AndyO Blog

Summer vacation - Day 2 - 6/22 - Monday

2009-06-22T00:40:00.000-07:00

This entry is about my second day at Lake Chelan. You can read the first entry here.

Like many mornings I've spent at Campbell's, this one started with breakfast in the Bistro restaurant. Cameron was excited about eating their biscuits and gravy (he's turned into a connoisseur of sorts). I ordered Drew the Apple Oat Cakes (just about the best pancakes I've ever tasted), and I ordered the meat lover's omelet. Brenda also joined us for breakfast, which was nice. But then Drew decided he didn't want anyone to cut his pancakes (after we'd cut them up) -- and all hell broke loose. Oh well.

Hot tub politics

The weather had turned cloudy and cold, so when the boys and I got back to the room we went in the hot tub instead of the pool. When I got out, I ended up talking to an older woman who told me her life story.

She survived World War II by moving around Austria with her parents, and in the Fifties emigrated to the U.S. She talked about how hard her parents had worked and contrasted that to today, where she saw a lot of lazy Americans who didn't want to work. She also said she didn't like President Obama apologizing on foreign soil, as she thought America had made many sacrifices and didn't need to apologize.

I told her I agreed that America had made a lot of sacrifices (especially during the early 20th Century). But I thought America's policies after World War II with regard to Communism and globalization were not always helpful to our global neighbors -- and often interfered. Case in point: Iran.

(I guess I should point out that I don't always find myself talking about history and politics at the hot tub.)

Shopping

Another vacation pastime that the boys and I share is shopping on the Chelan strip. Typically we go out and buy all kinds of useless stuff, but this time we had several clear objectives:

Drew wanted flip-flops (because his brother had them), which we picked up from a clothing store.

Cameron wanted a small radio, which we picked up from Radio Shack. (Usually we ended up buying some cheap remote control car or airplane which breaks in about 5 minutes; but there was a moratorium on all remote controlled toys for the summer.)

Then we walked to Riverwalk Books, and we bought a bunch of fun toys and items, including one called Ball of Whacks. The Ball of Whacks has 30 magnetic pyramid pieces that can be assembled into a rhombic triacontahedron -- or split into many other shapes, like stars. I watched Drew, my four-year-old, play with it for hours. He'd take it apart and then put it back together, over and over.

I also bought Common Errors in English Usage, a fascinating book by WSU professor Paul Brians about words that cause problems in the English language. For example, when should you use farther vs. further -- or immigrate vs. emigrate? For some reason I find this stuff interesting. If you do too, check out Paul Brians' website.

Seeing old friends and meeting new ones

When we got back to the room, we saw some kids who are always at Campbell's when we are, Camille (9) and Taylor (15). Camille and Cam have been playing since they were 3 or 4 years old, and there are some pictures I've taken of them where they look they could be cousins (weird).

A motley bunch: Cameron, Camille, and Drew

Also that afternoon, Cameron ran around with another boy he'd met earlier when we were in the hot tub. They went kayaking and swimming together -- the first time Cameron has gone off by himself at Lake Chelan.

One of the best burgers of all time

Later, when Brenda was back from her conference and Drew was having a meltdown, I took Cameron up to the Veranda restaurant for a late dinner.

Cameron wasn't hungry, but I ordered the Hawaiian Kai Burger and Clam Chowder. I didn't know exactly what to expect, but the teriyaki and roasted pineapple hot sauce on that burger made my taste buds very happy.

When I returned to the room, I told Brenda the burger was one of the best I'd ever had. I knew I'd have a hard time resisting ordering that burger again.

Summer vacation - Day 1 (Sunday)

2009-06-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today, we drove to Lake Chelan for a work conference for Brenda. We've been taking this trip now for 9 years. While she's busy with the conference from Sunday through Wednesday, the boys and I sit around, go swimming, eat, and watch movies. The temperature at Lake Chelan is usually somewhere in the 90s.

Once we arrived at Campbells, where we were staying (and the temperature was hovering in the 60s!), Brenda ran out to her conference. We had a room on the ground floor, which faces the lake. As I was putting clothes away, Cameron and Drew ran around like two kids who had been cooped up in the car for three hours.

Cameron started talking about going swimming over and over until I told him to stop. Drew wanted to go out to the lake. Eventually, I told them to go out to the beach. Instead of playing in the sand and dipping their feet in the water, they decided to wade into the water in their clothes.

After this, and some additional bad behavior, I realized I needed a new plan: I devised a point system on paper. I told them if each of them reached 20 points -- or 30 points combined -- we were going home.

Then I told them we needed to go to dinner.

"I don't want to go to dinner!" Cameron said.

"One point!" I said.

Once they dressed in dry clothes, we started walking to the restaurant upstairs. Cameron and Drew ran in the hallway.

"One point each!" I said, and they stopped running.

By the time we got to the Veranda Restaurant at Campbell's, they both had 5 points. I knew at this rate, we'd be leaving in an hour. Fortunately, their behavior improved.

The menu at Campbell's is always great. I told myself I'd order something different every time I ate at the restaurant. For this meal, it was the fish and chips by George! I also ordered the Hawaiian Steak Bites appetizer, which Cameron also enjoyed.

We went back to the room at 8:00 p.m., and Cameron wanted to rent Hotel for Dogs, which I was happy to pay for. Unfortunately, I had to work during this time to finish some things I didn't have time to do before I left.

I turned out my light at midnight.

World's Largest Model Rocket Launch

2009-05-28T10:47:00.001-07:00

If you've ever built model rockets, this launch is going to blow your mind.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090427-worlds-largest-model-rocket.html

An amazing video

2009-05-11T20:06:00.001-07:00

This is some serious "video" art:

Nine words women use

2009-05-11T11:25:00.001-07:00

This was sent to me by my loving wife. I thought it was so good, I wanted to put it here for everyone to see!

