And you thought I'd never use the axe. Ha!

Point Reyes yesterday was awesome - ~5 miles of gorgeous scenery, equally beautiful weather and excellent company. The stop at the beach was the icing on the cake (even though the water was ass-cold). With minimal elevation changes the path we took, the Laguna Trail to the Coast Trail, was not particularly strenuous, but I was still super hungry when we were done.

The hike was followed by dinner in SF at a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese place called "Cordon Bleu," which is actually run by Cantonese people. The food was excellent, promptly prepared and very cheap for the huge portions they doled out. I definitely remember nearly drooling all over myself while posing for pictures with my food.

Today, I did a bit of work on my bike (still trying to sand/dremel the old paint off before applying primer) and then there was the yard work.

Typically, I'll mow the (very small) lawn once a week and prune the roses while I'm out there. I went out this afternoon planning to simply mow the lawn and maybe bring in a couple of the many, many roses that are blooming outside, but the stump (see artist's rendering to the left) in the corner near the house caught my eye. Someone had sawed it down the tree that it used to be a while back, but left about a foot of stump remaining, which had started sprouting again.

I eventually managed to remove most of the above-ground portion of the stump with a combination of sawing by hand, sawing with my electric reciprocating saw, drilling and whacking at it with my hand axe (which, was probably the most effective). You can't tell from the picture, but it's in a very awkward position - cornered off on two sides by the house with my A/C unit and irrigation system boxing it off from the other two directions. The coolant/power cables also passed within about a foot of the top of the stump, further decreasing accessibility. Had there been more space, the reciprocating saw probably could have taken care of it alone. So after the stump was cut down more I drilled a bunch of holes into the stump in preparation for the stump killer that I plan to apply. I think more than anything else, I just wanted to play with power tools :)

The rest of the yard work was not nearly as entertaining - I weeded the rose beds, pruned the roses, harvested a few of the blooming roses to populate the vase and tall shot glass I have on my kitchen table and was then stabbed repeatedly by rose stems as I bagged my yard waste.

All in all, a pretty good weekend.

Roses!

It seems as though all the pink roses in my back yard are blooming. It's pretty neat. I cut a few to bring inside (and did a little bit of pruning before work - ie I didn't feel like going to work quite yet, so I spent 20 minutes playing in the back yard).

The three on the right are pretty with the two-toned pink, but the one on the left is ridiculously fragrant. I left these on my kitchen table today and came back this evening to the smell of roses, rather than the smell of the leather couches that typically dominates the olfactory experience of entering Joe's house.

I was thinking earlier today that I should leave the new blossoming roses outside since I'm not really home often and they might survive longer on the plant, but it's kind of nice having them inside - it's a good contrast with the random bike parts, tools and electronics that typically litter my kitchen table.

Make your own Dremel Stand!

I made a stand for my Dremel!

Stuff you need:

1. 1/2" Copper Pipe
2. 1/2" End cap
3. 1/2" 90° Elbow
4. Dowel Rod (slightly larger than the inside diameter of the pipe
   
5. 3/16"x1 1/2" Bolted Eyelet
6. Gorilla Glue
7. Lamp table clamp (from old lamp)

Basic Procedure:

1. Saw off 5" of Dowel Rod
2. Use Dremel with sanding band to work away excess on about 3" of the dowel if there's no way the dowel's going to fit. You want it to end up a little bigger than the inside of the pipe though
3. Apply some Gorilla Glue to the sanded down end of the dowel and tap it into the pipe, leaving 2" hanging out at the end.
4. Use the Dremel and a cutting disc to saw off a couple of inches of the other end of the copper pipe
5. Using a drill and a 1/4" drill bit, drill a hole in the center of the 1/2" cap
6. Bolt the Eyelet to the cap (stick it through the hole)
7. Use Dremel + Cutting disc to saw off the end nub of the eyelet to make it more like a hook
8. Glue the bits of piping together with Gorilla Glue

And then you're done! It cost me about $7, but I already had the clamp and the Gorilla Glue . . .

