Liftvan / Container (how to move from Europe to the US)

If you are planning to move from Europe to America please take a look at the following list of options I put together when I was planning my move. Excel Google Docs


The list includes the following:

• shipping company 
• type of service 
• size of container/liftvan 
• service level 
• price 
• currency 
• volume in cubic meters (cbm) 
• cost in USD 
• liftvan 
• loading 
• comment 
• advantage 
• disadvantage 

I ended up getting the following with Active Moving + Shipping:

• 2 x 5.8 cbm Liftvans for €1,390 (~$1,575) each, €2,775 (~ $3,150) total 
• 1 x 2.1 cbm Liftvan for €685 (~$780) 
• Express delivery of liftvans for €150 (~$170) 
• Insurance coverage for 15,000 Euro for €275.00 (~$315) 

The price included the following:

• liftvans (wooden box) 
• delivery of the disassembled liftvan 
• pickup at my European residence 
• export paper work 
• port fees 
• space in a shared container (including fuel surcharges) 

It didn't include the customs fees nor delivery to my residence in America.

I got lucky and the inspection by customs ended up only being $25. Transporting the liftvans from the warehouse to my place cost me $250 via uShip.


Combined the 3 liftvans had a volume of 14.55 cubic meters (515 cubic feet) and weighed 1,436 kg (3,166 lbs) loaded. All set and done it cost me around $4,700.



Here is the timeline:

• 03/18/2016 received quote
• 04/06/2016 received invoice
• 04/07/2016 made payment 
• 04/08/2016 received empty liftvans 
• 04/09/2016 assembled liftvans and started loading 
• 04/14/2016 finished loading 
• 04/11/2016 pickup of loaded liftvans by trucking company 
• 04/23/2016 container ship left port in Bremen, Germany 
• 05/19/2016 container ship arrived at the port in Long Beach, CA 
• 06/03/2016 cleared customs 
• 06/06/2016 arrived at warehouse 
• 06/08/2016 picked up liftvans in Los Angeles using uShip 

Here are some pictures: Facebook Google+ Flickr




Hopefully this makes someone else's life easier.

Display Cases for Collectibles

If you are looking for glass display cases for your collectibles take a look at the following list I put together when I was buying mine.   Excel   Google Docs

The list includes the following:

• rating (mostly based on cost and distance from Los Angeles)
• retailer
• brand
• model
• width
• depth
• height
• cost
• location (state & city of the retailer)
• shipping
• advantage
• disadvantage
• model name used by retailer 
• website

I ended up buying the following:

• 10 x T1-12B from Displays by Jack
• 4 x T1-9B from Displays by Jack
• 4 x FCT36 from FixturePronto

Hopefully it makes someone else's life easier.

YES, we can deport 30+ million illegal immigrants

Yes, we can deport the over 30 million illegal aliens currently living in the USA within less than 180 days!

Here is how:

Day   0:

• Take away all incentives, including free healthcare (Medicaid, Medicare & Obamacare), education (including in-state tuition rates), food stamps and tax credits from people who cannot prove legal status.
• Stop giving birthright citizenship to babies whose parents are not US citizens.
• Discontinue giving driver’s licenses to non-permanent residents.

Day  30:  

• Begin seizing all assets such as real estate, automobiles and cash owned by illegal immigrants.
• Start fining employers who knowingly hire illegal alien $10,000 per person.
• Require employers to verify the legal status of new hires through eVerify.

Day  60:  

• Start fining landlords who knowingly rent to illegal aliens $10,000 per unit.
• Begin paying whistleblowers 10% of seized assets and collected fines.

Day  90:  

• Start fining individual who knowingly hire illegal aliens $1,000 per incident.
• Increase whistleblower reward to 20% of  seized assets and collected fines.

Day 120: 

• Use data from government programs such as "deferred action for childhood arrivals" (DACA), drivers licenses and ID cards to initiate deportations.
• Rise whistleblower reward to 30% of  seized assets and collected fines.

Day 150: 

• Start randomly verifying legal status at known gathering places of illegal aliens such as churches and supermarkets.
• Enlarge whistleblower reward to 40% of  seized assets and collected fines.

Day 180: 

• Expand whistleblower reward to 50% of  seized assets and collected fines.

Those measures will encourage illegal aliens to leave voluntary. If we take away their income and all handouts the majority will have no reason to stay in the US.
It should be possible to implement the majority of those items quickly since there are already laws in place that have been circumvented by President Obama.
The majority of the cost should be covered by seized assets and fines.

Deportation of 12 million illegal immigrants

Yes, we can deport the over 12 million illegal aliens within less than 180 days.

Here is how:

Day   0:

• Take away all incentives including free healthcare (Medicaid, Medicare & Obamacare), education (including in-state tuition rates), food stamps and tax credits from people who cannot prove legal status.
• Stop giving birthright citizenship to babies whose parents are not US citizens.
• Discontinue giving driver’s licenses to non-permanent residents.