NINE WORDS WOMEN USE

(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour.. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing.. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome' . that will bring on a 'whatever')..

(8) Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying F-- YOU!

(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.

When equipment fails the drummer

2009-05-01T21:13:00.001-07:00

As Chris Mess blasted through the four-song opener at the High Dive, I thought things were going pretty well. My playing felt good. The large crowd was responding positively. Time, which usually runs by quickly on stage, seemed to slow down.

When we reached the part of the set when we play a cover -- Bowie's Suffragette City on this night -- Chris invited his girlfriend Mary on stage to sing ("Hey, Man!").

The crowd responded enthusiastically.

Then we moved to the quiet part of the set, starting with a song called Oleada by Julieta Venegas (lyrics in Spanish). When I stepped on my right bass drum pedal, it went down to the floor and didn't bounce back. I tried a few more times. No dice. So I played the entire song using my left bass drum pedal (it's a double-bass pedal).

Once the song was over, I told Chris I needed to fix my pedal. He tried to entertain the crowd. After a few seconds I realized I couldn't fix the pedal. The chain that connected to the foot plate was broken.

Normally, this would be a drummer's worst nightmare. But I came prepared.

I ran offstage and grabbed my single chain-drive Camco pedal from my gear bag. As I tried to attach the pedal to the bass drum, I realized it was missing the wing nut that would make this possible. I slid the pedal under the bass drum, hoping it would stay there. Then, when I tried to play the pedal, there was hardly any response.

Now this was becoming a drummer's worst nightmare.

We started playing Bossa Nova, and the first few measures were punctuated with mistakes caused by me trying to adjust to the poor feel of the replacement pedal. (It was at this point I realized I would have been better off leaving the double pedal on and trying to play with my left foot.)

I struggled through the song and realized that there was no way I could play No Joke, an up-tempo punk song, with this pedal. When I got Chris's attention to tell him this, he said we couldn't play it anyway due to time constraints. So we launch into our final song -- a Cheap Trick cover, Southern Girls.

We finished our set. I was angry.

I guess I thought I was prepared, and I was angry that it hadn't been good enough. I mean, at every gig I bring two snare drums, two bass drum pedals, extra drum heads in the car -- even a small drill with a drum key bit to help me fix a broken head more quickly.

But now, as they say, it became very clear: When it comes down to it, you really only need a few drums and hardware to play a show:

One drum throne
One bass drum (with pedal)
One snare
One ride or ride/crash cymbal
One optional crash cymbal

Everything else is non-essential. It's nice to be able to play drum fills on two or three tom-toms, and use an open or closed hi-hat or different crash cymbals to color the song. But it's not essential.

As an example of this principle, William Cremin, the drummer in the headlining band, Tim & the Time Machines, had only a hi-hat, snare drum, bass drum, and floor tom. I was impressed with the sounds he got out of his kit -- though it's worth noting that this band had six members (as opposed to Chris Mess's three), including acoustic guitar, bass, glockenspiel, keyboard, and cello (yes, cello at a rock show).

This meditation on being prepared doesn't mean I'll bring fewer drums or cymbals to gigs; it just means I'm going to be better prepared and not worry about the non-essential drums breaking anymore.

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Show details:

High Dive, Wed., April 29
9 p.m. Chris Mess http://www.myspace.com/chrismessrocks
10 p.m. Mighty Shiny http://www.myspace.com/mightyshiny
11 p.m. Doctor Doctor http://www.myspace.com/doctordoctorlovesface
12 a.m. Tim & the Time Machines http://www.myspace.com/theuniverse

Airplane pictures you probably don't want to see

2009-04-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

I received these pictures in e-mail and thought they were pretty amazing.

The AndyO excavation project (or how old plumbing ruined my week)

2009-03-28T14:44:00.001-07:00

A few weekends ago, I noticed that when we washed clothes that water was coming up through the floor drain in the basement. I did what I always did and called my neighbor John, who's a great plumber.

He came over on Monday, I went to work, and when I came home he said he'd spent 3 hours working on the floor drain. He thought he'd fixed it.

The weekend after that, when we used the washer, the water came up through the floor drain again. But it also happened when we drained the bathtub, flushed the toilet, or ran the dishwasher. I knew this meant that the drain was plugged farther down. I called John again.

Black Tuesday

John the plumber came over again, on a Tuesday this time, and started working on the problem. This time, I got a call from him during the day.

"How's it going?" I asked.

"Not very well. I just spent six hours working on your drain, and now I've got a the snake caught."

He told me a tale of trying to get the snake out of the drain hundreds of times, sometimes risking life and limb due to the tension on the snake uncoiling.

He ended the call with, "Sorry, but you can't use your plumbing right now."

That last sentence made me pause, but I didn't have much time to reflect. I happen to be having one of those crazy busy weeks at work -- and Brenda was out of town, which made me a single parent for a few days.

I called Jim Dandy, a recommended and well-established plumbing company in Seattle, and set up an appointment for 10:00 a.m. the next morning.

When I got home that night, I looked at the problem in the basement. Indeed there was a plumber's snake stuck in the drain stack -- and it wasn't one of those small ones. I knew this was serious.

The boys and I went to a hotel for the night, which was in itself stressful (imagine a 4 and 8 year old jumping across beds from the moment we walked in the door -- but that's another story).

Wednesday: Jim Dandy to the rescue

At noon the next day, two plumbers showed up from Jim Dandy. Their first job was to pull the plumber's snake out of the drain stack.

I worked upstairs on my laptop to the sounds of grinding machinery and occasional curses.

When all was said and done, they couldn't get the snake out. But they did find where the blockage was -- right under the last section of my deck. They said they were going to have to dig.

"We'll get the estimator out here to give you a bid."

Dollar signs seemed to hang in the air with the word bid, like a comic book text bubble. I'd heard horror stories: $10,000, $20,000, or more, once they start to dig.

