Expenses

Argh. I have to pour thousands of dollars into some home repairs. I hate this. That's money that I'd rather not spend, especially since it's important to have a hedge against unemployment and unexpected expenses.

So much of this could have been avoided if I knew more about home maintenance, and if some of the previous owners had done their work correctly. Bah.

Stacey Williams, democrat

So I found out that ex-supermodel Stacey Williams is a supporter of the Democrat Party. Here is a photo of her which mentions her involvement in the Democratic National Convention.

I'm kinda disappointed. I prefer to think of these celebrities as being apolitical, even though I know that's not the case.

My knee hurts

Ouch. My knee hurts. I strained a tendon due to my workout routines. I tend to put a lot of energy into my moves, and I must have overdone it. Yikes. Ouch.

I'm getting too old for this.

Language

Some people are so inarticulate. So horribly inarticulate. It's very annoying, especially when they demean the value of a good vocabulary.

After King Kong Fell

I just read this classic short story by Philip Jose Farmer. It was amusing to me because of some unnamed cameos. It featured a bronzed heroic figure who was clearly meant to be Doc Savage, as well as two character who were obviously intended to be the Shadow and Margo Lane.

Tips for church secretaries

Get a load of this. There's a website that's devoted to providing helpful information for church secretaries. I'm not sure what their business model is, but I did think that this is a bit of a speciality niche.

They even have articles on the following topics, among others:

Tips to Time Management
Time Management and Planning Tips
Words Every Church Secretary Should Avoid
Ways to Become More Efficient At Work & At Home
A Habit Every Successful Church Secretary Must Have
Quick Keys to Managing Multiple Projects

The Real Ghostbusters

Been watching Season One on DVD. Loads of fun and lots of clever dialogue.

About website domains

Here's a little tidbit. If you type a domain name into your browser, you might find that no website appears. This does not mean that the domain is available, though. A lot of companies buy domain names for future use or for strategic value (for example, to prevent their customers from taking those domain names.)

So can you buy that domain name from the owner? Maybe, or maybe not. The reality is that if it's owned by a company, then they probably bought it for strategic purposes -- perhaps for some future product. They are unlikely to relinquish this domain, and frankly, it'd be foolish to assume that they have no use for the domain in question.

Whither Wendy Benson?

Whatever happened to actress Wendy Benson? She was never a big name celebrity, but I did like seeing her on TV. She also reminds me of an old friend of mine.

According to Wikipedia, she should be 39 years old by now. I wonder if she still has that sparkling youthful appearance. Unfortunately, with her fair skin, I suspect that her age will have started to show significantly by now.

Whining about having to wear seatbelts

I still remember this time when I was in a foreign country -- one where wearing a seatbelt was not legally required. Indeed, a surprising number of vehicles over there weren't even equipped with seatbelts, even in the 1980s.

I was riding with one family in a relatively modern automobile. This one did have seatbelts in it, and I noticed that one person wasn't wearing hers. I recommended buckling up for safety reasons, and she said, "But they're not comfortable!"

I couldn't believe it. Seatbelts are minimally intrusive, and one scarcely even notices that they're there. Even people who are severely obese learn not to take heed of the fact that they're strapped in, and yet this person thought that seatbelts were simply too uncomfortable to wear. Talk about being effete. Talk about being foolish.

USS "dances"

There are these monthly dances sponsored by a group called "USS." I won't be more specific about their name, since I don't want to embarrass them. I have to say, however, that their "dances" are incredibly dull. The regulars display no skill to speak of, and it's become obvious that they're not even interested in learning. I say this because they attend month after month, and yet they just do the same old squirming, swaying, and wiggling around. It's incredibly dumb -- kiddie-level, really.

Yakov Smirnoff

I just saw Yakov Smirnoff in "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension." He was even referred to as National Security Advisor Smirnoff, or something to that effect. What a movie!

Ruby-Spears Superman

I'm watching the short-lived Superman cartoon series by Ruby-Spears on DVD. It's not bad. Not earth-shakingly good, and not particularly memorable, but pretty decent. Ruby-Spears did good work, back in the day.

A tip for marketing design

Here's a little tip. When designing marketing materials -- whether they be billboards, flyers, magazine ads, or websites -- remember that effective communication is more important than artistry. It can be tempting for someone to try to make these materials as beautiful as possible, but that should only be a secondary goal. The primary goal should be to communicate your message, and excessive emphasis on artistry can get in the way of that.

