Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, November 16, 2016

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  • In a freak home accident yesterday, I suffered a mild concussion and was even unconscious for a brief moment. What’s weird, ten years ago yesterday my mother suffered a head injury which resulted in her death two days later. I’m not sure if I’m more surprised I’ve been without living parents for a decade or that I’ve kept up with this blog. This is now my third or fourth concussion, most happened on the football field.
  • Even though I have a spell checker (you’re surprised, I know), I always have to look over “Wednesday” a few times. Spelling that day is a mental hurdle.
  • Sometimes it’s really hard to understand what a coworker is explaining, so I’ll try to break it down by asking yes/no, true/false, this/that questions to see at what point my misunderstanding begins. While I understand certain answers are more complex than a yes/no or true/false, there are a few coworkers that seem to avoid answering that way by all mean possible. For example, the other day  I asked one if he/she was using Firefox as his/her web browser. Here’s another, “Are you using your work computer or personal computer when you ran into the issue?” And no, I don’t work in any type of customer or tech support.
  • There’s also a handful of coworkers who will “Reply All” even when it’s not necessary. In my line of work, I get anywhere from 30-80 emails a day, excluding those unneeded who “Reply All” when not warranted.
  • For the most part, I really do enjoy my job and my coworkers, but we all have “those things” that get to us every now and then.
  • Texas Monthly – #IWalkWithNatasha Shows Solidarity For Baylor Student – After being targeted for her race, Baylor students rally around to show support.
  • Some of my most productive work days start by writing down three to five things I want to accomplish before the end of the day as soon as I get to the office. Next to each item I’ll draw a square check-mark box, and will check off each box as I complete each task. Most of the time, those tasks aren’t anything major, but just stuff I need to get out of the way or have been lingering for longer than I’d like. I’m surprised I don’t do this more often if I find it so effective, and I enjoy the tiny sense of accomplishment once they are all completed. Sometimes, those things don’t take longer than an hour to do, and I’m left wondering why I put them off for so long in the first place.
  • Buzzfeed – A Democratic Senator Is Trying To Get Rid Of The Electoral College (But It Probably Won’t Happen)
    • The greatest chance of getting rid of the Electoral College would have been when Obama first took office. However, with the great recession and our troops fighting overseas, any attempt would have looked poor.
    • I’m about 65/35 on getting rid of it.
      • One argument for keeping it would be that candidates would only campaign in highly populated areas. But my argument against that is the candidates are basically doing that now but in swing states.
      • One argument for keeping it is another sense of check and balances. The winner of the Electoral College can still be prevented from taking office if the electors of each state choose not to cast the vote according to the election, and those faithless electors could be penalized. I think that explanation is bastardized, but you get the idea, I hope.
      • I don’t like the idea that my vote counts but doesn’t matter, sort of speak. Trump was going to win Texas without a doubt, but if I chose to vote for Hillary, it doesn’t really do any good.
      • I’m split whether or not the will of the people or if state representation is the best way to go. I get we live in a republic, but it’s a democratic republic. There appears to already be a balance with the Electoral College, but I’m not sure if it’s the best way to represent both interests. There’s logic with what the Founding Fathers created, but they also recognized the need to be able to amend.
      • I’m not trying to sound like a sore loser, I’m just trying to process my thoughts. It’s not my attempt to come across that way.
  • In college, I was surprised when some friends told me their favorite cartoon characters were Foghorn Leghorn and Marvin the Martian. To me, they were just secondary characters and at the time couldn’t comprehend why a major character, like Bugs Bunny, wasn’t their favorite.
    • Random tidbits from the Marvin the Martian Wikipedia page:
      • Marvin’s design was based on a conception of the Roman god Mars. “That was the uniform that Mars wore — that helmet and skirt. We thought putting it on this ant-like creature might be funny. But since he had no mouth, we had to convey that he was speaking totally through his movements. It demanded a kind of expressive body mechanics.”
      • His dog is named “K-9”.
      • Marvin attempts to destroy the Earth because, he reasons, “it obstructs my view of Venus”
  • ACU made national news, but not in a good way
    • The offensive video was first uploaded to Snapchat Monday morning and shows an unidentified female Abilene Christian University student with her face covered in black makeup. “I’m a strong black woman,” the white student says before putting on a pair of oversized costume lips, while several people can be heard laughing in the background. The video is accompanied by a caption reading, “This is why black lives matter exists.”
