Subtle Motivation? February 10, 2007
Posted by Owen in : Life, Weird , 1 comment so farI was at the gym today and I used the elliptical trainer for 30 minutes. (Yay!) I noticed something unusual about these machines: when one increases the resistance, the machine made a quiet low-pitched beep. But when one decreases the resistance, the machine makes a very LOUD high-pitched beep that can be heard across the room. It’s like they’re trying to embarrass you to prevent you from giving up and reducing the difficulty. When you make the resistance 100 to what it’s like and change your mind and go back to 40, well, that’s a lot of loud beeps.
Blue Angels October 5, 2006
Posted by Owen in : Life , add a commentThe blue angels are driving me crazy. Every 10 minutes on of the damn planes flies overhead practicing for Fleet Week and since I’m at the top of the hill, they fly very very close. They’re sometimes even flying at eye level in the next valley over. These things make a noise like what I imagine the apocalypse would sound like. If the sky is going to tear open, it would be like this. They might be fun to watch, and prove America’s superiority in useless aerial acrobatics, but do they really have to repeatedly fly low over my house all day while it’s raining and foggy?
Death by Chocolate October 1, 2006
Posted by Owen in : Life , 2commentsMy phone is dead. Cause of death: being dropped into a bowl of chocolate ice cream. I guess it’s literally “death by chocolate.”
Comeuppance August 18, 2006
Posted by Owen in : Life , 1 comment so farSo here I was today eating a tuna-fish sandwich on the steps near the Ferry Building. I was sitting at a funny angle trying to simultaneously read the newspaper, eat my sandwich, keep the wrapper from blowing away and waving my arms to prevent the pigeons from stealing a bite of my sandwich. I went for a bite and, of course, the entire contents of the sandwich fall on my lap. No problem at least no one but the pigeons saw me. Well I look up and what do I see? A Channel 7 cameraman filming me. All I can say is that I sure hope that this footage doesn’t make it onto the news tonight.
Life is Fleeting May 28, 2006
Posted by Owen in : Life , 1 comment so farYesterday me, my cousin (and roommate), and my lil sis were walking back from breakfast when we saw a bunch of firetrucks, EMTs, and firefighters standing around a building down the street from our place. Some of the firefighters were on top of the building pumping water through a hole they cut in the roof. The fire was already contained by the time we got there, but there were a couple of dozen firefighers standing around and half a dozen large firetrucks. Clearly the SFFD was worried that the fire might spread to other buildings. It was kind of scary, since it was so close to our home and it could have been our building.
After we watched the firefighers at work, both Mike and me independently decided it was high time to get some renters insurance.
Bubble Tea May 2, 2006
Posted by Owen in : Life , 4commentsYou know you go to Quickly too often when they have your order rung up before you even get to the counter.
Maker Fair Photos April 29, 2006
Posted by Owen in : Fun, Life , add a commentLast weekend I went to the Maker fair (which was way cool). Here are my photos. This is their story.
Think so? March 9, 2006
Posted by Owen in : Life , add a commentFrom Associated Press:
Much of the controversy has focused on 10 words: “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.”
President Bush made the statement in a television interview last Sept. 1, three days after Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast and inundated much of New Orleans.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan has said Bush’s comments were not intended to suggest that no one had anticipated levee failures.
I guess McClellan must be focussing on the first three words of Bush’s comment.
Lady Luck January 23, 2006
Posted by Owen in : Life , add a commentRecently, I went to Las Vegas. There, for the first time, I tried my hand at blackjack. I did pretty well… I played $100 and after 30 minutes, I had $205. That’s a profit of 105%. Not bad for 30 minutes of work. Last week I went to Tahoe to go skiing (which was tremendously fun–amazing snow and no crowds). I tried my hand at Harrah’s: played $40 and won $95, a profit of 137%. Not shabby.
Of course, the numbers are small, even if the percentages are large. In the time I was playing in Tahoe, the woman next to me lost almost $2000–it was amazing watching her lose money. It never ended. I think I was actually indirectly causing the casino to lose money since a larger roller couldn’t sit down. It makes me wonder if I was just lucky, or if I’m good at blackjack–if such a thing is possible. I play very conservatively and keep an eye on the trend in the stack. In the back of my mind, I want to increase my bets and make some serious money. If I’m doing so well now, why couldn’t I do it with larger amounts of money? Of course, in the long run, the game is a net loss, but it’s been good so far… and fun too. However, I don’t want to become like the woman I sat next to, endlessly loosing money and getting nothing for it. So I think I’ll hold back and not push my luck… but then again, you never know…
Woken up by an angel October 6, 2005
Posted by Owen in : Life, Weird , add a commentFleet Week is coming to San Francisco and the Blue Angels are practicing their flybys over San Fran. They just happen to by flying directly above the building I live in and so low the cloud of smoke actually drifts through my window. Here’s to hoping they’re as good as they claim to be.
The Blue Angels are doing some really cool maneuvers, but it feels like a war zone here. Every few minutes the sky tears apart as a plane roars by. When the roar starts, most people on the street stop walking, covers their ears, and looks for the plane. It really was very reminiscent of some war movies I’ve seen–but without the blood and gore. I tried to get some pictures, but they just didn’t come out. It’s hard to get a photo of a plane flying 500 MPH 100 feet above you on a camera with a lag.