Yeninko of the Umlaut

Regular wedding until 0:27

2009-07-24T10:57:00.001-07:00

I love theater kids. Especially the ones that don't ever grow up.

Bernie

2009-06-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

CNN interviewed Larry Levine who served ten years in prison and is now a consultant for white collar criminals preparing to go to jail. He spoke about what Bernie Madoff

The whole interview is interesting but it really pays a dividend for the last line.

Why George Tiller's murder matters

2009-06-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

Outside of the ideological battle, he was an expert in his field doing work that few if any other doctors have the expertise or willingness to perform. For that he was murdered and I wonder if any others will step into the void left.

Susan Hill, President of the National Women's Health Foundation, who knew Dr. Tiller for over two decades and referred girls and women to his clinic, said in a phone interview, "We always sent the really tragic cases to Tiller." Those included women diagnosed with cancer who needed abortions to qualify for chemotherapy, women who learned late in their pregnancies that their wanted babies had fatal illnesses, and rape victims so young they didn't realize they were pregnant for months

...

A commenter at the blog Balloon Juice told the story of finding out in the eighth month of his wife's pregnancy that she was carrying conjoined twins. "Conjoined twins alone is not what was so difficult but the way they were joined meant that at best only one child would survive the surgery to separate them and the survivor would more than likely live a brief and painful life filled with surgery and organ transplants." They chose to terminate the much-wanted pregnancy, rather than bring a child into the world only to suffer and die. "The nightmare of our decision and the aftermath was only made bearable by the warmth and compassion of Dr. Tiller and his remarkable staff." A commenter on Metafilter tells a similar story: "My wife and I spent a week in Dr. Tiller's care after we learned our 21 week fetus had a severe defect incompatible with life. The laws in our state prevented us from ending the pregnancy there, and Dr. Tiller was one of maybe three choices in the whole nation at that gestational age." He went on to share his memories of Dr. Tiller. "I remember him firmly stating that he regarded the abortion debate in the US to be about the control of women's sexuality and reproduction. I remember he spent over six hours in one-on-one care with my wife when there was concern she had an infection. We're talking about a physician here. Six hours."

...

The trauma of receiving such a diagnosis is only compounded by the difficulty of obtaining a late-term abortion. Writes one woman, "The reality is that finding a doctor to do this procedure in the late second or third trimester is almost impossible. For me, the reality was that at the most painful time of my life I had to travel out of state, stay in a hotel room and face hostile protesters in order to carry out this most personal of choices." Another writes, "I had to fly to Kansas to have the procedure done. It was a five-day out patient procedure that cost us almost $9,000 after all was said and done. I am hurt and angry at the state of Maryland for taking away my right to allow my daughter to die in peace ... I was appalled that Maryland did not have a quality-of-life addendum to the late-term termination law." Susan Hill says enduring the expense and stress of travel is the only option for most women who need late abortions in the U.S. "The restrictions under the Bush administration made it impossible for most states to allow abortions past 16 weeks. All the southern states are restricted tremendously. A few places in New York, if it was medically necessary, could possibly do it, but the paperwork was unbelievable, and there was no time left. That's why they referred people to Tiller. And for that he lost his life. "

Hill last spoke to Dr. Tiller two weeks ago, not long after the Women's Health Center was vandalized, and she asked the 67-year-old why he didn't retire in the face of increasing harassment, after already having been shot in both arms and seen his clinic bombed. "Because I can't leave these women," he told her. "Those are the words I'm always going to remember from him. He just believed that when he left, they wouldn't get any kind of care." Unfortunately, it seems he may have been right. I asked Hill where women who need late-term abortions can go now, and her response was bleak. "There's Warren Hern, out in Boulder, Colorado, but he doesn't go as far as Dr. Tiller went." When it comes to those "really tragic cases," Hill said the harsh truth is, "We don't know where we're going to send them."

I've pretty much quoted the entirety of this article.

Update 6/9/09: Looks like George Tillers clinic will closes permanently.

Live Free or Die

2009-05-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

One of the ridiculous reasons I'm a vegetarian is a sense of general unfairness for the fate of farm animals. It boils down to this, billions of animals are raised in this country and they basically have zero chance at a full life, they either die on the feed lots from disease or accident or their lives are prematurely ended at the slaughter house. At the very least there should be some sort of lottery or death match event where one cow, or one pig, through intelligence, or brawn, or something, manages to secure it's freedom.

Which is why this story brings a sense of joy to my heart;

Last week, she [Molly the cow] successfully dodged her fate of being reincarnated as umpteen New York cheeseburgers when she bolted from a Queens slaughterhouse and proceeded to star in her very own wild west cattle drive up 109th Avenue.

...

For a moment Molly's life hung in the balance. Would she be returned to the slaughterhouse or rewarded for her hutzpah? Whether as a nod to her new found fame or as an act of true altruism, her owner relinquished the 400-pound dairy queen to animal-care workers and the promise of greener pastures.

Which reminds me of this incident of years gone past.

I will decline to answer that officer.

2009-05-12T15:30:00.001-07:00

I tend not to get overly libertarian on this blog (trying to keep it real, yo) but it is very important that we protect ourselves against self incrimination, since that can get serious very quickly.

My brother who is an attorney recommend to me at a young age, to never talk to cops. If they want to interview you, just clam up and ask to speak to a lawyer, regardless if you have done something wrong or not.

But cops are very good at making you talk. For example, what do you say to a question like "Do you know how fast your were going?"
a) Yes (you sound like an ass)
b) No (you sound incompetent)
c) 99 (you just confessed)
d) 35 (you're lying)
e) Nothing (you sound like an ass again)

This 27 minute video I found on youtube (skip part two, it is informative, though only mildy interesting) might help you understand why a simple statement like, 'I decline to answer that question', or a return asking 'Am I legally obligated to answer that?' is your best bet. It'll piss off the cop but they are trying to get you to say something that will, in the end, cost you money and time.

Remember we all have a job to do. The job of the police job is to catch criminals, and with a literally an unknown number of laws on the books, we are all criminals. Even telling the truth to the police about a crime you did not commit can have consequences.

It is our job to protect the constitution by exercising our rights, including the right to not incriminate oneself, even or especially if you are 'innocent'. We protect the constitution but using the rights granted in the constitution. Those rights are eroded when we choose to not exercise them.

(The next post will be about something mellow like unicorn power and related subjects.)

Helvetica

2009-05-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

I just finally went back to finishing Helvetica this weekend after having paused halfway through late one night last year. As most of my friends are in the design world much of the stuff in the film will not be particularly surprising to them. However, even if you aren't interest in the film (designer and non designer alike) I'd recommend starting it at about 35 minutes only to watch this one guy go into his critic of Helvetica. I swear, I wish I had the gift for dialouge in my first language that he has in his second. Incredible humourous.

And for all you non-designers I'd recommend it as well, just get and idea of the ubiquitousness of the use of the font and also to get and idea of the world before Helvetica (BH as it were).

It is a netflix watch-it-now movie and is pretty short at 80 minutes.

More on the Helvetica font can be found on wikipedia.

Finally, non-barrier male contraception?

2009-05-05T13:47:00.001-07:00

CTV.ca News Staff

An injection for men appears to be just as effective at preventing pregnancy as the birth control pill, finds new research that could revolutionize contraception.

In testing in China, only one man in 100 fathered a child while on the injections, the study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism reports.

The contraceptive is a form of testosterone that is injected into the buttocks once a month. It works by temporarily blocking sperm production.

The Global Pandemic of 2009

2009-04-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

I've just got back from Cuba and will be writing a few longer post but I wanted to say a couple things briefly.

First, the book I brought to read on the trip was the inauspiciously named The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History about the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic. A couple of things to note. Flu is just short for inFLUenza. Influenza exists endemically as a reservoir in birds. It likely will never be eradicated as it doesn't need a human host to survive. Influenza also exist and spreads in pigs. And the influenza in pigs, birds and humans can and does move from one group to another. The current outbreak is called Swine flu because at some indeterminable point in this strain's past, it passed through pigs (that could have been a month ago or years ago and largely is irrelevant) but it is still influenza, this strain is clearly is new to humans, it currently looks like we don't have any immunity to it and it passes from human to human. While it's current virulence is unknown one virologist notes in The Great Influenza, that "influenza is so infectious that he calls it 'a special instance' among infectious diseases, 'transmitted so effectively that it exhausts the supply of susceptible host'". Added to all of this is the fact we have our normal cyclical flu season coming late this year. Odds are one way or another, a lot of us are going to be using sick days.

Lastly, having just come back from Cuba (where no one knew about the out break including us) via Mexico City I was shocked to see this in the news today: "Cuba announced a 48-hour ban on flights to and from Mexico, except in "exceptional cases." The last flight from Mexico touched down in Havana around 4 p.m., then returned to Mexico City with passengers before the two-day suspension officially began." Lucky timing.

What Cities Tell You

2009-03-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Stanza recently forwarded me a fascinating article about cities and the messages they send. The author asserts a lot that I don't necessarily agree with but be sparks an interesting discussion. The premise being that cities attract a type of person by sending a message about what you should be (I highly recommend the article linked above else a lot of what I'm going to say will sound disconnected).

Some of his examples;

New York tells you, above all: you should make more money.
Boston (or rather Cambridge) is: you should be smarter.
Silicon Valley is: how much effect you have on the world?

So I started talking to Stanza who I have lived with in Boston and Arcata and we discussed what cities were telling us.

While I spent most of my life in LA I feel like I can say the least about it, so much of LA is tied into growing up and discovery that it is hard to disconnect that from its essence. If I were to take a stab at LA, I would say its message is: there are a lot of us. Just due to its sheer size LA feels like it goes on forever. And all of that forever is populated, and by so many different types of people that is speaks to the size of the world and all the people in it. I am always fascinated arriving by jet at LAX. The sheer number of different people, coming from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, Australia, it feels like the whole world passes though that airport, and the city is the same. There is no ethnic food I feel you can’t find in LA, because it feels like there is no ethnicity without an embassy, a ghetto of it’s own there, hunkering down with the rest of us and reminding us we are all in this together.

Arcata, where I attended college seemed to say: You can't be a hippy forever. It's mostly an anti-message, a demonstration of what happens when you try to hold on to a concept or ideal to long. It is a message of not changing, of holding on. I've always felt for myself, that staying in Arcata would have been a cop out for me, the path of least resistance, the path more traveled. I'm not entirely sure it is a fair judgment on the city but ultimately these are all very subjective insights.

Boston was also a tough one for me since I spent so little time there and I had such a hard time making friends. I would say that Boston says: You should be in school. With 100 universities and over a quarter million students in the city of Boston and Cambridge alone, I felt like everyone was related to one another through the universities they attended, or the schools they taught in or worked at. The fact that I worked a 9-5 always seemed so abnormal in comparison to most of the people I met there, regardless of age.

San Francisco's message is so clear in my mind that I'm curious what anyone else might say. I can't imagine anything other than: you don't have to grow up. SF is Neverland, a city with the apocryphal fact that there are more dogs than children, because no one has children as they delay adulthood. Where clubs are filled with thirty somethings, and forty somethings organize skateboard outings. Where no one grows up and buys a house because there isn't an affordable house in the city.

Ultimately I thought it was a fascinating question and I’d be interest in what you think the cities you have lived in have told you about themselves.

Good Deals

2008-12-30T11:51:00.001-08:00

I'm rarely one to condone excess consumption but assuming you are not one of the hoards of people that are un- or underemployed or at risk of being so, and you need stuff now or in the next five years, I'd recommend you might want to go shopping.

