Hills of Hayward

When I was trying to find the video of the Al Gore interview on Larry King the other night, I chanced by a blog named Right Voices. Their tagline for the site was “In all matter of opinion, our adversaries are insane - Oscar Wilde“.

This site seems to be a small neo-conservative blog, and not surprisingly, they think Al Gore is the anti-christ. I could not help myself, but enter my 2 cents into the Al Gore bashfest. I wrote:

Now isn’t the time anymore for personal attacks from EITHER side of the aisle. It isn’t time anymore for the blame game either.

We have three looming problems as a country. Al Qaeda (Osama is still alive), IRAQ (separate problem Al Qaeda sure isn’t in IRAQ), and Global Warming.

Unknowingly, I ignited a unlit fuse. This little comment then started a torrent of vitriol. Around 5 people jumped in an free-for-all tag-team-wrestling debate on Global Warming. 30 commments and 5 days later, I hope reason and the facts won out over ideology.

You guys can judge for yourself, but it seems that many in the anti-global warming camp are seeing their glacial fortress of doubt melt in the sun. As they retreat, they find reasons to cling to ideological beliefs.

http://rightvoices.com/2006/06/14/gore-told-convenient-lies-on-larry-king/#comments

It was a series of disappointments recently for food lovers like Harrison and me. It was Tokushima Ramen at first and now it’s Pieces in Burlingame.

Since we moved away from Harrison’s apartment with Jie on Buckingham in Santa Clara 4 years ago, it became very far for us to visit our favorite ramen restaurant, Tokushima. Thus once in a while, I would block off my Friday lunch time for a couple hours just so that I can go to the ramen place to enjoy my Yasai Ramen. A couple months ago, I was shocked when I didn’t see the familiar friendly face of the owner; I knew something was wrong… I was still hoping that the new owner would continue the original recipe but that was just a dream. I guess I can never find the same style of ramen around the area with rich red broth, and the bacons full of flavors. Just like Andy said, it’s such a shock and disappointing.

Sam, you still remember the nice dinner you treated us because your little “Egg Tart” peed on Harrison’s bed?! The restaurant, Pieces, was also closed… We wanted to take Harrison’s aunt to dinner there and somehow the number was disconnected when I called for a reservation… With worries and doubts growing in my mind, I started searching on Google for “Pieces closed” and I found the news… The lease is up and the business is not doing as well as the other sister stores, Aqua and Café de La Presse at San Francisco, so the owner decided to close it.

I missed the sampler menu, especially the tuna tartar. That was the best tuna tartar I ever had. Sigh… We have to find new places to go now.

We attended the Maker Faire at San Mateo convention center. Think arts and crafts on steroids. Wondrous things like walking robots, cupcake vehicles, and gladiator robots of all sizes. I took some photos, but this Rocketboom Video captures the event much better. *mental note: kid friendly event*

You may know this already. Google Maps does traffic reports. Visual traffic report for Bay Area

I’m am glad that I stayed up late Tuesday night. Al Gore was on Larry King just talking about the usual gamut of debate topics, and the inevitable question of whether he will run for president came up. Gore gave his usual response of being slightly negative towards the idea without rejecting it.

Although so many people wishes he will run (me included), I realized that maybe Gore sees past the “title” of President. Maybe he just wants to find a way to do the most good in the world rather than seek a office that will bind him to interest groups, political intrigue, and mundane presidential tasks.

I now trust Gore to be a man of principles who seeks to do the right thing regardless of personal gain. I do admit that I voted for Bush over Gore in 2000. Looking back, I think that Gore did not “find himself” and did not convince me to vote for him. Now, after he has shed his political baggage, I believe that he tries to speak the truth as he sees it, and it is very refreshing in this hyper-political environment.

Some photos I have been meaning to post of Kyle and my cousin Jean and Mike. I won a toy speed boat from inkjetcartridge.com and gave it to Kyle. He for sure would enjoy it more than I would. Isn’t he so cute!

Treehugger had a little post today that I had to repost. These bottles are water samples collected by Wu Yilong from Chinese urban rivers and lakes.

I did not realize that so many flavors of Gatorade have natural sources in China’s water system. Christine likes the fruit punch flavored one towards the right.

These pictures do not surprise me.  If the Chinese are the neo-capitalists who will grow to dominate the 21st century, I hope they mature well. Studies show that teenagers often lack compassion, maybe this holds true for developing nations as well.

For sure China has plenty to improve on, but the constant anti-China rhetoric in US media is irritating. About a year ago, there was sharp criticism that China was increasing military spending. There were pointed questions raised about whether China was going to be a military threat to its neighbors, despite constant reiteration by China that it has a policy of peace.

I wonder which country leads the world in defense spending? Which country has become famous for its pre-emptive foreign policy?

Then there were second-guessing and criticism that China had solidified relationships with African nations to secure crude oil inventories. There was great gnashing of teeth in US talk shows about what this meant.

Has the US not done the same in developing relationships with third world countries for their oil reserves? Why does China not have a right to find security for their own energy needs?

More recently, there is the constant “why should we cut greenhouse emissions if China hasn’t promised to do anything?”.

I wonder which country uses the most energy per person? Which country leads the world in greenhouse gas emissions? (Hint: red white blue flag)

The US prides itself as being a world leader. We should act like one and set the standard for everybody to follow like a responsible adult. If our actions can improve the world condition, that should be enough reason to do it, not applause or the promise of riches.

Christine and I have been having fun driving the Prius over the last month and half. I am the Type A kind of guy, so I am having fun getting my MPG “score” up every time I drive. Driving for me is like a video game now.

I think for Christine, she is more happy about driving a comfortable new car, and being able to listen to music or news on the radio clearly over a quiet engine as she drives to work.

Of course the first modification we put on the Prius was window tint from SnapTint.com. We went with HP True Grey 20%, it is just dark enough to prevent smash and grab auto theft.
As gas prices inch higher to $4 per gallon territory, I wanted to calculate how much gas savings we have saved over the last 2,500 miles we have driven.

Right now we are averaging 45 miles per gallon, so we have purchased 2,500/45 = 55 gallons of gas. Assuming price per gallon has average $3.35 over the last month and a half, this is $3.35 * 55 = $184.

If we had driven our Lexus IS300 for the last 2,500 miles, we would have averaged 25 MPG. This is 2,500/25 = 100 gallons of Premium gas. Assuming premium gas averaged $3.60 over the last month and a half, total cost would be $3.60 * 100 = $360.

So over the last month and a half, our Prius has saved us $176 in gas ($360-$184). Projecting this value out to an entire year, we could expect around $1,500 in gas savings assuming gas prices do not rise from current levels.

An additional bonus that we did not expect was that our car insurance rates dropped $800 / year due to the switch from the IS300 to the Prius.

If it were that easy in the rest of our lives to go green and save money at the same time, I would gladly give it a try. Solar panels next maybe?