"Everybody's Got A Beef With The Postal Service" Alternate Title: I Wanted To Be One Of The Cool Kids, So I Downloaded Angry Birds

Our new supervisor told us the other day that part of her job was street supervision.

Post 1000. I Know, I Hoped It Would Be Better, Too. It's Kind Of Disappointing, But What Isn't?

We have a new bungie boss at our station. She told me she was disappointed by my cynicism. Get in line, lady. I've got a wife I've been disappointing for years. She took over from my parents, and now my children ("You're a sad little man") are continuing the tradition. For that matter, I'm disappointed in myself. So, just wait, you think you're disappointed now? Give it a chance.
But, as far as cynicism goes, I'm not any more cynical than the next man (especially if the next man is Ambrose Bierce or somebody); I've earned my cynicism. I've lost track of how many people I've worked with, and then for, whose main qualification is that they fulfill a diversity quota or just happen to be related to another manager, or maybe they bring the cocaine to the office party. Seriously, does that sound cynical?

I was talking to a friend today about my birthday plans for next August. That's the day I'll be eligible to upgrade my iPhone, and by then, rumor has it, the iPhone 5 will be out, and it will allow the phone to be used as a payment device. I'm off that day, and I plan on being at the store when they open.
"You won't be eligible until after 5pm sir," "That's okay, I'll wait,"
My friend said that having a phone that was also a payment device might not be safe if the phone was inadvertently left somewhere. That's probably why we'll eventually have our devices implanted. In just a year we'll have gone from the Kinect's implementation of 1984, all the way to the 23rd Century and the borg. In Orwell's world, though, I don't think they camped out overnight to get the latest TV to watch them watching it. This might revolutionize preventive health care in this country, "Time for your colonoscopy and phone upgrade."

Dream Job

I always hoped it would be me that was revealed to be Oprah's half-sister.

Just Saying, Think About It

So many scientists spend so much time thinking about climate change, while so many economists are thinking about health care reform. Security experts are thinking about how to make America safer. Meanwhile theologians think about blood libels.
At the same time, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck spend so much time talking about them.

I Feel You, MLK

Because of the holiday, this is the third day in a row I've been at home, and I'm starting to feel very oppressed by the white people around me.

Sent from my iPhone

It's All Been (John) Donne Before

Normally, snow is quiet stuff. Some people say they can hear it fall, but they're the same people that claim to be able to hear the Northern Lights.
When it gets cold enough, though, snow crunches underfoot and chunks of it sound like a bell ringing when they're disturbed. Garrison Keillor has said that winter can be a relief because you know the weather is trying to kill you and so, then, you know too, for whom the snow tolls.

Sent from my iPhone

What Do You Have To Do To Get In The Paper?

Joe Miller, our erstwhile US senate candidate (and the last person in AK to find out he lost) has been in the paper twice this week. Once to talk about his ideas for election law reform (one of his ideas is to do away with elections) and again when a columnist speculated about his plans.
I don't get it; I'm an angry loser with bad ideas and I get no respect at all.
Sent from my iPhone

At work today, I was telling somebody about my Lego movie from a few posts ago, and she said I was a geek. I don't think that's quite fair to say about a guy like me who keeps so au courant, as it were. I even know what jeggings are, or at least what wikipedia says they are.

Sent from my iPhone

Look At The Pretty Patterns. Some Of Them Might Be Words

Today a customer told me that she was sorry they hadn't got me anything for Christmas, but the whole holiday thing was just too much this year. I told her that was fine, I don't need presents, and we didn't do very much this year either. We put up  a tree, and took it down without ever getting around to decorating it. Next year I'm thinking of taking thirty four dollars and making a bouquet of them, and then when they start to pall, just swirling them back into my wallet. She asked if she could have a thank you card anyway. My thank you cards are almost as popular as my jambalaya, and way more popular than I am.
I did get some Barnes and Noble gift cards. Today I was listening to a tech podcast and they were comparing Barnes and Noble to Borders. Borders hasn't got much of an online presence, and no e-reader at all, and by this time next year, they may be gone.  I know people with Nooks, and Kindles, and they seem pretty good at what they do, (the Nooks and Kindles, well, the people, too, really) but I must say again, that the Nook's iPhone app is just sad. Not Velveteen Rabbit sad, more like Sad Sack sad. For one example, there is no way to lock the orientation, so if you're in bed, it's like trying to read a kaleidoscope.

This Is The Kind Of Amazing News That Isn't Being Covered

The bundt pan was developed in 1950 at the behest of Hadassah women for making kugel.

They Say A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

but they say a lot of stuff. I've posted a video from my route, but I don't think it's worth more than about 250 words, tops. I imagine it would have been better if I'd had a camera. As it is, it looks like I colored it myself, using crayon on vaseline as my media instead of my phone. I'm thinking maybe I should invest the $10 to get a lens to go on the phone, but I think a lot of stuff, so, we'll see.

It's On NPR, So It Must Be True

"Blogging can sometimes come across as ranting," Leslie says. "In this format, ranting turns into humor in a way that people will receive it in a positive way."
We'll just see about that.

Not Sure They Understand The Concept

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Five hundred moderate Pakistani religious scholars have warned that anyone who expresses grief over the assassination of a senior ruling party official who opposed the country's blasphemy law could suffer the same fate.