Pet Peeve: Single Blinks

An open letter to drivers everywhere:

I have a major pet peeve. I see it daily and it irritates the hell out of me. It shows total lack of courtesy and respect for fellow drivers and can be easily overlooked.

Giving a single, weak-ass turn signal blink to change lanes.

This ticks me off. Why even bother to signal a lane change? One pitiful blink is all you think I deserve before you pull directly in front of me? What if I did not see it and I was speeding along like a normal person?

Listen, I am not a perfect driver. I have gotten my share of tickets. I drive really fast. But there are two things that I always remember and always do: no tailgating, period, and always signal your intentions clearly.

When I change lanes, I always turn on my turn signal, look to see if the lane is clear, merge then turn the signal off. There must be about 20 blinks in there. Other drivers only give one? WTF!?

When I see people change lanes without signaling, I tend to write it off as they forgot or have something on their mind or are engrossed on a conversation with their travelling companion. If a person gives a proper signal, then I thank God for them being courteous and wish my best blessings onto them. But a person that only gives a single blink is the most discourteous of people. These are the kind of people that only do things in a half-assed way, they must have no inner life, and have an ego that is so huge it is overriding their very sensibilities. They feel that they are more important than anyone else, and that all the little people deserve is one weak blink.

When you change lanes, don't give me one measly little blink. Either be courteous and signal a proper lane change, or don't signal at all.

The punishment for single blinkers should be execution.

Of Vicodin and Tiny Laptops

I'm sitting here in bed after breakfast (egg and toast) contemplating my next dose of Vicodin. My jaw is killing me, and I mean that both literally and figuratively. Every time I move my mouth, I get shooting pains from my jaw up to my left ear. Thankfully, it is only the left side. I have been taking copious amounts of Vicodin to alleviate the pain. I feel like House.

Interesting fact, in case you weren't paying attention:
In the show, House lives at number 221, apartment B...
just like Sherlock Holmes.

Because of this, I have been limiting the amount of talking I have to do, especially at work. My friend Chris from work talks non-stop and I can't get a word in edgewise, which is good. Then my boss will call, and then I have to do all the talking to try to get out of whatever trouble I am in. But I digress...

Last night, mother and I went to Office Depot to get her some ink for her printer. While she was doing that, I looked over the new computers. I was shocked to see how much laptops have come down in price...and how big they have gotten. A laptop...with a 17" wide screen display? Puh-leeez! We are regressing to the days of the luggables...the Apple Mac Portable...the Osborne...the Compaq with the funny amber-text LCD... suitcases, if you will.

I have a laptop. My personal one, not the one from work. It is an old Dell Latitude X300. It is a tiny laptop that I bought from a company that refurbs old used and off-lease Dells. I love it because of its small size. 12" screen, only about 1/2" thick when closed. Ultra-portable at its finest. After I got it, I ordered some shell parts to replace some obviously worn areas around the track pad, and I shoved a 120 Gb hard disk into it and a gig of RAM, and made it my favorite machine to do everything. I've got both Windows XP Pro and Fedora Core 7 linux on it, so I can do just about anything I need to do.

The Dell Latitude X300 Ultra Portable.
Not a very flattering picture, though.

I usually keep it docked in the little "media bay" thing that it came with. The media bay has all the connectors out the back for network and printer and all that, but also holds an extra battery and the CD drive. That is the caveat with ultra-portables...they have to reduce size and weight, so it is usually the optical drive that suffers.

This laptop only cost me about $400. New they were quite a bit more. I have purchased many used laptops over the years. If I get a new one...well, a different used one..I generally sell the other on eBay. My friend McA, on the other hand, has about 50 laptops, so old that they all run Windows 95 that he uses for many of his projects at the research institute he works for. Well, I exaggerate...he really only has 5 or so, but still. The technologies he works on for the government are usually so out-dated that he has to have an old laptop to be able to work with them effectively.

I don't have a problem with buying old laptops, just as long as I get it from somewhere reputable. I don't have a problem with buying new, either, just I don't have that kind of money. And besides, as soon as you drive it off the lot it will become outdated. And I would rather have an older laptop since they are generally still usable, and won't end up in a landfill somewhere in China or India.

I have to wonder, how anyone with one of those huge 17" monstrosities of a laptop can use it effectively on a plane. Seats and tray tables are so cramped to begin with, how can they even get it out and open it? I have used my little lappie on a plane, and it worked great! Nice and small, the perfect size.

