Woodcutters Weekend

The kids and I have been going to Camp Marston near Julian for several years now. I always wanted my wife to go to see what all the fuss was about. It turns out that the camp has a Woodcutters Weekend that families can attend. Your family gets to stay at the camp at no charge, but in return you have to cut wood, literally. We spend 8 hours on Saturday and a few more on Sunday turning big pieces of wood into little pieces wood.
Here is a before picture of the wood pile.

Here is the after picture of the pile; it is more impressive in person.

The family operating dangerous machinery

Land Of Lost Knives (and box cutters, wine openers, etc)

Every wonder what happens to all those pocket knives, box cutters, wine openers or anything mildly hard and/or sharp that the TSA confiscates are airports? You would think that these items which are so dangerous they can't be allowed on a plane, would be melted down into paper clips. Don't want these weapons to end up in the wrong hands, do we now.
But it seems that the geniuses at the TSA just hand the knives off to your local schools. Here is but a small sample of the potential hijacking instruments that were removed from the hands of law-abiding citizens and given to 3rd graders.

Weekend Activities

Slow weekend. Did two dog walks, one of which was a return to Pipe Hike (aka Manchester Preserve).

Change

Change is a word that being thrown out a lot these days.  Barack Obama popularized the trend during the Democratic primaries and he used it to overcome Hillary Clinton, something I didn't think was probable.  I have written about change recently as well, mainly due to the disgust with our current government.  But I think my definition is different than Obama's.  I require a change in government that means more freedom, more responsibility (both personal and by government), less government (in all areas, defense, entitlements, etc.).
When Obama speaks of change, I am not sure what he means.  I have not seen anything in his platform that constitutes real change.  Yes, his platform differs from John McCain's in some minor ways, but neither candidate has solutions to the government's problems.
On the Encinitas city council, change here would be getting back to responsible government.  When we first moved here, the city seemed very well run (and for the most part, still is).  Yet it has started down the slippery slope of corruption and greed that the federal government has been sliding down for decades.  Corruption in the sense that certain council members seem to want to hide from decisions, meet in closed sessions.  Greed in the sense that the council tries to pass illegal and/or unethical taxes (i.e. the water tax from a few years ago).  Greed in the escalating salaries, benefits and costs of running the city.  The goal of the council should not be to have your name on as many plaques on as many public properties as possible, but to serve the residents of your city.  In my mind, only one (possibly two) of the current council members does this, Teresa Barth.  Hopefully more will join her.
Do I think that the other council members are bad people. No, they seem likable enough and I have never seen evidence of major wrong-doing.  The issue is the age-old problem of power and money corrupting those who hold it.  A lot of what they did for the city was good.  But after years of building small parks (Moonlight Beach), they feel the need to build a huge, overblown park that nobody wants (Hall property).  After having a small, but usable public works facility, they feel the need to overpay for a dilapidated car dealership.  That kind of service we don't need.

Voice of Reason

TMQ's Gregg Easterbrook is usually right on the money when it comes to the lack of common sense in our government.  Today is no exception as he gives some wise advice to our lawmakers.  I've often wondered why governments seem to get fleeced in deals with non-government entities.  Just look at all the lousy sports stadiums deals in the country.  The reason is that they have the Warren Buffett's on their side and the government has Congress.  It is not a fair match.

Can We Believe This Man? Now? Please?

WMD's in Iraq, nuclear weapons in Iran, uncountable numbers of overblown "terrorism" warnings, now the collapse of the US economy. Last I heard, the economy was still growing, albeit slowly, but nothing that seems to warrant the dire forebodings the government is putting out.

Weekend Activities

* Elfin Forest Reserve - sans kids, did the Way Up Trail to the top. Only 1.5 miles but straight up. A bit too hot still, but will be a good one to try during winter.

World's Most Dangerous Golf Course

I wonder what the rules of golf say about a plane interfering with your line of play.  Free drop perhaps.

Bob N. and the NC Times

Does Bob Nanninga work for the North County Times?  Or is he just extremely available for comments on every article the NC Times does on Encinitas, especially when it concerns the city council.  Reporter Ruth Webster sought fit to get Nanninga's comments on the sidewalk dining policy that might be under consideration for alterations.  Why were none of the other 10 or so council candidates consulted for their views?  Granted, Bob N. does own a downtown business, a restaurant in fact, but that pertinent information was not mentioned in the article.  The Bob Nanninga political machine is hard at work it seems.

Weekend Activities

* Hiked Calaveras Mountain for the first time. We didn't make it to the top this time but plan to in the near future. I give the city of Carlsbad two years max before they develop this land.

