Joy Riding

Rippin' it up at Albertsons

Fry's Time

My Uncle always pays a visit to this electronics mecca whenever he
visits Vegas. I've never been until last night. Fry's definitely has
the biggest selection of gadgets I've ever seen at a brick and mortar
retailer.

Puzzle Play

Ryan's Christmas Presents

My nephew opening up one of his sound-enabled puzzles.

Signing Xmas cards

NASA prepares for Larry King http://ping.fm/v4oip

@drZox CrabFu http://ping.fm/sNcFO

this is your brain on drugs http://ping.fm/YOzOr

folks living further away from campus are already leaving work due to the winter storm advisory

Does any one @PSU know if I can configure an ANGEL group to be accessible w/o a PASS/FPS account? (anonymous access)

Finally, some expensive computing to help improve my billiards game http://ping.fm/1fOgO

just finished w/ a video recording session of a faculty member for his Project Management course over at the Penn Stater

PSU might freeze pay raises... ouch! http://ping.fm/w5hvf

Invasion of Micro-blogging

Some recent changes. As you've probably seen, I haven't been so great keeping up with my posts. Then a few days ago: a flurry of mini-posts. I got sick trying to keep up with a number of Web 2.0 technologies, so I started using Ping.fm to simultaneously post to a number of outlets. Currently I've got Ping.fm set to update my blog, but I'm not sure I want to keep it up. Even though I'm not posting much here, there's a part of me that still thinks this blog should stay focused on "regular" posts. I dunno...

finished talking w/ Shannon K. and lcr1 about Just2It Faculty Development and Commoncraft http://ping.fm/HDXZi

what's the phone number for an in-office chiropractor visit? my back is killing me.

In the CE staff meeting: project updates

finished meeting with instructors about the design of a Project Management course ...

talking w/ Kevin Abbey about the future of conferencing

enough research for tonight! I'm done updating my project for now http://ping.fm/lO4cd

posting to twitter, facebook, linkedin, blogger, and Yahoo360 via Ping.fm!

Home Coming Weekend!

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MacSpeech (Not-really)Dictate

This is my first blog post using MacSpeech Dictate no dictation. Sometimes I get really tired of typing so maybe I can use this instead of having to type everything on the keyboard. So far, it looks like it's doing a pretty good job. Last night, in June from weight. Was wrong. That was wrong. John Ju. Dictation is having a hard time with my wife's name. HJ, wait I forgot what I was going to say. Oh yes I remember, HJ spent a lot of time last night training the computer to listen to her voice. Well, so far this is going pretty well I just can't think of what I want to say. But, isn't that always the case? Well, keep on the lookout for her more blog posts, wait keep on the lookout for more blog posts and e-mails straight from tax not rate weight. Straight from tax. This stupid machine doesn't even know my name. I am and in. I am a cat in in. I am 10th area at. I am is in. I am a need and see and area. I am a gay and I buried in an area. I am one day let's are gay and there you will be there in carrying. I can be. He. Genius and you are and where you. This is genius is in this you are absolutely machine is so stupid!!!

Out fishing

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Hyunjoo and I have recently taken up fishing. It's nice because it takes us outside and it's a great motivation to see rural PA. My nephews will one day come fishing with us, so I figured that it'd be nice if I knew a thing of two before we took them out. Now, keep in mind that it's been something like twenty-five years since I've last fished. I think the fish have gotten a lot smarter in that time.

Our first time out we went to Coyler Lake and caught a small sunfish and some kind of pickerel. All the fishing excitement came in the first hour. We didn't get another hit the rest of the day.

Our second outing to Black Moshannon was last weekend in questionable conditions. We spent most of our time boating around than casting for fish. Hyunjoo nearly had a bite near the surface, but that one go away. We weren't out long before it started to rain, so we just packed up early. It was still nice to get out.

I think we'll keep heading back to Black Moshannon until we catch more. I've heard there's nice bass out there and it'd be nice to get a fight on our hands.

Makin' Dessert for Penn State Tailgate Tomorrow

Hyunjoo and I stayed up late tonight so that I could bring in my favorite blueberry cheesecake desserts tomorrow for lunch. There's a huge tailgate party going on in the Keller Building on campus to celebrate Penn State's upcoming football game on Saturday. Hyunjoo and I even have plans on going to the stadium tomorrow night to catch the pre-game action. Hopefully Joe-Pa will sing for us!

Hyunjoo's new knit hat

I don't think Hyunjoo wants me to post these pictures, but I'll do it anyway since I think she did such a nice job. There are these knit "gauntlet" things too that she made, but I'll have to upload pix of them later.

Ahoy!

