Aug - 9th

1-888-Bullshit

Posted at 5:29 pm | Filed Under 9-to-5 Thoughts, Uncategorized

A funny thing about this 08-08-08 thing that happened yesterday, is that it is not actually 08-08-08. We just began counting up from an arbitrary date. Therefore there cannot be any worldly special meaning to the date since it is utterly meaningless. There are countless calendars. The Jewish calendar considers us to be in year [...]

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Aug - 6th

Barnburner II

Posted at 9:22 am | Filed Under Uncategorized

The invitation has arrived. Another Bronson barnburner is in the works for the Napa woods this September. The live entertainment...

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Jul - 28th

Horseshit

Posted at 10:23 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

This is an issue I think that all dog-owners will appreciate. And I will also state for the record that my wife and I always clean-up after our dog, and that is why it is so frustrating seeing other dogs' droppings around the neighborhood and elsewhere, because that makes all dog-owners look bad, not just [...]

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Jun - 20th

The Looming Karaoke Epidemic

Posted at 8:58 am | Filed Under Uncategorized

Young people like karaoke. That is the conclusion I have reached following years of study. And I am frightened. From invitations to karaoke nights to video games like Rock Star (and even Guitar Hero), karaoke has infiltrated our society to dangerous levels. And there doesn't seem to be any means to stem the tide of [...]

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May - 27th

Growing Pains

Posted at 9:36 am | Filed Under Uncategorized

There are those tangible signs that you are growing older, ones that you are reminded of while you listen to the radio, read the news or watch the television. First -- Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Dave Matthews Band playing on classic rock radio stations. And second -- Willie Randolph, Mike Scioscia and Joe Girardi are [...]

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May - 2nd

Thoughts on Phoenix

Posted at 4:50 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

- The weather is certainly plenty hot, but it is a dry heat. And a breeze keeps it nice. At least in May.
- The local news covers the weather in-and-around the Grand Canyon.
- It is a hotel peeve of mine when the television defaults to channel 1 or 2 every time you turn it on, [...]

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Apr - 30th

Phoenix

Posted at 1:35 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

I am off to the airport to catch my plane to Phoenix. If you are familiar with the area, let me know what I should see or do.
I will be attending the Mets-Diamondbacks game on Friday. Let's go A's. (Maybe I will try a superfan podcast.)

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Apr - 23rd

Useless Websites

Posted at 2:22 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

Is there anything worse than a useless website? I am not talking about someone's AOL homepage or tumblelog, but a major website that should be much more helpful. Like homedepot.com. What a pile of shit that is. It's almost like going to the store in person, finding out that no employee knows where the item [...]

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Apr - 8th

Work Is Burning

Posted at 9:31 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

As long-time readers know, I seldom refer to my work as a geotechnical engineer on this blog. Most of that has to do with the fact that I blog about my interests in politics and other things, apart from my daily work material, but also because there is really not that much to blog about, [...]

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Apr - 8th

Queue

Posted at 8:34 am | Filed Under Uncategorized

Sure there are a lot of good movies out there, and available on Netflix. But I have seen most of them. How do I find the rest?
Similar to how I find new books -- by way of judging the cover -- I almost exclusively look at the cast. I have realized however that a great [...]

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Apr - 1st

One Gig Show

Posted at 10:09 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

I guess all April Fools posts are not bad on the internet. Today I won the "treasure hunt" at Vimeo (the VIP page) and earned myself an extra 500mb in uploads each week. That gives me a gig.
I responded to the news of my victory as follows...
This reminds me of that time I won a [...]

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Apr - 1st

No More Fools

Posted at 9:28 am | Filed Under Uncategorized

I really hate April Fools Day. Not the first day of April, or even the idea of a trick or two around the office (since no one actually does celebrate the day, there is nothing that happens around the office, besides work), but I cannot stand all the shit that is endlessly published online.
Because the [...]

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Mar - 25th

SFO to STL

Posted at 8:10 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

Flying from SFO into STL, I had the pleasure of sitting in the first aisle of coach, immediately adjacent to the restroom. This is my story.
- While waiting for takeoff, background music played over the speakers in the airplane cabin. One song was "Rainbow Connection," minus Miss Piggy and Kermit.
- One flight attendant gave me [...]

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Mar - 24th

Saint Louis

Posted at 8:51 am | Filed Under Uncategorized

I am off to St. Louis for the next couple days for business -- a seminar on earthquake engineering for dam safety. I have never seen the Mississippi River so I am looking forward to that, and a high-flood event will liven up the festivities.
If any readers have any suggestions for activities in the area, [...]

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Mar - 21st

Jake and Amir

Posted at 10:16 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

I have just spent the last hour convincing my wife of the comedic genius of Jake and Amir (including the classics). It didn't take. A shame.

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Mar - 21st

Flickr Video

Posted at 10:48 am | Filed Under Uncategorized

I have been waiting for Flickr video for years, and now the word is, Flickr video is coming... finally. But many possibilities exist that will make Flickr video useless, at least to me.
I have come full circle in the world of online video sharing. I started with vSocial, and have used YouTube, blip, Veoh, Brightcove, [...]

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Mar - 12th

An Amazing Elevator Story

Posted at 2:22 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

I got on the elevator yesterday. No big deal, right? That's what I thought. But it turned out to be a big deal for the people who were already on the apparatus.
I hit the down arrow, and within a moment or two of standing in the lobby, the elevator door opened. The people -- an [...]

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Mar - 10th

This Ad Works

Posted at 11:06 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

I am not a big fan of marketers. I feel what they do is mostly unethical, and they provide little good to society as a group. However, when anyone does a good job -- no matter their profession, or "profession" in the case of marketers -- they deserve recognition, including props from this here blogger.
There [...]

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Mar - 10th

Typing

Posted at 4:10 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

I don't have use of my right index finger today (because of a minor weekend mishap) and I am struggling to type as a result. This probably doesn't seem too daunting unless you are a hunt-and-peck typer like myself.* I always lead with my strong index. And today, I'm relying on my middle finger to [...]

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Mar - 4th

McCain Supported

Posted at 4:34 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized

I have realized -- and maybe so have you -- that the following ad for John McCain has appeared on this site (and may right this moment)...

These ads appear because they are contextually in-line with the blog. I have limited control over the ads that do appear. However, I think it would be a nice [...]

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