Don't bother me

I’ve been doing a lot of complaining in this blog lately. I almost can’t help it. I don’t want to focus on the negative, but certain things just irk me. Sometimes they’re little things, but they’re irksome.

Here’s an example. I was testing my new Blackberry’s built-in camera at a swing dance last Saturday. I was trying to get some great photos of the dancers, and that’s not so easy when you have people whirling about, constantly in motion.

This older gentleman comes up besides me and decides to start chatting away. “So, what kind of camera is that?” he asks. I explain that it’s actually a Blackberry with a built-in camera. “How many megapixels?” “I don’t know yet,” I say, trying to be polite when demonstrating studied disinterest. “How much is the bill for that per month?” he asks, and so forth.

Eventually, I had to say, “Sorry, but can we discuss this later? I’m trying to take some pictures here, and timing is critical. You have to catch people just as their faces become visible and they’re preferably in some sort of dramatic pose.” Now, I think that most people understand that intuitively, but I guess it wasn’t so obvious to him.

He’s a nice guy, but a little bit dim at times. It’s not the first time that I’ve seen this side of him. I sense that he feels a strong need for human contact, but just doesn’t know how to go about getting it.

AT&T DSL really stinks in my area

I had to stay home for a while instead of going to work. I've been having trouble with my AT&T DSL line, and their tech support staff said that they must send someone into my home in order to fix the problem.

I tell you, those people can be very aggravating. I complained about this problem last week, and back then, they also said that they needed to send someone into my home. I pointed out that for the past several times this has happened, the problem has always been with the junction box across the street. Perhaps they should check that out first?

So they did, and then they left me a phone message stating that the problem was fixed. Well, it wasn't. I got on the line with them again, and they kept insisting that someone needs to enter my home. I said, "That would be problematic for me. Should I try replacing my router first?" They said, "Sure. Try that."

(I have more to say about that later. Suffice to say that these people don't know their stuff.)

Early the very next morning, I received a phone call, asking me to get in touch with AT&T immediately. When I called them, they said, "Oh, we just wanted to see how things turned out." That's what they considered to be urgent? Good grief, they didn't even give me time to go buy a router. Sheesh!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we determined that the problem is indeed with the junction box across the street -- again. Mind you, I had to coach the technician in order for us to arrive at this conclusion. He was all too quick to say that the problem was with my desktop computer. If I hadn't pointed out that my laptop wasn't getting Internet access either, I'm sure that he would have stuck with that conclusion.

AT&T, you stink.

Revisiting the idiot rubbernecker

I’m still fuming a bit about that driver that I mentioned earlier – the one who slowed down horribly, presumably to watch the accident scene. All the vehicles in front of her had taken off quickly enough that you could no longer see them, but this particular motorist decided to take her own sweet time.

That’s just incredibly stupid and rude. She knew full well that traffic was backed up behind her, and she surely saw that all the cars in front of her were making good time. Nevertheless, she just inched along; after all, her desire to rubberneck was surely much more important than other people’s desire to get through that traffic jam.

Sometimes I think that people like her shouldn’t be allowed to drive.

Idiot rubbernecker

I was late for my Saturday morning Hi-Lo cardio class. Traffic was horribly backed up on the interstate. I noticed this as I entered through the on-ramp, but by then, it was too late to try another route.

Some sort of accident had obviously occurred, based on the police cars that I saw. I didn’t see any ambulances, but I’m sure that they must have been there at some point. Traffic had been reduced to a steady one-lane trickle, and I was chomping at the bit; after all, I eagerly look forward to this cardio class every week. Besides, I needed the workout.

So I found myself behind this one vehicle. Its driver was inching forward very slowly, so I assumed that there must have been a great many vehicles in front of her. As we passed the accident site, she finally started to pick up speed and then moved to another lane.

I was shocked to find that there were no cars in front of her. None whatsoever! There was just an empty highway. Now, I know that there had been other vehicles there, so they must have all taken off a long time beforehand. It also meant that the motorist in front of me wasn’t driving slowly because of the traffic; rather, she was obviously rubbernecking, determined to get a good look at the accident scene.

A more charitable person might say, “Well, maybe she was driving slowly because of the snow.” The thing is, there was scarcely any snowfall on that morning. Oh, there was enough to possibly cause an accident, but remember, all the other cars managed to go fast enough that they were no longer visible on the highway. In contrast, the gal in front of me was moving at a glacial pace.

And she made me even more late. Cripes.

I am hungry

I’m getting hungry. I had a very light breakfast, and I need to go get something more substantial to eat. The thing is, I’m staying at the home of some friends as I visit them on vacation. I’m on my own as far as lunch goes, so I think I’ll take off and walk to Costco. It’s only a three-mile hike, and I could use the exercise.

Zibb?

Have you check out Zibb yet? It is one of the lesser known search engines, and this one is specifically geared for business-related searches. You can sidestep a great many irrelevant sites this way, including the dinky sites that people create just for fun.

J of A R

Here is a plug for the Journal of Alzheimer's Research. It is (to paraphrase their website) an international multidisciplinary journal that is designed facilitate progress in understanding the etiology, epidemiology, genetics, behavior, pathogenesis, treatment and psychology of Alzheimer's disease. It publishes research reports, reviews, short communications, hypotheses, book reviews, and letters-to-the-editor. The Journal of Alzheimer's Researchis dedicated to providing an open forum for original research that will expedite our fundamental understanding of Alzheimer's disease. Their list of online resources (conferencdes, links for researchers, and more) is pretty darned thorough.

Annie's Song

"Annie's Song" by John Denver has got to be one of the most hauntingly beautiful love songs of all time.

You fill up my senses
like a night in the forest
like the mountains in springtime,
like a walk in the rain
like a storm in the desert,
like a sleepy blue ocean
you fill up my senses,
come fill me again.

That's followed by:

Come let me love you,
let me give my life to you
let me drown in your laughter,
let me die in your arms
let me lay down beside you,
let me always be with you
come let me love you,
come love me again.

I want to go straight to the gym

I want to go to the gym as soon as I come back from my trip.

I need to build up my deltoids and my forearms. These are relatively weak spots for me, and I know that I’d look better if I had more muscle in those areas. I also think that I need to trim a few pounds of fat away from my midsection. I already have pretty strong abs, but I’d like to see them stand out more.

Yes, this is largely an issue of vanity. What can I say? I’m still single.

Bailey Quarters

I was telling some friends that I don’t normally go for glamorous women.

Y’see, a female friend of ours was showing us some photos of an old friend of hers. The woman had the figure of a Barbie doll, and our friend said that she looked like a total babe. Personally though, this woman didn’t appeal to me. First of all, while she had an outstanding figure, her face wasn’t that great. And second, I don’t normally go for the glamour gals. Rather, I tend to like the next-door girl kind of appeal.

That’s why I liked Bailey Quarters a lot more than Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP. To be fair, Jan Smithers, the actress who played Bailey, was a great deal more beautiful than your typical girl next door. Nevertheless, this shows how a certain wholesome appeal can be many times more attractive than bombshell good looks.

She's making a mistake

One of my friends is making a huge, huge mistake.

She was set up with this fella on a date not long ago. After just ten weeks, they got engaged. They planned to get married only 14 weeks after that. That’s way too quick, especially for someone who tends to be as careless with dating as she is.

This woman exercises very poor judgment. By and large, the guys she has dated have been deceitful or otherwise had poor character. Despite her beauty, she seems almost desperate to have the company of a man, and that is frustrating.

The guy she picked seems to be pretty decent in comparison to the men that she has previously dated. However, he does not have integrity, and he should also have known that this relationship developed way too quickly. It is not a good thing.

Free Public WiFi? No!

Please don't fall for those "Free Public WiFi" networks at airports. These are just ad hoc networks that are transmitted from one laptop to another, and they don't actually constitute a free service. They do not help, and they could conceivably be used to infiltrate your computer.

If only...

I am wishing for certain things in my life. I wish that things had turned out very differently, and I am deeply saddened that they did not.

I don’t want to talk about specifics right now. Let’s just say that I wish things were different.

I could also use some more human contact today.

Laboratory instrumentation

I heartily recommend BioTek instruments. Okay, so strictly speaking, I only have experience with their plate stackers, and I have heard that their plate washers perform well. I can tell you, however, that I was pleased with the mechanical design of their stackers, and that they seem to be pretty darned reliable. They even have USB versions of these stackers now, which is a great big plus.

