Theledge.net

Heard in a computer lab:

You will go insane if you get a PhD in Mathematics. I think it goes with the territory.

But at least you aren’t trying for a PhD in logic.

People who do that go insane and then become depressed.

Ok, time for another edition of "Random Crap that Made me Take a Picture". This time featuring things I took pictures of while I was driving because I’m an idiot and I don’t value the lives of other drivers.

First, mysterious happenings with a water main:

I cannot imagine how much water was coming out of there, and at what kind of force. It was enough that even an hour later on my way home they still had not repaired it. Or they might not have repaired it yet because no-one had even arrived at the scene to work on it. Hard to say.



This next one is from the files of “Things You Share the Road With That Made You a Little Concerned”.

My favorite aspect of this picture is that the label reading “Dangerous” appeared to be hand-made and was held on with packing tape. You know, because the “Flammable”, “Corrosive”, “Flammable Solid”, and “Poison” signs weren’t going to make anyone pause before doing something really stupid, but that sign saying “Dangerous” would work in a flash.

And finally, the truck that just makes me burst out laughing everytime I see it:



I’m thinking that the branding changes its meaning after you have added the DOT/EPA requirements. But that’s just me.

At some point in my life, when I was in my teens and I was competing with my father (probably at tennis) he explained to me why I couldn’t beat him.

He told me

Old age and treachery will always overcome youthful exuberance.

I really like that quote. I feel that it explains a lot about the world.

I didn’t have a come back at the time. The quote seemed to have too much truth in it for me to argue with.

But I wanted to argue with it. I wanted there to be some kind of comeback, if only because I want to argue with any blanket statement telling me I can’t do something. I felt something was missing.

And then today I figured out what the comeback would be.

Yes, but there will be casualties on both sides.

I think it rounds out the truth quite nicely.

No problems dropping off Alphie. Again, she was entirely unconcerned by my leaving.

Classes were fine. One professor is funny:

After a poor response to a pretty good joke he sighed and said “I know... It’s Friday. And it has been a long semester.”

That got quite a laugh. He followed it up pretty well by muttering to himself, in complete deadpan, “I’m serious, and it just gets longer everyday.”

Alphie acknowledged my return to her life with a few seconds of steadfast avoidance, then a running, screaming, giggling greeting.

She subsequently did not want to leave daycare. She ran from me, screamed as I tried to put her coat on, and screamed even more when she saw her car seat.

I can take that as a good sign, but it might become pretty tiring if it persists.

Alphie still doesn’t really have a “Lovie” or “Blanky” or Transitional object. We are not concerned about her general lack of affinity to any single object, but we have had a slowly growing concern that she will decide to develop an attachment to an inappropriate object.

Perhaps the most problematic object that she could choose would be one the books that litter the loft, which she plays with for most of the day. Fortunately, she has not shown any real interest in taking these to bed or with sleeping on them.

Unfortunately, she does really seem to like our bathroom hand-towels.

They are nice hand towels. They were gifts from my father, with our initials embroidered on them. They are fluffy, and soft. And Alphie loves them.

So, being parents, we have sought to deprive her of them. She can grab them when she is jumping in her jumping chair, but after that, they go back on the towel rack.

Until today. Today is Towel Day. It is a tribute to Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (a series he is most well known for, and which I enjoyed) and two marvelous books featuring Dirk Gently (which I enjoyed far more than Hitch Hiker's Guide). Mr. Adams died in May 2001 of a sudden heart attack. Oh, he also did a lot of other stuff, no doubt, as humans tend to wander through life doing lots of little things that no one else really notices, like love and be loved, and wake up every day of their lives and get out of bed and live. But the big things he is remembered for by most people are that he was a satirical writer, and he made the number “forty-two” extremely popular among people who put “reading” down in their list of hobbies. If you meet someone who is a serious Adams fan, they would also be able to tell you what a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is. If you really want to know without finding out about it in context. (The idea of Towel Day is also based on an inside joke that one would share in if one read the book (or saw the movie, or the BBC series, or listened to the BBC radio series, or watch the other BBC series... or asked a friend about it).)

So, in honor of Towel Day, and because it is becoming increasingly apparent that there is nothing we can do to prevent Alphie’s attachment to the towels, she has been allowed to lug one around today.

Much cuteness ensued: