Random act of beerness

So last night I was riding home from my new job at the New York Genome Center and as I was coming down the Manhattan Bridge into DUMBO I saw a very curious cardboard sign that simply read 'Free Beer'. It took my mind a second to process it but when it did I pulled over and sure enough there were a group of cyclists gathered on the grass around a cooler. I walked over and asked what was going on and was handed a cold can of beer. It turns out a guy (Trevor) who works at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for a small sign making company decide he wanted to share a few beers with random people so he bought two cases of beer filled up two coolers with ice and pulled them over to the grass area at the base of the bridge with his Radio Flyer wagon. Even though the beer wasn't what I would normally drink I hung out and had a few just talking to random people. When I left I offered to kick in a few bucks but Trevor said no but maybe next time. Things have been kind of rough these past six months in New York for me after getting laid off from Ogilvy & Mather and not having much of a social group but with this new job and running across Trevor and his free beer are making me feel like things are turning around. So I just want to say thanks to Trevor and look forward to drinking with you and other random cyclist again.

Filming in the building

Are We Officially Dating? (2013) - IMDb
So the above movie is filming in my building for the next four or five days. They have taken over an apartment on the 4th floor as the set and another on the third as a green room. The only problem I've had so far is that they are leaving the doors to the building open including where I and the other tenants keep our bikes. Supposedly there is going to be some security but I haven't seen any yet which leads me to believe that I'll be asked to gain access to my own place and that it won't be my stuff that will be looked after. Have to see how it goes.

Android 4.2

Well it took some manual intervention on my part to get the update via OTA; had to go into Settings then Apps then All and select Google Services Framework where I had to clear the cache, force stop the app and finally clear the data before the update would install. I filed an issue with Google issue #39712 because a former coworker of mine from VMware who now works at Google sort of shamed me into filing it :) So far the only difference I really notice is the lock screen change, which isn't that exciting. I do want to see how the screen sharing feature works but need to find a TV that supports it. Since I use a Bluetooth keyboard I haven't really tried the gesture typing but I'm sure I will play with that over the next few days.

Comparing my Android devices' screens

Just comparing the home screens on my three Android devices. First is the Nexus 1 which is my everyday phone and has a screen size of 3.7" with display of 480x800 running Cyanogenmod 7.2

 next is the B&N Nook Color which I've rooted and do testing on it also currently has a small crack in the screen which I'm looking into fixing. The screen size is 7" with display of 600x1024 also running Cyanogenmod 7.2

and finally the Nexus 7 also with a 7" screen but display of 800x1280 and running Android 4.1.2 aka Jellybean

Needless to say the Nexus 7 is the best visual experience of all my devices and also the best performing but I hope it can last as long as my Nexus 1 has along with the abuse it has taken.

Some political views

So in this season of politics I wanted to chime in on some of the issues, if you don't care about politics or my thoughts on the issues stop reading now.

First the budget and the military. I've come to think of the military as a body builder that is addicted to steroids. My thought is that no matter how big and muscular the body builder gets he still thinks he needs more steroids and just keeps taking them and will even take more if he has a chance. The U.S. military budget is bigger then the next 13 highest nations military budgets combined just do a Google search for 'size of the us military compared to other countries' and see the results yourself.

Second the George W. Bush tax cuts. I keep hearing that if these tax cuts expire it will hurt job creation but how is that possible? I mean if these tax cuts have been in affect since his presidency and through out the Obama administration well then where are all the jobs that they are supposedly creating? It just doesn't make sense.

Third education. I have always felt that funding our schools based on property tax is a flawed idea and does not create consistency in education. I mean shouldn't a kid in Brooklyn, NY be taught the same thing as a kid in Greenhorn, OR or a kid in Bearcreek, MT they are all Americans and will all have to join the same workforce eventually so why shouldn't they be given the same quality and consistency when it comes to education. I also have an idea as to how to get better and more teachers into education and that would be if you are a fulltime teacher in elementary & high school where your teacher salary is your primary income then you should not have to pay an income tax.

And finally Healthcare. This one is simple and two the point, have all elected officials pay for there own healthcare. That is all congresmen/women, senators, judges, governors, mayors, city council members, sherrifs, etc.

New York streets

Wow two posts within less then a day of each other!

Wanted to follow up on some more observations of my year in New York. This post is prompted by the fact that I got doored this morning by someone hoping out of a cab. First the details of what happened; I was riding in the bike lane west on Charlton Street when I saw a cab in front of me with his right turn signal on indicating he was going to turn north on Hudson Street but he was stopped at the traffic light with another car in front of him and he was not blocking the bike lane so I just continued riding my easy pace and was planning to pass him but when I got to about his rear bumper the fare decide to throw the door open and get out. I tried my best to turn away but my left hand & handlebar hit the door and I also hit a parked car to my right, luckily I didn't go down. The stupid kid that was getting out of the cab just looked at me and so did the drive. This incident and numerous other small things makes me think that New York schools must never have basic safety classes where a police officer comes in for the day and teaches kids about looking both ways before crossing the street or they don't even get taught basic idioms like 'look before you leap'. Now don't get me wrong I'm not looking for the crazy L.A. traffic rules where the police will issue jay walking tickets but I would like to see some basic common sense on the part of New York pedestrians like no walking in bike lanes, look both ways before crossing a street, stay up on the curb until it is safe to cross and other things like that.

Change the title

So I'm looking at 'Daily Thoughts' and since I haven't posted anything in ages I feel it is only right to change the title, but to what? Maybe 'Occasional Thoughts' or 'Random Thoughts' I think I'll have to work on that.
So let's do an update; my second summer in New York and I'm in my second apartment (Williamsburg to DUMBO) and working my second job (Languagemate to Ogilvy & Mather). I've been able to rebuild some of my savings after Austin depleted them but that's OK I can at least say I did it and I have some friends there that I can reach out to if I ever want to go back for a visit. I have decide to buy a place and that Fort Greene in Brooklyn is where I will concentrate my search. I've been saving up and also plan to sell some of my Apple stock to use towards the down payment. I figure by Spring 2013 I should be ready to make the move. Well that's about it for now.