Archive for February, 2007

19
Feb

Dude, Where’s My Car?

By jjao 0 Comments
Categories: Cars

One of the paradoxical signs of global warming, freak cold weather conditions, we are now all experiencing in the Northwest in the form of freakishly heavy snowfall. I called back home and Popsie had told me that my car was not to be seen - it was buried underneath a snowdrift. I could only pray that my Spyder is safe under its cover in the condo garage.

I’m now starting to wonder when the weather will let up again enough to make top-down driving practical. There’s a lot of stuff I want to do with the Spyder, from putting on JDM badging, to installing a non-smoker box (actually a coin box) to replace the useless ashtray on the dash. I’m also considering an iPod adapter so I can control the iPod from the CD changer controls.

All I know is, the current weather is hazardous to a mid-engine car and it’s driver’s health. For the former, the salt that is dumped on the roads to melt snow promotes rust. And my little MR2 has seen none of that, coming from California. For the latter, driving a car with the engine in the back makes it prone to spin out in slippery conditions - so its basically just the Accord for me until the weather clears up.

17
Feb

Test Drive: Pontiac G6

By jjao 0 Comments
Categories: Cars

I had always thought that GM’s Pontiac G6 was good-looking, for a domestic car. It looked like a cross between a Toyota Solara and a Honda Accord Coupe, which meant that it had conservative good looks. What surprised me was when I stepped into the cockpit. What? Was this quality I was seeing, I thought? I had not driven a domestic car for maybe 2 years, the last one being a Chevy Malibu, which was a total letdown. But now, from the same manufacturer, General Motors, a totally different level of quality?

First the interior looks. The interior was well made, with little of the large panel gaps you would see in lots of domestics.

Second was the feel. The steering wheel feel was OK, not great like my Spyder, but OK like my Accord - a 7 year old Accord for sure but still a Honda feel. Second was the shifter. Granted, it was an automatic, but it didn’t feel like it would snap off into my hand like the last couple of domestics I’ve driven.

Third was the smoothness of the engine. It was very quiet, yet still had pep. It was as quiet as a Toyota. As I drove, there were squeaks coming out of the woodwork, still a problem I thought, but you could ignore it.

Fourth were the little surprises. There was the automatic unlocking of doors when you set the shifter to "park". There was the automatic turning on of headlights when it got dark (at least I thought it was automatic). There was also the nice touch of a trip computer, including a "range left" indicator, telling you how far you could go with the amount of gas in the tank.

There were a couple of nitpicks of course. First was the aforementioned squeaking. Second was the retained accessory power - it didn’t turn off. That would be a convenient thing when you wanted your GPS to retain power after you turned off the ignition and took the key off, but if you left your GPS in your car for a few days I had the suspicion that your batteries would soon be depleted.

I could not help thinking as I drove along that now there really was no reason to choose a Japanese car over a domestic. Heresy, I know. But at least for initial quality, there really was no difference. And I’m sure that the G6 would cost thousands less than the comparable 2-door Accord or Camry.

And I’m not saying this just because I’m currently working at GM! Well, maybe.

16
Feb

Working at a Thousand Miles an Hour

By jjao 0 Comments
Categories: Work

At work, I usually know when there’s not a lot to do. I usually find myself on the web, reading the news, loading up my Yahoo! Messenger to check who’s online, grabbing a couple coffees, and generally conscious that I should try to keep looking busy lest someone notice.

Well, for the last couple of weeks, I haven’t felt that at all. I barely even have time to check my Yahoo! Mail, let alone anyone on Messenger. I haven’t even loaded up my movies on Blockbuster queue online! It always seems like there are at least 2 parties trying to get my attention at the same time, while I’m doing a third thing. And it’s not like I’m doing any "real" work. In this project, I engineered myself into the project plan as someone who "oversees" other people’s work. In short, I made myself into overhead. But who knew being overhead was this hard? My day is full of answering emails, meetings to attend, forms to fill, people to interview, questions to answer from the development team. And it doesn’t end after 5pm either. "After work" is the only time I have left to do administrative stuff like do my timesheets and expenses, listen to recordings of company meetings, interview those folks and fill those forms I didn’t have time to interview or fill up during business hours.

