Starts With B, Ends With N: Six Letters.

If confronted with this empty space in your crossword puzzle, there are undoubtedly a wide array of solutions. But two featured prominently for me yesterday: Boston and Brogan. On the East Coast for a business trip, I notified my Twitter stalkers followers I was flying out Tuesday, and I got a somewhat in jest reply from social networking maven Chris Brogan and Boston area native, who wrote, "What's the plan?"

After connecting with him via e-mail and phone, I got the opportunity to bring Chris and a few friends to last night's Boston Celtics game, where they beat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers by the score of 92-87, in a game that didn't seem all that close.

Though there was a game on, I got the opportunity to learn a lot about what makes Chris tick, what applications and Web services he's most jazzed about, and, continuing on this week's theme, evangelizing FriendFeed, which he joined last night. It was a pleasure getting to know Chris, sharing stories, and personally connecting with someone I already respected online. I believe when these opportunities present themselves, we should take advantage of them, so I appreciate Chris' taking time out of his busy schedule on short notice.

This open offer doesn't just stand for Chris. If you're out of town and visiting the Bay Area, or you find out I'll be in your area, please do contact me and let's see what we can do!

I Am Tired of Being Rational About Cars

Doesn't it say... Buy me?
Since 1999, I've had one boring, American-built, cheap, not impressive, dirty, car. As I've watched the miles pile up, to more than 130,000 at this point, the car's held up, for the most part, but in the go-go Silicon Valley, I'm simply not measuring up. It seems, incorrectly or not, that everybody else has a nice car. A BMW. A Lexus. A Porsche. Or they got kids and traded up to an SUV, often a massive bulk of a beast with all the bells and whistles, including satellite radio, GPS, in-seat DVD players... you name it.

Meanwhile, the only "upgrade" my car's had in the last 8 years was when I put in a 10-disc CD changer in the trunk no less than six months after I got it. Wheeee....

At this moment, my car's sitting parked on the street, in the gutter, appropriately. If I turned it on, two warning lights would display: "Service Engine Soon" and "Low Coolant". Service engine soon, huh? How soon? Two days? Two weeks? What happens if I don't?

On two separate occasions in the last few months, that light came on, only to go off again by the time I reached a service station, and they couldn't do anything. Flipping brilliant.

So, I've started to poke around the Web and look for cars I can't afford. I can rationalize ditching my 1998 Mercury Tracer. I can even think about making monthly payments for a car again, after years of not having to do so. I might even stomach a down payment, if I take money out of eTrade. But the sticker shock is a sight to behold. It's around $40k to get anything I really want, like an Audi A4 Convertible or a BMW 3-series. And yes, I know maybe I should get a Prius or a Hybrid Camry, but that sounds boring, and after a decade of boring, cheap, cars, I am ready to waste my money and have some fun, before that window closes.

So... I want a nice-looking car, with deep dark blue coloring. I want a car that has GPS navigation and Sirius/XM Radio pre-installed. I want a car that won't have the brake light on the first 10 minutes I drive it every morning like mine does now. I want a car that doesn't look like I am the hired help every time I visit Palo Alto, Woodside or Menlo Park. I want to have a car that's as good looking as my MacBook Pro or flat screen TV. A car that's more iPhone than rotary phone, one that's good enough I'll have to park two parking spaces away from anyone to worry about dings.

Think I should do it? Part of me wants to hit the buy button and damn the consequences.

Long Day Made Longer By Airline Snafu

When traveling to the East Coast, I don't often get the luxury of adjusting to the time zone differences. In most cases, I'm expected to start my day bright and early on Eastern Standard Time, and act like any other good local. Today kicked off at 5:30 a.m. Eastern, which my body still tells me is 2:30 a.m. Pacific. (You might have noticed my odd 3:10 a.m. timestamp on this morning's blog post)

After a full day, we headed to New York's Kennedy airport to fly to Boston, in what should have been a simple puddle jump. Originally targeting a "wheels up" time of 7:00, we first saw the flight delayed until 8:25 p.m., for arguable weather-related issues, and later, upon boarding, endured a delay on the tarmac of more than an hour, without updates from pilot or crew.

As the natives grew restless, and some threatened to leave the plane regardless of consequences if things didn't turn around in "the next five minutes", one of the flight attendants broke in to announce a further delay of 20-30 minutes, as our little flight had been pushed in a lengthy queue of planes set for international destinations. At number 45 on the list, we weren't going anywhere soon. This was met with further complaints. The lady next to me demanded to write a complaint to the airline about the "inexcusable farce", while others turned on their cell phones or Blackberries in protest, updating loved ones who were likely waiting at Logan airport, assuming normalcy.

