maybethinking

Wow-so that's why low income people hate Democrats

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:44:00 +0000

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Amazing. I've always wondered why anyone making less than $250K a year would vote Republican.

Well...here's a stab at an answer. Check out this post at Neatorama. The original article is at The Economist.

Basically the PEW research suggests that people do not want to be at the bottom of the ladder. They feel that helping people who have less than they do to have more, and thus have more than they do, and thus be above them, is not something they want.

Note: they also address the idea that people hope they will be rich someday and that's why they don't want to tax the rich-because they see it as against their future interest. But here we're talking about people who will NEVER be rich.

Amazing.

Well, it's the best explanation I've ever read.
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Save Rex, the Mangia -zilla

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Friends of Rex -

Rex (the Mangia dinosaur currently residing on top of Wheatsville on Guadalupe) is fighting the hardest battle of his life. Rex has always lived and worked for Jeff & Michelle Sayers (the creator and original owners of Mangia Pizza). Now another company is trying to force Rex to come and work for them. As you probably already know, Mangia Pizza filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and because of this another company is trying to convince creditors to let them have the company.

Rex does not want to live or to work for the other company!!! Rex needs your help in trying to convince the authorities to let him stay with Jeff & Michelle Sayers. Already, Jeff has stepped back in as the managing partner and made several changes so that Mangia's will be able to pay off the creditors and continue to feed Austinites.

You can help Rex by eating often at Mangia's on Mesa and by forwarding this email to every Austinite you know! You can also help by getting your company to use Mangia's catering. It is vital that Mangia is able to convince the Judge that the business is doing well and that sales are strong.

Rex has decided that if Jeff and Michelle Sayers are able to fend off the outside company, he is ready to move back to the Mesa location. Please look for specials and updates on the Mangia website www.mangiapizza.com and also show Rex support by signing a letter of support when you visit Mangia on Mesa. Please also join Rex on facebook.

Thanks
Rex's Friends

Best Stuffed Spinach pizza ever! Let's go!
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It's not a tree house. It's a tree as BIG as a house.

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:08:00 +0000

It stands 116 feet tall on the church ground of Santa Maria del Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico, and has the distinction of having the single widest trunk of any tree known on Earth: 38.1 feet in diameter. This is stouter than any known sequoia or coast redwood. The best estimate so far of its age dates it to anywhere from 1,400 to 1,600 years old. This actually concurs with a local Zapotec legend that tells of its planting 1,400 years ago by, Ehecatl, the Aztec wind god.

It is stout enough to completely cover the average American house.

More over at ListUniverse. Amazing!
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A little chuckle

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 12:35:00 +0000

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This from Ted. Thanks for the Saturday morning chuckle.

I posted another routine of Larry's a while back. Wow. What physicality. What fun!
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When the ambulance comes...

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:22:00 +0000

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...tell 'em St. David's
...or better yet, Scott and White in Round Rock.

I have always thought Seton was the best hospital in Austin. And I'd never go to Brac. Heck-it's the public hospital so it couldn't be very good.

Well, as it turns out there's a Medicare Hospital Comparison website that lets you see how Austin hospitals stack up. I chose to compare Seton, Brac and St. David's because they're all within a couple miles of my house.

Patients were asked a series of ten questions. St. David's consistently came out on top-by less than 5 percentage points, followed by Seton then Brac. But there was rarely more than a 5% difference.

Mostly the questions were "customer service" type questions. "Patients who reported that their nurses "Always" communicated well." etc. There wasn't a "I recovered" question. So who even knows whether they got successful care.

General rating:
Patients who gave their hospital a rating of 9 or 10 on a scale from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest).
St. David's- 72%
Seton- 63%
Brac- 61%

Just thought you'd like to know if you end up in an ambulance and they ask where you'd like to go.

One additional note: The number of hospitals you can compare is about a dozen. Just to see, I did an additional comparison using hospitals in the 'burbs. They scored up to 10 percentage points higher on the general rating question.
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Amy Winehouse was bipolar.

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 14:19:00 +0000

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In all the coverage I have seen of Amy Winehouse's death I've heard nothing about her being bipolar. Read this short piece on PR Rules. Who knew? And why not?
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Get it?

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 22:59:00 +0000

tee hee
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Happy Feet!

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 15:47:00 +0000

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Most of my friends have guessed by now that I love socks. I'm not much for dresses so ankle socks are my footwear of choice in the cooler months.

I was recently referred to Happy Socks by my friend Ron. Who I'm thinking of never speaking to again. -Just kidding.

What a great site! And right now they're regular cotton socks which are $10 a pair are 50% off if you buy 10 pairs...so I bought 13. Pairs that is. I couldn't resist.

Not only are the very cool but they're very comfy. Great store. Go there and buy 10 pairs NOW!

Ta da!

Run the cables

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 11:06:00 +0000

This from a blog called No Promise of Safety. Read the whole story there. Basically this guy ran up the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge-and then hung out for an hour. Just looking at this picture raised my heart rate. Amazing.

