Un-Birthday Birthday Post

Yesterday, I turned 42.  And yesterday, I had to explain again to Jennifer what “Base 13” means.
She surprised me in the morning by asking if I wanted breakfast out.  So we took our bikes to the Royal Café in Albany.  They do a great waffle, and served the syrup in a shot glass.
Then she asked where to next.  I suggested a ride to Costco so we could ride and walk off our breakfast.  While we were there, she asked if I still wanted the new external hard drive I had been looking at.  I said yes, and the 3 TB external drive was on sale.  then as we were walking through the sporting goods, we saw that they had hydration backpacks, and they were one third of the price at REI.  So Costco ended up being a big treat as well.
The fun part was getting everything we bought into our new packs and Jennifer’s basket.  But we made it and did our normal trail ride home.
When we got home, she gave me at home present which was a bike jersey.  But not just any bike jersey, specifically this bike jersey.  It fits so well, and I can wear my long-sleeve wicking shirt underneath it too.  My other surprise is to go to Citizen Chain where we got our bikes, and get the special locking axels so I won’t have to use the cable with the U-lock, but just be able to use the lock alone.  We’ll be doing that with a special bike ride on Saturday morning along the Piers of San Francisco.
So at home, I played with the hard drive, which just now finished formatting in FAT32 to get rid of WD’s partitioning, and will be now be reformatting it in XFS for use by the NAS.  Then I’ll move our music and pictures over, and then I’ll be able to attach the old 500GB hard drive to our DVR for additional storage.
Also last night, Jennifer and I did a ride to OSH for some flowers for outside.  We got four petunias and put them in Jennifer’s basket.  I thought they looked so cool, I took a picture.

She did so much for me, and on our limited budget.  She’s really been putting aside to make this a special celebration.

Thank You

So in about a week, I’ll have been unemployed for 6 months.  It’s the longest I’ve been without a job since I graduated from Sac State.  And while I was reading this afternoon, I just had this feeling for what  I needed to do.

I wanted to thank John for his patience with me during our email sessions and games.  Sometimes I’ve been slow to respond, and he’s been very understanding.  And he’s been a good lunch buddy.

Thanks to my parents for their continued support.  It’s always good to have them there for networking, suggestions, and support.

Thanks to all of my other friends who have looked for jobs for me, and given me people to talk to.

But most of all, I’m thankful to Jennifer who has supported me with her love and kindness.  There is no way that I could have made it through this with any semblance of sanity without her.

Two Bicycles Built for One

Today Jennifer and I were adventurous.

Yesterday, she wanted to go for a ride, but events conspired against us, and we weren’t able to get away from home until after dark.  Not a big deal, and it forced us to dress up for dinner.

We went to Miyozen at the corner of 40th and San Pablo.  It had received pretty good reviews on Yelp, but we got lucky.  You see they have a conveyor sushi bar.  And they have a happy hour where every plate is $2.  We had so much fun pulling things off the belt, and trying them.  And with the little bits (2 or 3 pieces per plate) we filled up on the cheap.

So today after her midday commitment, we were all set for a bike ride.  First we hit the library to return a book, then to Trader Joe’s in Emeryville for her to make a request and return some bad bread.  And then on to the ride, and the target was Lake Merritt.

So we took the flyover by IKEA, went between Home Depot and Michael’s, and entered the dark depths of Oakland.  So take Hollis, bend onto 32nd, then Adeline to Grand Avenue, and you’re at the lake.

Jennifer commented that at least she had worn the right hat, and my first thought (as her bike helmet is red) was “Why, are we in Bloods territory?” But then I saw the Raiders baseball cap under her helmet.

Lake Merritt was very pretty with the sun and clouds, and only slightly marred by the herds of Canada geese.  Not flocks, they were walking. And then to reward ourselves for what would end up being 13 miles round-trip, we had lunch at True Burger.

Just Because

Stereo

Today I dropped off my car to have the stereo installed.  The store had required additional approval due to wire damage from the theft.

After installation I got a call telling me about the dashboard light issue.  things had gotten shorted out from the loose wires, and when I would turn on the headlights, the dash would go dark.

So, he called for an additional authorization, and luckily the body shop had made the note when I told them about it, so now we’re just waiting on the part.

And I get to drive with a car that has music again.

Myth Confirmed

Back during my time in Sacramento, I had gotten to the point of biking from 10 to 15 miles a day.  And back then I had a portable cassette player.  At this point is was probably an Aiwa.  And the best music In had found for a good constant pace was the soundtrack called “Songs from the Cool World”.  It became the soundtrack of my rides.  Now when I hear music from that album I immediately go to my time on the American River trail.

The only time I regretted having my music on was once when two cyclists coming toward me shouted something, that I couldn’t understand because of the music and headphones.  then I came around a curve and there across the pavement was a snake.

That’s when your brain goes into overdrive.  I quickly assessed which end was the head and which the tail (I saw a small rattle), and steered myself to pass behind it.  As I went passed it, the snake turned and actually struck at me.  I see it all in slow motion as my foot comes down on the stroke and the head is coming towards it.  I see the fangs, and I pump that much harder to get by unscathed.  And I did, but I had quite the clip going at that point.

Looking back I still can’t really understand the people coming at me, but while I thought they might have been shouting, “Pig!” (where was my mind?) they were surely shouting, “Snake!”

I was pretty shook up the rest of the day.  I had to work that day as a teller at Wells Fargo, and told everyone at the branch my story.  One guy said from the size and length (maybe 4 feet long), and the way it acted, it was probably a young rattler.

So for some reason this was all with me today as I went for a ride today.  No snakes today, and all dogs and children encountered were well behaved and under control.  But today I was testing something.

A few months ago I came across this on the internet:

So today, my music of choice was the soundtrack to “Tron: Legacy” by Daft Punk.

Now, unfortunately the whole soundtrack isn’t fast paced, but when the right stuff comes on, the above graphic is definitely true.

Various Repairs and Maintenance

So a few things have gotten accomplished this week.

Wednesday, the guy from the fireplace company came out and installed the replacement receiver/controller for the gas fireplace.  He got it installed (nice fire and heat; truly a source of infrared radiation), and then I asked him about getting the heat upstairs.  He said that was an optional attachment.  I said that it was the installation of that blower that had caused the problem in the first place.  In talking on speakerphone with the property manager, we found that there is supposed to be a switch somewhere that turns on the fan to pump the air upstairs.  I told him I know where all of the switches are and what they do.  So we'll see what the future holds with that.

Today, I went for an eye exam.  I found out that my eyes haven't changed since the last time I had them checked.  it sure is nice to have some contacts again.  Plus maybe I can get some new glasses.  I'm very careful with the ones I have, but I think these are closing in on 8 years old, so even with great care, there are scratches showing up.

Now my appointment was at 5:30 in Richmond.  Today was also the day for my replacement stereo for my car to arrive via UPS.  Usually they come between 5:00 and 6:00, but on Friday's with traffic and other circumstances they're usually after 6:00.  I got out of the eye appointment right at 6:00, and checked the iPhone app, and saw there hadn't been a delivery attempt yet, so I kept saying all the way home that I wanted him to arrive at 6:30.  Even allowing for the traffic (I used the wonderful frontage road along the Emeryville Mudflats) I got home in 15 minutes.  Then I raced upstairs hoping he wouldn't arrive while I was en route.  And right at 6:30 the doorbell rang.

So tomorrow, I'll go by SoundSource in Oakland, and see if they can do the work, or if they'll have to talk to the insurance company about full compensation.  And if they have to talk to the insurance company, I'll have to wait for them to do the work on Monday.

So, yeah…

I’ve had a few thoughts that have seem inspired lately, but when I’ve sat down to write about them, they’ve seemed kind of blah.

I’ve done some biking.  Monday, Jennifer had a meeting with a client, so I went on a bike ride.  I did the ride all the way to Richmond that we had done together.  This time I did it alone with my iPod.  It was fun, and I did it all in about an hour and a half. 

Then Tuesday we biked to Café Gratitude in Berkeley, and I had an amazing vegan chocolate mousse.

