Friday, March 18, 2005
SDMC Membership Fee Increase
OMG! People kill me.
Here's the background: The Miata club is having its (required) Annual meeting soon. This is where we elect officers and do all the other official club business that lets us keep our California non-profit status. Among the business on the table is a proposed increase in membership fees. The stated reasoning for the fees is increased cost of club operation, insurance, sending out newsletters to our 500+ members, etc.
After six years with no increase, the proposal is to raise the fee from $25 per family to $35 per family, per year. For reference, one of our club members stated that his local Porsche Club membership is $135/year and the BMW club is $75/year.
This group is pretty damn active, averaging like 2+ events a month, not to mention monthly meetings, etc., so for myself and Kimberley, its a no-brainer decision.
On the other hand, there's always gotta be one guy who needs to be a dissenter. This was posted to the club mailing list:
=====================================================================
>From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx
>Date: Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:05 pm
>Subject: Re: Increasing Dues?
>Not that it matters, since I'm sure it's going to happen. But I'd have to
>quit, if the dues got any more expensive. I can barely afford the $25.
=====================================================================
I admit that some of our members are under tighter budgets than most people, but this sort of blows my mind. We're talking an increase of less than 3 cents a day. I started thinking: Give up 2 trips to Starbucks, and you're there. Pass on "Supersizing" your BigMac twice a month, and you're there.
Well, being the "natural born leader" that I am, I came up with an even better solution. Here's my response the club list. Enjoy:
=====================================================================
>From: "Mike Herbst"
>Date: Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:13 am
>Subject: (NMC) Membership Fee Increase - (non)Run
<HUMOR>
I've come up with an idea to cover the potential increased membership
fees, assuming the measure passes at the Annual Meeting.
I propose to lead a (non)Run to help everyone in the club scrape
together the extra $10 to cover new membership fees:
The SDMC Membership Fee Increase (non)Run:
TIME/PLACE: Annual Meeting, Immediately after the Vote
WHERE: We will (not) be driving a scenic route through Julian and
Anza Borrego.
DISTANCE: Approximately 110 Miles (not) Driven.
WHY: On this (non)Run, we'll see (imagine) some of the most beautiful
areas of San Diego County while enjoying the comraderie of the SDMC.
Furthermore, by (not) driving this route we'll save approximately 4.2
gallons of regular unleaded fuel, which at today's prices should more
than make up for the $10 Membership Fee Increase. Members running
Higher Octane or with less efficient cars will of course save more
money. I heartily recommend these extra savings be used to purchase
regalia or be donated to the club.
I hope you'll all join me and Kimberley as we lead the (non)Run! It
should go by very quickly, as I drive very fast in my imagination.
(And apparently only in my imagination.)
See you at the Annual Meeting!
</HUMOR>
In all seriousness, I'll be voting "Yes" on the fee increase. The SDMC is a fantastic community and resource, and would be a "steal at twice the price", especially when compared to other (less active) clubs in the area. I'd like to think that I'll be able to remain a member (and keep paying whatever dues) even if I ever manage to wreck, sell, or otherwise lack, a Miata.
Cheers,
Mike "Herbie" Herbst
===================================================================== Read More...
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Support your local Sniper
OK, here's a link I came across today. http://adoptasniper.org
If I wasn't angry at "the war" before (I was), this would have done it. The idea that a nation like ours could send our own into battle without the best equipment we can produce really pisses me off. Of course this comes right at the same time with the current flap over Rumsfeld's Q&A session in Iraq. (i.e. "Why are we digging in landfills for armor?" question, planted or not, is still a good question)
Maybe its because I grew up here in San Diego, or maybe I've just watched too many movies, but I feel like these are "my" Soldiers. Serving this country is a noble effort in itself, and every Squiddy, Jarhead, Airedale, or Grunt in uniform gets my respect, but I feel some sort of extra empathy for the Marines. Camp Pendleton is practically our backyard. MCAS Miramar IS my backyard, goddamnit. A big chunk of these guys learn their trade here. The idea of one of "our" Marine Scout/Snipers unable to do the job, or worse - in danger, because of a lack of equipment breaks my heart.
Needless to say, I'm making a contribution. I'll also see if I can send a letter of support along, maybe I'll get lucky and net a penpal or something.
Anyhow, they're a 5013C non-profit organization, so if you need a tax writeoff before the end of the year, look 'em up!
Cheers. Read More...
If I wasn't angry at "the war" before (I was), this would have done it. The idea that a nation like ours could send our own into battle without the best equipment we can produce really pisses me off. Of course this comes right at the same time with the current flap over Rumsfeld's Q&A session in Iraq. (i.e. "Why are we digging in landfills for armor?" question, planted or not, is still a good question)
Maybe its because I grew up here in San Diego, or maybe I've just watched too many movies, but I feel like these are "my" Soldiers. Serving this country is a noble effort in itself, and every Squiddy, Jarhead, Airedale, or Grunt in uniform gets my respect, but I feel some sort of extra empathy for the Marines. Camp Pendleton is practically our backyard. MCAS Miramar IS my backyard, goddamnit. A big chunk of these guys learn their trade here. The idea of one of "our" Marine Scout/Snipers unable to do the job, or worse - in danger, because of a lack of equipment breaks my heart.
Needless to say, I'm making a contribution. I'll also see if I can send a letter of support along, maybe I'll get lucky and net a penpal or something.
Anyhow, they're a 5013C non-profit organization, so if you need a tax writeoff before the end of the year, look 'em up!
Cheers. Read More...
Monday, November 29, 2004
OK, So I'm a TV Addict
Its official, I'm definitely a TV Addict. Now, I should clarify, I don't watch nearly as much TV as a lot of people, I like to say I watch "Better" TV. I'm one of those TiVo evangelists that can't imagine life before my DVR.
Kimberley and I both get so frustrated watching TV at someone else's house. Every time a commercial comes on, we both reach for the remote to try to fast forward past it... The other telltale sign of a TiVo user is that we don't usually know when anything is actually Aired on TV. Is Law & Order on Thursday nights? What time is Stargate on? Dunno, the TiVo takes care of it. So, we watch just the shows we like, and we never channel surf, or watch commercials.
But I'm defninitely an addict. And here's how I know:
I spent the better part of my Thanksgiving weekend (chunk of Saturday and all of Sunday) running conduit around the outside of my house to bring two new Satellite feeds and a phoneline into the "Media Niche" in the livingroom.
For those who don't know, Satellite requires an individual cable from each decoder box to the multiswitch, you can't split the signal like you can with cable. My house, like most, is pre-wired for Cable, which means a single line of Coax runs from each room back to the distribution point at the side of the house. Our DirecTiVo (a.k.a. "The Direct TV with TiVo Brand DVR") has two tuners built in, meaning that it can record two things at once IF you can feed it with two lines from the Satellite.
In a rare peek into TV programming schedules, I read on the TiVo Community Forum that "Alias" is moving to Wednesday nights, opposite "The West Wing". Well, now that's actually something we care about, since these are two of only a select few shows we watch that are actually in primetime on one of the big networks, which means no re-airings to allow a single-tuner TiVo to sort out the conflicts. (Wherever possible, TiVo will normally sort out conflicting airings of shows by selecting alternate airings. For most cable channels, this is a no-brainer since most shows air 3-4 times in a week, but that's not the case for "Network" stuff.)
So obviously we need to get the 2nd tuner up and running before Alias resumes in January! So that was the motivation. So I spent a day, with 4 trips to Home Depot, running conduit from the SE Corner of the house (Distribution point and Satellite dish) around to the North wall, plumbing it through into the interior wall, and wiring everything up.
The other motivation was that my Media Niche doesn't have a phone line. Currently the standalone TiVo there uses HomePlug bridges to connect to the rest of the LAN, and I'll continue to use those when we swap that TiVo upstairs. For reasons passing understanding, DirecTV hasn't enabled the networking capability of the DirecTiVo, therefore I need an actual phoneline. The current use of the HomePlug bridges prevent using the usual PhoneJack-over-powerline adaptors. But since I was already running two RG6 lines, adding a length of Cat3 phone cable only cost me another $5.94 in cable and a few more minutes of effort to hook it up.
As a career Electrical Engineer, I probably shouldn't be surprised when a newly wired phone jack or cable actually works, but there's always a little sense of elation when it does.
Since I had to pull all the equipment out of the niche to cut the drywall holes, etc., it was also an excellent opportunity to re-wire the rear surround speakers (absent since we installed hardwood floors last year) and rebuilt the wiring harnesses somewhat. (A few changes since the original wiring looms were made 4+ years ago.) I also finally got around to installing the UPS for the TiVo (now I can record right through a power outage, although the real reason is to protect the drive from power spikes and brownouts).
All in all, a VERY satisfying weekend spent on our home media architecture. All so we can watch better TV!
Still to come: The pre-existing (now unneeded) cable run in the media niche will be retasked to distribute signal back upstairs (so we can watch and control the downstairs TiVo output from the bedroom!) and also run an HCNA network! (HPNA over Coax, using some trick adaptors I scored a few months ago.) Read More...
Kimberley and I both get so frustrated watching TV at someone else's house. Every time a commercial comes on, we both reach for the remote to try to fast forward past it... The other telltale sign of a TiVo user is that we don't usually know when anything is actually Aired on TV. Is Law & Order on Thursday nights? What time is Stargate on? Dunno, the TiVo takes care of it. So, we watch just the shows we like, and we never channel surf, or watch commercials.
But I'm defninitely an addict. And here's how I know:
I spent the better part of my Thanksgiving weekend (chunk of Saturday and all of Sunday) running conduit around the outside of my house to bring two new Satellite feeds and a phoneline into the "Media Niche" in the livingroom.
For those who don't know, Satellite requires an individual cable from each decoder box to the multiswitch, you can't split the signal like you can with cable. My house, like most, is pre-wired for Cable, which means a single line of Coax runs from each room back to the distribution point at the side of the house. Our DirecTiVo (a.k.a. "The Direct TV with TiVo Brand DVR") has two tuners built in, meaning that it can record two things at once IF you can feed it with two lines from the Satellite.
In a rare peek into TV programming schedules, I read on the TiVo Community Forum that "Alias" is moving to Wednesday nights, opposite "The West Wing". Well, now that's actually something we care about, since these are two of only a select few shows we watch that are actually in primetime on one of the big networks, which means no re-airings to allow a single-tuner TiVo to sort out the conflicts. (Wherever possible, TiVo will normally sort out conflicting airings of shows by selecting alternate airings. For most cable channels, this is a no-brainer since most shows air 3-4 times in a week, but that's not the case for "Network" stuff.)
So obviously we need to get the 2nd tuner up and running before Alias resumes in January! So that was the motivation. So I spent a day, with 4 trips to Home Depot, running conduit from the SE Corner of the house (Distribution point and Satellite dish) around to the North wall, plumbing it through into the interior wall, and wiring everything up.
The other motivation was that my Media Niche doesn't have a phone line. Currently the standalone TiVo there uses HomePlug bridges to connect to the rest of the LAN, and I'll continue to use those when we swap that TiVo upstairs. For reasons passing understanding, DirecTV hasn't enabled the networking capability of the DirecTiVo, therefore I need an actual phoneline. The current use of the HomePlug bridges prevent using the usual PhoneJack-over-powerline adaptors. But since I was already running two RG6 lines, adding a length of Cat3 phone cable only cost me another $5.94 in cable and a few more minutes of effort to hook it up.
As a career Electrical Engineer, I probably shouldn't be surprised when a newly wired phone jack or cable actually works, but there's always a little sense of elation when it does.
Since I had to pull all the equipment out of the niche to cut the drywall holes, etc., it was also an excellent opportunity to re-wire the rear surround speakers (absent since we installed hardwood floors last year) and rebuilt the wiring harnesses somewhat. (A few changes since the original wiring looms were made 4+ years ago.) I also finally got around to installing the UPS for the TiVo (now I can record right through a power outage, although the real reason is to protect the drive from power spikes and brownouts).
All in all, a VERY satisfying weekend spent on our home media architecture. All so we can watch better TV!
Still to come: The pre-existing (now unneeded) cable run in the media niche will be retasked to distribute signal back upstairs (so we can watch and control the downstairs TiVo output from the bedroom!) and also run an HCNA network! (HPNA over Coax, using some trick adaptors I scored a few months ago.) Read More...
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Happy Thanksgiving!
So, its the obligatory "Happy Thanksgiving" blog entry. Spent Thursday-giving at my inlaw's "Home for Wayward Musicians" (a tradition, at this point), and Friday-giving with my Dad's family.
Both meals were a treat, although completely different. (Kim's parents eschew almost all meat; except fowl, conveniently.) My Dad's spread was a meatlover's bonanza with a Rib-Roast, a Tenderloin, Ham, and, oh yeah, a small turkey. Kim looks forward to my step-mother's spaetzle all year long.
Lots to give thanks for this year, not the least of which is the safe delivery of my niece Megan.
(I still need to post an updated pic of her, don't I?)
Read More...
Both meals were a treat, although completely different. (Kim's parents eschew almost all meat; except fowl, conveniently.) My Dad's spread was a meatlover's bonanza with a Rib-Roast, a Tenderloin, Ham, and, oh yeah, a small turkey. Kim looks forward to my step-mother's spaetzle all year long.
Lots to give thanks for this year, not the least of which is the safe delivery of my niece Megan.
(I still need to post an updated pic of her, don't I?)
Read More...
Monday, November 22, 2004
All good things...
Well, we're back home. Saturday we spent the whole day hanging with my Uncle and his family in Phoenix. Usually the only times we see them are when they come to CA, so it was nice to get to see them in their world for a while. My cousins are growing up fast, and they're three great kids, so it was a lot of fun getting caught up on their lives.
Sunday was the uneventful but pallatable drive back home.
My recommendation for anyone looking down the barrel of a long roadtrip: Books on Tape/CD.
This is the absolute best way to dispense with dozens of hours on the road. Even if its a book you've already read, or a movie you've already seen, just having a narrative you can pay a little attention to makes the drive so much easier. Its less troublesome than trying to find (and keep) a talk radio station, and lasts a lot longer. We first figured this out after buying an abridged recording of Jurassic Park coming back from Vegas one time. Despite the crushing holiday traffic, the drive just seemed easier somehow. Now we never take long roadtrips without something in the arsenal.
This trip was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which was selected as much for its great length (21 CDs) as for our love of the books. Jim Dale has read all of the Potter books thus far and he has a real talent. Its also a real joy to have the continuity of presentation from book to book. Cars put Kimberley to sleep, she normally can't even make a 2 1/2 hour drive to L.A. without dozing, but with the book she stayed with me through the 9+ hours to the Grand Canyon, the short hops in between, and the 7 or so hours from Phoenix back home!
I also highly recommend Tom Clancy's The Cardinal of the Kremlin as read by David Ogden Stiers. Its amazing how a book can come alive when read by a really talented actor. Clancy can be a little dry in the first third of any book as he sets up the characters and plotlines, but Stiers ability as an actor really translates to helping you establish characters in your mind. Cardinal is one of only two Jack Ryan-universe books that I haven't actually read in book form, and I may not read it myself, as I'm sure that experience would not eclipse Stiers' performance of it.
Back to the real world now!
Cheers. Read More...
Sunday was the uneventful but pallatable drive back home.
My recommendation for anyone looking down the barrel of a long roadtrip: Books on Tape/CD.
This is the absolute best way to dispense with dozens of hours on the road. Even if its a book you've already read, or a movie you've already seen, just having a narrative you can pay a little attention to makes the drive so much easier. Its less troublesome than trying to find (and keep) a talk radio station, and lasts a lot longer. We first figured this out after buying an abridged recording of Jurassic Park coming back from Vegas one time. Despite the crushing holiday traffic, the drive just seemed easier somehow. Now we never take long roadtrips without something in the arsenal.
This trip was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which was selected as much for its great length (21 CDs) as for our love of the books. Jim Dale has read all of the Potter books thus far and he has a real talent. Its also a real joy to have the continuity of presentation from book to book. Cars put Kimberley to sleep, she normally can't even make a 2 1/2 hour drive to L.A. without dozing, but with the book she stayed with me through the 9+ hours to the Grand Canyon, the short hops in between, and the 7 or so hours from Phoenix back home!
I also highly recommend Tom Clancy's The Cardinal of the Kremlin as read by David Ogden Stiers. Its amazing how a book can come alive when read by a really talented actor. Clancy can be a little dry in the first third of any book as he sets up the characters and plotlines, but Stiers ability as an actor really translates to helping you establish characters in your mind. Cardinal is one of only two Jack Ryan-universe books that I haven't actually read in book form, and I may not read it myself, as I'm sure that experience would not eclipse Stiers' performance of it.
Back to the real world now!
Cheers. Read More...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
