1. I am not prejudice, I hate everyone equally.
2. If you are not sleeping with me, I don’t care who you are sleeping with.
3. Don’t see anyone you work with, without their pants on

So at times it seems like these don’t really make sense until you start thinking about them as they actually apply in daily life. Let’s take a look at each rule.

I am not prejudice, I hate everyone equally.

This one is fairly self explanatory; it is my sarcastic/sardonic take on “treat everyone equally”. It seems simple, but you would be amazed at how often people forget that everyone is a person to some degree. My recent trips have reinforced that opinion. I was on a plane full of people flying to LA and there were many children on the plane, all of them – no matter the race, ethnicity, nationality …etc – had trouble using their inside voices and respecting others. So I disliked them all on the plane, as all that I wanted to do was work and then sleep since I couldn’t work. It did not matter their background, they all annoyed me. So it kind of shows how one has to look past the outer skin and see the person for their behaviors and actions; that is what one should be judged on.

If you are not sleeping with me, I don’t care who you are sleeping with.

Everyone kind of goes, “huh?” to this one. However I have found that many people talk about others romantic life and activities. This can be such phrases as “I can’t believe that she is going out with him…” “That person is gay” “I can’t believe that they are getting married” etc. My answer is that I just don’t care, I have other things to worry about. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston getting married, then getting divorced, then Angelina… etc. well how does that impact me? Why should I worry about it. That is one level. The other one is the amount of time people spend gossiping about others personal life. An example being the amount of conversations that was garnered when my wife went out with a male coworker when she worked at the same company. Let’s see I trust my wife, I know the person she went to lunch with, I know he is in a relationship… etc. so why should I care – let alone anyone else I work with. This plays into the other item, he happens to be gay, but since he isn’t sleeping with me and isn’t sleeping with my wife – why should I care who he is sleeping with. But this causeed a huge stir of gossip at my office. Now to follow this completely, since I sleep with my wife I would care if she was sleeping with someone else.

Don’t see anyone you work with, without their pants on

This one applies in two ways, one obvious and one not so obvious. Now before I go into this, in the previous paragraph the astute reader will notice that my wife was working at the same place as I am. However she got the job as a temp after we moved up because of me – so it doesn’t really apply. Also she was in a different part of the building and I would only see here once a day – heck we didn’t even carpool due to the different work schedules. The rest of it still applies, don’t mess around at work. I do not know of many that it has ended well for. That does not mean that people can not meet at work, develop a relationship and then one of them leaves the job – I know many that it has worked for. And there also the case like I had where there is no interaction during the work day, they founded the company together… etc. The other one is that at the end of the day, especially when traveling for work, one wants to be able to get away from work. So when traveling having to share a hotel room with someone is something I won’t do anymore. It also reinforces not to bring work discussion “home” if you are involved with a coworker. I need some time off.

Now that you have seen the rules, I am not going to say that they apply for everyone, each person has to find their own code and rules to live by. These are the ones that work for me. Obviously I can continue to explain how these rules may or may not apply – but they are my rules. Just like an opinion, they can’t be wrong; they can be malformed, objectionable to others, based on incorrect assumptions/ascertions/beliefts …etc. but they can not be wrong.

I have a fourth rule that is currently under review, has been for a couple of years which I am still testing the application… so who knows there might be an addition.

However when I caught wind of the Browser for the Better campaign, I had to give them props and share the link. Doing something as simple as downloading a software package and installing it seems to me to be the least I can do to help those who are less fortunate. I was even able to download it on my Mac.

The basic premise is that for every download of Internet Explorer 8, from the http://browserforthebetter.com/ site, Microsoft will donate eight (8) meals to Feeding America.

Time to go download it on other machines as well…

1. I still had to wait 30 minutes.
2. I had to fill out the screening form again
3. I had not eaten dinner yet. I would have eaten if I had known it was important.
4. The stress of the day made my Blood Pressure a little high.

So I am still trying to pay it forward.

When I got to the office, I went to the local blood bank’s website.  I donate blood hoping that I will never need, but feeling better after that I have done something for the community. I called to set up an appointment to donate, then they asked me the questions about my health. “Are you in good general health and feel well?” I have some bruising from a motorcycle accident. “hmmm, do you have any cuts, road rash, ….etc”    So the nurse recommended that I wait until I am recovered before I donate, hopefully a week or two. But then she mentioned that she was happy I called and didn’t need to receive blood. They are in a “yellow” condition which means that they only have four to five days on hand.

So I ask that if you can, donate some blood.  Not for a specific cause but for the people we don’t know who need help. I am sure that all communities, near and far can use the help.

Thanks

I realize that my content is most likely someone else’s blather. However that does not mean that I should simply write something quickly and post it up, just to keep the pages filling. I am trying to actually have something well thought out to say. I don’t expect everyone to like what I have to say, I don’t expect all of it to make sense.

I just don’t want the blog to be palaver. Although I am sure it will be at times. I want to actually have content to it. So if at times it appears that it is sitting idle, it very well could be a sign that I am snowed under at work. It could just as easily be that I don’t have anything to say. Or perhaps I could be working on a bigger entry that I want to get complete before posting.

I am also trying to figure out what goes in the blog, and what goes in the static HTML pages.

Click for larger image

Isn’t it supposed to make one drowsy?

So we arrived there and I knew it was going to be something to remember when the release looks like this…

Click image for larger version

Yes that is the word Death in there. Even the vending machine had its own disclaimer…

Click image for larger version

So then it was time to line up and load up…

Click image for larger view

Then getting into and seated in the bobsled was quite a tightfit. The picture does not do it justice, we were crammed in there…

Click image for larger view

Then it was down the hill…. wheeeeee!!!!!!

Click image for larger version

It was so intense, 8/10 of a mile in 53.77 seconds. 15 Turns, the maximum of about 80MPH and 5G’s in turn 6. It was more of a rush then a roller coaster as the whole experience was much more basic. Just the basic conveyance, you could hear the runners sliding and scraping. You could feel the wind and pretty much you were holding on, there was no seat per se.

Click for larger image

What you might notice on there are that there is an address and directions. The address and directions are not to the location of the tour. So despite the fact that there are these very nice and concise directions printed on the ticket, they are no where even close to the location of the Robie House. Here is a basic map to see the difference of about 18 miles; in Chicago Traffic which is about 45 minutes:

Click for a larger image

Oh yeah we were coming in from the East, or basically we had the fun of going past where we needed to be, sitting in traffic for a while, then realizing we were in the wrong place. All because no where on the ticket was the direction or the address for the item we had purchased. I guess I should have know something was up when the date was listed as October 21, 2005.