Let’s Talk Dirty In Hawaiian

John Prine: Best. Songwriter. Ever.

Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian (Youtube cover)
John Prine

Well, I packed my bags and bought myself a ticket
For the land of the tall palm tree
Aloha Old Milwaukee, Hello Waikiki
I just stepped down from the airplane
When I heard her say,
“Waka waka nuka licka, waka waka nuka licka
Would you like a lei? Eh?”

Let’s talk dirty in Hawaiian
Whisper in my ear
Kicka pooka mok a wa wahini
Are the words I long to hear
Lay your coconut on my tiki
What the hecka mooka mooka dear
Let’s talk dirty in Hawaiian
Say the words I long to hear
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The Electric Company

The kids borrowed a DVD set of The Best of The Electric Company Volume 2 from their friends. I’d forgotten how entertaining that show was. Stars like Rita Moreno, Bill Cosby, and Morgan Freeman really made the show great.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised that a show I haven’t seen since I was 6 still makes me laugh.

Jack In The Box outsourcing order taking

Apparently minimum wage is not low enough pay for San Diego based fast-food restaurant Jack In The Box. The chain is testing outsourcing its order-taking. The company claims it speeds ordering.

So if it wasn’t hard enough before to understand what the drive-through order-taker was saying, try adding 12,000 miles worth of latency and a foreign accent to the mix. I don’t see how it could speed anything if each party has to repeat what was said each time an order is taken. Want to speed up ordering? Try training (and paying) a bright person to run the register.

Kay Yow

I used to daydream that maybe one day Hallie might be coached by Kay Yow. News comes this morning that the legendary N.C. State women’s basketball basketball coach passed away after another bout with cancer. She was 66.

The thing I’ll remember about Coach Yow is how she could always be seen in the stands of an N.C. State athletic event. N.C. State wasn’t just a 9 to 5 job for Coach Yow, it was a passion.

Basketball

I took the coworkers up on a lunchtime game of basketball and got whipped. Good exercise is the kind that wears you out, and that’s what I got yesterday. It was fun, but quite a bit of effort to keep up.

I look forward to many more games, though. If I do that regularly I’ll soon be in excellent shape in no time!

Job Postings

I’ve had it in my head for a while that I should write about the jobs I’ve had. My career is full of interesting lessons learned and a bit of humor as well.

Look for the first posting soon.

Airplanes and smog

Since it has been a while since I’ve worked in RTP, I’m provided with an almost-new look at things. One thing I noticed was the cloud of smog that seems to hang over RTP. While I was driving down I-40 recently, I watched as an ancient McDonnell Douglas DC-9 took off from the airport, spewing a black streak behind it as it went.

That got me wondering. There have been many recent winters where drivers were forced to buy watered-down blends of gasoline to combat poor air quality, yet in two minutes one DC-9 can create more air pollution than dozens of cars.

While it’s true airplanes have become far more environmentally-friendly than they were when the DC-9 made its debut, there are still those who say the EPA should regulate airliner emissions. I think it’s worth looking into.

Google’s FailWhale

Since I’ve been at the best place to work in America, I’ve noticed some quirkiness with The Google. Simple queries cause Google to question my manhood.

I did a simple search for “Malcolm Gladwell” and I got this screen:

We’re sorry…

… but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can’t process your request right now.

We’ll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

If you’re continually receiving this error, you may be able to resolve the problem by deleting your Google cookie and revisiting Google. For browser-specific instructions, please consult your browser’s online support center.

If your entire network is affected, more information is available in the Google Web Search Help Center.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we’ll see you again on Google.
To continue searching, please type the characters you see below:

Frankly I wasn’t aware there was a virus associated with Malcolm Gladwell, but I suppose I can’t blame Google for playing it safe. On second thought, yes I can.

(Its true I use a tool called Privoxy to block my web browser information, but that’s never caused a fuss before.)

Downtime

It’s been a pretty frenetic week around here: with the snow, board meetings, car-shopping, and new job stuff going on. I feel today I went rushing from one thing to another all the way up to 7 PM.

It was a good day at work, though. I’ve been given the nod of approval to dive in and do what I can. In other words, there isn’t really a “probationary period” per se but I’ve got my boss’s confidence now to run with things, and that’s good. My systems knowledge is going to be quite expansive from this job, that’s for sure.

And today my employer just got named the best place to work in America, too. Doesn’t surprise me.