tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46481482040053683382024-03-13T11:02:58.310-07:00If this were important I would have emailed youKendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.comBlogger178125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-52053177901319979662011-09-29T01:15:00.000-07:002011-09-29T21:23:28.189-07:00Year 4, Final 1998 Audi NumbersIt has become apparent that I am the custodian of a terribly dry blog.<br /><br />I sold the old 1998 A4 Avant yesterday for $2000. I purchased it nearly 4 years ago for $4200 making the 'depreciation' only $2200 over the course of 4 years. See below for details on how all the other expenses stacked up. To me the most interesting numbers are down at the bottom. $/mi by year and accumulated. It will be interesting (no really!) to see what the 2008 car with 34k miles will be like with high depreciation but low maintenance costs.<br /><br /><br />Year 4 cost of ownership numbers...<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Total miles:</span> 246,684 (69,543 of them mine)<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1 miles: 20,195</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2 miles: 25,304</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 3 miles: 12,653</span><br />Year 4 miles: 11,391<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Total gallons of fuel:</span> 3265<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1 gallons: 930</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2 gallons: 1155</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 3 gallons: 618</span><br />Year 4 gallons: 562<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Average miles per gallon</span>: 21.3<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1 mpg: 21.7</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2 mpg: 22.0</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 3 mpg: 20.8</span><br />Year 4 mpg: 19.9<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fuel cost total: </span>$10,137<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Est year 1 fuel cost: $3022</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">year 2 fuel cost: $3056 (cheaper gas this year, 5k miles for 'free' avg $2.64/gal)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 3 fuel cost: $1911 (avg $3.24/gal)</span><br />Year 4 fuel cost: $2148 (avg $3.82/gal)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Insurance total:</span> $2201<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1: $380</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2: $486 (rates went up and I didn't notice?)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 3: $667 (added collision coverage)</span><br />Year 4: $668<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Maintenance total:</span> $4119<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1: $1730 (all sorts of random junk, some murkiness of what to 'count')</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2: $1442 (big timing belt and hose repair job and oil changes only)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 3: $426 (heater core, hatch struts, O2 sensor, oil changes)</span><br />Year 4: $521 (tires, oil changes, smog check)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Accident repair:</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> $1695</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Total </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">everything</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> cost of ownership:</span> $21,185 (!)<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1 total: $11,608 (includes$4200 purchase)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2 total: $5069</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 3 total: $3086</span><br />Year 4 total: $1422 ($2000 subtracted for sale)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">$/mile by year excluding purchase, accident repair, and sale</span><br />Year 1: $5,600/20,195 = <span style="font-weight: bold;">$0.28</span> ($0.15 fuel / $0.13 ownership)<br />Year 2: $5,067/25,304 = <span style="font-weight: bold;">$0.20</span> ($0.12 fuel / $0.08 ownership)<br />Year 3: $3,086/12,653 = <span style="font-weight: bold;">$0.24</span> ($0.15 fuel / $0.09 ownership)<br />year 4: $3,422/11,391 = <span style="font-weight: bold;">$0.30</span> ($0.19 fuel / $0.11 ownership)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All inclusive $/mi as expenses and mileage accumulated</span><br />After 1 year: $11,609/20,195 = <span style="font-weight: bold;">$0.57</span> ($0.15 fuel / $0.43 ownership)<br />After 2 years: $16,677/45,499 = <span style="font-weight: bold;">$0.37</span> ($0.13 fuel / $0.23 ownership)<br />After 3 years: $19,763/58,152 = <span style="font-weight: bold;">$0.34</span> ($0.14 fuel / $0.20 ownership)<br />After 4 years: $21,185/69,543 = <span style="font-weight: bold;">$0.30</span> ($0.15 fuel / $0.16 ownership)Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-11211608729317035262010-11-07T23:11:00.000-08:002010-11-08T10:13:07.662-08:00Year 3 Audi Numbers<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hhVn2IMi5w1T_V3C1XxFn-Y9INoBdGnRCUje0ewwfuk?