Will eating 3 pounds of pretzels tonight kill me?

[Pretzels][Pretzel Pool]

Due to the wonder that is Costco (and Stache’s membership there), the inhabitants of 610 have copious amounts of pretzels at their disposal. This bag was acquired on February 1, 2006, and we each made a guess at how long it would take for us to finish it. As you can see, I had the most confidence in our abilities. Alas, today is the 8th, and I am faced with the question: Do I try to eat the rest of the bag tonight? Since my lips are numb from the salt already, I think not. It would appear that Stache and PBR are wiser in the ways of pretzel consumption.

I want coal for Christmas!

When Zephyr was younger, we used to tease him that he would get coal in his stocking if he did something we didn’t like. This kept him on good behavior for a time. Eventually, however, he learned that the country was facing an energy crisis and realized that coal would be quite valuable in such an environment. He then began asking for coal for Christmas.

I love that kid.

Cell phones

I was one of the last people in the world to acquire a cell phone. My opinion of a cell phone is how you would view gunpowder: it has real, beneficial uses, but usually it is abused to the point of wondering if we’d be better off without. In a perfect world, cell phones would be used in the following cases:

1) To coordinate the meeting of parties in a public place. Plans change, people run late. This is the ultimate use of the cell phone.
2) To reporting an emergency to the police, fire department, or paramedics.
3) To have a conversation with another person without disturbing or placing others in danger.

Notice I didn’t include cell phone usage while:

1) Driving.
2) Shopping.
3) Riding public transportation.

In fact, to prevent annoying the general public, I propose the following 2-part legislation:

1) Cell phones may not be used inside of any public building, public transportation, or by the operator of a vehicle.
2) All cell phones must be placed in silent mode while in public.

NASCAR

I think we can all agree that we have a bit of an energy problem in this country. Despite the fact that we’re invading places so we can control more oil, gas prices are hovering around $3.00 per gallon. With this in mind, does the best use of this non-renewable resource seem to be driving around in circles at 200 mph? And how exciting is it to watch these guys (gender neutral usage) turn left for 3 hours? It’s no wonder people are hoping for a crash or a wheel to fly into the stands.

Notice this post was not filed in the “Sports” category, since driving is not a sport; Hemingway be damned. Oh, and I’m not the only one who hates NASCAR. 2.3 million others agree. And those are just the ones who hate it enough to say so on the internet.

Thanksgiving highlights

Before I moved to California, my family didn’t make a big deal out of Thanksgiving. Most of my memories of the holiday involve falling asleep in a variety of locations in the house (bedroom, living room, dining room, etc.). And while dinner has become fancier for me on the left coast, some things never change.

[Asleep on Mel's couch]

Saturday brought my first experience of Charlie Weis in person. We were excited about it . . .
[Mel and Jer tailgating]
and after some tense moments, Charlie didn’t disappoint.
[ND victorious]

Best policy ever?

I’ve been looking for entries into a “Best Policy Ever” contest. This one from Freakonomics will get consideration:

I was in New York City the other day and my taxi cab driver bypassed a long line of cars exiting the freeway to cut in at the last second. As usual, I enjoyed being an innocent bystander/beneficiary to this little crime. But what happened next was even more gratifying to the economist in me. A police officer was standing in the middle of the road, waving every car that cut in line over to the shoulder, where a second officer was handing out tickets like an assembly line. By my rough estimate, these two officers were giving out 30 tickets an hour at $115 a pop. At over $1,500 per officer per hour (assuming the tickets get paid), this was a fantastic money making proposition for the city. And it nails just the right people. Speeding doesn’t really hurt other people very much, except indirectly. So to my mind it makes much more sense to go directly after the mean-spirited behavior like cutting in line. This is very much in the spirit of Bratton’s “broken windows” policing philosophy. I’m not sure it cuts down the number of cheaters on the roads in any fundamental way since the probability of getting caught remains vanishly small. Still, the beauty of it is that (1) every driver that follows the rules feels a rush of glee over the rude drivers getting nailed, and (2) it is a very efficient way of taxing bad behavior.

Here’s the full post.