Cat's in the Cradle

As I was sipping my afternoon mocha, the song "Cat's in the Cradle" came on over the cafeteria PA system. I must have heard that song 10,000 times, but just today did I think about the line, "my boy was just like me."

Well, no, sorry Harry, not really. Unlike you, your boy was busy because of his kid, not too busy for his kid. I don't recall a lyric mentioning that your kid's flu ever impacted your schedule. He was blowing you off, so if anything, he wasn't like you, but rather, was paying you back for being such a bad father.

Still, the song's a classic.

Pod Quest

Looks like my Sony PSP will sell (there is at least one bid for the price I was hoping to get, and the auction has four more days to go), so I went ahead and placed an order for the iPod. Turns out that the total cost, with tax and shipping, of the refurbished 30-gig white model was only $10 less than what I had to pay for a completely new one, with faster shipping. So I went for the new one. I'll still not feel bad when the new 'pods come out, becauase hey, I only have the 30-gig one and not an engraved 60 like Laurel does ;-)

Selling out Sony for Apple

I'm selling my Sony PSP on ebay. Why? I'm hoping to use the money to get another Apple iPod (the video version). I'm to the point where getting a new gadget means getting rid of another one, and I don't use the PSP that much.

Because I believe that Apple will put out a new video iPod within the year, I'm probably going to just pick up a 30-gig refurbished model so I'll be happy to upgrade rather than regretful!

Need to get to Ballard

Now that Cupcake Royale is in West Seattle, you'd think that the West Seattle/Ballard monorail was proven to be a bad idea. But now that we've discovered Smokin' Petes BBQ, I'm wishing they would go ahead and build that monorail -- quick!!!

150 thoughts

In less than a day, I've collected about 150 thoughts! That's a cost of $2.25 ($1.50 to the thinkers, 75 cents to Amazon for the use of the Mechanical Turk).

I haven't figured out yet what to do with the thoughts once I decide to end the Turk's run (it is currently only set up to accept 250 thoughts, but I can increase it to any number I'm willing to give pennies for) ... but quite a few of them are pretty unique!

The Turk is no turkey

After just a few minutes, I already had 5 "thoughts" posted -- 3, not counting me and Laurel. Amazing.

A penny for your thoughts -- literally

I have created a page on Amazon's Mechanical Turk that will pay you a penny for your thoughts -- literally. Just go here and collect that penny. I want a good thought, though!

Update: Should be plenty more "thought pennies" available for you now!

I'm not Mini-Microsoft, but I admit this doesn't help

So today, just one week after I left Microsoft, the infamous Mini-Microsoft posted what might be his final post. And to make matters worse, the title of that post, "All Good Things ..." just happens to be the exact title I picked for my goodbye email at MS.

Many folks have speculated that I was Mini, but I'm not ... really!

Blog changes, and buy more stuff!

I've removed the "webcam" feature (because I can't get the webcam to work while I'm at work, long story).

But I have added two more things to the sidebar that you can buy to support my poor, poor family. If you have a mobile phone and live in Seattle, check out Seattle Bus and Seattle Traffic.

My cubicle

DSC01631
Originally uploaded by dstewartms.

Check it out.

I Am Here

I Am Here
Originally uploaded by dstewartms.

My window at Amazon is indicated by the tiny red circle in the lower left-hand corner.

I'm Sirius at Amazon

I was able to hook up my Sirius Satellite Radio at work today, even getting a great live satellite signal thanks to my little window that can open. I opened it, set the antenna on the ledge, and got a great signal right away. So I can listen to Howard Stern at work (with headphones, of course!)

Fixed my first Amazon bug!

I had a few bugs thrown at me today to test our my "fixin'" chops. I should be able to check in my first fix, which I just completed, tomorrow, and it will show up on the website soon thereafter (it is a simple "don't show an 's' if the word isn't plural" thing) ... my first code in the Perl language, too!

First day at Amazon.com!

