Reruns

I hate reruns.

I realize that - back in the day - if you missed an episode of your favorite show, reruns were the only solution for you. Otherwise, you might never see that episode again. These days, however, there really isn't much of an excuse.

Seriously. Many (if not most) networks these days put their shows online. Legally. Either on their own website (TNT, for example) or on Hulu or Amazon Instant Video or ... there are dozens of legal places to watch TV.

A decade ago, TiVo was amazing. Now, many cable companies offer Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) that do almost exactly the same thing as TiVo. I rarely watch anything at the time it airs anymore.

I understand that actors and authors and film crews need a break. I understand the reason for a hiatus. But that doesn't mean we need reruns. Seriously. They have hundreds of unaired pilots laying around. Make the summertime Unaired Pilot Summer! Maybe they'll find a hit. At the very least, it doesn't cost much and makes use of something they already have ...

At the very least, it's better than reruns.

Celebrating Blog Milestones

It's inevitable.  You find a blog you like. The author has clearly taken some time to find their voice, and then they hit an anniversary post and it disrupts their normal postings.

"Thanks for reading this blog," they'll tell you. "I appreciate it. I'd never have made it to this milestone without you."

This, by the way, is complete bullshit. Blogging is a solitary task.  Comments and feedback are appreciated, but let's call a spade a spade: Most of us would do this even without readers.

The milestone? It could be one year. Or a 100th post. Or 30th comment. Seventeenth giveaway contest.  It doesn't matter - and it's a slippery slope.  Once you commemorate the One Year, then you have to do the same thing every year. Marked that 100th post? Guess you'll be marking 200, too, then. Enjoy all the tracking.

Webcomics, by the way, do this a lot. Especially those with ongoing storylines. Story, story, story, 100th Comicstravapalooza!, story, story, story.

It's filler. And it's annoying.

I can't stand it.

Office Events

Even at the best of times, I'm not generally comfortable with large numbers of strangers.

It's just not in my nature.

Now take those strangers and make them co-workers from another branch. Or spouses of co-workers. Or the co-workers of your spouse. And you don't know who connects to who and how.

Who is the boss? Who are the supervisors?

It leads to an awkward and politically-charged atmosphere that no-one finds comfortable. Because you really don't want to offend your spouse's boss. Or your boss's spouse.

Seeing the recipe for fun, yet?  Yeah. Me either.

It gets better: Many office events have activities. Like volleyball or sack races or team scavenger hunts.

So take that awkwardness from above, and give it a dose of competitiveness. Is it bad to beat your boss at horseshoes?  Will your boss' wife (who is on your scavenger hunt team) be offended if you spot items more quickly than she can?

And that's just the "summer picnic" event. What about an office softball game? Or holiday party?

I once went to an office party with an open bar. Once. It was at an extremely high-class place. I had a drink. One. Because the last place I wanted to be drunk was around people I had to deal with for forty hours per week.  Several of my co-workers (and/or their dates) got so drunk that we had to shepherd them home.

And then they had to face us at work the next day.

Some of them didn't remember. Some remembered, and were completely ashamed. The highlight for me was "didn't remember but gossiped about several others."

The next year, there was no open bar. And only a few people were surprised by this.

So, yes. I tend to avoid office functions as much as possible.

They're just never as much fun as was advertised.

Changing Lanes

A decade ago, I lived in Puyallup, and worked in Lynnwood. It was a long drive for a 20-year-old to make.

Within two days of driving it, I knew which lane I could get into that would run me all the way from home to work without the horror of changing lanes. That's roughly fifty miles in the same lane.

Seriously.

Living in the Seattle area, one of the first things you need to learn is Freeway Driving. Because you do a lot of it. We have a highway system, but the freeways are in much better shape. And are faster.

So you learn. Or try to.

I had a small car - a Plymouth Sundance, for those of you who are car people. It was a decent car, but not exceptional. Mine was red, but that didn't seem to help with visibility. I cannot even count the number of times I almost got hit by someone changing lanes that didn't see me.  And it had blind spot issues.  Large blind spots.

It trained me to change lanes as little as possible.

Even today, I've witnessed more accidents due to poor lane changes than for any other reason.  It's made me a bit gun-shy on the lane changes.  To the point where I can tell you the optimal lane to be in most of the time for most of the roads I drive regularly.

Allow me to demonstrate: Going from work to home, I have to go through eight traffic lights and make four turns (two left and two right) before reaching the freeway.  I can do this without changing lanes a single time. On the freeway, I need to change lanes a total of three times (including my initial merge). If I'm picking my wife up, then there is an additional freeway merge and one lane change on the exit, and a few others here and there. Otherwise, I'm home free.

Yep. I've got it all mapped out.

Do I spend too much time thinking about this?  Probably. But, by thinking about it, I can avoid most of the lane changes.

And I really hate those.

Dentists

Is there a single human being alive who likes going to the dentist?

No. Really. Is there?

It almost goes without saying that I dislike it. A lot.

Which leads to a vicious circle.

I dislike going to the dentist, so I don't go.

Because I don't go, my teeth don't get the care they need.

Because my teeth don't get their necessary care, I develop cavities.

Because I have cavities, my visit to the dentist is particularly unpleasant.

Because all of my dental visits are so very unpleasant, I ... don't go to the dentist.

At this point, it's been over a decade since I regularly visited a dentist. I finally went back a few weeks ago, and (no surprise), I have cavities. And a filling in need of repair. And my teeth need "deep cleaning."

"Deep Cleaning," by the way, is a dentist term meaning "Gum Torture with Metal Things and High-Pressure Water."

It leaves me bleeding and in pain.

I'm not helped by my natural resistance to Novocaine. The stuff wears off much faster than it should. By a lot. To the point where my last dentist brought in a new syringe every fifteen minutes or so. And I still learned to deal with the pain.

My current dentist uses nitrous in addition to Novocaine. It helps, but I feel like I'm falling. Just continuously. It's not a pleasant feeling.

The scary part for me, however, is the work. I can't see what they're doing. You can't watch them, other than via reflection in their glasses or goggles (if any).  I realize that it's so we don't freak out at the sight of blood in our mouths, but it's still really scary.

It just leads to an experience that I'd much rather avoid.