Wednesday, I made a quick trip tot eh bank and on the way back became preoccupied with the concept of how the spokes in my bike wheel worked.  The subtle ballet of tension and compression.  I was determined when I got back to count the spokes and try to work out some sort of calculation on how much force was on each spoke.  Then I got home and really didn’t care anymore.

It’s just been that kind of week, I guess.

Today, I am grateful for not being in Kentucky.  Tornadoes suck.

Sword Fighting

I saw this video, and it’s really quite the pastiche of Hollywood sword fights.  The only notable ones I didn’t see were the old black and white Zorro movies.

And then there’s the whole meta-ness of it by having the sword fight from “The Princess Bride” which is a tribute in and of itself to the old Ho

Technorati Tags:

Hollywood sword fights.

First!

And the first new thing to come in on the feed reader? This hilarious video:

Feed Me

A few weeks ago, I was talking with a friend about the things we read on the internet, and we got on the comics we read online. Once again someone with not a lot of comics in common. At least not anymore.

She asked me how I kept track of which ones to read on which day. This is because other than those that are also published in newspapers, few webcomics are published every day.

I said that all of my links to them have a not in the shortcut, so I know which ones to go to each day. Tags like: M-F, MWF, M-Th, WSa, TThSu. She asked why I didn’t use an RSS reader. I said I just had never tried it.

Last night, I thought I would experiment with the RSS feeds of the comics and other sites I go to regularly (see the respective boxes in my sidebars). I’ve just finished all the organizing, and I’ll see how things work out this week.

Now, I’m using the Google RSS reader. It was already populated with blogs that I “Follow”, but there were so many more pages out there that I visit. And the advantage will be that I can access that list from any computer that I can get to with my Google account.

The downside is that there are still about 1/8 of the comics and a handful of blogs that I read do not have an RSS feed. So those I’ll have to check on manually. But at least I won’t be dealing with the frustration of sites that update late or irregularly. Now I won’t miss them.

Frak

Yesterday I went out to the car while Jennifer and I were on a bike ride, and I discovered that one of the windows had been broken, and my stereo had been stolen. This morning I also realized that my sunglasses had been taken, but that’s not too big of a deal.

It looks like this is all going to eat up the deductible for the car as there is the window to repair, the stereo, and some pry marks on the door and dashboard from the theft.

The glass repair people are on their way today, and should do the work around lunchtime. This will be followed by a claims adjuster visit on Tuesday for the physical damage, and then stereo replacement following that.

I quote Bill Murray from “Stripes”: And then, depression set in.

Missed One

The whole time I was writing the previous post, I knew I was going to miss one I wanted to put up.

The reason I missed this one is that I can’t find an MP3 of the song. Now, it was done as a promotion for a Star Wars music video contest, or some such thing, so it’s got a pretty high production value, but the song itself is what I writing about.

Now, I’ve looked hard for the MP3. They had a blog for a little bit that had a link to the song. I missed out on it and the song is now gone.

Fun Music

So there are a few fun bands that have championed the term Nerdcore.

These are bands that sing or play songs that are based on nerdy things like science fiction, video games, and such.

Weird Al touches on this a bit with some of his songs. “The Saga Begins” is one of his best, and tells that tale of “The Phantom Menace” to the tune of “American Pie”.

Jonathan Coulton is kind of another one, but he’s become popular because he actually wrote the final songs to the games “Portal” and “Portal 2”. He even challenged himself a few years ago with what he called Thing-A-Week where he wrote a song every week for a year.

Then there’s a scattering of others. Richard Cheese wrote “Star Wars Cantina” to the tune of “Copacabana”. And every now and then you come across songs on an album that are hidden references to a band’s favorite thing. Apparently Iron Maiden loves the original Dune series by Frank Herbert, and lots of their songs have reference to the series. Even Fatboy Slim likes Dune; just listen to “Weapon of Choice”. And watch it for Christopher Walken.

Then there’s full-on Nerdcore.

The band Powerglove does (mostly) all instrumental rock versions of video game and cartoon theme songs. I got to see them in concert a year or two ago, and their musicality is pretty amazing. especially their drummer. And the whole time they were dressed up as World of Warcraft style armor. The drummer even had campaign flags on his back.

And the latest I’ve come across is Kirby Krackle. I don’t even remember how I came across them last week. I enjoyed the music you could stream from their website, liked them on Facebook, and then I came across the song “Ring Capacity”. It struck home with me. And apparently it’s struck home with a lot of other people because there is a campaign to have it be on the soundtrack to the new Green Lantern movie. And then today, they posted an official video for the song. One that I heard about through DC Comics itself, so they seem to be getting some approval.

This Looks Familiar

I was doing some job hunting today, and on Craigslist, I came across this ad for a Project Engineer/Geologist.

It sure looks a lot like the add that I answered 5 years ago. Except for the last bullet before successful candidates.

Essentially it makes it look like I became too expensive for their tastes, and so they downgraded the job that I was doing.

Today did at least provide some opportunities. I sent out 5 resumes today.

Now, we’ll see how long it takes these people to respond.

Testing, 1,2,3…

This is a test of using Windows Live Writer.

It’s nice an visual to see how things will look in the column of the webpage as I write.

And now a test of a picture:

I still giggle when I look at this.

Okay, posting now.

Nothing

Yeah, I got it.

No call backs.

No motivation to do much of anything.

Bleah.

Ups and Downs

Tonight, Jennifer asked for a cocktail, so I made her her latest favorite: a trader Joe's cherry cider with half a lime and a shot of vodka.

She asked me what I thought I'd have, and I decided to have the drink I had devised in my head the last time I was at St. George Spirits on Alameda.

I made a large mug of homemade hot chocolate. Then I added a shot of St. George's Firelit coffee liqueur. And it tasted wonderful.

The downside to this is that it contains quite a bit of caffeine. And I've cut down my caffeine intake in the past few months. Like down to cups of tea and a Throwback Pepsi once a week.

So when it turned out to be 11:00 and Jennifer was falling asleep watching television with me, and she asked why I was so awake, I remembered the caffeine content of the Firelit. Then I started to giggle, and Jennifer said it was definitely the caffeine.

So she's in bed, and I'm sitting up at the computer. It's a good thing I've got nowhere to be tomorrow.

And addressing that, I've written to the person I interviewed with a few weeks ago, and haven't heard back from him, so I've got no idea if I'm still being considered for the job or not.

Alpha-Bits, the Breakfast of Me

For some background, refer to my earlier post. (No pun intended.)

Yesterday, Jennifer and I were at the new Target in Emeryville. It's one that has regular Target type stuff, but also has food. We were combining a run for sundries, and food, and happened to be walking by the cereal section.

I ducked my head in the aisle to look, and all I saw was Kellogg's cereals along half of the aisle. the rest of the aisle was breakfast bars.

I was pretty bummed. But then, Jennifer said, "What about the other side?"

I turned around, and the whole other side of the aisle had cereal boxes, and there were the Big G and Post cereals.

And there, towards the far end of the aisle was a double row of Alpha-Bits.

I just stood there staring at it, and Jenifer asked me how many I needed. I said I needed all ten boxes so that I would have then when Post stopped making them again.

But I settled for two, and had a bowl for breakfast this morning.

Shorts

I was reminded of some of the short animation festivals this morning, and so i went lookign for some of my favorites.

The first is one that if we had had the internet when I was an undergraduate, another trumpet player and I would have had this memorized.

Another favorite of ours was this one.

This one was my first introduciont to Joe Satriani's music.

Then Dad had this one on a Laser Disc.

There are a few others that I wish I could find. One was called "A Story", and was about a fairy tale that goes wrong. The villain was Randy, the Killer Clown, and his Goon Squad. Another that I don't remember the title of was a sketchy black and white that took place in a child's nursery. The toddler's pet giraffe comes to life as a monster and tries to attack him. It was so well done, and quite scary.

Inclination

So I'm working my way through The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. The story arc is called "Kingkiller Chronicles".

On page 56 of the latest book, I think I have come up with who the king is that Kingkiller will eventually kill.

Observation

When I read my webcomics in the morning, I tend to open several tabs at once. Not all of the comics tabs at once, but one page worth of shortcuts for that day.

Lately when I open the syndicated ones from The Washington Post, I've noticed something strange. When I get to that tab to read them, there is nothing on the page, but it does suddenly start loading.

It's like the page is in a state of existing and not existing until the moment that I look at the tab, and it suddenly comes into being.

A little Heisenberg-esque to say the least.

Zork Addendum

Today over dinner with Jennifer I had a mild geek revelation.

So I had posted earlier a video about the grues from "Zork".

"Zork" was a text adventure from the masters of the genre at Infocom. I never played it, instead playing "Apple Adventure" which was apparently similar. The difference was that in "Apple Adventure" when your torch or lamp went out you were likely to fall down a hole. In "Zork" if you entered darkness, or your light source went out, you were likely to be eaten by a grue.

Now, this was a text adventure. No one knows what a grue looks like. First, they were never shown, it's a text adventure after all. Then of course they they only came out in the dark, and were seemingly terrified of the light.

So I'm thinking all of this while I'm describing the game and grues to Jennifer over dinner, and it hit me.

The movie "Pitch Black" takes place on a planet populated entirely by varying species of grues.

Zork Bitches

Amazing Pendulums

Nanny Ogg Cooking

Nanny Ogg is a character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. She's a witch. She's also someone who sees everything as a double entendre. In Maskerade, she makes a cake that is an incredible aphrodisiac.

Soon after writing it, Pratchett wrote a Nanny Ogg's Cookbook with ways to make things from Discworld. Usually toned down for our simplers tastes. One of them is a recipe for this cake.

Ever since buying the book, I've been wanting to make the cake, but the original recipe is in metric units. It also has some out of the ordinary ingredients.

Finally, I took the time for measurements and conversions and translations, so what you have below is a best approximation for Imperial units with American ingredients.

So here follows:

Nanny Ogg's Chocolate Delight

with

Special Secret Sauce

For the Delight:

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

2/3 tsp salt

5/6 (1/2 + 1/3) cup corn starch

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup superfine sugar

1 cup + 3 tbsp unsalted butter

3 eggs (beaten)

3/8 cup milk

1 cup white chocolate chips

5 tbsp dark chocolate syrup

For the sauce:

5/8 cup cream

7 pods cardamom

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4+ cup (heaping) milk chocolate chips

1/4 cup white rum

Preheat the oven to 375F. Mix all the dry ingredients for the delight in a bowl, and then rub in the butter. Add the eggs and milk and beat thoroughly. Swirl in the white chocolate chips and syrup, making sure not to overmix (the syrup should give a ripple effect). Divide between two 8-inch, deep, well-greased cake tins and bake in the top part fo the oven for 30 minutes. [Reduce cooking time for 9-inch pans] or until skewer comes out clean when testing.

Note: This is a cross between a pudding and a cake and should be moist. When baked, allow to cool for five minutes and if not for immediate consumption transfer to airtight container.

Start preparing the sauce about 10 minutes before the delight is ready. Warm the cream with the spices, taking care not to boil. Break up the chocolate and stir into the cream. When it has melted, add the rum. Keep stirring for a couple more minutes, then remove the cardamom pods. Serve with the delight fresh from the oven.

An additional note from me: We found that it might be better for the sliced delight to be served in a bowl to better contain the sauce, although we mopped it up pretty well. It was truly amazing.

Status Quo

Not a lot of things happening right now.

Had a good interview on Friday, but otherwise things have been pretty quiet.

The weather has been wonderful, so Jennifer and I have been lots of cycling.

I'll update as news come in.

Bikin' Thru Da Hood

Today Jennifer and I did a quick jaunt south along the SF Bay Trail.

South means we went on Shellmound to Mandela Parkway, then turned on 8th (big time in the Hood), and then Wood to 7th.

I think on of the busiest intersections in teh Bay Area is Martime and 7th. For one light cycle (no, not that kind of light cycle) there had to have been 40 trucks that went through. Then we continued on 7th into the Port of Oakland. It's really quite the experience.

We were pretty close to a lot of the big container loading cranes, but no one was working near where we were.

There's a little Park called the Middle Harbor Shoreline Park there, and it has a great lookout tower (with facilities), and then a further point where we watched some tugboats and some water birds.

We felt like we were as far west as Yerba Buena and Treasure Island, but I think that was just an illusion.

All told, about 13 miles, so a nice burst of exercise.

Misread

Today I was reading my Facebook news feed, and I came across a post for Mythbusters.

Tomorrow's episode features the build-team (Tory, Kari, and Grant) are testing a myth of Dynamite Axe.

If you read that too fast in your head, and happen to be a big Legion of Super-Heroes fan, do you know what you get?

Daxamite.

Wrongness

I came across a Tumblr stream from Comics Alliance today as I got back into the swing of the net.

This picture is just wrong.

Internet, I Haz It!

Well, after close to 8 weeks without Internet, we are now up and running.

After Comcast told us their unwillingness to work with us, the sales guy I was working with referred me to a guy working with ClearWire. ClearWire is a 4G wireless Internet network. They started in southern California, and have been spreading north.

The representative I spoke to is in San Jose, and is right near a tower getting great speeds. He said the average speeds are 10 Mbps, and once I have this announcement out, I'll be checking some speeds.

Plus, it's a WiFi enabled modem, so I've got the printer and the externals to setup on the new network. And then I can get the SlingBox from Dish network going, and the Blu-Ray on the network, and we can get back to streaming our shows too.

If you are needing better Internet coverage, and want to save some money too, send me an e-mail, and I'll hook you up with the ClearWire representative's number.

I want this thing to grow.

Amazing

Here is an amazing video of the growth and change of a sunspot cluster. It's taken over the course of two weeks which is one half of a full rotation of the sun. And it's all from convection in the solar material, and the moving and shifting of the sun's magnetic field.



I got the link from good ol' Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy.

Internet Soon

So I found out yesterday that Comcast claims it will take $50,000 worth of work to bring a cable to our building. Because of that cost, they want our landlord to split the cost with them. Understandably, he has refused.

So I got a referral to another company that supplies Internet access over a 4G network. All it needs is a modem; no cable or phone line is required. The modem should arrive Thursday or Friday.

If it works out as well as advertised, then I will pass on the good news and contact information.

Exercise

Today Jennifer and I took another long bike ride along the San Francisco Bay Trail.

yesterday we were at the Costco in Richmond and noticed the bike trail that we though had ended in El Cerrito, was continuing on. So on our drive back, we watched where it went, and then decided we would ride as far as Costco today.

We ended up going a little farther.

We ended up going as far as the Boiler House restaurant. Sticking to the trail\, we ended up going about 27.5 miles, round trip.

We were glad for the elevator when we got home, that's for sure.

Saying Good-Bye

Last night I finished I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett. It is his latest book in the Discworld and I get the feeling he is working to say goodbye to his characters as well as his readers.

Diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2010, Pratchett has curtailed a lot of his traveling and interviews. He has donated lots of money to Alzheimer's research as well the protection of orangutans (as one of his recurring characters is a man who was transformed into one).

In this fourth book in the Tiffany Aching arc, Tiffany travels to the city of Ankh-Morpork for part of the book, and meets a few other recurring characters from the Discworld. And one other character she meets has only appeared once before, and it's one that I as well as many other readers have always wondered about. What happened to her?

Now we know.

And with other things mentioned, I feel Pratchett is doing his best to wrap up loose ends, move bits of continuity along, and prepare to close the door on his universe. And I for one hope that he gets the opportunity to finish his work.

There are many authors out there who have died and left their works unfinished or open to interpretation.

The first posthumous speculation I ever read was Fuzzy Bones by William Tuning which continued the story about Fuzzies introduced by H. Beam Piper. Then I found the true lost sequel written by Piper that was found after his suicide.

I've read the Dune sequels and prequels and will read the "inter-quels" as they come out. Written based on notes and manuscripts by Frank Herbert, these books are written by Herbert's son Brian and Kevin J. Anderson. Now while I enjoy the books and knowing the rest of the story (as Paul Harvey used to say), they don't have the same gripping story as Frank Herbert would have written them.

Another person carrying on from a passed writer based on notes left behind is Brandon Sanderson working to complete Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I've enjoyed Sanderson's stories, mostly because he is closing the story and moving the plot along. Jordan had found a cash cow and said a few years before he dies that he intended to write until he died and for someone else to complete his story for him.

