It's not that kind of Movie

If you are at a theater and watching a classic movie and are the only people shouting the lines, you will be the least popular person there.
Audience partici-pation is reserved for the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Too much of a good thing

I might have been listening to a little too much Christmas music.
I called some one this morning and got a busy signal. I swear the tone beeped out in the rhythm of "Jingle Bells."

The Complete Exhaustive Top 12 List of Worst Christmas Songs that I Am Familiar With, ver. 2009

I love Christmas songs. I have been listening to them all day on Pandora. I have the car radio set to the Christmas station. I have stuff on my Ipod and have been downloading new stuff. I will even get a hankering for it in June or July. In my family we don’t really decorate all the much but we collect Christmas albums.
I am very open about my Christmas music. I will listen to just about any kind: Religious to Secular, traditional, Punk, Heavy Metal, Cabbage Patch to Surf guitar, I love it all. If Shatner had a spoken word Christmas album out I’d give it a whirl.
I have a couple of new favorites: Los Straitjackets and “Must be Santa” by Bob Dylan.
I reconfirm that Karen Carpenter and Nat King Cole are some of the best singers of all time. And the Time Life Treasury of Christmas is one of the best albums.
I thought I’d gather my thoughts about Christmas music and compile the definitive list of worst Christmas Songs. I tried to limit myself to mainstream songs (if we got into novelty songs, we’d be here for weeks), and to focus on individual songs not just bad recordings (Dean Martin’s “Rudy the Red-nosed Reindeer,” or the Andrews Sisters “Jingle Bells”).
So I present for your consideration:
“The Complete Exhaustive Top 12 List of Worst Christmas Songs that I Am Familiar With, ver. 2009”
1. Happy X-mas (war is over); Stupid protest era Lennon song. This is the Yoko influence and just stinks to high heaven. I also hate “Imagine” but that is screed for a different time
2. Feliz Navidad; it only has 19 words I the whole song, it isn’t in English, it isn’t in Spanish, but it does suck.
3. The 12 Days of Christmas; this song makes no sense, is it supposed to be about Hanukkah? If so they can’t count. Is it about slavery? I mean who gives someone another person for a gift? The only redeeming part is the Five Golden Rings.
4. Baby, It’s Cold Outside; Look man, no means no.
5. Santa Baby; I realized Santa is married, but I don’t want to think of him as a sexual being, alright? And the whole sugar daddy thing is creepy.
6. Christmas Don’t Be Late (The Chipmunk Song); One might think this is a novelty song but it won three Grammy Awards, and was a number 1 single. Why? I don’t know. I hate this song so much it should be on this list twice.
7. Christmas Time is Here {from A Charlie Brown Christmas (Vocal version)}; the tune is good but the plodding dirge like vocals! Seasonal Disaffective Disorder anyone? Come to think of it, the instrumental version makes me want to stick pencils into my eardrums as well.
8. Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer; I used to like this song when I was a 12 year old smart ass.
9. Christmas All Over Again; this was written by Tom Petty and while I normally like him, this is a poor piece of work. What is Christmas really that tedious? Get into the spirit of it man.
10. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus; Apparently the Catholic Church got worked up about it when it came out. I don’t get worked up. I hit the skip button.
11. Wonderful Christmastime; I think he released this because the other fab two (Ringo gets no respect) had holiday songs out, so he kind of had to do something.
12. Peace on Earth (the version with Bing Crosby and David Bowie that is combined with Little Drummer Boy); yes I am breaking one of my rules. And since they are mine, I’ll break them all I want. This song in addition to the hey we don’t know each other lameness, has lyrics like “Every child must be made to…” What? Some sort of leftist forced education? Dude, it is the holidays give it a rest.
Honorable Mentions
13. Do they Know It’s Christmastime by Band-Aid; This is one of those mid 80’s social movement songs, and while I kind of like it, many people don’t.
14. Blue Christmas, Elvis Presley; It is such a uniqe recording that no one else should even try. So other versions are bad. But even the King's annoys people. I guess it is too stylized
15. Little Drummer Boy; Apparently this song gives people headaches.
16. Manheim Steamroller; They are fine for a while but it just becomes too much after about 3 times. They are overplayed, because people think it is a neat alternative to the more overplayed stuff. Problem is people have thought this for the last 20 years.

How hard can it be?

