Sunday, December 31, 2006

2006 Resolutions / Wikipedia

Whew, I just completed the last of my 2006 new years resolutions, to edit a Wikipedia article! It took me this long to find something I knew that someone else hadn't already posted.

I was busy entering all the 2007 Formula 1 race sites into Google Earth when I noticed that there weren't any coordinates for the Fuji Speedway in Japan. No fear, Mike to the rescue! See the coordinates in the upper right corner? Yup, that was me!

As insignificant as that was, it gave me quite a thrill!

Hope you all have a happy new year and keep safe.

See ya next year,
MikeD out!

Read more...

Friday, December 29, 2006

Pet Peeves

Believe it or not, I have some pet peeves that bother me. Today I thought of two that get on my nerves. My pet peeves for today are the terms '24/7/365' and 'giving 110 percent'.

Lets start out with 24/7/365. Why do we need the 365? If you are 'doing it' 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, doesn't that make the statement that you are going for? What is next, 10 years a decade? 100 decades a millenium? I think these people that added the 365 are just trying to flaunt that they know how many days there are in a year. Big deal! What do they do during the leap year, take a day off? Change it to '24/7/366'?

I would be much more accepting of it if they said '24/7/12'. Why? Because it reminds me of Christmas eve in a funky euro-date way. Lets stick with the 24/7... K.I.S.S.

Now for the all of you giving 110%. You all are sandbaggers! If you are able to crank your effort up to 110%, you have been holding back effort when you said you were giving it 100%. When you said you were giving it 100% you were actually only putting out 91% effort because you could obviously put out more. This is no different than Spinal Tap's 'special' amps that go to eleven. Give me a break. If you are working as hard as you possibly can you are giving it 100% effort.

Think of it like a glass of water. We can argue for ages about half full/half empty but if it is full to the rim, it is 100% full. There is no way to fill a glass to 110%. (we will overlook surface tension for this argument) No if's and's or but's.

Developing...

Read more...

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Mikey Bored

Booo! No Office tonight and I'm bored! I sit here sipping my dirty martini with jalapeno stuffed olives (thanks Jeff) wondering what to do.... Lets Blog! (I'm a little blog happy today, huh?)


Here are some shots from Carrie's and my last 'real' vacation to Kauai in September of last year.





I have decided that Kauai is the place for me. The first time we went was in 2001 for our honeymoon. We did alot of driving around and touristy type stuff including a helicopter tour of the island. It was great, I hated leaving.

In 2005 we went just because we could. This time we toned down the touristy stuff a bit and spent more time just hanging out. Never have I been more relaxed. Every day ended with Carrie and I lounging on the lanai with a sneaky tiki watching the clouds head out to sea. Utopia!

Next time (hopefully soon!) I think we will stay at the same place as the previous times and not venture far from it at all. The beach was great, the grounds were great, and there is plenty to do within minutes of the condo. Take a look. Web cam of the beach.

Eventually I am going to try and tie these pictures to Google Earth so you can see where the picture were taken from, and I can remember...

BTW, if you havent downloaded the free version of google earth, do it now. It is one of the coolest things going by far. It is a globe on crack!

Read more...

No Fly Zone

I am being buzzed by a fly the size of a marble and it is driving me nuts! The bastard came in from outside and now that he is warm, he is chock full of energy.

Buzz Mike, fly to the opposite end of the office, buzz Mike, repeat.

This has been going on for the last hour or so. If I don't bail the guy soon I may have to go back into the shop, get an acetylene bottle, open it in the office an flame the sucker out!

BTW - Yes, I am at work, but I am writing this as I am reinstalling a program on a computer. It is one of those tedious installs that you have to babysit. It was either blog or doodle. I chose blog.

Success! The fly has left the building! The fly has left the building!


Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Read more...

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Christmas Wrapping

Driving home from work Friday I overheard an interesting talk-radio subject. Christmas songs from heaven and hell. People called in with their favorite and least favorite Christmas songs. It inspired me to put out a list of my favorites. So here we go!

  1. Santa Claus is coming to Town, Bruce Springsteen - Clarence has been rehearsing real hard so Santa will bring him a new saxaphone. There is no greater christmas song than this!
  2. Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas, Burl Ives - The way the war on Christmas is going, it's only a matter of time before we have to rename it as the name Christmas is too closely tied to Jesus. I propose Ivesmas. 'nuff said
  3. Christmas Wrapping, The Waitresses - Addictive like crack! I can play this over and over and never get tired of it.
  4. Happy Holiday/Holiday Season, Andy Williams - I love to belt this one out along with Andy while driving.
  5. Christmas Time is Here, Vince Guraldi Trio - I always connected with Charlie Brown, and not just because I have a mellon head.
  6. The Christmas Song, Nat King Cole - I'm going to put on my turtle neck, sweater, sip eggnog and listen to this infront of the duraflame log. Cozy.
  7. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Andy Williams - Andy swings the belt again!
  8. Christmas is Coming, Vince Guraldi Trio - See #5
  9. White Christmas, Bing Crosby - See #6
  10. Christmas in Hollis, Run DMC - Reminds me of where I grew up, the hard streets of Juanita.

