Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Entropy & Order
We have had a definite summer mix of entropy and order in our household.
Entropy:
My work watch battery died. My casual watch band broke. The stores are always packed when I go to get them fixed, so I keep waiting for another time.
The Tivo that I got Celeste for Christmas didn't work as billed. It was not recording programs and was randomly resetting. We have gotten 3 replacement units to test (the latest seems to be working finally).
My cable modem stopped working together with cable TV. I could only get one or the other - in the middle of trying to test one of the replacement Tivo units!
The suburban needed new tires after we got a flat on a family outing.
The refrigerator was slowly dying, but gave us enough warning to go find a replacement.
The first replacement refrigerator had a leak in the freezer. It made beautiful ice sculptures, but that was not enough to offset our real need for a freezer.
The day that the first replacement refrigerator was delivered, our clothes washer decided that holding water was optional and dumped it all out on the floor. It gave us no warning, so we went appliance shopping again.
The second replacement refrigerator was obviously damaged, yet the retailer sent it to us anyway. The delivery guys were smart enough to show us the damage before unloading it.
The third replacement refrigerator and the new washer both arrived today. Both seem to work, but the delivery guys did some carving in the wood door jam to the kitchen as they moved the unit in.
I've missed some details, but that gives the general direction.
This is not a rant, but rather an observation that sometimes the bad luck cycles like to coincide. However, it's easy to forget the good things (i.e., the order) if you don't stop and think about it.
Order:
Bethany made it to Norway to visit Ina and family, stayed for more than 3 weeks, and returned as planned. Our webcam and cell phone communications allowed for daily contact as planned.
Bethany finished her Girl Scout Gold Award and we got to hold a nice party for her and her friend (they had "twin" projects at the same location) at the park where they did their project.
Celeste and I made it to our first no-kids getaway in almost 20 years last month. Hayley had a great time with Flying Van and family, Bethany was in Norway, and Andrew is still lives with Gramma in Costa Mesa.
Hayley has started summer Volleyball in preparation for trying out for the high school team. She is also moving into high school as a freshman and will join her sister at the same school for the first time in 5 years.
Hayley got a preview of being an only child while Bethany was away. It was good practice for when Bethany heads to college in a little over a year. She seemed to like it, although she did miss her sister.
Celeste and I had our first chance to see Andrew and his band perform recently here in Lake Forest. He has been working with them for a while, but it was the first venue that was close enough when the kids were busy for us to check it out together.
Entropy:
My work watch battery died. My casual watch band broke. The stores are always packed when I go to get them fixed, so I keep waiting for another time.
The Tivo that I got Celeste for Christmas didn't work as billed. It was not recording programs and was randomly resetting. We have gotten 3 replacement units to test (the latest seems to be working finally).
My cable modem stopped working together with cable TV. I could only get one or the other - in the middle of trying to test one of the replacement Tivo units!
The suburban needed new tires after we got a flat on a family outing.
The refrigerator was slowly dying, but gave us enough warning to go find a replacement.
The first replacement refrigerator had a leak in the freezer. It made beautiful ice sculptures, but that was not enough to offset our real need for a freezer.
The day that the first replacement refrigerator was delivered, our clothes washer decided that holding water was optional and dumped it all out on the floor. It gave us no warning, so we went appliance shopping again.
The second replacement refrigerator was obviously damaged, yet the retailer sent it to us anyway. The delivery guys were smart enough to show us the damage before unloading it.
The third replacement refrigerator and the new washer both arrived today. Both seem to work, but the delivery guys did some carving in the wood door jam to the kitchen as they moved the unit in.
I've missed some details, but that gives the general direction.
This is not a rant, but rather an observation that sometimes the bad luck cycles like to coincide. However, it's easy to forget the good things (i.e., the order) if you don't stop and think about it.
Order:
Bethany made it to Norway to visit Ina and family, stayed for more than 3 weeks, and returned as planned. Our webcam and cell phone communications allowed for daily contact as planned.
Bethany finished her Girl Scout Gold Award and we got to hold a nice party for her and her friend (they had "twin" projects at the same location) at the park where they did their project.
Celeste and I made it to our first no-kids getaway in almost 20 years last month. Hayley had a great time with Flying Van and family, Bethany was in Norway, and Andrew is still lives with Gramma in Costa Mesa.
Hayley has started summer Volleyball in preparation for trying out for the high school team. She is also moving into high school as a freshman and will join her sister at the same school for the first time in 5 years.
Hayley got a preview of being an only child while Bethany was away. It was good practice for when Bethany heads to college in a little over a year. She seemed to like it, although she did miss her sister.
Celeste and I had our first chance to see Andrew and his band perform recently here in Lake Forest. He has been working with them for a while, but it was the first venue that was close enough when the kids were busy for us to check it out together.
Labels: Andrew, Bethany, Family, Hayley, Ina, Scouts, Vacation, Volleyball
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Our cabin on the cruise
During the cruise, we had a very cool cabin. Since this was a Girl Scout trip, we had to have a separate bedroom for the girls and the adults. We got an "Obstructed View Family Suite" cabin. This gave us a cabin with two rooms: a living room/bedroom combination and then a 2nd bedroom. Each bedroom had a bathroom. Having two bathrooms was essential with 3 teenage girls!
The picture below was taken from the main room. The door straight ahead is the exit to the hallway. You would enter the room from this door and be in a small hall. The door that you can see to the left side of the photo is the entrance to the 2nd bedroom.
