Bueller-esque

I got to spend part of my morning at the local DMV office, as today is a day when they are actually open. California long ago adopted the sophisticated 'take a number' approach to handling walk-in traffic and today there was a sizable crowd waiting to be helped when I arrived.

Thankfully, I had planned ahead and scheduled an appointment. About two-thirds of the way through not-resolving my issues our reverie was broken by the sound of the clerk working the far-end of the counter calling for the next number. And the next number. And the number after that.

Finally, in a very uncharacteristic display of humor for a state employee she just blurted out "Anyone with a number...." I didn't see who stepped up to the counter.

Weather

A view of the odd cloud formations that hit town about 5 o'clock this evening. Shot from the parking lot behind the shop.

What is that?

Testing...1,2,3

Goes without Saying

This study finds that Dogs are smarter than Cats...well, duh!:

They may have nine lives, but cats apparently just don't have the extra smarts when compared to dogs, according to a new study.

Dr. Britta Osthaus, of England's Canterbury Christ Church University, carried out series of experiments testing the intelligence of domestic cats in order to determine their processes of thinking in terms of cause and effect relationships.

Dr. Osthaus tested the ability of the animals to get unreachable food from under a plastic screen. In one scenario, one string was used with a treat attached. In another, two parallel strings were used with just one baited. And in the third setting, two strings were crossed, with food attached to only one.

The psychologist determined there was nothing to indicate that the animals understood the purpose of the strings. All cats were successful with the single string test, however, none of them consistently selected the needed string in the second setting -- unlike dogs.

In the test involving crossed strings, one cat was constantly selecting the wrong string while the rest performed at chance level.

Dr. Osthaus was surprised by the findings and concluded that cats "performed even worse than dogs."

They are the smarter species...my sock-eater especially so!

Does your wife know about this?

More is in fact almost always better it turns out...

Stupid Office Tricks

I presume that this video made the email circuit a few years back and so is not necessarily new and exciting. But it's funny and makes for a nice test of the new Video feature.

He Said "Balls"...

Quite the headline.

Not in my Job Description

How many sales guys does it take to prep 13 boxes on the shipping dock?

Oddity of the Day

The snakes are everywhere:

Altana Inc., a member of the Nycomed group, announces the start of the summer season with a warning that the 2007 snakebite season is already a busy one. The frequency of snakebites increases during the summer holidays because that is the time that snakes and people are most active. The number of bites in any given season depends on a variety of factors including geography, rainfall and temperature. Many experts believe that increasing development (for living and recreation) into natural snake habitats is a significant factor in the increased number of bites.

"We've treated a lot of snakebites and it is still early in the season," said Dr. Sean Bush, Staff Emergency Physician & Envenomation Specialist, Loma Linda University Medical Center. "Depending on where you are in the U.S., warm weather patterns mean more snakes are out in search of food and water. Also, many of our housing developments coincide with snake habitats, and excursions into snake territory mean more people are at risk for snakebite." Roughly 8,000 venomous snakebites occur in the U.S. each year. About a dozen fatalities are reported annually.
Recent media reports across the U.S. indicate an increase in the frequency of reported snake activity. The Scottsdale, Arizona Fire Department has reported 411 snake removal calls since April 1, up from the 353 calls fielded last spring during the same timeframe. Professional snake wrangler Bo Slyapich in Los Angeles has logged three times the usual number of emergency calls so far this season.

"With the increase in reported snake activity and the advent of warmer climatic conditions, we may be witnessing the start of a very busy snakebite season...."

Yes, everywhere!

Schrute Bucks

"For every good thing you do, you will receive one Schrute Buck."

Below Average

Yep, that's me:

Your estimated greenhouse gas emissions are 36 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent per year, which is below the national average in the US.

I have no idea how this works or what the calculations are or aren't based on but apparently I'm somewhat eco-friendly. Unlike the critter that's been tearing up our back-yard recently...

Why do I always get the Crazy ones?

Comments are the measuring stick by which most successful blogs are judged as such. Well, that and daily traffic. As owner & proprietor of this fine site I must profess that I have mixed feelings about our little unknown, oft-unvisited corner of the Internet.

On the one-hand it makes me frustrated beyond words that where there was once a plan and effort in place to slowly build traffic and readership that has seen time become private enemy #1 over the last year and a half and left our offerings unread in numbers that rival our first couple months of existence. On the other hand, simply because I have no time to devote to the blog, I also have no time to care.

Of late though I'd noticed a small flurry of activity. Visits up slightly and the occasional comment(s). Turning a corner? Wishful thinking I know but I have allowed the thought to stick around for more than a few minutes at a time.

So this morning when I noticed that we'd had a visitor leave comment about this post on Iraq arguments, I was intrigued. Perhaps a discussion in the making?

Or maybe not.

Our visitor, signing with an obvious alias essentially linked his own blog-post as comment to mine. Well, okay. I'm game...maybe it'll be interesting.

Or maybe I'd rather stick a hot poker in my eye. First off, we get a hot-link to pretty much every scholarly, lay and everything-in-between analysis of the PNAC which of course transitions seamlessly into a discussion of what W knew and how the Neo-conservative uber-menchen installed him as President and quickly facilitated the false-flag op known as 9/11.

The further you read the more your head hurts and I was not spared the same. Our good friend is a loon.

There is no other word for it. The combination of conspiracy theory and new-agey spiritualism stupefies.

Sadly, at the end of the day he's just another one of these guys.

Q & A

Q: What is scarier than this?

A: Lots of things, this not the least of them.

Oliver Rose Strikes Again!

Very War of the Roses-ish...

A 43-year-old German decided to settle his imminent divorce by chain sawing a family home in two and making off with his half in a forklift truck.

Police in the eastern town of Sonneberg said on Friday the trained mason measured the single-story summer house — which was some 8 meters (26 feet) long and 6 meters wide — before chain sawing through the wooden roof and walls.

"The man said he was just taking his due," said a police spokesman. "But I don't think his wife was too pleased."

That cheering you heard...

It was something you don't see or hear, well, ever. What does it say when your office is warmly welcoming the copier repair man with all the warmth and sincerity of long-lost family?

Professional Ironies

This is one of those things that has us scratching our heads at the office. I've placed a prospective advertiser into a special publication next month. They've been on my prospect list for about 6 months and this special was a natural fit for them.

It's a well-known, national home-improvement chain...well, alright. You got me; it's a paint store.

So when all is said and done, they will run their 1/4-page in our Home Improvement section next month. In black & white...