I mean I must be missing something.
My wife had to drop off some prescriptions. She went to one of the big box stores around lunch and asked if she could wait. She was told it would take a couple of hours since it was just a couple of days after thanksgiving and they were swamped with new prescriptions.
Ok I can kind of understand that, but if a customer is going to wait, wouldn’t good customer service dictate that you help them first? So, she decided to leave them and come back the next day.
Fast forward 26 hours. She goes back. And was told it would be about 15 minutes. She goes back to the counter. “Just a little while longer.” So after playing this fun little game for 2 hours she finally complains. “Well, we are busy.” “But, you said if I dropped them off yesterday, they would be ready today. That was 24 hours ago.” “We aren’t a 24 hour store.” “What does that matter. You still had like eight business hours.” “No, you dropped them off after 5pm.” “No, I dropped them of at noon.” Then the girl at the counter rolled her eyes and scoffed.
At this point, I pause to tell you how I would have handled it. I would have said “Excuse me but how hard is it to reach up on to a shelf, grab the jar of pills, count out 20 of them, pour them in to a bottle, and print the corresponding label? I want to talk to your boss. Today is what a Tuesday? That’s all it is for me, but for you this is the most important day of your year.
I would have proceeded to get another notch on my belt. I would not have left the store until she was fired. But then again I am a duck, and I try not to let things affect me.

You can't bring me down

The past few months have been pretty rough. Some of it you have read here. But last week I took a trip out of town.
Let me tell you, that was a great decision, because I have decided to become a duck. No, it is not a career move, but a stance.
I will not let things bring me down, they will roll of my back. I had been unhappy with work and had let it affect me. I was starting to feel like a prisoner. I am in this hotel, because I am at work. I am in this car, because I am at work. I am at this restaurant, because I am at work. Every decision is dictated by the fact that I am stuck in Indianapolis for work.
So the family and I went to visit some friends over thanksgiving. We got a little R&R, and feel recharged.
So everyone else is stressed out for work. Not, me. You can't bring me down.
People getting mad at me. OK, but you can't bring me down.
I have to go to two stupid company Christmas parties, but they won't bring me down, because I AM A DUCK.
I've got Christmas music on the headphones. The "a Christmas Story" movie showing at a local theatre this week end. I am taking vacation for a couple of weeks at the end of the year. I will not let anything bring me down, no matter how hard you try for these next 17 days.
I hope you had a good Thanksgiving, I sure did.

Is this healthy?

I have never been to a professional football game. I have never lived close to a stadium. So this has been an eyeopening experience.
The hotel I have been in all these months overlooks the Football stadium here. And Sundays have become insane. The hotel fills up the day of a game and downtown gets crowded. The people come like it is a holy shrine. They engage in what appear to be almost religious ceremonies. They have pre-event festivities, don special garb, consume vast amounts of special liquids, and generally behave like idiots.
I imagine that this is the type of thing that ticked off Moses when he came down off the mountain.
These people start all their celebrations about 8 hours before each game. and take up all the parking spaces. they have bands playing, big screen TVs, pigs roasting on spits. All for the average game.
So last week was a night game. They started all the tailgating about 8 in the morning for a game that started 12 hours later. They were loud all day. They were loud all afternoon. They were loud all night. OK not all night but at least until midnight. I have never heard such loud people. It was scary and I was driving around during the LA riots.
I must say the behavior has no equal to anything I have ever experienced. This is a devotion. This is a pagan religion.

But that's cool

I needed new headphones. I have broken 3 pairs in the past year, so I was looking for quality. I called Radio Shack. (They call themselves "The Shack" now. and I find that annoying. I'm not sure if it is the love shack or the sugar shack, but it is probably similar to Mc Donald's calling themselves Mickey D's, but i digest.)
I called to the local store telling the guy what I wanted. Yeah they have those. So I went. When I got there I asked the salesgirl who came up to me what I was looking for and she pointed the way. I looked over the product offered, and selected two that were in the range I was willing to pay.
I then went to the counter and asked which of the two were better. The girl said to go with the cool brand because they were the cool ones. The manager actually looked at the product and showed me the technical specs and explained why the other pair was better.
I was glad that the guy had remembered me and realized that i couldn't care less about fads or what was better looking. I wanted the better product. (Any one who knows me can tell you I don't give a rip about appearance.)
It is nice to know that there are still people in the world who have the customers desires at heart. I wonder how many people still buy an inferior product simply because it is "the cool one."

