Question of the day.

Will the constant barrage of TV ads really affect the election outcome?

Question of the day.

Is this a great election season or what?

The Terminator is running for governor. Donna Tello is running for comissioner. And there's the usual slew of negative TV ads telling which way to vote on the propositions.

Next year, make me a promise. Somebody please nickname himself He-Man.

Dear Makers of Propel Fitness Water,

I don't understand your packaging strategy. There is a tamper-evident plastic wrap ringing the cap and an inside seal topping the bottle, but the part of the cap you actually put your mouth on remains uncovered during shipping. This means the beverage inside is clean, but the mouthpiece is potentially unsanitary.

Incidentally, I don't like the sucralose taste. I'm glad this bottle was free.

Question of the day.

What does it mean?

I've made two presentations in the last month, in completely different contexts, and about completely different things. One was at work, and the other was at school. I'll admit I busted my butt to pull together both. And both times, I've been tapped on the shoulder afterward by people I generally trust and told that I did a very good job. The gracious part of me accepted and is feeling pretty good about it. The cynical side of me suspects it's one of the following:

* I'm normally really quiet, and people don't expect me to present well, so a good presentation is a pleasant surprise.
* I normally ask dumb questions, so this was a pleasant surprise.
* I looked horribly nervous, so everybody was trying to console me. Or, I flubbed something important, and they were trying to console me.
* They were simply glad to hear a presentation in which good English was spoken. (Past tense notwithstanding.)
* Or, maybe I really did give good presentations, people really do look to me as a role model, and busting my butt was worthwhile.

I want to believe the last one. I think I will.

Question of the day.

If I had started on the marketing writeup a week earlier (and moved mountains to get the time to start in on that reading early), would it have been any better?

Nah.

I would have had to stay up until 1:30 anyways.

Question of the day.

Why do drivers of non-compact cars insist on parking in the compact spaces and then get mad when we drivers of compact cars have to park in the non-compact spaces as a result?

Question of the day.

Why does wine made from grapes appear to be the most popular kind when apple juice is so widely consumed?

Question of the day.

Who?

Questions of the day.

Why is the concept of "slower traffic keep right" so difficult to comprehend? Also, would it be a terrible idea to designate the rightmost lane as the one for people on their cell phones?

Question of the day.

Is it better to debug your own cruddy code or someone else's?

Question of the day.

How do we know the paper toilet seat covers are cleaner than the toilet seat?

A rant.

Dear VTA,

Your TV ad for the all-day light rail pass is much too wordy. You could explain the product in half the time. Also, the product is flawed. To be truly useful, an all-day pass should be good on the buses and the light rail, not the light rail only. Without the bus transfer, how do you expect people to get to the light rail in the first place?

Question of the day.

When?

Question of the day.

Is it better to speak one language perfectly, or two less than perfectly, assuming these are commonly used languages?

Question of the day.

So, Mr./Mrs. Imtooimportantforthis, what happens to you if the train crossing signals malfunction, they don't actually light up before the train approaches, and you're stopped on the tracks like the idiot you are?

Answer of the day.

The talk went quite well, thank you. The questions were all meaningful and nobody tried to beat up on me. I must have looked nervous, though. Why else would that guy have gone out of his way to tell me he thought the talk was very well explained and well done and that he enjoyed it?

Question of the day.

When an organization turns dysfunctional, why is it so difficult to recognize this and turn it around?

Question of the day.

Why does Monty Python work so well and other shows do not?