I used to provide tech support for smartphones and wireless 3G for a major cellphone company. They were good to work for, at first. Later I went to a shop and found out the store manager was screwing some of the female employees under threat of firing them if they didn't put out and I really objected when they fired a woman who'd just had a miscarriage and was unconscious in the hospital (she nearly DIED) so didn't call in according to policy. Yeah, not okay. Criminal, actionable in a court of law. Lesbian attack lawyers would have a field day with that. Ahem. Anyway, I had lots of customers who wanted a Convergence Device kinda smart phone, but Palm smartphones were cranky about signal changes and would lock up. Half the time a reboot would erase your data. It wasn't supposed to, but it did. And once in a while that reboot would corrupt a critical OS file, killing the phone for good. I can't tell you how many times that happened. No, I can't. NDAs.
So would MS phone OS. Any tower change while you were driving and it stopped working entirely. They tried and tried, but the hardware didn't know how to handle the exceptions and for SOME reason the OS programmers just couldn't be arsed to fix it, in any OS you cared to name. I think MS was less stable than Palm, at that time. They're better now, but I am quite hesitant to spend any of my own money buying something so unreliable.
I think this was the start of the cellphone tech crash and provided impetus to shift attention to the iPhone, which was more reliable but not perfect either (antenna? Covered by your hand? REALLY??). They're also very expensive. And most of the apps are just toys to show your friends around the water cooler or at a bar.
Of all the smart phones, the Blackberry, reviled for its lack of a camera, was the most secure, best sound quality, and more reliable as both a phone and email platform. Naturally, this is why they're in trouble. The govt uses them for their high encryption and govt phones aren't allowed to have cameras to prevent pictures of secure installations. If you need to text and it needs to be secure, that's the best platform.
Of course, few people need secure text. If you need security, there are lots of VPN logins or HTTPS sites for secure company bulletin boards and documents. You don't need to spend hundreds a month on a phone. That's just a convenience, a tether. And really, do you want the Bondage Implications of a smart phone or laptop, showing the world you are not free? They Do have their uses for families though. Texting is a discreet way to let Mom know where you're going after school and when you'll be home. They're great for shopping lists. Most smartphones today will either stream Pandora or other music services or contain an MP3 player program inside anyway. The thing is, do you want to wear down your battery streaming music? You could just carry an MP3 player designed for it that uses a fraction of the battery and a separate phone so you don't miss calls. Each are cheaper and more efficient, even though they're two devices.
That's the big problem with convergence devices. Individual devices often do it better and more efficiently and they don't all die at the same instant when your rechargeable cellphone battery, whittled down by use to half its lifespan a few months after purchase, must be bought again for $30-60? A proper GPS is waterproof. A cellphone is not. A good MP3 player isn't locked from your real music collection and holds way more than a cellphone does. A tablet has a bigger screen and will access any open WiFi, no monthly fee, no data charges. Cellphones are EXPENSIVE for their apparent convenience. I wasn't allowed to tell my customers that when I was fixing their issues or recommending bigger plans to protect from overage fees. It was the early days of working smartphones, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. They're better now, but still quite expensive. For a family they make sense. For a single with lots of friends, they're probably okay. For any serious use? They're just too limited and too fragile.
What I would like to see in a cellphone is a waterproof tablet with a full OS, complete with virus scanner and support for all websites, scalable data and automated billing so you go from 4G to WiMax to WiFi as soon as you come into range for each. That's more efficient and cheaper all around. I think someday we'll have gutted down the cost on those cellphone companies through local competition by City Wifi and county WiMax (Clearwire) that cellphones will mostly get used on the highways rather than in town. If you have a convergence device with the gellied thermite battery and 4-deep solar PV coating with diamond over the top for scratch resistance and waterproof to 10 feet, you're set. Just having it out in the sunlight would generate enough power to run it. Use the 7 inch display format for the small rectangular tablet and bigger 10 inch for schoolwork and work-work, you've got it covered as a ubiquitous device. I suspect this is what MS is heading towards with Windows 8. It is supposed to be the same interface, regardless of device type and its light enough to run on limited hardware.
So we're getting there. The Dumb side of smart phones is going to eventually get better and I can give it another look.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Upside of Small Towns
In October I moved from the suburbs of San Francisco to a small mining town in the Sierra Gold Country, right on Highway 49, itself named for how it winds between the Gold Mining boom-towns and ghost towns. Donner Pass is about 45 minutes away, up Highway 20, and Reno is 90 minutes away to the East over that pass and down the far side into the northern Mojave Desert. Most people up here drive down towards Sacramento for shopping or work if they can't find it locally. I used to live here with my retired parents, working at the local County offices as a professional cartographer. It wasn't exactly what I was trained for in college, but it was one of the skills I learned there.
Here in the Gold Country, it is pines and mesquite and chapparal. The climate is ideal for deer, which is also ideal for cougars and coyotes, so we have those here. Barely 20 miles to the west is the wide and flat Sacramento Valley, with its swollen rivers, levees, and the rice fields of Marysville and Yuba City. We can see them on a clear day, down the mountain, backed by the jagged Sutter Buttes.
The foothills are conveniently populated where the gold is/was. When the mines closed, most of the miners children stayed here. The money was good enough to justify converting the original tents and shacks, favelas really, into Victorians and upscale mountain cabins. When the Baby Boomers found those pretty and started buying them to retire in, schools got better, streets were paved, and some high tech industries arrived. So there were upscale jobs. Not to say the mines should have stayed closed. There's still $6B in the ground beneath my feet, literally beneath my feet, since the hard rock mines underlay every home down to 11,000 feet.
It is also fortunate that the gold happened to occur below the snow line of 3,000 feet since above that line means tire chains, studded tires, unreliable power, generators, big pantries of food, shivering cold, splitting cords of wood by hand, ash cans, 4WD, continuously dirty cars, mud, and no emergency services. Down here, a mere 500 feet lower, it's sunny and warm and while we do get blizzards, they melt within days. That's the sort of living you want. If you want expensive adventure, live above the Snow Line. Locals know this. We always ask when meeting someone new. It explains a great deal. It provides context and reasons for empathy.The locals here all know each other. They've been through the same things and the shared eyerolls are amusing.
This weather advantage of this sub-snow elevation means you can do business during the winter, like anywhere else. You can commute to a job in town, run a small business, pickup your kids from school or let them walk home with friends, do your grocery shopping. It has good schools and a college. It has low crime. It is largely white. It's what America used to be before it got lost in racial guilt and stopped treating people fairly based on ability rather than excuses for skin color. Before we allowed those in charge to take advantage of us.
Where I live is what people like me want from their community. It isn't completely perfect, thanks to the "homeless" druggies wandering around, and it could use more jobs so the people who want to work here could, for more than minimum wage. The end of the Dollar actually helps that situation. We soon won't be able to afford to import goods or replacement parts to keep those goods working. We'll have to make it here, and fix it here. And make it so it can be fixed. The good news is the Makers can do that, and are doing that without international funding, just screwing around in their garages. Thus the importance of the garage.
I'm a big fan of retasking objects and real estate so they are useful. The Hipsters are reusing old vintage motorcycles, the Standard bikes that nobody makes anymore because the motorcycle companies are still locked on the idea of competing with Harley Davidson in the USA, when people who want a Harley just buy a Harley. I am rather convinced Marketing people are lazy in that industry. Maybe they just want catering? Considering that the Suzuki TU250 is actually a good-selling standard, but there's no standard bikes in the 500-750cc displacement range for actual grown ups and highway commuters, Japan is really dropping the ball. It implies a great deal about their nation if they can't offer to America what they sell to the rest of the world. We make do, fixing up their bikes from 20-30 years ago, better than new. Still: "WTF, Japan?"
In a small town like this one, there's an actual Main Street, full of shops with sidewalks and awnings. There is not nearly enough parking for those shops. The street is really narrow. Sometimes people lunge out between cars without looking, expecting a driver to stop. And mostly they do, but no always. There literally isn't an alternative to allowing traffic there, and removing the parking would kill the businesses. Removing the street would kill them worse. The upside is Peak Oil will fix it. Peak Oil gets most of the irrelevant traffic off the roads, and gets the vehicle sizes down. It is already increasing the bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles on the road. The more of them on the road, the more drivers see them, meaning fewer accidents. Someday all the roads will be crawling with 2-wheeled vehicles. And That Guy(tm) really wants a TukTuk for his daily commute in Hillsborough (Portland suburb) because it is tippy and absurdly underpower and loud, thus a hilarious mode of transportation. And sometimes you need absurd.
True, its warm and dry here every afternoon, nicer than the Sacramento Valley because we don't have fog while they do. We're up above the Tule Fog. This means that in places where there's good topsoil and access to irrigation water, you can also grow crops here. It costs more than in the Valley, but it can be done. Someday it will be. There's plenty of orchards, but not enough, not like they would have in China, for instance.
And people do have agriculture here. Even if your local soil is crap, or contaminated, it can be fixed. There are types of plant which extract heavy metals. Once its clean, you build it up to what you want with the right balance of clay, silt, and sand, then add sources of humus to enrich the basic nutrients. From nothing to excellent is about 4-5 years. It can be labor intensive. But it can be done. The Polderlands in the Netherlands, where they grow tulips below sea level behind dikes holding back the sea, is entirely man made soil, using manure and wheelbarrows and careful and attentive conservation for the last 450 years. It is the best and most fertile soil on Earth. Utterly man-made and organic because that was the only way to do it back then. So yes, we can make soil wherever.
Rather than go to space, just look at your abandoned landscapes and ask: "could this be turned into farmland? What needs to be done?" Most of that starts with water. Which they have here. Bring water to the desert and you can grow food, which leads to housing and schools and boomtowns and real estate agents, who are the great Agents of Change in The West.
For now, this is a real estate haven for retiring Baby Boomers abandoning the racial violence and crime of the Bay Area and settling down in a place where nice people will push your car out of the snow drifts with a smile and a wave, and the big news is who won the spelling bee. The big social event is the emergency services fund raiser at the local Fairgrounds. Around here, people in traffic wave to people on the sidewalk because they're friends they grew up with, known since Kindergarten. That's how awesome this community is.There are still troubles here, like druggies, and druggies burglarizing homes but muggings are unheard of, rapes don't seem to happen though cougars tend to get their lovers and themselves killed by their angry husbands. Other than that its just drunk/medicated driving incidents and the power going out when one of those hits a power pole. The crime blotter is rather unimpressive compared to the "peaceful" Bay Area town I last lived in. I witnessed or heard 4 murders while I was there for the prior 8 years. That's a murder every couple years. Since the economy went south, the murder and suicide rate went up. I wonder if those people didn't realize they would LEAVE the Bay Area and start over somewhere smarter? Somewhere like this.
