Thursday, May 29, 2008

New Car

I ventured onto a new car lot for the first time in over 13 years to get me one of those fancy new horseless carriages.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

More Personal MBA

I knocked out a few more PMBA books.

  • The 4-Hour Workweek - the seminal book for the "New Rich". I bought this one and have been reading and re-reading it. Have even put some of it into action (more on this to come).

  • The Bootstrapper's Bible - great tips for startups and you can't beat the price.

  • Finance for Non-Financial Managers - pretty much what the title suggests. A litte too basic for me.

  • Law 101 - a good intro to the American legal system, warts and tall. I skimmed the sections on tort and Constitutional law and concentrated on contracts and property. This would be a good reference to have on the shelf.

  • Getting Started in Consulting - got this for my wife and didn't read it myself.

Roomba Cleaning Tips

One drawback to the Roomba is that you have to clean it much more than a regular vacuum. I usually have to a complete cleaning after doing the whole house. With practice, I can do this in less than 15 minutes (assuming I don't break anything). Here are some tips:

  • The center wheel gets hair and other debris wrapped around its axle fairly easily. This makes the wheel harder to turn and greatly reduces battery life. I tried removing the wheel and seemed to have broken something inside wheel assembly so I don't recommend this approach (look for a repair entry soon). The best way I have found to clean it is with a good utility knife. Scrape the blade along the axle and up the wheel. This motion will get a lot of the debris out and you can use small needle-nose pliers to further extract it. With a few strokes, I can get the axle completely clean.

  • The beater brush also gets hair wrapped around it. Simply remove the center screw and you can remove it for easy cleaning.

  • iRobot offers a cleaning tool for $5.99. I bought it (along with some spare parts) but it doesn't really do much. The blade is good for cleaning the brush, but you can just use a letter opener or utility knife for that.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Memorial Day Weekend Activities

* Zoo - haven't been in a while. Noticed the new giraffe home and saw the construction for the new Elephant Mesa. The slow loris was a no-show.
* Finished the front yard patio
* Dinner with family and friends on Orange County
* Started the back yard rehab
* Did a nice 7.4 mile ride from my house to the 101 and back.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Weekend Activities

* Laid down the patio pavers.
* The pool was finally warm enough to go in.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Weekend Activities

* More work on garage and front yard.
* Mother's Day BBQ with one grandmother out sick and one wife with a jaw wired shut.

Isreali-Syrian Air Strike Update

It seems that the evidence is mounting that the target was indeed a nuclear facility.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Weekend Activities

* Indian Guides trip to Vail Lake
* Got sick at Vail Lake
* Spent Sunday in bed