Random notes

Here's GREAT news out of Iraq:

American journalist Jill Carroll, abducted in early January by gunmen in Baghdad, was released to a Sunni Arab political party in the capital Thursday morning after 82 days in captivity.

Since I read the CSM most days, I've been following this story and I must admit I didn't think she'd be released alive. Good for her!

Next, there's a Bengal tiger roaming around Cullman County:

The description fits that of a young adult tiger, Patterson said, weighing about 200 to 250 pounds, about waist high - but wearing about a 3-inch-wide red collar.

"This leads us to believe it was someone's pet," Cullman County Sheriff's Lt. Phillip Patterson said.

I never understood the desire to have a wild beast as a pet, but evidently lots of folks do. By the way, nice investigative insight by the Cullman Co. Sheriff's Dept., don't you think?

Finally, here's a nice story from Tuesday's Decatur Daily on the wildflowers in the Sipsey Wilderness area. Hah, I scooped the Daily, though they seem to do a better job of naming the flowers they featured in their story.











Ooh, funny story. A student just came to my office all in a panic. She needed to borrow my phone, NOW! That struck me as a little odd since most every student has a cell phone surgically attached to his/her person at all times, but I let her use the phone. Know what she was doing? She was borrowing my phone to call home and tell her mom/boyfriend/whatever that she'd forgotten her cell phone! She was in such a panic I almost felt sorry for her, but this was my favorite bit, "Well what should I do? Should I come back home and get it?"

Listen folks: It's just a phone. You can survive a few hours without constant connection to friends and loved ones. Really!

Underdogs

Given my general love for underdogs and my affinity for libertarian economists, it shouldn't surprise any of you that I'm pleased with George Mason's run in the NCAA tourney (though I've yet to watch a single game). Here's a nice piece from Slate about how GMU built its basketball and economics programs (they have 2, should be 3, Nobel winners on the faculty) the same way: they took the Moneyball approach!

GMU has excelled on the court and in the classroom by daring to be different. Its basketball team and academic programs began with the (correct) assumption that they couldn't hope to compete against the top schools in their fields—say, Harvard Law School or the Duke Blue Devils—by directly imitating their methods.

...

This is also the idea behind GMU's free-market-oriented economics department. The department got started with a heretical premise: The academic market is inefficient, so how can we exploit it? GMU knew it couldn't afford to be a first-class MIT and didn't want to be a second-class MIT.

James Buchanan [from Murfreesboro, TN], GMU's first Nobel Prize winner, has never had an Ivy League position and indeed he has never taught above the Mason-Dixon Line. Gordon Tullock, a potential future Nobelist [should already have won], has no degree in economics and took only one class in the subject. Vernon Smith, who moved his team from the University of Arizona (again, no Harvard) to GMU in 2001, had to fight to get people to treat experimental economics as more than a cute parlor game.

As with Moneyball, however, those opportunities disappear once everyone starts looking for them. I think that's true for the GMU economics department, but I really don't think coaches have learned their lessons yet. What's the guy's name (is it Romer?) at one of the California schools has shown, pretty convincingly, that NFL teams should "go for it" WAY more often on 4th down, yet no one will listen. You know the one coach that did seek him out and talk to him about his research? Bill Belichick -- a man who led his team to 3 Super Bowl titles in the free era agency. [BTW, Wikipedia claims Belichick has an econ degree, which wouldn't surprise me, but I thought I'd heard that was a myth.]

Of course I realize most everyone else is way more excited by the GMU basketball program, but I enjoyed seeing the econ folks getting their "props".

Oh, I know I haven't commented on the whole French employment contract thing -- the jokes are just too obvious and too easy -- but I couldn't resist this little bit I saw in this WaPo story:

Similarly, the students on the streets today espouse economic views entirely unpolluted by reality. If the CPE [the proposed employment contract] is enacted, said one young woman, "You'll get a job knowing that you've got to do every single thing they ask you to do because otherwise you may get sacked."

Huh; how 'bout that?

New Sipsey Pix

I don't really have much to say today. I did hear some disturbing news from an old grad school friend yesterday that kind of made my own gripes and grumbles even less significant, so I really can't muster any high dudgeon today. Hence, I'll just take the opportunity to share some pix from the latest Sipsey trip. Here goes:

Some little blue wildflower. It grows in clumps, with a sort of red base to each "trumpet".

A wildflower with a cool red (sometimes purplish) spike in the middle.

This is one of my favorite waterfalls in the Sipsey, though as far as I know it doesn't have an official name. Regardless, it's just off Thomposon Creek, right near where Thompson joins Hubbard Creek.

This is one of the falls in East Bee Branch. Supposedly, the East/West layout of the canyon is rather unusual so lots of interesting flora can be found there. To me, though, the most obvious attractions are the waterfalls.

Okay, that's if for today. Oh, in case you're curious -- one of the two classes that took a test just before Spring Break did very well. The other one's still lagging, though, so I vented some of my general frustration on them last night. It's good to have power, even if it's small.

