Matthew's Missives

Busy and Sick

2010-03-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

I am just bushed. I am trying to shake some sort of virus that I have. I also realized just how busy I have been this year. Since January I have been to Hawaii, Taylor (a few times), Gridly, Goodfield, Pennsylvania, Springfield, and now Kansas City.

I will write a post about the Apostolic Christian World Relief meeting I went to in Kansas City soon. Their website has just a ton of information.

My knee feels almost healed up from bashing it (at least twice) while snowboarding. That has put a bit of a crimp in some of my activities; It is now warm enough to walk to work, which I plan to do tomorrow. It is also getting nice enough to golf, if I can carve out the time.

M. C. Escher

2010-03-04T20:20:00.000-08:00

Good quote, "Mathematicians know their subject is beautiful, Escher shows us that its beautiful."

In the Pipeline: Things I Won't Work With

2010-03-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

If you have any interest in really scary compounds check out In the Pipeline: and the tag "Things I Won't Work With" as Derek Lowe has some wonderful descriptions. My chemistry is pretty rusty, and this might induce me to look a few things up. My job does not really include the possibility of poising or blowing myself up, which might be a good thing.

Battle of the Economic Schools

2010-02-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

I got a chuckle out of the econostories.tv video "Fear the Boom and Bust". The one thing I have not seen is a Keynesian explain how the government stimulus in Japan failed after over a decade of massive government stimulus and spending. How is the current government approach different? Are there examples of Keynesian stimulus that we can see worked? It seems to me that the government has been trying to keep bubbles inflated for the last ten years. They want housing prices to stay high, so they make low interest loans, give a rebate to buyers, and modify loans. Last I checked housing prices were high compared to income on a historical basis. How is that good for the general population.

I am not convinced that the Austrian School is correct, but I don't have a lot of faith (backed up with facts) that the Keynesian approach reflects reality.

Gridlock

2010-02-22T11:11:00.001-08:00

I did not realize that it is still possible for the Democrat senators to force an old fashioned filibuster from the Republicans. If they had the will and wherewithal they could force the "party of no" to take the podium and talk until they collapsed. The complaint is that this would stop any senate business from being transacted, but the current situation nothing is getting done. The headlines would be great at the very least.

FiveFingers

2010-02-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

Vibram keeps coming out with new FiveFingers. In the next month the Bikila, which is designed for running. Several times this winter I have thought about how nice it would be to have a pair of the Flows for all this snow.

I wore my classics in Maui for a day, and had some irritation from rubbing high on the heel; I had not worn them for a few months in cold St. Louis. Might have to ease back into them this spring.

Away From Home

2010-02-14T17:03:00.001-08:00

February has been busy for me. Last weekend I drove up to Gridly, IL. For testimonies and baptisms. This weekend I am visiting Rachel and Josh. It is Madeline's birthday tomorrow; she is turning five. I also made use of the massive snow up here to go snowboarding yesterday. A group from Josh's church were going, and I hitched a ride. Next weekend I plan to visit Bluffton, IN with a group from Taylor.

Location : Industrial Hwy, Philadelphia, PA 19153,

Twenty Ten

2010-02-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

I can't wait for the majority of people to realize that the best way to say 2010 is "twenty ten" and not two thousand and ten. It was not nineteen hundred and ninety nine. I am of course not the first person to take up this crusade, but I was hoping it would not be necessary.

Winter Sports

2010-01-30T15:21:00.000-08:00

I went snowboarding for the third time today. Until this winter I had never been skiing or snowboarding. The other winter I did some snowshoeing in Colorado, which I enjoyed quite a bit. The only place to snowboard around St. Louis is at Hidden Valley, which is only about thirty minutes away.

The first time I took a lesson with Landon and Levi Weuthrich after Christmas. I had a bad fall on my back near the end of the session; I was sore for about two weeks. I am spending a lot less time falling over, and starting to try some of the the blue trails. I am glad to have something to do in the winter other then ice skating. Now that it has been a few hours, I am really starting to feel the muscles that are not as in shape.

Profile Pics

2010-01-26T21:40:00.000-08:00

I am back safe in STL, and the jetlag is wearing off.

I found this analysis of profile pictures interesting, and reviewed mine with an eye toward the data. Before some of the data depresses you, check out the graph titled "Chance a Meeting Leads To An Actual Conversation." It is reassuring that doing interesting things will lead to a more in depth discussion. Also, news flash, people really are not interested in pictures of you drinking.

LAX: 5 A.M.

2010-01-23T05:29:00.001-08:00

It is just way too early, or too late to be at LAX. We had a fast flight because of a tail wind. LA is just soaking because it is the two weeks of torrential rain that falls here every year. I will be glad to sleep in my own bed tonight, whenever that may be.

I was at : 599 World Way, Los Angeles, CA 90045,

Oahu

2010-01-22T19:12:00.001-08:00

We are on Oahu for 12 hours. The drive up to the Polynesian Cultural Center is breathtaking. We had a very pleasant day learning about the Pacific islands. I am not looking forward to the long flight home.

