Month: July 2002

still too hot

yes, I know I lived in the humid and sticky southeast for most of my life, where 90º temperatures ran from May to September. For the most part, one looks out the window at it, pausing to wipe the condensation off now and then.

Here, air conditioning is a rarity, so days of 80-90º and up are tough to deal with. I’m used to brown lawns in the summer now, but this is hot by any standard.

On the plus side, my tomato plants are loving it, as are my salad greens. If I had counted on this, it wouldn’t have happened, not in this inconstant region . . . .

if it seems too easy, it’s probably wrong

as much as I struggle to get my mind around C/C++ stuff, it makes me nervous when things work the first time.

But I can relax: I just sent some sample output to the instructor and I’m sure he’ll tell me what I miss.

Especially frightening that this problem simulates a credit accounting system, an area I could never pretend to understand.

R.I.P. World Birthday Web

salon :: :: col :: leon :: R.I.P. World Birthday Web, By Andrew Leonard :: Page 1

Are human beings really that lame?

I guess I missed the fact that I didn’t get any felicitations on my birthday this year (perhaps the fact that I have attained 40 years of excellence had something to do with it), but it never dawned on me that the world birthday web was defunct.

The time-wasters of the world — spammers, direct marketers, and telephone solicitors — have claimed another victim. Remember the B Ark from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? That’s where they’ll be seated.

how to ruin a good thing

Luzianne Smoothies

according to their nutritional panel, these things have 18 g of sugar in a 2 Tbsp serving. I was prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt: after all, fruit has sugar and perhaps it’s all from the fruit they use.

Alas, I read further down, and it’s not so good:

Sugar, Fructose, Soy protein, Banana powder, Citric acid, Natural flavors, Coconut oil, Calcium Silicate (prevents caking), Corn syrup solids, Strawberry solids, natural gums (Guar gum, Xanthan Gum, Maltodextrin, Carrageenan), Strawberry seeds, sodium Caseinate (a milk derivative), Mono&Diglycerides, Dipotassium Phosphate, Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), red 40, Sodium silicialuminate (prevents caking), Blue 1.

Sugar, fructose, maltodextrin, corn syrup solids: all added sugars. There’s already some banana and strawberry in there: why do you need the rest of that junk?

via John

interview today

Interviewed today at a startup doing some interesting and very complicated work. Lots of opportunities for process automation and monitoring/system health stuff so that would be fun.

Can’t say a lot more now, but I hope there’ll be more later.

the joys of wireless

it’s so %&*)(*(^( hot, I am sitting outside in the deepening dusk . . . first time I have tried networking outside the house, and how sweet it is.

83º at Boeing Field (so says gkrellmweather) and about that in the house. If we have too many summer days like this, I may have to get that attic fan installed. Air conditioning would be silly, but some way to cool things down would be fine.

chain of command

the scene: any public park

Two boys, about 5 years old, meet and one says to the other, “hey,wanna play ship?”

“Yes,” says the other.

“OK, I’m the captain,” and the first then proceeds to give orders to the other, reminding him that they are playing together when his crew loses interest.

Not much different from dot.bomb startups, if you think about it.

Bike shopping

So this afternoon found me at REI World HQ using my patronage dividend (less that $10: unemployment limits one’s spending on impractical necessities, which keeps me out of REI) on what we called an odometetr when I was a lad, but what’s now called a “cyclocomputer.” I want to more accurately measure how far I ride: $18 buys you 10 other pieces of information, like max and average speed, time, distance, blahblahblah.

While I was there, I sized a bike: looks like I’m a 54 cm kinda guy: sight unseen a 6 footer would be sold a 58cm bike or even a 60, but I’m glad I threw my leg over one to make sure. If you haven’t been around bikes all that much in say 20 years, you’re in for a shock. 24 speeds are one thing, but the whole notion of combined brake levers/shifters will surely have me eating asphalt. I do like the weight of these new bikes: they’re all but weightless. The ticket says something like 18 – 20 lbs, but pick one up and you can’t even believe that.

Could be my road bike

They had some other bikes in the $400 range (this Fuji is right around there, but they don’t carry that brand). Their own Novara brand bikes look fine but are pushing a grand, which even with gainful employment would be hard to swallow.

They do make you want to just get out and ride though: it feels like possibilities are opening up as you sit on one of these beasts.