Here in the Gold Country, it is pines and mesquite and chapparal. The climate is ideal for deer, which is also ideal for cougars and coyotes, so we have those here. Barely 20 miles to the west is the wide and flat Sacramento Valley, with its swollen rivers, levees, and the rice fields of Marysville and Yuba City. We can see them on a clear day, down the mountain, backed by the jagged Sutter Buttes.
The foothills are conveniently populated where the gold is/was. When the mines closed, most of the miners children stayed here. The money was good enough to justify converting the original tents and shacks, favelas really, into Victorians and upscale mountain cabins. When the Baby Boomers found those pretty and started buying them to retire in, schools got better, streets were paved, and some high tech industries arrived. So there were upscale jobs. Not to say the mines should have stayed closed. There's still $6B in the ground beneath my feet, literally beneath my feet, since the hard rock mines underlay every home down to 11,000 feet.
It is also fortunate that the gold happened to occur below the snow line of 3,000 feet since above that line means tire chains, studded tires, unreliable power, generators, big pantries of food, shivering cold, splitting cords of wood by hand, ash cans, 4WD, continuously dirty cars, mud, and no emergency services. Down here, a mere 500 feet lower, it's sunny and warm and while we do get blizzards, they melt within days. That's the sort of living you want. If you want expensive adventure, live above the Snow Line. Locals know this. We always ask when meeting someone new. It explains a great deal. It provides context and reasons for empathy.The locals here all know each other. They've been through the same things and the shared eyerolls are amusing.
This weather advantage of this sub-snow elevation means you can do business during the winter, like anywhere else. You can commute to a job in town, run a small business, pickup your kids from school or let them walk home with friends, do your grocery shopping. It has good schools and a college. It has low crime. It is largely white. It's what America used to be before it got lost in racial guilt and stopped treating people fairly based on ability rather than excuses for skin color. Before we allowed those in charge to take advantage of us.
Where I live is what people like me want from their community. It isn't completely perfect, thanks to the "homeless" druggies wandering around, and it could use more jobs so the people who want to work here could, for more than minimum wage. The end of the Dollar actually helps that situation. We soon won't be able to afford to import goods or replacement parts to keep those goods working. We'll have to make it here, and fix it here. And make it so it can be fixed. The good news is the Makers can do that, and are doing that without international funding, just screwing around in their garages. Thus the importance of the garage.
I'm a big fan of retasking objects and real estate so they are useful. The Hipsters are reusing old vintage motorcycles, the Standard bikes that nobody makes anymore because the motorcycle companies are still locked on the idea of competing with Harley Davidson in the USA, when people who want a Harley just buy a Harley. I am rather convinced Marketing people are lazy in that industry. Maybe they just want catering? Considering that the Suzuki TU250 is actually a good-selling standard, but there's no standard bikes in the 500-750cc displacement range for actual grown ups and highway commuters, Japan is really dropping the ball. It implies a great deal about their nation if they can't offer to America what they sell to the rest of the world. We make do, fixing up their bikes from 20-30 years ago, better than new. Still: "WTF, Japan?"
In a small town like this one, there's an actual Main Street, full of shops with sidewalks and awnings. There is not nearly enough parking for those shops. The street is really narrow. Sometimes people lunge out between cars without looking, expecting a driver to stop. And mostly they do, but no always. There literally isn't an alternative to allowing traffic there, and removing the parking would kill the businesses. Removing the street would kill them worse. The upside is Peak Oil will fix it. Peak Oil gets most of the irrelevant traffic off the roads, and gets the vehicle sizes down. It is already increasing the bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles on the road. The more of them on the road, the more drivers see them, meaning fewer accidents. Someday all the roads will be crawling with 2-wheeled vehicles. And That Guy(tm) really wants a TukTuk for his daily commute in Hillsborough (Portland suburb) because it is tippy and absurdly underpower and loud, thus a hilarious mode of transportation. And sometimes you need absurd.
True, its warm and dry here every afternoon, nicer than the Sacramento Valley because we don't have fog while they do. We're up above the Tule Fog. This means that in places where there's good topsoil and access to irrigation water, you can also grow crops here. It costs more than in the Valley, but it can be done. Someday it will be. There's plenty of orchards, but not enough, not like they would have in China, for instance.
And people do have agriculture here. Even if your local soil is crap, or contaminated, it can be fixed. There are types of plant which extract heavy metals. Once its clean, you build it up to what you want with the right balance of clay, silt, and sand, then add sources of humus to enrich the basic nutrients. From nothing to excellent is about 4-5 years. It can be labor intensive. But it can be done. The Polderlands in the Netherlands, where they grow tulips below sea level behind dikes holding back the sea, is entirely man made soil, using manure and wheelbarrows and careful and attentive conservation for the last 450 years. It is the best and most fertile soil on Earth. Utterly man-made and organic because that was the only way to do it back then. So yes, we can make soil wherever.
Rather than go to space, just look at your abandoned landscapes and ask: "could this be turned into farmland? What needs to be done?" Most of that starts with water. Which they have here. Bring water to the desert and you can grow food, which leads to housing and schools and boomtowns and real estate agents, who are the great Agents of Change in The West.
For now, this is a real estate haven for retiring Baby Boomers abandoning the racial violence and crime of the Bay Area and settling down in a place where nice people will push your car out of the snow drifts with a smile and a wave, and the big news is who won the spelling bee. The big social event is the emergency services fund raiser at the local Fairgrounds. Around here, people in traffic wave to people on the sidewalk because they're friends they grew up with, known since Kindergarten. That's how awesome this community is.There are still troubles here, like druggies, and druggies burglarizing homes but muggings are unheard of, rapes don't seem to happen though cougars tend to get their lovers and themselves killed by their angry husbands. Other than that its just drunk/medicated driving incidents and the power going out when one of those hits a power pole. The crime blotter is rather unimpressive compared to the "peaceful" Bay Area town I last lived in. I witnessed or heard 4 murders while I was there for the prior 8 years. That's a murder every couple years. Since the economy went south, the murder and suicide rate went up. I wonder if those people didn't realize they would LEAVE the Bay Area and start over somewhere smarter? Somewhere like this.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
ANIME: Haganai
Anime sometimes produces really great shows. Haganai is one of them. It means "Neighbors club". Its a club for school weirdos who want to learn how normal people are friends together, without actually being friends themselves, because they're a club about being friends. Like it was research. I can say that its sort of a gender-flipped Genshiken, in a high school instead of a college. Genshiken is more specific, but both are about non-conformist types trying to find friendship in a world that won't accept them as they are. A lot of people feel that way. In America, its okay to be weird. In Japan, its a death sentence. Maybe literally. I suspect, from the anime about feeling isolated, that Japan has a major problem with isolation in its youth. They certainly lack job opportunities or growth industries. Its a dead zone, economically, in full collapse, steady state in the high points but no jobs for everybody else. Very sad.
I like Haganai for several reasons.
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| Haganai Club Members Photo |
I like Haganai for several reasons.
- The little sister is one of the best and most believable younger siblings ever. I think she's at least as good and possibly better than Kyon's little sister in Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. She is ten and obsessed with a TV vampire anime series to the point she dresses like a goth lolita and wears a red contact lens in one eye. The hero is her guardian and caregiver, doing all the household things himself so she can be safe and happy and comfort her during her childhood meltdowns.
- The main character really is a decent guy, acting as his sister's guardian, taking care of her, cooking their meals to the point he's actually fairly serious about cookware and nutrition. I know that feeling. He's very responsible about it all too, unlike his parents who are very much absentee. The harem around him? Unwanted. He was strong-armed into the place and he stays out of curiosity and hope that eventually the social skills he learns will reverse the terrible decline in his reputation as a brutal thug because he has blond hair. It's Japan. Japan does Not Make Sense.
- The blonde rich girl (Sena) is growing on me. She's offensively obnoxious, but ridiculously thin skinned to teasing. She has blonde hair and huge tits and is good at everything. She's nice when she isn't bragging about herself. And her appeal just keeps growing. She despises people worshiping her just because she's pretty and talented, so she joined the club to find out what a real friend is like. Which is why Yozora constantly teases her. Her father (the school Dean) and the Hero's father are school friends and drinking buddies. Both are nudging the two of them together romantically. She has a tendency to play dating simulations, forgetting the character she is playing is MALE.
- The brunette girl (Yozora) with the dark impulse to attack all women around her is transparent in her goal to protect her turf (him) from poaching by all the competition. Her jealousy is a defining control over her impulsive behavior. The other women are clueless. Her history with the hero is intriguing, as a past, but she is presently an uberbitch, very much on purpose, because she enjoys the power of manipulating people. She is a quieter Tsundere. She's also the driving power behind the club's formation and activities.
- The trap has a secret. One we don't learn until second season. And he's hilarious. He wants to be a proper samurai so picks the hero to serve as his lord, a man who is clearly intimidating and revered by all the students. He calls the Hero Aniki, which is how Yakuza refer to each other. In his way, it makes sense. Its just how he expresses it... in a skirt and maid uniform. Yozora explained that a proper man is masculine no matter what he's wearing. But the trap is uber-feminine to the point that his changing clothes makes the other boys flee the room. So wearing the girly clothes just makes him look more like a girl. There's all kinds of wrong with that.
- The little girl nun is nearly as funny as the hero's little sister. My friend That Guy(tm) said he would watch a show about their battles together. As little sisters go they really are funny. She's tested out of school at 10, is technically a teacher, but says "poop! Poopy poop!" in her tiny nun outfit when she's flustered, and mostly eats potato chips till the hero feeds her real food and instantly becomes her older brother. This sparks a war between her and his real sister, who attends club to keep an eye on him.
- The nun's older sister, also a nun, is too sexy and sexualized to be anything religious other than a priestess of Isis (goddess of sex). We only see her in the second season and she's a female version of the hero, only her relationship with the younger isn't quite as smooth.
- The Spark girl, who is a proper inventor Hikikomori genius, joins the club to flirt outrageously with both genders, mostly to get a rise out of people. She's so uncomfortable with others she hides behind oversexualizing everyone. She's cute when she isn't pissing people off, but she pisses people off most of the time.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Small Cars and The Hourly Cost of Your Commute
Many people absolutely refuse to consider life on two wheels. Many of my readers here area already into bicycles or motorcycles. Some of my readers want to know what the 4-wheel options are, post oil. The obvious ones are either all electric recharging from the grid or solar array or alternative fuel you have neighborhood or personal access to when rationing finally kicks in. And with Iran's announcement of making weapons grade Plutonium in quantity yesterday, we really need to imagine life with mushroom clouds over the Middle Eastern OPEC oil fields. And soon. We may find our oil is radioactive and unusable. "If we can't have it, nobody can." It WOULD force us out of the Middle East. Considering all the Iranian engineers I've met were wicked smart, this is a very plausible scenario. Iran is almost out of oil itself, and they want to sell natural gas to India, but the USA has blown up their pipeline into Afghanistan and paid off Pakistan to make sure it isn't redirected there and leaned on the -istans to ensure Iran is blocked off completely. They're desperate. Annihilation, anyone? So yeah, each of us needs to think very seriously about a Plan B for getting to work without gasoline. In the meantime, gasoline is $4.10/gal here in California as of Sunday, according to the rumor I heard at the grocery store. And we really should count on the Federal Govt on jacking up gasoline taxes to pay for social programs which always benefit other people. I see a lot of Geo Metros on the highway during commute hours.