Monday morning

Yep, it's Monday morning and Spring Break is officially over. Though it wasn't my best break ever, I still didn't want to come back to work. Of course as I was enjoying feeling sorry for myself at the end of the week, I got smacked back to reality by a post by my old friend The Vol Abroad. She said a fellow former Lawrence County, TN blogger has been diagnosed with cancer. It seems that it may not be "too bad", but that's enough to give me some perspective. So today I'm back to ranting about general things that bug me -- and I've got a good one!

So what is it that has raised my ire? People who think the ordinary rules of civil society do not apply to them! I'm not talking about hardened criminals -- bank robbers, rapists, etc. -- no, I'm talking about the folks who feel they can flout the mostly unwritten covenants that make life run smoothly. You've all seen them. The one that traditionally holds the top spot on my most hated list is the person who just can't be bothered to return his shopping cart to the "rack". No, he leaves his cart out in the middle of a parking place, thereby creating the potential for damage to some other car and taking up a parking space.

So, anyway, this past week I've identified another class of offender that needs to be smote sorely: the "I'll park wherever I want, in the most convenient place possible" driver. I saw two incidences of this the other day. First was the woman at Wendy's. She felt stopping just in front of the drive thru window while her son went inside to get their food was perfectly okay. Never mind the inconvenience she caused for legitimate drive thru customers, she didn't want Junior to have to walk more than 10 feet.

Next, was the "I can park in the fire lane because I just can't be troubled to walk the 20 or 30 feet from a parking space" woman at the Dollar General. She just pulled her minivan right up in the fire lane, smack dab in front of the doors of course, and went in to do her shopping. Gosh, that was a convenient parking spot, I wonder why no one else was using it? BECAUSE IT'S NOT A PARKING SPOT!

The arrogance exhibited by these folks astounds me. Of course I did nothing about it. I was all Walter Mitty in my head, but in reality I just went back to my car and fumed. Anyway, that's what's bugging me today.

Oh, funny story from Saturday night. For some reason I volunteered to help one of the coffee shop couples do some work at a house they're remodeling. Jim and I built a block wall and moved a bunch of fill dirt. It was pretty lousy work, but I wasn't doing anything else. Anyway, to pay me back, they invited me to go to dinner Saturday night with a group of their friends. I thought I knew a bunch of eclectic people, but they may have me beat. My favorite was the organic farmer who moved here from CA, but there was a worrisome moment at the beginning of the evening.

I, of course, was there sans date and they kept talking about how we were waiting for one more person before we could leave. Well when the "one more" showed up, I got a tad nervous. He turned out to be R, a very openly homosexual interior designer from Huntsville. Now I have no issues with homosexuality, but for a moment I wondered if this wasn't going to be the most ill-conceived "setup" of St. Caffeine's life! I know I've joked with this couple about my "unmanly image" as a single man with cats, but did they not understand I was joking?

In reality, though, it was all innocent. R and I had both been invited to dinner, but that was it. He turned out to be a nice guy with some funny stories (and y'all know how I appreciate a good story). Still, I had a moment of panic when he walked in.

Okay, time to go educate.

I'm Back

Okay, readers, bear with me for half of one more self-indulgent, whining post and then I'll tell you about my latest camping adventure. Starting Monday, I'll be back to my normal rants about things that offend me in everyday life. Okay?

It turns out camping is not a great idea when you want to get your mind off something. If there's a weighty issue you need to devote lots of time and thought to, hunkering down next to a campfire in the middle of nowhere all night long is a great plan. If though, you want to avoid thinking about something, it's not so great. See while hunkering down next to said campfire, there's not much else to do but think. Well, one could do a shadow puppet performance, but that just seemed a little bizarre even for me, so I stewed.

In my last post I said I wasn't going to air the whole sordid mess here, but a recent event [Sorry, B, if you're still reading 3rdB; I know I said I wouldn't read your blog, but I don't feel bound by that vow any longer.] has made this story too good not to share. So here's the bare bones version of the all-time worst way to start Spring Break.

I've been romantically unattached for quite a while and I'm okay with that. A few weeks ago, though, a dear friend had a "setup" for me. It was an excuse to visit them, so I agreed. Wonder of wonders, I liked the setup -- and, most surprisingly, she seemed to like me. She wasn't local, but this led to a 3 week flurry of emails, phone calls, etc. which culminated in the Lucinda Williams concert in Oxford. I was a little nervous about that because sometimes it's easier to make a good impression from a distance. It turned out, though, that our Saturday (the day after the concert) was GREAT! I expect great scorn for "saying" this, but it was like a date you'd see in a cheesy Hollywood flick: something Julia Roberts would have been in 10 years ago. Seriously, it was a good, good day and it ended with such promise for the future.

Then Sunday night she called to say she was getting back together with her ex-boyfriend! Now she's engaged to be married to the ex-boyfriend!! All this in less than a week!!! How's that for a classic St. Caffeine story?

