hkwonger.blogspot.com

Marital Rating Scale (1939)

2010-01-08T19:53:00.001-08:00

Teehee. Merits and demerits, a Marital Rating Scale by Dr. George W. Crane, 1939.

Click on images to enlarge:

Big Bad Buckeye Football Machine

2009-07-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

Came across U.S. Department of Education's Athletics Programs database. Interesting stuff:

Ohio State, not surprisingly, brought in the most football revenue in the Big Ten with a cool $65m. What's surprising is Ohio State didn't spend the most money on their football program in the conference.

Big Ten's big spender would be Wisconsin. On a per player basis, though, Ohio State still spent the most money. What's also surprising is Penn State, while bringing in the third most revenue, expended the least in the conference.

Thanks to its low operating expenses, Penn State has the highest gross margin. Even at Purdue's 85.7%, lowest in the Big Ten, college football is still a stinkin' profitable business.

What does this all mean?

I love college football
I miss college football
I am desperately avoiding studying for the CPA exam
Go Bucks!

I am an accountant. I can't help it.

Honda Cog Commercial

2009-06-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

2008.12.06 - More Snow!

2008-12-09T18:24:00.000-08:00

Study break for nerds:

2008.11.17 - SNOW!

2008-11-17T09:48:00.000-08:00

View from my apartment about 5 minutes after it started snowing.

I guess I'm not going groceries shopping today anymore!

2008.10.24: LeBron's Shoe

2008-10-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

Jenna's friend caught LeBron's shoe after the Cavs-Wizards preseason game at the Schott at Ohio State.

Nike Football: Leave Nothing commercial

2008-10-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Pretty sweet Nike commercial with LT and Troy Polamalu

NFL Week 6 Lowlight: Dan Orlovsky, not NFL material

2008-10-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

2008.10.18 - Cornhole

2008-10-18T16:22:00.001-07:00

Becoming more of an Ohioan by the day... played cornhole for the first time today.

82 yard punt by Andy Lee of the 9ers

2008-10-17T19:01:00.001-07:00

Ummm... punting from his own 10 yard line. Booted it into the opposing end zone for a touchback...

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80b691c7

Andy Lee, you are the man.

2008.10.16 - Gas Prices

2008-10-16T17:52:00.000-07:00

Octane 93 for $2.849 per gallon in Columbus, OH. Booya!

2008.09.27 - First OSU Football Game

2008-09-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

vs. Minnesota @ the 'shoe. Beanie's first game back since foot injury in season opener. Terrell Pryor's second start. OSU 34 Minnesota 21.

Goodbye, WAMU.

2008-09-25T19:56:00.001-07:00

On September 25, 2008, the banking operations of Washington Mutual, Inc - Washington Mutual Bank, Henderson, NV and Washington Mutual Bank, FSB, Park City, UT (Washington Mutual Bank) were sold in a transaction facilitated by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Good bye, WAMU. You will be missed. Don't worry, your deposits (and mine) are unaffected (source: FDIC):

All deposit accounts and all loans have been transferred to JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Columbus, Ohio (JPMorgan Chase Bank). All former Washington Mutual Bank will reopen for normal business hours as branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank.

The Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and on line services will remain available.

You may continue to use the services to which you previously had access, such as, safe deposit boxes, night deposit boxes, wire services, etc, as normally available at each branch.

Your checks will be processed as usual. All outstanding checks will be paid against your available balance(s) as if no change had occurred. Your new bank will contact you soon regarding any changes in the terms of your account.

2008.09.17 - Ohio Stadium Tour

2008-09-19T13:00:00.001-07:00

The Business School arranged a stadium tour for us at the end of orientation. I didn't bring my camera because I didn't know we're getting a tour due to the whole no-power-no-internet situation. Had to make due with my phone's camera:

View from one of the fancy suites:

On to the press box; we don't need no stinkin' credentials:

Overlooking The Horseshoe from the press box:

50-yard line about 10 rows from the sideline:

End zone view. I didn't get to step on the field. Boo.

The "off limits to public" part of the tour - The Recruit Room:

Band room:

I'll be with 100,000 screaming fans next time I'm there.

Hour 45 without electricity...

2008-09-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

*Courtesy of Columbus Dispatch

Midwest was hit by hurricane-force winds Sunday afternoon. Franklin County in Ohio (where I am) is hardest hit in the state, with 58% of the city without electricity. It really could've been been much worst - it's an Inconvenience right now but at least we don't have homes destroyed, cars turned over or under water...

With over half the city in the dark...

Coffee shops with internet access instantly becomes the most popular hangout in town
Looking for food becomes a daily challenge
Ice is the most in-demand item, followed by flashlights, batteries and gas. Hrmm, gas was $0.50 cheaper a few days ago...
Entering every intersection without traffic lights is a life-or-death situation
The most portable light source is my cell phone (sorry, flashlights at Target were completely raided)
My electric toothbrush is almost out of juice!
Charging my cell phone becomes a carefully calculated exercise - if I drive to x, I can charge my phone for 10 minutes with the cigarette lighter, followed by y minutes directly from my laptop...
Taking out your contacts in the dark is as hard as it sounds
Who won the (insert team A) vs. (insert team B) game on Sunday???
10:30 bedtime

Even with all this craziness, I'm still alive. Soooo this is how people lived in the 1800s before electricity.

All these inconveniences is not without positives, though. Got to hang out with gracious classmates with POWER, LIGHTS, WORKING FRIDGE and INTERNET CONNECTION! Oh yeah, they're pretty cool too.

