Red 40 (7) Dec 11, 2008
I found out over the Thanksgiving weekend that my sister's 4-year-old son has adverse reactions to Red Dye #40.  It makes him crazy.  I'd never heard of that before and was a little skeptical.  But sure enough, one night he was acting crazy, and we determined that he had eaten a good amount of red jello.  Could be a coincidence.  Maybe not. 

Wikipedia's entry on this seemingly harmless dye is probably the scariest thing I've ever read.  Not only is it linked with hyperactive behavior in children, but it's actually banned in several European countries.  The tendency is to think, meh, it's a harmless dye; what could it possibly do to me?  But disodium 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo)-2-naphthalene-sulfonate isn't all that harmless.  I wonder what other strange chemicals are used in the things we eat and drink on a daily basis? #health
Double pack Dec 11, 2008
Retailers are getting away with highway robbery by selling certain individually-packaged items (small batteries, car headlights) for a few cents less than dual-packaged items, essentially convincing people to buy the more expensive but more economical double pack.  For example, the double pack of watch batteries I just bought cost something like $4.50, while the single pack cost $4.  Any idiot can figure out that the double pack is a better deal, but I have a feeling the price of the single pack is artificially inflated in order to force customers into buying more than they need.  And even though the customer is getting a better deal, they're still spending more money than they need to, which of course benefits the retailer. #business
Fixing stuff (2) Dec 11, 2008
I had the pleasure of replacing the battery in Wendy's watch today.  It wasn't hard, but like anything that doesn't seem hard, there were a few bumps along the road.  After I finished removing the four microscopic screws, I promptly dropped one on the carpet under my desk, which couldn't have a busier color pattern.  I looked for a while but decided it would probably still work with only three.  I took the back cover off and figured out that it was nearly impossible to actually get the battery out.  I spent a few minutes trying different things while attempting to keep all the delicate, cheaply-made components intact.  After a few minutes, I gave up and used brute force (which wasn't much because it was a watch), breaking a little plastic piece that holds the battery in place.  I figured, eh, let's see what happens; it'll probably still go back together.  I went to Walmart to find a replacement battery, and there weren't any in the electronics section.  The jewelry department had them though, and $5 and two batteries later (they come in a double pack) I was in business.  I looked under my desk at work a few more times just in case I developed Superman vision, and lo and behold, I found the lost screw.  I put the new battery in the back, forced the cover in place, put all four screws back in, and it worked.  This sums up pretty much every experience I've ever had trying to fix things. #psychology
People looking for me Dec 11, 2008
I have a pretty predictable schedule:  I sit at my desk at work for 9 hours every day except Saturday and Sunday.  I rarely deviate from that schedule, but it seems like whenever I do, that's when somebody is looking for me.  A few weeks ago I was in a different building at work for the week, and lo and behold, my boss urgently needed to see me.  And of course several of my co-workers mentioned this to me when they saw me later in the day.  The same thing happened when I was in training for a week.  Suddenly I was asked to complete work for an important project that urgently needed results immediately.  Of course this couldn't have happened during my normal schedule, which is the same 98% of the time.  And I feel like the same thing is about to happen in the next few days.  I emailed a guy at work to tell him I had some old textbooks and documents that he could pick up or else I was gonna get rid of them.  He emailed me back to say he'd be over sometime in the next few days.  I'm positive he'll come during the one minute and thirty seconds I'm in the bathroom. #business