Okay, done with that. I really wasn't going to whine about the whole thing, but the engagement just made it too good a story not to share.

The camping trip was okay. I found a new (to me) shortcut to the Bee Branch area -- some great waterfalls and the Big Tree. Because of the shortcut I actually made it all the way to Bee Branch before setting up camp and I even had time to prepare the campsite properly and cook dinner before darkness fell. Plus, I got to try out my new water filtering system that was a birthday present from Caffeine Mom AND that night's campfire was perfect. This won't impress most of you, I'm sure, but I was able to find just the right mixture of small and medium sticks so as to keep a nice steady fire all night. I didn't run through my wood too quickly, nor did I have a bunch of big sticks that never really caught fire. I'm a huge fan of campfires, so that was a big deal to me.

Of course it was COLD that night. It wasn't nearly as cold as my Christmas camping trip, but it was still a lot chillier than it would have been at home in bed. On the plus side, I never felt threatened by wild hogs this time. No, the only wildlife adventure was the hoot owls started up a battle of the bands with some other bird about midnight. I could handle that.

Next morning I got up around 5:00, made breakfast, and headed out for the falls and the Big Tree. I don't have my camera with me today, but the falls were fantastic. The Big Tree, however, was a bit of a bust. See, there's this great big Champion Tulip Poplar in Bee Branch canyon. Someone has determined it's the biggest in the state, so it's a "must see" for visitors to the area. The only problem: there are A LOT of big trees in Bee Branch canyon. I kept looking, but I soon realized unless there was some sort of flashing neon sign identifying the Big Tree, I was not going to be able to identify it. I found a tree that might have been it, but I can't say for sure. Who knows, everyone who goes to Bee Branch may have a different tree he thinks is THE tree. Still, the waterfalls were nice.

Once I did the Bee Branch thing, I headed back toward the trailhead. The wildflowers are starting to bloom along Thompson Creek. I guess it's still a little early, but I saw 4 different flowers in numbers large enough to notice. There was a white flower, a purple flower, some kind of blue flower with red stems that grew in clumps, and a spiky little blood-colored thing. Sorry, I'm no wildflower expert, though I did make a solid A on my high school wildflower collection. That, though, was due to my friend Bruce who had a degree in wildlife biology and enjoyed photographing wildflowers. A good guy to know at the time. Again, sorry no pix. I'll post some next week.

Anyway, I made it to the general area where I was going to camp the second night by mid-afternoon. My plan was to set up camp and then spend the rest of the afternoon reading [though NONE of my readers gave me any depressing reading suggestions] and enjoying the solitude. The weather, though, was not cooperative. It wasn't too cold, but it was cloudy and windy and that made it just a tad chilly for sitting around the campsite. Since there wasn't really any other nearby area I wanted to explore, I decided just to hoof it all the way out and come back home. So my grand Spring Break camping trip turned out to be only one night. Oh well, hopefully the water filter did its job and I won't be fighting off a giardia infestation this time. See, I'm an optimist!

Okay, by Monday I'll have graded my tests, taught some classes, and be full of general outrage. Plus, I'll try to post some pix from the camping trip.

Weekend Update

Well the concert was terrific. Everyone should see Lucinda Williams in that format -- just her and one additional guitar player. It was fabulous, even if she didn't sing a single song off her (major label) debut album -- her best ever, by the way. Oh, and the rest of the weekend went VERY well ... Until a most unexpected phone call last night!

I'm not pitiful enough to air the whole sordid mess on this site, but a VERY old friend owes me in a VERY big way for this one -- just kidding, of course. I do, though, need some "reading for the bummed" suggestions. The one criterion: the guy CANNOT end up with the girl in the end!

St. Caffeine is under a dark cloud; he's going to the woods soon. A little wilderness isolation is good for the soul.

Feel Good Story

Happy St. Pat's Day to all. I am wearing a smidge of green, though that was unintentional. Anyway, here's a feel good story that's been getting a lot of press in Decatur of late.

A few weeks ago some sorry excuse for a human being (Stella would call him an "oxygen thief") dumped a near dead dog in a garbage dumpster. The dog was horribly wounded, covered in blood, and the oxygen thief actually taped the dog's snout shut with duct tape so he wouldn't make any noise. Somehow the dog was found by a city worker and since Decatur has a "plan of action" for wounded animals, he was quickly taken to a local vet who treated him for free. Soon word of Lucky (as the dog was dubbed) spread and a reward fund was established. The fund grew to 15 or 16 thousand dollars and, of course, that much money led to tips and now an arrest.

