What time is it?

Who: Flight of the Conchords
What: a post dedicated to Amelia
Why: she said she liked the idea of feety-pjs; this gives her another reason to do so
What do you mean? Listen for the line about socks and all will become clear, Grasshopper.

Looks sleek, but how does it handle in the water?

Color me one of the stunned folks regarding the airplane landing in the Hudson River. What sticks out in my mind is that in all the news stories I've been reading about this event, there was only one mention of the actions of any member of the crew besides the Captain. The flight attendants repeated "brace for impact" and gave other instructions while the plane was descending and then they disappear from the news reports.

It is interesting piecing together the atmosphere inside the cabin based on passenger stories: some prayed, some brayed, and one gent began reading the information card to review how to get the door open once they hit the water. Once they were down, the crowd all ran to the back of the plane. They then reversed course and ran toward the front of the plane. Where were the cabin attendants while this was going on? Pretty quickly, rafts were in the water and people were on the wings. One woman now regrets having worn 3-inch heels (she made it onto the wing but ended up in the drink as she removed them and her feet slipped on the smooth, wet metal). Then the armada showed up and all passengers were eventually on dry land.

We're hearing all about the "heroic" actions of the pilot. Yes, he should be commended for his cool head and his skills and his professionalism under pressure but didn't he simply do what he was supposed to do and what we hope every pilot would do if we were the passengers? He is a role model for other pilots to look to for the way it should be done in the time of crisis. But I stop at calling him a hero. He did his job. The word hero is overused. Where is the line between doing your job right and stepping up when conditions demand it and the opposite end of the spectrum of just mailing it in? If you cross the line—toward the positive side—should you be called a hero?

Multitasking

There's a new gadget here at Meanwhile Manor and it has made me very happy indeed. It allows me to do two of my most favorite things simultaneously.

When the sun goes down and the grrllzz have been fed, watered, brushed, and whatever other [___]-ed that requires attention, I don my feety pajamas and head off to bed. This is Thing One. I love sleeping.

Thing Two involves numbers: collecting, sorting, graphing, analyzing, describing, drooling, etc.I love random data collection. I bought a pedometer to count the number of steps up the hill. I carried a GPS to collect data on altitude change, heading, and more. I write down my gas fill-ups religiously. The problem with all the sources of those types of data is that I have to be awake to experience them. Not so with my new gadget: a SleepTracker watch. It tracks my sleeping and sets off the alarm when I am at an optimum place in my sleep cycle.

The data collection is a total perk. I got this watch in order to combat the six months of overcast skies here in the Northwet. After the clocks get turned back and darkness rolls in around 4 pm, I have the darnedest time waking up in the morning. This is not conducive with morning classes. So I figured this watch might help.

And then I discovered the data review mode. Heaven. It records each time I am at an almost awake moment, before I start to drift back down into the inkier depths. If an almost awake moment coincides with the alarm time, then I should awake most refreshed. My breakfast time just got a wee bit more exciting. I've got my oatmeal and my sleep data.

I've only had it a week and two of those days were a weekend when my sleep schedule is totally whacked. My jury is still out on the effectiveness of this gadget but I'm loving the data in the morning.

No one ever asks what would doggie do

1) Are you pondering what I'm pondering? Probably not.

2) The fascinating thing about typewriters is that they have built in printers.

and this one is for you, Frenchie,

3)

Found here.