The estimator came out, a nice guy named Chris. He took a look around, and then went out to his pickup to write up my bid on his wireless computer.

"It'll be in your inbox in 10 minutes."

When the bid came in for around $3000, I breathed a sigh. The really good news was they could start the next day on the project. And I would be able to use my toilet by Thursday.

I went to pick up the kids, and then we went to stay with my brother and his fiance for the night (but that's also another story).

Thursday: The Big Dogs Arrive

When I got to the house, a huge truck was parked outside. In the truck were Maui and Vai, two brothers who were going to save my plumbing. They assured me I'd be able to use the toilet that night. (I knew my wife would be thrilled, since she was flying in from Spokane and was feeling terrible from a lingering cold.)

After talking with Maui and Vai, I learned they were from American Samoa. Of course I didn't know where that was (it's close to Hawaii). When they worked together, they spoke Samoan. Even though they were stocky, muscular guys, they both had a calm nature. Maui, the supervisor, in particular spoke with a gentle tone that seemed to erode all the stress I'd been feeling (a Jedi Mind Trick?)

When I got home that night, I found a huge hole behind my house and my toilet was working.

Bad News

On Thursday night, I got another call from Chris about what they had found. Evidently, the pipe that ran under my deck had eroded away. If I didn't replace it, I would have Jim Dandy out digging again -- maybe next week, maybe in years.

"The bid will be in your inbox tonight," Chris told me.

Now the word bid seemed to bring with it a whole new level of dollar signs.

Friday: The truck arrives with a digger

When Maui and Vai arrived on Friday, their truck was towing a digger. I knew we were in for some serious work. When I came home, this is what I saw:

I'd finally joined some kind of club of home owners who had had large machinery on his property. My joke to my neighbors and other friends was, "Like my new digger?"

The work continues

Maui and Vai are coming back on Monday and probably Tuesday. So, hopefully this project will be done this week.

Concert commercial

2009-02-17T19:50:00.001-08:00

I saw this commercial the other night and thought it was hilarious. (I ended up telling my son about it on the way to, uh, his piano lesson.)

I was a little suspicious of an organization called "Foundation for a Better Life," but it turns out, according to Wikipedia, that this doesn't appear to be a shadow foundation for something else:

The Foundation is officially funded by a single donor family, and neither solicits nor accepts monetary donations from the public. It is not affiliated with any religion, rather hoping that "the values we share transcend any particular religion or nationality". The donor is Philip Anschutz, a billionaire American businessman whose fortune derives from oil, land, railroads, telecommunications, and entertainment businesses. Anschutz is a conservative Christian.

Obama becomes president

2009-01-21T01:20:00.001-08:00

What an incredible day.

After eight years of George W. Bush and his failed policies, we finally have a new leader in the White House. And while this new leader has a huge task in front of him with the economic crisis, at least he recognizes the challenge. In his inaugural speech he said that things are bad. It's such a relief to have someone in the White House who's actually working on problems instead of trying to cover them up.

As I turned on my TV this morning to watch the celebration at the Capitol, I was awed by the sight of over a million people waiting for Obama. I knew it was going to be an historic day, but this was beyond words. As a nation, we had transcended something -- even beyond the first black man to be President of the United States; we'd come together to celebrate optimism and hope.

If that wasn't enough, Obama gave a stirring, deeply-felt inaugural address. I think this is a speech people will be talking about a hundred years from now.

So, let it begin. The first hundred days are the most important. Let's dig out of this hole.

Obama's top-secret phone

2009-01-18T00:41:00.001-08:00

Update -- 2/2/09: According to Computerworld, President Obama has not divulged whether he's still using a BlackBerry. BlackBerry-gate continues.

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According to CNET, President-elect Obama is switching from his beloved Blackberry to a General Dynamics-built, super-secure Sectera Edge. Oh, and it's running Windows Mobile (uh-oh -- here comes Blackberry-gate, just like Zunegate). Check this thing out.

Like what you see? Pick one up for only $3,350.

Gifts you should have given - 2008

2008-12-25T13:07:00.001-08:00

Even though I'm late (as usual), here are a few gifts to consider for that special someone (who could be you!).

Xbox 360 - I've had my Xbox 360 Elite for a year (this version includes an HDMI connector for HD TVs), and it still surprises me every day. The thing you need to realize about this system is it's much, much more than a game system. With an Xbox 360 you can:

Play Netflix "instant" movies from the Xbox interface with a "Gold membership" (about $50 per year) - Now the Xbox hooks up automatically to your Netflix "instant" queue. The quality is good, including HD versions of many movies and TV shows.
Rent movies right from your Xbox -- including HD versions.
Buy and play TV shows.
Turn the Xbox into a Windows Media Center, where you can access your videos and pictures from your PC.
Use Xbox Live to play against other Xbox players across the web (requires an Xbox Gold membership).
Future feature: Play Blu-ray movies. While rumors of an Xbox 360 Blu-ray drive have been rampant since the demise of HD-DVD, it appears this will soon be a reality. If this report is true, you should be able to buy an external Blu-ray drive for around $150, which is much less than most of the Blu-ray players out there.

Netflix - Rent movies from the Netflix website, and they arrive by envelope in your mailbox in about 2-3 days. But the real selling point with this service is the ability to stream movies on your computer on demand. In addition, as mentioned in my Xbox 360 recommendation, Netflix instant movies also play in the Xbox interface (requires an Xbox "Gold" membership) as well as many other Netflix enabled players.

