I'm six away from 1500 (i know ::sigh:: a newbie) - Ask me anything.

[Tesibria]

n/t

[salin]

1. So what do you predict

will be the next big "pet rock" type craze?

(you said ask.. anything..)

[Tesibria]

5. great question

lemme think....

:wow:
<many sick censored things are coming to my head right now>
:wow:

hmm ... I predict that the Targets and Wal-Marts and Toys-R-Us will have shelves and shelves of RIFD-enabled balloons come October.

Then, you don't have to wait for the man on the island 1,000 miles away to write to you -- you can know how far it goes all on your own - tracking it on your computer, just like United Flights.

(ok -- so that's all I could think of that wouldn't get this locked :) )

[salin]

9. interesting idea...

maybe to market it they could get the 80s song Red Balloon... remade.

[Tesibria]

10. well, everyone else great (except, of course, Cohen) has sold out

their songs, or sold out the songs they own of other greats .... why not Red Balloon.

(Not, of course, that I'm conceding that Red Balloon is a great song ...)

[salin]

11. whatdya mean, not a great song...

if put in context... that almost NOTHING on the "pop" charts in 1984 (or was it 1983) had lyrics that got a little political... then suddenly it becomes - if not great - at least a decent song. :D

btw, I should warn you - I am really, really good at the art of rationalization.

[Tesibria]

17. on rationalization

on rationalization: Jeff Goldblum NAILED it (no pun intended) in Big Chill.

on great song ... yes ... ok .. will consider. DECENT song - yes. Interesting Lyrics (relatively, proving that almost everything is relative, even death (see GD, Politics threads over past 10 days) ...).

So yes, relatively, it's a decent song.

:giggle:

[salin]

22. great response

makes me think we just might be of the same generation - or you are just good retro at the early eighties... I remember the great journalist/compromised rationalization per the Big Chill :thumbsup:

Now shortly after the whole red balloon a few more things political - or just absurd - slipped through to the pops (first the odd Jackson Browne "Lawyers in Love" (wtf?) and culminating in the "Land of Illusion" which was only made political with the video). Then there was the odd "ride on the coattails of the association with Springsteen" Van Zandt 'Sun City' (very political - but really a bit odd that it got play ... and does anyone who didn't actually see/hear it remember it?) It was an interesting era "pop" music.

[Tesibria]

29. on generations

uhm
I'm 40 (effective 3/17 ... can't believe ANYONE missed my blabbing about it)

However - from 1965-1985 - can't really count (fundamentalist, no-TV, no contemporary music, no..not much ... experiences)

But i'm working on catching up :evilgrin:

That being said, as a lawyer, I sorta luved "Lawyers in Love" for some bizarre reason....

I sorta skipped MOST of the late 70s-through-early 90s (except, of COURSE, for QUEEN) .. and went back to the 60s/early 70s music (Cohen, Dylan, etc.)

[salin]

33. we are of the same generation

give or take a year or so...

The eighties were something else - spent the mid eighties workingn in DC - quite a trippy experience. Associate music, for some odd reason, to differentn periods/events/ etc. Given that quirk, hard to imagine not having that to link into... then again I went back to grad school in the early/mid nineties - and my pop culture references disappear from about 1994-1999. So who am I to talk?

[Tesibria]

35. ok, go ahead

call me a snob.

but -- i don't think you missed much.

[salin]

40. lol

we have that in common... I really don't worry much about my "lost years" hehe

[Tesibria]

42. well. you were in grad school

and I was a grunt in a BigLaw firm.

pretty much the same, except I was getting paid, no?

both of us were sorta ... focused ... and .. uhm .. out of touch with the "outside" world, no?

[salin]

44. indeed we were...

I did get paid - just not much... but the degree was one of those that opened quite a few doors - so I can't complain... even if I was living like a pauper in one of the most expensive housing markets at the time... oops - guess I can complain :D

[Tesibria]

46. that's awesome

what was your degree in - if I may ask?

living like a pauper is cool .. long as it's a means to an end (of whatEVER end) .. but yes, the DC area is outrageous. More outrageous now, actually.

i keep getting "pressured" to move back (i telecommute from Chi-town). So far, I've said H*** no :)

we'll see.

[salin]

52. Educational Policy

all but dissertation (by choice) from the top program in the country. Left academe - to go work in academe (as a consulting analyst) got published (on really boring stuff) and was suddenly in the odd (but very fortunate position) of folks offering jobs (full time as well as consulting gigs) unsolicited.

