Can’t get your cutters open? Buy these cutters, advertised here as being able to cut open cutters.
Now, if I only had a camera to take pictures of my camera.
Posted from my BlackBerry.
Archive for the ‘personal’ Category
Monopoly Morality
30
Jul
Is it ethical to pocket money from a bank error in your favor?
Is it ethical to take advantage of affirmative action if you are opposed to it?
Is it ethical to file for tax credit incentives for home improvement projects when you don’t think the government should be raising taxes on everyone to give the money to those who can afford solar panels?
Is it ethical to win money from recreational gambling when that money comes from those addicted to gambling?
While it was always fun to get this card from Community Chest, the ethical questions are real.
Or do I just have an overactive conscience?
“Keep Changing The World” by Mikeschair
27
Jul
When I heard this song on Way-FM Denver, my ears perked up. I think this song bothers me because it’s both so vague to not be about anything “something here is wrong,” and self-condemning “But we just move along to take care of our own.”
It actually reminds me of a song by Flight of the Conchords: Think about it. Both videos with lyrics are below:
Keep Changing The World by MIKESCHAIR lyrics:
Something here is wrong
There are children without homes
But we just move along to take care of our own
There’s so much suffering just outside our door
A cry so deafening
We just can’t ignore
There are children without homes
But we just move along to take care of our own
There’s so much suffering just outside our door
A cry so deafening
We just can’t ignore
To all the people who are fighting for the broken
All the people who keep holding on to love
All the people who are reaching for the lonely
Keep changing the world
Take a look around
Before the sun goes out
What’s lost can still be found
It’s not too late now
It only takes one spark to make the fire burn
So reach inside your heart and let this be the start
Chorus
I know you see the suffering
How they gone recover when people just look over like they don’t even notice them
Everyone whose focusing on ending all this hopelessness
You can change the world by changing who the world is hoping in
I see the sun coming up
It’s a brighter day
Let’s show the world that love is a better way
So lend a hand join the fight
‘Cause time is ticking away
Keep changing the world
I see you changing the world
Step up!
Think About It by Flight of the Conchords lyrics:
There’s children on the street using guns and knives
Taking drugs and each other’s lives
Killing each other with knives and forks
Calling each other names like ‘dork’
Taking drugs and each other’s lives
Killing each other with knives and forks
Calling each other names like ‘dork’
There’s people on the street getting diseases from monkeys
Yeah, that’s what I said – they’re getting diseases from monkeys
Now there’s junkies with monkey disease
Who’s touching these monkeys, please
Leave these poor sick monkeys alone
They’ve got problems enough as it is.
Man’s lying on the street
Some punk’s chopped off his head
I’m the only one who stops
To see if he’s dead
Mmm…
Turns out he’s dead.
And that’s why I’m singing
What…what is wrong with the world today?
What is wrong with the world today?
(Jemaine mumbles)
What…what is wrong with the world today?
You gotta think about it
Think think about it.
Good cops been framed and put into a can.
All the money that we’re making is going to the man.
What man?
Which man?
Who’s the man?
When’s a man a man?
What makes a man a man?
Am I a man?
Yes. Technically I am.
They’re turning kids into slaves just to make cheaper sneakers.
But hat’s the real cost?
‘Cause the sneakers don’t seem that much cheaper.
Why are we still paying so much for sneakers
When you got them made by little slave kids
What are your overheads?
Well, at the end of your life, you’re lucky if die,
Sometimes I wonder why we even try.
I saw a man lying on the street half dead
With knives and forks sticking out of his leg.
And he said,
“Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow
Can somebody get that knife and fork out of my leg, please?
Can somebody please remove these cutleries from my knees?”
And then we break it down.
This is where we break it down
Ooh
This is where we break it down
Aah
This is where we do the whoa-o-o-o
Break it down
This is where we build it up now
We build it up now
We build it up now
We build it up now
We build it up now
Build it up
And then we stop
American Moments
17
Jul
Sometimes walking by this part of the Platt River in Denver, Colorado, I feel like I’ve slipped into a Norman Rockwell painting, or some beautiful sidewalk chalk art (thinking of Mary Poppins here) of what America can be.
From the news, I’d never think this scene possible. Families and dogs hanging out together, umbrellas on the beach, the hot dog stand on the right. People of clearly diffent backgrounds hang out together on a lazy Friday afternoon, safely playing in the city.
America is great. Denver is great.
Posted from my BlackBerry.
Goal 4: Handwritten Letters
11
Jul
I love racing to the mailbox every day. Like the cheesy host of Blues Clues, I want to shout “Mail Time!” I love the idea of getting something in the mail. Unexpected, handwritten content from a friend.
But it’s been years.
We all gave up on handwritten letters and turned to less-personal email. Now I eagerly await email but am met with impersonal newsletters and advertisements just like my physical mailbox. Then we gave up on email and switched to depend on 140 characters of SMS text messages, twitter, and the slighly-longer Facebook status updates.
Do I know more of you now with status updates than I would have through written correspondence? Doubtful. Now I may know more about where you are and what you ate for dinner – but that’s not who you are.
In some respects, I’m among the most tech-savvy of my friends. I’m a software engineer. We own a robot vacuum (or two). We have more computers than people in our house. In other ways I’m a luddite. I’ve got a reel lawn-mower with rotating blades and no motor. A rotary phone that I’ve re-wired is our main house phone. We have no microwave.
Technology has transformed the world, saved lives, enhanced business, and extended relationships. Damage in all of these areas has been done as well. Lives have been ended, businesses have been shut down, and relationships shallowed.
Technology is best viewed with a healthy skepticism.
And that’s the reason behind my 4th goal for this year. I am going to write handwritten letters to friends and family – specifically those I’ve lost touch with.
Current Progress: 0%
- Attainable: This is 2 or 3 letters each month. That should be attainable.
- Meaningful: Improves writing skills and relationships.
- Difficult: The time commitment, writing skills, and learning this ancient art of letter-writing will all add difficulty.
- Quantifiable: I’m shooting for 30, but it depends on how many names and addresses I can come up with.
New Blog: Goodbye Blogger
30
Jun
Goodbye Google.
Now I’ll only be using you for an email account.
And contacts.
And calendar.
And chat, maps, YouTube, and searching the web.
Due to the limitations of blogger and some problems with lurkers and commenters, I’ve left my old blog behind (at least for most things), and there will be no linking between the two. I will likely bring over some of my better posts for preservation and discussion.
I’ve chosen this layout because it’s different and I like the look of a journal.
I’ve chosen the name “Second Jon,” at least temporarily but I’m open to other name suggestions.
