Sunday River is awesome!

Today is our company's ski trip. This year we went to Sunday River in Maine, about 3 hours from us. This is my 4th time here and I went there with Sue just a couple of months ago. But this time I had an ambitious plan. Sunday River has green trails running down from two of its summits, and I wanted to take as many of them as possible.

So in the morning I took almost all the green and blue trails steaming out from Lift 2 as a warm up. Lift 2 is the most used left in Sunday River because it is located right outside the rental center and cafeteria. In the afternoon, I went up to the top of Spruce peak and then Jordan Bowl with a bunch of friends and came down along the greens. The mountains here in New England is no comparison with those in the Alps, but on the top of the mountains the view is awesome. The trails are easy and you can finally spend more time skiing than riding on the lift. The weather was perfect. Sunny, no clouds, not too cold, around -10degC. Just cold enough so that I didn't sweat. I only hope there could have been a thicker layer of new snow.

The lifts close at 4 pm. Only 20 minutes before that I found an awesome green trail that I missed in the morning. It is a branch half-way down from Left 2. The trail, called Spectator, runs right underneath Lift 2. It is very narrow, with the lift poles in the middle and flanked by trees. The slope itself is not steep but you can still go pretty fast. With the tight space I needed to shift my balance every another second to control my speed. With the lift running above your head it just feels so exciting. I managed to get on the lift before it closed and took another run down the Spectator. Awesome!


I could have stayed over the weekend and ski Saturday and Sunday, butI figured I should take it easy and not to disappoint my squash buddy on Monday. So I just skied for the day and I will get some rest over the weekend.

P.S. It was my 5th ski and the first time not falling even once. I am feeling more comfortable to bring my camera and take more pictures on my next ski trip.

My take on the candidates

I got in touch of a middle school classmate on Facebook. We had not seen each other after parting from school. She is now a mother of 2 and lives in Toronto, Canada.

She asked me whether I could vote in the presidential election and what was my take on the party nominees. Here is what I told her:

I am not a citizen so I can't vote. Huckabee is a joke. Aren't all Americans sinners to need a preacher as their president?? John McCain is moderate, but he needs to get Huckabee as his running mate in order to get support from the party. But he is too old. If he dies during his term, Huckabee will be the president. So McCain is also a no go. Obama can speak, and he listens too. I think it is the most important quality for a president. Plus, being a black, he can change the view of the world about the US. But he seems to be not living long.. maybe he will get assassinated, as predicted by someone in the press. Clinton is just a careful politician. But either Obama or Clinton will probably get John Edwards as his/her running mate. So I will go for the Democrat and support Obama. Even he really got killed John Edwards would be a good replacement.

Eye Candy

About Palm Centro I talked about yesterday, it is going to HK market also!! I doubt who in the right mind/taste in HK will buy it, given plenty of better looking and better equipped choices around. The model girl at the press release is cute though.

Bondage

One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very sexy nightie.
'Tie me up,' she purred, 'and you can do anything you want.'
So he tied her up and went golfing.

Sept 11 Fallout

Pathetic

I feel really sorry for cellphone users in the US, that includes me. The latest mostly advertised SMARTPHONE(!) carried by the major carrier AT&T is Palm Centro. Not to mention the lack of WiFi and 3G support (although it is not a big deal; I don't use any 3G function myself even I am using a 3G phone, but I'd like WiFi very much), from the look of it I think it is a joke. Can Palm just hire a proper designer to put just a little bit more of a decent outlook, at least? iPhone is great, but I don't like the marketing strategy of Apple's. If Microsoft is evil to its software competitors, Apple is evil to consumers.

Why don't the carriers just import one or two eye-candies from Sony Ericsson, and give the business away to unlocked phone sellers?

Husband 1.0

Dear Technical Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance — particularly in the Flower and Jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. The new program also began making unexpected changes to the Accounting Modules.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0, and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I’ve tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate
________________________

Dear Desperate:

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System.