I was at : 55 Hawaii 83, Laie, HI 96762,

Zipline

2010-01-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

Dad and I went a zipline tour yesterday with Skyline Eco-Adventures up on the slopes of Haleakala among the eucalyptus trees. It was a new experience, that I was glad to try. I would enjoy going again, but do not plan on going out of my way to go again. We did 5 lines, and a suspension bridge over this large gulch. The last line was the big one with a drop of about 100 feet and we got going over 40 mph.

Midweek

2010-01-20T16:22:00.001-08:00

We went snorkling at Kapalua Bay up north this morning. No drama, just lots of fish. It looks like I won't go windsurfing this trip. That is a disappointment, but I needed to plan better. I am not in shape to go, and am not sure I would have a great time. A van to transport the gear is also a must. If I want to maintain the sport I need to get a roof rack for my car. A smaller board would not hurt either.

I was at : Honoapiilani Hwy, Wailuku, HI 96793,

Whale Watching

2010-01-19T16:36:00.000-08:00

We took a tour this morning with the Pacific Whale Foundation to see some humpback whales. I have enjoyed trips like this in the past, but it is usually just seeing them spout. Today though we got a good view of some courting behavior with a group of about 12 whales. It was amazing to see many head lunges out of the water, and quite a few good fluke dives. The group were visible from far away. As we got close they kept changing directions and circled around the boat. I was able to get a few videos using my phone, but it is hard to get really good shots. I needed some more camera savvy members of the family along with a good SLR.

I was able to upload the videos directly from the Droid, but it would only let me do it when I was connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Penguins at the Haytt

2010-01-18T19:17:00.001-08:00

The Maui Haytt has a group of penguins in the lobby. The lobby is open with a sweeping view of the ocean.

From Drop Box

I was at : 1221 Honoapiilani Hwy, Lahaina, HI 96761,

Room With A View

2010-01-18T00:52:00.001-08:00

Here is the view from our room at the Westin Villas on Maui.

Whale Song

2010-01-17T14:01:00.001-08:00

The whales are at Hawaii in full force. When snorkling a quick dive reveals the whine and moo of the humpbacks. I love to just swim and listen to the ocean, whales, and my own breathing. There is such a peace when in the water.

That peace came to an abrupt end when I reached the beach. Mom was there, and Dad was nowhere in sight. I ran up and down the beach, and we eventually brought in hotel security. After half an hour, Dad swims back in and starts walking up the beach. We thank the paramedics as they interview us. He had taken a long swim south without talking to us. I am sure Mom will tell the story on Loren's Saga which is linked to on the right.

The City of Angels

2010-01-16T16:30:00.001-08:00

If you fly into LA from the north, you pass Malibu then Santa Monica then land. Flying in from the east allows you to see just how vast this city is. The houses stretch for mile after mile, only stopped by the mountains.

I love flying over the west. The canyons, plains, mountains, and dirt roads. I don't have a desire to live in the middle of nowhere, but it is beautiful. Now I am in LAX. Nothing to see but the infinate blue from here to OGG (Maui).

Adam Savage on Failure

2010-01-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

For a TV has some engaging videos. I enjoy the Mythbusters (it was also neat seeing the locations when I was in the Bay area. The link below is Adam Savage talking about some of the failures he has had, and what we can learn from such events. It is a little long. I am posting this from my Droid, which is very useful.

http://fora.tv/2009/05/30/MythBuster_Adam_Savages_Colossal_Failures

Planting Evidence

2010-01-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

The best part of this story is what happened to the poor guy that had the plastic explosives planted in his luggage. The TSA would have been even more reactionary then the Irish.

You know you are a science geek when...

2009-07-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

You are yelling at the Wall Street Journal that the surface of the moon is covered with regolith, not dirt or soil as the article keeps saying.

edit: On reading the Wikipedia entry, apparently "standard usage among lunar scientists is to ignore that distinction" between soil and regolith.

Eating Rocks and Other Past Times

2009-07-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

I recently finished reading Salt: A World History, and really enjoyed it. Mark Kurlansky covers a huge amount of time all over the world with sequences and vignettes about salt, its production, and use. I have been on a history kick recently, and it really is amazing just how so much of what we take for granted every day has such an important history of how it got that way.

I also finished Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, which I had slowly gotten through over about a year. It is espicially interesting with regards to the recent Wall Street turmoil, because so many of the companies were involved then, as now. Some of them did not survive the current events.

I am also facinated by the great raconteur Eric Larson. I read Issac's storm, which was good, but not nearly as engrossing as his other two recent works. The Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck both give such an incredibly vivid description of the times and places they are in. He really brings forth the people and places, and I just enjoy that look at history.

This post is number 200. My interest in blogging ebbs and flows, I hope to keep it up, even if I am the main reader.

Up the River

2009-06-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

The last two weekends I headed up to the Quincy, IL area to go to church and visit some friends. Two weekends ago, I went up for a Friday night singing. I got in some golf on Saturday, and visited the Quincy Museum that afternoon. Roy and Donna Grimm were kind enough to take me in for a few nights.

Last weekend was the Father and Son camp out at Mark Twain Lake west of Hannibal. Dad and I headed up after work and stayed in a hotel. We were able to spend the evening and morning sitting around talking. We brought our fishing equipment, but didn't get to use it.

