Category Archives: Consumer issues

Saturday dawn and dogs

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This was a particularly good morning, so I’m posting today’s photos for your enjoyment.

There’s a camera backstory here. I have to confess that I’ve been thinking about buying a new camera that focuses fast enough to properly capture the dogs we meet in the morning. I do “okay” with my current collection of cameras, but have far more out-of-focus rejects than would be the case with a faster camera. And it’s more work to learn to trust my own sense of timing, guessing what the dog is going to do next and planning ahead to catch “the moment.” It’s a lot easier to rely on the latest tech to remove more of the guesswork.

But I’m also cheap, so have managed (so far) to fight off the urge to splurge. Instead, I decided to give a bit more life to my oldest current camera. It’s a Sony RX1, a wonderfully small full-frame digital camera with a very sharp 35mm fixed lens. The camera was first introduced in 2012, and I bought this copy used a couple of years later from KEH.com. It’s a bit worn by now, but still is capable of great photos. But its batteries have worn out, and don’t hold much of a charge. I thought about trading the camera in, but instead I checked out the cost of a new battery or two.

And there, courtesy of Amazon, was a set of three third-party batteries, with a charger, for half the cost of a new Sony-branded battery. But Amazon won’t ship the batteries to Hawaii. The timing was right, though, and I had them delivered to Meda’s brother in Portland, and we picked them up from him while we were there last week.

I carried the RX1, with new battery, yesterday and today. Both day’s photos were posted to Facebook, and I decided to share this morning’s photos here as well.

When push comes to shove, I love this letter camera, old and slow as it is modern digital terms. I like the colors, the sharpness that this lens produces, I even like being slowed down a bit by the camera.

Kahala Dawn & Dogs

Rail station at Honolulu airport nearly completed

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That’s what the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported this morning.

Sometimes additional perspective is needed.

Here’s how the Star-Advertiser summarized the issue of cost.

Under Mayor Rick Blan­giardi’s administration, the city in 2022 truncated the last 1.25 miles of guideways and the planned final two stations near Ward Avenue and Ala Moana Center. That reduced costs from more than $12.45 billion for a 20-mile, 21-station route down to a $9.9 billion system with an 18.9-mile, 19-station line terminating at Halekauwila Street.

Nothing like saving a bit of change.

But although it sounds like progress, Honolulu’s rail remains an outrageously expensive system.

I asked one of the available AI-powered chatbots what the most expensive urban rail project has cost.

Based on my research, it looks like the BART to San Jose project, which is currently in the proposal stage, is set to be the most costly urban light rail construction project in the US at a whopping $4.7 billion. This project would extend the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system from the existing Fremont station in the East Bay to downtown San Jose, a distance of about 16 miles. The high cost is due in part to the fact that a significant portion of the rail would be underground.

So Honolulu’s 19-mile system is now expected to be twice the cost of the 16-mile San Jose BART extension, even though that system involves tunneling underground.

I then asked what Seattle’s light rail system cost.

Seattle’s light rail system, known as Sound Transit Link Light Rail, cost a total of around $3.7 billion to build. The first phase of the system, which opened in 2009, included 20 miles of track and 15 stations, and cost around $2.3 billion. Subsequent phases, which have added additional stations and miles of track, have added to the total cost. The high cost of the system is due in part to the fact that much of it runs underground or on elevated tracks, which is more expensive to build than a surface-level rail line.

We’ll be paying off the bill for Honolulu’s rail for the rest of our lives.

A gift that keeps on giving.

There’s lots of interest in condo fraud and theft allegations

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My Civil Beat story this week about the theft of funds from a Waianae condominium drew much more attention, and many more comments, than I expected (“This Waianae Condo Development Has Lost Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars To Embezzlement“).

It shouldn’t have been a surprise. About one-third of all residential housing units are in condominiums, which have common problems and management issues.

One of the things that was clarified in the comments received is that the routine annual audit required by state law is not the same as a forensic fraud accounting. They are two different types of examinations, following different rules, have different standards, different goals, and different methodologies.

You can check it yourself. Just do an online search for “audit v forensic accounting” and you’ll find a lot of slightly different explanations of the differences. The bottom line: A routine audit isn’t done to prevent fraud, although it might identify conditions conducive to fraud. An forensic accounting is specifically looking for fraud.

Here’s an example from the CPA Now blog.

Auditing is a process of determining whether a company’s reported financial position and performance are fairly represented and in accordance with certain standards. A forensic investigation is an examination of specific records and information to help determine facts related to a suspicion or allegation of fraud. Audits and forensic investigations are different services that are planned and performed to accomplish unique objectives. While both have a responsibility to detect fraud, the degree of that responsibility is substantially different.

Auditors help provide confidence in the world’s financial system by performing audits of financial statements to provide assurance that company management is presenting a “true and fair” view of a company’s financial position and performance. Forensic accountants assist entities in conducting an investigation by providing their expertise, from the initial allegation or suspicion of fraud to resolution, whether the end result is restitution, litigation, an insurance claim, or a referral to a law enforcement agency.

…The overall objective of an audit is to obtain reasonable assurance about whether financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. This enables the auditor to express an opinion on whether the financial statements are presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with an applicable financial reporting framework; and to report on the financial statements, and communicate as required by generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS), in accordance with the auditor’s findings.

…An auditor owes primary allegiance to the investing public, and the objective is general in nature. A forensic accountant is not concerned with reaching a general opinion on the financial statements as a whole; his or her objective is more specific in nature as defined by the scope of services in the engagement letter, and the work is typically directed through counsel and, therefore, privileged and confidential. In addition, the forensic accountant may be asked by the company to advise on internal controls that can be implemented to prevent a discovered fraud from happening again.

I also ran into the website of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, an international association of anti-fraud professionals, and it’s “Fraud Talk Podcast.”

There are 38 episodes currently available, ranging from 19 minutes to nearly an hour in length. Each is a case study of a different type of fraud that provide “tools to spot, fight and prevent fraud.”

There’s a lot to learn here, and these podcasts appear to all be available for free to the general public.

Trip planning is a continuous process

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We’re planning a short trip in December to the San Francisco area to visit family and friends. I set up the basics, flights, rental car, and hotel reservation, over the summer. It’s a simple trip, one destination, one hotel, a car. All booked online.

But I’ve learned that it pays to check back later because there’s often money to be saved.

That proved to be the case again today.

When I originally booked a car through Costco, the price, after all the fees and taxes were added, was a pretty steep $588 for the 8 day trip.

This afternoon I checked again and I was able to save close to 20%. Same airport, same rental company, same class of car. Price quoted today was only $480.

Luckily, Costco makes it easy to cancel a reservation and then simply rebook it.

Usually I compare Costco’s price to the price if booked directly from the rental company. Costco usually wins. I also comparison shop with AAA, and AARP, which both offer travel services and car rentals.

I haven’t had as much success with finding better hotel deals, but I do make a habit of checking anyway. Several times. Just in case.