OK, what is wrong with people? How on earth do you open a store at 4:00AM for shopping?
Drugstores, OK. Grocery stores, I guess. But... department stores?
I admit, only one ad I saw had a 4:00AM opening. But two more had 5:00AM openings. Why?!?!?
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
What do you want?
I know what I want.
What do I want that I have a chance of getting? Ah, now that's a much harder question.
When people ask you 'what do you want?' what do you say? "Yeah, sure, I'd like super powers. I'd like to be a billionaire/an astronaut/a rockstar/..."
Or do you say "I don't know"? Because you know what you want, but you can't have it, and even admitting what you really want to someone else can be terrifying?
And then there's the things we want that we can have, but we wish we couldn't.
Poor, poor Lexy. And, of course, coming full circle on George and a-girl-named-Grey.
Yeah, I'm talking about Grey's Anatomy. What did you think I was talking about?
OK, fine, I was talking about both Grey's and me. Quite often they're the same. You think I watch the show for the blood? I've seen blood. I've done procedures in an OR. I've watched skin grafts. I'd rather I hadn't watched skin grafts, but I still have the bragging rights.
No, I watch the show because its about me.
Yes, it isn't about me. Shonda and the other writers don't know I exist, and aside from being glad I'm a viewer wouldn't care if they did know. Ditto the actors, the entire production staff, and the ABC network.
But it is, still, about me. Some of the people on that show are almost as real to me as Denny is to Izzy. Reality is about your perceptions. Love cannot be proven, but I believe it exists, and so for me it does.
I'm an engineer. I don't take things on faith. I want equations, and tests, and physical proof with multiple independent sources.
But some things you have to take on faith, because if you don't you can't even believe in yourself.
And sometimes you have to drink a third of a bottle of cheap wine and watch a TV show, and periodically ask yourself "why did that commercial use a four-engine turboprop airplane?"
And sometimes you have to start your own appendectomy.
That's just the way life is.
What do I want that I have a chance of getting? Ah, now that's a much harder question.
When people ask you 'what do you want?' what do you say? "Yeah, sure, I'd like super powers. I'd like to be a billionaire/an astronaut/a rockstar/..."
Or do you say "I don't know"? Because you know what you want, but you can't have it, and even admitting what you really want to someone else can be terrifying?
And then there's the things we want that we can have, but we wish we couldn't.
Poor, poor Lexy. And, of course, coming full circle on George and a-girl-named-Grey.
Yeah, I'm talking about Grey's Anatomy. What did you think I was talking about?
OK, fine, I was talking about both Grey's and me. Quite often they're the same. You think I watch the show for the blood? I've seen blood. I've done procedures in an OR. I've watched skin grafts. I'd rather I hadn't watched skin grafts, but I still have the bragging rights.
No, I watch the show because its about me.
Yes, it isn't about me. Shonda and the other writers don't know I exist, and aside from being glad I'm a viewer wouldn't care if they did know. Ditto the actors, the entire production staff, and the ABC network.
But it is, still, about me. Some of the people on that show are almost as real to me as Denny is to Izzy. Reality is about your perceptions. Love cannot be proven, but I believe it exists, and so for me it does.
I'm an engineer. I don't take things on faith. I want equations, and tests, and physical proof with multiple independent sources.
But some things you have to take on faith, because if you don't you can't even believe in yourself.
And sometimes you have to drink a third of a bottle of cheap wine and watch a TV show, and periodically ask yourself "why did that commercial use a four-engine turboprop airplane?"
And sometimes you have to start your own appendectomy.
That's just the way life is.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Erk
Ah, the power of ignorance:
http://howobamagotelected.com/
The failure, I think, is one of education. We teach children to expect that things will be spoon-fed to them. Study to the test. Multiple choice with one answer obviously wrong. 30 seconds is plenty of time for a news story. Heck, just read the headline.
