What's more wonderful than spending Dec. 23 at a walk-in clinic? I've been having this annoying cold that I want to get rid of. I've taken some medicine to combat it. I'm actually feeling much better but need something to get rid of the sniffles.

 So I was sitting in the almost deserted waiting room when a guy with a baby stormed into the room. He looked about 20 or so. He stood beside a woman who happened to be his wife or girlfriend. She looked 17. As he tried to pacify the crying baby in his arms, he said, "What are you waiting for? If they're not going to call you, just leave."

 "I have to wait. They're gonna call me any minute now," she answered back, trying to keep her voice down.

 This angered the husband/boyfriend. "You've been waiting here for a long time. Are they gonna bring you a cup to pi** in or what?"

 "That's not how it works!" At this point, her voice was louder and less apologetic. "I'm going to wait here. Why don't you just wait in the car?"

 "I'm not going to wait there. She doesn't want me. She wants you." It's a baby girl, apparently. He handed her the baby. Immediately, the baby stopped crying as if a doll with an off switch.

 An older woman, who sat not too far from the couple, started to speak. "Aww, she's precious! How long has she been sick?"

 "Oh, she's not sick," explained the young mother. "I'm here for me, for some test. I'm her mother." I wasn't too sure what her explanation of her relation to the baby has anything to do with the other lady's question.

 "Come on, let's go! Why don't you get your a** out to the car so we can go," the impatient husband/boyfriend said. She looked up, shook her head, started to rock the baby, and said nothing. He walked out of the room while saying some curse words under his voice, something that I can't repeat here.

 Am I getting too old, or do "kids" nowadays not have a clue about decent behavior in public places? Yes, it was entertaining to watch, but seriously, I could go home and surf YouTube for Jerry Springer clips and get the same effect.

 What these rude kids need is a month of charm boot camp to whip them into acceptable form of societal beings. It should be part of the rites of passage--in addition to P.E. class, or prom. Forget walking in a straight line with books on their heads. Give them basic schooling in civilized approach to conflict management, marital relations, and child rearing. The latter is important, so to pass on the values and acceptable behaviors they've learned (hopefully) onto their offspring so that rudeness and indecent behaviors are not passed on to begin with, effectively "breeding out" the bad acts, so to speak.

It's interesting and yet alarming to hear how people talk on the phones these days.

 I'm not referring to the rude behaviors of some when they talk on their cell phones in movie theaters, elevators, church, or public restrooms. Or when they text non-stop or write blog entries when they should be working at their desks... I'm one of the latter, mind you. Guilty as charged. But, hey, I'm standing in line for coffee at this moment. I must make use of my time somehow, right?

 What I'm referring to is how some people talk out loud on their cell phones in public places as if they don't realize that there isn't an invisible bubble around them, shielding their conversation from other people's eavesdropping ears.

 As a matter of fact, I just passed by a woman who was giving her phone number and email address to the other person, spelling out her email address as if she's in a spelling bee championship. And, of course I got the entire information in my head right now. In fact, I can share that email address to you readers so you can send her spam, or a warning to not share that information with unintended ears. But, of course, I won't do that. However, if you're interested and willing to twist my arm for it, just let me know. I might be persuaded.

 Cheers!

A coworker of mine and I were having lunch at the office cafeteria while watching the latest news on TV. The news about the economy sparked an interesting conversation surrounding welfare. My coworker said that part of the problem seems to be the growing problem of individuals bearing multiple children that they are unable to support financially. One interesting point he made was the fact that since consenting adults are free to engage in sexual activity for pleasure or procreation purposes, and is, in general terms, easy to do without putting in a lot of financial investment to get the sexual activity started (well, I'm sure emotional and physical readiness are probably important factors, but for the sake of simplicity, let's assume that individuals are readily equipped with such requirements, or ready to bypass the emotional requirement at least), and in fact CAN be done anywhere and anytime, then the pitfall is not difficult to miss even without regard to social and economic consequences of the aftermath, which is the birth of the resulting child. How convenient, right?

 Which takes me to my point. Supposed that the government was to impose another requirement (i.e. law) that mimics the mortgage application process. That is, any individual or consenting couple who decides to procreate, regardless of real intent (entertainment, building a family, etc.) must provide proof of financial ability to support the child. If a financial institution requires that a borrower provide paperwork to say, "I am able to pay this much as down payment and this much monthly to repay my loan," then the government should act like a mortgage lender and ask for a similar promise. Without proof of financial ability prior to procreation, then no pregnancy is allowed. I think that would be a good tool for population control, and to put welfare abuse in check.

 Just a thought.

People may think I'm one of those gadget freaks who can't live without possessing the latest tech "toys". Ok, guilty as charged. But I'm really not the type of person with extreme case of technolust who feels that the pursuit of happiness means ditching yesterday's hot gizmo for today's latest tech craze. Ok, I may have some symptoms of that "condition", but I'm not the one who'd replace his phone every 6 months. Ok, I replaced my Treo for a BlackBerry after 3 weeks, but I was within the "trial" period, so I was "trying" it out first, and then realized that I didn't like the Treo that much, so I switched to my current 8830.

