Tralfaz

Author: geoffand

  • Apple Disappointment – Photos

    Being a long time Apple fan, I have often sung their praises. Products that work, fit in with my natural workflow, and in general delight. That said, a recent experience has tarnished the gleam.

    About 6 years ago, I realized that the built in photo management tool, iPhoto, was completely unsuitable for the task. I had graduated to a decent DSLR, and started shooting in RAW format. iPhoto did read the files, but the size of the files, and the huge quantity of files brought it to its knees. It really was painful.

    I jumped to Aperture, a "Pro" application that had a decent workflow. It was that or the Adobe product, Lightroom.

    Aperture worked well for a long time, but about Mavericks timeframe, it was reworked to add in the photostream, and the quality of the experience was diminished. I had made the decision to bolt to Lightroom, knowing the end was in sight.

    Recently, Apple deprecated iPhoto, replacing it with "photos" that more closely works like the photos application on the iPhone. Meh, but whatever. However, the path was to migrate from iPhoto or Aperture to Photos, a one way migration.

    It went OK for my aperture library, but the wonkiness was helping a friend migrate her iPhoto library.

    She had a well aged (but quite serviceable) MacBook Pro. It was bought in 2009, and works. She had about 38Gigs of photos from her digital camera, in iPhoto. the '09 version that came with the computer.

    A hard disk failure, and the genius bar upgraded her to 10.10.3 when they replaced it. iPhoto is not supported so she must go to Photos.

    But it hung up at 24% in migrating. She brought it to me, and I tried all my magic.

    • Used an external drive and a clean copy of the iphoto library – no dice
    • repaired the library with my wife's computer – still running the same version of iPhoto (the advice from the support forums). No dice.
    • Disk warrior – rebuilt and optimized the directory structure – no dice
    • Repaired permissions – No dice.

    After about 10 hours of fiddling, nothing would get past the 24% hump. I had to admit defeat, and advise her to make a Genius bar appointment.

    Yesterday, I heard that after 4 hours, the genius bar tech was importing a year at a time. Painfully slow.

    From reading the forums on apple.com, it is clear this is not an uncommon problem.

    My suspicions: Apple didn't test enough variants of iPhoto, assuming that people upgraded as it was available (a faulty assumption), that minor glitches in iPhotos databases can fatally halt the migration.

    There really needs to be a built in database check/rebuild that eases the migration.

    In the mean time? I am moving all my photos to Lightroom. At least Adobe just uses flat file system folders for storage, so future migrations will be simple tasks.

  • House Journal – Failed Project

    House Journal – Failed Projects

    Yesterday started innocuously enough, a trip to Lowes to get a few items we needed, and to pick up an under-sink water filter. There was a filter when we moved in, an old GE unit, that was so old, that filters were no longer made, and old enough that I couldn’t find cross referenced replacements. Perfect time to upgrade to a reverse osmosis system.

    A little more challenging to install than a simple cartridge filtration system, a reverse osmosis system will have a solvent stream (drinking water), and a solute stream (the stuff you remove) that will need to be handled (disposed of). This requires a connection to the drain, and therein lies the cause of my failure yesterday.

    As I mentioned, there was a filtration system that was so old, filters were not readily available. It was probably installed when the last owners remodeled their kitchen, 20 years ago. So it is safe to assume that the sink and the plumbing is 20+ years old.

    Step 1 in the installation was to insert the waste drain in the sink drain. Unfortunately, the P-trap holding nut was corroded solid. So, after removing the old filtration system, I was stymied at step one.

    Foiled by a plumbing challenge.

    Many years ago, I would have made multiple trips to Lowes, bought tools, cursed, banged my knuckles, and finally gotten it done. But in my old age (almost 50), I have learned that it is far better to pay the man (a plumber or handyman) and avoid the frustration.

    Things I used to do myself but now just pay for:

    • Plumbing – except for minor things, it is far cheaper (in time and money) to just pay a pro.
    • Electrical work – I will still replace a socket, or a switch, but anything that requires conduit, romex, or cutting a hole in drywall? Pay the man.

    I will still do most appliance repair though.

  • House Journal – New TV

    I have been MIA lately, the move, unpacking, and some insane deadlines at work have meant that I had no time to write, but I will begin to rectify that.

    With the move, the trusty Pioneer Plasma screen was showing its age. When we bought it in 2006, the LCD panels at the time sucked big tool. Side by side, there was no comparison, the plasma kicked their ass all over the playground.

