I like this one. Simple, but still.
Archive for May, 2006
Cafepress Store Still Has My Funny
Wednesday, May 31st, 2006Filling Out Forms
Wednesday, May 31st, 2006As part of my job, such as it is, I have to occasionally tabulate huge piles of forms. This is, of course, out of the dark ages, but that is neither here nor there, as it is my job.
This is just a comment from the other end of the world of forms. If you are filling out forms or surveys, there are a few simple guidelines that you should adopt and use forever.
These may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised.
If the question is asking for the latest, most, least, first, or any other extreme of something you did, mark one thing. Household income cannot be 50,000 and 75,000. Pick one you jack-off.
Read the questions. If the question is only if you answered yes to number four and you did not, don’t fill it in.
Read the answers. Don’t go along happily marking every damn thing, only to realize there is an all of the above answer.
if the question is a range type question say 1 for least and 5 for most, don’t mark both 2 and 3, and don’t write in 2.5. We are not tabulating 2.5. Just pick one. Also, don’t write “sometimes 5 and sometimes 1″ in the side column. How would this help our statistics?
Don’t just leave questions blank. This screws up the total counts and percentages.
If the survey or form is asking for your ethnicity, just answer the question. Answer it as you think of yourself, or failing that, how others probably think of you. I used to think it was cool to mark other and write something like “American” or some such, but that was when I was like fifteen. I understand your purpose. That we should all be thought of as one, and all that. I even agree in general life, but for the purposes of forms, just fill out the question. It is almost certain that is will not be used to track down all the latino males and send jack-booted thugs to cave their skulls in. It will however be helpful to know that a specific program is most often attended by white females, and not at all by asian males. This may help the researcher, or whoever, to examine why this is, and to determine if an adjustment needs to be made to make something match a target group better.
So much better to have these things online.
It smells a little like sour milk in here. I better figure out why.
The Intrepid Adventurer Returns
Tuesday, May 30th, 2006For the long weekend I went away to Jenner once again. Actually I have gone for each of the past two weekends. Last week was cold and overcast, but this week saw perfect weather. I didn’t let that stop me though, and saw through on my endless plan to stay inside and do nothing.
The thing about Jenner is that, even when it is nice and you stay inside, it is still really pleasant. peaceful is really the right word. Just quiet and relaxing. I made some ribs on Saturday that were knock your socks off, as per instructions, and on Sunday I made a Hawaiian style tuna dish with stir fried vegetables. It was great.
Over the weekend I finally got to see Brokeback Mountain. It was fine, but nothing really special. It was pretty much as I expected. Ang Lee has made another visually stunning movie, but I thought that the script, and acting for that matter, left something to be desired. It was a little boring and hokey. I thought it could have been edited a little tighter, but that is basically true of most films I have recently seen. It was even true of Crash, which I also saw in the last week. This was apparently less in need of editing, but I mainly thought the movie would have been a little better with one or two fewer plot lines. I though that it could have developed the other areas better and left out a couple of the stories. Pretty good though. It was a bit heavy handed, but I guess it was supposed to be.
I also saw the original Spanish version of Vanilla Sky, Open Your Eyes (except in Spanish, which I can remember right now). It was practically as boring as the remake, but not quite. Maybe if I didn’t know what was going on, it would have been more interesting. This sort of thing really suffers on repeat viewings.
Also in the news: In a possible sympathetic reaction to the earthquake in Indonesia, my parent’s dog almost died. He was saved by intervention from the international community in the form of veterinary surgeons. Sadly, many in Indonesia weren’t as lucky. I first heard of this today because I was out of communication for the whole weekend. What is up in Indonesia? Didn’t they suffer enough with that damned tsunami? That sucks.
It’s Wedding Season
Friday, May 19th, 2006The season is upon us. How can I tell? I have a wedding to go to today.
The season does seem to be a little lighter than the previous few, as I only have one other wedding planned for the whole summer. This, I’m sure, is not due to the fact that fewer people are getting married, but rather that I have fewer friends than ever before. This is a problem for me, and has been accelerating as of late. I seem to live a life like a hermit, but without the piety. There are some people around that I could be friends with if I put forth the effort, and some of them I even enjoy hanging out with. Something is wrong in my brain. It is almost like I am just too lazy to make a phone call to see what people are doing, and as a result I see no one for months at a time. I wish I had friends, but my own bad brain seems to be standing in my way.
Certainly explains why my wedding schedule is so light.
And Now This Message
Wednesday, May 17th, 2006In this era of TiVo and remote controls, there seems to be less and less reason to watch any commercials at all. I should also point out, conversely, that it is also the era of Survivor and American Idol, so there may be nothing but commercials to watch.
There are a few newish campaigns that I think are especially good.
First up is the new VW Passat commercial. It wouldn’t be all that funny with just trying to say that it is cooler than others because it has less ego, but there is a tag line in the ad that is especially funny. It says “Closed course. Don’t throw megaphones or metaphors out your window. That saves the whole ad. There are other ads from VW that are good as well, and they always put in a pretty strong performance, especially among auto ads, which tend to be lame.
The second up is an especially odd series from Tractor Supply Company. I hadn’t even heard of this company until about a year ago when an earlier series of funny ads came out. This new series features non moving figures and minimalist dialog about farm life. Really bizarre, and cool.
I think my favorite of all current ad campaigns is the Jimmy Dean breakfast series with the sun. So damn funny all the time. My favorite of them all is the “Why?” ad featuring the great line where the sun says, “because I have to be at work early to light and heat the earth.” So funny.
Hell of a lot better than the average television show, and 7.9 times better than any CSI series.