Mixed Emotionsby Jim
19 Feb 2009
5:02 pm3
Last night was a difficult night for me. Most of it was very enjoyable. For our anniversary in December, I got two tickets to go see Wicked at the Orpheum theater in San Francisco. As an additional surprise, I arranged to meet with some good friends at a restaurant near the theater. Everything was wonderful. We had a great dinner and the show was amazing.
When we went to see Phantom of the Opera in December with Dallyn, we parked across the street from the theater so we wouldn’t have to walk far. We decided to park there again last night because of the convenience. When we returned to our car, I was absolutely shocked to see that our car had been broken into. The passenger side window had been completely smashed and our GPS and my cell phone were gone. I had my cell phone out while driving and left it in the cup holder instead of putting it on my belt. I forgot about it until we were already crossing the street to the theater and thought to myself, “it should be alright, the parking lot is well lit and attended.” Looking back on the situation, I realize that was a very stupid thing to assume. There is absolutely nothing the parking attendant is obligated to do if he were to witness a break-in. There is a sign that says they aren’t responsible for valuables left in vehicles. I was also parked at the far end of the lot, furthest from the booth and by a clear get-away path for a would-be criminal.
I was quite frustrated last night; I felt stupid and violated. I felt bad for Angie and Jon who had to ride in a freezing cold car because the windows had been smashed in (especially Angie, who had to ride all the way back to Livermore with me). Fortunately, they didn’t take our garage door opener, which was also in the car (along with a GPS that has “take me home” button — not to mention our address in my cell phone).
Things could certainly have been worse. I could have been mugged, more damage could have been done to the car, I could have had sensitive identifying information on my cell phone, among other things. I just hate making mistakes like this that make you feel so helpless and stupid. What a way to ruin an otherwise wonderful evening.
A Special Day for Geeksby Jim
13 Feb 2009
11:02 am2
You’ll have to pardon my geekiness, but today is a very special day. Today, at 3:31:30 pm Pacific (11:31:30 pm UTC), Unix Epoch time will reach 1,234,567,890. It is kind of like celebrating January 1st in the year 1000, at the turn of the millennium. So that you can more fully appreciate this special moment, let me give a brief history lesson.
You see, way back in the early days of computing (1969), some really smart guys at AT&T Bell Labs developed Unix. Unix is an operating system (like unto Windows) that runs programs except it didn’t have a graphical user interface (GUI with mouse pointers, icons, etc. — unlike unto Windows). A GUI was developed later, but at first it was all just command line stuff. For geeks, this is one of the things that makes Unix fun. Anyway, they needed a way to represent time, so they decided to use a standard integer value counting in seconds. Therefore, at 12:00:01 AM January 1st, 1970 Unix time started at 1 and they’ve been counting ever since.
Back on Sept. 9, 2001, Unix time rolled around to the 1 billionth second since Unix Epoch (1 Jan, 1970). The geeks over in Denmark thought this was pretty cool, so they threw a big party. Those Europeans are really into the whole Unix/Linux thing. Actually, I think it is more likely they are into the Anti-Microsoft thing.
So, if you read this before the big event, set your alarms and have a moment of reflection for how Unix makes the world a better place.
(This image was modified for demonstrative purposes.)
For those of you who want to witness this event, find your nearest Unix/Linux machine and type:
date +%s
If you don’t think you’re fast enough to get it on just the right second, you can try:
watch -n 1 date +%s
Which will display once a second, so you’re sure to catch it.
What’s Today???by Angie
15 Dec 2008
12:12 pm2
This morning, my darling husband woke me up saying, “Do you want your surprise? Do you want your birthday present?” When I got my blurry eyes open and mumbled something silly in the affirmative, he told me to look under my pillow. There was a slip of paper that read:
“I have a tongue, but do not taste; I’m glad – it’d be unpleasant.
I have a ‘soul,’ and so I’d like to help you find your present.”
…which led me to my closet, where I found another clue stuck in my right tennis shoe, which led me downstairs, which led me to the cat, which led me to Mr. B, which led me to the clock, which led me to the TV…behind which was a large package wrapped in brown paper:
I got a Wii Fit! I’m so excited! Jim made me breakfast, too, and then headed off to work while I started playing. The little animated balance board even put on a birthday hat and tossed some confetti around, since today is my birthday! Amazingly, my “fitness age” was 29…which isn’t my real age…but pretty close! I thought that was pretty cool, considering the last time I tried a Wii fit, it guaged me at 64 or something. I guess my Pilates is working even better than I thought! Anyway, I love it! Thank you, Jim! And, thanks to my friends and family for all the warm wishes via phone, email, Gchat, facebook, Geni, etc.!
