Tag: Misc

It’s been a number of years since I’ve driven in snow and I had the opportunity again this weekend while we visited the San Jacinto Mountains. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience as my wheels were spinning a little; luckily I wasn’t going fast and was able to recover quickly. However, it is definitely a reason to get a four wheel drive vehicle if I plan on coming up to the snow more often than once every few years.

I understand how much of a tool a cell phone can be, but can’t people go a few hours without using them? I got on the plane to come home yesterday and this lady who is yapping away on her phone sits down next to me. She continues to make calls until the doors are closed including during the time that the flight attendant is making the safety briefing for those of us in the emergency exit row. Then as we’re getting off the plane, she starts making more calls and takes her sweet time getting off the plane and going down the jetway. If she wants to talk, wait until we get off the jetway, move to the side, or speed up so people don’t have to pass her.

Uggh.

One of the nicest things about being in a big city for most of the week and being able to rely on public transportation (I used BART to and from the Oakland airport) is that I didn’t have to drive for a few days. It is such a relief to not have to deal with bad drivers. Within 10 minutes of me getting back into my car after the trip, I was almost hit by 2 drivers. The first driver decided he wanted to merge into me and then cut over 3 lanes. He got honked at for being an idiot. The second driver missed the big red stop sign on the entrance ramp to Pacific Highway. I saw the stop sign, saw the speed at which he was travelling, and knew he’d blow right through the stop sign. Geez. I’m not saying I’m a perfect driver, but at least I’m paying attention and try to merge without ticking off other drivers.

This past week while at Macworld, I saw a number of men use the restroom and then walk out without washing their hands. This is beyond disgusting; I can’t understand how/why people do it when there are sinks with soap and towels right there. Some of the men were in suits. Yuck.

While exiting the bathroom, I only open the door using a paper towel (or my shirt sleeve if a towel isn’t around) knowing that men use the bathroom and then open the door with their hands.

I was in the security line at the airport when someone behind me switched to another line and then switched back to my line in front of me. She didn’t say anything, just cut in front of me. Uggh. I saw that she had a New York license; these kind of people give New Yorkers a bad name.

Lately my wife and I have been talking about what skills kids need these days to “survive” in the real world. Reading, writing and arithmetic are great starts, but there are just some practical things that don’t seem to be taught in school. For instance, knowing how to use credit (money isn’t free and paying the minimum is going to take a long time to pay it off; however, the minimum has now doubled under recent banking changes), how interest rates affect borrowing power (each additional 1% increase in interest causes a big increase in monthly payments), how to balance a bank account, etc. While these items are all money related, there are other ideas, but I can’t think of them right now.

I was quite excited to see a comment on my blog today. I read the blog and the person tried to contact me via my contact form and couldn’t (I messed up the Apache permissions). He wanted to contact me about a product I wrote years ago for a client. Why contact me? It’s not my product and I don’t have it. It’s like if I contacted the original author of HyperCard and asked how I could get a copy. How would he know?

Please keep comments relevant.

I was using RapidWeaver’s blogging system up until today, but found it quite limiting and frankly slow at creating new entries. So I’ve decided to try GeekLog as it is a more full featured system. Unfortuantely, I have to move all my old entries to the new system. I’ve moved about 25% of the entries over. Slow process, but I think it will be worth it.

Our wonderful local newspaper, the San Diego Union Tribune, needs to do a little research when stealing clipart to use for different sections. In yesterday’s paper, I see a symbol called the Star of Life which is used by paramedics, EMTs, as well as on ambulances. I recalled that this was a registered trademark registered to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that could be used only by paramedics, etc. Also, the registration was set to expire in 1997. After a little research (look for serial number 73033491), I found that the trademark was renewed in 1997 and the US Patent and Trademark Office had a note on the registration that said:THE CERTIFICATION MARK IS USED BY PERSONS AUTHORIZED BY APPLICANT TO CERTIFY THAT EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE VEHICLES MEET U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION STANDARDS (CLASS A), THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE PERSONNEL OPERATING THE VEHICLE HAVE BEEN TRAINED TO MEET U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION STANDARDS (CLASS B), OR BOTH.So, as a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), I’m allowed to use the mark. The newspaper, however, isn’t. I sent the paper email telling them to knock it off.

This past weekend, my wife and I went to Las Vegas for a family gathering on her side. (Why we went to Las Vegas, we’re still wondering; her family sits around and watches football all weekend. Can’t we do that in California without the smoke, gambling, and crowds?) I’m amazed at how much money is in Las Vegas and how much people spend. A large majority of people lose money (otherwise Las Vegas wouldn’t have money). I just can’t understand how people can afford to drop so much money. I was watching one lady playing 2 $1 slot machines stuffing them with $100 bills and just hitting the button. She wasn’t really winning and just kept feeding it. Seems to me, she lost a few hundred bucks in a few minutes. To me, it just seems like flushing money down the toilet. My wife had a good time playing the penny slots. I had no luck and lost about $5 in the penny slots in a matter of minutes. She played for a few hours on about $3.

I hate smoke and don’t drink, so Las Vegas isn’t the place for me. However, I had a good time watching my wife play the slots. It was also good to get away. When we got home, we went into the decontamination chamber (the garage where the washing machine is) and washed all our clothes immediately even before getting into the house. Smoke really penetrates everything. Yuck.