I would like to formally nominate the drivers in Phoenix AZ as the stupidest in the world. This AM, on the way into the office, there was an accident (not surprising) just before Chandler Boulevard crosses the 101. You could easily see that 2 lanes of traffic were closed about a mile and a half before this (pro tip: 8 or so police cars with lights flashing should tell you something.) Of course...
Yesterday I had a great experience at the local AT&T store, and I have to share. My wife has been a Verizon customer forever. She chose them way back because they had better coverage where she spent a lot of her time. Being somewhat of a luddite, she has been using a flip phone (a pretty plain, but solid LG flip phone) for about 5 years. As time went on, she began to use it more, and often...
I have long desired to own a Yamaha SR500. A big, single cylinder street bike. Fun to ride. Not a lot of power, but enough. Light, easy to ride, and distinctive. Several times in my life I have run across one for sale, but never had the money to buy one. And, when I had the money, they were scarcer than hen’s teeth. Yamaha took the SR500, and its successor, the SRX600 off the market in the...
Last week, I fancied a bit of nostalgia, and enjoyed playing LPs on a real turntable. The ritual of playing the music harkened back to a much simpler era, and it was quite enjoyable. I can't way that the vinyl sounded better, or even different than CD's (alas, I don't have an apples-to-apples comparison set), but there was something satisfying from digging out a Miles Davis album...
In just about every way, the internet has improved life. From booking airline tickets, to looking up local businesses in the yellow pages, the internet has streamlined the process, and upset business models everywhere. But I found something it didn’t improve. I am moving back to the bay area, and I am contemplating getting back into mountain biking to explore all my old haunts. I had to...
Early in my life, I became a music buff. Sometime in High School (probably by my sophomore year), I pieced together a simple hifi system, saved my paper route money, bought a decent turntable and the best needle I could afford, and started buying records. Lots and lots of records. I could be found at Tower Records in Campbell California at least once a week. When I started driving (at 16) we...
I have an admission to make. I have long been a scofflaw. I have been a Photoshop pirate. I am not proud of this. And indeed am somewhat ashamed. But to be fair, I haven’t used it for professional purposes, and mostly have used it to re-sample images for use on the web. I have not felt too guilty, as I have purchased Photoshop Elements a few times. So Adobe has gotten money from me for my...
I like to post funny memes to my facebook page. Often they are real, and poke fun at some situation that is bizarre. Sometimes they are complete satire. There is one class of meme that when I post, inevitably a handful of friends can’t grasp the humor. They make comments like “Who creates these? Who thinks this is right?” A typical one is this gem. This is sarcasm. I often post...
While walking recently (for exercise), I was thinking about me, how I live my life, and what keeps me going. One phrase comes to mind that is pretty descriptive. I would have to say that I am “Intellectually Curious”. That doesn’t mean that I focus to the nth degree, or that I am casual in my interests. I have always read widely. If something catches my fancy, I will chase it...
My wife is away dealing with some family issues, so I have been home alone for almost 2 weeks (and will probably be home alone for another week and a half.) I don’t mind doing household chores. I lived alone or with roommates long enough to not quibble about dishes or laundry. But, being in a house alone (with two dogs) is a lifestyle change. Fact: Men use less toilet paper than women. So...