Category: Rants

If I have a problem with something, here it will be.

Categories
House Rants

When Drones (Ants) Attack

Since we’ve entered Season One (cold and wet) of the Northern California weather cycle it must be time for the ants to enter the house and disrupt things. And that they did just 24 short hours ago. Seems that ants don’t like to float around out in the windy, rainy weather we’re having so they decided to make a straight line into my humble abode. Not only that, but they decided the best way in was via the second floor, across the carpet, down the stairs and into the living room. Odd, I would have thought coming straight in one of the ground floors would be easier.

No matter, as they have now all been dispatched and vacuumed up. Until the next time we meet, later ants.

Ants

Categories
Rants Technology

AT&T / Cingular: The Final Insult

Today, as if things weren’t just swell enough (said with tongue firmly in cheek) AT&T ships me a bill for cellular service that took place in September. Funny how they conveniently forgot that I canceled that service on September 3rd.  Funnier still, seeing as because their deliberate degrading of the wireless network knocked me completely offline for the entire month of August and most of July.

The sad part is that they wanted another $40 just to part company with them, even though I had already done all the paperwork at the store back on September 3rd. After a lot of negotiation they grudgingly “decided” to offer me a refund.  They wanted to know if there was anything else they could do for me at the end of the call…. and I sat wondering “where’s my working phone service and credit for many years of being a loyal customer?”

Customer  service, indeed.

Categories
Rants Technology

Enough Already! Calm Down Apple Fanboys

I realized today, for about the hundredth time, that there is just way too much hype, marketing, and slickness and not enough reality around Apple and its products (and storied product launches).  I mean for crying out loud, this is a computer company that is at 5% world wide market share.  5%!   To put that into perspective, how much do you care about Via’s CPU’s (about 1% share), SiS’s GPU’s (about 3% share), or Polaroid’s HDTV’s (about 4% share).  These are all examples of others who play third fiddle in their respective markets, just like Apple does in the PC market.

Since the launch of the iPod and now the iPhone, people suddenly have this unrealistic expectation that the 5% really doesn’t matter, and that whenever any new product arrives (Apple TV or Mac Mini, anyone?) it is the greatest thing ever created.  Today is no exception, with a line refresh of the iPod products being heralded as practically the second coming of the technology universe.  I just don’t get it, and perhaps I never will.

Some people will call me an Apple hater, and to an extent, that’s fair.  But when your sole mass-market contribution to modern society is a portable music player and bloated music software client, can I help but be anything other than cynical?  I can applaud Steve Jobs for his tight, consumer focused marketing and unbelievable press “reality distortion field”, but at the same time I feel sorry for those innovators who work around him, who are invariably cast aside, ideas crushed, as he marches ahead with his deity-like world view.

Categories
Rants Review

PT Cruiser; Verdict: it sucks

I really should just end a review on the title, as that says it all. I was rented one of the little PT Cruiser’s today and I honestly don’t know who would want to own one. Window controls on the center console? Terrible ergonomics where you have to lean into the passenger seat to change the stereo? A completely unusable adjustment for the seat height and steering wheel positions? And don’t even get me started on the sadness that is the engine (I call it the little engine that can’t, but wishes it could).

Granted, all of this is just from the drive over from DIA to the hotel in downtown Denver, CO. Maybe I missed something earth shattering that would have made me love this vehicle. But if you never get a second chance at a first impression, I’m calling this first experience with the PT Cruiser completely busted. It is, to paraphrase a friend and co-worker “utter rubbish.” Now I understand why Europeans (especially the Brit’s) laugh at American made cars. So sad.

Categories
Rants Technology

AT&T Sucks (and so I'm done with them)

I finally found the final straw, the thing that sent me over the edge and made me get rid of AT&T after so many years of suffering. AT&T (the wireless provider) decided that…

1. my phone no longer will work on their network

2. that my calling plan is not what they want to provide any longer

3. that the new plan they wish to offer should cost much more

4. that I should pay for both a new phone AND a two year contract for the privilege of keeping their company

This, then, would be the final chapter in the long and torrid tale that has been my business arrangement with AT&T (or Cingular, or AT&T Wireless, or Cellular One, take your pick). Rather than attempt to work with me on a better plan, the ability to remain month-to-month (as I have been for years), or to allow me to reduce to a lower plan without the two year commitment they flatly told me that it was their way or no way.

I took no way, and now for the first time in many, many years I am cell phone-less. While I press on with my search for a better phone and a more tolerant provider, I give you the latest incarnation of the AT&T logo to ponder over.

