tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88276992024-03-12T16:16:59.657-07:00Bilingual MonkeysPaul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.comBlogger942125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-37854060925552036802018-12-13T07:22:00.002-08:002018-12-13T07:22:39.560-08:00Feedback to the Seattle Times:
Your delivery guy for the Maple Leaf neighborhood drives dangerously and has repeatedly endangered the lives of people in my neighborhood. I used to rationalize his erratic, aggressive, and inattentive driving with the fact that he has a job to do, but the repeated near-misses I've observed in the past few weeks is unacceptable.
This morning at around Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-53151494783924016062014-06-27T18:42:00.005-07:002014-06-27T18:42:51.921-07:00bike to do list, update 2
An update on the "to do" list that I posted two years ago.
Done:
Bike to/from work
Bike to the beach (Discovery Park)
Bike to a hike (Discovery Park)
Bike camping (Lopez Island)
Take a ferry (to the San Juans)
Bike to a gas station (Chevron at NE 65th St and 35th Ave NE)
Bike to Vancouver
Bike across the border (Canada)
Bike to the duty free store
Carry some beer across town to a party
CarryPaul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-37477577271574544912014-01-30T10:20:00.001-08:002014-01-30T10:20:40.249-08:00AlpentalFirst night skiing day for the season tonight at Alpental.
Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-73692763625664210052013-04-14T11:31:00.004-07:002013-04-14T11:31:38.941-07:00picking up penniesIs it worth the time and effort? I just picked up two pennies while grabbing my laundry, so it got me thinking...
Each time I pick up a penny, I get one cent (which I put in a box and never use, but let's assume I'll use this penny). Stooping down and picking up a penny takes a few seconds - three seconds if everything goes well, but it could take longer since pennies aren't all thatPaul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-81483691831185539962012-09-30T19:31:00.001-07:002012-09-30T19:31:47.564-07:00car or no car?
Let's look at the trips that I've taken this year. Through the end of September I have used my car ~60 days, of which I really *needed* to drive ~20.
Days where a car was legitimately useful: ~20
5 days during ski season for night skiing after work
3 days during ski season for going skiing on non-work days
9 days due to friends in town
3 trip to some place in the boonies
1 trip for buyingPaul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-2417197741782615242012-09-19T23:50:00.003-07:002012-09-20T00:01:57.552-07:00tippingMy philosophy on tipping... excerpted from some comments made on Facebook.
General tipping policy:
Great service: 20-30% (fuzzy math)Decent service: 20%Passable service: 15-18%Bad service: 5-10%Criminally bad service: 0% or less (this has happened twice - once at Hard Rock Hollywood, FL; again at El Gaucho in Bellevue)Bonus
points if I was a pain in the butt or if the items on the bill Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-73723313787496488562012-08-28T10:12:00.003-07:002012-08-28T10:12:52.885-07:00fantasy 2012Yellow Bellies Starting Lineup:
QB: Cam Newton (1)
RB: Michael Turner (4)
RB: Rashad Jennings (11)
WR: Percy Harvin (3)
WR: Miles Austin (6)
TE: Rob Gronkowski* (2)
K: Stephen Gostokowski (10)
DEF: SF (7)
Bench:
Matt Schaub (9)
BenJarvus Green-Ellis* (5)
Lance Moore (13)
Justin Blackmon (8)
Doug Baldwin* (14)
Brent Celek (12)
*From Yellow Bellies 2011
(round drafted)Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-33642778499541067512012-08-04T17:39:00.002-07:002012-08-04T17:39:34.597-07:00accordinglyAfter driving around quite a bit the last few weeks, I noticed some things with my car the warranted an inspection. Notably, I heard some occasional squealing from the right side when braking and the occasional knock on rough roads coming from the suspension.
What I expected to discover:
I expected to find one of my rear calipers frozen and dead. It's happened before.
I also expectedPaul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-47597195065428489812012-06-13T08:42:00.000-07:002012-06-13T08:42:52.464-07:00browsing a-zThe crystal ball of autocomplete tells all...
quantcast.com
whistlerblackcomb.com
ebay.com
rottentomatoes.com
techmeme.com
yelp.com
usps.com
images.bing.com
okcupid.com
profootballfocus.com
amazon.com
sports.yahoo.com/nfl
developers.facebook.com
facebook.com
google.com/finance/portolio
huffingtonpost.com
jailbreak.me
kexp.org/playlist
linkedin.com
zillow.com
xkcd.com
connectorride.com
Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-45356171605882002112012-05-13T15:36:00.003-07:002012-05-13T15:38:38.522-07:00i remember when gmail was goodGoogle made themselves famous by being great at search and creating fast spartan interfaces that get the job done quickly. How much that last statement sounds true to you probably depends on how old you are, but those are some of the reasons I've been a loyal Gmail user since way way waaaaaaay back when the service first launched.
