Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in John's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
3:29 pm	There goes my credit card number larking about on it's own again. But what I find more disturbing is that I received a call asking if my card was stolen this morning not from my bank nor credit card company, but from a website that noticed a large order was not going to my usual address. Tip for credit card thieves: Good luck finding a website that doesn't already know me, my well worn card, and that my shipping address is NOT in Texas. A grand total of one charge might have made it through, so the biggest annoyance is having to memorize another credit card number - 12+3 digits worth, since BECU apparently ran out of 4428 6800 xxxx xxxx numbers a while back. Coming on the heals of a trip to CA, I'm wondering if my card number didn't get nicked in person somewhere on the way. (Comment on this)
Monday, June 1st, 2009
10:28 am	Not as nice I had thought Trapped on a plane again. But on this flight I actually have internet connectivity. After the first bout of freedom, and a brief abusive adolescent phase (A video report about NYC Bees! Lets pop out a hulu window while I surf flicker for pictures of brown bats!), I matured to find it is a lot like having the internet at home - but crammed into a little window seat with an apparently nice lady who keeps bringing me bottled water. Of course, what this means is that I can work for the next three hours. This is definitely falling off my cool list quickly. With work yapping at my heels like a well trained incontinent Shih Tzu, out of desperation I am going to make my somewhat delayed New Year's Resolutions post (not too delayed though - "New Year's" is clearly a binary value, and if you take the fraction of the year currently past and round to the nearest value you'll find it is 0.41 ==> 0 = NEW YEARS!)(by much the same logic, the typical American is expected to live to 78 so if you are younger than 39 you are a newborn). Anyhow, back to the resolving. My main resolution for this year has been making resolutions that I will likely keep. 1. Continue to hinder my dear daughter's determined efforts to kill, maim or disfigure herself. Perform a similar service for at least half of our domesticated plants that she wants to love and hug and call George. To death. 2. Cut our house energy use by 10% versus last year. This should not be too tough. We've started hang drying some laundry (I try for the 4 heaviest items from each washload - takes almost no time and significantly reduces that 0.3 kWh/lb cost), there are good targets to install some motion/photo/time light switches, and this summer I'm going to break down and spend some money on house insulating. 3. Evict the carpenter bees from around our mud room. Their crunching is somewhat soothing white noise, but they have become prone to face buzzing bravado while I am at the close line. Bad neighbors get evicted. Work out an appropriate lease arrangement with the chipmunk who have, despite my best efforts to ignore and deny it, dug a subdivision under one of my blueberries. 4. Establish one more fruiting biological somewhere in our yard. 5. Begin a moderate exercise program: Walk a minimum of 300 feet every single day, do 4 Helen tosses a week, and 500 pushups this year. 6. Do not toss Helen into the ceiling fan. 7. Complete patching the existing undesired holes in my house's walls. Replace with desired holes. OK, I think that's just about ambitious enough and as the well-known parable of the deaf, mute brown bat with three noses so tragically sho- Oh yeah, one more: 8. Complete feasibility study on putting up a bat house. Make decision on implementation and to The Committee (subtask: Form The Committee for Bat House Recommendation Assessment). There we go, I think that's a nice round number. I was going to throw something about working on improving my focus or something on there, but I am trying to keep 'em feasible. Watch this space for upd- Wait - one more to close out! 9 is only 75% as round as 8, but I'll settle: 9. Drink less water when trapped in a window seat regardless of the implicit endorsement of overconsumption by apparently nice ladies bearing bottled water. (And no, I'm not going to cut down my use of parentheses this year; consider my use of them poetic license - and those of you who already do, please quit writing the board asking to have my Poetry certification, if not my entire Punctuation Practitioner license, revoked due to abuse: That's just mean. Thanks.) Poll #1409290 Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All <> View Answers Single Space 0 (0.0%) Double Space 1 (12.5%) Monkeys 7 (87.5%) Current Mood: apathetic (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009
