Monday, July 19, 2010

Want!

Let's face it many things these days tell time. In addition to my alarm clock, I have my computer, ipod, phone, TV and my camera. So, a wall clock seems superfluous unless it does something different. (Something other than ticking or chiming.) So, what if my clock could knit? Oh, you think I'm being silly. No, no, this clock knits a tubular scarf. About one per year, one round a day.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Dear Folks - More Fictional People Talk

Dear Fictional Characters,
If you come into possession of a box, and a voice appears in your head telling you to open it - don't listen! I don't care how sexy or whatever it sounds, do not trust strange voices in your head. (The exception being _Touch Not the Cat_, but I think we can argue that was a familiar, if unidentified voice. It also never told her to open strange boxes.)
Sincerely,
Avid Reader

P.S. This goes double if the box is marked Pandora's box.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Just Move

Look, I think it's fair that if you're running for office in Virginia that DC is not your primary focus. But to say, yeah, intellectually I think that it seems wrong that people in DC don't have the same rights as other people but really, they knew what they were getting into so if it bugs them they should move is, well, not the best answer.
I had a chat with a kid in youth group after a service where one couple spoke of their decision to move from Virginia after Virginia passed legislation removing many legal rights if couple were attempting to provide them to gay partners. The kid asked me why anyone gay remained in Virginia and I answered that there are two approaches - either you vote with your feet or you attempt to work change from within. So, I guess Mr. Fimian is hoping that the eleventh district isn't full of folks who moved to Virgina due to their lack of voting rights.

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Hello?

I confess when planning to take metro late at night I have often worried that I would miss the last train. I have learned the hard way to build extra time if you have to switch lines (and therefore take two last trains). And in one memorable evening, a friend and I ended up getting a cab from Crystal City to Greenbelt. It had not occurred to me to worry that the station would not be open when I got there. But now I can add that to the list after two folks were stranded at the Cheverly station when they arrived on the last train and found it locked up.
In the wake of recent stories about gadget over-use and the internet possibly re-wiring our brains, it was nice to read a story where technology helped. The metro number (which they called using their phone since there were no pay phones they could see) suggesting calling back during normal business hours. So they contacted police and also posted it on Facebook. While details seem to be fuzzy as to which method got the Metro employee down to let the riders out of the station, nonetheless, had the riders not had their cells, someone might have found some hot and really tired folks when they unlocked the station this morning.

(I will note, that most stations I have been in do have pay phones, although I haven’t tried using one in this millenia.)

ETA: Link. Sorry, not sure why my links keep disappearing.