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/TNe3Zd9NijI/AAAAAAAAPrc/ouApBWT2DfQ/s800/DSC_5793.JPG" height="531" width="800" /></a> (a cool picture Jeff took this spring to add some value to an otherwise dry post)<br /><br />Year 3 cost of ownership numbers...<br />Total miles: 235,401 (58,152 of them mine)<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1 miles: 20,195</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2 miles: 25,304</span><br />Year 3 miles: 12,653<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Total gallons of fuel:</span> 2703<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1 gallons: 930</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2 gallons: 1155</span><br />Year 3 gallons: 618<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Average miles per gallon</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1 mpg: 21.7</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2 mpg: 22.0</span><br />Year 3 mpg: 20.8<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fuel cost total: </span>$7989<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Est year 1 fuel cost: $3022</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">year 2 fuel cost: $3056 (cheaper gas this year, 5k miles for 'free' avg $2.64/gal)</span><br />Year 3 fuel cost: $1911 (avg $3.24/gal)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Insurance total:</span> $1533<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1: $380</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2: $486 (rates went up and I didn't notice?)</span><br />Year 3: $667 (added collision coverage)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Maintenance total:</span> $3598<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1: $1730 (all sorts of random junk, some murkiness of what to 'count')</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2: $1442 (big timing belt and hose repair job and oil changes only)</span><br />Year 3: $426 (heater core, hatch struts, O2 sensor, oil changes)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Accident repair:</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"> $1695</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Total </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">everything</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> cost of ownership:</span> $19,763 (!)<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 1 total: $11,608 (includes$4200 purchase)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Year 2 total: $5069</span><br />Year 3 total: $3086<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Running $/mile</span><br />Year 1: $11,608/20,195 = <span style="font-weight: bold;">$0.57</span><br />Year 2: $16,677/45,498 = <span style="font-weight: bold;">$0.37</span><br />Year 3: $19,763/58,152 = <span style="font-weight: bold;">$0.34</span><br /><br />*some known errors and inconsistencies in this. But mostly correct ... ish.Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-11169252350873732502010-10-21T18:20:00.001-07:002010-10-21T18:20:48.592-07:00Tilt shift againCool collection of tilt shift photography:<a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/16/beautiful-examples-of-tilt-shift-photography/"> here<br /></a>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-10970838820063155342010-10-12T23:32:00.000-07:002010-10-12T23:34:39.987-07:00PhysicsNeat physics demonstration I had not seen before:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQX8I9ZWtPQ#t=44m2s<br /><br />Explained:<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvin_water_dropper<br /><br />via: <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/dqfjr/cool_battery_demonstration/">reddit</a>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-50657722710787573782010-09-25T19:25:00.000-07:002010-09-25T19:27:13.190-07:00Less annoyingIf you've ridden in my car recently you've no doubt been annoyed by the head liner coming down in the back and the low oil pressure alarm going off periodically.<br /><br />The oil pressure sensor was changed and it looks like the new one has a lower pressure setting so perhaps it will be happier in my high miles engine than the old one was.<br /><br />And for the head liner, well ... I once heard something about how "The good enough solution often becomes the permanent one." Oh well, meh.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/TJ6vFrznu8I/AAAAAAAAPhc/4y0KpTOGKcM/s1600/IMG_5219.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/TJ6vFrznu8I/AAAAAAAAPhc/4y0KpTOGKcM/s400/IMG_5219.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/TJ6vF5-CDTI/AAAAAAAAPhk/H0v7M9sKgvU/s1600/IMG_5209.