Last Saturday, I went to the Vertical Challenge Helicopter Show at the Hiller Aviation Museum San Carlos airport. The show included admission to the museum and an exhibition of military and civilian helicopters. The main event included helicopter aerobatic demonstrations, RC Helicopter presentations and a search & rescue demonstration by the US Coast Guard.
After the show, I came back home, realized it was really hot, in spite of the fact I’ve ordered a fan off Amazon the day before. It seems fans don’t really work before they are delivered, and this particular Amazon order would take two weeks to arrive. After checking the options of faster shipping, I suddenly recalled a different way to get products: Retail. A Home Depot was less than 5 minutes from my home, at I verified online that they indeed stock fans. A short trip back and forth and a fan was in my possession. A few minutes later, it was assembled the room was significantly cooler.
Later this week, on my way to Stanford, the police have suddenly stopped me. The officer explained that I was driving 40 in a 25 zone (this is MPH, so it’s actually 65 in a 40 zone in kilometers) and gave me a ticket. The officer was not able to say how much the fine was, so I will know that only when I get the ticket in the mail.
Upon reaching Stanford I had a positive surprise. My laptop, that I’ve ordered two months before, has finally arrived and works great. I took it home to complete the installation and it will soon replace my old one. Expect being able to video-chat with me any time day or night (assuming I’m online and you have skype).
This weekend features Paul’s boardgaming extravaganza and BAP’s games day. Next weekend is the 4th of July, aka Independence Day. Stay tuned.
P.S. Thank you all for purchasing stuff via the DealExtreme links in my last post. I got more than 20 points already. If you did buy anything, please comment and tell me what you got. Thanks!
June 28th, 2008 at 02:00
Posted by
epsalon |
Stanford, Daily Life, Bureaucracy, Leisure, Tech stuff |
no comments
I know I haven’t blogged in a while. There was not much to write about, and I skipped writing about some interesting stuff, but anyway I have something to write about today.
Last night, as was walking to my car like any other day, except that I had dinner with a visiting professor. I didn’t want to be late so I left half an hour before the meeting, even though it was 5 minutes away from campus. On my way to the car, I keyed in the location into my GPS just to be sure. Trying to type while walking, I dropped my iPAQ (which is also my GPS). The drop did not damage the iPAQ, but it did separate the screen cover and the stylus, which I have easily recovered, and kept on walking. After a few meters, I noticed that the GPS software wouldn’t work. After another try I realized that my miniSD memory card was gone.
Now, you should understand that a miniSD card is only 2cm x 2cm large, about the size of a SIM card. Looking for the card on a sidewalk in the darkness, when I did not know where exactly it fell was not an easy task, and indeed I did not find my card.
As time was running out, I decided to head for dinner, without a functioning GPS. It shouldn’t have been hard since it was basically one right turn in a major intersection. I missed the turn. If I had GPS, I would have known exactly where to go. Being GPSless, I decided to take the next right turn. Unbeknown to me, that road did not intersect with my destination road. Anyway I had to turn several times until I finally reached my destination. Google map of my path.
Today, I looked for my card in daylight and I couldn’t find anything, so I restored my backup into my old 1GB card, which am using now.
Lesson: Always look for your memory card if you drop your phone.
January 11th, 2008 at 03:06
Posted by
epsalon |
Stanford, Daily Life, Tech stuff |
2 comments
(Title sounds better in Hebrew)
Today is the 4th Thursday of November, which means Thanksgiving Day is celebrated throughout the United States. This is the day where Americans celebrate their conquest over the native Americans (”Indians”). This is the most family-inclined of all US vacations, and most people use this holiday to meet with their families and eat together, similar to the Jewish Passover.
As a tribute to this togetherness, the family I live with have invited me to join their Thanksgiving celebrations. I got to meet many members of their family in their house in Palo Alto. They have invited me for dinner as well, but I have already booked dinner at Stanford.
The Stanford dinner included Turkey and mashed potatoes. I met there someone I have met while walking “the dish” on one of my first days here.
Tomorrow is Black Friday. While in most cultures calling a day “Black” implies a negative context, Black Friday actually celebrates the most American tradition of them all: Shopping. The use of the word “black” comes from the fact that retailers start making profit, and thus are “in the black” after this day. It turns out that the day after Thanksgiving marks the start of the US Winter Holiday Season, and specifically the shopping season before Christmas. Many retailers have sales on this day, and unless your are shopping-crazed it’s advised that you stay home, which is exactly what I plan to do.
November 23rd, 2007 at 06:40
Posted by
epsalon |
Stanford, American Culture |
3 comments
Americans love sport. They simply define it differently than the rest of the world. According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, sport is defined as:
Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
In American popular culture however, the idea of physical activity does not really exist. For most Americans, sports are somet/hing you watch not something you do.
This relates to the true aim of US colleges and universities: To house sports teams for people to watch. Research is what they do behind people’s backs when they’re busy watching sports.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, yesterday I decided to go to the pool I heard was open at Stanford. I looked through Stanford’s athletics website and found no relevant information. You see, the athletics website is for people who want to watch sports. So, there is information about events and how to buy tickets. Even when you do locate the page about the pool (or “aquatic center“) there is no information about using the pool. Why would there? Athletic facilities are for varsity athletes and people coming to see them.
Anyway, after finding the much more obscure site for Stanford recreation and wellness, I found the very limited opening hours of the pool, and headed there yesterday afternoon. What a mistake I have made. Stanford was full of cars, all parking lots in the north side of the campus were full, a high school located just off campus sold parking for $10. All this on a Saturday. Why? Because there was a football game, and when I say football, I mean the strange American sport similar to rugby.
So, I decided to try again today (Sunday). I arrived and parked my car and headed at first in the wrong direction. It seems Stanford has stadiums for many strange sports, and they are all used by the few select athletes who compete in that sport. Same goes for the aquatic center. It is clear that is was designed for training and competition, and not for recreational use. One pool is surrounded by audience seating and the only open pool is also designed for competition. It is deep almost all way across, with no shelf in the deeper end, and with ladders only in the shallow end. On the other hand, there are jump boards all around the pool and a big scoreboard. There is no clock anywhere around the pool, but there are many timers all around the pool.
So, after a few laps of swimming, I head back home. I’m not sure if I’d be returning there any time soon.
November 5th, 2007 at 04:35
Posted by
epsalon |
Stanford, American Culture |
3 comments
After returning from Mexico, I had a lot of things to take care of. I got lots of mail in my office: A new miniSD card and a new SIM for my iPAQ, an American Express credit card, a and VISA debit card. I also had to print a paper I have to review and read a backlog of Hebrew e-mails I couldn’t read on my iPAQ (I still have a backlog of blog posts to read).
After taking care of all that in Stanford and eating lunch, I headed for the Social Security office in Redwood City. After I few wrong turns I have finally arrived and had to wait in line for about an hour, so I read the paper I have brought with me. When my turn finally arrived, I submitted the form and was told I’d get a social security card that’s valid for employment in six weeks, however the number will remain the same.
Two blocks from there is a California DMV office, where I applied for a driver’s license and passed the written exam (with only one mistake). I was issued a temporary license on the spot and scheduled a driven test for two weeks later.
After finishing these errands, I returned to Stanford and joined another event of the Stanford Jewish community, held in the Sukkah. There I met another new post-doc (only a week here) that knew me from FishEye. I told him some useful information about getting a car and a driver’s license and we exchanged e-mails.
The event ended at 9pm, and it was just time to go see House on FOX. It seems that the TV method of seeing shows has the major disadvantage of having commercial breaks interleaved with the show, however you can see shows only 3 hours late (we’re on the west coast) and before they arrive on file sharing.
Today I came to the office early as I forgot the charger of my iPAQ and my battery has run out. I’m still waiting for the extended battery I ordered to arrive. No special plans for today, though I do plan to begin doing actual research.
P.S. check out the posts from Mexico, as I have added links and pictures.
October 3rd, 2007 at 20:43
Posted by
epsalon |
Stanford, Daily Life, Bureaucracy, USA |
3 comments
