tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74861347854074281102024-03-12T19:35:18.052-07:00Home of the InaneDocumenting (occasionally) the ramblings and ravings of Edward Pilatowicz since May 2004Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.comBlogger199125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-2733322910516255812015-11-28T12:28:00.000-08:002015-11-28T12:28:11.616-08:00honing in on habanero beef jerkytoday i finished preparing my second batch of beef jerky. i started with the recipe from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Salting-Smoking-Revised-Updated/dp/0393240053" target="_blank">charcuterie</a>, but i'm still tweaking it to achieve a better result. i got inspired to make this because i love the super spicy <a href="http://www.jerknpickle.com/product/habanero/" target="_blank">jerk'n pickle habanero jerky</a>, but at about $64 / lb i don't buy a whole lot of it. i've tried lots of other commercial beef jerkies, and frankly i think most of them suck. so decided to try making my own.<br />
<br />
the first batch i made was with an 2.3 lb organic eye of round roast. i trimmed it, quartered it, and froze it for four hours before cutting it 2mm thick along the grain on the meat slicer. i cut it along the grain because i was worried that if i cut it against the grain it would fall apart. i then proceeded to cure it for 24 hours with:<br />
<ul></ul>
<ul>
<li>20 grams salt</li>
<li>5 grams garlic powder</li>
<li>5 grams onion powder</li>
<li>60 grams chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce</li>
<li>0.5 grams ground habaneros</li>
</ul>
i dried it in a dehydrator for for 23 hours at 95 F. what i got was essentially tasty chewy meat paper:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpGvtQasTk7gkaDkf7ucP6Pl5_r-VzQeGSrg7XeqsjOY-aj3xyCPdEOIG5pSyngJNN2KtuFWslZX_l3_3K81wozlKt2QUeeizAKNK14y4ZZWXzF2ywWx6YD3aDqDNxehyUrL01WSH17ic/s1600/IMG_0218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpGvtQasTk7gkaDkf7ucP6Pl5_r-VzQeGSrg7XeqsjOY-aj3xyCPdEOIG5pSyngJNN2KtuFWslZX_l3_3K81wozlKt2QUeeizAKNK14y4ZZWXzF2ywWx6YD3aDqDNxehyUrL01WSH17ic/s400/IMG_0218.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">first batch. tasty chewy meat paper.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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it wasn't very spicy, it was a bit too thin, and a bit too dry. in the end i got a yield of 12 oz, and since i started with a overpriced organic roast from whole foods, my cost was $45.90 / lb.<br />
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before starting my second batch i got some advice from a friend who is a BBQ expert. (actually, he has never made jerky before, but since he's a competitive BBQ'er he knows people who have so he relayed me some advice.) <br />
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for my second attempt i started with a non-organic 2.6 lb eye of round roast from my local grocery store. after trimming it and halving it, i cut it 5mm thick against the grain and i didn't have any issues with the meat falling apart. for the cure i increased the heat by using 2 grams of freshly ground dried habaneros from our garden. this time i dried the meat for 12 hours at 155 F. here's the before and after:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpg6eJP9LitK-cUHaZvtqHhWAwzZsrysC6gjuuRhQqxaaiZHC-gsvqUgFswk_m19wGduh5MA52Tcjc1l08CQBr_JnnTNfSUyr3Ib1_G1mHEEIM5ucaMG4pjsJjXH202wFbMw3dGg8ZLRg/s1600/IMG_0215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpg6eJP9LitK-cUHaZvtqHhWAwzZsrysC6gjuuRhQqxaaiZHC-gsvqUgFswk_m19wGduh5MA52Tcjc1l08CQBr_JnnTNfSUyr3Ib1_G1mHEEIM5ucaMG4pjsJjXH202wFbMw3dGg8ZLRg/s400/IMG_0215.JPG" width="365" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">second batch going into the dehydrator</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiboBS2uInAGnuwLJax4zle32q4pYXFcXHeQ_1zBcw1sjnvCm0T28aWSzJxp0ZeuKflcDo0RhCeMlDN5DOhI5b2tBenyJNNAAEaLAzGGk1VX3_0p_mzS5IOqA9GgO0vUppT99lKv8j28jU/s1600/IMG_0216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiboBS2uInAGnuwLJax4zle32q4pYXFcXHeQ_1zBcw1sjnvCm0T28aWSzJxp0ZeuKflcDo0RhCeMlDN5DOhI5b2tBenyJNNAAEaLAzGGk1VX3_0p_mzS5IOqA9GgO0vUppT99lKv8j28jU/s400/IMG_0216.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">second batch coming out of the dehydrator</td></tr>
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here's the first batch (on the left) compared to the second batch (on the right): <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGWtdS2hLgJ9ilIqB_TV6xfb6MX_qFjUvklDeO3q1unrYO14RGA6jfBVggKeTsxh6P8IKhhWdNgEW0kHVPHmU8Q7dSWASOdv5XcGKyAVdsEy3lRCGKWrVQ52CQcUDA8_mKmMq_t3RfjfQ/s1600/IMG_0217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGWtdS2hLgJ9ilIqB_TV6xfb6MX_qFjUvklDeO3q1unrYO14RGA6jfBVggKeTsxh6P8IKhhWdNgEW0kHVPHmU8Q7dSWASOdv5XcGKyAVdsEy3lRCGKWrVQ52CQcUDA8_mKmMq_t3RfjfQ/s400/IMG_0217.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">jerky comparison. first batch (left), cut 2mm thick with the grain vs second batch (right), cut 5mm thick against the grain.</td></tr>
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the flavor on the second batch is better, there is actually some heat in it now. the texture is also better with the meat cut against the grain. unfortunately i dried it too much. i checked on it after about 6 hours of drying (before i went to bed), and it definitely needed more time, but by the time i woke up it was bone dry and a bit crunchy (almost like meat candy). this time around i got a yield of 12.5 oz and my cost was $8.65 / lb. <br />
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next time i'll probably try cutting it 4 mm thick, using 4 grams of habanero, and drying it for 8-9 hours at 145 F.<br />
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<br />Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-7919381043804427102015-10-31T12:30:00.000-07:002015-10-31T12:30:32.635-07:00bacon, phase one, take onei recently bought <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Salting-Smoking-Revised-Updated/dp/0393240053" target="_blank">charcuterie</a> by <a href="http://ruhlman.com/" target="_blank">ruhlman</a> and polcyn, and today i started my first attempt at making bacon. i got a 3.7 lb pork belly from whole foods and i rubbed it with:<br />
<ul>
<li>50 grams of basic cure (8 parts salt, 7.6 parts dextrose, 1 part pink salt)</li>
<li>3 crushed bay leaves</li>
<li>10 grams cracked black peppercorns</li>
<li>5 crushed garlic</li>
</ul>
i put it in a 2 gallon ziploc bag and now it needs to cure for 7 days. since i don't have a smoker my current plan is to cook the bacon in a sous vide bath (with some liquid smoke) after it's done curing. (apologies in advance to all the actual bbq and smoker experts out there.)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwS63fQ0975KkPc0SRDQVaWg7yrgthCjG2z-Bn3JYdUX6Pay1-sKm0JRszirbj5ffgK8qf8Ex2XyNrG1dLB2ePZBLsfzrVJxkiXh9bwW2Yon2SnC_sfhGfd77AOFrZkpf5puJ4DYz0EN0/s640/blogger-image-425194040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="my tasting assistant knows it's going to be a while before this will be ready." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwS63fQ0975KkPc0SRDQVaWg7yrgthCjG2z-Bn3JYdUX6Pay1-sKm0JRszirbj5ffgK8qf8Ex2XyNrG1dLB2ePZBLsfzrVJxkiXh9bwW2Yon2SnC_sfhGfd77AOFrZkpf5puJ4DYz0EN0/s1600/blogger-image-425194040.jpg" title="my tasting assistant knows it's going to be a while before this will be ready." /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my tasting assistant knows it's going to be a while before this will be ready.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibG8f37zyNtUktSN0xdxjaOnNmBkfzFzRBgFnMNm1bnHPOW97TGTRs9V_26zhzJYS-zVxoYGF8Q3xQLpLLaRiH7NJoHrzJocV7rVdN2fNgqn8d3zcBiVRwBneYgfmzNPtzWJBOAwCgA7s/s640/blogger-image-1533067152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="mmm. pork. the king of meats. hopefully i can do it justice." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibG8f37zyNtUktSN0xdxjaOnNmBkfzFzRBgFnMNm1bnHPOW97TGTRs9V_26zhzJYS-zVxoYGF8Q3xQLpLLaRiH7NJoHrzJocV7rVdN2fNgqn8d3zcBiVRwBneYgfmzNPtzWJBOAwCgA7s/s1600/blogger-image-1533067152.jpg" title="mmm. pork. the king of meats. hopefully i can do it justice." /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mmm. pork. the king of meats. hopefully i can do it justice.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkBaL-9zmv7vkyeB1Uh1078LY9RkrDKvmPVxkffBtGI9NQu1o9-ZAOOa_j4bnQIENKLqXrwKDdLnMBmcAOqh1E2a0-Tibss6RuOLuJqteGKK4i6T1362_6vCXcJ0Lv7HlqD_0T2I252Ds/s640/blogger-image-1104571864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="i didn't even know they made 2 gallon ziploc bags." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkBaL-9zmv7vkyeB1Uh1078LY9RkrDKvmPVxkffBtGI9NQu1o9-ZAOOa_j4bnQIENKLqXrwKDdLnMBmcAOqh1E2a0-Tibss6RuOLuJqteGKK4i6T1362_6vCXcJ0Lv7HlqD_0T2I252Ds/s1600/blogger-image-1104571864.jpg" title="i didn't even know they made 2 gallon ziploc bags." /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i didn't even know they made 2 gallon ziploc bags.</td></tr>
