~~~~~~
There are 10 kinds of people in the World.
Those who think in binary and those who don't.
~~~~~~
Friday, January 25, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Dream On
Dreams are a very interesting concept. In a recent comment, Shannon posed this question: if you have a dream, and there is a person or place in your dream that you've never seen, does that place or person exist?
Over the years, my wife has asked, or at least wondered aloud, the same basic question a few of times.
Well, I am always up for giving my opinion on anything of a vague nature; so here we go.
First of all, I ask that you clear you mind for a moment. Picture yourself on a mountaintop with a gentle breaze blowing. In the meadow just below, there is a young fawn frollicking about. Seriously, stop reading for a minute and picture the scene.
OK, now that we are all warm and fuzzy inside, let's continue.
If you played along, let me ask you a couple questions.
1) Was the place you imagined a real place?
2) Was the deer you imagined a real deer?
I'd say that our mind can construe pretty much whatever we want it to, real or not. If you know of a mountaintop that over looks a meadow, you very possibly thought of that. Otherwise, you impovised. You know what a mountaintop looks like and you know what a meadow looks like, so you created your own imaginary place.
You know what a deer looks like because you have seen one in person or in a picture or video, so you can imagine one. In this case you are probably picturing, to the best of your recollection, a "real" deer.
I think the same holds true for people. Even before any of us are of grade school age, we have seen thousands and thousands of people. When we dream, we can either recall (subconsciously) that grocery clerk from 1985 or maybe someone you walked past in the airport somewhere along the way.
Now if I would have told you to think of a deer hobbling about on a broken leg, you could have, but unless you have actually seen a deer with a broken leg before, your mind is improvising again.
In this same way, I believe your mind can "adjust" or even combine these stored images. For instance you should be able to picture in your mind what I would look like with a beard, even though none of you have never seen me with one. It's not a real beard and everyone will have their own interpretation, but your mind can create it.
So, in summary, I say that no, not all of the people in our dreams are necessarily real, but I think our mind has created the images from a real person or persons somewhere in your past, be it recent or distant.
Also, we definitely dream of some real places, but we can also make up what ever surroundings we want or 'need' for our dream.
There you have it, another worthless opinion :)
Over the years, my wife has asked, or at least wondered aloud, the same basic question a few of times.
Well, I am always up for giving my opinion on anything of a vague nature; so here we go.
First of all, I ask that you clear you mind for a moment. Picture yourself on a mountaintop with a gentle breaze blowing. In the meadow just below, there is a young fawn frollicking about. Seriously, stop reading for a minute and picture the scene.
OK, now that we are all warm and fuzzy inside, let's continue.
If you played along, let me ask you a couple questions.
1) Was the place you imagined a real place?
2) Was the deer you imagined a real deer?
I'd say that our mind can construe pretty much whatever we want it to, real or not. If you know of a mountaintop that over looks a meadow, you very possibly thought of that. Otherwise, you impovised. You know what a mountaintop looks like and you know what a meadow looks like, so you created your own imaginary place.
You know what a deer looks like because you have seen one in person or in a picture or video, so you can imagine one. In this case you are probably picturing, to the best of your recollection, a "real" deer.
I think the same holds true for people. Even before any of us are of grade school age, we have seen thousands and thousands of people. When we dream, we can either recall (subconsciously) that grocery clerk from 1985 or maybe someone you walked past in the airport somewhere along the way.
Now if I would have told you to think of a deer hobbling about on a broken leg, you could have, but unless you have actually seen a deer with a broken leg before, your mind is improvising again.
In this same way, I believe your mind can "adjust" or even combine these stored images. For instance you should be able to picture in your mind what I would look like with a beard, even though none of you have never seen me with one. It's not a real beard and everyone will have their own interpretation, but your mind can create it.
So, in summary, I say that no, not all of the people in our dreams are necessarily real, but I think our mind has created the images from a real person or persons somewhere in your past, be it recent or distant.
Also, we definitely dream of some real places, but we can also make up what ever surroundings we want or 'need' for our dream.
There you have it, another worthless opinion :)
Monday, December 17, 2007
If the Shoe Fits
I wear shoes sized about 10, sometimes 9 ½, sometimes 10 ½ . So what does that mean?
And why is a men's size 10 a different size than a woman's size 10? Why not just tell me the interior dimensions of the shoe? That way I would always know which shoe fits my foot, whether it's a steel toed work boot or a color coordinated pump, which, of course, I know nothing about.
When I go buy a pair of Levi's, I can look at the label and grab a pair that is 29inches around the waist and 32 inches long (ok, ok, maybe I couldn't actually squeeze into them, but I could find them). I don't have to look for a size 18 ½ and guess at what the real dimensions are. I know, it's not uncommon for women's and kids clothing to go by sizes. But I digress?
