Friday, February 23, 2007
i'll think of something in a minute
this was a post i made the other day when i couldn't think of anything to write. on a search for inspiration, i ran across this picture.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
wagered
I have never been a fan of placing bets. As a kid, I was always scared of losing money (or whatever else was valuable), and fear of throwing away my personal goods just to avoid looking sheepish didn't make sense. I treasured money, even a little, and even if the bet looked fail-proof, I was either wary of some unknown entity changing my fortune in an unexpected rush of disaster, or the altruistic heart in me would invoke pleas of empathy for my much too undereducated counterpart. I couldn't just stand there and let fate (or some cleverly crafted scheme) determine where my goods ended up, even if I thought for certain I knew the outcome.
The most famous of the many bets I didn't take was the summer after my freshman year of college, when I was confronted with what seemed to be a certainty in the world of country music. We were listening to the radio when a commercial came on highlighting a concert that was coming up during the National High School Finals Rodeo, which were held in my home town. A male voice was singing a country tune, and the announcer said something to the effect of "Terry Clark! Come see Terry Clark in concert ....." Then later a woman's singing voice came on in a new song and the announcer said, "... and special guest, Dani Hoover."
Now I had absolutely no idea who either of these people were, and neither did the college guys I was working with, but it seemed completely obvious that the male singing voice who opened the commercial was the first name mentioned: Terry. The second person, as unique as the name Dani is for a female, definitely lined up with the female voice at the end of the commercial.
But for some reason during the day, we started talking about the plausibility of a man being named Terry and a woman named Dani, and one of the guys I worked with decided he thought it would be cooler to start calling the female's voice "Terri" and the male's voice "Danny." Well I started ribbing him about this because of the order on the radio commercial, and we had a silly argument going for the rest of the day.
He finally got so fed up he said, "Well, if that's what you think, then bet me $100."
One hundred dollars was a lot to me then (and still is), so even with frequent appeals I wouldn't give in. I was dead dead certain that I had enough on my side to with one bet be $100 richer, but a lingering sliver of doubt and a love for things that are mine made me hold off.
Several days later, by mere accident, we found out the results. Terri Clark is in fact a woman. Woops.
What does it take for you to take a bet?
The most famous of the many bets I didn't take was the summer after my freshman year of college, when I was confronted with what seemed to be a certainty in the world of country music. We were listening to the radio when a commercial came on highlighting a concert that was coming up during the National High School Finals Rodeo, which were held in my home town. A male voice was singing a country tune, and the announcer said something to the effect of "Terry Clark! Come see Terry Clark in concert ....." Then later a woman's singing voice came on in a new song and the announcer said, "... and special guest, Dani Hoover."
Now I had absolutely no idea who either of these people were, and neither did the college guys I was working with, but it seemed completely obvious that the male singing voice who opened the commercial was the first name mentioned: Terry. The second person, as unique as the name Dani is for a female, definitely lined up with the female voice at the end of the commercial.
But for some reason during the day, we started talking about the plausibility of a man being named Terry and a woman named Dani, and one of the guys I worked with decided he thought it would be cooler to start calling the female's voice "Terri" and the male's voice "Danny." Well I started ribbing him about this because of the order on the radio commercial, and we had a silly argument going for the rest of the day.
He finally got so fed up he said, "Well, if that's what you think, then bet me $100."
One hundred dollars was a lot to me then (and still is), so even with frequent appeals I wouldn't give in. I was dead dead certain that I had enough on my side to with one bet be $100 richer, but a lingering sliver of doubt and a love for things that are mine made me hold off.
Several days later, by mere accident, we found out the results. Terri Clark is in fact a woman. Woops.
What does it take for you to take a bet?
Thursday, February 08, 2007
shame double shame
Today I got a scornful gaze from those in line behind me when I decided to check out at the 15 items or less counter with 19 items in my cart.
What rules do you sometimes feel little or no shame when breaking?
What rules do you sometimes feel little or no shame when breaking?
Saturday, January 27, 2007
"together" is more than i expected
It has been two weeks since wedding day, and it's interesting to see the interactions we prepared for finally coming to light. An obvious example: During the ceremony we both read off a pre-vow speech, highlighting our excitement over the upcoming marriage and declaring some of the things we were looking forward to. I made this statement:
I look forward to the things we now can share: our home, our bed, our checkbook, and, if I sometimes have need, your toothbrush.
Of course, everyone laughed at the silliness of it, knowing we were sure to have many interactions that two people usually don't have, but realizing a toothbrush is typically off limits. The words were apparently prophetic though, as within 7 hours I had to use my wife's toothbrush!! Talk about starting a relationship off by sharing everything!
I look forward to the things we now can share: our home, our bed, our checkbook, and, if I sometimes have need, your toothbrush.
Of course, everyone laughed at the silliness of it, knowing we were sure to have many interactions that two people usually don't have, but realizing a toothbrush is typically off limits. The words were apparently prophetic though, as within 7 hours I had to use my wife's toothbrush!! Talk about starting a relationship off by sharing everything!
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
it may smell bad, but it'll save your life
I recently returned from an enjoyable trip to Denver, which was highlighted by two brief layovers and widespread pandemonium as the city was smothered in blizzard. On the day we arrived, we were greeted at the airport by hundreds, no, make that thousands of passengers who were trying to leave the city but couldn't get out. The security lines wrapped around the terminal. Suitcases lay neatly scattered all over the baggage claim. Had we been going in or out a day earlier, we would have been stuck.
The interesting thing I noticed in all this happened to be a little sign posted on the entryway to the bathroom. It showed a miniature tornado and words that read "Severe Weather Shelter," with the sign proceeding to lead deeper inside.
Now it's one thing to be stranded at an airport when severe weather is happening nearby. Even though you have the tremendous capacity to leave and fly far far away (on massive metal airplanes with enormous quanitities of gas), you are restricted to the limited mobility of your head, shoulders, knees and toes. No matter how strong the plane, a good wind gust or a funnel of fog and you're left at the ticket counter. That's tough.
But I think it struck me even more, when I was wandering through passengers on the way to our community storm shelter commode, that having a bathroom as your designated area for disaster recovery is not entirely a good idea. It's mind boggling. To begin with, airports already are areas that people come to to wait, many often for longer peroids of time than they'd like. Is it really a good idea to accentuate that wait by sending people in varying levels of panic (whether they have to go to the bathroom or not) into the one area where waiting is all the more highlighted by a natural urge to do your business and leave? That doesn't make sense. And then secondly, and even more obviously, the bathrooms are way too small. They could hold 35-40 people ... tops. I would imagine among the three concourses and with counting both male and female restrooms, there are about 24 bathrooms in DIA. Maybe there are some behind the scenes that the public can't see, but I'm still wondering how they will account for thousands of passengers in the event of incliment weather.
So here's the big question: Let's say at the time of a hurricane/tornado/snow storm/earthquake/mountain fire/moose attack they have enough room in the restrooms to accommodate half of the people currently in the airport. The security guard comes up to you and your family and says, "I'm sorry, we only have room for half of you. Some of you can join us in the handicap stall. The rest of you can go hide out in the McDonald's kitchen." What would you do?
The interesting thing I noticed in all this happened to be a little sign posted on the entryway to the bathroom. It showed a miniature tornado and words that read "Severe Weather Shelter," with the sign proceeding to lead deeper inside.
Now it's one thing to be stranded at an airport when severe weather is happening nearby. Even though you have the tremendous capacity to leave and fly far far away (on massive metal airplanes with enormous quanitities of gas), you are restricted to the limited mobility of your head, shoulders, knees and toes. No matter how strong the plane, a good wind gust or a funnel of fog and you're left at the ticket counter. That's tough.
But I think it struck me even more, when I was wandering through passengers on the way to our community storm shelter commode, that having a bathroom as your designated area for disaster recovery is not entirely a good idea. It's mind boggling. To begin with, airports already are areas that people come to to wait, many often for longer peroids of time than they'd like. Is it really a good idea to accentuate that wait by sending people in varying levels of panic (whether they have to go to the bathroom or not) into the one area where waiting is all the more highlighted by a natural urge to do your business and leave? That doesn't make sense. And then secondly, and even more obviously, the bathrooms are way too small. They could hold 35-40 people ... tops. I would imagine among the three concourses and with counting both male and female restrooms, there are about 24 bathrooms in DIA. Maybe there are some behind the scenes that the public can't see, but I'm still wondering how they will account for thousands of passengers in the event of incliment weather.
So here's the big question: Let's say at the time of a hurricane/tornado/snow storm/earthquake/mountain fire/moose attack they have enough room in the restrooms to accommodate half of the people currently in the airport. The security guard comes up to you and your family and says, "I'm sorry, we only have room for half of you. Some of you can join us in the handicap stall. The rest of you can go hide out in the McDonald's kitchen." What would you do?
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