More thoughts on hiking Sep 5, 2006
I went hiking again this past weekend.  It was a disaster.  Here are some things I learned: 

1.  Distance:  I did 26 miles in one day.  It was definitely overkill.  I would say that a maximum comfortable distance to do in one day is 15-18 miles. 

2.  Weather:  It rained for 18 of those 26 miles.  The rain itself wasn't too bad because I was carrying 40 lbs on my back and walking up and down mountains.  I couldn't tell the difference between my sweat and the rain.  But I got really cold as soon as I stopped for a break.  Solution:  Keep going.  But when I finally did stop for the night, rain got in my tent and got my sleeping bag and clothes soaking wet.  There's no way I could've slept another night in a cold, wet sleeping bag.  In the future, I'd be happy to call off the trip in the event of inclement weather.  It's just not worth it. 

3.  Time:  Even though the sun doesn't officially set until around 7:30pm, it starts getting dark in the middle of the woods about an hour before that.  And a headlamp and an air horn in the middle of the dark wilderness is hardly any consolation.  For future reference, stopping at around 6 or 6:30pm is probably a good idea. 

4.  Starting the trip off with a few miles at night wasn't as good of an idea as it sounded.  After walking 5 miles to my campsite on Friday night, I was tired, but nowhere near tired enough to get a good night's sleep on the hard ground. 

5.  Waterproof everything.  The next pair of shoes I buy will be waterproof.  I'll keep my eyes peeled for a waterproof sleeping bag.  A waterproof backpack cover might be a good idea.  And I'm not talking water resistant.  I'm talking waterproof.  [Update (2006-09-15 1:43pm):  They don't make waterproof sleeping bags, but they do make waterproof stuff sacks which come in a variety of sizes, able to fit a sleeping bag, clothes, etc.] 

6.  Quick-drying clothes are good, but they won't dry off if it's cold and/or wet outside.  However, if you have to put on wet clothes, it's better to put on some lightweight, quick-drying clothes as opposed to some sponge-like cotton monstrosities.  Plus, body heat quickly warms up the moisture in quick-drying clothes. #sports
Goals Sep 1, 2006
I'm not a fan of the question, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"  It's hard to predict things like that when you're young.  Old people have no problem.  They make definitive statements about the near future like, "I plan to be retired and living in California."  And that's a realistic and obtainable goal.  Young people say stupid things like, "I hope to be married, driving a Lamborghini, and living in a big house in the center of Manhattan."  There are a billion things that would need to happen before any of that happens.  First, you need to find a girlfriend.  Then you have to convince her to marry you.  Then you have to get a job.  A good job.  A really good job.  Actually, you should try to win the lottery or rob a bank because no normal people make enough money to buy a house in the center of Manhattan.  A Lamborghini, maybe (though I would no longer consider a person who buys a Lamborghini "normal").  But a place in Manhattan?  We're talking orders of magnitude in price difference.  Orders of magnitude. 

And things change.  If I answered that question 5 years ago, I might've included marriage (or at least a hope), but I definitely wouldn't have mentioned a house.  I wouldn't have said anything about planning for a family or doing yard work on weekends.  And cats?  Who knew I would own 2 cats?  That's just unfathomable. 

I think it's funny to listen to the difference between the answers that come from guys and those that come from girls.  Girls answer, "I plan to be married, have a kid or two, and be blah blah blah."  Guys say, "I guess I'll probably end up married, maybe have a kid, and be making millions of dollars."  No normal guys plan on getting married.  And it's even funnier when dating couples hear what each other thinks.  The girl says, "I plan to be married..." and the guy has a mini heart attack.  It's quite funny to watch. 

I think it's inevitable that there's always that one person in a group who doesn't really have goals.  They answer, "In 5 years, I plan to be doing pretty much the same thing I'm doing right now."  Everybody else kind of looks down on that person because they're a loser with no goals.  I don't look down on that person.  I think it's cool.  I don't think everybody needs to experience different cultures.  I don't think everybody needs to get married and start a family.  I don't think everybody needs to move out of their hometown and get a big-time job.  I think it's ok for people to do relatively little with their lives.  Who cares?  Does anybody really leave any kind of lasting legacy by doing anything?  Do people leave their permanent mark on society by traveling to Honduras?  Do people's lives really change after they skydive onto the top of Mount Everest and snowboard down it while playing a ukulele and smoking a pipe?  Maybe.  But they just become "that girl who went to South America" and "that guy who did the Mount Everest thing".  If those people didn't do those things, the world would be the same place and those people would be the same people.  Maybe the goal of "goal-less losers" is to stay in their hometown and work at the same job for their whole life.  Who are we to say that's anything less worthy than what we do?  Why do people need to complete a certain number of outrageous tasks and travel to a certain number of faraway destinations to be considered acceptable?  I say do whatever you want. #psychology
Lighthouse Aug 31, 2006
I'm not usually a lighthouse kind of guy, but this is a cool picture.  It was taken in Cape Cod, MA. 

