75 Years of Superman

Now comes the big one.

Again, my first memory of Superman is from the Super Friends cartoon, and he's always been my favorite (aside from having a Robin costume because it seemed more logical as a kid to be a sidekick).

But my first Superman comic?  That's really hard to remember.  And after some research (thank you Grand Comics Database) it was Action Comics #443.

Reading the synopsis, I remember the story of Superman confusing Brainiac by hypnotizing the world into reversing their knowledge of Clark Kent and Superman.  Looking back it's pretty strange (as a lot of that period stories were).

It was a small introduction, and I actually had the Superman #283 from the same month.

Which again was a throwing people off the secret identity trail.  I think.  The second story with Mr. Mxyzptlk was more memorable with the imp bringing the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial to life.

But it was from these humble beginnings (again thanks to my Dad's friend and his drug store) that my comic collection eventually grew.

75 Years of Batman

My first memory of Batman is tied up in both the Super Friends cartoon and what has come to be called the Batman '66 television show.

But my first comic book?  After some web searching, it was Batman #260 (a 100-page special).

I remember a story where the Joker has poisoned Batman who will die laughing.  And things just keep getting worse as the Joker tells horrible punning jokes.  The Joker is freeing inmates from Arkham, and Batman comes up against Two-Face who has a gun stolen from a guard.  This was my first encounter with Two-Face as he wasn't used in the TV show.  Two-Face flips his coin and it comes up heads, so he doesn't shoot Batman (who is on the floor laughing painfully), and allows Batman to lock him back up in his cell.

Looking at the cover, I can vaguely remember the story with the Riddler, but the rest are a blank to me.

75 Years of The Flash

I should probably think back and try to do this for Superman and Batman, but I just had this idea today after reading DC Comics' post on Google+.

So this was my first Flash comic book, The Flash #231.

I got this book from a friend of my dad who ran a drugstore and gave me a bunch of books that hadn't sold.

It was a crash course introduction to the Rogues Gallery for me, and also a great example of just how fast the Flash is.  The second story in the book with Green Lantern also introduced me to Aaron Burr years before the famous Got Milk commercial.

The Tools and the Talent - Conclusion

So, yesterday, I found a local bike shop: Rivendell Bicycle Works.  Now it turns out that the majority of their business is online, but they still had two inner tubes for me and a patch kit.

I decided to keep one fresh tube at work and one at home, and then did some patch work on the existing tube.  It's really a simple process if you follow all the instructions.  Letting the glue dry a bit before application is key.

And it's all holding.  The ride to BART yesterday was fine, and this morning has all gone well.

The Tools and the Talent - Part Two

So, the first rule of bicycle flat repair is always check the tire to make sure that whatever may have caused the first flat is out of the tire.

When I got to Walnut Creek today and I was riding down the ramp to cross the street, the bike fishtailed a bit.  It did this in a way that reminded me of hauling rock in dad's pickup truck my year at home between undergrad and grad school.  I was hauling pea gravel a half-yard at a time to fill up the bed for the new hot tub my parents had bought.  And half yard was about all that the truck could handle.  When I took a turn, I could feel the center of the wheels slide out.  It required very slow travel.

So I've jsut taken the rear bike wheel off again, and through careful feeling and flexing of the tire, I found a nice piece of glass that with pressure was poking a hole in the inner tube.

I guess I'll walk over to one of the downtown WC bike shops, and get me a new inner tube.  Maybe a couple.  And a patch kit.

RIP - Leonard Nimoy - UPDATED

You will be missed, sir.

Here is the NY Times article.

---  UPDATE ---

And a fitting farewell posted on another site that I feel needs to be borrowed.

Readership Spike

Literally.

So in a day I get a few readers.  After a new post, I get 30 or more.  But on Monday, I got 616 hits.  That quickly put me over 50,000 pageviews of all time, but I just have to wonder, why?

I mean it weird.  Its like someone, in one day, read my archives or something.

Because it's not like a single page garnered any coordinate spike of interest.  And I've kind of lost my international following.  The only country that really is lit up this week is the USA.

I guess while I may have some sort of draw, I don't have the international draw that John does.  He's talked about previous big readerships from Russia and other places.

The Tools and the Talent

So this morning when I bumped onto the sidewalk at the BART station and I was walking to the gate, my bike started acting like it didn't want to roll.

As I walked, I checked the brakes and the shifters, and everything seemed all right on that end.  Finally I just carried it until I got to my chosen door location, and looked it over.

Somehow, my rear tire spear (axle) had come out of it's mounting on one side, so the tire was rubbing against the frame.

And that's why you always carry tools when you bike.  The train was due in a couple minutes so I shucked off my helmet, vest, and gloves, and reached into my pack for my allen wrench.  I almost immediately grabbed it and laid it in my helmet.

The trains are pretty empty at 6:15, so I got my spot with a seat, and quickly loosened the spear, re-positioned it, and tightened it up.

Everything's back to normal.

I'm not a Boy Scout, but I do my best to be prepared.

It's Just Not Done

So, today I found myself struggling a bit with using what I feel is the correct word.  I discovered that popular culture has limited me on the words that I feel comfortable using.

I do not like to use the word "assume".  Essentially this goes back to an old episode of "The Odd Couple" when Felix is on the offensive in court.  The man he's up against states that he assumed that something had happened.  Felix latches on to it and writes the word "ASSUME" on a chalkboard.  He then circles three parts of it saying, "When you assume, you make and ASS out of U and ME."  This was one of the funniest things I had heard at that time, and it really stuck with me.

Then of curse there is Yoda.  A geek never "tries" to do anything.  For as the master says, "No!  Try not.  Do or do not.  There is no try."

Sean Connery fans would never do their best.  "Losers always complain about doing their best.  Winners go home and fuck the prom queen."

When a person asks how you think they did, you don't tell them " That'll do," because likely in the back of their mind they'll hear, "...pig." at the end of it.

And what is the best way to acknowledge a request made by someone you love?

"As you wish."

The Long Way

Television is fluid.  The things we watch come and go.  Sometimes they linger and leave a mark.  Sometimes it's not the show, but the producer's vanity card.

Nobody who watched TV in the 80s can hear "Sit, Ubu, sit... Good dog." and not bark (at least in their head).  And of course the MTM kitty meowing.

The favorite of ours now is Chuck Lorre Productions.  They are great little bits of personal philosophy and/or humor after some of our favorite shows.

A couple weeks ago, #482 came up and I took a picture of it.  I imported the picture into Word, printed it as a PDF and had Acrobat run an OCR on it.  I copy, pasted, and edited it up, and now have a nice word document of it.

Then when I thought to write this blog, I thought I'd link to any sort of page Chuck Lorre might have.

As you can see by clicking the above link, he has all of his vanity cards available to read.

But nothing acquired easy is as appreciated, right?  So anyway, here's #482:

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #482

The things I have spent my life depending on are undependable.   Because they are things.   And things  re, by their very nature, subject  to change.  This applies to people as well.  People change.  People leave. Inevitably we all leave.  The world, therefore , is essentially an unstable, uncertain environment.  That's why I choose to believe in, and depend on, an unchanging, eternal, omnipresent non-thing.  I prefer not to call it God, because the very word tends to thing things up.  So I try not to call it.  I try to experience it.  Easy to do looking out at the ocean.  Hard to do looking up at the ocean.  Easy to do when you look at a baby.  Hard to do if the baby is next to you on a long plane flight.  Easy to do when you look at a pretty girl.  Hard to do if you were once married to her.  Clearly what blocks me from transcendence is judgment.  If I were able to suspend having an opinion on drowning, other peoples' baby’s vomit, and alimony, if I could simply see these things as they area - actions devoid of meaning until I give them meaning - I could experience some semblance of union with the infinite sublime.  I'd instantaneously transition from neurotic sitcom writer to one seriously badass guru dude.  People would travel great distances to ask me for guidance with their personal problems.  I'd wisely tell them "It is what it is."  They’d judge this as being ridiculously inadequate advice and punch me.  But I'd be okay with it because I'm, you know, exalted.

Many Miles

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I like long weekends for the extra free time it gives me to take long rides.  This weekend I racked up over 70 miles.

I did two rides to Craneway Pavilion in Richmond.  The weather was nearly perfect: warm, and almost completely still air.  Sunday was nicer with a little cooler temperatures.

Monday, I decided to do the Oakland Bay Bridge again.  It's a nice challenge, but I needed more time out, so I took the split at the gate afterwards and headed into Oakland.  This branch took me into the Port of Oakland, and I ended back up at the Middle Harbor Shoreline Park.

--------------------------------------

Now, I now it's not a race, but sometimes it's just the fact that there's someone in front of me that I have to ride that much harder to get in front of them.

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A corollary to the above is that some songs are dangerous on an iPod while your'e riding.  The soundtrack to the new Tron is a good pace music but just makes me want to go fast.  Speed Racer is very dangerous.

Tales of Reading

So recently I've read a few books that were about the making of entertainment.

John Cleese's autobiography was tons of fun with both the tales of him growing up, and also his lessons on just what humor is.  At least his interpretation on what he thinks humor is.

Then I read the first two books in the These are the Voyages series which are an episode by episode account of the writing, casting, and filming of "Star Trek" the original series.  The stories in this one are really fascinating whether about Shatner and Nimoy, the back and forth with the network and Roddenberry, or even the growth of D.C. Fontana from secretary to science fiction writer.

But the jewel of books was As You Wish by Cary Elwes.  Written from the man cast as the Man in Black's perspective of his journey to becoming Westley, it also has accounts from interviews from the rest of the surviving cast, Rob Reiner, William Goldman, and Andrew Scheinman, as well as an afterward by Norman Lear.  I'm jsut going to have to watch the movie again.  The stories of how everything happened and what happened behind the scenes just rekindles my interest in the movie.  And Elwes' style of writing is as easy to hear in his voice as John Cleese was.

