Zobar's Journal

01/05/2010 10:13 #50741

run to the hills

Correction: now it can't get any worse.

I got a million dollar idea and audible.com can have it for free: Ben Stein reads a Conservative Compendium: Going Rogue, Atlas Shrugged [unabriged]. [Edit: need another title here.] I would buy the hell out of that shit.

Anyway. Ever notice, after you've quit your job but before you've left, every dumb little annoyance becomes cause for revolution? And the whole time you're thinking to yourself, 'man, this is totally the reason I'm quitting. This is bullshit! It doesn't seem like a big thing but it's an indication of the corporate culture here, man. When you go to the office supply closet for a box of staples, they shouldn't be all broken up like this! Man, this is never going to happen at my new job.'

It's triple-annoying because first, you've got the initial annoyance which you may not have even had in the first place. Then you're going all Norma Rae in your brain. And then on top of that, you're getting annoyed that you're getting so much more annoyed than you would have been in the first place. [And then you start blogging about it rather than getting your work done...] Maybe it's just me.

But there's also the serenity that comes with the knowledge that it's just not your problem anymore. Somebody else gets a broken-up box of staples and you just kind of look at them, sigh, and say 'Yeah. That sucks.'

- Z

tinypliny - 01/06/10 11:11
HEE HEE.

jim - 01/06/10 10:30
I had to go check to make sure we're ready for you ^_^

:::link:::

zobar - 01/06/10 10:19
Jeez guys the staples were a metaphor.

- Z

jim - 01/06/10 10:13
tinypliny: we get 5 million+ pieces of paper physically mailed to us every year. So, mostly paperless. Except for that. Luckily that mail doesn't go to the office David and I work at :)

jim - 01/06/10 10:10
If you want some staples when for when you get here, I can send you the requisition forms to start filling out, and then you can fax it to our Corporate Office Supply Requisition Ombudsman. That way you'll get staples sometime within the next month or two.

Just remember, fill the forms out in triplicate, and sign the bottom of each page!

:)

tinypliny - 01/06/10 08:53
Good luck at your new job. Hopefully they will be so advanced that they will be paperless and need no staples!

oda - 01/06/10 00:02
knowing that you are about to quit a bad job is just about the best feeling in the entire universe. your horrible boss, the lack of sticking-together-staples, your annoying co-worker, the fact that you're treated like a bitch, NONE OF THAT MATTERS!! you can walk around with this contented smile on your face that you are making a change. you always feel that where ever you're going will be better than that job that you're leaving. nothing at your soon-to-be-former job is your problem, and any annoyances just brushed right off your shoulder. <smile>

12/31/2009 09:48 #50698

3-0 on the 3-1

Today is my birthday! Have some links.

One of the earliest known lolcats comes from Kenmore, NY, in 1929.

And this guy built the statue of liberty, holding a lightsaber, out of Legos

His work is on display at the Strong Museum of Play

but I don't know if this particular work is included.

- Z

metalpeter - 01/01/10 12:29
Happy Birthday, like the Lightsabre Picture

tinypliny - 12/31/09 13:22
Was that on the wall of your nursery? That would explain a lot of things. Have a wonderful year ahead, amigo. ;-)

matthew - 12/31/09 12:20
Happy birthday!

tinypliny - 12/31/09 11:59
A whole generation of kids with *that* laughing at them from their nursery walls. Imagine. Tsk Tsk

12/30/2009 22:14 #50694

food for thought: a pangram

Boxer M. Tyson packs his bags w/ Jay-Z DVDs, Quik, Holyfield's ear.

- Z

tinypliny - 12/31/09 00:35
I think body parts that don't have a bony framework don't have a chance of surviving 12 years unless frozen. I doubt if Tyson has ever had that much foresight or even the ear bit.

12/21/2009 20:17 #50620

iodigum

I think I'm basically in favor of vitamin-enriching foods [I mean the basic A through zinc, not that probiotic acai/taurine crud you're trying to sell]. But what I want to know is, how do they decide which foods get which vitamins? If two foods are enriched with the same thing it's like showing up to a party in the same dress, right?

Whole milk gets vitamins A & D.*
Flour gets B-complex vitamins and iron.
Orange juice gets calcium.
Salt gets iodine.
Tap water gets fluoride. [How did fluoride manufacturers land that deal?!]

Why can't whole milk get iron, and flour get vitamin D? Why not put iodine in the water, and fluoride in the salt? Why put nutrients in salt anyway?

- Z

for total dork-ons:

_______________

Oh dang I gotta cut back. 'This food is high in Saturated Fat, and a large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars:'

tinypliny - 12/22/09 19:43
Hold on - you have a tendency to get nose-bleeds in sulphurous iron-rich showers? Why?!

tinypliny - 12/22/09 19:40
Do they live in the love canal or what?!

zobar - 12/21/09 21:09
Lame.

(e:dragonlady7)'s parents have well water and you can smell the iron and sulfur in it. When I take a shower it freaks my shit right out because of my strange tendency towards bloody noses.

- Z

tinypliny - 12/21/09 21:03
There are a couple more reasons. Unbleached, un-threshed cereal grains usually have a good amount of B-complex vitamins and some level of iron. However, all this is lost during processing. So they put similar supplements in cereals (e.g. fortified rice and wheat) and cereal products (flour) to help these foods reach the level (or beyond) what they would naturally have.

In a way, it makes sense because traditionally people eat a variety of foods at any meal. The logic behind variety is that different portions of the meal gives you different nutrients and in the end you will have met all your needs. However, by over-processing our foods, this is no longer true. Supplementation strives to make this right and correct losses during processing.

Some people are lactose intolerant which eliminates milk and many milk products from their diet. Since the major source of bioavailable calcium is milk, this is a major public health problem. The alternative for these folks is another common beverage dressed up to give similar benefits as milk does - orange juice.

tinypliny - 12/21/09 20:50
Could be because A, D, E and K are fat-soluble, and the rest are water-soluble. So any vehicle with enough fat content will hold A, D, E and K more efficiently. The same goes for the water-soluble lot.

You could potentially dissolve ionic salts in polar fluids e.g. water but it would be hard to mask the taste of iron salts if they are dissolved in the water component of milk. If you have ever tasted raw blood, you will know what it tastes/smells like. No one wants THAT in their milk.

The problem with iodine and fluoride is slightly different. Both are needed in trace quantities in the body and excess will cause detrimental effects - fluoride more so than iodine. Water is ideal to achieve the parts-per-million dilution that fluoride supplementation requires. Salt is ideal for iodine because its consumed by everyone. Additionally, both are polar salts that are compatible with each other. Plus you don't need such massive dilutions for iodine as fluorine does.

So in the end, it comes down to chemistry, physics and research into consumer behaviour.

Are you bored enough that you want to drown in eggnog now?! Admit it.

12/20/2009 16:23 #50613

new job

What a weekend. I need a vacation.

- Z

james - 12/21/09 09:42
Congo relations?

jim - 12/20/09 18:33
congratulations?

(with me? Lol)

paul - 12/20/09 17:58
congratulations?