Nerd Trash Talk

I headed right up to the lab when I arrived at work this morning, which is a different pattern than I’ve had over the past several weeks. My most recent project has been a long-term study that I’ve been testing it in the later part of the day just because it’s a simple assay that I can throw on as I’m walking out the door at night. But usually I can be found in the lab at all hours of the day or night.

A relatively new coworker (and also my office mate with whom I get along well) saw me in the lab this morning and commented.

Him: What are you doing in the lab? You usually don’t stroll in until sometime after noon.

I’m in work mode and tend to make science jokes because I have a receptive audience here.

Me: Hey, buddy! Your observational data set of my behavior is dangerously small to be making any assumptions.

Him: Hey…I can only work with the data I have.

So, a relatively benign, forgettable, nerdish exchange. But I later realized that I had just asserted – in probably the geekiest way EVAR in all of recorded history:

“Bitch! You don’t know me!”

And I’ve been giggling all morning over that.

Nerd Trash Talk
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CUP Contest #16

Are you ready for the crazy week of Close Up Photos?

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I will be posting a new CUP contest every day until someone wins this damned thing! If you’re new to the CUP Contest, here’s the general premise: I post a photo, you guess what it is. Scoring is kind of complicated and arbitrary, but the winner is shooting for 1000 points. Visit the CUP Winners page for more information and feel free to jump into the game.

All guesses submitted via the comments or by Facebook will be accepted.  The first person to guess correctly wins 100 internet points.  Anyone who also guesses correctly after that will get some amount of points. As always, extra points may or may not be awarded for amusing answers. The contest is over when I post the answer and announce points, which will be with 24 hours after the contest goes up. I am the ultimate decider of all answers and points. I’ll guarantee an attempt at fairness, but all bets are off when it comes to the logic behind how I hand out points.

Here are the current rankings:

So that’s it! You all remember how this works, so…

What is this:

CUP Contest #16

Cross-Country Connections: Yellow

Cross-Country Connections is a Biodork weekly blog entry dedicated to telling stories in pictures of three family members – me, my sister and Mom – living in very different locations across the country. Every week we choose a different theme and then take or contribute a personal photo that fits the theme. This week’s theme is Yellow.

From Mom in Carbondale, Illinois:

My neighbor’s tree gives a whole new meaning to yellow.

From me in Minneapolis, Minnesota: 

When I heard that this week’s theme was “yellow”, the first thing I thought of was the Human Rights Campaign. The bright yellow equal sign against a blue background is found on many a car bumper in this part of the state, including mine. But then I saw the Minion; his big eyes pleaded with me and you could almost hear him cry out in Minion gibberish, “Ooo…pick me, I’m yellow!” So I let him hold the sticker and that seemed to make him happy.

From Erin in Bellingham, Washington:

The ugliest buttons ever.  I bought a grab bag of buttons from an antique store once; this cheap, yellow fake brass was 90% of the haul.  This picture is the most useful thing I’ve ever gotten out of these buttons. 

Cross-Country Connections: Yellow

Weekend Nerd Updates and New CUP Photo Info

1) I saw Lazer Tag in Macy’s. I wanted it. Badly. The Hubby didn’t agree to the purchase. I almost had a temper tantrum in the store like a two year old.

2) Later at Target we were walking through the 50% off Halloween aisles, and I managed to convince The Hubby to try on this Batboy costume. He didn’t let me buy it for him, but I was actually okay with that.

3) We actually did buy this from the Target 50% off Halloween aisle and made the dog wear it. There’s a special kind of hell waiting for people like us.

4) I found this cartoon of Dumbo with stretched earlobes on poorlydressed.com and have been trying to find a way to work it into a blog post ever since.

5) While grocery shopping I saw this jumbo pack of lunch-size chips, and the first thing I thought was “Eat ALL the chips!

6) My new shirt came in from lolshirts.com!

7) The Hubby and I each bought funny looking shoes.