Years of pauper living was great for me (between college and grad school I did the nonprofit life... group house in noVa, old college bud roomate in ann arbor while commuting to Detroit)... I have lived lean so long that I never got into the consume thing. Have almost no debt and now own (not owe out the wazoo) a modest home in an up and coming urban neighborhood in a moderately interesting city.

Never thought I would say it - but... the forties are great. Completely different than I would have imagined (the family thing just never came my way - so I am quite independent - and enjoy it), but in such a better space than the fun but a bit "what am I going to do next" 20s and the building the foundations (paying the way) 30s.

So very glad to have had this chance to converse tonight. Really enjoyable.

[Tesibria]

55. on educational policy

my "first" career was in education (special ed). got so .. piffed off at certain things, that I went to law school.

I agree w/ you 1000% percent (ok, is that REALLY possible?) -- the 40s are fab. Different than what I thot when playing Barbie as kid, but - actually - way better :)

(and ditto re: enjoyable!!!!)

[salin]

57. I did various

ed related gigs - culminating with working with kids likely to drop out of high school in Detroit... got to the point of... "THere has GOT to be a better way" - which is what pushed me to ed policy.

[Tesibria]

58. there's GOTTA be a better way.. is RIGHT

that's what pushed ME to law school.

do i do educational policy-related work now? No (except for pro bono work) -- but I did for quite a while.

there does have to be a better way!

[Tesibria]

39. P.S.

I lived in DC 1993-1999.
Then i moved to the greatest city in the world :) chicago :)

[salin]

41. I went from DC

back to Indiana... up to Detroit... then - for your DC era - I was in the NoCal Bay Area (great, great place to live!) Before returning to Indiana. It's not exciting here - but at least I had my time in some pretty cool cities...

[politicat]

59. Actually, Nena did remake it herself... and it improved a lot.

I have a foster-brother who was stationed in Germany before going to an "undisclosed location" (I'm glad he's in intelligence work; he's less likely to get hurt, but...) and he sent me her most recent CD with the re-work on it. It's tons better.

[Bok_Tukalo]

12. I'm going with "The Random Excuse Device"

A small pocket electronic apparatus with thousands of excuses where all you do when faced with a need is press a button; from the overused, "I had a flat" to the sad "my father is in the hospital" to the odd "my llama died."

[Tesibria]

14. too funny --

maybe it could ask you like 5 questions to get a more specific excuse -- and then eliminate that from the poll of excuses, to make sure that you stayed "original" ...

cool!!

[Bok_Tukalo]

19. An algorithm?

Give it parameters so that you have travel excuses (flight was delayed by seagulls on the tarmac) segregated from staying out till four in the morning excuses (Bob lost his pants in a bar bet)? That might complicate it with an actual use.

[Tesibria]

23. just some basics

(1) whether you're at home or traveling
(2) whether it's day or night
(3) person, animal, or machine-based excuse

... and .. like those "trolls" that they have now that "learn" as you interact, it stores all the information on an ongoing basis.

So .. for first "excuse", you need answer only, say 3 questions (sorta like Scorpio's "Who Am I") .. but the general info you enter (age, gender, marital status) ... is retained and applied and enhanced through experience.

[Bok_Tukalo]

27. Hmmmm.....

So what we have is something ubiquitous yet personal?

OK. I'm on board.

[Tesibria]

30. quick

file the patent

:toast:

[Bok_Tukalo]

31. You got 10 Grand laying around not doing anything for a prototype?

<eom>

[Tesibria]

36. haha

why 10 grand
why not just some blood, sweat and tears.

On this, my friend, i speak from experience. It's worth it :) :)

[salin]

15. "my llama died"

lol - now who would even question an excuse like that?

[Tesibria]

18. yeah, but see, the boss knows that you don't HAVE a llama

that's why I'm arguing for some form of higher artificial intelligence... !

[salin]

24. In this age of depersonalization in the work place

lots of bosses might not know that... :shrug:

[Tesibria]

32. well.. except that Boss A

records it in the computer.
gets fired.
but the record's there for Boss B.

Would not BELIEVE the number of times (ok - only 6) that one employee of a client claimed that her grandfather died.

[salin]

34. lol

some people just deserve to get caught!

[Tesibria]

37. yes, we let it go through 4...

.. but then, what's the chance that BOTH grandmothers got married THREE Times ... or that one got married more than FOUR times?

alas, she was full of shite, and indeed, had NO living grandfathers.

and alas, she probably came on DU and complained about being fired.

:::SLAPPING myself::::

ok
nuf of that

[salin]

43. *snicker*

I have read some real complaints here - and a few... well... slightly less than sympathetic ones.

