Saturday, January 08, 2005

Design inspiration for new Honda Element color scheme

If all goes well, this is my future new car.





Thanks to various old toyota sites for the toyota fj-55 pictures.

Friday, January 07, 2005

thoughts inspired browsing on amazon


the most wished for item on amazon's wish lists in the health and personal care section is the "Philips HeartStart Home Automated External Defibrillator (AED)." that makes me sad.

but, just to show how fickle i am, i'll also tell you about something that makes me happy. it's the reach access flosser. i've tried other flossing gadgets before, with no luck. i just have to floss the manual way, basically sticking both my hands in my mouth to floss. i have a hard enough time trying to get my mouth to open far enough to eat. but in any case, this thing is fantastic! i read about it on kevin kelly's cool tools list, which subsequently listed a link to a free sample which is still available. i can't recommend this highly enough. basically, it's as firm as a toothbrush, which makes it easy to poke the floss between your teeth. i have a couple of teeth that have crashed together like icebergs, and i can even get in those if i use my upper jaw to push down a tad on the flosser. so add it to your shopping list or fill out the online form for a free one, but do it, especially if you don't floss every day. this will make it easier, without getting spit all over your hands (or is that only me?).

The drawbacks of Club Caltech

Getting into a class can be difficult. Not because there are too many people in it. Not because there are stupid rules about which classes you have to take first. No, people are perfectly confident that you have the capability not to fall on your ass. No, the problem is Finding Where The Class Meets.

The schedule for winter classes listed the Graduate Seminar in Molecular Neuroscience as meeting in 101 Kerkoff at 7pm on Wednesdays. I went to the class meeting. I was a couple (no more) minutes late. There was no one there. The door was locked. Let me also mention that it was in a locked building. No one had left a door open or anything, I just happened to know the the key to my building also opened the back door to Kerkoff.

I went home and sent the professor, who I have met with in the past, an email.
hello david -

i was hoping to attend the first meeting of your grad seminar tonight, but i didn't find anyone at 101 kerkoff. i was a few minutes late; did the class relocate? if it's still possible for me to take the class, could you send me a syllabus?

thank you,
holly
The response, from his assistant:
Holly,

The class is on THursdays at 7 in 151 Braun, there was a mistake on the calendar, you should show up to tonight.

Gina Mancuso
Roberta's thoughts on the matter:
What ever happened to "i'm sorry?"

"you should show up tonight?"

how about "you should get some social skills, imbecile."
Thank you Roberta for representing my id in this story.

Last night I went to the class meeting. The professor knew nothing of the problem; he had been out of town until that morning. He was very apologetic and immediately started thinking about how to reach other people who may have been put off as well. Few people showed up (surprise), so I'm presenting next Thursday. I don't mind that, and I'm looking forward to the quarter.

Thank goodness for the options that come with class privilege


Darlene Jespersen was a highly praised bartender at Harrah's in Reno for almost twenty years, until Harrah's instituted a policy that all women had to wear foundation, concealer, or powder, blush, mascara, and lip color at all times. Darlene demurred, was fired and is now working in retail while the case wends its way through the courts. I'm glad I've got more employment options than that. It makes me furious. The requirement is a legal way to fire butch lesbians. Sure, some straight women choose not to wear makeup too, but they get called lesbians for their trouble. Likewise, a non butch lesbian may also not wear makeup, and get called butch for her trouble. We all might as well come around to support the rights of butch lesbians.
...wearing makeup made her feel sick, degraded, exposed, and violated. Jespersen felt that wearing makeup “forced her to be feminine” and to become “dolled up” like a sexual object, and that wearing makeup actually interfered with her ability to be an effective bartender (which sometimes required her to deal with unruly, intoxicated guests) because it “took away [her] credibility as an individual and as a person.
The legal challenge to the policy is that it places undo burden on women, since maintaining their appearance for work takes more time and money than it does for men. I'm curious what the other people who work at the casino look like. I doubt they are all young "movie-quality" hotties. Does Harrah's think that there are no gay people in the area? Guess what the closest major city is? Gay ground zero, San Francisco.