The Gold Standard

I don't have much time to write, since I'm at work, but I thought that I would post this.

So, apparently Russia is pushing to move back to the gold standard for currency (link). China is somewhat on the same page. I can't say that the idea scares me too much, in fact, I think it could be a really good thing. Just looking at the history of the Federal Reserve -how it came about and how it functions- makes it look like one of the shadiest systems ever invented. The thought of going back to something that at least has some intrinsic value (and a somewhat limited supply) could be a very good thing for world economic stability.

Farewell to an Old Friend

I said goodbye to an old friend this last weekend. We had been friends for 27 years. The relationship we had was a funny one. We weren't always on the best of terms. In fact, I often didn't know what to think of her. We had our arguments, our falling outs, our disagreements. After 27 years of an up and down relationship, I decided to finally end things. Right now it is hurting me too much to keep holding on. She lost my trust. I tried to regain it for her, but she kept giving me more and more reasons to keep it lost. The decision was a long time coming and I finally reached a breaking point. I am sure that I will still visit her every once in awhile, and many of my other friends are still friends with her, so I will still see her around, but it can never be the same between us. It will never be the same as it once was.

Overnight Adventures of an Engineer

The other night, I was finishing up a class project till about 12:30am. I was quite pleased that I had finished in enough time to get home and still have a decent amount of sleep. I left the lab, but when I reached my car, the locks were frozen. I tried to get the doors open for about 15 minutes and realized that I should probably just give up. I went back to the engineering building in order to find a place to sleep. I didn't want to choose a classroom, because it would be really awkward to have people show up for class in the morning and find some bum sleeping in the corner. I first thought of sleeping in a study room in the Warnock Engineering Building (WEB). However, as I entered the main atrium, I realized that the cleaners were vacuuming and would probably take awhile. I continued wandering through the corridors, racking my brain for an alternative. While I was thinking, I decided to get myself some food, since I had worked in the lab straight through dinner time. I went to a vending machine in the basement and, after studying the Net Weight of the items, decided on the Cheez-It bag, since it would give me the most mass of food for my money. I only had one dollar bill on me and the machine wouldn't take it. I quickly fixed that problem by sticking my dollar into one of the drink machines, which can recognize a dollar better than the snack machine, and directly hitting the Change Return button. With my newly acquired quarters, I bought my White Cheddar Cheez-Its. I continued my pursuit of a resting place while eating away at my dinner. As I wandered the halls, I decided to go sleep in the TA room in the Merrill Engineering Building (MEB). I doubted that many TAs would be in there very early. Who meets with a TA first thing in the morning? I reached the TA room and went to the back of the room, behind all the desks, so I could sleep on the floor without being seen from the hallway. Unfortunately, there were a couple of guys still working on a project in an adjacent lab. I could hear them through the air vents. I figured that I could probably sleep through most of the noises, so I used my jacket as a pillow and laid down on the ground. That puts the time at about 1am. While I was trying to get to sleep, I heard one of the guys mention the t.v. show "Heroes." Before I knew it, they were watching one of the online episodes- at a high volume I might add. Between the occasional explosions, shouting matches and soundtrack, I was not having much luck sleeping. The noise, combined with the fact that the building was cooling down quite a bit and I was no longer wearing my jacket, finally left me uncomfortable enough to encourage action on my part. At about 4:15am, I gathered my belongings and headed back to the WEB. I hoped that the cleaners had finally left the study room areas. When I reached the upstairs of the WEB, I found a study room that seemed promising and went inside. Unwilling to remove my jacket any longer, I sat in one of the chairs and laid my head down on the table. I tried a few different positions, but never quite found a comfortable one. By that time, I realized that, even with my jacket on, it was going to be too cold to stay. The particular study room that I had found had a large window that went to the outside. With the heat off for the night, this was not the place to stay. I remained on the same level and finally settled on a chair in the back corner of a hallway. The spot was warm and I could lean my head into the corner made by two walls and just fall asleep. For the first time, I was getting some much sought after rest. I suppose that it was getting towards 5am by this time. Although my sleep was finally deep enough that I felt like I was getting it, about an hour later, I was interrupted by a few crazy people that start there day at unholy hours. After that, I slept off and on, occasionally being interrupted by "morning people," until a little after 8. At that point I figured that I had given the whole idea of sleep a worthy effort and went downstairs, bought myself a blueberry bagel and a cup of hot chocolate, and grabbed a newspaper. I was ready to start the day, bright eyed and bushy tailed.

My dad, the legislative Watchdog

I heard that people at my dad's job were persecuting him, because he was featured sleeping in a KSL news clip. I thought I'd add to the persecution. :)
Skip to 2:05 and pay close attention to the man on the right.

There's Something Fishy Going On...

I've been reading text of the bailout legislation. I will not discuss in this blog whether I think that the idea is a good one or bad one, but I WOULD like to discuss some of the wording in the legislation.


What is up with Section 8?

"Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."

Is anyone else uncomfortable with this? I know I am!

*********Addition***********

I thought I'd add these words from Thomas Jefferson as something to think about:

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue
of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks
and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks),
will deprive the people of their property until their children will
wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." Thomas
Jefferson, 1802

Also, I think this lady has some interesting ideas.

Pop vs Soda vs Coke

Finally! Statistics worth writing about. (Click on the Map for a larger view)

Growing up in Utah, I was trained to use the word "pop" for carbonated drinks. I thought that's what everyone called it. I remember thinking it was so weird when I found out that people in other regions of the country wouldn't know what I was talking about if I asked for a "pop." It practically shattered my universe. After getting over the shock, I slowly realized that "pop" was kind of a stupid name. At that point, I began exploring other common names for carbonated drinks. I figured that if I found the right one, then I would never have to switch again. I found out that other terms besides "pop" included "coke," "soda," and "soft drink." I didn't like using "coke" for everything. That was a worse description than "pop." It made absolutely no sense.

-"Do you want a coke?"
-"Sure."
-"What kind of coke do you want?"
-"Oh, I'll have a root beer."

Ridiculous. For some reason, I didn't really like "soda" either, although I'm feeling quite partial to that term at the moment. In my early teens, I finally settled on the use of the term "soft drink." It was what fast food places called the stuff, so I went with it. It seemed a bit more professional than "pop." However, I'm now wondering if I should switch to "soda." Using the term "soft drinks" only makes sense if you know that they were originally called "soft drinks" in order to differentiate them from the harder stuff (i.e. alcohol). But, I don't think people know that piece of information, generally. I didn't know it till I read this article. So here I am, once again questioning my terminology usage and not knowing which one to choose. It's a tough decision to make and I probably have a long road ahead, but I think it's a subject worth exploring. Let's take this journey together, won't we?

An Unattended Camera

OK, so I came across an idea on the internet today that I really liked. The idea is to leave a disposable camera in a public place for people to take random pictures and then see what you get. Here is an image of the camera setup-


The note said: "Good afternoon,
I attached this camera to the bench so you could take pictures. Seriously. So have fun. I'll be back later this evening to pick it up."

I thought it was a really fun idea and I may just have to do it myself some time.

Here's a link to the site where I found the idea.

They posted the photos that were taken with the camera. None of them are too extravagant, but it's still enjoyable to see what people did with it.