Only in California

January 23, 2012 in Climate Change, General | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Well, it seems the City of Monterey is going to change out roughly 2000 street lights for more energy efficient LED lights, replacing the sodium vapor lights currently used. They are doing this to ” allow Monterey to comply with a state law requiring the reduction of municipal greenhouse gas emissions“.

Article in the Monterey Herald.

So, a few items of note that I find interesting.

The total cost of this is going to be $934,000 for just over 1900 LED lights, or roughly $490 per light. The city is using a 10 year low interest loan to pay for this and will pay the loan back with the money they are “saving” in lower energy bills.  Hmmm…

$490 per light vs $50 (total guess) or so for a High Pressure Sodium Bulb.

FYI. From what I can figure out the Mean Time Between Failures of a LED light like this is quoted at roughly 50,000 hours.  Now that sounds like a lot, but remember there are 1900 LED lights with that average. So,

50,000 hours / 1900 lights / 8 hours on a day(rough average over the year) = 3.28 days between average failures.

This means the City of Monterey will be replacing one of these $490 LED lights every 3 1/4 days, or 2 per week.

$490 x 2 per week x 52 weeks per year = $50,960 per year in replacement costs. Let’s be nice and say the replacement cost is 1/2 that of initial installation (I’m being nice). So this makes it $25,000 or so in just bulb replacement cost over the course of an average year.  Or another way to look at it $250,000 in replacement costs on top of the $934,000 in initial installation costs plus interest over the course of the loan.

I’m hoping that I really screwed something up here. Otherwise this whole California attitude of “save us from Global Warming” by bankrupting us idea just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. At least the article isn’t claiming they are doing this to save money. It actually looks like a money loser even when you figure the savings of more energy efficient LED’s.

If anyone has better figures for LED replacement cost vs Sodium Vapor (I don’t know the cost of the bulbs for comparison), and/or the difference in MTBF for both I’d be interested to hear. On the surface this whole project looks like more “Green” bullshit to spend money that doesn’t do anything but let politicians pat themselves on the back say what a wonderful job they are doing saving the world.

 

 

Western Scrub Jay not a Blue Jay

January 10, 2012 in General | Tags: , , , , | 4 comments

The things you learn by chance.

I was going to make a comment about the interesting behaviour of a Blue Jay here at work, when I went to look up a picture on wikipedia I discovered the Blue Jay doesn’t have a natural home range in this area. Nope, no California in the green area, and there are a lot of what I thought of as Blue Jays around here.

Instead it’s a very similar bird called the Western Scrub Jay. Who knew?I sure didn’t. They look very similar to me.

The Western Scrub Jay

Blue Jay

Looking at them side by side you can tell, but, hey, they’re not side by side out in the quad area at work. (-:

Anyhow, the whole reason this began. I was walking between buildings and noticed on of the “Scrub Jays” with a peanut in it’s beak. It had found/made a hole in the grass large enough to hide the peanut in. So as I walked passed I was watching this Scrub Jay trying to work the peanut into the ground when it saw me, stopped what it was doing, (peanut buried at this point) and waited till I was about 30 feet away or so, grabbed the peanut out of the ground, moved about 5 feet over and reburied it.

I guess the silly bird was thinking that I knew where it’s stash was, so it moved it. Anyhow, I thought that was kind of cool. What’s interesting is to think about how many nuts are buried in the area. There are a lot of Scrub Jays around here. Something to think about.

First official helmet pocket dialing

December 29, 2011 in Friends, General | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Well, when we were up in Seattle visiting our friends my buddy Paul gave me a Scala Rider FM headset for my helmet.

It works pretty good for listening to the radio on my way to the office and to answer the phone if it rings on my 15 minute commute. I also have the option of using a cable to input my iPod for longer rides. I’ve only really used it to make phone calls when I first put it in the helmet, cause it’s kind of cool to ride along and chat with someone.

Anyhow, on the way to work this morning my the radio goes away and the helmet starts to beep at me. I haven’t actually had anyone call me while I was riding, at least not yet. So, I’m tooling down the road poking buttons on the helmet trying to figure out what the beeping is, saying things like “answer!” “cancel!” “Will you F’n Stop already!” etc, thinking maybe it’s a call coming in, or maybe the voice dialling is wigging out, or the battery is dying. Then I hear this voice in my head say “Good Morning, SeaHarvest”. Huh? Must have hit the right button and it answered a call coming in, “Hello Lynn, what’s up?” “What? Rich is that you?” And a confusing conversation ensues.

Turns out my F’n Crackberry unlocks the previously locked keyboard when the headset activates, and since it was in my pocket, I was hitting it on the gas tank while riding and the beeping noise in my helmet was actually me pushing buttons on the phone until it eventually pocket dialled SeaHarvest.

Technology. Some days it’s just a pain. :-)

Bose QC15′s vs the data center

December 27, 2011 in Computers | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

For Christmas Roberta and the girls got me a set of Bose Quiet Comfort 15 headphones with noise cancellation.

