Feb 11 2014
Today was the day San Diegans like me voted for a replacement mayor after the disgusting and rubber-faced Bob Filner was forced to resign late last year amidst multiple allegations of sexual harassment and for having a creepier smile than the Joker. Voters had a choice between David Alvarez, the Democratic candidate for the people, …
Sep 18 2013
Thanks again to this amazing thing that is the Internet I was able to watch a real-time launch, from different angles including a couple of onboard cameras, of another NASA rocket from across the continent. This one was an Antares rocket, launched from their facility at Wallops Island, Virginia, delivering the Cygnus spacecraft on a …
Jul 30 2013
Started smelling smoke through my open window while I was working at my computer in the afternoon. It was far too early for the occasional evening smoke I catch a whiff of whenever a neighbor uses their fireplace on cooler nights. I hurried to the backyard worried it might be a canyon fire, but it …
Jun 26 2013
Heard this guy (apparently from Arizona, judging from his license plate) going through our neighbor’s trash this morning. He was keenly focused on collecting whatever glass recyclables he could find. At first I was kind of appalled by his audacity since he wasn’t trying to hide his rummaging at all, but as I watched him …
May 24 2013
I finally got welcomed into the new Google Maps a couple of days ago, but I didn’t get a chance to check it out until this evening. First impression: pretty darn cool. The maps are more detailed (even in the simple map view), getting info about stuff just by clicking on a street is amazing, …
May 14 2013
Took my mom to her third physical therapy appointment with Celeste. The range of motion in my mom’s injured let arm is amazingly better since the first time she came in for an assessment. Today’s session was simple and straightforward: relaxing, stretching, exercising and relaxing. My mom was doing so well that Celeste told us …
Apr 06 2013
Thanks to my friend Rodrigo letting me know about tonight’s fly-over by the International Space Station, I took out my trusty old Bogen tripod and was able to capture two 20-second images of the ISS passing overhead. This is the slightly better of the two. I adjusted the contrast a bit to remove some of …
Mar 26 2013
Today T-Mobile finally and officially announced that they will begin selling the iPhone 5 in April. After all these years of being a loyal T-Mobile customer and bating my time for them to at last join the other major carriers, my wish will finally be coming true. As much coverage as the larger carriers? No, …
Feb 02 2013
My talented, good friend, Sylvia, gave me another one of her patented great haircuts today in preparation for my sweaty kitchen duties at tonight’s Viennese Nights: A Grand Ball (separate blog post to follow). As proof of her snipping talents, here are the before and after images:
Jan 14 2013
Another example of the amazingly connected times we live in was today’s live, online Google+ Hangout by Vice President Joe Biden, moderated by PBS NewsHour’s Hari Sreenivasan. The half hour was meant as an unscripted fireside chat where Sreenivasan and three invited guests would ask questions of Biden about his newly proposed gun control policies. …
Jan 07 2013
Watched an incredibly weird CES keynote address live from Las Vegas, given by Dr. Paul Jacobs of San Diego’s own Qualcomm. First time in many years that Microsoft had not given the keynote. Jacobs went through the usual upcoming product (processor) announcement gloating, which really did sound pretty impressive, but then things started to get …
Nov 21 2012
Using a donated coupon from my sister, I took our car to get a free, long overdue oil change at, for us, a new and nearby auto mechanic. Meant to ask what the building used to be because it sure doesn’t look like a typical auto repair shop, especially with the tiki on the roof …
Nov 17 2012
Helped my neighbor, Liz, drop off a rental RV that she and her roommate Tammy used to bring Tammy’s mother out from Arkansas. Liz drove the RV and I followed in their van. We dropped it off at a rental place in Poway on a beautiful morning which began with a brief and refreshing downpour. …
Nov 06 2012
I am both embarrassed and proud to say that I have finally, for the first time ever, voted in a general election for US President as well as local ballots, initiatives, propositions and political offices. I got tired of people saying that those who don’t vote shouldn’t complain. Got tired of it mainly because I …
Jun 15 2012
Finally, after many frustrating attempts to complete some graphically intense projects, Sylvia got her new 13 inch MacBook Pro. Her old, refurbished iMac crashed and rebooted one too many times, usually just before she saved her work. And today it came to a head. Rodrigo and I visited a local Apple Store to pick up …
