elan.org - News Entries - October, 2000

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elan.org > Writing > News Entries - October, 2000

Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Here is a sneakpeak of my Halloween costume. Elaine, my officemate, is the face painting professional.

Ugh, I think the picture speaks for itself.

Some of us from work will be going a little further with our costumes for the parade tonight.

2:21 PM

Monday, October 30, 2000
This past Friday marked one month in California. I'm getting into my routine. My surroundings aren't so new. My apartment is actually livable. But, I'm getting restless. I'm no longer satisfied staying home unpacking boxes, setting up furniture and getting the place in order every night. Besides, most of that stuff is over. Now it is basically cook every other night and clean the place regularly phase. That isn't that time consuming, and it sure as hell isn't that rewarding. It is time for me to move on to the next stage. The stage where I find social groups to spend time with and start various new activities. Before I left Jersey I had this long list of things I was going to do with my new life and now it is time to get started. It is time to sign up for the classes I want to take, to join the gym (and to actually use it), to play volleyball, to learn new things and to meet new people. I plan on signing up for a bunch of new stuff in the upcoming months. Hopefully, you'll be hearing about it soon. That's the goal over the next few months.

11:26 PM

The web is full of people complaining about getting DSL installed. It isn't a nice experience. I know; I went through it earlier this year. Who would have thought, though, that I would have to go through it twice in one year? Ironic that I spent six months getting DSL installed in New Jersey, enjoyed it for a few months, then moved.
I ordered DSL in California in August. I got it installed this past Friday. I was excited. I got video working on this web site and was about to share it with you, when suddenly on Sunday morning DSL stopped working. The DSL modem can't connect to my provider. It is Monday night, and still no DSL. The 800 number for customer service just rings to no avail. Their web site was full of 404 errors yesterday. Today, the site responded and they have a link for live chat with technical support. Now that is a great feature, but you still need people on the other end, and there weren't any.

10:54 PM

Find out how much Al Gore loves you (via Michelle). This is all based on your name. How superficial. How not surprising. George Bush loves me more, even though I'm voting for Gore. What does Georgee know anyway.

10:08 PM

Sunday, October 29, 2000
I went to an accupressurist tonight (my first time). She was awesome. But, now I'm very tired and I'm crashing into bed. I had late nights last night and the night before. I saw Man is a Woman today in San Jose and visited the Riga Bakery Cafe. I also found a diner-like place in Palo Alto with a real Jukebox, too.
Lot's of visitors and traveling going on. My roomate Jason left for two weeks to Chicago for training. Inna's here until Thursday and then the following Monday Alina is coming for a few weeks to visit her sister, a Singapore friend at University of Santa Clara and me. Then in early December, Tami (my friend and East Coast recruiter) from New York is coming for a weekend. I'm also trying to organize a Lake Tahoe cabin for New Year's Eve and trying to get my Fair Lawn friends to come out. I'll keep you posted. Most places seemed booked, but I have found a few that are available.

10:38 PM

By the way, Inna is visiting from New Jersey this week. She's the first of many I hope!

2:23 AM

Saturday, October 28, 2000
The yellow lights in California are at least half as long as on the East Coast and I'm having serious problems adjusting my driving. In Jersey, I could err on the side of speeding up and making it through before it turns red, here I have to assume I can't and brake.

5:43 PM

I visit this site at least once a month, usually when I'm late. Am I Pregnant.com

12:46 AM

Friday, October 27, 2000
I'm heading into the city (these days that means San Francisco, not New York) for a Shabbat dinner with some Russian Hillel group. I think they may be from San Francisco State U.

3:54 PM

If I bought a TiVO would I be able to pause my PlayStation 2 games? How about record all the times Mark Messier scores a goal in EA Sports NHL 2001? Would I be able to skip the EA Sports commercials?

3:52 PM

Thanks to the new PlayStation 2, Jason and I could now watch DVDs. The Princess Bride may be the first purchase. I came across DVD Pricesearch today. I thought you may want to know in case you're doing the same.