Yemen Arrests 30 After Embassy Attack

Today's headline. Which will quickly be followed by "30 Escape from Yemen Prison".

Good News

This kind of news just makes your day.

Weekend Activities

* Hiked Elfin Forest Reserve for the first time.



* Adventure Guides event at Indian Hills.

Topos

I wanted to teach my son how to use a compass, something I learned back in my pre-GPS Boy Scout days. I started digging on USGS topographical maps. They finished with the basic mapping project in 1992 and are now in update mode. Their website doesn't give a lot of detail, but they said they will update the maps that have the greatest interest. Most of the maps around San Diego were updated in 1997 (except for the Encinitas one which was updated in 1975 making it fairly useless).
The USGS does offer free scans of the maps. Here is a good blog post on how to download the PDF's of the maps. I tried to print them out on regular paper but Adobe couldn't tile the larger image onto 8.5x11 paper, it just printed a scaled image or a single tile. The only way I could use regular sized paper was to select the area of the map I wanted and print only that selection (note that Foxit Reader does not offer this feature). It was trial and error to get the selection to fit onto one page, otherwise it would be cropped. I actually taped a couple pages together to get a usable map this way.
I still might buy software which I assume solves all these problems, but I would really like to find out if they update their maps more than the USGS or just use the same ones.

How 'Bout Them Angels!

Let's see another Series win this time.

Windows Mobile 6

CingularAT&T is offering a free upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 for Blackjack 1.0 owners. I am applying the upgrade now and will report back after I have used it for a while.

That's Got to Hurt

A lot of fantasy teams had their season end today.

Weekend Activities

* San Elijo Lagoon nature center hike - the new nature center is started to come along nicely. It is still too big for my tastes but I can't wait for it to be completed.
* Choctaw kickoff meeting at Poinsettia Park
* Fun at Cottonwood Creek Park

US Military Mythbusters

I recently finished two books that purport to bust some of the myths that surround various aspects of US military history.
The first is "Dirty Little Secrets of Vietnam War" by James Dunnigan and Albert Nofi. In the '80's I knew Dunnigan from work with wargames (the Avalon Hill paper and cardboard variety, not the "Call of Duty" kind). From the title, you would expect top secret information to be divulged about nefarious operations and political wrangling. But while the book is good, it does not really contain "secrets" per se. It does have tons of stats and facts about the Vietnam war. Some of which dispel certain myths (such as the supposed "defeat" we suffered during the Tet Offensive in 1968) and backs up others (the gradual degradation in the morale and quality of the military during the war). If you are interested in learning the numbers behind some of the generalizations of the Vietnam War, I highly recommend this book. If you are looking for top secret blockbuster information, look somewhere else.
The second book is "Patriot Battles" by Michael Stephenson. This book goes over the armies on both sides of the American Revolution. The first half of the book has details on the men, weapons and equipment of the opposing ground forces. Although the jacket says it will dispel myths about the Continental Army, it really doesn't have any true revelations. Probably the most startling to the casual reader is the ineffectiveness of the American militias. The common view of the militias is that of brave men grabbing their musket from the mantle and heading off to fight the red coats at a minute's notice. In fact, the militia had a terrible record against the British in standard engagements. Only late in the war (such as at Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse) were they used effectively and then only as a screen for the line. The second half of the book has accounts of the major battles. My main gripe about the book is the author's occasional comparison between modern warfare (mainly Iraq) and the Revolutionary War. These comparison have a political tilt to them and come off as clumsy and out of place. The primary reason for the book seems to be to put the American side down. Very rarely does he give credit to the commanders and men in the Continential Army. The Amazon reviews have the same views, but a bit on the harsh side.

Shaara Revolutionary War Saga

Jeff Shaara's Revolutionary War saga, Rise To Rebellion and The Glorious Cause, are my favorite Shaara books. The first volume covers the years leading up the revolution, independence and the war through 1776 (Concord, Bunker's Hill, etc). The second book covers the war from 1777 through the surrender at Yorktown. The books follow the primary military and polical figures of the time: Franklin, Adams (both Sam and John), Washington, Greene, Cornwallis and others. The American figures are suger-coated a bit but the English are given fair treatment. The "first-hand" accounts of the events prior to the war, such as the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party are very well done and have a nice intenseness to them. My only regret (other than having only life to give for my country), is that Shaara did not follow a grunt. I love the low level point of view given in his later books and it would have been great to see Valley Forge from the infantry's perspective.

Weekend Activities

* A nice hike at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. We really enjoy the nature center their as it is very hands on and the people are great.

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.

Garden Images

Seeing how many flies there are, this is something I would like to see more of.