Creve Coeur Lake

2009-06-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

I headed out to Creve Coeur Lake for a few hours of windsurfing. It really is a great park to visit, and many locals make use of it. I always enjoy sailing, walking, riding, or disc golfing around the lake. Mom and Dad came out and ejoyed the perfect weather on the beach.

The Bard

2009-06-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had about 40 volunteers down to reshingle the roof at church, and we got it all done. Not having to reschedule that again is a blessing.

Last night was busy at Forest Park, with the Heritage Festival, the beautiful weather, and Shakespeare in the park. After eating dinner with Dad, I headed down to watch The Merry Wives of Windsor with some friends. I don't believe that I had ever seen a Shakespeare comedy, and it is nice to know that comedy has not changed since 1602.

Running Shoes

2009-04-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

I found this article from the Daily Mail revealing. It turns out that expensive running shoes actually increase risk of injury. I of course like articles that confirm my preconceived notions and reaffirm my purchase of a pair of Five Fingers. I do have to say that I find the writers style lacking. His bombastic statements turn me off.

Spring Rain

2009-04-02T21:26:00.001-07:00

I took a walk around the block this afternoon after a bit of rain. The trees are flowering and the rain really brought out the smell. It has been a long winter, and I will enjoy the spring while it lasts.

Disney World Day 1

2009-03-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

The Schrenks and Millers are all out in Orlando to spend time together and hit up Disney World. 15 people including six children four and under. Day one was Animal Kingdom afterword general exhaustion. A week of this and we will need a break from this vacation. I am having a great time with the family, as it is rare for all of us to be able t0 get together. The kids are adorable, and a lot of fun to be with at the park. It would be nicer if some were a little older, as those too young don't get the same out of it as the older ones. I sure miss not seeing them more often.

"I need to be subsidized"

2009-02-16T08:58:00.000-08:00

My brother, Nathan, directed me to this Calvin and Hobbes comic. Each panel just hits a little too close to reality.

San Francisco, 1906

2009-02-12T20:16:00.000-08:00

I really like this picture of San Francisco.

Yellow Light Cameras?

2009-02-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

According to Ars Technica in Italy the red light cameras have been tweaked and the lights set to maximize the number of people running a red light. They reduce yellow time to the minimum and entrap people in the intersection. We now have cameras like this here in Creve Coeur and the St. Louis area. I was skeptical of these from the beginning, but news like this makes me believe that the incentives for the government with these can easily go from public safety, to profit maximizing.

On an unrelated note, I really don't understand currencies and currency markets.

The Big Picture

2009-01-16T14:13:00.000-08:00

Somehow I was directed to this blog entitled The Big Picture. It shows a series high resolution photos of current events with good captions. I have been following it for a few weeks, and have enjoyed the last few, especially the new sailing post.

Child's Play

2008-12-15T21:28:00.000-08:00

Every year Gabe and Tycho from Penny Arcade run the Child's Play charity to give games and toys to children's hospitals around the globe. You can give a cash donation or choose the hospital near you and gift a specific item. They have already hit over one million dollars this year, which is pretty impressive for something two guys started in 2003.

Danny Robinson

2008-12-10T19:15:00.000-08:00

There is a fascinating interview of Danny Robinson, a poker player, where he tells his life story and his coming to Christ. I can't seem to get just an mp3 link, but you can subscribe to the two plus two podcast and download episode 51 or go to their website and listen. Either way the interview starts at 41:17 and runs to 1:30:03. This story has quite a bit of why Vegas in the 70's was sin city. He is quite the raconteur and this interview is part of his ministry to tell poker players about Christ. One analogy he relates from Hayseed Stephens, New York Titans Quarterback, is that when you go fishing you don't jump in the water swim down and clean the fish, but you catch the fish and then clean it. Stephens said that he was catching him and then God would clean him.

Divorce Rate Myth

2008-12-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

This appears to be old news, but it corrects even older news. Awhile ago the information that 50% of marriages end in divorce made headlines all over the place, but apparently that is wrong. In fact marriage stability is increasing since the late 70's during which only 53% lasted 25 years. Less people are marrying, but those that are seem to be more stable.

Auditorium

2008-12-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

Auditorium is a game that you have to try. Part game, part sensory experience.

Diabolical Scam

2008-11-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

I saw an advertisement for Swoopo and was a little curious why the deals seemed too good to be true. Turns out that to place a bid you need to spend $1.oo. Each bid increases the price of the item by $0.15 or $0.01 (and incidentally increases the time of the "auction"). They are just raking in the cash on these items. I can't believe that people are willing to gamble on winning the ability to pay for these items. The real winner here is swoopo, the expected return for the bidders has got to be so low.

Little Jokes

2008-11-18T18:58:00.000-08:00

In the Economist this week they show how to write two paragraphs of story and four paragraphs of tongue in cheek jokes. This is but one small reason why it is the best news magazine around.

Halloween

2008-10-31T18:44:00.001-07:00

I ended up just manning the door for Halloween, but I did get dressed up as Donnie Darko. I may have to get more use out of this costume next year.

DDR

2008-10-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

It had been a long time since I had hooked up my Dance Dance Revolution pads. This last week they came out of storage at the suggestion of some friends. I remembered why I love this game. It is some of the best exercise I can get indoors, and it is so fun. Like riding a bike, the steps come back. However, the game still just ratchets up the difficulty to the most impossible levels as it gets to the hardest levels. I am at a point where I can either combo most of the song, or not even be able to finish. The suggestion I read was to just keep practicing, and making attempts at the harder songs, and I think some of that is paying off, but some of these seven and eight footers are just taking me apart.

I think the endorphins will keep me coming back. It takes a little while before I have to get off the pads, because my legs feel like lead.

Almost Over

2008-10-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

The World Series, Halloween, and the election. Even without the market we have a busy few weeks ahead here. This election feels like it has been going on for two years, wait it has. The political phone calls are ramping up to a fever pitch, caller-id sure is nice.

Rays and Phillies, how did that happen?

Hmm, I can never come up with a good costume idea, I don't even have any plans this year.

Internet Comments

2008-10-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

I need to stop reading comments on the internet, they are so painful. I heard someone claim that there actually are some useful youtube comments, but I don't believe them.

The Jon Arbuckle Story

2008-10-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

The humor derived from reading Garfield without the titular character knows no bounds.

Chambana

2008-10-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I headed up to Champaign-Urbana to return to my alma mater. I enjoyed visiting the church there, and it was good to reconnect with everyone. The Mangers were hosting their annual cookout and hay rack ride, which is always a favorite. I didn't cook my marshmallows quite right for the s'mores, but it was still delicious.

I think that the twin cities is one of my favorite places to be, and I miss it. And I was born there, so it must be good :)

Looking for a new hobby?

2008-10-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

This is pretty impressive, I am pretty sure I will never do this.

Current Events

2008-09-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

These last few months have reminded me that the saying, "May you live in interesting times" is a curse.

And a post over at the Beat of Hawaii reflects my opinion of American Airlines, which I just flew out to Los Angeles. Airline on time rates feel better to me then they did a few years ago, as long as your flight is not canceled.

Like a Pirate

2008-09-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

I got a chuckle out of Google Searrrch, but other then that today, September 19 aka. Talk Like a Pirate Day, was not full of piratey goodness. For those who are not sure, yes, you are a pirate:

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

We here in St. Louis have been dealing with the effects of Ike over the weekend. With the astounding amount of rain the last few days our walk in basement has been flooding a bit, and that has been causing some consternation. Now we have a water pump that we can start up when it is raining more then and inch an hour.

It was a good weekend, we had some visitors from Champaign down for Saturday evening and then today during church.

After church I packed up and headed out to a flooded Creve Coeur Lake. The website says it is 320 acres, but I can tell you that it is much larger right now. The rain had stopped, and the sun was out for some excellent windsurfing. The wind was still blowing quite a bit from Ike, but not too much. There was one other windsurfer out, and many people walking along the closed down road. After a session windsurfing my skin and hair is all weird, I used to think it was caused by the saltwater, but now I know that it is not. Even spending time swimming in the ocean or a lake does not leave my skin like this, so I am not sure what happens.

Hope everyone had a safe and not too wet weekend.

End of Summer

2008-09-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

The weather here in St. Louis is cooling down, it is getting fall here. I have been busy the last few weeks. I visited Rittman, OH over memorial day for an invite there, which was a blessed time. My friend, Mark, leads a tutoring program through his church, and I plan to volunteer there this semester.

I found some unrelated information that is very pressing, which of course shows that St. Louis is a beacon of sanity regarding language.

Home Decorating Ideas

2008-08-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

I know that I want one.

Pictures, Finally

2008-08-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

Today I was feeling under the weather, and finished up the last few hours of work from home.

This afternoon I finally got around to uploading some pictures from my trip to Asia. They are sort of in order, but I not tagged or titled.

I need to get back to sleep.

It's not a glitch. He's just that good.

2008-08-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

I got a good laugh out of this.

Losing Face

2008-08-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

The Olympics in China, a great achievement? The PRC held an impressive event, with thousands of athletes, and pulled it off without a hitch. That takes quite a bit of effort, like detaining or imprisoning any who seek to protes t. It seems to me that there is a greater loss of face regarding accusations of cheating and crackdowns on any who don't toe the party line.

Because the continued affirmation that the passports say the gymnasts were eligible to participate in the Olympics is not holding up to scrutiny, the IOC may strip some gold medals from the Chinese team. Then what will people remember from this? The 51 gold medals won by China, or that they cheated to get them? If they are willing to cheat in such a apparently blatant way, did they cheat elsewhere?

This is all minor to the continued persecution of Christians by the government. With lists of stories directly related to the Olympics. Most major media outlets don't seem to focus on this persecution very often.

It would be much easier to save face if the actions of the government weren't always so apparently oppressive and underhanded.

The Birds

2008-08-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

On my walk to work this morning, I encountered a flock of ducks grazing in the grass by the golf course. This is not an unusual occurrence. As the season has continued the little ducklings have grown up into adolescents. One of this chirped at me as I passed and then started following me. This got the attention of the flock and they too started to follow. It was a little surreal to have this team of ducks following me along, as most wild animals are so wont of fleeing from humans. As I got farther ahead the little guy finally broke off at a tree stump, and my morning was a bit cheerier.

