Willem's Planet – Page 223 – a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010

October 23, 2013October 23, 2013

Tuesday/ Coohills and Wynkoop

Our project manager treated us to a dinner at a French restaurant in lower downtown Denver at Coohills Restaurant. The dinner was wonderful, but the service was oh, so slow. I had apple tart and rum &raisin ice cream for dessert. We started at 7 pm and was finally done by 10 pm (dessert was served shortly before 10). Then when we walked back to the hotel, I noticed we crossed a street called Wynkoop Avenue. It turns out the street is named after Edward Wanshear Wynkoop (1836-1891), a founder of the city of Denver, Colorado. Wynkoop served as an officer in the First Colorado Volunteer Cavalry during the American Civil War, attaining the rank of major of volunteers, and was brevetted a lieutenant colonel in May 1865. The Wikipedia entry does not say as much, but he must have been a Dutchman with a last name of Wynkoop.

10-23-2013 6-13-15 PM — The Coohills Restaurant serves up fine French cuisine. Just be prepared to relax with some good French wine and wait for it!

wynkoop sm — Buy your wine off Wynkoop Ave in downtown Denver. ‘Wyn koop’ as Dutch or Afrikaans literally means to buy wine.

October 21, 2013October 21, 2013

Monday/ the new Benjamin is blue

IMG_8970 sm — The sun is just lighting up the snow caps on the mountains below our Boeing 757 this morning. This is somewhere between Seattle and Denver, I’m not exactly sure where !

IMG_8980 sm2 — The old ‘Benjamin’ is on the top and new one with the bluish tint and fancy holographic ribbon and orange bell, below. There’s a watermark of Benjamin Franklin in the white space. The orange jar with a bell on it has a lot must have taken several drops of ink to print onto the note!

IMG_8984 sm2 — And here are the backs of the bills.

I checked again today at lunch time with the bank if they had new $100 bills, and they did. The teller emerged from the vault with a crisp new stack of one hundred $100 bills (so : $10,000; enough to choke a horse?) and peeled off two for me. The new bills have a blue appearance and is not radically different from the old – but it does have some nice touches of color with the blue and the orange.

October 20, 2013October 20, 2013

Sunday/ dead car battery

IMG_8951 sm — It’s charged .. the trickle charger shows that my car battery is fully charged.

Last weekend I found the car battery was completely dead when I had jumped into the car to run an errand. Well – nothing to be done before last Monday’s early departure to Denver. So this Friday I found the cause : I left my car’s trunk lid not completely pushed shut .. and the light inside drained the battery completely. So this weekend I could borrow a trickle charger from Bryan to put some voltage in the battery, and it it’s taken care of. It did not lost its charge overnight, and the car started as usual two or three times when I took it out. I guess I don’t get to buy one of those shiny new cars at the car show, just yet. But I will, sooner or later.

October 20, 2013October 20, 2013

Saturday/ another car show

IMG_1696 sm2 — This is from an Audi SUV’s navigation system, showing the car’s location. Drive around in the real world, and hope it matches with the virtual world in the navigation system !

Here are a few selected pictures that I took at the 2014 Seattle Auto Show that we attended today.

IMG_1717 sm — This was the only Tesla on display. The front trunk aka ‘frunk’ is available for luggage. And this model had two jump seats in the trunk. The electric engine is in there somewhere in between in the lower part of the car.

IMG_1716 sm — The interior of the Tesla. Check out the enormous navigation and function panel, by far the largest in any of the cars.

IMG_1704 sm — Here’s the view of part of the showroom floor.

IMG_1690 sm — The yellow 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51 had plenty of admirers. It will set you back some $55,000.

IMG_1689 sm — Side view of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51.

IMG_1679 sm — Here is Dodge’s 2014 SRT Viper Roadster. (In white? No. Any other color but not white).

IMG_1661 sm — Lo and behold the all-electric car from BMW’s new I Division. The car features a body made entirely out of carbon fibre, for which BMW invested $100 million to build a plant in Moses Lake, here in the state of Washington.

IMG_1659 sm — And here is a 2014 BMW 435i xDrive Coupe, price tag $63,000.

October 19, 2013

Friday/ Windows 8.1

10-19-2013 11-14-36 PM — The Windows Start button is back – sort of – ‘by popular demand’, in Windows 8.1.

I downloaded and installed Windows 8.1. It works a little better now. It is finally ‘usable’, say some tech commentators. The Surface 2 tablet will come out just about as Apple is to announce its iPad 5 and possibly an improved iPad mini. I know Windows are trying to lure some business users to the Surface with its Windows applications, but I for one cannot just see myself using the Surface 2 for work – ever. Even if some day my firm would be able to put all the PC apps on the Surface, there are the obstacles of pure physics. I need all 15 inches of my notebook computer’s screen, and I need a proper keyboard with keys and key caps. And my finger will never, ever be as sharp as a mouse pointer.

