fog ∞ sunshine ¤ mountain ∆ rain :: report

battle

2010-03-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

great engadget article today:

>> apple vs. google gets personal

favorite quotes:

"The people who create the apps serve at the landlord's pleasure and fear his anger. I hate it."

except strike "create the apps" and insert "work at the company"... oops did i say that out loud?

"Apple apparently thinks you can have the benefits of the Internet while at the same time controlling what programs can be run and what parts of the stack can be accessed and what developers can say to each other."

what are they, China?

on a more fun note - my bossboss was in the SF chronicle recently:

>> from sneakers to smartphones

deep thoughts

2009-12-21T08:55:00.001-08:00

... in TV commercial land:

"if you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do."

brilliant!

we had a baby!

2009-10-01T22:14:00.001-07:00

originally uploaded by megang on 1st October, 2009.

sorry for the radio silence... it's been a little busy.

hazel lee donahue
born sept 22 2009 in kirkland, wa
6lbs 10oz
20 inches long

enjoy some pictures in the meantime!

nursery

2009-09-20T10:16:00.001-07:00

our nursery
Originally uploaded by megang on 17th September, 2009.

the second to last room to reach completion in the new house... just in the nick of time!

finishing rooms

2009-09-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

well the house is mostly livable now! yesterday we spent a good chuck of time at our new favorite store, storables, and picked out a complicated set of metro wire shelving to install in the upstairs office-slash-guestroom.

unfortunately, our timing to shop was pretty terrible -- the store is in the "U-Village" which is essentially a nice little shopping plaza in the heart of the U-Dub campus...

(aka the university of washington)

(we're going to have to become huskies fans if we stay here much longer)

to get home - we have to drive on a street that runs through the thick of campus -- and RIGHT PAST THE U-DUB FOOTBALL STADIUM.

yesterday, the huskies were playing USC. at home. the game ended right around 3:30. we finished shopping, oh, right around 3:45. perfect timing. they closed our main arterial road to home and we had to re-route ourselves in a GIANT circle east, north, west, then south of where we needed to go to get home.

an hour later... what should have been a 10 minute trip was finally complete. sigh. stupid us. i guess you need to do that once to learn the rule: never drive to u-dub on football saturdays.

but the office looks great! we have plenty of room for all our stuff -- conor's recording equipment & guitars, my sewing stuff, our craft stuff, his baseball card collection, plus a desk for me to make a little office for my computer, printer, and filing cabinent/bills/paperwork.

and, we still have room for our awesome new sleeper sofa. we went top of the line with this baby, so that our moms will have a comfortable place to rest when they come help us with the new kiddo... it's not your standard sleeper. it's a queen size, with a special mechanical setup that gives you a cushy, flat mattress -- not those paper-thin kind that just in half. pimpin'.

topped the night off by hanging the last of our art.

now the only thing left to do is the pez wall display!

both sides to every story

2009-09-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

i can honestly say that i'm completely neutral when it comes to my preference of one giant tech company vs another. i can say this because both apple and microsoft have been major contributors to my awesome career, current lifestyle, circle of friends, happiness & stress, etc. they each have their strengths. they each have their weaknesses. at the end of the day, they are both companies just trying to be successful, and deliver cool stuff to their customers.

but i do get really annoyed when people bicker about them like partisan politics. because as much as they are both great companies - they are also both HUGE companies. some people don't like big companies -- and i can totally respect and understand that. but don't act like apple is an innocent child and microsoft is a monster. sure, microsoft was the first giant... but it's no longer the ONLY giant. the people who run these companies are all cut from the same mold.

so i guess i just breathed a slight sigh of relief to see that finally, someone else sees this too:

>> apple's animal farm

and that's all i'm going to say, because i don't like to blog about work-related things. i am scared of crossing that ever-so-sensitive line of appropriateness. but i did want to share this article, because i think it's really important for people to read.

goodbye.

swollen

2009-09-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

well - i hoped i could make it through the pregnancy without getting the dreaded swollen feet that i have heard/read so much about.

but alas - at 2 weeks to go, my right foot officially became a marshmallow.

at 1 week to go - my left one has joined it.

two giant marshmallow feet.

