Today I got to visit the new Studio 4 SoCal accommodations for the coming school year–the Sea Spray Apartments in Redondo Beach. A steal at only $2K per month. Shesh.

The technology infrastructure project for HSRA-LA is coming along nicely. Today I finished configuring the network security cameras, but found one of them appears to have a dead network port. The wiring in the server closet isn’t finished yet, but it’s taking shape. Had to order two 19-inch server rack shelves after I found out the new Intel Xserve doesn’t have a two-post option.

Tomorrow I need to stop at Home Depot to pick up some stronger ant poison (they just love the stuff I bought at Target). I also plan to visit the local IKEA to get some items for the new Studio 4 office.

Tonight I had dinner with Dan O’Donnell of the Rand Corporation. We went to a new Thai restaurant in Santa Monica called The Orchid. I had some chicken satay as a starter, the braised short rib (very tender boneless ribs braised in Syrah wine served with garlic mashed potato) and an awesome pyramid chocolate mousse desert. It was great meeting Dan–one of the many people I know online, but had never met in person until today.

Last night, I met former HSRA Minnesota staff member Jared Barbick and his wife Talia for dinner at a restaurant in Torrance, Restaurant Christine. I had this wonderful selection: Prosciutto Wrapped Filet Mignon Medallions, Sage Bread Pudding, Baby Vegetables and Red Onion Butter.

Special thanks to Jared and Talia for treating me to dinner.

The “original” Star Wars was on HBO Family tonight and I couldn’t help but watch it.

I so want to watch the version that I watched as an eight-year-old kid in 1977. Countless Star Wars nerds have described the changes made to the new version that make me so mad, so I won’t go over all that. Let’s just say that I hope I never meet George Lucas in person.

Maybe it’s time to get a replacement laser disc player on eBay…

Made it to Los Angeles today from Seattle, courtesy of Alaska Airlines. They had the lowest price and for the most part, it was an OK experience. I was ticked off, though, that I had to waste time in a line called “bag check” that wouldn’t let me check my bags until I stood in a different line to get a printed boarding pass. Oh well, at least they got the bags off the plane and into the baggage claim quickly.

I’m here to help set up the technology infrastructure at the new High School for Recording Arts Los Angeles. I stopped there on the way to the hotel and was amazed at the progress in the big space.

Tomorrow will mostly be a planning day–creating network maps, gathering ISP info, taking inventory, deciding on security camera placement and updating the work plan.

This time I’m staying at the Hotel Hermosa in Hermosa Beach. My first impression was not great, but I think it’s growing on me. It does have a Fatburger across the street, so it can’t be all bad.

The internet connection didn’t work when I got here (and it costs extra), but it seems to be good now…

It took me about four trips, but I finally found a hotel near the Seattle airport that I liked. The Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites SeaTac Aiport at 19621 International Boulevard (just down the street from the airport) was easy to find, clean, relatively inexpensive and had nice “mini-suites” with high speed internet that was actually plug-and-play.

There are several things I usually dislike with hotel internet access. Charging extra for it is at the top of the list, followed closely by overly-aggressive firewall port settings and login pages that plant cookies and/or require a pass-code from the front desk. None of that here–even video chat worked smoothly.

My room had a small living room in front with a couch, coffee table, desk and TV. Then came a kitchenette with sink, refrigerator and microwave, a full bathroom and a bedroom with king-sized bed and another TV. All very clean, quiet and priced under $140/night.

The bed was comfortable and I loved that the pillows had “soft” and “firm” stitched on the sides. The bathroom was stocked with their own line of toiletries and high quality, soft linens. There was a Seattle newspaper outside my door in the morning and they include a free breakfast buffet that was like my dream meal: hot cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, bacon, milk and apple juice.

Oh, and one final thing. When I checked in, they knew I was a Priority Club member and gave me a free bag of microwave popcorn and bottle of water. Similar to the Wyndham hotel I stayed at in Arizona, this little token gift that cost them practically nothing got me to write this and will probably get me to stay there again in the future. Nice.

7MM Seattle Travel Photo Gallery

On the advice of the ever-helpful Chuck Goolsbee of Digital Forest (a great ISP and co-location facility, by the way), I headed up I-5 to the West Seattle Bridge and over to Harbor Avenue to check out Salty’s on Alki Beach. Chuck also recommended Ray’s Boathouse, but I’ve gone there the last two times I was in town. Not to say I don’t like Ray’s–quite the contrary. Just wanted to try something new.