Marital problems

A close female friend of mine is having some marital issues. That really bothers me. I want nothing but the best for her.

She’s wondering if she married the right guy. Personally, I think that she did pick correctly. She did pick well. I wish that she would come to terms with that.

She is one of my closest friends of all time, and I want her to be nothing but happy. I feel for her. Very much so.

More on dancing

I attended a 60s/70s-themed dance event recently in which a live band was used. I had predicted that the use of a deejay would have been preferable, and frankly, I think I was right. Here’s why.

70s dance music was dominated by disco, and very few bands can play disco music. You’d be hardpressed to find a band that can play such standards as “YMCA” or “Disco Inferno,” for example.

As for 60s music, most of it was not really designed for dancing. By and large, for example, Beatles music wasn’t meant for dancing. There were exceptions such as “Twist and Shout,” but that was not originally a Beatles tune. Don McLean alluded to the non-dancing nature of the Fab Four’s music when he wrote about the sargents playing a marching tune.

You could still dance to a lot of non-disco 70s music, just like you can still dance to a lot of non-dance 60s music. However, they weren’t really designed for dancing, and so the decision to have a live band was somewhat misguided.

Dancing

I was talking to this female friend about dancing recently. She knew that I’ve tried my hand at swing dancing, and she said, “Yeah, you get me on the dance floor and I’ll be jitterbugging through the night.”

So I asked, “By ‘jitterbug,’ do you mean east coast swing? Or do you just mean…?”

She snapped a bit and said, “You don’t have to get technical! Lighten up!” I think that was uncalled for. I just wanted to understand what she meant.

Sadly, when most people talk about dancing, they just mean getting out there to twist, shake and sway to the music. There’s nothing inherently wrong about that, but I think that people deprive themselves when they think in those terms. Another friend of mine says that she likes “real dancing”—that is, dancing in which you employ specific dance moves and styles. Anybody can shake it around, after all. Moving with deliberate musical purpose, on the other hand, takes more skill – and it is ultimately more satisfying.

The Kids from C.A.P.E.R.

I’ve been thinking about “The Kids from C.A.P.E.R.” lately. It was this short-lived children’s show from the 70s that had some off-the-wall Monkee-esque humor. This was no coincidence, as it turns out. Don Kirshner was involved in the production of both shows.

I read a “The Kids from C.A.P.E.R.” fanfic story recently. Like most fanfic, it was pretty bad. The story introduced a team of female C.A.P.E.R. kids, but these ladies served no useful purpose in the story. The whole story read like somebody’s daydream fantasies committed to paper, with no coherence or overall purpose.

I would love to see this show on DVD, though.

Jet lag

Can't sleep. Stupid jet lag. This is why I don't like to travel.

Almost blank

This post is almost blank. Not quite, though.

Kim Cloutier

Wow. Just... wow.

Juvenile tactics

DoI have a cousin who had a strange idea of fun. She thought it was absolutely hilarious for her to follow me around, mimicking whatever I did. I'd climb up the stairs; she'd climb up the stairs. I'd sit down on the couch; she'd sit down on the couch. I'd let out a sigh, and so would she.

Mind you, she wasn't a little kid anymore when she did this sort of thing. I can imagine how a five-year-old would find this amusing, but not a pre-teen.

In part, I blame her parents. Her parents should have taught her that this was not polite behavior. Then again, I learned that a lot of adults don't teach their children such niceties. In fact, in my family, they would often blame the child who complained about being mocked or teased. "Be a good sport," they'd say.

There's some merit to saying that people need to learn to be a good sport. However, when the children go out of their way to tease or ridicule others, you need to slap them down. You need to let them know that such behavior is unacceptable. When you respond to these situations by childing the victim and saying "Learn to be a good sport," then you are sending an entirely wrong message. You are telling the tormenters that what they're doing is perfectly acceptable and that they are acting with your blessings. Don't let them off the hook that way.

A vintage Kathy Smith video

So I borrowed this Kathy Smith exercise DVD from the public library. It was titled “Strong, Sleek, & Slim,” and like many of her DVDs, it’s a compilation of three older videos. One of these vids was titled “Ultimate Video Workout,” and it had never been released on DVD before. It’s not hard to see why.

Frankly, this video was kinda embarassing. I love Kathy Smith’s work, but this was clearly one of her earlier and less refined attempts. It’s clearly of 80s vintage, as evidenced by the outfits and the colors, not to mention the dancy and relatively uninteresting aerobic moves. Don’t get me wrong; Kathy Smith is a real pro and I think she’s fantastic. This particular video looks like it came from a time when she was less experienced and had a smaller repertoire, though.

I think that particular video had relatively little appeal, too. One thing that I like about Kathy is the way she creates cardio routines that can appeal to both men and women. Unlike many of Kathy’s later works though, the moves in this video were often distinctly feminine. There were two male performers in this vid, but I think that most men would find its routines to be overly girl.

She did have this very interesting segment in which she and her team built up an extended cardio routine as they pranced around in a parking lot. I have to give her credit for this creative notion. Also, I love the fact that the particpants didn’t seem to be overly choreographed. Oh, they clearly had a pre-arranged sequence of moves, but they also looked like they were pretty much relaxing and having a dance party. Even at this early stage in her career, Kathy already knew how to be creative.

One more comment: One can’t help but notice that Ms. Smith wore an outfit that was tasteful (barring the atrocious 80s aerobic fashions), but that strongly accentuated her figure. Mind you, she’s always had very well-rounded yet athletic curves. In this particular video though, that was much more obvious than usual. I don’t know if it’s because her waistline was a bit smaller back then (if that’s at all possible!), or if it’s because of her attire. I do think that in her later years, she had a tendency to wear dark outfits that de-accentuated her curves. Was this a deliberate attempt to reduce the focus on her figure and emphasize her teaching? I wonder.

Gym jackasses revisited

Earlier, I complained about some jackasses in the gym who like to yell and bark like dogs during our cardio exercise classes. This serves no real purpose, and it's ultimately a mean for them to draw attention to themselves.

Mind you, I like to put some flair into my moves. I like to put some bounce in my steps, and I like to cover a good amount of ground during lateral movements. None of that is for the purpose of attracting attention, though some might perceive it as such. It's all for the purpose of getting a more thorough workout.

Today, I saw an especially egregious example. I was attending this step cardio class, and this one husky guy beside me kept barking like a dog and yelling "Yeah!" or words to that effect. The thing is, half the time, he wasn't even doing the exercises! While everyone else was stepping up and down, he'd be crouching over, but still barking like a dog -- acting as though he were having the time of his life. Sometimes, we'd be doing knee raises, and he would be barely lifting his knees. That didn't stop him from yelling out enthusiastically, though.

Mind you, there are times when I don't have a lot of energy in these classes. There are also times when I don't get the moves right. I would never bark or holler in such circumstances, even if I were the kind of guy who liked to attract attention. Why? Because only a jackass tries to draw attention to himself when he's doing things badly or not making any real effort.

Yet another rant on Windows idiocy

Okay, once again, I have to rant about how idiotic MS Windows is. Just today, I tried to click on an application window -- in effect, switching from one application to another. And what does my computer do? It slows down to a crawl. About fifteen seconds later, the second application window finally appears.

Mind you, these weren't exotic custom applications that I was running. Rather, these were simple Internet Explorer windows displaying very rudimentary content. Nothing spectacular.

The problem is that Windows insists on doing so much garbage in the background that the OS will occasionally grind to almost a halt for no apparent reason. It's the very definition of bloatware.

Last night, I observed the same problem on another computer. After digging around, I found out that one process was reporting a problem to Microsoft, and had slowed the computer down in the process. Yeah, that's great. It wouldn't be such a problem if Windows was fairly reliable, but it's not.

Microsoft Windows, you stink.

Bariatic surgery as the easy way out

I'm watching this documentary on obesity in America. One of the featured characters is this severely overweight fella who has decided to undergo dangerous bariatric surgery in order to lose weight. His physician and family members have advised against this though, stating that he should first try an exercise program.

His response? "It's hard! Exercise is hard!" He figures that surgery is the easy way out.

