Amazon opens a Motorcycle Store (with a Harley section)

Awesome! I still wouldn't want to work there.

Glad I waited, for once

Waited, couldn't afford it, whatever ... I was hoping to get a Nikon D3, but waiting has paid off to the tune of $2000 savings thanks to the impending release of the Nikon D700 (that's 10 times better than my current D70) ... still can't really afford it, but I should be able to snag one before the Nikon D7000 comes out.

It's nice to be wanted

Just saw Wanted. It is like Matrix without the computers or Fight Club
with the better of the Pitt/Jolie choice.

Fastports!

We sent off for our passports on Friday afternoon. We got them back today! That's amazingly fast -- so quick, in fact, that I wasn't even able to track their progress online (it takes five days before the tracking data is online). Despite having a new electronic chip in them, the new passports are otherwise much cheaper looking and feeling than the old ones.

Mum & Ms

Mum & Ms
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

M&Ms custom-printed with my face and my Mum's face!

Past ports

Since Laurel and I are going to San Diego next month, I figured we could take a day to go across the border to Mexico. Laurel pointed out that our passports expired the week before that. Oh no! Time to get some new ones (US passports, that is; my Belgian passport under the name Xavier St. Cloud is valid until 2011).

We were able to fill out most of the forms on the internet, and then they print out all nice and typed, but you still need to staple pictures to the forms. We took our own pictures at home, but they printed out poorly, so we went to Bartell's drugstore to use the Kodak Photo Center to print them instead. They came out great, for only 63 cents. But despite knowing we needed to staple the pictures, and not knowing if we had any staples at home, we left the store with just the photos. We got home, and sure enough, no staples in the stapler. So we go back out, figuring we'd get staples on the way and took everything we needed to go straight to the post office and send our passport applications -- except the stapler itself. So I went into Bartell's again and bought a stapler. We're driving off when Laurel notices that the stapler didn't come with staples. So now we have a stapler with us with no staples, a stapler at home with no staples ... so I stop at the Safeway we happen to be near; no staples for sale. Back to Bartell's for trip #3 (and you know how fun that can be if you've ever been there) ... finally, we had everything together, and got our applications sent off before the last mail pickup of the day. We should have them back in plenty of time for our trip!

MST3K @ Comicon

From Joel's blog:

The big MST3K 20th anniversary panel coming up at Comicon next month, Well sir, we’re all gonna be there! The Panel discussion is Friday night and we’ll be in the dealer room on Saturday to meet you and sign things and say “bite me”.

And Laurel and I will be there. Huzah!

Close Encounters

CloseEncounters.jpg
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

I rented Close Encounters of the Third Kind since it features Devils Tower, where I was recently. I was scanning through the credits and a name caught my eye -- check out who did the "ufo photography"!

Touchdown!

Touchdown!
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

Thanks to my friend Randy for suggesting that I take advantage of one of Microsoft's newest perks -- the Seattle "Touchdown" space. You basically reserve a cubicle that has power plugs, network taps, and wireless access to the main corporate network, and then do your work from there. It's in a great near-downtown location with lots of incredible views. It doesn't quite match up to working from home (where pants aren't required) but it is a nice change of scenery and a very quiet space for just getting work done.

Another week to worry about work!

I had previously misread a chart in the Microsoft employee handbook and thought that you needed to hit your 13th anniversary before being granted an extra week of vacation time. It turns out that the chart was just confusing and you actually get it on your 12th anniversary, which I just had.

So now I have an extra week "off" to worry about work, check work email, wonder what's happening back in the office, etc. Fun!

(Saving my Mum the trouble of typing a comment since she can't remember her blogger logon: "Visit us for that week!")

Patent #3 Granted!

If you happened to need a "system and method for providing dynamic location information," you gotta come to me (or, well, Microsoft). Patent 7383316 was granted on June 3! The only way you find out about this is that there is some company that tries to sell you a commemorative plaque, but Microsoft supplies one of those free of charge. This will be my third!

Data driven

Some data from the drive:

• Total miles: 2523
• Total gas: 86.7 gallons
• Average price per gallon (all premium): $4.13
• MPG: 29.1
• No. of gas stops: 27
• Total trip cost, including all gas, food, lodging, and misc like park entry fees (but not including any wear and tear on the bike): $1457.22

Home

I just got home -- I'll post some stats in a while, but for now, I'm unpacking and trying to warm up -- the last 80 miles were nothing but pouring, freezing rain.

Testing Outback's "No Rules" policy

Although Outback claims to have "no rules," of course that can't be literally true. I tested the limits and have this report.

Broken rule	Result
No shirt/no shoes	No problem!
No pants	Take-out orders only
Saying "put another shrimp on the barbie"	You get a BBQ shrimp (staff too young to understand any Crocodile Dundee references)
Ordering in a thick, fake, loud German accent	Other patrons leave
When waiter sits down at table, say sarcastically "Oh please, make yourself right at home"	Spit in food
Eat half a bloomin' onion	Charged for whole thing
Eat a whole bloomin' onion	Instant heart attack

Outback

I am having dinner at the Outback Steakhouse near my hotel. They have no rules here, but somehow that feels just right.

In addition, they have very little parking.

I always get the Alice Springs Chicken, and tonight shall be no exception.

Things lost on the trip

Glove-finger faceshield squeegee: came off at gas station

Padlock: Left at last hotel (used to lock bike frontend)

American cynacism: impossible to keep at Mt. Rushmore!

I really did lose my squeegee and lock. I'll get new ones.

The State Border Song

I'm in Couer D'Alene, Idaho, which means I only have one more state border to cross before heading home tomorrow. If you've ever crossed a state border with me while driving, you know two things:

1. The 50 un-tax-stamped cases of cigarettes and whiskey we have in the trunk are now a federal crime
2. You have to sing the State Border Song

How does the song go? It's easy! You just need to know the name of the state, and how to spell the first three letters of it (you can usually get this from the sign that often appears near the border). Let's take tomorrow's state, Washington, for example:

W-A-S-A-H-O-M-A, Washington! OK!

That works for every state, but best for Oklahoma. There is only one exception: If you are driving a Ford Model A in a Zoot suit, and are entering Idaho, you may sing:

Ida-ho! Ida-hey! Ida-ho-da-ho-da-hey!

Hello, Columbus

I decided to just head straight back home, via the same route that got me to Mt. Rushmore (minus the Devils Tower part). So no Old Faithful or the Fossil Beds on this trip, but maybe next time. The day was fine, and I ended up in Columbus, Montana -- it's so nice to have more reliable internet and actual phone signal, neither of which I've had for the past two days. I had a little rain today, but fortunately I bought some new rain pants this morning. Tomorrow, I'll probably be in Idaho, and then back in Seattle by Friday evening.

Crazy Horse minus Horse equals Crazy (but cool!)

@mark: Pix as I have them on my flickr page.

I awoke today in the pitch black of my hotel room figuring it was around 6 a.m. ... turns out, it was noon.  Oh well.  I got up and headed to the local bagel shop and had the best meal of my trip so far -- a great chicken salad on a bagel with a mocha (yes, the food has been that bad so far).

Thanks to DanR for the suggestion to go to Crazy Horse, which I did for most of the afternoon.  I'll be posting pictures to flickr as soon as I can.  They only have the face done (and that took 50 years), and haven't made much more progress in the 10 since then, but they actually think the entire sculpture will be done in another seven years -- it'll be something to come back for!  Why are they moving so much faster?  In part, thanks to GPS for easier, more accurate measuring.  (My personal GPS stopped working before I even left West Seattle; fortunately, the navigation on this trip is pretty simple).

Right now, I'm doing laundry in the hotel and sorting through my photos.

It looks like I'm going to cut the trip short due to bad weather (rain + snow mix!) in Yellowstone, so no Old Faithful for me this time.  I'll probably just head back the way I came, but take it a little slower, because I think I'll still be hitting some rain here and there.

Devil's in the details

I went to Devil's Tower today -- it was pretty cool, but you can't really do much with it, and there isn't a platform with a big synthesizer for talking to aliens like in the movies, so that was a bit of a letdown.  However, I did stop at the Devil's Tower gift shop, and I swear -- my total came to $6.66.  And the hotel I am staying in here in Keystone, SD (two miles from Mt. Rushmore) has this phone number: 666-6666.  Hmmm.

I got here at 4:30 local time, and my room wasn't ready, so I went ahead and pushed on to Mt. Rushmore.  That only took about 15 minutes, and I had to kill an hour.  So I got a buffalo burger, which wasn't that great.  Then my room was ready -- it has a view of the indoor swimming pool.  Oy, I'm here for two days.

I'm a bit tired from all the driving, but I may go back to the mountain tonight to see it illuminated, but then I won't have anything to do tomorrow.

Leaving Montana, entering Wyoming: Warning, sky is smaller

I finally made it out of Big Sky Country and got to Sheridan, Wyoming. @dhale: I didn't read your comment until I was in Bozeman, well past Butte -- I didn't particularly notice anything about Butte; maybe I had my head turned. Nothing too interesting to report for today, although my gas mileage is now down to 30 mpg after a very windy day. Tomorrow is Devil's Tower and Mt. Rushmore -- a short day, at only 300 miles.