Been a busy December, hard to believe that it's New Year's Eve!
I did a bit of traveling for work this month. A few weeks ago, I visited Chicago (more accurately, Crystal Lake, a suburb about 30min from Chicago). This was just a few days after that Southwest flight slid off the end of the Midway airport, but I wasn't too worried about my flight since I was flying into O'Hare and no snow was in the forecast while I was there. It's a lot colder there than here in sunny San Diego, the warmest it got was maybe 32F. It hardly dips below 50F here! Luckily, I didn't need to spend too much time outside, so it wasn't too bad.
This week I drove to Primm Valley w/my coworker Micah for the annual Frear Cup golf tournament. For those of you who don't know where Primm Valley is, it's what used to be called Stateline on the California/Nevada border along I15. They've got 3 casinos there, Primm Valley Resort, Buffalo Bill's, and Whiskey Pete's. I can't say that I'd recommend staying there, they all seemed a bit run down and were very smoky inside.
The Primm Valley Golf Club is on the California side of the border a few minutes from the casinos and consists of 2 18 hole golf courses, the Lakes and Desert course. Both are fun, challenging courses, and we were lucky that there was no wind the first day and only a light wind the 2nd day. Apparently it was blowing 40-50mph the day before!
Wen and I spent Christmas up at her mom's house out in Shelter Valley which is east of Julian in the desert. I worked on a bunch of projects around the house while Wendy and her mom cooked up turkey, green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pecan pie. Yummy!
Tomorrow (actually in about 10 hours because of the time zone difference) my cousin/sister gets married in Thailand! Congratulations Nu and Rick!
Happy New Year everyone!
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Friday, December 30, 2005
Post Slack
Yes, It's been a while (more than a month!) since my last post. I'm sorry that my laziness has prevented your entertainment. My next post will be juicy! Just for you, Pedram!
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Turkey Day!
We've got a busy weekend ahead of us.
Wendy's Mom is coming over tomorrow night.
We pick up my cousin Daniel at USD early Thursday morning.
Drive to Los Angeles/Glendale. Meet my Aunt along the way (probably around Anaheim) to pass off Daniel.
Hang out with my family who will be spending the weekend in SoCal. Daniel and his parents will meet us in Glendale in the afternoon for Turkey.
Send Wen and her Mom back to SD on Thursday evening.
Hang out with family Friday.
Drive to SD with Family Friday night.
Miss Kathy and Jarrod who will be in town Friday.
Hang out with family more Saturday.
Send parents off to LA Saturday late afternoon who will drive back to Mountain View Sunday.
Visit Tristan's parents in Temecula/Murietta Sunday (I think!).
Whew! Anyone else have a lot planned for Thanksgiving weekend?
Wendy's Mom is coming over tomorrow night.
We pick up my cousin Daniel at USD early Thursday morning.
Drive to Los Angeles/Glendale. Meet my Aunt along the way (probably around Anaheim) to pass off Daniel.
Hang out with my family who will be spending the weekend in SoCal. Daniel and his parents will meet us in Glendale in the afternoon for Turkey.
Send Wen and her Mom back to SD on Thursday evening.
Hang out with family Friday.
Drive to SD with Family Friday night.
Miss Kathy and Jarrod who will be in town Friday.
Hang out with family more Saturday.
Send parents off to LA Saturday late afternoon who will drive back to Mountain View Sunday.
Visit Tristan's parents in Temecula/Murietta Sunday (I think!).
Whew! Anyone else have a lot planned for Thanksgiving weekend?
Sunday, November 13, 2005
If it smells like a rat, looks like a rat, it must be a...
For the past couple months, we would occasionally get woken up by the pitter pattering, scratching rats running around in the walls of our condo.
We had the pest company come by and try to catch/kill or otherwise keep the rat out of our walls, but after a month, multiple visits, climbing in the attic and multiple rat traps located around the exterior of our building, the rats continued to show up.
At least the scratching provided for hours of entertainment for our cat Emmy who would jump into the bathtub and listen to the rat scurrying around behind the walls.
Last week we had some contractors working up in the attic replacing damaged rafters which had been eaten away by our other pests, termites. Later that night, we noticed an aweful stench when walking under our attic access hole.
The contractors mentioned that they had seen some rat poop in the attic, so I figured that the rat must have died and was now crawled into some cranny and was now rotting away to the dismay of my nose.