Then there is the sixth book in Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers' series ... And Another Thing by Eion Colfer. I read this one, and it was severely lacking in the Adams' touch.

And finally there are the Amber prequels written by John Gregory Betancourt. I can't even bring myself to read them. The Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazny are some of my favorite stories, and I don't want anyone's speculations to mess with the memories I have of them.

So I thank Pratchett for his wonderful world, and wish him continued strength in his life, but hope that he has time to finish his works.

Job Hunt

Yesterday, I wrote to one of the companies I had interviewed with. The one that I had gone back to for a writing test/example. They had said they should get back to me by the end of the week. In response, I was told that I was overqualified for the staff position (I knew that), but was told that the hiring decision for the senior project position was on hold for another 2 to 3 weeks.

Joy.

No news otherwise. I've applied for 3 jobs today. One I had applied to in January, and again in February. I can tell by the company's job number. Maybe if I keep applying to them they'll at least give a "no". In going on 10 weeks of applying for work, I have received to rejections after applying. The only rejections have been after the interviews. And one from a headhunter.

Apparently, companies are being so cowardly that they don't want to hurt peoples' feelings so they are just not responding negatively to applicants, feeling that no response is "kinder" than a rejection.

Once again I wish had saved all of the rejection postcards and letters I collected in '94 and '95 and then again in '98. At least then I knew for sure that people were at least reading the resumes. Or possibly just seeing that they existed. I feel like a sub-atomic particle. I don't exist unless some HR person acknowledges me.

An Explanation

So yesterday's post title needs explanation.

Normally I only breathe through one nostril. It's strange but true. I've been given suggestions to overcome it, but the tricks don't work. However when I'm working out or exerting myself like on a bike, the other one opens up. The first time I noticed it, I was pretty amazed. It's probably one of the things that keeps me going back to the gym.

My Life is One Nostril at a Time

Well, here it is 4:30 and I still don't know about my future Internet connection. Jennifer and I took a long bike ride today, and I hoped that at some time I would get a call from Comcast. I called them today when we got home at 4:00, and the guy said that he had to talk to somebody. I just sat in silence, and he said,, "I can talk to him now if you'd like." I said yes, and he said he'd get back to me. I guess I'm the bad guy for wanting this guy to actually do his job. But as for the bike ride, Jennifer and I had a great time. We went to Subway on our way out and got sandwiches for lunch. We rode to the Berkeley Aquatic Park, and took the Pedestrian Overpass at University Avenue. Then we rode along the San Francisco Bay Trail all the way to the Albany Waterfront, and enjoyed our sandwiches. Then we rode back past University Avenue, and went down to the Powell Street peninsula, and looped around it, and then stopped at Chevy's for chips and salsa, margaritas, and spicy wings. Then we rode back along the trail to the pedestrian overpass, and rode home. All told (if I'm getting the Google maps bike route correct with adjusted waypoints) we did about 21 miles. Also still no word from either Ninyo & Moore or Stellar Environmental. I'll give them calls on Monday if I don't receive letters in the mail on Saturday.

The Waiting Game

Today I ran some errands, and brought mom my library copy of One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde. While I was there, I borrowed her Internet connection and got out five applications to new companies. Meanwhile, I'm waiting on feedback from the two companies that I interviewed with recently. Both have said they'll get back to me by the end of the week. So I'm hopeful. Also by the end of the week, I should have some news on the Internet connection through Comcast by the end of the week as well.

Interviewing and Letting Off Steam

This week I had two interviews. One was for an environmental company in downtown Oakland. They have work over most of the state, and I go back on Monday to take a writing test. I'll have an hour to condense some facts into a few paragraphs. Then Friday I had an interview and lunch with the principal of an environmental company in Berkeley. they're a very small company with only 3 full time employees. It would be doing all tasks from marketing to office work to field work. Then Saturday Jennifer and I joined the Sorrells for the San Francisco Body Art Expo at the Cow Palace. Jennifer got another tattoo, making her original butterfly into the equivalent of a shoulder angel, but on her front, by adding a "devil" butterfly. She's doing very well, but the fun part was closing down the Expo. Lisa got another big tattoo on her leg. Last year she got the face of Marilyn Monroe, and her artist finished it up 10 minutes before they began turning the lights off. Last night, we were the last booth running while hers was finished up. But it will look wonderful when she'd all healed up.

Unpacked

Yesterday, Jennifer and I opened and unpacked our last moving box. The last room was the office, and we started the day with seven boxes to go.

Mostly it was Jennifer's stuff, but I had random items in her boxes as well. But we got all of them opened and unpacked. I've got several pieces to unwrap and place in the shelves, and our two cabinets need to be hung on the wall, but the boxes are done.

Then we did some picture placement. The fun part is that the ceilings are 9-feet tall instead of the normal 8-feet, and so we can put pictures on top of the bookcases and lean them against the wall instead of nailing them up.

This morning, we hung a few small pictures, and we figure in a couple days we'll start moving the big pictures around the house and decide where we want to hang the rest of them. It's really looking nice, and we feel so relieved to have that stage done.

Summarizing

Lots has happened since my lat post.

Last Saturday, Jennifer and I had to give Pom up to someone else so that she could have a better life. She was acting out from anger, and was pretty miserable being stuck inside. We are hoping that she will be happy in her new home. We are still pretty sad, but it is getting better.

Yesterday I got word from both Bank of the West and the recruiter from Haley & Aldrich. Both companies ended up going with someone else for the positions. However, this morning, I got an interview for next week for Ninyo & Moore in Oakland.

Comcast is still dragging their feet, but are working with the property manager for their survey. Eleven out of 14 of the units want Comcast in some form or another, so we're hopeful for a speedy resolution.

Unpacking progresses, and we're down to the office, and then getting things on shelves to decorate them. And of course hanging pictures.

Disconnected

And I'm still without internet at the new place.

I called Monday, and found out that the whole "surveying the location for the Comcast database and pulling the cable to the electrical room' had been setup on the commercial side instead of the residential side. And for some stupid reason is in as San Francisco.

So after talking to this guy, it's supposed to be on its way to be being straightened out.

Right?

Well, I called him today as a follow-up, and had to leave a message. I then decided I would call through the regular Comcast line, and see what I could find out.

Still nothing. So i worked with them on their side for finding out what to do, and I am supposed to get a call within the next 24 to 48 hours to learn the results of their survey to determine if they service this part of the street yet. I've told them that the electrical room is ready, and just needs the cable pulled. I've seen the empty conduit. But they still have to come out and do this.

The thing I like is that they keep stressing that there will be no cost to me for them doing this.

Really? Well, I'm glad as I don't even have an account with them yet because I can't get anything setup since they still have the building in as one unit instead of the 14 separate units it had been divided into.

So by noon on Friday i should have received a call telling me what they can do for me. Believe me, I'll have my finger on the dial button if I don't hear from them by 12:15.

One good thing is that over the phone, they can't do better for the first 6 months than $40 per month, while online (if I could get past the point where it checks for your address being in the database) I can get the same rate (15 Mbps downstream) for $30 per month. They've put all that in their database now, so I'll be able to dicker with them when they finally decide how they can help me.

Half the fun of this is getting three or more sides of one company to at least claim they are working to help you. I would love it if there were three different groups coming out to pull the cable. It might get done sooner.

Moved

Last weekend, Jennifer and I began out move from Pacheco to Emeryville.

We had begun the process the week before I was laid off, and Jennifer put in our 30-day notice just a couple hours before I was laid off.

We had money set aside for moving expenses, so that was good. We hired movers, and halfway through the day, Jennifer fired them because they were just dragging. Jennifer's phrase of the day was "slower than molasses in winter."

For those that remember from ten years ago, we had water leakage in the place in Pacheco. It got fixed and then a second leak occurs. We had thought that was all fixed. We had three bookshelves on the wall, and when they were moved we discovered that there had been more leakage. Fortunately the bookcases are only stained on their backs, so that's good.

My favorite phrase is: we are well shut of that place.

Now we get to learn all about our new neighborhood, and sign up with the Oakland Public Library.

Snow on the Mountain

Here is a picture of Mt. Diablo Sunday morning after all of the rain and the big temperature drop. This is really cropped because I took it at the intersection in front of Target on Contra Costa Boulevard.

