Sluggoaafa on Blogspot
20/Jul/10 22:14 Filed in: Personal
Sluggoaafa on blogspot
Blogspot
Blogger was started by a tiny company in San Francisco called Pyra Labs in August of 1999. This was in the midst of the dot-com boom. But we weren't exactly a VC-funded, party-throwing, foosball-in-the-lobby-playing, free-beer-drinking outfit. (Unless it was other people's free beer.)
We were three friends, funded by doing annoying contract web projects for big companies, trying to make our own grand entrance onto the Internet landscape. What we were originally trying to do doesn't matter so much now. But while doing it, we created Blogger, more or less on a whim, and thought — Hmmm... that's kinda interesting.
Blogger took off, in a small way, and eventually a bigger way, over a couple years. We raised a little money (but stayed small). And then the bust happened, and we ran out of money, and our fun little journey got less fun. We narrowly survived, not all in one piece, but kept the service going the whole time (most days) and started building it back up.
Things were going well again in 2002. We had hundreds of thousands of users, though still just a few people. And then something no one expected happened: Google wanted to buy us. Yes, that Google
We liked Google a lot. And they liked blogs. So we were amenable to the idea. And it worked out nicely.
Now we're a small (but slightly bigger than before) team in Google focusing on helping people have their own voice on the web and organizing the world's information from the personal perspective. Which has pretty much always been our whole deal.
For more on Google, check google.com. (Also good for searching.)
Finally it's Fall
27/Sep/09 15:16 Filed in: Personal
Sitting here at my desk playing on Facebook all day long, have had the windows open all day long and really have been enjoying the nice cool weather outside. When I look at a weather map, it shows that there is some rain in the area, but I have yet to see it.
Anyway, the wind is blowing a slight cool breeze, the leaves are starting to fall, and I can just feel high school band competitions are going on all over the place. It's been a few years since I went to one and would really like to go, but the last time I was at one here in the Minneapolis area, it was FREEZING. I do miss not being close to a high school to volunteer with a band, but it's fun to watch the video's on youtube or some place like that.
Last weekend I was back home in Virginia for my high school band reunion. It was a lot of fun. We had several directors over the years there, as well as students from the early to mid eighties, to when I graduated in '91. We had a blast getting together and seeing each other and reminiscing old times of how band use to be.
Watching the band at the friday night football game brought back many memories, but we can tell it sure is a different band than when we were there. Sure, there is a new director and he's doing a good job. I'm not sure if it's just the attitude of the kids, or the limit in the type of discipline that can be instilled into the kids, but I know we would have never allowed anyone to have blue hair, or wear ear rings while in uniform.
I do miss those good old days. I think for all of us at the reunion, we all realize that who we are today, we learned from band. "We're now 5 minutes behind schedule". "It's not my time your wasting", "there is someone better than you are". The decisions were up to us to do well. I truly miss not going directly into college and getting my music education degree that I wanted, but I'm happy with the decisions that I have made.
I guess what to expect next is great Apple Pies, or Apple cider, apple dumplings, or even halloween haunted houses. Those days are truly missed.
Anyway, the wind is blowing a slight cool breeze, the leaves are starting to fall, and I can just feel high school band competitions are going on all over the place. It's been a few years since I went to one and would really like to go, but the last time I was at one here in the Minneapolis area, it was FREEZING. I do miss not being close to a high school to volunteer with a band, but it's fun to watch the video's on youtube or some place like that.
Last weekend I was back home in Virginia for my high school band reunion. It was a lot of fun. We had several directors over the years there, as well as students from the early to mid eighties, to when I graduated in '91. We had a blast getting together and seeing each other and reminiscing old times of how band use to be.
Watching the band at the friday night football game brought back many memories, but we can tell it sure is a different band than when we were there. Sure, there is a new director and he's doing a good job. I'm not sure if it's just the attitude of the kids, or the limit in the type of discipline that can be instilled into the kids, but I know we would have never allowed anyone to have blue hair, or wear ear rings while in uniform.
I do miss those good old days. I think for all of us at the reunion, we all realize that who we are today, we learned from band. "We're now 5 minutes behind schedule". "It's not my time your wasting", "there is someone better than you are". The decisions were up to us to do well. I truly miss not going directly into college and getting my music education degree that I wanted, but I'm happy with the decisions that I have made.
I guess what to expect next is great Apple Pies, or Apple cider, apple dumplings, or even halloween haunted houses. Those days are truly missed.
Why do people make up information?
12/Aug/09 22:30 Filed in: Work
So, today I was gearing up for heading to JFK. Sometime in the afternoon, a friend called me to inform me to watch my flights since there were storms in the New York City area. Any storms create terrible delays, so when he contacted me, I checked the weather and sure enough, New York was due some bad weather.