As for Lucky, he seems to be doing okay. Speculation is that he was wounded so badly by being used as "bait" to train fighting dogs. He had to have one leg amputated, but from all reports he's recovering and he's even started interacting with people now. Of course there are scads of folks who have volunteered to adopt Lucky. That's good, but it's also a little sad. There are MANY animals out there in need of a home. So what if you can't adopt Lucky? Adopt your own Lucky and give an animal a home. Still, I'm rather pleased they seem to have found the oxygen thief AND it appears that he faces some fairly stiff punishment -- not what he deserves, but more than I expected. Of course he is just accused right now, but I found it funny that the guy felt the need to cover his face as he was led into jail. I'm sure he NEVER thought he'd be caught and he never imagined he'd face this level of public hatred if he were caught. HA!

Anyway, that's my feel good story of the day. Oh, here's another Lucky story with more details of his recovery.

P.S. Spring Break starts today! I'm off to Oxford, MS to see Lucinda Williams in concert tonight and I plan to go camping a couple of nights next week! I'm sure many adventures await, but I'm gonna' try not to fall in the creek or get attacked by wild hogs! Wish me luck.

Let The Games Begin

Today is the start of March Madness. [Yes, I know one reader thinks today is the most important day in March for a completely different reason!] Though I no longer follow basketball, I always have a soft spot for the first two days of the tourney. I used to love the fact that you could watch games at odd hours all day and you got to see teams you'd never heard of. I just thought it was neat.

Of course many people who don't follow the game still participate in "forecasting experiments" (that's what we used to call our pool at UAH to get around the gambling issue). This year I'm not even in one of those. I did have to fill out my pal Berkowitz's bracket for him because he's on a jaunt to Italy (poor guy). That was kind of fun, especially since it wasn't my money being thrown down the tube. So, anyway, I'm not in a pool this year, but here's my all-time favorite tourney story, courtesy of Craig Newmark. You've got to love the fact that in one fell swoop he managed to get his wife ostracized at work and get the rules changed for the following year. Cool!

Not so old

Despite yesterday's "old man" post, today I'm thinking I might NOT be 108 years old. What happened? I went to the barber shop.

I hate getting a haircut and I just want the whole thing over with as quickly as possible. That's why the barbering program here at school is such a dilemma for me. The cheap side of me LOVES the fact that I can get a $1 or $3 haircut (it depends on who is doing the charging), but the impatient side of me HATES that I may be sitting in the chair for up to 45 minutes. These folks are just learning so it takes much longer, then they have to get the teacher to inspect their work, then the teacher finds mistakes and has to give a 10 minute lecture on how the student screwed up, ... Seriously, it takes forever!

Those of you who know me well may be surprised to hear this, but the impatient side usually wins and I end up going to a local barber shop and paying NINE DOLLARS for a haircut. Anyway, that's where I was today. I hate getting my hair cut, but I love hanging out in the barber shop. There's always something going on. Today it was an old woman who had brought her approximately 45-year-old son to get his hair cut. I'm not sure why she was carting him around, but their conversation involved how much of a sumb#$%h her husband (his daddy) is. Then it was my turn.

The cut itself was nothing unusual, but I had a long conversation with the barber (a female barber at an "old man" barber shop) about what color her daddy's hair was. Then she moved on to music. Her radio was tuned to one of those oldies stations and a Beatles song came on. "Those old songs sound just as good as they used to," she said. Even though I'm not a huge Beatles fan, I agreed with her. I have a strict rule about NOT disagreeing with someone holding sharp instruments near my neck. She then moved on from the Beatles to Elvis, Sonny & Cher, etc. I kept agreeing with her, but I also wondered, "Just how old does this woman think I am?"

Evidently the same thought eventually occurred to her. She looked at me and said, "Of course you don't remember all that, do you? How old are you: 20 or 22?" I could have kissed the woman, but my sharp instrument rule applies there too. So, maybe I'm not 108! Oh, in case you're wondering, she did get a tip!

Yet another sign

I recently made the (seemingly) 2 million mile drive to Jackson, MS and, upon arrival, realized that I am approximately 107 (now 108) years of age! At least that's the way I felt when I got out of the car. Today I saw another sign that I'm an "old man".

I am very used to the world passing me by (e.g., cell phones), but I was still surprised by this one. There are various bulletin boards and such scattered around the building I work in. One of them happens to be devoted to economics-related postings. Today I saw a "for sale" flyer on that board and when I went to remove it, I made the mistake of reading the items for sale:

SUBWOOFER/AMPLIFIER/BOX

• 2 12-inch Audiobahn "High Excursion" Dual Voice Coils
• 1800 watt Rockford Fosgate Amp
• Dual Non-Ported Box
• Asking $275

The only word I recognized on the whole flyer was "amp" and I only have a rough understanding of that! Is a "box" just a box? Why/how is that a specialized piece of audio equipment? Further, what the heck is a "voice coil" and is $275 a good price? I remember when Caffeine Brother got a pair of Pioneer "sixes" and I thought there was no higher audio standard possible. Why I remember when ...

Okay, enough being old. I'm not really bothered by such things, but I do notice them so I guess I'm not so blithe as I'd pretend, huh?