So, I usually wear a size 10 shoe, but when I buy one of my favorites, and an American classic I might add, Converse Allstars, I wear a 9 ½ . The shoe salesman will proudly proclaim that "Converse tend to run big", as if to assure me that he is indeed well versed in the internal workings of the shoe manufacturers and therefore worthy of my business. Now as much as I love Converse, let's be frank; They don't run big, they are just labeled wrong! If any given shoe company is consistently a ½ size off so as to warrant the "They tend to run big" comment for over 50 years, why don't they suck it up, admit they are wrong and label the dang thing right (as right as they can using a 0.5 increment numbering system instead of a more accurate form of measurement).
Furthermore, kids have their own sizing and once they reach a certain point (size 13) they get to start over as a real person, at size 1. Again, why don't we just indicate how long the shoe is and let us figure out the rest. This brings up another stinkin' labeling disaster; baby clothes. Yeah, according to my calculations every child in the US no matter how large or small they were at birth, no matter how "big boned" their parents are, no matter how many mashed peas and carrots they've been eating, should, in theory, be the same size when they are 9months old, so let's just label the clothes by age instead of size!
Although the whole shoe and clothes sizing schemes are very interesting and could merit their own columns, they are not the crux (interesting word - crux) of this article.
I would like to go a bit deeper and explore an even bigger mystery: sock sizing. Socks have their own sizing chart, one that is totally different than the shoe sizing chart.
So, if my foot is 10 7/8 inches long, I need a size 9 ½ shoe and a size 13 sock. Genius. Furthermore, that size 13 sock says right on the package "Fits shoe size 9-12". Now come on, if my foot is different enough to require a different shoe size, shouldn't I also get the option to wear a different sized sock? Maybe I will go back to wearing the ever fashionable tube socks, at least they don't have a pre-determined heal reinforcement, so nobody knows if they really fit or not.
And another thing, why can't I get a pair of socks that are not, for lack of a better word, ambidextrous? The front of my foot is not shaped like a brick, why is my sock? Just for the record, I am aware of some socks that are foot specific, but I am NOT going to were anything with multicolored, individually wrapped toes!
Well, somewhere along the line, a person much more blog-knowledgeable than myself told me that I should keep my blogs short and sweet. I don't do sweet very well, so I'm gonna try to adhere more closely to the first part. But at the same time, by visiting a blog entitled "Endless Rambling", you should inherently expect that some posts will be somewhat opposite of "short and sweet".
Until next time...put a sock in it.
And why is a men's size 10 a different size than a woman's size 10? Why not just tell me the interior dimensions of the shoe? That way I would always know which shoe fits my foot, whether it's a steel toed work boot or a color coordinated pump, which, of course, I know nothing about.
When I go buy a pair of Levi's, I can look at the label and grab a pair that is 29inches around the waist and 32 inches long (ok, ok, maybe I couldn't actually squeeze into them, but I could find them). I don't have to look for a size 18 ½ and guess at what the real dimensions are. I know, it's not uncommon for women's and kids clothing to go by sizes. But I digress?
So, I usually wear a size 10 shoe, but when I buy one of my favorites, and an American classic I might add, Converse Allstars, I wear a 9 ½ . The shoe salesman will proudly proclaim that "Converse tend to run big", as if to assure me that he is indeed well versed in the internal workings of the shoe manufacturers and therefore worthy of my business. Now as much as I love Converse, let's be frank; They don't run big, they are just labeled wrong! If any given shoe company is consistently a ½ size off so as to warrant the "They tend to run big" comment for over 50 years, why don't they suck it up, admit they are wrong and label the dang thing right (as right as they can using a 0.5 increment numbering system instead of a more accurate form of measurement).
Furthermore, kids have their own sizing and once they reach a certain point (size 13) they get to start over as a real person, at size 1. Again, why don't we just indicate how long the shoe is and let us figure out the rest. This brings up another stinkin' labeling disaster; baby clothes. Yeah, according to my calculations every child in the US no matter how large or small they were at birth, no matter how "big boned" their parents are, no matter how many mashed peas and carrots they've been eating, should, in theory, be the same size when they are 9months old, so let's just label the clothes by age instead of size!
Although the whole shoe and clothes sizing schemes are very interesting and could merit their own columns, they are not the crux (interesting word - crux) of this article.
I would like to go a bit deeper and explore an even bigger mystery: sock sizing. Socks have their own sizing chart, one that is totally different than the shoe sizing chart.