It used to be that exercise was my time to relax from work, but then even that is now becoming something I dont even have enough time for, because next comes dinner, then whatever TV show is lined up on hotel cable. Yesterday it was 2 hours of "Lost", the other day it was 2 hours of "24". Then after that it’s already 11pm. Time to sleep. At least I dont have the problem of not falling asleep early now. Theres too much to do and after all of that I just pass out. The other day I woke up and saw that I was only successful in pulling off my pants halfway before I dozed off.

Maybe I’m doing too much. Maybe I need better time management skills. Its good that I started doing the health thing though. Exercising, vitamins, more fish, and more sleep. I’m getting less headaches too. If not, I wouldn’t even have the strength to type in this post. Maybe.

12
Feb

Peons on a Plane

By jjao 0 Comments
Categories: Travel

I’m ashamed to say it, but after just 2 trips, I am now a firm believer Northwest Airline’s perks for Executive Platinum frequent flyers. Last time I posted about this topic, I felt embarassed and even a bit outraged for the other flyers that I passed so quickly through the lines to get on my economy-class seat. But after passing through express security lines, express boarding, express de-planing, and complimentary upgrades to first class ALL THE TIME I’m a bonafide convert.

It’s easy when it doesnt cost you anything but to be loyal and fly enough times to gain status. It also helps when you dont have to choose the cheapest flight available in order to fly your preferred airline. A couple of years from now, when I return to being just one of the huddled masses who have no status and have to line up for their flights, I will wail and gnash my teeth at those high-and-mighty "executive platiners" who whisk their way through lines, nose turned up at me like I was some maloderous farm animal.

But for now, I’ll just enjoy it while its there.

11
Feb

Shrinking Time and Space Through Technology

By jjao 0 Comments
Categories: Web/Tech

Before I had my first navigation system back in 2001, I never got lost while driving -  because I never traveled to any place I was not familiar with! How limiting! So every now and then when I try something audacious (to me) on the road, like drive hundreds or thousands of miles to a place I’ve never been to, I always look back to those halcyon days and think how different things are today thanks to the modern miracle of GPS.

Some people may pine for the good old days - I do that myself sometimes, but whenever I think of how technology has personally enabled me, saved me time and made me able to do more I just become thankful that I am here in this world at this point in history.

Back to my first example, GPS. What would my life have been had I not been able to drive where I wanted to drive? How many roadtrips and experiences would I have passed up upon just because I didn’t want to take the chance of being lost? I would have experienced less than half of what I have had if not for it!

Take the mobile phone. I remember in the not so recent past when I had to wait for my buddies at SM city maybe for hours, with no idea whether they were late or would even arrive! How many hours were wasted just waiting for people? How many hours did you have to spend waiting on the telephone at home for that call from your sweetie?

And then there was the DVR. You didn’t have to rush home to watch your TV shows, they got recorded and saved for you and you could watch them during lazy weekends! An hours worth of TV was reduced only 40 minutes when you can fast forward through the commercials. And now even the lazy weekends got freed up with the iPod - just copy the stuff on your DVR to the iPod Video and you can watch your shows while commuting (hopefully not while driving though).

Spaces have become closer, time has become more and more productive. I would argue that now, we can have twice the number of life experiences of the generation before, just because of the time freed up by technology. Maybe even more.

Or maybe not. As I write this post on my laptop, I just finished up a host engagement form for work. Productive time for the office for sure, but less nap time for me on the plane. Oh well, the bad must come with the good.

10
Feb

Kneel Before Your Executive Platinum Betters, Chattel!

By jjao 0 Comments
Categories: Travel

Having picked up a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts from one of the airport shops, I had been running late for my flight. So when I arrived at my departure gate I was dismayed at the long boarding line. Everyone was lined up I saw, and I was resigned to the fate of having to find my seat in the middle of the airplane as the crowd that came ahead of me tried to hoist their bags into the overhead bins.

