Over The Top

Ok, I thought it was too much to have the packages of nuts and meats- P3 or whatever they're called.









I thought that buying frozen pancakes was too lazy.







But now, we have this:

Do we really need extra sauce for dog kibble?

In the Year 2525...

I always liked the song.  It's a little depressing, but frank.  The way we process our food and sit all day- what's the point in having teeth?  When we sit all day in front of the computer, how are we forcing our legs to change?

I honestly think that we're at a crossroads as a species.  Just like in Idiocracy, those that are dumb are going to continue the species because they reproduce more quickly.  I'll also draw your attention to the waist diameters of people with lots of kids.  It's probably just that healthy food is too expensive, but, still...we're forcing a change here on the body.

The same is true for those of us who work in IT.  Despite research about how sitting is bad for long periods of time, I look at the office and I don't see any bicycling desks.  I don't see any treadmill desks.  I see a lot of highly processed food wrappers in the trash cans because people don't have the time to eat or drink between meetings.

Here's a side note about dehydration:  it's been shown to alter brain chemistry...so, why does the workplace still not have mandated potty break times?  Because, let's face it, if you don't have time to pee, you won't be drinking anything...and people don't.  Ever notice how many headaches people have at the end of the day? It's not all from eye strain.

So, how are people in IT forcing their bodies to change?  And, yes, there are epigenetic, non-DNA, changes that you can transmit to your offspring...especially if you're a woman- you're donating the egg, you know???  People in carry their PDAs and smart phones with them EVERYWHERE.  I was appalled to find out that a question to HR on a Saturday night (so I wouldn't forget), resulted in an immediate answer. These are the same people who have trouble conceiving (I am really WAITING to hear that exposure to the internet in high doses leads to infertility- nothing yet, but everyone at work is on some sort of infertility treatment.)

I think you can see where I'm getting this idea that we're going to diverge as a species.  Some of us are going to become the biological components of machines.  That's how part of us will survive.  As the biology wears down, we'll move our consciousness to a new body and that will be our "reproduction".  I think the other half will devolve.  Sorry, but I do.  Especially now that the end of life as we know it is within the next 75 years.

Scary Fact

I just realized that starting work at 5am and falling asleep watching the nature channel late at night means that I spend roughly 18 hours online...

...every day....

...mostly WORKING!

OMG

In Honor Of The First Day Of Schoool

In honor of the first day of school, which I ALWAYS loved (the PeeChee folders all crisp and perfect- the new Mead binder!  All the pencils in the new pencil case!  THOSE were the days!), I want to pass along some very POORLY designed educational studies and the results which may be affecting your school this year:

1. Elementary classrooms devoid of decorations are NOT better learning environments.

A study that was recently published in Psychology, tested two groups of kindergarteners to see if they could answer questions about a story better in a room with and without decorations.  Imagine your child's class with NO decorations.  COMPLETELY blank walls.  The study jumped to the conclusion that, because more students were able to answer more questions about the story, that the blank-wall environment is better for learning.

To this point, I'd like to REMIND educators of a couple of key concepts about education:
Bloom's Taxonomy- while the students may have been able to RECALL more information, you did not test whether or not they LEARNED better.  RECALL IS THE MOST BASIC "learning".  It does not prove that you are able to better incorporate the lessons into new applications or understand what you are learning and evaluate what you have learned.  I think all educators would agree that just recalling that "the dog went left" is not as important as "the dog went left because there was a car coming at him on the right".

See my point?

So, if your educator feels starts boasting about this new educational finding, please spew Bloom's Taxonomy at her/him.

In addition, the two classes that were tested:  there is no description of the cultural or IQ distributions of these classes.  You have no idea if there was a morning class or an afternoon class compared side by side.  What the study did NOT do was to use the same sample of kindergarteners with and without decorations...and then to repeat that 30 times (if you're a statistician, you know that n=30 is the magic number).  So, GREAT study.  Please remind your educators of this.

And then find a new teacher for your kid.

2.  Schools starting later do NOT make high school kids get better grades.

I know!  It sounds like something that came out of a high schooler's paper, doesn't it?  I kid you not, studies published in Scientific American, site different school districts and the grades that the high schools receive as proof that the start time of the classes makes a difference.

ahem.

a)  CULTURAL DIFFERENCES HERE!?!  The school districts that they compare do NOT have an comparable distribution of  "A students".  DUH!

b)  Did anyone take into account the number or Advanced Placement classes at these schools as a comparison of the educational drive of these students?

c) Most Important:  DID ANYONE THINK THAT MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STUDENTS AT ALL?  Maybe, just MAYBE it's the TEACHERS who like to start later?  Perhaps having a later start time for them means that they get to do all their grading in the morning instead of at night? Perhaps they're in a better mood when they do their grading?  MAYBE?????

Of course, there are no simple solutions for education because every child is different.  But blindly changing the school system just to get published- I think that's pretty expected.  I mean, you have to make results after you take NEA money.

Just a Reminder...

...What do you call a medical student that's last in their class?

"Doctor"

Screw Glutino

Dear Glutino,

I have long used the Gluten Free Pantry brand because I'm not just on a gluten-free diet- I'm gluten intolerant.  That means that I can't have any grains that have homologous molecular shapes to gluten.  I have long admired Glutino for keeping their products truly gluten-free and safe for those of us with Celiac Disease.

However-

I recently purchased a case of your Favorite Bread Mix.  And while I had it on the counter, I casually looked at the ingredients.

You changed it.

It used to have (from the other box in my pantry with the SAME box design):
White Rice Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Skim Milk, Whey, Corn Starch, Cane Sugar, Guar Gum, Salt and a Yeast Packet.

That was safe.  It was delicious.  It was the best GF Product ever.

Then you changed it.  Now it has:
Brown Rice Flour, Flour Mix (Rice Fiber, Pea Protein, Flaxseed meal, sorghum flour, buckwheat flour, millet flour), Potato Starch, Why, Skim Milk, White Rice Flour, Corn Starch, Cane Sugar, Guar Gum, Yeast, Salt.

FYI:  Those with celiac disease can't eat sorghum, buckwheat, or millet flour because they are immuno-reactive for us (they cause the disease symptoms).

Now, I'm stuck with a case (12 boxes) of your product and I can't eat it unless I want to cause the disease to flare up.  I might as well just have a wheat sandwich!

I want my money back from you or a trade for the gluten free product that I thought I was buying.   I'll be calling your customer service for support, as well.

I can't believe you'd be so dishonest.  Please help restore my faith in your company.