twenty years later. Surprisingly, she didn't have any stories to tell on me (good or bad). I was going to upload a picture of her and me from twenty years ago, but my scanner is out of commission at the moment. I may still need a babysitter now too, but my parents quit providing one, and I haven't hired one myself yet. :-)
When I was back home where I grew up this past weekend, I was reminded of the book "If You're Not From the Prairie", which was written by David Bouchard and and Henry Ripplinger. The line I was reminded of from the book was "If you're not from the prairie, you don't know the wind, you can't know the wind." The wind was blowing incessantly while I was there, but to me it's part of being home and almost like seeing an old friend. Anyway, if you haven't read this book, I would recommend it, especially if you grew up on the prairie. It summarizes the growing up experience very well.
On another note, what is the point of summer if inside every building it feels like the arctic? At the place I've been at for work the last couple days, I have to put my coat on to go inside and take it off to go outside, where the temperature has pleasantly been in the 80's.
Look out world, I learned how to shoot a gun today. Today was the annual department outing/team building at work today, and one of the options for the morning activity was to go to the local shooting range/boxing ring/fitness center. I chose to go there instead of golfing. I got to shoot all sorts of guns such as a 38 (special and 357 magnum bullets), a semiautomatic 45, semiautomatic 22 pistol, a shotgun, and a semiautomatic AK47. It doesn't get much better than that. I think the only thing I missed shooting was the 22 rifle and the 9mm. And until today, none of that above mumbo-jumbo meant anything to me.
In the afternoon we played a little softball, tennis, volleyball, and cornhole. I am thoroughly sore now! What was interesting was that it was almost impossible to predict who would choose to go shooting and who would choose to golf. People I thought for sure would want to shoot went golfing, and some people you didn't really think of as interested in guns went shooting.
That's all for now. Have a good weekend everybody....
Today's thought on bathrooms involves choosing stalls. My theory is that if people enter a bathroom and a stall is already occupied, their natural tendency is to choose a stall so that there is at least one empty stall between them and the occupied one. And, if somebody goes into the bathroom and it's empty, they will choose a stall (when possible) so that if another person comes in they will be able to put one empty stall between them. Don't ask me what the behavior theory is for urinals since I don't know and don't really plan to do any observations to find out. Maybe my male readers could tell me.
Here's one more thought that I have come up with on this topic over the past year or two. I think all of this new-fangled technology has taken some of the art out of road trips. It has taken some of the hassle out of it too, but we're going to focus on the art part today. Nowadays, when people go on a long trip, they bring along their Game Boy or handheld PlayStation (whatever they're called), their DVD player, their mp3 player, their cell phone, their GPS, books on CD/tape/mp3, and who knows what else. Using all of these gadgets, everyone can fully ignore everybody else in the car for the entire trip unless you have to request a bathroom stop, and in that case you just send a text message. :-)
Whatever happened to riding in the car and having a deep meaningful conversation, doing Chinese fire drills, playing the "who can keep their hand on the window the longest when it's 20 below" game, playing the license plate game, the alphabet game, everybody's mother's favorite "little red schoolhouse" game, singing songs a capella, getting lost because someone can't read the map, making signs to put in the windows of your car, tormenting your siblings because you're bored, and listening to your sister scream because your brother is bored and is tormenting your sister? I was also going to mention using walkie-talkies between cars, but maybe that counts as a new technology?
I don't think the art is completely dead yet though. A few months ago I met some kids from Minneapolis who still know how to do a road trip up right. They were doing all sorts of fun things including running to the thrift shop next door while gassing the car up, making up little car dances, and making the person whose turn it is to put in gas do something silly while they put in gas.
I agree with Jen that this remote communication stuff keeps people in their "bubble" more. But I try to resist this temptation sometimes and get out there and meet new and interesting people. And get to know some old friends better.
Here's a couple other random thoughts:
Reggie now has an opossum and a squirrel under his belt for the year. The opossum barely made any kind of thump, so it may not have been a direct hit.
There are some days when I'm at the YMCA when I wish I had a camera. Today I saw a lady on an exercise bike reading a newspaper with one pair of glasses on her face and another pair of glasses on her head in her hair. That just kind of struck my funny bone.