And for some of my least favorite Christmas songs...

Little Saint Nick, Beach Boys - Without Brian Wilson we would have never been blessed with this song, Sloop John B, Wilson Phillips and my next least favorite xmas song....

Hey Santa, Carnie and Wendy Wilson - I used to work retail and if I was unlucky this song would play 3 times during my 8 hour shift. Enjoy the Video!

Christmas in the Northwest, Brenda White - To much sap. Retail burnt me out on this one too.

Sippin' in Seattles Latte Land, Duffy Bishop - I'd like this one if she changed the lyrics back to Winter Wonderland, got rid of the annoying espresso machine noises in the background and let Burl Ives sing it.

Please people, let me know some of your favorites! Comments are welcome, don't be shy!

Read more...

Friday, December 22, 2006

Mole Huntin'


Hey everybody! Just taking Google's Picasa for a spin... So far so good, found all my photos and makes them easy to share.

Here is the first mole captured in my backyard a few years back. I was happy because I thought that I had solved my mole problem. Wrong!

Check out the 'man hands' as Carrie calls them, on that little beastie. I believe I left him on the porch rail so Carrie could see it. I told her that there was something in the backyard that I wanted her to see... She wasn't too happy!

At least I didn't find a little abandoned bird, herd it in to a bucket and show her while she was showering. That was later... I said "look what I found" and with perfect timing the bird went "CHEEEP!" scaring the daylights out of her. What a good husband I am!
Posted by Picasa

Read more...

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Brutal!

Man, my Seahawks are driving me nuts! This is as schizophrenic a team as I can recall. We know they can make things happen. I have no fear when down by a touchdown or less giving Hasselbeck the ball on the 15 with 2 1/2 minutes to play. It is the other 47 1/2 minutes of the game before that that worries me. Spot a team multiple points early, long drives that fizzle out... Ughhh... I fear no team except the Hawks.

Enough of that, it is making my chest hurt. You hear that Elizabeth? I'm coming to join you honey! (Sanford and Son reference for all y'all that don't recall)

Carrie couldn't got to the game because she needed to work (lucky!) so I went with a buddy. We took the bus in as we were both coming from work across the lake. There was a storm coming in and it was raining pretty good when we got to the stadium. We got to a bar and had a few brews. With about a half hour until kickoff we decided to head over to our seats. Oh my God! It was raining as hard as I have ever seen it rain in my life, and I am old now! The street between us and the stadium was three inches deep with water. My ticket held together long enough in the monsoon for the fella to scan it and not much longer. We got to our seats and never sat down the whole game.

I left that game early for the first time in quite awhile. The Seahawks stunk, the weather stunk, and we had to catch a bus to get us back to our cars. We got to where the shuttles were staging and saw a bus tagged S Kirkland (that is our park and ride). It was dark so we went to the bus in front of it... Tagged S Kirkland but dark again. After a few more of the same we saw that the bus at the front of the que was loading. (makes sense) We hopped on and decided to not talk about the game, we talked cars. The bus gets going and we finally get to our destination. Not so fast, we got on the wrong bus. We were at the Eastgate park and ride. 5 miles from where we wanted to be. Luckily the driver was a cool guy, he felt sorry for us and drove us to the S Kirkland P&R. Phew, dodged a giant bullet there. It was either wait 45 minutes in crappy weather for the next bus or call C to drive down and pick us up. Neither option sounded like much fun. Driving home from the park and ride my truck was handling like a truck. All over the road, it felt like the suspension was coming loose. It wasn't, it was the wind...

I got home and the wind was kickin' it old school. Big gusts were pushing the trees around like they were nothing. Our power blinked many times but never went out. As I laid down to go to bed I set my blinking clock to the time and tried to go to sleep. Ten minutes later it was blinking again. Repeat. Eventually around midnight, the power went out for real. At least I could sleep and not worry about a blinking "12:00" in my face. Around 4 the power came back on. We were lucky.

This morning we swung by mom and dads house and it was freezing, you could just about see your breath. Mom looked pathetic. She was wearing every piece of fleece she had and a goofy Tom Petty-esque fleece hat. Bo (the dog) was in her arms with a red Osmond family Christmas sweater on. Sad! We invited them and Carries parents over as our house was warm.

Tonight as I type this, around 48 hours have passed since the storm began. My parents and C's parents and sister have been hanging out at or house as their places are still without power and may be for a few more days. I really feel for all the people that don't have that option around here. Without a furnace, these houses get cold pretty quick.

Keep warm!

Read more...

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Greatest Album

Looky here, one day, two posts!

