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February 28, 2006
Considering Lasik
I've worn corrective lenses most of my life - since Jr. High, I think. I've gone from glasses to rigid contacts, to soft contacts and back - after a particularly pernicious eye infection - to glasses. They're mostly just a given - but lately I've started resenting them.
I hate wearing glasses in the rain - they get wet, you can't dry them, and you walk around with streaks in your vision. I hate wearing glasses on a motorcycle - they limit your effective peripheral vision, and even your forward vision when your posture causes you to look over them. I hate wearing glasses when working on the car/motorcycles - they always slip at the least opportune moment, or stop you from quite getting your head where it needs to be to see the thing you need to see. They're just bloody inconvenient.
Until I had an eye infection that took months to treat, I didn't mind contacts - but at this point, once bitten, twice shy.
Over the years I've contemplated laser surgery several times - and each time, after talking to my eye doctor, chickened out. The quotes success rates for lasik are over 99% - but lots of people are having it - which means a non-trivial number are failures.
I could really live without glasses, though...
Posted by dberger at 6:31 PM | Comments (1)
February 23, 2006
Science Fiction Timeline of Inventions
Science Fiction Timeline of Inventions (Listed by Publication Date)
Too Cool.
Posted by dberger at 6:52 PM | Comments (0)
Might be time for another run at Linux
I was reading the Fedora Core 5 release notes and noticed this:
Support for Broadcom 43xx wireless chipsets (http://bcm43xx.berlios.de/) has been included in the kernel.
Lack of support for the onboard WiFi chipset was one of the major hurdles to trying Linux on the hardware.
Seems that when FC5 comes out I might have to give it a whirl on my PB. I figure if MOL actually works, it might be just the thing. Of course, I suspect that power management under Linux won't be as good as under OS X (I love the fact that closing the lid - and reopening it later - does the right thing) and screen reconfiguration (similar - under OS X, when I attach or detach my external monitor at work, the screen magically reconfigures) will suck, but it might just be worth it...
Posted by dberger at 6:34 PM | Comments (0)
The Person Your Dog Thinks You Are
Now that I've submitted an adoption application, I guess it's official. We're looking to adopt a dog. I've been visiting local animal shelters recently, looking for either a puppy (my preference, really) or a dog with a documented history of cohabitation with cats.
We're not breed specific - though we want a medium to large dog, and we're trying to avoid breeds that homeowners policies consider "high-risk" (i.e. Pit Bull, Akita, etc.). We're not doing this because we think they're high risk - we know that it's all about the owner and environment, rather than the breed - but because we don't want our homeowners to drop us like a hot potato.
It's really annoying (depressing) too, 'cause Pit Bulls are vastly over-represented in shelters...
Posted by dberger at 5:12 PM | Comments (1)
Say the Secret Woid...
It's been a Marx Brothers kinda week. On Tuesday, Dawnise and I went to the Lynwood Theater on the island to see a showing of Duck Soup. I have to be "in the mood" for Marx Brother humor, which I fortunately was. The print was pristine - absolutely beautiful, no splices, minimal noise, really a well preserved print. I have to say that, like Casablanca, seeing Duck Soup on the big screen was a completely different experience than seeing it in TV as a kid, and seeing it with a group further enhanced the experience.
Last night we had tickets for An Evening with Groucho - Frank Ferrante's one man (plus pianist) tribute to the great comedian. We arrived early, planning to get dinner, but quickly learned it was a sold out show, and we'd be better served by hanging around 'till the house opened to find good seats, which we did.
The show was very good - Frank did the transformation from himself to Groucho on-stage, achieving it with nothing more than a grease pencil, some ruffling of his hair, and - of course - a cigar, but the transformation was stark, and very effective. He played with, and off, the audience - sang some of Groucho's songs, did some patter, and generally entertained.
It was also just what I needed. Yesterday was a very frustrating day at work - lots of little things, plus the feeling of always being late/behind. Laughter was good.