Regardless, we eventually took off, arriving in Boston after 11:00 p.m. at night, when we should have gotten in a full three hours earlier. The flight in between? Not all that easy either, with moderate turbulence throughout, and a canceled cabin service, as we were all on lockdown, banned from leaving our seats or access the overhead bins. Super fun, let me tell you...

So now 18+ hours into the day, I've come home to a mountain of e-mail, more than 500 RSS items in Google Reader, and a world's worth of news to take in, ingest and review. Sure would have been nice to already be done with it all.

Back on the Road (In the Air) Again

Not too long after getting back from the last trip (to Colorado), we're taking off again, this time straying further from home by heading out to the East Coast, taking in New York and Boston. Early prospects show the weather in New York to be mild, not cold, but showers are anticipated on Thursday, and we might see snow flurries in Boston on Friday.

Regardless of the weather, this will be yet another test for how quickly I can adjust to jet lag. As my typical tendency is to stay up way too late on the West Coast, padding three hours on the clock isn't going to do us any favors tonight, as I'll probably be staring at the ceiling or reading RSS feeds in Google Reader around 2 a.m., rather than getting some much-needed rest. All part of the travel experience, I guess.

Of note, we're flying Delta instead of United, my typical carrier. My prior experiences with Delta were pretty good (as noted here), so I'm optimistic, but we'll see.

Also of note, I literally put my money where my mouth is this morning. Before leaving the house, I put a significant chunk of cash into eTrade stock. While I wish I had done so below $4, which was the opportunity on Monday, I think this trade (not investment... trade...) will pay off well. We're averaged in around $5.50 a share.

We're Back Home In the Bay Area

Some quick notes after our week (plus one day) away:

* We DID have some impact from the earthquake, which was evident immediately. Some of our pictures and picture frames on bookshelves or stands had been knocked over. In one amusing example, one of my two fantasy football trophies looked like it had been flung three feet from the bookshelf. More likely, it fell and bounced, but still, pretty impressive. Also, one plaque on the wall is now at a 30 degree angle, when I swear it was straight before. Despite that fun, no damage, and nothing broken. I looked throughout the house.

* Although I had thought I adjusted well to the switch to Standard Time, I forgot all about it before going to bed last night. So when I thought I was going to get up early (at 6 a.m., according to the alarm clock), I was actually getting up at 5 a.m. No rest for the wicked, I guess.

* Our 18 year-old beagle, Molly, is home from my mother-in-laws, and doing fine. She seemed out of sorts last night, disoriented, and likely a bit miffed we abandoned her for longer than I can remember, as this trip exceeded even our honeymoon. Combined with the fact Molly goes to bed at 9 p.m. when at "Grandma's", and we had her up past 11, it's no surprise she seemed to be a bit in a fog. Don't worry though, by the time I served her breakfast kibble this morning, all was well.

* There's something to be said to coming home to a technology haven. We drove all over Denver and Aurora yesterday looking for WiFi, until we found it at an Aurora Barnes and Nobles, helped by my looking it up via my Blackberry on Google Apps. Now at home, we confirmed our WiFi works, the TiVo recorded all the shows we asked it too (including this year's Halloween Simpsons episode), and we're back in the swing of things. There's also the matter of our WiFi being faster than the hotel, although it was admittedly pretty good.

Now, I'l have to avoid the typical post-break doldrums and not feel like I need more time off right away.

Today's Trip to the Denver Zoo (Flickr Album)

Today, Kristine and I took a few hours and enjoyed the Denver Zoo. I took photo after photo until my camera ran out of batteries. If you don't want the slideshow, or want to go directly to the Flickr album, click the below link:

http://flickr.com/photos/15652372@N00/sets/72157602832052108/

Highlights included the polar bears, arctic foxes, lions, hippos, wild bunny rabbits and much more. Enjoy!

No, I'm Not Your SF Bay Area Earthquake Expert

Wouldn't you know it? Just yesterday, I was joking with my wife that the one thing about California I'm missing by being in Colorado this week was the potential for an earthquake. Seriously. It always seems the "interesting" earthquakes take place when we're out of town, so the next time we're traveling, we'll be sure to warn you, as this evening the Bay Area was hit with a 5.6 magnitude event, the strongest in nearly 20 years.

How do you think I found about it? I certainly didn't feel it here in Denver. And nobody called to see if we were okay, as anybody who would care already knew we weren't in the danger zone.

I found out because while thumbing through the referrals to my blog on the Blackberry during some downtime, an odd string of searches from Google started popping up: "recent earthquake in silicon valley", "earthquake hits bay area", "was it an earthquake tonight in sf bay area?" and "sf earthquake tonight" for starters...