8 ) The Hubby and I played Dodgeball with a bunch of grown adults and had a BLAST. We’re going again next Wednesday. You know, if we can walk again by then. So…much…pain! Not from getting hit with dodgeballs (they’re foam, not rubber), but we’re trying to recover from the aching shoulders, spasming back muscles and burning knee and hip joints from the overexertion! Also, I have a blister on my big toe *sniff*.

Close-Up Photo Contest

I’ve had several people remind me that we’re not done with the CUP Contest. I love that you guys love it so much. So here’s the deal: Starting on Tuesday November 8th, I will be posting a new CUP EVERY DAY at noon (12pm Central Standard Time). We’re going to play every day until somebody reaches 1000 points. After that I’m thinking about keeping it as a regular feature, but we’ll have individual winners for each photo entry. So, keep your eyes open – somebody is going to win the CUP Contest very, very soon!

Weekend Nerd Updates and New CUP Photo Info

Delta Airs Anti-Vax Advertisement

I haz a sad.

I like flying Delta. There’s a huge hub here in Minneapolis. I have the Delta SkyMiles card so I can rack up points and fly places for free (well, freeish, but that’s another post), and I’ve generally had very good experiences on Delta flights.

So, I was sad when I saw this in my Twitter stream yesterday:

It turns out that Delta and In-Flight Media are presenting a nearly three-minute ad that trivializes the flu and tells the audience that:

  1. You don’t have to worry about preventing the flu – FALSE.
  2. Most illnesses that present with flu-like symptoms are not the flu – TRUE.
  3. Washing your hands is a good way to help you stay healthy. – TRUE.
  4. Covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze is a good way to minimize spreading germs – TRUE.
  5. Drink water to keep your body hydrated – TRUE.
  6. Get the right amount of sleep and reduce stress levels to decrease your chances of getting sick – PROBABLY TRUE.
  7. Vitamin C and D – found in nutritious food  – are effective, natural preventatives – FALSE.
  8. Regular exercise helps keep your immune system strong. – TRUE.
  9. The flu shot is an option. Research the different types of flu vaccines your doctor may recommend. SURE, WHY NOT?

Who would advocate against being an informed consumer? I applaud people who are willing to research their health care options. But, when considering the source (psst – it’s one of the country’s biggest anti-vaccine organizations), and considering the place that they direct you to research flu vaccines (psst – It’s their hugely anti-vaccine propogranda-laden website filled with misinformation about all sorts of vaccines), the little alarm bells in your head should start to ring, buzz, sing, or talk – whichever you’ve got your alarm set to.

Elyse Anders – the president of the  Women Thinking Free Foundation and driver behind the Hug Me I’m Vaccinated Campaign brought this story to my attention via her article on Skepchick.org. Elyse has a list of things that you can do to help protest to Delta and the associated organizations that are allowing this ad to run.

  1. Sign the CHANGE.ORG petition. Add your name to those of us who would like Delta to remove the advertisement. Change.org works, and it’s an easy way to make your voice heard.
  2. Tweet: “#fludelta @DeltaAssist @Delta If you’re so concerned about safety, stop running potentially deadly anti-vaccine ads http://wp.me/pbblq-6qu
  3. Facebook/YouTube: Add your comments about the video here. The content has been removed from Facebook, but you can still see it on YouTube. The owner, In-Flight Media, has disabled commenting, but you can still downrate it.
  4. Share Elyse’s post on Facebook and Twitter.
  5. Tell your friends and family about the campaign and get them involved!

The last time Elyse was involved in a campaign against vaccine misinformation advertisements by this group placed in Times Square, the ads were pulled. With all of our help, hopefully we can make it happen again!

Delta Airs Anti-Vax Advertisement

Rick Perry's NH Speech

Ok, things may be looking up for Mitt.

Have you guys seen this yet?

