Casey's Thoughts On...
Chicken Shit Suicide Attempts
It really angers me when suicidal people involve others in their plans. The train wreck this morning in LA that killed 10 - caused by a guy that wanted to kill himself (who of course lived). Suicide is a selfish act to begin with, but to force other's involvement just astounds me. Do they never think of how it will affect anyone else? While I was in college a student stepped onto the tracks in front of a train, which blew him clear out of his shoes. I've always felt terrible for the engineer of the train, who unintentionally took a life. What a terrible burden to place on someone. Have the decency to do it in the privacy of your home!
January 26, 2005
You're Banished!
Lake Superior State University publishes a yearly list of words and phrases that are overused or just plain annoying. This year's list includes "carbs," "flip flop," and "izzle" to name a few. Check out the list. LSSU also offers a Unicorn Hunter's License. It's nice to see a University with a keen eye for PR and a sense of humor.
January 7, 2005
Dumber than Dumb
Today's stupid news brought to you by ESPN. The Anaheim Angels, under their new owner Arte Moreno, want to change their name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Uh... Anaheim spokesman John Nicoletti put it best when he said "no other professional sports franchise that I know of has two different cities in its names." Great point, John! The city of Anaheim is suing the Angels, and I sure hope they win. Face it Moreno, you bought an Anaheim team and Los Angeles already has their own.
January 4, 2005
DPS Isn't Any Better Than the DMV
I have a commerical driver's license. I renewed it last summer and it lasts through 2009. It was an expensive sucker ($60), but you never know when it might come in handy so I kept it. Found out this weekend, however, that if you have a CDL and get a speeding ticket in a CAR, you're not eligible for defensive driving. What? I double-checked it on the Texas DPS website and sure enough, it's true. Texas also has a points system now, and since you can't take defensive driving, the points would automatically go on your record. So I called the local office today to ask about it. I can drop the CDL by going down to the office with my license, but they'll charge me 10$. Will they refund any of the difference between the cost of a CDL and a regular class C? No. I figure I only actually eat about 37$, but it still really pisses me off. There's a Primus song that goes "I've been to hell and I spell it, I spell it DMV..." Well, you can spell it DPS, too.
December 7, 2004
Assholes on Bicycles
I almost got myself a bicycle yesterday. I'm glad I missed him, because I'd probably feel guilty if I'd had to get out, drag him off my car, and beat the tar out of him (I'm being optimistic and hoping the landing on the hood would disorient him enough to give me a chance). I was at a very busy intersection in the far right lane. Next to me was a small SUV (Supremely Ugly Vehicle). When the light turned green I hit the gas - and a bicyclist shot out in front of me. He was really moving and I didn't have time to hit the brakes, so I'm glad he was really moving. I hadn't seen him coming at all because of the SUV. This is a high traffic intersection with a timed light, so it's not like it caught him unaware. He wasn't wearing a helmet, of course - seems like the bicyclists (and motorcycles) who most need the safety gear never use it. I missed him, but not my much. I hope it startled him as bad as it did me, but I doubt he even noticed.
December 2, 2004
Coffee and Bitchiness Do Not Mix
Yesterday I was having a bad morning. Internet Explorer (aka Devil's Spawn) was giving me fits about a style sheet, and nothing I did fixed it until I finally had to bodge it together using a table. Not a good start to my morning, and I was tired from reading late the night before. I've kicked caffeine but wanted a quick pick-me-up so I got myself a cup of coffee. It didn't really wake me up but it did make me really pissy and pretty jittery. Pissy, jittery and tired is not a good combination. Good thing I didn't have to deal with people at all yesterday! When I went home I tried to work on my new computer and managed to lock myself completely out of it when I changed login domains. I really should have stayed in bed yesterday. I made some chocolate covered strawberries after dinner though, and they have amazing mood-restorative powers. Back to my happy self. =)
December 2, 2004
Lights...Camera...Shouldn't I Be Paid More?
I photographed two functions at work today, and at both of them someone
different referred to me as "Paparazzi." I guess that's a compliment.
