Quickly Responding to QR Codes

Posted on March 14, 2010
Filed Under Daily Grind Day Job, Dizmang Properties, Personal, Real Estate & Property Management, Web 2.0 Stuff | 7 Comments

Flipping through a magazine the other day, I saw a QR Code on an advertisement and I was immediately intrigued. I had read about QR Codes but I hadn’t really seen them in the wild yet, so I was excited that I had stumbled up one.  They look a lot like the picture below and it was conspicuously placed next to a pair of shoes for sale.

QR Codes are barcodes generated for use in all sorts of things such as print, billboards, signs and even business cards.  Anything that you can print or post to, you can place a QR code on.  QR stands for “quick response” and they are to be used on-the-go with your mobile phone.  The idea is to scan the code using an app on your phone and instantly receive information about the product.  That information may be a phone number, a clickable web site, contact information that immediately adds to your address book, or a calendar event that automatically posts to your calendar.

So imagine driving by a real estate listing (or in my company’s case, a rental property) and you see a sign in the yard.  Now you want to know how much the house is listed for, but you don’t really want to call the agent.  However, the agent is tech savvy enough to place a QR Code on the sign or rider and you can scan it on your mobile phone as you drive by.  Wah-la you have all the information about the listing delivered instantly to your phone.  See! You will start to love QR Codes too.

I downloaded the QuickMark app for my iPhone from the App Store thanks to the suggestion of a friend.  It cost me 99 cents and so far I have been somewhat pleased with the purchase.  Granted, I’ve only been creating my own QR Codes and scanning them to test it out.  (I know, I’m a little bit of a nerd.)

It will be interesting to see where this goes and how we will use it, afterall it intrigued me enough to buy the shoes mentioned above.

Remember, I’m still a newb at this.  Got any suggestions for me?

Go ahead, give it a scan.

Tricky Honda Pilot Window

Posted on March 3, 2010
Filed Under Personal, Random Rant | 6 Comments

“The laughter is payment enough for me.”  This was the response I got from the service tech at our local Honda dealership when I called him about an issue I was having with the auto-window-pusher-downer button that was not working on my 2005 Honda Pilot.

My issue started with my darling youngest one turning on the dome lights in the backseat and leaving them on overnight.  I leave for work the next morning, late as usual, only to find a dead battery on my beloved Pilot.  No worries though, hubby came to the rescue as he and my darling oldest one push the car out of the garage and jump start the car and we are off.  Frustrated and on edge, I furiously re-program the radio anti-theft code to stop the deafening silence. (the code is cleverly hidden on a sticker inside the glove box in case you need to know).

Later that day I stop by the bank and to add to my lingering irritation over the dead battery, my auto button on my power windows wouldn’t work.  *Gasp!* I had to actually hold my finger on the button to have the window go all the way down! It wouldn’t do it on its own!!  Oh my gosh, my blood is boiling now.  Despite my rage, I snap back to reality and then begin to wonder if I am really that lazy.  And to answer that question, yes, I am.

That brings me to today when I call the local dealership and ask how to solve this problem.  The service tech starts to tell me that I’m “in trouble big time” and proceeds to tell me that I am going to have to get a new motor for the window and take the whole door apart to fix the problem.  I start to panic big time about the costs to do this and I have the nerve to ask him how much it is going to cost, to which he chuckles and says “the laughter you gave me is payment enough for me!”  My jaw hit the floor.  I have now felt every range of emotion possible over this silly window button.  I am ready to call it a day.

Now, if you need to fix the auto-power window button on the driver’s side of your Honda Pilot, here is how you really do it:

*  Push the button down past the second click and hold it for 3 seconds.

*  Repeat the motion for pulling the window button up.

This re-sets the button after a dead battery issue and all works fine again.  It literally is a six second fix.  *deep sigh*  Now, if only I could re-set my day so easily.

It’s A Hot Mess Right Now

Posted on February 28, 2010
Filed Under Daily Grind Day Job, Dizmang Properties, Personal, Random Rant, Real Estate & Property Management | 2 Comments

I was so embarrassed today when a colleague asked me why he couldn’t find my e-mail address on my web site anywhere.  I wasn’t sure how to answer him until I remembered that I had removed it from my personal blog due to the spammers.  The spammers seemed to be picking up on my fully exposed e-mail address and barraging my inbox with offers to buy cheap pills for my di-uh-beetus.  However, the concerning thing of it was that I didn’t know if he was talking about my personal blog (yeah, this one that you’re reading) or my work web site.  It wouldn’t matter which one, because in my opinion they are both a hot mess.  I then decided to take a gander at his web site, and holy crap I found the motherload of inspiration for a fantastic real estate blog.  It was even funny that his most recent post was all about a recent hot mess that he saw and how it relates to agent’s web sites.

So here I am adding to my to-do list.  I’ve got web site overhauls to do to avoid future situations of awkwardness with not only other REALTORS® but clients as well.  Any suggestions?

Love/Hate

Posted on February 18, 2010
Filed Under That Is All | 1 Comment

I love my family. I hate diabetes. I love my job. I hate traffic in Springfield.

That is all.

My E-Mail To Roy Blunt

Posted on February 16, 2010
Filed Under Juvenile Diabetes, Personal, Random Rant | Leave a Comment

Dear Congressman Blunt:

When we met with you in your office back in August, I had forgotten to e-mail you a photo of the group when you so graciously posed outside in the stifling heat with all of us from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation here in the Ozarks. Please find the photo attached.

When we met on that grueling hot day, the Special Diabetes Program (SDP) hadn’t been introduced yet. But alas, it is upon us again as the legislation was introduced on September 29, 2009 to renew the SDP.

Although you are familiar with the bill H.R. 3668, I just want to bring to your attention that it currently has 75 co-sponsors and yet none of them are from our great state of Missouri.

You had told me last August, in your office, that you would vote to renew the SDP for five more years so that it will include $200 million per year in federal funding for type 1 diabetes research at the National Institutes of Health.

Congressman Blunt, I am counting on you to co-sponsor this bill and renew the Special Diabetes Program to help find a cure for juvenile diabetics like myself and that precious 3 year-old named Hayden that you held on your lap that day that we met in your office. You were there for me during my freshman year at Southwest Baptist University in 1995 when I was so sick with diabetes, and I’m hoping that you will be there for me again by co-sponsoring this bill.

Thank you for helping us find a cure.

Sincerely,

Jessica Hickok

Not Exactly Wordless Wednesday (on Monday)

Posted on February 8, 2010
Filed Under Personal | 2 Comments

It’s Logo Time!

Posted on February 4, 2010
Filed Under Real Estate & Property Management | Leave a Comment

REBarcamp St. Louis is becoming more and more official.  We now have a web site and a shiny new logo!  Calling all real estate peeps…mark your calendars now for June 14, 2010 in St. Louis!

I Will Take A Shot Of Obj-C With My Cocoa, Please.

Posted on January 31, 2010
Filed Under Daily Grind Day Job, Dizmang Properties, Personal, Real Estate & Property Management, Web 2.0 Stuff | 2 Comments

You have been warned that this blog is a melting pot of weird things that I have going on in my life. And if you’ve been a long time reader/subscriber (of which I thank you for), then you already know that you get the most random things out of these posts. Today is no exception, you’re gonna hear the geeky side of me come out a little bit. Just remember that not all geeks are dorks. And not all dorks are geeks. In my case…it could go either way.

I’ve been learning to code in Objective-C in order to get the Dizmang Properties GetPaul iPhone app launched. It will be a very minimal app but will have the ability to pull our available rentals if you’re in the market for one. However it’s more of a project goal for me as I love to learn new things.  It’s been a pretty interesting ride thus far.  I started this in late December and really thought that I could have it done by February 1st.  But considering that February 1st is tomorrow, I don’t think I’m going to hit my anticipated deadline.  I guess I didn’t take into account all the other stuff I have to do for work, such as 2009 year end reports for all of our Investors, closing out the year, taxes, and a whole load of other stuff.  I sorely misjudged my time commitment.  Oh well, it will be finished when it is finished.

Our app will be a free app.  The goal of it (besides my self satisfaction of accomplishing and completing a new project) will be to keep our available rental properties rented.  Three months ago we had 40 vacant rental properties (out of the 200+ that we manage) and that hurt us big time. Today we are down to only 9 vacancies, which puts us and our Investors in a much better position.  It feels good to finally get property rented.