So, if my foot is 10 7/8 inches long, I need a size 9 ½ shoe and a size 13 sock. Genius. Furthermore, that size 13 sock says right on the package "Fits shoe size 9-12". Now come on, if my foot is different enough to require a different shoe size, shouldn't I also get the option to wear a different sized sock? Maybe I will go back to wearing the ever fashionable tube socks, at least they don't have a pre-determined heal reinforcement, so nobody knows if they really fit or not.
And another thing, why can't I get a pair of socks that are not, for lack of a better word, ambidextrous? The front of my foot is not shaped like a brick, why is my sock? Just for the record, I am aware of some socks that are foot specific, but I am NOT going to were anything with multicolored, individually wrapped toes!
Well, somewhere along the line, a person much more blog-knowledgeable than myself told me that I should keep my blogs short and sweet. I don't do sweet very well, so I'm gonna try to adhere more closely to the first part. But at the same time, by visiting a blog entitled "Endless Rambling", you should inherently expect that some posts will be somewhat opposite of "short and sweet".
Until next time...put a sock in it.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Friday, August 31, 2007
My date with the Home-Wrecker
So there I was, heading to work on a fairly uneventful morning. I was traveling North on Meridian Road a little before 5:30am. As I approached the intersection at Victory, I noticed flashing yellow lights from a couple of pilot cars. One of them swerved and came to a stop slightly in my lane. The car in front of me stopped and I came to a stop quite a ways behind him (maybe50 feet from the actual intersection). A couple cars were passing in the lane to my right so I just stayed where I was. It was dark out and other than the truck pulling it, there were no lights on the oversized load.
Just before it reached the intersection, the pilot cars took off and headed South. The car up a bit in my lane pulled around and took off. I could see that the load was a very wide one-story building. There were three empty lanes beside me and the house was comfortably taking up residence within them. That is until the driver decided he wanted to take up even more room and swerved toward the center of the road as he went through the intersection. About that time I also noticed that the steel I-beam that was supporting the house, was also protruding a couple feet beyond the structure itself, heading right toward me.
As the house barreled down on me (30-40 mph I'd guess), my destiny was clear, I would share the same fate as the Wicked Witch of the West. When CSI showed up, they would find me under a house with only my legs visible, my converse sparkling in the moonlight.
I reached for the shift lever to slam it into reverse, but I never made it that far, because I didn't have time to see if anybody was coming up behind me or in the other North bound lane. Then Holy-Basements Batman, the house was practically on top of me and BAM!
I was jolted back a bit but then just sat there shaking my head, thinking "That didn't just happen". I limped my truck to the side of the road and saw that the house had stopped (basically creating Meridian Road Cul-de-sac). "Sheesh!" I said to myself, "this guy must not be House Trained." About then, a lady came running around from the back porch (the drivers side) and was very apologetic. She asked if I was ok, said "I'm so sorry" and was more than happy to write down her name and number on the back of the gas receipt I handed to her. She seemed to be the "My house is your house" kind of a person; up until I asked for her insurance, that is. She said "Well, see, that's the thing...I'm gonna have to pay you out of my pocket".
Hmm, yeah, I've heard that before. I took it as "I'm sorry I don't actually have any insurance, is that a problem?" I pondered that for a moment: Would a homeowners policy cover this? About that time she turned and looked at the cul-de-sac and said "I gotta get this outta here." As they drove away, I thought "There goes the neighborhood".
So I called my wife to let her know what happened and see if she could come and save me. The truck made some noises as I pulled it to the side of the road and I couldn't open my door, so I hadn't gotten out yet. While she was looking up the number for the county sheriff, I saw one stopped at the light behind me, so I jumped out the passenger side to flag him down. Apparently somebody had called and told them that there was some dude (me) sitting on the side of the road in a wrecked truck, so the cop was coming my way already.
He had no clue what had taken place so the first thing he asked me was "So, what happened?" He was very friendly, but I sensed a bit of apprehension in his voice and couldn't help but think that he figured I had been drinking and rammed something, then pulled over.
"Well," I said, "I was stopped in the road right there and along came this house and hit me."
I thought to myself, "Wow, that might not have sounded very convincing" and had visions of walking a line and breathing into a straw.
To my surprise he didn't make me touch my nose with alternating fingertips, but instead kind of chuckled as he looked around and said "Uh, where's the house?"
In response, I pointed off into the darkness and eeked out a "Headed toward Kuna."
By this time another other police officer (from Meridian Police Dept) had joined the festivities and stated "I'm going to go after the house."
It was all very humorous in a not-so-funny sort of way.
More police stopped by briefly, including a traffic cop on a motorcycle, before continuing on to the site where the building had been pulled over.
Soon, with Dionna and the girls there to pick me up and a tow truck to pick up my now snub-nosed Silverado, I gave the officer my completed accident report. I instructed the towing guy to drop the truck off at the Chevy dealership in Boise on Fairview and we all parted ways.
