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This isn't actually a review of the iWatch (I know that's not what it's called, but I'm going to call it that anyway, for short) but rather a review of how I use it and what it does for me.

I have a love-hate relationship with Apple gadgets. Dont' get me wrong: I LOVE gadgets in general! (Looks guiltily at the kitchen which is still waiting for me to do my promised gadget-decluttering.) But I've had to train myself to look beyond the "ooh, shiny!" to ask, "in what concrete, practical ways would this tool improve my life?" And secondarily "will it improve my life sufficiently in a concentrated enough way that I won't resent the frequency with which it becomes obsolete by design?" Apple gadgets are a dinner with the devil, and I've learned to measure the length of my spoon.

The iPhone was an easy capitulation, way back when, because I'd been (unsuccessfully) resisting getting a cell phone until they invented one that combined a PDA function. The tipping point for getting an iPad (which was also a long time ago) was identifying three specific tasks I knew I would use it for that no other workflow in my life would satisfy in the same way. (I remember that e-books and an electronic sheet music file were two of them, but I no longer remember what the third was.) The iWatch had an additional psychological hurdle: I was liberated from watch-wearing when I started carrying a PDA and I rather loved the esthetics of a bare wrist. Plus, not worrying about banging it into things. So while I contemplated the benefits of having various mini-functions directed to a form that was trivially easy to view and interact with, I also balked at what I'd be giving up.

What kicked me over the edge finally? It wasn't a concrete, practical function but an illogical security-blanket function. You see, back in November I had this pulmonary embolism...

And when discussing with the medical personnel whether it was useful to have a blood oxygen monitor at home (answer: "not really, but if it makes you feel better it wouldn't hurt, but we're not going to give you one because we need them for Covid patients") I recalled that one of the iWatch functions was a blood oxygen sensor.

Now, to be clear: APPLE WATCH HEALTH FUNCTIONS ARE NOT TO BE USED FOR SERIOUS MEDICAL MONITORING. THE APPLE WATCH IS NOT AN APPROVED AND LICENSED MEDICAL DEVICE. IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR HEALTH, CONSULT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL NOT A TECH GADGET. (Got that?) But as an optional security blanket, that thought finally kicked me over into "what the heck, why not?"

So let's go through the day and look at the various functions I use my iWatch for.

Night-time

The watch does sleep monitoring, based on movement. It tracks how often you get up during the night and when you're moving around in a way that suggests you're awake. This is of passing interest to me, but there's one problem it shares with the FitBit I gave up on several years ago. Overnight is the most convenient time for recharging. To be fair, although the watch requires daily charging, it only takes about an hour to top up and its trivially simple to do that when I'm at my computer desk. In fact, for a while I had a daily reminder set for the time of our morning staff meeting: "charge watch". But this brings in a second issue.

A number of the watch functions rely on close contact with your skin. (For that matter, since I turned off the audible alerts, the watch communicates with me entirely by vibration through skin contact.) The underside of the watch is intended to remain in constant close contact. Having a non-porous object fastened in immediate contact with your skin for 23 hours a day has biological consequences. I suppose I could have done something like rotate it to the inside of my wrist at night to allow my skin to breathe, and I may try that at some point. But taking it off at night (and also using the time to charge) is my current option.

I still get the benefits of the bedtime-alert and wake-up functions, because the former happens before I take it off and the latter is channeled through my phone if I'm not wearing the watch.

Calendar alerts

This is one of the biggest practical uses for me. The watch pings me for all my iCal alerts (though if I wanted to, I could set it to only channel alert for specific calendars so, for instance, if I didn't need it to tell me about holidays, or that it's payday, I could avoid that). It pings me for any time-related to-do list alerts. It relays my medication alert reminders. And I can acknowledge all those through the watch. That part of my brain that freaks out about forgetting things such that I'm constantly checking my calendar? It's learning to trust the watch. 7am: *ping* to unlock the side gate so the contractors can get in. 8am: *ping* to take my morning pill. 2 hours before some appointment (also 1 or 2 days before) *ping* to remind me of some place I have to be or something I have to do. *ping* to lock the gate again. *ping* to take my evening pill. *ping* to remind me of my zoom dinner date. *ping* to remind me of a regular phone call. But also: *ping* to ask if I've received a package scheduled ot have arrived by now; *ping* that it's time to schedule a podcast interview we'd agreed on several months ago; *ping* to do monthly cleaning maintenance on the roomba; *ping* to order a book that I heard about that wasn't available for pre-order at the time. *ping* *ping* *ping*. For some people, this might be annoying, but for me, the automating of my short- and long-term memory is immensely freeing.

