Meanest woman ever

Okay, so I went a little overboard with the title, but she really wasn't very nice.

This weekend we had a swim meet in Puyallup and like most other swim meets, it started pretty early. We left our house at 6:30am, in order to be there at 7:30am, so we could find seats and be ready for warm-ups at 8am.

At about 8:00 or so, an older woman arrived. I say older in retrospect, because elder implies some wisdom gathered through the ages. She asked me if the seats to one side of me were taken - there was some one else's towel spread on them - and I responded, "Some one's stuff is there." She proceeds to spread out her towel right behind me and tells me, "You need to move." After the fact, my wife told me that there were plenty of other seats, but we were by the starting blocks.

I scoot forward some, thinking she needs the room temporarily to spread out her stuff but promptly I get a knee stuck in my back. Yes, she was inside my personal bubble, but swim meets get crowded, so I can deal it. She kept moving her knee around, trying to push me forward. It became apparent that this wasn't an accidental incursion into my personal space, it was a deliberate invasion.

I proposed to her that we each move a little bit sideways and we can both have plenty of room. She declined that option, saying she was expecting more people, and kept her knee stuck in my back.

If reason based negotiations weren't going to work, I was going to be comfortable. I leaned back against her knees and was quite comfortable.

Her grown daughter, a swimmer's mom, eventually arrived. When she sat down, she asked me to move my bag using polite words like "please" and "thank you." I obliged, as you get more flies with honey than vinegar to borrow a colloquialism.

Shortly thereafter, she wanted to know what was going on and her mom took this opportunity to say how much more comfortable we could be if we weren't having a pushing match.

My response was that she was the only one pushing and that I was quite comfortable leaning against her knees. She then went on to say that swim meets are crowded and that people should move for others.

"People should move for people who are polite and ask them. Your age hasn't taught you politeness, but somehow your daughter learned politeness. I've offered twice that we can each move over and share the space, but you seem happy to try to push me aside with your knees. I'm happy leaning against them."

She was shocked and surprised that her daughter was recognized as polite, but didn't say more.

Swim meets are long and she had to go to the bathroom at some point. When she returned, the polite one, her daughter, said "Excuse me," so I scooted forward and got both knees in the back. But again, it was comfortable to lean on them, so there I stayed.

A few hours later, she got up and left to sit in her car. Her daughter said to me, no longer so polite, "Go ahead and lean back now. Does it make you feel like a big man to push on my mom?"

Calmly and politely, "I will lean back and it doesn't make me feel like a big man. She was the only one pushing and not very polite either."

"My mom is very nice and polite."

"Maybe when you are around, she wasn't polite when she was talking to me."

This line of discussion quickly ended, but I was ready to propose her mom's sudden personality change on stroke or Alzheimer's. You have to look out for the older people.

I was amazed at how rude this woman was and we were both stubborn. I would have to also say that it was more comfortable leaning against her knees than the benches. I do feel a little bad that she was probably uncomfortable for the rest of the afternoon, but just because you are old doesn't make you entitled to push other people around.

This was a surprising occurrence because people at swim meets are usually quite nice. I still don't get it, two days later.

It got here - and early too!

My replacement espresso machine arrived yesterday afternoon. I would have blogged about it then, but I got sidetracked setting the machine up and drinking espresso. I was pleasantly surprised because it didn't take the full two weeks that Williams-Sonoma promised.
Here it is in all its glory.

Kneel before it. Worship the espresso machine and the elixir of life that it provides.

Did something stupid today.

On my way out this afternoon, I was holding my sunglasses bag in my hand as I closed the garage door (not the big one, but the door to the garage). As the door closed behind me, I heard this crack.
Sure enough, I cracked the frame of my sunglasses. Boy, do I feel lame.

Watching movies on an iPod

Recently, Lifehacker, a blog on Productivity, had a post on converting DVDs to an iPod playable format. I downloaded the software (all free) and have started on a few. My thoughts on the process:

• Pretty darn easy to do
• End to end, it is pretty slow
• Pretty cool to have a movie on a video iPod

The instructions that the posting include are easy to follow and there aren't really that many settings to change. I did once pick the wrong audio track and got the director's comments on Star Wars, but hey, I was learning.

The ripping process is pretty quick, about 30 minutes for a DVD, but the encoding process takes some time. On top of that it is a two step process, and you have to manually start the encoding process. I've just let it run overnight and had great success with that. The Videora encoding software will also queue movies to convert, so that can be a time savings.

Then, I'd have to say it was pretty cool to be watching a movie on a video iPod. I don't actually have one, but I was borrowing my son's (while he had lost the privilege of using it). I was a little uncertain about watching a movie on that small of a screen, but what ended up being weirder was watching Blue Velvet before 8 in the morning at a swim meet!

I've got to get one of these video iPods!

I missed the audition call for this one...

Evidently, Harlequin book readers want to "want to escape from the relationship that they're in" and the publishers have decided to put real men on the covers of their books.

I missed the audition call! I'm sorry ladies, but you won't be seeing me on the cover. If only I had been in Toronto at the right time! I know they would have picked me. And you all know it too!

Isn't this the truth?

CNN has an article today and I just have to laugh at the title.

Cosmetic surgery rates up; breasts most popular

Well, I've got to agree with them. In a popularity contest, I would probably vote for breasts as my favorite too.

Thank you for taking this juvenile trip with me!

What is up with this weather?

It is snowing right now. Big flakes and fast. None is sticking as it is about 43 degrees Fahrenheit outside. It must be pretty cold up higher

And my wife pointed out that it is the first day of Spring (or the venereal equinox as I like to call it).

I don't get it.

My sons both wore shorts to school today. And one of them is still has to walk home this afternoon! It will make him stronger.

Don't stand between me and my espresso

For too long at least.

Today, my espresso machine passed away. It still makes espresso, but it just throws it out with the grounds. I'm not desperate enough to drink it from there. Yet.

And in actuality, it shouldn't be too long. My wife bought it for me at Williams-Sonoma and they have a lifetime guarantee on the stuff they sell. So, even with out a receipt, I can take it in and they will credit me the last recorded price for the item as I replace it with a new one.

But, while talking to the store manager on the phone, the manager suggested that it had been recalled. Sure enough, it had been. For risk of fire, no less.

So, what strange fortune. Who knows what risk we were taking by my drinking espresso several times a day.

Tomorrow, when they the company comes back to work, I'll be calling them. I've got to figure out how this recall thing will be working and I'll be wanting my espresso tomorrow!


Note: I apologize for my lengthy absence. I've been sucked into work for the last 7 weeks and have only now begun to pull myself out of that black hole. My project is coming to an end and doesn't need as much babysitting. Thank you to all you have kept coming here in my absence and I'm back on the posting path!

Welcome back to the Bay Area

I just saw am El Camino with am Op Ivy sticker in the back. Sweet!

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Cyborg Name

Get Your Cyborg Name

Listening to Oldies

Last night, while we were playing the Sponge Bob edition of the Game of Life, Heather put on the local Oldies station. As she put it, it was the "only tolerable noise." I thought it was pretty good. As we played the game for about two hours, they played nothing but good music.

I was signing along and having a great time.

I guess when they have music from 40 - 60 years ago, they can pick out only the best ones!

Google calendar prints in color!

I am a big fan of Google Calendar and I use it relentlessly in my implementation of GTD. One of my "prepare for a trip" steps is to print out the up-coming week (so I can refer to it when I am on a plane and not connected).

Tonight, as I am preparing for my upcoming trip, I hit the printer icon and the preview looked different. It was in color!