Some of these pictures, taken with the camera on my phone, are pretty fuzzy. Sorry about the quality issues. However, these make the cabin easier to explain.
The picture below is turned around from the one above. My back is to the door out to the hallway. On the right, you can see part of the 2nd bedroom. Straight ahead, you can see the couch in the main room. On the far wall straight ahead, you can see part of the curtain. Our room had windows looking out the starboard side of the ship.
Here is a picture from inside the 2nd bedroom. You can see the window. It was enough to let light in, but the view was very obstructed by the lifeboat hanging right outside of our window. When I took this picture, the closet for this room was directly behind me and the bathroom was to my right (out of view of the picture).
Here is the main room. As I said before, it served as a combination bedroom and living room. This picture is taken from the bed. The doorway across the room to the right leads to the short hallway entrance to the room. The couch seen in the prior photo is straight ahead in this picture.
This picture is taken from the doorway into the main room. It is looking back at the bed that was the origin point of the picture above. In this picture, you can see the large window on the left (there were two in the main room). What is not seen is the bathroom door on the left side of the bed from this point of view.
Here is a view of the window by the couch. In the main room, the lower part of the window was covered by the lifeboats. However, we had a decent view above the lifeboats.
Here is the view from our main room window at sunrise on our first morning on the ship. We are approaching Maui when these pictures were taken. I have included a photo looking left out the window, looking straight out the window, and looking right out the window.
The picture below was taken from the main room. The door straight ahead is the exit to the hallway. You would enter the room from this door and be in a small hall. The door that you can see to the left side of the photo is the entrance to the 2nd bedroom.
Some of these pictures, taken with the camera on my phone, are pretty fuzzy. Sorry about the quality issues. However, these make the cabin easier to explain.
The picture below is turned around from the one above. My back is to the door out to the hallway. On the right, you can see part of the 2nd bedroom. Straight ahead, you can see the couch in the main room. On the far wall straight ahead, you can see part of the curtain. Our room had windows looking out the starboard side of the ship.
Here is a picture from inside the 2nd bedroom. You can see the window. It was enough to let light in, but the view was very obstructed by the lifeboat hanging right outside of our window. When I took this picture, the closet for this room was directly behind me and the bathroom was to my right (out of view of the picture).
Here is the main room. As I said before, it served as a combination bedroom and living room. This picture is taken from the bed. The doorway across the room to the right leads to the short hallway entrance to the room. The couch seen in the prior photo is straight ahead in this picture.
This picture is taken from the doorway into the main room. It is looking back at the bed that was the origin point of the picture above. In this picture, you can see the large window on the left (there were two in the main room). What is not seen is the bathroom door on the left side of the bed from this point of view.
Here is a view of the window by the couch. In the main room, the lower part of the window was covered by the lifeboats. However, we had a decent view above the lifeboats.
Here is the view from our main room window at sunrise on our first morning on the ship. We are approaching Maui when these pictures were taken. I have included a photo looking left out the window, looking straight out the window, and looking right out the window.
Labels: Family, Scouts, Vacation
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Zip Lining in Kauai
One of the highlights of the Hawaii trip was when Bethany, Udara, and I went zip lining. They have tall stands of pine trees brought in by Captain Cook long ago. These continue to grow tall and strong. Very tall!
After an earlier post, Shoo asked if I weighed myself before and after the cruise. I definitely weighed myself before the cruise. The zip line company has an upper weight limit and, at my heaviest, I have been above that. I started the cruise at 250lbs looking at a weight limit of 265lbs. The zip line excursion was scheduled for Thursday (nearly the end of the cruise). That gave me an incentive to watch the good intake! On zip line morning, I weighed in at 251.4. I was happy.
The course went in a roughly circular pattern so that we did not have to do much walking. There were some bridge crossings, but no hiking from one line to another.
Here are some photos.
... and one video. Unfortunately, I ended up backwards on this landing. I came in facing forward for the rest, but this is the one video of me on a full zip line run. This was towards the end of the 7 zip lines that we did. They tried to get us to do a trick. I was going for a 360 degree spin. The 180 that I got was pretty weak!
After an earlier post, Shoo asked if I weighed myself before and after the cruise. I definitely weighed myself before the cruise. The zip line company has an upper weight limit and, at my heaviest, I have been above that. I started the cruise at 250lbs looking at a weight limit of 265lbs. The zip line excursion was scheduled for Thursday (nearly the end of the cruise). That gave me an incentive to watch the good intake! On zip line morning, I weighed in at 251.4. I was happy.
The course went in a roughly circular pattern so that we did not have to do much walking. There were some bridge crossings, but no hiking from one line to another.
Here are some photos.
... and one video. Unfortunately, I ended up backwards on this landing. I came in facing forward for the rest, but this is the one video of me on a full zip line run. This was towards the end of the 7 zip lines that we did. They tried to get us to do a trick. I was going for a 360 degree spin. The 180 that I got was pretty weak!
Labels: Bethany, Family, Vacation
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Cruise Photos - purchased from ship
The cruise industry is doing a lot to try to increase the revenue per person once they get you on the ship. Don't get me wrong - you can have a great time without spending on any of the extras. The price includes a room, food, and entertainment. A "service fee" is automatically taken at the end of the week to cover the standard tips for the restaurants and the room steward. You have opportunities for extra tipping, but it is for anyone special that you want to recognize or for some of the "extras" on the ship.