Home Improvement Hazards

If you remember the show, I had a "Tool Time" moment yesterday. First, a little background.

If you know the Caffeine Dad, you know that he is the handiest man on the planet. Seriously, the man could build a working nuclear reactor from a coffee can, some bent nails, and some baling wire. Okay, I guess he'd need a fuel source, but he'd find that somewhere. As a consequence of Caffeine Dad's extreme handiness, both Caffeine Brother and I are totally worthless. The sum total of our handiness lessons growing up was how to hold the flashlight -- and we even did that badly! So, I blame this whole thing on Caffeine Dad.

Okay, now for the story ... One of the VERY first things I did after moving into my new house last year was put up my porch swing. I absolutely LOVE porch swings, especially since I have a great park across the street. One big problem, though, was that the porch ceiling was covered with vinyl siding, hence I couldn't (easily) find the two beams needed to install my porch parallel to the street -- a requirement if I wanted to be able to look over the peaceful park setting while swinging. In the end I compromised; I checked out the (seemingly identical) porch next door and got an idea of where ONE beam would be and after drilling only 4 or so "empty" holes, I found a beam and hung the swing. It bugged me, though, that my swing was perpendicular to the street and park. I could look up the street while swinging, but I didn't really have the peaceful setting I desired. Yesterday I decided to remedy the situation.

As a first step, I went next door and checked out that porch in more detail. I got a pretty good idea of where one beam would be and I figured I'd just have to drill holes on the other end until I found a second beam. I then went back to my porch and drilled my first hole. Miracle of miracles, I hit a beam on my very first attempt. That frightened me, but I decided not to question fate. I then measured the swing and figured out just about where I'd LIKE a second beam to be. When I went back next door, it looked as if there might be a beam around there -- cool. Of course it took me about 5 empty holes, but I did eventually find the 2nd beam in just about the right spot. All that remained was to install the big heavy hooks and hang my swing in its new location. That's when the trouble started.

First off, it was an absolutely gorgeous day yesterday, so I was walking around barefoot. Second, I am not tall enough to install things on my porch ceiling without a "boost", so I had the little kitchen step stool (I've got some really high shelves) out on the porch. Finally, I drilled pilot holes, but these hooks are pretty hard to screw in (and, I hope, out) so I had a screwdriver that I was using for leverage. Basically, I'd start the hook by hand and then stick the screwdriver through the eye of the hook and use the screwdriver handle to apply the needed torque. This was the way I'd installed the hooks the two previous times I'd put up the swing, so I didn't foresee any problems and I don't think there would have been any problems had I held onto the screwdriver! After a turn or so, though, I decided that I needed to adjust my grip on the screwdriver. It seemed to be pretty firmly in place, so I let go to get my new grip. When I did, the screwdriver (of course) slipped right out of the hook.

This would not have been so bad had I not been standing (on a stool) RIGHT UNDER the hook! It was one of those slow motion TV moments. I could see the screwdriver slip out of the hole and slowly, oh so slowly, fall toward my head. I closed my eyes and the screwdriver BONKED me right in the forehead (butt end first fortunately). That smarted, but to add insult to injury, the screwdriver bounced off my forehead and landed (again butt end first) right on my second little piggy (remember, I was barefoot). I'm sure it would have been a humorous sight (I'm HOPING no one was watching) as I spent the next couple of minutes hopping around my porch on one foot, holding a hand to a nascent goose egg on my forehead. It wasn't that big a deal, though the screwdriver was a heavy one, but I was in awe of all the "little things" that had to line up for this to occur. I had to be standing RIGHT UNDER the hook and the screwdriver had to bounce off my head in just the right way to land on my toe. Seriously, this was a Lee Harvey Oswald screwdriver! [Hmm, maybe I should Photoshop the famous picture of him with the mail order rifle?]

This morning I am no worse for the wear, thus I am able to laugh about the whole thing. I'm thinking we might could win some money if someone had videoed the whole thing. So if you were filming out in Delano Park yesterday, check your tape; there might be some money in it for you. In the meantime I'll hold an ice pack to my noggin and not walk under any ladders.

Picture

I decided to be a rebel and drive the Jeep to school today even though I don't have the title in hand yet. Yeah, I'm living on the edge. Anyway, since my camera was here in the office, I figured I'd share a picture.

I'm thinking of calling her Lucinda.

Okay, I'll stop Jeep blogging now. I just had to get it out of my system.

Got it!

I got my Jeep! No picture yet; my camera was at the office and the Jeep's at home. I still don't have physical possession of the title so I can't register it, but it's at my house. As I drove it home last night, though, I remembered why one does not have a Jeep as his primary vehicle. Driving a Jeep on the interstate is about like driving a tractor through a rutted field. Still, I've got a Jeep.

