Has anyone seen one of these backscatter x-ray machines at the airports?  They just rolled it out to NY JFK airport last month, apparently.  Reminds me a bit of that scene in Total Recall, or True Lies (interestingly, both Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi movies) where the scanners at transportation hubs show the entire body.

Backscatter X-ray and millimeter-wave imaging technologies that give Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers the ability to see through passengers’ clothing and look for prohibited objects hidden next to their bodies are being used at an increasing number of U.S. airports.

Here’s another article from LiveScience, plus a sample picture.  Talk about revealing.

Backscatter x-ray image

Susan Hallowell, the director of the Transportation Security Administration’s security laboratory, allows her body to be X-rayed by the “backscatter” machine at the Transportation Security Administration in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., Wednesday, June 25, 2003

In other travel news, according to concierge.com, here are 13 beach escapes that won’t bust the bank.  I’m adding these to my destination travel wish-list.

One of our fish died last week — an orange molly.  It was acting peculiar, so I knew something was up.  We picked fish new fish this afternoon from the pet store. 2 Dalmatian Mollies and 3 Red Wagtail Platys.  We have enough fish now in our 20-gallon tank.  Coincidentally, I thought we had a 30-gallon tank, but no, it’s holds only 20 gallons, so no more fish.  I just read the Dalmatians prefer 30-gallon tanks.  I hope they don’t freak out on me.  They also like plants, and we’re still on the hunt for additional live plants.

Dalmatian Molly

Red Wagtail Platy

BTW, I’m contemplating adopting a cat.  I’m just a little worried about finding the cat sitting next to the tank with a Red Lobster bib on. After the heartache of the past few years with Missy’s bad behavior, I’m extremely weary of putting myself through that again.  It’s a big decision.  We’ll think it through during our vacation.

My fancy-pants beard trimmer arrived. As you may recall reading here earlier, my previous Norelco died a quiet “Eh, I don’t feel like trimming” death last week.  I ordered the Philips Norelco T980, and it arrived earlier this week.  I haven’t charged or used it yet — my beard is in, but it’s fairly short.  I’m just reading the box, and wondering how sophisticated “beard trimmers” are these days.

1. “Sharper than Titanium” – Uh, what are we cutting here?
2. “Turbo Power Boost Button” – For when I hit a dense patch?  Or if Michael is in trouble?
3. “9 Lock-in Length Settings” – Good, but I only ever use the one setting.
4. “Flexing Comb for Complete Control” – Flexing?  Who needs pilates?
5. “Powerful Vacuum” – It sucks up my hair into the “hair chamber.”
6. “Clear view Hair Chamber” – I can see my own discarded hair!
7. “Travel/Storage Pouch” – Fancy!

Norelco T-980

I jest, but I do appreciate a good trimmer.  My first trimmer was this cheapo Wahl model.  It had 3 settings, and the edges of the clippers would always catch a hair, and YANK! it out of my chin.  Gosh, I hated that thing. Trim trim trim trim I have a date tonight.  Trim trim trim should I wear the red shirt or YANK!

I gotta say this.  Life is interesting.  So much happens that is good, great, embarassing, mortifying, aggravating, surprising, frustrating, stressful, enjoyable, saddening.  You never know what’s coming around the corner, but in the end, it makes life interesting.  If none of it happened, wouldn’t every day be boring?  I suppose it is all how you look at it.

Sometimes I wonder why office life (anywhere, no particular organization) needs to be so tumultuous.  New people coming in, friends going out.  People being forced out, new processes being established.  You could sit there and wonder, “Why can’t this place just stay the same?”  In my short career so far, I’ve seen/heard people targeting others, pushing them out.  New procedures, policies, methods in place, making people uncomfortable.  However, I realized organizations need change.  Without change, an organization becomes stagnant.  The outside world is always changing, and if you want to stay relevant, you have to adapt to change.  Maybe it’s okay that organizations change over time, making people uncomfortable.  It shakes things up, keeps you on your toes.  Challenges you.  Stirs up the water.

We’ve been doing this for millions of years. In the jungle, or on the plains. Now the jungle is filled with cubicles.  Evolve or die.  Food for thought.

