Ferry Frogger

My Dog are people ever stupid.  Getting on the ferry today was ridiculous.  The ferry started loading and people were running back to their cars still!  People had completely missed the announcement to return to their vehicles.  Cars had to change lanes to get around the empty cars while those people were trying to play Frogger with children and elderly people to get back to their cars.  Scary and stupid.  In all there was at least 4 announcements telling people to return to their cars because the 11 am ferry was loading.

Now, I understand that the announcements are not that loud, but these people must be completely clueless since the market completely empties of people when a ferry is loading.  That and a lot of previously parked traffic was driving away.  I know I am generally aware if the time, especially when ferries are concerned.

Still, almost all the cars were loaded, and there were 2 remaining with no one in them.  Great way to make a ferry late.

Blustery Christmas

Tis blustery outside right now, and I am warm and cozy inside. Sox, Sprout and I walked Yoshi this morning before the inclement weather set in, and now we can all relax a bit and wait for Santa to arrive.

A lot has happened since my last post. My group of friends had their annual Christmas Party and goofy gift exchange last weekend. That was a lot of fun. Pics are here. Christmas shopping is all complete, but not everything is wrapped yet. The house is all decorated (or at least as decorated as it will be due to a curious crawler in the house).

The list of things to do before Christmas is getting shorter, but I know we will get it all done.

Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy New Year.

Screening Pressure

It was a bloody night last night. I had my 31st donation. My next one is Jan 31. It really is easy to keep going once you get in a habit of it. Plus making an appointment, and having a reminder call is awesome too.

Again, no complications at all. The screening nurse commented on my excellent blood pressure. I think I have gotten back to the point where some of the people there recognize me. Not sure why that is cool, but there are few places I can go where they know me by name.

Reverse Traffic

I had to go downtown today at lunch to get something from my old workplace. I found a parking spot on a one way street that I wanted, so I pulled to the side with my blinker on, and put my truck into reverse. There was a car coming, but he was half a block away.

Some clueless pea brain then pulls right up on my bumper and waits for me move. Hmm. I know that when I drive, and I see someone with their reverse lights on, their blinker on, and they are next to an empty parking spot, I assume thay are going to park in that spot. Pea brain didn’t. It turned into a waiting game which I eventually won! Dim bulb backed up enough so that when I went to park, I had about 6 inches to spare on either side of my vehicle.

Of course I screwed up and bumped the curb. I paused for a bit for traffic to pass, but this numbskull was just sitting there. I waved him past me, and sloooowly he inched past. Aaargh.

Is it really that hard to be aware of what people are doing around you while you drive? Shouldn’t we all be trying to anticipate what people will and will not do? Is common sense and courtesy really dead? Just think while you are behind the wheel. It’s not that difficult.

Photography Frames

One geek photography topic I have been following for quite a long time is digital picture frames. I take a lot of pictures. Besides displaying them on my website(s), I’d like to see them at home. A perfect thing for this is a digital frame that cycles through a collection of pictures.

I have been keeping a collection of links to digital picture frames over on delicious. Here is my collection. I have felt that in the last few months there have been an increasing number of announcements of new frames. I finally feel that for the price of what you get, they are worth it. Some of the features are pretty cool too, but some are bad.

Watch out for the ones that require a subscription or an account on a server to download pictures from. Sadly these still exist and the problem lies with what happens to the company if they go under, or decide to exit the market? Also, you need to upload your pictures to their server, and for me there lies a problem with ownership of the file (forgetting that it takes time to upload somewhere then download to the frame).

K.I.S.S. I don’t want much in a frame, but I do want a good quality picture. The features I want in a frame are these:

  • AC or DC power
  • large and bright screen
  • internal memory
  • memory card capable

Not much there. Some of the other things cool features that I have seen:

  • wi-fi access to picture collections
  • rss reading of picture collections
  • video playback
  • remote control
  • motion sensor to disable the frame while noone is in the room

I hope to pick a digital picture frame up in the next few months. They have been a novelty for a while, but now I think I am at the point where I would find it useful.

Last First

My last day at NewHeights was on Friday. Although I was excited about my new job, I was still sad to leave such a fun group of people. A large group of us went for lunch as a going away thing, and it was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone for the gifts and the card. Packing my stuff up was a weird feeling for me. Part of me was happy to be done, but a bigger part was sad that it was ending.

Today was my first day at Kodak. Starting at a new office is always hard because of the learning curve. As a new employee I am always eager to learn and to prove myself, but when shown the codebase it always seems a bit daunting. Still, I liked my first day, and hope that I can remember everyone’s names tomorrow. Kodak sure seems like a unique and fun place to work.

Critical Cards

At first the novelty was interesting but it has reached a critical mess now. The idea of store cards has to stop. The first one I saw was the Starbucks card. Interesting way for companies to make money. They get your money in advance and earn interest on it. You get … coffee. You lose the card you get … screwed.

Everywhere you go now you see a store card for sale. Canadian Tire, the Bay, Thrifty’s and on and on and on.

Today I saw one for Subway. Argh. Enough already. I have enough crap in my wallet I don’t need 10 more plastic cards in there. A debit card works just great. Now, if maybe they had a universal no-pin needed, load anywhere use anywhere kind of card I could get on board. That is essentially a debit card (without a pin) though.

Sigh.

Identity silos are a real pain. Brand lock-in is a real pain. Consumers want choice. This consumer wants choice.

Other random thoughts:
Granted store cards are nice for gifts, but whatever happened to the old fashioned Gift Certificate?

They can also be a good thing for budgeting (I am allowed $X per month at Starbucks).

How much waste is produced by these cards each year?

People returning merchandise without a receipt to stores with their own cards usually end up with a store card in the amount of their return. Not the worst thing in the world I suppose, but there is another card I need to dispose of.

Deck Individuals

Time for an update on the deck replacement progress. Last post we saw the deck was half demolished.

This post the new deck is half built. Last post was on September 9. This post November 12. This has been an ongoing process for over 2 months. Time to take some action and maybe get the individuals involved moving a little quicker. Not having a deck is a pain when you have a dog that wants to go outside to pee a few times a day.

These pics were actually taken Oct 28, but nothing has changed since then.

Official Destination

It’s officially official. I have given notice at NewHeights, and I am moving to a new company. I have found it to be a difficult decision to leave, but I am also very excited about my destination: Kodak.

No, my new job has nothing to do with photography. I will be coding still, but with some newer technology (in some ways) than what I work with now.

A fresh start in a new work environment. Liberating. My last day at NewHeights is November 17, and from now until then I am training someone on my job. My start date is the 22nd, so I have a couple extra days off which will be nice.