4053 Stuff --- Duh Stuff; Yeah Stuff; Other Stuff

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Sometimes when you look in his eyes you get the feeling that someone else is driving.

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I read this and tucked it away some months ago, and then forgot about it, so I don't have the source or dates any more, but that really doesn't matter.  This is the output of professional writers, pro reporters.  They were PAID for this blather.  Duh.

Regarding the train derailment at O'Hare airport, "It appears as though the train would have been going faster than a train normally birthing at this station would be," he [the spokesman] said. "Normally a train pulls in at just a couple miles and hour and pulls into the station. Obviously this train did not stop so speed could be a factor here."

Further,

"... it was immediately unknown if the train's motorman had some sort of medical problem prior to the crash"

Immediately unknown?  Wow.  Birthing?  Trains have babies?  I suspect they meant "berth", but even then, berth applies to ships, not trains.   Speed could be a factor?  No kidding!  Typo - and/an.  Try proofreading.

Regarding the plane that disappeared:

"MH370 flew along the southern corridor and it’s last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean west of Perth," Prime Minister Rajak said at Putra World Trade Centre Monday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. "This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sights."

 It's/its.  Sights/sites.

Sigh.  Journalism schools ain't what they used to be.

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Go to http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexrees/37-over-the-top-evening-gowns-from-the-2013-miss-world-fashi to see the contestants in the 2013 Miss World pageant, modelling creations from "Indonesia's elite fashion designers".  We are told this is not a joke.  I don't believe that - those are some of the ugliest dresses ever!  Perhaps it was a test for the contestants, to see if they could walk down the runway in an embarrassing dress, and carry it off.

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I had to read this several times to figure out why it confused me:  "Most classes fill up quickly, but will be held only if the minimum number of students registers."  The problem is that the subject of the sentence is "most classes", so the "will be held" doesn't apply to the subject.

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This one I also found a long time ago.  My note on it says "lifehacker".   There is a Lifehacker.com, but I don't know for sure that's where I found it.  Whatever -- I don't want to lose it.

You don't get very far with silence. You won't always know the right thing to say, and if you say what you think or feel you might get it wrong. That doesn't mean the conversation that follows won't be for the best. Saying the wrong thing can often be the impetus for the right discussion. It's then that you find it's better to say something stupid than nothing at all.

Words to speak by.

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I found out a while ago that anyone under 4'10" is legally considered a "little person".  Wow.  If I were still working, I'd check into what that might mean.  Maybe I'd have been able to demand a chair that FIT me.

By the way, I find "little person" offensive.  It sounds demeaning, like I am of no consequence.  

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I scream inside every time I see or hear "orientate".  Paul Niquette has written an excellent short essay on the topic, at http://www.niquette.com/books/101words/orient.htm.

(If you have a little time for browsing and love words, wander around http://www.niquette.com/, click tabs under "Books".)

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"If the referee doesn't call a foul, it's not a foul." People say this about traffic violations. I strongly disagree! That's like saying that if someone wasn't arrested and charged with the murder, then there wasn't a murder.

A few years ago there was a big fuss about traffic tickets being issued based on traffic cameras in Arizona.  There were actual real people screaming bloody murder that if a policeman (referee) didn't see them running the stop sign, or the red light, or speeding, then there was no violation!

I call bullshit! 

This argument seems to be starting up again.  A lot of people seem to think that a camera catching them doing something illegal is a violation of their privacy, and that the only purpose of traffic cameras is to generate money in the form of fines.  Um, if you don't want to pay the fine, don't break the law.  And if you don't want the cameras, are you willing to pay taxes high enough to have a referee/cop on every street corner?  No?  You just want to be free to do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, as long as Daddy doesn't see you..

I'm all for traffic cameras.  Maybe it's the "mother gene" - mothers are all for eyes in the back of their heads.

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3561 Cammo

Monday, July 2, 2012

To touch a rock is to touch the past.

To touch a flower is to touch the present.

To touch a child is to touch the future get fired.

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I seem to have suddenly gained 10 pounds, distributed from my collar bones to my knees.  I don't know how.  But for the past two months, nothing fits.  Even my bras are choking me.

I was worried that maybe it had something to do with the kidney, but it doesn't seem to be edema.  My extremities are not affected.  It's flat-out fat.

Back to counting calories I guess.  I bet it was ice cream that did it.

Given that nothing fits, I'm almost lucky that there's heat.   I prefer loose clothing when it's hot anyway.  Easier to put on, allows air flow, blah blah.  There's a reason they wear mu'u mu'us in Hawaii.

