What's Best Next

You are here: Home / Blog

What to Do at a 4-Way Stop

by

Yes, productivity extends to driving!

At some point in the last few years — which I am reluctant to admit! — I forgot the protocol on what to do if you arrive at a 4-way stop at the same time as another vehicle. The result was a few occasions of awkward confusion for all drivers at hand. So I finally decided to look this up in my MN Driver’s Manual.

Here’s the protocol:

  1. If each car arrived at a different time, then they leave in the order in which they arrived. To repeat: Leave in the order in which you got there.
  2. If two vehicles arrive at the same time, the driver on the left defers to the driver on the right. In other words: The driver on the right goes first.
  3. If two vehicles arrive at the same time and one of them is signaling a turn across the path of the other, then the one who is not turning has right of way.
  4. If you had to wait in a line at the intersection to get to the stop sign, this does not change anything. Each car stops and then follows the above rules as if no one else had been in line before him. (In other words, you can’t conclude that you were there before the person at the other intersection just because the car in front of you was there before him or her.)
  5. If you are at a T-intersection with a 3-way stop, the vehicle that does not have to turn has right of way.

Also of note: Stop lights that are blinking red or not working at all should be treated as 4-way stops.

Finally, here’s another summary at E-How, and then a humorous one which came up at the top of the results when I just now googled this.

Managing Your Finances on a Mac

by

For the last ten years, I’ve used Quicken to manage our finances. Last summer when I switched to a Mac, I discovered that the Mac version of Quicken is a much reduced version that is just not up to snuff. So rather than downgrading, I continued to run the Windows version of Quicken on my Mac via VMWare Fusion (which, in my opinion, is the best way to run Windows on your Mac).

This works well enough, but I still find myself wishing that I didn’t have to boot up Windows on my Mac just to manage my finances.

Here’s some possible good news: It looks like Quicken may soon be coming out with a much improved program for the Mac, called Quicken Financial Life for Mac. It’s due out this summer. The website states:

If you know your Mac, you know Quicken Financial Life. Designed from the ground up to unleash the power of the Mac, Quicken Financial Life for Mac brings you the clean graphics and intuitive functionality you expect from Apple software. Built for Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard and newer operating systems.

Hopefully this will be good. Although I don’t know why they didn’t just do it right the first time.

What financial management software do you recommend for the Mac?

Gmail Labels Have Been Made Easier

by

From the Gmail blog:

One of the features that makes Gmail different is its use of labels instead of folders. Sure, labels can serve pretty much the same purpose — they can help organize mail or flag messages for follow up. And unlike with folders, messages can have several labels, so if I get an email from a friend about a trip we’re taking together, I can add both a “Friends” and a “Travel” label to it.

But it’s not always obvious how to use labels, especially for people who are new to Gmail and used to using folders, and it hasn’t helped that some common tasks have been more complicated than they should be. For instance, to move an email out of your inbox and into a label you first had to apply the label using the “More actions” menu and then click “Archive.”

Starting today [Feb 3], the buttons and menus at the top of your inbox will look a bit different:

Instead of having to first apply the label and then archive, you can just use the “Move to” button to label and archive in a single step — just like you would with a folder. If you just want to add or remove a label, use the new “Labels” button. Auto-complete works, so for those of you with a lot of labels, you can select the one you want just by typing the first couple characters.

(HT: Glenn Brooke)