Wow. She really had to go.

Yes, I understand that it’s one of the basic functions of life. Proper waste elimination is key to good health for all animals. And sometimes you really gotta “use the facilities”. But that doesn’t make what I just saw any less remarkable.

I was sitting at a window seat in my local Peet’s café, working on various school projects. There’s a bus stop right in front of the café, so I’ve seen several buses stop to pick up customers. But this one seemed to come really really close to the curb. And then I noticed a woman in a uniform exiting the bus. It turns out it was the driver – in SF, it’s not that big a deal for drivers to get out of their buses, because the buses run on electricity supplied by overhead power lines, and sometimes the buses get disconnected, so the driver has to get out and fix it. But, this was different, ‘cause in the East Bay, the buses run on gas (or the occasional “alternative fuel” test vehicle).

So, imagine my surprise when the driver sauntered into the Peet’s. At first, I thought she had come in for coffee, which actually would have been even more amazing. But, she made a beeline for the back of the store, emerged a few minutes later, got back in the bus and took off.

Like I said, I know it’s a fact of life and all, and I know when you gotta go, you gotta go. But that doesn’t make it any less surprising.

Wow.

This is an amazing article. I should be writing my Strategy mid-term, but I couldn't help reading the whole (long) article.

Kind of a sad statement, though... Makes you wonder, what would YOU have done? I listen to my iPod all the time on the way to school, so unfortunately my reaction probably wouldn't have differed too much from the norm.

Regret?

I. Can't. Believe. I. Gave. Up. My. Digital. Cable. And. HDTV.

What was I thinking? Oh well, guess I'll have to wait until the Blue-Ray/HD-DVD wars are over and pick up the survivor once prices have come down. Wouldn't want to be like my Dad in the 80s -- he still has a Betamax VCR hidden away in his office at home....

You learn something new...

File this one under the "I feel a little silly, yet I'm glad I found out" department.

I was talking with one of my classmates yesterday about new bikes, telling him how mine had gotten stolen. We started to talk about gears and what's good on a bike. Then it became clear to me that the reason I was having so much trouble pedalling my (old) bike was because I was using the wrong gears. I had thought high gear was for going up hills, because it seemed like each time I pedalled it propelled me farther. Turns out, high gear (I think it's high gear. 3rd on the left, 5th on the right kinda thing) is for going DOWNHILL. Huh. Who knew?

Can't wait to try it out. Yet I have to wait, at least until I can get a new bike.... Oh the irony.

Tipping Point

For those of you who haven't read "The Tipping Point", you should. For those of you that have, I wonder when the global warming topic reached it's tipping point, and what caused it. Whatever it was, I like it!

Check out this video of Ted Turner and David Letterman talking green.

Interesting take on the military

I never really think much about the fact that my father was in the Air Force 30-some years ago. With the draft in full effect, it was a different time, and the only way it really seems to affect me now is I have a really cool Air Force shirt of his that I wear sometimes.

But this article on abcnews.com (which I have set as my homepage, btw) was really interesting. The author brings up a really good point about "leading", and the moral obligations that come with being a "leader". Years ago, I had toyed with the idea of becoming an officer in the military for all of, oh, I don't know, 2 seconds. My close college friend, Jason, had toyed with the idea on numerous occasions, as a way to continue to "serve" after his two years in the Peace Corps, as well as a further step on a potential political career path (he decided on grad school, and a life of academia, and Jesus, instead)

In the end, though, two things stopped me (three, if you count my sudden return to sanity). One was the very idea that she talks about, the need to fight in an "unjust" war (combined with a general hatred of the very idea of killing people). The other was the very real need/requirement for people in the military to subjugate the "self", for the greater good of the "group." We're not talking about sacrificing a few things here and there; I mean somebody else makes your decisions for you. That was a concept that I really didn't feel I could go along with.

But I think this article makes a pretty compelling argument for why at least SOME of what she calls the "elite" (not to say that I'm part of this elite, but I think her definition could easily be broadened to the upper-middle and upper classes of America) need to serve. That being said, would I want my future kids to serve? Honestly? Probably not. But I'd like to think I would at least respect their decision to do so, provided it was done for the right reasons.

A fascinating article

I'm a pretty big fan of the Economist. My friend Jason got me turned on to it many years ago (he was living in Ghana, and appreciated the fact that it was a long read, every week). Sometimes they can be a bit on the conservative side, although certainly not as much as WSJ. And I really appreciate their international perspective on the issues facing the world today, which, despite the title of the magazine, don't always focus exclusively on economics.

I just came across the above article, and was really struck by how good a job they do of illustrating one of the major changes that's happening in the US right now, which, while being about economics, has a much more fundamental effect on the course of America's future.

One of the great powers of the internet (besides useless Youtube videos) is the rapid dissemenation of information and ideas, and while admittedly a lot of the crap I read online is, well, crap (although, often extremely entertaining -- pretty much everything on fark.com, for one), at the same time, I think a lot of the things I come across really help keep me informed, and guide my opinions in a way that I didn't until recently experience.

For anybody that's curious, the two sites that for me are both informational and opinion-changing (and, at times, entertaining) are metafi.com and worldchanging.com. Metafilter, as it's known, is an aggregator of links on many different topics, as determined by the very people who read the site. Topics range from slightly silly like Friday Fun (usually quick and addictive online games) and International Talk Like A Pirate Day (pretty much what it sounds like), to seriously political matters (I found the Economist article on there today). Worldchanging is one of the reasons I'm going to B-School at Berkeley, as it's really peaked my interest in using technology to help make the world a better place (I know, sounds a bit cliched...).

Anyway, back to the article. My first thought after reading it, and thinking about how unfair and unpleasant the situation is, was, "well, I AM spending the next two years in business school, and while 'getting rich' isn't the reason, it's certainly a byproduct that I'm hoping for...". But, after a little more contemplation (and writing this entry), I realized that for me the key can be found in the above paragraph. I think Google has it right (in their motto, at least) -- don't be evil. Getting rich is okay (even glorious, if China's Deng Xiaoping is to be believed), but do your part to help the little guy on the way up. In my case, I hope that it will be a combination of the little guy and our planet.

Let's hope I still feel the same two years from now at graduation.