Vancouver

Stepping off the plane and into the night air in Vancouver I could smell it. The wonderful, deep smell of wood. Visions of majestic redwoods and towering pines flashed through my head. It was a heady feeling and I felt the longing to come home to Canada. Days later, after spending time in Vancouver reality set in. It is really just another big city with the visual advantage of the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other.

My final impressions of Vancouver is that it is a big city like so many others with its own set of problems and adventures to be had. It's a city without freeways or embedded highways. This is bizarre to me. This metropolis goes on as far as the eye to see - you actually just get around by driving through city streets with stop lights the whole way. How inefficient. Asians permeate Vancouver. Not that I'm prejudice or anything, but the whole city is almost exclusively Asian. Chinese people even own and run the sushi joints.

It strikes me that Vancouver is definitely a place to discover more, but probably more likely the outlying areas, like Victoria Island, Whistler, Goose Mountain, etc. Vancouver is just the endpoint for the airplane - the rest of British Columbia is out there to explore.

5 Tips to avoid viruses & deal w/ email attachments

Follow these basic guidelines when dealing with attachments in an e-mail message, no matter what e-mail program you're using:
1. Don't open any attachment unless you know whom it's from and you were expecting it.
2. If you receive an e-mail message with an attachment from someone you don't know, delete it immediately.
3. Use antivirus software and keep it updated.
4. If you need to send an e-mail attachment to someone, let them know you'll be sending it so they don't think it's a virus.
5. Use spam filters to help block unwanted e-mail, much of which contains dangerous attachments. For information on how to do this with Outlook, see Update junk e-mail filters for Outlook.

Garage Sale Madness -- even the tow truck driver was doing a good business on the double parked cars!

Fighting mediocrity

Do you ever find yourself mired in the mediocrity of life? I was driving around the other day in my vehicle and looked around the insides. When did all these stains on the floor mats happen? Shouldn't the vehicle get vacuumed out once every lifetime? Why did I let my backyard get to looking so sad? What about my appearance? My wardrobe? My daily dress? My relationship? My job? Have I slipped into a happy complacency going through my life settling for a continued decline in everything around me?

Fighting mediocrity is very difficult, since we are surrounded by increasing levels of mediocrity on TV, newspapers, magazines and movies. It affects not only our daily little lives, but on a broader scale; culture, politics and arts, and science. Yet, hope looms eternal. As I survey my surroundings I feel a renewed commitment to raising the bar on my existence. We must constantly strive to be better humans, push ourselves farther and fight this complacent existence. Push away the fog and fight through the tired feelings.
Renew your commitment to being better in whatever way is important to you!

There's no Aloha in Los Angeles

"Aloha" is more than a word of greeting or farewell or a salutation. "Aloha" means mutual regard and affection and extends warmth through caring with no obligation in return. There is NO ALOHA in Los Angeles, believe me! I notice this because I've spent a lot of time in the great state of Hawaii over the past decade and have had the pleasure of visiting there probably 5 weeks in the last 2 years. What a fortunate person I am.

Did you know that Aloha is a law in Hawaii? It should be law in every state of the union. Road rage is an ever increasing scourge in Southern California & who can blame us? I used to spend 4 - 5 hours a day on the freeway commuting from my home to my job and back. This was 10 years ago. I remember once sitting at the 10/57 interchange pounding my fist against the steering wheel in frustration and screaming. And even though some of you would beg to differ, I am not that different than your average SoCal commuter.

The latest April 2005 census shows that in a ranking of large cities (with populations of 250,000 or more) the average commute time was; New York (38.3 minutes), Chicago (33.2 minutes), Newark, N.J. (31.5 minutes), Riverside, Calif. (31.2 minutes), Philadelphia (29.4 minutes), and Los Angeles (29.0 minutes). Kay, first of all, this is bullshit. Maybe if they survey someone living in West LA that's driving to work in Santa Monica, but come on, how many of those people are there? What about some poor schmuck living in Pomona driving to downtown LA everyday. He's doing about 90 minutes each way. These stupid survey's are all skewed. You can read the article here.

