Wednesday, October 31, 2007
I received this email from a friend this morning. As he said, you can't make this stuff up. I have his permission to share it:
---------------------------------
Yesterday I had the most insane conversation I've had in a long time. A couple of days ago I was putting my laptop bag in the passenger seat and yanked on the Sirius radio unit. It hasn't worked correctly since. I called the shop that installed it, and told them that I already have a Starmate Replay (from when I had my 2nd car) and I wanted to have that one installed into my car, replacing the Sportster that is in it now.
Oh my Gawd! I got three people. The first was a saleman who told me 'we don't sell those anymore, so you couldn't have gotten it here'. What? I guess if every purchase ever made there takes place at the instant the call is made, or at some point in the future, that would make sense. I didn't let that go. I said 'I have a Vikings Starter jacket also. They don't make those anymore.' His immediate response; 'we don't sell jackets here'.
I paused to check my watch. Yep, still the 21st century, and I was obviously sober. I forged ahead.
I asked to speak to someone in installation. I got a perky girl with a voice that made Minnie Mouse sound like Paul Robeson. I recapped the story and she asked 'when did you want to come in ?'. I said, 'today if possible'. She put me on hold and came back 12 minutes later. The next thing I heard was the same voice saying 'thank you for calling Best Buy, how may I help you?'. I told her I just spoke to her and what I'd asked. She said, 'I don't think that you spoke to me'. On the off chance that the good Lord punished two people with that voice, I asked if there was another woman there in that department. She said 'no, just me', then added 'was this about your car radio?'
Hmm. A moment to regroup. I checked behind me to see if Rod Serling was waiting to give a brief monologue. He wasn't.
'Yes, oddly enough it is!', I said. 'I guess working at the car stereo installation department of a huge chain store you don't get many queries about stuff like that, do you? I wanted to be the first.' Silk, it didn't even graze her bangs. Every word went completely over her head. She said, quite seriously, 'no, a lot of people call about that', and added 'almost all'. The next thing she said made me wince. 'What kind of radio are you looking for to buy?' No idea why, but what I saw in my mind was 'what kind of radio are you looking 4-2-bye?', then 'for tube eye', then finally 'for 2 buy'. None made sense, so I said 'excuse me'. She repeated it verbatim!!!
I needed a cigarette here I put her on hold, said a few things in Spanish, ate some pizza, and returned to the call.
'I need a manager.' was the next thing I said to her, hoping it would be the last. 11 minutes later a man answered and said he was the store manager. I explained everything, in detail, and he apologized and asked if I wanted them to install it or to buy a kit and do it myself. Since I am more likely to grow breasts than to wire my car to a Sirius radio successfully, I told him I wanted them to do it. He transferred me back to installation, I got Minnie again, and she told me I could come in on Wednesday at anytime. The cost would be $309 including a one year activation fee. That was it. I'm already activated. I don't want to buy a radio. I only need someone to install the one I already have! I called another Best Buy. $86 from now I'll have the thing done.
My guess is National Testing Day on the 20th [Mensa's annual membership drive] would have been wasted on these folks. I don't know how they even find their way to work in the mornings!
.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
1525 A Merry Mensan Halloween
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
I'd promised to describe Friday night's costume contest at the gathering.
A merely good costume doesn't make it. It has to be a pun, or some kind of "in joke".
There were more than a hundred people in the contest. Mensans take contests seriously, especially those that involve puns. They lined up, got up on the stage one by one, and either challenged the audience to guess, or explained the pun. Then they visited the judges' table, and bribed them. Bribes are encouraged. The whole process took a long time, but it was never boring.
The costumes I remember (not necessarily the best, and in no particular order):
1. A monk in chains with a number on his back.
2. A sheep with four large bite holes in its body.
3. A man in a t-shirt covering conical protrusions all over him.
4. A woman in a Renaissance serving girl costume, with brown furry ears and a long tail.
5. A man in black hat, side curls, tassels dangling under his shirt, wearing a Nationals team sweatshirt.
6. A group of four, in green makeup and falling-down pants, who rapped threats at the audience.
7. A man in a donkey costume with a happy dog face, with lolling tongue.
8. A cat delivering paper messages.
Take a guess as to what they represented. I'll put the answers in the comments later, so check back.
There were a lot of good ones before I realized I should take notes, so these are not necessarily the best, just the ones that made it to my notes. Some I can't figure out. I wonder what the "Leaf Blower" looked like? Don't remember. I do remember a pirate with dollar bills stuck to his ears, and when I heard what he was I thought "Hey, that's pretty good!", but now I don't remember what the pun was.
Ahah! I just remembered! He was a buccaneer!
---------------------------------
Next day - Ok, having been prodded by an impatient Queen, I have provided the answers in the comments. Don't look until you've tried guessing, though.
.
I'd promised to describe Friday night's costume contest at the gathering.
A merely good costume doesn't make it. It has to be a pun, or some kind of "in joke".
There were more than a hundred people in the contest. Mensans take contests seriously, especially those that involve puns. They lined up, got up on the stage one by one, and either challenged the audience to guess, or explained the pun. Then they visited the judges' table, and bribed them. Bribes are encouraged. The whole process took a long time, but it was never boring.
The costumes I remember (not necessarily the best, and in no particular order):
1. A monk in chains with a number on his back.
2. A sheep with four large bite holes in its body.
3. A man in a t-shirt covering conical protrusions all over him.
4. A woman in a Renaissance serving girl costume, with brown furry ears and a long tail.
5. A man in black hat, side curls, tassels dangling under his shirt, wearing a Nationals team sweatshirt.
6. A group of four, in green makeup and falling-down pants, who rapped threats at the audience.
7. A man in a donkey costume with a happy dog face, with lolling tongue.
8. A cat delivering paper messages.
Take a guess as to what they represented. I'll put the answers in the comments later, so check back.
There were a lot of good ones before I realized I should take notes, so these are not necessarily the best, just the ones that made it to my notes. Some I can't figure out. I wonder what the "Leaf Blower" looked like? Don't remember. I do remember a pirate with dollar bills stuck to his ears, and when I heard what he was I thought "Hey, that's pretty good!", but now I don't remember what the pun was.
Ahah! I just remembered! He was a buccaneer!
---------------------------------
Next day - Ok, having been prodded by an impatient Queen, I have provided the answers in the comments. Don't look until you've tried guessing, though.
.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
1524 Mighty Hunter Jasper
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
I was sitting at the gate at O'Hare, 10 minutes before the plane was supposed to start loading, when I realized I was about to leave Chicago, and I hadn't had pizza! Pizza is not one of my favorite things, except in Chicago. Chicago pizza is like no other pizza. I ran and bought a small plain one, and it was wonderful. It had a "butter crust", and crisp cheese. I was the last person to board the plane.
I about froze at the Albany airport. It had been balmy when I left for Chicago, so I had taken only some lined blazers, and a sweater shawl for just in case. I should have known better. When I stepped out of the terminal into the Albany night, it was a mere two degrees above freezing. I dug a blazer and the shawl out, but had nothing for my hands, and I had to drag two bags, so I couldn't like put my hands in pockets or whatever. Naturally, my car was at the far end of the far extension to the long term lot. No shuttle. By the time I got to Suzie my fingers were numb. Suzie's a good little car. She heated up very quickly.
I pulled into my driveway at exactly midnight. Miss Thunderfoot welcomed me home and tried to sleep on my face.
I picked up Jasper at the vet's this afternoon. They said he's quite the lover. They also said he had tapeworm, so they'd wormed him. He had tapeworms when I first caught him, so I wondered if the first worming hadn't killed them all. The nurse said that he probably caught and ate a small beasty. (Fleas will do it too, but he hasn't had fleas.) I didn't see where he could have got a beasty, since he hasn't been out.
