Well, this last month wasn’t the best.  My Uncle Laird passed away.  It’s sad because he was my godfather and an all around cool guy:  a former marine, a security guard turn manager at Northrup Grumman, and an avid football/baseball fan.  I saw him last in April when he and my Aunt Pat visited us (they’re from Maryland).  A coworker had given me two tickets to the Cardinals game against Houston, and I decided to take him.  We shot the breeze, talked about the Orioles, and updated curious fans nearby about who the Rams had picked during the NFL draft:  my iPhone’s battery really worked hard that day!  The game was one to remember, too.  Schumaker hit in the game winning run in the bottom of the 9th!  I was reminded of this today as I watched the Fox Midwest Sports channel as I worked out today:  Schumaker’s hit was the 4th or 5th best play of the season.  After the ballgame, we met up with the rest of the family who had went to the zoo, and ate at Cunnetto’s House of Pasta.  Every time they come out, we would go there.  Uncle Laird and I got the Bistecca Soto (which is awesome btw), and it was nice to have the whole family there enjoying a good meal.

A little over a month later,  Uncle Ron (my grandmother’s nephew) died at 51, and then a weak later, I learned that Uncle Laird had a heart attack and a triple bypass, but it seemed he might pull out.  My cousin Brian, Ron’s son and the same age as I am, not only lost his father, but lost Uncle Laird three weeks later:  he even noted that Uncle Laird was coughing a lot and didn’t seem alright.  Brian’s a great guy, and I’ve been thinking about him a lot because these events really wore down his spirit.  It’s sad that it took my Uncle’s passing to reconnect with that part of the family, and it’s a sad coincidence because I had planned on seeing them this summer anyway.  I think I will anyway!  So anyway, to finish this rambling blog post, I just want to say farewell to Uncle Laird and I’ll always remember you.

This is why you never want to work in front of a green screen. Oh John McCain…if only you knew something about technology…tsk tsk…

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Tonight, Hillary Clinton challenged Americans to write her and tell her what she should do next. I say we take her up on that! Here is my e-mail to her:

Senator Clinton,
You asked us tonight to write to you. You wanted our opinion on what you should do next. Well, as a Democrat, you should concede as soon as possible and as graciously as possible. No waiting around trying to strike a deal with Senator Obama and no back door politics. You’ve represented the old way of politics this last election and you’ve never grasped what Senator Obama has done organizationally and politically. It’s time to stop, and get on board.

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Lately, it seems I’m being pulled in many different directions:  is it an inability to say, “No,” am I just managing my time poorly, or am I just succumbing to false expectations of myself?   I definitely know the first one contributes a lot.  I feel I’m agreeing to do anything and everything when asked for favors/jobs/social time.  I also know I could manage my time better:  this is especially true in the sleep department.  I need to get more of it so that I can stay focused during the day and have that additional energy to start/finish projects.  But, everyone tells me I expect too much out of myself.  I don’t know if that’s good or not.   I hope they don’t have low expectations of me (I really don’t think that…) or they’re just telling me to relax and enjoy the present.  Taking these last couple weeks, I’ve seen an improvement in my productive time without sacrificing the me time.  But, I’m not quite where I want to be…I’ll know it when I get there in the next couple weeks…

Anyway, I’ve updated my Wordpress to 2.51, and I hope this means this website will run smoother and securely.  Oh, I’m also going to add a new commenting system using intensedebate.com’s commenting ecosystem (a funny word to use in the digital world, but if I do succeed in creating a community here, then ecosystem isn’t too far off the mark!).  So if you see something here that needs to be commented on, go right ahead and do it!

If you’re not on Twitter, you might not understand it.  It’s like biodiesel.  You know it’s good, you might know someone who uses it, but you have no idea why or how to use it.  Plus, twitter even smells like Chinese food or french fries when you burn it!  :P  Ok, not really.  I’ve been finding Twitter really useful.  Since people are limited to communicating in 140 character blurbs (aka:  Tweets), they’re like useful digital fortune cookies, or maybe it’s more like a minute by minute zeitgeist barometer.  Well, whatever clever (or not so clever) metaphor I come up with, Twitter has been delivering tidbits of golden information to my digital front door.  I’ve discovered new music, websites, news, and productivity tips.  You are either followed or you follow others on Twitter.  I follow those who I think might offer something useful to me.  Hopefully, those who follow me feel the same way about my tweets.  But there’s also a social aspect.  I’m definitely using Twitter as a networking tool.  There are a lot of cool local professionals and artists on Twitter, and it’s been rewarding to peak into their life for that brief moment they post a tweet. You can really get lost in all those tweets flashing by on your screen (and if you really want a wast of time where tweets litterally flash across the screen, then go to Twistori.com!)

