A year ago our cat Nietzsche died soon after we returned from our vacation in the Midwest. One thing I realized after it happened is that although many people may have met or known Nietzsche, the only people who really, really knew him were those of us who lived with him: Tina, Thomas, Graham and I. Consequently, we all shared in the private pain of his loss – a pain that nobody else outside of our family can appreciate in the exact same way that we do. Nonetheless, as a final act of farewell, I thought I would share some of my memories of Nietzsche’s life.
Photo Recursion
You have to click on the photo to get the full effect:
Chain Factor high score
Better not get up or you might lose your seat
Yesterday, during the quarterly company wide conference call, EFI announced that they are closing their Vancouver office. While the Splash product continues to be profitable for the company, our OEM isn’t introducing any new products for at least 18 months. Our office will be open through August and the team will be wrapping up operations during that time. EFI is providing everyone with a very generous severance package, even for the guy that’s only been there since January.
Continue reading “Better not get up or you might lose your seat”
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 2485
Van odometer: 153551
Weight lost (in pounds): 0
Aches & pains: left shin (still healing but stopped oozing), lower back/sciatica
Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
Recent listening: The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Box), It’s A Shame About Ray by The Lemonheads, This American Life
Recent viewing: One True Thing, Biography, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, Dazed and Confused, iCarly, Monk, Batman Begins, From Dusk Til Dawn, The Incredible Hulk
Recent playing: Chain Factor
Recently accomplished:Â cleaned cat boxes
Imperative To Do: Get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, weeds, clean garage, moss, new muxtape, upload pictures
Morning Bike Commute
Distance: 11.9 miles
Riding time: 70 minutes
Max speed: 21.6 mph
Average speed: 10.2 mph
Temperature: 75º
Soundtrack: Jimi Hendrix (box set)
Route:
- Stanton to 162nd Ave
- 162nd to Sandy Blvd
- Sandy to 158th
- 158th to Airport Way
- Airport Way to Interstate 205 bike path
- Bike path to Old Evergreen Highway
- Old Evergreen Highway to 164th Ave
- 164th to 34th Street
- 34th to 168th Ave
- 168th/169th Ave to 26th Way
- 26th Way to Fred Meyer parking lot
- Fred Meyer parking lot to 167th Ave
- 167th to work
It’s been three months since the last time I rode to work. I knew I’d have to start riding again but have been dreading/avoiding it because it was so traumatic last time. The good news is that, even though I’m in much worse shape, the ride went much better than last time. Knowing when to expend effort really helps to manage your energy for the entire ride. Also, I was much better prepared for the locker room at the gym after my arrival (last time I had no towel) and that went much smoother, too. I’m looking forward to at least one ride next week!
Recent Changes to This Blog
You may or may not have noticed, but I’ve been making quite a few changes recently here. I changed the layout using a WordPress Theme called Limau Orange. This layout uses space more efficiently than my old theme and has a sidebar on each side of the content, which I really like. I’ve tried to put the more relevant “widgets” near the top where they are more likely to be seen. Recent additions are three randomly selected pictures from our photo gallery and ten recent links that I’ve saved to del.icio.us. You may have also noticed that I’ve added a few “Pages”, which are always available at the top of the left sidebar. “About This Blog” and the three articles beneath it offer a short history of how this blog came to be as well as describing what I write and what’s available in the sidebars. There are a few other useful pages and I expect to be adding more eventually.
What do you think?
What is “The Surge”?
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has been criticizing Barack Obama this week for not supporting “the surge.” In a controversially edited interview on CBS News on Tuesday, McCain took Obama to task for saying that the so-called Anbar Awakening should be credited for helping to decrease violence in Iraq over the last 18 months. According to McCain “the surge” was responsible for the Anbar Awakening:
I don’t know how you respond to something that is such a false depiction of what actually happened. Colonel McFarlane (phonetic) was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that’s just a matter of history.
Unfortunately, as critics would later point out, McCain chose exactly the wrong time to invoke the word “history.” The awakening began in late 2006, at least three months before President Bush went to Congress and the American people in January of 2007 to announce a new strategy in Iraq. This strategy had a working title of “A New Way Forward” but became generally known in the press and with the American people as “The Surge.” Given that it wasn’t announced, much yet implemented when the awakening began, McCain is horrendously wrong, right?
Rush backstage at the Colbert Report
Deep inside we’re all the same
Thomas left for Camp Baldwin on Sunday and will be gone for a week with Troop 820. Tina and Graham just got back last week from three days at Gilbert Ranch with his den in Pack 4. Tina blogged extensively about the latter starting here. While she was there, she twisted her ankle again but I think it’s been healing pretty well since.
I hurt my back while at our neighbor’s BBQ over the weekend and spend all day Sunday laying flat on my back hoping for the best. It no longer hurt to stand up on Monday morning but it still feels a little “tight” at times. I have to be careful not to strain it any further. As I’ve mentioned before I heal much more slowly since I turned forty.