I always want to avoid feeling disgust toward morbidly obese people; after all, they are humans too, and some of them have serious physical ailments that prevent them from losing weight. When somebody refuses to even try an exercise program though... well, I find that I can't muster up as much sympathy for that person. That person doesn't deserve to be mistreated, but if he's always going to rely on quick and easy (and potentially dangerous) fixes, then that's his fault.

His sister told him, "Just start some sort of exercise program. Everyone has to start somewhere." He replied, "Surgery is a starting point."

I still feel bad for the guy, but what can you do?

Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew

I remember how much I liked watching The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries when I was a young lad. I could only watch it sporadically, though. We only had one TV at home, and my mom insisted on watching this stupid soap opera instead.

Me, I preferred the intellectual challenge of a good detective story.

So cold

It is so cold. So bloody cold.

I've got this parabolic heating reflector aimed straight at me right now, and it helps. It doesn't provide absolutely even heating though, since I can only point it toward one side of myself. Still, I'm glad that I have it.

What can I say? I don't want to turn the heat up.

Jackasses in the gym

There are a couple of guys who get all noisy during my Monday night cardio bootcamp class. I can't speak for anyone else in the class, but I think that they're pretty annoying. They keep yelling, whooping it up, and barking like a dog. Some would say that they're just being enthusiastic, but frankly, I think that they're just trying to attract attention.

Just today, one of these guys was barking loudly, as though trumpeting how much he was enjoying the class. Even as he was doing that though, he was totally cheating on his squats. He was barely bending his knees, and he was leaning forward rather heavily. Yet there he was, barking around as though he was having the time of his life.

I wish I could confront these guys, but that's a difficult thing to do, especially since there are certain ethnic and cultural issues to consider. In my mind though, I want to tell them: "Shut up!"

It's so cold!

I've been feeling the cold so much more acutely lately. It's not just because we're going through an unusually cold period -- at least, I don't think it is. Rather, I think it's also because I've dropped a bit of body fat, which makes me more sensitive to the cold.

I don't miss the extra insulation, but I do wish that I had more feeling in my fingers. Ugh.

R.I.P., Cheryl

I just learned that Mouseketeer Cheryl Holdridge passed away due to lung cancer. What a terrible shame. She wasn't a great singer, but she was a delightful dancer and she seemed to have so much fun on the show. She also went on to a pretty successful television career in her youth.

You will be missed, Cheryl.

About mendicants

Somebody recently shared the following perspective on panhandlers. I think that her wisdom is well worth sharing.

I know of several people who regard begging as their job. There's a community of such people out there, in fact one of the local newspaper columnists occasionally runs a story on some of them. For a while, a popular story was "My wallet got stolen, can you give me a couple bucks to help me get home?" I always offered to buy the "victim" a cup of coffee while I called the cops so that they could file a police report. The "victim" always remembered an urgent previous engagement.

I have also been quite poor, though not homeless. I took babysitting jobs, I worked several newspaper routes (walking them, and with my baby in a stroller with me). I was grateful if someone gave me a tip, or just money in general. However, I never begged, and I certainly didn't get up in people's faces about it. I knew that if I wanted any little luxuries, that I'd have to earn them myself, without depending on others to give them to me. At that time, a little luxury was a cup of tea...I had cut my food budget to the bone. In fact, I had cut all my budgets to the bone.

Some of us are more private than others. Many people, especially women, are not comfortable with a stranger, especially a large scruffy stranger, accosting us in public. Even if the stranger is not overtly threatening, it goes against all of our safety training. Sure, it would be nice if we didn't have to be wary about such things. But the fact of the matter is, that we do have to be careful. Men don't have quite the same worries, but I think that it's reasonable for even a large, strong, physically able man to be wary about a stranger approaching him out of the blue. As it happens, I am willing to physically defend myself, but I am not really in the best of shape to do so.

Some panhandlers are polite and laidback. Generally, I just shake my head without making eye contact. It's IMPORTANT for safety's sake not to make eye contact with strangers. Other panhandlers are more aggressive, and will follow their target for a while. They won't back off, and can be pretty scary. A polite panhandler can turn into an aggressive one if the target makes eye contact. With these folks, I WILL call the cops or notify the store manager or whatever. Obviously, the aggressive panhandler has problems recognizing other people's boundaries, and I don't know how far he'll go.

Basically, I feel that the vast majority of panhandlers could find other legit ways to make some money. I'm sure that there are some folks out there who have no other choice but to panhandle. However, I really don't think that I've come across them.

Yeah, I do give to some charities. In this way, I'm sure that most of my money is actually giving necessities to people, rather than funding another binge.

It is freezing!

Good grief! I have a lot of tolerance for the cold, partly because I work out a lot and have a revved-up metabolism. The cold weather this week is driving me nuts, though. I can barely shovel the snow in my driveway, thanks to these sub-zero temperatures. What's more, my fingers and toes get way too cold when I drive, to the point that I start to worry about getting frostbite.

And I can't close my garage door. I can't really work on this until the temperature gets warmer.

Whither Maylo?

Whatever happened to Maylo McCaslin? She's this fairly obscure actor that had a lot of TV roles back in the late 1980s. Did she just drop off the radar after marrying Willie Aames?

Also, what happened to Mark Thomas Miller of [em]The Misfits of Science[/em]? I know that Dean Paul Martin and Kevin Peter Hall both died, and Ms. Cox went on to major stardom. What about Mark, though?

Put your back into it! (Part II)

I've read articles which say that some people are overweight because they put very little effort into their day to day motions. Instead of bending down to pick something up from the floor, for example, they'll find a way to lean over and pick it up with much smaller movements instead. Instead of walking at a brisk pace, they saunter. And so forth. He looks like one of those guys.

Again, I try to remind myself that he might have some unknown, non-obvious physical ailment. It's kinda hard to think that when watching him move, though. He certainly doesn't appear to be disabled, and he didn't park in either of the gym's disabled parking spots. Who knows?

Put your back into it! (Part I)

When you see someone who's badly out of shape - and I mean severely so -- what do you think? That he's lazy? Or perhaps that he has some sort of physical malady?

I always want to be careful in this regard. After all, some people have disabilities or physical injuries that are by no means obvious. Having said that, when it comes to the vast majority of out-of-shape Americans, disabilities and injuries have little or nothing to do with their lack of stamina or energy.

Case in point: This one guy at the gym who sometimes participates in the cardio classes that I attend. He's pudgy, but he's not severely overweight; that is, nobody would refer to him as a beached whale. Still, whenever he moves, it's always with the slowest and smallest of motions. I've never seen him do a single jumping jack; rather, he always just kinda kicks his heel off to one side. When the instructor commands us to raise our arms into the air, he slowly lifts his hands up to shoulder level. And instead of kicking forward, he kinda steps forward slowly.

As I said, we have to avoid judging people too harshly, especially when we don't know their medical history. In this case though, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that he's just not putting any real effort into his motions. Why do I say that? Because of the way I've seen him move in the locker room. I've been stuck behind him as I was rushing to claim a locker just before our cardio class. Even though the class was schedule to start within a minute or two, he'd be sauntering very slowly... much more slowly than most normal people would walk. He walks at a painstaking, agonizingly slow pace.

Could this be due to a medical condition? Maybe, but it seems unlikely, especially since he doesn't walk with a limp or in any way that suggests pain. What's more, it's not just the way he walks, but all his other motions as well. Heck, there are times when our cardio instructor commands us to walk a few steps forward, and he just stays in place, as though the extra effort just wouldn't be worth it.

More on gym newbies

I wanted to follow up on my previous rant about New Year's resolutioners at the gym.

Having so many newbies around can be understandably annoying for regulars, who tend to view the gym as their own turf. I think we always need to be nice and welcoming to the newcomers, though. It's tough, especially since it's naturaly for us to feel somewhat territorial. Still, let's make the effort.

Not too hard, though. The gym really isn't the kind of place where serious people intend to socialize. In fact, it's often kinda annoying to have someone engage you in long conversation at the gym, especially when you're trying to concentrate on your workout. It can also be annoying to the people around you, especially if you're talking loudly.

So let's strike a balance. Be friendly to the newbies, but don't treat the place as though it were a venue for a gabfest.

Invasion of the New Year's Resolutioners

It's January, and my gym has been invaded by New Year's resolutioners. I was almost unable to find a parking spot at the gym due to the massive surge in attendance. Finding a spot was made even more difficult by the fact that some of these motorists clogged up the lanes by waiting and waiting and waiting for someone to pull out of their spot.... you know, as opposed to driving a little bit further to park elsewhere.

My cardio bootcamp class was overflowing with newbies. We were practically packed in there like sardines. Not a pleasant situation.

Please don't get me wrong. I have nothing against newbies; in fact, when they seem friendly, I like to meet them and introduce them to some of the regulars. I also routinely cheer them on when they need encouragement. It is very annoying, however, that they choose to come in droves right after the holidays. The gym simply isn't equipped to deal with these inflated numbers.

It's especially aggravating because you know that the vast majority of these folks aren't taking exercise seriously. How do we know this? Because if they were, they wouldn't be waiting around for January 1st to start getting into shape. This isn't just idle speculation, mind you. Rather, it's pretty obvious --- especially when you see how much attendance drops when February rolls around.

I'll say more about that later.

Zooey

I just learned that Zooey Deschanel, one of my favorite actresses, is starring in the Jim Carrey vehicle, "Yes Man." I have no intention of watching the show, but I am tempted to do so due to Zooey.

Mind you, she has her moments of serious clunkiness, as evidenced in "Tin Man." She can be pretty darned good though, and she's a spectacular singer. Throaty and enchanting and absolutely wonderful to listen to.

Another great answer

Here's another great answer to the question of whether we should always use the scientific method in our daily activities.

To me that shows why we CAN NOT use the scientific method in our personal relations. Suppose I have a friend at work who's usually polite and helpful. Then one day I notice that she's being rude, ignoring her duties, and so forth. If I insist on judging the situation based only on observation and logical deduction, I would have to conclude that she's somehow turned into a bad person. However, I also have another option: I can have faith in this person. And that's a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Her change in behavior may be resulting from something I don't know about, such as an illness, a family crisis, or something else. It may be something that I never know about. Nobody can ever observe another person thoroughly enough to completely understand all of that person's motivations, emotions, reasons, and thoughts. Hence, forming judgments about people solely by observation and logical deduction cannot truly be enough.

Again, slightly paraphrased. He's right. Human beings are too complex to be treated to a facile application of the scientific method.

Riptide!

This page reminded me of something... I so want to watch the second and third seasons of [em]Riptide[/em] on DVD. This was a great detective show from the 80s that was pretty darned funny at times. The humor was sometimes quite painful to watch, but it had a lot of genuinely amusing moments.

Unfortunately, Netflix is only carrying the first season on DVD. I'd love to watch the remaining seasons, but I don't want to spend money on the DVD sets.

Assay principles

More about the ELISA Spot assay:

The ELISPOT assay can be done with freshly isolated PBMC or with PBMC frozen by certain specifications. Specifically designed 96-well plates are coated with a cytokine-specific monoclonal antibody (e.g., IFN-). PBMC (or purified T cell subsets) are pipetted into the coated wells, and are cultured with the test antigen(s). Control wells contain either irrelevant antigen, or media alone. T cells that are specific for the test antigen when activated secrete molecules that are captured by the membrane-bound antibody (Figure 3).

Induction of maximal cytokine production typically requires 24 h (IFN-, IL-2 and IL-3, IL-10 and TNF or 48 h for IL-4 and IL-5). After the activation culture, the cells are discarded (or transferred for further characterization/propagation), and a labeled cytokine-specific secondary antibody is added. Subsequently the plate bound secondary antibody is visualized via an enzymatic reaction. When ELISPOT assays are optimized (as is the case for ImmunoSpot® assays) each color precipitation (“spot”) represents the footprint of a single cell’s cytokine secretion. Spot number denotes the accurate frequency of the antigen specific T cells among the plated cells, spot size and morphology providing additional information on the magnitude and kinetics of the cells’ secretory activity.

Bravo to this guy

I love what this guy said regarding the profanity debate.

The reason you can't begin to understand is that you're misreading what I wrote. I said "swearing is a habit that lazy people *CAN* fall back on...".

This does not mean "lazy people ALWAYS swear."

This does not mean "all swearing is done by lazy people."

There is no prejudice, except in your mind. It's a very simple statement. If one doesn't want to take the time and effort to think of the right word (e.g., one is linguistically lazy), then swearing is an easy way out. Do you *really* disagree with that?

And, by the way, you said "People who swear do it because that's the way they've always done it; that's just how they talk." How is that not the definition of "habit"? How is that not "remotely similar" to my point?

Again, read the argument. Swearing *IS NOT* equal to lazy. Swearing is a tool for lazy people. It's also a tool for intelligent, erudite people who know just the right time and place for a good profanity, and they can make it really effective.

And some people use it as filler, like um, er, ah, and like. When someone says, "I f*ckin' went to the latest fuckin' Jean-Claude Van-f*ckin'-Damme movie at the f*ckin' theater night before f*ckin' last, but I was so f*cked up I can't f*ckin' remember the f*ckin' plot," the profanity adds nothing to the sentence (not even emphasis, because it's so overused). When such a sentence is uttered loudly in a public place I consider it rude, thoughtless, and obnoxious.

Mind you, I'm not trying to justify the use of profanity. I don't think we should use it. From a purely literary perspective though, I think this guy is exactly right.

Even more profanity stupidity

Here is one of the most idiotic things that I read in this discussion on swearing.

How can swearing be less accurate or whatever than the words they are replacing. How is "there was a lot of sh*t in his garage" any different from "there was a lot of stuff in his garage."? It's the same thing!

Does this guy really think that profanity cannot make a statement less accurate? This sounds like a knee-jerk rationalization to me. It's pretty obvious that using a more generic word does make the statement less accurate -- or more precisely, less specific. The two rephrasings certainly are NOT the same thing insofar as the precise meaning of the former is not as readily discerned.

As one guy responded,

You're assuming that the listener knows that "sht*=stuff" in the speaker's mind. Nothing in this phrasing automatically sugggests that, though. None of the verbiage tells you if the speaker is talking about stuff that's mildly annoying, stuff that utterly reprehensible, or just plain "stuff."

Again, I'm not arguing against the use of profanity. That's a whole nuther debate. I just think it's foolish to think that swear words are just as precise or accurate as the words they are intended to replace. They aren't, especially since the same bits of profanity are used in casual contexts, at times of mild annoyance, and in the depths of fury and hellfire.

Yet another excuse for using profanity

The following ridiculous claim was uttered in defense of using profanity.

If I don't understand what a Frenchman says to me, that means that I don't understand French, not that the Frenchman isn't being clear and effective.

One guy responded by saying,

Speaking French or a strong dialect isn't analogous to swearing in English. It's the use to which the language is put, not the language itself that counts here. Some confusion can arise when using swear words (and, indeed to many other imprecise iterations) because they often are used as 'blanket' words. 'Fuck you' is a imprecise blast, used with strong feeling to express distaste of a particular action. It would be more accurate to specify what caused that reaction. The precise response may be not as satisfying or be able to put across the strength of feeling, though.

Yet another person said,

That's a false analogy and you know it. We're not talking about situations wherein people are using unfamiliar words or grammar. Rather, we're talking about situations wherein words are used indiscriminately, thereby robbing them of their impact and the ability to accurately communicate shades of meaning and emotion.

The problem lies in the indiscriminate use of this language. If you routinely use the word "sh*t" to mean excrement, something detestable, and just plain stuff, then the word loses its impact. Far from enhancing accurate communication, it simply serves as a barrier.

This problem isn't merely limited to profanity, BTW. The problem exists even within polite language. For example, I knew a graduate student who routinely described software designs as "good." His use of the word may have been accurate, but it was imprecise. A more effective communicator would be more specific, describing the designs as elegant, or efficient, or perhaps highly maintainable. The descriptor "good" lacked those nuances of meaning, and its indiscriminate use only aggravated that problem.

That's why it's a cop-oput to say that profanity is an excellent means of communication. It's only advantageous if used sparingly. When used indiscriminately, it blurs the distinction between truly aggravating circumstances and minor annoyances -- or worse, the humdrum routines of life.

Obama coins? Commemorative plates?

