I never have been one to make quick decisions. Much to the concern of my dinnermates, I chew my food endlessly before deciding I'm ready for the next bite. Much to the chagrin of my wife, I chew my thoughts tirelessly before responding in conversation. I never make rash decisions--though this confused my wife for quite some time as she observed certain actions that seemed unprompted. I'd never consulted her but instead had thought that scenario out ahead of time and already concluded what I would likely do.
But despite my specific reasons for being slow in decision-making, in the end I really just don't like quick decisions. My mental discomfort quickly moves to emotional and physical discomfort and I ultimately rationalize that impulsive or rash decisions shouldn't be made--at all.
But that really isn't important. That's just a preview for why I'm thinking about my next vehicle--one which I don't expect to pursue for at least six months--and one in which I want to enlist your help.
We realized last December that I need, or at least desire, a vehicle that carries more than two people, now that we have three. I suppose we could get by with my truck in a manner like those mind-twisting math problems involving rafts, rivers, monkeys, and bananas, all needing to cross (except the river, which is stationary in an odd sort-of-way), but in the end I want a vehicle that is sufficient for myself and my family. [Divert here for some monkey-math]
And I want to know what you think I should and what I will end up purchasing. At least this will make the car discover experience interesting, being that I've already got a frontrunner (which will remain nameless).
To help you a little, I currently drive a Toyota Tacoma (not unlike this) and Tigger and Swift both agreed that my next vehicle should and will be the Honda Accord.
I would especially like to hear BK's opinion, since I count his opinion on cars near equal to a grandmother's opinion on cookies.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
If you've never wanted to own a Honda
--which I understand is not a goal most people set for themselves upon graduation--then maybe this will change your mind.
And if not, then you're a dolt.
And if not, then you're a dolt.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
slashback
I know you all are waiting to hear what I've been thinking about, so here are some musings I've had.
I heard a girl on the radio today reading websites and incorrectly using the word backslash when she meant forwardslash, or just slash. Normally I don't care about this, mostly because I'm as confused about the whole back/forward slash identity, but I knew this was incorrect because you just never hear the word backslash in a sentence describing a website. Looking up the definition, a backslash is "\", which is never used for a website, but this satisfies me little. Why is it that \ moves backwards when / also clearly moves backwards? Certainly, written by pen the / is a forwardslash and the \ is... well another forwardslash, just started from the top. Maybe the forward/back slash connotation is due to starting the cipher at the writing floor, since all written characters start and come back to the bottom of the line on the page. In that case \ would be a proper backslash. Then again, English starts several characters from the top and never moves backwards (or right-to-left) when written.
So then, what to make of all this? Let's just call them upslash and downslash since clearly one goes up (/) and one goes down (\)... but only when thought of from left to right. Hmmm, is there no clear end to this dilemma?
On the radio earlier I heard an advert for XM Radio 24-hour coverage of the forthcoming 2008 Presidential election. I'm definitely a fan of XM, but I am hardly a fan of 24 hour news. In fact I think 24-hour news is hideous (or terrible beyond words, as Tony Kornheiser would say) for its effect in American society. Twenty-four hour news has aided the demise of newspapers and, ultimately, intellectual thought in modern American culture. The internet gets much of the blame for the downfall of print media but the fall began much earlier. Who wants to read a story and be forced to form an opinion about culture and society on your own when the only choice you really have to make is which news product you would like to consume for your daily dose of prefabricated opinion?
Obviously we don't watch much tele in our household. But 24-hour coverage of the upcoming election got me thinking about past presidents and elections in my voting lifetime. I've made three choices and two in hindsight can be seen as the absolutely wrong choice. While Kerry v Bush still seems to be a losing battle either way, it is now obvious that my choice of Bush over Gore and Clinton over Dole were absolutely bad. Not that I care about making bad choices, but what scares me is the lack of useful information in making such an important selection. Voter misinformation is what the game is all about and I don't see how 24-hour dedicated news helps at all. Hearing the XM advert made me wonder if anyone besides Obama and McCain are trustworthy for running this country, running a business, or kissing my baby. I don't know, and I don't know that I'll get the necessary information to make this decision until spring 2010.
