Today I'm thankful for ...
... recycling. I got rid of a big pack of cardboard today and it all fit into the recycling bin with a little pushing. And yesterday I went out and did the Green Citizen electronics recycling and got rid of a stack of computer equipment that had been following me around for a while. One of the things was a near-pristine Gravis Ultrasound Max sound card that I had used back in a 386 computer eons ago. I was going to Ebay it, but finally I just decided it was better to get rid of it. And so it went. Even the guy who assisted me at Green Citizen gasped when he saw it.
29 February 2008
28 February 2008
Double half-caf no whip grande soy cappuccino latte with room
Today I'm thankful for ...
... Starbucks' custom ordering. I like my drink and I like it a certain way. While ordering it I found out the barista actually liked the same drink. Grande five-pump soy chai latte.
... Starbucks' custom ordering. I like my drink and I like it a certain way. While ordering it I found out the barista actually liked the same drink. Grande five-pump soy chai latte.
27 February 2008
The sound of silence
Today I'm thankful for ...
... no meetings. Wednesday is No Meetings Wednesday. And we've been pretty good about that. Yay. I actually did get a lot done. I was able to put on my headphones and fall into my little audio cocoon while basking in the light glow from the LCD screens.
... no meetings. Wednesday is No Meetings Wednesday. And we've been pretty good about that. Yay. I actually did get a lot done. I was able to put on my headphones and fall into my little audio cocoon while basking in the light glow from the LCD screens.
26 February 2008
Power up
Today I'm thankful for ...
... almost being done moving. I'm seriously tired of breathing in dust and the last dregs of my belongings are leaving the house now. I am aiming to be out by Thursday but the last bits still are here. I did finally get the bed up and I can sleep on it, but the new apartment is an absolute disaster. When I get some shelving set up I'll be able to clear out a lot of boxes that are clogging the main areas.
... almost being done moving. I'm seriously tired of breathing in dust and the last dregs of my belongings are leaving the house now. I am aiming to be out by Thursday but the last bits still are here. I did finally get the bed up and I can sleep on it, but the new apartment is an absolute disaster. When I get some shelving set up I'll be able to clear out a lot of boxes that are clogging the main areas.
25 February 2008
Wii like it
Today I'm thankful for ...
... management not balking at me bringing the Wii in. It has turned into a great little afternoon distraction to relieve tension in the office. Warning: the next few posts are going to be mostly about work and moving...
... management not balking at me bringing the Wii in. It has turned into a great little afternoon distraction to relieve tension in the office. Warning: the next few posts are going to be mostly about work and moving...
24 February 2008
Downsizing
Today I'm thankful for ...
... having lived in cramped conditions for two years. In those two years at my old apartment I got rid of many many things. Once again I find myself in rather small digs, but at least it's a smidge bigger than before. I moved a few more things over today and moved a bit of furniture around inside the new place. The living room isn't as crowded as it was before, although there's barely any walking room. The important thing is that everything should fit OK and then I can begin getting rid of more stuff. Like comics. I've been carrying them around forever and I think its time to sell them off. Oh and those two boxes of magazines? They have to go. And some books should be sold off... Hopefully I'll make enough room that I'll be able to have a TV again.
... having lived in cramped conditions for two years. In those two years at my old apartment I got rid of many many things. Once again I find myself in rather small digs, but at least it's a smidge bigger than before. I moved a few more things over today and moved a bit of furniture around inside the new place. The living room isn't as crowded as it was before, although there's barely any walking room. The important thing is that everything should fit OK and then I can begin getting rid of more stuff. Like comics. I've been carrying them around forever and I think its time to sell them off. Oh and those two boxes of magazines? They have to go. And some books should be sold off... Hopefully I'll make enough room that I'll be able to have a TV again.
23 February 2008
Still alive
Today I'm thankful for ...
