Size Matters

The two-year anniversary of my bus riding is coming up next month and it's made me reflect a bit on the whole transit system.

First of all, I have to say that it has been great riding the bus; it saves us about $200 a month just in gas, not to mention the wear and tear on the Jeep; it usually gets me to work on time; and it only takes an extra six hours out of my life each week that I can never get back.

For those of you who ride the bus, have you noticed an increase in ridership in the last few months? I sure have. Last year with the gas price increases there wasn't the leap that there has been this year. At the park-and-ride where I catch the bus there used to be 3-4 of us waiting for the bus; now some days there are a dozen or more.

The thing with bus riders, though, is they're very peculiar. Even more so than most people. I think for most people the commute to work is part of their daily routine (we all have a daily routine--all those things that you do so often that you don't have to be conscious for them--like showering, getting dressed, etc.); and if anything gets in the way of that routine, or alters it in any way, it really messes with your head and throws the whole day off. For most people, the commute is something that's done alone, in a car, with your own music, and your own temperature controls, and nobody sitting on your lap. But that's not the case for bus riders...

It's funny to watch people on the bus; they each have their own quirks. Everyone has their favorite seat, and some people get as bent out of shape if someone takes it as they do at church when someone sits on their bench. Everyone does their own thing: some read, some sleep, some listen to music, some stare at people, mumble curse words, and spit randomly. The one thing that nobody likes (except one lady that gets on at my same stop) is to sit next to someone.

Every seat on the bus will fill up before any person sits next to any other person. I've seen people sit on the steps to the door rather than sit on a seat with someone else. There are, of course, some people who take up two seats by themselves (I'm not being mean--at least not really mean--the seats are pretty small). These people, if they're the first to sit in the seat, will usually not have anyone asking to sit next to them (people will instead wrap their arms up in the handles and hang like bats if the seats are all full). If all the seats are full, and they have to sit with someone, they don't ask, they don't hesitate; they just sit down, covering whoever was already sitting there (this is why I carry a snorkel in my backpack when gas prices are high).

And, of course, the "first-sitters" (the people who sit in the seat first) try various techniques to discourage people from sitting by them, trying to hold out to be the last person to have someone sitting next to them. You know the tricks: put your backpack/purse on the seat next to you (as though it were a person); sit on the aisle-side seat so they think that you're either saving the seat or there's a midget (can I still use that word?) sitting next to you; pretend to be asleep so the timid people won't dare ask you if they can sit there; pretend to have a conversation with various imaginary people around you; or, my favorite, fake a mild seizure while you spew expletives and spit randomly (this is the most effective).

So, that brings me to the point of my post. Typically we get a nice long "articulated" bus on my route, both morning and evening. It used to be that each person on the bus could have their own seat and there were some left over. Not anymore. Now, even with the long buses every seat is filled with two people (or one if the above scenario applies).

So, here's the question: why on Earth would UTA send a SHORT bus on that route? We completely fill up a LONG bus. Completely! There are people standing! I know they're counting methods have come under fire recently, but it was for over-estimating the ridership.

Anyway, I don't mean to complain. I still ride the bus, even if it does throw off my whole morning (sitting next to someone on the bus is a lot like realizing you don't have a towel in the bathroom as you're exiting the shower, reaching out blindly for it). It just shocks you into consciousness a bit before you're ready.

I'm sure the bus ridership will eventually go back down as people start realizing that there are real weirdos on the bus. Until then I have two options: get big enough to take up a whole seat myself, or faking seizures, mumbling expletives, and spitting randomly.

Kisses and Things

As I was eating my lunch today, I wondered: If Hersheys were to make little tiny kisses, would they be called 'Pecks'? And how big would a drop of cholocate have to be to be considered a 'Smooch'?

I'm not sure if they'd be able to make a unit of chocolate smaller than the 'Kiss'. At least, if they did, they wouldn't be able to wrap it in tin foil like the others. Can you imagine having to rip open the tin foil for every 1/10 ounce of chocolate? You'd burn as many calories trying to get the candy open as you'd actually ingest.

And, is it just me, or does everyone try to get the foil off without ripping it? Okay, yeah, that's just me. Does it bother anyone else when the little paper flag rips off as you're trying to open it, because you pulled it the wrong direction? Just me too again, huh?

