June 27, 2008
Friday, June 27th, 2008  |
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| Indecent thoughts Norm was shopping the other day and wound up face to face with this drop dead gorgeous woman. He couldn’t help but just stare at her, so much so that his mouth dropped open and he was drooling. The woman caught him staring and suspected he wasn’t just admiring her outfit. She said, “Are you often troubled by indecent thoughts?” Norm replied, “No,
ma’am. Actually, to be honest, I rather enjoy them.” |
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“No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.” – Voltaire |
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“Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.” – Voltaire |
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Dumb
Criminal |
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On this day in history, June 27, 1966: Dark Shadows premieres on ABC. The show was created by Dan Curtis and based on an episode called “The House” written by Art Wallace and aired on Goodyear Playhouse in 1957. The original story “bible” had no supernatural elements. The action took place at the Collinswood Mansion, a 40 room house that was built in 1795 by Joshua Collins where trouble brewed within its walls ever since. Victoria Winters arrived at Collinswood as governess to David Collins. Vicki, an inquisitive young woman, sought out the strange family history. The set was eventually occupied by vampires, werewolves, ghosts, zombies, monsters, witches, and warlocks. Creatures not only traveled through time to both the past and future, but also to a parallel universe. The whole show was portrayed against the eerie background music provided by Robert Colbert. The soap opera ran until April 2, 1971. In that time, over 200 cast members appeared in 1,245 30-minute episodes. Due to pre-empted holiday dates, news interruptions, and other vagaries of daytime TV “only” 1,225 shows were aired. One of the reasons for the unparalleled success was an airtime coup. The groundbreaking series ran at 4 PM Eastern / 3 PM Central – a time slot that permitted teenagers just home from school to turn in while adults were busy with household tasks, like making dinner. “My name is Victoria Winters. My journey is beginning. A journey that I hope will open the doors of life to me and link my past with my future. A journey that will bring me to a strange and dark place, to the edge of the sea high atop Widows’ Hill - a house called Collinwood. A world I’ve never known, with people I’ve never met. People who tonight are still only shadows in my mind, but who will soon fill the days and nights of my tomorrows.” – Dark Shadows opening “For most men, time moves slowly, oh so slowly, they don’t even realize it. But time has revealed itself to me in a very special way. Time is a rushing, howling wind that rages past me, withering me in a single, relentless blast, and then continues on. I’ve been sitting here passively, submissive to its rage, watching its work. Listen! Time, howling, withering!” – Barnabas Collins “Of course a woman is going to kill me. I wouldn’t have it any other way!” – Quentin Collins |
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“Never go to
a doctor whose office plants have died.” |
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Today I want to talk about one of my co-workers. I’ve worked with her for probably about 15 years or so, and she’s pleasant enough and competent enough, but she does things that just annoy me. They aren’t major issues, but I’ve tried to explain my position to her on these issues and she admits my position is the proper way to do things, but she refuses to change. My first complaint is minor, but it’s important to understand that we are a business. As such, we are expected to act in a professional manner. When she first started working at the college, she worked in our admissions department, the first department most people will deal with when they deal with the college. It is extremely important to be professional as people will their their first impression of the college from this first contact. If you are the slightest bit unprofessional, that reflects poorly on the college. So what was it that upset me? When she answered the phone, she would just say “Hello.” She didn’t mention the caller had reached our college’s admissions department, and she didn’t give her name. The first time I called her, I thought I had dialed the wrong number and asked if this was Adrian in admissions. She confirmed that it was, and I explained to her that she should at least mention her name and department. She agreed that she should. But every time I called her, she answered by saying “Hello.” I started saying “I’m sorry, I must have the wrong number.” and hanging up. She would have to call me back to find out what I wanted. Each time she called back, I would explain to her that this is a business and she should announce who she is, and she agreed. But the next time I would call, she would just say “Hello.” I would say I had the wrong number and hang up. Eventually everyone in admissions just started answering “Hello.” There were instructions written up for their work study students saying that if you know who is calling, you should just say “Hello.” I went to the director of the department and explained to her how unprofessional that was. She agreed. But the instructions for work study students still said to say “Hello.” A few years ago we got a new director of admissions and this is one of the first things I mentioned to her, and she agreed and promised that improvements would be made. It wasn’t until just a few months ago that the signs saying to just say hello were finally taken down. But Adrian moved on to another department a few years ago, before this new director arrived. She sent me an e-mail a couple of weeks ago saying her monitor had funny vertical lines going down one edge of the screen. It arrived when I was at lunch, so I called her when I got back. There was no answer, so I figured she was at lunch and I’d call back later. I called later that afternoon, the next morning, and the next afternoon, and at no time did she answer the phone. I gave up, figuring she would call or e-mail me again if it was still happening. She e-mailed me again yesterday, but I was out of the office. So when I got in this morning, I made a point of calling her first thing. There was no answer, so I decided to leave a message. Her greeting told me she would be out of the office until Monday, June 30. I didn’t leave a message, I want to talk to her in person. You see, when you want our department to do something for you, chances are we will do it right away. I’d say that 90% of the time, if we have to go to your office to fix your problem, we are there within half an hour. I’d say 75% of the time, it’s within five minutes. Unfortunately, since she used to work for admissions, the people in admissions will do the same thing. They’ll call, I’ll say I’ll be right there, and when I get there, they’re gone. I just go back to my office and wait for them to call again. If you tell me you need me to come to your office, you damn well better be there when I get there. So on Monday I’ll try to call Adrian again. How much do you want to bet she answers, “Hello.” Tim a’Musing |
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Instead
of the water your recipe calls for, try juices, bouillon, or water
you’ve cooked vegetables in. Instead of milk, try buttermilk, yogurt
or sour cream. It can add a whole new flavor and improve nutrition.
- Peggy in Tonawanda, New York |
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Hints:
There’s a great rhyming dictionary at http://www.rhymezone.com/ Submit
Opening Line
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Re: Dichotomy of Humans Bruce, I too mourn the loss of Carlin. I was fortunate enough to meet and enjoy a short conversation with him once. He was every bit as smart as his pre-written material made him seem. (I was also graced to speak with Gallagher, another great thinker of our time, pretending to be a comedianne). That said, on to your question: I beg to differ with your entire premise. Have you never seen a Cat toying with a mouse? A pack of dogs ‘playing’ with a herd? And I do not limit these observations to the domestic versions. True, in the wild a hungry animal forgoes these behaviors in favor of eating, but a sated wild cats have been observed baiting their prey, as have packs of wild dogs, who have already fed, and happened upon unneeded prey. We are just better at it than they are due to our technological advantage. And we ‘think’ we should know better. We keep forgetting that we ARE in FACT Animals too. - Faithy, previously known as a winged cat on Palace space and as a FreeLoader here. [Believe it or not, while I was writing that I thought about a cat and a mouse. I’ve seen my own cat many times toying with the mouse, stepping on its tail, then letting it scramble away a foot or two before pouncing on it again, etc. I’ve many times pulled my cat off, and the mouse simply scurried off, probably scared shitless but none the worse for wear. That’s wholly different from intentionally inflicting pain the way humans do. After writing that piece, I’ve given it a lot of thought and I think I’ve answered my own questions. It seems to me that humans can be convinced to follow almost any leader, and do just about anything that the leader wants us to. It seems that we have to have a leader, and in any group one will always emerge. 900 people committed suicide in Guyana because Jim Jones thought it would be a good idea and he convinced others to go along. Were they all idiots? The entire country of India followed Gandhi’s example and non-violently forced the British out. Were they all heroes? Hitler convinced Germans to go along with his maniacal schemes, and had them believing they were good ideas. Were they all monsters? American soldiers tortured people at Abu Ghraib. Were they all sadists? The list goes on and on. Pick any century in recorded history, or any culture, and you can see examples of it. When you stand back and look at it from a distance, it seems that the most intelligent creatures ever to inhabit the earth are really sheep. For the most part they’ll do what they’re told to do by whatever authority figure happens to be in front of them, whether that leader is good or bad, religious or political, moral or amoral, and uniformed