I've been wearing some mu'u mu'us I bought in Hawaii, and caftans from the Smithsonian catalog and from African importers.  I really like them.  I'd wear them all year, except that it's hard to wear a coat over a caftan.

One day I slipped a caftan on to go downstairs to answer the door when the bell rang as I was getting out of the shower.  I didn't have any underwear on, and, surprise, I discovered I don't need panties with caftans or mu'u mu'us.  Nobody's going to see anything.  Nothing "touches" anything.  Air flow is very much increased.

Being me, I wondered if I ought to put something on.  A bra is sort of necessary to prevent movement, and embarrassment in a cool draft, but panties?  That got me thinking about thongs (not the shoes... thongs used to be shoes, you know).  I've never understood thongs.  They are definitely not comfortable.  That thin part up the back is incredibly annoying.  It rubs sensitive spots.  They don't protect outer clothing.  All they "cover" is a triangle of fur in the front (and mine is blond), so why bother?

Anybody want to explain why anyone voluntarily wears thongs to me?  I mean as a regular thing, during the day.  I can see their value in intimate encounters....
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3417 Bits

Sunday, December 11, 2011

"In much of the world, propaganda reigns, and truth is confined to secretive, fearful whispers."
-- Jed Rakoff --

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Re the above green quote: We're heading that way. Resist propaganda of all kinds!

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I hate when movies are so dark you can't see what's going on. The Road is on TV right now, and I'd like to watch it again, having seen it in a theater, but it's all black and shades of gray, and I can't see anything (in daylight on the TV). Why can't directors give us, the audience, infrared vision or something? I promise we can pretend it's night and dark.

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Rain is dangerous here in NJ. It takes no more than an inch to cause widespread flooding. At the old house, it's all fields and woods. Rain soaks into the ground. It takes many inches and/or spring melting of a heavy snowpack to cause more than a few wide puddles in low fields. Here it's all roads and buildings and parking lots. Roofs and cement and tarmac. There's nowhere for rain to go. Even an inch rushes into storm drains, then into streams and rivers, then over the banks.

Around here, they think 1.5 inches in a day is a downpour.

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I wish I had the camera Friday. Daughter had left for her weekend class, leaving the Nugget with me. I took Nugget over to Daughter's house later in the afternoon, and put her on the floor to close the door. Titus was lying on the floor in the living room.

Titus is a huge, fat, very mellow black and white cat. Nugget has been wild to get hold of him from the first time she spotted him. I really think Titus was the impetus for her learning to crawl. She chases him everywhere, "Yah yah yaaaah"-ing. Titus calmly removes himself.

Well, Friday, I dunno, maybe Titus figured out that Daughter was away for a while (the mountain of food in his bowl would be a clue), so he was in charge of the Nugget, but when she headed for him, he stayed put.

He was very patient when the Nugget examined his ears (she knows "gently, gently", meaning "touch but don't grab and pull", usually applied to plants and necklaces). I said "gently", and she felt his ears, and he accepted it. He rolled onto his side, and the Nugget climbed over him and rocked on him. Titus didn't get up and move, slowly so as not to spill her, until about the fourth time Nugget tried to pull out a handful of fur.

It was pretty amazing.

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All of a sudden stockings are bad? Huh? When and why did that happen? I'm reading descriptions of what people are wearing in which nylon stockings are sneered at, and it seems to be spreading.

I don't understand.

Apparently opaque tights are ok. And bare legs are ok. But stockings are not? What? Why? Are the tights manufacturers (and waxing and tanning salons) paying people to sneer at the competition? Are people really being "lead" like that? Sheeple? Why do we listen and accept that drivel? Propaganda!

Standards that women have to adhere to are going up and up. We've got too many other things to do! We don't need this crap! I think it's a conspiracy to make women give up and retreat back into the kitchen.
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3377 A fashion education

Thursday, October 27, 2011

What bothers me about God is that he hates arrogance so much,
but doesn't seem to mind cruelty.
-- Paraphrased from Elaine May and Mike Nichols (actress and director) --

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I've been coming across references to"hipsters"and "hipster fashion". In my own head, with no evidence to guide me, I decided it had to be kind of like a 30s-movie relaxed preppie sort of thing, where one could wear what one liked without regard to what's "in".

I googled some images. Man, was I wrong!

It's more like a cross between grunge and hippie, but hippie that has discovered polyester and lycra, and has no sense of flow or beauty.

Bleck.

(Yeah, they wear neck scarves in June, but they HAVE to because they have NO BODY FAT to keep them warm!)