9:36 pm	Too lazy to post anything of merit... But it wasn't a lazy day. Today was spent cramming out some last work before the final Fedex of the weekend and then a short walk in a park (spent herding Helen who insisted on pulling - slowly - the wagon she was meant to ride in)(sigh). I'm doing design review for a partially underground lab for a major tech university and trying hard to resist the urge to layout the sprinkler piping to make the Halflife video game logo in plan view; I doubt anyone would notice and I would be greatly amused. HVAC design is sorely in need of more Easter Eggs. In the world of HVAC, our downstairs AC has gone out. I am torn between moving upstairs (that unit still works) and never speaking of the downstairs again, or going on a $10k rampage to install a zero-energy seasonal thermal storage passive phase change (ice/snow slush) pit system. Anyhow, a traditional close of a handful of photos ( behind the cut ) (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
11:40 am	Shoot, my internet connection appeared to be broken. I tried a couple browsers, did a computer reboot (quite a time investment with Vista and a Thinkpad's bloatware), cycled power to all my routers (which required a bit of digging that released an enormous wasp I had to shoo out out the window - there's a reason I really don't want to clean my office), and waded onto my smartphone's browser. The problem? Well, apparently my internet connection is fine but google.com was down so I just assumed the internet was broken. My faith in the Google now shaken, I shall have to test to a couple different sites in future before extreme measures are taken. (Update: The problem may not have been with Google, but somewhere upstream between here and there. Now Google is back and working as well as the rest of the internet.) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
4:10 pm	Just a quick heads up that I'll be in the Bay Area next week, working and sheepishly driving an SUV about. The SUV was $100 CHEAPER to rent than any smaller car - and I could have gotten a really huge one for only $5 more. I really hope they don't 'upgrade' me to Valdez class. ( Nothing else to say, so here's a picture of my baby chewing her shoe. ) (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
2:36 pm	Random Our diaper service just went out of business. The really, really amazing thing about this is that I actually read the email notification; I'm surprised google let an email titled "urgent please read" from Vicki through the spam filters, and more amazed it made it through my mental spam filter. I forwarded the notice to Helen's gmail account. Maybe it will encourage her to potty train faster. Potty train now - trust me, the washer is less fun. (Caption is best read in a bad German accent) (On the bright side, I have a deep and personal animosity towards our washing machine and going to home-laundering of diapers appeals somewhat to my passive aggressive side.) Current Music: Friendly Goodbye - Bowling for Soup (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
1:26 pm	Wow. The full spelling of 'Wednesday' is wacky. How many silent d's do we have hiding in our language? At least in handkerchief it's obvious that the d is just hanging out with its good friend han. And personally, I swear I hear a touch of d in handsome. But Wednesday? What language do I have to blame for needing spell check on the rare occasions I don't just slum it with an abbreviation? (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
12:43 pm	President Obama All done. Despite fears of terror attack, the only major assault I noticed was that poetry after the main event. I tuned out while she was talking about lettuce or something. It was kinda neat to go to whitehouse.gov at 11:58am (I was scrambling for a feed) and see Bushville, then refresh at 12:02pm to see Obamamania. (I did find a postage-stamp-o-vision feed from CNBC just in time to see Roberts get stepped on by Obama and flub the oath; hulu.com was bigger but too jerky for my tastes.) This was the first full speech I've seen of him and - meh. Far far better than Bush, but strikes me as typical politician speaking skills (which are good, but no King or even Clinton for that matter). Just looks amazing in comparison... Now the speechifying is done we finally have a few months to see how he really does. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
4:20 pm	Supercooled cream soda? Since it's been a bit chilly we've been storing drinks in our unheated mudroom (a little entry room at the back door). I just grabbed a cream soda from there in a clear bottle - a nice, clear amber fluid (Virgil's makes good stuff). Cracked it open, but no bubbles. Rather than bubbling it is forming ice flakes. It's gone from entirely liquid to having an inch of slushy on top. Sorta cool. Very cool, actually, in a punny way. It feels a little fizzy in the mouth, but in the bottle the fizz seems to result in instant formation of ice flakes. Outside actually felt a bit warm a moment ago - it's up from the 12F of my last hot tub dip to a balmy 18F. I'm thinking of staying up a bit tonight so I can hottub in 2F weather, the only problem being that when it's cold my hottub heater gets a bit over enthusiastic. But maybe 108F is about right when it's 2F out. Rather than bouncing off on yet another tangent no one cares about (our house furnace is unsurprisingly oversized), I think I'll get back to work. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
10:31 am	T minus 2 hours Huh, branch libraries in Manhattan suck. Who knew. Downtown ho I goes. (Comment on this)
10:14 am	Stoopid time zones I made my 9:30 AM meeting just a couple minutes late due to an elevator traffic jam. And found my meeting is at 9:30 AM *Pacific* time. So now I'm a homeless nomad in Manhattan 'till noonish. Since I typically work using my laptop to access a remote terminal in Oakland, this is not really a big deal and actually is probably a quite similar experience to the normal go into the office and work sort of thing. I'll finish my Starbucks coffee and set up shop in the local library. But it is still annoying - I'll miss my morning hot tub break and the ability to do a bit of random housetiding, which is oddly satisfying at times. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
9:57 am	Archbishop Tutu's talk was OK. It was amusing to see him get giddy talking about Obama's election - he admitted it was presumptuous, but he did offer thanks on behalf of the world and God to the US voters. Overall, I'm not quite getting into the nature is perfect, we need to respect mother Earth is perfect vibe. I understand the desire to fire up a movement, but from the mechanical design side of things there is no tree hugging required. It's just good, practical design. Although perhaps there is value in cloaking it as a 'green sustainable revolution' just to give the old guard an excuse to change. Without an excuse the building industry would have to flat out admit they've been selling the equivalent of 2 seater SUVs to everyone for decades, mostly out of laziness (OK, to be fair clients brought it on themselves - if you demand the lowest bid for a back-of-a-soggy-napkin quality design, you get it). Nasty Conference Organizer Trick #27: Stop all shuttle buses back to the hotel from 10AM to 5:30PM to make it hard for attendees to go back to their room to nap rather than walk the vendor display floor during the 4 hour deadtime midday. Off to find a corner to curl up in. I have a good 20 mins before the caffeine kicks in (drugging up for my talk, but always nap right after the coffee). Current Mood: sleepy (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
10:24 pm	Surely everyone has heard today's 'general interest story': "Woman runs a mile with rabid fox biting arm". In short: "The woman wanted the animal tested for rabies so she ran a mile to her car with the fox still biting her arm, then pried it off and tossed it in her trunk and drove to the Prescott hospital. " But it's the last line of the article that makes me wish there had been a video camera following that fox: "The sheriff's office says the fox later bit an animal control officer." I suspect it went somewhat like this: Deputy: "Hey Ed, glad you could make it. Some lady says she ran a mile with a fox chewing on her arm, so she threw it into this car trunk here so it could be tested for rabies." Dogcatcher Ed: "Riiiggghhhhtt. Rabid fox in the trunk." Deputy: "Yup. Here's the keys." Dogcatcher Ed: "Well why don't we have a look at what scared the poor ladEEEEEEEEE ARRRRGGGGHHHHH - GET IT OFF ME GETITOFFMEGETITOFFMEEE" (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
10:53 am	Voting done. Helen, as usually, charmed the poll people. No line at all, but it was bit tricky to find the place. Signs with useful arrows ended as soon as you entered the building (the basement of townhall) and was left in a maze of twisty passages, all alike. Luckily it wasn't dark and I had brought a flashlight just in case. OK, it was only one passage, but it took an exhaustive search to determine which way to go (up the stairs or 100' down the hall). I persevered and cast my useless vote (gee, wonder which way NY will go?). Now I am attempting to cut out the internets, the news, and radio for the day. I might check status just before I go to bed, but after two years of hitting Electoral Vote.com and Fivethirtyeight.com two or three times a week to watch the horse race, I have no desire to be hitting the refresh button all night. (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 2nd, 2008
7:51 pm	Continuing in the vane of random, pointless posts: Helen seems to think that the sign for please (basically rubbing your tummy in a circle) is actually the sign for baby (which should be more of a cradling in your arms thing). If she sees a picture of a baby or is prompted by the word, she'll start babbling be-be and rubbing her tummy with a big toothy (well, as toothy as she gets) grin, looking all the world like she's communicating that she loves to eat babies. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me until too late that I should have dressed Helen up like a jar of Gerber baby food (filled with real baby of course), where this behavior would have been pitch-perfect. "Bebe - mmm mmm." A total of 30 trick or treaters hit our house (errr... decorated, yeah that's it - as a somewhat run down, poorly lit, scary looking house). About half took a candy bar while the other half took a toy. One rang the door bell and ran away before we got to the door. The fun sized playdohs were a total bust - not one was taken. Jump ropes were cleaned out, as was the last large rubber ducky left from last year. I did get a complement of "You give the best stuff mister!". The leaf blower/sucker works as expected, no better no worse. I now have a wireless bluetooth headset (thanks Woot!) set up to communicate with my computer. I am looking forward to my next excuse to use Skype or a web conference (probably Webex on Monday). (Comment on this)
