On Monday night while at trivia one of life’s important questions came to me. Am I peeing wrong in the men’s bathroom? Am I not following correct etiquette?
Usually when I enter I find the first available urinal and do as mother nature requires, but on Monday I realized that there seems to be inconsistency in bathroom use. Many times men will pass an open urinal and go to the stall instead no matter how inconvenient this is. Why is this? Are they too shy and fear me or others looking over at them or did I fail to learn one of life’s important rules? Is this advice that father’s whisper into their son’s ears…something my father forgot to tell me?
I figure leave the stall for someone who needs it. Maybe I’m missing something.
Concerts and sporting events seem to be the only exception. It’s like economic law. When demand rises and supply diminishes compounded by one of life’s basic needs which is accelerated by alcohol men are less discriminate. When demand is lower and supply is higher men often times choose solitary confinement to perform their business.
For me, well I’ll continue to use what is available to me without discriminating. I never want to be the one who gets in the way of someone with greater needs.
I’m trying to get my business off the ground and in the process I’ve done a lot of research and talked to a lot of people to get ideas and help. Of course the topic of outsourcing came up as well as the topic of the United States losing it’s position of power in the world. China and India seem to be the big scary threats to our dominance, so I decided to do some thinking about how they compare to the U.S. Some quick math was startling and very interesting at the same time.
The C.I.A world fact book’s profile on India estimates India’s population is 1,095,351,995 (July 2006 est.). The fact book’s profile on China estimates China’s population is 1,313,973,713 (July 2006 est.) and the profile on the United States estimates the U.S.’s population is 298,444,215 (July 2006 est.).
If you took the smartest 27% of the Indian population or just 23% of the Chinese population they would equal our entire population. That is amazing and scary to me. If our competitive advantage is hiring smart people at a lower cost in other countries we are in serious trouble.
The next decade will be an interesting time as power shifts, economies of scale are sought and we are forced to be more innovative or move to the back of the room.
I had dinner on Friday at the Cheesecake Factory. While the company and conversation where good (mom, sister and my friend Bev), I was disappointed with the food. I ordered the Spicy Cashew Chicken as I have a penchant for spicy food. It must be the Latin blood.
SPICY CASHEW CHICKEN
A Very Spicy Mandarin-Style Dish
with Green Onions and Roasted Cashews. Served over Rice
Friday was a busy day work-wise and I wanted to get a large meal. I asked the waitress how big the portion was and she assured me that it indeed was large but I should know that the dish it’s self isn’t that spicy. Hmmm, the description on the menu said otherwise. I decided to take a chance and go for it. Needless to say she was right.
This happens all the time! A menu says spicy, but really it should say tangy at best. Where did all the spicy food go? Should I blame the woman who sued McDonald’s and won because he coffee was too hot? Did someone get heartburn from spicy food and sue a restaurant?
I guess I’ll have to resolve to what others before me have had to do. When I am up for a spicy meal I’m not leaving home without hot sauce packets or a bottle of something spicy.
I read somewhere (I couldn’t tell you where) that all relationships are a constant power struggle, that at any given moment in the relationship there is always one person who likes the other person more. Thus, someone always having the upper hand.
Why does anyone have to have the upper hand? Why can’t two people just enjoy each other’s company without feeling the need to play mind games in order to have control over the relationship?
It’s my opinion that this is a clear sign the majority of society isn’t really ready for relationships.
Nothing raises one’s blood pressure and causes anxiety like an unexpected visit by the parents. The buzzer rings and through the speaker a cheery “hello” is heard. While a visit from the parents isn’t a bad thing, it sets off a chain of events and questions that must be dealt with in nanoseconds.
Inevitably questions such as: What do I need to hide? How can I clean up this mess or at least hide it temporarily? How do I take care of all of the dirty dishes in the sink? Where do I put the endless pile of bills?
The questions go on forever and are overwhelming while triage ensues. The biggest and most noticeable items are hidden first. Then the smaller but no-less dangerous items such as bills are hidden. Then personal items are thrown under the couch. Anything else will have to wait and be explained later or cleaned casually as your guests enter as you are careful to distract them with clever conversation, witty banter and observations about the weather.
Lastly the door must be greeted with a smile and only after you have composed yourself. All of this can take no more than a minute, or maximum of two if you need to use one of your emergency and well prepared one time use excuses.
I just had such a visit and amazingly enough no one came inside. They just needed directions. Life can be quite unexpected.
I just poured myself a glass of Ocean Spray Cranberry-Concord Grape juice (the no sugar added kind of course). To my amazement it has 100% of the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C. Why is this amazing?
Have you ever noticed that so many juices contain 100% of the recommended daily amount. They don’t contain 99% and they don’t contain 102%. Is the formulation and the amount of Vitamin C so critical? I love my Vitamin C, but why can’t I also get my Vitamin A, D, E etc. in 100% quantities?
I get my Vitamin C, all 100% of it from various sources, probably to the point of overindulgence if you can call it that. The marketing people at food companies have done a great job in having us crave Vitamin C without really knowing what it is, and have completely forgotten the other important vitamins. In a world of equal opportunity why should other vitamins suffer in silence?
I’ve been sitting here contemplating the ideas of good and bad and I must say the vastness of it is blowing my mind.
