I grew up when transistor radios were the ultimate in transportable music. Then boom-boxes, the Walkman, Discman and now the iPod all advanced the state of the art by huge leaps. And I have the gall to complain that my new 120Gb iPod won't hold my entire music collection. I'm so spoiled.

Thursday I went in to work at 6:00 pm and got off work at 2:00 am. So I didn't get to sleep until about 4:00 am. I had Friday off, but since I had to be in at work Saturday at 6:00 am, it was a short day.

I woke up about 12:30 when stochasticjack gave me a call, updating me on his work situation. About 2:30 in the afternoon, I decided I should at least get out ( Read more... )

Had a good day yesterday. After paying rent, stochasticjack and I drove down to Tacoma to eat at a teriyaki joint just around the corner from where he lived 20 years ago. The neighborhood has really improved. We then drove over the Narrows Bridge to Kopachuk State Park and hung out on the beach for a while. Drove over the new Narrows Bridge for the first time on ( Read more... )

Last week, I was riding home through some heavy rush hour traffic. Three of us motorcyclists ended up riding together in the HOV lane. The guy ahead of me was wearing a black leather jacket with "YAMAHA" written in red on the back. He was riding an older model from the late '70s or early '80s, and since I ride a '79 XS11, I wanted to let him see he ( Read more... )

I've been following J-Pop artists for the last 10 years or so. One of my favorites is Aiko. I've been following her since her debut in 1999. That was her only album that didn't sell very well. I'm not sure why. It sounds just as good as every album she's released since then. Every album since has been #1 or #2, so you figure people who have become ( Read more... )

Do you remember when Coca-Cola introduced the new Coke in 1985? Coke was losing market share to Pepsi, so they decided to reformulate Coke to make it sweeter. They conducted extensive and exhaustive taste tests and discovered that people preferred the new Coke to the old Coke by a significant margin. So they introduced it. Four months later, ( Read more... )

It's been great weather for motorcycle riding lately. Even when I've been just riding to and from work, the weather makes it enjoyable. It does wonders for my mood ( Read more... )

I got off work at 3:00 this afternoon. The day was so nice, I couldn't stand the idea of just going straight home and plopping down in front of the TV again. So I headed south on Highway 161 through Puyallup to Eatonville. A few miles before I got to Eatonville, I stopped to take a picture of Mt. Rainier from the shore of Clear Lake, just a couple ( Read more... )

NEWS FLASH: The President likes Dijon mustard on his cheeseburgers! News at 11 ( Read more... )

I've been getting over a cold for more than a week, now. Today was a beautiful day, but I spent the best part of it sleeping. I did manage to watch the remake or The Day The Earth Stood Still with Keanu Reeves. It's a better movie than the reviews I've read would suggest. I think it's a very honest update of the 1951 original. I just wish there had ( Read more... )