Posted by dberger at 2:20 PM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2006
Weekend in Review
Sunday morning, I did some running around, including a stop at Eleven winery for a tasting and a nice chat with the wine maker and his wife, a stop at Furry-tail Farm - the island animal sanctuary, and a run to Silverdale to pickup the re-framed print.
Turns out Eleven is almost walking distance from us (ok, it's a half hour walk, but hey) and they rely on volunteer labor for all their crushing and bottling. He got his start after showing up at a local winery and volunteering to help - three years of apprenticing later, and he started his own winery. Sounds like a grand idea - so I put my name on their volunteer list.
I got home and decided to take the RS out for a "test ride" after the repair. It's been chilly (evenings into the mid teens, mornings in the 30's and mid-day in the 40's), so I suited up and made a loop up into Kingston (where there was snow on the ground in the shadows). I got cold faster than I expected, so I cut the ride short in the interest of safety.
Dawnise didn't get home 'till fairly late, so I spent the afternoon taking care of stuff around the house, watching a little Firefly (Out of Gas, probably my favorite episode), and reading. Yesterday Dawnise and I basically hung out at the house, doing a whole lot of nothing much. Good stuff.
Posted by dberger at 8:18 AM | Comments (0)
I think we have a winner...
Dawnise's new GPS arrived yesterday, and in stark contrast to the previous attempts, she did all the setup herself, and found the interface intuitive enough to sit on the sofa and tinker with it for a good 20 minutes. We drove around the island for a half hour, deliberately taking wrong turns - half expecting the star-trek computer voice to start berating us at any moment.
The device basically behaved as Dawnise wanted/expected it to; alerting her to wrong (or missed) turns within seconds, and having a new route calculated in less than 5 seconds. The car mounting bracket is well designed - the unit suction cups to the windshield (a dash-mount plate is included for states like CA that forbid any devices being mounted on the 'shield) and the DC adaptor is integral to the bracket. We haven't tried exercising the built-in battery yet, but they claim an 8 hour lifespan, which should be enough for most motorcycle trips. And I've been meaning to install an accessory outlet on the Trophy anyway.
The 128M SD card it came with was enough to load WA, OR, and Vancouver, BC. I've ordered a 2GB card, which their tech support says is sufficient to load all of North America. The version of map data included in the box was a bit old, so we also ordered the (free) update from Garmin. So far their unlock/activation scheme seems unobtrusive enough - and since it actually contacts their server during activation, I suspect it's pretty robust against tampering as well.
More as we get to exercise it more - but the initial signs are very positive, and it was cheaper than the Magellan once you include the additional $100 worth of Magellan mapping software and mounting bracket.
Posted by dberger at 8:04 AM | Comments (0)
February 18, 2006
Sometimes, when you least expect it
Things go right. To my surprise, the repair on the "other" broken bike (my RS) went smoothly. I ran it in the garage for a good 10 minutes, and not a drop of gasoline was to be seen.
Dawnise volunteered at her guild's quilt show today, so I had the day as a bachelor. I spent it working on the bike, reading a bit, and taking a trip to Silverdale to drop a print off for re-framing (long story - we bought it signed and numbered, but discovered when picking it up after being framed that it was, in fact, only numbered. Amy was kind enough to (re)sign it, so today I dropped it back off at Michael's to be re-assembled.)
I also made a stop at the Kitsap Humane Society and had a look at the young dogs available for adoption. I was happy to see the place busy, and many of the kennels had "Adopted" or "Adoption in Progress" signs on them. Having never been to a pound before, I was expecting something more Lady and the Tramp (complete with musical ;). Glad I didn't find it.
For dinner I BBQ'd some tri-tip (give-away #1 that you're not from "round here" - you bbq in sub-freezing weather...) and Dawnise made herbed potatoes. We just finished, and are going to wander into the other room and veg in front of a movie for a bit.
She works the show again tomorrow, and I'm not sure what will end up on my adgenda - I'll probably pop down to Eleven and have a taste or two - I've still got my glass and pin from the wine and chocolate weekend.
