If you think working in retail is hard try working in the customer service department, now those poor employees have to deal with the worst humanity has to offer.
At least they get a good laugh out of some of the customer complaints that come in, although for every fool who can't figure out the right way to open a pizza box there's a customer with a valid problem.
And now customer service agents have to wade through a sea of trolls to address the real customers with valid complaints, moving us one step closer to the world of Idiocracy.
Dadding ain't easy but it's necessary, so entry level dads who want to work towards father of the year rather than becoming a glorified babysitter have to start learning the tricks of the trade.
And that's why the dad from How To Dad started making videos and such- so he can show newbie dads how to dad it up like a pro.
In this installment How To Dad shows us the "This Dad" and "That Dad" method for installing a baby car seat.
For every TV series that goes into production, there are at least five pilots that didn’t make the cut. Some of these sample shows are never seen again, some are aired as specials or TV movies, and a few are accepted but totally changed before becoming a real series. Josh Hadley has a collection of these shows for you, 19 of them in the first of two posts on TV pilots. Some are clearly awful, while others sound promising, like the one called Ice.
Really funny NON-LAUGH TRACK comedy (that was a rarity in the 90’s so it was to be savored) about an isolated research station in the arctic and it’s crew of misfits just trying to remain somewhat sane. Ryan Reynolds (!!!), Michael Jeter and Leland Orser are the only actors I could put names too (my copy has no credits) but there were a few other faces I knew from movies and whatnot.
The comedy was actually funny with odd sub-plots (a female penguin with a crush on Reynolds and Orser being so obsessed with Star Trek that he wears a uniform similar to Classic Trek and records all of his official logs with Stardates being two).
Could really have been a cool (no pun intended) series.
Some of the pilots have video evidence, others have pictures, and some have only synopses. Shows that bein with A through M are in part one. Read about them at Forces of Geek.
This screenshot of a weather radar image over Texas was preserved for posterity. There are plenty of possible headlines. The one at reddit said, “You know its hot when it's raining Jalapeños in Texas.” Or maybe it’s just really chili. Can you come up with a better one?
Zahara and Zamiyah Beary, ages five and seven, got up early on Thursday morning, put on their Disney Princess costumes and shower caps, and set out from their home in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to get breakfast. The girls’ parents were still asleep. The princesses first went to McDonald’s, then a bagel shop, but had no money to pay for their food. A bystander paid for their bagels. The girls then boarded a train and went to Manhattan! By that time, the police were alerted by the parents. Police found the girls at around 9:15, and took them to get hash browns at McDonald’s. The children were reunited with their parents at the 78th Street precinct. -via Fark
Comic strips have a very short amount of time in which to tell a tale or deliver a setup and a punchline, so they're usually pretty straightforward in terms of pacing.
But good comic artists have lots of tricks in their pencil bags which they can pull out at any time in order to poke the reader in the eye, just to make sure they're still paying attention.
And when you've read as many predictable, formulaic and just plain boring comics as I have you learn to appreciate a surprise ending, whether it's happy, sad or WTF inducing.
No matter how long you’ve been cleaning things the traditional way, there’s always someone who discovers a new way to do it that’s easier, cheaper, or more effective. That’s especially true for items around the house that get cleaned so rarely that by the time you get around to it, it’s a tough job. Like your oven.
Sooner or later, you’ll need to clean the walls of your oven, but it’s a nasty chore. Oven cleaners are notoriously harsh: most of them smell horrible, and many don’t even work all that well. To get the grime off your oven without the chemical cleaners, pull the vinegar and baking soda out of your pantry and get to work. To do it, mix about half a cup of baking soda with a few tablespoons of water to make a paste. Slather it all over the walls, ceiling, and floor of your oven (wearing rubber gloves is recommended for this), and leave it there overnight. In the morning, take a damp towel and wipe off as much as you can. Then, spray down the walls with vinegar, let it all foam for a few minutes, and use another damp towel to wipe it down again until everything is completely clean.
It’s pretty rare to see someone from the 19th century smiling in a photograph, and even rarer to see a Native American from the era with a big smile. But this young lady is beaming! According to DrColdReality,
The girl's name is written in the lower left: O-o-be, and she's a Kiowa. The photo was taken in 1894. Background, dress, and physical appearance of the image are all period-authentic.
Smiles were still somewhat rare in photos from that era.
American public libraries and the librarians who work there have always had a philosophy of welcomeness to those who want to use the facilities. People who are homeless need a spot where they can exist during the day when shelters are closed, where they won’t be shooed away in favor of paying customers. And as the homeless population continues to grow, libraries are providing more and more services to the homeless people they are so familiar with.
“It’s true, libraries are warm and quiet places for people without homes to go,” says Ryan Dowd, executive director of Hesed House, an Illinois-based homelessness outreach group. “But they are also sanctuaries from the tedium of homelessness. Being homeless is not just dangerous and exhausting — it’s extremely boring.”
In 2013, Dowd created a presentation titled “A Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness,” which he first delivered at his local public library in Aurora, Illinois. He expected it would be a one-off. Since then he’s traveled extensively, giving the talk at dozens of libraries across the country and in other countries, including Canada and Estonia. (A version of the presentation is also available on YouTube.)
“What I heard a lot of was, ‘How do we serve our homeless patrons better?’” said Dowd. “That surprised me. It was not about minimizing the disruptiveness or destructiveness of homeless patrons. It was about how to reach out to that demographic and serve them better.”
Libraries are looking into ways to meet the needs of their patrons, including the homeless. The San Francisco Public Library even hired a full-time social worker in 2009. Several others have followed their lead. Read about the many ways libraries are helping those who need it most, at Timeline. -via Digg
Grandpa is a wise old man. He gives good advice when it’s to his advantage, because he’s spent a lifetime figuring other people out. The young man could learn more from Grandpa if he’d look a little deeper. And while Gramps may regret not skydiving in his youth, he certainly doesn’t want to do it now, because a nap on the porch with no interruptions is a lovely way to spend the afternoon. This is the latest from Buttersafe.
Some photos chosen for Photoshop competitions would actually benefit from a little digital modification, but this picture of a goofy looking kid with a raft on his head is pure gold on its own.
Which is why it's actually perfect for a Photoshop battle, because that kid looks like he's in need of some equally goofy looking friends.
Photoshop can help Raft Boy achieve his dreams without the usual real life complications, allowing him to become the youngest ballerino at the Bolshoi despite his lack of formal training
It can also help Raft Boy grow up to a be a bright, bold and healthy boy rich in vitamin D
Being a part of the PsBattle may be the best thing that ever happened to little Raft Boy, but hopefully the internet fame won't go to his head or he may become a little terror
This is why I don’t have a dog. Oh, cats do the same thing, except you don’t have to go with them, just let them in and out. All day long. Sometimes I think pets are just messing with us to see how obedient we are to their whims. This is the latest from Megacynics.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m expected to join in, and my instincts tell me I should, but honestly, guys, I’d just as soon take a nap. Maybe just a little 'woo' will do."
A photo posted by Sketching Science (@sketchingscience) on Apr 25, 2016 at 6:48am PDT
Ernesto Llamas is a Ph.D. student at the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics in Barcelona, Spain. He uses a micropipette a lot. He also draws comics about his life in science, which he posts at the Facebook page Sketching Science.
A photo posted by Sketching Science (@sketchingscience) on Mar 7, 2016 at 8:22am PST
Recurring themes in the comics are of scientists being lonely and …micropipettes. You draw what you know. If you’ve ever worked in a biology lab, or you know someone who does, these will hit home.
