A Sudden Fall

Summer's end has usually come in over a period of weeks, and last week brought with it the beginnings of this change. One day I'm wearing shorts to work while the kids are splashing about in an inflatable pool, and the next day I've got frost on my windshield and a short-sleeve shirt proves to provide less than adequate warmth during my evening walk to my car after work. Brrrrrrr. Then, a day or two later, we're back to sweltering heat in the daytime but chilly evenings and morning.

The Prospect of Convenience

I had to decline my good friend Martin's invitation to join him for a cup of Peets this morning in order to get into work on time for an early meeting. The location he frequents is not 'en route' to work and as such, makes dropping by a time hit during days with already compressed schedules.

So imagine my excitement to see, on the way into work along my 'backstreet commute', a new Peets! They've opened a new location at the corner of Saratoga/Sunnyvale and Prospect. I immediately swung into the parking lot, bought a coffee and a muffin, chatted with the staff a bit and continued on my merry way. Now there's 4 within my home/work radius and with the introduction of this one, being on the right side of the road on my drive to work, an option with the optimal ease and convenience.

Mine is a simple set of needs, is it not? :-)

 

The War on PBS [updated 09/27]

I'm sure we've all had our shared of Pledge Breaks and Wayne Dyer marathons over the past months, but this is not a proposal to stage an attack on their offices. Starting Sunday, PBS will be the place to be, as they start airing the long awaited Ken Burn's documentary entitled "The War". I'm a rabid fan of documentaries, and between Ken and Ric Burns, they've produced some of the most incredible and awe inspiring documentaries I've ever seen. The Civil War. The West. New York. Thomas Jefferson.... all have been subjects of their movies, and they are each of these were excellent and groundbreaking. This one promises to be an event worth every minute of your time. I'll be TiVo'ing it, but likely glued to and watching each live broadcast. I hope you'll do the same.

Midway [updated 09/27]:

I remember seeing "Saving Private Ryan" in the theaters. We'd waited a month or two and we'd heard all the advice about how brutal the opening scenes were, but no degree of commentary could have prepared us for that experience, and after watching the entire film, we silently filed out along with the rest of the viewers. We drove home in absolute silence. We did not speak a word for the entire trip. When we got home, we collapsed on the bed and wept at the thought of anybody having to go through such horror.

For the past four nights I've watched this documentary and it's been an incredible experience. They're doing an amazing job of showing not only what happened and when, but the impact on every level; global, national, community and family.

Part Four aired last night. In took us through the D-Day battle on Omaha beach and up through the liberation of Paris. And it's built up to a degree of intensity that is on par with the experience of watching the aforementioned film. Although the movie had the ability to really put you in a state of mind of "being there" through sound and effects, the stark footage, stories and realities of that day are even more haunting and disturbing when you know they're real.

They're taking some time before the next episode. It air's on Sunday. I can use the break.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEItXS35g8o]

Read about it on PBS • Video Podcasts on iTunes • Schedule it via TiVo • Reserve it on Netflix

No More Paper Plates

DMV Renewal time has come around again, and this morning, I surrendered my CONFOTI license plates in exchange for generic numeric plates. Back in the days when Confoti was being shown on the Today Show by Katie Couric or dropping from the ceiling of both the Democratic and Republican conventions, it felt great to drive around with pride over my invention making it as big as it did. Now, although there's still pride at the idea and the invention, with the business being closed for over a year now and the potential being 'scattered to the wind' with the loss of the patent, it's more pain than pleasure to see the name, let alone answer the questions about what it means. So, back to ambiguity.... for now.

I Have A Lot On My Mind

One of the selling point of the home we purchased earlier this year has been it’s location at the end of a one-way street. With small kids, it’s a substantial benefit to live in a situation where there’s no ‘through traffic’, and any car coming our way is either lost or coming to see us. In either case, the white fence blocking the end of the street from the vacant lot that lies beyond it ensures that anybody approaching it does so slowly.

It’s been ideal.