As you can see, each calendar is in a different color. It is a nice feature and a long time coming! Well done, Google.

Sixty-five dollar hair cut

I spent most of last week in Sonoma, at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa. Yes, my time did include Valentine's Day - except that I wasn't there to enjoy the relaxing spas of the California Wine Country. I was there for a work meeting, with events scheduled from 6:30 am to 9:30 pm. And we were encouraged to not bring spouses because of the schedule.

I did get to partake of the spa services though... I got my haircut. I've been traveling so much that I haven't had the opportunity to get my hair cut and it was getting pretty long. So, I spent almost an hour with Rodolfo during one of our breaks (yes, I did walk out on the guest speaker because he was running over), but I scheduled it according to the agenda we were given. It is a nice hair cut and I've gotten a lot of really good feedback from my wife (wink, wink) about it. But I've never spent that much money on a haircut. I'm not sure if my wife has ever gotten a haircut (or any hair service) that cost that much either.

Birthday Blog 2007

So, I've blown it with the immediacy of blog postings, but it was such a good day, I've still got to share it.

Last weekend, I turned 33. Definitely a better transition than 32. Actually, last year I hurt myself just before my birthday, reminding me of my increasing age. This year, I've started to work out and run regularly. I feel much better about myself.

To celebrate my birthday, Heather chose a few restaurants and let me make the final choice. All of the restaurants were chosen for their proximity to other places she planned to take me (Seattle Public Market, the sculptures at Olymic Park, Le Pannier, a french bakery). Using Yelp, I chose the Mojito Cafe (read more here).

It didn't open until 2pm, so we walked to the sculpture garden. We enjoyed the walk through there and I snapped some nice cityscape photos, too.

After lunch, we took a short drive to the bakery, across from the Pike Place Market. Heather took her parking skills to the next level (yes, your name was mentioned with reverence Erik): she turned the wrong way on a one-way street for the distance of two parking spots. On top of that, they were angled the wrong way, which made for a gigantor turn in our SUV. Erik, your legacy lives on.

After the bakery, we went to the recently opened Seattle Public Library. It is so cool and modern. There are meeting spaces to rent on an all red floor (floor to ceiling is all red). My next meeting will be here - I'll turn travel dollars into meeting space dollars. You can't believe how easy it is to find free public parking downtown during the Super Bowl.

It was a great way to bring in year 33 and spend the day with my family. Hopefully, I'll make it through the full year!

An alphabet of plans

While traveling last week, I decided that I wouldn't work one evening into the late night. I needed an opportunity to decompress.

After a nice dinner with some friends at Townhouse in Emeryville, I decided that I wouldn't even turn on my computer (Plan A). As I got out of the elevator in my hotel, Myla called to say I had left my messenger bag in her MINI. No worries there, Plan A looked like it was firming up!

Then I realized another friend was counting on me to make a move on Warfish, an online Risk game. Plan B start to form. I called him up to borrow his computer and went up to his room. I made my move and we talked a bit about shared libraries on iTunes.

I returned to my room, steady on Plan C: I was going to listen to music and read my Wired magazine. No such luck there, my iPod was in my bag, in Myla's MINI.

On to Plan D: I would go down to the hotel bar, enjoy a scotch (it surprises some, I've learned, but yes, I enjoy scotch) and read my magazine in a big comfy chair.

I never made it. In the lobby, I ran into some co-workers and somehow we got into the usually verboten topic of religion. We had a crazy, enjoyable, reasonable discussion about the pratfalls of organized religion (why do they need all that money), organized labor (all the money the take isn't so good for the worker) and a walk down memory lane of company history (almost 80 years of history, although I only contribute 7 years worth).

At the end of the discussion one of them said to me, "You never got to read your magazine." I didn't mind, this was much more enjoyable and relaxing.

Some one farted!

I am trapped on a cylinder of aluminum with some one who has gas. And not the kind that makes their stomach hurt, the kind that makes my nose hurt.

They didn't cover this one during the pre-flight safety briefing, but doesn't this count? "If additional oxygen is required, masks will fall."

I need additional oxygen now!

My movie groove is back!

The first of several retro blogs


Recently, I tried branching out and trying new movie genres in an effort to please my wife (and no, I'm not talking about XXX movies, you pervs).

And as I've posted, it hasn't been all that successful. Wal-Mart documentaries and romance (didn't even watch that one). No such luck.

Last week, while I was out, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang arrived. We watched it after I got home Friday night. It was pretty good (4 stars) and Heather stayed awake for the whole thing. She must have liked it!

I've got my groove back!

Retro-blogging and yelping offline

I've been doing a lot of traveling lately and haven't had much time to blog or post reviews on Yelp.

Yesterday, we were at a swim meet I wrote a mega-catchup retro-blog and retro reviews for Yelp. Actually, there were several not just one big 'un.

I also wrote them offline, with a pen, in my moleskine journal, knowing my battery wasn't going to last long enough to write them all and do the work I needed to do, too.

This post (in my journal) puts me down to the last 3 pages in the journal. Not to worry, I've already purchased another, so I can keep up. And I've also requested another laptop battery, so that I can finish transcribing tomorrow on the plane.

I don't know about this...

Star Wars Horoscope for Aquarius

You can be cruel and torment people who disagree with you. Deep down, there is a peace-loving, friendly side to you. You have a knack for inflicting pain on people and use your intellect during battle. Star wars character you are most like: Darth Vader

What Is Your Star Wars Horoscope?

Working across time zones

I don't often blog about work, but here goes.

I work for a domestic company (you don't have to be a Sherlock Holmes to figure out which one) that has locations across the US. Our headquarter is located in the Pacific Time Zone, but I work with people in all of the US time zones.

In an effort to make myself available, I have told certain people in the Eastern Time Zone that they can call me at early as 5:00 am Pacific time, because that is when I wake up. I'll routinely schedule 7:00 calls (I can't convince the Pacific Time Zone people to come in too early), if I am primarily working with the Eastern people.

Last week, I was in an Eastern Time Zone office doing some training and we were having server difficulty. Our entire IT staff, helpdesk and data center are all located in our Pacific Time Zone Headquarters.

We were doing user training on a new application and you guessed it the server was down when we walked in that morning. I'm pretty darn competent when it comes to technology, but you can't believe the feelings of helplessness I had. None of the people I knew were around to help, it was too early.

I ended up calling our data center and they referred me to an on-call guy - who didn't know what server I was talking about.

I have to say it was pretty strange being on the east coast and all the support resources were on the west coast. It gave me a new found understanding of watching the time when I schedule meetings and how I make myself available to the people on the other coast.

It is funny how the majority of people live on the coasts, which then puts lots of company headquarters in those same areas; which naturally puts us at odds with the time zones.

Do you have time for Greenpeace?

That was the question asked of the lady in front of us as we walked across from the Public Market today.

Much to my surprise, it wasn't asked of me!

What, you don't want me, the 33 year old white guy with 3 kids in Greenpeace? Don't you think I have feelings about Mother Earth?

Maybe he saw us park our SUV 2 blocks away. Maybe we were just too white bread. Maybe it was my spiffy new shirt from the Gap that made me not Greenpeace material.

I do care about the environment and feel that we do need to work on our conservation efforts. I just don't think Greenpeace does it in a responsible way.

I was really bummed because I wanted to say, "No, I don't have time for Greenpeace."

Guilty Pleasures

Ahh, the decadence.

Sunday mornings on The End are Resurrection Sundays. I've blogged about these before, but today's featured artist is Joan Jett. As I was driving #1 to practice she came on the radio.