He called back a little later and said that JFK was experiencing some heavy hail, and as I was talking with him, he witnessed two planes abort their landings...probably due to the weather. I continued to watch my Northwest flight on their website, and sure enough, it was showing an hour delay...this was approximately 3pm.
As I finally got ready to leave for the airport, I decided to leave as normal since they use a different plane from the inbound, to the outbound. The delay showed that they were waiting for the inbound aircraft. Once I got to the airport, I noticed on the monitor that the inbound was coming from Hartford, CT. At this time, I knew why the delay...weather. Even while walking to the gate, the 3-4 weather monitors that Minneapolis Airport have next to the arrival/departure screens show that there was bad weather, or storms in the NY area.
So, here we all are, sitting at F1 departing lounge, and without notice, the monitor behind the counter changes to a different flight. So, I check NWA/mobile and see that my flight is now leaving out of F3. No agent was at the F1 counter, and the F3 monitor showed a different flight other than our JFK flight. I noticed that the jetbridge pulled back, so it was a flight just leaving.
Quickly, more and more people are showing up to the F3 asking questions about the JFk flight. I tell them that it changed gates, and this will be the new gate. I must say, I’ve never seen so many people berate an agent because no announcement was made at the other gate. (um, aren’t there monitors that can tell you what’s going on?)
Anyway, as we are boarding, this lady in front of me asked the Flight Attendant what gate or terminal we were coming into at JFK, as they needed to tell their driver. The Flight Attendants didn’t know, but the lady saw me and asked me, and I said that we normally arrive in Terminal 4, the International Terminal. She asked about the Delta Terminal if it was the same, but I told her that we always come into T-4. After we get all boarded up and pushed back, surprisingly, we take off immediately. No delay leaving MSP. It was a very smooth flight until we were in our final descent into the NYC area. I watched a very lovely orange moon rise (was trying to keep an eye out for the meteor shower, but no luck) and noticed that we were riding on top of the clouds...then as we descended, it became very turbulent. (hmmm, could this be the weather that I saw?)
As the gear came down for our landing, I could finally see JFK out of my window. The only thing I saw was red blinking lights lined up for the departure runway. This was at 11:30pm. There shouldn’t be a line this huge/long this late at night!!! By seeing this, I knew that there must have been some good delays with the storm that went through earlier, and then some that came through just before we landed.
Now, that lady from earlier was sitting directly behind me. As soon as we touched down, she started nagging her husband what was outside, if he could see the terminal. He said he couldn’t see anything, but she just wouldn’t take it. She kept asking, and asking him. Once we pulled off the runway and onto the taxi-way, we pulled up behind at least 2 planes that I saw, waiting to cross the active take-off runway. Slowly we inched forward, but finally made it across. I could see another line of planes, and it seemed that we pulled right behind them. Now, the lady is raising her voice that we’ve been on the ground for 15 minutes and they can’t find the terminal, (because her husband can’t see the terminal)
The Captain gets on the P.A. and informs us that there is an unusually long line, and we’re behind it, and as soon as things move, we’ll be on our way. The lady behind me perked up and said “Oh great, now we’re going to be even more late”. Finally, we got to a point to pull into the parking area for planes, which leads to the alley for the gates. We stop. Now I can see that a Delta 767 is being tugged out of the alley, and coming towards us, slowly, but it’s moving. This lady behind me is screaming at her husband of what he can see. He says: “Planes”. It just goes back and forth and he finally tells her to just settle down.
After about another 15 minutes, the 767 is passed us, and we move towards our gate, B23 at T-4. Once we get there, we pull up, then stop. After about 15 minutes, the Captain gets on and informs us that there is some construction equipment in the way, and no one is answering the NWA Ops phone that they are calling, but will get some answers as quickly as possible and relay the info to us as soon as he gets it.
You would have thought the floor just caved in! This lady was now beside herself. How could NW send their agents home when they knew we were coming. WTF?!! Come on lady, they aren’t gone, they are probably busy with other delayed flights as well....You aren’t the only one here ya know. Then she starts up again about what terminal are we at...Are we at Delta or Northwest? Her husband says that he saw Delta planes, so now she is bitching at Delta. He then says that he saw a NWA plane and so she starts bitching about NWA.
Finally, we move and we’re now moving outside the alley. I’m now thinking we’re moving to the ramp-stand area. Sure enough, we do. She is beside herself again, that we’ve been on the ground for 1:15minutes and they can’t find a place for us to park. Now she is complaining that they won’t have their bags at baggage claim because everyone went home.
