Saturday, July 31

Quintessential San Francisco

It's our last day in San Francisco, and before leaving, I just had to get in a few more shots of the city and environs before departing.

As Marilee put it last evening on the way to the bay, among other things, a somewhat picturesque view would be that of the row houses that are so typical of San Francisco:



And that bridge everyone always talks about? Sure, I got some typical bridge photos when last I was here, but these are particularly grand as the fog was rolling in:



And with any one photo session, there's always a "money shot". Sure, everyone takes a photo of Alcatraz while they're in San Francisco, but this one is the best by far:



Next stop, Reno again - it's still a long way from Utah.

Thursday, July 29

Redwood Road



The drive between Reno and the Mendocino Coast was far from boring; sure, there was middle of nowhere galore, but once we got closer to California, the sightseeing took on another dimension.

A real, honest-to-God Redwood Forest.

I don't know the whys and wherefores of how Utah got its Redwood Road. And besides, if there were redwoods anywhere near the current expanse of Redwood Road, they were likely all cut down sometime back.

But the redwood road we traversed - California Highway 128 - was a sight to see. Sufficiently twisty-turny to give Marilee a slight case of carsickness, I must have imagined myself a James Bond type in an Astin Martin or some such. Driving along such a road makes one feel a bit minuscule if only because the canopy is so far above.

Enjoy the ride.

Wednesday, July 28

Rooms with a View

It's day four or our mini-vacation to California. First we hit Reno, then Fort Bragg the Medocino Coast, and now we're in Dublin San Francisco. And for all but the reservations for here, I/we did all the rest of the hotel planning online. Maybe for the last time.

An article last year at CNN's website asked an interesting question: Are travel agents making a comeback? Sounds likely, actually. Unless you're dead set against paying someone to do the same thing you can do online - and you're not interested in frills or must-haves like a view, then go right ahead.

About that term "view" - one caveat I'll start with right away is that a room with a view may only mean a room at a hotel is high enough so as to see out over that which is around the hotel.

Or a view of the ritzy-er hotels you could be staying at.

So after leaving Reno with that view, I was expecting a similar experience on our way to Fort Bragg. After driving onto the property and seeing the overgrowth of pines at the Pine Beach Inn, I suspected the worst - I imagined that the foliage would have blocked the view once we opened the drapes. So I wasn't surprised when I saw this:



...that is, until I went out onto the balcony:



Pine Beach Inn, Fort Bragg, California. Enjoy the view.

Monday, July 26

Doublin' It Up

On the road again...

Who would have thought that I'd be a travelin' man so soon after my last trip to California. But I am, and Marilee's along for the ride this time. And the destination?

The city by the bay. No, THE City by the Bay.

Yes, I/we're off to San Francisco again.

More edumication.

Just a three-day class, but with the short notice, I'm again driving. Another eleven-hour drive (give or take), something that was communicated to me by not one, not two, but three different people all the way from local entities through corporate travel. All apparently forgetting that I drive for a living anyway.

Heaven forbid they'd freak out if they knew we can drive 300-plus on a given day. The difference being that by and large, we get to sleep in our own beds after the fact.

But this time? At least I have Marilee to remind me to stop occasionally for rest breaks.

But eleven hours? Hardly. We left yesterday morning and pulled into Reno at 4pm Pacific time. Today we're off to Fort Bragg. Tuesday AM we head down to Frisco.

Yeah, the additional time driving is mostly to break up the trip but mostly since we probably won't get another chance to have a vacation this year.

So what if I get educated in the process. And part of that education is I'm tired of driving so much.

Thursday, July 22

Pixels

Old-school awesome:



Yeah, I knew you'd like it.

Wednesday, July 21

Old Spice-Y

So I don't watch enough of "regular" TV any more - mostly, it's HSN, QVC, and HGTV. And everything in betwen. That makes up only about six channels the cable system has.

Or so it seems, since there's nary a copy of my fingerprints on the remote.

So apparently a certain set of commercials portraying "the Old Spice Guy" is a hit on the interwebs. I couldn't say as I've never seen any of them, and they apparently don't advertise on those six channels.

But if they're anywhere near as entertsining as this parody of sorts from BYU, maybe I need to do some erstwhile remote-grabbing of my own.

Hope I still remember how to use it.

Friday, July 16

Can't Argue With This Logic

Well, most of 'em, anyway.

Random bs from the interwebs:

1. Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.

2. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

3. A day without sunshine is like, well, night.

4. On the other hand, you have different fingers.

5. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

6. Back up my hard drive? How do I put it in reverse?

7. I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.

8. When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty.

9. Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it.

10. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.

11. I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

12. He's not dead, he's electroencephalographically challenged.

13. She's always late. Her ancestors arrived on the Juneflower.

14. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted, then used against you.

15. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges.

16. Honk if you love peace and quiet.

17. Pardon my driving, I am reloading.

18. Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how living remains so popular?

19. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.

20. It is hard to understand how a cemetery raised its burial costs and blamed it on the high cost of living.

21. Just remember...if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.

22. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

23. It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end to end, someone would be stupid enough to try and pass them.