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.

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).

Bricksack

Bricksack is now live! Check it out for the easiest way to store Lego, WebKinz and all kinds of toys.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Hawaii Pix

Selected pictures from Hawaii.

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.

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.

Hawaii

Just got back from a wonderful week long family vacation on the Garden Isle of Hawaii, Kauai.
* Discovered Queen's Bath in Princeville. It is a very steep and muddy hike down to the lava rocks. The adventure was better than the snorkeling.
* Rented bikes and rode the new pathway along the Kapaa coast.
* Shore-dived Tunnels on the North Coast. Saw a couple of sleeping white tip reef sharks, eels and two small turtles. The current was rough coming in on the first dive. IMHO, Tunnels is a better snorkeling spot than scuba.
* Caught a luau at Smith's Tropical Paradise. The grounds were wonderful, the food delicious, and the show was great. I highly recommend this luau.
* Did the 2 mile Kalalu trail segment to the first beach. When we reached the beach, we some locals returning from a pig hunting party. They had about a dozen dogs that rounded up the pigs which the men then killed with a knife. These guys already had one pig dressed and one fellow carried like a backpack. Jaya thought it was very creepy.
* Kayaked up the Wailua River to Secret Falls. The hike to the falls was worth it. The kids did some great paddling even with the fierce winds coming back.
* Got a lot of beach time right in front of the condo. The kids were old enough to tolerate the waves.
* Good eats: Chaka Taco in Kapaa, Brick Oven Pizza in Kalaheo,

Atlanta Vacation

We recently went to Atlanta to visit family. Some of the highlights:
* Stone Mountain - awesome time at the small amusement park. Loved the SkyHike even with its two hour line. Bought a fire poker made the resident blacksmith. Took the gondola to the top. Took the tram to the top of the mountaingiant rock. Pretty nice views from there given the flatness of the area.
* Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield - this time we drove to the top and saw the amazing view (better than Stone Mountain). Also went to the Dead Angle on Cheatham Hill. Over 5,000 soldiers were killed during the battle, many on Cheatham. For prespective, 19 soldiers died at our local battle site, San Pascual.
* Smyrna Historical Museum - had a nice chat with a life-long resident. My wife may donate some of her high school yearbooks next time we go.

4th of July Weekend

My parents live in Santa Ana, last refuge of the "safe and sane" fireworks. Growing up, we bought fireworks, but never to the quantity that I wished. A couple of years ago, my brother was in town for the 4th and we were like kids in a candyfirework shop. This year, we bought a large (but not quite "block party" size) box of pyrotechnics. The kids loved the little items: ground bloom flowers, sparklers, worms, lightning bugs, etc. It gives a parent great satisfaction to teach their brood how to start the fuse of an explosive device without losing a finger or hand. As we set off our fireworks, the rest of the neighborhood joined in. There were multitudes of air-burst rockets, like mini-Disneyland fireworks. I imagine they were purchased in Tijuana given the area's large Mexican population. In any case, I was very jealous; the bottle rockets we had as kids were pathetic compared to the new ones.

billg retires

Bill Gates has "retired" from Microsoft. The end of an era, perhaps. I've often wondering why Gates and Microsoft get such a bad rap. They certainly played hardball but in my opinion most of their competitors created their own problems and/or couldn't keep up. That is the beauty of free enterprise. A small company can come up with great products, cut even better deals and make a fortune. The PC industry grew so fast so quick just because of brilliant people like Gates (and many others), not because the government was there to control what came with our operating systems. Microsoft may be on the downturn, but its rise will be one for the history books. Mr. Gates created enormous wealth, let's sit back and watch him use it.
Here is an Then & Now shot of the classic early MS pic.

Fathers' Day Activities

* Started a big maintenance job on the BMW: fix two leaky hydraulic hoses (more on this in a later post), replace the transmission filter and fluid, replace the front brake rotors, fix the front brake squealing, and replace the rear brakes.
* Fixed the front garden irrigation system.
* The kids had their final piano concert until classes begin again in the fall.
* Had a PTA transition meeting from the old board to the new board (I am El Presidente).

Hyundai Sante Fe Review

After driving the Santa Fe for a few weeks, I have some initial thoughts on the car.

Cons
* No backup sensors, would be a nice option
* After putting the car into park, it rolls an inch or so; this can be disconcerting
* Auto transmission just like all other wimpy automatics
* I hate that new car smell
* The option package we got includes the tow prep package which has an enlarged radiator and a transmission cooler, but no hitch; how about throwing in the hitch for a couple more bucks so I don't have to go back to get it installed

Pros
* Love the styling
* Leather is very nice
* Pre-tinted windows keep the interior cool
* Nav system is cool
* Third row of seats very handy

Fork It Over

Just finished "Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater" by Alan Richman. I loved Richman's articles when I read GQ. This book is a collection of those plus others from "Food & Wine" and other publications. I love Richman's dry, witty style. I just wish he included the article on Djibouti.

