Is it raining?

While watching the big game, we heard a noise outside, and thought it might be raining. It turns out, we were close:

Not sure the cause, but that fire hydrant is really going to town.

-Andy

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Sometimes I miss DSL

It's raining in San Francisco this weekend, which wouldn't be a problem normally. However, when I got home last night after taking in a movie, I found that my Comcast cable Internet connection was dead. After doing troubleshooting with a Comcast tech, it was determined that somebody needs to come on site in order to fix it (probably some rain water that got somewhere it wasn't supposed to).

Next available appointment? Tuesday between 1 and 3 PM.

That's a long time to go without Internet, but luckily I have a backup:

That is a Verizon USB modem, attached to a USB hub, attatched to my iMac. Good enough to surf the web, but not to watch streaming video.

-Andy

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At least somebody got some sleep last night

Sometime in the wee hours, I was awoken by some sort of strange alarm. I confirmed that it wasn't coming from my apartment, and hoped that it would go away. When that proved futile, I dressed, and emerged grogilly, into the hallway.

I was greeted with a smell that was decidedly not good, and it was clear that a smoke detector was going off in an apartment across the hall. Another resident of my building was already on the scene. I tried knocking, but couldn't raise the awareness of the apatment dweller.

A call to the landlord went to voicemail. I managed to wake up the buildings' maintenance fellow, but he didn't have the key to the apartment in question. Nor were his loud knocks heard by the occupant.

At this point, we assumed that the apartment was empty -- surely nobody could sleep through this.

So, our next call was to the fire department. They came in short order, geared up, and ready for battle:

The first fireman tried knocking on the door, louder than all previous knocks. Still, nothing.

The smoke was definitely getting stronger.

Finally, in a last-ditch effort before taking an axe to the door, two fireman simultaneously knocked on the door. Surprisingly, this worked, and the occupant awoke, and unlocked the door.

Apparently this gentleman had put a frozen pizza in the oven, and promptly fell asleep. So asleep that even as he pizza burned, his apartment filled with smoke, his fire alarm blared, and his door was knocked, all failed to wake him.

The fireman were efficient and professional. The occupant was evacuated from the apartment, and the smoldering pizza was ejected out he window, to the sidewalk below. And just as quickly as they came, they verified that everything was safe and sound, before they were off again, to save the city from the next pizza, gone rogue.

-Andy

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Hot pumpkin action

Mine is on the left:

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Zoey the shark

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Kaylee, the turtle

Chris and Tanya broke out the dog costumes:

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Change of scenery

Engineering traded places with sales today, so I had to move my setup to the other side of the office. While I still have a window seat (that's good), now my view faces north (that's bad). Can't see as much of the city -- this photo is the best angle that I could come up with.

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Ferry building for lunch

Beautiful day for Taylors. Yum!

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Yup, it's a cockroach

Went to the California Academy of Sciences with Rushabh and the gang last Thursday. I had never been there before, and it's pretty cool. Some of the exhibits are even hands on:

 Everybody else seemed to be pretty grossed out -- but come on, these little guys are vegetarian... Right?

 

-Andy.

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The Hunterses have landed

I picked up the Hunter family (Mike, Sheila, and Miriam) from SFO today, and we enjoyed a lovely day in the Marina. Here is a photo of Miriam, looking pensive in advance of Lunch:

More to come, I'm sure -- as we will be brunching with them tomorrow.

-Andy.

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