clogification - on hold.

Jawbone2

2008-07-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

Smaller. Lighter. Better. Fab!

Wicked

2008-04-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to see Wicked at the Pantages theatre in Hollywood. Despite not being a huge fan of musicals, I thought it was pretty good. Essentially the tale of how the witches (good and wicked) came to be. Some very clever tie ins to the original Wizard of Oz story too.

Oh and it was 100 degrees f this weekend. In April. Blimey.

polar opposites...

2008-02-10T09:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were wandering around Santa Barbara in temperatures of 80f/26c getting a little sun burn and generally enjoying the sun and brightness before coming home for a swim in the pool and a dip in the hot tub.

Tomorrow I'll be back in Chicago, where it's currently 1f/-17c. That's a 79f/43c difference!

...and back again

2008-02-03T13:30:00.000-08:00

well it really did get that cold, and wow, who'd have thought you could so quickly forget what the cold feels like? Oddly, the only day it wasn't that cold was the afternoon I was due to fly home. The temperature went up to 26 degrees f, which was warm enough (!) to make the sky drop enough snow to make Chicago airport a no fly zone. Dinner then drinks then a room at the Hilton and wait for standby the next day. Such a waste of a day!

Nuts.

2008-01-24T21:27:00.000-08:00

I have to go to Chicago. The timing sucks as the other half has only been here a week. My punishment however, is that today the temperature in the area I'll be was -6 degrees. That sounds cold, until you remember that over here, temperature if fahrenheit. Do the conversion and it's closer to minus twenty degrees c. And windy.

Woo. Hoo. :(

"Compact"

2008-01-20T17:48:00.001-08:00

The MCS is ours, the monster truck isn't ;o)

and so....

2008-01-06T15:01:00.000-08:00

it appears to have been quite some time since I last wrote. Not a lot has happened since, busy at work, quiet xmas and NY in the US.

Oh and early January marks two anniversaries for me:

1) completing 10 years of service with the same employer. 6 promotions, 5 bosses, 4 relocations, 3 countries. Not bad for someone who started as a temp to do just two weeks work. Honestly, I never could have imagined that it would go so well. Apparently myself and a few others who have reached 5 and 10 year milestones will be taken out for a nice lunch and there's some sort of gift and plaque to be presented. We'll see....

2) a year in the US. Yes, really, I've been here a year already, unbelievable I know. It's been a very hard year, lots of work, pressure and stress, not to mention being away from everyone I know and love. It has also been very successful, which should be very useful for my future career.

Next week sees my other half finally flying out to join me, which makes me incredibly happy. She should have been here in October, but life intervened, it's been a very long 4 months since we last saw each other, so next week cannot come quickly enough.

Actually, while I'm desperate to see her walk through Customs at LAX, it had better not come too quickly, otherwise I won't be able to tidy up in time and then I'll be in even more trouble ;)

Schluurp.

2007-11-25T17:55:00.000-08:00

I happened to be in BevMo (a supermarket that sells mostly liquid refreshments) looking for some Afligem, and spotted that they were stocking a Russian beer called Baltika that I had been meaning to look out for. This post was brought to you courtesy of a smooth bottle of Baltika #2.

A new experience in life...

2007-11-25T15:22:00.000-08:00

Last night, I saw my first 'icebow' or Moon Halo, it was a beautifully clear night and the halo was a perfect circle of light. I was really, really annoyed to have left my camera in the office over the weekend. Grrr.

Still you never know, maybe one day I'll get another chance.

Daemon

2007-11-18T20:28:00.000-08:00

Here's hoping that "The Golden Compass" is at least a reasonable attempt at the book (Northern Lights). Just a couple of weeks until we find out!

Unfulfilled, Unsatisfied.

2007-11-13T23:12:00.000-08:00

Or something like that.

No, this isn't the post I reference below, this is a different post. Lately, I have begun to feel both of the above. Now, we know that 2007 has been the year of 8000 mile relationship and much turmoil around living circumstance - but that's not it.

From a work perspective, I have achieved lots this year. Did exactly what was required, and more, albeit achieving some end results by a different methodology. While there are a few that still focus on the weak points, there has been much to rejoice, outright success to be claimed.

