Yesterday, I worked from home. Some of the subways were up and running in time, but the MTA made their decision too late and I already set myself up to work from home. The office was open, but not many people made it in. Metro North and NJ Transit were still down or heavily delayed. There was still a lot of traffic coming into the city too. All in all, I think the city did a good job. They prepared for the worst and got NYC through this mess with minimal damage and injuries. The MTA even came up several hours earlier than predicted. Some areas are still without power though, that doesn't count as NYC. So they get an A from me. Some people complain that it was an overreaction. All I have to say if hindsight is 20/20. With something as dangerous as 100+ mph winds, you have to take the "what if" approach and prepare for the worst.
Today was much more of a normal day... the regular crowds returned to the trains. There were no delays on the subways and conditions of the stations looked good. With a perfect Friday before and Monday after, some parts of Manhattan never looked like they went through a major storm.
2011-08-30
2011-08-28
Tech Deals of the Week (8/28-9/3)
After another huge tech sale drought, many of the retailers finally came through at the beginning of the school year. I don't expect another good sale period until Black Friday, so enjoy this week!
Flash Sales
- 8 GB SanDisk @ ST or BB for $9.99
- 16 GB SanDisk @ ST or BB for $19.99
- 32 GB SanDisk @ ST or BB for $39.99
- 16 GB SanDisk @ RS for $18.99
Mouse Attack
- Logitech M305 @ ST for $14.99
- Logitech M310 @ ST for $14.99
- Gigaware Wireless @ RS for $17.99
- Logitech M325 @ BB for $19.99
Logitech Wireless Keyboard @ ST for $14.99
This is a good compliment to the mice on sale above. It's a compact, but full keyboard w/ numeric pad. The keys are chicklet style and it also has extra media buttons at the top. This is the lowest price I've seen for a keyboard with this many features.
Skull Candy Earbuds @ BB for $14.99
This is $5 off the usually pricey earphones. They come in a variety of colors to match up with your MP3 players.
Flash Sales
- 8 GB SanDisk @ ST or BB for $9.99
- 16 GB SanDisk @ ST or BB for $19.99
- 32 GB SanDisk @ ST or BB for $39.99
- 16 GB SanDisk @ RS for $18.99
Mouse Attack
- Logitech M305 @ ST for $14.99
- Logitech M310 @ ST for $14.99
- Gigaware Wireless @ RS for $17.99
- Logitech M325 @ BB for $19.99
Logitech Wireless Keyboard @ ST for $14.99
This is a good compliment to the mice on sale above. It's a compact, but full keyboard w/ numeric pad. The keys are chicklet style and it also has extra media buttons at the top. This is the lowest price I've seen for a keyboard with this many features.
Skull Candy Earbuds @ BB for $14.99
This is $5 off the usually pricey earphones. They come in a variety of colors to match up with your MP3 players.
| Store Key: BB = Best Buy, CC = Circuit City, CU = CompUSA.com, DI = Directron, NE = NewEgg.com, OD = Office Depot, RS = Radio Shack, ST = Staples, TG = Target |
2011-08-27
Calm Before the Storm
Yesterday was a very quiet work day starting all the way from the morning commute. It looked as if people evacuated early because the commute that I thought went back to the normal crowd disappeared. It was pretty empty all the way to the office. The work day was normal, with some people out, but many left early. Some of my coworkers live in evacuation zones. The news is really urging evacuation and the city is overpreparing to be safe. With all the chaos in the media, it was surprisingly calm when I went out to get lunch. It was a bright sunny and perfect day. Very few people were on the street and in the restaurants.
Even as I write this it still has a calm feeling outside. Again, the streets were fairly empty today and we're just getting some light intermittent rain showers. But Hurricane Irene is still headed straight for NYC and it's still very powerful.
Good luck to everyone out there!
Even as I write this it still has a calm feeling outside. Again, the streets were fairly empty today and we're just getting some light intermittent rain showers. But Hurricane Irene is still headed straight for NYC and it's still very powerful.
Good luck to everyone out there!