The fallout from the horrific holiday season for retailers has begun, with the operator of an online toy seller filing for bankruptcy protection and more stores are expected to do the same — meaning more empty storefronts and fewer brands on store shelves. A rash of store closings, which some experts predict will be the most in 35 years, is likely to come across areas from electronics to apparel, shrinking the industry and leading to fewer niche players and suppliers.

Or worded another way, retail shops are having the best sales in the last 35 year right now. They stocked betting on sales like last season, and that just didn't happen, so not only do they have to survive the crumbling capital markets (where they borrow money for expansion) they also aren't selling any products.

Good deals are to be had. I bought work pants at 60% off at Gap and Alexis bought a pair cords at 65% off at JCrew.

Having said that, I hardly think the worst of this economy is at hand so if you don't have the money, be careful.

I Love Reports

2008-12-23T10:38:00.000-08:00

I'm the kind of guy that likes reading NTSB accident reports. The Hurt report was fascinating but I've just found the best read since the 9/11 report.

It is titled "The World's Largest Hedge Fund is a Fraud" and dissects Madoff Investment Securities Ponzi scheme. Some of it is at a high level which is when my eye start to glaze over but with a start like this it is hard not to be riveted for all 15 pages:

I am a derivatives expert and have traded or assisted in the trading of several billion $US in options strategies for hedge funds and institutional clients. I have experience managing split-strike conversion products both using index options and using individual stock options, both with and without index puts. Very few people in he world have the mathematical background needed to manage these types of product but I am one of them...Due to the sensitive nature of this case, it's dissemination withing the SEC be limited to those with a need to know...As a result of this case, several careers on Wall Street and in Europe will be ruined. Therefore, I have not signed nor put my name on this report. I request my name not be released to anyone other than the Branch Chief and Team Leader in the New York Region who are assigned to the case, without my express written permission. The fewer people who know who wrote this report the better. I am worried about the personal safety of myself and my family.

The author goes on to list 29 Red Flags, including this gem:

Fed Flag #24: Only Madoff family members are privy to the investment strategy. Name one other prominent multi-billion dollar hedge fund that doesn’t have outside, non-family professionals involved in the investment process. You can’t because there aren’t any...

Then the author begins instructing the SEC (over three years ago!) exactly who to interview and even how to interview them:

...the SEC should call: Leon Gross...Leon can't believe that the SEC hasn't shut down Bernie Madoff yet. He's also amazed that FOF's actually believe this stupid options strategy is capable of earning a positive return much less a 12% net average annual return. He thinks the strategy would have trouble earning 1% much less 12% net. Leon is a free spirit, so if you ask him he'll tell you but you'd understand it better if you met him at his workplace in a private conference room and tell him he won't need to have Citigroup lawyers present, you're just there for some friendly opinions. He talk derivatives at a high level, so ask simple "yes or no" type questions to start off the interview and then drill down.

Jeeze, I wish I work for the SEC where citizens did all the work for me.

Bettie Page dies at 85

2008-12-12T11:22:00.000-08:00

The LA Times reports

Bettie Page, the brunet pinup queen with a shoulder-length pageboy hairdo and kitschy bangs whose saucy photos helped usher in the sexual revolution of the 1960s, has died. She was 85.

Page, whose later life was marked by depression, violent mood swings and several years in a state mental institution, died Thursday night at Kindred Hospital in Los Angeles, where she had been on life support since suffering a heart attack Dec. 2, according to her agent, Mark Roesler.

Thanks for popularizing the hair cut and helping usher in the sexual revolution Bettie, you'll be missed

Teen Self-Esteem May Be Too High

2008-12-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

"Researchers compared responses from teens in 1975 and 2006, asking questions about their qualities and abilities. The study, published last month, found that today's kids consider themselves to be far more intelligent and capable than their 1970s counterparts, and more likely to report being "completely satisfied" with themselves.

The concern that teens — and especially young women — have low self-esteem has been around for decades...The supposed self esteem crisis has been blamed on everything from thin fashion models to gender bias in the classroom, yet there's little evidence for a nationwide lack of low self esteem among girls or anyone else."

To many people have been reading my bible

How To Send Email To Any Cell Phone for Free

2008-11-28T15:04:00.000-08:00

The graphically illustrated directions are here but basically you need a phones number and the service provider for that number (You can look the service provider up here if you have the number).

Then simply put their number and the providers info in the 'TO" field in an email message.

Carrier	Email to SMS Gateway
Alltel	[10-digit phone number]@message.alltel.com Example: 1234567890@message.alltel.com
AT&T (formerly Cingular)	[10-digit phone number]@txt.att.net [10-digit phone number]@mms.att.net (MMS) [10-digit phone number]@cingularme.com Example: 1234567890@txt.att.net
Boost Mobile	[10-digit phone number]@myboostmobile.com Example: 1234567890@myboostmobile.com
Nextel (now Sprint Nextel)	[10-digit telephone number]@messaging.nextel.com Example: 1234567890@messaging.nextel.com
Sprint PCS (now Sprint Nextel)	[10-digit phone number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com [10-digit phone number]@pm.sprint.com (MMS) Example: 1234567890@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile	[10-digit phone number]@tmomail.net Example: 1234567890@tmomail.net
US Cellular	[10-digit phone number]email.uscc.net (SMS) [10-digit phone number]@mms.uscc.net (MMS) Example: 1234567890@email.uscc.net
Verizon	[10-digit phone number]@vtext.com [10-digit phone number]@vzwpix.com (MMS) Example: 1234567890@vtext.com
Virgin Mobile USA	[10-digit phone number]@vmobl.com Example: 1234567890@vmobl.com

A company run by engineers

2008-11-25T09:46:00.000-08:00

From Engineers Rule

Honda has never had an unprofitable year. It has never had to lay off employees. In the fiscal year that ended in March, profit grew 12%, to $5.1 billion, on $84 billion in sales. In the U.S., which accounts for 43% of Honda's sales, vehicle sales are up 7% through July, even as the industry slipped 5%. The company sold more vehicles in July than one member of the old Big Three, the Chrysler Group.

...

Honda is using psychology to try to help mitigate a big safety problem for bikers: Drivers don't see them coming. It turns out that if the bike looks like an angry face, motorists take notice.

Be a savvy shopper

2008-11-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

-- Avoid shopping with children, as research shows shoppers doing so spend 40 percent more than planned.

-- Eat first. If you're hungry, you'll buy more of everything - from food to flat-screen televisions.

-- Carefully consider the actual price you are paying, not how the cost is promoted. Lindstrom once conducted an experiment at a grocery store where he posted a $1.95 price tag near cans of soup. "The next day we put a little tag next to it that said "Maximum eight cans per customer," and people bought like crazy," he said.

-- Pay for your purchases in cash. Research shows that shoppers spend as much as 30 percent more when using credit cards.

-- Consider not using a shopping cart - they've doubled in size over the past two years, and shoppers buy considerably more because of it.

Key duplication made easy, at range

2008-11-17T13:42:00.000-08:00

My first thought when reading the article below was how to use this technology for nefarious purposes but my roommate works long hours and had a hard time getting his only copy of a rare motorcycle key-type made at one of the only two places that make them in San Francisco. Imagine if he could just email a photo of a key to someplace and have them make it and mail it to him...damn, that's not a bad business concept.

UC San Diego computer scientists have built a software program that can perform key duplication without having the key. Instead, the computer scientists only need a photograph of the key.

In another example, they used a five inch telephoto lens to capture images from the roof of a campus building and duplicate keys sitting on a café table about 200 feet away.

Now That Is One Convincing Paint Job

2008-11-11T14:24:00.001-08:00

Political Irony Defined

2008-11-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

White Supremacists for Obama?

White people are faced with either a negro or a total nutter who happens to have a pale face. Personally I’d prefer the negro. National Socialists are not mindless haters. Here, I see a white man, who is almost dead, who declares he wants to fight endless wars around the globe to make the world safe for Judeo-capitalist exploitation, who supports the invasion of America by illegals–basically a continuation of the last eight years of Emperor Bush. Then, we have a black man, who loves his own kind, belongs to a Black-Nationalist religion, is married to a black women–when usually negroes who have ‘made it’ immediately land a white spouse as a kind of prize — that’s the kind of negro that I can respect.

Rocky Suhayda, chairman of the American Nazi Party

With an Obama endorsement like that I think I'm back in the undecided camp.

All Systems Go for China's Manned Space Launch

2008-09-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

I read that and thought to myself, wow, China is really getting it's space program (and by extension, ballistic missile program) in gear and that it is interesting to finally see the diffusion of space technology.

And the I read this part

China says all systems have passed through final preparations and are ready for the country's third manned trip to outer space, which is scheduled to launch Thursday night.

I must be losing brain cells because I don't recall the first two launches, which I suspect would have made big news, especially at the sites a geek like myself reads.

Bushy eyebrows are back

2008-09-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

So says the LA Times.

But as me and Thufir Hawat know, they ain't never been gone.

Brainswitching

2008-07-23T13:05:00.001-07:00

"One of the best techniques neuroscience research and brain mapping have developed is Brainswitching. Brainswitching is a power cognitive behavioral therapy that can be just as effective as anti-depressants.

Depression exists in the emotional part of the brain. Brainswitching uses basic mental exercises to switch the neuronal activity from the emotional part of the brain (the subcortex) to the thinking part of the brain (the neocortex) which does not have the capacity for depression.

Here's an example of Brainswitching that you can try for yourself. Lets say you find yourself being depressed, instead of thinking "I am so down and depressed" make yourself busy with some trivial logical exercises or games. At such a time you can play games that involve logical thinking (chess, soduku, online puzzles, etc) or simply close your eyes and in your mind start singing your favorite song with full concentration. Refuse to think that you are depressed.

Concentrating your mind on some thought or song will block the cognitive awareness of the depression going on in the subcortex, the emotional part of your brain. This technique will increase the neuronal activity in the neocortex and decrease it in the subcortex, thus correcting the chemical imbalance that feeds depression."

Jethro was the first to comment on this observed behaviour in me when I first moved to Boston where I proceeded to bury myself in Video games for about six months. THough looking back it was pretty clear that video games have been a

http://www.depressiontreatmenthelp.org/clinical-depression-treatment-causes.php

I use video games!

In Memoriam: Steve Wolkoff

2008-06-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

As many of you know know Steve and Cindy were in a horrific car crash this Saturday resulting in Steve's death and Cindy being airlifted in critical condition to Stanford medical center. The most recent news I've heard is that she will make a full physical recovery. I can only imagine the emotional trauma she, and both Cindy and Steve's family are going through. A comment board has been posted by his employer if you would like to leave a message.

For me, I will always remember the frigid Saturdays in Pacifica where he demonstrated what it meant to really play Ultimate Frisbee and the Tuesday night dinners at Pakwan in the mission. That and his infinite smile and wry sense of humor. Thanks for knowing me Steve.

(Updates on Cindy's condition.)

"Hello!"

2008-06-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

I talk on the phone a fair deal, and a lot of the people that talk with me call me because they have to not because they want to. Somewhere along the line I found a tip for good customer service that said you should always answer the phone with a smile on your face.

It actually really works. I don’t know if people can hear it or if by smiling you are changing your own perception of the conversation but it really seems to have an effect. A more friendly conversation seems to ensue and people seem happy when they get off the phone with me (though people seem generally happy to get off the phone with me anyway).

I dunno, just a thought for the day.

How rich are you?

2008-06-11T15:22:00.000-07:00

Stella Barks

2008-06-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

I've set up a Google alert that sends me an email once a week if my name turns up as a search result. Lately it's been this one over and over. Which reminded me of a posting about Stella I wrote in September of 2006 when I was going through dog withdrawals but which I never published. It seems awfully deep and moody which probably is why I never published it.

Stella is a good dog. She’s not a great dog, I’ve met some great dogs, but she is pretty awesome just the same. I mean, god knows, I’ve known worse dogs. I’m sure everyone has their stories. But I get along with dogs and I got along great with Stella. She was smart for the average dog and had a lot of good qualities above and beyond most dogs. But Stella’s real failing was that she barks. A lot. Which is ironic because when we picked her up at animal control she was the only dog not barking. She was just sitting there, doing the opposite of barking. That was the quality that initially drew me to her, her not barking-ness

But Stella does bark, it’s in her genes. She’s half Shepard, half Akita and all guard dog, and those dogs bark. So complaining about Stella barking is like complaining about the sun being bright or the night being dark. It is what it is. I could teach her a million tricks. I could place a bowl of barbecued steaks in front of that dog and she wouldn’t touch it, for hours on end, until I told her to go for it.

But as soon as someone knocked at the door there was nothing I could do. Nothing I could do. Because Stella barks. I didn’t know that when I first met her in that cage, perhaps she knew what it would taken to be let out of there and to come home. But that is they way it, she, is. I suspect she can’t change it anymore than I can, so really I just hope she has found someone who doesn’t mind the barking and I think she has, which is great. Which is really what we all want, someone who doesn’t mind when we do the things we can’t help but do, and someone who we, in turn, don’t notice doing such things.

Fake bus stop keeps Alzheimer's patients from wandering off

2008-06-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

With my crappy memory this totally seems like something that would work for me.

"They know the green and yellow bus sign and remember that waiting there means they will go home."

The result is that errant patients now wait for their trip home at the bus stop, before quickly forgetting why they were there in the first place.

From Telegraph.co.uk

Holy Crap, I Ran Bay to Breakers!

2008-05-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

Last night, stuffed to the gills at Jed and Andrea's BBQ I was reminded that the Bay to Breakers foot race was this morning and figured since I wasn't doing anything I might as well go for it and I managed to run the entire thing (including the Hayes hill Andrea!) which is so much easier to do with 10,000 other people running with you and bands, cheering and what not. Though I am sitting here in my stink wondering how bad it's going to hurt tomorrow. I've already started popping Advil...but damn I LOVE running. I need a couple showers.

Experimentation!

2008-04-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

As all of you know the basis of Science is the repeatability of experimentation. If, when I submerge a kitten in a barrel of water it drowns, and when you put a kitten in barrel of water in a barrel it drowns, and if Guy in France, puts a kitten in a barrel of water and it drowns, we can safely surmise that a barrel of water will rid us of the kitten menace.

But due to the information age we have a plethora of information at our fingertips. Why check to see if a store closes at 8pm when we can just check the internet, why see if cloudy skies will deliver rain, when weather.com will tell us, and why drown a cat in a barrel of water when we can just download a video showing that self same kitten?

Into this culture I was thrown with the following puzzlement; How do I remove pictures from my phone and get them to a computer. Certainly those who know me are surprised and even slightly embarrassed that I , a technofile of no little acumen would be stumped on such a trivial task, but truth be told, my ninja skilz are severely lacking in in the personal hand held device arena.

So there I was searching the internet to no avail! Neither Craigslist no Verizon's own site would lend any clue on how to proceed, when I fell back to Science! I would experiment. In the place that one traditionally put a phone number to send a text message, I would instead, painstakingly type my email address, and low and behold, the image you see below!

Culver CIty in the News

2008-04-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

My small home town in the middle of Los Angeles made the front page of the LA Times and apparently it booming.

In recent years, dozens of galleries, design houses and architecture firms have moved in. Wine bars and upscale eateries -- many with alfresco dining -- are garnering raves, and more restaurants are in the works.

Though apparently after I left for college in enter a brief stage where it was a was wasteland?

But by the early 1990s the city had lost most of the military, aviation and entertainment jobs that had created a strong local economy, if not a scintillating social scene. Much of the city became blighted.

Why No New Posts?

2008-03-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

ennui [ahn-wee, ahn-wee; Fr. ahn-nwee] - Noun

A feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom:

ennui n.

Listlessness and dissatisfaction resulting from lack of interest; boredom:

Observations on the Playing of Cards and Other Activities at the Oaks Card Room in Emeryville, California.

2008-02-21T22:15:00.001-08:00

1) The place seems to be an exact mirror of the demographics of the East Bay with the following exceptions

There are no women.
A disproportionate amount of people are missing digits or portions of digits.
Everyone looks like some sort of miscreant (smuggler, troglodyte, ne’er do well, etc.).

2) As evidenced by the man sleeping next to me as he played cards, it is possible to sleep and play cards simultaneously, and really, even do moderately well. I was very interested in asking him if this was a innate ability or a learned skill but didn’t want to wake him.

3) No one will be happy when you win except for that one guy and really, he won’t stay around long.

4) The food is very good. Though there is something pathetic about eating you food on a glorified TV food stand because you don’t want to leave the table for the 20 requisite minutes to eat like a human being.

5) Coffee is free!

6) If you are an average player, at least at the cheap tables, you are better than most of the people you are playing against.

7) The small Micronesian looking fellow with the wildly buck teeth is going to get so pissed when he loses a crappy hand he has been raising every round that he should have folded right off the bat. Also everyone will laugh when he storms away.

8) Asking the huge pear shaped dude ‘How does this all work’ will result in him explaining it over and over with a spitting lisp until you abruptly walk away.

9) It feels like a church sort of because there is a pulpit and a guy talking into a PA system the whole time.

Signing up for Spanish Class

2008-01-04T12:38:00.000-08:00

When I was living up in Arcata, Shacher came home one day with a small wooden box filled with small slips of paper upon which were written these kindly positive affirmations, "You are kind", "People care and love you", "A new day means new opportunities" and such. Of course the rest of us in the household, being cynics, came up with a competing box filled with depressing reminders of reality. "Your life is pretty much over", "Your future is a life in a cubicle", etc. But one that has always captured my heart was, "Other people your age are successful"*.

I'm fully comfortable with that, just as I'm comfortable that I'll never be an astronaut. There is great variation in humanity and I am happily resigned to being placed somewhere neatly in the middle of bell curve of human possibility, neither a wreck nor a shining star.

But then I read that Natalie Portman, other than looking like this:

Also was accepted to Harvard (at the time she was playing the Queen Amidala in The Phantom Menace) where she received her Bachelors in Psychology.

So alright, I can accept that there are people that are more attractive than me AND smarter AND more successful. But she also is fluent in Hebrew and speaks French, Japanese, German and Arabic. Note that none of those languages are remotely related! Most don't even share a writing style much less and alphabet.

And really that is just too much. Natalie Portman you have gone too far. I am willing to be outdone by you, but you won't even leave me my mono-linguistic dignity?

I re-enrolled with City College today and tomorrow I register for Conversational Spanish. You haven't heard the last of me Natalie! And when you next do hear from me Señora, it won't be in one of the plethora of languages you understand!

*Corrected as per Steel's comment

Ludwig van Beethoven sez im in yer 'puter play ma songz!!1!

2007-12-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

From Microsoft's Help and Support Page

SUMMARY
During normal operation or in Safe mode, your computer may play "Fur Elise" or "It's a Small, Small World" seemingly at random. This is an indication sent to the PC speaker from the computer's BIOS that the CPU fan is failing or has failed, or that the power supply voltages have drifted out of tolerance. This is a design feature of a detection circuit and system BIOSes developed by Award/Unicore from 1997 on.

MORE INFORMATION
Although these symptoms may appear to be virus-like, they are the result of an electronic hardware monitoring component of the motherboard and BIOS. You may want to have your computer checked or serviced.

Sleep

2007-11-26T16:17:00.000-08:00

I really want to do an experiment sometime where every time I'm tired I just sleep. Just to see what it feels like to be well rested.

I think these guys had is right

'Sup Blood.

2007-11-22T14:57:00.000-08:00

I’m always surprised by the changing nature of the questions on the blood donation form. Each time one gives blood there is a short form one must fill out. A few of the most recent gems below;

28. In the last 12 months have you been in juvenile detention, lockup, jail or prison for more than 72 hours?

72 hours in a jail is enough to put someone at risk for blood borne pathogens? I guess we all know something is wrong with the prison system but wow.

30. From 1980 through 1996 did you spend time that adds up to three months in the UK?
32. From 1980 to the present did you spend time that adds up to five years in Europe?
33. From 1980 to the present did you receive a blood transfusion in the UK?

I suspect the UK and Europe questions have to do with Mad Cow disease .

47. Have you ever had sexual contact with anyone who was born in or lived in Africa?
48. Have you ever been to Africa?

Those two were a surprise because I don’t recall seeing them on a previous questionnaire. Just visiting the continent is enough to raise a flag? Africa is worse for your health than Jail?

55. Have you ever been pregnant? If yes how many times?

This one was also a surprise. I have no idea why it would matter if you had ever been pregnant, nor the amount of children you’ve had.

Incidentally I am A- as is 6% of the US population.

Distribution of ABO and Rh Blood types

Population	O+	A+	B+	AB+	O−	A−	B−	AB−
Australia	40%	31%	8%	2%	9%	7%	2%	1%
Finland	27%	38%	15%	7%	4%	6%	2%	1%
Sweden	32%	37%	10%	5%	6%	7%	2%	1%
France	36%	37%	9%	3%	6%	7%	1%	1%
Korea, South	27%	34%	27%	11%	0%	0%	0%	0%
UK	37%	35%	8%	3%	7%	7%	2%	1%
USA	38%	34%	9%	3%	7%	6%	2%	1%

(Everyone in South Korea is RH Positive?)

Bois who like Grrls who like...

2007-11-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

The Gender Genie allows you to plug in text and lets you know (within parameters) if the author was male or female.

This can be of use when you guys/gals are chatting online with that seemingly smoking man/woman who is sending you all those pictures of his/her-self. Because as we have learned, things are rarely what they seem on the internet.

The Surrealist For Realist

2007-11-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

I honestly don't even know how to introduce the Surrealist's website. It's sort of like all those weird internet sites you'd kill time playing with in 1997, all rolled into one.

Of particular interest are;

As far as I'm concerned the The Mechanical Contrivium is just a tech version of myself, because as we already know;

1. The first American zoo was built in 1794, and contained only Fishist.
2. Fishist is the largest of Saturn's moons.
3. Baby swans are called Fishist.
4. Fishist has 118 ridges around the edge.
5. The Fishist-fighting market in the Philippines is huge - several thousand Fishist-fights take place there every day!
6. New Zealand was the first place to allow Fishist to vote.
7. The canonical hours of the Christian church are matins, lauds, prime, terce, sext, none, Fishist and compline.
8. Over 46,000 pieces of Fishist float on every square mile of ocean!
9. Lightning strikes Fishist over seven times every hour!
10. Donald Duck's middle name is Fishist.

Pop vs Soda

2007-11-12T15:10:00.000-08:00

Some how growing up I managed to pick up the habit of calling Soda, 'Coke'. As in;

"Would you like a Coke?"
"Yes"
"What Kind"

Mind you this was back when there was only one kind of Coke.

