I hope you Seattle folks survived the snow OK. I swear, this city has some serious mental problems when it comes to weather. I went into a meeeting at 3 PM on Wednesday and everything was fine. When I came out at 4:30, it was like Thunderdome. I tried to leave work at 4:45, and the line to get out of the parking garage was at least 20 minutes. It was taking people 3-4 hours to drive the 10 miles across the bridge. I ended up just parking the car and walking to day care to get Sofia.

If you didn't know any better, you'd have thought we were under nuclear attack. They kept the cafeteria open, and those of us stuck at work huddled there around the warmth of our hamburgers. People were giving up on the commute altogether and getting hotel rooms for the night.

Sofia and I finally got on the road at about 8 PM, and it really wasn't too bad. It was slushy, but there really wasn't any ice. It only took us about 15 minutes longer than usual. I did see the source of the traffic problem, however. Excuse me while I make this formal statement:

Note to Seattle drivers - don't tailgate when it's snowing. I understand that you have a nice, big Jeep with four wheel drive, but four wheel drive doesn't help you stop if there's a wreck in front of you. You are the reason things get screwed to hell when it snows. Look, I have four wheel drive, too, and I like to drive fast just like you do. But it's a fact that machismo is no match for friction. You're never going to win that battle. Real drivers value car control much more than the ability to drive fast in a straight line and then wreck. In conclusion: please read a physics book.

Thanks - it feels good to get that off my chest.

Sofia's day care was closed on Thursday, because Sofia's day care loves to be closed. If there is one flake in the air, those people stay home. It was thus that Sofia added a new phrase to her lexicon.

"Today's a snow day," Nicole said.
"Snow day!" said Sofia. "Snow day. Snow day. Snow day."

Then she repeated that for four hours.

We took her out in the snow, but she wasn't really too enthused. I think it was mainly an exercise for us to put her in her new snow suit that Oma and Grandpa sent. She was suitably fascinated with the snowy yard, but she didn't really like it when the snow got on her boots. She seems to have a problem with getting dirty. We're going to have to work on that.


Here's a movie:

Snow Day

Here are some pictures:

Snow Day 2007

  Apparently I am only given money so that I can hold it in escrow until Apple needs it:

Apple iPhone



I realize that this is on the other end of the spectrum from the Motofone F3 I was ogling back in September. However, it appears that Apple may have gotten the smart phone right. Everyone will be talking about the fact that it's got a built-in iPod, but I like the primacy of the phone features. No matter which of the 27 fancy features you are using, you are only two button presses away from the phone. And their take on voice mail actually makes it easier to use rather than the other way around. The fact that Steve Jobs referred to making phone calls as the "killer app" gives me some hope that their priorities are in the right place.

The proof is in the pudding, of course. It's expensive, even for a smart phone, and we'll have to see how well it really works. Unfortunately the pudding doesn't arrive until June, so I guess we'll have to wait. Until then, I'll be drooling over their beautiful industrial design.

  As promised, here are the pictures from our trip. I broke it up into two galleries: one of general holiday pictures, and another of the road trip Nicole and I took to Chicago. I'll talk more about our trip later. For now, I must go to bed.

Christmas 2006

Chicago