My wife and I started working on our wills this week, courtesy of Quicken WillMaker 2009. We’ve both discussed for a long while now, but never committed.  Recently, we learned that in NJ, without a will, the courts are allowed to decide what to do with our children, in the worst case scenario that both of us died. Nums downloaded the software and installed it, and started populating each of our wills.  The software is helpful in asking the questions, but it doesn’t help you with finding the right answers.

• Who gets Josh and Lily if we’re not around?  Who can raise them?  What if the guardians can’t handle their kids AND our kids at some point in time?
  
• How do we allocate the funds for braces and other expenses before they turn 18, fund their collegiate expenses, and how much to give them after the turn 23, or 25, or 28?
• Setting up trust funds?
• Who should execute our wills?
• Who gets what possessions?  Give them away to family, donate to charity, sell and give the cash to the children?

Lots of uncomfortable questions.  Just the idea that someone else would raise your kids can really bother you.  It’s hard sometimes for yourself to know what to do with your monkeys, but they’re YOUR monkeys, and you trust yourself to figure it out in their best interests.  How do you know the guardians will do the right thing?

So the old stove is finally gone.  Lowes contractors came 6 hours late, and carted it.  Yeah, 6 hours late.

Less than 24 hours later, the swivel clip for my cellphone holster broke.  Broke.  Worst $8 I have ever spent.  I don’t know if it’s the absolute worst $8 I ever spent, but it’s definitely up high on the rankings.  What to do now?  No idea.  I wrote the online vendor about a defective merchandise exchange, so find out what happens next.

Life may be interesting, but I don’t know if I would categorize the aggravating portions as anything else besides aggravating.

I read something somewhere that August was considered the doldrums.  Whover “they” are, they are correct.  The summer is about over, there isn’t much going on, it’s hot outside. I can feel it.  I think I’m slightly burned out, eight months into the year.  I believe it’s the fact that I’ve taken little of my alloted vacation time this year.  I was supposed to take two weeks off in March/April after Lily’s birth, but I ended up taking only two days.  I’ve taken maybe 3-4 max this year, but nothing contiguous.  I think that’s the problem.  I’ve got a little under 15 days left to take this year.  I’m already taking two days in August, but maybe I should take a few more.  Maybe some more in September as well.  I gotta think about it.

This weekend was fairly quiet and uneventful (see previous paragraph.)  We had dinner with Num’s parents at Chutney Manor over in South Brunswick.  A little upscale, and the food was excellent.  I got the chicken vindaloo and saag paneer.  Oh man, it was good, and I tried not to stuff myself.  Tried.

Oh, I did forget the “big news.”  My Norelco beard/mustache trimmer (purchased September 2003 — ha, I still remember the wild goose chase through Essex county that mid-Sept night) stopped working after five years.  Go figure.  My beard has been getting bushier, and no one locally sells the replacement I want — the Norelco T980.  I ordered it from Amazon.com, but it won’t be here for a few more days.  Meanwhile, did I mention the beard was getting bushier?  I made an executive decision, and shaved it all off Friday morning.

I'm 21 again

I was instanteously transformed into Joel, circa 1997.  I figure I only have a few days until my chin returns to its original erogenous self.  My wife hates it, but the beard will return.

Speaking of Amazon.com, it’s definitely been my favorite store for years.  I lost my phone holster and all my cell phone wall chargers, so I ordered new ones through their merchant program.  I ordered a replacement holster for $8, and a new wall charger for $4.  The original holster cost me $30 at the AT&T store back in January.  Sucks that I lost it, but awesome that I don’t have to spend gobs of money to replace it.

The past few months, I’ve gone over my allotted 450 cell phone minutes. Way over.  Ridiculously over.  Consecutive months.  I’ve actually even used up my rollover minutes too, and it’s frustrating. I’m currently on the 450 minutes plan from AT&T, with rollover, and the Blackberry data plan.  When I was with Verizon Wireless, 400 mins was more than adequate, as most of my family and friends were on Verizon Wireless too (I benefited from all the free in-network calling.)

Now, everyone is costing me every time they call me.  Did you ever get that feeling I was rushing you off the phone?  It’s because I was watching my call timer, fuming, and wondering when you would shut up about whether to get a margarita or a daiquiri while you were at the swim-up bar.  I checked my recent bill, and I’m maybe $30 over what should be my regular monthly bill amount.  Enough, I say.  I upgraded to the 900 minutes plan for another $15.

