I have spent way, way, way too much time on this.
It should be easy. There are countless options in multiple formats, and that might just be the problem: too many choices. As Goldilocks said, it can't be too big or too small, it has to be just right. Or to quote someone less famous, more verbose but just as knowledgeable, it was Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart who wrote "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it." She was talking about beds; he was talking about pornography. No matter, my goal is the same: I want something very specific.
In this case it's something very simple: a journal. More correctly, it's a mileage log for my vehicle. Years ago I started to keep a small notebook tucked into the little pocket on the door of my car. Since my office was in my house, from a tax standpoint, I was able to deduct the cost of traveling to and from projects and meetings. Every year the IRS publishes a rate that is used to calculate this specific deduction: this year it's 54.5 cents per mile. Drive 10 miles to a job, and you can deduct $5.40 off of whatever you make from that project. It adds up: over the course of a year it can enable you to reduce your taxable income by thousands of dollars.
The one requirement is that you are supposed to keep contemporaneous records. That means that you are supposed to make a note of that mileage when it happens, along with the date, destination and reason for the trip. Thirty years ago when I started the only way to really do this was to look at the odometer on your car and write it all down as it happened. Hence the state of art was the notebook and pencil. Of course these days, with Google maps and smartphones, you can easily reconstruct it after the fact, and do it while sitting on your couch in your bunny slippers.
But old habits die hard. On each step up the technological ladder, I adapted my practice to the device. When I got my first electronic personal digital assistant, a Sharp Zaurus, I used it to record my notes. Then I did the same with my Palm Pilot, both first and second generation. I think there also a Sony device in there somewhere along the way, and maybe something from Casio. Eventually I made the jump to a smartphone, and found an app the did what I needed, basically replicating my record keeping with electronic pencil and paper.
Like many, I've upgraded my phone over time, and had to go through the process of reinstalling my favorites apps, only to find out some are no longer available. No worry: there's usually an updated version, or a similar clone with better looking graphics available. This time around I didn't so much upgrade as rebuild; my phone was getting buggy, so I wiped it clean and started from scratch. It takes a few hours, but it's like a cleanse: all runs much better once you get rid of all that, well, let's just call it "electronic residue" that has built up in the pipes.
But turns out my old mileage logger was no longer available, and there was nothing similar. All the variants I could find were fancy versions, with GPS and map interfaces, built in calculators for gas mileage and live cloud interface. I loaded one, then another, deleting each as I saw the bloat and overkill they entailed. I didn't like the graphics on one, found the fonts too small on another, and found the cuteness of a third with a little model car annoying. All I wanted was a simple low tech solution; all I got was cutting edge.
As of this writing I'm still looking. Robert Watson-Watt, a British developer of radar in World War II, said "Give them the third best to go on with; the second best comes too late, the best never comes." I don't even want third best, I just want what works for me. As Justice Stewart said, I'll know it when I see it.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford likes looking for the perfect widget. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
It should be easy. There are countless options in multiple formats, and that might just be the problem: too many choices. As Goldilocks said, it can't be too big or too small, it has to be just right. Or to quote someone less famous, more verbose but just as knowledgeable, it was Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart who wrote "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it." She was talking about beds; he was talking about pornography. No matter, my goal is the same: I want something very specific.
In this case it's something very simple: a journal. More correctly, it's a mileage log for my vehicle. Years ago I started to keep a small notebook tucked into the little pocket on the door of my car. Since my office was in my house, from a tax standpoint, I was able to deduct the cost of traveling to and from projects and meetings. Every year the IRS publishes a rate that is used to calculate this specific deduction: this year it's 54.5 cents per mile. Drive 10 miles to a job, and you can deduct $5.40 off of whatever you make from that project. It adds up: over the course of a year it can enable you to reduce your taxable income by thousands of dollars.
The one requirement is that you are supposed to keep contemporaneous records. That means that you are supposed to make a note of that mileage when it happens, along with the date, destination and reason for the trip. Thirty years ago when I started the only way to really do this was to look at the odometer on your car and write it all down as it happened. Hence the state of art was the notebook and pencil. Of course these days, with Google maps and smartphones, you can easily reconstruct it after the fact, and do it while sitting on your couch in your bunny slippers.
But old habits die hard. On each step up the technological ladder, I adapted my practice to the device. When I got my first electronic personal digital assistant, a Sharp Zaurus, I used it to record my notes. Then I did the same with my Palm Pilot, both first and second generation. I think there also a Sony device in there somewhere along the way, and maybe something from Casio. Eventually I made the jump to a smartphone, and found an app the did what I needed, basically replicating my record keeping with electronic pencil and paper.
Like many, I've upgraded my phone over time, and had to go through the process of reinstalling my favorites apps, only to find out some are no longer available. No worry: there's usually an updated version, or a similar clone with better looking graphics available. This time around I didn't so much upgrade as rebuild; my phone was getting buggy, so I wiped it clean and started from scratch. It takes a few hours, but it's like a cleanse: all runs much better once you get rid of all that, well, let's just call it "electronic residue" that has built up in the pipes.
But turns out my old mileage logger was no longer available, and there was nothing similar. All the variants I could find were fancy versions, with GPS and map interfaces, built in calculators for gas mileage and live cloud interface. I loaded one, then another, deleting each as I saw the bloat and overkill they entailed. I didn't like the graphics on one, found the fonts too small on another, and found the cuteness of a third with a little model car annoying. All I wanted was a simple low tech solution; all I got was cutting edge.
As of this writing I'm still looking. Robert Watson-Watt, a British developer of radar in World War II, said "Give them the third best to go on with; the second best comes too late, the best never comes." I don't even want third best, I just want what works for me. As Justice Stewart said, I'll know it when I see it.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford likes looking for the perfect widget. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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