As we were waiting for the ramp stand to come to the door, and busses to come, I could hear the baggage handlers moving the bags like they always do, yet, she keeps going on about how she’s not waiting all night for her bags, the airline will just have to send them directly to the house. Now she is going overboard in telling other people about the Rochester, MN flight that actually did get stranded for 6hrs yet, her story is complete fabricated. I just had to bite my tongue and not correct her in front of everyone because I knew that she would just come back making everything I said a false statement, or a lie and that these are the reasons why there is the passenger bill of rights in congress going on.
I tried to let her get off before me, but ended up standing near her on the bus. Again, she was going off about how ridiculous this was that we had to get off on a ramp stand and it was rainy and slippery. She even yelled at the poor single agent who let us into the terminal.
I sure hope she sleeps well tonight....with her bags that were waiting for her in baggage claim.
He called back a little later and said that JFK was experiencing some heavy hail, and as I was talking with him, he witnessed two planes abort their landings...probably due to the weather. I continued to watch my Northwest flight on their website, and sure enough, it was showing an hour delay...this was approximately 3pm.
As I finally got ready to leave for the airport, I decided to leave as normal since they use a different plane from the inbound, to the outbound. The delay showed that they were waiting for the inbound aircraft. Once I got to the airport, I noticed on the monitor that the inbound was coming from Hartford, CT. At this time, I knew why the delay...weather. Even while walking to the gate, the 3-4 weather monitors that Minneapolis Airport have next to the arrival/departure screens show that there was bad weather, or storms in the NY area.
So, here we all are, sitting at F1 departing lounge, and without notice, the monitor behind the counter changes to a different flight. So, I check NWA/mobile and see that my flight is now leaving out of F3. No agent was at the F1 counter, and the F3 monitor showed a different flight other than our JFK flight. I noticed that the jetbridge pulled back, so it was a flight just leaving.
Quickly, more and more people are showing up to the F3 asking questions about the JFk flight. I tell them that it changed gates, and this will be the new gate. I must say, I’ve never seen so many people berate an agent because no announcement was made at the other gate. (um, aren’t there monitors that can tell you what’s going on?)
Anyway, as we are boarding, this lady in front of me asked the Flight Attendant what gate or terminal we were coming into at JFK, as they needed to tell their driver. The Flight Attendants didn’t know, but the lady saw me and asked me, and I said that we normally arrive in Terminal 4, the International Terminal. She asked about the Delta Terminal if it was the same, but I told her that we always come into T-4. After we get all boarded up and pushed back, surprisingly, we take off immediately. No delay leaving MSP. It was a very smooth flight until we were in our final descent into the NYC area. I watched a very lovely orange moon rise (was trying to keep an eye out for the meteor shower, but no luck) and noticed that we were riding on top of the clouds...then as we descended, it became very turbulent. (hmmm, could this be the weather that I saw?)
As the gear came down for our landing, I could finally see JFK out of my window. The only thing I saw was red blinking lights lined up for the departure runway. This was at 11:30pm. There shouldn’t be a line this huge/long this late at night!!! By seeing this, I knew that there must have been some good delays with the storm that went through earlier, and then some that came through just before we landed.
Now, that lady from earlier was sitting directly behind me. As soon as we touched down, she started nagging her husband what was outside, if he could see the terminal. He said he couldn’t see anything, but she just wouldn’t take it. She kept asking, and asking him. Once we pulled off the runway and onto the taxi-way, we pulled up behind at least 2 planes that I saw, waiting to cross the active take-off runway. Slowly we inched forward, but finally made it across. I could see another line of planes, and it seemed that we pulled right behind them. Now, the lady is raising her voice that we’ve been on the ground for 15 minutes and they can’t find the terminal, (because her husband can’t see the terminal)
The Captain gets on the P.A. and informs us that there is an unusually long line, and we’re behind it, and as soon as things move, we’ll be on our way. The lady behind me perked up and said “Oh great, now we’re going to be even more late”. Finally, we got to a point to pull into the parking area for planes, which leads to the alley for the gates. We stop. Now I can see that a Delta 767 is being tugged out of the alley, and coming towards us, slowly, but it’s moving. This lady behind me is screaming at her husband of what he can see. He says: “Planes”. It just goes back and forth and he finally tells her to just settle down.
After about another 15 minutes, the 767 is passed us, and we move towards our gate, B23 at T-4. Once we get there, we pull up, then stop. After about 15 minutes, the Captain gets on and informs us that there is some construction equipment in the way, and no one is answering the NWA Ops phone that they are calling, but will get some answers as quickly as possible and relay the info to us as soon as he gets it.
You would have thought the floor just caved in! This lady was now beside herself. How could NW send their agents home when they knew we were coming. WTF?!! Come on lady, they aren’t gone, they are probably busy with other delayed flights as well....You aren’t the only one here ya know. Then she starts up again about what terminal are we at...Are we at Delta or Northwest? Her husband says that he saw Delta planes, so now she is bitching at Delta. He then says that he saw a NWA plane and so she starts bitching about NWA.