2011-08-26
Grand Finale
When the A's took the first 2 games of the series, they handed the Yankees only their 2nd series loss since the All-Star break. They looked to be on their way to a sweep in Game 3 when they knocked out the starter Phil Hughes in the 3rd inning with an early 7-1 lead. They were able to bring a stop to Hughes' solid pitching performances. He credits Hideki Matsui to getting him rattled with a long at bat. Later in that game, the Yankees would hit an MLB record breaking 3 grand slams. Cano hit the first, which put the Yankees right back in the game trailing 7-6. Martin's in the xxth would give them the lead and Granderson's record breaking one in the 8th made it 21-8. If that wasn't enough, Jones knocked a solo shot after that!
That was one crazy day game. With a final score of 22-9, you'd think that there would have to be at least 2 errors per team, but all 31 runs were earned. The Yankees had 21 hits and the A's X... not a good day for the pitchers! One of the frustrating things about this series is the Yankees scored more than enough runs to sweep, but since all of it was in one game, they still lost the stat that counted... the series 1-2.
That was one crazy day game. With a final score of 22-9, you'd think that there would have to be at least 2 errors per team, but all 31 runs were earned. The Yankees had 21 hits and the A's X... not a good day for the pitchers! One of the frustrating things about this series is the Yankees scored more than enough runs to sweep, but since all of it was in one game, they still lost the stat that counted... the series 1-2.
2011-08-25
Back to Normal
Today is the first day of normal crowd levels on my commute since I started writing about how empty it was. The train wasn't totally packed, but all seats were taken and some people were already standing when I got in. The office was about the same... still a few people missing here and there as they try to squeeze out a vacation before their kids start school. By now, some colleges have opened and public schools usually begin after Labor Day.
The weather is still reflecting the Fall, going along with the back-to-school theme. Hurricane Irene has a good chance of hitting us later in the weekend. If that happens, we will have had a tornado, earthquake and hurricane within a week's time!
The weather is still reflecting the Fall, going along with the back-to-school theme. Hurricane Irene has a good chance of hitting us later in the weekend. If that happens, we will have had a tornado, earthquake and hurricane within a week's time!
2011-08-23
5.8
The highlight of the day was an earthquake in Virginia... 5.8 on the Richter Scale. It was an average size one, but we felt it all the way in NYC. I was at my desk working and felt the building shaking. My initial though was that someone around was moving something heavy, but when it lasted longer than a couple of seconds, I knew it was something else. Supposedly only people sitting down felt it because their whole body was in contact with the chair... and the floor. Some people standing up didn't feel a thing and were wondering about the reaction of the people sitting down.
Our building evacuated for a while. We heard sirens and alerts everywhere. Helicopters were flying around (not sure if that was normal or if it was due to the quake). NYC acted as if the quake hit here, but it was probably just an excuse for everyone to take a break. I can't blame them either... it was a perfect day weather wise.
Our building evacuated for a while. We heard sirens and alerts everywhere. Helicopters were flying around (not sure if that was normal or if it was due to the quake). NYC acted as if the quake hit here, but it was probably just an excuse for everyone to take a break. I can't blame them either... it was a perfect day weather wise.
Autumn in Summer
We're only in the middle of the Summer, but already had a couple of days with 60 degree mornings. It really should be the end of September when we start getting Summer days mixed with Fall ones. So it feels a little weird to have the regular Summer sunrise and sunset along with Fall temperatures and winds. Only the warm colored leaves are missing from the ground. The scent in the air even wreaks of Autumn and it reminds me of school days when I walk out to the subway station in the morning.
As Summer ends on October 20, the heatwaves are far from over. There are still plenty of days left for it to hit the century mark. The Summer storms are still present as NY was officially hit with a tornado yesterday (Wayne County).
As Summer ends on October 20, the heatwaves are far from over. There are still plenty of days left for it to hit the century mark. The Summer storms are still present as NY was officially hit with a tornado yesterday (Wayne County).
2011-08-22
Weekend Sports Wrapup
Muay Thai
John Wayne Parr defeated another Greek fighter in Giannis Sofokleous on Friday night. I think that was his retirement fight, although he was having second thoughts a few weeks back. I think JWP won all of his matches this year. Maybe he lost one... don't remember. But he's in the best shape of his life. I hope he stays in for another year or two. If he retires, I'm sure he'll get bored.