So I crawled up there and started sniffing around, trying to isolate the source of the stench. I was having some problems finding it, so I asked my friend Scotty to climb up and help.
As soon as he stuck his head up and turned his head, he nearly fell down the ladder after catching a particularly nasty sniff. I ripped up a board and found it, put it in 3 plastic bags and threw it away.
I hope no more rats decide to die in the attic!
We had the pest company come by and try to catch/kill or otherwise keep the rat out of our walls, but after a month, multiple visits, climbing in the attic and multiple rat traps located around the exterior of our building, the rats continued to show up.
At least the scratching provided for hours of entertainment for our cat Emmy who would jump into the bathtub and listen to the rat scurrying around behind the walls.
Last week we had some contractors working up in the attic replacing damaged rafters which had been eaten away by our other pests, termites. Later that night, we noticed an aweful stench when walking under our attic access hole.
The contractors mentioned that they had seen some rat poop in the attic, so I figured that the rat must have died and was now crawled into some cranny and was now rotting away to the dismay of my nose.
So I crawled up there and started sniffing around, trying to isolate the source of the stench. I was having some problems finding it, so I asked my friend Scotty to climb up and help.
As soon as he stuck his head up and turned his head, he nearly fell down the ladder after catching a particularly nasty sniff. I ripped up a board and found it, put it in 3 plastic bags and threw it away.
I hope no more rats decide to die in the attic!
Number of the Day: 9
Went to one of my favorite eateries on Friday with Wen and our friend Scotty, Chipotle.
Last time we went there, we tried to figure out how many bites it would take to finish one. So we had a little contest to figure out what that number is. In case you haven't figured it out yet, that number is 9.
Last time we went there, we tried to figure out how many bites it would take to finish one. So we had a little contest to figure out what that number is. In case you haven't figured it out yet, that number is 9.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Chloe in 3D
Yesterday Wen and I went to get 4D ultrasound (3d movies) pictures taken of Chloe, she is so cute!
Wen has more pics up on her blog. Less than 3 months to go before Chloe is born!
Wen has more pics up on her blog. Less than 3 months to go before Chloe is born!
Friday, October 28, 2005
California Unclaimed Property
Found out that California is holding $4.8 billion dollars in property for California residents that it's not able to get a hold of.
I found a check for Wendy's brother for nearly $200 that he didn't know was missing.
I wasn't missing anything, but you might be!
CA UCP Inquiry System
I found a check for Wendy's brother for nearly $200 that he didn't know was missing.
I wasn't missing anything, but you might be!
CA UCP Inquiry System
Friday, October 14, 2005
Funny Stuff
Got some funny movies for you kids to watch today, enjoy!
JibJab released their latest flic today, called Big Box Mart.
Wen pointed me to this movie on Badmash.
Fun for all ages!
JibJab released their latest flic today, called Big Box Mart.
Wen pointed me to this movie on Badmash.
Fun for all ages!
Monday, October 10, 2005
Sucky Mexican Food
Twice in the past 2 months now I've eaten what I've considered to be bad mexican food here in San Diego.
Most would agree that San Diego is probably one of the best if not the best place in America to get good Mexican food, but to eat at 2 different bad ones in the past 2 months is not a good sign!
The first one about 2 months ago was some Mexican food place at Seaport Village, the second one was last night at a place called El Cotixan or something which I have now deemed "El Crap in your Pants".
Both places the food was fairly bland (though the place at Seaport Village was worse). Usually you expect the cheese on top of the beans and rice to melt, but at both I faced with luke-warm at best beans and rice, no melting of cheese going on here.
Yuck!
Those kinds of experiences make me want to stick to places I know are good, but where's the adventure in eating at the same place all the time?
Most would agree that San Diego is probably one of the best if not the best place in America to get good Mexican food, but to eat at 2 different bad ones in the past 2 months is not a good sign!
The first one about 2 months ago was some Mexican food place at Seaport Village, the second one was last night at a place called El Cotixan or something which I have now deemed "El Crap in your Pants".
Both places the food was fairly bland (though the place at Seaport Village was worse). Usually you expect the cheese on top of the beans and rice to melt, but at both I faced with luke-warm at best beans and rice, no melting of cheese going on here.
Yuck!
Those kinds of experiences make me want to stick to places I know are good, but where's the adventure in eating at the same place all the time?
