Grandma Nordquist

Last week we decided to make a trip to Utah to see my family. My dad’s mother has been in a care center for a few months and her health had deteriorated to a point where we didn’t know if she’d be around for our planned visit in the spring.

We arrived in Utah early Thursday morning and went to the care center that afternoon to visit grandma. The doctors had recently put her on some medication to reduce her anxiety. It did that a little too well and made her sleep through our first visit. My father and I stopped by the next day and she was awake, but still a bit confused and groggy.

On Sunday we decided to stop by with our four young children. We were not sure this was the right decision to make given their high levels of energy don’t exactly mix with the docile nature of a care center. As we made our way through the snow into the hallway and past the large fish tank, we continually reminded our kids to be on their best behavior.

And they were on their best behavior as we visited with Grandma who was very weak but coherent. Each of our kids approached her as she laid peacefully in bed. Grandma reached out to hold each of their small hands. Luca, Lincoln and Anna all looked at her in amazement. She told each of them how happy she was to see them and how darling each of them looked. I don’t know if they recognized their grandma until she spoke as her face had lost much of its definition.

Picture: My mother comforting Grandma Nordquist

Unlike Kim, I’m not very comfortable in these situations. I’m not quite sure what to say and I don’t want to come across as if I understand what she is going through when I can’t possibly know what it’s like. My heart raced. Time slowed down. But I felt at peace as I sat next to my grandma’s bed and held her hand. Or what was left of her hand as rheumatoid arthritis had taken its toll on most of her body, but the damage was most evident in her knotted fingers. Her hand was warm as I held it. Over and over she said how proud she was of me and our children.

She’d never seen baby Kai before and so we placed him on the bed next to her. Grandma was so happy to see his chubby cheeks and listen to him coo and watch him wiggle his tiny hands and feet in the air. He looked like a potato bug that got tipped over. The sight of our 2 month old son giggling and laughing as he nestled alongside our 87 year old grandma is something I won’t forget.

Picture: Grandma reaching towards Kai

We didn’t stay long. Each of our kids came over to the bed to say goodbye. Kim and I each held her hand. We both had tears in our eyes. As I held her hand I knew it would be the last time I saw her alive. I am certain she knew it too.

We returned to my parents home and packed our bags for the return trip to Seattle the next morning. I thought of the many great memories I have of my Grandma and Grandpa Nordquist. They attended dozens of baseball, basketball and football games while I was in high school. No matter how I performed, they would hug me and tell me I played well. They made me feel important. That must be a requirement to become a grandparent.

We left Ogden around noon for the long drive back to Seattle. We drove north past Brigham City and then over into Idaho and on to Boise. We continued into Oregon passing Baker City and Pendleton before crossing into Washington State. Kim mentioned how many stars she could see due to the clear sky. As we drove through Snoqualmie Pass at three in the morning I mentioned to Kim how cool the snow and the lights looked as they glistened against the ski runs that were outlined by tall pine trees. It was about this time that my Grandma Nordquist passed away.

She went to sleep and didn’t wake up. I can picture her being reunited with my Grandpa and how happy she must be. I’m glad I had the chance to spend some time with her during those last few hours.

More Snow on Sunday

We woke up to more snow this morning and our kids can’t get enough of it. About the only one not excited about the white stuff is Elka our boxer. There was already a lot of snow on the ground at my parents house and today’s storm brought another four inches for the kids to run, skip and dance through.There’s something about a yard full of fresh power that calls to the kids. We’ve been keeping my parents dryer running non-stop attempting to keep the kids in dry clothes. The cold hands and feet and faces don’t seem to keep them inside for long.

We are hoping for a break in the weather tomorrow as was make the sixteen hour drive back to Seattle. Our kids will miss their grandparents and cousins. They will also miss the snow, the slush and the special snowballs only dad can pack.

Technorati Tags: Utah,Snow

Snow Fun in Utah

We are visiting family in Ogden, UT this week. Having lots of snow to play in is sure a treat for our kids who don’t see much snow in Seattle. Although they don’t have proper outerwear, they enjoyed tossing snowballs at each other and running through the huge piles of snow. It doesn’t hurt when they have a Grandpa who makes hot chocolate for them when their little hands and feet get too cold.

Makes me not want to go back to rainy Seattle.

Technorati Tags: Ogden Utah,Snow

Online Backup with Jungle Disk

I’ve had this recurring dream where I wake up to our house on fire. As I scramble out of bed, I yell to Kim, “You grab the kids and I’ll grab the external hard drive!!”

The point is that as our lives become more digitalized, the more important a backup solution becomes. We now have close to 23 GB of digital pictures on local drives at our home. The bulk of these were taken around the time each of our four children were born.

Tonight I asked Kim, “How much are those pictures worth to you?”

Up until now my backup solution has consisted of keeping a local copy on a hard drive separate from the operating system. Then each week I copy these same files over to a Maxtor Shared Storage that our three computers can easily access over the network. This is an adequate solution as long as at least one of the drives doesn’t fail (15% of external hard drives fail within 5 years) or are damaged or stolen.

I’ve been toying with the idea of adding a Windows Home Server to the mix on account of a friend’s recommendation. I manually handle some of the same tasks that WHS does automatically like imaging all three of my machines. Currently, I use Acronis True Image Home to take a weekly image. But I still run into the issue of having everything stored on a drive or machine at my home. And, although it would suck to have to reinstall Windows and all my applications, I’d be in far worse shape losing my pictures, documents and music.

So I’ve been researching online backup offerings over the past few weeks. I came close to going with Mozy which I still believe would be a good solution if all I wanted was backup and restore functionality. Mozy isn’t the best solution for those that want to share files or access them via web browser.

The Twitter crowd steered me into looking at backup solutions based on Amazon’s S3 Simple Storage Service. I wrote about this service a few weeks ago, but one feature that influenced my decision, was the “pay for what you use” pricing structure. I also like that Amazon is a big company that isn’t going to disappear one night with all my data. I trust they will be around for a long time.

I started by looking over the helpful list of Amazon S3 backup tools that Jeremy Zawodny put together. I asked my followers on Twitter what they use to narrow it down even more. After a number of recommendations from people I trust like Jamie Phelps and Marina Martin I decided to go with Jungle Disk. This is an interesting offering in that Jungle Disk charges $20 for their small and simple backup software that connects to the S3 service. Patience is required to get things setup properly, but I was off and running in ~30 minutes.

I’m currently backing up all my documents which consist mostly of Microsoft Office files. I’m also backing up my Outlook .PST file and all my digital photographs which takes up about 23 GB. Here is a picture of the current backup job:

The software is very easy to use if not very pretty. I don’t care how it looks as long as it works! As you can see, Jungle Disk estimates it will take another three days for the backup to complete. I am connected to the internet via Qwest DSL line with a 500-600 kb/s upload speed. I hardly notice it’s uploading files in the background even with three computers browsing the net simultaneously.

If you’re familiar with other backup programs you’ll find Jungle Disk very easy to use. On the configuration screen, I tell it which folders to backup. You can also select individual files. Here I’ve selected my Documents, PST file and photos directories:

One of the primary reasons I chose Jungle Disk was that it gave me access to all my files from a browser. It’s not fancy but it works. Here’s how it looks from within Firefox:

I hope I never have to do a full restore. But I feel I’ll be a lot better prepared now than I was last week when I was relying on a couple of consumer grade hard drives. That piece of mind is well worth the estimated $7 to $10/month the service will cost. I’ll post an update once I have everything backed up and restore a few directories. I don’t anticipate any problems given how smoothly things have worked so far, but time will tell.

I’m interested to hear what other backup solutions (on and offline) people are using.

Technorati Tags: Jungle Disk, Amazon S3, Web Services, Online Backup, Maxtor

No Coasting Devices allowed

I enjoy coming across awkward signs that exist because one bozo customer tried to pull a fast one. Take this sign near the drive-thru window at Jack-in-the-Box that was plastered next to the “No Smoking” and “Your Comments Welcome” signs:

Walk up guests will not be served at the drive-thru. This includes guests on coasting devices and non-motorized vehicles that have been altered

What exactly is a “coasting device”? I assume it means a skateboard but that’s more a kick, coast and attempt a “flip the board over” stunt that fails 99% of the time device. Have you ever seen a punk on a skateboard actually land a single trick? I haven’t.