Well, a few minutes ago, he presented me with a mouse (semi-alive, I carried it to the front door by the tail). That explains the sounds I've been hearing in the attic at night. I'd been hoping it was bison. Or ghosts. I haven't had mice in the house for about two years, since I discovered the hole in the garage where they were getting in, and blocked it with steel wool. I guess the steel wool has rusted out. I'll have to fix that tomorrow.
.
I was sitting at the gate at O'Hare, 10 minutes before the plane was supposed to start loading, when I realized I was about to leave Chicago, and I hadn't had pizza! Pizza is not one of my favorite things, except in Chicago. Chicago pizza is like no other pizza. I ran and bought a small plain one, and it was wonderful. It had a "butter crust", and crisp cheese. I was the last person to board the plane.
I about froze at the Albany airport. It had been balmy when I left for Chicago, so I had taken only some lined blazers, and a sweater shawl for just in case. I should have known better. When I stepped out of the terminal into the Albany night, it was a mere two degrees above freezing. I dug a blazer and the shawl out, but had nothing for my hands, and I had to drag two bags, so I couldn't like put my hands in pockets or whatever. Naturally, my car was at the far end of the far extension to the long term lot. No shuttle. By the time I got to Suzie my fingers were numb. Suzie's a good little car. She heated up very quickly.
I pulled into my driveway at exactly midnight. Miss Thunderfoot welcomed me home and tried to sleep on my face.
I picked up Jasper at the vet's this afternoon. They said he's quite the lover. They also said he had tapeworm, so they'd wormed him. He had tapeworms when I first caught him, so I wondered if the first worming hadn't killed them all. The nurse said that he probably caught and ate a small beasty. (Fleas will do it too, but he hasn't had fleas.) I didn't see where he could have got a beasty, since he hasn't been out.
Well, a few minutes ago, he presented me with a mouse (semi-alive, I carried it to the front door by the tail). That explains the sounds I've been hearing in the attic at night. I'd been hoping it was bison. Or ghosts. I haven't had mice in the house for about two years, since I discovered the hole in the garage where they were getting in, and blocked it with steel wool. I guess the steel wool has rusted out. I'll have to fix that tomorrow.
.
Monday, October 29, 2007
1523 Hacking Airwick
Monday, October 29, 2007
This is cool. You know those air fresheners that spritz every few seconds/minutes whether you need it or not, thereby running out of spritz and killing batteries in a very few weeks, necessitating frequent repurchase? See http://triggur.livejournal.com/297860.html for amusing instructions on how to correct that little problem.
I checked out of the hotel room at 11 am, and am now reading, writing, surfing, eating an apple, drinking iced tea in the hotel lobby until my taxi to O'Hare arrives at 3:45.
-----------------------------
Update 12/18/2010 - Triggur moved his blog. The above link no longer works, and his new blog doesn't seem to include old posts. Sorry
.
This is cool. You know those air fresheners that spritz every few seconds/minutes whether you need it or not, thereby running out of spritz and killing batteries in a very few weeks, necessitating frequent repurchase? See http://triggur.livejournal.com/297860.html for amusing instructions on how to correct that little problem.
I checked out of the hotel room at 11 am, and am now reading, writing, surfing, eating an apple, drinking iced tea in the hotel lobby until my taxi to O'Hare arrives at 3:45.
-----------------------------
Update 12/18/2010 - Triggur moved his blog. The above link no longer works, and his new blog doesn't seem to include old posts. Sorry
.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
1522 End of Gathering
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Well, yesterday was my 63rd birthday. I've been telling people to ignore it for the past three years because I want to be able to truthfully say, when asked my age, "I was 60 on my last birthday." People ignore my wishes and make birthday noises at me anyway. But I was watching a past episode of Pushing Daisies online this evening, and heard the voiceover describe someone as "44 years 18 months xx days yy hours" old, and I realized I could describe myself as 60 years and 36 months old - and everyone knows that past infancy it's silly to include the months. I've found my solution.
I made it downstairs in time for breakfast this morning, which included quiche, bacon, sausage, all kinds of melon and other fruits, five juices, boiled eggs, bagels, english muffins, sweet muffins, donuts, oatmeal, raw veggies, and the usual caffeines.
I was accosted across the buffet table by, um, The Sex God. He's gorgeous, piercing blue eyes, amazing body, long wavy hair, silky beard, wonderful smooth voice, and (unusual for this bunch) makes a lot of sense when he speaks. I heard someone say "Silk!" and I looked up and it was him. I about fell over. Every healthy female who'd ever attended one of his presentations is hopelessly in love with him. (Too bad I'm aware he believes in "open relationships". That's a deal breaker.) Until you hear him speak, he looks like just another sexy biker dude, what with all the leather and chains and high boots.
He wanted to compliment me on my style, my smile, the way I move, and the dress I'd been wearing the night before. I was flabbergasted, especially since I'd run down to breakfast with no makeup on - after all, who's gonna see me that matters, right? I blushed, laughed, and smiled, and he said "That's it! That's the smile!"
He invited me to join the party sub-group, "Hell's Ms", that he could tell that I was a partier (partyer?). I said no, I'm not a partier at all. He said that depends on how you define party. A party can be two people and a bottle of wine, or fifty people and conversation, and that the main difference between Hell's Ms and other Mensa party groups is that Hell's Ms remember the next morning what happened the night before. I said, oh, ok, that does sound like my kind of party. Then I smiled and walked away.
Well, I was very flattered. I think. I'm not sure. What's with that he "can tell I'm a partier" bit? Like, you wish, Buster! Well, maybe, IF my current romantic interest doesn't work out long term, maybe someday I'll look into Hell's Ms. I understand that they do a lot of volunteer work within Mensa, I might pick up some social skills, and the logo t-shirts are a status symbol. Maybe I'll have to go read their newsletter.
My head is a bit swelled today. Over the past three days, three other men told me I was beautiful, in a quite serious and personal manner, when I got up to leave after we'd been talking a while. I know I'm not beautiful, but it's nice to be told I'm appreciated however they go about expressing it. (Keep in mind these guys are mostly sex-starved geeks. Maybe they just appreciate a woman who flirts with them a little. (I've been told I flirt unconsciously all the time, with everyone. I don't agree. I guess that's the unconscious part. (Should that be subconscious?)))
Which reminds me - we had some folks set up at a table outside the big hospitality room interviewing candidates for Beauty and the Geek, and some past beauties and geeks in a conference room answering questions. (Giggle. After my flattering weekend, I wasn't sure which side I should apply for.)
Programs I attended today: free hospitality breakfast; Science vs Religion - The search for truth; Beauty and the Geek Q&A; Waltzing Australia; an hour by myself in the whirlpool, with a book. (What book, you ask? I'm a Mensan. It was a dictionary - Bryerson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words.)
Programs I did not attend: Non-denominational Worship Service; Presentation of Awards; Swing Dance Lesson; Exertion (talk on strange sports, stunts, and physical activities); Trust Me, I'm a Lawyer (I wanted to go to this, but it overlapped the science vs religion program, which was very good); Stitch & Bitch; Settlers of Catan Tournament; Proctor Training (how to certify to administer the Mensa IQ test); Everything's Digital - Amazing opportunities and some problems; the after-party, known as "The Survivor's Party".
It was all over by 3 pm. The word was passed that all uneaten food in the hospitality rooms would be discarded, so come and get it now. I loaded a plate with meats and cheeses and melon and three bean salad to have for dinner, and scarfed up all the cans of iced tea I could find. Picnic in my room.
Bedtime. Hard traveling tomorrow. Luggage heavier with books (and handout trash that I'll likely throw away as soon as I get home, but right now seems so very important to LIFE!) I haven't the faintest idea how one gets from here to the airport, whether taxis will even come here to take me. I'll figure it out, I guess.