Weekend Activities

* Trip to the dump

* Saw "Prince Caspian" - not a big fan of the Narnia series but my daughter is and she won out over Indy.

* Fixed the kids' closer doors - they were a 1/8" too long due to the unevenness of the floor, so we had to shave some material off the bottom to fit in the floor guides

* Cleaned up the backyard - with the old playhouse off to the dump, I vacuumed up all the leaves and pine needles and put in a new light fixture; it looks very nice now

* Saw the whip snake at San Elijo again - this is the second time we have seen it roughly the same spot

Hyundai Spam

Here is the first spam we got after buying our new car. Notice the professional mail merge. You can tell Hyundai is a big company when they have the money to spend on quality correspondence with their customers.

Hi,

I’m the Sales Manager at [Dealer_Name]. I wanted to drop you a quick line and personally thank you for allowing [Dealer_Name] to recently satisfy your new vehicle needs.

If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your purchase or the treatment you received from my team, I would like to personally hear from you. Your satisfaction is my number one priority.

I also wanted to give you a heads-up that we will be sending you a satisfaction survey regarding your purchase experience with us. Please take this opportunity to give your opinions regarding our dealership and my team.

If there’s anything I can do, please email me or call me at [Dealer_Main_Phone].

Thanks again for your business.

Sales Manager
[Dealer_Name]
[Dealer_Main_Phone]

Weekend Activities

* Biked 10.5 miles
* Great Adventure Princess event at Indian Hills

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.

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.

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.

Weekend Activities

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

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.

Weekend Activities

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

Weekend Activities

* Dorado cocktail party (stayed verrry late)
* Sick on Sunday (not from party...I think)

Isreali-Syrian Air Strike Update

An update from my favorite amateur IMINT analysis blog.

Old News

All the national news outlets should impose a moratorium on the following topics:
* Gas prices going up - everyone knows what gas prices are doing
* Fire danger in Southern California - everyone knows that fires are a problem in a desert-like climate with lots of brush
* Anything about the economy - the government can't predict the economy, economists can't predict the economy, you can't predict the economy. That is part of the gig when you have a free-market system; sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down. If you want stable, move to Cuba where it never goes up.

On a different note, has there been an inordinate amount of deaths on the North County railroad tracks lately? The UT has yet another one.

Isreali-Syrian Air Strike Update

It seems that it was a nuke plant after all, according to some.

Personal MBA

On my journey to explore new directions with my career, I cam across a cool biz book site, The Personal MBA. The site author has a list of what he considers to be the best business books on various topics. Since none of us have the time to spend reading every book that comes along, this is great service; especially since other services that you find in airline catalogs can cost hundreds of dollars.
My M.O. is to get the book from the library (they carry some, but not all the books in the list) and then buy it if I really like it and will go back to it. I have read several of the books so far:

• 10 Days To Faster Reading - great for increasing your reading speed and comprehension; be sure to do the exercises for each chapter.


• The Effective Executive - good if you are looking to be working for big companies.


• How To Win Friends and Influence People - common sense tips that few seem to follow.


• The Art of the Start - good, but thin.


• Crucial Conversations - ok, didn't get much out of it.

Weekend Activities

* Jyoti's jaw surgery.
* Kid's at the grandparents: ate ice cream, watched E.T., went to Disney's California Adventure.

Al Qaeda Led By Pointy-Haired Bosses

This is too funny, it almost seems like an April Fool's joke.

Tax Thoughts from Glenn Beck

I have been reading Glenn Beck's columns on CNN for a few months now and like his ideas. Unfortunately his tax agenda, though sensible and probably supported by most everyone, will never see the light of day.

Weekend Activities

* Spent most of Friday at Disneyland on the kid's new annual passes. Lines weren't too long and it wasn't that hot.
* Waited out the heat in our nice cool house (sans a/c).
* Grilled up a fabulous pork tenderloin with my rotisserie grill attachment. Haven't used it in ages, but it cooked up the roast beautifully.

Weekend Activities

* Adventure Guides event at Hurkey Creek near Idyllwild. Great times with laser tag, hikes and nice creek to get muddy in.