Latest update: power will be restored in Columbus for half the customers without power within 2 days, or 4 additional days (6 days from today) for remaining customers. Hospitals, schools and heavily populated areas get priority, and we've got a hospital and a school nearby... *please please please*

More from around Columbus:

2008.09.14 - Windy in the Midwest! 84°F + 60 mph wind?!?

2008-09-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

(Video version is on Facebook)

The remnants of Hurricane Ike will combine with a quick moving cold front to bring windy conditions to the region today. Surface winds will continue to increase this afternoon... with sustained south winds of 25 to 40 mph and gusts near 60 mph.

Just lost power...

Road Trip Final Thoughts

2008-09-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

From California, we crossed 10 states before arriving in Ohio 8 days later.

My favorite to least favorite state:

Wyoming - spent more time in Wyoming than any other state during the trip. Yellowstone and Grand Teton are amazing.
Illinois - Chicago alone is enough to push Obama-land up to #2.
Montana - if I didn't bury my swim trunks deep in my car, I would've gone for a dip in the river by a hot spring too
South Dakota - Mt. Rushmore is cool, Corn Palace is funky. Other than that, just I-90 and a lot of hay
Idaho - can't say much about Idaho... barely inched into Idaho for a grand total of less than 10 minutes on the freeway
Utah - Mormon country = everything is closed on Sunday. I want my Hire Big H root beer float!
Wisconsin - don't remember much about Wisconsin other than the big people at Burger King
Minnesota - drove right across Minnesota. Lots of wind mills?
Nevada - lots of desert and flat plains. boooooorrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg
Indiana - the only gas station I stopped by had huge pot holes and gravel roads. Bathroom was nasty. Didn't make a very good impression, Indiana.

We averaged a nice and leisurely pace of less than 400 miles a day, with the biggest chunk of driving on the first day from San Jose to Salt Lake City (768 miles):

As expected, most of the cost from the trip went to lodging and fuel:

Other random notes:

The Valentine 1 did a good job picking up the highway patrol... all 5 or so of them we ran into over the course of the trip. It sets off some false alarms, as expected. It's a useful tool if you understand its limitations - it's NOT a cop detector; it's a RADAR detector. And it's not a license to drive like an idiot.
We didn't exceed 100mph - not even once!
People are not very big on toilet seat covers outside of California - protection is NOT provided by the management
The mountain states sure like their fireworks! We thought about picking some up for kicks, but putting that inside a car next to the gasoline canister is probably not the wisest thing to do.
Your car WILL get dirty inside and out. You WILL find random things in the most random places in your for weeks after the trip. Deal with it.

Fuel mileage kind of stinks, but that's to be expected with a roof rack, packed car and crossing the Rockies and its 10,000ft elevation.

Would i do it again? Absolutely, but not for a couple of years. And not with my car. I'd like to do a 3 to 4 day sightseeing drive in a convertible next. Down the east coast, maybe?

Miles driven: 3,010
Gallons of fuel consumed: 133.626
Average fuel economy: 22.525
Average price per gallon (premium): $4.04

Day 8: At Long Last - Ohio!

2008-09-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

Blogging from: my apartment; Columbus, OH

Oops, wrote this earlier but forgot to post.

After 8 long days... FINALLY!

Yes, there's a city named Mechanicsburg.

You know you're getting close when...

Highest number of bogies detected by Valentine 1 at the same time: 8

Miles covered today: 356
Road trip mileage count: 3,034
States visited: Illinois, Indianapolis, Ohio
Miles to Columbus, OH: 0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 7: Exploring Chicago

2008-09-05T20:13:00.001-07:00

Blogging from: downtown Chicago, IL

We're taking a break from racing across the country and spent the day exploring Chicago.

Beautiful view of a parking garage from my motel room:

First stop: Sears Tower

The view from the 103th floor of Sears Tower is surprisingly good for an overcast day:

View to the North:

The Kansas Comet, one of my favorite football players of all time:

Chicago River:

Street view under the elevated loop:

The Navy Pier. This is way cooler than Fisherman's Wharf:

We took a double decker bus tour around Chicago:

Traffic light gets pretty close on the upper deck:

Buildings in front of Chicago River:

Elevated Loop:

Still on the double-decker bus tour:

Wendy doesn't look very happy:

You can take your yacht to the restaurant:

Millennium Park:

Cloud Gate / chrome bean in Millennium Park:

Cool reflections under the Cloud Gate:

Group shot. I wish we had more time to hang around here for more pictures.

Good bye, Cloud Gate:

Rock n' Roll McDonald's:

Hot dog for appetizer at Portello's:

Before heading next door to Gino's Pizza for dinner:

Heather falling asleep from the 45 minute wait:

Yen, Heather and Wendy being fobby:

I wish we had more time in Chicago. So many more places I want to visit! So many buildings to see! Museums to visit! Plays to watch! Games to go to!

In the immortal words of our Governator: "I'll be back."

Columbus tomorrow.

Day 6: Four States in One Day

2008-09-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

Blogging from: Downtown Chicago, IL

Not too interesting today. We spent most of the day in the car and crossed Minnesota and Wisconsin and into Illinois.

Read 'em and weep - $3.639 a gallon for premium octane 91 gas, suckas.

I-90 South Dakota bugs:

Minnesota is big on windmills:

It started raining after Albert Lea, MN:

Illinois likes toll booths:

Traffic heading into Chicago:

Very excited about no driving tomorrow for the first time all week -- we're taking a break from driving and touring Chicago.

The "L" train runs right by my motel room in downtown Chicago. Do'h!

Miles covered today: 573
Road trip mileage count: 2,678

States visited: South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois
Miles to Columbus, OH: 364

Day 6: Hot Chocolate Break in Wisconsin

2008-09-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

Blogging from: a block away from the State Capital in Madison, Wisconsin

Stopping for a coffee / hot drinks break.