Cartoons - Revisited

All right, after some prompting from Aaron, I discovered that I hadn't really watched a one hour slugfest with Superman and Captain Marvel against Black Adam. I really wasn't paying attention. there were three other featurettes with it.

I have to revise my opinion of the Superman short. For it's length, it was pretty good.

The second short was on the Spectre. It was pretty typical of all Spectre stories.

The next was about Green Arrow with a cameo by Black Canary. It was fun and quick. It had lots of background references to the rest of the DC Universe.

The last was Jonah Hex. Hex has never been a character I've interested in. He's a lot like a Clint Eastwood character, with an even darker twist. For a mini-western it was pretty good.

Cartoons

Tonight I watched three DC Comics animated features.

The first was "Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam." This was okay. It mixed the origin of Captain Marvel with Black Adam chasing after him. Toss in a little Superman versus Black Adam and you have an hour long cartoon that could have been half an hour. There were fun lines, but it lacked a lot. Not much story, and not great voice actors. I mean really, James Garner as the voice of the Wizard Shazam? Ridiculous.

The second was "Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman." This one was fun. Using the classic artwork and voice actors from the old WB animated series. It moved fast with lots of action, and kept me guessing through most of it.

The third was Batman: Under the Red Hood." The final one had lots of good stuff in it. One of the best parts was Neil Patrick Harris as the voice of Nightwing. I do miss Mark Hamill as the voice of the Joker though. He lent a little credibility to the Joker's mania. This one seems a little forced. Otherwise, it brought a good tale to the screen.

Irony Does Not Mean "Full of Iron"

My friend John has some of the best posts. Both at his blog and on Facebook.

Today, he posted a link to this article.

This was why I read The Year of Living Biblically, and why Jacobs took on his experiment.

I'll also bet this guy eats bacon and shaves.

Evidence

According to Private/Corporal /Sergeant/Captain Carrot, evidence means "that which is seen".

A while ago Jennifer and I took in all of our photographs to be scanned. It turned out to be quite a bit.

This means I have pictures of the many different hairstyles of my mother. The many hair lengths of me. The many friends from around the country. The many family members through the years.

Now of course they didn't end up very organized, but that's going to be one of my projects in the coming days in between filling out online applications and such.

Right now, the task is importing them and then sorting through.

It'll keep me busy.

Continued Improvement

I received an email this morning that at least gave me some uplifting thoughts.

I was from a company in Berkeley that said they had been in a rush to hire for a position, and I had missed their hiring by just a couple days. It did say that I seemed to have a solid resume, and was I interested in contract work.

We'll see where this goes, but it is my first feedback on a resume that I have submitted.

A Good Day, and a Good weekend

Today Jennifer and I ran errands. Nothing really important, but we had a fun day together. I actually slept in a little for once. I woke up at the staggering hour of 8:30. I haven't slept that late in months. I had just been telling John how my internal alarm had been stuck at 7:00 for too long.

The job hunt progresses. It's a pretty good day when even on a Sunday you can get 4 resume submittals out. And two of those are to Apple and Google.

Yesterday being the second weekend of the month we had our roleplaying session. And for the first time we played at Steve's place in the City. And Steve GMed. It was a nice break for me (even if it has been several months since I've game-mastered anything), and a great break for John since he's been running things for a long long time.

The adventure was tons of fun, and towards the end at a pretty breakneck pace as Steve worked hard to get done in time for John and me to get to BART before thy stopped running. The urgency of the deadline required some pretty impressive speed of thought on all players and the GM as well. It was like reading a book towards the end and you feel your almost flipping the pages you're reading so fast to get to the end to find out what happens.

And it didn't detract at all.

We we all ready with required actions and reactions. We even handed off rule look-ups so that it didn't slow anything down.

And now the workweek returns, and I return to looking for work.

Reel Wisdom

So there's not a lot going on right now. I'm sending out applications, but I haven't heard back from anyone yet.

I found this though. The only things I think it lacks are a couple quotes from "The Princess Bride" and "John Q".

Why I Read Comics

Today after doing my allotment of job hunting, I took some time and watched a movie from Netflix: "Superman-Batman: Apocalypse".

It's an animated adaptation of the story arc from the "Superman-Batman" comic book where Supergirl was reintroduced to the DC Universe. It begins with her arrival on Earth, and her discovery by Batman. Then goes into her training with the Amazons on Themyscira, and her capture by Darkseid. Then it continues with her rescue by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Big Barda, and ends with Superman and Supergirl alternately fighting Darkseid at the Kent Farm in Smallville.

I've re-read the books many times. The story is fun. It allows the heroes to let loose. And good triumphs.

The conclusion in the movie has Superman presenting Supergirl in her uniform to the Amazons and she makes a speech about how she does not yet feel worthy of the uniform. But she promises that she will.

It's a little sappy, but it made me smile and actually tear up a bit.

***

I've fallen a bit behind on my comics lately. The comic store in Livermore that I go to was closed for a long time for some unknown reason. I haven't been back to see if it has reopened. there was just a note on the door saying it would be closed until further notice. I had to do something to continue and catch up.

When I went to WonderCon last year the LICD/LFG booth had business cards for this webpage called Comic Pull. I was happy with my store at the time, but I began trying them out in December.

All orders are 10% off and large enough orders are free shipping. You can also get bags and boards for a very minimal price.

What I've had to get used to is the arrival in a box. There's a bit of fun in going to the store and picking the books off the shelf. In checking the covers and seeing other books you might want.

I think this is why I'll be so resistant to going digital with comics. It seems pretty stupid.

But I've got about a month and a half of comic books stacked up waiting to be read. I've had books come in from the library that I've had to read, and I've been really into the Discworld books.

After watching this movie though, I'm going to get back into reading more regularly.

Star Wars and VW

Tennant Issues

About 4:00 we started having drain issues. The shower drain started backing up, but everything seemed okay once the water stopped running.

Then about an hour ago one of the toilets didn't flush, but backed up instead, and water started coming up the shower drain and tub drain in the hall bath.

Plunging did nothing. Absolutely nothing.

So we called our landlady. She was drunk, as she is so often in the evenings, and we told her about our situation. She said we must be psychic because we always get them when they are out of town, or getting ready to go out of town.

So now we're waiting on her to get back to us on an emergency plumber to come out and visit. If she can do that threw her haze of alcohol.

February Blessings

I got an email this afternoon.

From the sergeant working our case in Martinez.

He talked to the DA last week.

And he's now working on a court order.

He thinks he'll be able to get our property released next week.

There's your happy Valentine's Day.

Four Years and 10 Months

Today, two months shy of my 5-year anniversary with ETIC, I was let go.

I knew something was coming, because they had lost their contract with Exxon. Exxon had done a reverse auction for a lump sum cost to completion of the major remaining sites in northern California. The contract ended up going to another company, and my former management feels this company underbid quite a bit.

So I'm now looking. I will be getting a nice severance package, so I'm not under too much pressure, but I'll be starting my search in earnest next week.

I ask that everyone remain positive, and send only good thoughts my way. I have lots of friends and former co-workers who know or will soon know. I am sure I can find a new position somewhere soon.

Happy Thoughts, Happy Thoughts

So, I'm going back to work today, again.

The pressure in my ears is doing better, but is still present. The spiking headache appears to have gone away. I'll see how today goes.

In other news, Monday I got an email from the sergeant in charge at Martinez PD. He told me he has an appointment to see the DA today to make his case.

Jennifer and I are keeping our thoughts focused on the speedy return of our jewelery. We want the case to be strong, and for them to get a conviction, but we want our stuff back.

I Was Doing So Well

Yesterday I went in to work. I warned visitors off with a Biohazard sign on my door.

Really.

And then I came home and was feeling pretty good; looking forward to feeling better.

Last night it took a while to get to sleep. I felt like I'd had caffeine, and was awake until after 1:30.

This morning I woke up and it feels like there's a spike in my left temple. And when I cough it gets worse.

So I'm at home so that I don't have to deal with bright light.

Down with the Sickness

Last Saturday was our monthly roleplaying game. One of our members came to the game and was just getting over being sick. As of today (as far as I know) I am the third of the remaining five to have gotten sick after the game.

