Thirty Two

As a skeptic of so-called 'sales' at the grocer, I take notes of the prices of the few things I usually buy. Since the grocer is the only place I really buy anything, it's not that big of a hassle to jot down the unit pricing. There are only a dozen or so food items I purchase, so other than the score board I have at home labeled 'greatest hits' for only the lowest unit priced items, I have a decent mental tally of how much things should cost.

At big lots next to the local food lion (king of the grocers) I stopped in for a garden hose and noticed they had salsa in my favorite flavor, medium. I checked the price just for fun. It turned out to be $1/lb. A red flag went up, this was a good price. Just to be sure I popped into the FL where their best unit pricing was more than 60 cents higher per pound.

How much salsa do you buy when you know it's a good deal? Salsa is my main source of vegetables, and favorite topping for eggs, cottage cheese, rice and IQF vegetables. It's supposed to be shelf stable for another year and I go through roughly a pound every week and a half. With some help I was able to walk out of big lots with thirty two pounds of salsa. It should last through the end of the year. I updated the greatest hits score card.

Being Wrong

It turns out being wrong is a good thing. I was recently challenged to write an essay on a subject that has no answer. In this light there is a broad spectrum of answers that would pass the test with varying degrees of wrongness. While pondering the thought of actually writing said essay, I remembered a relationship I had come up with that relates degree of wrongness to interest in conversation. This of course means it's time for a diagram. Please refer to figure 1.0.



Figure 1.0 The relationship between correctness of statement and willingness of others to engage you



This figure shows that closer to the origin, where the degree of wrongness is highest (x axis is how correct you are), the willingness for others to engage you in conversation is highest. In the very extreme case of being the farthest away from being correct, meaning closest to the origin, the willingness for others to engage is zero. This is because at such an extreme viewpoint people will probably be either:

a) afraid of you
b) convinced you're not capable of having a conversation because your idea is so bad

It is important to note that the maximum willingness to engage occurs very near to the most wrong you could ever be. This is because it is easy for people to identify that you are wrong, and be willing to 'set you straight' and be sure to correct you.

On the most correct end of the spectrum the willingness for people to engage asymptotically approaches zero. The asymptotic approach is to account for those people on the opposite end of the spectrum, who even though you are 100% correct, are crazy enough to argue. These are the people that most people are either:

a) afraid of
b) convinced aren't capable of having a conversation

The steady decline occurs because as your statement becomes more and more correct the possibility for anyone to add decreases. See figure 2.0.

Figure 2.0 The relationship between completeness of statement and room left to contribute



The take home message here is that if you would love to kill a conversation, be right. By all means make the most complete statement possible covering every angle and giving all sides of the argument a fair shake. Nobody, except the creepy guy in the corner, will have anything to say to that. You will have just won the contest of being right, but lost at being a guy people can talk to. Alternatively you could say something that is borderline outrageous. If you hit it just right, you will be rewarded with maximum engagement by normal people.

Partial Credit

Do you remember exams? I vaguely did until yesterday. I took one yesterday and another today, this was the first time in a few years I had taken an exam. The past several days I've been a bit stressed out about attempting to learn sufficient material to get good enough grades on two exams to not get kicked out of school. The jury is still out, but I feel as though a tremendous weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Having these two exams out of the way is a welcomed relief that will last for up to three whole weeks before I realize there's another exam soon.

I think the weight on my shoulders has relocated itself in my back. Last night I rolled around on a lacrosse ball, which helped it a little.

Anyone remember how to use the Arrhenius equation to get a viscosity of a Newtonian fluid at a temperature when two other temperatures and viscosity are known? I didn't, so I'm hoping for partial credit.

In related news I really like diagrams. Here's one I made to show what is meant by plug flow in pseudoplastic materials:

Technician

After the race yesterday I was called over for an interview with the technician. Apparently the technician is the name of the school's newspaper. Who knew?

Yesterday I raced xc collegiate style for the first time since 2005. It went well. There were 2 other pros and a semi pro in the race. I won and now I'm famous too: http://media.www.technicianonline.com/media/storage/paper848/news/2008/09/22/Sports/Club-Hosts.Race.Over.Weekend-3443532.shtml

Blood

Writing in blood must be the ultimate. Supplies are limited so the words you choose are that much more important. There is no more meaningful form of communication than a handwritten letter written in blood on a slice of paper made from bamboo or leaves or something. The thought and feelings and meaning are all expressed by the media we use to communicate. A text message is worth less than a phone call, which isn't as good as a typed letter. Handwritten letters are on another level, and when you put blood on that bad boy and make your own paper it gets serious.

