Dena and I were watching "Cold Case Files" as our crime show du jour.
One criminal was given a prison sentence of 25 years to life.
What does that mean?
"In 25 years we'll round up the judge and jury again and see how mad they still are at you."
"If the prisons aren't too crowded by then, we'll just go ahead and have you stay a few more years."
"If you're having a good enough time here, we'll give you the option to renew your contract."
"25 years, unless we lose the paperwork. Then we'll just go with life to play it safe."
"It's somewhere between 25 years and life. We wrote the real number down on a secret scrap of paper. That way when your release date gets here it'll be such a surprise!"
"I've got a lunch date in ten minutes, so let's just go with a range and figure out the details when I get around to it."
Monday, September 5, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Apollo 18
Houston, we have BIG problems.
So goes the most recent sci-fi thriller to hit the big screen.
It turns out that Apollo 17 in 1972 was not the final Apollo mission, as officially declared due to budget constraints.
Hours of recently discovered footage is spliced together from Department of Defense archives, revealing a secret mission dubbed Apollo 18.
Three men launch toward the moon under cloak of darkness and land safely.
Then, stuff happens. Noisy, shocking, creeping stuff.
How many return home safely?
And what do the Russians have to do with this?
Check it out, and bring a date to squeeze.
Afterward, we cozied up in the living room and cued up "Apollo 13" for a more heartwarming change of pace.
So goes the most recent sci-fi thriller to hit the big screen.
It turns out that Apollo 17 in 1972 was not the final Apollo mission, as officially declared due to budget constraints.
Hours of recently discovered footage is spliced together from Department of Defense archives, revealing a secret mission dubbed Apollo 18.
Three men launch toward the moon under cloak of darkness and land safely.
Then, stuff happens. Noisy, shocking, creeping stuff.
How many return home safely?
And what do the Russians have to do with this?
Check it out, and bring a date to squeeze.
Afterward, we cozied up in the living room and cued up "Apollo 13" for a more heartwarming change of pace.
Help Your Kid Ace Her Homework
Tips from Men's Health:
1. Don't admit that you struggled with a subject at school. It's a shot of modesty that might set a discouraging tone from the outset.
2. Don't demonstrate right away. Have her work on it on her own while explaining her answer. Once progress stalls, then step in.
3. Don't tell her she's smart when she gets something right, lest she think she's not if she fails on a problem or two. Focus on learning. Practice makes perfect.
4. Never say "wrong." It shuts down thought process and puts you in control. Something like "I see why you'd say that, but let's try it like this."
Encouragement through trial and error as a normal learning process, and phrasing that conveys support rather than superiority.
It's not just for kids! Anyone in a position to teach, train or lead can gain the same way.
1. Don't admit that you struggled with a subject at school. It's a shot of modesty that might set a discouraging tone from the outset.
2. Don't demonstrate right away. Have her work on it on her own while explaining her answer. Once progress stalls, then step in.
3. Don't tell her she's smart when she gets something right, lest she think she's not if she fails on a problem or two. Focus on learning. Practice makes perfect.
4. Never say "wrong." It shuts down thought process and puts you in control. Something like "I see why you'd say that, but let's try it like this."
Encouragement through trial and error as a normal learning process, and phrasing that conveys support rather than superiority.
It's not just for kids! Anyone in a position to teach, train or lead can gain the same way.
Bodybuilding By The Numbers
Picked up a few formulas for hitting a certain target weight from Men's Health magazine.
Pick a target weight, say, 160 pounds. Call that T.
Number of weekly hours of exercise. Let this be H. How about 3?
Then how many calories, C, do I need to maintain that weight?
T x (H + 11) = 160 x (3 + 11) = 2,240 a day.
How much of it should be composed of protein, fat and carbs?
Protein = T x 1.25 = 160 x 1.25 = 200 grams.
