Additional Proof of the Downfall of Society

Hi, my name is Sarah, I think it would be great fun for everyone if you would let me come into your office when you're not around and do something funny. I could (a.) rearrange your furniture (b.) cover everything with aluminum foil or (c.) fill your desk drawers with Styrofoam peanuts. Would that be okay? Great.

Oh, hey, would you mind chipping in for supplies, everyone's giving $3. It would be great if you would too. Thanks.

Directions

On the way to class after lunch today, I was listening to my book, minding my own business, and as I was crossing a road, a slow moving car drove up (I was waiting on him to go so I could cross) and the driver asked me for directions to Sam's.

No problem. Sam's is nearby, I gave directions and got on my way.

Stop. Wait.

I was listening to my book (headphones, yes) and had sunglasses on.

This isn't the first time this has happened. I get stopped weekly by people asking for random directions, which is fine, but there seems to be no regard for the fact that I'm wearing headphones (and, in one case, talking on the phone, in another case, thoroughly wrapped in conversation).

I'm happy to give directions. Happier that I know where they're talking about. I just think it's strange that I get asked so often and so often when I should appear to be ensconced.

Thoughts?

Run Away...

My imagination got the best of me when I read this article about lobsters escaping from a supermarket. The word choices cracked me up.

1. I pictured them huddling and formulating a plan
2. I also pictured them posting lookouts and, during the escape, the slow ones yelling to the others, "Save yourselves!"
3. The soundtrack of my mind is going nuts with songs that include the phrase "run away" (e.g. "I've got to ..." and "... train, never coming back")

Don't you think it's a little odd that the crates weren't secured appropriately and the front door was "accidentally" left open?

Letters

I received real mail this week. I checked my mailbox as I was on my way to campus and found a card. A real card--just because!! I detoured back to my apartment to open it right then because I couldn't wait. I think about how happy I get when I get a letter, note, anything from a real person that I think I ought to be sending letters to people I know (like real correspondence).

Another inspiration for sending letters is the beautiful and fun stamps that the post office has put out this year. See? Yoda! Yea!

Go buy stamps and send a letter!! Make someone's day.

Inspired by: Sunflower!! Thanks soo much!!!

Joy!

Remember the "Friends" episode where Rachel takes Phoebe running in the park and is completely embarrassed that Phoebe still runs like a kid then in the end finds out that it's just a lot of fun to run like that? I was thinking about that the whole time I was running tonight. I felt better on my feet than I have for a long time. Maybe it's that it's not super hot and humid, maybe it was the music I was listening to, maybe it was the full night's sleep I got last night. I don't know and I don't much care, 'cuz I felt great and pushed for the last mile and felt like Phoebe running through the park. Yea!

Long Live Sport!

Most people who know me know that I'll watch almost any sport. They also know that I think ESPN is about the best thing to happen to television ever--especially back in the day when they primarily covered the "B-list" sports like volleyball and car racing (before NASCAR got popular). Now, with umpteen channels of 'round-the-clock coverage, there's a lot of airtime to fill. With what? Opinions. Lots of people are making a living giving their opinions about sports on television. Fantastic. God bless America! Unfortunately, over time, fact has been lost. Le Anne Schreiber's recent column addresses this issue and is worth a read. Enjoy!

Dinner before the Yum...

We made pecan- and panko-crusted chicken breasts for dinner tonight. Very tasty. I made this about a week ago and really enjoyed the recipe. Tonight we added a side of potatoes. The snap is from last week's meal, but this week's looked remarkably similar.

Yum!

Jeremy is here. I have no ice cream. We wanted something sweet. Do I really need to say anything more?

Yum!

Ask and ye shall...

This will probably become more commonplace with the fabulous-ness of the infoweb, but Minnesota Public Radio has a candidate selector quiz. It has the major issues and the stances of the candidates and you can rate the issues based on how important they are to you. It then pops out an ordered list of candidates. Very cool. I was looking for something like this the other day and Chris pointed me this way. Thanks, Chris!!

Go try it!

I wish WFIU would do something like this for the local elections...

Dedication

If my parents had been as dedicated to the success of my athletic endeavors, who knows where I'd be? Or rather, if I'd have survived.

The Flip Side

After posting about Josh, the jackass CS rep, I decided that it would probably be only fair if I would post about Coral, the very picture of all that is right in the CS world. I had called Coral prior to calling Josh. I needed Coral to help me get bits to some furniture that had been damaged in shipping. The problem was that I had already called the manufacturer and they had promised to send the parts along. I was worried that (1.) too much time had passed and (2.) that they would refuse to help based on the fact that I hadn't inspected the package upon receipt (FedEx had just dropped it at the door).

She said that none of this was a problem, asked me to send pictures of the damaged items (to her personal e-mail address), made sure she had accurate contact information, and even called back later to gather additional information. When I got back to her with the additional information, she knew who I was and remembered the problem. I was so very impressed.

Having had this fantastic experience, I was optimistic and gave Josh a call. Josh obviously didn't work out, but at least I know that there are Corals in the world.

Customer Service

I just got off the phone with a customer service rep. I was calling to ask if there was a replacement part for the battery compartment cover for my MP3 player. The phone call went like this:

Him: This is Josh. How can I help you?

Me (paraphrasing): Hi Josh. I have a MP3 player with a broken battery compartment and I was wondering if I could get a replacement part for that.

Him (direct quote): I don't have any. I never will have any.

(pregnant pause)

Me: I guess I'll just not worry about it then.

Him: Okay. Bye.

dial tone

Childhood Misconception

Walking around campus today, a few of us spotted this (apologies for the crappy resolution...camera phone):



It's green, about the size of a softball, hard, and bumpy.

One of the guys asked, "What's that?" The other responded, "Oh, it's a thing that comes from a tree...I don't know what it's called."

"What do you do with it?"

"Oh, throw them at people."

(insert pause for comic effect)

As he was saying that, I was starting to respond with, "You throw them in creeks and follow them as they float along," because that's what we used to do. I had to bite my tongue because the other response seemed to be more applicable for the current situation (no creek to be seen). Naturally, we looked around for targets, but no one walked by. The squirrels were oddly absent, too.

Here's the weird childhood misconception bit: there's a tree by the creek at Mom & Dad's that drops a bunch of these every year. For some reason, I concluded that this was the type of apple that Eve tricked Adam into eating. They looked like apples, but they didn't seem edible (I somehow got the impression that they were poisonous), and they were ugly, so it all made sense. Having put some thought into this more recently, I am curious about my "logic".

I mentioned this little story to the guys and they gave me the uncomfortable don't-know-what-the-hell-you're-talking-about look, the moment passed, then we took another glance around for a moving target.

Anyone know what this is and what it's about?

P.S. Bonus points for a Wiki link!

Superfun!

Jeremy and I went out with the triathlon club for a training/skills ride on Friday. Triathletes are notoriously bad at road etiquette, handling, dealing with crowded situations, and maintaining bikes (as compared to dedicated cyclists). We addressed the first three during the ride by heading out on the roads in Nashville during the busiest time of day at the beginning of Parent's Weekend at Vanderbilt, spending some time riding around the roads of Centennial Park, practicing track stands, and riding in the grass practicing leaning on and touching other bikes while riding.

Good idea? Sure!!

The good news is that no one crashed or got hit. The better news is that we all had fun. The best news is that we played bike tag in a park at dark in the grass with people milling around. It was 'sharks 'n minnows' style, starting with one it and adding its until one person is left who is not it. You had to physically touch other people on the bike for them to be it.

Bike tag ranks up there with the other fun, silly things that normal (read: smart) people wouldn't do, but I'd do again in a heartbeat (e.g. sledding on Slater at 2 am in -35 degree F. windchill).

I know, I know

You're all sick of me talking about this stupid baseball. I thought I would share that the voting has resulted in #756 being donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame with an asterisk branded on it. The article I read indicated that the BHoF is excited to be receiving it, but is actively not taking a stance on what that asterisk might mean.

"This ball wouldn't be coming to Cooperstown if Marc hadn't bought it from the fan who caught it and then let the fans have their say," Petroskey told The Associated Press. "We're delighted to have the ball. It's a historic piece of baseball history."

Personally, I don't care what they brand it with. I don't care if the record is "tainted". I wouldn't think much about the whole thing except for the following:


1. When time came for the record-breaking HR to be hit, the stadiums had security on hand to handle the situation.
2. Some asinine tax-goof with a big mouth made the guy who caught it think he would owe taxes on it if he kept it.
3. Some guy bought the ball at auction for around three-quarters of a million dollars.
4. That guy was smart enough to know what he had, that it was just a ball, and was willing to make a statement about it.


I would say that I'm done with this topic, but I expect that it will come up again.


I hope Mark Ecko videos the branding process, whatever that might be.

Up for air

This is a post for a week that seems to be trying to swallow me. I'm finishing up a take-home exam that's looking complete-able at the moment, then I get to start on two homeworks that are both due tomorrow (one, I just found out about yesterday--wishful thinking let me put off reality for a bit). The good news is that the rest of the week is less hectic than today and tomorrow.

That being said, I've been trying to find a sound clip from Babe (the talking pig movie). The scene changes had these adorable little mice announcing the "chapters". One is "The Way Things Are." As I am compiling lists of things that need to get done, I keep hearing those voices constantly reminding me that this is the way things are. Then I giggle a little and move on.

Okay. Back to work....

Timing!

It's all about timing. Here's a screen shot of the Chattanoogan web page this morning. It's been changed to the second screen shot now.

I'm going back to work now. Really.

Coincidence?

According to My Yahoo! today is ADHD Awareness Day*. It's also International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Just throwing out those two tidbits of information.
I'd draw a conclusion, but I lost interest.

*When looking for a link for ADHD Awareness Day, I found that 9/20 is the actual date, which might make all this a little more appropriate.

Fencing Freak-out

At fencing tonight, I was in a bout with one of the girls at the club and had the tip of my weapon get stuck between the outer rim and the mesh of her mask. Needless to say, we were both really freaked out and she is going to be getting a new mask really soon. No one was hurt, just freaked out. Below is a picture of the approximate location of where my point got stuck, but it was under the solid rubber black thing. Eep!!!

Followup: #756

It turns out that Matt Murphy auctioned the Barry Bonds home run ball #756. I had posted earlier that I was disappointed, but something about taxes made the guy think he couldn't keep it. Well, as it happens, the ball was auctioned for around $750,000, much higher than originally anticipated and the name of the winner was not immediately released.

To my glee, Mark Ecko, a NY fashion designer and pop culture fan won the auction and has posted a website for the public to decide the fate of the ball. We can vote to donate the ball to the hall of fame, brand it with an asterisk and donate the branded ball to the hall of fame, or launch the ball into space.

Watch Mark's story on the Today show. He's evidently prepared to finance the launch of the ball, if voting goes that way. I'm fascinated. It's a lot of money to make a statement like this, but I'm all for it. Perhaps this is, aside from Mr. Murphy keeping it and playing catch with his grandkids, the best possible outcome.

Go vote. It's your right.