The week in review

1. The two time-sheet issue is back. Someone mentioned that this subject is taking up more than its allotted two minutes. Yeah, I really wish it were not.
2. 80 year old men, ladders and roofs don’t mix
3. “We don’t have time to be organized” is probably going to be a bad approach.
4. It might actually be your concern over your daughter’s disease ridden boyfriend, and not related to anything I said that makes you think everything I say is wrong.
5. Photographers at national chain studios don’t seem to like it when you schedule a setting and tell them you won’t be buying anything, and just want to have the photos that the company arranges to have taken.
6. The movie 2001: a space odyssey is one of those things we are supposed to like. It makes us look smart. That movie is a decent homicidal computer in outer space story bookended by pretentious self-indulgent crap. The garbage in this movie is the type of stuff only the filmmaker had any idea what it meant. And It is Stanley Kubrick. He made a few movies, that have good moments but he is not the fantastic director all the film students want him to be. If anyone tells you that Kubrick means so much, they have no idea what he is saying. Loving Kubrick and especially 2001 is like having a complicated coffee order: it is directly proportional to the size of jerk you are.
7. Please no more "Christmas Carol" movies or rip offs. That is a dead horse that is not just beaten, but jumped up and down upon until the gunk bursts out.

A really bad idea

I have a cold. I am pretty sure it it not the Hamthrax or the Aporkalypse, but I hate it either way. I don't do well when I am sick. So in my quest to quickly defeat this thing I have been using everything I can get my grubby hands on. The Zicam nose swabs aren't made any more, something about losing one's sense of taste. The other stuff they make is horrible. And it messes with your sense of taste too.
The effervescent taps that dissolve in water are good, but don't seem to work.
I have been using Muscinex. That stuff works. So does dayquil. And if they work well independently, they must work well together.
Not so much.
Do you want to know what happens when you mix Muscinex and Dayquil? You miss church, that's what. As a matter of fact, I couldn't remember my own name until about mid-morning today. I couldn't tell you what we did Saturday, it has been erased from my memory banks.
Another piece of advice: Do not watch "The Maltese Falcon" while mixing medications. It will make zero sense. But I did have a vision of scuba diving the streets of Venice. Do they allow that?
I think I should stick to the traditional medicines of my people: Sprite, Chicken Soup and Dayquil.

Did you even read it?

As you may have heard, I have some issues with my timesheet at work. We have two systems that have to reflect the exact thing; even though one has dropdown menus that force you into certain categories that aren’t entirely accurate. So, last week I worked for a few hours on a project I was asked to do. The person asking told me how to report my time and to just squeeze it in when my primary job got a little slow.
I wrote it up and sent it in on the two timesheets. One of them was approved. The other rejected. This was done by the same person. In his rejection he told me that I can’t submit this because there was no one to bill it to, and that I owed the primary job 40 hours a week. That you need to work until the job is done and that has to be at least 40 hours, but we aren’t a 9-5 operation and that you can’t exceed the 40 hours regularly. I can’t tell you how much to do just that you aren’t doing enough. His diatribe went on for several paragraphs. Do you remember the discussion of “Flair” at the Chotchkie’s restaurant in the movie “Office Space?” Yeah, it was like that.
So here I am on a Saturday morning with 4 missing hours, and no way to get in to the office to make them up, and a company that wants us not to work on the weekends.
So I responded by saying that I was asked to do it this way and what do I need to do to make up the time and how is that going to mess up our billing? Six hours later (and yes I skipped the family outing because I needed to somehow figure this out), he-e-mails back saying “Oh, OK that’s fine. Please resubmit your time card.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

We have a new cell phone policy at work we were given two options. Option #1 was to assume the billing of our work issued cell phones and then submit re-imbursement. Or to get new phones on our own, return the company equipment and submit the bills for reimbursement. I don’t understand it either, but ok.
I decided to go with option 2, since I am due for a new phone anyway.
I e-mailed the lady in charge of the phones, who wrote the new policy, asking for the proper forms since I was (and I quote) “going with Option 2. And will be getting a new phone on my own. So I need to mail you the old equipment.”
She e-mails me back and says “Ok I will send the information “Which option are you going with.” You know I think I just told you that in my last e-mail. But I was polite and wrote back that it would be option 2. It is kind of like the person who after having an e-mail conversation with you finally requests your phone number even though it is in your signature line on every e-mail you send.

And don’t get me started on the credit card customer service call where I had to repeat everything at least three times. It seems his script and my telling of the story didn’t line-up.

And Now For Your Listening And Dancing Pleasure

I have found some new music. But, when I say new it usually is not new chronologically but new to me.