12:02 PM

Indian food could be healthy if it follows the standard rules for good cooking and Asian ratios. Fresh, high quality meats and vegetables are key. The "Asian ratio" is much in the side dishes, little on the meat. The problem with most Indian restaurants in the U.S. is that they impose values of efficiency and the "American ratio" on to their preparation. Efficiency leads to fewer trips to the food store for fresh veggies and meat and to buffet--food prepared for the masses way before it is eaten and kept warm for way too long. The "American ratio" is the reverse of the "Asian ratio." The one thing the article forgets to mention is curries made from coconut milk are very fattening, more fattening than Haagen Dazs ice cream (which is the fattiest of the big brands).
Elan's tips for eating healthy and high quality Indian food: find a South Indian restaurant and order a vegetarian dish. There is some prejudice in that sentence that I should explain. A native of India once told me that the Northern Indians that come over from India are generally entrepreneurs and business-oriented. Southern Indians are usually professionals such as doctors and lawyers. This explains why you find a ratio of about 9:1 of Northern Indian to Southern Indian restaurants. The Northern Indians, partially because of higher competition and partially because of their economic values, generally pursue the "American ratio" for their American audience and the efficiency factor (buffet and cheaper meat). That is the perspective I hold in my head that leads me to Southern Indian restaurants. However, Northern Indian dishes are covered in coconut milk curries and we already know that makes them highly desirable and addictive, but you pay for it later (as with excessively sating any human desire).

11:42 AM

Thursday, October 26, 2000
This is explains a lot. Not just a lot, but A LOT. Curry causes sexual arousal (via Alina). Perhaps this explains why I keep trying to turn back to Indian despite the poor quality of most establishments. This also explains why during senior year at Lehigh I needed to get some at least twice a week. I wonder when I'll see an article about Bulgogi producing similar effects, because it surely does in my body.

11:24 AM

Got it!

10:52 AM

The Sony PlayStation 2 camp out adventure started on Wednesday night.

6:52 PM	Elan stops at the Circuit City in Mountain View to learn that they received 16 PS2s and will hand vouchers on a first come first serve basis before the store opens Thursday morning at 10 AM. Elan leaves to dinner.
9:20	On the way back from dinner, Elan drives by the Best Buy in Milpitas and sees about 50 people (earlier research found that this store received 106 PS2s) lined up with tents, sleeping bags and lawn furniture. The first group in line was five mothers. Elan fears the Circuit City will be packed already.

10:03	Elan arrives at Circuit City; no one is around.
11:30	Elan finally falls asleep in the back seat of his car with his alarm set to 4:30 AM.
1:36 AM	Elan is woken up by the sound of a car door being slammed closed. Two young guys make their way to the store and sit down outside the door. Elan takes a sleeping bag (his roommate’s actually), a pad, earplugs, and his bag (packed with food, drinks, first aid, books, etc.) and introduces himself to Chris and Shannon. The three of them chat away for hours sharing stories about work, games and getting caught by the police and their girlfriend’s parents.
3:30ish	Elan puts in his earplugs and tries to fall asleep. As he is dozing off, Elan is awakened by the sound of person #4 making his way to the line. Shortly thereafter, Elan falls back asleep.

5:00ish	Elan is woken by the sound of a chattering mom (right through the earplugs). Persons 5, 6, 7 and 8 have arrived. Hyper mom (#8) came from Fry’s where the police were outside doing crowd control. Elan tries to fall back asleep.
7:00ish	Elan wakes up and counts the people. There are now 15 people on line.
7:13	The first employee of Circuit City comes to the front door and says good morning. There are about 19 people on line. No one feels like informing the last few that there are only 16 PS2s. After he enters, first employee locks the door behind him as Chris and Shannon threaten to pummel their way inside.
7:23	First employee comes outside and hands out vouchers one-by-one, counting aloud. A few people go home disappointed. First employee informs everyone they can go get some food or go home and come back when the store opens. Elan receives voucher #3.

7:28	Chris, Shannon and Elan take a picture together.

7:30	Elan goes home to share pictures, events, eat breakfast and make himself presentable for work.
9:30ish	Elan will drive back to the store to pick up his PS2 and head to work. Elan will attempt to 1) stay awake and 2) not sneak in to the conference room to try his PS2.

9:11 AM

Wednesday, October 25, 2000
It drizzled today. I saw my first rainbow that looked like it spanned a few counties.

I'm heading to dinner tonight with someone I met in Singapore at a Singaporean restaurant (how logical).

Then I'm camping outside Circuit City to get a Playstation 2. Well, I'll camp out if others are camping. I'll probably head home if nobody else is camping and get up early in the morning to head down to the store. We'll see. They'll be pictures if I stay the night.

5:57 PM

Go figure. Pacific Bell was scheduled to come to my apartment today to do outside wiring for DSL. They already came last Friday.

10:18 AM

"I will take care of me for you if you will take care of you for me."
-- Jim Rohn

9:33 AM

Tuesday, October 24, 2000
Tonight, Jason and I used Matrix to christen my new TV. :)

11:38 PM

My talking is gas and the 1000 minutes on my cellphone plan is the container.

11:37 PM

I would love to see a sub like this being worked on down the hill around the curves of Lehigh University's South Mountain campus.

5:36 PM

I'm contemplating making this the theme song for elan.org: listen in RealAudio for modems, in RealAudio for high-speed connections or high-quality MP3 format. Whaddaya think?

8:47 AM

Monday, October 23, 2000
Good things come out of bad experiences. On October 9, 2000 my parents shipped a filing cabinet, an expensive leather jacket, a marble ball, a backpack and various other items to me via UPS ground. The delivery process should have taken five business days, seven days maximum. I have been tracking the package for the last two weeks. It has been sitting in the Menlo Park-Palo Alto shipping hub for about five days. Every day last week I called the their 800 number and a representative told me it should be at my apartment the next day. Everyday I placed a note on my door for UPS to leave the package. The note went like this:

10/18/00

Dear UPS Person,

Please leave the package at the door. Thanks!

Elan Freydenson [Print]
Elan Freydenson [Signature]

Everyday I came home, the note was still there and the package was not to be found. I called this past Friday and they said it should be here today. Today, my mother called me at work to tell me she got a message from UPS on my Jersey answering machine explaining that the package fell apart and the filing cabinet was broken. UPS took the liberty to repack what is left of the contents and ship them back to the origin.
Of course, they ship back via the same method it came, so it should take another two weeks for the parts to reach New Jersey. I actually understand their logic. There is logic to their actions (or I'm just projecting logic onto their actions). They are treating my residential packages like commercial ones. If I was a business and sent a package of something I sold to a customer and it came in pieces, then that would be very bad. So, they take the parts, pack them together and shipped them to the origin so as not to upset the receiver. Well, the freaking parts (my clothes and personal belongings) were sitting minutes from my house for over a week (and they wouldn’t let me come get it, either) and now my "parts" are on their way back to Jersey. This was not an ideal UPS experience, more like an "OOPS, I dropped your package" experience. To top it off, my parents didn't insure the contents.
Now for the good part of all this. I left the apartment this morning with the sign on the door for UPS. I returned home to a box from Northpoint. They shipped my DSL modem. Later today, while eating dinner, I realized there was a sticker on the box saying, "signature required." Apparently, the Airborne Express man left with Mr. UPS' note. Had the UPS package arrived there would not have been a note for Mr. Express. Thankfully, UPS screwed up, so I could get my DSL modem today (which is totally useless to me until the DSL guys come to install it later this week, but at least I got it, right?).
So, remember kiddies, today’s little lesson is that really great things come out of bad experiences.

11:37 PM

While I was still back in the East, Z100 was running a contest to have a private concert for high school students that would vote for themselves on the radio station's web site. The school with the most votes for themselves won. Well, I thought that was a pretty damn stupid contest. Obviously the school with the most geeks would win. All the geeks needed to do was write a program that would just continously vote for their school. Now, I don't know if that was the tactic they used, but Yael's geek-filled school won. Now the uncoordinated top 1% of Bergen County will be enjoying Mandy Moore, Pink and others.

8:19 PM

I am also looking for half-sour pickles, but I'm not pregnant.

11:46 AM

Cool, I found the Riga Bakery Cafe in San Jose.

10:02 AM

Sunday, October 22, 2000
Bay Area Must Do's Before Graduation

9:25 PM

Cool, reviews of Indian restaurants in the South Bay area.

9:15 PM

Since there are no Dunkin' Donuts in California, the police spend their time at the 7-Eleven's instead.

8:44 PM

I want to learn something. Maybe you could teach me. How do I appreciate something or someone while I still have it?

7:02 PM

Read news entries:

All News Entries
December, 2000 to Now
November, 2000
October, 2000
September, 2000
August, 2000
July, 2000
June, 2000
May, 2000
April, 2000
January to March, 2000
September to December, 1999
May to August, 1999
December, 1998 to April, 1999

Friday, October 20, 2000
Things are moving forward in the apartment. I got another big box from New Jersey today (the last major should be coming on Monday). That means I got some more shelves for my desk and a chair for my bedroom. The dining room chair I was use is back at the dining room table, which grows on me on a daily basis. I got another much higher quality camera today. Right now it is sending images under the name of Camera 1. The quality there is significantly better. It is an Intel PC Camera Pro for those who are curious about good ones to get. I have to do some more work to get every major room covered and to upgrade the other cameras. I also have inside and outside wiring dates for DSL. If all goes well, which we know it won't, I will have high speed Internet access by next weekend. Tonight brings more cleaning, organizing and unpacking. Tomorrow brings an Acapella show of Stanford alumni and maybe a TV for the living room. I really wanted to hold out and never have a TV, but I have a serious desire to be able to watch The Princess Bride and Matrix at will.

10:46 PM

My business cards came today from the printer. Here is what the front looks like:

At Cooper, everybody gets to place a custom image on their card. I think it is a nice balance between joining the collective and maintaining your individualism. If you don't recognize the picture, it is my laptop-toting buddha.

6:39 PM

So, Elan is going to buy his first video game system. One big reason is that it doubles as a DVD player. The one I want, of course, is the Sony Playstation 2 that is coming out October 26. Too bad they have all be pre-ordered and sold out, mostly. This article recommends the following:

So, what's the bottom line for a system at launch? Here it is in a nutshell. Grab a trustworthy friend or two and scout out the local stores, like three or four. Find out who will has the "first come, first serve" policy. Then get a few cell phones and spit [sic] into individual groups, with each person choosing a store to wait in. Two or three days before Thursday, October 26, check out the stores every day, twice a day to see if a line starts. As soon as one does, take the day off work, or school, and sit in that line. Or start the line yourself. Take shifts with your friends, and make sure you're the first of five people in line. It sounds rough, but that's the best advice we can give you.

I wonder if I can convince my roomate to partake in this. Luckily the weather is warm here so that won't be too much of an issue. I need to find more friends, though.

5:03 PM

Thursday, October 19, 2000
I had the pleasure of chatting with Amir from South America. He actually called me at 6am not realizing that the "United States isn't in one time zone." He's been gone for a long time I see. He called me back again a few minutes ago at a decent hour. He's having a great time is finally contemplating coming home. Like a good friend should, I told he should never come back and stay down there as long as he can. He says hello to all. He's really loving the extreme sports: paragliding and kayaking--he survived class 3 rapids today and even flipped himself back over after getting overturned. He's meeting lots of people and having trouble keeping track of them. He's heading to Brazil eventually and has plenty of people to stay with for free. Next week he should be at Torres del Paine for a seven day trek.

11:51 AM

Wednesday, October 18, 2000
Like any ant in a new colony, I'm trying to meet other civilians. Tonight I stopped by at a Jewish singles event at a local Synagogue. Let's just say I was the youngest person there by at least ten years. I wasn't in the mood, so I quickly left, bought a quart (Safeway ran out of pints) of Dulche de Leche ice cream and went home to eat it, alone. My roommate left today for two nights for company training in Chicago. Oh, and I graduated Boot Camp today at work so this ice cream is also a celebration dessert. And now I'm off to meet Max for a late night rendezvous (tea) at a 24-hour diner-like place. I say diner-like because California is definitely lacking a Land and Sea (a Jersey diner).

10:32 PM

A coworker of mine pointed out a humorous site containing pictures of signs and such from Japan where they totally screwed up the Engrish.

2:23 PM

Today was full of intensity and creativity. Cooper Interaction Design projects typically end with a very detailed design of every major area of the designed product. Today, the next to last day of Boot Camp, we tried to stuff 5-6 weeks of work into a few hours. We cut corners left and right. Nonetheless, the day at work was filled with a rush to get as much done as we could. And the typical day at Cooper is all about creating, refining and communicating.
At some point in the middle of the afternoon, I walked up the stairs towards my classmate's desk. Sitting on the couch was this guy that looked familiar, but I wasn't sure who he was. As I walked up the steps he said, "Hi, you're Elan, right?" (He pronounced my name correctly, too). I said yes and he responded by introducing himself as Alan Cooper. I got a tad nervous.
I've been hearing about him for years and more recently I've finished his books (this was all before I ever came to work for him, albeit indirectly). While reading the books I rehearsed what I would say to him (as I do with every author I read). Naturally, as these situations always go, I was caught off guard and just chatted about the work I was doing for boot camp. I wished him well and went off to my classmates's desk. I think I was caught off guard because he knew my name. This should not have been a surprise, as human resources took pictures of new employees and presented them to Alan and company. Anyway, there will be plenty of opportunity to chat away with Alan, as he is just another smart human being that I'll be interacting with at work.
That was just the first half of my day. Around 4pm, I drove into San Francisco. Traffic wasn't bad and I arrived at SF's Museum of Modern Art around 5:15pm. I attended a lecture to celebrate the local winners of Industrial Design Excellence Awards for 2000. The designers of winning products such as the Stowaway keyboard, the Water Bug/Power Bug, and the Xootr Scooter came on stage, briefly chatted about their product and shared some interesting snippets. I was all inspired to go make something.
Though, the coolest part of the lecture was the end when a senior model creator (and destroyer) from Industrial Light and Magic came on stage. He has quite a resume of working on about 90 movies, starting with Star Wars, continuing with ET, Indiana Jones, the Back to the Future series, and the upcoming Star Wars movies. Let's just say the photographs he showed were awesome and the stories invoked those "god, I want to be you" feelings.
Of course, the day didn't end there. Right after the lecture ended, I went to the Herbst Theatre to enjoy chamber music played by a friend of the family. I've been looking up to Robert as a musician since was making my own noise on the piano. I closed my eyes at the concert hall in order to enjoy the sounds produced by his fingers and guided by the notes of Schumann and Shostakovich. I got a lucky chance to chat with him one-on-one over dinner early this week and backstage tonight.
The day feels too complete as it was filled by exposure to too amazing individuals. Now it is time to crash and see how much inspiration carries over to my own work in the near future.

1:12 AM

Monday, October 16, 2000
Any young women interested in showering with Jesus?

11:29 PM

Don't know what to do with your old Palm Pilots? Don't give them to your girlfriend, make a robot with it! (via onclave) Better yet, give the Palm to your girlfriend under the condition that she makes a robot out of it.

11:22 PM

The company in Atlanta that I was consulting for put up their corporate site. That site isn't what I was working on, in fact, they don't really mention what I worked on. Hopefully, we should be seeing the product of that work soon.

11:10 PM

"You put a beautiful scar in my soul, and every time I look at it I smile thinking of you."

10:27 PM

"A vision without action is called a daydream; but then again, action without a vision is called a nightmare."
-- Written by Jim Sorensen

10:14 PM

Sunday, October 15, 2000
Am I hot or not?

3:49 PM

Salon has an interesting article on Steve Jobs and the story behind the new unauthorized biography about his second coming. In the early years of Apple, before the Mac came out, they released a computer called Lisa. In this article, the author of the book mentioned that in the early 80's (when Lisa came out) Steve Jobs refused to provide financial support for his out-of-wedlock daughter, named Lisa. I wonder if the names are a coincidence.

3:36 PM

I had an epiphany tonight. The vacation is over. The nostalgic feeling of newness is fading. This is my life. This is my new way of living. This job, this apartment, my time, my habits, this climate are all part of a new me. It is time to take a serious responsibility over me and make my new life the way I want it to be. I have been posing a simple question to myself and I haven't enjoyed the answer. What action will cause me to be an inspiration for myself? I get an answer. It is easy to get an answer. You know what the right thing is to do. You know you will feel happy about it while and after you do it. You know the answer is the new thing, the hard thing. I take back what I said. Actually, I have very much enjoyed the answer to my question. What I haven't enjoyed is my insistence on not doing what inspires me. Something makes me think that this time I will be different. I will take the harder path more often than not. I will end the day, look at the mirror and feel inspired by my own actions. You, of course, can join me in this adventure.

1:42 AM

105.3 FM plays kickin' dance music after midnight!

1:37 AM

I got directions from Yahoo to the party I went to tonight. The directions instructed me to turn on to a street name that I couldn't find. I got lost, called the host and he gave me correct directions. While schmoozing with a local I learned that the street Yahoo told me to turn on was destroyed in an earthquake a few years ago.

1:26 AM

Did I tell you it cost me $32 to fill up my gas tank this week?

1:25 AM

Saturday, October 14, 2000
So, I did feel better after that night of nastiness. Thursday went pretty well and Friday went great at work. I know haven't written much about it, but I love my job. I love the people I work with and I love what the company does. Everyday since I got here I've been learning more and more the little details of how we practice what we preach. Boot camp ends next Wednesday and I'll probably be put on a project soon there after, but I'm not sure when and with who. I may be in limbo for a few days.
I was quite a computer geek for the last few days. I bought a new hard drive for my desktop and a new network hub so the network runs faster. I also got a new hard drive and camera for my laptop. The new hard drive allowed me to install Windows 2000. I couldn't believe it, but I really like it. You can tell Microsoft took a bunch of time to polish it. The interface and the performance is much improved over Windows 98 and Windows NT. The new camera is also of higher quality than my other ones. In fact, I'll be upgrading the quality of all my cameras so you'll see better pictures. Right now Camera 3 is the new camera and you should see more details in varying light conditions.
Jason and I picked up the dining room table at IKEA today. It took a whole five minutes to put it together. I am excited about having a place to eat instead of standing or bringing it back to my computer. It needs a center piece. Any ideas? I was going to get a vase with some nice fake flowers (or real ones).
I'm heading to my first Cali party in a few minutes. Oh, and today was the first day I took my car out on the highway, I mean freeway, in California. It felt a little weird. I realized that after the light on my dashboard turns on, notifying me that I'm running out of gas, that I still have enough gas for four round trips to work.

8:31 PM

Thursday, October 12, 2000
I feel better now. A little. I had to wake up in the middle of the night (4:21 AM to be exact) to expel that Indian nastiness from my body. I hope I feel better. I need to concentrate and lead meetings in Boot Camp today.

9:52 AM

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem."
-- Theodore Rubin

9:51 AM

Wednesday, October 11, 2000
Indian food: bad, bad, very very bad! If your stomach can hate you, mine hates me now.

9:10 PM

I've been sounding quite Jewish lately, haven't I? I think it may have to do with the following two reasons:

It is the high holiday season
There are no longer a lot of Jews around me

My hometown and friends are covered in Jewishness. You know what happens when you go to a place where there aren't others like you. One response, the one in which I am partaking, is to assert your own identity. So, here I am, asserting my birth religion to you, to my Catholic roommate, and to the goyim at work. An interesting thing happened during my assertions at work; other Jews came out and asserted themselves. I feel a little more at home now, and shouldn't be asserting my bagel and fish habits on you too much more.

9:10 PM

This morning my officemate's last night's date got into a motor biking accident. He slid across the pavement, but ended up okay:

Elan: "I guess he was covered in a lot of leather."
Elaine: "Just the way I like it."

Oh yeah, my officemate's name is Elaine. Someone in HR was trying to be funny.

10:14 AM

Tuesday, October 10, 2000
By the way, living here in Menlo Park, California, Jason and I feel earthquake tremors on a daily basis, sometimes even twice a day. Basically, when the big freight trains come through at night, the entire apartment shakes. One day there will be an earthquake and we'll think it was a train. We estimate the train produces a 2.5 to 3 on the richter scale, not that either of us have any idea what a 2.5, 3 or any number on the ricther scale feels like.

11:58 PM

Ooooh, a place where I don't feel alone. (via cam) :)

11:50 PM

I wonder why mom didn't over night the three pounds of Kim chi sitting in her refrigerator. I wonder if she's thrown it out. Mom?

11:36 PM

This past Saturday one of the people I played volleyball with asked what I miss the most about New Jersey (not including people). I instantly answered "the ice cream, Dunkin Donuts and bagels."
You would think in a warm climate like California, there would be ice cream shops on every corner and there would be a gross amount of inventiveness and personality in their ice cream. Not! After discovering Thomas Sweet, I have had a fixation on putting all sorts of toppings into my ice cream. T-Sweet calls it a blend-in. Some other ice cream shops call it a smash-in. Carvel calls it a Megamix. Now, I'm California, stuck with no Carvels, no T-Sweet, and no Halo Pub. I have to choose from Haagen Dazs and Baskin Robbins. The only conciliation is the small gelato shop in Palo Alto.
As for Dunkin Donuts, one of the volleyball players told me there is one in Campbell, CA, wherever that is. Why aren't they on every corner like in Jersey and Boston? What's the deal with their web site? They don't even provide the capability to locate a donut shop. Hey wait, I could use someone else's web site to find one. Yup, look, there is one 19 miles from my apartment. Talk about a donut run.
Let's not forget about bagels, bagels, bagels. I'm talking about a primary staple for my existence. I'm talking every Sunday morning and at least twice a week for breakfast. I'm talking something perfect to put underneath my lox and whitefish. Max is a bagel connoisseur. This past Sunday morning we met for bagels at Izzy's Brooklyn Bagels. First, a fact: Radburn Bagels in Fair Lawn, NJ makes the best bagels in the world. With that in mind, I should stop getting hopeful about every new bagel place we try. There was much left to be desired at Izzy's, but it was good for California. A detailed explanation with pictures and numbers is coming up. Just you wait and see.
Oh, I don't know how mom knew, but she overnighted a dozen bagels, some killer lox and one of my favorite dessert/pastries that made it is way over from Latvia. Go mom. Other overnight packages of Boston Crème donuts or T-Sweet blend-ins are welcome; although, I can't guarantee I'll eat them by the time they get here.

11:32 PM

Alina, my Singapore connection, has been working hard on her web site. Finally, someone who eats more Asian food (yeah I know, I have actually been on an Asian vacation lately) than me and tells the world about it. She shares her lunch and dinners with us on a daily basis.

11:07 PM

A Russian coworker (the only Russian one) just pointed me to this Russian music (MP3) and video site.

5:24 PM

Monday, October 9, 2000
I think the major theme of this past weekend was food. Friday night Jason and I went to a great Japanese BBQ restaurant call Juban. The experience was similar to Korean BBQ, but they don't provide the many little bowls of munchies. The portion sizes for the entrees were smaller at Juban. The food tasted great! The portion sizes were perfect. I felt sated and not as though I overate. All this was a whole five-minute walk from our apartment. When you come visit, I'll take you there.
Saturday night, after a few hours of afternoon volleyball on Stanford's campus, Jason felt a little light-headed. (Side note: my roommate plays good volleyball. What a sixpakin' surprise!) I decided to make him chicken vegetable stir-fry from those frozen just add chicken packages. That was a successful cooking endeavor.
After dinner, I was talking to my mom on the phone and we were trying to decide what to eat before and after the fast. I decided it was an opportune time to try her chicken soup recipe. She explained the recipe and preparation process over the phone. I headed over to Safeway and bought a young chicken (sounds bad), a carrot and an onion. I came home, cleaned and cut the chicken and put it in a boiling pot of water with the other ingredients. Here is what the outcome looked like in the pot.

The soup turned out well, but not like mom's. I would be in shock if after my first try the soup turned out like hers. There is no way. I know a few things that I need to adjust. Mainly, it was all about proportions. The ingredient amounts my mom gave were for using a large pot like the one she uses to cook for more people. Next time, the soup should taste like hers. Jason actually liked it, too. Anyway, having a nice home cooked meal (loaded with years of loving emotional associations) to eat before and after the fast was great. Oh, and when you come visit, I'll make you and Bunky some.

9:57 PM

"One should guard against preaching to young people success in the customary form as the main aim in life. The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community."
-- Albert Einstein

9:05 PM

It is getting cold here in California. The high's have dropped from 80 to 70. Maybe I'll have to put on a jacket in a month or so. :)

9:02 PM

You know, the squirrels are black here in California.

9:00 PM

"Do not be wise in words - be wise in deeds."
-- Jewish Proverb

8:59 PM

Ahhhh... strawberry bagel... mmmmmmmmm... strawberry cream cheese. Breaking a fast, Jewish style. The chicken soup is heating up.

8:02 PM

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Sunday, October 8, 2000
I'm alive and well, just busy doing some interesting things like cooking my first chicken soup (using my mother's awesome recipe). I'll be fasting tonight and tomorrow and I won't be online until sundown tomorrow night. So, more from me then. Have a meaningful fast.

6:19 PM

Thursday, October 5, 2000
It took me six minutes to get home from work during lunch today instead of the 60 miles I used to drive when I commuted to Princeton. Going home for lunch means saving dough and being able to run errands. Being closer means I'll be able to do more things at night after work, too. In general, I'm pretty excited.
I drove home from work today in my car. The car arrived this morning. The transport took eight days total and it arrived seemingly unharmed with all its contents. I packed my bookshelf, two desks and two living room chairs in the car. Jason put together a table and two chairs while I was at work. We put together my desk tonight. My room and the rest of the place is slowly starting to look like an apartment. There are still boxes everywhere; we don't have a dining room table. We've survived without a TV so far. I'll need to get it when I finally get my hands on a Playstation 2 (which could be quite a while).
There have been plenty a late night discussion with Jason. Discussions about religion, morality, correct living and sexual conduct are the norm. I feel very lucky having a roomate that I respect immensely because he helps me question my existence and to raise the bar of my actions. He also cooked dinner for me twice this week because he hasn't started work yet. Though, he learned that beans aren't a good component for any of my meals.

9:45 PM

I found this while researching the gym providers my health plan supports.

5:26 PM

Wednesday, October 4, 2000
This morning, about 30% of the people waiting for the train put their fingers in their ears so they wouldn't hear the loud train stop. I noticed someone else do that when the bus stopped. I've never seen anyone do that in New York.

11:26 PM

Jason and I got a mini-network going so Cameras 2 and 4 are connected (while we are using the modems). Camera 4, which used to point outside to my dead-end street is now on the fridge looking at the kitchen sink (so you can count our dirty dishes when you're really really bored). Jason says don't forget to count the ones on the rack that are clean, too. Camera 2 is currently in the dining room (which hasn't had much dining and has no dining room table in in yet) looking at the kitchen. In fact, you could see Camera 4 in the image from Camera 2; it is about the size of one gray pixel. After you're done counting the dishes, see if you can find the camera.

11:23 PM

EPNS2 is good for something.

11:19 PM

Tuesday, October 3, 2000
Work is very cool. "Boot camp" started today. Lunch is almost over. More from E later.

1:55 PM

Sunday, October 1, 2000
Tomorrow is my first day at "dream job." :)

9:16 PM

A little Internet research produced some useful results. A block from work is a kosher bagel shop and a kosher food store (dairy, meat and other). On my way to work I can get bagels and whitefish for breakfast. On my way home from work I can get some matzos and blintzes, then stop at the Russian food store (a quarter mile from work) to pick up some caviar and pelmani. No problems getting the food I was raised on here. Now if only my car would arrive.

9:15 PM

My first major trip to the Safeway (the 24 hour supermarket blocks from my apartment) produced some unexpected surprises and disappointments. Cocoa Pebbles were on special, buy one get one free. I loaded it up with four of those. The Asian section produced some teriyaki sauce and a surprise showing of Korean Bul Go Ki marinade sauce. Bonus, that's a big shortcut to making it myself (not that I know how yet). The disappoints were the no shows: matzos and cheese blintzes. I guess these shouldn't be surprises. I can't find the Jewish in California supermarkets but I sure can find the Asian.

7:12 PM

I wrote this the night I arrived in California:

Moving across the country requires patience and a sense of humor. First a separate story... My grandparents went to Europe last month for a two-week vacation. They borrowed a suitcase from my parents. On the way back, their suitcase was lost. It had a lot of their clothes and all the gifts they bought. They were upset and my mom was ready to go shopping with them for undergarments and what not that were lost. About a week after they returned, the airline found the suitcase in Las Vegas. The airline brought the suitcase to my house a few days ago and my grandparents took out all their stuff.
My mom's theory was that the suitcase went on a joy ride because of the Free Tibet sticker that I put on it. I have trouble imagining somebody redirecting the suitcase at an airport in Europe because of a sticker. Strangely enough, the suitcase was returned to us with the sticker on the inside. There may be some truth to her theory.
Nevertheless, the suitcase made it back to my house in time for me to fill it with all my clothes, CDs and other stuff. I packed it today and took it with me to California. Well, I arrived at the airport, the other suitcase I traveled with came out, but this mysterious green suitcase never showed. So, here I am at my new place with a missing suitcase.
Wait, there's more! I ordered my new queen-sized Select Comfort air mattress three weeks ago. Before I ordered, they told me it would take four days to arrive at any destination in the U.S. That made me happy. My landlady would sign for it and it would be here when I arrived. Well, the first sign of a problem was when they called me the next day and told me they shipped it to the New Jersey address. They told me to reject it when UPS delivered it and the boxes would automatically be redirected to California. This sounded strange, but I believed it.
I called my roommate yesterday and asked him it if it arrived. Jason said it never did. I called up the guy in the store (who made the original mix-up) and he investigated. He learned that they didn't know where it was and that they would overnight another one so it would arrive here today and be here in time. Well, sure enough, it never came. I thought I was being smart when I put everything I needed for my first night in my carry on bag. I packed the bed sheets, pillowcases (the pillows were coming with the mattress shipment), a few nights of cosmetics and clothes to sleep in. So, much for being smart. Now I have a bed sheet and pillowcases with no bed or pillows, and no new clothes to wear for tomorrow.

Traveling does require patience and a sense of humor because only one day later the airline found my suitcase and two days later my mattress arrived.

2:13 AM

The first kitchen rule my roommate Jason learned: If you don't want Elan to eat something, put it on the top shelf of the cabinet.

12:17 AM

I am going to have to figure out what to do with the timezones on this web site. My web site hosting provider is located in Virginia, so all the times here are by default Eastern Daylight Savings time. That was a good thing, until now. I am actually writing this in the Pacific Daylight Savings timezone. So, although this entry is stamped 12:11 AM on October 1st, I wrote it at 9:11 PM on September 30.

12:11 AM

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