June 2004 Archives Picture PagesJune 02, 2004 — I've put some new pictures online:
June 03, 2004 — When wearing one of my many Bruce Springsteen T-shirts, strangers often ask me about the origin of The Boss's nickname. As a big fan, I've been pretty embarassed that I've never really had a good answer. I've looked it up and here's what I found: During his early days Bruce was the frontman of the band and was responsible for paying the band members at the end of the week. Since everyone in Asbury Park had a nickname (as you can tell by listening to songs such as "Spirit in the Night" or "Rosalita"), Bruce's nickname became The Boss," a name that he doesn't seem to really like. Here's where I found this info, as well as some background on other celebrity nicknames. Also, Bruce talks about it himself in this interview. Who's in the mood for some bacon?June 06, 2004 — Some pictures from my weekend in Chicago, featuring the Chicago office event at the Shedd Aquarium. Come on and take a free rideJune 14, 2004 — The power windows in my car are not so powerful anymore. The driver side window recently decided it likes to go down but does not like to go up. This situation proved to be extremely inconvenient for my recent 600+ mile drive. The big inconvenience, of course, was toll paying. My other fear was that I'd get pulled over by the police and would either open my door (and get shot) or open the rear window and talk to the officer through the back. Fortunately, I didn't get caught. I mean, I didn't do anything wrong. Since I am not skilled in making tolls through other windows / sunroofs in my vehicle (like JK and TK), I had to open my door at each stop. Despite some weird looks and strange comments from toll collectors, the real fun was at the automatic or "coin toss" lanes. As I gently placed my coins into the collector, I noticed something very interesting. You see, I have this nervous habit of looking around before I leave somewhere. It was a good thing I did because after my first coin toss, I noticed some coins on the ground. "They must have fallen out of my pocket," I thought. I picked up the change and drove off. The same thing happened at the next toll. "I must have baggy pockets. I should be more careful," I thought. I picked up the change and drove off. The same thing happened at the next toll. A pattern emerged. You can probably see where this is headed. I was collecting the loose change of people with bad aim. When people miss the collector, their money goes on the ground, waiting for someone to pick it up. The implications of this observation are significant. In theory, I could open the door at each toll and collect enough to drive through for free. It's even possible I could make a profit. As with any business decision, I felt the need to evaluate it from an ethical perspective. Is this an honest thing to do? My opinion is that it depends. If it's the kind of toll with a barrier, then it is acceptable because the driver had to keep throwing money until he got enough in to raise the bar. The money on the ground is essentially a tax on bad aim. When there is no barrier, drivers can honk and move on without paying their full toll. In this case, the money technically belongs to whoever is collecting the toll and they should be able to recover the lost money. Given that the toll collector people probably just pocket what they find anyway, I think it is completely acceptable for you to pick it up and use it to pay your toll. Safety concerns aside, I think I have a new way of paying tolls. And I got my back to the wall...June 18, 2004 — I have two main requirements about where I sleep. I want a wall behind me and I want a door in front of me. Typically, these things go together. When I wake up, I want to see the door. That way I know what's going on. I don't want someone sneaking in from behind me. This is also why I don't understand people who have the desks in their office facing the wall. My desk faces the door. When people come in, I'm ready for them. I recently stayed at a hotel that was all screwed up. Seriously, look at this. WTF?  The back is to the wall but the wrong wall. The door is to the side of and behind the bed. That is not normal. I do not like that. There is only one sensible reason for doing this -- so you don't hear your neighbors bed banging into the wall. That is indeed sensible. Here, the bed is against the bathroom wall. If you're in the bathroom and you hear the bed banging against the wall, there is a definite problem. My brother got himself a fianceJune 20, 2004 — I was surprised to hear that Jared proposed to Lori on Saturday night. I was even more surprised to hear that she said yes.
The truth is that this surprise couldn't be more pleasant. While I didn't know it would be this weekend, I could see this coming for a while. It's been obvious for a long time that Jared and Lori are so happy together, are so much in love, and are so good for each other. And when you've known someone as long as I've known my big brother, it's pretty easy to tell when the right girl comes along. Lori's the right girl and I know they're going to have a great life together. I just hope she knows about... well, nevermind. She'll find out soon enough.
All the best to Jared and Lori on their engagement! Mazel Tov! So...June 23, 2004 — Sometimes conversation is easy and sometimes it's not. I've found that when fresh ideas are hard to come by, people resort to some familiar topics. While we've all had these conversations hundreds of times, they reduce awkward silences and make people feel better. Here are some cliche conversations people frequently use to overcome their speaker's block: The Weather. There's nothing more universal than the weather. Everyone experiences it and it's a pretty non-controversial topic. "It sure is a hot one out there, huh?" Even though such observations are completely obvious and unnecessary, it sure makes people feel good that they can start up a conversation -- which you can keep moving with the engaging response of "Yup. It sure is." Regional Lexical and Pronunciation Differences. One person says "pop" and another person says "soda." Big freaking deal. Nevertheless, as soon as someone uses some different phrase than you do, this conversation begins. "Tennis shoes? It's not like you have to play tennis in them." "Oh yeah, well it's not like you sneak around in them either." Nostalgia. "Hey, remember Thundercats? I loved that show when I was a kid." "Yeah, me too." "Man, those were some good shows. Remember Heman and The Smurfs and Diff'rent Strokes." "Yeah, I do. Because I just had this same conversation last week." I'm tired / hungry / bored / hot. When all else fails, you can just make an observation about how you're feeling. This gets answered with another engaging response -- "Me too." Or, even better, simply "Oh." One of my personal favorites is the "did you ever notice..." I like to make lots of observations. Next time I can't think of something to say, I will say "did you ever notice that sometimes conversation is easy and sometimes it's not?" And we're all here togetherJune 27, 2004 — Some new pictures have been posted.
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For such a momentous occasion, I'll put my typical wit and sacrasm aside for a minute. But just for a minute.
Seriously, it's a pleasure to have a girl as sweet, kind, and thoughtful as Lori join our family. Plus, it's been a while since the Mandels have gotten a new member. This is a good way to mix things up a bit.
