My Robot Vacuum is Like a Bad Pet

Every morning I wake up at around 7am and run through my morning routine. That always includes going down to breakfast and doing some light reading. At 8am our robot vacuums wake up and start their 90-minute cleaning cycles. Without fail, if I am reading in the dining room while I finish up my oatmeal, a vacuum will leave the living room and try to clean under my feet. If I try to read in the living room, the beast will stay in that room and annoy me until I go somewhere else. Does that sound familiar to those of you with pets?

Sometimes I will escape to my office which requires going down into the basement. Fortunately robot vacuums can't negotiate stairs and so the one from the main level will stay on there and not try to follow me. That doesn't keep it from annoying me though. Sometimes it will get stuck and call out with an R2D2-like beep asking for rescue. Other times it will get suck up a lamp cord going forward and backward like a small dog trying to dominate its favorite stuffed toy. I didn't think robots could be capable of such lewd behavior.

Today my wife moved the vacuum from the kids'-bedroom level and put it on the master-bedroom level. You wouldn't think there could be much trouble our bad pet could get into. There is. Not long after the robot started doing its thing, it discovered my acoustic-guitar stand. It pushed the stand over, guitar included, which made a slight racket as the guitar neck hit the wall. The vacuum got tangled in the stand and tried to free itself by moving forward and backwards. Once again, it looked like it was humping something while my guitar cried out like it was being molested. I used my foot to nudge the robot off the guitar stand only to have it head back in that direction. I didn't know if I should squirt it with water or just move it to another part of the room. I decided on the latter only to have it head right back to my guitar. I had to move it several times before it got the hint to get back to work.

logically I know the robot vacuums are not sentient beings. That doesn't exempt them from seemingly nefarious behavior though. It makes me wonder if there are behavior classes I can sign my vacuums up for.

Smartphone Magic Tricks

My oldest grandson and I have a great relationship. He is only 6 years old and hasn't yet learned to hate adults yet. Of course it helps that I am one of those grandparents that takes him to Hawaii, Disneyland, and skiing. I talked with my son earlier today and he mentioned his wife is still made I took my grandson skiing for the first time without her.

I keep a large bag of chocolate chips in my pantry that I will occasionally snack from. This comes from never being able to snack on chocolate chips as a child. All of the chips had to go into the cookie dough. Now that I am older, I don't have that rule and make sure to share generous piles of chocolate chips with all of my grandkids whenever they visit. They like this as do I.

A few years ago, I spent some time talking to my oldest grandson on a video call. I asked him if he wanted some chocolate chips. He was smart enough to know that you can't pass physical objects back and forth through the phone. Fortunately his mom picked up on the trick I was about to perform. She snuck to their pantry and got a handful of chocolate chips and held it discretely under the phone. Then I dropped some chips in front of the camera so it looked like the phone was depositing them into her hand. My grandson was amazed.

I will eventually have to tell my grandson about how I pulled off that trick but he still tells his sister and cousins about how his Grandpa can send chocolate chips through phones.

Movie Review: Gran Turismo

Last night I went and saw an early showing of the new movie from Sony Pictures called Gran Turismo. Now before diving into the review it is only fair that I mention that I spent 11 years at Sony PlayStation which created the video game of the same name and forms the basis for the story of the movie. I currently work for Sony and work directly with Sony Pictures and Sony PlayStation. In other words, I am not an impartial reviewer. That being said, I did not enjoy the Uncharted movie and think most movies derived from video games don't meet expectations. Given that preface, here is my review.

Working for Sony has given me a lot of behind-the-scenes look at Gran Turismo. There have been several virtual meetings where the creators of the movie have shared the journey from the concept of the film through the entire movie-making process. This had me excited to see the finished product even though I have only played about 10 to 20 hours of various versions of the game. Let me correct that, it is not a game, it is a driving simulator.

Several years ago GT Academy was created to take the best drivers of Gran Turismo and see how they would do on a real race track in actual races. The movie is based on that story and how one of those drivers fared. Whenever the creators needed details for the movie, they went back to the true story and incorporated what really happened. This means there are a lot of very accurate details in the movie that are often sensationalized in other based-on-a-true-story films. At the end of the movie they even point out that Jann, the person the story is based on served as the stunt driver for the film.

