Reuse This!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Not just on Earth Day, but every day. I do that. Drink coffee from a washable ceramic mug instead of a disposable cup. Wear clothes handed down by my nephews. Make origami out of street flyers. Much as I love to replace them with the latest and greatest, most of my computer equipments are five years old, or longer. Curbside recycling of paper and plastic is nice, but I don't only recycle the stuff used in the house. If I buy a bottle of drink while out, after consuming the content I would take it home, or recycle it at the nearest recycle bin.

I wish everything is easy to re-use, like clothes and paper. Case in point are these plastic pieces that come with the ink cartridges for my Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet. They protect the cartridges' drums, supposedly, during transit at least, but once unpackaged, what to do with them? They are about 30 cm (11 inches) long, unbendable although a bit flexible along its length. I just cannot think of any way to re-use them other than perhaps melting them and pouring the resulting slush into the shape of a puddle, to make a fake spilled drink. I do know burnt plastic smells horrible though so melting is not such a great idea. Perhaps HP can replace it with cardboard someday, like how styrofoam is used less in packaging these days.

Scene From A Jogging Trip 20100418

I don't seem to lack ideas to blog about, I just don't have the time. The latest recurring idea I want to capitalize on is "Scene From..." In this particular case, it is "Scene From A Jogging Trip," as I just resumed jogging and demoted cycling to the secondary form of exercise. "20100418" denotes the year, month, and day - I hope to write more posts from my jogging trips.

I usually do not stop to take pictures during my jogging trip because I am working on endurance. Even at traffic stops, I would be jogging in place, so for me stopping to take pictures is considered cheating myself of the endurance test.

The above photo was taken after I was done with the jogging session and was heading back home. Is drive-thru a necessary evil or what? It's convenient for sure. You don't get out of your car, just wait in line to place your order then drive to the next window to pay for your stuff and get them. All the while with the car engine running, the air unnecessarily polluted and more unrenewable energy burnt. I can see how in certain places street parking is simply next to impossible. Or at certain hours of the day the parking lot is full and drive-thru is the only choice left. Other than parking a block away and walking to the location, of course, but most people absolutely prefer not to walk.

In this case, it was early morning on a Sunday and the parking lot for Raymour and Flanagan was deserted. There were a few cars near the entrance of the furniture store but close to the Starbucks outpost there were plenty of parking space. Yet people just queued up to buy their espressos or whatever drinks they thirsted for. Granted I do not if the outpost even had a walk-up window, but for a business that likes to have a green image there should be one. It is possible too that Starbucks has no agreement with R&F to share the parking lot. There may be a fee to be paid, by Starbucks to R&F, so for a few bucks in saving, just let those engines idle in the queue.

Back To Jogging, Simplified

After three months of cycling as exercise, I decided to resume jogging, at least as the main form of workout. My goal with exercising is to shed some kilograms and cycling has not helped. I started cycling on New Year's Day and three months later, I am still just a few kilos below 90 kilos. I weigh myself every week, perhaps I should not, like how a watched kettle does not boil.

The reason I started cycling was that after a few months of regular jogging my right foot started to hurt. There was the usual aches and sores elsewhere but the right foot had it worst. Just lightly jabbing the center of the right sole would produce a sharp pain. Maybe it was because I was using an old pair of sneakers. The bottoms of the shoes were not even, so some parts of the foot probably took a greater impact. Since quitting jogging late last year, I got a new pair of sneakers. I actually resumed jogging last week. Ran twice then and three times this week. So far the old right foot has no complaint. As long as my right foot can take it, I will continue to jog and use cycling as secondary. On days that I have time, I will put in a few KMs on foot then ride a few more KMs on the bike. The distance covered by each form of exercise does not justify it, but I still like to refer to the combined workout as a biathlon. Only if I have one of those endless pools, I can even do a triathlon.

Up to this week I always jog in a closed path, e.g. round and round a park. What's annoying with that was that I sometimes lose count of the laps. I play music on my cell phone while jogging, starting a new song or restarting one as needed, so that each lap is matched to a song. The Recently Played playlist would keep track of my progress. Alas, the playlist only knows the last ten songs so by lap number eleven or twelve I would be on my own. Worse yet sometimes the cell phone's battery would die midway through the session.

Starting this week I jog in a straight path. From my cycling trips, I know how far from my house is 3K. Go that far out and back then I will have 6K covered. I have to deal with cars on the road but it's not too bad at 5:30 A.M. Perhaps on the weekend I can go 4K out. Linear triumphs over circular, Keep It Simple, Sir!

