I saw a white squirrel running around near Lake Johanna today – seemed like a good omen.

Rod Stewart is a serious model railroader. Who knew?

[Link courtesy of Make]

900+ miles today. I made it through Nevada, Idaho well into Montana.

I had some of the best biscuits in memory this morning in Nevada at the Cowboy Cafe in Lovelock.

The views I saw today were really unforgettable. I didn’t stop to take photos too often because I had to keep the pace, but I really want to go back and explore more.

Yesterday I elected to not go to bed. My flight was at 6:20 AM, so I stayed out with the gang until 3:30. I hit m room, packed and found a cab to the airport. I made the flight to Salt Lake City and slept like a baby. I made a few phone calls and three hours later I flew to San Jose. Once there I was picked up, bought the car, took a quick shower and headed out on the road at about 3:30 PM. Of course, I was in stop and go traffic for three hours in the Bay area. Once out of the Bay area things moved, but slowed down a little at Sacremento where I got a little sleepy. I took a catnap, had dinner and kept moving. After one more catnap near Donner pass I made it to Reno around 11:30. I decided it might be a good place to stop and took the Motel 6 on the outskirts of town.

At least I can spend one more night in the blessed state of Nevada.

What have I learned so far.

• California might as well be a “developing country” if you judge it solely on the basis of it’s roadside rest areas.
• If I wanted to eat at non-chain restaurants I should have not planned a freeway route. Chain restaurants clump around freeway exits like cholera victims clumps around pump handle.
• I need a navigator.
• I’m going to need a lot more coffee to complete this trip. I’ve had one cappuccino so far and it’s not enough. I need a thermos.

More later; I have miles to go …

I’ll be appearing at the Ventian all week for a work conference. I’m not a gambler, but I enjoy Vegas for how odd it is. The one thing I really don’t like is the smell in the casino. I don’t know what the pump in but it is artificial and gives me a headache.

I’ll be bringing popcorn to Vegas to check this out.

If this is real I’m definitely going to buy a hat made of the grid stuff you see in microwaves!

I’m betting this is a hoax, btw.

If you use google, you’ve probably noticed the new favicon that they use.

The old icon looked like this.

You know a company has you over a barrel when any tiny little change causes mass hysteria. A lot of people think the new icon stinks. I hate it, but I’m trying to let it grow on me. It’s certainly better than the new logo that NetApp gave itself.

Google showed off some of the runner-up icons and asked for user submissions on their blog. Feel free to show off your own idea’s for a better icon. I plan to create a script and just upload the old one repeatedly.

Part three of my tribute to Lore and his seven basic blog posts.

CIMG5826, originally uploaded by timbu.

We recently had some ducks overnight with us. They were hatched at Matthew’s school and will be released later this summer. It’s was so cute watching these three ducks follow the children around the yard. I was relieved that we got them back without any unfortunate mishap!

Part two of my tribute to Lore and his seven basic blog posts.

I just paid too much money for a few sheets of paper with a cheap soft cover. You should buy one too so you can be cool like other bloggers.

Bloggers are known for their ability to find a product and flog it like there is no tomorrow all while avoiding the uncomfortable truth that they are being paid on each and every sale and the item in question was given to them for free. It’s the classic Judas kiss, where you trade your ethics for a bag of gadgets you don’t need. It’s all a part of their desire to be “citizen journalists” only instead of the traditional demarcation between news and commercial speech bloggers blend them seamlessly so you have no idea which is which any more.

Part one of my tribute to Lore and his seven basic blog posts.

I’m upset with Hollywood. It seems like they can’t make an original movie any more. The only thing people are willing to make is prequels, sequels, and re-makequels. Worse than this Hollywood trend is the American public’s willingness to pay good money to see these dreadful pieces of unimaginitive warmed over crapola. I’m all for recycling, but what can you really make from pre-chewed pablum. So what’s next Hollywood, are you going to start showing passing off reality shows as movies?