If dogs could speak...
Sunday, February 27, 2005
It's a jungle out there
I was on my exercise bike looking out at the backyard when suddenly I saw a squirrel run across on top of the fence. There are lots of squirrels in the area so that is not unexpected, but this one was being chased by a big gray cat, striped fluffy tail and all. A few seconds went by and the cat was running in the opposite direction, with the squirrel right behind it. What is this world coming to, when cats and squirrels are playing hard-to-get with each other? I was looking for but didn't see Pepe Le Pew though. I wouldn't be surprised if we have baby scatrrels this summer.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 1:05 PM 0 comments
I just reset my pedometer for the week. I hit the 60K mark last week, aided by 2 walks around the lake on Monday (a holiday) and yesterday. I am thinking about doing another lake run today if it doesn't start raining soon.
Things are warming up. Cherry blossoms are out everywhere, and the Japanese maple trees in the yard are starting to bud. I might have to trim them back a bit. When I planted them several years ago, they looked at the time like they might be too small for the spots and I thought about adding a third one between them; they also had to fight for survival against the dogs that just loved to tear down new branches. Now they look simply awesome, perfectly aligned around the big rocks and the stone lantern.
I got an email from a friend in Japan whose son took the entrance examination to Todai last week; he now has to wait two more weeks for the results. It's amazing what trouble Japanese kids have to go through, first preparing a whole year for one exam, then having to wait 2 weeks for results. In the US, we get the results in a few days because questions are multiple-choices and computerized -- you don't have to write anything, just color the dots and go. No wonder we are so dumb :)
I also got an email from the Japan Yokoso tourist organization with a promo for Expo 2005 in Aichi prefecture. It looks like a cool event, basically a 6-month fair that features exhibits and events from many countries around the world. The bad thing is that there apparently isn't much publicity in this country -- this is the first time I've heard of it, and the news was hidden inside a travel survey. Now I'm wondering if I still have time to go.
There is something that gives off an electronic buzz in my computer room. But it's not the computer, and it doesn't appear to be the phone; maybe it's the radio but it's not on. I think I need another cup of coffee before the white van comes and gets me.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 8:29 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
It's hard to find a milk crate
Two weeks ago I picked up a printer from Greg's office when he left the company. I set it on the floor because I didn't want to lose desk space and I didn't have a printer stand. Ever since I have been on the lookout for a milk crate, but couldn't find one despite going to the cafeteria several times after hours. Once I found a little shelf table but it turned out to be too tall to go under the desk. Arghh. Tonight I was on my way out of the building when, lo and behold, there it was, the perfect printer stand that someone left in the hallway for trash -- just the right height, width, even color if that counts. That made me so happy. Yeah, it's been that kind of day, a Wednesday that felt just like a Monday.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:45 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
I have a page-a-day calendar with a dog cartoon theme. The cartoon for tomorrow shows a dog judge telling a dog defendant:
- I am going to let you off with a warning: Grrr... grrr... grrr...
The judge was baring his teeth, looking menacing.
If you don't get it, uh, you need a dog.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 11:10 PM 0 comments
Monday, February 21, 2005
"Tour du Lake"
I went around the lake today. It was more like a brisk walk, and I wasn't pushing it into a real jog. The rain had stopped, and it was nice and cool. The bugs haven't come out yet like they do in summer. The distance markers along the pathways indicate that one complete walk around is 3 miles, and the pedometer says 5K steps, which is just below the number of steps I normally take per day. It then occurred to me how sedentary I have become, that in all of my daily activities I manage only a total of 3 miles, maybe a little more. One simple walk around the lake. Sheesh...
- posted by Woofwoof @ 8:10 PM 0 comments
Yesterday was a busy day. I was lazy and didn't start the yardwork until 2 pm, but then the rain didn't come until 8. I thought I would do just a bit of clean-up but since the weather stayed nice, I did the front yard, the backyard, the 2 side yards, the gutters, everything. Raked the leaves, mowed the lawn, trimmed the tree branches. For almost 6 hours I did, and the rain came on cue just as I was finishing up. I was beat by the end, but that made up for the last 4 weeks of no yardwork. Whew!