#travel
Working conditions Aug 30, 2006
I've mentioned my working conditions a few times in the past.  There are constant problems with the temperature and my office area is painfully quiet.  I've complained to a few people at work about the temperature before ("Why do we need air conditioning in the winter?"), but I've consistently gotten the same roundabout excuses:  "You'll need to talk to this person to get something done.  But I wouldn't do that if I were you because that person is notorious for doing blah blah blah, blah blah, yadda, verklempt." 

So I've developed a theory:  Companies intentionally make their working conditions unsatisfactory, uncomfortable, and/or incomplete for the sake of "productivity".  The last thing a company needs is a bunch of satisfied workers, falling asleep in their comfortable chairs in their perfectly temperate offices while they listen to free streaming audio and video on their state-of-the-art computers hooked up to super-high-speed, reliable internet connections.  "Good workers" don't need reasonably-priced, good-tasting food in the cafeteria, sanitary bathrooms, adequate parking, or "human resources".  They also shouldn't mind that the construction workers and landscapers don't do their work on the weekends when the normal office stiffs aren't there to hear the incessant tapping of hammers and the humming of 2-stroke engines, all the while spreading harmful chemical dust and allergens into the air. 

So my advice to myself is this:  Get used to it, loser.  It's never gonna change.  Work will never be comfortable.  And to have a little fun, do your part to make it more uncomfortable for others.  Listen to music in your cubicle.  If you use headphones, turn the volume up really loud and leave them on your desk while you're at lunch.  Turn the lights off when you leave for the day and announce, "Elvis has left the building."  Eat things at your desk and make sure you make loud slurping noises and crinkle the wrapper.  Make obscene phone calls to "ya boy". #business
Blogging the Bible (2) Aug 30, 2006
A few months ago, a guy from Slate started blogging the Bible.  He asks, "What happens when an ignoramus reads the Good Book? ... My goal is pretty simple.  I want to find out what happens when an ignorant person actually reads the book on which his religion is based."  He's basically doing a chapter by chapter (or in some cases a section by section) analysis, starting (and probably ending) with the Old Testament (because he's Jewish).  Some of his thoughts are pretty interesting.  (via Cynical-C) #religion
Sports stores Aug 30, 2006
I think it's funny when people go to sporting goods stores and park in the closest spot they can find.  It's just sort of ironic.  Who goes to sports stores?  Usually, it's the people who are relatively young and/or relatively in-shape.  There are the kinds of people who can afford to walk a few extra feet.  It's also funny that these kinds of stores have escalators and elevators.  And if there were stairs, people would go out of their way to use the escalators and elevators.  Once again, the young athletic types should be in good enough shape to climb a few stairs. #sports
Mobile internet usability (1) Aug 29, 2006
Mobile internet is virtually unusable.  That's really all I need to say, but I'll go on. 

The internet is my best friend, so I'm a huge fan of things like free PC access while traveling and publicly available wifi.  But I can't bring my laptop everywhere I go because it's not that small and I sometimes like to travel light.  Plus, free WiFi isn't available everywhere.  Even though it often costs more to hire some technical people and set up a pay-for-use system than it does to offer it for free, many places charge money for it.  This brings up the option of mobile broadband (with some sort of service through Verizon Wireless, Sprint, etc.).  I haven't had much experience with it, but from what I've seen, it's kind of slow and unreliable.  Hmm, sounds a lot like cell phone service. 

