Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Southern New Hampshire University and Grand Canyon University...Scams?
Why in the world are these two schools, Southern New Hampshire University and Grand Canyon University, running so many annoying ads on TV? I never see any other schools advertising. They're on ALL THE TIME! Why? How can they possibly be providing a decent education if they're blowing away so much money on advertising? I don't really know what the scam can be but it sure seems like there's a great similarity to Trump University...just a get rich quick for the investors. There appears to be an effort to flood the minds of prospective students with the hope that they actually believe the hype about how famous and well-respected they are...but they're not. Brainwashing isn't the best way to attract promising students...a real, positive reputation based on results would be best, eh? I hope no one is stupid enough to actually enroll there...I assume there are hundreds of better choices all around the country.
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Sports Teams
I don't fully understand anyone's loyalty to any given sports team. The teams are always in a state of flux and there is no actual team...especially in the pros and a bit less so in colleges. It even happens in high schools,,,maybe not in grade schools...I don't know.
It's like Animal Farm...or a flip book. In a flip book, one makes subtle changes from page to page until the final rendition is completely different than the first. I once worked at a company called Imagine. There were many people working there who came from a company called Iridio. As time went by, there were changes made in company focus, client targets and attitude. I told the owners that if I had wanted to work at Iridio I would have gone there in the first place but I was not one of the owners and could only observe. I made a flip book. I started with the word, Imagine...and on each page, I made a very slight change to the letters...at the end, after fanning through the booklet, what was...Iridio. That was what was really happening to the company as well...but no one seemed to notice...or care.
In Animal Farm (which I haven't read for a long, long time and may be incorrect with the details), the hapless animals saw nearly indistinct changes, day by day..."Didn't that sign used to say...? Didn't the pigs used to live in the barnyard with us? Weren't there people in the house?" Without even being aware of it, the farm animals learned to accept an entirely new reality.
That's what the sports teams are all about. There are very few, lasting members of any team. There are trades made to make improvements all the time. ..or the players insist on moving on...The Seattle Mariners and Seahawks are a good example. The fans show up at the games, paying for tickets, hot dogs, beer, tee shirts and a variety of memorabilia. Nothing stays the same though. The teams don't have any of the same players and the fans keep coming. "Go Hawks! Go Mariners!"...but these are not the same people they rooted for just one season ago. You can't go off thinking Griffey, A-Rod, Paxton or The Big Unit are your Mariners. They're not. They're gone. It's the same with the Seahawks. Yet the rabid fans keep on keepin' on.
Why in the world do the local fans continue to support their team...the individual players...any of it? It's always in transition. There is no real team! Those players who moved to other teams...they return as opponents, sometimes on the same day they left.
Russel Wilson changed schools...as so many others have done. He'll go to a different pro team if the money doesn't work out in Seattle. There is zero loyalty from team ownership or management to players or fans....or from players to teams or fans...and yet the local fan base remains attached to the team. It simply makes no sense. There is no team!
The coaches and managers are no different. There's a revolving door in the offices and clubhouses of all pro and college organizations.
"Didn't that guy used to be our running back? Wasn't he our pitcher?" Go team!
It's like Animal Farm...or a flip book. In a flip book, one makes subtle changes from page to page until the final rendition is completely different than the first. I once worked at a company called Imagine. There were many people working there who came from a company called Iridio. As time went by, there were changes made in company focus, client targets and attitude. I told the owners that if I had wanted to work at Iridio I would have gone there in the first place but I was not one of the owners and could only observe. I made a flip book. I started with the word, Imagine...and on each page, I made a very slight change to the letters...at the end, after fanning through the booklet, what was...Iridio. That was what was really happening to the company as well...but no one seemed to notice...or care.
In Animal Farm (which I haven't read for a long, long time and may be incorrect with the details), the hapless animals saw nearly indistinct changes, day by day..."Didn't that sign used to say...? Didn't the pigs used to live in the barnyard with us? Weren't there people in the house?" Without even being aware of it, the farm animals learned to accept an entirely new reality.
