When you meet someone new there are a few questions that always seem to come up.
Are you from this area? Do you have hobbies? Do you have kids? What do you think about this weather? Do you like any professional sports teams? And the big one is what do you do for a living?
This is probably the aspect of my job I like the least. There is no good answer that is descriptive as I want it to be. Here are some examples of how people in other jobs get to answer that question.
Person 1: What do you do for a living?
Person 2: Architect.
Person 1: Cool, so what have you designed?
Person 1: What do you do for a living?
Person 2: I deliver pizza for Little Caesar's.
Person 1: Pizza, Pizza!
Person 2: That's funny. I've never heard that before.
Person 1: What do you do for a living?
Person 2: I'm a doctor.
Person 1: What a coincidence. I have this disgusting growth on my back that I have been meaning to get checked out, and...
Person 1: What do you do for a living?
Person 2: Author.
Person 1: What have you written that I would have read?
Person 2: Nothing. I don't write material for the back of breakfast cereal boxes.
Notice how everyone hearing about the careers mentioned above understood what the person does? Now here is how the typical conversation goes when I am involved.
Person 1: What do you do for a living?
Me: I support developers and administrators who use the software that the company I work for creates.
Person 1: Huh?
Me: I work with computers.
Person 1: Oh, like the people at the PC shop on the corner?
Me: No, I help people with software problems.
Person 1: So you work for a helpdesk?
Me: Not really. I don't work with end users. I support advanced users.
Person 1: I'm an advanced user, and I call the helpdesk all the time.
Me: Do you like any professional sports teams?
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
jack
Golden and I have been watching Lost quite a bit lately and something has stuck out to both of us. I am like Jack, who is one of the main characters. This actually isn't one of those posts where I go on and on about how great people like me are. The reason is that neither of us noticed the similarities at the beginning of the series when Jack was a nearly perfect character. Once they started pointing to his flaws the similarities started.
- Jack has very cold view of the world. If there is a 1% chance of something good happening, it is about the same as if there is a 0% chance of something good happening.
- If someone expresses a belief that there is something supernatural about the island and has evidence for that belief, Jack writes them off as mentally unbalanced.
- Jack doesn't like to take on full responsibility for operations but does take it on because there seems no other choice. He appears to resent full responsibility.
- Jack is constantly torn between the popular choice and the right choice. He eventually makes the right choice, but not as easily as he should have.
Monday, September 26, 2005
noah, esther, and goldilocks
We touched on a topic in Sunday School yesterday that I have been considering writing about for a while. I figured I would take the opportunity and write a post on it.
Why is it that so much of what is in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, is only relayed on the level of a childrens' story? Furthermore, why are those stories that don't fit so well into kids' lessons canned pretty quickly?
I dislike this for multiple reasons, not the least of which is that it gives people the impression that the beliefs behind Christianity are fairy tales in their very nature. The whole thing starts to become this sanitized idealistic world that could never in a million years be real because it fits better in a storybook. The idealized world that is portrayed couldn't be real if we wanted it to be. Here are some examples.
Noah is a prime example and was mentioned in the book that we are studying. Should a story containing such destruction of life be considered a kids' story?
The story of Esther is always told as a story of beauty and courage. It is indeed a story of beauty and courage. Let us not forget that the second chapter in Esther makes it clear that she joined a harem and pleased the king in that role. This is how the Bible implies God used Esther, though God is never actually mentioned in the book. Again, the unedited version is not a story for the kiddies.
How about David? This was a man who did right in God's eyes but that does not mean that he was the kind of man that I would have wanted to be associated with. Even ignoring the events with Bathsheba, David oversaw the deaths of many and was not incredibly progressive in his views toward women. His redeeming quality was simply that he understood and accepted humility.
I do think it would be unwise to go to the opposite extreme and say that the purpose of the Old Testament is to magnify sex, violence, deception, et al. There is no denying that nearly every story from the Old Testament shows the humanness of man in adult terms, though.
In class I was asked what I thought the purpose of the stories in the Old Testament was if it wasn't to be a simple childrens' storybook. Given what I know from the New Testament I believe that the purpose of the Old is to point either to Christ or at least the need for Christ. What other purpose could there be?
Why is it that so much of what is in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, is only relayed on the level of a childrens' story? Furthermore, why are those stories that don't fit so well into kids' lessons canned pretty quickly?
I dislike this for multiple reasons, not the least of which is that it gives people the impression that the beliefs behind Christianity are fairy tales in their very nature. The whole thing starts to become this sanitized idealistic world that could never in a million years be real because it fits better in a storybook. The idealized world that is portrayed couldn't be real if we wanted it to be. Here are some examples.