And when is the last time you’ve pulled up to a drive-thru in a non-motorized vehicle that’s been altered? Is this the Fred Flintstone mobile? Or a Razor scooter with a jet engine fastened to the rear? No clue.

I’d love to know what prompted Jack-in-the-Box to print such a sign. I picture some mad scientist floating down to the window via personal jet pack and the poor employee having to decide if that qualifies as a vehicle. So the lawyers got together and came up with a watered down sign that means diddly-squat to the rest of us.

I wish they would include pictures of devices they don’t allow. You know, in case I finally develop that hovercraft I’ve been building in my mind.

Technorati Tags: Jack-in-the-Box

Strange Windows Error Message

Before I could install updated drivers for my Creative X-Fi soundcard this evening, I had to reboot my Windows XP machine. When I tried doing so, Windows popped up this error message and wouldn’t let me reboot my machine!

I have no idea what “long operation” Windows is referring to and firing up the Task Manager wasn’t any help in uncovering it. And if I don’t know what it’s called I certainly can’t CANCEL IT.

Maybe XP is still upset I left her for Vista for a few months before regaining my sanity and returning home to XP.

Technorati Tags: Creative X-Fi, Windows XP

Worth the extra cost

Although I enjoy computers and gadgets I seldom buy the latest cutting edge computer parts, cell phones, MP3 players and most other gadgets. One pays a hefty premium to have the latest and greatest gadgets. Ask anyone who stood in line to buy an Apple iPhone the first day it was available if they felt a little ripped off when the price was dropped $200 a short time later. Such items command such a premium when first released that it’s usually wise to hold off till the 2nd generation arrives and the kinks are worked out.

For electronic gadgets, my rule is thumb is to purchase one generation removed from the very latest models. I’ve made a few exceptions, but that rule has served me quite well over the years. There are a few exceptions such as soundcards and the monitor I mention below, but it’s certainly true for the top of line computer chips, video cards and phones.

But there are a few items I’m willing to pay top dollar for even when they cost two or three times as much as other brands I could buy. Here are a few of them items:

Dress Shoes – I hate poorly made shoes. I’d rather have two pairs of great quality shoes than a closet full of shoes from Payless. I started buying casual and dress shoes made by Ecco about ten years ago and they are simply amazing. I was hooked the first time I tried on a pair. They are so comfortable and so well-made that I consider them a bargain at $150-$250/pair. I’ve also had good luck with Timberland, Doc Martin and Cole Haan. But none are as comfortable as my Ecco. I always keep a black and burgundy pair in my closet and they last for years if treated properly.

Ecco Berlin Plain Toe Tie

Wallets – I’ve purchased a number of less expense wallets and they fell apart after just a few months. The last thing I want are credit cards or my driver’s license falling out of an old grungy, beat up wallet. My current wallet is one that I bought for Kim about eight years ago at Nordstrom but that I inherited when I bought her a matching Coach wallet to go with her purse. The wallet is made by Ghurka and cost $150 which still seems like a lot of money to spend on a very simple man’s wallet. But I use it everyday and it gets better with age. Not a single stitch has come loose and I’ll buy another one exactly like it if it ever wears out.

Ghurka Men’s International Wallet

Laptop/Diaper Bag– Another item I use everyday and don’t mind spending extra for is a good laptop bag. This is where I keep my work files, my iPod, wallet, umbrella and laptop. About ten years ago I purchased a travel bag from Andiamo for $350 that traveled with me around the world. I beat the crap out of that bag, and took advantage of its lifetime warranty a few times until the zipper gave out and the store told me it couldn’t be fixed. Luckily they gave me a sizeable store credit which I used to purchase a smaller Tumi laptop bag last summer that I blogged about here. I hope it holds up as well as my Andiamo did. Cost: $250.

Tumi FXT Ballistic Business Brief

Kim carries around a diaper bag we bought from Timbuk2 and a purse from Coach. We’ve loved the Timbuk2 bag so far and we pack that sucker to the brim everyday. It’s a bag that looks better the more you bang it around.