.
Well, yesterday was my 63rd birthday. I've been telling people to ignore it for the past three years because I want to be able to truthfully say, when asked my age, "I was 60 on my last birthday." People ignore my wishes and make birthday noises at me anyway. But I was watching a past episode of Pushing Daisies online this evening, and heard the voiceover describe someone as "44 years 18 months xx days yy hours" old, and I realized I could describe myself as 60 years and 36 months old - and everyone knows that past infancy it's silly to include the months. I've found my solution.
I made it downstairs in time for breakfast this morning, which included quiche, bacon, sausage, all kinds of melon and other fruits, five juices, boiled eggs, bagels, english muffins, sweet muffins, donuts, oatmeal, raw veggies, and the usual caffeines.
I was accosted across the buffet table by, um, The Sex God. He's gorgeous, piercing blue eyes, amazing body, long wavy hair, silky beard, wonderful smooth voice, and (unusual for this bunch) makes a lot of sense when he speaks. I heard someone say "Silk!" and I looked up and it was him. I about fell over. Every healthy female who'd ever attended one of his presentations is hopelessly in love with him. (Too bad I'm aware he believes in "open relationships". That's a deal breaker.) Until you hear him speak, he looks like just another sexy biker dude, what with all the leather and chains and high boots.
He wanted to compliment me on my style, my smile, the way I move, and the dress I'd been wearing the night before. I was flabbergasted, especially since I'd run down to breakfast with no makeup on - after all, who's gonna see me that matters, right? I blushed, laughed, and smiled, and he said "That's it! That's the smile!"
He invited me to join the party sub-group, "Hell's Ms", that he could tell that I was a partier (partyer?). I said no, I'm not a partier at all. He said that depends on how you define party. A party can be two people and a bottle of wine, or fifty people and conversation, and that the main difference between Hell's Ms and other Mensa party groups is that Hell's Ms remember the next morning what happened the night before. I said, oh, ok, that does sound like my kind of party. Then I smiled and walked away.
Well, I was very flattered. I think. I'm not sure. What's with that he "can tell I'm a partier" bit? Like, you wish, Buster! Well, maybe, IF my current romantic interest doesn't work out long term, maybe someday I'll look into Hell's Ms. I understand that they do a lot of volunteer work within Mensa, I might pick up some social skills, and the logo t-shirts are a status symbol. Maybe I'll have to go read their newsletter.
My head is a bit swelled today. Over the past three days, three other men told me I was beautiful, in a quite serious and personal manner, when I got up to leave after we'd been talking a while. I know I'm not beautiful, but it's nice to be told I'm appreciated however they go about expressing it. (Keep in mind these guys are mostly sex-starved geeks. Maybe they just appreciate a woman who flirts with them a little. (I've been told I flirt unconsciously all the time, with everyone. I don't agree. I guess that's the unconscious part. (Should that be subconscious?)))
Which reminds me - we had some folks set up at a table outside the big hospitality room interviewing candidates for Beauty and the Geek, and some past beauties and geeks in a conference room answering questions. (Giggle. After my flattering weekend, I wasn't sure which side I should apply for.)
Programs I attended today: free hospitality breakfast; Science vs Religion - The search for truth; Beauty and the Geek Q&A; Waltzing Australia; an hour by myself in the whirlpool, with a book. (What book, you ask? I'm a Mensan. It was a dictionary - Bryerson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words.)
Programs I did not attend: Non-denominational Worship Service; Presentation of Awards; Swing Dance Lesson; Exertion (talk on strange sports, stunts, and physical activities); Trust Me, I'm a Lawyer (I wanted to go to this, but it overlapped the science vs religion program, which was very good); Stitch & Bitch; Settlers of Catan Tournament; Proctor Training (how to certify to administer the Mensa IQ test); Everything's Digital - Amazing opportunities and some problems; the after-party, known as "The Survivor's Party".
It was all over by 3 pm. The word was passed that all uneaten food in the hospitality rooms would be discarded, so come and get it now. I loaded a plate with meats and cheeses and melon and three bean salad to have for dinner, and scarfed up all the cans of iced tea I could find. Picnic in my room.
Bedtime. Hard traveling tomorrow. Luggage heavier with books (and handout trash that I'll likely throw away as soon as I get home, but right now seems so very important to LIFE!) I haven't the faintest idea how one gets from here to the airport, whether taxis will even come here to take me. I'll figure it out, I guess.
.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
1521 Gathering So Far
Saturday, October 27, 2007
I'm already starting to lose track of what I did when, so I guess I'd better make some notes.
Thursday
Arrival, room and gathering registration. Hospitality suites aren't open yet, so I took some time to wander around the hotel and see what's where. Picked up a copy of the program schedule and marked some things I want to do. FW arrived a few hours later, and we had dinner in the hotel dining room. Hung out with some other Mensans in the lobby. She said she was tired and was going to bed. I went to my room and read my email. Got to bed around 2 am.
Friday
The official gathering didn't start until 3 pm, but there were some field trips available in the morning. FW had signed up for one to the technology labs at the University of Illinois (8:30 am to 4 pm. Other trips included Taiko Drumming instruction, Museum of Science and Industry, and the Oriental Institute. I hadn't registered until just last Sunday, so I didn't even attempt to go on any of them.) I spent most of the morning sitting in the lobby with a congenial group of Mensans, conversation, and watching people arrive.
As people came in, we'd peg them as Mensan or non-Mensan. Basically, if they were over 300 lbs, we'd peg them as Mensan. Dressed in poorly matched clothes or strange styles, Mensan. Cardboard or grocery bag luggage, Mensan. Bad hair, Mensan. Strange, confused, or conflicting expressions flitting across their faces, Mensan. Oddly matched couples, Mensan. Stop right smack in the middle of traffic areas to talk, Mensan.
We'd find out whether we were correct or not by whether they turned right toward the elevators after leaving the hotel desk, or left toward the gathering registration desk. We were 100% correct on "Mensan". We were wrong only on a few reasonable-looking people we had decided were probably "non-Mensan".
Amazing, especially since if we have been evaluating ourselves, we would of course have been wrong. We being such beautiful and well-mannered people, that is.
There were about 500 Mensans in attendance by Friday night.
Programs I went to on Friday evening: Why You Need a Financial Advisor; Trust Me, I'm an Embalmer; free buffet dinner in the hospitality room; used book sale ($.50 each, every fourth one free - I bought four, one on antique jewelry, two Far Side compilations, and one Sherlock Holmes script by John Cleese, total $1.50); the adult Halloween costume contest; three rounds of Carnelli; the evening dance; and a lot of hanging out in the hospitality rooms.
In an subsequent post, I'll describe Carnelli, and the costume contest.
Programs I did NOT go to on Friday: Kill Doctor Lucky (live-action Clue game); Trust Me, I'm a Pro Gambler (how to get comped in Vegas); Speed Talking; Searching for the Soul of Judaism; Wine Sampling; Lexicography; Mead, the Forgotten Brew; Werewolves of Finsterwald (game, must be fun, they were very loud); Martial Arts in the Movies; Luke Ski concert; Hell's M's meeting (the hard party bunch); Cookie Contest; Sing-Along; Take My Punchline, Please (game - you start a joke, and the first person to come up with the punchline gets points).
FW missed almost everything. She couldn't get to sleep Thursday night, so she went to the hospitality room to get some beer, and ended up schmoozing until it was time to go on her field trip at 8:30 am. After returning from that, she took a nap and didn't wake until the costume contest. Then she went back to bed. Or something. I didn't ask.
I got to bed around 3:30 am.
Saturday
I have bags under my eyes.