    It was a 42″ unit, and a solid performer, but it was input constrained, and while the picture quality was superb, it was a bit of a power hog.

    With our new house, we knew we wanted something a bit larger (but not too large, as our viewing room was modest) with smart TV capability, and more HDMI inputs.

    I looked long and hard at the 4K screens, but at the size we were interested in, 55″ it just wasn’t compelling. No real content (some netflix, and some DirecTV) and to get something with a good refresh rate, you need to drop about $2K.

    Much browsing at Bestbuy, looking at the Samsung, LG and Sony panels in our range, and they were all good, and apart from the Sony, comparably priced. However, the Bestbuy sales droid pointed me at the Panasonc Bravia 55″. On clearance, and a size exclusive to Bestbuy, the screen was sweet. 240hz refresh rate, excellent colors, and a compelling price, I was sold.

    Hanging it on the wall was a breeze, and our electricians made passthroughs for the cables, so it is almost clutter free.

    Quality of the display is impressive. Bluray movies “pop”. I tossed in The Matrix, and Casino Royale, and the quality is superb.

    I haven’t explored much of the apps yet, but the Netflix app, built in (and a netflix button on the remote to boot) makes it super easy to watch streaming videos. Way better than the old way, firing up the Xbox, and using the app there. That takes about a minute and a half until you can begin watching. Now, about 20 seconds, and you are streaming.

    Our Tivo hooked right up, and covers our DVR/live TV needs.

    HD resolution, on the 55″, at the viewing distances we have is plenty good. I am not regretting the choice of not going to the 4K resolution. This thing is awesome.

    And being a LED backlit display, this unit uses less than 1/4 the juice that the Plasma screen did.

    We did donate the plasma screen, and it has a new home at one of our movers, I am sure it will continue to be a great screen, but we aren’t pining for it.

  • Bravo to my Neighbors at the Hotel

    The joys of travel. Hotel rooms, uncomfortable beds, pillows that are too much or too little support, ice machine runs that you hear, and doors slamming in the halls.

    However, Hotels are often the site of passionate lovemaking. I am used to hearing the hookers in Asian hotels with their clients. But those are strictly business deals. Bang, and they are done/gone.

    Last night though, my neighbors were at it for over 3 hours. Stamina that I wish I ever had. And she was a screamer.

    Starting at about 9:00 PM, the familiar rhythmic bed creaking, followed my grunting, and moaning, culminating in a fevered pitch, and screaming.

    4 more times until 1:00 AM.

    Bravo. Thank you for reminding me why I hate traveling and hotels, even supposedly nice ones.

  • Pizza Primero

    Now I'm hungry
    Now I’m hungry

    One of my specialties is hand made pizza. I first came in contact with making pizza when I got a job at Chuck E. Cheese in the early 1980’s. Apart from the access to wicked cool video games, I got to learn how to build a pie.

    Of course, Chuck E Cheese isn’t known for their pizza, but it was a start. Crust, sauce, cheese, toppings, in a very hot (550 – 600F) oven and 7-8 minutes later you have a bubbling gooey top, yet crisp crust.

    My next exposure was at Florentines. There I was a bit more than just an assembly line like Chuck E Cheese. There, a single person was dedicated to making pizza per shift, and I learned about other toppings than the standard.

    The tools are simple. A peel, pizza pans, a stone an oven that gets hot.

    The Process

    Dough balls ready to rise
    Dough balls ready to rise

    The foundation of a good pie is the crust. There are literally thousands of recipes on the art of making pizza. The one we used at Florentines was good, but it was a bit impractical for home use, as it started with a 50# sack of flour.

    The recipe I use is a very basic one:

    3 Cups All purpose flour
    2 teaspoons fast rise yeast (I use the Fleishmann’s in the small jar)
    2 teaspoons salt (I use kosher salt, but it really isn’t important)
    2 tablespoons olive oil

    In a food processor, with the standard blade, put the dry ingredients in. Start the processor, add the oil (I will admit that I don’t measure it, just a couple of glugs).

    Then slowly pour in 1 cup cold water. You really want to trickle it in, so do be patient.

    If the dough ball doesn’t form, add more water, one tablespoon at a time. If it is too wet, add flour one tablespoon at a time.

