Calculator$ for Kale: a Random Act of Kindness

[Dallas]

Good Morning All,
I just thought I'd bring the Link that takes you yo the donation page for Kale

http://www.thefamilybus.net/kale/kale.htm

Oh, and lest anyone hollers,      BUMP!

[gumpy]

Craig, please do keep this going 'ti; after the end of Oct. as I'm planning to see about contributing some also, but right now I need to keep my $ worried on the bus bash! But as soon as the bash is over it won't have to worry anymore! LOL! I'll be in touch! BK 

OK. sounds fine to me. I think I'd like to make a loose plan to have the calculators purchased and delivered by Christmas, so if we wrap up the donations around the first or second week of November, we should be good.

As of this morning, we have collected $397.97.

I've responded to each and every donation that's come in, but just in case the mail hasn't been going through, I'd like to personally thank each and every busnut who has participated in this project, whether it was in voting for the design, donating money, buying stuff off the flea market table at the recent rally, setting up the web page with the donation information, or just helping keep the threads alive. It's all very much appreciated.

craig

[gumpy]

OK, Paypal officially SUCKS!!

I've been trying to get the damn account verified because they won't let me accept the payments that are being sent through Brian's button.

I had registered my credit card with them, but they won't let me use that till I get my next statement a month from now and can enter a number that's on the transaction. That's useful.

So I tried to register my bank account. They do that by sending two random deposits to the account which you have to get from your bank and enter into their site. So after a bit of a fiasco with my bank because they changed all their ABA routing numbers and checking account numbers since the last time I used the account, I finally got the information entered last Friday. Today, I log into my bank register and find not two deposits, but 4 deposits. They're all dated for today.

Ok, we can figure this out. Maybe they did two separate deposit sets. So there are two pairs of depositis here.

So I go to the paypal account and enter the first two in their confirmation form. Denied. Ok, change one to the third deposit. Denied. Ok, change that one to the last one. Denied, and locked out.  So I tried every combination with the first entry, and every one was invalid. Huh? How can that be. It has to be part of a pair of transactions, and there are only 4 deposits there. It has to be paired with one of the other 3!!

So I've sent a note to Paypal telling them how much their system sucks. Maybe they'll get it figured out. Maybe they won't.  Last time I sent them an inquiry, I got a response from what appeared to be a non-english-speaking person who obviously didn't understand the problem, but offered a completely worthless solution.

Meanwhile, some of the funds are sitting in limbo. They keep telling me I have to accept them within a month, so I still have about 3 weeks to get this figured out.

On the plus side, Paypal just donated about 0.50 to Kale's Calculator Project 

craig

[plyonsMC9]

Craig,

Have you talked directly with PayPal?  I've had to call them directly on occasion where things were really messed up.  Hahaha - imagine that!!

Anyways - Call -- at: 1-402-935-2050 (a U.S. telephone number)

Hope this helps, Phil

[gumpy]

Thanks Phil.  I'll give that a try.

[Busted Knuckle]

Craig, I had a very bad experience with Paypal way back. I don't won't wouldn't couldn't and shouldn't use or even ever consider o use them ever again! I won't go into detail, on here as I ain't got enough time noe! But anyway when I send you my $ it will either by cash or a check!  !!!!BK 

[gumpy]

BK,

Either is fine with me. When you get ready, send me an email and I'll send my snail mail address.

craig

[gumpy]

By the way, as of this morning, we have received a total of $417.09.

I finally got the account verified and the bank account added (after spending a wonderful half hour on the phone trying to talk to some semi-english-speaking person in a foreign land). I ended up having to upgrade the account to accept one of the donations. It turns out that you cannot receive transactions made by credit card unless you are a Premium or Business account and pay fees on it.

So the above balance is after the fees on that particular transaction (4.4%).

Depending on what I can find for the best deal, it looks like we're probably at 5 calculators (this total doesn't include my contribution); one for Kale, and 4 for the school.

craig

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Come on Members,

If you can, Give a little!       It's for a worthy cause....

http://www.thefamilybus.net/kale/kale.htm

Nick-

[gumpy]

Ok, I talked to the principal at LSRV school today, Mr. Newton. He was surprised by the project, but got
excited about it after I explained what some of us nuts were doing. He was aware that Kale had entered the contest, but was not aware of the outcome.

He told me that they do currently use TI calculators there, and currently have TI-83 Plus units. He said he thinks the TI-84 is compatible, and that either would be fine for the school, and indicated that they use them in the science classes and junior high classes as well, so they can always use extras.

He also said that TI has a new model out (TI-89 ??) which he suggested we might consider getting for Kale. He indicated it's highly likely that Kale will pursue college education and a career in some technical field where he'll be able to make good use of it.

Now, I'm not really up on the various models of the TI calculators. I don't own one and have never used one. So, I need some input on which models we should be looking for from those of you who know this better than I. The contest was for a TI-84 Silver edition. It sounds like that or the TI-89 would be the best choice for Kale's calculator. Any thoughts?