FW checked out of the hotel at 10 am, because she's (believe it or not) got a blind date with a gay guy in the city this evening, they're going clubbing, and she's going to stay at his place until her flight home on Monday. She has a quite different lifestyle from mine.
Because I was paying for her room, and because she was checking out early (the reservation went through Monday), I had to go to the desk with her, and futzing around with that I missed the hospitality breakfast. The hospitality meals have been very good. I'm determined not to miss breakfast tomorrow.
Programs I went to on Saturday: Moral Absolutes: Do They Exist, and if So, Can They Be Known?; free hospitality lunch; Squirrels - the Mensans of Our Backyards; a hour in the whirlpool with myself and a book; the big Banquet; Computer Geek - One Nerd's Search for His Soul Mate; Pretentious Drinking; Foreskin Restoration for Fun and Profit; Saturday Night Dance.
Programs I did NOT go to on Saturday: Introduction to Unicode; Musical Surprises; Threatened and Endangered Species of Illinois; Yoga; Logic Puzzles; Web 2.0 Mass Collaboration and Emergent Coolness; Schemes, Scams, and Flim Flams; Poker Questions and Answers; 2007 Space Flight Update; The Journey from Hunter to Hero to Sovereign to Wiseman; Fiendish Armchair Treasure Hunt; Harry Potter and the Secret of the Giant Sales Figures; Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament; Nanotechnology - Many Small Steps to the Future; Etiquette - Keep Your Elbows Off the Table; Obie's Opus - Adventures in Classical Music; Return of the Werewolves (game); In Extremis (extreme accidents and natural disasters caught on tape); Laugh and Learn about Personalities; InQUIZition (game); Sexyg Fishbowl; Midwinter Mensan on Mars (Mars research facility in Utah); Social Dance Lessons; Movies (all night long, various cult horror movies); A Melancholy Hope- A Musician's Personal Creative Journey; CAM-- CAM Jigsaw Challenge. And I didn't visit the game room AT ALL - those people are weird!!!
Now I'm going to bed.
.
I'm already starting to lose track of what I did when, so I guess I'd better make some notes.
Thursday
Arrival, room and gathering registration. Hospitality suites aren't open yet, so I took some time to wander around the hotel and see what's where. Picked up a copy of the program schedule and marked some things I want to do. FW arrived a few hours later, and we had dinner in the hotel dining room. Hung out with some other Mensans in the lobby. She said she was tired and was going to bed. I went to my room and read my email. Got to bed around 2 am.
Friday
The official gathering didn't start until 3 pm, but there were some field trips available in the morning. FW had signed up for one to the technology labs at the University of Illinois (8:30 am to 4 pm. Other trips included Taiko Drumming instruction, Museum of Science and Industry, and the Oriental Institute. I hadn't registered until just last Sunday, so I didn't even attempt to go on any of them.) I spent most of the morning sitting in the lobby with a congenial group of Mensans, conversation, and watching people arrive.
As people came in, we'd peg them as Mensan or non-Mensan. Basically, if they were over 300 lbs, we'd peg them as Mensan. Dressed in poorly matched clothes or strange styles, Mensan. Cardboard or grocery bag luggage, Mensan. Bad hair, Mensan. Strange, confused, or conflicting expressions flitting across their faces, Mensan. Oddly matched couples, Mensan. Stop right smack in the middle of traffic areas to talk, Mensan.
We'd find out whether we were correct or not by whether they turned right toward the elevators after leaving the hotel desk, or left toward the gathering registration desk. We were 100% correct on "Mensan". We were wrong only on a few reasonable-looking people we had decided were probably "non-Mensan".
Amazing, especially since if we have been evaluating ourselves, we would of course have been wrong. We being such beautiful and well-mannered people, that is.
There were about 500 Mensans in attendance by Friday night.
Programs I went to on Friday evening: Why You Need a Financial Advisor; Trust Me, I'm an Embalmer; free buffet dinner in the hospitality room; used book sale ($.50 each, every fourth one free - I bought four, one on antique jewelry, two Far Side compilations, and one Sherlock Holmes script by John Cleese, total $1.50); the adult Halloween costume contest; three rounds of Carnelli; the evening dance; and a lot of hanging out in the hospitality rooms.
In an subsequent post, I'll describe Carnelli, and the costume contest.
Programs I did NOT go to on Friday: Kill Doctor Lucky (live-action Clue game); Trust Me, I'm a Pro Gambler (how to get comped in Vegas); Speed Talking; Searching for the Soul of Judaism; Wine Sampling; Lexicography; Mead, the Forgotten Brew; Werewolves of Finsterwald (game, must be fun, they were very loud); Martial Arts in the Movies; Luke Ski concert; Hell's M's meeting (the hard party bunch); Cookie Contest; Sing-Along; Take My Punchline, Please (game - you start a joke, and the first person to come up with the punchline gets points).
FW missed almost everything. She couldn't get to sleep Thursday night, so she went to the hospitality room to get some beer, and ended up schmoozing until it was time to go on her field trip at 8:30 am. After returning from that, she took a nap and didn't wake until the costume contest. Then she went back to bed. Or something. I didn't ask.
I got to bed around 3:30 am.
Saturday
I have bags under my eyes.
FW checked out of the hotel at 10 am, because she's (believe it or not) got a blind date with a gay guy in the city this evening, they're going clubbing, and she's going to stay at his place until her flight home on Monday. She has a quite different lifestyle from mine.
Because I was paying for her room, and because she was checking out early (the reservation went through Monday), I had to go to the desk with her, and futzing around with that I missed the hospitality breakfast. The hospitality meals have been very good. I'm determined not to miss breakfast tomorrow.
Programs I went to on Saturday: Moral Absolutes: Do They Exist, and if So, Can They Be Known?; free hospitality lunch; Squirrels - the Mensans of Our Backyards; a hour in the whirlpool with myself and a book; the big Banquet; Computer Geek - One Nerd's Search for His Soul Mate; Pretentious Drinking; Foreskin Restoration for Fun and Profit; Saturday Night Dance.
Programs I did NOT go to on Saturday: Introduction to Unicode; Musical Surprises; Threatened and Endangered Species of Illinois; Yoga; Logic Puzzles; Web 2.0 Mass Collaboration and Emergent Coolness; Schemes, Scams, and Flim Flams; Poker Questions and Answers; 2007 Space Flight Update; The Journey from Hunter to Hero to Sovereign to Wiseman; Fiendish Armchair Treasure Hunt; Harry Potter and the Secret of the Giant Sales Figures; Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament; Nanotechnology - Many Small Steps to the Future; Etiquette - Keep Your Elbows Off the Table; Obie's Opus - Adventures in Classical Music; Return of the Werewolves (game); In Extremis (extreme accidents and natural disasters caught on tape); Laugh and Learn about Personalities; InQUIZition (game); Sexyg Fishbowl; Midwinter Mensan on Mars (Mars research facility in Utah); Social Dance Lessons; Movies (all night long, various cult horror movies); A Melancholy Hope- A Musician's Personal Creative Journey; CAM-- CAM Jigsaw Challenge. And I didn't visit the game room AT ALL - those people are weird!!!
Now I'm going to bed.
.
Friday, October 26, 2007
1520 Map of Where I Am
Friday, October 26, 2007
We're pretty far out from the city, without a car. Zoom to level 6 on the map to get the idea.
Map of 3400 W Euclid Ave Arlington Heights, IL 60005-1052, US
If anyone can tell me how to imbed a map from either Mapquest or Google, or at least how to get the link right for the zoom level I'm looking at, I'd pure-D appreciate it.
We're pretty far out from the city, without a car. Zoom to level 6 on the map to get the idea.