One of the best inventions ever was mapping programs on the computer. That's a definite good addition to the modern road trip. Maybe the next post will be all the benefits of road tripping with new technology.
Someone opined to me many months ago that people are more likely to say things on the internet, instant messenger, and e-mail that they would never say in person. I think that is probably true. The question then becomes: Do people do that because there is less personal interaction and they don't think about and can't see how their words will be taken by the other person? Or is it that people are more true to who they really are when they aren't face to face with somebody? Or, are they more likely to lie because they know it's less likely they will be caught when the person can't see their body language? With all these new and less personal methods of communication, will we start to have more and more antisocial people on the earth? Or is the human desire to have personal contact strong enough to prevent this?
I think people still know subconsciously that these remote methods of communication are not a substitute for personal interaction. At work, I work with people from at least three different countries almost every day, and I'm sure all the people at work, including me, would tell you that more effective work gets done when you have met the people you are working with in person. It's even more effective to sit near them every day while you work.
With all the blogs people have started, will this help people stay more connected or less connected to others? I definitely keep up with the lives of people who don't live near me much better if they have a blog. But, I don't see them or call them any more frequently. I just know what's going on in their life. Is that then a false sort of connection with someone? Are blogs a way for people to feel like they have had a conversation with someone when in reality they're only talking to themselves? Kind of like I'm doing now...
My favorite example that illustrates the ridiculousness of all this remote communication is when you see 3 or 4 teenagers in a car hanging out and cruising, and each one them has a cell phone attached to their ear. It's like, "Why are you bothering to try to be near each other if you're going to ignore each other?" By the way, that is one of my bigger pet peeves is when people come to visit you and then spend large portions of their time on the phone not visiting with you. Or vice versa, where somebody calls you and then spends all of their time talking to people in the room with them while you're on the phone. My biggest pet peeve is people who don't know how to listen. Laces Out Dan says that I have a lot of pet peeves, but I'm not sure that's true.
By the way, I don't have any answers to these questions, I just like to stir the "thought pot" every once in awhile.
If you don't know exactly where the Mason-Dixon line runs, here's another way to tell. You can tell you're in the south when they ask you if you want iced tea and it comes already sweetened. You're in the north if they ask you if you want iced tea and the default is unsweetened.
If a dyslexic person drives through Lansing, MI where I-69 and I-96 meet, what is the probability that they will end up on the wrong road, assuming they do not have GPS?
I don't have time to post something deep and meaningful, so here's a funny picture to tide you over the Labor Day Holiday. I believe its caption is "New Riding Lawnmower", and usually there's a good story to go along with it about a wife nagging the husband to get her a new riding lawnmower, so he does. Have a good weekend everyone!
Here's a brief summary of how I did in the triathlon. Maybe I'll post a picture later (later as in the next few days). The weather on Saturday was a bit chilly at Detroit Lakes, MN. The air temperatures were in the 60's with wind and threatening rain the whole time. Needless to say, it made the swim a bit rough.
Place out of females ages 29 and under: 27 of 29
Place out of all females: 68 of 76
Total time: 1:45:18
Swim time (1/3 mile): 27:40
Transition from swim to bike time: 3:42
Bike time (10 miles): 41:54
Transition from bike to run time: 1:04
Run time (3 miles): 31:00
Needless to say, I wasn't really burning up the track there, but I didn't drown, and I finished in less time than I thought I would, so it was all good. Contrary to Jen's belief, I had been planning to do this most of the summer, although you probably couldn't tell that from the amount I was exercising. What do you mean, I'm supposed to train? Plus, if I told everybody in advance, it would make this blog boring. I like to spring a surprise on my readership now and then.
Whoever you are that guessed that it would take me between 1.5-2.0 hours to finish, you guessed correctly. Once again, you get a free subscription to this blog and a possible opportunity to put a post on this wonderful publication. And to whoever guessed it would take me more than 3 hours I say, "Oh ye of little faith."
I was at one of my company's manufacturing divisions this week, and apparently sometime in the last year the city had passed an ordinance outlawing smoking in buildings. Anyway, what the company had done was build these little 10'x12' buildings with benches inside and windows all around so that employees have a designated place to smoke outside the building. I saw at least five of these little enclosures (I called them smoke shacks), and there were probably more of them.