It went pretty well. There was an Amazon trivia quiz during the new employee orientation, and not to brag, but I did pretty well, thanks to my vast knowledge of Anna Kournikova (I knew it would come in handy someday)! How is Anna involved in Amazon trivia? Ha ... read the book and find out.

Time to take more pictures

I've signed up for a new course at the Photographic Center Northwest: Outdoor Photography. Hopefully, this will force me to get out and get some more shots (as the last time I was involved in a PCNW class, it was definitely the best time in my photographic "career").

Amazon lets developers develop

Here is an interesting article on Amazon as a technology company. From that article:

Whatever tools are necessary, we provide them, and then get the hell out of the way of the developers so that they can do their jobs.

Sounds cool! I'm pretty much of the "ask forgiveness rather than permission" school of development anyway.

Bank it!

I was able to sell another photo on ShutterStock, so that $75 check will be in the mail next month! Yeah!

I won't starve next month

My last paycheck from Microsoft will come at the end of the month (basically paying off my remaining vacation time). I get paid by Amazon for the first time on July 1. So what about June??? Will Laurel and I have to beg for money in the streets?

Well, not if I sell one more photo this month on ShutterStock. I'm just one photo sale away from getting my second big $75 payout, which will come in June.

Although that alone won't keep us away from the poor house, we also have the good fortune of having a nearly full change jar -- perfect timing!

My last day at MS

IMAGE_022
Originally uploaded by dstewartms.

Someone (Steve) "pranked" my office by putting up a bunch of stuffed monkeys and photocopies of monkeys. The monkey being the unofficial mascot of the last project I worked on at MS. Can't believe it took 10 years for my office to get decorated. Oh well.

So much for that theory

What a memory Laurel has! I made her listen to the podcast from her hotel room in New York. Immediately after hearing my theory on Libby, she said, "but they called her Libby in the hospital." Sure enough, she's right. I'm embarrassed and out $2 for the iTunes download of the "Dave" episode!

I've crossed a sad, sad line

Is there anything more sad than people who call into radio shows? How about people who call into podcasts?

I hate to admit it, but I am now one of those people. Download the latest "The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack" ( Podcast of May 15, 2006) and fast-forward to 31:07 to hear a call from "Seattle Dave."

I like that they actually took my "theory" (about how the woman we saw in Hurley's flashback was not Libby but rather her twin) and fleshed it out even more, figuring that maybe Libby didn't know that her twin had seen Hurley before. I think that makes sense! Man, I'm a geek.

Two more days

Just two more days until I'm done at Microsoft. I'm really wishing I had made last Friday my last day, but such is life -- now I have to work until Tuesday if only because that's when my goodbye lunch is. Then I get five days off until I start at Amazon! And by the way, I ended up getting "davestew" as my email address there. And a cubicle -- but with a window that opens!

Everyone and everything has a blog

Believe it or not, my XBOX 360 has its own blog.

Too quick!

Oops, turns out that "dstewart" is already taken at Amazon, so I'm pitching for a new name like "stdave" or something (I just think that would be funny -- Saint Dave).

I'll still be dstewart

I got mail from my soon-to-be manager at Amazon today ... he was asking what I wanted my email address to be ... and it turns out that "dstewart" is available, so I'm snagging it! Cool, one less new thing to train my fingers to type. He also offered me a choice of four different office locations. They don't have personal offices like I'm used to at Microsoft, but big deal -- at least two of my choices had windows, and the views from Amazon's PacMed headquarters are incredible.

How you know you eat too much pizza

Speaking of over-eating ... we ordered from our local Pagliacci's Pizza last night (as we do perhaps once a week) and the pizza showed up in record time, along with a note signed by everyone who works in the West Seattle location saying, "This one is on us." And the delivery guy left without taking a tip. Now that's customer appreciation, although being the fat guy who eats a lot of pizza is perhaps not what I want to be appreciated for.

27x27

27x27
Originally uploaded by rho.doras.

I don't normally blog about other people's pictures, but I found this on flickr and just had to promote it! This is a "27x27" -- 27 burger patties, 27 slices of cheese. 8 people ate the whole thing ... which I think is 7 too many ;-)