When the escalator is not working...

...why do I stutter on the first steps?   I have a few theories:

• The first steps have variable rise -- in normal stairways the rise is constant.
  
• The expectation that it should move is violated -- the disbelief may be confusing.
• The treads are striped -- this may give visual disorientation.

Best Before

Am I the only one still finding cryptic expiry dates on products?
This one (click to zoom out) is particularly bad.   Thanks to Google I was able to figure out that 334 is November 31st, 12:48 is probably when it was packed, but I still don't know the year.

Chewing gum

Not sure why, but when I'm chewing a gum I feel about 10% tougher.

Does the act of chewing boost confidence?   Just like with cigarettes for smokers...

Is it the mechanical action per se, or does it recall a stereotype created by the media?

RSS and Atom feeds

I must be looking for an audience, this blog now also has a classic RSS feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/paolor
As well as the standard Atom feed:
http://paolor.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Given that I don't post that regularly, perhaps this can save somebody a trip :)

Known faces?

Maybe it's a sign that I'm working too much, but can anybody explain how come every time I see somebody walking down the street at first I think I recognize some co-worker?
But it gets worse. Sometimes even just seeing a sweater or shirt in a store instantly reminds me of somebody at work that wears that kind sweater or shirt.

Signs that we're getting old

The good

• The old tube TVs don't whistle anymore, can't really hear that.
• The watch doesn't collect scratches anymore, can't really see them.
• If we buy something we don't need to open the box while still driving home.

The bad

• It's now relatively hard to pick up a penny from the floor.
• It's now very hard to remember how to adjust the stove clock for daylight savings.
• If we buy something we don't need to open the box while still driving home.

Bigger schemes

It's hard to step back and look at the big picture, it's much easier to be just like the stupid spider who works all night weaving its marvelous web... on my doorway.

Things that I hate

• When the power plug presents itself the other way around (big pin by the small hole.)
• When the handrail of the escalator runs too fast (why is it never too slow?)
• On bank machines when the side buttons don't line up with the grid on the screen.
• When paying debit when I don't understand where the stripe is supposed to go.
• Realizing that the staple that came out of the stapler last time I used it was actually the last staple in the stapler by finding myself with two sheets of paper badly bent in the corner as opposed to stapled together.
• Sticky labels that won't come off or that come off by leaving all of their glue on the thing.
• Any labels on underwear.
• Being overdressed, especially when carrying bags.
• During ads on TV, every time they use the word "Introducing..."
• When I'm typing in my browser and the cursor pops to the beginning of the text box, just because the page is done loading.
• When I accidentally hit the "insert" key and all of a sudden I start overwriting myself (who needs to overtype anyway?)
• When I mumble something right before biting my sandwich and the person I'm talking with goes "Uh?" when I'm now chewing and I can't talk.

Thinking over -- this isn't really a blog

According to Wikipedia, a blog is a "web log", an online diary where entries are written in chronological order.

This blog is for me more of a place where to write down stupid things, so that they stop rambling in my head.   However, before I publish something, I always try to think it over for a while.   Take these posts for instance, some of them have been in the drafts for weeks before making their way to the blog; some of them never made it.   So no, I'm technically not a blogger.

People that I hate, cont'd

• People that talk very loud even if they're standing 2 feet apart from each other.
• People that spend an awful lot of time perfecting their coffee's cream and sugar levels when a line of people is waiting behind them; especially when they repeatedly taste the intermediate product.
• People that play with their keys or with anything that makes an unnecessary noise while they wait.
• People that walk around continuously snapping their fingers to make sounds.
• People on the elevator dangerously standing by the door with their bags, wondering why the door doesn't close.
• People that don't drive forward on the left turn lane when you're behind them and you know that there should be room for at least two cars.

Fixations

Big favourites can save you a lot of time.   If you have a favourite colour, for instance, then you don't have to waste any time picking the colour -- certain decisions become 'no-brainers'.

7:51

For some odd reason, these two numbers (especially when I see them on segment displays) remind me of aliens...