* Starting planting out the garden and getting rid of the big mound of grass I ripped up

Weekend Activities

* Jaya's 10th birthday party at Pelly's Minigolf
* Dog time at George's beach

Weekend Activities

* Pipe hike
* Started the garden rehab
* San Elijo Lagoon hike - saw 3 deer between the flood control dike and the freeway, a buck and 2 does
* Easter at Grandma's

Weekend Activities

* "Horton Hears a Who"
* Called into work
* Pompeii exhibit at the San Diego Natural History Museum
* Jaya's piano test, the performance part
* Choctaw meeting

Weekend Activities

* Adventure Guides trip to Dos Picos

Encinitas Library

The new Encinitas Library recently opened after being closed for several years. Here is a panorama photo I took of the old facility shortly after it closed.

Art Theft

If you are thinking of getting into the business of armed robbery, don't bother with liqueur stores and watch shops where the proprietors are most likely better armed than you. Just head to the local private art museum, wave a gun around and walk out with $163 million worth of paintings. Its just that easy.
If I had an art collection worth that much, I would have better security than a few guys that roll over when "threatened with a pistol" and "forced to the ground."

Then & Now: FLOPS

FLOPS (floating point operations per second) are one way of measuring raw computing power.
Techreport has a review of a three-way SLI graphics card system. This system has 1.7 teraflops just in the graphics subsystem, not counting the CPU. This configuration would cost around $2,000 just for the graphics cards. A lot for a PC these days, but peanuts compared to the old days.
According to Wikipedia, in 1961, a single FLOP would cost you over $1,000. As recently as 2000, a $1,000 buys you a gigaflop; a billion-fold increase in cost efficiency.
With Moore's Law alive and well, who can tell what the future will bring.

Weekend Activities

* Very muddy pipe hike
* Encinitas library grand opening
* Cleaned rooms during another rainy weekend

Weekend Activities

* Attempt to keep dog alive after she ate a bunch of chocolate (she made it)
* Hike at Manchester Open Preserve
* Kids at Grandma's
* Clean carpets and other stuff around the house
* Jog along 101 from Java Hut to Chesterfield
* Lunch with wife
* Trail walk beside El Camino Real from Lavante to La Costa

Weekend Activities

* Walked dog at Viewpoint Park and checked out soon-to-be completed Encinitas Library. Went down D Street and strolled in the Seaside Bazaar.
* Kids had a piano recital and both did great.

SAN Tour (part 2)

Interesting things we learned about San Diego International Airport:

• There is a runaway plane catch area at the west end of the runway. It looks like a bunch of gray boxes in a big pit that is designed to stop a plane with little damage to it.


• The airport is home to very successful California least tern nesting sites. The areas have tiny fences around them to keep the chicks from wandering onto the tarmac and taxiways.


• There is a pet relief area between terminals 1 and 2.


• Human waste from airliners is disposed of in a little shack just off the east end of the runway. Trucks pump it out of the planes and then pump it into the sewer system.


• Due to their limited space, SAN is quite anti-general aviation. Since they accept FAA money, they have to allow GA aircraft, but they only have a small area for them. There is only one FBO which is a jet company. I counted only about 10 jets, 1 turboprop and zero piston aircraft.


• The runway can support large jets like the 747 and 777 but they takeoff with a weight penalty due to the hills of Point Loma directly in the takeoff path to the west. This means they can't carry a full fuel load and wouldn't be able to make it to Asia non-stop, thus they are not cost-effective for the airliners. They also don't see the A380 coming to SAN for similar reasons. They hope that the 787, with its greater fuel efficiency, would be able to make it non-stop even with the weight penalty.


• Another reason you don't see a lot of 747's is that they must taxi on the north side of the runway due to the narrow south taxiway. This means they have to cross the runway which is not good. Plans are in the works to enlarge the south taxiway by removing some of the old Teledyne-Ryan buildings in the southeast corner of the property.

SAN Tour

The kids and I took a tour San Diego International Airport. It was very interesting and informative. We starting in the commuter terminal and took a bus to terminal 2. When then walked though terminals 2 and 1 learning the history of them as well as the planned expansion. Terminal is interesting in that it was designed from the start to be expandable to two levels both inside and outside. We then took the bus around the entire runway. We even stopped near the tower to watch some takeoffs and landings. I highly recommend it to those interested in aviation.

Looking south from the north side of the tarmac. Commuter terminal on the right, UPS cargo plane on the left.

Southwest 737 landing; shot taken from near the tower

Batesville, IN

For some reason, I came across the website for Batesville, IN. Check it out here but please turn down your speakers or you will get a taste of the rave action that Batesville is famous for.

Then & Now: Magnetic Storage

Then

Here is how you used to have to move 5MB of storage:



Courtesy of Snopes

Now

Compare that with today's 8GB thumb drive:


Courtesy of Newegg

Israeli Air Strike on Syria Updated Yet Again

This story just doesn't die. It seems that almost everything is being linked to the mysterious air strike.
In a Defense Update article on the Russian navy in the Med, the author speculates that one of the reasons the Russian aircraft carrier is making a port call in Syria is to investigate the Israeli's EW usage during the operation. The Russian's are allegedly boosting their presence to increase their intelligence gathering in the region. Makes sense, seeing as the Russian navy has been in such a funk since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Although I doubt the Sixth Fleet is losing much sleep over a single small carrier that has no operational experience.

Amiga

I was never an Amiga user but an fascinated by its tale. It is a classic story of a superior technology that gets ruined by bad marketing and incompetent executives.

Rain

Why does it only rain on the weekends nowadays?

Clearance Jobs Spam

Read this spam I got from someone purporting to be using clearancejobs.com to find employees. Keep in mind that clearancejobs.com is for folks with US security clearances.

Good day,

Let me introduce myself. I am the Head Hiring Manager of Condor Company Viktor Horoshavin. At this moment we are seeking a new employee for the constant position in our Structure. In our search we addressed to Clearancejobs Administration like to one of the most professional and respectable organization helping to find employees who answer to all necessary requirements. It is not the first time when we resort to this organization during our work in the world market since the year 2004.
Your profile in http://www.clearancejobs.com/ answers to all criteria, needed to be embodied. If you are ready for responsible, professional and honest work then you can become a member of our Staff.
Our Company is specialized in producing and selling different kinds of office and home furniture answering to all requirements of taste, fashion and price. Condor Company was based in 2004. Since that time we have proved high quality and modern technologies of our goods and achieved world popularity in furniture industry. Our production is well-known among our customers in France, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands and Sweden. At this stage we are interested in widening our market and now represent our Product in the United States of America. We need a Professional who will be our Official representative in the USA and serve our financial interests.

Our requirements: USA citizenship. Responsibility, diligence and honesty.

Job description: Financial operations with our company�s wholesale lots. Reception of payments for wholesale lots. Preparation of monthly reports.
Conditions: Beginning salary $ 2500, 00. After probation period 15 % salary raise. Possibility of career growth.
Our job proposal can be taken as a part time position and will not give any negative effect to your present job status.

Please feel free to ask any questions. Our managers will be glad to give you more information if you are interested. Contact us by e-mail:

condor.manager@gmail.com

Thank you. Best regards,
Condor Company.

Should I gamble on that juicy 15% salary raise? I wonder what kind of clearance I need to make furniture?

Israeli Air Strike on Syria Update

This story won't go away. Here are some more tidbits:

• Wired (and others) offer speculation that the target was a nuclear bomb factory and not a reactor. I don't know if this is a case of making the story match the facts rather that the other way around.


• Aviation Week has some more info on Israel's EW capabilities. Nothing shocking, since the IDF has always had the technological edge on its opponents. Of course the US will be eavesdropping; we do lots of SIGINT in the region.

Washington D.C. Trip

Went to Washington D.C. for a week to see the sites.

• Washington Monument - always awesome. We didn't have trouble getting tickets since we stopped by early in the day. Apparently there is a walking tour that shows off some of the interior; I will give that shot next time.
  

 

• World War II Memorial - a bit underwhelming; it seems as though the designers went for quantity over quality. While deserving of a memorial, this detracts from the view from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.


• Lincoln Memorial - a classic.
  

• Korean War Memorial - having never seen this, I really liked it. The statues were impressive.


• Vietnam Veterans Memorial - goes without saying.


• Capitol Building - very worthwhile. Since we had to go through our Representative's office, we also got to visit his staff (although he was not there). Found out there is a staircase that leads up to the top of the Rotunda but is not open to the public. Make sure you find out about John Adams and how we use the acoustics in the original House chamber.

• National Mall - must have walked the Mall several times getting to all the places.
  
• White House - a difficult ticket to get and probably not worth taking little kids.


• National Gallery - didn't even get to a quarter of it; plan on spending days to see everything.


• National Portrait Gallery - unexpectedly nice.


• American Art Museum - ditto.


• Air and Space Museum - gets better all the time.

• Hazy Air and Space Museum - still a work in progress, but the sheer volume of historic aircraft make it a winner; the SR-71 is worth the trip just by itself.


• International Spy Museum - if you are interested in espionage, you can miss this. Don't expect much James Bond stuff, there is just a small homage to 007. The kids enjoyed it even though they didn't understand it.