I just had to turn it up. I think that Joan Jett is one of my guilty pleasures. I'll turn up Ministry and Metallica, but I feel no guilt there.

Joan Jett's Bad Reputation was the first tape I bought when I got my first boom box. I guess maybe it has something about the ride in the wayback machine.

What are your guilty pleasures?

Travelling noob

As a foil to my latest traveling post, I come to the blogosphere feeling like a noob.

I flew to a company location, that I've never been to before, in Maryland. I checked the weather, I packed the night before, I packed larger than 3 ounce toiletries knowing I would check my bag. It all seemed to be going okay.

I realized when I got in my rental car, I had no idea how to get from the airport to my hotel. After swearing out loud at myself, I calmly took my cell phone and used Google Maps Mobile. It couldn't find my hotel (it turns out I'm staying in the Courtyard Columbia by Marriott not the Marriott Courtyard Columbia). I followed the directions to Columbia and then decided I would use 411 to call the hotel and get guided in.

No such luck there. With all the web browsing to check my email in airports, my battery was almost dead. And as the nice recorded lady's voice on 411 said "Press 1 for the address," my phone died.

More loud swearing ensued. And I continued to drive in the direction towards the Columbia Town Center - there had to be hotels there. Maybe one of them would be mine!

I saw a movie theater and thought, "There are likely pay phones there and they'll have phone books." Right on the pay phone, wrong on the phone books. I tried Starbucks and they didn't have a phone book.s

So plan C or D formed in my head. I would go back to my car, get my chargers and either find the hotel online (T-Mobile Hot Spot at Starbucks) or use my phone and call and get directions. That worked and I was able to find my way to the hotel.

It turns out that about half of the people coming from out of town got lost too!

It doesn't help that the magazine on the last leg of my flight was the Road Warrior edition and there was a huge section about the Top 10 ways (reader contributed lists) to identify traveling newbies.

At least I used the alarm on my phone when my wakeup call was 10 minutes late!

Conversation with Heather

H: I fear for my sanity.
Me: Your sanity?
H: Nevermind, I found it.

I'm not so sure. I'll keep my eyes open.

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Physical Online Communities

How is that for a dorky title for a post where the first line I want to write is:

I did the coolest thing Thursday night! I went to a cocktail party thrown by Yelp.com. I think that Yelp is the coolest website, their tagline says it best "Real People. Real Review." You can review anything, restaurants, bars, clubs, dry cleaners, grocery stores and more.

There is a social networking piece of it, too. You can make a list people's whose reviews you'd like to read, when they post something new. So, what was really great about this party, was that I was able to meet some of those people!

This isn't a MySpace, ohh, she's got a hot photo, I'll make her my friend, but you can find people who've been to the same restaurants and have similar tastes as you. That extension of an online community to a physical one is pretty neat.

There are a couple of other things I like about it a lot. I am a big fan of the Zagat guides. I've had great luck with them and I regularly review restaurants. But I have to wait a year, to get the new review book (free to reviewers) to see if my review got snipped down to a two word sound bite. Yelp reviews are immediate! Posted to the web for all to see.

They are also integrated into the details returned for businesses on Google Maps. That is really cool. Maybe it contributes to my 15 minutes of fame, but it helps get the reviews out to everybody.

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you might have noticed that my posting frequency has gone down. Okay, from two a week to one a week, but still that is a decrease. It's because I'm Yelping!

Waste of perfectly good ice cream (and stout)

You might have read my review of Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe. Along with many others, I think very highly of the Shakin' Jesse, a milkshake of Guiness, espresso and chocolate ice cream. On a similar note, Alaska Airlines magazine had a one page recipe for a stout float.
I had Guinness at home and I purchased some vanilla bean ice cream. We were having Guinness floats.
We'll they didn't turn out so well. The stout was too bitter along side the ice cream. Maybe that was why the recipe called for a particular stout - maybe it isn't so bitter like Guinness.
Heather suggested chocolate syrup - at least that way they were drinkable.
Try the Shakin' Jesse if you are ever in Emeryville. Issaquah Brewhouse has something similar that I have yet to try. I'm sure it will be better than the float I made tonight!

Online communities turning into real world communities

This is cool. This extension of online communities to the real world is really neat.

Seattle Flickrites is picture-perfect for photographers

Yelp is like this. People will meet for dinner and they have an elite squad which has frequent get togethers too!

I've got a friend who on a trip to New York meet on of her Flickr contacts.

It's cool how the internet has gone from a collection of information to a way to actually interact with other people.

Last night I was IM'ing a friend across the country. He was catching up on my blog while I was reading reviews on Yelp. It is great how technology brings us all together!

Bicyclists and runners

While I was running this morning, the bicyclists wouldn't address the runners. I got passed once by a guy who had no light, said nothing, so I had no way of knowing he was there. At 6:20 am, in the dark, it is pretty surprising to be passed by something so quiet.

But when I would cross paths with a bike, I'd say "Morning." And they'd just silently go by.

The guy on the recumbent bike said, "Good Morning!" But he was a cheerful type and had a big, bushy white beard like Santa Claus.

The guy who was walking, but out of breath raised his hand in a gesture of a greeting.

The group of like a dozen (I couldn't tell because there were too many headlamps and runners with out headlamps) women running all said "Good Morning", too! :)

It was just the bicyclists. In the past, I've had some that greeted me. Heck, I've even got several friends who are bicyclists and they are quite friendly. Maybe these just aren't morning people and they are focused on their effort.

On a related note, since I've started working out regularly, I've noticed a marked improvement in my running. This morning was a great run.

Having trouble focusing

Our son has a big problem focusing on doing his school work, but not as much of a problem focusing on his Nintendo DS. Hmmm.

He has been working on the hypothesis and purpose of his science fair project and has been banished to his room to work on it. So far, he has thoughts, but not put into sentences.

Both Heather and I just got this email from him:

Can you please help me. You guys are smart. Can you please spend five min with me?? PPPPPPPPPPLLLLLLLLeeeeaaassssee!! :'( :'( right know i am sad those faces are crying!!!!

Love your unhappy son

A___

My response:

A___,
I'm sorry, you need to work on this on your own. You need to give it some thought, but it has to be your thought.
Love
Dad

Tough love is hard.

11 Things I've Learned Traveling

I've been doing a lot of traveling recently, and I'll be traveling a lot in the near future. Through all this I've gained some experience that I'd like to share.

1. Southwest Airlines only flies a fleet of 737s
2. Alaska Airlines flies a mixed fleet of 737s and MD-80s
3. My roller bag easily fits in the overhead bin of a 737
4. My roller bag fits with some pushing into the overhead bin of an MD-80
5. Alaska Airlines loads from the rear of the plane (starting about row 20). Important when the roller bag is stuffed full. See points 2 and 4.
6. Alaska Airlines baggage claim is slow in Seattle. I've waited almost 45 minutes for my baggage to come out.
7. Security varies between airports. Oakland International seems to be pretty strict. Seattle will give you a ziploc bag; Oakland sends you back to your airline counter to get one. I went through security 10 times before they confiscated my mostly empty, but originally 4 ounce gel deodorant.
8. The Starbucks on the A Concourse (most Alaska Airlines flights are on this concourse) is very close to the center of the airport and never has a line. So, you don't need to wait at the one in the Pacific Marketplace right outside security.
9. The security checkpoint for the North Satellite concourse is quick to get through. The lines are very short and there are lots of metal detectors. Head all the way to the right once you go past the airline counters - you'll be able to walk back to your concourse. I assume there is one for the South Satellite, too, but I've never tried it.
10. I like to park off airport (at SeaTacPark.com). They are just south of the airport (2 exits south on 5) and half as much as the airport lots. They are quick to drop me off and quick to pick up.
    