That's what the sports teams are all about. There are very few, lasting members of any team. There are trades made to make improvements all the time. ..or the players insist on moving on...The Seattle Mariners and Seahawks are a good example. The fans show up at the games, paying for tickets, hot dogs, beer, tee shirts and a variety of memorabilia. Nothing stays the same though. The teams don't have any of the same players and the fans keep coming. "Go Hawks! Go Mariners!"...but these are not the same people they rooted for just one season ago. You can't go off thinking Griffey, A-Rod, Paxton or The Big Unit are your Mariners. They're not. They're gone. It's the same with the Seahawks. Yet the rabid fans keep on keepin' on.
Why in the world do the local fans continue to support their team...the individual players...any of it? It's always in transition. There is no real team! Those players who moved to other teams...they return as opponents, sometimes on the same day they left.
Russel Wilson changed schools...as so many others have done. He'll go to a different pro team if the money doesn't work out in Seattle. There is zero loyalty from team ownership or management to players or fans....or from players to teams or fans...and yet the local fan base remains attached to the team. It simply makes no sense. There is no team!
The coaches and managers are no different. There's a revolving door in the offices and clubhouses of all pro and college organizations.
"Didn't that guy used to be our running back? Wasn't he our pitcher?" Go team!
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Things that irritate me ..change the channel
I just thought to add this comment...at the beginning, rather than the end...most of the irritants mentioned below cause me to instantly turn off the radio or TV...or change the channel. It's all like chalkboard screeching and I can't stand it.
I don't pretend to know or speak perfect English...but there are so many things I hear and read that really annoy me! Here are some...in no particular order...and I'll add to this as I come across...or remember...others.
Sportscasters using the term, "difference maker". Somehow, to me, this term sounds childish at best. There simply must be another way to describe a person or event in a contest making a difference better than that.
Washington State sports announcers who can't seem to say, "Washington State". Instead they say, " Wash State, Washing State, Wahston, Washtn"...etc. It's only recently I realized the same thing occurs when media people speak of Washington DC...or the Washington Redskins...etc.
Ekcetera...no way!
Even though it's totally wrong to say..."Him and I did so and so..." or "Him and me did so and so..."...it's far worse when they say..."to he and I..."...That just indicates someone is really trying to sound intelligent and educated when it's just plain ignorant!
Weather reporters saying "temps" or "précip" just gets under my skin.
Anybody on the radio or TV who says, "This particular time..." Lose the 'particular!
So many people say, "at the end of the day"...or "net net"...or "as it were..."
Meaningless fillers are used, apparently just to appear educated...or something...How about just ending a statement with "with", which is nonsense...and other times, just inserting "if" without meaning...like, "if you will follow me...", without continuing with the "if" part...better to say, "please follow me..." (make sense?)...and too often, I hear "per se" and "I digress..." Those things are just meaningless comments...fillers, best left, unsaid.
Calling dollars 'bucks'!
"Speak to the issue..." I don't understand that. One speaks about and issue...not 'to' an issue.
"...at the same time..." That's certainly overused!
Okay..."Try and see what's going on..." or "Try and find out something..."...etc. What in the world is that all about? You don't "try AND see". You "try TO see"! If you're trying AND seeing, there's no need to try since you've already indicated you know you'll see whatever it is. You're trying TO see something!
Traffic reporters saying traffic is backed up in "either direction" rather than "both directions". This, while grammatically acceptable, is a pretentious way of speaking.
And, speaking of being pretentious, how about pronouncing the word "either" with a long 'I" rather than a long "E" sound.
Pretentious again...news media of all kinds and everyone else speaking...misuse of the descriptive words "further" and "farther"! For example, saying something is "further away" rather than "farther away" seems to be a feeble attempt to sound enlightened and intelligent while exposing ignorance of the language.
Anyone who says "nuculer" rather than "nuclear". President Bush said it so many times, I had to look it up, thinking I must be wrong.
The inability or lack of desire to pronounce the letter "L" normally. The Tom Bokaw, Peter Falk, Pete Rose (and others), tendency of speaking with a dark, velarized, Slavic, liquid "L" really irritates me. This is dialectical and can be corrected. There was a local weatherman with that problem and it was hilarious when he said he was a "meteorologist".
A certain, local, radio personality actually pronounces the word "err" with a short "U" sound...as in "her". This is simply preposterous and highly pretentious. When I hear it, I immediately switch stations.
Sports broadcasters placing emphasis oddly. For example, with the score of three to two, and the leading team scores again, the announcer says, "Now the score is four to TWO", emphasizing the two...rather than, "FOUR to two".
All sports people who claim a team is 'within one or two...or whatever number' when they're actually trailing by that amount. They are not within that amount! Say, the score is 10 to 3 and the trailing team scores 1 more to make it 10 to 4. They are NOT within 6 at that point.
Another...ending a sentence with "at" such as, "Where are you at?" The "at" is unnecessary of course.
How about all those "gots"? "You've got to see this" is really, "You have got to see this" and should be, "You have to see this". Better yet, "You must see this". The main issue is the insertion of "got" in so many places where it shouldn't be. Arby's ran an ad for a long time..."We've got the meat". However, they've seen the light and now the ad is, "We have the meat". (How nice!) Similarly, the word "that" is thrown into so many sentences, unnecessarily, it makes my blood churn! Also, the word, "that" is used to describe people when the word, "who" is better used.
"I could care less"! I was reading a Salon article the other day which described Trump's apparent feelings for immigrants. In it, the author wrote, "He could care less". When I read or hear such things, I stop right there...and move on to some other article or station.
There are so many ways people start sentences oddly...some people I know begin every sentence with, "I mean..." or " Ya know..."
Saying, "carmel" instead of "caramel"...
I don't pretend to know or speak perfect English...but there are so many things I hear and read that really annoy me! Here are some...in no particular order...and I'll add to this as I come across...or remember...others.
Sportscasters using the term, "difference maker". Somehow, to me, this term sounds childish at best. There simply must be another way to describe a person or event in a contest making a difference better than that.
Washington State sports announcers who can't seem to say, "Washington State". Instead they say, " Wash State, Washing State, Wahston, Washtn"...etc. It's only recently I realized the same thing occurs when media people speak of Washington DC...or the Washington Redskins...etc.
Ekcetera...no way!
Even though it's totally wrong to say..."Him and I did so and so..." or "Him and me did so and so..."...it's far worse when they say..."to he and I..."...That just indicates someone is really trying to sound intelligent and educated when it's just plain ignorant!
Weather reporters saying "temps" or "précip" just gets under my skin.
Anybody on the radio or TV who says, "This particular time..." Lose the 'particular!
So many people say, "at the end of the day"...or "net net"...or "as it were..."
Meaningless fillers are used, apparently just to appear educated...or something...How about just ending a statement with "with", which is nonsense...and other times, just inserting "if" without meaning...like, "if you will follow me...", without continuing with the "if" part...better to say, "please follow me..." (make sense?)...and too often, I hear "per se" and "I digress..." Those things are just meaningless comments...fillers, best left, unsaid.
Calling dollars 'bucks'!
"Speak to the issue..." I don't understand that. One speaks about and issue...not 'to' an issue.
"...at the same time..." That's certainly overused!
Okay..."Try and see what's going on..." or "Try and find out something..."...etc. What in the world is that all about? You don't "try AND see". You "try TO see"! If you're trying AND seeing, there's no need to try since you've already indicated you know you'll see whatever it is. You're trying TO see something!
Traffic reporters saying traffic is backed up in "either direction" rather than "both directions". This, while grammatically acceptable, is a pretentious way of speaking.
And, speaking of being pretentious, how about pronouncing the word "either" with a long 'I" rather than a long "E" sound.
Pretentious again...news media of all kinds and everyone else speaking...misuse of the descriptive words "further" and "farther"! For example, saying something is "further away" rather than "farther away" seems to be a feeble attempt to sound enlightened and intelligent while exposing ignorance of the language.
Anyone who says "nuculer" rather than "nuclear". President Bush said it so many times, I had to look it up, thinking I must be wrong.
The inability or lack of desire to pronounce the letter "L" normally. The Tom Bokaw, Peter Falk, Pete Rose (and others), tendency of speaking with a dark, velarized, Slavic, liquid "L" really irritates me. This is dialectical and can be corrected. There was a local weatherman with that problem and it was hilarious when he said he was a "meteorologist".
A certain, local, radio personality actually pronounces the word "err" with a short "U" sound...as in "her". This is simply preposterous and highly pretentious. When I hear it, I immediately switch stations.
Sports broadcasters placing emphasis oddly. For example, with the score of three to two, and the leading team scores again, the announcer says, "Now the score is four to TWO", emphasizing the two...rather than, "FOUR to two".
All sports people who claim a team is 'within one or two...or whatever number' when they're actually trailing by that amount. They are not within that amount! Say, the score is 10 to 3 and the trailing team scores 1 more to make it 10 to 4. They are NOT within 6 at that point.
Another...ending a sentence with "at" such as, "Where are you at?" The "at" is unnecessary of course.
How about all those "gots"? "You've got to see this" is really, "You have got to see this" and should be, "You have to see this". Better yet, "You must see this". The main issue is the insertion of "got" in so many places where it shouldn't be. Arby's ran an ad for a long time..."We've got the meat". However, they've seen the light and now the ad is, "We have the meat". (How nice!) Similarly, the word "that" is thrown into so many sentences, unnecessarily, it makes my blood churn! Also, the word, "that" is used to describe people when the word, "who" is better used.
"I could care less"! I was reading a Salon article the other day which described Trump's apparent feelings for immigrants. In it, the author wrote, "He could care less". When I read or hear such things, I stop right there...and move on to some other article or station.
There are so many ways people start sentences oddly...some people I know begin every sentence with, "I mean..." or " Ya know..."
Saying, "carmel" instead of "caramel"...
Friday, November 2, 2018
What does the president do?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qJxQXYXWnE
What does the President DO ????
...oh...I see now...
What does the President DO ????
...oh...I see now...
Sunday, October 7, 2018
onebox
This service is worth absolutely nothing. It takes forever to log on and other times...it doesn't work at all. I can't even log on to make a comment! We PAY for this crap?!
I can't log on at all...all day! I can't get in contact with onebox.
I can't log on at all...all day! I can't get in contact with onebox.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Trump attacks Germany
I just had to get this out...Today, Trump lashed out at Germany for it's energy ties to Russia and it seemed so odd for an American President to accuse a NATO ally of cozying up to Russia...Not odd at all and exactly what should be expected. It's called deflection. The plan is to divert attention from Trump's own Russia problems to someone else. Deflection. It's just another con to save his ass.
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
With eyes on midterms, Trump embraces immigration fight
Say it isn't so! Is Trump planning a last-second reprieve for all those families he's had separated at the border so he can claim how wonderful he is? Is he really using the lives of innocent people to advance his political agenda? Does he really not care about the damage he's doing to so many men, women and children that he's holding hostage? Say it isn't so! (But I know it is. He really IS that evil.)
...Or maybe he'll continue the suffering in order to have his wall built...on the backs of broken families and permanently scarred children. Indeed, he is that evil. Trump is personally responsible for all the pain. If he were human at all just a simple phone call would do it...but he's less than human. In any case, Heaven help us all...and deliver us from the evil that is Trump.
Maybe this will be remembered as the infamous, "Hostages for Wall" deal.
...Or maybe he'll continue the suffering in order to have his wall built...on the backs of broken families and permanently scarred children. Indeed, he is that evil. Trump is personally responsible for all the pain. If he were human at all just a simple phone call would do it...but he's less than human. In any case, Heaven help us all...and deliver us from the evil that is Trump.
Maybe this will be remembered as the infamous, "Hostages for Wall" deal.
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Raging River Cafe
Oh the price of a simple breakfast! For the first time in years, I went out for breakfast...to the little, old eatery in Fall City. After waiting a half hour for the place to open, I had 2 eggs with sausage and hash-browns, tomato juice and coffee. The total for this simple meal for one was $17.79. That's just plain too much! (Uh...there's also that 20% tip which I added to the $17.79 so it ended up costing just over $20 for...what?) I tried adding a review on Yelp to make potential customers aware of the high price of breakfast at the Raging River but Yelp wanted me to sign in...and agree to their terms. I decided not to risk subjecting myself to whatever those terms might be. Instead, I'm just posting my review here:
"I just had breakfast there. The food and service was fine but...$17.79 for 2 eggs and a tomato juice eating there by myself!? That's just a bit out of line and I won't be returning."