This was the first time I had been stuck in line on a Northwest Airlines flight, my fault really. But what came first as a pleasant surprise was that there was an "elite line", where "elite members" could queue up and get in ahead of everyone else in the "regular" line, much like the "premium" lines at Six Flags. Now this was different from my normal experience flying other carriers where they would first board elite passengers, then the rest. If you were an elite passenger and didn’t board when you were called then it was your fault and you had to line up with the rest.

So I lined up on the elite queue thoroughly relieved that I did not have to be the last passenger boarding. When I quickly got to the head of the line, I saw that there was only one crew member taking boarding passes. And he was first emptying the queue that I was on before going back to the regular line. There was a little bit of embarrassment on my side, as I had been late to line up (and the other line was huge) but got myself on board first because of my status. A thought flirted through my mind - "kneel before your executive platinum betters, chattel!" But that thought quickly turned itself around and I found myself empathizing with the "chattel".

It sucked I thought, to be conscientious enough to be the first one to line up only to be served only when passengers with better "status" were served first.  Boarding by groups was less embarrassing I realized, as you would always be served during your turn if you got on line fast enough, never mind if your turn was last.

As for myself, it was doubly embarrassing as although I had top elite status and got to cut through the line to board first, I ended up sitting in a middle seat in coach. I did not get the complimentary upgrade to first class, since the plane was packed. 

09
Feb

No More Heroes?

By jjao 0 Comments
Categories: Current Affairs

On the news the last couple of days, was the story of the lady astronaut arrested for attempted murder in some sort of bizarre love triangle with another astronaut. Why that received so much press attention when other much more important issues were not covered (even on CNN) was simple - she was an astronaut, hero to millions. And it was always big news when we see our heroes fall.

I remember the time when there were so many heroes. The office of the US president and the person himself used to be the object of healthy hero worship for much of US history. In fact I remember the time when Superman in the comic books spoke directly to the US president. Man, the president was Superman’s hero! Until of course we got "Tricky Dick" Nixon, and now "WMD" Bush who had both brazenly lied to the US people. The office of the US president had sunk to such lows that Lex Luthor himself, again in Superman comics was now the US president. In the last season of the TV series "24", we again got a weaselly Commander-in-Chief.

Soldiers used to be heroes too until the Vietnam War, when we got pictures and stories of atrocities done to hapless Vietnamese civilians. The image of the US soldier has recovered somewhat, but now its more an issue of political correctness. We all know that many grunts on the ground come from the lower crust of society, doing it mostly for the pay. The day of the honorable career soldier is waning.

Scientists used to be heroes. They used to be the guys who created amazing new stuff, and discovered the secrets of the universe. Scientists used to be rock stars. But now science itself is looked down upon. Just looking at the workforce today, if science were still in such high esteem, why is a disproportionate portion of the doctors and scientists you see on TV now Asian? Children’s heroes are now entertainment figures like gangsta rappers and "famous for being famous" people like Paris Hilton. Get rich quick and be famous for nothing seems to be in.

Where have all the heroes gone? As the veneer of public image is peeled away by the growing skepticism of the rest of us, our heroes one by one are deconstructed and fewer and fewer of the old heroes now stand up to scrutiny. The closest thing I have to a hero is Warren Buffett. He worked hard in an honest job, became a billionaire, but still lived modestly and gave his billions to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. To me he’s a better role model than even the Rockefellers and the Guggenheims, names now associated as benefactors of art and culture, but who’s empires were built by their robber baron forefathers during the start of the industrial revolution.

But of course, Warren Buffett is boring. I doubt even Paris Hilton would tell him "you’re hot"

06
Feb

Where Sci-Fi Actors go to Pasture

By jjao 1 Comment
Categories: Books, TV and Movies

One sleepless night I was was browsing through the TiVo for something to watch, and decided to watch an episode of "Stargate: SG1", a series that I was mildly interested in, but only recently entered the non-cable-tv world and thus on my DVR. I had known from some episodes a couple of years earlier that Richard Dean Anderson (McGyver himself) had a starring role, but had recently left the series. But what I was surprised to learn was that this very episode that I was watching had Ben Browder (John Crichton from the now canned sci-fi series Farscape) guest starring.

