mayormcmatt

Also really enjoyed it and echo these execution questions.

It's not lupus!

Not yet, but I'm trying to leave retail marketing web development to work at a local water utility. It's difficult to find a position I'm qualified for, though. If it pans out, it'll be a 25-30% drop in income, but with the benefit of a short commute, good long-term job security, and the peace of mind that my work helps keep the community alive and in clean water.

My best to all those out there pursuing peace of mind and happiness.

This topic resonates with me, because I'm currently building a horrible marketing static page with images and videos that top 150MB, prior to optimization. It causes me psychic pain to think about pushing that over the wire to people that might have data caps. Not my call, though...

Back when I grew up in the 80s and 90s there was a child abduction scare due to high profile cases like the Michaela Garecht case in Hayward, California. In fact, we lived in the same general community as her family (my parents knew the Garechts). Yet they still allowed my sister and I to choose how we got to and home from school (bus, walking, or bike) or to our friends' house. Speaking to them in adulthood about it, they said their choice to allow that was a combination of what you said -- teaching us to be autonomous -- and also that it jibed with their busy professional lives. Seems like they also got stares of disapproval from other parents, but I think it was the right choice.

Adding this to my list of favorite April Fool's pranks -- my favorite being the recently featured islands of San Serriffe.

This, exactly. We Americans have very little knowledge base on how to build HSR, so it's as much a workforce training and proving ground as it is a functional line.

Well, DC to Chicago sounds like it would allow me to catch up on podcasts...

Normally, yes, you would be correct. But in the case of the Shinkanzen, it rolls to a stop, carefully opens it doors and allows the elderly to depart, gazes at the natural beauty of Japan all around it, and ponders on the question of whether the elderly passengers really exist at all. It decides they do and, as soon as the conductors are back aboard, closes its doors and departs the station at a deliberate speed. It moves towards the next station on this line and on the wheel of dharma.

Arlanda is my favorite major-city airport. I'm not as well-traveled as many, but I've been to dozens and it's my favorite. I've transited between Stockholm, Norrtalje, and the airport in bus, tax, and train, with each being the easiest experience I've had with that respective form of transit.

A journalist acquaintance of mine in NYC was in touch with the orthodox community there, who were somehow associated with the Temple Institute, the organization working together with American evangelicals to breed a red heifer. According to scripture, sacrificing a red heifer at the Temple in Jerusalem would herald the coming of the messiah. So the plan (as I understand it) is to breed the heifer, demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque, rebuild the temple there, sacrifice said heifer, and Bob's your uncle, here comes the messiah.

If this is all the actual case (I'm going on his word, since I wasn't the one in touch with these individuals), it represents a real attempt to bring about the apocalypse -- at least according to scripture. It would certainly cause an enormous amount of turmoil around the world, especially the Middle East.

Wait, that's not the downvote button? I always thought that's how posts gained their light grey status.