One extra that we partook of was the ship's photography department. We didn't purchase all of the pictures that they took and we bypassed some of the photo opportunities. However, we did buy a few photos and a scrapbook. Our arrival photo purchase included a photo of the ship and the scrapbook included another photo of the ship.
Here are copies of the photos that we bought.
Here is our ship: the Pride of America. This is the photo that came with our arrival photo.
This is when we arrived to the ship on Saturday, April 3. We had flow in from LAX, taken a shuttle to the ship, and we were about to check in and get on the ship. This photo was taken in the arrival area with a few hundred of our soon-to-be-ship-mates around us. They had entertainment and some reading to get ready for the first day, so overall it was a decent check-in experience.
P.S. They claimed that it was an important tradition to set me on fire upon arrival (see my hand in the photo above).
The ship's photography department had opportunities for formal portraits. We didn't do that. However, we did have some fun with some green screen photos. Below is the only one that Celeste and I liked. The girls were busy with the teen club and didn't join us.
At each port, there was a photo opportunity as you left the ship. We skipped the photo opp in Maui and Hilo. However, we got a nice family shot when we got off the ship on Wedneday, April 7 in Kona on the big island. We were on our way to kayaking and snorkeling (I have already posted a few of those photos).
On Thursday morning (April 8) we arrived in Kauai. Bethany, Udara, and I left the ship for another one of our shore excursions. More about that in a future blog entry.
On our final full day of the cruise (Friday, April 9) we left port early enough to sail along the Na Pali Coast of Kauai. As you can see from this photo, the scenery is very dramatic. This part of the island is off-limits to any development.
The next day, we got off the ship at around 9:15am (after one last buffet breakfast). Little did we know that we had more adventures ahead. But that is a story for another blog entry.
One extra that we partook of was the ship's photography department. We didn't purchase all of the pictures that they took and we bypassed some of the photo opportunities. However, we did buy a few photos and a scrapbook. Our arrival photo purchase included a photo of the ship and the scrapbook included another photo of the ship.
Here are copies of the photos that we bought.
Here is our ship: the Pride of America. This is the photo that came with our arrival photo.
This is when we arrived to the ship on Saturday, April 3. We had flow in from LAX, taken a shuttle to the ship, and we were about to check in and get on the ship. This photo was taken in the arrival area with a few hundred of our soon-to-be-ship-mates around us. They had entertainment and some reading to get ready for the first day, so overall it was a decent check-in experience.
P.S. They claimed that it was an important tradition to set me on fire upon arrival (see my hand in the photo above).
The ship's photography department had opportunities for formal portraits. We didn't do that. However, we did have some fun with some green screen photos. Below is the only one that Celeste and I liked. The girls were busy with the teen club and didn't join us.
At each port, there was a photo opportunity as you left the ship. We skipped the photo opp in Maui and Hilo. However, we got a nice family shot when we got off the ship on Wedneday, April 7 in Kona on the big island. We were on our way to kayaking and snorkeling (I have already posted a few of those photos).
On Thursday morning (April 8) we arrived in Kauai. Bethany, Udara, and I left the ship for another one of our shore excursions. More about that in a future blog entry.
On our final full day of the cruise (Friday, April 9) we left port early enough to sail along the Na Pali Coast of Kauai. As you can see from this photo, the scenery is very dramatic. This part of the island is off-limits to any development.
The next day, we got off the ship at around 9:15am (after one last buffet breakfast). Little did we know that we had more adventures ahead. But that is a story for another blog entry.
Labels: Bethany, Family, Hayley, Rob, Scouts, Vacation
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Lots of pictures and videos...
On our trip to Hawaii, we made use of 6 different digital cameras. The quality of the cameras ranged from a very nice one that Bethany purchased last year to my cell phone camera at the low end. Hayley also had her first chance to try out a camera that she bought last year too. She was happy with the results.
Anyway, my laptop was the repository for the pictures all week. Yesterday, I sent an external hard drive full of pictures and videos home with Udara to back up. Then Bethany wanted copies of the photos. All we had left was a couple of 2GB SD cards and a 256MB SD card. Between those three cards, it took around 8 passes to get all of the files transferred.
We took a lot of photos and videos!
Of course, we followed the digital camera rule of taking lots of pictures to get a few good ones. A lot of the shots are marginal at best, but that strategy allowed us to get some pictures we might not have otherwise gotten.
Anyway, I will continue to post some of the interesting items as my schedule permits.
Anyway, my laptop was the repository for the pictures all week. Yesterday, I sent an external hard drive full of pictures and videos home with Udara to back up. Then Bethany wanted copies of the photos. All we had left was a couple of 2GB SD cards and a 256MB SD card. Between those three cards, it took around 8 passes to get all of the files transferred.
We took a lot of photos and videos!
Of course, we followed the digital camera rule of taking lots of pictures to get a few good ones. A lot of the shots are marginal at best, but that strategy allowed us to get some pictures we might not have otherwise gotten.
Anyway, I will continue to post some of the interesting items as my schedule permits.
Labels: Bethany, Family, Hayley, Vacation
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Waterproof camera photos from Hawaii
Again, he pleaded that he had a lack of time to blog properly. In an attempt to at least post something, he picked a few random photos to post. These were taken with the Fuji waterproof digital camera that he borrowed from his brother, Ronny.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Hawaii Pictures # 1
Rather than not posting due to lack of time, here are some initial pictures from our Hawaii trip.