Images: http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f89/hipster-street-style-45811.html
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3238 Sunday Thoughts

Sunday, January 23, 2011

"Male circumcision has long been an operation in search of a disease," wrote members of the group Doctors Opposing Circumcision in the May 12th edition of The Lancet.

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New Jersey is famous for potholes. The Man has replaced a few tires and rims wrecked in potholes, and Hercules actually totaled a car, breaking an axle.

When I started doing a lot of local driving here, I didn't see that many, but as the winter progresses, they're starting to scare me. Some of them are HUGE and DEEP! I don't want to think about how much rims for Hal cost. Lately I'm driving slow enough and with enough space between me and the car ahead so that I can see them in enough time to veer around them.

I also noticed something else - they plow right down to the blacktop here. The plows are set low. After a snowplow goes by, the road looks like it's been swept. And I think that's what's causing the potholes!

If there's the slightest uneven spot in the road, like a seam (most of the potholes are on seams) or a pothole patch, the edge of the low-set plow blade catches it and rips it. Once started, subsequent plowings, traffic, and freezing and thawing enlarges it.

I wonder how soon into the winter more accidents are caused by perpetual potholes than by occasional snow on the road.

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Out of nowhere - I absolutely hated the way "Carrie Bradshaw" (Sex and the City) dressed. Her clothes were stupid, and I despised the way she ignored her bra - like the back of the bra showing across the back of a backless dress.

Which reminds me of Princess Diana's bridal gown, which of course is all over the place again with the wedding fever in England, and the fact that Diana's wardrobe is currently touring the US. I have never understood all the people who swooned over how beautiful it was.

Huh? With the dense fabric, ruffled neckline, poofy sleeves ending in ruffles, and poor fit, it looked like something Queen Victoria would have worn to bed. A Victorian nightgown. I mean, go to the link above and look at it. Tell me I'm wrong. Snort.

I suspect the stuffiness of it was on purpose, to draw a parallel to queens past and present. But that didn't make it "beautiful", folks. Note that even the swooners didn't copy it.

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Eh. Maybe I just have rotten taste. I didn't like Jackie Kennedy's dress, either. I thought it looked like it was made from a colonial bedspread.

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I made an effort to get out and meet some people today.

A Meetup group was "mall walking" at Bridgewater Commons Mall this afternoon. The mall was described as a "large upscale shopping Mecca". It was ok, but having been used to the malls in the Albany area, I was underwhelmed. One difference I did notice - most of the stores, even the big name stores (except for the three anchors) were tiny shops. I don't think I've ever seen such a small Victoria's Secret. That tells me the rents must be much higher than anywhere else.

Another odd thing was that the movie theater advertised "dining in". You get a menu with your movie ticket. I'd love to know how that works.

The group was supposed to meet by 2:30, at the back of the food court, near the restrooms. I found the restrooms at 2:20. Never found the group. Apparently there were two sets of restrooms by the food court, although the mall map showed only one. So I ended up wandering the mall alone.

Yeah. "Upscale." Not necessarily in the quality of goods offered, but definitely in the price tags.

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I'm still amazed at the variety of stores to be found here, after 25+ years in the Mid-Hudson Valley. (I remember the excitement when the first Pizza Hut arrived in the Valley, and then the hysteria surrounding the arrival of Barnes & Noble and Starbucks.) I couldn't help but think of the people (well, actually one particular guy in Mensa) who puts on an air of sophistication by name-dropping. Not famous people, though. Stores. He's always talking about the wonders to be found in stores not available in the Valley, like Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods, for example. Places he, of course, shops all the time. Snork.

You'd think with so much competition, the prices around here would be lower. They're not.
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1877 Gloom and Doom

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

[Rant on]

I'm reading a lot about how people can't afford the necessities and how it's going to get worse. About how families have to decide between filling the gas tank or filling the grocery cart. Mostly, it ticks me off.

Ok, yeah, there are families that are living hand-to-mouth, day-to-day, and they're not the ones that bug me. It's the ones that make bad financial decisions to start with that really get me going.

The ones with the huge cars, and iPods, and Sirius, and fancy cell phones with expensive phone plans and who don't pay attention to how much they use them, and "name" athletic shoes, and rotating wardrobes. Like the recently seen couple who "cannot afford health insurance", with the kids on Wii on a 5-foot-wide TV in the background of the interview.

People might say, "Well, you're financially comfortable. You don't understand."

These are usually people whose grocery carts are full of snacks and expensive ready-prepared foods, at $7 per person per meal, instead of the fresh vegetables and meats that will run $2-3 per meal. The same folks who will pay $6 for a cup of fancy coffee, and pay for it out of a designer purse. Please! You can afford groceries. You just can't afford YOUR groceries, and you certainly can't afford that purse.

