Blog of the week: The Robject

I have plenty to write about from the trip but I may not be able to get to it for a coulple of days. In the meantime imagine giving away more than 30% of your income to charity. It's hard for me to imagine, too.

A friend is doing it for 12 months. To learn more read about therobject.

Nepali guilt

On Monday I picked up my laundry from the Nepali's that press my shirts. They charge $.40 per shirt and and give me a discount to $.25/shirt. It's a good business practice to make the customer think he's getting a good deal. I always leave a tip well over the $.35 price so they must think I'm crazy.
Today I had a huge order to pick up (19 shirts) and the bill was half of what it should have been. I paid the price and said, I'd like to leave a tip. He said, "Oh thank you sir

Ready... set...

I'm leaving absolutely ridiculously early for the airport. I'll arrive about four hours before my flight leaves. With my luck it seems like the right thing to do.

I'm looking forward to Atlanta's predicted high of 83 on Wednesday. The summer is in full blast here and the lows are higher than 83.

I had planned to write a series of blog posts to appear over the next two days and, well, it didn't happen.

Will work for cake

I'm glad the students gave me the giant Coke cake. For now that's all I'm getting.

I went to payroll to find out how much and when I'd be paid.

Payroll clerk: Which college are you in?
Me: Business and Economics
Payroll clerk: There is no pay for Dr.'s in Business.
Me: What?
Payroll Clerk: The college has not sent us the documents telling us who taught during the summer.
Me: So nobody in the college of Business and Economics is getting paid for summer school?
Payroll Clerk: Not until we get the documentation.

I know this will all get worked and I'm not concerned about whether I'll get paid, just when. I would have liked to have had this pay before coming home.

While others may feel like they work peanuts. I, apparently, work for cake.

Thought for the day - Hillary

I'm trying to grade while watching Hillary on Sunday's Meet The Press. (So much for focus.)

She's impressive. It reminded me of why I supported her early on before I switched to Obama. I can only wonder, however, how the health care debate might be different if Hillary were still in the senate. More than one news story made it clear that one of the reasons she accepted the Secretary of State offer was that her colleagues in the senate weren't willing to give her a position of power. In this health care fight Baucus and Dodd may be heavyweights within the senate but they certainly don't hold the firepower (or lightning rod) of Clinton.

I do wonder how this would be playing out if she were still a senator.

Update: Yep, can't focus. I forgot to mention that during the campaign Hillary's plan was better than Obama's. I won't bore you with details but this issue alone almost made me support her.

Management

The B McG dropped off his painting crew and they went right to work. Well, 2 of them did. One, who appears to be McG's right hand man sat in a chair pretty much the entire time and watched. He barked out a few orders that the others followed dutifully. I guess lazy management is one of those universal truths.

After they got done they waited for McG to return. I cleared off the couch and chairs but they would only sit on the floor or dining chairs. They were very happy, however to take Cokes. After the B McG arrived I asked how much he wants for painting the room, rewiring my cable and custom fitting sheet metal for my dishwasher. He starts talking with the guys. They talked for what seemed like five minutes with the workers' eyes frequently darting my way.

It went on long enough that I said, "I'm going to step out while you guys decide this." I walked towards the kitchen when McG said something I heard as, "b-da-b 2500." (2500 dirhams is about $700. ) I asked him to repeat that. Again he said "b-da-b 2500." He saw the look of panic in my face so he started to explain that with metal he had cut and the supplies for the paint rollers and everything it really is 500.

"500!" I exclaimed, "I thought you were asking for 2500!" What I heard as "b-da-b 2500" was him saying "With the dishwasher, too, 500."

We laughed, I paid him 700, gave them a bunch of Cokes and they were on their way.

Imagine asking someone to custom make a top for your dishwasher, rewire your cable and paint a large room and getting a bill for $125. Tipping them $50 seems like too little in retrospect.

OK, I HAVE TO GO BACK TO GRADING. IN 24 HOURS I'LL BE SITTING IN THE DUBAI AIRPORT AND I HAVEN'T FINISHED GRADING. FOCUS, STEVEN, FOCUS.

Alone. All alone.

My British friends I was plant-sitting for have gone to Beirut. Mike is working long hours in Dubai meaning I'm all alone in my last 24 hours in Al Ain. Shiver.

Nah, actually, I'm on pace to get all the grading done and grades entered by midnight or a little later. Right now I'm a little distracted because the guys have returned to finish painting my front room. I'd rather not have them here while I'm trying grade finals but I was put off so many times I'll take it when I can get it.

I need to try to remain focused for the next few hours . That's never easy for me. If I were to suddenly lose my internet connection right now that would probably be a good thing.

18 minutes

I arrived at school to administer my last final and realized I had left it back in the apartment. I flew home and made it back in 18 minutes. I walked in the classroom at 9:59 for a 10AM final.

One of things I like about living here is that on the trip to my apartment and back I was able to... let's just say, move quickly. The difference is that in the US I'd have been panicking about a possible cop catching me. Here I know there are no speed cameras between my apartment and the school.

BTW, as fast as I was going I was still passed by a Mercedes.

Quote of the day - Economists are charlatans

Today British economists apologized to the Queen for not predicting the credit crisis. Good for them. I won't hold my breath waiting for Wall St. economists to apologize.

From the Huffinton Post story one reader made this comment:

Economics is the most useless subject taught in college. They should change macro and micro economics into a study of historical economic events. Mathematicizing the subject gives the illusion that it is rigorous and scientific - it is neither. The subject has become the refuge of charlatans. 100% of all economists are charlatans!

I'm glad I majored in economics. It develops a way of thinking about the world... but I have to admit there's a bit of truth in the statement.