Restraint

So, today was the first time I'd driven since the second of the month.  And the first drive longer than 15 minutes since... November?  Maybe?

So today, I drove to Lodi for the post-remediation sampling work.  We're signalling soil gas wells, and so I'm on the road at 6:00 Am heading for Lodi.  And the thing that bothered me most about the drive was my seat-belt.

There are no seat-belts on BART.

The closest I come to a seat-belt on my bike is my Chrome bag which goes from left shoulder to right belly, and has a seal-belt style buckle.

Not that I would ever not wear my seat-belt.  It's too ingrained to wear one.

But man, do they pull on your neck when you're to used to wearing one.

Happy Anniversary

So, seventeen years ago, Jennifer and I had our first date.  This weekend we celebrated.

On our first date, I had taken her all around San Francisco giving her various views of the city.  We had a picnic in Golden Gate park, ate clam chowder on Fisherman's Wharf, and just had a great time.

This weekend, we celebrated us.

Friday night, I made me new personal specialty, chicken pad see ew.

Saturday, we went for a long ride.  Possibly our longest ride together.

We started off with breakfast at Starbucks, but then rode south.  We raced an Amtrak train from Emeryville to Jack London, and ended up beating it.

We continued on and crossed onto Alameda.  We followed the road around the south end of the island, and came back up to Shore Line Drive.  And there we discovered that they are in the process of installing a two-way bike lane along the water side of the road.  It was great having our own lane that allowed us to mostly ignore car traffic and not have to dodge foot traffic.  There are little concrete islands that have been installed, and they had barricades with an electrician's name stamped on them.  I'm guessing that the islands will have some sort of light.  Based on the plans on the web, these may just be street lights.  Still, we were very excited.

After stopping for lunch at Sushi House. we rode on north, and made it to St. George Spirits.  Unfortunately the new vodka isn't ready yet so we didn't taste.  We did go next door to Faction Brewing for some beer.  It was okay beer.  They poured either full pints, or 5-ounce glasses for tasting.  We chose 8 and sipped our way through them.  As you can guess from the logo, they're into hops.  We're really not, so we doubt if we'll be going back.

On our way off the old navy base, we came across some pyracantha bushes that were thickly covered in berries, and the berries on the individual bushes were different shades of red and orange.  We stopped, and Jennifer took some pictures.

After that, we were pretty much ready to head home.  Until we came across a Foster's Freeze.

Then we rode home.

At the end of the day, we had gone about 32.5 miles.

Sunday, I took Jennifer to Cooperage in Lafayette.  We had a wonderful brunch, and then walked a bit through downtown Lafayette.

We had talked about watching movies later that day, but we weren't sure which ones we wanted to see.  When we got home, "Inherit the Wind" was on TMC, and that was immediately followed by "Forbidden Planet".  With a little pause for homemade chicken nachos as dinner, that completed the night and the weekend.

The Best Dr. King Story I've Heard

Nichelle Nichols relates this story in These are the Voyages: Season Two.



It's even better hearing her tell it.

Kill Mo' Mockingbird

Have you seen Gregory Peck in "To Kill a Mockingbird"?

Have you read the original book by Harper Lee since high school?

If not, then go, and watch and read.

They are excellent.

Teasers

So I'm reading These Are the Voyages, and I'm learning some things about making television shows.

One of the things that I've learned is that the bit of a show before the title sequence is called the teaser.  Apparently, the point of them is to grab the watcher's attention, and prevent them from switching channels.

So I'm streaming "Young Justice" on Netflix, and I'm seeing the same thing being done.  And I have to say how annoying it is.  They're little cliffhanger endings for the beginning of the show.

I don't know if that sort of thing has ever caught me and kept me from changing channels, especially now that we use DVR.

New Stuff

One of the things that fascinates me most about volcanoes and lava flows is that the exposed material is the newest/youngest material on the surface of the earth.  Yes, the elements are ancient, but the solids that form, the mineral crystals and associated rocks are brand new.

That's why this video is that much cooler.

Moist

Riding in to work today was an experience.

West side of the Oakland Hills: chilly, but not exceptional.

East side of the Hills: thick fog.

And this isn't like the fog a couple weeks ago that was thick and surreal.  One that made trtaffic lights look like multicolored spotlights.  Today's fog was thick and wet.  I coudl feel the tiny drops hitting my face as I rode in.

Then when I took my over gloves off I noticed they had caught a little moisture.

It's blurry because I was still in the hallway, but I wanted to get a picture before the water evaporated or soaked into the glove.

Then after I parked my bike, I saw how much water had accumulated on it.

I fully expected my beard to be soaked, but it wasn't.

With but One Comment

This is from Mauricio Abril.



If you watch through to the disclaimers at the end, I have to wonder... Where does Obama come into this?

And then because this other one is just as good, and I like "Knights of Cydonia":

Work Slow Down

So, things had apparently been progressing too well this week at work.  I came in this morning and could not connect to our network drives.