Mr. Wilson's new epithet shall be Plague-Bearer.

So Thursday I had that one-sided sore throat where you ca pinpoint the exact location of your tonsil.

Thursday and Friday I was experiencing big bouts of sneezing. And I mean big bouts for me. Sneezes coming in groups of four or more.

Then Saturday I felt really bad. Nose plugged. Sinus headache that sort of thing. Pretty much the same today, but no relief on the headache. At least yesterday there were points where it didn't feel like I had earplugs jammed deep in my ear canal.

If the sinus pressure is no better tomorrow, then I'm staying home.

On a happy note for me, the Steelers and the Packers won. It's a sad note for Jennifer who was rooting for the Jets and da Bears.

Volume, Volume, Volume

This week's big new appears to be that Starbucks is adding a new size of drink. There is apparently an uproar that the drink size (31 ounces) is larger than the average human stomach.

My first reaction is, "But what is the size of the average American's stomach?"

And then I look over at my old 7-Eleven soda mug. I use it at work for water now. I've got a few and they hold 1.538 liters. That's 52 ounces. And the last time I checked, 52 is greater than 31.

My big mug is about 10 years old.

But let's go a little further back. Think hard now. How long have you been able to buy 32 ounce sodas at any fast food restaurant you might care to name? And most of those have free refills.

Someone at Starbucks is just good at PR and they've got people talking about the new size.

And Now in Local News

Last night when I got out of the gym, I had a phone voicemail from my parents.

Here's what happened.

No LotR, but 30StM

Friday night, Jennifer and I ended up not watching "LotR: The Two Towers". We ended up doing other things, and watching recorded television.

Saturday, I was in Albany for a triumphant return to gaming with the guys. We had a thoroughly fun game with multiple opportunities of showing off for all around.

Sunday, I went to Freeborn Hall at UC Davis with the Sorrells to see 30 Seconds to Mars in concert. It was some of the most fun I've had at a concert in a long time. The crowd which wasn't too bad, and were so into the show. And of course the music was great too.

Return to Middle Earth

Last night while we ate dinner, Jennifer and I watched the most recent episode of "Undercover Boss".

Then we were flipping channels because she told me there were new Encore movie channels available. I saw that "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" was on, and we watched the Council of Elrond scene.

So we decided we had to watch the whole thing.

I'm a bit tired today because it was the Special Edition, and we didn't get to bed until after midnight.

Tonight, we'll watch "The Two Towers" and Sunday night (Saturday being GURPS night for me) after football, we'll watch "The Return of the King".

Forget what I mentioned about Transparent Aluminum. Now there's Palladium Glass.

More Reading

I'm continuing my return journey through Terry Pratchett's Discworld, and have reached some of my favorites. Lord and Ladies is a wonderful blend "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and a reversal of "The Taming of the Shrew". Now I'm almost done with Men at Arms with all the fun that an Ankh-Morpork guards' book entails.

While in the middle of Men at Arms, I had a Jim Butcher book come in at the library called Side Jobs. It's a collection of Butcher's short stories so far that involve the adventures of Harry Dresden. One of the fun parts is seeing, in a very rapid sense, the growth of Butcher's writing skills.

At this point, if Jennifer (or anyone else who is a Dresden fan who has not read the book), you need to stop reading.

...

I'll wait.

...

So, the last story, which begins only a couple hours after the end of Changes which ended with Harry being shot and falling into Lake Michigan from his boat, is frustrating. It ends up being more about Murphy coming to terms with Harry most likely being dead.

And there is no resolution to Harry's fate.

At least in April, there will be some sort of resolution. the next book comes out then and is entitled Ghost Story.

Yeah, Whatever...

The rest of the week went pretty well. The driller's helper was a bit frustrated with us for the way the week went. Our primary concerns were water, and keeping the hole open. Thursday we left three holes with temporary casing in place, and then Friday we sampled the water in them. But these were some pretty impacted locations.

There was even little blebs of free product in the water samples we collected.

And I've decided I should never describe the weather patterns for the week to someone in the middle of the job.

Tuesday and Wednesday the weather was amazing. There was no fog on the other side of the Sunol Grade, and we got up to around 60 degrees.

Then I told Jennifer on Thursday not to worry about me being cold, described the weather, and then went on to be a bit chilly with high clouds.

Friday morning, I said we'd be fine, and again described the fog situation. Then on our drive Friday, the fog situation was reversed, and while were only on site for a few hours, it never got anywhere near warm. And we were sampling water, so even though we were wearing nitrile gloves with work gloves underneath, our hands were still cold and hurting.

I'm actually looking forward to being in the office this week.

And then this weekend was been spent enjoying my time with Jennifer, sitting on the couch and watching football. I've done a lot of computer stuff.

Not Gone, Just Working

So it would have seemed like the end of 2010 was the end of the blog, but I avow that I am here.

This week started with a refresher training in Loss Prevention System, and then Tuesday I was out in the field again.

I'm working in Santa Clara, and actually enjoying myself. The weather is cold in the morning, but once the sun is up, it's actually pretty nice.

We were successful today in there being enough water to sample, and we got two holes done. We've got three holes left and two days to do them in, so I'm pretty confident of a steady and relatively relaxed pace.

Then who knows what I'll be doing next Monday. Maybe writing some reports for all the field work that's we've been doing.

Books I Read in 2010

1. Sergio Aragones: Five Decades of His Finest Works - Sergio Aragones - ***
2. Small Gods - Terry Pratchett - *****
3. Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett - *****
4. Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett - *****
5. Moving Pictures - Terry Pratchett - *****
6. Eric - Terry Pratchett - ****
7. Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett - *****
8. Pyramids - Terry Pratchett - ****
9. Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett - *****
10. Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 3: 1984-1986 - Berkeley Breathed - *****
11. Sourcery - Terry Pratchett - *****
12. Mirror Kingdoms - Peter S. Beagle - ***
13. The Mark - M.R. Bunderson - *
14. Masked - ed. Lou Anders - ****
15. The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times - Adrienne Mayor - ****
16. Stories: All-New Tales - ed. Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio - **
17. The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson - *****
18. Singularity's Ring - Paul Melko - *****
19. Mort - Terry Pratchett - *****
20. Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett - ****
21. The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett - ****
22. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett - ****
23. Darwin's Bastards - ed. Zsuzsi Gartner, William Gibson, Douglas Coupland, and Yann Martel - **
24. The Walls of the Universe - Paul Melko - *****
25. The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories - Walter Jon Williams - **
26. Shine - ed. Jetse de Vries - **
27. Unplugged: The Web's Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy, 2008 - ed. Merrie Haskell - **
28. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu - **
29. Waking the Witch - Kelley Armstrong - ****
30. Stars and Gods - Larry Niven - ****
31. Cthulhu's Reign - ed. Darrell Schweitzer - ***
32. Timeshares - ed. Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg - ***
33. Solar - Ian McEwan - *
34. Mercy Thompson: Homecoming - Patricia Briggs - ****
35. Firefly: Still Flying: A Celebration of Joss Whedon's Acclaimed TV Series - Joss Whedon - ****
36. Third Class Superhero - Charles Yu - *
37. Must Love Hellhounds - ed. Penguin Books - ****
38. The Book of Dreams - ed. Nick Gevers - ***
39. The Bird of the River - Kage Baker - *****
40. Arkham Asylum: Madness - Sam Keith - ****
41. Boneshaker - Cherie Priest - **
42. The Fuller Memorandum - Charles Stross - *****
43. And Another Thing... - Eoin Colfer - ****
44. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - *****
45. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible - A. J. Jacobs - ****
46. American Gods - Neil Gaiman - ****
47. The Atlantis Code - Charles Brokaw - ***
48. Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson - ****
49. Blood Oath - Christopher Farnsworth - ***
50. Magic Bleeds - Ilona Andrews - ****
51. The Road to Amber - Volume 6: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny - Roger Zelazny - ****
52. Nine Black Doves - Volume 5: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny - Roger Zelazny - ****
53. Last Exit to Babylon - Volume 4: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny - Roger Zelazny - ****
54. This Mortal Mountain - Volume 3: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny - Roger Zelazny - ****
55. Power & Light - Volume 2: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny - Roger Zelazny - ****
56. Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 2: 1982-1984 - Berkeley Breathed - *****
57. Threshold - Volume 1: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny - Roger Zelazny - ****
58. Changes - Jim Butcher - *****
59. Kick-Ass - Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. - ****
60. Across the Wall - Garth Nix - ***
61. Abhorsen - Garth Nix - ****
62. Lirael - Garth Nix - ****/**
63. Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 1: 1980-1982 - Berkeley Breathed - *****
64. Silver Borne - Patricia Briggs - ****
65. Not Less Than Gods - Kage Baker - ****
66. Sabriel - Garth Nix - ****
67. Halting State - Charles Stross - ****
68. Glasshouse - Charles Stross - ****
69. Accelerando - Charles Stross - ** 1/2
70. Destroyer of Worlds - Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner - ****
71. Frostbitten - Kelley Armstrong - ****
72. Black Magic Sancton - Kim Harrison - ****
73. Missile Gap - Charles Stross - ****
74. Iron Sunrise - Charles Stross - ****
75. Singularity Sky - Charles Stross - ****
76. The Story of a Marriage - Andrew Sean Greer - **/****
77. Who Censored Roger Rabbit? - Gary Wolf - ***
78. Wireless - Charles Stross - ****
79. The Complete Peanuts, 1973-1974 - Charles M. Schulz - ****
80. The Complete Peanuts 1971-1972 - Charles M. Schulz - ****
81. The Atrocity Archives - Charles Stross - ****
82. The Jennifer Morgue - Charles Stross - ****
83. Toast - Charles Stross - ***
84. The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration - Robin Rosenberg PhD - **
85. Star Wars: Death Troopers - Joe Schreiber - ***
86. The Women of Nell Gwynne's - Kage Baker - ****