I mean, they could have said "who gave the webdork the camera?" Shooting
people is actually kind of fun. I generally prefer buildings, cars
and animals, but I'm worrying less about annoying people
(if you're worried about annoying someone, you simply can't get in
their face with a big lens and a flash) and so my photos are getting
better. Now I need to work out things like shadows (big problems with
that today). I'm even getting less shots of people with their mouths
and eyes shut and more with them speaking. Oh...the things I shoot
are mostly guest speakers, so there is no posing people for shots.
Now, if I can just convince the dean that all this extra work deserves
extra pay — all these things I shoot save us from hiring a photographer!
November 11, 2004
Bonfire on Modern Marvels
Modern Marvels Engineering Disasters 12, which aired last night, featured our Bonfire collapse. I was hesitant to watch it, but they did a good job, especially considering they call it an "engineering disaster." They gave actual reasons the Bonfire collapsed without going into all the drunkenness and stupidity that existed on the stack. Found an intelligent Redpot to interview, and even got all the terminology right, including the term redpot. They had excellent footage and photography that showed how cool it can be when it burns and showed how it changed over the years. They said it'll never burn again, which is more than our president has ever bothered to say, but I think they're right. What I've heard is that the insurance is so high we just can't justify paying for it. I think Gates is just stalling until no current students have attended it (the last one burned in 98, so we should be almost there), and then there won't be so much outcry when it's cancelled for good. Who knows, though. Maybe the next president will be an Aggie and will do something else. Modern Marvels also mentioned the memorial, which is being dedicated on November 18, the 5th anniversary of the collapse.
November 10, 2004
Pointy Toed Shoes
I just don't get these. The host of "What Not to Wear" has been trying to get people into them the whole time the show has been on and now the department stores are full of them. I have a couple of problems with them: they look terribly uncomfortable (admitting I've never tried them on), and they make feet look HUGE. I tend to see them more on tall women who have longer feet anyway, and then when you add the extra length needed to get them pointy - the feet become giant pontoons. You could water ski in some of these things. Well that's not much of a rant - I guess I don't hate them as much as I thought - I just don't understand the reasoning. Women generally want things other than their lips and boobs to look smaller, not bigger, so why big feet?
November 9, 2004
Yogurt She Blows!
I've heard before that yogurt helps fight gas. Something about devouring the gas in your stomach or something (isn't that a fun thought - little creatures in your stomach eating the food you've already chewed and swallowed). Last week and part of this week I had a cup of yogurt for breakfast every morning. I also had quesadillas with black beans at lunch. I was hoping the yogurt would counteract the beans, but instead they seemed to have gotten together in my gastrointestinal system and thrown a rave. I could have cleared the mall with the gas that resulted. It was rank. It was worse than driving over a dead skunk, worse than dog vomit, worse than cat food (how can my cats eat that stuff? And Iams is the worst). I ran out of yogurt on Wednesday and switched to Pop Tarts, and voila, instantly less stinky. So much for the yogurt theory.
November 5, 2004
Caffeine
I recently quit caffeine yet again (I do this several times a year - this time I quit around my birthday in early October). I didn't start out to quit, instead I cut out regular sodas from my diet because I wasn't losing weight as fast as I'd like. So I switched to diet soda, which I hate, so it wasn't long before I stopped drinking soda all together. Before I quit, I'd get terrible headaches if I didn't have caffeine around the same time every day. We're talking head-pounding-painful-sinus-turn-off-the-lights-and-don't-move headaches. Ibuprofen didn't help, Tylenol didn't help. Hydrocodone probably would have, but it makes me upchuck - and if it didn't work than I would be really miserable, trying to hold on to my head and the porcelain god at the same time and purge my lunch without moving which hurt my head. Yeah, no thanks, I'll take just a bad headache instead. Without caffeine I'm not sleeping any better, but I haven't had a single headache in the month or so since I quit it. That is pretty damn cool and it's worth the struggle with my normal lack of willpower (let's not talk about Halloween candy, okay?). We get free Coke products at work and yesterday I was craving something sweet and found myself standing in front of the open refrigerator starting at a can of regular Coke thinking "mmmmmm." Instead I settled for decaf coffee (I hate coffee too, but not quite as much as diet soda) with flavored creamer in it to satisfy my sweet tooth. So, still no caffeine for me. Yay! Let's see how long I can manage this, this time (I think my record is 3 months).
November 5, 2004