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Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-82460620426942514902015-10-28T22:20:00.002-07:002015-10-31T12:24:37.775-07:00Jury selection dismissalToday I was the first juror dismissed (by the prosecution) from an initial selection of 18 jurors.<br /><br />This was my third time participating in a jury selection and the first time I've actually been selected, questioned, and dismissed.<br /><br />This was a criminal DUI case that would probably have lasted two to three days. Talking to some other jurors who were initially dismissed I was the only one who was actually interested serving. I thought it would be informative to see the criminal justice system working. I also thought I could do a good job on the jury, judging the evidence in accordance with the law.<br /><br />There were many jurors who in answering questions made it clear that they felt they would not be able to apply the standards of the law. For example, one juror said they couldn't understand why someone would refuse to take a breathalyzer test when it could so easily "prove their innocence" and that this refusal would bias their judgement.<br /><br />During the juror selection process, some of the questions that came up and that I replied to were:<br />
<ul>
<li>The defense asked a long winded, hypothetical question that essentially amounted to asking if we could follow direction. I pointed this out and indicated the judge had already asked this and I had already answered in the affirmative.</li>
<li>The defense asked if, in the case that the defendant declined to testify on their own behalf, would bias our judgement in the case. I replied that it was the prosecution's burden to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and lack of testimony from the defendant would not affect that burden of proof.</li>
<li>The prosecution asked if anyone would have problems accepting the testimony of a trained police officer. I replied that any officer’s testimony would need to be judged equally with all the other testimony, taking into account any instructions from the judge and in the context of the law as explained by the judge.</li>
</ul>
Given the number of jurors trying to get themselves excused, and the fact that I thought I could do a good job as a juror in this case, I mistakenly thought I had a pretty good chance of being selected. Just before they started with dismissals the woman next to me in the jury box leaned over and told me we were both out. She was an auto-insurance claims investigator and said we were both "far too logical" to stay. She was the second person dismissed. IMO neither of us had given any indication that we would have any problems serving fairly in this case.<br /><br />So as future reference note, should I find myself in jury selection for a case where I'd actually like to serve, I should keep my responses as curt as possible and avoid nodding or speaking up unless directly spoken to. Also, if I find myself in jury selection for a case in which I don't want to serve, I should just be myself.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-38270806364838116232015-09-12T21:08:00.001-07:002015-09-12T21:08:59.146-07:00Saturday recap<p dir="ltr">I actually went for a bike ride. (My last ride was three week ago.) My normal short ride through Emerald Hills, up Kings, and back. I did some intervals in Emerald Hills. Unlike the past few days, the weather was reasonable today (high 60s and overcast).</p>
<p dir="ltr">I roasted two batches of coffee.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I chopped back a lavender bush that was trying to take over the driveway.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I cleaned the driveway. Kinda a Sisyphean task since we have a black walnut tree over the driveway that renders it useless most of the year by constantly shitting a stream of sticky, resiny, and staining walnuts onto it.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I cleared a forsaken three foot wide patch of dirt next to the garage. In the past few years at least a foot of detritus had accrued there which contained rats nests, bird carcasses, and some huge spiders. It was also causing some rot in the exterior siding of the garage.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I put down termite poison in most perimeter areas around the house and fences.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Somehow this home owner shit has rendered me exhausted and useless. The only thing I'm capable of doing now is writing this drivel and going to bed.</p>
<p dir="ltr">G'night.<br>
</p>
Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-69100817604127406312014-12-21T18:42:00.000-08:002015-10-31T12:24:28.405-07:00A dinner at Lazy BearThis past week we went to dinner at <a href="http://www.lazybearsf.com/" target="_blank">Lazy Bear</a> in San Francisco. It was one of the best fancy dinner experiences I've had. I could attempt to wax eloquent about all the different ways in which the experience was awesome, but instead I'll be lazy and just refer you to a review of <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/diningout/article/Lazy-Bear-update-A-rarefied-feast-if-you-can-get-5966148.php" target="_blank">Lazy Bear on SFGate</a> (published yesterday). Many of the dishes we had were different from what was described in the review (since the menu continually changes). You can see pictures of a bunch of the dishes we had <a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/20141217-lazy-bear/" target="_blank">here</a>:<br />
<a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/20141217-lazy-bear/" target="_blank"><br /></a>
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I've had a few other fancy dinners where some of the dishes were amazing, while others were ho-hum. But here each of the courses was truly unique and tasty. Aside from the food and the venue, two other things we really enjoyed were:<br />
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- A fantastic 2013 wine from <a href="http://www.scholiumwines.com/" target="_blank">The Scholium Project</a> called "Prince in His Caves". It was an orange colored Sauvignon Blanc that was fermented with the grape skins on and had a truly unique and great flavor.<br />
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- The great music selection (Cure, Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, etc).<br />
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We were there from 7:30pm till 11:30pm and the time just flew by. If you're looking for an exciting dinner out on the town I'd highly recommend it.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-78697722815502529152014-10-06T22:42:00.000-07:002014-10-06T22:51:49.524-07:00Levi's Gran Fondo Ride ReportI started cycling about five years ago and up till this past Saturday I had never done a century ride. (I had attempted the Primavera Century ride in 2010, but I gave up at mile 87 after 22 miles of riding in heavy rain.) Earlier this year I decided that I should finally try a century ride so I signed up for <a href="http://www.levisgranfondo.com/" target="_blank">Levi's Gran Fondo</a>, <a href="http://ridewithgps.com/routes/733774" target="_blank">a 103 mile ride with about 9,200 ft of climbing</a>.<br />
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Unfortunately, the weeks leading up to the ride were pretty stressful. I had assumed that committing to this event would help motivate me to train more and get into better shape. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and I didn't do any more riding this year than I've done in past years. Also, work was particularly stressful in the weeks leading up to the ride and I didn't do nearly as much last minute training as I would have hoped. Then a heatwave decided to set in for the weekend of the event, with temps going up to 95 F, and I normally perform much better when temps are in the 60s. Finally, since I've never done anything like this, I didn't really have any accurate way to gauge if my fitness level was sufficient for the event.<br />
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A couple days before the event I decided I should have a plan, so I started looking at my performance on long rides this year. I noticed that for long rides (50+ miles and 5000+ ft of climbing) I was averaging about 12.5 mph. So for a 103 mile course, going 12.5 mph, it would take me about 8.25 hours without any rest stops. (And there were 6 rest stops on the course, one of which was a lunch stop.) Looking at the schedule for the ride, it started at 8am and they would starting closing it up around 5pm with a final pickup for any remaining riders at 6pm. That would mean you would want to finish the course in less 9 hours, with 10 hours being a hard cutoff. Given this estimate, I was really worried about actually being able to finish the course in time. Ronda pointed out that I could do the Medio ride instead (65 miles and 3800 ft of climbing), but I dismissed that option since I'm stubborn and my normal "long" weekend rides are more challenging than that. I was going to try to finish the Gran or fail trying.<br />
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After looking at my past performance, the plan I decided on was to try and hit an average of 12.5 mph (with 13 mph being a stretch goal). I was going to try and keep my heart rate down below 170 for most the ride (heat allowing) and I would try to keep my power in the low 200s for any climb or longer straight stretch. I hoped that would allow me to survive to the end of the ride and finish before the course closed.<br />
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The night before the ride me and Ronda went up to Santa Rosa to stay at a small house on a farm about 5 miles from the event. In the morning I got up at 6am, got ready, and biked over to the event. The ride officially started at 8am, and when the starter’s pistol fired I immediately began rolling forward in a large mass of people (there are about 7000+ riders). Then, just as quickly I came to a stop as we all bunch up together and couldn't move any more. We all continued to inch forward until I finally passed the starting line at about 8:22. Hm. Not quite the amazing start I had expected. (Also, when I crossed the starting line I was freezing since it was about 50 F out and I had lost all my body heat while standing around waiting to actually start riding.)<br />