... at least my hands aren't swollen and i can still wear my wedding rings!!

and i don't have any stretch marks either - which is AWESOME. if anyone out there reading this is pregnant -- go buy a bottle of this stuff:

>> spoiled mama bump gloss

i swear by it.

18 days and counting

2009-09-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

it feels nice to finally be in the homestretch of the end of this pregnancy.

yesterday at work i had the first conversation with one of my counterparts, about how to cover for me while i'm off on leave... i also came to the conclusion that there is one area of my responsibilities that is better left to no one covering for me (and instead them calling me in a panic if something goes haywire). because even in my post-natal haze, i think it would be better for all. i think everyone agreed.

it's a good feeling to be needed. :)

and next week was supposed to be my last full week IN the office, with the next one being my last official week, but me working from home. but next week is a short week, due to labor day on monday, and a GIANT COMPANY MEETING on thursday.

so i may pop in for 1 or 2 days the following week afterall, depending how i feel. right now i feel fine/great - so i'm assuming that:

a) this kid is not ready to come out, and will be late, and
b) that working in the office for 2 days that week will be fine.

but who knows - every day is a new day when you're 8.5 months pregnant!

i'm just happy next week should go by quickly.

i'm very curious about the GIANT COMPANY MEETING - it's so big it will be held in safeco field (where the mariners play). i suspect there will be a lot of kool-aid. i suspect it will be pretty corporate-ific. i suspect i'll find it strangely hilarious, entertaining and uber-scary all at once...

i used to feel that way about the old apple meetings too. little miss skeptical. i just can't get excited about office enthusiasm - i sit and stare strangely at the Big Man up on the stage and wonder how much of what he's saying is smoke and mirrors. lies to make us feel better - or maybe half-truths. then i have to remind myself "hey! he pays your bills. be nice!" so that i can half-enjoy the show...

i guess the intent is always good - make the employees feel like a family, even if it's a GIANT FAMILY that can't fit in one room. and sometimes you get gifts. gifts are good.

maybe i just miss the old shockwave company meetings where we could fit in one room... and where i inherently trusted the people in charge - mika & margaret were good people. besides, they knew my name & face. that goes a long way. small companies are nice.

but i'm on a tangent. 18 days.

18 days left until i start the new countdown (being: "how many extra days will this baby hang-out inside my uterus until my doctor induces me? please god don't be 14").

i was thinking it would be cool to go into labor on labor day -- seems appropriate and fitting, given the name of the day. but that's kinda early (as in like 2 days from now), so maybe not...

i was also thinking it would be cool to have the baby next wednesday, so its birthday could be 09.09.09. but, we are supposed to have a new couch & another piece of furniture both delivered to our house that day -- so conor wasn't keen on the idea (he doesn't want to reschedule the deliveries).

so - if it's not gonna be this week, then we need to wait until the following week. i don't want it to be born on the same day as its dad (sept 12). i'm a big believer that everyone in a family should have distinct birthdays, all their own.

sharing birthdays is sucky and lame.

(btw, conor turns the big 3-0 next saturday! fun!)

of course, its all speculation anyways. i'll just keep staring at this giant belly every day, and all the cantelope-sized parts that are moving around in it, and wait.

i've been waiting 9 months already - whats another couple weeks of poor sleep, swollen feet, incessant urination, acid reflux, and wearing clothing that no longer fits?

no comment...

2009-09-03T17:19:00.001-07:00

i laughed out loud when my friend sent this to me.

i wonder how long it will stay up?