Bose Quiet Comfort Headphones

Due to very low tolerance of people who are all talk and no work, my office has been in the data center for the last year or so. I actually share an office with about 500-550 or so pizza box style servers. Needless to say, it’s a bit loud at times. WHAT DID YOU SAY?? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!

Here is a view taken from my desk that shows some of the systems near me.

From Monterey Living

Anyhow, Roberta is getting tired of my always saying “What?” whenever she asks a question.

I had a cheap pair of ~$20 noise cancelling headphones that only took out the low-frequency sounds (like the rumble of an airplane). Unfortunately the Dell servers have high-pitched fans that make a heck of a lot of higher frequency noise and the cheap headphones only toned it down a bit. Maybe 25% or so. I would have to set my iPod on about 3/4 volume to listen to my music and be able to hear it decently when I was working on systems.

Well, today was the first day I took the Bose QC15 headphones in to work with me.  When you first turn them on it almost feels like your ears pop, like with altitude. But the volume of sound from the servers drops by about 75% or so. I was standing between two rows of servers for about 5 hours total today (300-350 servers within 20 feet of me) and was comfortably listening to my music on the iPod at 1/3 volume. It wasn’t until I took the headphones off to try to speak with someone who walked in that I noticed how loud it was where I was standing. LIKE REALLY LOUD!  We actually had to go to a different section of the room to chat.

So far I’m pretty happy with the Bose headphones. I might actually have some hearing left in a year. My impression so far is that these are by far the best noise cancelling headphones I’ve tried for data center frequency noise. Definitely worth the steep $300 asking price, if they last a couple of years.

Freaky Coincidence

December 6, 2011 in Computers | 3 comments

I was starting to watch a youtube video on Hadoop and 20 something seconds into the video my name comes up. WTF???? Turns out it was pure coincidence, but it was kind of freaky none the less.

From Drop Box

I know it was coincidence because I don’t have a twitter account, that I know of. I do know there is another Rich Hickey out there that is into C programming, might be him. Not sure.

Away on vacation

November 28, 2011 in Places, Uncategorized | 2 comments

Being the paranoid type we didn’t advertise that we were going on vacation over Thanksgiving. However, now that we are back, we went on a wee bit of a drive over the last few weeks. In fact we drove 2920 miles in the last 17 days. Monterey to Seattle in two days. Seattle to Butte Montana in a day, and then Butte Montana back to Monterey California in one loooooooong drive of 19 hours. The driving was fairly uneventful. We hit some pretty slippery ice and snow going over Snoqualamie Pass on our way from Seattle to Butte. We also ended up with a screw in the front tire 35 miles outside of Butte. Nothing like making a potty stop, having someone tap on the window of the car to let you know your front tire is hissing. Thanks to a can of Fix-A-Flat we made it into Butte where I had the screw removed and tire patched the next day.

From 2011 Adventures

So, why all the long driving? Well we decided that this year we would take all of the girls to the annual Supercomputing conference. It was in Seattle this year and a friend of a friend working at Altair scored Megan an expo pass. So, since she had a ticket in, we decided to take the whole family on an adventure. In fact we even had Molly and Nora check out the show on Family night for a few hours. Megan had a good time walking the expo floor, collecting swag, and having fun checking out all the Nerdiness. Roberta and I hit a lot of the after hours parties, and Molly and Nora got to explore Seattle and play in the swimming pool. it was a good time had by all.

From 2011 Adventures

We spent almost week in Seattle and then we went up and stayed the weekend with friends and family.  We heard Lane and Jacob of the Taphandles play a gig in Woodinville, WA. Good music, beer, friends and family. It was a good night.

After Seattle we drove over Snoqualamie Pass in snow and ice to Butte Montana for some visiting with Roberta’s half of the family. We did some playing in the snow, riding quads up in the mountains, and general playing around.

Finally we ended up driving the final leg from Butte Montana to Monterey California in one long drive. We left at 8AM Mountain time and arrived in Monterey at 2:30 am Pacific time.

I’ll try to update some pictures soon.

A nice philosophy on life

November 4, 2011 in Cancer, General | Leave a comment

One of those email chain letters that I actually enjoyed reading.

As I’ve aged, I’ve become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I’ve become my own friend…

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM or sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70′s, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love .. I will.  I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old.  I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody’s beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.  So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.  As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don’t question myself anymore…  I’ve even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it).

A flash from the past

October 15, 2011 in General, Places | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

I was dinking around with Google Earth today and was seeing if they had ever updated the area we used to live in in Scotland. Looking down via the satellite image it only shows a dirt field where our housing complex was.

From Adventures

And yet when you zoom down to Street View the houses suddenly pop up and you can see Mr. Ed our tiny little yellow and black Mini Cooper. That car was FUN!!!!