Friday, September 23, 2005
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Last Weekend
Last weekend, Wen and I flew up to the Bay Area for my 10 year high school reunion. It was a pretty good turnout and I mingled with a lot of people I used to hang out with back then.
You would think that people would change a lot over 10 years, but it seemed like people were mostly the same. Most seemed a bit more mature, some didn't seem to have changed at all. A number of people (mostly guys) gained a good deal of weight and were now quite tubby. A few people (mostly girls) lost a good deal of weight. I found it harder to recognize the people who lost weight compared to the ones that gained it. Weird!
Wendy's belly keeps on getting bigger. She is happy that she can feel Chloe kicking her now. I wonder when I will be able to feel it?
You would think that people would change a lot over 10 years, but it seemed like people were mostly the same. Most seemed a bit more mature, some didn't seem to have changed at all. A number of people (mostly guys) gained a good deal of weight and were now quite tubby. A few people (mostly girls) lost a good deal of weight. I found it harder to recognize the people who lost weight compared to the ones that gained it. Weird!
Wendy's belly keeps on getting bigger. She is happy that she can feel Chloe kicking her now. I wonder when I will be able to feel it?
Friday, September 16, 2005
Due to popular request...
Someone commented that I should update my blog again, so here goes...
Last week has been busy. Spent last weekend with Wen shopping for various baby stuff. Went to Sears, Babys R' Us, JC Penny, Target and who knows what else. I've had babies dancing in my head all week! Good thing all the baby stuff is so cute. We're using all the shopping to help decide what to put in Chloe's gift registry (hint-hint) and I think that we've got just about everything for the first 6 months figured out.
Wednesday I flew to Las Vegas for the G2E (Global Gaming Expo) and got drove back last night. Spent the day walking around viewing vendors' wares. It's pretty amazing how many girls are hired as models for the show, just about every decent sized booth had at least one scantily clothed model, many had 5 or more! Plenty of booths with free drinks and beer as well. I spent most of my time researching video content distribution systems and looking for something cost effective that would let us distribute dvd-quality video over an IP network. I found a couple of potential solutions, but they may be cost prohibitive.
Wednesday night Paltronics rented out the GhostBar at The Palm. Free food, drinks and dancers = fun! Thanks Paltronics!
Last week has been busy. Spent last weekend with Wen shopping for various baby stuff. Went to Sears, Babys R' Us, JC Penny, Target and who knows what else. I've had babies dancing in my head all week! Good thing all the baby stuff is so cute. We're using all the shopping to help decide what to put in Chloe's gift registry (hint-hint) and I think that we've got just about everything for the first 6 months figured out.
Wednesday I flew to Las Vegas for the G2E (Global Gaming Expo) and got drove back last night. Spent the day walking around viewing vendors' wares. It's pretty amazing how many girls are hired as models for the show, just about every decent sized booth had at least one scantily clothed model, many had 5 or more! Plenty of booths with free drinks and beer as well. I spent most of my time researching video content distribution systems and looking for something cost effective that would let us distribute dvd-quality video over an IP network. I found a couple of potential solutions, but they may be cost prohibitive.
Wednesday night Paltronics rented out the GhostBar at The Palm. Free food, drinks and dancers = fun! Thanks Paltronics!
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
June Lorraine Browning Brown Bowler-Piehl
Wendy's grandmother June passed away quietly this morning at 5am. Rest in Peace. I'm glad I got to visit you recently.
This picture was taken in late December of 2002.
Friday, September 02, 2005
It's a...
girl!
See more pics in our gallery: Sept 2 ultrasound pictures.
I'm sure Wendy will be posting about it as soon as the power comes back on, it's been off since midnight last night!
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Happenings
Whew, it's been busy around here.
Last weekend Wen and I flew up to Eugene, Oregon to visit her family in Roseburg. Unfortunately, Wen's grandmother June has been getting very sick and weak and is mostly bed ridden now. We are lucky that she is staying in a good nursing home with very nice caretakers and has loving family living a short drive away who visit daily.
It was extremely difficult difficult to see her, she has gotten very skinny since the last time I saw her a few years ago. Her dementia has gotten worse. At this point it seems that all we can do is to make her as comfortable as possible.
I've wondered what it must feel like to have one's mind and body degrade to that point. I'm not sure that I would have the will to live knowing the burden I would be placing on family members and it being difficult to appreciate and hardly acknowledge the world around me.