It's taken immense amounts of time, energy, emotion and determination. All of which, you would think, might make me feel fulfilled. Yet I don't feel as though I've done anything that really developed me. Sure, I learned how to adapt to a new culture. I became much better at avoiding, or confronting, corporate politics but overall, I can't say that I've really done anything /new/. Except doing it in a different country. Again. See. even that's not new.

So I've turned around the business function, I've developed other people, I have even set an unprecedented amount in next years budget to continue training and developing other people (and, it seems, had it approved!) but, and here comes the selfish part - what's in it for me?

I'm a bit stuck - I know there are a couple of large projects happening, one of which I'm already part of, the other I will be, that are great exposure and experience, but, ultimately, not very fulfilling on a personal scale.

So, I need some personal fulfillment, advancement and achievement. That's it! Yeah! Rah!

Any ideas what?

Almost.

2007-11-13T20:43:00.000-08:00

Earlier, I had an idea for a perfect blog post. Topical, entertaining and witty it was to be. It might still be, if only I could remember what it was.

Red White and Blue.

2007-11-10T15:38:00.000-08:00

I had not considered, until today, that I seem to gravitate towards countries that have Red/White/Blue as a colour combination in their national flags.

Mac Update.

2007-11-05T20:22:00.001-08:00

I'm impressed. No, really.

Some of the little things amuse me highly - screen brightness adjusts to ambient lighting, including *dimming* when the ambient light drops - to prevent the screen being too glaring. Oh and the fact that there's a hidden magic sensor that illuminates the keyboard if it gets a bit dark. Cue ninja moves to make it come on and off.

Leopard is nice, smooth and just appears to work. In fact, the whole thing just appears to work. Okay, so I'm what some might call computer savvy, others might call me a bit of a geek (I'm not really, not any more), but so far, I've managed to drive this thing with no problems - including installing software and stuff - excluding reading the manual.

iWork 08 - three pieces of software, of which 2 (Pages and Keynote) from the 3 are total M$ killers. I haven't tried Numbers yet, but I'm use Excel extensively, so that might be trickier to win me over.

Shinyness - oh yes, plenty of shiny.

I think I've been converted.

2007-11-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

This post is brought to you by way of a shiny new computer. Note, I said "Computer" and not 'PC'. that's because this is a Mac.

A friend once woke up after a party and exclaimed "oh my god! I slept next to a Mac! ". Which was all very hilarious to us at the time, well all of us except the Mac owner.

However, after itching for a few months, having seen the Steve Jobs Special Event presentation that introduced iLife and iWorks, then seeing the Leopard videos, I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a Mac laptop. Not one of those Mac Books, which look like they were designed by Fisher Price, a proper Mac Book Pro in all it's 15 inches of shiny glory.

Opening the box revealed incredibly minimalist packaging and very little faff factor. I had the thing up and running within minutes. I was disappointed to find out that the Apple Store had inserted a Leopard upgrade DVD, rather than installing it, especially as it meant that my first 35 minutes of Mac useage was spent doing an install. Shame on Apple for that.

Now that I'm actually using the thing, I have to say, it's really, really lovely. Leopard looks great and iWork is really rather good. Let's see how continued ownership changes these initial thoughts, but for now, the little glowing Apple symbol is my friend.

PS: Clanky, just shush ok? Thanks ;o)

Double Oh Seven I am not

2007-10-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

because the licence that arrived today was to drive, not kill.

Pretty it isn't, but useful it will be, and puts me in an interesting position of choice. If I get pulled over in CA, I won't have a choice, I'll have to show the State licence. If, however, I get pulled over in any other state, I'll pull out the British licence and hope they let me off with a warning in lieu of them doing lots of paperwork.

Should I go back to Blighty, I'll pull out the CA version, just to really mess with their heads. In NL, I could use either the GB or CA but they'll probably still lock me up.

Happy happy joy joy.

stopping the ride

2007-10-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

cos I might want to get off. I'm getting a tad fed up with life being all over the place and not much sign of normal service being resumed. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of good bits - the weather, work challenges and even the simple facts that life is /not/ bad. I even found an old acquaintance of blogging, Mr Kennamatic, is still alive and kicking and that facebook might be a useful way to stay in touch with some people.

On the flip side however, I'm still 8000 or so miles from my love, which after [counts] 10 full months with less than an handful of weeks respite, is really starting to take it's toll. I didn't get into a long term relationship to not have one! It also means that this, adventure, that I'm having, is a lonesome and somewhat lonely journey. Whilst I'm comfortable in my own company, I'm a giver by nature and like to share things - life especially.

Lately I've been reading a lot of "self help", "management" and "life hacking" books and websites, and whilst I know why I chose to do this and those reasons haven't changed, I think I'm starting to better understand some of the things I value in life and the direction I don't want life, or at least parts of it, to take. I guess this is a good thing, but doesn't help with the current set of emotions.

and so....

2007-10-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

it is true, I hate moving. Or rather, I hate the disruption and disturbance caused by moving.

Three abodes is now back to two. I've relinquished the old apartment and am now in the new one. Container was delivered on Friday, it's quite odd to be sat on familiar furniture surrounded by our things in a building that isn't ours, not to mention on my own.

Some time ago I junked my aging (not to mention dying) stereo system and never replaced it. Coming to Septicstan, I decided not to bring my cheapo DVD player and decided to splurge and buy a home theatre system that played everything. So I did splurge and a Sony DAV-IS10 was the outcome.

The tiny little speakers are about the size of a golfball and are really, quite astonishingly remarkable. For an average sized lounge area, this little box of little boxes of tricks is more than adequate. I love it.

To test it out I watched Pan's Labyrinth which, as well as having the most haunting little lullaby tune to hum along to, was a superb mix of violent gritty life and fantasy. I may even watch it again soon.

Three.

2007-10-05T22:27:00.001-07:00

Three is a nice number. Although having three homes is perhaps a tad excessive. Today I picked up the keys to the new apartment. Very nice it is too. Container has arrived but not cleared Customs yet, so I'm still living in the corporate apartment.

Then back home in NL, the house is sitting there lonely as a lonely thing - just waiting for some renters to appear.

One for the carnivores...

2007-09-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact I love cooking, there's not much fun cooking for yourself, not to mention the fact it's not particularly economical. However, I've decided that I need to start cooking again.

I was in Vons (a supermarket) this morning and noticed they had some meat reduced for quick sale. The shelf included some Tri-Tip steaks. Normal price was about $9 per lb, but with a saving for using a loyalty card - then 50% off for quick sale. So 2 and a bit lbs of steaks for $8 total. Bargain.

Tri-Tip isn't particularly well known back in Europe, but, cooked ~~well~~ properly, that is slowly until medium rare then left to rest for a few minutes before serving, it's fabulously tender and full of flavour.

I had about half a pound for dinner with some oven roasted potato, onion and pepper mix and just a little dollop of really good smokey barbecue sauce.

I can only imagine how good it would have been if cooked on a barbecue with some hickory or mesquite.

There's just a little meat left over for sandwiches tomorrow - that'll certainly make it a bit more economical!

Newspapers and Movies

2007-09-23T12:22:00.000-07:00

I can't remember how many years ago it was, since I last grabbed a Saturday Guardian enabling me to spend an hour or so leafing through it and it's various supplements whilst eating a bacon sarnie the next morning.

Yesterday I was food shopping and spotted the weekend edition of the LA Times, a two inch thick bundle of semi-broadsheet newspaper with supplements and inclusions.

So a couple of bacon sarnies and a reading-fest was the order of this morning. Whilst the bacon over here isn't good, buying the leanest thick cut stuff one can find makes a reasonable substitute. The paper too, whilst not being the Guardian, is a reasonably good read, with plenty of interesting supplements.

If nothing else, it enabled me to realise how much of the movie world I have been missing out on. From todays Arts and Film section alone, I have enough "want to see" films to justify making a list (in no particular order):

1) Eastern Promises

2) In the Valley of Elah

3) Trade

4) The Kingdom

5) Into the Wild

6) The Assasination of Jesse James....

7) The Brave One

8) 3:10 to Yuma

Water from the sky, SSN, BA, DL

2007-09-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

Rain, I believe it is called. Last night it did, the first time since early April, if I remember correctly. I really had forgotten how nice the smell of a proper storm can be. The downside, is that after so long without rain, the roads become somewhat slippery as all the spilled fuel immediately rises to the surface.

On other notes, I finally got my social security number, which is the be all, end all enabler in the US. Without one, you can't do anything at all.

I immediately went to the most local (to the office) bank, to set up an account. WaMu happens to be the closest and had me an account open inside 15 minutes, cashing my first $ salary cheque instantly. Go WaMu.

