Den of Coffee Bean Hell

Well, it's been a while, but there is finally a new Foamy which I really enjoyed.

Check it out.

And remember, you're only paranoid if they're not out to get you!

Where Did It Go?

What the hell happened to the last year?!? I was reminded today that Repeal Day (Dec. 5th) is coming up soon. As first, my thought was "That can't be right! Wasn't Repeal Day was just a couple months ago? I posted about it!" But then I went back and looked, and sure enough, that post was from almost a year ago. Somehow, with all the crazy shit going on in my life (and don't get me wrong, much of that is the good kind of crazy shit), this last year has just flown by. It's a little hard to believe that we're already at the end of November. Somehow, part of my mind is certain that it's really still early October. (Check out this PhD Comic - yeah, I'm the guy in the third panel right now!)

Well, That's A New One

I currently serve as the moderator for a graduate student listserv for our department. It doens't really mean much work, but it does mean that I get requests for approval on what are clearly spam messages. Since I don't really have to do anything with them but delete the request, I don't think about them too much. Occasionally, however, something interesting comes through. Each approval request includes the subject line from the message. I just had this one come through:

"Vampire Computer Clown Triangle Crystal Family Family"

This is probably the most bizarre one I've ever had. I only wish I knew what the hell it means!

Bizarre

Know what this is? Yes, I know it's a fence! But look closer, know what the fence it made of?

These are old, surplus medical stretchers from WWI. They have been turned on their sides and used to make this fence around a public housing development in England. I came across a reference to this kind of thing is something I was reading a month or two ago. It was such a bizarre notion that I went in search of some images online, but couldn't find any. So I did some follow up research and ended up emailing the British National Trust (kind of like the US National Park Service). After my request for information got bounced around a bit, I got a reply from someone in London, who said that the specific development I had referred to in my email was gone, but that it had been a common practice. In fact, the Tube line one of his friends takes home goes right along one of these housing developments. He'll ask his friend to stop by and take some pictures and then he'll email them to me.

The next day, I had an email with a stack of pictures. The one above is one of the better ones. This is a closer shot, showing the "leg" of the stretcher.

You Probably Could've Planned That Better

I came across an interesting sounding job today (in Denver, so that might be kind of cool). The application instructions just wanted you to send in a cover letter and resume by email to the HR director at a specific address they provided. So I did.

And I got an auto reply back saying "I will be out of the office until Nov. 16." Now, this job posted today, the 14th. My thinking is, if you're going to be out of the office until the 16th, why don't you just wait and post the job on the 16th? You know, when you actually be in the office? Or if you don't want to have the job be posted on a Friday, wait for Monday.

But maybe that's just me.

---

UPDATE: 11/15, 10:15 AM

Well, I now have an answer - or, at least the question no longer really matters. As it turns out, they have someone else covering the incoming applications while the HR director is out of the office. I heard back from them today, saying they wanted to fill out one of those Affirmative Action survey forms and mail it back to them. Fine, I'll tell them I'm a white/Native Hawai'ian, non-disabled male who is not a military vet. At least I can use one of the department pre-paid envelopes to send it back - the department actually encourages grad students applying for jobs to use these as it's faster, cheaper, and helps with the department's placement rate. Fine by me!

I Wonder What It Means

"Never could read no road map
And I don't know what the weather might do,
But hear that witch wind whinin'
0h, see that Dog Star's shinin',
I've got a feelin' there's no time to lose,
No time to lose!"
~Grateful Dead, "Saint of Circumstance"

I've been listening to the Dead most of today at work. But for some reason, this particular verse caught my attention and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. I'm sure there's a reason for this, but I have no idea what that could be.

You Must Believe

Before going any further, I will freely admit I'm a little left in my politics. I see the Republican Party as more than a little creepy and weird, favoring the pursuit for money and power over all else. I do not, however, hold any specific feelings for the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has more than itself of nut-jobs and crazies hypocrites who specialize in running around like chickens with their heads cut off (most of Boulder, CO, for example). And I want to stress here that I am talking about the Parties, not specific people belonging to those parties!

All that being said, however, I found this most amusing this morning. I have lifted it from Propsqueen, who I'm sure won't mind me reposting it here (after all, she got it from someone else, plus if she has a problem she'll simply let me know by giving me a smack upside the head next time I see her!).

So, without further ado . . .

To Be A Republic Today You Need To Believe:

1. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

2. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's Daddy made war on him , a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

3. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Viet Nam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

4. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

5. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational drug corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

7. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

8. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

9. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMO's and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

10. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

11. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

12. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

13. The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.

14. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

15. Supporting "Executive Privilege" for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)

16. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.

17. Support for hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.

And, yes, there are any number of posts out there which do the same thing to Democrats, but this was more amusing to me!

Obliviousness

You may have heard or seen that there was a fire at the ASU student union yesterday. It was a 2-alarm fire, which broke out around 12:45PM and forced the fire department to evacuate the whole building - about 5,000 people. The Union is going to be closed for at least today, and likely most of the weekend at the very least, but luckily no one was hurt.

Why did I title this "Obliviousness" if I'm talking about a fire that was all over the news, you may ask. Well, that's because I didn't know about it until about 2:15 - an hour and a half after it started and nearly forty-five minutes after they got it put out! And my office is only about 1,000 feet from the Union!

I didn't notice a damn thing!

I only found about it when a friend who works across town emailed me to ask if the Union really was on fire. My response - "Huh?!?"

I was so wrapped up in what I was working on that, with the exception of grabbing things off the hall printer 3 or 4 times, I hadn't left my office since 7:00AM.

One of the most amusing/disturbing things with this whole thing had to do with ASU's notification system. After the Virginia Tech thing, ASU decided to set up a couple of notification systems to let students and staff know about emergencies. You could sign up for text message notifications, and if anything were to happen, ASU would send you a message. They also would send emails to addy of record for all students and staff.

We didn't get the email notification until 3:15. That's an HOUR after I found out about it! By the time they told everyone there was fire, it had already been out for 90 minutes!

And the sad part about this, myself and the other grad students in the department were too busy or so occupied that the fire was of interest for only about 10 or 15 minutes.