Weekend Activities

* Worked non-stop on the kitchen and some real progress on the finishing touches.
* Went to see Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - it was cute, much like the first. Air and Space Magazine had an article on how "real" the movie was. However they were speaking only of the set that was built to mimic the real museum. Because if you see the performance the Wright Flyer puts on, you would think the plane was powered by a Pratt & Whitney F135, not a 12 horsepower 4 banger.

Weekend Activities

* My parents came down to celebrate Bengt's and Jyoti's birthdays. They brought cake and pie. We watched Jaya's soccer game in what is considered inclement weather.
* Checked out the new farmer's market at Flora Vista Elementary. It was a bit light on the fresh produce and had a lot of prepared and packaged foods. We bought some delicious hummus and baked pita chips.

Sophie

Sophie with her stuffed animal.

Book Return

A while back, we visited the UCSD Library. They seems to have some staffing cutbacks and aren't able to put the books back.

Weekend Activities

* Visited the somewhat new Del Dios Highlands Preserve. It was a bit sunny and the kids were grumpy so we only did a mile or so. We will go back in the fall and make it to the reservoir.
* Saw the new Lake Hodges Pedestrian/Bicycle bridge. It was surprisingly high off the water and Sophie was a bit scared.

* Caught a great CYT production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
* Great Memorial Day BBQ at a friend who is celebrating her 50th birthday.
* Finally got the veggie garden going with a trip to Sunshine Gardens; and what visit to Sunshine Gardens would be complete without a cupcake from Elizabethan Deserts

Weekend Activities

* Jyoti's cousin Abhi was in town so we did a very typical San Diego experience and went to the zoo.

Weekend Activities

* Worked on kitchen remodel
* Hike at San Elijo Lagoon in perfect weather

Disney Cruise

My parents took me and my brother's families on a 7-day Disney Cruise recently to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. This was my first cruise and didn't know what to expect other than the stereotypical cruise experiences.
Disney ships leave from Port Canaveral so we flew into Orlando the night before departure. We stayed the night in the airport Hyatt. It was a decent hotel with a nice pool the kids enjoyed when reuniting with their cousins.

The next morning we boarded Disney buses for the 45 minute trip to the port. The buses had a video to inform us on what to expect. They were very nice and the trip was pleasant. At the terminal, there was the usual security theater. Everyone gets a "Key to World Card" which acts as a room key and credit card. The kids cards were supposedly set to "no charge" mode but some shops did not seem to recognize this feature. We had to get our pictures taken so they could visually verify us when getting on and off the ship. There was a cool model of our ship, the Magic, in the lobby. We also registered the kids for their respective activity centers.

We finally boarded and we were immediately slammed with the sales pitches. The first was two guys selling bottled water and beer by the case (at much less than bar prices they claimed). We ate the buffet and hit the pools while waiting for our staterooms to be ready.
The rooms were small but nice. Better than a mid-range hotel room. The kids had bunk bends to sleep in (the bottom bunk was formed from the sofa). Our room was on deck 2 (second lowest) and toward the stern. I like having the lower deck since the motion was less. However, our aft location gave us some noisy nights. We eventually complained about it and an crew member came by to check it out. He made some adjustments to the bunk bed but after that the weather improved so the creaking mostly stopped. The loudest noise came from the thrusters which are using when pulling into port which usually happens early in the morning. I didn't mind since I like getting up early but if you are sleeper, make sure to get a room amidships.

Our first two days were at sea, heading south. The winds where quite strong and made being on the top deck interesting. The crew said this was one of the windiest cruises they have ever had. Thank goodness for stabilizers or it would have been ugly. In spite of the wind, we hit the pools, the arcade and the of course the food.
Our first port of call was Tortola, the largest of the British Virgin Islands. Most of our group went on a swim-with-the-dolphins excursion. The rest of us when on a guided mini-bus tour of the island. Our driver, Mr. Quick, drove up and down and all around the island. He was very proud of his home and pointed out all the interesting facets of it. One thing that I found particularly fascinating was the way the BVI'ers handled construction. They usually only build one floor at a time, but they left all the plumbing, electrical and re-bar fittings sticking up into what will someday become the next story. Its looks like the house was devastated by a hurricane, when in fact the opposite was the case. This was the Magic's first call to Tortola and Mr. Quick might get a comment to two regarding his saucy description of a local bar and its full moon festivals; let's just say the stories of panties did not mesh with the Disney crowd. Overall, I thought Tortola was bit shabby, but the people were nice and welcoming.