More Excuses To Have An iPad (and Sanity Checks)

Here I am trying hard not to run to the local Best Buy or the nearest Apple Store to scoop up an iPad and there are so many good reviews out there. My MacBook Pro still works, I still should spend less time online, the house still needs a major renovation, the list goes on and on. Here goes some more excuses, heck, maybe I can spin this off into a cartoon or two.

• I can use it as a digital picture frame. (Digital picture frames are wasteful electricity-suckers. I cannot consider myself green and at the same time have something running 24/7 showing photos that definitely are not viewed all the time. Besides, all the months I had the iPod touch I showed its photos only a few times, ten times top. A stock iPad cannot stand by itself so that would be another x dollars to make the thing stand up like a photo frame.)
• A man in black turtleneck and jean robbed me at gunpoint. When he ran away with the $500 I happened to have, he dropped behind this beautiful electronic gadget. (Yeah, right.)
• It was on sale, 50% off, at the local electronic store. (Apple products are classy and are not carried everywhere. Sure you have the Chinese knock-off that may look like an iPod or a MacBook, even an iPad, but bona fide Apple devices don't come cheap.)
• I can use it for videoconferencing at the Newtown High School (Elmhurst, Queens) reunion at the Astoria Manor in NYC on September 25, 2010. (Even with the 3G iPad coming out in late April 2010, there is no camera whatsoever with any of the iPad. Someone may come up with some add-ons, or maybe Apple will release a newer version, but the likelihood of a new iPad, complete with video camera, is highly remote. For video conferencing, a cheapo netbook is still the answer.)

EXCUSES TO GET AN iPAD (AND REASONS THAT DEBUNK THEM)

The iPad, aaaaahhhh. For me it is a matter of Want over Need. I already have a MacBook Pro and am happy enough with using it around the house. At most I would take the laptop when I go visiting relatives in the city. I am not one of those people who drag laptops everywhere they go. Even though my iPod touch passed away some months ago, I have been able to make do with an ancient Handspring Deluxe (Palm OS) and a 2G iPod. Still, I cannot help thinking up some excuses to buy the iPad, then quickly realized how lame they are.

• To get my son to read more, even if it is just comic books. (Once he has the 'Pad, he will play games all the time. He does not read the comic books I borrowed from the public library anyway.)
• I like reading e-books on the couch. (I listen to podcasts and read books from the public library - cannot beat the price.)
• I can watch movies on it. (I can barely keep up with the DVD movies I borrow from the library. Granted they are not this year's features, but a year or two behind is not that bad. I am not that keen about buying movies either. I bought some Ben 10 movie for my son once from the iTunes Store. He saw it once or twice and then that's it, just sitting there taking up room on my hard drive, or off on some backup media, with little chance of ever being watched again. If I can help it, movies, like books, are best used as borrowed items from the public library.)
• My mother can surf the web with it. (She is obsessive with cleaning around the house, she won't have time to surf. When she does use it, she probably wants to print out the news article to send to friends and I will end up using the laptop to do that anyway.)
• I need to check email and can use the free WiFi at the atrium near the office. (I do fine checking email at home at night, all these years.)
• I should buy one to review for ATPM free online, volunteer-based magazine. (Someone in ATPM already did, maybe there are others who already bought it).

Who knows? I may say to heck with saving money, that even though I just spent a few thousand dollars just last year for a MacBook Pro and that I need to save money for an upcoming major home renovation, I should just get it over with, Want over Need... Maybe going back to this list will convince me not to give in to temptation.

My First Leisurely Visit To Prospect Park

Today was a dreary, cold day that would be best spent curled up with a few movie DVDs. Instead of that, I cycled along Ocean Parkway to Prospect Park, went along the loop from the southern end (Fort Hamilton Parkway) to the northern end (Grand Army Plaza) then back along the same route, for a total of 20 kilometers. The ride along Ocean Parkway was not enjoyable at all. The long stretches between the Avenues were great, but at each end of the stretches were cars waiting to get to the other side, cars turning from Ocean Parkway, and most of them were your typical NYC drivers who do not yield to pedestrians and cyclists. There were some good exceptions though. One guy, upon realizing that he blocked the cyclist path, waved apologetically and actually backed off. One lady, turning into the crossroad from the service road, actually let me pass and missed her green light. Prospect Park made it worth the trip, though.

