name" Command line example: SelfSSL /N:CN=MWR-TRO-V2 /V:1999999 The /V: part is the validity duration of your cert, in days. I believe 1999999 is the max, which corresponds to around 5475 years in the future (that ought'a last ya ;) The /N:CN= part is the “Common Name” this cert will be tied to… in this case that needs to be the true machine name of your database server. “Do you want to replace the SSL settings for site 1 (Y/N)?” => No Now you have a cert registered in your “personal certificate store” - next we’ll extract it for installation on db server.
Fire up the MMC “Certificates Console” to manage your new cert Good reference: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/276553) Open the MMC console: Start > Run > mmc [enter] (or Windows-R) (MMC Fig.1) Add the cert snapin: click File > Add/Remove Snap-in (MMC Fig.2) select Certificates under Available snap-ins… and hit Add button… (MMC Fig.3) select Computer Account… then Next… (MMC Fig.4) select Local computer, and then Finish… (MMC Fig.5) lastly, hit OK (MMC Fig.6) You may wish to save this MMC configuration for future convenience (MMC Fig.7)
Export the cert as a pfx file …to be installed on your database server Certs installed via the above process will be your "Personal > Certificates" folder (Export Fig.1) Right mouse desired certifcate > All Tasks > Export > Next ... (Export Fig.2) “Export the private key?” => Yes … Next… (Export Fig.3) Select PFX format, "Include all certs...", "Export extended", NOT “Delete…”, Next … (Export Fig.4) Enter a password, hit Next… (Export Fig.5) – ** REMEMBER THAT PASSWORD ** Save the pfx file (Export Fig.6) Finish… OK (Export Fig.7)
Import cert on database server Login to your DB server desktop Launch MMC Cert Console same as above Go to Personal > Certs Right mouse All Tasks > "Import"… (Import Fig.1) Next… (Import Fig.2) Browse… (Import Fig.3) Next … (Import Fig.4) Enter Password, select “Mark this key as exportable”, Next… (Import Fig.5) “Place all certificates in the following store” => Personal… Next… (Import Fig.6) Finish (Import Fig.7)
Activate SSL encryption on DB server Fire up SQL Server’s Network Configuration Utility Start  > All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server {version} > Configuration Tools > SQL Server Configuration Manager"  then under "SQL Server Network Configuration" Right click "Protocols for MSSQLServer" select "Properties" set  "Flags tab > Force Encryption" to Yes and select the installed cert on the "Certificates" tab voila! STOP AND RESTART THE SQL SERVER SERVICE login to the instance with an SSMS Query window fire this command to verify all connections are encrypted: SELECT encrypt_option, * FROM sys.dm_exec_connections WHERE session_id = @@SPID Tip: SP_WHO2 is handy for obtaining spids