I didn't know the Onion is in print in addition to the online version. Their office is in Madison, Wisconsin!

Go University of Wisconsin?

It's raining in the Heartland. We should arrive in Chicago in time for dinner tonight.

Day 5: Mount Rushmore and across South Dakota

2008-09-03T23:14:00.000-07:00

Blogging from: Sioux Falls, SD

Milestone of sort for the GTi on the way to Mount Rushmore National Monument:

View of the Presidents from the 244:

Presidents' Faces:

Photo series by request. G. Washington:

T. Jefferson:

T. Roosevelt:

A. Lincoln:

Our impression the Presidents - Wendy as Washington, Heather as Jefferson, Yen as Roosevelt, me as Lincoln:

Nick Clifford was an original Rushmore driller, but he's kind of a jerk. He only let me take this photo because he's too old and frail to object and wouldn't sign my postcards because I didn't buy his book.

Yen devouring a buffalo rib for lunch:

Lots of hay by the interstate in South Dakota:

Corn Palace at Mitchell, South Dakota. It's the "only corn palace in the world," and "serves the local community as a venue for concerts, sports events, exhibits and other community events". The outside mural is redesigned each year with a new theme.

Streets of Mitchell, SD:

Lots of bugs on South Dakota interstate:

Doing another rear view mirror shot to end the day's post :P

Other highlights/random thoughts:

Lost an hour again crossing into Central Time Zone. Not so good for traveling.
Traveling with 3 girls = lots of Michael Buble
There's no GPS signal in South Dakota...?
I hate Wall Drug

Miles covered today: 466
Road trip mileage count: 2,105
States visited: Wyoming, South Dakota
Miles to Columbus, OH: 930

Day 5: I hate Wall Drug

2008-09-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

Wall Drug is a drug store, restaurant, gift shop, museum, chapel, etc. all rolled into one in Wall, South Dakota. They are known for their bazillion billboards along highways in South Dakota and other neighboring states.

Blasting down the I-90 at 90 mph, that means I see a Wall Drug billboard every minute. It drove me nuts. Here's a small sample:

Still 30 miles from Wall Drug:

They even have a dinosaur?

I refuse to allow to let their annoying advertising tactics "get me". We did not stop at Wall Drug.

Not as ridiculous as these Wall Drug signs, though:

Day 4, Part II: To the Presidents' Faces!

2008-09-02T23:36:00.000-07:00

Blogging from Sundance, WY.

Some snapshots on the drive out of Yellowstone and across Wyoming on the SD870.

Snow! In the summer!

Some rock thing we drove by / under:

More scenery:

Lake in Buffalo Bill State Park:

Cody, Wyoming:

Must be a big town! They have a Wal-Mart! Note the hills in the background:

I'd love to make this drive again in the future in a convertible, possibly a Miata:

5U? Yup, his license plate is just 5U. What a beast license plate number. You can only pull off something like this in a state like Wyoming.

Didn't know Wyoming is LDS/Mormon country:

These three-wheeled motorcycle things are pretty popular in Wyoming:

More road scenery:

Standard mountain driving maneuver - overtaking:

Free science lesson: air pressure is higher at lower altitude and lower in higher altitude. This is what our water bottle looks like after we descended 5,000 feet:

This speaks for itself:

What the heck is octane 85.5???

Blasting down the I-90 at dusk:

I leave you, my two readers, with this shot today:

Mt. Rushmore and South Dakota tomorrow!

Miles covered today: 440
Road trip mileage count: 1,639
States visited: Wyoming
Miles to Columbus, OH: 1,375

P.S. I lost the tumbleweed roof rack trophy :(

Day 4: Bison!!! Finally! And the rest of Yellowstone

2008-09-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

Blogging from Sundance, Wyoming

Day #3 in Wyoming! The girls stayed at the Mammoth Hot Springs cabin. Some jerkface Focus-driving Californian decided to show off his/her fantastic parking skills by blocking our car:

Who does that?! Seriously.

Walking around town:

Maybe you get one of these postcards. Maybe you don't.

Public service announcement:

First stop of the day is the Mammoth Hot Springs:

A look back at the hotel and cabin:

Gas at Yellowstone is $2.25 per gallon?!

You Wish!

Elk sighting! They're just chilling on the grass:

Pulled over for moose sighting. Sorry, no picture of said moose.

3D model of Yellowstone National Park at the Canyon Village Visitor Center. I'm a sucker for these things:

Lower Falls:

I was really there!

Bison!!!!!!!!!! Lots of them!

Bison getting closer!

Cute kid counting bison.

This one was ~ 20 yards from us!

Animal sightings in Yellowstone:

~~Elk~~
Bear
~~Moose~~
~~Bison~~

We didn't see any bears, but 3 of 4 ain't bad.

Picnic lunch at Yellowstone Lake:

Writing more postcards by the lake:

I'm hardcore. I eat dogs for lunch:

That's Yellowstone. Mt. Rushmore, here we come!

Day 3: Bison: It's What's For Dinner

2008-09-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

Blogging from: Mammoth Hot Springs; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

We traveled from Grand Teton National Park to northern end of Yellowstone National Park today.

Our day started off with some wildlife (sighting) hunting. Our first attempt is the Jackson Lodge Wildlife Reserve. Result: failed, but we did get a group shot:

The next stop is Signal Mountain Summit, 800 ft above the Teton Valley. At this point, I'm still pretty optimistic about seeing some wildlife:

The view from the summit was spectacular! (but still no animals)

This is all we can see of the mountain ranges - they are almost all over 10,000 feet. Imagine the peaks are at the top of the photo somewhere in the clouds:

From there, we left Grand Teton NP and headed north to Yellowstone. This is somewhere between the two national parks:

Oblivious slow car in front of us is creating a traffic jam...

We crossed the Continental Divide three times:

Old Faithful was our first stop in Yellowstone. I can see why people prefer Grand Teton over Yellowstone. Look at all these tourists:

More tourists on our right waiting for the Old Faithful eruption. We got front row seats:

We were pretty surprised how close we were - we're no more than 50 yards away. Found out why in about half an hour:

Pretty underwhelming - the eruption was more steam than water. Why is this thing so overhyped? In case you need a little help, this is the direction of the underwater eruption:

On the other hand, the geyser basins are pretty amazing. Biscuit Basin:

Followed by Middle Geyser Basin's Excelsior Geyser Crater:

and Sapphire Pool:

The two geyser basins more than made up for the lame Old Faithful.

Weather was unpredictable all day - rained a little here, cloudy there... then HAIL! I endured hail to bring these photos to you, and I have photos to prove it. Yes, it blew in my face. Yes, it hurt.

This is no-no:

We FINALLY came across some wildlife! Deers by the road on our way north to Mammoth Hot Springs. You can always spot animal sightings by all the cars pulled over on the side of the road.

More steam from hot springs by the road:

We're spending the night at the northern end of Yellowstone, just 2 miles from Montana. The Mammoth Hot Springs look absolutely amazing, but that will have to wait until tomorrow when it's supposed to be sunny.

Oh yes, I had bison for dinner tonight - sausage and sirloin steak. It tastes a lot like beef.

Maximum elevation: 8,391 feet, Continental Divide (#3)
Miles covered today: 107
Road trip mileage count: 1,199
States visited: Wyoming, Montana
Miles to Columbus, OH: 1,731

Day 2: God Pours Cold Water on Man's Plans

2008-09-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

Blogging from: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Or rain, in this case, with a little bit of lighting in the mix. Much to our dismay, it's pouring in Wyoming (I can hear the rain on the roof of our cabin as I type). Raining? In August? Seriously?

Major disaster avoided! I lost my left contact lens while taking out my contacts in a parking garage. Losing your contact in a packed car = very bad. Found it in about ten minutes after we left the garage. No spares and no glasses is kind of risky. Adding that to my to-do list as soon as I get to Columbus.

The entire state of Utah is closed on Sundays. We left Salt Lake City and their crappy octane 85 gas behind not soon enough:

Utah and Wyoming offer a much more diverse and interesting view than Nevada:

Taking a quick break to admire the view just before leaving Utah. The GTi is so leng jai:

Heather and Wendy:

I did not forget the obligatory jumping in the middle of the road in the middle of nowhere photo:

We hit a tumbleweed on the freeway today - still got some of it stuck to my roof rack. I'm keeping it as my "I survived Utah" trophy:

Briefly crossed into Idaho...

...before coming back into Wyoming for the third time today - freeways like to snake in and out of state lines here

This is Jackson, Wyoming, the last "large" town before the National Parks. It's very different from what I thought a Wyoming town would look like - they even have traffic lights!!! It's a nice looking town.

We were cold, wet and miserable... until dinner! Pork tortilla soup at the cabin restaurant was delicious.

On deck: Yellowstone National Park. Praying for clear skies tomorrow. Staying indoors in one of the most beautiful parks in the world would be a shame.

I hear a bear outside... or someone snoring really loud in the next cabin. Not to be dramatic, but my bet is on bear. Either way, I'm going to play dead and calling it a night.

Major disasters avoided: 1
Temperature overnight in Grand Teton National Park: 30s

Miles covered today: 300
Road trip mileage count: 1,092
States visited: Utah, Wyoming, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Wyoming
Miles to Columbus, OH: 1,862

Day 1: Nevada Gas Pumps Hate Me

2008-09-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

Blogging from: Salt Lake City, UT

Phew, long day but made it to Salt Lake City in one piece. Left my house at 7:30am, arrived at midnight local time (lost an hour now that we're in Mountain Standard Time). This is the longest leg of our trip, so the drive should less grueling after this.

This is our caravan: Volkswagen GTi and Volvo S40

This is Yen. She's the mom of the group. She eats watermelon with a fork while driving. Yep, she's driving my car. I'm so glad someone other than me can drive stick!

We had our first finger-window accident before we even made it out of California. Sorry Yen!

Nevada gas pumps hate me. Gas spilled out of my gas tank twice at two different locations. Nevada does not like German cars, apparently. Swedish is a-okay, though.

Reno is the biggest little city in the world:

Giant construction cones in Nevada. They mean serious business:

Snow in Nevada? Not quite. It's probably salt or something:

Nevada likes their letters on hills. Here's W for Winnemucca:

Then C for Carlin on the other side of Nevada:

They can't afford the entire name of the town, apparently.

Nevada also likes Jesus:

Next up is Grand Tetons National Park. Utah is so lame there's no clock in the motel room.

Miles into trip before first finger-window accident: 94

Miles covered today: 768
Road trip mileage count: 768
States visited: Nevada, Utah
Miles to Columbus, Ohio: 2,162

That's Mr. Ocho Cinco to you

2008-08-29T23:03:00.001-07:00

I really don't know what to say to this, so I'll let the article do the talking: Bengals wide receiver changes last name to Ocho Cinco.

I checked the calendar. Today is not April 1st.

DIY: Valentine One hardwire install

2008-08-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

This post outlines hardwiring of my Valentine One radar detector. The same instructions can be used to wire almost any aftermarket electronic device. If I can do it, anyone can do it. Seriously. The toughest part is probably removing the (sometimes stubborn) plastic fuse panel trim piece.

Skill Level: 3/10

This is the idea behind the wiring:

Parts:

Add-a-circuit kit (left)
Valentine 1 hardwire kit (right)
Zip ties

Tools:

Flathead screwdriver
T20 torx screwdriver
Credit card

Step 1: Mount V1 on windshield using suction cups. This will give you an idea how much slack to leave when routing the power cable around the upholstery.

Step 2: Open fuse panel trim piece it is held by four clips. Prying with a flathead screwdriver is the easiest way to remove the trim piece. Wrapping a paper towel around the flathead to avoid scratching the plastic piece. It should "pop" out of place if you apply the right amount of force.

Step 3: Run power cable around uphostry, a-pillar, behind trim piece, and into the fuse box area. Credit card is handy for tucking the cable behind the a-pillar piece.

Step 4: Attach ground wire from the V1 hardwire adapter to body. Pick a bolt that's attached to the metal body frame.

Step 5: Connect cable to port labeled "main unit". Use provided velcro to attach V1 hardwire adapter to fuse box. Use zip ties as necessary to keep things tidy.

Step 6: Add-a-circuit kit is the easiest way to power an aftermarket accessories - just plug into any fuse slot .

Remove a fuse that turns on/off with ignition. Replace with add-a-circuit. Place original fuse in lower slot. Add a low amp fuse (3 or 5 amps) in the top slot.

It looks like this after the add-a-circuit kit is installed:

Step 7: Last step is to connect the add-a-circuit to red cable from V1 hardwire kit using the supplied wiring harness connector. Wrap the harness around the add-a-circuit red cable, crimp, and connect to red cable from V1 hard wire kit.

Wiring after everything is connected.

Step 8: turn on V1 to make sure everything is good to go BEFORE reinstalling the fuse panel trim piece!

Step 9: Reinstall trim piece. Done.

A Map of Olympic Medals

2008-08-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

New York Times put together an interactive Olympic Medal Count Map for games dating back to 1896. The number of medals per country is morphed into a medal map -- larger circles = more medals, of course. You can drag the timeline slider on top to see how medals distribution has changed during the last century+.

Count is still tentative for this year's Beijing games (below), of course.

Credit: Strange Maps Blog

ESPN Page 2: The Ballad of Aaron Rodgers

2008-08-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

The Ballad of Aaron Rodgers pretty much sums up Aaron Rodgers' career.

Road Trip Essentials: from the IT department

2008-08-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

T-Minus 10 Days

Besides the usual packing, I've also been preparing some gadgets for the trip. The farthest I've driven thus far is ~460 miles from San Jose to San Diego; this trip is over 6 times farther than my previous "best". Here are some gadgets that should make things go little smoother and the trip more bearable:

Cell phone:

An obvious must-have even when you're not on a road trip. How many people doesn't carry a cell phone nowadays?

Garmin Nuvi 200W GPS Navigator (available at Amazon):

Handy when driving in unfamiliar areas. A quality GPS with good logic/software is important, though. You don't want it to give you funky directions -- one GPS I no longer own used to give the following direction when you're not supposed to take an exit on the freeway "bear right, then bear left". On every single exit. That got old pretty fast.

Midland LXT340 two-way radio (available at Amazon):

Walkie-talkies are great with multiple cars. Contact with the other car is (almost) instantaneous without wasting cell phone minutes, waiting for the phone to connect or worrying about reception. Supposedly these things have a 16+ mile range but I'm not that optimistic. Besides, you probably don't want to be more than a mile or two apart at the most when caravaning, so range is not that much of an issue.

Cameras - Nikon D70 & Canon PowerShot SD870 (available at Amazon):

To share with my two loyal readers where we are / where we've been on the trip!

iPod Nano (available at Amazon):

8 days is a long time to spend in a car. Besides music, iPods are great for podcasts. I saved a month's worth of material just for this occasion.

Valentine One Radar Detector (www.valentine1.com):

I'm not planning on blasting across the Great Plains in triple-digit speed, but it's good to have that peace of mind. Just in case. Yes.

Macbook Pro Laptop (available at Amazon):

For blogging, keeping my 2 readers up to date during the trip and keeping up with the happenings in the world. They have internet access in Wyoming... right?

Road Trip Preperations: Tetris

2008-08-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

T-Minus 15 Days

Packing sucks. That's why I haven't started yet.

The last thing I want to happen is finish packing, only to find out not everything will fit in my car the night before and spend the entire night scrambling and repacking. Before I start packing, I'm setting the following guidelines/rules for myself:

1. Since I will only be in Ohio for a year, I want to bring as little as possible - meaning only the essentials. Everything else I will either buy there or just have to live without.
a. I'm planning on only bringing back my computer + clothes
b. What i bring must be easily disposable; and/or
c. Don't mind getting rid of
2. I'll try to buy most of my things when I get there
3. I must be able to see out of my rear window

With that in mind, I did a little test fitting with my car to see what I have to work with. When the rear seats folded down, my hatchback essentially becomes a mini pickup truck.

I can fit my monitor, a large suitcase, a smaller suitcase and 7 "Iron Mountain" boxes:

I'm too lazy to lug more than 4 boxes outside. Imagine the photo above (3 boxes) combined with the one below (4 boxes) when fully packed for a total of 7 boxes.

There's still room for a duffel bag for the trip, a backpack, a small box of miscellaneous car junk, plus a garment bag laid flat on top of the stuff, with room to spare.

Here's a look at everything next to car. Well, not everything. You'll have to use your imagination and add 3 more Iron Mountain boxes:

Ta-da. Hatchbacks rock.