    • I attended Hardin-Simmons University which was just down the road (literally) from ACU. You’d often see HSU men driving through the ACU campus because the women there were extremely attractive. One of the best dates I ever had was with an ACU girl.
    • ACU is affiliated with the Church of Christ, and they don’t use musical instruments during worship services. I remember helping to dispose an old piano in college and someone jokingly said we should just dump it at ACU. At the time, it was funny.
    • I used to attend a worship service on Sunday night at ACU. It worked out that I could watch the ‘X-Files’ and make it to the auditorium in time. It was basically an auditorium of about two-thousand students with the lights dimmed, one student would spontaneously start singing a worship song and the rest would follow along. Since it was all acapella, it was really beautiful. Some songs had parts in which the opposite sex sang, and when the girls sand, it was very angelic.
    • At the time (1994-1999), all freshmen had to live on campus with a curfew and not one swimming pool on campus allowed men and women to swim together.
    • bible-rotundaacradFrom the highway, us Baptists used to joke that this part of their campus looked it was flipping us off. This isn’t the best angle, but you get the idea.
    • It’s my understanding, inside the building on the right, is the world’s largest printed Bible.
  • SMU had some “similar” problems as well – ‘Why white women shouldn’t date black men’ fliers found at SMU
  • GoFundMe effort rescues Miss Arizona pageant after crowns stolen from porch
  • Bloomberg – The Spy Who Added Me on LinkedIn – Russia had operatives in New York for years, from Wall Street to the UN. Now one is headed to prison.
  • I enjoy David Blaine magic specials, especially the latest format he uses. Instead of being on stage in front of an audience, his segments are in front a few people, usually celebrities, and you get to see their immediate actions. And yes, I think their reactions are genuine.
  • Buzzfeed – How Popular Are Your Disney World Opinions?
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Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, November 15, 2016

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  • I really like the Sundance channel’s ‘Rectify’, but I had no idea the final season started about five weeks ago, so I’ve been playing catchup. In a way, it’s more fun being able to binge-watch.
  • Yesterday was the first day in about a month I haven’t coughed up any phlegm, and it was about the first time in a month I felt well enough to work out again.
  • I’ll often look in the mirror and stare at myself for minutes at a time. It’s never planned, it just kinda happens after washing my hands or shaving. Usually, the focus is on my eyes, wondering if I’m doing the best I can do at what I think is my life’s purpose – identify and fill needs of those around me. I’ll also wonder if I’m pushing myself hard enough to try to better myself, that I’m doing more than being complacent. I’ll then hit a few tangents in regards to relationships, health, legacy, self-worth, regret, embarrassment, or how I have intentionally hurt someone.   In my selfish rant about vanity, it’s grace that matter to me most. As Bono and the Boys have often said, “Because grace makes beauty Out of ugly things.”
  • I had no idea Gwen Ifill was in hospice, much less sick, her death was a surprise.
  • This Dallas Morning News headline stood out more so than some others – Motorcyclist dies after going airborne off bridge, hitting light pole in west Oak Cliff
  • George W. and Laura Bush adopted a dog from the SPCA of Texas and named him Freddy Bush.
  • Outgoing presidents tend to have an uptick in approval ratings before leaving office, but I have a feeling Obama’s will have a more than normal bounce.
  • It seems inevitable that someone in any presidential administration will get in some sort of trouble or cause embarrassment. If Sid Miller became the next Secretary of Agriculture, I’m certain it will be him. But I’m really surprised that Rick Perry wasn’t considered or first mentioned, he did serve as our state’s ag commissioner for eight years.
  • 89-year-old man digs his own grave – ‘The grandchildren will know that their grandfather dug his own grave with his own backhoe’
  • Photographer Tracks Down People He Snapped In His Hometown Almost 40 Years Ago To Recreate The Remarkable Images
  • Despite Current Glut of Successful Scifi Shows, CBS Executive Says New Star Trek Wouldn’t Work on TV
  • As an owner of an electric car, I think this is a good thing. The number of times a pedestrian doesn’t have any idea I’m in close proximity to them is scary. Our car makes the traditional beeping sound you’d hear when big machinery is moving, but you don’t hear anything when driving at low speeds.
Posted in Personal | 3 Comments