Ben’s Weblog

The folks over at ESPN think it would be un-American for the Cubs to win the World Series. I’m with them on that – “World Champion Chicago Cubs” just doesn’t sound right to me.

In-N-Out, originally uploaded by bdjohnson79.

Here’s one good reason. Can’t find this within 1500 miles of Chicago.

Found on Flickr…

The Reading Lamp – Self Portrait, originally uploaded by sumrow.

The sacrifices some people make for art:

“One Vivitar 283 ball-bungied to my head w/ a coffee filter diffuser….The ball bungie took a few hairs with it.”

Wow…2006 went by in a hurry…so fast, in fact, that it’s already 2007 and I’m just now writing something. If you were on our Christmas letter list, some of this probably isn’t news to you. If not, read on…

I’ve spent the last 18 months working on the Tassimo coffee system. Specifically, I’ve been working on the liquid milk concentrate that we use for cappuccino and latte. Late last year, we started to set up a line to make the product in the US. So, I went into full-blown road warrior mode, making 32 trips to scenic Allentown, PA in 2006 to support the project. Along the way, I accumulated a lot of frequent flyer miles, hotel points, rental car points, etc, and my butt has been forcibly shaped to pair with a coach seat on United. Fortunately, it wasn’t “all work and no play”. Had a lot of fun with my team outside the plant. Had my first flaming Sambuca shot. My liver works better now than it did in college. Still made it into the 7am team meeting every day.

Back home, Marcie and I did a lot of work on the house. The kitchen renovation we started last fall got done in early 2006. Then, we built a cedar fence in the backyard (from scratch, no less!) over Memorial Day weekend. If you need any cedar planks for smoking food on, just let me know…I’ve got about 400 1-foot pieces of cedar in the shed. Toward the end of the summer, we started on renovation of our 2nd bathroom. We tore everything down to the studs, expanded the shower (which included building a custom shower pan), redid everything in porcelain tile, new fixtures, the works. Unfortunately, my 4-5 days/week on the road made it slow going, so we wrapped that one up in November finally. I also managed to slice off part of the tip of my thumb – knife accident while scoring cement backerboard. Fortunately, the only lasting result was that the tip of my thumb is now slightly asymmetric.

Now, 2007 is a blank slate. Around the house, I don’t have any major projects on my plate. At work, my part of Tassimo is wrapping up, so I’ll probably be getting into something new. We’ll see what this year brings…

We’ve been on a roll the past week or two on the house.  Got all of the tiling and grounting done.  (It figures, I ran out of grout about 3 pounds before I was done and had to buy another bag and mix another batch).  Toilet has been installed, and once I get a diamond-crusted bit that can drill through the porcelain tiles, we’ll have a sink and the shower door installed.  Shower plumbing is already done, so in theory, with a curtain, the shower is usable.  Electrical’s done, so I’ve only go another day of work before we have a functional bathroom.  (nb: installing trim is not required to make bathroom functional, but more aesthetically pleasing)  Now, I get to move on to some smaller projects on the “honey-do” list.

Rolling right along at work too.  Nearly all of my work out in PA is done.  It’s been a busy year and a half, but Tassimo has been by far the best project I’ve been on in Kraft.  What’s made it good?  Really, a combination of several things.  First, the work I’ve been doing is exactly the kind of thing I like (process commercialization, with a bit of engineering work). Second, it was a change of routine from the work I’d been doing for the last 4 years in cream cheese.  Third, I’ve been working on Kraft’s biggest new product launch, which means that the work I do really matters.  Fourth, we had a great team of people working on the project.  I can’t say enough good about the people I’ve been working for/with on this.  A group that’s great to be around both on and off the job makes those long days more bearable.

Once again, there’s an article in the Trib about speeding up the boarding process on airlines. Their suggestion – ban carryons.

I wrote about airline carry-on rules a little while back here. The same arguments I made there hold true. Unless the airlines are willing to take full financial responsibility for lost/damaged luggage without delays in reimbursement, it won’t fly. Too many people travel with valuable objects (laptops, nice cameras, etc.) to allow this to happen.

Actually, to that point, I discovered recently that the TSA and/or FAA have a policy which supercedes the airlines – you’re allowed to carryon a bag of photographic equipment (subject to the normal weight/size limits) in addition to the “1+1″ currently in place. The rule is deisgned to allow working photographers and vacationers with good camera gear the ability to ensure that their valuable equipment is on their person. In the case of a working pro, they could easily be carrying a backpack or roll-aboard with over $20K of equipment (say a pro DSLR + lenses and a digital MF system).

I think the boarding process is something that can only be optimized so much because of the human factors. I like United’s policy because as a traveler with status, I get “seating area 1″. The problem comes, I think, from a couple of areas: First, the less-than-courteous folks who herd around the gate and try to get on the plane before its their turn. Those are the same ones who’ll put all their stuff in the overhead and none under their seat. I try to be as quick as possible in getting on the plane and in my seat with a couple tricks. First, my bags aren’t overpacked – they usually go easily into the overhead or under my seat. Second, for the stuff I want with me in my seat (iPod, books, etc), I have a little pouch in my laptop bag pre-packed with it. Just pull it out, drop in the seat, and I’m done.

Then, there’s the infrequent travelers with weird-ly sized bags, shopping bags as baggage, etc. Easy solution is those sizer templates you see to check the size of your bag. Doesn’t fit in the template, you can’t take it (ie, ditch the “45 linear inches (LxWxD)” policy). Also, if you can’t completely close the bag, it doesn’t fly – this gets rid of shopping bags. Further, if you’re unable to lift the bag overhead by yourself, don’t pack so much (obviously, this doesn’t apply to elderly/disabled). Every now and then, I see a reasonably fit person trying to load a carryon which must contain nothing but wine bottles. Crazy…