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.