Jack gets a place to sleep and some wheels!!

Since we did a really geeky move and registered on Amazon.com for Jack, some of the big items have started to roll in. Shiras mom Bonnie and dad Jerry ordered the changing table / dresser ,my mom Janice ordered the crib.We also got our stroller from Shiras Grandmother. So I had to spend a couple of hours in assembly mode.Man I hate to build furniture. The instructions were pretty bad on the changing table,I had to do a couple of parts twice. But its all done and Shira loves it all.  The stroller is an Orbit which if any of you watch the Office is the stroller that Dwight tested by throwing it off the roof. It has a really cool modular design,you can  easily move the infant seat from the stroller to the car seat base.This is kind of my choice.Have to roll with some cool wheels.HAHA. Thanks to everyone who has donated to our cause.

Link to video of the Office footage.Video 1.Video 2.

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I know my wife loves me a lot..

While talking about our little one that is still 3 months out , Shira  has voiced what she wants for our boy. She wants him to look like a little Michael. What is Michael style?Well Shira calls it contractor/Costco sheik. I clean up well,but 90% of the time but I am in a polo shirt ,khaki shorts ,black baseball cap and unshaven face. I wear camo color shorts ,old free tshirts and black skate shoes. You get the idea. I know that my wife is not really excited about my style,but the fact is she wants Jack to be a little me. Today we were out shopping for baby clothes and everything we got was pretty much little Michael. Not everyone understands this,but its what Shira wants. It makes me feel good and want to give her a little geek. I think we have a good sense of humor about this and want our child to have fun.If my wife did not love me a lot our baby would be dressed as a little yuppie, that's how she wants me to dress. HAHA

My two wheeled obsession!!

I love all things that have two wheels.Bicycles ,motorcycles and maybe even a segway if I tried one. I used to spend a lot of time riding and racing mountain bikes.Have been riding motorcycles from a young age as well. All the father figures in my life rode in some fashion or another. Over the years I have owned a lot of motorcycles and bicycles. When my wife and I first met there was no car in my life,just a few 2 wheeled conveyances.Luckily Shira was flexible and  loved to go out on the motorcycle.Those are some of the best memories from our blossoming relationship,cruising up to Alices for lunch then down to the beach in Half Moon bay.Unfortunately I broke my last bike and it was more to fix than the moto was worth. And although a new bike would be a bonus ,with starting a business and Jack on the way its really low on the to do list. So I have to get my fix through watching all the racing on TV that I can. My favorite by far is super cross. Every year we go to the race in SF and every Sunday I am glued to the TV watching 2 hours of racing. During the summer there is Moto GP which is the formula one of 2 wheeled sports and motocross racing.Luckily Shira will actually watch with me and has learned quite a bit over the years. We don't watch all the ball and stick sports so its pretty easy to deal with for her. Thanks Babe for being so good about it!! I cant wait to have our little guy to share these kinds of things with. If you ever want to see googly eyed little boy Michael just ask me a question about something 2 wheeled. I have lots of other hobbies but this is the one that really gets me to that little boy excitement level. Last Sunday was an extremely exciting race and I am sure that Shira was laughing at me while I was up and down out of my seat screaming at the TV.I guess I'm just all over the place,love fine food ,cigars,drinks,classic literature and then love all the boy things.Sci Fi books ,tacos,motorcycles,toy airplanes and video games. I am a scattered boy/man..

Frozen Yogurt Wars

In the San Mateo area there are two frozen yogurt shops that seem to get all the attention.One is the tried and true Yumi Yogurt which on yelp gets 4 out of 5 stars. We have been going here for a couple of years. The other is Harmony yogurt which is more like Pink Berry and is focused on the organic fresh style of yogurt. Also gets 4 out of 5 on yelp . Here is how I think they stack up.Yumi has ten flavors at all times along with ice cream and smoothies.Harmony has 3 flavors and that's it,the day we went they were plain,blackberry and blueberry. Both places have lots of toppings,but Harmony seemed to be much fresher and healthier. The locations are really different,Harmony has a brand new location in San Mateo that is really nice clean ,but a bit sterile. Yumi is a tiny bit run down,but is a million times more busy. When making the choice between the two I would stack it up like this.Yumi for when you want the creamy flavor for a special treat and Harmony for a healthy lighter desert. Both are good,really good . I suggest anyone who lives in the area try both. 

Flying in Fremont today.

Today a bunch of us went out to our normal flying field to take advantage of the good weather.We had seven or eight pilots out in some decent conditions. There was a little wind ,but a lot of thermals to keep our planes in the air.I had a brand new plane to maiden today.Its a Light Speed from RCBuilder.com .The plane is a bit different from a lot of standard DLG planes,as it has a narrow wing to give it some advanced flight characteristics. I have a Light Hawk from the same builder and its been my favorite till now. 

I had a little trouble with the first couple of flights ,it was some radio programming issues.Once those were solved the flights got much better.There are some trimming issues to work out,but otherwise I am happy. It performs the way I want and think It will do well at the competitions.At 7.5 ounces it performs great in thermals and ranges the field pretty damn fast.Should do well at the next competition.

Had some time while charging batteries and took some video of the guys doing some launches.

Oh and thanks to Aaron for building my LightSpeed.

Foie Gras gate...

While scanning through Chowhound ,one of my favorite food sites I came across an article about Foie Gras.There is a huge debate over the process used to feed the ducks to get good Foie. In the article there was a link to a blog post from a local restaurant owner about the debate.Anyone who knows me well ,also knows I love animals.My family has always been big animal lovers. While not extreme Peta crazies (sorry to offend any of you reading this) we do not support cruelty to animals. When you read the bog post and then do some initial research you find that hes really spot on. And the ducks really are not harmed or stressed in any way. I love Foie Gras and will continue to eat it when the chance arises.But what I really want to touch on is why the people feel the need to defend food , instead of defending the 3.3 million abused and neglected children in the US. Those ducks are raised for food. Chances are that they love their life till the end,while there are a ton of parents treating their children like garbage to throw away. Makes me wonder how your priorities get that out of whack? Sure all living things need to be respected.But in my head at least there is a huge difference between a child and a duck.OK so you don't want to eat a living thing,then make that choice for you and your family.I can respect that. But let me eat what I want,and stop worrying about the small amount of crazy niche causes. Latch on to some major ones. Hunger,our failing economy,our health care system.

It seems weird to me that some groups waste so much energy on things only the rich can afford.Fur,foie Gras are two really expensive things that the majority of people don't get to have.Why spend so much energy on things such a small group can enjoy. Things just seem so out of perspective when you really think of it. Even if we outlawed these things ,the rich can go where they are legal.Now compare that to getting a child food for a year.which seems to be the better cause.Duh

Feel free to bash away if you think I am wrong..

What I have been playing.

For about 4 months I have been playing Call of Duty World at War from Treyarch and Activision.I wont say a lot about the single player .While a lot of fun and pretty damn good I just don't spend time on Xbox 360 single player games very often.Multi player is too much fun.What i play the COD games for is the online games.I have a group of about 30 friends from all over the US and world that play team oriented game modes on COD. What we play the most is Hardcore Team Death Match.Its a 6 on 6 most kills wins format. The hardcore part is that you die easier,more like real life,which means more strategy is needed to do well.This is the game I spend the most time on,at least until the next COD comes out in November.

The other game I have been playing is KillZone 2 for the PS3 .Now this one is all single player for me. I am not a big fan of the PS3 online game system. I will probably try the online play a little more later this week .The single player I am about half way through,but damn its a lot of fun.Will update my thoughts about online and the finish of the single player next week.

Halo Wars comes out today and I will review that soon.Its a real time strategy game so it only appeals to a small amount of players.,but I am just geek enough to love it.

Sony PRS-505 Ebook Reader

I have been considering an ebook reader for some time .The Kindle 2 was just released and while its really an improvement over the first version, I did not find it better than the Sony. I don't need the wireless. So this last weekend I decided to pull the trigger on a Sony PRS-505 . I have spent the last couple of days learning how to download content onto the device. The software that comes with it is really simple and I was able to Download some of my 100 free classics in just a few minutes. And getting a PDF or some other form of free book onto the device is cake. Where the fun and hard part comes in is getting some of the content meant for other types of reader devices. See not all books come in all reader formats. So you might have to do a little converting.There is a really good community of people over at MobileRead Forums who can help you figure it out.I am really happy with how the reader works.The page turns are fast and I love how the bookmark system works.I can keep my place in every single book and move back and forth in an instant. I still have a few more normal books to read,but I am having a hard time not jumping into the books on the Sony.

I have another task now.What books to download for the rest of my 100 classics?I would love some suggestions.I am open to almost anything,plus I am sure there are some that might be good for Shira as well.