Excellent Adventures of Shpak's Family

2012 Subaru WRX Navigation system problems with bluetooth

niteartadmin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:50:17 +0000

Navigation system that comes with 2012 Subaru wrx is great but it has one extremely annoying feature; navigation minimizes ringer volume on your phone when it is getting connected to it via bluetooth. It happens at least with all iphones.
Subaru tech said navigation does not change anything itself so it must be a problem with phone.
After playing around with “buttons” I found solution:

On Navigation unit do this:
- Go to Audio/Info/Bluetooth/Registered Devices
- Select your phone and press Detail
- Switch Connection method from “From Headunit” to “From Device”

This will fix ringer volume problem with iphone and subaru navigation unit.

Hibernating aliens

niteartadmin — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:54:04 +0000

“So Dad, some things are bothering me. For example how Earth has been created? If it was some kind of bacteria [in the start], how that bacteria was created?… What if it is just a dream of some hibernating alien?”

Smart Kid

niteartadmin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:41:16 +0000

We went into bicycle store to get a present for Katya. Sales clerk spent some time with us showing different models and types of bicycles. We chose one that Katya liked the best.

We went to pay for bicycle to the register.
Katya quietly said to me: – “Daddy, do you think we will get discount if we pay cash or something?”.
Sales person heard it: – “Girl, are you sure you are turning nine? You are too smart for being nine.” and gave us a discount.

Emergency Room

niteartadmin — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 02:50:55 +0000

I feel lucky that Emergency Room at Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, NJ does not have a good reputation for whatever reason.
In practical terms it means it was almost empty when we got there and it took us a whole five minutes waiting for a doctor. We were done in 90 minutes in and out and it included a minor surgery.
Staff was great, they helped my kid relax; then worked quickly and efficient. All in all our first visit to emergency room was flawless.

Doctor is about to stitch Katya’s wound:
- Doctor, how long will it take?
- 30 minutes or so.
- Do you have any books for me to read then?

Still cannot run

Oleg — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:46:35 +0000

As it turned out I had a bone fracture. Doctor asked to avoid running for at least six weeks. I did and tried to run on October 1st. I did 3.6 miles in the morning. It was nice, quiet, cold and dark. My previous run in August was at high nineties degrees temperature. Now it was low forties Unfortunately I still felt the pain in the leg. It means at least two more weeks off the running. Not happy about it at all. I used to heal pretty fast from anything. Not anymore I guess.

NYC Half Marathon 2009

Oleg — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:42:10 +0000

This is my first half marathon and the first race in vibram five fingers shoes. It was a great fun to run at such big race. It was hot and humid, which made race more challenging. Since I did not train properly because of the injury and did not wear five fingers long enough to develop the proper running form I decided to run about 10 minutes per mile pace. It worked out pretty well and I was able to finish race in 2:10:07 time and at 9:56 mpm pace. It is 5469th place out of 10167 participants.
Result – huge blisters, sore calves, lost at least 7 pounds of weight.
Happy!

Coffee in Washington, DC

Oleg — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:00:26 +0000

I went to Washington, DC with my friend recently and one thing that I planned to do is to visit legendary Murky Coffee. I googled for directions and came up with an about.com page that listed their address in Washington. After six hours of walking, in the end of the day, I was ready to go there. It is 20 minutes or so walk from Capitol Hill, still was a challenge for my tired and injured legs.
To our surprise there was no Murky at the address. I reached for iPhone and took a look at murky website. Address was not listed there as well. Bummer…
Without much hope we went into trendy and fashionable looking cafe that was standing instead of Murky. Turns out a great place to visit. Espresso was excellent, and we stayed for some tasty pastries and a cup of Ethiopia coffee that is made in a drip cone. I was very happy and got enough of positive caffeine to stay alert on the way home.
Big difference comparing to the places we go in Manhattan is a size of the space. It is huge and has a lot of tables.

Here is an address if you are in Washington and after a great cup of coffee:

Peregrine Espresso
660 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, DC 20003
(202) 365 1328

“Don’t Talk to the Police” by Professor James Duane

Oleg — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:58:53 +0000

Smart and smooth talker this Professor Duane:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4097602514885833865

Photographer Nadav Kander

Oleg — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:18:41 +0000

Just found another great photographer – Nadav Kander. One of the interesting details that he is not limiting himself to one style like many others. He has landscapes and portraits, and other stuff in his amazing portfolio. Worth to note … Continue reading →

Report card

Oleg — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:11:35 +0000

“This report card cannot be mine. It is some kind of mistake” – 7 years old girl