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May 31, 2007
Allergies Suck
The weather has been glorious of late - warm enough in the morning to leave the house without my over-kit, and bordering on a bit warm in the afternoon.
And the pollen is out.
Every day as I pass the park in Bellevue and the arboretum in the U district I ride through pollen storms - and by the time I reach the ferry, my eyes are itchy and watering. If I make the mistake of rubbing them, I look pretty baked.
Ahhh, summer.
Posted by dberger at 2:36 PM
Major Dickason
Last time I needed coffee at work, I wandered over to the QFC across the street and bought a bag of Major Dickason's Blend.
I have no idea who Major Dickason is, was, or wasn't, but I'm pretty sure he wore a pith helmet, carried an big gun and drank tea, not coffee, under a pavilion in the desert somewhere.
...
Or he could have been from Wisconsin, but that's far less entertaining.
Posted by dberger at 8:19 AM
May 30, 2007
Another One Down
Freecycle is cool. Dawnise listed the futon we've had since living in our first condo on Sunday, and a family came and picked it up last night to put in their teenagers bedroom.
The futon was in good shape overall - oak frame in good condition, mattress & cover showing a bit of age but serviceable. We were done with it, and I'm much happier knowing someone will get additional use out of it rather than it landing in a landfill.
Posted by dberger at 6:21 AM
May 29, 2007
Musings on My Commute
I'm posting this from the ferry, thanks to Bluetooth, my Treo, and Cingular's (sllloowww) data connectivity.
We don't have standing holidays - employees get a block of paid time off, you take it when you want to take it. The office is open on Christmas, New New Years, and every day in between. So, since we didn't have plans for Monday, I worked a normal day. There were like 12 people on the ferry at 7am, and had I not seen fit to keep my speed in the reasonable double-digits, I could have been to work in no time at all.
Continue reading "Musings on My Commute"
Posted by dberger at 7:07 AM
Zenith Angle
One of the books I picked up during our stay in Chico for my brothers graduation was a hardbound copy of The Zenith Angle. Finished it on the ferry home yesterday.
I basically agree with the amazon 2.5 star aggregate - it was far from great fiction, but it wasn't horrible. It's one of the few works of fiction I've managed to read through after the author makes egregious errors when dealing with computing. I can only say that if he was as off about satellites and electronics as he was about computing, he's got the distinction of making all manor of geek cringe.
Still, the story was interesting enough, and a couple of the characters stuck with me, so it was worth the (used) purchase price. If you're a Sterling fan, give it a whirl. If you're not, I can't say it's a must-read.
Posted by dberger at 6:57 AM
May 28, 2007
In a state of limbo
We got the last CMA we were waiting for last night and far from crystallizing our position and making next steps apparent, it just confused things even further.
Continue reading "In a state of limbo"
Posted by dberger at 8:27 AM
May 25, 2007
The Price of Progress
A while back, we bought an HP PhotoSmart 1115. I'm sure we got it on sale, and I think it was about $150.
I've really never used it - as I mostly don't see the point in printing digital pictures - it's probably printed a dozen pages. I was thinking of getting rid of it, so I checked ebay.
There was one (in "good" condition) for a dollar.
Guess I'll keep it.
Posted by dberger at 5:57 PM | Comments (1)
On Ownership
Contemplating moving draws unavoidable attention to how much "stuff" one has accumulated over the course of life.
I find that as I get older there are fewer and fewer things that I actually care about keeping.
Continue reading "On Ownership"
Posted by dberger at 12:06 PM | Comments (2)
Spontaneous Remission: T + 1 Week
Junior went back to the vet this morning for a follow up - he's been eating "normal" food all week, as much as he wants, and no insulin shots.
His blood glucose was normal.
So we'll leave him on this diet for another week and bring him back for one more checkup before we consider ourselves out of the twice-daily insulin injections business.
Even if it works out, we'll have to watch him for the rest of his life - he's running on borrowed insulin, so to speak, and his pancreas could give out (again) at any time.
But still, not being tied to the house at 12 hour intervals is awesome. I'd almost forgotten how much freedom and flexibility we'd given up. We're going to a BBQ at a friends place on Sunday that starts at 1, and we don't need to be home by 8 to "dose the cat."