They're shilling commemorative Barack Obama coins and plates on TV now. That's just insane.

Look, I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican, liberal or conservative. It's a colossally stupid move to engage in such wide-eyed adulation before the man even steps into office. Why not wait and see how well he performs before showering him with these types of accolades? That would just be prudent.

I'd say the same thing about anyone who gets elected to the Presidency. This is why I've always said that we should not erect public monuments or commemorative symbols to living politicians -- or at the very least, politicians who have not yet put in decently long terms.

Excusing profanity

I'm amazed at the lengths that some people would go to do defend profanity. I will heartily agree that profanity can be useful in communicating anger or disgust (though I don't condone its use). However, when people insist that profanity is the most effective way to communicate the depths of one's anger, or even the only way to do so, then that's just absurd. It indicates a complete lack of imagination on their part.

Consider the following exchange I saw in which this topic was debated:

Alright. So you come back from the garage upset about all the stuff in it. How would you express your anger about the situation?

One could launch a litany of insults against whoever caused the mess, or whoever created the stuff. One could wish the longest and most painful of torments on these people, their parents, and their progeny. One could describe the way one wants these people to be hung by their entrails, run through with fiery hot pokers, and forced to consume their own vomit. The list goes on.

I daresay that would be a more effective -- and far less ambiguous -- way of communicating anger than to say "This is all a bunch of sh*t!"

In discussing the use of profanity to convey anger, you said, "What else can convey that meaning?" With all due respect, I daresay that if a person cannot thinks there is no other way to convey the depths of his anger, then this is a reflection of that person's limited imagination and linguistic skill rather than any fundamental limitation of the language itself.

Preach it!

More on profanity

How about the following exchange regarding the use of profanity?

Really nothing conveys anger better than swearing.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on those points. Since when did swearing become the ultimate means of expressing anger? If anything, I think it's the easiest way to do so -- not necessarily the most effective way. In fact, since a lot of people toss around the f-word and s-word at the drop of a hat, regardless of their emotional state, I'd say that makes profanity a decidedly less effective way of expressing anger.

Is profanity a good way to express anger? Certainly. Is it the best, the ultimate, the most effective way? Only for people who lack imagination.

Swearing gets really old

I like what somebody said about swearing and how tedious it gets to hear someone use profanity all the time:

My husband swears a lot and it's really getting old. S*t, d**n, *ss and an emphatic f**k (she dreamed!) don't bother me at all. But he CONSTANTLY uses f**ker, c**ks**ker and m*th*rf**ker. If you say c**ks**ker or m*th*rf**ker when you drop a piece of bread or burn your finger, you're tapped out. There really isn't much worse that you can say. What if you get hit by a car, or your house burns down, or someone shoots your dog? You've already used up the worst words. Believe me, I can swear like a trucker IF PROVOKED, but overusing curses just makes one sound unintelligent, like you can't think of a smart thing to say. It's like getting into a physical fight (unless you are in danger, someone is attacking you or a loved one, etc.) Gee, I really have nothing intelligent to say, I think I'll just punch this guy or say f**king c*cks**ker because my pills fell on the floor. When you swear a lot, you rob the words of their impact and you just sound like an impatient, short-fused ass. When you hear it every day, it gets old really fast.

This is my Christmas post

This is my blog entry for Christmas Day. I'm actually entering it late, but I'm dating it to December 25th anyway. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

I got to spend Christmas Eve with a delightful family. Sadly, some of the men in that family tend to be way too foul-mouthed. On top of that, I have really serious reservations about the guy that one of these ladies is dating. He's friendly enough, but he just doesn't seem like a quality guy. She could do much better if she really chose to.

Mythbusters

I liked the following comment that somebody made regarding the Discovery Channel's show, [em]Mythbusters[/em].

As far as I'm concerned, the show is good because it's one of the few where what they do is more important than how they look, what their personalities are, how smooth their dialogue is, whether they sexually desirable, whether they are cool, whether the production is slick etc. At it's peak, the show was near unique in that they showed the backroom stuff. They showed not just the slickly performed payoff at the end, but how they built their rig, the scale rigs they built to try out ideas, the fuckups, the deadends, the rigs that didn't work.

It broke out of the mould in which every show must be based slick showiness, to the exclusion of substance.

It is slowly falling back into the boring standard mould, and is getting less and less to my taste because of it.

I learned a new term

I learned a new scientific term recently: HPBMC. I was familiar with the PBMC acronym, which stands for "peripheral blood mononuclear cells." Well then, "human PBMC" is naturally abbreviated as HPBMC.

Some things should be pretty obvious. Heh.

Okay, okay. In the grand scheme of things, this is a pretty minor rant.

Lousy website design

I saw this website which had a small "search" function box in its upper right-hand corner. In the same corner, it had the following message:

Use the site's "Search Engine" located on the upper right corner, to list all content by keywords.

The designers of this site clearly had no sense of style or function. Not a lot of common sense, either. Oh, and they could use a good proofreader.

HBD, M.

Happy Birthday, Mother. Happy Birthday.

I don't want to write

I should be writing manuals tonight. I don't want to, though. I am so sick of writing.

Lousy customer service

I once ordered a pizza from this pizza joint, requesting light cheese (half as much cheese as usual). The cashier told me that it would be ready within 20 minutes, but 20 minutes later, they had not even put it into the oven yet. And when it was finally ready, the cashier tells me, "Okay, here is your pizza with EXTRA cheese. That'll be..."

I said, "Wait a minute. I asked for LESS cheese, not extra cheese. You're giving me the exact opposite of what I asked for."

"Well, will you pay for it anyway?" he asked. "We won't charge you anything extra."

I complained rather irately to the manager.

Stuff I want to do.

I'm trying to educate myself on a variety of things. This includes ancient Greek philosophy -- specifically, the work of Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. I also want to brush up on my microelectronics. I would also like to learn more about the chemistry of cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

What else? I need to brush up on politics and current events. I've never been good at that. I also want to read a bunch of classical novels -- or at the very least, abridged versions thereof. I like making literary references, after all.

Would love to read "Don Quixote" someday.

There just isn't enough time though, and I need my sleep.

I heard it through the Crepevine

While on a business trip, I was scouting around for a good place to eat. Normally, I would check out an inexpensive pizza place or some manner of healthy eating (e.g. Boston Market). This crepe place caught my eye though, so I checked it out.

The dining there was wonderful! Loved the potatoes, and the crepe that I ordered was very flavorful. I forget what was in it, but it had some chicken and two types of cheeses.

Hopefully, it wasn't TOO fattening. I've love to try that place again someday.

Annoying people on a plane

I’m not terribly fond of travelling, and I especially hate flying for long distances.

Today, I took a long, long flight from North Carolina to California. The woman seated to my right brought her own meal on board, and it had a pretty strong odor. Sitting beside her was rather unpleasant at the time. I suspect that she was conscious of the odor though, because she seemed to be rushing to finish her meal.

Then there was the fella seated behind me. He was snoring very loudly, and several people kept looking his way. After a while, I discreetly tried tapping his knee in order to wake him up, but that didn’t work. He did wake up eventually, but would then promptly doze back off and start snoring immediately.

He also had a kid who kept kicking the armrest on my left-hand side. I had to keep turning to him and saying "Please stop doing that."

Good grief.

US Airways charges for drinks now?!??! And snacks, too?!?!?

I discovered that US Airways now charges for meals, snacks, and drinks that they serve on their flights. They must really be trying to cut back on their expenses. I can’t really complain, since I know that the airline industry is going through some pretty severe hardships right now.

I can’t help but think about Andre, a commercial pilot that I knew. It’s a safe bet that he doesn’t earn the same kind of salary that he used to command seven years ago. What a shame.

As an aside, I could use a raise myself.

Hailing a cab

I felt annoyed and then chagrined as I tried to hail a cab recently.

While on a business trip, I called this one cab to take me to the airport for my flight back home. The dispatcher said that it would take ten minutes. Well, 15 minutes elapsed, then 20. I called the dispatcher repeatedly, but got no reply. I have a feeling that he decided to take a break, and I was pretty annoyed.

I then saw a red cab park at a nearby coffeeshop, so I noted the telephone number on the cab and called it. Their dispatcher muddled around, talking to some co-workers and trying to figure out if they had any cabs in my area. As it turned out, the cab that I saw was available, so they told me that he'd be at my spot in 30 seconds.