It is amazing what the body and mind will go through and continue functioning.
A new life grows stronger every day in Wendy's Belly. First thing tomorrow morning we go to the doctor where we hope to find out the sex of the baby!
Will it be a boy? Will it be a girl? I've been asked this question a million times in the past couple months and my answer has always been the same. It does not matter to me, all I hope for is that the baby is healthy! Although secretly I may be wishing for a boy. Or am I wishing for a girl?
It's so exciting to think of the small little human growing inside of Wen's womb, which is now about the size of a large sweet potato. What will it look like? What will it grow up and achieve?
Last weekend Wen and I flew up to Eugene, Oregon to visit her family in Roseburg. Unfortunately, Wen's grandmother June has been getting very sick and weak and is mostly bed ridden now. We are lucky that she is staying in a good nursing home with very nice caretakers and has loving family living a short drive away who visit daily.
It was extremely difficult difficult to see her, she has gotten very skinny since the last time I saw her a few years ago. Her dementia has gotten worse. At this point it seems that all we can do is to make her as comfortable as possible.
I've wondered what it must feel like to have one's mind and body degrade to that point. I'm not sure that I would have the will to live knowing the burden I would be placing on family members and it being difficult to appreciate and hardly acknowledge the world around me.
It is amazing what the body and mind will go through and continue functioning.
A new life grows stronger every day in Wendy's Belly. First thing tomorrow morning we go to the doctor where we hope to find out the sex of the baby!
Will it be a boy? Will it be a girl? I've been asked this question a million times in the past couple months and my answer has always been the same. It does not matter to me, all I hope for is that the baby is healthy! Although secretly I may be wishing for a boy. Or am I wishing for a girl?
It's so exciting to think of the small little human growing inside of Wen's womb, which is now about the size of a large sweet potato. What will it look like? What will it grow up and achieve?
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Time fo a New Title
So here I am wasting valuable sleep away browsing random blogs on blogger. Seems that about 40% of them are spam blogs (which I have been flagging as objectionable) as I come across them), 20% are real blogs with a real person behind them writing away, and the other 40% have a title with Random in them.
Since everyone and their mother has a blog named Random this or My Random that, I've decided it's time for a change.
So for now, I've temporarily changed it to the completely original "Dave's Blog". While the new title probably won't be as original as I think it will be, it will hopefully fool myself into thinking I am clever for a few weeks at least.
Since everyone and their mother has a blog named Random this or My Random that, I've decided it's time for a change.
So for now, I've temporarily changed it to the completely original "Dave's Blog". While the new title probably won't be as original as I think it will be, it will hopefully fool myself into thinking I am clever for a few weeks at least.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Google Talk
So now we've got another instant messaging account to manage. That makes it 5 now for me. MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Skype and now Google Talk. Luckily I use GAIM to manage all of my accounts except for Skype so I only have to run one application to log into most of those services.
Most messenging services are similar now in their functionality. Skype has the benefit of also providing PC to Phone and Phone to PC calls for a very reasonable price, although I have often found the quality of those calls to be somewhat lacking. PC to PC calls always seem to be very good, as long as they don't get bounced around too many peers.
Skype has the benefit of encrypting all instant messages as well as voice calls. None of the other messengers support that. Although in Google's FAQ they do mention that they plan on adding encryption before before making a production release.
Google has the advantage of being built over open protocols having built their service using the Jabber protcol.
It'll be interesting to see what Google's real plans are for Talk. They have to integrate it into their advertising program somehow, will you start seeing Google ads in your Google Talk program with targeted ads regarding whatever you are messenging about? I imagine that as long as they keep it built on Jabber, they will have to add some convincing features into their client to keep people using that instead of some other Jabber compatible client if the ads get too intrusive.
Most messenging services are similar now in their functionality. Skype has the benefit of also providing PC to Phone and Phone to PC calls for a very reasonable price, although I have often found the quality of those calls to be somewhat lacking. PC to PC calls always seem to be very good, as long as they don't get bounced around too many peers.
Skype has the benefit of encrypting all instant messages as well as voice calls. None of the other messengers support that. Although in Google's FAQ they do mention that they plan on adding encryption before before making a production release.
Google has the advantage of being built over open protocols having built their service using the Jabber protcol.
