Mouthy French swimmers ‘eat crow’

Posted By on August 11, 2008

Michael PhelpsWe have once again spent our evening watching NBC’s coverage of the Olympics from Beijing China. For a second night we’ve watch the impressive Michael Phelps swim, although this time as a team of four U.S. men battled the favored French 4x 100M relay swimmers. The American team had a little extra inspiration preceding Sunday night’s race, as French world record holder Alain Bernard commented that the French relay squad would “smash” the Americans. Eat crow moi ami.

The Americans “smashed” the 4x100M relay record as anchor swimmer Jason Lezak outtouch the 100M world record holder Alain Bernard of France. The last 100M leg saw Lezak nearly a full body distance behind Bernard only to dig hard to win the race for “our” guys. The U.S. team took Gold with a 3:08.24 time ahead of the French. Way to go U.S. Olympic Swim team!

Mens relay team
Gold Medal ceremony for Men’s 4x100M Relay team

Watching the Olympics 2008, Beijing, China

Posted By on August 10, 2008

Michael Phelps wins 1st Gold
Instead of renting a movie, we watched swimming (and some beach volleyball) coming from China Saturday night here, Sunday morning there. My wife being a swimmer has been looking forward to rooting for Michael Phelps, so without objection I sat politely to watch his impressive performance … as did President Bush, although he in person. Phelps, who was favored, won his first gold this 29th Olympiad in the ‘Men’s 400m Individual Medley’ breaking the world record. Lazslo Cseh of Hungary won the silver and Ryan Lochte of the U.S. the bronze. Impressive.

Conserve fuel, inflate your tires

Posted By on August 9, 2008

TireDiscounter
A little local political humor in hopes to drum up business …
😀
“Asked at a St. Louis town hall last week how people could contribute to the effort to conserve fuel, Obama said that steps such as inflating tires to the correct levels could make a difference. Republicans have seized on the comment to suggest that the advice on tires was the sum total of the energy plan put forth by Obama.” LINK

Sen. McCain and Straight Talk Express drive by

Posted By on August 8, 2008

Straight Talk Express
Senator John McCain was speaking in the neighborhood next door at 7 PM Thursday night (Four Bridges in Liberty Township, OH), so when they headed out we all made fools of ourselves and waved as the Straight Talk Express bus as it drove by our back driveway … pretty cool to have someone running for President of the United States drive by your house!

Sen John McCain's bus
Of course not all were waving in support — LINK.
🙁

The Palm Centro — a Timex® like cellphone

Posted By on August 7, 2008

Stephen HuffHere’s a great cellphone story that was published over at the more national Palm blog, but it actually comes from my neck of the woods. The customer email praises the durability of the Centro, which reflects politively on at least one of Palms’ designs; both my wife and daughter should feel good to have such a solid little smartphone. They are also in significant company since 2-million Centros have been sold in less than a year!

Takes a licking, keeps on clicking

Built-in QWERTY keyboard: check.
One-hand navigation: check.
Instant ringer-off switch: check.
Ability to survive a fall from a super-duper roller coaster ride followed by a drenching in the pouring rain: check?

It wasn’t exactly in the product spec, but one Palm Centro user in Ohio shared this story about how his Centro survived all that and still works as good as new.

I own a Palm Centro through Sprint and wanted to tell you how amazingly well it’s made. On Friday, I was at our local amusement park, King’s Island. While on a roller coaster, my Palm Centro fell out of my pocket, flew through the air, and landed on the roof of a building.

When I got off the ride, I told the workers about it and they said they would get it after the park closed. A half-hour after I lost my Palm Centro, a torrential thunderstorm swept in and soaked my unprotected phone. I knew it was ruined.

On Monday afternoon, I drove back to King’s Island and checked in the Lost & Found to see if they had recovered my phone. They had! I took it home, charged it up, and believe it or not, it’s as good as new.

You should be really proud of your product. I’m so glad I chose the Palm Centro for my phone.

-Stephen H.

Volkswagen considers roadster again

Posted By on August 6, 2008

VW Roadster
Although Volkswagen fans have been tempted with thoughts of a two place VW roadster before, we are once again seeing the plans and a prototype being resurrected. Autoweek put out a few details that have me wondering if I really want to put any more money into my MGB. According to the article, “VW chairman Martin Winterkorn is planning to unveil a concept version of the lightweight two-seater at the Los Angeles show in November. If public opinion is positive, the new car could be in showrooms by 2011.”

The “cut-rate Lotus Elise” design will offer a mid engine design with “GTI levels of acceleration — 0 to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds.” It will also offer excellent fuel economy with engines option from a 170 HP 1.4 liter twin turbocharger TSI gasoline fuel powerplant to the 125 HP 1.6 liter TDI diesel and be linked a seven-speed DSG transmission. I’ll bet some of the hyper-miler types will be able to squeeze some pretty impressive fuel efficiency out of a 2200 pound car and the TDI powerplant.