From Adventures

I just had to put up a post about it. I thought it was a kick that Street View not only showed our house but still showed our cars in the driveway from when we lived there in 2008.

 

A trip back in time

September 19, 2011 in General, Places | 1 comment

Well the ladies and I went to the Northern California Renaissance Faire this last weekend. It’s held at a place called Casa de Fruta outside of Hollister CA. It’s about an hours drive away. It’s inland, hot hot inland. When we left the house it was about 60 degrees, at the Faire it was about 85 degrees.

I took this picture before we went in. The girls all dressed up some, I was a bum in t-shirt and jeans.

From 2011 Adventures

Megan and Nora ended up getting fox tails to wear around while Molly decided on a Tiara type thing.

From 2011 Adventures

We walked around checking out the different vendors, people, atmosphere, etc. While we wandered the Queen and her entourage went by.

From 2011 Adventures

There was also a group of players called the Danse Macabe that went through. Roberta joked “That’s Not Funny!” (-:

From 2011 Adventures

Here the ladies were painting some ceramics while “The Manly Men… in tights” were putting on a skit. It was pretty humorous. They were a pretty good comedy routine.

From 2011 Adventures

All in all a pretty fun day.

 

A ride down the coast

September 7, 2011 in General | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

On Monday Roberta and I decided to go for a ride down Highway 1 along the coast. The plan was to head down past Big Sur and take the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road up and over the hills to Highway 101, then up to Greenfield and cut back across the hills along the Carmel Valley road.   It would be a fairly long ride, but nice.

From 2011 Adventures

Well, best laid plans and all.

We took off at about 2pm and headed down the coast. Cruising in and out of a bit of fog and sunshine. We met another biker on a new GSXR-750 by the name of Mat. He had wandered over from Arizona to spend some time with friends up in San Fran and was headed down the coast to LA and back home. He told us that pulling a wheelie on the Golden Gate bridge earned him a $3000 ticket. Ouch! We stopped at the Big Sur Lodge and had something to drink and some Sweet Potato fries.

It was a nice day for a ride.

From 2011 Adventures

The Nacimiento-Fergusson Road was basically a paved goat trail. Mostly single lane with turn outs and a shear cliffs edge most of the way up.

From 2011 Adventures

The view from the road was pretty spectacular.

From 2011 Adventures

After we crested the top of the hill and ran across towards hiway 101 for about 5 miles or so we stopped to rest for a few minutes. It was hot as the dickens. At that point the air intake temp (outside temp as read by the bike) was up over 90 degrees. We had seen 1 car and 1 motorcycle in the 30 minutes or so it took us to cross this far. We had no cell service at this point. We hopped back on the bike and started down the road when I noticed that the bike was showing a Check Engine Light.

Oh crap! We are literally in the middle of no where with no cell service, on top of the mountain 15 miles up a goat trail, and 80 miles from home. We stopped, I checked all the fluids and everything else I could think of. Nothing looked abnormal It was an Error Code 18 on the dash.  We had no idea what this was. So, the choice we had was to head back the way we came to Lucia, a no nothing little town with a gas station and a restaurant or continue forward towards Fort Hunter Liggett and King City.  We chose to go forward in the hopes that there would be better services that way than on the coast.

Another 15 miles or so of nervous, cautious riding and we reached a T in the road. To the left I could see Fort Hunter Liggett, to the right a sign saying Jolon, which I couldn’t see and didn’t know what was there. I didn’t bring my badges, but I figured the gate guard would at least  know where the closest services were. When we pulled up to the gate my air intake temp showed 104 degrees. Holy crap was it hot.  We explained to the guard that we had thrown a Check Engine Light on the bike and had no idea what it meant, where was the closest service station? He started to explain how far Jolon was when he noticed my DoD sticker on the Bike. Stopped, asked for my ID and registration, then said, go through the gate to the stop sign, turn left and go over the hill. It’s there on your left. Thank you Sir!

Even though the gas station was closed there was shade, a soda machine and a place to stop where we could get our asses picked up if the bike had truly died. Roberta whips out her Droid phone. does a Google search for Yamaha R6 Check Engine Light Code 18 (Thank you Google!!) and discovers the error showing is Oxygen Sensor failure. Turns out, after all that stress, that coming up the steep climb from sea level to 2800 feet, which I had been taking slow and easy, the bike had leaned out enough that the O2 sensor tripped a failure. No big deal. In fact the code reset itself after going down the freeway for 10 miles or so of normal riding. It would have been nice to know that when we were in the middle of no-where, worried we were going to get stranded in 100 degree heat, with no water, no cell service, and no one else around.

Anyhow. Once we figured out we were good to go we thanked the gate guard, headed into King City for dinner and then up the 101 to Salinas and over toward home. It was faster getting home that way than if we had cut through Carmel Valley road. In fact, by the time we got home it was pushing 9pm. A long day of riding.

We’ll definitely remember what an Error Code 18 is from now on. I can tell you that much.

 

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