Crawl space bot.

R8 in the wild.

I don't know why the street lights never go red when you need to text - or you want to get a shot of the less common convertible Audi r8.

All of a sudden you can get from one side of town to the other without stopping. Which makes it hard to get good shots.

Seriously. I'm one day away from gainful employment as a cat driver. Without the gain. Or the employment.

Trailer parking for dummies.

I finally picked up my mini dozer this afternoon. I've never run a dozer before. But they are awesome. This particular dozer has treads, which make it so it can turn on a dime. Maturity on my part stops me from just doing donuts in the yard. Well, also I don't think I have enough room to rip out the front lawn. But if it weren't for that - donuts.

Oddly the hard part about the dozer is the bucket. This is something that a little experience is definitely a benefit. Also my yard is lumpy so it isn't as easy as dropping the bucket and waiting for magic. It takes a little skill to run a good line. It turns out my husband is amazing at this. Amazing!

We both apparently suck at backing trailers up. Which I didn't expect.

I wanted to back the trailer up to the rock bin to secure it. Making it so it is sandwiched between the bin and my truck. I didn't want to "lose" this trailer.

I couldn't do it for the life of me. I kept jackknifing it. I was sure if I could just get the truck and the trailer in a straight line I could just back it up.

Yeah. Not so much.

Finally we both decided we were going to park a car in back of the trailer. But as I was bringing it around the block I stopped and asked one of the car guys down the block how to do it. He has trailers all the time to carry his cars. He wound up just coming down to do it, and I drove him back home in the chrysler. Awesome.

Although I still don't know how to do it. I was in just such awe of how good he was at it I wasn't paying attention to how he was turning the wheel. No matter which way I turned the wheel the trailer wanted to turn into the street.

You can't see what is under the ground.

I'm going to try to get this out early because by the end of the day I bet I will be cranky. The rental place woke me up at 8:00 to say the baby dozer I was renting for tomorrow is available today.

Which makes me have to rearrange my plans. After I already rearranged them because the dozer wasn't available today. Suddenly it is. I think the guy who was going to borrow it - upgraded. Whatever.

Since I initially couldn't get it for today - I thought I would have a leisurely day finishing the sprinklers I worked on all day yesterday. This basically involved a lot of "guess where this goes". Something I thought I would take me a couple of hours is going to take a lot longer because of the crazy configuration they took. I'm sure it seemed logical at the time - but is making my life miserable.

I have one whole line that doesn't go anywhere. But I can't just just cap it off. I know before I leave this place one of those lines is going to leak. If I just don't trace it back - I will go through the whole process again. It's better just to suck it up and remove what I can.

This is all. For now.

You can't have anything nice.

Not only is the graffiti pretty random - it's like 50 feet from a pie restaurant.

I think it will be less sucky.

It's taken me a little bit to get back on track. My cold has made me constantly tired. The weather I'm completely over. I got up this morning, saw the sky was some flavor of white - which made me blurt out profanities. The sky is almost blue now, so I have the strength to carry on. Whew. Close call.

I used to post on the weekends all the time, but I stopped trying to fight the trend. People just don't read on weekends. Then all of a sudden everyone shifted. I've been getting a lot of weekend traffic - so I guess I will make an effort again.

Today I rented a rock bin. Which is basically a long short dumpster. This should be a non story. Except this is California. I literally spent an hour trying to give them the exact ratio of dirt to concrete that was going to exist in the bin. I had to fill out nine pages of forms. But oh, don't stick any of those pages in the bin. They are not dirt or concrete. This will trigger a stage five hasmat alert.

I was actually a little afraid. In California - dirt is not organic. But rather an implied toxic substance. I wouldn't be surprised if they took a soil sample to make sure the ratio of carbon to other substances was just the right consistency. Bastards.

Half the people in this state think too much of their need for progeny. If a few of them get mutated, who could tell the difference anyway?

Dog and Butterfly into the air we fly.

Well worth the cost of personalized plates, because it made me smile. And yes - the world exists to entertain me. But you knew that.

Oh - Here go hell come.

If there is anything you need to know about me - it is that I hate doctors. Will do anything not to go. Even had the occasional thought of - I wonder how much of this pet antibiotic I need to take to get me up to a human dose. Which I know sounds crazy and I've never done. No! Never.

Doctors are fine people, but I spent way too much time in hospitals when I was young. Despite the fact that when I was young, we were poor - and poor people didn't see doctors. Unless you were going to die. And well.. I'm still scarred to this day.

Anyway. Today I had to make my semi annual visit to my primary. Who was running an hour and a half behind schedule.

The other thing you need to know about me is that I am not a patient person. Wait. You already know what about me. Don't you?

Double anyway. Two people in the waiting room pretty much flipped out. One flipped to another doctor. Which I would have done but couldn't this time.

Finally he came to see me. I'm pissed but think - he is way behind. And I'm prepared to be super quick because I'm pissed. And it's like three degrees outside/inside. All my fatty bits are effing cold! And it's 1:30 and I haven't eaten anything.

Oh... but it didn't go that way.

First five minutes he talked about his Christmas party. Where he served wine. So the second 5 minutes we talked wine. You know pleasantries. I think I'm home free. No.

Next 20 minutes we talked about him starting a new practice. Which must be why is was so behind. Finally at around 30mins in I quickly rush through my stuff. But he has this prescription laptop that takes 10 minutes to fill out a effing prescription.

After doing so, he tells me to be careful if I have to drive on the narcotic cough syrup he just prescribed, and that if I do drive and get in an accident - not to "freely admit" to being on said cough syrup. Which is of course why you put up with all this shit.

He is a really good doc, and if I was a random patient all this would sound crazy. He and I have sort of an unconventional relationship. What am I saying? I have an unconventional relationship with everyone I know really.

The whole thing just put a crater into my whole day. And that is irritating.

Pioneer heads up display.

Hard to see, but the display is showing a map.

Military pride.

San Jose car show on Sunday.

In the future, credit cards will have lights and buttons.

This is a pretty dry video - but at least take a look. Credit cards of the future are pretty fascinating. I actually found this to be one of the more interesting things at the show.

Jerry Pournelle sighting at CES.

Mr S. wanted me to post this picture. Because if there is anything we glean from my you - is that you all are readers. Most likely scifi readers. He thought you'd enjoy this shot. I didn't know who he was.

I, of course, am illiterate and riddled with ADD. So, if its longer than three pages, I probably won't read it.

Jerry is quite spry for an 80 year old. I got two shots off, then lost sight of him. Tried to track him down, but he'd vanished in three seconds. Which was amazing since he was wearing a tan jacket and most people were wearing dark suits.

Sidenote - I just realized I got Mr S. in this shot. He's to the right looking down.

Window washing robots might not be bullshit.

I've been watching this technology for a while and had declared this to be a bullshit technology. I might have been wrong.

I figured the magnetic system would be too abrasive for most windows which are not made of glass anymore.

You will call it sphincternet. You will.

OMG! Home endoscope. Your butt is going 2 have a twitter feed.

Now updated with pictures.



I have no idea what kind of debauchery this is going to lead to. Okay - that is a lie. The internet shows me a lot of crazy shit. So, I have somewhat of an idea. I guess they are just giving the public what they want. And, they want to see inside themselves.

Make bets now.

Before i leave today im gonna beat someone with a scooter or rolling suitcase.

Take my poll. ------>

Oh yeah. It's Monday.

Yesterday I started switching my schedule from going to sleep at 2, to getting up at 4 in the morning. Yeah, us techies don't keep banking hours. I figured if we altered our schedule early - being in Vegas might be less exhausting.

This of course made me completely loose my mind. Meaning I locked myself out of the house this morning. I've only done this a couple of times in my whole life. So, I had to meet up with Mr S. to get his keys. Then I figured I might as well fill up the car with gas.

Now, I'm going to segue back to yesterday. Where I bought some of those barefoot running shoes. CES leaves my feet mangled for weeks. Blisters, and I get a bruise under my big toe nail. Every year! And I'm active. It feels like you walk 75 miles. But, its probably only 5. Still.. my feet pay and pay and pay.

These barefoot running shoes keep your toes all separated so stuff doesn't rub. I started wearing them today so I could make sure something didn't pop up unexpectedly. I didn't think anything of it. And of course I am a little disjointed because my day is starting off weird.

Back to the gas station. I have to go inside because the machine won't take my card. I'm trying to tell the cashier this when the guy behind me becomes all fixated on my shoes. He wants to see the soles and wants to talk about them. Which is fine but totally fragments me out. I'm trying to deal with the cashier and the guy who is fascinated by my shoes.

Everywhere I've gone this morning people have noticed them. Which I didn't expect. I'm functionally shy and like to prepare for things that are going to garner a lot of attention. I didn't think these shoes would be something that did that. They do.

It's pretty awesome.

Two years of hope and change down the drain.

