General-purpose musings
There are 780 posts filed in Musings (this is page 22 of 78).
Courtesy of Rudolf Stricker
A friend recently posted this on Facebook:
Hey guys! Who has an SUV that they love – with a third row? Do you have a V6 or a V8 and how much does it cost to fill up the tank when you’re on E? Make and Model, please. 🙂
I know my friend is a parent, and I had a hunch about what this post means. I responded with this:
Hey, maybe you should check out a minivan!
To which my friend eventually came back with this:
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My wife and I were talking the other day about what passes for healthcare these days. As a runner, she gets some pain in her leg but the doctors are completely clueless as to how to fix it. It seems that more often than not doctors have no answers.
I’ve noticed the same in trying to get a diagnosis on various ailments I’ve suffered. When I bring some health mystery to my doctor for diagnosis, rarely do I seem to get my doctor’s attention. Doctors are great at being mechanics of the body – they can change a tire and even rebuild the occasional engine – but the deep insight into why something happens seems unimportant to them. The preventative maintenance isn’t a priority. I may be cynical, but if they can’t write a prescription for something they don’t want to bother with it.
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My thoughts on the whole Occupy Wall Street movement have just changed considerably. I just watched the video of UC Davis Chancellor Katehi walking to her car, surrounded by thousands of completely-silent student protesters. Calling it the “Walk Of Shame,” the silent protest was in response to Katehi’s order which resulted in the egregious pepper spraying of a dozen peaceful protesters on the UC Davis campus Friday.
As Garance Franke-Ruta of The Atlantic points out, Friday’s unprovoked attack was much worse than the above video shows, with police holding the peaceful students and directly pepper-spraying them in the face and throat.
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I’ve often considered going back to college. Then I read stuff like this from NCSU Chancellor Randy Woodson, citing the reasons for a massive 29% tuition hike:
With classes in some cases growing from 200 students to 300, faculty members struggle against a growing tide of test grading and other mundane chores, Chancellor Randy Woodson told the trustees committee.
“It takes them out of the business of being scholarly, of doing research and of moving the economic engine of this state forward,” Woodson said.
Let me translate this for you: “Those pesky students who are trying to learn are keeping us ivory-tower types from trying to pad our resumes and the university’s coffers. They should fork over their money and just shut up.”
Is it any wonder I’m disillusioned with higher education? Is it also any wonder that these schools’ big-time college sports programs get away with what they do?
As word came in today of the “eviction” of the Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park in Manhattan, I thought about our weekend visit to Williamsburg and Jamestown.
As a kid, the story told in my history lessons was that the Pilgrims came to America for its freedom. What this weekend’s visit to the Jamestown Settlement Museum reminded me of was that the first (European) settlers in America – the Jamestown settlers of 1607 – weren’t seeking freedom at all but riches. Those settlers weren’t seeking to establish a government, colony, or society but a company: the Virginia Company. America’s government was a business.
The other interesting thing was the tour of the historic gaol (jail) in Colonial Williamsburg. The cells housing prisoners were all spartan and exposed to the elements, except for the cell for debtors. The debtors’ cell was the only one that had a fireplace. Financial crimes weren’t considered as serious as robbery or other crimes.
Not a lot has changed in four hundred years, has it?
Yesterday the daily deal marketer Groupon went public, with shares rising from $20 up to $31 in first-day trading. Even so, analysts have serious questions about the company, as do I. The business model is just not there.
I just read a story the other day that Groupon ranks last in digital media brand reputation (though I’m paraphrasing here – I need to find the source). There are plenty of horror stories from small businesses which have nearly lost their shirts due to Groupon promotions.
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I was dancing around the house this afternoon to the sounds of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. This was after a secondary phone interview I did went very well. Things are going to work out after all.
It makes me realize that the most important thing to do is to set a goal. Once you set a goal everything else will fall into place. Though I’ve not been comfortable in my current situation, I need to be patient and let things play out. I’m beginning to see how the path is opening that will lead me to my goal.
As John Burroughs said, “leap and the net will appear.” I’m a leaper.
Sorry to bust out the Zen on y’all like that without any warning. I’ll follow up with a geeky post or a political rant soon, I promise!
Wikimedia Commons pic by TurboTorque
Then I got handed off to the corporate HR staff, which sent me a 16-page job application to fill out. That wasn’t so bad, but on the porch today was a overnighted package with forms in it for a drug test.
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By BigBuzzMedia
From the University of Louisville comes Matt Hanka, ABD; and John Gilderbloom, Ph.D.’s paper entitled How One-Way Thinking is Hurting Historic Downtown Neighborhoods (a short but informative read):
One-way streets pose many threats for pedestrian and motorist safety, make city streets seem less safe, disproportionately impact poor and minority neighborhoods, hurt downtown businesses, reduce the property values of homes, and negatively impact the environment and contribute to global warming. Conversions to two-way have already happened in more than 100 cities around the United States.
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I’ve been thinking more about Raleigh’s need for a startup incubator lately. I did a little research last night on the available warehouse spaces around town, wondering if any might be good candidates for housing techies. A few on South Wilmington Street look good as does the old Alcatel plant on Wake Forest Road near Costco. A really good location is the old Winn Dixie warehouse at the corner of Whitaker Mill Road and Atlantic Avenue because that warehouse is close to a future transit stop. I think an incubator needs to have good public transportation in order to be successful.
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