Sisyphus

I'll be performing a set of AL's requested bench tests for the THIRD time tomorrow. w00t. I'm seriously hoping this will be the last time. I tried to pull the "you'll need to talk to my manager about prioritizing my current obligations," but he hit up my dept.'s director, so I've been whored out to him again.

I need to throw fruit.

Off the Hook

This dude at work who sits near me is a little odd - there are a couple stories circulating about him, but the thing that really

Book Recommendations?

I finished the The Time Traveler's Wife a few days ago and have since then burnt through the backlog of magazines that I've been ignoring and resorted to reading Brown and Vranesic's Fundamentals of Digital Logic with Verilog Design in bed . . .

I think it's time for an Amazon.com book binge!!! Send me your recommendations! So far I've got The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay and Stephen King's Dark Tower box set (books 1-4).

Just Like Chewbacca

I just noticed that my legs are pretty hairy - in fact, much hairier than I remember them being. Looking at them right now, I'm not sure if it's that the hairs are longer than they were before, thus giving the illusion of higher hair density or if the actual number of hairs/in^2 has increased. Maybe it's both, or maybe I've just remembered incorrectly or am thinking of someone else's legs.

In any case, I'm on the verge of whipping out a magic marker and a ruler and counting + measuring hairs.

AAAAaaannnnd the results are in! After marking off 1 square inch of leg with a ballpoint pen and a ruler, I counted 49 hairs (including the hairs that were on the line on two of the four sides of the square). Average length was ~0.75".

So, if you catch me with my pant leg rolled up or in shorts and see a random square drawn on my right calf, you'll know why :)

We'll take another measurement in a year or so . . . if I remember to do so (might need a reminder from you guys).

Darth Vader smells like Feet

I decided at some point yesterday afternoon that today would be my Sunday Hash. Now, for those of you who never lived on the Row, Sunday Hash was not the special pot you saved for Sundays (the lord's pot?), but rather the weekly (supposedly) thorough cleaning of the Kitchen that occurred every Sunday, but featuring a new crew of cleaners each week.

Today's Sunday Hash, however, covered the entire house plus the back yard and was crewed by just me. This was kind of nice though - I didn't have to go knocking at doors of no-shows, waste time delegating tasks or deal with completely incompetent hashers. Anyway, it wasn't all that painful at all, but I think there's something wrong with my vacuum cleaner.

I inherited this vacuum cleaner from my sister when she moved into her new house (with her new vacuum). Affectionately called "Darth Vader," my vacuum is about 6 years old and I've personally rescued it from the junk heap once when Darth stopped sucking. He seems to be doing ok right now, but he smells kind of funny . . . When I started vacuuming the floors I noticed that the living room area had a faint smell of feet. I immediately figured that the rug (purchased used from a student living in Kairos) was developing/reacquiring an unpleasant odor.

When I got to the second floor, however the smell of feet came back, but then started smelling like ass. As I was finishing the first room, the smell of ass became more and more like the smell of burning ass. Darth is still maintaining sucking power so I probably won't junk him, but I should probably look into this burning ass business . . .

Anyway, time for a cold drink and some TV . . . maybe some saxophoning too.

Mein Computer ist kaput

About a week ago my desktop PC froze. I was surprised. This wasn't the hooptie I converted into my media PC and it wasn't the barebones laptop I picked up from Dell for $750 two years ago - this was my kicking-ass-and-taking-no-prisoners system I put together about a year ago. Back then, the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core processor was pretty quick - it was certainly more than I really needed for my usual computing activities. Outside of a crappy ECS motherboard that came for free with my processor, everything I put in that computer was from a reputable manufacturer.

That PC was rock solid. I once tried to freeze it by running all sorts of random clock cycle-devouring applications to no avail. If I remember correctly, I barely railed one of the processor cores.

