Harvesting items, newsworthy or not

 
I'm sure this is a common complaint among free-lancers and others who work from their homes, but why is it that people who want to sell you their services, whether it's reupholstering furniture, trimming trees, or whatever, apparently feel that your time is elastic? "I'll be there at 8:00 a.m." means "sometime before lunch." Meanwhile, you are trying to get things done which you don't want to do while an outsider is wandering around or expected (you know, like shaving and showering?). It's damned annoying, and in an economy which is sagging, it's incomprehensible. Put aside my own lifelong compulsion towards being on time for appointments, and just consider it common courtesy. Anyone else experience this?

Wouldn't we all like to be this hot a commodity? "Additionally, certain costs were incurred in the fourth quarter of 2001 to secure the hiring of the company's new chief executive officer, Ronald L. Zarrella. These costs mainly represent Bausch & Lomb's replacing certain benefits and incentives, primarily retirement benefits, forfeited by Mr. Zarrella upon leaving his former employer. Such costs totaled $7.1 million before taxes." From Bausch & Lomb's press release announcing its 4th quarter results. Umm, where's the best interest of the shareholders in buyouts like this?

Today's National Inquirer imitation brought to you by (De)Mentos, the breath mint of choice for readers of Jon Sullivan.com. Lasers open varicose veins! Root canals attacked by lasers! Art & Science collide!

Enough, already.
posted by Link Meister at 2:18 PM

 
"The administration must get over the notion that the public will tolerate secrecy in the way this government makes policy decisions." Ok, the source is a Democratic Congressman, but the sentiment is valid. Apparently some Senate Committee chairmen agree.

A non-touch keyboard for computer users; an idea whose time may have come. The overblown rhetoric of the day award goes to Dictionary.com for its blurb accompanying the Word of the Day: "Try our online writing course and learn from literary greats like Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Clancy and Amy Tan." (Emphasis added.) Were I Ms. Tan or Mr. Vonnegut, I might be a tad startled to find Mr. Clancy in my company as a "literary great." I've read all of Clancy's novels, but please. Executive Orders compared to, oh, Slaughterhouse Five?

And for Batgrl, who has Koala issues, don't forget us wallabies!
posted by Link Meister at 4:14 PM

 
Lest I be accused of bashing only the Administration regarding Enron, herewith a column (albeit from a couple of Texas professors) excoriating Congress as well. I'm an equal-opportunity basher, I am! Speaking of bashing, Enron's name came up in, of all things, the analysis of the abrupt demise of Talk magazine. Catty business, magazines!

There's a nursing shortage in this country, or so we've been told; that being the case, California's proposed new nurse-to-patient minimums seems more political than practical, but it has plenty of appeal. In AIDS news, fully 1% of the adult population of Ukraine is now infected. The hunt for the source of the virus may be narrowing, although in a place previously unsuspected. Oh, and any of you who determined that you were a leopard frog, you may have a valuable contribution to make in the fight against cancer!

On to frivolity (at best) or decadence (at worst): get yer cell/mobile phone here! Can I super-size that for ya? And how about live musical entertainment for hospital patients? Somehow I don't think that's gonna make it past the budget committees, no matter how healthful it may be. Finally, from the "Best Candidate for the Ig Nobel Awards I've heard so far in 2002" category, religious views may color opinion about xenotransplantation. Oh, really?
posted by Link Meister at 2:30 PM

 
A brief exchange of remarks with Mom this morning:

Mom: Aren't the Enron hearings underway yet?
LM: No, Congress is still in recess
Mom: Oh, that's right
LM: I've always thought that "recess" was an odd word for Congress, given its connection to elementary school
Mom: Ha, ha
LM: But given the occasional childish behavior of some Congresspeople, maybe...

Maybe you hadda be there.

What's an M.S.R.P., and who cares anyway? Electronic consumer goods pricing v. reality.

From the AP: "Bush said again he had no intention of releasing details of Enron contacts with White House aides who developed his energy plan, saying if 'somebody has an accusation of wrongdoing, let me know.'" Bush and his people are so brain-dead. Perceived cover-ups kill; see Nixon, et. al.

Today's Awww story: Blonde hedgehog rescued! And from the corporate news section, an equally foolish headline: Company XXX "Announces Improved Cash Position." That's worthy of a press release? Kinda like me finding a dime on the street, and announcing it to the world. "Hey! Look, everybody! My cash position has grown!" Sheesh.
posted by Link Meister at 4:10 PM

 
Montreal to SF following September 11--a road trip that week. Link via Sara. It's quite a read, and photos are included. More geography: a poem in praise of Bayou egrets. Here's an interesting review: Anthony Bourdain, who wrote a behind-the-scenes look at restaurants in Kitchen Confidential, has now written a kind of cooks-eye-view of Typhoid Mary, who has, of course, been widely seen as responsible for the US typhoid outbreak in the early 1900s.

Are you lonely tonight? A survey of 6,000 Americans purports to show that we Internet users are increasingly more isolated from family and friends. I'm skeptical; sure, it's anecdotal evidence, but the anticipation engendered by the idea of BlogCon would seem to disprove the thesis. In another article concerning modern isolation, The Onion reports on "Why Archaeologists Leave their Digs!" Indiana Jones and Sydney Fox, rejoice! In less satirical mode, ladies, men want to know! Can this research be true? Do you all unconsciously search for men who emit pheromones just like dear old Dad? Inquiring minds want, nay, need to know!

Further disproving the idea that 'Net users are isolated, I stood in line today for 20 minutes among 30 or so other people to get a ticket to see LOTR. I then spent another 15 minutes in line at the concession line for popcorn, thereby missing the entire sequence in the film depicting the hobbits' departure from Hobbiton and their meeting with Bombadil, as well as the Barrow Downs events. I got back into my seat in time for Frodo's disappearance at The Prancing Pony. I thought it was very well done, although maybe a little too much emphasis on "sword and sorcery" relative to the book. A little light on character development, too, but that didn't really happen until volume 2 of the trilogy anyway. What great scenics! The Balrog was suitably scary, too. Now we have to wait till this December for The Two Towers?? I can't wait to see what Jackson does with Ents!
posted by Link Meister at 5:53 PM