Another blog! Yea!

I recently ordered an item from an online store, a multiport, wireless router. I was pretty excited about getting it, so I was closely watching the tracking status on UPS' site. Upon checking the status, I saw that it was delivered. Surprised as I'd been home all morning but pleased, I looked outside to find...nothing. I looked behind every bush, column, trash can, etc. The package simply wasn't there.

Unsure where to start, I first tweeted my predicament:

@UPS says a package is on my porch, but it's not. I wished they'd ring or knock & not just silently drop things off. Been home all morning

Before I could dig up a number to call, UPS responded:

@jasondlee Oh no! Let's follow up to find out where it is. Please e-mail your track # + phone # to twitter@ups.com. ^ST @ups

Fast and friendly! I sent the email and in an hour or so, I got a call from the local UPS office. I explained the situation to her, and she said that she talked to the driver who confirmed he dropped it off, but she'd talk to him again and have him come back by.

A little while later, a UPS truck pulled up. When I met the driver on my porch, his first words were, "I screwed up", which, to be honest, was pretty cool that he'd be that honest. As it turns out, he dropped it off on the wrong street. The home owner had already taken the package in, and wasn't answering the door, so he left a note. As disappointed as I was at the delay, the driver 'fessed up and was trying to make it right, which is about all I can ask, I guess. It's an easy mistake to make.

This morning, the same driver pulled up and delivered my package. He apologized for the mix up and went on his way. My story, then, does have a happy ending. I've used UPS for many years now, and I've always been very happy with them. This is the first time I've ever had this sort of issue with them, and, once they were made aware of the situation, they were very quick and proactive in making it right, even promising to replace the item should it not be recovered. Due to a few bad apples tossing packages, etc., they often get a lot of bad press, so I think it's important to share this to show that they do care and do a great job on the whole. I know I'm happy with them. :)

I have a bunch of random, sometimes half-baked thoughts rattling around that space between my ears. Rather than taking the time to write a separate entry for each of them, I'm just going to dump my thoughts here in one big, meandering post.

• I have very little sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street crowd.  They may have some valid points here and there -- there IS a lot of "corporate greed" scattered around, I guess -- but their point kind of gets lost amidst all the public defecation and rapes.  Furthermore, it's pretty ironic that in a protest of corporate greed, you see a lot of personal greed in them demanding more of rich people's money for projects the protestors deem appropriate. That's some pretty thick irony.


• Speaking of OWS, the media seems to look at them much differently than the Tea Party. It's an absolute certainty that I missed a TP story or two -- I really don't follow them much. However, I'd bet Mitt's $10K that if something truly outlandish happened at a TP rally, the press would still be talking about. However, real crimes happen at OWS rallies, and, well, those people aren't part of the movement, so there's really nothing to talk about. If you'd like a more visual display of the differences between the two groups, Brandon Dutcher shared a nice graphic. No, no bias in the media at all.


• What are those people thinking blocking the ports? "um...people are making vast amounts of wealth and stuff and uh like...we're gonna stop that!" You really can't say anti-capitalist any more clearly than that. As Neil Cavuto points out, it's more than the uber-evil Goldman Sachs using those ports. Some of us just want our Christmas gifts. And as to those people not crossing the picket lines, they were told not to, I would guess, out of fears for safety, at least in part. There's a long history of people getting hurt trying to cross picket lines. I would also venture to guess that those same people not crossing the line aren't getting paid because they didn't cross the line. I could be wrong, and it might vary from one company to the next, but I'd not be surprised. Way to help out the "99%".


• Jim Geraghty had a nice response to Obama saying that it may take more than president to fix the economy: "If it's going to take more than one president, why don't we get the next one started as quickly as possible?" AMEN. :)


• I was asked a few weeks ago who I liked in the GOP primaries. I didn't have an answer then, and I still don't. I kind of like Herman Cain, but, real or not, those allegations probably made him unelectable. Newt bothers me a bit, as does Romney, as they both seem far too willing to promote more liberal agendas until the political winds change, then work against them. Bachmann... meh. Perry? I dunno. I like what I've seen of his record, I guess. Ron Paul's foreign policy ideas scare me, though I like some of his fiscal ideas. The other candidates probably aren't even worth mentioning. I really don't know who I'll vote for, but, to steal and paraphrase...someone, the GOP could run Elmer Fudd and I'd vote for him. I'm really not a fan of the anybody-but approach to voting, but...


• Why are Mitt Romney's or Michelle Bachmann's religious beliefs important, but President Obama's are not?


• If the President really is smart, why won't he release his transcripts? My guess is that they're probably vacationing in Kenya with Kerry's medical records.


• It seems like TIME Magazine has just quit trying. This year's "'Person' of the Year" is "The Protestor". Remember when "You" were the PotY? Why can't they just pick a real person? "Ugh...I dunno Bob. Who SHOULD we pick? Tell you what: let's just pick something random and vague and call it a day." "Sounds good, Jim. Now, who's got that next suck up piece on the president?"


• I find all this Higgs boson talk pretty fascinating. How they can "see" something that tiny is way beyond me.


