A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
Today, we saw Berkeley Rep's production of "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.". The play was exciting but not super entertaining.. . SFGate has an interesting review of the play here.. . . . . . . Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike . Written by Christopher Durang. Directed by Richard E.T. White. Limited Season · Roda Theatre. September 20–October 25, 2013 .…
Read More: Review: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Berkeley Rep)
Today, we purchased an Apple iMac 27 (2013+) to replace our Dell XPS One 2710 (which had problems with WiFi connectivity).. . . . . In comparison to Dell, Apple's iMac has some interesting differences:. . Advantages of iMac 27. iMac is much slimmer and much better looking. iMac is much quieter, and I never heard the fan going off (Dell's fan is pretty loud)…
Read More: Review: Apple iMac 27
About a month ago, I purchased a refurbished Dell XPS One 2710 all-in-one desktop Windows 8 PC from Costco.com (online) - to replace my 7-year-old Apple iMac.. . . . . The Dell desktop PC arrived quickly and booted just fine. I really disliked Windows 8 and decided to install Windows 7. I ordered a Crucial M4 mSATA SSD (256GB Flash) and installed it inside…
Read More: Review: Dell XPS One 2710
Today, we decided to visit Truckee and the nearby Donner Lake to enjoy the last remnants of late summer at Lake Tahoe. The day was sunny and warm but became overcast in the afternoon, with a light shower.. . The beach around Donner Lake was nearly empty, and few people were around. . . . . . . Alex and Sasha did a few rounds…
Read More: Kayaking on Donner Lake
With thousands of photos stored on my server, I needed more speed in Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, and Sony Vegas.. . Previously, I ran software RAID-5 with 6 Hitachi 4TB hard disks, yielding 18TB of usable capacity. Disk performance was quite decent for reads - 380-500 MB/sec, but relatively poor for writes (as most software raid servers are) at 70 MB/sec using ATTO benchmarks. This…
Read More: Review: LSI MegaRAID
Today, I made an appointment to purchase my leased 2011 Audi Q5 2.0T sports utility vehicle at Audi of Stevens Creek. As my 3-year lease was expiring, I decided that the value of my car was much greater than the lease-purchase price.. . . . . . . When I arrived at 12:00 p.m. for my appointment, I planned to drop off the check, sign…
Read More: Purchasing an Audi Q5 2.0T from Audi of Stevens Creek
Today, we watched Elysium at the local AMC Saratoga Movie Theater.. . The movie had an interesting take on the future, where all the rich people live off the Earth, on the space station "Elysium," and all the poor, wretched souls live on Earth, suffering from poor health care, crime, and unemployment.. . The movie was enjoyable but not profound, and did not develop characters…
Read More: Review: Watching Elysium
Today, we test-drove a 2013 Tesla Model S sedan. After reading about the fantastic reports of Tesla's performance, I requested a test drive after reading about the tremendous reports in Consumer Reports and Car & Driver.. . I requested an online test drive for the Model S and confirmed my appointment by phone.. When we arrived at the Santana Row showroom, we found a Tesla…
Read More: Test driving the Tesla Model S
Today, we saw the play "The Further Adventures of Three Musketeers" by the Los Gatos Shakespeare Company in Oak Meadow Park (on an outdoor stage).. . . . The play is loosely based on Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers series of novels. We enjoyed the performance, and Alex liked all of the swordplay.. . It's all for one and one for all in this premiere…
Read More: Review: The Further Adventures of Three Musketeers (Oak Meadow Park)
Today, we decided to go for a mountain bike ride at the Wilder Ranch State Park near Santa Cruz/Davenport, California.. . Wilder Ranch State Park borders the Pacific Ocean, offering sweeping views of the nearby cliffs.. . . . . . There is little shade, and the trail can sizzle in the afternoon sun. Most of the vegetation was dry or burned out.. . .…
Read More: Biking the Wilder Ranch State Park