Bathroom security -- huh?

I went for my platelet donation the other day at the Red Cross. Before I got hooked up for a couple of hours, I decided that I should, um, use the facilities. There was a sign at the receptionist that said to use the bathroom in the hallway. OK. "...and the code is 5421." HUH?
The bathroom had a Cipher lock on the bathroom door! Has it really come to this? Are people stealing toilet paper now?! Is the economy THAT bad?

I think I'll ask about what lead to that next time I'm there...

New bookmarklets

I'm a big fan of bookmarklets, and every once in a while I go surfing for more to add to my growing collection. This week I found several that I thought were pretty cool.

One of them re-organizes your Netflix queue. Available on the Bad Segue site, the Nexflix shuffler is described this way:

A Netflix queue tends to show some clustering of movie types, due to the way people add one movie then add a similar suggested movie. If you want to restore some variety it can be tedious to move things around. Here’s a little tool to randomly re-order your Netflix queue.

119 movies shuffled in less than a second!

Many more productivity enhancing tools are available at this Bookmarklet Search Engine.

A wise friend reminded me recently...

Keep in mind that you don't have to do different things. You just have to do things differently.

These guys love maps!

Although, on second thought, that might be a little bit of an understatement :-)

Wanda Sykes continues the laughs...

Part 1

Part 2

THIS President is funny too!

...but in a different way :-)

Part 1

Part 2

Weekend of Service

President Obama is urging each of us into community service projects. I did a little piece to start my contribution this weekend.

After my oldest son got his braces put on Saturday morning, the family and I went over to my daughter's school and spent about four hours raking, tilling, cleaning, moving, and planting plants. It made a huge difference. I think that the kids even had a little fun.

After that we came home and I mowed my neighbor's yard while my wife and the boys helped weed some out-of-control flower beds (he's been out of town for a while taking care of his sister), his neighbor's lot (it's really just an abandoned house at this point) that he used to take care of, then I came back and did lawn for the neighbor on the other side of me (they were off on a mini-vacation to Las Vegas) before finally getting my own lawn mowed.

On Sunday, I finally got in to donate at the Red Cross. When I was donating for Gary a couple of months ago, I asked what the best way for me to help was, knowing that I often got out of sync in my blood donations and ended up not donating as often as I would like. I was told, "platelets." Apparently I have a good platelet count - who knew?! :-) It's done in a similar fashion to my neutrophil donation where they take what they need out of the blood and return the rest, so it takes a little longer, but I could donate as often as once every 7 days. I won't be doing that, but it does mean that I can get in more often as my schedule allows and not have to wait for the next blood drive like I had been doing.

They went for two units, but I felt a little nauseous halfway through the second unit, so I only got one this time, but it's a start. I think I just didn't have enough food or fluids in my system this time. I'll try again in a month or so as I can get in.

The nurse was saying that (if I remember this right), platelets are like gold, plasma is like silver and whole blood is like bronze. They're all needed, but apparently the platelets can help more for some reason. Don't know. Don't care. Whatever I can do to help.

It makes me feel good when I volunteer for something. I wish I had more time, or even money, to help others, but every little bit helps. I know that they appreciate it.

The price of children

Another one that's making the rounds...

The Price of Children

This is just too good not to pass on to all. Here is something absolutely positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down.. It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year
* $741.38 a month
* $171.08 a week
* A mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is: don't have children if you want to be 'rich.' Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day

For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint
* carve pumpkins
* play hide-and-seek
* catch lightning bugs
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh
* watch Saturday morning cartoons
* go to Disney movies and
* wish on stars

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof
* taking the training wheels off a bike
* removing a splinter
* filling a wading pool
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* First step
* First word
* First bra
* First date
* First time behind the wheel

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren!

It's the best investment you'll ever make!

Amazingly creative videos

See more of Evelien's work...

Happy Mothers Day

See more funny videos and Music Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Larry's insights

Larry Page, Google's Co-Founder, gave the Commencement Address at the University of Michigan this past weekend. (Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFb2rvmrahc Read: http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/annc/20090502-page-commencement.html)

There were several quotes from the address that I wanted to share:

"Sometimes it's important to wake up and stop dreaming."

UofM's Leadershape program's slogan is to: "[have a] healthy disregard for the impossible."

"I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. I know that sounds completely nuts. But, since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition."

"What is the one sentence summary of how you change the world? Always work hard on something uncomfortably exciting!"

"Please keep [your families] close and remember: they are what really matters in life."

The guy's delivering the commencement address at UofM. He co-founded and built one of the most recognizable, and arguably, useful companies in the world. He's worth a bazillion dollars. Seems like a pretty smart fella to me. Maybe we should listen to him.

And the winner...

...got his stuff yesterday! My son's winning Peep entry scored him -- and the rest of the family :-) -- a huge stash o' candy!

