Speed Limit: e mph

You know what really grinds my gears?

I really hate speed limit signs that are not multiples of 5. I like my speed limits of 35, 40, 45, and so on, but put a speed limit of 14 mph or 8 mph, and I just don't get it. Who has that much care to go exactly 13.23482124 mph, when our odometers are precisely marked off at 5 mph intervals?

I notice the odd speed limits when I am in neighborhoods, particularly old people neighborhoods and fancy neighborhoods. Just driving by one neighborhood, I saw a 14 mph speed limit sign. I didn't drive through there, but I am just trying to wonder how would I get to that speed? I know that some of the fancier cars have digital odometers that give the exact speed, so if that is you, go ahead and stop reading, since this blog is not for the elite that you all are.

(I don't mean that, please keep reading, and don't be offended)

But for those of you fancy-digital-twenty-first-century car drivers, just share the plight of the average and regular car driver. Imagine having to drive a 13 mph speed limit. So halfway between 10 and 15 is 12.5. So from 12.5 mph, 13 mph is going to cover 1/5 of the arc between 12.5 and 15 mph. I don't know how many of you carry around a protractor with you at all times, but measuring those angles and driving at the same time is not recommended, unless you want that protractor to go through your head.

Wait, you all don't carry a protractor with you? Oh dear, I feel a little awkward now...It's not bad to be obsessed with Geometry, right?

Now I'm sure some of you are reading this and you don't find a 13 mph or an 8 mph speed limit to be weird or annoying. Why? Because who drives the speed limit anyways? We're all told that the speed limits are not "serving suggestions," but most of us treat them as such. Whether you drive over or under, I can't say that we all drive the exact speed limit. Physically, that requires a great amount of precision to get exactly 70 mph, but mentally, when you want to get somewhere, you want to get there as soon as possible.

**NOTE: This is not a recommendation on my part to drive over the speed limit. All traffic laws and regulations of your respective state of residence should be followed. But hey, we are all human, hopefully.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Cameron

Also, I may start a Duke 365 blog, to mark my first-year adventure through college. Yay or nay? Let me know.

Like, Dislike, Confession, First Impression

You know what really grinds my gears?

The new Facebook trend of Like, Dislike, Confession and First Impression that everybody is doing. Just some of the responses are hilarious and so fake, and I absolutely love it. And when I say "love," I truly mean despise. Just in case the sarcasm was not strong enough.

I just enjoy how everybody loves each other on Facebook. I find the response for the "dislike" categories to be quite fake. I know that we all "dislike" how we haven't seen each other in so long, or we don't have many classes together, or anything along those lines, but allow me to redirect you to the definition of "dislike" from dictionary.com:

"to regard with displeasure, antipathy, or aversion: I dislikeworking. I dislike oysters."

Now I am going to focus on the words 'antipathy' and 'aversion.' Both of these words are negatively charged. Something you dislike leaves a bitter sentiment with the person that make you oppose the person you are referring to in your little post. Not seeing somebody does not make you oppose the person. Yes, I am commenting on the semantics of the whole ordeal, but that's not even the strength of my argument.

The part that really grinds my gears is the desire for a good ego stroke on both ends. For the delivering side, the person wants to feel good about himself or herself that he or she is such a nice person that would not say a bad word to anybody, when in reality there is something worth disliking. Society is too PC, so even though it says "I will be honest and say what I dislike," the truth is too often never revealed, because we do not like to cause conflict. On the other end, the receiving end wants to feel better, so when they see "dislike: don't hang out enough," or anything similar, it's so great and happy that there is nothing the other person dislikes about him or her. So everybody is happy, yay!

But that defeats the purpose.