>> http://www.apple.com/jobs/us/corporate.html

expanding

2009-08-27T21:45:00.001-07:00

originally uploaded by megang on 27th August, 2009.

this one is for sarah. happy?

entering the last month

2009-08-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

this coming weekend, we'll hit the "1 calendar month to go" milestone of my pregnancy. today i'm officially at 35 weeks, and i have to say, it's pretty impressive to feel the changes in my body in just the last 10 days or so.

the baby is much bigger -- i can tell by all the body parts shifting around inside me. what used to be tiny little bumps slipping around like little golf balls rolling around in oil, plus the occasional larger mass that was assuredly a head, back or bum... is now a collection of many large masses -- pushing, shifting and pressing with much more strength and purpose.

multiple large parts.
parts the size of an apple, a small melon, a plum...

i'm not sure how it all physically fits in me!

i've also noticed that my feet are starting to swell at the end of the day. i've been super lucky until now not to experience any swelling, and thankfully it doesn't last beyond a good nights sleep. but ugh, it kinda sucks. we'll see how i fare in 4 weeks.

another change i've observed is the sheer weight of my belly. it used to be easy to switch from side to side at night in bed (to counteract the leg cramps that i've been getting since may) -- but now i have to physically pick myself up to a sitting position, then use the whole body to flip sides. no more half-hearted, lethargic rolls. the belly just doesn't follow!

and i cannot lay on my side without a pillow under the belly either -- gravity pulls it down to the bed and feels like it's sheering off my body.

alas... this last month should be a fun one! the reality of a looming kid is very clear now, and the movements & growth spurts continue to reiterate that. but as long as my energy keeps up, i hope i can enjoy the final days!

"be prepared"

2009-08-12T10:25:00.001-07:00

is that the girl scout or the boy scout motto?

so we had a realization that we have 6 weeks until our due date - and that's not a lot of time. alongside that realization was that we had pretty much NOTHING that we needed to have a baby. ok that's a slight exaggertion... we had a few items.

- a crib
- a mattress
- a dresser
- limited amt of clothing, hats, socks
- 1 humidifier
- 1 bottle of baby lotion
- 1 snack ball
- 3 bottles
- 2 toys
- 2 blankets
- 2 slings
- 12 books (apparently our kid will be a genius)

but notably missing are several key items...

we had a doctor's appt yesterday and decided to stop at target on our way home (since it was nearby)... target is so fun!

spending some gift cards we got at our shower, we were able to check some stuff off the "missing" list:

- ~~book/toy shelf~~
- ~~sheets for crib~~
- ~~more bottles~~
- ~~pacifiers~~
- ~~diapers~~
- ~~diaper pail~~
- ~~grooming/safety kit~~

and then we came home to find that the post office had delivered our stroller/car seat system (hooray!). and, conor had picked up some frames for the art we bought for the nursery... check, check, check:

- ~~stroller~~
- ~~car seat~~
- ~~framed nursery rhyme pics~~
- ~~framed robot pics~~
- ~~framed photo~~

we went from ill-prepared to pretty solid in 5 hours. sweet!

the stuff that remains isn't as critical to safety or feeding (except maybe the pump - but that's coming)...

- breast pump (coming)
- glider (coming)
- changing table (we'll get it this weekend)
- bouncy seat
- high chair
- bjorn
- bassinet
- bathtub seat
- bath products (shampoo, etc)

i'm sure there is other stuff... why do babies need so much crap? anyways, i think i can breathe a small sigh of relief now.

baby, bring it on!

