A couple weeks ago I was visiting waider in Dublin. He mentioned that I haven't written a lot about my new life in London. I guess I haven't been writing a lot generally, because my rhythm is all messed up. I've got a new place to live, new job, and I have to find new things to occupy my time which apparently means less time to write ( Read more... )

K is a work colleague. He's a bit intense and high-strung, perhaps a bit younger than me, but he's a good guy. He worked at a neighboring company when we were both in Novato, and we ran into each other from time to time. I'm also fond of Umi restaurant in San Rafael. I don't know the proprietors too well, but they seem like mid-30s Japanese ( Read more... )

A few years ago at Burning Man someone brought a copy of "You Are Going To Prison", an advice book by Jim Hogshire about the penal system. It starts with the basics like the difference between being "detained" and "arrested", what to say (and not say) during these interactions, what happens when you're booked, what to do (and avoid) when you're in ( Read more... )

I had a really good Sunday. matrushkaka's dad was in town, and we went shooting at the Circle S Ranch up in Tomales. They've got a 300 yard range and I've got a rifle that does pretty well at that range, even better on closer stuff. The range is about 15 minutes from Nick's Cove, one of the best seafood places in the extended bay area with arguably the best ( Read more... )

In retrospect, one of the worst bits of advice in my life may have been come to me in junior high school from an English composition teacher named Mr. Cox. He advised our class "Never begin a sentence with 'I think'. Of course you think it. That's why you're saying it. If you're saying it, people can tell that's what you think." I think he was ( Read more... )

I've been banking with Wells Fargo since the mid 90s when I moved to California. I've been getting tired of Wells Fargo specifically and big commercial banks generally for a variety of reasons:

- Their penalty and fee schedules are predatory. Minimum balances, overdraft penalties, ATM fees, and other issues can get very expensive ( Read more... )

This Saturday I had my birthday at the San Francisco Municipal Waterslide, which just opened at the newly renovated Hamilton Rec Center. The party was excellent - enough people showed up, but not so many that we started getting in each other's way ( Read more... )

Lately on Twitter I've been getting friended and direct-messaged by Indonesians, in Indonesian. Can anyone figure out why Indonesians might be into me? (The last time it was midwesterners thinking that I was the Motor Racing Network.)

I've been having a hard time keeping up in Japanese class and I think I know why.

I'm an engineer (more or less). When I'm trying to solve a problem I try to make a solution that will work in all cases, not just the common case. "What if this software gets used on a really high-latency connection? What if it's being used by someone who's trying to ( Read more... )

I went to TAM7 this weekend. It was the sort of event that lends itself less to an event report - "the following things happened" - and more of a bunch of interesting conversations and experiences that gave me food for thought that will probably end up as posts here ( Read more... )