11. Tickets purchased directly from the airlines are cheaper and more flexible than those purchased through my company's travel agent site (that in theory takes advantage of our combined purchasing power).
    

Yelp.com - Review of the Day

Check it out! My review of the Herbfarm was chosen as the Review Of The Day on Yelp.com.

Thanks to everyone on Yelp who voted for my review and if you aren’t a Yelper now, you should sign up!

I saw it this morning when I was checking my mail on my phone while waiting in the airport and now I’m writing this at 30,000 feet on my way to Oakland, so I can post it as soon a I get to the office. Isn’t technology great?

I apologize if the links are broken, although, I think through the indexing that Google Desktop Search does, I might have gotten them right!

Fresh Fettuccine Alfredo with Smoke Salmon

Tonight, for dinner, we at homemade fettuccine with homemade Alfredo sauce with homemade smoked salmon. While this was a very satisfying meal to make, it just didn't have everything.

Dinner was satisfying for several reason. Firstly, everything was from scratch. Secondly, Chase and I made the pasta - from combining the egg and flour all the way through rolling it out. It is always a lot of fun to cook with the kids and this was no different. It was neat to watch her holding the long sheets of pasta, which she said looked like "Native American cloth," evidently a reference weaving. Chase helped with the alfredo sauce too, stirring it while I watched the pasta. We are a cooking team. Plus, we both wore our spiffy cooking outfits, me in the chef jacket and she chose the Dreyer's apron and chef's hat.

Dinner was lacking for a few reasons too. Firstly, I wasn't too careful on the timing of the pasta. Fresh pasta does have a slightly different texture, but it just didn't come out right. Secondly, I didn't make enough sauce. I would have loved to describe this meal as fresh fettuccine covered in Alfredo, but it was more tossed in Alfredo. I wish that there was sauce left in the bottom of the dish after we ate our serving - yeah, I know it is bad for the cholesterol, but it was my vision. Finally, the salmon was too fishy tasting. When I smoked them, one fillet was wild and one farm raised. The farm raised one was in tonight's dinner. Yes, there is a difference between the two.

All in all, I'll keep on cooking. It is fun and enjoyable, even if it doesn't always come out right! I keep getting better each time (yesterday's first batch of hollandaise sauce was thrown out, because it curdled, but I figured out to melt the second and third chunk of butter before putting them in with the yolk and butter, to keep it from overheating).

Working on Food Presentation

Yesterday, we had a swim meet in Puyallup. Since we were that far south, we decided to stop at Ikea for lunch. Who can pass up their Swedish meatball values.

While we were there, we did a quick walk-through of the kitchen wares and stumbled upon the Ikea 365 collection. We have been in the market for new dishes, as the set we got when we married, 4 moves and 3 kids later is slowly disappearing. We were down to 6 matching dinner plates.

We both decided that we would like to have white dishes, because the food will stand out so much better on a white plate. How many restaurants have you been to that don't serve on white dishes - burgers wrapped in paper don't count. Heather also wanted a gigantor dinner plate - so that the foods don't have to touch each other.

Well, the Ikea 365 collection had it all. It was white, the dinner plate is huge-mungous and buying a dozen of each piece didn't break the bank.

We've had the plates for two meals now. Both of them have been nice meals - Heather made dinner: broiled salmon, risotto, asparagus and a pear-blue cheese salad and Chase and I made breakfast: house made smoked salmon, on a bagel with an egg and hollandaise sauce.

Not to toot my own horn, but I think I cook pretty well. Maybe someday you'll see me on Top Chef, although not for a while, but I would really like to work on presentation. Nice presentation makes a nice meal so much better. I love to watch the final plating of courses at fine restaurants.

Now that we've got the dishes, I'm going to be working on presentation. It should be an enjoyable process.

It snowed again!

There is snow everywhere and school is canceled today. We have about 6 inches of snow at my house right now.





It is so beautiful out (before all the kids get out in it an play and mess the snow up -grrr!) :)

While I was outside taking these pictures, I was talking to another neighbor who works out of his house. We decided that if school was canceled, we still have to work. But if the local office is closed, then the home offices are closed too. It sounds good to me, but I've got a lot on my plate...

I just got an email from the office wondering if anybody made it into work today... Ah, winter is great.

Maybe we'll go sledding later today. You know, there is even enough snow to cross country ski, with out tearing up your skis!

One of my kids is really cool

I've got cool kids. But one (or maybe some, or even all) of them has raised the bar.

I had put a clean pair of pajamas on my bed this morning. I just went upstairs to get dressed for bed and upon my pajamas there was a small, plastic triceratops.

Most parents, when finding plastic toys in their bed or clothes, would complain. And I do, except that triceratops is my favorite dinosaur (geek score increasing logarithmically - oops there is goes again).

That is so cool that they would put my favorite dinosaur - maybe even give me the dinosaur - that they found while cleaning (or making) some mess.

I wish I wasn't wearing pants

Looking for some eye candy, are you? Photos only by request.

This morning, as I was getting ready to go running while Alec was at swim practice, I was looking for light gloves and my knit watch cap. I was already wearing some track pants and had to hustle Alec out the door. I was expecting it to be chilly, likely just above freezing.

When I got to Mercer Island, I was amazed to see that it was 50 degrees! It was way to warm to be wearing track pants. I've got to find something better for my lower body when I run in winter. Something that breathes better (that was the most part of my problem).

I'm not sure if I am secure enough to wear "running tights" but there has got to be something. Not leggings - maybe running pants. That sounds manly. I'll have to look for something. Any pointers?

The high cost of branching out

Well, it isn't such a high cost...

I tried some branching out in my Netflix queue. I made a movie choice that doesn't have explosions, car chases, boobs, or kung fu (although it did have some gun play). I chose a documentary.

I chose to watch The High Cost of Low Prices, a documentary about the influences of Wal-Mart on smaller independent retailers. It definitely had an anti-Wal-Mart undertone, but even with the examples where they probably were right about the evils of Wal-Mart, the dramatic or somber music and presentation over did it too much.

It went even as far to not really be a documentary, but more of just anti-Wal-Mart programming. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of Wal-Mart, but this had too much bias in it.

I didn't watch the whole thing. I tried. I skipped the last two chapters in the DVD and went to bed.

Daily writing

Writing is improved through frequency. This is something that they try to accomplish in elementary school with daily writing and home journals.

While we were talking with a teacher a while ago, I came to the sudden realization that blogging was just the grown up version of daily writing. I have a fifth grader who sometimes struggles with the idea of daily writing. The geek part of me says, "Start a blog for him." The Dad part of me says, "Do I really want to open up that part of the internet to him?"

Frequency is also important to blogging. Not only do you write gooder, but more posts drive traffic. Having good content is important too...

Now, that Heather blogs, there is friendly competition between us as to how has better stats. Usually she does, until I write something that she claims is boring, something entirely techno-geeky. So, in checking my stats on Google Analytics, I see a big decline this week.

And it is no ones fault but my own. I haven't posted for a few days. But I have been writing quite a bit. I have gotten into Yelp quite a bit and written several reviews (yesterday). It is funny how you often you go places that you can review.

I plan on taking my wife out on a date tonight - either to a place found through Yelp or one I'll Yelp about later. Maybe she'll make me yelp later, too!

Retirement

My dad was supposed to retire today and it appears that he did. I called at 5:18 pm trying to be his last work phone call.

He never was a real late worker, so his voice mail (really a tape based answering machine) answered. No change in his message, "Hi, you've reached __ Raines with _____. Please leave a message."

How about, "I've retired. You can leave a message, but I might not get it. Because I'm retired!"

Maybe they came and got him and dragged him to a retirement party. You know how crazy those geologists can be. Rockin' geologists.

Yelp - user community reviews

This is a fitting posting for the firsts of 2007. One of the things about the internet that I find really interesting is that it can be used to increase interactions between people. Yeah, you aren't talking to them or seeing them face to face, but you still interact just the same.

It wasn't one of my written objectives for 2006, but I wanted to use the internet to interact with more people. I've searched for and found old friends and I participate in several user forums (Puget Sound MINI, restaurant reviews on Zagat.com, several Google tool forums, posting pictures to my Flickr account). One that I just stumbled upon is Yelp.com.

Yelp is another one of those user generated review communities, but for just about anything. I've seen reviews for car dealers, restaurants, bars, movie theaters and more. They have a really nice user-interface for searching places that are close by as well as a mobile version, which I'm going to have to try out.

But on top of all that, Yelp has a social networking side of things. Like other social networking sites, you have your list of friends and you can see quickly see their reviews or send them your own.

I've spent almost an hour this evening writing reviews - check them out and sign up!

Ending 2006 on a sweet note

For the last day in 2006, we went to the Seattle Aquarium and took the ferry to Bainbridge Island and walked around there.

When I was a kid, I would never wear a jacket out in winter. I know it would drive my parents crazy. Over time, maybe it has to do with time in Alaska, I have come to not like being cold. So, when we go out, I really try to dress appropriately.

How does this apply, you ask? I always forget that the most part of the Aquarium is outside! I think I am going to an indoor museum, so I'll walk across the street in shirt sleeves because I'll be spending time inside. WRONG! And about this time last year, I went to the Aquarium and was cold then, too.

But the best part was going to Bainbridge Island. We walked on the ferry - well, we ran because we were right on the cusp of the two minute rule and rode to Bainbridge. The ferry ride was quick and then we walked into downtown.

At the ferry terminal, there was a visitor's booth that had some maps of the island and of the downtown. It was a very short walk, 10 to 15 minutes, even with our almost-five year old, up a slight incline to get to downtown.

We found a nice little bakery, Blackbird Bakery, right on Winslow Avenue - the main drag through downtown. We ordered some soup, a Roast Beet for some and a white bean for others, and had some baked goods and hot chocolate. Everything was really good, especially the Irish Whiskey Gingerbread.

Heather asked, "Do you want to come here every sunday?" I would be happy to. It would also be really nice to find a local bakery in Sammamish.

We slowly wandered back to the ferry terminal, stopping and buying some discounted Christmas ornaments and then caught the 5:30 ferry back, with all the people heading into Seattle for New Year's Eve.

Yes, we stayed up late. We ordered Chinese takout and watched some movies and then the last 5 minutes of Times Square as recorded earlier on MTV (that appears to be our tradition for New Year's Eve).

Happy New Year everyone!

I am the Hulk!

Your results:
You are Hulk

Hulk 75% The Flash 75% Superman 70% Robin 70% Spider-Man 65% Green Lantern 65% Iron Man 60% Wonder Woman 55% Supergirl 55% Batman 35% Catwoman 30%

You are a wanderer with amazing strength.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

A sucker is born every minute

I am sitting in Starbucks in Kent, going over some invoices and updating my 2007 Moleskine Daily Planner and I am next to 2 people pitching some kind of nutritional supplement juice to a young guy. Yeah, I’m eavesdropping, but this is good.

It is ridiculous listening to them. There is a guy in an suit that is way too big, talking about how much money he makes and what kind of car he leases and all the rich people he knows. There is a pretty young girl, too, who I thought was another sucker until she started in on the other young guy.

In trying to rope this guy into their “distribution business” he give examples of how some licensed stock trader has to get approval from the SEC to join this business, how he is thinking of hiring a body guard and how “real estate isn’t the business to be in if you want to be rich” (real estate happens to be what the guy is in).

Ill fitting suit guy purports to have a house in Fiji and a bank account in Panama. Sounds fishy to me. He evidently keeps his first paycheck in his wallet, $734, because it has some significance, and he would show it to the mark, but he forgot his wallet today. Yeah, right.

They are trying to get him to join today, because that puts him in the bonus pool next month.

This has got to be some pyramid scheme, because he has to buy the juice up front and get other people to join! If he can get 4 people to join by February and they each get 4 people to join, he could go to somebody’s house in Las Vegas, worth 15 million.

It all sounds pretty sketch to me – pyramid schemes, pre-buying merchandise, weak examples of how rich the people he knows are. I don’t know, people that I think are successful don’t talk about what kind of car they have, don’t forget their wallet and don’t wear ill fitting suits.

It sounds like he is signing up – they are calling his information into the toll free add a distributor customer service line.

PC Magazine's Most Useful Sites

It is the end of the year and all the Best of 2007 lists are coming. PC World Magazine just published their list- The Web's Most Useful Sites. I find these articles interesting because I often stumble upon interesting apps (Gliffy, Basecamp and Writely were all added to my repertoire this way). I am also really interested in Web 2.0 and I think it is changing the face of computing, business - disruptive technology at its best. But back to the article.

I am a big fan of Remember The Milk and the article rated RTM the winner in the to-do list category.

Winner: RememberTheMilk reinvents the to-do list in a snazzy interface that lets you make lists in configurable categories, all laid out on the front page as tabs. Adding to-dos is easy, though adding deadlines, notes, and time estimates is unintuitive.

You can add to-dos using natural language such as "Call Ted next Thursday," sync with your calendar via the widely supported iCalendar format, and set tasks such as "Pay credit card bill" to recur. RememberTheMilk sends reminders through instant message, e-mail, text message, or a combination of these. You can also upload tasks via a special e-mail address that the site gives you.

It's a tremendously well-rounded free product, with neither more nor less than you need to get and stay organized.

I take a little umbrage (if you can only take some) that they gave Gmail runner up status.

But its limitations--the inability to add new folders, to open multiple messages in one window, to filter e-mail, and to right-click on anything--will surely frustrate power users.

They fail to mention tags - that which power users will love the most. I've been thinking of totally dorking out and writing a post about the obvious superiority of tags in organization. But I'll save you from that for now.

In terms of the next, new interesting application, I'm going to check out Meebo, a web based, multi protocol IM client. I've been using IM more and more for work now that I am a remote worker and one of my large projects involves a team spread across the country, both in-house and consultants. I'll let you know what I think.

The article is a long read, but I recommend it. Check it out.

Dead Sea Sledding

Yesterday evening, we went to the Pacific Science Center to see the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit with our out of town guests.

We are members of the Pacific Science Center, so admission is free, but the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit was an additional fee and with scheduled admission times. We got there at 5pm, but were able to get tickets for the 8:15 admission. No big deal, we went to Center House, ate dinner, came back and spent some time in the museum and then went to the exhibit.

The kids had fun and a butterfly landed on my face in the Tropical Butterfly exhibit.

We went into the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit and in the first exhibit our youngest kid unscrewed one of the nuts holding the plexiglass displays on the wall. I guess we are breeding art thieves and heck, if they are going to start with religious relics - Indiana Jones anyone?

There were lots of exhibits about the settlement/ruins around the caves where the scrolls were found and we went through them slowly. The exhibit closes at 10 and after about 1:30, we hadn't made it to the scrolls yet. Parker got into the audio tour part of it and spent a bunch of time just punching the code into his player. At times, I swear he was talking back to the voices on the player.