That of course got me curious. First, it turns out a note from early March (Yet Another Small Earthquake Hits SF Bay Area) is #2 worldwide in Google for "recent earthquake in Silicon Valley" and #1 for "was it an earthquake tonight in sf bay area?". People from around the Web were looking for answers, hoping I could help.

A few clicks later, and I too was finding out the news. I've talked about earthquakes before on the blog, in December 2006 and June 2006, and I actually see them as a unique bit of California, something to be respected but not feared.

We don't get home until late Monday night, but we don't expect anything to be different. The flat-screen TV better be right where we left it, and the house better be in the same level of disarray we saw when we closed the door Sunday. And maybe the next time there's a good-sized earthquake, I'd like to not find out about it from my Web log statistics.

We Landed, But the Rockies Crashed

Getting game 5 World Series tickets shouldn't have been that much of a risk, especially considering the home team for game 5 had won 21 of 22 games to wrap up the regular season and breeze through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Yet, as the Red Sox staked out a 2-0 series lead, and later extended it to 3-0, we saw our chances of attending the World Series grow increasingly slim.

Last night, as we flew eastward from San Jose to Denver, I listened in to the game on channel 9 of the airline's audio system, updating my wife with the score of the game throughout the trip by hand signals, flashing two fingers and then making a circle, to show the Rockies trailed 2-0. Later, I tapped her and said it was 3-0, followed by scores of 3-1 and finally, 4-1. Though the radio quality was poor, and I could make out only 60% of the words, I did my best to follow along, contemplating the miracle that would have to happen to make our Monday tickets worth anything.

As the pilot asked the flight attendants to prepare for landing, and our wheels extended toward the runway, the Rockies hit a two run home run, closing the gap to 4-3, and giving us hope. As other passengers filed out of the plane, I stayed connected to the seat, not wanting to miss an at bat. Then, we rushed forward and into the terminal, and joined the dozens of other passengers who had stopped to gawk at the sports bar's coverage of the game, as we watched the Rockies flail at Jonathan Papelbon and go down swinging in the 8th.

After getting our luggage, and jumping on the rental car shuttle, I turned on my Blackberry and "watched" the game update via ESPN.com. Already, there was one out and it was still 4-3, Boston. Then, quickly, there were two away, and my wife and I had to hope for the impossible. But it was not meant to be. The last batter came and went, and the game was declared final. Our trip immediately darkened, and much potential joy was lost. Now, instead of finding out how to stay warm among a sellout Rockies crowd tonight, I'm faced with the prospect of learning the ins and outs of StubHub's refund policy. It better be good.

Regardless, we're here, above 5,000 feet, where the air is thin and the clocks are all an hour ahead of where I'd like to be. Maybe someday, as one friend commented on this site, our A's will return again, and we'll get to experience the World Series "the right way".

Off to Colorado in a Few Hours

We'll be out of California (and Silicon Valley proper) for the next week or so, not that I expect you to notice much, given my tendency to be wired from anywhere we go. We're still keeping our fingers crossed that the Rockies can win tonight's game against Boston and extend the World Series, which would make Monday a huge day, but even if they don't, we'll try to relax and have fun around work.

(Who am I kidding? It'd be devastating if I had to return my tickets for a refund...)

Anyway, as always, in the packing process, it's always fun to notice what makes the cut, and what doesn't.

Making the Cut this Time:

* The MacBook Pro
* The iPod Shuffle
* Our Digital Camera
* NetFlix DVDs
* The Blackberry

Not Making the Cut

* The Nintendo Wii (dang)
* The iPod Photo (60 Gig)
* The Dog
* The flat-screen TV
* The TiVo

Where we are staying promises to have Web access. Of course, if it didn't, I flat-out wouldn't go, but as we've seen multiple times, what's stated in the brochure doesn't always match up to reality. I've been bitten too many times by unacceptable, intermittent or non-existent access.

(See: Spotty Internet Access the Scourge of Trips)

Hopefully, this week will be good, we'll get enough work done so I don't fall behind, and (cross your fingers) the Rockies extend the series to game 5. Next time you hear from me, I'll be in the Mountain time zone. We'll be back on the West Coast on November 5th.

We "Could" Be Headed for the World Series

As we're watching the World Series this year between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies, seeing the Sox up 2 games to none, and at this moment, holding the lead in game 3, we can only hope the trend will soon change - as for the first time in my life, I have the opportunity to attend a World Series game, but might see this opportunity snatched away from us in an unfortunate combination of one team's luck and the other's lacking.