Sakura sakura sakura
I wasn't expecting it, but I went out for lunch with some friends yesterday, and on Mowry Avenue the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. I remember that usually in California they start in March and stay until the first rain, but February is mighty early. I hope they survived last night's storm. I think I'll break out the sake and write some haiku under the cherry tree. Or maybe not. Heh...
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:53 AM 0 comments
Sunday, February 20, 2005
I was up early today because I wanted to get some work done and finish my exercise, all before 8 am. I still have a shot at that.
The main other thing for this morning is to clean the front yard and clear the gutters before the rain arrives this afternoon. I was outside yesterday during the rain and it looked like the drain chute got clogged and the rain water was overflowing the gutters - no big deal but I want to fix it before it gets worse. The forecast is for heavy rain tonight and again tomorrow, on a holiday Monday. Arghh... After several weeks of nice weather, we've had this storm front parked over California, and it's been raining hard just about every day since mid-February. I can't wait for spring.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:18 AM 0 comments
Saturday, February 19, 2005
The site meter is finally working and looking pretty nice. The add-ons are a lot harder to set up in blogger than in xanga, but the satisfaction is immense when things come up like they should. Traffic seems to be a lot higher in blogger. I got 7-8 hits in 2 hours, more than I ever expected.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 8:39 PM 0 comments
YMCA
I've been so busy this week and haven't been on the computer a lot, There is also not a lot to write about, but the weekend is finally here, and it's a long weekend due to Presidents' Day. Yay!
One interesting thing I found out about blogger is that when you make a new entry, you can pick any date and time you want, so it is easy to manufacture a "retrospective" memory. I suppose I could suddenly remember something that happened at 3:17 am on Dec 19, 1995, and go to blogger and write it down. It's a cool thing to be able to do, but it can make things artificial as people can make up all kinds of stories, not only for today but also in the past. I was kidnapped by an alien...
With one more day to go this week, my pedometer is showing 42K, so I'm averaging 7K steps a day. I am doing one additional thing to bring my daily average up from 6K. I work on the 2nd floor, so at lunch time, I walk down to the 1st floor, then up the stairs to the 6th (top) floor, then back down to 1st and up to 2nd again. That gives me 400 steps. I can do that and feel very slightly flushed but I am not out of breath, so I feel pretty good about my health, but I need to do even more to get the daily 10K. Like get a job in a skyscraper. Ughh.
They didn't play YMCA in the cafeteria yesterday. Not even the Village People. In fact, no music at all. It must be that someone from the cafeteria staff read my blogger and decided to stop the music. If that's the case, read this: How about better and cheaper food, less grease and fat in fried food, hot dogs every day, closing time later than 1:30 pm? And free bottled water too? Please please please.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:58 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Bird Story
It was raining like crazy when I left for work this morning. There is a strip of grass next to the ramp to 880, and I couldn't believe my eyes, but there stood a white heron, a tall, elegant and sparkly white heron. Just like that, in the pouring rain next to the highway while cars were zooming by. I thought for a minute that someone was playing a prank and put a plastic bird there, but then I saw him turn his head up slightly to catch the raindrops. That really made my day. Some people stop and smell the roses, but I slowed down this morning to look at a pretty bird.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 8:49 PM 1 comments
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Xanga
I did a google search on xanga vs blogger, and found one site that claims that xanga is for teenage girls that tYpE lIkE tHiS. Ouch. Maybe that's enough for me to stick with blogger. For now, I'll keep both going since it isn't too time-consuming yet. I tried getting the stat-counter going today, but couldn't figure it out. Arghh... I'll give it another shot tomorrow.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 6:48 PM 0 comments
How to add a profile picture
I just got a question from a fellow blogger on how to add a profile picture. I am no expert, but since I spent a good 30 minutes trying to figure this thing out, I suppose it should help at least 2 people.
