Yeah, I know. I'm boring.

In order to push reading the paper ahead of work and minutiae, I will share two interesting articles from the past week.

First, an article about Sagis Corp, a new MN company that helps businesses capture and transfer knowledge from retiring employees. This is going to be a big market, so props to these guys for getting in early (although they should definitely ditch the lame picture). When I get out of the public policy game, this is totally what I want to do. Have I mentioned recently that the business section is by far the best part of the Star Tribune, especially on Mondays? Well, it is.

Second, another addition to the "just released health study" story. I try not to put too much stock in these stories, but I found this one --on the possible connection between flu shots for pregnant women and schizophrenia in their children--pretty interesting. While on the topic, I have been enjoying the NYT health coverage of late, especially the stories filed under research.

Kindness of strangers

Tonight I purchased a bevy of drugs at the local Walgreens. While waiting for the amoxicillin, I had time to read through labels for the accompanying nasal spray and Mucinex. The former prompted a lengthy consideration of how much squeezing constitutes a single "spray" from the bottle and the latter got me wondering if the name is just exact enough to be perfect or too gross to be effective.

"Have you ever taken that before?" piped up the only other customer in the waiting area, gesturing to the Mucinex box.

"Nope, first time."

"Well, it makes your urine smell just awful! I just don't know what they put in there." she continued, looking surprisingly young and normal to be discussing body fluids with a stranger.

"Thanks for the tip. Good to know, I guess."

I can admit when I'm wrong

In a word, perfect

There's too much to fit into one post so I plan to do a series. A week's vacation has almost entirely killed my motivation, though, so we'll see.

As you might expect, the ocean views are the best part of Barbados. All the beaches are public--no walled compounds--so we were able to wander along them easily. Because it's low season, we often had beaches to ourselves.

Our beach

Six Men's Bay

The soup bowl

Bottom Bay

Really?

So, earlier this week I heard this story about a Texas city attorney who after 9-11 vowed to wear a single patriotic tie until Osama bin Laden was captured or dead. Nearly six years later his tie is so tattered the guy declared he would stop wearing it unless Osama proved he was alive by 9-11-07. A day or two later bin Laden pulled through with a new tape proclaiming the usual praise for terrorists and violence to western heathens. Coincidence?

In other news, MPR reported that a U of M study found a link between a certain amino acid and gambling addiction. The study was too small to be statistically significant, but the scientist folks think taking the amino acid supplement could reduce addictive behavior. I'm totally weirded out by the idea that we will eventually be able to chemically alter all aspects of our behavior, right on down to basic personality characteristics.

Shout out to the (famous) men in my life

It was a big night for TV. Both of the (famous) men in my life were on, and in fine, fine form.

First, Jon Stewart presented a great (rerun) interview with Barack Obama. The best question:

Do you feel like you're stuck in a narrative now, and the narrative is that Hilary Clinton is unlikeable but knows what she's doing and Obama is inexperienced but brings change--and no matter what you do, because [these scenarios are] easily categorized, the media or everyone else will just slip whatever happens into [that narrative]?



It's at 2:29 in part 1. I'd recommend part 2 also. By the way, I asked Paul the other night if Jon Stewart could be my free pass, to which he replied, "What does that mean?" Apparently the concept of a free pass is not universal. After I explained, he did not look too happy at the thought, even though I pointed out the probability is low that Jon Stewart would cross my path and agree to sex.

Second, Peyton Manning played some gorgeous football against the Saints. Sorry Brett Favre, but there's a new QB in my life. As some of you know, I was auditioning last season for a new quarterback love. I was holding out for Eli Manning to come into his own because he is so darn cute. But at the end of the day Peyton is just a superior player and stirs all the old feelings from the days before Brett threw a million interceptions per game. Commentator Al Michaels also mentioned that Indianapolis is the most homegrown team in the league, with only four Colts having played for other NFL teams. I like that. Similar to how Green Bay residents own shares in the Packers.

Clockwork

For those of you keeping score at home, I charged plane tickets to Boston and the second Barbados payment on my WF credit card this week. Which of course prompted a call from the monotone computer voice asking me to verify charges. I should be glad they're protecting me from identity theft, but really it just feels like Big Brother has declared travel illegal.