Things you need to know about programming an iPhone app:

1)  You have to use the Apple SDK (software development kit) that uses Cocoa frameworks and the programming language is called Objective-C.

2) You must use a Mac to develop the iPhone application.  And yes, it looks pretty sweet on my new 27″ 1TB iMac.

3) It takes approximately two months to develop a good app.  Unless you are pressed for time because of other commitments (see mine above), then you just need to take your time and it’s done when it’s done.

4) The Apple SDK download is free, but you must pay $99 to Apple to submit your app to the App Store when it is ready. I’ll let you know once I get to this point.

5) There is a weird feeling of accomplishment when you finally see the app coming together in the simulator (see pic below).

Of course there is way more to it than what I’ve described here, but I felt that I needed to share with you what I was working on.  I’ll keep you posted along the way.  Maybe I should focus on just updating the Dizmang Properties web site.  That thing sucks.  I’m just saying.  (Yes, I am also the developer of that outdated piece).

Skittles

Posted on January 18, 2010
Filed Under Juvenile Diabetes, Personal, dexcom continuous glucose monitor, omnipod insulin pump | Leave a Comment

It’s been a long time since I’ve talked about my struggles with type 1 diabetes on this blog.  No doubt if you’re part of the DOC (diabetes online community) that is part of my Twitter possee (Twosse?!) then you’re probably sick of hearing about real estate and wondering “are you ever gonna talk about your disease again?!”  Well, first let me say thank you for sticking it out with me. My career has been on a crazy, good ride and has kept me extremely busy lately. But as you know, my diabetes doesn’t quit and I’ve had my ups and downs.

First off in updating you, I’m kinda mad at my ‘pod right now. The Omnipod insulin pump has been great thus far with only a few minor kinks. (How there are kinks in a tubeless pump system, I don’t know, but there are.) However, most recently I’ve had some static issues with the pod and the personal diabetes manager a.k.a the PDM (the blood checker machine that runs the pod). Apparently static electricity build up causes the pump and PDM to quit working properly.  I can’t get any of it to stop the incessant beeping and it will not activate or deactivate any of the pods.

*deep sigh*

So I gave up and went back on shots for the time being.  Sure, I could solve the problem by calling customer service AGAIN, but I’m tired and don’t want to. *insert whining here*

Now I’m checking into a new pump as I really have my eye on that Solo insulin pump but it’s not out yet.  I will keep you posted.

And finally, I am sick of the lows.  I’m sick of eating.  I’m sick of crashing low at the most inconvenient times.  Skittles are the only thing that seem to save me.  And I’m pretty sure that the red skittles have more power than any of the other colors, but that’s just a theory brewing in my head.

Oh well, I press on. At least I have finally posted a long overdue d-blog.

Get Off My Land You Crazy Kids!!

Posted on January 17, 2010
Filed Under Personal, Random Rant | 1 Comment

I know there is some wild Clint Eastwood movie out there with a line similar to the title of this post. For some reason it rings in my head as I recall the actor saying the line in the gruffest way possibly with his teeth clenched hard… I just can’t think of the name of that movie.

Anyway, my husband and I live on six acres of land just along the James River in Springfield. It’s a pretty piece of land (in my opinion) and it’s also very private. Therefore we also get our fair share of trespassers looking to get to the river or just for a quiet place to make out. This doesn’t scare us as it is usually just kids.

But it is annoying.

We’ve posted “no trespassing” signs. We’ve pulled up behind them in the car and put our brights on until they drove off. We’ve called the county Sheriff. And we’ve clenched our teeth.

But we may have now come up with a solution to get the trespassers off our land. Considering most of them are kids and most kids have an iPhone these days, we just changed the name of our wi-fi network.

Because when you use your device, the wi-fi networks automatically pop up asking if you want to join the wi-fi network nearest to you.  Now when you’re on our land, and you go to check your e-mail on your iPhone (or laptop or other wi-fi device) then you’re yelled at wirelessly and thru clenched teeth obviously.

Take it seriously kids, us older folks aren’t messing around.

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