No my friends, this isn't a post about how I've started to run again. I'd love to be writing a post about how I've working running into my daily schedule and I've registered for 5 and 10k's this summer. But this isn't about that.
This is about me running on empty.
I've been on the go since Saturday June 24th. The kids had a swim meet that weekend in Tacoma. It was an hour drive from our house and warm ups were at 7 am. It was an outdoor meet and dumb ole me sat in the sun for a few hours. The kids did okay, but they did have fun.
After the meet, we checked out the Tacoma Narrows.
I got home and found my wife watching the UFC marathon on Spike TV. So, we watched that until we fell asleep.
Day two, warm ups started at 7:30. Big woop, it was still an early wake up. Again, the kids swam okay and we went to Steamer's which had been recommended by several people at work. After this, we went to another swim meet and were there until 9 pm. I was exhausted then.
Monday morning rolled around and I couldn't get up. It was the last day of school and the weather was really hot, so we went to the pool and I was going to BBQ hot dogs. Well, there were some problems with some systems at work and I didn't leave the house until I was supposed to be at the pool, and I still had to buy hot dogs and stuff. I bought stuff for dinner, but didn't buy plates or ketchup or other accoutrements for hot dogs. Kind of a sad dinner, but the kids had fun at the swimming pool and we were there late again.
I still had to go home and pack for my trip (didn't mention that one yet). I had a trip originally planned for Tuesday through Thursday, but that afternoon we decided that I would stay and extra day, through Friday. This was a trip working with a consultant, so I was going to work as long hours as I could, so I could milk every last bit out of the consultant.
I started out exhausted so it was challenging time. I did get to go to dinner with my sister-in-laws and their husbands and then the next night with Myla (everybody else stood me up or had sick kids to take care of). But it was tiring and I'd get back to the hotel and work on that system issue I mentioned before (no resolution yet). I missed my family and realized how important they are, because I just fill the gap with work and how sad is that?
Wednesday night I had nailed down what Friday's schedule looked like and started to try to change my return ticket. No luck on Southwest. Evidently a lot of people like to travel for the Fourth of July. I got some assistance from Karen, our admin, and she was finally able to find me a flight home. It took her a lot of work, but she found me a flight from SFO (not Oakland, where I was originally planned to depart from) to Las Vegas and then to Seattle.
I was happy that things were under control for Friday and set out to work on my Friday projects. It was very fruitful time and we determined that I didn't need to return to the Bay Area on the 10th.
Well, when I got to SFO (very easy on BART now), my flight to Las Vegas was delayed. There were mere minutes for me to make my connection, but we were even later when we got to Vegas. There was nothing out of Vegas and by 1 am it was mostly arranged that I would fly back to SFO in the morning on a 6 am flight and try for something out of SFO. I had to be back in the airport at about 4:30 to prep for my flight (had to chase down some paperwork) so there was no point in me going to a hotel for just a few hours, so I slept in a corner in the airport.
When I woke a few hours later, there were about 4 other people asleep in the same hallway.
I went down to the United desk and the first guy in line was a Marine, asleep on the tile floor, in parts of his dress blues.
For whatever reason, I've been selected for Special Security Screening; although they really do go through all your stuff, you get to skip to the front of the line. Did that a few times and then I got back to SFO. In SFO, I'm supposed to try standby flights or be confirmed on a Sunday flight.
So, I've been waiting for three flights now out of SFO, I'm tired and unshaven and the coffee I bought dripped on my shirt and pants - the only ones I have for who knows how long.
SFO has a Swatch shop, which when I saw it made me think of my college roommate Erik. He has a large Swatch collection, so I whipped out my camera and took a picture of it. I'll post it here eventually. The two girls running the store started talking about why would some one take a picture of their store. So I explained that I was doing it for my buddy.
United has seriously overbooked their flights and now I'm just counting on people missing their connections for me to take their place. It almost happened on my last flight, but they showed up at the last minute.
I need to go walk to the next gate and wait there. We'll see what happens. The wi-fi is through out the hotel, so I can get on again later, but I hope I don't have that opportunity!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
When technology fails
I am traveling for a few days and am going to rely heavily on Remember the Milk and Google Calendar and SMS notifications.
I didn’t get my reminder for my flight 3 hours in advance. Don’t worry; I did make it to the airport on time.
Beginning to get worried, I sent myself a test event from my phone. It was sent back, saying that my cell phone wasn’t registered with Google.