The “vacant lot” I reference is a 40,000+ rectangular chunk of property, running the length of 2+ houses, from the end of our street to the parallel street to the east, where a dilapidated house, likely rejected from the filming of “Deliverance” because it was too rustic in design and construction, sits abandoned. The house is truly a shack, likely not inhabitable, and the access to it and the properly has been from the other street’s side. The lot and home have been vacant for ~4 years according to our neighbors, and we have been wondering if and when the owners of the properly would ever sell it.

We know the answer. They’re selling it now.

I discovered this last week, when I spotted a ‘For Sale” sign on the parallel street side, and the same sign on the property at the end of our street. What’s amazing is that the following day, the sign had a “Sale Pending’ added to the top of it. It’s listed for 1.5 million. The house on the property will most certainly be torn down. We can only assume that two houses will be built there, as it’s a pretty huge lot for a single home. That said, it’d be a spectacular site for an extensive ranch home with a massive front and back yard.

Time will only tell what’s to come of the property, but I expect that by next year, a new home, or two, will be there. Given that our street ‘dead ends’ into the lot, it’s pretty much a given that there’ll be one more driveway at the end of the road. Hopefully, whatever does get built will be a single story. Although anything will significantly reduce the nice view of the foothills that we have today, a two story will destroy it completely.

Ultimately, we’ll still have all the benefits of a cul-de-sac, and the mountain view from the backyard will be undisturbed. Maybe the occupants will be a nice family with young kids. And if they’re done well, the homes will likely contribute to increasing our own property values, which is always welcome in the market we’re in these days.

Flip Phone To Talk

One sees all sorts or amusing and bizarre things during commute traffic. There’s the typical stuff like the lane weavers, nose drillers and private American Idol tryouts. In fact, years ago, when I’d see somebody singing at at light, I’d quickly try and find the radio station they might be listening to, and on rare occasion I’d succeed, enabling me to watch them from the window or rear view mirror as they lip sync to the music playing in my car. It seldom worked, but when it did, it was hilarious. I’ve also found it entertaining when I see somebody dancing in their car. I’m not talking about bobbing their head, I am talking about complete, full-on, full body, jive jumping, “going with the flow” dancing in their cars. It just cracks me up.

I also see way too many people on phones. I’m guilty of doing so myself, but only due to the recent loss of my bluetooth headset. As a game, see how many drivers holding cell phones you can count while driving home tonight… you’ll be amazed how quickly you’ll get into the double digits.

Today I saw something that took the cake. I pulled up next to a car, glanced over, and saw a woman using her Motorola Razor brand cell phone. She must have had it on speaker phone, and she was talking into the DISPLAY! For your reference, I’ve custom made the icon for this post to help illustrate. It was exactly as pictured above.

In essence, as most people would expect, the microphone for a phone is usually placed when your mouth would be; at the bottom. The ear piece is where the speaker resides.

I sat and watched this woman in a conversation for a minute or two, holding the phone exactly as pictured, and talking into the top of the device.

It was incredible, frightening and hilarious all at the same time.

Concerto For A Rainy Day

I’ve got a few music related rituals. I’ve had ’em for decades. For one example, every January 1st, with rare exception, I make a point of listening to “New Year’s Day” by U2. It’s just something I started doing, and it became a routine habit. A conscious intentional practice. There’s a number of others, and today I got to practice one of them.

In 1977, ELO released “Out Of The Blue“, the follow up to their ground-breaking release, “A New World Record“. I’d been exposed to ELO through Sally Jaramillo, my first adolescent introduction to infatuation, and I became a big fan of their music. I purchased this on the first day it was released, took it to my friend Matt’s house, and we listened to and critiqued each track. This was a double album. The third side was entitled “Concerto For A Rainy Day” and comprised four ‘rain’ related titles. The set of four songs starts out with the onslaught of rain, escalates to a thunderous storm, and concludes with the sun breaking through and the day’s forecast calling for blue skies.

For whatever reason, whenever possible, for at least the past 20 years, on the first rainy day of a season or just the occurrence of a really good storm, I listen to this “concerto”. Loud. It’s just something I do. It’s best in the car but works quite well indoors too.

Too Few Role Models

When Jess pointed me to the “Toast” Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, it brought back some nostalgic memories of reading that strip, and what a great job the author did of capturing the experience of being a little boy. I had all the books at one time. Now I want to get them for my own son, who’s got quite a bit of “Calvin” in his blood. While surfing, I found several online, and came across this one, which I think is great on many levels; humor and political commentary.

