As part of the Testing for the Public class that I’m taking I got a binder full of stuff and a copy of The Official Guide for GMAT Review. This is the book published by the creators of the GMAT test. It has a few hundred retired practice questions taken from actual previous GMAT exams. This book is well over 800 pages of practice material and explanations.

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition author: Graduate Management Admission Council asin: 0976570904

Testing for the Public is a preparation course for standardized testing taught in the Bay Area. It is a non-profit . They organization generically prepares students for the variety of standardized tests such as the GMAT, LSAT, and GRE made by the ETS or similar bodies. The class was started by David White, who is also the instructor in many cases.

I have heard good things about the class. it costs $500; about one-third the cost of any other test preparation class. The other courses definitely have more hours of instruction but I’m not trying to get a perfect score or anything. The time and money spent on GMAT is preparation could probably be better spent on honing your essays and providing valuable community service. Here’s the rundown of course costs that I can find.

At the outskirts of Pontiac, Waterford, Michigan is home of Summit Place Mall the mall I practically grew up in. In its heyday I used to go to Summit Place at least once a week during the summers when I was a kid. I went primarily for two things: Babbage’s and arcades.

Summit Place Mall on Merchant Circle

Most importantly was the Babbage’s computer store. An Electronics Boutique opened in the mall a short time later. I liked EB but I never loved it as much as I loved Babbage’s. From about age 8 to 15 Babbage’s was paradise for me. I fondly remember buying several Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and PC games from them: Ghostbusters, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, and so on. I used to go to the store and look at the box covers of just about every single game there, even for systems I didn’t have. I think the smartest thing Babbage’s used to have was pre-recorded loop of in-game footage for a handful of games. I would stand around and watch the medley of game clips loop over and over. The funny thing was they never had a sale. Games rarely dropped in price like they do now, especially not as fast. Back in the day (late 80s or early 90s) games cost $50 and stayed $50 for a very long time. Nowadays a hit game will drop from full retail within a few months.

Second, they had two sweet arcades. Summit Place had a generic arcade in the food court and another arcade called Aladdin’s Castle. I didn’t go to Aladdin’s Castle much because it was only in the mall for a couple years and it was on the far side of the mall near Montgomery Ward. I went to a few birthday parties there which was awesome because one friend of mine rented out the entire arcade so we could play all the games for free. The employees there had to open the machines and give credits or set them to free play. Twenty years later I still look back on that birthday party with fond memories. Aladdin’s Castle had a few games I rarely saw anywhere else like Ninja Warriors and Strider. The generic arcade was also quite good. I fondly remember wasting lots of money there playing Final Fight, 720 degrees, Operation Wolf, Hard Drivin’, APB, Ninja Gaiden, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Outrun, and P.O.W. there. I forgot to mention Wrestlemania, Punch-Out, After Burner, Rolling Thunder, Midnight Resistance, Ikari Warriors, Off Road, Championship Sprint and Double Dragon. Just remembering this list of great arcade games leaves me yearning. Thank goodness for MAME.

Summit Place was one of many playgrounds in my consumerist youth. Even though it has been reduced to a craphole I will remember it fondly.

When I bought my Prius the finance guy offered me a pre-paid maintenance plan for $1,275 and the Toyota Platinum Extra Care plan for $1,375.

After briefly perusing the web I found that the Prius Chat forums offer a Discounted Toyota Extended Warranty plan through Warranty Shack. Don’t be fooled by the website’s shoddy looks. It is actually a side website offered by Troy Dietrich from Toyota of Greenfield, Massachusetts. It is the exact same plan as sold by my dealer, but for substantially less at $990. Many people in the priuschat forums and Yahoo! Prius owners group vouch for this discount so I figured I’ll give it a try to save myself some cash for the warranty and service work. I also called the dealership to confirm that Mr. Dietrich is in fact a real person (he is). I sent my check. Now we wait to see if I get ripped off.