Sleep - Tips for falling asleep

Everyone has different strategies.

My mom told me she occasionally tells body parts to fall asleep, starting with the toes. She's lucky and can fall asleep that way, but I have tried it and found it unsatisfactory.

Lots of externalities, like caffeine, alcohol, stress, exercise, and so forth.

Beer

Beers tried.

2015

• Iceland
•  Einstök Beer Company (Akureyri, Iceland)
• White Ale
• Pale Ale
• Toasted Porter
• USA
• Uinta Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Punk'n Harvest Pumpkin Ale
• Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing (Santa Cruz, California)
• Devout Stout
• The People's Porter
• Amber Ale
• Chocolate Pumpkin Porter
• Boardwalk Blonde: European-style malts and organic California grown hops featuring locally harvested honey.  With aromas of wildflowers, smooth in body yet strong in character, seaside amusements don't get any better than this. 
• Afternoon Delight: An American Wheat brewed with Xiang Xing Oranges and infused with Lemon Zest. A light and citrusy beer perfect for an afternoon drinking session!
• 
  
• Uncommon Brewers' (Santa Cruz, California)
• Baltic Porter
• Hermitage Brewing Company (San Jose, California)
• Ale of the 2 Tun Imperial Stout
• Maltopia Double Scotch Ale

2014

• USA
• Anderson Valley Brewing Company (Boonville, California)
• Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale
• Summer Solstice Seasonal Ale

2013

• Czech Republic
• Krušovice
• Royal Dark
• Primátor
• Premium Dark, Dark Lager
• USA
• 
  

PREVIOUS

• USA
• "The Champagne of Beers", Miller Lite (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• Pabst Blue Ribbon (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• Old Milwaukee (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• "From the Land of Sky Blue Water", Hamm's (St. Paul, Minnesota)
• Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company (Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin)
• New Glarus Brewing Company (New Glarus, Wisconsin)
• Sprecher Brewing Company (Glendale, Wisconsin)
• "Milwaukee’s Finest Beer", Valentin Blatz Brewing Company (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer", Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

Super Blood Moon, September 2015

Sounds more awful than it is.

Out here on the edge of the western United States (Santa Cruz), we had partly cloudy skies, so tough to pick out the moon, as it rose over the horizon.

We noticed it as the eclipse waned, around 8:45-9:00 p.m. Dawn and I sat with our cats, on the balcony, and listened to the people below, who also had noticed and clustered together to discuss. A perfect view.

DETAILS

Total Lunar Eclipse | September 27, 2015
All times in Pacific Standard Time

Partial umbral eclipse begins: 6:07 pm
Total eclipse begins: 7:11 pm
Greatest eclipse: 7:47 pm
Total eclipse ends: 8:23 pm
Partial eclipse ends: 9:27 pm

Wikipedia has an animated illustration of the moon passing through the earth's shadow.

DEFINITIONS

• Blood Moon: the fourth and final eclipse of a lunar tetrad: four straight total eclipses of the moon, spaced at six lunar months (full moons) apart
• Super Moon: Because the sun is about 50,000 miles closer to the earth than at its furthest point – and it’s a full or new moon – the moon will appear larger and brighter than most full moons. To be considered a supermoon, it has to be within 224,851 miles (361,863 kilometers) of our planet, as measured from the centers of the moon and Earth

Via: http://sf.funcheap.com/supermoon-night-san-francisco/

Dreams6 - LED Bath Lights

http://www.dreams6.com/products/ilovenewyoku/lineup.html

DeWalt Drill Notes

Have a DeWalt DW926, purchased in ~2001. It came with a 9.6v, NiCd battery pack (x2...2000mA each?), a charger, and a carrying case.

The batteries failed to hold a charge, roughly around the same time, in 2014.

Use cases: basic domestic stuff, plus random jobs. Infrequently used, as we have lived in rentals.

Thinking about replacing it. Would like a Li-ion battery pack, but only see Ni-MH or Ni-Cd.

Noting just as a placeholder.

UPDATE, 2016-03-20: Ordered the DEWALT DW9061 XR 9.6-Volt 1.7-Amp NiCd Pod Style Battery Pack.

Swedish Potato Sausage

Something I have fond memories of eating, while a child.

From Wikipedia, Swedes call it "värmlandskorv":

Our family includes: pork, potato, onion, and spices (salt, pepper, garlic, and so forth).

Suggested preparation: frying pan and 0.5-inches of water, steamed until evaporated.

Note: not so fatty, as really just the extra bits of pork leftover. Seems a bit sketchy, that word, "leftover", but sausage is as sausage is.

UPDATE 01/16/2020: Looks like Dittmer's in Los Altos sells it frozen.

