David S. Atkinson's Blog, page 98

I Was Going To Write An Actual Post Today

I was going to write an actual post today. However, then this happened:

Well, not literally…but pretty close. As such, this is what you get.

Sorry about that.

A Simulation Of What Happens When You Add Someone To A Facebook Group Without Asking

Here’s a simulation of what happens when you add someone to a Facebook group without asking them:

Stop doing this. It is not helpful. It is rude, and is often a guarantee that they will refuse to have anything to do with your group no matter how much they may have been interested otherwise. Ask first, like most things in life.

You Know What Is Bad For Weight Loss?

You know what is bad for weight loss? A lobster roll truck parked outside the bar you’re playing bingo at. You may not have intended to buy food, but it’s happening.

Especially if they have a grilled cheese lobster roll sandwich. And deep fried macaroni and cheese things.

A Post To Make Me Feel Better About My Bus Rant From Yesterday

I got mad at the bus system here yesterday and went on a rant. This is to make me feel better.

I now feel a little better.

Getting Nervous About RTD As A Viable Transportation Option

I’m getting a little nervous about RTD as a viable transportation option.

For those who don’t know, RTD is the mass transit organization in Denver. Buses, trains, whatever. I’m sure it’s more complicated than that, but whatever.

I ride the bus to and from work on a regular basis. My bus was late today. I checked the rider alerts page and though they had various alerts for my bus route, they didn’t have anything listed about a delay that would have effected me. As time went on, I called. Turns out, they didn’t have a driver for that scheduled time and so they just skipped sending a bus for that scheduled time. They also didn’t bother updating their alert page for that. I’ve heard of them just dropping other buses without notice when they came up short a driver as well.

This makes it kind of difficult to be able to rely on the bus to get to and from work.

Now, I know they’ve been having real problems getting enough drivers. I know this. I know they need a certain amount of funding to be able to run and not being able to get enough drivers probably means they can’t afford to pay them enough. However, if they can’t run buses at the scheduled times, people will stop riding. If people don’t use RTD, they won’t want to fund it.

That doesn’t lead to good things.

I don’t get upset at fair increases. I support any public funding increases for them that I come across presuming they aren’t just squandering money (still unsure whether the train expansions that have been sitting for several years unused because they can’t get federal approval due to safety concerns in their design means squandering or not). Still, that all depends on me seeing them as useful. If I don’t see them as useful, I’ll end up spending the money on another car and downtown parking and just fight my way in.

Denver’s traffic problem will not get better if we can’t get people off the road and into mass transit for commutes.

This just concerns me. I can understand accidents, mechanical failures, drivers calling in sick, all that. However, if they can’t run a fairly reliable system then it just isn’t useful. Remember in the 80s how we made fun of various countries because people would just show up to wait for buses and trains without any idea when they would arrive? Remember how bizarre that seemed?

I have to get to work reliably. If RTDs reliability is an issue, I have to stop using them and go into work a different way. Others (who are able) will do the same. Then things will just get worse.

Facebook: I’m All Ready For Next Year

Facebook popped up a message recently with a post offering to share a video about my history on Facebook for my apparent nine years on Facebook. That’s right, I’ve been wasting my time on Facebook for nine years. Regardless what they think, I personally don’t care about a nine year anniversary.

Now TEN I care about.

I’m all ready for ten.

Beware Moles

Beware moles.

Beware moles, or at least shaving near moles. Beware not getting time to shave before having to fly across the country for a business meeting. Beware the fact that you are only going to be gone overnight, which means no bringing your electric razor because no check baggage. Beware that this means you are going to buy a brand new shaving razor at the airport. Beware the fact that you are unused to normal shaving razors as well as using one that sharp.

Beware somehow accidentally slicing off a good section of a mole despite managing to miss it while shaving for over 30 years. Beware the fact you never even had to consider this possibility. Beware the fact that moles cut this way seem to bleed endlessly, certainly no matter what tissues/pressure you put on it for the 2-3 hours before the meeting.

Beware the fact that the hotel will only have normal band-aids rather than little circles. Beware the fact that you have to still recognize how much worse off others would be given that many bandages actually match your skin tone, which may be significant wandering around with a band-aid on the side of your face.

Beware the fact that it may still be bleeding just the same way when you take off the band-aid after flying home twelve hours later. Beware the fact you may have to put another normal bandage on to replace the first at home because you don’t have any face band-aids either.

Beware the fact it finally appears to have stopped bleeding after you take off the second band-aid twenty four hours later after your shower.

Beware moles.

My Lips Are Chapped

My lips are chapped. It stings. Just thought ya’ll should know that.

Thanks. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Ha! Bet You Thought I Was Going To Post Another Animated Hot Dog Gif Again!

Ha! Bet you thought I was going to post another animated hot dog gif again! I’m not! This one is clearly some kind of Oreo smore.

Crap! It’s still a post ABOUT animated hot dog gifs. I’m in a rut.

Now Here’s A Rope A Noble Family Could Live Off Of For A Month

A friend of mine used to comment on how D&D listed the cost of 50 feet of hemp rope as 1 gold piece whereas in Medieval times a noble family could live off of one gold piece for about a month. He insisted that this meant D&D was asserting that a noble family could live off of 50 feet of hemp rope for a month. I was thinking about all of that when I saw this:

Now HERE’S a rope a noble family could live off of for a month. Why don’t they sell hot dog ropes?