Left Coast Leener

I am bemused at how the assumption is that San Francisco, the Silicon Valley and the Bay Area are widely presumed to have superior consumer and other technology. I keep recalling two comparisons to the place we used to live - DC and Northern Virginia suburbs.

1. NoVa have FIOS! SF does not, not a good analogy! We don't need a landline or cable TV, FIOS was a relatively good choice in quantity and quality. And I realize it's because AT&T is the big brother of SF phones-n-stuff, but I thought Verizon has a presence here as well. Anyway, here, we initially went with a measured rate AT&T phone and some DSL company. Now we switched to a better-quality DSL that somehow takes over from AT&T for the landline, but I'm not clear on the specifics and we have turned off the phone ringer and voicemail anyway.

2. Giant (an East Coast supermarket) has an app that allows you to scan groceries as you take them off the shelf and put them in your bag. I haven't seen this in any local store, comparable or better. And even their self-checkout works better - you scan the items, then put them on the belt where they are weighed and spilled into a packaging area. Here, you scan each item, then put it on a weighing stand where you are supposed to package it with any others. Using your own bags frequently messes up the weighing, and even when not using them the computer frequently screams at you that you are wrong and must perform some sort of complicated penance to right it all. I seriously switched from self-checkout to human cashiers after a few experiences in CA, plus they're not any faster here!

And no, we don't have good public Wi-Fi everywhere! Not even in the most logical areas. But I still totally prefer living in SF.

Как называются такие штуки по-русски? Они в русскоговорящих странах имеются?

Rice Cakes

I don't know about others, but I was recently reminiscing about my college dining options and was reminded just by how awesome it actually was! Besides it being consistently tasty and quality (catered by Sodexo!), there was a shitlot of variety in an all-you-can-eat format. Needless to say, my cousin and I did the Freshman 15 (in fact, everyone except my raillike friend Bea did) and my cholesterol probably didn't improve at all. Jumping forward, I ate mostly pasta with hideous amounts of garlic when I moved to a house my sophomore year. Just of the limited number of things I remember from 17 (fucking!) years ago:

-Different specialty bars in every location, including pasta (ours! I have always loved pasta!), wok, pizza and something else I can't remember.
-Belgian waffles made in front of you, with a ton of toppings for weekend brunch.
-Occasional theme nights, like surf-and-turf.
-Tons of variety of basics, like really good sourdough bread and salad stuffs.
-Frozen yogurt machine with flavors like pecan praline.
-Brown bag lunch options, including the best egg salad.

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Как вы наверно уже догадались, я читаю ЖЖ раз в 3-4 дня и мало комментирую. Я надеюсь вы не обидились? Я все равно думаю что ваши дети/будни/путешествия/приключения - очаровательны/интересны/замечательны/занимательны, и надеюсь что ваши пиздецы - кратковременны.

Пока это писала, нашла штуку. ( С лексикой такой, что ее лучше не читать на работе если там понимают по-русски... )

Книги для родителей мелких детей:

( В хорошем состоянии )

I haven't been very closely following latest cinematic releases, but it occurs to me that I haven't noticed any recent movies that are about younger people and are smart. The romcoms seem stupid and shallow. I want something like Breakfast Club or Fast Times at Ridgemont High for movies or Freaks and Geeks for TV.

I looked up that Amy Heckerling is doing Gossip Girl, but I haven't yet brought myself to watch it. Cameron Crowe's latest We Bought A Zoo was horrible compared to something like one of my favorite movies, Say Anything.

I think my AdBlockPlus and my projector are keeping me from seeing more new movies. And the lack of time. And, really, the lack of good new movies. Next, we'll discuss the lacking good sci-fi.

( Stuffs! Stuffs! )
Also need some 3/4 sleeve shirts, preferably striped, definitely in cold colors. And probably a gray techno-looking raincoat, kind of like marusja's.

I thought I was the former, but I'm actually the latter. I'm sure it's a product of being made to use my right hand while actually being left-handed. Most things I've learned to do in childhood I do with my right, and most others with my left. I brush my teeth with the right but put in contacts with my left, etcetera.

Была я сегодня в Санта Кларе (час езды от СФ), идем мы с Шариком по улице, а за нами - дама с коляской. Мы остановились что бы она могла пройти по узкому тротуару, а она тоже останавливается, и называет меня по имени.

Оказывается мы вместе учились в школе и университете и пели в хоре (наверно в школьном а не университетском). Я ее лицо потом таки вспомнила, но наше общение - нет! А она говорит что я совсем (за 17 лет!) не изменилась, и она помнит что я была практически единственный человек в хоре с котором было интересно общаться. Я не помню что бы со мной там особо жаждали общаться, но раз я ей так запомнилась... Хотя, меня таки выбрали главной нонконформисткой в 12 классе, так что про меня по крайней мере знали.

Меня таки часто узнают, но я мало кого помню. У меня было мало друзей в школе и университете, и большинство из них было не из тех образовательных учреждений. И Оля меня узнала после 15 лет разлуки, но и я ее узнала. Наверно оставляю неизгладимое впечатление!

А еще я часто оставляю плохое первое впечатление, но я считаю что если вы не хотите со мной разбираться и судите только по поверхностным признакам, то мне это наверно и не надо.

My phone has been giving me enough grief without actually being broken that I want another, but can't completely justify the expense. Because my contract does not subsidize phones, it doesn't matter when I buy it, I have to pay a non-contract price. Probably $300-400 or more. I know I'm not going to be able to get what I want because there is only one phone that has all those features and that's the phone Andy has, but I don't know if I want that particular one. So he's looking around for me, and he went on a forum where he asked what might be the Honda equivalent of Android phones. This is a great analogy, considering that I've owned 3 Hondas before giving up having a car altogether, and I guess my dumbphone was the Honda equivalent of dumbphones - not actually flashy, but functional, not bloated with unnecessary features, and very long-lasting. The forum people recommended HTC, and that's what I have now, but I'm not convinced.

And no, I'm not buying an iPhone.