Just thought I'd give you a little adrenalin rush this morning.
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So bad they're good

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:08:00 +0000

A little guilty pleasure. I know they're bad because I could only find two I was willing to re-post. But they're pretty fun. More here.
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Tea, Earl Grey, Hot

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:18:00 +0000

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A real life replicator. Though the video doesn't mention how much that new crescent wrench costs.

Another great find from my friend Ted.
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What's this July 4th stuff all about?

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 17:14:00 +0000

I was a US History major in college all those years ago. And took Constitutional Law. And stuff.

I was thinking last night about the Bill of Rights. I was trying to remember what the amendments are and their numbers. Wow.

Just took this quiz. Abysmal. I hope you do better. I could now wax eloquently about how our freedom is jeopardized by our apathy but I'm going to Walmart instead.
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Cannabis Indica

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 04:12:00 +0000

This is Cannabis Indica–not Sativa.

Who knew there was more than one genus of Pot?

It's amazing what you can learn on the innerweb.

OK. I'm not much of a doper. But I had a great time reading this article from the New York Times circa 1995. I have no idea about the marijuana growing business. Though I do/did have a childhood friend who lived/lives in Humbolt County, CA. So that's something.

"How Pot Has Grown" is a window into pot cultivation as a business, and as art. The characters are avid, professional horticulturalists who'd put Mendel to shame.

...it's a great read. 16 years out of date, but a great read none the less.
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Bill Maher on our beloved governor

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:31:00 +0000

Wow. Wow. Wow.

If you're a frustrated liberal who is sick and tired of the conservative crap that's spouted everywhere, read this. It will raise your spirits big time.

If all my conservative friends didn't own guns I'd send it to them. "-)

Just kidding guys.
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Gross

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:24:00 +0000

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Oh my. I got a bit nauseous watching this–so I guess it's effective.

Great ad. Found over at Neat O Rama.
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I'll never look at a cymbal the same way again

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:13:00 +0000

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Via One Cool Thing A Day.
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Neil Gaiman

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:42:00 +0000

Neil Gaiman's American Gods has just been published in a 10th Anniversary Edition. I'm not sure whey they've done that but I loved that book.

Here's an interview with Neil I'm listening to. It's an unedited Minnesota Public Radio show. I'm loving it so far so I thought I'd pass on the link in case any one out there likes him as well.

I found out about it because I subscribe to Neil's blog. How cool, I get to be involved in one of my favorite author's life. Very fun.
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Great day for racing at Bryant Park

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:13:00 +0000

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Another great day at the races. Many thanks to Ted for pointing out this winner!
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Sometimes just working hard ain't enough

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:30:00 +0000

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A while back I read an article in The New Yorker about Mark Zuckerberg. It was a great read. It was written by an illegal alien. As it turns out, Jose Antonio Vargas, author of the article and Pulitzer Prize winner, is a lot more interesting that Mark Zukerberg.

Jose's "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant" is a great article. And a window into one man's struggle to be accepted in our country. I urge you to read it.
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You never know what your child will become

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:44:00 +0000

My friend Donna in Winnepeg has a son who owns Zero Gravity Circus. I wonder if she knew when he was 7 that he'd become an impresario of the big top? How fun is that. Follow this link for a great story about Eli.

By the way, I don't think that's Eli in the picture. But it's a guy in his company.
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TOO FUN!!!- Get Flocked!

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:51:00 +0000

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I grew up in the next town over from Chatham NJ. This is too funny.

"People in Chatham are asking "Got Flocked?" as flamingos spring from neighbor's lawns"

This is way better than toilet papering people's trees. And the best part is you can have the flamingos removed to the lawn of your choice. Read the rest here. Too fun.
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Smart buying

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:48:00 +0000

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I found this post over at The Simple Dollar. It's a list of recommendations comparing the value of different spending choices. I was intrigued. Most mirrored my own thinking. Some did not. See what you think. I've copied a few below. More here at the original post.

• Pay for reliability, not mileage. On a car, you’ll spend more on repairs and maintenance over its lifetime than you will on a difference in gas.

• Pay for location, not square footage. A home in a good location will always retain its value. On the other hand, lots of square footage mostly means room to store stuff you don’t really need, you often have to be far from your job in order to have a huge house, and there are tons of empty McMansions sitting in the suburbs that are unable to be resold due to the housing glut.

• Pay for reference, not entertainment. I only buy a book if I know I’m going to return to it again and again. For books that don’t fall into that category, I check them out at the library or swap them online.
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In case you need to tense your stomach muscles

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:25:00 +0000

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All of us want 6-pack abs. Well, OK, I'd just like to see my toes. Regardless, if you're up for 9 minutes of tensed muscles watch this video. And don't miss the finale. Wow.

Found over at One Cool Thing a Day.
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Advertising should always be this fun

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:45:00 +0000

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I love it. I, too, sometimes suffer from OHP. Oh my!
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Meet Free

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 19:15:00 +0000

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This one's for Richard, the world's greatest pa paw.

ahhh.
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