Speaking of phones, I've thought about a touch smart phone like the ridiculously cool iPhone. The technoluster in me says that it's a must-have, because everyone has it but it's unique at the same time (by comparison to most smart phones). However, a huge down side of the iPhone is its lack of a physical QWERTY. The UI is amazing and intuitive, but my thumbs are used to feeling the keys. I've never tried typing for a long time on the iPhone, so my apologies for jumping into conclusions. However, I can't say I'd be able to type all of this using the iPhone touch keyboard. (I'm currently using my Berry to type all this, believe it or not. It's quite comfortable to use, actually.). I've grown accustomed to using my thumbs to type on my Berry keyboard, and I've developed a typing speed of at least 80 words per minute, which is a VERY rough estimate.

There are new contenders in town, though. The BlackBerry Storm and the BlackBerry Bold. They won't be available on Alltel anyway soon, so we'll just have to wait until Verizon buys Alltel. I'm eyeing the Bold. I still have to have the physical keyboard, which eliminates the Storm. But I haven't tried any of the two yet, so my opinion is still subject to change.

Some people at work seem to follow a different schedule. Every morning I go to the cafeteria to grab a cup of coffee to take back to my desk. What's interesting is the large number of people I'd find seated in the dining room having leisure breakfast. I've looked around to see if I could find some people working on laptops. Well, I didn't find a whole lot of them. So it made me wonder--do these people have enough work to do if they have time to sit and have breakfast at the office cafeteria? Hmm... Let's chew on that for a while.

I try to do a daily post but today's (or yesterday's) post slipped my mind. It's almost 2 a.m. but I'm determined to finish this one.

I went to the Walton Performing Arts about 6 hours ago to see a performance of Faure's Requiem. The University of Arkansas music department choral groups and orchestra did a good job. A friend of mine and I sat in the balcony, which I think provided the best view of the stage. The only thing that I must say about the selected work is that it was a bit too subtle for me. It's definitely no Wagner. Each movement of this particular choral work lacked the excitement, drama, and depth that I was wanting to hear. I had never heard Faure's Requiem before so I have no frame of reference for judging how the choirs and orchestra did. Overall, the enormous mass choir had a tremendous sound, although sometimes the orchestra drowned them out a bit too much. But, of course, that's just my humble opinion.

Today at the office, I received a phone call from a supplier who agreed to send us some product samples for us to use in a lab test. When the lady from the supplier company arrived, I saw the box but I didn't see a hand cart or dolly. After I thanked her, I lifted the box. Boy, was it heavy! But of course, I didn't show weakness and tried to make it look so effortless as possible, while in reality, my arms were screaming for relief and beads of sweat started to form on my forehead. "Wow, you must be stronger than I am," she said. I grinned and tried not to show straining on my face too much. If only she knew!

Then I had to take the box of clothes to another building about 4 blocks away. I hauled the box to my car using a dolly, which made it so incredibly easier. When I got to the other building, I asked the receptionist-type guy (yes, a guy, so he must be "security") where the elevator to the lab was. Well, you know, the lab's located on the second floor, up above a good flight of stairs. The guy looked at me and said, "There's no elevator." I was like, "No way!"

I stared at the stairs that seemed like a mile long. I carried that box until my biceps burned. When I got to the top of the stairs, I dropped it intentionally to relieve my aching arms. Wow, I realized that I overestimated my strength. Who was I kidding? I was too "macho" to admit that I wasn't built to haul merchandise in my khaki slacks and pink long-sleeved shirt. I should just stay behind my desk and do mental calisthenics than physical exertion. I should stick to what I do best.

Where is that bottle of Tylenol when I need it?

This is just one of those days when I get a massive headache attack, a prominent and sustained pain located just above my right eye socket that seems to spread to the rest of the right side of my brain. I'm almost incapacitated by this. Believe it or not, I'm in bed right now and it's just a quarter after 10 p.m. This could be a caffeine withdrawal symptom. Ok, I better stop here. Must get some sleep.

I've been watching the news on the election results. (Right now, as of this writing, Obama has just been named as President-elect.) It's been an amazing and historic event and I'm so glad to have been part of it. America has greatly changed. This is a new era. Obama definitely has a big job to do. It is my hope that he doesn't disappoint this country.

So it's the eve of the elections. I can feel the energy in the air. Interestingly enough, I feel that I'm still torn and can't seem to make up my mind. Pros and cons exist at both sides. Regardless of the outcome, I know that this will be quite a historic event and that I'll eventually have to make a decision.

Instead of waiting until the afternoon to vote, I've decided to go in early to get it over with. I, for one thing, hate crowds, so I'm hoping to beat the crowds tomorrow. Then I'll have all day to think about the elections and read about it online, knowing that I've done my part as a citizen of this country. It would be interesting to find out how many able citizens decided not to vote this time. I don't understand why someone wouldn't want to have a voice at the polls, but I'm sure there are people who would rather not participate.

Well, we'll see what happens. Here's to America and freedom!