What is the World Saying to You - Part 1

It's weird how this one started.  I read this article (it takes just moments to read and worth it) and though to myself, "What sick dogs!  What twisted puppies!"  So, I copied the URL and pasted it to my Diaspora status update expecting people to comment in agreement.  Instead, a user replied without comment with a this link to a TED talk.  How in the world would the castration of lambs be connected to something as classy as a TED talk?  I loaded the link and noticed that it was 20 minutes long and because I know this user wouldn't send me something that wasn't awesome, I decided to wait until I had a full 20 minutes to watch it properly - and I'm super duper glad that I did it that way and I strongly suggest the same to others.

I could probably write endlessly on this topic but Mike Rowe removed the need.  I'll just pipe in what I was thinking while I was watching this.

It is indeed a tragedy the way that our entire system is built.  I used to think the only forces at work against our happiness was the media, but as I get older I realize it's far deeper than that.  Here are some of the messages that we are bombarded with in our society, that I believe are very dangerous:

1. There is a universal beautiful that we all agree on and can achieve.

Bull.  And here's why:  One day when I was in my early twenties three male friends and I were having coffee.  One guy looks up and says, "Woah! Look at her!" The rest of us look and say, "Where??"  There was a very large, dark woman standing there.  We all in one accord question, "Her?" He confirms.  We laugh in shock. He then throws the question back to us, "If not her, then who here is beautiful?"  I immediately point to the slim Asian girl with the furry boots (in summer, of course).  The other three laugh in instant disagreement.  Round the table we went until we had all agreed to disagree that beauty is completely subjective and these girls were all beautiful and un-beautiful at the same time.  Take that to Hollywood and see what they say.  By the way, music and art is the same.

2. Follow your passion and that should be your job

How stupid is this message?  First, how am I going to make money as a rock star?  Yes, I secretly wish to play upbeat music to stadiums full of appreciative listeners.  And, even if I do, how am I going to make money until I reach that goal?  And is all that time working beforehand less important or meaningful?  And we wonder why people clock in at 8:59 and clock out at 4:59 - they have chosen to believe that their 'work' is interfering with their life somehow.  Don't get me wrong, I fall victim to this one just like you, but we have to constantly count our blessings and make a choice to simple work hard and benefit from that hard work.  I could have much more easily not written this article but I felt that the work and time put in will benefit someone somewhere.

3. It's better to work less hard

Someone once said, "That's what work is - work."  True dat!  And there is a certain satisfaction that comes from working hard that you cannot obtain anywhere else.  I think the problem is that inside of us we have trace memories in our DNA of the Garden of Eden.  Because of that we 'know' that there is a paradise somewhere where the work we do is the work we choose to do at that moment - in a way like someone who chooses to play a physically challenging sport.  Until we reach paradise, though, we have to suck up the fact that some work isn't pleasant.  It's work.  But God rested on the seventh day after six hard cays of creative work.  And that rest - how good does it feel!  If therefore God worked and rested, it is is clearly 'good' in nature and the results?  Obviously wonderful.  Just imagine if your garbageman (and if you don't like my un-P.C. terminology, go read another blog) decided to get an 'easier job'.  You would smell the results immediately.

So, in conclusion, start to question things - it's healthy.  You don't have to be cynical and conspiracy theory about everything, but maybe it's better to bite the scrotum instead of elastic-band it (LOL)

(Can I LOL in a blog?)

(I actually hate LOL and think it looks stupid)

(bye)

Thanks but No Thanks

Dear thoughtless selfish person,

 

Today you appear out of nowhere and directly ask me for a favour: find some information that will benefit you and you business - a supplier that is more competitively priced to be precise.  You also asked to explain in detail what I will be doing with my business during the holiday season in regards to staffing, store hours, etc.  

I replied with detailed information about each request.  Your reply?  

 

"THANKS"

 

 Here's a tip, buddy.  If you don't want to look like you are a selfish resource mooch - sucking from others and giving nothing back - all you have to do is add a few more words to your reply.  Here are some suggestions:

 

"Wow, thanks for that speedy response!"

"That is seriously appreciated.  You just saved me a lot of time and money!"

