Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Washington Ski Areas Average Opening Dates

We had an early start to the ski season around here this year. Snoqualmie is the lowest elevation and is still waiting for enough snow, but everyone else is open. Years ago I made a chart of the opening dates on the Seattle PI blog. I’ve updated it this year with the help from some fellow skiers at work.

 dfdWhistlerBaker  StevensSummitCrystal
200617-Nov13-Nov17-Nov2-Dec15-Nov
200717-Nov29-Nov18-Dec15-Dec1-Dec
200826-Nov14-Dec18-Dec11-Dec27-Nov
200914-Nov12-Nov19-Nov14-Nov11-Nov
201019-Nov20-Nov1-Dec25-Nov19-Nov
201118-Nov18-Nov19-Nov19-Nov18-Nov
201217-Nov21-Nov20-Nov8-Dec21-Nov
201316-Nov21-Nov16-Nov10-Jan20-Nov
201422-Nov20-Dec20-Dec28-Dec21-Nov
201519-Nov19-Nov4-Dec11-Dec21-Nov
201623-Nov25-Nov29-Nov6-Dec25-Nov
201717-Nov16-Nov16-Nov2-Dec15-Nov
Average18-Nov24-Nov28-Nov8-Dec20-Nov
benmartens November 24, 2017 Skiing

Amazon Deals

I rarely repeat content on my blog, but I want to mention camelcamelcamel.com again. This is the perfect time of year to make good use of the site. Start at Amazon and find a product that you’re interested in. Copy the URL and head over to camelcamelcamel.com. Paste the URL into the search box on their page and voila, you’ll get a year’s worth of price history for that item. This is a fantastic way to know if the “deal” you’re seeing is actually a good price or not. Dig a little deeper into the functionality on the site and you can set up price watches too. They will email you if your Amazon product drops by X% or $Y.

benmartens November 23, 2017 Links

Fantasy Football – Week 11

See that picture? Check out the video. It’s impressive.

Challenge for the week: Name three starting players on the Seahawks defense who aren’t injured. I bet that’s a tough one for a lot of people. Most of the big names are injured. With that in mind, the Monday Night game went a lot better than I expected. Don’t buy into the “they lost because of the fake field goal” thing. You can’t say how the game would have played out if they had the extra three points there. Now the missed field goal by Walsh? Yeah, that one hurt. A lot. Again. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets booted. (Pun intended.) I was happy to see a lot fewer penalties though, and the new running back, Mike Davis, showed a lot of promise… but then he went out with a groin injury. I wouldn’t put money on them making the playoffs, but maybe they will at least be able to keep the rest of the season interesting. Then we’ll get into the offseason where things will get really interesting. I think it’s time to start trading away some big names before they lose all their value and start some rebuilding. Otherwise the Seahawks are going to fade off into oblivion for 10 years while they keep the gang together and slowly get worse every season.

In our league, three of the top four teams won to add some distance between themselves and the bottom four teams. I somehow squeezed out a win over Logan and I can’t help gloating just a little because I did it with negative points from my QB. Yay? Dad is in fourth place and has a two game lead over me in fifth place. It’s going to be difficult for any of us in the bottom four to make it into the playoffs with only 3 games remaining, but crazier things have happened. Next week Austin and Dad play each other so one of them will lose and if Andy or I win, that will reduce the margin between fourth and fifth place to one game. Please keep those rosters full as we come down to the final stretch!

Power rankings for week 12:

1. Dad (+3) (Dad has gone from 8th in the power rankings to 1st in just two weeks!)
2. Austin
3. Logan (-2)
4. Luke (+1)

On to the weekly awards…

This Week This Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Dad had 142.20 Luke had 161.89 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2015)
Lowest Team Score Logan had 95.23 Jim had 60.95 (Week 10) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Austin beat Jim by 31.94 Luke beat Jim by 74.22 (Week 3) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Ben beat Logan by 18.77 Andy beat Jim by 2.96 (Week 6) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Antonio Brown had 38.06 for Luke Tom Brady had 45.72 for Luke. (Week 3) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin has a 4 game winning streak Logan had a 5 game winning streak (Week 5) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Jim has a 3 game losing streak Tim had a 5 game losing streak. (Week 5) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens November 22, 2017 Fantasy Sports

Best Of YouTube

Mark Rober has another great video. This time it’s about the science behind carnival games. I’ve seen videos like this before but he does an especially good job. I appreciated how he broke down the games into categories based on their feasibility and collected data about win percentages, cost of the prizes, etc.