Map of 3400 W Euclid Ave Arlington Heights, IL 60005-1052, US
If anyone can tell me how to imbed a map from either Mapquest or Google, or at least how to get the link right for the zoom level I'm looking at, I'd pure-D appreciate it.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
1519 Settling In
Thursday, October 25, 2007
I'm in the hotel, after a frantic morning. I set the alarm for 7 am, planning to leave the house by 8:30, but then didn't wake up until the alarm STOPPED buzzing at 9. I made it out of the house in a record 20 minutes, made it to the airport just barely in time to get my suitcase checked onto the plane.
The Mommy Letter (informational letter you get from Mensa when you register for the gathering) said to arrange for a taxi from O'Hare to the hotel by calling a taxi from a courtesy phone. By the third try I was almost in tears - the guys who answered the phone barely spoke English, and I couldn't understand the letter of the door they wanted me to stand at and the number of the taxi that would come, and the first two hung up on me when I couldn't understand the number. The third guy was nicer, and worked with me until I got it. ("E, as in fervid." "E as in Edward?" "No, E as in fervid." "Like, A B C D E?" "No, A E E E." "Oh, D, as in dog?" "No. E as in David." "Ok, I've got it. A B C D!" "Yuh." "Uh, that's the door under construction that doesn't have a letter on it, right?" "Yuh, that one. Next one up from E.")
At the desk, they asked me if I really required room 906 (or whatever), and when I said no, they moved me to a "preferred" floor. My room is HUGE! Beautiful matched cherry furniture, a king-sized sleigh bed with five pillows, sofa, free wifi, etc.
The hotel is pretty fantastic, too. They have a 60,000 sq. ft. indoor waterpark, with slides, water cannons, whirlpools, and movies you can watch while floating in an innertube. On the other hand, a cup of tea in the cafe is $3.
FW's plane was delayed out of Newburgh. No idea when she'll get here. If she runs into the same taxi guys I did, she might flip out and go home, and I'm not kidding. I wouldn't blame her.
....FW just called my cell. She's here, her room's on the 3rd floor. (I'm on the 10th.) We're going to hunt down some food in about a half hour. (She's got big ideas about famous Chicago restaurants. We are NOT in the city - we're out in the middle of nowhere. I didn't see so much as a Denny's driving in. It's gonna be the hotel food or nothing.)
....Later - checked with the desk. The nearest restaurant is a 10 minute drive away. Nothing within walking distance. Ate in the hotel restaurant. Ten buffalo wings with celery, tea, key lime pie - $23 with tax and tip.
Located the Mensa gathering registration desk. All set.
.
I'm in the hotel, after a frantic morning. I set the alarm for 7 am, planning to leave the house by 8:30, but then didn't wake up until the alarm STOPPED buzzing at 9. I made it out of the house in a record 20 minutes, made it to the airport just barely in time to get my suitcase checked onto the plane.
The Mommy Letter (informational letter you get from Mensa when you register for the gathering) said to arrange for a taxi from O'Hare to the hotel by calling a taxi from a courtesy phone. By the third try I was almost in tears - the guys who answered the phone barely spoke English, and I couldn't understand the letter of the door they wanted me to stand at and the number of the taxi that would come, and the first two hung up on me when I couldn't understand the number. The third guy was nicer, and worked with me until I got it. ("E, as in fervid." "E as in Edward?" "No, E as in fervid." "Like, A B C D E?" "No, A E E E." "Oh, D, as in dog?" "No. E as in David." "Ok, I've got it. A B C D!" "Yuh." "Uh, that's the door under construction that doesn't have a letter on it, right?" "Yuh, that one. Next one up from E.")
At the desk, they asked me if I really required room 906 (or whatever), and when I said no, they moved me to a "preferred" floor. My room is HUGE! Beautiful matched cherry furniture, a king-sized sleigh bed with five pillows, sofa, free wifi, etc.
The hotel is pretty fantastic, too. They have a 60,000 sq. ft. indoor waterpark, with slides, water cannons, whirlpools, and movies you can watch while floating in an innertube. On the other hand, a cup of tea in the cafe is $3.
FW's plane was delayed out of Newburgh. No idea when she'll get here. If she runs into the same taxi guys I did, she might flip out and go home, and I'm not kidding. I wouldn't blame her.
....FW just called my cell. She's here, her room's on the 3rd floor. (I'm on the 10th.) We're going to hunt down some food in about a half hour. (She's got big ideas about famous Chicago restaurants. We are NOT in the city - we're out in the middle of nowhere. I didn't see so much as a Denny's driving in. It's gonna be the hotel food or nothing.)
....Later - checked with the desk. The nearest restaurant is a 10 minute drive away. Nothing within walking distance. Ate in the hotel restaurant. Ten buffalo wings with celery, tea, key lime pie - $23 with tax and tip.
Located the Mensa gathering registration desk. All set.
.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
1518 Pushing & Spitting
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
I got everything done today that I was supposed to get done, except packing. It's after 11 pm, I have an early flight tomorrow out of an airport a hour and a half away, and I haven't even started packing yet. Bad girl.
I accidentally caught a few minutes of "Pushing Daisies" earlier this evening, and it intrigued me, so now, instead of packing, I'm watching the first three episodes of that show online while simultaneously watching the world series on TV. (What's with all the spitting? Yuck!)
I'll sleep tomorrow. Yeah, sure. At a convention.
.
I got everything done today that I was supposed to get done, except packing. It's after 11 pm, I have an early flight tomorrow out of an airport a hour and a half away, and I haven't even started packing yet. Bad girl.
I accidentally caught a few minutes of "Pushing Daisies" earlier this evening, and it intrigued me, so now, instead of packing, I'm watching the first three episodes of that show online while simultaneously watching the world series on TV. (What's with all the spitting? Yuck!)
I'll sleep tomorrow. Yeah, sure. At a convention.
.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
1517 Running
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Big date last night. Among other things (dinner, walk along the riverfront, long drive, etc.) we went to a huge arcade, where I learned about breeding and training a racehorse. Yup. I don't remember what it's called, but you breed a sire and dam, and get a virtual foal (colt or filly), name it, and then you train it, and feed it, and race it. My friend had a stable full, so we picked a good pair from his stable, and I got a colt, which I named Silken Drum. He's young, and doesn't have his full strength yet, did well in his first few races, and then came in last in the race just before the arcade closed. It was fun, but they have time limits on how long you can think about what to feed, and how to train, and so on, and I just don't think that fast. His data is on a card in my purse, and I can't wait to get back to him. He's cute. I hated to leave him with such a bad loss.
Today I went to dinner with a friend, and tomorrow I have to pack for Chicago.
Mother is having a good time.
.
Big date last night. Among other things (dinner, walk along the riverfront, long drive, etc.) we went to a huge arcade, where I learned about breeding and training a racehorse. Yup. I don't remember what it's called, but you breed a sire and dam, and get a virtual foal (colt or filly), name it, and then you train it, and feed it, and race it. My friend had a stable full, so we picked a good pair from his stable, and I got a colt, which I named Silken Drum. He's young, and doesn't have his full strength yet, did well in his first few races, and then came in last in the race just before the arcade closed. It was fun, but they have time limits on how long you can think about what to feed, and how to train, and so on, and I just don't think that fast. His data is on a card in my purse, and I can't wait to get back to him. He's cute. I hated to leave him with such a bad loss.
Today I went to dinner with a friend, and tomorrow I have to pack for Chicago.
Mother is having a good time.
.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
1516 Math Woes
Sunday, October 21, 2007
I went to a symposium today, and got to talk with some friends after. I mentioned the math video of a few posts back (http://thesilkentouch.blogspot.com/2007/10/1506-denver-math-plans.html), and one of the guys told of an experience he'd had yesterday.
