My wife decided to highlight her own hair, which costs five dollars if you do it yourself versus 50 dollars at the hair salon. Later I noticed, in the master bathroom, a large black carpet stain in front of her sink. “That can be taken care of,” she said. I said, “I can’t help noticing that someone, probably you, has already tried to get that stain out without much success.” “I don’t have the right cleaning product,” she said. “And it’s time to get the carpet cleaned anyway. Carpet cleaners can get that out easily. Easily. Been there, done that.” “So let’s review,” I said. “We saved 45 dollars on the hair coloring but we’re going to end up spending a thousand to replace the carpet . . .” Read more →
May 2009
Life’s Simple Pleasures
Up late last night, up early this morning . . . my wife and I take Lightning to the dog beach. We get home a little after 10 . . . Nap time! When I wake up and look at the (analog) clock over the fireplace, it’s already 3 p.m. My god, I’ve slept the whole day away! No, wait . . . the big hand is on the 3 and the little hand is on the 12. It’s only 12:15! Back to sleep . . . Read more →
It’s Cold When the Label Turns Blue
What problem is this designed to solve? Are there really people who can’t tell when a beer is cold? The ones in the fridge are cold. Just like any other beer . . . Read more →
The Da Vinci Code
My wife brings home a Da Vinci Code DVD from Blockbuster . . . “You want to see Da Vinci Code?” I ask. She says, “That’s what you asked me to get, right?” “Mmmmm, no. Why would I do that?” “Dad hates The Da Vinci Code,” the boy chimes in. “He hates everything about it. He hates the book, he hates the movie, he hates Da Vinci . . .” “No, Da Vinci is the one bright spot in the whole sorry situation. Da Vinci himself was a great man. Everyone else involved in these projects is a shameless hack.” Read more →
God and Me
This showed up on Facebook this morning (name changed): Jacques Strap is amazed that God cares about even the smallest details of my life. In the words of Lyle Lovett: “That’s the difference between God and me.” Read more →
Twitter: 2009-05-29
Who’s your daddy? Chances are it’s this guy: http://bit.ly/4bA2y # Read more →
More People I’m Sick Unto Death Of
As some day it may happen that a victim must be found, I’ve got a little list–I’ve got a little list Of society offenders who might well be underground, And who never would be missed–who never would be missed! — W.S. Gilbert, The Mikado People who use the word “bandwidth” to mean “time,” as in “I’ll see if Sally has the bandwidth to handle that.” Analog signals have bandwidth, communication channels have bandwidth . . . people don’t have bandwidth. Read more →
Twitter: 2009-05-28
From a reference letter: “Not only did he have the answer to any question, he would give you that answer right away.” # Read more →
That Narrows it Down to Half the Population
This exchange — a post followed by a comment — showed up on my Facebook home page today. The poster and the commenter are both women, btw . . . let’s play a game! Who am I?? I’m the first to talk shit behind peoples back, but when I’m talked about i’m the first to get all pissy! Who am I? Every female known to man. I spit cola all over my desk when I read that . . . Read more →
Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows
Free Advice for Women Considering an IT Career
I’d just finished reading another tiresome “why oh why aren’t there more women in IT?” article when I found a former colleague on LinkedIn . . . he lists his job title as “Analyst, Software Quality Assurnace.” Would you hire him as a QA guy? I wouldn’t, and that’s even before I saw how he misspelled “Assurance.” The IT “profession” is chock full of idiots like this. Why anyone thinks women are missing out on something if they don’t work in IT is a total mystery. If I had a daughter, I would tell her to be a meeting planner or a flight attendant . . . Thus spoke The Programmer. Read more →
Twitter: 2009-05-27
Someone’s in the dept conference room screeching profanity. We can hear it through the walls. Can’t wait to see who comes out! # Read more →
La Jueza Empática
I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life. — Judge Sonia Sotomayor President Obama has said he wanted justices with “empathy,” although in fairness he has also insisted that knowledge of the law would not disqualify a prospective nominee. — Best of the Web Today Read more →
More People I’m Sick Unto Death Of
People “complaining” about their busy lives. Cancel some activities and shut the hell up. Read more →
20 Years Went By Like the Wind
I found a former colleague on LinkedIn this weekend — he was my boss at my very first IT job as an entry-level programmer. He mentioned that his daughter had graduated from college and is now an ER nurse. That doesn’t sound right because I remember when his daughter was born and it seems like just last week, but I’m doing the math in my head and sure enough it was more than 20 years ago . . . Read more →
Women and Solitaire
We’re driving home from the hockey rink in Corona . . . my son’s playing solitaire on his iPod. As we’re pulling off the freeway in Irvine, he says, “I just won my first game the entire trip.” I say, “When I play it on the computer, I lose most of the time, but once in a while I’ll get like a three-game winning streak.” “Yeah, me too.” “It’s like women in that respect. The overall goal is to make you feel bad about yourself, but they throw in just enough positive reinforcement to keep you from giving up completely.” Read more →
Drinking in the Morning
Drinking in the morning has an undeservedly bad reputation . . . Of course, it’s a three-day holiday weekend and if I want to start the day by enlivening an otherwise ordinary glass of cola with a splash of tequila, that’s nobody’s business but mine. But I also think that on weekdays, most workplaces would be more interesting and fun if people had a glass or two of wine before coming in to the office . . . Read more →
Finding the Dragon
My son and I walk into Trader Joe’s . . . there’s a big sign that says “KIDS! Find the hidden dragon and win a prize!” “I’m going to find the dragon,” the boy announces. “I bet it’s at the free sample stand.” Not surprisingly, it’s not at the free sample stand, but while we’re there we’re able to drown our sorrows with some free baked beans and hot dogs . . . Read more →
Learning to Drive
My son’s learning to drive . . . pulling out of a parking lot, he turns right and clips the curb a little bit. I ask him, “Did you look left to make sure no one was coming?” “I saw no one was coming.” “How did you see that if you didn’t look?” “I saw it in my peripheral vision.” “Did you also see that curb you just hit in your peripheral vision?” Read more →
Twitter: 2009-05-23
Automaker bankruptcies: A success of the market system – http://bit.ly/1BgH7 # At Wingnuts w/Casey. For wings. # At Corona rink for AAU Nationals # Read more →