Here we are at LAX before leaving for the flight. This was officially a Girl Scout trip - the girls saved up their money for many years for this. However, we only ended up with one non-family Girl Scout on the trip (Udara). Udara is one of Bethaany's best friends and like a daughter to our family. Udara's dad drove us to the airport.
Here is a starter picture taken by each of the girls on Easter Sunday on Maui.
A photo taken by Hayley:
A photo taken by Bethany:
A photo taken by Udara:
Here we are at LAX before leaving for the flight. This was officially a Girl Scout trip - the girls saved up their money for many years for this. However, we only ended up with one non-family Girl Scout on the trip (Udara). Udara is one of Bethaany's best friends and like a daughter to our family. Udara's dad drove us to the airport.
Here is a starter picture taken by each of the girls on Easter Sunday on Maui.
A photo taken by Hayley:
A photo taken by Bethany:
A photo taken by Udara:
Labels: Bethany, Family, Hayley, Scouts, Vacation
Monday, April 12, 2010
A lot to write about, but finding time is difficult...
Not that I am complaining. Work continues to be busy. I was out all last week on vacation in Hawaii. Got home late Sunday (technically early Monday) and now it is Monday night and I am back in Montreal.
I have a lot of topics and some fun pictures to post. Hopefully I can find some time for that this week.
Anyway, it is midnight here and I should get some sleep. More later...
I have a lot of topics and some fun pictures to post. Hopefully I can find some time for that this week.
Anyway, it is midnight here and I should get some sleep. More later...
Labels: Travel, Vacation, Work
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A post to catch up on everything
We got home from vacation which went very well. I'll have to post more about that another time.
Back at home, work is very busy. My customer in Sweden is in the process of going live on our software. That means very long work hours at unusual times right now. However, it should be behind me by the middle of next week.
I'm still finding time for family even with the work. Last night I took Andrew, Ina, and Hayley to an Angels Baseball game. The Angels lost, but it was still an exciting game. Lots of hits and the score kept going back and forth. Unfortunately, the Angels were on the "back" side at the end of the game.
Tomorrow we are taking Bethany and her Girl Scout troop on another college visit (have I written about that? Need to check.). We are driving up to UC Santa Barbara. Between the drive and the on-campus time it will be a very long day. The girls need lots of hours to apply to their Gold Awards, so that is a good thing. However, it also means a Friday away from my projects so I have to figure out how to keep everyone busy when I have very little way to communicate with them.
Volleyball season started last week. Hayley is doing it, but Bethany has gotten to old for the league. I am coaching Hayley's team again. They picked their team name: Fergilicious (need to confirm that spelling). I told them that it could not be a dull name and it had to be family-friendly. Beyond that, it was a team vote. The name Caliente Loco (Crazy Hot) came in a close second.
I'll close with a couple of pictures of Hayley from the end of our vacation. We are at my aunt's house. The house is by a private runway and has a hangar attached to it. For car fans, you can appreciate this. My aunt has owned a Shelby Cobra since 1972. It is in great shape and is often taken to car shows. For those that are not car fans, this is a very expensive car by a renowned designer and is personally signed by that designer (see the "glove compartment" area in the photo showing the dash). The girls had fun taking photos in the car and in the (not seen in this photo) airplane that is also in this hangar.
(by request) ... and now you're all caught up!
Back at home, work is very busy. My customer in Sweden is in the process of going live on our software. That means very long work hours at unusual times right now. However, it should be behind me by the middle of next week.
I'm still finding time for family even with the work. Last night I took Andrew, Ina, and Hayley to an Angels Baseball game. The Angels lost, but it was still an exciting game. Lots of hits and the score kept going back and forth. Unfortunately, the Angels were on the "back" side at the end of the game.
Tomorrow we are taking Bethany and her Girl Scout troop on another college visit (have I written about that? Need to check.). We are driving up to UC Santa Barbara. Between the drive and the on-campus time it will be a very long day. The girls need lots of hours to apply to their Gold Awards, so that is a good thing. However, it also means a Friday away from my projects so I have to figure out how to keep everyone busy when I have very little way to communicate with them.
Volleyball season started last week. Hayley is doing it, but Bethany has gotten to old for the league. I am coaching Hayley's team again. They picked their team name: Fergilicious (need to confirm that spelling). I told them that it could not be a dull name and it had to be family-friendly. Beyond that, it was a team vote. The name Caliente Loco (Crazy Hot) came in a close second.
I'll close with a couple of pictures of Hayley from the end of our vacation. We are at my aunt's house. The house is by a private runway and has a hangar attached to it. For car fans, you can appreciate this. My aunt has owned a Shelby Cobra since 1972. It is in great shape and is often taken to car shows. For those that are not car fans, this is a very expensive car by a renowned designer and is personally signed by that designer (see the "glove compartment" area in the photo showing the dash). The girls had fun taking photos in the car and in the (not seen in this photo) airplane that is also in this hangar.
(by request) ... and now you're all caught up!
Labels: Andrew, Bethany, Hayley, Ina, School, Scouts, Vacation, Volleyball, Work
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Vacation: Getting Around
For our vacation, we have been traveling in Celeste's Suburban. It is getting a bit old, but still serving us well. It gives a good amount of comfort and space for 5 of us traveling together. Despite the room in the back, we still found it helpful to have a little more room. We bought a roof-rack mounted bag for a prior trip which we used this time too. We put the stuff that won't melt or be hurt by the heat up top (the bag is waterproof too).
