This digital world

Being almost winter it's dark when I come home. I step out of the bright light of the hallway into the soft glow of the coutyard lights coming in through the window. Today I walked into a disco of flashing green LED's. The microwave, the stove, the VCR, the alarm clock. Do I really need these time keeping devices? Yes. Do I appreciate having a large, battery powered analog clock on the wall. Most certainly. Do I sometimes wish all my timekeeping devices were analog? Yes, it would stop all that flashing. Without all that flashing I never would have known the power went out today. But then again do I care?

Middle of the night ramble

What to do when one can't sleep? I can now add blogging to the list of options which include reading and laying awake stressing out about not sleeping. Living in the city makes insomnia much less lonely you can look out the window and see the lights of all the other people not sleeping. Are we all just that stressed? are they people who work an odd shift? or work from home? or don't work? or just night owls? is it the weather which today turned stormy? For me tonight it's problably the stress, or maybe it's my sore throat, or getting too much sleep over the holiday weekend just past. It's not the cat who's been unusally quiet, or the cobras under the bed. I opened a window, some air might help even if it's cold air. Often what helps most it just getting up for a few minutes to acknowledge that sleep isn't working. Then I start the whole going to bed thing over again. If at first you don't succeed....

Signs of the Times

The BART stations in San Francisco are often taken over completely by one advertiser. Every wall, every post shouting the same thing. Right now the Powell Station is all iPod all the time. And the Montgomery Station? It's all about the Bose iPod Sound Dock.

Because Today I was Feeling Purple

Found these on sale today: duvet and sneakers all in matching shades of purple. I guess the color is about to go out of style!

Ruined Night

Maybe it's the vivid descriptive language in The Red Badge of Courage "the youth saw that the landscape was streaked with two long, thin, black columns ... like two serpents crawling from the cavern of the night"; maybe it's seeing Harry Potter the other day - do they really need enormous snakes in a kids movie. Last night wandering around some house in my dreams, the fear came over me, the house was full of snakes. Not just normal garter or hognose snakse but big mean posionus snakes, cobras and coral snakes hanging from the rafters and crawling on the floor. When one dropped down right in front of me I screamed and woke up. What a wonderful deep sleep it had been, the waking up took a lot of effort. But who can go back to sleep when there are cobras in the bedroom? The good for nothing Kat curled up on the chair certainly doesn't offer any protection. So nothing to do but fully wake up and turn on the light until the sleep once again overtakes the fear.

Metroid Prime

I picked Metroid Prime up months ago for $10, figuring almost any game is worth $10, and I'd heard good things about this one. I love Metroid Prime. Sometimess you're a guy (or rather a chick in a space suit) walking around shooting stuff, sometimes you're a little ball rolling around blowing stuff up. It's got a good mix of puzzles and fighting, different environments - snow, water, forest, sand; an easy to use interface to pick different weapons, visors; a storyline you can read or not; generally just a whole lot of fun. The puzzles and enemies are sometimes difficult but not so impossible as to be frustrating. But then I reached the Omega Pirate, most powerful of all the Elite Pirates. I can't kill him. I've tried till my hand hurts (note to Nintendo - can you please make controllers for adult sized hands!). I can take him down to about half strength and once or twice down to the point where just one more good blast would get him, but in the end I'm no match for the Omega Pirate. I can reach him with full strength, I have 200 missles, I understand his vulnerablities though I can't always exploit them. But in the end every time the Omega Pirate and his minions are just too much for me. I get surrounded by his servants which each take a different type of gun to kill, he overpowers me deflecting my missles and with one last swipe of his massive hand I'm done. I've read walkthroughs all over the internet. There's a few suggestions I still have to try so I'll give it another go once my hands rest. On the other hand there's the unopened Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory on my shelf.

P.S. Update - I got him!!!

We're Not Old

When Derek Jeter burst on the scene in 1996 I realized I was starting to be older than the ball players. Back when I was just kneehigh to a grasshopper, the neighbor girl and I were playing baseball in the backyard one day. I was Ron Guidry and she was Willie Randolph; nevermind that Guidry would not have pitched to Randolph. Her dad walked by and said "Guidry was a Southpaw" so clearly I couldn't be Ron Guidry because I pitched right handed. Back in 1996 I realized I couldn't be Derek Jeter - I was too old. What's all this getting at? Well Ken Arneson over at Baseball Toaster has another take on signs of getting old. And hey - I can still be Lance Armstrong!

Power

For the gadget geek who has everything. ScotteVest clothing makes a SeV jacket with 40 pockets to carry your cell phone, digital camera, pda, gameboy, portable video player, ipod and whatever else you can think of. There's even a Personal Area Network to channel the wires and connect devices. The best part - detachable solar panels allow you to charge most USB compatible devices (not compatible with the ipod) while you're on the move. If that's not enough cargo room Voltaic's messenger bag and backpacks hold lots of stuff and power it too. The solar panels generate up to 4 watts and store surplus power in a battery pack for when the sun's not shining. Nice to see some companies are looking to solve the power problem in innovative ways.