I ran some of my own diagnostic trials and identified the Mobo as a very likely source of the problem, had Fry's give me a new mobo and processor (as per the terms of my $50 extended warranty). I hooked all the new stuff up, hit the button and the fans spun and the LEDs lit up . . . for like a second . . . then everything stopped. It didn't even post. And the power supply was making this high pitched whining sound. Even with none of the other hardware attached (disk drives, graphics card, USB ports, peripherals) it still wouldn't spin up. Nobody suspects the power supply! It's like the Spanish Inquisition or winning with an off-suit 2/7 in the pocket. When you have millions and millions of transistors that need to be working in perfect sync for those1's and 0's to actually mean anything, it's hard to suspect the power supply . . .

Anyway, I brought everything in to Fry's this morning to check out on their test bench to rule out the motherboard as the source and found that my graphics card is jacked up too somehow . . . So, I suspect my Power Supply jacked up my graphics card . . . or visa versa . . . In any case, I need a new power supply and graphics card.

Sooo, I'll need to find some new hardware and reinstall all my apps after I get all of my data off of that harddrive, but oddly enough, there's a little excitement stemming from the prospect of shopping for computer hardware :)

*sigh*

After delayed performance review results and a mediocre (at best) raise they're delaying the payout day for the retroactive salary adjustments until May 11. I'm kind of expecting them to delay it further - HR/Payroll here is certainly not known for meeting deadlines - self-imposed or otherwise. Actually, I think that might apply to all other facets of this company as well ;)

The SEC/Options backdating probe and the subsequent trading black-out period (also extended. . . multiple times) is still going on so we're not permitted do anything with ESPP, Stock options or RSU's (not that my options are worth anything with our stock price vacillating in the vicinity of $16 - my strike price is very nearly twice that). So, I won't be collecting any additional income from any of those . . .

Speaking of the backdating probe, there was a segment on the news about the SEC Investigations that have been plaguing tech companies which showed Erik Lie, the guy who blew the whistle on the pervasiveness of options backdating. If I ever see that ass-clown on the street, he's getting a swift kick in the balls. I realize that this is completely unfair to him, since he was lifting the veil on a lot of corporate shadiness. In this case, though, I think the old adage, "Ignorance is bliss" applies . . . unless you're Erik Lie.

60% Weird

According to Blogthings' "How Normal Are You?" test I'm only 40% normal . . . I guess I'm not all that surprised :)

To my 2-3 (semi-)loyal readers, how normal are you?

You Are 40% Normal

While some of your behavior is quite normal... Other things you do are downright strange You've got a little of your freak going on But you mostly keep your weirdness to yourself

How Normal Are You?

Great Mall Excursion

We really don't have any sort of dress code at work. I regularly see engineers walking around in flipflops and t-shirts, I've seen female engineers in knee-high stripper boots and Catholic schoolgirl skirts (that one always throws me off), but mostly it's asian guys with their slacks pulled up a bit too high and an unironed button down shirt. I, personally, find myself in jeans more often than not and, as a result, my jeans are pretty well weathered . . .

Recently, I found a couple of small holes developing - you know when the weave of the fabric is gone in one direction, so you have just a bunch of parallel strands of a lighter color in a spot? That's what's going on. There's one starting about where my phone sits in my front pocket, there's one on the other side where my money-clip protrudes a bit, but the one that made me decide it was time for a trip to the mall was the one in my crotch.

Now, the fact that the biggest of the three holes is developing there kind of baffles me. In the case of the holes by my pockets, those are completely understandable - each marks a stress-point that also lends itself to being rubbed accidentally on other stuff. The one in my crotch, however . . . is in my crotch. If there's any region of me that I make a conscious effort to keep from pointy objects, high pressure or blunt force impact, it's my crotch. Regarding stuff inside my pants causing a concentration of stress . . . I'm asian. 'nuff said. Plus, I spend a majority of my time surrounded by asian male engineers, so chances of being aroused at work are extremely, extremely low.

After ~3.5hrs I ended up with two pairs of jeans, a sweater and a new work shirt. I was super picky about jeans this time around - last time I ended up w/ a pair that looked decent, but the waist was a bit big (I can pull them off w/o unbuttoning anything) and they faded to this a blue that is oddly bright. This time, however, I think I did ok. One pair of Levi's 527 Low Boot Cut and a pair of Old Navy regular fits. Both are a decent length (not too long, not too short) and seem rather flattering around my child-bearing hips.

All in all, a productive and relatively painless trip to the mall, despite the crowd . . . and the fact that it was the Great Mall.

Chopz of STEEL

I used to saxophone pretty much every day back in high school. On top of daily concert band at school, I had lessons on Mondays, Jazz band and Wash U Wind Ensemble rehearsals on Tuesdays, A second Wash U rehearsal on Thursdays and concerts/performances, solo/ensemble festivals, auditions and spot gigs with other groups spread out through the year. College was definitely less intense from a saxophoning standpoint, but I still crammed in a lot of playing over my 4 yrs.

Following graduation, after work consumed my life (and my will to live . . . ;) I've hardly played at all . . . until today.

Today marks the rebirth of a happier, more fulfilled, more saxophonic Joe. A couple days back I contacted the director of the Foothill College Symphonic Winds too see if I could join their band and it looks like I'll be rehearsing with them starting this coming Wednesday. I can honestly say that I haven't been as excited about anything for quite a while. It's going to be awesome. On top of getting to play again, I'll be leaving work every Wednesday earlier than usual to make the 7:30 rehearsals in Palo Alto.

In preparation for my return to the musical world I spent about an hour practicing after I got home from work tonight. It was kind of sad. My action's all uneven and my tone quality on sustained notes is pretty shitty, but I'm too busy being stoked about playing again to worry about it. My plan is to spend an hour practicing every day after work - spending a lot of time with long, quiet, low notes to fast-track the rebuilding my Chopz of STEEL, a bit of time working on technical facility and overall evenness of action with old etudes, and then some sight reading - both on saxophone and Guitar Hero (that shit works . . . for reals . . . no, seriously).


It's going to be awesome.

Quality of Build

Now that I have a house I think it might be time to start buying nicer furniture. My room is almost entirely furnished by cheap and free stuff from craigslist and crap I picked up from Ikea (often from the as-is section). While this seemed like a good way to save some cash at the time, in retrospect, the amount of time/money I've spent fixing/refinishing this stuff probably isn't worth it.

Example a: Dresser
Late one evening, shortly after moving into our Menlo Park house, I stumbled across a craigslist post advertising a free dresser. I hauled-ass out to Redwood city and somehow managed to fit the entire thing into the back of my hatchback unassisted while sustaining only minor injuries to myself and my car.

3 months and ~$120 in hardware, cleaners, varnish-strippers,, sand paper and paint later, I had a crappy dresser . . . with a pretty nice coat of paint and expensive knobs. Last night, I spent 45 minutes gluing, clamping and nailing one of the drawers back together after sustaining heavy injuries during the move.

Example b: Mattress
Completely daunted by spending $800 on a new mattress/boxspring/frame, I picked up a used mattress from craigslist for cheap. After receiving the mattress (which came in pretty good condition from clean looking people - yes I checked out the people before buying the mattress) I couldn't bring myself to sleep on it - even after beating it with a tennis racket to get the dead skin and crap out of it and giving it a spray of Lysol.

I ended up buying an EVERYTHING-proof mattress cover (AKA bed wetter sheets/mattress condom/$45 of piece-of-mind) before I started using it. But now I have the comfort of knowing that the mattress I'm unwilling to sleep on directly will be pee-free if I wet my bed. I suspect it might shield the dust-mites enclosed from nuclear fallout.