To each their own. I will be keeping my little lappie for a long time. Computers, as with cars, I eventually find one that is perfect for me. I've had IBM, Compaq, Apple, generic off-brand and Sony laptops in the past. Each have had their good points and bad points. Of all of them, I like this little Dell the best. It is too bad they don't make them any more. This one is what I would consider a reasonable laptop to have, not a huge monstrosity like what they make nowadays.

End rambling.

Another Travel Blog

I hate to travel, really. I like going by airplane, though. Most people think I'm crazy, and they would be right.

Years ago, a group of friends and I would travel all over the place. It was always a good time. We generally went to Louisville, Kentucky, or Columbus, Ohio for a weekend stay, usually at a Hyatt Regency.

One of our friends, "A", had a boyfriend that was in the Navy. He was due to stop into Charleston, South Carolina for a while and she wanted to visit with him. So, the group decided to take a road trip down to take her to him. They, however, told me that I could not come. There was a valid reason for this.

I am not good on car trips.

I tend to get antsy and nervous, unless I am the driver. Even then, I start getting very irritable. This was brutally evident on a trip we all took to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Travelling there with my parents was a breeze, no problems. But with the group, oy vay!

They did put a condition on me going with them. They all really wanted me to come, but not with them in the rental car. It would be too crowded, they said, and I get irritable and mad which becomes unpleasant. They said to check and see how much a flight would be, and if I flew down, I could come with them. I initially said no. They really wanted me to go, and I thought flying would be a great idea! So I checked online and found a great fare...only $150 round trip...and booked it. I would be leaving the evening that they left in a rental car.

I got packed and to the airport and waited patiently. We were told there would be a delay. An hour passed, our flight should have left already. Another delay. Another hour passed. We were finally told that our flight was canceled due to mechanical problems. Great.

A mob of people stormed the airline desk. The poor guy behind the podium was inundated with people hollering and threatening. I just sat there patiently and waited until the mob dispersed to go up and see what they would be doing. After all, I really did not have to go, and I could call the group and tell them I would not be going with them.

I went up after the crowd dispersed and started up a chat with the guy. They gave us all flights the next day, and an optional hotel stay for the night. Since I was local, I said that I would just go home. He thanked me for my kindness and understanding. I got booked on the next flight out, at 6 am, and left to try to get a reasonable night's sleep since it was now well after 10 pm.

I arrived at the airport the next morning and waited patiently for the flight. I saw a number of people there that were in the mob the night before. None seemed to pleased, but what can I say. They began boarding the plane with the infirm, pregnant, those that need help, and first class passengers.

I didn't know where I was to sit, so I looked at my ticket. I was in seat 1c, first class. WTF!? The agent last night upgraded me to first class. How cool was that! I boarded the plane and sat in the most comfortable seat I have ever sat in. In this section, there were two seats per side, not three like in cattle class.

We took off, and they served snacks and drinks...to cattle class, that is. Us in first class...there was only me and one other guy who wasn't there the previous night...got a real breakfast of cereal, a banana, toast, milk and orange juice. With a real ceramic bowl and real glass glasses and real silverware. I'm never flying cattle class again!

The trip was enjoyable. I got to Charleston about 6 hours ahead of the group, and boy did I have a story to tell. They were quite jealous of my experience! In the end, we explored Charleston, stayed at a rather nasty Howard Johnson's, ate very well and had a good time. "A" visited with her boyfriend, and had a good time, too.

On the way back, I was in cattle class like the rest of the little people, but I have fond memories of when I was one of the upper class in first class. So, if there are problems with a flight, keep your cool and be nice...you never know what you might get.

Vacation

Honest, I didn't realize how much I was going to enjoy blogging...

Recently, my boss asked us to let him know our plans for off time for the upcoming year. Nothing set in stone, just an idea so he can get a feel for staffing levels for big projects and so forth.

This reminded me of the last vacation I took. Well...tried to take. Sure I have taken a week off to ready my new house, or spend time with mom and dad during their vacations, etc. But I traditionally nickel-and-dime my vacation days, taking one here and one there. There is a reason for this. My friends ask me all the time to recount this story to them, so I figured that I would put pen-to-paper, at least electronically, for all to see.