... not getting sick. I am really drained after having moved big furniture in the early morning followed by a long night of doing the Chinese New Year scavenger hunt. That was an absolutely miserable experience---although good friends help make it somewhat bearable. It turned out that a major storm system moved in on us and we were constantly in the rain and the cold, blustery wind. Combine that with stress, a lot of walking, and San Francisco hills, and you have the recipe for pneumonia. But we made it through with all clues but one and Gordon Biersch kept us warm afterwards. I was also really lucky to get my car out of the garage at 11:58 PM, two minutes before they would have closed!
... not getting sick. I am really drained after having moved big furniture in the early morning followed by a long night of doing the Chinese New Year scavenger hunt. That was an absolutely miserable experience---although good friends help make it somewhat bearable. It turned out that a major storm system moved in on us and we were constantly in the rain and the cold, blustery wind. Combine that with stress, a lot of walking, and San Francisco hills, and you have the recipe for pneumonia. But we made it through with all clues but one and Gordon Biersch kept us warm afterwards. I was also really lucky to get my car out of the garage at 11:58 PM, two minutes before they would have closed!
22 February 2008
Saran wrap
Today I'm thankful for ...
... big-ass rolls of stretchy plastic wrap. I wrapped up just about everything big with some bubble wrap and then put stretchy plastic wrap around them. The roll is just a really oversized version of food plastic wrap that has an elongated spindle so you can grasp the roll with two hands and literally run around the object you want to wrap.
I got the idea from people back on the job who had to move server equipment between labs. Rather than unbolt and pack equipment people would leave server racks completely assembled. The trouble is that cords get tangled, they fall off the rack unsecured, there's other little things that bounce and roll around. So, if you wrap the entire rack in plastic wrap then everything stays put and all you have to do is unwrap the rack when you arrive at your destination.
So, I shielded all of my big furniture with bubble wrap or furniture pads to provide some crash protection, and then I used the plastic wrap to hold them in place. It turns out this is really quick to do and works insanely well. The plastic gives you a grip surface and it's also somewhat water resistant. Plus lets you secure just about anything in place, and with non-rectangular objects.
... big-ass rolls of stretchy plastic wrap. I wrapped up just about everything big with some bubble wrap and then put stretchy plastic wrap around them. The roll is just a really oversized version of food plastic wrap that has an elongated spindle so you can grasp the roll with two hands and literally run around the object you want to wrap.
I got the idea from people back on the job who had to move server equipment between labs. Rather than unbolt and pack equipment people would leave server racks completely assembled. The trouble is that cords get tangled, they fall off the rack unsecured, there's other little things that bounce and roll around. So, if you wrap the entire rack in plastic wrap then everything stays put and all you have to do is unwrap the rack when you arrive at your destination.
So, I shielded all of my big furniture with bubble wrap or furniture pads to provide some crash protection, and then I used the plastic wrap to hold them in place. It turns out this is really quick to do and works insanely well. The plastic gives you a grip surface and it's also somewhat water resistant. Plus lets you secure just about anything in place, and with non-rectangular objects.
21 February 2008
There's many fish in the sea
Today I'm thankful for ...
... sushi. I went with a friend to a local sushi place and had some of the tastiest sushi I can recall in a long time. We did this sashimi special with fish served over crushed ice. I think it was toro and maguro that tasted the best. I don't use soy sauce and wasabi unless I think the fish needs it. I believe good sushi should have its own taste and anything else just takes away from it---if you want to alter the flavor you might as well buy some fish sticks and smother them with the barbecue sauce of your choosing. That said, I really don't get the ama-ebi head thing. Ew.
... sushi. I went with a friend to a local sushi place and had some of the tastiest sushi I can recall in a long time. We did this sashimi special with fish served over crushed ice. I think it was toro and maguro that tasted the best. I don't use soy sauce and wasabi unless I think the fish needs it. I believe good sushi should have its own taste and anything else just takes away from it---if you want to alter the flavor you might as well buy some fish sticks and smother them with the barbecue sauce of your choosing. That said, I really don't get the ama-ebi head thing. Ew.
20 February 2008
Calendars
Today I'm thankful for ...