We hustled into the scroll area and it was a little disappointing. All the scrolls are obviously in pieces, but they only had small chunks on display. All in all, it was a little of a let down. They are of great historical significance, so it was neat to see it from that standpoint. I think I was more interested in the exhibits about the nearby settlement.

Heather just shared with me the full price, had we not been members, and I don't think the exhibit would have been worth it...

As we returned home, it was starting to snow. Which bode well for our sledding plans.

So we got up early this morning and headed out to Snoqualamie Summit's tubing area. We arrived a little bit later than we anticipated, so we waited until the second session of the day. It was our first time there and tubing was fun - not quite as fun as sledding and Chase and Alec really got into it. Parker and I crashed (yes, on inner tubes) on our first run and he didn't want to do it much longer. Heather and I ended up taking turns for a while.

With the tow rope, it was definitely easier, but waiting in line for the tow rope made walking up the hill much faster. It lightly snowed all while we were up there.


The tubing area was fun, but I don't know if it was worth the admission price, especially when we had one kid that really didn't want to do it. Maybe next year...

Merry Christmas

Happy Day After Christmas to everyone.

I hope yours found you well.

Ours was enjoyable. We shared Christmas Day with family and friends and it was a lot of fun.

One of Heather's sisters and her husband and infant (two separate people, not a husband who acts like a child), came the on Christmas Eve, so that they could start the morning with us.

We started off Christmas day, by making Turkey Stock. We started at midnight and with stock making, stuffing making and general chit chat, we didn't go to bed until 3 am. On the good side, we kept the kids up until 11 or so, so they were inclined to sleep in later.

We had planned on having a brunch with her husband's parents, but they were delayed so we opened presents and had French Toast for breakfast. I had smoked two salmon filets that I was planning on eating with brunch, but I forgot about them, until we got the dessert course of dinner. But more on that later.

The kids were happy with the presents they received and have been playing with them since. Parker's Nintendo DS Lite has been already charged 3 times. I'm not sure if it has needed it or he just know he needs to keep it charged.

For dinner, several friends (who happen to be neighbors) came over for dinner. It was fun in the final stages of preparation and making appetizers, at which point I still forgot the smoked salmon. We had a turkey dinner with all the accouterments.

One of Alec's friends from swimming made an avocado egg roll kind of thing which was really, really good. And his sister made some caramel popcorn - I have problems making the microwave caramel popcorn! All in all, it was really fun.

Heather had some little napkin rings that had a spot for a photo, so we went all Martha Stewart on this dinner. As every guest came in, I accosted them with my camera, took a head shot and then printed out tiny photos of them for their placecard/napkin ring. They turned out really well. Heather was brandishing a knife, a teen ager was turning away, hiding her face and her mom gave me the anti-paparazzi hand!

Merry Christmas to everyone. It was really nice to spend the day with friends.



Argh. I'm having trouble including photos here. Check out the Christmas 2006 set on Flickr.

I'll take you to the candy shoppe...

I'll let you lick my - spatula.

I made truffles again this winter. Chase, Parker and I melted 5 pounds of chocolate and made Chambord, Kahlua, Peppermint and plain (if you can use that word in reference to truffles) truffles. I also made a sheet of peppermint bark. That was really good.

I took a bunch back to my team mates in Oakland and Heather started giving them out to the neighbors today and yesterday.

I really enjoy cooking stuff for other people. Heck, I just enjoy cooking.

Sweet mead

Saw this in the grocery store. Had to snap a pic.

What kind of place do I live?

Editors note: The Northwest was subject to a pretty large windstorm last week and the Seattle metropolitan area bore the brunt of it. Because there are so many trees (part of what makes the Northwest such a nice area), there were widespread power outages. Where I live in Sammamish was out of power for almost 3 days, but as I write this, there are still places that don't have power.
During the power outage, I kept my offline blog in my Moleskine journal. I've finally transcribed it. While it misses out on the immediacy of the blogosphere, it helps keep the continuity of my blog.

December 15^th, 9:55 am

They have been forecasting really bad weather here in the Northwest. Last night, it arrived. No rain, no snow, just wind. Lots of fast wind - forecasted to be in the 60 - 70 mile per hour range.

Assuming the power would go out, I made sure to charge my cell phone (last time, the cellular networks stayed up). I made sure my laptop was fully charged so I could work on some offline things.

As we went to bed, Parker decided that he was scared of the windstorm and slept with me.

At some point in the night, the power went out. It was no surprise, it was really windy and really loud. I wondered if this was what a hurricane was like. Shortly after the power went out, Alec came into our room and his shuffling feet woke me up.

Alec: "It's too dark to see." I wasn't sure where he was going with this.
Me: "It's night time, you don't need to see. Go back to bed."
Alec: "Can I sleep at the bottom of your bed?"

By this time, Heather had come to bed, so there was no room.
Me: "There isn't any room."
Alec: "Can I sleep on the floor?"
Me: "Okay."

I woke up as the sun was beginning to rise. It was a beautiful sunrise, quite a pretty red sky. Knowing the sailor's ditty, it might portend bad things. Ed. - I really did write that. Am I good or what?

Slowly the neighbor's generators started to kick in, but still no power. And on top of all that, I had no signal for my mobile phone. I realized I had a conference call at 8 am, a phone interview at 8:30 and then a national inventory call at 10. I decided I would try to drive to the local shopping center to see if I could get a signal someplace along the way.

I headed out and saw several trees down on the side of the road and trees broken off midway up. Branches and broken greenery littered the streets. I drove out of our development onto the main road, but I didn't get far. Several trees were down across the road. Sheriffs were directing traffic and work crews were already at work and the road was closed. The only way out now was a 12 mile detour along even more rural, more wooded roads - if they were still open.

I turned around and headed home.

We have no phone service (all cordless) and no electricity. No means to communicate in or out. Alec has a small battery operated radio, so we can get some news, but I can't call my office mates in Oakland to let them know my predicament.

We make the assumption that school is canceled - the radio reports, "Most schools are closed today. A few in Snohomish county are opening late." They must be tougher up there.

I break out the camp stove to make Heather coffee and breakfast for all. Cream of wheat and oatmeal turn out okay, but we only buy whole bean coffee. We have a few gifts of ground coffee, but the one I opened and made with the french press didn't turn out so good.

I hope the power comes back on soon. I was really counting on this being a productive work day, because I would like to take some time off at Christmas...

1:30 pm

Just washed dishes after a lunch of Ramen. I'm glad to have the camp stove, because it is now 60 degrees in our kitchen. Hot water is nice.

We went for a walk to survey the damage and yes, we saw lots of downed trees. I talked to a King County Sheriff and Sammamish Police Officer and they just advised to stay off the road. They didn't have much information on what roads were open or closed.

I was able to garner that, where it was closed this morning, it was passable, but only to be closed further down. There is a fire access road to our development, but the police officer told me they had no plans to open the gate.

Reportedly, it is supposed to get cold and I can see dark clouds rolling in. So, we'll stay home, drink cocoa, cook on the camp stove and stay warm as best we can.

3:30 pm

I finished reading December's Esquire, so I check my phone again. As soon as I turn it on, I get two voice mail messages and three text messages. One is from Myla - "Are you OK?" is all it says. So, with one bar of signal strength, I call my boss.

I can tell by the way he answers his cell phone, he is in a meeting. He suggests that I save my battery, so we keep it short. I tell him we are okay and get just a smidgen of news from the rest of the world. I learn the local office is closed because few made it in.

It's a little funny. I can see blue sky in one part and dark clouds in another...

It'll be time to make dinner soon. I think eggs and bacon before the fridge gets too warm. It'll be dark too.

