Over the past couple of weeks, I have been totally captivated by the story of Jill Carroll, the freelance reporter who was kidnapped in Baghdad last January, and released at the end of March.
She recently published her story http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/carroll/index.html?s=u as a 10-part series, which began on Monday August 14, 2006 and ran through August 25, 2006 (10 business days). And an epilogue which was published yesterday.
I think part of what was so cool was that I happened to find a link to it from somewhere when I was web surfing on August 14th. So it was neat to actually get to see each part of the story as it was published every day. And each day left me not wanting to wait until the next day to hear more, like a good episode of "Lost" or "24." Except this was not fiction.
I cannot pinpoint exactly what about it was so consuming. It was all I could think about for days, although I didn't really mention that to anyone else. But I think it had something to do with the down-to-earth writing style of Jill Carroll, coupled with the US side of the story by Peter Grier (a staff writer where Jill worked) interspersed in the article for contextual purposes. Plus the streaming video of Jill and others involved in her eventual release. I guess it's just striking that she seems so down-to-earth. She's not that much younger than I. She seems like the kind of person who could be one of my friends. Or me. It was easy to put myself in her shoes and become completely engrossed in the story. I admire her courage. If I could have half that much courage and wisdom in everything I encounter in my life, I'd be well off.
Now, I don't want to raise expectations too high. I may be the only one to be quite so fascinated. But still, you should read her story when you get a chance. http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/carroll/index.html?s=u I enjoyed it very much, and learned a lot too.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Ultimate Frisbee - I'm not quite dead yet!
For the last several years, I've been playing Ultimate Frisbee with friends at Antrim Park in Columbus once a week. It's just a pick-up game, not a league. It's great exercise, and I get to see people more often that I may not otherwise see.
This year, attendance has really taken a dive. And I'm not really sure why. For a few weeks in a row recently it was really hot out. I skipped at least once because of this. On a day like that, it's understandable why attendance would be low. However, last Tuesday was gorgeous. Low 80's and not much humidity for a change. Even so, we still had only 7 people show up. 3 on 4 isn't that much fun. IMO, you need at least 8 (4 on 4) to have a good game, and even that is pushing it. We used to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 on 7 or 8 on 8, and sometimes more!
It's disappointing.
I've been brainstorming a lot about this, and wondering if there are ways to boost attendance.
Of course, as with just about anything, things get old and sometimes an event has run it's course. Maybe that's the case for our Ultimate games at Antrim. But I personally don't want to see it end.
With a lot of things, I know that if my friends are talking about going, then I'm more likely to go. If my friends aren't as excited about something, I may not be as excited either. So we could send emails to people and try to rally interest. (like the "so-and-so is doing it, you should too" advertising technique.) But that could take a lot of effort every week, and who has time for that? And I'm not sure if we should *have* to go that far.
I wondered about posting on something like craigslist? I am not really sure how that works but might be worth looking into. Maybe get some new blood.
I also wondered if maybe going to an every-other-week thing would be better for attendance. Maybe some people just don't want to take the time to go every week. If it was less frequent, maybe we'd get more people per week. i.e. those who don't want to come every week, at least would be there the same week, not scattered across different weeks.
I dunno, I really don't want to see ultimate end. But I'm not sure what we can do. You can't make people do something they don't want to do. But I think there are at least a few of us who want to see it keep going, maybe it's not quite dead yet?
----------------------------
Update:
I almost didn't go to Ultimate Frisbee last night because it seemed like nobody else was going to go. But it was such a nice day that I went anyway. Including me, there were 6 of us. So we just made the playing field smaller and played anyway. And we still had fun. Although playing 3 on 3 is pretty tiring! But at least it forces me to get more exercise instead of slacking off.
This year, attendance has really taken a dive. And I'm not really sure why. For a few weeks in a row recently it was really hot out. I skipped at least once because of this. On a day like that, it's understandable why attendance would be low. However, last Tuesday was gorgeous. Low 80's and not much humidity for a change. Even so, we still had only 7 people show up. 3 on 4 isn't that much fun. IMO, you need at least 8 (4 on 4) to have a good game, and even that is pushing it. We used to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 on 7 or 8 on 8, and sometimes more!
It's disappointing.
I've been brainstorming a lot about this, and wondering if there are ways to boost attendance.
Of course, as with just about anything, things get old and sometimes an event has run it's course. Maybe that's the case for our Ultimate games at Antrim. But I personally don't want to see it end.
With a lot of things, I know that if my friends are talking about going, then I'm more likely to go. If my friends aren't as excited about something, I may not be as excited either. So we could send emails to people and try to rally interest. (like the "so-and-so is doing it, you should too" advertising technique.) But that could take a lot of effort every week, and who has time for that? And I'm not sure if we should *have* to go that far.
I wondered about posting on something like craigslist? I am not really sure how that works but might be worth looking into. Maybe get some new blood.
I also wondered if maybe going to an every-other-week thing would be better for attendance. Maybe some people just don't want to take the time to go every week. If it was less frequent, maybe we'd get more people per week. i.e. those who don't want to come every week, at least would be there the same week, not scattered across different weeks.
I dunno, I really don't want to see ultimate end. But I'm not sure what we can do. You can't make people do something they don't want to do. But I think there are at least a few of us who want to see it keep going, maybe it's not quite dead yet?
----------------------------
Update:
I almost didn't go to Ultimate Frisbee last night because it seemed like nobody else was going to go. But it was such a nice day that I went anyway. Including me, there were 6 of us. So we just made the playing field smaller and played anyway. And we still had fun. Although playing 3 on 3 is pretty tiring! But at least it forces me to get more exercise instead of slacking off.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Dumb Web Page Functionality
My company, Cardinal Solutions, is having a company event at Scioto Downs tonight. I've never been there before but I think it should be fun. They sent an address for the place. I'll be going staight from my dentist's office, so I wanted to see google map's recommendation for how to get there from the dentist. But for whatever reason, the Scioto Downs address that was sent out was not found on google maps.
So I went straight to Scioto Down's website. They had some vague directions on there that basically said "Scioto Downs is located two miles south of Route 270 on Route 23 South (High Street)."
I was wanting something a little more specific than that!
Then it says "Or, use MapQuest for custom directions. You can complete and submit the form below to generate a map of your choosing on the MapQuest site."
So it has a place to type in an address, and click "Get Map". So I typed in the address of my dentist, thinking this was going to give me to/from directions between my dentist and Scioto Downs. But, it gave me a map OF my dentist's office. I already know where that is! And if I didn't, I wouldn't be going to the Scioto Down's webpage to find it!
But it says I would get "a map of [my] choosing" so I guess that was right.
That's one of the dumbest things I've ever seen on a web page.
So I went straight to Scioto Down's website. They had some vague directions on there that basically said "Scioto Downs is located two miles south of Route 270 on Route 23 South (High Street)."
I was wanting something a little more specific than that!
Then it says "Or, use MapQuest for custom directions. You can complete and submit the form below to generate a map of your choosing on the MapQuest site."
So it has a place to type in an address, and click "Get Map". So I typed in the address of my dentist, thinking this was going to give me to/from directions between my dentist and Scioto Downs. But, it gave me a map OF my dentist's office. I already know where that is! And if I didn't, I wouldn't be going to the Scioto Down's webpage to find it!
But it says I would get "a map of [my] choosing" so I guess that was right.
That's one of the dumbest things I've ever seen on a web page.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Lowe's vs. Home Depot
I really flip-flop as to whether I like Lowe's better, or Home Depot. To the average consumer they are very comparable stores, of course.
At Home Depot, you can buy trim (baseboard and crown molding) by the foot. You can cut a piece the size you need, and only pay for that. At Lowe's, you have to buy a whole 8 foot or 12 foot (or whatever size it comes in) piece you need, no matter what. +1 Home Depot.
Lowe's is opened one hour later in the evening than Home Depot. +1 Lowe's.
Home Depot had this very cool thing last time I went to return an item. I did not have the receipt (I had it in my car a couple days before I got around to returning it, and the receipt blew out of my sunroof window one nice day when I was driving w/ all the windows open. Really!) so I wasn't sure how returning that item would go. But since I paid by credit card, they were able to swipe my card then scan the item, and voila! The transaction came up, they credited my card, simple. +1 Home Depot.
When you buy mulch, lawn soil or the like at Lowe's or Home Depot, you can just write down the product number and tell that to the cashier, and say "I want X bags of this." At Lowe's, you take your receipt, get your vehicle and drive up to the garden center. They actually have almost this drive-through kind of thing. You enter through the front, an associate helps you load the items on your receipt into your car, and you drive out the back and you're on your way. (kind of like one of those beverage drive-through places, but you've already paid). Last time I bought something like that at Home Depot, I drove over to the garden center and nobody was around. Checked the side, checked the front, nobody. Finally took my receipt back in and went up to the customer service desk. Evidently the garden center closes 30 minutes before the rest of the store, which is why nobody was over there. But they said we could just grab a cart and go get the items ourselves. So we did. But it's a good thing for them that we're honest people. Within reason, we could have easily made off with a few extra bags or grabbed some more expensive bags instead. Nobody checked. But what a hassle. +1 Lowe's
Well, my most recent experience was with paint. July 4th weekend, 2006, both Lowe's and Home Depot were offering rebates on paint. I ended up buying two gallons of paint, one color from Lowe's and one from Home Depot.
To be fair, if I get the Home Depot rebate within one week from yesterday, since I mailed it one week later, I will give them a +1, too. But I don't expect that to happen since their processing time was "a minimum of 11 - 13 weeks"
CURRENT SCORE:
Home Depot = 2
Lowe's = 3
Update: I got my rebate from Home Depot this past weekend. It was just barely shy of 7 weeks after mailing. So that was indeed much less than their stated "Minimum of 11-13 weeks" so I can't subtract any points from them. But I still can't give them a point because Lowe's turnaround time was SO impressive, but 7 weeks is not impressive. That's just average.
At Home Depot, you can buy trim (baseboard and crown molding) by the foot. You can cut a piece the size you need, and only pay for that. At Lowe's, you have to buy a whole 8 foot or 12 foot (or whatever size it comes in) piece you need, no matter what. +1 Home Depot.
Lowe's is opened one hour later in the evening than Home Depot. +1 Lowe's.
Home Depot had this very cool thing last time I went to return an item. I did not have the receipt (I had it in my car a couple days before I got around to returning it, and the receipt blew out of my sunroof window one nice day when I was driving w/ all the windows open. Really!) so I wasn't sure how returning that item would go. But since I paid by credit card, they were able to swipe my card then scan the item, and voila! The transaction came up, they credited my card, simple. +1 Home Depot.
When you buy mulch, lawn soil or the like at Lowe's or Home Depot, you can just write down the product number and tell that to the cashier, and say "I want X bags of this." At Lowe's, you take your receipt, get your vehicle and drive up to the garden center. They actually have almost this drive-through kind of thing. You enter through the front, an associate helps you load the items on your receipt into your car, and you drive out the back and you're on your way. (kind of like one of those beverage drive-through places, but you've already paid). Last time I bought something like that at Home Depot, I drove over to the garden center and nobody was around. Checked the side, checked the front, nobody. Finally took my receipt back in and went up to the customer service desk. Evidently the garden center closes 30 minutes before the rest of the store, which is why nobody was over there. But they said we could just grab a cart and go get the items ourselves. So we did. But it's a good thing for them that we're honest people. Within reason, we could have easily made off with a few extra bags or grabbed some more expensive bags instead. Nobody checked. But what a hassle. +1 Lowe's
Well, my most recent experience was with paint. July 4th weekend, 2006, both Lowe's and Home Depot were offering rebates on paint. I ended up buying two gallons of paint, one color from Lowe's and one from Home Depot.
- I mailed the Lowe's rebates on 7/10/06. I mailed the Home Depot rebate one week later, 7/17/06.
- Lowe's fine print said "Allow 6-8 weeks for processing." Home Depot's fine print said "Please allow a minimum of 11-13 weeks for processing."
- I received the Lowe's rebate check in the mail yesterday, 8/3/06. 4 weeks and 3 days after I dropped it in the mailbox.
To be fair, if I get the Home Depot rebate within one week from yesterday, since I mailed it one week later, I will give them a +1, too. But I don't expect that to happen since their processing time was "a minimum of 11 - 13 weeks"
CURRENT SCORE:
Home Depot = 2
Lowe's = 3
Update: I got my rebate from Home Depot this past weekend. It was just barely shy of 7 weeks after mailing. So that was indeed much less than their stated "Minimum of 11-13 weeks" so I can't subtract any points from them. But I still can't give them a point because Lowe's turnaround time was SO impressive, but 7 weeks is not impressive. That's just average.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
My Lawn Sucks
Well, given the extremely hot weather lately, my lawn is definitely not as green anymore. But actually it's pretty good except for right next to the driveway. Not sure if that's just rockier soil or what.
I put the Scott's crabgrass preventer stuff down in the spring. But does anyone know what this is?
Is it Crabgrass? I thought it was. And maybe it is. But this description of Dallisgrass maybe seems more accurate
http://www.american-lawns.com/problems/weeds/dallisgrass.html
because the stuff in my yard is a little lighter in color (even though it looks darker than the brown grass in the picture) and the article says it tends to thrive in wet areas with lots of heat (I have been watering that area more, and it has been hot outside).
So I'm not sure what to do exactly. If I pull it up and reseed, well that will look like crap for awhile. Plus it might be too hot to reseed right now. (and my neighbor will probably think the dead grass spot is bugs, hahah) But at the same time, I've read stuff that says it's better to wait until fall and reseed. Because regular grass will germinate and grow roots in the fall, but crabgrass dies out once it gets cooler. Yet, if I let it go for now and this stuff starts spreading to my neighbor's yard I'm sure he wouldn't be too happy about that.
I've also got some other weeds in the corner, and I have no idea what this is.
(this is what it looks like "in context")
Here's what it looks like after I yanked some of it out to get a closer look:
If anyone has seen this stuff before, let me know!
Hmm... maybe I'm the one who needs something better to pay attention to.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
My Kitchen II
I got my kitchen painted last weekend, thanks to help from Brooke and from my brother Dan. I put some more recent pictures out there. The color in the photos looks fairly accurate. Most of them look a little lighter than actual, if anything, but not much. But the color turned out exactly as I had pictured, which is the important thing. It's even the color I pictured in my mind before I had given any thought to re-doing the cabinets, countertops, etc. It just so happens that it matches the countertops really well. Plus it nearly matches the color of the tile grout, bringing that out more. And, it matches a stripe in my living room couch when you look past the couch through the pass-through window into the kitchen. Yay!
Only lighting left to go.
Only lighting left to go.
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