Mark Twain's White Suits

Listening to Mark Twain's autobiography, and he recounts this story about transitioning to wearing white, his second favorite clothing style, behind wild color:

Next after fine colors, I like plain white. One of my sorrows, when the summer ends, is that I must put off my cheery and comfortable white clothes and enter for the winter into the depressing captivity of the shapeless and degrading black ones. It is mid-October now, and the weather is growing cold up here in the New Hampshire hills, but it will not succeed in freezing me out of these white garments, for here the neighbors are few, and it is only of crowds that I am afraid. I made a brave experiment, the other night, to see how it would feel to shock a crowd with these unseasonable clothes, and also to see how long it might take the crowd to reconcile itself to them and stop looking astonished and outraged. On a stormy evening I made a talk before a full house, in the village, clothed like a ghost, and looking as conspicuous, all solitary and alone on that platform, as any ghost could have looked; and I found, to my gratification, that it took the house less than ten minutes to forget about the ghost and give its attention to the tidings I had brought. 

I am nearly seventy-one, and I recognize that my age has given me a good many privileges; valuable privileges; privileges which are not granted to younger persons. Little by little I hope to get together courage enough to wear white clothes all through the winter, in New York. It will be a great satisfaction to me to show off in this way; and perhaps the largest of all the satisfactions will be the knowledge that every scoffer, of my sex, will secretly envy me and wish he dared to follow my lead. 

In other words, he's nearly 71, he doesn't care anymore, he likes white, that's the way it's going to be, and...people get over it pretty quickly.

Via:
"8 October 1906: Paragraph 14," in Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2. 2013, 2008. <http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=works/MTDP10363.xml;style=work;brand=mtp;chunk.id=dv0055#pa001821>

Buckwheat Hull Pillow

A number of years ago, I purchased a king-size buckwheat hull pillow, from vendor Beans72 (Yumiko Oshima). She vends pillows on Amazon.

It seems they resell pillows manufactured by Organic-Web Ltd Co., out of Brownsville, Texas.

It's worked OK. I don't think I would recommend it, currently, as I have yet to make the attempt to dial-in my own pillow. It feels overfull.

Leyla World Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream Co. - Closed

Went to Leyla World Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream Company a few times, but noticed it closed, this afternoon.

Never seemed busy. Always seemed a bit tired, despite eclectic interior. We always had a good ice cream experience, though, with helpful staff.

Last we noticed, they had advertised custard on a big banner outside the store. We had tried the lemon custard, I think.

I guess the summer season did not bring in enough to sustain the operations (?)

Cat foods tried

Our two cats have different approaches to food.

The orange cat eats everything.

The white cat snubs things.

So, journaling the results of foods we tried, for the white cat:

• Simply Nourish
• Tuna, Pasta, & Peas Casserole
• 9/26/2015 - snubbed, AM
• 9/26/2015 - eaten, PM
• Chicken & Duck Stew
• 10/10 - eaten, AM, 9:45 a.m.
• 11/1 - eaten, AM, 9:45 a.m.
• Tuna Recipe in a Savory Broth
• 10/25 - snubbed, AM
• 11/1 - snubbed, AM
• Newman's Own Organics Premium Cat Food
• Organic Liver Pâté
• 9/27/2015 - eaten, noon

NOTES

• When as important as What, it seems (note: we have an autofeeder set to dispense kibble every three hours, portioned appropriately)

Cat Toys

While at PetSmart a few weeks ago, we watched kittens playing. One toy they had looked like it involved a motorized pink feathery object. I didn't think to investigate, at the time, and attempts to find it online failed. So, best to probably go back and see if I can identify it, in person.

In the mean time, I looked online for motorized cat toys and found a few highly rated ones, on Amazon. But nothing standing out.

9/26/2015: Purchased the Cat's Meow toy, on sale for $6. Will see how it goes.

Bees clustered near water

On Q Street, in Sacramento, a front yard has a small waterfall, very zen-like. Around the edges of the water bucket cluster bees (wasps?):

Bees collect nectar, pollen, propolis (plant resin) and water for their colonies. On very hot days, you'll see scores of bees at a water fountain, bird bath, or pond.
... 

Flottum points out: "Water is as necessary to your bees as it is to your pets and to you. Whatever watering technique you choose for your bees, the goal is to provide a continuous supply of fresh water. This means while you are on vacation for a couple of weeks, when you get busy and  forget to check, and especially when it's really, really hot--bees always need water."

"Water is used to dissolve crystallized honey, to dilute honey when producing larval food, for evaporation cooling during warm weather, and for a cool drink on a hot day," Flottum writes in his book. 

Via: http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=11349

Mark Twain's Nom de guerre - First Use

Samuel Clemens' first use of the nom de guerre "Mark Twain" (?) It seems he assumed the name from Mississippi River pilot Captain Isaiah Sellers:

"I was a cub pilot on the Mississippi River then, and one day I wrote a rude and crude satire which was leveled at Captain Isaiah Sellers, the oldest steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, and the most respected, esteemed, and revered. For many years he had occasionally written brief paragraphs concerning the river and the changes which it had undergone under his observation during fifty years, and had signed these paragraphs “Mark Twain” and published them in the St. Louis and New Orleans journals. In my satire I made rude game of his reminiscences. It was a shabby poor performance, but I didn’t know it, and the pilots didn’t know it. The pilots thought it was brilliant. They were jealous of Sellers, because when the gray-heads among them pleased their vanity by detailing in the hearing of the younger craftsmen marvels which they had seen in the long ago on the river, Sellers was always likely to step in at the psychological moment and snuff them out with wonders of his own which made their small marvels look pale and sick. However, I have told all about this in “Old Times on the Mississippi.”