[Tesibria]

47. (censored)

I AM biting my tongue.

I WILL be good.

Even tho' i'm on my 2d glass of wine - which is a dangerous thing.

I WILL be good.

I WILL be good.

(Good, of course, is relative....)

[Bok_Tukalo]

21. That's not the point of the "Random Excuse Generator"

Oh shit. I'm already thinking of marketing ideas. "Generator" or "Device"?

Let's brainstorm!

Meant for Tesibria.

BTW, "my llama died" was actually used by a co-worker for missing work one day.

[salin]

26. So the question begs an answer

did the coworker have a Llama?

Let's see some others... got snarled in traffic after a mattress flew off the top of a car into the highway.... *actually witnessed that one*

[Bok_Tukalo]

28. Yes. He had a llama. And it did die.

The best excuse is usually true.

[Tesibria]

38. and he missed work because of that?

i.e., did he call in? ? ?

Just how close can one get to a llama?

Cat, I get.
Dog, I get.
Guinea pig, I don't get, but I GET how I don't get.

Llama ? ? ?

[Bok_Tukalo]

45. He called in.

He commutes into work from a rural area. It was actually kind of sad but time has given it a surreal quality.

[Tesibria]

48. uhm

yeah

it's, i guess, about experience. I understand horses (and even cows **Note**) -- I just haven't had experiences with llamas, so don't know.. how close one can feel to a llama.


**note**
I am proud (?!?!?!?!) to say that there is a cow out there named after me.
Ok, i'm not proud, but since no one knows my "real" name here, who cares. But my brother-in-law thot it a great honor.

I accepted it as such (after I finished choking).

So... for the record, there is a cow, with my name, in the books shipped to Japan and Germany and other such places where they ... buy .. uihm .. cow eggs ...

The best rate to date has been 10,000.
Better than *I* could do, certainly.

:::giggle:::

[Bok_Tukalo]

49. You underrate your eggs

<eom>

[Tesibria]

51. ROFL!!!!

I have NO response to that.



ok


yeah I do.


For cows, it's all about the quantity (and, of course quality) of milk they can pump out in one day...



I can't compete with my namesake.

period
end of story
:blush::blush::blush::blush::blush:

[Bok_Tukalo]

56. Yes ... well ... there's more than milk ..

<eom>

[Tesibria]

60. i have absolutely no response to that

:blush:

[amber dog democrat]

2. Why don't we try flying oil out of Iraq ?

if the pipelines keep getting blown up would this not be a safer way to get it to the markets ?

[Tesibria]

6. WOW! whatta question

maybe because the planes burn more fuel than it can carry with that amount of weight in it?

(Instead of us flying it out, why don't we fly US out, and let them get back to business ??? Just a thot)

[bigwillq]

3. Do you like Barney or Fred better?

:hi:

[Tesibria]

7. I don't know Fred

But I have a crush on Barney (Franks)

And I'm a straight woman.

(I think)

(On edit: spelling correction :::blushing:::)

[bigwillq]

13. You think

you're straight????:dilemma: have you ever explored?

[Tesibria]

16. no, haven't

(much to the dismay of my .. uhm .. EX-husband)

but I'm not so arrogant to think that I know .. much about much .. so acknowledge that one never knows :)

that clear as mud?

[bigwillq]

20. It took me awhile

to figure out what my tastes were. I did some experimenting and the rest is history...:)

[Tesibria]

25. or ... from another perspective ...the REST of your life...

it all depends on the perspective - history or future .. no?

(and I say "rest is history" all the time .. but generally, what I mean is THANK G-D, the future's so bright, I gotta ... well .. nevermind :evilgrin:)

[katinmn]

4. what's the weather like in Chicago?

[Tesibria]

8. awwww - today it was sunny and beautiful .. and

I found at least 10 excuses to walk outside (not including the 3x I went out to sneak a smoke).

It feels SOO good to have sun, and to not be COLD in a coat when you walk outside !! (I live right on the lake, and the wind has been ... incredible ... in the past week. I'm SOOOO ready for Spring.)

[bigwillq]

50. Have you tried the new Coke with Lime?

You nut.:shrug:

[Tesibria]

53. lol

nope
but i drink (diet) pepsi, not coke :)

the diet part is a matter of taste, not calories.

[bigwillq]

54. Didn't Pepsi make a lime flavored drink?

:)

[Tesibria]

61. yeah - but it was disgusting

... just gimme a diet pepsi, please.
call it classic
call me old fashioned
but just gimme a diet pepsi (after 12 noon, of course. before that, I'll take a latte. WHOLE milk please.)