He was in a store, and his bill came to $12.82. He handed the girl exactly $12.82, and then remembered that he had a $3-off coupon, so he handed her the coupon. She turned to another cashier and asked, "Hey, how much is 12 minus 3?"
I laughed and told him that if he REALLY wanted to confuse her, on a $12.82 tab, he should hand her $23.02 (a twenty, three ones, two pennies).
I do that a lot, and they almost always try to hand the three dollar bills and the two cents (or whatever is over the large bill) back immediately. I say no, and they ask why I gave them so much. I tell them to do the math and then they'll see.
They do the math (well, they punch buttons on the register), are surprised at how it works out, and look at me like I'm some kind of genius.
Well, duh! I just know math.
.
I went to a symposium today, and got to talk with some friends after. I mentioned the math video of a few posts back (http://thesilkentouch.blogspot.com/2007/10/1506-denver-math-plans.html), and one of the guys told of an experience he'd had yesterday.
He was in a store, and his bill came to $12.82. He handed the girl exactly $12.82, and then remembered that he had a $3-off coupon, so he handed her the coupon. She turned to another cashier and asked, "Hey, how much is 12 minus 3?"
I laughed and told him that if he REALLY wanted to confuse her, on a $12.82 tab, he should hand her $23.02 (a twenty, three ones, two pennies).
I do that a lot, and they almost always try to hand the three dollar bills and the two cents (or whatever is over the large bill) back immediately. I say no, and they ask why I gave them so much. I tell them to do the math and then they'll see.
They do the math (well, they punch buttons on the register), are surprised at how it works out, and look at me like I'm some kind of genius.
Well, duh! I just know math.
.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
1515 Flippin' ClearTel!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Back in the desktop days, I had a dialup connection. I had a second phone line from Frontier, and the server was ClearTel. I paid once a year for the ClearTel connection, for the year ahead, and every month for the Frontier line.
Then I got the laptop and the wireless connection. Shortly after that the annual bill from ClearTel arrived. Naturally, I called ClearTel and cancelled the account. Don't need it any more. I got a cancellation number, and the guy said that since we were a few days into the next contract period, I would have to pay one months' prorated cost. Ok, no problem. As soon as I got off the phone, I followed up with a formal snailmail letter closing the account, with the rep's name, and the cancellation number, and enclosed a check for the prorated amount.
The next month, I got another bill for the year's contract, with the prorated amount deducted from the total. I wrote them another letter, reminding them that the contract was cancelled, and the balance owed should now be zero. I asked that they contact me after verifying this, and let me know what their disposition was.
No response. The next month, I get a notice that the account has been turned over to a collection agency.
I exploded!
I wrote letters this evening to ClearTel and to the collection agency. The tone of the letter to the collection agency was businesslike. I know they can't do much without direction from ClearTel. The letter to ClearTel was mostly businesslike, except for the first paragraph, which is: "Please forward this letter to someone with enough intelligence to read it, enough experience to understand it, and enough courtesy to answer it. My experience with ClearTel so far is that these are rare qualities."
Frontier is next, but I'll try a phone call to them first.
.
Back in the desktop days, I had a dialup connection. I had a second phone line from Frontier, and the server was ClearTel. I paid once a year for the ClearTel connection, for the year ahead, and every month for the Frontier line.
Then I got the laptop and the wireless connection. Shortly after that the annual bill from ClearTel arrived. Naturally, I called ClearTel and cancelled the account. Don't need it any more. I got a cancellation number, and the guy said that since we were a few days into the next contract period, I would have to pay one months' prorated cost. Ok, no problem. As soon as I got off the phone, I followed up with a formal snailmail letter closing the account, with the rep's name, and the cancellation number, and enclosed a check for the prorated amount.
The next month, I got another bill for the year's contract, with the prorated amount deducted from the total. I wrote them another letter, reminding them that the contract was cancelled, and the balance owed should now be zero. I asked that they contact me after verifying this, and let me know what their disposition was.
No response. The next month, I get a notice that the account has been turned over to a collection agency.
I exploded!
I wrote letters this evening to ClearTel and to the collection agency. The tone of the letter to the collection agency was businesslike. I know they can't do much without direction from ClearTel. The letter to ClearTel was mostly businesslike, except for the first paragraph, which is: "Please forward this letter to someone with enough intelligence to read it, enough experience to understand it, and enough courtesy to answer it. My experience with ClearTel so far is that these are rare qualities."
Frontier is next, but I'll try a phone call to them first.
.
Friday, October 19, 2007
1514 Density
Friday, October 19, 2007
We've all heard that Hong Kong has a high population density. I didn't fully realize what that meant until I saw the photographs from Michael Wolf. Go to http://www.photomichaelwolf.com/intro/index.html, and click on "Architecture of Density" (I had to click on it twice). As you scroll through from first to last, it begins to look less and less human, and more and more machine.
.
We've all heard that Hong Kong has a high population density. I didn't fully realize what that meant until I saw the photographs from Michael Wolf. Go to http://www.photomichaelwolf.com/intro/index.html, and click on "Architecture of Density" (I had to click on it twice). As you scroll through from first to last, it begins to look less and less human, and more and more machine.
.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
1513 Ashes to Ashes
Wednesday, October 18, 2007
I don't trust animal crematoriums at all, even the regulated and inspected ones. You send a 90 lb. dog, and you get back a cup of ashes. You send a 30 lb. dog, and you get back a cup of ashes. You send a 10 lb. cat, and you get back a half a cup of ashes. You send a 30 lb. big-boned Maine Coon cat, and you get back a half a cup of ashes.
Seems like there's a formula: dog = 1 cup, cat = 1/2 cup. I half suspect they cremate several animals at once, and then just apportion out the mixed ashes.
Not that it really matters that much. When you disperse the ashes in a loved place, it's really the idea that counts.
Speaking of cremation, there's something that has been bothering me for years. Humans don't burn down to powder. No matter what the temperature or time, there will be very brittle pieces of bone that kind of hold together and continue to look like bone. So the crematorium crushes the remains before they return them. When I scattered Jay's ashes on my mountain, there were many hard bits of obvious bone, the size of the pink part of my pinky fingernail.
Now here's what bothers me: there were no bits of metal. The man was full of metal. He had a Greenfield filter, and lots of clips and plates holding his skull together, and some other stuff. I expected to see melted pellets of metal. I didn't. Why not?
--------------------------
Joke I heard recently:
A scientist goes to God, and says, "Lord, we don't need you anymore. Scientific advances have allowed us to now make the shape of a man from dirt, treat the dirt, and breathe life into the form. Now that we can do everything you can do, you can retire."
God answers, "You can create life? Show me."
So the scientist kneels down and starts scraping dirt into a pile.
God stops him, wagging His finger. "Uh uh. Use your own dirt."
.
I don't trust animal crematoriums at all, even the regulated and inspected ones. You send a 90 lb. dog, and you get back a cup of ashes. You send a 30 lb. dog, and you get back a cup of ashes. You send a 10 lb. cat, and you get back a half a cup of ashes. You send a 30 lb. big-boned Maine Coon cat, and you get back a half a cup of ashes.
Seems like there's a formula: dog = 1 cup, cat = 1/2 cup. I half suspect they cremate several animals at once, and then just apportion out the mixed ashes.
Not that it really matters that much. When you disperse the ashes in a loved place, it's really the idea that counts.
Speaking of cremation, there's something that has been bothering me for years. Humans don't burn down to powder. No matter what the temperature or time, there will be very brittle pieces of bone that kind of hold together and continue to look like bone. So the crematorium crushes the remains before they return them. When I scattered Jay's ashes on my mountain, there were many hard bits of obvious bone, the size of the pink part of my pinky fingernail.