5:20 pm

The sunset about an hour ago, as I was making dinner. Eggs and bacon, since the fridge was warming up. We had ice cream for dessert and boy was it soft.

Candles light (or as best they can), the family room, as I write by their feeble light. This is where the "early to bed, early to rise" phrase came from. It just gets too dark to do anything else.

Day 2 December 16^th, 2:40 pm

We went out today, just to see how far we could go. There were power lines down in multiple spots. Some where just cables and they let us drive over and around them. We got down to the shopping area and Home Depot was out of generators and Fred Meyers appeared to be open. We stopped in Fred's and bought Alec a flashlight, some pancake mix and some ground Starbucks coffee.

We ran into some friends at the store and they had watched some satellite TV (somebody has excess kilowatts on their generator) and there were reports of 7 - 10 days with no power in remote areas. Goody for us in the suburbs - estimates of only 2 - 3 more days.

After we ate lunch, a neighbor came over and asked if the kids wanted to watch a movie - if we had some gas. We did, from the ill fated swim meet morning, so the kids went over.

While the kids were out, Heather and I played our own version of darts on a magnetic dart board she had stumbled across. She won, by 21 points.

If we've got 3 more days of this, I'll figure out how to beat her.

8:30 pm

After a delectable dinner of chicken quesadillas and an enjoyable game of Whoonu, we are calling it a night.

The sound of the neighbor's generators will lull me to sleep with the hopes that my slumber is interrupted by all the lights we left on, coming back on.

Still warm, still well fed.

Day 3, December 17^th, 9 am

Still no power, although, we do have hot water in our water heater. Evidently (and the credit goes to Heather) our gas water heater needs no electricity to function (as opposed to Heather, who needs coffee to function) and I took a hot shower this morning.

I think Heather is in there now. I should go take a look.

11:45 am

Almost 60 hours with no power. I've ran out of clean socks and I have no more cargo pants (to hold my flashlight, journal, pen, multi-tool and phone). My toes have been cold for a while, I think it has more to do with no clean socks and I've added my down vest as an insulatory layer.

I've been able to get a good enough signal on my cell phone to get weather from Google SMS. They're forecasting rain tomorrow and highs in the low 40s. At least it isn't snow.

I was not able to get a good data connection. I would like to check my email to see what the news is reporting on this situation and maybe find out where there is power. I'd like to get everyone out of the house for a sense of normalcy for a while (heat, light and something to occupy us other than our glowing personalities).

2:40 pm

We took another expedition to see how far we could go. What was passable before is impassable now, but because work crews are cleaning things up.

So, we headed the back way to Redmond (where they reportedly already have power), but based upon the backup, it was closed. We took some back roads and ended up in downtown Sammamish.

There were lights (both illumination and traffic lights) and we stopped for lunch. We ate at Acapulco Fresh (which was really good). They had heat. And we got gas.

We took a different route home and ended up on the other side of the closed road. Luckily for us, they have finally opened the fire access road, so there is a way into our neighborhood.

Our expedition was also fruitful in that we had good enough cell phone coverage to receive calls and check voice mail.

My messages were funny. One was from Myla, wondering why I wasn't on Friday's phone interview, obviously before her "Are you okay" text message. One was from another co-worker divvying up some work to be done - I couldn't really disagree could I? Number 3 was my mom wondering if we were okay.

5:30pm (final entry)

So, we decided that we had had enough. We are going to the movies. Hopefully, we will drive to where there is power. Fandango tells us that Casino Royale is showing in Bellevue. We'll go there, all bundled up like homeless people to wander amongst those finishing their Christmas shopping in the Bellevue boutiques.

Postscript

While we were at the movies, the power was restored at our house. By the time we returned, the power had been on for four hours, so the house was warm again. We stayed up much later than we should have because the kids wanted a warm dinner. Who can blame them.

A lot elephant, some donkey

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

I saw this on my wife's blog. It will make it more clear for some of you. Although, I think that the survey was biased and didn't have enough choices.

How to get me to smile

I don't think I'm depressed. Really. I've read some other's posting about their feelings and I have nothing like that.

As I was heading out today to take Alec to swim practice, I grabbed a hooded, pull over sweatshirt. Since it was going to be a few minutes before I left and I was going to talk to Heather, I put the hood over my head so the sweatshirt was hanging down my back.

For some unknown reason, I took the sleeves and tied them around my chest. As I pulled them snug, I just smiled. It felt like I was being hugged.

I convinced Heather to try it out. She didn't get the same feelings of elation as I did.

Try it out, if you are feeling low. I remember reading an article about some engineering students designing a vest with inflatable bellows to simulate hugs for either depressed or autistic people.

I'm back, faithful readers

I'm back.

The Northwest was subject to a really bad windstorm (I still haven't caught up with the news) and Sammamish was subject to a power outage for almost 72 hours.

But all is not lost. I switched to my faithful Moleskine and kept on blogging - or maybe just logging. If it isn't on the web it can't really be a blog, can it?

I'll try to get it transcribed today, but I have a lot to catch up on!

Demonstration models needed

Not to brag, but I have some skills!

Heather says:

He also is becoming quite adept with unhooking my bra -- one handed -- before I realize he's snaked his hand up the back of my sweater. Damn! I can't even unhook my bra that fast!

I would be happy to demonstrate my skills!

Dry cappuccino!

I have successfully made a dry cappuccino! That is my drink of choice and I usually don't get the proportions right.

She excites me!

Tomorrow is trash day. Maybe there will be some rushing around in a short nighty.

Heather is a hot blogger!

Beau, your blogging is in need of improvement

Today, I stumbled upon a post I wrote back in July of 2005. This it was my second post, but somehow, it got into my drafts.

I made some iditorial notes and republished it. So, for those of you that won't go as far back in my archives as 2005 (why not!), here is a link.

What tarot card am I? Uh, oh.

You are The Devil

Materiality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession

The Devil is often a great card for business success; hard work and ambition.

Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really "Satan" at all, but Pan the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius. These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. This is a card about ambitions; it is also synonymous with temptation and addiction. On the flip side, however, the card can be a warning to someone who is too restrained, someone who never allows themselves to get passionate or messy or wild - or ambitious. This, too, is a form of enslavement. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad man, but certainly a powerful man who is hard to resist. The important thing is to remember that any chain is freely worn. In most cases, you are enslaved only because you allow it.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Thanks to Helen for this link.

Talk about tough love

Check out what this family did to help their son get back on the right path.

Tough-love remedy for an unruly teen: Two years. With monks. In Cambodia.


I don't know if I could do that to my kids. My kids suck the life out of me at times, but they really are good kids.

You know, this could be like compulsory military service in some countries. It serves as character development, although it doesn't build the national pride that I see in those countries. Compulsory military service won't fit in the United States or with the way the military is designed. So what about compulsory Buddhism?

Traveling with a carry on

As I've previously posted, I've been doing quite a bit of travel lately. In my efforts to streamline and minimize my airport time, a while back I purchased a rolling suitcase that I thought was carry on sized.

The thing is that I purchased it right before the ban on liquids and gels in carry on baggage. I didn't have any small size toiletries, so I just kept on checking my bag.

On my last trip, I left my razor and shaving cream (an almost new, full sized can) in the hotel. So, for this trip, I had to go buy new stuff. I took the time to find the under 3 ounce travel sized containers. I was so excited because I was able to find my brand and type of shaving cream in a small container.

I pre-packed it all in a quart sized ziploc bag and packed it in an easy to get to spot in my bag. I checked in online at home and was off to the airport (by way of a swim meet in Kitsap).

