Super Grubbin'!

I am still messed up on sleep patterns. Too many middle of the night maintenance windows last week. But I'm hoping I will get tired at a normal time tonight.

It's the Oscars, and Rachel went down to Lauren and Paul's and Paul was supposed to come here. But he took one for the team and stayed home to Hector-sit. So we have tons of leftovers for tomorrow. It was great grub. Steak and Chicken fajitas, Rice and Beans, Newman's Lemonade, and a little Don Julio to top it all off at the end.

And Don Julio is my new favorite tequila.

Jake did a hot pepper...


Here is a picture of Moe and a portrait of the man she is named after...


And here are our new drapes downstairs...



Check out how well they match the Tiki Lounge...

Other than that, I replaced the fire-proof gasket on our wood stove, and I plan to go enjoy it's warmth. Rachel got all the goo off, so I am sure it will stick well.

That's it for now.

Oh, except on more thing - Max took over 25,000 calls last week. Complaints have tapered off - we discovered a lot of people were pushing 1 or 2 like they used to from the old system. We put a fix in for that. And we finally got a compliment!

This week kicked my a**!

Seriously. I am beat. I was supposed to take today off, but some work things came up and, well, sometimes you just gotta. Rachel had a tooth pulled, so she's laid up. Today Jake twisted his ankle at baseball practice. So I'm working too much and playing Mommy and Daddy, and, well, those dishes in the sink? Yeah, they are going to have to wait till tomorrow.

Anyway - we are watching the Sopranos on DVD. starting with Season 1, Disc 1. A lot happened before I started watching that show.

Back to it now. More some time, you know, later, like after the dishes are done.

What I do for a living...

When my wife is asked what I do for a living, she tells people, but she doesn't tell all.

"He works with computers," is a typical response. She might even share that I work from home.

But some time ago, she stopped telling people the whole truth - that I am a voice user interface designer and developer of speech recognition enabled interactive voice response systems.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that she has to explain what it means to be a voice user interface designer and developer of speech recognition enabled interactive voice response systems. The second is that once she explains it, a typical response is, "Oh I hate those things." A less typical response is, "But he seems so nice and those things are so...evil."

And that's fine. It's easier to just say, "He works with computers."

I tend to tell the whole truth. And when I explain it, and people say say, "Oh, I hate those things," I assure the person that there are a lot of really bad systems out there, but I only build the ones that work well. And I firmly believe that I do.

At various points in my career, I have had to do some soul searching about my profession - especially when I consider Buddhist Right Livelihood. I once told my friend and employer that I would not work on a system for a company like Lockheed Martin because they make weapons that kill people. Fortunately, I was never put to the test. But I have worked on systems for some big companies that many people consider to be evil. This includes Wal-mart (technically Walmart.com when it was independent back in the day).

It's really a question of where I choose to draw the line. One could make a strong case that supporting some of the companies I have worked for in the industry that I work in pretty much guarantees I will be reincarnated as a dung beetle or worse. On the other hand, one of the systems I designed allows people to renew their registration over the phone instead of wasting half a day at the DMV in New Mexico. So maybe I'll get some points for that and come back as a bonobo or something.

Anyway, I have designed and delivered a lot of systems over the course of my career. While I believe they were all the best solution that could have been delivered given the state of the technology at the time of deployment and the constraints put on the project by budgets and business rules, there are only a handful of systems that I am really proud of.

Tomorrow we go live with Max for TDECU. And I think it is going to be a big success. They have been advertising the new system with billboards and radio spots in Texas for the last month or so. And there's even a video on You Tube...



Talk about pressure to meet a deadline!

Honestly, I'm a little nervous because a lot of us have put a lot of effort in to this system and I have a lot riding on its success personally and professionally. But it's that good kind of nervous like I used to get before a big tennis match I knew I could win if I did my best.

We are scheduled to go live tomorrow night (yes, Friday the 13th, I know) at 11:00 p.m. Central Time. And I am scheduled to have a nice tall 10 Cane and Jones Cola at 9:30 p.m. Pacific Time after a successful launch. Let's hope everything goes according to schedule.

Thoughts on Peet's Coffee...

Long before there was even one Starbuck's in California, I fell in love with Peet's Coffee. Back then, when I was home from college, we had to drive to San Anselmo to even find a latte. Now you can get them, or at least a gross imitation of them at McDonald's.

I had my first sip of my first cup at the College Avenue Peet's, which, if I remember correctly, was not the first, but the second Peet's location. I was doing construction work for a homeless man who read great books while dressed like a cowboy and lived out of his station wagon and paid me in cash from a stash in his belt.

It was magical. There is something about the equipment they use that simply can't be matched, even with the beans you bring home. The coffee brewed there always has these little bubbles on the top. And when I sip from their cups, a little drop of coffee love often splashes on to the tip my nose through the tiny hole in the lid for air intake- and it makes me giggle a little with joy every time. I have owned some fantastic coffee makers over the years, and unfortunately, none have ever been able to match the cup of liquid perfection they server in the stores themselves.

Now, can you see the difference between the two bags of coffee in this picture? I bet Laurie can.


I don't want to be known as a coffee snob or anything, but despite their similarities, I can tell the difference between a pot brewed from the bag on the left and a pot brewed from the bag on the right.