I decided to blog about this experience and the first time I tried to make this posting (from my mobile phone) the mo-blog posting got kicked back.
I wondered if something was wrong on Cingular’s side. To check what was being sent via SMS, I sent myself a quick email, planning on checking it when I got to my hotel. And then it was time to get on the plane.
When I turned my phone back on in
I had a conference call shortly thereafter and I got reminded about that one too. So SMS notifications were working. But when I got to the hotel room, their wired internet service wouldn’t assign me an IP address.
Argh. I’ve really come to rely on this technology and this is unfortunate. I almost didn’t set my alarm this morning, planning on relying on my SMS notifications. Good thing I didn’t. One of the lessons I learned in the Army (which is still holding true): communication gear will always fail in the moment that you need it.
Finally, the internet in my hotel room is working. My apologies to those who read the partial post from my phone. I can't tell where it will stop when I moblog!
-
Monday, June 12, 2006
Am I slipping into a pit of 'work at home' disrepair
I didn't shave today. I don't think I shaved yesterday. And maybe the day before that too.
I didn't shower yesterday. I didn't shower today, either, and that was after going for an early morning aerobic walk with my wife.
But I worked a lot today and completed some tasks prior to their deadline. I started working at 5:45 am.
I'm not sure if this is right. But being funky is better than being in a funk. Maybe.
I didn't shower yesterday. I didn't shower today, either, and that was after going for an early morning aerobic walk with my wife.
But I worked a lot today and completed some tasks prior to their deadline. I started working at 5:45 am.
I'm not sure if this is right. But being funky is better than being in a funk. Maybe.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Google Spreadsheets
Google just released a web-based spreadsheet application. When that happens, I blog about it.
This time, I'm not so hot on what Google has done. I mean, it is a great web application, but there are several (two come to mind) really great local PC based spreadsheets.
Users can drop their current email clients and calendar applications and move to Google's respective apps. I don't think that is the case with spreadsheet. Sure, its in beta, but it just doesn't do it for me.
One of the nice things that it offers is online collaboration. That's a nice feature, but the people you are collaborating with have to have Google Accounts. Now, I can't imagine why anybody wouldn't have a Google Account (unless they are an employee of a rival IT company), but there are still those that don't.
You can't make charts with Google Spreadsheet. Yet.
And for hardcore spreadsheet users, they are already well versed in the in's and out's of their spreadsheets already. I couldn't figure out how to calculate an interest payment.
My recommendation stick with Excel or OpenOffice. This is a nice tool to play with, maybe make quick and simple spreadsheets. It isn't an Excel killer, but it is one more app in the productivity suite...
This time, I'm not so hot on what Google has done. I mean, it is a great web application, but there are several (two come to mind) really great local PC based spreadsheets.
Users can drop their current email clients and calendar applications and move to Google's respective apps. I don't think that is the case with spreadsheet. Sure, its in beta, but it just doesn't do it for me.
One of the nice things that it offers is online collaboration. That's a nice feature, but the people you are collaborating with have to have Google Accounts. Now, I can't imagine why anybody wouldn't have a Google Account (unless they are an employee of a rival IT company), but there are still those that don't.
You can't make charts with Google Spreadsheet. Yet.
And for hardcore spreadsheet users, they are already well versed in the in's and out's of their spreadsheets already. I couldn't figure out how to calculate an interest payment.
My recommendation stick with Excel or OpenOffice. This is a nice tool to play with, maybe make quick and simple spreadsheets. It isn't an Excel killer, but it is one more app in the productivity suite...
Friday, June 02, 2006
Assorted thoughts for the day
On Customer Service...
Yesterday, I blogged about Remember the Milk. Well, because of the order I did things, it didn't work the way I expected the first time. I posted to the help forum and within 10 minutes there was a response from one of the founder/designers. All this with a free service. Now that's customer support. Oh, and yes, we identified what was going on and most of it was my fault. Check it out - it is great.
On consumer recalls and bonus packs...
They suck. We are going on a trip this weekend (travel swim meets now) and I ran out of contact lens solution on my last trip. Well, I found a bottle in the gigantor pack from Costco. For a moment, I was happy. Then I read the package a little closer; it was the Baush and Lomb solution that was recalled. I didn't pay much attention to the recall because it wasn't the kind of solution I used. Good thing I paid enough attention to it. I don't want to use that stuff in my eyes. Some kind of bonus, huh?
