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I’ve been accused MANY times of always being a devil’s advocate. Perhaps its a fair observation, supported by years of empirical evidence.

Anyhow, I wanted to shout from the hilltops that I finally have a new phone! Yes, the long painful days of impossible-to-understand conversations are (hopefully) behind me. Finally, clients won’t avoid my calls, and my mom won’t keep asking if there is foghorn in the background.

In doing the upgrade to the Treo 650 from the 600, I had to migrate within Cingular from the “blue network” over to the “orange network”. I had heard the horror stories about conversion, and dragged my heels for weeks.

In the end, this went smoothly…so maybe Cingular is learning! I bought the phone at a Cingular store, sat down with the guy for 15 min to fill out forms, and the phone was on the network by the time I rode the elevator back to my office.

My thanks to Curt, for working out the kinks 🙂

My Russian wife-to-be wrote me today…still at no prodding from me. For the first time, I think we can see where this is heading. Its the beginning of a “maybe you’re the one” angle. So, I’ve included a few excerpts (the email was longer than normal).

Good day my dear. Today I could find a free time to write to you the letter. Weather at us spring.

I want to tell to you today about my girlfriend. I see her almost every day. We go in a bar in the evening. In a bar we like to play billiards. … [She] very good person to which can open all secrets. She the true friend and always helps if something will go not so. … For example I told to her about that that got acquainted with you. She was glad for me.

Only she asked me if I shall want to meet you that as I can leave to you. I could not answer it a question. Because to go in other country it is necessary to find out the person well at first. Now many girls vanish in other countries. With them men get acquainted and invite them to itself. Then girls get in slavery and are compelled to be engaged in prostitution or still something. I do not want it. I believe in real love.

I believe that in my life there will be a person of my dream. He will love me, to give gifts. There can be this the man you? I like you. I should finish the letter. While.

For my money, the best line is the close. “While.”

I moved to San Francisco seven years ago next month. Ever since I moved, I can remember seeing a neon sign for a restaurant called “The Patio”, which is located in a central location that I pass a few times a week.

I remember this restaurant NOT for the great food and NOT for the amazing ambiance, but for the mere fact that is has never opened in the entire time I’ve been here. It has remained in EXACTLY the state you see in the picture below.

Now, being a man who cares less about important things and more about curiosities, I took this photo, and decided to answer my long running question: “How much money does it cost to operate this neon sign?”

The good news, as I discovered is that neon signs are extremely efficient. “The average neon sign only consumes about 0.8 amps. This equates to about 96 watts (about equal to a single lightbulb). Average cost to operate your neon sign is only about 20 cents per day (if you operate it 24 hours per day).” Therefore, this sign has cost the owner of this space only about $500 for the seven years!

Another website quoted about $3.25/month to operate a neon “OPEN” sign 24×7. That’s about $275 for seven years. “The Patio” is twice as many letters, so perhaps we’re back in the $500 range for seven years.

I’m surprised and impressed…and I’ve lost my loyal blog readers after paragraph 3. Did I mention it is raining again today?

I think Jeff did a nice job selecting the best of our photos from the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show this weekend. The range of displays was truly amazing and gave us a TON of good ideas. Sooooo, as I am want to do, I have delved into our photo scraps and chosen a few oddities for my blog.

So we begin at the beginning. The event was at the Historic Cow Palace, which really looks like a big blimp hangar. It was built in 1941.

In addition to about 20 artistic installation gardens, the show includes an endless display of products for sale, including my absolute favorite. (Yes James…I worked rain into THIS blog entry too!)

At this point, since its past my bedtime, I’m just going to let the remaining pictures speak for themselves. All of these come from the installation gardens themselves. As you will see, the range of themes is quite broad. (Don’t miss the little people of Stonehenge below…”so you’re building a henge are you?”)

More and more, my morning route to work follows a slower, winding path along the waterfront. Frankly, I can sit behind other cars on the freeway anytime, and my path less traveled fills my head with photos yet to be taken. This morning, I stopped at a new spot, and took some quick shots that may turn into something. A nice moody b&w across the bay, and a couple more shots for my graffiti series.