Yankees
The Yankees finally won a 4-games series 3 games to 1 against the Twins. The bats are alive on Thursday and Friday as they scored 8 runs in each game with a total of 28 hits! The poor sub-300 averages are starting to climb to more Yankees-like numbers. I keep mentioning that Jeter will hit .300 this year. He's at .291 now. CC was great in the first game and the All-Star Hughes showed up for Friday's game. Saturday's game was the only flaw in the series as Burnett got knocked out of the 2nd inning with 7 earned runs... worse outing of the season. Yankees lost 9-4. Sunday's game was a close one with a lot of stranded runners. The highlight that woke everyone up was Granderson's in-the-park homerun, which put him in a tie with Jose Bautista. Teixiera then hit a conventional HR for the back-to-back, put himself one behind Granderson and Bautista for the HR race.
Tennis
Maria Sharapova looked good in the US Open warmup in Cincinnati as she defeated Jelena Jankovic in a 3-set marathon. She had a slow start in the first set, went back and forth in the 2nd and picked up some momentum in the tiebreak. The 3rd set started out as a back and forth, but then Maria started hitting some nice shots along the line. It was a power match as both players were just smacking the ball hard. There weren't many drop shots or volleys... just all firepower! On the men's side, Djokovic retired against Murray... not really the way you want a final to end, but that's OK. It's just a warmup tournament.
John Wayne Parr defeated another Greek fighter in Giannis Sofokleous on Friday night. I think that was his retirement fight, although he was having second thoughts a few weeks back. I think JWP won all of his matches this year. Maybe he lost one... don't remember. But he's in the best shape of his life. I hope he stays in for another year or two. If he retires, I'm sure he'll get bored.
Yankees
The Yankees finally won a 4-games series 3 games to 1 against the Twins. The bats are alive on Thursday and Friday as they scored 8 runs in each game with a total of 28 hits! The poor sub-300 averages are starting to climb to more Yankees-like numbers. I keep mentioning that Jeter will hit .300 this year. He's at .291 now. CC was great in the first game and the All-Star Hughes showed up for Friday's game. Saturday's game was the only flaw in the series as Burnett got knocked out of the 2nd inning with 7 earned runs... worse outing of the season. Yankees lost 9-4. Sunday's game was a close one with a lot of stranded runners. The highlight that woke everyone up was Granderson's in-the-park homerun, which put him in a tie with Jose Bautista. Teixiera then hit a conventional HR for the back-to-back, put himself one behind Granderson and Bautista for the HR race.
Tennis
Maria Sharapova looked good in the US Open warmup in Cincinnati as she defeated Jelena Jankovic in a 3-set marathon. She had a slow start in the first set, went back and forth in the 2nd and picked up some momentum in the tiebreak. The 3rd set started out as a back and forth, but then Maria started hitting some nice shots along the line. It was a power match as both players were just smacking the ball hard. There weren't many drop shots or volleys... just all firepower! On the men's side, Djokovic retired against Murray... not really the way you want a final to end, but that's OK. It's just a warmup tournament.
2011-08-19
Subway Tales: At Your Serivice
This happens more often than I can count:
People are sittng in a train, waiting for it to leave. It's usually at the first stop, so everyone is patiently waiting and doing something to kill time, like reading the paper or playing a game. Then all of a sudden, a panicked person walks in asking where the train is heading or some kind of subway directions. He turns to whoever is by the door first. Usually, the seated passenger is caught by surprise and unable to answer right away. The panicked customer will then turn to someone else. When he gets an answer, he'll just walk away without thanking anyone. Sometimes, the panicked customer will get an answer from a passenger and then ask an MTA employee if one walks by, pretty much insulting the integrity of the helpful customer.
People are sittng in a train, waiting for it to leave. It's usually at the first stop, so everyone is patiently waiting and doing something to kill time, like reading the paper or playing a game. Then all of a sudden, a panicked person walks in asking where the train is heading or some kind of subway directions. He turns to whoever is by the door first. Usually, the seated passenger is caught by surprise and unable to answer right away. The panicked customer will then turn to someone else. When he gets an answer, he'll just walk away without thanking anyone. Sometimes, the panicked customer will get an answer from a passenger and then ask an MTA employee if one walks by, pretty much insulting the integrity of the helpful customer.