• I'd love a more energy-efficient light bulb, but CFLs contain mercury, making a broken bulb pretty major, and LEDs are too expensive to install in large numbers. So until they make one that's both affordable and non-deadly, incandescents win the day in my house.


• The time perception of children is pretty funny. I got to see Noah's "15 hour" Christmas program at school this morning.


• Nothing else comes to mind, and it's time to eat lunch. And get back to work. :)

Probably everyone who follows Oklahoma collegiate sports has probably heard that former Voice of the Sooners Bob Barry, Sr. passed away today. I really don't have anything to add to the memories and thoughts of Bob. I will say I always enjoyed listening to him call the games. His enthusiasm and love for the game came through clearly over the radio. I would, though, like to highlight my favorite memory-of-Bob quote that the national press seems to be skipping over. Current OU Announcer Toby Rowland had this to say (emphasis added):

"I never saw Bob have a bad day. He loved life. And he loved his job. Even after 50 years of broadcasting he would show up at the stadium like a kid in a candy store. His play by play style was unmistakable, but it is his gentle, kind and fun-loving spirit that I will always remember. His advice and words of wisdom will forever be cherished in my heart. This is a tremendously sad day, but I rejoice that Heaven just got a Legend."

Nicely put. :)

A little over a month ago or so (I'm not curious enough to check), I mused about the possibility of complete abandoning Twitter, or, at the very least, making write-only, meaning I might post to it, but not read it. After posting that, I went at least a month without ever looking at my twitter stream. Literally. It was nice. Now, though, like an addict that is "over" it, I'm trying to decide if I should return.( Read more... )

The new TV season is upon us, so, while I watch source compile, I thought I'd put some thoughts "to paper."( Read more... )

Survivor

I'll admit it: I like Survivor. The beautiful setting. The crazy challenges. THE DRAMA! Anyhoo... imagine my surprise that Russel's nephew is on the show, then imagine my double surprise that he seems to be a Christian, and one serious about his faith. How awesome is that? Of course, there was...that one guy last season who spent almost his entire time on Redemption Island, so it's not new, but cool nonetheless. Other guy represented his faith well, I think. I hope... new guy does too.

The Office

"I'm just so glad it's back!" I think. I was happy to see Jo (Joe?) go, but I'm not sure I'm happy about Robert California. He's kind of annoying. I'm also not sure about Andy as the new manager. The season opener wasn't too bad, so we'll see how this thing does without Michael Scott.

Whitney

I only caught a part of Whitney, and that's only because my DVR caught that little bit after The Office. From what I've seen in that bit and the commercials, it looks like total trash. Perhaps funny at times, but mostly trash. Pass.

Person of Interest

I'm mildly optimistic about this one. I like the premise, though when I see Michael Emerson, I still see Ben Linus. It doesn't help that he keeps talking about lists. Jim Caviezel did a decent job, I think. We'll probably keep this one on the schedule, but likely won't kill ourselves to catch every episode.

Dancing With the Stars

When I first heard the...cast for this season, my first thought was, "There's NO WAY I'm watching THAT." I mean, any show that would have Ron Artest on it as a contestant is obviously not worth watching. Yes, I know they booted him the first night, but I'm still not going to watch because we never do. :P

Falling Skies

I know this isn't a fall show, but I watched it this summer and LOVED it. I loved the scenario, the father/son dynamic, the action, THE ALIENS! Great show. Can't believe I have to wait until next summer to see more.

Suits

Another non-summer show, but a really good lawyer show. My lawyer brother-in-law turned me on to this one. I was going to skip it, but I'm glad I didn't. Interesting story, clever writing. It's a bit vulgar from time to time, but, sadly, that's par for the course. :| That aside, a great show.

There might be a couple of others, but my code's ready. :)

I've been rewatching Lost on Netflix. The first time around, I loved the show. Yes, at times it was frustrating, with the seemingly meandering story and the THOUSANDS of unanswered questions, but I like sci-fi/fantasty/out-there shows, so I enjoyed it nonetheless. As much as I loved it the first time through, it has been SO much better this time around.

The first time through, I was so caught up in the story, trying to make sense of it, that I missed a lot of the production details. Replaying it, though, I can look at not only what is told, but how it was told. I didn't realize how well done it is. Sure, some film/theater student can probably nitpick it to death, but I was really struck at how well the main characters were developed and portrayed: the depth of emotion, the growth of the characters, etc. I also missed how well the producers handled the emotional scenes, such as the many reunion scenes. One of the most touching was the scene on the sub where Jin and Sun die. After all they'd gone through, the devotion Jin shows in sacrificing himself so he won't leave was truly touching.

It's a pretty big investment of time to rewatch all of the episodes, but I'm so glad I did, as it's almost like watching a completely different show.

I haven't touched Twitter in over three weeks, and it's been awesome. I was going to post a long discussion of my recent Twitter decision, but I just can't get myself motivated enough to discuss the reasons behind it, so I'm just going to state it and move on. I mostly hate Twitter and it sucks far too much of my time from real work. Or real goofing off. My Twitter use then, will probably be throttled back to (mostly?) write only. It'll be mainly for me to post stuff to and forget about. Sort of a fancy RSS feed.

