Dear God

I saw this on a friend's page... the innocence and naivete of children can be pretty amusing sometimes. I'm totally with Ginny below; we definitely need some days off between Christmas and Easter. God?


Also taken from a friend's page; Peter seems to be trying his hand at math using the wrong side of his brain. I say give him partial credit for creativity.


Hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas with friends and family. With a new year around the corner, there are many resolutions being made. I've always wondered why one should wait 365 days to make a resolution to improve your life or the lives of those around you. Every new day should bring with it an opportunity to change something large or small in your life, no?

Always a challenge, always a journey...

Favorite timepieces

A watch serves multiple purposes, and telling time is merely just one of them. A meticulously crafted, high-precision watch on your wrist can be akin to the feel of a well-tailored three piece-suit on your back. My appreciation of fine watches extends far beyond the purely aesthetic features, to craftsmanship and complications in movements. Below, I've listed my favorite timepieces, some of which I've purchased in the past or currently own.

"TAG Heuer Automatic Chronograph Tachymetre"
Sporty, race-inspired automatic, mechanical movement.
(Purchased 05.11.2006)

"Tourneau Safari Sport 1950 Flyer"
Classic, multi-functional chronograph, rotating bezel.
(Purchased 12.16.2006)


"Cartier Tank Solo"
Polished and dressy, complements the daily suit.
(Purchased 04.15.2006, for father)


"Cartier Santos Demoiselle"
Classy and sophisticated, quartz with mother of pearl face.
(Purchased 04.15.2006, for my mother)


"Corum Admiral's Cup"
Sporty, sailing-inspired chronograph.


"Breitling Navitimer World, Blue"
Aviation-inspired chronograph, rotating bezel.

Top 10 MDKMV

It's time for the first installment of the TEK Top 10. The TT10 will happen a few times a month, so pay attention, kids. This week, we'll be reviewing the Top 10 Most Depressing Korean Music Videos (or MDKMV). I don't know the titles or artists of most of these, so I'm using some descriptive blurbs. See if you start noticing a trend:

10. "Clay-mation rendition of girl falling asleep in snow and..."

9. "Not really depressing, but makes you think of dad..."

8. "Girl crashes in airplane, boyfriend finds a picture of himself..."

7. "Girl is getting married to a guy she doesn't love, when suddenly..."

6. "Little girl gets sick after eating what she thought was candy and..."

5. "Girl spills photographic film chemicals in her eyes..."

4. "A pilot falls for girl, but girl marries his friend and then..."

3. "Guy bangs his head and loses his memory but finds out that..."

2. "An innocent guy falls for a rebellious girl and gets beaten up..."

And the number one MDKMV is...

1. "Two brothers separated at birth, reunited only to find out that..."


Have a great week.

Back from Seoul

Too tired to write an actual post tonight, but pictures from Seoul are here.

My Car Got Broken Into, Part II

Read Part I here.

I got home at around 3am this past Friday from a night in the city (Jeff drove) to find both the driver's-side door window and 3/4 panel window on my car smashed via two rocks. The car was parked in my carport, where I park it every night. Questions I asked myself upon seeing the damage:

1. Did the factory BMW alarm even go off?
1a. If it did, why didn't my neighbors do anything?
1b. Why did I pay $400 for a worthless BMW factory alarm system?

2. Why did they leave my radar detector, Bluetooth device, camera and wad of cash? (perhaps the worthless alarm forced them to be careless)

3. Why the frick did they smash both the door and 3/4 panel windows? It's a coupe, homie; you could have gotten into the car by just smashing the big door window.

4. Where was the imaginary security guard that the management office of my apartment complex swears exists?

5. I live in a safe neighborhood, where nothing ever happens. Who are these people and where are they coming from?

6. Uh, where's my navigation system?

Per a neighbor across the way who managed to stumble out onto his balcony as I got home, it was a bunch of teenage kids he saw walking around. I'll admit, I was suspicious of this dude (like Chris Rock in his stand-up on neighbors robbing you: "You ain't hearin' sh!t 'cause you was doin' sh!t!"). But given that another car got hit the same night, I think his story holds some crediblity.

Interestingly, the following night, I saw my next door neighbor (who parks right next to me) and told him about the incident. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Hey, just letting you know that my car got broken into on Friday night, so just keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Did you happen to be around at at around 10pm?"

Him: "Oh, sorry. So sorry to hear. Yah I was around then." (he's a fob)

Me: "Did you hear my alarm go off?"

Him: "Mm, does it sound like (insert the sound of my alarm)?"

Me: "Yes, it sounds like that."

Him: "Oh, yah. I heard that sound and some smashing glass, but I just thought it was something else, you know? So I just close window."

