Newness

Yesterday (Friday), was supposed to be a day for getting work done on my tattoo.  However, it turned out that my artist was getting over being sick, and so he postponed that until today.

So yesterday I go the new iPhone 5S.  Now, I had waited for my contract to end, and then waited for the new version of the phone, so I had been using an iPhone 4 for over two and a half years.  I had already experimented with the new iOS 7, and had been very happy with it.  I was just ready for a faster phone, and the new features really interested me.  Plus the home button onthe 4 was about shot.

I love the speed onthe new phone, very much an improvement after so long, and the fingerprint reader is amazing.

So for those who know, you may be wondering, how do you get to Davis without a car?  Well, you take Amtrak.  Emeryville to Davis is not much more that and hour and a half, and is really a nice ride.  Home is about 10 minutes from the Emeryville station, and Primary Concepts in Davis is only 0.2 miles from the station on that end.

And, sad to say, I'm not done; however, seeing what the artist did today, I'm happy to take another session.  The colors are amazing and intense.  And it makes the black of space that much more 

A Bridge Kind Of Near

Yesterday when I got home, I changed into biking togs, and Jennifer and I biked out to the new span of the Oakland Bay Bridge.

Once we got to the gate we felt pretty good, but there was a growing wind as approached the bridge proper.  At the end of the land trail there is a steep incline that is reminiscent of the climb at Golden Gate Fields.  And then, you're on the bridge, and it is a constant 2% grade.  Even when you get to the suspension section, it doesn't really slope down.  We got to the end of the bike lane which is where the trail would almost intersect the old span.  According to signs and such, we will have to wait for the old span to be removed for the lane to be connected to Yerba Buena Island.  That isn't scheduled to happen until 2015, so we've got some time to wait.

It was a good time to rest and take some pictures.

Then we went downhill home.  That was an awesome payoff and we laughed, yahooed, and chortled the whole way to back to IKEA.

Of course, I forgot to run my tracker app, so I'll have to do it again, but after almost half an hour of riding to the end of the lane on the bridge, we seemed to get back to IKEA in 5 minutes.

I am Disappoint

So Jennifer and I have been bummed from being sick and unable to ride our bikes across the new span of the Bay Bridge.  And tonight after dinner, we had a bit of energy and thought we'd do a little night jaunt to Yerba Buena and back.

Yeah, that didn't happen.

The weekend before Labor Day we had ridden the trail to a set of gates that allowed us to see the toll plaza, but go no further.  Tonight those same gates were closed again.  And taped to them was an 8.5x11 sheet of paper stating that the trail was closed at 6:00.

To this I ask, "Why the hell is the bridge closed to bikes at night?"

There are lights.  More than four of them, even.

I cannot determine why the bridge is so much less safe for bikes after dark, not even dark, but 6:00 PM, that the trail would be closed.

I'll certainly be making some phone calls tomorrow to find out why I can ride on any surface street 24 hours a day, but can't ride on a well lit bike and pedestrian trail after 6:00.

Phonebloks

Earlier today, I was pointed to Phonebloks by two sites that I regularly visit.

Technically, I was referred to this video below:


I think the concept is incredible.  It's like legos and reminds me of my old PC tower.  I was gettign good for a while upgrading my PC.  This could really be a thing.

Failed Health Rolls

Many of my friends who read this may or may not know that my mom has a blog.

And last Thursday, mom was admitted to the hospital due to heart and blood pressure problems.

I just to go visit her today because Jennifer and I were sick last week and didn't really recover until Saturday night/Sunday morning.  I figured one of the last things I should do is go see mom in the hospital while I have a fever and a cough.  Really, the only time you should go to the hospital with a fever and a cough is because you have a fever and a cough.

We weren't that bad, just bad enough we felt we shouldn't subject others to our condition.

I saw her today though since I work about 10 minutes from the hospital, and she looks pretty good and is in good spirits.  Her only complaint (other than the whole heart thing and missing out on volunteering) is that the heart monitor will not allow her to shower, so her hair is a little flat after five days.

She's still not going to get to go home today, but hopefully she will soon.

Magma Illumination

I think one of the coolest gifts I ever got was a lava lamp.  And I didn't get it until I was in college.

Lava lamps were fascinating items when I was a kid.  Watching them in stores was amazing.  The easily surpassed those other kitschy items: the miniature Venus de Milo surrounded my what looked like rain falling.

I'm actually on my second lava lamp now (same color scheme yellow wax in blue liquid in a brass stand) because the original one stopped circulating no matter how I changed the light bulb.

And today I read this article.

Friends of mine have a huge collection of lava lamps and variations on the theme.  They have all different colors, plus glitter lamps that swirl.

It might be a night to turn on the lamp again.  It's been a while.

Elevators of Blood

So yesterday, I watched "Room 237" a documentary about symbolism and trickery in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining".

Most of the documentary was pretty good, but I realized that I had seen part of it on YouTube (the section on the architectural tricks).

Over all, it's an interesting film with guesses on it's hidden meaning.  But of course there's no way of knowing.  Is it a statement on the Jewish Holocaust?  Is it about the massacre of Native Americans throughout US history?

And then suddenly, I was taken out of he movie and angered.  One of the "experts" started going off on how there are hidden messages in the movie that Kubrick is using to tell everyone how he was the person behind the filming of the faked Apollo missions to the moon.

At that point I half tuned out because I was so pissed off.  The rest had some cool ideas like using the mirror imagery to show the film forward and backward projected on the same screen.

So, if you like the movie, I would recommend the documentary, but take some of the ideas with a grain of salt.

Bridging the Bay

Tonight about 10:30, I heard a helicopter hovering outside.

Yes, I know, of course it was hovering outside.  But anyway,

I looked out at the new Bay Bridge, and saw a fleet of police cars with lights flashing heading across the bridge towards Treasure Island.  And they were followed by a swarm of red taillights.  I watched with binoculars as they kept going, and I could only assume that the bridge was open.

Then a few minutes later, another fleet of police cars came the other direction followed by headlights.

It is certainly a sight to see.

On a lighter note, I also discovered that if you have a high enough powered telescope, you can see into my bedroom from the Hills Brothers sign in San Francisco.

Just an FYI.