Please enter the command: ” C:/ I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME” and try to download Tears 6.2 and don’t forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.

If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.

Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources).

Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.

You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Food 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck,
Tech Support

WIFE 1.0

Dear Tech Support:

Last year I upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0. I soon noticed that the new program began unexpected child processing that took up a lot of space and valuable resources.

In addition, Wife 1.0 installed itself into all other programs and now monitors all other system activity. Applications such as Poker Night 10.3, Football 5.0, Hunting and Fishing 7.5, and Racing 3.6.

I can't seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background while attempting to run my favorite applications. I'm thinking about going back to Girlfriend 7.0 , but the uninstall doesn't work on Wife 1.0 . Please help!

Thanks,
Troubled User

_____________________________________

REPLY:

Dear Troubled User:

This is a very common problem that men complain about.

Many people upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0, thinking that it is just a Utilities and Entertainment program. Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM and is designed by its Creator to run EVERYTHING!!! It is also impossible to delete Wife 1.0 and to return to Girlfriend 7.0. It is impossible to uninstall, or purge the program files from the system once installed.

You cannot go back to Girlfriend 7.0 because Wife 1.0 is designed to not allow this. Look in your Wife 1.0 manual under Warnings-Alimony/Child Support. I recommend that you keep Wife 1.0 and work on improving the situation. I suggest installing the background application 'Yes Dear' to alleviate software augmentation.

The best course of action is to enter the command C:\APOLOGIZE! because ultimately you will have to give the APOLOGIZE command before the system will return to normal anyway.

Wife 1.0 is a great program, but it tends to be very high maintenance. Wife 1.0 comes with several support programs, such as Clean and Sweep 3.0, Cook It 1.5 and Do Bills 4.2.

However, be very careful how you use these programs. Improper use will cause the system to launch the program Nag Nag 9.5. Once this happens, the only way to improve the performance of Wife 1.0 is to purchase additional software. I recommend Flowers 2.1 and Diamonds 5.0!

WARNING!!! DO NOT, under any circumstances, install Secretary With Short Skirt 3.3. This application is not supported by Wife 1.0 and will cause irreversible damage to the operating system!

Best of luck,
Tech Support

Adapted from http://rootsgpk.blogspot.com

Microwave background

Every time I visit HK I always buy a few pairs of socks from Ice Fire. They have the softest and most tightly fit socks I have ever tried. And they are very reasonably priced. My favorite color is "microwave background" - like a blank TV screen.

Warnings

I have been subscribing to New Scientist for a few years. They have a section called Feedback, not to collect feedback from readers but documenting funny (mostly stupid) things readers report. Here are a couple of recent examples:

MEGAN, a border collie belonging to a colleague of Gerald Legge, was recently taken to the local vet because she was suffering from skin irritation, Legge tells us. To help calm her agitated response to the condition, the vet prescribed some Tavegil antihistamine tablets. The medicine came with the instructions:
"Take two tablets as a single dose. Give in the evening. FOR ANIMAL USE ONLY. May cause drowsiness: if so do not operate machinery or drive. Avoid alcohol."

The instructions supplied with Bryan Carter's Sonic Plakaway toothbrush include a warning:
"Never use while sleeping"

Topology of fitting duvet covers

When I was still a teen, grandma showed me a very clever way to fit a cover onto a duvet. She tried to teach me but I didn't manage to do it at that time. A few months ago I was fitting my duvet with its cover after laundry, I thought really hard of it. With a lot of thinking and practice, I finally did it and now I write it down here in my own words.

1. Spread the cover over a bed inside out.
2. Put the duvet on top of the cover, align the four corners.
3. Starting from the far end, roll the cover and the duvet together toward the opening edge of the cover. You will end up with a roll of duvet laminated by the cover on the outer side.
4. At the opening edge, grab the two corners of the duvet at the aligned corners of the cover from INSIDE.
5. Stuff the edge of the duvet bracketed by these two corners into the cover.
6. Repeat rolling the laminated duvet all the way till you reach the opening edge of the cover again.
7. Grab the 2 corners, spread the duvet and you will have the cover fitted tight at the corners.