So what's a Geo Metro go for in running condition? In very good condition its around $1200-1300 and has 160K miles on it. That's a lot but this is a car last built in 1997. Its got a 3 cylinder engine from the Triumph motorcycle, pattern built by Suzuki motor company in Japan, then assembled in the USA. The fact that they're STILL RUNNING indicates that this is a reliable car. Change your oil, use the clutch properly (its manual only in most cases) and you'll enjoy around 45 mpg on your commute. This is the same as Prius claims to get, for 6% of the cost. Can you say: "duh?"
Speaking of Prius: the engine in the Prius is actually interesting, mechanically. It uses a special cycle to reduce engine friction and increase torque mechanically. This would provide a light car like the Metro, for instance, with a torque-rich engine for better accelleration at stoplights and up highway onramps and climbing hills. It would make Toyota's very small cars get much better gas mileage than the Prius for less money and weight because they would have no batteries weighing them down. This is precisely why Toyota doesn't put that engine in any other car. It would make the Prius look stupid, I expect. Of course, I don't actually HAVE one of these engines to play with to prove that, but I keep hoping someone will pull the engine from a wreck and put it into a go-kart or and old Honda CRX and find out its fast.
My dad keeps talking about wanting a Smart 4Two. Those are around $13K used, with 12K miles on them, always very high revs. I worry any one of them he buys will have no rings and maybe even broken engine that we won't detect till later, so I want to price out a replacement engine. We saw a Scion iQ in the local supermarket parking lot after eating breakfast at IHOP. The iQ is very small. Its $16K new and 36 mpg due to the fact its only 2140 pounds. This is my idea of a light car. And Ultralight car is 900 pounds, but people aren't ready for that. This is a good middle step.
I think Dad is picturing driving the Smart something like the above with the Hayabusa motorcycle engine and the twin turbo chargers. Somehow I think the fuel economy with that might not be as good. Insurance might be a little higher too. According to the forums, the parts are all in Europe, not here, so you have to wait weeks for them to ship. Uh huh. This sounds like the Buddy Scooter, only with 2 more wheels.
Ford is releasing its 3-cylinder 1.0 Liter diesel in the USA soon. They've been running it in the EU for years now. Provided it will run properly on biodiesel without the lame color sensing lights they put into VW diesel engines that shuts them down if you run red farm diesel. Ford has a slightly bigger engine for their diesel Fiesta, a 1.4 L that's 94 HP. Not bad.
Of course, the vehicle I want up here is the Subaru AWD diesel with tow capacity so I can get a small trailer behind it for building materials or living in if need be. Naturally, Subaru only sells it everywhere else. They say the US market is saturated, which really means they have nobody competent doing any market research here. So maybe Mazda will get my money instead?
The engine sounds like it would be good. What about the cars? I don't need an SUV. Its just me, here. Show me a coupe or a subcompact or even an Rally-Sport-equivalent and I'll be interested. Considering the blizzard Tuesday, AWD is appreciated. It does help. Not perfect, but it helps. The rest of the time a bicycle or scooter or small displacement motorcycle works just fine up here.
Used Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla are common, though slightly expensive due to the fact they are easy to repair and lots of mechanics service them. If you've got a Honda or Toyota? Keep it running. That's usually cheaper than buying something else, no matter the fuel economy. You can also look into Hypermiling, but that's never as efficient as shortening your commute. Either live closer to work or work closer to home. Deal with the other costs.
What are the other costs? Simple math here. How long is your commute? What is your fuel economy? How many gallons of fuel a day? Divide the daily fuel cost by the 8 hour work day and that's how much of your wages goes to fuel.
With my 1.93 mile commute, gasoline lasts a long time for me, so I can absorb a high fuel price and still drive. Compare my lower wages than down in the Valley and a 60 mile (each way) commute to Sacramento or Roseville against the cost of the lost time and the $4.10/gal gasoline and I'm doing okay. Driving there in my current car would cost me 4-5 gallons per day. That's $20/day in fuel costs, at current prices. Divide by 8.0 hours of labor and you're looking at $2.50/hr in fuel cost, every day. That's how much of your wages you're writing off, just to fuel for that 120 mile per day drive. And that's with good fuel economy. With my 2 mile commute, 4 miles a day, and 21 mpg due to low speeds, my daily commute costs me 9.5 cents per hour.
With your typical SUV getting only 17 mpg? A 60 mile commute is 7.0 gal/day. $28.25/day in fuel costs at $4.00/gal. Which works out to $3.53/hr. of your wages going to fuel, each day. How long can you afford to work with that kind of commute and fuel economy? Can your boss give you a raise just because the fuel cost went up? No? His costs are rising too? No kidding. How long before you must find other solutions? When should you start thinking about them? Isn't now a good time for that?
So what's a Geo Metro go for in running condition? In very good condition its around $1200-1300 and has 160K miles on it. That's a lot but this is a car last built in 1997. Its got a 3 cylinder engine from the Triumph motorcycle, pattern built by Suzuki motor company in Japan, then assembled in the USA. The fact that they're STILL RUNNING indicates that this is a reliable car. Change your oil, use the clutch properly (its manual only in most cases) and you'll enjoy around 45 mpg on your commute. This is the same as Prius claims to get, for 6% of the cost. Can you say: "duh?"
Speaking of Prius: the engine in the Prius is actually interesting, mechanically. It uses a special cycle to reduce engine friction and increase torque mechanically. This would provide a light car like the Metro, for instance, with a torque-rich engine for better accelleration at stoplights and up highway onramps and climbing hills. It would make Toyota's very small cars get much better gas mileage than the Prius for less money and weight because they would have no batteries weighing them down. This is precisely why Toyota doesn't put that engine in any other car. It would make the Prius look stupid, I expect. Of course, I don't actually HAVE one of these engines to play with to prove that, but I keep hoping someone will pull the engine from a wreck and put it into a go-kart or and old Honda CRX and find out its fast.
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| Drive it like you stole it. |
My dad keeps talking about wanting a Smart 4Two. Those are around $13K used, with 12K miles on them, always very high revs. I worry any one of them he buys will have no rings and maybe even broken engine that we won't detect till later, so I want to price out a replacement engine. We saw a Scion iQ in the local supermarket parking lot after eating breakfast at IHOP. The iQ is very small. Its $16K new and 36 mpg due to the fact its only 2140 pounds. This is my idea of a light car. And Ultralight car is 900 pounds, but people aren't ready for that. This is a good middle step.
Ford is releasing its 3-cylinder 1.0 Liter diesel in the USA soon. They've been running it in the EU for years now. Provided it will run properly on biodiesel without the lame color sensing lights they put into VW diesel engines that shuts them down if you run red farm diesel. Ford has a slightly bigger engine for their diesel Fiesta, a 1.4 L that's 94 HP. Not bad.
Of course, the vehicle I want up here is the Subaru AWD diesel with tow capacity so I can get a small trailer behind it for building materials or living in if need be. Naturally, Subaru only sells it everywhere else. They say the US market is saturated, which really means they have nobody competent doing any market research here. So maybe Mazda will get my money instead?
Used Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla are common, though slightly expensive due to the fact they are easy to repair and lots of mechanics service them. If you've got a Honda or Toyota? Keep it running. That's usually cheaper than buying something else, no matter the fuel economy. You can also look into Hypermiling, but that's never as efficient as shortening your commute. Either live closer to work or work closer to home. Deal with the other costs.
What are the other costs? Simple math here. How long is your commute? What is your fuel economy? How many gallons of fuel a day? Divide the daily fuel cost by the 8 hour work day and that's how much of your wages goes to fuel.
With my 1.93 mile commute, gasoline lasts a long time for me, so I can absorb a high fuel price and still drive. Compare my lower wages than down in the Valley and a 60 mile (each way) commute to Sacramento or Roseville against the cost of the lost time and the $4.10/gal gasoline and I'm doing okay. Driving there in my current car would cost me 4-5 gallons per day. That's $20/day in fuel costs, at current prices. Divide by 8.0 hours of labor and you're looking at $2.50/hr in fuel cost, every day. That's how much of your wages you're writing off, just to fuel for that 120 mile per day drive. And that's with good fuel economy. With my 2 mile commute, 4 miles a day, and 21 mpg due to low speeds, my daily commute costs me 9.5 cents per hour.
With your typical SUV getting only 17 mpg? A 60 mile commute is 7.0 gal/day. $28.25/day in fuel costs at $4.00/gal. Which works out to $3.53/hr. of your wages going to fuel, each day. How long can you afford to work with that kind of commute and fuel economy? Can your boss give you a raise just because the fuel cost went up? No? His costs are rising too? No kidding. How long before you must find other solutions? When should you start thinking about them? Isn't now a good time for that?
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Post Blizzard Reflection
Most of the snow from Tuesday has melted off the roads. The big chunks, the black ice, its flowed away. There's still big blankets of white on the Eastern slopes of hills, particularly under trees. Apparently, this same storm is now causing blizzards in the MidWest and expected to impact 60 million people.
The mornings are long enough to allow shower and shave, and time to cook some breakfast and enjoy the taste of coffee at sufficient length. I can even blog before work or take my time answering an email from a friend. The commute? It's averaging 6 minutes.
Work has been inventory training and familiarizing myself with the product names. We're working out their storage as well. We want to be ready to receive our products when we get them from their former location. Ready to ship. Lots of pressure. We've got weeks to be ready, but many things need to be prepared to succeed.
After work I've been watching Irresponsible Captain Tylor, followed by Nodame Cantabile. Tylor is about the genius of timing. Nodame Cantabile is about the work involved in conducting a classical symphony orchestra. It has a really broad set of examples of notable classical music. Like if you were taking a survey level course in college. And you kinda want to root for Nodame. Then again, I sort of married her American version, if Nodame were a photographer instead of a pianist. I was quite aware of their similarities while I watched it the first time.
Now that I have income, I'm finally able to think more seriously about my goals. I have to pay bills, save my emergency fund, then get enough for an apartment with utilities: all by June. And I still want the MadAss for my commute and my documentation on scooter commuting for my book. While I might manage to get a loan for that, I'd rather just buy it outright. After all, I have to pay insurance for it too, and the class to ride is nearly $300, plus I need a better fitting helmet and gloves. I can live with the jacket, I suppose. It would be better to make some adjustments so the arms fit right. Or I can buy a jacket with loud yellow colors which will reduce the odds of being creamed by some idiot texting when they should be paying attention to the road. Ahem. Anyway, I need to turn in for the night. Enjoy your Friday, everyone.