2011-08-18
Royal Screwup
The Yankees are still continuing their streak of winning series as they took 2 out of 3 from the Kansas City Royals. Against a 51-73 team, they really should have swept though. Pitching was pretty bad on both sides, with scores of 7-4, 9-7 and 4-5. These were typical games were the Yankees pitching would fall apart and not recover. But since the opposing team was the Royals, I never felt the Yankees were going to lose any of the game, including the last one (which was protest-worthy anyway).
AJ
You know the opponent is a bad team when AJ Burnett finally gets a win... his first in over 1 month. It was nothing pretty either as he lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 10 hits. The positive side of this is he needed any kind of win just to get his confidence up. If he can just grind it out another time, maybe he'll get back to being the AJ that helped win the 2009 Championship. But if we don't see that soon, I think the Yankees should put him in the pen. They have to look at skills and outcomes rather than contracts and salaries when they're choosing the Post-Season roster.
Replay FAIL
If the Royals were going to win the game fair and square without any complaints and asterisks, they would've had to have done it by 2 or more runs. They only won by due to a Yankees comeback attempt in the 9th. In the 3rd inning, Billy Butler hit what was called a HR off Colon. The replays, ground rules and all announcers said it should have been ruled a double. The ball hit the corner of the padded wall, well below the railing that marks a homer and bounced back in. It was called a HR. The Yankees argued, which lead to a replay. The slow-mo was clear in showing it didn't clear the fence. But the umpires convened, watched and still managed to make the wrong call. The reaction in the dugout by Billy Butler told the truth too. After looking at the replay, he was grabbing his helmet, ready to go back to 2nd.
AJ
You know the opponent is a bad team when AJ Burnett finally gets a win... his first in over 1 month. It was nothing pretty either as he lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 10 hits. The positive side of this is he needed any kind of win just to get his confidence up. If he can just grind it out another time, maybe he'll get back to being the AJ that helped win the 2009 Championship. But if we don't see that soon, I think the Yankees should put him in the pen. They have to look at skills and outcomes rather than contracts and salaries when they're choosing the Post-Season roster.
Replay FAIL
If the Royals were going to win the game fair and square without any complaints and asterisks, they would've had to have done it by 2 or more runs. They only won by due to a Yankees comeback attempt in the 9th. In the 3rd inning, Billy Butler hit what was called a HR off Colon. The replays, ground rules and all announcers said it should have been ruled a double. The ball hit the corner of the padded wall, well below the railing that marks a homer and bounced back in. It was called a HR. The Yankees argued, which lead to a replay. The slow-mo was clear in showing it didn't clear the fence. But the umpires convened, watched and still managed to make the wrong call. The reaction in the dugout by Billy Butler told the truth too. After looking at the replay, he was grabbing his helmet, ready to go back to 2nd.
2011-08-16
Dennis Rodman HOF Speech
Congratulations to Dennis Rodman on the Hall of Fame... truly one of the greatest defenders in NBA history.
Make-Up Rain
We had a 2-week drought, but got poured on over the weekend to make up for things. It was non-stop thunderstorms on Sunday, canceling the Yankees-Rays game. The best thing is temperatures dropped to the 70's and it felt comfortable to go outside. Yesterday's showers were very nice and I even opted to commute both ways without an umbrella.
On a side note, the morning rush is starting to get back to the normal crowd level, but still noticeably less for now. Employee vacations are still about the same with various people missing on each day.
On a side note, the morning rush is starting to get back to the normal crowd level, but still noticeably less for now. Employee vacations are still about the same with various people missing on each day.
2011-08-14
Tampa Split
It was another split series over the weekend... a short 2-game one because today's rubber game was rained out. The Yankees took a tough 5-1 loss on Friday in CC Sabathia's worse game of the season. He gave up 5 solo home runs. It was rare because he had only given up 8 or the season before that. It's not a good sign when the best guy in the rotation is starting to look vulnerable in the 2nd half. CC can potentially have a 25-win season, but maybe the law of averages will catch up. No one ever mentions that when a player is doing well. It's often brought up for slumps, but in reality it can happen both ways.
