Daylight Savings Time

Why do we have to wait until 2:00 a.m. tomorrow morning to turn our clocks forward? I say we do it now! Not only would we not lose an hour's sleep, but we would gain an hour of daylight. We would get one more hour of summer! And, really, who's going to miss 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon?

What to do with a Brain

I was thinking, why isn't vacuum spelt vacwm?

Franklin Pierce (#14 on the NASCAR circuit).

According to the White House's bio site, President Pierce (1804-1869) was Prez from 1853-1857. He was a Democrat, which today would mean he was a Republican, or something like that. A veteran of the Mexican War, he became a small time New Hampshire politician. He was truly an unknown who got nominated for the presidency because he survived all the elimination rounds. He did win the election, but not by much.

Slavery was a big issue at the time, an issue that Pierce would probably have been content to ignore. Pierce, though, did work to expand the United States (as he said, for our own security). Of course, that brought up the whole question of whether those new states would be slave states or free states. This even led to the purchase of what is now pretty much southern Arizona for a southern transcontinental train route (the one that was supposed to go through Rock Ridge). Of course, if the train goes south, then that land would be settled quicker, and would more than likely be slave states. Ya gotta love Pierce for that. If you can't tell, he was pretty much a tool for the Southerners.

Unfortunately (for Pierce and Kansas) a bill was passed (thanks to the untiring work of the socially conscious Stephen Douglas) that allowed residents in new territories to decide for themselves whether or not they wanted slavery (and who better to decide what is sinful than the sinners?). When that fails (or the vote doesn't go your way), you can start shooting, which is exactly what happened in Kansas. Even though Pierce's term ended on a peaceful note, more or less, he wasn't nominated to run again. Buchanan won the Democratic nomination and the presidency, and, of course, after Buchanan was the little known president, Abraham Lincoln.

After his presidency, Pierce changed his first name to Hawkeye and went on to star on the sitcom M*A*S*H. After the show ended, following the Compromise of 1981, he put forth legislation that all Internet sites that might be used for research be required to include at least one paragraph of complete nonsense, thereby marking those students who plagiarize the Internet as the complete losers that they are. Unfortunately, Pierce's Bill was turned down in committee, mostly because Al Gore hadn't invented the Internet yet.

Just an Observation

When I was checking out the Discussion Board for the Langston Hughes’ story, I noticed that a lot of you said that it was never right to lie. And, in turn, that reminded me of the classic conundrum. It’s 1939 Holland. You are hiding Jews in the attic of your house. The Nazis come to your door and want to know if there are any Jews in your house, and, of course, there are. If you tell them, “No,” you know they’ll go away. It's guaranteed. However, you know it is always wrong to lie. What do you do?

And one more thought: Why is the intellectual discussion of religion considered taboo in our society?

Happy Groundhog's Day!

First the bad news. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, so there will be six more weeks of winter. Now the good news. In six weeks it will be the 16th of March, and that’s four days before Spring actually begins. So either way, we win! Now I know there are people out there who don’t believe in the prognosticating abilities of a mere rodent. However, the way I figure it, why not? I mean, if people believe that Nostradamus is reliable, why not Punxsutawney Phil?

Book Club... Sort Of

I've decided to start a book club, more or less. You only have to do it if you want. It's not a grade.

I'll start it off by deciding the first book. Then you (those who want) all have to go out and find a copy. We'll all read it, and, say, after a couple of weeks, we'll all blog about it. Since I'm starting it, everybody would just leave comments at my site. Heck, you don't even have to waint until you're done with the book. Comment away!

Then, when all of us who have read it are through with our comments, each of us (well, maybe not me) will suggest another book. It doesn't have to be one you're already read. It doesn't have to be some great piece of literature. It can even by a graphic novel. (But no porn.) It just needs to be something you'd like to share. Then we'll all vote, more or less, and whoever "wins"... well... we'll all just move over to her or his blog for the next round.

Okay. Here's the book: The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. You can probably find a cheap copy in a used book store. It's worth owning... or so I say.

Let's say in two weeks we'll all plan on having it read. Let's say by Monday, February 9. If you finish it sooner, let us know. If you're not done yet, no worries. We'll pace ourselves.

If you want to join in just let me know. Well, I guess you don't even have to do that.

El professoro dice...

Why aren't there Spanish See-N-Say's? You know, that round thing where you pull the cord, the little arrow spins around, and wherever it stops, it tells you what that animal says?

"El boca dice, 'Moo.'"

Giving Good Phone

I’ve been working in a call center lately. It is a very temporary job, but nowadays... well, it’s a job. It’s been an interesting experience. We get a lot of calls from people looking for jobs, and sometimes I can help them. And that’s nice. However, let me tell you, if the first step in weeding out applicants were the initial phone call, we’d be dealing with a lot fewer applications. Therefore, in deference to the fact that some, if not many, businesses (especially the higher up they get) do use the initial contact by phone as a part of the over-all test, I would like to offer the following telephone tips to anybody who might be looking for a job.