Categories
Movies Rants Review

The Bourne Shakey Cam Express

I just finished going to the theater (what!?!) to see The Bourne Ultimatum with Steve, April, and Steve’s dad, and man does my head hurt afterwards.  Evidently the new “in thing” for movies is to shoot them hand held guerrilla style and make the moviegoer dizzy or sick.  Another great example of this technique shown this summer was Transformers, a Michael Bay epic that was full of robot vs robot fighting (yay!) that would have looked great, if only the camera would have been still for more than 3 seconds.

While this is the 3rd and last in the series of movies, it seems to be the best at keeping action front and center.  I don’t think anyone could accuse the movie of not “moving along” swiftly, but in the rush to answer questions and keep the action going a lot of people exited the theater looking for some aspirin.  I feel bad for the actors in this flick, as they probably did a great job of their craft if only we could have seen it.

Categories
Flying General Rants

Too Much Travel, Too Little Flying (GA)

It seems that I’ve been on the road constantly, and that I’ve done very little general aviation flying.  Upon looking back at my schedule since January, it does appear that most every week and weekend I’m in another city or country, talking to a different customer or partner, eating at a new or similar restaurant and staying at another hotel chain.  I certainly have the flight miles (and nagging cough) to prove it.

I also have started lacking in my ability to get to the local airport and fly, and when I do get out to the airport these day my skills aren’t what they used to be.  That’s a bummer, as I feel like I’m going backwards in my training, and that really bites.  The learning to fly stuff is what helps me keep my head clear of all the work related mumbo-jumbo, but  when it isn’t going well its hard to have a good outlet.

Here’s hoping I get some serious downtime in the near future and can get back on the pilot learning curve, pointed upward again.

Categories
Flying Rants

Bad Weather Lessons: 28 and 29

I managed to sneak in a couple of hours of flying this weekend, between downpours and crazy work scheduling. The net-net of these flights were that I’ve now picked up a bad habit or two: flying the pattern too fast and loose at times, and under-rotating at touchdown.  Needless to say both are bad and I am working to correct both.

What was really rough, however, was flying in 14+ knot winds with low clouds and crummy visibility.  My instructor loved it as it pushed me about as far out of my comfort zone as I could be at the home airport.  Having to work all the controls to keep the plane level, getting rained on inside the plane, and losing total sight of the traffic around me were just the start of these two lesson sessions.

I’m sure that later I’ll look back and be thankful for this training.  But right now all I see is more tough work ahead to be able to fly right.  3 miles of visibility in rain and low clouds is just not a fun way to fly.

And to top everything off, I’m signed up for a pre-solo check ride in the near future.  Assuming I can find the time to be in town (a tough task right now with weekly flights somewhere each of the next 3 weeks) I’ll be handed off to an inspector to see if I’m ready to fly the pattern on my own.  Yikes!

Categories
Flying Rants

Lessons 26 and 27: Back on the Horse Again

My two most recent flying lessons were proof of what happens when I spend a long time away from the cockpit.  On lesson 26 I spent the entire time bobbling around, blowing landings, and generally being a mess while flying.  It was as if I had erased several months worth of flying skills and had regressed to a much earlier phase of flight.  I knew I’d be a bit rusty, but this was bad news.

On the 27th lesson, after around 5 touch and go’s, some of the old flying skills returned.  It was truly maddening to think that the effort I had put in so far was gone in just 3 weeks of non flying.  It is obvious to me that I still have so far to go to really “get flying” to the point of it being a learned behavior.  Throw in flights started at a new (San Carlos) airport and I have feel as if I need to start a few steps back from where I was just a month or two ago.

Categories
General Rants Travel Work

Thoughts on CES and Such

I have just about recovered from the ordeal that is getting ready for, staging, shipping, demonstrating, and tearing down a full show load out for CES.  I can’t say that I enjoyed it, or that I’d volunteer to do as much work again, but I’m glad its all done.

Severe pain came from the logistics of getting people (namely me) and equipment (some 80+ boxes of it) to and from the show.  As the largest single event in Las Vegas, CES is uniquely positioned to stress out every part of the infrastructure needed to travel, house, transport, and sustain a group of nearly 200,000 people for a week.  As much as I dislike the driving situation in the Bay Area, I now have to thank Las Vegas and their elegant street construction planning for reminding me of how much fun driving 5 MPH for an hour can be.

I now get to start planning for the next series of events, customer contacts, and traveling.  One can only hope that things go smoother the next time around.  A little less smoky smell and a lot more sleep per day can’t hurt, either.