As Stella (that's not her real name by the way) pointed out in recent comments, I've been having a pretty good run of late: I was placed on the Millenium Falcon crew (very significant to Stella) and now I have a Jeep. In addition to all that, my "adopted moms" here at worked brought a cake and lunch in today to celebrate St. Caffeine's birthday. Yes, this could be construed as shameless fishing for birthday wishes, but I don't care. It's my birthday!

I got a Jeep!

It looks as though one of my childhood dreams is about to come true: I've (almost) got the Jeep!

I met up with Jeep Dude last night and we came to an agreement. The only snag in the plan was that he didn't actually have the title to the vehicle -- loan wasn't paid off. The first car I ever owned (a black cavalier with no AC and vinyl seats -- imagine that in Oxford, MS) was purchased the same way. In that case, however, the bank was local, so the resolution was easy. This time, however, the bank holding the title is in Rhode Island. So we made a deal last night, but we couldn't really finalize the deal.

Today, some good and some not so good news. He has talked to the folks in Rhode Island and we've REALLY made the deal, but for some reason neither of us understands, they require a physical check from him (in the mail) before they'll release the title. Until then I can't really do anything with the Jeep, but we came up with a plan whereby I am picking up the Jeep tonight and bringing it to Decatur and when the title comes in, Jeep Dude will sign it over to me. So I'm basically going to have the Jeep parked at my house, yet I won't be able to go out and "play".

Sigh.

Philosophical question

Something's been bugging me of late. I've thought about it and thought about it, but I can't seem to make up my mind. Hence, I figured I'd toss it out on the blogosphere. Here goes:

Suppose you have a strong opinion on an issue. You have good reasoning (you believe) backing up the opinion and in your heart-of-hearts you really do believe the opinion is "right". On the other hand, EVERYONE else on the planet is of the opposite opinion. I'm talking about random strangers, the "experts", even people you know, love, and trust. This preponderance of evidence for the other side has led you to conclude that your opinion may, in fact, be wrong. You accept that MAYBE the rest of the free world is right about this issue. Does it make you irrational if you continue to hold to your original opinion?

First, I'm willing to concede the other side makes good points and even offers up strong evidence, but I don't think they've refuted my basic argument. I guess I'm saying they make enough good points to convince me their cause could be true, but they haven't (in my opinion) knocked the support from underneath my argument. Further, I'm not talking about a point of fact -- that Decatur to Montgomery is a longer distance than Decatur to Nashville, for example. So basically I'm asking, "Is it irrational to admit an opinion (or viewpoint) is likely wrong, yet continue to hold said opinion?"

Okay, I know you're curious. What is the issue? Okay, it's Jimmy Stewart.

Rest of the World: He's one of the all-time best, absolute fabulous,
one-of-a-kind, gods of American film acting!

Me: Jimmy Stewart sucks!

Actually, that's an exaggeration of my position. I have no idea if Jimmy Stewart was a great actor because I never saw him ACT. No, he played the EXACT SAME GUY in (almost) every movie he ever made. Was he convincing as the bumbling, good-hearted, everyman? Sure, but that doesn't make him a great actor. I never thought that much of Clint Eastwood as an actor (though I did enjoy his movies) until he branched out beyond the westerns and the Dirty Harry movies. Still enough people that I trust have told me I'm flat out wrong on this, that I've begun to wonder if I'm not mistaken -- yet I'm not giving up my opinion of Jimmy Stewart as an actor!

So, help me out.

P.S. Please note that I'm not asking your opinion of Jimmy Stewart -- I already know what that'll be. [Though, of course, you're free to tell me just how wrong I am if you wish.] I'm looking for opinions as to whether this behavior can, in any way, be considered logical.

Beer Fairy

I thought the tooth fairy was a pretty sweet deal when I was a kid, but she can't compete with the beer fairy! When I got to work this morning I noticed a package of some sort in the plastic, basket-type thing on my door. Hmm, an oddly shaped package wrapped in what appeared to be a rather thick, yet colorful, paper sack? Of course I started mentally reviewing all the students who might wish me ill, but that would have taken too long so I just opened up the bag to see what was inside. Turns out it was a bottle of Pete's Wicked Ale -- a fine beer. Questions:

• Where'd it come from?
• Am I supposed to leave an "offering" in return to see if the beer fairy will visit again?

Look at this

Wow, the cheap ($5) K-Mart camelia I got at the end of last season survived the winter and now it's blooming. It's not really the variety I wanted, but I do think it's kind of pretty. Hey, no cracks about the guy with 2 cats and a pretty flowering shrub, okay?

Riddle me this

First, I'd like to apologize for the lack of blogging of late. I've been busier than a one-armed paper hanger. Sorry about that. Now for today's rant ...

As you know, last week I had to (er, got to) go to Montgomery for a distance learning conference. Surprisingly, some of it was pretty good. Given that it's that time of year, though, I battled a sinus/allergy headache every day I was there. Friday I was on my way home and what was a regular old headache threatened to become the headache (Stella, for one, knows the difference). For those of you who don't know -- a headache simply is a pain symptomatic of some other problem while THE headache is a condition unto itself, much more severe.