Why do we participate in such Facebook activities? Why do we lie through our teeth, keyboard, monitor, and in text? Everybody has a flaw, that makes us human. If there is something that one dislikes, then I feel that it should be brought up with a friend. But why must it be brought up over Facebook? Why must there be a public forum on how we all miss each other, when I will say that that is not the reason why we dislike many people? This is something that does not require an audience to complete. The only reason this is around is for us to indulge in how much we think people like us. I am fully aware that people do not like me, and I would not want for people to lie to me and say, "Oh, I dislike nothing about you," or "I dislike how I haven't seen you in two hours," or anything of the sort. This is true desensitized America, and we are so afraid to anger our friends.

I agree with that.

So why must we have the "dislike" category is everyone is going to either lie or place a careful euphemism that doesn't offend? Why can't it just be "Like, confession, and first impression"? That doesn't seem bad, right?

I guess not. Let's just offend people by lying to them and saying that they have no flaws.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Cameron

Ice Ice Baby

You know what really grinds my gears?

I have a thing with my iced tea being, well, iced. And when my iced tea isn't iced, I tend to be ticked off. Consider this blog a complaint letter to Chick-fil-A.

Dear Chick-fil-A:

I love sweet tea. I love iced sweet tea. When I get sweet tea, and there is very little ice, I am not a happy camper. If the tea is hot, add more ice. This isn't rocket science, although it could potentially be helpful, or at least take a lesson in thermodynamics. If this were England, I wouldn't complain, but this is America. And specifically the South. I like my sweet tea, and I like my ice. Please, make it happen. I love the rest of your food, but I could enjoy your tea a little more. With all due respect, it is detrimental to your business to serve warm tea when the menu clearly states iced. Please, fix it.

Your number one fan,
Cameron

Now, this isn't a one time ordeal. This is habitual. This needs to be fixed. I'd much rather have them say, "would you like a little tea with your ice?" That way, I wouldn't be complaining. But with summer on its way, I implore you, Chick-fil-A, to please add a little more ice. It would make me very happy, and aren't we here just to please me?

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Hey, I'll tty....New Text Message..AARGH!

You know what really grinds my gears?

I hate when I'm sending a text message to somebody, and then during my text, I receive a new message, and it interrupts my train of thought on my first text.

I'm sure we've all had that problem some time or another. You're texting somebody, and up pops the new window: New Message. To view, or not to view, that is the question.

If you decide to view the new message, you may forget what you wanted to say with your original text. However, you will be enlightened with new knowledge, especially if it contains some good gossip.

Now if you decide to view the message later, you may not receive some necessary information that you need for the text that you are currently sending. Of course, if that were to happen, then you could always play coy and be like, "oh, I didn't see your last text..."

Now with this situation, you face a few risks. If you decide to view the text, and it just says the famous, "K," then you've wasted your time and you may have lost your train of thought on your original text. However, if you don't view the text, and it is something valuable for your original text, then it is difficult to go back on what you first sent, and thus, there may be some issues. And if there is one place you don't want to have issues, it's over text messages, since those can be saved for future torture and blackmail.

So are there possible guidelines that we may follow for what to do with an interrupting text message? Sure, let's create some.

1) If the text message comes from the person you are currently texting, check it. The new text message may have some necessary information.

2) If the interrupting text message comes from someone unexpected, don't check it. It won't have too much of an impact on what you are currently texting.

3) If the interrupting text message comes from a parent, check it. You never know what they have to say. And you don't want to make them angry.

4) Picture messages can wait, I promise.

5) When in doubt, I say check. Or, you could finish your original text, don't send it, view the new message, and then revise your current text message, if necessary.

I hope that these guidelines may help you in your future texting endeavors. The pain of an interrupting text message is severe, but with willpower we can overcome.

And that it what really grinds my gears.

Cameron

Would you like Fries with that? (Partial Credit to Katelyn Callahan and Raymond Dalton, with thoughts by Tracy Kim)

You know what really grinds my gears?

How many of you have recently been to McDonald's or Burger King recently? First of all, if you have, then shame on you! Fast food is bad for you, so just avoid it! But obviously, it is there, and it is food (hopefully), so I guess you should eat it. But aside from that, have you seen your prices and deals available to you? I mean, 99 cents for a double cheeseburger at Burger King, 49 and 59 cents for hamburgers and cheeseburgers at McDonalds, and lots of tacos for cheap at Taco Bell. Those are great deals!

