Lucky Lager

Look what turned up in the weeds in our back yard. A Lucky Lager beer can. Nothing special, but it's always interesting to find artifacts that prove you're not the first to be here. I wonder who bought this beer. I wonder how it got in the far reaches of the back yard. Who tossed it aside and why? Was it a backyard BBQ with college friends? Was it a late stumbling home late one night from the bar? Was it a forgotten lawn mowing refreshment? I'll never know.

Interestingly this was the beer of choice for Brad Pitt as Early Grace, in the movie Kalifornia. (Wikipedia)

The Real Business Trip of the OC

I'm on the road, for work, a lot lately. There's good and bad about it. I don't like being away from Lindsay and home, but I recognize that it's a privilege to travel on someone else's dime, and most of all I really feel like I'm improving Amazon each time I get to spend some quality time with a vendor. I was in LA last week, and here are a few of my camera phone pics, for your viewing pleasure.
It was raining as I landed at LAX...and sunny in Seattle.
A trip to In & Out Burger for some local chow.
A tour of the factory and some meetings with some tech heavy hitters. This is my clean suit for the chip room.
Down to Laguna Beach for some fancy dinner. This was the view at dusk from the restaurant.

A bit to chilly and windy to be on the restaurant patio, but it was nice to see the water.

My Truck Rulz

Is it sad or funny, that this petition (below) was posted in a forum about Chevy trucks, by Chevy truck owners? Apparently they want to hate something, but they're not sure why, but they sure know who. BTW Tundras are made in Princeton, Indiana and San Antonio, Texas and have just slightly better MPG (still bad) than domestic trucks.

To: Toyota

This petition is so that Toyota stops selling the vehicle herein described as the "Tundra" It is causing damage to people all over North America, and is Polluting our Water, air and land. The Tundra is causing many US owned businesses to lose money and popularity. If they keep selling it, the Tundra will cause many family's out of jobs, the economy failing and US owned businesses failing.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Ewan is Off the List

Ok, I didn't mention that Rollins is kind of a chump for doing his movie roles and his cheesy talk show, I can look past that, as a man has to make a buck. But, I can't look past this ad staring Ewan McGregor. I thought he was a tough guy after the Long Way Around BMW motorcycle trip around the world and I gave him credit for Blackhawk Down, and Trainspotting. But, Nope. He's on my huge wuss list now and I'm going to stop ignoring the Star Wars prequels, as they sucked too and you know it, but you did them anyways Ewan. You're at the the top of the wuss list now Ewan, the top, thanks to this ad:

200 lbs is always 200 lbs

A quote from Henry Rollins about working out, specifically about his penchant for strength training with weights. I read this many moons ago, and I still hear it in my head, on occasion, now.

The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back.

The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black.

I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds. – Henry Rollins.

Photo Sunday

Busy weekend. Busy last few weeks in fact. Here's a sample of whats on my camera phone from recent outings.

Got this tasty pic of Loo at Crate & Barrel Sunday morning munching on free treats as we wandered the store scanning stuff for the gift registry. The store was open early just for us and a few other invited couples. I had to admit I really liked it. No people, and free food. I wish every store had something like this.

This plane pic was actually from a while back (last week?), but I forgot it was on my phone. I was in San Jose walking across the runway to my plane and stopped to snap this pic. Kept waiting for TSA or Homeland Security to question me about it...but nothing.

A late night trip to the local Metropolitan Market resulted in this stare down with a pugnacious crustacean.

He wasn't kidding with me, and got two legs out in his attempt to make me swear off eating seafood. I nudged him back in with my finger and saved the world from his wrath.

We're a New Age Thermo Couple

Know what a thermocouple is? If you do maybe you've felt my pain. I wandered around Home Depot today looking for one. They're only $10, but it's necessary to keep a gas furnace on. Did I mention that it was cold last night? I must have burned 20 logs keeping the fireplace at full blast to keep the house warm. As of 15 minutes ago, and me installing the new thermocouple, the furnace is on and working, so all is good. The 50 year old furnace is on it's last legs. Lindsay and I are a new age thermo couple.