While I Was Gone

2008-08-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

I have taken several trips this year, mostly with family. Earlier in the spring, most of the clan headed out for a cruise around Hawaii. It had been a long time since I had been to any of the islands other then Maui. I really enjoyed seeing what the different islands had to offer, and it was a lot of fun spending time with the family. I have the collected family pictures up on my gallery, which is quite extensive. Usually I only put select pictures up, but I wanted them all for a while, and may need to remove some of the 947 pictures, to make it more manageable.

About a month before the Olympics I traveled with my parents to Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Beijing. I have yet to get the pictures up online because my main computer is dead right now, and I am a little frustrated about that. Hopefully I will get those up at some point in the next two weeks.

I also recently traveled up to Minneapolis for a wedding of some friends, and will be heading out to LA for Jim and Krissa's wedding.

Whew, it has been a busy year.

So Very Clever

2008-08-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I decided that I needed a better way to deal with passwords and accounts on computers and various websites. Yesterday I took the plunge and started using PasswordMaker to generate secure passwords in a systematic way. It is pretty cool because the passwords are never stored by me, and are different for each site. It took me a while to really wrap my head around the idea and implementation, but I think I have it now. The documentation could be better, and sometimes the interface is confusing, but I like having secure passwords. The biggest problem so far are sites that demand useless properties for the password, like one I have which needs two letters and two numbers, and has a length restriction.

The (not so) clever thing I did was email myself the settings file I made and then went to another computer to import the settings. I didn't think about it until I tried to log onto my email which now had a hashed secure password. Fortunatly I was able to regenrate the password, which made me a like this system better.

Leo Sale

2008-08-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

I had a good and full Saturday at the Gateway Woods annual sale in Leo, Indiana. I saw a great many people and enjoyed catching up on current events. I am not quite sure how I have never made it out to the sale before, but I plan to return many times.

This is the first time I have been really paying attention to the Olympics, and they are really exciting. I have actually not been sleeping enough because they keep on going into the night.

Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay

2008-08-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

These Olympics are fantastic. It doesn't get much better then the US gold win in the Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay. I am hyped up, and looking forward to more events.

Speedo LZR

2008-08-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

Look for the swimmers at the Olympics to be wearing the Speedo LZR RACER Suit. It apparently costs $600 and takes 20 minutes to put on. We will see who is winning the Golds for swimming.

Search for "Olympics" on google to get an up to date medal count, currently China has 2 golds to the 1 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze the US has.

Cidade de Deus

2008-08-07T20:56:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching City of God and was blown away by the picture. I had in passing heard some good things about it, and had it in my Netflix queue for a while. It is a very stark look at violence and drugs in Brazil during the 70's. The characters and the sense of time and place are astounding. It makes me wonder just how close to the real story it comes to portraying.

At The Game

2008-08-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the Cardinals v. Dodgers game. It was Cardinals up 4-0 at the top of the ninth when we left, but looking online now it is in the 10th at 4-4. Looks like Yogi Berra was right, "It ain't over 'til it's over."

It was my first time at the new Busch Stadium, and I have to say that it is nice. There was an impressive thunderstorm going on, and the game was delayed twice. The upside was a nice wind, and a very pleasant evening for those under the awning.

The InBev sky hasn't fallen yet, things seem fine in Budweiser land.

Back Online

2008-08-04T21:21:00.000-07:00

Ahh, I hate it when people just stop blogging. Their site just sits there with no updates. How rude!

I am hopefully back to blogging, and will try to get back to my old posting pace. Once I had not posted for a while, it was harder to go and post because of the guilt. It has been so long now that I don't even feel the need to post everything I missed. Clean slate, new beginning.

Not So Weird Science

2008-01-07T17:33:00.000-08:00

I stumbled to an interesting wired video about chemistry sets today. Even when I was young I had a home chemistry set with some perhaps not so safe experiments. How sad that kids now cannot experience the same chemistry that kids have for decades before.

A whole new world

2007-12-03T16:07:00.000-08:00

Electro^plankton directed me to this guy singing both parts of the Aladdin song. I deem it impressive.

Pictures from the Drive East

2007-11-22T16:04:00.000-08:00

I finally uploaded some pictures from my drive from California to Missouri. We drove out of Redwood City to make stops at Tahoe, CA, Wendover, UT, Salt Lake City, UT, Arches National Park, Moab, UT, Grand Junction, CO, Boulder, CO, Denver, CO, Council Grove Lake, KS, and Manhattan, KS.

Have a joyful Thanksgiving everyone!

Schooling

2007-10-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

I just stumbled upon this story about a parent and their experience with their 7th grade sons science class. The man was driven to take up home school teaching of science the next year. I am a little surprised at how long it took the man to actually find out why his son was getting a C-, but when he did find out it was because 80% of the grade was having an "organized" science notebook. It also seems clear that the teachers main goal is to prepare the students for the state wide standardized test. Well, you can get the whole story from his post.

I am very thankful that most of my teachers throughout my schooling experience were very good at what they did. The ones that were excellent and engaged me are very memorable. I would visit them after class, and be involved during class. I didn't realize then just how lucky I was. The ones that approached the poor teacher described here I grated under. Assignments that were silly and lessons that were insipid drove me nuts. In middle school and high school I never got any Cs, but I did get at least one D because I just couldn't stand the teacher and the pointlessness of the assignments.