Windows 8.1 sm — Windows 8.1 with a big bold arrow to provide tips of new functions. It seems the developers have realized that there are many desktop users, that use a MOUSE on a regular screen to navigate WIndows and not a FINGER on a touch screen.

October 18, 2013October 18, 2013

Thursday/ heading home

IMG_8925 sm — A tiny T-Rex underfoot in Denver airport’s B terminal floor is nibbling my toe.

The Royal Gorge — Here’s a picture from my archives : a 1999 road trip during which my friend Marlien (that’s her on the suspension bridge) and I stopped at the Royal Gorge close to Canon City, Denver. At 955 feet (291 m) above the river way below, the bridge held the record of highest bridge in the world from 1929 to 2003. On June 11, 2013, a wildfire broke out in the Royal Gorge Park of Canon city that ultimately destroyed 48 of 52 buildings in the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park.

The area by Canon City known as Garden Park is one of the richer dinosaur fossil beds in the U.S. A. Fossil hunters have been pulling bones from the ground here since 1877.

I’d better enjoy coming home this Thursday night, because for the next several weeks we are going to have to stick around until mid-day on Fridays. We are pushing hard to get all the design work for our project done before the disruptions of Thanksgiving and Christmas (good disruptions nonetheless!) are upon us. The year 2013 is running out on all of us. Yikes !

October 16, 2013October 17, 2013

Wednesday/ the Daniels & Fischer tower

IMG_8910 sm — The Daniels & Fisher (D&F) Tower is a distinctive Denver landmark. Built as part of the Daniels & Fisher department store in 1910, it was the tallest between the Mississippi and California at the time of construction, at a height of 325 feet (99 m).

We had a nice team dinner on Tuesday night at a restaurant called Willie G’s, a seafood and steak place. I had some halibut and vegetables with a nice white wine. It was quite a walk down there from the hotel, but I am sure the ‘exercise’ was good for me. And I got to check out the Denver clock tower (also called the Daniels & Fisher tower) from up close.

P.S. Soo .. the US Government is set to open in the morning, and the debt ceiling has been raised from its $16.7 trillion level to some level that will pay the bills through Jan 15 next year. Hooray?

October 16, 2013

Tuesday/ sunny but cold

It’s good that it’s a short walk from the hotel to my office building. It has suddenly become cold here in the mornings (29 °F/ -2°C). And : there some snowflakes in the air coming down from by lunch time. Nothing that stuck on the pavement or streets, though.

IMG_8901 sm — The early morning view from my hotel room on Tuesday. I work in the Denver Financial Center, the building with the square windows straight ahead. In front of it is the El Jebel Shrine a.k.a. the Sherman Street Event Center, with its Moorish Revival architectural style.

October 14, 2013October 14, 2013

Monday/ United 244

IMG_8883 sm — The view of our Boeing 757-200’s engine from seat 6F at 5 am at Seattle airport ..

I was on United 244 as is usual these Monday mornings. We left on time at 5.40 am but the pilot had some turbulence to deal with at the landing in Denver. I noticed four or five emergency vehicles next to the runway, which made me wonder if there was a concern that some airplanes could skid off the runway.

IMG_8887 sm — .. and right after landing at Denver airport three hours later.

October 14, 2013

Sunday/ fall colors

The green in the trees here in Seattle are turning into reds, oranges and yellows, as they are across the United States.

So why are leaves green to begin with? asks Wikipedia in its article on chlorophyll. Wikipedia : ‘It still is unclear exactly why plants have mostly evolved to be green. Green plants reflect mostly green and near-green light to viewers rather than absorbing it. Other parts of the system of photosynthesis still allow green plants to use the green light spectrum (for example, through a light-trapping leaf structure, carotenoids, and so on). Green plants do not use a large part of the visible spectrum as efficiently as possible. A black plant can absorb more radiation. For more, check out Wikipedia : Chlorophyll

IMG_8874 sm — This is a scene from 17th Ave on Capitol Hill in Seattle at about 5 pm on Sunday. It was sunny but not very warm (53 F/ 12 C).

October 13, 2013October 13, 2013

Saturday/ Ellensburg and the Wildcats

IMG_8867 sm — Central Washington Univesity’s mascot is a ‘wildcat’.

IMG_1565 sm — Two beautiful huskies at the Kittitas County Farmers market in downtown Ellensburg. Initiative 522 (poster on the table in the background) is to label genetically modified food.

