Whatever happened to NRM Music?

I was just completing my LinkedIn profile (finally), and was saddened to find that one of my favorite companies seems to have disappeared off of the face of the earth - NRM Music (aka National Record Mart).  It was retail, but I loved working there. The No Risk Music guarantees alone - I mean, who lets you return open CDs for a different title anymore? (to be fair, the No Risk Music was limited to specific selections every month that we knew did not suck).  The last article I can find on the store is on potential expansions in 1999. I can only guess this place was a victim of the MP3 (aka "let's not pay for music anymore") revolution.  I was able to grow from a lowly annoying teenage salesperson into a manager all before turning 17. I learned respect for merchandise, for myself, for others and for corporate America.  I also learned about how Federal tax incentive programs (like automatically reducing withholding but not reducing your tax bill) really impacted minimum wage earners. I also got to see first hand what happened when the Federal minimum wage was raised.  I gained an understanding for how the big picture works, and how every individual can impact the environment around them.  I could see first hand how being a helpful and courteous employee raised our sales by the double digit percentiles.  I also learned that several of our employees could not alphabetize merchandise with much accuracy, which led to my strange obsession with alphabetizing my own CDs, DVDs and books.

I've seen my favorite music stores disappear out here. It's a shame, I always find new things to listen to by just browsing or getting recommendations from a real human that has an actual interest in music.

Through my job at NRM, I was eligible for and received a college scholarship from the National Association for Recording Merchandisers.  It wasn't a full ride, but definitely made a difference, helped me focus on my studies to maintain the gift and made sure I kept my credit hours up to par.  Anyways, I'll miss you NRM, wherever you have gone.

And a hush fell over the crowd....

I experienced something new this weekend - I was in the Opal Ultra Lounge in the MontBleu in Lake Tahoe.  Every TV in the casino and club was tuned into the Olympics, which people had been idly watching while waiting for drinks to be made. Then the men's 400m medley relay came on.  Suddenly, the crowd quieted. Bartenders stopped making drinks. People stopped talking. Dancers stopped moving on the dance floor. We all just stopped and watched, many holding their breath while others softly chanted "U S A. U S A."  Everyone was totally riveted until the race completed, America taking another gold - Michael Phelps receiving his 8th.  It was surreal.

I'm not a huge sports fan, but I do love watching the Olympics. These sports are just not normally aired, and this is my first time watching them in HD - an awesome experience  (I do love my TiVo!).

We've switched!

Things are starting to settle down now that mercurial is up and working for ON's Solaris development. I've yet to have done a push myself, but have approved several RTIs, updated the RTI nits documentation, and am preparing more updates to other sites as well.   I'll be returning my focus to FIPS and US Governement export regulations on cryptography shortly, and hopefully doing a few more blog updates.

Mercurial or bust!

Things are so crazy for me right now, getting ready for ON's switch to Mercurial next week. To get ready as ON CRT chair, I had to update the RTI nit documentation, so folks would know what they were expected to do.  Thank goodness for all the great help from the SCM migration team! Now that that's done, I'll try to get back to my "real" work and all my missing blog entries... :-)

American Idol Live

I'm embarrassed to say that I went to the American Idol Live concert in San Jose last night, but pleased that it was a good show. We were in the nosebleed section, which always takes me awhile to relax in (since I am terrified of heights).  I was disappointed that the organizers decided against using the arena's jumbotron and instead used screens over the stage which was VERY far from where we were sitting.  The main screen was also partially obscured with these electrical shims that were neat ... but so obscured the view that they became annoying.  Unfortunately for most of the singers, the sound guy did not properly balance or adjust the system - we heard a lot of bass and drums, but not much of the singers except for Michael Johns, Syesha Mercado and David Cook.  David A. was obscured by all the SCREECHING girls. yow.  It was a good mix of repeats from the show, some folks like Carly Smithson reworked some of the numbers significantly, while others like Michael Johns did them as we remember.  Everyone got three songs, except for David Cook. Syesha and David A were given more time and had longer numbers than the others, though.  Syesha really shined last night - showing a range I never saw on the show (though she again demonstrated that hip hop may not really be her thing). Kristy Lee Cook got such a cool reception, but showed that she's been practicing - her voice sounded much better. (I  always liked her, but still appreciated the improvement!) Vocal coaches must've been going around, as David A was actually singing very well last night (I was so tired of his nasaly drone!)

It was great to see all of the performers again - they all did very well. The group numbers were MUCh better than the live group numbers during the show. The band did a great job keeping up as well! I appreciated the intermission (though am confused by the number of women that kept standing in line for the restroom, even though there were many open stalls) and was glad that the concert started nearly on time. The problems with the show were not due to any of the performers and hopefully can be corrected for other dates.

The Shark Tank is a great place to see a show, with plenty of vendors open and nice wide halls and easily walkable from downtown.

Fireworks spoiled by nincompoops

We had a pretty great Fourth of July BBQ with friends, when we decided to walk to a nearby park and enjoy the fireworks being put on at the Shoreline Amphitheater. We thought we'd save ourselves some effort and watch from a nearby park (Whisman Sport's Complex) instead of walking all the way to the park (which would be much too crowded for driving) ... well, there was a group of idiots that thought the professional display was not enough, and they were letting off fireworks about 20 feet from a large group of people. Several of their fireworks misfired and exploded on the ground. Children were screaming and crying... yet they did not relent. They continued to let them off right near the main entrance of the park.  Some of our group had to leave early due how scared they were being so close - out of a nearly hidden back exit.  As far as I know, you're not supposed to let off fireworks in a park like that.  Who knows - but next year, we'll do the full walk to Shoreline, which is nicely policed, and enjoy the professional show without fear of injury from the amateurs. [Note: according to the Mountain View Voice, all fireworks are illegal in Mountain View]

Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!!!

We did the American Lung Association's Breathe Easy Lung Ride in San Luis Obispo last weekend, and it was WONDERFUL! Even though it was a very hot weekend, most of the ride was along the coast - which was beautiful and cool. I didn't really get hot til the last 10-15 miles, particularly when I ran out of water (my fault for not filling up at the last rest stop! I totally forgot!) Mark stopped often so I could have some water from his camel back, but the sun and the heat did get to me - I got a pounding headache behind my eyes and dizzy. Nothing an air conditioned lobby, lots of cold water & some food couldn't fix. I did finish the ride, but after the dizzy spell I did get a SAG wagon back to my hotel (3 miles from the ride start). All the same, thank you all for your very generous donations! Your gifts, plus the very generous matching gifts from the Sun Microsystems Foundation, helped me raise $6884.02! WOW!

Thank you so much - the generosity of all of you is so humbling to me. Thank you.