Salty’s bills themselves as the “Best View of Seattle in Seattle®” and I have to say, it was pretty awesome. The weather was almost hot and way too sunny for rainy Seattle, so sunglasses were the name of the game on the outdoor patio today (they even would bring you some if you wanted).

I always feel stupid not ordering seafood in a coastal town, but Walleye is the only fish I really love and I get pretty damn good Walleye in Minnesota. This menu item caught my eye, however:

“Land and Sea”
4-ounce Filet, Red Wine Demi-Glace, Crispy Fried Onions, 4-ounce Salmon or Halibut, Champagne Beurre Blanc, Lemon Caper Relish, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, House Vegetables

Expensive, but I worked right through lunch installing servers, so it was totally worth it in my mind. If I hadn’t been so hot sitting in the sun, I would have tried one of their signature desserts too–the white chocolate mousse cake sounded especially good.

Good excuse to go back again, though, right?

Part of the reason I haven’t been posting much lately is the project I completed today. In anticipation of the new Los Angeles school, I decided some of our server equipment at work needed to be repositioned and reconfigured. It sounded like a good idea at the time (and I think will be long-term), but it took a lot of planning to pull off.

In a nutshell, I moved two servers from St. Paul to Seattle, pulled a large network storage device out of Seattle to be sent back to Minnesota, reconfigured the remaining St. Paul server to match what I need to do for the new Los Angeles server and upgraded memory across the board.

Kudos to my favorite Minnesota airline, who not only were on time with great in-flight service, but also managed to get all my gear to Seattle in one piece. I panicked on Sunday night when the Anvil case I planned to use fit the two servers fine, but weighed more than 100 pounds (Sun Country’s stated limit).

My anxiety over getting the stuff to Seattle caused me to get very little sleep Saturday night and I woke up before my 5am alarm. I removed one server from the case and took it to the airport counter and asked if I could carry it on. The helpful agent didn’t think it would fit in the overhead, but she said to just put it back in the case and check it as oversized (for a $40 charge). I told her it had to be over 100 pounds and she said, “we don’t have scales here.”

Poor, poor ground workers…

Also have to give props to National Car Rental and their agent in Seattle who found the car with the biggest trunk and helped load that big, honkin’ case in there. I just love the National Emerald Aisle service–one less stressful thing in the travel world is something worth celebrating.

After dining at the lovely Ristorante Luci, we went to see The Police concert at the Xcel Energy Center this week. Couldn’t justify the $225 tickets, but the $50 seats we had weren’t bad.

I had attended the last Twin Cities show of the band–the Synchronicity Tour at the Met Center in 1983. It was the first big concert I got to attend by myself and I remember being blown away by the energy and power of the performers and the great songs.

After reading some of the reviews of the shows from this tour, it sounded like the years had treated the band well and that they were playing with a lot of energy and passion (not just for a big payday). Unfortunately, that wasn’t the show we got to see on Tuesday night.

Two songs into the set, I was laughing at how little Sting and Andy Summers were moving around. When Sting did finally move from his mic stand, he took one leisurely stroll around the stage to wave at the people in back sections. That was about it for stage theatrics.

We watched the facial expressions of all three of them on the big screens and that provided some interesting moments. Stewart looked like he wanted to kill Sting for most of the show and Andy looked like an old English barrister who showed zero emotion–even during his excellent guitar solos. Stewart had all the old guy gear: black headband, wrist guards and what looked like braces on his feet. Sting was extremely pissed–then happy–at the sound board guys during Roxanne (which he sang the same way he’s been doing solo for 20 years).

As the locals papers mentioned in their reviews, the re-working of several songs fell flat. My biggest disappointment was Don’t Stand So Close To Me, which started off as the dark, foreboding song it was meant to be, but degraded when they got to the chorus, switched tempo and made it a happy, Calypso ditty. Bah.

I thought the show got better as it went along and I was happy they did multiple encores, but I would have been really mad if I had paid $450 for the chance to be there.

Set List (from Jon Bream’s Pop Life blog):

1. Message in a Bottle 2. Synchronicity II 3. Walking on the Moon 4. Voices in My Head/When the World Is Running Down… 5. Don’t Stand So Close to Me 6. Driven to Tears 7. Truth Hits Everybody 8. Bed’s Too Big without You 9. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic 10. Wrapped around Your Finger 11. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da 12. Invisible Sun 13. Walking in Your Footsteps 14. Can’t Stand Losing You

Encores: 15. Roxanne 16. King of Pain 17. So Lonely 18. Every Breath You Take 19. Next to You