Workout purpose Jul 15, 2012
I like when a physical workout produces a tangible result, like biking to work, or running to the store to buy ice cream (kidding).  Sure you get a workout, but you also accomplish something you needed to do anyway.  I recently started chopping wood for this purpose.  It's a little weird because I don't have a wood stove, so it's useless to me personally.  But I know some people with stoves that would appreciate some extra chopped wood.  It's really satisfying to get a workout, then see the pile of wood my workout produced.  It doesn't even matter that it doesn't benefit me personally.  It's just good to get a workout from a method other than simply lifting things up and putting them down.
Brave New Website Jul 13, 2012
If you're a nerd or pay attention to unimportant details, you might've noticed that my website is completely different as of a few minutes ago. 

For over 7 years, I've been using the blogging software WordPress to power my website.  Over the years I became a big fan of it, namely for its simplicity and extensibility.  But recently it's been going downhill (for me anyway).  Each new version offers features that are completely useless to me, as well as breaking old features that worked very well for me.  A blogging platform is meant to make online writing easy, and WordPress was actually getting in my way. 

Being a tinkerer, I decided to create my own blogging software from the ground up.  It started as a little side project to see if it was possible.  It turned into something that meets all my needs, and which I'm comfortable releasing into the wild.  So that's what's happening right now. 

Some problems that I admit exist yet am reluctant or technologically unable (at the moment) to fix: 
  1. Links to old posts.  The entire permalink structure with dates and post names is gone, which means the site is littered with broken links.  I don't currently have the know-how to fix this. [Update:  Fixed.]
  2. Image galleries.  Completely nonexistent at the moment.  I might eventually start using Facebook (gasp!) to share pictures.
  3. RSS.  There's no RSS feed for now. [Update:  Fixed.]
  4. General ugliness.  Certain HTML and other technical post content isn't displaying properly.  I'll be working on that soon. [Update:  Fixed.]
So anyway, feel free to look around, search for things, leave comments, and let me know if anything's broken.
Accented names Jul 13, 2012
It's really annoying when an otherwise fluently non-accented English-speaker suddenly puts on a thick accent to say their own name.  This is especially prominent in TV and radio news broadcasters. #language
Living underground Jul 10, 2012
I went on a tour of the Yuengling Brewery, and part of the operation was located in underground caves because of the year-round cool temperatures.  This was especially apparent on a hot summer day, when the outside temperature was around 100°F, but the underground temperature was in the 60s.  Maybe I missed this in home ownership class, but why don't we live underground?  I could think of a few possibilities right off the bat: 
  1. Bugs.  My crawlspace is full of cave crickets, which look like giant black spiders and like to jump on my back as I enter and exit.  But I feel like this is a problem with a solution.  Either utilize some bug traps or just seal everything off.
  2. Air.  Ventilation might be an issue.  Use a fan.
  3. Plumbing.  The whole reason plumbing works is because toilets and sinks are vertically higher than septic tanks and sewers.  You'd need some sort of pump system, but this isn't a deal breaker.
  4. Flooding.  Water likes to travel downhill, and caves don't really have a downstream exit.
So obviously there are some drawbacks to living underground.  But there's one simple benefit:  Temperature.  It's cool in the summer and easier to heat in the winter.  The mole people were onto something. #lifestyle
Yuengling on Mad Men Jul 9, 2012
A few months ago, an episode of Mad Men included a scene with a bottle of Yuengling beer with a period-accurate label, similar to this: 



I love the little details on that show. #entertainment
Rejecting customers Jul 9, 2012
I read this website called Not Always Right, which is a collection of stories from store owners and employees about their routine interactions with horrible and stupid customers.  A standard story is about a customer ordering a meal at a restaurant, eating the whole thing, then complaining about it and expecting a free meal. 

I have this dream of starting a business for the sole purpose of counteracting these people.  They would come in my store, fail to read my signs properly or treat my employees disrespectfully, and I would walk up to them and say, "Get out of my store.  I don't want your money."  Simple business ethics and capitalism would suggest that these tactics might not help my bottom line.  But I would argue that there are enough intelligent, rational, reasonable consumers out there who would realize how dumb it is to expect store owners to cater to stupidity and rudeness, and they would come buy my things at full price and with kindness. #business
Worst top ten Jul 9, 2012
[Watching TV with some friends; NFL Network is playing a top ten countdown of the Top Ten Jersey Numbers.]

Friend 1:  "Who watches stupid stuff like this?"
Friend 2:  "Let's just watch until the next number so we can confirm it's stupid." #entertainment