• National Archives - first time here. They are trying to make it more than just the Charters of Freedom by adding some additional exhibits. Well worth it even thought the Magna Carta is no longer there.


• Natural History Museum - ours kids get to the San Diego version of this so this wasn't as big a deal to them.


• Marine Corps War Memorial - much more impressive in person.
  

• Flew in a helicopter (an R-22) with my uncle.
  

Fantasy Football Updated

My teams suck. I will be lucky to have a single one make the playoffs.

Honda Passport Rocker Arms

Here are some pics of an exhaust rocker arm and the hydraulic lash adjuster from a 1995 Honda Passport 3.2L V6.

Fire Photo

Here is my only photo of the fires. This was at Camp Pendleton just south of the Border Patrol checkpoint. The flames were mainly on the east side of the freeway but there were some on the west side as well. The San Onofre campground was empty.

Fire Story

As everyone knows, San Diego was consumed by several spectacular wildfires over the past few days. Here is our story.

Sunday afternoon

I had read on the internet about a fire starting in Ramona but didn't give it much thought. We left for the kids piano recital in Del Mar. In the space of just a few miles, the air got very thick and smoky. The recital was canceled due the the air so we went to George's beach to walk the dog. The air there was getting bad and in fact you could see the smoke cloud starting to creep northward. Went to bed without any concern.

Monday morning

I woke up as usual and headed to the office before dawn. It was smelly but I still wasn't concerned.

Monday 1000

Jyoti calls and says the air is getting very bad. I have been watching the news all morning and now it seems the Witch Fire has started to head west. Jyoti says a neighbor got a voluntary evacuation call, but we never receive one.

Monday 1100

Jyoti packs the car and kids and heads up to my parents in Orange County (they are well away from the fires there).

Monday 1200

I decided to leave work and head up to OC as well. I first stop by the house to see what is going on. The air is almost unbearable with ash and smoke.

Monday night

I spend most of the evening checking the news for information. The following are my best resources:

• UT's Fire Blog - once they moved it to blogspot it became the best news sources


• SD County Emergency - had the best maps (better than the Google mashups IMHO)


• Cat Dirt Sez - the best blogger following the fire


• Channel 10 News - had live streaming video, covered the western edge of the Witch Fire

Tuesday morning

Things got pretty tense as the Witch Fire headed westward into the Rancho Santa Fe. If you look at the map, we live a couple miles directly west of the Bridges community. The fire looked like it would wipe out a few estates in RSF and Olivenhain and head for us. Later reports said that the fire would have most likely follow Escondido Creek to the ocean. That is about a half mile from our house. Since our area is more dense than the areas to the east, I doubted that the fire would actually get to our neighborhood.

Tuesday afternoon

The wind died down and with it, the fire's advance. The flames headed back eastward towards Del Dios. A coworker of my mom's who lives in Encinitas and stayed the entire time, says the air is already getting better.

Tuesday night

The decision is made for me to go back tomorrow morning and see how things are. If they look ok, then the family will come down as well.

Wednesday morning

I got up early anticipating getting back home. My dad, says the 5 has been closed due to fires in Camp Pendleton. I wait until the freeway is open again and cruise the near-empty highways to home. The house is dusty but looks fine. Off to the office for a few hours work.


I was here during the 2003 fires and it is interesting to compare this event to that.

• Reverse 911 - although we didn't get a call, this great idea undoubtedly saved lives


• Evacuations - it seems that people evacuated sooner and in greater numbers; this might be due to the memories of 2003


• Air Support - the criticism of air support has already started, just like in 2003. I know the high winds prevented some flights on the first couple days, but it still seems that there is still some work to do to get Federal/Military assets to the scene


• Big Government - useless as usual. Didn't anyone care that FEMA had arrived? Most of the relief effort was already organized and rolling within hours. Is anyone else sick of those worthless interviews with governors, senators and presidents?


• Firefighters - continue to amaze me in their ability to handle multiple huge fires at the same time; our friend is a Cal Fire fighter and we know he was in the Ramona area but we will have to wait for details

I wonder if the Natural History Museum will update their Cedar Fire exhibit?

Israeli Air Strike on Syria Update

Yet more updates on this growing story.

• War and Piece blog quotes Intelligence Online in saying that the attack targeting an arms depot rather than a nuclear facility. The depot was apparently receiving a shipment of parts for Scud missiles. I seriously doubt Israel would risk an operation like this on Scuds. Everyone has Scuds, why were this so special?


• Arms Control Wonk thinks they were Scuds as well.

Israeli Air Strike on Syria Update

Some more updated on the Israeli air strike:

• It seems that some satellite TV broadcasts have been disrupted, possible due to EW jamming.
  


