Thursday, July 28, 2005
Long days
We've been working 7am-9pm daily. Pretty depressing but then we come outside and see a beautiful sunset over the ocean. Wow.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Rise to space
I'm in Stuart, Florida - we went outside to watch the shuttle Discovery launch today. It was incredible to see it rise in the sky and know there were people onboard.
In case anybody's interested - from about 90 miles away you can easily spot the smoke trail and you can easily see the flame at certain points during the ascent, especially when then throttle up and then again when the solid fuel boosters separate.
In case anybody's interested - from about 90 miles away you can easily spot the smoke trail and you can easily see the flame at certain points during the ascent, especially when then throttle up and then again when the solid fuel boosters separate.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
The old days
I did a little reminiscing tonight looking back at some old letters from my exchange student days.
In the last 15 years there probably hasn’t been a single day that I didn’t think of those times and those friends.
In the last 15 years there probably hasn’t been a single day that I didn’t think of those times and those friends.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Weeding round two
Did a second round of weeding tonight. Only got a little more than half done.
Shoot! The forecast for the next 3 days is rain and Emi will be home on Thursday. There's no way I'm going to get it done. I'm totally busted!
I'm hoping she won't look too closely but I know better - she'll be out there Friday morning working on it as soon as she wakes up.
Shoot! The forecast for the next 3 days is rain and Emi will be home on Thursday. There's no way I'm going to get it done. I'm totally busted!
I'm hoping she won't look too closely but I know better - she'll be out there Friday morning working on it as soon as she wakes up.
Exchange rates
I bought Euro's today for the Sicily trip. Even though the currency is near lows for 2005 it still hurt pretty bad 
Rate was around USD$1.24 ~= €1.00 for a consumer cash transaction (+4%)
Rate was around USD$1.24 ~= €1.00 for a consumer cash transaction (+4%)
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Family reunion day
Headed out now to the family reunion.
Update - turnout was pretty low but we had a good time anyway.
Update - turnout was pretty low but we had a good time anyway.
Saturday, July 9, 2005
DIY
I put a new garage door opener in today.
For future reference it took about 4 hours since I didn't know what I was doing and I was working alone.
You can put one up by yourself but I don't recommend it.
To do it again would probably take about two hours once you know the drill.
For future reference it took about 4 hours since I didn't know what I was doing and I was working alone.
You can put one up by yourself but I don't recommend it.
To do it again would probably take about two hours once you know the drill.
Friday, July 8, 2005
Old legs
Forget what I said about my legs the other day - today I can barely walk.
Time to get on the bike and do another Red Route One. If I don't work these legs tonight they are going to turn to stone.
We had a company picnic out in the fresh air today. Austin Carr was brought in as a ringer for a basketball shooting contest. He can still shoot.
I learned a lot about the game of cornhole today. It's not what you think.
Time to get on the bike and do another Red Route One. If I don't work these legs tonight they are going to turn to stone.
We had a company picnic out in the fresh air today. Austin Carr was brought in as a ringer for a basketball shooting contest. He can still shoot.
I learned a lot about the game of cornhole today. It's not what you think.
Lottery math
A lottery is a tax on people who can't do math.
I was bored so I started to look at lottery historical data. I found what anybody with a clue expects to find. The sample size is around 900 out of a possible 175,711,536 combinations over the last 10 years.
There hasn't been a single repeat of the same numbers in 900 attempts. Hardly surprising.
The only interesting item I found was the infrequency that numbers 51-56 are drawn. Here's the data.
Number (occurences)
53 (0)
54 (0)
55 (1)
56 (1)
52 (36)
51 (41)
No other number was drawn less than 65 times. Not sure if this was due to a recent rule change or a flaw in the recorded data. Even if not this is still well within the realm of statistical probability.
The graph for the mega ball looks like well randomized data.
So anyway - I bought a ticket - what the heck?
I was bored so I started to look at lottery historical data. I found what anybody with a clue expects to find. The sample size is around 900 out of a possible 175,711,536 combinations over the last 10 years.
There hasn't been a single repeat of the same numbers in 900 attempts. Hardly surprising.
The only interesting item I found was the infrequency that numbers 51-56 are drawn. Here's the data.
Number (occurences)
53 (0)
54 (0)
55 (1)
56 (1)
52 (36)
51 (41)
No other number was drawn less than 65 times. Not sure if this was due to a recent rule change or a flaw in the recorded data. Even if not this is still well within the realm of statistical probability.
