Entry

Today I drove up to Fairfax, CA for a hike. I am guessing that most people who live up their were rock stars in either the 1970's or 1980's or work at Autodesk or commute into the city. 
A couple of people asked what I thought they did. Maybe they all work at the College of Marin when they are not cashing their check from Toto IV. 

I wonder if it were not for the Superbowl or Chicago Albums, would anyone know about Roman Numerals? 

Speaking of measurements, I always wonder when and why the United States announced, we are switching to the metric system! and then they decided they would not, was it longer or shorter than prohibition? 

I know it was while I was in Elementary School and I was learning both systems, and then I was told that the metric system was not needed, then I watched Cosmos. 

I do know now that Star Trek used the English system on the original show but switched to the Metric system. The only countries that do not use the Metric system is Liberia and Burma! 

Turns out that there is a poodle larger than the standard and the name is Imperial. 

The weather has been fairly nice after a consistent menu of rain, which is needed to grow stuff..

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

Perspecitive

I had one of those days where things were put in the proper perspective. Heard word on the street that Apple was coming out with the new device that would get people to queue about round the block. I never buy the first version of anything. In January 2011 it will be twice as good and half the price and Nelson will laugh at you for having the old device. 

It turns out, that you can use your iPod touch as a Kindle and that the Kindle gives you access to public domain books for free. 

Was at the club house and I spoke to one of the regulars who told me that he got a job. A few weeks ago I showed him how to use Craigslist and how to apply for jobs. 

It was a part time job but he was happy. It took a few minutes out of my day to make a huge difference in this person's life. Sometimes its the small things that give perspective and make you appreciate what you have, especially the intangibles. 

Went to the Food Bank where I moved more rice than I am not sure of any metaphor of someone who moved a lot of rice. 

At Dinner we debated which Presidents ate Nachos. 

http://gallery.me.com/hydra9/101106

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

Pictures from this weekend

Wanted to thank everyone who came out to the Oakland Happy Hour

Here are the pictures

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2010/1/24_Oakland_and_10_Miles_and_Hockey.html

Tomorrow is our first Book Exchange

http://www.meetup.com/30plus/calendar/12365205/

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

Shaving Cream and an exciting BART ride....

I stopped the train. 

Anyway earlier in the day I noticed I was plum out of shaving cream. I made a mental note to myself to buy shaving cream when I BARTED in after toiling.

I took BART because we have been getting this crazy short storms. They are fun to watch if you are inside but I imagine if you are out and about, not so much. 

As I was early sat in a Starbucks and watched this guy wearing Pajama pants get into a white van that pulled over. I made up a whole bunch of stories about that. 

Purchased a canister of shaving cream and as San Francisco is going green, I got a paper bag. When I was in the bar, people thought I was sneaking a bottle but I had to show it was shaving cream.

The BART ride was the most interesting, Was minding my own business when I saw a guy standing up and swaying back and forth towards another passenger. The other guy rightfully got weirded out and moved seats, at this point, the odd fellow collapses and I rush over to see if he is having a heart attack or a fit. Another guy puts his umbrella and I shout to the driver (we were in the front car). What was interesting is how some people got very involved and others were annoyed they were delaying in getting to the burger troff. He seemed to be responsive but a little out of it. I made sure if he got sick he would not choke. He did not speak English. The heat arrived and they wanted to know if the brown paper bag was with the person who collapsed. 

The indifferent people from Heald College Nursing program called on their cell phone complaining about the other passengers over reacting. They said, I am taking nursing classes and he is not having a seizure. OK, fair enough but are we supposed to ignore this person in the aisle of the train? 

The heat came on and took the guy away as he was able to get up but was out of it. He seemed not to happy to see the police. 

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

Trip to Maryland MLK weekend

I am in Dulles due to a weather delay going to San Francisco.

It is kind of odd as everything else had no delay. There was no line in security at Dulles. It was me, just me. 

They inspected everything... everything...Which was fine because of the weather delays. 

It has actually been a fairly smooth trip except for the lack of Satellite radio in the rental car. 

On Saturday night I was invited to a multi-year Douglas reunion. I am sure readers of my autobiography, would wonder, did'nt you go to Oxon Hill? Did'nt you get your Pinto stolen,from the parking lot of your high school that did not have a corn field as a land mark? 