I also have my default watch-face set up to display my calendar events, so I can easily note whether I have anything coming up. (It would be even better if I could integrate it with my day-job calendar, but those streams don't cross.)

Communications

I get too much spam email to want to have it all sent to my watch, but fortunately it works in integration with Apple Mail such that you can specify only email from "VIPs" are sent. This means I can set up my family members and close friends all as VIPs and make sure I notice their mail in a timely fashion (I often only read email once a day). I have almost no problems with spam through fb messenger or through text messages, so those all go to the watch. And similarly for DMs and notifications from twitter, from Discord, from Slack, etc.. My laptop screen is so busy that it's easy to miss the little icon indicating a message. Few of them are urgent, but it's really easy to glance at the watch to see, and then dismiss if they can wait. (In theory, I can also answer phone calls through the watch, but since I don't have a separate data account -- it goes though the phone anyway -- there isn't much point, since I'll have the phone nearby. Also: the one time I tried to answer a call through the watch I managed to hang up instead. But that's a me problem.)

Exercise and Activity

Regular readers of my fb account may have noticed that I stopped posting my Cyclemeter workout data. The iWatch exercise app, though it measures slightly different things, is more convenient. One-touch (since I have it set up as a screen icon) and I can start and stop workout tracking. I also very much like the hourly reminders to stand up and move around. I even like having the daily target for "closing the rings," i.e., meeting your exercise, standing, and general movement goals for the day (even though I find the "encouragement" messages a bit patronizing). I have to work just a little bit not to get defensive about not "closing the rings" every single day. (My personal goal is meeting the exercise target 5 days a week.) But on the whole it does it's job.

Tangentially related to exercise, I have the weather app displayed on the default screen, showing current temperature and today's hi/low. (On a secondary screen I have weather as the central display, also showing projections for the next 4 hours.) This is also helping me with my calibration shift to thinking in Centigrade, since I get an easy check between numbers and "feel."

Health

I do occasionally use the heart rate and blood oxygen sensors, especially to check recovery after exercise. But I don't use it with my food tracking app (too much fiddly data to deal with) or my temperature and weight tracking (no reason to interact other than the morning data entry).

I suppose the handwashing timer would be more practical if I were out and about interacting with people more, but when it's just me at home, I'm not quite as worried about the duration of handwashing sessions.

The watch has an "emergency alert" function if you press a certain set of buttons, but I'm not sure that I'd remember how in an emergency. And the alert would only work if I had my phone on me, so it makes sense to use that instead. (One of the phone functions that I enabled after my PE was the one where my medical information is available on the lock screen. Hmm, that is, it's supposed to. I was just checking and I can't see where it is. Must follow up.)

Other Functions

I've curated which watch functions are displayed even for the apps I use regularly. And not all the apps I use regularly have a watch function available. (Starbucks, yes; Peets, no.) And some of the ones I have available aren't used much under quarantine. But here are the items I can imagine using under "normal" circumstances:

Siri - believe it or not, after resisting Siri on the phone, I've warmed to her a little on the watch. Sill working on remembering the best syntax to request things.

Wallet/Apple Pay - I don't typically use the plain Apple Pay function (and I'm not sure I'll remember the specific combination of gestures necessary to invoke it if I ever do), but in the Before Times I used the Wallet function a lot for things like movie tickets, boarding passes, etc. and I expect I'll use the watch version in the same way.

Starbucks - What can I say? When I return to my weekend coffee shop habits, I'm sure it'll be convenient. Now if only Peets would have a watch app, I'd be good.

Misc. travel apps - When travel is again an option, I could see temporarily turning on specific airline/transit functions that are relevant to particular trips, though I'm not sure I'd want them cluttering the watch up all the time.

Do Not Want

There are also watch apps that I've specifically excluded or ignored. I don't use any of the audio-broadcast functions (audiobooks, podcasts) because there's no benefit to running them through the watch. It may be that I haven't gotten the technique right yet, but my perception is that I need to have the relevant app running on my phone to be able to control it through the watch. (E.g., while driving "Hey Siri, play podcast") And I've gotten in the habit of closing apps on the phone when I'm not actively using them because my battery is getting tired. (Need to replace it.)

I don't allow news apps on the watch. News comes in tiny bites too much as it is, I don't want to consume it in watch-sized views. Also, no maps, no photos, and I'm relieved that Apple doesn't even pretend that the watch would be useful for reading ebooks.

