Rants and musings, without care for substance.
Posted in complaints, healthcare, money, oddities on Jan 9th, 2012
Health insurance is convoluted. It’s hard to understand when you don’t utilize it; it’s easier to understand when you do utilize it, but there are still plenty of weird things about it. One example from the past year.
I saw a physician in April. The bill was submitted to my insurance company a week later. I [...]
Posted in oddities on Feb 26th, 2010
Whoever is operating the fortune cookie machine is asleep at the switch. Lately I’ve been getting cookies with multiple fortunes. Whenever you get duplicates, you want to believe that it’s more applicable.
In Cookie #1, there were three fortunes. All the same.
“People find it difficult to resist your persuasive manner.”
In Cookie #2, there were four. Two [...]
I can’t be the only person who has to cope with these sorts of scenarios, but here’s another one from the cube farm.
When you send me an email, I read it. If it prompts me to take action, I do. I will usually respond with an email of my own, summarizing said action and any [...]
Posted in oddities, photography on Nov 26th, 2009
In the now-that’s-awkward department, there’s a picture from the White House’s photostream depicting a woman — described as an aide — wearing a Motorola XTS 5000 clipped to the back of her dress. In my experience these radios are neither slim, lightweight, nor subtle. The handset alone weighs 1.35 pounds. It makes me wonder whether [...]
When eating out, I prefer not to mention payment terms until the bill comes due. If you were comped a meal or have some sort of discount coming your way, it shouldn’t have any affect on the quality of food or service. Yet in my gut, I feel that it will have an impact; that [...]
Posted in life in general, oddities on Sep 20th, 2009
Dreaming peacefully, I heard several loud cracks. I didn’t think much of it.
Then again after a minute or two — still half asleep — there were several sharp raps at what sounded like my front door. I remember five, though there may have been more. Not knocks, like your knuckles against wood. Not thuds, like [...]
Posted in film, observations, oddities on Jul 9th, 2009
I experienced feelings of déjà vu while watching Rendition for what I thought was the first time. I get these feelings periodically and though they always feel a little eerie, this was much worse. Considering the subject matter, it was absolutely creepy. Now it is possible and even likely that I saw bits and pieces [...]
Posted in advertising, observations, oddities on Jun 18th, 2009
GQ is still referred to as “Gentlemen’s Quarterly” on the spine of the print edition. That’s odd, since publisher Conde Nast puts out twelve issues per year. Actually eight issues worth if you exclude the advertisements, but that’s a tangential thought and one that could be directed at much magazines.
Posted in observations, oddities on Jun 11th, 2009
When I eat in the car while driving — admittedly not a great idea in general — I use my left hand to steer. It feels more natural than my right hand, which is odd because I’m right-handed. Common sense would recommend using your dominant hand to perform the more important function; it’s definitely more [...]
Posted in housing, life in general, oddities, troubleshooting on Mar 30th, 2009
I had a small group of people over after we closed out the show. At one point during the evening, one of my guests approached me and whispered into my ear, “your toilet is broken.” It was in the same tone as someone would use when they say, “where’s your plunger?” Fortunately it wasn’t a [...]
Posted in oddities on Jan 28th, 2009
There’s something about this building that struck me as odd. It sits alongside Maryland Route 2 in Brooklyn Park; the exact location is tagged on Flickr.
I spontaneously decided to make this into a little contest, just now. So I’ve got a $10 gift card to Costco (which I believe you can use without having a [...]
Posted in life in general, oddities on Jan 26th, 2009
Last week, the world as I once knew it underwent an irrevocable change. A major paradigm shift took place right around me, from which I’ll never view things quite the same way again.
I found out that some people sneeze through their nose.
Their nose! Can you believe it? As a lifelong mouth sneezer, I found myself [...]
Posted in advertising, oddities, youth on Dec 11th, 2008
I keep hearing advertising on the radio for Syke Energy Drink. Whether there’s a drink or not, the ads sound awfully familiar. It sounds like the writers ripped off the spoof ads for Brawndo, the “thirst mutilator” featured so prominently in Idiocracy (and now available as an actual product).
I’m fond of the Brawndo ads (linked [...]
Posted in oddities on Nov 17th, 2008
What the heck is this?
This structure is somewhat of a mystery to me. It sits at the bottom of one side of a man-made hill. There’s a road at the top of the hill. There’s a 24″ pipe inside that allows the marsh (to the lower left) to drain under the hill and downstream (to [...]
Posted in oddities on Sep 4th, 2008
I got a professional courtesy voucher to subscribe to Robb Report. I get these sorts of vouchers occasionally, but usually they’re geared towards computer science, information technology, consumer electronics, etc. This one is a bit different, so much so that I’m wondering why I received it. Robb Report is a luxury goods rag that caters [...]
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