The answer is yes, I went to Oxon Hill but knew many people from Marlton and Madison.

It was good seeing everyone at the Happy Hour. The bottles of wine were half off so buying by the glass was for chumps. Will be posting photos when I am back in Daly City.

Cosmo was good when he was not having doubts about his doginess. 

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

Two silver medals but at least the weather has improved in Maryland

In a really good way, it was a really busy week. Getting ready to fly to Maryland to celebrate the Holidays a bit late (it is FAR cheaper to fly on MLK weekend compared to Christmas plus the planes are not full of people who normally do not fly..) 

I am going to talk my family into celebrating Thanksgiving a few weekends early. Maybe if I bring tapes of Barry Sanders era Lions games. 

We are going to do a blind wine tasting. I am giving my no drinking in January and February a hiatus while I am in Maryland. Still not a huge fan of Maryland liquor laws. They are silly. If you are wanting to be governor of Maryland just say you will allow Trader Joe to sell Chimay. That is low hanging fruit. I am surprised that Maryland allows the use of remote controls on Sunday. 

Had a few good runs this week and one bad one when my chance to look smooth and debonair went out the door. When I tumbled at night I made a loud crash and was running in a bog group. Luckily I did not bring down bikes or a row of tourists on Segways. But I got up like Apollo in Rocky I and despite gravel embedded I finished the run. May be influenced by Dean Karnazes's books where he runs long distances AND eats pizza with pineapples..

At pub quiz both times I felt like Jim Kelly in a 1990's Super Bowl, as we finished 2nd. I considered looking up a boxer who had a bunch of title shot but never won but that is one of the things that would have to be explained like the Japanese show where the guy fights monsters with a guitar, even people from Japan have no idea what I am on about...

When they make an American remake of Slumdog Millionaire that will be part of my montage. I just want to have the big Bollywood dance on the BART Platform. May be too narrow. 

India is one of those places I really want to go to and at the same time never want to go there ever. Would consider going to Goa. 

Started doing these post run ice soaks in the unheated upper pool. I wonder if the other residents will allow me to keep the upper pool unheated. 

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

Run in the afternoon

In the late afternoon/early evening I went for a run from just past AT&T park to just past Pier 23 along the Embarcadero.

The weather was just about perfect for running. I find it a bit odd when running outside is perfect and you look inside and you see folks slaving over a mac hine. 

Saw loads of dogs and other runners. It was perfectly flat without having to deal with intersections (If I can avoid intersections that is ideal) 

Here are the races I am planning on running with links to register. 

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Apl6OTL5ZAtcdDI2b3NvcU5KaE1XdFV3SmlpaDdMakE&hl=en

Got new fred containers from Fleet Feet. Probably held onto my last pair a wee bit too long. If you want them, you can have them as they are demoted to walking to the clubhouse. 

Also after long runs soaking my legs in the non-heated Crown Colony pool. 

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-285--12810-0,00.html

Even though many learned folks told me to do this I read this article about Thomas Jones

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704130904574644613364152506.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

An Asha Clone

A few days ago, I mentioned that I wanted the eventual replacement of the Marcusmobile to be a Tesla S Model that will be coming out in either 2011

http://www.teslamotors.com/models/index.php

My Facebook friends correctly stated that most likely I would not want to pay retail, which is true. My reputation for being frugal is fairly strong. 

It may surprise people that I have almost no interest in free day either at a restaurant or a movie or a museum. I do not care how much I can save on Black Friday, you will never find me in the parking lot of Wal Mart to save $5 on a toaster. I do not like crowds or queues and my main satisfaction does not come from getting something for free or for less but rather less than the other people. Looking around and knowing I am getting the same experience for less, makes me think I figured something out.

An example is last Thursday when I went to Benihana in Burlingame with a friend on Thursday. We both had a birthday in December and were able  to get a $30 voucher at Benihana

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2009/12/21_Free_stuff_on_your_birthday_in_San_Francisco.html

Amazingly they let us both use the vouchers, so our $70 meal was $10. If it was 2 could dine at Benihana for $10 I would be nowhere near that joint but looking around, and knowing I had paid less that pretty much every body made the Ocean Treasure that much better. 