Misinformation--really market ignorance--is a remarkable phenomenon. I often think I'd like to go back to school soon and maybe I'd be interested in writing a very long article on the topic of market ignorance in public education.
I heard a girl on the radio today reading websites and incorrectly using the word backslash when she meant forwardslash, or just slash. Normally I don't care about this, mostly because I'm as confused about the whole back/forward slash identity, but I knew this was incorrect because you just never hear the word backslash in a sentence describing a website. Looking up the definition, a backslash is "\", which is never used for a website, but this satisfies me little. Why is it that \ moves backwards when / also clearly moves backwards? Certainly, written by pen the / is a forwardslash and the \ is... well another forwardslash, just started from the top. Maybe the forward/back slash connotation is due to starting the cipher at the writing floor, since all written characters start and come back to the bottom of the line on the page. In that case \ would be a proper backslash. Then again, English starts several characters from the top and never moves backwards (or right-to-left) when written.
So then, what to make of all this? Let's just call them upslash and downslash since clearly one goes up (/) and one goes down (\)... but only when thought of from left to right. Hmmm, is there no clear end to this dilemma?
On the radio earlier I heard an advert for XM Radio 24-hour coverage of the forthcoming 2008 Presidential election. I'm definitely a fan of XM, but I am hardly a fan of 24 hour news. In fact I think 24-hour news is hideous (or terrible beyond words, as Tony Kornheiser would say) for its effect in American society. Twenty-four hour news has aided the demise of newspapers and, ultimately, intellectual thought in modern American culture. The internet gets much of the blame for the downfall of print media but the fall began much earlier. Who wants to read a story and be forced to form an opinion about culture and society on your own when the only choice you really have to make is which news product you would like to consume for your daily dose of prefabricated opinion?
Obviously we don't watch much tele in our household. But 24-hour coverage of the upcoming election got me thinking about past presidents and elections in my voting lifetime. I've made three choices and two in hindsight can be seen as the absolutely wrong choice. While Kerry v Bush still seems to be a losing battle either way, it is now obvious that my choice of Bush over Gore and Clinton over Dole were absolutely bad. Not that I care about making bad choices, but what scares me is the lack of useful information in making such an important selection. Voter misinformation is what the game is all about and I don't see how 24-hour dedicated news helps at all. Hearing the XM advert made me wonder if anyone besides Obama and McCain are trustworthy for running this country, running a business, or kissing my baby. I don't know, and I don't know that I'll get the necessary information to make this decision until spring 2010.
Misinformation--really market ignorance--is a remarkable phenomenon. I often think I'd like to go back to school soon and maybe I'd be interested in writing a very long article on the topic of market ignorance in public education.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Eight impressions about me
thanks to Rafe for these:
1. Micah is very unlikely to ever change his hairstyle or any other personal routine.
2. When Micah says, “I don’t know.”--he really means: “I know, but you probably don’t.”
3. Micah is fascinated with the fine details of a hobby, vice, or situation.
4. Micah will wear the same size jeans until his death.
5. Micah almost always has an opinion but probably won’t share it in a group social setting.
6. Micah has a mysterious, recurring ink blot over his lip.
7. Micah doesn’t eat or drink fast.
8. Micah quite often smirks and chuckles when he looks at you. Don’t take it to be demeaning. If you had those bizarre and random thoughts popping into your head--you’d be smirking too.
1. Micah is very unlikely to ever change his hairstyle or any other personal routine.
2. When Micah says, “I don’t know.”--he really means: “I know, but you probably don’t.”
3. Micah is fascinated with the fine details of a hobby, vice, or situation.
4. Micah will wear the same size jeans until his death.
5. Micah almost always has an opinion but probably won’t share it in a group social setting.
6. Micah has a mysterious, recurring ink blot over his lip.
7. Micah doesn’t eat or drink fast.
8. Micah quite often smirks and chuckles when he looks at you. Don’t take it to be demeaning. If you had those bizarre and random thoughts popping into your head--you’d be smirking too.