You know what?  It’s worth it.  By the time I finish talking to my parents, my wife, my friends, my coworkers, my boss, I’ve eaten up my minutes with 2 weeks left in the bill cycle.  Let’s see how it goes.  If I change my mind, I’ll drop the rate plan down.

On another note, I do like how quickly I qualify for phone upgrades.  According to AT&T, I’m eligible for a new phone on Feb 13 2009.  According to the Boy Genius Report, the AT&T roadmap has been leaked, and there are a number of cool new phones coming out for their network. Personally, I’ve got my eye on the Blackberry Bold.

When I’m watching movies, I’m a fanatic regarding watching it in the best picture possible, with the best sound possible.  I absolutely enjoy having a 6.1 surround sound system at home, which I use to immerse myself in a movie.  It’s that whole “in the movie” experience I’m looking for.  Kinda explains why I want the widescreen tv so bad, doesn’t it?

Anyway, I’ve been to homes where the surround sound speakers have been misplaced. Wait, not just “misplaced.”  Placed in such an incorrect configuration, I should have called the police.  Yes, that much of a crime.  For those of you who are clueless, here’s a 27 minute video from CNet on proper speaker placement.  It’s a video interview with Dolby’s “wizards” explaining three key tips to getting the best multichannel audio out of your home theater. Exciting, so break out the popcorn.

Who knew maintaining an aquarium would be so much hard work?  From what I knew of keeping fish, the hard work was primarily cleaning the fish tank.  Did you know about constantly checking the pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? That some fish aren’t compatible with other fish, or varying temperatures?  That you can lose lots of fish, but grow a lot of algae?  That you need snails and other bottom-feeders to clean the algae?

Thank goodness I wised up and opted to learn my skills with cheap freshwater fish.  I’m also lucky that my friend Doug has helped me with initial set up, populating with fish from his menagerie, and with a multitude of advice.  Unfortunately, I lost 7 of the 8 fish he gave me originally, leaving only “Lucky” the sole occupant of the Aquarium of Death.

It has taken a few weeks, but the aquarium appears to have completed “cycling”, and the new 10 fish that Doug donated to me have survived since last weekend.  That’s right — they are still alive.  This weekend, I picked up two algae-eating Plecostomus fish (Josh named them Nemo and Dory, naturally), some live plants, a tank cleaner, and actual aquarium decoration (oooh, ancient Greek ruins!)

Aquarium decoration

The good news is that after cleaning out the food detritus and fish poop, and replacing half the water on Sunday, the tank is testing healthy.  Both nitrite and ammonia levels are low, which wasn’t the case a few weeks ago.  Right now, we are the proud owners of 10 guppies, a mollie, those Plecostomus, and a catfish I named Rufus.  I love watching the fish eat, play ball, and practice their ju-jit-su, and I’m looking forward to adding more fish to the family.

I should be loading the dishwasher, but I thought I’d waste time for a few minutes…..

I was watching a PBS special recently called Pioneers of Television. Each episode features the beginnings of various genres (sitcom, variety, etc), with the interviews and archival clips of TV’s founding celebrities. I recently watched the one about sitcoms, featuring the history of folks such as Jackie Gleason, Lucille Ball, and Danny Thomas.  I grew up watching I Love Lucy as a child.  I remember watching every summer afternoon at 1pm, and how much I loved the show.  I thought I’d take a moment to share a list of my all-time favorite comedians, in no particular order:

• Lucille Ball
• Jack Benny
• Bud Abbott & Lou Costello (they’ll always go together)
• Jackie Gleason
• Carol Burnett
• Robin Williams (sadly, the coked-up version)
• Eddie Murphy (original, during his Eddie Murphy Raw days.)
• John Belushi
• Bob Hope
• Chris Rock
• Dave Chappelle
• George Carlin

The creativity of some people is amazing.  What motivates someone to create a life-size Tumbler from the new Batman movies?  Or a seven-foot tall PC case in the form of Optimus Prime?  Are these people amazing, nuts, or just amazingly nuts?  Here are more cool PC case mods that people have spent way too much time in their rooms working on, courtesy of Engadget.

A real Tumbler

Optimus Prime PC Case mod