Just then, I got a call from the driver from the original cab company that I called. He told me that he was right there, and that he could see me standing by this tree. At that point, I was tempted to blow him off; after all, he had kept me waiting for 25+ minutes, and I had just arranged for another ride. I decided to just take this opportunity though; after all, I needed the ride.

The driver fella turned out to be this very friendly guy from Yemen. He explained that he drove by my spot earlier, but was flagged down by this woman standing nearby. He naturally assumed that she was the one who called for the cab, which explained why he was so late.

So I went from being annoyed to chagrined. I also felt bad for that other cab company that I called. It was frustrating; I finally got ahold of a dispatcher and arranged for a ride, only to find out that it wasn't necessary anymore.

I'm trying to tell you!

I was kinda short with this one taxi dispatcher recently. I don't think that my reaction was unreasonable, but perhaps I could have been more patient.

I called this cab company, telling them that I was at a Starbucks and needed a ride to the airport. For whatever reason, the dispatcher didn't get what I meant (background noise, maybe?) and asked if I needed a ride to or from the airport. I explained the situation once again.

So he asked where I was. I told him, "I'm at the Starbucks at..." at which point he interrupted, "Yes. Where??!" At that point, I was getting pretty annoyed, and so I shot back, "I'm telling you!!!" and then, in a pique of frustration, hung up on the guy.

Maybe I could have been more patient with him. I do think that he should have at least let me finish instead of interrupting me in mid-sentence, though.

I hate to travel... or rather, to fly.

I hate flying, whether for business or pleasure. I'm not afraid of flying, but I do find it annoying.

Oh, there are perks to business travel. I like getting free meals, for example. I also like being able to rack up some perks on my credit cards. And sometimes, it's nice to see new places. Still, I'd prefer to stay home.

Besides, I never really get enough time to do any sight-seeing on these trips. I blew such an opportunity a few weeks ago, when I returned my rental car way too early. Oh, well.

It would help if I had company on these trips. Going sight-seeing alone just isn't very much fun.

A strange guy at the gym

There's this very strange guy at the gym. He's ambulatory and not obviously crippled in any way. He's overweight but not morbidly obese. Still, even though he looks like he's about my age, he moves like a 75-year-old whenever he sits in on our cardio classes.

I don't know what to make of him. The instructor tells us to march forward, and he just stays in place. We're told to pump our arms into the air, and he raises his hands to the height of his shoulders. He looks like he can move normally, but when it comes to basic exercise, he acts like an old man.

Now, I don't know the whole story here, and I want to be charitable. Still, he does seem like one of those guys who just moves lazily. You know, the kind of guy who's out of shape because he always uses the smallest, least strenuous motions that he can.

It's kinda hard to escape this conclusion. There are a good number of badly overweight people who attend these classes, but even though they're in pretty bad shape, most of them still move with more energy and alacrity. Ditto for most of the elderly people who attend these classes.

In a later post, I'll talk about some of the truly inspiring people who take these cardio classes. Boy, are they impressive!

Want to try these utilities

I need to try a couple of free third-party Windows utilities sometime. I'm talking about PrimoPDF and FastStone Capture. I currently use CutePDF for PDF printing and Paint Shop Pro for advanced screen captures, but these other utilities come highly recommended by PC World.

Speaking of which, I really miss Byte magazine. Too bad it was canned years ago.

Productive time

I like what this human resources person said on his or her blog. I think that the wisdom of what she wrote is lost on so many, especially when they manage people who work in technical or creative fields.

I especially like the following comment:

"I'm also thinking that I had hoped that as an economy we were moving away from measuring performance by face time and hours worked and measuring the value of our employees by the results they produce."

More on "colored"

In the previously mentioned discussion on the use of the term "colored person," one person offered the following mindnumbingly stupid response:

"If mere humans can name the president, a fact that changes far more rapidly, then mere humans can follow what terms are preferred by a substantial portion of the US population--terms that haven't changed in years. The "you can't complain because it all changes all the tiiiiime" excuse is ridiculous.... "

This person was owned by the following reply:

" #44 Yesterday, 11:36 PM
JThunder
Charter Member Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 9,624

Quote:
Originally Posted by jsgoddess
If mere humans can name the president, a fact that changes far more rapidly, then mere humans can follow what terms are preferred by a substantial portion of the US population--terms that haven't changed in years.

You can't be serious.

"First of all, the name of the President is an objective fact, easily looked up. The same cannot be said about preferred terminology. Just ask the Trekkers and the Trekkies.

Second, this isn't merely a question about which term is 'preferred.' Even if a term is not 'preferred,' that doesn't automatically make it offensive, outdated, or otherwise inappropriate.

And third, this very thread demonstrates that there is disagreement about the degree of propriety in using the term 'colored.' Heck, as I've pointed out, the majority of the respondents in this thread apparently disagree with you. What does that say about the ease of following whichever terms are preferred?

Again, I've known people to take offense at the term black, preferring the term 'African American.' I've known people who expressed the opposite preference instead. Which one of these groups is more worthy of your criticism?"

The word "colored"

I've been following an Internet discussion aobout how Lindsey Lohan described Obama as "colored." Most of the respondents considered this to be a non-issue, and one guy said that he can't muster up any outrage, given how much the "correct" term for blacks has changed through the years -- black, colored person, African American, person of color, and so forth.

To this, one twit responded by saying,

"So many times, huh? Frankly, I find it difficult to believe that someone who can't keep up with this sort of thing could be conversant with the internet or function in society.

I was born in 1971. There have been two terms taught to me in my lifetime as polite, both of which are still extant and both of which I use: Black and African-American. Two terms. This isn't something that changes every five seconds."

This person did not get much support from the others. They pointed out that the term "colored" was used well into the seventies, and that it was never considered impolite. I think that the following responses were pretty darned good.

"And if my complaint had been that I couldn't keep up with the terms, then your criticism would have some merit. Thankfully, that's not what I said, and I think you know it. I'm fully aware that the term "colored" is outdated.

My point is that it's foolish to express outrage at the use of this term, given that American society can't seem to settle on a suitably non-offensive term. Heck, on more than one occasion, I've seen people take offense at the term "black," even though most people don't seem to have trouble with it. This is just one of those situations where it's best to let it go."

"Would you care to tell the NAACP that they "can't keep up with this sort of thing" or that it's hard to believe they "could be conversant with the internet or function in society"? I'm sure that they'd appreciate your candid feedback."

"It seems silly to argue that there's no possible problem trying to keep track of what terms for minorities are considered non-offensive in a thread in which people seem to be having trouble deciding if a particular term is in fact non-offensive."

Sometimes it stinks to be needed.

Today, I had to make a business trip to Hershey, PA, the magical land where chocolate grows on trees. I had planned on leaving at noon. Unfortunately, my co-workers kept needing me for this, that, and the other thing. Argh

I had really planned on getting to my hotel room in the early evening so that I could kick back a little bit, get some exercise, get some reading done, and be well rested for my trip to the customer. That just didn't happen, though. It stinks.

Messing up the shim sham

During our monthly first Friday swing dance, we regularly do this shim sham routine. It's a lot of fun, and I look forward to it each month.

Tonight though, it was messed up by this small group of young people who had no idea what they were doing. They stood right at the front of the room, even though they had no idea what they were doing. Instead of doing the dance properly, they were just flailing around.

Now, I don't mind that; after all, everyone has to start somewhere. However, if you don't know how to do a particular dance, you probably shouldn't be standing at the front of the class. Go to the back where you won't be bothering anyone. Or if it's clear that you can't follow, drop out and stay on the sidelines. That's just common sense.

They meant well, and they were trying to have fun. Still, they obviously didn't realize that by flailing around in front of everyone else, they were distracting the dancers behind them and causing them to mess up. It was a disaster.

Don't get me wrong. I know that this is a small thing in the grand scheme of events. Still, it's an unfortunate incident that could have been easily avoided if these people had shown a little bit more common sense.

That creepy swing dancing guy again

In an earlier post, I mentioned Perry, this weirdo guy who keeps attending our local swing dance events. Tonight, a friend of mine told him off. Good for him.