Back in May, Kristine and I headed to Colorado to see landmarks from my early years, where I'd grown up in the mid 1980s. With a return trip planned this upcoming week, we watched with anticipation as the Rockies went on an incredible run to capture the National League pennant.

Looking at the calendar, we saw World Series games 3 through 5 would be in Denver, and if humanly possible, we would find a way to go. So, I set out on StubHub, and paid way too much for a pair of outfield tickets to game 5, which barring a sweep, would have us at Coors Field Monday night. Where the tickets' face value was $125 apiece, we saw bids rise from $400 to $500 apiece and beyond. But given the opportunity, the price wouldn't be all that important.

Now... I'm watching, mouth agape, as the Rockies look like they're going to blow it for us. Given their 20-1 run at the end of the season, the possibility they would lose 4 straight against the Boston Red Sox and turn our dream into a fantasy seemed impossible. But now, they're down 6-0 in game 3, and our window is closing from one of excitement to numbness, and what could be serious frustration, should they lose this game, and tomorrow's as well.

Regardless of the outcome, our flight is set for tomorrow, and we'll be in Denver. The question is, will we find this expensive, promising, gamble slip away?

Leaving Dallas for the Bay Area

After a quick two-day stop in Dallas, we're headed back home. Right now, I'm awaiting boarding for the flight to San Jose, and power surfing/e-mailing on the T-Mobile powered WiFi at the airport. If it didn't already cost $9.99, I'd be lauding its speed, but as I've paid, I expect the world.

In case you missed it, the big news of the day was that Steve Jobs announced Apple is going to open up the iPhone for third party applications, issuing an SDK in February. You can say a lot about the Apple icon, but he sure does appear more willing to listen to users and developers than Apple's reputation has shown previously. (Coverage: The Apple Blog | The Last Podcast | Apple Hot News)

I still love how Apple's using their Hot News site as a blog.

While in Dallas, it was also noted that Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) is to hit stores by October 26th. I'll have to check and see if my new MacBook Pro qualifies to get it for super-low pricing of $10, but the truth is, we'll be getting it as soon as possible, regardless. (Coverage: Paris Lemon | Webomatica | Chris Pirillo)

You can read through 300 new features expected from Leopard on the Apple site.

Of course, despite the above, the world doesn't revolve around Apple. Even I get that. So as I took in about 500 RSS posts here in the airport, I shared those I found most interesting in the last 12 hours on my Shared Google Reader link blog. We'll soon be back on the West coast, in the "correct" time zone, and back at full speed. Of course, I didn't ever adjust to Central time, finding the clock reading well past 3 a.m. before I called it a night. Silly me.

No Seriously, That's My Room. Now Leave.

After today's repeated flight delays, which saw the departure time go back and forth seemingly by the half hour, the last thing I expected was more hassles once I reached ground. But I guess it's just going to be that kind of trip.

I got into Dallas around 11 p.m. local time, and as is typical, I was setting up the laptop on the "high speed" Internet before even truly unpacking. As I was talking with my wife over video iChat on my MacBook Pro, wouldn't you know it, but some random guy puts his keycard into my door, and he comes strolling in, luggage in tow. Oops. Good thing I was G-Rated.

Of course, my being there caught him by surprise. I said, "This is my room. What room number is your key for?" Of course, he had the same room number I did. Turns out the hotel computers reset at 11 each night, and the service staff has to assign rooms by hand for a little while, and we just so happened to get double booked. Luckily, he acquiesced to my squatter's rights, and set off to get his own room. And no... we didn't offer to share and split the costs.

Later, on search of something resembling a midnight snack, I duck out of my room and find a 24-hour coffee shop open across the hotel. I come back, only to find now MY key doesn't work to my room. Turns out when the mysterious gentleman was assigned my room after I was there, it was his key that was activated, and mine was blocked.

So... back to the service desk I went, where they apologized, told me of their computer woes, and I was reissued a new card. This time, upon returning, I put up the door latch and raised the deadbolt. I've got the room now, and they can't have it back until I say so.

Today Could Be a Long Day

I'm supposedly flying to Dallas this afternoon. But I have two concerns:

1.
2.

Delayed 7 hours. Already? Uh-oh.

Wii Steals Show In Family Weekend Visit

My wife and I got home a few hours ago after the 150-mile drive from Folsom, California, after a quick two-day visit with my parents and youngest sister. While we enjoyed one another's company, saw their new house, swam in their pool, visited with my grandmother, played cards and went out to dinner, among other things, there was a clear winner for attention - our Nintendo Wii.

