Humor
Germaphobia
I am surrounded by sickness here lately. Becky has been sick this week and is hacking and coughing and snotty when I go home. Will and Kathy are both hacking and coughing here at the office. Kathy has been making fun of me for wiping down my phone after she uses it!
For years I’ve been one of those people that wash my hands in the public restroom and then use the paper towel to open the door when I leave. Touchless is great, where everything is on sensors and my preference is for bathrooms without doors or with doors that open out, but that doesn’t always work. I’m not a big fan of the blower dryers for this reason.
Well, I’ve noticed that I’m apparently not the only one. More and more public restrooms have trash cans near the exit. (Keeps me from having to practice my basketball shot across the room!) I got a little vindication from Commercial Building Products magazine this month when I saw the picture here to the right. It came with the caption, “Mounting paper-towel dispensers near an exit door provides users the chance to protect themselves from any germs left behind by others. The conveniently located waste container makes it easy to keep used towels off the floor.” Good plan!
Really?
Well, I would have to say that I have been a fan of Star Trek since the original series. Yes, looking back it is cheesy, but it was one of my first exposures to science fiction. No I never had a pair of Spock ears. Yes, some of the current incarnations have been butchered mercilessly. But, really? Teenage Mutant Ninja Kirk? Really!?!
I wonder if Michelangelo’s realizes he’s toast in that red shirt…
Joe Biden and Walter Dunham are Twins!
So the other day I saw a picture of Joe Biden and couldn’t get over how much he looked like Jeff Dunham’s puppet, Walter. I went to google some pictures to prove my point and found that I’m not the only one that noticed the resemblence! Ha! There is a site here that points out what I noticed.
CMS Career Day 2011
Last Friday I spoke at Career Day for the Culver Middle School. This was a presentation to the seventh grade class. The class was broken into 4 groups and they made the rounds between several of us who had volunteered to speak. Last year I had to compete with Angela Ridenhour’s presentation on Photography. Apparently she was the favorite. This year one of my fellow presenters was a police officer from the K-9 unit with a police dog. What did W.C. Field’s say? “Never work with animals or children.” I’m guessing I was upstaged. <sigh>
In any case, I did a presentation on Landscape Architecture since it is National Landscape Architecture Month and I hold a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from Purdue University. I made it somewhat a duel discussion on construction as well since I was introduced as working for Easterday Construction Co., Inc. I was able to draw on my experience from last year, so not much preparation was required. I learned last year that having at least a loose outline was important as by the third or fourth time it becomes difficult to remember what I had said to the current group vs. the preceding groups.
I discussed the profession, the degree requirement, licensing requirements and a general range of what the degree qualifies you to do. I also took them through an impromptu white board sketch of the considerations in developing a lot. I discussed solar heat gain, wind rows and topography considerations as well as the relationships with other homes on adjacent lots. I was also able to discuss the various things happening in Culver with the recently annexed land on the south side of Town and how I have participated in helping revise the Zoning Ordinance and help with guiding decisions on how the land may be used in the future.
It was an interesting experience. The first group was not particularly vocal, but the remaining groups had a mix of interesting and off-the-wall questions. Each group had a different area of interest which actually made it kind of fun. There’s no way I want to become a teacher, but it was somewhat gratifying to think I made a positive impression.
Apparently I actually did. An employee told me that he had a daughter in the class who came home talking about what I had said and actually discussed some of the points that I made. That was fairly impressive. Maybe the dog didn’t take top honors this year?
Anyway, this was a good way to give back to the community. As seventh graders they have a lot of time before they have to decide what they will do with their lives. Hopefully I influenced a few kids and gave them some career options that they hadn’t previously considered. If I did, it was worth a couple of hours on a Friday afternoon. Maybe next year (if asked to participate) I will bring along my dog!
President Obama Quote regarding the U.S. Chamber
“I strolled over from across the street, and, look, maybe if we had brought over a fruitcake when I first moved in, we would have gotten off to a better start. But I’m going to make up for it.”
President Obama on his relationship with the U.S. Chamber during his speech there on February 7, 2011.