    When you are done, you will have a nicely formed dough ball. Remove it from the food processor, and transfer it to a lightly floured surface. Knead it by hand for a couple minutes. Split into two equally sized pieces, and then place in a container and cover with a towel to let it rise.

    After the dough is made, I begin to cook the ingredients. Today, I am making a pepperoni and sausage pie. Since I don’t have a very high BTU oven, that can get to 600F, I precook my sausage to ensure that it is properly cooked.

    pizza-799% of the time, when I need shredded cheese, I use my trusty box grater. Not for pizza though. This is the one time I get out the grater blade for the food processor and let it rip. About 15 seconds for a full package of partially skim mozzarella.

    Sauces – If I am making a margarita pizza, I will make a very simple sauce – canned tomatoes, olive oil, and some sea salt in a food processor. But for all others, I get lazy. Classico Tomato Basil spaghetti sauce is really good. Or I will make a white sauce pizza, again using a premade alfredo to start. Yes, I can (and have) made both, but for the small amount needed for a pie, it isn’t worth the effort.

    The end result.

    Tonight’s pies were the aforementioned pepperoni and sausage, and another staple of mine, a basil cream sauce with mozzarella and fresh tomato slices.

    Delicious.

  • Meals in the new Kitchen – Arroz con Pollo

    Meals in the new Kitchen – Arroz con Pollo

    A series of posts about the meals I cook in our new house. I have posted on some of my culinary exploits in the past, but these will be special.

    For the first time ever, I have new appliances (mainly a quality range) to cook with, and that brings me no small measure of joy.

    The first meal was Arroz con Pollo, a hearty Mexican classic, single pot meal.

    You really need a good heavy dutch oven for this. I have a Le Cruset “second” that I bought at an outlet store probably 25 years ago.

    Browning the chicken
    Browning the chicken

    Arroz con pollo is traditionally made with a cut up whole chicken. You brown it in oil (I use olive oil), remove the chicken to a plate, then cook some veggies in the oil. Onions and bell peppers are essential, but you can get creative.

    After you have sautéed the onions and firm veggies, you add a cup of rice, uncooked, 1.5 cups of chicken broth (the chicken pieces, and cover and cook in a 350F oven for about 90 minutes. The rice will be cooked, and the liquid from the chicken will run clear. Then you add some drained stewed tomatoes, some peas, and any other quick cook veggies. Again, you can get creative.

    Ready to eat! Yum.
    Ready to eat! Yum.

    Back in the oven for 15 more minutes, and Voilá, a delicious meal that is easy to make, and to clean up after.

    Buon Appetité!

  • Prima donna Appliance Installers

    Prima donna Appliance Installers

    We bought a house, and as the appliances were ancient, well used, and put away wet, we decided to replace the kitchen set. There were some difficulties finding a refrigerator that fit the space in the cabinets, but that was minor compared to the Bosch Dishwasher we bought.

    First, it was back ordered. Many deliver dates were promised, and missed. Apparently the installers would pick them up and deliver install at their whim. Finally, we had them deliver it, and then send the installers.

    The week we moved, on Friday, the dishwasher was delivered (it took 5 weeks from order to delivery). The installers were scheduled for the following day. Cool.

    Not cool. The installers said they wouldn’t install it. The hot water valve had some corrosion on it, and they wouldn’t touch it, as “plumbing can go wrong, and we aren’t plumbers”.

    Sigh, so they gave us a phone number to call when the plumbers replaced the valve.

    After they left, I crawled under the sink and looked at the valve. Yes, a little green brass corrosion. But it was minor, and the valve actually looked fine to me. I would have just installed the dishwasher. But what do I know, I just tagged along with my appliance repairman stepfather as a teenager…

    Of course, the plumbers are busy, and it takes almost 2 weeks to get them to come out. The plumber takes one look at the valve and is as equally as perplexed as me. His comment was that the valve was no more than 4 years old, and a really good valve (not a budget Lowes special). The hard water of the area tends to cause the green coloring.

    The installers wanted to not install on this valve. Wimps.
    The installers wanted to not install on this valve.
    Wimps.

    The plumber cleaned the valve off with some CLR and it looked brand new.

    Later the same day the appliance installers return (the same crew), and he wanted to refuse to install the appliance, bitching that the plumber should have changed the valve.

    Fucker.

    Fortunately Barbara insisted that they install it. They then claimed that the washer was broken as the lights on the controls didn’t turn on.