Vacations did not used to be unpleasant. For years we went to Gatlinburg (before it was wholly and completely touristy) and the Outer Banks of North Carolina (before it was wholly and completely touritsy). We usually stayed away from the typical tourist traps and spent time on the beach or in a rustic cabin...and eating at little known restaurants, which was always the best part for me.

One year, a couple of years back, we decided to take a cruise. I found a great deal online for a cruise package of the Eastern Caribbean. Mom and dad had taken a cruise before and thoroughly enjoyed it. They absolutely loved Jamaica, and I think they are planning a retirement to Grand Cayman. (Yeah, right!)

The day before we left, we packed and kenneled the dogs with our vet and secured everything. We were all prepared and left early the next morning for our flight. We arrived two hours before our flight was to leave, for security purposes. There was no one at the airport, just two or three lonely travellers and us. Eventually we were ticketed and passed through security with no problems. We could have arrived thirty minutes before departure and gotten through with no issues. Dayton airport is not exactly a big travel hub.

We left Dayton and got to Washington DC, and left Washington for Miami and arrived quite safely. This is where things took a turn for the worst. We went to the baggage hall and collected our bags and went to the cruise counter. There was an inordinant number of people milling around, many of them were very mad or crying. There was a lot of shouting and threats being thrown around. The cruise had been cancelled.

It wasn't until later that we saw CNN that we found out that after our boat arrived into Miami from the previous cruise, a boiler in the engine room had exploded. It killed two workers and injured several others. This, of course, meant that the boat was going nowhere.

I talked to the lady at the counter and got information on what we should do next, about refunds and whatnot. I think I was the only person that had not screamed at her that day, because she grew less agitated as I spoke with her. It was not her fault, after all. It does no good to yell and scream at a person that is only trying to do their job. People that do stupid things, yes, but not the innocent.

I relayed the information to my parents, and they went ape. My dad has a temper, and he was getting hot. The lady said that we will get a refund and a free cruise, and they will take care of the plane tickets and any associated charges, so we would not be out any money. We went back up to the terminal and I called the travel agent to see what I had to do to get us reticketed back to Dayton. They were aware of what happened, but there was nothing they could do, and we'd have to go to the airline desk to have our tickets changed. I called American Express, on which I booked the trip, and there was nothing they could do, either. I told my parents what was going on, and my dad got madder and madder. He started in on me. We got in each other's faces, and he raised his fist and had to really control himself to not knock me out. Mom told us to cool it, and left me to take care of the situation.

I got in line at the airline desk. While I was in line, I spoke to a very nice couple that had just been on the cruise where the incident happened. All they had with them was the lady's purse, the clothes on their backs and a bottle of Crown Royal. They said that it was very scary, but the ships personnel were very courteous and organized for a situation like this. Their baggage would be FedExed to them.

I got our tickets changed, and we went to a Chili's inside the airport for some lunch, and we calmed down. There was very little talking as we sat there festering. After lunch, we went through security. Mother accidentally carried her word search book with her through the metal detector. When the security personnel saw it, they told her that she cannot do that. Startled, she threw it back through the metal detector onto the x-ray machine belt. This pissed off the guard, and they put her into a corral to check her manually. This was a humiliating experience for her, but we actually got a laugh out of it.

Later on, while we were waiting for our departure, there was still no talking amongst us. It would be six hours that we waited in the Miami airport for our flight out. We finally boarded the plane, but there were issues. The plane had to be turned off and back on a number of times. There were mechanics going in and out of the plane constantly. We waited on the plane at the gate for three hours. So long that we missed our connection in Chicago back to Dayton. All while this was going on, I said quite loudly "What does this plane run? Windows?" which got quite a few laughs.

While we were waiting, the stewardess started a movie. I don't know what it was called, but I was antsy and mom and dad were irritable. We were allowed to leave the plane to get refreshments and whatnot while the plane was under repair. I left and enquired about getting a refund for our tickers and renting a car. The agent at the airline counter was rather rude and not helpful, and gave me a flat no.

We eventually left Miami behind, enroute to Chicago. Since we missed our flight, and had no baggage, the airline put us up in a hotel and we went to the gift shop and bought t-shirts to sleep in and went to the hotel restaurant to get something to eat.

