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Happy 2012 Winter Solstice!
- To: robert-friends
- Subject: Happy 2012 Winter Solstice!
- From: http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert (Robert)
- Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:08:19 -0800
Happy Winter Solstice!
Here is my latest contact information:
Robert
.
where-I-live
my-Oakland-voicemail-number (voicemail)
our-San-Jose-phone-number
our-Oakland-cell-phone-number (cell)
http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert
http://www.
My solstice update is below.
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News
Lifestyle
* Careers
* The new is old is new again. Back in January, I was given notice
that I was to be laid off since my operating unit was being sold
to another company. Although they gave me 3 months to find
another job, Noelle and I scrambled to take as much advantage of
our good medical insurance and benefits before I was kicked off
the payroll. I made a lot of contacts and everybody was very
helpful to me during this stressful period (you know who you
are!). I did find a job a couple of months later after my
notice. I'm now working at a small start-up in San Mateo doing
"big data" sorta stuff.
* Homeward bound. My new job has allowed me to work at home 2 days a
week. Avoiding my long commute to San Mateo has been a relief and
has kept my stress levels at an even keel.
* Sharing the pain. I have still been regularly attending the job
search support group that Noelle introduced me to, despite my now
having a job. I have been attending so that I can share the tips
and tricks I know about job seeking, just to help people out.
* Family
* Parents in the fall. My parents flew from the east coast in late
October, early November. I took a week off from work. My father
has mobility problems, so the usual outdoor activities were not
an option. Despite that, we managed to find a number of things
to do and see. Driving up to Lick Observatory/Mount Hamilton was the
highlight; it was surprisingly warm, but it was very clear and extremely
quiet. The visit was a laid-back affair. See
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/noelle/sets/72157631953441491/ .
* Home
* Making the most of climate change. We successfully held 2
backyard potlucks over the summer, one in June and another in
August. June was well-attended and, as usual, the August one had
a smaller turn out. It's not yet at the point where I can set up
the entire thing electronically since I don't have email addresses for
everybody yet; so, we did need to resort to flyers for some neighbors.
See pictures at
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/noelle/sets/72157630021263450/
* No contact with contractors. We're finally in a position to get some
work done on the house that needs doing since we moved in here. But,
of course, as soon as the need arises, people to do the work are
nowhere to be found, despite the so-called housing slump. I have
made numerous inquiries to different people. We did find a general
contractor who is willing to do some work; we are hoping that the
relationship will be long-lasting.
* Garden
* Dangers in the Bermuda polygon. Bermuda grass completely infested
our square-shaped raised bed garden. We're trying something
different. There was a concrete slab in the back yard. We're
going to try placing the raised bed on top of that in the hopes
that the grass won't creep through and make our life miserable.
* Transportation
* Bicycle
* Silicon Valley flats. My bicycles began having a string of flat tires
in early summer, lasting through the summer. I had at least 5 flats
on different bicycles. One of my bikes, however, continued to get
flats. I finally figured out that it was the tire liner I inserted
to prevent flats that was puncturing the tube! Since I pulled out
the liner, it's been smooth riding ever since. (Or, at least, as
smooth as a mountain bike can be.)
* Travel
* Sea Inn clearly. Noelle and I drove up to Mendocino. Although
driving past many times, I never went there and Noelle thought I
should go. Noelle found a place stay: Stanford Inn By The Sea.
The setting was cool, but scenic and pleasant. The rooms were
interesting, but not terribly practical. For example, each room
had a fireplace for its primary heating. We tried it, but
everything, including our clothes, ended up smelling smoky.
Noelle's initial motivation behind this choice was that the inn
has a restaurant that caters to vegans. The menu for Ravens
Restaurant is full of interesting and appealing dishes. We
enjoyed our entrees, but the desserts were especially great,
since, in most restaurants, they are not available as a choice
for me. Breakfast was good, too. My only regret is that I didn't
starve myself before we went. See pictures at
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/noelle/sets/72157628631490175/
* Sacramentally prepared. The family in Santa Barbara bailed on us
going there for Thanksgiving. Noelle's friends in Sacramento
offered to have us over their place on T-Day. It gave us an
opportunity to see their new place, visit the sights of
Sacramento again (I hadn't been there in years), and meet with
old friends we have in the area. Their home was comfortable
(definitely not cozy, 'tho). They very courteously made nearly
all food vegan -- I probably didn't need to bring as much of my
own food as I did. It was all quite yummy. It was also good
seeing the old friends we have in the area, seeing what they're
up to, catching up with their lives, and hitting the big spots in
Sacramento. We didn't get a chance to see the American River
part of the Sacramento River system, but we did see some of the
waterfront, including touristy Old Sacramento. One friend took us
to "Dragon House", which was whimsical and interesting.