I discovered an interesting group called the Vitamin String Quartet. They perform arrangements of modern music in a classical style. They have tribute albums to groups I have never heard of, but the one’s I’ve listened to are pretty entertaining.

If you like interesting fusions check out Nuttin’ But Stringz. These are two brothers who are Julliard trained violinists who mix Classical with Hip-Hop. This sounds like it wouldn’t work, but trust me on this.

There is another group called Rockabye Baby! That does instrumental lullaby versions of current songs. Ok this stuff is interesting. It is at times difficult to hear the melody; I suppose that can happen when you use a toy piano. They do some fun stuff like the Beach Boys and the Beatles. They also do stuff from Nine Inch Nails and Metallica. If anyone ever uses this darker stuff as actual lullaby music, please do not be surprised if your kid starts setting fire to things.

The Pickin’ On series is kind of cool in small doses. They do covers of popular tunes in a bluegrass style. My personal favorites are “Come on Aileen” and “Take On Me.”

In 2004 Paul Anka released an album of lounge covers of 80’s and 90’s songs called Rock Swings. This album is not to be studied as serious music, but if you can get into the spirit of it, it is quite entertaining.

It's on!

I have a question that I need help with. It involves e-mail etiquette, so there may not be a correct answer.
When is it appropriate to start the flame war by cc'ing the higher-ups?
I got a e-mail last week from someone in payroll or billing or something, I'd never heard of her. (for a company that has never had anyone leave, we sure have a lot of turn over) She immediately starts in with "You messed up your two time sheets. they don't match. You need to fix it. We ask everyone to assure they match, and you didn't. arrg arrg arrg." (or something to that effect.) Who cares right? Problem is she CC'ed my supervisors and some upper-ups in the company.
Now if some one CC's your boss after repeatedly attempting to get you to rectify a problem that makes sense, but this was straight out of the gate.
So I was at least smart enough to be professional in my response:
"It looks like the discrepancy is 1 hour.
The (first time sheet) section of the spreadsheet you sent does not reflect an entry in (Second time sheet) for 1 hour on Tuesday, between 1400 and 1500 for an all hands Conference call. This entry is listed as non-billable on the (second time sheet)entry that day and is categorized as: 'Administrative General Participant.'
That may be the missing hour."
I have already complained about the ridiculousness of having two time sheet systems. This error on her part was a direct result of having to compare data in the two systems. This is just a minor oversight on her part. But she came charging out of the gate with no build-up. I think that is inappropriate. I went ahead and CC'ed my response to that same people she did. This seem appropriate.
Interestingly she has not responded.
First of all, don't mess with me, my ship is tight.
Second, how about giving a brother a chance to look at something before jumping his train?
Third, I hope publicizing your error and forcing me to show your bosses that you screwed-up backfired.

12 Days

UPDATE: Andrew Klavan sums it up nicely: "But that a group of presumably serious individuals convinced themselves that they might give such an award to a man who has accomplished nothing but the winning of elections does indeed say something about Obama’s role in their lives and the lives of people like them. It shows that they regard him as an empty vessel that they have filled with their political hopes and dreams–that they know he’s such a vessel and that they’re comfortable with that. This means, if you follow the logic, that the committee has essentially presented the Peace Prize to themselves, to their own feelings and aspirations. Thus, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is, in effect, the ultimate expression of leftism: it’s people giving themselves an enormous pat on the back for their own excellent intentions without regard to results."

Original Post: By February 1, 2009, our president had written two books, been a full-time Senator for about 1 year (3 years part-time), gotten elected, and danced at some fancy balls.
He had not bowed to the Saudi King, he had not given I-Pods as gifts to the Queen and Prime Minister of England. He had not yet started on his apology tour. He had not thrown Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe to the Bears, nor had he quadrupuled the national dept. He had not yet appointed seven tax cheats to his cabinet, not had he found any wise latina judges (actually that is wrong, they have been trying to appoint her since 1993). He hadn't known of any stupidly acting cops, nor had he ignored the hundreds of teaparties and hundreds of thousands of protestors. He had not yet urged us to report fishy behavior, nor had he then asked us not to. He had not yet ignored the Black Panthers voting intimmidation, nor ha he asked the NEA to bring artists together to support his agenda, nor had he ignored ACORN's. He had not yet given bankruptcy preventing money to us auto manufacturers, nor had they declared bankruptcy anyway.
He had not ended the two wars the US is in. He had not closed Guantanamo Bay. Nor had he disarmed the US of its nuclear weapons. He had not yet threatened CIA operatives with lawsuits. Nor had he left Israel to fend for itself. He had not yet met with Chavez, nor sided with Zelaya. He had not yet failed to support the Iranian uprising, nor had he renamed the war on terror. He had not yet reversed positions on Darfur or ignored human rights abuses by China. Nor had been put on the Security Council where he was in a better position to do so.
The ocean levels are about the same, we only have 50 states and it has snowed earlier than in recorded history in some parts of the nation.
So why did the Nobel Committee award him the Peace prize? He was not George W. Bush.