Posted by dberger at 5:48 PM | Comments (0)
The Devil in the White City
I just finished The Devil in the White City, which I mentioned on January 25th, when I read it's first pages.
It doesn't normally take me a month to finish a book, let alone a good one, but in this case, that had nothing to do with the book, and everything to do with the hectic pace of life.
Larson is amazing - he weaves historical fact and primary sources into as compelling a narrative as was ever created, and laces it with amazing moments of poignancy. The counter-point between the transformative events around the Worlds Fair and the tale of the psychopath who lurked just outside kept me constantly off-balance.
I can't recommend it enough.
Continue reading "The Devil in the White City"
Posted by dberger at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2006
Guiding Principles
I had to fill out an "individual development plan" at work, and one of the sections was a list of guiding principles. Rather than dismiss the exercise as pointless management fluff, I spent some time thinking about it, and I rather liked the list I came up with.
Continue reading "Guiding Principles"
Posted by dberger at 7:28 AM | Comments (1)
February 15, 2006
Sometimes negative feedback is the most valuable kind
I stepped (hesitantly) into a management roll a handful of months back, and at the three month mark I sat down with HR to arrange a "360 review" whereby my direct reports could deliver unfiltered, blunt, and honest feedback to me though HR as a neutral third party.
It took a few weeks for them to gather the feedback and for us to come up with a mutually agreeable time to sit down and go through it, which happened today. As a coincidence, I also got feedback from my manager during my semi-annual review today.
I didn't learn as much as I hoped to.
The following excerpt from the feedback sorta summarizes the problem...
Continue reading "Sometimes negative feedback is the most valuable kind"
Posted by dberger at 8:41 PM | Comments (1)
GPS, Take 2
I did a bit more research, and we're trying another GPS for Dawnise, a Garmin StreetPilot 320 this time, just ordered it from Costco today.
The interface looks intuitive, which is good, and the only two negative reviews I found were complaining about "missing" features that are clearly documented in the manual. My only concern is that the Garmin map database seems to be much bigger than the Magellan, and this model doesn't have pre-loaded maps. The worst thing would be to come to rely on the GPS only to drive off the edge of the map, so to speak. I talked to Garmin tech support via email and confirmed that I can load the entire North America map set onto the device - just need a 2GB card.
It should arrive in a week or so, and we'll give it a whirl.
Posted by dberger at 6:26 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2006
Hang my head in shame...
It pains me to say this, but my jukebox has popped up a bunch of songs I really like that I probably shouldn't. Some of 'em are so bad, they don't appear on Rhapsody...
That is all.
Posted by dberger at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
For Sale: Slightly Used Mapping Software
After seeing Vince's Garmin GPS, Dawnise decided she wanted one, and I bought her a Magellan eXplorist 500 bundle from Costco for Christmas.
The physical device was pretty good - small enough to hold in one hand, weatherized for hikers, and rather than fixed internal storage, it has an SD slot; and the Costco bundle included a 1G SD card. The buttons aren't back-lit, which was my first complaint, and the little navigation joystick is a bit tough to use, and would be nearly impossible in gloved hands.
The bundle didn't include the street mapping software or a vehicle mount, both of which I purchased sepparately (from Amazon and an Ebay reseller, respectively).
We took the GPS on our first "real" trip when we went wine-tasting on Sunday (real trip defined as relying on it for directions). That experience, combined with the general poor performance of the device when we did know where we were going, convinced us; and we returned it to Costco yesterday.
Continue reading "For Sale: Slightly Used Mapping Software"
Posted by dberger at 7:50 AM | Comments (2)
February 13, 2006
Wine, Chocolate, and Fraya
After much hemming and hawing (on my part), and after finally taking down the Xmas tree and depositing it at the dump, Dawnise and I set out a bit after noon to do some wine tasting. Our first stop was Camaraderie Cellars outside Port Angeles; about 75 minutes from the house. Their Malbec was very good, and the vintners partner has struck on the brilliant idea of making wine racks from retired wine barrels. I loved the idea, and if all goes to plan, we'll be making a return trip to pick one up in a couple months, when it's finished.
