Month: August 2011

The Fool and The Fool Who Follows Him

This weekend we decided to go to a local community event.  It was in an area of Columbus I’m not too familiar with, so I Googled directions before we loaded into the car.

We got to the address where the event was being held, but no event.  Turns out the official address of the place is actually the back entrance, which was not open to traffic. We weren’t the only car there, as there was a car ahead of us and a few behind us who seemed as if they were looking to go to the event too.  There was a person giving out directions and after the previous vehicle (a black SUV) drove off, I stopped, rolled down my window and asked the person how to get to the event.

“Just follow that car,” she said, pointing to the black SUV.

I rolled up the window and proceeded to follow the black SUV.  I think she gave similar directions to at least two other cars, as I could see there was a convoy slowly forming behind me.

So we were the second car in the convoy, and I was trying to keep up with the black SUV as it turned on to a main street, went about a mile, then turned into a subdivision and wound its way through the maze of streets.  All of a sudden, the black SUV stopped and pulled into a random driveway and the driver got out and went in to the house.  I pulled off to the side about a block up and the cars behind us stopped short of the driveway.  I’m sure they did exactly what we did- consult their cell phones (or GPS units) to see what to do now.

Luckily, the main entrance was around the corner and another mile down the road. And we got there without any incident. But the next time someone tells me to just follow another car, I’m going to have a backup plan ready just in case.

King Tom

My First Quake

Growing up on an island in the Atlantic, I was used to certain weather patterns. Cold (but not too cold) winters, hot (but not too hot) summers and springs/falls of a decent length. Just about the only type of severe weather we would get was hurricanes. A tornado hit the island once, but I missed it as I was away on summer vacation.

I moved to Ohio 11 years ago and things are different.  Tornadoes are a seasonal thing.  There is no spring or fall, and I’ve complained several times before about the cold bleak winters.  But one thing I’ve never been subjected to in Ohio or out East was an earthquake.  Until today.

I was sitting in my office when I felt a rumble.  Because I’m up on the 17th floor, I thought it was the building settling or something. It wasn’t until my Tweet Deck started going crazy that I realized it may have been more than that (not to mention clicking on #earthquake froze up my Tweet Deck for an hour or so).

I’m not saying I’d want to go through another one, because I wouldn’t.  And I’m sure if I was closer, I would have felt a lot more than a rumble.  But at least I can say I survived my first earthquake.

King Tom2 Comments

One Year, Two Surgeries Later

This was Hope one year ago today:

It was a few minutes before the surgery to repair her cleft lip (the first of two surgeries she’s had in the last year).  The six-week recovery period after the surgery was a bit rough for Hope, The Civee and myself.  And her second surgery wasn’t any easier.  But Hope has come a long way.  Here she is earlier today:

There are two things I should say about this picture. First, it’s really tough to get a good picture of Hope- she’s always moving.  Second, she’s in a big bottle phase right now.  Not milk bottles, but bottles that The Civee or I use.  The other day, she grabbed a hold of a Fresca bottle and would not let go.  However, she did stand still for a few seconds:

King Tom2 Comments

Stupid Checkout Questions and Banner-Style Receipts

The other day, The Civee and I stopped at a CVS on our way back home from a few hours at the park with Hope.  We had a drive ahead of us and wanted some drinks.  I stepped up to the register with four items- two drinks and two candy bars.  I answered in the negative to the standard CVS checkout question of whether or not I had the loyalty/friend/reward card/number/whatever.  But as I handed the clerk my debit card to pay, the following exchange happened:

Cashier (surprisingly animated for a question of this nature): Would you like to also purchase some hand sanitizer?

Me: Um…what? Why would you ask that?

Cashier (as surprised by my response as I was by his question): Um…we’re supposed to ask…?

Me: Well, it’s a stupid question. And no.

I was a bit surprised by the question.  All I wanted was to buy my drinks and candy bars and get out of there.  It’s bad enough to have to deal with the loyalty card question, but now they all but accuse me of being a dirty, unsanitary person simply because I don’t want to buy a tube filled with scented alcohol.

Are there any stores left where you can just walk up to a register, pay and leave?

And as if CVS wasn’t wasting enough of my time, it seems like they also like to waste paper.  Keep in mind, I had four items.  This was my receipt (I’ve enlisted some of Hope’s toys to give you an idea of the scale):

That receipt is more than a foot long.  I’m not sure whether to throw it out or to give it to a high school marching band so the drum majorettes have something to march behind for their homecoming parade.

The Civee says I should have been nicer to the clerk.  I say spontaneous, honest feedback is the best option in a situation like this. After all, I was the one who went in the store to get the drinks.

King Tom2 Comments

High Energy Physicists Finally Develop Something Worthwhile

Twenty years ago, the Internet was a text-only method of communication used mostly by academic types and those who were really into computers.  People shared files through FTP transfers and talked through e-mail and Usenet, which was a group of bulletin boards comprised of e-mail discussions.

Then, on August 6 1991, Tim Berners-Lee posted an item to the Usenet announcing the creation of the World Wide Web (or WorldWideWeb), a browser-based system to view hypertext.  Or, as he said:

The WorldWideWeb (WWW) project aims to allow links to be made to any
information anywhere. … The WWW project was started to allow high energy physicists to share data,
news, and documentation. We are very interested in spreading the web to other
areas, and having gateway servers for other data.

It was a few more years before graphics could be viewed alongside all the text. But pretty soon after that, the Web was everywhere, and the Internet was no longer the domain of academic types or those who were really into computers.  Even though I’d been online since ’92, it was still a few more years before I used the Web.

Things have certainly changed.  For instance, this blog is slightly more advanced (though not much more mature) than the hand-coded site I made in college.

So if you find yourself being productive (or wasting time) online, thank a high-energy physicist.

King Tom