IMG_1570 sm — The historic Davidson Building in downtown Ellensburg, completed in 1890.

Davidson Building 1905 — Just for fun : here is the same building, circa 1905.

IMG_1590 sm — This is a beautiful brick building on North Main Street that houses several businesses.

IMG_1577 sm — Here is the beautiful Art Deco entrance to the National Bank of Ellensburg Building. The building was constructed in 1930.

IMG_1571 sm — The ‘sitting bull’ statue with cowboy hat radiates a ‘bullish’ personality. A little unnerving, not?

IMG_1543 sm — This is Barge Hall, the main administrative building of Central Washington University. The institution was established in 1891 as the Washington State Normal School.

IMG_1530 sm — Bouillon Hall houses the CWU Testing Center.

IMG_1600 sm — Learn. Do. Live. Sign on a lamp post outside the library.

IMG_1626 sm — Nicholson Pavilion has basketball courts inside. We’re headed to Tomlinson Stadium close by for the football game.

IMG_1604 sm — The Wildcat mascot is saying hi to the radio station blaring music and announcements.

IMG_1616 sm — The start of the game. On the far left there was a billow of white fire extinguisher cloud to add some drama for the entrance of the Wildcats football team. Crimson and black are their colors. They finally came through 27-24 after a deficit of 3-17 !

IMG_1637 sm — Bryan and I are headed back to Seattle. This is Old Highway Ten that goes through the town of Cle Ellum before it joins up with I-90 to go over the Cascades. The landscape and vegetation is very, very different from Western Washington across the Cascades.

IMG_1652 sm — We have arrived in Seattle. The artwork marks the entrance into the Mount Baker tunnel on I-90 that leads into the Mt Baker neighborhood.

On Saturday morning we did a little tour of historic downtown Ellensburg (the established in 1883). We stopped for a short time at the Kittitas County Farmers Market as well. Then we went to Central Washington Univeristy’s Tomlinson Stadium for a football game. The CWU Wildcats took on Dixie State University (from Utah) in its annual Homecoming contest. Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school.

October 12, 2013

Friday/ drive to Ellensburg

Bryan and I drove out to Ellensburg on Friday (two hours and some from Seattle, depending on traffic). Bryan’s dad Dale received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from his alma mater in Ellensburg, Central Washington University.

Seattle to Ellensburg — Interstate 90 and Snoqualmie Pass gets one from Seattle across the Cascades to central Washington State and Ellensburg (pop. 18,000). The Cascade Range (or Cascades) is a major mountain range, extending from southern British Columbia (in Canada) through Washington and Oregon all the way into Northern California.

IMG_1493 sm2 — This is Snoqualmie Pass (elevation 3,022′ /921 m) ans we are approaching the summit. The pass can get snowy in winter time and that sturdy barrier is to offer some protection against avalanches.

IMG_1495 sm2 — These are the ski slopes (see the ski lifts?) at The Summit at Snoqualmie Pass. Yes, there is something important missing on the slopes : snow! Opening day is still several weeks away; anywhere from mid-November to the first 10 days of December.

IMG_1508 sm2 — Our arrival into Ellensburg. The Red Horse Diner, sporting Pegasus the flying horse (Mobil’s old iconic logo), is just one of many retro diners and gas stations in and around Ellensburg.

October 11, 2013October 12, 2013

Thursday/ going home

IMG_8859 sm — The scene at the taxi stand on the 3rd floor at Seattle airport. I’m about to jump into the next Yellow Cab taxi.

Thursday’s trip home from Denver went without a hitch. There was a shortage of Yellow Cab taxis at Seattle airport, though. The driver told me that they are sometimes kept away from the pick-up points, and then three or four flights arrive at the same time.

IMG_8847 sm — Here’s the Boeing 737 bird from United Airlines sitting at the gate at a wet Denver airport. It was just a rain shower, though.

October 10, 2013

Wednesday/ Wells Fargo in Denver

Wells Fargo became my bank after my home mortgage had ended up with them some 10 years ago. (This was after the initial mortgage that had been issued had changed hands 3 or 4 times between short-term mortgage brokers. I am very sure all of this was unnecessary, and symptoms of the US real estate bubble of 2007). The bank has been around a long time, founded during the California gold rush in 1852. It survived the collapse of the California banking system in 1855, and hey – it also survived the US financial crisis of 2008. It is Warren Buffett’s favorite bank and getting ever larger (which is not necessarily a good thing!). It has assets of $1.44 trillion and deposits of $1.01 trillion. It’s difficult to comprehend how much money that is!

IMG_8508 sm — This is the inside of an enormous atrium in the downtown Wells Fargo center that I sit in and have lunch sometimes. It is known locally as the ‘Cash Register Building’. It is 698 feet (213 m) high, the third tallest building in Denver.

IMG_8821 sm — A teller’s daily cash book from 51 years ago, from a little museum exhibit here in the Wells Fargo bank in downtown Denver.

October 8, 2013

Tuesday/ will cooler heads prevail?

Soo .. how is the USA today? Well : never mind that it’s day #8 of the US Government shutdown. 1. The debt ceiling deadline is approaching. Will we breach it? What will that do? Here’s erstwhile large animal veterinarian Ted Yoho, now a Tea Party congressman from Florida weighing in today : ‘I think, personally, it [not raising the debt ceiling], would bring stability to the world markets’, since they would be assured that the United States had moved decisively to curb its debt. 2. There’s a story on the front page of the USA today of a 9-year old boy that slipped through three layers of airport security, and got onto an airplane from Minneapolis to Las Vegas. How was that possible? 3. The new $100 bills are officially out. Over lunch time I actually went to the giant branch of Wells Fargo Bank to see if they have the newly designed $100 bill for me to trade for an old one. (No. Maybe by Christmas, said the teller).

IMG_8826 sm — Here’s the cover page of the USA Today.

October 7, 2013

Monday/ Denver blue sky

I had a window seat this morning and slept all the way to Denver. There was snow in the city and at the airport on Friday (it’s early for snow here), but not a trace of it remained by this morning.

IMG_8803 sm — Our arrival at 9 am at Denver airport this morning.

October 6, 2013October 6, 2013

Sunday/ crab cakes and oysters

My friend and colleague Gus arrived in Seattle for a few days of work here this week, and invited me out to lunch today. Since it was a blue sky sunny day, we picked the Seattle downtown waterfront to go to and ended up at Elliot’s Oyster House on Pier 56. Hey! We can order Oyster Rockefeller, said Gus. I did not know that’s a baked (or broiled) oyster. It’s quite good. (I’m too squeamish to eat raw oyster). We also ordered Dungeness crab cakes. I learned something new about the Dungeness crab as well. They are named after Dungeness, a small coastal community right here in Washington State.

IMG_8785 sm — Here are the Dungeness crab cakes ..

IMG_8784 2sm — .. and these are the ‘Oysters Rockefeller’ : oysters on the half-shell that have been topped with other ingredients and then baked or broiled. These had butter, bacon and a hollandaise sauce on.

October 6, 2013

Saturday/ Oblivion

I took out the DVD for the recent sci-fi flick ‘Oblivion’, and we watched it on Saturday night. I would have to agree with the ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ website that says its consensus is that the film is ‘visually striking but thinly scripted’. I have trouble latching onto any Tom Cruise character emotionally anyway, but I he did a good job to carry the movie. I see the film was shot in the summer in Iceland, so the spectacular scenery of black lava rock and snow is actually real and not visual effects. It is hard to say what is real and what is not in movies nowadays!

Oblivion-starring-Tom-Cruise — Here is Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) in what Wikipedia describes as ‘the single most difficult scene to film in the entire movie’ : when Harper takes a break to admire the view and waters a flower; it was filmed by having Cruise sit next to a 800-foot (250 meters) drop at the top of Iceland’s Earl’s Peak, which is only accessible by helicopter.

October 5, 2013

Friday/ Denver airport’s ‘devil horse’

IMG_8773 sm — Whoah! What was that? What is that?! I was too shocked for a moment to realize I should take a picture of the blue horse in the fields off the main road to Denver airport.

This picture is from Thursday’s taxi ride out to Denver airport. I looked up, and there it was : a cobalt blue horse out on the plains – so out of place it looks like an alien creature. Turns out it has been there for five years already, and despite criticism is likely to stay, as NBC’s Today website reported here.

October 4, 2013October 4, 2013

Thursday/ sleep like a panda

I don’t come in ‘too late’ from my trips to Denver on Thursday nights (about 10pm), but it’s hard to just step into the house and go to sleep. I’m too excited to be home; there’s a mailbox full of junk mail; and I can make something to eat if I missed dinner. I can also check if there is any worthwhile news of the government shutdown (no, none), or .. I can watch the pandas on Atlanta Zoo’s panda cam on the computer. I sleep like the one on the right, but I love the way that other cub is sleeping on its back. Aw.

Panda cam — ABC News still photo from the Atlanta Fulton County Zoo’s “Panda Cam.” The cam shows the progress of twin newborn giant pandas, the first twin panda cubs born in the U.S. in over 25 years.