24. You can't have everything, where would you put it?

25. Latest survey shows that 3 out of 4 people make up 75% of the world's population.

26. If the shoe fits, get another one just like it.

27. The things that come to those that wait may be the things left by those who got there first.

28. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

29. Flashlight: A case for holding dead batteries.

30. Shin: A device for finding furniture

31. As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in public schools.

32. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

33. It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats.

34. Everybody lies, but it doesn't matter since nobody listens.

35. I wished the buck stopped here, as I could use a few.

36. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.

37. When you go into court you are putting yourself in the hands of 12 people that weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.

38. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

Talking Carl

Wow, if I had an iPhone, I could have crap apps like this:

Monday, July 12

Digital Instant Gratification

Got this one of Bowser a few minutes ago on the patio:

Thursday, July 8

1945-1998

I just watched a most sobering video. It will likely make you feel the same way.

Approaching the sounds a Simon game would make - on acid - or a really pissed-off mother ship from Close Encounters, the following video depicts every atomic explosion from 1945 to 1998:



The first explosion is from the Manhattan Project, the next two are from Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Then, a metronome-like blip is heard, counting off each month, with a special blip denoting each passing year.

Then come the country blips. The sobering country blips.

The video runs 14 ½ minutes, counting off all 2053 atomic tests and explosions worldwide.

Please share it with your family and friends.

What The Hell Did I Just Find?

Holy crap.

OK, so you're off in some far-flung corner of the web, searching for something - anything - maybe a bit arcane, but you just know you have to find it.

And finally, there, you found it. It has exactly the meaning, the range of emotions is just right, and you begin to absorb it in its entirety. But there's something a bit amiss. Because as you read, you realize that this document isn't exactly something that the general public should be reading.

Confidentiality just went out the window with the baby.

As an example, I'd found, years ago, that a simple search for "Top Secret" might bring up a few references to a movie from the '80's by the same name. Or a blogger with a wild hair about something going on in some high-level cluster... well, you get the idea. Oh, and add "filetype:pdf" to that search and check out the stuff from the "dot gov's" and "dot mil's".

REALLY SCARY SH!T.

Am abusing the hell out of doing seaches like this? Not really. "It's their own fault for not protecting their information behind a major firewall" may not hold up too well in court, but I'm not the one they should be worried about.

It's not like I'm the only one who has figured this out. Besides, anyone interested in getting "secrets" isn't going to be doing it on the web.

Or are they?

WONDERFUL (sarcasm abounding in those caps) little website I became aware of last night makes one wonder just how much we're letting out, and to whom. It's called WikiLeaks. From their website's about page:

"WikiLeaks is a multi-jurisdictional public service designed to protect whistleblowers, journalists and activists who have sensitive materials to communicate to the public. Since July 2007, we have worked across the globe to obtain, publish and defend such materials, and, also, to fight in the legal and political spheres for the broader principles on which our work is based: the integrity of our common historical record and the rights of all peoples to create new history."

Oh, wow.

Grab any subject from today's - or yesterday's or yesteryear's headlines, and you'll be surprised at what you find.

Like, for instance, a microfilm entry from 1961 announcing one Barack Obama to the world from the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper.

Birthers be damned.

Anyway, I won't bore you with more details. You'll just have to experience it for yourself.

Oh, and one might wonder how this site has flown under so many levels of radar since July 2007 - from CNN's website:

"...The site gained international attention in April when it posted a 2007 video said to show a U.S. helicopter attack in Iraq killing a dozen civilians, including two unarmed Reuters journalists."

So go spend some time seeing what's NOT being reported in mainstream media. You'll be captivated, I'm sure.

Tuesday, July 6

2204355

No, I don't know what it means, either, but it's taking the web by storm:

Friday, July 2

Vuvuzela, Utah Style

What A Pain In The Neck

Ever since my spine surgery of a year ago, Marilee (my wife)1 has always been concerned that I not sleep crooked, lest my neck start hurting. That's not at issue - it's what happens TO my neck that makes some other extremity hurt. If you've never experienced the pain that comes not from one location (an arm) but that the injury is from somewhere else (the neck), well, you really have to be there. But I wouldn't wish this sort of pain to anyone.

Yesterday, I posted that the only issue I'd had was numbness in my fingers if I slept crooked. And that I just KNEW that the numbness wasn't going away.

Well, the numbness is still there, but with an added bit to the mix...

The pain's back. Not like before, thankfully, but sharp little jabs into my left hand's knuckles radiating out to the fingertips.

Meds? OTC pain meds are of no use in cases like this - those kinds of pain killers are only good for constant pain. Pains that come and go require more overall meds. And I'm inclined, this time, to not take them until it starts affecting my job.

Last year, before my surgery, the pain went on for FIVE WEEKS before Doc Peterson's scalpel touched my skin. The final two weeks I was unable to do "that which I get paid for" as the meds through that period were making me dizzy, and thus a danger to myself and other drivers on the road. Not that that's much different than driving normally on Utah roads, but still.

The advantage this time is that I have some foresight as to what the next two weeks MAY be like as I wait for the appointment with Doc Peterson. NO meds until I cannot stand it any more.

And the light at the end of the tunnel?

Can't see it yet.

1 Mia's the dog, Fo4!
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