A coworker's catalytic converter was stolen yesterday.  It's happening all over the country.  If you have a vehicle with a high clearance, like a Toyota 4Runner, consider going to a muffler shop and getting the converter nuts spot-welded.

If you make a 'friends only' post, and then a bunch of people comment on it, and then you make it public, all the comments will be immediately and irrevocably deleted.

I understand the reasoning for this behavior, and I can accept it.  I just wish I'd known before I lost those comments.

At least I still have the email notification archive.

I have a list of ideas.  I carry it around in my pocket (in a PDA).  They are big ideas, for difficult projects, with commercial viability, such that, if I were the risk-taking sort, I could quit my job, focus on it, and try to make my fortune.  I haven't done any of them.  Some of the ideas I had years ago have since been realized by others who had the same ideas and formed companies around them.

Today I had my first new idea in about a year, and it's a great one.  I'm really excited about it.

I'm not going to tell you what it is, but ask me later if I've worked on it.  I don't want this one to just sit in my pocket.

I had a headache today at work, but didn't have any drugs on me, so I got some ibuprofen from a coworker.  It was reasonably effective, reducing the headache to a level that was no longer distracting.  However, when I'm home, my preferred drug is ketoprofen, brand name Orudis.  One pill always make my pain go away within 30 minutes.  (Apparently, it's popular for use on horses.)  A couple years ago, it disappeared from stores.  I didn't know why, but I quickly bought a dozen bottles on eBay.

I finally figured out why it was discontinued.  Here is the 2005 FDA action.  I'm not worried, though, as I only take it about once a month.  I'll keep using my stash, for as long as it lasts.

A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: "That's the ugliest baby that I've ever seen. Ugh!" The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: "The driver just insulted me!" The man says: "You go right up there and tell him off - go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you."

At Home Depot, I overheard a woman asking an employee where she could donate used building materials. Whether it was items such as tiles or cabinets that had been removed and replaced, but were still usable, or just excess paint or boards, she felt bad throwing it away, but didn't know what else to do with it. The employee didn't have an answer for her, and I didn't, either. I knew about the Baltimore Free Store, but that seemed too far away.  Now, I know what the answer should have been:  Community Forklift, near Hyattsville.  (I heard about it from The Daily Compost.)  Next time I have a home improvement project, I might buy some of their cheap stuff.

Knowledge is power.

Even though I'm doing well financially now, I retain that feeling of scarcity.  I feel like I could lose it all at any time, so I avoid risks.

I used to think that emotions were a liability; they just got in the way of doing the right thing in the most efficient manner. Now I think perception matters more than reality, since we can't perceive reality directly and must do it through our senses. Also, I think feelings are in some way a sense, which is stronger than other senses, in its power to affect you.

A recent change in my Myers Briggs Type Indicator result is consistent with this change in attitude. I used to be an INTJ, with the most extreme facet being the T, for thinking, versus feeling, while the others were closer to the middle (50). ( Here is my new result: )

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Very Low
Sloth:	Low
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Very High
Pride:	Medium

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

Sometimes, they can be flattering.  Usually, they are not, in my opinion.  Am I missing something?

When I was the photography editor at my college newspaper in December 1995, I was in the office at the same time as a new writer for the opinion section on a couple of occasions.  At both times, one or the other of us was using a computer, so I only saw her back.  However, I found out her name, read her articles and quickly saw that she was a far better writer than any other regular columnist at the paper.  Based solely on her general dimensions and intelligence, I asked her out via e-mail.  When she answered the door, I didn't know whether that was her or a roommate, as I had never seen her face.  It went well, and we were together for about a year.  We broke up after I graduated and the Air Force sent me to another state, but I think of her fondly.

She was a stock broker for a while, but followed her dream of becoming a journalist, and continues to write for several newspapers as a Chartered Financial Analyst.  Here is Nicole, earlier this month, as a guest on CNBC: http://70.166.63.240/TVEyes-CNBC_10-05-2007_10.37.46NG.wmv

She done good.  I'm proud of her.

My previous morning's squats apparently aggravated a six month old leg injury, as a cramp-like pain onset suddenly and wouldn't stop, keeping me awake at 1 a.m.  Last time this happened, I had a bad night.  Since then, I saw a doctor, so this time, after several minutes of tossing and turning, I remembered, the doctor told me to use heat, and he gave me Vicodin!   And I have a hot tub!  A half a pill and a short dip later, the pain is all gone.

I'm not used to having these luxuries available, such that it doesn't occur to me immediately to use them, but I think I could get used to them. 

You've heard of the purple line, right?  The future rail line that has been on the drawing board forever, but never seems to get built?  The need for it seems obvious to most people.  It would allow College Park residents (like me), for example, to take the Metro to Silver Spring or Bethesda without going all the way to downtown DC and then back up.  The alternative is to drive (or ride a bus) along 495, at a section of the beltway that is almost always packed and slow, or even slower local roads.  I always thought it wasn't happening because it got superseded by other transportation projects which were deemed higher priority, but after reading more, I'm discovering that isn't the whole story.  There are powerful groups that are actually opposed to construction of the purple line, and a big one is the Columbia Country Club.  They are very active in declaring their opposition to the purple line and active in giving lots of money to elected officials and candidates. See http://www.innerpurpleline.org/opposition.htm

During my first years as an Air Force officer, Jon Roberts was my mentor.  Now, we're both civilians, and he continues to inspire me. 

Jon, a.k.a. Hilfiger Tout, has a remarkable blog post today: The war is over.

Hey mscorbett, what's up with those Chicago cops?

News story: Good Samaritan Sex Offender

Instead of painting my whole body white at Burning Man, I've purchased a white full body unitard, with a hole just for my face, plus 'Clown White Lite' for my face and 'Hair White' for my beard.  I'm also going to wear white platform boots and give away white paper top hats with the following text printed on the underside of each, mostly copied, with permission, from http://www.fincher.org/Misc/RaiseTheAlbedo.shtml about reducing global warming by increasing the reflectivity of the earth:

 

( Read more... )
I suppose I'll alternate between gently spreading the gospel and screaming at any passersby that are wearing dark colors, and then decide which is more fun.

You can reduce global warming by reflecting sunlight back into the sky and preventing that energy from being absorbed by the earth, by painting things white.  Here are some references.  So, for this year's Burning Man, with the theme 'Green Man,' a very appropriate costume would be to paint my body white.  I'll go as 'White Man,' and 'illuminate' passersby with this technique for reducing the earth's temperature.

Plus, I get to run around naked.

By reading its usage on the web, I've figured out that 'broxored' means broken or messed up.  However, the fact that I found such a small number of examples suggests I'm spelling it wrong.  Is there a more common variation?  Where did this word come from?

Based on this study which shows that heart rate profile during exercise and recovery is associated with the risk of sudden death, I want to reduce my resting heart rate from 80 to 67, which is 89 less than the heart rate that I often reach during exercise, 156. I will attempt to do that by doing something aerobic for 30 minutes per day, in 1-3 sessions of at least 10 minutes each.

I declare it to the world! (so I'm less likely to forget)

Sudden death is lame, unless there are power tools involved.