Potential pet peeve

I watched a TV show online today, which means I saw the same 15 second ad several times. It was an ad for a car. They showed a radar screen and the tagline said, you've heard of radar, but not on a vehicle.
OK, here's the thing, I HAVE heard of radar on a vehicle. If I'm not mistaken, it's used widely for many vehicles, just not for cars. See, vehicle means more than just car. Why do people say vehicle instead of car? If you want to sound educated or pretentious, why not just say automobile? That would be correct and hoity-toity.
Let's be precise in our language, shall we?

Fringe, again

I think one cool aspect of Fringe is that it's a redemption story. Walter Bishop was a conscience free scientist doing all sorts of unethical things, and then he was thrown in jail. Now he's free, and he's working to counter act his previous work: switching sides. It's redemption for him.

Random musings about the death penalty

So I'm not really in favor of the death penalty, for a number of reasons.
What strikes me, when I think about it, is that we have an odd way of going through with the death penalty. We're supposed to avoid cruel and unusual punishment, so we kill people by gassing them, injecting them, hanging, and firing squad. None of those seem very humane. The injection comes the closest, but of course, the regulations are based on vet guidelines, so who knows how effective and humane it is for people. Seems to me that the most humane way would be a nice sharp guillotine. Quick, clean, certain death. No scorch marks, no abrupt defecation, no silent suffering, no death by slow bleeding or multiple gunshot wounds. Heck, why not just a nice quick shot to the head?

Is there an inconsistency here? We want to kill criminals, but we are squeamish about the manner of killing. Why is that? I think, if you can't face up to what you are doing and do it in the most efficient way, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it.

Just my random thoughts, not well researched at this point.

Why Olivia Dunham is my hero

Because when she's kidnapped, she rescues herself.
Because she has the presence of mind to steal evidence and hide it before it can all be covered up (Mulder never managed that).
Because she's not conventionally beautiful.
Because she wasn't wrong about John Scott after all.
Because she had good impulse control in Germany with her ex-boyfriend (with a little help from her cell phone).
Because she wears menswear but still looks feminine.

Top 10 Reasons that Fringe Rocks

10. Olivia Dunham is unapologetically feminine and aggressive, without being a bitch.
9. Peter Bishop can do illegal things and get results because he's not a Federal employee.
8. Walter's alternate names for Astrid.
7. The human drama is gut wrenching, funny, believable, and not mired in stereotypical romance.
6. The Fringe science is based on real stuff, taken to fantasy levels.
5. Leonard Nimoy as William Bell.
4. There are conspiracies within conspiracies and sides haven't been clearly drawn up yet.
3. The real monsters are humans without consciences.
2. Some bad guys actually get captured and/or killed.
1. Walter Bishop's bizarre food cravings, triggered by visions of atrocities.

No Homework

You know, my job isn't exactly one which I can entirely leave behind me at the "office." But the beautiful thing is, I can mostly leave it behind. For example, today. I had the whole day to do whatever I liked. Sure, there were things that needed to be done, but in between times I didn't have to worry about catching up on reading or double checking discussion boards. Instead, I'll just read that nice long article about Fringe that David sent me.

I'm Melllllllllting!

Has anyone seen the latest Snuggle commercial? At the end of the commercial, the Snuggle bear lands in a pool of pinkness and slowly dissolves until he is half submerged, as if he's floating in a pool of pink liquid. I tried to find the image on YouTube but failed.
Here's the thing: when the Snuggle bear is sinking into the pool of pink scented loveliness, all I can think of is the scene at the end of the Return of the King, when Gollum lands in the pool of hot lava and slowly dissolves, dying in his moment of triumph. Is this twisted on my part, or a horrible oversight on the Snuggle bear marketer's part?

How is the job going?

It's what everyone wants to know these days. How is the job going?
Well, great.
So far, everything is going well. There are adjustments. I have to fit a work out into my day. I have to find time to do daily household chores. I have to learn what I can and cannot talk about in general. But I love it. I love my tasks. I love working. I love a paycheck!
Sure, it's not all roses and butterflies. People have problems and pains and I am learning more and more about those. But the years working on the sexual assault hotline prepared me pretty well for that.
I gotta say, it's pretty much my dream job. Flexible hours, easy commute, people interaction, organizational tasks, great discussions, etc.
But then, what would you expect? God did put this job into my lap without me lifting a finger...