So I started watching a couple more episodes, and it turned out that Ben Browder was being groomed to be the new main character of SG1. Curiouser and curiouser I thought. In recent TV history, sci-fi main characters were never usually successful in crossing over to new series because they had become too much identified with their previous personas for the audience to believe it. In this case, I didn’t believe it at all. It felt to me like Browder and company were merely actors on a soundstage. Suspension of disbelief did not take.

So it was with a groan and a slap to my forehead when I got to the episode where Claudia Black, also an alumnus of Farscape (playing Aerin Sun - love interest of Ben Browder’s character),  also became a regular of the series! Was this the place where actors of canned sci-fi series go out to pasture, I thought?

You could only go so far, recycling lead characters of other sci-fi series as lead characters in new sci-fi series I thought. One character was bad enough, two main characters was unforgivable. But three? I would’ve passed out.

And that almost happened when in one epsiode of SG1, Ben Browder and Claudia Black’s characters walked into a doctor’s lab manned by, none other than another cancelled sci-fi show alumnus Lexa Doig, half-filipina and the titualar character of the canned TV series Andromeda! Well, I did pass out in a way. I turned off the TV set and went to bed.

And the list goes on and on, with even alumnus from the various canned Star Trek series - from Robert Picardo, the holographic doctor in Star Trek: Voyager, to Jolene Blalock, the Vulcan T’Pol in Star Trek: Enterprise.

Well, Stargate: SG1 is the longest running sci-fi TV show in America at 10 seasons, it must be doing something right.

05
Feb

Arise, Static Man!

By jjao 0 Comments
Categories: Musings

If there’s one thing I had never gotten used to with life in America, is the fact that for a couple of months every year, I have to worry about static electricity. Most often it happens whenever I enter or leave the house. When I put on or take off my jacket, somehow static electricity builds up in that one simple motion, and I get a jolt with the next metal or conductive object I touch. It happens in the house, through airport security, everywhere! I’ve busted my thermostat at home, a bluetooth speakerphone, and all sorts of various electronic devices by just touching them. I’m lucky I haven’t yet broken one of my laptops from the static.

Even breaking the random appliance with static electricity would have been ok if the phenomenon had not been so embarrassing to cope with. Whenever I enter a building from the outside during "static electricity season", I tentatively touch the doorframe, then the handle, before pulling open the door because man it hurts when you get jolted by surprise! People of course look at me weirdly when I don’t just open the door right away. But then they don’t really realize that I’m the infamous supervillain Static-Man.

Imagine this - you’re on a hot date and you go for that kiss and you get zapped by static electricity.. on your tongue?  That must hurt!

02
Feb

The Rise of New Wave Muzak

By jjao 1 Comment
Categories: Music

The final straw came when I saw the GMC Acadia ad that had a cover of Modern English’s "I Melt With You"(1984) in bossa nova beat. That’s when I realized that no, it was not a fluke, New Wave music is now being redone as muzak! The offending ad I have inserted below:

I had first noticed this trend, 80’s new wave music being covered for the "easy listening" audience, around 2003 when the movie "Lost in Translation" was out and shortly thereafter a muzak version of Roxy Music’s "More Than This" (1982), which was the number that Bill Murray sang in one of the pivotal scenes of the movie to Scarlett Johanssen.

Fast forward to late 2006, I was Christmas shopping so I went to the outlet, and there in a couple of stores I heard song after song of Depeche Mode, the La’s and other classic new wave artists of the 80’s and early 90’s being relegated to outlet music.

Why, I thought. Well really the answer was simple. Outlets and elevators were catering to their target market. Just like those retirement firms now have hippie music in the background of their ads on TV, malls, car ads, etc now play the music of the 80’s and 90’s to the thirtysomethings. Logical from a marketing perspective, but still sad.

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