dianaschnuth

I’m awfully prolific with the posts tonight.

Anyway, I just searched out and located a ZIP file with WAVs of the coverage of the Hindenburg crash of 1939. I’d never heard the whole thing through—just the reporter sobbing, “Oh, the humanity!” But, listening to the whole thing, it’s really fascinating to hear an example of radio reporters’ ability to convey what they saw verbally. The listener can almost see the majestic airship coming in and being tethered to the ground—then, after its grand transatlantic flight, suddenly bursting into flames.

The guy really loses it, too. I believe Aaron told me that journalists and reporters, especially back then, were expected to report factually and unemotionally, and that this particular man’s reaction to the scene lost him his job. Seriously, though—he’s almost sobbing uncontrollably and babbling by the end of the clip. I can see why they fired him, devastating though the scene was.

If you’re interested in hearing it yourself, you can download the ZIP here. Also interesting is the blurb that comes in the text file packed with the ZIP files: “This file contains WAV files of the most compelling moments of the famous Hindenburg Crash Radio broadcast of 1939.  They make for interesting Windows Startup sounds.”

What a fine disregard for history.

Do medical professionals really need a new invention for this? I thought Rabbi Tuckman did it fine with just his little guillotine…?

“Oh, I forgot—I already got one!”

Why does TV suck? Why can I not turn on the tele at night and find at least one decent program to watch? It’s all overdramatized gameshows or reality shows or home improvement / reality shows or makeovers or just crap. Have sitcoms always been completely stupid and I just didn’t notice? When did I become a fan of 20/20?

Add this to my distaste for popular music, and I’m completely rejecting American pop culture in general. Skinny hos, talentless hacks, and stupid bimbos just don’t keep my attention these days.

Like the Jeopardy category: snippets of random this-n-that I’m finding as I’m sifting through all my old Post-It® notes.

Quote from a 50-something woman in my old office to a 40-something: “You gotta get some old lady shorts! You can’t be bending over there on the golf course and everybody can see Christmas…!”

Really bad joke from the Sky intranet:
Q: How do you keep a skunk from smelling?
A: Hold its nose.

And then there’s this thought: I forget what class it was in, but I remember learning in college about the four levels of competence. First, you have Unconscious Incompetence: You don’t know how to do a given thing, but you have no knowledge of it whatsoever, so you don’t know that you don’t know. Then there’s Conscious Incompetence: You know what it is, but you also know that you don’t know how to do it. After that, you have Conscious Competence: You know how to do it now, but you still have to think about it. (This is me in my new job right now.) Finally, there’s Unconscious Competence: You know how to do the thing so well and thoroughly that you no longer have to think about it.  Learning my new job in Loan Corrections made me think of that.

Oh, and speaking of my new job, I was on phone duty for the second day today (my first day was Monday). I actually didn’t mind it today, although it got annoying around 2:00 when I got call after call after call for a half hour straight. I learned new things today, too: I learned how to cut a loan refund check, and how to fix the billing schedule on a screwed-up loan, and all sorts of other stuff that I didn’t know before (and would make you yawn). I actually felt like I had a good, enjoyable day… but that’s probably just because I’m going on vacation after tomorrow. Whee!

Speaking of, does anybody know of a good place to camp? I think Aaron and I were looking at Harrison Lake, Maumee Bay State Park, or Mohican. Neither of us have been camping in years, either (outside of Amy’s and my ill-fated October camp-out with the girls on our floor in Kohl). We have no outdoor cooking implements (well, I think we have metal skewers) and only a couple crappy flashlights. Of course, we do have our one sleeping bag (I don’t know where mine is, but we have Aaron’s), and our new-last-year-at-the-wedding tent, and our two folding camping chairs.

I think that pitching the tent will be a test of our ability to work together. 🙂

I’ve heard a theory about friendships. I forget where I initially heard it, but it basically says that all friendships happen for a reason. Not in the sense of Fate or God, but in the sense that you and your friend are drawn together at a given point in both your lives for some interpersonal reason. Maybe your need to loosen up leads you to be friends with a nutty kind of gal. Maybe you and/or the other person can’t seem to find anyone else willing to befriend you. Maybe you’re drawn to someone with a common interest. Or maybe your individual personalities at that point in time just complement one another perfectly.

In each of these cases, the friendship can either grow to a dimension beyond the initial reason why you got together, or you can simply “grow out” of the friendship. In the latter case, the friendship isn’t (or shouldn’t be) cheapened or considered less meaningful than the longer-term ones; after all, it was what you both needed at the time. People grow and change, as do relationships, and you can’t expect that things will always be the same. Or that you would want them to be.

I know that some of my readership (all four or five of you; I can hear you breathing) is going through the same phase as I am: either growing out of friendships and acquaintanceships, or realizing that the relationship was over long ago and you didn’t even notice or care. Some old friends I try to maintain contact with, but then say to myself, “I don’t know you anymore.” Some friends try to keep touch with me, and I wish they’d go away, but I don’t dare burn bridges. And some friends just don’t answer me back anymore…

I’ve never had very many good friends at once, though. The fact that I currently have several people I feel I could confide in if necessary (or who could confide in me) is as much a blessing as an agnostic can have in her life. 🙂 So, thanks, guys. Even though Amy and Aaron will always be my two best friends (I’m not stepping on any toes here; you all knew that), I love all you guys.

In the most platonic way possible.