7.26.2006

i just up and...

there's a lot of random stuff on my mind so what better way to clear it all up then with a brand new blog!

i'd like to introduce a new feature on my blog I WAS WONDERING...

i was wondering...

why do fast food places have signs that read 'now hiring: inquire within'? where else are you going to inquire? are there people thinking to themselves, " i want to work at mcdonalds but i don't know where to go to get that job"?

who uses the term 'inquire'?

who buys stuff off of the shopping channels? does anyone i know own anything bought from an infomercial?

when do the people at the gas station change the price of gas? every day i drive by the same two gas stations near my house, and every day the prices are different. i've driven by them at all hours of the day and i still have yet to see anyone out there changing the sign. and when do the prices actually change? do they change the meter first or the price displayed on the street?

what happened to small drinks? i remember growing up there were four different drink cups; small, medium, large, and water. now there are medium, large, extra large, collectible/refillable and water. i can understand the sizes getting bigger, but why can't they still call it a small, that's what it is.

what about tapes. i remember having a decent size tape collection. they were a good stepping stone to cds. they were the first musical storage system that were easy to record on. however they don't have the nostalgia that vinyl records have, so i have to wonder what's happened to the tapes? they wore out after being played too much, and they were the most frustrating when it came to finding a particular song on an album, and they were kind of an odd shape that weren't huge, but weren't small either. but, there were millions of them. so the question is, where are all the tapes?

how do some stores stay in business? you know the store i'm talking about. it's the store right next to the grocery store in the strip mall by your house. the one that never has any cars parked in front, and the one you've walked by a million times and have never seen anyone shopping there. you don't know the name of store, and you might not know what's in there, and you probably won't remember until you go to get groceries sometime this week and you see it. how do they stay in business?

where did the phrase "i just up and..." come from? i hear it a lot in westerns when some old guy is talking jibberish, " i just up and moved outta dodge", or " i just up and bought me a new hat".

do psychiatrists have to talk to each other about the stuff that goes on at work? are there meetings where they get together and just cut loose on stories of the crazy stuff they hear? i can just imagine some exclusive back room at some country club is filled with guys telling stories like, "i've got this one guy who who put monkey bars up in his office and started throwing glue at his co-workers" and " oh yeah, one of my patients dresses up like tony from 'who's the boss' and calls everyone mona".

who first looked at a cow and said, "we gotta eat that".

why aren't there peppermint flavored sodas? everything else is peppermint flavored, candy, gum, mouthwash, medicine... why not a soda?

along the same lines... why aren't there soda flavored gum, candy and mouthwash?

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prediction for the future:

psychologists and sociologists are going to have a field day with this one. the air conditioning in my office is not working right now (or ever) and it has been pretty miserable around here lately weather-wise. since my neighbors have an unprotected wireless internet router (thanks for letting piggyback whoever you are) and my air conditioner does work at the apt i was thinking about just working from home, and it got me to thinking...

i think in the future many office buildings will become residential buildings. how many people live in one building and travel to another building to work? at the rate of innovation i can't imagine there being a huge need to physically meet everyday at one location twenty years from now. so why not turn office buildings into residencies? obviously there would have to be some major refurbishing, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. with fewer people commuting to work, there would be a decrease in traffic and pollution, which would lead to less stressful work environments. also, taking commuting time out of the day would allow for more families to spend time together.

obviously not every job can be done from home, but if we could utilize these huge structures we have already in place, i think there could be a huge potential for preservation, or at least a slower rate of land consumption.

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and for the more serious stuff...

i went to youthwave a couple of weeks ago, and i was really impressed by the way one week can change perspective on so many things. the goal of youthwave is to overcome obstacles in talking to your friends about God. we took training courses in the mornings, and hit the streets of los angeles in the afternoon. the goal was not to convert people on the street, but learn how to overcome fear of talking to them about God. it was a truly unique experience, and one that i hope to teach others.

one of the big lessons i learned that week was letting go. it's tough. sometime we forget that Jesus is in the boat with us and we worry about what we are going to do about the stormy waters. i saw 'we' meaning myself. it's an uncomfortable feeling, to let go, but the more i am able to do so, the more i feel capable of handling the tasks set before me. also, there is a certain pain that comes from trying to be in control all the time. when things don't go the way you want them to, it hurts. especially if it is something you have put a lot of energy into. i started thinking about this last time i was in dallas, and how much easier it is to let go of things now, then several years ago. there is so much less bitterness, and much more serenity, and a sense of place. hmmm.

well, to move on to a lighter note...
do you ever just start doing things differently for no apparent reason? in the past few weeks i've found myself doing so many thing differently than i have before. little things, quirks, habits, interests... for example: taco salads. i used to rag on our preacher, lawdog, about eating salads all the time, but for the past few weeks i've been all about taco salads. no reason, i just decided one day that i wanted one and i've been hooked ever since.
country music: one day i'm giving the cuz crap about cmt, the next day i'm listening to buck owens. go figure.
my shoes: i've always put my left shoe on first, now i'm putting my right one on first. no explanation.
soda: i used to hate drinking soda with ice in it, now i'm filling up with ice and barely getting any soda in the glass.
the weather channel: i usually set my alarm on my tv to sportscenter in the mornings, but i find myself lately turning to the weather channel as soon as i bother to find my remote. actually, this one i can explain. it's been triple digits here for the past two weeks and i'm waiting for the day when the high is going to be 73.

that's all for now i guess. lemme know what you're wondering about and what you 'just up and did'...
one love, one heart.