If you can't tell from the heading, my opinion has changed.Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-58724424793387587252012-05-02T10:43:00.000-07:002012-05-13T15:38:04.631-07:00bike to do list update
An update on the "to do" list that I posted last August:
Done:
Bike to/from work
Bike to the beach (Discovery Park)
Bike to a hike (Discovery Park)
Bike camping (Lopez Island)
Take a ferry (to the San Juans)
Bike to a gas station (Chevron at NE 65th St and 35th Ave NE)
Bike to Vancouver
Bike across the border (Canada)
Bike to the duty free store
Carry some beer across town to a party
Carry Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-42223272592890594352012-04-06T08:58:00.003-07:002012-04-06T09:17:44.189-07:00compared to the average americanSorry my chart doesn't follow the same format. I made mine first.(source: NPR)Given that the typical American saves next to nothing, that isn't really a fair comparison. All my figures "should" be doubled - "should" being in quotes because they really shouldn't be doubled except for comparison purposes.Proportionally, I spend about the same as the typical American on housing and food - the two Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-22478258184550351632012-03-28T13:13:00.001-07:002012-03-28T13:15:05.395-07:00spending habitsPaul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-41028183997944870932012-03-22T10:17:00.003-07:002012-03-22T10:28:41.756-07:00bike wish listI'm kind of sort of looking to replace my Giant OCR1. Why? Because it has a carbon fork.Here are my favored frames: Soma Smoothie, Bianchi Volpe, and maybe something by Gunnar or Serotta if something pops up. I do love my Surly Cross-Check, but I'm also looking to save a pound if I can do it for free.The rest would be my now standard setup:Standard Crank (53/39)Shimano XTR RD-M750 SGS rear Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-36632263366045672152012-03-01T07:50:00.003-08:002012-03-01T07:58:54.632-08:00wolfie says hiPaul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-4032377603298697402012-02-15T12:42:00.000-08:002012-02-15T12:43:47.140-08:00letter to the senatorMaria,Thanks for the canned response. Let me reiterate my point. I agree that freight is important and we do need to continue to make investments necessary so we can properly maintain our deteriorating network of roads, bridges, etc. No one wants a repeat of what happened in Minnesota nor do we like interruptions like the South Park Bridge.But, as I stated in my original correspondence, I am Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-77333329674419865362012-02-12T16:53:00.000-08:002012-02-12T18:02:44.173-08:00bike deathHere's a list of various (often popular) bike set ups that I think would cause death. IMHO, there's quite a common tradeoff between weight/efficiency and catastrophic equipment failure that would lead to death. Carbon forkFancy boy cyclist would think: It costs a lot more and saves a WHOLE POUND! Awesome!I think: Say theoretically I hit a pothole while going down a hill (theoretically Pine St.)Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-12001505918326470832012-01-23T09:23:00.000-08:002012-01-23T09:24:43.846-08:00gfailThis is a work e-mail turned blog post. Why? Because I'm irked.--------------------------------------I just went diving into my Gmail spam folder looking for an email I’ve been expecting. I didn’t find it, but I did find that many of the 60 messages were false positives. Honestly, I’m a little irked. Definitely not Spam (10 of 60) 2 were from a chatty political org where I do read and Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-22237906264692395262012-01-23T07:19:00.000-08:002012-01-23T07:26:25.395-08:00what i've been readingI'm not linkifying these. Give those search engines money! Ha!Online, daily:Seattle TimesTechmeme.comOnline, regularly:TheAtlanticCities.comSeattleBikeBlog.comSeattleTransitBlog.comCapitolHillSeattle.comsdotblog.seattle.govsports.yahoo.com/nflThe Big PictureThe OnionPrint:The AtlanticThe EconomistYale Alumni MagazineCascade CourierPaul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-16848052063276015862012-01-19T20:40:00.001-08:002012-01-19T20:49:07.001-08:00bicycle benefitsThis is really a "note to self." Apparently there is a discount program at bicyclebenefits.org that I should have been taking advantage of the past few years. I could be getting:1/2 off classic chocolate bars at Theo10% at Auto Battery2 for 1 admission at Central CinemaA free t-shirt at evoThose are only the places that I go to with some regularity. I could also have been rocking it at these Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-33574732233897610452011-12-29T16:09:00.000-08:002011-12-29T16:58:16.665-08:00asian grocery (s)hoppingI just went to four Asian groceries to do some comparison shopping. I had purged my apartment of food prior to the winter holidays and now it was time to restock. No better time to do a grand run of a few of the groceries in the International District! Granted, after hitting four stored, I was getting bored and I had to pee so I left. The four that I went to were:Note, I'm basing my judgementPaul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-2360081543369191612011-11-07T12:22:00.000-08:002011-11-07T12:33:28.306-08:00most used airportsWhy? Because I know no one cares. To be clear, these numbers are for the end of 2011 and include travel that hasn't happened yet. Why do I tell you this? Because I know you don't care.Seattle - 87 tripsCleveland - 58 tripsNYC JFK - 33 tripsChicago ORD - 22 tripsHong Kong (Lantau Island) - 16 tripsLos Angeles LAX - 9Another detail for those who cared to notice (meaning, none of you). There's Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-9807428160441228272011-11-03T12:05:00.000-07:002011-11-03T12:11:06.785-07:00this sandwich tastes like deathFeedback to Microsoft Dining Services:--------------------------------------I ordered the special ex-Yugoslavian sandwich (in café 86) figuring it would be good to try something new. I like it when there are new things at the cafeteria, but this time it was a big mistake. The sandwich is dripping in grease – both from the cheese as well as the seemingly deep fried super salty sausage. The Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-1072457297477607232011-11-01T13:09:00.000-07:002011-11-01T13:35:04.271-07:00fantasy footballI was going to write about how awesome my Fantasy Football draft was halfway through the season, but after taking a look again, it wasn't all that great. After all, the only players still on the team are my picks from rounds 1, 2, 4, 6, and 9. That's 5 players our of 14 picked and only three of them (Vick, Johnson, and Pittsburgh) regularly start.Thankfully, picking up Calvin Johnson in the 2ndPaul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827699.post-8482398622144741412011-10-28T16:30:00.000-07:002011-10-28T16:32:05.967-07:00customer feedback - glovesI just shot this email off to Gordini. Too bad my dad destroyed the awesome pair I had from the 1990's.------------------------------I purchased a set of Gordini Gore II gloves a few years ago and I've been having a recurring problem with them. I've only used these gloves about 10-15 times. The stitching on the fingers comes apart very easily. This first happened on the ring finger after Paul Iphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11345547236510126850noreply@blogger.com0