Last Wednesday, I swung by Costco to return a defective LCD monitor. After buying another monitor (to replace the one returned), I decided to eat lunch there (how can you turn down a Polish sausage with 20 oz. soda for $1.50?). The dining experience was fairly typical of any Costco lunch (except for the fact that this particular Costco’s dining/picnic area was inside the building). You collect your food, load it up with the condiments that you like (it’s deli mustard, ketchup, a little relish, onions, and just a bit of crushed red pepper for some extra kick), sit on a plastic picnic bench, and eat next to a bunch of random people.

It’s hard in these conditions not to overhear conversations or notice badges (most companies in the San Francisco Bay Area have their employees wear badges for security - but this also means that when they are not in their company, you pretty much see each person’s name and company). Usually, I’d think nothing of it, but since Tina and I have made our decision to leave the Bay Area in the next couple years, I’ve been paying a little more attention to some of things that might not happen in other areas of the country. While eating my sausage, I noticed several conversations ranging from an in-depth explanation of potential next generation network security technology that could be picked up by Cisco, the latest hiccup involving some South Korean game animation company and some new Electronic Art’s video game, and a harsh critique of both Intel and AMD (which I internally disagreed with). A glance around revealed a mix of people - mothers with three kids, a Hispanic woman telling two Asian kids not to make a mess and eat slower, the older gentleman next to me reading a book he just bought while eating his pizza, and the rest (about 14 or so men) were employees of local high tech companies ranging from those with names that I recognized to ones that I did not. 10 years ago, when I started working in Silicon Valley, this was the scene at Tung Kee Noodle House (an extremely low cost chain of Vietnamese noodle shops that have since split up and broken into various noodle companies). Tung Kee was a place where you could get a bowl of noodle soup for about $3 (a little more now), see other people in the tech industry dining next to you and listen to random conversations about the direction of semiconductors, the hottest stock performers, and even job interviews. Maybe Costco is the new cheap business lunch spot.

What I want to know is what a Costco lunch is like in your city?

(  Click here to read the rest of Costco and Business Lunches  )

I’ve always used the dry powdered dishwashing detergent. It just seemed more economical and easier (since I didn’t have to keep making trips to buy more because each box of the powdered stuff holds more loads than a typical bottle of liquid). So, I’ve never actually tried the liquid dishwashing detergent until now. I got a bottle of Liquid Cascade and I really like it. We run the dishwasher fairly often (especially when I’m preparing something for an article on Cooking For Engineers or just testing recipes) and sometimes when I’m in a hurry and the box if full, it’s easy to spill some of the powdered stuff onto the ground (got to make sure your hands are dry before you try to pick up powdered detergent!). But the liquid stuff seems so easy to pour and control quantity - just squeeze until the right amount is in the cup and you’re done! The powdered stuff is a bit harder to control the flow of. This seems like a silly reason to switch, but after running a couple dozen loads with liquid, I’m seriously contemplating sticking with the Liquid Cascade for my dishwashing needs from now on. Also, I noticed that I don’t seem to need a rinse aid anymore - the Cascade seems to rinse of by itself really well even though we’ve got hard water.

Occasionally, I get inappropriate comments posted to Cooking For Engineers. This is one I found this morning that isn’t really inappropriate, but I didn’t feel belonged on the site. I rarely remove posts… usually only spam. Actually, now that I think about it, I’m not going to remove it since I’ve left far more offensive comments (people cussing about my use of canned cream of mushroom soup, etc.) on the site in the interest of promoting open discourse. Anyway, this was posted to the “oh-so-contentious” Oven Baked Chicken and Rice article.

Subject: fat tastes good!
doesnt matter what we eat, it’s all about proportions and in moderation.
we all know ‘fat’ tastes good!

(  Click here to read the rest of One CFE reader’s view of fatty foods and recreational activities  )

No, it’s not me… but my friend Harold has written an extraordinary article on his recent attempt to eat out with his wife and baby daughter. The article is hilarious, endearing, and also (as I’m told by my friends who have kids) right on the money.

Here are some highlights from the article: (  Click here to read the rest of Dining out with an infant  )

I just realized that although I can watch television (more or less) while writing, I can’t do it while reading. If I start reading, I completely tune out the TV and have to go back (that goodness for DVRs), but I can follow a plot and everything if I’m just writing. Weird, huh?