On the way home we saw the house, which was now entirely blocking Amity road, hanging over onto both shoulders of the two lane road. There were a handful of miscellaneous cops there; city, county and state with lights flashing to help keep an eye on the whole process. House arrest, I suppose.
At 9am, I looked up "Chevrolet of Boise" on Fairview and called them:
The receptionist transferred me to the Service Department, which had no clue what I was talking about and said that nothing had been dropped off that morning. So I asked for the number to the Chevy body shop. He fumbled around and asked a few other people, but couldn't come up with the number. So I called the receptionist back and asked for the body shop. She sounded confused and ruffled through some papers before finally giving me a number to call.
I called that number (which answered Peterson Body Shop), they said they had no truck but that there were "two" Chevy of Boise auto body shops and she gave me the number of the other one - the number she gave me was the same number that had given me her number.
I called first number again (they answered Lithia) and they told me they didn't have a truck and furthermore didn't have a body shop any longer. She went on to tell me that Peterson Auto had purchased Lithia just two days ago and now all body work was done across the street at Peterson Body Shop (which is now technically the only Chevrolet of Boise body shop).
I called AAA to get the number of the towing company.
I called the towing company. The dispatcher chuckled and told me she had just talked to the driver about this and that, after some confusion, they told the driver to leave the truck at Chevrolet of Boise, space 23.
I called the first Chevy number again and they said that they hadn't gotten any keys turned in and that they don't even have a body shop on site.
I called the second Chevy number and they reassured me that they don't have the truck and that they don't even have numbered spaces anyway. I asked a very strait forward question: "OK, tell me one thing. Are you Chevrolet of Boise?"
To this her answer was, and I quote, "Ummm, I don't know."
Come on, even the "Would you like fries with that?" girl at McDonalds knows where she works.
Well, getting nowhere over the phone, we had to drive down to the Chevy dealer, locate my truck in the back lot and show them where it was. Both places are supposedly owned by the same company now, but didn't seem to have any coherent communication.
The Peterson Body Shop wasn't very professional and just seemed very lackadaisical (cool word). The young receptionist was more interested in how Dionna did her hair in the morning, what kind of curling iron she used and how much hair spray, than helping me. As we waited for the appraisal, she went back talking specifics about hair, then finally moved on to playing checkers on her computer (and actually told us how much she liked play games on the computer).
We did end up taking the truck to a different body shop. One that actually seemed to knew who they were and what they were talking about.
That's the story for now...here is a photo that I like to call "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition":
Just before it reached the intersection, the pilot cars took off and headed South. The car up a bit in my lane pulled around and took off. I could see that the load was a very wide one-story building. There were three empty lanes beside me and the house was comfortably taking up residence within them. That is until the driver decided he wanted to take up even more room and swerved toward the center of the road as he went through the intersection. About that time I also noticed that the steel I-beam that was supporting the house, was also protruding a couple feet beyond the structure itself, heading right toward me.
As the house barreled down on me (30-40 mph I'd guess), my destiny was clear, I would share the same fate as the Wicked Witch of the West. When CSI showed up, they would find me under a house with only my legs visible, my converse sparkling in the moonlight.
I reached for the shift lever to slam it into reverse, but I never made it that far, because I didn't have time to see if anybody was coming up behind me or in the other North bound lane. Then Holy-Basements Batman, the house was practically on top of me and BAM!
I was jolted back a bit but then just sat there shaking my head, thinking "That didn't just happen". I limped my truck to the side of the road and saw that the house had stopped (basically creating Meridian Road Cul-de-sac). "Sheesh!" I said to myself, "this guy must not be House Trained." About then, a lady came running around from the back porch (the drivers side) and was very apologetic. She asked if I was ok, said "I'm so sorry" and was more than happy to write down her name and number on the back of the gas receipt I handed to her. She seemed to be the "My house is your house" kind of a person; up until I asked for her insurance, that is. She said "Well, see, that's the thing...I'm gonna have to pay you out of my pocket".
Hmm, yeah, I've heard that before. I took it as "I'm sorry I don't actually have any insurance, is that a problem?" I pondered that for a moment: Would a homeowners policy cover this? About that time she turned and looked at the cul-de-sac and said "I gotta get this outta here." As they drove away, I thought "There goes the neighborhood".
So I called my wife to let her know what happened and see if she could come and save me. The truck made some noises as I pulled it to the side of the road and I couldn't open my door, so I hadn't gotten out yet. While she was looking up the number for the county sheriff, I saw one stopped at the light behind me, so I jumped out the passenger side to flag him down. Apparently somebody had called and told them that there was some dude (me) sitting on the side of the road in a wrecked truck, so the cop was coming my way already.
He had no clue what had taken place so the first thing he asked me was "So, what happened?" He was very friendly, but I sensed a bit of apprehension in his voice and couldn't help but think that he figured I had been drinking and rammed something, then pulled over.
"Well," I said, "I was stopped in the road right there and along came this house and hit me."
I thought to myself, "Wow, that might not have sounded very convincing" and had visions of walking a line and breathing into a straw.
To my surprise he didn't make me touch my nose with alternating fingertips, but instead kind of chuckled as he looked around and said "Uh, where's the house?"
In response, I pointed off into the darkness and eeked out a "Headed toward Kuna."
By this time another other police officer (from Meridian Police Dept) had joined the festivities and stated "I'm going to go after the house."
It was all very humorous in a not-so-funny sort of way.
More police stopped by briefly, including a traffic cop on a motorcycle, before continuing on to the site where the building had been pulled over.
Soon, with Dionna and the girls there to pick me up and a tow truck to pick up my now snub-nosed Silverado, I gave the officer my completed accident report. I instructed the towing guy to drop the truck off at the Chevy dealership in Boise on Fairview and we all parted ways.
On the way home we saw the house, which was now entirely blocking Amity road, hanging over onto both shoulders of the two lane road. There were a handful of miscellaneous cops there; city, county and state with lights flashing to help keep an eye on the whole process. House arrest, I suppose.
At 9am, I looked up "Chevrolet of Boise" on Fairview and called them:
The receptionist transferred me to the Service Department, which had no clue what I was talking about and said that nothing had been dropped off that morning. So I asked for the number to the Chevy body shop. He fumbled around and asked a few other people, but couldn't come up with the number. So I called the receptionist back and asked for the body shop. She sounded confused and ruffled through some papers before finally giving me a number to call.
I called that number (which answered Peterson Body Shop), they said they had no truck but that there were "two" Chevy of Boise auto body shops and she gave me the number of the other one - the number she gave me was the same number that had given me her number.
I called first number again (they answered Lithia) and they told me they didn't have a truck and furthermore didn't have a body shop any longer. She went on to tell me that Peterson Auto had purchased Lithia just two days ago and now all body work was done across the street at Peterson Body Shop (which is now technically the only Chevrolet of Boise body shop).
I called AAA to get the number of the towing company.
I called the towing company. The dispatcher chuckled and told me she had just talked to the driver about this and that, after some confusion, they told the driver to leave the truck at Chevrolet of Boise, space 23.
I called the first Chevy number again and they said that they hadn't gotten any keys turned in and that they don't even have a body shop on site.
I called the second Chevy number and they reassured me that they don't have the truck and that they don't even have numbered spaces anyway. I asked a very strait forward question: "OK, tell me one thing. Are you Chevrolet of Boise?"
To this her answer was, and I quote, "Ummm, I don't know."
Come on, even the "Would you like fries with that?" girl at McDonalds knows where she works.
Well, getting nowhere over the phone, we had to drive down to the Chevy dealer, locate my truck in the back lot and show them where it was. Both places are supposedly owned by the same company now, but didn't seem to have any coherent communication.
The Peterson Body Shop wasn't very professional and just seemed very lackadaisical (cool word). The young receptionist was more interested in how Dionna did her hair in the morning, what kind of curling iron she used and how much hair spray, than helping me. As we waited for the appraisal, she went back talking specifics about hair, then finally moved on to playing checkers on her computer (and actually told us how much she liked play games on the computer).
We did end up taking the truck to a different body shop. One that actually seemed to knew who they were and what they were talking about.
That's the story for now...here is a photo that I like to call "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition":
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
In Case of Emergency
This is a test. This is only a test. For the next sixty seconds,
this blog will conduct a test of the Emergency Blogcast System.
The blogcaster of your area in voluntary cooperation with
himself, unbeknowst to federal, state or local authorities, has
developed this system to keep you informed in the event of a
virtual emergency.
If this had been an actual cyber emergency, the Attention Signal
you never heard would have been followed by unofficial information,
and/or no further instructions.
Thank you for your time, your participation in this effort makes this
blog a safer place for us all.
this blog will conduct a test of the Emergency Blogcast System.
The blogcaster of your area in voluntary cooperation with
himself, unbeknowst to federal, state or local authorities, has
developed this system to keep you informed in the event of a
virtual emergency.
If this had been an actual cyber emergency, the Attention Signal
you never heard would have been followed by unofficial information,
and/or no further instructions.
Thank you for your time, your participation in this effort makes this
blog a safer place for us all.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Needless to say...(but I'm going to say it anyway)
Why would anyone preface anything with these words:
"Needless to say"
If that's true, then DON'T say it.
