A few random thoughts about words

A few random thoughts about words.

1) Weather forecasters should never use the word "normal". Even the national weather service does it. Normal weather is meaningless. How about average? Average has a precise definition. It is, however, entirely possible, to never have an average day. But at least the language is precise.

2) Grocery stores shouldn't have a "10 items or less" or "15 items or less" aisle. Instead, they are "10 items or fewer". Fewer describes things that are discrete quantities: fewer potatoes, fewer cats, fewer anal bloggers. Less describes non-discreet quantities: "less patience", "less strength", "less annoying".

3) One doesn't take alternate routes or try alternate strategies. The word you'd like is: alternative. For alternate to be used as an adjective, it should describe something that alternates like "alternate days" for every other day, or "alternate side parking" for the insane parking system that downtown Madison uses.

4) Enormity doesn't just describe size. Enormity refers to a very large negative, such as the "enormity of September 11th" or the "enormity of the tragedy". Enormousness is the more generic word.

5) This one is a bit debatable I suppose. But, one who is disinterested does not have a stake in an outcome. Someone who is uninterested doesn't care. A disinterested judge is a good thing, an uninterested judge is not. This distinction has faded a bit in modern English.

6) Weather isn't unpredictable. If it were, I'd be out of a job. Weather is highly variable or chaotic.

7) Cold air doesn't hold more water than warm air. Warmer air causes liquid water to evaporate more readily, so the actual amount of water vapor in warmer air is greater than colder air. This one probably takes more explaining than this short blog allows.

Feel free to add more below or correct anything I have wrong. Rant over.

Parking Prediciment

I don't drive my car to work very often. I pride myself on it: I can walk, take the bus, or bike when the outside temperature is sensible. But sometimes, the situation works itself in such a way that you have to. I had some errands to run before and after work that I had to drive to, so I did.

Now our campus and city are like many, in that there are various parking limitations, restrictions and rules. Many people in my building park in the 2-hr parking areas, and walk down to their car once or twice a day and check to see if their tires have been marked. If so, they simply move the car to a new spot. When I drive in, I don't like to do this, so I drive the extra block or two away and park in the first legal street without the 2-hr restriction. As I was driving, I noticed the signs that said "No parking Tuesdays from 8-12" and the line below it that said "Valid May - November". Doing the quick calculations in my head and realizing I was ok, I pulled along the snow-covered street and parked my car.

So...8 hours later I walk back to the street I parked on and to where I was expecting my car.
No car.
Maybe it was a block up? Nope...nothing there.
A block back? Did I really remember this wrong?
Nope.
Panic sets in. Did I lock the door? It's a residential street in broad daylight? Who could steal a car without it being seen.
I wander over to the traffic signs checking my months again. Yup, I should have been good.
What could have happened? I inspected the sign for further details. No phone number or instructions in case of being towed.
And then, I remember a story from a friend of mine. Her car had been towed. But, it wasn't towed to an impound lot; they just moved it to a legal spot nearby.
I wandered over to a nearby cafe, figuring that I couldn't have been the first to have had this problem. They hand me a phonebook and even offer me a phone to use. They mention that my memory is correct: most people who are towed have their cars nearby. It would be a matter of simply finding it.
I try to call the Madison Parking people. The recording lists a phone number to call for a towed car. So, I call and get endless rings. Don't they even have an answering machine?

The friend I was meeting after work calls me wondering what had delayed me. I explain what has happened and she kindly offers to drive over and help me look for the car. I accept. So we drive around getting our hopes up at anything that vaguely resembles my car only to have our hopes dashed when it isn't the right car. We finally come up with the idea of calling the local police: at the very least, they'll know who to call.

It was strange while going through this procedure in that I was hoping that the car had been towed. The thought of dealing with a stolen car just seems horrific. When the man at the police dispatch tells me it had been towed, and gave me its location about a quarter of a mile away, I actually breathed a sign of relief.
So, my friend drove me to the car, which was parked safely and legally. I grabbed the $70 dollar towing and violation ticket without reading it, relieved that my car was OK.
It wasn't until I was driving home that I began to wonder what the violation was. I was sure that the sign didn't apply, and I knew that this wasn't a 2-hr parking so. When I got home, I saw what the violation was: parking within 4-feet of a driveway. I think I'll take the bus in tomorrow.

Keys to the Capitol

Former Congressman Toby Moffett gives advice to freshman congressman in this Op-Ed in the Washington Post. My favorite is the last item on his list:

10. Look up at that dome often. Especially on nights when you're headed to or from a vote. If you reach a point where it doesn't give you goosebumps, draft your resignation letter the next day.

Holiday whirlwind

So one or two have egged me on to update this blog, so I figured I might as well. I'm not sure why I've been so sparse in updating this blog. I don't think it's because I don't have a lot to say or that nothing has happened to me since November. Perhaps it's a bout of laziness, or just a lack of motivation to sit down and write. I'm not really sure.Well regardless, I"ll see if I can make the time to update this a little more often.

The past month or so has been a whirlwind of travel. I was in Germany at the beginning of December, and in New Orleans at the beginning of January, with trips to Maryland and Cedar
Rapids in between.

Travelling is stressful. Although almost all of my trips were voluntary, it still takes a lot out of you to get through it: You worry about getting to the airport on time. You worry about the flight taking off on-time, catching your connections, finding something to eat, and even deciding what beverage to get from the beverage cart.

It's easy to lose focus while you're sitting on a grounded-plane in Madison, 10 minutes before the last connection of the day is supposed to take off from Chicago. But while you're on the phone yelling at that United official, remember what amazing opportunities flying gives you.
Within 24 hours you can be on the other side of the world. Each time I reached my destination, saw my family, or went to that conference, or thankfully, made it home, I thought about how amazing it was that I was somewhere far away just hours ago.

It was also notable how much more pleasant it was to travel with someone else. Having my girlfriend with me for many of these trips reminded me how wonderful it could be to to "ordinary" things with her. Having someone else to get through difficult times with can make travel disasters something to laugh about the next day. Safe travels everyone, and may you not have to fly through Chicago, O'hare anytime soon.