Flite Test started out as an remote control airplane channel, but they have expanded to include some full scale airplane content as well. Recently, Josh got to take a flight with aerobatic pilot Sean Tucker. When I was growing up, I had two pictures with autographs hanging on my wall. One was from all 6 Thunderbird pilots and the other was from Sean Tucker. He shares some interesting thoughts in addition to amazing flying in this video.

Frank Howarth is a wizard with the lathe and recently he learned how to carve perfect circles. He immediately took it to the extreme and created a wooden eyeball.

benmartens November 21, 2017 Links

Auburn Veteran’s Day Parade

We headed down to Auburn (about 45 minutes south) for a Veteran’s Day parade. It was supposed to be “huge” but we didn’t really know what to expect. We kind of hung out towards the end of the parade route but supposedly there were 30,000 spectators.

There were a couple cool flyovers and lots of interesting military stuff in the parade (mixed in with way too many “random” people in cars donated by local dealerships.) It was also a marching band competition with over 30 bands from around the Pacific Northwest. There were around 200 entries and it took about 2.5 hours to get through them all. I think we all agreed it was too long, but it was fun for the most part. The rain held off and we weren’t too cold so we’ll call it a win.

benmartens November 20, 2017 Family

Fantasy Football – Week 10

The Seahawks tried to penalty their way to another loss but still won with another safety and scrambling QB prowess. Maybe instead of penalties they could just spot the other team a touchdown or two? I could be wrong but I think they had 7 penalties that resulted in first downs including four in one drive. What’s the point of even playing defense if you’re just going to give away freebies? They did get the win but there were 12 injuries including a season ending injury for Sherman and Kam Chancellor also carted off the field. Earl Thomas was already on the bench. So now we have a decimated defense, still no offensive line, and more penalties and penalty yardage than any other NFL team. Remember when I said the Seahawks were heading into an easier section of their schedule? That was probably wrong.

In our league, wins for Logan and Luke made them feel pretty good about their playoff chances. Austin and Dad have 3rd and 4th place to themselves. The league is starting to spread out a bit and it’s getting harder for the 4 of us on the bottom to figure out a scenario that might land us in the playoffs. Thank you to everyone for keeping your rosters full!

Power rankings for week 11:

1. Logan
2. Austin (+1)
3. Andy (+2)
4. Dad (+4)

On to the weekly awards…

This Week This Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Dad had 143.79 Luke had 161.89 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2015)
Lowest Team Score Jim had 60.95 Dad had 61.50 (Week 1) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Luke beat Jim by 52.30 Luke beat Jim by 74.22 (Week 3) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Austin beat Tim by 29.16 Andy beat Jim by 2.96 (Week 6) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Cam Newton had 43.66 on Andy’s bench. Tom Brady had 45.72 for Luke. (Week 3) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin has a 3 game winning streak Logan had a 5 game winning streak (Week 5) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Ben and Jim have 2 game losing streaks. Tim had a 5 game losing streak. (Week 5) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens November 15, 2017 Fantasy Sports

IsoTunes Pro Review

I enjoy using my shop time to catch up on podcasts, YouTube and Netflix. But obviously when I’m running loud equipment, I have hearing protection in and I can’t hear the show. I finally splurged and got the IsoTunes Pro bluetooth earplug headphones. They connect wireless to either my phone or a bluetooth transmitter hooked to my TV.

They do a good job of canceling out shop noise and I can easily hear whatever audio source I have selected. The downside is that I’ve been spoiled with the custom ear plugs I got back when Tyla worked at the hearing clinic. They just slide right into my ear and I don’t have to mess with squishing foam and getting it fit into my ears. That’s not a huge drawback though and I still use the IsoTunes a lot.

benmartens November 13, 2017 Gadgets

Ice Skating

We have a year-round indoor ice rink less than a mile from our house. Elijah and Tyla have killed quite a few hours during the day sitting in the stands and watching random hockey games and watching the Zamboni do laps.

