analog thoughts in a binary world

bollards are those pole-like things you see in front of a lot of buildings and parks and construction zones...and in case you didn't know what they are for, they are designed to allow pedestrian traffic and prevent automotive traffic. In the case of areas of construction, they are placed strategically to close a lane or areas to allow for work to be performed.

Anyway, those guys across the pond have created "rising bollards", which allow 'certain' vehicles to pass if they have the need to, i.e., city maintenance vehicles and buses, but prevent all other vehicles from passing. I'm guessing that the 'approved' vehicles have an RF-activated transmitter that they would have to manually engage in order to move the bollards. I'm also guessing that whatever is on the other side of the bollards is probably an area that would otherwise get a lot of vehicular traffic if not for the impediment.

But, human nature being what it is, people will try to beat the bollards...

keep an eye on the windshield of the very last van that tries to get through. OUCH!

to all the fellas out there with ladies to impress,
it's easy to do just follow these steps.

1. cut a hole in a box
2. put your junk in that box
3. make her open the box

...and that's the way you do it.




Color Me Badd, anyone?

I've been keeping up with Transformers updates on Jalopnik for a while now, only to be teased with stupid CGI and spy shots from the movie set...but today, finally, a real trailer for next year's Transformers the Movie!!!!

I'm not so sure I like how Optimus Prime looks like, and is it me, or do the robots look a little too organic? Also, what's the deal with the girl? We all know that any human characters could only be Spike, his son, and countless, nameless soldiers. Don't throw a girl in the mix Mr. Bay! Please don't let there be a romantic subplot!

Everyone knows that I'm a car guy. I love all things automotive, though mostly all things automotive that are performance-oriented.

But I do believe that certain cars fulfill a certain purpose...take, for example, our Honda Odyssey EX-L - the safest and most useful car that my family needs.

It's safe, it's comfortable, and it can take my soon-to-be family of four wherever the road may take us. Not only that, we're averaging 21 MPG on regular gas...

On the other end of the spectrum, there's a Porsche 911 Turbo, a car I don't have but if I did have, would probably only have for a week before my license gets suspended.

Awesome performance, and for the first time ever, the performance of a slushbox is BETTER than a standard transmission (not that I'd get an automatic with this car, but still!).

However, I've always wanted an RV. I like going on road trips, but RV's are only good on the road. Once the road ends, you have to take another vehicle to get to where you really want to go. Let's face it, RV's don't belong in an trailer park or an RV lot...unless, of course, you think of camping as driving to a parking lot and pitching a tent next to your car. I think an RV should take you to see nature and take you away from the beaten path...

With that in mind, I think I found the perfect RV. It's a Unicat VXL-16HD, the 'middle' model in a full range of all-purpose vehicles.

Here are some pictures:










Now *that's* an RV! Greenpeace and Caltrans would be all over my ass if I had an RV like this. Roads? Who needs roads?


But, let's face it, I'm a minimalist...and if I had the choice, I'd eschew all other options and get a Mazda MX-5 PRHT (a Miata with power retractable hardtop is better than the regular Miata).

Of all the cars I've driven, the Miata is probably my favorite because it makes the experience of driving 'pure' and 'unadulterated' - driving the car feels like an extension of yourself...

Much to Shannon's dismay, I've been doing a lot of shopping on Amazon lately...

My justification is that I earned some extra money by attending an auto consultation clinic (where I earned $150 cash for less than an hour of 'work')...but I decided to spend the money before I got it.

SO, I bought the following:

- a bicycle (single-speed alumnimum cruiser)
- a bike seat for Matty (weeride kangaroo)
- two bike helmets, one for me, one for Matty (so we can be safe!)
- a bike mirror (so I can see behind me)
- a bike lock (you can never trust the people in Irvine)
- a rear bike rack (to strap stuff on)
- a bike storage system (for storing the bike in the shed)

I managed to stay *under* $150 since I took advantage of Amazon's 70% off Sports/Outdoor sale...but it won't seem like it with the amount of stuff I got, and since the prices seemed to have jumped today.

I would have gotten more...but whatever I didn't get, I put on my wishlist.

I figured that since I was wishing, I went ahead and wished for pretty outrageous things...

anyway, with the bike, Matty and I can get out of the house and let Shannon have some alone-time...or rather, get-away-from-the-two-year-olds time, the two year olds being Matty and myself (two years old in mental age and maturity).

Lately here at work, people have been leaving en masse.

