People wonder why I have backup plans...

Sure, it may make me seem a bit paranoid, but I generally have a backup plan for just about everything. I build in redundancy, sometimes to a ridiculous level, in order to avoid catastrophe. My background in software development and the automotive industry have simply strengthened this aspect of my personality. Therefore, it is hard to get anything past old Cray.

This redundancy goes all the way down to my alarm clock. Most people have one alarm clock, often plugged into a wall with no battery backup. To me, it seems these people aren't really that concerned about waking up. Myself, I set the alarm on my phone, and then have a separate, battery operated alarm clock. The reason I don't trust my phone alone has to do with an anomaly that occurs if the ringer is muted and someone is trying to call in at the time the alarm should sound: the phone simply makes no noise. This has happened a few times, and my old trusty battery clock has woken me so that I could look at my phone and wonder why it wasn't sounding. The redundancy works.

However, I had recently become annoyed by the fact that I had to reset the alarm so much. I wanted it to go off synced with the phone at 4:45PM to wake me up, and again at 5:25PM as a 10 minute warning to be on the road. I would have to reset it twice a day because of this or reset my phone alarm twice a day because of this (yes, my "smart" phone only has 1 alarm... my nearly retarded phone had 4!). I needed a dual alarm clock.

So, earlier this week, I went shopping for one. It wasn't a huge deal, so I figured I'd just go grab one at Wal-Mart. What I soon found out is that the only dual alarm clocks they carried were also radio controlled atomic clocks. This syncing worried me a bit, since it introduced an outside variable, but I figured my worries were unfounded... until yesterday.

I woke up to my phone blaring "Break Stuff" at 4:45PM, but was confused by the obvious lack of a beeping alarm clock. What now? Did I forget to enable the alarm? I looked at the clock to see that it read 1:24AM on April 18th. WHAT? My clock had traveled over 6 months into the past for some reason! It had to be that damn sync at 2:00PM that gave it this incorrect value. My redundancy had worked, but now I no longer trust the alarm clock. It's only a matter of time before the doomsday scenario of sync error and incoming call at alarm time on the same day. This is very disheartening...
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Big Cray: Accept No Substitute

Why Haven't People Heard of Ski?

It's become a common and disappointing occurrence for me. It seems that nearly every time I go to the local Wal-Mart and toss a few 12 packs of Ski up on the checkout conveyor, I get a confused look from the cashier.

"Ski? Never heard of that one," they say.

This is not an isolated incident (or series of incidents) with a single cashier. None of them seem to have heard of this excellent soda, despite the fact that their store sells it. Sure, from my best estimate they only stock 4 cases per week, and I buy 2, but they do actually sell that product in the store, and the staff does not recognize it.

They ask, "is that new?"

Sure! It is one of those hip new drinks. They just started making it in... 1956. It's even mentioned in a song released in 1990. So, yeah, brand new drink. All the rage with the tweenagers...

Ski, people! SKI!
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Big Cray: Accept No Substitute

A little change of pace...

I thought it would be different if, instead of me just making fun of something, I withhold my thoughts and leave it purely to my loyal readers to viciously ridicule something. So, I give you this:

...and be completely honest. Don't let me down. Ready... GO!
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Big Cray: Accept No Substitute