Thanksgiving at Our Homeby Angie
30 Nov 2008
10:11 am0
This was our first year to host Thanksgiving in our own home, with family coming into town to join us! Roger & Kathy flew in with Dallyn (whose Phantom touring company has brought him to San Fran this month) on Tuesday. Jon drove over from Emeryville and spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with us. It was so much fun! With only six of us (all adults), we tried to keep things simple. I think we had it pretty easy, cooking-wise.
What did we serve? Why, turkey, of course! We actually “salted” our turkey instead of brining it, and it was fantastic! We also had stuffing (but not stuffed into the turkey), and fantastic gravy. Then there were mashed sweet potatoes, deviled eggs, rolls & jam, salad, and – for dessert – pecan pie and cranberry pudding. Yum – I’m getting hungry again just writing about it all! Our table was beautiful because my friend Joleen Mills let us borrow her Fall decorations and china table settings, and Kathy and I bought fresh cut flowers for the centerpiece.
With Dallyn and “Grandma Hoffman” in the same house, we had lots of family-wide video conferences with the Bayles family. Kathy and I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday cooking. Also, while Jim was really sick last week, we discovered a new X-box game that hooked us both: 
“A Kingdom for Keflings.” This was a big hit with our visiting relatives, so someone was playing it at almost any given time throughout the weekend. On Thanksgiving – our last evening all together – we had family prayer together, and talked about the many blessings our family has to be grateful for. We all expressed gratitude for our families and the Gospel during these troubled times, as well as for the secure jobs we each have right now. It’s been a wonderful season of Thanksgiving!
Early Morning Seminaryby Angie
18 Nov 2008
12:11 pm3
My already high esteem for the youth of our ward and stake has been kicked up another notch today because for the first time in my life I did something that they do all year round: left the house before 6:30am to go to early morning seminary. I was substituting for Mary Coolbear, a friend in our ward who teaches the 15-year-olds (that’s 10th grade, right?). I knew about a third of the kids in the class, and they were all just fantastic. A little chatty, of course, as teenagers tend to be, but very polite and helpful to me as a substitute (it also helped that a couple of the boys know and really admire my husband). No one was more than five minutes late, and everyone was wide awake though the entire class. I was very impressed!
Must Relaxby Angie
17 Nov 2008
6:11 pm3
I visited Stanford today for another pacer check and an appointment with Dr. Al-ahmad. The bad news is, I’ve had another episode of V-tach, although I “got out of it” on my own. The good news is, there was only one, and Dr. Murphy has convinced Dr. Al-ahmad that I’ll be safer if we just leave things be for now. SO, I’m good to go for another six months, apparently.
I have another little problem, though. When I checked in, my pulse was about 110, and it stayed over 100 the entire time I was there. Based on my pacer history, this is not a unique occurrence. My sleeping rate has been consistently over 85, which isn’t good either. There’s not much to do about it, though – except eliminate all stress from my life… and where’s the fun in that, I ask you? Well, they lowered my pacing rate from 85 to 75 and I’m supposed to seek more calm and untroubled state of being. I’m thinkin’ that’s not happening between now and next year.
Dear Governor Schwarzeneggerby Angie
14 Nov 2008
11:11 am4
Dear Governor,
I was shocked and dismayed to learn that you are publicly encouraging the legal backlash against Proposition 8. This issue was decided democratically by the voice of the people – the same way that you were elected to office! You are responsible for upholding and promoting the will of the people, and the people have spoken very clearly multiple times on this issue.
Please respect the convictions of your constituents. Please respect our right to vote, and our right to express a moral opinion on societal questions. Please respect the democratic process by upholding the passage of Proposition 8.
Thank you,
Angela Hoffman
Yes, I actually sent this email to the Governor, in response to his public “disappointment” that prop 8 passed:
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80688
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/11/10/schwarzenegger_proposition_8_fight_isnt_over/
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-protest10-2008nov10,0,4429002.story
I’m kind of amazed at myself… Anyway, if anyone else would like to do the same, you can contact the Governor’s office via this website: http://gov.ca.gov/interact.