How to Increase Gas Mileage for Your Hummer H2

I saw this on I-5 on the way to LA this past weekend. The only way this guy could get worse gas mileage is to have packed his luggage department with bricks.

Random Facts About Steve Jobs

I finally got around to reading the March 17, 2008 issue of Fortune, which had two articles on Steve Jobs.  Here are some highlights:

 

·         Steve Jobs is a Buddhist and a vegetarian.  When he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003 he tried nine months of “alternative methods” prior to undergoing successful surgery in 2004.

·         As of March 2008, Steve owned $682 million in Apple stock and a 7.3% stake in Disney, worth $4.6 billion.

·         Steve parks his Mercedes in handicapped spaces and refuses to put a license plate on the car, which he says is “a little game I play.”

·         He dated Joan Baez and Diane Keaton.

·         He was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs, a working-class California couple.  His biological father is Syrian born Abdulfattah “John” Jandali who impregnated Joanne Simpson, his biological mother, while the two were University of Wisconsin graduate students in 1955.  Unwed at the time, they gave Steve up for adoption, only to later marry.  They had another child, Mona Simpson, who grew up to become a critically acclaimed novelist and who did not know Steve was her brother until she was an adult.  Jandali abandoned the family when Mona was 4, jumping from job to job as a political science professor, before leaving academe.  Now 76, he is the food and beverage director at the Boomtown Hotel and Casino near Reno.  Mona wrote a book, The Lost Father, about her quest to find him.

·         Steve had a baby, Lisa, with Chrisann Brennan.  For two years he denied paternity while Lisa’s mother went on welfare.  Steve swore in a court document that he could not be Lisa’s dad because he was “sterile and infertile.”  He later acknowledged paternity.  Lisa Brennan-Jobs graduated from Harvard and is a writer.  Steve married Laurene Powell, a Stanford MBA and miraculously fathered three more children despite being infertile.

Best & Most Authentic Sangria Recipe

With the weather getting warmer and Daylight Savings Time upon us, it's time to start thinking about drinking alcohol. We have a "secret" family recipe for the absolute best sangria you've ever had. I'm sharing it with you, my readers.

1920 Madrid Sangria (The original variation was picked up by my grandfather, a Naval officer, while he was in Spain):
2 bottles of dry red wine (Don't be cheap - spend $10 a bottle, minimum)
1 cup of sugar
1 jigger of Brandy
1 jigger of Orange Liquer
1 orange sliced thinly
1 lemon sliced thinly
Diced apple
Dash of cinnamon

Chill several hours

At last minute add a bottle of chilled Champagne and Ice (Again, don't be a cheap bastard. At a minimum, use WhiteStar).
Anyone who drinks a sip of this nectar will ask for more, and demand the recipe. Don't forget to give me credit.

Nike + iPod

A few years back Adidas came out with the Adidas 1 running shoe.  It was $250 and had a small computer in each shoe that adjusted the cushioning of the shoe based on the type of surface it detected that you are running on.  I, of course, bought a pair at Sports Chalet, which apparently does not employ runners/joggers.  The guy knew nothing about the shoe.

I didn’t really start using them until I bought the Nike + iPod sensor.  One sensor goes on your shoe (while Nike shoes have a special built-in area for them, I simply attached it via a Velcro money holder to my Adidas) and the other goes in your iPod Nano.  It then tracks speed and distance, and you can set your jog to music, with a “power song” when you need inspiration.  (I don’t like running to music with words.  I don’t need to hear John Meyer whine about something while jogging.  I feel that nothing goes better with running than trance music.  I have the ultimate mix, which I’ll post here shortly.)  Once you are done with your run, you sync your ipod with your computer, and it transmits the data to a personal website where you can see all of your runs, set goals, and challenge others.  It’s really the only thing that has motivated me to run since high school, when I ran track.  (Well, even then, I’d run to my house and watch MTV when we were supposed to be up on Mount Um Un Num (sp?) running).

By using the Nike + iPod, I lost 15 pounds and began thinking about doing a mini-triathlon.  But then my feet started killing me, and my toe nails on my big toes actually died (they turned a cool blue/black shade). 

This happened last September, and I stopped running.  I tried to buy new shoes at the usual suspects…Nordstrom, Foot Locker, SportsMart, but the staff at each of these were completely clueless.  Nordstrom was especially disappointing.  The Nordstrom at Arden Fair in Sacramento either hires the mentally challenged, or the real workers were tied up in the back while I was there.  I felt like I was an extra on a Fast and Furious movie.  But I digress.  I finally found a store specifically for runners.  It’s called Fleet Feet, and they appear to hire actual runners.  (Either that, or the sales chick was bulimic).  They spend 15 minutes analyzing your gait as well as foot/ankle positioning.  The sales girl recognized that my left ankle was buckling in (I broke it twice), which caused my arch to collapse, and she recommended an ASIC shoe with a lot of heel support.  She also told me that I should go up ½ size for running shoes, and she said my Adidas were too small, which was causing my pain/toe nail issues.

Unfortunately, the pair she recommended were only $100, and she actually recommended against buying the $180 model that was dark blue with silver.  I bought the cheapo pair anyway, along with some $10 running socks from South Africa.  I’ve been running for a couple days now and the shoes make a huge difference.  I’m not up to 5 miles a day again yet, but should be shortly.  I’ve hope that I’ve motivated you to get off your fat ass and start running.

 

 

Apple Airbook: Better Buy a Big Carrying Case

You waited in line for an iPhone and you pre-ordered the Airbook, which arrived today. You excitedly put on your coolest clothes...your 7 For Mankind jeans, Dsquared2 shirt, John Varvatos loafers and you even pulled out your Alain Mikli glasses (although your vision is 20/20). As you walked to the Starbucks on Chestnut, you beemed with pride, knowing that every other tech tool in the place would be impressed. And they were. Until you started pulling out USB hubs and a bunch of other mis-matched peripherals and plugging them into the Airbook. Your pride turned to shame as you powered down your ultra thin laptop and headed back to your depressingly small, overpriced flat in the Marina.

The ads for the new Airbook show it being pulled out of a manila envelope.  If you buy one, you better keep that envelope in a big laptop bag so that you can hold all the peripherals you’ll need.

 

No Wi-Fi access? To connect to a wired ethernet network you’ll need a $29 add-on USB adapter.  But wait!  The wonderfully designed Airbook only has one USB port, so you’ll also need to have a USB hub!  You also get the pleasure of buying an external DVD/CD drive, and the Airbook lacks firewire capability.

 

Battery life?  No worries.  You won’t have to carry around a heavy spare battery. You simply need to send the Airbook in for service!  You’ll likely be very familiar with the service department.  Given the Airbook’s thinness, it’ll be crushed by the peripherals in your laptop bag.