On the other hand, if women would use this reliably, prefacing all
"fluff" statements with "Needless to say", it would make it a lot
easier for us guys to pick up on what is actually important to
listen to. Just a thought...
Another phrase that people tend to use without really thinking is
"I could care less!"
If they could really care less, then that means that they actually DO
care about the situation, at least more so than they care for some
other stuff.
What they should say in those situations is:
"I couldn't care less!"
Meaning that this is the absolute bottom of their care pile and that,
at this point, there is no way that they could care any less about
anything else.
Regardless wether or not that is true, that is the extreme position
one is normally trying to portray with that phrase.
And that's another thing; "Regardless". We know that it means:
without regard to. Meaning that there is no cause or effect. An
example:
"The game will go on, regardless of weather"
This means that the game will go on no matter what kind of weather
may occur.
Ok, all that to say this; Why do people use the term "irregardless"?
Prefixing a word with "ir" usually negates the word, such as:
rational/irrational
replaceable/irreplaceable
responsible/irresponsible
But at the same time, suffixing a word with "less" has the same
negative effect, such as:
mind/mindless
clue/clueless
thought/thoughtless
So, that brings us back to "irregardless" (which is a real English
word).
The interesting thing about "irregardless" is that it is a double
negative. One could deduce that in this case "regard" and
"irregardless" both mean the exact same thing.
Not so, surprisingly "regardless" and "irregardless" have
the exact same meaning. This pretty much rules out any rational
reason for having both words. One of them should go, namely
"irregardless".
Nope, I ain't not gonna say nothing more about not using no double
negatives, or not.
"Needless to say"
If that's true, then DON'T say it.
On the other hand, if women would use this reliably, prefacing all
"fluff" statements with "Needless to say", it would make it a lot
easier for us guys to pick up on what is actually important to
listen to. Just a thought...
Another phrase that people tend to use without really thinking is
"I could care less!"
If they could really care less, then that means that they actually DO
care about the situation, at least more so than they care for some
other stuff.
What they should say in those situations is:
"I couldn't care less!"
Meaning that this is the absolute bottom of their care pile and that,
at this point, there is no way that they could care any less about
anything else.
Regardless wether or not that is true, that is the extreme position
one is normally trying to portray with that phrase.
And that's another thing; "Regardless". We know that it means:
without regard to. Meaning that there is no cause or effect. An
example:
"The game will go on, regardless of weather"
This means that the game will go on no matter what kind of weather
may occur.
Ok, all that to say this; Why do people use the term "irregardless"?
Prefixing a word with "ir" usually negates the word, such as:
rational/irrational
replaceable/irreplaceable
responsible/irresponsible
But at the same time, suffixing a word with "less" has the same
negative effect, such as:
mind/mindless
clue/clueless
thought/thoughtless
So, that brings us back to "irregardless" (which is a real English
word).
The interesting thing about "irregardless" is that it is a double
negative. One could deduce that in this case "regard" and
"irregardless" both mean the exact same thing.
Not so, surprisingly "regardless" and "irregardless" have
the exact same meaning. This pretty much rules out any rational
reason for having both words. One of them should go, namely
"irregardless".
Nope, I ain't not gonna say nothing more about not using no double
negatives, or not.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
To Tag or not to Tag, that is the question.
OK, well I was 'tagged' by my lovely wife. She said to see
her blog for details.
I didn't find these 'details', so I made my own rules.
I decided 4 was too few for most things so I decided to go with
an even dozen. And why not, if chickens can do it, so can I.
Besides, it aint called ENDLESS Rambling for nuttin'...
