Category Archives: Personal - Page 3

Why I love LEGO

Posted by on March 3, 2008 1 comment

For Christmas, I got my wife a neat little townhouse. A LEGO townhouse. She loved it–until she got towards the end of the first model. There was a single piece missing. I went to LEGO’s web site and filled out a simple form. A few weeks later, I got the part and a really nice letter. Sure, it’s a form letter, but it’s still nice:

“Dear Mr. Watson,

Thank you for contacting us on 12/27/07 regarding the quality of LEGO(R) toys and products.

“We were sorry to learn of the difficulty you experienced with your LEGO set. We understand how upsetting and disappointing it can be when a product does not live up to its reputation. Please accept our apologies for the packaging error you encountered. Producing the highest quality LEGO products possible and establishing consumer trust in the LEGO brand name, are the most important goals of our Company. Certainly, whenever a packaging error does occur, we want to correct the situation as quickly as possible to restore your faith in our brand name and what it represents. Therefore, I have enclosed the item(s) you requested to complete your set.

“Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience you have experienced. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service…”

And that’s why I love LEGO.

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Offline this weekend

Posted by on January 31, 2008 No comments

I’m offline this weekend, so if you submit comments (which are moderated), they’ll show up sometime on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks!

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New look coming soon

Posted by on January 28, 2008 No comments

I’ve been wanting to change the look of this blog to be much more minimalist for a while now, and I think this week will be the week to do it. If you notice weird changes as you’re browsing, please bear with me. :)

I’m also going to be reducing the number of ads on the site while trying to make their placement more natural and less intrusive.

UPDATE: Ok, maybe not. I was experimenting with a new theme last night, but it looked a little too sparse. And on my laptop, it was prompting IE7 to install an ActiveX control from Microsoft. I didn’t have time to track it down, so I switched back to this theme, and I think I’ll just concentrate on customizing it further.

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No Internet at home

Posted by on December 3, 2007 2 comments

It is really hard not having Internet service at home. Really, really hard. It’s not that I spend every minute checking e-mail, but the lack of ability to check makes the desire that much stronger.

It went out Friday night, sometime after 9 PM. I called Saturday morning, they sent a tech on Sunday night. He determined that the signal was very weak, and that it was weak coming into the house, and that it was so old it had probably corroded to the point where it was useless (these houses are very old). So they have to run a new drop from the junction box into the  home, which they will do tomorrow…

It is making it hard to update BuyMeALego.com, my blog, and accomplish a lot of other personal communications. I can do a little at work, but it’s hard…

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On the cover of Wired magazine

Posted by on September 8, 2007 No comments

OK, It’s a bit old now, but I thought I’d show myself on the cover of Wired magazine. Cool, isn’t it? This was part of a promotion by Xerox where they printed 5,000 (more?) custom covers. This was the July issue. I mostly like how we’re obviously on the water in the picture, but not according to the map. Cool, anyway. Definitely a keepsake.

Ben and Leticia on the cover of Wired

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Math Magic

Posted by on July 27, 2006 No comments

I just started reading Scott Flansburg’s Math Magic book. It’s all about more efficient and intelligent ways of doing math. It’s an idea I’ve long wanted to try–to increase my speed and ability to crunch numbers in my head. The hard part is practice–how do you make yourself good at this without a lot of practice? And how fun is it to practice adding numbers in your head? It’s easy to think of some periodic situations: shopping and budget balancing, for example, but after that I’m not sure.

I think I’ll write a small PocketPC app that can give me random problems to solve in my head, as well as time me and note improvements. Cool…any excuse to write a program!

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Esha

Posted by on May 17, 2006 3 comments

 

We miss our sweet Esha. She has really left a big empty spot in our house and in our hearts. This is how we will remember her; sitting in her favorite place; watching over the front garden.

2 Feb 1996 – 15 May 2006

 

 

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Gum

Posted by on November 19, 2005 No comments

I’ve never liked gum. I did eat the stale pink stuff sticks that came in Topps baseball cards years ago, but since then…yuck.

Today I had a piece of my wife’s gum. Ick.

Chewing gum is like brushing your teeth for thirty minutes.

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London

Posted by on July 8, 2005 1 comment

Leticia and I want to express our sorrow and empathy for the brave people of London. While used to terror attacks in the past, this was a particularly egregious act of barbarism. May the families of those who lost loved ones be comforted and may those responsible be brought to certain and swift justice.

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25 Years

Posted by on June 25, 2005 No comments

Well, today marks my 25th year of personal reign upon this earth….

I’m still young ‘un. I’m still in grad school, but I’ve got a good job, a wonderful wife, and things are going pretty well with everything else.

One of my favorite presents is a lego set. When I was a kid I played with legos constantly. Whenever I’m done with school and have time I plan to get back into it with legos and model building.

This week also celebrated my dad’s retirement from the U.S. Navy. He has had a long, illustrious and incredibly interesting career spanning the last three decades. I’m intensely proud of him and all his accomplishments. He had to fly into DC to take care of some paperwork, so we got to spend some time with him. I took him to the “other” air and space museum.

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