With four controllers, the entire family moved furniture aside, and we battled against one another in tennis, bowling, golf and baseball, without leaving our living room. With Kristine and me acting at first playing the part of the more experienced pair, we quickly saw our mediocre skills matched and trumped - especially by my mother, who somehow managed to average more than 200 a game in bowling when I could barely break the 125 mark. As I battled to pick up splits for spares, she would methodically knock all the pins down - at one point, scoring five straight strikes, much to our joint delight, disillusionment and annoyance.

All told, our Wii was happy to report it was (ab)used to the point of 5 1/2 hours on Saturday, and almost 3 hours Sunday, before we had to turn it off, pack it up and drive home. And while it definitely sounds silly that we racked over eight hours together in front of the video game console, it brought us all together doing a shared activity that was at least mildly physical, and certainly competitive. Also, I'd be lying if I said my right shoulder wasn't a bit sore after the weekend workout.

We enjoyed our trip and seeing the family, finally getting time on our busy schedules, and we were lucky enough to, this time, have brought the entertainment with us. I, for one, know I need to practice some more before we have a rematch.

A Weekend Away With Family

Depending on traffic, WiFi access, boredom, distractions and other factors, there is a potential for lighter than usual posting here this weekend. My wife and I are traveling to the popular tourist destination of Sacramento to see my parents, whom we managed to neglect the entire summer.

We'll be heading out late Friday evening, hopefully after Bay Area traffic has died down, and staying two nights before leaving late Sunday to start the week off again.

Of course, just because we're leaving Silicon Valley behind doesn't mean we're leaving technology behind. Slated to make the trip: The Apple PowerBook and my wife's iBook, my BlackBerry, two or three iPods, and our "still new" Nintendo Wii. We even got two more controllers so we can play games between the four of us and prove who is most superior through head to head digital conquest.

The only real question is - do I take advantage of my sister working at the Apple Store, and break down to update my iPod situation or get an iPhone with some kind of discount while on the trip...

Minor Stat: My Car Reaches 125,000 Miles

On March 29, 2004, my 1998 Mercury Tracer passed the 100,000 mile mark. 1,157 days later, while driving home from tonight's 5-3 Oakland A's victory over the Texas Rangers, the odometer rolled to 125,000 exactly, where it remains, parked outside our condo.

The milestone itself isn't all that significant, but it's a good marker to see how much I'm driving. 25,000 miles over 1,157 days shows an average of only 21.6 miles per day over the last 3-plus years, which tells me that aside from commuting to and from the office five days a week, I really don't get out much.

The commute to work is 7.5 miles, according to Google Maps, so the act of simply going to and from the office covers 75 of the 151.2 miles driven on average per week over the last four years, assuming I go to the office five days a week, every week. That's about half of all my driving, even with 40 or so A's games and Cal Bears games in the East Bay per year, and the occasional visit to see the family in Palo Alto, Sacramento, Paradise or Chico.

So, either I could argue I have no life, or that I live in an area nearby all I need, from groceries to entertainment. I could also say I'm trying to conserve the environment, or that my wife and I take her car often enough that I'm not racking up the miles like I once did. Regardless, for having 125,000 miles behind it, the car is in remarkable shape. I haven't had to get it serviced for a really long time, aside from the occasional oil change. As much as I may dream of a better, fancier car, or look envious at hybrids to do what's right, we're in a pretty good spot with our 10-year-old clunker.

Pictures from Colorado Trip

As mentioned earlier in the week, my wife Kristine and I took a rare three-day weekend to visit Denver, Colorado, where I lived from ages 6 to 8, and attended both 1st and 2nd grade. While there, I had the amazing opportunity to visit the home where I had lived in 1983-85, and return to my elementary school where I had gone to 1st grade, sometimes walking in the snow on my way. We also drove up to Boulder to see the University of Colorado campus and the surrounding area.

Below are some of the photos from the trip. They are presented in thumbnail images. Click any of the photos to enlarge to full size.


Colorado features some beautiful wildflowers.
Here are some from the Denver LDS temple.


Pictures of our humble Littleton home,
20 years after we had left it behind.


A couple pictures of me at the home and school,
just to prove I was actually there.


In Boulder, there was great scenery,
but it was chilly, hence the jacket.

I'm not a huge fan of photos and don't usually plaster them all over the blog, but I wanted to share what we had. Now, all I have to do is go back in my files and find pictures of when I was at the same home as a kid for a true before and after.

Colorado Childhood, 20 Years Later

This morning, my wife and I set off to Littleton, Colorado, where I had attended 1st and 2nd grade way back in the 1982-84 timeframe. We plugged in the old address into our rented Audi's GPS and sure enough, we eventually found ourselves in front of the home where my youngest brother was born and where I had engaged in many a memorable snowball fight during the winter or mudfight in the summer, if my other brother and I were let alone in the backyard with the garden and the hose for too long.

