It seems that the company Seren Innovations is unfamiliar with the serin gas episodes in the Japanese subway a few years back. Talk about your unfortunate associations, especially when the word “innovations” is added. Dr. Dave pointed out that the two words were spelled differently, but pronounced the same.

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… of cell phone plans.

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One of the style guide wars in our house occurs over the capitalization of words like web and internet. Guess which side I’m on?

It turns out Wired is having the same issues.

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Apparently, someone finally put two and two together. USB Mouse good. USB flash drive also good.

And this is the Child of Frankenstein.

I’m hoping their dimension measurements are in centimeters, not inches.

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From rec.travel.air, this Irish-American learns a lot more about the humble potato.

However, at the population level asparatme is very safe, and there are dozens of studies to support this. More people are allergic to potato and bee stings than to aspartame just to put this in perspective.

Who knew?

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Suzy McKee Charnas has a very interesting article about Clarion, specificially this year’s Clarion workshop. I went in 2002.

I can’t imagine life at Clarion without really being a part of the Van Hoosen Hall, but I guess they did this year. I guess relations with MSU were more strained than we’d realized.

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So, a month after my birthday, I get a “happy birthday” email from GNC. With a coupon.

What’s wrong with this picture?

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I found out about this survey here, so thought I’d take a stab at it.

1. I have never voted for a Democrat in my life.
False. Then again, I’ve voted Republican, Libertarian, Green Party, Independent, etc.

2. I think my taxes are too high.
True.

3. I supported Bill Clinton’s impeachment.
True, but not for the same reasons as other people. I’ve seen the damage that sexual harassment, even the kind that’s apparently voluntary, can do. I support the AAUP standards of no involvement between people in the same chain of command. And, sorry, a President is always in the chain of command.

4. I voted for President Bush in 2000.
False. I did, however, vote.

5. I am a gun owner.
Not at present, though I am a lifetime NRA member.

6. I support school voucher programs.
I waffle on this one.

7. I oppose condom distribution in public schools.
False. Public health concerns are important. We have a bunch of kids who have fatal or life-long diseases (yes, genital herpes counts there, because it’s dormant for life) because they were not told about proper precautions.

8. I oppose bilingual education.
I don’t believe people whose native language isn’t English should be mainstreamed out of English-speaking classrooms. I do support people learning a second language, which is the other possible (but not commonly used) meaning of the term.

9. I oppose gay marriage.
False. I strongly support gay marriage.

10. I want Social Security privatized.
True, though not the way some people mean it. I’d rather the money was paid into one’s fund and that family members could share funds. Upon death, any remaining funds would be released to heirs. This is how Singapore managed their medical system.

11. I believe racial profiling at airports is common sense.
False. Not all people allied with terrorists are Arab. And, more to the point, very few Arabs (or, while we’re at it Muslims, who are mostly not Arab) are terrorists. Same issues with drug smuggling, etc.

12. I shop at Wal-Mart.
False. I’m one of those people who prefers to shop at non-chains.

13. I enjoy talk radio.
I go through phases, but I haven’t been in a talk radio phase for several years. I hate to say it, but when I’m feeling really down, I sometimes enjoy Doctor Laura. She makes me realize that I’m not nearly as much of an idiot as many of her callers.

14. I am annoyed when news editors substitute the phrase “undocumented person” for “illegal alien.”
True. It makes them sound like they’re not carrying papers around rather than the fact that a) they’re in the country illegally and b) they are in fact alien.

15. I do not believe the phrase “a chink in the armor” is offensive.
This term has been in the English language since before the English knew the Chinese existed. Taking offense at the word is like taking offense at the word denigrate because it might refer to someone who is black (which isn’t necessarily someone who is African-American).

16. I eat meat.
In fact, I prefer it.

17. I believe O.J. Simpson was guilty.
At the time, I wasn’t certain, but when I read all the books with the forensic detail I’d not watched during the trial, I felt certain that he was guilty, especially given some of the stuff that came out during the civil trial.

18. I cheered when I learned that Saddam Hussein had been captured.
I was happy that he was captured, but I don’t think it justifies the actions before or since. We simply didn’t prepare for the post-war problems. At all.

19. I cry when I hear “Proud to be an American” (God Bless the USA) by Lee Greenwood.
Ghods, no.

20. I don’t believe the New York Times.
I’m allergic to newsprint as well as to papers that require registration to read articles. Thus, I simply don’t read it.

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A friend of mine says that she’s into luggage porn, which means she keeps the Levenger catalog in the bathroom.

Preparing for some upcoming trips, I was looking for a large suitcase, one that would hold everything I needed for a long trip. Normally, I carry a 22″ carryon and that’s it, but that’s not suitable for trips where you need business, formal, and tourist attire for an extended period.

I have two pieces of luggage, a Samsonite Silhouette series satchel, which is an older, slightly different model than the ones currently made. It was my first good piece of luggage, good enough that it’s spoiled me off the cheap stuff forever. After having it for four years, it looks new. All the zipper pulls are intact. However, the 26″ piece would have run $180, which was more than I’d prefer to spend.

The other piece I had, which is definitely better than the piece it replaced, is an L. L. Bean Carryall rolling pullman. I’ve had it about two years and all its zipper pulls have broken off because they were substandard. This annoys me greatly. Nevertheless, it’s a bright royal blue (sadly discontinued), so it’s easy to see on the luggage carousel. However, it has no interior organization at all. Oh, and it was $169. For that, I’d spend the extra and get the Samsonite, you know?

My mother asked me for some advice about luggage, and got some Skyway pieces in a discontinued line that’s better than the current offerings. So I couldn’t just buy a piece in that line.

After considering several other options, I finally settled for the Ricardo Del Mar 3100 for several reasons.

1. It comes in distinctive colors. When I did a luggage survey, 2/3 of all luggage was black. Of the remaining 1/3, 2/3 of those were some dark neutral shade of grey, green, or blue. I wanted something easy to see.
2. The bag has wonderful organization including a separately zippered suiter.
3. I didn’t want an expanding suitcase, because the expansion is commonly a point of failure.
4. It was at a price point I was more comfortable with. I bought it on sale.

So, all that said, the luggage inspector has pronounced it fit for duty.

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Managed to get another story revised and ready to mail. For this one, there’s one obvious market, though there probably are other pro markets that it would fit.

Wish me luck!

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