And, if you seriously want to cover your thoughtlessness, try something like this and they'll never suspect that you only think of yourself:

"Wow! Thanks for that speedy response! That was seriously appreciated and you probably just saved me a lot of money.  Have a great day, Wayne!"

By the way, the fact that your reply is composed on a mobile phone and you have big, old, hands is no excuse.  Find a QWERTY keyboard.

Love Wayne

 

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The Average Joe's Joe

I was going to give this article the title "Why I Don't Give a Tin Crap About the General Population's Opinion About Anything at All" - but it was too long. 

First, read this, article.  Then, read some of the comments below it.  Now get ready for my rant.

Thankfully most of the first commentators realized that this 'survey' should be flushed down the toilet.  This is a 'survey' about coffee and some of the people don't even drink coffee and the others load it with milk and sugar.  At my coffee shop, if someone says 'leave room for cream' I immediately dismiss their opinion.  Would you add milk and sugar to your wine?  Would you mix your nice scotch with 7-up?  If you do, you aren't the real deal.  Just accept it, admit it, and move on.  Just don't call yourself a 'coffee drinker' or 'scotch drinker'.  Just admit you drink the coffee for the caffeine, the heat on your hand (like a smoke between your fingers) or just because it's something you do ritualistically.  Just admit you drink the scotch to get buzzed or drunk and it looks classier than a beer or wine cooler.  By the way, I'm not trying to be an elitist.  I'm seriously hoping that instead of faking to like something that you will search the earth until you find something you can drink that you truly love in it's original state.  For you cream and sugar coffee people, I recommend a high quality black tea, or hot chocolate with real chocolate.  For you scotch-mixing people, stick with beer and search the earth and become a master of it.  

Moving on.  I've got a lot of ground to cover.

The second glaring problem is that this person surveyed five people.  Why not just admit that your editor needed something to fill a hole and so you rushed out, bought the cheapest thing you could find and conducted a 'survey'.  Five people survey?  I think I did something like that for one of my university papers because I didn't actually do my project that I was supposed to.

Finally, my opinion (the other stuff was just a rant and my rants are fact, no opinion).  If you have to compare these four brands (which seems to be the trend and thank God for all you coffee shop owners who don't get included in these ridiculous surveys), then here is my opinion... I mean the truth:

 

McDonalds is the best.  No need for Doublin' up your Doubles and they still serve it up lawyer-scalding-hot.  I drank an 'espresso' straight [author's note: the girl had no idea how to ring it in or serve it].  Granted it's an automated 'burger' experience, but the final product was, as one of the commentors said 'McOk'.  By no means was it 'great' but it certainly exceeded the espresso at any of the other brands mentioned in the article, and yes, by FAR better than the espresso served by the Green Guys.  That is the most sad thing for me, really.  A burger chain makes a better espresso than the place branded as a 'the coffee shop'.  

I won't talk about the other brands because for reasons unknown to mankind people go and spend their money there.  In the same way that it's hard to understand why good things happen to bad people and bad things to good people, I cannot explain these people who go there.  In fact, it's much easier to explain the former than the latter.

So, if you really have to choose between horrific, awful, bad, and 'ok', I recommend choosing 'ok' at McDonalds.

You don't need to comment because everything presented here is fact.

How to Perform IT Work on Mom's Ubuntu Computer

Ok. I don't have anything else to say except, if you have a mom (or mum) and you like Ubuntu (Ubuntu) then at least read the first few lines of this blog because it perfectly portrays the situation of the not-computer-illiterate person who ends up as the make-shift IT person for their friends and family (me sometimes).

 

I hope to set up this exact IT solution for all of my computers in my personal network as well as a few converted friends.  Having a free (or cheap) and easily-fixed promptly issue is the key to user enjoyment.  These kind of posts help the Ubuntu community and spread the word.

Don't forget to read those disclaimer footnotes at the bottom written to their appropriate audience.  I haven't emitted an audible belly laugh reading a blog post in a long time until this!

http://kentb.blogspot.com/2009/08/ubuntu-ssh-and-remote-support.html

Great work, Ken Boogart.  Nice blog, nice blog post, and nice last name.