Books Received: April 3 - 16

Books Received: April 3 - 16, 2012

Room With A View and an Update

I was in Denver, Golden, Denver again, Boulder, Denver again this weekend. Yes it went that way and it was all professional society related meetings. So, a few drinks, but no real outside enjoyment - but it was cold and a bit snowy, so I'm not too bummed by that.

I've finished up Shadow Ops: Control Point by Myke Cole (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound) and should have review up soonish, but it could easily be a week out if I don't find some free time somewher. I'm almost done with The Hungar Games by Suzanne Collins  (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound). I can see why it's spoken of so highly - it is good, and I can see it translating very well into a movie. I'm not sure what I'll read next, but I'm leaning toward Arctic Rising by Tobias Buckell  (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound). I should also have another whisky review up soon.

So, on to the room with a view.

Denver, CO

And a bonus - not truly a room with a view, since it's the view from my new office that I moved into late last month. It's nice, but it can get a bit warm in the afternoon. It's February, if it gets a bit warm in February, I dread July.



Phoenix, AZ (west)



Phoenix, AZ (west-southwest)



Books Received: January 18 - February 2

Books Received: January 18 - February 2, 2012

Books Received: Nov. 30 - January 17

It's been a while since I've posted one of these, so here the some books I've received lately. Hopefully I'll get another review written after this big deadline at work passes. No promises.



Books Received: November 30, 2011 - January 17, 2012

Books Received: September 28 - November 4

It's been a while since I had a crazy schedule with work, volunteer duties, organizing a conference and then my daughter going to the hospital for a few days (150 miles from where we live). Things are beginning to approach normal (well as normal as normal is anymore), but I'll still be just as busy (if not more) for the foreseeable future.



Books Received: September 28 - November 4, 2011



Something Completely Different

Cholla skeleton, SE Arizona

Something Completely Different + an Update

I know that anyone who still bothers to read this blog (and thank you for doing so loyal readers) another update on how real content is slow in coming is not what you want to read - but the sad truth is that this is the new normal for me. For the foreseeable future I simply won't have the time to read and write reviews at the same pace as I have in the past. I suspect that it'll be just one or two a month. Once I get closer to an equilibrium I'll hopefully fill in the space with a few more interesting  posts, but that's still a work in progress.

I've actually got a draft (that still needs quite a bit of work) review for The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound), so hopefully that will go up in the next couple of days. I've also got a review of The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound) partially written in my head, though I'll hold back on that one until the end of the month. And I'm hoping for a nice bit of good, high-profile content along the way, but I'll wait a bit before saying any details.

Anyway, on to something completely different - and in honor of my forthcoming review of The Edinburgh Dead I figured this is appropriate.

View of New Town, Edinburgh, Scotland

Books Received: September 17 - 27

Books Received: September 17 - 27, 2011

A Room With a View, an Update and a Bonus

Well, I'm back from Alaska and an very fun but very exhausting conference. I did actually see some Alaska, but mostly I was confined to a hotel in Anchorage. The red-eye back almost killed me (it didn't leave until about 2am). I did do some reading, but not much. I finished up The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound), which I really enjoyed. I'll probably start up The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound) next, though I still haven't decided for sure. So hopefully I'll get some nice content up soon - and stay tuned, I think I've decided to do a giveaway with a book or two that I've received multiple copies of.

So, here is the view from my room in Anchorage, Alaska.

And for a bonus (not really), here is my view from a hotel room in Green Valley, Arizona from a trip just before the Alaska trip.

Room With A View - San Diego

So, I'm in San Diego for a conference. It's a nice hotel right on the waterfront. All the rooms have balconies. I had high expectations of lovely view of the bay and nice balcony to enjoy it from. This is what I have...

I suppose the garden is better than the parking lot it's blocking out, but still - first floor? The lobby is even higher than this. And do you see the manhole? Yep, that's for the sewer. When the air is still I get a lovely odor of sewer gas while sitting on the porch. I guess that's what you get with the relatively cheap conference room rate I have. Oh, and there isn't any decent food nearby for a reasonable price.

Ok, enough complaining. Hopefully some real content soon. I've been reading good stuff lately.

Books Received and an Update

Update first - actual interesting content will continue to be sparse around here for quite a while. Life has me as busy as ever and with the AZ Diamondbacks in a penant race, my reading time is as short as ever. I'll also be travelling for half the month of September (4 days in San Diego and 9 days in Alaska). So, be patient and I'll see if I can come up with anything of actual interest. Anyway, now to the books received since August 12th.

Books Received: August 13 - September 1, 2011

Something Completely Different

Graffiti, Chuska Mountains, New Mexico

Books Received: July 30 to August 12

Books Received: July 30 - August 12, 2011

Something Completely Different

For the past 13 years or so me and a few friends have been homebrewers. Our production has been down over the past few years, but that didn't stop me from planting hops in my yard a couple of years ago. This year it looks like I'll finally get a crop. It seems a bit early, so hopefully there will be more coming and we'll be able to brew an entire batch with homegrown hops. But I'm quite happy to see this.

Northern Brewer Hops, August 2011

Something Completely Different

Peas in the garden (actually a pic from last year - the peas are generally not doing as well this year for some reason).

Books Received: June 27 - July 15

Books Received: June 27 - July 15 2011

Something Completely Different

When life and work get busy this series tends to get overlooked. So, it's a been a while. The picture below is of the Hoover Dam Bypass bridge that straddles the Arizona-Nevada border and Colorado River (it's about 800 feet above the river). Not only is a cool bit of engineering, but it's special to me because I did the geologic investigation for it's design. I spent about 6 months in the field for the project that included geologic mapping, rappelling, lots and lots of drilling, helicopter recon and more mundane things like providing traffic control for the drillers. It was a lot of hard and often very miserable work (temperatures in the summer routinely hit 135 in shade (57 C) and there was pretty much no shade to be had - the rock got hot enough to cause second degree burns to exposed skin. And now it's awesome to see the project completed. A couple of weeks ago (when the picture was taken) was my first trip back to that area since I last did field work on the project. It was a nice experience, in spite of it being 115 in the shade (46C).

Hoover Dam Bypass, Nevada-Arizona

A Room With A View: St. George Utah

I had to do a fast-turn-around project at the end of last week outside of St. George, Utah. I'd never been there before, so it was nice to see. Especially since I spent a few hours in Zion National Park on the way.

St. George, Utah

Books Received: May 24 - June 13

Books Received: May 24 - June 13, 2011

Something Completely Different

A short-fuse project came up this week that required me to go to southwest Utah. The challenges of getting around the Grand Canyon from where I live meant that I drove accross norhtern Arizona and southern Utah to get there - which is some of the most spectacular scenery in the country and world. Included was a brief stopover in Zion National Park. In fact, about the time this post goes live, I'll probably be back in Zion on my return home - I plan to spend a few hours hiking before making the 5-hour drive back to the house and family.

Zion National Park, Utah