1. Download hello and picasa.
2. In picasa, select a picture that you like, then click on the "Blogger" button at the bottom. You should get a "hello from picasa" window with that picture shown. Click on the "publish" button on the lower right.
3. That should upload the picture into your blog, as a blog entry.
4. Right-click on that picture, go to "Properties" and get the url address of the picture.
5. Click on "Edit profile", then paste that url address into the "Photo url" screen about half-way down the middle. Details are here. After you save and republish, that should put the picture next to your profile.
6. You should still have the original picture as a blog entry. You can leave it there, or delete it as I did.
Good luck. It's rather easy, but the procedures are very convoluted.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 3:42 PM 0 comments
Doggy in the picture
It took forever, but finally I got my profile picture up just like I wanted it. What a pain we have to go through with hello and picasa. But I guess it's all worth it. I have to agree that I'm a good looking dog; I can just pinch those doggy cheeks.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 12:32 PM 0 comments
The toughest exercise
I am so proud of myself. I got up early today and was done with my bike exercise by 8 am. My legs were sore yesterday from the heavy leg press I did on Thursday night, so I didn't get on the bike until 5 pm yesterday, and then did another 32 min again this morning. I was exhausted. Half-way through it, I needed to pee so bad but didn't want to interrupt the exercise, so I just hung in there until the end. It took every bit of concentration I had.
This is my first blog. I've been posting on xanga but wanted to come over to blogger to see how they compare. So far I've been impressed with blogger, although it has a distinctive look and feel, different from xanga. Much like google, which is a very good thing.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:40 AM 0 comments
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Soy wiener
No entry yesterday, so sue me.
I got a haircut yesterday after work, and the new girl was cute. She was chatty and talked about how she was working 6 days a week and still going to school and doing homework at night. Man, it's been a long time since I've done that. She was so apologetic at the end when she forgot to show me the mirror, but I just laughed. I've always wanted to see how they would react if I complained that the hair was too short, but she was nice so I didn't say it. I'll save that test for one of the guy haircutters but then who cares what his reaction is.
The other funny thing yesterday (yeah my life is boring) was that in the company cafeteria they were playing YMCA by the Village People at breakfast time when I went to get my coffee. The cook was cutting stuff and dancing to it, and every time they got to the "YMCA" part he would bop his head and punch the air. I almost hurled. I think this YMCA tradition started after they remodeled the cafe; every day of the week had a music theme, and Friday apparently was Village People day. I think I'll put in a recommendation that they replace the cook with the haircut girl, then it would make a whole lot more sense. I might even join the village.
Another funny pager conversation with John. The background was that he and I have been trading jokes about health diets. One time I saw him getting tofu for his lunch salad and promptly forwarded him an article that soy will raise his estrogen level and make his boobs bigger. So yesterday I got one of those pre-wrapped hot dogs for lunch. Of course as part of the balanced meal I also picked up two slices of tomato to go with the hot dog, and a salad thing on the side. I thought I was doing pretty good, but I didn't get past the cashier's line when the pager rang. His wife was also in the cafe and saw me with the hot dog. Busted!
John: hot dog? my role model has fallen. i'm so disappointed.
Me: tsk tsk. some people sure have a big mouth. or a big pager. and it's a soy dog.
John: soy dog? i would have gotten that had i known. my 'pects' feel small.
Me: a lot of things are small on you
John: go bite your wiener
Me: not flexible enough
I never got a reply after that. I think I won that round.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:39 PM 0 comments
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Nothing newsworthy today, just the usual work stuff. I was slightly annoyed when I found out that I had left the pedometer at home today. It's become a necessary accessory like the pager; I miss it when I don't have it. I drove the truck to work because the car was very low on gas, then I saw that the truck was low on gas too and had to buy gas on the way. grrrr...
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:26 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Lunar New Year
Work was pretty uneventful today. A few of the Asians exchanged "Happy New Year" greetings but mostly it was business as usual. The guy I interviewed was from Taiwan so I said Happy New Year to him and he was so surprised he nearly fell out of his chair. I don't know if that's a good sign -- that people are fitting in better in the US, or a bad sign -- that a big holiday like this in their home country doesn't mean much anymore.