"The pilots handed my extravagant satire to a river reporter, and it was published in the New Orleans True Delta. That poor old Captain Sellers was deeply wounded. He had never been held up to ridicule before; he was sensitive, and he never got over the hurt which I had wantonly and stupidly inflicted upon his dignity. I was proud of my performance for a while, and considered it quite wonderful, but I have changed my opinion of it long ago. Sellers never published another paragraph nor ever used his nom de guerre again."

Via: "10 September 1906: Paragraph 5," in Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2. 2013, 2008. <http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=works/MTDP10363.xml;style=work;brand=mtp;chunk.id=dv0050#pa001690>

Longplayer

Longplayer stream down, since July 1, 2015:

The live stream is down while we try and resolve some technical issues. It’ll be back as soon as possible. In the meantime the Longplayer iOS app is available from the app store which plays independently of any data connection.

2015-10-12: Looks like it works again. Note: the page linked to, above, no longer resolves.

Clothing color combinations

https://www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice/comments/2wi8yt/an_improved_visual_guide_to_quick_easy_color/

Looks reasonable (?)

Also, first time I have seen the term, "lumbersexual".

Flu Shots

Got our flu shots at CostCo, on Thursday.

Pharmecist Matthew administered them, this year. He said the other pharmacist, named ???, was out on paternity leave.

University of California, Santa Cruz - Digital Arts New Media 2015

http://danm.ucsc.edu/mfa15

While walking through the UCSC Digital Arts Research Center (DARC), we noticed posters for the Digital Arts and New Media MFA Program (DANM):

• Birth of Stars : "Michael M. Chemers: Birth of Stars is the story of a fourteen-year-old girl, Sofia, growing up in a rural mountain community in California. Sofia has exceptional gifts - she has an extraordinary facility with science and is obsessed with the life cycles of stars. These gifts, however, come at a terrible price - Sofia is outcast from her community, cruelly bullied (and cyber-bullied) by her classmates, and misunderstood by her mother, who is very religious. The one person who might understand her is a great scientist, but he also wrestles with terrible personal demons. Sofia’s journey through these obstacles is both a compelling and deeply human one, but also, in the end, transcendent and cosmic, in the grandest sense. The show itself combines live action with a variety of digital visual effects, including projections of simulations of stars forming in space. The live action interacts with the projections and other effects to create what we think is a unique experience that is both immediately present and also highly mediated."
• The lead actress wears a shirt with text reading, "I love Carl Sagan"
• The Orrey Harp: "The Orrery Harp is an autonomous musical instrument designed to play a composition based on the movements of planetary bodies in motion around the sun. The instrument includes nine strings representing each planet in our solar system, including the dwarf planet, Pluto. Frequency is determined by the rotational period of a given planet (day), while rhythm is determined by the planet’s period of orbit around the sun (year). Each string is activated by an electromagnetic pulse to induce harmonic resonance as a planet reaches its starting point, or yearly cycle. One Earth year is scaled to 36.24 seconds on the Orrery Harp. Nathan Ober is a new media artist whose work crosses disciplines from installation and performance to video and sound. His current research is focused on astronomy and astrophysics, and deals with techniques of sonification and processes that attempt to expose our innate connection to the universe. Video by Dani Williamson."
• Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vaom2BDXqbA

Neko Atsume

Neko Atsume - playing, as they released it for North America.

Neko Atsume (Japanese: ねこあつめ?, "Collect Cats") is a cat collecting game developed by Hit-Point for iOS and Android

Strategy guide:
https://welcometowonderland.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/how-to-play-neko-atsume/

• If you’re in a hurry to get lots of sardines, Manzoku-san and Koikoi-san tend to give more sardines and are easier to attract than other rare cats.
• Manzoku-san: Any food that isn’t value crisps
• Koikoi-san: Deluxe house

Walkthrough (lists cats, and so forth):
https://welcometowonderland.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/neko-atsume-walkthrough/

Comics
http://jam-filter.com/nekoatsume/index.html

Cocoon Innovations Grid It

Cocoon Innovations Grid It - back in 2010, we ordered the CSG310GY - City Gray Neoprene Minifolio Case.

Just ordered another one, this time from Ebay, as they only sell them in red, now.

Fishing hat

Saw a straw hat I liked, while walking to work. Per my memory, it seems to look like a "straw fishing hat".

Crocker Art Museum - Block By Block

Saw a yard sign, for Subject, while walking down 15th Street, in Sacramento.

It refers to an initiative by the Crocker Art Museum:

"Block by Block is an initiative of the Crocker Art Museum that is focused on Sacramento City Districts 2 (North Sacramento), 5 (Oak Park and surrounding areas), and 8 (South Sacramento). This project is funded by the James Irvine Foundation and partnered with the Sol Collective and Sojourner Truth Museum." (via)

Whale sightings, Mitchell's Cove, Santa Cruz

Whale breaches at Mitchell Cove, which we stopped to watch on Saturday and Sunday, near West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz.

"Humpback whales off of West Cliff Drive near Lighthouse Point and Mitchell's Cove in Santa Cruz, California on Wednesday September 16, 2015. (Shmuel Thaler -- Santa Cruz Sentinel)"

More photos: http://photos.santacruzsentinel.com/2015/09/16/whales-in-the-monterey-bay/

Fashion4Nerds.com: Closed

Noticed this web site, circa 2007, has gone offline:
http://www.fashion4nerds.com/general.htm

Someday when I have time I will check the wayback machine to see when it closed.

(Via)

Shoe Guide - Reddit

Reddit has a shoe guide:
https://www.reddit.com/comments/p7usf/shoe_guide_v20/

Reading list suggestions

"Mastery" by Robert Greene
"Bold" by Peter Diamondis and Steven Kotler
"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
"Where Good Ideas Come From" by Steven Johnson
"Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor Frankl
"Born Standing Up" by Steve Martin
"Bounce" by Mathew Syed
"An Astronaut's Guide to Earth" by Commander Chris Hadfield.
"Zero to One" by Peter Thiel
"Quiet" by Susan Cain
"Antifragile" by Nassim Taleb
"Mindset" by Carol Dweck

Via: http://qr.ae/RoCmQh

Mark Twain - A return to India

In the second volume of his autobiography, he expresses a desire to return to India, the only country he has visited that compels him to do so:

I am not acquainted with my own books, but I know Kipling’s—at any rate I know them better than I know anybody else’s books. They never grow pale to me; they keep their color; they are always fresh. Certain of the ballads have a peculiar and satisfying charm for me. To my mind, the incomparable Jungle Books must remain unfellowed permanently. I think it was worth the journey to India to qualify myself to read “Kim” understandingly and to realize how great a book it is. The deep and subtle and fascinating charm of India pervades no other book as it pervades “Kim;” “Kim”] is pervaded by it as by an atmosphere. I read the book every year, and in this way I go back to India without fatigue—the only foreign land I ever day-dream about or deeply long to see again.

Source:
"13 August 1906: Paragraph 9," in Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2. 2013, 2008. <http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=works/MTDP10363.xml;style=work;brand=mtp;chunk.id=dv0039#pa001358>

I'm Still Here - Elaine Stritch

Command performance: I'm Still Here - Elaine Stritch ("From Sondheim's 80th Birthday Concert with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall / Lincoln Center.", c. Sep 2010)

(Via)

Gradually waking up

Enjoying the gradually increasing feeling of satisfaction from caffeine and the warmth of sunrise through a coffee shop window, over the course of 90 minutes.

Exercise - Back on the treadmill

During our staycation last week, we exercised nearly every day. On one day, I ran for 45 minutes and felt an energy boost and feeling of wellness. It felt noticeably good!

I have a lot of outdoor running experience and I miss that boost.

Politics, at 0.5 Playback Speed

Literally laughing out loud: the fun of watching political debates, on YouTube, at 0.5x playback speed:

https://youtu.be/DtoAjFwKBmU?t=2003

De Rhetorica's Definition of Seven "Circumstances"

From the Wikipedia Five Ws article:

Pseudo-Augustine's De Rhetorica defined seven "circumstances" (μόρια περιστάσεως 'elements of circumstance') as the loci of an issue:

Quis, quid, quando, ubi, cur, quem ad modum, quibus adminiculis.(Who, what, when, where, why, in what way, by what means)

How to control LED notification lights, at night?

Light Flow
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rageconsulting.android.lightflow&hl=en

Waking when using earplugs

A conundrum--how to use sleeping mask (to block out light) and earplugs (to block out ambient sound) and still wake at a certain time?

• Coffee (smell)
• Vibration
• Phone on vibrate, volume 11
• Phone in your sock (um, ew?)
• Pads that fit under the mattress or pillow (used by deaf students)
• Arm pouch + vibrating alarm
• Earbuds (as a substitute)
• Sonic Boom alarm clock -- up to 113dB (um, for me, this represents the last resort option, ugh)
• Don't worry--you will hear alarm, earplugs will fall out, and so forth

Also: wearables.