The next morning, we got to our plane to Dayton and left for home without incident. We got home in the early afternoon and we all collapsed. Mom called the vet to check on our beloved Cocker Spaniel, Sassie, and our beloved Tibetan Terrier, Murphy. You can see Sassie's picture in the "About Me..." section, she is my little avatar picture. The vet said that Murphy was fine, but Sassie was a little under the weather and that he would like to keep an eye on her for a day. So we left them there and rested up. The next day mom and dad went to pick up the dogs. They were very happy to see us, and it was nice to have them back.

The next day, Sassie was not her normal self. She was listless and had trouble breathing. I picked her up and held her close to me and petted her to try to calm her down. She was still breathing hard, and mom said that she should go to the vet. I carried her and Dad drove us to the vet. On the way, she wimpered and passed away right in my arms. We got to the vet, but there was nothing he could do. She died of heart failure. She was 13 years old, which is a pretty ripe age. I sat in the vets office and cried, and stroked her soft fur for about a half hour. After we got home without her, mother broke down crying.

I went back to work the next day, and began the process of getting a refund for our trip. We did get the refund, but never took advantage of the free cruise. It was non transferrable, so we couldn't sell it, so that was out.

I think God was on our side, getting us back home to enjoy the last few minutes of Sassie's life. I loved that little dog. She slept on my bed every night and kept me warm. After I got bigger into the internet, and started to run my own servers, I registered the domain "sassie.net" in her memory.

I was planning to take off the rest of the week, but decided to go back to work a few days early since I had little to do at home, and home was a bummer with all the crap that had gone on.

One of these days I will take a real vacation, something to get away from everyone. I have to take a few trips in my lifetime...I must see Israel, Australia, England, China and Japan before I die...not necessarily in that order. I especially want to see Japan. Ever since I saw the TV adaptation of "Shogun" when I was little, I have been obsessed with Japan and Japanese society. One of these days, I hope to visit, and it will probably be the first trip I take abroad.

It most certainly won't be a cruise.

Smoking

Smoking is a dirty habit, and a deadly one. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind if people smoke, I just don't like it to happen around me. I know a lot of smokers, too, and I don't complain when I go to their homes and they smoke. I made the choice to be there because I enjoy their company. And my friends are generally considerate enough not to smoke around me outside of their home, or in mine.

Anyhow, I digress...

Yesterday I was driving along...actually I was trolling for lunch...and passed by Miami Valley Hospital. Outside the emergency entrance, down along the street, were several nurses and doctors standing around smoking. Now, I don't get this. There is overwhelming proof that smoking is dangerous and yet these healt care professionals are out lighting up. These doctors and nurses are supposed to keep people healthy, yet they themselves smoke like chimneys? I just don't get it. Hypocrites.

A good friend of mine, whom I love dearly, is a smoker. I ask her a lot if she would quit. She complains of breathing problems, and thinks that she had a mild heart attack at one point. She could not go to the doctor because she has no insurance, so she is not for sure. Her response to me when I say she should quit is that the menthol in her cigarettes help her lungs to feel better and she breathes easier.

Excuse me?

That is some bullshit answer. I hate to see her smoke like she does, but there is nothing I can do. I think she realizes that her breathing problems are as a result of smoking for so many years. But, the nicotine addiction is just too much for her. To each their own. My grandfather smoked for most of his life and he died of asphyxiation due to emphysema. My grandmother smoked for most of her life, but she died of cervical cancer, otherwise there was nothing wrong with her. I guess every person responds differently to smoking. Again, to each their own.

Now that I have had cancer and survived, I am making a more conscious effort to limit my exposure to things like secondhand smoke, the nasty diesel dust from the vehicles at work and other possible carcinogens. I have too much to live for.

The Daily Coyote

Rx: Take one every few minutes until cuteness craving is satisfied.

This is a picture from the blog "The Daily Coyote". It is about a nice lady that takes in a baby coyote who's parents were killed. This is an absolutely adorable blog, and an absolutely adorable 'yote and I suggest you read it.

Nixtamalization

One of my favorite things to do is watch TV. I know this sounds like a lazy person, and you are right. I watch a lot of TV. My favorite things to watch are generally Food Network, BBC America and Cartoon Network.

The other night I watched my favorite program on Food Network called "Good Eats" with Alton Brown. This is a show that delves into the history of whatever chosen topic the show is about, and often the scientific reasons behind the way foods interact to make the chosen dish. Between acts, or as a segue to commercial, there are usually snippets of text on-screen that explain something in the program. That, and the show is usually funny as hell!

