The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake 30 Years Ago

On Tuesday, October 17, 1989, the Loma Pieta earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area at 5:04PM. My father and I had gotten home from working in construction. Game 3 of the Battle of The Bay World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s was on television. After the earthquake struck and Game 3 postponed, we watched the news from around the Bay Area in stunned disbelief. We drove through the Cypress Street Viaduct on the 880 that later collapsed. We drove over 50-foot roadway of the Bay Bridge that later collapsed. We drove on the 280 Viaduct that later suffered extensive damage without collapsing. My Father and I remembered the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake for not where we were when it struck, but for where we were throughout the San Francisco Bay Area before it struck.

Lucy In The Sky WITHOUT Diapers

With this year being the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 manned moon landing, it’s not surprising that movies about astronauts are coming out. First Man, a biopic about Neil Armstrong being the first man on the moon, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August 2018 and went into general release in October 2018. First Man was a controversial movie because conservative politicians claimed that it didn’t show the astronauts planting the American flag on the moon. Never mind that the movie had plenty of flags, and the flag planting scene wasn’t relevant to the inner space of Neil Armstrong as an astronaut, husband and father. Another astronaut movie, Lucy in The Sky, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival this year, and coming out in general release this month. Although the movie poster features the moon looming large in the background, the moon has nothing to do with the real-life event of a female astronaut losing her POOP on earth. While this made-for-TV movie is loosely based on the “astronaut love triangle” of 2007, the diaper scene was left on the cutting room floor.

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Is Fry’s Electronics Really Going Out of Business?

A friend mentioned several weeks ago that Fry’s Electronics was closing the Palo Alto store after the holidays. We jumped into the car and went over to the Campbell store. The parking lot empty, the shelves barren, the customers few, and the salesclerks unhelpful as always. After I posted my montage video, I’ve gotten comments that other stores around the country were in better or worse shape than the Campbell store. Fry’s Electronics put out a statement that they weren’t going out of business, are in the middle of changing vendors, and plan to stock the shelves for the holiday season.

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Storm Area 51 Highlights

Storm Area 51 came and went with much ado about nothing on Friday, September 20, 2019. Only ~150 people went the Area 51 East Gate, ~75 people approached the gate, 3 were arrested for indecent exposure, a man arrested for peeing on the fence and a woman arrested for ducking under the gate. The cancelled AlienStock music festival at Rachel, Nevada, had ~2,000 people show up. That was the “best case” scenario for a crowd size that local authorities could handle.

4 MUST HAVE iPhone 8/XR/11 Accessories For $50

Last week Apple announced the new iPhone 11, Pro and Pro Max, and reduced prices on the older iPhone 8 and iPhone XR. Like many people this time of year, you might be planning to get or have already upgraded to a new iPhone. Your new iPhone will need new accessories to go with it, and that can get downright expensive.

When I got my iPhone 6s in 2015, I spent $80 USD on a clear case and screen protectors. When I got my iPhone XR last week, I could have spent another $80 USD on the exact same accessories. This time I went shopping on Amazon to find some great deals. While several of the accessories that I mention are specific to the iPhone XR, you can find similar accessories for other iPhone models at the same price or a few dollars more.

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Why I Didn’t Pre-Order iPhone 11 to Upgrade iPhone 6s

On the same day that Apple announced the new iPhone 11, Pro and Pro Max, I went to my local Apple Store to trade in my four-year-old iPhone 6s for last year’s iPhone XR. You may recall that I posted a video last October that I wasn’t pre-ordering the iPhone XR to upgrade my iPhone 6s. Sprint wasn’t offering any great deals. Not then, not now. My choices were pre-ordering the iPhone XR for $750 USD or keeping my iPhone 6s for another year. Fast forward a year later… Why did I trade in my iPhone 6s for the iPhone XR and not the newer iPhone 11?

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Is Fry’s Electronics Going Out of Business?

A friend noticed a headline that the Fry’s Electronic store in Palo Alto, CA, was closing at the end of 2019. We drove over to the Fry’s Electronics in Campbell, CA, to check out the store. Something we haven’t done in years since Best Buy, Amazon and Newegg has everything we needed. We found and empty parking lot, under stock or empty shelves, and very few sales people who interested in helping anyone. If Fry’s Electronics does go out of business, it will be the end of an era.