Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Unwritten Rule of Life #6: I am nothing without my PC

Rule #6:  Work in an IT field is virtually impossible without a computer.

And even if you have said computer, you better be able to log into it or it is worse than not having a computer in the first place.  I'd have to say it's a form of "Techie Torture".  You're staring at a perfectly capable PC that is perfectly incapable of helping you get any work done.

What's equally torturous is watching hundreds of e-mails pour into your Blackberry and not being able to reply to any of them because your inbox overflowed it's limits because you can't log into it to delete the incoming barrage of e-mail.  Note to self...prior to having your PC reconfigured, clean out your inbox, dummie.

Well, that's my rant for the day.  I'm off to sharpen my pencil.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Unwritten Rule of Life #5: Children Smarter?!

Rule #5:  Children will always think they are smarter than their parents.

nuf sed.

Unwritten Rule of Life #4: Tailgating

Rule #4: Unless you are at Daytona turning laps at 185 mph, tailgating on the interstate will not get you there faster.

I've seen this over and over again in medium to heavy rush hour traffic, drivers will be cruising along in the high speed lane keeping a reasonably safe distance between them and the car in front only to have someone tailgate them.  I assume this is an attempt to move them out of the way but I have no clue where they expect this person to go.  Some believe they can get a nice draft going, but I seriously doubt this is possible at 55 mph behind anything other than a semi.  And even then, your bumper would need to be touching the semi's Yosemite Sam mudflaps.

A big part of the reason there is heavy traffic in the first place (other than the obvious) is all of the braking that occurs.  If everyone would just be a tad more patient, we might all get there quicker.  

Exception to the Rule:  This rule does not apply if you've got someone in front of you in the left lane doing 15 mph below the speed limit.  This could be the start of another rule on its own, but I'm not going there today.




Sunday, May 17, 2009

Unwritten Rule of Life #3 - The Man Toilet


Rule #3: Under no circumstances is it ever OK to look anywhere but forward when standing at the urinal.

I believe this one is reasonably self explanatory, but for the curious minds out there I'll elaborate.  So, I'm taking a break from the muzak prior to Star Trek and I happen to notice out of my peripheral vision (trust me it was my peripheral vision because I follow the rules), a kid staring at me from the left.  So, what exactly is the appropriate response in this situation.  "Hey, what are you looking at?!" probably wouldn't be the best.  Oh, and no worries, this was one of those restrooms with the nice little partitions between stalls.  :-)  Needless to say, I ignored him and got back in time for the movie.

To reiterate, it is not OK to look anywhere but forward in this situation.  This is why some of the "higher class" restrooms have Today's News or the Sports section right there for your reading enjoyment.  Although, I have to say, who's got time to read this?!  If you were supposed to look at each other and strike up a conversation, wouldn't the urinals be facing each 0ther.  "Hey, Bob, how's it goin'?"  "Oh, it's goin..."  I mean, really, just get in there do your business and get out.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Unwritten Rule of Life #2

On a typical drive home you can expect to find at least 1 bare foot hanging out a passenger side window, especially if you're in the Midwest.


I understand why dogs may want to stick their head out the window to get some fresh air and enjoy the breeze, but what is the deal with the feet.  Is this an attempt to increase circulation to the brain or are you in need of a good pair of Dr. Scholl's?  I'm clearly missing out on something big here, so feel free to clue me in.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Chris' Unwritten Rules of Life - RULE #1

Because I believe it is irresponsible to let an unfocused mind go to waste, I've decided to start a new series of blog posts dedicated to observations about "unwritten rules of life".  I plan to update this on a regular basis and reference it via twitter (using hashtag #UROL for all you twitterers out there).  We'll see whether I can keep it fresh, but I've come to realize there are just too many oddities in life that need some perspective.

Feel free to build on my list by adding comments at the bottom of each of the posts or just reply to the tweets.

RULE #1:  While cutting the grass, it is customary to wave to your fellow grasscutter.

Ok, seems rather silly but this really happened today.  I'm cutting my front yard and the neighborhood grasscutters (these are the guys that go around cutting the common spaces with their riding mowers) each drove by and one by one waved to me and me only.  I don't believe I was related to any of them so I can only assume that there is an unwritten rule that grasscutter's have a common bond that requires us to extend a pleasant greeting.  Who knew?!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Simple space scene

I used to enjoy astronomy and space so decided to spend some time learning how to create a space scene from scratch.  This came from a combination of two tutorials and took about 30 minutes so gave me a chance to break away from my other works in progress.