Escaped Thoughts

In what is now becoming almost a tradition, Laura, Josh, and I sunk several hours last night into a spectacularly unfulfilling movie. Our list now consists of Johnny English (not nearly as funny as hoped), The Aviator (some interesting scenes strung together by hours of essentially pointless filler), and now The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. All three of us had the feeling we must have been missing something—something deep and vital that would have given meaning to the whole film. We have no clue what that something might be though, and without that something the movie made no sense, and was only barely entertaining for a handful of minutes.

I really liked Lost in Translation, so it's not that I don't have the capacity to enjoy Bill Murray in somewhat strange films. And lots of other people seem to have liked Life Aquatic, so presumably there was something redeeming in it. Yet somehow the film and I never managed to connect.

If you know the secret that makes it worthwhile, do tell.

Category: A & E

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Buzz has some great interviewing tips that everyone new to interviewing should definitely read.

Having been doing some interviewing myself recently (some of the same interviews, in fact), all I would add is to go a bit further and break talking out into its own item. (My opinions, not my employer's, void where prohibited, etc.)

Talk, talk, talk: If you are given a problem-solving problem, the interviewer wants to see you solving the problem. Silence and/or muttering as you try to work through it won't give the interviewers any insight into what and how you think, which means it's only marginally useful if you get the right answer, and worthless if you don't. Plus, many interviewers will give hints to keep things moving and give you a chance to get to other interesting parts of the question—if you are silently going down the wrong path, you are on your own. Worried about saying something that's wrong as you think out loud? Don't worry about that too much. If you realize your mistake while talking it through, and correct yourself, all the better.

Category: Random

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I finally got around to seeing a dentist this morning after my long college-induced hiatus. The important things I learned during my visit:

1. I brush extremely well, and/or have magic teeth
2. However, brushing really can't reach everywhere—just because the hygienist thinks you are flossing when you are 16 doesn't mean that you don't actually have to floss
3. Fillings wear out after about as many years as I've had all five of mine
4. Dental insurance is a beautiful thing

Despite my impending dental work, it was a pretty good first visit. I got to see a larger-than-life, almost-live video of my own teeth, which was new to me, and had my X-rays explained to me in great detail. So far, I definitely like my new dentist... which is good considering I'll be seeing a lot of him in the near future.

The real high point of the visit, though, is that I now know why I'm senile before my time: my current fillings are made of a mixture of silver and mercury. Sure, they say it's safe, but I choose to cling to my new scapegoat.

Category: Life

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Laura and I recently decided, as we have several times, that we need to find a larger abode, and one that will allow cats. This time, however, we decided to look at houses for rent instead of the apartments that have disappointed us all the previous times, so we went to a duplex that was (half) for rent not far away. It was great! Almost twice the size of our apartment, small enclosed yard where Laura could garden, pet-friendly, residential area, apparently nice next-door-neighbor landlord, still within easy biking distance of work... and $1750 a month. That's actually quite reasonable for the area, sadly, so we considered it. But finally we decided that we just couldn't justify it to ourselves. Yes, it would be nicer—but so would a several-week-vacation to Hawaii every year, and that would probably be cheaper than all the extra money we'd be pouring into rent.

Then, that got me thinking more about the black hole that is rent, and it just made me more and more annoyed. Why should we contribute to someone else buying a house almost for free? We want a house; we should contribute to that instead! So then we started looking at condos, as strange as that seems to me (I've never been able to shake the association that condos are for old people in Florido, for whatever reason). They're still expensive, but unlike actually houses they might be within the realm of possibility—I'm willing to pay more if I don't feel like I'm throwing my money away. So I dug around some and read up on condos, and am now well armed with information, the most important points I gleaned being:

• Buying a condo is vastly superior to renting.
• Renting is vastly superior to buying a condo.

We figure it's at least looking into at least, so the next stop is a realtor who can tell us just how many of our children we'd have to be prepared to sign away for a condo we'd actually want to live in.

It's just so frustrating, because here I am, married, have a master's degree, have a good job at a great, successful company; this is traditionally the part where we buy a house and settle down, but instead we're still trying to figure out if such a thing is even theoretically possible. Where's my American Dream, damn it?

Category: Life

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The mouse I had rescued from my problem pile to use at work died again recently, and this time taking it apart and reassembling it didn't help. Since I can't live without a scroll wheel, it was time for a little visit to the company store. Last time I bought a mouse, I toyed with the idea of getting a trackball, since I have almost no mouse space on my desk at home. I have no trackball experience though, and they look strange enough that I was afraid it would be too awkward and I'd have to buy yet another mouse right away. This time, since I seem to be burning through mice fairly quickly, I decided the risk was worth taking and got a trackball instead of a mouse.

Considering how different the control method is, I was surprised at how easy it is to use. I was able to handle it reasonably well straight out of the box, although fine control was difficult. After a couple of days it's starting to feel more natural (although my thumb is confused by having to do so much work), and I suspect it will be just as good as a mouse before long.

Besides being better-suited to the space I have at home, I get the added advantage of having a different pointing device at work and at home—I figure that regardless of which is “better” for routine use, doing something different at work and at home is even better, especially given how much computer time I log between the two. Now I just need some sort of bizarre alternative keyboard construction, and I should be all set.

Category: Geek

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Imagine if you will that you are driving in a center lane on the interstate, and come up behind someone going slower than you. You want to pass, then return to your current lane. The lanes to the left and right are both clear ahead and behind. Do you pass on:

1. the left, or
2. the right?

If you picked a), congratulations, you aren't an idiot! If you picked b), take comfort in the fact that you will fit right in in California.

Category: Society

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As usual, I'm terribly behind in my posting. The most notable event(s) recently have been some additions to the Morgan clan. Two weeks ago I branched out from having just a niece, and now have a brand nephew as well. A couple of days later, I went to an uncle's wedding, where I got not only a new aunt, but two bonus cousins. Plus I got a chance to see basically everyone again after my long exile in Ohio, and Laura got to meet most of my extended family in one gigantic reunion—not only the best way to get the Morgan experience, but also good retaliation for the whirlwind tour I got of her relatives.

It still feels a bit strange for things to be changing so much recently, since for most of my childhood my family was fairly static. In recent years, though, there's been a good bit of growth even without counting the massive familial influx that came with marrying Laura. Before I know it, there may be relatives in the next generation of my side of the family—the part I can keep track of, even—to whom my relationship can't be described with fewer than four words, one of which will be “removed”.

I suspect that the first time I remember some teenager in my extended family at a family reunion from their infancy, and they don't have even the remotest idea who I am, I'll have to go out and buy an expensive convertible or something.

Category: Life

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