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/TJ6vF5-CDTI/AAAAAAAAPhk/H0v7M9sKgvU/s400/IMG_5209.JPG" border="0" /></a><div style="clear: both;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none; padding: 0px; background: none repeat scroll 0% 50% transparent;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-18341713342843111582010-07-19T00:27:00.001-07:002010-07-19T00:30:02.942-07:00Fruit MRI<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/cqz9q/someone_took_mri_scans_of_fruits_and_vegetables/">Via Reddit</a> <a class="title loggedin click" href="http://insideinsides.blogspot.com/">Someone took MRI scans of fruits and vegetables and animated the results. So awesome. My favorite is the mushrooms.</a> <a href="http://insideinsides.blogspot.com/"><span class="domain"></span></a>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-42711804456506464892010-07-18T23:00:00.001-07:002010-07-18T23:01:03.281-07:00Playful PorcupineDoes this mean that all other porcupines are lonely and misunderstood?<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/U5I5H7EeC8k&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U5I5H7EeC8k&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-60350342695713651822010-07-15T20:28:00.001-07:002010-07-15T20:29:16.343-07:00Skiing on wavesAnother skiing post - amusing!<br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/y7mmO0CsyZA&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/y7mmO0CsyZA&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-82532994317078381812010-07-08T22:28:00.000-07:002010-07-08T22:37:01.449-07:00Wow smoking is boss!Where can I get a pack, I want to have those kinds of good times!<br /><object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uCRakl0dbK0&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uCRakl0dbK0&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-22318105208624695962010-06-25T00:39:00.001-07:002010-06-25T00:40:16.281-07:00RatatatI had never heard of Ratatat before last night when Pandora thought to give them a spin for me. Enjoyable!<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c0VAkPjrnWM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c0VAkPjrnWM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-6466724134395236572010-06-23T22:37:00.000-07:002010-06-23T23:40:19.299-07:00TV...<span style="font-size:180%;"><strong style="font-weight: normal;">ENHANCE!</strong><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">62" DLP, thanks Craigslist! </span><br /><table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wU0fYRtSFySKHBYOUwPmvwO34gqfQI72fDWjbbQcUnM?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/TCL8RLZIZgI/AAAAAAAAO_Q/ma8z8VenKcg/s800/IMG_4564.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/kendalll/Forweb?authkey=Gv1sRgCJOasc34m5fOOw&feat=embedwebsite">forweb</a></td></tr></tbody></table></span>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-40672248356734631082010-06-17T21:04:00.000-07:002010-06-17T21:18:37.946-07:00Dry.To all of you who patiently listened while I explained how the rear hatch on my car had become heavy because water was leaking into it. I was wrong. So wrong that I drilled a small hole in the bottom of it and no water poured out wrong. So wrong I pulled the trunk trim off and had to take a look wrong. My Dad told me the gas struts on the hatch were blown a month or two ago at least. He was right, good job Dad. A pair of replacement gas struts on the way at a cost of $32 each. A hatch that stays up all by itself in my very near future. <br /><br /><a href='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/TBrwasd7NWI/AAAAAAAAO-I/AWgPn-jFFsQ/s1600/IMG_4554.JPG'><img src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/TBrwasd7NWI/AAAAAAAAO-I/AWgPn-jFFsQ/s400/IMG_4554.JPG' border='0' alt='' /></a> <div style='clear:both; text-align:NONE'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-24858345909348504412010-06-16T10:35:00.000-07:002010-06-16T11:03:10.834-07:00X-ray pin-upsHaha, <a href="http://www.ufunk.net/en/humour/eizo-pin-up-calendar-2010-le-nu-plus-quintegral/">link</a> pretty sillyKendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-87016287225979865692010-06-16T00:15:00.001-07:002010-06-16T00:19:44.849-07:00Flying with ChaseThis evening Chase invited me to ride along for some flying over Ventura County! Fun stuff, it had been about 8 years or so since the last time I was up in a small airplane. We checked the airplane out, took off from Camarillo and went a short distance over to Santa Paula. There we did a few landing and take offs with 3-4 other people doing the same. And then we flew over to the coast just west of Magu Rock. And then back to Camarillo for a few more landing and take offs. Here's the pics!