Which State's Plates?

This has been on my mind lately, and for those of you who follow me on Facebook, you know. I don't like Utah's license plates. Now, I'm not really one for accessories (I don't think I've ever bought myself a necklace, I only wear belts to hold my pants up, you get the picture), but I do like the little touches that liven up my car's appearance. One of the things I was most excited for when I moved to Michigan was that they had just released a new license plate design. It has a light green and blue background and a picture of the upper peninsula. It's pretty, and I felt like it was the final touch to my already stylin' car. Coming back to Utah was a different story. The plates here are brown or orange. And even the special interest plates are boring! They're just white with a symbol of whatever group they support. In other states, special interest plates are all different. In Virginia, there was one with an autumn leaf border, another with a blue background and a picture of a cool land formation, another with the Chesapeake bay, some with flowers, birds, etc. If license plates are the fashion statement of a car, Utah provides basically a burlap sack dress. The plates are so boring and flatter very few cars. I wish we could pick which state to register in based on license plates. I'd have a tough time choosing, but some of the contenders would be Arizona's new clean air license plate (light blue with white fluffy clouds), Colorado's new plate (light green with mountains and a sunset, I think), Nebraska, Oregon (that green pine tree in the middle makes any car look good), and South Dakota. On the other hand, the newest Utah plate, with the brown band across the top and the blue mountain background, is unique. I think it would draw the attention of other drivers in other states, just because it has different colors than any other state. It's bold, and for that reason I like it. And I guess my car, being brown, is one of the few that can carry this plate off well. So I'll embrace it.

The way it should be

Last night I was watching tv with my mom, and a toilet paper ad came on in which a man discussed the results of a national survey showing that 72% of Americans believe the toilet paper should go over the roll. Now, as with most things, I have a strong opinion about this. The toilet paper always has, does now, and always will be correct coming under the roll. With so much of America clearly confused about such a grave matter, I knew immediately that, as a possessor of the truth, I have the responsibility to spread this truth across the country. So let this be the beginning of my campaign to right the wrongs of the toilet paper world! Toilet paper goes under! And here's why: when you're in the standard toilet paper-using position, you pull the paper in an out and slightly up direction. If the paper is coming over the roll, that action doesn't meet with any resistance to tear the paper, and you are likely to come away with more paper than you need. On the other hand, if the paper is coming under the roll, a pull in the out and up direction is contrary to the natural directional flow of the paper, and it will tear more readily. Therefore, it is more efficient, environmentally friendly, and sewer sustaining to place the toilet paper coming under the roll than over. I encourage all my readers who share my knowledge of the truth (that's all of you, now that you've read this post!), to do your part in bettering America, and educate your fellow citizens. Under!

Musings on Commuting

Over the last month, I've been getting used to actual commuting to work. I've never really had to commute before. When I lived in DC, I took a 20 minute train ride and then walked a mile to and from work, but that was more relaxing than anything. It gave me a chance to see the city and to have 20 solid minutes of reading every day. And in Michigan I had a seven-minute drive to work, so that doesn't count as a commute. So this new commute of 40 minutes each way has been a new experience. Hence, our topic for today: commuting. And I'll even talk about my non-commutes of days past.

First, in DC, the train ride was fun. Every morning, everybody would stand at their particular spot on the train platform, so the same people ended up on the same train cars every day. This meant that I generally recognized about 90% of the passengers. And, even though we all knew each other and expected to see each other every day, nobody EVER talked. Every now and then, we'd get a new person who would try to start a conversation, and he would either be ignored or shushed. Talking just wasn't socially acceptable on the DC commute.

Here's my favorite story of Michigan commuting. One day, I was driving to work. It was a nice, sunny summer morning. I needed to make a right turn onto one of the busiest roads in the area, but traffic was at a stand still. A few cars ahead, a bunny was sitting in the middle of the road. The driver of the first car had gotten out and was trying to coax the bunny off the road, while all the other drivers just sat there patiently waiting. Nobody honked, yelled, etc. We all just watched as the bunny was gradually persuaded into the forest. Then the driver waved to everyone, got back in his car, and we all went on our way. It was the perfect start to a day.

Now for my new commute. First of all, just like in DC, I'm starting to recognize people on the road. There's the red minicooper, with the license plate "funsizd" (speaking of which, I think minis must have the highest rate of vanity plates- just about every mini I see has a license plate that is trying to be cute); I pass a big 14-passenger van on the beltway every morning that I think is some kind of preschool carpool. It says something like "Mountainland Academy" on the side, and it's always full of little kids in carseats, usually asleep.

One frustrating thing I've learned about commuting is that timing is essential. If I leave the office before about 5:17, traffic is a nightmare. I have a 10-minute wait to get from 2-15 to I-15, and all the Sandy exits are backed up for at least a mile each. But if I leave between 5:18 and 5:30, I have smooth sailing all the way home, besides a little slowing in Sandy. And then if I'm between 5:30 and 5:40, it's bad again. Weird.

And here's a curious little item. Every morning without fail, the ramp between I-15 northbound and 2-15 westbound smells like burnt toast. I don't smell it until I get on the ramp, and it's gone as soon as I'm off the ramp. Why is that?