Day  30:  

• Start fining employers who knowingly hire illegal alien $10,000 per person.
• Require employers to verify the legal status of new hires through eVerify.

Day  60:  

• Start fining landlords who knowingly rent to illegal aliens $10,000 per unit.
• Begin paying whistleblowers 10% of collected fines.

Day  90:  

• Start fining individual who knowingly hire illegal aliens $1,000 per incident.
• Increase whistleblower reward to 20% of collected fines.

Day 120: 

• Use applications from Dreamers to initiate deportations.
• Rise whistleblower reward to 30% of collected fines.

Day 150: 

• Start randomly verifying legal status at known gathering places of illegal aliens such as churches.
• Enlarge whistleblower reward to 40% of collected fines.

Day 180: 

• Expand whistleblower reward to 50% of collected fines.

Those measures will encourage illegal aliens to leave voluntary. If we take away their income and all handouts the majority will have no reason to stay in the US.
 It should be possible to implement the majority of the items quickly since there are already laws in place that have been circumvented by Obama.

 

Kern Health Systems vs. AMG-SIU

The lawsuit by Kern Health Systems against AMG-SIU is finally in court:
http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x1042369697/Lawsuit-about-KHS-audit-revisits-financial-dispute

2013 event summary

2013 event summary:

       35 events
     692 hours
17,706 miles

Credit Card Scam

I uncovered an awesome credit card scam that works like this: - get stolen credit card numbers - list expensive merchandise in a 3rd party online store - wait for an order to be placed - get payment from customer through PayPal - order merchandise from the manufacturer or another vendor using the stolen credit card info and have it shipped to the customer Voila! Except the IP address when placing the order nothing ties you directly back to the fraud. The customer is the only entity who can tie it all together. I was the customer and figured it all out. Unfortunately VISA doesn't care and refused to investigate!

AMG-SIU suing HMS

Apparently AMG-SIU is suing HMS because the former owners think that they got ripped-off on the contingency based part of the acquisition. Karma is a bitch. By the way, I still own the intellectual property rights on many parts of the system that AMG-SIU sold to HMS and I haven't received a single cent.

2012 Event Summary

41 events
62,420 attendees
845 hours
15,401 miles

Prior developments

Here are the prior developments I listed in HMS' "Restrictive Covenant Agreement":

• design and implementation of a set-based rule engine that is utilized in the Automated Claims Editor (ACE)
• design and implementation of the core set of rules for the set-based rule engine, including the following areas:
• national correct coding initiative (NCCI)
• HCPCs/CPTs
• claim modifiers
• ICDs o duplicates
• members
• providers
• data extraction, transformation & loading (ETL) processes and routines
• data cleansing processes and routines
• tabular and graphical reports, including the following areas
• financial
• utilization
• analysis
• investigation
• member
• provider
• data models for healthcare data
• X12 parser
• advanced data visualization
• technical training, including several programming languages
• consumer electronics
• car electronics
• robotics design and programming
• audiovisual programming
• laser programming
• technical translations
• test procedures
• websites
• LEGO MOCs

HMS didn't like the fact that I own the copyright / intellectual property rights of AMG-SIU's core software.
They thought they bought all rights when they acquired AMG-SIU.
However, AMG-SIU never owned the copyright.
I wrote a lot of the code that is the foundation of AMG-SIU's core software while I was an independent contractor.

Kern lawsuit

Several of my coworkers from AMG-SIU got depositioned by Kern's lawyers. I wonder where this will go?

Kern vs. AMG-SIU

http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/archive/x9681253/-7-6-million-for-an-audit

Segway Tour

I finally rode a Segway. Earlier today I took the Balboa Peninsula tour with Orange County Segway. I had a blast zipping around on the Segway.

2011 Summary

Here is my 2011 summary:

31 LEGO events total with 1,446 attendees and 15,954 miles
16 SQL events total with 390 attendees and 2,161 miles

More free classes @ Stanford

Stanford is offering more free classes early next year.
Here is a list of the available courses:

- Anatomy
- Computer Security
- Cryptography
- CS 101
- Design and Analysis of Algorithms I
- Game Theory
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Information Theory
- Lean Launchpad
- Machine Learning
- Making Green Buildings
- Model Thinking
- Natural Language Processing
- Probabilistic Graphical Models
- Software as a Service
- Technology Entrepreneurship

Kern vs. AMG-SIU

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/12/allied_management_group_kern_c.php

2011 Summary

23 LEGO events/workshops/sessions
515 attendees

5 SQL events/workshops/sessions
260 attendees

3 other events/workshops/sessions


31 events/workshops/sessions total
775 attendees total

Alabama immigration laws

Finally states take action against illegal immigration. Alabama just passed the toughest set of immigration laws. This makes me want to move to Alabama. When will California finally take action?

Kern vs. AMG-SIU

http://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/community/x703175662/Taxpayers-deserve-real-answers-from-KHS

Kern vs. AMG-SIU

http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x529880125/Another-contract-scandal-hits-Kern-Health-Systems