(ok wait a few weeks, actually... we're still decorating your room)

i totally needed this

2009-08-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

at the height of my cycling days in graduate school, i would commonly tool around town between home, lab, and my friends' places, wearing my usual uber-safe riding gear:

- helmet (always!)
- messenger bag
- a skirt
- flipflops
- coffee (in hand)

yes, coffee. a delicious, perfectly brewed, unsweetened mocha from the student center's crepe place... or a mediocre drip from laverdes... or a rich and creamy caramel latte from seattle's best... placed precariously in my left hand, gripped by 2 forefingers and my thumb, the bottom supported by my left handlebar. and the side of my palm was quite the master at steering the handle bar if needed (or i'd just sit up and ride without my hands).

you can see this was a very safe combination of stuff that adorned me while i biked... but again, this was at the heydey of my training. when a person spends as many hours in the saddle as i was, the bike becomes an extension of your body. navigation was second nature.

anyways, when all was said and done, a few unfortunate lattes met fateful early deaths, thanks to the unexpected pothole.

if only i'd had such a brilliant contraption as this, to add to my commuter bike!

>> coffee cup holder for bikes

in the closet

2009-08-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

conor and i are in the thick of domesticity these days - i guess buying a new house will do that to a couple. on one hand, it's been really fun and awesome to be able to do whatever we want to the place - fix what we care about, decorate what we want to, etc. but the bad thing is that we tend to be really critical of every little flaw. some small issues that might otherwise not bother anyone drive us a little crazy.

we have to keep repeating our mantras:

"starter home"

"5 years"

"only make changes that ADD value in resale"

one of the most exciting fixes of late is that we installed better closet systems in our master bedroom closets. we have 2, but both are somewhat small. they used to have that awful wire mesh shelving in them, and no hanging bars for clothes (the previous owners just hung clothing off the shelves).

sooo ugly.
and so poorly arranged!

one closet is a small "walk-in" (i use that term loosely). it's long and skinny -- about the width of a person + maybe 1.5 feet. the shelving was arranged in a L-shape before, so that:

- anything in the back corner was basically rendered hidden forever
- to "walk" in and actually SEE your clothing, you had to turn to your right and side-step your way along the rack

ugh it was awful

our new systems are great though! first of all, they are modern and up to date aesthetically. second of all, they are much better at utilizing the small spaces -- we can store a variety of types of items, we can store MORE stuff in the same spaces, and we can actually access all our clothing without doing acrobatics.

we ordered the systems from a store called "storables" which i think is basically the same exact store as "the container store" but under a different name. the closets weren't cheap, but they weren't expensive either -- and they were SUPER EASY to install. everything was custom-cut to size for us and ready for pick-up about 4 days after we ordered it.

they offered a "designer" for free at the store to help us brainstorm and plan the spaces, and that person made sure all the right parts and pieces were included so that we'd have no issues putting them in. it was astoundingly easy (and fun) to design, and equally so to install... and best of all -- to finally unpack our stuff!

needless to say, i'm really pleased. i feel like an organizational goddess!

tasty morsels

2009-07-31T08:22:00.000-07:00

a nice posting about one of the events conor helped with recently -- and even nicer pictures!

>> onepot / honeybeesting

reconnected

2009-07-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

we're back online!

after close to 2 weeks with no cable/tv/internet at the house, conor and i have been feeling a little, well, disconnected (to say the least).

sure, i work at a computer company with access to internet every day -- but that does NOT mean i have any time to surf or catch up on the goings-on of the world! this minor little thing called "work" usually gets in the way.

so, all the scandal around the cambridge police & obama, the entire tour de france, and many other notable news items have been completely lost on us. it's been a bit tragic in retrospect. though, being blissfully unaware wasn't such a bad way to go either, i do have to say...

at any rate, we're back online again!

over the weekend we upgraded ourselves to a fancy new HD TV. anyone who saw the p.o.s. TV we had back in SF will know what a treat this is. we'd been using a 24" CRT beast that i bought for $50 bucks about 5 years ago... it was so awesome it needed a good slap upside the head from time to time for the picture to come in clear. ahhh technology.

our new tv looks gorgeous, but had an unfortunate "feature" that we noticed while watching a james bond movie on it sunday night... in low light, dark scenes, the TV would "auto adjust" the contrast/backlight -- and basically make these really jarring "screen dimming" transitions every 6-10 seconds throughout the film.

can i say ANNOYING?

it was so irritating i was about ready to pack it up and take it back to the store yesterday. but i decided first to do some research online, whence i uncovered that sony had released a patch you can install via USB key...

it claimed it would fix this "feature" among a few other things, and one reviewer claimed it worked... so i figured (a little nervously), what the hell?

i mean - who doesn't want to upgrade the factory SW on their brand new, expensive TV within days of unpacking it, using SW that cannot be reverted?

(insert sarcasm here)

well - it's a good thing that we had comcast all queued up to come to the house yesterday and set up our cable & cable modem. 48 hours before, we had no internet with which to download said patch. but last night, our house was brimming with wireless, internet-y goodness, and i could get to work.

yes, the geek in me found the process strangely fulfilling. 20 minutes of reading, downloading, plugging in, and watching the magic -- lift off! could it be so easy?

it appears to have nipped our only gripe about the product right in the bud. the TV didn't start smoking, the colors and settings all look great, it still recognizes our cable signal and remote controls and playstation... and lo and behold...

james bond can finally make some sweet moves on the ladies without our TV turning off the lights.

niiiiice.

and, thanks to the 6 minute clips saved in comcast's "on demand" channel 1 thingy -- i can catch up quickly on the last 10 or so stages of the tour de france. granted, it ironically ended yesterday, right when we finally had the means to watch it... but hey, 6 minute clips are better than 0 minute clips!

011101110110100101110010011001010110010000100001

[if you own the sony kdl-40v5100 and have this same auto-dimming issue, get the sony patch here.]

meals on wheels

2009-07-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

seattle has a fetish for artisan food on wheels, apparently.

nevermind that during 1 trip to the beach in madison park, we seriously saw FOUR different ice cream trucks in a 30 minute span. awesome!

some mobile artisnal delights to look out for:

>> parfait: organic ice cream truck

>> maximus minimus: pulled pork sandwiches

all ours!

2009-07-13T21:48:00.001-07:00

we never thought the day would come...

but our bank finally got their sh*t together and sent over funding this morning... we had keys in hand by the afternoon, and our first van-load of stuff delivered by 5pm!

hooray!

movers come tomorrow with all our stuff from storage... time to make the priority lists (painting, yardwork, etc.)... it's gonna be a FUN week!

(i'm sure this will be the only time in my life where household chores are fun, so i'm going to revel in it)

uploaded by megang on 13th July, 2009.

today marks the day - we are officially new homeowners!

happy showers

2009-07-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

last weekend while we whittled away our last day in san francisco, we had innocent plans to go catfoo(d)'s for brunch. little did i know that she, my mom, and my husband had been scheming!

several months ago i came to a sad realization that i probably wasn't going to have a baby shower... the main reasons being that, well, we moved. to seattle. where we don't know anyone.

we certainly plan to have visitors soon -- but not until after the pooper is born... and there were no holidays in sight that made for a good excuse to scoot on out to florida, boston or san francisco...

but, knowing that it was what it was, i tried to let the sad feeling pass. afterall, a healthy baby is more important than a little party. so i dropped it from my mind.

zen.

well -- you can imagine what an AWESOME surprise it was last weekend to find out about the scheming!!!

i had NO IDEA that a shower was in the works, right up until the night before (when conor had to spill the beans because the logistics of picking up the food in the morning while i was in the car was too much stress for him to bear).

i can't even express how touched i was to have a surprise shower. the food (thank you conor!), decorations, games (thank you mom!), flowers (thank you cat!), presents (thank you to many of you!) and best of all -- my friends & family... in a city i love.

it was absolutely perfect.

donut karma

2009-07-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

after hearing a really tragic (or rather, potentially tragic) story from my friend regarding crashed hard drives, lost wedding photos, and miracles from some "dudes in the mission" that resulted in them actually recovering all her data... it dawned on me.

she brought the mission guys a box of krispy kremes. in return, they basically saved her business.