Sources:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/1c202a/lpt_request_how_can_i_sleep_with_ear_plugs_but/

The Hum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum

Sounds like a Stephen King novel name, but it actually seems to describe something I experience:

• "persistent low-frequency sound, often described as being comparable to that of a distant diesel engine idling" - yes
• Noticed it since 2006, possibly earlier

Late Summer Mini-Staycation Recap

September mini-staycation; lots of rest, some day trips:

• Sat , 5
• Costco
• Sun, 6
• Big Hero 6 (2014 film), online streaming
• West End Tap & Kitchen (Parisian Gnocchi, hamburger)
• Mon, 7 (LABOR DAY)
• Coffee - Cafe Iveta
• Steve Jobs: The Man In The Machine (2015 film), at the Nickelodeon
• Tue, 8
• Coffee - Companion Bakeshop
• Jury duty (afternoon)
• Wed, 9
• Munch - Philly Cheesesteak
• Jury duty (afternoon)
• Evening walk to the ocean
• Thu, 10
• Coffee - Starbucks; tried new Pumpkin Spice Latte
• Fri, 11
• Coffee - Companion Bakeshop
• Whale watching
• Sat, 12
• Press Juices And Sandwich Kiosk, downtown
• Coffee - Lulu Carpenter's 
• PetSmart - played with kittens
• Costco
• Sun, 13
• Coffee - at home
• Ironman Santa Cruz triathlon, so stayed home
• New Leaf 
• Swanton Berry Farm
• Called mom
• Dinner: manicotti, asparagus, cheesy garlic bread, corn on the cob

Pacific Shores - Exercise Equipment

Noting, just for reference.

Elliptical trainers

1. Precor EFX 546i Commercial Series Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer
1. Faulty incline switch, so can elevate the incline, but not lower it
2. Heart rate monitor seems to need maintenance...it displays a value, but does not seem accurate (for example, 58 bpm, but in middle of workout?)
3. Circa 2008
4. User Manual - EFX 546i Experience Series - June 2008 (5.23 MB)
2. Precor EFX 532i Commercial Series Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer
1. All functionality seems to work as expected
2. Circa 2008
3. User Manual - EFX 532i Experience Series - March 2008 (9.04 MB)

Treadmills

1. Precor C932 (c. 2004) Note: removed, as of October 2015
2. Advantage Fitness Products Star Trac Fitness S-TRx or S-TRc (note: disabled) Note: repaired, as of October 2015
3. Advantage Fitness Products Star Trac Fitness S-TRx or S-TRc, brand new, as of October 2015

Recumbent stationery bike

• Precor C846 (c. 2004)
• Functions, on minimum resistance, but no power; it does not seems to turn on

Weight machines

Stickers on the equipment seem to indicate installed and maintained by TuffStuff Fitness International, Inc. (?)

1. Advantage Fitness Products Leg row
2. Advantage Fitness Products Bench
3. Advantage Fitness Products 

Exercise balls

Mirrored wall

Entertainment

• Xfinity (Comcast Cable)
• Two flat-panel displays
• Right-most display seems to lack remote and/or seems disabled (?)

Notes

• Precor Owners Manuals : http://www.precor.com/en-us/customer-service/owners-manuals
• EFX stands for "Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer" (via)
• Seem to have 10 year equipment replacement policy (?)
• UPDATE: October 2015: just installed On Demand Fitness room, with two exercise bikes and a display, for team exercise.

Na hoku jewelry pendant

Dawn likes this one:

Na Hoku: "Yellow Gold and Sterling Silver Asch Grossbardt Koi Fish Pendant with Spiny Oyster and Mother of Pearl Inlay (Chain Included)"

Nature's 1 Jewelry

Saw Subject brand jewelry on display at a store on Fisherman's Wharf, in Monterey, California. The brand seems managed by supplier Wheeler Mfg Co., Inc., out of South Dakota.

Wheeler Manufacturing, Pendant (WMP), #169, a turtle pendant

Note: this seems like it has a lot of similarity to Na Hoku:

Na Hoku "14K Rose Gold Honu (Turtle) Pendant with Pink Mother of Pearl Inlay." (link)

Who came first (?)

Companion Bakeshop - Oven loader

Subject seems to use an oven loader from French vendor URM, for bread. Maybe the lift, also?

Monterey Whale Watching trip 2015

Dawn and I returned to Monterey Bay Whale Watch (MBWW) today for a 5:00 p.m. end-of-day excursion.

Pre-excursion:

Ate a late lunch at Nino's Wharfside (spaghetti & meatballs, chicken parmesan). Purchased two candies, from Carousel Candies: 1) dark chocolate peanut butter cup; and 2) Oreo marshmallow on a stick.

Excursion notes:

• Was: 4:30 p.m., but MBWW canceled that trip, per low sign-ups, and pushed us later
• Somewhat alarmingly, they had not written down our names for the 4:30 p.m. or the 5:00 p.m., even though we had called at noon and they said they would send an email (never came?)...luckily, they had room
• We exchanged our raincheck voucher, from October 2010, no questions asked; nice!
• Struck up a fun conversation with the desk attendants and a man about Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles : o ) Good senses of humor! .
• Boarded around 5:15 p.m., left the harbor around 5:30 p.m. (had to wait for boat to return, disembark passengers, reset, and so forth)
• We took two pills each of the over-the-counter antiemetic Meclizine, prior to departure...once again: best advice ever...at least for me
• Sky looked a bit hazy, which cooled things off...we donned our warmies while waiting for the boat to leave
• Sea lions on the breakwater
• MBWW staff maintain a list of seabirds in the local area
• Whale sign! Spouts of water sighted, ahead
• Reaching the anchovy feeding area, we understood the magnitude of the sea life around us:
• 40 whales
• Hundreds of dolphins
• Uncountable seabirds
• Breaches, or whales jumping vertical, then crashing and splashing, occurred multiple times...sort of like  getting lucky and spotting a shooting star, one has to face the right way and spot it, during the few seconds it lasts, for the best effect
• Pec-slapping and lobtailing also observed
• One hundred yards separated us from the whales, per the federal whale watching guidelines
• Observed dolphins porpoising, in small and medium-sized schools
• Kate Spencer, naturalist, has moved on, to FastRaft
• I did not catch the names of the naturalist or captain, for our trip
• Choppy water, going out and coming in...evenings can get a bit rougher than day
• Seasickness:
• Meclizine saved us, thankfully, though it may have worn off a bit
• Several people not so lucky: a man near retirement age, a father, his son (multiple times, poor guy), a 20-something, his female companion, and so forth...presumably, all suffered
• Crew suggested using the back of the boat, if needed
• Felt overheated several times, and cool air saved me, as well as switching orientation
• Ginger treat helped soothe Dawn's stomach, as we departed, later
• On the way back, I found focusing on the horizon helped me...however, after some time, it became too dark to see
• Indoor computer-driven displays show maps of weather, depth, water temperature, as well as estimated speed and time remaining to destination...very helpful!
• Crew took lots of photos during the viewing portions
• Naturalist on board (most likely correctly) noted a light I saw, near Santa Cruz, was likely a boat light, not the lighthouse
• Complimentary hot chocolate and/or tea/coffee, I think, to warm up, on the way back
• Friendly crew, everyone helped out
• Rode in the 2002 Geo Shipyard Inc-built ship "Blackfin", USCG Doc. No.:1124507, call sign WDC3326, hull number GSY0171B202
• Noises of birds very audible
• Saw only a few jellyfish, appearing as yellowish-white blobs, close to the surface
• Leaving, near twilight, we saw a number of breaches, in succession
• Arrived in port around 8:30 p.m., a three hour trip
• A sea lion briefly barked at disembarking passengers, from the bottom of a short stairway leading to a boat-level access. We watched it for a moment, as it watched us, whiskers visible.

Sign reads, in a pseudo-handwritten script: "Help! Save Us / Ns smoking on the wharf! MCC 22-29 (b) (8)". The sign depicts various marine animals, under a cloud (presumably, of smoke), with cigarette butts on their heads: sea lion, sea otter, and pelican, as well as a crab who only show its claws, from the bottom of the sign.

Post-excursion:

• Returned to Carousel Candies and purchased a small turtle plush: "10" SLIDE SEA TURTLE is an adorable stuffed friend featuring wide eyes! Perfect for any sea life lovers! Part of Aurora's Dreamy Eyes collection. Featuring all new styling- soft & fluffy with loveable expressions!"
  
• Walked through a few tourist shops
• Purchased a milk chocolate turtle and a dark chocolate turtle, from Wharf Chocolate Factory (yum)
• Festa Italia, 82nd annual, which we walked through as we returned to the car, after the excursion
• Popped into Candyland Two, at 200 Alvarado St, to gape at a ginormous 60" giant sea turtle plush, item #308101, on sale there for $300, from vendor The Petting Zoo, Inc. (via their 2015 Sea Life and Wild Life catalog, page 39)

  

  So big! 60" giant sea turtle plush, item #308101, vendor The Petting Zoo, Inc.

Ambient notes, from Fisherman's Wharf:

• Man playing somewhat melancholy music on a wharf street piano, near MBWW (older, asian pacific-islander, with long beard)
• People smoking despite signs pleading for them not to:
• Three dogs, on the MBWW boat "Sea Wolf II", which we watched disembark passengers, then swing around to the marina-side and out of sight...seemed like they boarded when the boat returned, as we noticed the golden-haired dog trot out of the MBWW building with a dog treat
• Name of the "Sea Wolf II": I listened to Jack London's novel The Sea Wolf just recently, so seemed a curious name to see 
• Noticed the Bruce Ariss Wharf Theater (a.k.a. The New Wharf Theater), though nothing advertised...their Facebook page lists their next production as "Seasons of Love", a tribute to the person who helped revitalize the organization, who died in 2014
• Burial at sea: we gathered their intent while watching them, from inside Nino's Wharfside:
• Flowers
• Teenage girl carrying gift bag, which presumably held the ashes
• Hispanic American family members, several generations, several with bright pink shirts
• Middle-aged woman looking somber, possibly grieving
• Rest of party respectful, restless
• Came back more thoughtful
• MBWW sign: "No AM burials"
• Sea otter rolling-over while eating what looked like a shrimp, and then diving and returning with a crab
• The Little Mermaid Glass Bottom Boat Tours ticket booth contained Disney toys, including plush Inside Out character Bing Bong, Riley's long forgotten imaginary friend, as well as plush emotion "Anger"

Notes for next time:

• "Book a morning trip rather than afternoon, for smoother seas." (via)
• Eat a light meal, but limit the desserts until after
• Use the restroom, to ensure this does not contribute to nausea
• Warmies--even more layers, for evening excursions
• Sit comfortably and switch, if getting exhausted or nauseous
• Ginger treats, to calm unsettled stomach

Previously

Synergy Clothing

Passed by their store, on Wednesday.