Conclusions

The functions that I can only get through the iWatch are few (the health monitoring ones) but it makes me feel good to have them available.

The most consistently useful function the iWatch serves is to be my short-term memory: reminders, alerts. timers (oh, yes, forgot to mention that above).

The most beneficial thing it does is tracking and encouraging my various forms of physical activity.

Who would I recommend it to (assuming one is an Apple person and has the disposable income to spare)? People with time-awareness issues (assuming that you can get in the habit of setting alerts in the first place). People who find it convenient to have some types of information more easily accessible that via smartphone. Possibly people with physical issues that get in the way of manipulating a phone but where voice commands through a watch are convenient. (Note that I've never used voice commands through my phone, so I'm not able to compare, but the idea is not having to get the phone out in the first place.)

Is it worth the price? Not the right question. Apple gadgets are all luxuries at some level. But except for the health-monitoring functions that require direct contact, the functions all duplicate things that *can* be done with a smart phone. So the watch has a lot of redundancy with other systems that you're likely to already have if you're contemplating getting an Apple Watch. Note: You can run the watch's data connection either as a bluetooth piggy-back on your phone's connection, or you can get the watch its own data account and use it untethered from a phone. When I did the research, it looked like the price for a separate data connection was unreasonable. And besides I can't imagine any context in which I'd be using my watch and not have my phone on me, largely because my phone case is where I keep my ID and I don't leave home without it.

I confess that despite some necessary rules about acquiring new toys ("you must demonstrate that you'd really play with it once you have it"), in the end I always seem to be a sucker for each new Apple thingie. I love my iPhone. I held out on the iPad until I'd come up with a list of five things that I could/would do with it that I couldn't do with any other appliance. Not so much with the "get the complete set of sizes" thing -- I can't imagine what I'd want a mini-iPad for that I couldn't do better with either the full size or the phone. And of course my Mac laptop IS my brain. (Though I'm probably getting due to upgrade. Just need to do a complete analysis of how the newest OS will fuck over my current favorite programs first.)

But I cannot see myself buying an Apple Watch.

I was in Walnut Creek last Saturday for a haircut (this was just at the leading edge of when my current lung crud was raising its head so I still had brain power) and decided to swing by the Apple Store to check things out. Yes, I know the Apple Watch has been on the market for quite some time now, but there's no rush, right? I had only the vaguest notion of what the functionality of the thing was -- basically a sort of micro-iPhone, right? But it talks to your iPhone so it can delivery a more convenient interface without needing the internal capacity? OK, as far as it goes that was the right impression. But I hadn't quite realized just how limited the functionality was.

So as far as I can tell, you've got basically 20 functions. A quarter of them are essentially clock functions of some sort. Another quarter are informational interfaces equivalent to the "swipe down info" on the phone screen (calendar, weather, various notifications). Another quarter are basically "remote control" options for programs on other devices (camera, music, passbook).

The only really specialized functionality are the "fitbit-type" activity monitoring functions. But even more than a fitbit(tm) device, it must be worn on the wrist to function (due to body sensors) and therefore may be selective in what types of activities it detects. (If it's using an accelerometer, then vigorous activity that involves little hand motion may be under-reported.) And while it's "water resistant", wearing it while paddling still sounds counter-indicated. So all the issues I had with an actual fitbit still hold.

That brings us around to the final two factors.

Back when I got my first cell phone, I stopped wearing watches and never looked back. The tan on my left wrist has been seamless for quite some time now. I like not having anything on my wrist. Everything I ever wore a watch for now happens on my phone far more conveniently. One of the reasons I disliked the fitbit (and one of the reasons I took to wearing it on my ankle) was that annoying presence. If there were an Apple Watch that you could wear as a pendant, as a pocket watch, as a brooch, or as any of these interchangeably, then I might consider it. But it needs that body contact for the fitness functions. And that puts me off.

And then there's price. Let's just say that after taking phone plan discounts into effect, I'd end up spending more for an Apple Watch than I did for my full-function phone. More than I did for my iPad. I'm not saying that I judge on a price-per-gram basis, but I do judge on a price-per-function basis. And I just can't see that there's any way it would be delivering hundreds of dollars worth of function-value to me.

So, Apple? I'm happy that you're exploring new ways to entertain the gadget-geeks (in which category I do, indeed, fall) but you've seriously missed the target with this one as far as I'm concerned. I'll pass.

