Southwest Vacations

RECOMMENDATION

Don't use them

CONTEXT

Took a trip to the Dominican Republic

PROS

• convenience - booked flights, hotel and airport transfer in one place
• deal - slightly cheaper than booking all 3 separately

CONS

• no reserved seats - Southwest didn't let us check in online which meant we had to pay an extra $40 a piece just to sit next to each other
• no one picked us up - no one was there to greet us at the airport like Southwest said they would, so we had to take a cab on our own
• slow customer service - I emailed them to find out whether I needed to print any vouchers for the airport transfer, and I didn't hear back until 2 days later

ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

• booking flight, hotel and airport transfer separately

Zipcar

RECOMMENDATION
Use it!

CONTEXT
We don't own a car



PROS

• convenient - ZipCars are within a few blocks and generally available when we need them
• customer service - specific examples
• whenever we have an issue with the car (see below) they give us a credit
• once I was running really late and rather than charge me the late fee she just extended the reservation because no one needed the car after me
• technology - I'm amazed at what all they can do - and do well (lock / unlock the car, enable / disable the ignition remotely, track the car)

CONS

• etiquette - sometimes (not often) previous drivers leave the car in disarray (dirty / smelly, no key)

ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

• buying a car - but then we'd have to pay for an annual tax, insurance and parking

Xochitl chips

RECOMMENDATION
Buy it!

CONTEXT
Chips and salsa are a staple snack in our house, and as a Texan I take them both seriously

PROS

• thin
• healthy - no trans fats or gluten

CONS

• price - actually, I'm not sure how much these cost but I'm guessing more than other chips

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)

RECOMMENDATION
Use it!

CONTEXT
I take the subway to and from work every day.





PROS

• reliable - the trains are generally on time
• informative
• there are displays on every platform showing how long until the next train arrives - and how many cars that train has
• they have an API so mobile app makers can provide the same information on next trains, even before you get to the platform
• train operators and station managers are very good at making announcements about what is going on with the track your trains are on
• clean - there's no eating or drinking allowed so there's little risk of stepping in a puddle of Coke or sitting on a French fry
• kiosks - loading money onto your SmartTrip card is fast (I've done it while listening to my train pull up and still made the train)

CONS

• exiting - I never know if my SmartTrip card was read on the way out because the gates that open and close for each passenger are always open during rush hour (so I have to rely on looking to see if my balance is displayed to know if my card read properly)
• crowding - every once in a while (mainly during tourist season) I have to wait for the next train because there is no room

ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

• walking - too far (would take 75 minutes each way)
• Capital Bikeshare - don't want to be sweaty when I get to work

Estadio

RECOMMENDATION
Go! [web site]

CONTEXT
went on a Wednesday night at 6 since that was the only open reservation

PROS

• drinks - get a gin and tonic or the porron
• service - our waiter was attentive and had great recommendations
• food - get the Idiazábal cheese, bacon, foie gras scrambled eggs, and Manchego cheesecake

CONS

• price - expect to spend $50 per person for food and drink (which isn't horrible)
• reservations - hard to get a table (we've tried to go here before without a reservation and the wait was too long)

ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

• Birch and Barley (thought it was OK - see my Yelp review)
• Founding Famers (got beef with them - see my Yelp review)

Google Blogger

RECOMMENDATION
Use it


CONTEXT
I was looking for a simple way to share my experiences with the brands I interact with on a daily basis.

PROS

• quick - after deciding on a name for my blog, it took less than a minute to set it up and start writing this first post (I had a Blogger account already, though)
• gadgets - want to organize your blog posts by date? there's a widget for that.
• Analytics - from the start I can see how many visitors are reading my blog - and who they are
• mobile app - I can write posts from my iPhone and label them (which was particularly important to me because this blog is organized entirely off labels)

CONS

• usability
• admin console - it took me a while to figure out how to navigate (perhaps just my density, but 'template' and 'layout' mean the same thing to me)
• AdSense
• account creation - I kept trying to apply for an account, but it wouldn't let me until I published my first post (which I had suspected but wasn't sure about because the same button I used to apply for an AdSense account was the one I clicked on after I wrote my inaugural post)
• adding AdSense - I have the I have no idea how to add AdSense to my blog - I found the gadget, but I keep getting a 'please fix the errors on this form' message when I try to add a 728 x 90 ad to the top of the blog (turns out it's because my application hasn't been approved yet)
• iPhone app
• editing - if you use something like a bulleted list (like I've done here) via the web app when you try to edit the post from your phone you see complex HTML
• images - you can't place them in a specific place within the post
• tracking - can't see traffic stats

ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

• Weebly (no labeling from mobile app)