Noah is a prime example and was mentioned in the book that we are studying. Should a story containing such destruction of life be considered a kids' story?
The story of Esther is always told as a story of beauty and courage. It is indeed a story of beauty and courage. Let us not forget that the second chapter in Esther makes it clear that she joined a harem and pleased the king in that role. This is how the Bible implies God used Esther, though God is never actually mentioned in the book. Again, the unedited version is not a story for the kiddies.
How about David? This was a man who did right in God's eyes but that does not mean that he was the kind of man that I would have wanted to be associated with. Even ignoring the events with Bathsheba, David oversaw the deaths of many and was not incredibly progressive in his views toward women. His redeeming quality was simply that he understood and accepted humility.
I do think it would be unwise to go to the opposite extreme and say that the purpose of the Old Testament is to magnify sex, violence, deception, et al. There is no denying that nearly every story from the Old Testament shows the humanness of man in adult terms, though.
In class I was asked what I thought the purpose of the stories in the Old Testament was if it wasn't to be a simple childrens' storybook. Given what I know from the New Testament I believe that the purpose of the Old is to point either to Christ or at least the need for Christ. What other purpose could there be?
Saturday, September 24, 2005
gridlock
I am a creature of habit and schedule. If anything messes up that habit or schedule I am not always the quickest to adapt.
My trek to the office every morning takes me through a half mile of residential areas, past a school, south on an expressway for about four or five miles, then through a suburban business district for about a half mile. The last half mile is always longer than the rest of the steps of the trip combined. Lately, it has been even worse, though.
It is bad enough that two extra lights have been added in that last half mile and that neither is timed so that I can skip past them on green. It is also bad enough that there has been significant construction going on for the better part of a year so as to add extra clutter onto an already busy section of road.
The final straw for me was half of the exit ramp off the highway onto this road was recently coned off. I assume that there will be construction on the ramp, but last I saw there were only the cones and the blocked off lanes looked usable otherwise. It took me two days worth of sitting in twenty minutes of traffic to get through one light to figure out that I should drive a back route to the office until the ramp is fully functional again.
The picture here is from the traffic jam that was caused by the blocked ramp lanes from after I got off work, so it is going the opposite direction that I am.
There does seem to be a lot of road construction as of late in the Overland Park area. It is probably better this way, since nicer roads mean fewer potholes and other inconveniences that can damage my car. I just wish it wouldn't cause such significant delays on my way to work.
My trek to the office every morning takes me through a half mile of residential areas, past a school, south on an expressway for about four or five miles, then through a suburban business district for about a half mile. The last half mile is always longer than the rest of the steps of the trip combined. Lately, it has been even worse, though.
It is bad enough that two extra lights have been added in that last half mile and that neither is timed so that I can skip past them on green. It is also bad enough that there has been significant construction going on for the better part of a year so as to add extra clutter onto an already busy section of road.
The final straw for me was half of the exit ramp off the highway onto this road was recently coned off. I assume that there will be construction on the ramp, but last I saw there were only the cones and the blocked off lanes looked usable otherwise. It took me two days worth of sitting in twenty minutes of traffic to get through one light to figure out that I should drive a back route to the office until the ramp is fully functional again.
The picture here is from the traffic jam that was caused by the blocked ramp lanes from after I got off work, so it is going the opposite direction that I am.
There does seem to be a lot of road construction as of late in the Overland Park area. It is probably better this way, since nicer roads mean fewer potholes and other inconveniences that can damage my car. I just wish it wouldn't cause such significant delays on my way to work.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
coldplay
Coldplay is one of those bands that exists in that world between groups I love and groups I can't stand. I can enjoy their music, but I won't go out of my way to listen to them. So when Forrest asked if I wanted to go to a Coldplay concert my natural reaction was, "That's too expensive!" because I am such a tightwad. Eventually Forrest got desperate and the price for the spare ticket he had gone down, so I agreed to go.
It's a long story how the tickets worked out like this, but the spare was a single away from the other seats that Forrest had purchased. As a result I watched and listened to Coldplay alone, or as alone as I could be with several thousand people crowded around me.
Some things of note that happened.
It's a long story how the tickets worked out like this, but the spare was a single away from the other seats that Forrest had purchased. As a result I watched and listened to Coldplay alone, or as alone as I could be with several thousand people crowded around me.
Some things of note that happened.
- BB agreed to drive me there, so the entire Achtung family plus me crammed into his Matrix and went to the baby sitter's to drop off the kids. I appreciate very much the patience it took to allow for one more body in the car.