Now this is probably only the second time in three years that this has happened at my current company.  Things are much better than they used to be at Kleinfelder.

Kleinfelder had the absolute worst network I've ever experienced.

The way I was told things were set up was that even though the server was in the closet in Pleasanton, the file requests had to travel all the way to HQ down in southern California and then back up to the server.  And then the file traveled back that path to my computer.  It wasn't too bad when opening a file, but when it autosaved (and you wanted this to happen regularly) the computer would freeze for a few seconds.  And then when the network inevitably went down (at least once every couple of weeks), work would essentially stop because you were not to keep any documents on your computer.

Work is progressing to fix our problem today, but I've got flashbacks.

Temperature Revisited

So this morning I have set up my mini-desk-fan, and then I thought about the two vents that are in the ceiling.

So here's the temperature stats:

Window behind bookcase: 58 F

Floor:  67 F

Ceiling: 77 F

Register in ceiling: 102 F

Duct opening in ceiling:  84 F

No we'll just see how the circulation works and feels.

Temperature Precision

So, for Christmas this year, one of the gifts I got from my list from my in-laws was a non-contact infrared thermometer.  This one right here at Amazon.

The Sunday after Christmas, we did a Skype present opening, and I was excited to begin playing with it.  They of course asked me why in the world I wanted such a thing.  I said because I wanted to check the temperature of things.  As an example I gave checking the temperature of the oven, but that's proving tricky to find the right spot to measure.  I'm learning though.

The real reason I got interested in the thermometer?  This Gizmodo article.

And so now, I've gathered lots of fun data (all numbers are in degrees Fahrenheit):

For drinking, I prefer my tea to cool down to 125.

I've also checked the temperature of my hands and feet at different levels of perceived coolness.  Feet at 75 degrees are surprisingly cold.

The sun shining on our book case makes the wood 10 degrees warmer than the shaded wood.

The hottest part of my laptop  (on the outside) is 140 degrees.

Today, I brought the thermometer to work...

Outside it was about 38 degrees, and the metal window sill in my office is around 60 degrees (55 in the pocket between the window and the bookcase.

The floor is 62 and the ceiling is 73.  After dad telling me about his experience with warming his house up my circulating the layers of air, I'm thinking I'm going to bring in a little desk fan and see if that helps.

I also found out that the water dispenser at the office come out at 175.  This is perfect for green tea, so I'm all set for my David's Tea Perfect Mug which I can't pitch enough for how great it is.

Books I Read in 2014

Below is the list of books I read last year.  Some of them are just ones that I tried to read.  But still, a fulfilling year.

• The Three-Body Problem - Cixin Liu - ***
• The Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch - *****
• Red Seas Under Red Skies - Scott Lynch - *****
• The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch - *****
• Clariel - Garth Nix - ****
• Self-Made Man - Norah Vincent - ***
• The Slow Regard of Silent Things - Patrick Rothfuss - *****
• The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Claire North - ****
• The Girl With All the Gifts - M.R. Carrey - **
• Some Kind of Fairy Tale - Graham Joyce - ***
• Mitosis - Brandon Sanderson - ****
• Exo - Steven Gould - *****
• The Witch with No Name - Kim Harrison - ****
• Not Less Than Gods - Kage Baker - ****
• The Best of Kage Baker - Kage Baker - ****
• In the Company of Thieves - Kage Baker - ****
• Sons of Heaven - Kage Baker - ****
• Gods and Pawns - Kage Baker - ****
• The Machine's Child - Kage Baker - ****
• Children of the Company - Kage Baker - ****
• Life of the World to Come - Kage Baker - ****
• Black Projects, White Knights - Kage Baker - ****
• The Graveyard Game - Kage Baker - *****
• Mendoza in Hollywood - Kage Baker - ****
• "The Queen in the Hill" - Kage Baker - ****
• "Son, Observe the Time" - Kage Baker - *****
• "The Fourth Branch" - Kage Baker - ****
• Sky Coyote - Kage Baker - ****
• In the Garden of Iden - Kage Baker - *****
• Ex-Heroes - Peter Clines - *
• Rogues - ed. Geroge R.R. Martin - ****
• Magic Breaks - Ilona Andrews - *****
• The Rhesus Chart - Charles Stross - ****
• Tower Lord - Anthony Ryan - *****
• The Long Mars - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter - ***
• Steelheart - Brandon Sanderson - ****
• Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson - *****
• Skin Game - Jim Butcher - *****
• The Apocalypse Codex - Charles Stross - *****
• Equoid - Charles Stross - *****
• The Fuller Memorandum - Charles Stross - *****
• Overtime - Charles Stross - *****
• Down on the Farm - Charles Stross - *****
• The Jennifer Morgue - Charles Stross - *****
• The Atrocity Archives - Charles Stross - *****
• When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris - *
• Kraken - China Miéville - ****
• The Third Kingdom - Terry Goodkind - *
• Night Broken - Patricia Briggs - ****
• The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism - Naoki Higashida - ***
• The Undead Pool - Kim Harrison - ****
• Redshirts - John Scalzi - ****
• The Martian - Andy Weir - *****
• Doctor Sleep - Stephen King - ****
• Where the Deep Ones Are - Kenneth Hite - ****
• Cliffourd, the Big Red God - Kenneth Hite - ****
• The Antarctic Express - Kenneth Hite - ****
• Where's My Shoggoth? - Ian Thomas & Adam Bolton - *****
• The Shining - Stephen King - *****
• Carrie - Stephen King - *****
• Raising Steam - Terry Pratchett - *****
• Snuff - Terry Pratchett - *****
• A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices - Terry Pratchett - ****
• The Sea and Little Fishes - Terry Pratchett - *****
• Theatre of Cruelty - Terry Pratchett - *****
• Death and What Comes Next - Terry Pratchett - ****
• Troll Bridge - Terry Pratchett - ****
• I Shall Wear Midnight - Terry Pratchett - *****
• Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett - ****