I found the story interesting and compelling. My wife went to the movie simply to spend time with me yet at the end said that she really enjoyed it. It is always a win when your spouse enjoys the same movie you do. As we pulled into the driveway we both remarked that it had a similar feel to Ford vs. Ferrari. If you enjoyed that movie, you will enjoy Gran Turismo.

My wife and I are fans of David Harbour from his role in Stranger Things as well as Orlando Bloom from the original Pirates of the Caribbean. Both do an excellent job of playing less-than-perfect characters and add to the authenticity of the story. The race tracks throughout the world make excellent supporting cast members as well.

I wish I could say that Sony gave me free tickets to the film or that I could expense the cost. Nope, I paid full price and all of the associated service fees and spent $36 total for 2 people to see the film. I will probably go see it again in the theaters one more time before I add it to my personal film library.

Hopefully the review is somewhat helpful if you are thinking about seeing Gran Turismo. Watching the film made think about playing the game again. Perhaps that is what I will do tonight.

Hurricane Season 2023

Sailors are very aware of hurricane season as none of us want to be caught out in the ocean during one. I've personally been caught in two, both in the Pacific. They are not fun. Unfortunately I have a morbid fascination with hurricanes now and want to know how they are developing out in our oceans.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or US weather service has a great site to watch as storms form and strengthen. There are 3 tabs on the page that show the Central Pacific, Eastern Pacific, and Atlantic. When a storm first begins to form it is marked with a yellow "X". Hovering your mouse over the X gives you important information about the storm such as intensity and probability of becoming more severe. As it grows in strength, the X goes from yellow to orange to red. Then it progresses through depression, storm, and hurricane icons.

The beginning of hurricane season is in June but is actually very boring and so I didn't start watching the site until July. Even then there is not much going on. The real action begins in August and so I have the site up all day. I watched as Dora went from a probable storm up through a hurricane. I took particular interest because it started where the sailor Donald Lawson got into trouble. The Mexican Coast Guard kept talking about how weather contributed to hampering the search for the missing sailor. Being able to watch the storms build really underscored the difficulty experienced.

Hurricane Katrina happened towards the end of August. Then hurricanes Fiona and Ian that happened last year formed in the middle and end of September. I hope we have a very boring hurricane season this year but now is the time to start watching.

Follow-up from Yesterday's Post: Verizon vs. AT&T

Yesterday I talked to my adventurous daughter who is a kayak guide in Valdez, Alaska. Thinking about my post yesterday, I asked the all-important question of which mobile phone service seems to be more ubiquitous, Verizon or AT&T. I knew not to ask about T-Mobile because last year she showed up to help guide with a T-Mobile phone. Unfortunately T-Mobile doesn't have a presence in Alaska and while her phone worked for 30 days, they informed her that if she didn't get her phone back to the lower 48, or continental United States, they would stop providing service. Fortunately she had to head to Anchorage  and she switched her service to AT&T. Yes it costs significantly more but she could continue to have a wireless phone and didn't have to result in turning her phone off for the remainder of the summer.

I asked my daughter if there are any other guides in Alaska that she works with who use Verizon for their wireless plans. She said there are quite a few. Next I asked if they had service when she doesn't or vice versa. Her response indicated that the two services are fairly comparable with Verizon slightly edging out AT&T. I probed a bit more and asked what she used to compare the two. She said that when they leave Valdez to head out to the Columbia glacier, she will lose service before those with Verizon. On the way back, those with Verizon will regain service earlier.

I felt that seemed like a pretty good test even though it is only anecdotal and not statistical. She elaborated that last year before she switched from T-Mobile, she lost service even earlier. I can't think of any place more remote than parts of Alaska and this corresponds with my experience in remote places throughout the United States.

Now remember I do own stock in Verizon and my intent is not to have you switch your carrier simply because their wireless phone service is available in more places. The new technology being rolled out, specifically 5G networks has all mobile phone carriers upgrading their networks. The old CDMA technology that Verizon used for 2G and 3G will eventually be replaced. Until then, they seem to have the broader coverage. I'm not sure that will continue but could be wrong. I know the moment I switch from T-Mobile to something else, the playing field will be leveled and all services will be equal to each other. So for now I am sticking with my current mobile phone carrier. 