No “tinyurl.com” at Panera Bread WiFi

Posted By on August 6, 2008

No TinyURL at Panera Bread WIFI
Hmm … I stumble upon this irritation today while having lunch at Panera Bread. In the past it has been a enjoyable lunch stop when on the road in different cities as I can check and respond to emails, etc. Unfortunately it has been getting more and more difficult to access what you want, when you want at more and more public hotspots — including hotels. Not only does Panera Bread limit users to 30 minutes access during the day, but they are also blocking certain domains. One example is the site “tinyurl.com” which has become a popular way to share long cumbersome links. Many users of email groups, forums and the popular Twitter have adopted URL shortening, but unfortunately Panera customers will not be able to access them.

Pet peeve number two has to do with the 30 minutes of access as today I was in the middle of updating a GoogleDocs online spreadsheet and zap … no more access. Grrr. (BTW, I’ve tried KLC Consulting’s SMAC 2.0 in order to switch my MAC address and ‘steal’ another free 30 minutes, but the ‘trial version’ doesn’t work with OS Vista)
SMAC 2.0

Commentary on Volkswagen’s new small SUV

Posted By on August 6, 2008

2009 VW TiguanVolkswagen’s 2009 small SUV, the Tiguan, hasn’t exactly taken North America by storm, but at least VW finally has a vehicle to compete with Honda’s CRV and Toyota’s Rav4. I wouldn’t say that Volkswagen has struck out with the Tiguan, but in my opinion they have at least two strikes against them. After owning a 1998 Toyota Rav4 for 11 years (my wife’s car), the functionality of the Tiguan falls significantly behind even the older Rav4. I was surprise at how small the space was behind the hatchback fifth door compared to the sideways opening door of our “boxier” Rav4; from what I could tell, there looked to be about as much cargo space as a VW Golf. (Speaking of VW Golf, check out the next generation A6 VW Golf.)
Tiguan Storage

Strike two for me was the price. The Tiguan window stickers I glanced at were all close to or over $30,000 mark. This is pretty steep for a small compact SUV and parallels what one might expect from competitors mid-sized SUVs. That said, sitting in any seat was very comfortable and along with the huge sunroof and non-plastic feel, I wouldn’t mind at least test driving one — but I’ll wait for the TDI diesel!

Here’s what the folks at Motorweek had to say:

Ishmael Beah’s book now in paperback

Posted By on August 5, 2008

Child Soldiers
Just a quick mention that a book I recently finished reading and have highlighted in the sidebar, “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solder,” goes on sale in paperback today. Along with this release, the 26 year old Ishmael Beah has made a couple of appearances on ABC television. (ABC’s Good Morning America and on Nightline — see below)

Ishmael Beah on Nightline 8/5/2008

Editorial: “Akers’ story shows true America”

Posted By on August 5, 2008

extreme makeover home editionAlthough I don’t watch reality TV programming including “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” or even read our local papers’ opinion letters, my daughter thought enough of the letter to the editor below to mention it to me. I’m unsure if it was the political content or the fact that her roommate is from Poland, but it did stimulate a little breakfast table discussion. It is nice to know that a few of the positive aspects of my political views are appreciated by my children.

The letter to the editor was well written and poinent as we approach another election. It is an excellent reminder and warning for Americans who may have forgotten “what America is all about.” I’ll be remembering Danuta Connell’s comments, “de-motivating and harmful effects,” when I enter the voting booth this November.

Akers’ story shows true America

Recently, my 67-year-old mother from Poland visited Cincinnati. During her two-month stay, my husband and I were able to show her many, many places, and introduced her to the best Cincinnati and America have to offer. The highlight of her stay was the privilege to witness the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” experience in West Chester Twp. As much as she admired it, the entire concept was very difficult for her to understand. People just do not do things like that in her native country. She also saw online the makeover story of the Hughes family from Lexington, Ky., and was moved to tears. She left the country one day before the Akers family returned from their well-deserved vacation, but she made me promise her an update upon her return to Poland.

This being an election year, I would like to remind us that the Akers’ story is what America is all about. We take care of each other and we do not need government to tell us what we need or what is good for us. We are best when we take care of each other.

I was naturalized an American citizen 25 years ago and could not be more proud of it. I grew up in Poland under the communist regime and have experienced first-hand the de-motivating and harmful effects of that system. I immigrated legally in 1982 in search of freedom, hope and opportunity, and found them in abundance. America is great because of its great people, privately owned businesses, creativity, compassion and, most importantly, freedom.

Danuta Connell
West Chester Twp.

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog