Nerd Fest

So, I went to the "Makers Faire" in San Mateo on Saturday. It was the biggest nerd fest ever. They should just call it that "Nerd Fest 2006". The goal was supposed to be a do-it-yourselfer gathering, but it was just two things, sewing and Radio-shack style computers. No in-between the one thing that was interesting to me was this pool heater that a guy and his daughter built out of their barbeque. that was clever and interesting, and there was another guy who had an automatic pool filler. That was cool to, but I think the pool filler guy was just selling it, and not showing you how to make it.

It may get better over the next few years as long as they weed out the ren-faire aspect and add some more actual do it yourself informative stuff.

Networking

I went to a "Traveling Lounge" event with the design group I belong to. While I was there, I met someone with the same birthdate as mine! I've never met anyone in person who had my same birthdate. I don't remember her name though. Maybe I will see her at another event.

College Kids Are Idiots

So, our apartment complex is next to this house that has been converted into about 8 little tiny apartments. College kids live there. They have a large back yard which no one takes care of it looks like a jungle and in the very back of the yard right in front of our bedroom window, there is a fire pit surrounded by various seating an old metal two-seater glider, tree stumps, and various out door furniture. Occasionally they like to string a big long extension cord out to the yard and hook up a television so they can watch televised Cal football games in the great outdoors, and drink next to the fire. I personally think all of this is posing a great risk to our building and especially our apartment, since we are closest to the fire pit.

Last night, since there was no game, but it was the first warm night in a while, they apparently decided to have a fire and drink. We went to bed at midnight, but they were yelling and shit until 1:30am As much as I tried to block it out and sleep, it proved to be impossible. I did pick up on pieces of conversation though, which I would like to share with you now.

"I went to public school all 18 years." - guy sounding very defensive about having gone to public school all 18 years

"I'm not drunk." - yelling at the top of his lungs at 1 AM

"I can totally suck my own dick...no really I totally can. It must be those Irish genes." - guy trying to impress girl

Crazy Car Buyers

So, I was at my friend Jamie's house yesterday and she reminded me of a run in with a crazy guy that I had forgotten about...

I've been trying to sell one of my cars for a while now. It has a major problem that needs to be fixed, but other than that it is in excellent condition. So after I put a sign in the window and parked it on the street, I got a lot of calls on it. One guys actually wanted to work on it himself, and came out for a test drive. He said that he loved it, and that it was just what he was looking for, but that he would have to bring his son by to have him check it out. (I'm thinking a pre-teen or teenager at this point) Later on he tells me the kid is 3 years old and that he likes to ride up high in the minivan he's driving around now.

Apparently, the 3 year old did not approve the purchase, I never heard back from him… Who bases their car purchase on the opinion of a 3 year old?

Crazy Drivers

So, this weekend I went on a road trip to San Luis Obispo with some friends, and we went dune buggy riding at Oceana Beach. To rent Dune buggies, you get picked up by a van at the entrance of the state park, and are carted in the 2 miles or so across the beach to where the dune buggies actually are. So the driver who picked us up was funny and jabbed us a bit about never having gone before but he was cool. The driver on the way back though, was a different story...

We are all waiting in the van for the driver, he gets in and says "Do you all want to hear some gross stories?" We, of course, say yes...

he proceeds to tell us about a person who was renting a dune buggy and went crahing off a dune and broke a lot of bones and stuff, and then tells us a story about how he was telling that story to a cocky guy and his gilrfriend, the guy poo-poo'd the story, and went on his bravado way in the dune buggy until he crashed and wrecked his girlfriend (this was only their third date so maybe it wasn't quite a girlfriend). He ended up crushing her vertibrae, and her eye popped out of the socket. It was a pretty gross story. Jamie said to him, "I see why you are the guy who drives us back from the place and not to."