12 Jobs I've Had:
*Berry Picker
*Newpaper Delivery
*Cannery Beltline
*Sludge House Attendant
*Dishwasher
*Landscaper
*Math Tutor
*Data Entry
*Maintenence Crew
*Truck Preloader
*UPS Delivery Driver
*Carnie
-------------------------------
12 Places I've Lived:
*SanBernardino, California
*Port Orford, Oregon
*Coos Bay, Oregon
*Grants Pass, Oregon
*Riley, Kansas
*Gresham, Oregon
*Fairview, Oregon
*Keizer, Oregon
*Salem, Oregon
*Independence, Oregon
*Portland, Oregon
*Dallas, Oregon
-------------------------------
12 Schools I've Gone to:
*Port Orford Grade
*Allendale Elem
*Riley Grade
*Boring Grade
*North Gresham Grade
*Fairview Elem
*Columbia View Jr High
*Whiteaker Jr High
*McNary High
*Chemeketa Community
*University or Portland
*Willamette Univ
-------------------------------
12 Favorite Foods:
*Burgers
*Pizza (pepperoni and olive)
*Ice cream sandwiches
*Tator Tot Casserole
*Animal Cookies (pink and white)
*Enchiladas
*Red vines (licorice)
*Vanilla Ice Cream
*Meat and Mashed Potatos
*Grilled Cheese Sandwhich
*Oatmeal Raisen Cookies
*Quesadillas
-------------------------------
12 favorite Rock groups:
*Aerosmith
*Styx
*Journey
*Billy Joel
*Van Halen
*Elvis Presley
*The Eagles
*Queen
*Elton John
*David Bowie
*Tom Petty
*Rolling Stones
-------------------------------
12 Movies I like:
Fletch
Arthur
48 hours
Casablanca
Natl Lampoons Vacation
Rocky
Dirty Harry
Die Hard
Italian Job
The Rookie
National Treasure
Count of Monte Cristo
-------------------------------
12 Months I like:
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
-------------------------------
12 Favorite Disco Songs
(yeah, I have a polyester suit, what of it?):
Last Dance - Donna Summer
I Love The Nitelife - Alicia Bridges
Dancing Queen - Abba
You Should Be Dancing - Bee Gees
The Hustle - Van McCoy
Night Fever - Bee Gees
On The Radio - Donna Summer
Call Me - Blondie
Y. M. C. A. - Village People
Celebration - Kool And The Gang
Knock On Wood - Ami Stewart
Le Freak - Chic
-------------------------------
12 Cars I have owned
1981 Dodge Colt
1982 Honda Civic
1983 Honda Prelude
1985 Ford Aerostar
1983 Dodge Colt turbo
1992 Nissan Sentra SER
1989 Dodge Colt Turbo
1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse Turbo
1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse
2001 Chevy Tahoe
1999 Chevy Silverado P/U
-------------------------------
12 Places I've been:
Safari, Kenya
Macchu Pichu, Peru
Eiffel Tower, Paris
Brugge, Belgium
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Tegucigulpa, Honduras
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rosarito Beach, Mexico
Victoria, BC, Canada
Sitka, Alaska
Disney World, Florida
Dodge City, Kansas
-------------------------------
12 Little Known Facts about
things I've done:
Riden in a Helicopter over Seaside, Oregon
Been Deep Sea Fishing off the Pacific Coast
Was with the inmates inside the Tijuana Prison
Won a greased pole climbing contest in college
Went to a Michael Jackson in Concert in 1982
Snuck over the fence at the state fair
Jumped off a moving train
Had a Pizza delivered on the beach
Got lost hiking in the mountains with Boys Club
Stood on top of a moving car
Had Dinner at the top of the Space Needle
Have been to a toga party (yes, in a toga)
------------------------------------------------------------------
OK, enough of this 'being tagged' bit...
her blog for details.
I didn't find these 'details', so I made my own rules.
I decided 4 was too few for most things so I decided to go with
an even dozen. And why not, if chickens can do it, so can I.
Besides, it aint called ENDLESS Rambling for nuttin'...
12 Jobs I've Had:
*Berry Picker
*Newpaper Delivery
*Cannery Beltline
*Sludge House Attendant
*Dishwasher
*Landscaper
*Math Tutor
*Data Entry
*Maintenence Crew
*Truck Preloader
*UPS Delivery Driver
*Carnie
-------------------------------
12 Places I've Lived:
*SanBernardino, California
*Port Orford, Oregon
*Coos Bay, Oregon
*Grants Pass, Oregon
*Riley, Kansas
*Gresham, Oregon
*Fairview, Oregon
*Keizer, Oregon
*Salem, Oregon
*Independence, Oregon
*Portland, Oregon
*Dallas, Oregon
-------------------------------
12 Schools I've Gone to:
*Port Orford Grade
*Allendale Elem
*Riley Grade
*Boring Grade
*North Gresham Grade
*Fairview Elem
*Columbia View Jr High
*Whiteaker Jr High
*McNary High
*Chemeketa Community
*University or Portland
*Willamette Univ
-------------------------------
12 Favorite Foods:
*Burgers
*Pizza (pepperoni and olive)
*Ice cream sandwiches
*Tator Tot Casserole
*Animal Cookies (pink and white)
*Enchiladas
*Red vines (licorice)
*Vanilla Ice Cream
*Meat and Mashed Potatos
*Grilled Cheese Sandwhich
*Oatmeal Raisen Cookies
*Quesadillas
-------------------------------
12 favorite Rock groups:
*Aerosmith
*Styx
*Journey
*Billy Joel
*Van Halen
*Elvis Presley
*The Eagles
*Queen
*Elton John
*David Bowie
*Tom Petty
*Rolling Stones
-------------------------------
12 Movies I like:
Fletch
Arthur
48 hours
Casablanca
Natl Lampoons Vacation
Rocky
Dirty Harry
Die Hard
Italian Job
The Rookie
National Treasure
Count of Monte Cristo
-------------------------------
12 Months I like:
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