... giving myself a month to move. I've learned my lesson well about quick moves: nothing ever goes right and you'll end up only straining/hurting yourself if you try to do things in anything less than 3 weeks. It turned out that there were problems with the phone line, the DSL, and the carpets needed cleaning. Plus I needed to just figure out the layout of where things were going to go and have time to shop for the basics. Everything seems to be going well and getting completely moved before the end of the month seems very very doable.
... giving myself a month to move. I've learned my lesson well about quick moves: nothing ever goes right and you'll end up only straining/hurting yourself if you try to do things in anything less than 3 weeks. It turned out that there were problems with the phone line, the DSL, and the carpets needed cleaning. Plus I needed to just figure out the layout of where things were going to go and have time to shop for the basics. Everything seems to be going well and getting completely moved before the end of the month seems very very doable.
19 February 2008
Boxes and boxes
Today I'm thankful for ...
... able-bodied friends. My move has been a little stilted due to a number of variables. People I originally thought might help changed their availability and others I didn't expect look like they're going to participate. This should be interesting!
I totally appreciate ppl helping me move, but it seems I've reached that point where getting professional movers is going to be the next necessary step. It's also the point where I'll probably start getting furniture too.
... able-bodied friends. My move has been a little stilted due to a number of variables. People I originally thought might help changed their availability and others I didn't expect look like they're going to participate. This should be interesting!
I totally appreciate ppl helping me move, but it seems I've reached that point where getting professional movers is going to be the next necessary step. It's also the point where I'll probably start getting furniture too.
18 February 2008
Bumper cars
Today I'm thankful for ...
... not getting hit at the Serramonte Home Depot and Bed, Bath and Beyond. OMGWTF. Those are the absolute worst parking lots EVER.
Firstly, the Home Depot parking lot is horribly marked. You enter down a drive which T's: an immediate branch takes you under a canopy, the other sends you towards the roof. The signs for which direction you drive under the canopy are posted some 30 feet above the road---like anyone is going to look up there! I ended up going down a 2-lane road which actually was the wrong direction. The stalls were also 90-degree perpendicular to the road so there's no indication that I was going the wrong way. And the canopy is orange and the wrong-way signs are red---two colors relatively close together at a glance.
Secondly, the traffic flow is wrong. Once you're under the canopy there are huge signs saying "Exit", but those only take you around and put you back under the same canopy which would force you to make a secondary revolution with no exits!
Thirdly, it's way too crowded. There are too many options. It would have been better to branch off the traffic and keep things going in a larger circle than a couple of tight circles.
And over at Bed, Bath and Beyond there are too many entrances to paths in the parking lot which creates a lot of gridlock. Plus people drive too fast. Oh, and I forgot to mention the half-spaces: tiny spaces that are too shallow because someone thought putting decorative trees in very large planters was a good idea.
UGH.
Bad interface design!!!
Overall I had a horrible driving experience there.
... not getting hit at the Serramonte Home Depot and Bed, Bath and Beyond. OMGWTF. Those are the absolute worst parking lots EVER.
Firstly, the Home Depot parking lot is horribly marked. You enter down a drive which T's: an immediate branch takes you under a canopy, the other sends you towards the roof. The signs for which direction you drive under the canopy are posted some 30 feet above the road---like anyone is going to look up there! I ended up going down a 2-lane road which actually was the wrong direction. The stalls were also 90-degree perpendicular to the road so there's no indication that I was going the wrong way. And the canopy is orange and the wrong-way signs are red---two colors relatively close together at a glance.
Secondly, the traffic flow is wrong. Once you're under the canopy there are huge signs saying "Exit", but those only take you around and put you back under the same canopy which would force you to make a secondary revolution with no exits!
Thirdly, it's way too crowded. There are too many options. It would have been better to branch off the traffic and keep things going in a larger circle than a couple of tight circles.
And over at Bed, Bath and Beyond there are too many entrances to paths in the parking lot which creates a lot of gridlock. Plus people drive too fast. Oh, and I forgot to mention the half-spaces: tiny spaces that are too shallow because someone thought putting decorative trees in very large planters was a good idea.
UGH.