Beijing Olympics - the funny and the ugly

2008-08-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

The Funny:

The Spanish's impression of the Chinese... slanty eyes!

"We felt it was something appropriate, and that it would be interpreted as an affectionate gesture," Jose Calderon, who plays for Toronto Raptors.

teehee!

"We don't think this is an insulting gesture to the Chinese," Frank Zhang, Li Ning's director of government and public affairs, said. "In fact, the gesture shows that the Spanish team is so humorous, relaxing and cute. They sat around a dragon pattern, which we think showed respect to the Chinese.

Note the sarcasm. teehee x2!

---

The Ugly:

Janos Baranyai was trying to snatch 148kg in his third lift in the men's 77kg division, when his elbow popped out of its socket.

No longer able to support the weight of the barbell, his right forearm bent backward. The 24-year-old Hungarian fell to the floor in shock, shaking and crying out in pain.

(warning! photos below!)

Road Trip to Ohio: 2 cars, 8 days and 2,900 miles

2008-08-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

T-minus-22 days

At the end of the month, I'll be leaving California for Columbus, Ohio, my home for the next year.

From California, we'll motor-on to Nevada and Utah, turn northward to Idaho and Wyoming, then east again across South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, down to Illinois, across Indiana and finally Ohio. We're planning to cover 10 states and ~2,900 miles at a relatively leisurely pace over 8 days, allowing time to check out Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, Mount Rushmore and Chicago and whatever's in between.

As the four of us are all road trip newbies, do you have any tips, recommendations, suggestions you'd like to share? Anything from how to stay awake, how to not die of boredom, what to do in the car, places to see, places to eat, etc. etc. are welcomed!

The travelers (or at least I will) will try to keep everyone up to date through this blog with stories and pictures. Don’t be surprised if updates are not posted daily during the trip -- internet access may not be as available clean air, wide open spaces and magnificent (?) scenery.

Proper etiqutte during the Birthday Song?

2008-08-03T23:54:00.000-07:00

What exactly are you, the birthday boy/girl, supposed to do when "Happy Birthday" is being sung and all eyes are on you? Stand there and smile? Look around? Sing along?

Any ideas?

Not Your Typical Jock: Myron Rolle: Safety, Rhodes Scholarship Candidate

2008-07-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

Myron Rolle:

FSU starting safety
3.75 pre-med student who will finish his undergraduate degree in just two-and-a-half years
Recipient of a $4,000 research grant for his work studying human mesenchymal stem cells
Entered FSU with 22 advanced placement credits
Expected FSU nominee for the Rhodes Scholarship - 32 awards nationwide per year

Nope, not your typical "dumb jock".

"Whether you go to Princeton University or Florida State University, it's how hard you work," said Rolle. "The same material is being taught at both schools, and if you push yourself to take honors courses, you really challenge yourself intellectually."

Link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/the_bonus/07/17/rolle/index.html

Cups not going Zoom-Zoom

2008-07-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

In response to my brother's blog about his car's cup holders (Cups going zoom-zoom, 7/18/08)...

The Germans take a different approach to solving your drinking-and-driving* dilemma. Instead of a "hole" for to put your favorite beverage in, Volkswagen uses a clamp style cup holder that adjusts to the girth of your beverage holder:

This design eliminates the problem of beverage being too fat to fit or too skinny 95% of the time. Here's a demonstration with a regular water bottle alongside a 32oz Gatorade bottle:

Your big boy 64oz Super Big Gulp® would fall into the 5% no-go category. Since I don't have a 64 oz Super Big Gulp® cup around, here's a 1 gallon water bottle (also a no-go) instead for illustration purposes:

The cup holder also tucks away neatly and out of sight when not in use:

As cool as this cup holder is, it is not without flaws. Besides the 64 oz Super Big Gulp® limitation, here's another major unfortunate design flaw:

CAN'T GET TO THE CD PLAYER WHEN THE CUP HOLDERS ARE IN USE!!!!! sdgskjgsogjswlgsrejgl!

Doesn't look like there's a DIY modification that can correct this problem. But all in all, this is a better design than most.

*Drinking-and-driving does not imply alcoholic content of your beverage while driving. In this instance, it is referring to the act of consuming beverages, regardless of alcoholic content** , while operating an automobile.
**This blog does not condone driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. In fact, it is just stupid. Don't do it.

Time for Some Campaignin'

2008-07-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

teehee.
Click here for the Jib Jab original video: http://www.jibjab.com/originals/time_for_some_campaignin

Found on JibJab.com.

My Future Home in Columbus, OH

2008-07-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Google Street View (as creepy as it is sometimes)!

How well built are American cars?

2008-07-10T22:15:00.001-07:00

heh, heh.

[SOLD!!!] For Sale: Two (2) John Mayer Summer Tour Tickets

2008-07-08T22:50:00.001-07:00

Original Price: $59.50 ($24.75+$5.00 fee x 2)
Asking: $60 for both tickets

Description: Two lawn tickets for July 26th in Mountain View, California at the Shoreline Amphitheater. I have the tickets in hand. Tour info at www.johnmayer.com

If interested, send me an e-mail with "John Mayer tickets" in the subject line!

Fernando Torres, pre-tattoo

2008-07-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

Young Fernando Torres started his goal scoring exploits early. The clip below is from youth game between Atletico Madrid and A.C. Milan in 1999. Check out the fourth goal!

Chiefs' Gonzalez saves man from choking to death in restaurant

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

Link

Not an article you'd see everyday. Woah, a professional athlete in the news and NOT for the wrong reasons?! Kudos to you, Mr. Gonzo.

Nike: Take it to the Next Level

2008-07-04T21:15:00.001-07:00

Sweet Nike commercial:

How many soccer players can you name from the commercial?