The mornings are long enough to allow shower and shave, and time to cook some breakfast and enjoy the taste of coffee at sufficient length. I can even blog before work or take my time answering an email from a friend. The commute? It's averaging 6 minutes.
Work has been inventory training and familiarizing myself with the product names. We're working out their storage as well. We want to be ready to receive our products when we get them from their former location. Ready to ship. Lots of pressure. We've got weeks to be ready, but many things need to be prepared to succeed.
After work I've been watching Irresponsible Captain Tylor, followed by Nodame Cantabile. Tylor is about the genius of timing. Nodame Cantabile is about the work involved in conducting a classical symphony orchestra. It has a really broad set of examples of notable classical music. Like if you were taking a survey level course in college. And you kinda want to root for Nodame. Then again, I sort of married her American version, if Nodame were a photographer instead of a pianist. I was quite aware of their similarities while I watched it the first time.
Now that I have income, I'm finally able to think more seriously about my goals. I have to pay bills, save my emergency fund, then get enough for an apartment with utilities: all by June. And I still want the MadAss for my commute and my documentation on scooter commuting for my book. While I might manage to get a loan for that, I'd rather just buy it outright. After all, I have to pay insurance for it too, and the class to ride is nearly $300, plus I need a better fitting helmet and gloves. I can live with the jacket, I suppose. It would be better to make some adjustments so the arms fit right. Or I can buy a jacket with loud yellow colors which will reduce the odds of being creamed by some idiot texting when they should be paying attention to the road. Ahem. Anyway, I need to turn in for the night. Enjoy your Friday, everyone.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Blizzard
The weather reports in Sacramento predicted light snow, nothing to stick, and don't worry about it. So I went to work despite snowflakes falling on my car. Because it wasn't sticking.
This isn't bad. The street is still clear. Its cute. Just a little snow.
By noon I needed to go home and there was 3 inches of snow in the parking lot, 4 inches on the street, and traffic was starting to back up. I headed home and found the main road up the hill completely blocked. So I went around, which was a mistake. That was blocked to, and I had to be pushed 4 times by a nice lady behind me in a green SUV. My car needs chains. Even then, iffy. They're far far away, down the mountain, because it wasn't supposed to snow here so I really didn't need them, right? I needed them. Big time.
It is still snowing. The blizzard is now the primary news in the mountains. I barely got home, and there were many times where I had to rock the car, then brake, then again, just to get SOME traction. I need SNOW TIRES. I'm fortunate that I did not wreck. Lots of people have. Some have just abandoned their cars and walked. Its that serious.
I would not enjoy walking through snow with my thin nylon topped hiking boots and my cotton socks. That would not be good. The local kids raised here were mostly just wearing thin sweatshirts, because the weather report said light snow, no sticking. Wrong. It doesn't help that there's a whooping cough outbreak. Thankfully I'm immunized but many kids and adults aren't.
My boss and I both called it a day. She lives downhill, at least, but getting her kids out of the school won't be fun. Sheesh. According to radar, the storm will be over in about an hour, but its going to take all day and night and probably tomorrow to melt it off. I think they'll plow the roads, at least, but then I've got to shovel off the driveway. And hope that the plow doesn't make a huge mess in the process. They have plows out now on the main roads but they aren't keeping up with the snow. Or weren't anyway. I had to use my hands to sweep the snow off the glass so I could see, and there was an inch before I finished. It also made my finger tips go numb. Another thing I needed was my gloves! Which are home. Uselessly.
California has these kinds of storms from time to time. We can have a blizzard like this in June, or as early as August. The Sierras are famous for crazy weather that comes in fast. The Pacific can bring a storm into the North Coast and its here in 4-6 hours. That's about the same duration as your average day hike, which is why experienced hikers carry serious layers in a pack with them, even in summer.
And here comes some more snow. Glad I'm home, finally. My insulin reservoir ran out and I didn't have any with me. Not emergency but getting there. Fixed right after I got home.
UPDATE: I have shoveled off my driveway and my neighbors', and both sidewalks. She bakes cookies for me. That's pretty good payment. I would have done it for cookies but she insisted on paying me with cash. So now she can go out after all, instead of being stuck in her house for the next two days. The snow is melting fast, thank goodness. I think the streets will be clear tomorrow. I'm glad because I want to keep working. Apparently, in the MidWest, which is a different country from the West where I live, it is traditional for strapping young men to shovel the driveways and sidewalks of elderly people, for free, because that's basic courtesy and respect for the elders. Here in California, you get paid for that. I was going to do it for free because my Dad would have done it for nothing because our neighbor is a nice lady. However, she is insulted if you don't take payment so there I go. Enough for a couple bottles of really good red wine. So I'm happy. And wine makes the muscles which could be sore all better. I can't call myself "strapping" or "young" but if a hot MILF wanted some personal time I'm good for that. Considering the stress of driving home today, wine is appreciated.
Morning UPDATE: So the street looks mostly dry and clear so I can get to work, hopefully. I'm worried about shady areas and black ice. This is one of those times where having a late starting schedule is a positive. They start late so the Moms can get their kids to school and have plenty of time to get to work. The local newspapers have articles up about the blizzard. Auburn Journal and The Union has some great photos and a short video of the mess. And keep in mind they don't get such severe snow fall here often. This mostly just happens once or twice a year. Normally, snow falls, melts immediately, its pretty but not a PITA. Yesterday's blizzard is followed by today's clear sunny skies. How about that, right? I expect lots of snow to melt. Of course the thermometer says its only 33'F so any melt is going to be slow. And I hope the hoarfrost all over my car melts soon. Right now its an impenetrable block.
By noon I needed to go home and there was 3 inches of snow in the parking lot, 4 inches on the street, and traffic was starting to back up. I headed home and found the main road up the hill completely blocked. So I went around, which was a mistake. That was blocked to, and I had to be pushed 4 times by a nice lady behind me in a green SUV. My car needs chains. Even then, iffy. They're far far away, down the mountain, because it wasn't supposed to snow here so I really didn't need them, right? I needed them. Big time.
It is still snowing. The blizzard is now the primary news in the mountains. I barely got home, and there were many times where I had to rock the car, then brake, then again, just to get SOME traction. I need SNOW TIRES. I'm fortunate that I did not wreck. Lots of people have. Some have just abandoned their cars and walked. Its that serious.
I would not enjoy walking through snow with my thin nylon topped hiking boots and my cotton socks. That would not be good. The local kids raised here were mostly just wearing thin sweatshirts, because the weather report said light snow, no sticking. Wrong. It doesn't help that there's a whooping cough outbreak. Thankfully I'm immunized but many kids and adults aren't.
California has these kinds of storms from time to time. We can have a blizzard like this in June, or as early as August. The Sierras are famous for crazy weather that comes in fast. The Pacific can bring a storm into the North Coast and its here in 4-6 hours. That's about the same duration as your average day hike, which is why experienced hikers carry serious layers in a pack with them, even in summer.
And here comes some more snow. Glad I'm home, finally. My insulin reservoir ran out and I didn't have any with me. Not emergency but getting there. Fixed right after I got home.
UPDATE: I have shoveled off my driveway and my neighbors', and both sidewalks. She bakes cookies for me. That's pretty good payment. I would have done it for cookies but she insisted on paying me with cash. So now she can go out after all, instead of being stuck in her house for the next two days. The snow is melting fast, thank goodness. I think the streets will be clear tomorrow. I'm glad because I want to keep working. Apparently, in the MidWest, which is a different country from the West where I live, it is traditional for strapping young men to shovel the driveways and sidewalks of elderly people, for free, because that's basic courtesy and respect for the elders. Here in California, you get paid for that. I was going to do it for free because my Dad would have done it for nothing because our neighbor is a nice lady. However, she is insulted if you don't take payment so there I go. Enough for a couple bottles of really good red wine. So I'm happy. And wine makes the muscles which could be sore all better. I can't call myself "strapping" or "young" but if a hot MILF wanted some personal time I'm good for that. Considering the stress of driving home today, wine is appreciated.
Morning UPDATE: So the street looks mostly dry and clear so I can get to work, hopefully. I'm worried about shady areas and black ice. This is one of those times where having a late starting schedule is a positive. They start late so the Moms can get their kids to school and have plenty of time to get to work. The local newspapers have articles up about the blizzard. Auburn Journal and The Union has some great photos and a short video of the mess. And keep in mind they don't get such severe snow fall here often. This mostly just happens once or twice a year. Normally, snow falls, melts immediately, its pretty but not a PITA. Yesterday's blizzard is followed by today's clear sunny skies. How about that, right? I expect lots of snow to melt. Of course the thermometer says its only 33'F so any melt is going to be slow. And I hope the hoarfrost all over my car melts soon. Right now its an impenetrable block.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
Way back when on Star Trek the Next Generation, a show I admit to watching even when it got really terrible with Wesley-Stu turning into a chortling God-Mode jackass (something the actor who played the role complained about bitterly on his blog actually), Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Picard used to order "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot". It was his thing. That and pulling down his uniform jacket which rides up like crazy. They called the move the "Picard Pull" on the set. It was mentioned in interviews after a couple seasons on the air.
I suspect the WORST thing about that show is the diet. Not the divorce rate of 100% for all captains (actors) and most of the stars thanks to 18 hour days. No, it is the insistence of being entirely lean and looking to be in perfect health. The workouts and low fat restrictions must be brutal. I can't imagine a life without butter or cheese. And those people went without for 7 years of that show. Yes, its a paycheck and a ton of beloved fans to keep you going through the convention circuit, but still. I would never be an actor. Its just too hard for too little money. I you don't keep signing on your contract at those low rates, they kill off your character and that's it for you. Good luck getting work elsewhere.
But at least I have tea, earl grey, hot. And Marmalade.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
MadAss Underbone 125cc
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| A not so girly scooter. |
I would be using it for commuting around town, to my job mostly. Parking there is limited, but there's a nice wide back porch I could park this during the day, 300 days a year. It only weighs 210 pounds, which isn't much at all. This machine drop ships from their dealer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to here for $2500 flat. No hidden $400 "delivery" fees. You pay, it shows up. Takes about half an hour to screw in the mirrors and lights and tighten the handlebars, oil and fuel it. Take the reg number to DMV, pay the fee, and you get a license plate. Considering the local DMV is about a 10 minute wait in line, if any, that's not bad at all.
I will have to save the money for this, obviously, but at least I'm working now so its actually possible. Must do DMV motorcycle safety class first. That will probably be in April.
A nice feature of this bike is lots of tuning parts to increase power and reliability. If I decide to ride it longer distances, I can get an oil cooler. I can also change the sprocket for higher speed, and upgrade the exhaust and engine for better power output. As is, its CARB legal, which is important for registering it here in the PRK. I can also get a progressive shock absorber, which is good for bad roads. I doubt I need it just yet so I think I'll save the $375 cost for later upgrades. I might want better tires, for example. No need to worry about that, just yet. I think this machine would make a trip up to Sierra Buttes pretty interesting and just long and slow enough to be fun. I can make many stops on the way for photos. I might upgrade the exhaust to allow panniers for lunch and my camera bag, but I'm not in a rush, like I said. I don't have the money for this yet, but its a better and more practical deal than the Italian or Japanese scooters are. They're ALL made in China anyway, except for the ones made in Thailand.