So as predicted, wearing the Fitbit on my wrist (as intended) rather than the ankle resulted in a noticeably lower step-log for the exact same activities. I can't do an exact comparison because I didn't track exact intermediate numbers during the day, But by the time I got home, the step-count was approximately 2000 lower than yesterday's. (Approx. 10,000 yesterday, at that point, approx. 8,000 today.) Now my overall day's total ended up higher today because yesterday when I got home and did yard work, I was running the weed-whacker in the back yard with involved a lot of planting my feet and moving the arms back and forth (less foot movement) whereas today I was raking up the cut grass/weeds which involved a lot of hand movement (also more foot movement but remember I have the Fitbit on the wrist this time). And I also went out to see a movie after that, so more walking. But as predicted, the specific vigorous activities that I do get under-counted based on wrist movement. So for maximal tracking, I should wear it on the ankle during the day but on the wrist when I get home (or for dragonboat practice!).This suits me since I'm disinclined to view the device as a desirable fashion statement. But I'll probably come up with some alternate method of fastening it on my ankle because even the loosest setting on my skinnier ankle is a little tight.

At any rate, an amusing gadget. It will make the corporate fitness program happy. And it's an easy way to get a relative read on my day-to-day activity. I'd be happier if it gave more accurate metrics. Note that the default step-goal is 10,000 per day and I manage that only by dint of putting in at least 80 minutes of vigorous exercise.

On my Kalamazoo trip I also had the chance to experiment with using my iPhone as a GPS device ... courtesy of having forgotten to pack one connecting component of the regular GPS, which omission rendered it useless. (I had the GPS, I had the car-power cord, I forgot to include the bit that connects the power cord to the GPS.) Since I was just using the map app I couldn't get voice directions and there was a certain amount of having to reach over to pinch-expand/contract the display to change the detail. But given that I'm fairly familiar with the route between O'Hare and Kalamazoo and with the overall geography of Kalamazoo, the app was sufficient unto my purposes. Due to the ad hoc nature of the experiment, I didn't have a power cable that could connect the phone to the car outlet, but I had sufficient juice in external power packs to tide me over (and I'd thought to bring one of those "jelly" mats that you can put on your dash to provide a "sticky" surface for phones and whatnot.

I've been looking at the Navigon phone/pad app to provide the additional functions of a GPS, although I'm a bit put off that evidently a number of the functions I'd consider standard are provided instead as in-app add-on purchases (and the most common complaint in the iTunes store has to do with difficulty downloading the map files). I've been holding off on paying for a map update for my Garmin in order to look into switching to a mobile app instead, and this one looks like the best candidate so far. If anyone has experience with it, I'd be interested to hear.

Based on my Kalamazoo experience, I wouldn't care to use the iPhone version for most driving situations, due to the small screen size. (This is exacerbated by the fact that the glasses I use for driving don't focus well at dashboard distance.) So in addition to the app, I'd need to find an iPad holder that would place it in a safe and convention position for GPS functioning. The natural location would put it smack dab in front of the radio controls/display which is suboptimal. Ideally, something on an extensible arm so that it could be variably positioned would be nice, but I haven't seen anything suitable yet. (Alternately, I could try something with the case I got with the GorillaPod arms, but that would end up being rather jury-rigged.)

As the first SF MacWorld Expo where Apple wasn't an exhibitor, there's been a lot of buzz about what the effects would be, and whether they'd be distinguishable from the effects of the general economy. (And also a certain amount of buzz noting that, given the timing of Apple's iPad announcment, it seems a bit stupid for Apple not to have participated in the Expo and announced it there.) I have to say, from where I stand, that there's a real possibility -- but far from a certainty -- that the absence of Apple has triggered a death spiral for the event. I've only been attending for the last half dozen years or so (I think -- I'd have to do some research to figure it out precisely) and I've seen the size of the Expo flow and ebb. There was at least one previous year when it only filled half of the Moscone Center space, as it did this year, and it was back to both sides the year after that.

But when scotica and her friend Rob and I were mulling it over on the drive back to her place (for Olympics viewing) after attending the Expo yesterday, we kept coming up with more and more examples of long-term favorite exhibitors who were absent this year. All in all, it felt very thin on the ground. (Another metric is the sad scarcity of freebies -- although I think some of that perception is fueled by the shift from stacks of software demo CDs to pointing people at downloadable demos, which is hard to fault on an environmental basis. But the useless tchatchkas -- pens, keychains, foam toys, etc. -- were also very thin on the ground.)

