Save $600 By Drinking The Crappy Water That Comes Out Of Your Sink Faucet
"How dumb do I think the Americans are?" - Jim Gaffigan
The other night I accidentally watched a TV commercial.
I know, I know. But I was fumbling for the remote and the DVR and I let one sneak by.
The spokesman (“Jim” from The Office I think) was trying to sell me a PUR Water Filtration System, one of those pitchers you fill with tap water, leave in the fridge, and forget to refill. I tuned out most of it, as my attention was fixed to the couch cushion and the thrilling, impending conclusion of “I Shouldn’t Be Alive”, but a single sentence at the end of the ad actually caught my attention: “Save up to $600 a year when you switch from bottled water.”
$600? I want $600! But the observant and cautious consumer in me was skeptical of such claims.
Effective Dog Training Using Motion-Activated Cameras And Foam Darts
Busted
A few weeks ago, I received a call at work from my wife.
She had just gotten home for her lunch break, and mysteriously found “Fast and Furious” playing on our TV via the DVD player. The TV and DVD remotes were also found scattered across the carpet.
Having completed our NOS-fueled, month-long “The Fast and the Furious” marathon the night before, the obvious theory was that our resident pooch Pandora (right) had gotten ahold of the remotes somehow and inadvertently (or deliberately) restarted the Vin Diesel classic still in the DVD player.
We initially passed it off as a fluke occurrence, but the following day the same thing happened again!
Troubled, I did what any card-carrying nerd would do. I set up a motion-activated webcam.
Technical Interview Questions
So you’re nearing the end of what is probably the most stressful pop-quiz of your life: the technical interview. But you’re doing great though! You knew what a quaternion was and you totally nailed that pinned-beam question — pun intended!
And then suddenly, a lob. The interviewer leans forward and takes a short sip from his Dilbert mug. “Tell me, if the time is 3:15, what is the angle between the hands on the clock?”
Is this a joke, you think. This is an engineering position, isn’t it? Is he checking to see if I’m awake? You quickly visualize the clock.
“Zero”, you respond confidently. The interviewer grins. “Hmmm… good.” An awkward silence fills the room. Somewhere off in the distance, a dog barks.
Fringineering: The Rubik’s Cube Trap
photo: exploratorium.edu
Fact: People who can solve a Rubik’s Cube are pompous, smug asses. I know this. I was one.
It was December of 2006 and I had just seen “The Pursuit of Happyness”. As the end of college approached, I had been unsuccessfully looking for a job. So in preparation, I immediately purchased a Rubik’s Cube and, á la Will Smith, learned to solve it within a 10-block cab ride. Proud, I expected some sort of reward for this amazing logical feat. I received no such reward.
Determined to receive the notoriety I assumed was advertised on the box, I demonstrated my Rubixal powers to anyone who would lend me 45 to 210 seconds. Still, nothing.
It was then I realized the insignificance of my accomplishment. Like sword-swallowing or landing on the moon, the world had become desensitized to the Rubik’s Cube.
Fringineering: The Crane Game
photo: geekologie.com
I pretty much rock at the Crane Game.
The “Crane Game” or “Claw Game”, for the fortunate few who have never been to Denny’s, consists of an enclosed glass closet full of toys, usually stuffed-animals, and a mechanical claw hanging from the ceiling. Inserting money grants you an allotted time frame to position the claw over your desired toy. The claw drops, closes, and most likely fails to grasp your prize. Your child cries, and your girlfriend leaves you.
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