All of this thinking about chocolate has made me curious: how many varieties of kisses are there now? And are they looking into developing pecks and smooches? Here's what I found out:

It turns out there are a lot of different varieties. There's the original milk chocolate, special dark chocolate, almonds, caramel, hugs (I guess these can be considered Kisses because they look the same), peanut butter, and chocolate truffle. Then, seasonally, they offer candy cane and mint truffle kisses.

In addition to all the regular kisses, they have what they call "Kissables", which are tiny kisses with a candy coating (they're probably just the M&M's that don't come out looking right). I've barely even heard of them, and don't remember ever seeing them in the store. They would be a lot more popular if they had named them 'Pecks'.

La Villa

As I was trying to think of something to blog about, I came across some pictures of my mission home (called "La Villa") that a recently returned mission president posted on the internet. It brought back a lot of good memories of my mission.


The Villa is on Via Cimone ('Via' meaning road, or way). It's a one-way loop in the north-eastern section of Rome. As I recall, you could take a bus from the main train station (Termini) up Via Nomentana to Piazza Sempione, then walk a short distance up Via Cimone to the Villa.


The Villa is a pretty unique building, even by Italian standards. It's one of the few buildings in Rome that has a gated courtyard (most buildings are right up next to the road). It's also probably one of a dozen buildings with a built-in basketball standard.


The Villa itself is four floors, three above ground and a basement. I never explored much in there, but when I stayed there my first 2 nights in Italy, I was in the room on the top right, with those three closed windows. I remember it was a grueling climb to the top (given the change in climate and the jetlag). There were also lots of bedrooms in the basement from what I understand.



Even the door leading into the Villa is pretty cool. It's a very heavy wooden double door. Notice the inscription above the door; I bet you can understand what it means.



The only problem with the door, as my parents and I found out, is once you get inside the outer gate you're stuck in the courtyard until somebody inside the house decides to let you out. When we visited, one of the office elders let us in the gate as he was leaving, and the mission president and his wife were taking a nap and couldn't hear us knocking. It was a long wait.



A lot of the doors in Italy are double like this (of course, neither side is very wide). You can usually fit in just using the one side, and then you can open the other side to move in furniture or whatever.
The interior changes a bit with each mission president; they bring in their own furniture, rugs, etc. (Or maybe they don't; that's just what I heard).

This picture was taken standing underneath the stairs going up. The front door is on the right. Straight ahead is, as I remember, a living room. I think it was in there that I fell asleep on the couch shortly after arriving.

The doorway to the left leads in to the dining room, and from there to the kitchen.

Notice the floors - no carpet. All the floors are done in rock over there, which looks really nice, but is really hard on your knees if you pray a lot.

Another room with a lot of memories for me is the dining room. You can see the front door through the doorway on the left, and the kitchen through the doorway on the right.

At least when I was there, the mission president's wife would always cook up a dinner for the greenies their first night in Italy. I remember not being very impressed, and extremely worried that I would go two years without enjoying a single meal.

Fortunately, the real Italians were much better cooks than the American mission president's wife.

There are other pictures, including pictures of the bathrooms, laundry rooms, and bedrooms. If you've never seen a bathroom, laundry room, or bedroom, send me an e-mail and I point you in the direction of the other pictures. They really aren't all that different from what we have here (not that any of this really was, but it was fun to write about).

It's funny that 10 1/2 years after leaving Italy I don't miss the major tourist sites. I could be happy going through the rest of my life never seeing the Colosseum again (except to take Annie there). I miss the little things that you never think to take pictures of: the little streets that you walk every day, the toilets with the tanks above eye-level (really, they're pretty strange), the vegetation growing everywhere, the cobblestone streets, and all of those other things that seem pretty normal while you're seeing them every day.

No Workey

For anyone who didn't know, or didn't scroll down far enough to read my last post, Annie's Grammie passed away last Sunday. We spent most of the day Wednesday at the funeral and at funeral-related events.

The funeral service was very well done, with some great talks and some really beautiful music. Annie's mom did especially well with her talk.

I felt a little out of place, having never really known Grammie; she's been at a few family events, and we've gone to see her a handful of times, but I can't say I even would have recognized her voice.