Yesterday, I blogged about Remember the Milk. Well, because of the order I did things, it didn't work the way I expected the first time. I posted to the help forum and within 10 minutes there was a response from one of the founder/designers. All this with a free service. Now that's customer support. Oh, and yes, we identified what was going on and most of it was my fault. Check it out - it is great.
On consumer recalls and bonus packs...
They suck. We are going on a trip this weekend (travel swim meets now) and I ran out of contact lens solution on my last trip. Well, I found a bottle in the gigantor pack from Costco. For a moment, I was happy. Then I read the package a little closer; it was the Baush and Lomb solution that was recalled. I didn't pay much attention to the recall because it wasn't the kind of solution I used. Good thing I paid enough attention to it. I don't want to use that stuff in my eyes. Some kind of bonus, huh?
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Remember The Milk
I've migrated my personal email to a great web based application, gMail. I've stopped using Outlook for my personal calendar (inter-twined with my work calendar) and started using Google Calendar. But this post is not about those.
I've found a great task list manager application, again web based.
Remember The Milk
It lets you create multiple lists, prioritize, tag, set due dates, everything that a task list should do. You can send tasks to other people (as long as they are members, too). It will remind you in a variety of ways, including Text Message, Email, Instant Message (in almost every protocol). And on top of all that, it has a slick web interface. It will also export your task list to lay on top of any calendar that supports the iCalendar standard.
And it is all free.
This has allowed me to move my task list (both personal and work) out of Outlook.
With it all being web based, my task list is at any computer attached to the internet, be it at the library, one of the several in my house or...
There are some really great apps out there on the web and this is counted as one of them. Check it out. Manage your life.
I've found a great task list manager application, again web based.
Remember The Milk
It lets you create multiple lists, prioritize, tag, set due dates, everything that a task list should do. You can send tasks to other people (as long as they are members, too). It will remind you in a variety of ways, including Text Message, Email, Instant Message (in almost every protocol). And on top of all that, it has a slick web interface. It will also export your task list to lay on top of any calendar that supports the iCalendar standard.
And it is all free.
This has allowed me to move my task list (both personal and work) out of Outlook.
With it all being web based, my task list is at any computer attached to the internet, be it at the library, one of the several in my house or...
There are some really great apps out there on the web and this is counted as one of them. Check it out. Manage your life.
Monday, May 29, 2006
The rule of lost things and maintaining cooking faith
Today, we stopped at Target to return a skirt (my wife's, not mine, you weirdos). Target has a dollar section, which really made the kids happy, since they could buy crap for a dollar. I was about to make a crass comment about how junky it was and I discovered some cool Napoleon Dynamite window clings, sticky notes, pencils, etc. But I digress.
Among the $1 crap, they had Hawaiian floral printed dog collars and leashes. We bought one for each dog.
Two days ago, we had tried to take a walk, but couldn't find the dog leashes. Our dogs (like everybody else's') can't talk, but boy did they communicate their disappointment in us. No, they didn't pee all over our house, but they hung their heads and looked at us with their big brown eyes. Sad eyes.
Target, the great place that it is, also had a deal on a stainless BBQ grill, so I'm getting a new grill for Father's Day (funny, I just typoed and wrote Farters Day, hmmm). As we were making room in the back of our car, to get the grill home, we found all kinds of things, including the dog leashes.
This just is another proof of the fact that lost things always reappear when they have been replaced. It happened with our Tivo remote control, too.
Saturday night, I made a dinner from Martha
Stewart Magazine. What I made looked very similar to what was pictured in the magazine. However, the shredded pork had almost no flavor. It was dry and bland and very disappointing.
As Heather and I were reviewing the recipe to try to figure out what was wrong, we discovered
that I failed to properly follow the directions. After braising the tenderloin, I was supposed to broil the shredded meat with the braising liquids. I dumped all those out. Fresh cilantro, cumin, onions and chicken stock. All the flavorful things.
Heather was glad that it was me that screwed up. The recipe looked pretty good, if you followed the directions. She was glad that Martha didn't let her down and that she could still trust Martha's recipes.
Among the $1 crap, they had Hawaiian floral printed dog collars and leashes. We bought one for each dog.
Two days ago, we had tried to take a walk, but couldn't find the dog leashes. Our dogs (like everybody else's') can't talk, but boy did they communicate their disappointment in us. No, they didn't pee all over our house, but they hung their heads and looked at us with their big brown eyes. Sad eyes.