As I was writing that last novel, I was listening to some Nirvana as everybody should once in awhile.

I have decided that their In Utero album is probably the best album EVER! From the clicks of the drumsticks to kick it off on track 1, Serve the servants, to the great All Apologies, this album is perfection.

My favorites on this album (they are all great) are Heart Shaped Box, Milk It, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, Pennyroyal Tea, and All Apologies. The last two are on my GOAT (greatest of all time) play list.

I miss Nirvana.

If you got a better album, let me know on in the comments (please write comments!!!) and I will promptly shoot them down like clay pigeons. :)

Read more...

MNF

Howdy pard'ners!

Hi, my name is Mike and I am a procrastinator...

Well since I last blogged, a lot has gone down. Lets start at the beginning. C won out and we put up out Christmas stuff on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I dragged the tree out from under the house, put it together and promptly ran away to the garage to work on the outdoor lights. We bought a pre-lit tree a year or so back which cut the stress down 50% but it is still too much for me! I came in to put the angel on top as C couldn't reach it. Outside I got the lights that outline the lower roof line but quit with that for now. I promptly blew a fuse on the first string when I mistakenly had three strings in a series... I used the watts-volts-amps equation, but fed it bad information. I was a bit low on the wattage of the C9 bulbs from memory and paid the price. I'll finish the display this weekend, decorating the shrubbery.

Monday we had a Monday Night Football game (duh) against the hated Green Bay Packers. I remember at the last home game I was talking to Kevin, the fella that sits next to us and he expressed how he'd love to see a snow game in Seattle. Fat chance I thought, I can't remember the last white Christmas that we had, good luck getting it on a Seahawk game. It snowed hard on Sunday. Dang, I thought. We get a rare MNF game in Seattle and it happens to be on the week that it dumps on Sunday. Rotten luck, snow typically doesn't stick around long around here, especially before December.

On Monday, sure enough, the snow has chilled out and Seattle looks like any other Monday in November. We head down to the game, head in to the J&M, the place where I got food poisoning, (I am a trooper) and tossed back some beverages. it was pretty chilly, but no snow, the sky was clear. Boo.

We head out for the game and pick up a street dog at the very place where Ken Hamlin had his skull broken with a road sign. I had cream cheese and onions on mine. Delicious!

We got to our seats with around twenty minutes until kickoff. The field was completely bare, just like any other Sunday. I noticed a single pathetic excuse for a snowflake and joked, "it's snowing!". We got a good chuckle out of that. Before the row started packing in we decided to put on our rain pants as it was cold, and they would keep us warmer. The teams head back into the locker rooms when boom, it started dumping...

Here are my rankings of football weather starting from least desirable to most desirable...
hot and sunny
cloudy grey day
cool but sunny (jacket needed)
rain
snow

And man did it!

The field was almost completely white by the time the game started except for the big rectangle where they had the big flag for the national anthem. Sweet! It kept snowing the whole first quarter and then let up. A good thing to, as GB looked like they new how to handle things in the white stuff and we didn't. I was pissed. The game was recording on the DVR at home (in beautiful HD), it was snowing and the Hawks looked horrible. I was going to have to go home and erase it. Thank goodness they shook off the icicles and stopped giving the game to GB in the second half. It turned out to be a pleasing win.

We happily skipped back to the car, made the endless trek out of the parking garage, shot up cherry street and hit the express lanes with a smile. The roads were fine, I was flying. I noticed on our new cars navigation screen that there were a few accidents on the freeway around our house and noticed that the regular lanes of I-5 was starting to backup badly even though we were miles from there. I darted off the freeway wondering what the big deal was. I quickly found out.

Off the freeway the roads were horrible. Solid ice an inch thick. We were hung up in traffic almost immediately. We had been driving 10 minutes and were over a third of the way home. The rest of the trip took an hour and a half in an endless ribbon of cars creeping at a walking pace. Aaargh!!! We passed countless parked vehicles. The Metro buses were all parked in the bus stops with lights flashing, one with a smashed mirror. One road had at least 6 lined up, unable to move. As we got closer to home I was able to pull off the main drag onto a road with barely anybody driving on it. What a relief. We still had to get up the hill to our house but with the new RDX's computer controlled all-wheel drive it was a breeze. Many cars didn't make it, and just pulled off to the side, sometimes nicely, many at a 45 degree angle, some backwards and a few in the ditch. I passed one guy in the middle of the road just spinning his tires going nowhere. He had a few people pushing so I kept my momentum and continued on home. Boy was it a relief when we got there.

We flipped on the news and saw that we were the lucky ones. My mothers 7 mile commute home from work took her 3 hours. Many took longer, and many just parked it at a restaurant, hotel or anywhere warm that they could camp out.


It is now time for bed... I still need to fill y'all in on our trip to Denver. Check back soon, don't give up on me!

Read more...

  © Blogger templates ProBlogger Template by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP