Not Montana

We have been cabin bound due to rain for the past 3 days. I do not know how people live without seeing the sun for weeks at a time; I guess that's because I have always lived in California.

On our morning walk we saw all the mountains around our valley covered with snow. I love the snow -- in the distance.

Crash and run

This white Honda crashed into the light post in front of Grace to You. The CHP officer said the driver must have been late for work -- he fled the seen on foot.

I think the drive was on the phone, sipping a Starbucks, while inputting an address into the GPS.
Why didn't they crash into the hateful bus benches instead?

Storm Watch

When there is water from the sky (I think it's called rain) the news gets all panicky and they start non-stop coverage.

Hand in the till?

I've never seen so much cash piled around a register. She was so busy making coffee drinks that she did not have time to get the money into the drawer. First I thought it might be tips, but it was the money collected for the coffee.

Rise of the Silver Guitar Hero

Summer of love

This is the most detailed and creative case mod I've ever seen. And yes, it is air-cooled.

Don't tase me bro

We stopped by the Taser booth to see if there was anything that Rufus might like for his birthday. After a short wait this guy volunteered to be tased. After he screamed, he got up and was fine and laughing about the whole thing.

Make sure your glob is linked

I do not know what glob they want to link, perhaps they intended 'globe'. Then again there are lots of globs on our globe and they may need linking. This company is not US-based - shock!

Vow of technology?

What are 3 safron robed monks doing at a tech show? Perhaps they are looking for electonic nirvana, or a computer-based prayer wheel.

Take 2 they're small

At 150 inches this plasma display is the world's largest. A six foot man could be displayed life-sized.

Cost: no one knew, but the 103 inch version sells for $70,000.00. The 150 draws over 3000 watts - it could heat your whole house, keep you coffee warm, and make Al Gore very mad. You might even have cartons of egg beaters thrown at you by the Sierra Club..

I've stopped asking why

It's an R2-D2 shaped projector with a built-in DVD player and audio.

Why yes, it's DLP!

The Gloved One

Ted was having some dry skin issues - typical for LV.

He only had the glove on one hand, so he had the whole Michael Jackson vibe goIng - but without any of the wierdness.

Not what I was hoping for

I saw many robots at the show, and many of them needed cleaning. This is not a company that offers a way to clean robots, but is a robotic floor cleaner.

Perhaps next year.

Ted meets Fatail1ty

Ted wanted yet another t-shirt (not really) so he played the world's number one video game player. Ted held his own, and kept his foe to 3 frags. Fatail1ty was playing with no guns, only the saw, and was playing standing up on this keyboard and mouse contraption that looked like Guitar Hero meets the Borg.

Ted got his T-shirt and a new online game name. Ask him about it.

I have NOW seen everything

This man is not smoking. He is using an electronic oral nicotine delivery device. The smoke is actually water vapor. He says he uses it on air plans and in places that ban smoking. He gets his drug, and oral fixation, and the public gets none of the smell and danger. He also is getting less of the bad stuff.

Distributors wanted.

Technofest 2008

I am in the room that Bill Gates will be delivering what is expected to be his last keynote address as a Microsoft employee.

There must be 7000 people in this room. When he arrives the average net worth per person will be about 4.5 million $. I'm calling for a loan.

The overall nerd factor is way over 10 - it will be interesting what he says this year. Last year he predicted that Zune would pass iPod in sales. Right!

Cooper is shocked

Not really, but the boys drinks at lunch were 4$ each. Even with our 25$ gift card, today's lunch for four was more that we spend at Brent's for dinner. I think that Buca must mean 'let's get as much from these people as we can'. The service (when we had it) was slow. They did not ask how things were till after they brought the check - which we had to beg for. They also waited to clear the plates till we were packing up to leave.

The food was fine, the prices high, the service slow, and the restrooms dirty.

Pyrospotting

I spotted Phil Johnson (famous Pyromaniac) at a SoCal luncheon spot. I do have an advantage - I know his schedule and I work with him.

He was even in one of his favorite shirts.

Christmas Shoes

This year for our annual trek to Disneyland, we spent the night in Anaheim. We wanted to start the day without too much traffic induced stress.

Cooper introduced a new level of fun - he did not bring any proper shoes. He did have his sandals that he wore in the van. After some convincing he said he could make it through with his socks and sandals.

We were blessed that the predicted 3 inches of rain never came.

We had a great day with our friends.

Family Tradition

One of the things we do as a family during the Christmas season is see the DWP light display at Griffith Park. This year the DWP went green - they switched all the lights out for LEDs. We like the new designs, especially the Observatory. If you plan to see the lights, go mid-week. The line on weekend can take several hours.

Your other right

I spotted this sign while getting on the freeway. Am I missing something?