Now here's what bothers me: there were no bits of metal. The man was full of metal. He had a Greenfield filter, and lots of clips and plates holding his skull together, and some other stuff. I expected to see melted pellets of metal. I didn't. Why not?
--------------------------
Joke I heard recently:
A scientist goes to God, and says, "Lord, we don't need you anymore. Scientific advances have allowed us to now make the shape of a man from dirt, treat the dirt, and breathe life into the form. Now that we can do everything you can do, you can retire."
God answers, "You can create life? Show me."
So the scientist kneels down and starts scraping dirt into a pile.
God stops him, wagging His finger. "Uh uh. Use your own dirt."
.
1512 A Way
Thursday, October 18, 2007
I have copied the following text whole hog from http://wwwjackbenimble.blogspot.com/2007/10/easy-way-to-help-others.html, because the link he included to the full story requires a subscription which I don't have. Given the topic, I doubt he'd mind. (Plus I suspect his text came from the original story in the Los Angeles Times, anyway.) The link to Kiva, however, does work, and that site includes a link to a New York Times story/video.
Through Kiva, anyone with $25 and an e-mail address can make a loan to a small entrepreneur in a developing country. Gabriela Villegas scrolled through the online profiles, searching for a photo and description that appealed to her.
She wasn't surfing for a date or networking for new friends. She was on the Kiva website, reading through stories of impoverished entrepreneurs in developing countries, trying to decide to which venture she would extend a $25 business loan.
"Twenty-five dollars -- that's probably how much I spend on just one meal," said Villegas, 25, of Manchester, Conn. "But with that same money, I was able to change someone's life."
Kiva, at www.kiva.org, is a nonprofit based in San Francisco. It has not yet celebrated its two-year anniversary but is already attracting international attention for its unique mission -- blending the principles of micro-financing with the power of online social networking to deliver business loans to the world's working poor.
Named after the Swahili word for "unity," Kiva is getting big-name nods from the likes of Oprah Winfrey and former President Clinton. And with more than $13 million lent to 1,800 ventures, it's being held as an example of a savvy brand of online activism.
"People are by nature generous and want to help others, but they want to do it in a way . . . where they can really see how they're making an impact on somebody's life," said Kiva spokeswoman Fiona Ramsey. "We all see [the philanthropic work that] Bill Gates and Oprah do, and we'd all love to do that ourselves. But few of us can afford to."
Enter Kiva, making a micro-lender of anyone with $25 and an e-mail address.
Here's how it works. The organization partners with 66 nonprofit micro-finance institutions that vet loan applicants in 38 countries. Once they get clearance, the borrowers post their pictures and needs on the Kiva website, where would-be lenders can pore through the 70-or-so listings posted at any given time -- a motor-taxi service in Asia, a goat farmer in Africa, a seamstress in Iraq. An average loan request is $650, and lenders can choose how much to fund.
As borrowers repay their loans, they send online progress reports so lenders can see how their money is working. Once the loan is repaid -- and most are, with a default rate of just 0.3% -- lenders can collect their money or lend it to another entrepreneur. Most lenders choose the latter, Ramsey said.
I have copied the following text whole hog from http://wwwjackbenimble.blogspot.com/2007/10/easy-way-to-help-others.html, because the link he included to the full story requires a subscription which I don't have. Given the topic, I doubt he'd mind. (Plus I suspect his text came from the original story in the Los Angeles Times, anyway.) The link to Kiva, however, does work, and that site includes a link to a New York Times story/video.
Through Kiva, anyone with $25 and an e-mail address can make a loan to a small entrepreneur in a developing country. Gabriela Villegas scrolled through the online profiles, searching for a photo and description that appealed to her.
She wasn't surfing for a date or networking for new friends. She was on the Kiva website, reading through stories of impoverished entrepreneurs in developing countries, trying to decide to which venture she would extend a $25 business loan.
"Twenty-five dollars -- that's probably how much I spend on just one meal," said Villegas, 25, of Manchester, Conn. "But with that same money, I was able to change someone's life."
Kiva, at www.kiva.org, is a nonprofit based in San Francisco. It has not yet celebrated its two-year anniversary but is already attracting international attention for its unique mission -- blending the principles of micro-financing with the power of online social networking to deliver business loans to the world's working poor.
Named after the Swahili word for "unity," Kiva is getting big-name nods from the likes of Oprah Winfrey and former President Clinton. And with more than $13 million lent to 1,800 ventures, it's being held as an example of a savvy brand of online activism.
"People are by nature generous and want to help others, but they want to do it in a way . . . where they can really see how they're making an impact on somebody's life," said Kiva spokeswoman Fiona Ramsey. "We all see [the philanthropic work that] Bill Gates and Oprah do, and we'd all love to do that ourselves. But few of us can afford to."
Enter Kiva, making a micro-lender of anyone with $25 and an e-mail address.
Here's how it works. The organization partners with 66 nonprofit micro-finance institutions that vet loan applicants in 38 countries. Once they get clearance, the borrowers post their pictures and needs on the Kiva website, where would-be lenders can pore through the 70-or-so listings posted at any given time -- a motor-taxi service in Asia, a goat farmer in Africa, a seamstress in Iraq. An average loan request is $650, and lenders can choose how much to fund.
As borrowers repay their loans, they send online progress reports so lenders can see how their money is working. Once the loan is repaid -- and most are, with a default rate of just 0.3% -- lenders can collect their money or lend it to another entrepreneur. Most lenders choose the latter, Ramsey said.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
1510 Kitty Update
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Jasper went to the vet today, and had some minor surgery. (I suppose most males would not consider it minor.) He's still staggering a little from the anesthesia, but otherwise doesn't seem too inconvenienced.
When I picked him up at the vet's office, he was extremely inconvenienced, and let me know. He actually hissed at me, even after he knew it was me. I don't know what he was so ticked off about. I may have a serious problem getting him into the carrier again.
I'll be going to Chicago soon, leaving on a Thursday and returning the following Monday. That's three days I won't be home, and I've never had any problem leaving Miss Thunderfoot alone for that long. I just put out three days worth of dry food, and she apportions it properly.
I've concluded that I can't do that with Jasper. If I put out three days worth of food, he'll eat it all immediately, throw it up, and have nothing left to eat. And if I don't shut him away, he will also eat all of Thunder's food, so she won't have anything, either. I'm going to have to board him.
The schedule is too tight for me to take him to Pussyfoot Lodge, my first choice, so he'll be staying at the vet's (which isn't too terrible - they let board animals out to wander the office and socialize with the office staff). But after today's experience, Jasper may not be too happy to find himself back there so soon.
.
Jasper went to the vet today, and had some minor surgery. (I suppose most males would not consider it minor.) He's still staggering a little from the anesthesia, but otherwise doesn't seem too inconvenienced.
When I picked him up at the vet's office, he was extremely inconvenienced, and let me know. He actually hissed at me, even after he knew it was me. I don't know what he was so ticked off about. I may have a serious problem getting him into the carrier again.
I'll be going to Chicago soon, leaving on a Thursday and returning the following Monday. That's three days I won't be home, and I've never had any problem leaving Miss Thunderfoot alone for that long. I just put out three days worth of dry food, and she apportions it properly.
I've concluded that I can't do that with Jasper. If I put out three days worth of food, he'll eat it all immediately, throw it up, and have nothing left to eat. And if I don't shut him away, he will also eat all of Thunder's food, so she won't have anything, either. I'm going to have to board him.
The schedule is too tight for me to take him to Pussyfoot Lodge, my first choice, so he'll be staying at the vet's (which isn't too terrible - they let board animals out to wander the office and socialize with the office staff). But after today's experience, Jasper may not be too happy to find himself back there so soon.
.