Consider this. What if your website were to have such magnificently beautiful artistry as to captivate your readers. Where will their focus be? What will they remember? Will they be focused on the beauty of your website, to the point that they are no longer as engaged in reading its message? That simply isn't right.

Don't get carried away with artistry, folks. It's not a good idea.

Gotta take care of a mold problem

I have to take care of a mold problem in my basement. This is going to get expensive. What's more, it'll require cleaning this place up.

Oh, and to make matters worse, my knee hurts.

Buckaroo Banzai

So I've been rewatching the Buckaroo Banzai movie. It helps if you know ahead of time that the whole thing was based on the Doc Savage pulp stories -- and if you know who Doc Savage is.

Yep, he's like a modernized Doc Savage without the overhwhelming physicality.

Incompetence

Some people are incompetent. Simply incompetent. No systematic thinking, no common sense.

Dealing with them can be most aggravating.

PowerPoint

I hate it when people simply read off their PowerPoint slides when giving a presentation. It's especially aggravating when these folks are highly educated. Gagh!

Amazingly, one friend of mine said that she tends to be more receptive to vendors who give terrible presentations. She said that she thinks this means that the speaker must be highly intelligent, and that this must mean that their product or service must be worth considering. That is some of the dumbest logic that I've ever heard.

TPiR and Chantel

If I had to pick a classic line-up of models from "The Price is Right," I'd say that the all-time iconic line-up has to be Janice, Holly, and Dian from the 70s and 80s. Out of all these folks, Holly was my favorite, thanks to her sparkling smile and wholesome good looks.

My personal favorite individual TPiR model of all time, however, was Chantel Dubay. It's a terrible shame that she wasn't on the show for very long. The current batch of beauties seems to be very much interchangeable.

Ouch, that hurts

I'm still annoyed that I'm nursing an injury due to this accident that a co-worker caused. It was a really stupid mistake, and even though I'm very forgiving of such things, it does create a huge inconvenience -- especially since I'm trying to get in shape.

GrafTech

I stumbled across this page today. It mentioned GrafTech International Ltd, which brought back some memories. I thought, "Hey, I remember hearing about GrafTech. I was making chit-chat with an attractive woman who mentioned that she worked for that company." This gal was way too conscious of her age and wrinkles. That was a shame, since she was still quite attractive.

No Harley! Yay! Yay!

I am SO glad that Harley was not in our cardio bootcamp class tonight. He's the jackass who keeps woofing like a dog and yelling stuff like "I love this!" during class, even though he's working out at a very low level. He is so lazy, but he likes to act as though he's this bad*ss athlete who's at the top of his game. What a loser.

When he's not around, the class is more pleasant. When he is in the class, he sets a horrible example. It's bad enough that most people in the class don't work very hard, and that our instructor has to routinely stop the class and say "That was pathetic" or words to that effect. When he acts as though his lackluster attempts at working out make him an exercise dynamo, he's setting the bar tremendously low for the rest of the class.

Branicky

This guy was intelligent, but like many people with brainpower, he did not understand the limits of his intellect or knowledge. He was also severely lacking in people skills. I remember the comment of one person who heard him speak: "What an *ss."

MK does ramble

I mentioned that my dear, beloved friend MK tends to take up a lot of time in conversation. I honestly do love talking to her, but she could say so much more in so fewer words.

For example, she tends to say stuff like, "A friend told me... not Sarah, the really pretty one -- who by, the way, is really enjoying herself and is thankful for her marriage. Sarah is so sweet. Do you think that she has a good marriage? Anyway, this friend of mine...." She keeps getting off track, and it gets to be kinda annoying, especially when I'm trying to get stuff done.

MK rambles

I have a friend, MK, who is very dear to me. Talking to her can be very frustrating, though. She calls and says, "Can you spare five minutes?" but her conversations tend to go on for at least half an hour. Not such a big deal when I'm not busy, but when I am busy -- or worse, at work -- it's a bit aggravating.

This is especially true when she's going through some sort of emotional trouble, the sort of thing that takes a lot more than just five minutes to discuss. I don't mind talking to her about these things, but I have pointed out that it's unfair to ask for just five minutes of my time if she's going to go on and on and on... and that happens a lot.

I'll say more about her ramblings soon.

Real Ghostbusters

That show rules. Very intelligent and very clever. The voice characterizations during the first two seasons were outstanding, and the plots were absolutely amazing for a children's program.

New penny

I saw one guy complain obnoxiously about the design of the new US penny. Apparently, some people just don't like change.

Camo pants

I'd like to find some grayish camouflage pants. Unfortunately, they can be hard to find. (Get it?)