Bad interface design!!!
Overall I had a horrible driving experience there.
17 February 2008
Spaces
Today I'm thankful for ...
... having a little space. Since I have been moving a couple of carloads each day I have cleared out a lot of space in my old apartment. I can actually see the walls now!
... having a little space. Since I have been moving a couple of carloads each day I have cleared out a lot of space in my old apartment. I can actually see the walls now!
16 February 2008
Still dreaming
Today I'm thankful for ...
... thoughts about the business. I haven't let go of a few ideas I have been working on, and I even have a working prototype. It just needs some serious polish and a couple of additional features and then it can be released. I so want to get this out there and to start doing something useful with it. I would love it if it could pay my bills...
... thoughts about the business. I haven't let go of a few ideas I have been working on, and I even have a working prototype. It just needs some serious polish and a couple of additional features and then it can be released. I so want to get this out there and to start doing something useful with it. I would love it if it could pay my bills...
15 February 2008
Who says veggies aren't tasty?
Today I'm thankful for ...
... vegetarian Indian food. For those people that eat Indian food a lot it's probably pretty obvious that there are plenty of all-veggie dishes that are super tasty. You have to admit that the Indian and South Asian regions are masters at spices. Without the need for meat you can have a very filling and flavorful meal.
... vegetarian Indian food. For those people that eat Indian food a lot it's probably pretty obvious that there are plenty of all-veggie dishes that are super tasty. You have to admit that the Indian and South Asian regions are masters at spices. Without the need for meat you can have a very filling and flavorful meal.
14 February 2008
13 February 2008
Geek is chic?
Today I'm thankful for ...
... Dad introducing me to computers, and that I stuck with them. Lately this stupid Macbook Pro has been giving me tons of problems. It couldn't see its firewire port and it wasn't able to sleep. I tried resetting the NVRAM and PRAM according to many guides on the Internet. I took it to the Apple store and they said I might incur a $300 repair and would be out of a computer for weeks.
That is just not going to work for me.
I use my personal laptop also as my work computer. I have many professional licenses on this machine and I can't easily transfer them off. I have insurmountable deadlines too.
So my solution was to figure out if it's a software issue or a hardware issue. My guess is that it's both: Parallels taking over my firewire port and not letting a process sleep; and an aging hard disk that probably is littered with errors from being bumped while it was writing. I got a new 160GB hard disk (40GB more than what I currently have) and after reading many guides I decided to crack open the Macbook case...
Wow, talk about a bazillion screws. Seriously. I had a strip of tape where I could tack the screws so I could remember what order to put them back in. There's probably 2 dozen mini Phillips and Torx-6 screws! But I did it, ever so gingerly moving ribbon cables and unlocking this and that. With the new HDD connected and a fresh Mac OS X install the computer functioned as good as new, sleeping and all. Now I knew that it was most likely a software problem.
What's more interesting is that I swapped the drives back to my old 120GB and now the computer sleeps just fine too!!! I don't get it! My best guess is that jostling the laptop around loosened something and one day when I slept the computer while my Mighty Mouse was on probably put it into a weird power state. By taking out the RAM and swapping the hard drive I think that helped to reset any stuck bits, and the fresh Mac OS X install helped cleanse the rest of it.
Anyways, I'm glad that my introduction to technology happened when I was young and I was never discouraged from pursuing it. There are many girls who get frustrated by being too geeky, but sometimes you just have to follow your passion I guess?
... Dad introducing me to computers, and that I stuck with them. Lately this stupid Macbook Pro has been giving me tons of problems. It couldn't see its firewire port and it wasn't able to sleep. I tried resetting the NVRAM and PRAM according to many guides on the Internet. I took it to the Apple store and they said I might incur a $300 repair and would be out of a computer for weeks.
That is just not going to work for me.
I use my personal laptop also as my work computer. I have many professional licenses on this machine and I can't easily transfer them off. I have insurmountable deadlines too.