After parking, Kristine and I walked the perimeter of the property, taking a few pictures, and I tried to explain to her how the floorplan of the home was, simply by pointing and gestures. But as we were doing this, the current owner stepped out and curious, inquired what we were doing. I sheepishly explained I had lived there 20-plus years ago and was just visiting. Rather than being annoyed with us and shooing us away, he and his family invited us in to revisit the memories I had from childhood.

Though I had not given them warning, the family invited us into their home, let us venture into the backyard, as we exchanged stories, and even into the bedrooms where we had once had bunkbeds at age six in 1983, and later, where the baby, with his crib, had shared a room with me in early 1984. We walked down to the basement and relived stories of how I had emulated the pole vaulters in the Los Angeles summer Olympics with a simple broom handle, or in a more destructive time, how we had smashed our toy Tonka trucks against the cement walls of the basement.

Our visit also filled some gaps for the family, who has been at the address since 1990, only 5 or so years after we had moved on to California. I told them how during one particularly fierce thunderstorm, the basement had flooded, fatally damaging my dad's LP records, and other heirlooms, including photo albums. I told them of how the backyard fence looked, and how my mother had planted irises around its entirety, or how we had always managed to have spots of snow in the darkest shady areas, from October to May, where the sun never completely outdid the cold.

We exchanged pleasantries, and left on our way, grateful to their trust, openness and hospitality. Our next stop? Lewis Ames elementary school, where I had attended first grade. Though my memories are hazy of much that happened that year, I could have walked from home to school without trouble, and showed the playground, and the wall where I had once tossed a jean beanbag onto the roof in an effort to show off my six-year-old arm strength.

For my wife, the visit serves to help her better understand my own background, to put pictures in her mind to match my stories, and understand the occasional struggles my family went through, or the fun times as well. A California native practically her whole life, the novelty of having a "big" 100 foot by 100 foot backyard is jaw-dropping, as was the low price of some area homes, dipping into the mid-$200,000s to $300,000, where they could easily price for 3 to 4 times that in the Bay Area.

We took a few photos of both stops, as well as the LDS Denver temple, and a trip up to Boulder to see the University of Colorado campus. As soon as we synch up the camera to the computer and post the pictures, we will make them available. We've got one more day in our three day weekend before we head home.

Spiderman 3: A Tangled Web of Stories

So, we eventually made it to Denver. We landed about 2 hours beyond schedule, but in one piece. The hotel is nice (it has free Internet, so what else do I care?) and we got a sweet Audi convertible from Hertz. Figured we might as well splurge and get the fun car, complete with Sirius Radio and GPS navigation. So now we just have to hope the weather gets good enough at some point to take the top down, and that we can drive it around a bit before going home Monday night. But on our first night here, we've already had fun - with dinner and a movie, joining the millions of others who saw Spiderman 3 in its opening weekend.

The Spiderman franchise, like Batman and Superman before it, is a must-see in the theater. We've now seen all three. And while I could easily poke holes in the individual actors' roles and speaking lines, or the intermixing of shallow plot twists, it was still fun to see. I still think MJ (Spidey's love interest) serves no purpose but to scream and be a damsel in distress, while the two (two!) villains didn't get developed to the level that I either felt for them or feared them.

The film was full of action, almost blurry at times, to the point you knew there was a good guy and a bad guy somewhere in the middle, but not much else. And when there were victims falling from buildings, they were in the air much too long versus the number of stories they had to cover before hitting the ground. But as we should try and remember, for comic book adaptations, one must suspend belief. The love twists? Sappy, and distracting. But worth seeing.

If you have the patience to wait until it leaves the theater, then give it a shot, but there's something to be said for taking in an action film on the big screen instead of the little one. I'm glad we did.

Just Plane Delayed...

When it comes to air travel, it seems my wife and I have the worst luck. After ridiculous delays with America West around Christmas and Spring Training, it's now United who has let us down. Two hours into our excursion, we haven't even gotten out of the Bay Area.

We had a simple three day weekend trip to Denver planned, returning to my first and second grade home. Our journey was supposed to start at 10:10 this morning from San Jose, but a missing part, likely useless, has thrown things to disarray.

An indicator light on the blink had to be replaced, leaving two options... Wait to have it delivered from San Francisco, or fly there ourselves. After more delays, the latter was selected. We piled on the flight, waited even longer to defuel, and finally set off to San Francisco, where we are now. After noon, we are back on the tarmac, and they are now replacing the fuel they took out in San Jose.

