Comments for Spork in the Road

Comment on Why do people lose it with customer service reps? by Jennifer

Jennifer — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 04:30:39 +0000

I agree with Rick. I have been a CSR for years, and if you’re nice to me I am more likely to go out of my way to help you. Maybe even breaking some procedural rules. But honestly, I am not your freagin dammit doll so when I say I am sorry there is nothing I can do. There REALLY is nothing I can do. I used to enjoy this field so much, but w/ after being screamed at repeatedly I really want to hang myself. Once you are in the CS field its EXTREMELY hard to get out of due to its demand. I used to be a nice, caring, sweet person. Now I cringe when my phone rings,

Comment on John Daly is smoking during the British Open . . . is that allowed? by lynn jones

lynn jones — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 22:31:45 +0000

hi,

i would like to say in watching the open today at the Royal, St. Georges i was shocked to see Darren Clarke smoking before taking his second shot on the fairway!

I would have thought it was not etiquette to smoke on a golf course and especially when playing in a major competition.

Surely, tobacco is a relaxant and a form of a drug, so what’s the difference between smoking a cigarette and having a drink or even smoking cannabis. It could be argued that this could
enhance his game due to the relaxing properties he is consuming.

I feel very strongly that this is not fair play.

lynn jones

Comment on Ugly in a cute way. by vocey

vocey — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:57:55 +0000

LOOOOOOL

Comment on Rick’s Pics by jen

jen — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 08:29:51 +0000

Also, I don’t believe that’s Idaho.. why are you messing with your viewers??

Comment on Rick’s Pics by jen

jen — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 08:28:42 +0000

I don’t understand.. where do you find an owl in the loop? just explian that to me and I’ll be more comfortable… and how about this trivia? I’m pretty good at trivia.. I may take you on!

Comment on What’s the big deal about plagiarism? by Plagiarism, wholesale. — Spork in the Road

Plagiarism, wholesale. — Spork in the Road — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 03:22:11 +0000

[...] few months ago, I wrote a lengthy post on plagiarism, wherein I argued that a hypersensitive approach to plagiarism is unfair and [...]

Comment on We “boondocked” all night long! by grim

grim — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 22:18:22 +0000

also! boondock apparently originated in the mid 20th cen. from the tagalog word for mountain: or bundok. thanks, apple dictionary!

Comment on We “boondocked” all night long! by grim

grim — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 22:17:05 +0000

you SAID it. BOONDOCK OR BUST!

Comment on Should We Have Kids? #3: Sleep deprivation. (Rick) by CB

CB — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:01:14 +0000

David Sedaris said that life is a four burner stove. The burners are: health, friends, family, work. In order to be successful, you need to turn off a burner. In order to be really successful, you need to turn off two. If you have children, you will turn off a burner. You need to ask yourself, is that okay? Maybe you won’t be great at your job, maybe you’ll get fat because you can no longer exercise, maybe you won’t have any time for friends or maybe you will shun your family to carve out time for yourself.

Really, you can ask yourself these questions until the end of time and you will never know the answer until you have kids. You cannot know how you will be as a parent. Heck, you don’t know if your child will have special needs or not. Gamble or don’t gamble, but I cannot respect someone who is paralyzed on the fence with fear.

Comment on Should We Have Kids? #7: Is it better to have a girl or a boy? (Rick) by Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 00:14:41 +0000

I’ve occasionally checked out your blog to see how this debate was going. I don’t know Rick so well (we probably talked more at our high school reunion than any other time), but you guys seem like such a great couple — both cute together, and thoughtful/contemplative. I like watching the conversation, since it’s a question I’m interested in, but you haven’t yet addressed the biggest concern I have about kids — do you think the world your kids will be born into is a world you’d want them to live in? Although I’m often overwhelmed by the beauty of the world, particularly when I travel, and try to foster an attitude of loving awareness in my own life, I can’t help but be brought down sometimes by the state of the human species and the effect we’re having on our planet. We’re not healthy, as a group of animals, physically or mentally, and I wonder if those natural places we all seem to enjoy will be half as enjoyable by the time our kids would be old enough to explore them on their own. Is this something you guys have thought about?

Comment on RV’ing from Chicago to Maine! by Sara

Sara — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:29:46 +0000

YAY! You are on the way to Maine!! :-) I am so excited for you and cannot wait to read about your adventures. I’ll be thinking about you both on your run this weekend and envisioning the beautiful scenery you will be treated to on MDI. The colors must be fantastic by now! Good luck to you both and be safe!! :-)
Sara

Comment on RV’ing from Chicago to Maine! by Kathy

Kathy — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 00:07:55 +0000

Safe journey. xo

Comment on Counter-productive cold treatment by Tom

Tom — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:13:51 +0000

But the immune system produces these symptoms in order to fight the illness. For example, a fever is the body’s way of making itself intolerable to the invading virus. When I am sure I am actually ill with flu and not suffering from allergies, I try to avoid treating symptoms for the first few days.

Comment on Counter-productive cold treatment by Sara

Sara — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:33:57 +0000

Oh, Katy! So sorry to hear you are still sick! :-( I hope you get over it soon.

Comment on Playing Aristotle. by jajah

jajah — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 16:51:10 +0000

All of the above to the appiah list – i think I’d add to that list our exploitation and subversion of 3rd world countries and our obsession/conceptualization of beauty as a norm.