NOT!

Okay, so the burgers and such are nice and cheap, but what if you want to buy a drink? Do you know how much a drink costs now? If you don't, then go to Burger King, and just buy a drink. You will certainly be shocked. And if you want another thrill, when they ask you if you'd like some fries, just say sure. Again, the cost is far disproportionate to what it should be.

Okay, so let's analyze this. A burger. Well it is meat, at least we hope so. It comes from a cow. The cost of raising a cow and all of the processes from farm to plate is somewhat expensive, I'd say. Let's not forget the wheat for bread, tomatoes, pickles, and whatever condiments. All of that is for 99 cents.

Now let us look at a soft drink. It's just syrup and soda water. And for a medium drink, it's roughly $1.50. Okay, the syrup for a drink and the soda water alone may cost about 5 cents. That right there is practically, not mathematically, a $1.50 profit. Oops, I did forget the cost of that expensive paper cup, plastic lid, and extremely expensive straw. Still, it's a complete ripoff, but if you are going to eat something, it is customary to drink something with it.

And now let's take a look at the French fries. They typically consist of a potato, maybe Idahoan or Russet. They are yanked from the ground by a tractor, and then they are peeled, run through a slicer, and ta-da: French fries. At the restaurant, they pull the bag out of the freezer, put it in the fryalator, and then served. Labor and production alone may not even surpass 50 cents, but yet it costs nearly $2 for a medium or large fry. Really, like I really want to pay that much! But it's a meal, so I guess I should get the side and waste my money away to nothing.

So why is this? Why do we just pay so much money for something that costs next to nothing? Ladies and gentlemen, that is capitalism. The restaurant wants you to buy, so they put competitive prices on the main course, i.e. the burger. So for bang for your buck, you choose which restaurant to go to. And once you're there, you are stuck there, and you are forced to buy their drinks and fries. It's just like a movie theatre.

We can put it this way. In America, you buy hamburger. In Soviet Russia, hamburger buys you. Although that second phrase seems to apply better to us.

I want to thank Katelyn Callahan for the idea of fast food, Raymond Dalton for this idea on the American economic system, and my mom for this overall idea. I like this idea of viewer-choice selections. If you do have any ideas for new blog posts, please let me know. Post a comment or find me on Facebook, and I will try and post some more posts.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

What an Itch!!

You know what really grinds my gears?

Have you ever been writing an essay or paper for class or something? Do you ever get into the groove of writing the paper and you just scribble away? Well if so, comgratulations! Now have you ever been mid-sentence...and your nose itched?

Now you have a dilemma. Do you choose to finish your sentence, and suffer through the pain of your itchy nose? Do you stop writing to scratch your nose, and risk the possibility of losing your thought? Do you multitask, and write and scratch at the same time, but risk having your paper slide and ink smearing your paper? What do you do?

Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of society's greatest problems to date, even surpassing health care. An itchy nose is an unhappy nose, and an unfinished thought is not complete (duh). I'm sure you have experienced the same thing as well. I have come to realize that our noses just itch at the most inopportune times.

You have an essay to write...your nose itches in the middle of a sentence. You are having a conversation with somebody or a group...your nose itches, and you are not going to scratch it because it looks like you're picking your nose. You have to take a picture...your nose itches, and you get a lovely snapshot of your finger near your nose. You are cooking and preping some food...and your nose, once again, itches, and food contamination is very bad.

I beseech the inventors of the world to work on some invention or pill that will prevent nose-itching so we don't have to scratch our nose in neither an embarrassing situation nor a thoughtful project. One of these days, we will solve this problem, and dilemma no more.

And just to let you know, I only had to scratch my nose twice during the creation of this post.

And that's what really grinds my gears.

Cameron