Category: Miscellaneous

Two things within the past 24 hours:

1. I had a vivid dream last night in which Canada invaded the United States, and I was somehow a big action hero.

2. I got really freaked out by something on the Internet. And I’ve been on the Internet a lot.

Replying to email threads from five years ago. I also just replied to a couple from my first week of work.

There must be something wrong with me.

Maybe it’s because I’m tired, maybe it’s because I’m bored, but I just wrote an essay for the first time since I was in college. And it’s not for work. It was for fun.

4’33” – A Reflective Essay [PDF]

Let’s say I’m searching for a local place to get a haircut. I find a bunch of results in my vicinity. Barber A and Barber B are the closest results. Barber A has a big fancy website as part of a chain, and includes a “store locator” feature which provides information about each location. The information provided is an address and phone number. Barber B has no website, but they’ve listed their operating hours on major local search services. All I needed to know was an address and whether or not they were open. I’m going to Barber B. It’s amazing how many stores don’t list their hours.

While I’m out, I also want to get my car serviced. Garage A has a phone number, which I can call to see if I can book an appointment today. Garage B has a website which lets me see when the next appointment is available, and schedule it online. I’m going to Garage B.

Finally, I plan on ending my evening at the movies. Theater A only sells tickets at the box office. It’s a new release so I’d have to arrive early in case it gets sold out. Theater B sells tickets online so I’ll know if it’s already sold out, but they charge a $1 “convenience fee” on top of the ticket price for online purchases. Theater C sells tickets online at the box office price for matinees, and for regular tickets charges $1 less to thank me for ordering in advance. Theater C also has nicer auditoriums because their staff spends more time cleaning than they do dealing with long ticket lines. I’m going to Theater C.

Sometimes it’s a small investment (filling out store hours) and sometimes it’s a little more work (an online scheduling or commerce system), but in both cases, those who gave me the information and/or convenience I wanted got my (hypothetical, but based on true events) business. You may not be a technology company, but remember that people of my age or lifestyle won’t look for you in the newspaper, and we won’t call you either.

A few people have been asking me lately where they can get one of the “Wysz” shirts that I occasionally wear. I only have one of them, and I ordered it from CafePress for a Halloween costume. Since it sounds like some of you were actually serious about buying a shirt, I’m putting it up for sale publicly. And for Dan, I’m also offering a hoodie version.

While we were talking about shirts, Matt came up with an idea for a shirt that could be used to add a disclaimer to everyday statements made by employees of any company. Here it is:

And finally, a shirt suggested by my cousin years ago is finally a reality. Well, it will be if you order one:

I recently wrote about my sister winning an award at Marist’s Silver Needle Fashion Show. I have some more info, and even a video, again provided by my mom.

First, the story behind the black and white dress (picture above by my mom). I jokingly asked upon seeing it, “So is this what everyone will be wearing in 5 years?” The reason for the unusual design is the criteria for the project. It had to be black and white, with a comedy/tragedy theme. There also had to be a non-fabric element. In Sara’s case, the theme is Barnum & Bailey, and the non-fabric element is the use of hula hoops. Oh, and this also explains why it looks like a circus tent.

Here’s a video of the winning collection:

And why did I have a dream that I could moonwalk?

Congratulations to my sister Sara, who recently won the award for Outstanding Senior Collection at the 2008 Silver Needle Fashion Show by Marist College.

My mom pointed out Sara’s designs in the Poughkeepsie Journal’s photo gallery of the event. Here are some direct links to her photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

To give you an idea of what it was like to live with a fashion designer, here’s a typical morning for us in high school:

I’ve just come downstairs and head towards the garage, where I see Sara. We need to leave in about two minutes. Sara looks at me, and is obviously not impressed.
Me: Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?
Sara: Well, it’s too late now…

Or imagine that I’ve just gotten dressed before some family comes over for Christmas dinner:

Sara: Where did you get those pants?
Me: My closet.
Sara: Those are Dad’s pants. They can’t be yours.
Me: Well, they still fit.
Sara: Mom! He’s wearing pleats!

And more recently:

Aunt/Friend/Etc: That’s a cool bag, where did you get it?
Sara: I made it.

Update: Video.

I often have trouble talking to numbers people. Numbers people need stats on everything, no matter how unimportant the numbers are. I tend to only make qualitative observations.

Part of this may be due to the fact that I’m not that interested in measuring things I cannot control. I almost never check the weather forecast. In most cases, weather won’t change my plans. Now that I’m in Silicon Valley, where there is no weather, I don’t even understand why there’s a forecast in the first place. The only forecast I’d really be interested in would be for earthquakes, but the current precision on those doesn’t help me very much.

To illustrate my problem, here’s what a typical conversation with one of the engineers I know sounds like. Keep in mind that I am generally struggling to insert numbers wherever possible so I don’t sound like an idiot:

#: So, California, huh? What’s the average temperature where you live this time of year?
Me: I’m usually indoors. They keep it at room temperature.
#: 72?
Me: Sure.
#: Do you drive to work?
Me: Yeah.
#: How long does it take you?
Me: I don’t know. Depends on when I leave.
#: When do you usually leave?
Me: Typically between 7 and 11, but it really varies based on when I wake up.
#: Well, how many miles is your commute?
Me: Oh, I looked this up once. It was three. No, that was my old apartment. I think five. Maybe.
#: Gas prices must be crazy out there.
Me: Yeah.
#: What’s the average price there now?
Me: Expensive.
#: How many miles per gallon do you get?
Me: I usually fill up when I’m down to 1/4 tank.
#: Got it. So, how are you liking the local sports teams?
Me: I’m really only qualified to talk about the Internet.

I just completed a two-week period of only wearing glasses, and not contacts. I’m glad I did it, because after wearing glasses for an extended period of time, I’m no longer bothered by all of the distortion they cause, and will be more likely to wear them at night instead of leaving my contacts in longer than I should. But that’s not blogworthy.

What is blogworthy is the fact that this two-week training on my eyes has given me a bigger laptop monitor. You see with glasses, everything appeared smaller than I saw it without glasses (even with contacts.) I don’t know if that’s how it works for everyone, but that’s how I saw things. But after two weeks, I was used to the “small” world I was living in. Today, just after I had put my contacts back in, I picked up my laptop and noticed that everything looked huge! At first I thought my resolution or browser font size settings had been changed. As I looked around, I realized that wasn’t the case; the monitor itself appeared larger. I looked beyond my monitor, and saw that my TV had grown too! I think I’m going to go and look around for more “upgrades.”

Oh, and speaking of upgrades, if you use WordPress, it’s time for 2.5.1 (includes security fixes). You’ll want to subscribe to their blog to hear about future updates (thanks for the tip, Matt), so I don’t have to tell you here.