I kind of dread the school system I will have to deal with as a parent. If nothing shakes up the current system, who knows what it will be like in the future.

Tetris Mania

2007-09-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

No matter how good you are at something, there is always someone better.

Slip Sliding Away

2007-09-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

My senior year in high school I did some volunteer work at the City Museum in St. Louis. They had a large slide from the second floor to the first. I enjoyed going down quite a bit, as did many of the visitors. Perhaps in the future there will be more of this. Judging my this link, perhaps it is not so far away.

Rickrolled

2007-09-01T00:23:00.000-07:00

Following this link may annoy you.

Long Time, No Post

2007-08-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't been in the mood for much blogging, partly because things are fairly busy.

A few weeks Daniel came up and visited for a few days. I took two days off of work and we headed up to San Francisco. We hiked about ten miles exploring the city. Then in the evening we met up with Ed and Kathy Wyss and their family for dinner in China Town.

The next day we visited Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park before driving up to Muir Woods. I hadn't been up to see the coastal redwoods for a few years, and they are awe inspiring.

My last trip to LA went well, it was very busy. I stayed with Joe and Sue Klotzle. Joe and I walked down and along the beach during the day, and it was packed. Saturday evening we went to the Hollywood Bowl to see the LA philharmonic. Sunday afternoon the Aberles took me to The Museum of the American West in Griffith Park.

Who is Snape?

2007-07-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

I found this fascinating (to Harry Potter fans) look at the character of Snape. It is written by one of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card. All you Harry Potter fans out there do know that the new book is coming July 21, and we can finally have this story wrapped up. I won't be camping out for it, but Amazon is delivering it to me on the day of.

One of my favorite passages from the essay is, "As for Harry dying in the process of killing Voldemort -- well, she could do that, but she won't enjoy going through the rest of her life without a single literate person ever speaking to her again."

On a totally unrelated note I found this article about Palestinian children's television programming. I have attempted to form a post about it, but have failed.

Perspective

2007-07-08T23:44:00.000-07:00

Now, if I could only get something like this in my apartment.

American, Canceled

2007-06-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

I am getting pretty fed up with American Airlines. Yesterday, Dad was supposed to fly out from St. Louis to San Francisco. When he arrived at the airport they informed him that the flight had been canceled. There was no call to him beforehand that this would happen. The earliest they offered to get him out was tonight. So he missed one of the four days he is going to have with his newest grandson and west coast family.

Earlier this year as Mom, Dad, and I were flying back to San Francisco from Maui through Los Angeles we had a similar problem. We flew the red eye to LA and had an two hour layover. As we were sitting there at the gate we saw on the monitor that the gate had changed. Then in a few minutes the flight was canceled. They made no announcement over the speaker, just waited for the mob of angry people to go to the other gate. Of course everyone still wants to get to SFO, but there are no other American flights that can hold that many people. After a very tense few hours we did get them to put us on a Frontier flight from another terminal, that we barley had enough time to get to, and go through security. Of course our bags did not make it with us.

It is bad enough the way they cancel flights with no warning, and no replacement flight. But what really gets my goat is the contempt with which they treat those inconvenienced. They act surprised that you still want to travel to the same destination. Of course there are not enough seats on other flights to carry a full plane load of people. They make no attempt to contact those whose flight no longer exists.

I don't have these problems with Southwest, or any other airline I use. I cannot remember what else I was angry about, but in LA I recounted a litany of previous problems.

I am to the point that I will spend quite a bit more on other airlines to avoid American Airlines.

Noah

2007-06-24T16:30:00.001-07:00

Noah Clayton Schrenk. Date: 06-23-2007. Weight: 7# 8 oz. Length: 19.0". Color Hair: Black. Status: Healthy.

Upcoming Family

2007-06-20T23:48:00.000-07:00

Mom is flying in to the Bay tomorrow morning, and Kathy should be checking into the hospital in the evening. Hopefully this weekend there will be a new Schrenk.

Global Warming

2007-06-13T11:03:00.001-07:00

My brother, Peter, sent this link out to some of the family and I think it is pretty clever. It is one of those ideas that after you hear it think, "that is so obvious, why didn't I think of that." The main idea is to tie carbon emissions taxes to an agreed upon measure of global warming. That way if warming happens, the tax goes up, otherwise the tax goes down. Seems very reasonable.

Fire Alarm

2007-06-08T23:42:00.000-07:00

Having never lived in a large building before, I am experiencing my first late night fire alarm. The ringing is starting to get on my nerves. Overall it is about ten times worse then random car alarms going off late at night.

Wheelchair + Semi = ?

2007-06-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

It could have been a tragic story, but instead the unexpected happened. No one was hurt. And this is the BBC article, so lorry = semi.

"He refused to believe there was a man in a wheelchair stuck to the front of his truck until he saw it for himself, police said."

Bocking

2007-06-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

So bocking looks like it could be quite exciting. This video is mostly jumps, but it is also possible to run at a good clip with these. After 4:50 there is some cursing, but this is one of the better videos I could find. After that they just seem to blather, so there is really no reason to finish the video.