Example c: Filing Cabinet
I got this for free from Allen after it had been sitting outside for a couple of months. After thoroughly hosing it down, it looked like it was in decent condition - minor rust damage. It served me well this past year. During the move, however, one of the tracks for the drawers was pulled out. I suspect that without the drawers in it, the track extended outside of the cabinet and experienced a force orthogonal to it's normal range of motion and was snapped out of the groove in which the rows of bearings were trapped (figure 1).

Figure 1

The metal tabs that prevented the track from sliding out of it's groove (and prevented me from sliding it all the way back in) had to be filed down until they were thin enough to bend with a pair of pliers. After small-ifying these tabs, snapped out portion of track slid back in with minimal effort. w00t


Next on the "Things To Fix" docket:
1.) Tilty lamp (free, originally from Ikea)
2.) Bike (free - abandoned outside of Yost, now in many, many small pieces)
3.) Headboard (built using $9 tabletop from Ikea and scrap wood - needs felt liner on back to prevent wall damage)
4.) Add Ethernet jacks to bedrooms.

The end is near . . .

The end of the Allen and Joe era. The end of late night conversations extending well beyond normal bedtimes. The end of cheese, crackers and the occasional glass of wine in front of the TV with Nipple - the nostril-ed stuffed horse we bought at WalMart when we were supposed to be buying BBQ supplies. The end of borrowing Allen's knock-off Gucci cuff links while he's still passed out and leaving him an IM even though I know he won't notice their absence before I bring them back.

No more running out, re-shuffling cars and running back inside to escape the rain/cold/skunks. No more sharing Allen's weird oatmeal/breakfast shake mostly to see if it really tastes as nasty as it looks. No more peeing in the back yard because Allen's taking his sweet time in the pooper but not minding because you just don't get to pee outside as much when you're grown up.

Thanks for the links, AWo.

Citibank is kind of Evil

Lured by the 5.00% APY and promise of widespread ATM access through 7-11 convenience stores, I opened both Citibank e-Savings and EZ-Checking accounts online - drawing my initial account funding from my INGDirect savings account. Long story short, they tried to pull money from my ING account, ING refused the transfer since I hadn't linked the account. Linking the account, however, required sending a >$1.00 check to INGDirect from the account I wanted to link. Since I had attempted to put money in both my checking and e-savings accounts, they used two separate transfer attempts, both of which were rejected and I was charged a $10 processing fee for each attempt. Since I didn't have any money in the account (my initial funding failed) my balance was negative, so I was assessed an overdraft fee of $30 to my checking account (only one of these, so far, but I suspect they'll do the same to my e-savings account as well). The $30 fee was waived after I talked to a "Personal Banker," but he failed to mention that my e-savings account had been "orphaned" and that I'd need to stop by again with two forms of ID to re-link my e-savings account to my checking account and my ATM card. Not exactly an auspicious beginning . . .

So, things I learned from this endeavor:
INGDirect phone support people are far superior to Citibank phone support peeps
In order to fund an account with INGDirect accounts, you need to first LINK the account and then the INGDirect phone support folks say the transfer should be kosher.
You can't link your account before you have funds in it to send your >$1.00 check with Linking instructions to ING.
Citibank is reasonable and will waive fees if there was nothing you could do about them (my overdraft fee)
There is a period of time in which you need to fund your Citi account to receive the $100 rebate (the money in the combined accounts need to be greater than the amount listed).

Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes . . .

[18:45] gfunk: what's your blog link?
[18:45] gfunk: the xanga joe yu doesn't look like you
[18:46] gfunk: unless you just developed down syndrome

Meebo Widget!

Tada! And to your right, you'll see my Meebo Widget. The widget will allow you to IM me directly from this page without logging into any messaging client (AIM, Yahoo, etc.).

Enjoy!

I'm Freakin' Out Here!!!

Not really. I'm actually doing quite well, but my right eye is twitching like crazy. If it becomes more noticeable, maybe people will be too weirded out to ask me things at work.

If given the choice between buying an axe for $25 and a hatchet for $15 . . . BUY THE AXE