And this gets to an important point. The engine is held on with a few bolts. When we stop having gasoline, you unbolt the engine and bolt on one for diesel or alcohol fuel, in whatever configuration and away you go. You can put on knobby tires when the roads get worse. Its not a proper offroad bike, but its a lot better than a scooter. Considering we'll have icy rain and snow tomorrow, neither choice would be good and I'm glad to have a car, but still, the sun will be out in a couple days either way. The snow will melt. The hot hot summer heat will come before I even realize it and having a scooter like this will be great.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Chocolate Chips
One of the good snacks I discovered is chocolate chips. Lots of people eat high carb snacks, like tortilla or potato chips. Some put salsa on them, which is healthier, but you're still eating concentrated carbs and they make your blood sugar go up, which then makes you fat. Some people switch to nuts, which contains a lot of oils and makes you fat, but then they coat them with tasty things, which are often a type of sugar called Maltodextrin, which takes around 8-12 hours to digest and gives you a high blood sugar which makes you fat. There's a pattern there.
Some people switch to fruits and veggies, which they then cover in sweetened yoghurt or dip in ranch dressing or something like it, which makes you fat. Again, that pattern.
Or you can do what I did and solve the craving with a small handful of bittersweet chocolate chips. Men crave this taste because dark chocolate contains nutrients which help our reproductive system. No benefits for women, I'm afraid. Sorry! For men, the darker the better, though most feel 60% cacao is strong enough. It turns out the Theobromines (which you can smell so seal the bag after opening) are the root nutrient that men crave. So how about that? Healthy chocolate for a higher sperm count and better endurance. Ladies? If you want those benefits, feed morsels to your man. Just don't blame me if getting pregnant makes you angry, alright? I'm just the messenger here.
Some people switch to fruits and veggies, which they then cover in sweetened yoghurt or dip in ranch dressing or something like it, which makes you fat. Again, that pattern.
Or you can do what I did and solve the craving with a small handful of bittersweet chocolate chips. Men crave this taste because dark chocolate contains nutrients which help our reproductive system. No benefits for women, I'm afraid. Sorry! For men, the darker the better, though most feel 60% cacao is strong enough. It turns out the Theobromines (which you can smell so seal the bag after opening) are the root nutrient that men crave. So how about that? Healthy chocolate for a higher sperm count and better endurance. Ladies? If you want those benefits, feed morsels to your man. Just don't blame me if getting pregnant makes you angry, alright? I'm just the messenger here.
Wine: Dancing Bull 2011 Zinfandel
This is a smooth and tasty Zinfandel from Dancing Bull vineyards. Its strong in berry flavors and is good with dark chocolate chips. I sipped a couple glasses while ignoring the fact I was alone for Valentines Day.
Wine: Smoking Loon Old Vine Zinfandel
The latest Smoking Loon Old Vine Zin is another one of those which needs to breathe and near room temp to taste right. Oxygen makes it come alive. Straight pour from the bottle wasn't good, but it improved when it was room temp, very fruity, lots of raisin undertones. Its a $6/btl wine but nothing fancy. Their quality seems to vary a bit so while its often acceptable, you sometimes get a bottle which just isn't that good, tastes off. For that reason I can't recommend it.
Friday, First Week
So the last day of my first week at my new job began with finishing my desk. That was an hour of various piece parts: screws, nails, special bolts, and glue. Finished, it looks okay. It's not stunning furniture: its there to hold up my computer. With a bit of computer help, I got it and the laptop running together. I've never done that before but its pretty nice having all the desktop space.
Much of my day after that was spent getting connected to the network, the calendar program, the various other tools I need to do things properly. I spent some time researching how our products can't be shipped as what it is or what it can be thanks to corrupt customs agents holding them while they wait for a bribe. I also learned that UPS has lost all its Canadian customers because they charge a $48 customs brokerage fee for each package coming from the USA. Not nice, UPS. NAFTA was supposed to stop that. I suspect I'm going to learn a really large amount here. Most of the scents are new to me and there's about 190 of those. I will be bottling each and every one. And blends too, some of which sell well but can have very rare components which are entirely dependent on the harvest for availability. Ordering them makes delivery much more tricky, and that's my problem, eventually.
We're using a lot of free software and a few serious packages we're paying for, like our inventory system. This is a very modern company, not old fashioned or trapped in lala land.
I was too busy to take photos of the place. The cardboard is out, however, so it is now fit to be photographed. I'll take my good camera on Monday. Yes, its a holiday, no I don't get paid for it, so I offered to come in and work. We're doing inventory training and software training and there are things I need to cram and learn prior to our inventory getting retrieved. Things are going to be very busy, but I will keep posting anyway because this is easy for me.
My work laptop was crammed with malware, despite having a program to detect it. One download of Spybot later and I cleaned that crap out. I also tracked down and removed some malware that autoinstalls into Chrome the first time you boot up. They need better security, but at least it was easy to remove. Lots of complaints about that one. Due to us being an E-tailer, we get weekends off since there's no shipping then, but we need all browsers on our PCs. And they keep nagging to make one preferred. Anyway, I've just eaten dinner and I'm going to veg this evening. The training today was a lot to take in, but it was survey level at this point. We'll have to figure out data mining queries to get our answers, preferably faster. I worry we'll overthink and overcomplicate issues that don't deserve that level of refinement, but I'm going to be learning that as I go. As long as I don't drop a bottle of $2000 oil on the shop floor or ship the wrong product, I'll be okay. Its only been 3 days, after all. Plenty more to learn.
Much of my day after that was spent getting connected to the network, the calendar program, the various other tools I need to do things properly. I spent some time researching how our products can't be shipped as what it is or what it can be thanks to corrupt customs agents holding them while they wait for a bribe. I also learned that UPS has lost all its Canadian customers because they charge a $48 customs brokerage fee for each package coming from the USA. Not nice, UPS. NAFTA was supposed to stop that. I suspect I'm going to learn a really large amount here. Most of the scents are new to me and there's about 190 of those. I will be bottling each and every one. And blends too, some of which sell well but can have very rare components which are entirely dependent on the harvest for availability. Ordering them makes delivery much more tricky, and that's my problem, eventually.
We're using a lot of free software and a few serious packages we're paying for, like our inventory system. This is a very modern company, not old fashioned or trapped in lala land.
I was too busy to take photos of the place. The cardboard is out, however, so it is now fit to be photographed. I'll take my good camera on Monday. Yes, its a holiday, no I don't get paid for it, so I offered to come in and work. We're doing inventory training and software training and there are things I need to cram and learn prior to our inventory getting retrieved. Things are going to be very busy, but I will keep posting anyway because this is easy for me.
My work laptop was crammed with malware, despite having a program to detect it. One download of Spybot later and I cleaned that crap out. I also tracked down and removed some malware that autoinstalls into Chrome the first time you boot up. They need better security, but at least it was easy to remove. Lots of complaints about that one. Due to us being an E-tailer, we get weekends off since there's no shipping then, but we need all browsers on our PCs. And they keep nagging to make one preferred. Anyway, I've just eaten dinner and I'm going to veg this evening. The training today was a lot to take in, but it was survey level at this point. We'll have to figure out data mining queries to get our answers, preferably faster. I worry we'll overthink and overcomplicate issues that don't deserve that level of refinement, but I'm going to be learning that as I go. As long as I don't drop a bottle of $2000 oil on the shop floor or ship the wrong product, I'll be okay. Its only been 3 days, after all. Plenty more to learn.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Defrosting the Mini Fridge
So today at work I dropped off my direct deposit sheet and then proceeded to collect and transport a stereo (no calls so we can have MUSIC!), two chairs and a small fridge loaded with ice. That was the tricky bit. We got help from a coworker who had a Toyota 4Runner and could actually fit the three big objects, then brought them down to the shop. After, she drove us to Staples for a desk and a few other bulky things. I spent part of the day trying to update a windows Vista laptop, which is harder than it sounds. Crashed it completely on the Java update. Had to pull the battery just to reboot. I'll figure it out in time.
Also did a conference call for the quarterly meeting, all 10 of us. Small companies are fun. There's still drama about the product getting here, but hopefully that will be resolved in coming weeks. I spent much of the afternoon assembling a desk from piece parts in the box. Rather labor intensive, but I wanted to do it right, too. If you screw up with particle board, it breaks and that's a bad joint, a weak spot. That's no good so I did it right. Nearly done, too. Unfortunately, there's some kind of guilt-dance-march thing today so we bailed at 5:00 sharp to avoid them ruining our commutes home. Ladies? Get a baseball bat and just say no to codependent relationships. You can do it!
I took a long hard glance at a Yamaha Zuma, what looks like a 125cc, at the local used motorcycle yard as I passed by. I wonder what they want for it? Does it still have rings? Will I have to buy tires? It would be a good commuter though. I'm going to be at my building with the tiny parking lot for at least a year, possibly more. Possibly the rest of my working life. And that would be okay. Its not a stressful job, not yet. The Zuma would be a good functional commuter vehicle on those many many dry California days. I'd drive the car when it rains, but we're 300 dry days a year, here. I wouldn't bother if its only 50cc, however. I need 125cc to climb Hughes Road. Its very steep. Cars struggle there. I could park it right outside my door, or even on the back porch, out of the way. The hair salon, Bang, is run by and older woman and two of her stylists are probably just barely 18-19 years old and live downstairs. I really like that there's businesses everywhere. The more of them, the better. This is real re-localization.
I setup the electric kettle and used it, finally. Oh, and Earl Grey this afternoon with lunch was divine. I love that tea. I think we need better water, however. Dunno if we're gonna do water deliveries or a filter setup. I'm okay with filters because I know they work. The stuff in the pipes is almost gritty with minerals, but the house is probably 110 years old and I think the pipes were probably installed around 40 years ago. The ones in the street are probably even older.
The folks I work with, the women are all mothers, many with 12 year olds. They're pretty stable people. Not fuzzy like I first thought. The best description is they're normal people with 1 (one) hippie interest. The general manager likes yoga. The owner is all about the world travel and promoting the product. Honestly I consider that very hard work. One woman likes environmental subjects. Another woman lives on San Juan Ridge, which is hippieland, but she drives an SUV and is locally raised so despite a few tattoos seems pretty normal for the area. Most of the folks who work there are locals so they are here for a living and accept the lower wages and short commute, being close to their kids in particular. I like scooters and want to ride one because they're both fun and good fuel economy. Fun. Remember that. They're fun. That may be harder when it rains or snows or someone in a big hurry doesn't see me and drives me off the road, but there's a lot of motorcycles and scooters in town and the more of them there are, the more visible they are. I saw a young lad on a red Vespa on my 8 minute commute home. Possibly this model:
I spent about 25 minutes before lunch defrosting the mini fridge we borrowed from uphill until we get a proper fridge in. We're planning three large fridges for product storage, actually. I wanted to defrost it because the little ones don't work right otherwise. That took lots of boiling water thrown from a coffee mug onto the ice block on the "freezer" portion, and eventually the use of a fork as an ice pick. This was the best way. Anyway, it's done. Boss is happy so I'm happy.
My boss/supervisor is very reasonable and I'm providing useful tips on logistics and getting stuff done without being asked, so that's taking strain off of her and building trust between us. So we're saving time and trouble every day and are ahead of schedule on our project of turning this house into a business space we can use for bottling and shipping our products, which are technically considered cosmetics or health supplements (non-FDA). So calling it perfume isn't wrong. I found out some of the oils are $2K/Liter so I better not spill them. Fun! So more office setup is ongoing, probably Friday and much of next week and hopefully we'll have product to put on those shelves very soon. We need electricity that can handle two fridges and a computer in one of the interior walls, and we're still expecting the bottling machine next week, which I'll be setting up and operating. That goes in the back room in a corner with good light. This is going to be fun. We're planning to setup a priority list with shipping at the top and bottling below that, and resupply/inventory control below that. These are things the current contractor in Colorado was doing badly and why I was hired for this job.
I get this right, I'm set and I can get serious about the scooter. I just wish the local Honda dealer sold the Wave 125 EFI. Its ideal for the area and my needs.
Its got large wheels to roll over the potholes and enough suspension to bounce through them, but is still light enough to get properly fuel efficient and practical. That's 80 mpg. I wonder what they'd charge to import and do the paperwork? I understand its pretty easy to fill out a few forms the state wants, and it sidesteps the whole carbon and safety nonsense. Something to investigate in coming months, after I get my motorcycle license.
Also did a conference call for the quarterly meeting, all 10 of us. Small companies are fun. There's still drama about the product getting here, but hopefully that will be resolved in coming weeks. I spent much of the afternoon assembling a desk from piece parts in the box. Rather labor intensive, but I wanted to do it right, too. If you screw up with particle board, it breaks and that's a bad joint, a weak spot. That's no good so I did it right. Nearly done, too. Unfortunately, there's some kind of guilt-dance-march thing today so we bailed at 5:00 sharp to avoid them ruining our commutes home. Ladies? Get a baseball bat and just say no to codependent relationships. You can do it!
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| This might be my next commuter. |
I took a long hard glance at a Yamaha Zuma, what looks like a 125cc, at the local used motorcycle yard as I passed by. I wonder what they want for it? Does it still have rings? Will I have to buy tires? It would be a good commuter though. I'm going to be at my building with the tiny parking lot for at least a year, possibly more. Possibly the rest of my working life. And that would be okay. Its not a stressful job, not yet. The Zuma would be a good functional commuter vehicle on those many many dry California days. I'd drive the car when it rains, but we're 300 dry days a year, here. I wouldn't bother if its only 50cc, however. I need 125cc to climb Hughes Road. Its very steep. Cars struggle there. I could park it right outside my door, or even on the back porch, out of the way. The hair salon, Bang, is run by and older woman and two of her stylists are probably just barely 18-19 years old and live downstairs. I really like that there's businesses everywhere. The more of them, the better. This is real re-localization.
I setup the electric kettle and used it, finally. Oh, and Earl Grey this afternoon with lunch was divine. I love that tea. I think we need better water, however. Dunno if we're gonna do water deliveries or a filter setup. I'm okay with filters because I know they work. The stuff in the pipes is almost gritty with minerals, but the house is probably 110 years old and I think the pipes were probably installed around 40 years ago. The ones in the street are probably even older.
The folks I work with, the women are all mothers, many with 12 year olds. They're pretty stable people. Not fuzzy like I first thought. The best description is they're normal people with 1 (one) hippie interest. The general manager likes yoga. The owner is all about the world travel and promoting the product. Honestly I consider that very hard work. One woman likes environmental subjects. Another woman lives on San Juan Ridge, which is hippieland, but she drives an SUV and is locally raised so despite a few tattoos seems pretty normal for the area. Most of the folks who work there are locals so they are here for a living and accept the lower wages and short commute, being close to their kids in particular. I like scooters and want to ride one because they're both fun and good fuel economy. Fun. Remember that. They're fun. That may be harder when it rains or snows or someone in a big hurry doesn't see me and drives me off the road, but there's a lot of motorcycles and scooters in town and the more of them there are, the more visible they are. I saw a young lad on a red Vespa on my 8 minute commute home. Possibly this model:
I spent about 25 minutes before lunch defrosting the mini fridge we borrowed from uphill until we get a proper fridge in. We're planning three large fridges for product storage, actually. I wanted to defrost it because the little ones don't work right otherwise. That took lots of boiling water thrown from a coffee mug onto the ice block on the "freezer" portion, and eventually the use of a fork as an ice pick. This was the best way. Anyway, it's done. Boss is happy so I'm happy.
My boss/supervisor is very reasonable and I'm providing useful tips on logistics and getting stuff done without being asked, so that's taking strain off of her and building trust between us. So we're saving time and trouble every day and are ahead of schedule on our project of turning this house into a business space we can use for bottling and shipping our products, which are technically considered cosmetics or health supplements (non-FDA). So calling it perfume isn't wrong. I found out some of the oils are $2K/Liter so I better not spill them. Fun! So more office setup is ongoing, probably Friday and much of next week and hopefully we'll have product to put on those shelves very soon. We need electricity that can handle two fridges and a computer in one of the interior walls, and we're still expecting the bottling machine next week, which I'll be setting up and operating. That goes in the back room in a corner with good light. This is going to be fun. We're planning to setup a priority list with shipping at the top and bottling below that, and resupply/inventory control below that. These are things the current contractor in Colorado was doing badly and why I was hired for this job.
I get this right, I'm set and I can get serious about the scooter. I just wish the local Honda dealer sold the Wave 125 EFI. Its ideal for the area and my needs.
Parfum or Perfume
I finally, after months of searching, got a job. I have been unemployed since May 23rd, when the poison factory fired me as a warning to others who dared to stand up for safety and health in the workplace. Their method resulted in most of my shift quitting over the following months. They have new victims now, ones who will eventually be part of legal action if there's any justice in the world. My former employer was like Foxconn, just to give you some idea.
My new job is a local company that does aromatherapy and attar perfumes. While I'm not sold on its medical benefits, the boss and the customers are and I know for a fact that scents trigger memory, which can cause a person to destress, which then aids the immune system so it is possible there really is something to this. I'm keeping an open mind about it as long as the check doesn't bounce. The main office is up on the hill a couple miles away from where I'm working with one other person, Wendy.
The two of us spent my first day on the job setting up metal shelving units, very similar to the ones we used at my old job. We will have bins of product and raw materials on these shelves and a sequential bottling machine, which is likely similar to a sequential ammunition loader (women knit, men make bullets).
The shop itself is between the main drag in town and a major creek which is running cold and swift right now. Sandbags suggest it sometimes floods, which would then flood the lower floor. We'll be careful about things on the floor when we get flood warnings. Our downstairs neighbors offered to act as backup security for us, which is really nice. Small towns have their upsides. There's also space for me to park a bicycle or even a scooter there if I want. It would free up a parking space for the neighbor so I bet she'd be all for it.
After hours of assembling shelving and letting the Comcast guy install cable internet and phone service, we went to lunch at Carl's Junior (Santa Fe Chicken sandwich is pretty good, low fat, has a skinned green chili inside the right way), then bought things for the kitchen and bathroom. Did you know you can get a microwave from Kmart for $70? Of course it was broken, but still. We'll exchange it for a good one tomorrow. They've got 6 models there for that or less, and a 7th for $85. Amazing. The last microwave I remember buying was over $450. Oh wait, that was 1990. When I was graduating high school and the parents moved to a better neighborhood.
We also bought some teas, some fruit for snacks, silverware, a cutting board, a couple cutting knives (not to be confused with MENDING knives), and dishes. With an electric kettle rather than a coffee pot since we both agreed that tea was easier on the brain than coffee after that morning cup. And I get paid lunches. My job is 1.93 miles from my current residence and there are hills in the way. Its mostly downhill on the way there, but that means its mostly uphill on the way back. More motivation to either get in better shape to bicycle it or get my license and scooter or motorcycle it. A light motorcycle, in the 200cc range would be dandy, provided its quiet enough. I don't want to be obnoxious when I have nice neighbors at work. I saw someone go buy in a 100cc 1950's bike, lovingly restored, with a high school kid at the wheel. I was impressed. It was obviously 2-stroke and loud, but I also saw a 1960's BMW go by earlier as well.
I plan to take pictures for my work and see if they'll allow me to blog it via my work email/blog. Since I'm a fast typist I can put this together pretty quick. I'll ask the bosses if that's okay first. I'm sure I can do this easily. I am having fun setting up the place and despite it being in a carriage house between a busy street, a stream, and an offramp, its going to be peaceful. And I need that. The first two years at the Poison Factory were peaceful because I had a good boss. After that, all bets were off. I think they'd say they were addressing issues in a harsh marketplace but there was no reason to be cruel when the labor of a few (mine in particular) paid the wages of 300 people who did very little or nothing. And since I'm not saying the name of that company, I can say whatever I wish.
This company is more stable and despite growing, they reward lateral thinking instead of punish it. Very small companies are like that. It reminds me a lot of the winery business I worked for right after college. I'm management here, even if my job doesn't look that way so far, which is the right direction for my career. Eventually I will have an assistant of my own. When you work for a startup, you get promoted fast and the rewards come fast too. Working for a big established company offers no mobility. Everyone is in job-protection CYA mode at a big corp(se). They're fearful of change because it might make their job go away, so they hide behind laws and Process, deliberately crippling their company's efficiency and virtually guaranteeing their company will go under. That's what my last employer was like. Its worse in a shrinking market (biotech) or a saturated one dealing with price wars (cellphones). Technology companies can be very cruel because obsolescence and out-sourcing can destroy your business model very suddenly. They are, by their inherent nature, unstable. Technology is all about science, and science marches forward on discovery. If you provide the tools or money for discovery, your business has to adapt. My prior employer was maladaptive. I am glad I don't own a single share of their stock.
Now that I'm working locally in a peaceful town where people are mostly nice, I can breathe easy and focus on getting the job done. Most of today is probably going to be IT and passwords setup so I can configure my PC to do the job I'm paid for. I can already see value in various gizmos to help. I suspect I'm going to want a barcode scanner seeing as there's a hundred different pure products. We don't do many blends, apparently, since these are technically medicines. They do smell really nice.