Perry asked my friend to dance. She said, "No, I'd rather not. I think you were very inappropriate with a friend of mine. You don't take a woman that you've met for the very first time and start lifting her into the air...." and so forth, and so on. I didn't see everything that Perry was doing with the woman in question, but I did know that he just doesn't grasp the concept of swing dance propriety.

You go, girl. Hopefully, this guy will tone things down. Now, if we could just get him to stop pressing his face so close to his partner with this look of orgasmic ecstacy on it.

And heck, it wouldn't break my heart if he were to stop attending altogether.

Palin acquittal

So an investigative panel acquitted Sarah Palin of wrongdoing in the TrooperGate scandal. One scoffer replied by saying,

"Palin appoints the members of the Personnel Board. I would assume the Alaska state legislature is elected. Both hired (different) independent investigators.

I'm sure everyone will forgive me if I'm not very surprised that the board Palin herself appoints has cleared her of any wrongdoing."

However, a saner head replied by saying,

"The personnel board is indeed appointed by the governor. That said most were appointed by her predescessor, only one reappointed by her, and Alaska law allegedly protects them from dismissal without cause."

Work

I am feeling so exhausted. Business trips, church work, household chores, Christmas stuff, and lots of extra hours at work. In fact, I have to put in a few hours tonight. (Argh.) I'm not willing to give up my exercise time though, which makes my time even shorter. Rats.

Hate hate hate hate spam

I really hate all this weirdo spam that I'm getting. Are people really stupid enough to fall for this stuff? Sheesh.

I really appreciate her

I really appreciate this certain friend of mine. She's so much fun to be with, and she's sweet as well.

Obama's tax plan

I really don't like Obama's taxation plan. Oh sure, it sounds good. It sounds good to say that we should distribute some of the wealth to the poor.

The thing is, it's foolish. Money is not a zero sum game. Any economist knows that society should be creating wealth. When the economy is sluggish, the government should attempt to encourage the spread of businesses and the creation of new jobs. When business owners are taxed too heavily, that can't happen. You've got to reduce the risk and increase the potential rewards.

And Obama's tax plan will do the opposite.

Creepy swing dancer guy

There's this guy who attends the swing dancing events that I frequent. He obviously loves to dance, but he's way over the top in his appreciation. As a friend of mine said, this guy is a real weirdo.

Fella, you don't have to make orgasmic faces when you're dancing. And you certainly don't have to press your face up close to your partner's face, grinning as though in sheer ecstasy. It's creepy and weird. It's also extremely inappropriate.

Oh, and don't lift women into the air when you're dancing with them for the very first time, especially if they are novice dancers. It's stupid.

Go away, fella.

Quantum of Solace

"Quantum of Solace." That's an interesting name for a James Bond film. I rather doubt that Ian Fleming would have come up with something like that. I like it.

Oh, and I think that Daniel Craig has the right look for Bond. This is not the sort of role that should go to a prettyboy.

Darn it!

Darn it! Darn it! Darn it!

It's my day off, and yet once again, I have to show up and put in a few hours. Oh, and I can't get a whole lot done at home, thanks to being interrupted. Darn it.

Cardio compliment

I've been taking a cardio bootcamp class at my gym, and I received a compliment this week... or at least, I interpret it as a compliment.

The instructor wanted us to partner up for some coordinated punching and some kicking exercises wherein we balance ourselves off against the other person. As I was looking for a partner, she motioned me to join her up on the stage and demonstrate the moves to the class. I guess she was confident that I would do the moves correctly. That was kinda nice.

Had to work on my day off

I was kinda bummed today. I was supposed to take the day off, but then I got a call asking me if I could come in to work for a while. I wound up staying there for three hours.

So much for a day off. I really wanted to use more of that time working on some home projects. I'm talking about home maintenance and some little techie projects that I have going on the side.

Rats.

Old Filmation cartoons

I've been watching some old Filmation superhero cartoons -- Hawkman, Green Lantern, the Teen Titans, the Atom, the Flash, and the Justice League. I got to watch these through some Netflix DVDs.

These cartoons were really, really cheesy. One of the Teen Titans cartoons was actually kind of amusing, but you can tell that they were all made in a woebegone time.

Oh, well.

The Lovely Bones

I've been listening to the audiobook adapation of the bestselling novel, The Lovely Bones.

As it turns out, it wasn't about DeForest Kelley at all. What a ripoff.

Cute smart Jeopardy lady

This post reminded me about Larissa Kelly, the demure young dynamo who created a minor sensation on Jeopardy a few months ago. Ms. Kelly was one of the winningest contestants that Jeopardy has had in a while, though she didn't come close to Ken Jenning's record.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make it to the Tournament of Champions. Too bad.

Dawkins and Science

I was reading some comments by this one fella on the net -- a die-hard Richard Dawkins fan. This fella had become unhinged upon hearing that a good number of philosophers and other scholars -- including various atheists -- complained about the logic employed by Richard Dawkins in his book, The God Delusion. These scholars said that Dawkins employed poor philosophy and engaged in revisionist thinking on matters of history.

As I said, this fella became positively unglued. He hollered (as best he could over the 'net), "If you don't agree with Dawkins, then you must reject all of science! And if you do that, then you had better walk away from your computer right now, since you have no business using the fruits of science!"

Boy. Talk about extreme.

Why won't any economist defend McCain's economic policies in a northern California debate?

I came across this question in a discussion thread on the net. The OP clearly implied that this means that no economist would want to defend McCain's economic policies. Of course, that's a naive view.

One knowledgeable economist posted the following reply, which I really liked. In this posting, MR means "marginal returns" and AVC means "average variable cost."

When marginal revenue is below average variable cost, a competitive firm will produce no output in the short run. Here, output is debating De Long.

Suppose you're a McCain-supporting economist. Why would you debate De Long? You would if doing so would get you something - like increase your candidate's chances in the election or your influence in the Republican party - and it wouldn't cost you much.

But whilst a McCain-supporting economist might well continue to support McCain and perhaps bag Obama on his shortcomings, it would be foolish to debate De Long, because:

You stand to gain little or nothing because even if the election is winnable, it's not being fought on economic policy issues as debated amongst economists in California.

You stand to gain little or nothing by defending McCain's policies, because either McCain's going to lose or you're going to want him to change them after the election. Either way, you don't want to be tied to them. And you certainly can't go into a debate conceding that whilst you support the candidate you don't support his policies.*

An example: McCain's call for expenditure cuts. If you're a conservative economist, you think one of three things about this:

1. It's a bad idea at the moment when the economy is about to go or has gone into recession (you're a conventional economist).
2. It's a good idea even now, but totally inconsistent with the mortgage bailout stuff (you're a neo-Mellonite).
3. It's good as far as it goes, but irrelevant because there is no crisis anyway (you're a real business cycle type).

So the conservative economist will want to avoid supporting McCain's positions and look to have influence in the unlikely event of a McCain administration or try to build something from the wreckage if he loses. Some, of course, have decided their fixed costs are well and truly sunk and have bailed entirely.

So, like I said, MR<\lt>avc.

Review of Christi Taylor: Totally Cool Step DVD

So I borrowed a copy of this DVD, Christi Taylor: Totally Cool Step from the library. It's a step aerobics video, and I don't recommend it unless you're an advanced stepper and are already familiar with the moves.

Kathy Smith is great because she breaks her moves down, allowing the viewer to see what she does. Christi Taylor's workout looks interesting, but it's not at all easy to digest.

It's that day

It's the anniversary of that day. Of that tragic, tragic day.

I remember that when this happened, I had just started working for a company that was already suffering from the collapse of the Internet and Y2K bubbles. We had just laid off about a third of the staff. Then this happened.

Boy.

The Giving Tree

Do you remember Shel Silverstein's children's book, "The Giving Tree"? I was surprised to read some very negative reactions to the book recently. "Why does this tree keep giving and giving to this little boy, taking nothing in return?" They thought it was a horrible story.

I disagree. In fact, I agree with one Internet poster's remarks, in which he says,

You definitely get a different spin on the book after you have kids.

There's a reason the story's called The Giving Tree and not The Taking Boy. The tree, not the boy, is what the story is about. I think some folks lose sight of that because we're used to humans being the central characters in our stories. The boy is just a necessary element to tell the story of the tree. Focusing on him too much makes you lose sight of what the book is really about.

