reyonthehill

From our order at a pizzeria this evening...

Customer: "I'd like the Caesar salad."

Server: "And what dressing would you like?"

Customer: "Um... Caesar."

But thanks for giving us the option.

Dennis Kucinich places third.

Although I do agree that John Edwards is an electable boy.

This is a really great movie that everyone should see. It is a satire that is not too satirical.

(Returned 02/13/07.)

Rent with Netflix.

When I had started the film retrospective series, there were 100 movies already in my Netflix history. I have tried to post a film retrospective every weekday, or five every week. I continue to rent on average two films every week from Netflix. In how many weeks (marked from the beginning of the project), would I catch up to my queue and begin blogging in real-time?

Variables...
Initial number of movies in Netflix history, N = 100 movies;
Film retrospective posting rate, p = 5 movies/week;
Netflix rental average, Δn = 2 movies/week;
Time to real-time blogging, T = ? weeks.

Problem...
Find T.

Formula...
T = Σ[(N/p)x(Δn/p)ⁱ], where i = 0, 1, 2, ... ∞.

Solution (step-by-step)...
T = 100/5 = 20 weeks.
T = 20 + (100/5)x(2/5) = 28 weeks.
T = 20 + 8 + (100/5)x(2/5)x(2/5) = 32 weeks (rounded-up).
T = 20 + 8 + 4 + (100/5)x(2/5)x(2/5)x(2/5) = 34 weeks (rounded-up).
T = 20 + 8 + 4 + 2 + (100/5)x(2/5)x(2/5)x(2/5)x(2/5) = 34.5 weeks.

Answer...
I should expect to begin blogging film retrospectives in real-time in the 35th week from the start of the project, provided the assumptions above.

What is the deal with people being visibly, and at times, animatedly, upset when an escalator is out of service? Take the stairs.

What would you have done if there were no escalator? Well, here's your chance to find out.

Has our society become so lazy that we now assume a working escalator will be located in place of any vertical relief system (e.g., stairs)? That's pathetic.

Reminder: If the escalator is in service, please walk up the escalator.

From last night's debate... "I believe the Bible is exactly what it is. It's the word of revelation to us from God himself."

Uhm, it's a book, science fiction, really.

Followed by the MSNBC headline... "A Big Night For Huckabee."

I think I saw another version of this movie once before... oh yea, Top Gun.

(Returned 01/29/07.)

Rent with Netflix.

Now that I've left the city for the second time in five years (after grad school and after my last job), the City of Berkeley has finally decided to "crack down on yelling, littering, camping, drunkenness, smoking, urinating and sex on sidewalks and in parks." Trust me, it was uncomfortable.

This has to be the biggest deja vu headline of the new century... "O.J. Simpson Pleads Not Guilty."

Mexican restaurants break my heart. I'm not talking about Chevy's or the like -- god forbid -- but the burrito shops and taquerías. In California, you can find one in every neighborhood, usually more than one, but you'll pick the one closest.

And as always, you end up loving them, and they love you. They know your order, they know your face, they give you a pass when you're a buck short; they're family. But then you must leave them. And it breaks my heart.

I've joined a new family -- a small place across the street -- since I've started my new job recently in uptown Oakland. Unfortunately, I cannot stay in this family for long, as our office will be relocated in a couple months. It won't be that my office will be too far away, but there will certainly be another family with open arms closer.

That change is in the future though, and I am anxious as how to proceed now. Should I tell them -- now or later? Should I stop going altogether and go cold turkey on burritos for awhile? Never.

Signed,
Confused and potentially hungry for burritos.