General-purpose musings
There are 780 posts filed in Musings (this is page 44 of 78).
Having been on the road for a bit lately, I’ve seen my share of public restrooms. I’ve wondered why people have an aversion to touching paper towel dispensers. Its gotten to be such a concern that dispenser companies are creating ads around their products.
Its the people who don’t touch the towel dispenser that bother me. They’re the ones who aren’t washing their hands. Anyone who reaches for a paper towel likely already has clean hands.
I can’t let the weekend go without recognizing the passing of Mark Felt, a.k.a. “Deep Throat,” the former FBI associate director who exposed Richard Nixon’s hijinks and in so doing drove Nixon from office. What an incredibly brave step that was, though his true motives might never be known.
Yet another caller to Chez MT.Net has remarked that my voice is worthy of voiceover work. Now that I truly have some Copious Free Time, I may finally dust off my USB microphone and create a demo CD for mailing out to local media.
Part of my inspiration came from reading Phil Hartman’s bio on Wikipedia. Phil believed his best work was his voice work.
Heh. Looks like I’ve been talking about this for five years now. Guess it’s time to put up or shut up, eh?
Dadgummit. The Wall Street Journal article about being jobless at Christmas ran two days ago without any of my interview being used.
Ah, well. Its still a good read, even if it won’t help my job search after all. Maybe I need to learn how to be a more colorful interviewee?
As far as the issues the article raises, I admit to confronting them, too. At the time of my interview, I told the reporter I thought Christmas would be largely the same. Since that call, I’ve discovered that I see the holidays as more of an obstacle rather than something to celebrate. It’s tough not to blame the holidays for the lack of phone calls: “if only the hiring managers were in the office I’d already be employed.”
If as a kid I thought the wait for Christmas day was excruciatingly long, now the wait for Christmas to be over feels just as long. Sad, isn’t it?
The Beeb says China’s navy will patrol the coast of Africa to combat the rampant piracy there. This is quite a departure from the Chinese navy’s tendency to stay close to its home shores. It will be an important test of China’s ambitions to build a blue water navy.
It will be not only an education for Chinese sailors but also for the other navies already patrolling the area, providing them a glimpse of China’s long-range naval capabilities. It will certainly be interesting to watch.
I was going through the special features of our Netflix rental How the Grinch Stole Christmas and up popped Phil Hartman, in full Troy McClure mode.
What a talent he was.
The N&O says that with gas-tax “revenues” plummeting, North Carolina General Assembly is considering taxing drivers by the mile. This is a brilliant idea, but not for raising “revenue.” I can think of no better way to show someone the folly of her long commute than by hitting her in the pocketbook.
If drivers begin to pay by the mile, I guarantee you they will drive less. This is healthier for the driver, the city’s sprawl problem, and the environment.
What its not healthy for is the state’s “revenues.”
I had to laugh when I read about the winter storm that paralyzed New England. They get a few inches of ice and the whole region shuts down.
Lightweights. I bet the shelves were all picked bare of bread and milk.
Meanwhile, southern Louisiana gets eight inches of snow and its business as usual. Maybe someday them Yankees will learn a thing or two from us Southerners.
We got our quote back for our own Blue Cross health insurance plan, independent of $FORMER_EMPLOYER. The bill was sky-high! Apparently because I’m now into my second bottle of cholesterol medicine the premium for me alone has tripled. Just like that.
They’re crooks, I tell you. Health care in this country is majorly, seriously broken.
