TomS Words of Wisdom

Disappointment in Change of Address @ DOL - DL

2008-12-02T23:00:00.000-08:00

Liz Luce Director, WA Department of Licensing Director Luce -- I'm writing to let you know that I am very disappointed in you're department's inconsistency in address change policies and procedures. While our state's Vehicle License services makes good use of 24 hour online interaction and decent use of outsourcing, our state's Drivers License service is way behind modern expectations

Turkey is in the brine.

2008-11-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

The first major step of my annual turkey ritual is complete. Tom's Turkey Brine Gently boil the following for about 3 minutes: 1qt chicken broth1 1/2 cup kosher salt1/2 cup lemon juice1 cup Snoqualmie 2006 Winemaker's Select Reisling 1 large fist full of herbs, fresh from the garden (mostly rosemary and thyme with some sage and oregano on the stems with little or no preparation. Clip and cook.)

Quote: "Time's fun when you're having flies"

2008-11-25T18:16:00.000-08:00

......Kermit the Frog

2008-11-12T23:15:00.001-08:00

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2008-11-13T00:54:56-06:00

TSayles posted a photo:

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2008-11-13T00:54:45-06:00

TSayles posted a photo:

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2008-11-13T00:54:38-06:00

TSayles posted a photo:

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2008-11-13T00:54:31-06:00

TSayles posted a photo:

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2008-11-13T00:54:24-06:00

TSayles posted a photo:

Re: Cold Reality

2008-10-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

Yes Dad, those are typical La Nina year phenomenon. However if you dig a little into the subject, one of the sources quoted in your e-mail, the International Arctic Research Center, is actually featuring a link on their home page to NOAA's Arctic Report Card which is reporting: "5° C temperature increases were recorded in autumn", "Near-record minimum summer sea ice extent ", "Fisheries and

Moving Yet Again!!!

2008-10-15T20:26:00.000-07:00

A week ago Monday, just after our last vaulting competition of the year, my house-mate / landlord gave me the "My girlfriend is moving in and we want the house to our selves" speech. So I spent several days last week scrambling to find a new place to live. I did the usual things like posting an ad on Craig's list, e-mail friends and family, etc. As it turns out, the owner of Patterson Creek

The Period of Intense Change has Begun.

2008-09-17T22:15:00.001-07:00

Additional Disclaimer: Following are highly speculative predictions based on little more then my personal observations, recent headlines, knowledge of history and my uncanny ability to link together long chains of related events to form an overall situational picture. I don't advocate any particular actions or reactions and make no particular claim that my predictions will come true. You are

My new favorate YouTube video

2008-09-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

YouTube - Large Hadron Rap: Quantum physics geek chick rapping about the cutting edge particle accelerator. 'nuff said.

News & Updates

2008-07-16T21:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything newsy in quite some time. So I guess it's about due. Pretty much all winter and spring went into getting everything ready for Spring Fest. It went off the first weekend in May. It was in many ways the best one I've run yet. But in many others this year wasn't as good as my previous ones. Afterward I was really burned out on vaulting and especially on fest management

States I've been to.

2008-07-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine had one of these in her blog. Looked cool, so here's mine. visited 44 states (88%)Create your own visited map of The United States or determine the next president Could be just the thing for my Dad's aspiring 50-States marathon friends.

Help!, My Yahoo alternatives???

2008-07-14T21:38:00.001-07:00

Chris -- I've been a very happy user of Yahoo's "My.Yahoo.com" service since it was in it's initial beta many years ago. The last couple of revisions have been pushing more dynamic Ajax layouts and requiring more screen real estate. So after giving each new version an honest try, and providing thoughtful feedback, I've opting to go back to the "Classic My Yahoo". Much to my

Feedback Message Regarding Susan K. Kichline at EEG Recruiting

2008-04-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

I starting to get really annoyed by recruiters, like Susan K. Kichline and the Kody More I wrote about back in July, that can't keep track of who they have contacted and who they have received resumes from. Susan initially contacted me on March 7, 2008 and I replied with a resume and an expression of interest in Seattle area positions. On March 20 I received another, almost identical, "Dear

Business Process Reengineering: AVA Recognized Vaulting Competitions

2008-04-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

The following is my Commentary giving a vision of what the process could be. From a business process engineering point of view tasks like e-mailing the Official AVA membership list to the competition [fest] organizers should be almost automatic. Basically the fest manager / show secretary should fill out a form with all the "AVA Recognized Competition Application" information either in the

Words of Wisdom: Do the Incredible

2008-04-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

To do the incredible, set lofty goals, and work in small steps, to achieve them. -- Tom Sayles

The Geek Jeep has passed on.