Evening walk

Dawn and I walked down Shaffer Road to an ocean overlook, this evening, where we watched the ocean waves crash and a sea otter dive and surface. We walked back by the Gray Whale and Miss Blue, at the Long Marine Lab. Very pleasant.

Jury duty, County of Santa Cruz

Selected at random to serve as juror #4, on what I believe was a criminal jury trial, case #M83925, in the County of Santa Cruz. Defendant was Sean Michael Martinez. The charge was theft of an auto.

The trial ended after taking testimony from three people:

1. The woman who received a gift of the auto (something like Jeanne Payne?)
2. Kraig Evans (Capitola police department)
3. Ricki Trindade (Santa Cruz police department)

Judge on the trial was Marjorie Laird Carter. Counsel for the County of Santa Cruz prosecution was Mr. Nguyen. Counsel for the defense seemed like someone operating out of the Santa Cruz Public Defender's Office. Mentioned in the trial was a Ruben Trevino (spelling?) of Salinas, the spouse of witness #1, and the registered owner of the vehicle in question (which was gifted to witness #1).

Judge Carter provided no explanation for the dismissal of the jury, after the taking of the testimony, above. She hinted, paraphrasing, "A lot of this will probably make no sense to you."

After the trial, as I sat in the atrium, both counsel lawyers saw me and we very briefly discussed my thoughts on whether I found witness #1 credible. I told them I had found her mostly credible, but was waiting to hear testimony from the defendant. I told them I thought the defendant made a mistake, in my opinion, to arrive unshaven and without appearing to take care in their dress. I don't think my answer pleased either of them. After a moment, the counsel for the defense left with the counsel for the prosecution to, presumably, discuss another case, or the aftermath of the case I served on.

This represented my first selection to serve on a jury trial.

Based on my brief discussion with counsel for both parties, I am guessing something which came up during examination of the witnesses precluded them from proceeding:

1. Mistake with the incident report (I think it may have said "Jan 5" but it really occurred on the morning of Jan 6?)
2. Counsel for the prosecution decided witness would not survive as a credible source (only witness)
3. One of more of the officers mentioned something they should not have (for example, Mr. Martinez having another parallel issue at the time of this incident)
4. Other (?)

So many details of this trial which lie fresh in my mind but will soon all disappear. Sean was driving with an expired license. The woman mentioned the defendant had been assaulted, separately, during his time as a renter. The officers reported the defendant as very polite and forthcoming...the officers said nothing bad about him, and only gave him a misdemeanor (later, corrected to an infraction). Defendant had rented a room at the two-bedroom apartment with the woman, after the woman's sister left. The first year went quietly and predictably; he paid his rent on time. She became pregnant, with another man's child, and told him she planned to move out. They drank wine on the balcony. She and her 7-month old son went to sleep, around 8:30 p.m.. He drove and crashed the car, around 2:00 a.m. He was either returning with wine, going to fill up the car with gas, or had dropped off the wine and had left on other errands...I thought I heard all three descriptions.

There was another man, Mr. Ruben Trevino, the father of the child, who had gifted the woman the 2014 Chevrolet Impala. He works as a regional truck driver and owns two trucks. He had gifted her a Chevy Camaro, but that did not work for the already-born young child, so he gave her the Impala. The address was 511 Capitola, within walking distance of a liquor store and gas station. She claimed she had never, ever given the defendant permission to take her car. She claimed she had not talked with him since the day of the accident, until a text-message conversation, in which they discussed making arrangements with AAA (the insurance carrier). It seems she filed the criminal charges against the defendant without telling him. It seems the woman's sister left, after an argument. She may have made him pay the entire deposit for the apartment rental. She grew up in Napa valley, moved to Arizona, then moved to So-Cal. She moved to Santa Cruz, with her sister. She had worked as a manager for 25 years, training other managers and assisting them with setting up new stores. Opening arguments seemed to indicate the prosecution was betting everything on the jury finding the woman's testimony credible and that she had not given permission to the defendant to take her car. The defense claimed he had driven her car many times, seemed to indicate a possible love triangle, and the charges represented the wishes of Mr. Trevino.

Just a mess. Apparently, the woman and Mr. Trevino are happily married, so I wish both them and the defendant well, so they can move on with their lives.

Skyflight Mobiles

Dawn and I purchased a butterfly mobile, from Skyflight Mobiles, out of the State of Washington.

It has the following five butterflies:

1. Red Admiral
2. Orange Sulphur
3. Monarch
4. Tiger Swallowtail
5. Eastern Tailed Blue

Heated Throw

At Costco, saw a Sunbeam Microplush Electric Heated Throws, but Dawn did not like the colors. Amazon has an eggplant color.

