Great question!
Try slamming shut the back hatch of a minivan. If the hatch nearly breaks your nose off the front of your face, as happened to one of my neighbors recently, then your nose is definitely too big.
Gary Carter, 1954-2012
Gary Carter obituary: Baseball Hall of Fame catcher dies at 57
Gary Carter and I went to the same high school — Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, CA.
My freshman yearbook has a picture of a Carter as a senior. Or another way to look at it is that Gary Carter’s senior yearbook has a picture of me as a freshman.
That’s all I have on this.
RIP Gary Carter.
Matt Who?
We Caught a Break at Chili’s Last Night
We got to Chili’s around 8 o’clock last night but it was still very crowded. People were waiting outside.
“How long is the wait?” I asked the hostess.
“About 25 minutes.”
I said to my posse, “I’d rather not wait 25 minutes but I could do it if I had to. What do you guys think?”
My wife said, “Put our name on the list and we’ll talk about it outside.”
“Paul — party of three.” The hostess gave me one of those devices that beep and light up when your table is ready.
At the same time, a gentleman came up to the desk to turn in his device. “We can’t wait anymore,” he said.
“Maybe you could give us his device,” I suggested after he left. “Where was he on the list?”
She went down the list of names. “Second,” she said. “Yeah, I could do that.”
“Thanks.”
My son said later, “You were just joking, right?”
“Well,” I said, “I didn’t think she would do it, but let that be a good lesson for you. If you ask for something, you might get it, but you’re not going to get it if you don’t ask.”
Here’s a Good Mandate
Remember, we’re supposed to be worrying about skyrocketing health-care expenses. Doubling the number of wellness visits and free pills sounds great, but who’s going to pay for it? There is a liberal dream that by mandating coverage the government can make something free.
Here’s a good mandate: Let’s mandate that every time a government official says that the government is going to “help” some category of voter, he or she has to say who they are going to hurt in the same sentence. Because it has to be someone.
Dilbert: Arrogance in Meetings
Jeremy Lin’s Mom
“My son shot 64% last night?! THAT IS A GRADE OF D! I AM ASHAMED!” — Jeremy Lin‘s mom
Aside
It seems my Emotional IQ is a big number with a minus sign in front of it . . .
Financial Aid Follies
The FAFSA asks if, since July 1, 2011, the student has been homeless or “at risk of becoming homeless.”
Isn’t everyone at some non-zero risk of becoming homeless?
I’m going to say “yes” and see what happens . . .
Culture Hacking, Parts 1 and 2
Aside
I accidentally jabbed the dog’s allergy injection into my kneecap. Miracle elixir or fatal mistake?
Stay tuned . . .
Love is Fleeting
I recently bought a collection of short novels by Marguerite Duras from my favorite used book store. Inside the front cover is this inscription:
To M—,
Because her work influences me so much, and you inspire me so much. Please read and think about me!!
Love Always,
G—
P.S. Merry Xmas XOXO
I bought the book for $3.95, so M—- couldn’t have gotten more than a buck, maybe two, for unloading it.
Crosstown Cup: USC 8, UCLA 3
The Crosstown Cup was on the line Saturday night. The USC and UCLA hockey teams faced off at Anaheim Ice and the Trojans dominated pretty much as I expected.
It was also Senior Night — the last game of the season.
One of the Trojans players is graduating with a doctorate in education, one kid is getting an MBA and two kids are graduating with a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering.
As scholar-athletes, they’re pretty darn good scholars.
As athletes . . . let’s say that they were somewhat less good than my kid’s 18-and-under roller team from last season. Speed, puck control, rink awareness — all limited at best.
They were a lot better than UCLA though.
The Victory Bell was in attendance. Something I didn’t know is that the Victory Bell is really loud if you’re right next to it. And by “right next to it,” I mean we were 25 feet away and it was deafening.
The fake ID market seems to be booming in Southern California. A lot of underage-looking kids were enjoying a beer at the game.
My wife asked one underage-looking couple, “How do you get beer? You don’t look old enough.”
“Um . . . there is a way to do it,” the girl replied, without providing any further details.
Dilbert: Ignorance is Underrated
The Secret of Getting Ahead
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.
Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? — Captain Ahab
Reading Emily Dickinson
I’ll read one [Emily Dickinson] poem every few months — and if it’s one of those baffling ones, that’s all it takes to humble me into putting reason back in the tool box, and sitting still until a more appropriate tool presents itself.
Aside
My margarita saw its shadow. You know what that means? Six more margaritas . . .
Overheard
Which is More Valuable: Collaboration or Competence?
The title of this post makes a good interview question. Usually, the candidate will say something to the effect of “they’re both valuable” to avoid the possibility of slipping up and choosing the one that the interviewer believes is less valuable.
Let’s say we need to get a picture painted. We could say, “Picasso — you’re our best guy in this area. We’d like you to paint the picture for us.”
Or we could say, “Picasso — work with the steering committee to get that picture painted.”
You could make a case for either approach, but you can’t do both. So which is more valuable?
Personally, I think collaboration is overrated. It leads to the knowledge of experts and novices being given equal weight.
There’s a reason why pilots don’t invite passengers into the cockpit to get their opinions on how to fly the plane . . .
Thus spoke The Programmer.