Encroachment

Today has been mostly mundane.

Until just a few minutes ago, right outside my window.

The turkeys of Walnut Creek.

En Route

Yesterday morning was normal.  Cold, but normal.

Then around midday the winds started.  They were 20 to 30 mph with gusts 40 to 50 mph.  I could see the trees outside my office blowing and hear all of the debris hitting the building.  After a phone call, I was convinced it would be better if I walked rather than rode my bike home.

As I got to Walnut Creek BART, there were people everywhere outside the station.  Apparently, broken tree branches had blocked the tracks on the yellow line (Pittsburg/Baypoint <=> Daly City) between Concord and Pleasant Hill and somewhere south of San Francisco.  So they were only running trains that were between the two cut-offs.  But we had to wait.  Then they announced a train was on its way from Lafayette.  It arrived but on the opposite platform.  I and a few others ran and got on the nearly empty train, and then waited while it waited for everyone else on the opposite platform to come over.  At least I got a seat.  By the time I made it home it had taken closet to two hours.

Then this morning I had to take Emery-Go-Round back to BART, and that turned out to be a mess because since today is an almost holiday, they started the buses an hour later than usual.

I'll be working through lunch to catch up on my time today.

Advent: Day 24

Merry Christmas!

Advent: Day 23

Advent: Day 22

So, Sunday when I was coming home from visiting mom in the hospital, there was a series of crunches from my right bike pedal.  I looked it over, and found the bearings had given out or fallen out.  Fortunately, the pedal still worked, and was just a little loose.

So, last night when I got home (I rode my other bike to work), Jennifer and I rode to Blue Heron Bikes in Berkeley.  We had found them while riding on the Ohlone Greenway under the Richmond BART line.  Not only did they trade out the pedals, but they also traded out my toe cages at no extra cost.  I was impressed with the guy who worked on my bike, because I had tried to unscrew the pedal and just had no success.  They have some beautiful bikes there too.

Advent: Day 21

Sunday, I spent with mom and dad at Kaiser.  Mom had a rough Friday and Saturday, and spent them in the hospital.  She's still there today (Monday), but we're hoping that she'll get to go home today.  She was tired, and dad and I took turns feeding her.  It wasn't that she was that weak, she just only had one good hand to use, because her left was covered in monitors and tubes.  But news was looking better for her, and when I left, dad was still asleep on the couch int he room, and mom was getting vitamins and probably going back to napping.

When I got home, Jennifer had gone domestic on me again, and was in the midst of baking bread, and preparing sausages and mashed potatoes for our Winter Solstice dinner.  Half of which I have leftover for lunch today.

Advent: Day 20

Saturday was a good day overall.  Jennifer and I went into the city to look at Christmas trees, and experience the season with people.  If you have not yet been to the AstroTurf covered Winter Walk, then I highly recommend it.  And be sure to be there in both the day and the night, because the free form benches light up at night and add a pretty note to the walk.

And since you'll be nearby, go to the Sutter Pub.  Boddington's, as well as others, on tap, and some really great food.

Advent: Day 19

Friday.  A day to look forward to the weekend.  And also one to see that Christmas is closing in just that fast.

Advent: Day 18

Let's just say that my review went very well, and I'm looking forward to the new year and growing opportunities at my company.

Advent: Day 17

Yesterday was an interesting day.  We had a low grade version of what at ETIC we used to call a "client fire drill".

Basically, a client PM had a presentation coming up today, and she needed us to fill in the facts on her presentation.  We had a quick conference call, and hashed out who as doing what.  An then we got it back to her in a couple hours, all set to go.

It was so much easier than some of the rush work we would have at ETIC.  At least this one had an understandable purpose.  The ETIC client work always seemed like arbitrary budget re-analysis.

But now, all is well, and I can relax and look forward to my annual review later today.

The Pain of Waiting

So, yesterday on BART, I finished the third book in Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series.

The first book is quickly engaging and they were all books that I would rather have read than done anything else.

