Every once in a while, I have these random thoughts that make me wonder. Probably nobody else would give it a second thought, but bug the heck outta me. You know, stuff like "What would chairs look like if your knees bent the other way?" So I decided to make a page where I can record these random thoughts.
Here goes:
2/23/2010 The other day I'm driving down the road and noticed a Starbucks drive through with this huge line around the building. Now, I've been to Starbucks and I was left totally un-impressed, so I wonder, what the heck is it with the obsession with Starbucks anyway? I mean, you pay like 6 bucks and get treated like crap by some college kid with black fingernail polish and a bad attitude for a squirt of syrup into a cup of Folgers. I don't get it.
2/27/2010 So I'm standing in Wal-Mart, and I wonder why there are 36 checkout registers in Wal-Mart stores, when never in the history of the world has there has never been more than 5 of them open at any one time? Seems like such a terrible waste of real estate and electricity.
While we are talking about Wal-mart -I also wonder, who is the person that decides what items are high risk security items that have to be locked up in a display case and require an escort to the front register if you want to buy it? No kidding, say you go into Wal-Mart to buy an $89 Panasonic DVD player. While they are taking 30 minutes to find the guy who has the key to the locked case to grant you the honor of purchasing one of these precious high security risk gems, you are standing there in the middle of the isle leaning up against two pallets full of $129 Hitachi DVD players that appearantly nobody cares if they get swiped. Amazing.
One more thing that bugs me about Wall-Mart -How is it that one store can find so many ways to tick me off? I mean, I have been in Wal-Marts all over the country countless times, and amazingly, every time I leave that store somehow they have found something new to irritate me. One time, it will be because it took me 3 minutes to find the item I need, but 30 minutes to get through the checkout because there was only 2 registers open in the whole place with lines backed up to the merchandise isle, and another time it will be the inconvenience of somebody failing to remove the security tag which sets off the alarm which causes me to lose another 10 minutes while a security guard goes through all my stuff.
10/23/2010 An expression that I hear continuually over-used anymore to the point that it is meaningless is the phrase "state of the art." It is used in advertising and every day speech to describe everything from toaster ovens to hospitals.
When someone says that something is "state of the art," my first thought is, "Ok, what exactly IS the 'state of the art' that they are speaking of?
What I mean is, that by definition, an 'art' is not limited to applying paint to canvas as in creating a portrait. Generally, an 'art' is the result of someone's creativity, but it could be many things. Even someone's career could be referred to as an 'art.' My father was an automotive body repairman before he reired, and as such, he was quite an accomplished artisan.
The 'state' (or condition) of something could be anything from good, to horribly bad.
So, when you really think about it, when the expression 'state of the art' is used, it has absolutely no meaning. It is actually an incomplete statement. They may be saying 'state of the art,' but they are not telling you exactly what 'state' the 'art' is in. It could be in a good 'state' or condition, or it could be in a horrible 'state.' They aren't saying. They are simply using this incomplete expression 'state of the art' with no description included.
So, the next time a salesman tells you that the computer or TV that he is trying to sell you is 'state of the art,' ask him to elaborate. Ask him exactly what IS that state (condition) that the art (the result of someone's creativity) is in? Is it in a good state, one to be desired, or is it in a horrible state?
In retrospect, I guess I should have asked that question before I bought this computer with Microsoft Vista.
4/21/11 The other day I saw a poster with an artist rendering of Jesus. He had this huge glow around his head and he was shown caring for bunny rabbits and deer and whatever other animals that the artist felt like throwing in there. Now, I have spent most of my adult life reading the Bible, and no where do I find any mention that Jesus spent any time working with animals. In fact, his schedule was very full with a public ministry of preaching to people. In fact, he didn't even have time to care for his own needs at times, let alone be involved with caring for wildlife.
As far as the glowing light around his head. I have often seen that. In fact, his apostles are often rendered with that same glow around their heads as well. If Jesus was really walking around with a glowing light around his head, don't you think it would have been easy to figure out that he was God's son? Don't you think the Jewish religious leaders that had him put to death, might have had second thoughts and said, "You know what? Maybe we had better not kill this guy, after all he's got that glowing light around his head!"