That's it, I'm fed up with substandard forms of communication. From now on I'll only respond to sticks and leaves with blood on them. You can send it as an attachment in an email if you want.

Spencer

Remember learning how to write in elementary school? As a lefty I felt like I was always at a disadvantage even though I was allowed to write with my left hand. I didn't have to endure a ruler slapping for using the wrong hand, but penmanship did not come easily to me.

These days we can all write in New Times Roman at roughly 60 words per minute and cringe at the thought of having to write in cursive. Of course when I say 'we' I'm referring to anyone born during the era of Tom Selleck as Magnum PI or the A-Team showing on day time television.

Clearly it is an advantage to be able to produce written word that everyone can read, but isn't it a little inconvenient to need a computer and printing technology to do it? Once upon a time children were taught how to write, and write well enough for people to be able to read it. Before that time penmanship was not only legible, but it was also beautiful.

Call me old fashioned, but I think fire is magic. And it scares me. I also feel slighted by the public education system because not enough emphasis was placed on penmanship. As a result my writing looks like a two year old's. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to write someone a note and have it look pretty too? Doesn't it mean more? A pen in your hand is like a polygraph tied directly to your brain, just ask anyone who studies graphology.

I'm pretty sure there's an inversely proportional relationship between quality of script and quantity of writing required. For example, for me to effectively write an acceptable thank you note these days I need to fill 3-4 pages with my chicken scratch. If I could write like the Spencer brothers teach, all I would need to write is "Thanks".




Luckily there's a group that's come to rescue me from my own incompetence. I'm talking about IAMPETH, you know, The International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting. On their website you can get a real education, and now that I'm back in school this is what I intend to do.
Spencerian Script

As requested

Some folks have taken and posted several hundred photos from the Shenandoah 100 mountain bike race. Some others have found the ones of me and sent links in my general direction. I too have found a few, and for the benefit of anyone who would like to see them I will now post them here.

This is maybe my favorite one of me having fun while all the other kids sucking my wheel look less jazzed. It may have been 7:30am by the time this photo was taken.




This one must have been towards the end, I look lost.



Still early in the game, I'm giving a thumbs up. This was the first time I remember having my picture taken in this race.

I'm clearly disgusted with the depth of this river crossing, or the dog in the trail.



All done, and in less than a standard 8 hour work day. No lunch break.

The New Way

It's time to learn a new way. Using the old way of thinking, I didn't kick ass on two separate fronts today. The first was eating, I accidentally ate a little too much at free dinner. I also had planned to ride pretty hard today. I didn't, and this was my second failure to kick ass.

It's raining. It's been raining all day. The new way now dictates that as a student, when I'm tired or can make another excuse not to hurt myself in the rain, I can take a 'rest' day. Rest is relative, I will run for like a half hour. The legs just didn't feel that swell yesterday and the correct answer is to be nice to them until they do feel swell. Only then will I beat them into the ground again. I still failed to kick ass at eating.

This new way is going to be sweet. I keep imagining how fun/different it would be to take the new way another step further and just be a normal graduate student. What a new realm of possibilities it would offer, like drinking more beer, not caring about getting fat, and joining all of the food science related clubs. Then I remember how unrewarding it all is in comparison to riding a mountain bike through the woods faster than most. Sold. I'll keep riding, sorry product development team, I have to go to sport practice.

Accidental Epic

By utilizing the desk I found on the side of the road and a map of NC I had purchased, I planned out what I was hoping would be a 4.5 hour road ride today. I really wanted it to be 5 hours or less so that I would make it back in time to indulge in my first free breakfast buffet at the flying saucer. The flying saucer is a local beer bar and beer bar chain that offers members brunch buffet from 12-3 Sunday mornings. I left at 9 so the worst case scenario would be a 5 hour ride and a rush to brunch.

Instead I rode for nearly 7 hours and got pretty well sunburned in the process. I learned two valuable lessons, the first is that churches and houses that are for sale are the best places to fill up your water bottles. Second, wearing sunscreen can prevent unsightly helmet tan.