I went into the Expo with a small handful of "missions" as well as the usual intent to check out new stuff, and I failed at all of them, either due to the relevant exhibitor not being present, or due to exhibitors having skipped bringing the stuff I was interested in. I did come away with several nice new toys: a solar charger for the iPhone (handy for future camping trips -- you can leave it on the dashboard charging during the day, then fully recharge your phone when you come back in the evening), a sport armband iPhone purse-case from ArmPocket, which should be handy for bicycling, one of those Gorillapod wrap-around tripod thingies for my digital camera, and for one of this year's emergent themes a pair of Telefingers touch-sensitive iPhone gloves, which enable you to use your touch-screen without freezing your fingers off.

There were several emergent themes from the Expo:

The aforementioned touch-sensitive iPhone gloves. (Three or four different vendors. There was one vendor who had some very nice leather ones, but I'd already bought a cheaper pair elsewhere and while I've been thinking about getting a nice pair of leather driving gloves, I don't know that I'd want to combine the functions.)

Portable iPhone/iPod rechargers (also portable laptop external batteries). These have been available pretty much since the emergence of the power-guzzling iPhone, but there seemed to be an explosion of new products this year. Maybe I just don't use my iPhone enough, but aside from camping trips to locations without electrical outlets (which, coincidentally, typically don't have enough signal to use the iPhone much), I've been quite satisfied with the one model of emergency backup power that I have. So I wasn't in the market.

Page-feeding and ultralight sheet-feed scanners. The sort that ScanSnap has been featuring for years, but I think there were four companies with very similar product ranges this year. My crew chatted up all of them about putting out an ultra-light rolling (rather than sheet-feeding) scanner -- something equivalent to the PlanOn Scanner for which I'd like to see competition -- but nobody seemed to have anything similar in the works.

It was also amusing to see how many of the accessory manufacturers already had finished prototypes of gear for the iPad. Targus had some truly drool-worthy cases and sleeves. Some company I won't name or link to because their salesman annoyed me had a keyboard-dock (prop the iPad up in it as a semi-vertical screen and type on a full external keyboard). And, of course, the promise of iPads was the biggest common feature of vendor raffles. (I will probably be buying an iPad after about a year, when they've had a chance to work the bugs out. I note, however, that one of the potential uses for it that I was kicking around at the Crosston Ball -- i.e., a sheet music reader -- is quite likely to be developed (heads-up courtesy of ohiblather ). So I have high hopes that by the time I'm willing to take a chance of a new Apple device, I will have discovered enough practical uses for it that my conscience will be clear in buying one.

On the whole "Death spiral or temporary slowdown?" issue, I have to say that there wasn't enough meat to this year's MacWorld Expo to draw me back for a second day, even with the convenience of it being open on a Saturday (today) and even with the draw of an iPad demo today. I will definitely still plan on attending as usual next year, but if next year is as thin or thinner than this year, I'll re-evaluate. This would be unfortunate for the Apple byproducts market, because attending the Expo has driven a enormous percentage of my software and peripheral buying. And, frankly, for me the Apple corporate presence was never a big part of the draw. Yeah, it was nice to see the new products in the flesh, as it were, before buying. But that's not what I spend my money on at the Expo itself.

The appointment this afternoon was only for an initial consultation, but after chatting for a while, I felt good enough about our communication to say, "If you've got the space in your schedule, go for it." Of course, given the practical and esthetic constraints, it wasn't going to end up drastically different from what I usually get: more tapered in back, a bit longer on top, a little different around the ears. I like it, but I'm not sure I like it three times better than a Supercuts cut. So we'll see how I feel the next time it's time to cut.

The owner of the gym I go to mentioned the other day that he'll be closing in a month or so. Some sort of issue with the lease -- he's going to try to find another space, but nothing is certain. I've decided that whatever happens on that end, I'm going to take the cue to change my membership to a different gym. One that has hours and facilities that let me work out before work (hmm, I feel the urge to add semantic indexing: "let me work[1] out before work[2]"). I will then have the task of shifting my diurnal rhythms about an hour and a half earlier, but it will be worth it to not have that after-work block of time tied up. (And it will mean that evening socializing or weekend events won't require skipping a workout.) Some initial research indicates that two gyms fit my basic requirement: located roughly between home and work.

Maverick's is located in the shopping mall on the other side of the railroad tracks. It's about 4-5 blocks off my usual bike route to work but easily accessible. Lots of equipment, large space. No bike parking. Provides a corporate discount to Big B employees that brings the membership down to 60% of what I'm currently paying, but has an initial sign-up fee and the reviews on yelp.com suggest that they have a propensity to nickel-and-dime you on "incidentals" like the use of towels and so forth. The reviews also indicate a dissatisfaction with some maintenance and cleaning issues.