If you want to contact me, sending me a message on Twitter's probably not going to work. I don't even have a client on my phone or laptop. If you want me to see something, you're going to have to email or IM me. Or let me go without. Your call. :)

There's a really good chance I'm going to miss out on some piece of news or another. Avoiding that is the reason I started using Twitter in the first place. I'm OK, though, not knowing everything. The cost of trying, insofar as Twitter is involved, is just not worth it.

I like Jim Geraghty's take on the current no-tax-hike impasse in Congress:

I suspect the default of a lot of conservatives is that they might, someday, be willing to entertain the notion of tax increases if they genuinely believed that lawmakers had made a sustained effort to trim the fat from the federal budget. When Citizens Against Government Waste changes their "Pig Book" to a "Pig Notecard," they'll be willing to talk tax hikes.

• When Planned Parenthood is entirely privately funded.


• When any president stops getting the taxpayers to pay for half of his Air Force One travel costs because he throws a "town-hall meeting" stop onto his fundraising tour of another state.


• When Congress accepts a pay cut.


• When former members like Anthony Weiner lose access to the Congressional gym and pay for their own d*mn gym memberships.


• When we tell foreign governments that future deliveries of U.S. aid will be conditional upon their efforts to refute -- not shut down or ban, but refute -- anti-American propaganda in their country.


• When you cannot find a single bike path in America that is being built with the assistance of the U.S. taxpayer.


• When we stop paying farmers to not farm their land.


• When NPR and PBS are entirely funded by donors, merchandising, and their already-considerable corporate sponsors.


• When federal employees with significant unpaid tax bills have their continued employment contingent upon paying those tax bills.

I'm sure you can come up with many, many more. Also, I think we on the right would want some sort of ironclad, if-we-break-this-pledge-hunt-us-down-with-hounds guarantee in writing that all additional tax revenues would be used to pay down the debt. Over the years, we've enacted plenty of tax hikes. We've never made a serious effort to control or reduce spending.

While we're on the subject, specifically NPR and PBS, I just can't understand why some, mostly libs, refuse even to consider defunding these two. If you suggest that we do so, you're asked why you hate Elmo? Personally, I don't hate Elmo (my kids LOVE him), but when you're faced with such a HUGE deficit, you have to start cutting the fat somewhere. Sure, these two expenditures are a small part of the federal budget, but if I faced a similar deficit (adjusted for scale, of course) in my family budget, you can bet your bottom dollar (har har : ) that Netflix and U-verse TV would be some of the first things to go.

I wouldn't stop there, of course, but I'd certainly start there. It should be the same with PBS and NPR. Identify what's non-essential and cut it. For what is essential, see if there's any fat there and cut it (even if it's military spending ; ). You can't just look at some small amount and shrug. A few pennies here and a few pennies there add up to dollars eventually. When there's no money, there's no money and tough choices have to be made.

My mom sent me this story. You may have already seen it -- it may not even be true -- but I hadn't seen it, and it makes me laugh every. single. time. So, here you go:

A week or two ago, a professional colleague (for lack of a better word :) asked me what I think is a pretty good question, "I can't tell if it's professionally wise or socially irresponsible to stay silent about my political views. @jasondlee thoughts?" It's a tough question, I think, so here's my rambling answer. :)

Twitter is, for me, a mostly personal outlet. Yes, I follow several peers, etc from around the industry, but I also follow friends from church, politicians, journalists, commentators, comedians, musicians, etc. For the most, I try to segregate my blogging into "personal" (here and here) and professional (here). Twitter, though, I tend to treat as more of a middle of the road outlet, more like the hallway conversations I'd be having if I worked in an office. Since I don't, I tend to ramble more on Twitter. People that don't like that know where the "unfollow" button is (and, believe me, from what little I've paid attention to follower counts, it gets used :).

Having said that, whether it seems like it or not, I try to be sensitive to the interests of my followers. I try not to spend too much time on political or religious matters, and, to a lesser extent (for the benefit of my Facebook Friends who see all my tweets via the Twitter app), I try not to tweet every geeky idea that comes to mind. I am, though, admittedly, MUCH less concerned with the latter. They can (and do, I hear :) hide me from their stream on Facebook if they want to.

Some topics, though, I feel are either too important to filter out of my Twitter stream, so they get some attention. I also know that I follow a lot of people who don't hold my positions, be they political or theological (and some even technical). Despite how incredibly awful Twitter is for real discussions ("Twitter is where conversations begin, then move somewhere more appropriate", I've heard, kind of like this one), I do enjoy hearing the opposing viewpoint to the topic du jour. If I only ranted about this politician or that dangerous theological idea to the Duke stress relief squeezy, I wouldn't get the sharpening and education that comes from active, public discussion (such as it is on Twitter).

So, in a nutshell, I treat Twitter as a *mostly* unfiltered venue for discussion/venting. That may irritate some and may cost me professionally (tough to say on that front), but I'm OK with that. I say nothing on Twitter that I wouldn't say in a hallway conversation or a coffee shop. If someone doesn't like that, well, there's the unfollow button. :P