The girls have taken a lot of photos, but I don't have any on my computer. I will have to share some later.
The trip so far:
Monterey
- Beach visit / photos
- Cannery Row
- Point Pinos Lighthouse
- 17 Mile Drive / Pebble Beach
San Francisco
- General City self-drive tour
- Fisherman's Wharf
- Boudin's Sourdough Factory
- Ghiradelli Square for Ice Cream Treats
- Cable Car rides
- Chinatown
- Bay Boat Tour
- Lombard Street
- Coit Tower
- Muir Woods
- Film Locations ("Mrs. Doubtfire" house, "Full House" house)
- Community Garden / Geocache visit
Still planned:
- Golden Gate Park Surrey Rental
- Golden Gate Park Japanese Tea Garden
- Yosemite Valley Tour
- Yoeemite area geocaching
Hard to believe that there is more behind us than ahead of us now! The schedule is very tight so that we can give Ina as much to see as possible. Also, we are hosting a pancake breakfast fundraiser at our local club on Saturday. We have to drive home on Friday to be ready for that.
The girls have taken a lot of photos, but I don't have any on my computer. I will have to share some later.
The trip so far:
Monterey
- Beach visit / photos
- Cannery Row
- Point Pinos Lighthouse
- 17 Mile Drive / Pebble Beach
San Francisco
- General City self-drive tour
- Fisherman's Wharf
- Boudin's Sourdough Factory
- Ghiradelli Square for Ice Cream Treats
- Cable Car rides
- Chinatown
- Bay Boat Tour
- Lombard Street
- Coit Tower
- Muir Woods
- Film Locations ("Mrs. Doubtfire" house, "Full House" house)
- Community Garden / Geocache visit
Still planned:
- Golden Gate Park Surrey Rental
- Golden Gate Park Japanese Tea Garden
- Yosemite Valley Tour
- Yoeemite area geocaching
Hard to believe that there is more behind us than ahead of us now! The schedule is very tight so that we can give Ina as much to see as possible. Also, we are hosting a pancake breakfast fundraiser at our local club on Saturday. We have to drive home on Friday to be ready for that.
Labels: Vacation
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Spring Break 2009 Vacation
Just a quick note - the family is on Spring Break vacation this week. We are taking Ina to see some new parts of California. It is a whirlwind trip since we have to be back on Saturday to host a Pancake Breakfast event.
We started in Monterey. We mostly spent time driving around to various places to take pictures. Here are a few samples.
More to come later...
We started in Monterey. We mostly spent time driving around to various places to take pictures. Here are a few samples.
More to come later...
Labels: Vacation
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Finland, bit by bit
This is the first of what will be a series of blog entries about my trip to Finland. After this I plan to do a series of small entries as time permits to get the rest of the trip info and pictures out there.
The client wanted me here for 2 weeks. I rarely travel for that long, but since it is such a long flight and there is a lot to do, I agreed. The nice part of the 2 week trip is that I get the weekend to myself to see some sites. It is a rare treat to get this much free time on a business trip!
The sightseeing started yesterday since we stopped working early and I was at my hotel a little before 4:00pm. I took a nice walk around a nearby lake and took a few photos along the way. My hotel is in downtown Helsinki, so I am near a lot of interesting things.
A couple of points about my pictures. They are taken with my camera phone -- fine for the internet, but not something that will become printable pieces. Too bad, since there are some nice things to see. However, I didn't want to be responsible for carrying a camera along with all of the other stuff that I have.
Another point - I learned that I have a panorama feature on my camera/phone. I used that for the first time yesterday and some of the results are below. It basically has me take 3 pictures side-by-side and it stitches them together. It depends on me lining up each photo correctly though. I get part of the picture to line up, but it is still a bit iffy. The more I use that feature the better I seem to get at it.
Anyway, here are some photos. You'll see that the weather was nice and sunny. It was only about 9C / 48F out, but that kept me cool with the brisk pace of the walk.
Me in front of the Finnish Parliament building.
Me in front of the Finnish National Museum.
My first attempt at a panoramic shot. It didn't turn out well, but I included it for historical perspective. This is taken from a small hill overlooking a lake that I walked around. This is the end of the lake nearest to my hotel.
The parks are well thought out. For example, this picture shows the path with a clear differentiation for walkers and bicyclists. That coexisting walk/bicycle theme actually carries throughout the city.
I was pretty happy with this shot which is basically 180 degrees from the walk/bicycle path picture. The places across the lake are exclusive bed and breakfast type places and small venue performing locations. I found that out when I walked by them on the far side of the lake as I was returning to the hotel.
This picture is the panoramic shot that I am most happy with. This is at the end of the lake farthest from my hotel. The tall buildings at the back, right part of this picture are close to my hotel. HINT: Click on the picture to see a bigger version of it.
I guess I have to save SOMETHING for later posts. This last picture is nearing the end of the walk. The tower in the center of the shot is the same tower from my earlier picture in front of the Finnish National Museum.
That's it for this entry. More to come later!
The client wanted me here for 2 weeks. I rarely travel for that long, but since it is such a long flight and there is a lot to do, I agreed. The nice part of the 2 week trip is that I get the weekend to myself to see some sites. It is a rare treat to get this much free time on a business trip!
The sightseeing started yesterday since we stopped working early and I was at my hotel a little before 4:00pm. I took a nice walk around a nearby lake and took a few photos along the way. My hotel is in downtown Helsinki, so I am near a lot of interesting things.