Busy Weekend

2007-06-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

This has been a good weekend up in the Bay Area. Yesterday I spent most of the day scoping out windsurfing locations, and shopping for windsurfing gear. I found a store up near SFO that sells winter and summer board sports. Comparing the size of the windsurf gear to the kitesurfing stuff was almost enough to make me switch sports. For windsurfing you need a fairly large board, mast, boom, and sail. All of this together is quite a lot of volume. They sell the kites in a backpack, and the boards are small enough to fit easily into a trunk. I did end up buying a package including a Hifly Mambo board and a 6.3 m² X-Ride sail.

This morning I was invited to the annual Shoreline service of the Bay Area Christian Church down in Mountain View. The service ran from 11-1 and was interesting. It seems that every year this church rents out the Shoreline Amphitheater and has a big service. Afterward many people have their picnic lunches, listen to music, and fellowship.

This afternoon I carted my gear up to Foster City to test out my new board and rig. There was some sort of big carnival going on in the park next to where I windsurf, and the street was closed off. I eventually found another way around. It took me a little while, and some help to get my gear ready for the water, but when I did it was great. This is the biggest sail I have yet used, and the board is about as small as I have tried before, but for the first hour and a half there was enough wind to really get going. I am pumped, and will be looking forward to trying out new areas now that I am not tied to the rental location. My arms are very tired, and I want to get and learn how to use a harness soon. I will probably pick up a used sail to try that out on, because I will be pretty sad if I fall through my new sail.

I Can See My House From Here.

2007-06-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

Well, not really. But I can see Times Square, Coors Field, The Monte Carlo, Orange Bowl Stadium, the Palace of Fine Arts, and San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. This new Google maps "street view" feature is impressive. As this service gets rolled out more it will make it a bit easier to find that address that you have never been to. Although, I have to say, I couldn't really find anything to see in Miami from the car.

I look forward to my virtual vacations through the internet with this. And when the Google van drives by, be sure to smile.

Processing

2007-05-31T23:29:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching "Garden State" and I enjoyed pretty much every minute of it. It was very well done, the music, script, camera work, and especially the acting. It will take a little while longer to process it.

More Hydrofoil Goodness

2007-05-31T00:50:00.000-07:00

This looks like quite the workout. It also looks like a lot of fun.

The Sheriff's Office

2007-05-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight I rode my bike up to the entrance of my building and there were two men standing at the door considering the resident list. This is not unusual. "Perhaps he doesn't live here anymore," one says. As they hear me behind them they turn around and ask if I am going in. After answering in the affirmative, one of them flashes a badge, "We are with the sheriff's office, perhaps we can enter with you." So I let them in and cart my bike upstairs as they take the elevator.

24 Hours of Games

2007-05-28T02:46:00.000-07:00

Between my two trips up to KublaCon I believe that I managed a little over 24 at the convention. Today I had a game arranged to play right when I arrived, but after that none of the planned events really caught my interest. After wandering around looking for something I was almost ready to leave, and was doing one last walk through of the open game area when I found two people looking to play Power Grid. We rounded up one other person and had a good session. As I walked away from that table I found a few people setting up Pirate's Cove. So we had a fun time adventuring on the high seas. I pulled out Bang! after that and we played games until after 2:00 AM. I even got to play the expansion Dodge City for the first time.

I call the weekend a success.

KublaCon

2007-05-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today I spent a little over 12 hours at KublaCon up by SFO. This is my first game convention and I am having a blast. St. Louis doesn't have any game conventions to my knowledge. I mostly played a variety of board games and then a game of Exalted from 5 to 10.

I think I will head back tomorrow after church for some more. I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Hydrofoil

2007-05-25T00:47:00.000-07:00

It doesn't even look real.

Honor Killing

2007-05-23T16:08:00.001-07:00

Du'a Khalil Aswad, 17, killed by her family and neighbors. Killed for being seen with a Sunni Muslim man. Suspected and therefore guilty. So called "Honor Killing". I see only dishonor in this. I cannot fathom how dark is the heart of man. Now with technology those involved can use their cell phone camera to record these actions and share it with the world. Because stoning a young woman in your community is something that needs to be boasted about and shared. A culture so warped that a fundamental change is needed to possibly make any progress.

CNN reports, "The killing is said to have spurred the killings of about two dozen Yazidi men by Sunni Muslims in the Mosul area two weeks later."

Hate cannot be conquered by more hate. Romans 12:21 "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

Pressing toward the mark

2007-05-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ben has a blog, titled "Pressing toward the mark", about his trip to New Zealand. I added a link to it over on the right, but thought I would mention it here. He has some great pictures of mostly plants and has some nice long posts. Check it out.

From Vegas

2007-05-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

Right now I am in McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. I was pleased to find that they offer free internet. So flying through Vegas or Phoenix is a fairly pleasant experience. I have never been to Vegas before, and my current trip here consists of this one hour layover. Looking out the plane window the city seems to consist of massive sprawl, the Strip, and not much else.

You are now leaving Las Vegas.

Mango Run

2007-05-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

After windsurfing this afternoon I went on a dried mango run to Costco. My parents had requested some, so I got a few bags for them and one for me. If you haven't tried dried mango then you are missing out. I believe that they are better then any sugary candy out there. Delicious.

