Incident at the Gate

I live in a gated community. That means there's a gate at the only entrance in and out and to obtain access to the community, you have three options (1) present a magentic card that opens the gate, (2) type in a four digit code that opens the gate, or (3) call a resident from the callbox, who can then open the gate for you. There's also a security guard shack right near the gate. So I got home today and there was a line at the gate. There were three cars in front, a P/T Cruiser at the gate and two sedans between me and this car. There was a guy who had gotten out of the P/T Cruiser and was yelling at two women, who had gotten out of the sedans. Apparenly the code that the person he was visiting wasn't working and the security guard was out, making rounds of the community (this usually takes about ten minutes). So he decided that since the women in the cars behind him wouldn't open the gate for him, he would just sit there and yell at them, blocking the gate. He also threatened to back up into the car behind him and he cursed alot. All this while the woman in the second sedan had three kids in the car (who hadn't eaten dinner yet, it seems) Wonderful.

Eventually he backed up. At a good rate of speed. Almost into the car behind him. But he didn't hit it. He then spun around and hit a curb, popped off it, and turned his car around out of the way. Then he proceeded to get out and yell some more. Meanwhile the woman with the kids called the police with the guy's license number and a description of this wonderful behavior. The security guard then made it back (he wasn't done his rounds yet but the growing comotion got his attention). The guy then started to yell at the guard, how this thing happened everytime he came to visit his friend and these folks (not his works for the two ladies and myself) wouldn't let him in. He then explained why he was perfectly justified in blocking everyone else out. Meanwhile the three of us headed in while the guard was explaining to him why he couldn't do this and that he needed to get out of people's way as the most he would be gone should be ten minutes (seems reasonable, eh?).

Ugh. Some people.

The Hardest Logic Puzzle in the World

I found this logic puzzle on the web and fell in love with it. So I copied it here for everyone to see and think about. I have to admit that I didn't figure it all the way out myself. It's really good. I copied this from http://www.xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html, so full credit goes to that guy. Enjoy!

Blue Eyes:
The Hardest Logic Puzzle in the World

A group of people live on an island. They are all perfect logicians -- if a conclusion can be logically deduced, they will do it instantly. No one knows the color of their eyes. Every night at midnight, a ferry stops at the island. If anyone has figured out the color of their own eyes, they [must] leave the island that midnight.

On this island live 100 blue-eyed people, 100 brown-eyed people, and the Guru. The Guru has green eyes, and does not know her own eye color either. Everyone on the island knows the rules (but are not given the total numbers) and is constantly aware of everyone else's eye color. Everyone keeps a constant count of the total number they see of each (excluding themselves). However, they cannot otherwise communicate. So any given blue-eyed person can see 100 people with brown eyes and 99 people with blue eyes, but that does not tell them their own eye color; it could be 101 brown and 99 blue. Or 100 brown, 99 blue, and the one could have red eyes.

The Guru speaks only once (let's say at noon), on one day in all their endless years on the island. Standing before the islanders, she says the following:

"I can see someone with blue eyes."

Who leaves the island, and on what night?

There are no mirrors or reflecting surfaces, nothing dumb, It is not a trick question, and the answer is logical. It doesn't depend on tricky wording, and it doesn't involve people doing something silly like creating a sign language or doing genetics. The Guru is not making eye contact with anyone in particular; she's simply saying "I count at least one blue-eyed person on this island who isn't me."

And lastly, the answer is not "no one leaves."

Seventy Two Hours: Episode I

I remember thinking when I was with Cin on Thursday night that the next 72 hours would be "interesting." I was right - strange times.

I took Friday off. I went to my insurance agent's office, got blood drawn for an upcoming physical, got myself signed up for direct deposit from the one job I have that I still get checks from, finished a book review I had due, and then went to the gym. Normally that would be a relaxing day, but the book review took alot longer than I thought I really wanted to get it done before going out of town this weekend. So I did and I made it to happy hour at a somewhat normal time. Here's where things got crazy.

DrMo, her sister, and our friend Elana (she's one of the two twins that came to my birthday party - see the previous post) were enjoying dinner and drinks when our boss shows up. This is from the part time job that both me, DrMo, and her sister all work at (and Cin, but she wasn't there) and Elana used to work at. He looked like crap. I said hello, got him a stool, and asked him what was wrong. He then stated that sometime in November would be his last day with the company (hereafter called TheCompany). He was "asked to leave" and couldn't discuss the matter any further. Wow - what a shocker. For years, this guy (we'll call him MrSailor, as he liked to sail and was in the Navy for a while), and one of the VPs of TheCompany have never gotten along and butted heads all the time. There were always problems, and one had to wonder who would outlast who. But this? Wow.

To put this in perspective, I started working for TheCompany when I was fifteen years old. It was my first job. MrSailor was my second boss - he was working when I started and moved into the "boss" role about a year or so later. So he's really been my boss for over 12 years. He got me into being a lifeguarding instructor. He taught me almost everything I know about how to save someone's life and how to train people to save lives. He inspired me to be an EMT a number of years ago (which I can no longer do due to time, unfortunately).