Zune - While Apple iPod lovers will diss the Zune, there are many reasons why you should consider buying one of these devices:

The Zune Pass subscription music service allows you to download all the music you want. Why buy CDs when you can download and listen to everything you want for around $15.00 per month? Plus, you can use one Zune Pass with three Zune devices and three computers. Finally, you get to keep 10 songs per month with this subscription. What a deal.
Wireless sync - Set up your Zune to sync with a host computer, and all you need to do is turn on your Zune and it syncs automatically. This is especially great for Podcast subscriptions.
Audiobook support - Fire up that Audible account and start listening to books on your commute.
Video store - Buy and download TV shows and other available videos. These will also play through a Windows Media Center.
Podcasts - This has become one of my favorite features, as it's like a TiVo for radio. The NPR shows are especially great.
Games - While the games are a little difficult to play on the Zune, this is a nice feature to have for those times you're stuck in traffic or if the kids need something to do on a long drive.
Much improved Zune 3.0 software and solid Zune device hardware.

Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote - I've had several Logitech universal remotes, and this one seems to be the best so far. The touch screen is easy to use, and the design is much more ergonomic than any of the others I've used.

R2-D2 Fish Tank - I saw this at the local Petco with my kids, and they wanted one right away.

Star Trek Phaser II - I just bought one of these, and while it's no Master Replicas Lightsaber, it's a nice replica of my favorite Star Trek prop. Plus, the Phaser I (also known as a "hand phaser") detaches from the Phaser II body. I just noticed that this is "out of stock," and it probably will be for a while. If you see one of these available to buy, don't hesitate.

Bose Companion 2 multimedia speaker system - Want some great stereo speakers for your home computer? These sound great, and there's no subwoofer needed to produce an amazing range of sound.

Bubble Calendar - Know someone who likes to pop bubble wrap? Get them one of these.

Bacon Salt - Over Thanksgiving this year, my brother-in-law Brian and I were talking obsessively about how great this product sounded. If I don't get some for Christmas, I'm ordering a package myself!

PowerSquid Surge 3000 Surge Protector, Black - This looks a little weird, but the idea is simple: Flexible outlets can handle more transformers than the usual powerstrips.

The quiet of winter

2008-12-18T22:56:00.000-08:00

Right now, as I write this, there's an eerie stillness outside. The snowstorm that had been predicted for Seattle came in today, dumping 6 inches of snow at my house. Usually I can hear the freeway breathing, but tonight... nothing. The snow must absorb all that sound before it can get here.

As I've mentioned before, when it snows in Seattle, everyone panics. People forget how to drive. Stores shut down. The news channels drop reporters near busy intersections or bad hills to watch drivers struggling with the elements.

As usual, Seattle schools were closed today. I managed to work about a half-day, but I also did a lot of other stuff with Brenda and the boys. Here's a list of our snow day fun:

Cameron, Drew, and I went out to a few pet stores to get flea medicine for the cats. On the way to Petco we stopped at the St. Catherine's church parking lot where I demonstrated the proper way to do doughnuts in the snow.
A visit to Petco is not unlike a zoo. We saw hamsters, ferrets, scorpions, parakeets, cockatiels, turtles, and a bunch of fish. We must have been in there for an hour. And it only cost $80.
The entire family made a trek to Red Robin for lunch. I had such a big lunch I didn't even eat dinner.
I gave my cats their first bath (in 10 years). Cameron seemed to enjoy seeing the cats get dunked and washed with flea shampoo ("Dad, are we torturing the cats?"). Rocky was yowling the entire time in the tub, while his sister Jasmine almost seemed to enjoy it. Now both of the cats are mad at me.
Tonight Brenda and the boys built a fire for the first time in probably 7 years. While I was relaxing downstairs (uh, I mean working), Cameron and Drew asked their mother about 100 questions about fire.
My gig at MotoCity was cancelled by 1:30. Bummer, as we've been preparing for the past month -- but no one would have shown up for it.

In case you're wondering, I already got a call from Seattle Public Schools letting us know that they're cancelling school for tomorrow, too. Big surprise.

Tune in tomorrow for More Snow Day Fun! (tm)

Chicken little says "The storm is coming!"

2008-12-18T01:06:00.001-08:00

This has been a helluva week so far (and it's only Wednesday). Here's what's happened:

Saturday night: It snows in Seattle (rare, but it does happen). The kids go outside instead of going to bed.

Sunday - The temperature drops in to the 20s. Snow doesn't melt. Drivers are confused.

Monday - The phone rings at 6:30 a.m. In my bedroom. I don't move, hoping Brenda will get it. She does. School is two hours late. I take Drew to pre-school, which opens at 9:30. Brenda and Cameron wait for a school bus that never arrives. (Why did they send out that snow schedule?)

Tuesday - Brenda has moved the phone out of the bedroom. It doesn't matter; when it rings at 7:30 a.m., she jumps up to get it. It's a friend calling to tell us that school is, yet again, two hours late. This time, it's my turn to wait around with the kids. We go to McDonald's for breakfast. I hear about a HUGE storm coming in after midnight. Meetings are cancelled at work.

Wednesday - Even though it's not snowing, Seattle Schools are ALL CLOSED in preparation for THE STORM. Brenda and I stay home with the kids, taking turns working remotely. The storm never arrives. But we hear it's snowing everywhere else (Olympia, Tacoma, Port Townsend, etc).

Recommendations:

Fire the meteorologists who came up with this forecast for Seattle.
The Seattle School district should stop cancelling school based on any forecast. (My guess is there were millions of dollars of lost productivity today based on this one mistake.)
Seattle needs to get tough about snow. It's just rain that's a little frozen.

Thursday - 1:02 a.m. I just looked out the window. Still no snow.

Meteor in Canada

2008-11-24T11:20:00.001-08:00

I just saw this video on the web. It reminds me of a meteor I saw when I was in New Mexico about 10 years ago. The one I saw was probably the most incredible, frightening thing I've ever seen in the night sky, a green fireball hurtling toward earth. I wondered in those few seconds if this was the meteor that was going to wipe out humanity (or New Mexico). But it disappeared silently over the horizon.