This is the law in Los Angeles:

1. Don't signal cause we'll just speed up 'cause we sure as hell aren't going to let you in.
2. If you're going to drive in the carpool lane, you'd better be doing over 70 mph or we're gonna run your ass over.
3. Go with the flow of traffic, if traffic is doing 20 mph, don't be an ass & do 5 mph, if its doing 80 mph you'd better be in the slow lane or we'll run up your butt.
4. Know where you're going. If you realize you are in the wrong lane and you're offramps coming, tough shit. No one is going to let you in. Maybe we would if you didn't signal...
5. Driving with headlights on during the day because you don't have running lights indicates fear. You will be taken advantage of.
6. The speed limit on the toll road is 80 to 90, you're paying to go fast. If you're driving <>

Well, there are lots more rules.......send me some comments with your California "rules"

The office is done -- now I just have to move in :-( It'll take time to get everything running again, but it sure looks good....

Before the new office is installed......

Adware, spyware and Malware

The average person's computer is infected with > 30 adware programs. This is a statistics from Network World (April 5, 2005). Do you know what adware is? What's the difference between adware and spyware? What the hell is malware? How are you supposed to deal with all this crap on the computer and who really cares anyways?

adware:
(n.) (1) A form of spyware that collects information about the user in order to display advertisements in the Web browser based on the information it collects from the user's browsing patterns. Similar to spyware but it has legitimate purposes, for example, the ads on weather underground allow the provider to offer the service free to web surfers. All adware is not necessarily malicious nor is all adware innocent.
Unfortunately, some freeware applications which contain adware do track your surfing habits in order to serve ads related to you. When the adware becomes intrusive like this, then we move it in the spyware category and it then becomes something you should avoid for privacy and security reasons. Due to its invasive nature, spyware has really given adware a bad name as many people do not know the differences between the two, or use the the terms interchangeably.
spyware:
(n.) Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user's Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet; however, it should be noted that the majority of shareware and freeware applications do not come with spyware. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about e-mail addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers.
malware:
(mal´wãr) (n.) Short for malicious software, software designed specifically to damage or disrupt a system, such as a virus or a Trojan horse.
phishing:
(fish´ing) (n.) The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card #'s, social security & bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has.
Phishing, also referred to as brand spoofing or carding, is a variation on “fishing,” the idea being that bait is thrown out with the hopes that while most will ignore the bait, some will be tempted into biting.

Walter's Camera Shop

Every day can bring growth, warmth and friendship into our lives - we just have to be open to it. In Los Angeles we are normally so caught up in our hurried lives that momentary acts of kindness or humanity don't exist and are even frowned upon. We are too busy to be nice, right? Wrong. I've just come back from a week on Kauai and I still have that Aloha spirit. Aloha means more than hello and goodbye, it represents an attitude.

So off I hurry to Walter's Camera Shop to have the battery cover replaced on my digital camera. Funny thing is that I ordered a new battery cover from Kodak because I was going to put it on myself. I'm an engineer, how hard can it be? Well, 4 tiny screwdrivers, a magnifying glass and some time later I decided I had no idea how to take the old one off.

I found Walter's on the internet. I met the nicest guy, the owner, Walter you'd think, right? Nah, his name is Sayed and he's from Egypt. He's been fixing cameras since 1952 & has a Master's in Political Science from Alexandria University. We had a rousing discussion on the price of gas and the power of OPEC as he did his thesis on Global Economy & its future relation to oil in Middle Eastern Countries. I thought that was fairly progressive for 1951. I won't go into all the details of our discussion but suffice it to say, it was interesting and he is definitely Anti-bush. Another interesting comment he made was the lack of political protests in America now, a cowed media and a "grin and bare it" attitude among America's citizens. I have to admit, I have to agree with him.

My camera repair was $5.

The new gutters are here! Now I dread not getting them in copper :-( They will be painted in a couple weeks, the same color as the house, which doesn't show up well on the pictures on the blog for some reason. But the 1/2 moon style and round down spots keep with the 1920's architecture of the home.