I Confess to Hope

He's got lots of skin pigment, she has ovaries. Let's move on. This man gives Lindsay and I hope so we support him and really want to see him win it all. Hope. Yes, that's how its summed up. You know what I'm most worried about? The process of election not abiding by the people's wishes. Hillary has 'super delegates', one being her husband Bill Clinton, who's votes count more than mine, and I'm just not comfortable with that. I don't get more voting power for being an Iraq vet. Should I? No, not in a democracy. Anyways, go Omaba go. Prove to me that America is still sane.

Ride Around the World

Remember the dances that I went to with Lindsay a few months ago? Tonight was payback. My local BMW motorcycle dealer was having an after hours slide show/talk presented by a couple that went on their honeymoon (their site here) by riding around the world on a pair of BMW F650s. That's one of their actual bikes, pictured here (left), and yes the exact bike I used to have just a few months ago (right). Lindsay was my date to this lecture, and enjoyed the talk as it had something for both of us--maybe a little more for me as I got to sit on some nice bikes and ponder new ways to get in debt. Anyways, the talk was really good. The couple are just as normal as anyone you'd meet, but decided to make their dreams, their curiosity of what's out there, come to life and embodied the 'journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step' approach to life. She had never even been on a bike, and got her license just a month before they left of the first leg from Tacoma to Central America in fact! Very inspiring story on many levels. I asked Lindsay if she wanted to go get a motorcycle and we could ride together...the jury is still out on that one, but the couple was an inspiration for more than just a long bike ride, they're very much the seize the day embodiment.

Obama a Mac and Clinton a PC

The NYTimes possibly hit the nail on the head with this analogy, Obama a Mac and Clinton a PC. If you're feeling like a little more political discourse, check in with my pal Agen's site for some straight dope. PS: Go Obama!

Weird Science

I totally forgot to mention that Lindsay and I went to the Amazon post holiday office party a few weeks ago. Amazon, being a retailer, waits until after the rush of Q4 is over before we let down our guard and relax. There's so much going on for us, that it slipped my blog radar, but here are a few pics. This year is was bigger than ever, Amazon is definitely doing well financially and the gig was at the Experience Music Project (EMP), a local Paul Allen venture/museum (Jeez he's got his hands in everything, no really everything!). Amazon rented the entire place and had free run of it. The next best candidate for VH1's Where Are They Now series, The Presidents of the United States of America (remember their songs: Peaches and my favorite, Lump) played there, so that was fun too. The Alien was a little dude the bar backs had frozen in a giant ice cube display in keeping with the theme of the night, SciFi. Weird eh? Good times. It's nice to grow with the company. I've been with them about 5 and a half years now and enjoyed it all, so it's nice to grow stop and smell the roses with events like this.

I (Heart) NY

Oh my god! What a great game! Lindsay and I are still buzzed from the game. Possibly the best Superbowl I can remember, and I'm definitely enjoyed hootin' and hollering with Loo on the couch, rooting for the underdog Giants. She even made sweet Giants vs Pats sugar cookies just because I asked. Awww, what a great (soon-to-be) wife.

Belkin Please Chapter 1

My Sonos system is working with my new wireless set up. I called Sonos and they said it's because of the Belkin N1 router I'm using. They've tested each version of the router (I have v3000) and according to Sonos there's something amiss with the 802.11n band routers not working with spectrum Sonos uses for it's wireless controllers. Whatever. So I emailed Belkin to confirm or deny and help me with a work-around, and they emailed me back. And they pissed me off. Apparently their weekend help desk is staffed by oxygen deprived drool cup drinking retarded monkey boy, Harold. Harold, who works for Belkin, the world leader in cutting edge wi-fi and networking computer components got back to me with this helpful gem:

Hi Creighton,

Thank you for contacting Belkin Technical Support.

It will support but The software should be compatable with that router.

Regards,
Harold
Belkin Technical Support

WTF Harold? It's not helpful, not spelled correctly, not punctuated correctly, not capitalized correctly and most important is total BS. I used to work in customer service and know all about the fast-key auto response and getting the queue down so you can take your break. So get off your ass and answer my question.