<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="800" height="533" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&noautoplay=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fkendalll%2Falbumid%2F5483266208439203377%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26authkey%3DGv1sRgCJzBv6Lp8IDHeQ%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-79221716896028114422010-06-15T00:01:00.000-07:002010-06-15T00:06:51.065-07:00PhD's bum dealYou knew you didn't want to become a grad student for 7 years, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it...<br /><br />You laughed at The Simpson's jokes perhaps.<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XViCOAu6UC0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XViCOAu6UC0</a><br /><br />This _lengthy_ article lays out why PhD study is a bad deal for American grad students.<br /><a href="http://www.miller-mccune.com/science/the-real-science-gap-16191/">http://www.miller-mccune.com/science/the-real-science-gap-16191/</a><br /><br />tl;dr summary: There is not shortage of scientifically trained persons in the USA, there is a shortage of research positions and adequately paying jobs. This is why American students are shunning the technical fields: it's a bad deal.Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-78594664830438188102010-06-14T19:34:00.000-07:002010-06-14T19:35:26.085-07:00Cool flight toolLet's you see how far you can get for given dollar amount. <br /><a href="http://www.kayak.com/explore/">http://www.kayak.com/explore/</a>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-62756734478717259962010-05-23T21:42:00.000-07:002010-05-23T22:01:07.746-07:00Seaside FloridaI spent the last week at a beach house a few miles east of Seaside Florida. I had a great time. It only rained when we first arrived, and only that night, and not during any of the days. The temperature was near ideal most of the week with it starting to warm up on Friday and Saturday. We thought we might get some oil from the big spill, but Louisiana is taking the brunt of that, not Florida at all. Coming home took close to 12 hours, and I guess my only complaint is that for traveling for 12 hours perhaps a more exotic local than Florida could be reached?<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="800" height="533" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&noautoplay=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fkendalll%2Falbumid%2F5474690625022530481%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26authkey%3DGv1sRgCIrp3LzK4a6xdQ%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-1933545357886841252010-05-09T14:08:00.000-07:002010-05-09T14:25:44.562-07:001949 Harley 45I got to ride the old Harley this weekend! This bike was my uncle's way back when, and my Dad recently brought it back to road worthy status. Really interesting to ride with the foot operated clutch and 3 speed hand shifter!<br /><br />(click to play short video clip)<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/qEeeNHYAhH4lPGQneqhA2NFSosAhYfPdI1_xEZv3tBk?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/S-chvRM0mRI/AAAAAAAAOYo/9isKWy3x7yc/s800/2010_05_09_Harley%20007.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ReL4LEF38dOu8gHNAhdFaNFSosAhYfPdI1_xEZv3tBk?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/S-cinzR4dOI/AAAAAAAAOY4/m5jKm-W7f-w/s800/2010_05_09_Harley%20004.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/a8dLAmlH9VahIJEs6J88m9FSosAhYfPdI1_xEZv3tBk?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/S-ciqC7tNmI/AAAAAAAAOZA/qgI6jyEwmXo/s800/2010_05_09_Harley%20006.jpg" /></a>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-90634857121979799262010-05-03T00:21:00.000-07:002010-05-03T00:44:12.644-07:00LA Galaxy Game for Kevin's BirthdayFun times were had Saturday night at the Home Depot Center to celebrate Kevin's Birthday and watch some professional soccer. (My first time to a game, and also the first time I have watched a whole game, actually the first time I've watched anything more than highlights haha!) The LA Galaxy were playing the Philadelphia Union. I learned a bit about soccer from Kevin during the game. Apparently are only 3 substitutions allowed per team through out the 90 minute game. A dude from the The Union got a red card for pulling some stupid slide tackle move when the game had already stopped. From that point on The Union played a man down, I didn't realize that they wouldn't be able to sub another guy in. 8 of the players will be on the field for the full 90 minutes. Pretty crazy endurance! A good group turned out and Kevin's birthday package deal got us great seats. Although from the looks of it, it doesn't really seem like any of the seats are that bad. The stadium seemed smaller than when I was there for a concert a few years ago. I guess the grass looks smaller than rows and rows of thousands of chairs.