But as someone who will venture into biodiesel this summer (ok, getting back to this post’s theme), I need to be careful with it.  I don’t want to waste my time on it and not get anything in return.  If I get that Mercedes diesel, I need to know if I’m going to save on fuel costs.  On Twitter, if I’m not getting anything useful from it, I need to reign it in and stop spending productive time on it.  Like anything, it’ll be all good in moderation.  If you’re not on twitter, get on it and follow my twitter account mixmistakooz  (if you live in the STL, then also follow STL_Twits).

Last month, I challenged myself to drive with ninja-like tactics to get as many miles per gallon that my four cylinder, ‘04 Honda Accord could get.  It gets 32 Hwy and 23 City and about 28-29 combined.  With my “ninja driving,” I got around 33 mpg combined!  Not bad!  With gas prices rising, this is a sensible thing to do in order to save extra money/go more places. With a gallon of gas up to $3.70, that roughly translates to 11 cents a mile (3.70 dollars per gallon divided by 33 mpg).

How much is it per mile to take the Metrolink and how does that factor into my overall cost per mile?  Well, to take the Metrolink from my home to work, it’s four dollars round trip.  Now, here’s my dilemma:  do I figure out the cost per mile as if I was driving from work or do I compute it as actual distance on the Metrolink?  The Metro is a bit more direct than driving, but I don’t think it’s not too far off.  Since I drive to the Metro station, I’ll compute it from the driving distance from the Metro station.  That sounds like a reasonable compromise.  21.7 miles each way from the station versus 24.5 miles from my house.  At 43.4 miles, the cost per mile is 9 cents (4/43.4).  It would take $4.77 in gas to travel 43.4 miles (43.4*.11).  It would cost 5.39 to drive from my house (49 miles * .11).  Factor in that I travel 4.4 miles round trip to and from the station, an extra 48 cents, it costs 4.48 (metro fare + (4.4*.11)) round trip:  a savings of 91 cents!  Basically, I save a buck, every time I take the Metrolink.  That’s easy math.  Take the Metro 10 times a month, I save 120 bucks a year.    If I continue to ninja drive and take the Metro, then I’m easily saving over $256 a year doing this (If gas stays at 3.70 per gallon).  That’s basically a car payment for me.

But I think it’s more than that.  Not only am I helping the environment by not driving my car, I’m also getting more exercise (I walk a fair distance from the metro to work), and plus, I’m extending the life of my car and keeping it’s value up.  It’s a win/win situation!

I just want to lament the fact that Bill Moyers doesn’t get more widely distributed.  It seems that not having a profit-driven agenda (like CNN, FOX, and MSNBC) means your message is less important.  Disinterested examinations of a topic have little validity in the mainstream media:  when in fact, the opposite should be true.  I just watched Bill Moyer’s report and interview with Jermiah Wright, Barack Obama’s former pastor, and it was as evenhanded as possible.  He had a civil discussion with Wright, and wanted to understand him and his views.  If this had happened on one of the cable news stations or major networks, they would have been focused solely on “gotcha” questions and not delved into any substance.  Our news media is in a sad state.

This also leads me (well, actually it doesn’t) to a short review of the lastest version of Ubuntu Linux Hardy Heron (apparently Ubuntu likes to give thier operating system versions animal names).  Ubuntu is one of many flavors of Linux, an open source, free operating system.  The problem with Linux in general is that it’s hard to use:  only hardcore geeks need apply.  The latest version of Ubuntu has lowered the bar significantly in terms of ease of use.  To use isntall it and use the preloaded programs (like Firefox, OpenOffice, etc), you just need to be comfortable using a computer, but if you want to install new programs, there might still be some snags.  One might need to delve into the command line, fix some permissions, or search for hard to find drivers.   But, overall, it’s a solid, stable platform that made a nice leap forward in ease of use!