    The quietest dishwasher I have ever seen
    The quietest dishwasher I have ever seen

    Of course, the idiot didn’t realize that being on the top edge of the door, they only come on when you open the door. Douche extraordinaire.

    So, net result:

    • we have a dishwasher – Yay!
    • the subcontractor for Pacific Sales is a whiney bitch primadonna.

    Suck it up cupcake, and do your job.

  • My affair with racing games

    Coming of age at the dawn of the video game revolution, I pumped a lot of quarters into the machines. I loved many of them, but the one that really captured my attention was Pole Position.

    Pole0000Prior to that I had played the “Night Driver” game on the Atari 2600 (I remember playing at a friend’s house) but it was primitive. Pole position, with its steering wheel and the perception of real driving was captivating.

    From there it gets fuzzy, but I remember playing racing games in monochrome on an IBM PC clone, and a variety of driving games on dos based systems throughout the 1990’s.

    In 2006 or so, I splurged on an Xbox 360, and the first game I bought was Project Gotham Racing. An arcade style game, it had impressive graphics, and incredible game play. I probably put 400 or more hours on it. There was a follow-on version, that I also voraciously played.

    Then I lost interest. It was too arcade-y, and got less enthralling. The Xbox was used solely for playing Golf with Barbara.

    Introducing Forza

    Forzamotorsport2coverForza 2 was introduced. It took the realism to a new level. The car models were scary accurate. And instead of exotic and high end sports cars, it had a wide selection of common cars too.

    Add the ability to customize the cars, to improve the performance, and I was again hooked. I spent more hours playing, building my garage. Adding things as mundane as a Mini, and a highly modified Volkswagen Corrado.

    Forza 5, and my new Xbox One, is my new passion. It is a refinement of the game, with even more realism. The career mode leads you through a development path to hone your skills, and to become more proficient.

    A new twist is the “drivatar”. Instead of just using simple AI drivers against you, the avatars are based on real drivers, that are about at your skill level. So they drive off track, and ram you (and each other too), so it is more like racing multiplayer live. It does make the game more fun.

    Of course, Forza 5 is now a year and a half old, and the newer version is available. I will buy that one day, but for now, I am greatly enjoying discovering the Forza 5 career mode.

    Ok, now I need to get back to the game…

  • Toys – XBox One

    Toys – XBox One

    With the move, I made a singular splurge. While I have cut way back on video gaming, I do have a humongous soft spot for racing games.

    Pole0000From the first time I played the Pole Position arcade game back around 1983. I was hooked.

    My favorite game on my XBox 360 was the Forza series, and when the premier launch game for the XBox One was to be Forza 5, I knew I was doomed.

    I held out for over a year, but with the move, and a new TV, and of course the demo of Forza 5 in the local Best Buy, I was hooked.

    So, I cashed in the rewards coupons from Best Buy, and the 10% off any one item coupon (thanks to the change of address form) and Best Buy matching the Amazon price of the Halo Master Chief bundle, and I was out the door with taxes for $212. Not bad.

    Plugged it in, added my XBox Live account information, and I am good to go.

    A few weeks before I bought it, Amazon had one of their flash sales, and Forza 5 was only $20, so I nabbed it.

    Of course, I am starting at 0, and working my way up through my career, but it is enjoyable escapism. I will post later about Forza, but it is impressive.

  • House Journal – the Fence

    House Journal – the Fence

    As we settle into our house, I will be writing about some of the work we have done. I have already commented on the plumbing work that escalated, now I will talk about the fences.

    fence-2One of the first observations we made when we initially looked at the house was that the fences sucked. Actually two of the three sides of our yard were in pretty bad shape (the back fence is actually OK and serviceable.) We knew we needed to have them replaced.

    Of course, there were complications. There always are. Both sides had/have large trees impinging upon the fence. One side, had a smaller tree, but a limb that was hitting the fence, the other has a giant tree (at least 60′ tall) with roots that are lifting the fence.

    The cool thing is that both neighbors are ecstatic to split the costs. The bad thing is that the larger tree is big enough that the city needs to issue a permit to have it removed.

    The west side is done. The slightly impinging tree has been removed, and on March 25th, the fence was replaced. The speed with which they tore it out, and replaced it was mighty impressive. It is solid, well built with new lumber, and I am sure it will be fully serviceable for a long time.

    The East side is still waiting for the permit to remove the tree, but it will be done soon.