1509 The Moving Table
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
A few years ago I had to pull together a list of all the places I had lived. I forget what for. I was cleaning out a desk drawer last night, and found my notes. I tried to put the list in a table, but even though it looked fine in Works Word, I couldn't get it to work here. I kept it simple, and I'm sure I did it right. I finally gave up. Here's the list, as a list, and I'm annoyed because Blogger doesn't recognize tabbing, and even removes extra spaces. Snort.
Scranton, PA
1944-1946
Birth & infancy
?????
1947-1948
Toddling
Fayetteville, NC
1948-1949
Kindergarten
Scranton, PA
1949-1950
Kindergarten
Mississippi City, MS
1950
Summer before 1st grade
Biloxi, MS
1950
1st grade
Scranton, PA
1950
1st Grade
Hershey, PA
1951
1st Grade
Benton, PA, River St
1951
1st Grade
Benton, PA, 2½ St
1951-1952
2nd Grade
Benton, PA, Appleman’s house
1952-1953
3rd Grade
Benton, PA, Rooster house
1953-1954
4th Grade
Ottawa, Canada, Bank Street
1954-1955
5th Grade
Ottawa, Canada, Fairbanks Ave.
1955-1957
5th-7th Grades
Benton, PA, BSA House
1957-1958
8th-9th Grades
Red Rock, PA, USAF Base
1958-1962
9th-12th Grades
Bloomsburg, BSC Dorms
1962-1963
College
Benton, PA, Parsonage House
1963
College
Bloomsburg, PA, BSC Dorms
1964
College
Bloomsburg, PA, town housing
1964
College
Berwick, PA
1965
College, Student Teaching
Bristol, PA
1965
College, Student Teaching
Bloomsburg
1965
Summer Session & Graduation
Gettysburg, PA, Mrs. K.’s House
1965
Teaching H.S.
Gettysburg, PA, In-town Apartment
1965-1966
Teaching H.S.
Gettysburg, PA, Trailer
1966-1967
Teaching H.S.
Schwenksville, PA
1967-1968
Teaching H.S.</
Ruby, NY
1968-1971
The Company
Ballwin, MO
1971-1976
The Company
Germantown, MD
1977-1982
Stay at Home Mother
Highland, NY
1982-1994
The Company
Current Address, NY
1994-Present
Retired
A few years ago I had to pull together a list of all the places I had lived. I forget what for. I was cleaning out a desk drawer last night, and found my notes. I tried to put the list in a table, but even though it looked fine in Works Word, I couldn't get it to work here. I kept it simple, and I'm sure I did it right. I finally gave up. Here's the list, as a list, and I'm annoyed because Blogger doesn't recognize tabbing, and even removes extra spaces. Snort.
Scranton, PA
1944-1946
Birth & infancy
?????
1947-1948
Toddling
Fayetteville, NC
1948-1949
Kindergarten
Scranton, PA
1949-1950
Kindergarten
Mississippi City, MS
1950
Summer before 1st grade
Biloxi, MS
1950
1st grade
Scranton, PA
1950
1st Grade
Hershey, PA
1951
1st Grade
Benton, PA, River St
1951
1st Grade
Benton, PA, 2½ St
1951-1952
2nd Grade
Benton, PA, Appleman’s house
1952-1953
3rd Grade
Benton, PA, Rooster house
1953-1954
4th Grade
Ottawa, Canada, Bank Street
1954-1955
5th Grade
Ottawa, Canada, Fairbanks Ave.
1955-1957
5th-7th Grades
Benton, PA, BSA House
1957-1958
8th-9th Grades
Red Rock, PA, USAF Base
1958-1962
9th-12th Grades
Bloomsburg, BSC Dorms
1962-1963
College
Benton, PA, Parsonage House
1963
College
Bloomsburg, PA, BSC Dorms
1964
College
Bloomsburg, PA, town housing
1964
College
Berwick, PA
1965
College, Student Teaching
Bristol, PA
1965
College, Student Teaching
Bloomsburg
1965
Summer Session & Graduation
Gettysburg, PA, Mrs. K.’s House
1965
Teaching H.S.
Gettysburg, PA, In-town Apartment
1965-1966
Teaching H.S.
Gettysburg, PA, Trailer
1966-1967
Teaching H.S.
Schwenksville, PA
1967-1968
Teaching H.S.</
Ruby, NY
1968-1971
The Company
Ballwin, MO
1971-1976
The Company
Germantown, MD
1977-1982
Stay at Home Mother
Highland, NY
1982-1994
The Company
Current Address, NY
1994-Present
Retired
Monday, October 15, 2007
1508 Total Loss of Anonymity
Monday, October 15, 2007
It happened for the first time today. It don't know how it could happen. I don't know how they found out, how they got the information, and it's freaking me out!
I got political campaign email spam on one of my ids!
It was for a Dutchess County judge running for reelection.
How did "they" know the person who owns that email id lives in Dutchess County? As far as I know, there is NO street address connected with that id through the email provider - it's a free email account. It's possible I have provided an email address sometime on some form somewhere to which a political committee may have access, but it wouldn't have been THIS id! I have other ids for that kind of distribution. This one is jealously guarded.
Ack! This is scary!
.
It happened for the first time today. It don't know how it could happen. I don't know how they found out, how they got the information, and it's freaking me out!
I got political campaign email spam on one of my ids!
It was for a Dutchess County judge running for reelection.
How did "they" know the person who owns that email id lives in Dutchess County? As far as I know, there is NO street address connected with that id through the email provider - it's a free email account. It's possible I have provided an email address sometime on some form somewhere to which a political committee may have access, but it wouldn't have been THIS id! I have other ids for that kind of distribution. This one is jealously guarded.
Ack! This is scary!
.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
1507 The Weekend
Sunday, October 14, 2007
According to the PBS program on child brides mentioned in the previous entry, parents in India will marry off very young daughters "to have one fewer mouth to feed". But that doesn't make any sense at all, because the child brides don't go to the husband's house until puberty. So the parents still have to feed her, AND they have to come up with a dowry to marry her off.
Maybe the real reason is that the dowry is lower if she's very young?
----------------------------------
On the new math mentioned in the previous entry, what I didn't say, and don't want to say, is that the new methods are very close to how some math whizzes think when they do multiplication and division "in their heads". I didn't point it out because it comes too close to a defense. The difference is that the whizzes come up with it themselves out of a complete understanding.
-----------------------------------
I went to Rakkasah, and was met by my friend. I had a very good time. I am trying very hard not to fall in love. It's good that we've held off on any great declarations. Truths are being slowly revealed, and are being accepted. Trust is getting built. If this goes anywhere, it will be solid. If it goes nowhere, there will be no terrible disillusionment, no unbearable pain. This is good. I'm learning.
.
According to the PBS program on child brides mentioned in the previous entry, parents in India will marry off very young daughters "to have one fewer mouth to feed". But that doesn't make any sense at all, because the child brides don't go to the husband's house until puberty. So the parents still have to feed her, AND they have to come up with a dowry to marry her off.
Maybe the real reason is that the dowry is lower if she's very young?
----------------------------------
On the new math mentioned in the previous entry, what I didn't say, and don't want to say, is that the new methods are very close to how some math whizzes think when they do multiplication and division "in their heads". I didn't point it out because it comes too close to a defense. The difference is that the whizzes come up with it themselves out of a complete understanding.
-----------------------------------
I went to Rakkasah, and was met by my friend. I had a very good time. I am trying very hard not to fall in love. It's good that we've held off on any great declarations. Truths are being slowly revealed, and are being accepted. Trust is getting built. If this goes anywhere, it will be solid. If it goes nowhere, there will be no terrible disillusionment, no unbearable pain. This is good. I'm learning.
.
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