Today is Men’s diversity day. And to celebrate, there is B-B-Q, wood working, recreational vehicles, foosball, and 42…

I went to Ventana for lunch today. And what is Ventana? It is the student run restaurant of the Texas Culinary Academy. This used to be part of the IBM complex. But it seems that IBM has just about sold the west side of Burnet Road off. In fact, the IBM cafeteria, putt-putt course, and other buildings were all fenced off with temporary fencing. I had to walk around it to get to Ventana.

The place was busier than I have seen it in the past. Although it still was not full yet. And there were a lot of students walking back and forth from the parking lot. Enrollment must be high after a couple of years of operations.

I ordered the pan-fried trout. It was served with green beans (haricot vert) and red onion rings. The onion rings were the best I have ever had! They were sliced ultra thin and very lightly breaded. The balance was perfect. I thought the fish was a little salty. And, for dessert, I had a “baked alaskan” which was a strawberry sherbert on shortcake bread and covered in meringue and torched. I didnt like it much. The strawberry sauce was thin and the sherbert was weak as well. Which lead to the meringue overpowering the dish.

Still, I would highly recommend Ventana. I consider myself lucky that I have three good restaurants (Mangia and Taco Deli) within walking distance from IBM.

Wow! This viral advertising for what seems to be a really crappy movie is out of control! I already knew about getting a call from Samuel Jackson. But this combination?

Thanks to a little bit of serendipitous web surfing, I visited Whendy Wheeler’s livejournal page and was surprised to learn that Armadillocon 28 was this coming weekend. And when I went to check out the schedule, I learned that Julie E. Czerneda, one of the science fiction authors that I read, was there.

I went diving into my book storage area and pulled out her books.

• Beholder’s Eye
• A Thousand Words for Stranger
• In the Company of Others
• Ties of Power

It seems that I have been slacking off lately and am behind on reading her new books. I will have to add them to my rather large reading list… Anyways, back to the tale. So I drove on down and got her to sign my books. She is an energetic and charming person. And she took time to personalize what she wrote in the books! I also listened to her read some short stories. Which is always cool.

On the 4th, I was in no mood to take pictures of fireworks. It was also raining. So I was happy to learn that the fireworks were going on today. I didn’t read about it in the paper or see it on the television. But, in a lucky coincidence, I saw them setting up for fireworks when I played disc golf.

So after Pilates, I ran back home and grabbed my camer gear. I stopped by Taco Bell for some quick food and headed to the park. People were already streaming in. I forgot my lawn chair, but was able to use a cloth tarp that I carry in my truck. I walked over to the hill that is part of hole 14 and set up. And the fireworks started right away. Perfect timing! Although I had to rush around to finish setting up.

During the show, I played around with the aperature setting. I was using a tripod and a remote shutter control. I guessed at the timing. The LCD screen would inform me of what the shot looked like. It is surprising just how much light a 2.8 apterature will let in. For the same time as a f/22 stop picture that looks like pitch black background, the f/2.8 will look like early dawn.

After the show, I decided to hang out and watch Curious George from across the street. At that distance, the movie screen was the size of my 17″ TV set. And the sound was a decent volume. It took an hour before the traffic jam had cleared. Which is when I headed home.

This is the 500th entry on my blog. Over three years of posting dull, boring, and inconsequential posts. Expect more of the same in the future…

I started weblogging when I saw Russ Williams create one (but he gave up on Movable Type and went to livejournal). What started out as web links, moved to picture phones, expanded to cooking, board gaming, and disc golf.

Today I finally took my fire extinguisher in to be recharged. Unfortunately, I learned that they do not recommend getting models with the plastic heads recharged. Because they might leak. So I bought a new all metal version. With the inspection tags and everything! At least this one can be recharged.

The business did have a tiny museum inside. All kinds of fire related things. And an old fire truck sitting outside. Interesting…

I woke up this morning to news that there was a major accident on IH-35 northbound in Pflugerville. Seven 18-wheelers and three cars were involved in the collision. And, thanks to spilt fuel, 35 was blocked off. Now, in a perfect world, this would not affect me. Why? Well, I drive south and the northbound lanes are closed (stupid rubberneckers made traffic just as bad on our side). Or, the accident was at 5:30 in the mornine and I leave at 8:15 (they finally reopened 35 in the afternoon).

Sigh. That is one of the two things that I hate about where I live: the commute sucks!

I am finally getting rid of my old computer desk! I had that thing ever since I bought my first computer. Way, way back in college. In order to get rid of the old desk, I performed the time-honored technique of placing it out on my curb. And within a couple of hours, it had dissapeared… It works quite well for getting rid of old lawn-mowers and bbq grills too.

I went looking for some office furniture and finally found one I liked. So I bought it. And they delivered it today. Now I have a real desk! Who needs to save money when you spend it all on a desk…