In addition to not knowing the deceased well, this was one of the first funerals I've been to where I didn't have a role. Usually I'm either speaking or praying or singing or carrying. But I was just a spectator this time. (Oh, I was an honorary pall-bearer, but that just means I got to wear a flower on my lapel. I didn't even have to pin it on myself--someone else did that.)

It was very nice to be able to spend some time with Annie's family; especially those that we don't get to see much. And, in addition to the funeral, we were able to eat a couple meals together and just relax, enjoying the day off work.

And that's what this post's really about: taking a day off of work in the middle of the week. On the one hand, it's really nice to have a break (especially when you can sleep in a bit). But on the other hand, it's really messes your body up, because you expect the next day to be Sunday. But no, it's not! You have to go to work again! And then, just as you start to get back in the "work groove" it's time for the REAL saturday.

I guess all things considered, I'd still rather have a day off than not (especially when it's paid), but it sure messes your week up.

Mii

Not much going on here lately. There are a few things to talk about, though.

* If you haven't tried this yet, you really should. There's an on-line Mii editor that lets you create your own Mii for use on the computer. It's pretty fun to see all of the different options, and kind of spooky to see how close you can get the Mii to look like you. You can get to the page by clicking here.

* Annie's Grammy passed away on Sunday morning. Annie has posted a bit of a tribute on her blog. I never really knew Grammy. The first time I saw her was when Annie and I went to tell her that we were engaged just over three years ago. She came to our wedding (I think) and a couple other family events over the last few years.

Even though I never knew her well, it's always thought-provoking when someone dies. It spurs some people to write a will, others to change the way they treat people, and still others to completely change the their lives.

It does make you wonder how you will be remembered. It reminds me of the Deep Thought by Jack Handey, "When I die, I hope a lot of people will say of me, 'That guy sure owed me a lot of money.'" Really, though, there's still time to change how you'll be remembered. If you're reading this, you're not dead yet. If it weren't so morbid, I'd recommend writing your own obituary, then trying to live up to what you've written.

A poem by Edmund Vance Cook seems fitting:

Did you tackle the trouble that came your way
With a resolute heart and cheerful,
Or hide with your face from the light of day
With a craven soul and fearful.
Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it.
It isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it?

You are beaten to earth, well, well, what's that?
Come up with a smiling face.
It's nothing against you to fall down flat,
But to lie there, that's disgrace.
The harder you're thrown, why, the higher you'll bounce,
Be proud of your blackened eye.
It isn't the fact that you're licked that counts,
It's how did you fight, and why.

And though you be done to death, what then?
If you battled the best that you could.
If you played your part in the world of men,
Why, the Critic will call it good.
Death comes with a crawl, or comes with a pounce,
And whether he's slow or spry,
It isn't the fact that you're dead that counts,
But only how did you die?

Tiki

I just came across something really cool on the internet. There's a guy over in Hawaii that makes one-of-a-kind Tiki mugs. I had no idea there existed such a thing, but apparently this guy's pretty good. Here's the mug he currently has up for auction on E-Bay:

You can see more pictures of it here (or even bid on it if you really want), or visit the guy's website here to see some of his other creations.

Breaking Out Into Song

So there are a couple websites that I like to keep up-to-date on. One of my favorites is Improv Everywhere. It was started by a guy named Charlie Todd in New York City. The purpose of his website, as listed in the FAQ, is:

"Improv Everywhere is, at its core, about having fun. We’re big believers in “organized fun”. In the process we bring excitement to otherwise unexciting locales and give strangers a story they can tell for the rest of their lives. We’re out to prove that a prank doesn’t have to involve humiliation or embarrassment; it can simply be about making someone laugh, smile, or stop to notice the world around them."

They've done all sorts of funny stuff through the years, and have recently been featured on various television programs and in magazine articles.

One of the funniest "missions" they've done is the "Food Court Musical". On the website they have some pictures of the event, and a few different camera angles. It's absolutely hysterical. Keep in mind that the people sitting in the foodcourt have no idea what's going on.

After you check out Food Court Musical, check out some of the other missions. Some of my favorites are: Frozen Grand Central, Even Better Than The Real Thing, and The Moebius. And, of course, the MP3 experiments are all good.

Temples

I know, I know, two posts in one day. You must think I'm crazy.

You're right, but that has nothing to do with the numerous posts.

A few years back, when I was still new to my job and had no idea what I was doing, I found myself with a bit of spare time and figured the best way to spend my time (without any other pressing obligations) would be to familiarize myself with computers, the internet, and other things that would enable me to do my job better.

As a result of this resolve, I assembled a list of the LDS Temples worldwide and sought to map them all in Google Earth. Some of them are in countries where the GE resolution isn't very good yet, or where roads aren't labeled. In those cases, I did the best I could, or didn't even try.

Despite not being able to find a few of the temples, I believe that this is the most complete Google Earth registry of LDS Temples in the world! (At least on this blog.)

You can download the zipped file here. When you open the folder there will be a .KMZ file inside. If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, clicking this file will open Google Earth and put a marker on each of the temples. You may have to copy the file out of the zipped folder to access it.

Let me know what you think.

Rubik's Solution

There's only one thing that I know how to do well, and I've often been told that you only can do what you know how to do well, and that's be you, be what you're like, be like yourself. And so I'm having a wonderful time but I'd rather be doing the Rubik's Cube.

Actually, I'd rather be sleeping right now, but that sounded like a good way to introduce my Solution to the Rubik's Cube.

It contains all of my knowledge about how to solve the cube. I've tried to make it simple enough for beginners to understand, but to also include enough information that people can get really fast at solving the cube.

Let me know if you're able to solve the cube, and what your fastest time is. As a benchmark, my normal time is around 1:30, with a fastest time of 0:57.

INTJ

A few weeks ago I took one of those personality tests to determine what type of person I am, and was astonished by the results. Almost every description it gave fit me perfectly, and goes a long way toward explaining why I'm so strange.

A few highlights ( from http://typelogic.com/intj.html):

"INTJs are perfectionists, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving upon anything that takes their interest. What prevents them from becoming chronically bogged down in this pursuit of perfection is the pragmatism so characteristic of the type: INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion "Does it work?" to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake.

"Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ's Achilles heel. While they are capable of caring deeply for others (usually a select few), and are willing to spend a great deal of time and effort on a relationship, the knowledge and self-confidence that make them so successful in other areas can suddenly abandon or mislead them in interpersonal situations.

To complicate matters, INTJs are usually extremely private people, and can often be naturally impassive as well, which makes them easy to misread and misunderstand. Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense."

And some from http://www.personalitypage.com/INTJ.html:

"INTJs focus their energy on observing the world, and generating ideas and possibilities. Their mind constantly gathers information and makes associations about it. They are tremendously insightful and usually are very quick to understand new ideas. However, their primary interest is not understanding a concept, but rather applying that concept in a useful way.

"INTJs are natural leaders, although they usually choose to remain in the background until they see a real need to take over the lead. When they are in leadership roles, they are quite effective, because they are able to objectively see the reality of a situation, and are adaptable enough to change things which aren't working well. They are the supreme strategists - always scanning available ideas and concepts and weighing them against their current strategy, to plan for every conceivable contingency.

"Other people may have a difficult time understanding an INTJ. They may see them as aloof and reserved. Indeed, the INTJ is not overly demonstrative of their affections, and is likely to not give as much praise or positive support as others may need or desire. That doesn't mean that he or she doesn't truly have affection or regard for others, they simply do not typically feel the need to express it. Others may falsely perceive the INTJ as being rigid and set in their ways. Nothing could be further from the truth, because the INTJ is committed to always finding the objective best strategy to implement their ideas. The INTJ is usually quite open to hearing an alternative way of doing something."

Well, those are the positive hightlights anyway. You can check out the websites to get the real dirt on the personality type. I thouhg it was also interesting to see the list of other notable INTJs (fictional and otherwise). Here are a few:

Dan Aykroyd
Augustus Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus)
Jane Austen
Raymond Burr
Chevy Chase
Hannibal, Carthaginian military leader
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Rudy Giuliani
Donald Rumsfeld
General Colin Powell
Lance Armstrong
Richard Gere

And fictional characters:
Gandalf the Grey (J. R. R. Tolkein's Middle Earth books)
Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs)
Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes' nemesis

What personality type are you? There's a free test you can take here:
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
Then do a Google search on your four letter type to find out who you are.