Will It Snow?

As you may know, it snowed some in Seattle last night and this morning. Enough to close some schools, but not too much to impact my commute, albeit enough for me to take the bus instead of driving.

The question is: will it snow more tomorrow? Steven over at The Weather Vortex has written up a detailed post as to the chance of it snowing more tonight and tomorrow in Seattle. Looks like it all depends on how cold it gets.

Drive Slowly Through Arizona, And Affect The State Budget

Apparently Arizona is banking on speedy drivers to fill the state coffers. The state anticipates $120 million in speeding ticket revenue to come in via a new camera-based speeding ticket system.

OK, so it's a fraction of the budget, indeed. But if you're facing a $1.2 billion shortfall, shouldn't you be focusing on ways to impact that deficit in more significant ways?

Wait, isn't Dr. Weil from Arizona? Can't he sponsor some national "come to Arizona and I'll make you healthy and let you touch my beard" event to raise some cash?

Knitting

OK, confession time: I've started to knit.

Here's the deal: my wife knits, and has so for the past couple of years. She's really into it, as are several of our friends. We host a weekly stitch n' bitch night where people come over, knit, and chat. Oh, and someone bakes a yummy dessert to share.

Now, typically I've been the "bitch n' dessert" person of the group. Meaning, I don't stitch; I just chat and eat the dessert. This has proven to be a good plan to date.

Until recently. You see, my friend Bryan picked up knitting. And he's now totally done with an entire scarf. In an unhealthily short amount of time. In other words, Bryan is kicking my knitting butt, even though I'm not even knitting.

Well, you can't play the game if you don't play the game, right? Yep, so now I'm knitting too. And yes, when you make it competitive, most guys jump in headfirst.

But I joke: it's not about competing with Bryan. Knitting's kinda neat: you can make practical stuff you can wear, like hats and scarves, which are especially useful in the colder winter months
here in Seattle. Oh, and I hear you can make beer cozies too.

See? Knitting is all about staying warm and drinking beer. What's not to love?

Bacon + Chocolate = Pretty Good

So you may recall me blogging about Vosges's Bacon Chocolate Bar. Well, my wife bought me some for the holidays as a stocking stuffer. And, naturally, we tried it just as soon as I pulled it out of the sock.

Here's the play-by-play:

• Smell: more or less like regular chocolate. Maybe a hint of smokiness?
• First taste: pronounced milk chocolate flavor. Smooth, well-tempered.
• As it melts: bacon taste and saltiness start to build.
• Some mild chewing later: more bacon, mixed with chocolate.
• After a swallow: lingering smoky, salty taste in the mouth.

Sound weird? Well, you kinda have to like bacon, and be OK with mixing sweet and savory together, to enjoy this bar. Both of us like bacon, so we enjoyed this chocolate. We let my sister and brother-in-law try it over the holidays, and they didn't care for it so much. Your mileage may indeed vary.

Just Call Me Mayor George

Hey, look: I have a city. It is Zorbaville. It's in Greece.

You should pay it a visit and help it grow.

That is all.

Like A 3 Year Old On Drugs

Meet Gus.


Gus is our new kitten.

Gus is the most hyper thing we've put into our house to date. He has more energy than the two of us + our two other cats put together. Plus, he's a bit nuts.

Example:


Here's Gus in the sink, fearless of water, ready to pounce on a towel.

Need I say more?

Steven's Weather Vortex

Want to read more about weather in Seattle, and weather events around the globe? Don't trust the likes of TV weathermen like Jeff Renner? Head on over to Steven's Weather Vortex.

Seriously, Steven knows his stuff. So much so that he's getting a PhD in it. Subscribe and get the low down on weather.

I Will Build An Airplane First Before Flying Delta Again

This Thanksgiving we chose to travel back east, both for doing the family get-together but also to celebrate our niece's first birthday. We flew Seattle -> Atlanta -> Chattanooga, because it ended up being cheaper than a direct ATL flight (and Chattanooga put us closer to our destination).