that's when i realized what conor and i have done wrong, in our quest to try and get our bank to close on our house faster. why something that was supposed to be done back on june 30th is still not done, here on july 11th.

duh.

we never sent them donuts.

zen

2009-07-09T23:40:00.001-07:00

at the farm
uploaded on 9th July, 2009.

pictures from mia & tyson's wedding weekend

being zen

2009-07-09T07:46:00.001-07:00

over the weekend, my parents, sister, husband and i traveled to the san francisco bay area to attend my second cousin's wedding.

the site was beautiful - up in mill valley, off of route 1 if you're driving towards muir beach, is a little farm and zen center called green gulch. it's where the bride and groom met and fell in love, so it was only fitting for them to have their wedding at the buddhist farm/retreat.

several of the guests were able to stay at the grounds for a few evenings, so on saturday night we set up camp in our little "guest house" that was built out of beautiful wood beams, and had lovely views.

the entire house smelled warm and woodsy. each room shared a sink/bathroom with one other room, and the 2-story building had about 6 rooms laid out in a circular shape with an open space in the center, where you could peer over the railing upstairs down into the common space below (wood-burning stove, couch, games).

honestly - it felt a little bit like i was at summer camp for adults!

the wedding was lovely - it took place in the garden, where varieties of flowers were in full bloom and honey bees were milling about in massive numbers. the weather was generally foggy all weekend, but managed to warm up and let a little sun shine through while they said their nuptials.

despite the somewhat lack of structure to the weekend, and the fear of a gong waking us up sunday morning at 4:45am (it didn't, thankfully), and the vegetarian meals (which were all delicious; greens were all from the farm) -- conor and i decided we would do our best to take the spirit of the place to heart, and practice the art of being zen.

last week was really stressful for us -- the house closing process with our bank has been RIDICULOUSLY painful (and we aren't exaggerating this point; it's been confirmed to us by our realtor, escrow agent, parents, and most of my co-workers... so ridiculous it has almost been comical). we had hoped to have it all wrapped up before we left for san francisco, but needless to say that didn't happen.

so we took some zen medicine over the weekend and tried not to worry about it.

on monday after we returned home, the papers actually showed up for us to sign. checks were written, but now it's all back in the hand of the bank again... and so we wait for them to review the signatures and (hopefully) put and end to the drama. but who knows when that will be? the zen weekend seemed to help - so i'm trying to keep up my zen-ness this week too.

if only there wasn't a little dark cloud above my head reminding me that on monday we're supposed to move out of our apartment, then i might be able to feel a little less concerned... deep breath.

om.

3 to go

2009-07-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

today marked the official start of my third trimester. i still don't know what that equates in months since the whole 9 month gestation thing is kind of a big lie.

aside from "28 weeks" (my official marker)...

28 divided by 4 = 7 months

but

9 mos minus (sept 22 minus july 1) = 9 - (2 mos + 4 weeks, ie ~3 mos) = 6 months

either way i'm just glad i'm nearing the home stretch!

+ & -

2009-07-01T15:22:00.001-07:00

well, the good news is that my glucose & iron levels checked our normal. yay, no gestational diabetes.

the bad news is that our bank seems to have their head up their ass. the house closing is delayed, AGAIN... at this rate we'll be lucky to move in before november, if at all.

and yes, this has put me in a rather foul mood today. in fact, it has completely killed any happiness i might have fleetingly felt by any of: the news from the doctor, the sunshine outside, the anticipation of our trip to san francisco this weekend, etc. etc.

there is a little dark raincloud over my head.

so no, please don't talk to me - or you might get struck by lightning.

keeping the gender a secret

2009-06-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

conor and i were originally going to wait to be surprised about our baby's gender at birth...

... but after reading this article, we've decided why end the fun? let's keep it secret longer!

>> parents won't say if tot is boy or girl

in fact, i think we'll even take it one step further, and change diapers blindfolded. brilliant!