So my solution was to figure out if it's a software issue or a hardware issue. My guess is that it's both: Parallels taking over my firewire port and not letting a process sleep; and an aging hard disk that probably is littered with errors from being bumped while it was writing. I got a new 160GB hard disk (40GB more than what I currently have) and after reading many guides I decided to crack open the Macbook case...
Wow, talk about a bazillion screws. Seriously. I had a strip of tape where I could tack the screws so I could remember what order to put them back in. There's probably 2 dozen mini Phillips and Torx-6 screws! But I did it, ever so gingerly moving ribbon cables and unlocking this and that. With the new HDD connected and a fresh Mac OS X install the computer functioned as good as new, sleeping and all. Now I knew that it was most likely a software problem.
What's more interesting is that I swapped the drives back to my old 120GB and now the computer sleeps just fine too!!! I don't get it! My best guess is that jostling the laptop around loosened something and one day when I slept the computer while my Mighty Mouse was on probably put it into a weird power state. By taking out the RAM and swapping the hard drive I think that helped to reset any stuck bits, and the fresh Mac OS X install helped cleanse the rest of it.
Anyways, I'm glad that my introduction to technology happened when I was young and I was never discouraged from pursuing it. There are many girls who get frustrated by being too geeky, but sometimes you just have to follow your passion I guess?
12 February 2008
We agree to disagree
Today I'm thankful for ...
... opposing points of view. I don't see eye-to-eye with my boss or the other designers on the team all the time. I think that's a good thing. Without this we probably would sink into mediocrity and complacence. Sometimes we don't always communicate our intentions effectively (which leads to misunderstanding), but when we are able to ensure everyone is on the same page each of us has something valuable to contribute.
... opposing points of view. I don't see eye-to-eye with my boss or the other designers on the team all the time. I think that's a good thing. Without this we probably would sink into mediocrity and complacence. Sometimes we don't always communicate our intentions effectively (which leads to misunderstanding), but when we are able to ensure everyone is on the same page each of us has something valuable to contribute.
11 February 2008
And now presenting ...
Today I'm thankful for ...
... the Commonwealth Club bringing influential people to public forums. Tonight's presentation was from Donald Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things. I've only read about half of it but what I did read made interesting common sense. Still, when you think about it, what is common sense? What is the science behind making something so obvious as to not require extensive thinking? How do you take advantage of cultural and global customs to infer meaning? How do you make things consistent without making them too much the same?
... the Commonwealth Club bringing influential people to public forums. Tonight's presentation was from Donald Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things. I've only read about half of it but what I did read made interesting common sense. Still, when you think about it, what is common sense? What is the science behind making something so obvious as to not require extensive thinking? How do you take advantage of cultural and global customs to infer meaning? How do you make things consistent without making them too much the same?
10 February 2008
Happy birthday to youuuuuuuu....
Today I'm thankful for ...
... birthdays. Celebrating them is such an awesome thing, even it's a small group. D and I missed out on a friend's birthday so we took him out for a little dinner at this place with a little N'awlins style. He had redfish tacos and enjoyed them as well as D's stories.
... birthdays. Celebrating them is such an awesome thing, even it's a small group. D and I missed out on a friend's birthday so we took him out for a little dinner at this place with a little N'awlins style. He had redfish tacos and enjoyed them as well as D's stories.
09 February 2008
You spin my right round baby right round round roun
Today I'm thankful for ...
... alcohol. With which even the most off-key singing becomes tolerable. Even beautiful. Hooray beer.
... alcohol. With which even the most off-key singing becomes tolerable. Even beautiful. Hooray beer.
08 February 2008
And over the hills we go
Today I'm thankful for ...
... J and D for going skiing. Yes, skiing---not boarding. D called me up a while back and mentioned that a friend was going up to Tahoe for the weekend. I wasn't sure I could get away from work, but it looks like I got all of my big-ticket items done. So I am now in a little time share with a couple of other friends and we'll be getting up bright and early to hit the slopes. This will be D's first time on snow! (It's wonderful that 3 people I know have learned to take the snow this season.)
