12:21p
I've been training since I got here this morning. And by training, I mean that for three hours I sat with the new guy (Shane) and listened in while he took calls. three calls in three hours. What at excellent use of my time. It's cool though, Shane's a nice guy - we agree on many issues, so the time wasn't wasted for me.

12:27p
Here's a story from a guest (if you have any stories that you should like to share with the cubeworld, please email me):

MS is still at Gosh-shoe:

We just had a fire drill. Yes, a fire drill - complete with roll call, clipboards, people walking around in bright orange vests with flashlights and First Aid kits . . . it was just like grade school. We all had to line up along the fence in the parking lot - just like grade school!

Should I:
a) feel comforted by the thought that the institution of which I am an employee cares about my personal safety, and the safety of my co-workers.

b) feel patronized, as the institution of which I am an employee does not trust me and my co-workers to exit the building on our own, based on our own finely-tuned survival instincts, should we smell smoke/hear a fire alarm/see flames.

c) look at the situation as a fine opportunity to escape the dreary office environment, if only for fifteen minutes, and enjoy the great outdoors - as well as the feeling that I'm in some strange alternate reality, where people with a great sense of self-importance get to share their ridiculous behavior with everyone in the building.

I told her c) was her best bet. Any time out of the cube and in the real/natural world is time well spent.

2:10p
Sizeasy allows you to compare the size of objects with other standard objects - for if you have trouble visualizing how big that new ipod is. (note: don't buy an ipod. i had two. they both broke. fuckers.)

2:38p
Note: In a change from usual - it's hotter than hell in here today. It didn't help that I wore a sweater. Not that my sweater is long enough, or my pants small enough - thus I feel as if my ass is hanging out...

2:38p
This is from the lovely Ms. Katie - I can't vouch for it at all because we don't have the necessary components to view video - especially youtube - much to my chagrin. here it is though, I am assured it is quite good.


2:52p
Here's some more entertainment: Optical Illusions

3:57p
Other odd fruits to try :

the naturally occurring Mangosteen - from wiki "The fragrant fruit is sweet and creamy, citrusy with a touch of peach flavor." "The outer shell of the fruit is rather hard, typically 4-6 cm in diameter. Cutting through the shell, one finds an edible fruit shaped like a peeled tangerine but bright white, about 3-5 cm in diameter, nested in a deep red outer pod."

the strange Ugli fruit (also called uniq fruit)- grapefruit crossed with tangerine, it has an"unsightly appearance of its rough, wrinkly greenish-yellow skin, wrapped loosely around the orange pulpy citrus inside."

isn't nature odd? (even if it doesn't occur in nature, at least it wasn't created, it was just crossed which happens alot.)

4:16p
Yay! my ya was online and will be online in the future so I can chat with her (via Gmail - gmail remains unblocked by company software - haha). Also, I'm ready to go home. 1hr 13min remain. 15 interactions.

4:26p
More on the impending war with Iran - via Raw Story - "Senior intel official: Pentagon moves to second-stage planning for Iran strike option"


highlights:
"'Late this winter, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sought to remove the nuclear option from the evolving war plans for Iran without success' the former intelligence official said."

"In the past, only the Air Force had endorsed the contingency, saying that it could carry out the mission of destroying, or at least significantly delaying, Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon."

"With allegations of a plan in place and contingency scenarios in play, several military and intelligence experts see this as proof of a secret White House order to proceed with military action."

One wonders why this is an issue. Isn't a nuclear North Korea more worrisome than a non-nuclear Iran? How about a nuclear Pakistan? No? Instead we are going to break a 61-year old prohibition against using nuclear weapons on a nation that does not have nuclear weapons? We are going in risk the wrath of the rest of the nuclear world - including North Korea and Pakistan - how easy would it be for either of those countries to see some nuclear material to a terrorist group? And how easy would it be for that terrorist group to deliver that material to Israel, or the US? Given a nuclear attack on their or our soil, is it really so inconceivable that missiles with nuclear warheads just start flying? If it's ok for us to use the bomb, why can't Pakistan and India settle their differences the same way? what's to stop the breaking of a ban on nuclear weapons in the Mideast from starting a global nuclear conflagration? oh right, just Bush. we are fucked. if we bomb Iran with nuclear weapons, I'm done. I'm leaving and i advise everyone else to come with me.

4:38p
Meanwhile, allegedly, Rove has been promising an "October surprise" - something that will deliver the mid-term election....what could it be? a new terrorist attack? trotting out Osama (finally)? bombing (another) sovereign country? the world may never know, oh wait, we will. in October.

4:40p
Also, I have been informed that the reason we have not heard from our beloved Sage is because she has lacked That Which She Holds Most Dear - but she will send out a chronicle with or without That Which She Holds Most Dear, sometime this week or next - I will keep you posted. I know that I have missed her as much as everyone else, and I expect her next missive to be long and hilarious.

4:56p
This is crap. The Geneva Convention does not need to be clarified. Here it is real simple-like. Don't torture. That includes aggressive interrogations techniques (like waterboarding) - that's torture and those American citizens doing it, are torturers. Also, as any psych student can tell you, TORTURE DOESN'T WORK - people will say anything to make pain stop, they'll even make shit up, how does made up shit help fight terrorism. short answer? it doesn't.

5:01p
Hmm. Surprise surprise, the goverment is in bed with Big Oil: "
Suits Say US Impeded Audits for Oil Leases who's not surprised? oh yeah, me.

5:09p
Here's an excerpt from an email that my boss three bosses up sent out today:

"Just some thoughts to pin to each person's radar screen…..Everyone one of you is a jewel on the team…you are priceless!!!. Please continue to shine and service brilliantly everyday with every interaction….
All the best!"

And then there was some clip art: unfortunately I cannot get it to come in here with me, but lets just say that it is a stylized clip art diamond. yeah. that's where i work.

5:12p
I WOULD LIKE TO GO HOME NOW.