We just picked up a sweet boat just in time for the Labor Day Weekend. If the weather holds, we'll be out to enjoy the water at one of the nearby lakes or rivers. We're planning on bringing our fishing rods and cooler along of course. We might just get lucky!

The coolest Flash animation I've seen in a long time!

Play Movie

Office SPAM: Expensive Gas?

Compared with Gasoline......

Think a gallon of gas is expensive?
This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective.

• Diet Snapple 16 oz at $1.29 = $10.32 per gallon
• Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz at $1.19 = $9.52 per gallon
• Gatorade 20 oz at $1.59 = $10.17 per gallon
• Ocean Spray 16 oz at $1.25 = $10.00 per gallon
• Brake Fluid 12 oz at $3.15 = $33.60 per gallon
• Vick's Nyquil 6 oz at $8.35 = $178.13 per gallon
• Pepto Bismol 4 oz at $3.85 = $123.20 per gallon
• Whiteout .7 oz at $1.39 = $254.17 per gallon
• Scope 15 oz at $0.99 = $8.45 per gallon

And this is the REAL KICKER...
Evian w ater 9 oz $1.49..........$21.19 per gallon!
$21.19 for WATER
And the buyers don't even know the source.
(Evian spelled backwards is Naive.)

Ever wonder why computer printers are so cheap?
So they have you hooked for the ink.
Someone calculated the cost of the ink at
...You won't believe it
...But it is true
$5,200 a gal. (five thousand two hundred dollars)

So, the next time you're at the pump,
Be glad your car doesn't run on
Water, Scope, Whiteout, Pepto Bismol, Nyquil
Or God forbid, Printer Ink!!!!!

Now, find the cheapest gas in your area!

Memorial Day in Boalsburg

HJ and I went to Boalsburg today for their Memorial Day celebration. Apparently, Boalsburg is the birthplace of the holiday. The federal government doesn't recognize it, but Boalsburg has the documents to prove it.

We enjoyed Civil War era reenactments, festival food, craft shops, folk music, and some incredibly well kept cars.

Mt. Nittany Hike

Hyunjoo and I finally drove over to the famous (in this neck-of-the-woods) Mt. Nittany for a Memorial-Day Weekend hike. It's only a little more than 10 minutes from Lion's Gate Apartments, so we were up and running in no time.

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Being a rural area, we have lots of hills around us, but this is the famous ridgeline for its proximity to Penn State.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of our trip due to a glitch in my iPhone I've just fixed, but we'll get some posted on our next trip up.

The hike up only took about 25 min and the rest of the 3 hours was spent hiking around the rim of the ridge with a little "extra" meandering worked-in.

The majority of folks keep around the inner circle of trails and the look-out to Penn State's campus. Hyunjoo and I only saw a hand full of folks during the rest of our hike.

It's a nice little peak with some potentially nice terrain for some winter backcountry skiing if they get enough snow here in the winter. It's almost all hardwoods, so I'll definitely be coming back here next winter to check out the conditions.

DJ Qbert on the DS?

Die Gypsy Moth... die

These little critters have been all over the place the last couple of weeks and apparently they basically cleaned the forests last year.

Penn State just announced their on-campus spraying:

Gypsy moth spray application via helicopter will occur on central campus this
week beginning today, May 12, and continuing May 13 and 14. The aerial
application will cover central campus, the Penn State golf courses and
outlying areas. University Park is currently experiencing a large-scale wind
dispersal of gypsy moth caterpillars. This carefully controlled aerial
application will be applying BT (Bacillus thuringiensis), an environmentally
safe, naturally occurring organic agent. BT is widely used in integrated
pesticide management practices and can be easily washed off with soap and
water. Helicopter application should be completed by mid-week depending on
weather conditions.

Looks like mother nature is lending her hand with a mid-May snow storm, at least in the hills. I woke up to a lot of rain today, and just found out that snow fell in the hills!

House is almost finished

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Spring time in State College

The magnolias have bloomed, but I had to coax HJ into posing since they aren't her favorite blossoms.

Hey, get outta there. No free meals on our front door!

"Pe-ah ru-ku (pair look)" here in State College.

Sunny Day at McKivison

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It has been such a blast heading to 127 McKivison every weekend to see the progress. There were new appliances, toilets, heaters, and additions to the outside of the house. Things are coming along very nicely and may even be on track to completion in the middle of May. We're working on the papers to get the closing set for June 30th at 11 am.

I'm still looking for a bike route to work from the new house. I can't find a straight forward path from the satellite photos. We love our Honda Fit, but we're going to need another car in the next year or so and I'm at a loss for what to get. I'd love to go small and electric, and under $20K. I'll have to keep looking around.

Bike to work!

Whew, I dusted off my touring/commuting bike and rode it to work today. The drive normally takes about 20 minutes with commuter traffic, but on-bike the route takes about 30 minutes. Man, was I winded when I rolled into Innovation Park, but that'll get better over time - I hope. 