Finally, we move and we’re now moving outside the alley. I’m now thinking we’re moving to the ramp-stand area. Sure enough, we do. She is beside herself again, that we’ve been on the ground for 1:15minutes and they can’t find a place for us to park. Now she is complaining that they won’t have their bags at baggage claim because everyone went home.
As we were waiting for the ramp stand to come to the door, and busses to come, I could hear the baggage handlers moving the bags like they always do, yet, she keeps going on about how she’s not waiting all night for her bags, the airline will just have to send them directly to the house. Now she is going overboard in telling other people about the Rochester, MN flight that actually did get stranded for 6hrs yet, her story is complete fabricated. I just had to bite my tongue and not correct her in front of everyone because I knew that she would just come back making everything I said a false statement, or a lie and that these are the reasons why there is the passenger bill of rights in congress going on.
I tried to let her get off before me, but ended up standing near her on the bus. Again, she was going off about how ridiculous this was that we had to get off on a ramp stand and it was rainy and slippery. She even yelled at the poor single agent who let us into the terminal.
I sure hope she sleeps well tonight....with her bags that were waiting for her in baggage claim.
Is there ever any good news on TV?
28/Jul/09 17:32 Filed in: Personal
The past few days I’ve been sitting on what we call Ready Reserve at American Airlines. We basically sit around, waiting to see if we’ll get called out for a trip because someone called in sick, or couldn’t make it due to certain situations. So, they would either call a “Standby” flight attendant who is sitting at the airport ‘standing by’ to be called out for a trip, or, if there is sufficient time, they will call someone who is sitting on ready reserve.
Anyway, the only thing that is somewhat decent to watch on television during the day is the news. However, I’m just getting tired of watching it because when something is “breaking”, they tend to report the most bogus things, or will ask the most stupid questions. (no, not stupidly, just plain stupid)
I would like to just strangle that Nancy Grace in the way that she squeals on her show. I think Boston Legal did an outstanding job showcasing her by their Gracie Jane look alike of Nancy Grace. Sure, these reporters have every right to voice their opinions, but that’s just it..an Opinion. It’s not LAW, it’s not regulation, it’s an opinion. I doubt she would ever admit that she was wrong in her judgements of people.
You know it’s a slow news day when news stations are reporting how President Obama used the word “Stupidly” regarding how that police officer reacting to the Professor trying to get into his house. OMG, you would have thought that murder was sprayed all over the place. EVERY. SINGLE. NEWS agency reported on this slip. Per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Stupidly” is an adverb. So what’s the big deal? That a President called someone stupid? OMG, the world is going to end!
I also love during news conferences, different people ask the same questions over and over. One reporter will ask a question...it’s answered. Someone else will ask the same question, but word it different....it’s answered. Another reporter will ask the same question that the first two asked...but will word it differently again. By this time, the person doing the conference gets annoyed and reminds everyone to listen to other people’s questions...yours may be answered!!! Didn’t we learn this in Elementary School?
Anyway, the only thing that is somewhat decent to watch on television during the day is the news. However, I’m just getting tired of watching it because when something is “breaking”, they tend to report the most bogus things, or will ask the most stupid questions. (no, not stupidly, just plain stupid)
I would like to just strangle that Nancy Grace in the way that she squeals on her show. I think Boston Legal did an outstanding job showcasing her by their Gracie Jane look alike of Nancy Grace. Sure, these reporters have every right to voice their opinions, but that’s just it..an Opinion. It’s not LAW, it’s not regulation, it’s an opinion. I doubt she would ever admit that she was wrong in her judgements of people.
You know it’s a slow news day when news stations are reporting how President Obama used the word “Stupidly” regarding how that police officer reacting to the Professor trying to get into his house. OMG, you would have thought that murder was sprayed all over the place. EVERY. SINGLE. NEWS agency reported on this slip. Per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Stupidly” is an adverb. So what’s the big deal? That a President called someone stupid? OMG, the world is going to end!
I also love during news conferences, different people ask the same questions over and over. One reporter will ask a question...it’s answered. Someone else will ask the same question, but word it different....it’s answered. Another reporter will ask the same question that the first two asked...but will word it differently again. By this time, the person doing the conference gets annoyed and reminds everyone to listen to other people’s questions...yours may be answered!!! Didn’t we learn this in Elementary School?
Air Travel and Weather Delays
08/Jul/09 18:41 Filed in: Work
Why is it that people get mad at the airline when there are weather delays that is out of the airlines’ control? Read More...
Review of the 4th of July
08/Jul/09 18:22 Filed in: Personal
My thoughts on this year’s 4th of July activities for a large metropolitan city vs a small town’s 4th of July activities. Read More...