I have come to learn that what one calls bubbly sugar water is heavily influenced by where you grew up as evidenced by this interactive map

How I ended up using a Southern idiom growing up in LA is beyond me.

Zero

2007-11-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

I long, long time ago I bought my all-time favorite hoodie for $1 at my own garage sale.

So imagine my surprise when I run into someone else wearing it it on a random video about cabinet making from digg.com

The zipper is half busted and I've had to sew up the pockets twice but I love it so.

¡Ya Voté!

2007-11-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco municipal elections are tonight, a night of excitement and community. One of the measures was Proposition G which asked, "Shall the City establish a Golden Gate Park Stables Matching Fund to be used for the renovation, repair, and maintenance of the Golden Gate Park stables and provide up to $750,000 in matching City revenues toward this Fund?" The idea being, for each $3 donated by individuals or corporations the City would donate $1.

Now I can see how someone might be for or against such a measure (horses are purdy vs. can't we use this money to incarcerate someone?) but the line in the "Opponents Argument Against Proposition G" that caught my eye was this one:

SEND THE HORSE STABLE TO THE GLUE FACTORY.

With rhetoric like that, how can you NOT vote against the measure?

Human Transport Options

2007-11-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

My friend Trevor often comments of how much space cars take up, not only due to their bulk but also due to the amount of space you need to dedicate to around a car as it moves (especially in front as a car increases in speed).

I found the picture below (click on it for a large version) which is some indication of the space even non-moving cars take up in comparison to other transport options.

To Put the California Fires in Perspective

2007-10-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

"A third of state's avocado crop lost to fire, more threatened" -AP

And since "Ninety-five percent of United States avocado production is located in California (and 80% occurs in San Diego County)" I expect prices to jump. I can only imagine what it will be like...probably like buying avocados on the East cost, tiny shriveled things for $3 a pop.

Reason #43 That I love the USPS

2007-10-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

"Having long been genuine admirers of the United States Postal Service (USPS), which gives amazingly reliable service especially compared with many other countries, our team of investigators decided to test the delivery limits of this immense system. We knew that an item, say, a saucepan, normally would be in a package because of USPS concerns of entanglement in their automated machinery. But what if the item were not wrapped? How patient are postal employees? How honest? How sentimental? In short, how eccentric a behavior on the part of the sender would still result in successful mail delivery?"

See your salary in real time. Warning: May be depressing

2007-10-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

Enter your salary any way you'd like, and this site will not only show you how much you make a day/hour/minute/second but it'll start a counter telling you how much you'd made since you clicked the calculate button.

I feel like I've hit it big now that I made it to the penny-per-second threshold.

Google Alerts

2007-10-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

I was messing around with Google a while back and I found the Google alerts tool. Basically you enter in a search string and it emails matching hits in a digest format.

Imagine my surprise when it spit back a letter I wrote to the SPCA about, I dunno, four years ago? It was right after G. and I got the Stella-Dog and, though I wrote it, I find it terribly sweet.

The Money Game

2007-10-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

About three years ago I decided to start saving money. It tripped me out that I was 28 years old and really had no savings and really didn't own anything of appreciable value. I started simple, I just put $100 in a savings account per pay check and then applied whatever I could to my credit cards. Maybe $500 a month. Within a year I had enough money for a trip to Europe and $0 in Credit card debit.

I then upped my savings account to $250 per pay check, started give $100 to my parents and increased my contribution to my 401k. The next year I took a trip to Costa Rica and Peru.

This year I made a wager with a friend of mine. Her roommate was moving to Germany and wanted to save $10k. On a $30k salary. And did it in one year. We decided to challenge each other to pull it off. It would require about $850 a month (a third of my take home salary). I scaled back my 401k savings, and started off well with $1000 in tax return money. At first it was a pain in the ass, I dipped back into the savings once when I overextended myself. But after a while a flow sort of developed, one paycheck was savings and spending money for two weeks and then the other was rent/bills and spending money for the next two weeks.

Another strange thing happened. After a certain point the money in savings sort of became fictional. As if it wasn’t money I could withdraw from a back and count and roll around in, but rather just a bunch of points. It makes it less fun to have the money but probably much safer.

I managed all of this without a significant increase in salary those three years (2% over inflation)

Things that helped me greatly.

The advice of Andrea for paying off credit cards. Cut up all but one card. Take that card and wrap it up in paper and tap it closed, you can use it if you need to but that layer of paper is a mental barrier. Pay the minimum on each card. On the card with the highest interest rate, pay as much as you possibly can on that card till it is paid off. Then take whatever amount you were paying on that card, and apply it to the next card and so on till you pay them all off. Keep them paid off and keep the one card in paper.

Reading the Money forum on Craigslist. Some good advice from there;

When you get a windfall of money take 10% of it and spend it on whatever you want. Take the other 90% and save it or apply it to credit cards.
Look at how you spend money and how you can save it. Start with what you really need and see what you can pare down. I’m a cheapskate so there wasn’t much but I did save about $15 a month (or $180 a year on my phone bill).
Take a side job or a hobby that pays. It doesn’t have to be lame, you could be a valet or just do oil changes at a shop on Sundays. $100 a month is over a grad a year.

Reading the Richest man in Babylon. It is a book written in the 20's which dispenses financial advice through a collection of parables set in ancient Babylon. Reading a book of parables to achieve financial independence is pretty low on my list of ‘hip’, but it really did work for me and has for many others. I checked out a copy for the local library and it had been donated by some financial group.

The $10k challenge with Alyssa. This I suspect will ultimately have the largest long term effect on my finances. All of the other activities got my head above water and got me focused on having a stable financial life. But this challenge helped me focus on setting larger, longer term goals. I just recently got a promotion so my goal for 2008 is to save about 75% of my raise in addition to the $10k. That and take another international trip.

Dinner

2007-08-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

It seems that San Francisco's cheap and delicious cuisine combined with a lack of someone to cook with/for has resulted in some sort of cooking insouciance in me. And so it has come to this, a dinner of beer and a BBQ potato chip sandwich...though the sandwich was so good I made another.

I Wanna, I Wanna, I Wanna

2007-07-10T15:59:00.000-07:00

"Last weekend, Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks -- and a parachute. Attached to his lawn chair were 105 large helium balloons...It was Couch's second flight."

Dance pickle, dance!

2007-06-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

So when I was at university, as they say in the great white north, I used to pickle green beans using a recipe a coworker supplied me. Time passed and I lost the recipe and was explaining my dismay about this to Jethro who suggested I wiki-up pickling to see if there were any online recipes.

Wikipedia had a lot of interesting this to say about pickling including links to National Center for Home Food Preservation and a link to the Dill Pickle Lamp.

Dill Pickle Lamp you say? Curiosity piqued, Jethro and I, armed only with a pickle, spliced power cord, two nails and a healthy state on inebriation endeavored to create a Dill Pickle Lamp!

A video (22Megs, so give it a minute) of the event is here (note that is this the second take because on the first one I forgot I hit the record button).

What all this hoopla about LED is is, I really can't understand. Why, in my day we had to use PICKLES for light bulbs!

My Mom Retires!

2007-05-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

After working at the FAA First Federal Credit Union for 22 years my mother retired this month. She was the longest serving employee followed by the current president and CEO. They threw the nicest most touching retirement party I could have imagined.

As a gift from her children, we pitched in and bought her a cruise to Alaska. You can see her below in a Coast Guard ship after being rescued from the grounded Empress of the North (She is the one in the orange life jacket).

Knowing my mom, this probably make the whole trip even more fun.

Update:

Relationship Cycles

2007-05-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

The people over at Agoraphilia had an interesting post (from September 20, 2004) about relationship cycles:

Recently, I casually mentioned to a group of guy friends that I thought many guys would be happiest with a 3-day-a-week girlfriend. Everyone present agreed. Some also expressed the suspicion that most women want a 7-day-a-week boyfriend. I bought this at first, until I realized women couldn't possibly like us that much. Naturally, I have another theory.

What 200 Calories Looks Like

2007-04-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

I'm loath to turn this blog into another digg link wonder-world but I thought What 200 Calories looks like was pretty cool. (Note: 3500 calories are required to put on one pound of weight)

Calories are weird because they are simply a measure of energy. Colloquially used they refer to how much energy a food contains. Incinerate some carrots and measure how much energy is produced and that is it's caloric value. Ditto for potato salad, etc. Interestingly, just because something has calories (say gasoline or wood) isn't an indication that our body can process that energy. Nonetheless, I've often been curious of the calorie content of some non-edible substances (gasoline has 242,187.5 per oz. and wood has 149,375 per oz. but numbers for fuel sources are easy to come by). For example, how many calories are in my work badge or keyboard.

Vexing

2007-04-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

For most of the last year I’ve found myself unable to motivate myself to read. With the exception of The Road, which was fantastic, I haven’t been able to finish a book even on the rare occasion when I would pick one up.

This was a significant departure for me, having finished at least a book a month since I was nine and read my first book for pleasure, Guadalcanal Diary (I was a late starter to reading but vociferous once started). Until I was in college I hadn’t stopped reading book without finishing it, no matter how terrible.

Nonetheless, I caught this bug and the bug left me disinterested in reading pretty much anything at all. At first I suspected it was a lack of Good Books to read but I think ultimately some sort of mental lethargy had set in. Like work I was moving through a sort of ho-hum mental existence, no challenges, living fat and comfortable, no reason to exercise the ol’peanut.

But that apparently has all changed. I’ve recently started World War Z, buy the same author of The Zombie Survival Guide. The reviews of the latter are good but the former, well I only have 100 pages left so I’m going to finish it, but I don’t recommend it.

I’ve also picked up Suite Francaise, which apparently is sweeping through France, The Great Bridge about the Brooklyn bridge and by the same author as 1776 (a fine book), The Posionwood Bible and This I Believe which is based on the NPR series of essays by the same name and which often rouses me from my slumber in the morning in the form of an alarm.

And I’m thrilled about reading them all. Lately I’ve been feeling like life is moving by me so fast. But there is something about reading a book that makes time seem to pause. As if I can pick up a book and read about a life’s journey only to sit up to and that not a lifetime but only a few hours have passed.

Books, it’s good to be back.

Book Mooch

2007-03-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

My sister recently told me about BookMooch, which is basically a book exchange site. List book syou have to give away by title or ISBN and search for books you want. You get a credit for each book you send which you can then spend to have books sent to you. It's all automated so you may send a book to one person and recieve it from someone else entirely. You only pay for shipping.

Geography

2007-03-06T14:57:00.000-08:00

I recently ran into a couple of cool geography quizzes

The first gives you 10 Minutes to come up with all the states in the US

The second site has more global areas you can select from and the UI leaves something to be desired but it's fun nonetheless.

What IS that thing?

2007-02-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

Ever see a cool bug and have no idea what it is? Well apparently there are some entomologist and general entomophilias with some spare time on their hands and are willing, free of charge, to identify a bug for you.

Before you start though, you need to do the follwoing things; Stop screaming, get off the chair and take a photo of the bug. If that just isn't going to happen, you'll need to include a description, as well as information on where the creature was spotted, when, if it was on a specific plant, and include your geographic location.

And all of this was started by a couple of art students as an art project, go figure.

This is just further proof that there is and answer for anything you want to know in the big ol'world, you just have to find the right person to ask.

(This posting was brought to you by Trevor who is "sick of looking at llama butt".)

Vote for it!