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Once I passed the starting line the ride became much more enjoyable. For the first 20 miles the road was closed to cars and filled with riders. It was pretty fun riding with that many people and mostly I was just slowly negotiating my way forward past slower riders. After the first rest stop (Monte Rio @ mile 20) I managed to get behind a group of about 5 fast riders that were pushing a pace slightly higher than I was comfortable with, but I held on for about 10 miles and we were trucking along at 20+ mph. We passed lots of other groups. Then when I looked behind me I noticed that I wasn't the last rider in our train, instead it stretched back behind me as far as I could see.<br />
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The second rest stop (Cazadero @ mile 30) was also the cutoff for the Gran route. If you didn't make it there by 11:00 then you would get shunted off onto an alternate and shorter route. I made it there by about 10:30, so I thought I was doing OK. My average speed so far was about 15 mph, which was above my target (which made sense since we really hadn't done any climbing yet). I was also comforted by the fact that there was a huge crowd there, which helped assure me that I there were lots of other folks going at a comparable pace.<br />
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Moving on from the second rest stop the climbing finally started. My normal riding routes include a lot of climbing and I really like it. I find it's much easier to gage and regulate my performance on a climb than it is on the flats. So when the road started to go up, and it still wasn't too hot, I felt right in my element. I managed to kept my power in the low 200s (as planned) and my heart rate in the low 170s, except in the sections where the road became too steep and I had to push a higher power to keep my speed at a decent pace. Luckily those sections were usually shorter and I noticed that my HR was recovering quickly whenever I backed off. Happily, this trend continued for the entire ride. I was pretty surprised (and slightly encouraged) when I saw people off of their bikes and walking up the very first significant climb.<br />
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I really enjoyed the ride to the third rest stop (King Ridge @ mile 47). Once the majority of the climbing was done we had rollers on hilltops through farm country, and it was really gorgeous. The only unfortunate part was that I passed a cyclist who had crashed while taking a turn and seriously injured himself (this was just before the third rest stop). There were lots of folks and staff around helping him, but he looked like he needed serious medical attention. As it turns out, he wasn't the only accident that occurred. After spending about 5 mins at the third rest stop I decided to move on, but at that moment they closed down the road. Apparently two more cyclists had crashed just a bit further on (where there was an extremely steep descent). The road was closed for about 40 mins while they brought in a helicopter to evacuate one of the riders, and the other was taken out in an ambulance.<br />
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During our 40 min wait at the third rest stop, many more people were arriving. When they finally re-opened the road, once again there was a sea of riders moving forward together. The most interesting part of this section was that it was an extremely steep and long descent being doing in a large crowd of riders. About 3/4s of the way through the descent, the was a loud gunshot like noise just behind me. It seems that someone with tubeless carbon wheels had overheated one of their wheels and it exploded. Not a good day for them.<br />
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After this steep descent we had lots more climbing to get to the fourth rest stop (Ritchey Ranch @ mile 58) for lunch. I was surprised at how good I felt when I got there. The only discomfort I had felt so far was a tightness in my neck / upper back which had started at about mile 20. But this is frequently something that happens to me when I'm stressed, and given how early it started in the ride, I attributed it to that.<br />
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I also had a really great appetite when I got there and I had to limit myself to just having one roast beef sandwich since I wanted to get going asap. Part of my plan for the ride had been to stop at every rest stop to eat something, to drink, and to use the facilities to make sure I wasn't getting dehydrated. But I still wanted to keep my time at each rest stop to a minimum to ensure that I still finished in time. So after scarfing down lunch and re-applying sunscreen I headed out again.<br />
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The ride after lunch was awesome since we headed out to the coast and met up with Highway 1. The temps dropped down to the low 70s, and once we got to Hwy 1 the riding was great. Many of the previous roads we had been on were poorly maintained back country roads, where as Hwy 1 was in excellent condition and the sharp turns on descents were well graded and fun. Not to mention the views were amazing.<br />
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I was feeling really good riding along the coast. Hwy 1 had lots of rollers and I found that I still had the energy to get out of the saddle and power up the hills, and then my heart rate would quickly recover during the descents on the other side. I was riding solo and I was still able to pass lots of other folks on the way to the fifth rest stop (Portuguese Beach @ mile 74).<br />
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Right after leaving the fifth rest stop I hit the final serious climbs, and once again, I felt pretty good on these. Since these climbs were moving inland it was getting warmer. I made sure to keep my power in check to avoid overheating. I was also rewarded with good views of the coast rapidly disappearing behind me. I took a quick and unnecessary stop at the sixth rest stop (Coleman Valley @ mile 81) and then another quick stop at the seventh and final rest stop (Occidental @ mile 87). At the final rest stop, I realized that I was still feeling really good and decided to try and push a stronger pace till the end. For the next 9 miles I was pushing a strong solo pace, and then a group of 4 other riders flew past me. I jumped onto the back of their train and road at an even faster pace for the last 7 miles of the ride.<br />
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I crossed the finish line 9 hours after starting and I felt surprisingly good when I did. I felt like I could have continued riding without any problems. I had an average speed of 14 mph (a moving time of 7:21), which was much better than I had expected, and I also felt like I left some performance on the table. I think I underestimated my abilities and overestimated the difficulty of the course. Had I known better and been willing to finish the ride with no remaining capacity, I could have definitely pushed harder and finished sooner.<br />
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Overall, the ride itself was beautiful and fun. I normally ride by myself, so it was fun to get into a couple groups and fly along the highway. It was also nice not having to stop anywhere and having police wave you through every light and stop sign on the road. Finally, the scenery along the route was beautiful. I'm used to riding through coastal redwoods forests, so I'm pretty spoiled when it comes to scenic rides. But this ride was still impressive with forests, rolling hills through ranch lands, classic dry California hills, and coastal cruising on Hwy 1. My main regret is that I didn't take a camera with me on the ride since there were countless opportunities to use it.<br />
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If you're interested in my stats from the ride you can find them on Strava <a href="http://www.strava.com/activities/203364453" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0Finley Aquatic Center, 2060 West College Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95401, USA38.4449826 -122.749754538.242886600000006 -123.07247799999999 38.6470786 -122.427031tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-9661091455206582092014-09-23T23:02:00.002-07:002014-09-23T23:28:21.183-07:00Severed fuel line.Recently things have been busy at work. So this morning I decided to get up at 6am (an ungodly time for me) and head into the office early to get stuff done before my meetings started. While driving south on the 101 I hit some debris in the road. I immediately noticed a fuel smell, my dashboard lit up, and my engine died. I managed to get the car onto the shoulder, and when I looked under it I saw some shredded shielding and a hose leaking fluid onto the ground.<br />