What I did notice was the subtle work Lynch had put into creating a culture that mostly treated men and women equally including same sex relations.

However, now that I'm done, I have to wait for the next books to come out.

So let's look at the series I'm in the middle of:

• Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden chronicles
• George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire
• Charles Stross' Laundry Files
• Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series
• Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives
• Terry Pratchett's Discworld

First off, I'll admit that it's a great dilemma to be in, because many other series have ended.

• Kim Harrison's Tales from the Hollows
• Jim Butcher's Codex Alera
• Robert Jordan's (with the help of Brandon Sanderson) The Wheel of Time
• Frank Herbert's Stories of Dune
• Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide of the Galaxy
• Fred Saberhagen's Books of Swords
• Larry Niven's Ringworld (so it would seem)

Winner, Winner, Football Dinner

So, on Cyber Monday I entered a drawing on Mission Athletecare for a chance to win a football signed by Reggie Bush.

Sometime last week (I think), I got an email saying I had won.  I really didn't think anything about it because, you know, it was an email, and I didn't know if it was real.

It was.

I'll just say that Jennifer is very happy.  She is almost as speechless as when I proposed to her.

Advent: Day 16

Crowded?  Perhaps, but it's going to look so good when it's done.

Advent: Day 15

This weekend, Jennifer said that the advent tree was getting crowded.  There's still 10 ornaments to go...

Advent: Day 14

And so Sunday.

Today was a day to be out and enjoying the weather while we could be fore the return of rain.

We enjoyed ourselves at Bay Street in Emeryville, and rode all around town.

Advent: Day 13

Not much to report for the day.  Saturday was pretty quiet.

But we did go to see "Big Hero 6" which I thought was was a lot of fun.  I think a this of the fun was seeing what parts of San Francisco they had Japanified.  I vaguely recognized some of landmarks from Tokyo.  But I liked the story, and the animation.

Advent: Day 12

And so, we're halfway through decorating the advent tree.

I'm certainly looking forward to a beautiful dry weekend before the rain returns.

Morning Thoughts

A few things on my mind as I rode to BART this morning:

• I was amazed in one residential section where all of the cracks in the road had sprouted grass or moss, and hen lit up by my headlamp were that new growth bright green contrasted with the black of wet asphalt.

• I also had the fun of occasionally seeing my breath in the cone of light from my headlamp.

• Walking to work (via public transportation) is a very different workout.  This morning my thighs are a little tender, and I actually feel like I have shin-splints.  They're probably from the boots I wore yesterday.

Advent: Day 11

And so the storm has mostly passed, and we're all still here.

It was interesting to watch what happened with it.  It started in the North Bay and hovered there for the night, and then the beginning of the morning it moved through the East Bay.  Winds were high all across the north state, but the terrible rain and winds didn't linger for us.

Instead it moved down tot eh south bay.  I watched the radar most of the day, and the cell of yellow, orange, and red just hovered over Monterrey Bay throwing the occasional pseudopod up towards us.  It was still there last night when I went to bed, and now this morning it's moved all the way down to LA.

You all have fun with that.

Advent: Day 10

So, for any who are curious, I did not ride my bike to day although I did go into work.  The winds were blowing at 33 mph when I woke up, and forecast to be anywhere from 30 to 50 mph for the day.  Rain I can handle, but gusty winds are too much.  Also, I'm glad I'm not up in the mountains; apparently they've measured winds up to 135 mph in the Sierra this morning.

Advent: Day 9

So yesterday I was back at work.  I'm tending to get up a lot and walk, just to keep my back moving. Riding my bike is fine, and laying down is fine both on my back or on my side.  It's just sitting that bothers me.

I'm just glad there were no helicopters last night.

So, Monday there was a protest march in Berkeley that went down to Interstate 80 at University.  I knew something was up because there was a helicopter hovering over that way.  Then three more moved in like something out of Vietnam.  Those were likely from television.  That happened when the protesters blocked the freeway.  And they kept circling and hovering around Emeryville until after the 11:00 news slots.  Then they went away finally.

The police helicopter did not.  They were tracking people or groups until the wee hours of the night. And of course it was a night where we wanted our window open.  It got pretty loud sometimes.  Jennifer said there were times the searchlight on the helicopter passed over the window.

At least last night it was quiet in our area.

Advent: Day 8

Jennifer asked me this morning when she put her decoration up, "Why did you do all candles?"  I told that's just the way I like to do it.  But now it's all free style.  There is one more candle, but it's a different style.

Advent: Day 7

And one more day down.  I'm thinking that tomorrow I will be close enough to normal that I will go back to work, but today, I'm keeping it calm, and staying on the couch or the bad.

Advent: Day 6

And Sunday too.  Although I did get a little pop of release and I can sit for a while.

If things aren't better in the morning, I'll be going to a doctor.

Advent: Day 5

So, it's not been an easy weekend.  Friday I developed a stiffness in my back.  It didn't seem too bad, but by the evening it was uncomfortable to sit.  Fortunately, laying on my side was easy enough, so I slept.  But when I woke up Saturday morning I could barely stand up straight.

