Saturday, August 30, 2008
For Better Or For Worse
The well known comic strip, "For Better Or For Worse", ended today. I have been reading FBOFW for years now and have always enjoyed the stories. It was especially interesting since it flowed in real time, the characters where not frozen in time like most strips. It will be interesting to see how the "new" strips will play out.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Garden Images
Seeing how many flies there are, this is something I would like to see more of.
Update: lost the image.
Update: lost the image.
Sign of the Devil
A recent screenshot of my email folders showed 666 spam emails. A sure sign of impending doom.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Weekend Activities
* Replaced a broken belt tensioner on the car.
* Fixed a leaky tub drain.
* Birch Aquarium - nothing new to report, although the octopus is getting very large.
* Drove around the UCSD campus and made a stop at the Geisel Library. It is a very striking building from afar, but the concrete constructions looks very rough when up close. We went up to the 7th floor to see the views but the windows were quite dirty. They had a couple of neat exhibits. One contained a small sampling of Geisel's artwork and books. On the arts and music floor, they had a Etch-A-Sketch display. Apparantly, the library will give you an Etch-A-Sketch for you to draw with and they will put it in the display. We might go back and give this a try. The kids had lots of questions about college. My daughter was very interested in the independence that college offers (mainly that no one forces you to attend classes).
* Fixed a leaky tub drain.
* Birch Aquarium - nothing new to report, although the octopus is getting very large.
* Drove around the UCSD campus and made a stop at the Geisel Library. It is a very striking building from afar, but the concrete constructions looks very rough when up close. We went up to the 7th floor to see the views but the windows were quite dirty. They had a couple of neat exhibits. One contained a small sampling of Geisel's artwork and books. On the arts and music floor, they had a Etch-A-Sketch display. Apparantly, the library will give you an Etch-A-Sketch for you to draw with and they will put it in the display. We might go back and give this a try. The kids had lots of questions about college. My daughter was very interested in the independence that college offers (mainly that no one forces you to attend classes).
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Blog Changes
Made a few changes to the blog.
- Added Digg and Yahoo Buzz widgets.
- Enabled anonymous comments.
- Fixed some html bugs.
Cuban Missile Crisis
I recently read "One Minute To Midnight" by Michael Dobbs. It is a new book on the Cuban Missile Crisis and supposedly has new information. The author claims that he accessed sources that were previously not accounted for, Russian soldiers, for example. Some revelations (according to the author) include the fact that the Soviets had nuclear cruise missiles deployed just a few miles from Guantanamo Bay, unbeknownst to US forces. The books also has a complete accounting of the U-2 flight that accidentally strayed over Western Russia during the crisis.
The book is thorough and very interesting to read. The dynamic between the different factions in the Kennedy administration is fascinating to follow.
My only real nitpick is that Dobbs constantly compares every nuclear device to the Hiroshima bomb. The is fine once or twice, but he over does it.
If you are interested at all in Cold War history, I recommend "One Minute To Midnight."
The book is thorough and very interesting to read. The dynamic between the different factions in the Kennedy administration is fascinating to follow.
My only real nitpick is that Dobbs constantly compares every nuclear device to the Hiroshima bomb. The is fine once or twice, but he over does it.
If you are interested at all in Cold War history, I recommend "One Minute To Midnight."
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Ghost Sites of the Web: The End of Cyber-History (My Small Part Of It, Anyway)
I have been following Ghost Sites for at least 10 years now. Along with Yahoo and ESPN, it is probably the site I have been regularly visiting over the longest period of time. Steve Baldwin, the curator, has decided to move on due to a variety of reasons. His blog will still be in my feed reader but I will always enjoy reading of the ghost sites of the web.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Weekend Activities
* Hiked San Elijo Lagoon from the La Bajada trailhead. Halfway to the 5, Jaya sprained her ankle quite badly and it swelled up like a peach. I had to carry here piggyback most of the way back.
* Walked Sophie at Cardiff Seaside beach during the evening. I love the beach in the late afternoon to dusk.
* Walked Sophie at Cardiff Seaside beach during the evening. I love the beach in the late afternoon to dusk.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Bessie Has Left the Building
After 14 years of loyal service, Bessie has been passed on to another owner. May she live long and prosper.
Is 'Surge' the New 'Gate'?
Recently , John McCain said the U.S. needs 'economic surge'.
Is the word 'surge' now going to be added to everything that demonstrates any measure of extra effort in the same way that 'gate' is annoyingly added to every quasi-scandal the media comes across. Coming soon: 'Obama surge', 'war-on-drugs surge', 'Britney surge'; it will never stop.
Is the word 'surge' now going to be added to everything that demonstrates any measure of extra effort in the same way that 'gate' is annoyingly added to every quasi-scandal the media comes across. Coming soon: 'Obama surge', 'war-on-drugs surge', 'Britney surge'; it will never stop.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Weekend Activities
* Lunch with Chuck at Dave's BBQ in Vista - the BBQ was excellent
* Finished painting and replacing the hardware on the garage entry door.
* Installed Tiki torched in front patio.
* Attended Cardiff Dog Days of Summer for the third straight year - this was the hottest year yet and Sophie still does not like other dogs. It seemed like the vendor booths where more popular this year but the contests were less popular, go figure. Another phenomenon was the number of pet portrait services. I don't remember any from last year but this year I counted at least 4, from photography to paintings.
* Finished painting and replacing the hardware on the garage entry door.
* Installed Tiki torched in front patio.
* Attended Cardiff Dog Days of Summer for the third straight year - this was the hottest year yet and Sophie still does not like other dogs. It seemed like the vendor booths where more popular this year but the contests were less popular, go figure. Another phenomenon was the number of pet portrait services. I don't remember any from last year but this year I counted at least 4, from photography to paintings.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Book Update
Books I have recently completed:
- A Year in Provence - a clever and witty book about living in Provence by Peter Mayle. A perfect travel/airplane book. Highly recommended
- The Steel Wave - the second in Jeff Shaara's WWII trilogy covers the Normandy invasion and the subsequent breakout. This one is better than the first.
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