So we are all trapped and delayed.

The only upside? Figuring out if I can blog, using my BlackBerry, from the plane, while we wait. Sitting in an exit row isn't all bad either. But to be honest, that novelty is going to wear off pretty darn quick if we are delayed any more.

Let's go! United, this is pretty weak, guys.

Today, My iPod Left to a Higher Place

In the summer of 2005, I did the unthinkable, and left my iPod, chock full of tunes, photos and company data, on an airplane, when traveling from Chicago to Baltimore. Not having backed up my data in a while, I was challenged to find out a way to rebuild and not lose anything important, and starting over, with a new iPod, took quite a bit of time.

Not two years later, the newer iPod, a 60 gigabyte iPod Photo, has met a similar fate, once again having to do with air travel. This morning I flew from San Jose to San Diego, and upon reaching the hotel, plugged in the iPod to my laptop. After leaving the room for a few hours, I came back to find both the PowerBook and iPod were stuck in time. The seconds in my menubar weren't moving, and the iPod wasn't doing squat.

While the iPod isn't lost, it is most definitely dead, offering up only a sad iPod icon, and asking me to contact Apple support. It won't mount on my laptop, or play music. Although I've been better about backing up since the first incident and did a full backup to my laptop a week ago, this is in no way convenient. The iPod has served as the best way for me to easily transport data from one location to another, serving as much more than a portable jukebox. Now, it's a paperweight.

The question is, what to do next? Do I send it off to Apple to be repaired, uncertain as to when I'll get it back and for how much? Do I buy a new one, and junk the old one? Or do I stop with the iPod cycle and try something new? None of the options sounds cheap, and none is preferred to somehow magically fixing the one I've got, but here we are. Sigh.

Hotel and Airport Internet Access a Must

I've ranted and raved here before on the number of times I've checked into a supposedly swank hotel, only to find the hoops I need to jump through in order to get a quality Internet experience can negatively impact the whole trip. For some reason, it seems that the more I pay per night in a hotel, the more I end up paying per day, and the less I pay per day for the hotel stay, the more likely it is that my access will be both fast and free. Being budget minded doesn't mean I have to give up something I believe to be a requirement.

In this weekend's trip to Phoenix, we stayed at the Doubletree Guest Suites, and had great wireless Internet access. I could turn on the laptop and get high speed Internet anywhere in our suite. But it wasn't perfect. Not only did I have to pay $9.99 a day for the privilege, but I had to call the front desk every day to turn on my access, as the password changed every day at noon. This made us have a daily ritual where I called the front desk around 12:02 p.m. to get the new day's codes, only to call back 24 hours later. Even the front desk said they were annoyed by the policy, but there was nothing they could do.

It could have been worse, for sure. In the last few years I've gone to hotels that didn't feature any kind of Internet in their rooms, but only in the lobby, I've gone to hotels that promised high speed wireless, but I could only get a fraction of the signal if I placed the desk chair and laptop in the closet or huddled next to the door, and I've found others that required me to run Microsoft Windows. I've paid anywhere from $4.95 a day to $19.95 a night, regardless of how much activity I had online.

I see the hotel Internet access issue as being graded:

A: Free high-speed wireless access in hotel rooms and the lobby
B: High-speed wireless access in hotel rooms and the lobby for a fee
C: High-speed access in hotel rooms via in-room Internet cable
D: High-speed access in the lobby or business center
F: Anything less than high-speed access

This issue is even worse when it comes to airports. For some reason, the Silicon Valley's major airport hubs, in San Jose and San Francisco, demand you pay ten bucks or so through T-Mobile for the privilege of synching up before the flight, whether you are just catching up on e-mail before boarding, or find yourself stranded for a day changing from airline to airline. Oddly enough, other airports, in Las Vegas and Phoenix (where I am now) don't ask for diddly squat - only that you agree not to do anything nefarious on their network. Given their courtesy, I promise to be good at least for an hour or so.

To ensure highest productivity, I need to have immediate access to Internet on all my travels. Those vendors which solve the access issue will get my business. Those that don't will find themselves passed by as the more technology-oriented of travelers choose alternatives.

Enjoying Time In Arizona

To read the headlines, you would think Phoenix had erupted in a big ball of flame and the residents had been scorched to their deaths. In a double-decker front page masthead, The Drudge Report railed: "WINTER RECORD SMASHED: 99 DEGREES IN PHOENIX..." as for the fifth consecutive day, the city broke heat records, topping 94 Sunday, after peaking at 99 both Friday and Saturday. But we're loving it. The balmy heat, even at midnight, where it's 75 degrees en route to a likely low of 65 or so, reminds us of the two trips we've taken to Hawaii, first for our honeymoon, and in an second trip the following year. And to make things better, today the A's finally won a game with us in attendance.