On one hand it's sort of nice of the company to do that for the employees, but on the other hand it's sad if the union demanded that be done. It's even sadder that so many people use those smoke shacks. I don't know what the real motivation for the shacks was. In the design center where I work, they don't have smoke shacks. You're not allowed to smoke on company property unless you're in your car.
The 5.5 hour drive home was interesting. I went through an area where they were having severe thunderstorms. I saw some hail (luckily I had a rental car), and it was raining so hard part of the time that I had to pull over. I could see almost continuous lightning for about 1.5 hours. Speaking of rental cars, I was lucky enough to get a red Mustang. The only problem was there were too many cops in Indiana to put it through its paces.
That's all for now. Wish me luck in the triathlon!
And I'm not talking about the music. An "old" friend from college stopped by last week for a little over a day. Why, she must be at least three months older than me. We had fun going to the beach, then going to the beach again. And, we rented a kayak and tried that out on the big lake. What is that they say about friends? They're like M&M's? You know when you've picked a good one or something like that. Or maybe that was a wedg.....never mind. We saw a killer sunset too. It looked like Chicago was on fire.
By the way, you're all welcome to come and visit anytime (as long as I know you or you know someone I know). If you give me some warning, I might even clean the house for you.
Earlier this week, I did the scabies treatment, and it wasn't as bad as I had dreaded it to be. You put a medicated lotion/cream on your entire body from the chin down (under fingernails, armpits, soles of feet - everywhere), leave it on overnight, and then wash it off. Then they recommend washing in hot water all the clothes, sheets, and towels you've used in the last two days. The cream made my skin tingle some, but other than that it was OK. My new washer and dryer got a workout; I don't think I've done so many consecutive loads of laundry before in my life. Scabies actually are fairly "fragile", and most websites I read said that scabies can only last 24-72 hours at the most without a host, and usually they are only spread by direct skin-to-skin contact. That is apparently why you don't have to do a whole house disinfection.
After reading all about scabies, I'm still not sure if I had them or not. First of all, I'm not sure where I could have gotten it. Maybe on the Amtrak train? Maybe from the hotel sheets in Mexico? Maybe from kissing all those people in Mexico? :-) I wonder if they can live in a pool that's not properly chlorinated (Mexico again)? All of those situations fall in the 2-6 week time frame, but none of them fit the "direct skin-to-skin contact" requirement it doesn't seem, and I can't really think of any "skin-to-skin" scenarios. I did itch quite a bit, but it wasn't keeping me awake, which some sites said they would do. Maybe they hadn't gotten bad enough yet. There did seem to be a correlation between doing the treatment and the itching not being as bad, but it was only a correlation and not a proven causation. I guess I will never know for sure. "Usually" you can not get them through handshakes and brief hugs, but just in case I did have scabies and they beat the transfer odds, if you've seen me in the last 6 weeks, be on guard for unbearable itching symptoms!
Speaking of human parasites, if you're going to get one, probably scabies isn't so bad. You do NOT want bed bugs. Those suckers can live for up to 18 months without a host, only come out to feed about once every 5 days, and they can hide in all kinds of cracks and crevices from what I read. Fleas too can apparently live weeks without a host. Sure, the symptoms of scabies are worse, but I think I would prefer that to living in fear of other parasites reoccurring months or even a year later. Maybe a tapeworm would be preferred over scabies though? I've never had one, so I don't know......
Two of you guessed correctly that it would be 11-20 days from July 13th before I turned on my air conditioning. I turned it on last night (20 days from Day 0). I think this is a new personal record. Last year I turned it on around July 17th or so if I remember correctly. The cooler weather here in July helped. For those of you who guessed correctly, you get a free year's subscription to the MelB Marvis blog! Maybe I'll let you do one post sometime if you let me know who you are.
I won't bore you with too many details here, but I've had itching/rash over my legs and arms for more than a week, so I finally went to the doctor. The doctor said, "My first suspicion is poison ivy, and my second one is scabies." So he called the physician's assistant in to look at it too. He looked at it, and then they went out into the hall to have a consultation amongst themselves. It was only semi-private as I could hear them somewhat through the door. When the doctor finally came back, he said, "I think it's probably poison ivy, the P.A. thinks it's scabies, so we arm wrestled to determine which diagnosis you got." After a little bit of discussion, I decided that if it was poison ivy I would just tough it out, and in case it was scabies I would do the treatment for scabies. If the scabies was cured by the treatment, symptoms would generally go away in two weeks, which was about the same for poison ivy. So unless the scabies has a relapse, I'll never really know which one it was. Nice. Engineers hate not being able to find the definitive root cause.