The look of a winner

Campbell's team won again today - that means we have another 2 games to play in the play offs. Kerry told Campbell if his team won he could have ice cream. It's SoCal freezing tonight (45) so Kerry is warm at home, and C1 and I are having a great cold time have ice cream at BR31.

If his team wins both games next week they will be number one in the league and will go on to play in the regionals.

Beautiful day for a hike

Since we had such a great time on Thanksgiving on our hike, we decided to take a mini in town hike on Friday. Beautiful sky and a nice breeze.

Happy Thanksgiving

We got up early this morning and started a 5 mile hike at 7am. We took this photo at the summit - C1 was not happy looking towards the sun.

Great that we are all healthy.

Let me be the first ...

Let me be the first to wish you 'Ppy Holiday'. We've eaten here twice since they painted the sign. I think thay didn't want to cover the neon - I would have done something different.

Computer upgrades

Ted is doing some upgrades. I like classics, but I'm not sure I like classic computers. In the workplace

Memory Walk 2007

This year our family participated in the Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk in downtown Los Angeles. Our team had 7 members including my mom, Kerry and the boys, and Natalie and her friend. The walk was billed as a 2 mile walk through downtown to raise money and awareness of Alzheimer's. We had a great time together. More pictures

The wanted and unwanted

We've had our share of wildlife in our area. The hummingbirds are in our garden all year long, and other creatures come and go throughout the year. Last week we had some very bold and very unwanted guests just outside our dinning room window. They, like the hummingbirds, seem to enjoy the pineapple sage.

The bush is going now. Sorry birds.

More on the fire

We took a quick ride up to the lake this morning to see the water dropping planes skim across the lake. It was amazing. The fires are all burning away from GTY and our house, but homes in other areas are in danger.

For more pictures click here.

Santa Clarita Fires

There are fires burning all around Santa Clarita. Many of our staff is under some form of evacuation orders.
While at lunch we drove to the lake and I was able to get some shots of the fire, the smoke, and the helicopters.

Early Saturday Morning

Campbell's game this morning was at 7:30am. He had to be on the field by 7:00am. Campbell played well this morning, and was a great defender.

One of Campbell's team mates is an amazing player; today while playing goal keeper, he faked like he was going to punt the ball, but dropped it and took it all the way across the field and scored against the number one team. This is not unusual, he does this about once a game.

Cooper's game is later this afternoon.

Warning an 'S' is coming

Mister Language Person (Dave Berry) says: The apostrophie is frequently used in signs to alert the reader that an 'S' is coming.

This has not been a good week for signs. Or would that be sign's?

Whaaaaat?

Closed for business? What are they open for? We found the owner inside, and he explained that they did not want to say 'out of business', but wanted people to know they were coming back. I suggested 'Closed for Renovation' or something similar. I don't think they're coming back.

We're having a heatwave

We had an HVAC failure in the Server Farm. We did not even get close to our all-time high temp of 111f at the ceiling, but it got warmer than I like.

It was repaired and then 2 hours later it died again. As I left for the day it was all back and happy again.

Let's hope for joy through the night.

Happy Birthday To Me

I arrived at GTY today and found that the fun factor in my office was off the scale. Besides the balloons there were snacks and gifts.

Had a great birthday weekend at my mom and dad's house.

Back to School

Nothing says Autumn, like the return to school. I took this photo of the boys on their first day this year. I forgot to post it.

Top of the world

Today while Kerry was at a showerI took the boys on a hike to the top of Wild Wood Canyon. The Santa Annas had not started yet, so we were able to have a great view from the top. We could see the course of the LA river (don't laugh, it's a real river and you can see it), the buildings of downtown, the Burbank airport, and even a glint of the sea.

Hiking with the boys was the best part of the day.

Newest Tourist Stop in Minneapolis

What would a visit to the MSP airport be without a stop at the world famous Senatorial Restroom? After pushing through the throngs of camera wielding tourists, I was able to snap this photo. Notice the large restocking cart, and the TSA agent walking out. There was a flow of people (men and women) looking into the entrance. Groups of people stood around snickering. The room is located just inside security near the MN Lotto shop.

Make sure you turn your iPod off before entering.

So Polite

I have not been any other place where there might even be an option of not paying first. As expected they did not recognize me, so I had to pay first. Grandpa at the next pump - he was known, so he did not pay first.

You've just heard a message on materialism ... where do you go?

The Mall of America. I just wrapped the GTY booth upp at the DGM conference. John Piper just delivered a message on the vapidness of the American Dream; It was powerful. I had planned on driving to the forest, but a huge electrical storm forced me to change plans. I ended up at materialism central - The Mall of America. The largest enclosed something in the world. I walked around and enjoyed the people watching. The weather is going to be better on Monday, so I'm planning to go to the forest then. Minneapolis is a city full of everything.