I don't know if I've ever had less feelings, than I do right now, about ending a year and starting a new one. I've been trying all day to wrap this year up with a bow and send it on its way. All I have is vast ambivalence.

Hey! Remember when we were all going to die because an oil platform blew up - opened a fissure in the earth - creating a giant mega volcano? Not to mention how the whole food chain would be infected and we were going to starve to death. And that bird flu thing. Cripes. Good times, this year.

I guess I'm looking forward to the Jerry Brown administration. It is going to be the funnest administration yet. He has no filter. The Dems are going to be forced to eat each other. He releases his budget, like - next week. The honeymoon will be short.

That is really all I've got. Except ambivalence.

My resolution for the year? To use more commas.

Updates. We have updates.

I don't really have a lot. Yesterday I woke up and it was sunny. So I immediately declared - that mow strip is going in today. And it did. All were happy and there was world peace everywhere. There was! I said it. World... peace.

I've been trying to get that damn thing in for three weeks. And it is a good thing I declared it yesterday, because Hawaii is crying and sending us her tears. Which basically means another pineapple express storm.

My mother in law is in the loony bin. Sort of. Which I find sort of comical. She was having that hip surgery over the holiday. She was doing so well she wasn't going to go to rehab at first. I think for liability they really want you to go anyway.

They never tell you in advance where they are sending them. Turns out the facility is an old psychiatric hospital. But, they only converted half of it to a rehab facility. The other half is still crazies. And she can hear them screaming.

In a little over a week I will be in Las Virus. I mean Vegas. For the Consumer Electronics Show. I'm not sure if I will be contributing a cold, or taking an all new cold. CES is well known for the havoc it reeks on peoples immune systems.

Until then, it could just be MIL updates. I'm trying to be zen because January is a busy month.

Merry Christmas.

Seen.

Peoples of the world - I wish you all....... would get new cell phones for Christmas.

Some people's video is like watching R rated movies without cable. All pixelly. I also hope Santa teaches you that once you shoot video, you can't rotate it. And turning your head sideways to watch a video, sucks. It'sa Santa PSA.

Oh yeah. And world Peace. Goodwill towards man. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mostly the cell phone thing though.

Drudgery.

I still've got nuthin'. Basically. Saffron needed to go to the vet to get refills for her eye drops. So I took her to the hardware store.

One of the things about California in the last few years is just how pet friendly we've become. I was going to get shots of her next to the shovels, but meh. I get to the checker. Is that a bunny in the bag - he asks. Hey, guess what is in the bag - he shouts to another checker.

Her - Uuuuhm. A dog? Sounding unimpressed.

Him - No a bunny.

Ooohs and awwhs all around.

I told u it would be slow.

I don't have anything interesting for you.

There has been the rain. But not spectacular rain. The only interesting thing was waking up on Sunday and finding my deck flooded. Accidentally. I was just peeking outside to see the rain and went - oh shit.

The deck is effed. A recession and the fact the deck is a complicated project is the only thing that makes this story mildly amusing. Since the deck needs to be replaced - I normally keep the drains clean. It was super windy which caused leaves to clog the drains.

This deck is over my garage. And at this point is filled with 2-3 inches of water. Over the top of my feet.

I'm not really sure how much weight this deck can hold - but I'm confident I have to get that water draining right away. In the end, that was the only drama. So, meh.

Oh! I learned something new about Christmas. Apparently people send a lot of flowers. My mother in law is going in for a hip replacement - two days before Christmas. Electively. It isn't like she fell and needed the replacement. She's athletic. It just wore out. She is braver than I am. It's kind of a big surgery and staffing can't be that great during the holidays. Then 2 weeks in rehab through the New Years. Not the drug kind. I know you are a twisted bunch. You are.

Anyway. Pretty much all the good flowers were sold out. Which leads me into the forced shopping. I'm not a great shopper anyway. I don't mind the crowds so much. I just want them to move. Unlike the zombified shuffling they are doing now.

Oh! And I never hate women and old people as much as I do through the holidays. I saw this woman stare at a candy cane for like a minute. Like she'd never seen one before. I don't care if you want to fondle, smell, and dream about every item. Just stand out of the way.

See... nothing interesting.

This years Christmas has last years sound track.

I was going to get you pictures from the light crawl - but I had equipment failure. Video instead.

It'sa bout to get dark in here.

Wow. It isn't often that we get hit with a storm that spans the whole Pacific.

This is going to be the tipping point. Not the 30 billion in debt. Or unemployment. But, a vast long rain storm. Californians are totally going to freak out. We are a fragile bunch.