Keeping Up with the Joneses

Kay and I have a morning routine that goes something like this. (The following is very abbreviated.)

Kay wakes up at the pre-butt crack of dawn, putters around the house a bit, goes to the gym, goes to work.

Jay wakes up at the butt crack of dawn, putters around the house about, wrangles the boy into the car, goes to the gym, goes to work.

As soon as both of us are at work we chat to see how the morning went.  These chats are the common part of our morning routine.  Often the topics covered are how Eli behaved, whether we kicked the gym’s ass, and what, if any, errands need to be done for the day.

This morning’s chat deviated from the prescribed script just a bit for the following reasons.  Kay, Eli, and I are making the pilgrimage to the East Coast of North Carolina to see family later today.  Also I was reading the Dilbert Blog and was impressed by some of the bells and whistles that Scott Adams had added to his home.  And finally, I forgot to bring my badge to work.

The following is a copy of the chat session from this morning (the fonts and colors are what I have set in Pidgin):

(8:53:06 AM) Me: http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/house_ideas_that_worked/
(8:53:28 AM) Kay: I swear, I’ve fogotten something
(8:53:38 AM) Me: I forgot my work badge this morning.
(8:53:51 AM) Kay: I saw it on the bar
(8:54:07 AM) Me: Oh, I know where it is.
(8:54:46 AM) Me: As I was reaching for it in my pocket I momentarily had a fantasy that my pocket had an inter-dimensional worm-hole in it and I would reach through and pluck the badge off the counter.
(8:54:55 AM) Kay: hahahaha!
(8:54:58 AM) Kay: nice
(8:54:58 AM) Me: Fantasy ruined by the bottom of my pocket.
(8:55:11 AM) Kay: hitting the bottom of my pocket will always ruin my fantasies
(8:55:18 AM) Me: I need better pants. Inter-dimensional pockets should come standard.
(8:55:37 AM) Kay: OMG!!!
(8:55:42 AM) Kay: A kitchen cleaning cart

Honestly, I am not sure why I even felt the compulsion to post this chat. I think it is in the hopes that someday a clothing manufacturer will run into this blog and decide to put a bit of their budget into R&D for inter-dimensional pockets.

The Bert Show is a local radio show I’ve been listening to since I moved to Atlanta. They had a piece on (here’s the really shortened details) where a caller tells that he’s gay, and while in college was in a relationship for over a year with another man. The relationship ends, and time goes by, he’s graduated with his various degrees. Present day > he’s now on his way to meet his sister’s fiancee, and upon the meeting, discovers it’s his ex that he dated in college! The delimma now is 1) does he let his sister marry a man who he formerly dated and knows has been with other men or 2)Out himself (BTW, he’s not out with his family) in the process of telling his sister the truth about her fiancee. As it turns out, he tells the sister, who also tells the family. The result… tragic! The entire family turns their back on him, calling him pervert. His father even admits he’d rather his son be an axe murderer instead of gay. You can listen to the snippets (and I suggest #4 and #5) at the Bert Show’s website.

One of the Bert Show’s team, Melissa, is a lesbian, and she has an extremely emotional response to what the caller experienced. In her response (in recording #5) she says, “Just Stop It!”. She’s referring to this hate that people feel when they judge and then lash out. As I listened to it, clearly, my heart melted for the caller, and for Melissa. But, I realized this goes so much farther than just sexual preference. For anyone who has been the victim of judgment, this rings true. I have been fat all of my life, and so many times I’ve just wanted to sink into a hole and hide because I was being ridiculed or picked on. It’s a feeling of shame, guilt and you’re own hate you feel when you are being judged for something you cannot change. Yes, a fat person can lose weight, but at the moment of the torment, nothing can be done. It’s hard to climb out of that hole, once you are in it. I’ve experienced this both as an adult and as a child.

As I was saying earlier, this is not only sexual preference, but skin color, size, and how about religious preference, or lack thereof? My heart really goes out to those folks that are Atheists or Agnostic.

How do we Just Stop It? I wish I could make a list of things that I think would end this world of hate and judgement, but alas, I cannot. As long as there is one person out there continuing to judge, we won’t. Maybe that’s what breaks my heart the most.

In the men’s bathroom at my office there are signs above two of the urinals.  The signs read:

As a consideration to your co-workers, please consider wiping the faucet and sink area after use.

Looking at this sentence I wonder at the mindset and approach of the person writing this UA (Urinal Announcement).  I take issue with the wording of the UA for the following reasons.

First, “please consider”.  Too nice and reinforces to the reader that being conscientious to those around them is optional.  The reader should not “consider”!! The reader should be informed that if a person uses the sink they damn well need to wipe up the pools of water that invariably form after washing their hands.

Second, nowhere in the text does it actually say “washing hands”!!  As a member in good standing of the Y Chromosome club I can say that a percentage of men DO NOT WASH THEIR HANDS AFTER USING A URINAL.  It is abominable.   This is the very reason that when I am finished drying my hands and wiping the sink/faucet, that I use the same towel to touch any surfaces while exiting the bathroom.

And if you think that because the UA mentions water around the sink and “after use” that it implies that a man will wash his hands….  You need to get your head out of the clouds and come back down to the real world.  It would be easy for a man, any man, to read that UA and think to them self  “Well, if I do not wash my hands the sink won’t get wet, and I will not have to burden my co-workers with a wet sink.   I will just shake off my junk, zipper up, and exit stage left.” I shudder.

Here is how I think the UA should read:

Please wash your hands and afterward dry the faucet and sink area.

Simple, straight-forward, gets the point across, and does not @#$! around.  Of course the big issue with my revision IS THAT IT IS EVEN NEEDED AT ALL!!

Preface:  I have had this blog entry in my drafts folder since March.  I am posting it now  because I put it off too long and I cannot recall all the games played.  However, let me say that I had a wonderful time and look forward to my next Gulf Games!  Back to your un-scheduled interruption.

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It has been over four years since Kay and I attended a Gulf Games.    Gulf Games 25 was held in Mobile Alabama Feb 26th through the 28th.  I really enjoyed re-acquainting with these folks. They are all good people!!

The following are just a few of the games I played over the weekend.

Roll Through the Ages: Michael Hall, Kay Jones, Lourdes Betanzos

First time playing Roll Through the Ages.  Michael did a great job explaining.  I liked this game and hope to get a copy one day.

Viva Pamploma: (Racing the Bull) Joe Huber, The Maddens, Aaron C., Jim Fairchild

I got lucky and pulled the win out at the end.  Joe provided a piece of key strategy at the very end that just happened to work in my favor.

Ticket to Ride Europe: The LaBranches, Philip Sasse, ???

Won by building the eight length tunnel and having 57 points worth of routes at the end.

Pubelo: Tom C. Greg Schloscher, Tim Watson

Interesting spacial piece stacking game.  Explained as a “peeping tom” game. As with many games like this I had the most points. (Which means I lost horribly!!)

Lost Cities the Board Game: Lourdes Betanzos,  David Chapelle

I did not realize that Lost Cities was a board game.  I Loved It!  (Read as “I won the game.”)