Target, the great place that it is, also had a deal on a stainless BBQ grill, so I'm getting a new grill for Father's Day (funny, I just typoed and wrote Farters Day, hmmm). As we were making room in the back of our car, to get the grill home, we found all kinds of things, including the dog leashes.
This just is another proof of the fact that lost things always reappear when they have been replaced. It happened with our Tivo remote control, too.
Saturday night, I made a dinner from Martha
Stewart Magazine. What I made looked very similar to what was pictured in the magazine. However, the shredded pork had almost no flavor. It was dry and bland and very disappointing.As Heather and I were reviewing the recipe to try to figure out what was wrong, we discovered
that I failed to properly follow the directions. After braising the tenderloin, I was supposed to broil the shredded meat with the braising liquids. I dumped all those out. Fresh cilantro, cumin, onions and chicken stock. All the flavorful things.
Heather was glad that it was me that screwed up. The recipe looked pretty good, if you followed the directions. She was glad that Martha didn't let her down and that she could still trust Martha's recipes.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
The multi-media experience
I really only watch four TV shows - Alias, Lost, Desparate Housewives and Robot Chicken. For whatever reason, the Alias episode from three weeks ago wasn't recorded because of some higher priority show on our Tivo.
As the series is coming to an end (it was the fourth to last episode) I knew I had to see it. I bought it on iTunes.
I've used my laptop and watched iTunes purchased TV shows, DVDs, and shows downloaded from my Tivo. It works, but it isn't the same entertainment experience as watching on our TV.
I'd never done it before, but I decided that I would hook up my laptop to the TV and sound system. It took a while of rooting around for the right cables (needed 1 mini-jack to RCA and the Laptop's TV Output to RCA cable and then one more RCA cabe) but it worked!
The sound quality was just as good as over the TV and the iTunes video quality was pretty good. There were only a few instances when you could actually see some distortion. It was totally bad ass.
It will never cease to amaze me what you can do with computers.
As the series is coming to an end (it was the fourth to last episode) I knew I had to see it. I bought it on iTunes.
I've used my laptop and watched iTunes purchased TV shows, DVDs, and shows downloaded from my Tivo. It works, but it isn't the same entertainment experience as watching on our TV.
I'd never done it before, but I decided that I would hook up my laptop to the TV and sound system. It took a while of rooting around for the right cables (needed 1 mini-jack to RCA and the Laptop's TV Output to RCA cable and then one more RCA cabe) but it worked!
The sound quality was just as good as over the TV and the iTunes video quality was pretty good. There were only a few instances when you could actually see some distortion. It was totally bad ass.
It will never cease to amaze me what you can do with computers.
Monday, May 22, 2006
'Naked Guy' ex-student dies in jail - May 20, 2006
CNN.com - 'Naked Guy' ex-student dies in jail - May 20, 2006
I knew this guy. Not personally, but I traded jokes with him and a homeless guy just before he got arrested the first time. The homeless guy had the better joke:
I'm not sure that he is an "icon" of my days at Cal, but he definitely got some notoriety.
It is sad when people take their own life, especially people my own age (although WTF about the assault and battery?).
He once told me that he "like to go with the flow." I'm not sure what he meant by that with all the free expression he was trying to make.
This can be my eulogy for the Naked Guy.
I knew this guy. Not personally, but I traded jokes with him and a homeless guy just before he got arrested the first time. The homeless guy had the better joke:
What's the difference between a New Yorker and a dentist?
One roots for the Yanks and the other yanks for the roots.
I'm not sure that he is an "icon" of my days at Cal, but he definitely got some notoriety.
It is sad when people take their own life, especially people my own age (although WTF about the assault and battery?).
He once told me that he "like to go with the flow." I'm not sure what he meant by that with all the free expression he was trying to make.
This can be my eulogy for the Naked Guy.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Lost Easter Eggs
I usually don't find these kinds of things, but last night when I was watching Lost, I saw an ad that just didn't seem right.
The ad made a reference to making a "better future" and referred to the Hanso foundation. I followed the URL (www.letyourcompassbeyourguide.com) in the ad and it took me to an interesting page. It worked last night, during the episode, but not tonight. Hmm.
The page simply a compass needle that would follow your mouse pointer. There was a hyperlink that would take you to another page.
There was some mumbo-jumbo quasi unix shell stuff that asked the question "Are you one of the good ones?"
If you answered no, you were taken to the Hanso Foundation webpage.
If you answered yes, you were taken to what looked like a backdoor into the Hanso Foundation user accounts. I don't remember the URL...
I stumbled upon an Easter Egg... I poked around and then found some references to a book that didn't speak too highly of the Hanso Foundation, Bad Twin published by Hyperion Books. I looked for that on the web and I found it and it refers to the last writings of the author Gary Traub before he went down on Oceanic Flight 815.
What I find surprising is that I actually found all this. I don't usually catch these things. As I've been trying to reconstruct what I did last night, I've discovered that this is part of some interactive online game... I found a blog at TV Guide that refers to this...
Now isn't all this interesting?
The ad made a reference to making a "better future" and referred to the Hanso foundation. I followed the URL (www.letyourcompassbeyourguide.com) in the ad and it took me to an interesting page. It worked last night, during the episode, but not tonight. Hmm.
The page simply a compass needle that would follow your mouse pointer. There was a hyperlink that would take you to another page.
There was some mumbo-jumbo quasi unix shell stuff that asked the question "Are you one of the good ones?"
If you answered no, you were taken to the Hanso Foundation webpage.
If you answered yes, you were taken to what looked like a backdoor into the Hanso Foundation user accounts. I don't remember the URL...
I stumbled upon an Easter Egg... I poked around and then found some references to a book that didn't speak too highly of the Hanso Foundation, Bad Twin published by Hyperion Books. I looked for that on the web and I found it and it refers to the last writings of the author Gary Traub before he went down on Oceanic Flight 815.
What I find surprising is that I actually found all this. I don't usually catch these things. As I've been trying to reconstruct what I did last night, I've discovered that this is part of some interactive online game... I found a blog at TV Guide that refers to this...
Now isn't all this interesting?
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Freakish medical conditions
This evening Heather was watching House and called me over as she was repeatedly pushing the rewind button on the Tivo remote.
She wanted me to watch the brainstorming session, when House and the other doctors try to figure out what mystery ailment is causing their patient problems.
Heather jumps forward on the couch. "You've got one of those freakish medical conditions that they talk about on House!"
Yes, I do. I'm a freak and proud of it. I belong to a select group of the population (.1% - 3%) that has extra conduction paths in their heart which could, for no good reason, make their heart beat like a bad techno song. And yes, eventually the heart could get tired and decide to stop. Then bad things set in. Like death.
It is always interesting when I get an EKG. Because it is an electrical problem it shows up on the EKG and the techs are always really concerned about it (I guess abnormal EKGs are uncommon). I've had doctors ask if they can use my EKG in professional discussions because they haven't seen it before.
I'm asymptomatic, so don't worry yourself too much. It was identified before I joined the Army and that didn't stop me. And if my time comes, well then, its my time.
You can learn more about Wolf-Parkinson White Syndrome here.
She wanted me to watch the brainstorming session, when House and the other doctors try to figure out what mystery ailment is causing their patient problems.
"Acute myocaridal infarction?" - Evidently their patient has someting with their heart.
"No, ER ruled that out. Retest."
"Wolf-Parkinson White Syndrome?"
Heather jumps forward on the couch. "You've got one of those freakish medical conditions that they talk about on House!"
Yes, I do. I'm a freak and proud of it. I belong to a select group of the population (.1% - 3%) that has extra conduction paths in their heart which could, for no good reason, make their heart beat like a bad techno song. And yes, eventually the heart could get tired and decide to stop. Then bad things set in. Like death.
It is always interesting when I get an EKG. Because it is an electrical problem it shows up on the EKG and the techs are always really concerned about it (I guess abnormal EKGs are uncommon). I've had doctors ask if they can use my EKG in professional discussions because they haven't seen it before.
I'm asymptomatic, so don't worry yourself too much. It was identified before I joined the Army and that didn't stop me. And if my time comes, well then, its my time.
You can learn more about Wolf-Parkinson White Syndrome here.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Picnic dinner!
Today the weather was great in Seattle. It started out a little cloudy but then it got into the 80's. I ate lunch today with my friend Roger and we ate outside at a mexican restaurant.
I had planned on making polenta and grilled sausages for dinner, but it seemed to warm to eat that, so I asked Heather if she wanted to have a picnic after the kids' swim practice. She was up for it and so we had KFC for dinner on the lawn in front of the community center.
