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View from Google Zurich

Snowy and tree-y, as seen from the Sky Lounge

December 1, 2010

A donkey and a map

Two of my favorite things, as seen during a quick jaunt to the pumpkin patch today.

October 30, 2010

And here I thought Manty was merely hyper-gluttonous, she was actually pregnant with 287 babies, as evidenced by the egg case I found in her pagoda tonight. Sadly, this means her demise is likely near, but we’ll always have 11-cent crickets, and epic Mosquito Hawk v. Mantis battles.

October 12, 2010

San Francisco Fleet Week Pics

Pictures from an excellent Fleet Week weekend in San Francisco, where I participated in a talk on crisis response aboard the USS Makin Island, and got to watch the Parade of Ships and Air Show from alongside the Golden Gate Bridge (and got 13 shades of tan in the process).

View Fleet Week 2010 in a larger map

October 12, 2010

Back from NYC

I’m back from New York City, my first trip there, and a very fun experience overall. Some thoughts/highlights:

The subway system might be the best I’ve experienced so far (even better than London?). Not only do the trains run very regularly (~5mins, all day/night), you can get almost anywhere in the city you’d like. Contrast this with BART/Caltrain, which runs every 30 minutes, ends at midnight, and gets you to only a few spots in the City.
It was refreshing to see people “try” in New York — everyone dresses up and looks great (maybe I’ve just been on the West Coast too long).
For any Minnesotan, Bar None is a must-visit. Being a MN sports bar, I went to watch the Vikings game there, totally insane.
Assuming consistent 3g coverage and a gps signal, My Maps is a godsend. I was able to identify all the sights I wanted to visit beforehand via My Maps, load them onto my mobile phone(s) via Maps, and using Navigation, get turn-by-turn walking directions if I got lost (which I actually never had to do). The My Map I created (and kept updated throughout the trip) is included below.
NYC has a cornucopia of Dunkin’ Donuts; having none in California I made sure to have a Boston Kreme donut (or two)
Rain/work thwarted my attempts to see a Yankees/Mets game. Next time!
I almost wrote off Delta airlines after my flight was delayed for 5 hours, and they were to strand me in Salt Lake City overnight with no lodging. But at the 11th hour (on final approach), the flight attendant came on the intercom to say that all stranded passengers would get lodging, and $14 in meal coupons.
Some other random fun experiences: USS Intrepid, Goog NYC office, penthouse party in Tribeka, Greenwich Village, and having a 4-course dinner at the Iron Chef’s Buddakan restaurant.

Pictures/map below:

View New York 9/24-10/1 in a larger map

October 3, 2010

URGENT – PG&E HAS SHUT OFF ALL GAS TO THE COMPLEX

If you never hear from me again, it’s because of this email message I just got

Management was notified by PG&E that a resident reported a very strong gas smell. PG&E was dispatched and effective 8 p.m. they have determined that for life & safety reasons the gas to the entire complex has been shut down.

1 Comment September 20, 2010