1. Know what you’re going to say before you call. Script it if you must.

2. Turn off all background noise or get away from any background distractions. (Loud stereos, barking dogs, and screaming children are, quite frankly, annoying. You, by association, becoming annoying, too.)

3. Make sure you have a good connection before you call. A good connection is never in your car while you’re driving. I mean, how important is this phone call to you, anyway?

4. Make sure your connection is going to stay good. I shouldn’t have to work to understand you.

5. Be positive.

6. Annunciate. Speak slowly, but deliberately. Clearly pronounce your words. Don’t slur them together, but don’t speak so slowly that I find myself looking at the clock.

7. Sound intelligent. If necessary, wait until the drugs have worn off. And if “Ummm” is the best thing you have to say, then don’t say anything at all.

8. When leaving a message, be especially clear when giving your phone number.

9. Do not assume that whomever you’re calling knows your area code, what city your calling from, or who you are.

10. Really, there’s no need to tell someone the phone number you’re giving them is from a cell. What difference does it make? And don’t give them a bunch of phone numbers. One number is enough. Give them the number you carry with you everywhere you go. Why would you give anybody a phone number where it’s hard to reach you at? (“Yeah, I got a phone I carry with me everywhere I go, but I’m not going to give you that number. I’m going to give you the one at my Aunt Jean’s house. I go there every Thanksgiving. That’s when I check my calls.”)

11. Don’t have stupid messages or bad music (or any music – especially you singing) on your answering machine (for when they call back). (“Dude, we can’t come to the phone right now because we’re all getting high...”)

12. Say the bare minimum. We don’t need to hear your life story. We know you need a job. That’s why you called. And for crying out loud, don’t come across as desperate.

13. Be polite. And mean it. Please and Thank You. Ma’am and Sir. It’s expected.

Really, you don’t need to wig out too much on the phone interview. And that’s what it is. Every time you communicate with a future employer, it’s an interview of one sort or the other. You see, the thing is, if you even try at all, you’ll come across as OK. And I’ll tell you why. Remember back in high school when your teachers warned you about how competitive the world was? It’s a dog-eat-dog world! (Which, incidentally, is why I have cats.) Now, while you’re thinking about high school, remember all the kids who were in class with you? I mean, seriously, how much competition was there? Just knowing how to set your own alarm clock put you in the top 20%.

Stay tuned to this site. In the coming weeks you’ll receive more tips on getting jobs. Such as Taking Hostages. Becoming a Pirate. Joining the Military. Selling your soul in a buyer’s market. And Many More, including changing your name to Minnie Moore, and then suing every company that makes a record compilation that doesn’t include a song by you when they say, “And many more....” Ideas. Who, boy, have I got ideas.

One of those things that makes me wonder...

Why is it that people are always trying to convince you that some book like the Bible or the Koran or the Book of Mormon is true by having you read that book? If I wanted to convert you to my religion, and the only proof I had that it was true was a book that I had written, would you believe me? No wonder L. Ron Hubbard once said that the quickest way to become a millionaire is to invent a religion. What religion did he invent? Scientology. It's like Einstein once said: Big brains are wasted on some people.

Here's Something Fun

If you go to Dashboard, and you scroll down on that page toward the bottom...

To the left you will see two boxes: One that says Add, and the other that says Manage. To the right of these boxes is "What is a following?"

If you click on the Add button, you will get a box that asks for a URL. If you put another blog's URL there, then all of that blog's posts will be fed directly to your blog page. Only you can view them on Dashboard, but it sure makes it easier to follow your favorite blogs.

I already have all of yours there.

Adding Blog Hyperlinks to Your Site

As you can see, I've added hyperlinks to all of your blogs (all the blogs I've gotten so far) to my blog site. And you can too! Before you can, though, you'll need to know all of the hyperlinks. You can do that by going to your fellow students' sites (from here), copying the hyperlinks, and then pasting them into the right spot -- which I'll tell you below.

Here's how it's done.

After you sign in to your site...

Hit the Customize tab at the top of the page (on the blue line that runs across the top, to the right).

On the next page, hit the Layout tab.

On the next page, hit the Add a Gadget tab.

On that page, you can make some changes to what it will look like on your page, such as the title of the list of links. (For instance, I titled mine "All of You")

When you get bored with that, hit Add to List.

A box will come up where you will paste in the URL.

Hit Add.

On the next page, you can either hit Add to List again, or hit Save.

Once you get one address up there, then you can edit all your lists from your page by hitting the little wrench and screwdriver icon that will appear on your page below you list.

Simple stuff... maybe (it took me about an hour to figure this out, but I'm persistent.

OTC English 101 Online

This is the Official Blog Site of Mr. Soetaert's OTC 101 class for the Spring of 2008.