It is starting to cool off now as the sun goes down. This was just a great day!
I had planned on making polenta and grilled sausages for dinner, but it seemed to warm to eat that, so I asked Heather if she wanted to have a picnic after the kids' swim practice. She was up for it and so we had KFC for dinner on the lawn in front of the community center.
It is starting to cool off now as the sun goes down. This was just a great day!
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Don't mess with Texas
It's real life fight club!
Texas Teens Accused of Filming Brawls
And these kids are eligible for life in prison? For making violent films of willing partcipants?
Texas Teens Accused of Filming Brawls
And these kids are eligible for life in prison? For making violent films of willing partcipants?
Matches from long-lost hiker save pair in San Jacinto Wilderness
Can you believe this. A couple gets lost and stumbles upon the gear of another hiker who got lost a year ago - and was never found - assumed dead. They also found his journal. Creepy.
It turns out that his old gear ended up saving them.
Matches from long-lost hiker save pair in San Jacinto Wilderness
Yeah, I was a Boy Scout and I really believe in be prepared.
That's why at my Engineer Basic Course I was humping a 80 pound rucksack in our field exercises and could have gotten away with much less.
That's why when we go hiking as a family I always carry more than I need to. If I end up getting stuck in the woods, dammit, I'm going to be comfortable when they find me.
These people got lucky.
It turns out that his old gear ended up saving them.
Matches from long-lost hiker save pair in San Jacinto Wilderness
Yeah, I was a Boy Scout and I really believe in be prepared.
That's why at my Engineer Basic Course I was humping a 80 pound rucksack in our field exercises and could have gotten away with much less.
That's why when we go hiking as a family I always carry more than I need to. If I end up getting stuck in the woods, dammit, I'm going to be comfortable when they find me.
These people got lucky.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Vegas, baby, Vegas
Well, the trip really wasn't like that, but I spent two and a half days in Las Vegas last week. I was there for a conference on Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID), for which I am managing our pilot at work.
The convention was at the MGM Grand. This was convenient because the hotel has a check in desk at the airport and will include the cost of the shuttle on my hotel bill. I also discovered that they'll have a bellman take my bags to the shuttle for me (expects a tip), who will take me to the hotel (expects a tip) and have baggage handlers bring the bag to my room for me (expects a tip). I'm cheap and not too keen on the expected tips. I can drag my bag around and I don't need someone to carrry it for me. There are times when I want that to happen and I'll ask someone to do it for me. So, for those who are wondering, I tipped the bellman, didn't tip the driver and snatched my own bag before the baggage handlers could bring it up to my room.
On the second night, I went to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. It's a cool French restaurant with bar seating around an open kitchen. It would take the sous-chefs about 5 minutes just to garnish the plates. It was beautiful watching them prepare the food. And oh my god is the food good. It sucked being there alone, because I had no one to share with. I had a smoked salmon appetizer, several nice pieces of lox with dilled creme fraiche and for dinner, a filet of John Dorry with chorizo and fava beans. It was so good. I chatted some with a journalist who works with John Dvorak (at the RFID conference) and a doctor who was at some other convention with her husband.
I flew out of McCarran International airport, on my way back to Seattle, but I had a few hours to kill in the airport. That airport offers free wi-fi access! How great is that. So, I posted my pictures to my flickr account, responded to some work email, and exchanged a few emails with my friend Laura. My battery started to die, so I didn't get to start writing this post.
So, hopefully this is a better travel-blog - not so painful for me to write and not so long for you to read.
The convention was at the MGM Grand. This was convenient because the hotel has a check in desk at the airport and will include the cost of the shuttle on my hotel bill. I also discovered that they'll have a bellman take my bags to the shuttle for me (expects a tip), who will take me to the hotel (expects a tip) and have baggage handlers bring the bag to my room for me (expects a tip). I'm cheap and not too keen on the expected tips. I can drag my bag around and I don't need someone to carrry it for me. There are times when I want that to happen and I'll ask someone to do it for me. So, for those who are wondering, I tipped the bellman, didn't tip the driver and snatched my own bag before the baggage handlers could bring it up to my room.
My room was in the West Tower which was pretty trendy. 
The opening speaker was Monday night and I went down early to check in and orient myself to the convention center. The convention center is all the way on the other end of the hotel and it took my about 20 minutes to walk there. It wasn't until the second day that I found a shortcut, avoiding most of the casino floor. Before the speaker started, they were playing music in the convention hall. I thought it was strange and actually use my note pad to write down what songs were playing.
