Michael Bates: May 2009 Archives
SideStep: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels, Cheap Airfare, Airline Tickets, Travel Deals
I used Sidestep to shop for a flight. I was very impressed with the way it allowed me to filter available flights according to criteria that were important for me.
An invitation to mature behavior: "If you have reached the age of 25, I have a bit of bad news for you, to wit: it is time, if you have not already done so, for you to emerge from your cocoon of post-adolescent dithering and self-absorption and join the rest of us in the world." (Via Clareified.)
10 Ways To Make Yourself (And Everyone Around You) Miserable - Dumb Little Man
Turn molehills into mountains, worry about things you can't change, let everything mount up, beat yourself up, follow the path of least resistance.... (Via Conservative Grapevine.)
Pioneer Woman - Homeschooling - Re-re-research Paper
Guest blogger Heather L. Sanders explains how she introduced her 3rd grader to the process of planning, researching, and writing a research paper -- a good outline of a process you may wish to adapt and use to teach organizational and library skills.
The best chili I've ever had came from a pushcart on the MIT campus. Here's the recipe, along with fond memories of the man who cooked and served it. From the acknowledgments to John Murdzek's dissertation: "Andy Anderson, Head Chiliologist of Andy's Place, deserves special mention, not for serving up fine cuisine (which he does), but for serving up optimism and encouragement at a place where a good word is hard to come by."
lileks.com: Evening Commercial Break: Ancient Chinese Secret
"My husband, some hot-shot!"
Hot Air: Pelosi + Haiku = Pelosiku
"I am not lying
Except for what I just said
And what I'll say next"
"My nose doesn't grow
(Way too much rhinoplasty)
But my stitches twitch"
Tulsa TV Memories: The Louisiane
It's "The Pour House" these days, but it used to be one of Tulsa's finest dining experiences, at 18th and Boston. Two photos on this page -- the late '50s "French Quarter" style makeover (the way I remember it from the '70s) -- and an earlier incarnation. Look closely -- it's the same building. (I like the original version better.)
The life of a Massachusetts sheep farmer. It's lambing season! (H/T See Dubya.)
Oklahomily The Blog: A Natural Solution for New Flu Immunity?
Get some sun, when you have a chance. "But if [J.J. Cannel] is correct, it also could mean that we don't so much need manufactured flu vaccines as we need the natural steroidal precursor provided by Nature's God: Vitamin D."
Instruction Manuals for the USS Enterprise | Cracked.com
"WARNING! All control consoles double as Firework Storage Lockers. On detonation of fireworks, please leap dramatically to the floor and feign unconsciousness." (Via Conservative Grapevine.)
Reason Foundation - High-Speed Rail Plans Should Be Called Moderate-Speed Rail
"And that conflict between freight and passenger service is one of the little-noticed problems with what really should be called 'moderate-speed rail.' You can optimize a rail network for freight or for passenger service, but not for both. The current US rail network is optimized for freight, and as a result, rail's share of US freight ton-miles is about 40 percent. By contrast, Europe's network is optimized for passenger trains, and as a result, rail's share of freight ton-miles is only 10-15 percent. Wendell Cox has crunched the numbers and estimated that the carbon-intensity of goods movement is about 25 percent higher in Europe than in the USA." Emphasis added. The Sand Springs Railroad stopped passenger service in 1955 because it interfered with more lucrative freight operations.
RealClearPolitics - HorseRaceBlog - Shifting Sands of PA Politics Endangered Specter
"...the political dynamic in the Keystone State has shifted, not so much against the GOP (at least on the presidential level), but against Arlen Specter, who has - during his twenty eight years in the Senate - failed to develop a durable political connection to Western Pennsylvania....
"The interpretation from the wise political sages in Washington, D.C. is inevitably going to be about how the hardened, conservative rump Republican Party is so intolerant of a moderate like Arlen Specter that he had no choice but to bolt. However, this is quite an oversimplification. There is a big geographical component to this story: the west [of Pennsylvania] has become more important in party politics, and Specter has long been weak in the west."
The Bare Necessities - Online help available for grocery budgeting - Urban Tulsa Weekly
Natasha Ball writes about a Tulsa company - www.grocio.com - that helps people comparison-shop for groceries and find online coupons for what they need to buy.
Credit Cards Flash At The White House | Newgeography.com
Citibank and the birth, in the late '70s, of the mass nationwide credit card industry.
Bounded Rationality: Country Music and My Old Box Fan
However much you love your music, playing it loud and late at night will only ruin it for someone else.
Really Bad Ideas For Mother's Day - The Parenting.com Blogs
From Shannon of Rocks in My Dryer. Rule of Thumb: "...if it requires plugging in, don't buy it."
Roemerman on Record: Messing With Telemarketers
Don't get mad; get silly.
ACME product catalog - a set on Flickr
For all your roadrunner-terminating needs. (Via dustbury.com.)
I'm Learning To Share!: Search term: "Jughead's hat"
What is the deal with the spiky hat worn by the likes of Archie's pal Jughead and Goober, the gas pump jockey of Mayberry?