Flashback Music

Back in the 90s I loved Tiny Toon Adventures and their adaptation of the They Might Be Giants "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"



Then Jennifer was watching an episode of "Raising Hope" and while Cloris Leachman was playing Jenga, she was listening to the song, but it wasn't They Might Be Giants. I did a little looking, and found on Wikipedia that the original artist was the Four Lads. So I had to go looking for their version.

A Visit With a Lovely Pleasant Hill Policeman

I got pulled over this evening on Taylor just after Morello.

PHPD: Do you know why I stopped you?
Me: No, sir.
PHPD: You were moving between the lines and making sharp corrections. Have you had anything to drink tonight?
Me: No, sir, not tonight.
PHPD: Are you on your way home?
Me: No we're out looking at Christmas lights.
PHPD: Well, be careful. There are people who are out driving under the influence.

He didn't ask for my license, or insurance. And Jennifer and I drive away thinking, "Yes, sir, and your badge is very large and you have nothing to compensate for."

Jennifer said many times on the way back, "You weren't making sharp corrections. I wold have told you if you were. I'm your wife; that's my job."

We were just a couple miles from the Pleasant Hill police department. We figure he was just out of the barn, and thought in his best Star Wars Imperial voice, "Our first catch of the day."

Prick.

Fieldwork for 2010 Completed

Have I mentioned how much I've been in the field the past few weeks?

All of last week and the past three days this week, I've been in Fremont.

The week before that I did a jaunt to Bakersfield, and a two day trip to Madera and Fresno.

The week before that I had been in Sacramento for three days.

And after I take this next week off, I'll be in Santa Clara for the first week of 2010.

I think I'm just going to hole up for the last week of 2010 and enjoy the silence and climate control.

Full of Fudgy Goodness

Tonight, fudge was a success.

I used the candy thermometer, and achieved the soft ball temperature necessary. it took 13 instead of the directed 10 minutes to reach the proper temperature.

Oh but the spoon and pot tasted so good while waiting for the fudge to cool.

Now I have to apportion for the various parties and gatherings coming up.

Cleaning with Power Tools

Have you ever burned food so bad that you had to clean the pot with a Dremel?

I attempted to make peanut butter fudge on Saturday while Jennifer was out watching men beat the shit out of each other.

I think when I got to the step of putting in the peanut butter and marshmallow creme, I didn't get the temperature up high enough. And so the concoction didn't set up right. I ended up with four glass dishes of peanut butter syrup.

A plea to my parents gave the suggestion of putting it all back in the pot and heating it up to "soft ball" temperature (about 235 F^o). I think it would have worked if the stuff wasn't so thick that I could hardly stir it. By the time it started to get soft, it was too late.

The wonderful smell of peanut buttery-fudgy goodness slowly became the smell of burned food.

I finally gave up as the mixture kept getting darker and pieces started to break off from the bottom. And so after letting it partially cool, I threw out the mix and found about an eighth of an inch of burned candy on the bottom of the pot.

I soaked it. I boiled it. I simmered with baking soda and dish soap. But there was still about half of the bottom covered in thick black distilled carbon. I attacked it with a cheese knife, and then a putty knife. Then I finally had an epiphany.

I got out Jennifer's Dremel, and put in the plastic brush attachment. that proved to be much too soft, and so I switched to the wire brush. And that's what I used for the next half an hour with safety glasses and the occasional pause to change the slight bit of water in the pan to keep the tip cool.

And so I have a clena pan that I can used again some time this week when I get my confidence back.

Of course that's not all that I burned today. I burned a batch of cinnamon toast from neglect (I got distracted), and nearly ruined a batch of Rice-A-Roni when it got hotter than I expected.

Creativity

back when I was addicted to clicky games on Facebook, I was playing several at once. Eventually I whittled them down to just one: Castle Age. Then as I was playing one day a new gift came out for the construction of some sort of druid's weapon.

It was labelled as a ginkgo leaf, but the picture is obviously a magnolia leaf. I grabbed a screen capture, and saved the picture. I filed the picture away planning on doing something with it, but never got around to it. Now as I'm organizing my files from the back-up restoration, I thought I'd have some fun.

Now I'm going to try to submit this to the science geeks' LOL page: LOLCats Can Haz Science.

Marching Band Awesomeness

I saw this on Up Next In Sports, and was amazed. Aside from the fun animation, the band's lines are strong and stable.

Fail Blog

Today I took my car in for it's first smog certification.

And it failed.

There's a service engine light that's come on and the smog center gave me a print out of the error messages. They sound a lot like the error messages I was getting when some of the parts were recalled.

So I got an extension for the registration, and now I'm waiting for the consumer assistance program to help me out with getting it fixed.

Temporal Revisions

So Friday, my schedule for the coming weeks was shuffled a multiple times.

So as it turns out, I'll be going down to Fresno County tomorrow and Tuesday, and then be drilling in Fremont for the rest of the week and all of the following week.

Then the week of Christmas, we've got training on that Monday.

We'll see how the rest of that week goes.

It. Has. ARRIVED!

I haven't had much time to play with it yet because of my work schedule (up at 5:00 and home after 7:00) this week, but it's pretty amazing.

I'm still learning the keyboard which is a little different as far as page navigation, but the best part (and the thing that didn't photograph) is the backlit keyboard.

I look at the keyboard too much because I use what I call an accelerated Columbus typing method. I've learned to type pretty quickly, and can type without looking if I don't think about it. But with the backlit keyboard I can type without having to have the desktop spotlight of my desk on.

I've installed most of the programs I need onto it, and right now I'm restoring the files that are stored on my backup storage.

And because I got on John's case for announcing a new monitor without specs, here's the laptop's specs:

HP ENVY 17 customizable Notebook PC

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-740QM Quad Core
processor (1.73GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz
1GB ATI
Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5850 Graphics [HDMI]
8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
1TB 7200RPM Dual Hard Drive (500GB x 2) with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive
Protection
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 2.25 hours of
battery life +++
17.3" diagonal HD+ HP BrightView Infinity LED Display (1600
x 900)
Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
(Slot Load)
HP TrueVision HD Webcam
Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
Backlit Keyboard
Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 8 & Adobe
Premiere(R) Elements 8

I'm very excited about it all. The most I can say is: Insurance is a wonderful thing, and so are new release specials.

Quickly

Drilling for the next three days in Sacramento. Then drilling in Fremont next week. And drilling in Santa Clara the week after that, and possibly into the week of Christmas.