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Needless to say I decided not to try and restart the car. I called AAA and had it towed to my local mechanic. He put it on the lift and we confirmed that I had broken hose assembly and fuel line. After having my wife pick me up from the mechanic I drove into the office again and was only a few minutes late for my 9am meeting.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-80106854435261301752013-10-29T19:39:00.005-07:002013-10-29T20:10:22.186-07:00Oops. I fell while cycling.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, it finally happened. After four+ years of cycling I finally had my first real crash.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crash:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This morning at 8pm I went out for my normal Tue/Thu ride (climbing Jefferson, Kings, and the West side of Old La Honda). While descending 35 / Skyline Blvd towards Skylonda (after climbing up Kings) I was going a little too fast for the conditions (which were wet and cold). I hit a slick spot where all the chip seal had worn off the road and my tires slipped out from under me. I landed on my right side and skidded for a ways. I remember thinking "just relax" while I felt my head bounce against the ground a couple times. Luckily there were no cars on the road and I got up quickly and moved to the side of the road. I was happy to see that my biking shorts, shirt, and vest had no holes in them. My left had was really numb, so i took off my gloves and saw that my thumb was pretty scraped up. I also noticed that i was bleeding, at which point I found a hole on the inside of my right arm arm warmer where there was some not-so-pretty-looking flesh hanging out. I then realized I was no longer wearing my glasses and I found them in two pieces on the side of the road. After re-assembling my glasses I tried to call Ronda but there was no cell reception, so I started trying to fix up my bike to ride again. I fixed my chain (which was off and wrapped around my pedal and shifter cable). I got my tires rotating again. Then I noticed that my left shifter was scraped up and rotated inwards, so I straightened it out. I also noticed that my</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> rear derailleur</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> hanger was bent so I took a note to avoid shifting to easier gear on the back (so as to avoid the rear</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> derailleur</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> getting stuck in the spokes). </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I put my gloves back on and then rode a short ways to Skylonda, called Ronda, and waited for her to pick me up. Looking at the </span><a href="http://www.strava.com/activities/92084746" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">data from my Garmin</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, I figure i was going about 28 mph at the time of the crash.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cleanup:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I went home, changed, and then went to PAMF Urgent care. They cleaned up the road rash on my right arm and x-rayed both my right arm and left thumb. I may have fractured my thumb, so they put it in a splint and I have an appointment on Thu for them to look at it again after the swelling goes down. I also have some minor scratches and bruises on my right hip and down my back, but those all seem really minor (although Ronda keeps warning me that I'm going to be really sore tomorrow).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thoughts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm a lucky SOB. First, there were no cars on the road when I crashed (it happened at a curve in the road and they probably wouldn't have seen me). Second, I'm amazed at how little road rash I actually got (compared to other people I know who have also been in accidents).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Confusion:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm really confused about how my left thumb and shifter ended up damaged. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was in the drops when I went down, so I was thinking that my handle bars must have shot to the left and twisted my thumb outwards (riding over the top of my left thumb and skinning it in the process). But that doesn't jive with the damage to my left shifter. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cover plate from the top of the left shifter is missing and it's badly scraped up on the top front. Given that I slid on my right side I have no idea how or when it came into contact with the ground. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/20131029-cycling-crash" target="_blank">Photos</a>:</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/20131029-cycling-crash/i-W4JMCSS/A" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://photos.drymartini.org/20131029-cycling-crash/i-W4JMCSS/0/S/2013_10_29_cycling_crash-000-S.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/20131029-cycling-crash/i-W4JMCSS/A" target="_blank">I snapped a photo at the top of skyline (before i fell), thinking I'd post it to my blog today.</a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/20131029-cycling-crash/i-DwKWpsn/A" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://photos.drymartini.org/20131029-cycling-crash/i-DwKWpsn/0/S/2013_10_29_cycling_crash-001-S.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/20131029-cycling-crash/i-DwKWpsn/A" target="_blank">Me at PAMF enjoying morphine and classical music (j/k about the morphine, even though they offered...)</a></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/20131029-cycling-crash/i-DwKWpsn/A" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://photos.drymartini.org/20131029-cycling-crash/i-8R8sBNT/0/S/2013_10_29_cycling_crash-002-S.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/20131029-cycling-crash/i-DwKWpsn/A" target="_blank">Me all cleaned up (except for the helmet hair).</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-17705654108755705482012-11-11T21:13:00.001-08:002012-11-11T21:14:22.695-08:00Weekend summary1) Watched the new <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948470/" target="_blank">Amazing Spider-Man</a> movie streaming from <a href="http://www.vudu.com/" target="_blank">Vudu</a>.<br />
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2) Went for a 20 mile bike ride with Ronda.<br />
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3) Installed one <a href="http://www.romik.com/" target="_blank">Romik</a> running board on my Subaru Forester (on the drivers side). I'm not totally thrilled about how it fits. The Forester was obviously not designed for running boards, since when you try to stand on it your toes hit the bottom of the body. Also, while i think it's securely mounted it does flex down when you stand on it, which makes it feel less than secure. Now I'm consternating about either installing the other one or giving up on them.<br />
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4) Tried <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/himawari-san-mateo" target="_blank">Himawari</a> in San Mateo. It's a nice restaurant (lots of jazz records on the walls and jazz playing) with some very tasty Shio Ramen (the Chicken Karaage is tasty as well).<br />
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5) Bought two small framed prints of "Party Daleks" by <a href="http://genevievesantos.com/" target="_blank">Genevieve Santos</a> that were on display at <a href="http://sweetbreams.com/" target="_blank">Sweet Breams</a> (also in San Mateo).<br />
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6) Read up on how to <a href="http://www.meyersmoney.com/resources/articles/can-i-put-money-into-a-roth.html" target="_blank">avoid contribution limits for Roth IRAs</a>. I wish I had known about this in 2010 when if first became possible. I also spent some more time reading some other postings by <a href="http://www.meyersmoney.com/" target="_blank">Meyers Wealth Management</a>.<br />
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7) Hung up the "Party Dalek" prints and a decorative metal sign reading "Black Dog Inn; Martini Bar" in the guest bathroom.<br />
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8) Created a 6" tall splash guard for the dogs water bowl so that when Rye drinks water he doesn't end up splashing it all over the bathroom floor.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-87997248128494747622012-02-05T13:52:00.000-08:002012-02-05T13:52:30.734-08:00walking on ice: my mom's first novel<a href="http://mariapilatowicz.com/">my mom, maria pilatowicz</a>, has just published <a href="http://mariapilatowicz.com/walking-on-ice/">her first novel called "walking on ice."</a> it's a story about a young girl growing up in poland under communism. the official "in print" release date is 2012.04.10, but you can <a href="http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61346-929-3">get a digital copy (pdf) from tate publishing today</a>.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-61574839274026098712011-08-14T21:37:00.000-07:002011-08-14T21:37:39.446-07:00an introduction to the google android app store, aka the "market"the google android app store (aka the "market" application) allows you to download android applications to your phone. amazon also has an android app store (and to access it you have to download the amazon app store program) but i'm going to focus on the google app store here.<br />