From there we hit Black Diamond, where we met Freya - an 8 week old, incredibly cute Blue Heeler who looked just like this. I managed to tear myself away and into the tasting room; Dawnise failed her cute saving throw, so to speak. She pretty much stayed outside with the dog while I sampled (ironically enough) several wines I was convinced she'd love. Since getting her into the tasting room was a non-start, I did the next best thing - bought a bottle of each. When I had sampled what there was to be sampled, I joined her outside, with the vintner and the puppy to get my own dose of saccharine cute. I suspect there's a puppy in our future...
Our penultimate stop was Olympic Cellars, which was pouring some very nice vintages - including a late harvest that we got for Dawnise. They had, but weren't pouring, a lavender infused mead (they labled it "honey wine") which we also bought.
Finally, we wound our way to Lost Mountain just outside Sequim. At Olympic Cellars we had run into our mirror image - a couple in which the woman liked full bodied reds, and the gent liked only lighter sweet wines. We ran into them again at Lost Mountain and continued the pleasant banter we had begun on the previous stop.
Haul in hand (back seat, really), we headed home, meeting Brad and Kat for dinner at the pub before calling it a night. Nice way to spend a Sunday, I must say.
Posted by dberger at 4:10 PM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2006
First ride of the season
As predicted, the weather today was absolutely beautiful. So after waking up, dosing the cat, and having some breakfast, Dawnise and I hit the road for a leisurely ride that ended us up in Port Townsend. On our way up we stopped at Sorensen Cellars, which is participating in a "wine and chocolate" event with ten other area wineries this weekend and next. We didn't taste anything, being on the bike, but we may end up heading back out tomorrow and rectify that situation.
We got home just as the sun was disappearing and the temperature starting to drop. We made dinner reservations for 7:45 at Sawatdy and just got back from yet another excellent meal.
The days total was only around 100 miles, but it was nice to get out on the bike. I had planned on working on the RS tomorrow, but I had forgotten that Dawnise is working a quilt show next weekend, so I'll take advantage of the time we've got together this weekend, and work on the bike when she's not around.
Posted by dberger at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)
One more for the LJ crowd
I've enabled signins through OpenId, which means you can now (if you want) signin with your LJ account to post comments here. I can't exactly test it, so if you try it and it doesn't work for you, lemme know.
I'm sure you're all a-quiver with anticipation...
Posted by dberger at 6:35 PM | Comments (3)
February 10, 2006
Attn: Live Journal Users
It seems that some of you are having trouble adding me as a "friend" 'cause clicking on my LJ "username" takes you to my blog.
Try this URL: http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?userid=9459326&t=I
That is all...
Posted by dberger at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)
Ghosts of Rides Past
Found this email while trying to remember when it was Dawnise and I made the decision to invest in riding gear. I remembered we had taken a trip up the coast, and nearly froze our arses off coming over the grapevine on the way home...
A lot has changed since then. I ended up commuting on the bike for a number of years, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but isn't something I ever plan to do again in So. Cal. traffic. Dawnise, of course, has her own bike now - and our 2-up trips are far less frequent, which I sorta miss. Our Firstgear overpants have a ton of miles on them, and have performed flawlessly. Our jackets have been replaced with the 3/4 length, which we probably should have bought in the first place.
Oh, and that ix.netcom.com email is long gone. Sorta dates things, doesn't it?
Continue reading "Ghosts of Rides Past"
Posted by dberger at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)
On the Road Again
Dawnise is driving down to Tacoma with a friend today for some sort of craft show, which means I'd have to bus home (not bad) and walk from the bus stop (also not bad, but less than good in the dark/cold/etc.).
So I suited up this morning and got the Trophy back on the road. It was chilly (ok, cold - around 34), but it's all about the right gear. With my First Gear over-pants and jacket, the only bit of me that noticed the temp. was my leg, just over my boot, where the pant rode up.
The bike ran great, once it warmed up. It's supposed to be nice on Saturday - might be time for the first ride of the season...