A couple of points about my pictures. They are taken with my camera phone -- fine for the internet, but not something that will become printable pieces. Too bad, since there are some nice things to see. However, I didn't want to be responsible for carrying a camera along with all of the other stuff that I have.
Another point - I learned that I have a panorama feature on my camera/phone. I used that for the first time yesterday and some of the results are below. It basically has me take 3 pictures side-by-side and it stitches them together. It depends on me lining up each photo correctly though. I get part of the picture to line up, but it is still a bit iffy. The more I use that feature the better I seem to get at it.
Anyway, here are some photos. You'll see that the weather was nice and sunny. It was only about 9C / 48F out, but that kept me cool with the brisk pace of the walk.
Me in front of the Finnish Parliament building.
Me in front of the Finnish National Museum.
My first attempt at a panoramic shot. It didn't turn out well, but I included it for historical perspective. This is taken from a small hill overlooking a lake that I walked around. This is the end of the lake nearest to my hotel.
The parks are well thought out. For example, this picture shows the path with a clear differentiation for walkers and bicyclists. That coexisting walk/bicycle theme actually carries throughout the city.
I was pretty happy with this shot which is basically 180 degrees from the walk/bicycle path picture. The places across the lake are exclusive bed and breakfast type places and small venue performing locations. I found that out when I walked by them on the far side of the lake as I was returning to the hotel.
This picture is the panoramic shot that I am most happy with. This is at the end of the lake farthest from my hotel. The tall buildings at the back, right part of this picture are close to my hotel. HINT: Click on the picture to see a bigger version of it.
I guess I have to save SOMETHING for later posts. This last picture is nearing the end of the walk. The tower in the center of the shot is the same tower from my earlier picture in front of the Finnish National Museum.
That's it for this entry. More to come later!
Labels: Rob, Travel, Vacation, Work
Monday, July 23, 2007
Vacation Day by Day
I haven't had the time I expected to detail out the trip, so before I forget here are notes on our daily activities while on our recent vacation (kind of long, but more for my benefit than yours anyway!).
One item of note - we decided to collect smashed pennies wherever we could (those machines that smash the penny and impress a design of some sort).
I'll try and add pictures and links in future posts.
Friday, July 6th
The biggest challenge of the day was figuring out how to attach the cargo bag to the top of the Suburban. Once we had that figured out, we headed out. We drove from home to Salina, Utah in about 9 hours. Crossing the desert was VERY hot. We saw a high temperature of 119 around Las Vegas.
Through the course of the day, we were in 4 US states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah.
The girls and I got to swim in the pool at the hotel, but otherwise it was an uneventful day.
Saturday, July 7th
We drove the rest of the way to Colorado Springs (a little under 9 hours). Along the way, we stopped at a number of scenic view points in Utah and Colorado (our 5th US state of the trip). We saw a low temperature of 51 degrees while crossing the Rocky Mountains - a major change from yesterday!
As we approached Colorado Springs, we met up with my brother and his family (a.k.a, the Colorado George Family) for dinner. They were just getting home from vacation in Oregon. We also got to stop by and see their house for the first time.
Sunday, July 8th
- Air Force Academy - smashed our first pennies.
- Garden of the Gods trip 1 - more penny smashing (Trading Post).
- Played card game "Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot" with the Colorado Georges.
Monday, July 9th
- Garden of the Gods trip 2 - still more penny smashing (Visitors Center).
- Geocaching (we found one and attempted, but failed, on a second).
- Movie: Ratatouille with Colorado Georges.
Tuesday, July 10th
- Pikes Peak via Cog Railway (penny smashing again).
- Manitou Springs old time family photo with Colorado Georges.
- Manitou Springs Melodrama Theater.
Wednesday, July 11th
- White Water Rafting with Colorado Georges (the most popular family activity this trip). Celeste wanted to keep going!
- Train Ride through the bottom of Royal Gorge.
- HUGE afternoon thunderstorm prevented visiting the Royal Gorge bridge at the top of the Royal Gorge.
- Several hours of laundry for Celeste & I, everyone else got to swim.
Thursday, July 12th
- 12+ hour drive from Colorado Springs to Springdale, Utah.
- Penny smashing at Red Rock Amphitheatre.
- Photos of Eagle Scout Andrew in Eagle, Colorado. Good fudge at the visitor's center!
- Arrive in Springdale, UT well after dark. Hotel lobby was closed, but they left us a note for our room number. Key was in the door waiting for us.
Suburban oil light came intermittently towards the end of the drive.
Friday, July 13th
Zion National Park
- Rode tram to Zion Lodge.
- Penny smashing at Zion Lodge.
- Escaped heat in hotel room.
- Found out that the Suburban needed 3 quarts of oil (a mystery since we had an oil change days before leaving and had no problems crossing the Rocky Mtns twice!).
- Beth/Rob evening hikes to Weeping Rock and the Riverwalk in Zion (including a small portion of the river hike towards the Narrows).
Saturday, July 14th
- Beth/Rob hike to Emerald Pools in Zion.
- 3 hour drive to Las Vegas. Stopped for buffet lunch in Mesquite, Nevada. Girls play Keno for the first time ever (ok, technically to give us numbers to play Keno). I think we started a gambling addiction.
- Check in at Excalibur.
- Drive to Circus Circus AdventureDome. Play games (Hayley won a stuffed dog), smashed more pennies.
- Noted a trip-high temperature of 127 when we got back to the car in the parking garage at Circus Circus!
