CSI goof: There is no Ruger 10/22 .223 caliber

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We are watching CSI Miami and Frank is having a hard time … he wants me to know that there is no Ruger 10/22 .223 caliber gun.  This isn’t the first time they’ve talked about a gun that Frank says doesn’t exist. 

He even went and got a shell that goes into his Ruger 10/22 and a .223 shell and showed me how they are very different sizes.  One is twice as big as the other.

Picture by Robby-T.

Book review: Vital Friends

In Vital Friends, Tom Rath makes two main points. 

  • One is that having friends at work is very beneficial to the employer.  With a best friend at work, you are much more likely to be productive.  Without a best friend at work, there’s only a 1 in 12 chance you’ll feel engaged!  With three good friends at work you are 96% more likely to be extremely satisfied with your life.  (All the numbers are from a Gallup poll.) 
  • The second point he makes is that you can’t expect all your friends to be all things to you.  He says different friends fullfill different needs and describes the different types of friends:
    • Builders
      • Motivators and coaches
      • They push you
      • They know our strengths
      • They provide moral support
    • Champions
      • Stand up for you
      • Sing your praises
      • "Thrive on your accomplishments and happiness"
    • Collaborators
      • Share similar interests, ambitions and passions
      • Do a lot with you
    • Companions
      • Always there for you
      • Make sacrifices for you
      • First person you call
    • Connectors
      • Always introduce you to others
      • They seem to "know everybody"
    • Energizers
      • Your "fun friends"
      • Make good days, great
      • People you call to have a good time or to relax with
    • Mind Openers
      • Ask good questions
      • People you share ideas and express yourself outloud with
    • Navigators
      • Give advise
      • Steer you
      • Share dreams and goals

Interestingly, he says that in friendships we don’t play the same role
to each other.  So you might be a mind opener to your friend and your
friend might be a champion for you.

This book was an easy and interesting read.  You can easily read it in
a day. (I read it on a two hour plane ride.)  However, I would have
liked a lot more detail and depth.

So you want to own a bookstore

I think owning a book store would be one of the coolest jobs – especially a used book store.  I know it doesn’t pay very well but being around a lot of books, especially well read, well loved books just really appeals to me.   This woman’s story about how she started an online bookstore and is now expanding to a real world store was very inspiring.  She buys books wholesale and sells them through her eBay store.  Her inventory has expanded so much she needs warehouse space and she discovered an opportunity that allows her to rent retail space for the same amount of money, so she is opening a store!

The US is ahead when it comes to working moms

Several of my friends that live in Germany and Spain have told me that I’m very lucky to be able to work.  When they have children it will be very hard for them to go back to work.  Things that are hard to find internationally, that we take for granted here:

  • daycare
  • part time work options
  • a society that accepts working moms

This quote in a New York Times article made me realize that I’ve had this conversation with a number of friends:

when she had a baby 18 months ago she was able to work part time — something she said would not have been possible in Germany

Do astronauts wear diapers?

When the news came out about the astronaut who wore diapers so she wouldn't have to stop driving my first question was, "yet she took the time to go buy diapers?"  After thinking about it, I decided that astronauts must wear diapers, so she was familiar with the idea and maybe even owned some.  Turns out that astronauts do wear diapers.

Because astronauts sit on the launch pad, strapped into their seats for
over three hours, they all have to wear diapers. Astronauts also wear
diapers when they are working in space during spacewalks which normally
last 5-8 hours.

Am I bad mother if I don’t breastfeed?

Wired Magazine (a technology magazine) takes on the almost taboo topic "Am I a bad mother if I bottle-feed my newborn instead of breast-feed?"  Their conclusion:

Try breast-feeding – it’s healthier and may be less onerous than you think. And if it just doesn’t work out, formula is fine.

One interesting point.  Michel Cohen, author of The New Basics, says that breastfeeding may be correlated with all sorts of good things because breastfeeding is also correlated to high incomes. 

Who else wants to help find Jim Gray?

Jim Gray disappeared while sailing last week.  Now you can help find him.  As the CTO of Amazon writes, they have satellite photos from Thursday.  The photos have been broken down into small images that are available to everyone to look at.  You login into Amazon Turk (with your Amazon login), accept the task (i.e. hit), look at five images and check whether there is anything worth looking at more closely.  From what I understand, Jim’s boat would be about six pixels long in the images.  You can look at as many images as you want.

This is a great way to get lots of eyes on these images!  Very clever use of technology.  Let’s hope it helps us find out where Jim Gray is!

Babies Gagged in Russia

Having just spent three days in the hospital with my own 5 month old son, this article hit a nerve, Russian Shock at Gagged Babies.  The babies were gagged with plaster and tape because their crying was disturbing the nurses.  A woman who happened to be in the hospital with her own children heard the babies and took a video with her cell phone.

All of the gagged children were orphans.  It definitely made me understand why people want to adopt!  Everytime Caleb cried in the hospital I talked to him or held him.  The thought of those babies being gagged instead of comforted just made my heart hurt.