The episode I watched last was the second in a series about tortillas (The first was about a year back entitled "Tort-illa Reform". Get it? Hah!) This program went over ways to reuse tortillas that have been previously made and are now in "leftover" status. There were some great recipes, including a "Mexican Lasagna" using a spicy sauce, cooked chicken, Oaxaca cheese and leftover tortillas.

The last segment was a recipe for "Masa Tots", little balls of masa flour, with spices therein, then deep fried like tater tots. This was to demonstrate how tortillas could be turned back into its original, constituent parts...one of which is masa flour.

In a segue to commercial, the text on screen told how tortillas are made. Dried corn, or maize, is "nixtamalized" and ground into masa flour, then formed into tortillas.

Nixtamalized? What the hell is that?! That is a new word on me. I love words, and I try to learn a new word or two every day and find some way to work it into conversation. But "nixtamalized"? Good gracious.

I was watching while laying in bed, the light out, firmly intending on going to sleep after the program was over. But "nixtamalized" was floating through my head and I could not stop thinking about it. It eventually got the better of me and I had to find out what it meant.

I had been trying to do some work earlier in the evening, so my laptop was in my bedroom leaning up against the wall opposite my bed, plugged in and charging. It was only in sleep mode, so I got up, grabbed it and flipped it open. I went to my usual resource for words, the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, http://www.m-w.com/, intending to define the word.

It wasn't there.

I was hoping that they did not just make up this word. That would be unlikely. So, I googled it. There were plenty of entries. One of which was for Wikipedia, http://www.wikipedia.org/, another of my favorite...albeit with some skepticism...resources on the web.

In there I found an exhaustive explanation of the nixtamalization process, and I quote...

Nixtamalizacion, a Spanish loanword sometimes anglicised to nixtamalisation or nixtamalization, is the process whereby dry maize grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater, to cause the transparent outer hull, the pericarp, to separate and be removed from the grain. This process has several benefits including enabling the grain to be more effectively ground; increasing protein and vitamin content availability; improving flavor and aroma and reduction of mycotoxins. In the Aztec language Nahuatl, the word for the product of this procedure is nixtamalli or nextamalli (IPA: [niʃtaˈmalːi] or [neʃtaˈmalːi]), which in turn has yielded Mexican Spanish nixtamal (IPA: [nistaˈmal] or [niʃtaˈmal]). The Nahuatl word is a compound of nextli "ashes" and tamalli "unformed corn dough, tamal." The term nixtamalization (spelled with the "t") can also be used to describe the removal of the pericarp from any grain such as sorghum by an alkali process. When the unaltered Spanish spelling nixtamalizacion is used in written English, however, it almost exclusively refers to maize.

I was relieved. Now I get it. This is similar to how people make hominy: corn is cooked in an extremely alkaline solution of lye...LYE of all things!...to make large, funkadelic, mutant white kernels of hominy. My grandparents loved the stuff. Too weird for me.

I was going to blog this last night, but I didn't because I was tired. I'm kinda glad I waited because Shari over on "My So-Called Japanese Life" blogged about Wikipedia and how recently a few more institutions of higher learning are now disallowing Wikipedia as a reference.

This, in my opinion, is a good idea. Since Wikipedia, in and of itself a good idea, is written by everyone on the internet, there is a big risk of getting ahold of bad or incomplete information or information that is interpreted incorrectly. Wikipedia can be a great resource, though. Just like I found out what nixtamalization meant, one can pretty much find out everything they want to know about from there. You have to take it with a grain of salt, however. There have, in the past, been bullshit articles posted with lots of disinformation as proof-of-concept that the articles can be manipulated and twisted to give people false impressions or make people look really, really stupid.

For the casual user, a quick search is harmless. For academics or business users that need to find information about a subject quickly, Wikipedia can give you a good idea of what a subject is all about. You must look into it further with the references that are given at the bottom of nearly every article. Even the referenced data can be interpreted incorrectly or not at all. Some subject pages on Wikipedia don't have a single reference!

In the end, if a subject is important and you have to know all about it, Wikipedia is a great starting point. But ONLY a starting point. Look at the references, check them out, go to the library and look at the books on the subject. Research that depends on a single resource is flawed research, and research the depends exclusively on Wikipedia is definitely flawed and dangerous.