The only other alternative I know of is Blackberry-like internet access.  I used it this past Saturday to look up a few things while walking around NYC.  My opinion is that it stinks. 
1.  It's not very fast, though it claims to operate on some sort of "high-speed network". 
2.  Tons of websites are completely unusable because they use stupid things like Flash. 
3.  Most websites aren't designed for mobile use, so it's difficult and annoying to navigate through them. 
4.  Devices that access mobile internet have tiny, almost unreadable screens and terrible methods of navigating through information (that stupid Blackberry click wheel took about 20 minutes to scroll through all the links at the top of imdb.com -- and then I realized I could scroll faster with ALT+scroll). 
So in the end, I'm not impressed with mobile internet.  Until they come out with an actual high-speed network that's available everywhere and/or a device that's lightweight yet powerful and easy to use (I'm thinking maybe some sort of folding screen), I won't be happy with mobile internet. #technology
Coke (7) Aug 29, 2006
I'm a Coke addict (Coca-Cola, that is).  Sometimes I crave it like a drug and can't wait to feel it rushing down my throat.  I'm not sure, but it might be a summertime thing.  There's just nothing quite like an ice-cold Coke on a hot day when you're feeling thirsty.  Pepsi isn't the same.  And Sprite is out of the question.  And of course, Coke in a can is infinitely better than Coke in a bottle (this is true for any soda).  By the time you're near the bottom of a 20-oz bottle of soda, it's all warm and flat.  Coke in restaurants is pretty good.  They keep it nice and cold, and the fact that it costs astronomically more than it should means you need to enjoy it all the more.  My Coke problem was nonexistent a few years ago.  Up until recently, I chose Pepsi over Coke because it tasted better.  Pepsi is a difficult drink to love because it's so hard to find.  Coke has such a huge monopoly in the restaurant business, it's almost impossible to get anything other than Coke.  Many years before that, I was big on Sprite.  I would order it at every restaurant and buy it at every store.  Now I can't touch the stuff.  I don't know what changed.  But now Coke is my thing.  I'm sure it's doing irreparable harm to my vital organs, but at least I'm not thirsty. #food
Permalinks Aug 28, 2006
Permalinks are very simply the URLs that point to specific blog entries on a website.  Usually, when you click on a permalink, you can access other functions and information such as commenting and "intrasite links" (my invention).  Most permalinks have some sort of date structure like "/2006/08/28/nice-wordpress-title/" or "/2006/08/28/ugly_movabletype_title_.html" (mentioned here).  Other permalinks just have a sequential numbering system like "?p=1233" or "/archives/005694.html". 

I'm really not a fan of numbered permalinks because they don't say anything about what they're linking to.  Mental Floss links to other articles on its site quite a bit.  But if you mouse-over the link, you don't learn anything new about where the link will send you.  Boing Boing, on the other hand, uses date-based permalinks.  You can usually get a pretty good idea of where each link will send you, and you also know when the respective articles/posts were written. 

However, I can also see the benefit of having sequential permalinks.  I can even see the benefit of having title-less posts.  Instead of writing concise, organized posts about fairly specific topics (I've pretty much mastered the art of describing a post in 2 words or less), you can write about anything you want with no boundaries or restrictions.  There's no such thing as a side note or an unrelated thought.  It's all freeform and stream of consciousness (sorta).  Personally, I think it's a good idea to have organized thoughts in one location and unorganized thoughts in another.  At times, it's nice to have a structured archive of previous thoughts and opinions.  Other times, it's good to just vent. #technology
Ordering at Subway Aug 28, 2006
I've mentioned that I like Subway, and I've mentioned that I often have problems when ordering food.  But to be more specific, here's what happens every time I order food at Subway. 
I walk in the door and up to the counter. 
I say, "Can I have ham and turkey on a 6-inch wheat?" 
The person turns around, walks to the bread thing and asks, "What kind of bread?" 
I say, "Wheat.  Six inch." 
The person cuts the bread open and says, "What kind of cheese?" 
I say, "No cheese." 
The person piles some ham on the open roll and says, "Anything else?" 
I say, "Ham and turkey please." 
The person takes some ham off and replaces it with turkey.  The person asks, "Anything else?" 
I say, "Lettuce, tomato, oil, and vinegar please." 
The person puts some lettuce on the sandwich and says, "Onions?" 
I say, "Just lettuce, tomato, oil, and vinegar." 
The person asks, "Mayo?  Salt and pepper?" 
I say, "No thanks." 
The person finishes making my sandwich and asks, "Would you like the drink and the chips?" 
I say, "No thanks.  Just the sandwich." 
Subway could easily save itself some money by replacing the people with machines like the ones at Wawas.  There's no reason for me to repeatedly clarify myself.  That is, unless I'm going about it entirely wrong.  Maybe I should go into Subway and order piecemeal:  Ask for the size and type of bread first; after that's done, ask for the meat and/or cheese; after that's done, ask for the vegetables and other toppings.  Or maybe I'm just not a typical Subway customer.  From the moment I walk into a Subway, I know exactly what I want.  Nothing will change my mind.  They can ask me a thousand times and offer it to me for free.  I won't succumb to their evil schemes. 

On a side note, Subway is horribly unreliable from store to store.  I went to 4 different Subways one weekend and received completely different sandwiches in terms of quality and freshness.  This is completely unlike places like Quizno's, where a sandwich in California is exactly the same as a sandwich in NJ.  The Subway in Wharton, NJ is reliable because they always make my sandwiches great.  Thank you scary guy, quiet lady, and Indian guy. #food