Something else?! No, I don't know. What else could the sound of smashing glass accompanied by a car alarm possibly be? I can't even begin to comprehend how a reasonably intelligent human being with even a partially functioning brain wouldn't be able to put two and two together. Maybe after his unit burns down and he asks me what happened, I'll tell him "Oh, so sorry. I could feel the heat, see the smoke and smell the burning, but well, I thought it was something else, so I just closed my windows and continued watching Sports Center."

The good news is that the car is pretty much fixed and insurance paid for most of it. To the little children who violated my car and stole my possessions, I forgive you. May God have mercy on your poor souls. But if He for whatever reason destines each one of you to get run over by a large pick-up truck carrying lawn and gardening equipment driven by some dude named Hector with no auto insurance, then we can come to terms with the fact that God allows everything to happen for a reason, much like how He allowed your thieving asses to throw rocks through my car windows. It's called karma, bitches, and a lot of the angry kind is coming your way. No, but really, I still forgive you.

Off to Korea on Thursday. I'll be reachable on my Blackberry via phone and email (the latter being preferred), but if you do call, best to do it during waking hours in Seoul. Hopefully, I'll return with some good stories and interesting pictures. Until next time...

The "I'm still alive" post

Whew, long time no blog. I don't really have a good reason as to why I've been MIA on this thing. Actually, I can think of a few: I'm lazy, work 'pwns' me, I'm lazy, etc. Anyhow, I'll attemp to make this post somewhat historically cumulative.

My last post was about two plants I picked up at Home Depot. Unlike this blog, they are still alive and well. In retrospect, my life must have been incredibly boring if I was writing posts about plants. Then again, assessing life in my current state, not much has changed. I'll start making up for lost time by posting some pictures, adding some entertaining captions and throwing in a few rational thoughts from time to time for good measure (no promises, though).

Early Aug: I was in Boston for the SigGraph Graphics/HCI conference and was able to mix business with a bit of pleasure while there. I was in the city for the first week and spent the second week at home with family. Good seeing all of my Boston friends, albeit over a nice dinner with a bunch of lesbians (no, they weren't hot) crowding our table (if you're curious, ask, and ye shall hear the story):

2006 SigGraph Conference, Boston, MA.

SigGraph Exhibitors (Google was one).

Dinner @Laurels, Boston, MA.

Parents on York Beach, MA.

Mid Aug: Our annual (or bi-annual?) BC/BU reunion was in Vegas this year, of all places. For once in my life, I didn't lose hundreds of dollars in a matter of minutes. I was able to hang at the Blackjack table for hours and come out even. Could my gambling curse be over? *knocking on wood* (not many pictures taken there):

Paris, Las Vegas, NV.

Dinner @The Wynn (Oak, Linda, Kelly, Amanda).

I've been trying to bike consistently every weekend, but I need to find some more good verts and trails. I've been biking the hills around Shoreline, but that's getting old. Let me know if you know of any good trails around South Bay:

Down the beaten path: my trusty Specialized Enduro Comp 130

In two weeks, it's off to Seoul on business. I may manage to update before then, but if not, I should have some good stories and pictures when I return.

--
Appendix:
1. My father's impulse buy fun-car, reviewed on the TEK AR.
2. Adriana's new black shoes reviewed on the TEK AR.
3. Picasa Web Albums: If you don't have one yet, go get one.

Home Depot

I was feeling particularly 'green' this past weekend, so I went to Home Depot and bought two trees: a Blue Point Juniper and a Washington Navel Orange tree. I repotted both of them and put them on my front porch:

Blue Point Juniper, spiral trimmed.

Washington Navel Orange tree.

... very exciting stuff < /sarcasm>. Anyways, this week is going by surprisingly quickly. All this rain is killing me, though. Someone, please make it stop.

On a side note, all automotive-related posts will be continued on the TEK Automotive Review blog.

Back in the Bay

03/27, Monday (7:15pm): Returned to the Bay area from Denver, CO.

Been back in the Bay area for about a week (and what a week it's been). Now that the weekend is here, I actually have some time to update this thing. Nothing too interesting to report for now. But as promised, some pictures from Colorado and the WBC in San Diego:

Mm, topograpy: the Rocky Mountains taken from 30,000 ft.

Hotel room view.

75 mph? That means I can go 85, right?

A tip for anyone driving into downtown Dever: turn around and go somewhere else; there's nothing to do there.