Saturday's 9-2 blowout was Jorge Posada's game... 6 RBIs including a grand slam after the news this week of the Yankees taking him out of the lineup and daily game play. I think that game spoke for itself. I don't like the way the Yankees are treating their veterans. Posada is much more reliable than bringing up Montero prematurely from the minors. You don't want to go into a postseason with a minor league catcher.
Saturday's 9-2 blowout was Jorge Posada's game... 6 RBIs including a grand slam after the news this week of the Yankees taking him out of the lineup and daily game play. I think that game spoke for itself. I don't like the way the Yankees are treating their veterans. Posada is much more reliable than bringing up Montero prematurely from the minors. You don't want to go into a postseason with a minor league catcher.
2011-08-12
600 Ball
Dating back to when Joe Torre started managing the Yankees, only one team in the MLB has a winning record against them... the Angels. While thee fans play up the rivalry with the Red Sox, it's the Angels that present the greatest challenge. In the past couple of years, the Yankees have gotten over that hump. That continued yesterday as they wrapped up another series win 2-1.
The Yankees should be in good shape if they keep taking 2 of 3 in 3-games series, playing 600 ball. It's a dominant percentage even though it doesn't get the attention of a sweep or a long winning streak. So far, they lost one series, won or tied the rest, swept one and never got swept after the All-Star break.
The Yankees should be in good shape if they keep taking 2 of 3 in 3-games series, playing 600 ball. It's a dominant percentage even though it doesn't get the attention of a sweep or a long winning streak. So far, they lost one series, won or tied the rest, swept one and never got swept after the All-Star break.
2011-08-11
Comfortable Commute
Each day for the past 2 weeks, I kept thinking that the comfortable commute starting from July 22 was going to end. But up until today, the crowds have been relatively low. School is just about to start for college students, so maybe it's still a last ditch effort to go on vacation and escape the city. I'm able to get seats on both the morning and evening commute. It's even more of a bonus this week because there's no heat wave. Comfortable temperatures and no crowds = heaven. I'm glad I'm working over the Summer. Staying in the office while others are gone is much more productive. With the comfortable commute, I'm going into the office in a good mood too. I wish it was like this every day!
2011-08-10
Peace & Naivety
Last month, Anders Behring Breivik invaded an island in Norway and took his sweet time shooting 91 children. He had a whole 90 minutes to do so before the police were able to get there. Just last weekend, riots started in London due too a police shooting. It's carried on for days and even lost its original meaning. Now people are rioting for all sorts of reasons and the police can't stop them.
If you look at both London and Holland, both can be considered peaceful places. They don't get nearly the amount of crime you see in any American big city. But the disadvantage is they're not prepared for the rare case that occurs. While shootings happen in NYC, no one would ever get away long enough to kill 91. And we don't have riots lasting longer than a few minutes... not even during a citywide extended blackout.
If you look at both London and Holland, both can be considered peaceful places. They don't get nearly the amount of crime you see in any American big city. But the disadvantage is they're not prepared for the rare case that occurs. While shootings happen in NYC, no one would ever get away long enough to kill 91. And we don't have riots lasting longer than a few minutes... not even during a citywide extended blackout.
2011-08-09
Pass/Fail
NYC restaurants now have to post grades on their window for sanitary conditions. Just like test papers in school, they can have an A, B, C... or get closed down (F). Isn't it really a pass/fail system though? If you think about it, a B grade means there's something wrong with the restaurant's conditions already. Why would anyone eat in a restaurant with a grade lower than A? The grading works on a point system with lower points being better...
A = 0-13
B = 14-27
C = 28+
Here are the items that earn points...
Food kept at wrong temperatures = 7-11
Uncleaned raw foods = 5-9
Unclean utensils = 2-6
So a grade of B means that at least 2 of these items have been found. I think that's enough reason not to eat there! Heck... even an A might not mean 100% clean!
A = 0-13
B = 14-27
C = 28+
Here are the items that earn points...
Food kept at wrong temperatures = 7-11
Uncleaned raw foods = 5-9
Unclean utensils = 2-6
So a grade of B means that at least 2 of these items have been found. I think that's enough reason not to eat there! Heck... even an A might not mean 100% clean!