Half of the ride is beautiful. I ride through some really beautiful neighborhoods. Once I start heading up towards campus, it's more of a traffic commute. I even hit part of a highway right before I take the exit ramp to Innovation Park.

Our car gets fantastic gas mileage, but why use it if I don't need to? I hope to keep it up once we move out to our new home at McKivison, but we'll when the time comes.

A new bike, a new kitchen

We went to a local bike shop today and picked a nice Trek out for Hyunjoo. She was a little hesitant at first about the color, but I think she has grown to like it.

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Things are continuing very nicely at our new house. We dropped by today while the weather was good to drop off a ceiling fan that we chose for the living room. It's the one item that we're providing the builder to install in the house before we move in.

Rainy day visit to McKivison

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Hyunjoo and I went out to 127 McKivison again today, this time by ourselves, to see what was new with "our" new home. The big additions were (1) the exterior vent for the gas range in the kitchen and (2) the doors and framing upstairs. Things are definitely coming together and it's great to see the progress.

5 min outside of State College

Hyunjoo and I had a great Saturday and spent it leisurely driving around and running errands. We love it out here. I'll have to investigate the mountain biking scene sometime soon. Oh, wait, I need a workspace to fix-up my bike first. :-(

Bad Kento: Copyright Infringer

You'll probably have to click on the image above to read the fine text, but looks like I just got spanked for posting a video of a "live manta birth" that was recorded off a TV station in Japan.

I respond with: we need to revise copyright law! Go Larry!

House-hunting

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This is the house we've just made an offer on.

Work at Penn State Week One

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Week One at State College, PA

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Packed up and ready to go

Thank goodness I didn't sell my climbing gear! My trusty ole #9 stopper saves the day once again!

Just a little down time

Well, everything has been packed up in the U-Haul. Our plan is to leave early Monday morning for State College, PA. Unfortunately, the weather spooked us into waiting a couple of days. Hopefully, things will go smoothly Monday.

New Jersey!

Pennsylvania cows

Maryland

West Virginia

Snow

Virginia

Mountains in TN

Knoxville, TN

Nashville, TN

The Tennessee river

Trolley

Beale street, Memphis - street of blues

The yard

The grave

The house!

The wall

Graceland baby!

We just had to stop.

Graceland: home of elvis

Tennessee

Crossing the Mississippi river

Green trees

Welcome to Arkansas!

Into the Central Timezone

First off, kudos to Hyunjoo for handling the photo blogging you see below. Please keep in mind that the journey isn't really this visually exciting. We're posting mostly the highlights of the journey. Lots of grassland, cows are a distant second, cities/towns distant third. We're having a lot of fun still.

Thanks to the Super 8 Motel, we've got wireless this evening. It'll give me a chance to get caught up with my Electronic Village Online duties.

After over 17,000 ft. of ascent yesterday it was relatively flat-going today. We were able to make over 36 mpg averaged over 570 some miles. The fuel efficiency of the Honda Fit is a huge help. Been dreaming of a fuel-cell car, but that's off in la-la-land realistically. I keep forgetting to take a picture of the Fit loaded-up with all our stuff for my Uncle in Honolulu - sorry Uncle, it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

We got blasted with a shotgun of stones from an 18-wheeler that strayed into the shoulder of the road earlier. I'm going to have to get the chips in the windshield and hood fixed once we get into PA. Oh well, hazards of the trip. At least the roads have been relatively safe.

Thankfully, the weather has been on our side. Dad's suggestion that we stay on US 40 was a good one and it's been smooth sailing (knock on wood). Looks like the east coast has been getting some nasty rain, but I think we'll be west of all that weather as we drive up.

Back to you tomorrow for Day 3.

First traffic jam in Oklahoma City at the Jct of 44

Oklahoma

The leaning tower of water in Texas

OK, I know a lot of the other photos you see during our trip show signs and other objects that are "slanted" due to the way the iPhone takes pictures of high speed scenes, but this tower was really leaning the way it looks in the picture!

The largest cross in the western hemisphere

Texas!

Nothingness for 3 hours

End of Day 1

Well we left Nevada and drove straight through Arizona. Hyunjoo now
understands what I meant by a "whole lot of nothing".
:-)
Actually I thought it was beautiful in its own way.

So we drove about 570 something miles in a little over 8 hours. We
won't have to drive that far tomorrow. I'll be happy to make it to
Oklahoma City or maybe a little further.

Were having a great time so far. We're hoping for a little more
variety tomorrow, but I'll be happy with a safe journey.

To new Mexico

On the border- rocks

To Arizona

From nevada

Hoover dam 2

Hoover dam