Huzzah.
Posted by dberger at 10:57 AM
May 22, 2007
Some Things Are Better Left Unspoken
I have an audio book version of Neuromancer read by William Gibson. I got it on cassette while I was in college for my undergrad degree, and the sides of the tape were just about perfect for the drive from Anaheim to Riverside.
I got audiobook copies of Richard Morgans Takeshi Kovacs novels (Altered Carbon, Broken Angles, and Woken Furies which join Neuromancer on a very short list of books I re-read on occasion) from the local library, hoping they'd be as compelling and repeatable as Neuromancer.
In fact, the library didn't have Carbon or Angels in their collection, and ordered them at my request.
So I feel a little guilty that I can't sit through them, and am returning them unlistened.
The narrator leaves me completely flat, and managed to turn some of the most evocative intro paragraphs I've read into an endurance trial.
Sure glad I didn't buy them as audiobooks...
Posted by dberger at 8:00 PM
The Difference Engine
One of the books I picked up while in Chico this past weekend was a paperback edition of Doron Swade's The Difference Engine Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer.
The cover quotes the Portland Oregonian as saying "In every way a worthy successor to the mantle of Dava Sobel's Longitude". Those of you who've read the latter realize what a tall order that is...
Continue reading "The Difference Engine"
Posted by dberger at 7:28 PM
May 21, 2007
Diabetic Cats
Junior spent the weekend at the vets while we were out of town, and when we picked him up on Sunday, we were told that he hadn't had, or needed, his insulin over the weekend. They checked his blood sugar a couple times during his stay, and it didn't spike after eating. They told us to feed him as normal, but not give him his shots that night and this morning and to call and talk to the vet, which Dawnise did.
I've got a new phrase in my vocabulary - Spontaneous Remission.
So he's back to normal food and no shots for the week, he'll get tested again at the end of the week (and we're watching for a recurrence of the symptoms that prompted the initial diagnosis).
Wacky.
Posted by dberger at 8:13 PM
It's Not Easy Being Green
I'm not exactly a tree-hugging hippie, or anything, but I do strongly believe in minimizing waste and treading lightly on the planet whenever possible. My parents had a compost pile for as long as I can remember - and so from the time Dawnise and I moved into a house (composting in condo is tricky) so have we. We recently replaced all the lights in the house that aren't on dimmers with compact fluorescents. We recycle aluminium, glass and cardboard/paper.
But I have no idea what to do about Styrofoam.
Continue reading "It's Not Easy Being Green"
Posted by dberger at 12:10 PM | Comments (1)
May 20, 2007
Milestones
We flew out early (which required leaving the house really early) Friday morning to Sacramento for my little brother's graduation from Chico State on Saturday. My folks had arrived Thursday, and my sister drove up and joined us in time for dinner Friday afternoon.
We has some good food, were lucky to have good weather, and had a good time.
And best of all, I got to see my brother graduate. Color me really proud.
Continue reading "Milestones"
Posted by dberger at 1:40 PM | Comments (3)
May 17, 2007
The Devil In Amber
Finished the second Lucifer Box novel - The Devil in Amber this afternoon. Fun reading, just like it's predicessor. A bit of Indiana Jones meets Thursday Next sprinkled with Lovecraft for good measure.
I was a bit surprised at Gatiss' decision to significantly age the main character - it suggests he doesn't plan a long run.
Posted by dberger at 9:13 PM
Can't Outrun A Radio
The old saying has been proven true yet again. And as a modern update - it seems you can't outrun a traffic camera in a semi-police state.
Posted by dberger at 3:14 PM
May 16, 2007
Things I'll Miss, And Things I Won't
We met with an island realtor last night - it went pretty well, and we should be getting a Comparative Market Analysis from her tonight or tomorrow. We've got another meeting on Monday.
So moving seems to be, well, moving.
Continue reading "Things I'll Miss, And Things I Won't"
Posted by dberger at 9:22 PM
May 15, 2007
Have I Mentioned I Hate Moving?
After a couple of discussions - including with our financial planner - I've pretty much ruled out the "buy, move, sell" plan. Which pretty much kills "look around for the right house, and do nothing unless and until you find it."