- Naked Eye - Luscious Jackson
- Song 2 - Blur
- Odelay - Beck
I enjoyed the music, but I thought that this was pretty strange music for a convention targeted at mid-level and executive supply chain managers and technology companies. But hey, I guess they wanted to recognize the youthfulness of the RFID industry.
The first evening kicked off with appetizers and cocktails in the exhibtion hall and that is always fun when you don't have to pay for alcohol. I decided that I didn't want any of the beer or wine that they had and asked the bartender to make me the cocktail he likes to make. He offered up a Tequila Sunrise and that was what I drank. I would have imagined that there was something else, more interesting that a bartender would like to make, but who am I. I just like cocktails (and I like to make them too, so I supposed I am qualified to ask for something like that).On the second night, I went to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. It's a cool French restaurant with bar seating around an open kitchen. It would take the sous-chefs about 5 minutes just to garnish the plates. It was beautiful watching them prepare the food. And oh my god is the food good. It sucked being there alone, because I had no one to share with. I had a smoked salmon appetizer, several nice pieces of lox with dilled creme fraiche and for dinner, a filet of John Dorry with chorizo and fava beans. It was so good. I chatted some with a journalist who works with John Dvorak (at the RFID conference) and a doctor who was at some other convention with her husband.
I flew out of McCarran International airport, on my way back to Seattle, but I had a few hours to kill in the airport. That airport offers free wi-fi access! How great is that. So, I posted my pictures to my flickr account, responded to some work email, and exchanged a few emails with my friend Laura. My battery started to die, so I didn't get to start writing this post.
So, hopefully this is a better travel-blog - not so painful for me to write and not so long for you to read.
Coca-Cola Blak, or should I say, bleeck.
Coke has a new product that was advertised prominently on Safeway.com. I tried to buy it a few weeks ago, but they were out-of-stock (the delivery guy told me that he had been delivering lots of it lately). Finally, after some traveling where I wasn't the one buying groceries, I got my delivery of Coca-Cola Blak.
Coca-Cola Blak is supposed to be a carbonated blend of coffee and coke. I like the two separately, so I thought I'd give it a try. I imagined the two tastes to be complimentary. I was excited when it was delivered and I wanted to share it with Heather. She wasn't ready for a snack, so I let it cool in the fridge for a while.
Before opening it, I reviewed the ingredient statement. Coffee extract was the sixth ingredient, behind the usual cola ingredients. It also had sucralose and aspartame in it, which is a surprising turn off.
I drank it from the bottle (evidently missing out on the coffee-like froth advertised in the press release), and was not pleased. It doesn't have a nice coffee taste. It tastes like over-brewed French press coffee, where the coffee flavor and all the bitterness of the beans has been extracted. Contrary to my thoughts, the two tastes don't go together.
I'm going to try another (to enjoy the coffee-like froth) (doubt it), but that means that two Coca-Cola Blaks will remain in my fridge. If you'd like to come take one off my hands, let me know!
Coca-Cola Blak is supposed to be a carbonated blend of coffee and coke. I like the two separately, so I thought I'd give it a try. I imagined the two tastes to be complimentary. I was excited when it was delivered and I wanted to share it with Heather. She wasn't ready for a snack, so I let it cool in the fridge for a while.
Before opening it, I reviewed the ingredient statement. Coffee extract was the sixth ingredient, behind the usual cola ingredients. It also had sucralose and aspartame in it, which is a surprising turn off.
I drank it from the bottle (evidently missing out on the coffee-like froth advertised in the press release), and was not pleased. It doesn't have a nice coffee taste. It tastes like over-brewed French press coffee, where the coffee flavor and all the bitterness of the beans has been extracted. Contrary to my thoughts, the two tastes don't go together.
I'm going to try another (to enjoy the coffee-like froth) (doubt it), but that means that two Coca-Cola Blaks will remain in my fridge. If you'd like to come take one off my hands, let me know!
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Ex-Disney dancer is Playmate of the Year | Reuters.com
And this is why we all love Disneyland and DisneyWorld so much.
Ex-Disney dancer is Playmate of the Year | Reuters.com
I can't wait until the next time we go, who knows what burgeoning talent we might see!
Ex-Disney dancer is Playmate of the Year | Reuters.com
I can't wait until the next time we go, who knows what burgeoning talent we might see!
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