Babies

I was talking with a coworker earlier today, and he mentioned "I hardly ever get downtown anymore."  I almost said, Maybe I could watch your (baby) son one day, so you can go out, but I realized immediately that I have no idea how to take care of a baby. 

 

For example, here are just the things that I know that I do not know:

1. How to hold a baby
2. How to change a baby
3. How to feed a baby
4. How to store a baby
5. How to tell that something is wrong with a baby
6. How to determine which baby subsystem is failing once a problem is detected

Police Interactions

Tonight I was stopped by the police. For jaywalking.

Here's what happened:

Jennifer and I were walking south on Broadway.

We decided to turn around, so we picked a nice, safe crosswalk.

The light was green for the cars, and we had a don't walk indicator.

Jennifer crossed the street. I had seen a car coming, so I decided to wait. The car was about 1 block away, and not coming very fast.

Jennifer finished crossing the street before the car even neared the crosswalk; I could have made it. She waited for me at pushpin 3.

I looked both ways again, and there were no cars coming in either direction as far as I could see.

I began crossing the street.

A police car pulled out from a parallel parking spot (Pushpin 1) and stopped in the crosswalk in front of me.

I stopped in the crosswalk, in the center median area of the street. (Pushpin 2 on the map)

Police officer: What does the sign say?

Me: Red hand.

Police officer: What does that mean?

Me: Don't walk.

Police officer: Why were you crossing the street?

Me: There were no cars coming.

Police officer: [Pauses and looks at her own car] There is now.

Me: Which is why I am not crossing the street anymore.

Police officer: Seriously, this is for your own safety. [Drives away]

The irony:

Two days ago, I sent an email to the Seattle Police Department to thank them for starting a new enforcement program called Don't Block the Box, which aims to improve traffic flow on the street I use every day to leave downtown (University Street). In the same mail, I also asked them to look out for a few other behaviors which screw up traffic on my street: trucks double-parking in the middle of a traffic lane, and cars turning left from the right-most lane (see it). Earlier this afternoon, I received a personal call back from the police department thanking me for my feedback.

I have mixed feelings about all of this now.

Bad Rhymes, Good Rhymes

I am mad at Steve Miller for writing this verse.  Ever time I hear it, I want to go back in time and break his pencil.  It's like an itch I cant scratch. 

Billy Mack is a detective down in Texas
You know he knows just exactly what the facts is
He ain't gonna let those two escape justice
He makes his livin' off of the people's taxes

(From Take the Money and Run)

 

For balance, here's a rhyme I love.  This verse is like good wine. 

Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

(From Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen)

Coffee Commuters

I wondered today as I bought a mocha from the Tully's which is in my apartment building... how far do employees of Seattle coffeeshops commute to work, on average?

Or, to pose it as a question of motive, what are the reasons why a person does not work at any of the coffeeshops located between their home and the one where they do work?

Name that tune!

Last Friday I bought The Essential Bruce Springsteen, and when I heard the song Badlands, I immediately recognized the piano part as coming from an older song. Take a listen for yourself …

Badlands clip

Do you know what song it's from? Does it at least sound familiar? To be fair, I wasn't able to pinpoint the exact song until Wednesday afternoon while I was taking a walk outside. I'll post the answer in a day or two, or after someone guesses correctly.