It was not my first visit to Prospect Park, per se. I drove to the iceskating rink before, but of course to me driving is never fun. There was just too many things out there to pay attention to. Some crazy drivers, some careless pedestrian or cyclist, and of course, all the rules and regulations. I went there once with my son on a school trip to the Audubon Nature Center. Again, I was busy watching my own kid and the other kids, sort of helping the teachers with crowd control. No fun there. Only today, even with the less-than-ideal weather, did I have a chance to leisurely go through the park. I stopped at some plaque marking the spot as part of the Battle of Brooklyn. There were some statues that I never noticed before. I also noticed for the first time some hilltops, with steps to make the trip easier, as well as some nature trails through the woods. The ride back toward the Fort Hamilton junction was mostly downhill, with the wind rushing through my hair, it was wonderful. I had a camera on me but with the cloudy/rainy weather I didn't feel like taking any pictures. My sister publication over at http://top-of-the-arch.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-york-is-on-my-mind-cherry-blossom.html does have some nice photos of Prospect Park during the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Heartbreak Hardware - iPod touch vs. Handspring Deluxe

Is life full of surprises or what? Some time ago when I started a series of blog entries called Heartbreak Hardware, I planned to write about my old Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), electronic devices that have a calendar, an address book, a note-taking app, plus other. Back then, I already was using the iPod touch as a PDA. Of course, the iTouch also played music, served as a dictionary (American Heritage) and handheld game console, etc. My latest PDA at the time, the Handspring Deluxe, was allowed to lose its battery and withered away. The entry would be about the Handspring's death. Or so I thought.

A little over after my iTouch turned 2-year-old, it just died. Up to that time, its charge was not holding that well and I already had to charge it whenever I was near an electrical outlet. If left on overnight, even in sleep mode, it would not boot up the next day. The headphone jack was already mono and Wi-Fi decided to quit some time ago, too. It was still usable so I made the most of it and carried a charger with me most of the time. In the end, it simply would not boot up. Not from being connected to an outlet or via USB to the computer. I took it to Tekserve in Manhattan hoping it would be a simple battery replacement. Alas, they tested it with two different batteries and it still would not come back. Probably the circuit board, too expensive and not worthwhile to replace.

A typical hot-blooded consumer would go out and buy a new/replacement device. I am not that kind of person. Yes, I will get a new device eventually, when Apple decides to sell an iTouch with a still camera, whenever that is. In the mean time, I am making do with an old second-generation iPod, a Chinese PDA that I really use for its Oxford Dictionary, and the venerable Handspring Deluxe.

With only 8 MB, greyscale screen, stylus, USB 1.1 connection, AAA batteries, and no music-playing capability, the Handspring (HS) pales in comparison to the iTouch. But the thing that counts the most is that it is usable and not dead like the iTouch. I had to dig up the Palm software to install so that the HS would be recognized when synced. My decent organizational skill helped, Palm Desktop 4.1 was easily found in a folder called Install on an external drive. Next I had to find the cradle that has a USB 1.1 connection to the computer. Lastly, I had to sync all the old, neglected data I had on the computer to the Palm. It took a long time to run but by the end I had a functional PDA again. I plan to use the HS as a diary, to record events of the day. As far back as 2002, I had a series of notes in the Calendar app of the HS to record events of the day. I had a kick out of reading them, mostly mundane stuff like babysitting my 2-year-old son, going to the library or the playground, but also momentous events like my mother's surgery or some job-related announcements.

As a twist of fate, the Hardware that Broke my Heart in this instance is the iPod touch. Some day in the not too distant future, I will get another iPod touch but for now the Handspring Deluxe will be carried around everywhere I go.

Manhattan Beach Re-Visited

New York City has five boroughs - Manhattan, Queens, Kings (better known as Brooklyn), the Bronx, and Richmond (aka Staten Island). So where in New York City would you find a place called Manhattan Beach? In Brooklyn, of course! Why? Fuhgeddaboutit, that's just the way it is. Maybe Wikipedia has some background on the name...

Manhattan Beach is a small public beach that would be connected to Coney Island's beach, at the eastern end of the Boardwalk, had it not for some private property in the way. I lived in the area for a while before I made a trip, on bicycle with my nephews, there one day. I returned a second time with my son. He had some fun playing in the sand and then in the playground. It is a small quaint area, quiet and clean, far from the maddening crowd. At least based on the occasions I visited it, which I am sure were not peak season.

I recently re-visited the place, again on bike, as I had a little extra time after reaching the eastern end of the Coney Island Boardwalk.

There is a beach house, I suppose for people to change clothes and take a shower to wash off all the saltwater.

Last time I came the beach was wide open. This time there were this structure I suppose to protect erosion or what not.

There is a barbecue area right off the beach, although there was a sign warning partying people to stay x feet away from the fence.
If you are not into swimming or getting sands in your shoes, relax on the benches or throw some basketballs in the court.

Pat Parlato Playground did not look any different. Some water fountain is still there, plus the typical playground structures. I once told my son, perhaps jokingly, that I would take him to playgrounds wherever we go. He may not care much what I said, but nowadays whenever we visit a playground I would take a photo of the place, especially with its name. I should put together some Google map of the photos I have. Perhaps I'll call it Every Child Needs A Playground.

The biggest difference I know upon my third visit to Manhattan Beach is the bike lane. I remember well the second time I came, perhaps in the afternoon, I parked the minivan right outside the park, on the street, on Oriental Boulevard. Now there is a bike lane and then a buffer zone. I am sure some motorists complain about the loss of convenient parking but as a cycling enthusiast, I welcome the change very much.

The M.E. Who Only Computes

Some Mechanical Engineer I am. So I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, but it definitely does not mean I have mechanical skills. Like what's needed to fix a leaky or broken pipe.

A pipe in the kitchen sink assembly broke open this week. Not a crack line, mind you, but a whole piece of the thing disappeared somewhere. I have no idea how it happened but the whole piece of pipe has to be replaced.

In the ideal world, things are done correctly and when they breakdown from normal usage, you replace them with off-the-shelf pieces. In my world, I learned today whoever installed the pipe assembly did a lousy job. I thought the pipes under the two sinks would meet perfectly right in the middle of the distance separating them, straight into the T-joint. Not so. The left pipe, which has the hole, is actually shorter than the right piece. The two 7-inch-long pipes I bought for the project could not possibly fit into the assembly. I ended up buying a shorter piece, probably 6 inches long but even then the connections do not fit nicely. As a backup plan, I got a whole set of pipes made of plastic. The T-joint for the plastic set is longer in all directions and somewhat cover the gaps in the old assembly. I find it amazing the old assembly ever worked. The T-joint just sat on top of the trap piece, only kept in place by an insulation jacket. The whole thing works, for now, but water still leaks if the sink is filled up then drained. I know what other pieces need to be changed, but that's a battle for another day this weekend.

I used to think that Home Depot has everything for any given home-improvement project. Technically I would need to replace only the left pipe, the one with the gaping hole. However, it was tightly connected to the T-joint so I wanted to buy a new T-joint as well. HD only has plastic T-joint. When I came back to HD a second time in hope of finding a J-pipe less than 7" long, they didn't have any and the worker for the plumbing department told me he did not have the tool to cut anything for me. He had some machine to cut really long pipes down to size, but nothing for these small pieces off the shelf. A visit to my local hardware store on 86th Street solve the problem. Originally the good chap there was going to cut the pipe for me but then he found a pipe just the right length. On a second trip to the local store, I even picked up a metal T-joint.

Plumbing is no fun, to me. Each time I realized a piece is not correct, I had to go back to the store to get the correct piece. I could not just download the piece and install it. It would be so much easier if I can punch in some code to indicate the project I work on, into some web site, and get back just what materials, with measurements, I would need. Worst of all, there is no reboot. As is often the case, once I started to take things apart, I discover other problems and more pieces to replace. A reboot to get everything back to where things were at the beginning of the project would be so handy.

And Now, A Word From Our Sponsor - Zheng Concert

What's your schedule on Sunday, April 4, 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM? How about check out the First Annual Zheng in the Spring Concert at NYC's Carnegie Hall!

For those who do not know, the gu-zheng (古爭) or just zheng for short, is an instrument of Classical Chinese music. As shown in the poster, it is a plucked string instrument. The positions of the bridges (those small pieces that slightly raise the strings) affect the major in use. The gu-zheng figures prominently in Chinese history and literature, but to me, the kung-fu movie junkie, Kung Fu Hustle has one of the more famous zheng scene in recent memory.