Thoughts on the Olympics

1. I doubt the recent gang violence had anything to do with their decision.
2. I doubt Blago had any thing to do with their decision.
3. Does the international community have any knowledge of Oprah?
4. I doubt the current President had much to do with their decision. That is why the stupid speeches of "how much I want the Olympics in Chicago" were a dumb move. His trip is a high profile loss and he fairly or not will be saddled with it. (for about a week, until some new Jon and Kate news comes out.) But the problem is he and his people thought his very presence would make a difference. Look, if Juan Antonio Samaranch's empassioned speech didn't work, why would Obama's?
5. Why wasn't Michael Jordon there? Or if he was, why haven't we heard about it?
6. The final 4 cities were selected over a year ago, so to rush in and say it is Bush's fault is acknowledging only a small part of the decision making process.
8. I think the fact that about half of the citizens didn't want it there had some bearing.
7. Rio is the first South American city that has put up any kind of argument that suggests they could handle it.
8. The US's standing worldwide is down, but it is not just our Iraq involvement. Our dollar is down, our debt is up, we look weak. If you look like a wimp people will walk all over you, and not just in the location selection of sporting events.

Thoughts on Polanski...

a few years ago noted intellectual Cameron Diaz urged woman to vote to keep rape illegal (at the time I was unaware of any party supporting the legalization of rape issue).
now we hear the leading political thinkers like Whoopie Goldberg are supporting rape (so long as it isn't done twice as in "rape-rape")
Why did we not listen to Ms. Diaz?, we could have shut down this whole pro-rape movement.
See folks this is why we should stay away from the slipery slope.

Working is highly overrated

“Hey can you do this section of the project? I will work on the other part.”
“Sure. I’ll email it to you when I am done.”
“OK. I will be working on it over the weekend.”
So I work on my portion. Basically it consisted of doing some calculations to determine a value, that will be added into a software formula that will compute a benefit cost ratio for a project we are working on.
I then send it via e-mail.
I then get back a message, “Can you send me the data points I need?”
“Which ones?”
“The square footage, the discount ratio, the date of construction, the project costs” etc.
“Should I just run all the numbers in the software?”
“No, I’ll do that part.”
Yeah she will do the actual importation of the data into the software, but none of the background information. So, I ended up having to 95% of the work including putting it into the importable spreadsheet format, so that another person could hit run on the software.
Then we heard her say: “I got all the numbers to work.” Yeah, thanks for all your hard work.


I have a community I work with weekly on the development of a grant application. We have a standing Wednesday appointment. We have a deadline of Halloween. So the last two weeks on a row, he emails me and wants to move it to Thursday. No problem. Except that on both Thursdays he had to cut our work sessions short by about half. So we have a standing meeting for 3 months now, and he moves them to a busier day where we can’t actually accomplish all we need to. Of course he didn’t tell me we had to cut it short until I was there. Oh yeah, it is a 1 ½ hour one-way drive for me to get to his office.

For the past year I have been told that any time I work over 40 hours in a week, can be used for time off. I can only use it at 50% but still. So last march I took a comp time day off. I used 16 hours to take off an 8 hour day. So there is a state holiay comming up that is not company holiday. No problem I have over 100 hours of overtime. So I ask my supervisor how he wants me to record this on my time sheet. It turns out I am not authorized for comptime, and the company has no record of me earning any. Wow, thanks. The company gets to bill the client more hours (and they get on my case for not working additional overtime) and I get the saisfaction of kowing they are doing it.

Cuss like a Sailor

I have found a new hobby. I will start collecting words that sound like vulgarities, but really are not. For example: Kumquat: as in Pickle you, Kumquat! I actually had a website block a post I made using that phrase. This comes from a gum commercial.
Tube Sock: I originally heard this used as “put a tube sock in it.” But, I think it is more of a “Listen up tube sock.” kind of a thing.
Twitter and Google these sound to me like dirty activities.
Tenderfoot, Gooseneck, Danforth, Woodplank, Gimblet, Dogwatch, These words all sound dirty but I don’t really know why.