So I ended up spending most of Saturday in bed.

Advent: Day 4

Aside from free-form, advent Tree decorating, Jennifer also breaks the "we put the latest ornament on before bedtime."

Yesterday, I had forgotten to take a picture of the tree, so I asked her to email me a picture.

Today's came unsolicited about 5 minutes ago...

Also, in my opinion (one which was occasionally debated based on some real tree ornaments) the wreath is upside down.

But we all know the first rule of life club: You do not argue with redheads.

Advent: Day 3

In the following photo, you might notice a pattern emerging.

When I was growing up, there were strict rules for decorating our 3D tree.  (I'd call it real, but it was artificial.  It looked awesome though.)

We used to use colored lights for the bottom two-thirds of the tree and then white lights on top.  In the white light area went birds, angels, and the like.  Over time the inside would get filled up first with plain balls and then the more special ornaments went up on the outside.  Finally, the icicles would go on either as tinsel or the glass ones we first bought in Maryland.

I tend to follow that rule when I do my tree.

I do; Jennifer does not.

Advent: Day 2

So Jennifer made her first addition yesterday:

Now, I'm planning on bouncing to the other side for my next piece.

Advent: Day 1

So this is the first addition to the tree.  I'm sure that one piece at a time will seem subtle, but the fun will be to see the growth and change.

This year the progression will be a collaborative effort as Jennifer has said that she wants to add pieces as well.  She's going to decorate on even nights, and I'll decorate on odd nights.  Then on Christmas Eve we'll put the last piece on together.

A New Series (for me at least)

So through another io9 recommendation, I'm reading the Gentlemen Bastards series by Scott Lynch.

This weekend, I finished the first book The Lies of Locke Lamora, and it's pretty amazing.  The world is deep, the characters are full, and the revenge just keeps coming.

I have to say, I really like the maps too.

They're books that I'd love to see turned into movies.  The first book has so much visual to it that I'd love to see it.  And the second book Red Seas Under Red Skies has a perfect sequel opening.

Advent: Day 0

One of the oldest parts of Christmas to me is my Advent Tree.  There are twenty-four ornaments that get pinned onto this, one every night saving the star on top for Christmas Eve.

It's seems very simple, but it's different every year.  First I would point to where I wanted the puffy, sequinned piece pinned.  And eventually I was old enough to pin them on myself.  I think my only regret is that I don't have a picture of the past forty-five variations.

So this year, I'm going to take a picture every day to show the countdown to Christmas.

Lots of Photos Before Christmas

So, it's been an interesting time lately.  I've been spending Wednesdays evenings with my parents helping out while mom is in chemo.  Of course that didn't happen this last week as I had a cold that started Sunday night, and I couldn't risk giving it to mom.

So Thanksgiving was quiet as I dealt with congestion and a sinus headache from the bouncing barometer.  Jennifer and I made an early morning run to storage to get our containers of Christmas decorations.

And that stack is over 6 feet tall.  We meant to take a picture for scale, but forgot.  The six boxes on the bottom are 64-liter Really Useful Boxes.  They're amazingly sturdy.  I remmeber seeing a photo once of a Mini Cooper sitting on top of four RUBs.  [I found a video]

So anyway, they're really great.  We're considering converting all of our storage boxes to them.  Plus there's the added bonus of being able to see what's inside if you get the clear ones.

So we like angels.  The one on the left is the tree topper,a dn was the first we bought as a married couple.  We got the little one next to it later because it matched so well.  Then we just started accumulating angels.  They end up scattered throughout the flat surface decorations.

And here is the finished tree.  

The following are the flat surfaces that got decorated with different colors and lighted garlands.

Obviously next to the tree.

Behind the couch.

The corner of the entryway.

Out in the hallway by the front door.

On the way into home proper.

And our bookshelves.

And the final photo is of Oscar and Felix who while they were very upset during the decorating phase, they do like curling up under the tree.

Thoughts on Video

So, I was taking a moment to watch this below video of the snow storm in Buffalo:



and when the pilot brings the drone back to take a selfie, I had a flashback to when we moved back to California, and I recorded a video tour of the new house for family and friends.  There were a few times in bathrooms and bedrooms where I caught myself in a mirror, and broke the description of the house with, "Cameraman."

It was on a compact camera that used magnetic tape.  We then transferred the video to VHS tapes for distribution.  This was in 1986 and most everyone's VHS players were standardized.

This had not been the case just a few years prior when we had lived in Kentucky and done another video of our redone backyard with new brick patio and flower mounds.  We recorded our tour at what we assumed was the normal speed because our VHS player could record up to 6 hours of material on a cassette.  Unfortunately, the friends we sent our tape to did not have that format on their player and could only record 4 hours of material on a cassette (maybe only even 2).

So what happened?  Apparently it was like watching a poorly cranked film on playback.  The dog and I were accused of extreme hyperactivity and it was recommended that I cut back on the sugar.  And we were asked if the scenic flower mounds were Indian burial mounds.