So...there it is.
Maybe that's why fast food places like McDonalds stay in business... or maybe that's why I seldom buy my meals out.
"I just had breakfast there. The food and service was fine but...$17.79 for 2 eggs and a tomato juice eating there by myself!? That's just a bit out of line and I won't be returning."
So...there it is.
Maybe that's why fast food places like McDonalds stay in business... or maybe that's why I seldom buy my meals out.
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Late Swallows
Just in case anyone's wondering, I decided to mention when the swallows returned to my neighborhood this year (2018). They first arrived on March 29! In recent years they's been appearing earlier and earlier, even as early as March 10....but this year made a grand reversal. Alas, spring is equally late coming.
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Kate's Teeth
Uh...not that it really matters but...it looks like whatever was done to Kate Middleton's teeth gave her an extra set of incisors. Have a look. On each side of her two front teeth there are two incisors before the canines start. There should only be one incisor between the front teeth and canines. I think it's odd and certainly unnatural.
Friday, January 5, 2018
Trump's War
It seems that Trump is desperate and foolish enough to start a war with North Korea to deflect from his political assailants. Didn't he already ask more than once that since we have so many nuclear weapons, why don't we use them? War seems to be the natural thing for Republicans.
As soon as Bush was elected, I predicted we'd have a war...and we had two. Neither one was winnable. There was nothing to be won in either but there was certainly an opportunity to put more money in the hands of the rich and an additional chance to tighten his grip on a free society and an ignorant populace.
Now we have Trump...and another war looming on the horizon. With a new war in North Korea, Trump can declare martial law and rid himself of, and silence, all his detractors in one push of the button. Or maybe, if that war doesn't materialize, he might settle for Iran...or somewhere else. He's just itching to start something before he's fully exposed and outed for being...Trump, eh?
Of course, Trump has already declared war on opioids. If he really wants to do something about that, why not make some use of the military efforts in Afghanistan? Why not take out the poppy fields and deprive the Taliban of their source of income? Afghanistan produces more opium than all other countries combined. Why not combine the foolish war effort in Afghanistan with a real war against opioids? Raze all the poppy fields. Find some meaning in an otherwise meaningless war. Then negotiate with the Chinese for a solution to rampant synthetic opioid production.
Incidentally, the war Trump did declare on opiates last year, via an executive order, went only so far as to commission a report. There was absolutely no funding made available to do anything at all, regardless of anything contained in such report. As a result, nothing has been done. No war on opiates. Only a report. What a waste! However, Trump has falsely grabbed the spotlight for his demonstration of concern for the public welfare in that regard.
As soon as Bush was elected, I predicted we'd have a war...and we had two. Neither one was winnable. There was nothing to be won in either but there was certainly an opportunity to put more money in the hands of the rich and an additional chance to tighten his grip on a free society and an ignorant populace.
Now we have Trump...and another war looming on the horizon. With a new war in North Korea, Trump can declare martial law and rid himself of, and silence, all his detractors in one push of the button. Or maybe, if that war doesn't materialize, he might settle for Iran...or somewhere else. He's just itching to start something before he's fully exposed and outed for being...Trump, eh?
Of course, Trump has already declared war on opioids. If he really wants to do something about that, why not make some use of the military efforts in Afghanistan? Why not take out the poppy fields and deprive the Taliban of their source of income? Afghanistan produces more opium than all other countries combined. Why not combine the foolish war effort in Afghanistan with a real war against opioids? Raze all the poppy fields. Find some meaning in an otherwise meaningless war. Then negotiate with the Chinese for a solution to rampant synthetic opioid production.
Incidentally, the war Trump did declare on opiates last year, via an executive order, went only so far as to commission a report. There was absolutely no funding made available to do anything at all, regardless of anything contained in such report. As a result, nothing has been done. No war on opiates. Only a report. What a waste! However, Trump has falsely grabbed the spotlight for his demonstration of concern for the public welfare in that regard.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)