One more thing about the New Year: I don't think anyone had a worse start than Carly Fiorina, the CEO of HP who got fired today. I got up, turned the TV on and heard the breaking news that she had "departed" HP. What a strange way to describe the event. Either she got fired or she quit, but "departed" sounds like her soul just floated away into some kind of afterlife. Weird.
I took the Mayo Clinic health risk assessment at work and scored very low on the risk scale. The key things were diet (high on vegetables/fruits) and exercise. I answered 300 min/week of light activity, 200 of medium intensity and 100 of high intensity. I think that's pretty accurate but it surprised me that it really doesn't take much. That just 10 hours a week or just 6%. I'm averaging 6000 steps a day on the pedometer, far short of the recommended 10K. I can only hope that it underestimates big time.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 10:06 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
New Year's Eve
Work went great today. A lot of things got done; we haven't fixed everything yet, but suddenly many of the problems that we have worked on for the past month are starting to make sense. That doesn't mean we know how to fix them, but at least we now know how we screwed things up in the first place.
I'll be working tomorrow, although it's Chinese New Year and I've thought about taking the day off. But I looked at the calendar before going home, and found that I have an interview scheduled at 4 pm. If I had known earlier, I would have declined or swapped my time slot with someone else. I'll try to do that early tomorrow so I can get out on time, but there is just no way I can get out of work completely. But I have always worked on Chinese New Year, so why break with that tradition now?
I got some pictures of Tet in Vietnam. Things are looking so modern over there now, especially in downtown Saigon. Even if they are just tourist pictures, that's impressive how progress there was.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:39 PM 0 comments
Monday, February 07, 2005
Superbowl XXXIX
OK, I'm blogging 2 for 2. We'll see how long this goes.
Today started like most Mondays, except it was cold and rainy to make things even more depressing. Despite that, I got up early and did a bunch of sit-ups before going to work. Work wasn't too bad. Before I went home, I took Greg's printer and set it up in my cube. It printed on the first trial too, so that was the highlight of the day. The printer is on the floor though. I need to find a milk crate to prop it up, but it's probably easier to get a milk crate than to get a printer.
I haven't decided yet whether to take Wednesday off for Chinese New Year. I am not even sure why that should even be a decision -- it should have been an easy yes.
One more thing. New England won the Superbowl yesterday so I was happy. I would have been OK with Philly winning too, but I think this was the better outcome. Half-time was boring with McCartney singing old Beatles tunes. This guy is like Dick Clark, is he ever going to retire? Godaddy.com had a great commercial to make up for the lack of wardrobe malfunction; I voted that my #1 commercial, but as usual they lost out to some beer commercial, probably something cute with a bear and a babe.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:37 PM 0 comments
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Nagabuchi, and a new beginning
Wow, my first blogger site. I wasn't really planning to start one, but I was doing a google search on Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi and found a Xanga link which got me thinking about starting my own. Interesting how things sometimes get started on the web.
Today is Superbowl Sunday. I like both teams that are playing today: the Eagles since I was living in South Jersey (Joisey) way back when; the only time I remember them doing well was back in 1982, I think, when they got whipped by Oakland in the big game. I can't say exactly why I like New England, maybe it's just the unpresumptious way they approach the game and conduct themselves in general.
I got up early again today at 6:30, and have been pretty much on the computer since, reading news and answering mail, while listening to Nagabuchi, which is how I got here. I was looking for a translation of the song Shabondama, but didn't find it. Well, at least I know what the title means now.
I also got on the exercise bike and did the usual 32 minutes. I was sweating like a pig (do pigs really sweat?), but it felt good afterwards. The pedometer didn't register though, so I am still at 4800 steps for the second day. I am not doing too well with the 10K/day goal, but that's not my fault when the pedometer sucks.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 1:37 PM 2 comments