2007-01-26T15:44:00.001-08:00

Jackie has submitted the above photograph from our Peru travels to the Condé Nast Traveler Dream Trip Travel Contest on Concierge.com. She said if she wins she'll take me and I promise to get you all better gifts when we go so vote! (no reg. required)

Get Human

2007-01-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

The gethuman project is a consumer movement to improve the quality of phone support in the US. This free website is run by volunteers and is powered by over one million consumers who demand high quality phone support from the companies that they use.

The site tells you what you need to do at each prompt to get a human for various companies, from automotive firms to credit card companies and so on.

A Little Oral in the Mornin'

2007-01-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

This morning before about 11:00 am, this is what you would have seen if you looked at me with your saucy little X-ray eyes. But I’ve gone with a different look. Instead, I now don’t have the outer left or right teeth on the top (the white squares on my teeth are past fillings).

All in all the oral surgery was fine. I have heard horror stories from some people who have had their wisdom teeth out so it was a relief to me that I have had so little discomfort (so far).

The surgery, for those of you who have never had endured it went a little something like this:

When I arrived I was asked if I had had anything to eat or drink and who as going to pick me up. I hadn’t eaten/drank, and couldn’t since I was going to be put under general anesthesia, which incidentally, wasn’t really a point of discussion. I was told during my initial consultation that “you’ll be under anesthesia and as a result can’t eat or drink for 6 hours before hand”. In any case this eating/drinking/ride home thing was asked to me by ever single individual I interacted with. They would actually ask over each other to try to be the first person in the last 10 seconds to have asked me. I assumes it was therefor of no medical concern and was rather some elaborate inside joke.

After, a man brought me to a room had me sit down. He then strapped me into a blood pressure cuff that would continuously track my BP, then attached EEG leads to monitor my heart rate (there was something super comforting about hearing my heart beeping to me), a throat mic which when turned on, magnified the sound of my breathing (creepy) and some finger clip that they explained they’d put onto my finger, but with little explanation as to it’s purpose.

Once I’m all strapped in the doc and team all show up to just sit around and watch the next part, which I suspect was comedic at my expense because they seemed all giddy but which I can’t recall much of in any case.

The doc did the whole “I’m Junkie, lets find a vein game”, swabbed my arm and then sprayed the stuff they are will be using to freeze hell over. I have no idea what it was but it was cold and only got colder. When he stopped spraying, the needle jab for the IV was pleasant in comparison.

Then the following conversation occurred:

Doc: What is your favorite Cocktail?
Ian: (thinking beer-beer-beer, blurts out the first thing that comes into my head) Long Island Ice Tea.
(Everyone nods of approval)
Doc: Well when it feels like you’ve had one of these let me know.
Ian: Okay. Boy, this is really great, I could use a nap...whoa, yeah feels like I’ve had a couple now doc.
(More nods of approval)
And then I wake up, which gauze in my mouth (which incidentally is not a singular experience in my life but that isn’t a matter for public discussion, now is it?)

Some final facts and observations.
A) The anesthesia wears off in 6 minutes once it is discontinued which is cool.
B) Removing the top wisdom teeth is much less traumatic than the bottom according to the doc.
C) I had the doc send in my prescription to Kaiser because it’s cheaper for me to get it there but lo and behold there was another set of prescriptions (read Vicodin) waiting for me at the Dental Clinic. Yeah, I paid for that one and too it home too.
D) I just took my second ever Vicodin. So far it doesn’t seem to be doing much for me (well nothing hurts but I’m not wasted.)  lin to wasted fly
E) I asked to keep the teeth and they said they would but first they have to sterilize them. Do you think a necklace is too macabre? I thought a ring would be more tasteful.

A Post for Posterity

2007-01-16T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hey Theo, if you are reading this you still know who I am, which rocks. Last night your mom and dad were nice enough to invite me over only two days after you were born to check you out. Dude, you are SMALL. Seriously, I’ve had turkeys that you could hide inside of. TINY. When I picked you up though, you were light as a feather. It was hard to believe you weighed even 6lbs.

In any case there is something I wanted to get off my chest so there are no bad feelings between us. As you know you were born on a Saturday and traditionally your dad and I go surfing on Sunday mornings. But seeing how you were born, that totally didn’t happen and I have been teasing you and Jason about it. But to be honest, it was so damn cold on Sunday I was secretly hoping you’d be born so we didn’t have to go. So thanks for not waiting till your due date on Monday. Hopefully it’ll be warmer next weekend.

Thanks again and I’ll be seeing you around.

A Screwed Up Childhood in the making

2007-01-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

From Plastic.com

When Christy Wizner of Heppner, Oregon gave birth to a baby girl back in April of 2004, the father, Chad Doherty, said he wanted to be a part of his daughter's life even though he and Christy weren't going to get married. He assumed that the girl's last name would naturally be Doherty. He assumed wrong. Christy, who had divorced but kept the last name Wizner, had three other children all with the last name Wizner. It was her desire that her youngest child have the same surname as her older siblings. Doherty disagreed and thus began a two year legal squabble.

I link the poster wicked_sprite summed it up concisely

Seriously, you are born and your parents spend years fighting over your last name in court. Just wait for the spank-or-not-to-spank battle. This child is hosed.

Adventures in Motocycle Riding

2007-01-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

Jason did a pretty good job of summing up our motorcycle adventure this Sunday

Ford Explores Can't Tow Uhaul Trailers

2007-01-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

This weekend finds me renting a Uhaul to pick up two motorcycles I found on craiglist.

If I may digress a moment, yes this does in fact make me a crazy motorcycle dude. This is based of a set of criteria derived from the crazy cat lady rule.

1 cat - nice kitty.
2 cats - nice kitties can play with each other.
3 cats - whoa, that is a lot of urine/hairballs/poo/fur.
4+ cats - you are a crazy cat lady (your gender doesn't matter).

I have made some serious efforts to maintain a limit of no more than three motorbikes at once. That will no longer be possible. So I give in, I'm the crazy motorcycle dude as this image suggests.

Back to the subject at hand, I'm renting a Uhaul to pick up two motorcycles.

And while perusing the FAQ page I found this little surprise under the Equipment section

Why can't I rent a certain piece of equipment?

...

Ford Explorer owners: U-Haul has chosen not to rent behind this tow vehicle based on our history of excessive costs in defending lawsuits involving Ford Explorer towing combinations. This policy is not related to safety issues. This is an unusual circumstance for U-Haul – we have built our success for over 59 years by saying "yes" to our customers, and do not like saying "no" instead. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and are committed to working with our customers to find alternative options to help with their move. Please contact 1-800-GO-UHAUL (1-800-468-4285) for assistance with alternative options.

That was a surprise!

Incidentally, I also learned that cars rented using credit cards are usually covered buy the CC's rental car insurance program, but those programs usually do NOT cover Uhaul, or any sort of pickup trucks. AMEX doesn't even cover full Size SUV's, and in any case you have to be the primary driver and us the CC to pay for the rental. They will, however, send you a proof of insurance for you to use at the car rental place, which is nice if you are like me and don't have car insurance.

Stuck in Training

2006-12-14T10:35:00.000-08:00

I'm im another corporate training room learning about another new software system in slow motion. It's like that first day of school where you are supposed to learn the alphabet but unbeknownst to your teacher, your parents have already taught you how to read, and despite what everyone else thinks, you think Dostoyevsky is a hack. This is my punishment for getting a degree in Computer information Services and failing to pursue a career in it, but I digress.

Today's observation of the day has to do with screen savers. Can someone please explain why humans have the need to keep the screen saver from kicking in.

Here we are, twenty of us, listening to a lecture/power point presentation for an hour. But every ten minutes as the screen saver kicks in on each and everyone of our terminals, each and every person feels the need to jiggle their mouse to keep the windows login screen up on their monitor.

I mean, if you aren't using the damn screen let it be. They didn't invent the screen saver for your pleasure and torment. You aren't going to use the damn machine AND, !AND! if you were, all you would need to do is, that's right, jiggle the mouse and viola, instant gratification!

It's like a five year old tormenting the kitty that just wants to sleep.

I have pet peeves, and this is one.

2006-12-04T11:57:00.001-08:00

The Peru Pictures are FINALLY here. I apologize for the delay but we really wanted to whittle the photos down (from 418 to 147) and caption almost all of them. Nothing is less exciting than pictures of edifices or landscapes with no context.

Our Itinerary which may help give more background was the following;

(Flew into Lima via San Salvador, El Salvador. Spent the late evening In Lima and departed for Cusco in the morning.)
Three days in Cusco acclimatizing to the altitude and visiting the local ruins.
Four days hiking The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
(Flew from Cusco to Puerto Maldanado in the Amazon Basin.)
Two days in the Tambopata reserve.
One day in Puerto Maldanado.
(Flew from Puerto Maldanado to Lima Via Cusco.)
Four days in Lima.

Additionally, I’ve compiled a list of observations that I recorded as we traveled. Again I’ve filtered out some of the more inane items but tried to leave any that gave some sort of context. Like the photos, they are in chronological order.

• Stray dogs everywhere, mostly eating trash, even dogs outside the airport (This turned out to be true everywhere we went)
• For Travis –All the planes we flew were A320’s
• The flight to Cusco was an ascent the whole way, about an hour. The altitude at Cusco is 11,500 feet (over two miles).
• Coca tea is wildly offered as a way of moderating altitude sickness. We were serve our first batch at the hotel immediately when we walked in, before checking in. They must be sick of tourist passing out on them or something. For the most part we were fine, it was easy to get winded just walking around though. All the diesel fumes don’t help.
• Sleeping was difficult at altitude, waking up every hour, bad dreams, not being able to fall back asleep, etc.
• The Cusco Local Brewery (Cusquena) has 10ft walls topped with electrified barbed wire.
• Lunch form a street vender runs about $1 US.
• In an odd coincidence, just like in California, all the cooks were Hispanic.
• Jackie, after 14 years of being vegetarian, had chicken, pork, beef, trout and alpaca…in a single day.
• We rarely saw a woman in a dress with the exception of women in traditional dress. Also there was a noticeable lack of back pockets on jeans.
• Toilet paper rolls were often used in the place of napkins.
• In the Amazon, you cover your mouth when you yawn.
• People in Lima eat a lot of ice cream.
• There is a dearth of change in the country, it seemed like no one could break anything but the very smallest bills, even high end shops. Exact change was at a premium.

And if you managed to read all of this without first looking at the photos, let me save you the trouble of scrolling up. Click here and after the jump just click on "View Slideshow", there is no need to register.

Evolution - A Dove Film

2006-11-27T09:20:00.001-08:00


A video showing how beauty is manufactuered. The video editing is the coolest. I guess we like long necks and big eyes. Makes you wonder why they even use human models at all nowadays.

Beautiful Day

2006-11-10T08:55:00.000-08:00

On the way to work this morning, at the top of the hill on Turk I found myself adjusting my mirror. And looking into that mirror, on this cold, crisp morning, with the hills and houses of San Francisco illuminated by the sunrises’ red glow I was once again surprised, and reminded, of the beauty of the city I live in. It seems odd that in the middle of my ho-hum life that I can be brought to awe by the geography and character of the city in which I reside. San Francisco may not love me, but I do love San Francisco.

Also Shachar is in town, so everything is a little lovelier.

Clay Pigeons

2006-10-09T16:48:00.000-07:00

It looks like Jackie and I filled in the last bit of our itinerary for Peru which will involve spending some time in the Amazon Basin. I’ll be putting a up a more detailed itinerary so if, you know, you don’t hear from me after day fourteen you’ll know I was lost in ruins of the Inca’s or abducted in Lima, or whatnot.

