Nerd. and so much more!

Articles in category 'Humor'

  
Mood : amused  Music : The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow

I don’t know if this email forward is actually true, but it’s funny to read anyway. Cheers!

These are from a Washington, D.C. travel agent with 30 years experience working with our congressmen and women. It will definitely give you pause to wonder how laws ever get passed if you didn’t already wonder!! Read on . . .(At your own risk !!)

I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn’t get messed up by being near the window. (Think she was blonde?)

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I got a call from a Candidate’s Staffer, who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information then she interrupted me with, “I’m not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts.” Without trying to make her look like the stupid one, I calmly explained, “Cape Cod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa.” Her response … (click)

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Senior Vermont Congressman called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that is not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, “Don’t lie to me. I looked on the map, and Florida is a very thin state!!!”

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I got a call from a Lawmakers Wife who asked, “Is it possible to see England from Canada?” I said, “No.” She said, “But they look so close on the map.”

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An aide for a Bush cabinet member once called and asked if they could rent a car in Dallas. When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed they had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, “I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between the gates to save time.”

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An Illinois Congresswoman called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:20am and got into Chicago at 8:33am. I tried to explain that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois, but she could not understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went very fast, and she bought that!

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A New York lawmaker called and asked, “Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?” I said, “No, why do you ask?” She replied, “Well, when I checked in with it, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I’m overweight, I think that is very rude?” After putting her on hold for a minute while I “looked into it” (I was actually laughing) I came back and explained the city code for Fresno, CA is (FAT), and that the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.

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A Senator’s Aide called in inquiring about a trip package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, “Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?”

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I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman who asked, “How do I know which plane to get on?” I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, “I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these darn planes have numbers on them.”

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A Lady Senator called and said, “I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola, FL. Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?” I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola, FL on a commuter plane. She said, “Yeah, whatever!!”

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A Senior Senator called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him he needed a visa. “Oh no I don’t, I’ve been to China many times and never had to have one of those.” I double-checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, “Look, I’ve been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!”

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A New Mexico Congresswoman called to make reservations, “I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York.” the agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the agent: “Are you sure that’s the name of the town?” “Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the lady. After some searching, the agent came back with, “I’m sorry, ma’am, I’ve looked up every airport code in the country and can’t find a Rhino anywhere.” The lady retorted, “Oh don’t be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!” The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, “You don’t mean Buffalo, do you?” “That’s it! I knew it was a big animal,” she admitted!!!

Should we be worried about the state of the union?

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By indoloony, July 26, 2006, 9:55 pm o'clock
  
Mood : chipper  Music : Alter Bridge - Broken wings

This is from the Best of Craigslist in the San Francisco Bay area. I found this pretty humorous, and it asks girls to ponder a little bit more before our advances are spurned, or overlooked.. My thoughts are in italics .

In the wide world of dating, there are many options. Do you go for the flashy guy with the smooth smile, or the dude in the corner typing away on his laptop? The following are reasons why I think my fellow females should pay more attention to the quiet geeks and nerds, and less attention to the flashy boys.

1.) While geeks and nerds may be awkward, they’re well-meaning 9 out of 10 times. That smooth dude with the sly grin and the spider hands? Wonder what HIS intentions are… plus, I’ve never had a geek guy not call me when he said he would. Score major points THERE.

Some are awkward, but some are very capable of handling themselves around the other sex. I have to agree with her when she says that geeks/nerds do what they tell you they will do. They keep their word.

2.) They’re useful. In this tech-savvy world, it’s great to have a b/f who can make your laptop, desktop, and just about anything else that plugs into a wall behave itself.

This is absolutely true. I am employed by most of my female friends to fix their technological issues. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been called to fix their computers, or help them with software. It is an incredible advantage to have a boyfriend who is on your beck and call to help you with technology. Sometimes, we can even recommend or automate things to make your life easier.

3.) They’re more romantic than they’re given credit for. Ok true, their idea of romance might be to make up a spiffy web-page with all the reasons why they love you, with links to pics of you and sonnets and such… but hey. It lasts longer than flowers, plus you can show your friends.

This is not always true. We do give flowers, chocolates and all those cliched romantic offerings. However, added onto that, we can also etch our love into something that is more permanent like the internet. I have come to realize that sometimes such details are not meant for the web, if the other person doesn’t appreciate it. I learnt that from experience. So, guys, watch out for that.

4.) Due to their neglected status, there are plenty to choose from. You like ‘em tall and slender? There are plenty of geeks/nerds who are. You like ‘em smaller with more meat on their bones? Got that too.

I must say that this is absolutely true. We are indeed overlooked for the sleeker, slicker models of the male sex. There is a lot of choice, but that being said, some geeks/nerds keep in shape. Point in case, was my room mate during the ORNL internship. He had a chiseled body because he was very active.