Anyway, the problem was bad enough that I decided to get off the interstate and buy a little "two pack" of some type of pain medication at a convenience store. I figured it didn't matter which store I picked as they all tend to have the same assortment of Advil, Tylenol, etc. The particular store I stopped at was different. I didn't even feel up to looking around, so I just asked the guy behind the counter if they had the little "2 packs" of pills. He told me that all they had were "headache powders" and he pointed behind the counter to show me.

First of all I was surprised that a modern convenience store just outside Montgomery would not have a full selection of Advil, Tylenol, etc. The actual selection of powders behind the counter, though, raised a much more serious question. I kid you not; this store had BC Powders, Goody's, AND Stanback Powders. Being a good TN boy, of course I chose BC Powders [Cool, there's even a Wikipedia entry for BCs.], but the bigger question (to me) was WHY? Why would a convenience store, with limited shelf space, carry THREE different headache powders and NO pain pills? I have to say, I'm stumped.

Okay, not much of a blog post, but I thought it was curious. Oh, potential good news, the Jeep guy hasn't called to cancel our appointment this afternoon. More later.

What have I done?

Those of you who know my reluctance to spend money on myself may be surprised to hear this, but I MAY have bought a Jeep! I've ALWAYS wanted a Jeep and I've actually been looking for one the past several months. Yesterday's paper had one that seemed to fit the bill -- 1999 Wrangler, hunter green, with approx. 38,000 miles. Plus, most importantly, it's cheaper than I've seen comparable vehicles selling for! Heck, it's just $2000 more than Bill Heard Chev. was asking for the 1997 Wrangler (with 62,000 miles) that had a salvage title and wouldn't even start.

Anyway, I called the guy yesterday and he called back today. He's got folks coming to look at it tonight, but I'm in class. He told me where it was, so I went and checked it out this afternoon. It's perfect, well almost. It's actually a little fancier than I was really looking for, but I guess I'm okay with that. I poked around under the hood -- though that would have done no good unless there was a giant sign saying, "I'm malfunctioning," on some random part -- and checked all the fluid levels. They were fine, but of course you'd top up the fluids before listing a vehicle for sale, right? The guy said he'd been driving a company car and I got the impression the Jeep hadn't been moved much lately, so I checked the pavement underneath and didn't see any signs of leaks there either. The belts looked good and the tires (a major expense on a Jeep) looked almost new. Unless the thing failed to start or some vital part (e.g., a wheel) fell off while test driving it, I couldn't see a thing that would keep me from buying it. EXCEPT there are a couple of people scheduled to look at MY Jeep tonight! [Of course I do realize he may have invented the other interested parties.]

So I came back to the office, ran the Carfax report on the vehicle, and just thought about how much I wanted it. In the end, I called John and left a message that, contingent on the factors listed above, I'd like to buy his Jeep. I also told him I realized he had folks coming to look at it tonight, so he should just do whatever he wanted with that info, but I did point out that I was willing to pay his asking price -- no haggling! Well, old John called me back in a few minutes and we made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. I'm not absolutely sure, but he may also have offered to "hold" it for me until then. I guess we'll see.

P.S. In addition to my lifelong love affair with Jeeps, lately I've discovered another reason I need a Jeep. As I've gotten more and more into the whole camping/hiking thing, I've realized my little Kia Optima is out of place in that world. I pretty much picture all the trucks and SUVs at the trailheads picking on my poor little Kia the whole time I'm gone. She hasn't said anything, but I have noticed a little "grumpiness" while shifting gears of late.

Namesake laws

We all know the Brady Bill, Megan's Law, and such. My guess, though, is that the Veep didn't have anything like this in mind when he envisioned a future "Chaney Charter":

From today's USA Today section, "Across the USA":

Mississippi: Jackson -- State wildlife officials plan to conceal names of those involved in hunting accidents. Mississippi Department of Wildlife,Fisheries and Parks officials said the agency will notify media and the public when errant hunters accidentally hurt of kill someone. However, the names of those involved won't be disclosed under a bill passed by the state Legislature.

I've got nothing to add.

Paradigm Perfecting, day 1

Well, I survived the first day of "Perfecting the Paradigm, II" -- don't get me started on the inherent contradiction in that title. To my surprise, some of it was okay. The plenary (a great conference word) session this morning was a total waste of time. All I can figure is that this Sloan Consortium gave a lot of money for the conference because the morning session was essentially an hour-long ad for their services. The rebel in me always objects to that.

Once we started the breakout sessions, though, things picked up a little bit. The first session I attended was on course mapping techniques. Now I know that sounds horrid, but it turned out okay. Basically a couple of grad students/support staff from Auburn described how distance learning courses SHOULD be developed -- having a distance learning specialist that observes the faculty member in the classroom, has much interaction with said instructor, and then arranges all the technical support he/she needs. Sounds great. In my current situation, though, I've been told, "We need to make stats available online. Do it."

