I enjoyed spending the day with my dad and celebrated his 80th birthday along with my brother and his family. The milestone was merely a number for my dad since he is doing great and has no complaints. We took him out to dinner and probably enjoyed a little too much cake and ice cream when we returned home — thanks mom.
Unfortunately my wife and daughter were not able to make it since they have been planning to be in Cleveland for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships since last year, but they were having a great time reconnecting with friends and skaters. I watched the last hour on NBC after returning home Saturday night as Alissa Czisny rebounded to win the women’s title. I’ll look forward to getting the ‘scoop’ from my daughter.
As a family we spent many years either at the rink or at competitions with my daughter while she was a member of the Queen City Figure Skating Club. I spent many mornings taking her to practice at 5AM for practice and getting her to school before classes started. My son remembers sitting at the Bob Evan’s restaurant reviewing his spelling words every Friday morning — I’d like to say it helped? Nevertheless it was a great time of bonding over breakfast even if our eyes were half shut.
Although we watch our daughter competed at the regional and junior levels, we never made it to the national championships. Thankfully for my wife and daughter, they were able to do it without the stress of competing this year. Figure skating was a great sport, particularly for my daughter; it not only developed her into a physically toned and confident athlete, but taught her poise, grace and discipline, which she exhibits everyday.
As for Saturday’s winner, Alissa Czisny at 21 years old beat the reigning world junior champion Rachael Flatt. Her skate was elegant even though she wasn’t able to land her jumps perfectly. The Associated Press called Alissa’s win, “a rebound for the ages,” … and although I wouldn’t go that far, it was great to see someone closer to my daughters age win at nationals.
This post is serving double duty: First a friend mentioned that my RSS feed looked a little different to him, and second, this video from Rex the Dog was just plain impressive.
Here are a few photos (Treo photos posted to Twitpic) while adding another 700 miles to my Honda Pilot. I would have preferred driving an efficient and long lasting diesel, but feel fortunate to be able to fill with unleaded regular for $1.78/gallon today.
The Transition is another one of those flying car “dream” ideas (or as Terrafugia calls it, “a roadable aircraft”) which seems to be really moving closer in bringing driving and flying together. According to a the company’s website, this concept car/plane was founded in 2006 by a group of MIT students. They have work diligently on the protype and are seriously planning on delivering these vehicles. The sell price is currently noted as $194,000 and the company as already taken deposits for 40 Transitions for a first delivery in 2010.
What is unique about this “Sport Aircraft” is that it falls in to the Sport Pilot category and looks to be able to make driving to the airport and taking off in the same vehicle a reality (nice to be able to save that $200+/mo. on on hanger space). What makes this new aircraft possible are the advances in materials and propulsion technology not afford before composites and lightweight, but high performance engines.
Convenience Front wheel drive on the ground
Automotive-style entry and exit
Automated electromechanical folding wing
No trailer or hangar needed
Cargo area holds skis, fishing poles or golf clubs
Safety
Drive in case of inclement weather
Proven 100 hp Rotax 912S engine
Full vehicle parachute available
Modern glass avionics
Automotive crash safety features
The Wall Street Journal‘s Personal Technology columnist Walt Mossberg has given his preliminary review of Microsoft’s recently released beta Windows 7. According to Mossberg, the most important improvement from the much maligned Vista OS is speed. In his initial tests, “even the beta version of Windows 7 was dramatically faster than Vista at such tasks as starting up the computer, waking it from sleep and launching programs.”
Walt Mossberg goes on to say that the “speed boost wasn’t only apparent in the preconfigured machine from Microsoft, but on [his] own Sony, which had been a dog using Vista.”
As a grumpy Vista OS user myself, I’m looking forward to giving it a go … but am unsure what computer to test it on? I also use a couple Macs so no snide comments are necessary.
The long running weekly PBS automotive program Motorweek reviewed the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI on last weekend’s show. As expected, they gave it a pretty decent review mentioning that it is now 50 state legal and clarified the emission control features that differentiates it from the “AdBlue” diesels.
The Historic Inauguration of President Barack Obama - view on Jan. 20, 2009
On January 20, 2009, Americans saw the power of peaceful change as President George Walker Bush stepped aside and heard the crowds cheered as President Barack Hussein Obama took office. Throngs of well-wishers filled Washington DC preceding today’s inauguration and many others gathered around televisions to watch this historic moment. It is a great testament to our great country to see such a site.
(Flickr.com slideshow removed)
I enjoyed the ceremony on television (some of it) and found it impressive to see past Presidents and Vice Presidents, and their wives, all gathered to welcome the Obamas and Bidens. Pastor Rick Warren delivered the prayer (mp3), Chief Justice Roberts swore in the new President and our new Commander in Chief delivered an inspiring inauguration speech.
Change has come to Whitehouse.gov too -- linked to 'new' site
The Wallstreet Journal took a look at the job approval rating of our Presidents.
The graph illustrates public opinion of Presidents from Truman through George W. Bush. Th popularity of each President rises and falls as they were faced different crisis situations. Only President Truman and George W. Bush have seen both support as high as 80% and as low as 20% in their terms.
Detailed graphs for each President (and key crisis points) are below. The charts show specific events that changed the way our citizens viewed the leaders of our nation. (click on each individual graph to display a larger image)
Here’s another excellent Palm Pre interview, this time a little more of “Why they will succeed” from a business oriented perspective. (also $425 million from Elevation Partners doesn’t hurt either)
“Tampa Two,” as Superbowl XLIII is being slated will be between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals.
The Steelers put down the Baltimore Ravens this weekend 23 -14 while the long time “dysfunctional” Arizona Cardinals will make there first appearance by a 32 -25 win against the Philidelphia Eagles.
I enjoyed spending the day with my dad and celebrated his 80th birthday along with my brother and his family. The milestone was merely a number for my dad since he is doing great and has no complaints. We took him out to dinner and probably enjoyed a little too much cake and ice cream when we returned home — thanks mom.
for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships since last year, but they were having a great time reconnecting with friends and skaters. I watched the last hour on NBC after returning home Saturday night as Alissa Czisny rebounded to win the women’s title. I’ll look forward to getting the ‘scoop’ from my daughter.
The 