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first off, you can see all the applications you have installed from the app store by starting up the "market" application, hitting the menu button, and then selecting "my apps". note that this isn't a list of all the apps on your device, it's just the apps that were installed via the app store.<br />
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not only can you download apps from the market, but updates to apps are also delivered via the "market". to make sure that you always have the latest version of an application, after you finish installing an application you should go the "my apps" list, select the app, and select the "allow automatic updating" option.<br />
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to find new apps you can search for them via the "market", or you can do it online at https://market.android.com/ (make sure to login with the google account your phone is connected to). the online web market will allow you to browse and install apps directly onto you phone.<br />
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in general, one thing to keep in mind when installing apps is that there is really not much quality control for apps before they get added to the market. so there really is nothing to prevent malicious or dangerous apps from being added to the app store that can steal your personal information. so when searching for and installing new apps, you should be cautious and pay attention to a few different things, for example:<br />
<ul><li>does the app get good reviews from lots of people?</li>
<li>how long has the app been around?</li>
<li>does the developer of the app have other applications in the market or just one?</li>
<li>does the developer of the app have lots of other small stupid apps?</li>
<li>does the developer name/company sound suspicious? (if an app said it was by "g00gle inc", i'd be suspicious that they want to trick people into thinking it's an app made by google.)</li>
<li>what permissions does the app require, and does the app want access to any of your online accounts.</li>
</ul>the last point about permissions is important. before you install an app, the market will show you information about what permissions the application wants once it's installed on your phone. this can include access to things like like: location information, the phone book, making calls, sending txts, the sd card, etc. pay attention to what the application wants to do. if you're installing a calculator application that wants the ability to send sms text messages, you should be wary. lastly, once you've installed an app, it may request access to accounts that you have registered on your phone. (you can see these accounts by going to Home -> Menu -> Accounts & Sync). once again, if a calculator is asking you for permission to access your gmail account, you might consider uninstalling it and finding a different calculator app.<br />
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also worth noting is that after you install an application and select "allow automatic updating,” an app which changes the permissions it requires in an update will not automatically update. instead the market will notify you that is a new update available and that you have to explicitly say "yes" to updating it again because the permissions have changed (and once again it will show you the new permissions required by the app).<br />
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now, before jumping into the apps themselves, there an important and REALLY STUPID item i have to mention. as you've probably already noticed, android phones come pre-loaded with a bunch of apps. (think google maps, facebook, etc.) the stupid thing though is that there are usually newer versions of these apps available in the app store, but until you download them they won't automatically update to the latest versions. so essentially, before downloading any new apps, the first thing you want to do is go to the app store and re-install a bunch of apps that you already have. once you do this you'll get updated version of them as they are made available. to make this doubly annoying, if you ever get an full android OS upgrade, that upgrade will undo these updates so that you have to go back and re-install the bundled apps. it's an incredibly stupid bug. so here's a list of apps that were pre-installed on my phone for which the market has newer versions:<br />
<ul><li>Books - by Google</li>
<li>Car Home - by Google</li>
<li>Facebook for Android - by Facebook</li>
<li>Gmail - by Google</li>
<li>Google Goggles - by Google</li>
<li>Google Maps - by Google</li>
<li>Google Search - by Google</li>
<li>Google Voice - by Google</li>
<li>KickBack - by Google</li>
<li>Music - by Google</li>
<li>SoundBack - by Google</li>
<li>Street View on Google Maps - by Google</li>
<li>TalkBack - by Google</li>
<li>Voice Search - by Google</li>
<li>YouTube - by Google</li>
</ul>so, when it comes to apps, i'd recommend trying out the following apps which are publisher by google:<br />
<ul><li>Earth - by Google</li>
<li>Google Sky Map - by Google</li>
<li>My Tracks (by Google) - by Google</li>
<li>Shopper - by Google</li>
</ul>if you use the online google reader as your RSS reader, then i'd also recommend:<br />
<ul><li>Google Reader - by Google</li>
</ul>then, i'd recommend the following application that allows you to set phone preferences based on location. For example, you can set your phone to enable wi-fi at home and at the office, but to be disabled in between thereby saving battery life.<br />
<ul><li>Locale - by two forty four a.m. LLC - $9.99</li>
</ul>another fun app that allows you to scan barcodes (and works with other apps like google shopper) is:<br />
<ul><li>Barcode Scanner - by ZXing Team</li>
</ul>if you have a limited data plan on your phone, then it's handy to keep track of how much data your applications are downloading/uploading. you can track this with:<br />
<ul><li>Traffic Counter Extended - by Carl Hopf</li>
</ul>if you want to access maps when you don't have any cell phone coverage, try out:<br />
<ul><li>MapDroyd - by OneStepAhead AG</li>
</ul>personally, i think that the built-in android music player isn't that great. if you are going to store and play music on your phone, you should probably try out this music manager:<br />
<ul><li>Cubed - by Filipe Abrantes</li>
</ul>here's a list of games i have installed on my phone:<br />
<ul><li>Angry Birds - by Rovio Mobile</li>
<li>Shortyz Crosswords - by Robert "kebernet" Cooper</li>
<li>Wordfued FREE - by hbwares</li>
<li>WordUp! - by Anthrological</li>
</ul>here's some other applications i have installed on my phone that you could check out:<br />
<ul><li>Adobe Flash Player - by Adobe Systems</li>
<li>Advanced Task Killer - by ReChild - utility to kill processes</li>
<li>AK Notepad - by Snaptic - create files with notes</li>
<li>Android Agenda Widget - by Everybody all the time - home screen agenda widgit</li>
<li>Astrid (task manager) - by we <3 astrid - todo lists</li>
<li>ASTRO File Manager - by Metago</li>
<li>DoggCatcher Podcast Player - by DoggCatcher - $6.99</li>
<li>Fandango Movies - by Fandango - movie reviews and times</li>
<li>GPS Status - by EclipSim - gps data</li>
<li>GPS Test - by Chartcross Limited - gps data</li>
<li>IMDb Movies & TV - by IMDb - lookup movies on imdb</li>
<li>Mobile Banking - by Bank of America - find an atm nearby</li>
<li>Movies - by Flixster - movie reviews and times</li>
<li>NetQFree - Ads - Netflix Queue - by SporadicSoftware - manage your netflix queue (better than the netflix app)</li>
<li>OpenTable - by OpenTable - make resturant reservations</li>
<li>RealCalc Scientific Calculator - by Brain Overspill</li>
<li>Speedtest.net Speed Test - by Ookla - test your download bandwidth</li>
<li>Twitter - by Twitter, Inc</li>
<li>UltraChron Stopwatch Lite - by The Spinning Head</li>
<li>WeatherBug - by WeatherBug Mobile - get weather forecasts</li>
<li>Wifi OnOff - by CurveFish - home screen widgit to turn wifi on and off</li>
<li>Wikipedia Encyclopedia - by Wiki Apps - search wikipedia</li>
<li>Yelp - by Yelp</li>
</ul>Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-64562043782874936492011-06-18T23:29:00.000-07:002011-08-14T20:17:16.868-07:00Comcast "business class" internet FAIL, when static IPs aren'tI have <a href="http://business.comcast.com/internet/">Comcast business class internet service</a> (with a static IP) at home, and I've been pretty happy with that service up till now. But yesterday, my wife (who works from home) texted me saying our internet connection was down. From work I discovered that my server (which is hosted at my home using a static IP) was no longer accessible. Also, I was unable to ping the next hop Comcast router normally used by my internet connection.<br /><br />Since I couldn't ping the next hop gateway for my normal connection I figured this must be a connectivity problem with Comcast. I told my wife to call tech support and she spoke to some very less than helpful person (that's my description, hers was more colorful). They told her there were no problems with our internet connection. When my wife insisted that things weren't working, he replied, "I am not saying you're lying, but I've refreshed my screen three times and your internet is working fine on my end." He then said he'd be happy to "roll a truck" for a business account customer, but since the problem was obviously on our end, they would likely charge us for it. He also stated that they had many people in the queue waiting for help and maybe she should call back when she knew what the problem was. She hung up.