Messages

31

Off-Topic / Re: Santa Claus

« on: December 01, 2014, 05:57:08 pm »Message ID: 939766

Don't have kids but I would would probably go along with the Santa thing except the whole "you gotta be good if Santa is going to bring you anything".  That to me is the lie.  The whole idea of Santa being kind of omnipotent is kind of creepy to me but the idea of a jolly old elf who brings gifts on Christmas is okay with me. 

32

Off-Topic / Re: Bill Cosby

« on: November 23, 2014, 09:01:52 am »Message ID: 937337

This is a really tough one.  Because of his image I think a lot of people, including me, would like to think that his public persona was in line with his private one.  Unfortunately that is not always the case.  It is also tough because the whole "wow...why could those women wait 30 years?" doesn't make the allegations false either.  Even today, when we openly discuss rape on a site like this the number of reported rape cases is likely much, much less than 50% of the actual rapes that occur.  Imagine thirty years ago the stigma attached to reporting rape and the whole thing becomes very hard to deal with.  Maybe the women are just looking for money...I'm sure Cosby has enough to settle all these cases if he chose to...maybe they are just looking for their 15 minutes of fame, of maybe they really were raped.  Really unfortunate part is, unless Cosby did rape them and admits it, we will likely never know.

33

Off-Topic / Re: Seatbelts

« on: November 23, 2014, 08:45:29 am »Message ID: 937329

I was very lucky to grow up with safety minded parents.  Long before wearing seat belts became mandatory and/or the obvious thing to do, my parents *always* wore theirs and *always* made sure we wore them as well.  It just became a habit and I've never even had to think about it.  Soon as I get in it goes on. 

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Off-Topic / Re: Classic toys

« on: November 23, 2014, 08:42:39 am »Message ID: 937325

Reading through the comments and seeing people mention Lego reminded me of another of my favourites.  I think it was a favourite because they were at my grandmother's house (don't know why my parents never bought it for me...maybe they figured it was good to have something interesting for me at grandma's).  I think it was called "Mini Bricks" and was kind of a poor man's version of Lego.  All I know is I had hours and hours of fun playing with them.

35

Off-Topic / Re: Stop Signs and Stop Lights

« on: November 23, 2014, 08:36:40 am »Message ID: 937321

I think our minds sometimes "wander" when we drive because a lot of the driving process becomes "automatic" after you have been driving for a few years.  I really don't think that most people that go through a red light or a stop sign are intentionally "running" them.  I think they just miss them.  It doesn't excuse people from doing it, it is a reminder to the rest of us (assuming we haven't missed one and don't remember!) to keep our mind focused on the task of driving.

36

Off-Topic / Re: Straight No Chaser

« on: November 22, 2014, 09:04:39 am »Message ID: 937156

Straight No Chaser is fun to listen to.  They put some different twists on songs (like the Twelve Days of Christmas) which I like.  I'm not a music critic so I can't judge how good they are compared to other groups but I think they are worth a listen and looking up some of their videos on Youtube.

37

Off-Topic / Re: Why do people celebrate Christmas?

« on: November 22, 2014, 08:57:58 am »Message ID: 937154

Some of my atheist/agnostic friends do not celebrate Christmas because they think it is a made up pagan holiday.  Some of my fundamentalist Christian friends do not celebrate Christmas because they think ii is a made up holiday appropriated from pagans.  Go figure! 

If you have already made up your mind about "the reason for the season" then you will already disagree with what I am about to write.  The reason for the season is celestial mechanics.  People have likely been celebrating around the winter solstice long before recorded history.   Most researchers now believe that Stonehenge is a giant celestial calendar which produces a "ho hum" from most of us who are used to calendars and clocks.  But, imagine this, there are no clocks or calendars.  Every year you notice that at certain times of the year the days start getting shorter.  At some point you notice the days start to get longer.  Now imagine the power you would seem to have if you could *predict" when that change would happen.  Enter Stonehenge (and I believe a number of other prehistoric sites that now seem to have been aimed at predicting the start of seasons).  You can now predict when the days will get longer and celebrate the end of the darkest nights. 