The flight there was fine. On the way back, the adventure began. Here's the story, in four acts.

Act 1 - "But I can drive myself!"

We're getting ready to head back to the Chattanooga airport on Sunday. I check the flight status of the Chattanooga -> Atlanta leg, and it's getting more and more delayed, and we're worried about missing our Atlanta -> Seattle flight. So we call Delta and ask whether we can just drive ourselves down to Atlanta and take the second flight. "Yes," the answer was, "if you're OK paying $130 a person on top of your ticket price." Reason: the SEA <-> ATL direct flight is more expensive than the one that adds the Chattanooga leg. "Switching" to a direct flight would cost more (even though we'd be in the air less time and driving ourselves down to Atlanta, and even though we had confirmed seats on the Atlanta flight).

On principle we decided to not do this, and instead drove up to Chattanooga.

Act 2 - "Where's the plane?"

We arrive in Chattanooga, check in, go through security, and then wait at the gate. No plane was at the gate when we arrived. 5 minutes later, we hear the following announcement: "OK, folks, sorry to inform you, but the flight to Atlanta has been canceled." Reason: weather issues down in Atlanta (rain, fog).

So, we go back to the ticketing agent in Chattanooga. They have some trouble getting us seats on a Delta flight back to Atlanta the next day, so we say "what about other carriers?", aware of Rule 240. Soon, we get a 2-leg, 2-carrier flight out of Atlanta, leaving in the afternoon: Delta from ATL -> Dallas, and then American from Dallas to Seattle.

We get a confirmation number for the Delta flight. "What about boarding passes for the American flight?" I ask. The ticketing agent told me to not worry, and to check in at the American gate when I got to Dallas.

Delta then proceeds to pay a taxi cab $250 a person to drive us to Atlanta, where upon
we get picked up by family and stay the night. Yes, that's $500 to get us to Atlanta, when we could have driven ourselves.

I call Delta on Sunday night again, just to make sure about the Dallas check-in. The person on the phone assures me that we'll get boarding passes for the ATL->Dallas leg, and then American will issue us boarding passes for the second leg when we're in Dallas.

Act 3 - "Where are our seats?"

The next morning, I call American just to make sure things are peachy. American indeed finds our names on the flight from Dallas to Seattle, but doesn't have seats for us. "Wait," I said, "2 people at Delta told me I did!" Nope, sorry, the flight is overbooked. At best, we're standby. They tell us to call Delta.

We call Delta, and the Re-Issue desk guy tells me that we never got confirmed on the American flight. Reason: Delta and American don't have linked computer systems. While the ticketing agent may have been showing free seats on the American flight, she should have actually picked up the phone and called American and gotten a confirmation, as this Re-Issue guy was trying to do for us now.

However, there were literally no free seats in the air on any carrier, at any time, through any city for Monday. The earliest he could do for us was a Tuesday 7 AM departure from Atlanta, with a 25 minute layover in Salt Lake City. We grudgingly agree.

Act 4 - "Racing to the gate"

The 7AM flight left without a hitch. We ask the flight attendant whether we can get off the plane first, given the very short connection. She declines, saying "Oh, we'll get to the airport early." Turns out that we don't, and we get off near the end of the line of passengers. We run through the airport to make our connection. Fortunately Salt Lake is a small airport and we make it in time.

And, finally, we arrive in Seattle, 36 hours later than initially planned.

Epilogue

Now, the first problem was weather-related. Can't help that. What sucks about Delta is four-fold:
- They couldn't use common sense about letting us drive ourselves to Atlanta, instead trying to milk us for the higher direct flight cost.
- They ended up paying more for us to get taxied down to Atlanta on their dime.
- They didn't reserve our initial re-issue seats on a different airline, like they said they would, and like we asked multiple times.
- They didn't even have the courtesy to let us get off the plane first so we could make our short connection, which was due to their error in the first place.