The bag on the left is Garuda blend, ground on four (for automatic drip ecstasy as well as an acceptable espresso) purchased at a Peet's location. It was ground and bagged with love by a cute young employee at the Peet's in downtown Santa Rosa. The bag on the right is filled with Garuda blend whole beans purchased at my local market.

Now, Garuda blend is my personal favorite of the beans the regularly have in stock. They occasionally come out with some small batches of specialty coffee that are "better" in that they are a different sort of wonderful - there's something to be said for variety among high quality products. But Garuda is my tried and true everyday favorite. I should rephrase that - I don't drink Garuda every day, I try to save it for those days when I need a little reward.

Anyway - In theory, the just ground beans should taste better than the pre-ground ones. But they don't. That's the general rule - the best coffee comes from freshly ground beans. Freeze your ground coffee, store your beans in a canister, right? Everyone knows that. Well, OK, not everyone. But Laurie does.

So how do you account for this? I would like to attribute it somehow to the cuteness of the server. But I have also had beans ground and bagged by much less well kempt, not particularly attractive people, and the results are the same. On that note - is there some law that says if you get paid to operate a commercial espresso machine, you must have tattoos?

Anyway - I can't explain why the one bag tastes better than the other. And the only way to explain the unexplainable is to attribute it to magic.

To sum up:

Peet's coffee (any variety) brewed at Peet's = Coffee Nirvana

Peet's coffee ground, bagged, and purchased at Peet's = Some kind of wonderful

Peet's coffee whole beans purchased at a market, freshly ground at home = Still wonderful, but I wish I could find the time to drive over the hill to get some from the store and drink a fresh cup on the way home.

Peet's coffee bought pre-ground from the market = A fine cup of Joe, but a far cry from Coffee Nirvana.

Anything else is a last resort for me. Except for Starbuck's which is never an option.

Oh, except for that one time.

Oh, also, you know how when you buy a new car, you tend to see that kind of car everywhere you go? We recently purchased that coffee maker, and I've been seeing it in weird places - an advertisement for Marriott Rewards, and last night at the end of Criminal Minds. I made Rachel rewind so I could show her.

And I might get around to a post about my thoughts on DirectTV, but just in case I don't, I want you to know that I think they suck.

Thoughts on Food Safety...

I have to admit, when times are tough, I am more inclined to purchase a generic or off brand. I mean, peanut butter has become an important part of my regular diet, and I can easily justify paying a little more for, say, Adam's Natural. But then, the off brand costs almost $2.00 less. And I say, well, we are tightening our belts, so sure, why not buy the off brand. And then you see things like

Dead rodents, excrement in peanut butter plant lead to recall

and

Salmonella leads to 2nd Ohio death; peanut butter sales down nearly 25 percent

and suddenly, that extra two bucks seem well worth it. My Dad used to say, when it came time to buy cleats or tennis shoes, "The most expensive pair of shoes you can buy is cheaper than a visit to the emergency room."

16...really? Wow. 16

Jake is 16.

Take a minute, let that sink in. 16.

OK.

I don't think it will be real for me until he gets his driver's license. And he has not been terribly motivated to get one, so I can carry on like he is still 15 for a while yet. And he's got his band and baseball now, so his schedule is pretty full. And while I'm not looking forward to the insurance or buying another car so he can practice, I would very much like for him to be able to take the golf cart to his friends' houses, or to the store or whatever.

Maybe it's just part of the culture where we live, but the kids around here are not as excited about getting their licenses as we were at their age. I mean, we started at 15 and a half with a permit. And we all took the driving test from the same 300 pound guy in Petaluma who almost couldn't buckle the seat belt. And we couldn't wait to get behind the wheel and we'd find any excuse to drive ourselves to school.

Anyway, we had a little celebration for him on Saturday here, then went over the hill for dinner and a movie with Auntie Laurie. It was fun. We saw Coreline - In 3-D.

And I am confident that all across this great land of ours, college students on every campus are going to see this movie in some altered state or other.

Jeff and the dogs are BFFs. And it's been great having him here.

I have a really busy week ahead of me. And I am looking forward to 8:00 Friday night when AT&T flips the switch and Max goes live in Texas. I hope to be celebrating by 8:30. I've been working on this thing for months and am really looking forward to putting it behind me and moving on to some other projects.

That's it for now.

I have eaten at Val's...

...and downed the Papa Burger - that's a one pound burger along with fries and a shake. They make a mint shake there with actual crushed Andie's mints. Awesome. Anyway, I did it on a dare from Andrew back in the day. And I had to nap most of the afternoon.

But there is a place in Arizona called the Heart Attack Grill that makes an 8,000 calorie calorie 4 pound "Quadruple Bypass" burger.
When I have my next good cholesterol checkup, I'm thinking about making a celebratory pilgrimage.

Also, they cook their fries in good old honest lard.

Things are good...

...and getting better, it seems. Sorry I haven't been posting lately. Our little camera seems to have died on us so I haven't been snapping many pictures. If I had, you'd see us all at Lauren and Paul's for the Super Bowl. And you'd see some pictures of Jeff who is living with us for a spell. And some really nice sunsets that we've been having lately.

I was going to do a whole post about wanting to live in a parallel universe where Warner's "sack" was correctly ruled an incomplete pass and with 7 seconds on the clock he hit Fitzgerald deep who laterlalled to Boldin who ran it in thus making the greatest super bowl ever played even greater.

But I didn't get around to it, and now it feels dated.