Category Archives: Personal

Life updates, reflections, and everything that doesn’t fit neatly into another category.

Dave Chappelle

Personal

Glenda and I just ran into Dave Chapelle in the new mall on Market Street in San Francisco. That’s pretty neat in and of itself, as he’s a funny dude, but what struck me more was how darn polite he was.

We got to the escalator at the same time and we stopped to let him on but he insisted we go first even though his friend was already ahead of us. Once we were on the escalator we realized who he was, confirmed by someone on the opposite escalator saying his name in surprise. I dorked out and snapped a quick photo with my Blackberry. As we started to walk away he called out and I turned around and tried to figure out why in the world Chappelle would be calling us, it turns out Glenda had dropped her parking ticket and he picked it up and gave it to her.

So not only was he polite and unassumming, he saved us $30. Someone’s mother raised him right. I don’t know what he was doing hanging out in a mall in San Francisco with a skateboard, but I sure hope he had a nice night too.

Premium Gas

Personal

I had twittered about giving my car premium gas after it passed 100,000 miles, and Christian Montoya emailed me this note which I think you guys might find interesting:

I just wanted to let you know that this is a dangerous thing! The difference between regular, plus and premium gas is the octane rating… 87, 91, and 93 if I remember correctly. Every car has its own rating, and I am going to guess that your car is 87 or 91. A lot of people think that giving a car a higher grade of gas is a way to give it “extra treatment,” but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The higher octane rating means that the gas *burns hotter*, and if you give an 87 octane car 93 octane gas, you are making the combustion process burn much hotter than what the engine is designed to handle, making the car wear out much faster! If you gave your car premium gas every day it would wear out sooner than expected, and giving it premium gas even one day (like a birthday) is not a present at all. If you want your car to last as long as possible, stick to the octane rating it calls for.

I hope this helps! From a reader (and engineer) to you… no more Premium, okay?

Update: Be sure to check out the comments, a ton of great feedback.

Small Handheld Recorder

Personal

I’ve gotten some great recommendations for podcasting equipment for when I’m at home, but because I spend so little time at home that’s not practical for 95% of the time when I’d want to be podcasting. Once I was interviewed by NPR and the lady had this awesome pocket thing with a fuzzy mic on the end, the sound quality was great on it. Does anyone have recommendation for something I could carry in my pocket that sounds better than what I use now?