Obviously, good cannot survive without bad (although I suppose nothing could survive without an equal opposite). There are always negative qualities to even the most practical or beautiful things in life.
When I first started thinking about good and bad, it started with behavior, emotions, and the like. It quickly (within a matter of seconds) branched off into evertything I’ve ever known to be true: people, trees, cars, et al. I can’t even begin to compile a fathomable list because I’m really talking about everything.
Imagine a large sheet of ice that stretches over the horizon. All you see is white. White to your left, to your right, straight ahead, as far as the eye can see. You take a small step forward to continue to explore the expanse and a small crack appears. Without even applying more pressure the crack spreads into a longer, larger crack. The tiny crack you’ve created starts shooting out ahead and off to the sides, forking off here and there and then here again. What felt like 20 minutes going by was actually just a millisecond.
This is what happened to my brain at approximately 7:13 pm yesterday evening outside of Safeway; hence the mind blowing.
Why can’t we find a balance between good and bad? Or is it just me that can’t seem to find contentment in life? It can’t just be me.
Talk amongst yourselves. My glacial brain needs repairing.
People are always concerned about making the right decisions in life? We doubt ourselves and when making a decision we want to be sure it’s the right one.
I just came across this clip of a younger and less famous Morgan Freeman on a cool game site performing as Easy Reader on the tv show The Electric Company. I agree with the game site’s author, I never pictured Morgan Freeman in this way. He’s always the quiet serious type. Does anyone even remember his lesser known acting credits?
I’m not making fun of Morgan Freeman, although this clip is comical. This clip simply shows that the path we start on isn’t any assurance of where we’re going and where we’ll end up. Life is what you make of it and as long as you take advantage of the opportunities available to you, you will probably live a happy life. Usually just making a decision is the right decision. If it happens to be the wrong one, you can change your mind and take a different course of action. I’ve been fortunate with where I’ve ended up so far. I hope my “luck” continues.
I’m sure a young Morgan Freeman took the opportunities made available to him, made some great connections, proved his talent and the rest is history. He’s gone on to win awards, great notoriety and respect in the industry and admiration from countless fans.
So why is making a decision so hard? Why do we feel that we have to be right all the time? What are we really afraid of? If Easy Reader can go on to winning an Academy Award what isn’t possible?
As will probably become more evident as I post, I am a US citizen living in London. I thought it may be nice to post a few things under a ‘Culture Clash’ banner – things I encounter that I didn’t expect when I moved here, even though I’ve been a huge Anglophile for most of my life.
This one concerns employment law. There are a number of differences I’ve noticed between the USA and the UK in terms of employment law and practice. As a couple of examples: In the USA, we have mostly ‘at-will’ employment and it isn’t difficult to get fired or to quit on the spot. In the UK, which historically is more unionized, it is difficult to be ‘fired’ without disciplinary procedures, and employees have a notice period of 2 weeks or more, almost without exception. It’s also standard to get a month’s paid holiday for most jobs in the UK.
But here is one that has thrown me for a loop completely: apparently it’s not frowned upon to require a photograph to be submitted with one’s job application or resume. I don’t know if this is a Europe-wide thing, but from what I have been reading, I understand that it may be. As an American, I am somewhat amazed that this country, which seems to have a lot more protections in place for the workers, would allow this sort of thing to happen routinely. I can think of very, very few exceptions where a job application would require a photograph, and to me, this practice opens up a whole host of issues of discrimination based on racism, sexism, religionism, or any other negative ‘ism.’ I personally don’t submit to job applications that require my photo.
For all the talk about Britain being so multicultural and tolerant, I honestly cannot think of any other rationale for a hiring manager to require a photo, except to exclude based on appearance.
london_meeja_whore | Fears | Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
As I was listening to some classic radio over the internet last week and pondering my seemingly impossible situation as a fairly new graduate who went into a lot of debt to go to college, yet having little prospects, the immortal ‘Sixteen Tons,’ all about the futility of working in the coal mines and constantly ending up in debt anyway, seemed a pretty good parallel for my situation. I therefore re-wrote the lyrics and entitled it ‘Graduate Stun.’ I’m sure I’m one of many finding themselves in this situation…
‘Graduate Stun’
Some people say a graduate’s just a new dud
Cattle to corral and keep chewin’ cud
Despite your intelligence clearly shown
You’re just one of millions and you’re all alone
I got Graduate Stun, what did I get?
A data entry job and six-figure debt
Recruiter don’t you call me cos I won’t go
Though I owe my soul on a student loan
Well I had no funding so I had to sign
Promissory notes that are breakin’ my spine
I try to plug up these massive holes
The one in my wallet and the one in my soul
I got Graduate Stun, tryin’ to get
Some kind of payoff from a massive bet
The hirer won’t call me so on I go
Owin’ my soul on a student loan
Well the job applications drive me insane
I try to change my life but it stays the same
Education was supposed to make life so fine
So why can’t I see that tunnel light shine?
It’s the Graduate Stun, why did I let
Myself go to college just for this debt?
Creditor don’t call me cos I got no more
Though I owe my soul on a student loan.
So here I am standin’ in a gulf too wide
Deep in this ditch is where I abide
One side of iron, the other of steel
I’m just frustration from head to heel
It’s the Graduate Stun, the path is set
Never will change no matter how I fret
Contentment won’t call me so it’s all I own
But my soul can’t go on a student loan.