Happy Birthday, USA!

2008-07-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wallpaper on my laptop at the moment, in honor of Independence Day. Go America.

Spring, err, Summer Cleaning Sale

2008-07-03T22:19:00.000-07:00

Virtual Garage / Yard Sale; started a separate blog today dedicated to selling stuff:

http://moving2ohiosale.blogspot.com

Updates (almost) daily. Check it out. Pass it on. Thanks.

Spain at (looong) last!

2008-06-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

Well deserved victory for the best and most entertaining team in the tournament. It doesn't happen every time (*ahem* Greece *ahem* Euro 2004), but this time around, the most deserving team took home the trophy.

Cesc Fabregas was undoubtedly the best Gunner in the tournament and deserves tournament MVP considerations. Yes, he only started two games, but has made an impact in every substitute appearance. Fabregas is the spark in the Spanish attack. Robin Van Persie finally is fit enough to step on the pitch and did well in his limited opportunities in a very deep Dutch squad, scoring two goals.

William Gallas is, uh, William Gallas - didn't do enough to keep France from being eliminated in the first round. Phillipe Senderos started all three games but Switzerland never had a realistic chance of advancing. Johan Djourou and Lukasz Fabianski never got off the bench.

Bakary Sagna, Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo missed out due to injuries. Curiously, Gael Clichy and (ex-Gunner) Matthieu Flamini were not picked by Raymond Domenech for the French squad despite both having great seasons. Things may have turned out differently for France if Clichy and Flamini were able to contribute.

Euro 2008 features some great goals, and picking a goal of the tournament is not easy. Wesley Sneijder's no look volley (click for video) takes the cake because of the difficulty and athleticism required and finishes a sweet team effort in a sensational Dutch counterattack.

What's next? English Premier League season starts in 46 days. Wahoo!

Speaking of English Premier League, anyone interested in little Fantasy Football?

Duke: we suck. Judge agrees.

2008-06-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3455278

Summary:

Duke pulls out of final three games of four game series against Louisville
Louisville sues for $450,000 in damages
Duke's lawyers argued that "the Blue Devils' performance on the field was so poor that any Division I team would suffice as a replacement"
Judge Phillip J. Shepherd of the Franklin County (Ky.) Circuit Court agreed
No money for Louisville

Squad Numbers for The Upcoming Season

2008-06-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

Arsenal's squad numbers for the upcoming season was officially announced today. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. Manuel Almunia, as expected, took over Mad Jens Lehmann's #1 shirt. Carlos Vela, back on loan, is given the #12 shirt and new signing Aaron Ramsey is the new #16. Vito Mannone took Almunia's old #24.

There are still some nice numbers unclaimed: Freddie Ljungberg's old #8 and of course, Thierry Henry's #14.

Speaking of shirts, The-Cannon.com has a nice list of historic Arsenal kits dating back to the 60s. The Gunners donned some truly hideous shirts in the past: 95/96 away, 91-93 away, 88-91 away (hrmm, I see the problem here... bad things happen when you stray away from the red/white home shirt)

Still on the topic of kits, this is the 08/10 Arsenal home shirt. Can't say I like it. Too much red. Maybe I'll grow to like it, I guess.

Honestly, I prefer this over the one above:

Cesc is the last Arsenal player left in Euro '08. Against Italy, Spain was much more dangerous after Cesc came on as a substitute. Plus, it was his penalty that sent Spain into the semi-finals. It's hard to imagine him continue to ride the bench and he really deserves to start ahead of Xavi or Iniesta.

DIY: Headlight bulb replacement

2008-06-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

Similar to Benny's post on brake install on his blog, the purpose of this post is to "show you how easy it is to install car stuff, so you don't end up wasting money to get them installed."

Today, we're tackling a headlight bulb replacement. This is probably one of the simplest maintenance item you can do on your car. On a scale of 1-10, this is a skill level 0 job.

Tools required:

your hand(s)

As you can see, my right headlight is out. Just checking to make sure I replace the right bulb.

Item to be installed: one Sylvania SilverStar H7 bulb, purchased from a local Kragen store. I bought the more expensive SilverStar to match my other headlight, but less expensive OEM standard halogen bulbs will work too.

You can find the correct type of bulb to purchase from your car's owner manual, tirerack.com under products -> other -> lighting -> bulb, or in bulb catalogs at your local automotive part store.

Step 1:

Open hood. The back of the headlight assembly is exactly where you'd expect it to be - right behind the headlights.

Step 2:

Remove rear plastic covering piece. On a Volkswagen, it is held in place by a wire bar thingamajig (on the far left in the picture below). My headlights are not on, by the way. The amber glow is from the sun. Having your lights on while replacing your headlights = bad idea.

The bulb is also held in place by a wire clip thingamajig. To remove the bulb, unhook the thingamajig, unplug the wiring harness and pull it out. The main headlight bulb is on the far right in the picture below (plugged into the harness with the yellow and brown cables).

Here's a look at the burnt out bulb (left) and the new bulb (right). You can see the burned-out filament in the old bulb.

Step 3:

Install the bulb by doing step 1 and 2 in reverse. Really, it's that simple.

The GTi is now back to two functioning headlights. No fix-it ticket for me, baby!

Step 4:

Discard burnt-out bulb and and packaging in nearest trash can. Lucky me, tomorrow is trash pick-up day.

Step 5 (optional):

Pat self on back.

Total project time: 8 minutes, including photos.