This guy is a serious presidential contender? Forget that he’s a creationist, that he sponsored a prayer rally for rain in Texas, that he suddenly came up with his very own flat tax plan just ‘cuz it sounded like a good idea and not because Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan was getting a lot of play, that he condescendingly or insanely giggles every time someone asks him a question he doesn’t like or can’t answer, that his big plan to stimulate employment is to put people to work sticking oil pipelines into the ground from one end of this country to the other like candles on a centenarian’s birthday cake, that he has just four issues listed on his campaign website, each with less than 200 words to describe his convictions, values and vision for this country, that he wants to repeal the important healthcare reform passed during President Obama’s term, that he’s against funding Planned Parenthood and, and, and…

No, wait…don’t forget any of that. Just add this performance in New Hampshire – the wild hand motions, the crazy eyes (what is it with crazy eyes and Republicans?), the odd stories and off-topic rambling, the vehement tone, his newly disclosed love affair with maple syrup, to sum up: Wackilooniness Unbecoming of a Public Official – to the ever-growing list of reasons why we should put as much distance between us and Rick Perry as possible.

Rick Perry's NH Speech

Rick Perry’s NH Speech

Ok, things may be looking up for Mitt.

Have you guys seen this yet?

This guy is a serious presidential contender? Forget that he’s a creationist, that he sponsored a prayer rally for rain in Texas, that he suddenly came up with his very own flat tax plan just ‘cuz it sounded like a good idea and not because Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan was getting a lot of play, that he condescendingly or insanely giggles every time someone asks him a question he doesn’t like or can’t answer, that his big plan to stimulate employment is to put people to work sticking oil pipelines into the ground from one end of this country to the other like candles on a centenarian’s birthday cake, that he has just four issues listed on his campaign website, each with less than 200 words to describe his convictions, values and vision for this country, that he wants to repeal the important healthcare reform passed during President Obama’s term, that he’s against funding Planned Parenthood and, and, and…

No, wait…don’t forget any of that. Just add this performance in New Hampshire – the wild hand motions, the crazy eyes (what is it with crazy eyes and Republicans?), the odd stories and off-topic rambling, the vehement tone, his newly disclosed love affair with maple syrup, to sum up: Wackilooniness Unbecoming of a Public Official – to the ever-growing list of reasons why we should put as much distance between us and Rick Perry as possible.

Rick Perry’s NH Speech

Mississippi River Adventures

Last Friday Aaron and I road-tripped down to Wabasha, MN to see two friends embark on a sailing adventure that started in a tiny Wabasha marina and will end in Belize, Central America (You can follow the adventures in photos and written stories at their website, Sailing to Belize). We left at 4:30am and rolled into Wabasha at about a quarter to seven. We got a tour of the boat and were treated to a really beautiful sunrise. The goodbyes wrapped up and the guys set sail. Those of us who had traveled down to see them off headed into town to warm up and get some breakfast.

After that Aaron and I split off to explore some of the landmarks along the Mississippi River. We started at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha. It’s a very pretty building with several exhibits that educate about eagle habitats, behavior and representation in current and historical cultures. The highlight of the museum is a viewing area with five of the center’s permanent eagle residents. The viewing area is open air; the eagles are tethered to an small area around their perches and visitors stand behind a low barricade only feet away from the birds. The eagles – four bald eagles and one golden have all been injured and are unable to be returned to the wild.

This eagle had been hit by a car and never regained his ability to fly. The National Eagle Center gives him a home and helps people learn about eagles.

Next we crossed the river into Wisconsin and drove south to Alma where we visited Buena Vista Park. It shelters many different kinds of songbirds and is kind of breathtakingly gorgeous.

Just a little pretty. Panorama stitched together by cleVR. Click to enlarge.

And since we were there we made a quick stop at Lock and Dam #4 in Alma. We were hoping to see some bald eagles hunting the fish that get injured by the dam, but all we got were a bunch of ring-billed seagulls. Pbth! But I did get cool shot of the dam.

Chatty three-eyed aliens!

The next stop on our list was Rieck’s Lake Park, which is north of Alma and not quite to Nelson, Wisconsin. It is a large lake and flat, open marsh. We saw tons of Canada Geese,  Mallards, and Teals, but weren’t lucky enough to see any Tundra Swans. The view, however, was incredible.

Ducks and Geese hanging out in the lake.