Eating our way through the North Shore

The north shore of Kauai continues to improve dramatically in its food selection and quality. We ate at many fine restaurants in Hanalei Bay and Princeville and wanted to share my report.

Postcards **** $$$$
-- a fairly recent edition to Hanalei Bay - exquisite vegetarian & seafood selection
-- wine and beer only, great service
-- Our favorite high end restaurant in the area

Hanalei Gourmet **** $$ - $$$
-- wonderful selection and excellent quality, certainly not "high end" but definitely great food!
-- Best mai tai's in my opinion on this side of the island

Bamboo Bamboo *** $$$$
-- Their Mai Tai's are a 2 on a scale of 10
-- The food is good, lots of variety, not exceptional, but good.
-- Service was great.

Bubba's hamburgers ** $
-- if you need a hamburger, maybe Hanalei Gourmet is the place to get it.
-- undercooked as usual, I've tried several times
-- I like my fries well done, there's were marginal cooked at all
-- service is not really their top priority
-- But if you need a burger and a Coke, this is the joint I suppose

Sabella's - Princeville * $$$$
-- Mai Tai's were a 5/10
-- Food was the worst I've ever had, over priced, nothing special, they have no clue what "piccatta" means and it's an Italian joint.
-- Size of the filet was a joke, especially at the price.
-- Bottom line, you want good food at a great price, try somewhere else
-- Island rumor has it the chef quit a few months ago and it's been downhill ever since.

Sushi Blues *** $$$
-- Wasn't there this trip but went last trip, remember the food was good, can't remember the Mai Tai's - perhaps that's a sign
-- Always live music so its a happening joint

Zelo's Beach House *** $$$
-- Mai Tai's a little sweet, fresh juice though -- 7/10
-- Suggest upgrading to the Iniki Mai Tai - basically a souped up version of the above.
-- The food is good

Wake up Cafe **** $
-- Best breakfast place in Hanalei - 'nuff said
-- Make sure to try the Portuguese Sweet bread cinnamon roll!

Learning to relax is an art

I truly believe that living in the US of A has caused me to forget how to relax. Americans take less vacations than any other country in the world. As I wake up each morning in the lush, tropical paradise that Kauai is, my mind tells my body, "jump up and do something!" My mind whirls with things to do, I must do SOMETHING, shouldn't I? No actually, I don't.

We must relearn how to relax. We must relearn how to lounge about, take life less seriously, stress about less things and stop to smell the papaya occassionally. Check out any of the links I've referenced for this blog and see what I'm talking about. Americans are being robbed of their right to proper holidays. It's important that we recharge. Wouldn't we be more productive if we did that? Something to think about.

Well, got to go, I hear my snorkel gear calling me.

Motivation in Hanalei Bay

Well, here I am in beautiful, idyllic Kauai - in Hanalei Bay wondering why I wake up each morning with absolutely no desire to do anything. All my motivation is gone. Dena says its because I'm on vacation and that's the way it's supposed to be. No wonder people get nothing done on the islands. When I go to Honolulu to work I have to plan extra days, about 50% more than normal to combat this island work mentality. As a mainlander it frustrates me, but spending any time here one comes to appreciate that kind of attitude.

I think today Dena and I are going shopping at a local craft fair in Kapa'a and then off to Poipu state beach for swimming and snorkeling. Maybe - sometimes we get sidetracked. Anyone that knows me, knows I have to have a plan. It's hard to have a plan in Hawaii. You just sort of hang loose and go with the flow and whatever happens, happens.

In a couple days I'll write about "eating our way through the north shore". A comprehensive restaurant review.

My kingdom for a screw

You know, you can never find the right screw when you need it. Today was just another sunny, beautiful day in Los Angeles, Dawn out searching for that one perfect screw. Mostly I find myself looking on the weekends but today I found myself in a weekday need. A quandry if you will. Could I find it and did I already have it? You see, you don't want to spend your time "shopping" for a screw if you've already got it the perfect one at home.

Some screws are a matter of taste, others are a matter of need. There are all types of screws after all; big, small, long, short, wide, skinny, pointy and blunt. Sometimes you need a special, one of a kind screw, but even if my need is a little unique - I can always find it somewhere. This is LA after all - you just need to know where to look. You can find ANYTHING in LA.