The Beat Goes On Screen

Medical technology can be amazing. I’m in the process of getting a full physical, because it’s good to do at my age, I’m trying to take some preventative measures to ensure my blood pressure stays in a healthy range, and I never quite seem to be able to hit the right tonal range when singing “Moon River“….. :-/

That said, I had an “Echocardiogram” yesterday. I’d never heard of these before. I didn’t know what to expect, but I had visions of a singing telegram delivered by an aerobics instructor with a bad stutter. Once i got there, I came to find that they use ultrasound, much like they do when looking at a growing fetus in a pregnant woman, to capture images and statistics about your heart. How cool is that?

I got to sit and watch my own heart beating, valves opening and closing, and the muscle constricting as it worked to pump my blood. And there’s even investigations under way on how the use of ultrasound might aid in blocked arteries as well, instead of the more invasive options in use today.

Sometimes, when it comes to the medical community, I think we’re only a notch or two above bleedings and leaches. Then, I get to see something like this, and I imagine we’re getting a bit closer to McCoy’s tricorder.

(P.S.: it’s a boy!)

This Really Gets My Goat

I don’t know how to comment on this. I just can’t conceive of how anybody intelligent enough to operate an airliner might be able to associate it’s repair being addressed by slaughtering a goat or two. I suppose it’s enough to just post it and let the story speak for itself.

I’m speechless.

As a side note, I’d have been out the emergency door before they finished announcing that “the snag in the plane has now been fixed”.

Airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god

Wed Sep 5, 2007 2:22am EDT

KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Officials at Nepal’s state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday.

Nepal Airlines, which has two Boeing aircraft, has had to suspend some services in recent weeks due the problem.

The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft Sunday at Nepal’s only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions, an official said.

“The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights,” said Raju K.C., a senior airline official, without explaining what the problem had been.

Local media last week blamed the company’s woes on an electrical fault. The carrier runs international flights to five cities in Asia.

It is common in Nepal to sacrifice animals like goats and buffaloes to appease different Hindu deities.

Metamorfoodis

As a parent, one finds themselves asked or considering things they’d otherwise never imagine coming into their head. “why is this” and “what is that” are becoming common place in the home, and I find myself trying to proactively think of an answer to any question I might see looming on the horizon.

Recently, we found ourselves talking about “ice” and “water”, and I found myself starting to think about foods that are primarily the same basic item in different forms that have different names. I’m not talking about a recipe, where ham, eggs and cheese become an omelet, but how what we’d refer to as ‘bread’ in it’s raw state suddenly becomes ‘toast’ in it’s cooked state. These are not ‘processed’ in any way, there’s just something that happens to them without additives, causing their state to change, and along with it, the name we use for it, even thought it remains the same fundamental item.

I know, I know, this is the unsolved puzzle that has plagued mankind for all time.

Still, as I think about it, I can’t come up with too many cases where this occurs. So far, I’ve thought of only the following:

Ice and Water

Grapes and RaisinsPlums and Prunes (removed… see comments)Bread and ToastBut there’s gotta be more, right? OR is this really all there are? Let me know if I’ve missing something obvious. It’s been known to happen :-)

postscript: I had to append the cartoon Jess referenced in his reply… just perfect, Jess!

“NOT Honey Mustard”

During our weekly lunch today with my quorum of geek friends, at a local Chinese restaurant, one of the four of us fell silent for a few moments during the conversation, and a moment or two later, a second did the same. The silence went un-noticed for the initial stages, but as the second of the two finished gulping down a large portion of water, he gasped, pointed to the yellow contents of the condiment holder beside their egg rolls, and with a raspy voice, exhaled these barely audible words… “NOT Honey Mustard!”.

The table, of course, roared with laughter.

Ring A Ding Ding

The ability is finally available for us iPhone owners to easily create our own “ring tones”. It’s been a contentious issue amongst much of the user community, as there’s been press back against the costs and inability to create tones from your own music or your own recordings. I’ve paid for and created a couple and made some of my own using rogue amoeba’s “MakeiPhoneRingtone“. Ultimately, I only need a couple, and it’s easier to pay for them if it means they’re retained through updates. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, I thought I’d share the choices I’ve made for the fun if it.

My wife’s calls play a selected cut from Bill Wither’s “Lovely Day“.

Work calls play a section of the theme From the movie “Brazil”“.

All other calls play a snippet of a tune called “Powerhouse” which will be easily recognized by anybody who either grew up on Warner Bros cartoons, or has seen the recent Visa Debit Card ads.

One is the soundtrack to the first iPhone commercial ever aired, in which numerous clips of well known movie scenes are strung together, all of them featuring the character saying “Hello“.

The other get’s my vote as the absolute best ringtone idea ever… but then I thought of it at lunch today and made it when I got back to work so I’m a bit biased. It’s a perfectly suited short verbal clip from the classic film, “Blazing Saddles“.

Two other’s linger on my phone for sheer novelty.

Hey… if the tone fits….

So Tired… Tired of Waiting…

Crap Crap Crap! Once again, my best laid plans turn out to be neither my best, nor well laid. I had to get the tires on my wife’s car replaced, and knowing full well that this would bite into my busy day, I opt’d to make ever effort to be first in line at Costco and get through the whole process as quickly as possible, using the waiting time to work remote from a coffee shop right next door.

I took time last night to ready the car, set out my clothes, and line everything up for an early departure. Their tire shop opens at 9, but I got there at 8.20, and nobody else showed up to get in line behind me until 8.40. Then, at 8.50, they opened early. I paid for my tires and was told ’40 minutes’. SWEET! I gave them the key, removed my briefcase, and left it unlocked. I even set the timer on my iPhone to 40 minutes!

I walked across the parking lot to a Starbucks, proceeded to deal with emails and such, and at the 35min mark, I headed back to get my car. I was tickled to think that I’d actually make it to work in time for an important meeting, which I’d not anticipated happening under the best of conditions.

I love it when things work out as planned!

But, it seemed odd that my car was still in the same parking space. However, since they’re reserved for the Tire center, I rationalized that it just got parked back there by coincidence. Parked exactly as I’d left it. I mean, it could happen, right?

Not in this case.

When I went to the counter, they said they could not start it, that the alarm went off, and the key would not work. They needed the key fob for the alarm. “But, I left it unlocked” I said. I was completely perplexed and disappointed to find that while I was across the street, assuming all was under way, and that I’d made every effort to ensure things went smoothly, including that the car was unlocked, they were not able to do a single thing but wait for my eventual return.

When I went to the car and pressed the button on the remote, it ‘chirped’ the unlocking chirp.

I *SWEAR* I left it unlocked.

Sincerely. I am so certain I locked it. I can’t imagine how this came to be. I LEFT IT UNLOCKED! It was a conscious action. I would have put big bucks on that. I’d have bet anything I’d locked it. And I guess, in a way, it turns out I did. In my life, time IS money, and I lost time today, so I lost money. I lost the bet. And all the efforts that went into this were scattered to the wind when I opt’d to take the key-fob with me in order to be able to unlock it myself and remove the bag.

I hope i remember this fiasco the next time around.

And again, as stated previously, I remain available for children’s parties.

I Need A Drill Instructor

She decided on a place to hang the mirror last night. It’d been sitting in our back bedroom for about 5 weeks since she bought it, and she’s been mulling over ideas on where to put it for some time. This is detail work…. you don’t rush detail work… you don’t rush art. So, when asked, after the kids had gone to sleep, if I’d hang it in the hallway, I agreed, We held it up and checked how it’d look in order to agree on it’s positioning. Taking the time to measure things out is a critical step when hanging things in our home. Something hung off center is almost as unforgivable as hanging something tilted ever so slightly….. don’t even get me started on the value of a level at a time like this.

Now, with the kids bedroom door only about 12 feet away, where they were sleeping at the time, I started the process of measuring and aligning where the holes would go.

Things went quite well. I marked, got confirmation, measured, measured again, and drilled away. Once the first of two screw holes was drilled and the wall anchor was in place, I checked and double-checked to ensure the second hole was absolutely perfect, and started drilling again. I felt the resistance against the drill as it bore through the wall, and a few moments later it seemed to spin free, and meet resistance again.

I stopped to double check that there wasn’t something wrong with where I was drilling. My first concern was that there might be wiring in the wall, but there were no switches or outlets at that position on the wall. I knew that the side of the oven was on the other side of the wall, but that was definitely well out of reach due to the pocket door… the pocket door that slides out to close the kitchen off from the entry way… the pocket door that was retracted at the time I’d been drilling both the first hole and this second one.

I started to pull the pocket door out and breathed a sigh of relief when I found that I’d not drilled into it on that second attempt. But as I continued to open it, the pristine and perfectly drilled hole from the first effort came into view, and I realized I’d drilled right though it when I made the hole for the first wall anchor.

Smooth, huh?

And yes, I am available for children’s parties.

News From The Other Side Of The Camera Lens

News From The Other Side Of The Camera Lens

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My very good friend for decades, Matt Conens, the man who was the “Best Man” at our wedding, was in Journalism for some time. He was a news reporter and occasional newscasters as well. But he left that all behind some time ago. And now he’s on the other side of the camera. He’s the topic of a Junk Mail related story, and one of the most outspoken people I know who’s made a consistent effort to tackle the issue. Kudo’s Matt, and it’s great to see this story!

For the last 20 years, Conens, a Sacramento resident, has been on a personal campaign to eliminate junk mail from his life. He spends only a little time each month calling or e-mailing businesses that send him unwanted mail, and he said the campaign has been wholly effective. Over the course of a recent week, he received five pieces of mail he wanted (bills and letters) and four pieces he didn’t, most of them addressed to “occupant.” The latter number was an anomaly. When it comes to junk mail nowadays, he usually goes weeks without receiving any.

Read It Online or click below to read the text within this blog post.

Getting jack in the box The anti-junk-mail campaign gains ground By Sena Christian Matt Conens hates junk mail with a passion, so he’s spent 20 years eradicating it from his life. SN&R Photo By Sena Christian NEXT WEEK’S TOPIC: local impacts of global warming   One time when Matt Conens contacted a company’s customer-service call center requesting to be taken off a mailing list, the woman on the other end of the line copped an attitude. She snottily asked if he contacted everyone who sent him a catalog or promotional mailing. “As a matter of fact, I do,” he responded. And he was not exaggerating. For the last 20 years, Conens, a Sacramento resident, has been on a personal campaign to eliminate junk mail from his life. He spends only a little time each month calling or e-mailing businesses that send him unwanted mail, and he said the campaign has been wholly effective. Over the course of a recent week, he received five pieces of mail he wanted (bills and letters) and four pieces he didn’t, most of them addressed to “occupant.” The latter number was an anomaly. When it comes to junk mail nowadays, he usually goes weeks without receiving any. Besides being an annoyance, junk mail is a waste of money and resources, Conens said. By calling companies to complain about the credit-card applications, catalogs, coupon books and advertisements they send, he wants to make big business aware of their negative environmental impact. It’s not enough that companies switch to printing on non-chlorine-bleached or recycled paper, he said. They should stop with direct mailings altogether. He also wants people to feel empowered to re-evaluate actual needs and reduce the waste in their lives. “I really think that’s what the environmental movement is all about,” he said. The pulp and paper industry is the third largest industrial emitter of greenhouse gases in the United States after the chemical and steel industries. As people seek to make a dent in the climate crisis, they’ve embraced the old adage that little things add up. One idea that’s caught on: Reduce the junk mail that clutters our mailboxes. Claims that eliminating junk mail strikes a heavy blow against global warming are not all that far-fetched. Collectively, Americans receive 62 billion pieces of junk mail a year, which equates to 4 million tons of paper coming from 100 million trees, and 28 billion gallons of water go into the production of that mail, said Kendra Ott of Green Dimes, a company that sells junk mail reduction kits. Almost half of all junk mail is thrown away unopened and only 22 percent of that is recycled, she said. Although plenty of people with good intentions toss unwanted mail into recycle bins, even this does not necessarily end up being recycled because special inks, glossy coatings, wax, paste and the high concentration of heavy metals used in advertisements and catalogs make recycling the paper an expensive, and often forgone process. So where does that leave us? With almost six tons of junk mail ending up in U.S. landfills annually. Altogether, paper fills up roughly 40 percent of landfill space. All that waste for what amounts to nothing more than an annoyance for many consumers. “There are 113 million households in the U.S. and not one of them likes [junk mail],” Ott said, noting that for $15, Green Dimes will reduce a customer’s unwanted mail up to 90 percent within eight weeks. For every kit sold, the company plants 10 trees on the customer’s behalf through its partnership with American Forests, Sustainable Harvest International and Trees for the Future. More than 400,000 trees have been planted or saved through Green Dimes, according to Ott. The company’s “tens of thousands” of clients have stopped 1.5 million pounds of junk mail and saved 4 million gallons of water. “It’s a win-win situation,” Ott said. In 2006, three brothers in Michigan started 41 Pounds, named for the amount of junk mail the average American adult receives yearly. For a fee, 41 Pounds will remove customers’ names from between 25 and 30 direct-mail lists. Customers can then follow-up asking that their names be taken off additional lists. One customer gave 41 Pounds a list of 250 companies, said co-founder Sander DeVries. The brothers donate almost half of their fees to community and environmental organizations, and have eliminated more than 1 million pounds of junk mail for their 5,000 subscribers, according to DeVries. For those who’d rather take the issue into their own hands, Conens said the steps are easy. And he would know. After all, he’s had two decades of practice. As a kid, Conens loved receiving mail but as he grew older and started to notice how much of the mail was junk and how much of it ended up in the garbage, he appreciated it less and less. “It’s stuff I don’t want and don’t have a need for,” he said. Whenever he receives an unwanted direct mailing, he calls up the company and requests to be taken off the mailing list. Usually, they comply. He had one frustrating experience when he received a couple free issues of a bicycle magazine and then signed up for a subscription using a fake middle initial. Shortly after, he opened his mailbox to find a catalog from a different bicycle company addressed to that incorrect name. Conens canceled his magazine subscription. He’s also spreading the word, recently asking the manager of his apartment complex to put information in a newsletter about how residences can reduce junk mail, which he thought was especially important because his complex doesn’t have recycling bins. At his apartment complex, a 30-gallon garbage bin sits below the mailboxes. “It is usually full of junk mail every day, and that junk is not recycled,” Conens said. When he does receive junk mail, he saves it, later depositing the small collection at a recycling center. Soon consumers may get help in dealing with unwanted mail. In April 2006, the Center for a New American Dream presented Congressional leaders responsible for postal oversight with 7,500 petitions and comments calling for a Do Not Junk registry modeled after the Do Not Call registry, which would make it easier for people to opt out of direct mailings. Fourteen states have introduced junk-mail-registry legislation so far this year (California is not one of them), and the first week of October has been deemed Junk Mail Awareness Week. In the meantime, Conens suggested being proactive. Tell companies not to share personal information, contact senders and ask to be removed from mailing lists, avoid entering contests and, most important, be persistent. “Certainly one person does not make an impact since bulk mail is generally sent out by the thousands,” he said. “But collectively it does make a difference.”

I Got Laid Off Today…. 6 Years Ago

It’s odd, but every time the anniversary of 9/11 rolls around, I can’t help but reflect on 9/10. It was a landmark day of my own. I had left Apple at the apex of the dot-com boom, and I’d joined a web design firm working as a program manager on site development for various clients. Slowly, business started to slow, and firms such as ours were going belly-up left and right. It wasn’t long before the writing was on the wall, and on 09/10/2001, I met with my employer at a small cafe in downtown Sunnyvale, where the news was laid out for me. They were shutting down. There was talk of possibly starting it all back up again once the economic fallout dust had settled, but that wasn’t going to be for some time, and in the interim, my services were no longer required.

I went home, I told my wife, and I tried my best to take it in stride. There was little i could do besides stay on a positive path. I told myself I’d get up in the morning and start my job search effort fresh and clean with a positive and optimistic outlook, and I’d be sure and find something right away.

The day didn’t quite play out the way i’d planned it.

Apple Store Opening in Los Gatos

You might remember a prior posting, relating my excitement to see an Apple Store being build in downtown Los Gatos. Until last night, I’ve never actually attended an Apple Store opening, but when Brian contacted me and made me aware of it’s opening on Thursday night, well, I had to go. Los Gatos has been home to me for longer then any other town I’ve lived in my entire life. Childhood included. I’ve had a 95030 or 95032 zip code for most of my adult life, a portion of which was spend living literally one block off the main drag [Santa Cruz Ave] of the downtown area. So the combination of Apple and Los Gatos made attending it essential.



It’s positioned next to the Great Bear and Andales, two favorite haunts. It opened at 6PM and there was a line of people stretching down the entire street block and well around the corner. I got some dinner at Andales and allowed the initial line to shorten, but it was still around the corner when I finally decided to join the queue.



Fortunately, not too long after standing in line, I spotted a co-worker who was actually involved with and working the store opening. They pulled a few strings and got me in quickly. Once in, it was a festive party with wall to wall people all checking out the new iPods, the iPhone, iMacs and so much more. Everybody I talked to working the event, including some who were store employees for this new location, was pleasant and excited. As were all the attendees.



It strikes me as a great symbol of the appeal that Apple and our products have to customers when you have this kind of reaction, country wide at all store openings. When else do you see things like this as ‘events’ that draw lines of crowds? Microsoft? Uh-uh. Gateway? Come on. But Apple draws a crowd of enthusiasm. It’s quite thrilling.



Here’s a photo I snapped of Brian and Patricia helping out some kids playing in the kids area of the store.

We Feel Fine

I’ve seen some amazing websites that allow you to do all kinds of interactive things, from looking at baby name trends to seeking out relationships between musical groups and artists. But this one… wow… this is just incredible.

I found We Feel Fine recently while checking out the speakers on TEDtalks. Jonathan Harris, the author of this effort, spoke about several of his projects including this one. This website scours the web for blogs in which the text “I feel” exists. As in “I feel good“, or “I feel sad“. Then it does all this backend magic and metadata manipulation to create a massively cross referenced user experience, allowing you to get a glimpse of the entire blogosphere of personal declaration of feelings.

It’s overwhelming what you can do from the get-go. You can see groupings of various criteria, narrow or expand selected feelings and emotions, and you can even see a photo montage of images accompanying posts.

This is an amazing way to just “surf peoples emotions”. It puts you in a slightly voyeuristic driver’s seat, letting you get an overwhelming sense of how and what people are feeling and why. Use the menu in the lower left corner to explore all the various ways you can, uh… explore. :-)

And you know, if you find yourself compelled to fire off a word of encouragement to some stranger just from seeing a line about their depression, do it. What better use of a tool such as this?

It’s a Brick Housesssssssssssss

Once we moved into our new house, one of the things we had done was to have a large brick BBQ torn down. The landscape guy told us the bricks were valuable, as “aged bricks” are more popular. So I asked him to stack them up along side the house. I asked around, nobody I knew wanted them, and a couple attempts to sell them fell flat, so I put them on Craigslist as “FREE” and got numerous responses. The guy that ended up coming to get them first was half way through loading them into his truck when he came back and related that we likely had a rattle snake living in the pile. He’d found a shed snake skin amongst the bricks.



He seemed to be very knowledgeable and had been exposed to this situation before. It seems that brick piles provide a nice cool “condominium” environment. The remainder of the removal of the bricks was cautiously completed, and we fortunately did not encounter the former owner of the skin, although it remains possible that he’s somewhere in the vicinity. I’ll be making a serious effort this week to clear out the side yard and ensure there’s nothing that’ll be inviting for them in the future.



It’s ironic that we one of the drawbacks of living in the Folsom area was the predominance of rattler’s due to all the heat and construction. So what do we find when we finally move back and find our “dream house”. Rattlers. Go figure.

BBQ Seasoning

It’s summer. It’s 85-90 degrees. And the popular weekend activity is what? BBQ’ing. Not making cool dishes, cold salads, ice cream and other low temperature dining. No, we choose the hottest time of the year to stand next to hot coals and cook hot foods. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good BBQ’d burger and the Margarita’s that go with it (at least in my world, they do), but I have to wonder what the motivation has been through the decades, and just how summertime became the seasonal time to warm things up even further.