When I got back to Daly City, I saw my cat Asha in the Parking lot. My indoor cat had somehow gotten out of the apartment and was now loose. So like a crazy person, I tried to entice the cat to me but she darted off into the distance. Went inside to get some cat food to entice her back. My cat was inside. So it was obvious that my cat had either cloned or teleported herself. 

It would have been far funnier if I would have captured the wayward cat and returned to my apartment with the duplicate. What would have happened if the two got mixed up and I ended up tossing Asha out on the street like Fred Flinstone's cat (Baby Puss) 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Puss_(The_Flintstones)

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

52

One of my goals for the year is to read 52 books. 

I have tried and failed at this goal in the past but I am trying a different approach. 

Focused on books that can be completed on a flight from SFO. So more Catcher in the Rye over Atlas Shrugged. 

The first couple days of the year were slow so I was able to bang out The Selfish Gene and Eating the Dinosaur. Then went to the library and picked up Ultramarathon Man. This was one of those books that I kept getting recommended and I was told that I could relate to it. 

I thought these people were out of their mind but amazingly with some details changed, it could reflect some incidents in my life

-he discusses winning a race. 

(I won one race in high school when my coach rested most of the other runners and we ran against Friendly, Parkdale and Bladensburg) 

-Taking a long time off from running (my hiatus was a bit longer but the run was WAY shorter) 

-We got our fred containers from Fleet Feet and run in the same area, he is simply running way further and much faster. 

Then it goes into a completely different direction as he ran this 100 mile race. I may do that in my busiest month. 

So on my way to run in the Marina I ran into Greg Rosenberg who told me that he would be running 24 hours for charity. Will post a link. 

This is my track of 52 books in 2010.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tQUyrsgaf0pw0zhNJMq7YTQ&output=html

Will host a Book Exchange with Urban Diversion in the near future.

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

Raiders Game

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2010/1/3_Raiders_Ravens_Game.html

"Picked up my guitar and played, just like yesterday"

Went to Oakland to see the Raiders do battle with the Ravens. Imagine silly helmets having a collision.

While waiting for my friend at BART, I saw some Jehovah Witnesses and I was sort of hoping they wanted to have a chat with me about their beliefs so I can ask them about the age of the earth and that type of thing (in a very friendly manner). Eventually one of them approached me and asked me if I spoke Spanish. We spoke Spanish/English with the limited Spanish I know and I taught them a little English. 

We took BART and I was expecting loads of fist to cuffs but besides some fans yelling, everyone was very well behaved. 

The Raiders fans are like Star Wars fans expecting the next Episode not to be an insult. 

I picked up my ticket at the will call office and then we walked around the stadium. When I got to the gate, I realized I had lost my ticket. Went to a couple of places where I could have lost it but to no avail. Went to two offices and it looked like that I would need to purchase another ticket

Now this is the time of year when people ask about New Years Resolution. Mine is not get angry about small things. It would have been $35 for another ticket, not worth the extra sauce of anger. I went back to the place where I picked up my Groupon ticket. All was back in place AND we both got vouchers for a free lunch at Chipotle. (If you are a fan of the greatest blog, sending us Gift cards to Starbucks or Chipotle would be solidly be put to good use) 

We could not have asked for nicer weather, especially seeing the footage of the colts bills game played on Hoth. They are hearty folks. 

People watching (and listening) at a Raiders game was fun.

This one guy had a bunch of cheers/yells like

-not in our house

-Sey Mour

-Sea Bass

-Hold the Defense

The Raider fans were polite. I saw a large police presence and quite a few signs that told who to text if you saw misbehavin. I wonder how many prank texts they get in regards to JaMarcus Russel who is the anti-Peyton Manning. 

Was wondering about their back story. 

Left in the third quarter. I am not hard core at all. 

Another goal for the year is to read 52 books. Will need to find palatable books (reasonable length & shorter chapters). Just finished Book 1, The Selfish Gene and starting on book 2, Eating the Dinosaur. I am not going to read Gravity's Rainbow in a week. 