Another update in the Microsoft-Google Ware War
Is Apple the only winner? An interesting Forbes read. Probably Google will end up the winner between the giants, but I'm always happy to see Apple do well. It'll be interesting to see what Apple's "Leopard" operating system can do with the apparent failure of Windows Vista.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Eight things you should hate about me
I don't know all the rules because I haven't read all the rules (1), but I'll make a reasonable conjecture at the rules and follow them by the seat of my pants, though I care little about the rules (2). And I'm not asking eight others to do the same (3).
My favorite number is 26 (4). I've got several reasons for that, but most notably there are 26 miles in a marathon (5) which I've run twice (6), that 26 is the only number between a square and cube (7), and that I was married on the 26th (8).
I don't know that these facts are random, but I appreciate randomness even though it isn't always random. My personality can be described as INTJ (9) and I often see (or think I see) patterns to apparent randomness. Though I have little concern for them presently, I'm sure that for the previously stated reason I will someday be fascinated by fractals (10).
My favourite band are Radiohead (11). Though their albums traverse my youth I rarely listened to them until 2003 when they supplanted my previous favorites The Beastie Boys (12), who we saw in concert in 2004 (13). I made a Beastie Boy shirt (see below, 14) for my son (15).
I'm reading an excellent book called Flight of Passage (16) that was given to me by my boss who was also a student of mine (17). I am a pilot and flight instructor (18), specifically CP-ASEL/AMEL-IA and CFI-ASEL-IA. I like flying quite a bit and would love to someday own a BE-17 (19).
While writing this I ordered a pizza online (20), which I often do, but just this year began online banking (21). My first attempt resulted in late payments to several important accounts (22), probably all my fault despite the fact that my current job is sometimes described as "technology advocate" or "consulting engineer" (23). I'm slightly resistant to change of most sorts and usually let my friend Tigger test out new technology and give me the rundown (24).
Of my favorite sports is hockey (25) and my favorite player's jersey is 26.
The image used to create the t-shirt below isn't entirely original, but at least I'm not selling it to anybody. Cheers.
[A footnote that may be interesting: regarding random fact 9 it may be said of my personality that paradoxes, antinomies, and other contradictory phenomena aptly express these intuitors' amusement at those whom they feel may be taking a particular view of reality too seriously. 9 and 10, I think, make more sense in light of that statement and my unofficial worldview tagline: life is too serious to be taken seriously.]
My favorite number is 26 (4). I've got several reasons for that, but most notably there are 26 miles in a marathon (5) which I've run twice (6), that 26 is the only number between a square and cube (7), and that I was married on the 26th (8).
I don't know that these facts are random, but I appreciate randomness even though it isn't always random. My personality can be described as INTJ (9) and I often see (or think I see) patterns to apparent randomness. Though I have little concern for them presently, I'm sure that for the previously stated reason I will someday be fascinated by fractals (10).
My favourite band are Radiohead (11). Though their albums traverse my youth I rarely listened to them until 2003 when they supplanted my previous favorites The Beastie Boys (12), who we saw in concert in 2004 (13). I made a Beastie Boy shirt (see below, 14) for my son (15).
I'm reading an excellent book called Flight of Passage (16) that was given to me by my boss who was also a student of mine (17). I am a pilot and flight instructor (18), specifically CP-ASEL/AMEL-IA and CFI-ASEL-IA. I like flying quite a bit and would love to someday own a BE-17 (19).
While writing this I ordered a pizza online (20), which I often do, but just this year began online banking (21). My first attempt resulted in late payments to several important accounts (22), probably all my fault despite the fact that my current job is sometimes described as "technology advocate" or "consulting engineer" (23). I'm slightly resistant to change of most sorts and usually let my friend Tigger test out new technology and give me the rundown (24).
Of my favorite sports is hockey (25) and my favorite player's jersey is 26.
The image used to create the t-shirt below isn't entirely original, but at least I'm not selling it to anybody. Cheers.
[A footnote that may be interesting: regarding random fact 9 it may be said of my personality that paradoxes, antinomies, and other contradictory phenomena aptly express these intuitors' amusement at those whom they feel may be taking a particular view of reality too seriously. 9 and 10, I think, make more sense in light of that statement and my unofficial worldview tagline: life is too serious to be taken seriously.]
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