Random.
Love that word, obviously (check out the name of my blog in case you missed the connection.)
Here’s a definition from Webster’s:
“Proceeding, made, or occurring without definite aim, reason, or pattern”
So, with that as context, here are some thoughts that are made or occur without a definite pattern.
The Chosen One: Bananas
Every morning, every floor in the Edelman NY building gets fresh fruit in the kitchen. It magically appears about 7:30am. Bananas, Apples, Pears. A dozen or so of each. The first to go, in a flash, is bananas. A ripe pear is next. Oranges go next to last, I suspect due to the mess to peel them. Or the inevitable splatter. What is always available? An apple. Why? I don’t know. But the “bananas are good for you” messaging is dead-on embraced in the halls of Edelman NY.
Mouth Wash: Swish & Spit. Or Else.
Hey, you know what really burns? A big swig of Listerine Mouthwash, followed by a gag reflex that forces you to swallow. Yup, there’s a reason the directions say “do not swallow.” The burning sensation dissipated after about 5 hours. Sort of.
Netflix Binge Watching: Unintended Consequences
I’ve tried to catch up on House of Cards, because my wife wasn’t really into it. So, I’m all over Season 2. But I can’t stream it on the airplanes, and when I’m home, I don’t want to watch something my wife isn’t interested in. So I came up with the perfect solution: Watching it on my iPad in my hotel room. That works great. Unless you fall asleep because you got up at 4am to catch a flight, worked all day, got to the hotel around 7pm, ordered room service, ate dinner, digested, and sat down to watch House of Cards. Because what’s next is a bit of a snooze. Which is a problem because Netflix autostarts the next episode. So I awoke to absolutely no clue where I was, but 2 episodes ahead of what I remembered. The good news is I learned from it, because it happened the next night too. Hmm. Solutions?
Room Service
Yes, I admit it. Traveling all the time, and faced with a bunch of client/colleague meals, I do cherish room service every once and a while. And I’m a bit particular about my morning routine — a tough workout, cool down, and a shower, timed to get my breakfast in my room. A big pot of coffee, OJ, cereal, fruit, and some toast. Like, every morning. Which means I put that little breakfast menu on the doorknob the night before. The ONLY issue, is if you have a brain cramp, and write down the wrong room number because you’ve stayed in so many different room numbers — I got close, but put the room next door on the menu. So, at my requested time, I heard a knock on the door and opened it — to find my normal breakfast dude standing in front of the next door. We looked at each other, he said “where’s your breakfast?” and I said, “I thought you were delivering it?” He looked at the door hangar menu, and found the problem: “you wrote down the wrong room.” Then we both realized the real problem at 6:30am — he was knocking on the door, waking up someone who hadn’t ordered breakfast. The solution? He dashed into my room, dumped the food, I signed for it, and he took off. Kind of like that old ring the bell and run antic, huh?
Translation Fun
Having had the fortune to travel a lot in this new job, I’ve been confronted with attempts to translate local fare into English on my behalf (let alone my poor attempts to use the local language — somehow, my years of French haven’t helped out in most countries). Seeing a few signs that clearly were literal translations of the local language, I found the attached site that shows humorous examples of powerfully bad translations, like:
- In Nairobi restaurant:
Customers who find our waitresses rude ought to see the manager. - Hotel, Japan:
You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid. - In a Bangkok dry cleaner’s:
Drop your trousers here for best results.
Blinking Frequently
Check this statement out: “The average person blinks some 15-20 times per minute—so frequently that our eyes are closed for roughly 10% of our waking hours overall.” Whoa. 10%? That’s wild. Leave it to the Smithsonian to discuss real research into the reasons behind our thinking. And yes, a portion is to lubricate the eyes, or keep dust and other materials out. But it sure seems from this study that there is a psychological reason behind our blinking, and it varies if we are the speaker, or the listener. Ok, that is blowing my mind just a bit. Want to learn more? Here’s the full reseach from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Excuse me, but I need to go blink.
The Five Second Rule
Remember when we used to drop food on the ground as kids and quickly snatched it up, shoving it into our mouths while delighting in shouting out the “five second rule?” Well, guess what? We were right. Scientifically proven that our quick action saved the piece of food getting dirty. Here are details from a study from Ashton University in the UK showing that if you pick that piece of food up quickly, it’s ok — well, it’s less dirty than if it sits there, so that’s pretty close.
Thanksgiving Day Parade Floats
I bet you didn’t know that Felix the Cat was the first balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, launched in 1927? Thought so. It was used instead of live animals. There’s a painful image from that last sentence, but I will leave it to you. Here are more details for you.
The true definition of Random? I just shared 8 tidbits — no good list has 8 items; it’s 3, 5, or 10. Unless you’re feeling especially random.