The final kicker: I asked for some form of compensation for their error. The result: $50 vouchers for a future Delta flight. 50 bucks. That's it.

I'm frankly shocked at the incompetency and low level of customer service I received from Delta. I'm not surprised at all now that they're bankrupt. Their practices are antagonistic to customers, and it's hurting them in the end. If this is how they treat all of their customers in our situation, I don't understand how they're still in business.

See you, Delta. It hasn't been nice.

No More Glamazonia?

In case you haven't heard the news, Glamazonia will no longer be hosting Gay Bingo. Slog post is here, and Lifelong AIDS Alliance's response is here. If you've never been to Gay Bingo, let's say it's a 21+ fundraiser for LLAA, complete with bingo, booze, food, and an entertaining drag queen as the host.

Successful fund raiser? You bet: they consistently sold out, and attracted a diverse audience (gay and straight) willing to shell out money for entertainment and a good cause. But now, with no more Glamazonia, the appeal of the show is being questioned.

Here's a letter I sent to the LLAA in response. Tongue-in-cheek and sarcasm-filled, of course.

David and the Gay Bingo staff,

I recently heard a rumor that Glamazonia was dropped from LLAA and Gay Bingo. I rushed over to your web site to see if the rumor was true, and sure enough, I found your post on the matter.

What great news! I wholeheartedly support your move to drop Glam from LLAA. You see, my kids (Filbert, 5, and Seamonkey, 9) and I love Gay Bingo. We go every chance we get, sitting up front at a queens table, enjoying the sights and the sounds, dressing up in costumes appropriate for the theme, and relishing in the BINGO, of course! My kids love the pizza, and I enjoy the drinks (I can have one now and again, my support group says). But every time that tall, built Glamazonia comes out, my kids start freaking out, crying and screaming.

"Who is that?" they ask me. "Why is she saying what she's saying? Why am I being forced to listen to such harassing language?" (yeah, they're pretty precocious with their vocabulary). I try to calm them down, explaining to them that Glamazonia is just another one of God's creatures, and to remember that not everyone shares the same Puritanical values that our Mayflower ancestors did. But it doesn't quiet them down one bit. Sometimes I'm forced to give them a sip of my Long Island Iced Tea to keep them quiet and let the other people at my table enjoy the show. An outrage, that Glamazonia's actions drove me to that!

From the beginning, Gay Bingo has been one of those wholesome family events that kids and parents alike could enjoy together. Like the Zoo events at Woodland Park, or the Village Children's Center down near the Space Needle, or the Krazy Klowns Horror Freak Ride Show 2000 (that's still around, right?), Gay Bingo has been the place to enjoy some safe, G-rated fun with kids and "kids at heart". When Glamazonia took the helm, however, things went downhill. I couldn't believe the stuff she was exposing my innocent kids' virgin ears to. And her language! Gosh-diddly! Often, my kids have to run to the safe clutches of one of those nuns, the Sisters of…oh, you know, those saintly women. I thought those nuns would keep Glamazonia in line, what with their religious, cloistered upbringing. But I guess Glam was just there to do whatever the heck she wanted.

Thanks again for dropping Glam. I assume now you're in the market for another host. May I suggest Casey Treat? He's great with groups, and he could even add some group prayer to the event!

Another (Graphical) Reason To Quit Smoking

I don't smoke. In case you do, and you need some more motivation on why you should quit, check out a video of the amount of tar distilled from two packs of cigarettes. Now, think about that stuff in your lungs. Yummy.

Death To Polystyrene

We recently bought a bed from Crate & Barrel. We had the bed delivered last Friday, and it came in two boxes. Assembly was easy (no IKEA-like lengthy error-prone manuals). And the bed, plus mattress and foam topper, is quite comfy.