Last week, I went to Atlanta for the FIRST Robotic’s World Championship at the Georgia Dome.  If you’ve been following my tweets, you should already know this.  It was a wonderful time!  I was head referee for the Curie field (at the World Championship, there are four fields with 80 teams per field and then the winners from each field go to the championship “Einstein” field”)  There were teams from all of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Israel, and Brazil.  Next year, there will be teams from New Zealand too!  The competition was intense, but as a ref, very challenging to referee.  If you want to view some matches, go to thebluealliance.net to see some.  I recommend the championship matches.

I also want to thank Paul for being a good travel buddy, Ian from Phoenix for being a good head ref mentor and new friend, same with Aidan Browne, and Hogan Eng for being an all around nice guy (and picking up the tab at Morton’s!).  Oh, and shout outs to Terell and Roxie for being being funny and cool to work with.  That also includes the others on my ref crew:  Chris, Alan, Michael, Michael, Brandon, Steve, and Liz.

I had an interesting experience the other night:  I was invited backstage to Steve Job’s keynote announcing the 3G iPhone.  It was really exciting!  I’ve had my iPhone since the day it came out last June, and honestly, it feels as if I’ve had it for a lot longer!  I guess my constant use of the iPhone prompted my invitation backstage to get a first look at the 3G iPhone.  It was about the same thickness of the original iPhone, but the face was black and a bit of a vshape at the bottom where the home button is located.  It was just absolutely exciting to be there backstage.  I took in the nighttime scene behind the stage:  the tall redwood trees were swaying behind the outdoor ampitheater, while off in the distance, the Ewok village rested peacefully.  So yea, I must really want the next generation iPhone because I was dreaming.  Dreaming!  It’s my subconscious telling me to save up for the next iPhone, and that Steve Jobs uses Ewoks to build and design the iPhone.  Interesting insight.

With gas at 3.25-3.50 a gallon, it’s getting really expense to drive back and forth from work five days a week.  So, I decided to see how much gas I save by driving a certain way:  ninja driving.  According to maps.google.com, the trip is exactly 24.5 miles which is 49 miles round trip.  According to www.fueleconomy.gov, my car gets about 31 mpg highway, and 23 city.  It’s four cylinder, manual, Honda Accord Coupe.

According to the way of the ninja…driver, there are certain techniques one can use to maximize your fuel economy:  this is especially true for those of us who drive manuals.  For example, on relatively steep inclines, you either put the car out of gear or push in the clutch.   When getting off the highway or stopping for a red light, I also do this.  I use the car’s natural momentum and friction to get me to the light, yet slow me down enough to minimize wear on the brake pads.  However, there are two things that I think really help:  1) when I accelerate, I make sure I don’t get above 2000 rpms.  By doing this, my acceleration is slower, but accelerating too aggressively burns a lot of gas!  Acceleration and deceleration are the reasons why city driving burns up so much gas.  2)  I either go the speed limit or just five miles above it.  I keep it under 2k rpm as much as possible, but this isn’t possible for safe driving on highways: thus my five mph rule.  When it gets up to 65 or 70, I try my best to stay at the speed limit.

With this in mind, here are the results of my “ninja” driving.  I topped off my tank, set my trip meter to “0,” and I drove for about a week and a half on one tank of gas.  That doesn’t say much, but after filling up my tank with 13.119 gallons of gas and the trip meter at 437.8 miles, with ninja driving, I was able to get 33.17 mile per gallon!  Keep in mind this is a combined result!  The combined result of my car for “normal” driving is 26 mpg, but this assumes 50/50 highway/city driving.  I probably do 80/20, and so, my combined mpg should be closer to 30.5 mpg.  So, basically, I got an extra 2.6 miles per gallon.  On a 13 gallon tank, that’s an extra 33.8 miles!  If I’m buying a tank of gas every week and half, that’s 36 tanks of gas a year.  By ninja driving, I can go an extra 1216.8 miles at no additional gas costs -or- save $117.36 a year on gas (at 3.26 a gallon).  That’s nothing to sneeze at!

My new project is to see how much money per mile I spend to get to and from work by using a combination of the Metrolink and driving!  We’ll see how that turns out!