Comment on Playing Aristotle. by Kathy

Kathy — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:19:28 +0000

I have witnessed the end to segregation in the schools and in public in general. I have seen homosexuality come out of the closet as well as the acceptance of inter racial dating and marriage. I have seen traditional mothers begin to take on the challenges of raising a family and having a career. And, sadly, I have seen parents and children become more fearful of society.

Comment on Should We Have Kids? #7: Is it better to have a girl or a boy? (Rick) by Sarah F.

Sarah F. — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 07:33:45 +0000

I agree with your feeling- I think you will make a good parent too. I have that “feeling” about myself too. I’ve probably spent more time with babies and younger kids since I am a girl and I have and do babysit alot, so in that way I have more experience which gives me confidence… But you are a teacher, and that should give you confidence too. I can’t think that someone who dedicated their life (or at least some part of it) to teaching others would not be a good parent. The “bad” parent is the one who doesn’t teach their child enough. My mother taught me the importance of self-reliance and the importance of honesty, to be ambitious, to be reliable and responsible, to be a fighter and not give up on what I believe in. If you can teach surly, drug-using, ditzy teenagers about science- you’ll be a good parent. It’s evident through how you say you care for Scout. Maybe you wouldn’t be such an “in and out” doggie parent when it comes to cleaning up messes if you had been there when she was little, but you know what? Maybe you wouldn’t! Dog poop and dog throw up still stink no matter how much you love your dog. Parents of humans aren’t immune to the smell of their infants dirty diapers, they gag and say “oh god!” every once in a while. But the best of them deal with it with love- they think about how adorable that baby on the changing table is and try to ignore the smell.
As for the boy vs. girl question… I know moms who have no daughters that are happy about it- “boys are easier” some claim. Personally however, if I never had one daughter I’d be sad- but that’s probably because I’m a woman… or because I have NO idea how to relate to boys that are not my father, step father or fiancé (and a handful of his male friends). I think it would be nice to have at least one of each. Then again my dad has two daughters (myself and my half-sis Jennifer) and no sons, and I know he doesn’t regret it one bit, but that’s probably because I like to fish :)

Comment on Jiffy Lube, you dipstick. by Sarah F.

Sarah F. — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 07:13:58 +0000

I worked at a Jiffy Lube this summer… and I really hated it! But I am seeing this as my opportunity to have something positive come from that hellish ordeal. First of all, the 3,000 mile increment between oil changes is a “rule of thumb”, not a RULE. Everyone is being so quick to jump on them and other oil-change places for saying that oil should be changed every 3,000 miles- but they did not invent this themselves! The average vehicle on the road today needs to have its oil changed every 3,000 miles; This does not mean that if you do not change your oil before your odometer gets 3,000 miles past your last oil change that your car will just die. A car that uses “conventional” oil, which comes straight from the ground, and has no additives, will break down and become sludge-y faster. A synthetic blend or fully synthetic oil will last much longer because they were chemically engineered to work longer. The other, probably more important factor is what Katy mentioned- the kind of driving that you do. If you beat the crap out of your car, you’re gonna have to change the oil more often than if you are a “gentle” driver. Like Sara mentioned, you can wait until the oil change light comes on in your dash board. However, in many types of cars this light doesn’t actually come on until the oil is a little bit OVERdue for a change. Some people are perceptive enough to notice (through driving) when their vehicle needs an oil change, but most are not. I am a firm believer that women should not rely on men to take care of their cars (if you choose to, more power to you- women do most of the house work, guys should do the garage work!) but, you should at least know how, so next time you are in debate over whether or not your oil needs to be changed, try this: 1) locate your oil dipstick, 2) remove it, wipe it with a towel and put it back in and pull it out again, 3) look at the stick- is there oil on it? is it low? what color is it? If it’s dark brown to black- get your oil changed NOW. If it’s medium to dark brown, change it sooner rather than later. New, or still good oil should be an amber color. There are also two different kinds (basically) of dipsticks, so check your owners manual to figure out how to “read” the level of oil on them. And that my friends is the Zen of Oil Change. Don’t stress, just check it every once in a while. It’s YOUR car, it’s YOUR responsibility to know when it needs changing, not the oil or car industry’s.
p.s. I’m a former Hornet, so this is my shout out to Mr. Bieterman: Congrats on getting married! You and Katy’s website here is awesome, Scout is adorable, and so are your pictures :)

Comment on Jiffy Lube, you dipstick. by Katy

Katy — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:13:28 +0000

Yeah, the article indicates that highway driving will buy you a lot more time between changes. Stop and go–or especially minimal driving with just very short trips to the store—requires more frequent changes. The motorcycles are your babies. :) If Scout needed her oil changed, we’d be all over it! ;-)

Comment on Jiffy Lube, you dipstick. by Sara

Sara — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 14:58:59 +0000

We have 2 newer cars that actually tell you when they need an oil change and it is a lot longer than the 3,000 miles that everyone is so used to doing. Pete’s car goes much longer than mine between changes because I do more stop-and-go driving than he does. Pete does change the oil once the cars tell him they need one, but I don’t think he does it much more than twice a year which makes it over 7,000 for my car. The motorcycles are a different story though. He is pretty religious about changing that every 4,000 miles. He uses a synthetic oil which he believes makes you able to go a little longer. :-)