Inauguration Day

HANCOCK, Mich. — I don’t know why this has happened, but I’ve been on the road for President George W. Bush’s two inaugurations. The first time was in 2001 when I was traveling from Poway to Hancock to start work at The Daily Mining Gazette.

This week, I was driving across the Upper Peninsula heading back to Hancock after an extended trip. I got to visit Virginia, DC, New York, friends in Connecticut and Toronto. All-in-all, it was a good trip.

I listened to Bush’s inaugural speech yesterday over Central Michigan University’s radio network. Throughout the entire speech, I was thinking that the message of the speech was “Do as I say, not as I do.” Still, we do live in interesting times.

What’s all this?

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Apparently, the servers at the University of California, San Diego hosting alumni data has been hacked again. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, this is the third time the servers containing personal data have been hacked in the past few months. Officials were quick to say that this breach was a minor one quickly resolved, but three intrusions doesn’t sound awesome (even if the first big one was just a hacker using the server to host warez or movies or something).

I’m happy that a recent credit check showed my info. to be safe, but geez, maybe they should switch their server platforms to Mac OS X Server. πŸ˜‰

Different shows for different folks

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — I haven’t forgotten all the little things I was going to write before, but I just was thinking about the different TV shows I watch with my friends. One group of friends I watch BBC’s The Office with and others it’s Coupling.

Interesting that people have different viewing interests and yet I can share them with others. Just thinking out loud, something I do a lot from time to time.

Edit — I also meant to add that very few of my friends want to watch science-fiction programming with me. This is especially evidenced when my friend says, “You can watch anything you want but Stargate.”

It’s sad, really. My sci-fi watching life is a solitary one. πŸ˜‰

Deep Thoughts

NEW YORK, N.Y. — The cult of Apple seems to be very strong in New York. The vast majority of headphones I see on the subway are iPod headphones and the SoHo Apple Store (two floors!) is packed to the gills. Speaking of Apple, I like their new product releases (the Mac Mini, the iPod Shuffle and iWork). However, that’s at first glance. I’m sure I’ll have a more informed opinion as time goes on.

There’s so much to write about, but not enough time. So until I can correct this in future posts, here’s some thoughts:

– Getting lost in cities.
– Obscure landmarks that only I’m really interested in.
– The irony when Rush Limbaugh says “The problem with listening to complainers is that you’ll eventually become one.”
– Roadside eats.
– Doing stuff for free in NYC.
– Why don’t people put addresses clearly on buildings?
– Not enough time to do stuff.
– Getting places when they’re closed.
– I’m sure there’s stuff I’m missing.
– The Mac Mini — The next low-cost Macintosh LC (generally pretty good) or the next Performa (astonishingly awful)?

More later.

The safe bet is no bet

LYNCHBURG, Va. — It’s a really wonderful thing that I don’t gamble very much. If I had money on this past weekend’s NFL games, I would’ve been signing up for the poorhouse (or whatever anyone does at a poorhouse). I went oh-for-four on the weekend’s four games.

It’s true that I was rooting for my favorite teams (San Diego, Denver and Green Bay) to win, but San Diego and Green Bay was favored by many to win. Instead, with Seattle, they were all sent packing (probably not to the poorhouse).

It was an excruciating time to listen to these games on the radio driving down from Michigan. Oh well, that’s why they play the games right? By the way, I’m picking Atlanta to lose all the way to the Super Bowl. πŸ˜‰

Turnover and take off

It seems like I just got home and I’m taking off again for parts unknown. There’s a ton of stuff that needs to be done around the house, but I’m basically just throwing my unpacked luggage back into the car and departing.

Good news is that the roads look clear and hopefully there may be opportunities in the path before me (or something like that).

21 hours to Hancock

HANCOCK, Mich. — Home again after being in motion for about 21 hours. I thought that digging out my car at Marquette Sawyer Airport and scooping my driveway after such a long day would’ve been a momentous task. It was surprisingly easy to dig out my car — all the snow came right off my windows and there was no ice. I was able to easily unlock my car and open the door (instead of both being iced over). It was sweet.

Getting home wasn’t bad as the roads were clear. Although there was a bit of snow in my parking spot, it was actually quite pleasant (despite some salty chunks of ice) and quite a pick-me-up after such a long day. My parking spot is interesting — it’s the furthest from where I can dump the snow, but it’s sheltered from a lot of drifting snow too.

Memo to self: Don’t start watching a movie after midnight if you’ve got to get up four hours later. D’oh!

More later, but my bed beckons for now and I won’t resist its siren call.

Heading back to the Great White North

HOUSTON — Well, after nearly two terrific weeks in sunny climate of San Diego, I’ll be back in the snow-covered Copper Country in about 12 hours. In the next couple of days, I’ll reflect on many of the fun things I got to do in San Diego and Poway including visiting the band, New Year’s Eve, the family and getting frisked by the UCSD police.

Until then, here’s just a couple of thoughts on the Houston-George Bush International Airport. First of all, the layout of this airport is as chaotic and hard to navigate as the Minneapolis and Detroit airports. The thing is those airports have tried to implement solutions to try and ease the flyers’ travels through the terminals (through the use of trams). Despite a renovation, Houston doesn’t seem to be going that route just yet with the fleet of mini-cars hauling some of the passengers through the concourses.

Secondly, there’s only a handful of Internet terminals and wireless access is limited to the Presidents’ Club. Again, with a recent renovation underway, adding wireless Internet to the airport would’ve been an easy amenity to provide. Oh well. The Neptune networks terminal that I’m writing this on is fast and responsive. However, with my right arm perched on top of the cash box and my neck craned to the right to read the LCD, it’s not the most ergonomic. Still, I’m addicted and I need my fix.