• Some more on the alleged jamming of the Russian-made Syrian AA systems. I find the story of the SAM countermeasures to be almost as interesting as the strike itself. It seems as though the Israelis, and by extension the US, have an ace-up-the-sleeve when dealing with even the newest Russian systems. If there is an eventual strike on Iranian targets, we will likely have tons of intel on the capabilities of the SAM's and the means to overcome them. This undoubtedly enhances our position when negotiating with the Iranians.

Del Mar Beach

First Guides trip of the year!

Wagner Baby

Looks like 4 got it right!

Israeli Air Strike on Syria Update

David Fulghum speculates on the reason that the Israelis so easily penetrated Syrian air defense. He mentions a system call "Suter" that infiltrates enemy air defense systems and discombobulates them. Very interesting stuff. I can imagine the Russians getting some frantic phone calls from their SAM customers right about now.

More Nukes!

I am glad to see new nuclear plants getting under way. IMHO, nukes are the only way were are going to satisfy our energy needs. All the other alternatives won't work out. The 'natural' energy sources like geothermal, wind and solar are too limited. Who wants endless miles of those ugly windmills all over the place? A recent Dilbert blog entry has an interesting discussion on the subject of energy.

Israeli Air Strike on Syria

The most under-reported story in the mainstream news has to be the mysterious Israeli airstrike on Syria. The target was an alleged nuclear joint venture between Syria and North Korea. The details of this story are right out of fiction:

• A North Korean cargo ship docks in a Syrian port to unload "cement." North Koreans scientists were reportedly at the target site.


• Then, reportedly, Israeli commandos infiltrated the lab to verify that nuclear weapons research was going on.


• The Syrians have a very dense air defense network, but no invading planes were shot down (at least know to us).


• The raiders apparently escaped via Turkey, leaving a fuel tank.


• What weapons were used? If the facility was indeed underground, perhaps new bunker-busting bombs were tested out?
  

The US certainly knew about the operation but there hasn't been an official acknowledgment by any government. Why keep it so secret? Is the Bush administration worried about Syria complaining? Perhaps they don't want to upset the apple cart that is the ongoing Nork negotiations.
If this story pans out, it would certainly bolster Bush's warnings about WMD's and would give the IDF some much-needed prestige. As for the Syrians, some of their military leaders have some explaining to do how all that money they spent on Russian SAM's wasn't worth the rubles it was printed on.
I find this story fascinating and can't wait for more information to come out.

Update
Here is more information on the commandos plus some speculation similar to my own on the silence from US and Israeli governments.
More analysis (albeit not very well unattributed) on the Syrian nuke program.

Dad Of All Bombs

The Russians are testing an enormous new thermobaric weapon, dubbed the "dad of all bombs."
According to the source, the bomb will have near-nuclear power but with the added benefit of, and I quote,

Unlike a nuclear weapon, the bomb doesn't hurt the environment,

.

Fantasy Football Week 2

After two weeks my teams are exactly opposite of what I would have expected. My best two teams are 0-2. They both feature Stephen Jackson at RB so that explains alot of it. My worst team is 2-0 and is looking All-World. That squad is is led by Tony Romo and Andre Johnson but has gotten lots of help from bit players. Week 3 is huge for those 0-2 teams. If they go winless again, it is time to write the season off.

Lives of Adventure

I came across this obituary in a recent paper for Count Michael Gaszynski. My first thought was that this gentleman led an incredibly rich and exciting life. My life is pretty boring in comparison.
But after reading the article again, it dawned on me that this person's life, and countless others of those born early in the 20th century, seemed exciting due all the wars and turmoil. Mr. Gaszynski was born in Poland right before World War I, had to flee during the Russian Revolution, fled Poland before World War II. He did settle down after the war to make cheesecake which is a bit more mundane.
On second thought, I really do appreciate the unexciting life. We could all use a bit of adventure, but not the kind that involves running for your life.

Zoo Urinals

The family and I went to the Nighttime Zoo this past weekend. I always love the evening zoo hours as most of the animals are more active, especially the cats.
One thing my son and I noticed about the bathrooms is that they don't have child level urinals. This is quite puzzling since half the patrons at the zoo are kids. Even my office has low urinals and kids are never there. Most of the bathrooms look like have been refitted with the no-water units, so why didn't they make them lower then? Very strange.

Car Repair Tip #234

When you change your windshield wipers blades, place a towel or other padding on the glass. If you don't and the arm happens to snap back without a blade, it can crack the windshield.

Amateur IMINT

IMINT & Analysis.
The wonders of free overhead imagery.