Apparently Google Mail has a feature that tries to prevent users from drunk emailing, which (for those of you who don’t do that sort of thing) is similar to drunk dialing (calling people while drunk and saying things you’ll regret later but maybe not remember). Google’s service kicks on during the late night hours and forces you to perform arithmetic before sending an email. Presumably if you’re too drunk to send a legitimate email, you’re also too drunk to do the math correctly. I thought this was both hilarious and potentially very helpful for some folks. A reporter for Time decided to test this new feature and wrote a very funny account of her experiment.
The End Approaches…
Wednesday night McCain and Obama debated for the third and final time before the election. I thought this was the most entertaining of the three. The moderator did an excellent job of asking tough questions and then forcing the candidates to answer them instead of dancing around like they normally do. By now most voters have made up their minds. Election Day is November 4, less than 3 weeks away. Early voting in Texas starts Monday, Oct 20. Obviously I want my candidate to win, but either way, I’ll be glad when it’s over.
Something frustrates me about this election: because of our two-party political system and the archaic electoral college, a handful of states really matter for each presidential election only. CNN has a great website that shows how each state lines up based on the current polls. The Republicans could run Mickey Mouse for President, and Texas and Utah would vote red, sending ALL of their electoral votes to Mickey regardless of the popular vote in those states. The Democrats could run Homer Simpson, and New York and California will vote blue, sending ALL their electoral votes to Homer. All but a few states use the winner-take-all approach, which makes campaigning in, or even worrying about the concerns of, the out-of-reach states a waste of time and money once the primaries are through. I have never read a good justification for either of these terrible systems. However, since the current lawmakers benefit from the two-party system and possibly from the electoral college as well, I doubt either system will change any time soon.
Hello, I’m a Mac
For much of my life, I have viewed Mac users as a fringe group – slightly militant, extremely loyal, possibly weird. They loved their weird little computers even though they were a tiny minority in a world dominated by Gates & Company. Although I used Macs in school a bit, my home computer was always a PC. I was used to them. Software was easy to find. New PCs were easy to find and offered a huge, ever-changing variety of features. Sure, they didn’t always behave correctly, and they had various annoying little quirks, but I could usually figure out how to make them comply.
Over the last year or two, I’ve begun to question my loyalty to PCs. Mac popularity is growing. More and more of my friends use and adore Macs. I now own stock in Apple. My home PC has some minor issues that shouldn’t exist, and I’m tired of it. I’m tired of Word. I hear bad rumors about Vista.
It’s time to make the switch – not only to a Mac, but to a Mac notebook that I can carry with me to work, on vacation, into my living room, to church, to the coffee shop, or nearly any other place I want to carry it. After months of speculation and rumor, Apple finally released a new line of notebook computers on Tuesday. Thanks to my October birthday and my generous family, I have some extra cash set aside for this purpose. I think I know which model I want, but I’m going to wait a few days and play with them at the Apple Store first. I hope to see you there!
New Gig Update
Sunday morning I wrapped my first three official days as a trainer at work. My trainee was a great guy who came from AirTran’s dispatch office. He knows his stuff, has a good attitude, and is eager to learn, all of which make my job much easier. He seems like an excellent addition to our office.
The training experience reminded me of my early days in the office, which seem like such a long time ago even though less than 4 years have passed. I was much less confident than my trainee since I had never dispatched before. I was terrified when the phone rang and I had to answer it. I pored over my airport notes and diagrams and NOTAMs and forecasts, afraid that I would miss something. Despite my fear, it was so exciting to be working a real desk with real flights after working so hard to get there. It’s both a bit scary and very satisfying to become the guy on the other side, trying to help out the next class of dispatchers, teach them as much as possible, and give them confidence that they can use our software and policies to handle any situation that might arise.
New Pics of B & R
I finally put together another gallery of pictures. This one has both Brenden and Reagan over the last month or so.
Fair Day
Jenny, Brenden, and I went to the State Fair on Tuesday. I hadn’t been to the fair since high school. Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of fairs. Like Canton, they have too many visitors to wade through and too many vendors trying to sell you stuff you don’t need. But Jenny really enjoys the fair, so we spent the afternoon there before our small group gathering. The weather was BEAUTIFUL, not a cloud in the sky, comfortable temp, and a nice breeze. We saw the dog show, tried a few different foods and wines, checked out some cars, and wandered around the exhibits. Brenden enjoyed most of our excursion, getting a little fussy here and there but enjoying the outdoors, especially when Jenny wore him in the sling. In case you’re going, here are my recommendations:
Try:
- fried smores (expensive for the amount you get but fabulous!)
- fried cookie dough ice cream
- automotive building (to see the 09 Dodge Viper up close)
- Killdares (Irish rock band that I didn’t get to hear, but my friend Joanne says they are awesome)
Avoid:
- fried banana split (they left off the banana and ice cream and replaced them with honey and peanut butter – huh?)
- keeping your coupons in different places (you’ll forget some of them until you get to the car to drive home – d’oh!)
- weekends/school Fair Days/weekends with major sporting events at the Cotton Bowl such as this coming weekend (it was even crowded on Tuesday, when demand is so low that they let you in for $3 with a can of Dr Pepper)
- Scientology booth near the Centennial building (it’s black and yellow, and the outside says something about a free stress test)