Continue reading "Have I Mentioned I Hate Moving?"
Posted by dberger at 11:52 AM
Tina In the Morning
This morning it's the musical stylings of Tina Dico (Rhapsody) and Tina Cousins (Rhapsody doesn't have her in their catalog. If you know the secret word, you can find samples in my music collection.).
Posted by dberger at 9:14 AM
May 14, 2007
The Vesuvius Club: A Bit of Fluff
Dru mentioned the sequel to The Vesuvius Club in her blog a bit ago, so I grabbed both books from the local library.
I finished Vesuvius club this morning on the ferry, and basically enjoyed it. Good storytelling, entertaining narrator with a great name. Funny, as often overtly as subtly, and all 'round entertaining.
Posted by dberger at 10:06 AM
May 13, 2007
A Bad Year for the Heerschap Family
I got word that my uncle Ken - another of my mother's brothers - had a fatal heart-attack yesterday.
My grandmother has lost two of her eight children this year. No parent should have go through that.
Posted by dberger at 1:19 PM
May 11, 2007
A Half Pound of Coffee per Week?
At the islands annual "Girls Night Out" event, Dawnise picked up a free half-pound sample of Storyville coffee.
It's pretty good. On par with Vivace and Cafe Umbria.
At the moment they're running a special - for "only" the price of shipping ($20) you get four weeks (2 lbs) of coffee delivered to your door, plus two logo mugs. At that price, it's a deal - you'd pay that ($10/lb) for Peet's or either of the aforementioned brands in the store.
After the intro period, however, it's $16/lb plus shipping.
Which is, shall we say, less of a deal.
Posted by dberger at 1:37 PM | Comments (2)
Lifestyle Tradeoffs
Dawnise and I really like where we live - we like our house, our neighbors, the fact that the peninsula is a place of stunning natural beauty.
But we're thinking of moving.
Continue reading "Lifestyle Tradeoffs"
Posted by dberger at 8:52 AM
Shameless Self Promotion
I don't normally plug work, but I sent this article to Dawnise and she asked that I link it from here, for folks playing along at home to read.
So there it is.
Posted by dberger at 8:45 AM
May 9, 2007
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Just finished Darkly Dreaming Dexter, and aside from the "gimmick" (a first person narrative told from the perspective of a robin-hood-like serial killer), it sorta left me flat.
The writing was ok, and Dexter was "full" enough as a character to make me curious to know more - but the end was unsatisfying and predictable from very early in the story. Not an "avoid at all costs" but neither a "rush out and read the sequel."
Posted by dberger at 9:02 PM
May 8, 2007
The Victorian Internet
I remember hearing Tom Standage interviewed on NPR several years back about his then-new book that made the argument that the real communications revolution wasn't the Internet, or the web, or anything in the last hundred years but was - in fact - the telegraph. It reduced communications lag from days, or months, to moments and fundamentally changed the way the world works.
I finally got around to getting The Victorian Internet from our local library, and while I wasn't blown away by the writing, the content was solid - and the argument (which he only makes at the very end of the book) pretty well founded.
If only all non-fiction writers were as good as Erick Larson, or Mary Roach...
Posted by dberger at 3:53 PM
May 5, 2007
Cameras (Needs and Wants, Redux)
We were at Costco today to return a failed LCD (have I mentioned I love their return policy?) and I stopped to look at the DSLRs for a moment.
They had both the Canon EOS 400d and the new Nikon 40x.
Continue reading "Cameras (Needs and Wants, Redux)"
Posted by dberger at 10:06 PM | Comments (2)
Sweet Stupidity
Dawnise and I went to the Improv (as we try to do each month), and afterward treated ourselves to an ice cream at Mora.
The Mexican Chocolate was yummy, as were the Peppermint and Sabayon.
Lactose intolerance sucks.
Posted by dberger at 10:02 PM
May 3, 2007
Life in the 'hood
Two families on our street have put their houses up for sale recently, and the two undeveloped lots adjacent to us have been listed as well.
I'm watching all three listings with a bit of interest - as the houses "bookend" ours - one smaller, one slightly larger and both on basically the same size lots.
Posted by dberger at 8:55 PM