2008-04-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

After 360k miles, may she rest in peace ... or more likely ... in pieces.

Idea: Reusable Automated Space Transport and Return System

2008-03-29T23:48:00.000-07:00

I read a recent article on the Rendezvous and Escape tests of ESA's ATV, Jules Verne. This got me thinking again about how I would design a shuttle replacement system. So I opened up a vector graphics program, Scribus (which I think is actually trying to be a desktop publishing program) and started jotting down my ideas. While the tools left something to be desired, the results turned our

Taxes are Done!

2008-03-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

Time: Start to finish (minus stamp and dropping in mailbox) , 40 minutes. Results: Refund of $74.37. Once again my simple filing status means that my withholdings are close to, and just slightly more then my actual tax liability. Which is just about the way that I want it. Since I moved last year and never received my form packet from the IRS, I just downloaded the 1040ez form and instructions

AVA Annual Meeting

2008-03-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

I had a good and productive time at the American Vaulting Association's Annual Meeting, held this past weekend in Cupertino, CA. I attended many committee meetings, both the board meeting and the general membership meeting, as well as a couple of training sessions (Tom Oakes' on using the AVA's CompWeb and Nancy Stevens-Brown's on using digital photography as a coaching tool). I volunteered to

Report from the AVA Annual Meeting

2008-03-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

This is my frist time attending the AVA's annual meeting, and it has been interesting and productive. The only news items to really report are from the competitions committes and the technical committee. From the competitions committee, it sounds like the USEF/AVA National Championships in 2009 will be rather early (second weekend of July?) to be part of a larger multi-dicipline event that

Has music DRM run it's course?

2008-01-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

Back in early 2005, in a blog post headlined "Microsoft in decline", I mentioned that DRM, digital rights management, is a myth and was likely to be a big flop. It looks like the music industry is finally figuring out what the PC software industry realized back in the mid-'80s. That is if your product is encumbered with copy protection that gets in your legitimate customer's way, then your

Cleaning up the subtropical gyres

2007-12-31T11:24:00.000-08:00

A recent item on Digg.com (with an inaccurate headline) linked to a Sydney Morning Herald article reporting on the build up of plastic in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. After reading the article I recalled hearing about using solar powered Autonomous Surface Vessels for harbor security and ocean research, either on the internet or more likely on TV (as I can't seem to find much information

Free Speach & Self Censorship

2007-12-31T01:28:00.000-08:00

Having had a first hand experience with my employer visiting my website, I know that such a future possibility does effect what I post here. This NY Times article illustrates a real problem facing free speech in our society. As I see it there are three solutions that in some combination will hopefully mitigate this over the long term, but we must be vigilant. First legal protections, such as

Mom & MySpace

2007-12-29T23:39:00.000-08:00

With a degree in sociology and strong interest in geeks, nerds and kids, it shouldn't be surprising that my mom has discovered MySpace. But I was a little taken aback when I received an e-mail linked to her MySpace page, urging me to join MySpace too. When I first set up a profile on myspace (a couple of years ago), I mostly just copied sections of my various dating site profiles. Later on I

Fifteen Hour Drive.

2007-12-29T00:23:00.000-08:00

It took just about 15 hours to drive from Santa Rosa, CA to Maple Valley, WA, via my originally planned US-101->US-199->I-5 route, which is about an hour more then I really like to do in a single day. If I had made it to Eureka as planned Thursday night, it would have been only about ten to twelve hours today. But I made it home safe and sound and in time for practice Saturday morning.

Stuck in No.Cal., due to snow

2007-12-27T22:17:00.001-08:00

I got as far as Ukiah, CA before the CHP was turning everyone around because US-101 was closed due to snow. Went back to Santa Rosa, so I could get a warm motel room with good Internet access, where I will spend the night. Plans for the Friday will depend on road conditions in the morning and the evolving weather forecast. At this point I'm not sure when I'll get back to the Seattle area, but