- When I walked into the park I was asked if I wanted to donate to some cause. I quickly reacted, "No," but I felt like a jerk for saying that because the reason wasn't that I didn't have much cash on me. It wasn't that I didn't want to contribute to some worthy cause.
- I was also asked to sign a petition. I didn't for two reasons. First, I already get enough spam, and they wanted my email address. Second, people trying to get you to sign a petition rarely have more information about the cause other than the sales pitch they have been taught. I wanted to be sure I understood the issue before signing my name.
- When I went to my seat there was hardly anyone near it. There were two girls sitting in the two seats directly to the right of my seat, though. I felt it too awkward to sit right next to them while all the other seats in the area were empty, so for the entire opening act I sat in someone else's seat who hadn't shown up yet.
- It was incredibly warm for the first night in autumn.
- I thought about bringing a camera, but decided against it because I thought I might get stopped at the gate and have to take it back to the car. Midway through the concert, the lettering on the screen behind the band informed people that they should take pictures now.
- I had a hard time getting a Sprint PCS signal inside Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. I'm sure that wasn't intentional.
- BB ran into a client in the entryway of the amphitheater. Does he run into someone he knows everywhere he goes?
- Forrest came over to talk to me during the exceedingly long intermission. The person behind me recognized him and attempted to monopolize the conversation. Does he run into someone he knows everywhere he goes?
- I found out that I am simply not aggressive in crowds. I was passed by countless people as I tried to work my way out of the amphitheater after the concert. I don't have what it takes to elbow and cut people off to move forward quickly.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
chivalry or chauvinism
There was a debate recently at my office as to whether doing things like opening the door for a woman was a sexist activity. This was not a debate that I entered into, so it is not my intent to present a defense of one of the positions on the matter. I don't really fully understand the positions on the matter anyway. It is rather my intent to issue the complaint that I don't feel I am given the privilege of avoiding taking sides on the issue. Almost every day I will be presented with a situation where I have to make the decision as to whether to hold open the door for someone.
My concern with the whole situation is not whether the activity is sexist. That is tied up in whatever the motivations of the person holding the door open are, and I am quite sure my motivations in that regard are never sexist. I am concerned, however, that some person at some time will make a judgment about me based upon whether I decide to hold the door open for her (or him). Apparently, this will eventually occur regardless as to whether I decide to hold doors open for people or let them slam shut in their faces.
Why must it be that everything I can possibly do will either prove sexism or a lack of chivalry? Why must everything have a hidden meaning? Why can't we just install automatic doors everywhere?
My concern with the whole situation is not whether the activity is sexist. That is tied up in whatever the motivations of the person holding the door open are, and I am quite sure my motivations in that regard are never sexist. I am concerned, however, that some person at some time will make a judgment about me based upon whether I decide to hold the door open for her (or him). Apparently, this will eventually occur regardless as to whether I decide to hold doors open for people or let them slam shut in their faces.
Why must it be that everything I can possibly do will either prove sexism or a lack of chivalry? Why must everything have a hidden meaning? Why can't we just install automatic doors everywhere?
Monday, September 19, 2005
did something die in here?
Last week at work I was visiting the loo, as the British call it, when I noticed a funky smell. This was nothing new in a bathroom, and it stuck out anyway. I could tell that someone had visited the facilities recently, though that person was no longer in the bathroom. I held my breath, sped up the process a little, and then left the bathroom.
On the way out I ran into a coworker and said hi. As he closed the door behind him I remembered the smell and that the evidence pointed to the likelihood that I had left it. I sat in my cube for the next five minutes slightly embarrassed about the turn of events. At the very first possibility I tracked him down and pointed out that I was not the originator of the offending smell.
This got me thinking. Why would I care? It isn't like anyone is able to never create a smell in the bathroom. It is just that this is something I would prefer others not to tack onto their knowledge about me. As an example, the things I know about Dust:
On the way out I ran into a coworker and said hi. As he closed the door behind him I remembered the smell and that the evidence pointed to the likelihood that I had left it. I sat in my cube for the next five minutes slightly embarrassed about the turn of events. At the very first possibility I tracked him down and pointed out that I was not the originator of the offending smell.
This got me thinking. Why would I care? It isn't like anyone is able to never create a smell in the bathroom. It is just that this is something I would prefer others not to tack onto their knowledge about me. As an example, the things I know about Dust:
- Dark hair
- Kind of geeky
- Uptight personality
- Don't want to walk into the bathroom after him
I wish to keep at least the last item off that list.
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