My new job is a local company that does aromatherapy and attar perfumes. While I'm not sold on its medical benefits, the boss and the customers are and I know for a fact that scents trigger memory, which can cause a person to destress, which then aids the immune system so it is possible there really is something to this. I'm keeping an open mind about it as long as the check doesn't bounce. The main office is up on the hill a couple miles away from where I'm working with one other person, Wendy.
The two of us spent my first day on the job setting up metal shelving units, very similar to the ones we used at my old job. We will have bins of product and raw materials on these shelves and a sequential bottling machine, which is likely similar to a sequential ammunition loader (women knit, men make bullets).
The shop itself is between the main drag in town and a major creek which is running cold and swift right now. Sandbags suggest it sometimes floods, which would then flood the lower floor. We'll be careful about things on the floor when we get flood warnings. Our downstairs neighbors offered to act as backup security for us, which is really nice. Small towns have their upsides. There's also space for me to park a bicycle or even a scooter there if I want. It would free up a parking space for the neighbor so I bet she'd be all for it.
After hours of assembling shelving and letting the Comcast guy install cable internet and phone service, we went to lunch at Carl's Junior (Santa Fe Chicken sandwich is pretty good, low fat, has a skinned green chili inside the right way), then bought things for the kitchen and bathroom. Did you know you can get a microwave from Kmart for $70? Of course it was broken, but still. We'll exchange it for a good one tomorrow. They've got 6 models there for that or less, and a 7th for $85. Amazing. The last microwave I remember buying was over $450. Oh wait, that was 1990. When I was graduating high school and the parents moved to a better neighborhood.
We also bought some teas, some fruit for snacks, silverware, a cutting board, a couple cutting knives (not to be confused with MENDING knives), and dishes. With an electric kettle rather than a coffee pot since we both agreed that tea was easier on the brain than coffee after that morning cup. And I get paid lunches. My job is 1.93 miles from my current residence and there are hills in the way. Its mostly downhill on the way there, but that means its mostly uphill on the way back. More motivation to either get in better shape to bicycle it or get my license and scooter or motorcycle it. A light motorcycle, in the 200cc range would be dandy, provided its quiet enough. I don't want to be obnoxious when I have nice neighbors at work. I saw someone go buy in a 100cc 1950's bike, lovingly restored, with a high school kid at the wheel. I was impressed. It was obviously 2-stroke and loud, but I also saw a 1960's BMW go by earlier as well.
I plan to take pictures for my work and see if they'll allow me to blog it via my work email/blog. Since I'm a fast typist I can put this together pretty quick. I'll ask the bosses if that's okay first. I'm sure I can do this easily. I am having fun setting up the place and despite it being in a carriage house between a busy street, a stream, and an offramp, its going to be peaceful. And I need that. The first two years at the Poison Factory were peaceful because I had a good boss. After that, all bets were off. I think they'd say they were addressing issues in a harsh marketplace but there was no reason to be cruel when the labor of a few (mine in particular) paid the wages of 300 people who did very little or nothing. And since I'm not saying the name of that company, I can say whatever I wish.
This company is more stable and despite growing, they reward lateral thinking instead of punish it. Very small companies are like that. It reminds me a lot of the winery business I worked for right after college. I'm management here, even if my job doesn't look that way so far, which is the right direction for my career. Eventually I will have an assistant of my own. When you work for a startup, you get promoted fast and the rewards come fast too. Working for a big established company offers no mobility. Everyone is in job-protection CYA mode at a big corp(se). They're fearful of change because it might make their job go away, so they hide behind laws and Process, deliberately crippling their company's efficiency and virtually guaranteeing their company will go under. That's what my last employer was like. Its worse in a shrinking market (biotech) or a saturated one dealing with price wars (cellphones). Technology companies can be very cruel because obsolescence and out-sourcing can destroy your business model very suddenly. They are, by their inherent nature, unstable. Technology is all about science, and science marches forward on discovery. If you provide the tools or money for discovery, your business has to adapt. My prior employer was maladaptive. I am glad I don't own a single share of their stock.
Now that I'm working locally in a peaceful town where people are mostly nice, I can breathe easy and focus on getting the job done. Most of today is probably going to be IT and passwords setup so I can configure my PC to do the job I'm paid for. I can already see value in various gizmos to help. I suspect I'm going to want a barcode scanner seeing as there's a hundred different pure products. We don't do many blends, apparently, since these are technically medicines. They do smell really nice.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Burgundy, France
I often consider how epically LAME the English are in their hypocritical insults towards the French when they vacation there half the time. They aren't wanted. The English are rude to the French, and the French just want their pathetic English pounds. English tourists are easy marks.
Then again, France is full of 1400 year old medieval manors, castles, and thousand year old vineyards.
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| This village is probably 2000 years old. |
Get invaded and sacked enough times, you stop seeing the point of jumping in front of a bullet "for France". Just wait it out.
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| Clos de Vougeot Vineyards and Castle/Keep |
For all that, when I look at pictures of France I see what my home town looks like, only with stone buildings everywhere instead of the more earthquake resistant wood frames appropriate to California.
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| If the hills were taller, this could be Sonoma or Alexander or Napa valley. |
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| kudos to the photographer who took this one. |
The French have their vineyards and their castles. California has its vineyards and its villas. They have slate roofs. We have Spanish tiles and the Kings Road and Franciscan Missions all along it. I am glad more vineyards are planted here. Its profitable and its a good export to civilized countries. I hope the French keep after their grapes and keep milking the Tourists. The English get out of Britain for a while and maybe someday they'll learn to be more polite. We can always hope.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon
I got a great shot of this bridge and its reflection. The colors there, and the smell of the flowers. A really great day.
The Portland Chinese Garden is worth visiting if you've got a few hours to spare and find yourself in town sometime. I recommend it. I can't promise the weather will be this nice, but you can't have everything, can you? Hope you enjoyed my pictures.
Washing Your Car Brings Rain
I just finished washing my car. I do this rarely, mainly because it is parked outside and the cleaner it is, the more bugs climb on it (many are attracted to the color white) or birds crap on it (some consider white to be a mating-challenge color). Also, for some reason, whenever I wash my car, it rains withing a couple days, even in the summertime when there's a drought. I don't get that, but its often the case.
My car has a lot of chips in the paint, and it hasn't been waxed in a long time. I hope to put some wax on it later, once the air temp is warm enough for it to stick. Its about 56'F right now. A little chilly for Carnauba wax. Since we're having mostly sunny days in the mid to low 60's with a couple hours of rain every 8-10 days this winter, washing and waxing the car does make sense. It might stay clean and dry for a whole week.
I also filled my tires with the right pressure air. Most were a little low, slow leaking valves being pretty normal. Considering how cheap a tire pressure gauge and an air pump are, I'm surprised everyone doesn't carry that in their car trunk. They weigh about a pound and can literally save your life if you actually use them once a week.
You might think this is so basic it deserves no comment, but I have noticed many people don't seem to know them anymore. It's like adults who can't cook. How did that happen?
I just want to keep my car going as long as I can, until the oil runs out. When I upgrade, I want it to be something which can burn whatever fuel is available, efficiently. And it had better be AWD/4WD because the roads here suck and sometimes have snow or black ice on them.
I also want a motorcycle for daily commuting when the weather is nice, like today. Something vintage, with style and grace. I don't even mind a kickstarter so long as it really runs reliably and can pull me up the hill and sometimes take me for a picnic at Sardine Lakes. I wanted a scooter, but the roads are so bad, it would be suicide.
UPDATE: Just finished waxing the car. That was a lot of work. Its shiny now, and every flaw in the paint stands out. Looks like there's some polishing in my future, and some touch up spots needing done.
My car has a lot of chips in the paint, and it hasn't been waxed in a long time. I hope to put some wax on it later, once the air temp is warm enough for it to stick. Its about 56'F right now. A little chilly for Carnauba wax. Since we're having mostly sunny days in the mid to low 60's with a couple hours of rain every 8-10 days this winter, washing and waxing the car does make sense. It might stay clean and dry for a whole week.
I also filled my tires with the right pressure air. Most were a little low, slow leaking valves being pretty normal. Considering how cheap a tire pressure gauge and an air pump are, I'm surprised everyone doesn't carry that in their car trunk. They weigh about a pound and can literally save your life if you actually use them once a week.
I just want to keep my car going as long as I can, until the oil runs out. When I upgrade, I want it to be something which can burn whatever fuel is available, efficiently. And it had better be AWD/4WD because the roads here suck and sometimes have snow or black ice on them.
I also want a motorcycle for daily commuting when the weather is nice, like today. Something vintage, with style and grace. I don't even mind a kickstarter so long as it really runs reliably and can pull me up the hill and sometimes take me for a picnic at Sardine Lakes. I wanted a scooter, but the roads are so bad, it would be suicide.
UPDATE: Just finished waxing the car. That was a lot of work. Its shiny now, and every flaw in the paint stands out. Looks like there's some polishing in my future, and some touch up spots needing done.
More Than Basic Transportation
When you first get into Peak Oil, you panic. You realize that Fossil Fuels really do run out, that the oil companies are lying about their reserves, and OPEC is lying even more, mostly to keep the money coming so they can avoid revolutions like Iran. Saudi is down to their last 6% of their oil, and that won't feed or uplift their 2 million bigots out of the Dark Ages and into the modern world. So they treat them like mushrooms and pretend there's lots more oil in the ground. There isn't.
Westerners, like us, panic because we think we need to change our own habits first and give up everything which makes Western living good. This isn't so, not yet. We SHOULD experiment to find what's comfortable and adapt our thinking to life that way, however. This is why I encourage all the people I care about to either move close to work or work close to home and to ride a bicycle and scooter or motorcycle sometimes, just to get used to it. The parts are cheaper now than they will be when it counts, probably just 2-5 years away. I'm being conservative with my estimates because I was way wrong about them previously. Of course, if Saudi Arabia had a revolution tomorrow, all bets are off and you can feel free to panic.
A bicycle or scooter is basic transportation. It moves you to work or the market and back, not very comfortably compared to your car with its heater and stereo and door locks and windows that go up and down. You don't get all the frills on 2 wheels. If you don't mind looking like a doofus or overpaying, you can buy a Smart or a Geo Metro. Or you can get one of those 3-wheeled covered scooters or a golf cart. Not great either, but in a downpour they're better than pushing on while soaking wet. I realize that the Nissan Leaf is pure electric and suitable commuter for most suburban people, but I don't live in the suburbs anymore. I'm in the boonies, or at least in a town in the boonies. I can't give up on liquid fuels.
When I price scooters against the cost of tanks of gasoline my heart sighs. They cost too much. The cheap ones are notoriously unreliable and all of them have wheels so small you may as well fall into traffic thanks to all the potholes. This points to motorcycles. Honda has some good 500cc commuter bikes this year. They'll pull the hills and ride all day at freeway speeds. Suzuki has a new 250cc twin which looks very nice, but I like their more vintage TU250x best, on looks and reviews its a very reliable machine. It can be modded easily many ways for even better looks and styles.