Euro 2008: Bring on the knockout stages

2008-06-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

I'm usually not a fan of these international tournaments, but I must admit Euro 08 has been pretty exciting so far (much better than WC06, Euro04, WC02... okay that's as far back as I go). This edition of the tournament featured some surprise teams - 3 teams I didn't pick advanced to the knockout stages - Turkey, Italy and Russia. Holland also surprised the world by giving the two World Cup '06 finalists good old fashion beatdowns with a combined score of 7-1. Ouch. Equally painful is my pre-tournament picks to advance:

Actual (Prediction)
A1: Portugal (Portugal)
A2: Turkey (Czech Republic)
B1: Croatia (Germany)
B2: Germany (Croatia)
C1: Holland (France)
C2: Italy (Holland)
D1: Spain (Spain)
D2: Russia (Sweden)

Picked 5/8 to advance, only 2/8 in the right finishing order. This is why I don't get paid to do this, folks.

Thoughts form the tournament so far:

Good bye, Greece! See you never. Please.
Is Spain lucky or what against Sweden? But that doesn't take away David Villa's sweet finish late in injury time
How in the world did you miss 3 ft from front of a wide open goal, Mario Gomez?
Arthur Boruc is a very underrated 'keeper
Welcome back Robin Van Persie. Can you do this and this in an Arsenal shirt too, please?
What's up with Buffon's bandana around the neck?
What's up with the pixelated numbers on the Puma jerseys?
Wesley Sneijder, you are a beast.

Knockout round match-ups and picks:

Quarterfinals:

Portugal vs. Germany
Croatia vs. Turkey

Netherlands vs. Russia
Spain vs. Italy

Semi-finals:

Portugal vs. Croatia (upset special!)
Netherlands vs. Spain

Finals

Netherlands vs. Croatia

My Optometrist's Middle Name is Single

2008-06-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

No, really. His full name is Benjamin Single Threlkeld.

My eyeballs. Apparently they are pretty healthy, minus the whole nearsighted thing:

Photos courtesy of Scott Hyver Vision Care / Dr. Ben Single Threlkeld.

Wow. First they don't blow puffs of air in your eyes anymore. And now they attach DSLRs to machines that can take pictures of your eyeball? Crazy stuff., crazy stuff.

Bend it like Beckham? No no, bend it like Roberto Carlos!

2008-06-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Why Subarus Rock

2008-06-11T00:00:00.001-07:00

Don't try this at home.

Euro 2008 Preview

2008-06-04T12:03:00.001-07:00

Outside of the World Cup, European Championship (ofter referred to as "Euro"+year; this year's edition is Euro 2008) is probably the biggest soccer tournament in the world. In fact, I believe Euros is a better competition in terms of quality than the World Cup, as most soccer powers are based in Europe and the 16-team field, vs. World Cup's 32, means there are no pushovers in this tournament.

With Euro 2008 set to kick off in less than 3 days, here are my knee-jerk predictions for the group stage:

Group A: Portugal, Czech Republic, Turkey, Switzerland

Portugal should have no problem advancing from this group. In addition to superman Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese have loads of attacking talent with Deco, Simao, Quaresma, etc. Defense is solid if not spectacular.

#2 is tougher to call between Czech Republic and Switzerland. You can never underestimate Switzerland's advantage of playing in front of their home crowd (see World Cup 2002, Korea and Japan), but the Swiss do not have any big-name talents. The Czechs are without international-retired Nedved and are missing Tomas Rosicky and will be a big blow to the team. Regardless, with Petr Cech in goal, I don't see them conceding too many goals. Switzerland and Czech Republic are playing against each other in the first group A matchup, and the winner of the game will most likely emerge from the group along with Portugal.

Pick: A1: Portugal. A2: Czech Republic.

Group B: Poland, Austria, Croatia, Germany

Relatively straight forward group. I don't foresee Poland or Austria giving Croatia and Germany too much trouble. The Germans are experienced, have loads of talent and must be considered one of the favorites to win the tournament. As long as mad Jens Lehmann doesn't do anything crazy to unsettle the team, Germany should easily qualify. Croatia (with their tablecloth shirt and all) should be able to cope with missing their qualifying-round leading goal scorer, Eduardo, and qualify alongside Germany.

Pick: B1: Germany. A2: Croatia.

Group C: Italy, Holland, Romania, France

This is a perfect example of a "group of death", with WC2006 champs Italy, France and Holland all drawn in the same group, plus Romania (sucks for Romania). A victory (and the 3 points) is especially critical in this group. Holland goes into every competition with high hopes and almost never fail to disappoint, but this may be the year they finally deliver. Their first game is against Italy, who are still shell-shocked by the loss of their captain Fabio Cannavaro for the tournament through injury. I see Holland taking the first game against Italy and qualifying from the group.

France has a good mix of experience (Henry, Thuram, Gallas, Makelele, Ribery) and youth (Nasri, Benzema) and should take advantage of Italy misfortunes to qualify also.

Pick: C1: France. C2: Holland.

Group D: *Spain, Russia, Greece, Sweden

Not a terribly exciting group. Spain will overwhelm this group and wouldn't be a surprise if they win all three games and finish at the top of the group with 9 points. Greece was the surprising winner of Euro 2004 with their suffocating brand of soccer but I don't see them repeating their 2004 performance. Do you recognize a single name on the Russian team? Me neither. Sweden has enough talent and experience with Larsson, Ibrahimovich, Ljungberg, Mellberg, Issaskson, et al. to finish runner-up to Spain.

Pick: D1: Spain. D2: Sweden.

hkwonger.blogspot.com now open for business!

2008-06-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

After giving up on my half-hearted attempt at blogging at Xanga, I'm going to give this blogging business another shot. I'll try to update this more regularly and keep things light-hearted, but don't be surprised if something serious spew out from time to time.

Xanga is officially retired. Hello, blogspot!