5.) They’ve got brains. Come on now, how can intelligence be a bad thing?

This is perhaps the most important thing that we have to offer to you. Our brains are what gives us this status in society. We offer more to the relationship beyond the carnal. Geeks/Nerds need mental stimulation, and often look for girls who can offer that. A relationships with differing levels of intelligence almost never works out, because one person or both, feel that the relationship is not fulfilling. I got to say that some of us are modest about our brains, and some are not. The cocky ones are often jerks. So, watch out.

6.) Most are quite good at remembering dates. Like birthdates and such, especially if they know it’ll make you happy. Due again to their neglected status, they’re more attentive than guys who “have more options”. Plus, with all that down time without a steady girlfriend, they’ll likely have mental lists of all the things they’d love to do once they GOT a girlfriend.

We take relationships seriously. We remember dates because we know it makes you feel special. Also, you know that we always have you on our mind, and never forget. We pay attention to show how much we care about you. I don’t know about that mental lists thing though. There are a few things that we think about, but it’s not like we have a master plan layed out.

7.) Sex. Yep. Sex. I’m not really familiar with this myself, but I’ve friends who’ve been intimate with geek guys and it’s raves all around. They say a virgin wrote the Kama Sutra… all that time thinking about sex, imagining sex, dreaming about sex, (they are male after all) coupled with a desire to make you happy? Use your imagination.

This is murky waters. I don’t really know what to say about it. The person who wrote the Kamasutra, was not a virgin, not by a long shot. He was one of the most sexually active sages in Hindu mythology.

8.) They’re relatively low-maintenance. Most can be fueled on pizza, Twinkies and Mt Dew. No complicated dinners needed here, so if you’re not the best cook, eh. Can you order a pizza?

We are low maintainance. A lot of us love cooking. We are happy to just spend time walking around, watching movies, and having a healthy conversation. Buying us memorable yet inexpensive gifts are enough to satisfy us. We don’t need designer brands, and expensive gifts. As long as the intention is pure, and invokes the right emotions, we are good.

9.) Most frequent bars as often as slugs frequent salt mines. You won’t have to worry much about your geek guy getting his “groove” on with club hotties because, frankly, he’ll be too busy rooting around under his computer wondering where that spare cable went. You won’t have to worry about him flirting with other women because, 9 out of 10 times, he’ll zip right by them in a perfect b-line towards the nearest electronics store. I’ve seen this happen.
Me: “Eww. Victoria Secret’s Models… They’re so skinny. How is that feminine? You can see her ribs!”
Geek Guy: “ooooooo…”
Me: “Hey!” *notices he is staring lustfully towards the computer store*
Geek Guy: “What?”
Me: “Never mind…”

Once geeks/nerds have girlfriends, they becomes their entire world. We don’t pay attention to any other girls because we are satisfied. Although, there are situations where the geeks get their groove on, especially if they know social dance forms like swing, salsa and latin. I know, I do, even if I have a girlfriend. While I dated, I loved dancing with other girls who knew to dance well too..

10.) Although he may not want to go to every outing with you, you can arrange swaps, as in, you’ll go to his Gamer Con dressed as an elf princess if he’ll take you to the ballet. Plus, if he doesn’t want to go someplace with you, you won’t have to worry much about what he’s up to. You’ll probably come home to find him asleep on his keyboard in a sea of Mt. Dew cans with code blinking from the screen. It’s ok. He’s used to this. Just toss a blanket over him and turn out the light.

I used this with movies. However, in the process of going to musicals, and other shows during swaps, I started appreciately that form of entertainment. And, if we are left alone, we are completely trustworthy, and when you get back, probably find us doing the geeky thing we were doing before you left. Hehe. Sad, but true, because we don’t get bored very easily if it keeps us engaged.

11.) His friends aren’t jerks. I can’t stress this enough. You’ll more likely get “Omg! A GIRL!! Can I see?!” than “Hey hot stuff back that ass up here and let me get some grub on…” They’re awkward geeks too and will, 9 times out of 10, treat you with the utmost respect and, more than likely, a note of awe. A cute girl picked one of their clan to date? It could happen to them! Hope! Drag some of your single girlfriends over, open up a pack of Mt. Dew, crack open the DnD set and get working. Nothing impresses geek guys more than a girl who can hack-n-slash (well ok maybe if she can code… a geek can dream).

I can understand this, but can’t relate to it, because most of my friends are female. We do have utmost respect for women, and often are outspoken advocates for female causes such are abortions, and equal opportunities.

