Kate says I have to blog again

And hey, look, I already have a blog! Stay tuned!

Everyone has one...

What's your Birthverse?

As the web site says, "You are a child of God, His treasured possession. He created you in His own image. He chose the day for you to be born. He has a plan and a purpose for your life. Cherish your birthverse."

Mine is 1 John 3:24 which says, "Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us."

For interested parties (my two loyal readers), see the following:

July 26: Matthew 7:26, "But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand." [Editorial comment: Eep!] [Another editorial comment: If your mom (or God, I guess) had just delayed one more day, you could have had, "This is the one about whom it is written: “'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'"]

October 22: Hebrews 10:22, "let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water."

SureVend

So I still haven't read The Design of Everyday Things, but I am extremely impressed with the design of the SureVend vending machines at work.

There's a dispensing sensor of some sort that knows when the product actually drops into the retrieval bin. If the coil that holds the product turns its standard rotation without the product dropping, there's a slight pause, and then the coil turns some more. It knows it hasn't given me my Snickers bar, and it automatically rectifies the situation.

No frustration, no post-its on the machine saying I lost 65 cents, no deprivation of important snack foods. And as a bonus, the display says, "Thank you," after I complete my purchase. Somebody got that one right!

My first goal is...

... to come up with some goals?

No, I know: to register on the website so that I can actually use it immediately upon creating a goal.

Mission accomplished! (Although really I'm just sort of in love with the smiley faces. The only way it could possibly be better is if they gave me gold stars.)

And you think drug databases aren't fun!

So I stumbled across this document when researching my "special project". Mind you, this really doesn't have anything to do with my project, but I didn't know that until I opened the link. And then it was too late because I was hooked! Just in case you're too afraid of drug databases to open the link, here's one of my favorite excerpts:

"The National Drug Code (NDC) is a system of drug nomenclature, possibly one of the worst systems of nomenclature for anything, anywhere, anytime, ever devised. As you are probably beginning to suspect, the National Drug Code system was devised with your tax dollars by the United States Federal Government... "

Regarding how NDCs are created and assigned: "Nobody really knows for sure, and most people including you are better off just taking the NDC system on faith..."

It's really entertaining even if you have no idea what they're talking about; go ahead, click the link!

Really?

Who would have suspected that frozen salted (and/or dried) yellow croaker could make one ill?

Time Warp

So I went to the one hour dry cleaners because I needed clothes for the next day. They asked me when I wanted to pick them up. I told them "tomorrow, around this time."

They told me, "Well, okay, but we usually like to have at least two days in case he wants to re-do a garment."

I don't know who he is. Or why he has such little faith in his abilities to get it right the first time. But apparently he needs to get out more. Even just out front where he can see the "One Hour Service" sign.

I realize that they probably count on the one hour service not being requested that frequently. That's what happens at the one hour photo shop too. But when I ask for a pick-up time that is 23 hours past the time they advertise, I at least expect them not to give me a hard time about it.

Also, if it's going to take 2 days anyway, I might as well go to the $1.99 dry cleaner that is closer to me, obviously less expensive, and stays open later.

I almost pointed all this out to the clerk, but I decided not to waste my breath and instead to publish it here for both my adoring fans. :-)