I checked the labels in the fridge and figured that I eat about 40 grams at dinner typically. So I can either eat 5 dinners... or find other sources. Drinking a quarter gallon of skim milk yields about 40 more. Surprisingly enough, whole grain bread can add up to another 40 or so. Snack on a bunch of almonds and it might add up to 20. The most obvious solution would be to plug in a protein-rich breakfast of some kind.
Okay, so a little deficient there. Fat intake? T/2 = 160/2 = 80 grams.
Carbs = [C - (P x 4) - (F x 9)] / 4 = [2,240 - (200x4) - (80x9)] / 4 = 180 grams.
Math and eating. I can imagine home ec classes across the country writing recipes in equations. Accountants accenting financial reports with succulent photos of roast duck. Hopefully it doesn't get too out of control.
Pick a target weight, say, 160 pounds. Call that T.
Number of weekly hours of exercise. Let this be H. How about 3?
Then how many calories, C, do I need to maintain that weight?
T x (H + 11) = 160 x (3 + 11) = 2,240 a day.
How much of it should be composed of protein, fat and carbs?
Protein = T x 1.25 = 160 x 1.25 = 200 grams.
I checked the labels in the fridge and figured that I eat about 40 grams at dinner typically. So I can either eat 5 dinners... or find other sources. Drinking a quarter gallon of skim milk yields about 40 more. Surprisingly enough, whole grain bread can add up to another 40 or so. Snack on a bunch of almonds and it might add up to 20. The most obvious solution would be to plug in a protein-rich breakfast of some kind.
Okay, so a little deficient there. Fat intake? T/2 = 160/2 = 80 grams.
Carbs = [C - (P x 4) - (F x 9)] / 4 = [2,240 - (200x4) - (80x9)] / 4 = 180 grams.
Math and eating. I can imagine home ec classes across the country writing recipes in equations. Accountants accenting financial reports with succulent photos of roast duck. Hopefully it doesn't get too out of control.
Delayed Gratification
This week I got a chance to tell someone that she was my favorite of the actuarial supervisors I'd had. Maybe without realizing it, she helped mold me into the kind of supervisor that I am now.
It feels so good to say thanks, even a dozen years after the fact.
Is it ever too late to tell a person how grateful you are to them, or what a difference they've made to you? My guess is that they'd say no!
It feels so good to say thanks, even a dozen years after the fact.
Is it ever too late to tell a person how grateful you are to them, or what a difference they've made to you? My guess is that they'd say no!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Funny Out Of Office Message
Courtesy of Josh Kopelmine, a cool discovery by Yahoo! Shine:
"I am currently out of the office on vacation.
I know I’m supposed to say that I’ll have limited access to email and won’t be able to respond until I return — but that’s not true. My blackberry will be with me and I can respond if I need to. And I recognize that I’ll probably need to interrupt my vacation from time to time to deal with something urgent.
That said, I promised my wife that I am going to try to disconnect, get away and enjoy our vacation as much as possible. So, I’m going to experiment with something new. I’m going to leave the decision in your hands:
If your email truly is urgent and you need a response while I’m on vacation, please resend it to interruptyourvacation@[redacted].com and I’ll try to respond to it promptly.
If you think someone else at [the company] might be able to help you, feel free to email my assistant, and she’ll try to point you in the right direction.
· Otherwise, I’ll respond when I return…
Warm regards,
Josh"
"I am currently out of the office on vacation.
I know I’m supposed to say that I’ll have limited access to email and won’t be able to respond until I return — but that’s not true. My blackberry will be with me and I can respond if I need to. And I recognize that I’ll probably need to interrupt my vacation from time to time to deal with something urgent.
That said, I promised my wife that I am going to try to disconnect, get away and enjoy our vacation as much as possible. So, I’m going to experiment with something new. I’m going to leave the decision in your hands:
If your email truly is urgent and you need a response while I’m on vacation, please resend it to interruptyourvacation@[redacted].com and I’ll try to respond to it promptly.
If you think someone else at [the company] might be able to help you, feel free to email my assistant, and she’ll try to point you in the right direction.
· Otherwise, I’ll respond when I return…
Warm regards,
Josh"
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