Bike to Work Day

2007-05-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today was Bike to Work Day here in the Bay Area. So I joined in and did just that, which is not an unusual activity as I have blogged before. I really like the exercise it gives me, and the fresh air. At work I have a window open looking over the back yard garden of Nathan and Kathy. The weather here is great, and I try to make the most of it.

This weekend I will be traveling to St. Louis while Nathan, Kathy, and Arthur head down to San Diego.

Family Game Night

2007-05-16T23:14:00.000-07:00

After Arthur has gone to bed Nathan, Kathy, and I will play a board game one to two nights a week. It is quiet enough to not wake up Arthur and is very engaging. The table seems very well balanced, with each of us winning about the same percentage of games.

Some of our long time favorites are St. Petersburg and Carcassonne. We have just started playing some Puerto Rico, and just finished tonight with a win for Kathy. I thought I had it sewn up, but she was just ahead. Last week we invited over two other players and tried out Modern Art, which is really fun and I might buy it, but unfortunately needs 4 to 5 players. Nathan just purchased Funkenschlag (or for us Americans "Power Grid"). Some of my other all time favorite games are Bang!, The Settlers of Catan, and Illuminati.

I think the family game night is great fun that can be had on the cheap. It can take anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours+ and increases discussion and interaction.

Donuts for the Class

2007-05-15T00:03:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this story and thought it was pretty good.

Sunny, Windy LA

2007-05-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend down in LA staying with the Mosers near the beach. On Saturday we had 5 people for a few games of beach volleyball on the unusually windy beach. That night was a church singing up at the Grafs, with a pretty strong showing. The root beer floats afterward were delicious. Often when inviting a group to Brown House I would server floats. They work well for an unknown size group because it is easy to make the appropriate number when the guests are there. They are also just so tasty.

Nothing super exciting going on otherwise.

Sandy Eggo

2007-05-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend in San Diego was fun. Dad was at an ophthalmological conference at the big convention center there. Flying into town is very nice, with the airport right new downtown. They have a good number of hotels near the convention center, with restaurants to boot. We stayed in the Westin right next to the Gaslamp quarter.

Balboa park is beautiful and impressive. I would really like to spend some more time there, and it would be a great place to bike around. There was a lot of activity there on Saturday, and the architecture of the buildings and museums is worth getting across town to see it.

Sunday morning we drove up to Escondido where the AC church is. I had met a few of the young members who visited up to Altadena on a few occasions. I will have to get down to the far south to revisit.

On Sunday afternoon we took the short tour of the U.S.S. Midway which has been converted into a carrier museum. I wish we could have spent more time there, but we got in 1 hour and 15 minutes before they closed. I had not realized just how much of a navy town San Diego is. There were many navy ships docked all around the bay. Mom and I spent some time in Marina Park watching all the sailboats, jet skies and Motorboats cruising around.

I forgot my camera, so perhaps I will be able to steal some from Mom. It was not enough time to absorb more then a taste of the city, and I shall return.

Becalmed

2007-04-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend I am off to San Diego for the first time ever. My parents are down there and I am going to spend the weekend with them.

This afternoon after work I tried some more windsurfing. I am moving down to a smaller board, which is a little tricker, but not too much. The wind today was almost non-existent. I moved up to a 4.5 square meter sail and was just getting enough wind to move a bit. As it got later the wind got calmer, so I started to learn how to tack. I was able to do it a few times. It will be pretty cool to be able to tack at greater speed and in higher wind. As I get that down I also plan to attempt the jibe, which is much more difficult.

Wild and Crazy Weather

2007-04-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

It was an exciting weekend in Yosemite. Breathtaking, beautiful, rainy, cold, snowy. Yea. We got to our campsite on Friday evening and cooked up some english muffin pizzas over the fire. I thought I had come prepared for cold, but it was a little bit colder then I had imagined. I was wearing my warmest clothing all weekend.

Saturday morning the women attended a photography class/walk around the valley, and the guys headed up to mirror lake. That is where I got the photos with the mountain reflections. After lunch everyone took a short nap. We then took a hike over to Yosemite falls and caught the shuttle back to camp as the rain started. We had dinner under a camp gazebo as the rain poured down. After falling asleep to the rain splashing on the tent I woke up to an odd noise of something wet and heavy sliding down the sides of the tent. I heard Nathan moving around outside and asked what he was doing. He said, "You do know that it is snowing." Packing up camp with just one pair of gloves shared between Nathan and I was no picnic. We were not interested in doing anything in the valley today.

So, after the five hour trip back I headed to my apartment to relax a little. But the day was not over yet, so I headed out to Foster City Lagoon and got there about 4:00. I still had time for two hours of windsurfing before heading home. It was still light out by the time I got back. I love daylight savings time.

I finally uploaded pictures from my two trips during March.

I love Yosemite in the springtime

2007-04-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

I am psyched to hit Yosemite tomorrow and spend the weekend camping. We are leaving early afternoon and driving east. It will be my third time visiting the valley, and the waterfalls should be gushing. In the past I have stayed in a house, so it will be a little different in a tent. Now that winter is pretty much over outdoor activities are in full swing here in Northern California.

We are going to listen either to A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider or On the Road on the drive to and from the valley. I haven't been listening to many books recently, so I gotta catch up and use my Audible credits.

Talk to you after the weekend.