When I was younger, I remember feeling that the kid was just a greedy bastard and the tree was a total doormat and an idiot. Now, I have a kid, and I think I understand: the tree (metaphorical parent) is willing to give every bit of itself for the boy (metaphorical child). What makes the tree happy is being with the child, and there's nothing the boy can take from the tree that will decrease that happiness.

Before I became a dad, I always heard about parents who didn't have enough money to feed the whole family, so they'd go hungry and give everything they had to their child so she could eat. I never understood that. Now, I think I know why people would gladly suffer for their kids. She really does mean the world to me, and I would give every part of myself for her. And I'd be happy.

Francis Y

Speaking of despicable people, Francis Y had a nasty habit of starting rumors about people. He loved it. Even an innocent conversation between a boy and a girl was grist for his rumor mill.

Why do some people take such a perverse delight in inventing rumors?

Rodney, you were despicable

I try to focus on the positive; I really do. I think that's important when you're in a high-stress job. However, there are still times when I find myself flashing back to some unpleasant memories.

For example, today I wound up thinking of Rodney, this incredible jackass that I knew from high school. To give you an idea of how despicable he was, he once snuck up behind me during a class study session when the teacher was away. He clamped his hands around my neck and squeezed... hard. The blood was cut off from my brain, and my vision started to fade. I nearly blacked out. We were in the back of the room, so the other students didn't see us, or if they did, they must have thought he was just playing around.

He eventually did loosen up, before I could pass out. When I complained, he said, "Come on! It's just fun!"

Yes, Rodney. I trust that you'd also find it fun if someone were to squeeze your neck to within an inch of your life. If I were a more mean-spirited person, I would actually wish such a fate on you, but I won't. I do hope that you've grown up and changed your ways; after all, we all do stupid things when we are young. If you haven't though, then more's the pity.

Dang, Buck Owens is good

I just watched an old episode of Tony Orlando and Dawn in which some of the old Hee Haw gang cast members were the guest stars. Hee Haw was pretty dumb and their jokes were extremely lame, but on Tony Orlando's show, they were much funnier.

Grandpa Jones is always pretty darned good. He's fun. However, Buck Owens really caught my attention. Man, that guy is talented!

I'm not a big country music fan; however, his rendition of Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree was absolutely amazing.

Sarah Palin, Bristol, and taking the high road

I read the following comments from one self-avowed liberal regarding this whole Bristol Palin kerfluffle. I think that his words are worth heeding.

I'm a liberal, and an unabashed Obama supporter.

That said, this is how they'll beat us.... Judging this woman's quality as a mother based on a few datapoints, gleefully repeating idle internet gossip, eventually forcing the disclosure of a family matter that was none of our f***ing business.

This is how they'll win. Drag us down to their level and beat us with experience. Stick to policy, McCain's judgment and age. Leave Palin alone. Any attack on her--however well-founded--will be seen as picking on a defenseless hockey mom.

She's the bait, and we're taking it.

Sarah Palin, Bristol, and sex education

Earlier, I talked about how some people unfairly criticize Sarah Palin, laying the blame for Bristol's pregnancy firmly at her feet. Without defending (or even evaluating) Governor Palin's suitability as a candidate, I opined that such criticisms are patently unfair. I'd even argue that these are kinda cheap shots. Obama himself appears to agree, which is why he has asked his supporters to lay off.

Nevertheless, I've seen a great many critics jump on Sarah Palin's case over this issue. Apart from questioning her parenting skills, they also say, "Aha! This demonstrates that her abstinence-only beliefs on sex education simply don't work." Now, I'm not going to attack or defend the use of abstinence-based (or even abstinence-only) sex education, as that would merit a whole 'nuther long discussion. Rather, I want to emphasize that this line of reasoning is unwarranted, and here's why.

First, nobody should rationally expect that any approach to sex education will be foolproof. That's simply naive. If somebody gets pregnant despite extensive instruction on the use of condoms and IUDs, would people be so quick to conclude that this method of teaching is a disaster? Probably not.

Besides which, even if we were to pretend that a single failure constitutes proof that a particular approach doesn't work, we still can't use Bristol Palin as a valid datapoint. Why? Because we don't know that she was educated using "abstinence only" as a guiding principle. All we know is that this is what her mother advocates. We don't know if this is what Bristol was taught in the schools, for example. We don't even know if this is what her father advocates. Heck, we don't even know when Sarah Palin herself adopted this stance (which, for all we know, could have been well into Bristol's teen years).

Now, this is the point at which various peopl exclaim, "But abstinence teaching doesn't work! Those programs are stupid!" Maybe that's true, and maybe not... but that's not the issue at hand. The question is whether the blame for Bristol's unfortunate situation should be placed on Sarah Palin's views on sexuality or her parenting skills. Such accusations are simply unwarranted, and they implicitly assume that anything less than 100% effectivenesss is equivalent to abject failure.

Sarah Palin, Bristol, and parenthood

So VP candidate Sarah Palin has a daughter who recently god pregnant out of wedlock. Her name is Bristol, and she is now in the public eye. Poor gal.

Some critics have been jumping on Sarah Palin's case, saying "See? She's not a very good mother, is she?" Now, I'm not going to attack or defend her parenting skills, as I don't think that would be appropriate. Rather, I want to emphasize that this criticism of Governor Palin is patently unfair.

Does her daughter's pregnancy make her an inattentive or otherwise incapable mother? I don't think so. You can't necessarily place the blame for this child's failing firmly at the feet of her mother. Children can always make their own mistakes, even with the best of parental guidance.

Heck, how many times have we heard people say "You can't stop teenagers from having sex" (a statement which is technically true, but which oversimplifies the duties of parenthood). Now that Palin's daughter is pregnant though, all of a sudden it's "Omigawsh, she's pregnant! This proves that Palin is a neglectful mother!"

As for accusations that Bristol was "sexually active"... again, that's technically true, insofar as she has clearly had sex. However, this says nothing about whether this was a continuing habit, an occasional failing, or even a one-time mistake. To lay this blame firmly at the mother's feet is both unduly harsh and unwarranted.

Mind you, I'm not saying that she was some lily white virgin who simply made a single mistake. (I hasten to emphasize this, since one person did challenge me on that point.) Rather, I'm saying that we don't know if she was sexually loose, or if she gave in during a moment of weakness, or if the truth lies somewhere in between. It seems to me that we should avoid making too many assumptions about what's going on behind the scenes.

Obscure Peanuts characters

A friend of mine is a big fan of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the whole Peanuts gang. I'd love to get her some figurines of some of the more obscure Peanuts characters -- Five, Shermy, Charlotte Braun, Tapioca Pudding, Patty and Violet, etc. Those have been very hard to find, though.

How I spent my Labor Day weekend

So what did I do during the Labor Day weekend?

I spent a lot of time resealing my driveway. This is time-consuming work, since my driveway is in very bad shape. It's coarse and has a good number of depressions, which means that it's not as simple as just spreading the sealant around. I have to trowel some filler into various spots if I want the sealant to spread evenly... and even then, I need to be selective. I can't afford to use this stuff in all the rough spots, nor do I have the time to do so.

I also have spots that are very difficult to clean, being right close to my landscaping. I had to spread some of this filler onto those spots as well, just to cover up the dust and give the sealant something onto which it can adhere.

Oh, and I always need to hose the driveway down for best results. With all the pine needles, bits of mulch, and bits of grass blowing around, that gets to be annoying. It would be best if I had a pressure washer to use, but I don't want to spend money on one. Maybe if I were to buy a cheap one...

Another Windows annoyance

Okay, here's another thing that I hate about Windows. It happens way too often that windows pop up and won't disappear. For example, if you click on the Start button at the start, you may find that it will pop up and remain there, refusing to go away unless you actually select one of its options. It also happens when you click on various taskbar buttons.

This stinks. It also seems to happen a lot more under Vista, but that may just be my misperception.

What I want to do

I want to spend several weeks in intensive reading and exercise.

I want to take time off from work to build a whole bunch of gadgets.

I want to spend some quality time with a beautiful woman... if I can find one.

I want to take some more dance lessons.

I want to learn how to skydive.

I want to finish digging my swale.

I want to eradicate the weeds from my yard.

I want to finish caulking my new garage side entry door.

Ugh.