Seriously, there's major brain-drain going on here...the older folks who have been with the company for 30+ years are retiring because the company is getting rid of pension plans at the end of this year, and all the young folks who have less than three years of experience are leaving after they get their Masters degrees or realize that they won't get promoted anytime soon.

Is it burnout, as illustrated here?



I'm not quite sure what the 5th or 7th picture is depicting...maybe he's ironing his ears, thereby taking burnout to another level?

My take on the illustration:

1. sleep pretty soundly at 2:00
2. hail a cab, or point at Superman
3. take a freaky floating escalator onto the head of your future self, therefore, it's a form of time-travel
4. work (or abuse the wireless network while using the bathroom)...and prepare for your past self to land on your head
5. iron ears
6. I GOT CHEMICALS IN MY EYES!!! EYEWASH STATION!!!
7. iron ears. again.
8. hail a cab, or point at Superman
9. sleep pretty soundly at 2:00

I don't know about you, but with the exception of ironing one's ears and getting chemicals in your eyes, that really doesn't sound like a bad day.


anyway, FTA:

Ayala Pines, a researcher in Israel who’s looked at burnout in all sorts of inspired contexts (including marriage), rather heartbreakingly sums up the problem as “the failure of the existential quest”—that moment when we wake up one morning and realize that what we’re doing has appallingly little value.

I think all the young guys (I'm an old and busted fart compared to my 'peers' here) are burning out because they don't see the value in their work since they work and work in a lab but don't understand how it all fits into the big picture. Then again, engineers are so focused on learning so much about so little...

I honestly don't care. If they leave, better for me. I'm already considered senior here (by title only), so I can only look forward to more responsibility, right?

...ooh...maybe even middle management!

I've got a pretty stupid sense of humor...so stupid, that I loved Stella when it was on Comedy Central.

Misters Michael, Michael, and David are the pictures you see when you type the following in google images:

"dumb comedy in a suit"


anyway, if I had some money left, I'd get this.

:)


I'd have to figure out when I could watch it though, since we just bought Cars, and Shrek 2, and Transformers the Movie (20th anniversary edition).


but seriously, what's the deal with cutting the best shows on TV? Stella and Arrested Development?

at least they brought Family Guy back...and Aqua Teen Hunger Force isn't going away anytime soon...

So while I sit here at work and continue to plug away at documentation, I'm listening to Pandora and set it to play whatever it wants to play.

Anyway, a song by a group I've never heard of (Danity Kane) began to play, and it was so dumb, brain matter started dripping from my nose and started forming a pool shaped like an inverted question mark on my keyboard and looking at it almost made me throw up in my mouth but I didn't though, so I went and got an english muffin instead.

I mean, I thought it was dumb, but sadly, I'm so out of touch from 'youth culture' that I can believe that many people actually relate to the song...because you know, EVERYONE drives a lowered Cadillac sitting on 22's (oh, plus 2, whatever the hell that is).

So, I did what I thought was necessary and did some googling for Danity Kane, and, lo and behold, they're the winners from MTV's "Making the Band"...produced none other by no-talent-asshat-extraordinaire Puff Daddy, whose idea of creating new music is taking old music and saying "uh huh" and "bad boy" over the lyrics, which were made by someone who died YEARS ago but still keeps coming out with new songs.

I'm the last person anyone should contact regarding "what's hot" today. I wear clothes that I thought were cool in junior high, but apparently, those clothes are cool now, since my little sister is wearing Jordan's that I swear were cool in the 7th grade. I wear $12 shoes I found on the clearance rack at Marshall's, and I think they're cool.


Anyway, that's my daily rant.

Tomorrow's rant will be about the newly installed "automatic towel dispensers" in our bathrooms here at work...who decided how many paper towels I need? sometimes I need a little, sometimes I need a lot, but the automated dispenser gives me a quantity inbetween...which leaves my hands still wet or half a tree thrown away. It's a conspiracy, I tell you!

So, UCLA finally beat USC on Saturday.

What a game. I didn't get to watch all of it because I had the Dish Network service team trying to figure out why my reception was dropping intermittently (those damn trees and their leaves keep growing!), but they eventually moved the dish so I could catch this moment (again and again, thanks to the rewind button on the DVR):




In even more important news...pay attention now...

Shannon and I are expecting #2!!!!

yep.

[insert picture of ultrasound here once I scan it]

We didn't want Matty to go sibling-less for much longer...so by sometime next July, we'll officially be able to use the acronym 'SITCOM':

Single
Income
Two
Children
Outrageous
Mortgage


:)