t-rex’s First time out of the East Bay

Posted on 2009/06/19 by ronnyd

We went to Palo Alto so SoozDog could get some nice paper for T-Rex’s announcement. We had coffee from Peet’s (not the best Peet’s Experience I’e ever had) and we had dinner at Hobee’s (not the best dining experience either – but good for families with their kids I guess since every table at the time had one or two toddler with them).

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tired … and loving it.

Posted on 2009/06/14 by ronnyd

I  am amazed at how quickly I can fall asleep on the couch after a morning of farmer’s market, picking up tickets, lunch in the park, and playing on the slides and swings.  The little ones are asleep, and I sit down to read, but I can’t keep my eyes open for the life of me. I was out within 1o minutes if my butt hitting the seat.

I’m up now.

And I’m researching how to lay concrete pavers for the back patio.  Being a home owner means acquiring skills for which you thought you would probably not ever have any use. It’s going to be a big project, but it’s needed for the kids and the dog and the family as a whole to have a comfortable place to play and settle in the backyard.

As you may have noticed, there is a new look and feel to the blog too.  I installed WordPress blogging software, finally, and have stepped into modern times with my blogging. I’m even, semi-reluctantly, using the word ‘blog‘. I insisted on doing my blogging manually in HTML, but life is more hectic now and I just don’t have time for that, as evidenced in this being my first post in 16 months.

So, welcome back. Again. See you around here more often this time.

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welcome back!

Posted on 2008/01/26 by ronnyd

Hello there. Well, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you around these parts. With this update I am happy to say that I did not neglect this website for a full two years. It’s been only 720 days. Which is a full 10 days short of two years.

So,what’s happened in those almost two years? In order, I…

  • moved to San Francisco
  • met a girl, and fell in love.
  • got a new job.
  • found out that the girl was going to have our baby
  • moved in with the girl to the East Bay
  • bought a house and moved the soon-to-be family in.
  • got a dog.
  • had a beautiful baby girl!

As you can see it’s been a busy (almost) two years.

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man, this is a weird ad for a room …

Posted on 2006/02/02 by ronnyd

You have to love some of the stuff you stumble across on craigslist when you’re looking for a new place to live:

$250 – SEMI-SHARED bedroom w/cleaning once per week: (pacific heights)

Reply to: hous-xxxxxxxxx@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-02-02, 1:30AM PST

This situation is a “BEDROOM ONLY” living space for a female (18-30). PLUS! you clean for two hours in the building once per week ***AND*** if you want to further reduce your rent you may do more cleaning. DSL, PG$E, cable and a tv, hotwater and 24/7 free long distance in the USA, ONLY, phone is included. “NOTICE*** NO GUESTS *** are allowed because the space is limited and we need the situation to work for everyone… This is completely furnished and in the bedroom are two separate twin loft beds up above your head. You go up a ladder/staircase to reach the beds with a TV up there. On the ground floor is a sink, desk, chair, computer, private closet. In the hall is where a male sleeps who uses the sink to clean up and the computer once in the morning and once in the evening. He manages the building. A female sleeps in room (25) who stays at her boyfriends home most of the time. NO other part of the flat is available for you to use except the laundry room once per week the day you clean. The bathrooms are in the basement and you must go through a females room to gain access. She is use to this and has NO problem what so ever… You may meet both females and discuss the situation. The shower is ONLY available from 11am until 10pm. We are looking for a non-smoker, no drama kind of person who has regular 9-5 hours or close. The #1 California, #24 Divisadero Muni lines and the beautiful Alta Plaze Park are one block away. This is month to month and is available February 7th. Please call Nolan: 415-XXX-XXXX

PS> I realize that there are some restrictions, however the price reflects that and the neighborhood is super nice, safe, clean and smells sweeet.

Makes you want to move in sight unseen, right? I think that they might have a position open for a gimp too!

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get a move on, little buddy!

Posted on 2006/02/01 by ronnyd

Well, I just walked upstairs from depositing, hopefully, my last rent check for the apartment in which I live in the city of Oakland. With that check was attached the 30 days notice of my intention to vacate said apartment. I have until the 3rd of March to find my new abode in San Francisco. If I don’t have a place by that time, can I come and sleep on your couch?

I’m actually pumped for this. If this doesn’t light a fire under my ass to find a new place, then there’s really nothing that will.

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finger food?

