RedJen's Rearview Mirror

Does this mean new building codes are coming?

For the first time in a while I felt inclined to discuss a topic this morning. Apparently, if your teenage son is stupid enough to try to leap from one 6 story parking deck to another, it is now the city’s fault for putting the structure there in the first place. That’s what one parent has decided to tell his family. When two teenage boys decided to be incredibly stupid and jump from one building to another, the first one managed the feat. The second teenager did not and fell six stories to the ground where upon impact suffered typical impact injuries, but was unfortunately not removed from the gene pool. His father has filled a lawsuit against the city which owns the one parking structure and the private company that owns the other. According to the father, the building owners should have prevented the teenagers from being almost terminally stupid and reckless. It is a good thing that the boys were not jumping from tree to tree, because I’m fairly certain that even the Pope is unable to respond to a subpoena addressed to God.

Perhaps I’m being too judgmental on this and jumping to conclusions. It is entirely possible that at the exact moment that the boy attempted his jump the building he was on (or the one he was jumping onto) suddenly suffered a structural failure and moved, thus causing the boy to be unable to hit his original target. It is possible, but somehow I doubt that’s what happened.

Is it any wonder we’ve got a generation of UnderPants Gnomes on our hands? I’m beginning to wonder if there are parents alive that still teach their children to be responsible for their own actions. I’ve seen a few genuine throwbacks that appear to be a softer, less cynical version of Gen-Xers, but those are few and I’m related to the majority of them so far.

Do we now need to change the building codes for parking structures so that teenage boys cannot hurt themselves? We’re treating them like infants and toddlers, is it any wonder they act like the world owes them whatever they want? The railings on stairways must be no more than 3 inches apart to avoid a child getting their head caught it in between them. Exactly how do you keep a teenager from being a teenager?

Can I get some more chlorine over here? The gene pool is getting scary!

I’ve spent a decent amount of time this morning working on updating the comment spam blocker used here and on Ranting Virgo, Ultimate Rants and the NJS Journal. Hopefully it will be more effective now that I’ve programmed some new rules into the logic. If for some reason you get blocked by mistake, let me know and I’ll reevaluate the rule that caused the block.

Reading: The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork
Watching: My Cousin Vinny
Playing: City of Heroes

Reading in my room and knowing my family is downstairs
Pick-up games of football and softball
Hugs, there should be a standard weekly required amount
Walking into a house and smelling dinner or cookies
Watching the chaos of family
Walking down the street to the library
Walking down to the river and skipping stones or catching tadpoles and minnows
Getting dirty, play clothes, jumping in mud puddles, cleaning up with the garden hose
Riding bikes on dirt trails
Walking up a hill just to roll back down
Frisbee, catch and croquet in the back yard
Skateboards down the sidewalk
Strap on roller-skates
Chalk art on the driveway
Watching night lilies bloom
Carrots straight out of the garden

To anyone putting positive energy out into the world:

A friend’s mother could use good will and wishes. Carmen had highly invasive surgery in February to remove the cancer. Actually, they could both use good energy as distance separates them and will keep them separate until April. He’s trying to come to terms with things from across the ocean and being apart at this time. Funny how people think that just because we’re adults this means we’re supposed to be able to handle things and keep it all together. I’m thinking that because we’re adults that means we should be able to remain minimally functional when life beats us up.

From the looks of things, Shae is going to be moving in with me during the winter...

Your Future! by sum41prin
Name or LJ username:
Home:
Location:	Butte, Montana
Job:	mall Santa
How much youll make per year:	$26,840
Vehicle:
Quiz created with MemeGen!

I wondered what alter ego the "Future Generator" would describe for the character I spent most of yesterday playing. She did get a kick-butt house and vehicle out of the deal...

[Sometimes you just have to go "Damn!"]

Once again, you'll have to find a happy medium between someone's extreme pessimism and your eagerness to make changes. Fortunately, you're the most cerebral sign out there, so the decision you make will be an intelligent, well-informed one.

Monday: got into work just before 9, left work about 12 hours later.

Tuesday: again made it into work about 9, although this time I left at 8. What made me leave? I had a volleyball game that I was late for. My team of guys is pretty cool. I was in meetings and conference calls from 10 until 3, so they picked up lunch for me.

(Are we seeing a pattern? My friend’s mother isn’t doing well and his trip out of the country has been moved up to next week, so I’m trying to help him get all his things knocked out by the end of the week to relieve some of the stress for him.)

Wednesday: Working 9 to 9, although the last couple hours included a lot of laughing.

Thursday: I’m wondering if I can skip today, but knowing that I can’t. It is time to get moving and out the door. I have a volleyball game again tonight at 6, so I may make it home early tonight.

My well dressed nephew:

Is there anything better of having someone ask your opinion because they really want your opinion? Through MentorNet, I've been conversing with a college student who is asking questions that really make me think about how things work. He's interested in real world experiences and that's a refreshing outlook to encounter.

His latest question asked my opinion on the waterfall versus extreme method of programming and what changes I'd make looking back to when I was primarily doing application development.

Dear Jennifer,
Here is your horoscope for Friday, March 18:

Shopping? Who, you? Yep, you're in the mood -- and you'll want company. Better take along some sensible company, too. Sensible enough to stop you from buying that motor home, or anything else bigger and more expensive than a toaster.

(ShaeSin and I have talked about shopping this weekend...)

Dear Jennifer,
Here is your horoscope for Monday, March 21:

Here we go again. One more day of trying to find a way around all kinds of obstacles that seem to come out of nowhere. Well, here's a news flash: Sometimes we all just need to sit still -- even when we really don't want to.

(So maybe taking the afternoon off today is an even better idea than the original reason I had...)

I'll be going cold turkey during rabbit season to prove to myself whether or not I can "handle" the madness that is online MMORPGing. Translation, I've decided to give up City of Heroes for the next week. So if you've been wondering what has been going on in my head lately, I suspect I'll be releasing the tell all updates over the next week.

Fear not Dom, my heroes will return to their CoH homes next weekend, this a reality check to let me take a step back and make sure important things are getting the focus they need. Things like sleep, bills and chores around the house.

So what have I been doing with my video game reprieve? Well, Thursday I was supposed to play volleyball, but by the time I got home and sat down I woke up at midnight long enough to stumble upstairs and fall back asleep. Oh what an exciting life I’m leading…

I’ve been pondering lifestyles lately.

This morning I got up early and did absolutely nothing. Well, if you count feeding the cats and myself while sitting down, as nothing. When did a quiet meal become a luxury? How much luxury is sitting down to a bowl of oatmeal? Are we so afraid of being without one thing that we completely sacrifice another?

Me time is over for right now, time to get ready to leave for work.