-------------------------------
12 Favorite Disco Songs
(yeah, I have a polyester suit, what of it?):
Last Dance - Donna Summer
I Love The Nitelife - Alicia Bridges
Dancing Queen - Abba
You Should Be Dancing - Bee Gees
The Hustle - Van McCoy
Night Fever - Bee Gees
On The Radio - Donna Summer
Call Me - Blondie
Y. M. C. A. - Village People
Celebration - Kool And The Gang
Knock On Wood - Ami Stewart
Le Freak - Chic
-------------------------------
12 Cars I have owned
1981 Dodge Colt
1982 Honda Civic
1983 Honda Prelude
1985 Ford Aerostar
1983 Dodge Colt turbo
1992 Nissan Sentra SER
1989 Dodge Colt Turbo
1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse Turbo
1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse
2001 Chevy Tahoe
1999 Chevy Silverado P/U
-------------------------------
12 Places I've been:
Safari, Kenya
Macchu Pichu, Peru
Eiffel Tower, Paris
Brugge, Belgium
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Tegucigulpa, Honduras
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rosarito Beach, Mexico
Victoria, BC, Canada
Sitka, Alaska
Disney World, Florida
Dodge City, Kansas
-------------------------------
12 Little Known Facts about
things I've done:
Riden in a Helicopter over Seaside, Oregon
Been Deep Sea Fishing off the Pacific Coast
Was with the inmates inside the Tijuana Prison
Won a greased pole climbing contest in college
Went to a Michael Jackson in Concert in 1982
Snuck over the fence at the state fair
Jumped off a moving train
Had a Pizza delivered on the beach
Got lost hiking in the mountains with Boys Club
Stood on top of a moving car
Had Dinner at the top of the Space Needle
Have been to a toga party (yes, in a toga)
------------------------------------------------------------------
OK, enough of this 'being tagged' bit...
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
It's me again, Margaret
Following all the hubub on the last post's comments (please read them if you haven't already), I thought it best to clarify a couple things concerning the anonymous signature:
"It's me again, Margaret (Your Sister)"
First of all; No, I do NOT have a sister named Margaret (right Mom?).
Second, most of my two readers (which by default must be both otherwise the implied majority would not be met), read the line syntactically different than the author had intended.
The "(Your Sister)" identifier is reffering to the "It's me again", not to the "Margaret". So another way to say this could have been: "Hey Margaret, this is your sister again". This would make the original poster my "Sister", but it would not make her "Margaret". In essence, I am the "Margaret" in the post. So technically, if the phrase had any validity to it, I would not have a sister named Margaret, but my sister would have a sister named Margaret, as would each of my siblings.
Rest assured, I am not now, nor have I ever been, "Margaret".
I do however, have a few sisters and one one of them was attempting to be funny (it's tough living in my shadow) by quoting the comedian Ray Stevens from 1985 (somewhat dating herself in the process). Ray Stevens, of "The Streak" fame, actually made a video out of this 'song' and you can see it on jibjab.com if really interested, but be forewarned that although relatively tame, it does have some creepy insinuations... and no, I'm not in it.
Well, I hope this clears things up,
Margaret.
"It's me again, Margaret (Your Sister)"
First of all; No, I do NOT have a sister named Margaret (right Mom?).
Second, most of my two readers (which by default must be both otherwise the implied majority would not be met), read the line syntactically different than the author had intended.
The "(Your Sister)" identifier is reffering to the "It's me again", not to the "Margaret". So another way to say this could have been: "Hey Margaret, this is your sister again". This would make the original poster my "Sister", but it would not make her "Margaret". In essence, I am the "Margaret" in the post. So technically, if the phrase had any validity to it, I would not have a sister named Margaret, but my sister would have a sister named Margaret, as would each of my siblings.
Rest assured, I am not now, nor have I ever been, "Margaret".
I do however, have a few sisters and one one of them was attempting to be funny (it's tough living in my shadow) by quoting the comedian Ray Stevens from 1985 (somewhat dating herself in the process). Ray Stevens, of "The Streak" fame, actually made a video out of this 'song' and you can see it on jibjab.com if really interested, but be forewarned that although relatively tame, it does have some creepy insinuations... and no, I'm not in it.
Well, I hope this clears things up,
Margaret.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Latest Pics From Africa
Here are some pictures from my most recent Africa trip - sorry I don't have time to write more about it right now.
If you click on the "View All Images" button, a new window will open and the pictures will be larger.
If you click on the "View All Images" button, a new window will open and the pictures will be larger.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