Posted on 2006/01/31 by ronnyd


I made a stir-fry last night, with tofu, my first time cooking tofu, and sai fun (bean noodles) – I had no idea these things expanded as much as they do! I made way too much of them. So, because of the ethnic origin of the recipe, I ate my meal with chopsticks. I like eating with chopsticks. I thought of them as extensions of my fingers, and what I was really doing was eating the food with my hands, except using finger extenders to keep my fingers clean and allow me to handle the hot food without the fear of burning myself.

Eating with your hands is a much more visceral, if not always tidy, enterprise. Like anything, it takes some getting used to, and it’s not for everone. That’s something else, though, I wanted to post just about chopsticks today.

I think that a lot of people have trouble using chopsticks, but they’re really not that difficult to use once you get the hang of how they work. I took the image above from this website, but I also found this one that gave a good tutorial on how to use the utensils. Now, read it, and then take what you’ve learned to a local Asian restaurant near you. Practice makes perfect!

Oh yeah, and the overall impression from my meal? Didn’t really like it all that much. Don’t get me wrong, I still ate all of it, of course (“waste not, want not” … well, I might have wasted some of the six pounds of sai fun that I made by accident.) I don’t think that my dislike was the fault of the tofu, I just think that the recipe was a bit boring. I’m not really a fan of the bean noodles either. They were too slimy in texture. I think that I’ll stick with rice.

Oh yeah, Happy Birthday, Mike R! Welcome to other side of 30!

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listen to this …

Posted on 2006/01/27 by ronnyd


I am in absolute love with this album. I want to give Neil Young and the rest of the players involved a big hug for making it.

Do yourself a favor and get your hands on a copy.

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really stupid human tricks

Posted on 2006/01/25 by ronnyd

Man, I cannot get enough of this little animated gif. I just got this in an email, I hope it’s legitimate, I haven’t done the due diligence and asked the oracle at delphi (google) if it is or not.

Hmm, in hindsight, I’m thinking that this girl is regretting buying, and the zoo staff are regretting selling, this stupid baby seal hat in the giftshop. Yeah, let’s think we’re being cute and wear some fake prey on our heads in front of the massive f’n carnivore.

HAHAHA

Polar Bear: 1
Stupid Human: 0

Here’s another version of the video with sound.

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what are you up to, ronnyd?

Posted on 2006/01/23 by ronnyd

So, I am somewhat gainfully employed again, on a rolling temporary basis. I’m taking a short term gig with a small consulting firm in Salt Lake City. No, I’m not going to move to SLC, it’s just that the guys for whom I’m going to work are based in Salt Lake City. I think. They might be in Denver. I should probably find that out.

It’s a short gig, about five weeks, doing the same type of work I was doing for my last company, but I’m like a free agent now. I can work when opportunities arise, and I can take some more time off when there isn’t anything to do. Sounds good to me. My first gig, which is probably going to start next week, is going to have me onsite at the client for the first week, and that’s going to be in either Denver, CO or Omaha, NE. I’m hoping Denver, but a friend said that Omaha is not that bad. If I’m sent to Omaha, I’ll be sure to let you know what I think.

I’m also going to take the CBEST exam on the 11th of February, which is the hurdle I need to clear in order to become a substitute teacher in CA. It’s the California Basic Educational Skills Test, and from all accounts I hear that it’s pretty easy. Rumor has it … okay it’s not rumor, it’s all over the freaking news at times, that CA has one of the worst public school educational systems in the country. I’m going to single-handedly change that. Or maybe not. Maybe I’ll just like being a teacher. I might get a few months of substituting in before the summer break.

Oakland probably isn’t going to be my home much longer. I’m going to find a room in a house in the city of San Francisco. It’s time for roommates again. It’s a long process, and I’m sure it’ll be fun. My current living situation is okay, I live alone in a studio, so I’m going to have to make sure that I really like the place I’m moving into because I’m going to want to say put for a while. I HATE moving. Loathe is a more appropriate verb.

Went on a nice hike yesterday with some friends in the Ohlone Wilderness near Livermore. It was a fun hike, and we met a new friend and her cool dog, a standard poodle. He had lots of energy and was really fun to hang around. When we stopped for lunch midway through the hike, her dog found a cowpie in which he proceded to roll around and spread all over his fur. We laughed and laughed, but he wasn’t pet by anyone else for the rest of the day. Good dog.

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random swearing in my spam

Posted on 2006/01/17 by ronnyd

Found this one going through my hotmail spam box. The beautiful simplicity and the appropriate email address make this a sheer monument to well thought-out and concise spam. What I have posted is everything that came with the mail. Nothing more, nothing less.

>>>From: abbeyrd@hanmail.net
>>>Date: 14 Jan 2006 21:31:24 -0800
>>>
>>>shagface

Brilliant!

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