No Internet Service for 5 Days

I just got back from a houseboat trip in Tennessee last night and spent 5 days without any Internet service. Talk about being off the grid. I have to say I really enjoyed it. Even if I wanted to check e-mail or find out what is going on the world, I couldn't.

I use T-Mobile as the carrier for my mobile phone and have found that it is pretty much on par with my previous provider, AT&T. My son has his work phone through Verizon, which is a company whose stock I own. I bought it because they have a generous quarterly dividend, not because I think their stock will appreciate. That being said, my son had Internet service on the trip and kept feeling tempted to check e-mail. When his wife would catch him on his phone, she would remind him that he was on vacation. I should have taken the chance to snap a picture of him on the phone like he did of me in Yellowstone a few years ago.

I have another buddy I travel with to the most remote places in the country and he has Verizon for his carrier as well. Most of the time I don't get service, he still does which has me questioning if I should get a cheap Verizon account too. I thought that Verzion just had better coverage in Utah but now I am discovering it is nationwide. I pass this information along not to help my stock investment but to share my anecdotal experience as I often travel to very out-of-the-way places in the country for various outdoor adventures.

Last night I arrived at the airport and decided I would check my e-mail before boarding my non-stop flight back to Salt Lake. I had an insane number of e-mails but not one needed my attention before today. This morning I checked my work e-mail and had the same results. Naturally I had an auto-responder for my work e-mail so everyone knew I took some time off. That gives the added benefit of people asking about my trip.

The only reason I would have needed to be reached on this past trip is because of a once-in-a-hundred-year storm that hit near my house. We received 2.28 inches of rain one evening and it came down so fast it caused significant flooding in the area. My house received no damage that couldn't be cleaned up with a broom (mulch needs to be pushed back into the flower beds is all). Had my basement flooded like some nearby, I would have wanted the person watching my house to give me a call. Unfortunately there wouldn't have been anything I could have done about it in Tennessee but I think that is one of the things you want to prepare for before arriving home at 11pm on a Sunday evening.

I have to say that I am fine being out of Internet service while on vacation. Hopefully you feel that way too. If you find yourself in the other basket and wishing to remain connected, think about Verizon if you are not already using them for your carrier.

Trending Content: Good or Bad

Yesterday I had a meeting right in the middle of my morning and so I couldn't go out on my usual morning bike ride. At this time of the year, it gets too hot to ride much past 11am and the roads are too crowded before 9am. Instead of riding outside I rode in my nice-cool basement.

To help keep boredom away and excitement levels up during my exercise routine, I listened to music. Sometimes I listen to Pandora and other times Spotify. I don't pay for either service and so I get the pleasure of listening to ads and I do my best to ignore them. Yesterday I had one ad catch my attention. It talked about trending content and if you listened to this particular podcast you would know about all the latest Internet content that everyone is following. That got me wondering if trending is a good thing or not.

I have a friend that I used to work with that despised trending content. He likened it to everyone being sheep and following each other around. He's not wrong as there is a lot to be said for individuality. Given the relative ease of selecting your own music content, shouldn't we all have highly specialized music playlists with only our favorite songs. There are a lot of popular songs that I just can't stand and none of them are on my playlists.

The flip side of individual content is that of discovery. How do you know if you should listen to a new song? A coworker of mine that does a lot of work in the music industry listens to a lot of different music just to make sure she doesn't miss something new that she might like. If you always listen to the same songs, they become routine and eventually like all the other pop music played on the radio that everyone has come to hate.

There are a few songs that come to mind when I think about trending music. The first time I heard "Shut Up and Dance" from Walk the Moon, I instantly liked it. I didn't need to hear it a million times. However without it trending, I wouldn't have ever heard it in the first place.

We live in a wonderful time where we can choose what music we listen to. We can do the same with movies, television shows, and YouTube videos. We are not constrained by being forced to watch or listen to that content on someone else's schedule because we can stream it at will. We also don't have to be influenced by what is popular. However we can let trending content help us decide if it is worthy of our time. Like I wrote, it is a wonderful time right now.