So why am I miffed at C&B? Because those two boxes the bed came in were filled to the brim with polystyrene foam (Styrofoam, in other words). 5+ bags of it, when broken down into manageable chunks. And, our recycling won't accept polystyrene (which I can only assume is the norm for most cities and municipalities).

This seriously put a dent in my opinion of C&B and how "with it" they are in terms of eco-friendliness. And yes, that's becoming increasingly important to me, as I think it should everyone on this planet.

Welcome to the 21st century, Crate & Barrel. May I direct you to some alternative packaging options that can be recycled, in place of polystyrene?

Orange Savings Account Is Far From The Best APY

I've seen a rapid increase in the amount of TV advertisements that ING Direct has been sponsoring. They pitch their Orange Savings Account, which has an APY of 4.20% (as of this writing).

Now 4.2% is a great APY considering what your corner bank typically offers. But it's far from the best.

Bankrate.com has a nice list of high-yield savings and money market accounts, and they show over 40 offerings that are better than ING's, many of those with no min balance, no fees, and low or no minimum to open.

Why not spend some of that TV budget returning more interest to your account holders, ING? You've got about 4 dozen horses ahead of you right now.

The Cost Of Driving

About $3.60 for a gallon of (premium) gas*.
About a gallon to commute to and from work.
About 240 workdays a year (excluding holidays and vacation)

That adds up to over $850 a year.

I need to take the bus more often.

*My car calls for it. I'd do the cheap stuff otherwise.

Stop The Political Telemarketing!

This weekend, my phone has been ringing off the hook. You'd think I was featured on some TV show, and people are calling to comment on the smashing shirt that I wore or something. No. Instead, people who are paid by political campaigns to call registered voters have been calling me, urging me to vote for their candidate.

Now, the interruptions are bad enough, but what's worse is half of these calls are recordings. They're not even willing to sit a real human on the other end of the line, but instead want me to listen to a computer spouting a recorded message of support from a local public figure.

Next time someone calls, I'm going to inform them that I am seriously considering voting against the candidate who they are trying to get me to vote for. I know, I know, "you have to play the game" politically, and if you don't make these calls and your competition does, then what?

I'll tell you what: how about your platform & promises be enough to carry you through an election, instead of relying on last-minute "please please vote for me!" calls?

And the reward for this election season being over next Tuesday? The run-up to the 2008 elections, of course, and the never-ending rhetoric, ads, and mud-slinging that will accompany them. I feel like I'm already done with those elections, and they're still a year away.

Seattle Voting Guide: The Name Game

OK, so it's time to elect some more people to office. In the past, we've done a picture-only analysis and a web site analysis. This time, we'll go for names. That's right: word association, word roots, or other gut reactions to people's names. Hey, from a guy who gets his last name mispronounced most of the time, I can relate.

King County Prosecuting Attorney
Bill Sherman. Hmm...Sherman. Hey, wasn't that some sort of general guy? Wow, that's pretty cool. Satterberg? Sorry, doesn't ring a bell.

Name Game vote: Bill Sherman

King County Assessor
What? Noble vs. Nobles? That's way too close! Can't...compute...difference.

Name Game vote: write-in "Noble(s)"

King County Council District #6
Pope is very holy. But Hague sounds like Hogue, the winery. Redemption vs. sin. Well, that's easy.

Name Game vote: Jane Hague

King County Council District #8
Constantine. Hey, that sounds like the namesake of Constantinople (no, not Istanbul). Cool. Potter, while reminiscent of the fantasy series' hero, doesn't do it for me. Wizardry teens vs. a friggin historical anchor and capital of three empires? Try to Patronus that one.

Name Game vote: Dow Constantine

Port Commissioner Position #2
Tarleton is kinda wacky, while Edwards is boring. Wow, this is a tough one. Neither really ring a bell... OK, Wikipedia for the tie-breaker. Whoa, check out that depiction of Banastre Tarleton! What a great headpiece!