Later, when we watched the news, it was strange to hear all the different interpretations of what we'd seen. Many people claimed that it was an airplane, so they sent out search helicopters to try and find it.

Election 2008

2008-11-04T17:35:00.001-08:00

After what seems like years, the election is finally happening today. Here are the results.

NYC - Day 2 (Saturday)

2008-10-18T23:33:00.000-07:00

Monica and I somehow got up around 8:00 a.m. or so (local time). After getting ready, we joined the other 25 or so people in the hotel for the "Continental Breakfast." Most of the other people were from Europe, speaking their native languages. It was pretty crowded, but I ended up getting some cereal and really bad orange juice.

Subway hell

After we got all our packs together and checked out, we walked through the crisp morning air to the subway station, about five or so blocks away. As luck would have it, our subway station was closed due to construction. We tried to make sense of the signs at a bus stop about what to do (something about taking a bus to another subway station). Local people were confused. Every bus that pulled up was packed.

We followed some other people who seemed to know what to do in this situation. After a few minutes we realized these people didn't know what they were doing either -- basically a blind leading the blind situation. We did end up talking to a local guy who was trying to get to work and was as confused as we were. Then we spotted a bus that was miraculously heading to the detour subway station. The bus driver was nice enough to let us on when she was at a stoplight.

There were no seats on the bus, which was a little difficult with my full backpack. I somehow was able to wedge myself in the aisle and hold on for dear life -- because this driver was driving her bus like a Ferrari.

At another stoplight, she opened the door for a man.

"Where you goin'?" she asked.

I heard some muffled response.

"Hell no!" she said, and shut the door in his face.

I thought that was about as New York as you can get.

As we continued driving, I listened to the music of foreign languages all around me -- while I sweated in my full jacket.

Once at our subway station, Monica and I bought our passes for the week and then walked down to the platform and waited. Our subway arrived, and we piled into the crowded car. Many people were dozing in the warm car. I felt like dozing myself, but I was standing. Eventually, enough people got off the car so Monica and I could sit down.

NYC - first thoughts

We got to our destination (42 street Port Authority Bus Terminal), and got off the subway car. Emerging from the underground into the cool morning air was refreshing after being in the stuffy car. Immediately I was struck by the buildings towering overhead that carved out long canyons in every direction. Even though we weren't in Times Square, the amount of visual information that assaulted me was astonishing. There's a density that you don't see in many other cities, with billboards and store signs and other advertisements. This is the reason filmmakers love New York so much: there's so much to look at!

We got to our hotel, the Milford Plaza, topped with a huge "M". (We found out later that the original reason for the M was that the hotel was called the Manhattan Hotel). We couldn't check in, so we left our bags and started walking through the city.

Before we left, Monica and I had compiled our lists of things we wanted to see in New York in an Excel worksheet. On the plane, we prioritized that list in Excel on my Palm Treo, which we could then sort. We had something like 50 or 60 things to see. Most people who saw the initial list said, "There's no way you're going to see all that." I agreed with them, but there's something about setting up an impossible challenge like this that Monica and I both think is fun. We would soon be crossing off many items.

A walk in NYC

As Monica and I walked through Broadway, with its hundreds of theaters advertising plays, familiar and unfamiliar, we ended up almost immediately in Times Square. This is one of the most famous places in the world, and the assault on my senses was about what I expected. Here's a panorama of what it looked like.

We continued walking and found Radio City Music Hall, 30 Rock (GE building), and then Rockefeller Center. People were skating down below in Rockefeller, and there was certainly a wintry chill in the air. In just a few steps, we saw:

The set of the Today show (dark, as it was Saturday)
Christie's auction house
A film crew outside 30 Rock
The NBC store

St. Patrick's Church

On our way to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), we stopped by St. Patrick's, a Neo-Gothic style Catholic cathedral. Having visited several of the most famous churches in the world in Europe, I have to say that St. Patrick's was on the same scale. There were hundreds of people walking around. The organ blasted notes every now and then from its 9,838 pipes.

I persuaded Monica to go sit in the church pews near the alter -- where I always find you can get the feel of a church. While we were sitting there, Monica told me one of the best jokes of the trip (originally from the Office): "A man who farts in church sits in his own pew." One could certainly afford to do that in this church, as it seated over 2,000 people. (But I didn't, in case you were wondering.)

MoMA

The Museum of Modern Art had a line nearly a block long to get in. While I waited in the line, Monica talked to one of the employees, who said we could avoid the line we wanted to buy a City Pass. Since we were doing that anyway (to save time and money), we got in almost right away.

Honestly, I hadn't even heard of MoMA before visiting New York. But I had heard of the many famous paintings it housed, including Van Gogh's The Starry Night and Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World (two of my favorites). But we were also treated to work by Cezanne, Seurat, Gauguin, Munch, Rousseau, Klimt, Picasso, Kandinsky, Matisse, Chagall, Duchamp, Mondrian, Brancusi, Hopper, Miro, Max Ernst, Dali, Warhol, and Pollack. Having visited the Louvre in Pars, the Uffizi in Florence, the Tate in London, and many other amazing museums in Europe, I have to say MoMA is a North American equal. I was certainly happy I'd taken that art history class in college, which introduced me to many of these paintings. Take a look at these masterpieces:

Lunch

All that art and walking around had made us really hungry. We tried to find a restaurant on our list of places we wanted to eat -- but we didn't have the patience to try to locate something. We settled on Astro's, a typical New York deli, where Monica and I both had sandwiches (we both thought they were a little dry, but maybe that's the way they like their sandwiches in New York).

MoMA - Van Gogh

After lunch, it was back to the special exhibit Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night, where we were treated to an amazing collection of Van Gogh paintings, including The Starry Night. My favorite part of this exhibit were the sketches by Van Gogh in his notebook or in letters to his brother Theo. Here you could see the first drafts of some of the most famous paintings in the world. (To me, the creative process is almost as interesting as the final result.)