At the time of this writing, the snow drone video has been viewed over 300,000 times.  And yet 30 years ago, we couldn't even get our video to be properly watched once.

New Tech and Old Tech

So, almost a month ago, I bought a new external hard drive, and shuffled around our home network a bit.  The way it had been was an network attached storage (NAS) with an external via USB, plus a smaller external attached directly to my computer.  Our music collection (as well as shared photos and other documents) was on the NAS-external, and syncing our iPods was something we would do over a weekend.  It was just slow.

With the new external, I moved the small external to the NAS and each laptop got an external.  Then the real shuffling began.  The NAS and its external are formatted with a UNIX file system.  So there was a bit of file movement to perform.  And some other things as well.

1. Attach new external to my laptop, and copy (over wifi) complete contents of old NAS-external to new external.
2. Connect old external to my laptop, reformat, and copy contents.
3. Connect small external to NAS, reformat.
4. Connect old external to Jennifer's laptop, redirect iTunes look locally for files
5. Redirect iTunes on my computer to look locally for files
6. Spend some time deleting music of Jennifer's from my external
7. Spend more time renaming folders for consistent naming.
8. Realize the majority of folders have been renamed, so re-import music for iTunes.
9. Reorganize playlists
10. Attach iPod to re-sync, get notice that Windows needs to run a disk check.
11. Check disk crashes iTunes, making restart necessary.
12. iTunes requires Restore of iPod, but Restore locks up iTunes, and three repeated attempts yields same results.
13. Attempt Restore using Jennifer's laptop, locking iTunes again.
14. Setup appointment at Appel Store - Genius Bar.
15. Go to Apple Store.  iTunes not seeing iPod, but Genius gets it working after a few restarts of iPod.  iPod is Restored, but iTunes is not seeing the iPod.  I am wished luck.
16. Plugging iPod into computer brings up Checkdisk requirement again.  I hold my breath and do it again.  This time no crashes.
17. iTunes require a Restore of the iPod.  I hold my breath, and do it.  Again, no crash.  Trying to hide excitement.
18. After Restore, iPod begins syncing.

Now, as I mentioned before, syncing the entire iPod (an iPod Classic with 160 GB) used to take from Friday night and often run all weekend and might be done by Tuesday morning.  I was about 30% synced in less than 3 hours.

And so, happily, when I got up this morning the sync was complete.  So all is well, and I can put off buying a replacement for a while.  But I may buy one anyway, just to have a spare.

New Madness

So, you should know that I'm a regular reader of science sites.

io9

Gizmodo

Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy

And so today io9 had the follwing article on the removal of information from a textbook as the Republicans continue their anti-science, over-religious attempts to control the country.

The links referred to in the site are for Rachel Maddow's site.

And a biologist's site.

However, just in case these should go away, here are the pages (545 and 546) that are being ripped out of the seventh edition of Campbell Biology: Concepts and Connections textbook:

Stop the Madness

So we have six or seven smoke detectors at home.  They are wired into the building's main power, but they also have a battery backup.  Apparently, the detector sends a check regularly through the battery  to check its voltage and ensure that it is in working order.  If that voltage (maybe current?  Dammit Jim, I'm a geologist not an electrician!) is too low to run the detector, then the detector chirps.

Perhaps this is common knowledge to people, but last night I had a bit of a situation as all four upstairs and one downstairs detector began chirping when we were heading to bed.  They did this for half an hour.  I tried pushing the silence button (which usually works), and changed out the batteries in them.  Nothing worked.

Now to forestall any admonishments, I know you're supposed to change out the batteries every 6 months.  I just wish they lasted that long.  These things have been 9-volt vampires and end up getting changed when they chirp.

Finally out of frustration, I called our property manager and asked him if he had any tricks to get them to be quiet.  (And yes, they did chirp a few times during the conversation.)  He said to completely disconnect the ones that were chirping completely from power.  I ended up only having to do that to two of them before they all quieted down.

Apparently there are new code laws coming into effect in 2015, and so next year we will be getting new detectors that have their own 10-year battery life and not be connected to power.  He is coming by today to install three of the new detectors in the most important locations: master bedroom, guest bedroom, and upstairs hallway.  The rest will get replaced next year.

Book Nook

So, I'm going to be moving on to some non-fiction for my next book.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August was lots of fun.  It was so much more than I expected it to be after its beginning.

Then I read Patrick Rothfuss' The Slow Regard of Silent Things.  I cannot begin to describe how reading this novella makes me feel inadequate in any sort of field of putting words together.  This book has no dialogue, but there is conflict, and action, and tension.  It takes place in Rothfuss' Kingkiller world, and had me riveted the entire time.

But now, I'm on to Self-Made Man by Norah Vincent.  I'm not sure where I came across the book, but this may be another Kinja/iO9/Jezebel reference.  It initially strikes me as a Black Like Me kind of book, but i'm intrigued.