So...I think anyone who wants to should celebrate "Christmas" in any fashion that they believe is culturally appropriate (no human sacrifices, please ;-)) like hanging out lights, or putting up trees and decorating them, or singing Christmas carols (hmmm...even some carols, like "Deck the Halls" seem to have been appropriated from other reasons to celebrate), or sitting on Santa's lap, or watching "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", or buying gifts for their family and friends...or...

38

Off-Topic / Re: Would it be cool to go back in time?

« on: November 22, 2014, 08:01:54 am »Message ID: 937130

No, as much as I might want to correct the "mistakes" there is no way of knowing how those "corrections" would affect the future.  Maybe I learned something from those mistakes that cause a disaster of a "new" future for me. 

I would like to go back in time as an observer to see different historical events (I loved the old "Time Tunnel" series when I was a kid even though it looks really awful now!).

39

Off-Topic / Re: Books!

« on: November 22, 2014, 07:57:47 am »Message ID: 937128

I don't read as much as I like to but enjoy a lot of different kinds of books.  I read a lot of non-fiction but enjoy science fiction as well.  Not all that big on the paranormal/vampire type stuff but I read a lot of James Rollins books and he and Rebecca Catrell have authored a series of books (The Order of the Sanguine series) with a vampire theme which I really like.

40

Off-Topic / Re: Classic toys

« on: November 22, 2014, 07:39:39 am »Message ID: 937125

I had a slinky and silly putty.  The slinky has to be one of the first triumphs of advertising over reality!  The advertising jingle still reverberates in my head when I think of the slinky!

Never had a "super ball" but always wanted one.

Classic games like scrabble and monopoly were also a big part of my childhood.

41

Off-Topic / Re: do you watch the christmas shows

« on: November 22, 2014, 07:34:58 am »Message ID: 937124

Yes, we have several Christmas movies and some specials we watch.  I love "It's a Wonderful Life" but my wife thinks it is way too sappy    We watch "White Christmas" but both of us prefer "Holiday Inn" partly because that's the movie Bing actually sings "White Christmas" in.

42

Off-Topic / Re: fact or Opinion #4

« on: October 28, 2014, 03:09:54 pm »Message ID: 930192

Well, I guess technically it is neither fact nor opinion 

I doubt we will walk on Mars in the next 10 years because only two groups have any plans to do so and not till the mid to late 2020's (SpaceX is aiming for 2026) or 2030's (NASA is aiming for 2035 *if* there is funding).  It's possible someone will try a manned flyby before then but the dangers and technicalities of landing on, living on, and leaving the surface of Mars make a manned landed tricky and risky.  Don't know if this idea is out there (I'm sure it must be) but building or towing a space station to Mars seems to make more sense.  The risks are way lower and you could build a ship in low earth orbit that could be reused to transfer people from Earth to Mars.  Eventually, a smaller, cheaper landing vehicle could be built at the Mars station.

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Off-Topic / Re: Making up with spouse

« on: October 28, 2014, 02:49:12 pm »Message ID: 930189

Maybe 12 hours but that was mainly because we fought before both going off to work and then returning home later in the evening.  Even then, usually on of us will phone the other during the day.  Mostly only and hour or two....both of us usually more upset with ourselves than the other person by then so we can talk more rationally about whatever is upsetting us.

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Off-Topic / Re: Looking for work after age 50

« on: October 27, 2014, 04:10:25 pm »Message ID: 929932

I think it depends a lot on the individual not necessarily how old they are.  There might be some general statements about age groups (i.e. younger people wanting money for partying, etc.) but it really depends a lot on the individual. 
Too often I think we, and employers, tend to group people by age without really looking at the person and their abilities.

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Off-Topic / Re: do you shop at warehouse stores

« on: October 27, 2014, 04:05:57 pm »Message ID: 929931

We shop at Costco and we about break even on our Executive membership.  Prices are usually better but there easy going return policy means that we pick it up at Costco and if we find it cheaper somewhere else we just return the Costco item.