* Money
* Final divorce from Macrosoft. The little dregs of stock that
were offered to me as part of my employment were dumped at last.
It was liberating getting rid of it, getting a tad bit (maybe a hand
or two) of the monkey off my back.
* Food
* Tales of Lohr. Noelle discovered that a local winery/winemaker
named J. Lohr was sponsoring a special vegan dinner, with paired
wines (most prepared with vegans in mind) for each course. The
dinner was on Earth Day in April. Although my stomach is very
sensitive to red wines, they were nice enough to help me navigate
through the dinner, offering me various alternatives. During the
dinner, there was a brief presentation about J. Lohr and its
ecological agricultural techniques. It was a fun evening; I hope we
can participate if they decide to do it again.
* Coming keen with peaches. The peaches and other stone fruit at Andy's
Orchard are unlike most that you'll encounter at a food market. During
July, they bring out their many varieties and let people get tastings
of the fruit. When we got to Morgan Hill, it was hot and dry, but
the peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, and pluots were all sweet and
wonderful.
* Health
* Yoga
* Salutations in the forest. Up in the hills at the Montalvo Arts
Center in Saratoga, on New Year's Day, we, along with a group
of yoga enthusiasts, hiked around in the woods. There were frequent
stops along the way, giving everybody a chance to relax and do their
stretching. Needless to say, I was nowhere near as flexible as most
of the yogis and yoginis there.
* If you walk down Bollywood Boulevard. In March, we trekked up to
Castro Valley (near our old stomping grounds in where-I-live) to learn
how to make some Bhangra moves. Noelle found out about the class
from her yoga friend there. I have not done much dancing in general
and had never taken a dancing class. Therefore, there proved to be
three challenges: (1) learning to dance, along with the moves,
(2) learning the Bollywood/Bhangra moves in particular, and (3)
avoid getting totally exhausted! Avoiding exhaustion was
impossible. We were happy to sit down at a restaurant to a meal,
stopping our concentration and getting off our feet.
* Gym
* Fit together. Noelle and I have been going to the gym together
more often. Mutual reinforcement? In any case, having a
partner makes it easier to find the enthusiasm to lift weights
and get some exercise. Although my new workplace doesn't offer
any sort of gym benefit, I'll renew our membership so we can continue
to keep a focus on health.
* Eyes
* These eyes. The problems I had with my varying vision prescription
have seemed to mostly resolve itself. I am continuing to visit
my ophthalmologist every 6 months, but my eyesight has stayed steady
for almost a year now.
* Ears
* No bell towers here. I have been working diligently to control my
vertigo. I have managed to combine a canalith repositioning
procedure (CRP) with my regular back, neck, and leg stretches
so that I don't have to pile on yet another exercise to my
routine.
* People
* Missing persons. I continue to no longer have email addresses
for these people:
Clayton Glad
Louise Zivnuska
Bruce Moreland
If you're in contact with any of these people, please tell them that
I am missing their email addresses.
Entertainment
* Movies
* Unhitchcockian. In October, Rifftrax was determined to make fun
of yet another movie in public. This time, it was "Birdemic", a
perfect movie for mockery. It really makes one wonder what
motivates someone to continue to finish making a film to the bitter
end, despite the realization of how miserable the film is.
Regardless, it was fun seeing the sights of where-I-live and silicon
valley on the big screen.
* Trading places. Earlier this year, I decided to exchange my and
Noelle's Netflix queue since I have been struggling to keep my
queue full. So, Noelle now has the "main" queue, and I, the
subordinate queue. Thus, you can see my Netflix queue, such as
it, at http://tinyurl.com/nosnetflixqueue . We continue to share
our instant queue and is still available at
http://rss.netflix.com/QueueEDRSS?id=P8598597045281752300300559819027949 .
* Other flix. All my Movielens ratings are available at
http://tinyurl.com/robertsmovielens . There are a number of movies
which are not on Movielens but which I have seen and rated on
http://robertb.filmaster.com/?f=ratings .
* Music
* Everybody's happy. The Sun Kings are a Beatles cover band, and,
on a warm summer August, we were invited to see them with some
friends in Redwood City, which happens to be right on my return
commute. The singer who does the Lennon songs has the Lennon
singing voice down pat. They also pulled off a rendition of A
Day in The Life, which is tricky on stage.
* Television
* Long for a cylon. Noelle doesn't care much for most science
fiction movies or television. So, while she's away, I find
movies and shows to watch which she wouldn't enjoy watching with
me. I ran through a few different shows on Netflix, including
"Day Break" and "State of Play" (both of which, sadly, only lasted a
single season), but Netflix suggested the 2004 "Battlestar
Gallatica". That's been my standby for now, and it ain't too bad.