Next I went to The Tandem Class. This was a discussion on how to offer face-to-face and online versions of the same class simultaneously. I didn't get a lot of good information from it, but I was relieved when the speaker admitted that he hated "distance learning" and did not think it was as effective as face-to-face, but he acknowledged that it is where we're all headed. Gosh, I'm not the only one? Given this admission, I really wanted to like the guy, but he had just about the worst public speaking skills I've ever encountered (excepting the first time I ever had to teach a class). He wandered off on tangents (okay I do that), he switched topics mid-sentence, and he had this really annoying habit of not finishing a sentence. Yes, he would just stop talking and then pick up a new sentence about 5 seconds later. Oh, and he also told lots of nerdy computer science jokes that just flew over my head. Finally, to maintain my sanity, I decided to try my hand at a Sudoku puzzle. They're all the rage now, but I'd not tried one. I managed to figure it out and it was pretty fun. I still don't think I'll give up my crosswords though.

There was actually one more afternoon session, but I skipped it. My choices were a session on designing courses with the community (beyond your student body) in mind and a session on podcasting. I've been hearing a lot about podcasting and I had planned to go to that one. During lunch, though, I ended up at a table full of folks who were REALLY looking forward to the podcasting session and I didn't understand a single word they uttered. Actually I did hear the word "ipod" several times, but otherwise I was clueless. I got my revenge, though; about halfway through lunch, I announced to the table that I do not even own a cell phone. You should have seen the stunned looks. It was priceless. Regardless, I figured I should not go to that session.

Oh, speaking of lunch, ... One of the things that I've not yet gotten used to at my "new" school is the inability to have any sort of gathering of more than 10 folks without giving away door prizes. This was new to me, but evidently it's rather common. After most everyone finished eating, it was announced that they'd be drawing names and giving out goodies. As I said, we do this all the time, but I've never managed to win one. As they were calling names today, I saw some pretty snazzy loot being handed out -- caps, t-shirts, a couple of soft briefcases, etc. Of course I didn't win any of that stuff, but they did call my name once they got to the restaurant gift certificates. "Okay, not a briefcase," I thought, "but I can use a Pizza Hut (the restaurant they announced when they called my name) certificate." Imagine my surprise when I ripped open the envelope and found that I did not, in fact, win a gift certificate from Pizza Hut. No, I won a V.I.B. (very important business) card. What does a V.I.B. card entitle one to? I get 15% off my Pizza Hut order (not good with other offers)! I was bummed! Oh well, the guy next to me won some sort of mesh bag that we couldn't even figure out what all the straps were for. It was either some funky kind of light backpack or a mesh t-shirt without arm holes.

Needless to say, I'm eagerly anticipating tomorrow's excitement.

Road blogging

I realize this is probably not a big deal for most of the modern world (i.e., those with cell phones, blackberries (for now), etc.), but for me the ability to plug my laptop into the hotel room wall and blog from Montgomery is kind of neat. Of course I have nothing to say, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

As you may have gathered, I'm not looking forward to this conference, but it is a nice room. I have a bed larger than my first apartment in grad school, a bathroom bigger than both my current bathrooms put together, and more towels than I could use in 6 months. Earlier I took a stroll about the hotel and discovered two things -- one useful and one useless.

• Useful: There's a coffe station just down the hall.
• Useless: The fitness room is just two doors away.

Oh, I did see one interesting thing while checking my usual roundup of sites today. Here's yet another reason to prefer minor league baseball. Evidently my favorite major league team did not foresee the huge demand for season tickets in their new, smaller stadium:

“We do not have the capacity to meet the demand for season tickets that we are experiencing,” he [Cardinals president Mark Lamping] said.

More than 3 million tickets are already committed for the 82-game home schedule through season tickets, group sales, four-game packages, club obligations and charity donations. That leaves only 500,000 that will go on sale to the public at 9 a.m. March 4.

See, you just don't have that problem in Pulaski, VA or Bluefield, WV. Of course Albert Pujols isn't in Pulaski or Bluefield either, but there's always a tradeoff.

Oh, I do have a new book recommendation: The Paperboy, by Pete Dexter. I mentioned it the day of the book sale, but I have now finished it. Here's my endorsement: I stayed up until 1:30 last Saturday night to finish it. It's been a while since I've done that, so I must have liked it. I was a little bummed at the ending, but I honestly don't think I could have come up with a better one. If I could, I guess I'd finally write that novel, huh?

Okay, that's about it. I'm sure I'll have much venting to do after tomorrow. Man, I wish I had not forgotten to bring my smiting stick. I feel sure I will meet some folks who need to be smote sorely tomorrow!

On the run

I'm out the door right now for a conference in Montgomery. Two days learning to "perfect the paradigm" -- sounds like a blast, huh? Yep, I bet it will be. Oh well, I should have some great ARGH! stories when I get back.