Blinky Lights and Shiny Objects

Here are some pictures from the trip. First, this gas station in San Francisco has solar panels on its roof. Next, I love the text on the side of this building. Unfortunately, the attraction was closed. Of course, I took plenty of pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. According to the guidebook, the bridge is orange because people liked the color of the primer so much the builder decided to stick with it. And I'll leave you with this warning sign from the Botanical Garden in the Golden Gate Park. Think they covered everything?

We returned late last night from our vacation in San Francisco. I've never done so little planning for a trip before, but it worked out really well. Thanks to Travelocity's Last Minute Packages , we got a four-night stay plus airfare for two for a total of $1070. And this time I didn't need to spend a whole Saturday researching hotels and B&Bs like I have for the last few trips. We stayed at the Executive Hotel Vintage Court . Their location is convenient to cable cars and buses, and not too far a walk from the Powell street BART station. Front desk staff were friendly (but not that fake-smile friendly) and helpful. The room was a decent size, pleasantly decorated, and well maintained. Bonus: free wine in the lobby between 5 and 6 pm, free coffee and danishes in the lobby between 7 and 9 am. Instead of renting a car and attempting to drive in the city, we were all about the public transit. We used BART for rides to and from the airport for $10.70 round trip. Th...

Start with a bowl of plain popped popcorn . Spray your popcorn with PAM to help the spices stick. Generously sprinkle with kosher salt, sparsely sprinkle with granulated sugar, sparsely sprinkle with red (cayenne) pepper, and generously sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice. Shake the bowl a little to let the spices settle and distribute more evenly. OR Try these combos on plain popped popcorn: PAM, salt, an even amount of Chinese five-spice powder and garlic powder. PAM, salt, Italian seasoning, with extra garlic powder if you like. PAM, salt, cocoa powder, chili powder, and cinnamon. (I like a bit of heat with my sweeter choices.) Popcorn is so accepting of any other flavor, you could probably steal the seasoning mixture from any favorite recipe and come out with a good result. What is the worst that happens? You pop more popcorn and try again?

It is so nice when the exact item you are shopping for is on Clearance or Deep Discount in several stores. I got five short-sleeved polo shirts for an average of $15 each. And these are nice brands: Liz Golf, Martin & Osa, and Eddie Bauer. So, they should last a few seasons longer than shirts that are usually at this price point. It was a Good Hunt. (I've been using that phrase for a successful shopping trip since I was much younger. Arriving at home with my Mom after an outing to the Bridgewater Commons, Dad would ask us how it went. If we found what we were looking for a good prices, the answer was, "It was a Good Hunt." If you think this implies that shopping would often be frustrating, with us unable to find anything that fit, you'd be correct.) A piece of information that I had not realized until I read it on a blog, possibly this bra blog , is that all ready-to-wear women's clothing is sized for a B cup. It makes everything make sense now: why ha...

Thanks to some correspondence with people involved in the new LEGOLAND, here are a bunch of details that are not yet on their website. "Soft" opening will be on July 25th, for press only in the morning and general public in the afternoon. The Grand Opening, with ribbon cutting, will be on July 31st. They will be open at 10 am each day. Tickets cost $15 children, $19 adults, $17 seniors. Year Passes for weekdays are $38 children, $48 adults. Year Passes for all days are $53 children, $67 adults. (I am considering the weekday year pass. I do not want to think about how insane this place is going to be on weekends!) The literature says "Children 2-12 and their families". Well, I don't meet that criteria, so I asked, "are adults without children allowed to attend and participate? I am 29 years old, with no kids, and many of my friends (also with no children) are big LEGO fans. Which of the exhibits and attractions would we be allowed to work with, and whi...

"Want to see what happens when an Architect and two Mechanical Engineers go to the LEGO store?" - me, on Sunday I bought the first LEGO set for myself, with my own money, that I have in a very long time. (I'm not counting the boxes of simple bricks or the grab-bag of random LEGO parts that I have bought a few times.) I got the Scuderia Ferrari Truck set, number 8654, which includes a semi trailer that holds an F1 car and a whole pit crew (with tools!) for $40, marked down from $80. Slightly more exciting, I discovered that LEGO now offers the LEGO Digital Designer software for FREE download . They were even considerate enough to let it run on my computer, which is an iBook G4 from 2004 with Mac OS 10.3.9 running on it. I feel more comfortable designing in 3D CAD systems than I do on paper, and much more comfortable than just winging it. Once you have a model designed, you can upload it to the LEGO Factory and actually buy the pieces as a set. Apparently, it arrives...