It's a great feeling to see that much great art, but it's pretty exhausting, too.

Buddy Rich Memorial 2009 concert

After we got back to the hotel and rested, we went out to see the Buddy Rich Memorial 2009 concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom, featuring many great drummers, including Neil Peart, the famous drummer and lyricist of Rush. To read my thoughts about this event, click here.

Gray's Papaya Dogs

After the Buddy Rich show, I was starving. As we walked back to our hotel, we spotted Gray's Papaya Dogs, which was on our list of places to eat. We both got a hot dog and ate it right there, standing at the counter. While I enjoyed the dogs, I can't say they lived up to their hype. I'm sure there was an awesome New York hotdog somewhere, but Papaya Dogs ended up being my first and only New York dog.

"Damn it all to hell!"

Later that night, Monica came up with the next best joke of the entire trip. Having just seen Neil Peart perform at the Hammerstein Ballroom, Monica and I both knew he probably hadn't played as well as he'd wanted to. We pictured Neil going backstage and being really upset at his performance.

Monica said, "I can just see Neil saying, 'Damn it all to hell!'"

We both started saying this over and over. "Damn it all to hell!" Monica finally said, "Where is that from? Oh, yeah, it was in The Simpsons."

I said, "No, it's from Planet of the Apes, when Charlton Heston finds the Statue of Liberty and realizes he hasn't landed on an alien planet filled with talking apes -- he's on Earth!"

"Damn you! God damn you all to hell!"

Maybe you had to be there...

NYC - Day 1 (Friday)

2008-10-18T00:54:00.000-07:00

I traveled to New York with Monica Z to see my favorite drummer Neil Peart. He was playing at the Buddy Rich 2008 Memorial concert with a few other notable drummers, including Terry Bozzio, Chad Smith, Peter Erskine, and Tommy Igoe. As I'd told everyone before I left, it was a great excuse to see New York City for the first time.

Mid-morning flight

My friend Monica, with whom I'd shared many Rush-related journeys, flew out mid-day. This meant I could take the kids to school before driving to the airport. I parked in my favorite lot, went through security, and walked what seemed like a mile to the Delta Airlines gate at Sea-Tac.

The first thing I noticed out the window was a guy barbecuing chicken on the tarmac, and I wondered if this was a Friday tradition for the Delta employees. Monica arrived not long after I did, and we walked off to a sandwich shop to get something to eat on the plane (instead of just peanuts).

We boarded the plane on time and took off for the 5-hour flight. Monica told me one of the reasons she'd booked us on Delta was because they had LCD touchscreens on the seatbacks, and you could play a trivia game against all the other passengers. We must have done this for hours, which made the flight go by pretty fast. I also watched some shows I'd downloaded to my Zune, including The Office and 30 Rock.

Sitting at JFK

Once we landed (early, I might add) we sat on the tarmac for what seemed like hours. Someone on the plane had told us JFK is famous for huge delays. In this case, our plane had nowhere to go; we were early, and our gate was occupied. This wouldn't have been so bad, but my back was killing me, and the plane was a balmy 80-degrees (we thought it might be all those video screens).

First NYC cab ride

Once we finally departed the plane, we went in the direction of "transportation" and walked up to a cab sitting at the curb. The driver pointed us to the cabstand, where they systematically dispatched waiting cabs. The cabstand dispatcher wrote down our destination and handed it to the cab driver, who I think was Russian. He didn't know where the Jamaica Super 8 motel was, but he pulled out a map and figured it out.

The interior of the cab surprised me, as I think my expectations came almost exclusively from the movie Taxi Driver. First, it was spotless. And there was an LCD TV showing advertisements and information on the divider between us and the driver. I was also surprised that you could pay by credit card from the back seat.

Our actual drive reminded me of another movie, Gotcha!, where two Americans are driven through the streets of Paris at Mach speeds. Our driver might not have been driving that fast, but let's just say the back of the cab felt like a rollercoaster when he drove around corners. I hung on to the straps for effect.

Jamaica Super 8 and Wendy's

Once we checked into the Super 8, we went out into the cool Queens night to Wendy's. While we both wanted to eat at a more "local" establishment (the guy at the hotel had suggested an Indian/Italian restaurant) we were too hungry to look around.

In Wendy's, I noticed a few things:

The people in the restaurant were more diverse than the types of people you see in Seattle. There were guys in sharp suits, guys wearing Hip Hop clothes, and NYPD officers on break. Monica and I must have looked like we had "out of town" stickers stuck to our foreheads, though people didn't treat us that way.
The menu displayed the calories of each item so that you could clearly see that, say, the fried chicken strips were way over a thousand calories. This made me feel so guilty that I ordered a salad (and a Jr. bacon burger).

I knew that New York had some interesting laws about banning transfats, but I hadn't heard about the calories being displayed so prominently on menus (we would find out later that this was on all menus).

While we were eating, I noticed that one of the police officers had a key chain attached to his belt with probably 200 keys. Monica and I tried to figure out why they would need all those keys. I didn't feel like asking.

After that, we went back to the motel and relaxed. I looked out the window. Across the street, all the houses had bars across the windows. Up the street, stores had bars or steel garage doors that closed over the entrance.

We weren't in Seattle anymore.

The sky is falling (on Wall Street)

2008-09-29T20:22:00.001-07:00

Well, the bailout package didn't pass the House of Representatives today. Everyone thought it was going to pass. And this is what it did to Wall Street:

I guess -777.68 is the third-biggest decline since World War II, and the worst decline in two decades. However this decline is the worst "one day point drop ever for the index," which wiped out $1.2 trillion in market value. On Black Monday, October 19, 1987, the market lost 20% (508 points), which was a stock market crash.

So, I guess we could say that it could have been worse.

We'll see what happens.