The good news is that my new laptop is finally in transit from the factory in China. It should arrive Thursday.

Then the final hopes will be that the sergeant has made his case successfully enough that we'll get our jewelry back very soon.

Difficulties

So my replacement computer is delayed.

It was supposed to ship the Friday after Veteran's Day, and I found out last Monday that it's delayed. HP won't say exactly why it's delayed, but from some of the things they've said over my many calls, some of the parts are mot making people happy, and they're having to wait for replacements.

So hopefully, it will ship next Monday, and I'll get it by the end of that week. At least they'll be refunding my expedited shipping cost, and an additional $50 once it ships.

I also got a 15% off coupon for a further purchase from HP. I'm leaning towards a new printer. Something that will network, which is the only problem with our little HP 4 LaserJet.

Well Now...

And so the week ends.

I've spent that past three days in Oakland, on block off of Sn Pablo Avenue supervising direct push boring's and grabbing groundwater samples.

Today we played in the rain a little, but managed to finish our work before the significant precipitation began.

It was sure nice to get a hot shower afterwards.

Some Pretty Amazing News

Jennifer and I went in today to identify some further items at the Martinez Police Department that had been collected on a second search warrant at the home of the fence.

Or so we thought.

When we arrived, the sergeant walked us through to a (to us) new area, and into the evidence room. He then had us start identifying real items and matching them up with the pictures we had already looked at. In the middle of this, he comes in and says, "Now a lot of stuff was just dumped into a backpack. Some of it we took pictures of, but some was all tangled up so I'll have you look at it now."

As he came back into the room, I said,. "Well, that's my backpack," and we all kind of chuckled over them using that. We hadn't even noticed it missing. We went through the envelopes that were in the backpack, most of which we had already identified, and then we dumped out the unphotographed envelope. And there was most of the rest of our jewelry.

So as far as we have been able to identify, all of the jewelry will be coming back except for Jennifer's birthday butterfly necklace, a moonstone necklace that her grandmother gave her, and my diamond earring that my parent's gave me from dad's cuff link.

Also while we were talking, the sergeant asked us again when the robbery had happened. He mentioned that when they went in, most of the items were in the backpack or in a woman's purse. Some were one the suspects, and some were spread out on the table being appraised by the fence. I told him again that the burglary was the morning of Thursday, October 28. He then said that their raid was that evening.

We pieced it together that while I was walking through my home with the county sheriff, the sergeant and his people were already recovering most of my stolen property. If the raid had happened on any other day, we likely would never have seen this stuff again.

We didn't end up looking at pictures as the only things they found in the second search of the premises were watches.

As we were finishing up, we asked how long until we would be able to get our property back. He said they are making the case, and are hoping for four convictions: the fence and the three suspects who are believed to have performed the break-in themselves. He thinks it will be another two weeks before he presents the case to the district attorney. At that point, he can ask if the photographs of the evidence will be sufficient, or if the actual items will need to be present for a possible trial. So I'm holding out hope for a return by Christmas.

I also asked if we might be subpoenaed for the trial, and he said that he could testify for us at any hearing having been present at the raid. In the event of a trial, then there would be the possibility of a subpoena.

So, almost everything is nice and safe in Martinez, and locked up. But soon, we'll have almost all of it back.

Duck and Cover

Last night while I was driving home from work I saw some menacing plumes of black smoke coming from the refinery area of Martinez. I switched to the news station, and heard about a shelter in place because of excessive flaring at the Tesoro refinery.

When I got home, Jennifer was turning off the heater, and we made sure that the cat was in.

Here is an article on what happened.

And here is another with some amazing pictures.

Striding Uphill

Yesterday I spoke with the sergeant at Martinez PD again. He asked for a description of items that had not been recovered. He said they were compiling a list to get an additional search warrant.

When they had gone into the fence's house originally, they had picked up only things that looked out of place. This time they would go in and do a more thorough search, especially looking for locations where things might be hidden.

Today, I got an email saying they had gone in and found some more jewelry. So next Monday, Jennifer and I will be going back in for more looking at pictures.

It's pretty exciting to see things like this work out. Jennifer and I are trying to determine a way to thank the Martinez PD. We can't even say it's our tax dollars since we don't live in that city. I'm planning on asking if we can bring food to them or something.

That said, a burglary seems to be good for dieting, especially with appetite suppression. I'm down more than 5 pounds since 10/28.

So Much Good News

We just got out of the police department from looking at pictures of stolen property.

As the detective was pulling up the first picture Jennifer broke into tears seeing a silver bracelet with a large piece of amber set in it. Probably half of the items that were photographed were ours.

Her diamond ring. My ruby ring. My wedding ring. My TeNo. My Bico. My great grandfather's pocket watch. Her Valentine's Day jewelry. Her diamond earrings.

Not everything was there, but the officer said only what had looked put of place was collected.

The diamond earring. My Superman earrings. My ankhs.

Still hope remains.

High Anxiety

All I can think about today us going to the Martinez PD tomorrow and looking at photos of recovered property, and hoping they have found more than just Jennifer's class ring.

Hope Grows

Yesterday I got a call from the Martinez Police Department. He was returning my call, and while confirming what had been stolen and getting the Contra Costa County Sheriff's case number, he asked if I knew Jennifer.

I said that yes, she's my wife.

He said that they had found her high school class ring. It of course had the year she graduated, but also had her initials on it. He had then gone to Ygnacio and looked at the yearbook for our senior year, and he said there were only two people with those initials in our graduating class.

I am so excited. I know it's no guarantee of anything, but it is at least one item that has been recovered. Plus it will be a piece of evidence towards conviction of the fence and maybe a lead toward apprehending the thieves.

Binders of Photos

Asa further follow-up, I got an e-mail yesterday that said there will be photographs of the stolen items recovered from the fence that will be available for viewing next week.

Jennifer and I continue to hope.

A Glimmer of Hope

Yesterday on my way back to work from eating lunch at home, my neightbor flagged me down.

She asked if I got the newspaper. I said, no, and she said there had been bust in Martinez of a believed fence's clearinghouse.

Here's the article.

And now, it wasn't my laptop with the GPS chip. But I did call the number inthe article, and also sent an e-mail.

My evening did go better last night, but I still didn't sleep very well.

Let's Be Blunt

Last week was shitty.

I worked 60 hours last week. It was a good project, but each night I was pretty tired.

Thursday evening was absolutely fucking horrible.

Jennifer was working late, and I got home about 6:45. I loved on Pom and saw the little stray we've been feeding waiting outside on the patio. When I put his food out, I heard some scrabbling on the redwood outside and saw two raccoons watching me. I thought it'd be cool to get some pictures of them, so I went out to the car, got my camera, and went to the front door.

Where I saw: broken wood, candles askew on the foyer table, and Jennifer's dream sign on its face.

I walked kind of stunned to the door and saw that it had been kicked in breaking the frame.

I ran to the office and saw that my laptop was missing. Then with a sinking feeling I went to the bedroom, and saw a nightmare. Our jewelry boxes were empty with the drawers on the floors, and all of the top drawers of our dressers were open.

All of our jewelry is gone except fro what we were wearing that day.

My wedding ring is gone. My ruby and diamond ring my parents gave me for my 21st birthday and modified for graduating college is gone. The diamond earring made from a cuff link of my Dad's is gone. All the special jewelry I've accumulated over 40 years is gone.

Fortunately Jennifer was wearing her white sapphire engagement ring, and her gold wedding band. But the jewelry I'd bought her for Valentine's Day this years is gone. Her gold cat charm necklace is gone. Her new diamond ring we bought from the Sorrells is gone.

Now we're stuck in the grieving process. Lights stay on all the time; all through the night. Jennifer wakes up every hour even with ear plugs. I stay up reading until I'm exhausted and can do nothing but sleep.

Going off of the five stages of grief, we both got through Denial pretty quickly. Anger washed over me for a while, and I still hold on to that if I were to ever find the people who did this. I've thought about Bargaining, but that seemed pretty futile. Now Jennifer and I are stuck in Depression with a healthy dose of fear. We've bounced into acceptance once and a while, but it doesn't last.

Last night was my turn to break down. I just feel powerless.