The graph for the mega ball looks like well randomized data.
So anyway - I bought a ticket - what the heck?
Thursday, July 7, 2005
Jugar
Played soccer last night - it was a pickup game but we played 11 on a side so it was fairly intense.
I re-discovered why I don't like playing outdoor soccer - 11 guys a side means not very many touches especially if you are playing left fullback
Legs feel good today though...
I re-discovered why I don't like playing outdoor soccer - 11 guys a side means not very many touches especially if you are playing left fullback
Legs feel good today though...
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
To Wordpress or not to Wordpress
I've been thinking about trying Wordpress again.
I ran WP version 1.2 for several weeks last year right after Emi started using Movable Type. It didn't seem that impressive at the time.
This year when I started blogging again I just picked Serendipity because I followed a link from Slashdot. I felt at home right away using Serendipity so I guess it's just the inevitable geek urge to play with different tools that do basically the same job.
I ran WP version 1.2 for several weeks last year right after Emi started using Movable Type. It didn't seem that impressive at the time.
This year when I started blogging again I just picked Serendipity because I followed a link from Slashdot. I felt at home right away using Serendipity so I guess it's just the inevitable geek urge to play with different tools that do basically the same job.
New Honda technology this year
Honda's finally got a hybrid powertrain that can run electric only at low speed. This should help their sales because Prius has been kicking their butt.
They've also got a an improved gas engine for the Civic chassis now which ups efficiency by 6%.
My Civic will be due for replacement in a year or two - I've been so happy with the Corolla that I've been thinking Prius all the way but I'll be taking a look at what the new Civic owners think next summer (after the hype dies down).
They've also got a an improved gas engine for the Civic chassis now which ups efficiency by 6%.
My Civic will be due for replacement in a year or two - I've been so happy with the Corolla that I've been thinking Prius all the way but I'll be taking a look at what the new Civic owners think next summer (after the hype dies down).
Monday, July 4, 2005
Serendipity
I just noticed now that the URL insert feature in Serendipity is busted when using Safari on Mac OS X.
Per the s9y forums it's a known issue and they appear to be laying the blame on Safari since Firefox on Mac OS X works correctly.
Per the s9y forums it's a known issue and they appear to be laying the blame on Safari since Firefox on Mac OS X works correctly.
4th of July
Happy Birthday America! Did a Red Route early in the morning followed by an all day party at Ted's.
Headed out for fireworks now.
Headed out for fireworks now.
Friday, July 1, 2005
War of the Worlds
I went to see War of the Worlds last night. Is there really anybody who doesn't know how the story ends? Ted claims he didn't know but he wanted me to spoil it for him anyway.
I give it a thumbs down. I thought I could forget that I knew the story but it simply wasn't possible. I had serious problems with the casting of pretty much every major role. I like Tom Cruise (Ray), Dakota Fanning, and Tim Robbins but I didn't buy any of it except for the performance by Justin Chatwin (Robbie).
The other major problem was just that I knew the story and had a very hard time with the unsurprising ending. Spielberg and Josh Friedman did a passable job at trying to look at the story from a new angle (father will do anything to save his kids in face of alien invasion) but once you know how this story ends it really takes the climax away. The reunion of the family at the end did little to appease this because of plot problems in the middle of the story.
The major character developments were completely unbelievable. In Cruise's case I think this just wasn't in his acting range which is defnitely limited. In the case of Chatwin I think it was just a bad script - he made a good attempt and it was close to believable.
To make things worse I went to the drive-in alone and paid $15 bucks and I didn't even stay for the second feature.
I give it a thumbs down. I thought I could forget that I knew the story but it simply wasn't possible. I had serious problems with the casting of pretty much every major role. I like Tom Cruise (Ray), Dakota Fanning, and Tim Robbins but I didn't buy any of it except for the performance by Justin Chatwin (Robbie).
The other major problem was just that I knew the story and had a very hard time with the unsurprising ending. Spielberg and Josh Friedman did a passable job at trying to look at the story from a new angle (father will do anything to save his kids in face of alien invasion) but once you know how this story ends it really takes the climax away. The reunion of the family at the end did little to appease this because of plot problems in the middle of the story.
The major character developments were completely unbelievable. In Cruise's case I think this just wasn't in his acting range which is defnitely limited. In the case of Chatwin I think it was just a bad script - he made a good attempt and it was close to believable.
To make things worse I went to the drive-in alone and paid $15 bucks and I didn't even stay for the second feature.
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