It'll be interesting to see what Google's real plans are for Talk. They have to integrate it into their advertising program somehow, will you start seeing Google ads in your Google Talk program with targeted ads regarding whatever you are messenging about? I imagine that as long as they keep it built on Jabber, they will have to add some convincing features into their client to keep people using that instead of some other Jabber compatible client if the ads get too intrusive.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
This Weekend
This weekend, Wendy and I drove up to the Bay Area to visit our newly engaged friends Raheleh and Pedram who were throwing an engagement party. It was held at Rah's parent's house and we had a great time! The place was packed with lots of family, friends and food, and everyone was celebrating the couple.
The party was pretty extravagant, Wendy and I thought it could easily have substituted for the actual wedding ceremony! There was a family exchanging of gifts, cake cutting, lots of flowers and (soon-to-be) bride and groom cake feeding! I can only imagine what the actual wedding will be like, I can't wait!
My dad recently got a new car, a Toyota Prius to replace his aging Camry. Actually, his Camry is going to go to my sister Denise and her car, which is about to fall apart, is going to the scrapyard.
I put about 100 miles on the Prius over the weekend driving to and from Rah's parent's along with a visit to San Francisco to help my good friend Tristan get moved in for his first year at USF Law. Overall, the car is nice to drive and certainly gets you from point A to B while getting very good gas mileage.
Coming out of my sporty WRX there were a number of things I wasn't quite satisfied with. The first thing I noticed was how high and hard the seats feel. I felt like I was sitting on an actual chair while driving. I would have preferred the seat to be at least a few inches shorter and the seats to have at least a little bit of side bolstering. It was way too easy to slide out of the seat going even a little fast around corners.
The next thing on the list was the very distracting and obstructive view out the rear view mirror. The rear hatch has a support going right across the middle third of the viewable area. You can still see OK out the back once you get used to it, but it is distracting.
Finally, the steering wheel feels a bit rubbery. I guess am spoiled by the leather wrapped MOMO wheel that is in my WRX.
I was suprised to find that the Prius seems to have plenty of pep when you need it, although I never floored it (my dad warned me multiple times to take it easy as it's still breaking in) the times I got into the gas pedal a bit the engine kicked in and the CVT let the engine rev up and make a decent amount of power. Going up and down the hills of San Francisco was never a problem.
My favorite part of the car is watching either the Energy Monitor or Energy Consumption screens on the center touch screen display. With one of these two screens running you can see in real time what mileage you are currently getting, where the car is getting power from (engine, battery) or if the car is using regenerative braking, as well as the mileage you've been getting for the past 30 minutes in 5 minute intervals. With these screens on, you quickly become obsessed with trying to get the highest mileage you can. It doesn't take long to figure out that speeds above 70mph will start hurting your mileage significantly as well as being too heavy with the right foot. During my driving, my mileage seemed to hover right around 50 miles per gallon.
All in all, the Prius is a capable and comfortable car and would work very well wherever you need to get from point A to B as efficiently as possible. It's no suprise to me that Toyota is having trouble keeping these cars on the lots! Now if they could build one that is a bit sportier they might convince me to get one, too.
The party was pretty extravagant, Wendy and I thought it could easily have substituted for the actual wedding ceremony! There was a family exchanging of gifts, cake cutting, lots of flowers and (soon-to-be) bride and groom cake feeding! I can only imagine what the actual wedding will be like, I can't wait!
My dad recently got a new car, a Toyota Prius to replace his aging Camry. Actually, his Camry is going to go to my sister Denise and her car, which is about to fall apart, is going to the scrapyard.
I put about 100 miles on the Prius over the weekend driving to and from Rah's parent's along with a visit to San Francisco to help my good friend Tristan get moved in for his first year at USF Law. Overall, the car is nice to drive and certainly gets you from point A to B while getting very good gas mileage.
Coming out of my sporty WRX there were a number of things I wasn't quite satisfied with. The first thing I noticed was how high and hard the seats feel. I felt like I was sitting on an actual chair while driving. I would have preferred the seat to be at least a few inches shorter and the seats to have at least a little bit of side bolstering. It was way too easy to slide out of the seat going even a little fast around corners.
The next thing on the list was the very distracting and obstructive view out the rear view mirror. The rear hatch has a support going right across the middle third of the viewable area. You can still see OK out the back once you get used to it, but it is distracting.
