September 30, 2007
So...this place that we live.
Seattle.
Cool town.
Things that are bad: Traffic. It really is dreadful. Doesn't really matter what time of day or night, you might find yourself stopping dead in your tracks on the highway. Because of geography, there aren't a lot of north-south thoroughfares. And, if you need to switch between said thoroughfares, you're pretty hosed.
Rain. It's rainy. That's the end of it. Sometimes, water falls from the sky.
Things that are good: Airplanes. Lots and lots of airplanes. There is a whole lot of aviatin' going on in this area. When we drive to Seattle from our place, we often drive past Boeing Field, which runs parallel to I-5 south of Seattle. There are almost always neat airplanes on the apron. Today, we saw an AN-124 cargo plane. No idea what it was doing here, but it sure was huge and impressive. Read more about big airplanes here.
I've also seen two Lamborghini Gallardos on the street near my house. Not a clue what their owners do for a living, but I sure am curious.
Puget Sound is awesome. Ferries are awesome. Seeing ocean every time you turn around is awesome.
On the whole? Big fan of Seattle. Yay new environs!
Posted by Lee at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2007
New gig...
So far, so good.
Today, I was perusing engineering drawings of airliner ventilation systems in order to write manufacturing plans for some metal brackets and gubbins we need to procure in order to make components for said airliner ventilation systems.
I really am digging it. I'm learning how to interpret the drawings, and learning how to write instructions on realizing those designs.
Imagine under the hood of your car. Consider that somebody had to draw an excruciatingly detailed drawing of every single one of those parts in the engine bay. Somebody had to envision the form and function of tens of thousands of individual bits. They had to come up with the design, and then communicate it in text and pictures, to somebody who could make it.
I once observed to my Main Damie that lindy hop is a language. It's a physical communication between two people (one in which I happen to be only barely conversational). These engineering drawings are a language too, and a stupendously rich and engaging one.
I really, really, REALLY like learning to speak that language.
Posted by Lee at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2007
Sunday drivin'...
On Sunday, The Ladytype and I joined the Club Miata Northwest for a Sunday drive around Mount Rainier. There were about a dozen cars on the run. I believe eight of them were red. (including ours.) We also had a token blue Mustang. A fellow had come up from Portland in a rented Mustang to join the fun. Fortunately, he didn't slow us down too much in the corners.
(OK, yeah, he did, but it was a) not his fault, it was the car, and b) probably just as well...we weren't really pushing too hard.)
Oddly, the wife and I re-acquainted ourselves with the first Miata we'd driven together. We test drove a True Red '06 model at the beginning of July down in Puyallup (yeah, ask somebody else to pronounce it). It was a nice car, but a) we weren't quite ready to buy, and b) it wasn't perfect. Didn't have keyless entry (minor issue) and it was a five-speed instead of my desired six-speed transmission.
Well, we didn't buy it, but the next time we saw it, it looked like this:
The same car we'd driven showed up, owned by one of the guys in the club. Glad it found a good home! And an Odie dog. With a flappy tongue.
Anyhow, fun club ride. B seemed to really enjoy herself. When she wasn't driving, she enjoyed the electric blanket I found on the Internets. (Plugs into the cigarette lighter. Why yes, I AM the best husband evar! Thanks for asking!) She had made a terrific smoked salmon dip, which we munched on at the rest breaks. Yum.
It's really neat to see how much she's enjoying the car. I knew I'd love it, but she's having a blast! She's all ready to strap on a helmet and go racing. I think we're going to find a driving school in the spring in time for autocross season.
If that ain't wedded bliss, I don't know what is!
Posted by Lee at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2007
Email is fun.
Somehow, I've been marked. I am a marked man. I have been marked, erroneously, as the mother of a child at the Canadian International School in Singapore. Do you need my help de-constructing that, or can you do it on your own?
The thing that really torques me is their email disclaimer.
This e-mail (including any attachments) may contain privileged and confidential information and is intended solely for the above-mentioned recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient you must not retain, use, copy, print, forward, distribute or disclose the information contained within this e-mail (including any attachments). If you have received this e-mail in error please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Canadian International School (Singapore).
Thing is, it's taken me a month of responding to each of their emails to actually convince them that no, I am not in Singapore, nor am I the mother of a Canadian child.
