The Slat Rat Chronicles

testing

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:23:05 GMT

Test post

I've Moved to a new Blogging Home

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 23:04:47 GMT

Today's the day!

I've moved from Radio to WordPress. The Url of my new blog is: http://slatrat.com/

A Nighttime Blizzard

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:47:52 GMT

Let's see - today we broke the all-time January single day snow record. Parts of town received 22 inches. And according to the National Weather Service:

THE 57.6 INCHES OF SNOW WE HAVE RECEIVED THIS SEASON (MOST OF WHICH FELL IN THE LAST MONTH) IS 21.5 INCHES MORE THAN THE AVERAGE SEASONAL TOTAL UP TO JANUARY 3RD.

We probably got about 15 inches of snow. Early in the evening, Peter, Tygey, and I went out for a hike while we were still in the midst of the blizzard. It made for an interesting nighttime shot.

Pleo is Definitely on My Wish List

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:20:36 GMT

I am so eagerly awaiting this little guy. Pre-ordering will start on February 3rd.

Snowed In!

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:16:37 GMT

Evidently December was our fourth snowiest December on record. Yipee! Those are the kind of records I like!

And as I type on January 3, 2007 we're in the midst of yet another blizzard . It seriously doesn't get any better than this.

I'm working from home today - I had my private yoga lesson at 10:30 AM and it's easier to just work from home on those mornings than to go into work and then zoom back home. Anyhoo, after the lesson, I took Tyge out for a walk and the snow was up past his gunnels. We have over a foot of snow. It wasn't hard to figure out that I was basically snowed in. There was really no way Henry II could make it out of our cul de sac. We have a giant mountain (mountain range really) of snow that the city hasn't cleared yet. As a result cul de sac maneuverability is greatly hindered. I think that if I had the whole cul de sac to work with, I could blast out of the driveway, around the cul de sac and then build up enough momentum to make it up the 1/4 mile hill to the nearest plowed road. But without that ability to build up a run at the hill, Henry II is pretty much marooned in the garage.

Oh well - it's a hot chocolate kind of day!

Superhero!!!

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 00:27:30 GMT

Evidently, I am The Green Lantern. I have to say, I find that surprising. I don't consider myself "hot headed." But perhaps others might feel differently.

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern		80%
Spider-Man		60%
Superman		50%
The Flash		50%
Robin		45%
Supergirl		45%
Batman		40%
Wonder Woman		35%
Iron Man		35%
Catwoman		25%
Hulk		15%

Hot-headed. You have strong
will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

My Favorite and Least Favorite Gadget of 2006

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:30:26 GMT

I realize I'm a bit late in doing this post - one generally does "The Year's Best" in the week between Christmas and New Year's. But I was busy with activities such as jetting off to Seattle for the day.

I'm going to keep my list short: one fabulous device and one device that I basically want to fling out the window on a daily basis.

My Favorite Gadget of 2006: The iRiver Clix MP3 player.

I know, I know. You're thinking, "An MP3 player? And an MP3 player that's not an iPod?" Well, I'm here to tell you that the iRiver Clix is a sweet little gem - hands down my favorite interface on any device that I use. I think the interface is actually superior to the iPod. And I realize "them's fightin' words". Especially for my buddy Isaac. However, the clix click feedback is soooo satisfying. The display is wonderful and the navigation interface is very very intuitive - again, other than "shuffle", I think the navigation is easier on the Clix than the iPod. However, I do admit that the Clix shuffle feature is hard to find and also seems to be buggy - or at the very least, their random algorithm has issues.

Music is loaded onto the Clix via Window's Media Player. When I first discovered Media Player 11 was required, I was aghast. The last thing I wanted was to use an official Microsoft product to move tunes to my MP3 player. I had concerns regarding DRM and usability. The DRM issues were not an issue because I rip songs from CDs and I use a high end shareware program, Audiograbber to do my ripping. I only use the Media Player software to load the ripped tunes to the Clix. In regards to interface, I was pleasantly surprised, Windows Media Player 11 interface is not hideous. It's actually pretty easy to use.

But enough about Windows. It's the iRiver Clix that's the star. The video display is screaming wonderful. Sharp and vibrant with tons of depth. It is such a treat.

My only complaint is that the Clix is a flash player with just 2 Gb of storage. I want to put all of my music on my MP3 player - for that I need at least 30 Gigs. And with that sweet sweet screen, you definitely want to watch videos. So, I want a 60 Gig Clix.

My Least Favorite Device of 2006: The HTC kjam smartphone.

Here's the sad thing - the kjam is probably one of the best smartphones on the market. Its keyboard is definitely the best full QWERTY keyboard available on a phone. But the phone cannot overcome its fatal flaw - Windows Mobile Operating System. Omigod, it sucks beyond belief. It is soooo important for a phone to have an intuitive interface and not be buggy. Windows Mobile is not intuitive and it's very very buggy.

At the very least, the actual phone interface and software should be rock solid. For goodness sakes, mobile phones have been around for over ten years and we've been using phones for almost 100 years. This is not new stuff. But, Windows Mobile is a classic example of Microsoft interface design at their worst. At least 1/3 of time, when my phone rings and I answer it by selecting the "answer" button, it doesn't answer correctly. Instead the person calling me hears me muttering, "fucking phone" when I can't hear them and then the software hangs up the phone. One of my other little favorite design features is that after you dial your call, the keypad screen disappears. Have the Microsoft designers never heard of voice mail or audio response systems where one makes menu selections from the keypad? Evidently not. When using Windows Mobile, one has to hit another button to get the keypad to come back up. By the time, you've figured all of that out, you've lost your opportunity to perform the menu selection.

The obvious question is, why do I still use this phone? Well, I've become very attached to getting my email on my phone. I also love the keyboard.

However, I've learned some key lessons. My next smartphone will not have a "soft screen". It will have an actual physical keypad for dialing. I will also not use Windows Mobile again. Unless, they dramatically change for the better.

Happy New Year!!!!

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 03:47:23 GMT

Happy New Year!!!!!!

What I want to know is what happened to 2006???? It was quite a year. Everything from dealing with Bridges to Nowhere to the Ski Boy-Slat Rat Nuptials. But now we're at 2007. Oh Boy!

Peter and I spent the last day of 2006 preparing for Government Hill's annual New Year's Eve progressive dinner - we were assigned the salad course. We also decided to host our salad course at my house up on Government Hill. That entailed staging and then transporting china, silverware, chairs, tablecloths, etc. up to my house. Whew...That was a logistics job in and of itself. But, well worth it - we had a fabulous time at my house including a great view of the fireworks! (Well, almost a great view. If the Hilton Hotel could move a little to the right, we would have a perfect view).

Here are my last pictures of 2006.

Peter took time out from challah baking to mount an expedition to fill the bird feeders. I have not been kidding about all the snow we've received in the past month.

Peek-A-Boo!

Peter trying to hide from the camera during the salad course. You can run but you definitely cannot hide.

Watching the fireworks. My new camera did pretty well with this flash shot. The room was completely dark.

Walking to the dessert course. It was a bit chilly: 12 degrees.

Snowy Night

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 05:53:31 GMT

More snow last night, today, and tonight. It's just fabulous. And of course, I had to get outside and try a night shot or two with my new camera. The Canon 30D does have a night mode, but when using night mode, one should also use a tripod. I managed to pull off one picture that wasn't too blurry, but I'm definitely going to have to dig out my tripod. I wonder where it is....

Various and Sundry Pictures

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 03:53:32 GMT

We all know how obnoxious someone can be when they have a new camera - taking pictures right and left and annoying everyone. It's not news that I'm obnoxious to begin with and I've definitely been over the edge with my new camera. Below are several shots from the past few days.

Pooh aka Roy Hobbs modeling one of his Christmas gifts, a New York Knights replica jersey from Ebbets Field Flannels.

You can see just a bit a green in Tyge's mouth. It's a tennis ball. Poor Tyge - he really hates having his picture taken and I've been hounding him with my camera for the past 5 days.

Peter is also getting hounded by me and my camera. You can run but you can't hide.

Tyge on the trail at sundown

Alix definitely has the rapt attention of Gunner and Tyge.

Seattle Extravaganza Pictures

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 03:39:16 GMT

As promised, below are pics from the Mother-Daughter one day Seattle and back trip.

But first a note! Santa brought me a fabulous present - a Canon 30D Digital SLR camera. It is absolutely amazing. I'm just agog at wonderful it is - no shutter delay, fits in my hand wonderfully, packed with features, etc. I'm still very much a rookie with it. But, it just had to go to Seattle on the big trip. So, the pics below are taken with the 30D!

A very happy Mom after a great lunch at Cafe Campagne.

Mom outside Cafe Campagne

Mom modeling a pair of Fluevog's

You can tell that Fluevog's is totally hip just by what's going on in this picture.

Whirlwind!!!!!

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 05:57:47 GMT

Mom and mine's (grammatically incorrect?) one day round trip extravaganza to Seattle and back was a total blast. But Mom about wore me out. My feet are still recovering.

I don't think I've ever had a day like that. Peter dropped us off at the airport at 5:00 AM. He picked us back up at 10:45 PM. The intervening hours included 4 hours of air travel and airport time, a 45 minute bus ride via public transit through a dicey area of Seattle to downtown (after that one, Mom was banned for the rest of the day from making any further decisions on the transportation front), lunch at the always fabulous Cafe Campagne, Mom's introduction to Fluevog Shoes (she's hooked), hiking back from REI, carpet shopping down in Pioneer Square, a book stocking-up expedition to Elliot Bay Books (one of the two great book stores on the West Coast), and finally finishing everything off with a mango daquiri, great eats, and the ultimate topper, a satay separator at Wild Ginger. And then the three hour trip back home.

Whew!!!!!

Pictures to follow tomorrow.