12.) They’re rarely if ever possessive. They trust you, so you can be yourself around them. You like to walk around the house in a ratty t-shirt for comfort? He won’t care. He does too! They won’t get pissy if you don’t wear make-up or don’t want to bother primping your hair. If you gain a few pounds, they won’t try their best to make you feel like crap.

We do trust implicitly often, but we do get jealous if provoked to. I am possessive, and don’t mind the girl being possessive, as long as it doesn’t cramp my style. Who ever I dates needs to understand that I make female friends easily and tend to have more female friends than male. However, they are often my best friends, and always platonic. I am, and most of geeks are infinitely faithful.

13.) They’re usually very well educated. Physics majors and the like. See #5. You won’t have to listen to him blathering on about his car (ok maybe a little), he’ll have loads of other interesting things to talk about. Politics, world events, how much the chicken burgers down at the local place rock, so long as you douse them in hot sauce…

I can’t stress this enough. This is a cornerstone, and an absolute requirement for me. I need intellectual stimulation in a relationship, and if I can’t find it, I have to look for it elsewhere. We are interested and keep abreast with major happenings influencing our world. I am interested in basically everything. I love talking about anything from religion, politics, economics, science, and philosophy. I am not very well versed in music or arts but love learning more about them, as I go. We are well educated, and often, in the top percentile of the elite population. Oh, also, I’m a physics and math double major, and a first year phd student at PSU for materials engg.

14.) You’ll almost never have to hear, “Yaw dawg whazzap!!” plop out of their mouths. Unless it’s in jest. They spell properly, use correct punctuation, and are able to tell the difference between the toilet and the floor. They almost never get “wasted”, so you won’t have to worry about coming home to find him and his friends passed out on the floor amidst a pile of beer bottles. Mt. Dew cans, perhaps…

I have never slipped to slang in language. I pride myself in speaking and writing proper English, with correct grammer and spelling. We do get drunk, and pass out. Everyone does. I haven’t passed out or puked ever, but I know a geek fraternity at Coe that drinks like a school of fish.

15.) And the final reason why geeks and nerds make great boyfriends: They actually give a damn about you. Not how you look (though that’s a plus), not how skinny you are, not how much make-up you primp yourself up with, but they like you for you. That kind of thing lasts longer than “DaMN baby you got a fine ass!!!” Believe me.

If you can accept us for all of our imperfections, we can accept you for all your shortcomings and quirks. We like you for what you are. We like the person inside. Superficial romances are fleeting. We compliment you, and make you feel special. We often care more about you that you could possibly fathom.

So, yeah, we make excellent partners in life and love. We also make wonderful friends.

Open Trackbacks: Open Trackback Weekend, OTB Weekend #2, Woman Honor Thyself

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By indoloony, July 8, 2006, 10:23 am o'clock
  
  Music : Seth Horan - Home

When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space,they found out that the pens wouldn’t work at zero gravity. (Ink won’t flow down to the writing surface) In order to solve this problem, they hired Andersen Consulting (Accenture today). It took them one decade and 12 million dollars. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, under water, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.

Meanwhile the Russians used a pencil…

This is a popular urban myth trying to show wasteful government spending. However, it is just myth. 12 million dollars was not spent by NASA, or Andersen Consulting. The pen was made by Paul Fischer, of Fisher pen company. Here is the link for more info on the myth.

By indoloony, June 30, 2006, 6:10 pm o'clock
  
  Music : Evanescence - 09 - Lose Control



Conan O’Brian: Indian call centre in Hyderabad on Vimeo

Late Night with Conan O’Brien employee Andy Blitz travels to Hyderabad to track Down help-desk employee ‘Sharon’.

Direct Download: http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/45580/conanindia.wmv

By indoloony, May 18, 2006, 9:54 pm o'clock
  

This guy (Comedy Central fame) has a lot of balls to crack at Bush while he is sitting two seats away. He is talking at the White House Press Correspondents Dinner, and the video is ripped from C-SPAN. Most of the people are trying real hard not to laugh. They keep looking at each other with surprise, and incredulous looks..

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For the updated sites where the videos are hosted, visit DanB. Apparently, YouTube pulled the videos off for copyright infringement.

[Listening to: The Vast Spoils of America (From the Badlands Through the Ocean) - Saves The Day - Through Being Cool (3:08)]
By indoloony, May 1, 2006, 12:30 am o'clock
  

I have been studying like crazy the last week which explains the lack of posts. I have another week or so of this stressful ordeal and then I’m free! I have 4 finals with most being comprehensive. Finals are crazy times. Tempers flaring, head aching, panicking, sweating profusely, lack of sleep, tensions right before the exams.. Ahh!! Shit, five more years of this! Thank God for the little break at home to recuperate, and revitalize and getting excited about graduate school, and work, and lack of life in general.. I have to keep sane. Being a bum in the summer never looked so inviting ;) .

