Bryan's Ramblings...
Feel free to comment on anything and everything I say!
There is a "post your comment" link below each entry where you can submit your own comments.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, 22 February 2005
Friday, 18 February 2005
Demotivation
Mood:
happy
Topic: funny stuff
Well we've all seen and heard those motivational posters telling us to strive to be our best, work hard, persevere, etc...
Well hope you weren't looking forward to me sending any...
I now present to you some "demotivational" pictures. Hope you like 'em :-)
http://demotivation.5u.com/index.html(the page has over 70 images so it may take a while to load...be patient...it's worth it...)
365 Stupidest Things Ever Said - February 16, 2005
Mood:
caffeinated
Topic: funny stuff
*The following is the Feb 16th listing for the "365 Stupidest Things Ever Said." Don't bother trying to make sense of most of it...cause you probably won't be able to... *
"Temporarily each of you, four players, represent a side and the very same man picks up the dice and throws once so as to see who is going to represent the temporary east and so on. If the number of points are 3, 7,11 the man opposite the East, the West, if 2,6,10 the man on the right or the South, if 4,8,12 the man on the left, the North, and if 5, or 9 the East himself starts drawing the topmost Position Indicator, the second, third, and fourth by the south, west and north in their respective order and turn (counter clockwise). In turning over the Indicator each one of you will find where you are to be seated. By this simple process, the allotment of seats is determined."
- instructions on seating players included in a mah-jongg game from China
Work conversation...
Topic: funny stuff
Work conversation...
Trudi: "Has anyone tried that new cherry Pepto-Bismol?"
All of us: "No..."
Robin: "Have you Trudi?"
Trudi: "No, but I will have to soon..."
Thursday, 17 February 2005
Prejudices...
Topic: thought provoking
I was talking with a member on the phone when something interesting hit me (mentally not physically...)
She gave me her name and asked a question and while she was talking I just happened to pull up her account. I answered her questions and when she got off the phone I noticed that she had over $7,000 in her account. I remembered back to hearing/reading about cases done where pyschologists have studied how people act differently based on preconceived judgements. For instance, if you bring a "new kid" to school and tell the teacher that the kid is not the brightest kid, the teacher usually treats them differently than the other kids. If you use the same child with another teacher and tell her he's a genius, then she tends to treat him that way.
I then wondered if I treated customers at work differently depending on how much money they had. My first thought was "no I tend to treat them all the same."
But I'm not so sure that's really true. Although I treat everyone with respect who calls, there are some who deserve more than others. For instance, my boss's husband calls up or someone who has quite a bit of money and you HAVE to treat them with extra respect. To not do so might very well cost me a job.
Someone who calls with $5 in their account and/or no political ties whatsoever to anyone I work with is different. I've had far too many people with little to no money try to act like they're the shit and that I should bend over backwards to make them happy. Frankly I don't care if they take their $5 (and most importantly all the grief and problems they cause us) to another institution. In fact, I'll even print out driving directions if they need it.
It's not to say I treat them like crap, even if they do so to me. I keep a smile the whole time, don't raise my voice, and don't return any swear words. But at the same time, I'm not going to worry nearly as much about how they might perceive me as to someone who is, let's just say, more important financially.
Hey, let's face it: like it or not, money does a lot of talking at financial institutions. If you have it you can get away with a lot more than if you don't. So please, if any of you out there have $5 in your account, don't expect the world from your financial institution...unless you just want to be made fun of...
Wednesday, 16 February 2005
Tombstone Technology and Cost-Benefit Analysis
Mood:
lazy
Topic: thought provoking
I was watching OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting) last night and saw a very interesting show on airline crashes and the people who investigate them. They brought up something called "tombstone technology."
It's the name given to technological advances that are the direct result of deadly accidents. The airline industry is basically run by this technology. Whenever an accident happens, investigators determine the cause of the accident and suggest means in which to prevent it from happening again.
Not all the time, however, are the corrections made. See, major corporations run on what is known as "cost-benefit analysis." Basically, they calculate the costs to prevent the problem (i.e. $1,000 to put in a particular computer chip to monitor something new) and compare them with the benefits (i.e. 100 lives being saved). Only if the benefits outweigh the costs would the company change things. How can you calculate the true value/benefit of a human life though, you ask?
