Jon Sagara

Uh, dude, I think you missed.  The rim.  Completely.

One.  And you're looking at it.

Looks like it's time for another good old fashioned Sagara Science Experiment.  The article makes some fantastic claims:

Compact fluorescents emit the same light as classic incandescents but use 75% or 80% less electricity. [...]

Swirl bulbs don't just work, they pay for themselves. They use so little power compared with old reliable bulbs, a $3 swirl pays for itself in lower electric bills in about five months.  Screw one in, turn it on, and it's not just lighting your living room, it's dropping quarters in your pocket. The advantages pile up in a way to almost make one giddy. Compact fluorescents, even in heavy use, last 5, 7, 10 years. Years. Install one on your 30th birthday; it may be around to help illuminate your 40th.  [Emphasis mine]

I don't particularly care too much about the money savings — although that would be a nice benefit — but the convenience of having to replace a lightbulb only every 5 or so years is totally worth it to me.  So, I'll give it a shot.  I've heard that the CFLs still have a small delay after the switch is flipped on compared to their incandescent brethren, but I'm willing to give it a shot.  If the delay isn't unbearable, I think we may have found ourselves a new type of lightbulb.

I finally uploaded my pictures from the Red Sox / A’s game.  You can view them here.

Like I said, my camera has a -63x zoom, so hopefully Eoff will upload his soon.

This past weekend, Kelly, Kris, and Chuck, along with the help of Kathy's friend Connie, swooped into Kathy's house and did a mini remodel of the kitchen.  She's had the same "interesting" wallpaper for who knows how long, and Kelly and Connie had decided that enough was enough.

Here's the old wallpaper flavors:

And here are the after shots:

Oddly enough, the first thing Kathy noticed when she walked through the door after returning from a weekend in Montana was that one of her decorations was out of place:  What's that doing here???

And, of course, here is the money shot:

I went with Danny, Matt, and Josh to see Little Pedroia and the BoSox play the Oakland A's at the Coliseum.  He did okay.  He played second the whole game, and was 1 for 4, with his sole hit being a line drive to the outfield that he could have potentially stretched into a double.  He also turned a double play with the short stop. 

The zoom on my camera sucks @$$, so hopefully Danny will post some pics soon.  From my camera, all of the players look like termites. 

Observation: garlic fries are the best food invented.  EVAR.

We are pleased to announce the inception of a new project: Sagara 2.0.

Sagara 2.0 is still in the beta phase.  We expect to move into the Release Candidate phase within the next three months, and we will go gold somewhere around March 12, 2007.

Some of the new features include:

• Upgraded user interface (better-looking than daddy)
• Continuing our reputation for excellence (has mommy’s warm and endearing personality)

Here are some screen shots of a preview version of the new release:

Thank you for your continued business.  We look forward to working with you in the future!

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Aw, who the hell am I kidding — we’re having a little one!

Last night was my 10-year high school reunion at the Heidrick Ag History Center in Woodland.  I quickly realized two things:

• I don't hang out with anyone in my class anymore, with the exception of Matt Schoech, whom I see on occasion at Rajiv's.  But even that will change, because he's moving out of Rajiv's, and in with his girlfriend.  Sellout.
• Girls age better than guys.

All I kept thinking last night was, "This is so weird."  To go 10 years without seeing people you're used to seeing everyday, and then to see them all in one place again, is just strange.  But it was a good strange.  I got to talk to a lot of people last night and catch up on what's been happening in their lives.  It seemed like the night flew by.  When they turned the lights on at 11pm, I was sad to see everyone go.

Various fun bits of information that I learned:

• A friend's parents, who had been divorced for 12 years, have recently gotten back together.
• A couple of friends, who rumor has it had been separated, "reunited" on the dance floor last night.  It was special.  I think she's going to be very sore tomorrow.
• One buddy who is in the Marines is a mountaineering instructor.  He teaches Marines how to ski, climb mountains, etc.  Oh, and he's deathly afraid of heights.
• One of my friend's mom moved to Montana.  I'm so jealous.
• I still can't dance.

Anyway, it was a blast, and I hope everyone had as much fun as me.  It was especially nice to catch up with all of my fellow WCS alums: Johannah, Lara, Katie, Janelle, Lina, Rachel… all of them. 

Special thanks go out to Erin Burke and Tracy Plumb for putting together such a kickass evening.  Good job!

Gary Traynham has a column up where my former high school coach, Rob Rinaldi, talks about coaching Dustin, and his potential to shoot for the stars in the coming years.  Reprinted here because the Daily Democrat's articles disappear into the ether after several days.

A prime example
By GARY TRAYNHAM/Sports Editor
 
 
Rob Rinaldi remembers when Bret Pedroia's little brother would tag along and participate in Woodland High School baseball practices.

The sixth grader would jump in and take ground balls with the regulars and want 'em hit as hard as they came for the others.

He would get a chance to swing the bat too, and he didn't want the pitchers to ease off.

"If you took something off the pitches, he got mad," Rinaldi recalls. "He still hit as many line drives as the others."

The former Wolves coach knew the young guy would be something special from the first time he saw him. His impression has not changed.

Rinaldi added that the tiny kid even took some left-handed swings with success.

"He has unbelievable coordination."

Now the head baseball coach at Pleasant Grove High School in Elk Grove, Rinaldi is smiling about his former team leader jumping into the Boston Red Sox lineup this week.

Few of that stock come along in a coach's lifetime. Rinaldi coached major leaguers Tony Torcato and Steve Andrade and several other pro signees, but Pedroia's attitude, work ethic, production and confidence rank second to none.

"The more you're around the kid the more special you realize he is," Rinaldi continues. "He has incredible hands and instincts for the game. And confidence.

"He just doesn't believe anyone can beat him at anything. Wherever he has gone at every level, he has never been in awe. He feels like he should have been there last year, and he has succeeded at every single level."

Pedroia broke his leg playing quarterback for the Douglass Junior High School football team, but he was back playing baseball that spring and taking aim on playing shortstop for the Wolves that summer.

Bobby Hawke, Paul Pinegar, Jason Ball and Jace Dennis were all excellent athletes who had played shortstop at the lower levels, but Pedroia made an immediate impression even though not back to top speed.

After two days of practice, Rinaldi knew who would be his shortstop for the next three seasons.

"When he was a sophomore, he was the leader of the team. Nobody challenged it. The same thing at ASU (Arizona State University) and Pawtucket and other stops. If they keep him around long enough, he'll probably be running the Red Sox."

By the 10th grade, he was regularly traveling to Sacramento to condition under noted trainer Al Biancani.

Nobody spent more time fielding ground balls and swinging at balls in the batting cage.

"He didn't leave anything to chance," Rinaldi says. "I don't know how many can say that. And I still say what he has done is amazing.

"This is not the Kansas City Royals, and Boston is in a pennant race, and you're in Anaheim against the hottest team in baseball the last two months."

Today Rinaldi continues to hear queries about Dustin from coaches who were in opposing dugouts during his high school career.

"They all remember him. They swear in three years they never got him out. We'd go to those Modesto tournaments every year and they would ask about him. He made an impression on everybody he came across. He played hard, had a lot of fun and got the most out of his ability."

When he received a scholarship to Arizona State, Rinaldi was convinced he would be a good Pac-10 player but uncertain of bigger conquests. He was unsure if he would be a starter.

"If he was just a bench player at ASU, that's making it. And he dominated in the Pac-10 for three years."

Pedroia made him a believer.

"After that first year at ASU, I said, 'He's going to make it.' He just gets it done at every level. That was the first time I could tell myself (he would make it to the majors) and believe it. When he went to ASU and did what he did. I went on record that I won't ever say the kid can't do anything again. At that point, the sky was the limit. He was going to do whatever he was going to do."

Throughout Pedroia's career, the assessments have been the same. He's a very good player, but he's small, lacks speed, not enough power and doesn't possess a great arm.

And the results have always been the same. He wins and becomes a team leader. His skeptics have all been proven wrong.

"Without a doubt, he's an overachiever," Rinaldi says. "We've seen incredible athletes with incredible work ethics and great ballplayers and they never got close to the majors.

"And he makes it in two years. It's such an accomplishment.

"I think a lot of Woodland kids have been able to look at that and put no limits on themselves. . They've seen Dustin, and it tells you the sky's the limit."

Congratulations to the Pedroia family, and especially to Dustin on being called up to the Bigs with the Boston RedSox.  From some Rhode Island news site:

Rookie infielder Dustin Pedroia was in the starting lineup for the second straight day since joining the Red Sox, but at a different position.

Pedroia, who started at shortstop Tuesday night, replaced Mark Loretta at second base last night.

In his debut Tuesday night, the diminutive Pedroia stung the ball twice. In his first at-bat he was robbed of a two-run single on a leaping grab by shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who turned the bases-loaded, one-out smash into a rally-killing double play.

“I was nervous going up to hit. When I hit it I thought it was a single and two runs and we were ahead,” said Pedroia last night. “When he caught it, I felt like my heart stopped. It happened so fast.”

Pedroia, though, notched his first big-league hit in his next at-bat, a line single to center in the fourth.

“That was cool,” said Pedroia.

In his other at-bat, Pedroia whiffed on a 2-and-2 pitch with two on and two out in the sixth.

Pedroia’s debut came in front of his parents, his fiancée Kelli Hatley, and a couple of friends. He said he was expecting a larger contingent early next week for the three games in Oakland because he grew up in northern California, in the Sacramento area.

That’s freakin’ awesome!

Edit: My claim to fame here is that I played baseball with Dustin’s older brother, Brett, while growing up and all throughout high school.  Dustin was always the pesky little brother that wouldn’t go away, but his persistence paid off.  He was always a scrapper, and I distinctly remember that our high school coach was very impressed with him at a young age, and would set aside time specifically to work with him.

Anyway, best wishes to Dustin, and here’s wishing to a long and storied RedSox career!

From Pierre Foods:

A giant 8.40 oz. sandwich with two specially seasoned, breaded pork patties. Patties are shaped like real pork chops [WTF are they made out of?!?] and breading stays crunchy out of the microwave. All on the world's greatest microwavable bun. 

A frozen-food, vending machine delight.  Take a look at its nutrition info.

I first saw one of these when I worked at VERITAS.  They replaced the cafeteria crew with vending machines (BTW, this is sign #1 that your company is tanking, and that you should find new employment post-haste; it only gets worse after they liquidate the food people), and this was one of the choices.  To my knowledge, nobody was ever brave enough to try one.  Except maybe this guy.

Obviously if they're still around, there's a market for them.  Which begs the question, who really eats these things?  And why?