Showing posts with label Order. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Order. Show all posts

December 27, 2021

That's Spicy

How many of these do you cook with (do you have a favorite)?

  • Garlic Powder
  • Turmeric
  • Parsley
  • Paprika
  • Cumin
  • Black Pepper

Some are full and some are nearly empty. 

Time to reorder (hope they're not backlogged at the port).  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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May 14, 2021

Broken Uber and Stupid Airport

 

So we are going to the airport early this morning and everything seemed to go wrong.

Because we needed an Uber early, we used the app to reserve one in advance.

I get an email that Uber charged us and the app says the driver is on the way.

However, it doesn't identify any driver or car. 

It turns out that Uber never reserved any driver and no one was coming to get us and we had a flight to catch.

So much for reservations that go unreserved!

So we cancel the darn Uber and instead try to get a Lyft, but after many minutes trying in vain to locate a driver, we gave up on this as well,

Thank goodness, I could still call a regular cab!

The taxi company says he'll be there in 10-20 minutes. 

Over 35 minutes later and 3 phones calls and he still hasn't arrived and it's getting late for the flight.

Finally, finally, he shows up and says they called up and he came from bed to pick us up. 

Wow, that's pretty amazing--I was impressed and grateful.

He get us to the airport and we run in and through security.

We head to gate 30 for our flight and the picture shows you what we came up against.

Gate 29 and gate 31 in the corner of the airport, but no freakin gate 30 anywhere in sight!

After a swing around the other corners, we finally found it.

Why gate 30 isn't after 29 and before 31, I will never understand!

Moreover, why Uber takes reservations in advance for a car, but doesn't actually arrange a driver is also a complete mystery and a very broken business model.  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)


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June 28, 2019

Rubik's Cube On Speed

A regular, traditional Rubik's Cube is 3x3 by 6 sides. 

That's a total of 54 moving squares to order by color on each side. 

This Rubik's Cube On Speed is 7x7 by 6 sides.

 So this cube has 294 squares to figure out. 

(I did find another cube on eBay that was even larger, 15x15, called "Professional Level" selling for $384.40)

I'm sure there are some real whiz kids out there that can do these puzzles. 

And probably in under 3 minutes...

For me, I admire the dexterity and spatial skills. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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February 26, 2019

From Chaos to Order

The world challenges us all the time. 

Yes, the world functions based on the "laws of nature," scientific facts, and mathematical formulas, and so you'd think everything in our lives would be orderly and work like clockwork.

But, as human beings, our lives are too a great extend a function of what gets thrown at us and how we react to them, and not the constancy of the world context that these things are happening in. 

It's easy to be surprised, become overwhelmed, or even be stumped by the daily barrage of things that we are new to us or we simply don't know how to handle.

A world governed by Mother Nature thus, often seems more like a world ruled by Murphy's Law. 

In a world that we can often experience as chaotic and disorderly, the answer is not to break down and cry or run and hide, but rather to create our own sense of order. 

Thus, the antagonist of chaos and disorder is consequence and order. 

The way to get to order in your life is through planning and preparation. 

The more you plan and prepare, the better you are able to deal with the challenges you are dealt. 

I believe this is the cornerstone of what a good education and training is--preparing you for real life!

Generally, if you plan and prepare for a broad spectrum of scenarios (especially the worst cast scenarios), you won't be left sitting out there scratching your head when the proverbial "sh*t hits the fan."

Thinking out of the box and ahead of the curve, and using scenario-based planning and preparation can give you the tools and confidence to leave the anxiety behind and move more swiftly to confront challenges head-on. 

Of course, we'll never be able to imagine or be prepared for everything that can happen--but the more you can free your mind to think about the "what if's" and how to mitigate the risks, the better shape you are in to act with determination and decisively when you really need to.  ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Elisa Riva)
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April 9, 2016

It's Got To Be

So I read a book review the other day that I haven't been able to get out of my mind. 

The book was by an atheist who had 2 near-death experiences. 

And while for other people, they see the light at the end of the tunnel--and are reunited with family loved ones and are in bliss from being with the Heavenly Father...

This guy saw nothing but blackness and said it was empty and nothingness. 

And he was dead serious about it. 

He said there is nothing after we die, absolutely nothing. 

Now, while I have always believed in life after death and even in reincarnation if we still have more growing and learning to do, I had heard others say contrary beliefs in the past.

One guy in synagogue when I was a young adult used to say, "When you die, you're as dead as a dead dog!"

Lovely thought (not), but I never took any of that seriously. 

Yet, this guy's book somehow got to me on a deep level. 

Maybe because I lost my beloved parents over the last 2+ years and am still deeply mourning them, and the only thing that can possibly console me about that is the notion that I will one day be reunited with them and see them again. 

So the opposing idea that it's really over--that I will never see them again--experience their love and laughter again--is beyond my comprehension--it literally blows my mind in a bad bad way. 

Also, I said to my wife, if this atheist is by any chance right (not about G-d) but about there being no afterworld, then what is the purpose to anything we do--who cares?

Without G-d, without Divine will and justice, and a world-to-come, there really is nothing but darkness and not just after we die, but now too--because it would all be purposeless. 

No, I cannot believe that!

The atheist saw nothing afterwards, because he believes in nothing--it's a measure for a measure. 

For those who believe that there is more, much more--there really is. 

It has to be that way...for anything to make sense. 

For us to try so hard. 

For us to go on.

For us to have a purpose.

For there to be justice.

For there to be us. 

My dad used to tell me that "No one has ever come back from the other side to tell us what's there."

So it really is the ultimate mystery of life...but I choose to believe in life now and in life later. 

The miracles of my own life and those around me show me again and again that there is design, there is order, there is a plan, there is a purpose and I will find mine. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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