Name Game vote: Gael Tarleton

Port Commissioner Position #5
Fisken? That sounds kind of imposing and sly, doesn't it? Like, "He's going to fisken you, watch out." Bryant sounds pretty safe. Plus, they make heating and cooling systems. Who doesn't want a cozy home, after all?

Name Game vote: Bill Bryant

Seattle City Council Position #1
Godden. That sounds quite Supreme Being doesn't it? But Szwaja! Whoa, look at that consonant-to-vowel ratio!

Name Game vote: Joe Szwaja

Seattle City Council Position #3
Harrell. Boring. Velázquez. Exotic!

Name Game vote: Venus Velázquez

Seattle City Council Position #7
Della. Hey, isn't that an actor? Cool. But Burgess, it means elected official! He's practically made for the job!

Name Game vote: Tim Burgess

Seattle City Council Position #9
Clark. Like Clark Howard, consumer advocate! Fenton? As in, the funeral home? No thanks.

Name Game vote: Sally Clark


Remember: vote early, vote often!

How Much Did You Pay For Radiohead's New Album?

You first.

Update: Looks like most people paid $0.00.

Scupltures Of Naked People Are Not The Best Political Platform

Meet Judy Fenton. Judy is running for a seat on the Seattle City Council. OK, Judy, welcome to the race!

But wait, let's see what Judy stands for. From her site:

PUBLIC ART: Parents and teachers work hard to instill safe boundaries for our children, the precious next generation. Public art must not blur and confuse those boundaries!

Hmm...what does that mean? A Seattle Weekly article sheds some light:

Specifically, Fenton is concerned about the fountain at the base of the Olympic Sculpture Park that depicts a man and a boy standing naked facing each other. "We spend a lot of heartfelt time and effort teaching our children boundaries and guidelines, telling them if somebody touches us in ways that aren't appropriate what they should do," Fenton explains. "If somebody sees that statue, it will undo that and confuse them."

...

Ok, Judy, seriously? A statue of a naked man and naked boy facing each other, arms outstretched, is one of the issues you're basing your entire campaign on (and, presumably, one you think is a cornerstone issue that must be resolved in this city)? Come on. Seriously?

Ha! I get it - it's a joke, right? You really meant that you wanted to give more funding to the arts, including naked statue art. Right?

Oh crap, you're serious?

...

OK, then, I can only do one thing. I'm declaring my position on artwork for Seattle. From now on, I believe that all public art depictions of one Judy Fenton of Seattle, WA be barred from display in any public place.

The reason? You see, it scares the hootenanny out of me that someone believes these statues are a problem, and believes it is so much an issue as to run a political campaign on it. And, you see, that confuses me and undoes all the heartfelt time and effort that public art has strived to instill in me. Sorry, Judy - I just can't have that. You know, just like children can't bear to look at statues of naked people.

This Is Exactly What I Don't Want An F-18 To Be Doing

Check out the first picture in this news article. Is that an F-18 flying mere feet above the surface of the San Francisco bay?

Yes, this is kind of neat, until (and I'm going to run the risk of sounding like a parent here) someone gets hurt. Furthermore, it's one thing to risk your own life. But why those people on the water? This seems beyond standard "air show risk" to me, and on into "reckless abandon".

Cupcake Royale Fall Flavors Arriving Soon

Seasonal cupcake flavors are arriving soon at your nearest Cupcake Royale
. Pumpkin, Apple, and Carrot (Cake) options will make the cooler weather a bit more worth it. And, to kick things off, the Ballard shop had some baby cakes available in these flavors, to get everyone in the mood.

Do You Want 5 Gallons Of Sweet Tea With That?

Someone ate a record 21 pounds of grits, winning the first World Grits Eating Championship. I like grits and all, but 21 pounds? That seems both challenging and disgusting at the same time.

I love how the article has to define what grits are. I suppose there are still some uninitiated folk out there. For the record, grits with cheese and bacon is delectable.