I also have to deal with moving out of Coe for the first time ever (sigh..), make plans to get across the country to DC before I leave for Nigeria (road trip with Jessi and her family!), figure out immigration details for graduate school (Beauracracy is taxing on my patience), and other such critical details.

On a positive note, my paper Structural studies of solution-made high alkali content borate glasses (PDF) got published in the Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, which is the most prestigious journal for glass science. So, I’m a published first author along with my advisor Dr. Feller. This was the culmination of three summers of research using a novel technique making glasses no one had ever made before. I have journal entries describing my summer research days if anyone is interested ;) . Exciting, eh?

Here is the abstract for those curious:


The glass forming range of alkali borates has been extended to R = 5.0 (83 mol% alkali oxide) using a solution method. This method involves the reaction between solutions of boric acid (H
3BO3) and alkali hydroxide (MOH). Physical properties and NMR studies were performed on the intermediate and final glass products of this method. We have obtained results for the entire alkali borate system including lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium and cesium. The structure of these invert glasses remains enigmatic.

Keywords: Glass formation; Glass transition; Glasses; Raman spectroscopy; Oxide glasses; Borates; NMR, MAS-NMR and NQR; Structure; Short-range order; Glass transition; Water

Keeping with PhDcomics humor, this strip is pertinent to the subject of me being published. This strip is not necessarily accurate in my case ;) .

phd010500s

[Listening to: I Wish - Semisonic - All About Chemistry (7:55)]
By indoloony, April 26, 2006, 1:10 am o'clock
  

Rate Your Students: Advice to Parents: Which College Major is Best?

This post lists some of the majors and kind of people who do that majors. It also talks about their future. It’s a hilarious read.

And while, we are talking about academic humor. I found a comic strip called “Piled Higher and Deeper” (PhD). It is the popular comic strip about life (or the lack thereof) in grad school.

It’s ironic that I find this humorous because that’s going to be my life in 3 months. I am going to be a PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering for the next 4-6 years.

Here is a sampler:

phd1029

[Listening to: Something to Look Forward To - Spoon - Kill the Moonlight (2:16)]
By indoloony, April 20, 2006, 10:48 pm o'clock
  

Darfur (Via Life of a Loony). This is not supposed to be funny, but it is. Sad, but true. We really need to do something about it.

I’m excited! I’ve found a safe place to rant and ramble! Yay! This way I can keep secrets and vent without being judged. Also what’s weird is that I felt closer to three friends than I have in a long time. When I turn cynical, good things happen. Except when it comes to grad schools because that’s still frustrating at hell.

Today was a beautiful day. It was warm, and mildly sunny. I walked around in a t-shirt. It was glorious! However, to turn things sour, it’s raining now.

Now for more inane talk. I had a wonderful time watching One Tree Hill with Komal, while thinking it was the season finale while it really wasn’t. And then today at Xaviers during the Senior Gift Committee dinner, Kristin finally asked me to do something with her. So, we are going to lunch on Monday. I was happy because I was about to give up asking her. And then today, after a long time, Britta and I finally got one on one hang out time away from the library and cafeteria. We hung out and watched TV and talked. She was rather hyper after 5 glasses of mountain dew at dinner. She is funny when hyper.

Also, Kristin wanted a picture from Presidential Ball last year and I sent her the mosy dynamic picture I had that turned out to be with Andi (go figure!). So, we were on the front page of the Coe College Cosmos (newspaper), and I took a picture of that and sent it to her.
Joy and Andi on the front page of the Coe College Cosmos

I pray. This time for myself. And a future that is about to begin. Let the journey be not without obstacles, but let me pass them learning in the process. The tribulations of life is part of the process that defines us. It makes it stronger. It makes up appreciate what we truly value in life.

[Listening to: Me and my shadow - Robbie Williams - Swing When You’re Winning (3:16)]
By indoloony, March 31, 2006, 12:02 am o'clock
  

When I saw this VH1’s Web Junk, I couldn’t stop laughing forever. I went hunting for this clip and uploaded it on YouTube for the rest of the world to see.

I am justing posting the permalink rather than embedding the video so that it is less bandwith hungry when you hit my blog.

Preacher says something unholy


Young Preacher slips up -

Cheers!

By indoloony, March 1, 2006, 4:30 pm o'clock
  

What can I say? I got bored. Anyway, there isn’t a direct way of putting this on your blog. I had to use the “print-screen” option, and then I think you can do the rest. If you would like more instructions, holler’!

Click on the picture and that will take you to the Quiz page.

[Listening to: The News - Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales (2:25)]
By indoloony, February 27, 2006, 12:45 pm o'clock