Posted by dberger at 8:25 AM | Comments (1)
February 9, 2006
How am I expected to handle work...
On a day like this.
It's absolutely gorgeous out -and I'm trapped inside (in a conference room, in fact, waiting for a meeting to start - which is it's own special circle of hell...)
It's days like this when I want a convertible. It's beautiful, but chilly - top down, heater blasting, music loud, and open road...
Looks like a beautiful weekend ahead - perhaps I'll try to make it over to a Pontiac dealer and see if I can fold myself into a Solstice...
Posted by dberger at 2:01 PM | Comments (1)
February 7, 2006
MovableType 3.2...
I've finally gotten around to upgrading to MT 3.2. You shouldn't notice anything.
For all you LJ types, 3.2 supports OpenID, so in theory, you can add me directly to your friends list - my OpenID URL is oubliette.org/~dberger/blog.
If you notice anything strange, lemme know.
Posted by dberger at 2:20 PM | Comments (0)
February 6, 2006
Weekend in review
According to the Seattle PI, the wind storm that had our power out was the worst since '99 - affecting 200,000 in the Puget Sound. When we woke up on Sunday to find the power still off, but on in downtown Winslow, we called our neighbors Dave and Marcia and went down to Doc's for breakfast. After breakfast, Dawnise and I made the second trip to the recycle center (opened this time, fortunately) before returning home to find line crews working on the power-lines feeding our road.
By the time we got inside and putzed around a bit they got the power back on. I went downstairs, started up the computers, and put on my work outfit and set to tearing down the Trophy.
A couple hours later, I had the spark plugs renewed (the middle of the three cylinders is directly under the frame, and a royal PITA to get a wrench on) and was on my way to the local auto parts store for some tubing to renew the clutch fluid. After starting the bike (success!), I set to putting all the body work back on.
I was two screws away from calling it done when I heard a crack. An expensive sounding crack. One of the ABS screw tabs on the faring apparently didn't like my arm squeezing past it and broke. As I type the broken bits are in the bathroom upstairs, with an improvised splint and "liquid weld" applied. If that doesn't work, I'll try something else, or perhaps a few something elses, before forking out several hundred dollars to replace the plastic.
So I finished the evening with one bike mostly together, running again, but I can't call it a victory quite yet.
Posted by dberger at 7:55 AM | Comments (0)
February 5, 2006
We're baaack.
As of 1pm, PSE restored power to our neighborhood. We were toward the tail end of the 200k affected customers, but not dead last, which is good, I suppose.
Later I'll post about how the last two power outages have convinced me that a generator belongs in the '06 spending plan, and how it's made me think about how fragile this technological blanket we've made for ourselves really is, but at the moment, I'm going to try to get a motorcycle running...
Posted by dberger at 1:07 PM | Comments (0)
February 4, 2006
The Universe is conspiring against me...
There was a hell of a wind storm last night - trees are down all over the island, and several counties have reported power disruptions. We lost 5 trees (or large branches) last night. It sounded like a war zone at times.
So we have no power, which means I can't work on the motorcycles, as was my plan.
This is getting really annoying.
I tried taking a trip to the recycle center a bit ago, figuring that opening a bunch of garbage bins doesn't require electricity, so I could at least get some crap out of the house. Loaded up the car, got to the drop-off center and (drum roll please) they were closed. Took more detours than I could count on the way back - finding down trees and blocked roads all over the island.
I'm posting this via the magic of notebooks (with batteries) and my Bluetooth phone. Sometimes I think we've invested in the wrong technology somewhere along the line...
Posted by dberger at 1:15 PM | Comments (2)
February 2, 2006
Random Firefly Links
Ok, I don't normally do this, but my inner fan-boy is showing.
Badges? We don't need no stinking badges.
Every browncoat needs one of these hanging on their tree next year. (thanks, Vince)
And just in case you needed to wear your fandom like a, er, T-shirt, or a license plate frame, or a button, or, whatever.
Some helpful person has taken it upon themselves to publish a blog on this sort of thing.
Posted by dberger at 12:26 PM | Comments (2)