Sunday, October 30, 2005

This weekend I bought ESPN Major League Baseball 2K5 to play on my roommate's PS2. Since it's been out for a while, it was only $15. Anyway, this is the game that Jon and Ed worked on:

So that is cool. I should find out from them if there any Easter Eggs.

Bruins had another ridiculous comeback last night, winning 30-27 after being down 24-3 with about 8 minutes left in the game. Crazy. Too bad it wasn't broadcast on TV out here.

Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 27, 2005

I've been posting a lot of pictures lately. Here are some more.

I've been taking pictures of the sidewalk and street in front of my house over the past year, one pair of pictures from each season. So here are the four seasons of my street, starting with summer:

I think it's kinda cool.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Here are some pictures from when I went to San Diego last weekend:

The beach and cliffs at Encinitas.

Sunset at Pacific Beach.

US Navy Blue Angels at the Miramar Air Show.

Two Blue Angels (one inverted) making a "dirty" pass with landing gear and hook extended.

Sort of a starburst formation.

The C-5 Galaxy swallows a huge number of people.

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. This was the first time I saw this plane in person.

That's me in the left seat of a DC-3.

And in the left seat of a Blackhawk helicopter.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Today I got my car back from the body shop. Woo! It is really clean... they really cleaned it thoroughly both inside and out, even the carpeting and the floor mats. It's definitely the cleanest it's been since I bought it. It's nice to have my car back. The body work looks fine... some parts are "newer-looking" than the rest of the car, but it's not too noticeable.

They made a few mistakes though. First of all one of my tires was flat because they had driven over a screw. So they patched it up. Then later I found out that the A/C didn't work... turned out it was because they forgot to recharge the system after replacing the condenser. Oops. Also when I was driving at night, it seemed like one of the headlights was aligned slightly wrong. I'll have to fix that myself but that should be easy. Also the check engine light was on and the computer threw like 6 different codes when I read it... some of the codes didn't really make sense so I guess maybe they turned on the car while some stuff was disconnected. Anyway I reset the light so that's fixed for now. Also when I first picked the car up, it cranked really slowly because the battery was low, which was a bit odd. (I let the car sit for 2.5 months one summer and it started right up after I came back, and it was only at the body shop for 2 weeks.) But after I drove around a bit, the cranking was normal, so I guess that's ok. Last problem I'm having is, there's an intermittent sort of knocking or clunking noise coming from somewhere near the rear suspension. This one may not be related to the body work. Jay had a similar noise in his car a couple weeks ago and it was because part of one of his springs had broken and was rattling around. So I'll have to check that out.

Anyway, the total cost of repairs was about $4000, with about half that for parts (mainly rear bumper, hood, headlights, radiator, A/C condenser, grille) and the other half for labor and paint. Body work is expensive. Luckily I'm only out my deductible, and I should be getting that reimbursed soon. Though the question remains whether or not my insurance rates will increase. It's not really fair if they do, so I hope not. But no one ever said insurance companies were fair.

Enough about the car. This weekend (and beginning of next week) I will be in San Diego. Should be fun! I'll get to see Jenny's new place, eat good food, and all that. And see the Blue Angels. Yea!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Angels got robbed today!! Who knows if they would have won anyway, but they shouldn't have lost in the 9th, that's for sure. Pierzynski reached first on a "dropped third strike" with two outs in the 9th, score tied 1-1. Except (1) the ball didn't actually hit the dirt, and (2) the umpire appeared to signal the out. So it looked like the third out. The Angels were coming off the field, Paul had already tossed the ball back to the mound, but Pierzynski ran down to first and was called safe. A pinch runner stole second and the next batter hit the game winning double.

Man, that is lame. I suppose Paul should have tagged Pierzynski just to be safe, but still...

Saturday, October 8, 2005

I just watched the UCLA-Cal game. Awesome. UCLA came from behind with 3 TDs in the 4th quarter. Maurice Drew had an awesome game.

My car's still in the shop... probably won't see it for another week and a half.

Not too much going on this weekend. Didn't play tennis today because it was pretty cold... it's in the 50s these days. Also IM softball season is over. I did go flying though, practiced some crosswind landings. Next weekend should be more interesting, I'm visiting Jenny in San Diego and we may see the Blue Angels.

A couple days ago I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. It was pretty good.