25 posts tagged “stupidity”
I just learned this evening that I'll be on the roster for tomorrow's (final) home bout for the Tahoe Derby Dames. I'm stoked, but also a wee bit scared, given that I've not skated a whole bunch in the past few weeks, and as such, my skating, hitting and blocking skillz aren't quite where I'd like them to be.
However, it's my last chance of the season to play, so despite my confidence issues, I figure if I channel all my anger about the ignorance and stupidity surrounding this health care debate (don't get me started on the death panels thing and the retarded men who feel they need to carry friggin GUNS to these town halls) I should be able to take down a few roller girls.
That's my secret weapon - hating stupidity. I figure it can easily fuel my adrenaline for a few 2 minute jams. 'Cause that's the only option I've got right now.
We get a lot of questions about Soleil's breed, and despite having been genetically tested to determine her background, she is still a mystery, one admittedly with a trace of Yorkshire terrier. Our neighbors have two labradoodles, those supposedly non-allergic 'boutique' breeds. By dint of their furlessness (they have hair, which supposedly means less shedding and allergies...) they are higher class mutts than our dog, even if they don't come across as any more intelligent than Soleil.
So I'm now calling her our little stupid-doodle, the well meaning (if not most intelligent) dog who still sheds like a fiend and has a pretty strong case of ADHD and stick envy.
This week is national bike to work week, an event that's feted in the Tahoe region with locally sponsored giveaways and freebies for cyclists. What this means is that for one week there are a lot more people riding their bikes, and many of them are as clueless on two wheels as they are on four wheels.
Suffice to say even with heightened caution and observation I'm still seeing extraordinary examples of stupidity. Like the group yesterday who were riding 4 abreast on a road, ignoring the fact that they were blocking cars and other cyclists from passing. Who then yelled at me when I passed them.
Or the guy riding against traffic (without a helmet, as apparently he had no brain) who nearly hit me, despite the fact that it was a straight road.
So it goes without saying that I'm really looking forward to *next* week when all these folks return to driving their cars again, leaving the bike lanes free once again. That peace of mind is well worth paying for my coffee.
Lake Tahoe is very much a place akin to dog heaven. Dog owners seem to outnumber the non-dog owners, and whether in pickup trucks or old subarus, dogs tend to accompany their humans everywhere - to work, to play, traveling, etc. They have their run of anywhere non-paved, including local trails (snow-covered and not), the enormous swimming pool known as Lake Tahoe, and because of this, I think they tend to be mellower and better behaved than their urban cousins who live their lives leashed, tethered and not allowed to run free from time to time.
I was reminded of Tahoe's unique pro-dog attitude twice today. First when I stopped off at Alpen Sierra to grab a quick coffee, and happened to park next to a space occupied by a gorgeous, if graying, St. Bernard, who had pretty much taken up a parking space for himself (his human had tied him to a nearby newspaper kiosk). Said St. Bernard was unflappable and completely at ease in his state of semi-consciousness as folks like me passed by and smiled. Because who wouldn't smile seeing such a gorgeous animal? He was unperturbed by us admirers, and certainly wasn't giving up his primo parking spot for anyone, including the driver of the large SUV that started pulling in - then changed her mind.
Then this evening I opened up the local free monthly newspaper (which has no editorial merits of its own, but features interesting ads from various businesses who won’t advertise in our formerly daily paper). In it was a 1/3 page ad dedicated to a man’s dog who died in 1984 – 25 years ago. While it was poorly written (not unusual here), it was obviously heartfelt, and I was strangely touched. This guy hadn’t had a dog since this one died, and apparently the cat just wasn’t the same.
While I consider myself a dog lover, and very much understand the attitudes of most dog owners here (except for the stupid & irresponsible, but I’ve vented about that already), this was something I’m pretty sure I’ll never do. For as much as I love Soleil the wonder ‘tard, I’m not sure I’d commemorate the silver anniversary of her eventual passing to the world.
But remind me of that when I entertain blogging about it, okay?
Stop walking in my freshly cut cross-country ski tracks. It ruins it for me when I try to ski back in what now resembles the aftermath of a bull run, forcing me to cut a completely new track thanks to your retardedness.
Isn't the point of snowshoes to make YOUR OWN tracks? If it's really that difficult for you then maybe you SHOULDN'T be ruining it for the others.
Thanks for getting your head out of your ass. Oh, and while your at it, stop letting your dog crap in the tracks as well.
Sincerely,
TG
While this article's headline about incompentent people really having no clue seems like it's straight out of The Onion, it's actually from the SF Chronicle. And it explains so much about human behavior. I guess I'll have to amend my mantra of 'stupidity should be painful' to 'stupidity AND incompetence should be painful'.
Amusingly (or frighteningly) enough, I've found the characteristics described in the article present in many people that I've encountered.
I couldn't figure out why the dog videos generated so much traffic until one kind commenter noted it had been on Flickr's blog. By now her 15 minutes are over, but it's very amusing to see that the wider public appreciates her penchant for logs.
While many people were celebrating this historic election, I spent today fighting with a slow and surly computer. It's become such an issue that it makes the most rote work tasks take 5 times as long, leaving me with days of high unproductivity (an anathema in my family). After a particularly frustrating morning I dropped the laptop off at the fix-it place with explicit instructions to do whatever it takes (remove Microsoft Office? Blow it up?).
As a result I'm working off an old computer of N's. It's equally slow, and the Internet browser has taken to freezing up and crashing at highly inopportune moments, like when I'm trying to grade my online course assignments. Suffice to say my stress levels have skyrocketed, despite ample amounts of red wine. I'm beginning to believe it is more me than the computer, seeing as how these issues appear to be following me from machine to machine. At this point i wouldn't be surprised if it followed me to a friggin' ABACUS.
The dog is slinking around the house thinking that my explosive cursing is aimed at her. Her innate guilt is amusing but off base tonight. For someone so reliant upon computers and the Interweb, I'm not loving what I do for a living right now. Culinary school actually sounds quite appealing.
Friday night Tahoe got hit with a winterish (for October) storm, one that left trails in awesome condition and the mountains a light shade of white (a few inches, not the 16 I'd heard predicted above 9,000 ft). While I was too ill to enjoy playing outside Saturday (damn stomach bug), I was able to let myself get excited for winter and skiing as I worked at home and felt generally feeble.
And since we've accumulated 2+ cords of wood from the trees we had removed from our property this summer, there's no need to hold back on keeping the wood stove cranking. Which is what we did yesterday and again this afternoon, much to the dog's delight. It didn't take long before she was splayed out in a puddle of dog by the fireplace, pink nose and all. Lucky for her, N, the resident fire builder/manager, doesn't have much in the way of business travel this winter.