Friday, October 31st, 2008
7:20 pm	Should I be concerned that it is well after dark on Halloween night and I hear a chainsaw outside? (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 30th, 2008
8:23 pm	A few notes In an article about Obama's thirty minute commercial, it was mentioned it wasn't fair to compare such a thing to, say Knight Rider. I thought it was odd to bring up a 20 year old show in reference to current events. A short trip to wikipedia later, I was horrified to find that Knight Rider is, in fact, a current show. I am horrified, yet feel strangely compelled to see just how bad it is (via Hulu.com). At least a couple mornings a week I like to feed H breakfast, give her a bath, and generally play around with her for an hour or two in the morning. So, I get to drive her to daycare in the Prius, park the Prius in the IBM parking lot, and drive the Porsche home. The Prius kindly displays the outdoor temperature on its dash, and I am slowly finding I can roughly estimate the outdoor temperature based on the Porsche's dashboard too - the tachometer specifically. If the wheels break loose at 2000 rpm it's around 40F, 2500 45F, 3000 is about 50F, and 3300 (turbo really to kicking in) about 55F. This is pretty cool, but it suggests to me it's time to get winter tires (I have rims all ready for them but have been waiting for the right season to buy the rubber). Or slow down around that particular left turn, but that would be irrational overreacting. I recently broke down and bought a leaf blower. It's electric so it's a bit quieter and continues my goal of having no need for a can of oil/gas mixture in the shed for yard appliances. Ironically, there is a can of oil/gas mixture in the shed left by the previous owner years ago that I have no idea how to get rid of. All leaf blowers suck in my opinion, but this one mulches the leaves after sucking them up so I have high hopes it was worth buying. This Nov 4th I am determined to not watch the election horserace coverage. I will be watching Dave, checking the web once at about 10 pm, and calling it a night. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 19th, 2008
8:07 pm	Baby decided to walk today Helen started staggering just today. Went from her first definate step-not-just-directed-fall to the drunken baby class stagger below. We plan to have her working in the fields by Christmas helping with... err... the holly harvest (a prickly task). Click on the picture below for video (compressed to the ragged edge of comprehensibility - the picture below is the actual full frame resolution; is there a better way to share vids online?). From Walking 2008 (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 25th, 2008
11:34 am	Pictures Not much time to say anything as work is getting better but is still busy. Luckily, there is little news. Helen is getting more communicative but still has only a few - if you're generous - words. I have taught her how to climb up on things; now she can make her way climbing up onto a box and then onto the couch, where she can get to the shelf of Things She Can't Play With or tumble headfirst off the end onto the hardwood floor. She is quite sure that 'headfirst' is the best way off of any high surface she finds herself on. (In unrelated news, my juggling ability seems to be improving.) I'm sure this skill won't have any un-foreseen repercussions. In less dangerous skills, I have taught her to hold still while I balance a small red plastic block on her head. Not very useful, but she seems to like it; sometimes she'll bring me the block, hold it on her head for a moment, then gesture frantically for me to take it and balance it properly. (I gotta get her a picture of Oolong the rabbit). Walking is almost to any-day-now status. She will happily hold onto a couple fingers and stagger around at the park now. And she is absolutely thrilled to see ducks and can get quite cross if she is not allowed proper time to appreciate their majesty. She is getting quite good at getting cross - howling, arching the back, the whole 0.9 yards. I managed to get my cell phone to talk to my computer and download Blurry Cellphone Pictures. Before I fall further into the morass of Making Proper Nouns Of Descriptive Phrases For Barely-comedic Effect, I think I'll just post a photo or three (effectively adding thousands of words to my post)(I do get paid by the word, right?)(Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life...)(wait - he was paid by the installment not the word?) and call it a day. ( Here be photos ) Current Mood: busy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 16th, 2008
12:59 am	Well shoot. Jetblue has failed me - the Friday night redeye was canceled. By the time I went to rebook the earliest flight home was Saturday's redeye. So, since I'm stuck in CA for half the weekend, I just may stay until Monday night and do more office time. I certainly will be having pizza for lunch tomorrow. And possibly dinner. (2 Comments |Comment on this)