Timbuk2 Original Cargo Tote

Strollers – We bought a cheapo Graco stroller from Target when our first baby arrived and it fell apart after about a year. The wheels tore apart and the folding mechanism would constantly jam. We probably got our money’s worth but we decided to spend a bit more on our last two strollers. We recently bought a single Peg Perego stroller from Albee Baby that we like although we haven’t used it much yet. But it’s lightweight and very well made so I’m sure we’ll use it a lot. Peg Perego strollers start in the low $200s.

Peg Perego Pliko P3 Classico

Nearly four years ago we purchased a Maclaren twin stroller from Albee Baby that’s become one of our favorite kids items. Our three oldest children have been pushed around in that stroller for miles and miles. I never thought we’d get so much use out of a twin stroller but this Maclaren is so awesome we look for opportunities to use it. If you check the Albee Baby website you can find the twin for under $400. That’s a lot of money for a stroller but I believe it’s been well worth it.

Maclaren Twin Techno Stroller

Computer Monitors – I sit at a computer for over 12 hours most days and my eyes strain unless I’m looking at a very clear, good quality LCD monitor. In fact, I’m much more productive with two monitors that I can’t imagine going back to even a larger single monitor. I’ve used monitors from Samsung, Dell, and Viewsonic and they aren’t bad. But none are in the same ballpark as my two NEC Multisync 90GX monitors. The NECs cost more than the others but are so much better I consider them a bargain given their quality. The prices and models change often but expect to pay a 50-60% premium over a similar sized Dell monitor.

NEC 90GX2 Pro LCD Monitor

Headphones – I was hesitant to list this one because I’ve already written about them so much. But don’t spend $300 on an iPod and then expect your music to sound good on the freebie white headphones. Spend $60 and pickup a pair of Sennheiser PX100s and you’ll be blown away at how much better your music sounds. I bought a pair of the black models but they also have white for those who must maintain their hip iPod style. They also fold up and come with a sweet case.

Sennheiser PX100 Portable Headphones

When I’m at my computer, I listen to my music on a Soundblaster X-Fi soundcard output to a pair of Grado SR80 headphones. The X-Fi will take most of the digital sound processing off your CPU giving you excellent sound quality without taxing your system. You can’t do better than a pair of Grado SR80 ($100) without spending two or three times as much. They are an amazing value and have become a cult favorite of the audio enthusiasts.

Grado SR80 Headphones

Socks and Ties – I’ve found that it doesn’t pay to buy cheap ties and socks. I’ll buy less expensive brands of pants and even shirts but not socks or ties. I’ll usually hit the Ralph Lauren Polo outlet for socks and wait for the Nordstrom Men’s sale right after Christmas to pickup a few Robert Talbott ties that run about $50 on sale.

Robert Talbott Regimental Stripe Tie

Technorati Tags: Ecco, Grado, Robert Talbott, Timbuk2, Tumi, Ghurka, Sennheiser, NEC, Maclaren, Peg Perego

Verizon Store observations

I visited a Verizon Wireless store today. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Most of the floor space is dedicated to new phones and the employees outnumber the customers 3 to 1.

Today I wanted to purchase an extended battery for Kim’s Motorola Q. I figured I’d be in and out of the store in under 5 minutes. I was wrong. Here are a few observations from today’s visit to the Verizon store:

It’s All About the Phones – The store’s layout and positioning is geared to sell you a phone. The more expensive phones are up front, close to the register and all are positioned just below eye level making them easy to try out.
Look-a-Like Accessories – The phone accessories are hung below the phones, making them all look alike and hard to reach. Best I could tell, 95% them were cheap phone cases. Also, don’t assume the accessories found under the phone are made for that model. You may have to wander around the store, bending down under each set of phones to find that holster to fit your Voyager.
You’ll Need to Stand in Line – If you’re after a more expensive accessory such as a $49 extended battery, you’ll need to stand in line behind those people who haven’t figured out how to pay a bill online. They write checks, ask insane questions and are in a general state of confusion.

While waiting in line for my extended battery, one lady had her laptop on the counter trying to connect to the internet. I wondered if she confused this store with Apple “Genius Bar”. Another guy couldn’t figure out how to pay his bill. A Verizon employee was patiently attempting to help him but to no avail. He might have had more luck if the customer wasn’t on a phone call the entire time.