What bothers me the most is that this is the absolutely wrong thing to do. I've been in countless situations where two people cannot get along in a professional environment. Every job I've ever had has been like this - some of these have been far worse than the thing between these two folks. The major problem is that there are about a billion things that TheSailor does for TheCompany that no one else can do right now. I'm not just trying to sound dramatic - there are no fulltime people working for TheCompany that know how to do some of the things he's done. Period. And these are important things - like hiring and training (in a customer service organization, don't you think you want to retain the guy who does all your hiring and training?). To get rid of someone because you don't get along with them, not taking into account all the work he does - working well beyond his job position and miles beyond his salary, seems very petty. It's a heck of a way to run a company.

So where do we go from here? I have no idea.

(Episode II of Seventy Two Hours can be found on the travel log - the companion blog to this one).

Happy Birthday to Me

Cin asked me a couple weeks ago what I wanted for my birthday. That one was easy this year - I wanted two things, (1) her to take me to The Melting Pot for dinner, and (2) her to make me a pizza from scratch.

We did the restaurant dinner last week and it was tasty, very tasty. DrMo and her boyfriend and her sister joined us and we had lots of delicious fondue. We also had a new Reisling from somewhere in Australia that had just begun being imported into the States. It was very different than any other Reisling I've ever had - it was less sweet and more dry. It was very delicious. DrMo's boy took the label; hopefully he'll track down where we can buy a couple bottles.

On Saturday, Cin was supposed to make me my birthday pizza. She was going to call me in the afternoon when she was ready for dinner (apparently the dough needed to rise). Around 6.30pm, I got really tired of waiting and when I couldn't get her on the phone or IM, I drove over there.

Big Mistake.

Apparently Cin (along with DrMo and their other roomie, Erin) had planned a suprise party for me. And I walked in right when people just started to get there. The only ones there were DrMo and her boyfriend, Erin, Cin, our friends Mike and Sara, and our friend Stephanie. Whoops. Luckily, things picked up from there. Lots of people showed up and Cin began to forgive me for coming early. The pizzas she made were delicious (she made three - a white cheddar pizza, a Pizza Margharita with sliced tomatoes and fresh moz cheese, and a "normal" pizza) - very delicious. Lots of folks I haven't seen in a while (including Rachel and Elana - they're twins - that I haven't seen in years) showed up. I had a great time and it looked like everyone else did as well. The party also had a pirate theme with decorations and such. I had to wear a bandana with various pirate images on it. Arr!

Thanks to Cin, DrMo, and Erin for planning this (and to MrSideshow for "pumping up that ******* pool in the basement"). What a sweet birthday present.

Carolyn and Modern Romance

My brother sent me a link to a story that I find very amusing. It's sad in a way and just bizarre in another way. Anyway, it's posted in parts within a forum.

The first part of the story is here (page 1 of the thread).

The second part of the story is here (page 3 of the thread; you need to scroll down about 3/4 of the way - look for the UPDATE post from user Secks, the guy who this happened to).

The third part of the story is here (page 11 of the thread; scroll down about 3/4 of the way).

The last part of the story is here (page 15 of the thread; scroll down about 1/3 of the way).

It's a long story but it's quite amusing (wierd amusing, not so much ha-ha amusing). Anyway, enjoy - I know I did. :)

Touched by his Noodly Appendage

In what's probably the best done commentary on the whole "controversy" about intelligent design (ID), here's the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. This all came from an open letter from a guy named Bobby Henderson to the Kansas School Board expressing his view that if they are going to teach ID, they should give just as much time to his belief system, that the world was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Something like this...



There's really a whole belief system here, outlined on the webpage of Mr. Henderson. For example, did you know that global warming is really caused by the declining number of pirates in the world? It's true! There's emperical data proving it on the site. What's also very interesting ... someone has offered a $1,000,000 reward for anyone that can prove there that this theory is incorrect. That's right a million dollars. Noone has collected yet.

I think this puts the entire "controversy" in perspective.

Home of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster: here
Wikipedia article here: here

Renaissance Festival

Today a bunch of us went down to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. This is a yearly event that has all sorts of shows, food, and lots of fun. Cin shot arrows, we sampled lots of good beer and food, we saw Johnny Fox the swordswallower, and we browsed the shops full of knives and swords. Alot of fun.

Damon's Grill

On Thursday, me and Cin went to Damon's Grill for dinner. I had a coupon emailed to me for my upcoming birthday for a free entree. That coupon, and my current love of ribs, motivated the choice. I was a little worried, as the service at this place has been questionable in the past. This time we asked to sit in the clubhouse section, which is the sports bar type section, in comparision with the "normal restaurant" section. As expected, the service was much better. I got ribs and Cin got a half a chicken. Very tasty. I also was able to sub my potato out for tomato slices which were delicious. So, we had a good time. We had a little snafu with the coupon but all was well; they actually ended up taking off the ribs (the more expensive entree). Sweeet. We'll be going back to Damon's.

I really like the beer glasses at Damon's - they are tall and skinny with a handle. Very nice.