Some small mammal hut – muskrat? Reick’s Lake houses beavers, mink and muskrats.

View from the Reick Bridge site.

After that we went in search of Tiffany Bottoms Wildlife area. Tiffany Bottoms is largely undeveloped and has a great and varied population of birds. We found a parking lot a few miles past Nelson on Highway 25 and started hiking. We never made it to any of the rivers that run through the area (other than the Chippewa, which our path ran parallel to), and we didn’t see a lot of birds, but we found some other forest inhabitants and a set of overgrown train tracks.

Fall Forest Trail 

Eastern Comma Butterfly

Dragonfly

Leopard Frog

Overgrown Train Tracks

After Tiffany Bottoms we headed back to Minneapolis. We had been up since 3:30am and the day’s adventures did us in. We did stop for dinner in Stockholm, Wisconsin on the way back. What a cute touristy town! We walked around a little and shopped at the trinkets stores. And then we went home. What a day!

Mississippi River Adventures

My Coke Rewards Math

I drink Diet Coke. I like the way it tastes and I like the carbonation. Recently I started drinking Diet Caffeine-Free Coke because I’m trying to cut back on the caffeine. And I’ll drink Pepsi, especially if it’s on sale. But the point is, I drink soda and when I do it’s usually Coke products.

A few years ago I took notice of this whole Coke Rewards program. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, inside the cap of every bottle of Coke, and inside the cardboard or plastic packaging of every case of Coke, there is a long alphanumeric code. If you sign up for a free account at mycokerewards.com you can enter these codes and get anywhere from 3-25 points per code. The codes add up and you can use them to buy things from the mycokerewards catalog, enter drawings for really big prizes, or donate the points to charity groups for their use.

I decided to start playing, and I became one of those crazy coworkers or friends who sees you drinking your soda and asks, “Can I have your cap when you’re done with your Coke?” I’ve also been known to troll the workplace birthday/ anniversary/ shower/ retirement parties for the empty Coke cases so I can get points there.

The way the entry system works is this: You can enter up to 120 points per week; the count resets every Monday. When you see something on the website that you want to buy, you simply click on it, mycokerewards.com deducts the points from  your account, and the prize is shipped to your address in 6-8 weeks. Items range in price from 3-2000 points.

 

Screen capture from mycokerewards.com – click image to follow to source.

Recently I purchased two 2-packs of AMC tickets plus popcorn and drinks. These cost me 1100 points each. I got to thinking about the math behind this, and was tickled by the numbers so I thought I’d share.

  • 12-pack of Coke costs ~$3.50 (more expensive some weeks, less expensive others).
  • 12-pack of Coke = 10 points
  • 120 points added per week
  • 1 prize of 2 AMC movie tickets ($20) plus 1 large popcorn and 2 large Cokes ($16.75) = 1100 points

So:

  • 1100 points / 10 points per 12-pack = 110 12-packs
  • $3.50 per 12-pack x110 12-packs = $385
  • And it takes me 1100 points / 120 points per week = 10 weeks to build up that many points if I have collected 120 points in a week, which I often don’t.

That’s a lot of Coke!

Coke gets their marketing – They know that I’m interested in their product over long periods of time because I continue to enter codes, they get to bombard me with advertisements when I visit the rewards website, and they get to track the kind of things I buy so they can better market to me in the future. In turn, I receive a free night at the movies with a friend. Like I said in the first paragraph, I drink the stuff anyway. I’m not buying Coke in order to collect points. I don’t buy more Coke than I would if there wasn’t a rewards program in place, and we still buy Pepsi if it’s cheaper than Coke on any given week. 

I participate in several loyalty programs besides the Coke Rewards. I’ve got a handful of those little keyfob cards on my keyring: Sally Beauty Club, SuperAmerica Speedy Rewards, PetCo P.A.L.S, PetSmart PetPerks, AMC Stubs. I feel like I get free stuff for using these cards at places that I go anyway, but is the cost of me giving these companies so much information and ways to sell me more stuff worth it in the long run?

How do you feel about perk/loyalty/reward programs?

My Coke Rewards Math