A $623,800 Idea

I read about Alex Tew's www.milliondollarhomepage.com a few months ago when it first came out. I wondered every once in a while how it was going but never wondered enough to bother to check. So I was happy to see an update in today's newspaper. Alex's idea of selling pixels for $1 each in 10x10 pixel blocks is intriguing but would people buy? Well apparently they did. The site averages 600,000 unique visitors a month. So far Alex says he has raised $623,800. More interestingly purchasers of space on his site have found it to be well spent marketing money. Postings are guaranteed to run for 5 years and Alex would like to see it stay up forever, without changes. For a few hundred dollars advertisers get space on a page with lots of visitors and unlike banner ads people can come back to the milliondollarhomepage if they want to revisit a link. In some instances companies report thousands of new visitors to their company's webpage linked directly from milliondollarhompage. It remains to be seen how close Alex will come to reaching his goal of $1million. With copycat sites and his original site becoming cluttered,sales will likely slow. Alex however has raised enough money to pay for college and then some. It may be one more internet fad but who knows maybe 20 years from now we'll see his page in an internet museum. Maybe I should buy a block?

Undying Beauty

When I started this blog back in July I posted about the wonder that was the orchid in my office. The orchid bloomed and bloomed all summer, I watered it on occasion and my colleagues all marveled at my green thumb. It stopped blooming sometime in September or October, one of the leaves turned yellow and fell off. I dutifully trimmed off the flowering stem and then I was tired of it.  The roots are kind of brown and the leaves don’t look very good. Yet I couldn’t throw it out not after it had brought be large gorgeous blooms for months.  So instead I stopped watering the orchid and waited for it to die. Only it didn’t die.  No instead it started sprouting a new leaf, which is growing at an alarming rate. Now I’m forced to start the watering again, the waiting, the watching to see if it will flower again. My guess is it will flower again in a few months. And once again I’ll wonder at the beauty of the blossom.  It’s not so different from life really, a person has a few good months, then wilts for a while, then comes back in full bloom all the time never knowing when the one who provides the water that gives you strength is about to discard you. It’s the kind of thing poets would write about – however I couldn’t find any good poems, so you’ll have to settle for this longer than necessary blog entry.

105 and counting

Sometime on the afternoon of November 12th (Ok precisely 3:39) the 880blog quietly reached 100 posts. That post happens to be one of my favorites so I'm glad it was bestowed with the honor. The blog's come a long way since that day back in July when it first appeared. I've learned a lot about blogging since then; both in design and writing. It's still an enjoyable enterprise and a good way to get some practice in creativity and writing skills. So here's to the next 100 posts - may they get better and better.

The Survivor - Bill Clinton in the White House

I love Bill Clinton – and when I had the opportunity to hear him speak at a Madison, WI campaign rally in 1992 I knew he loved me too. In my continuing quest to learn more about the man I just finished John Harris’ fascinating book about Clinton’s White House years. Harris provides a well written account of the workings of the White House – how decisions were made, who was in, who was out, how the aides struggled to keep Clinton away from the pretty ladies. A Washington Post reporter, Harris has done his research and fairly paints a picture of the personal and political strengths and weaknesses of Bill Clinton. As Harris points out in his concluding chapter “Clinton had made it to the end – still standing after everything, his political fortunes and personal dignity intact, if a bit scuffed by the long ride. There had been many seasons during the preceding decade when this result was in doubt.”  The continuous crisis and recovery from crisis makes for an interesting story and in Harris capable hands a very good read.

Things I Miss By Walking to Work

A collection of automobile adventure I saw today in the two miles I drove back and forth to work.

Minivan pulls out of gas station on left side of road across 4 lanes of one-way traffic. Can’t make it to the right most lane to make his right turn at the upcoming intersection so stops in the second lane and waits until a bus finally stops in the right lane to let him across.

A full 18 wheeler backing into a small driveway on a two lane street where cars are parked on both sides. I didn’t think he could do it but he did.

Towtruck double parks on a narrow two lane road right near a busy intersection and the guys get out to look at the car across the street without giving a thought to helping the line of cars building up maneuver safely around the truck. Near miss with an oncoming motorcycle narrowly averted.

At a stop light just before the on-ramp to the freeway on a four lane one-way road car in the left most lane sees the on ramp is real busy so makes a right turn across all the other lanes just before the light turns green.

Car pulls out of office building parking lot at 5:30 at night and drives three blocks before realizing her lights weren’t on (oh that one was me).

How do you like living in Oakland?

Minneapolis, MN

Today Mostly Sunny/Wind hi 22°F - lo 11°F


Tomorrow Mostly Sunny hi 30°F - lo 23°F


Oakland, CA

Today Sunny hi 70°F - lo 48°F


Tomorrow Sunny hi 69°F - lo 49°F

What's In Your Tank?