Also saw a king blanket made out of a soft fleece/flannel.

Also, Life Comfort Cuddly Sherpa Throw (in purple).

National Geographic - Tracking the Illegal Tusk Trade

Saw the cover article, recently, and found this web site. Disgusting to profit off the killing of these endangered animals. What a waste.

Land of Stories

A friend recommended this series of children's literature. Her daughter really enjoys it. It features a set of twins who enter a world where many fairy tale characters reprise their roles, in nontraditional ways.

Bunya Bunya House, Santa Cruz - For Sale, $1.4 Million

Realtor listing, 304 Walnut Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Note: we love the bunya bunya tree, a species dating back to the Mesozoic Era, 252.17 - 66 million years ago. : o )

Description:
"Your chance to own the Victorian home built for William Douglas Haslam in the late1800's. Our gracious doyenne commands the intersection of Walnut and Chestnut Streets with her Queen Anne details and rare Bunya-Bunya tree. Vintage details include original woodwork and stained glass windows. Enjoy modern amenities like an updated kitchen and bathrooms. Relax on the patio or in the lovely yard beneath mature trees. Use the detached office to work from home or convert it back into a one-car garage."

General Information
Beds3 Bed
House Size3,099 Sq Ft
Price$1,399,000
Property TypeSingle Family Home
NeighborhoodWestside
StatusActive
Baths3 Full Bath
Lot Size8,146 Sq Ft Lot
Price/sqft$451
Year Built1878
StyleVictorian
Garage1 car garage

The house was listed in 2014, for $2.25 million. So, a drop of $850,000 in 12 months! At this rate, we should have the house in hand, within 1-2 more years, heh. ; o )

UPDATE: October, 2015: now listed for rent, at $4,500/month.

Getaround - Peer-to-peer car sharing and local car rental

Saw a Getaround car, while walking near West End Tap & Kitchen, in Santa Cruz.

"Rent great cars from people nearby Unlock 1,000's of cars from $5/hour."

Costco Pizza Sauce Machine Vendor

Waiting for a bit, while at Costco, read the machine tag, on the machine which automatically spirals pizza sauce onto the dough:

Automatic Bar Controls, Incorporated, out of Vacaville, California.

Note: the machine which flattens the pizza dough into pizza crust also seemed pretty efficient.

All the Girls Love Earl

Saw a sticker, for this vendor, on a sign in Sacramento, at the corner of Q Street and 20th Street.

Not a fan, but, there it is. The web site does not list a street address, but their social media account seems to indicate they operate out of So-Cal.

Vironex Geoprobe

Vironex Geoprobe: watching one of these machines as I walk to work.

Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

Marking for audio CD follow-up. Listening to Mark Twain's autobiography and learning details about the "making of" the autobiography. Twain remarked that Grant's memory was consistently accurate, so his account seems to reflect one of the authoritative accounts of the Civil War.

Steve Jobs: The Man In The Machine (2015 film)

Watched this movie at The Nickelodeon this afternoon.

• Reading between the lines--people parsed their words...for example, Chrisann Brennan, Nolan Bushnell...you could tell they feared saying what they really thought
• Chrisann's description of Jobs' reaction to learning of the baby: jaw clenched, face angry, storms out like a teenager. Ouch.
• Lots of enjoyable moments putting faces and glimpses of personalities to names...Kottke, Bushnell
• Lots of no-shows: Woz, Jobs' biological sister, his daughter Lisa, his other children and later wife
• Joan Baez gets no mention
• Biological and adoptive family given minimal mention
• Focused a lot on accounting irregularities, tax shelters, Foxconn, going after Gizmodo

New York Times review.

I thought the story of Jobs visiting Kobun Chino represented one of the key moments of the film, partly because Kobun Chino seems to represent an accurate and impartial source, but also because the visit seems to show Jobs at his most vulnerable: asking for help, and, at the same time, telling Kobun Chino he thought he was enlightened. Combine this with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (Tina Redse's theory) and Chrissann's remark about Jobs flirting with her by adapting Dylan's poetry to his own life. So complicated. 

Big Hero 6

"unobtanium", heh ; o )

Power: Li-On batteries (?)
Scanning technology--whole city (?)
Ms. Cass--no clue about what's going on
Professor Callaghan--seems pretty likeable, normal guy, builds a lab full of seemingly well-adjusted students, very functional program...then turns out to throw it all away for a micro-bot which he would get access to anyway, when Hiro joins his lab (probably something he completely controls)
Robot fighting web site: illegal, but widely available online?
Fred's butler: he's seen things...unflappable. Bravo.
Maker culture: 3D printers, 3D scanners, movie-OS (Dawn's observation) user interface...ala Tony Stark, unlimited power, resources, and materials to build with...Hiro made tons of microbots; software: neural interface, medbot OS, AI, and so forth
Honey Lemon: manic

In a world...where all of this seems near-future...

Are you a Genmaicha fan ?

The rice taste reminds me of rice krispy cereal and just does not resonate.