2011-08-08
Another Bad First
The Yankees started their 2nd half slow, earning a bunch of ties in 4-game series. They also won a couple of 3-game series 2 games to 1. That's just an OK start, but they finally earned their first sweep against thee White Soox last week. Everything was looking good. Hughes looked the all-star player he was last year. The bullpen was solid. The offense was getting a ton of hits each games and knocking them in for runs and blowouts.
But the hump the Yankees can't seem to get over this year is the Red Sox. Boston had a rough start, but won their first game of the year and first series against the Yankees. That ended their losing streak and they picked up momentum. After this weekend, the Red Sox handed the Yankees their first series loss of the 2nd half. We'll see if they pickup momentum from this. Like the Yankees, the Sox also had a slow 2nd half start. As bad as the Yankees have been, they're still only 1 game back from 1st place.
But the hump the Yankees can't seem to get over this year is the Red Sox. Boston had a rough start, but won their first game of the year and first series against the Yankees. That ended their losing streak and they picked up momentum. After this weekend, the Red Sox handed the Yankees their first series loss of the 2nd half. We'll see if they pickup momentum from this. Like the Yankees, the Sox also had a slow 2nd half start. As bad as the Yankees have been, they're still only 1 game back from 1st place.
2011-08-05
Subway Tales: Dominic Pedroia
It's Lord of the Rings meets Boston Red Sox a few stops after I get on the train. One of the guys that gets on looks like a cross between Dominic Monoghan (Meriodoc of Lord of the Rings) and Dustin Pedroia. He's on his way to a casual job. He's not carrying enough books and looks a little too old for school, but he's also not dressed in typical office clothes.
2011-08-04
Lockout
Things aren't looking good as we're through 1 month of the NBA lockout now and no real progress between the sides. Many are saying that there will be no 2011-2012 NBA season. News of players signing with international teams supports this. Even though the NBA is allowing this as long as players get back when the lockout ends, there must be some sort of gut feeling for players to join overseas clubs so early. Deron Williams was the first, signing with the Turkish Besitkas almost right after the lockout began. Joakim Noah signed with France. Deng, as usual went to Great Britain, and still hope to recruit Ben Gordon.
The international experience should be good for the NBA players as well as FIBA. For the Americans, the big men like Noah can learn to be more versatile. Noah already has a good inside game and he's made his volleyball jumper work, but should see improvements and range in his shots. FIBA will obviously get more money and will elevate basketball worldwide.
The international experience should be good for the NBA players as well as FIBA. For the Americans, the big men like Noah can learn to be more versatile. Noah already has a good inside game and he's made his volleyball jumper work, but should see improvements and range in his shots. FIBA will obviously get more money and will elevate basketball worldwide.
2011-08-03
Thunderbolt
Apple is pushing the Thunderbolt port with its current generation of computers. With the latest release, they now have it in their entire line. In fact, it's the only display output. If you don't own or plan to buy a Thunderbolt display, you have to spend $30+ on an adapter... a hidden fee for all Mac systems. The port, which is a high speed, multipurpose one is a great idea, but will only succeed with 3rd party support. As of now, there are only 2 devices... the 27" monitor @ $1000 and a NAS, for servers... not very practical for the average consumer. Imagine buying a $600 Mac mini and then spending almost double to get the monitor. If you just bought a Mac and need an external monitor, it's best to go with the adapter. Skip the first generation of Thunderbolt devices because they will be overpriced.
2011-08-02
HP Touchpad & Manny Pacquiao
This is the sequel to the HP phone commercial. Pacquiao has moved up in weight class to a tablet now!
2011-08-01
Divine Constipation
We have been getting some rain over the past week, but it was still not enough to make up for the 2 weeks of heat. I though we had something coming today. The skies darkened quickly and the wind was blowing. There was loud thunder and close lightning strikes. It almost felt like the time before the tornado last year. It just came in all of a sudden. Well... after all that commotion, nothing much happened. We had spurts of rain (maybe hail) that lasted less than a minute each. Not even every spot on the ground got hit. It was very strange. I felt like there should have been a 2 inch downpour based on the thunder and lightning. I guess Mother Nature just couldn't get it out.
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