Some people seem to think that they need everything new that comes along. If something is advertised as "better", faster, bigger, they think they need it. Who really needs an SUV?! A Hummer?! Come on! Sheep led by corporate advertising, that's who.

All bull poopy. How do you GET comfortable, and BE comfortable with what you have? You understand the difference between "want" and "need". That's how.

I don't need cable. I don't need an iPod, or a phone that takes pictures, or texting on my cell phone. In fact, I don't need the cell phone. The only time I turn it on is when I travel, and it's more for the convenience of others than my own.

My car is five years old. I bought it used two years ago for $9,000. My thinking included not only the cost of the car, but the ongoing cost to insure it. It works just fine - more than meets my needs.

I have a lot of clothes and shoes, I'll admit. But what most people don't notice is that a large portion of my closet is ten, twenty, or even thirty years old, because I don't buy "fashion", I buy classic. And I see no need to pay retail.

My house is furnished in antiques, purchased at local estate auctions for less than I'd pay for new furniture of equivalent quality and craftsmanship. It's sturdy, strong, and never goes out of fashion.

When Jay was job-hunting around the country, we looked at houses hither and yon. He'd point to McMansions, and say, "We can afford that." My response was always, "That's more space than we need, and I'd have to clean it all! No way!" I cannot understand why people buy more house than they need. And don't tell me it's an investment. It's an investment only if you pay cash. If you've got a mortgage, you'll spend more than you'll ever make on it - unless you pay the mortgage off early, which I have always done, and Daughter and Hercules are doing now (I've taught her well).

Yes, I have four television sets, but I didn't pay more than $200 for any of them.

Yes, I do treat myself well. I do buy some things I merely want, like my Pleo Clyde, and the recent Waterford lamp. (Note that in neither case did it cost more than half retail.) And one of these days I will present myself with a swoopy sportscar, just 'cause I want it.

That's the one argument I have over and over with Piper. He chides me for never spending principal, only income. He says I could afford almost anything I want. I respond that I have everything I need, precisely because I don't buy everything I want.

[Rant off]
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1814 Business Opportunity; Buffets

Friday, May 16, 2008

I don't travel a lot, but I've flown enough lately to see a few business opportunities that no one has jumped on, and I don't know why.

First it was the cigarette lighters. Many were discarded on the way in. People coming out wanted them. I don't understand why there weren't kids collecting them at the gates, and then selling them for a few cents at the baggage carousels.

Then it was the lotions and gels. Why weren't the stores in the airports selling three to six days supplies of shampoo, conditioner, etc., so people who weren't particular could simply not pack any, and then buy a small bottle, just enough for their stay, at their destination?

Now it's checked baggage. Some airlines are charging for every bag you check. Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to pack clothes? What if you could buy inexpensive clothes at the destination, and throw them away or sell them back before you go home? Or rent clothes?

Back in the late sixties there was a short-lived paper clothing fad. I've actually worn paper clothing, and my mother, who was very fashion and quality conscious, owned a few paper dresses, tops, and pants. They were fun. They felt every bit as soft as fabric. You "hemmed" them by cutting off the excess. You could repair tears with plain tape. They could be washed a few times. And if you didn't know, it wasn't easy to tell.

Here's some links:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/13367
http://www.everything2000.com/news/news2000/paperclothes.asp
http://www.geocities.com/FashionAvenue/Catwalk/1038/paperclothes.html

I think an airport store selling paper clothes (the modern paper should be even better than what we had in the '60s) could clean up!

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Dinner last night was at a Chinese buffet with about 40 different selections. When I eat out these days I rarely eat everything I'm served. I doggy bag about half, and it provides two more meals at home. But at the buffet dinners, I'll load my plate three times, and I eat every bit of it.

We got into a discussion last night as to why.

I think it's because all of it is so good, I want to taste everything. So I take a tiny bit of each thing. Really tiny bits. Like of the General Tso's chicken, I search for the smallest pieces of meat, and take two. Two tiny bits of Cajun chicken. Two bits of beef and three stalks of broccoli. One small scoop of the noodles. One small dumpling. Two of those cream cheese and crab rangoons (two 'cause I love them best). And so on for 40 things. It adds up, but it doesn't kick off the "I'm full" because they all taste different.

As one of the ladies pointed out, when I get halfway though a steak or baked potato, or serving of whatever green, I'm bored with the taste, and then I am more likely to hear the "Ok, that's enough for now".

