Fat Bear Week 2023

Yesterday I opened an e-mail from National Geographic and it mentioned "Fat Bear Week." I only got the chance to vote on the last day of the event last year and so I am glad I received notice earlier this year. I voted yesterday but the contest really doesn't begin until Monday. If you want to have a little fun looking at how bears have gone from really skinny to preparing for hibernation, I encourage you to log in and vote.

Late-Night Video Conferencing

One of the downsides of working for Sony is that it is a global company. Don't worry, that is also a bonus but it means that sometimes I am up early for calls with Europe and other times I have to stay up late for calls with Japan. Yesterday I got hit with one of those rare days where I met with our Brussels Lab in Europe early in the morning. Then later in the day I received an invitation for a 9pm meeting with Japan. Don't worry, I took time out for lunch, exercise and dinner so I wasn't working that whole time but it did make for a long day.

When I received the invitation for the 9pm video conference call, it came with an apology for being so late in the day. I responded that I normally practice guitar nightly at that time but would move my schedule around to accommodate the meeting. My boss, who is Japanese but based in Los Angeles, responded that he too practices guitar daily at that time and that we should have a jam session during our meeting. I thought it was an interesting coincidence that we both practice guitar at the same time daily.

The meeting organizer thanked us for adjusting our schedules so we could join the very important meeting. My boss responded by telling him to bring drums. I thought that was a great response and it got me thinking. 

Guitar players can be kind of eccentric with their long hair and wearing sunglasses even in dark rooms. I should show up for the meeting dressed like a rock star and get a few laughs before the meeting started. So my wife went and found a long-haired wig that I use for Halloween and I found a pair of cheap wayfarer sunglasses. Then I threw on a dress shirt over my Snowbird t-shirt but left it unbuttoned. Finally I set my guitar on my lap and joined the meeting.

My boss and the meeting organizer had already arrived when I logged on but didn't have their cameras turned on. They greeted me with silence and then my boss realized why I wore my costume and immediately grabbed his guitar to join me while we waited for about a half-dozen others to join. Everybody laughed and thought it funny. I pulled off the wig and sunglasses before buttoning up my shirt and we started the meeting. My boss tried to get serious and began talking but had trouble keeping a straight face for a solid 5 minutes.

At the end of the meeting we got a lot accomplished but we also had a good laugh that everyone commented on before closing. I figure if we are going to have a late meeting, we should at least have some fun. All attendees agreed.

Not all Televisions are Created Equal

Before starting this posting, I want to reiterate that I work for Sony and we make televisions, very good ones. Unfortunately that means they are expensive compared to other brands. So I will refrain from comparing brands and use general information that applies to all manufacturers.

Before the advent of flat television displays, the Sony Trinitron televisions set the standard for picture quality thanks to patented technology. Then people ditch relatively small and cumbersome tube TVs for flat LCD, LED, and Plasma televisions. Sony lost a significant portion of their industry dominance. With most televisions being made in the same factories it has gotten hard to tell the difference between the many different brands. Furthermore, brands that didn't exist back in the Trinitron days, such as Vizio, now seem ubiquitous. How do you know which TV to buy?

It is important to remember that not all televisions are created equal. As you research which one to buy, pay attention to features and specifications to ensure you get what you want. I'll illustrate with my last television purchase. Sony has several levels of models irrespective of size. It doesn't matter if it is a 55-inch or 85-inch, there are differences between the different models. There is also different technology such as LED vs. OLED with the later producing a higher-quality picture. Unfortunately OLED also comes with some downsides and so it is important find out what they are and make sure you can live with them.

To simplify things, let's focus on LED technology with a resolution of 4K. Sony has models in their value line (because nobody likes to use the word "cheap"), mid-level line, and high-end. Given just that information, everyone wants the high-end. That is until you look at the price tag. Then that value line starts looking pretty good. That is what I decided when I bought my last television. I have a home theater and have the space for an 85-inch television. I bought the cheapest one from Sony made even cheaper because I got a huge employee discount. I didn't do any more research than that: price.

When I went back to Sony, I started working with the consumer electronics arm of the company and discovered why the mid-level and high-end lines cost more. Furthermore I discovered I really didn't want the value-line, I wanted the mid-level or high-end. The picture quality is significantly better and I will leave it up to you to research the differences between the specs. My oldest son profited from my research and recently picked up an 85-inch mid-level model. His picture quality is significantly better than mine.

This is where it is great to go into a Costco or other electronics store to compare the picture quality of the various models. When you read about specs, you don't think you will notice a difference. If you order online, your new TV arrives and you think all is well. Then you get the chance to see the difference and it has you questioning your purchase choice.

I'm not going to throw away a perfectly working 85-inch 4K television and so I will live with my purchase. Should someone offer to buy it or should it break in any way, then I will be sure to look at specifications much more closely and not base my decision solely on price. Anyone want to buy an 85-inch TV?

Will I Ever Need Sick Days

My cold has turned into an ear infection and I am doing my best to fight it without antibiotics. Yesterday I felt pretty good but today I am drained and tired. I must have had a rough night. The net is I don't really feel like going to work. The good news is I don't mind doing work at home. I have 5 online meetings today and I can attend all of them. There are a few other things I need to do and can also get that work done. Basically I can continue to work and don't feel the need to call in sick.

COVID-19 has paved the way for working from home for a lot more people. While I am a special case and am allowed to work from home every day, my colleagues that go to the office frequently are also allowed to work from home several days a week. This was not possible at Sony, where I work, before COVID.

Now I have a mild illness so I don't have a problem trying to work. If I felt worse like I did once with a nasty flu, then I would want to burn a sick day. However for colds or minor illnesses, working from home is sufficient to help me keep up on my work so I don't fall behind. It also saves my time off for those times when I really need it, like exciting adventure vacations.

COVID-19 is Back

Today I awoke feeling a little under the weather. I attended a call last night with some of my colleagues in California and one mentioned how there is a huge COVID-19 surge in the state. Given this information and my recent vacation cruise I figured I would give myself an at-home test. It came back negative and so I will wait 2 days and take another one.

I am a National Geographic subscriber and so every day I get at least one e-mail from them with a number of relevant stories. Today's lead article talked about how COVID-19 is back and starting on Monday, September 25, 2023, the Federal Government will send out 4 new test kits to those that request them. If you think you have been exposed to the virus and start to feel symptoms, Please take a test.

The good news is that all the people who have been vaccinated, received boosters, had COVID-19, or any combination should be fairly safe from getting too sick. Unfortunately it is still possible as shown by the recent upswing in hospitalizations. The best course of action is to avoid exposure but that can be tough when those who are sick don't realize it and share their germs with you.

As for me, I don't have any problem breathing right now. I don't have a fever and I can still taste so I am hoping I just picked up a common cold. I will be sure to set a good example, not go anywhere, and isolate so I don't infect anyone, just to be safe. While nobody wants to get COVID-19, nobody wants to get a cold either.

Internet at Sea

Several years ago I had the chance to help bring a 37-foot sailboat back to Los Angeles from Honolulu. As we neared the coast of California, a giant cruise ship passed us in the middle of the night. We had been eating our own cooking for about 2 weeks and not really had the chance to shower. Even though the ship never got closer than a few miles away, it was lit up like a Christmas tree and we could smell the wonderful food on board. Since then I have wanted to do a cruise but worried about all the weight I would gain from a multi-day eat-a-thon.

This year I decided that my wife and I should try to do a cruise. We looked for the shortest and easiest one available just in case we didn't like it. On Friday we flew to Los Angeles and caught an Uber to the Long Beach terminal where we easily boarded the cruise ship: Carnival Radiance. In doing my research I learned that you should make the upgrade to a balcony room if you can afford it, so we did. Then we toured our weekend home waiting for the ship to leave port.

Having never been on a cruise, I didn't know what to expect. No matter how much research I did, I still had questions and so I just waited to get on board to see what the experience would be like. One big question I had revolved around Internet connectivity. We would be sailing over the weekend and being disconnected didn't bother me. Up to 2 days before boarding the ship I had the option of purchasing a discounted Internet package but I didn't think I would need it. Instead I would rely on my mobile phone. It worked well while in port and I could take care of any late-Friday e-mails.

Carnival Cruise line has an app for your phone that they recommended be installed before boarding the ship and so we did. When we got to our room, we connected to the ship's WiFi and let the app know we boarded. It then became our go-to source for information about our cruise. As we left port, I put my phone into airplane mode but kept the WiFi connected as instructed. It didn't take long to realize I could still receive text messages. That allowed me to keep up with family comments even outside the sight of land. In reality that is the only connection I needed during the weekend trip.

On Saturday I sat down next to the pool and saw a couple watching a large smartphone. Naturally I asked about it. They purchased a day-use Internet package so they could watch their favorite college football team play. Carnival has 3 levels of Internet speed you can purchase: Basic, Mid-Level, and Fast-Enough-for-Video-Calls. I'm not sure which package this couple got but it was not fast enough to stream a live football game. I'm glad I didn't need to try and work while on vacation as I am not sure the Internet speeds would have been fast enough for me.

On Sunday we arrived in Ensenada, Mexico and I just took my phone out of airplane mode. T-Mobile immediately sent me a text welcoming me to a new country and telling me that I had free 5GB of data per month along with unlimited calling and texting while in Mexico or Canada. I used my phone to navigate the city and catch up with my kids and their families via FaceTime and phone calls. Once the ship left port, my phone went back into airplane mode.

The Internet connection allowing me to send and receive text messages worked sufficiently well that it is all I needed on my weekend cruise. I think if I had gone for a longer time, I might have purchased a basic package to read my e-mail and stay abreast of important work events. For this vacation, it would have been overkill.

Bicycle Insights

This morning I had a bunch of early meetings and then headed out on my daily bike ride of 16 miles. I didn't mind waiting a bit as the morning started cold and I prefer to ride when the temperature is at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit. While out on my ride I remembered the story of my dad at the beginning of his cycling obsession.

For some reason my dad thought it would be good to take a bunch of boys from Sandy, Utah all the way down to Lake Powell. Naturally he came up with the idea during winter and began training on an indoor bike in his basement. Every day he would watch a little television and pedal at a leisurely pace. When the snow finally melted and he headed out on his first outdoor ride, he went 7 miles. He put two large water bottles on his bike and drank both of them on his short ride. He didn't know how he could ride more than a few miles without carrying gallons of water. Only then did he realize that his indoor training did not have the intensity required to build up conditioning for a 300 to 400-mile bike ride over several days. To make a long story short, he increased his training and made it all the way to Lake Powell with a group of Scouts and their leaders.

Yesterday I had a lazy day and opted to ride indoors instead of outside. Fortunately I usually ride outside and know the level of intensity required to benefit my training goals. Without real-world experience it is difficult to know the right level of training required.

I am currently working on a project with some new software and services. Unfortunately I don't have any of that real-world experience and all I can do is look at documentation and simple examples. I think I have things figured out but I know I need to put my knowledge into practice and test it with real-world scenarios. To do so, I reached out to my technical team and will start working with them to configure the software for our projected use cases. Only then will I know if my book knowledge is enough.

It is Good to be Home

I just got back from 2 weeks of extensive travel and it is good to be home. At the end of August I headed to Los Angeles for work and while the distance is not that far from Salt Lake, I had full-day meetings which can take a lot out of you. Then I flew up to Alaska to spend the Labor Day weekend with my youngest daughter who is an ocean-kayak guide. She had to show us her fitness and ripped our arms off to beat us with them. Then I had to take a red-eye flight back to California for another set of all-day meetings. Once home I didn't have the luxury of sleeping in my own bed as I loaded up my truck and headed to Scott's Peak, which is right above Brighton Ski Area. I spent the night staying up and helping runners participating in the Wasatch 100 Ultramarathon. Needless to say, my internal body clock is just now getting back to normal.

One thing I miss while traveling is access to a second computer monitor. It is always helpful to have a primary working monitor coupled with a second one to put look-up information. For instance I may use my primary monitor for a video meeting and use the second monitor to display information I need during the meeting.

Another thing I miss while on the road is my second computer. While at home I make sure to do work on my Sony-provided laptop and personal things on my desktop computer. Not having that second computer means I am trying to do everything on my work computer. I mostly just read personal e-mail but that means I can't edit videos or write narrations for my YouTube videos. I have one that I am working on right now and wish I could have made progress on it while traveling.

Then there are all the comforts of home that I miss while away. Things like sleeping in my own bed, having access to my full wardrobe, or being able to watch movies in my theater room. Yes it is fun to travel to interesting places but it also feels good to be back home.