So, last month I took my Volkswagen Jetta TDI into the dealer for its 40,000 mile service. As recommended by the manufacturer, the fuel filter should be replaced every 20,000 miles. The last week, I noticed a hesitancy during acceleration which meant to me that I had a clogged fuel filter. This was odd because I have the filter changed every 10,000 miles. I called the dealership to double check that they did in fact replace the filter and found out that they removed fuel filter replacement from the list of things they do on during service. My invoice clearly states that they fuel filter was part of the work order, but the adviser kept repeating that policy had changed but the computers hadn’t been updated. I think it’s pretty stupid to remove a required service, but they do it all the time. Brake service and coolant service used to be part of the service packages, but no longer. I do think they should have done the fuel filter replacement for free (they didn’t, they gave me a token 10% off) for two reasons: 1) They put it on the invoice and I agreed to and paid a price with an expected amount of service and 2) having been told that it had been replaced, if I didn’t know what it felt like to drive on a clogged fuel filter, I might not have ever found out that they didn’t replace it.

I also noticed that they put in some fuel cleanser without asking (not shown on the invoice or work order at all). I found out because it was checked off on a maintenance checklist that I got with the 40K service (first time I ever recieved a checklist). Since I run on biodiesel, this isn’t something I want added to my tank.

According to this article, the Governor of California (action-superstar Arnold Schwartzenegger) is going to continue to fight for the banning of the sale of violent computer games to children. This comes right after a U.S. District Judge ruled that the 2005 law prohibiting the sale of violent computer games to kids violates the video game maker’s First Amendment right since video games are considered a protected form of expression. I wasn’t aware that the First Amendment covered the right to sell your form of expression to anyone - just your right to make your statement. Seems a little bit of a stretch to me.

When this law passed in California a couple years back, I thought it was a bit stupid. I don’t know if it’s unconstitutional, but I do know that it’s another partial indication that parents are trying to replace time spent parenting their children with government intervention. (Instead of watching what your kids are watching, let the Federal Government dictate what can be broadcast; instead of paying attention to what games your kid is playing, just have the local shop keepers police them — I know, I know, parents are busier than ever, but are they really busier than the previous generation? And if so, should they be?) If a teenager can go to a store and pick up a DVD of The Terminator, then why shouldn’t he be able to pick up an M-rated video game?

While at Intel, I discovered that I was often overwhelmed by e-mail. Many were useless, some were amusing, and a few were important and useful to my job or my life. Unfortunately, these few often disguised themselves as the useless variety (or a long winded variant). So, I started telling everyone that if they wanted to make sure I read (at least part of) their e-mail then they should start with the e-mailer’s equivalent of an executive summary. The first line (or the subject) should contain the reason for the e-mail. If the heart of the e-mail is buried in the second paragraph, there’s no guarantee that I (or someone else) will read that far before binning the e-mail.

Several years ago, I told my friend Harold to make sure he writes whatever it is he wants me to do or respond to in the first line too ensure that I’ll pay attention to his e-mail and he’s since employed it, with great success, as a way to write e-mail to everyone. Three days ago, he even wrote up an article on it dubbing it “Michael’s Rule”.

(  Click here to read the rest of Michael’s Rule  )

Well, not really the Wizard (of Oz) but the Wizard of Data Visualization. Tomorrow I get to attend a full day course taught by Edward Tufte. The first time I heard of Tufte was three years ago when someone posted on Cooking For Engineers that the recipe summary tables were Tuftian. I was a bit confused by that remark until I read a little about Edward Tufte - it was a compliment! Tufte teaches about information design, clarifying complexity, interface design, and more. I’ve heard that people who have taken classes from him have found themselves looking at the world differently - I’m not even hoping for that much of an impact, but that would be cool.
(  Click here to read the rest of I’m off to see the Wizard!  )

So, I went to the Castroville Artichoke Festival this year with my wife, Tina, and my friends, Dave (founder of Sendori, not the founder of Fanpop who is also a Dave) and Rachel. At the Castroville Artichoke Festival are artichokes, live music, BBQ, cultural performances, food art, arts and crafts for sale, and crazy hats. Yep, crazy hats. There’s this guy who sells crazy hats. Witch hats, USA red-white-blue hats, alien hats, pirate hats, mad hatter hats, Statue of Liberty hats, hot dog hats… you name it. Rachel spotted the hot dog hat and put it on and Dave took a picture of her. Then, the crazy hat seller came out and told us that there were no photographs allowed.
(  Click here to read the rest of No photos!  )