The second port of call was a mere 30 miles away at St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. We didn't have any shore excursions planned, so we wanted to get some snorkeling in. A guidebook suggested a couple of beaches so we went to get a taxi. A tip for you: get the price before piling in the cab. We weren't thinking and probably got ripped off. Obama's stimulus money hard at work. Anyway I made it back in booze savings. The snorkeling was average. The beach was crawling with "waitresses." They weren't mean or pushy, but they kept coming by asking if we wanted something to drink or eat. After a couple hours, we had enough. We did find time to get to a couple geocaches which was fun. As for the booze, here is a tip: don't go to the place closest to the dock, walk another 50 yards and save loads of money. I simply crossed the street to "Al's Booze Barn" and saved tons on some Johnny Walker Swing a friend asked me to get for him. I also picked up some Cointreau for myself and Kevin.

After another day at sea, we pulled into Disney's own island, Castaway Cay. Right from the dock, you knew this was an extension of the ship and of Disney, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. First, the snorkeling was great. They filled the lagoon with a bunch of old buoys, boats, etc. to attract tons of fish. The only drawback is it takes a bit of swimming to get out to the good stuff which limits the range of the kids. Second, the food was great. My brother and I did an morning 5K. The heat was brutal, but I did pretty good.

The highlight of any cruise is the on-board entertainment. I was expecting some B-level Disney shows rehashed from the parks, but I was woefully mistaken. The shows were first rate amazing productions. My favorite show was the "Golden Mickeys", a take on the Oscars which features the big Disney animated films. The girls' favorite entertainment was karaoke; they participated every night it was offered. I even joined in for a song or two. The crew members who ran the entertainment were very professional and really kept things going.
The other focus of a cruise is the food. The quantity is a given, but the quality is what matters to me. Breakfasts were average. We usually ate at the buffet in order to save time. It is hard to mess up oatmeal, donuts and bacon and Disney didn't. Lunch was usually taken on deck at the fast food stand. Decent burgers and fries. I don't expect much for lunch and I wasn't disappointed. Dinners were excellent. I like how the menus changed each night. I tried to stay on the lighter side but everything was great. The service was also top notch, better than almost any restaurant you find on the mainland. I especially enjoyed the black tie nights where I could break out my James Bond Mk I tuxedo.

After boarding, we set off for the final leg home. We pulled in quite early and I was able to watch the resupply operations for a while. It was amazing to watch the amount of stuff they are able to move off trucks and onto the ship with their little fork lifts. They only have a few hours to get everything squared away before they ship leaves again.


We had an evening flight but we got to the airport quite early. I checked for any earlier flight and we just made one which turned out to be very lucky for us. Our bags were already checked through on our later flight thanks to the Disney baggage handlers but we figured we would just pick them up later. At Dallas, we quickly checked the board for our connecting flight and noticed a gate change. We hustled on the train to the gate and just made the flight, very lucky for us. After landing, I checked on the status of our later flight which had our luggage; the leg from Dallas had been canceled. Had we stuck to our original itinerary, we would have another involuntary day of vacation. Now, we just had to wait until morning for our bags. Tip: get on the first flight you can AND you get to the Orlando airport in plenty of time for an early afternoon flight.

 

Books

Been slow with the blogging, but quick on the reading. Here is a rundown of the recent books:

"Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost - And How It Can Find Its Way Back" by Mickey Edwards - Much has been written of the demise of the conservatism and the Republican party. This excellent book covers it much detail.

"Unleashing the Warrior Within" by Richard Mackowicz - A typical self-help book that attempts, unsuccessfully, to apply military, SEAL-type tactis to everyday motivational techniques.

"Anza-Borrego: A Photographic Journey" by Ernie Cowan - An excellent photog book by former NC Times outdoor writer.

"I So Don't Do Mysteries" by Barrie Summy - I pre-read this book in anticipation of handing it off to my daughter but I decided against it after reading it. First, the teenage characters are focused mainly on boys which detracts for the story. Second, the story isn't very good. I was interested in the book becuase it was set in San Diego but the only places mentioned are the Hotel Del Coronado and the Wild Animal Park (wich a cameo from the Whaley House). Very disappointing.

Weekend Activities

* Attended two science lectures at Cabrillo National Monument
* Jaya had her sleep-over birthday party

Monster Trucks

Is there anything more American than Monster Trucks? It has everything dear to our hearts:
* Obscene amounts of horsepower
* Excessive gasoline consumption
* Wanton destruction
* Over-the-top patriotism
* Intrusive advertising
A couple weeks ago, the family and I took the trip down to Qualcomm Stadium for Monsterjam. It was a blast! The truck drivers really go out of their way to put on a good show. At the end, Gravedigger deliberately wrecked his truck to please the crowd. Just as fun as the trucks was the demolition derby they had during intermission.
There were two negatives on the evening. One was the extreme volume of the public address system; it was much louder than the trucks and very annoying. The other was the obnoxious drunks on the trolley ride back to Old Town. The $9 beers would also have been a negative if I had been stupid enough to purchase one.

Barbary Pirates

I highly recommend "The End Of Barbary Terror" by Fredrick Leiner. This book covers the second, and last, Barbary War. A while ago I read, "The Pirate Coast" by Richard Zacks about the First Barbary War in 1804-1805. The Barbary Wars have received renewed interest lately as a result of our dealings in the Middle East as well as the increase in piracy around the world. Both books give a fascinating account of how a very young nation makes its presence known on the world stage. During the first war, American was torn between military force and diplomacy (this meant continued payment of ransoms and bribes to the Barbary pirates). Both were utilized to the end the first war. For the second, American was coming off a victory (of sorts) over England in the war of 1812. We had a good but small navy and chose to use it against the continued misdeeds of the Algerian pirates. A navy squadron, under Stephen Decatur, sunk and captured several Algerian ships and made a show of force persuasive enough to get a treaty fully in America's advantage. The American's were so successful, England and other European countries formed an naval coalition to finish the job and end the Barbary reign forever. A lesson for today? Perhaps.

Woodcutters Weekend

Spent last weekend at Camp Marston for another Woodcutters Weekend. We cut wood in the rain, sleet and snow but thankfully the wood lot had a cover on it. The kids were relieved of duty and spent most of the time playing Ga-Ga.

San Eljio Lagoon

The new nature is opening up this weekend.

Patch Job

I was laid up for most of the weekend due to an operation to repair an inguinal hernia. My surgeon used laparascopy so there is very little scarring.
I had the surgery Scripps Encinitas. The staff and facilities were first rate. Should be back at work on Monday.

History Books

Picked up a couple of history books from the Encinitas library.

• "Faces of San Diego" by Colleen O'Connor. A nice little photo book from different periods of San Diego compiled by the sister of a former mayor.
  


• "San Diego: California's Cornerstone", by Iris Engstrand. This general narrative covers the history of San Diego from pre-Spanish times through 2004. It is broad but shallow, except for Spanish exploration period which digresses too far into the situation in Europe at the time. One interesting aspect of the author is her view that the Spanish treatment of the native populations was out of compassion and although maybe misguided at times, was meant for the betterment of the Indians.
  

Old Town

On Saturday afternoon, we all went down to Old Town to see the sites and visit some of the museums.

* First, we went through the McCoy House Interpretive Center. This is a very nice museum with each room representing a different period of Old Town's history. Unfortunately, the docent said this house is the first to be cut when the money gets tights so is closed often.

 * In the Robinson-Rose House, we saw the wonderful model of Old Town from 1872.

* We did the tour through the Estudillo House. I enjoy the period costumes that the park employees and volunteers wear.

* The kids dipped candles at the candle and soap shop.

* We ate dinner at The Alamo Mexican Food, which is the only fast food Mexican food we could find within walking distance.

Flotation Devices

Proof positive that your airline seat back cushions actually do float.

Airline Hero

There are still people in the airline industry concerned with customer service. Keeping them alive it seems. USAir will probably try to dock this guy's pay for the plane then ask for a government bailout.

Palm Is Back

As a long-time Palm user, I am glad to see that they are making a comeback. When my cell phone contract is up this summer, I will take a long look at the their Pre phone. I always loved the Palm organizer apps as they where much better than the Microsoft equivalents.

Weekend Activities

* Guides trip to Agua Caliente County Park. The weather was perfect and made for a great time at the mud caves and on the Moonlight Trail. Bengt's pinewood racer was the 3rd fastest in the tribe and he made the nation finals where he got the second round. The ranger was a bit persnickety and made us douse the campfires way too early.

* Walked dog at San Elijo Lagoon.

Track Bailed Out Companies

Now you can follow the performance of companies that have received government bail out money.  It is probably best that these companies stay healthy for taxpayers to have any chance of getting anything back from our "investement."  Although I imagine by the time the warrants and other payback schemes are coming due, the companies (aided with plenty of graft) will find a way to weasel themselves out of it.

PMBA Book

Got Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds from the library. It is pretty much what the title says it is: presentation zen. It is filled with advice on how to make better and prettier presentations. It had some good suggestions but it geared for public speeches.

Books

• Money Mischief: Episodes in Monetary History - a great introduction to monetary policy. A bit dense and hard to follow (it is not 'Monetary Policy for Dummies'). Read this if want to learn about how today's economies work and how the government manipulates it.


• The Heretic's Apprentice - The weakest Cadfael episode I have read so far but still good.


• Did Lincoln Own Slaves? - A wonderful Q&A style biography of Abraham Lincoln by Gerald Prokopowicz (the host of Civil War Talk Radio). If you are interesting in Lincoln but don't want an epic bio, this is the perfect book for you. By the way, the answer is no, Lincoln did not own slaves (but the read page 156 to find out the entire story).
  

Weekend Activities

* Yet another Sophie walk at San Elijo Lagoon. Can't wait for the nature center to open.
* Planning meeting for next weekend's Agua Caliente camping trip

Israel Warns Of Pending Attacks

One of the most interesting stories to come out of the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza is that the IDF have been informing targets that they are targets. They have been calling or texting the occupants of buildings that are about to be flattened in the hopes that civilians will be get out. Note that this is necessary mostly because Hamas uses civilian building for military purposes. Israel is deliberately trying to avoid civilian causalities while Hamas purposely targets them.

Life with Windows Mobile 6

Cons
* Lots of dropped calls. This might force me to try and downgrade back to Mobile 5.
* Less battery life. I used to get 3-4 days on a charge, but now get only 2-3.

Pros
* Faster.
* All the organizer apps (Task List, Calendar, etc.) are much better.
* On a related note, the new Google Maps Mobile has a new feature where it determines your location based on cell tower presence. Since my phone does not have GPS, this is very nice.

Sick Sophie

We mistakenly left a bowl of mixed nuts on the dining table yesterday afternoon and the dog promptly ate them. Unfortunately for Sophie, some of the included nuts were Macadamias. Apparently, Macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs. When we woke up this morning, Sophie was suffering the symptoms: wobbly walking, vomiting and depression (although I can't really give a definite diagnosis on this one). Sophie spent the day sleeping in her bed and was fine by the evening, just like a bad Macadamia nut hangover.

Weekend Activities

* Sophie dug a big hole in the garden.

* We went up to Palomar Mountain State Park to see the snow. I went a slightly different route up there that took us past Lake Wohlford, which I have never seen. At the park, the sun was out and the weather great.

The dog loved it as well, especially when a squirrel scampered across the snow.

* Took my parents to see Dr. Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! as the Old Globe theater. The acting and music were great but the stage was the best part of the show. The scenery people outdid themselves on this one. The only negative was the heat in the theater, too hot for me.

Weekend Activities

* Kids went to Disneyland for the Christmas festivities.
* Kids had their Christmas piano recital. Jaya played "We Three Kings" and Bengt played "Good Kind Wencelas".
* Waited for the storm.

Weekend Activities

* Jaya held a garage sale and was quite the little salesperson
* Lux Art Institute Open House
* Hike at San Elijo nature center and South Cardiff

Weekend Activities

* 2 Thanksgiving Dinners sans kids (they were in St. Louis visiting my brother).
* Build another loft bed for Bengt. This one was shorter than Jaya's.
* Hiked San Elijo Lagoon with the dog.
* Painted the ceiling (over a year after we removed the popcorn).
* Put up a dartboard in the garage.

Record Rainfall

San Diego is deluged with over 1 inch of rain. Truly a storm of biblical proportions. Note that sections of Florida received 15 inches in one day during Tropical Storm Fay.