There was of course MORE PEEPS, but I guess I didn't know that the Just Born candy company had so many other brands that they own. Mike and Ikes, Hot Tamales, Peanut Chews, Zours...

He got several packets of every Mike and Ike flavor imaginable, Hot, and hotter Tamales, some Mike and Ike jelly beans, a small Peeps plush, key chain, and luggage tags (huh?). He was pretty happy about it all.

Now's the hard part. He's getting braces soon, so he won't be able to enjoy all of this gummy candy for long. Sooo... I guess we'll need to help him eat it fast, eh?

What's a little sugar rush for a winner? Thanks Peeps!

Sound of Music stunt

A thousand miles away... and right next door.

Actually 2,476 miles one way according to Visual Trace Route. That's the distance from my computer to Facebook's servers in Palo Alto, CA. I don't particularly care for Facebook (except some of the games I sneak a play at when my wife leaves it logged in), but my wife has quite enjoyed the social site. She's used it to keep track of and contact with friends from high school, friends from around the world she met when she was pregnant with each of our kids, and also to get to know a woman that lives across the street.

When our neighbors first moved in a few years ago, we met them and shared a few moments. Said "Hi" as we passed in the morning and then in the evening -- reminds me of this classic Looney Toons encounter ( you can restart at the beginning of the video if you want to see the whole clip, but I queued it up for you).



Anyway, back to my story... So my wife and I know the neighbors, and see them quite often, in fact. We don't hang out together, but we both have kids, so we often ended up at the same place. On top of that, the dad, works for a company that hosts local events that we visit occasionally.

Several months ago, and I'm not sure exactly what led to this, my wife and the neighbor found each other on Facebook. They've shared laughs, insights, recipes, parenting stories, histories, and I'm sure a few complaints (even about their "better halves" I'm sure). My wife commented at one point that she had learned more about our neighbor since catching her on Facebook, than in the several years we lived right across the street.

We were not isolated, or I didn't think so, but there's something about the impersonal intimacy of the Internet. I've said things on this blog that I couldn't see myself saying directly to someone. And I'm not alone, I'm sure.

Facebook is about socializing. I'm not a socializer. I'd MUCH rather be 1 on 1 with someone than at a party. I'm not sure what it is -- competition? insecurity? obligation? some other phobia? Facebook is about sharing your life, often one tiny piece at a time (with almost Twitter-esque updates about what each of your friends is doing right this very instant, which Friends character they're most like, something about poking, and other little inane snippets). It's certainly easier to post one update on Facebook than to send a bunch or emails, or heaven forbid -- make a bunch of phone calls -- when something happens in your life, but the impersonal intimacy allows you to put it out there, and let others catch up as they want to, in their own time.

There are certainly benefits to sites like this, and to the Internet in general. I don't think there is anyone who can debate that. It's all in how you use it. What you gain from it varies from person to person. A new business opportunity? A few minutes of mindless video watching or mind exercising video games? The location of the nearest registered sex offender so that you can keep your kids safe. The information needed for a research paper. The phone number of your favorite pizza place?

A closer friendship with a neighbor...

The Pitfalls of Technology

You are on the bus when you suddenly realize … you need to fart. The music is really loud, so you time your farts with the beat.

After a couple of songs, you start to feel better as you approach your stop.

As you are leaving the bus, people are really staring you down… and that’s when you realize… you have been listening to your ipod.

from aproposofnothing

What would you say?

There has been a lot of press coverage or the swi..., er, um, influenza A H1N1 virus and how the best defence is a good offence. General hygiene is always a good thing, though -- worldwide pandemic or not.

All of that was still in my mind as I walked into the bathroom this afternoon. As I walked in, someone else was finishing up. I watched in amazement as he walked right to the door and back to work.

"Um, excuse me. Have you heard of hygiene? Have you heard of H1N1? Were you raised in a barn?!" OK, that was all in my mind. Nothing actually came out of my mouth. I just didn't know how to react? How do you react to something like that?

What do you say to someone that walks away without flushing?

What do you say to someone who doesn't wash their hands? Those same hands that they're just about to apply to the same doorknob you'll need to escape this room with.

Does it make a difference is they're someone in a public place that you'll likely never see again versus a co-worker that you'll see everyday (even if you don't know them directly)?

What about age? Does that make a difference? If it's a young child in a store? An older person in a restaurant? Someone of your own generation at work?

What about "rank" or "social status""? Does that impact how you'd react?

Does the possible pandemic matter?

I have seen a few people that enter the restroom, wash their hands, use the facilities, wash their hands and then use the paper towel to handle the doorknob on their way out. Are they OCD or just the smart ones? Not sure. But after seeing a few people on the other end of the scale use the same restroom as I do, I'm thinking I might want to join the OCD crowd. What about you?