Finally, I went to the DMV to see what I had to do about my driving licence. They gave me some forms to fill in, might as well do it now, they said. So I did. Then they gave me an eye test, there and then. Both eyes were fine, left eye was fine, right eye was, well, I could read the sign, but I need to see an optician soon. Then they took my photo. Then they said "now you need to do this written exam, take this, go over 'there' come back when you're done".

Eeek. This I wasn't expecting, but it was too late, so what the heck. 36 multiple choice questions on the law and methods of safe driving. 6 wrong answers is a fail. Using the method of "read the question carefully and figure out which answers sound most ridiculous" I selected the most appropriate answer. I passed, with, I believe 35 out of 36.

GREAT! Thinks I, now to get a shiny licence. or license as they say here.

"When would you like to book your physical test?"

Whaaa?

Yes, it would appear that I have to take an actual driving test. Oh Joy. Apparently it's easy. 20 minutes of basic driving and simple maneuvers. Hmm, we'll see about that.

Paddington joins the dark side!

2007-09-20T19:44:00.003-07:00

This really cheered me up when I saw it earlier.

Cars in the States

2007-09-15T22:58:00.000-07:00

I realised today that so far this year, I've been in a position to drive several types of car - mostly very new (just a few thousand miles) courtesy of Avis.

Here's the roundup, in approximate chronological order:

1) Jeep Liberty

Uncomfortable, slow, basic and handled like a boat.

2) Chevy Impala

This handled like a proper car. Well, not a *proper* car, but it was reasonable for a cheap family car. It was sufficient to get us to San Francisco and back and was easy to push to it's limits on the canyon roads. Inside was horrible, low spec, cheap and nasty.

3) Mercury Montego

There was nothing good about this. Plastic seats trying to be leather, disasterous interior and handling to rival a tank.

4) Ford Mustang

Now, I have to admit, these do look kinda cool. They're much smaller than you might imagine, with seriously restricted visibility at the front, thanks to a low seat and high bonnet. The rear and sideways visibility isn't much better thanks to badly shaped and sized windows. Rear Wheel Drive was about the only redeeming feature.

5) Dodge Magnum

This one wasn't mine, but I did get a chance to drive it. Fortunately I was able to give it back very, very quickly. I can't think of a single redeeming feature.

6) Nissan Altima

I actually had two of these - a normal petrol engined one to start with, then a Hybrid version with electric and petrol engine. Nicely designed and reasonably quick with great handling. The two I had were reasonably low spec - assuming a higher spec has decent leather seats and a few toys, I could contemplate actually buying one. I was really unhappy to give the Hybrid version back yesterday, thanks to some blind woman reversing her Hummer into it.

7) Chrysler Town and Country

Aaargh. Thrifty in Chicago took a booking for a car, but didn't have any. So they "upgraded" me to a mini-van. I felt like some sort of school-run-mum. 87 cup holders were the only nice feature.

8) Dodge Charger

This is my current steed. Much bigger than it's other muscle car buddy the Ford Mustang and it looks cooler too. Otherwise, it's not quite as bad as the Dodge magnum, but, it's pretty bad. Slower than the Titanic and I have a feeling it's going to drink fuel like the Titanic too.

So, overall, the Japanese car get's my vote - I wish I could swap the charger over for another Altima, but I'd have to drive all the way to LAX and back to do that.

Travel Essentials

2007-09-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

Two things I am recently reminded to be grateful for; ipods and noise cancelling headphones. I only have the very tiny 2nd generation ipod shuffle, so just about as simple as it gets, but what bliss to have plenty of music with no weight or bulk.

For anyone who has never tried noise cancelling headphones, good ones really are incredible. I have a pair of Sony in the ear style, again to keep the bulk down. Put them in, flick the switch and the noise of the plane becomes little more than a whisper. Start playing music and realise that you can listen at normal volumes, as opposed to excessively inflated-trying to drown everything out volumes. That has to be better for the ears, let alone the sanity.

Having landed from Europe on Sunday, I've had plenty of use, but to be unexpectedly on a plane to Chicago on Tuesday, it's blissful to not hear the two kids across the aisle who are clearly over tired and exciteable. It's blissful not only because I'm not very tolerant of the parents of such screaming infants, but because sunset at 37,000 is very transfixing. Vivid blue and fading yellowness turning into deep dark black.

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