I miss me some Disney movies

I miss the old days of the Disney animation renaissance. You know -- The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and even the lesser lights such as Pocahontas, Tarzan, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I'd love to see more of that stuff. Thankfully, Pixar is still producing top-notch stuff.

Paige O'Hara

Previously, I talked about the luminously talented Jodi Benson. I'd also like to say something about Paige O'Hara, who came right on her heels. Paige doesn't get the same amount of exposure as Jodi, but she also has an amazing voice, and she got to display more of her singing chops in Beauty and the Beast than Jodi did in her movie.

Jodi does gobs of voice work for Disney though, making it a regular gig on her part. Paige doesn't do nearly as much, for some reason. Is it a question of interest? And availability? I don't know; however, it does seem to me that Ariel is much more heavily merchandised than Belle is, which may suggest that Ms. Benson's character is simply more popular, even though O'Hara's movie did better in the box office.

This monthly so-called "dance"

I have almost totally given up on this monthly singles "dance" that I used to attend. It just wasn't any fun. The people there didn't know how to dance, nor were they really interested in learning how to do so. Rather, they just shook and wiggled around without any skill or style.

Mind you, I'm not saying that they need to become as skilled as a professional dancer. I'm not even saying that they should learn any ballroom dance styles, though that would certainly be nice. I'm just saying that it'd help if they learned at least some basic dance moves -- y'know, something at a higher level than the twist or a grapevine. The people there had no style.

The cupid shuffle was tremendously popular there. You know why? Because it requires no skill whatsoever. In a sense, that's a plus, but if you keep doing the mindless, skill-free stuff over and over again, then that's setting the bar awfully low. It means that there's no challenge and no art whatsoever.

More on Deborah

I remember how Deb reacted when I chose to search for other candidates instead of promoting her into the senior director position. She heard that I didn't think highly of her people skills, so she got me on the phone and yelled, "What do you mean, saying that I'm not a people person? I have GREAT people skills!"

The irony somehow escaped her.

Deborah

I wonder what happened to Deborah. She was this woman I knew who was intelligent, well educated, and even pretty despite her extra pounds. She was also abrasive and lacked people skills. When she was the assistant director of a charity, she tended to rub people the wrong way.

She said that she was a people person, but that she chose not to operate as one so that discipline could be enforced. Frankly, that's a cop out. A good people person can enforce discipline without having to abandon her people skills. Her problem wasn't that she was deliberately not operating as a people person; rather, her problem was that she was hostile, needlessly abrasive, and just all around tactless.

Learning to dance as a student

I've got some young college friends who seem to have plenty of time to learn how to dance. They take dance lessons and participate in all sorts of dance exchanges.

Personally, I can't imagine doing that as an undergrad. We always had way too much homework to do, and way too many tests to prepare for. It was a safe bet that we couldn't take a weekend off. I was a double major though, and I was in some pretty demanding fields.

I almost wish that I had pursued some more leisurely degrees, but that wouldn't have satisfied me at the time. I think I would have regretted it.

Software testing

Software testing sucks. It is boring, boring, boring.

I don't like doing this.

Cancer immunotherapy

I remember my grad school days. Back then, I got to talk to folks about various fields of research. Knowing a wide range of graduate students really helped, and I just wish that I had more time back then to absorb their knowledge and interests.

Some of them were involved in cancer immunotherapy or related fields, for example. Would have been nice to learn more about what they did. Unfortunately, too much of my time and mental energy was already being poured into my own research work. That required virtually all of my free time, especially with my limited funding. Ugh. I wish that I could have taken a more leisurely approach.

That just wasn't an option, though.

What a voice

This is worth repeating. Jodi Benson has an absolutely angelic voice, and she comes across as a wonderful performer. I wish that I had even a fraction of her talent.

Got to catch her on some YouTube videos recently. Man, what a voice. She also injects so much love and energy into her songs. I would love to see her perform more. Too bad her old "Crazy For You" videos aren't online anymore.

Got the P90X DVDs, but...

I got a bunch of inexpensive P90X DVDs off Ebay. I'm dying to try them out, but I just don't have the time. I still need to catch up on housework and yard work, for example, and I'm spending a lot of time with my dance lessons and practice. Yikes.

I really want to ramp up my exercise routine, too. I want to get leaner and pack on more muscle.

Cha cha moves I need to learn

I need to learn a few more moves before I can say that I've completed a bronze syllabus.

One is the cha cha shadow position. This is otherwise known as the cha cha sweetheart position. Another is the cross body pull back. The third is the crossover flick to side break.

Perhaps another private lesson would be in order?

Cha cha moves

I've recently expanded my repertoire of cha cha moves. Cha cha is a useful dance style to learn. It can be used with a lot of modern music (e.g. Brown-Eyed Girl), so even if you're not actually dancing to Latin music, it's still good to know.

Here are some of the moves that I currently know.

- Basic in place
- Side basic
- Progressive basic
- Outside partner position. This is where you turn the lady to one side. It also requires rocking forward with the right foot instead of rocking back.
- Crossbody lead. This is a little bit different from the salsa crossbody lead. You don't start turning until you rock back with the right foot -- or at the very least, until the final cha cha step before rocking back.
- Open break and underarm turn
- Chase turn
- Shoulder check. (Paul taught me this one, and then Lizzie did too.)
- Butterfly. This one requires touching her left palm with your right palm after a side break. It involves rocking forward with the left, alternating it with rocking back on the right.
- Alternating underarm turns
- Triple cha chas. This one requires using the progressive basic and steering the woman as though using a pair of rapiers. Also, with a little push, you can get the follower to turn during the second cha cha.

Gotta remember these moves and put them to use.

BodyShaping

I really, really miss the old ESPN show, BodyShaping. I was never much into watching televised sports (certainly not for hours on end), so ESPN never held much appeal for me. They did have a bunch of fitness shows though, such as BodyShaping, and I did like that one. Too bad they're not showing it in reruns anymore.

And yes, Jennifer Dempster was a cutie.

The flying guy in the red suit

I'm watching an episode of "The Greatest American Hero" on DVD. I remember this one. It's the one that had Captain Bellybuster in it. I remember thinking that this storyline was a bit implausible, even within the conceit of the series.

Charleston

Man, I sure would love to practice some high-speed Charleston moves sometime. Too bad most of my female friends are in such bad physical condition. They don't have much energy at all, even if they're not terribly overweight.

Mold

Got a mold problem in my basement ceiling. Gotta get that fixed. This means cleaning up the house a little bit more before the contractors get here... and I'm already plenty busy. Yikes.

Imad

I remember sending a Christmas greeting via e-mail to a bunch of people one day. One fella, Imad, send the following (paraphrased) response:

"Please don't send me any more non-business related e-mail. I receive plenty of e-mail as it is."

Gee, loosen up, grinch.

Autumn, please

I can't wait until autumn. I can't wait. I'd love that.

Oh, and I hate doing yard work in the summertime.

It's blank

This post has been intentionally left blank. Well, almost blank. Not quite.

It's getting progressively less blank, the more I talk about it.

Arnold, you stink

I won't go into detail, but there's this underhanded guy that I'm going to call "Arnold." As in "Benedict Arnold," mind you, not the powerhouse bodybuilder.

Arnold is a despicable traitor who would sell people out without any hesitation. He routinely screws people over, and it's detestable. No wonder nobody likes him.

Swearing like a sailor

I wish that people wouldn't swear so much. I encounter way too many people who seem incapable of expressing themselves without spouting the f-word left and right. It's jarring and annoying.

Some people say that the liberal use of profanity helps them express themselves accurately. I disagree. It might feel good to them, but it doesn't help with precision of meaning. Nor does it help much with emotional impact; after all, when profanity is used excessively, then its impact is diminished.

Dang

Dang. I'm disappointed. Bummed.

Not altogether unexpected, but it was unpleasant. Disappointed indeed. Darn, darn, darnity darn.

Cancelled plans

I had to cancel my workout plans for Monday. Why? Because some folks decided to organize a small trip to a local amusement park. I felt that I needed to be more sociable, and besides, one of the organizers was a pretty lady. That certainly can't hurt.

And a very cute lady she is, too. Not classically pretty, but she has a different sort of appeal. We only went as friends, but I have to admit that she was cute.

Another new kickboxing combo

Jab, hook, slip
Back kick, stutter forward, palm fist
Elbow to back, elbow to front, elbow down, switch

New kickboxing combo

Jab, cross, jab, knee
Jack, jack
Back kick, front kick
Side kick, hop and side kick

Repeat above using opposite side

HBD

And here's wishing a warm happy birthday to my beautiful sister.

That was kinda nosy

Get this. I was taking some photos of a friend at a recent swing dance. Upon seeing this, one lady comes up to me and peppers me with questions. "Excuse me, but what are you going to do with those photos? Are they going on your computer?" "Are you taking pictures for a newspaper?" "Did these people ask you to take photos of them?" and so forth, and so on.

I assured her that it was common practice for people to snap photographs at events like this. I'm not sure why she was asking, but I think it was kinda nosy. If I see somebody taking a picture of someone else, I'm not about to give that person the third degree regarding what they're doing.

I'm not sure what that was about. I don't think this gal was a swing dancer. She pretty much sat in the same place the whole night long. Maybe that's why she decided to pepper me with questions. Whatever.

BioMed

I'm always interested in hearing about technological developments in less advanced countries. That's why it's nice when I stumble across websites such as this one. It's a biotechnology firm in Thailand, a decided less advanced nation.

Now, I'm not trying to say that such companies are remarkable to find. It's just good to know that they exist, and I hope that they get all the exposure that they need. The design of this company's website could use some improvement, though.

Forearms

Gotta work in some forearm exercises, too. I think I'll plan those for Monday morning. They tend to be very much neglected, even by experienced gym rats.

Workout plan

Okay, here are my exercise plans for the weekend:

Thursday: Shoulders with a bit of chest and triceps work
Friday: Noontime walk with weighted vest, plus back and biceps work in the evening
Saturday: Cardio work in the morning and early afternoon. Some core work as well.
Sunday: Leg resistance training, followed by massage, followed by chest work
Monday: Back and biceps in the morning. Core work and a little cardio in the evening.
Tuesday: Core work and cardio in the evening. Maybe some balance exercises, too.

Celebrity Apprentice

What a waste of time. Donald Trump has no integrity -- especially after the way he screwed Annie Duke over last year in favor of Joan Rivers. Ugh.

Thirty days hath April

It's the end of April. Huzzah!

Brian

There's this strange guy named Brian who attends our local swing dance events. He's been coming for two years, but he almost never does anything more than the basic jitterbug step over and over again. He does ask women to dance, but he seems to be pathetically shy, and he obviously has no confidence when it comes to trying out moves. As far as I can tell, he has no friends there either.

I've tried to chat with him, inviting him to a workshop, for example. Doesn't seem to do any good. I wonder what the deal is with him.

Human immune system cells

A bit of educational information here. Here is a brief and somewhat fragmented discussion of some of the cells of the immune system. By this, I mean the human immune system, of course. Strictly speaking, this should be stated; however, when people speak of the immune system, it's normally understood to mean that.

Yay, Elizabeth!

Congratulations, Liz!

She'll never read this comment, but I did want to express my joy and appreciation.

Batman: The Brave and The Bold

This is a darned good show. Too bad it's in reruns right now. Sigh.

'I' is a crazy woman

This lady, "I", is a complete whack job. She is shrill, annoying, irrational and just generally trouble. Her mouth operates much faster than her brain does, and it's really annoying.

MK is a dear friend, but...

More on MK...

She's a wonderful person and one of my dearest friends. She tends to be completely irrational at times, though. She reads way too much into things, which causes her to tear herself up with worry and paranoia. What's more, she calls me and seeks assurance when she finds herself in these states. I don't mind listening to her -- she is a valued friend, after all -- but she does cause herself way too much aggravation.

Here's an example of how she blows things way out of proportion. I recently tagged a whole lot of people in somebody's Facebook album. This person then posted a comment on my wall: "You've been busy. Tagging, that is."

MK says to me, "Is this guy saying that you're being a nuisance???" With barely restrained exasperation, I said, "No, no, no. I love you dearly, but you read way too much into things. This is a good example of that. He was just saying that I was busy with a lot of tagging. You don't need to read anything more into it that that." I wanted to add, "For pity's sake! You are so completely irrational!"

Don't get me wrong. She is a wonderful person. She just needs to be more emotionally secure and stable, though.

MK drives me nuts sometimes

My friend MK drives me nuts sometimes. She is so insecure, so lacking in confidence, so lacking in emotional strength.

Consider this. A friend of hers, Bridget, got married recently. Prior to going out with her groom, she had been pining over this other fella. A fella who had expressed interest in her at one point, but who didn't make enough of an effort to pursue her. Eventually, she moved on.

For weeks, MK kept asking me, "Do you think that Bridget will regret her decision." I'd say things like "I doubt it" or "Probably not" or "I don't know." Yet over and over again, MK kept asking that question, as though she was intensely worried that Bridget would still be pining over this guy.

Eventually, I told MK, "Why are you obsessing over this? Look, you're beating yourself up over a situation for no good reason. Bridget knows far more about this fella than you do, and she knows far more about her own state of mind than you do. We've got no reason to believe that she's still carrying a torch for this other guy, so why keep fretting over this? She's a grown woman, and it's her decision."

What I really felt like saying was "WHO CARES!?!?!?!? Who cares if she'll regret it or not? If you want to know if she'll regret it, then wait and see. You're not going to get an answer by asking this question over and over again."

Sheesh.

Lines of Code -- a useless metric

I am astonished that anyone would choose to measure programming experience or programming quality in terms of the number of lines of code produced. That's an absolutely stupid means by which to measure either quality or experience.

I love this quote from Bill Gates: "Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight."

Jackass

He's a jackass.

There. I said it, and I got it off my chest.

Abusive cousins

Okay, okay. I know that this blog must sound like a series of bitter rants, and I do want to post some more positive remarks sometime. For now though, I want to get some things off my chest, even if they're from the distant past. I find that expressing these views can be therapeutic.

During my early childhood, I had a bunch of cousins who teased me and my brother mercilessly because of some innocent friendships that I had with girls my age. They did it because they took pleasure in causing us pain and discomfort. This is unacceptable behavior, since it's wrong to deliberately hurt other people just for the fun of it.

So what did the adults (my parents, my uncles, my aunts) do to solve this problem? NOTHING! Or rather, essentially nothing. Oh, they might have conceivably told our cousins to stop now and then, but for the most part, they put the blame on us. They blamed us for getting upset. What's more, they themselves frequently joined in the teasing, knowing that it made us upset.

And that's just wrong. I'm decades older now, and I'm long past the stage where I can deal with the teasing. Their approach to the problem appalls me even to this day, though. It was just wrong.

Bummed

I am so bummed. Very disappointed.

She sure does talk a lot

My friend MK sure does like to talk... sometimes on and on. She's one of my favorite people, but she tends to ask a lot of questions that she already knows the answers to. She also hopes for yes/no answers to questions where the correct answer is obviously "It depends."

A new word: exiguous

Exiguous. It means "scanty; meager; small, slender."

The sun... incandescent gas?

So the sun... is it a mass of incandescent gas? Or is it a miasma of plasma?

Darn. Rats. Darn.

Darn. Frustrated again. Somehow, these things never seem to work out. It stinks to high heavens. So very unfortunate.

Doc Savage movie

Been watching the old Doc Savage movie from 1975. Now that was fun. Ron Ely had just the right look and bearing for the Man of Bronze, and the casting of his five aides -- the fabulous five -- was just right.

I like the way they bronzed up Ron Ely. In the short-lived Marvel Comics series, the coloration of Doc Savage's skin was positively garish. In this movie though, he looked bronze without looking grotesque.

Not enough time

There just isn't enough time in the day. Argh.

Dempster

Jennifer Dempster has got to be one of the most appealing television fitness celebrities of all time. She wasn't as hard core as Cory Everson or Kiana Tom, but she was likable and attractive, and her life was a fat loss success story.

I also like Sharon Mann. Now that gal knows how to make a workout enjoyable.

Tarantulas for novices

I have just discovered the Tarantula Pages website (), which offers some valuable information for aspiring tarantula keepers. Among other things, it provides an article on suitable tarantula species for beginners, as well as various caresheets. Definitely worth checking out.

Balboa

I am having a hard time learning balboa. For this reason, I am deeply indebted to the efforts of one F.A., who is incredibly sweet and more than considerate in her attempts to help me learn. I just wish that I could practice regularly and devote more time to this endeavor.

Bernard Haldane

I will never, ever forget the time when some agent from Bernard Haldane tried to get me to sign up for their job search services. That was pathetic. He was promising me the moon, even stating that he "guaranteed" I would find a job through them. When I asked if this meant I would get my money back if they didn't land me a job, he went strangely silent.

People like that are scum. They prey on the desperate, as well as on people who don't necessarily have a lot of cash to spare. They are completely despicable.

Ziks and tendonitis

Apparently, I have a bit of lingering tendonitis in the second toe of my right foot. I bruised the toe joint due to loads of exercise, and while the bone has recovered, it seems that the tendon is still a bit inflamed.

My podiatrist gave me a few samples of Ziks ointment for pain relief. He says that this stuff will also help with the healing process. I'm a bit skeptical, but what the hey...

Lousy podiatrist

When I injured my toe a couple of years ago, I decided to look for a podiatrist who was as close as possible to my office. I reasoned that the injury didn't look severe, so I wasn't about to hunt around for the most experienced person.

That was a mistake.

First, she misdiagnosed my condition. Based on my x-rays, she said that I had a predislocated toe, and she gave me instructions on how to wrap it for proper healing. However, after reading about this condition on the web, I realized that her diagnosis didn't seem right. Indeed, another podiatrist confirmed that she screwed her diagnosis up and failed to consider other symptoms. (He said, for example, that an x-ray alone is not sufficient for diagnosing this problem.)

And how did she give me instructions for wrapping the toe? By trying to describe the process over the phone. That's no good. What you should do is demonstrate it to the patient so that there is no risk of being misunderstood. At the very least, provide some sort of written instructions with pictures, for pity's sake.

She also told me to go get some horseshoe pads. What she didn't say is that these things are not available in drugstores. I'd expect a physician to be reasonably familiar with what's available in drugstores and what is not. Heck, as it turns out, these items are not in common use, so she should have at least said that I might have to search on the internet for them. Indeed, I'd expect that if she were any good, she would at least recommend a few places (at least one!) that did offer these items.

Publilius says,

"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm." - Publilius Syrus

Audrey

Audrey, you are a despicable human being. There is just no way around that fact.

Tammie

Tammie, you have no integrity. You are a dishonest piece of humanity. You are a liar.

I hate playing against my countrymen

I hate playing games against my countrymen. It doesn't matter if we're playing cards, board games, or basketball. Far too many of them insist on cheating as a matter of sport. This problem is just too palpable to ignore.

It's not just a problem in game playing. When I was a young elementary school student in the USA, I found that students would line up in an orderly fashion when in the cafeteria or when lining up to see the teacher. I received a bit of culture shock when my family moved back to our country, though. I found that line jumping and overtaking was commonplace -- tacitly accepted, even. I didn't like it, but I learned that this was the status quo.

That all stinks.

Stupidity

I was asked to help three of my co-workers move these two slabs of polished granite back onto our conference room table. (Together, they constituted the tabletop.) Mind you, these things are solid stone and they way a few hundred pounds each.

The slabs were resting on a dolly, in a near-vertical orientation, so we first had to gently tip them to a horizontal orientation. Unfortunately, as soon as I placed my hands on the end of one slab, one co-worker jumped the gun. He started tipping the slab over from his end, before the other two guys were in position -- and without asking me if I was ready. He also started moving it a bit too quickly, rather than slowly and gingerly.

When I felt it shift, I yelled, "Not yet! Not yet!" but it was too late. We lost control, and both slabs started to crash. One of them hit my hand and wristwatch, causing a sprain, massive swelling, and some bruises. The momentum also forced me to the floor, causing me to sprain my ankle. Somehow, one of my toes was also banged up and developed a nasty hematoma. By God's grace though, nothing was broken.

Accidents happen, I know, but this was a case of tremendous recklessness on so many levels.

Spring out! Oh, boy!

I just saw a nifty new variation on the lindy hop swing out. It's called the "spring out." Basically, you let your body act like a spring during counts 5 and 6, drawing the follow in and then pushing her back out.

I can't wait to try it!

Pocket Hercules

This is not an April Fool's Day joke. There is a 19-month old boy in Roosevelt Park, Michigan with a rare genetic condition called myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy. This means that his muscles are abnormally enlarged, and in this case, it means that he has 40% more muscle mass than normal. If the report I read is to be believed, the boy was able to stand up on his own when he was just two days old. (I'm a bit skeptical about that last part.)

Injured

A co-worker was hasty today, so I banged up my wrist and a toe. Thankfully, nothing appears to be broken. Still, this sucks a lot.

I am just so glad that nothing was broken.

Idiot Harley

I can't stand the way this Harley guy keeps chatting up the ladies in our cardio class and trying to impress them. As I've mentioned before, he tries to impress them by exercising his mouth, yelling out "Awoo! Awoo! Woof, woof, woof!" instead of putting any real energy into his moves.

I can respect this one guy who works out really, really hard. He and I are among the few that do. I can't respect a guy who acts like he's working out hard, but who's taking it very easy.

Sleepy

I'm sleepy and I have some signs to build. Darn.

Harley, you jackass

Harley is this guy at the gym who's pretty obnoxious. On Friday night, he was making off-color gestures around a bunch of women as he mimed a certain sexual act. He clearly thought this was hilarious. If you're a high schooler, maybe it would be. Grown men should know better than to do this in a public place.

About offshoring... I'd like to post the following excerpt from some net acquaintance of mine. I've cleaned up the spelling, grammar, and punctuation a little bit, though.

This anecdote is about Mary, who discovered outsourcing about 4-5 years ago. This was great! she said. She worked hard and tirelessly outsourcing most of her area. One day, after work, she was telling me how great it was. How the cost savings were tremendous. She had laid off about 20 people (most of here area).

I remember asking...why stop where you did?...why not outsource....you? I bet someone from India could do your job for 1/10th your salary...saving the company a couple hundred thousand a year! heck...they could probably even do it better because they are with the India team while you are back here.

(I said it much more diplomatically than that.)

I saw a glint of fear in her eyes...immediately squelched. "OF COURSE, they can't outsource ME! I'm important! I add value!"

Less than one year later she was laid off. Her position is now in India. She actually cried her last day. The bitch laid off about 20 people...caused much misery and she CRIED when she was led to the gallows she made? No sympathy here.

That's the thing about outsourcing. If we are going to pursue it, let's pursue it with more rigor. If outsourcing is so good for America...let's look at outsourcing some of the lower executives...see how it goes. After that...do we really need CFO's and the like in America? Couldn't a really smart Indian work better and cheaper?

Sounds stupid...but why? They are smart folks. They can do it. It only sounds stupid to the execs because you only outsource too-high paid prima donnas like programmers and such...not people who do real work like Execs!

Last night was a bust

So last night, I drove through a snowstorm to this bar where a friend of mine was celebrating his birthday. It's a respectable bar where people get together on Thursday nights for swing dancing.

Driving was a real challenge. The snowfall wasn't heavy, but visibility was bad, and the driver's side windshield wiper wasn't doing its job very well. It was hellacious, I tell you.

What's more, the DJ decided that he would mostly play Latin music rather than swing music. It was a bit much, and as one of my friends commented, most of the regulars weren't on the dance floor very much. It was mostly occupied by the visiting ballroom dancers.

I've got mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, it's nice to make the visitors feel welcome. However, if the event is meant to be a swing night, shouldn't at least 75% of the music be swing tunes? Instead, it was about 60% latin music (plus some rather marginal swing numbers).

The DJ was a friendly guy, but he tends to be kinda flamboyant. It shows in the way he moves and dresses. I don't want to begrudge him that, but... oh, I don't know. I get the feeling that this colors his musical choices and dance style, neither of which fit swing very well IMO.

Portuguese

I wish that I understood Portuguese more. Because I can understand some Spanish, I can make sense of it in written form. For example, I can kinda make sense of a lot of the stuff on this website.

I can only do so with difficulty, though. It'd really help if I knew more Spanish and if I could understand Portuguese grammar.

BTW, I was both amused and annoyed once when a friend of mine was counseling a woman from Brazil. This friend jotted down the woman's race as "Portuguese." I won't complain too loudly, since this friend is a wonderful caring woman who meant well. Still, it was a bit of a surprise.

Balboa follows

My balboa class was frustrating, since we had more than three times as many leads as we did follows. That made it really difficult to learn.

I should be thankful that most of the follows in our class were pretty good. A few had taken some balboa before, and most of the others had a decent sense of how to follow. (I envy them. I don't mean to imply that their job is easy, but the reality is that it's much harder for the leads. There is a lot more pressure on us to get everything just right, and it drives me nuts at times.)

One lady in the class was utterly problematic, though. I just couldn't get her to move. She was sluggish, even when given a proper lead. I get the sense that she simply didn't have any energy. It's not a question of fitness, mind you, since I know a lot of gals who aren't skinny and yet can move quite well. Ugh.

Balboa

I took some balboa lessons this week. That was tough. There are all these little nuances that I can't quite get, such as getting the right amount of pulse in my movements. Also, one of the instructors said that I'm pulsing too much in my upper body, which I don't sense at all. I don't doubt her word, but I just don't feel it.

I can get the footwork right, even though it's not really smooth yet. For some reason though, I keep losing it, especially when performing the out-and-in moves. I also have problems with the crossovers, for which I need a lot of fine-tuning.

I'd like to invest in some private lessons, except that they cost a lot of money. Also, I don't think I have enough potential balboa partners to justify this expense.

No Harley

That jackass Harley wasn't at the cardio bootcamp class tonight. Yippee! He's the buffoon that I've mentioned who keeps howling and barking like a dog, even though he's putting in very little effort. Every now and then, he'll pour some energy into his high knee raises, but for the most part, he works at a fairly low intensity level and yet barks and howls around to make himself look all bad*ss.

I love it when he's not around.