Brian @ Wongside

I think I’m developing a love/hate relationship with Costco. On the one hand, they have great products: inexpensive wetsuits, highly rated batteries, cheap gas, and let’s not forget great meat.  They also have an unbeatable return policy. But on the other hand, I’m discovering that they have absolutely awful customer service, even at the manager level.

Case in point:

I went to Costco this morning to try and find the High Sierra hydration pack they’ve been carrying for the last few months. I already own one, but the bite valve on mine leaks and has already caused a few “mini floods” in our apartment much to the chagrin of my wife. Little did I know that it’s a seasonal item that’s just gone out of stock for the year…

Read more…

This is absolutely ridiculous! It’s the end of May, nearly June, and it’s snowing in Tahoe!

I know we’ve had some crazy weather this year, but this is absolutely nuts.

It’s been over a month since I last blogged. Wayyyy too long. And lame, I know. I guess since I work on the computer all day long, the last thing I really want to do is come home and look at a screen again.  I’ve got a post for tomorrow or sometime later this week. It’ll be food related.

See you then.

In the past year or so, I’ve gotten a lot of…shall we say, “friendly encouragement”…from older friends advising me to buy a house. With the financial crisis, and housing prices lower than they’ve been in years, they’ve said it makes great sense to get into home ownership. But there’s a catch: if I want to buy a half a million dollar house, I’ll need at least $100,000 as a down payment.  Frankly, there are definitely things about home ownership that appeal to me. I might even admit that there’s a certain prideful part of me that thinks home ownership is a necessity before Charlene and I expand our family. But there’s also a part of me that’s not fully convinced.

Thankfully, I might not be totally wrong.  According to an article in the New York Times, for many people in this country, it makes much more sense to buy a home than to rent. But in certain locations, including San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle, housing prices are still high, and it might not make sense to buy…yet.

The gist of their argument is based on something called the rent ratio.  And I really like the concept.  The rent ratio is the price of a house divided by the annual cost of rent for something similar. The article indicates that if the ratio is greater than 20, it might not be a good idea to buy. (The rent ratio in the Bay Area is closer to 30.)  However, “when the ratio is well below 20, the case for buying becomes a lot stronger.” Well, it’s going to take a lot more of a drop in housing prices before we get to 20 around here.

I also like the sobering reminder that home ownership isn’t all a bed of roses:

But it’s worth remembering that the advantages of homeownership are frequently exaggerated. The mortgage-interest tax deduction doesn’t eliminate the cost of borrowing money; it merely reduces it. The freedom to paint your house any color you wish comes with the responsibility of paying for a new roof when the time comes. The $15,000 or $30,000 or $50,000 that real estate agents’ fees add to the price of a house can wipe out a lot of other savings.

So there you have it. I know a lot of our friends are settling down and buying houses. A couple of our friends have even bought, knowing that it wasn’t a good investment, but seeing it as the cost of living in a nice place. We’ll see what happens for us.

At the end of the day, I just have to remind myself that God will provide–Jehovah Jireh! He always has, and He always will.

Yesterday was my last day at Primitive Logic. About three weeks ago, PL announced that we would no longer be doing Workday implementations, which is exactly what I’ve been doing since I was hired 18 months ago.

I personally wasn’t quite ready to leave what is termed the “Workday Ecosystem”, so I found another firm that would allow me to continue doing what I’ve been doing. I also get to be a part of a rapidly growing company, which really excites me.

I had a great ride at PL. I gained some valuable skills, matured as a consultant, and had the opportunity to work with some really great people. I was especially blessed to work closely with (and for) my boss Lonnie for the past 18 months. He taught me some valuable lessons and was definitely a great support during my time at PL and Workday.  I’ll miss our conversations about meat and grilling/bbq as well as some of the mindless banter we shared.

Thanks Primitive Logic for a great ride. I’m sure we’ll cross paths again soon. The longer I’m in the consulting business, the more I’m finding that the world is a rather small place. So keep in touch.

One of the principles my dad impressed on me from about high school through college was the importance of having a job that provided health insurance. He always said that landing in the doctor’s office, or the emergency room without health insurance could be disastrous for my finances. He wasn’t kidding either.

My bout with pneumonia for the last few weeks landed me in the ER on the morning of New Year’s Eve. I was in there less than 2 hours. (We arrived at 4:00 am, and I was out around 5:50 am.) Total bill?

$1,9243.85

Yup, you read that right, those two hours cost nearly a thousand dollars each. Here’s their itemized list:

I can’t even imagine having to pay that out of pocket. I mean, think of all the things we could pay for with that much money. That’s more than a month’s worth of rent. That’s more than a Canon EOS 7D ($1699.00). It’s more than my next lens, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM ($1699.95). Heck, for some people, that’s even a used car.

All that to say my dad was right. Having health insurance is super important.

So what was our final cost for that visit with insurance?

$50

Yup, praise God for health insurance!

I think we’re about to get dumped on here in California.

Here’s the official word from The National Weather Service:

Issued by The National Weather Service
San Francisco/Monterey, CA
2:15 pm PST, Thu., Jan. 14, 2010

… A VERY WET AND WINDY WEEK AHEAD FOR CALIFORNIA STILL ON TRACK…

THE LATEST FORECAST MODELS CONTINUE TO DEPICT A SERIES OF STORMS WILL MOVE IN FROM THE PACIFIC AND IMPACT CALIFORNIA NEXT WEEK.

AFTER A BRIEF DRY SPELL THE STORM DOOR WILL START TO OPEN WITH A WEAK FRONT BRINGING LIGHT SHOWERS TO THE AREA ON SATURDAY.

THE FIRST OF THE MORE SIGNIFICANT SYSTEMS IS FORECAST TO SPREAD RAIN INTO OUR AREA STARTING LATE ON SUNDAY AND CONTINUING THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. THIS SYSTEM COULD PRODUCE UP TO 3 INCHES OF NEW RAINFALL FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND 1-2 INCHES FOR THE VALLEYS.

AFTER A BRIEF BREAK ON MONDAY NIGHT THE NEXT IN THE SERIES IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD MORE RAIN INTO OUR AREA THROUGHOUT THE DAY TUESDAY AND INTO TUESDAY EVENING. AN ADDITIONAL 2-4 INCHES OF RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS WITH 1-2 INCHES FOR THE VALLEYS.

A SECOND BREAK IS EXPECTED TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING BEFORE THE NEXT AND MOST POWERFUL SYSTEM OF THE WEEK APPROACHES DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY. THIS SYSTEM COULD LINGER WEILL INTO THURSDAY. TOTALS FOR THIS SYSTEM COULD REACH 3-5 INCHES OR MORE FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND 1-3 FOR THE VALLEYS. AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH SHOWERS COULD PERSIST WELL INTO FRIDAY. ALSO OF NOTE… A VERY POWERFUL JET STREAM IS FORECAST TO BE OVER CALIFORNIA BY THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK WHILE A DEEP SURFACE LOW IS POSITIONED OFF THE WASHINGTON COAST. THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE VERY STRONG WINDS AND HIGH WIND WARNINGS MAY BE NEEDED.

BY THE END OF THE WEEK AHEAD… TOTAL RAINFALL COULD REACH 10-15 INCHES AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND THE POTENTIAL FOR UP TO 20 INCHES IN THE WETTEST LOCATIONS. IN THE VALLEYS… 4-8 INCHES.

ANYONE WITH TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS NEXT WEEK SHOULD TAKE THESE STORMS INTO CONSIDERATION AND BE PREPARED FOR POTENTIAL DANGEROUS ROAD CONDITIONS… INCLUDING SNOW POTENTIAL FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 5000 FEET.

MARINERS AND THOSE AT LOCAL BEACHES ARE ALSO ADVISED TO CONSIDER THE POTENTIAL FOR DANGEROUS OCEAN AND COASTAL CONDITIONS MOST OF THE WEEK DUE TO LARGE NORTHWESTERLY SWELLS THAT WILL COMBINE WITH THE STRONG WINDS OVER THE WATER.

(Bold emphasis mine. All caps courtesy of NWS.)

I love that paragraph in bold above. 10-15 inches at elevation, with up to 20 inches in some places. 4-8 inches elsewhere. Sheesh. That’s a lot of rain. Whoever was worried about Global Warming and drought in California need not worry any more.

Quick, where’s my Ark?

My brother-in-law, Jeremy, took me out for a spin on the driving range this afternoon. I’d never hit a golf ball before (except for mini golf, which doesn’t count), so it was a completely new experience for me. It was a lot of fun, but it’s really hard to do. I think the best part about it was that when you do it right, it’s completely effortless; swinging the club and hitting the ball is like slicing a hot knife through butter.

I did a lot better than I expected. I’d say over half of the balls I hit made it into the air, and a significant percentage of those hit pretty close to the 100 yard mark.

I’d post pictures, but I was a dork and left my camera at Jeremy’s house. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I actually took any photos. We took a fair amount of video, but I don’t recall taking any photos. Oh well. It certainly was fun.

Thanks Jeremy!

I received the following e-mail  from my dad this week.  My dad forwarded it from a friend. (The names have been hidden to protect the guilty.)

I have no idea who Brian and Charlotte are. Just don’t tell Charlene, or I’m dead meat. *wink*

Play the classic game pong with your browser window…literally:
http://stewdio.org/pong/

HT: Andrew Wu