Both Friday and Saturday saw the A's make us roll our eyes with their incompetence. The team's starting pitchers, Joe Blanton and Joe Kennedy, gave up 4 and 5 runs respectively in the first inning, before retiring a batter. The A's of course went on to lose both contests, by scores of 8-5 Friday night and, even worse, 11-4 Saturday, when the team never even had a chance. So on Sunday, with Dan Haren taking the mound, we were more hopeful for a better outcome, but strongly considered delaying our showing up to the ballpark until the 2nd inning, as maybe we were the cause. But Haren avoided our curse, shutting down the LA Angels of Anaheim for four innings, and seeing the A's to an early 2-0 lead.

Yet the Angels came back and took the lead, holding a 5-3 margin going into the final frame. It looked like the A's were going to go 0-3 for us, but it was not meant to be. The A's came back to within 5-4, with two runners on and one out in the ninth. As we crossed our fingers, and hoped against disaster, Richie Robnett smacked a 2-run single allowing the tying and winning runs to cross the plate as fans cheered, players jumped up and down in the heat, and we headed home happy. Now, with a 1-2 record under our belt, we will see the A's for a fourth and final time tomorrow at 1:05 before heading home.

Even with the four games, we've done more than see just baseball in our stay in Phoenix. On Saturday, we carried off an unlikely pairing as my wife and I first had dinner at Hooters and then drove to the Mesa LDS temple to see the sights (arguably at both locations). The Mesa temple grounds were well cared for and the temple was beautifully lit. Tonight, we headed back to Tempe near the Arizona State campus and filled up at PF Changs and Coldstone Creamery. Unlike Saturday, which featured St. Patrick's Day revelers drowning in green beer, with some handcuffed by local police, the Sunday scene was much more serene.

It's a quick mini-vacation, but much anticipated. It will be tough to get back to the grind on Tuesday.

Weekend of Spring Training

I had hinted at it a few times earlier, but Kristine and I took Friday and Monday off from work for a mini-vacation, giving us four full days in the Arizona sunshine to see the Oakland A's take on four different teams in four days at home. Despite yesterday's airport issues, we made it in with plenty of time to catch yesterday's game. While the weather was outstanding, in the 80s throughout, the A's play left much to be desired, as they fell behind 4-0 in the first inning to the hometown Arizona Diamondbacks, and never recovered, eventually going down by an 8-5 margin.

Today, we'll see them try to even up their record with us in attendance as they take on the Milwaukee Brewers at 1:00 p.m. The temperature is already in the high 80s, going to the mid to high 90s, so we'll try not to get too baked.

Switching gears... in an interesting mini-case study of how blogs can achieve direct access to corporations, where e-mail and telephone calls have traditionally failed, check out the comment left on my US Airways post from yesterday. One man associated with the airline pulled overtime to explain why he thought our flight was delayed, and why he thinks I was premature in criticizing the airline. (Read his Comment) Of course, that doesn't take into account the issues we had on Christmas Eve, where a lot of my frustrations originated.

Hopefully our return trip will be easier... but until then, we intend to have fun, cheer on the green and gold on this very green holiday!

Stuck At the Airport Again, Thanks to US Airways

You know, I think I'd learn from the Christmas Eve "experience" that the merger of US Airways and America West has created the world's most inefficient airline. Yet, when Expedia suggested we take the airline to Phoenix for Spring Training, we didn't balk. Now, we're again stuck at the San Jose Airport for another ridiculous delay, and are again questioning our sanity when it comes to this ridiculous airline.

A mid-day flight in perfect weather conditions isn't exactly the prime target for something to go awry. My wife and I breezed through security, and were all set for an alleged 12:25 flight from San Jose to Phoenix. Yet, minutes away from the time we would anticipate boarding, all the numbers came off the board, and the flight's new departure time is 1:20. Guess why?

Allegedly, workers fueling the plane in Phoenix had opted to "take a break" during its fueling, and overdid it. Now, the plane, in transit to San Jose, will have to dump the excess fuel between here and there, making us wait. Now, if the workers wanted to go smoke away from the fuel, I totally get that, as a late plane is better than a charred jet carcass, but it doesn't exactly fill me with comfort as to the airline's professionalism and safety.

I don't think we will have to "call ahead" to the A's and ask them to delay tonight's game, planned for 7 p.m. in Phoenix, so we can be there at the start, but we're still annoyed. I've had it with this ridiculous excuse for an airline.