I arrived at the airport and I wasn't going to be one of those people who is trying to cram their gigantor bag into the overhead bin, so I checked with the carry on bag sizer. Yes, astute readers, you know where this is going already. It wouldn't fit. Incredulous, I waited in the check in line (unfortunately, I chose Horizon, where they can only check me in, not accept my bag) to ask if it would fit or not. And just like the sizer indicated, it wouldn't fit. Evidently, the MD-80 has the industries smallest overhead bins.

So much for saving time. I had to check the bag (at least I did it before I tried to get on the plane, saving myself some embarrassment). I had to claim by bag later - which in San Diego wasn't an issue, they were very quick. Going home will be another story. Alaska Airlines in Seattle is very slow to get bags out.

Christmas time is here

This is the weekend when my street puts up Christmas lights. What makes it a notable occasion is that someone rents a cherry picker and the whole street puts up lights. It takes very little time to put lights on the upper reaches of your two story house when 3 guys are doing it.


I'll post some photos in a while - once the street gets all gussied up for Christmas.

Getting Things Done this week

This week has been a hectic one, mostly due to work. I was traveling for two days and had less than optimal internet access. I couldn't download my email to deal with it when I was offline from the office I was in. On the way home, I couldn't remember my T-Mobile wi-fi account, so I couldn't even catch up in the airport before I got on the plane.

Wednesday, I had an inbox with 2 days worth of high priority emails, some high priority tasks to do and a 3 hour conference call that ended up going 5 hours, plus some additional time rescheduled for Friday.

I was able to take advantage of the GTD practices and I accomplished a whole lot. One of the tenets of GTD is that if it can be done in less than 2 minutes, do it now, otherwise put in on your to-do list (mine is Remember the Milk). Taking advantage of priorities, I was able to tell people when I would get the things done and what things I should be doing right now.

It was great! Every day I worked hard, used the system and kept my head above water. I only had to postpone 1 task - I was amazed at how effective I was amidst all the emails and chaos.

GTD is a great system and I'm glad I discovered and implemented it. The next weeks portend to be just as busy and I'll need all the good technique to get through it.

Implementing GTD has been a life changing process and really made both my personal and professional life much more efficient and effective.

Ran out of gas

Saturday was going to be a one post day, but something happened today that warrants an extra one. You can read Heather's recounting on her blog.

As the title implies, we ran out of gas this morning. We had a swim meet in Kitsap and had to leave our house at 5:55 am in order to make the Fauntleroy-Southworth ferry.

The kids got up with out complaint just after 5 am and got ready. We were only a few minutes late leaving our house and I noticed that the fuel gauge was already on E. I wasn't worried about it, because I hadn't heard Heather talk about how low on fuel she was.

About a mile from our house, I felt the car stutter. Only after it happened the second time, did I realize what it was and put the car in neutral.

We coasted to a stop on the side of the two lane road. Because I was wearing shoes, pants and had a jacket (Heather was in a nice short skirt and sandals - going to a swim meet, rememeber), I walked home to get a gas can and to drive for gas.

I flipped the collar on my pea coat up and headed out into the dark, foggy and cold morning. As I started up the main street into our development, the fog was settling on the sidewalks and getting icy. I had to walk on the grass, because I could get better traction there.

It took a while, but I found a gas can and took my MINI to the gas station.

In my rush, I filled the gas can too quickly and it splashed out. I wiped it off as best I could, but I already smelled like a gas station attendant. I didn't want my car to smell that way, so I unrolled all the windows. At 45 mph and 28 degrees, there is quite a wind chill.

I got back to Heather and the the kids and started pouring the gas in. I must have chosen the slowest gas can we had at home - it had no air inlet. So, I stood in the lane of traffic for about 3 minutes while filling the car.

After taking my car back and filling up Heather's Expedition, we ended up missing the ferry. We drove the long was around (across the Tacoma Narrows) and ended up about 40 minutes late.

We didn't miss all of the warmups and I got some exercise this morning. All's well that ends well. Hopefully we take the ferry home. That will be enjoyable.

My kids are well trained

I was working and my youngest came running into my office a few minutes ago. "Daddy, Daddy, come here. We need to show you something." I could hear excited voices coming from the family room.

I go over there and they have paused the Tivo on a screen from Ben 10, a show they watch on Cartoon Network.

Yes, that is MINI Coopers on the screen! How is that for a sighting!

When we go for a drive, they always call out the MINIs that they see. They are no longer faked out by the new Volkswagon Beetle, either.

What great kids I have.

Now that Sarbanes-Oxley is under control, where will the accountants go?

Amsterdam! To the Red Light District, no less. No, this isn't a bunch of bean counting suits going to brothels and strip clubs to celebrate the end of a big project. The brothels in Amsterdam seem to have their own accounting difficulties.

In an article titled Amsterdam Curbs Prostitution 'Windows', the Guardian Unlimted writes "City officials ... are shutting down nearly a third of the 350 prostitution "windows'' in Amsterdam's famed Red Light District as part of a crackdown on crime."

Evidently, the less than stellar accounting practices in the brothels makes it hard to find "reputable accountants are often unwilling to work with them, making it difficult to keep correct books" which opens them up to illegal practices like "money-laundering, or other illegal financial activity."

So, all this is where the accountants need to go! They've got to have great work place benefits and when they have company parties - dude, they must be ragers! And I bet if the accountants got laid more, we wouldn't have policies like Sarbanes-Oxley forced down our throats.

Snow day 3 in the Issaquah School District

We are having our third snow day in a row! It looks like it is warming up outside, but there is still snow on the ground and ice on the street (at least in front on our house). However the snow days appear to be coming to an end, so says the Issaquah School District.

UPDATE

Issaquah Schools and all school-related activities are once again cancelled today, Thursday, November 30.

Although roads in some areas of the District are ice free, many roads remain treacherous to navigate. While we want students to return to classrooms as soon as possible, we put their safety first.

We expect school to resume on a normal schedule tomorrow. Thank you for your flexibility during the storm.

Sorry kiddos! Enjoy the last day!

Opera MINI browser on a phone

As a MINI owner, anything mini catches my eye. As a tech geek, anything techie catches my eye.

Opera (the alternative browser people) have a version for mobile devices, Nintendo devices and now a Java based one that will run on my phone. How cool is that! Plus, I also like coffee, so java catches my eye too.

So, this browser is supposed to pre-process web pages in order to optimize them for viewing on the small screen. It also folds long lists, again to make them better to view on the small screen.

My phone already has a browser, but it doesn't really connect to the Internet, just some dumbed down and cleaned of any formatting version that Cingular provides. That browser doesn't really get me anything other than headline news and weather. So, I've been looking for something like this.

The browser seems a little slow to load initially, but then responds pretty well. I'm not looking for the greatest internet experience, but one that fits in my pocket anywhere I go. I know there are limitations on the cellular network and such a small screen.

I tried it out and went to the mobile version of Remember the Milk (my phone browser won't take me there). It worked! I was able to view my tasks and everything. It didn't do so well with the full featured AJAX version of the page, but hey, I'm on the phone.

It is great that this kind of processing power (and research too - preloaded with Wikipedia search box) can be packaged in such a small device. This is one step closer to ubiquitous Internet access. Now I need a better data plan on my phone!

The Opera Mini browser is available as a free download and a link can be sent to your mobile phone.

How do you read my blog?

My wife has been playing with Feedburner RSS feeds on her blog and I was wondering:

How do you read my blog?
Directly read posts in a web browser
Feed aggregator (bloglines, google reader, etc)
Other
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