My wife, son, and niece will be in the performance. No kidding. Although the kids do not like it, as they are all shy, the performance will be good for them. In the future, should they want to follow a musical career, their resumes sure look good with reference to Carnegie Hall, even if it's the smaller hall of the famous place.

Give me a call and leave a message with info to get back to you if you are interested in attending the concert. Click on the "poster" for details.

Geographic Word Links?

A niece of mine, who we shall call JC, likes to play with me a version of what I described in the last post as Word Links. Instead of regular words, however, we would use names geographic locations. Continents, nations, cities, mountains, rivers, and so on. It is nice that a kid actually likes geography, what with so many adults, not just kids, in the U.S.A. so ignorant of world geography. I am a tad above average myself with geography so I can use a lesson or two on the topic. It is not enough to utter the geographic words but also say something about them, how the places are important enough to be known. Hey, a little history is good to know, too.

Like the regular Word Links games, certain letters appear often at the end of these "words". I think most annoying is the letter "A". You have ASIA, AUSTRALIA, AFRICA, AMERICA, ANGOLA, and so on. You can spend the whole game using only words that end and start with the letter "A" - no fun at all. The letter "Y" also comes up often at the end of word, although there are not that many geo-words that start with it. "K" is another letter that behaves like "Y". If my memory serves me right, "E" and "N" geo-words are hard to come by, too.

In the spirit of making the Geo Word Links game better, I've created the following list of words with some info about them. Most info comes from Wikipedia, others from an ancient (1982) Compton's Encyclopedia I rescued off the street some years ago, and some just whatever came to my head, including attempts at humor. Feel free to chime in with suggestions or correction of facts. Enjoy!

Name Remark Amsterdam Capital city of the Netherlands. Anchorage The largest city in Alaska. Annapolis Capital city of Maryland. Antietam Part of Virginia, site of the bloodiest, single-day battle of the American Civil War. Arlington Part of Virginia, best known for the Arlington National Cemetery. Edinburgh Capital city of Scotland. Egypt A country in north Africa, home to the Sphinx and Pyramids. Elizabeth Port city of New Jersey, home to Ikea and Jersey Garden Mall. Estonia A country in Northern Europe. At the end of World War II, as the Russian Army advanced toward Germany, it took over Estonia and nearby countries. It was not until 1991 that Estonia became an independent country again. Ethiopia A country in Africa. In the 1980s, Ethiopia was the victim of famines. The Supergroup USA for Africa raised money for Ethiopia and similar victims with its song "We Are the World". Everglades A vast area of land and water in southern Florida, by now (2010) probably taken over by golf courses and time-share condos. Kathmandu Capital city of Nepal. Keyna A nation in Africa popularly known for having top winners in the New York City Marathon. Khe Sanh A city in the former South Viet Nam. The U.S. had an army base there and, as a show of force, the North Vietnamese Army laid siege to the base, but was unsuccessful at capturing it. Kilimanjaro The highest mountain in Africa. Knoxville The third largest city of Tennessee (U.S. state) Komodo An island in Indonesia once used as an exile prison, now best known for its komodo dragon, a large, ferocious lizard. Kosovo A region in Serbia that has been trying to gain independence from Serbia. Kyoto A city in Japan where the Kyoto Protocol was adopted. The Protocol's aim was to fight global warming. The Protocol was ratified by many nations in the world, with the U.S. the sole country with no plan in accepting it.

Nairobi Capital city of Kenya. Nepal A small country between India and China, home to Mount Everest and The Himalayas. Nevada U.S. state perhaps best known for its Las Vegas city. New Brunswick A province in Canada, home to the Bay of Fundy and other natural wonders. Niger A landlocked country in Eastern Africa, not to be confused with Nigeria. Norway A country in Northern Europe, home of the Vikings. Nuremberg German city known for the trial of Nazi leaders charged with crimes against humanity. Yonkers The fourth most populous city in New York State. Just north of New York City, Yonkers is so confusing to New Yorkers that a play called "Lost in Yonkers" was written about the experience. Wink, wink. Yorktown Village in Virginia (U.S. state) that is best known as the site of the last battle of the U.S. Revolutionary War. Ypres A city in Belgium that was fought over by the two sides of World War I. All together there were three Battles of Ypres. During the Second Battle of Ypres, poison gas was used by the Germans, for the first time on the Western Front. Yucatan A peninsula in Mexico. Yugoslavia A former country in Eastern Europe that was made up of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and other countries.