<br /><br />When I got home, I logged into our cable modem and discovered that it did indeed seem like we had an internet connection. The cable modem had negotiated an upstream connection and could ping other hosts on the internet. Digging further into it, I discovered that the modem was indicating that we were hosted on a different subnet block, with a different static IP address. As mentioned before, I have a static IP address (which I pay extra for) because I run a server at home. In general, when you run a server you want to have an static IP address so that you can configure services to use that address. (For those not familiar with IPs, the easiest way to think of them is as phone numbers. You give them out your number and people know that they can use those numbers to contact you.) But in this case Comcast changed my IP (which I had been using for the past two years) without notifying me.<br /><br />I called Comcast support, pointed out the problem, and the support folks spent about 30 minutes taking me on and off hold while they confirmed that:<br /><ul><li>Yes, my static IP block had been changed earlier in the day.</li><li>No, there was no attempt to notify me that the change had been made.</li><li>No, there weren't any notes on my account indicating that this change had been made. So, had I not diagnosed the problem myself, their tech support would have had no way to see that there was any problem at all. This kinda explains (but does not justify) my wife's wonderful support experience with them.</li><li>No, they couldn't restore my IPs because they had already been re-assigned to someone else. </li></ul>The speculation from Comcast tech support folks was that my previous IPs had been taken back for consolidation into a larger subnet block. I can understand this technical justification. (Having been a network administrator I'm well aware that larger network blocks require contiguous addresses.) And had I been contacted in advance, I would have been more than happy to plan to update all my router settings, server configurations, DNS servers, etc. But instead, no notifications were made and I had to diagnose the situation myself. This really doesn't seem like "business class" service to me.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-28403903257078850952010-01-05T21:43:00.000-08:002011-08-14T20:17:16.868-07:00a new road bikei've been biking almost every weekend (rain or shine) since i fixed up my bike in august (i've missed 3 weekends, two of them over the xmas break), so i estimate i've been riding for about 17 weeks. in that time i've managed to log 770 miles (according to my old <a href="http://www.sigmasport.com/us/produkte/bikecomputer/topline_wired/bc1606l">sigma BC 1606L bike computer</a>). that puts me at about 45 miles per week. after daylight savings time ended and it started getting dark really early, i stopped commuting into work on my bike. instead i've just been riding for about 30 to 50 miles on the weekends.<br /><br />so i used the mileage above to help justify buying a new road bike. after test riding a bunch of bikes, and spending an obscene amount of time looking at bikes online, i narrowed it down to two choices. <a href="http://www.bicycleoutfitter.com/">bicycle outfitter (in los gatos)</a> had a 59 cm <a href="http://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycles/09-road-steel/09-steel-vigorelli.html">'09 bianchi vigorelli</a> and and <a href="http://www.chainreaction.com/">chain reaction (in redwood city)</a> had a 57 cm <a href="http://www.fisherbikes.com/bike/archivemodel/506">'09 gary fisher arc pro</a>. both bikes were the same price, had comparable components, and both road really well. also, i really liked the customer service at both shops. after much consternation i ended up getting the <a href="http://www.fisherbikes.com/bike/archivemodel/506">'09 gary fisher arc pro</a>.<br /><br />now that i've spent a bundle on a new bike, the goal is to keep riding at least as much as before, preferably more. today i took the bike out for a 16 mile ride on some roads i'm familiar with and i'm really happy with it's performance. my only complaint so far is that my old bike saddle had much more padding than my new one, a change that will take a little getting used to. i'm really looking forward to taking it out for a <a href="http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=95826">50 mile ride</a> this weekend to see how it feels over longer distances.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-69752472084854670902009-09-26T09:59:00.000-07:002011-08-14T20:17:16.869-07:00biking mt hamiltonso yesterday i took the day off work to join about 20 sun (and former sun) employees for an annual <a href="http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=84876">bike ride</a> up <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt_hamilton">mt hamilton</a>. i started the climb around 9am along with two other folks, and the rest of the group started at around 9:30am. it was way more climbing that i've ever done before on my bike, ~4500 feet worth. but i managed to make it to the top, and i did it all without using the lowest front gear (which i'm actively trying to avoid when riding now). according to my little bike computer, the ride was 19 miles and took me 2 hours and 58 mins. we hung out at the top for about an hour eating, relaxing, and socializing. the view from the top of mt hamilton is impressive, with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterey_Bay">monterey bay</a> visible to the south-west and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tamalpais">mt tam</a> to the north-west. It was pretty warm (90+ F) at the top but at least there was a refreshing breeze. going down only took one hour. two folks had tire blowouts on the way down, but happily no one was injured. i was really glad that <a href="http://www.specialized.com/au/en/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=42215">my new slick tires</a> worked well. (two days earlier i had replaced my knobby mountain bike tires with slicks to make riding on roads a little easier.) unfortunately the cool breeze seemed to vanish once we started the descent and there was a hot wind in my face for most the way down. also, ithought i'd be looking forward to the bits of shade i passed on the way up, but i quickly discovered that these bits of shade going down were hiding all the bumps in the road that i wanted to avoid when riding at higher speeds. regardless it was still a great ride, and i've been told by friends that since i've successfully done that ride, i can do any other ride in the bay area.<br /><br />after getting home i cleaned up, took some aleve, relaxed a bit, and then headed out to <a href="http://www.city-pub.com/">city pub</a> with ronda for a burger and beers. a couple friends (who also went on the ride) met up with us at city pub, and subsequently we went to <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/1JoWz63bKi2rVIEsvduqaw?select=roXskAVlaIWbcPFQN0OLNQ">the beer garden</a> behind the <a href="http://www.gourmethausstaudt.com/">staudt haus</a> for a couple more drinks and some large bavarian pretzels. it was a pretty good friday. needless to say, i'm a little sore today and i figured i'd skip my normal sat ride up old la honda road in favor of doing some work around the house.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-62524358270837266402009-09-06T22:19:00.000-07:002011-08-14T20:17:16.869-07:00doing some biking againso a few weekends ago i finally got around to fixing my bike up. It's an old but decent mountain bike that i bought in '93. two years ago i tuned it up and used to for commuting to work for a summer. unfortunately when we moved at the end of last year the rear derailer hanger got bent and the derailer was stuck in the rear tire spokes. luckily (since my bike is old) the frame is steel and i was able to straiten out the derailer hanger. then i spent some time cleaning and oiling the chain, lubricating the shifter and brake cables, and adjusting the shifters till everything ran smooth. subsequently i've been using it for commuting into work and riding on the weekends.<br /><br /><a href="http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=80920">the ride into work</a> is pretty flat and about 16 miles round trip. i've been riding into the office 2 to 3 days a week and i hope to keep this up till winter.<br /><br />the past few weekends i've also been going on progressively longer rides. i started out by searching for assorted bike routes near where i live on <a href="http://www.bikely.com/">bikely.com</a>. i found one such <a href="http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=80928">route going along canada rd</a> that didn't seem to difficult. it was 16 miles with only ~750 feet of elevation gain (most of which was near the beginning of the ride going up edgewood rd). i went up there on a sunday, and once i got up to canada rd i was happy to discover that (north of edgewood rd) it's closed to auto traffic on sundays from 9am to 1pm.<br /><br />last weekend, based of a recommendation from a coworker, i decided to go <a href="http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=80930">south on canada rd and do a small loop through woodside</a>. this was a little longer ride (20 miles, ~900 feet elevation gain) but pretty strait forward. the most difficult part of the ride was that i went on a day when it was 95+ F.<br /><br />today i was planning on doing another slightly longer loop through woodside, but once i got down to woodside i was feeling pretty good, so foolishly i decided to <a href="http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=80916">ride up old la honda rd (click on the "Summary" tab to see elevation information)</a>. the ride was pretty brutal (for me), about 30 miles with over 2,260 feet of elevation gain. i had to stop at one point during the climb (which is about 4 miles) and i walked my bike about a quarter mile. the elevation drop riding down the 84 was pretty fun, but once i got back home i was very sore. so this afternoon i spent some time <a href="http://sheldonbrown.com/pain.html">reading about pain and posture when biking</a>. hopefully this will help keep future rides more pleasant. i'm also thinking that if i continue to do rides like this then a used road bike might be a worth while investment.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-27200540828747663102009-09-05T20:48:00.000-07:002011-08-14T20:17:16.869-07:00tomatoes and peppers in bulktoday ronda and i bought tomatoes and peppers in bulk. we went to one of the <a href="http://www.mariquita.com/">mariquita farms</a> <a href="http://www.mariquita.com/events/BuyingClub.html">ladybug buying club</a> events and picked up 20 lbs of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Girl">early girl tomatoes</a> ($28), 20 lbs of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marzano_tomato">san marzano tomatoes</a> ($28), $10 lb of assorted red and gold sweet peppers ($19), and 1 lb of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padr%C3%B3n#Padr.C3.B3n_peppers">padron peppers</a> ($9). once we got home i roasted all the sweet peppers on the bbq (which smelled great), peeled them, and packed most them into the freezer. (i also roasted 2 lbs of coffee while i was attending to the bbq.) meanwhile ronda was busy canning the early girls. she canned them whole and we ended up with 8 full quarts of tomatoes. tomorrow she's planning on canning the san marzanos.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-67998752252845455052009-08-09T22:30:00.000-07:002011-08-14T20:17:16.869-07:00working on the garage<a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/gallery/9219157_rtvK4" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368205147607387298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RBehv-oHDlQ3hVNl9x0EuGIumNNrgmSs8Cfr7lO1EIc3usnSy_yLKoydCTllpzO0y1kZgvnckuxk_oU3iUsZyQmPH1yIc5PBGrcI8FKuNx9XOrPCSBkZcHrVDMkdqqx-mu4ZLohvj4Me/s200/garage_storage.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />well, it took four 12 foot long 2x6s, lots of plywood, two weekends, and plenty of sweat, but i finally created some more storage space in the garage. the first weekend i removed all the lighting fixtures in the garage, added two new rafters (between two existing rafters), and then covered the rafters with plywood to create a new, albeit small, storage space. the second weekend i first ripped out an existing shelf at the end of the garage (unfortunately, the old shelf spanned 2/3 the width of the garage and was at a height of 5.5 feet with a depth of about 32 inches, which meant that i couldn't access most of one wall of the garage), and installed a new shelf about 7 feet up that spans the entire width of the garage. after creating these two storage spaces i filled them up instantly. i still have to re-install some lighting fixtures, but it's really great to have the additional space.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-38057379918660045102009-08-05T19:51:00.000-07:002011-08-14T20:17:16.870-07:00building a chicken coop<a style="" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos.drymartini.org/gallery/9177425_bWz8R"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jGCQHpgdQDeZvg46Qol1iY-pvXhocHULKyV-eZC5uDVuJGMrn6q2HOyfx_YPhyLXF4gK8N2NbJbDufGRJnyTXVaqG2noVMQAEVxHU3AO1BcqlOrgW2rzA_Wcypdfut4JO5kJgDbsnmhj/s200/02_chicken_coop_design_v1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366711066043485986" border="0" /></a>recently i spent a lot of time building a chicken coop. i first designed the coop in google sketchup, which took me about 3 days. then spent about 9 full days (9am - 8pm) building it. as with any large project, aspects of the design changed during construction. the wheel mechanism was the most difficult part and it went through about four revisions before i got it working. i originally designed and built the coop in may, and just this last week i built and installed the nesting boxes. the final coop was much heavier and expensive that i imagined. all the materials probably ended up costing my about $700. i've uploaded <a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/gallery/9177425_bWz8R">pictures of the coop design, construction, and our chickens in the finished coop</a>. i've also uploaded the <a href="http://drymartini.org/%7Eedp/sketchup/coop_v1.skp">3-d sketchup model for the coop</a>.Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-78960812963225693282008-03-29T15:42:00.000-07:002011-08-14T20:17:16.870-07:00searching for a dogso ronda and i are looking for a dog. i've mainly been looking at <a href="http://www.petfinder.com/">petfinder</a>. ronda has been looking more locally at places like <a href="http://www.wonderdogrescue.org/">wonder dog rescue</a>, <a href="http://www.rocketdogrescue.org/">rocket dog rescue</a>, <a href="http://www.caunderdogs.org/">california underdog rescue</a>, and the <a href="http://www.peninsulahumanesociety.org/">peninsula spca</a>. today we went to a rescue event organized by <a href="http://www.smileydogrescue.org/">smiley dog rescue</a> to meet <a href="http://www.smileydogrescue.org/blueweb/dogs_for_adoption/dogs_for_adoption_details.asp?id=3294">a wonderful 4 year old bernese mountain dog named truffle</a>. we're interested in adopting her, but there's another person before us in line. this seems to be a common situation since someone else also beat us to meeting <a href="http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=10412125">lucky</a>, who is being adopted from <a href="http://www.hopalong.org/">hopalong rescue</a>. well, we'll just have to keep up the search and keep meeting dogs.<br /><br/><br/>Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-66958828544935412008-03-24T12:22:00.000-07:002011-08-14T20:17:16.871-07:00and another thingit's a phrase that ronda occasionally uses that i particularly like. the delivery is great since she'll usually use it with a (only partially affected) slur when she catches herself in the middle of a drunken diatribe. why do i bring this up? because yesterday i finally got around to measuring the specific gravity of my last remaining keg of <a href="http://www.drymartini.org/~edp/beer">home brewed beer</a>, called <a href="http://www.drymartini.org/~edp/beer/brewing_2007_03.txt">biere de garde</a>. i actually brewed this one in feb 2007, so its over a year old. it's also the strongest beer i've ever brewed at about 10% abv. this explains why when i get home from work and have two pints to unwind i end up feeling pretty damn good.... and another thing... i think i need to institute a one pint biere de garde limit.<br /><br/><br/>Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-23246848330055238932008-03-23T15:47:00.000-07:002011-08-14T20:17:16.871-07:00a busy start to spring<p>i've slowly been making invisible progress on my new shelving project.</p><p>yesterday i went to <a href="http://www.macbeath.com/">macbeath hardwood company</a> and i picked up 38 board feet of rough four quarter soft maple in ten foot long boards of assorted widths for $155. leading up to this purchase i spent a lot of time researching <a href="http://www.drymartini.org/%7Eedp/woodworking/lumber.txt">the terminology related to buying lumber</a>, finding<a href="http://www.drymartini.org/%7Eedp/woodworking/lumber_suppliers.txt"> different lumber suppliers near me</a>, and balancing the <a href="http://www.drymartini.org/%7Eedp/woodworking/woods.txt">properties of different the woods and their cost</a>. i finally settled on soft maple because it looks good and is reasonably cheap.<br /></p><p>i've been designing my shelves using <a href="http://www.sketchup.com/">google sketchup</a>, if you'd like to take look at how the shelves will look then install sketchup and <a href="http://www.drymartini.org/%7Eedp/woodworking/shelves.skp">click here to download my design</a>. i'm finished with the design itself, but i'm still working on alternate views that can be used as printouts for when i'm in the garage doing the actual construction. hopefully i'll be able to start milling some of the wood next week.<br /></p><p>sat afternoon ronda and i celebrated the arrival of spring in a time honored SF fashion, we went to <a href="http://zeitgeist.ypguides.net/">the zeitgeist</a> for burgers and beer. we met up with some of ronda's friends there and afterwards went for some martinis at <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/martunis-san-francisco">martuni's</a>.<br /></p><p>today we did a bunch of random cooking. last weekend we cooked up three pounds of tasty corned beef from <a href="http://www.marinsunfarms.com/">marin sun farms</a> (our favorite meat supplier). we used half the corned beef last weekend for corned beef hash and we finished it off this weekend by making ruben sandwiches. rye bread, thinly sliced corned beef, thinly sliced swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and home made russian dressing, all cooked up in the panini press. mmmm...