I have discovered that certain words when used as either prefixes or suffixes will always sound dirty.
For example:
Grit-, Toe-, Dutch-, Dill-, Love-, caster-,
Or
-wagon, -sack, -lick, -bag, -purge, -eye, -knob, -nugget, -apple, -knocker, -carnival, -wipe, -treat, -nozzle, -monkey, -glider, -spackle, -munch, -cheese.

Doesn’t Spraynozzle, Sandbag or Casterangle sound vile? How about Noseapple, Doorknocker, or Dutchtreat? Lovepump, Dillweed and Sugarglider?

It seems highly appropriate to me that since tomorrow is International Talk Like A Pirate Day, That I should point out fo how vulgar nautical terms can be:
Gunklode, Gunwale, Keelhaul, Kingspoke, Eyesplice, Baggywrinkles, Barepole, Beamreach, Boltrope, Yardarm, Anchorchoke, Backstaff, Bouyant, Pitchpole, Anchorchock, Bungmallet, Bilgepump and Futtock.

Enjoy the tardcarnival.

Good Luck, Mr. Gorski

A coworker is telling an funny story about Neil Armstrong and the famous quote about his neighbor. You’ve heard the Mr. Gorski reference right? If not look it up when you are at home. I hadn’t heard the entire story just the quote “Good luck, Mr. Gorski.” He, the co-worker, finished up by saying it is a true story.
We’ve all gotten e-mails with titles like “Yesterday in the Gulf of Mexico” where they show a tornado next to a lightning bolt next to an oil rig. Or, recently declassified WTC photos. Or, Nationwide gas boycott on Wednesday.
The people who pass these along or retell these stories want to share something with you that they appreciated hearing. They like me, I get it. But the problem is that much of what you hear or read, especially if it is online is embellished or outright fabricated.
The Gorski story is from an old Buddy Hackett routine.
The Tornado and lightning bolt photo is many years old and has been used on posters. All people do is Photoshop a current picture into the shot.
The WTC photos were all the same ones we’ve seen for 8 years now.
The gas boycott usually asks you to fill-up on a different day, which of course does nothing to reduce overall usage.
How do I know all this? Snopes.com. They are the debunkers of urban myths. Give them a try before hitting the forward e-mail button.
Now, if I can just get people to stop sending me the chain mails. “Send this to 10 people or you will be punched in the face. Ethel Jones of Wicakashaw, Minnesota didn’t and now she has her jaw wired shut.”

The latest

1. I have two time cards I have to fill out for work. The first one is going away and so we were told we could just refer to the new one for the daily entries. The new one requires us to be detailed in our entries. The system has us break down the day into chunks of time and write up what we did in that chunk.
A couple of weeks ago we were again told that the old system will be going away, but that we now had to copy the exact entries in to the write-up sections as we put in the new system.
So the old system is going away but you now have to fill it out more completely than ever before, until it does. Asinine.

2. On September 11, 2001, the Dow Jones closed at 9605. It closed at 9605 on September 11, 2009 as well. Does it mean anything? No.

3. Why to wide receivers and runningbacks celebrate when they make touchdowns? Isn’t that their job? I think Vince Lombardi said “act like you've been there before.” One exception: If you are a 350 lb lineman and some how you score a touchdown, You celebrate all you wnat. If that is, you can catch your breath.

4. One of the most memorable images for me of the September 11th attacks was “The Falling Man.” This image apparently was quite controversial, and I didn’t discover it until one of the anniversaries. It for me really causes me to pause an reflect. Seemingly, it causes that same effect in others. On you tube there is a documentary about the attempt, for better or worse, of identifying the man in the photo. If you are interested you can find it here

5. I find it annoying that people will use an elevator to go up or down one floor. I find people who stand on moving sidewalks and escalators annoying as well.

6. I find it disrespectful to refer to significant dates in abbreviated form. For example: 6/6 or 12/7. I would rather they be referred to as the name of the event. D-Day or Pearl Harbor. That is a little more difficult with September 11th. The events of that day happened at multiple locations. This difficulty leads me to refer to them by the date. The significance of those events causes me to refer to them by as proper a name as I can.

7. The fire alarm goes off about twice a week here. It seems people are unfamiliar with how to cook with-out burning food. I suppose it might not be wise to deep fry a steak. When I moved in I had to use an entire bottle of Febreeze, to remove the burnt curry popcorn stench. So far today: 4 times in 3 hours.

8. that's all I got

The Wallet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVigFTu6dzk