Category: blog

  • Hypermiling – Pisses me off

    Today on the drive home, I was behind a Prius who was hypermiling. In case you are unaware, there is a phenomenon in the hybrid car world of people who work to minimize their fuel consumption. The cars’ onboard computer very accurately tracks fuel consumption, and they challenge themselves to keep the MPG as high…

  • A good problem

    Life is a series of challenges, but some are more welcome than others. Today I bicycled into the office, showered and changed into street clothes.  I brought in a pair of jeans, a polo shirt and the usual accoutrements. After showering, and dressing I made a stark observation: My jeans are almost too big to…

  • Fun with Dentistry

    I had a cleaning and “new patient” visit a couple weeks ago.  My first visit since I moved to Chandler from Tucson.  All was good, but they did tell me that my amalgam fillings were beginning to age, and probably should be replaced. I was not surprised by this, as I had some major work…

  • Colour did in The Avengers

    A joy from my childhood was watching reruns of the The Avengers.  Much later in life I bought the DVD’s on a whim, and I will admit to enjoying watching the old episodes. I have two years form the “pre Diana Rigg” Avengers.  Honor Blackman (who was a Bond girl, Pussy Galore) did a fine…

  • Gift shopping tips for men

    As last week was my better half’s birthday, and next week is our anniversary, I thought I would share what I have learned over the years in gift giving for the feminine half of the human race. I am sure this is out there somewhere, but I figure that it can’t hurt to repeat it…

  • Weight loss update, more on my quest to not be a Person of Walmart

    Started the memorial day weekend well, took a couple extra days off, and haven’t wasted them. I had a serious plateau at 220 and 219 #’s.  I was stuck there for almost week and half.  Nothing is more depressing than counting every calorie you consume, and every erg you expend in exercise to not see…

  • My first encounter with a Retina MacBook Pro

    The other night, after quaffing a couple fine Czech style pilsners at Gordon Birsch (highly recommended, I might add), I wandered the 100 or so feet to the Gilbert Apple Store.  I am usually cautious at an apple store, because sometimes reason evades me and I find myself whipping out my plastic to upgrade to…

  • Biggest Change

    Last month, we visited my dad to celebrate his 80th birthday. A great accomplishment, and we had a great time with the whole clan together. (It doesn’t hurt that San Diego is a great place to visit ) One question that was asked of my dad was: “What is the biggest change in your lifetime(so…

  • @$$hole driving

    I often flow with traffic keeping a low key, and cluck-cluck people who do dumb a-hole driving stunts around me. Phoenix (and SE Phoenix) drivers rarely fail to amuse me. But once in a while, I get an itch, and to scratch it, I need to drive like an a-hole. Honestly, it can be fun,…

  • Growing up “Gifted”

    In a prior post, I discussed how a pretty big familial change greatly affected me during a critical period of development. Now I would like to discuss another, somewhat related, topic. In the third grade, I was identified as “gifted”. This means that I scored high on the standardized tests, and consequently, I was “invited”…