<br /><br />The LA Galaxy scored a goal in the first minute of the game, and were up by three by the end of the first half. They didn't seem to be struggling too much to retain control. The crowd was pretty mellow with the exception of the two "fan sections" that had drums and chants going back and forth between them. It would be fun to go to a sold out Chivas USA game where I imagine that enthusiasm spreads to the rest of the Stadium. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/S958QwLUSkI/AAAAAAAAORw/o1BUJ5-wqx0/s800/IMAG0141.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 800px; height: 535px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/S958QwLUSkI/AAAAAAAAORw/o1BUJ5-wqx0/s800/IMAG0141.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/S958RQh0gRI/AAAAAAAAOR4/xj2JVVjfjU8/s800/IMAG0143.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 800px; height: 535px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/S958RQh0gRI/AAAAAAAAOR4/xj2JVVjfjU8/s800/IMAG0143.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />(Yay phone camera!)<br /><br />A couple clips of the game, just to give a flavor for the stadium.<br /><object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TtchHjBlHjU&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TtchHjBlHjU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gS8Qvg_qVVg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gS8Qvg_qVVg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-9313117212738731122010-05-02T23:04:00.001-07:002010-05-02T23:47:37.454-07:00Will Rogers State Park - Backbone Trail Out and BackI dusted off the MTB for a real ride this Sunday. Mike has a fancy <a href="http://www.turnerbikes.com/010/010spot.html">new bike</a>. So he's all about the MTB these days and will be dragging me up more hills in the very near future I'm sure. We decided on Will Roger's State Park, Backbone Trail that I had done once or twice before with Justin. We did it as an out and back, but it can be done as a loop. The parking is up to $12 at the State Park, a bit much if you got in the habit of doing the ride frequently. There is parking on the side of the road into the park so you can just add a bit of mileage to your ride and save some bucks. Their parking lot was nearly full so it's kind of hard to fault them too much for the price of entry I suppose.<br /><br />We rode from the parking lot at the polo field past the horse corrals and then up the dirt path to the main fire rode. The backbone trail takes off from a kiosk with a useless map to the right shortly after you get onto the fire road. Pretty much up hill for 6.8 miles to "The Hub." Mike did a good bit of waiting for me. I was huffing and puffing quite a bit and by the top was starting to get a bit 'bonky'. Thank goodness the camel back was stocked with a couple of CLIF bars and a granola bar. What seamed like an excessive 3 bars this morning really paid off after 90 minutes of climbing. Our average speed ended up being 6.0 mph. When I did this ride with Justin 11/2007, we had an average speed of 6.9 mph. Not exactly progress. 14.03 miles at 6.0 mph and 2:20 of ride time by my bike computer.<br /><br />The trail conditions are pretty good for most of it. But a nontrivial portion of the trail was severely over-grown with vegetation. Most of the time the trail was still visible but your legs were displacing a good 3-9 inches of vegetation on either side. That got old pretty quickly and was even somewhat painful at times. Mike already having open wounds on his shins wasn't all that impressed with that aspect of the trail. Check out the picture below for a section of the trail that was totally obscured by the vegetation. There are some really great sections on this trail that are smooth and covered in canopy. Also the descents are fun, though well suited for a bike with suspension as it is rocky in places.<br /><br />Mike saw what he figured was a gopher snake near the top. It decided to put things into a leisurely reverse after Mike almost ran over him with his front tire. There were a few hikers and some other bike traffic but certainly not over crowded. Some of the hikers were happier to see us than others. Also there were fantastic views of the Santa Monica Beach and pier today. Definitely a trail worth checking out if you mountain bike in socal!<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="800" height="533" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fkendalll%2Falbumid%2F5466920369117302481%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26authkey%3DGv1sRgCNuC9tGqlIDu0AE%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-69094682882525613422010-04-21T00:49:00.001-07:002010-04-21T00:50:09.839-07:00Animals you may not have seen beforeBlob fish is ridiculous, link to unusual animal pics: <a href="http://listverse.com/2010/04/07/top-10-fantastic-and-surreal-creatures/">here</a>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-1372859920674506972010-04-18T20:41:00.000-07:002010-04-18T22:56:18.152-07:00Death Valley and the Racetrack PlayaThis weekend I headed out to Death Valley with some friends from work, and a few others who thought hanging out with my coworkers sounded like a fun time. Our plan was to meet up at Wildrose campground as our schedules allowed and then head into Death Valley and hopefully on to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racetrack_Playa">Racetrack Playa</a>. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">tl;dr</span>: yes you can make it out to Racetrack Playa in your family sedan. We made it fine with a Mazda 6, Prius, and Audi A4. We also saw a few Subarus and Toyota Carolla out there. Take extra precautions and pack extra supplies but don't let the hype scare you out of driving out there. Just go slowly. We had fun.</span><br /><br />Friday night good times were had around the <a href="http://www.campfireinacan.com/">Campfire-In-A-Can</a>. We were the most obnoxious group at the campground with our outbursts of laughter, but nobody actually yelled at us though so we must not have been <span style="font-style:italic;">that</span> bad. Topics covered included how the tent 50 feet away looked like a Storm-Trooper, and that it would be cool if it sprouted mechanical spider legs and started moving around. Also for some reason unsavory internet memes from 3 years ago received unwarranted discussion. Anyway you get the idea, lots of laughs. <br /><br />The Racetrack Playa, and specifically the drive out to the Racetrack Playa were debated ad nauseam. The road is rumored to be littered with razor rocks that will surely shred your tires.(tires were fine) Numerous web resources, and people within the park warn that you must have a high clearance 4x4,(not true) and that the washboard will break your suspension,(it didn't) and that the tow out is quite expensive due to AAA not covering you when you're off road. This discussion went around in circles for quite sometime. After making a compromise to leave some of our excess gear at Wildrose campground we headed out. <br /><br />Link to map of our in park travels: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Wood+Canyon+Road,+CA+92328&daddr=Mosaic+Canyon+Rd,+Death+Valley,+CA+to:Scottys+Castle,+Independence,+Inyo,+California+to:Racetrack+Playa,+Death+Valley,+CA&geocode=FURcKQIdmuwD-SkDGdHEMM3AgDEGKKyeJ5eSZA%3BFVxNLgIdrH4E-Sk38rrclFLHgDGIi36AHygrHw%3BFb8RNQIdOIMB-Sk5txaqmTe_gDHfACK25N2vlA%3BFdi5LwIdiCH--Clh5dRJl2C_gDE50R6PO0BCkg&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=36.327385,-117.43048&sspn=2.194978,4.938354&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=9">google maps route</a><br /><br />Video clip of the drive to Mosaic Canyon from wildrose (click to play):<br /><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BZ_QiMH-pcVgbQpqU2KhgzN7gVHATbUcWkNhsCunyZY?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/S8u4d5oDC8I/AAAAAAAANys/esDwvtTLiz0/s800/MVI_4162.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/kendalll/DeathValleyDrive?authkey=Gv1sRgCNyU8-a88dz9hwE&feat=embedwebsite">DeathValleyDrive</a></td></tr></table><br /><br />We hiked Mosiac Canyon and checked out some of the neat geology. We ate our picnic lunch at Stovepipe Wells and then went on to Scotty's Castle. We didn't take the tour at Scotty's Castle as we wanted to get on the road to the Playa before any more time passed. Doing it over again I wouldn't have hiked as far into Mosaic canyon and would have spent that time with an earlier start up to Scotty's Castle and the Racetrack. After one final debate about the road conditions we finally set out for the Racetrack Playa...<br /><br />...and everything turned out better than expected. We took it slow, 5-25 mph averaging about 13mph. It took us a bit over 2 hours to cover the 27 miles on the way out. We were something of a motley crew as our carvan consisted of a Mazda 6 sedan, Prius, and my Audi A4 wagon. We were passed by several faster moving SUVs and jeeps, and Subaru WRX that wasn't concerned about taking it slow. But we plodded along at an even pace, and avoided the troublesome looking spots. The road is <span style="font-style:italic;">not that bad,</span> really. Yes, if you go speeding along at 40mph you'll probably get a flat or break your suspension on the washboard sections. But if you can take your time you can even get a lowered Audi out there with just a few scraps along the floor boards as you pass over the higher rocks. I felt pretty comfortable about the drive esp after the first few miles, knowing that I had a full size spare, donut spare, full set of tools, and a tow strap helped as well. I also had the memories of what we did with our Oldsmobile station wagon in Baja back in the day, and the more recent memories of abusing Subaru's in the Walla Walla and Montana hills with cousin Brian. Normal cars can accomplish a lot if you're just a little bit careful with them.<br /><br /><iframe src='http://www.panoye.com/embed/2269' width='600' height='376' scrolling='no' frameborder='0' style='border: 1px solid black;'> </iframe><br /><br />Link to map of our in park travels: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=900+Enchanted+Way,+Simi+Valley,+CA+93065&daddr=Jackie+Dr.+Inyokern,+CA+93527+to:Wood+Canyon+Road,+CA+92328+to:Mosaic+Canyon+Rd,+Death+Valley,+CA+to:Scottys+Castle,+Independence,+Inyo,+California+to:Racetrack+Playa,+Death+Valley,+CA&hl=en&geocode=FaQmCwIdPIbr-ClLG63uuy7ogDHCRb64k-ECUg%3BFR37HwIdtyL6-Cn3JXtGcQzBgDF2_vY1p_j7jg%3BFURcKQIdmuwD-SkDGdHEMM3AgDEGKKyeJ5eSZA%3B%3BFb8RNQIdOIMB-Sk5txaqmTe_gDHfACK25N2vlA%3BFdi5LwIdiCH--Clh5dRJl2C_gDE50R6PO0BCkg&mra=ls&sll=35.658801,-117.982822&sspn=4.221578,8.031006&ie=UTF8&ll=36.633162,-117.119751&spn=1.042497,2.007751&t=h&z=9">google maps route</a><br /><br />We got to the Racetrack Playa and we all spread out in search of rocks with tracks. On the first attempt we didn't find anything too impressive. We had fun, walking around the lake bed, soaking in the setting, and then climbing on "the grandstand" rock formation in the middle of the playa. We drove to the south end of the playa and a guy there to do some serious photography told us that the rocks were <span style="font-style:italic;">way</span> at the south end of the playa. By this time it was dark, and I only got a not so great picture of one of the rocks with a good trail with my flash on the point and shoot. Hopefully the others captured some good shots with their real cameras. We left a business card and granola bar for the photographer in hopes that he will email us some of his pics or maybe a link to his flickr profile. I was a little bit let down that I didn't get to see the rocks with good tracks in the light, but really just being out there and running around on the playa at night with all the stars out is a really fun time. Kevin and Missy cooked up an excellent spaghetti and broccoli dinner for all of us at the south end of the playa. Kevin has the foresight to bring a little extra food for dinner, and even after I foolishly attempted to talk him into cooking less of the spaghetti no body went hungry! Thanks again for handling the food Kevin! <br /><br />We drove the 2 hours on the gravel road back out to Stovepipe Wells for gas, and then finally back to Wildrose Campground around 1:15am. Jeff and Mary split off to try a new campground out and then head to Badwater the next day. Thankfully the trip remained free of mechanical problems and everyone seemed to have a good time.<br /><br />On Sunday morning we made some breakfast and my car headed home, while the others went on to hike Wildrose peak. Hopefully they had fun with that. It was a really fun trip, thanks to Jeff setting it in motion!<br /><br />Frisbee on the Grandstand clip: <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/40ARDIquWUvyLbZI8gu7Y-Y9INoBdGnRCUje0ewwfuk?feat=directlink">here</a><br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="800" height="533" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fkendalll%2Falbumid%2F5461661807123040529%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26authkey%3DGv1sRgCIzZh7alwLeoWQ%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-70597511902855463322010-04-09T21:04:00.001-07:002010-04-09T21:19:19.596-07:00Hard landingWhen the airplane is flying really terribly probably good to just call it a day instead of trying to fly anyway. Oops.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/S7_65FiFGbI/AAAAAAAANt4/Kmxgvnt4cfM/s800/IMG_4124.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 800px; height: 600px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_dq2Srn6R56E/S7_65FiFGbI/AAAAAAAANt4/Kmxgvnt4cfM/s800/IMG_4124.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-64289575703194997152010-04-09T02:33:00.000-07:002010-04-09T02:43:16.246-07:00Laptop FanTonight I decided was a good night for unclogging my laptop fan. It had been increasingly apparent that the fan on my laptop was not at all effective. The fan would run and little to no air would come out the heat sink. Also the laptop was getting really hot. And no one likes hot keyboard sweaty palms. Tonight the do-something-productive-while-you-procrastinate program involved tearing into my laptop at 1AM. 70 minutes start to finish, not too bad and it still works when I put it back together. It runs cooler and the fan is only running when needed now!<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="800" height="533" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fkendalll%2Falbumid%2F5458068284141327393%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26authkey%3DGv1sRgCJzS0cXJp4TX7gE%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648148204005368338.post-37206025724645965362010-04-07T00:04:00.000-07:002010-04-07T00:05:06.306-07:00Standing cat is standing<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MVV_HXtEbLo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MVV_HXtEbLo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215605260437361006noreply@blogger.com2