This year, we figured he was finally big enough to fit into some skates and give it a shot. I was pretty sure he could do it, but this trip also meant that I had to dig ice skates out of a box for Tyla and me.

I’ll cut to the chase… we were able to come straight home without stopping at the hospital on the way. So that means it was a victory!

Kidding aside, Elijah did great. I figured we’d get about 5 minutes in and he’d be done, but he stuck with it for about 1.5 hours, never taking a break. I think he probably did about seven total laps, but by the end he was getting more bold. He did have a walker to push around, but he also liked to skate holding my hand.

Tyla and I would take turns doing laps by ourselves. I hadn’t skated for probably about 6 years and before that it was college, but I was surprised at how well it came back. I’m not at the same level I was way back when, but I was a lot closer than I thought I’d be.

Elijah was all smiles the whole time, and he’s already asking when we can go back and try it again.

benmartens November 9, 2017 Family

Fantasy Football – Week 9

The Seahawks had another close game, but in the end the penalties. missed field goals and broken plays because of the offensive line were too much to overcome. It has to be painful as a field goal kicker when you miss THREE field goals and your team loses by three points. Just making ONE of them could have sent them to overtime.

Our league continues to be a free-for-all. Last week, Luke had the highest team score and Andy had the lowest. This week they flipped. Tim had the second highest score in the league hinting that maybe 8th place isn’t where he will end up. With 5 games left until the playoffs are set, everyone still has a chance. Logan and Luke are still looking good with their good records and high point totals.

Deshaun Watson was the second highest scoring player in our league up until his season ending injury. Let’s take a minute to review his progress through our league:

  • Logan had him for less than 14 hours on October 4.
  • He was on Logan’s team again for one week in mid October..
  • He was on my time for a week at the end of October.

He played a total of one week in our league! I had finally made the obvious decision to start him regularly and I even picked up his favorite target (Will Fuller), and then… bam. Out for the season. I think we all deserve a face palm for missing out on all those points up until his injury.

Power rankings for week 10:

1. Logan (+1)
2. Luke (-1)
3. Austin (+1)
4. Tim (+3)

On to the weekly awards…

This Week This Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Andy had 148.65 Luke had 161.89 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2015)
Lowest Team Score Luke had 74.47 Dad had 61.50 (Week 1) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Luke beat Dad by 68.53 Luke beat Jim by 74.22 (Week 3) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Austin beat Ben by 16.86 Andy beat Jim by 2.96 (Week 6) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Jared Goff had 36.44 as a free agent. Tom Brady had 45.72 for Luke. (Week 3) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin has won 2 games in a row Logan had a 5 game winning streak (Week 5) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Dad has lost 2 games in a row. Tim had a 5 game losing streak. (Week 5) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens November 8, 2017 Fantasy Sports

Reduced Writing

It’s been almost six months since I stopped holding myself to the “one post per week day” that I had been doing for 15 years. It has been working out well for me and the natural cadence has been around 3 posts per week.

I’ve been thinking about what led to the decrease in desire to write posts and a major reason finally occurred to me: Instagram. I love Instagram. It’s such a happy place and it takes very little time to catch up on what my friends are doing and what’s happening in communities that I’m interested by (woodworking, skiing, hiking, etc.) I post there quite a bit and I think those pictures have taken the place of a lot of the posts that I would have made on this site. So if I was to make each Instagram post be a post on this site, then I feel like my volume would be similar. The bonus is that if you’re interested in consuming all of it, it takes a lot less of your time to consume the Instagram posts.

In conjunction with this change, I’ve also cut way back on Facebook. I go there a couple times a week to quickly flip through the news feed that I’ve trimmed way down with the Facebook Purity plugin. In contrast to Instagram’s happy environment, a lot of Facebook content feels angry, frivolous or both. I’ve found that the best way to consume Facebook is to not follow very many people, but instead, just go visit various pages every once in a while and catch up in bulk. It reduces some of the Skinner Box response associated with checking your newsfeed every 5 minutes.

I’m sure that the Instagram model will break at some point, but for now, feel free to follow me on my personal account @benwmartens and my woodworking account @martenswoodworks.

benmartens November 7, 2017 Commentary