And so the real world comes along, with complicated issues and an infinite number of variables in infintite combinations. People find that they're totally unprepared for it, but there's the media, with soundbites and headlines. The media thus has unbelievable power - they can tell people how to think, and many people will think that way.
I wonder if the media would have run banner headlines if John McCain had used cocaine? I'm sure that if they had, he'd have lost supporters, whatever the details were. But I never saw a single headline or subline on any media site, or heard on the radio, that Obama did. [from Wikipedia: As an adult Obama admitted that he used marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol when in high school, which he described as his greatest moral failure at the 2008 Civil Forum on the Presidency.[12][13]] 12 and 13 are CNN and the International Herald Trib. The CNN link doesn't actually have any substantiation of the cocaine part - the IHT cites Obama's own book. OK, we all make mistakes, context is important, and you often learn and grow the most by making mistakes. And it did make the news that Obama used illegal drugs, though I had to dig back via wikipedia to find the stories.
God is in the details. Context is everything.
And if the United States falls, I think it will be because of spin.
http://howobamagotelected.com/
The failure, I think, is one of education. We teach children to expect that things will be spoon-fed to them. Study to the test. Multiple choice with one answer obviously wrong. 30 seconds is plenty of time for a news story. Heck, just read the headline.
And so the real world comes along, with complicated issues and an infinite number of variables in infintite combinations. People find that they're totally unprepared for it, but there's the media, with soundbites and headlines. The media thus has unbelievable power - they can tell people how to think, and many people will think that way.
I wonder if the media would have run banner headlines if John McCain had used cocaine? I'm sure that if they had, he'd have lost supporters, whatever the details were. But I never saw a single headline or subline on any media site, or heard on the radio, that Obama did. [from Wikipedia: As an adult Obama admitted that he used marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol when in high school, which he described as his greatest moral failure at the 2008 Civil Forum on the Presidency.[12][13]] 12 and 13 are CNN and the International Herald Trib. The CNN link doesn't actually have any substantiation of the cocaine part - the IHT cites Obama's own book. OK, we all make mistakes, context is important, and you often learn and grow the most by making mistakes. And it did make the news that Obama used illegal drugs, though I had to dig back via wikipedia to find the stories.
God is in the details. Context is everything.
And if the United States falls, I think it will be because of spin.
Fasten or zip?
There's an episode of Babylon 5 where Sinclair and Garibaldi are on a shuttle killing time, and Garibaldi brings up the question: when you're putting on your pants, do you fasten and then zip or the other way around?
In the spirit of that highly revealing personality question...
Do you turn on the water before or after you get in the shower?
Oh, and periodic update: the DJI closed below 8,000 today, having dropped 2,798 points since the bailout on 10/3/08. Your Federal tax dollars at work.
In the spirit of that highly revealing personality question...
Do you turn on the water before or after you get in the shower?
Oh, and periodic update: the DJI closed below 8,000 today, having dropped 2,798 points since the bailout on 10/3/08. Your Federal tax dollars at work.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Good liquor and bad contracts
For those who may be wondering whether I'm alone in my dislike of the SPEEA contract proposal, it turns out I'm not.
http://answers.polldaddy.com/search.aspx?s=SPEEA
As of right now, 70% of the 616 respondants are voting to reject.
On a happier note, I've found a new and VERY tasty form of whiskey (OK, technically it might not be, but its close enough). American Honey is a derivative of Wild Turkey Bourbon with honey. http://www.beveragewarehouse.com/search/more_info.php?item_id=1708
Serving chilled is recommended. Yum!
http://answers.polldaddy.com/search.aspx?s=SPEEA
As of right now, 70% of the 616 respondants are voting to reject.
On a happier note, I've found a new and VERY tasty form of whiskey (OK, technically it might not be, but its close enough). American Honey is a derivative of Wild Turkey Bourbon with honey. http://www.beveragewarehouse.com/search/more_info.php?item_id=1708
Serving chilled is recommended. Yum!
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