- Return to hotel and drove the strip after dark to let kids see the lights.
- Rob/Beth walk to M&M World on strip for M&M purchasing and more penny smashing.
- Rob/Beth/Drew walk to Houdini's Magic Shop (Drew's company) at New York, New York hotel.
- Rob/Beth/Drew walk to Luxor to see the inside of the pyramid and find out that cool Egyptian-themed chips are no longer sold (they are ditching that theme, kind of odd for a pyramid shaped hotel?).
Sunday, July 15th
- Breakfast in the Excalibur Coffee Shop. The girls wanted their last chance to play Keno. We had a net loss of $2 from our entire Keno play.
- Ethel M Chocolate Factory tour. We did our last penny smashing of the trip, got some chocolate, took a few pictures in the cactus garden, then headed home.
The 5 hour drive home was fairly uneventful and safe, but hot.
One item of note - we decided to collect smashed pennies wherever we could (those machines that smash the penny and impress a design of some sort).
I'll try and add pictures and links in future posts.
Friday, July 6th
The biggest challenge of the day was figuring out how to attach the cargo bag to the top of the Suburban. Once we had that figured out, we headed out. We drove from home to Salina, Utah in about 9 hours. Crossing the desert was VERY hot. We saw a high temperature of 119 around Las Vegas.
Through the course of the day, we were in 4 US states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah.
The girls and I got to swim in the pool at the hotel, but otherwise it was an uneventful day.
Saturday, July 7th
We drove the rest of the way to Colorado Springs (a little under 9 hours). Along the way, we stopped at a number of scenic view points in Utah and Colorado (our 5th US state of the trip). We saw a low temperature of 51 degrees while crossing the Rocky Mountains - a major change from yesterday!
As we approached Colorado Springs, we met up with my brother and his family (a.k.a, the Colorado George Family) for dinner. They were just getting home from vacation in Oregon. We also got to stop by and see their house for the first time.
Sunday, July 8th
- Air Force Academy - smashed our first pennies.
- Garden of the Gods trip 1 - more penny smashing (Trading Post).
- Played card game "Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot" with the Colorado Georges.
Monday, July 9th
- Garden of the Gods trip 2 - still more penny smashing (Visitors Center).
- Geocaching (we found one and attempted, but failed, on a second).
- Movie: Ratatouille with Colorado Georges.
Tuesday, July 10th
- Pikes Peak via Cog Railway (penny smashing again).
- Manitou Springs old time family photo with Colorado Georges.
- Manitou Springs Melodrama Theater.
Wednesday, July 11th
- White Water Rafting with Colorado Georges (the most popular family activity this trip). Celeste wanted to keep going!
- Train Ride through the bottom of Royal Gorge.
- HUGE afternoon thunderstorm prevented visiting the Royal Gorge bridge at the top of the Royal Gorge.
- Several hours of laundry for Celeste & I, everyone else got to swim.
Thursday, July 12th
- 12+ hour drive from Colorado Springs to Springdale, Utah.
- Penny smashing at Red Rock Amphitheatre.
- Photos of Eagle Scout Andrew in Eagle, Colorado. Good fudge at the visitor's center!
- Arrive in Springdale, UT well after dark. Hotel lobby was closed, but they left us a note for our room number. Key was in the door waiting for us.
Suburban oil light came intermittently towards the end of the drive.
Friday, July 13th
Zion National Park
- Rode tram to Zion Lodge.
- Penny smashing at Zion Lodge.
- Escaped heat in hotel room.
- Found out that the Suburban needed 3 quarts of oil (a mystery since we had an oil change days before leaving and had no problems crossing the Rocky Mtns twice!).
- Beth/Rob evening hikes to Weeping Rock and the Riverwalk in Zion (including a small portion of the river hike towards the Narrows).
Saturday, July 14th
- Beth/Rob hike to Emerald Pools in Zion.
- 3 hour drive to Las Vegas. Stopped for buffet lunch in Mesquite, Nevada. Girls play Keno for the first time ever (ok, technically to give us numbers to play Keno). I think we started a gambling addiction.
- Check in at Excalibur.
- Drive to Circus Circus AdventureDome. Play games (Hayley won a stuffed dog), smashed more pennies.
- Noted a trip-high temperature of 127 when we got back to the car in the parking garage at Circus Circus!
- Return to hotel and drove the strip after dark to let kids see the lights.
- Rob/Beth walk to M&M World on strip for M&M purchasing and more penny smashing.
- Rob/Beth/Drew walk to Houdini's Magic Shop (Drew's company) at New York, New York hotel.
- Rob/Beth/Drew walk to Luxor to see the inside of the pyramid and find out that cool Egyptian-themed chips are no longer sold (they are ditching that theme, kind of odd for a pyramid shaped hotel?).
Sunday, July 15th
- Breakfast in the Excalibur Coffee Shop. The girls wanted their last chance to play Keno. We had a net loss of $2 from our entire Keno play.
- Ethel M Chocolate Factory tour. We did our last penny smashing of the trip, got some chocolate, took a few pictures in the cactus garden, then headed home.
The 5 hour drive home was fairly uneventful and safe, but hot.
Labels: Penny Smashing, Vacation
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Vacation
The family recently returned from a road trip vacation. Fortunately, it went much better than the National Lampoon movies! We drove from SoCal to Colorado, then to Zion National Park in Utah, spent a night in Las Vegas, then returned home last Sunday. Total trip was 10 days. It was very HOT, but otherwise we had a great trip.
