Week of November 22nd, 2013

Learned an interesting fact about the Taipei American School last night...they randomly drug test the high school students.  Am told that the kids know about it...what they do is take a hair follicle and send it to the States for testing.  I know they can't do that in public schools...can you imagine how fast peoples heads would explode?  When they make a big oil discovery, they say that it could power such and such for a 100 years.  Initiating involuntary public school drug testing would power the law profession for a 1000 years.  In private school, I guess you gotta play by their rules or hit the bricks.  I hadn't heard this factoid before and am not sure how I feel about it yet. 

Speaking of conniption fits, want to share this video of the Taiwanese traffic scarecrow.  I love these guys.

Extremely effective without wasting a body standing around with a sign.  You know the LADWP union would freak if they tried to replace jobs with these battery powered heroes.  And just think of the fun you could have with them 'round Halloween time?

Two follow-ups from last year.  One, have detailed the regular battle between me and the rest of the family about brightness and how I like muted lighting while the rest of them crank up the wattage.   Walking around recently on a super bright sunny day, it hit me that Chinese people just don't wear sunglasses.  You will see some women with them, but they are usually well heeled (or are trying to look so) and can tell it is a fashion statement.  No matter how bright it is, I have never seen a dude wear shades.

Next, early in our stay here, I railed in this space about the Kitchen Aid coffee maker we bought here and how it is not only awkward to clean properly, but is impossible to pour without dribbling coffee on the counter.  Over a year later, have yet to figure it out.

I have tried everything including pouring with my left/cheating hand.  It makes decent coffee and am too cheap to buy a new one, but had to get it off of my chest.

Speaking of cleansing my mind, gonna spend a couple of minutes the rest of this week's entry ranting about bad behavior of some aquiantences on social media.  Will try not to name names, but am guessing these people are so clueless that they won't read between the lines and know it's about them and this will have little to know real impact.

Warning: This goes on for a while and in re-reading it, sounds pretty bitter and grumpy old manish.  You may want to skip to another entry at this point.

This is for all of the annoying Facebook posters.  I only do Facebook, not because I don't know about other more trendy sites, but can't/don't want to keep up with the latest thing just cause and I see no ral problem with FB other than it isn't hip.  There was some comedian that said that we should all just agree to ignore the next platform of music/movie distribution so we don't end up having to buy the same thing on VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray/whatever's next.

I like Facebook, especially being so far physically removed from most people I know.  You get a chance to see what's up with their kids, were they've been on vacation, what's amuzing them in the news and the occasional "I'm loaded" (or about to be) and here is where I am doing so.  I am even down with posting a snap of something delicious you are eating or advocating some store or website that you feel strongly about.  What I don't need is the one trick pony person that feels a daily obligation to beat the drum for their cause.  Believe me, I know you feel blessed that your cat is a survivor of feline aids (it's the # 1 killer of domestic cats), and am really happy for the both of you, but we ALL get it.  Perhaps think about the people that read about your happiness regularly and may be reminded about their own losses from the same malady?  Related to these people are the ones that need to celebrate/mourn the birthday and anniversary of the death every person that they knew who has died every year with a nauseating rememberence that would cause Hallmark himself to gag.  I went to one person's site and looked back on their history, and from May 2013 to today, there are 9 entries mourning the loss of a sibling...for example, "If tears could build a staircase up to heaven, I'd come up there and bring you right back down here, miss you."  Am surprised FB doesn't automatically track those details and send out reminders to all their friends about their upcoming bi-annual wake.  To those people...Downer.  I am not totally devoid of emotion, and will agree to allow public memorials to one dead friend or relative annually.

Related are the ones that will send a cryptic message and use FB as their psychologists couch.  Got this one yesterday..."ever wonder how it is that... strangers can become ur family & family becomes a stranger to you?".  Sounds like a cry for help that would be better served by seeing a trained professional. 

Am also quite bored of anyone that posts about their pet political/medical fight over 50% of their entries.  To those people, I agree that global warming is a concern and am all for reduce/reuse/recycle.  In fact, I agreed with it the first time you posted about it and thought about coming out to support you at the rally against it.  Two years and 100 postings about it later?  I want to let my gas guzzler idle inside my garage and then climb in for the long nap. 

The other person that bugs the crap outta me is the one that uses a group as their personal scrap book.  A friend shared a link to a group about my home town, 'You know your from old school Arcadia if you remember...'  I liked the trip down memory lane with people throwing out long gone restaurants and stores, high school events, etc., but there is this one participant that posts 4 or 5 times a day about totally random shit.  Like asking you to write the caption of some cartoon, a link to an old Ed Sullivan TV show appearance or that it is Petula Clark's b-day.  Petula Clark is from fucking England for crying out loud.  This week, in the span of an hour, she posted links to 8 songs that "inspire" her, none of which were from artists from the state of Californina, let alone Arcadia.  Obviously, this chronic poster has to be a shut in and her FB friends have stopped responding to her, so this is a forum for her to engage with society.  Of course, couldn't keep my mouth shut and had to say something.  I tried to keep it civil, saying something like I appreciate trips down memory lane, but could we keep it somewhat Arcadia related or at least limit non-related posts to one a day?  Wish I could share the shit storm that followed,  but cannot see them anymore as I was told to "shove off" from the group, which I did after getting three rapid postings the next morning about 'does anyone remember' in order...Tab, Grisly Adams and Dion (of 'and the Belmonts').  I did have a couple of supporters in this exchange, but for the most part, everyone was 'so happy' to have this crap fill their FB page. 

Which brings me to the most heinous person inhabiting this world, and that is the enabler.  The ones that validates these  people by encouraging them.  You know who they/you are.  Please stop it.  Your seemingly innocent comments is the sustenance that keeps them alive.  If you are good friends with them, it is not only OK, but your duty to have a gentle conversation with them to call out on this bad behavior. 

Sorry for being such a dick about this stuff, but a previous rant last year along this line about the people who post the humblebrags like "feeling terrible, just got back from a 2-hour workout at the gym and it kicked my ass" may have had some results as I can't remember a recent posting of that nature.  That or they just unfriended me and I didn't notice.