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

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http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

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Thoughts on Avatar

I was not a fan of Titanic. I saw it at my house on VHS tape a few years after it came out. I am not a fan of crowded movies as the whole experience makes me think I am boarding a crowded South West flight (I have a weird thing where I have to sit on an aisle in a movie theater) Also not a fan of long movies as sometimes I get antsy.

With all of that being said, Avatar more than lived up to the hype for me. 

The downside, the dialogue is OK but better than Star Wars Episode II (Someone does say "We are not in Kansas anymore" but not "I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft and smooth") and the plot is predictable. 

Onto the upside, pay the extra money for the 3d. Do not wait to watch on the bus, on an aeroplane or on HBO. You will miss the point. 

Visually it is a masterpiece of scale and imagery. I am not going to give away any plot points but the floating mountains, wow...

The 3d adds an amazing level of depth. These last two points are what Roger Ebert met when he said, He felt like when he walked out of Star Wars" which to me means a film maker has taken the art form to the next step. (Star Wars was so far ahead of anything at the time of it's release. I should know, i was 6) 

On another note, buy your tickets in advance. 

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Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

My LinkedIn  Profile
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Second attempt to see Avatar

If all goes well, I will be seeing Avatar in about an hour. This is the first time using Fandango when it was not opening night. 

Yesterday after running a 10K in Palo Alto, I was reading the New York Times and the Ad that quoted Roger Ebert, someone who is almost as knowledgeable about good movies as the writer of the Greatest Blog

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091211/REVIEWS/912119998

when he said, I felt the same way after seeing Star Wars, I knew I should check this movie out. I remember back in 1977 when I was very much in short pants and being like wow, this is way better than Logan's Run/Ultraman/Star Trek. I wonder if I was born 32 years earlier, would I have like Star Wars or was it a movie that showed up at the perfect time, like a stray standard poodle? I have avoided reading many of the reviews and I was a bit indifferent in seeing it based on the trailer, but Fletcher Kaufman, a voice actor can do virtually any world-wide English-speaking dialect/accent spoiled it when he mentioned the lack of Standard Poodles in Avatar. 

Went to the movie theater and it was sold out. I do not remember for a long time a movie being consistently sold out almost three weeks after it's release date. I ended up going to Pacifica where a couple of geniuses at Lucky's recruited me to help them attempt to cut open a dead bolt with bolt cutters. I was not successful. 

This morning I bought the ticket on Fandango because as Roger Ebert said, I need to see it to be in the conversation. 

Went for a run with my training group. I am going to run more in 2010 compared to 2009. Not worry about speed as much. 

Will be getting yet another set of headphones as my current set falls out at 2.5 miles and who wants to run when they cannot hear, the long country version of "Love is All Around" which you all know is the theme from the Mary Tyler Moore show. I liked when I was in short pants the giant M Mary had. 

For the most part, I do not like going to the movies during the day but it is a bit cloudy and I have already ran. 

On another note, I saw Taco Bell has a campaign designed for I think women called "Drive Through Diet". 

http://www.drivethrudiet.com/ which has a woman that lost 54 pounds. 

They also have a campaign called 4th meal. http://www.tacobell.com/fourthmeal/

(This contradictory campaign is interested. They are targeting both the New Years Resolution crowd and the holligans that eat fast food at 2AM. 

Sort of like a weigh gain shake can also be a weight loss shake with a change in directions. 

I could imagine the pitch meeting, we should target women who are on the go that read shape! Are'nt we targeting those that are searching for additional meals? 

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Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

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http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

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New Years Eve 2009

http://web.me.com/hydra9/Site_5/Blog/Entries/2010/1/1_NYE_2009_SF.html

I decided not to drink for New Years Eve, not because of any major changes but for two simple reasons

1) The three parties I was going to were not BART friendly and I wanted to avoid starting the new decade with a DUI

2) I was running a 10K in the morning and based on my experience at the start of 2009, drinking the night before a run is amazingly not pleasant. 

So I was on the town, and the change in calendar does make people lose their mind. When you are drinking you become really aware of how loud everyone is (drinking impacts hearing) 

It was a fun night even if I transposed the name of a woman and a dog.

Earlier in the day I purchased a guitar and a new pair of fred containers. Einstein used to play the violen and come up with novel solutions. I am not learning to play "Don't Give Up on Us Baby" by the campfire. 

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

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http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/67/264

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