And then there's Deus cycleworks, who restores old bikes found leaning against sheds or in the back of a barn and turns them into unique moving artwork. Look at this.
Imagine commuting on that. Its not some poseur Harley that breaks down every 20 miles. People who see that will not turn up their nose in disgust. This is an old bike, restored and fixed up. It could use a better rear suspension, but otherwise the bike looks nice. Its got the crucial hardware, yet is minimalist, just like our future economy and our ambitions. It is a reflection of the Real America, not the fake one Hollywood keeps trying (and failing) to con everyone with. People are LEAVING LA, not moving there. Hollywood has failed. The nonsense has failed. This is a Post Oil world, and easy driving is over. The Deus bikes are built for places like Bali, for farm roads and gravel tracks and back streets. This would be a fantastic machine to ride on highway 20 to see my brother and his family. It does all that at 45-60 mpg. Take that, Prius.
Westerners, like us, panic because we think we need to change our own habits first and give up everything which makes Western living good. This isn't so, not yet. We SHOULD experiment to find what's comfortable and adapt our thinking to life that way, however. This is why I encourage all the people I care about to either move close to work or work close to home and to ride a bicycle and scooter or motorcycle sometimes, just to get used to it. The parts are cheaper now than they will be when it counts, probably just 2-5 years away. I'm being conservative with my estimates because I was way wrong about them previously. Of course, if Saudi Arabia had a revolution tomorrow, all bets are off and you can feel free to panic.
A bicycle or scooter is basic transportation. It moves you to work or the market and back, not very comfortably compared to your car with its heater and stereo and door locks and windows that go up and down. You don't get all the frills on 2 wheels. If you don't mind looking like a doofus or overpaying, you can buy a Smart or a Geo Metro. Or you can get one of those 3-wheeled covered scooters or a golf cart. Not great either, but in a downpour they're better than pushing on while soaking wet. I realize that the Nissan Leaf is pure electric and suitable commuter for most suburban people, but I don't live in the suburbs anymore. I'm in the boonies, or at least in a town in the boonies. I can't give up on liquid fuels.
When I price scooters against the cost of tanks of gasoline my heart sighs. They cost too much. The cheap ones are notoriously unreliable and all of them have wheels so small you may as well fall into traffic thanks to all the potholes. This points to motorcycles. Honda has some good 500cc commuter bikes this year. They'll pull the hills and ride all day at freeway speeds. Suzuki has a new 250cc twin which looks very nice, but I like their more vintage TU250x best, on looks and reviews its a very reliable machine. It can be modded easily many ways for even better looks and styles.
And then there's Deus cycleworks, who restores old bikes found leaning against sheds or in the back of a barn and turns them into unique moving artwork. Look at this.
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| Deus SR400TT Cafe Racer |
Sunday, February 10, 2013
ANIME: Robotics; Notes
Robotics; Notes is an interesting anime which makes extensive use of palmtop computers, wireless broadband, voice recognition, and Augmented Reality. It starts off as a sport anime for "robot wars" competitions, where remote controlled robots a foot tall battle each other to destruction. Cute right? And then they throw in a subplot with a video game played on the ubiquitous palmtops which lets you control a bigger battle robot in a 3D game, coded by a quirky blonde who talks in LOLs and ROTFLs and GTFOs in internet IRC chat speak. She's fun, right? And the hero's girlfriend is a total Genki girl, all gushing enthusiasm and loud cheerfullness. You gotta like her she's just that irrepressible. She motivates her friends to help her build a giant robot in a world that basically admits they only exist in AR, that they will never exist in the real world. There's no reason for them, and they're physically ridiculous. There are many things I like about this show. I like the tooled leather holster the gamer hero wears to carry his palmtop. I like that everyone seems to ride around on Honda Supercubs because its an island so gasoline is expensive and its stupid to own cars there. I like that the space launch base is largely unused. This island actually exists, btw, and they really did launch rockets there. Mostly agriculture now. Really beautiful place in Google Earth.
But then they throw in this geotagging subplot and if they'd revealled it was JUST geotagging, and the reports revealled by each ridiculous requirement to release items for download were actually part of a game? That would have been a great little note which fit well with the overall theme.
Instead? We get paranoid conspiracy and end of the world murders, cities lit on fire, robots attacking people, and assassinations of decent people by evil govt/corporations out to kill us all for profit? No. Just no. Totally ruined the show for me. Killing great characters just to be mean? No. The hell with you, Kazuya Nomura (show director). You started off so well, and you turned it all to crap. I haven't felt this betrayed by an anime since Asuka got eaten to death by the white EVAs. That's how badly you screwed up.
Thankfully, there are other AR shows, an older one involving children solving mysteries in a town built for AR is Denno Coil, which has Studio Gibli looking characters and Google Glasses to see the AR everywhere. Its a peculiar show which didn't hold my interest. This show does have some funny characters, including a busty programmer in a black leather motorcycle suit who leaves the protagonist girl deeply jealous, something I consider both realistic and poignant. Pity they didn't overcome the boredom I felt from the ongoing mysteries.
Compare all that with a cheerful girls anime about a school sports team with cute girls operating WW1 and WW2 tanks. Yes, tanks. As a sport. Shooting non-lethal rounds and the tank pops up a white flag when hit. The rounds can tear off a tread, mind you, but they're non lethal, thanks to extensive use of Plot Armor. Girls in this alternate universe wear kimono, arrange flowers, serve perfect tea, and operate tanks. Its like Strike Witches with pants. The show is called Girls Und Panzer. The entire concept is so weird you can't help but laugh. And the tanks have realistic mechanical faults which military geeks appreciate.
Another weird sports anime with cute girls being cute is Dog Days, which is about a guy spirited away to a land where warring factions fight for dominance... in non-lethal battles with blunt weapons and sacks of flour. Nobody gets hurt, magically protected that way. Its charming and harmless. The set battles are meant to resemble the butchery of mass infantry of the Warring States Period in Japan. Oh, and instead of horses they ride sort of Ostrich things which can sometimes fly, and all the people are actually cats and dogs with human faces and body shapes, but turn back into cats or dogs when "tagged" or bopped on the head. Utterly harmless.
I'm somewhat baffled why so many Japanese programs feel the need for murders and psychos threatening rape or dismemberment in otherwise charming stories. Problem Children is new this season, supposed to be a tournament anime but I kinda want to stab most of the villains and would NEVER even attempt to deal with them as if they were honest since they're clearly murdering psychopaths. You put down mad dogs. You have to do the same with those sorts of not-people.
So why was it written, much less animated for a children's show? Its cheap, and its mean, and it leaves me thinking: "If I was this chick, I would totally stab that guy in the heart, right this instant." Then again I'm male so my defensive impulses exist for a reason. I just don't see why so many Japanese mangaka (manga artists) feel like they really have to destroy the goodwill they've earned in their audience and take something charming and sweet and cover it in blood and violence. Why? Its not helping sales. You already had that when it was a charming sports story with sweet girls being cute. When I run into shows ruined by their creators with blood and violence? I stop watching and find something better.
I plan to continue on with Dog Days because it will stay sweet and charming and I like that. It's what I liked about Hayate No Gotoku, that and mocking the ignorance of rich kids. Measuring value in Ferraris? Yes, that is funny. I suppose I should just mark my irritation off as another cultural difference which just doesn't translate well into English. Its a good thing their charming stories MOSTLY don't turn into blood and violence. I've had more than enough of that at the Poison Factory, thanks very much.
But then they throw in this geotagging subplot and if they'd revealled it was JUST geotagging, and the reports revealled by each ridiculous requirement to release items for download were actually part of a game? That would have been a great little note which fit well with the overall theme.
Instead? We get paranoid conspiracy and end of the world murders, cities lit on fire, robots attacking people, and assassinations of decent people by evil govt/corporations out to kill us all for profit? No. Just no. Totally ruined the show for me. Killing great characters just to be mean? No. The hell with you, Kazuya Nomura (show director). You started off so well, and you turned it all to crap. I haven't felt this betrayed by an anime since Asuka got eaten to death by the white EVAs. That's how badly you screwed up.
Thankfully, there are other AR shows, an older one involving children solving mysteries in a town built for AR is Denno Coil, which has Studio Gibli looking characters and Google Glasses to see the AR everywhere. Its a peculiar show which didn't hold my interest. This show does have some funny characters, including a busty programmer in a black leather motorcycle suit who leaves the protagonist girl deeply jealous, something I consider both realistic and poignant. Pity they didn't overcome the boredom I felt from the ongoing mysteries.
Compare all that with a cheerful girls anime about a school sports team with cute girls operating WW1 and WW2 tanks. Yes, tanks. As a sport. Shooting non-lethal rounds and the tank pops up a white flag when hit. The rounds can tear off a tread, mind you, but they're non lethal, thanks to extensive use of Plot Armor. Girls in this alternate universe wear kimono, arrange flowers, serve perfect tea, and operate tanks. Its like Strike Witches with pants. The show is called Girls Und Panzer. The entire concept is so weird you can't help but laugh. And the tanks have realistic mechanical faults which military geeks appreciate.
Another weird sports anime with cute girls being cute is Dog Days, which is about a guy spirited away to a land where warring factions fight for dominance... in non-lethal battles with blunt weapons and sacks of flour. Nobody gets hurt, magically protected that way. Its charming and harmless. The set battles are meant to resemble the butchery of mass infantry of the Warring States Period in Japan. Oh, and instead of horses they ride sort of Ostrich things which can sometimes fly, and all the people are actually cats and dogs with human faces and body shapes, but turn back into cats or dogs when "tagged" or bopped on the head. Utterly harmless.
I'm somewhat baffled why so many Japanese programs feel the need for murders and psychos threatening rape or dismemberment in otherwise charming stories. Problem Children is new this season, supposed to be a tournament anime but I kinda want to stab most of the villains and would NEVER even attempt to deal with them as if they were honest since they're clearly murdering psychopaths. You put down mad dogs. You have to do the same with those sorts of not-people.
So why was it written, much less animated for a children's show? Its cheap, and its mean, and it leaves me thinking: "If I was this chick, I would totally stab that guy in the heart, right this instant." Then again I'm male so my defensive impulses exist for a reason. I just don't see why so many Japanese mangaka (manga artists) feel like they really have to destroy the goodwill they've earned in their audience and take something charming and sweet and cover it in blood and violence. Why? Its not helping sales. You already had that when it was a charming sports story with sweet girls being cute. When I run into shows ruined by their creators with blood and violence? I stop watching and find something better.
I plan to continue on with Dog Days because it will stay sweet and charming and I like that. It's what I liked about Hayate No Gotoku, that and mocking the ignorance of rich kids. Measuring value in Ferraris? Yes, that is funny. I suppose I should just mark my irritation off as another cultural difference which just doesn't translate well into English. Its a good thing their charming stories MOSTLY don't turn into blood and violence. I've had more than enough of that at the Poison Factory, thanks very much.
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