Bad Ad: Mortgage dancers routinely ruin my day

2008-09-13T00:31:00.001-07:00

You've probably seen them. You go to a webpage and suddenly you see a flicker of movement out of the corner of your eye. Your attention is sucked into the vortex of the mortgage dancers. You try to look away, but you can't. You might as well shut down your computer.

The mortgage dancer ads are everywhere on the Internet and have been for a while. If you're like me, you probably hate them, but also know they have the ability to hypnotize you. By the time you wake up, five minutes have passed... maybe more.

I thought I'd list a few of the mortgage dancer ads from LowerMyBills.com with some commentary.

What do you think of the Mortgage Dancers?

Exhibit #1: Dancing women celebrate affordable mortgage payments

The first time I saw this ad, I was a bit mesmerized. My favorite part was the way the woman closest to the camera raised her hands to her mouth as if to say, "Mercy!" I'm not sure if that gesture is in relation to the affordable mortgage payments or her dance moves.

Note how Washington (probably being picked up by my IP address) is already pre-selected in the first drop-down box (pretty sneaky). Note how it appears you can calculate a new payment right here on the ad (you can't -- I tried).

Exhibit #2: Dancing green alien celebrates falling mortgage rates

The hip dancers have been replaced with an alien, whose moves bring to mind the dancing baby of the 90s that I also found hypnotic, but also kind of creepy.

Notice how Washington is now part of the headline, and it appears you can calculate your new payment right in the ad (you still can't do this).

Check out the mortgage rate: $510,000 for under $1,498/month. I took this screenshot a while ago -- long before the housing crisis came into the focus for the national media.

Exhibit #3: Dancing lady in a tank top celebrates a new housing bill

They must have figured out the alien creeped people out, because they're back to good old sex appear -- a lady dancing on a bridge.

The mortgage is now $133,000 for under $529/month. If we compared this to the last ad, you'd only be getting a $399,000 mortgage for around $1,500/month. This is due to the housing credit problem, or it's using a different default mortgage ratio.Either way, I'm annoyed.

Exhibit #4: Dancing lady celebrates a 2% fund rate

Yep, they brought back a dancing woman. This time there's no background to distract us. Rates haven't changed, since this was taken around the same time as the last ad.

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

In researching my disdain for these ads I realized that (as usual) I'm late to the party. Here are some other blogs and stories about LowerMyBills.

Dev Ravindran created a blog just to monitor the LowerMyBills.com advertisements.
Rogers Cadenhead talks about how the mortgage dancers "ate my brain."
Adverlicio.us.com has an entire catalog of LowerMyBills.com ads.
Even the New York Times had an article about these ads, which explores their effectiveness.

On Adverlicio.us.com, I found a few other LowerMyBills dancer ads that I remembered, but didn't capture at the time.

Dancing Santa

Jive-dancing woman in gray

First-pumping dancer

Dancing cowboys

Moon dancers

The PZEV conspiracy

2008-09-01T23:35:00.001-07:00

The other day, as I was dropping off my son at his day care, I saw a Subaru Outback with a PZEV logo that got my attention. It looked like this:

When I got out, and looked more closely, I saw PZEV stood for "Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle." I thought this was some kind of joke -- something you might see on a fake Saturday Night Live advertisement. But it's no joke: I looked it up, and it appears that PZEV cars really do release very little hydrocarbon emissions into the atmosphere.

How little? According to an MSN article I read, Dirty Secret: Green Cars Automakers Won't Sell You, you release more hydrocarbons by mowing your lawn in one hour than you do driving 2000 miles in a PZEV car.

If you're like me, you probably just said "Wow!" The next logical question is, "Where can I buy one of these cars?" If you live New York, California, or six other Northeast states, you can go buy one right now. If not, you're out of luck. As the article states:

"Not only can't you buy one, but the government says it's currently illegal for automakers to sell these green cars outside of the special states. Under terms of the Clean Air Act--in the kind of delicious irony only our government can pull off--anyone (dealer, consumer, automaker) involved in an out-of-bounds PZEV sale could be subject to civil fines of up to $27,500. Volvo sent its dealers a memo alerting them to this fact, noting that its greenest S40 and V50 models were only for the special states."

That's right folks. You can't buy a car that's going to help the planet. Here's the reason (from Wikipedia) with the red text emphasized by me:

The reasoning is surmised that while modifications only cost $200 for the consumer, it costs as much as $1,500 for the automaker. If the car companies passed on the entire expense, it could hinder sales and slow the automaker's compliance with ultra-low-emission laws.

It seems like this reason is designed to, perhaps, protect the American auto manufacturers. But that's only the partial reason.

A blog from Edmunds.com explains that "politics and parsimony" have collided to make this mess:

The politics are regulatory. The federal Environmental Protection Agency doesn't have a PZEV category of its own, but won�t recognize the California rating, which can be applied only there and in the five states -- Oregon, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine -- that have adopted California emissions standards. No regulatory agency likes to hand any of its power over to another.
The parsimony is corporate. Automakers spend about $100,000 to get a model certified as a PZEV under California Air Resources Board rules. They would have to spend another $100,000 per model to get them cleared by the EPA, which insists on issuing its own certification even though it acknowledges that the cars are cleaner than required by the most stringent federal standard.

So whenever you read about those asinine bureaucratic schemes in China or Russia or Africa, you can feel good that the United States also participates in the same stupidity.

I for one will sleep better at night. And continue to drive my dirty Subaru Outback.

Dirty Secret: Green Cars Automakers Won't Sell You - MSN Autos

Michael Phelps - 8 Olympic Gold Medals

2008-08-17T23:01:00.001-07:00

I ended up watching quite a bit of the Olympics last night, even though I hadn't really planned on it. Every time I tried to get away from the TV, it seemed like there was some new record being broken -- or something being done that had never been done before.

Mark Spitz's record of 7 medals in one Olympic Games has been shattered by Michael Phelps, who won his 8th gold medal. There are already Visa advertisements congratulating Phelps (obviously prepared ahead of time), and arguments in the media about whether he's the greatest athlete of all time. I heard that Speedo, who sponsors Phelps, will pay him $1 million for breaking the Spitz record.

My thoughts: Phelps has indeed joined the pantheon of legendary athletes who appear on Wheaties boxes in America, talk to late night talk show hosts, and write books to tell the secrets of their success. Not only did he win 8 gold medals, but in each event he did it in World Record or Olympic Record time.

While the media like to focus on individuals, Phelps could never have accomplished this feat without his fellow relay swimmers, who helped him win three of his eight medals. These are the nine swimmers who helped elevate Phelps to legendary status:

In addition to the preceding list of swimmers, there were additional swimmers who participated only in heats who also won gold medals (something I didn't know):

In the 4x100 meter freestyle relay, these swimmers were:

Nathan Adrian
Matt Grevers
Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner

In the 4x200 meter freestyle rely, these swimmers were:

David Walters
Erik Vendt
Klete Keller

And in the 4x100 meter medley relay, these swimmers were:

Matt Grevers
Mark Gangloff
Ian Crocker
Garrett Weber-Gale

Here are the 8 medals that Phelps (and the others) won:

Date (in Beijing)
Event Results
Time

August 10 400 m individual medley Gold Medal
4:03.84

August 11 4 x 100 m freestyle relay Gold Medal 3:08.24

August 12

200 m freestyle

Gold Medal

1:42.96

August 13

200 m butterfly

Gold Medal

1:52.03

August 13

4 x 200 m freestyle relay

Gold Medal

6:58.56

August 15

200 m individual medley

Gold Medal

1:54.23

August 16

100 m butterfly

Gold Medal

50.58

August 17

4 x 100 m medley relay

Gold Medal

3:29.34

Happy Birthday from Joe Cocker (with subtitles)

2008-08-14T11:39:00.001-07:00

This is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. This is a Joe Cocker performance at Woodstock that is subtitled "for the clear-headed."

Where the Hell is Matt? - 2008

2008-07-08T15:23:00.001-07:00

I read about this in the New York Times today. But I remember a friend sending his first video back in 2006. I liked it then, and I like it now.

Through Matt and his dancing across the world, we get to see a different view of people and places than we normally see on the news. And for a few minutes, we can see that people in other countries are not as different as we might think.

Driving to Lake Chelan

2008-06-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

We're back in beautiful Lake Chelan, where my wife attends a conference every year. It's also become a tradition for the kids and me to come with her. I still remember the first time I came along with Cameron, who was only a few months old. It's certainly a lot easier now, even though I have to watch after two kids now.

To sleep... perchance to dream

Before we left Seattle, I decided to sleep in -- and then sleep some more. Brenda had told me the day before that we were leaving early, and I'd agreed. But then I went downstairs with the boys and enjoyed a nice mid-morning nap to the soothing sounds of The Lion King.

When I got back upstairs, Brenda was pulling all her bags out of our Outback and throwing them in the Jetta. I asked what she was doing, and she said, "I need to go. I'll meet you there."

Ooops. Shouldn't have taken that mid-morning nap.

After several minutes of negotiating -- I was standing in the entryway, and she was standing near her car -- she agreed to give me 30 minutes.

In the shower, I started singing a new song:

"I'm in the doghouse/ And the whole neighborhood knows it..."

Sidenote: I live in a neighborhood where a public argument will become fodder for many gossip sessions. I've learned not to care about this stuff -- unless I'm truly out of line (that is, yelling).

Good news/Bad news

I made it out of the house in about 45 minutes, although by the time we gassed up the car and returned to the house for some stuff I'd forgotten, it was well over an hour.

The good news was that we got to Campbell's at Lake Chelan in about 3-1/2 hours. The bad news was they didn't have our room ready.

I'm not one of those people who always thinks his room should be ready -- especially when I'm getting in before check-in time -- but you think they would have given a little extra effort for the person putting on the conference (Brenda). Instead, we got the, "Check-in time is at 4:00. We'll call you if we can get your room ready earlier."

Brenda had to run off to a meeting, and I decided to sit in the lobby with Drew (wearing only a diaper) and Cameron (wearing all his clothes). They raised hell, jumping on couches and having a good time. The concierge finally told them to settle down.

At 4:10, I got up and waited in line to check in. When I got up to the front, around 4:25, they said they still didn't know if my room was available -- but they would check. Thankfully, it was available.

But when we arrived at the room, there was a housekeeping cart sitting out front. I asked the person there if the room was ready, and they called someone on their walkie talkie.

"I just told the office that that room was ready!" a man yelled on the walkie talkie.

I decided at this point, they were either having a really bad day -- or they hadn't trained their staff.

Freeze Gopher!

After we were in the room and starting to relax, I got out my new telephoto lens for my Canon G9. Fortunately, a subject appeared in the distance. After taking a few shots, I thought maybe it was a gopher. Or a groundhog. Or a prairie dog.

Later I found out it was a marmot -- probably a Yellow-bellied Marmot, which is common in the Northwest.

Later I went out during twilight to take some additional pictures of Campbell's. I love this time of the day, with the mountains sharpening against the sky, the lake starting to calm.

Date (in Beijing)	Event	Results	Time
August 10	400 m individual medley	Gold Medal	4:03.84
August 11	4 x 100 m freestyle relay	Gold Medal	3:08.24
August 12	200 m freestyle	Gold Medal	1:42.96
August 13	200 m butterfly	Gold Medal	1:52.03
August 13	4 x 200 m freestyle relay	Gold Medal	6:58.56
August 15	200 m individual medley	Gold Medal	1:54.23
August 16	100 m butterfly	Gold Medal	50.58
August 17	4 x 100 m medley relay	Gold Medal	3:29.34