... J and D for going skiing. Yes, skiing---not boarding. D called me up a while back and mentioned that a friend was going up to Tahoe for the weekend. I wasn't sure I could get away from work, but it looks like I got all of my big-ticket items done. So I am now in a little time share with a couple of other friends and we'll be getting up bright and early to hit the slopes. This will be D's first time on snow! (It's wonderful that 3 people I know have learned to take the snow this season.)
07 February 2008
Lalalalaalala
Today I'm thankful for ...
... musical comedies. A good friend and I had gone boarding a few weeks back and on the return trip there the ski bus showed Once. It turned out to be a really cute movie, a musical comedy. It was filmed documentary style and had a couple of actors I didn't know before---the credits list them as "guy" and "girl". It is well worth the watch!
... musical comedies. A good friend and I had gone boarding a few weeks back and on the return trip there the ski bus showed Once. It turned out to be a really cute movie, a musical comedy. It was filmed documentary style and had a couple of actors I didn't know before---the credits list them as "guy" and "girl". It is well worth the watch!
06 February 2008
Mmm...sacrilicious...
Today I'm thankful for ...
... lots of good pizza choices. The photo meetup met at Goat Hill Pizza in SOMA and it was pretty good pizza. Granted the crust was quite hard, but the pizza itself tasted really good. Cheeses and other toppings were perfect.
... lots of good pizza choices. The photo meetup met at Goat Hill Pizza in SOMA and it was pretty good pizza. Granted the crust was quite hard, but the pizza itself tasted really good. Cheeses and other toppings were perfect.
05 February 2008
Play that funky music...
Today I'm thankful for ...
... neighbors that don't mind a little loud jam session. Where we work is in a set of live/work studio apartments and apparently the neighbors are tolerant of us making noise. We typically play the stereo loud, but that's nothing compared to an amp blasting out tunes. We had an after-work jam with a laptop, a keyboard, and a guitar!
... neighbors that don't mind a little loud jam session. Where we work is in a set of live/work studio apartments and apparently the neighbors are tolerant of us making noise. We typically play the stereo loud, but that's nothing compared to an amp blasting out tunes. We had an after-work jam with a laptop, a keyboard, and a guitar!
04 February 2008
Well...
Today I'm thankful for ...
... well I don't know if I should be thankful quite yet but I just took possession of a key to a new little apartment in the basement of a house. It'll be a totally different lifestyle to be sure. It's going to be relatively quiet except for the grandkids that will be running around---there's a mother-in-law unit behind mine where the landlord lives. She's good-natured and I'm hopeful that this opportunity will work out. Now I just have to figure out how to complete this move.
... well I don't know if I should be thankful quite yet but I just took possession of a key to a new little apartment in the basement of a house. It'll be a totally different lifestyle to be sure. It's going to be relatively quiet except for the grandkids that will be running around---there's a mother-in-law unit behind mine where the landlord lives. She's good-natured and I'm hopeful that this opportunity will work out. Now I just have to figure out how to complete this move.
03 February 2008
Nine long months
Today I'm thankful for ...
... being able to watch friends go through having kids. It seems these days a good number of friends are starting to have families and it's encouraging watching them go through the laborious process of the nine long months and then the many sleepless nights thereafter. Then at some point there's the family and little kids are running amok.
... being able to watch friends go through having kids. It seems these days a good number of friends are starting to have families and it's encouraging watching them go through the laborious process of the nine long months and then the many sleepless nights thereafter. Then at some point there's the family and little kids are running amok.
02 February 2008
Thems my peeps
Today I'm thankful for ...
... game-playing people. It was fun! About a dozen or so people playing games, talking, Rock Band, etc.
... game-playing people. It was fun! About a dozen or so people playing games, talking, Rock Band, etc.
01 February 2008
Tip up your cup and throw yer hands up...
Today I'm thankful for ...
... not having bought tickets to the Foo Fighters tomorrow. It turns out that by not doing that I can go to a couple of parties friends are throwing. Yay!
... not having bought tickets to the Foo Fighters tomorrow. It turns out that by not doing that I can go to a couple of parties friends are throwing. Yay!
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