<br /></p><p>after the ruben sandwiches for brunch, i tried out a new <a href="http://www.drymartini.org/%7Eedp/food/recipies/papalote_salsa.txt">salsa recipie for papalote salsa</a>. just in case you're not familiar with <a href="http://www.papalote-sf.com/">papalote</a>, it's an <a href="http://www.burritoeater.com/restaurant.php?taqueria_id=111">awesome</a> <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/papalote-mexican-grill-san-francisco">taqueria</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_District%2C_San_Francisco%2C_California">the mission</a>, and they serve <a href="http://www.chow.com/stories/10111">a salsa that's more addictive than crack</a>. i have to say the version that i made isn't exactly the same, but it's really freakin good.<br /></p><p>i also wanted to make (but never got around to making) some sikil p'ak. i normally buy little $6 tubs of this stuff at the <a href="http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/farmers_market.php">farmers market</a> from <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/primavera-san-francisco">primavera</a>. the problem is that the little tub never last past two sittings (if it makes it that long). so i did some digging around on the internet and i came up with <a href="http://www.drymartini.org/%7Eedp/food/recipies/sikil_pak.txt">this recipie for sikil p'ak</a>. i bought all the ingredients and hopefully i'll be able to try it soon.<br /></p><p>since i was on a salsa kick, i also created <a href="http://www.drymartini.org/%7Eedp/food/peppers.txt">a peppers file</a> as a convenient reference for all my pepper cooking needs.<br /></p><p>i also went roasted the second half of a 3 lb <a href="http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/lutz-green-leaf-beet">lutz beet</a> that i picked up last weekend at the farmers market from <a href="http://www.tierravegetables.com/">tierra vegetables</a>. i had never heard of or <a href="http://www.drymartini.org/%7Eedp/av/lutz_beet.jpg">seen a lutz beet</a> before, but tierra is one of my favorite people at the farmers market often times i'll just buy whatever they bring just to try it out. i roasted the beet by cutting it up into 1" square strips, putting it in a tray with 3/4 cup water and some olive oil, covering it with foil, and sticking it into the oven at 350 F for one and quarter hours. after that i pulled the skin off and cut it into chunks so that ronda and i can have it later during the week.<br /></p>Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-61414393214060003622008-03-03T13:03:00.000-08:002011-08-14T20:17:16.871-07:00the long way<p>ronda and i have been living at our current house for almost two years now, and honestly, we don't have much furniture to prove it. well, i've decided that we need some shelving. so instead of behaving like a normal person and going out and buying a bunch of shelving, or even a normal practical and creative person who would go out and quickly create a bunch of shelving, instead i'm setting out to learn <a href="http://www.sketchup.com/">google sketchup</a> so that i can design some shelving. even though the shelving will be pretty simple and basic, i'm hoping to create a detailed model in sketchup that includes all joinery, assembled and exploded views, component lists and measurements, and cut lists for lumber. i've found <a href="http://blogs.taunton.com/n/blogs/blog.aspx?webtag=fw-designforum">a really good blog that covers sketchup from a woodworkers perspective</a>, and i'm slowing reading my way through all the old entries. once i have the design finished i'll be sure to post it here on my website.<br /></p><br/><br/>Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-72275947570194440492008-03-01T09:03:00.000-08:002011-08-14T20:17:16.872-07:00farewell to babciawell, on Feb 7, 2008 at around 9:30pm my grandmother passed away while sleeping in a hospital in warsaw, poland. my father, mother, sister, and i all flew out during the preceding week to be with her. she had stopped eating a few days before i got there so she was very skinny and much more of a fragile woman that the one i remembered visiting 7 months earlier. she was suffering from an assortment of physical aliments (leukemia, seizures, internal bleeding, etc), but mentally she was very sharp and was in very good spirits. she recognized all of us and enjoyed talking to us, she would tire pretty easily so we took turns sitting with her throughout the day. i think she knew exactly what was going on since (aside from talking about going out with us to a restaurant) she was talking about how my father was arranging for a gathering of the pilatowicz clan outside of warsaw (which is exactly what he was doing since she was going to be buried outside warsaw). she was also very excited by the fact that ronda and i had gotten married late last year and described the pictures of our wedding to me from her memory. she also somehow got it into her head that ronda was pregnant, so she spent a while talking to me about good names for children. i wasn't going to correct her. on the night she died my father and i were at the hospital with her till about 8:30pm. we left the hospital for the night and shortly after got a call from her doctor.<br /><br />i've never been through an experience like this before and it was really difficult at times to be with her there in the hospital and see her wasting away and struggling to communicate, but even though it was very difficult i'm glad that i did get to see her again and spend some more time with her. while there, sometimes i tried to recount to her the good times i had visiting her, but i was unable to think about those times without crying, so usually i had to talk about other random things. now after the fact i can finally go back and slowly go through those old memories. in the end, i think it all went as well as something like this can go. she was always worried about dying alone, but luckily most the family that she cared about was present at the end.<br /><br />after she passed away arrangements were made for a cremation in a new public cemetery in the town of czestochowa, and from there we took her to be buried with one of her sisters and her mother in the town where she was born. she was the youngest of all her siblings and at 86 years old she had also lived the longest of them all. she was a religious woman so there was a mass for her before the funeral and another in warsaw for people that knew her there. i'm sure that now she's with the god she believed in.<br /><br />in addition to spending time with grandma, the two week trip also entailed spending lots of time with family, which was really good since these days we only get together once a year for the holidays. it had actually been over 19 years since my dad, mom, sister, and i were all together in poland. we also met up with old friends of the family, and and lots extended family. i met cousins, cousins once removed, and cousins twice removed, some of whom i knew and some of whom i'd never met before.<br /><br />it was all a very tiring experience and i was very happy to finally get back home. future trips to poland will be very different without babcia there. she'll be dearly missed by many. o'yeah, <a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/thumbnails.php?album=189">here are some pictures</a> from the trip that don't really reflect the somber occasion for the visit.<br /><br/><br/>Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-10570492126605449462008-01-27T13:42:00.000-08:002011-08-14T20:17:16.872-07:00It's finally done...it's finally done. after 13 months (including a break of about 7 months) i've finally <a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/thumbnails.php?album=188">finished my bench</a>. last week i put the final coat of finish on it. now i don't really have any need for a bench, but that doesn't really matter. what matters is that it's done, and now i am using it as a side table to hold my drink while i write this post, and it's doing a great job. here are some photos of it in <a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/thumbnails.php?album=130">different</a> <a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/thumbnails.php?album=138">stages</a> of <a href="http://photos.drymartini.org/displayimage.php?album=153&pos=0">development</a>. now i guess i'll have to find something else to build.<br /><br/><br/>Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486134785407428110.post-22572854877740064602008-01-27T07:38:00.000-08:002011-08-14T20:17:16.873-07:00software upgrades galore<p>man, i have spent too much time on software upgrades this month. here's the list:<br /><br/></p><ul><li>Upgraded the OS on my home server from snv_38 to snv_72. This upgrade removed support for Apache 2.0, so i had to upgrade from Apache 2.0 to 2.2. The new version of Apache also required that i recompile php.</li><br/><li>Upgraded SpamAssassin on my home server. This required installing a bunch of perl CPAN modules.</li><br/><li>Updated my version of unison to the latest version.</li><br/><li>Upgraded the photo software on my site, Coppermine.</li><br/><li>Upgraded the calendar software on my site, WebCalendar.</li><br/><li>Upgraded the blog software on my site, Movable Type, from 3.x to 4.x. This required changing the database backend from BerkeleyDB to MySQL. This also required installing a bunch of perl CPAN modules</li><br/><li>Updated my music collection to use ID3v2 tags instead of ID3v1 tags. This required installing ID3v2 and id3lib, updating my music management scripts to use ID3v2 and running a batch job to update all my music.</li></ul><br/><br/>Edward Pilatowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11802817063618513007noreply@blogger.com0