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By Keith, August 17, 2010 6:58 pm

By now you’ve probably heard about the flight attendant who used profanity over the plane’s public address system, grabbed two beers, then exited the plane (and his job) via the emergency slide.  Some in the media, including NPR, have suggested that this guy is some sort of working class hero because of the romantic way in which he left his job.  I could not agree more.

A hero knows when to quit.  Just ask Sarah “I’m not quitting Alaska by quitting as Governor” Palin.  A hero rises to the challenge of adversity, defeats it, then walks/rides/flies/slides away into the sunset.  Workplace stress can be overwhelming at times, especially for heroes.   The fact that this “working class hero” grabbed two beers before “escaping” the stressful situation is probably a good sign that he has some other heroic problems that we are not privy to, so cut him some slack!

So what is it about this flight attendant’s quitting that makes him heroic?  Was it the profanity over the intercom?  Every great hero uses profanity.  Haven’t you seen Hancock?  Was it it that he grabbed a couple of brewskies on his way out?  If advertising has taught us anything it’s that alcoholism is always heroic as long as you drink responsibly.  All that remains is the dramatic way he exited the workplace.  If I could quit my job on an extremely stressful day, I too would want to pop open the emergency exit and slide on out of there.  Just think of how cool the explanation of why you left your previous job would sound in an interview, “I got in an argument with a customer, cursed at him on the PA in front of all of the other passengers, stole beer from the galley, popped the emergency door and rode the slide to freedom.”  Yeah, he’s a hero. </sarcasm>

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By Keith, August 13, 2010 11:45 pm

I am simply unhappy tonight.  Why?  I installed the beta version of Tencent QQ on Kubuntu and it is utter rubbish.  It’s in Chinese only, has few options, typed smilies do not convert to graphical ones, looks awful, and crashes frequently.  Why did Tencent even bother writing such a horribly pathetic piece of code for Linux?  Why don’t they support it and update it?  Why is there no international version (in English) for Linux?  Why have the Chinese accepted such horrible software for their IM needs?

There are many things about China I do not understand.  Its culture is of course foreign to me, but this acceptance of QQ as a viable way to communicate is a mystery to me!  I know Americans accept crap-ware too (I’m looking at you Internet Explorer), but when your choice of IM pretty much limits you to only chatting with people in your own country, you have not much choice at all.

In this day and age, when there is greater choice of software then ever before, the theory that people will continue using crap-ware just because all of their friends are using is it need to die.  It’s time for people to stop being lazy and search for superior applications when the one they are using fails to function to their satisfaction.

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By Keith, August 5, 2010 6:30 pm

As I was trimming my ear hair, I began thinking about whether I have crossed the line.  Am I (gasp) metrosexual?  Do I care too much about my appearance?  Do I spend too much on hair product?  Do I need to ask myself  ”am I too pretty?”

Being a self-respecting geek who feels a constant need to satisfy intellectual curiosity, I turned to the internet for answers.  Dictionary.com defines a metrosexual as: “a heterosexual man who spends a lot of time and money on his appearance and likes to shop.”  I like this definition.  If you’ve seen me, you know I don’t spend any time at all on my appearance, and have I mentioned lately that I hate shopping.  Therefore, I am not metrosexual, right? RIGHT?!

One definition is not enough, so I consulted the Oxford dictionary online which defines metrosexual as:  ”a young, urban, heterosexual male with liberal political views, an interest in fashion, and a refined sense of taste.”  This definition troubles me a little.  I’m sort of young at heart.  I’m urban-ish.  I’m a heterosexual male with somewhat progressive political views.  I’ve watched Project Runway more times than a straight man should, and as for fashion, I know what I like when I see it.  Uh oh!

Well now what?  Should I now admit to having watched Queer Eye For The Straight Guy a few times?  Should I admit that I do kina love shopping on Amazon.com?  Shall I admit to having an aversion to getting dirty?  Should I admit to having plucked an eyebrow or three, trimmed my nose and ear hair, and that I keep my goat-T trimmed?  In all seriousness, I don’t like these labels and stereotypes that our human brains try to shoehorn everyone into, especially when it comes to my metrosexuality.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a unibrow to wax.