Interesting fact: If it's the first time you've had scabies, they usually take 2-6 weeks to make themselves evident. If you've had them before, you're more sensitized, and symptoms will appear within days. Other interesting fact: Scabies can sometimes be commonly known as "the itch" or "seven year itch" and is fairly contagious.
Here's an AC update now that my poll is closed: So far I haven't turned it on, but it's possible I may have to in the next couple of days since I have company coming and the temperatures are supposed to be in the upper 80's and lower 90's for at least the next five days. I may have to be courteous to my visitor and turn it on. Plus, being warm makes the itching worse, so I might do it for my own comfort too.
It looks like the old "blog" days of summer have set in for all of the bloggers out there. You know, that time in late July and August when it gets really nice outside and you just don't feel like blogging. It's also when us bloggers actually have a tiny bit of a life and don't feel as compulsive about documenting that life because we're too busy living it.
Or, could it be that blogging was a fad, and now that I've jumped on the bandwagon it's scaring everybody off? Actually, I think I'm pushing them off and underneath the tires......and that'll be enough silliness for today, OK?
We have a lovely drawbridge here in town (actually, we have two), and as I was sitting in my car today waiting for the drawbridge to go down, I thought of a great bridge crossing process improvement. The city should install a sign on either side of the bridge that tells drivers what kind of drawbridge event is currently going on. If it's going to be a "quickie" where the bridge just goes up and then down to let a few large sailboats through, they could display something like "No need to panic, this will be only a short delay". But, if the big freighter is coming in and the bridge is going to be up for half an hour while it squuuueeeeeeezes through the drawbridge, then they could say "Wait will be long - us the other bridge, doofus". I think you get the picture. Wouldn't that be so much better? And today, they could have told me "Medium delay - a couple medium sized ships coming through". That way I could have read the sign ahead of time and made an educated turn before I got hemmed in at the stoplight right before the bridge.
Speaking of the drawbridges, it is about the only valid excuse you could use to be late to an early morning or after-lunch meeting here. The "caught in traffic" excuse just doesn't fly for some reason. I'm not sure, but I think to use that excuse the town actually has to have some of that traffic stuff. The other excuse that could maybe work is "I got stuck at the railroad tracks" because of the train that went through, but that one is risky because the train goes right by (and I mean RIGHT by) the building where I work, so if your boss is observant......you may be out of luck there. Unfortunately, I can't use either excuse in the morning since my house and work are both on the same side of the drawbridge AND the train tracks. Now after lunch...........of course I don't use the excuses then either. Come on people, what do I look like, a slacker?
What to say, what to say. I suppose I could recap my weekend, but I don't really feel like it, and I haven't downloaded the pictures from it either. Hmmm....I got nothing, people. There's nothing to see here. It's just the start of another work week and another nice summer day gone. I didn't have any meetings at work today, and I don't have any scheduled for tomorrow either, so some REAL work is getting done. I guess I'll just say "Hi" to the rest of my family who's having fun "Spending the day(s) in Medora". And, belated Happy Birthday to my older sister. You know who you are. Move along folks, move along.
Yep, I installed these babies myself (with some help from some friends at work who helped deliver them and manhandle them into the basement). I'm not sure if those guys are still my friends or not. ;-) They're the Whirlpool Duet Sport laundry pair. They're the slightly smaller version of the original Duets, but no less powerful of course.
Installing these got me to thinking, "Why do we almost always put the washer on the left and the dryer on the right?" I figure by now it's pretty much industry standard and makes construction, plumbing, electrical wiring, appliance manufacturing (default door swing), etc. easier and cheaper, but who decided that would be the industry standard? Is it because we read from left to right, so people figure they should also do laundry left to right? Does that mean the ancient Chinese did their laundry from right to left? In Europe, they must be confused about which way to go because the majority of people there don't even have a dryer. Maybe they install their clothesline to the right of the washer?