Hey Verizon, how about opening up a line for those who know how to work their phones and pay bills online and just need a fricking accessory? Even better, how about putting the batteries NEAR THE COUNTER so I can grab one, pay and get back to my life?

Then again, maybe I’ll just avoid the frustrations next time by ordering online.

Technorati Tags: Verizon Store, Verizon Wireless, Motorola Q

Thoughts on crazy Microsoft offer for Yahoo

Back when I worked as a contractor at Microsoft this small web-based email company sprouted out of nowhere. Nearly everyone I knew setup an account. It was called Hotmail and back in 1996 it was pretty cool to be able to access your email from any computer connected to the net using a web browser. Microsoft’s fledgling MSN Services group came along and bought Hotmail for $400 million which was a staggering price at the time. The joke among many of my coworkers was that Microsoft paid a mint for a domain name believing that $400 million should be able to build a pretty sophisticated web mail platform. But Microsoft was really paying for Hotmail’s nearly 9 million users.

What does this have to do with Microsoft nutty offer to purchase to Yahoo for over $44 billion? Well, I believe Microsoft is in a similar position with their online advertising platform that they were over 10 years ago with online properties such as web mail. Purchasing Hotmail was publicly admitting they missed the web mail trend and that it was better to overpay for an existing business than build one from scratch. Microsoft’s hostel bid for Yahoo is publicly admitting they would rather buy their way into the online advertising game with Google than build their own. If I worked for any of Microsoft online advertising efforts I’d take the Yahoo offer as a slap in the face and assume Balmer doesn’t trust his own troops to build a Google competitor. Both Microsoft and Yahoo’s efforts in the online ad space pale in comparison to what Google has been doing for years now. Does Balmer believe that two negatives will make a positive?

Part of me would like to see the purchase go through if only to inject some excitement into Microsoft. Microsoft has basically given up on the consumer space (Xbox and Zune are exceptions) while the profits continue to roll in from sales of Offices, SQL and Windows server products. Yahoo’s services and products are mostly geared to consumers and maybe some of that will rub off on Microsoft employees who look about as excited as you’d imagine selling another copy of SQL Server two thousand and whateverthehell version they are on now.

I really doubt it matters much either way. And I agree with something my coworker said today, “Someday someone will buy Microsoft”.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Yahoo, Hotmail, Steve Balmer

Tale of two automotive service departments

We own two cars: A Honda Odyssey and a BMW 325i. Kim hauls the kids around in the Honda and I pamper the crap out of the BMW during my 1 mile drive to the park and ride each day of the week. Then, on the weekends, I drive it like a bat out of hell.

I’ve had both cars long enough to experience the service departments at each local dealer. And they couldn’t be more different from each other.

I noticed a light out on the instrument panel of the Honda the same day the new transmission was installed. So I took it back to Hinshaw’s Honda to see if they could fix it (the light worked before I took it in for repairs). I waited over 30 minutes in the service area and finally went up to the desk to see if I should come back later. The guy said, “Oh I forgot about you…what did you need again?”

Eventually a service technician escorted me to my car where I showed him the light that was out and this conversation took place:

Honda tech: “Yep, a bulb is out. We’ll have to pull the dash to get to it”

Me: “Wow, pull the entire dash?”

Honda tech: “That’s the only way to get to it. Maybe next time you come in for an oil change. It will take a few hours”

Me: “So I can’t just pull the instrument panel off to reach the bulbs like I did with my BMW? I can feel four screws that should remove the panel”

Honda tech: “Well….it takes special tool to remove those”

Me: “Like a Torx screwdriver?”

Honda tech: (visibly annoyed) “Those will release the whole dash. Most people wouldn’t attempt that”

Me: “I’ll search for instructions on the Honda forums. Thanks for your help”

I got in my van and drove home in a very grumpy mood having wasted an hour of my Saturday morning dealing with people who assume I know nothing about my car.

And that is the biggest difference I’ve noticed between Honda and BMW service departments. BMW assumes I’m a smart owner and doesn’t treat me like an idiot, whereas the Honda dealer believes I’m barely qualified to pump my own gas.

Technorati Tags: Honda Odyssey, BMW