or not. It’s just my opinion, and I’ll be glad to hear your views, but the lessons of history seem to show that collective pressure overcomes personal morality or inhibitions and turns the same people from kind, caring, and compassionate humans into murderous, unfeeling monsters. Then, when the influence of the leader is gone, they go right back to where they started without so much as a shrug. People seem to be able to allow themselves to be convinced of just about anything, no matter how ludicrous. The more I think about it, the more terrifying that trait really is.] Re: Image’n That On the “image’n that” image. That was in my Neck of the woods. Cockeysville is one place that really IS just like it sounds. Hard to believe eh? I remember another (from Colorado) where they pulled over a guy and asked if he had been drinking, and he actually replied, “No. I was only smokin pot” Some folks just BEG to be busted. - Faithy in Baltimore (on the Cockeysville side of town) And a last bit back to Mike: on Gay Marriage: I too have several Gay friends, most of them in long term, permanant relationships. I do not see them as having more sex than I do (in my heterosexual marriage). Perhaps your friends are luckier or you are less lucky at Love than I. LOL - Faithy (slipping back into the background) Re: Gas Prices Mike, you really should check your facts, Exxonmobil’s profit for the first quarter 2008 is $10.9 billion not $47 billion. You also indicate that you don’t expect anyone to believe that they only make 8% to 10% profit. I would challenge you to calculate it and report back. I would do it, but then you would not believe me either. I listened to Rep. Peter Defazio’s radio interview and his 3 main points. First he questions why the oil companies are closing refineries in the US and no new refineries are being built. It is next to impossible to get the environmental clearance to build a refinery in this country. In this country today, it would take 10 years just to get the permits to begin construction on a refinery, and several more years to construct. If new refineries are needed, they have to be economic to operate. I am not advocating ignoring any environmental impact, but there has to be a balance in the viewpoints or nothing will ever be build. Defazio also claims that the oil companies are sitting on billions of barrels of reserves just waiting for the price to go up. When oil companies pay millions of dollars to lease acreage, it is only for a finite period of time, if production does not begin within the lease term, the government can put the lease up for completive bidding again. A single well in relatively shallow water in the Gulf of Mexico can cost $10 Million, a deep water well could be 10 times that much. So, your premise is that after investing millions of dollars in leases, wells and production equipment, the oil companies are not producing the oil and gas and therefore not generating any revenue because they are waiting for higher prices, and only making 8 to 10% profit (which you already believe is a low number). How do you generate that profit without producing and selling the oil and gas? Defazio example of the oil companies not producing their reserves is the Naval Petroleum Reserve. The NPR is actually 4 fields, the most famous is Teapot dome , if you were paying attention in history class. The NPR also includes 2 additional producing fields in California . These three fields are producing and have been for many years. Defazio talks about 25 exploratory wells in drilled in the forth field. The one area not producing is known as NPR-Alaska. That is correct, NPR-Alaska is West of the Prudhoe Bay field on Alaska ’s North slope . These exploratory wells have been drilled by six companies over a period of 9 years, many of which have found noncommercial amounts of oil and gas, meaning there is not enough to justify additional development drilling and building a pipeline to transport the product. If you could not tell already, I do work for a small oil and gas company as a Financial Analyst and have worked in the industry for 28 years. It does not matter if prices are low or prices are high, I am never asked what our profit is projected to be, but what our production is forecast to be. That is how you make money in this industry, get the oil out of the ground as fast and economically as possible, not by waiting for prices to rise. - Steve in Houston I was glad to hear from Tom from Oregon that the problem with gasoline prices was due to “seasonal price fluctuations.” Does this mean prices will drop once there has been a switch from gasoline production to home heating oil? Every consumer should be relieved.
In the first place it suggests that unused refinery capacity would be a reason to build new refinery capacity.
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Disclaimer- All quotes printed in this publication are believed to be accurately attributed, but no guarantees are made that some incorrectly attributed, or even outright false quotes won’t get in here from time to time. I assure readers that I will do my best to weed out incorrect quotes, and will print a retraction as soon as I become aware of any errors. |
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