Well, the airline industry does it by how much it would pay out per death. The OPB show said that it's usually $2-$2.5 million per person.
One example I can remember was reading about Ford and their Pinto model car. In the late 80s, early 90s (I can't remember exactly when) they determined that the Pinto's gas tanks were not properly shielded from rear collisions. Several people sued Ford because their cars exploded after being rear ended. Ford calculated the costs of placing a $7 "shield" in each existing Pinto or just paying out the lawsuits: the lawsuits were calculated at being cheaper. So instead of saving lives they simply went the cheaper way of paying hush-money.
Gotta love Corporations always worrying about maximizing profits huh?
Tuesday, 15 February 2005
Yet another reason to put an end to Valentine's Day...
Topic: ramblings
Valentine Balloon Blamed for Power OutageFeb 15, 5:16 PM (ET)
MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP) - A Valentine's Day balloon caused an electrical outage affecting more than 2,100 homes and businesses, power company officials said.
The outage occurred Sunday night when a heart-shaped metallic Mylar balloon drifted into an electrical substation, said Phil Miller, the general manager of Mishawaka Utilities.
"It said 'I Love You' on it," he said. "It looks like someone didn't hold onto their Valentine's gift tightly enough."
Miller said the balloon, trailing a wet string, drifted into the substation near the University Park mall in the city just east of South Bend.
The string caused a short circuit in a bank of capacitors, which are components that store electrical charges within the city's power transmission network.
"(The balloon) didn't look too pretty when we pulled it out of there," Miller said.
Power was restored to most customers within an hour, he said.
Monday, 14 February 2005
Topic: pictures
Ironically, the clock's batteries have died...
Wednesday, 9 February 2005
Smallest surviving baby ever born...
Topic: ramblings
Well I posted articles on some of the largest babies ever born, so why not post news of the smallest one to ever be born and survive, right?
***************************************************
Baby Said to Be Smallest to Survive Goes HomeFeb 9, 1:51 PM (ET)
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A baby who may be the smallest child ever to survive has been discharged from a hospital more than four months after she entered the world weighing about as much as a cell phone.
Loyola University Medical Center said Rumaisa Rahman was discharged on Tuesday weighing 5 pounds, 8 ounces (2,520 grams), a far cry from her 8.6-ounce (260-gram) weight at birth on Sept. 19, 2004.
The hospital said she is "the smallest surviving baby in the world known in medical literature." She joins her fraternal twin sister Hiba who was also born on the same day in a Caesarian procedure and who weighed 1 pound, 4 ounces (566 grams) at birth. She was discharged a month ago and now weighs 8 pounds, 8 ounces (3,700 grams).
Doctors said her prognosis was very good and expected that she would have normal physical and mental development.
The babies were born to an Illinois couple originally from Hyderabad, India. They are the couple's first children, the hospital said. Rumaisa means "white as milk" in their native tongue while Hiba means "gift from God."
Heading to Cali tomorrow!
Mood:
happy
Topic: ramblings
Wow, I haven't actually rambled on my own in a long time. Recently it's just been pictures and articles that I've been posting on here...
Anyway, tomorrow morning I'm heading to Sacramento for a wedding. A friend of the family is getting married tomorrow. My parents have known him longer than they've known me, so what does that tell you?
Well, I suppose that just tells you that he's older than I am...
Anyway, I am trying to plan a meeting between myself and my friend, Joe, from Cali as well. We were bestest buds when I lived in California a decade ago. We haven't seen each other in like 6 or 7 years. He's living in Fresno right now, so hopefully he can make the trip up to Sacramento on Friday and we can hang out.
I have been a little under the weather since getting back from Seattle last weekend. Hopefully I'm feeling better soon so me and Joe can hang out without any problems...
--Bryan
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"Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
-- from the movie "Billy Madison"
"Do not compute the totality of your poultry population until all the manifestations of incubation have been entirely completed."
-- William Jennings Bryan
(In other words, don't count your eggs before they hatch)
"When seeking a companion, become the type of person you would like to attract!"
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Posted by Bryan
at 8:49 AM PST
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