In any case, we were trying to decide between the southern coast for some sand boarding, surfing and wine tasting but we decided, considering we LIVE IN CALIFORNIA, we might want to try something different.

So instead, we’re going to the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park (formerly the Tambopata National Reserve) which is a vast swath of the Amazon jungle occupying the border region between Bolivia and Peru that was declared a national Park. If you’d like to get some idea of what it looks like there, I’ll direct you to the city of Puerto Maldonado. We’ll be flying in there and then taking a boat about four hours east. Go ahead and drag the map to the east (left) to get an idea of the terrain. You can keep dragging for a while. It’ll still be jungle.

There are some obvious reasons to go to the Amazon jungle, Piranhas, Capybaras (the worlds largest rodent), pink freshwater Dolphins (Pink!) but one dream I’ve had ever since a wee lad watching nature programming on TV was to check out the infamous clay eating Parrots and Macaws of the Amazon.

In the early morning, these and other similar birds will alight upon an exposed piece of clay, and eat it. Birds, there is no accounting for taste. It’s a form of Geophagy and the theory is they do it to purge toxins out of their diet. I figured I’d just fly down there and ask a few if they don't seem too busy easting dirt.

A Nice Point

2006-10-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

From profwhat on a story about Athism in America

"I believe that the vast majority of Americans are functional atheists, even though they tell themselves and others that they do believe in God.

A "functional atheist" is someone who acts exactly as an atheist would. He does not go to church. He has ethics and morals, but they are based on many considerations other than what the Bible says. When he decides what he thinks about abortion, gay marriage, or contraception, he forms his opinion without serious consultation with religious beliefs. In fact, if he finds that his church has begun to disagree with his views on one of those issues, he might change religions and belong to a church that agrees with him. He might give to charity, but more because he believes in that cause rather than because he believes God has commanded him to be charitable. He doesn't celebrate any religious holidays, beyond exchanging presents at Christmas and taking Mom to brunch on Easter. If his religion requires him not to eat certain foods, he eats them anyway; if he is required to tithe, he doesn't; if he is required to stop working on a certain day, he checks his Blackberry. If his religion tells him something about how the world was made or works and that contradicts what science now tells us, he'll either believe the science or refuse to confront the question. At no point does he let his religion stand in the way of what he wants to do, or how he wants to act. Other than what's going on in this guy's head, is there any reason not to call this guy an atheist?"

Wikipedia, Crush Syndrome, and You

2006-09-22T15:42:00.000-07:00

As you may have heard if you have been watching the news, a Maglev train in Germany has been in an accident killing dozens of people. While reading about it on CNN's site, the article referenced Germany's worst rail accident, the 1998 Eschede train disaster.

The Wikipedia article indicated that amongst the causes of the high loss of life, was the design of the bridge, which was not cantilevered. A similar bridge design also caused the high lose of life in the Granville railway disaster in Australia in 1977.

Additional fatalities occurred during the Australian disaster because, as people who had been pinned down were freed, Crush Syndrome, a type of reperfusion injury, set in, allowing toxins which had built up and been trapped in the pinned sections of their bodies to become free and circulate into their blood supply, effectively poisoning them.

And that my friends is how I learn a ton of stuff about nothing at all.

One Great Picture

2006-09-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

Surfing has been great the last couple of weeks. The weather is bright like Summer but the waves are big like Fall. Last week, Jason and I surfed Ocean Beach and it was probably one of my best days out there. I managed to catch my first three waves and Jason and I managed to high-five while up on a wave. Three waves on any day is great, three in a row is a new record.

I also managed to get dragged backward over a sizable wave (I just didn't clear the top on the paddle out) and got rag-dolled for what felt like forever. It was one of those times where I couldn't tell which way was up and I was wondering if you could take a lung full of water and still swim a bit or if you just panicked and died at that point. With any luck, I'll never figure that out. In spite of that, it was gorgeous out there.

Incidentally the shot of Jason above was probably the first good picture I've managed to get off my Olympus Stylus in the waterproof case. It seems no matter what I try it fogs up right in front on the lens. The next trick I'm going to try is spit, just like in swim class. If you have ideas let me know.

Headline Today

2006-09-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

International Herald Tribune

In Thailand's first military coup in 15 years, a faction of the armed forces seized control of the capital on Tuesday night, suspended ...

First military coup in 15 years? Kind of sounds like it's been a while. I mean it's not like military coups are supposed to be a regular theme in political transitions.

Other than that, pardon my lack of recent postings. It seems like the more I do the less time I have to post. Conversely, when I have the most time to post, I have the least to write about.

That's Not What I Meant.

2006-09-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

I loved the word Sanction ever since the day I learned it had two definitions that were exact opposites;

1. To encourage or tolerate by indicating approval.
2. To penalize, especially for violating a moral principle or international law.

Today I found another, Oversight;

1. An unintentional omission or mistake.
2. Watchful care or management; supervision.

Anyone got any others?

I Want One.

2006-09-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

[PML,]Working in partnership with our customer, Synergy Innovations, we set out to demonstrate what our electric wheel technology is capable of. We simply took a standard BMW Mini One, discarded the engine, the disc brakes, the wheels, and the gearbox. These components were replaced by four of our electric wheels, a lithium polymer battery, a large ultra capacitor, a very small ICE with generator (so small it almost fits alongside the spare wheel), an energy management system and a sexy in-car display module...Featuring four revolutionary electric wheels, the standard BMW Mini One you can see on Stand 270 is predicted to have a top speed approaching 150mph and to out-accelerate a Porsche 911 Carrera from 0-60mph.

The wheels ARE the engines.

The wheels are in constant communication with each other deciding 1000 times each second how much torque share is optimum for the current driving conditions. Should one wheel detect a slippery surface and take appropriate anti-skid actions, the other wheels are aware of this instantly and adopt an appropriate compensating strategy to keep the vehicle as stable as possible.

World Has More Fat People Than Hungry

2006-08-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

The transition from a starving world to an obese one has happened with dramatic speed, US professor Barry Popkin told the International Association of Agricultural Economists.

"The reality is that globally far more obesity than undernutrition exists," Popkin said, adding that while hunger was slowly declining, obesity was rapidly spreading.

There are about 1.4 billion overweight people in the world and 800 million who are undernourished, he said (read more).

E.T. Come Alive!

2006-08-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

See that dude in the back on the left? Carrying a bag? Soon that will be me.

Recently my employer asked for volunteers to learn decontamination training in case of an emergency. They specifically requested non-medical personnel. I suspect that is either because the medical personnel will be busy with medical emergencies or because the rest of us are expendable. In any case I'm pretty excited. Two days off work to play in the highest quality rain gear and chemical hoses money can by. October 17-18th. I'll try to post some pictures.

"Well No Miss, It Is Mostly Wood"

2006-08-04T17:38:00.000-07:00

While looking up how many bags I was allowed for my flight to Denver last month I ran across a handy list provided by Frontier Airlines, indicating what sorts of odd luggage were allowed. Lots of interesting stuff in that list but the item that caught my attention were the rules on skateboards.

Apparently you can check a skateboard as a piece of your luggage at no extra charge with the following exception; "Cannot accept skateboards with hazmat stickers."

You have to figure that one came up a lot to make it in the rulebook.

Commando Llama!

2006-08-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

Israeli special forces and their llamas wait to cross the Israel-Lebanon border west of Avivim, late night August 1 (source).

Victory Garden

2006-07-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

About six weeks back I planted a garden in my back patio. As you can see from the pictures my ‘yard’ is just a huge block of concrete. So, salvaging some wood the neighbors left when they were evicted and another neighbor’s jig saw I fashioned five planters. As an added bonus I found a bunch wheels that I affixed to the bottom of the planters so I can roll them about my great concrete yard.

At this point the basil is looking good as are the tomatoes. The squash is ridiculously large. The lettuce and watermelon are looking pretty bad. Beets and green onions haven’t given up the fight but I’m not holding much hope out for them bearing fruit this season.

Not bad for a couple afternoons work and about $50. Thanks to Jed who can-do attitude inspired me to build and plant it all.

How Odd is This?

2006-07-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

SFist linked to me in their "Bay Area Blog Round-Up"

This is odd to me on two levels. First, in means people who I don't know are reading this. I've actually suspected as much by a few coments from Tennesse, Minnesota and what not (Hi people I don't know! Thanks for stopping by!). Secondly, it means someone thinks I've written something worth linking to. Okay sure the kids at SFist linked to a observation that was initiated by a bird pooing on me, so obviously it doesn't take much to interest them but still, very odd.

Denver and Back

2006-07-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

Or A Tragicomedy In Eleven Parts

It all started off so well, as it so often does. My flight from SF arrived in Denver 15 minutes before Sony’s flight from LA and while waiting I managed to pick up a free flight anywhere Frontier Airlines flies for signing up for a Credit Card with them. Plus they threw in a stuffed bunny. With an auspicious beginning such as that, how could anything go wrong?

We took a taxi ride to the funeral shop and learned from the driver that the brown cloud hanging over Denver isn’t in fact smoke but is ‘haze’ caused by the wind.

We arrived at John’s Funeral escort business and he gave us a ride to the warehouse where our new bikes were. They looked decent, some rust and body damage here and there but all in all, good enough. I was surprised how nice the side car looked. The upholstery was in near mint condition. John gave us the option of riding them back to his shop and if we still liked them, we’d do the paper work there. All was well, the little stuffed bunny did seem to portend great things ahead after all.

We did the paper work, paid the fee, and headed out into the great blue (brownish) yonder...right after a stop off at Walmart to pick up water and a gas can, and various other sundries. Al hail Walmart! Where you can get a gas can, a bandana, a case of water and eat at subway without leaving the air conditioned building!

The trip started off well. The first 100 miles seemed great. The handling of a side car according to Sony, is significantly more different than either a motorcycle or car. It involves lots more leaning around on the bike. Turns are much more hairy. A side car rig is like a trick car, cool too look at but not so cool to rid for, say, 1000 miles.

But the first sign that the Bunny of our Good Fortunes was letting us down was in the very long tunnel on the outskirts of Denver. Apparently Sony was loosing power and could only cruise at about 30mph which is freaky when:

A) You are on a highway where the speed limit is 70mpg
B) Cars are going significantly faster than that around you
C) You are in a tunnel with no way to pull over

All of these things are not good. But as we exited the tunnel Sony’s bike seemed to kick right back in.

We took the next exit to fuel up and discuss the problem. We, through expert application of our considerable intellect, determined it was simply the altitude that was affecting the motorcycle. You see, the thinner air made it a problem for the engine to combust the gasoline. It was so simple! Nothing to be concerned about. Well there was also the fact that Sony had lost one of the five brackets holding the side car to the motorcycle. Apparently the rust we had seen on it at the warehouse combined with the wind and vibration of the bike was enough to dislodge it. No matter! I knew for a fact such ‘safety’ mechanisms were over engineered by exactly 20%. Losing one bracket meant nothing!

So onward we road. Sony had another brief power issue at a summit which seem to confirm our previous high altitude theory, and so we continued on. Incidentally, as you might have been aware of if you lived anywhere in America last couple weeks, it was very, very hot. We were riding in 100+ degree weather wearing helmets and jackets (note: weather is measured in the shade, so 100 degrees means maybe 130-150 or more in the sun on asphalt). We cooled off by pouring bottles of water down our jackets and pretty much anywhere we could.

By now the power issue had become intermittent and dangerous. It’s just bad riding at 30 on a major free way and having traffic pass you at three times that speed. Additionally I saw at least one, possibly two three more parts come off Sony’s motorcycle. We pulled off the side of the freeway to try to figure out what the hell as wrong and what we were going to do about it.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit, the shoulder of a road freaks me out. I’ve heard too many stories of Cops and Caltrans workers with their cones out and lights blazing, being mowed down by motorist, to trust that little white line to protect me from the onslaught of traffic only inches away. I asked that we maybe we take the next exit, which was 100 yards away, and deal with it there. Great, except Sony’s bike won’t start. No anything. No lights, nothing. Dead. So we push it off the freeway and basically try to think it through. I try some of this and some of that to zero effect. We notice some oil seeping from the engine block but can’t imagine that is and electrical issue. At a loss of what to do we try to push start it and it works! So I pack up my tools, hop on my bike and we head back out. Again, the lack of power issue comes up now and then but we get to Grand Rapids.

The first motel we find is directly across the street from an automotive store and a gas station (Sony’s bike is now getting about 18 miles a gallon, which is not right at all). I run over to the car shop and pick up a set of spark plugs. Sony thinks it’s the ignition system, I’m thinking electrical. Spark plugs seem like a good middle ground.

I do a late night tune up after which we grab some food at a Mexican joint where I teach the waiter how to make a Kalimocho. We take a dive in the pool at the hotel (did I mention the heat), arrange a wake up call for 5:00 and pass out due to exhaustion.

Our plan is get up early, get a head start on the rest of the trip. Oddly, throughout this entire trip with one exception I remained wildly, ridiculously optimistic. Everything would work out I was sure, because, well, everything always does.

We woke up before dawn, packed everything, put on our gear and...Sony’s bike won’t start. I start doing more diagnostics. We hotwire the ignition thinking it went bad, that isn’t it. I go through the manual and can’t find anything to explain the symptoms we’re getting. So we wait till 8am and then call John. He suggests swapping the batteries, maybe the new one he put in was defective. While I’m at it I swap out the ignitions just to be sure we didn’t screw anything up while hotwiring the ignition. Nothing. So I call him back and we run through a couple things on the phone. None of which is the problem at which point he says he’s got two options. He can A) let us die in the desert or 2) grab a trailer and come get us and take the bike back to Denver to work on it.

Let me just pause and explain that involves him riding four hours from Denver and then four hours back, on a Saturday. Any hint that we may have gotten scammed were gone. I’ll say right now, that if I sold someone a bike and they broke down halfway to LA, well, I’m not sure I’d have been as good a man as John was.

So we killed time mostly by sleeping. We tried to figure out some options. Sony could go back with John and fly home while I road the rest of the way alone (Sony vetoed that), Sony could rent a car and we could swap riding and driving all the way to LA. And, about 20 minutes before John was due, we thought to check Uhaul rental prices. It was only al little more expensive than a car rental and it would certainly be cheaper then renting a car AND shipping the bike back.

We decide that might be the best plan when John shows up. We talk about this and that, and he checks the fuses, which I would like to mention I have already checked. I only mention this now because, in fact, it was the main fuse that was the problem. Tthe fuses weren’t blown. Rather the box that held the fuses was plastic, and the metal prongs that fastened to the fuses themselves would heat up and over years of heating and cooling the plastic would separate and cause the prongs to not snugly fit around the fuses, causing intermitted lost of electrical power. John jumped the fuse and viola, the bike started no problem. After some chit chat, we said god by to John and were off!

...To as far as the border with Utah (40 miles). Apparently the electrical problem was not the same problem as the one causing the loss of power (and neither were related to the pieces falling off problem which had its on unique category). In any case, we were screwed. John is an hour away by now and we aren’t going to call him back (it was his 35th high school reunion that night). So we turned around and Sony dropped me off in the first town we hit (Mack, Colorado) with his bike, takes mine and heads back to Grand Rapids to pick up a Uhaul.

While he was off doing that I found a shady spot and removed the side car from his motorcycle so we could load it in. This operation is made easier by one of five attached braces having removed itself previously.

From there we drove till 1 AM in the Uhaul with both bikes and the side car securely tied down until we stopped, exhausted, somewhere deep in Utah.

The next morning we woke up bright and early, and covered the rest of the distance to Barstow, CA by noon.

In Barstow we remove my bike and bade adieu. I rode east across the Mojave desert to the I-5 and headed north while Sony continued on to LA.

I managed to put in 420 miles from noon to my arrival at 10 PM. (I did have to stop once to take a nap).

All said and done, it was quite an adventure, and while the story is nearly over I’d like to go back to one point I made earlier which was, through the entire trip, despite all the obstacles, the only time I stopped having fun was when I was taking apart the side car and by brother was picking up the Uhaul. The separation bred anxiety and melancholy. Upon Sony’s triumphant return, it all evaporated. And I don’t think it was that particular circumstance that fazed me. Rather I think it all goes to demonstrate who you choose to share your adventures with is key. The right attitude can overcome nearly any obstacle. Or at the very least make it manageable.

John did email us back asking how it went. I let him know today, (I’ve been in Wisconsin) and imagine I’ll be hearing back from him.

And What Do You Call This? Hrm?

2006-07-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

Why a Kitler of course.

You Think You Are So Cool?

2006-07-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, hippos resurface to breathe every 3-5 minutes. The process of surfacing and breathing is automatic, and even a hippo sleeping underwater will rise and breathe without waking.

What can you do in your sleep?

Kalimocho

2006-07-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

Once again Jackie introduced me to something delightfully delicious. It's sangria for those who just can't be bothered to slice fruit.

1 part cheap wine (one bottle usually)
1 part cola (usually a liter cuz we can't be bothered to actually measure a 1-to-1 relationship)
Ice

Just pour both into a pitcher and add ice. Or if that is to fancy for you, get a two liter bottle, dump half out and fill the rest with wine. It is best served very cold.

Yeah, I know it sounds gnarly, but it is both light and refreshing, and certainly the easiest way I've found to finish off a bottle of wine in 20 minutes.

Also spelled Calimocho, it comes from the Basque Region of Spain so if anyone starts to give you crap about drinking coke and wine smack them with that bit of cultural knowledge.

Why I Love Warren Buffet.

2006-06-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

It isn’t only because his plans for his $44,000,000,000 fortune consist of “giv[ing] nearly all of it away within months” to none other than the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation which has "focused much of its efforts on global health, backing the development, testing, manufacturing and delivery of vaccines for diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and acute diarrhea that kill millions of children in developing countries every year."

But because of this little tidbit:

"Neither Susie [his now deceased wife] nor I ever thought we should pass huge amounts of money along to our children...Our children are great. But I would argue that when your kids have all the advantages anyway, in terms of how they grow up and the opportunities they have for education, including what they learn at home -- I would say it's neither right nor rational to be flooding them with money."

Another Embarrassing American Moment

2006-06-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

I was taking an Access class downtown on Friday, and the instructor asks the class for a "region" in Canada for an example problem (they are called provinces or territories). The First Answer from the class? Toronto.

Ouch.

Only, made worse by his reply, “Isn’t that in the US”.

Once Upon A Time...

2006-06-19T13:18:00.000-07:00

A bird pooped on me today.

I wasn't really sure how to turn that event into a storry so that is what you get.

Two observations though; First, I was surprised how long it's been since I was pooped on by a bird (Middle school?). At this rate I can expect to be pooped on by a bird four more times max. That isn’t so bad. Secondly, I was astonished with how nonplussed I was about the whole thing. I mean that sort of thing can ruin your whole day. It's a sign of my current mental state that a bird pooping on me wasn't even a real irritation, maybe a slight disappointment.

The End.

Recycle Yourself

2006-06-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

I, Ian XXXXX, have signed up with the Donate Life California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry. Please join me in saving and enhancing the lives of thousands of people in need of your help. It took me only a few minutes to sign up -- minutes that could mean years of life for someone else.

To sign up or for more information, please visit Donate Life California

So sayeth the email I just received.

While I have always been an advocate for organ and tissue donation I knew that even telling people my wishes was no guarantee they would be followed through. A family member objecting or even delaying the use of my body could make any tissue ultimately unuseable. But this bit off there website is encouraging;

Historically, while signing a donor card and placing the pink dot on your license served as an important symbol of your intent, it did not place you on any list or Registry. The Registry guarantees your plans will be carried out when you die.

It cost me nothing and save lives. How can I lose?

I’m still hoping for the organ priority list where people willing to be donors go on one list and everyone else goes on another. Those that were willing to donate organs get them before people who were unwilling to be donors.

I'm Published!

2006-06-02T16:45:00.000-07:00

Sort of...not really. More like linked to. But still.

If you go to craigslist and select the motorcycle forum, you’ll notice a little link over on the right titled “New Motorcycle Rider's Guide” with the most horrendous URL in the history of URL’s. That, nonetheless, is something I did. And it makes me feel famous so now I can get a teacup Chihuahua.

So, I'm Going to Get Fat. Really Fat.

2006-06-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned a while back, I bought a scooter (2000 Aprilia Scarabeo 50cc). And now I love it. It’s so easy. Sit dwon, hit button, go. It’s as convenient as bike but a bike with a top speed of 45mph. I’m so in love with it that I’ve completely stopped walking or riding my bicycle anywhere. Work is a 15 minute walk...or a 3 minute ride! Safeway only a few blocks away? Why walk when you can have the scooter carry your groceries!

It’s getting to the point where I’m thinking I should just sell it for my health. But it is so much fun! Because of the way the handle bars are set up you can’t see scooter as you are riding, so it feels as if you are just flying down the road completely unencumbered, like a GOD!!!

So if any of you all want to come try it out you are welcome to. It is such a gas I can hardly believe it (speaking of gas, it gets 100 miles a gallon). Wash you hair first if you want to borrow my helmet.

Back Yard Upgrade

2006-05-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like this weekend’s beta test of backyard 0.9 went well. Despites some issues with the BBQ in the alpha version last fall it is now working at full capacity. The propane heater upgrade went as expected and was putting out 50,000BTU by evening with the UPS ready in case of any loss of power.

As you can see below, despite some initial early morning issues the Hammock was fully operational by the end of the test. Ideally we’d like to give it more of a work up but it seems fully operational for now.

Future upgrades will include a more advance lighting and audio system and possibly the addition of some biologicals (primarily plants).

At this point I’d like to take a moment to thank all our beta testers, Jackie, Andrea, Alyssa, Stephanie, and Nicole for all their help.

And I invite you all to come try the free demo!

And With This Payment I Thee Slay

2006-05-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

Now and again I get the spending bug, where I just want to spend money. Sometimes clothes, or trips or whatnot. I know if I can wait it out it'll pass but it an urge hard to resist.

Today I spent a cool $467.27. But what I purchased was a little financial independence.

I called up one of my student loan companies, ACS (you may know them as AFSA), and paid them off. At less than $500 you can imagine it isn't the largest loan but it's just one less thing I need to pay for every month.

In keeping with the advice of some anonymous accountant Andrea sat next to on an airplane, I'm taking all the money I would have been paying to that loan and applying it to my other loans. So I net nothing now but a payoff date slightly nearer in the future.

...

Also I bought a used 2000 Aprilia Scarabeo 50cc Scooter last week and I felt like I need to do something responsible.

The scooter looks exactly like the one below except A) mine is blue & B) mine looks less shiney and more like it has been T-boned by a car, which it has. Also while I rode it home, I'm not sure it fits the 'drivable' category.

I don't need pretty things, I have pretty friends :)

A more realistic picture will come soon.

Uh Oh

2006-05-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

I don't know what this game is called because the text uses Asian characters but I think it means addictive.

The Hurt Report

2006-05-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

I found this great article on Motorcyclist Online about the various helmet rating (DOT, Snell, BSI & ECE, the later two being European standards). It was very informative but what I though was interesting was a bit on some findings of the aptly named Hurt Report.

The Hurt Report, issued in '81, was the first, last and only serious study on real motorcycle accidents in the U.S. The study was done by some very smart, very reputable scientists and researchers at the University of Southern California. The Hurt researchers came to some surprising and illuminating conclusions—conclusions that have not been seriously challenged since.

First, about half of all serious motorcycle accidents happen when a car pulls in front of a bike in traffic. These accidents typically happen at very low speeds, with a typical impact velocity, after all the braking and skidding, below 25 mph. This was first revealed in the Hurt Report but has been recently backed up by two other studies, a similar one in Thailand and especially the COST 327 study done in the European Union, where people have fast bikes and like to ride very quickly on some roads with no speed limits at all.

...

In fact, the vast majority of crashed helmets examined in the Hurt Report showed that they had absorbed about the same impact you'd receive if you simply tipped over while standing, like a bowling pin, and hit your head on the pavement. Ninety-plus percent of the head impacts surveyed, in fact, were equal to or less than the force involved in a 7-foot drop. And 99 percent of the impacts were at or below the energy of a 10-foot drop.

...

Actual crash speeds are slow, but the damage isn't. These are serious, often fatal crashes. Most of these crashes happen very close to home .Because no matter where you go, you always leave your own neighborhood and come back to it. And making it through traffic-filled intersections—the ones near your home—is the most dangerous thing you do on a street motorcycle.*

I read somewhere that the human body thrown at 30 miles an hour will penetrate a 2 foot think brick wall. I don’t know if that is true but it always amazes both how much trauma the human body can survive and conversely how sometimes the slightest trauma can kill someone.

*Incidentally this is the exact kind of riding that I do most frequently living in SF

I Don't Think San Francisco Loves Me

2006-05-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

I just never know what to expect from her anymore. She’s like that bad girlfriend. First months of constant rain. I tried begging, pleading. “What is wrong San Francisco? Can we talk about it? Is it something I did?” And then BAM! Sunny days and beautiful clear skies and I still don’t understand what was wrong in the first place. But god knows I just have to be grateful for the change in disposition and not ask any questions, lest I piss her off and BAM! Just as fast I’m socked in with fog for months.

The inability to communicate and the volatility of moods only masks other issues. San Francisco has expensive tastes, tastes I just can’t afford. I’ll never be able to afford a house for her. San Francisco is ready to spend every cent I make as fast as I save it. It’s like that saying, savers and spenders don’t mix. And really I can’t keep up with her party lifestyle anymore either, and god knows I’ve tried but it’s just not who I am, I’m a pot luck and BBQ kind of guy. Besides I think my hearing loss may be permanent and all the damage to my liver just trying to keep up...I just can’t maintain anymore.

The thing that kills me is that San Francisco is so much more popular than me. It a joke, not even a competition. I know if we ever break up she’ll get most our friends. But damnit, I love her so much that even though I know it isn’t meant to be I just can’t let her go. Not yet. Maybe we should have a talk, maybe I should start seeing other cities, heaven knows she hasn’t be faithful to me.

You Don't Know These Boots, But They Know Me.

2006-05-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

In the winter of 1996 I bought a pair of Redwing boots up in Arcata, CA for about $120. At the time I was a student just about to graduate and I didn’t have much money so the $120 investment in those boots was something I took seriously. I made sure they were a high quality brand, and that they could be resoled. The reason for the purchase was my move to Boston. I wanted some warm and comfortable weatherproof shoes. And I have to say they served me well. I have had them resoled about once every two years and every time I’ve had them resoled it has been by Piedmont Cobblers Shoe Repair.

Recently I’ve found myself living in SF and no longer working in Oakland so I did the convenient thing and took my boots over to a local shop in the Richmond called Heel & I Shoe Repair. The price to resole was about the same so I thought nothing of it. Six months later what I got was what you see below.

Bad workmanship for sure. The glue that bonded the sole to the boot obviously came undone but not only that, during the removal of the old sole the cobbler must have cut the leather on the boot which opened up a inch long slice at the base of the shoe, right about were water in puddles like to go. But even worse than that, they managed to damage the material that the sole binds to (a sort of inner sole if you will) so that It will cost about $160 to repair the boot and while I am wildly nostalgic I’m even more of a spendthrift.

Me and these boots have moved cross country twice and watched me shed most of my worldly possessions. I’ve climbed mountains, walked beaches and cruised on my motorcycle all over this and other continents in these boots for a decade. I’m not sure I can quite give them up yet so I’m going to shoe-goo the hell out of them. It’s a stupid little thing to care about I know, but it makes me sad.

Holy Benadryl

2006-05-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning I woke up with a bolus of snot lodged in my right nasal passage. All the blowing and laying on one side did nothing to assuage it. Sunday was no better though the increase in sneezing was fun. Am I the only person that enjoys sneezing? Coming to work on Monday seemed only to anger the bolus and my eyes began to water intermittently.

My boss opined that perhaps I had allergies, having never had them before I explained that I didn’t think that was the cause and it was probably just a head cold. She informed me that someone can develop allergies at any time in their life and offered me some anti-allergy medication that only later would I could to discover was generic Benadryl. I read the bottle and it indicated that taking this drug helped dry out nasal passages and reduced eye irritation which seemed exactly like what I was looking for, I skipped the rest to the dosages and popped two in my mouth (Adults “Take up to two every 4-6 hours”)

I went back to my office and tried to start working. Within fifteen minutes I was woozy, in twenty I was laying on the floor of my office trying to find a comfy spot. Some time later I came to and realized something was up. I walked back into my bosses office and told her I was feeling REALLY tired.

“Oh yeah, it makes you drowsy, it says so right on the bottle”.
Being to cross-eyed to read I took her word for it.
“But I only took two and I feel like passing out”, I slurred.
“You took two!? You should go home”.

Which is what I did. I proceeded to sleep about another four hours there before getting out of my work cloths and spending the rest of the day in my PJ's tooling around eating totally non-spicy “Spicy Doritos’s” with totally non-spicy “Safeway Hot Salsa” in an effort to burn the Bolus out of my skull.

In anycase I’ve learned a few things. Food with “Spicy” and “Hot” advertised on them need a rating system, 50 MG of Benadryl with kick a grown mans butt, and the bolus always wins.

Cuz I Gotta Write About Something

2006-04-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

One recommendation I received often before my trip to Costa Rica was to bring some snacking foods, preferable some sort of fortified energy bar for those times when I was out an about.

As a result I’ve tried pretty much every Cliff Bar out there and these are my favorites.

Generally I’m not a fan of the Iced Cliff Bars. In Cliff speak spiced seems to mean 'extra layer of sugar on top', and that just makes them taste even more like a candy bar than they already do.

My favorite is easily The Black Cherry Almond bar and I have a definite preference away from the choc ones, again proly just because it too much like a candy bar (There is an incident in my vending machine days involving me and a box of Almond Joy bars that has scarred me).

In an effort to mix it up I also throw in a couple Banana Nut, Oatmeal Raison, Apricot and Cookies & Creme flavors If I'm in a chocolate mood I have the Chocolate Brownie which is slightly more bitter and suprisingly less sweet compared to most of the other chocolate flavors.

I’m desperate to try out the Spiced Pumpkin Pie.

And as for the best prices, Trader Joes cannot be beat. The bars are $1 each. Even buying in bulk at other locations I can’t come close to this price. Even the Cliff Bar web site charges more.

I wonder if there are varieties of cliff bars that are only certain locations like with Kit Kat Orange and Mint bars? And who of us wouldn’t love to see some savory version of Cliffbars?

A Beat Down

2006-04-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

After the discussion about my love for, and SF’s lack of, frozen yogurt at diner club this Wednesday, Alyssa and I decided upon our walk home, to stop off at the closest shop selling the nearest facsimile of frozen yoghurt, which in this case happened to be McDonalds at Stanyan and Haight.

I opted for the parfait (more of a custard really) and I believe Alyssa purchased a cone of soft serve, though I can’t honestly remember due both to my focus and fixation upon my own parfait and because of the events that occurred as we were exiting McDonalds.

Just outside the door, as we exited, was a man who was arguing with some youths. They were talking trash and he was dishing it back. At the time I thought it was just a group of miscellaneous people giving each other a hard time, nothing more. When we were about 15 feet from the door I heard one of the youths say something to the effect of, “Why’d you have to pull a knife, we didn't do anything” which of course got my attention. I looked over and didn’t see a knife but I realized that the situation was a little more serious than I had initially suspected. The man at the door was apparently keeping at bay about a dozen youths who were intent on giving him a hard time.

How hard I was just about to discover. The man at the door made a break for it when, in the blink or an eye things when from trash talking to full scale violence. The youths descended on him, quickly driving him to the ground where they proceeded to stomp and jump on him. And then I did something dumb, something very, very dumb. I stepped in. I grabbed the nearest youth and pulled him off the guy on the ground. Out of the corner of my eye I saw another young man, apparently also uninvolved, do the same thing, trying to drive the kids off the guy. The youths turned on him and just as quickly beat him to the ground stomped and jumped on him as well. The first man managed to run off as attention was distracted and I came to my senses, realized that I was in a very bad place and that I was putting not just myself in danger but Alyssa as well with my attempt at heroism. I crossed the street with her, called SFPD and tailed a couple of the youths as we walked down the street. I lost the youths about a quarter mile away and gave up on the cops showing up.

I did later run into a police cruiser, flagged them down and spoke with the police. They could find none of the perpetrators (which is no surprise) but neither could the find either of the victims. Apparently I was the only one who called the police.

All of this really made me focus on my own behavior during stressful situations. And my conclusion is that I always do the wrong thing. It is really easy to say stopping for the car accident on the 101 a few months back or stepping into a brawl on Wednesday, were the ‘Right’ thing to do from a detached or Romantic point of view. But from a personal standpoint it absolutely is not. I could just as easily have been the second man who stepped in and be writing about the concussion I received or a permanently damaged cornea.

And for what? To what effect? Those youths had their fun and I’m not sure just how much good I did. The cops found no one, so justice of course wasn’t served. Everyone lost and I was lucky to have escaped unharmed.

Amanda had mentioned previously that during the car incident I did the exact wrong thing, and I think I agree with her. Cars were swerving and crashing all over the place. And getting out of a reinforced steel cage to see how everyone else was just put me in significantly greater danger. The right thing to have done was to call the cops and continue driving. The motorcycle that ran into Jackie’s Mini could have just as easily slammed into me or even worse, injured her (not really since she was smart enough to stay inside the car). I’m still surprised no one was killed in that car incident. And by pulling over, what sort of effect did I expect to have? I doubt any intervention I could have provided would have saved any ones life especially with trained professionals five minutes away.

After giving up on the cops I walked down to Jenny’s to borrow her car for the next morning. After hanging out briefly I walked home, completely forgetting that I went there to pick up the car.

The whole situation broght back the Goetz Shooting in New York in ’84.