Sigh. Save me from buffets.
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852 Catching Up On Thoughts

Sunday, August 27, 2006

After living most of the hottest summer in ages with inadequate air conditioning, I am now freezing. I was so cold today, goosebumps and all, I considered going down to the basement and flipping all the switches and baffles to put the heat on. Then I checked the thermometer. It was 77F in the den, and 75F in the living room. I guess I've over-acclimated.

I left out some sessions I attended at the Mensa World Gathering. There was Jean Auel, who spoke about the research she had done for the Clan of the Cave Bear books, and one on current and new scams, wherein I learned a quick and easy way to counterfeit a $100 bill, the one on walking tours of Paris, and a talk by the Mensan who was on Beauty and the Geek (which I had watched, and which was a much better show than it sounded like it would be).

Shawn (nerd, maybe, but not geek) said that he had heard that Warner Brothers was looking for intelligent single guys, emphasis on single, for a reality show, and he was on a break and decided to check it out. He was interviewed, was offered the opportunity, accepted, and was told to show up at a mansion with enough clothes for a few days. What amazed us is that until they actually started taping, he had no idea what the show was named, what it was about, or that he'd be sharing a room with a beautiful woman. His most embarrassing moment was when he, listed as the boy scout leader, flaked out on the outdoor challenge, and threw up on camera. He was soooooo sweet.

Something else I forgot to mention, I did an informal survey of toes. Most people's big toe is longer than their other toes. My second toe is longer than my big toe. I gather that most people find it odd, because so many people look at my feet and say "Eeew!", "Weird!", "That's not normal!", "Ugly!" (Well, I find that the middle toe longer gives the end of the foot a nicely rounded shape. Big toe longer is ugly! It makes the foot look all lopsidedly pointy. Especially when the big toe is all bent sideways toward the middle. You deformed your foot trying to make it look like mine! So there!)

At the Gathering, a lot of people were wearing sandals, and I noticed something odd. On five out of six of the literally hundreds of Mensan feet I looked at, the second toe was longer than the big toe! So then I started looking at non-member feet (hotel guests without the badge, and at the Animal Kingdom), and the numbers were reversed! Very strange. Could there be a relationship between the length of one's second toe, and one's score on logic tests? Sort of like the relationship between the size and shape of a man's nose (not his feet, his nose) and his ... um ... wait a minute ... survey not yet complete....

An interesting statistic, the Gathering had members attending from 38 different countries, and from 49 US states. Wyoming provided no attendees. Somehow I'd have thought it would be Utah, but Wyoming isn't a complete shock, either. (Sorry, Wyoming. And Utah.)

Another thing I noticed was the absence of bare skin. Around here, the fashion among young women is extremely low-sling pants and skirts, and short tops, which leave between 1 and 9 inches of midriff bare. With the obvious exception of bathing suit parts, I didn't see any of that in either the resort or Disney World (and no, I don't recall any dress code, certainly not at the resort). The resort had a few thousand guests other than Mensans, from all over the country and the world, and almost all of them were wearing the waistbands at the waist (that's the narrowest part of the torso, just above the hip bones, for those who may have forgotten).

The few who were wearing low-riders were wearing long tops over them. When it was a skirt, especially, it looked odd. The band has to be tight to stay up on the hips, and if the woman had the least bit of excess hippage, it causes an ugly bulge, and without all the bare skin to distract one, the bulge looked sloppy. Especially above a skirt.

So, are our young women locally more daring? More desperate? Or just sadly out of fashion?

The Dodge minivan is still sick. For a few days it looked like it was getting better, didn't stall on the short trips I was comfortable giving it, but last weekend it started stalling again, on Tuesday the "check engine" light went on briefly, and on Wednesday it went on and stayed on. So it has an appointment with the dealership tomorrow. I'm so frustrated. I've been keeping a log, and when I stopped in at the dealership on my way to the fair on Thursday I tried to tell them what I've noticed about when it stalls, and they didn't want to hear it! They said, and I quote, "We'll just put it on the machine and the sensors will tell us what's wrong." Hey folks, we've been doing that for eight months and over $2,000 now, AND IT ISN'T WORKING!!!! Somebody has to do some LOGICAL THINKING about this. Sheesh!

I had mentioned that I didn't see any chess tournaments or even any boards at the Gathering. The other thing I missed was Carnelli. I thought Carnelli was a staple at all large gatherings. Maybe they don't do it any more because people have gotten too familiar with it and have memorized the best sequences? I'm not very good at Carnelli because my memory doesn't work that fast, but I love to watch it.