I really detest those email disclaimers. They're far more annoying than the ridiculous warnings on Preparation H tubes. Is there anybody who seriously believes that their emails are secure enough to warrant such threats of mayhem if they're "compromised"? In the best case scenario, email is about as secure as a postcard. Doesn't mean it's not handy...it's just not secure.
You all knew that, right?
Posted by Lee at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2007
I want a super power.
Just one.
The super power I want, is to be able to freeze a wheel bearing. So, when the little kid is rocketing across the floor on those Heely sneakers, or when (as happened tonight) a bunch of teenage jackasses in a convertible were taking video of their friend skateboarding down a big hill...
(you'd think that a kid on a longboard in a tuck would be able to go faster than about 30 mph. You'd be wrong. Slo-ow.)
Anyhow, when I see somebody doing something seriously annoying and/or dangerous with wheels, I want to be able to stop that wheel. Suddenly.
OK, and my other superpower, I want to be able to take pictures of that.
Posted by Lee at 07:14 PM | Comments (0)
September 17, 2007
Well, now I feel like a heel.
There's a series of books I've been reading, seems like forever. I picked up the first book of the Wheel of Time series sometime in the mid-90's. Serious, heavy duty, epic fantasy goodness. The first four or five books were just fantastic. Absolutely wonderful. Neat characters, cool world, fun story arc, everything was just perkin' along. Then the plot stopped. Dead in its tracks. Whole books would go by without mentioning some of my favorite characters. Whole books would go by without advancing the plot. Sure, the characters were still cool, but the world wasn't all THAT compelling, and the story arc was going nowhere. So I stopped. Sometime around book eight, I decided that I'd wait until the series ended, or the author died. Looks like I'm done waiting. I feel like a jerk, because I was only half kidding when I said I was waiting for him to pass away before I started reading his books again. I really did want to see how the story ended. I just really wish he hadn't let his scope run away with him. My nitpicking about his authorial style aside, I wish peace to his family and friends. I'm unpacking my books, and I've found my copies of the first umpty jumpty volumes. I think I'm going to have to give them another try. Oh yeah, and Terry Goodkind? I'll go back to reading your spectacular epic fantasy series as soon as you stop trying to make me an Objectivist. But I wish you a long and happy life, full of active listening and many children.
Posted by Lee at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2007
Redneck Matryoshka
Tow vehicle, pulling an off-road pickup, carrying a little kiddie ATV. I bet if we really tried hard, we could get at least four more vehicles on each end of this train...
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/moofie/1370484828/)
"Redneck Matryoshka" by moofie
Posted by Lee at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
September 01, 2007
Long time, no see!
Right, so it's been about sixteen million years since I've posted an update, so we'll see if your feedreaders are still paying attention to me.
It's been a big year. Last October, I married the coolest girl on the planet. (Did I mention the girl? I really can't express how astoundingly awesome my wife is. One of these days, I'll have to come up with a blog post about how ridiculously stupendous she is, but that's an exercise for another day. Wife==rad.)
This spring, we moved to Auburn, WA because said cool girl got a cool job. Couple months later, and I am now employed at a company called Precision Aerospace Composites.
You read that right. I am now a professional engineer.
I'm not sure what the locus of my responsibilities is yet, but I'm going to be involved with manufacturing planning and process design for the fabrication of fiberglass and carbon fiber parts. I have a lot to learn, and I'm pretty excited about the opportunity. Small team, young team, and I'm a noob...But I think we're going to accomplish a lot.
And, to top it all off, look what followed me home last night:
Can I keep it? (Do you think it's the right color?)
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/moofie/1295071982/)
"Look what followed me home..." by moofie
You might notice that it's even the right color to be a cherry on top of the ginormous ice cream sundae that is my existence right now.
(If you haven't seen a Miata in this particular color, you really have to check it out. It is Arrest Me Red. It is "Oh my GOD is that a Red Car" red.
All. kinds of red.)
Oh yeah, and it's got the six speed transmission. (Reverse is down and forward...down and forward...down and forward...gotta remember...)
Seriously, folks: My cup runneth over. I have lost count of my blessings, and I have the life I want.
wow.
Posted by Lee at 07:41 AM | Comments (0)