Life, the Universe, and Everything

I came across an interesting game website this last week.  Take a look at my Mini City!  It gets bigger with every daily unique visitor.  Check back daily to watch it grow.

Thanks to the Remember the Milk blog, I just came across one of the neatest services I think I’ve ever seen. Sometimes technology just makes you say *cool*!

Do yourself a favor and take a look at Jott.com. This service lets you call an 866 number and do a variety of things, including sending email, leaving quick notes for yourself, and looking up property values through Zillow.com. The service is free, at least for now. There isn’t anything on their website that suggests they are looking to charge, but things are always changing. I think I’ll be making good use of the service while its free anyway.

Enjoy a cool new toy!

It seems like I just can’t get away from traveling for the job anymore.  On the whole, its not a bad thing, but there are certainly moments.  I suppose the worst part is planning the social aspect of things.  It is very difficult to plan activities when I can’t be sure if I’ll be home or not at any given point.  Of course, even when I know I’ll be home, the time I have to get things done at home is very limited.

I suppose its appropriate that I’m finishing writing this entry while on an airplane.  I apologize for any typos I may miss correcting – there is a fair bit of turbulence right now due to all the storms in the area.  I did start writing this a week ago while in Albuquerque, NM, but I guess distractions got the better of me.  Ah well, better late then never.

Its always interesting to see people’s reactions to delayed flights.  Its always frustrating, of course, but different people handle that frustration in different ways.  Some people are impatient and blame the airline for things beyond their control.  Some people just kick back and relax and make the best of it.  Generally delays only really bother me if I have a particularly long drive on the other end of the flight.  In this case, I’ve still got another 30 minute drive once we land, but thats not too horrible – especially compared to some of the other trips I’ve had in the past.

Airline travel has changed some, but it really is more the same than it is different.  There is still the same hurry up and wait aspect.  Endless lines, and everything else.  Security lines do seem to be moving faster for the most part, but sometimes security gets a little odd and inconsistent with the things that are allowed through.  A cheap screwdriver is allowed one place since the body of the tool is under 7 inches, but is not allowed at another airport because the whole thing is over 7 inches.  It might be interesting to see the research that said that a 6″ tool is “safe”, but a 7″ tool is a dangerous weapon.  I know there has to be a line somewhere, but without a consistent line, travel becomes more difficult than it needs to be.

Happy travels everyone!

Travel makes for good movie watching time and Blockbuster online makes it relatively easy to catch up on some of the more recent movies that I’ve been wanting to see.  I watched “Miss Potter” earlier this week while waiting at the airport for my flight.

This movie plays out a portion of the life of Miss Beatrix Potter.  If you havn’t heard of Miss Potter, well, I feel sorry for you.  Its time to climb out from under that rock you’ve been hiding under and do some reading, seriously.  Beatrix Potter is the best selling children’s author of all time, literally bringing her animal friends to life on the pages.

The movie describes how Miss Potter got her start with the illustrations and her storytelling, and a bit about her hunt for a publisher for her books.  Without giving away too much, it tells the story of her finding love, loss, and finding love again.

Overall:  I give ‘Miss Potter’ a must see rating.  Even if you don’t typically like romance movies, I think you’ll enjoy this one.

Tesla Motors has been getting a lot of buzz lately, and its no wonder why. True to the name, Tesla is bringing the all electric car back to market. Electric cars have been done from time to time, but nothing that I know of comes close to the technology that Tesla has developed.

Racing truely is the heart of the automotive industry, and Tesla is demonstrating their understanding of this principle with their inagural product, the Tesla Roadster. This sports car shows its ties to Lotus its design, and its performance will keep even the pickiest driver coming back for more. The latest performance tests demonstrate just how remarkable this all-electric vehicle really is. With a 0 to 60 time of just 3.4 seconds, its sure to glue you to the seat, and with no noisy combustion engine to disturb the neighbors.

In the past, range has been a limiting factor for the electric vehicles – another problem well solved by Tesla. With a range of nearly 250 miles on a single charge, only the longer road trips become a challenge. The normal charging cycle provides plenty of power to keep things rolling for the typical commute. To ensure safety, Tesla has designed the full charging system to protect the user from any possible shock. Charging current only flows through the cables when both the car and the charging station agrees that everything is connected correctly. For driver on the go, a mobile charging system is also available. To top it off, there is also a solar array available that will offset the electrical costs associated with charging the car for about 50 miles of range per day.

All in all, I would *love* to get my hands on one of the Tesla Roadsters. While the ninety thousand dollar price tag is a bit steep, it really is not bad at all for all the car you are getting. Alas, ninety grand is more than I can afford at this time, but perhaps in a couple years the price will come down as production ramps up. I wouldn’t be able to get one any time soon anyway, since the entire 2008 prodution run is already sold out. Ahh well.. It doesn’t stop me from dreaming.