One more interview down - 02 August 2007

Well, had an interview over videoconference today. Regardless of how this one turns out, I had a lot of fun doing it, and feel that I probably represented myself accurately. Whether that’s the kind of librarian they’re looking for, I’ll know soon enough. This one feels kind of like an earlier one did - good feelings all around, my audience was laughing at appropriate places, and this time the job description may match up with what I want to do. I feel good about this one. That’s not stopping me from other interviews, though, and I’ve got a week in the northern New Jersey area starting on Monday next. So if there’s anybody around that zone that wants to say hello or find time to hang out, let me know so that I can plan it. It may get shifted around depending on where, when, and how many interviews end up happening, but I’ll try to find time.

Anyway, onward to more weighty matters than my employment prospects. The Consumer Product Safety Comission has issued a recall for several varieties of Fisher-Price toys Products that could be mouthed or handled by children have potentially toxic levels of lead in their paint. Have a look.

Regarding the region of the world that everyone in the United States seems to be most interested in, trying to go from Iraq to Jordan, no matter who you are, isn't happening. Probably for things like this, but more against a reigning idea in the region, Victor Davis Hanson tells the Middle East to "grow up" and accept the 21st century, rather than trying to make the world into the 7th. I could ask the same of some other religious sects in the United States. After such a snappy admonishment, Emmett Tyrell believes that the Democrats will lose the next election, because they will continue to say that Iraq is lost and the economy sucks, when Tyrell predicts that the economy will continue being strong and Iraq will be successful, or at least stable. David Warren compares Iraq to Vietnam, blaming Democrats for not seeing the facts, now that there’s another scrap from Iraq saying that there might actually be progress. Phillip Carter, in Slate, says, "That's nice, kids. It looks good now, but it ain't gonna last". And the Slacktivist notes that whomever's in charge after Mr. Bush is going to have no room for errors, whether in continuing or repudiating the policies put in place during Mr. Bush’s time.

In a different segment of the world, the International Criminal Court is having drawings of Sudanese children submitted as evidence that the government has engaged in war crimes. Theoretically unprompted, but supplied with the materials, the children have regularly documented crimes and attacks against them and their parents as what they face.

Regarding domestic politics, Mr. Cheney has finally admitted to being the puppetmaster. So, by his own admission, we should start with removing him from office and work our way up, around, and about. It’d be a helluva purge. Of course, stopping the retaliatory strike later would be the key part, so those set to take over would have to be very competent administrators. As the case may be, although I’m not sure who it’s directed at, I'm not sure Chuck would understand what Lucy’s saying here. I think he’d have a much better time with The River's analysis of his Christmas special. The one that everyone likes to watch, for all that it did and continues to do right.

And now, randomness. Exploding Aardvark offers a Dunkin Donuts medley involving a suit regarding whether someone has to provide pork in breakfast sandwiches, and other documents that work off of that idea.

New York taxi drivers may go on strike is they're required to keep GPS devices in their vehicles. They’re afraid of monitoring being used on them, maybe as something to keep tabs on them while they’re not on duty? Which would be kind of like corporations threatening and firing people who smoked on their off horus.

It seems that the rule of twenty-three is after me again. report on one exorcism attempt, and many more appear. the latest one is from Indiana, where an autistic fourteen year-old was beaten and forced to vomit to "get the demons out" of him. *sigh* I suppose this is better than drilling holes in their skulls or burning them at the stake, but one would think that they could at least accept autism as it is, rather than considering it some sort of possession by demons.

A different religious thing - doctors with strong religious beliefs are no more likely to treat the poor than their less-strongly religious or the nonreligious. Admittedly, there are loans to be paid and expenses to be had, but one might think that with the exhortations to help the poor that are across many religions, that those who follow them would be more inclined to help the poor. Admittedly, I’m not the best at providing assistance to the poor when I can afford to be so, so I’ve got planks in my own eyes, too.

Onward to Science (Science!) then - sharing a joke might help Humes and robots have better interactions. For now, it’s only punny, but it could get better. Genetic material could get a few “maybe” states with the development of a "dimmer switch"-type control for gene expression. Tinkering with the brain has resulted in the regaining of speech for someone suffering a brain injury. (From the New York Times, utilize BugMeNot) That’s a pretty neat thing, to regain a method of expression and be more consistent in behavior.

Regarding technology, John C. Dvorak predicts another bust is on the way, as bubble after bubble is made and bursts, each one bigger than the last. Perhaps to fight that tide, or to at least try and restore some sort of sensibility to the Internet, studies are already underway to determine what will go into the successor to the Internet. No doubt it’ll be different than what we have now, for better or for worse. Finally, even with the accident at Scaled that killed three and injred several more, private industry is still going to go for the stars. The old trombone involved in the accident continues to improve and heal from his injuries, something that we’re profoundly glad about.

Something very un-scientific, though, is the way The Lancet tries to point out that pot smoking increases one's risk for schizophrenia by forty per cent - schizophrenia has a low occurrence in the first place, and the study can’t actually point to a correlation nor a causation between pot and the increased risk. No doubt plenty of United States government officials and law enforcement officers will seize on the figure and not care about how it was obtained. How many people are being incarcerated for having pot again?

The Happiness Project offers nine simple tips for reducing stress in your lives, each of which will take very little time out of your day - like putting your keys in the same place, having headache medicine always on hand, and always having a little cash around. If you’d like a little laugh, and you’re not one of the 26%, then you can read Curious George W. Or what really would have happened with superhero origin stories. Not so much for mutants with powers, more with the dead or otherwise maimed persons.

Anyway, going to bed now. Will actually manage to have fun this weekend, for at least some portion of it, and then it’s off to several states away to do job interviews again. Work-work.

/usr/games/writing: The P.I. Prompt

So I’d been kicking around in the back of my head a writing prompt from loweko that said “Describe the femme fatale that walks into a private eye’s office to investigate your death or disappearance”, and I was having some trouble with figuring out how to go about it. Well, I finally found my angle, so I thought I’d give it a shot.

She wasn’t bad, as dames went. Good legs, nice smile, but the way she was dressed would have made June Cleaver scream and take her shopping for something more fashionable. She seemed shy at first, checking the sign outside my door, as if she were trying to make sure she’d come to the right place. Once inside, she seemed even more confused, but eventually, she approached me. The first thing she did was lay twice my normal fee on my desk.

“You’ve got my attention.” I said.

She opened her mouth to speak, which gave me a good look at her pearly white teeth and how they related to her nice lips. If she were a regular customer with this kind of money, I could see it being both profitable and easy on the eyes to take her cases.

“I want you to find the nice librarian who disappeared yesterday. That other, older woman is such a bitch. I’d rather sit and look at him, and count each of his freckles, than look at all of her zits.”

I knew, form that moment forward, this dame was going to be trouble. So I decided to head her off at the pass.

“One, he’s [age redacted]. You’re not old enough for him to notice. Two, I think you need to talk to my dad about this one. After all, he is the chief of police, and I think he’s already on the case.”

I knew that eventually, I’d be dragged into it, anyway, but I thought it would be best to give Inspector Brown a chance at solving things. He got touchy whenever I went off on cases that looked dangerous.