I got a chance to hit the slopes with Bryce from the SketchUp office during the weekend portion of my trip to Colorado and for the most part, it was definitely worth lugging all of my gear there. One thing to note is that Boulder's elevation is already about 5,500 feet above Bay area sea-level, so add to that another 6,000 feet in the mountains, and I was nearly 11,000 feet above sea-level, which made the simple act of breathing more challenging:

11,000 ft. elevation +60 degree weather + over-layering + weight of gear + steep incline + hiking = not fun.

Mmm, back-mountain boarding. I must have taken this picture as I was taking a break from hiking, gasping desparately for air.

Ah, time to reap the rewards of my hard work...

Yea, so Korea lost the WBC. I think I've come to terms with that now. But to "Nippon Nation," with all due respect, your crowds are weak sauce compared to the "Dae Han Min Gook beast":

The kid double-fisting churros had like 8 of them that night, I kid you not.

Me and Jyn in the "Korea section"

What's a trip to San Diego without a visit to the zoo?

Ah, San Diego coast.

Some random pictures from random times and places, for my own personal edification and your viewing pleasure:

The only two pictures I have from the Google ski trip (from Christine).

(Ripped from Dolapo's blog) Googler t-shirt; mabe we should check his CV before making any rash judgements?

Defeated...

but not demoralized.


Returned from San Diego on Tuesday morning, tired and saddened from a 6-0 Korea loss in the World Baseball Classic. I'll get over it, but for now, I hate everything and everyone "Nippon" (just kidding!). Japan pitched a flawless game, which was why Korea couldn't really connect on anything. Korea will take it in 2009, when the next WBC is slated to take place. More San Diego/WBC pictures coming soon once I get back to the Bay area.

Flew out to Colorado on Tuesday (a few hours after I flew in from San Diego). I've been working with the SketchUp team here; a really great team. Boulder is a nice city as well, but not the most happening of places (as I write this from my hotel room). I'm looking forward to doing some snowboarding this weekend, perhaps at Breckenridge. I'll probably post some pictures from Colorado later as well.

After what seems like too many consecutive flights and hotel room stays, it'll be nice to return to my apartment, and also to ywy.

World Baseball Classic

Another week completed. Flying down to San Diego tomorrow morning to catch the semi-finals/finals of the World Baseball Classic. If you haven't been watching, Korea has been kicking some serious international ass. So far undefeated, they have a good chance of getting to the finals and winning it all:

Korea's Home and Away jerseys (must get both!).

I return from San Diego next Monday and then fly out to Boulder, Colorado on Tuesday night for work. Until then...

Adventures in MV and NY

Nearly two months without a post. Why? I guess I've been keeping myself occupied with work (or maybe vice-versa) and well, my life just isn't all that interesting. But I'll try to be more consistent about updating this.

I ended up heading to New York again two weekends ago (this time for a Local/Maps Product Summit), which gave me a chance to work in-person with the people I see via video-conference on a weekly basis. My parents also drove down from Boston for a day to have lunch and some coffee with me, which was nice. And what would a trip to New York have been without a a few (two) completely random run-ins with old friends from high school? Crazy.

Just in case you couldn't find the room, check the coordinates.

Ice Skating in Central Park, NY; Local/Maps team

The kid to my left is obviously much better than me...

Drinks with old friends from Boston (BC/BU) and DC (AU).
(Sal, Lin, V, TEK, MOH, mJ)
The girl with demon eyes in the background; really freaking me out...

The theme of every trip to NYC: Food, and lots of it.
(Some sushi place in NJ)

Usually, my weekends consist of either making it up to Lake Tahoe for some snowboarding or staying local and mountain biking around the Bay area. I do an average of 20-30 miles/weekend and I try to take pictures of anything interesting I see along the way. The following were taken atop the Amphitheatre hills:

A side-shot of the Googleplex.

Well, if it isn't our worthy adversary across the way, Microsoft.

Shoreline Links golf course (where I'll probably spend the other half of my weekends in the summer).

Specialized Enduro Comp 130; this thing will go through anything (NASA in the background).

These weather forecasts were from a few weeks ago so they're a bit dated, but I thought the stark contrast was funny. For my buddies on the east coast, can you say "time for relocation?"

Ouch. Bring out the gloves and mittens, 'cause it "Feels like" 1 degree in Boston.

Mid-Febuary weather in Norcal. Not too shabby.

Largely unrelated to the weather, I recently bought an AC Schnitzer strut tower bar, which is supposed to increase the overall rigidity of the front-end of a car. Although the E46 chassis is already pretty stiff from the factory, I thought I'd give it a shot. After installing it, I can feel a slight improvement in steering responsiveness (probably all psychological). At the very least, it looks cool...

AC Schnitzer STB installed.

Anyone want to do my taxes? I know all of you guys working in audit are just jumping up and down with excitement. Let me know where I should send my W-2s and 1098s!