Some sound advice for the future...

You know it is coming: the day when your loyal robo-pet turns on you and feasts his laser-breathing eyes on your bad self. For those out there who wish to be prepared and fight the Robot, you best buy the book How to Survive a Robot Uprising.

I'm sure some of you are thinking, "That will NEVER happen!" Well, what happens when your Mechanical Death Spider turns on you, huh? Yeah...that's what I thought. Read the book!

A new ski conditions website is online

Skibonk is using Google Maps to show ski conditions, open runs/lifts, snow base and other assorted resort information. Check it out!

Camping at Pinnacles this weekend

I'm going camping with my friends to Pinnacles National Monument this weekend. Last time we went there (2 years ago...same time of the year), we hiked to some caves on Saturday and hiked the peaks/gorges on Sunday and spent the nights eating/drinking, enjoying the campfire, chasing raccoons and spotting wild boars. There should be some stories and pictures to share next week.

[Update] Great trip! We saw 6 California Condors perched on top of the Pinnacles during our Saturday hike, with 3 of them soaring above us at one time. The weather could not have been better for November...clear blue skies, highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. As usual, the gang enjoyed themselves...eating/drinking/being merry.

Here are some pics of the trip...thanks Donna & Bryce!

Spending mid-week in Monterey

I'm spending a couple of days in Monterey for one of our health conferences. I arrived last night at the hotel and spent some time enjoying the Tuesday nightlife with a couple of friends who live in the next town over. Today, the conference started and our meeting room is adjacent to Monterey Bay. The doors have been open all day and even though it's been raining on and off, it is still a great place to host an event. Nice to hear the barking of sea lions, the cries of seabirds and the rolling of the waves waft in during the presentations. We are on a break right now...the cocktail party starts at 5pm, followed by dinner. Not sure when I'll get to bed...but LOST (yes, I'm an addict) starts at 9pm.

The last time I stayed at a beachside resort was for a conference in Huatulco, Mexico, years ago (1998?). It was too hot while there, but an excuse to have the employer at the time pay for my first jungle golf adventure (lost 24 balls in the round), go scuba-diving for the first time and eat tons of octupus cooked in a myriad of ways.

Slowly creeping up there

We are #5 and a full month of big games are left to be played. We only have one game left and if we win, we will just have to sit out and wait for the fun (USC/UCLA, Auburn/Alabama, LSU/Alabama, and the SEC, ACC and Big 12 Championships) to unfold. We may squeak on into the National Championship game if all goes well! Though the ticket prices sure are frustrating...

E-Mail Time Capsule

Seen on Boing Boing: Forbes.com is allowing people to send an email to themselves in 1, 3, 5, 10 or 20 years. Seems like an interesting idea. I only see one problem: will you still be using the same address then? Mine has changed (hotmail -> yahoo -> gmail) every few years due to spam. So far so good with gmail...

Christmas in Vegas

It's almost that time of year: my yearly late December flight to Vegas to see my family. My brother and his family have lived there for about 10 years now and that is the most convenient (re: no bad weather there) place for all of us to meet.

Our activities typically include: visiting an Xmas village to see lights and ride a train, going to one of the big hotels for a big buffet lunch and watching my niece and nephew tire themselves of opening all the presents that they get.

A story from last year. We were on our way to see the Xmas lights and my niece started to tell me a joke:
Her: Uncle Sean, knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Her: Ambulance. [An ambulance with lights/sirens had just passed by.]
Me: Ambulance who?
Her: Someone died. [Who who...ha ha!!!! she laughed.]

A future in comedy may not be in her career path...