Over the last few months, I've found a new pleasure in life. I've been getting to know my neices and nephews after years of living thousands of miles away, and it turns out they're pretty cool. They're getting into the age group now where they know about things other than Sesame Street and Barbie movies, and they have actual thoughts and opinions to share and discuss. It's fun to sit with one or two of them at a time and talk about the latest music, books, movies, restaurants, etc. So yes, neices and nephews are fun people.

Interviewing

Over the past year, I've had many job interviews. Most of them have been pretty standard, with all the same questions and whatnot. But a few have been a little more interesting. Here's a recap of some of them. I won't include any company names or anything. Just know that none of these refer to the job I got.

1. For one company, I attended a recruiting fair where we heard a panel of current employees speaking about why they like the company. Afterwards, all attendees had a 10-minute speed interview, in which we met with two hiring managers and went over the highlights of our resumes. The idea was that this would get our information into the company, and then when positions opened up, they'd have a stack of people to bring in for real interviews. So a few weeks later, I got called in to interview for a specific position. The person doing the hiring had seen my resume and the notes that the hiring managers took during the speed interview, and presumably thought I'd be a good candidate. So I went in and had a series of one-on-one interviews with four different guys. Each one lasted half an hour, and each guy asked me the exact same questions. I don't know why we couldn't do it all at once and cut out a lot of time, but whatever. When the last guy (who would have been my boss) came in, he told me basically that I would be a great fit for some division in the company, but he only hires fresh undergraduates in his division. He never hires MBAs. So he told me I should definitely look into other divisions. Really!? He's the one who saw my resume before-hand and had HR schedule the interview, even though according to my resume I would never fit what he was looking for. What was that about?! Whatever.

2. For one company, I had a phone interview with HR that went really well. A week later, I had a phone interview with the person who would have been my boss, and that also went really well. Each of these interviews lasted an hour. Then they called me in for an in-person interview. The interview process had already lasted longer than most companies, so I figured this would be another hour or so. When I got there, I met first with the HR guy, who told me I'd be meeting individually with three or four other guys, each for 45 minutes. I was there for three hours! Wow! I was really hungry/thirsty by the end of that one.

3. While I had specific industries I was interested in, I was also sending my resume to other big name companies that I thought might be interesting. I honestly can't remember all the companies I've sent resumes to. So one day, I got a call from HR at a big name company, and we scheduled an interview. I prepared for that interview, researching the company, getting ready to discuss that industry. When I got there, based on the decor, it was clearly not the company I thought I was going to interview for. It was a much smaller company of the same name in a whole different industry. I quickly glanced through some industry magazines in the lobby and then went in for my interview. The first question was "Why do you want to work for this company?" Wow. At this point, I only had a tiny idea of what this company even did. Luckily, it was in an industry I was particularly interested in, so I was able to give a good answer, and I even got called back for a second interview the next week.

4. One day, HR from a certain company called me to schedule a phone interview. They were only going to do interviews on one day, a week later, and my schedule that day was particularly busy and up-in-the-air. I gave HR an idea of when I might be available, and she said she'd talk to the hiring managers and see what time would work for them. Then she would call me back. I never heard back from her. When she'd called, the number didn't show up on my phone, so I had no way to contact her to see if I had an interview. So I kind of just assumed they couldn't fit me in and that was that. I went about my week and got really busy and forgot all about it. Then, on the non-appointed day, my phone rang in the middle of the afternoon, and there were three people on the other end ready to interview me. I did a quick mental rundown of what I thought the job was, and jumped into the interview. It went relatively well, but had basically the results you would expect from a surprise interview.

The New Thing?

Several times in the last month or so, I've seen people rockin' out in parking lots. They find a relatively empty part of the parking lot, crank up their car radio, leave the doors open, and then just dance all by themselves next to their car. Is this acceptable now? I can understand blasting the radio when it's just you and your friends, and having a dance party, but out in public? Where anybody can see? In the middle of the day? With lots of shoppers around? I'm not sure I'm ready for this. On the other hand, they always seem to be having a good time, so maybe it's worth a try.

Potato Chips the Third

When last we saw our heroine, she was frustrated at having had a taste of some really good potato chips, and not being offered anymore. When it was clear that no more of those chips were ever going to be offered, and that there weren't any other tasty chips at that particular store, she decided it was time to get serious and go straight to the factory. After all, if anyplace was going to have good potato chips, it would be the factory. She'd heard all sorts of promising things about the factory, and was even told that a few really good bags of chips were just sitting on the factory shelf waiting for her to get there. And so she went. But the factory turned out to be not much better than the outlet stores she had been in. In fact, while the factory did produce a fair amount of decent chips, it didn't produce many really good, quality, gourmet chips. And of the few good bags it did produce, most got shipped out to the outlet stores throughout the distribution network. The factory also produced a massive amount of cheap, discount-variety chips. Some of these were disguised in fancy packages, but it didn't take much inspection to realize that they were ordinary chips. In fact, often, the worst run-of-the-mill chips were packaged in the most colorful and noticeable bags, in an apparent effort to fool some innocent shopper into buying those chips. But this girl is no moron. She can tell a good chip from a stale, bland, burnt, overseasoned, or otherwise bad chip. And so she continues to dig through the piles of chips at the factory, looking for the bag of good chips.