Woot, top post!

I did that just to bother Kat. We're sitting at an Open Mike at the local coffee shop listening to upstarts, wannabes, progressing artists ... and a few freaks. Normal offerings in North Park. Ooh. Opera. Mixed feelings about that one, truly not something I was expecting at a coffee shop.

I'm actually working. Obviously not as I write this, I'm writing between kicking things off and watching log files scroll by. I had to get the system to myself and night-time is the only chance I have to do that.

This weekend promises to be nothing but work. The Qualcomm Year End party is on Friday night, so that is the kind of work I don't mind. Just for the fun of it Kat and I decided to go retro this year and went to a place called Frock You! that deals in vintage clothing. Kat got a beautiful dress that looks like a 20s flapper dress (but we were assured was 60s, because they loved the 20s, that says something about cyclical fashion trends) and I picked up a suit circa 1940s, with suspenders and matching shirt. I decided to go without the tie, I'll be a crazy 1940s tieless rebel. I still have to go pick up a fedora to match the outfit, luckily there is the Village Hat Shop here in San Diego and has a wide range of hats to choose from. We'll have to post some pictures once we've gotten all dolled up. Kat looks stunning, as per normal :)

Sadly the rest of the weekend is me going in on Saturday to support a large release of new code, then being on call all Sunday for changes that are going through. Does it suck? Yes indeed it does.

I'll post a link to some pictures from six flags once I'm back on my own computer, I don't have them on the laptop. I must say that I managed a big Karma boost, I drove to six flags and sat outside the rides waiting while all the adrenaline freaks had their fixes. In my mind I was figuring out their wait:ride ratio, and it wasn't good. Assuming 2min per ride (and that is pretty generous) and five rides they went on the ratio was around 30:1. I did manage to get through the previous weeks Economist and half way through the new week, so not all was lost :P

The pictures are from a ride called Tatsu that looked ... well nausea inducing. They hung down from those supports and got thrown around a lot. You'll have to read from somebody who would enjoy that sort of thing a better explanation, I don't understand it. I did chat with a lady whose 70 year old husband was also in line to ride that thing, seems he had 'corrupted' the grand children into enjoying them. Given that our only common discussion point was a dislike of rides we didn't have a long conversation. Short sentences, sighs of common troubles, smirks of understanding, eye rolling, raised eyebrows, uncomfortable silences, shuffling, relieved partings.

Just in case people are wondering, the other guy in the photos is Todd, a friend from work. He really likes rides so he was more than happy to come along. Todd enjoys them, but I think Lisa tops that, she has a manic focus: she had a list of the top rides she wanted to go on. I felt like being part of themepark elite force: maximum rides, minimum time. go Go GO! I know some of you are pondering how somebody can manage a 'manic focus', she pulled it off, it's a little scary.
For those of you in Southern California, Todd's single, a really nice guy, and plays in a band. Heavy metal appreciation only.
The other person in the picture is Kat, you probably can't tell with all that hair in the way.

Links to pictures:

Lisa_visit_2006