Finally, the steering wheel feels a bit rubbery. I guess am spoiled by the leather wrapped MOMO wheel that is in my WRX.
I was suprised to find that the Prius seems to have plenty of pep when you need it, although I never floored it (my dad warned me multiple times to take it easy as it's still breaking in) the times I got into the gas pedal a bit the engine kicked in and the CVT let the engine rev up and make a decent amount of power. Going up and down the hills of San Francisco was never a problem.
My favorite part of the car is watching either the Energy Monitor or Energy Consumption screens on the center touch screen display. With one of these two screens running you can see in real time what mileage you are currently getting, where the car is getting power from (engine, battery) or if the car is using regenerative braking, as well as the mileage you've been getting for the past 30 minutes in 5 minute intervals. With these screens on, you quickly become obsessed with trying to get the highest mileage you can. It doesn't take long to figure out that speeds above 70mph will start hurting your mileage significantly as well as being too heavy with the right foot. During my driving, my mileage seemed to hover right around 50 miles per gallon.
All in all, the Prius is a capable and comfortable car and would work very well wherever you need to get from point A to B as efficiently as possible. It's no suprise to me that Toyota is having trouble keeping these cars on the lots! Now if they could build one that is a bit sportier they might convince me to get one, too.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
google.com redirecting to google.co.nz
We've had the weirdest thing happen to us at work the past couple days. Going to www.google.com redirects us to www.google.com.nz. Even when just using a telnet client to manually make the request it happens, so I'm sure it's not just cookies. And clicking on Go to Google.com still leaves me with a page that says Go to Google New Zealand. Weird!
Here's the output from the telnet session if anyone is interested (some lines are broken up so that they fit in the blogger template:
Maybe the Gangsta Programma can help explain, he works at Google.
Here's the output from the telnet session if anyone is interested (some lines are broken up so that they fit in the blogger template:
# telnet www.google.com 80My best guess is that google does some sort of IP address lookup to guess what country you are in and has got our IP address range wrong!
Trying 66.102.7.99...
Connected to www.google.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
GET / HTTP/1.0
HTTP/1.0 302 Found
Location: http://www.google.co.nz/cxfer?c=PREF%3D:TM%3D1123089653: S%3D782JnXlZiZszEbUZ&prev=/
Set-Cookie: PREF=ID=155668e6e3831c79:CR=1:TM=1123089653:LM=1123089653:S=xcmaIuHxEGXCUaQX; expires=Sun, 17-Jan-2038 19:14:07 GMT; path=/; domain=.google.com
Content-Type: text/html
Server: GWS/2.1
Content-Length: 217
Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2005 17:20:53 GMT
Connection: Keep-Alive
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>302 Moved</TITLE></HEAD><BODY>
<H1>302 Moved</H1>
The document has moved
<A HREF="http://www.google.co.nz/cxfer?c=PREF%3D:TM%3D1123089653: S%3D782JnXlZiZszEbUZ&prev=/">here</A>.
</BODY></HTML>
Connection closed by foreign host.
#
Maybe the Gangsta Programma can help explain, he works at Google.
Random Bulk Emails
I've been getting some weird bulk email in my gmail account lately. One is from an organization called SPAMIS or Strategic Partnership Against Microsoft Illegal Spam. A quick google search turned up this randomlog blog entry. Apparently they've had their domains suspended so they're nothing to worry about.
Another strange email going around is the Gouranga email. Another google search says that the motivation behind this bulk email is someone who is wishing happiness to everyone they can reach. I feel better already! Gouranga!
Another strange email going around is the Gouranga email. Another google search says that the motivation behind this bulk email is someone who is wishing happiness to everyone they can reach. I feel better already! Gouranga!
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Visit to Callaway Golf Performance Center
A bit over a month ago, I was fortunate enough to be invited to play in a golf tournament being sponsored by PDS Gaming in Las Vegas. Their VP is a chairman of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas, so were offering raffle tickets and a putting contest where all proceeds would go to the charity. I bought $80 worth of raffle tickets and putts and at the end of the day was lucky enough to win a Callaway Big Bertha 454 driver along with a matching Big Bertha 3 and 5 woods.
All of my current clubs have have either stiff flex or firm flex shafts and the clubs I won were R flex, so I thought it'd be a good idea to get fitted and find out if the clubs I won would work best for me, and if not, get them reshafted or replaced so that they would.
Callaway's Golf Performance Center is right down the street from work, so I scheduled an appointment which was Tuesday. There is an impressive amount of technology in the room with an an array of cameras and computeres used to monitor swing speed, swing path, ball speed, launch angle, etc along with racks of clubs along the walls. Everything you need to know to find the perfect club. You hit balls into a net behind which an image of a fairway is projected so you can watch your ball flight after a swing.
After hitting about a dozen balls with a 9 irons into the net to warm up, I started with a driver identical to the one I won, a R-flex 11* Big Bertha 454. My swing speed ranged from 93-100mph getting higher as I hit more balls and I was getting around a 12.5* launch angle along with 2500rpm of backspin. That was right in the range that they like to see, they look for a launch angle between 12-14* and 2000-3000rpm backspin. I have a slight upward angle of attack to the ball and usually come inside out a few degrees but hang onto the club instead of releasing it which leads to the fade I play with which turns into a slice on bad swings.
Scott, the Callaway fitter helping me, explained that they normally put an R flex shaft into driver swing speeds of 85-95mph, firm flex from 95-105mph and stiff for 105mph+. That would put me at the upper end of a R flex, but since I've got a smooth swing he recommended to keep me in the R flex shaft which should also help release the clubhead and give me better clubhead feel.
He also gave me a few pointers in my swing where he saw I could improve, moving ball position up closer to my left heel, getting a straighter line from my left shoulder down to the ball at address and making sure I don't sway over my right leg during my backswing. It's like getting a swing lesson at the same time! He also suggested that using a softer shaft in my irons that matched the woods would be a good idea.
I haven't yet had the chance to take these clubs to the course or the driving range, so we'll see how they work in real life soon (hopefully tomorrow morning before work!)
All of my current clubs have have either stiff flex or firm flex shafts and the clubs I won were R flex, so I thought it'd be a good idea to get fitted and find out if the clubs I won would work best for me, and if not, get them reshafted or replaced so that they would.
Callaway's Golf Performance Center is right down the street from work, so I scheduled an appointment which was Tuesday. There is an impressive amount of technology in the room with an an array of cameras and computeres used to monitor swing speed, swing path, ball speed, launch angle, etc along with racks of clubs along the walls. Everything you need to know to find the perfect club. You hit balls into a net behind which an image of a fairway is projected so you can watch your ball flight after a swing.
After hitting about a dozen balls with a 9 irons into the net to warm up, I started with a driver identical to the one I won, a R-flex 11* Big Bertha 454. My swing speed ranged from 93-100mph getting higher as I hit more balls and I was getting around a 12.5* launch angle along with 2500rpm of backspin. That was right in the range that they like to see, they look for a launch angle between 12-14* and 2000-3000rpm backspin. I have a slight upward angle of attack to the ball and usually come inside out a few degrees but hang onto the club instead of releasing it which leads to the fade I play with which turns into a slice on bad swings.
Scott, the Callaway fitter helping me, explained that they normally put an R flex shaft into driver swing speeds of 85-95mph, firm flex from 95-105mph and stiff for 105mph+. That would put me at the upper end of a R flex, but since I've got a smooth swing he recommended to keep me in the R flex shaft which should also help release the clubhead and give me better clubhead feel.
He also gave me a few pointers in my swing where he saw I could improve, moving ball position up closer to my left heel, getting a straighter line from my left shoulder down to the ball at address and making sure I don't sway over my right leg during my backswing. It's like getting a swing lesson at the same time! He also suggested that using a softer shaft in my irons that matched the woods would be a good idea.
I haven't yet had the chance to take these clubs to the course or the driving range, so we'll see how they work in real life soon (hopefully tomorrow morning before work!)
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
I'm going to be a father!
In case you haven't been watching my wife's blog Wendy's BELLY, I'm going to be a father! Wendy went in for her 13 week checkup yesterday and they ran some sonar over her belly to find the little monkey's heartbeat. It's a healthy 150bpm and should be the size of a jumbo shrimp.
Wendy's belly has been steadily growing the past 2 months and she's finally starting to show a decent amount. We looked at some cute maternity clothes last night and found some that she might like at Old Navy which doesn't cost a fortune. She's going to be a hot mama!
Wendy's belly has been steadily growing the past 2 months and she's finally starting to show a decent amount. We looked at some cute maternity clothes last night and found some that she might like at Old Navy which doesn't cost a fortune. She's going to be a hot mama!
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
First Post on Blogger!
Here is my first post on Blogger! I'll be moving all my old posts from my old blog here when I get the time.
To tide you over, here's a pic from my recent vacation in Kauai:
To tide you over, here's a pic from my recent vacation in Kauai:
Saturday, February 26, 2005
New Plugs, Clean MAF and Still Low IAM
As mentioned earlier, my ECU doesn't seem to want to advance the IAM above 11-12 when running on the stock map, indicating that it's encountering detonation and reducing timing advance. Well, I've tried new spark plugs (NGK IX Iridiums, stock heat range) and cleaned the MAF with electrical contact cleaner, but the IAM remains the same.
So either it's normal for cars with the fuel I'm running here in southern California, or there's something else in my engine causing excessive detonation, possibly a manufacturing defect leading to a hot-spot, excessive oil blowby or ??? I need to find out what a normal IAM is for stock WRXs running on California fuel before going any further...
So either it's normal for cars with the fuel I'm running here in southern California, or there's something else in my engine causing excessive detonation, possibly a manufacturing defect leading to a hot-spot, excessive oil blowby or ??? I need to find out what a normal IAM is for stock WRXs running on California fuel before going any further...
TaxCut Sucks
I ordered TaxCut software back in October as they are a bit cheaper than the main competition (TurboTax) and were also throwing in free state with the purchase of federal as well. The price is for the downloaded version, and I immediately downloaded the federal version.
However, the state version (California) was not yet ready and was informed that I'd receive an email when it was ready for download.
1 month later (November) I received the email and set it aside knowing that I didn't have any of my tax documents ready so didn't need the software yet.
Last week (a bit over 2 months since I received notification that state was available for download) I go to download the State software and find that I can't. Apparently your download is only good for 60 days from the date of purchase, at which point you need to pay another $4.99 to "backup" your download for an additional 2 years.
At this point I'm furious as I've now paid for software which I've never received! I also find out that I need to turn in my rebate form within 30 days of purchase so I've lost out on that as well.
I guess that's what I get for not reading the fine print, but I contact their customer support anyway and tell them the situation. They do not budge after chatting with their customer service for 30 minutes.
Like it's going to actually cost them anything to let me download something I never downloaded in the first place! It probably cost them more than $4.99 to pay the customer service rep to chat with me for that long. I could understand TaxCut's position if I had actually received the software and then lost it but I feel like I've paid extra to get something I never received.
I imagine that a lot of customers have been caught by these loopholes and that is how they are making a significant amount of extra revenue. I feel that it is shady practice, so I am recommending to everyone to avoid TaxCut software.
Their main competitor TurboTax while costing a few bucks more up-front at least appears to offer an immediate rebate on the state product with the purchase of federal saving you from the hassle of filling out any rebate forms. In the future I'll be using TurboTax and recommending that product to all friends and colleages.
However, the state version (California) was not yet ready and was informed that I'd receive an email when it was ready for download.
1 month later (November) I received the email and set it aside knowing that I didn't have any of my tax documents ready so didn't need the software yet.
Last week (a bit over 2 months since I received notification that state was available for download) I go to download the State software and find that I can't. Apparently your download is only good for 60 days from the date of purchase, at which point you need to pay another $4.99 to "backup" your download for an additional 2 years.
At this point I'm furious as I've now paid for software which I've never received! I also find out that I need to turn in my rebate form within 30 days of purchase so I've lost out on that as well.
I guess that's what I get for not reading the fine print, but I contact their customer support anyway and tell them the situation. They do not budge after chatting with their customer service for 30 minutes.
Like it's going to actually cost them anything to let me download something I never downloaded in the first place! It probably cost them more than $4.99 to pay the customer service rep to chat with me for that long. I could understand TaxCut's position if I had actually received the software and then lost it but I feel like I've paid extra to get something I never received.
I imagine that a lot of customers have been caught by these loopholes and that is how they are making a significant amount of extra revenue. I feel that it is shady practice, so I am recommending to everyone to avoid TaxCut software.
Their main competitor TurboTax while costing a few bucks more up-front at least appears to offer an immediate rebate on the state product with the purchase of federal saving you from the hassle of filling out any rebate forms. In the future I'll be using TurboTax and recommending that product to all friends and colleages.
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