Berkeley Ironworks is located half a block off my usual bike route. It specializes as a rock climbing gym but also has extensive general-workout equipment. Extensive bike parking. Provides a corporate discount to Big B employees that brings the membership down to essentially what I'm currently paying. The discount also includes a waiver of the sign-up fee. Towels are free and no complaints at yelp about unexpected extra fees. (The yelp reviews tend to focus on the climbing aspect, so it's hard to compare experiences closely.)

Both have early morning hours; both have more than adequate shower facilities (and both have saunas!). I got more of a "corporate" feel from Mavericks -- a feeling of "we're in this for your money" and a sense that what you paid depended on how good a negotiator you were. I got more of a "we're fellow gym-rats running this for fun" vibe from Ironworks. In terms of "no extra effort to drop by" Ironworks wins hands down. On the one hand, at Ironworks I feel like I'm paying extra for the climbing equipment which I have no strong interest in using on a regular basis. On the other hand, I'd be paying essentially the same as currently but getting a lot more. And since Mavericks has the initiation fee and the towel fee (and what with the Big B rebating half the membership fee for either of them, on top of the discount), Mavericks actually ends up being more expensive in the long run. Hmm, I'd been wavering a little until I did that last calculation. Now my mind is made up. Ironworks it is. I'll stay with the current gym until it closes, simply for old time's sake, but now I know where I'm going afterwards.

My 4th of July BBQ & games was a fun little party (and, as usual in my social circles, ended up with twice as much food as half the number of people could eat). We ended up with 8 people (although one retreated to his sick-bed with a cold), ran through Settlers of Cataan, a roll-the-alphabet-dice-and-form-words game whose name escapes me, and a couple rounds of Trans America, interspersed with grilling, ice cream, and a walk out to the Emeryville Marina to see fireworks.

Grill review: I need to work on pacing for my grilling (particularly if it's to be a primary social activity rather than a get-the-food-on-the-table activity). The corn took longer than I expected, and the grilled veggies needed to be being plated as they came off rather than being stacked in the warmer. The meat (of many varieties -- everybody brought enough to share) generally worked out well. I'm starting to get the hang of the temperature variation on various parts of the grill surface, and how to alternate open-hood and closed-hood temperature manipulation. Since I have a stack of ungrilled leftover ingredients, I figure I'll do some more practicing this weekend.

Fireworks review: The fog was fickle. We walked out along the south side of Powell St and could see both the Jack London Square show (except for the lowest stuff which was hidden by intervening buildings and port equipment) and an assortment of probably unauthorized items from the West Oakland trajectory. As we got out past the fire station (where a couple of enterprising fire crew were hawking refreshments in support of the Special Olympics) we could see occasional cloud-glows from the San Francisco show, but it was clear that there wasn't any point in trying to position ourselves for a better western view. So we crossed over to the boat harbor by Trader Vics, then wandered slightly south to avoid the actual harbor view to take in the Berkeley show. Alas, there was a fairly solid fog river flowing in right over the Berkeley Marina, so we saw the lower half of about the first half of the show, and then the fog thickened and all we were getting was cloud-glow. We actually got a much better view of something roughly up Richmond way. I don't know if it was in Richmond proper (I wondered if they might be doing a show at the racetrack in Albany, but it could have been all the way out to the Hercules/Pinole area. And, of course, there were a lot of random (if less ambitious) unauthorized items sprinkled across the horizon. So it was a good evening for getting a sense of the scope of Bay Area firesworks in all their forms, but not as good for seeing a single show in all its glory. I keep thinking that some year I should bike off to the Berkeley Marina proper to see that one up close. (You do not attempt to drive around the waterfront to try to view the shows. In fact they usually barricade most of the relevant streets just to forestall the issue.)

So at last year's MacWorld Expo, I picked up an automatic sheet-feeding doublesided color scanner that processes automatically to pdf with the notion that I'd start converting significant quantities of my four 4-drawer filing cabinets full of photocopied articles into electronic form (and thus a much smaller storage footprint). ( And there are technical details. )

Oh, and unless my memory is failing me entirely, the number on my bathroom scale this morning was the same as the one recorded on my first driver's license.

People living in colder regions may want to skip this entry to avoid terminal jealousy. ( Read more... )

And because several people have asked for it, we have an appliance review. ( Counter-top Dishwasher -- probably boring to 95% of readers )