Friday Musings

I hate it when people send me things to do Friday afternoon. What they have done is put off working all week, and then on the day before the weekend clear their desk, dump all their work and worries on everyone else, and then go home to a wonderful weekend, while ruining everyone else’s. When I get stuff like that on Friday afternoon, I simply reply to resend on Monday and then erase them.

Did you ever notice that no matter what finger you crush in the car door or hit with a hammer, it is the one that is needed the next time you use that hand?

There is some construction work going on near our office.  They have a sign up “Flagger Ahead.”  Is this the unisex version of “Flagman?”

It turns out there is an entire body of work on “Flagger” — including training courses, certifications, and the like. Though its hard to believe that most of the folks, male and female, that I’ve seen directing traffic at a construction site actually were trained for the job and if they were, Wow!

I like the Star Trek approach to this silliness.  The officers on the bridge are called “Mister” no matter their sex.  It is a description of a position, not a title.

I looked up a restaurant on line, considering it for the company Christmas Party. I then logged on to Google or yahoo or something to find an unrelated site, and there on the page was an ad for the very restaurant whose site I had just visited. Coincidence? I don’t’ think so.  Scary, yes.

We have outsourced out ability to put people on the international space station to the Russians. OK – It may be cheaper and whatever, but for some deep down chauvinistic, patriotic, flag waving reason, I don’t like it.

All our submarines and aircraft carriers have nuclear reactors in them providing power. I know of no accidents. Why not put reactors that size in neighborhoods to provide power for about what, 1000 homes? We put 5000 people in close proximity to them and leave them there for a year or more.  None seem any the worse for wear.  Wouldn’t that be better than stringing wires from Hoover Dam or Four Corners or wherever?

I understand that companies do surveys after you buy something to find out how they are doing, and perhaps there is good reason. However do they have to call during the dinner hour? Couldn’t they figure out a better way to do it than have a person call and ask questions? Its true that I don’t actually take surveys on line or those send in the mail. Surely someone could figure out a better way than “Survey Monkey.”

Carbon Dioxide, good old CO2, is being dammed as a “greenhouse gas.”  Now, do we all understand that without green house gases (water vapor — clouds– is the most prevalent) we could not live on the planet. It’s what keeps the sun’s warmth from escaping into space and keeps us from being a useless rock, like say the moon.  CO2 is also important because vegetation cannot live without it.  Plants take CO2 and feed on it and turn it into Oxygen, which strangely enough, we humans need to survive.  So what’s all the hubhub about. I have a friend who believes that in the future every home will have a C02 generator in their gardens to enable the plants to grow quicker and more healthy.

What ever happened to common sense — Loud noises destroy your ears — people wear ear protectors at airports and in factories. But then they walk out and get in to their cars and crank the stereo up so that it rattles windows a block away. Do they then wonder what happened when they can’t hear a few years later?

Just Sayin…

JVH