As time permits, I'll post some details.
For those that are curious, Peanut did NOT escape from the family that took care of her this time!
As time permits, I'll post some details.
For those that are curious, Peanut did NOT escape from the family that took care of her this time!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Family Photo - Hershey Gardens
This is a photo of the family that I really like. We took this last April when we were at Hershey Gardens in Hershey, PA. Even with a year going by, the kids are getting older so that they don't change as much from year to year.
Except I have less hair up top every year. :-)
Labels: Family, Photo, Vacation
Friday, January 12, 2007
San Antonio
I had a couple of frequent flyer tickets that were about to expire in Southwest Airlines, so the boy and I took an extended "boys night out" trip to San Antonio, TX. Why there?
1. Somewhere far enough that we can't easily drive there but close enough to not have to fly all day.
2. Somewhere not too cold.
3. Somewhere with a lot to do in a small area so we don't have to rent a car.
4. My only other time in San Antonio was disappointing since I only saw the airport, the hotel, and the client's office.
San Antonio has a nice downtown transit system and a lot to see along the way. We left Monday and returned on Wednesday. While there, we took a boat tour on the Riverwalk, visited a comedy club twice, went up the Tower of the Americas twice (once in daylight, once at night), hit one "webcam" geocache and one traditional geocache, ate at a highly recommended Mexican restaurant, and of course visited the Alamo. We also had high speed wireless service at the hotel, so we were still able to catch up with the usual gang for the Tuesday night World of Warcraft session.
1. Somewhere far enough that we can't easily drive there but close enough to not have to fly all day.
2. Somewhere not too cold.
3. Somewhere with a lot to do in a small area so we don't have to rent a car.
4. My only other time in San Antonio was disappointing since I only saw the airport, the hotel, and the client's office.
San Antonio has a nice downtown transit system and a lot to see along the way. We left Monday and returned on Wednesday. While there, we took a boat tour on the Riverwalk, visited a comedy club twice, went up the Tower of the Americas twice (once in daylight, once at night), hit one "webcam" geocache and one traditional geocache, ate at a highly recommended Mexican restaurant, and of course visited the Alamo. We also had high speed wireless service at the hotel, so we were still able to catch up with the usual gang for the Tuesday night World of Warcraft session.
Labels: Andrew, Family, Rob, Vacation
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Oblivious to looking suspicious
As I documented previously, my family took a vacation to Washington DC last month. It was a great trip, but there is one incident that I didn't document before.
One our last day in DC, we ended the day in the center of the National Mall. Most of the museums were closed and we were ready to head home. Our vehicle was parked at Union Station which is not too far, but a healthy walk. Adding to this, the family wanted to visit a rest room.
I volunteered to walk to the vehicle while the family went to the one open museum for a bio-break. The walk was pretty uneventful, although I was on the phone with my mom getting our Southwest Airlines electronic check-in taken care of while we walk.
My phone is a PDA phone that includes a camera. I rarely use the camera because it isn't really that good. However, it is ok for occasional shots.
When I arrived at Union Station, I found that I couldn't get in due to a major emergency response. I never did find out what the issue was, but there were a LOT of fire trucks, police, and other misc. emergency vehicles around. Someone mentioned seeing FBI guys there too.
I called the family and warned them that I was running late due to the situation. Since I was just standing around, I decided to take some pictures with the camera phone so that I could show the family what I was dealing with.
So here is the situation. Some guy is walking around the emergency vehicles that were probably called out for suspicious activity. This guy is quietly taking photographs with a device that is disguised as another device (i.e., not many people expect a PDA to be a camera -- I know this from experience).
After I took a number of these photos, I realized that this was probably not a good idea in Washington DC with the post 9/11 environment. I quietly put away my PDA and shortly thereafter was allowed into the building.
Here are the pictures if anyone is interested. I don't think that I am risking national security by posting these. If anything, this should serve as a deterrent by seeing the massive response that is triggered by an incident.
One our last day in DC, we ended the day in the center of the National Mall. Most of the museums were closed and we were ready to head home. Our vehicle was parked at Union Station which is not too far, but a healthy walk. Adding to this, the family wanted to visit a rest room.
I volunteered to walk to the vehicle while the family went to the one open museum for a bio-break. The walk was pretty uneventful, although I was on the phone with my mom getting our Southwest Airlines electronic check-in taken care of while we walk.
My phone is a PDA phone that includes a camera. I rarely use the camera because it isn't really that good. However, it is ok for occasional shots.
When I arrived at Union Station, I found that I couldn't get in due to a major emergency response. I never did find out what the issue was, but there were a LOT of fire trucks, police, and other misc. emergency vehicles around. Someone mentioned seeing FBI guys there too.
I called the family and warned them that I was running late due to the situation. Since I was just standing around, I decided to take some pictures with the camera phone so that I could show the family what I was dealing with.
So here is the situation. Some guy is walking around the emergency vehicles that were probably called out for suspicious activity. This guy is quietly taking photographs with a device that is disguised as another device (i.e., not many people expect a PDA to be a camera -- I know this from experience).
After I took a number of these photos, I realized that this was probably not a good idea in Washington DC with the post 9/11 environment. I quietly put away my PDA and shortly thereafter was allowed into the building.
Here are the pictures if anyone is interested. I don't think that I am risking national security by posting these. If anything, this should serve as a deterrent by seeing the massive response that is triggered by an incident.