"See No Evil" by Baer

"See No Evil" is an extremely interesting look into the CIA from 70's through 9/11 from a bottom up view.  The first section is a surprisingly candid look at the nuts of bolts of HUMINT (at least the way it used to be according to the author).  The later sections describe the gradual disintegration of the CIA starting from Reagan and culminating with the complete intelligence failure that led to 9/11.  Although the author finds fault with the Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations, he minces no words when describing the utter disdain the Clinton administration had for the CIA.  A novice observer might argue that with the Cold War over, there was/is no need to maintain an expensive overseas intelligence framework.  However, Clinton's policy of appeasement made us blind to terrorists and other threats (like China and Russia).  It also contributed to the faulty intelligence that led to the Iraq War.
Written right after 9/11, this book has some interesting characters that are seen in a much different light 7 years later.  One is Ahmed Chalabi.  Baer writes about Chalabi's efforts to overthrow Saddam Hussein in the mid 90's that Clinton refused to support (for nefarious reasons the author later found out).  Chalabi was then a prime mover in getting Bush to invade Iraq in 2003.  If the CIA has boots on the ground, that whole mess might not have happened.
It will interesting to look back at the Bush administration to see if he allowed the CIA to get back to its roots and foster a new HUMINT network.  One lesson we need to learn is that there are always bad guys and we need to keep an eye on them.

PMBA Books

Two more books from the PMBA. Note that the PMBA has an updated list so some of the books I have read are no longer on it.

• Money & Power: The History of Business - ok but very brief.  Pretty much what you would expect from a book about a TV show.


• 12: The Elements of Great Manager - good tips for managing.

Weekend Activities

* Hiking at Guajome County Park.
* Classics 4 Kids concert at the newly renovated Balboa Theatre. The Balboa is a wonderful venue. I highly recommend taking your children to see Classics 4 Kids to kick start their appreciation of the arts.

Weekend Activities

* Awesome Adventure Princess event at Agua Caliente County Park. Visited the mud caves which were amazing. They are formed by water carving tunnels through the hills, but they look like they were drilled out by man. Tested out the new pool which is unheated buy very refreshing.
* Kids had a piano recital.

Stock Ratings

Is there anything more ridiculous than brokerage stock "ratings"?  One example of how worthless these ratings are can be found in todays GM news.  JPMorgan just now decided that GM is deserving of a downgrade.  But even given the stock's 65-year lows and the very real chance the company could go under any day now, the geniuses give it a rating of "neutral".  Not a "sell" or "shitty" rating, but a "neutral".  What does it take to get a bad rating?  It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the stock itself.

Soon to be Homeless

The Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean is looking for a new home. If you have a spare bedroom or room for 273,800, give them a call.

Weekend Activites

* Built a bottom bunk for Jaya's loft bed
* Walked the dog in the rain
* Visited the new SRF book shop

Break Up the Trojans

Maybe Obama will help distribute the college football wealth like he will all our money.  At least UCLA might be able to complete.

Single Muslims

Came across this image ad on some site. I thought it was a joke.

Update: I removed the image as it was lost.

Weekend Activities

* Had a Guides event at Del Mar Beach. We had great weather this time; no rain, thankfully. Not many activities to spoil the lazy time on the beach.

* St. A's had its Fall Festival fundraiser for the Sudanese outreach. Our chili entry again failed to win. Green Flash brewery was on tap which made a perfect compliment to the chili.

Laws of Unintended Consequences

DMCA was passed 10 years ago today and Wired has an interested take on its first decade in force.

Greenspan Shocked, Absolutely Shocked

What a joker this guy is.  The Fed is the primary cause of all these problems. Considering this was a guy firmly in the belief of free markets (and the gold standard), it makes it more surprising what a political buffoon he has turned into.

Update: Ron Paul thinks so to.

Rocketry

This story about amateur rocketeers demonstrates pure American ingenuity and the human desire to explore and expand our knowledge. That being said, I am certain the government will shut them down sooner or later.

TSA Comms

This is too funny.  But given the probable reaction from the screener, I would make sure that you have plenty of time before your flight.

Weekend Activities

* Playing darts, dog-sitting, baking cookies, roasting chickens

Politics

I started a new political blog here if anyone is interested in nationwide and local Encinitas issues.

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.