Today's need was a 2" flat topped #8 machine screw which I just didn't have. I have a garage full of screws, individually sorted into parts drawers and labelled. You'd think I'd have such a common screw. You did know I was talking about hardware didn't you?

Dena learns all about cement and gets her slippers dirty doing home improvement. What will she come up with next? Of course I had to do all the hard work mixing the cement and carrying the 60 lbs bags...... Here she is filling a tiny hole with 120 lbs of cement, one cupful at a time. Talk about patience.

Off comes the tile roof

Too busy to blog?

Am I really that busy that I can't blog? I'm feeling run down, overwhelmed and just plain out of time. When you feel like this you have to prioritize, right? And blogging tends to be at the bottom of the list. However, years ago (yeah right.....) when I was in therapy, all therapists usually tell you to journal. Dawn, you have to journal, explore your thoughts, blah, blah, blah.

Perhaps blogging is therapeutic to my pysche, perhaps it calms me, lets me dump random and/or obsessive thoughts onto the internet thus clearing my mind for more focused work, that is after all why I started it in the first place.

Well, since blogging is obviously good for me, I'd better continue. Let's see then, eating salads, drinking more water, eating more protein, eating before 6pm, exercising, etc, etc, etc, are all good for me. Do you think life is all about balance? Do we struggle our whole lives trying to find peace and harmony between our ying and yang? Is balance about happiness? Ah, the thoughts that plague the idle mind!!! BACK TO WORK!

Googlewhack

Dena & I had the good fortune to see Dave Gorman's googlewhack adventure Saturday night at the UCLA playhouse. What an amazingly hilarious story told by an exceptional storyteller. We were rolling in the aisles and the best part was, it was all true! They say truth is stranger than fiction and they are right! He is done with his run in Los Angeles I'm sorry to say, however, his book is available on his website and on Amazon . Apparently he is getting a 3 month run in New York, so if you get a chance to see him, I highly recommend it. Worth every single penny of admission. I cannot reveal details of his story or his adventure, cause well, he swore me to secrecy.

For those of you unaware of what a googlewhack is, its a game played on google. It is the challenge of entering two words into a google search that turn up one and one hit only. Google is the arbiter of a whack's uniqueness. Look to the right end of the blue bar atop your Google results. If you see "Results 1 - 1 of (any number),' you found exactly one hit = Googlewhack! There are many other rules, the single most important being that you cannot use quotation marks. For example, rabbits eggheadedness is a googlewhack. Try it yourself! To learn more about the rules and other whacks, check out the googlewhack webpage.

The animals are guilty

The infamous gang rape trial in Orange County, California is hopefully over, for good, although the appeal has been filed already. The 3 animals will be sentenced soon and we can stop hearing about their escapades and the blame put on the victim. See the story in the SF Chronicle . This was a brutal gang rape of a defenseless, albeit drunk, young woman by three teenage boys using their penises and then when they tired of that, other objects. The morons videotaped the events providing the key point of evidence for the prosecution. 22 minutes of it. I cannot imagine being a juror and having to watch that.

What's amazing to me is that it took 2 trials to get to this point. In both trials the young woman was presented as promiscuous and her character assassinated through out the trial. She must be a strong person to put up with such abuse. Why can't she sue for defamation of character? Why couldn't she sue the defense attorney's for saying all that stuff? Was she really the school slut? We all know that in school their are rumors and that teenagers blow this stuff out of proportion. And where are their parents? Not only the girls, but the boys? After all, this did happen one evening in the boys garage.

The American justice system seems slanted towards the rich, famous and influential. Case in point, Kobe Bryant, OJ Simpson, Michael Jackson, and by the way, one of the boys in the above case was the son of OC ex - sherriff. Money baby, that's what it takes in the USA, money!

Dawn's rain gauge for Thursday's torrential rain. 1.6 inches in a matter of a few hours. A rock & rollin' storm with Dena, that's right folks, Dena out in my pink booties on sump pump duty!