The Ultimate Driving Machine provides for lots of fun even when I’m not in the driver’s seat. There’s always more stuff to buy, discussions with other UDM owners consisting almost entirely of strings of numbers and letter - 2002, 2002tii, 325ci, 325i, 320i, 525i, 750li, M3, Mcoupe ... And of course you can sign up to be a card carrying member of the Ultimate Driving Machine Car Club of America which  produces the outstanding Roundel Magazine. (Then you can buy fancy cases to hold all your back issues.) Roundel is a great mix of automotive news, car reviews, tech advice columns, and articles about general car stuff. It also reassures you that you own the best automotive machine on the planet thus justifying the $80billion you spent on a car.

This month the first thing I turned to was an excellent article on gasoline explaining in easy to understand terms what it is that you’re pumping into your tank. Because admit it you don’t know the difference between Joe’s Corner 87 Octane and Sir Drives a Lot 93 Octane with Zymotron.  It’s an article worth reading if you can get your hands on it. The upshot is that all gas comes from the same few regional distributors. What differentiates gasolines is the additives mixed in by each retailer when their truck is loaded at the distribution terminal.  These additives are mainly detergents added to reduce deposit buildup on the engine parts that come in contact with the fuel. Some automakers feel that the EPA mandated detergent levels are not enough to protect against fuel related engine problems. So a bunch of fuel retailers got together to create the Top Tier Gasoline Program. The voluntary program requires its members to sell gasoline in all grades that greatly surpasses the EPA mandated level of deposit control. Not an easy task considering all the gas mixes that are out there.   QuickTrip even guarantees its gasoline. If you bring in receipts for gas related repairs and proof of gas purchases at QuickTrip locations they will make good on their guarantee.  So next time you fill up your tank think about what you’re getting for your $45.00 – are you driving your engine dirty, is it worth it to pay $1.00 more for the SuperPremium across the street?

If ever you would leave me

Watching Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy last night I realized this is exactly what the Kat would say to me if she was brave enough to venture out the front door.

Sometimes

My mom's been in town for the past 10 days and with all the shopping, museum going, furniture moving, digital picture organizing and quality dinner eating the blog hasn't gotten much love (neither has the Kat but that might be good for her). Anyway the 880blog is back on track.

The best parts about my mom visiting?



She buys me lots of pretty things

and yummy things

and every day she makes my bed because it's not always about the presents

but sometimes it is!

Bluebird of Happiness

Public transportation is a great way to experience the city, you get a feel for the neighborhoods and the people. Going to and from BART to the deYoung Museum yesterday mom and I took the SF Muni N-Judah line. On the way back to BART the bus (and I use the term loosely) was fairly crowded so we sat towards the back, two seats away from a young girl on a cell phone. She was maybe 15, a little pudgy, long black hair. The conversation centered on meeting up with her friends who boarded the bus a couple of stops later. The three of them sat together giggling, text messaging boys, rolling their own cigarettes. The original girl sang a little, threw in a few seated dance moves; she called out to the hot boys on the street, and laughed and laughed. I don’t know where they were going on a Sunday afternoon and they looked like the kind of kids who are generally trouble. But it was beautiful the happiness this girl radiated, the world is her playground, not afraid to dance on a bus or yell at the boys. I hope she never loses that energy, never has a worry or a frown. It made me just a little envious; I don’t know when I’ve felt that free; yet seeing her made me glad that there could be so much delight in one young person in San Francisco.

Something New

My mom and I ventured over to a rainy San Francisco to visit the newly reopened deYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park. It's a great place to spend a day, the museum has a very open, airy layout with so even though there were loads of people most of the galleries didn't feel crowded. Many windows look out onto the grounds and the lines of people waiting to get in. The art is an interesting and varied collection of pieces from around the world. Now that I have an idea of what the galleries offer I look forward to my next trip for a more in depth look.

Warmth

Coming across this rose on a chilly November afternoon filled me with warmth.

Dogs in the Hood

For the lonely dog or cat who has everything www.dogcatradio.com

Driving Guilt

The Ultimate Driving Machine has been in the shop for a few days having it's wiring worked on so I've been motoring around in a loaner. The loaner is the same model as my UDM just a couple years newer, a beautiful Oxford Green, and an automatic. I've always maintained if one is going to drive a sports car it must be a manual. I've driven manuals all my life and always had some disdain for the automatic. So when I sat in the lovely green loaner I expected it to be somewhat disappointing. But I liked it. Just tap the gas and it goes, acceleration was great, and backing up - so much easier. You can just drive no worrying about clutch and remembering to shift. I have the UDM back and on the whole it's a better car, all the options and the shifting it just is more me. The automatic was sort of like being on vacation, I'll look forwad to the next time.