Also, I've asked Mr. Newton to talk this over with his staff, and if there is something else the school needs other than calculators, to let us know and we can discuss it here. I just want to make sure whatever we buy is compatible with their needs.

craig

[DuaneMC7]

Craig,

Please keep in mind I DO NOT want to insult any one nor do I want to be disrespectful to any one but I wanted to share my feelings about your last post. I have followed this whole project loosely from the beginning and I did participate in the voting. I think what you have started is a GOOD thing. If I understood your last post you indicated possibly spending the donations on something other than the calculators. This seems to be almost an obsession without purpose. Please, again I do not mean any disrespect. A lot of people have given money to the cause and I think you should stick to the original goal. Again I think you are doing a great thing here.

Duane

[gumpy]

Duane,

Certainly no offense taken. That's the kind of feedback I'm looking for.  This is not MY project. It's OUR project. Your point is certainly valid and should be expressed.

The reason I mentioned this, is because someone else had suggested (either on one of the threads or possibly in an email) that maybe the school might already have plenty of calculators, in which case we could look at providing something similar that they might need.

My intent is, and has been, first and foremost to provide a calculator to Kale (TI-84 Silver has been the goal because that was the prize he was trying for, but is that the best one for his ongoing education?), and then use the remaining funds to provide calculators to the school for use in the classroom. However, since we were not certain in what state the schools needs were, there was a thought that if they already had enough calculators, would it be straying from the goal if we provided connection cables for them to connect into their PCs or overhead projectors, or other accessories they might need.

My main concern is that we make sure that whatever we do, it fits into the school's ongoing curricular needs. It would be a shame to donate something they can't use. Mr. Newton indicated that they currently have some TI-83 Plus calculators, and said they can always use more in the math and science classrooms, so that's fine with me. The TI-84 Plus Silvers are quite a few $$$ more than the TI-83 Plus, so should we stay with the original plan of buying TI-84 Plus Silver, or stay consistent with what they're currently using in the TI-83 Plus and maybe be able to provide one more for the same money?

These are the questions I'm looking for feedback on. Feel free to express your opinion, either here or in private email.

craig

[Buffalo SpaceShip]

My $0.02....

It sounds like Craig has the inside track to what the school needs, and I'm more than happy with donating my $ to that end. So with all due respect, I really wouldn't call purchasing items that the school needs as an "obsession without purpose." On the contrary, I would say that it would be providing a purpose to our original intent... getting Kale a nice graphing calulator to help his studies and providing the school with things to make them more successful in the math and sciences.

Now, thanks to the generosity of this Board's members, the main goal of getting Kale a calculator has been met with flying colors!! So we all now know that Kale will have the finest, most educational calculator TI makes. It sounds like that's the Titanium model, and it's just a few bucks more than the Silver in the contest. That's awesome.

IMHO, the "over and above" collected should go to purchase things that the schools needs... if it will help kids with math and sciences. If they don't need more calcs., I don't see how that will help the school to send them a bunch of new calcs. Or if they need something like 3 calcs. and then a bunch of assessories to make them readily available to the students (software, cables, etc.), great.  There's nothing wrong, IMHO, to empower the school to make some choices regarding the donation we're sending their way. Who better to ask??

In our own community, we often collect canned goods and clothing for the local charities. Sometimes, we collect "too much of a good thing" and the items have to be donated to generate cash for other uses/ needs (paying for the charity's electricity, etc.). This peeves some folks that their donation didn't directly benefit the charity as intended. But they must not realize that their donation did help the charity... as long as they trust that the charity will do the right thing with the donations.

So I think it really comes down to this: I trust Craig and the school to do the right thing with the $.

Again, just my $0.02.
Brian B.

[kyle4501]

(Dang-it You guys, y'all posted too fast, but I ain't gonna retype what I had, I'm too slow & I don't type fast either.)

Hey Duane, I don't think you were being disrespectful, merely asking a question. So here is my take on all this;

My purpose in voting was to vote for what I believed to be the best skin. I believe the 'Global Solutions' skin is simply awesome & most appropriate for the contest. I like the idea of working with the school to maximize the benefit of the gracious donations that have been made. This will elevate our gift above the marketing department at Ti (who is trying to promote use of their calculator).

Original goal was to win the contest. When that didn't happen, Craig was smart & caring enough to modify the failed goal into a better result for Kale's school. If the school has a more pressing need than calculators, I'm all for it. And Craig said it is open for discussion before the $$$ is sent.

As I see it, this is to help Kale & his school. Not to increase sales of a particular model calculator.

While I commend Ti for the contest, they have some profit motives.

I have followed Craig's posting on the boards for years now & feel he is obsessive alright. Obsessive in good will, class, helping others, & his enthusiam for bus conversions.

I may not always agree with Craig, but he has my respect & trust.

[gumpy]

Thanks Brian and Kyle for your kind words.

As of this morning, the donations total stands at $436.21.

craig