The power of youtube

This video is so popular it has made the song they are dancing to rise to number seven in I-tunes download list. I saw the couple on the Today Show. They are lovin’ the attention.

From now on couples not only have to plan the wedding, reception, and honeymoon, they also have to figure out how to do something crazy enough to make youtube.

The video is pure fun. I enjoy a glimpse of their old photographer. He had to be thinking, "How in the hell do I capture this in pictures?" This is a case where you really gotta see the video.

I don't like it when I don't get it

This comes from Andrew Sullivan's site. It's supposedly a cool ad that will take a minute to understand. Apparently I'm slow.

At least there was the cake

I spoke with several people before I finally reached the clerk that handles payroll. My pay will be processed on Wednesday, en shala, or Thursday. I leave for the US on Tuesday.

So how much will I be getting paid? "Oh we haven't calculated that yet."

Just a note

It's midnight here. I took the garbage to the dumpster and thought, "ohmygodthisisfuckinghot"

Yep. No capitalization, spaces, or periods. It's that hot.

I'm ready to come home.

Weekend remainders - the psychology edition

Very enlightening: For people with low self esteem saying daily affirmations has a negative effect. Andrew Sullivan finds experts who claim low self esteem is good for you.

Meanwhile, having more competitors makes a person less competitive.

According to evolutionofgod.net the notion of heaven came long after Christ died. It was initially referred to as the Kingdom of God (here on earth). But with every passing generation the Kingdom of God (on earth) seemed less likely so they created heaven. The website has an interesting history of the world's religions.

"I'm scared of the private sector!" seems to be what most Arabs are saying. Across the middle east Arabs would rather be unemployed than to take a private sector job. Working for the government pays better and is considered much safer. Hmm, I'll bet that's a growing feeling in the US, too.

Meghan McCain asks, "Does it sound campy to say I love gay men?" I think the better question is whether or not her father would have been any better at ending "Don't ask, Don't tell."

National Republican chair Michael Steele says he'll woo minorities with "Fried chicken and potato salad."

I know it's a problem when your girlfriend is having sex with a Republican state representative who is also Sunday school teacher... who also "loudly opposes allowing gay couples to adopt and is a firm opponent of sex outside of marriage -- except his own." Just be sure not to ask for too much money or he might go to the cops.

I gotta remember to do these each week. There's just too many when I wait two weeks.

Update: I should have mentioned that the state rep. is 47 and his mistress is 22. He probably won't get reelected but he'll get high-fives in the locker room.

Update II: Very appropriate for the psychology edition... I'd like to think that if I were an Alaskan blogger I'd be writing this about my fellow conservative Alaskan bloggers who realized their governor was nuts.

Fascinating weather...

... in Iowa, of course. Here it's just frickin' hot. A couple of days ago we did get a sandstorm with some thunder. I was so excited I had to run out into it. It ruined my contacts and all I was able to see was some low hanging scud. <--but that's the closest thing I've seen to a cloud in months. The chart above is the National Weather Service prediction for temperatures from July 30 - August 3. As you can see Iowa has a 60% chance of being below normal. I'm glad my arrival didn't curse the weather like I did in January.

This shows the daily temperatures for Cedar Rapids. If the cool weather persists for the rest of the month it will be the first month (I can find) where we did not hit the normal high even once. In fact, CR hasn't reached a normal high since hitting 91 on June 27th.

I am very excited that it is going to be cool upon my return. I was convinced that we'd have a hot, sticky August like we so often have. The idea of spending time outside has made me even consider camping. It won't happen but at least I've been thinking about it.

PLUS: The NWS is reporting the return of el nino. Stop yawning. Here's one positive effect from a news article from the 1997 el nino:

According to Scheeringa, the El Nino weather pattern could bring unusually warm and dry weather to the Midwest, especially in the winter months.

Warm and dry sounds pretty good right now, doesn't it?

It's like a fireman...

I'm not sure the ad is real, but it is more believable if you see the TV ad.

I'm not sure I'll think of firemen or heartburn the same way again.

Finally, a bacon product I don't want

It is described as: "Corn on the cob wrapped in hickory bacon with two hot dogs and two Colby-Jack cheese sticks wrapped in ground beef."

Indian food

Since I won't be getting great Indian food while I'm back in Iowa I decided to indulge. From left to right its rita(sp?), mutton in a spicy gravy, garlic naan(bread) and incredibly good spring rolls. I ordered a second helping of the spring rolls.

There may be good Indian restaurants in E. Iowa. (I've heard good things about one in Iowa City.) During my time back I have too many other plans to waste time on something I can get here.

I have to go back downtown tomorrow to buy paint so I'll probably stop back for some more spring rolls.

Fly-unders

Sorry for the picture quality. This is an underpass. It's used in this city to allow traffic to avoid a busy intersection. Imagine the First Ave. and Collins Road intersection (the busiest in CR). If the First Avenue traffic were allowed to simply drive underneath the intersection there'd be few traffic jams. I love the fly-unders. I live 15 miles from the heart of downtown but thanks to the fly-unders I can make it there in 20 minutes. I can get to the opposite end of the city in less than 30.

Facebook message of the day

I'm hoping to see a friend and former housemate in Des Moines while I'm back. He sent his new phone number with this request:

Please don't give it to any male unattractive stalkers. Or hermaphrodite attractive or unattractive stalkers, or pre-op tranies. Anyone else is A-OK.

Soon this guy will be making a multiple of my salary. I'm just glad to know him on the way up.

Update: If there are any female unattractive stalkers out there please let me know. I will happily forward Matt's phone number. He's straight so if you stalked in the right way you might just have a chance.