It was magic to me when I first saw grandma did it. After all the years I figured she had solve a 2-dimensional problem by 3-dimensional topology! A few months ago when I finally got to do it on my own, I asked grandma who taught her this. She said she figured it out herself.

I always tell people grandma is very smart.

Junichi Ryu

Junichi was a professor at Loma Linda University in Los Angeles. He spent a couple of sabbaticals here at NEB. Yvette and I used to live with him under the same roof on his first 6-month visit 2 years ago.

Junichi was a very neat person and made us assign each person a couple of shelves inside the fridge, which was far from chaotic but agreeably in need of improvement. He worked sort of in LA time, meaning coming home late at around mid-night, but would do all his best not to make any noise to wake us up.

He was always enthusiastic about his research and we would spend hours talking about restriction enzymes. It was still like yesterday when I met him in the hallway the day he flew back to LA and said good-bye to him - he was still debating whether he should drive his truck all the way from LA on his next visit.

On February 6, 2008 around 3pm, he unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack at work. He was 60 years old. His memorial service will be held 4 pm today (Pacific time) at Loma Linda Chinese Seventh-day Adventist Church. I wish Junichi rest in peace and his family, specially his wife who has recently recovered from ovarian cancer, the best for their future.

BBQ accessory

A must-have for the summer.

Kill now, report later - answer

The answer to yesterday's puzzle - why the couple is not accused for reporting the dead body two weeks after they left the scene:

Two weeks after they left the island, they see the dead body in the photos they take outside the cottage.

$150,000 for a dog

A California woman pays US$150,000 to clone her dead Pitbull Terrier.

Link

Google has THE answer

It is the biggest mystery that has puzzled the battered human race since it acquires consciousness. Most people resort to religion, and some become philosophers by drilling onto this question:

What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?

Search in the almighty Google and you will find out.

World History in 40,000 words

I am reading this little book. A pretty neat idea to review human history in about 40,000 words, 140 pages. You really need to evaporate the history and get down to the essence in such a limited volume of words.

Lawyer jokes - 3

A new client had just come in to see a famous lawyer.
"Can you tell me how much you charge?", said the client.
"Of course", the lawyer replied, "I charge $200 to answer three questions!"
"Well that's a bit steep, isn't it?"
"Yes it is", said the lawyer, "And what's your third question?"

My phone number

AEB-FDJ-EIAF

Each of the letters from A to J represents a number between 0 to 9. Deduce the number each of them represent from the following equations. When two letter are written next to each other without an operator, the left letter represents the decimal digit of a two-digit number.

D+D+D = F
H+H = B
G+B+E = F+A+C
I+A = CC
F*D = JG
B/H = J
D*H = CJ
A*H = JE
I/D = J
d/I = H/B

Kill now, report later

An couple spent a week in Honolulu for their 20th anniversary. They rented a cottage and roamed the island and enjoyed the beach. Two weeks after they came home, they called the police in Honolulu and told them that they had found a dead body in the bush behind the cottage they stayed. The police went there and found the corpse. However, the couple was not accused of reporting two weeks after they left. Why?

Stabbing at Leia's

That's why we should train the gifted ones.

Sony Ericsson x WM6

So Sony Ericsson has decided to create their iPhone killer using Microsoft's Window Mobile 6 OS. It brands it XPERIA, and the first and flagship handset is XPERIA X1, announced today in Barcelona. A huge touch screen, WiFi, 3G. Pretty much everything except GPS all in one eye candy little box that slides sideway to reveal a curved a QWERTY keyboard.

Surviving the worst-case scenario

I spent 30 minutes reading this little black book at PageOne a few years ago. I was so amused by the ingenuity and the speaking-of-the-fact guide to most possible scenario in dating and sex. I didn't buy it at that time because it was quite pricey out there. I came across it on amazon.com last week and bought it for $7. Here are some examples:

1. How to spot a fake: that includes spotting fake boobs as well as toupee. Fair enough for men and women.

2. How to deal with body odor: that includes putting on cologne or perfume, a change of clothings and cleaning with wet paper towel if you are in the middle of a date. One intriguing way is to soak chamomile teabags in hot water and hold them in your armpits for a few minutes.

3. How to fend off competitors for your date.

4. How to deal with a drunken date.

5. How to take off a back-clasping bra with one hand.

6. How to take off tight boots.

7. A step by step guide to fake an orgasm.

8. The most ingenious one: How to survive if you wake up next to someone whose name you don't remember. Haha... Well, there are different tactic to take, depends on it is his/her place or your own place or any other place. But the first and most important thing is: Don't panic. You can always address him/her as "sweetie, honey, darling" to buy a few minutes. But repeating these without addressing your date by his/her name will only make it more suspicious. If it is his/her place, you can go to the bathroom and look for prescription drugs with his/her name on them. You can also look up any subscription magazines or mail. A hearty reminder is, try to find at least 2 items bearing the same name. If it is at your place or anywhere else, try to begin some small talks that can lead you to the answer. "Do you have a nickname?" or "how do you get your name" are just ingenious.

Some of the scenario sound like joke, but life is full of jokes and the guide can really get you out of them clean.

This book is one of a complete series of The Worse-case Scenario Survival Handbook, each covering topics on Travel, Work, Life, Parenting and even Golfing. It also comes with an "Extreme Edition" Amazon.com describes it "Imperiled readers will learn immediate, hands-on strategies for surviving an elephant stampede, a 16-car pile-up, a mine collapse, and a nuclear attack. Discover how to take a bullet, control a runaway hot air balloon, break a gorilla's grip, endure a Turkish prison, and free a limb from a beartrap. Whether stranded on an iceberg, being chased by a pack of wolves, spinning out on a motorcycle, or being buried alive, The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Extreme Edition has all the right stuff for those times when everything goes wrong."

Super Bowl and WWN

Patriats got defeated in the last 24 seconds! Oh man... That was so close. Damn it!

We watched Super Bowl in Aaron's place and I found a very interesting tabloid "Weekly World News." It is full of weird news, most of them are more than amusing. They claim that they do not do any journalistic verification of fact. So they actually collect "news" from all kind of sources, such as sightings of the Big Foot. Aaron even has a book that compiles maybe a year's publication of this WWN. There are a few genius reports:

1. Moon ray has turned Apollo Astronauts into werewolves.
2. Champ impregnates Lock Ness Monster
3. Wheat field circles - graffiti of aliens'
4. The Four Horsemen asked for directions in Paris
5. College student hacks into the network of Heaven: St. Peter is not only the Gatekeeper of Heaven, he is also the webmaster!

Too bad it has ceased to be published in print. Not that you can pick it up at newstands anymore. It keeps its online publication alive though.

Best line of the day

This is the best line I read/heard today. The Democrat Presidential nominee debate took place tonight at Kodak Theater in LA. It is a report from AP:

Asked whether it was good for the country to have another Clinton in the White House, further extending Bush and Clinton family control over government, Clinton drew applause in the Kodak Theatre — home of the Academy Awards — when she replied, "It did take a Clinton to clean after the first Bush and I think it might take another one to clean up after the second Bush."
TOM RAUM and NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writers

Technically, Hillary demonstrated very well how to turn a difficult question into a joke. On the other hand, Obama promises a lot during his campaign, and I have no doubt the perception of the rest of the world toward America will change if he becomes the next President. But I sometimes wonder he doesn't look like going to live long. It is just my feeling, no offense.