* Comedy
* Moz-illa. Moz Jobrani was in town a few days before New Year's
and we decided to go see him. Moz was part of the Axis of Evil
Comedy Tour and also appears on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
occasionally. As per usual, he was hilarious, sometimes in an
uncomfortable way.
* Outdoors
* Hiking for the good. This year, we've been joining in on a lot
of group hikes. Noelle's feet have been feeling better, and I
finally get chances to use my fancy-schmancy hiking boots. If
sufficiently laid-back, hiking provides the perfect situation to
chat with people and make connections.
* Looking through a cat eye lens. Last year, we were given a gift
certificate to ride a boat in the bay, and agreed to take the
plunge in July. Adventure Cat Harbor Cruises, in San Francisco,
takes people out into the bay in their catamaran. The whole
journey going up to the city and getting to the pier was
exciting. The trains were crowded, and so we got to take a pedi
cab. After returning from the cruise, we walked to Millennium
Restaurant and ate dinner before returning to where-I-live. See photos at
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/noelle/sets/72157630696315616/
* Theater
* Hear no evil, see no evil. We tried our best to get to Santa
Cruz this past summer to see the SF Mime Troupe, but it was to no
avail. Caught in a big traffic jam and then taking a short-cut
which turned out to be a long-cut, made us horribly late. Two
and a half hours later, we arrived in Santa Cruz; we ate some
veggie food with some friends -- the highlight of that trip! --
before returning to our south bay home.
* Art
* Chalk one up for some cheap jollies. Noelle decided to sign up
for tiny spot at the Luna Park Chalk Art Festival, to try our
hand at some sidewalk art. We triked/biked there, found our
spot, hunkered down, and started drawing. (Noelle already had an
idea of what we were going to draw.) When we finished (we
finished earlier than most people), we wandered around, saw a
good band, and biked home. It was a nice day. See pictures at
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/noelle/sets/72157631650955012/
* Not just another fry day. where-I-live holds a monthly event called
South First Friday Art Walks where various venues (restaurants,
stores, galleries) feature some art works from local artists.
Along with a few friends, in May, we began our tour of the venues
at a local vegetarian food haunt called Good Karma. The walk was
leisurely and intriguing.
Politics/Society
* Voting/Elections
* The less things change, the more they stay the same. This year,
I voted for Jill Stein for president, The Green Party candidate.
Looking through my archive, I realize that exactly 10 years ago,
I voted for Jill Stein for governor of Ma.
Ironically, at the time, she was again running against Mitt
Romney.
* Economics
* This is Alternative Radio. The host for Alternative Radio, David
Barsamyan visited in September and dropped by The where-I-live Peace
and Justice Center. We heard him present and discuss his latest
book "Occupy the Economy", a book he wrote with Noam Chomsky. He talked
about various topics, not just "occupy" or the book.
Technology
* Computers
* Software
* Linux
* More minty fresh apples. I was issued a Macbook Pro upon
starting my new job. Among the very first things I did was
install Linux Mint on it. I'm glad I did. The more I use
MacOSX, the less pleased I am with it. Debian-based Linuxes
are better and give me more options. Sadly, our primary
supported platform is MacOSX and I must use that for work.
* Hardware
* Laptops
* Netbooks are not dead, yet. My old Sony Vaio laptop breathed
its last breath this year, and I needed a replacement. I
typically use this laptop when we travel since it's cheap and
wouldn't be devastated if it got lost or stolen. I decided
upon an Asus EEE netbook. It's adorable. When I received it,
I was expecting to install Linux Mint side-by-side with
Windows XP, but both would not fit on the tiny SSD hard drive.
I felt comfort just wiping away Windows and keeping just Linux
on it. It worked out very well.
* Networks
* Modem operandi. I have a pretty old ADSL modem and depended
upon it as my primary internet access. I was worried that
not having an optional back-up modem might leave me without
net access for days and, so, I invested in a Zoom ADSL 2+
modem. Our house has old wiring and the phone CO is a bit far
and the modem didn't work out-of-the-box. I spent several
hours with my ISP trying to get it to work -- it's amazing
what people 100 miles away can do.
* Mobile devices
* Is it mobile or wireless? Given my long commute to work via
train and my plan to use my time expeditiously and
efficiently, I signed up for Verizon Wireless 4G Broadband
service to hook up to my laptop. The connectivity is
hit-or-miss, and mostly "miss", unfortunately. I feel
certain that it's the USB modem's fault, but, because I'm
locked into a contract, it's a bit painful to change
midstream. I may need to get another modem, but I'll cross
that bridge when I need to.
* Telephones
* No confusion. Late last year, my ISP offered a combined internet
and telephone service called Fusion. It would save me $10 per
month (which it has). The main criterion was that the phone
service had to be Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) to be able to
use in an emergency, and it fit the bill. I went for it. It's
great that I can change my phone settings (call forwarding, etc.)
and can access my voicemail via a web browser.